GREEK LIVES FROM PLUTARCH
THE LION OF CH^RONEA.
Erected as a monument to the Greeks who fell in the battle there against Philip of Macedon. The following allusion to it occurs in Pausanias — a striking instance of Greek simplicity :
" As we approach the city, we see the common tomb of the Thebans who fell in the battle with Philip. No inscription is carved on the tomb, but a lion is placed on it — perhaps in allusion to the spirit of the men. The reason why there is no inscription I take to be that their fortune did not match their valour " (Frazer's translation of Pausanias' " Peregrinatio Grpeciafe ").
Set' />. 184.
REEK LIVES FROM PLUTARCH
NEWLY TRANSLATED BY
C. E. BYLES, B.A.
FORMERLY EXHIBITIONER OF ST. JOHN'S COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE
AUTHOR OF 'THE LIFE AND LETTERS OF R. s. HAWKER
THESEUS- THEMISTOCLES DION
LYCURGUS V PERICLES'^ DEMOSTHENES
ARISTIDES^ ALCIBIADES ALEXANDER «-
WITH ILLUSTRATIONS AND MAPS
LONDON
EDWARD ARNOLD 41 & 43 MADDOX STREET, BOND STREET, W.
[All rights reserved}
'
PREFACE.
THIS translation is intended to be used as an English reading-book in schools. For various reasons, the existing standard translations of Plutarch are not very suitable for school use. The language of North, excellent as it is for students of literature, is too difficult for boys and girls. The translation known as Dryden's, and that by the brothers Langhorne, are somewhat ponderous, and written in a style which we should not nowadays wish our children to acquire. Moreover, there is a good deal in Plutarch which, for school purposes, lends itself admirably to omission. Then again, his rambling digressions often mar the directness of his narrative. Young readers who will delight in his descrip- tions and anecdotes are not interested in abstract discussions of moral or political questions, while, on the other hand, as Tennyson says,
" Truth embodied in a tale May enter in at lowly doors."
Hence each of the lives here given has been considerably abridged. This process can be more easily done in the course of an entirely new translation, than by merely cutting out passages from an old one.
In making" my version I have used a Teubner text. My primary objec has been to render Plutarch into readable English, such as a boy or girl can understand. In order to bridge over a gap and preserve continuity, I have here and there made a slight use of paraphrase. But this is only
vi PREFACE
very occasional, and otherwise I have tried throughout to give an accurate translation of the passages selected.
For the convenience of teachers and pupils who are not strictly students of classics, the names of unimportant people or places have often been omitted. An account of those mentioned, unless they are sufficiently described in the text, is given in the index. A few footnotes have been found necessary, but their number has been reduced as much as possible, except in the case of quotations from English literature suggested by way of comparison. These have been given with a view to encouraging pupils to study the classical allusions in English poetry and prose, and no doubt teachers will be able to supplement them by many others of their own.
With regard to the pronunciation of Greek names, which may cause difficulty to young pupils, the attention of teachers is directed to the list of names, with their usual English pronunciation, on p. 219, and to the prefatory note at the beginning of the Index on p. 220.
The illustrations are from photographs taken by Dr. H. M. Raven, of Broadstairs, on modern " Argonautic " expeditions to Greece, and kindly lent by him for the purpose of this volume.
C. E. BYLES.
London, 1907.
CONTENTS.
LIFE OF PLUTARCH
I. THESEUS -
• II. LYCURGUS
• III. ARISTIDES"
• IV. THEMISTOCLEs"
* V. PERICLES V-
* VI. ALCIBIADES VII. DION
VIII. DEMOSTHENES
- IX.
ABOUT 46 TO I2O A.D.
MYTHICAL
ABOUT 8OO B.C.
ABOUT 530 TO 468 B.C.
ABOUT 514 TO 449 B.C.
ABOUT 500 TO 429 B.C.
ABOUT 450 TO 404 B.C.
ABOUT 410 TO 353 B.C.
ABOUT 385 TO 322 B.C.
ABOUT 356 TO 323 B.C.
ALEXANDER
SOME GREEK NAMES, WITH THEIR USUAL ENGLISH
PRONUNCIATION INDEX, WITH AN ACCOUNT OF IMPORTANT PROPER
NAMES - ... 22O
I'AGE I
5
24
36 60
8? 1 06
J35 172 194
219
ILLUSTRATIONS.
THE LION OF CHyERONEA
THE TEMPLE OF THESEUS AT ATHENS - 21
MAP OF GREECE AND ASIA MINOR - 43
ENTRANCE TO THE STADION AT OLYMPIA - 75
THE ERECTHEUM (TEMPLE OF ERECTHEUS) AT ATHENS 93
A GREEK CHARIOTEER - III COLUMNS OF AN ANCIENT GREEK TEMPLE CONVERTED
INTO THE CATHEDRAL OF SYRACUSE 137 THE BEMA (ORATORS' PLATFORM) ON THE PNYX AT
ATHENS - 175
A MARBLE STREET AT CORINTH 2OI
MAP OF ALEXANDER'S EMPIRE - - 215
viii
LIFE OF PLUTARCH.
A.D. 46 TO 120 (CIRCA).
PLUTARCH was a Greek who lived in the time of the Roman Empire. He was born at Chaeronea * in Bceotia about A.D. 46, and he probably died there about A.D. 120. He was thus contemporary with eleven Roman Emperors who reigned during that period — namely, Claudius, Nero, Galba, Otho,- Vitellius, Vespasian, Titus, Domitian, Nerva, Trajan, and Hadrian.
Plutarch was educated at the University of Athens,! and was studying philosophy when Nero was in Greece in A.D. 66. In the reign of Vespasian (A.D. 69 to 79) he went to Rome, as an envoy from his native town, and he seems to have spent some years there and in other parts of Italy, engaged partly in public business and partly in giving lectures on philosophy. He became intimate at Rome with various persons of influence. The Emperor Trajan be- stowed upon him the rank of consul, and on Plutarch's return to Greece instructed the Roman Governor of Achaea to consult him in political matters.
Plutarch spent the later years of his life at Chaeronea,
* Chaeronea was the scene of three great battles in Greek history. The last of these, in which Philip of Macedon conquered the allied Greeks, is referred to in the " Life of Demosthenes," p. 184. Boeotia had the reputation in old times of being a country of dullards, and Plutarch (along with Pindar and Epaminondas) is one of the brilliant exceptions to this rule.
f There is an interesting chapter on University life at Athens in Mahaffy's " Old Greek Education " (Kegan Paul and Co.).
I
2 GREEK LIVES FROM PLUTARCH
where he held several magistracies and a priesthood. He was always strongly attached to his native place, and took part in its affairs as a public-spirited citizen. " I live in a little town," he writes, " and I choose to live there lest it should become still less." His wife, Timoxena, was a woman of noble character, and his domestic life was happy, quiet, and prosperous. They had one daughter and four sons, one of whom, Lamprius, compiled a catalogue of his father's numerous writings.
Plutarch wrote in Greek. He did not learn Latin, as he tells us, until comparatively late in life. The most famous of his works are the Parallel Lives of forty-six Greek and Roman statesmen, from which the following pages are selected. The lives are called " parallel " be- cause they are arranged in pairs, one Greek and one Roman, such as Alexander and Caesar, Demosthenes and Cicero. In most cases Plutarch adds a summary of the points of resemblance in their careers and characters. There are also extant four separate biographies, with a number of other writings, chiefly philosophical.
Plutarch took a moral, rather than a historical or dra- matic, view of the biographer's function. He gives more prominence, in proportion, to small actions which show character than to actions historically important which do not. In this way his biographies gain immensely in human interest. On the other hand, he often misses the dramatic possibilities of events and situations through his habit of moralizing and his long digressions.
His enthusiasm for the development of character, how- ever, has enabled him to provide a storehouse of material for dramatists and poets. Shakespeare himself is con- siderably indebted to Plutarch, through Sir Thomas North's translation, in " Coriolanus," " Julius Caesar," and " Antony and Cleopatra." In some passages he has even borrowed North's actual words. Possibly also the story of " Timon of Athens" was taken from Plutarch's "Life of Antony,"
LIFE OF PLUTARCH 3
and some of the allusions in " A Midsummer Night's Dream " from the " Life of Theseus."
One of Wordsworth's finest Odes is based upon the " Life of Dion," and many other literary debts are doubtless due to Plutarch. Historians of Greece and Rome have enlivened their pages with numerous anecdotes of his, whose source they are not always careful to acknowledge. Many a school- boy, coming unexpectedly in his history lesson upon an oasis of human interest, has gone upon his dusty way refreshed, but unaware from what well of geniality helms drunk that cheering draught.
Thus by writing the lives of other men Plutarch has made himself immortal. We may set down in a few words " the facts of his career"-; but his literary life, his spiritual influence, continues still, and all its remote results are there- fore to be counted in any " Life of Plutarch."
* Compare the lines in J. K. Stephen's " Lapsus Calami" :
" The pencil of Maclise, my dear,
Thy face will ne'er portray, Nor will the facts of thy career Be told by Bates, B.A.
" Yet do not hence a pretext seize
To blame the cruel Fates : If they denied thee to Maclise, " They rescued thee from Bates"."
I — 2
GREEK LIVES FROM PLUTARCH
PLUTARCH'S WORKS
PARALLEL LIVES :
Theseus and Romulus.
Lycurgus and Numa.
Solon and Valerius Publicola.
Themist6cles and Camillus.
Pericles and Fabius Maximus.
Alcibiades and Coriolanus.
Timoleon and ^Emilius Paulus.
Pelopldas and Marcellus.
Aristides and Cato the Elder.
Philopoemen and Flaminius.
Pyrrhus and Marius.
Lysander and Sulla.
Cimon and Lucullus.
Nicias and Crassus.
EumSnes and Sertorius.
Agesilaus and Pompeius.
Alexander and Caesar.
Phocion and Cato the Younger.
Agis and Cle6menes, and Tiberius and Caius Gracchus.
Demosthenes and Cicero.
Demetrius Poliorcetes and Marcus Antonius.
Dion and Brutus.
SINGLE LIVES :
Artaxerxes. Aratus. Galba. Otho.
Moralia, including more than sixty essays on various ethical and philosophical subjects, and symposiaca, or table-talk. Among these is an important treatise on ancient music.
A great number of other works by Plutarch, including seventeen Lives, are known to have existed, but are no longer extant.
I. THESEUS.
"Theseus. Call Philostrate.
PMlostrate. Here, mighty Theseus.
Theseus. Say, what abridgement have you for this evening ?"
A Midsummer Night's Dream.
THE lineage of Theseus, on his father's side, ascends to Erectheus and the first inhabitants of Attica, while on his mother's side he was of the house of Pelops. Pelops was the most powerful king in Peloponnese, not only by reason of his great wealth, but also through the number of his children. He gave his numerous daughters in marriage to men of the noblest rank, and his many sons he established as rulers in the neighbouring cities. One of them, Pittheus, the grandfather of Theseus, founded the city of Troszen, and, though it was of no great importance, he was esteemed the wisest and most learned man of his day.
The story goes that ^Egeus, desiring to have children, was Warned by the Pythian priestess * not to marry till he arrived at Athens. But being in doubt as to the meaning of the oracle, he turned aside to Trcezen, and communicated to Pittheus the word of Apollo. Pittheus then persuaded or tricked him into marrying his own daughter ^Ethra. When ^Egeus discovered that she was the daughter of Pittheus, he left behind, on his departure, a sword and a pair of sandals, hidden in a hollow beneath a great rock, which exactly enclosed its contents. He revealed this only to her, and
* The priestess of the famous oracle of Apollo at Delphi. 5
6 GREEK LIVES FROM PLUTARCH
strictly enjoined that if a son should be born to her, and, on coming to man's estate, should be able to raise the rock and remove what he had left underneath it,* she must secretly send the boy to him with the tokens. For he was in great fear of the fifty sons of his brother, who were plotting against him, and despised him because he had no children.
^Ethra gave birth to a son, who, as some say, was immediately named Theseus, from the laying up (0eo-is) of the tokens ; while others assert that he was so named after- wards at Athens, when ^Egeus acknowledged him (Ocpwov) as his son.
For a long time ^Ethra kept secret the true lineage of Theseus, and the story spread by Pittheus was that he was the son of Poseidon, for the people of Trcezen especially worship Poseidon as their guardian deity. To him they offer their first-fruits, and they have a trident engraved upon their coinage.
When Theseus grew up towards manhood he displayed a high courage united with great bodily strength, and stead- fastness of character combined with good sense and a quick understanding. So v^Ethra took him to the rock, told him the truth about his birth, and bade him remove his father's tokens and sail to Athens. Then he put his shoulder to the rock and easily overturned it. He refused to go by sea, however, although that was the safest course, and his grandfather and his mother begged him to do so ; for it was dangerous in those days to journey on foot to Athens, as the road was infested the whole way by robbers and malefactors.
Some of them Hercules used to destroy in the course of his travels, but others would escape him, lurking in their dens as he passed, or were disregarded for the pettiness of their offences. But Hercules fell on evil days, and, as a
* Compare the story of King Arthur proving himself king by drawing the sword out of the stone (Malory's " Noble History of King Arthur," chap. iii.).
THESEUS 7
penance for the murder of Iphitus, withdrew to Lydia, where for a long time he was the slave of Omphale. The Lydians then dwelt in peace and security, but in Hellas* outrages again broke forth and flourished while there was no strong hand to keep them in subjection.
So it was perilous to travel on foot from Peloponnesus to Athens, and Pittheus, picturing to Theseus each several ruffian and his manner of entreating strangers, would fain have persuaded him to go by sea. But he, it seemed, had long been secretly fired by the fame and valour of Hercules, whose story he treasured in his heart, listening eagerly to those who told what manner of man he was, and especially to such as had seen him and held speech and converse with him. And so it was with Theseus as long ages after with Themistocles,t who said that the trophy of Miltiades would not suffer him to sleep.
Thus in like manner Theseus dreamed each night of the deeds of Hercules, marvelling at his valour ; and emulation stirred him by day, and provoked him to meditate deeds of equal prowess. Therefore he held it a grievous thing, not to be borne, that while Hercules everywhere made war on evil-doers, ridding both sea and land of their presence, he himself should shirk the quests that lay before him, bringing shame upon Poseidon, his reputed father, by a base flight over the sea, and to his real father bringing but the token- sandals and unblooded sword, instead of showing the clear impress of his noble birth by instant deeds of chivalry. In such mood and with such reasoning he set forth, resolved to offer injury to none, but to wreak his vengeance on any that molested him.
His first encounter was in Epidauria with Periphetes, who, armed with a club (whence he drew his nickname of the Club-bearer), laid hands on him, and would have barred his
* Hellas was the ancient name for Greece. The Greeks were called Hellenes, from which we get the words Hellenic, Hellenism, etc. t See p. 62.
8 GREEK LIVES FROM PLUTARCH
passage. Theseus fought with him and slew him, and being delighted with the club, he took it as his weapon, and con- tinued to use it always, as Hercules did the lion's skin. This Hercules wore, to show how huge a monster he had overcome, and in like manner Theseus displayed the club that had gone down before him, but which in his own hands was invincible.
On the Isthmus* he destroyed Sinis the pine-bender, in the selfsame way f as Sinis had murdered many a wayfarer, though Theseus had not exercised himself in such a craft, but so he gave proof that valour can prevail even against skill and trained accomplishment.
Now Sinis had a daughter, tall and fair, named Perigune.J When her father perished she had fled, and Theseus sought her far and near, but she went and hid herself in a place that was overgrown with shrubs and rushes and asparagus. To these she prayed, with childlike innocence, as though to animate beings, beseeching them to save her and hide her away, and vowing never to destroy or burn them. But when Theseus called to her and pledged his word to treat her with all courtesy, and to do her no harm, she came forward to meet him. Theseus afterwards gave her in marriage to one of his friends, and it is a national custom among her descendants not to burn rushes or asparagus, but to hold them in reverence and honour.
The Crommyonian sow, called Phaea, was a savage and formidable monster, and no' easy conquest. Theseus at- tacked and killed it, going out of his way to seek the adven- ture, so that it might not be thought that all his labours were performed under compulsion, and because he deemed that, with human foes, a noble warrior should attack wrong- doers only in self-defence, but that in dealing with beasts he should provoke the conflict, and risk all in carrying it
* Of Corinth.
f By bending two pine-trees together, fastening one of his limbs to each, and then letting the trees go.
I Mentioned in Shakespeare's " Midsummer Night's Dream."
THESEUS 9
through. Some say that Phaea was a woman, of murderous and profligate character, living there at Crommyon, who had taken to highway robbery, and was called " sow " because of her habits and manner of life. She it was, they say, whom Theseus slew.
On the borders of the Megarid* he killed Sclron by hurling him down the cliffs. This man, by common report, was a robber, who used to waylay travellers ; and it is even said that in wanton insolence he would stretch out his feet for his victims to wash, and while they were washing him he would kick out and send them flying into the sea.
At Eleusis, Theseus wrestled with and slew Cercyon of Arcadia, and but a short way further on he slew Procrustes, cutting him to the size of his bed in the same way that he had treated strangers. In this Theseus imitated Hercules, who used to punish aggressors by the very means which they themselves devised. Thus he sacrificed Busiris, killed Antaeus in wrestling, Cygnus in single combat, and Termerus by breaking his head. So Theseus went abroad, punishing evil-doers, who suffered the same violence at his hands as they were wont to inflict on others, and paid a just penalty in the fashion of their own crime.!
He reached Athens on the eighth day of July, and on arriving in the city he found public affairs in a state of confusion and discord, and the household of ;£geus also in trouble. Medea, who had fled hither from Corinth, and had promised ^Egeus that she would bring him children by sorcery, got wind of the arrival of Theseus. .^Egeus did not know him, and was, moreover, growing old and full of fears on account of the public disorders.
Medea, therefore, persuaded him to entertain Theseus as a guest and poison him. So Theseus came to the banquet, and did not intend at first to tell y£geus who he was ; but
* The district round Megara.
f This recalls the " object all sublime " of the Mikado in Gilbert and Sullivan's opera — "To let the punishment fit the crime."
10 GREEK LIVES FROM PLUTARCH
wishing to give him a chance of making the discovery, when the meat was brought in he drew his sword, as though to carve with it, and contrived to let ^Egeus see it JEgeus, recognising it straightway, dashed down the cup of poison, and after a few questions embraced Theseus as his son. Then, assembling the citizens, he acknowledged him before them, and they welcomed him with joy by reason of his prowess.
Now, the king's fifty nephews had been hoping hitherto to secure the kingdom for themselves on the death of ^Egeus without issue. But when Theseus was proclaimed as his successor, they had great indignation, to think that not only was JEgeus reigning, who had merely been adopted, and claimed no kinship with the Erectheidae,* but that now, again, Theseus would be king, who was nothing but a stranger and an alien. So they prepared for war.
Dividing their forces, one party marched openly against the city with their father ; the others lay in ambush, with the object of attacking the enemy on two sides at once. Now, they had with them a herald, who reported their plans to Theseus, and he made a sudden attack upon the men in ambush, and destroyed them. The other party on hearing the news disbanded.
Theseus, still longing for a life of action, and at the same time seeking popular favour, now went to attack the Mara- thonian bull, which was giving no little trouble to the people of the country. He grappled with it and took it alive, drove it in triumph through the city, and finally sacrificed it to Apollo.
A short while after there came from Crete, for the third time, the collectors of the tribute, the origin of which was as follows. A certain Cretan named Androgeus was said to have met his death by treachery in Attica. Minos, there- fore, made war upon that country, and mightily oppressed the inhabitants. Heaven also wrought destruction upon * Descendants of Erectheus. See Index.
THESEUS 11
the land, for famine and sore plague fell upon it, and the streams dried up. Then Apollo bade them appease Minos and be reconciled with him, whereby vengeance would be abated, and they would have respite from their sorrows. So they sent heralds to entreat with him, and gave pledges to send every ninth year a tribute of seven youths and as many maidens. Thus far the writers of this history are commonly agreed.
When the young victims were brought to Crete (so the most tragic manner of the legend tells), they were devoured by the Minotaur in the Labyrinth, or wandered in the maze and, finding no way out, there perished. Now the Minotaur, as Euripides says, was —
" A monstrous birth of intermingled shape, Half-bull, half-man, in double nature joined."
When, therefore, the time of the third tribute was come, and the fathers of young sons had to submit them to the lot, the people once more began to murmur against ^Egeus, and to complain indignantly that he, through whom all these things had come to pass, alone bore no share of the punish- ment, but had made over his kingdom to a stranger of base birth, and heeded not that they were left in desolation, robbed of their true-born children.
Theseus was sorely troubled at these things, and, deeming it just that he should not be unconcerned in the misfortunes of his people, but bear his part along with them, offered himself freely, without trial of the lot. They all marvelled at his magnanimity, and were delighted with his public spirit ; and ^Egeus also, finding that prayers and entreaties availed not to move him from his purpose, straightway cast lots for the other youths.
On the former occasions all hope of their safety was abandoned, so they used to send a ship with a black sail, as bearing them to certain death. This time, however, Theseus encouraged his father by boldly declaring that he would
12 GREEK LIVES FROM PLUTARCH
overpower the Minotaur. So ^Egeus gave the helmsman a white sail as well, and bade him hoist the white one on the return voyage if Theseus were safe, but if not, the black one as a signal of disaster.
When the lots had been drawn, Theseus took those on whom they fell to the Temple of Apollo, where he made an offering on their behalf. These devotions paid, he embarked on the sixth day of April, on which day they still send maidens to the temple to propitiate Apollo.
On his arrival in Crete, according to most historians and poets, Ariadne, the daughter of Minos, fell in love with him, and, giving him the thread, showed him how to pass through the mazes of the Labyrinth. He then slew the Minotaur, and sailed away with Ariadne and his young companions.
Many are the tales that are still told about these adven- tures and about Ariadne, but there is no agreement among them. Some say that Ariadne hanged herself because Theseus had deserted her; others that she was taken to Naxos by sailors, and there wedded a priest of Dionysus, while Theseus had forsaken her for another love.
Another legend tells how that the ship of Theseus, with Ariadne on board, was driven by a storm to Cyprus, and, she being sorely troubled by the tossing of the sea, Theseus put her ashore alone, and himself returning to care for the ship, was carried out to sea again. The women of the country, so the story goes, welcomed Ariadne with great kindness in her desolation, and brought her feigned letters which they said Theseus had written to her. When she fell ill they tended her with all solicitude, but she died, and they buried her. Theseus, returning, made great sorrow for her, and gave money to the people of the country, bidding them offer sacrifices to Ariadne.
On his homeward voyage from Crete, Theseus put in at Delos, where he sacrined to Apollo and dedicated the love- token which he had received from Ariadne. Then, with his
THESEUS 13
young companions, he held a dance, which even now, they say, the Delians perform. It was arranged in imitation of the winding mazes of the labyrinth, according to a rhythm with similar alternations and evolutions. He is also said to have held games at Delos, where the custom of giving a palm to the victors had its origin.
Now, as they drew near to Attica, Theseus and his helmsman were so elated that they both forgot to hoist the sail that was to have been the signal to ^Egeus of their safety, whereupon in despair he cast himself down the cliff and perished.*
Theseus landed, and sent a herald to the city to announce his safe return, while he himself offered the sacrifices which he had vowed to the gods on his departure. When the ceremony was over, a messenger announced the death of ^Egeus, and so, amid weeping and lamentation, they hastened to the city. Theseus buried his father, and fulfilled his vow to Apollo on the seventh day of October, for that was the day of their safe arrival at Athens.
The ship in which he and his young companions sailed and came safe home again was preserved by the Athenians for many centuries. This they did by removing old portions of her timbers and substituting strong new planks, which they joined so skilfully that the vessel even became a sub- ject of dispute among philosophers in connection with the theory of growth, some asserting that she remained the same, and others denying it.
The Feast of Vine-Branches, which the Athenians cele- brate, was instituted by Theseus as follows. He did not take with him to Crete all the maidens on whom the lot fell, but chose from among his associates two young men of youthful and feminine appearance, who in character, however, were manly and daring. He caused them to take warm baths, to cultivate their complexions by keeping out of the sun and using ointments for their hair and skin,
* The ^Egean Sea is said to have taken its name from this event.
14 GREEK LIVES FROM PLUTARCH
and to wear ornaments as the fashion is among women. He also trained their voices and manner and way of walking, and so altered them that they were as like two girls as they could possibly be, and no difference was perceptible.
With them he made up the appointed number of maidens, and no one discovered the imposture. On his return he and these young men led a procession, in which the young men were attired in the same fashion as the bearers of the vine- branches at the present day. These they carry in honour of Dionysus and Ariadne, according to the legend,* or more probably because it was at the time of fruit-harvest that Theseus and his companions returned. Women carrying provisions take part in the festival, representing the mothers of those chosen by lot to go to Crete, who kept coming with supplies of food for the voyagers. The telling of tales also forms part of the celebrations, because those mothers told stories to their children to comfort and encourage them.
After the death of his father Theseus planned a wonderful undertaking. He collected the inhabitants of Attica into a single town, and declared them one people of one city ; whereas before they had been scattered, and difficult to assemble for purposes of public interest. At times even they would quarrel and make war upon each other. He gave the name of Athens to the city, and instituted the Panathenaea as a national festival. Wishing to enlarge the city still further, he invited all men to share equally in its privileges* and the words " Come hither, all nations," are said to have been a proclamation of Theseus, whose aim was to establish a kind of cosmopolitan state. He issued coinage engraved with an ox, either as a memento of the Marathonian bull, or the Minotaur, or else with the object of encouraging the people in agriculture.
He annexed by conquest the Megarian territory to that of * See Dionysus in the Index.
THESEUS 15
Attica, and set up the famous pillar on the Isthmus to mark the boundaries of the land. On it he inscribed two verses, one towards the east —
" This is not Peloponnesus, but Ionia ;" the other facing west —
" This is the Peloponnesus, not Ionia."
According to some writers, Theseus sailed to the Euxine with Hercules on an expedition against the Amazons, and won Antiope as a reward of valour. Most historians, how- ever, assert, and with greater probability, that Theseus made the voyage alone, later than Hercules, and took the Amazon captive. One says that he carried her off by craft, for the Amazons were not man-haters, and did not avoid Theseus when he landed on their shores, but sent him gifts of hospitality. He invited the bearer of these gifts to visit his ship, and as soon as she was on board he put to sea.
This was the cause of the war with the Amazons, and it seems to have been no slight or womanish affair. For they could not have penetrated to the town to pitch their camp, nor have fought hand to hand at the Pnyx* and the Museum, if they had not subdued the surrounding country, and made a bold attack upon the city. It needs an effort to believe the story that they crossed the Bosphorus on the ice, but that they did encamp almost in the city is proved by the names of places and the tombs of those who fell.
For a long time both sides were reluctant to give battle, but at last Theseus, in obedience to some oracle, offered a sacrifice to Fear,t and attacked the Amazons.
The left wing of the Amazons wheeled towards the Amazoneum, as it is now called, and the right extended towards the hill of the Pnyx. The Athenians attacked
* A hill in Athens. See illustration on p. 175. f In order that fear might seize the Amazons.
16 GREEK LIVES FROM PLUTARCH
their left wing from the Museum, but were forced back by the women as far as the Temple of the Furies. Their left wing, however, drove back the Amazons' right as far as their camp, and slew many. After four months peace was made by the intervention of Hippolyta. * This is the name given by some writers instead of Antiope to the Amazon who accompanied Theseus. Others relate that she fought at his side, and was speared by an Amazon called Mol- padia. It is not surprising, indeed, that the accounts of events that happened so long ago should vary.
Though many adventures were undertaken by the heroes in those days, Theseus, some say, took part in none of them, save only the battle of the Centaurs and the Lapithae ; but other writers affirm that he accompanied Jason to Colchis and Meleager t in hunting the boar, whence arose the pro- verb, " Nothing without Theseus." But he himself, un- aided, did indeed accomplish many a noble quest, and so the saying became current about him : " This man is a second Hercules."
He joined in recovering the bodies of those who fell before Cadmea,| not, as Euripides has it in his tragedy, by defeating the Thebans in battle, but, according to most accounts, by persuading them to make a truce. This is said to have been the first truce ever made for recovering the bodies of the slain. But Hercules was the first (as mentioned in my account of his life.) who ever gave back their dead to the enemy.
The famous friendship of Theseus and Pirithous is said
* Compare " A Midsummer Night's Dream," where Theseus says :
" Hippolyta, I woo'd thee with my sword, And won thy love, doing thee injuries."
f The story of Meleager and the Calydonian boar is the subject of Swinburne's play, " Atalanta in Calydon." Theseus and Pirithous .are among the heroes taking part in the hunt :
" And following him that sjevy the biform bull Pirithous."
The citadel of Thebes.
THESEUS 17
to have originated as follows : Theseus had a great reputa- tion for strength and prowess, and Pirithous, wishing to put him to the proof, drove off his oxen from Marathon, and when he heard that Theseus was up in arms and pursuing him, instead of taking to flight, turned back and faced him. But when they met, each marvelled at the other's grace and daring, and they refrained from combat, Pirithous with out- stretched hands bidding Theseus be himself the judge in the matter of the cattle -driving, for willingly would he abide by whatsoever decision he should give. But Theseus likewise left the judgement to Pirithous, and desired him to be his friend and comrade-in-arms.
Then were they sworn upon their friendship. After this Pirithous wedded Dei'dameia, and invited Theseus to come and visit his country and make acquaintance with the Lapithae. Now, as it chanced, he had bidden the Centaurs also to the feast ; but they behaved with wanton insolence over their cups, and the Lapithae resorted to arms in self- defence. Some of the Centaurs they slew ; the rest they afterwards overcame in battle, and drove out of their land, Theseus fighting on their side.*
Another writer says, however, that the war had already begun when Theseus went to aid the Lapithae, and that then it was he first came face to face with Hercules. Theseus had gone in quest of him at the place whither he had withdrawn himself, to rest from wanderings and labours. Their meeting was accompanied by many expressions of mutual honour and goodwill.
Theseus was already fifty years old when he was con- cerned in the affair of Helen. He and Pirithous went together to Sparta, seized the maiden as she was dancing
* Compare the lines on the Centaurs in Matthew Arnold's poem, " The Strayed Reveller " :
" In wild pain They feel the biting spears Of the grim Lapithae, and Theseus, drive, Drive crashing through their bones."
18 GREEK LIVES FROM PLUTARCH
in the Temple of Artemis, and carried her off. As soon as they found that they were no longer pursued they felt secure, and after crossing the Peloponnese they made a compact that whichever of them won Helen by lot should have her to wife, and help the other in finding another bride. So they drew lots on these terms, and the prize fell to Theseus.
He took the damsel, and, as she was not yet of an age for wedlock, conveyed her to Aphidnae, and placed her in his mother's keeping. He committed them to the care of his friend Aphidnus, charging him to guard them in all secrecy, while he himself, in fulfilment of his pledge of service to Pirithous, travelled with him to Epirus in quest of the daughter of A'idoneus, king of the Molossians.
The king's daughter was called Core, and he had a dog named Cerberus, with whom he required all suitors for her hand to fight, promising her to him who should overcome the monster. But when he found that Pirithous and his companions came not in the guise of suitors, but purposing to carry off the maiden, he seized them, and Pirithous forthwith he delivered to destruction by the dog, while Theseus he cast into prison and kept under close watch and ward.
In the meantime a grandson of Erectheus, by name Menestheus, the first of the demagogues, began to ingratiate himself with the populace at Athens, and to incite the more powerful citizens to revolt. They had long chafed under the rule of Theseus, deeming that he had robbed the nobles of their local rank and authority, and had collected them all into one city to treat them as his slaves and dependents. Menestheus roused the multitude to disaffection, telling them that their liberty was all a dream, for in reality they had been robbed of their religion and their birthright, and in place of a number of good native kings they were subject to a single tyrant, who was a stranger and an alien.
While he was engaged in these intrigues the Tyndaridse
THESEUS 19
invaded the country, and war added weight to the scale in favour of revolution. Some roundly assert that they came at the invitation of Menestheus. At first they committed no hostile act, but simply demanded the surrender of their sister Helen. On the Athenians replying that they neither had her in the city nor knew where she had been secreted, they began hostilities ; but a certain man told them of her concealment at Aphidnae, which somehow or other he had discovered. So they went to Aphidnae, gained a victory, and razed it to the ground.
^Ethra, the mother of Theseus, is said to have been taken prisoner and carried away to Lacedaemon,* and from thence to Troy with Helen, in witness whereof Homer mentions among the retinue of Helen —
" JEthra., daughter of Pittheus, and Clymene, eyed like the heifer."
Now, Ai'doneus the Molossian was entertaining Hercules, and happened to tell him the story of Theseus and Pirithous, the purpose of their coming, and the manner of their cap- ture and punishment. Hercules was sorely troubled at hearing the inglorious fate which the one had met and the other was meeting. As to Pirithous, he thought it would avail nothing to resent his death, but he asked the king, as a favour to himself, to spare Theseus.
Ai'doneus agreed, and Theseus, thus set at liberty, returned to Athens, where he found his supporters not yet altogether overpowered. All the temples, save four, which the state had originally assigned to him he now dedicated to Hercules, changing their names from Theseia to Heracleia.
But directly he essayed to govern as before and take the lead in the state, he found himself surrounded by faction and tumult, those who had hated him before he went away now adding contempt to their hatred. Corruption, he sawr, had spread so far among the people that they now required to be cajoled into submission, instead of obeying orders in
* Another name for Sparta. See note on p. 31.
2 — 2
20 GREEK LIVES FROM PLUTARCH
silence. When he attempted to coerce them he was over- powered by popular clamour and agitation.
Finally, despairing of the situation, he secretly conveyed his children to Eubcea, under the protection of Elephenor ; while he himself, after pronouncing a solemn curse against the Athenians, set sail for Scyros. He had ancestral estates upon the island, and was, as he thought, on friendly terms with the inhabitants.
At that time the king of the Scyrians was Lycomedes. To him Theseus went and applied for the restoration of his lands, as he intended to dwell there ; and some say that he asked his help against the Athenians. But Lycomedes, either alarmed at the hero's renown, or as a favour to Menestheus, took him up the mountains to give him a view of his lands, and pushed him over the edge of a precipice. Some say that he slipped and fell of himself while he was taking his customary evening walk.
No one at the time took any note of his death. Menestheus became king of the Athenians, and the sons of Theseus accompanied Elephenor as private persons in the expedition to Troy. But on the death of Menestheus in that war they returned and recovered the kingdom. In after ages the Athenians honoured Theseus as a hero, among other reasons because, in the battle with the Persians at Marathon, many thought that they saw his spirit, clad in armour, fighting on their side in the forefront of the battle against the barbarians.
After the Persian War the Pythian priestess bade the Athenians, when they consulted the oracle, bring home the bones of Theseus for burial and preserve them with all honour. But there was some difficulty in getting them or finding his grave, from the unfriendliness and ferocity of the people who inhabited the country.
Cimon, however, captured the island of Euboea, as I have recorded in his Life, and pledged his honour upon finding it. One day, as the story goes, he saw an eagle on a lofty crag,
THESEUS 23
tearing and raking the ground with its beak and talons. Recognising it as a sign from heaven, he dug up the earth, and there was found a coffin with a mighty corpse, and a brazen spear and sword lying beside it.
When these relics were brought home by Cimon on board his trireme, * the Athenians were overjoyed, and welcomed them with sacrifices and splendid processions, as though the hero himself were returning to the city. He lies in the middle of the town, near the present Gymnasium, and his tomb is a place of refuge for slaves and all of lowly estate who go in fear of the oppressor, even as Theseus in his lifetime was their friend and champion, and was wont to hearken kindly to the supplications of the poor.f
* A ship with three banks of oars.
f Shakespeare brings out this characteristic of Theseus in "A Midsummer Night's Dream." When Theseus is presented with a choice of entertainments on his marriage festival, he rejects a song recounting the battle with the Centaurs, and chooses the " tedious brief scene " of Pyramus and Thisbe, acted by
" Hard-handed men, that work in Athens here."
When the master of the revels objects that the play is not worth hear- ing, Theseus replies :
" I will hear that play ; For never any thing can be amiss, When simpleness and duty tender it, Go, bring them in."
II.
LYCURGUS.
CIRCA 8OO B.C.
" Stern Lawgiver, yet thou dost wear The Godhead's most benignant grace."
WORDSWORTH : Ode to Duty.
THE father of Lycurgus was a king of Sparta, and on his death he left the kingdom to his elder son ; but he, too, died shortly afterwards, and all the people thought that Lycurgus should be king. So he began to reign ; but when his brother's wife gave birth to a son, he declared that the kingdom belonged to the child, and conducted the govern- ment in the capacity of regent.
His reign, therefore, lasted only eight months in all. But he was in every respect looked up to by the citizens, and his own high character won him more adherents ready to do his bidding than his position as the king's guardian and wielder of the royal authority. There was also, however, some ill- will against him in certain quarters, and attempts were made to oppose his advancement on the ground of his youth. His enemies insinuated that he knew well that he would be king, thus preparing suspicion against him in case anything should happen to the young prince.
Lycurgus was sorely troubled by these calumnies, and fearing some secret plot, he determined to avoid suspicion by going abroad and travelling about until his nephew should grow up and have a son to succeed him in the king- dom. So he left the country and went first of all to Crete,
24
LYCURGUS 25
There he studied the forms of government, and became acquainted with all the leading men. Some of their laws he admired, and resolved to introduce at home, but of others he disapproved.
From Crete, Lycurgus sailed to Asia, wishing, it is said, to compare the frugality and austerity of Cretan life with the luxury and extravagance of Ionia, and to study their social and political differences, just as a doctor compares the bodies of the sick and diseased with those who are in sound health.
There also, probably, he came across the poems of Honier, which were treasured up by the descendants of Creophylus. Lycurgus recognised in them a moral and political element which made them no less valuable than entertaining, and he set to work eagerly to collect and tran- scribe them, with a view to carrying them home ; for the epics had already some vague reputation in Greece, but only certain portions were in the possession of a few people here and there, wherever scattered passages happened to have found their way. It was Lycurgus who first estab- lished the fame of Homer's poems.
He is also supposed to have visited Egypt, but the tradi- tion that he went on to Libya, Spain, and India rests only on the authority of a single writer. The Spartans, mean- time, began to miss Lycurgus, and sent frequent messengers to ask him to return. So he came- back, and immediately ^pk in hand the reconstitution of the state. Having l ' plved upon this, he first of all repaired to Delphi, where tj sacrificed to Apollo, and sought counsel at his shrine.
} returned thence with that famous oracle wherein the j.jjestess announced that Apollo had heard his prayer, and n;iained that the laws.he should establish should be the best
all the world.
'Among the many reforms of Lycurgus the first and most
portant was the institution of a Senate, which, as Plato /
,ys, poised midway between the kings and the people, pre-
26 GREEK LIVES FROM PLUTARCH
served the balance of power, and afforded stability to the state. His second and most revolutionary measure was the redistribution of the land. For he found a condition of grave inequality, the city swarming wdth poor people who had no property, and all the wealth amassed in the hands of a few.
With the object, therefore, of removing insolence, envy, vice, and luxury, and those still more ancient and serious social evils, riches and poverty, he induced the landowners to relinquish all their land to the state and submit to an entirely new division. Thus they would all live on equal terms with one another and have an equal share of pro- perty. If they sought pre-eminence they could find it in virtue, there being no difference or inequality between one man and another, except the distinction drawn by the con- demnation of baseness and the praise of honour.
When, however, he attempted also to divide their movable goods, with a view to the complete abolition of inequality, he found them indignant at the prospect of being thus utterly deprived of all their belongings. So he devised other means of circumventing their acquisitiveness. First he withdrew from currency all gold and silver coinage, and prescribed the use of iron money only. To this he assigned a low value for a great quantity of heavy weight, so that an amount equivalent to ten minse* required a large storage- room in a house and a team of oxen to carry it about.
When this iron money became current, many kinds of injustice disappeared from Sparta. For who would steal or take by bribery, fraud, or plunder, that w;hich it was im- possible to hide, and the possession of which provoked no envy ? It was not even worth while to knock anybody down for it.
Lycurgus next banished all superfluous and useless Jri-_ dustries. Most of them, indeed, wTould probably have fallen into abeyance even without compulsion, along with the * A raina was worth about .
LYCURGUS 27
common Greek coinage, through the goods finding no sale. For the iron money was not negotiable in the rest of Greece. It had no value, and was treated with ridicule. There was thus no opportunity for the Spartans to buy any foreign wares or trumpery, nor did any merchant cargo enter their harbours.
Resolving to put yet another check on luxury, and make wealth still less to be coveted, Lycurgus introduced a third and very fine institution, that of public meals. These he arranged that all should take in common, having the same food and drink prescribed, instead of faring sumptuously at home, reclining at table on luxurious couches, and served by skilled confectioners and cooks from the hidden regions of the kitchen. There was no use or enjoyment in any display of magnificence when rich and poor alike resorted to the same table.
Consequently, this enactnient provoked the fiercesXoppo- sition among the rich, who rose in a body against Lycurgus, and menaced him with angry clamour. Many at last began to strike him, and he was driven running out of the assembly. He took refuge in a temple, escaping most of his pursuers. But one young man, of a hasty and impetuous temper, although not otherwise bad-hearted, attacked Lycurgus, and struck out his eye with a stick. Lycurgus did not give way under the pain, but stood up before the citizens, and showed them his face all blood- stained and his eye destroyed.
Deep shame and dejection seized upon them as they saw this sight, and they handed over the youth to Lycurgus and escorted him home with sympathetic indignation. Lycurgus thanked and dismissed them, and took the youth into his house. He did not ill-treat him, however, either by word or deed, but merely ordered him to wait upon him, in place of his usual attendants. The youth, who was of good birth, obeyed his commands in silence, and continuing to live with Lycurgus, came to know his gentleness and
28 GREEK LIVES FROM PLUTARCH
kindness of heart, his frugality of life, and his indefatigable industry.
He became strongly attached to Lycurgus himself, and told his friends that Lycurgus was not a hard and domineer- ing man, but singularly mild and genial to everyone. Thus was he punished, and such was the sentence he had to undergo — namely, to develop from a wild and headstrong youth into a man of the utmost prudence and moderation.
At the public repasts in Sparta each member of a table used to bring every month a bushel of meal, eight gallons of wine, five pounds of cheese, two and a half pounds of figs, and, in addition, some small sum of money to buy fish.
Children also resorted to these public tables, as it were to schools of sobriety, where they listened to political conversa- tion and received an object-lesson in good-breeding. The children themselves were accustomed to joke and play without vulgarity, and to keep their tempers when the jest was at their expense. For it was considered a peculiarly Spartan characteristic to take a joke in good part ; but if anyone could bear it no longer he might plead for peace, and the jester would then cease to torment him.
The Spartans drank in moderation, and went home after supper without lanterns. They were forbidden to walk with a light at any time, so that they might become familiar with the dark and make their way cheerfully and fearlessly by night.
Lycurgus did nQt_£ommit his laws^ to writing. For he thought that the strongest and most effective influences for the happiness and moral well-being of a state were the principles inherent in the character and training of its citizens. These principles, he considered, remain constant and immovable, because they are held fast by a bond stronger than necessity — namely, that voluntary preference which education implants in the young, acting as a lawgiver in the heart of each.
As regards small matters, financial contracts, and questions
LYCURGUS 29
which vary from time to time according to different require- ments, it was better, he thought, not to fix them down to any written code or unalterable methods, but to allow latitude on occasion for such additions or modifications as might be determined by educate^ men. For he resolved the whole and entire work of lawgiving into a question of education.
Education, which he regarded as the greatest and noblest work of a lawgiver, he controlled from its source by regu- lations regarding marriage. He instituted physical training for girls by means of running, wrestling, and hurling quoits and javelins, in order that they might be better fitted for the duties of motherhood. Lycurgus considered children, in the first instance, not so much the private property of their parents as a common possession of the state.
When a child jvas born, it was not left to the discretion of the father whether he should bring it up. He had to take it to a certain place where sat the elders of the tribe, who examined the infant, and if it were well formed and sturdy they gave orders to rear it, but if weakly or deformed they consigned it to a pit near Mount Taygetus, considering ^ that its life would be of no advantage either to itself or to the state.
Care and skill were also exercised by the nurses, who dispensed with swaddling-clothes, and thus gave the babies - freedom in the use of their limbs and a more open expression to their faces. They also trained them to be contented, and not dainty about their food ; not afraid of the dark, or of being left alone ; and not given to temper or foolish crying. _ Consequently, people in the other states often hired Spartan nurses for their children. For example, the nurse of Alcibiades the Athenian is said to have been a Spartan woman.
Lycurgus did not entrust the boys of Sparta to slaves or hired teachers, nor was each man allowed to bring up his son just as he pleased. As soon as they reached the age of
30 GREEK LIVES FROM PLUTARCH
seven, Lycurgus provided that they should be enrolled in companies and live together, conforming to the safne rules and joining in the same sports and recreations. He appointed as captain of a company the boy who was most distinguished for intelligence and showed the greatest courage in fighting. The others looked up to him, obeyed his orders, and sub- mitted to his punishments. Thus their education consisted of a training in good discipline. As for their letters, they learnt just as much as was absolutely necessary. But other- wise the whole of their upbringing was designed to make them respect authority, endure hardships, and conquer in battle. '« A story is told of a Spartan boy who had stolen* a fox-cub and was carrying it under his coat. The creature tore his bowels with its teeth and claws, but the boy endured the agony to the point of death rather than be found out, And, indeed, this is not incredible when we consider the youths even of the present day, many of whom have I seen dying under the strokes of the lash at the altar of Artemis Orthia.t
The Spartans also taught their sons to use a manner of speech at once caustic and graceful, and condensing a great deal of close observation into a few words. For while Lycurgus, as we have said, assigned but a small value to his iron money in relation to its weight, the coinage of speech,^ on the other hand, he stamped with a super-
* Spartan boys were kept on short commons in order that they might become skilful in foraging. They were even encouraged to steal, not for the sake of stealing, but in order to make them sharp-witted and dexterous, as part of their military training. If they were caught, they were severely flogged.
f The site of this shrine has recently been excavated at Sparta. Lycurgus is said to have instituted the ceremony of scourging boys at the altar of Artemis, to take the place of the human sacrifices which had previously been offered to her. This scourging was part of the Spartan discipline, and it was considered as honourable to die under the lash as on the field of battle.
{ For this metaphor compare Tennyson's line describing the language of Virgil :
" All the chosen coin of fancy
flashing out from many a golden phrase."
LYCURGUS 31
abundance of meaning in proportion to conciseness of expression. His method of making the boys sententious and apt at repartee was to accustom them to long silences ; for incontinence in chattering, he considered, like other excesses, makes a man's conversation barren and unin- telligent.
King Agis was once talking to an Athenian, who laughed at the Spartan swords because they were so short, and said that jugglers on the stage could swallow them easily. " That may be so," replied Agis, " and yet we manage to give our enemies home-thrusts with them."
Lycurgus himself seems to have been brief* and witty in his repartees, to judge by anecdotes related of him. Take, for example, his reply when someone said that he ought to establish a democracy in the state. "Do you first," he said, " establish a democracy in your own house- hold." Some answers of his are also recorded which he gave in letters to his countrymen. To the question, " How shall wre best prevent the invasion of an enemy ?" he replied, " By remaining poor, and not desiring to be greater one than another."! And again, on the subject of fortifications : " That city is well fenced whose walls are made, not of bricks, but of men."
During their campaigns the Spartans relaxedjl^aeverity of their discipline, and generally made life easier and less rigorous for their young men. Consequently, they were the only nation in the world to whom war itself came as a relief from military training. When they came in sight of the enemy the phalanx \ was formed, and the king, after sacri- ficing a goat, gave orders for all to wear garlands, and for
* The Spartan brevity of speech became proverbial, and the word "laconic" ( = like a Laconian) has thus passed into our language. Laconia was the name of the country of which Sparta, or Lacedaemon, was the capital. Hence the words "Spartan," "Lacedaemonian," and " Laconian," are practically interchangeable. See p. 125.
f Compare St. Luke ix. 46: "Then there arose a reasoning among them, which of them should be greatest."
I A close formation of troops armed with long spears. See p. 52.
32 GREEK LIVES FROM PLUTARCH
the flute-players to play the " March of Castor." At the same moment he led the singing of the paean as the signal for advance. It was a solemn and awe-inspiring sight as they moved forward, keeping step to the flute, in perfect order and composure, cheerfully and gaily advancing into danger to the sound of music.*
When they had routed and conquered the enemy, they pursued them as far as was necessary to make sure of victory, but then immediately halted, for they thought it unworthy of Greeks and men of honour to cut down and slaughter a foe who had yielded and made no further resistance. And this was not only an honourable- and magnanimous, but also an advantageous course ; for when their enemies saw that they slew those who resisted, but spared those who surrendered, they began to think it more profitable to fly than to stand their ground.
Lycurgus did not permit the Spartans tQ_travel abrpaxkas they pleased and roam about in other countries, picking up foreign manners and undisciplined habits of life, and acquiring^ different viewsjof government. He also expelled from the city persons who collected there or slipped in unawares for undesirable purposes. This was not, as Thucydides says, from fear that they might imitate the constitution, or obtain some profitable instruction in virtue, but rather to prevent their teaching the Spartans any evil.
For along with foreign people there must needs come in foreign modes of speech, and new modes of speech bring in new opinions, from which many new desires and prejudices arise, which disturb the harmony of the established con-
* Like a Highland regiment with their bagpipes, or as Cromwell's Puritans went into battle singing hymns. Compare " Paradise Lost," i- 550:
" Anon they move
In perfect phalanx to the Dorian mood Of flutes and soft recorders — such as raised To highth of noblest temper heroes old Arming to battle, and instead of rage Deliberate valour breathed."
LYCURGUS 33
stitution. Consequently, Lycurgus thought it even more necessary to keep the city from being infected with the low morals of immigrants than with their bodily diseases.
In all these measures there is no trace of arrogance or aggression, which some people impute to the laws of Lycurgus, as being well adapted to produce courage, but not conducive to right and justice. Possibly it was their treatment of the Helots* which caused even Plato to hold this opinion of the Spartan constitution and its originator. Aristotle says that when ephorst were first established at Sparta they declared war upon the Helots, in order that it might become an act of piety to murder them.
Altogether they treated them harshly and cruelly, and those who say that at Sparta the freeman was most a free- man, and the slave most a slave, seem to have correctly observed the distinction. I consider, however, that such atrocities took place chiefly after the great earthquake, J when the Helots revolted and joined the enemies of Sparta, and great danger menaced the city. For my part, I should not ascribe such brutality to Lycurgus, having regard to the clemency and justice which he otherwise displayed.
When he saw his constitution sufficiently developed and strong enough to be self-supporting, he rejoiced, as Plato says God did when the world was created and first set in motion. He took delight in the excellence and greatness of his legislation now that it was in fact accomplished and moving on its appointed course. His next ambition was, as
* The Helots, the lowest class of the Spartan community, were in the position of slaves.
f The ephors (literally, " overseers") were instituted after the time of Lycurgus. They became the chief officials of the state, and had the government of Sparta in their hands.
I This earthquake took place in 464 B.C., some three centuries after the time of Lycurgus.
3
34 GREEK LIVES FROM PLUTARCH
far as human foresight could avail, to render it immortal and unchangeable for all future time.
He therefore summoned the whole assembly, and told them that so far all was duly arranged to insure the happi- ness and virtue of the state, but that one thing still re- mained, and that the greatest and most important of all, which he could not lay before them until he had consulted the oracle of Apollo. They must, therefore, abide by the laws he had established, without any alteration or disturb- ance, until he should come back from Delphi. On his return he would perform whatever the will of the god might be.
On their expressing universal consent, he exacted an oath from the kings and senators, and afterwards from all the other citizens, that they would abide by the established constitution until his return. He then set out for Delphi. When he arrived at the shrine he offered sacrifice, and inquired of the god whether the laws were well and duly ordained for the happiness and virtue of the city. The god gave answer that the laws were excellent, and that Sparta would remain the most renowned of cities so long as she kept the ordinances of Lycurgus. This oracle he wrote down and sent to Sparta.
Then once more he offered sacrifice, and bade farewell to his friends and to his son; for he was resolved never to release his fellow-countrymen from their oath, but of his own will to make an end of life, notwithstanding that he was yet in the vigour of his days, when life is sweet, and all things round him seemed so fair and prosperous. He c^ed by self-enforced starvation, for not even in death, he thought, should a patriot abandon patriotism, nor should the end of his life be ineffectual, but have its share of virtue and achievement.
After the noble work he had accomplished, he found a true crown of happiness in his death, which he purposed to leave as guardian of the blessings that in life he had con-
LYCURGUS 35
f erred upon his countrymen, since they had sworn to keep his laws until he should return. Nor was his reckoning at fault, so pre-eminent was the city of Sparta in Greece for the excellence of her laws and her good fame ; and for i five hundred years, during the reigns of fourteen kings, she kept unchanged the ordinances of Lycurgus.
III. ARISTIDES.
530 (CIRCA) TO 468 B.C.
" Let his great example stand Colossal, seen of every land, And keep the soldier firm, the statesman pure ; Till in all lands and thro' all human story The path of duty be the way to glory."
TENNYSON : Ode on the Death of the Duke of Wellington.
ARISTIDES belonged to one of the districts of Athens. Of his estate there are different accounts, and some say that he lived all his life in great poverty. In politics he was a sup- porter of aristocracy, and was thus in constant opposition to Themistocles, the champion of the people. It is said that they were brought up together, and even as boys were always rivals, both in work and play. This rivalry from the very first brought out their different characters. Themistocles was sharp and venturesome, full of mischief, and ready for all sorts of escapades. Aristides, on the other hand, was steady, earnest, and conscientious. Falsehood, meanness, or deceit, even in a boyish form, were quite foreign to his nature. One writer relates that their enmity arose and grew to such bitterness on account of a love affair.
Themistocles devoted himself to society, and, thus pro- tected by influence, his power was not to be despised. When someone remarked that he would govern the Athenians well if he would only be fair and impartial to all, he replied : *' I hope I may never sit at that tribunal where
36
ARISTIDES 37
my friends get no more favour from me than strangers." Aristides, however, went his own way in politics, practically alone. At first, though refusing to join his friends in wrong- doing, he did not care to become unpopular by denying them favours; but later, when he saw that power derived from social influence led not a few into unjust dealings, he began to be on his guard against it, maintaining that a good citizen should rely only on the justice and uprightness of his words and actions.
Themistocles was continually raising agitations to thwart and break down the policy of Aristides, who was thus com- pelled in like manner to obstruct his measures, partly in self-defence, and partly to check the growth of his power through popular favour, thinking it better that the people should lose some advantages than that Themistocles, by invariably succeeding, should become paramount in the state. On one occasion he went so far as to oppose, and with success, some necessary measure which Themistocles was introducing. Nevertheless he allowed it to pass, but remarked, as he left the assembly, that the Athenians would never prosper unless they threw both Themistocles and him- self into the pit for condemned criminals.
Another time he had brought a motion before the commons, and, though there was opposition and contention over it, he gained the day ; but when the president was about to put it to the vote, Aristides withdrew his proposal, because he had seen from the debate that it was inexpedient. Often, too, he put forward his opinions by the mouth of other speakers, so that Themistocles might not be led by personal animosity towards himself to obstruct the public good.
It was wonderful how he stood firm in the face of political disturbances. Neither elated by honours nor dismayed by failures, he preserved a calm demeanour, considering it his duty to devote himself to his country, not only without financial reward, but equally regardless of honour and glory.
38 GREEK LIVES FROM PLUTARCH
Hence, when those lines of ^Eschylus were uttered on the
stage —
" His will is not to seem just, but to be so, Reaping the deep-sown furrow of his soul, From which wise counsels spring ' ' —
all eyes in the theatre turned towards Aristides, for to him, above all, it was felt that this virtue belonged.
He stood up most strongly for justice, not only in matters of favour and goodwill, but even against the promptings of anger and enmity. Once he was prosecuting an enemy in the law courts, and after the accusation the judges would not hear the defendant, but sought to give an immediate verdict. Aristides leapt to his feet, and pleaded for the accused that he might be heard and obtain the privileges of the law. Another time he was himself acting as judge between two persons, when one of them said that his opponent had done Aristides much injury. " Say, rather, sir," he observed, " whether he has done any evil to you ; for it is your cause, and not my own, that I am judging."
When he was appointed warden of the public revenues, he proved that not only his colleagues, but also his pre- decessors in office, had appropriated large sums, and especially Themistocles, for, as the poet says —
" Wise as he was, he had an itching palm."*
Themistocles thereupon raised a party against him, im- peached him at the public audit for embezzlement, and obtained his condemnation. The leading citizens of the better class, however, were indignant at this, and through their influence he was not only absolved from the penalty, but elected again to the same office. He now pretended to regret his former proceedings, and showed himself more indulgent. He won the approval of those who defrauded the revenue by not exposing them or requiring strict
* Brutus uses this expression of Cassius, in Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar." The literal meaning here is, "he could not control his hand."
ARISTIDES 39
accounts, so that while they filled their pockets from the public funds they belauded Aristides and took up his cause with the people, in their anxiety for him to be elected again to the treasury. But when the voting was about to take place, he rebuked the Athenians.
" When," he said, " I administered for you faithfully and honourably, I was treated with contumely. But now that I have allowed large sums of public money to pass into the hands of thieves, I am considered a marvellous good citizen. For my part, I am , more ashamed of my present honour than my former condemnation, and I am sorry for you, who think it more estimable to gratify evil-doers than to protect the exchequer." Having thus exposed their frauds, he silenced those who were till then noisily supporting him, but he won the sincere and well-earned esteem of the best people.
When Datis was sent by Darius, nominally to punish the Athenians for burning Sardis, but in reality to conquer the Greeks, and, putting in with his whole fleet at Marathon, began to ravage the country, ten generals were appointed by the Athenians to conduct the war. Of these Miltiades had the greatest reputation, and next to him in power and prestige came Aristides. He supported Miltiades in voting for a battle, and lent no little weight to the scale.
Each general held the command for a day, and when it came to his turn he surrendered it to Miltiades, thus teaching his fellow-officers that there was no disgrace in obedience and submission to wise leadership, but that, on the contrary, it was an honourable and salutary action. So he reconciled their jealousy, and, by inducing them to be content with submitting to the best man's single judgment, he strengthened the hands of Miltiades, who, thus became empowered with absolute authority, for each general waived his day's com- mand and offered it to him.
In the battle the Athenian centre was the hardest pressed, for the barbarians at that point offered the longest resistance
40 GREEK LIVES FROM PLUTARCH
to the two tribes to which Themistocles and Aristides re- spectively belonged, and which fought brilliantly side by side. When at last they had put the enemy to flight, and hurled them back to their ships, they saw that they were not heading for the islands, but were being driven in by stress of weather and the set of the tide on to the coast of Attica.
Alarmed lest they should find Athens undefended and capture it, nine of the tribes made all speed back to the city, and arrived there the same day. Aristides with his own tribe was left at Marathon to guard the prisoners and the booty. He did not belie his reputation, for although there was silver and gold there in abundance, and every variety of dress, and untold wealth of other kinds in the tents and captured vessels, he had no desire to touch them himself, nor would he allow others to do so.
Of all his virtues, it was his justice that chiefly arrested popular attention, because the occasions for its display were the most frequent and the most public. Hence it was that, though a poor man and sprung from the people, he won the most royal and divine title of " The Just " — a title which none among kings or tyrants ever emulated, for they delight rather in such attributes as Sackers of Cities, Thunderbolts, and Conquerors, or again as Eagles and Vultures, preferring, as it seems, the glory of violence and power to that of virtue.*
It so chanced that while his surname at first won for Aristides the love of his countrymen, later on it provoked their envy. This was mainly owing to Themistocles, who dropped into the ears of the populace the suggestion that Aristides had captured the courts of justice by becoming the general judge and arbitrator in all cases, and was insensibly establishing himself as an uncrowned king.
Now, the people were already filled with pride after their
* Compare the well-known hymn, "Conquering kings their titles take," etc,
ARISTIDES 41
victory at Marathon, and thought that the highest honours were due to themselves, so they grudged any man the possession of name and fame above his fellows. They accordingly assembled in the city from all parts of the country, and ostracized Aristides, nominally as a precaution against tyranny, for thus they disguised their jealousy of his renown.
Ostracism, remember, was not a penalty for crime, but was plausibly termed a humiliation and curtailment of excessive power and importance. Briefly described, the procedure was something like this. Each voter took a tablet, or ostracon, and writing on it the name of the citizen whom he wished to banish, handed it in at a railed-off enclosure in the market-place. The registrars first counted the total number of votes, for if there were less than 6,000, the ostracism was null and void ; if more, they next sorted out the names, and the man whose name appeared on the greatest number they declared an exile for ten years, yet without forfeiting possession of his property.
The story goes that, while the votes were being recorded on this occasion, an illiterate rustic handed his tablet to Aristides, whom he took for an ordinary bystander, and asked him to write " Aristides " upon it. The latter inquired in surprise whether Aristides had done him any injury.
" None at all," he said. " I do not know the man. But it annoys me to be always hearing him called ' The Just.' "
Aristides made no reply, but wrote the name on the tablet and handed it back.
As he was leaving the city he stretched out his hand to heaven, and prayed that the Athenians might never fall on days that should cause them to remember Aristides.
Three years later, when Xerxes was marching through Thessaly and Bceotia towards Attica, they rescinded the sentence, and decreed the recall of the exiles, mainly because they feared that Aristides might go over to the enemy, and corrupt a number of the citizens to join the barbarians.
42 GREEK LIVES FROM PLUTARCH
But they did not truly estimate his character, for even before this decree he had been continually urging and stir- ring up the Greeks in the cause of freedom ; and after it, when Themistocles was in absolute command, he supported and co-operated with him in every way, thus promoting the triumph of his greatest enemy for the preservation of his country.
While Eurybiades* and his colleagues were planning to retreat from Salamis, the barbarian fleet meantime had put to sea by night, surrounded the straits, and blockaded the islands. Before anyone else knew of their movements, Aristides with great daring had sailed over from ^Egina through the enemy's fleet, and came by night to the tent of Themistocles. He called him without, and said only this :
" You and I, Themistocles, if we are wise, must hence- forth put aside our vain and puerile feud, and enter on a salutary and honourable rivalry, vying with each other to save Greece — you as a leader and a general, and I as your subordinate and colleague ; for I learn but now that you alone adhere to the best counsels, in urging an immediate engagement in the straits. And though the allies oppose your policy, the enemy appear to be assisting it, for all around us and behind us the sea is full of their ships, so that whether they will or no the Greeks must fight and quit themselves like men, since there is no way left for escape."
To this Themistocles replied : " I could have wished, Aristides, that you had not had the better of me in this matter, but I will endeavour to outdo in deeds the fair beginning of our emulation." At the same time he told him of the stratagem which he had practised on the bar- barians,t and begged him to use persuasion with Eurybiades and show him that their only means of safety lay in risking a naval battle, for Aristides had more influence with him than Themistocles.
* The Spartan admiral, in command of the combined Greek fleet. t Compare p. 69, " Life of Themistocles."
44 GREEK LIVES FROM PLUTARCH
At the council of war the Corinthian general said to Themistocles that his plan was not even approved by his own countryman Aristides, who, though present, had kept silence. Aristides replied that he would not have been silent had not the advice of Themistocles been the best, but that, as it was, he was holding his peace, not from motives of personal regard, but because he approved his policy. The Greek admirals accordingly adopted this plan.
Aristides observed that a small island which lies in the straits off Salamis was full of the enemy's troops, so placing on board some transports a picked body of the best fighting men from the Athenian ranks, he landed on the island, gave battle to the barbarians, and slew all except such of their leaders as were taken alive. Among these were three sons of the king's sister (Sandauce), whom he immediately sent to Themistocles, and who are said to have been sacrificed to Dionysus, according to some oracle, at the bidding of the soothsayer Euphrantidas.*
Aristides stationed a ring of troops all round the islet, and kept a look-out for vessels driven ashore upon it, so that none of his own side might be lost nor any of the enemy escape ; for it was around that place that the ships were most actively engaged and the battle seems to have raged the fiercest. For this reason he set up a trophy there.
After the battle, Themistocles, by way of sounding Aristides, said that what they had already accomplished was indeed a noble achievement, but that greater still remained — to capture Asia in Europe by sailing with all speed to the Hellespont, and breaking down the bridge.t But Aristides exclaimed against the suggestion, and urged him to put it aside and to aim rather at getting the Persian king out of Greece as soon as possible, lest with his immense forces, finding his retreat cut off, he should be driven by necessity to desperate efforts,
* Compare p. 71.
f This was a bridge of boats.
ARISTIDES 45
Themistocles accordingly sent a second secret message to Xerxes by one of the prisoners, bidding him tell the king that the Greeks were clamouring to sail to the bridge, but that he was dissuading them, because he wished to save the king. Thereupon Xerxes, in dismay, hastened back to the Hellespont, but Mardonius was left behind with the pick of the Persian troops, about 300,000 in number.
He was a formidable foe, and, confident in the strength of his land-forces, he addressed menacing letters to the Greeks in such terms as these : '! You, with your wooden walls, have managed to defeat at sea landsmen who cannot handle an oar ; but now, broad is the land of Thessaly, and the Boeotian plain is excellent ground for brave horsemen and hoplites to fight on." To the Athenians he sent a special letter and a message from the king, promising to rebuild their city, give them a large sum of money, and establish their supremacy over the Greeks, if they would remain neutral in the war.
When the Lacedaemonians heard this they were alarmed, and sent envoys to Athens, begging the Athenians to send their women and children to Sparta, and accept from them means of subsistence for their aged citizens ; for the people were suffering severe distress through the devastation of both their city and their territory. Nevertheless, when they had heard the envoys, on the motion of Aristides they re- turned this admirable answer :
" The enemy," they said, " we can forgive for thinking that all things can be bought with wealth and money, for they are ignorant of any higher motive ; but we are indig- nant with the Lacedaemonians in that it is only now that they regard the poverty and distress of the Athenians, and, for- getting our valour and our patriotism, think to induce us to fight for Greece at the price of a few provisions."*
* This bitter reply was due to'the fact that the Spartans had refused to defend Athens against the previous invasion of the Persians, who had destroyed the city and laid waste the country round. Compare p. 66,
46 GREEK LIVES FROM PLUTARCH
Having carried this resolution, Aristides brought the envoys into the assembly, and bade them tell the Lacedae- '"monians that not for all the gold either above the ground or beneath it would the Athenians barter the liberty of Greece. To the envoys of Mardonius he said, pointing to the sun : " So long as yonder orb pursues its wonted way, so long will the Athenians make war upon the Persians, for the sake of their ravaged land and their temples profaned and burned." Furthermore, he carried a decree that the priests should pronounce curses on any man who should make treaty with the Persians or desert the alliance of the Greeks.
When Mardonius invaded Attica the second time, the Athenians again crossed over into Salamis, and Aristides was sent to Sparta to remonstrate with the Lacedaemonians for their slowness and neglect in once more abandoning Athens to the barbarians, and to urge them to come to the aid of those parts of Greece which still held out. The ephors * gave him an audience, but they appeared to spend the day in idleness and recreation, for it happened to be one of their festivals.
But that night, without the knowledge of the Athenians, they despatched a force of 5,000 picked Spartans, each of whom was attended by seven Helots.t When Aristides waited upon them again, they laughed, and said that he was either trifling or asleep, as their army was already on the march against the foreigners. Aristides replied that it was no time for jesting, and that their stratagems would be better employed against the enemy than .upon their friends.
He was appointed to the sole command of the Athenian troops in the campaign, and marched with 8,000 hoplites to Platea. There Pausanias, the commander-in-chief of the Greek forces, joined him with the Spartan contingent, and troops continued to pour in from the other Greek
* The ephors were the chief ministers of state at Sparta, f The Helots were the Spartan serfs or slaves.
ARISTIDES 47
states. The barbarian host was encamped along the river Asopus. Its total extent was so great as to have no fixed^ boundary, but the wall which they had built round their baggage and headquarters measured ten stades* on each of its four sides.
The regiments from Tegea quarrelled with the Athenians about their station in the order of battle, claiming that, if the Spartans occupied the right wing, they should take their usual place on the left, and they supported their claim by recounting the exploits of their ancestors. The Athenians were indignant at this, but Aristides came for- ward and said :
" The present crisis does not permit of our discussing with the Tegeans questions of pedigree or comparative prowess, but to you Spartans and the other Greeks we say that position in the field neither confers valour nor takes it away, and whatsoever station you assign us we will endeavour to adorn, and take care not to disgrace our former achievements. For we are come hither not to quarrel with our allies, but to fight the enemy, and not to sing the praises of our fathers, but to prove ourselves also worthy sons of Greece, since this struggle will soon show what value the Greeks should place on each state and general and private soldier."
When they heard these words the council of war decided in favour of the Athenians, and allotted the left wing to them.
After this, Mardonius, desiring to try conclusions with the Greeks in that arm of his forces wherein he thought himself most superior, sent forward the whole of his cavalry against them. The Greeks were posted on the spurs of Mount Cithaeron, in a strong and rocky position, all but the Megarians. These to the number of 3,000 were encamped on more level ground, and, consequently, suffered severely from the cavalry charges, which swept against them on * A stade was equal to about 607 feet.
48 GREEK LIVES FROM PLUTARCH
all sides. They therefore sent a messenger post-haste to Pausanias to ask for reinforcements. He himself was powerless to help them against cavalry with the heavy Spartan phalanx, so he appealed to the chivalrous emula- tion of the other Greek commanders for volunteers to go to the aid of the Megarians.
The rest hung back, but Aristides accepted the call on behalf of the Athenians, and despatched the most brilliant of his officers with 300 picked men and some archers. They quickly formed into line and advanced at the double, where- upon the barbarian cavalry leader (a very handsome man of extraordinary size and strength), directly he saw them, wheeled his horsemen round, and charged against them. They stood their ground, and a fierce conflict ensued, for they felt that on this engagement they were putting to the proof the whole issue of the struggle.
The barbarian leader was thrown from his horse, which had been shot by an arrow, and fell to the ground. The weight of his armour prevented him from rising, and made it equally difficult for the Athenians, as they fell upon him and struck at him, to reach his body ; for not only his breast and head, but his limbs also were encased in gold and brass and iron. At length someone thrust the sharp butt-end of a dart through the narrow slit in the vizor of his helmet, and so killed him, whereupon the rest of the Persians forsook his body and fled.
After this cavalry skirmish both sides for a long time refrained from giving battle, for both the Greek and Persian soothsayers prophesied victory to those who stood on the defensive, and defeat to the aggressors. Then Mardonius, finding that his provisions would last but a few days longer, and that reinforcements were continually pouring in to the Greek army, grew uneasy, and decided not to wait any longer, but to cross the river Asopus at dawn; and attack the Greeks unawares. He issued orders to this effect to his generals in the evening.
ARISTIDES 49
But about midnight a man on horseback quietly entered the Greek lines, and encountering the sentinels, bade them summon Aristides the Athenian. Aristides obeyed the summons, and the stranger, in a low voice, said :
" I am Alexander* of Macedon, and at the greatest risk I have come here, because of the goodwill I bear the Greeks, that you may not be surprised by a sudden attack, and so fight at a disadvantage. For Mardonius proposes to give you battle to-morrow, not from any confident hope of success, but because of the scarcity of his supplies. The soothsayers are trying to prevent him from fighting by unfavourable omens and oracles, and great despondency and dismay pervades his army. But he is compelled either to take courage and try his chances, or to sit still and face starvation."
So saying, Alexander begged Aristides to take heed and remember his warning, but not to communicate the informa- tion to anyone else. But Aristides replied that it would not be well to conceal the news from Pausanias, since he was commander-in-chief, but that it should be kept secret from the other generals till after the battle ; while, if Greece were victorious, the whole world should hear of the courage and devotion of Alexander.
Thereupon the King of Macedon rode back, and Aristides went to the tent of Pausanias and related the news. Then they summoned .the other generals, and ordered them to hold their troops in readiness for battle.
Meanwhile Pausanias informed Aristides that he thought it better to transfer the Athenians to the right wing, opposite the Persians ; for as they had already met them in battle, they ^would fight better, and with a confidence gained from their previous victory. The left wing he would occupy himself, where he would meet the attack of those Greeks who had joined the Persians.
* This Alexander became King of Macedon about 506 B.C., and died about 455 B.C. Alexander the Great was born 356 B.C.
50 GREEK LIVES FROM PLUTARCH
Mardonius, however, heard of the alteration through some deserters, and whether it was that he was afraid of the Athenians, or that he was ambitious to encounter the Lace- daemonians, he immediately made a corresponding change in his own army, moving the Persians over to the right wing, and stationing his Greek contingent opposite the Athenians. On this transposition being discovered, Pau- sanias again removed to the right wing, and Mardonius likewise returned to his original position on the left wing, facing the Spartans; so the whole day passed without action.
The Greeks then held a council of war, and determined to shift their camp and take up a well-watered position, since the neighbouring springs had been polluted or de- stroyed by the barbarian cavalry.
At nightfall the officers led the way to the place appointed for the new camp, but the rank and file showed extreme reluctance to follow or keep together. No sooner had they left their first entrenchments than the majority of them made off to Platea, and there, as they dispersed and bivouacked at random, the utmost confusion reigned.
The Spartans, as it happened, were unwillingly left behind and isolated from the rest of the troops, owing to one of the officers refusing to quit his post. Pausanias, at a loss what to do, sent a message to the Athenians, who were already on the march, asking them to wait and accompany him. Meantime, with a view to compelling the refractory officer to move, he started with the rest of his forces in the direction of Platea.
Daybreak found the Greeks in this predicament, and Mardonius, who was aware that they had struck their camp, advanced against the Spartans in battle array. The bar- barians made a great deal of noise and shouting, as if it were no battle they expected, but simply a rout of the retreat- ing Greeks. And, indeed, it wanted but a trifle to turn the scale, and make this really happen ; for though Pausanias,
ARISTIDES 51
when he Saw what was taking place, checked the retreat and ordered his men to form up for action, he forgot, for some reason or other, to give the Greeks the signal to engage.
Perhaps he was preoccupied with anger against his in- subordinate officer, or else lost his presence of mind at the suddenness of the enemy's attack. The Greeks, in conse- quence, advanced neither promptly nor compactly, but in small and scattered parties, even when they had already come to close quarters with the enemy.
Pausanias meantime offered sacrifice, but as he obtained no favourable omens he ordered the Spartans to remain still, with their shields before their feet, and await his com- mands, offering no resistance to the enemy. He then sacri- ficed again. The cavalry by this time were coming upon them, missiles began to reach them, and here and there a Spartan was hit. One, by name Callicrates, reputed to have been the finest and handsomest man in the Greek army, fell pierced by an arrow. As he lay dying he said that he did not grieve at death, for he had left his home prepared to die for Greece, but he regretted thus dying without having struck a blow in her cause.
The situation was indeed terrible, but the men showed marvellous self-control. They made no resistance to the enemy's attack, but awaiting the good time of God and their general, they remained steadfast, though wounded and falling in their ranks.
Pausanias was in despair as the soothsayer offered victim after victim. With tears in his eyes he turned toward the Temple of Hera, and prayed to her and all the other guardian deities of Platea, that even if the Greeks were not destined to conquer, they might at least achieve something ere they fell, and show the enemy that they had fought with brave men who had learned the lessons of war.
While Pausanias was thus invoking the gods, the sacred tokens appeared in the sacrifice, and the soothsayers pro-
4—2
52 GREEK LIVES FROM PLUTARCH
phesied victory. The word was given to the whole army to go into action, and suddenly the phalanx* looked like one fierce monster bristling and putting forth his strength. At that moment the barbarians realized that they had to deal with men who would fight to the death.
Protecting themselves with their shields, they began to shoot their arrows at the Spartans ; but the latter, keeping their close formation, advanced and hurled themselves upon the enemy, dashing aside their wicker shields, and driving their spears into their faces and breasts. Numbers of the Persians were struck down, but they fought bravely, and did not fall without a struggle. Seizing the spears with their bare hands, they broke most of them, and then, quickly drawing their weapons, went to work with knife and scimitar, and grappled with the Spartans, dragging aside their shields. Thus for a long time they resisted the Spartan attack.
The Athenians, meanwhile, were quietly waiting for the Spartans, as had been arranged ; but when the loud din of the battle reached their ears, and a messenger arrived from Pausanias with the news of what was taking place, they started at full speed for the scene of action. As they pro- ceeded across the plain in the direction of the noise, they saw the disloyal Greeks in the Persian army bearing down upon them. Thereupon Aristides went forward some dis- tance in advance of his troops, and in a loud voice, invoking the gods of Greece, called upon them to withdraw from the battle, and mot stand in the way of the Athenians to hinder them from bearing aid to the champions of their country.
When, however, he saw that they did not respond to his appeal and were drawn up in fighting formation, he altered his plans and gave them battle instead of going to the
* The phalanx was a line, varying in depth, of hoplites, or heavy- armed troops, the front rank all holding up their large shields side by side, and thus presenting a sort of wall to the enemy, under cover of which they advanced.
ARISTIDES 53
assistance of the Spartans. The majority of them, finding that the barbarians had been defeated, immediately broke and fled, and the chief struggle was with the Thebans, whose leading men at that time were strong partisans of Persia, and had compelled the commons to take the field against their will.
Thus the battle was divided into two parts. The Spar- tans first routed the Persians, and Mardonius himself was slain by a Spartan soldier, who broke his head with a stone, thus fulfilling an oracle which had foretold the manner of his death. The flying Persians were driven within their wooden stockades. A little later the Athenians put the Thebans to flight, having killed some 300 of their foremost men.
After the rout was completed, a messenger arrived with the news that the barbarian host was shut up and besieged within their enclosure. So the Athenians allowed the Greek rebels to escape, and went to assist in the siege. When they arrived on the scene they found the Spartans making very slow progress, as they were inexperienced in siege operations. The Athenians captured the camp with great slaughter of the enemy. Out of the 300,000 only 40,000 are said to have escaped, while of the Greek forces there fell in all only 1,360.
After the battle the Athenians were unwilling to accord the meed of valour to the Spartans, or to agree to their setting up a trophy, and the cause of Greece was like to have been ruined by an appeal to arms, had not Aristides used a]l his persuasion and moral influence with his fellow- generals, whereby he succeeded in restraining them, and induced them to submit the question to the arbitration of the Greeks.
A council was held, and one of the generals said that, unless they wished to stir up civil war, they must award the palm to some third state. Thereupon a Corinthian general named Cleocritus stood up, and everyone expected that he would urge the claims of his own countrymen ; but to the
54 GREEK LIVES FROM PLUTARCH
surprise and delight of all, he spoke in favour of the Plateans. He advised the two rival states to lay aside their feud, and grant the prize to that gallant little city, of whom neither could be jealous. After this speech Aristides was the first to give his consent on behalf of the Athenians, and Pausanias followed suit for the Spartans.
The quarrel thus reconciled, a sum of eighty talents was assigned to the Plateans, with which they erected their temple and statue of Athene, and adorned the building with pictures, that retain their beauty to this day.* The Spartans and Athenians set up separate trophies. When the Greeks consulted the Delphic oracle as to the manner of their sacrifices, the priest bade them dedicate an altar to Zeus as god of liberty, but not sacrifice thereon until they had put out all the fire in the country, which the barbarians had polluted, and kindled it afresh with pure fire from the national shrine at Delphi.
Therefore the Greek leaders immediately went round the land, and caused all fires to be extinguished by such as used them, and a Platean named Euchidas undertook to bring fire from the sacred hearth with all possible speed. Arrived at Delphi, he purified his body, sprinkled himself with holy water, and set a garland on his head. Then he took fire from the altar and returned running to Platea, where he arrived before set of sun, having accomplished in one day a journey of 1,000 stades.f But the moment he had greeted his countrymen and handed them the fire, he fell down exhausted, and soon after breathed his last. The Plateans buried him with reverence in the temple of the goddess Artemis, and wrote upon his tomb this verse :
" Euchidas to Delphi ran, there and back the self-same day."
After this a general assembly of the Greeks was held, and Aristides proposed that every year representative
* That is, of course, Plutarch's day.
f The distance from Platea to Delphi and back was thus about 114 miles, a stade being equal to about 200 yards.
ARISTIDES 55
ambassadors from Greece should meet at Platea, and that every five years they should celebrate there the Games of Liberty; also that there should be a general Greek levy of 10,000 foot, 1,000 horse, and 100 ships for the war with the barbarians, but that the Plateans should be exempt, and have the privileges of sanctuary, by virtue of their religious observances on behalf of Greece. When this had been ratified, the Plateans accepted the duty of commemorating every year the obsequies of those Greeks who fell and were buried there.
After the Athenians had returned to their city, Themis- tocles told the people that he had a project in mind which would be highly advantageous to the state, but was of such a nature that he could not make it public. They instructed Aristides to hear it in private, and confer with him upon it. Themistocles then informed Aristides that he had conceived the idea of burning the Greek fleet, for by this means the Athenians would obtain the supreme power in Greece. Aristides came before the people and announced that nothing could be more profitable than the scheme which Themistocles had in view, but at the same time nothing more unjust. On hearing this the Athenians commanded Themistocles to relinquish his design, such was their love of justice, and such the confidence which they reposed in Aristides.
He was now sent out as general along with Cimon to prosecute the war. Observing that Pausanias and the other Spartan leaders made themselves objectionable to the allies by their arrogance, he assumed a genial and sociable demeanour himself, and also influenced Cimon to cultivate a spirit of harmony and good comradeship in their joint expeditions.
Thus he insensibly won from the Spartans the control of the allies, not by superiority in men or ships or horses, but simply by the power of kindness and urbanity. The over- bearing insolence of Pausanias made Athenian supremacy
56 GREEK LIVES FROM PLUTARCH
still more acceptable to the Greeks, whom the integrity of Aristides and the affability of Cimon had already conciliated.
Pausanias always behaved proudly and harshly to the confederate leaders, and was continually punishing the men, either by flogging, or making them stand all day with an iron anchor fastened upon them. No one was allowed even to take straw and forage, or go to a spring to draw water, until the Spartan officers had first been supplied, and their servants stood by with whips to drive off any that came near. When Aristides attempted to remonstrate with him about these things, Pausanias remarked, with a frown, that he had no time to discuss the subject, and refused to listen to him.
After this the Greek admirals and generals approached Aristides and urged him to assume the command, and invite the support of the confederates, who had long desired to be released from the Spartan yoke, and transfer their allegiance to the Athenians. He answered that, as far as words went, he saw the necessity and justice of their pro- posal, but that he would like some practical proof of their good faith which should make it impossible for the men to change their minds again.
Accordingly, two of the commanders conspired together, and when they were off Byzantium on the open sea they overtook the trireme of Pausanias, which was sailing in advance of the rest of the fleet, and ran their vessels against it. When he saw this he rose up in wrath, and threatened that he would soon show these fellows that the blow they had struck was not against his ship, but against their own countries. They, however, bade him be gone, and be thank- ful that fortune fought for him at Platea, for nothing but their respect for that victory prevented the Greeks from taking just vengeance upon him. Finally, they revolted and went over to the Athenians.
It was then that the national temper of Sparta showed
ARISTIDES 57
itself most admirably. Realizing that her officers were being spoiled by too much power, she voluntarily surren- dered her supremacy, and ceased to send out generals to conduct the war, choosing rather to preserve in her citizens a spirit of moderation and unswerving virtue than to retain her position as mistress of all Greece.
Under the Spartan rule the Greeks were paying a certain tax towards the expenses of the war, but wishing to have each city fairly rated, they persuaded the Athenians to appoint Aristides, and intrusted him with the inspection of their lands and revenues and the apportionment of the amount due from each according to their resources.
Invested as he was with such authority, he had, in a manner, absolute] control over the whole affairs of Greece placed in his hands. But though he went out a poor man, yet he returned poorer still, having arranged the assessment, not only justly and honourably, but ,on terms that were agreeable and satisfactory to all. For as the ancients praised the times of Saturn," so the allies of Athens were wont to extol the settlement of Aristides, calling it the golden age of Greece, especially as not long afterwards the tax was doubled, and later on trebled.
Aristides acquired an extraordinary reputation by this assessment, but Themistocles is said to have sneered at it, saying that such praise was unworthy of a man, and only fit for a miserly money-bag. This was a weak retaliation for some plain-speaking 'on the part of Aristides, who one day, when Themistocles remarked that he thought the highest quality in a general was the faculty of under- standing and foreseeing the designs of the enemy, replied : " Yes, Themistocles, that is indeed indispensable ; but there is another admirable quality, and truly becoming in a general, and that is, to keep clean hands."
Aristides was scrupulously just in his private dealings
* For the fall of Saturn, as chief of the gods, compare Keats' poem " Hyperion." Saturn was the father of Jupiter (Greek Zeus).
58 GREEK LIVES FROM PLUTARCH
and in matters affecting his fellow-citizens, but in public affairs he frequently acted in the interests of his country on the principle that this often demanded unjust means. Thus, when the discussion took place as to transferring the confederate treasury to Athens, he declared that it was not just, but it was nevertheless expedient.
To the very end, though he had raised his native city to such a position of sovereignty, he himself continued poor, and throughout his life he set as much store by the respect which the fact of his poverty obtained for him, as he did by the reputation he had won through his military trophies. In proof of this take the following story.
A relative of his named Callias was being prosecuted by his enemies on a capital charge. When they had put forward their accusation on the question at issue without much effect, they submitted to the jury an irrelevant argu- ment in some such terms as these : " You know Aristides," they said, " who is held in such wonderful esteem among the Greeks. When you look at the coat he wears when he appears in public, what do you- suppose is the state of his domestic affairs ? Is it not likely that a man who goes about shivering suffers hunger at home and lacks the other necessaries of life ? Yet he it is whom his cousin Callias, the richest man in Athens, sees living in poverty with his wife and children, without an effort to help him, although he has often made use of him, and availed himself of his influence with you."
Callias saw that this made a sensation among the jury, and prejudiced them strongly against him. He therefore summoned Aristides to the witness-box, and called upon him to give evidence that he had often and often offered him assistance, and begged him to accept it ; but that he had refused, saying that he had greater cause to be proud of his poverty than Callias of his wealth.
Many men, he would say, can be found who make both a good and a bad use of riches, but it is not easy to meet with
ARISTIDES «• 59
one who nobly endures poverty, and it is only those who are poor against their will that are ashamed of it. When he had given this testimony in behalf of his friend, there was not a man present who did not leave the court with a desire to be poor like Aristides rather than rich like Callias.
Among all the great and celebrated men whom Athens produced, Plato declared Aristides alone to be worthy of esteem ; for while Themistocles and Cimon and Pericles filled the city with fine buildings and treasure and all manner of folly, Aristides made virtue the guiding principle of his public life.
He gave signal proofs of magnanimity in his conduct towards Themistocles. Although the latter had been his enemy throughout his public career, and had been the means of his ostracism, yet when Themistocles fell into public disfavour he did not take the opportunity to be revenged upon him. While many others joined in the indictment and banishment of Themistocles, Aristides alone took not the slightest part in it, either by word or deed.* He did not rejoice over his enemy's misfortune, just as he had not envied him his former prosperity.
The death of Aristides, according to some accounts, took place in Pontus, whither he had sailed upon some public business. Others say that he died at Athens in a good old age, honoured and revered by his fellow-citizens. His tomb, which is still to be seen, is said to have been erected by the state, as he did not leave enough even to pay for his funeral.
* This recalls another line in Tennyson's "Ode on the Death of the Duke of Wellington " :
1 ' Who never spoke against a foe."
IV. THEM1STOCLES.
514 TO 449 B.C.
" Victus ergo est (barbarus) magis consilio Themistoclis, quam armis Graeciae."— CORNELIUS NEPOS.
THEMISTOCLES began life with no advantage of birth to help him to distinction, for he was of obscure parentage. His father, Neocles, belonged to a family of no particular note at Athens, while on his mother's side he was an alien. Her name was Abrotonon, of whom the poet says :
" Thracian by birth am I, but yet can boast I gave to Hellas great Themistocles."
Even as a boy he is said to have been full of enterprise, quick-witted, ambitious, and public-spirited. In his hours of leisure and recreation after lessons he would not play or idle about like other boys, but spent his time composing speeches and declaiming them by himself. These speeches usually consisted of an impeachment or defence of one of his schoolfellows. " You will be a great man, my boy," the master used to say, " and your greatness will be either wholly good or wholly evil."
He took no interest in moral subjects or artistic accom- plishments, and .was backward in learning them, but he excelled by nature in all matters requiring intelligence and capacity for action. Consequently, when in after-life he was jeered at by certain persons who considered themselves
60
THEMISTOCLES 61
adept in the graces of polite society, he was obliged to retort, with somewhat brutal frankness, that if he could not play the lyre or handle a psaltery, he knew how to raise a small and obscure city to a position of greatness and splendour.
In the first exuberance of youth he was wild and unruly, giving free rein to his natural propensities, which led him into great deviations from the path of custom in both direc- tions, good and evil, often distinctly for the worse. He used to confess as much himself in later years, remarking that the wildest colts make the best horses when properly trained and broken in. Some writers make this a peg on which to hang various fabrications, as, for instance, that he was disinherited by his father, and that his mother com- mitted suicide from grief at her son's disgrace. These tales, I think, have been entirely discredited.
On the other hand, some relate that his father tried to dissuade him from a public career, and pointing to some old hulks of disused triremes that lay upon the shore, observed, " That is just how demagogues, when they are past service, are treated by the populace."
Politics, however, seemed to have a fascination for Themistocles, and even in his early youth he was over- mastered by the desire of fame. Thus at the very outset of his career, by his impetuous ambition, he incurred the enmity of those in power, especially Aristides, to whom he was constantly opposed. This quarrel seems to have origin- ated in their youth, having sprung from rivalry in love, but they afterwards carried the feud into public affairs. Not but what the difference of their lives and characters would seem to have increased their enmity.
Aristides was a man of mild temper and honourable character, whose object as a politician was not to win favour or gratify his own ambition, but to promote the welfare of the state, and to serve its best interests, con- sistently with justice. So he was often compelled to oppose Themistocles, and stand in the way of his advancement,
62 GREEK LIVES FROM PLUTARCH
when the latter was urging all manner of schemes upon the people, and wanted to introduce great innovations.
Themistocles was carried away by ambition, and eager to distinguish himself by great achievements. He was quite a youth when the battle of Marathon was fought against the barbarians, and the splendid generalship of Miltiades was the talk of the town. It was then observed that he often remained alone in gloomy meditation, and that he lay awake at night, and excused himself from the convivial . meetings which he usually frequented. When his friends questioned him, wondering at the change in his habits, he replied that he could not sleep for thinking of the triumph of Miltiades.
Most people, indeed, thought that the defeat of the bar- barians at Marathon was the end of the war, but Themis- tocles saw in it the commencement of a greater struggle, for which he began to brace himself and to prepare the city on behalf of all Greece, thus early anticipating the events of the future.
His first step was in connection with the silver mines at Laurium, the revenue arising from which the Athenians were accustomed to share for their private use. Themis- tocles alone had the courage to come forward and propose in the assembly that they should forego their dividends, and use the money to build triremes for the yEginetan war. This war was at its height just then, and the ^Eginetans held command of the sea by means of their superior navy.
So Themistocles obtained sanction for this expenditure, by thus opportunely availing himself of the popular feeling against ^Egina, more easily than if he had threatened the Athenians with Darius and the Persians, for the latter were far away; and as there seemed no immediate prospect of invasion, the danger did not come home to them. Out of that money they built 100 triremes, which were the very vessels that afterwards fought against Xerxes, and proved the salvation of the Greeks.
THEMISTOCLES 63
Themistocles gained the favour of the people partly by remembering to address every citizen by name in conversa- tion, and partly by his impartiality as a judge in cases of contract. On one occasion he said to the poet Simonides, who brought some unreasonable suit during his magistracy : "You would not be a good poet. if. you broke the laws of rhythm', and I shoul^ao-t .be a good magistrate if I broke the laws of justice in order to do you a favour." Another time he made game of Simonides by remarking that it was folly in him to abuse the, Corinthians, who had such a fine city, while he kept having portraits of himself made in spite of his ugly face.
The power and popularity of Themistocles so increased that at lengtii he was able to defeat the party of Aristides, and procure his banishr»er^^
By this tinje the ^'Persians were preparing to invade Greece, and the Athenians were considering who should be their general. Most of their officers, it is said, were glad to stand aside from such a hazardous appointment. But a demagogue named Epicydes, who, although a ferocious orator, was a coward at heart, and, moreover, amenable to bribery, sought to obtain the command, and on a show of hands seemed likely to be successful. Themistocles was afraid that all would end in disaster if the choice fell upon him, and tradition relates that he bought off the ambition of Epicydes with a sum of money. Most important of all, however, he put an end to the Greek civil wars, and recon- ciled the states one with another, persuading them to sink their differences in face of a common foe.
He then assumed the command, and immediately tried to make the citizens embark on their triremes, urging them to abandon Athens and meet the barbarians at sea, as far from Greece as possible. To this proposal there was great opposition, so he led a large army to Tempe, accompanied by the Lacedaemonians, with the idea of making that the first line of defence, as Thessaly had not yet shown signs of
64 GREEK LIVES FROM PLUTARCH
favouring the Persians. The expedition returned, however, without accomplishing anything ; the Thessalians went over to the king, and the whole country came under Persian influ- ence up to the borders of Bceotia. After that the Athenians began to incline to the naval policy of Themistocles, and he was sent with a fleet to guard the straits of Artemisium.
Arrived there, the Greeks called upon Eurybiades and the Lacedaemonians to take the chief command ; but the Athenians, whose fleet was larger than that of all the rest combined, objected to occupy a subordinate position. Themistocles, realizing the danger, voluntarily resigned the command to Eurybiades, and mollified the Athenians by assuring them that if they proved themselves good men and true in the war, the Greeks would willingly agree for the future to acknowledge their pride of place. To him, therefore, the salvation of Greece would seem to have been chiefly due, and it was to his advice that the Athenians owed the distinction of surpassing their enemies in valour and their allies in magnanimity.
When the barbarian armada hove in sight, Eurybiades was dismayed at the number . of ships actually in view ; but when he learnt that 200 more were sailing round, he pro- posed to return with all speed into Grecian waters, and, hugging the Peloponnesian coast, secure the co-operation of the land-forces with the fleet. He regarded an attack upon the king's naval armament as out of the question. There- upon the Euboeans, alarmed at the prospect of being aban- doned by the Greeks, entered into secret negotiations with Themistocles, to whom they sent a messenger with a large sum of money. He accepted it, as we read in Herodotus, and bestowed it among the advisers of Eurybiades.
His chief opponent in the Athenian pontingent was Architeles, commanding the sacred trireme,* who, having
* This was one of two state vessels kept by the Athenians for special occasions, and called the Paralus and the Salaminia. See " Dictionary of Antiquities" under those names. Compare also p. 116.
TKEMISTOCLES 65
no money to pay his crew, was anxious to sail home. Themistocles encouraged the men in their grievances, and incited them to make a raid upon the food provided for their captain's dinner. While Architeles was in a state of despondency and indignation at this occurrence, Themis- tocles sent him a hamper of provisions containing bread and meat, under which he had secreted a talent of silver, with the request that he would fall to and have his supper that night, and settle with his crew in the morning, otherwise he would accuse him before the Athenians of having money from the enemy in his possession.
The engagements which then took place with the bar- barian fleet in the straits had no decisive effect on the general issue of the struggle, but the experience was of the greatest value to the Greeks, for it taught them by the logic of events, as opposed to imaginary dangers, that neither the number of ships, nor their splendid fittings and decora- tions, nor boastful shouts and barbarous war- songs, had any terrors for brave men trained in hand-to-hand fighting. They saw that they could afford to despise all such things, and that their object should be to come to close quarters with the enemy and fight it out to the end.
When news of the disaster at Thermopylae reached the
Greeks at Artemisium, and they heard that Leonidas had
fallen and Xerxes was master of the approaches by land,
they sailed back into Grecian waters. The Athenians
brought up the rear, as the post of honour in recognition of
their valour, and were in high spirits over their achievements.
Themistocles, as he sailed along the coast, at every place
where he saw that the enemy would .be likely to land or put
I in, wrote in bold characters on the rocks (some of which he
found ready to, hand, and others he himself set up near
the havens and seaports) an inscription calling upon the
lonians,* if possible, to desert the ranks of the enemy and
join the Greeks, from whom they were descended, and who
* The Greeks of Asia Minor, who were fighting on the Persian side.
5
66 GREEK LIVES FROM PLUTARCH
were now risking all in defence of their liberty. If they could not do that, he urged them at least to cause mischief and confusion in the barbarian host in time of action. By this means he hoped either to win over the lonians, or to sow discord by increasing the suspicions of the barbarians against them.
Xerxes had now invaded Phocis, whose cities he was ravaging with fire and sword, yet the Greeks sent them no help, although the Athenians begged them to advance against him into Bceotia, and thus protect the frontiers of Attica, as they themselves had come up to Artemisium by sea to aid the common cause. No one, however, responded to their appeal, but all eyes were turned to the Peloponnese, and the Greeks set to work to collect all their forces within the Isthmus, and to build a wall across it from sea to sea.
The Athenians were possessed with mingled feelings of rage at this betrayal, and despondency and dejection at seeing themselves thus isolated. They had no mind to give battle to such an enormous army. The only possible alter- native— namely, to abandon the city and transplant them- selves on shipboard — was distasteful to the majority, for, as they thought, they could neither pray for victory nor ap- preciate safety if they deserted the temples of the gods and the tombs of their fathers.
At this crisis Themistocles, desparing of human argu- ments to convince the people, had recourse, so to speak, to stage machinery, as in a tragedy, and brought heavenly portents and oracles upon the scene. The portent he chose was the disappearance at that time of the sacred serpent of Athene. The priests, finding that the daily offerings set before it were untouched, announced to the multitude, at a hint from Themistocles, that the goddess had left the city, and was guiding them towards the sea. He influenced the people also through the Delphic oracle,* telling them that
* The oracle had stated that ' ' safety would be found in the wooden wall, and divine Salamis would destroy the children of men."
THEMISTOCLES 67
the words " wooden wall " could have only one meaning
namely, their ships — and that the reason why Apollo called Salamis "divine," instead of "ill-boding" or " miserable," as formerly, was that its name was destined to be associated with some event of great good-fortune to the Greeks.
The counsels of Themistocles prevailed, and he proposed a decree that they should entrust the city to the keeping of Athene, "guardian goddess of Athens," that all able-bodied men should embark on the triremes, and that each should provide as best he could for the safety of the children, women, and slaves. When this decree was passed, most of the Athenians conveyed their parents and wives to Trcezen, where they were received with the utmost hos- pitality. The Troezenians voted public money for their maintenance, awarding to each the sum of two obols,* gave permission to the children to gather fruit in any part of the surrounding country, and even paid the fees of teachers for their education.
The scene of the embarkation of the Athenians inspired the onlookers with mingled feelings of pity and admiration for their courage. Here were men sending away their families to a foreign country, unmoved by lamentations, tears, and embraces, while they crossed over themselves to the island of Salamis. To their great distress, however, many of the citizens had to be left behind on account of their old age. Even the tame domestic animals aroused some heart-breaking emotion, as they ran along the shore, expressing their affection in mournful howls, while their masters went on board. Among these was a dog belong- ing to Xanthippus, the father of Pericles. Refusing to be left behind, it jumped into the sea and swam beside the trireme until it reached Salamis, when it died from sheer exhaustion.
* An obol was worth about i^d., but its purchasing power would of course be greater, Compare the " two pence " given to the inn-keeper in the parable.
5—2
68'> GREEK LIVES FROM PLUTARCH
We have already noticed some of the great actions of Themistocles, and now we come to another. When he saw that the people regretted the loss of Aristides, and were afraid that indignation might prompt him to join the bar- barians and ruin the cause of Greece, he proposed a decree that all who were suffering temporary banishment should be allowed to return and give their fellow-citizens the benefit of their help and advice in serving the best interests of their country.
Owing to the prestige of Sparta, the command of the fleet was given to Eurybiades, but he showed weakness at the approach of danger, and wished to weigh anchor and sail to the Isthmus, where the Peloponnesian army was assembled. But Themistocles opposed him, and it was on this occasion, they say, that the memorable debate took* place. Eurybiades said to him :
" Themistocles, those who start before the signal at the games are flogged."
" Quite so," replied Themistocles ; " but those who are left behind are never crowned."
Eurybiades raised his stick as though to strike him, whereupon Themistocles said :
" Strike, but listen."
Then Eurybiades, moved with admiration at his forbear- ance, bade him speak on, and Themistocles was proceeding to draw him back to the discussion, when someone inter- rupted, and said that a homeless man had no right to require others to forsake their homes. Themistocles turned on him and cried :
"Thou knave, it is true that we have abandoned our homes and our walls, for we think it not worth while to be enslaved for the sake of material things, but we have still the greatest city of the Greeks in those 200 triremes yonder. These at present are at your service, if you will only take that means of safety ; but if you leave us in the lurch a second time, the Greeks will soon discover that the
THEMISTOCLES 69
Athenians have gained as free a city and as fair a country as that which they have left behind."
This speech of Themistocles caused Eurybiades to reflect and feel uneasy about the Athenians, lest they should go off and desert the allies. When the Eretrian commander attempted to address him, Themistocles said :
" What ! have you, too, something to say about war, who, like the cuttle-fish, have a sword but no heart ?"
While Themistocles was thus disputing from the upper deck of his vessel, an owl is said to have been seen flying across to the right of the ships and perching on the shrouds, and this omen chiefly induced the allies to accept his advice and prepare for a naval battle.
But when the enemy's fleet appeared, bearing down upon Attica, and shutting out from view all the adjacent coast, and the king himself with his land-forces marched down to the sea and was seen in his assembled power — at the sight of this junction of armaments the Greeks forgot the counsels of Themistocles, and the Peloponnesians began to cast wistful glances towards the Isthmus. Any other suggestion was indignantly rejected; they determined to retreat that night, and gave sailing orders to the pilots accordingly.
Themistocles was enraged at the prospect of the Greeks abandoning the advantage of their position in the straits and dispersing to their several cities, so he set his wits to work and devised the following scheme.
He had in his service a Persian named Sicinnus, who was a captive, but devoted to Themistocles, and tutor to his children. This man he sent privately to Xerxes, bidding him say that Themistocles, the Athenian commander, was espousing the cause of the king, and wished to be the first to send him news that the Greeks were retreating. He urged him not to let them escape, but to attack them in their present confusion, while separated from their land- forces, and so destroy their naval power.
Xerxes was delighted with this message, which he accepted
70 GREEK LIVES FROM PLUTARCH
as proceeding from goodwill, and immediately issued an edict to the captains of his ships to the effect that, leaving the rest to be manned at leisure, they should at once put to sea with 200, and form a ring round the entire straits, encircling the islands so that none of the enemy should escape.
The first of the Greeks to observe these operations was Aristides. He went straight to the tent of Themistoclesj although not on friendly terms with him, having, in fact, as we know, been ostracized through his influence. Themis- tocles came forward. Aristides told him of the enemy's enveloping movement. Themistocles, knowing the perfect honour of the man, and delighted with his coming at such a time, revealed the story of Sicinnus, and begged him to throw in his lot with the Greeks, and use his great influence in urging them to fight a naval battle in the straits.
Aristides commended the action of Themistocles, and going round to the other admirals and captains, vehemently advocated an engagement. While they were still inclined to disbelieve his report, a Tenian trireme, which had deserted from the enemy, came on the scene with the news that they were being surrounded. The adhesion of this vessel put heart into the Greeks, and though fighting under compulsion, they prepared to face the emergency in high spirits.
At daybreak Xerxes seated himself on the heights to view the disposition of his fleet.* A golden throne was placed for him, and a number of scribes were at hand, whose duty it was to record the incidents of the battle.
Meanwhile, as Themistocles was offering sacrifice on the deck of the flagship, three prisoners were brought to him,
* Compare the famous lines of Byron in "Don Juan " :
1 ' A king sat on the rocky brow,
That looks o'er sea-born Salamis ; And ships, by thousands, lay below,
And men in nations — all were his ! He counted them at break of day, And when the sun set, where were they ?"
THEMISTOCLES 71
handsome men and gorgeously dressed, wearing golden ornaments. They were said to be sons of the king's sister. Just then a great bright flame shone out from the altar, and a sneeze was heard on the right. Thereupon the sooth- sayer Euphrantidas, as soon as he saw the prisoners, took Themistocles by the hand and bade him consecrate the youths and sacrifice them all, with a prayer, to Dionysus. This, he said, would bring the Greeks victory as well as safety.
Themistocles was astounded at so monstrous and terrible a doom, but, as usual in a great crisis and a position of danger, the multitude trusted to irrational rather than rational means of safety. Invoking the god with one voice, they led the prisoners to the altar, and insisted on the consummation of the sacrifice, as the soothsayer had commanded.
Regarding the numbers of the barbarian fleet, the poet ^Eschylus tells us as a matter of established fact —
1 ' I know that Xerxes had a thousand ships : Seven and twice a hundred were of speed Pre-eminent : such was the reckoning."
The Attic ships were but 180 in number. Each carried eighteen fighting men on deck, of whom four were archers and the rest heavy-armed.
Themistocles seems to have chosen the time for action as wisely as the place, for he took care not to send his vessels to the attack until that hour of the day when a fresh breeze usually blows in from the sea, causing rough water in the straits. This did not trouble the Greek vessels, low built as they were, and almost level with the sea. But when it struck the ponderous barbarian ships, with their high poops and lofty decks bearing heavily along, it threw them into confusion, and exposed them broadside on to the fierce attacks of the enemy.
The Greeks followed the guidance of Themistocles, for
72 GREEK LIVES FROM PLUTARCH
they had confidence in his leadership and judgment, and they noticed also that the Persian admiral Ariamenes directed his movements chiefly against him. From his large vessel Ariamenes sent showers of arrows and spears as from a fort.* He was one of the king's brothers, a brave man, and far the strongest and most honourable of them all. He was attacked by a Greek galley, and as the two ships struck prow to prow their brazen beaks locked together and held fast. As Ariamenes was boarding the trireme the Greeks repelled his onslaught, and with thrusts of their spears hurled him overboard into the sea. His body was recognised, among other floating wreckage, by Queen Artemisia, who carried it back to Xerxes.
The first to capture a ship was an Athenian captain named Lycomedes, who struck the enemy's flag, and dedi- cated it to Apollo. In the narrow straits the Greek fleet was on equal terms in point of numbers with the barbarians, who could only advance in detachments at a time, and were continually falling foul of one another. Though they maintained the struggle until evening, the Greeks put them to utter rout, and gained that glorious and far-famed victory, than which no more brilliant naval exploit has ever been performed either by Greeks or barbarians. Their triumph was due partly to the valour and patriotic zeal of the crews, but above all to the wisdom and genius of Themistocles.
After the battle, Xerxes, still bent on fighting in spite of the disaster, attempted to convey his troops over into Salamis by means of a mole, with which he blocked up the channel, so that he might attack the Greeks on the island.
* Compare Southey's lines on the Spanish Armada :
' ' Each like some moving citadel, On through the waves they sail sublime. ' '
The whole story of the Persian invasion of Greece, and the battle of Salamis, presents many points of comparison with the story of the Spanish Armada.
THEMISTOCLES 73
Meanwhile Themistocles, in order to sound Aristides, pre- tended to be of opinion that they should sail to the Hellespont and break down the bridge of boats. " For thus," he said, " we can take Asia in Europe." Aristides, however, strongly opposed the suggestion, arguing as follows.
" Hitherto," he said, " we have had to deal with an enemy living in the lap of luxury ; but if we shut him up in Greece and frighten him into feeling the pressure of necessity, when he is still master of such enormous forces, he will no longer sit down under a golden canopy and watch the fighting at his ease ; he will summon up his courage, supervise every- thing in person, and thus retrieve what he has lost, and take better measures for ultimate success. Far from breaking down the present bridge, Themistocles, our object should be, if possible, to build yet another, so as to turn the man out of Europe with all the speed we may."
" Well, then," replied Themistocles, " if that is to be our policy, it is time we all began to set our wits to work to find the quickest means of getting him out of the country."
When this was decided, he sent one of the king's attend- ants whom he found among the prisoners, and bade him tell Xerxes that the Greeks had determined, after their naval victory, to sail to the Hellespont and destroy the bridge of boats, but that Themistocles, in his solicitude for the king, sends him warning to make all speed back to his own waters. Meantime he promised to find pretexts for delay, and cause the allies to postpone the pursuit. Xerxes, alarmed at this news, made hasty preparations for retreat. The wisdom of this policy on the part of Themistocles and Aristides was apparent when Mardonius, with only a fraction of the king's forces, endangered the whole Greek cause at the battle of Platea.
Among the cities the ^Eginetans were held to have dis- tinguished themselves most in the battle of Salamis, but of individuals it was Themistocles to whom all were reluctantly compelled, in spite of their envy, to award the palm. For
74 GREEK LIVES FROM PLUTARCH
when the commanders, on their return to the Isthmus, took a voting-tablet from the altar, each inscribed it first with his own name, and secondly with that of Themistocles.
The Lacedaemonians took him down to Sparta, and gave him a crown of olive * as a prize for wisdom, while they gave one to Eurybiades for valour. They also presented Themis- tocles with the finest chariot the city could produce, and sent an escort of 300 young men to conduct him to the frontiers. The story goes that when the next Olympic games were held, and Themistocles appeared in the enclosure, the spectators paid no further heed to the athletes, but spent the whole day gazing at him and pointing him out to strangers, with admiration and applause, so that he was delighted, and confessed to his friends that he was reaping the fruit of his labours on behalf of Greece.
He was by nature very greedy of notoriety, if we may judge from the anecdotes which have been recorded about him. When he was elected admiral by the Athenians, he would not transact any business, either public or private, incidentally as it arose, but deferred everything to the day on which he intended to embark, so that, having many matters to attend to all at once, and all sorts of people to interview, he might appear as the great man and make the most of his own importance.
One day he was looking at the corpses which had been cast up by the sea after the naval battle, and saw that they were wearing golden bracelets and necklaces. He passed on, but pointing out the trinkets to his com- panion, said : " Pick them up for yourself, for you are not Themistocles."
He used to say that the Athenians did not honour or admire him, but would run to him for protection in time
* This was the prize for victors in the Olympic games. Compare the closing paragraph of Ruskin's Introduction to his book "The Crown of Wild Olive," the title of which has reference to a passage in Aristophanes' " Plutus,"
ENTRANCE TO THE STADION AT OLYMPIA. The stadion was the course where the foot races at the Olympic Games were run.
See p. 74.
THEMISTOCLES 77
of danger,"* like men taking shelter under a plane-tree from a storm, who, when fair weather came, would rend it and strip off its leaves.
When a man from Seriphus told him that he owed his reputation rather to his country than himself, he replied : " You are quite right. If I had been a Seriphian I should never have become famous. Nor would you if you had been an Athenian."
When his little son was lording it over his mother, and
^through her over himself, he said, laughing: "This boy is
greater than any man in Greece ; for the Athenians rule the
Greeks, I rule the Athenians, his mother rules me, and he
rules his mother."
When two suitors sought his daughter in marriage, he preferred the worthy to the rich, saying that he wanted a man without money rather than money without a man.
These anecdotes give us some idea of his ready wit in repartee.
Immediately on his return from the campaign with Persia he took in hand the rebuilding and fortification of Athens. Next he proceeded to construct the Piraeus, whose natural advantages as a harbour he had observed, and thus brought every part of the city into communication with the sea.
He gave offence to the allies by sailing round the islands and exacting tribute, as, for instance, in the case of the Andrians, whose reply to his demand for money is recorded by Herodotus. He told them that he had brought two gods with him, Persuasion and Force. They answered that there were two great gods on their side also — namely, Poverty and Impecuniosity, by whom they were prevented from making the payment.
By this time the Athenians, actuated by envy, were
* Compare Rudyard Kipling's lines on "Tommy Atkins " :
"It's 'Tommy this1 and 'Tommy that,' and 'Chuck him out, the
brute !' But it's ' Please to walk in front, sir,' when the guns begin to shoot.'
78 GREEK LIVES FROM PLUTARCH
beginning to listen to calumnies against him, and eventually they had recourse to ostracism to check his overweening arrogance. He was banished from the city and retired to Argos. While he was there the affair of Pausanias * occurred and gave his enemies a handle against him. Pausanias had at first concealed from Themistocles his treasonable dealings, although they were friends ; but when he saw him an exile and embittered against his country, he made bold to communicate his designs, showing him the Persian king's letters, and exciting his resentment at the miserable ingratitude of the Greeks.
Themistocles, indeed, rejected his invitation, and de- clined to have the least share in the plot, but he did not report the conversation to anyone nor denounce the intrigue, whether he thought that Pausanias would desist, or that his foolish project would be detected in some other way. Thus it was that, when Pausanias had been put to death, certain letters and papers which were found relating to the plot brought Themistocles under suspicion.
The Lacedaemonians raised an outcry against him, and some of his own countrymen who bore him a grudge impeached him in his absence. He defended himself against these first accusations by writing letters to his countrymen, wherein he said, in answer to the slanders of his enemies, that a man who had ever sought supremacy, who was not born to be a slave, and had no inclination thereto, would never have betrayed himself and his country to enemies and barbarians. Nevertheless, the people were persuaded by his accusers to send men with orders to seize him and bring him to stand his trial before the Greeks.
He got wind of this, and crossed over to Corcyra, a state which was under obligations to him, and from thence he fled to Epirus. Finding himself still pursued by the Athenians and Lacedaemonians, he resorted to a desperate expedient. He threw himself upon the mercy of Admetus, * Pausanias was detected in treasonable dealings with Persia.
THEMISTOCLES 79
king of the Molossians, who, on presenting some petition to the Athenians, had been treated with scorn by Themistocles, then at the height of his power. Admetus, therefore, nourished resentment against him, and might clearly be expected to revenge himself if he caught him. But in his present predicament Themistocles was more afraid of the recent anger of his countrymen than this old grudge of the king's, so when he came thither in his flight, he betook himself as a suppliant to Admetus.
The way he did it was characteristic and peculiar. He took the king's son, who was yet a child, and prostrated himself upon the hearth, a manner of supplication which the Molossians considered the most effectual, and, in fact, the only one which could not be rejected. Some say that the king's wife suggested this method to Themistocles, and set her son upon the hearth beside him ; while others say that Admetus himself, in order to have a sacred obligation to plead against surrendering him to his pursuers, contrived the whole affair, and acted his part in the supplication.
While Themistocles was there his wife and children were smuggled out of Athens and conveyed to him by his friend Epicrates, who was afterwards convicted of this offence by Cimon and put to death. Themistocles went down to the coast and embarked on a merchantman at Pydna, no one on board knowing who he was until the vessel was driven by stress of weather to Naxos, which was at that time being besieged by the Athenians. Alarmed at this, he revealed himself to the captain and the pilot, and partly by entreaties, partly by threatening that he would accuse them to the Athenians, and persist in the story that they had not taken him in ignorance of his identity, but had been induced to do so by a bribe, he compelled them to weigh anchor and sail for Asia.
Much of his own money was secretly withdrawn from Athens through his friends and sent by sea to Asia, but part of it was discovered and put into the public treasury. This
80 GREEK LIVES FROM PLUTARCH
amounted to eighty or a hundred talents, according to different accounts, although before his connection with politics he had not been worth so much as three.
On landing in Asia, he learnt that many people were watching along the coast to take him, for the prize was a valuable one to such as loved gain and cared naught for the means, the king having offered by proclamation a reward of 200 talents for his capture. He, therefore, took refuge at a small town of .^Eolis, where he was known to no one but his host, a wealthy ^Eolian, who had powerful friends at the Persian court. At his house he lay concealed for a few days. Then one evening after supper, just as a sacrifice had been offered, the tutor of his host's children was suddenly seized with a rapture of inspiration, and cried out : " Trust to night for voice of warning ; trust to night for victory."
After this Themistocles went to rest, and dreamed that he saw a serpent coiling round his body and creeping up towards his neck. Just as it touched his face it turned into an eagle, and enveloping him with its wings, bore him aloft and carried him a great distance. Then a kind of platform such as heralds use appeared, all made of gold, and on this the eagle set him down with a firm foothold, released from his helpless terror and perturbation.
His host, therefore, sent him on his way by means of the following device. It is a characteristic of the barbarians in general, and especially the Persians, to be fiercely and bitterly jealous about their women, who are rigidly guarded from the eyes of strangers. At home they live in strict seclusion, and when they go out they ride in closely-covered carriages. A chariot of this kind was prepared for Themis- tocles, in which he concealed himself, and proceeded on his journey. When his attendants were questioned by people whom they met, they replied that they were carrying a Greek lady from Ionia to visit some one at the court.
The historian Thucydides says that this was after the
THEMISTOCLES 81
death of Xerxes, and that it was his son Artaxerxes with whom Themistocles had an interview. Having now reached the crisis of his enterprise, Themistocles first applied to Artabanus, the vizier, saying that he was a Greek, who desired to have audience of the king on a matter of the greatest importance, in which the king himself was deeply interested. Artabanus replied :
" Sir, customs differ among men : some honour one thing, others another ; but all men make it a point of honour to preserve and cherish the customs of their own country. You Greeks, as report says, admire chiefly freedom and equality ; but with us, of many excellent customs, the most excellent is this, to honour the king, and bow down to him as the image of that God who sustains the universe. If, therefore, you will conform to our customs, and prostrate yourself before him, you may see the king and speak to him ; but if you are not minded to do this, you must employ someone else to bear your message."
To this Themistocles replied : " For my part, Artabanus, it is to increase the fame and power of the king that I am come, and not only will I myself obey your customs, since the God who exalts the Persians hath so willed it, but through me the king's worshippers shall become even more numerous than they are now. So let not this be a hindrance to the words which I would speak to him."
"But who shall we say you are?" said Artabanus, "for your bearing is not that of a private person."
" That," said Themistocles, " no one must know, Arta- banus, before the king."
When he was brought before the king he made his obeisance and stood silent, whereupon the' king commanded the interpreter to ask him who he was. The interpreter put the question, and he replied :
" I am Themistocles the Athenian, O king, and I am come to you an exile pursued by the Greeks. It is true that the Persians owe to me many misfortunes, but these
6
82 GREEK LIVES FROM PLUTARCH
were far outweighed by the benefit I did them in preventing the pursuit, when it was possible for me, once Greece was secure and my country saved, to do some service to you also. For my part, whatever course you take will accord with my present plight. I come prepared either to receive your favour, if you are graciously reconciled with me, or, if you still remember your wrath, to avert it by my prayers- But do thou accept the witness of mine enemies to the services I have rendered to the Persians, and use the opportunity of my misfortunes to show your magnanimity rather than to satisfy your revenge. In preserving me you will preserve your suppliant, but in destroying me you will destroy one who has become an enemy of the Greeks."
Having said this, Themistocles gave a religious turn to his petition by recounting the vision he had seen, and the oracle of Zeus which bade him go to the namesake of the god, and which he interpreted* as sending him to Xerxes, since both were mighty and both bore the name of king.
The Persian gave him no answer, although struck with admiration at his astuteness and his daring ; but among his friends the king congratulated himself as on a most fortunate occurrence, and prayed that his enemies might ever be so minded as to drive their best men into banishment. It is said that he immediately offered sacrifice to the gods, and betook himself to revelry, and that, for joy he cried out thrice in his dreams that night, " I have got Themistocles the Athenian."
Next morning he assembled his friends and ordered Themistocles to be brought before him. The latter began to lose hope when he saw that the guards at the doors assumed a hostile demeanour as soon as they heard his name, and spoke insulting words. Still more when one of the officers, amid a general silence on the king taking his seat, said with an audible sigh as^Themistocles went past : " Ah ! thou subtle serpent of Greece, it was the king's good genius that brought thee hither."
THEMISTOCLES 83
However, when he came into the presence and once more prostrated himself, the king greeted him and addressed him graciously, saying that he already owed him 200 talents, for as he had given himself up it was just that he should receive the reward which had been offered to anyone who brought him. But he promised him much more than this, gave him every encouragement, and invited him to express freely whatever he might wish to say about the Greeks. Themis- tocles, however, answered that a man's discourse is like a chequered tapestry, for when drawn out at length it shows its full design, which, wrapped up, is hidden and destroyed; and therefore he must ask for time. The king was charmed with the comparison, and bade him take what time he wished ; so he asked for a year.
He then studied the Persian language sufficiently to enable him to converse with the king without an interpreter. He gave others to understand that they discussed the affairs of Greece, but as many changes in the court circle were made by the king at that time, the nobles bore a grudge against Themistocles, suspecting that he had made bold to speak too freely about them to the king. No other strangers had ever received anything like the honours paid to him. He accompanied the king in his hunting expeditions, and asso- ciated familiarly with him at home, so much so that he was even introduced to the queen-mother and became her confidant, and by order of the king was initiated into the mysteries of the Magi.
It is said that whenever succeeding kings had any request to make of a Greek in days when the affairs of Greece and Persia were more closely connected, they invariably wrote and promised that he should be a greater man at their court than Themistocles. And the story goes that Themistocles himself, in the midst of his greatness and surrounded as he was by flatterers, pointed one day to his table laid with a magnificent repast, and said to his children : " My children, we should have been ruined, if we had not been ruined."
6—2
84 GREEK LIVES FROM PLUTARCH
Three cities, they say, were given him to provide him with bread and wine and meat — namely, Magnesia, Lampsacus, and Myus — and some writers add two more, for his bedroom and his wardrobe.
Now, Themistocles had occasion to go down to the coast on certain Greek business, whereupon the governor of Upper Phrygia laid a plot against his life. This man had, in fact, for some time past held some assassins in readiness to murder him when he arrived at a city called Leonto- cephalus, or Lion's Head, and took up his quarters there. But as he was taking his noonday siesta, according to the story, the mother of the gods* appeared to him in a dream, and said : " Themistocles, avoid the Lion's Head, lest you fall a prey to the lion. And look you, in requital of this warning I require of you your daughter Mnesiptolema as my handmaid."
Themistocles awoke in great perturbation, and imme- diately offered up a sacrifice to the goddess. He then left the highway, with its lion in the path, and avoided the place by making a detour. By this time it was nightfall, and he encamped. One of the horses carrying the tent had fallen into the river, so his men had spread out the wet awnings and hung them up to dry.
Meanwhile the assassins were approaching sword in hand, and not seeing distinctly in the moonlight, mistook the awnings hung up to dry for the tent of Themistocles, where they thought to find him reposing within. But when they approached and drew back the awnings, the men on guard fell upon them and seized them. Having, thus escaped the danger, Themistocles, awestruck at the revelation of the goddess, built a temple to her at Magnesia, and appointed his daughter Mnesiptolema as its priestess.
He did not travel about Asia, as some say, but took up his abode at Magnesia, where he lived long in security and in the enjoyment of rich presents and honours equal to any * Cybele (or Rhea), wife of Saturn. See note on p. 57.
THEMISTOCLES 85
bestowed upon the Persian nobles. The king, indeed, was fully occupied with home politics, and gave but little heed to the affairs of Greece. But when Egypt revolted with the help of the Athenians, when Greek triremes sailed as far as Cyprus and Cilicia, and Cimon was master of the sea, the king's attention was turned towards resisting the Greeks and preventing the growth of their power. Then at last his forces were set in motion and his generals sent to the front.
Then, too, came a summons to Themistocles at Magnesia, the king Bidding him fulfil his promises and take in hand the conduct of the war with Greece. But neither resent- ment against his countrymen, nor pride in his own exalted position and authority, could induce Themistocles to under- take the campaign. Perhaps he thought the enterprise impracticable, as Greece had many great generals at that time, Cimon especially being brilliantly successful in his military operations. Most of all, however, a regard for the glory of his own achievements and his former trophies held him back.
Therefore he deemed it best to put an end to his life in a becoming manner. He sacrificed to the gods, assembled his friends and shook them by the hand ; after which, according to the most common account, he drank bull's blood, but according to others took a quicker poison. Thus he ended his days at Magnesia, having lived sixty-five years, most of which were spent in political or military occupations. When the king learnt the cause and manner of his death, they say that his admiration for the man increased still more, and that he continued to bestow favours on his friends and relatives.
The people of Magnesia have in their market-place a handsome tomb erected to his memory. There is no truth in the story that the Athenians stole his ashes and scattered them. Diodorus, the geographer, has told us in his treatise on monuments, although as a matter of conjecture rather
86 GREEK LIVES FROM PLUTARCH
than of certain knowledge, that by the' Great Harbour of Piraeus, where an elbow of land runs out and a vessel round- ing the point comes into calmer water, a great foundation stands, and the altar-tomb upon it commemorates Themis- tocles. In evidence of this is quoted the following verse of the poet :
" Thy tomb, 'mid scenes so fair, on yonder mound,
A beacon for each passing sail to greet, Shall view the homeward and the outward bound, And watch, in battle, o'er thy country's fleet."
V. PERICLES.
500 (CIRCA) TO 429 B.C.
"Athens diviner yet
Gleamed with its crest of columns, on the will Of man as on a mount of diamond set ;
For thou wert, and thine all-creative skill Peopled, with forms that mock the eternal dead
In marble immortality, that hill Which was thine earliest throne and latest oracle. ' '
SHELLEY: Ode to Liberty .
PERICLES belonged to one of the best families in Athens, „ both on his father's and his mother's side. In person he was well built, but his head was long and out of proportion to his body. For this reason, perhaps, almost all his statues represent him wearing a helmet, the sculptors no doubt being anxious not to make him an object of ridicule. But the Athenian comic poets nicknamed him " Bulb-head."* In one play there is a scene where famous public leaders are discovered ascending from the shades, and questions are asked about each as he comes up. Last of all the name of Pericles is called, and someone says :
" Here comes, as 'twere, the Head of those below."
In his youth Pericles studied music, politics, and philosophy. The philosopher whom he most frequented,
* Many great men have had large or unusually shaped heads. Tennyson, for instance, had a very high forehead and dome-like skull, and was familiarly called by some of his friends "Your Domeship.'"
[87
88 GREEK LIVES FROM PLUTARCH
who implanted in him a loftiness and dignity that raised him far above the mere demagogue, and whose influence altogether ennobled and elevated his character, was Anaxa- goras. He it was to whom his contemporaries gave the name of Nous, or Intellect, either in admiration of his great and extraordinary knowledge of natural science, or because he was the first to ascribe the origin of the universe, not to chance or necessity, but to a pure and unmixed mind, designing order out of chaos.
Pericles had a profound regard for the sage, and from his discourses on sublime and heavenly themes he acquired a dignity of mind and a loftiness of speech free from all low and vulgar ribaldry. Moreover, the composure of his face, never distorted into laughter, the grace of his carriage, the elegance of his attire, which no excitement in speaking ever disarranged, the serene modulation of his voice — these and similar characteristics made a wonderful impression on all who saw him.
One day some low scoundrel kept on abusing and insult- ing him in the market-place all the time that he was trans- acting some urgent public business. Pericles endured it the whole day in silence. In the evening he walked sedately home- ward, and the man followed, using all sorts of opprobrious language. By the time Pericles reached his door it was dark, and before entering he instructed one of his servants to take a lantern and light the fellow home.
These were not. the only good results of his intercourse with Anaxagoras. He seems also to have risen superior to that superstitious terror which the phenomena of the heavens produce in those who do not know their causes, and who, through ignorance, interpret divine things as the work of demons. Physical science alone can release a man from this, and in place of a fearful and lurid superstition can substitute that piety which is securely based on reason and attended by the blessings of hope.
A story is told how the head of a ram with only one horn
PERICLES 89
was brought to Pericles from his farm, and a soothsayer who saw the horn growing strong and firm out of the middle of the forehead declared it was a sign that, although there were two parties in the state, that of Pericles and a rival statesman, yet power would centre in him to whom the prodigy had happened. But Anaxagoras dissected the head, and demonstrated that the brain had not developed its full growth in the whole of the cavity, but had become contracted in the shape of an egg, and shifted to that point where the root of the horn began.
When he was a young man Pericles was afraid of being ostracized, on account of his wealth, high birth, and powerful friends, so he took no part in politics, but in military expe-X ditions he showed ability and daring. When, however, Aristides was dead, Themistocles banished, and Cimon ^. occupied mainly in foreign campaigns, Pericles then came forward and began to court the favour of the people. He chose to take up the cause of the populace and the poor / rather than that of the few and the wealthy, although this was contrary to his inclinations, for he had nothing of the ^ democrat in him. Apparently he was afraid that he might be suspected of aiming at tyranny, and he saw also that Cimon was the favourite of the aristocracy. He therefore paid court to the people, partly as a means of protection for himself, and partly as a source of power against Cimon.
At the same time he made an immediate change in his manner of life. He was never seen walking in the city except along the road leading to the market-place and the council-hall. Invitations to banquets and all social amuse- ments of that kind he totally avoided. In all the long years of his administration he never went to dinner with any of his friends, except on the occasion of his nephew's marriage, and then he only stayed for the libation,* after which he
* This was equivalent to our grace before meat, and consisted of pouring wine upon the ground, implying an invitation to the gods to share the banquet.
90 GREEK LIVES FROM PLUTARCH
immediately retired. Such entertainments, he thought, are fatal to dignity, which it is difficult to preserve in the familiarity of social intercourse.
He shunned continual contact with the people, lest they should tire of his presence, and appeared before them only at intervals. He did not speak on every question, nor was he always putting himself forward. He reserved himself for great occasions, and delegated everything else to his friends and other speakers. As an orator he far excelled all others in eloquence.
A story is told how a certain statesman, when asked whether he or Pericles was the better wrestler, laughingly replied, " Whenever I throw him, he declares he was never down, and succeeds in making the actual spectators believe it." He took great pains with his speeches, and as he came on to the platform he always prayed to the gods that not a word might fall from his lips inappropriate to the occasion. He has left no written work except some public decrees.
It was under Pericles, as many writers say, that the Athenian people were first corrupted by allotments of land, theatrical performances, and distributions of money, which made them lazy and luxurious, and spoilt their frugal and independent character. He always contrived that there should be some show, or carnival, or procession in the city, and thus kept the people amused by a constant round of artistic entertainments.
He also used to send out every year a fleet of sixty triremes, in which many of the citizens sailed on an eight months' contract, thus earning pay and at the same time gaining experience in naval efficiency. Besides this, he sent out various colonies to the ^Egean islands and elsewhere, including one to Italy. His object in these measures was to clear the city of an idle and mischievous mob, relieve distress, and establish garrisons near the allies to deter them from meditating revolt.
PERICLES 91
But the greatest glory and delight of Athens, and that which chiefly moved the admiration of the world — the only thing, in fact, which bears witness in the eyes of Greece to her ancient power and prosperity — is the splendour of her public monuments. Yet there was nothing in the adminis- tration of Pericles which more provoked the rancour and slanders of his enemies. They raised a clamour against him in the assembly, declaring that the transference of the public treasury of Greece from Delos to Athens had brought dis- grace and infamy upon the people.
The most plausible excuse which he could offer, they said, was that he had removed the money as a precaution against the barbarians, in order to keep it in a place of safety ; but this excuse he had nullified. " Greece," they declared, " must regard it as a gross insult and a glaring act of tyranny when she sees us employ the money forcibly exacted from her for warlike purposes In gilding and adorning our city with statues and temples worth a thousand talents,'1' as a vain woman decks herself with precious stones."
Pericles, therefore, explained to the people that they were not called upon to render any account of the money to the allies as long as they carried on the war on. their behalf and kept the barbarians in check. The allies, he said, did not furnish a single horse or ship or soldier, only money, which is not the property of the giver, but of the receiver, provided he supplies that for which he takes it.
As the city was adequately equipped with the necessaries of war, she should devote her surplus wealth, he considered, to such works as, when accomplished, would yield her eternal glory, and during their accomplishment would afford a ready source of prosperity. For when all kinds of crafts- manship and materials of every sort were brought into requisition, this gave an impetus to every trade, and set all hands at work. Consequently almost the whole city was * A talent was equal to about £244 of our money.
92 GREEK LIVES FROM PLUTARCH
in pay, and out of its own resources was at once supported and adorned.
The. young and able-bodied men participated in the general wealth by serving in the military expeditions, while, as Pericles desired, the artisan classes not enlisted in the ranks also had their share of profit, though they did not obtain it in sloth and idleness. For wherever material was required in the shape of stone, brass, ivory, gold, ebony, or cypress, employment was given to the several trades, such as carpenters, modellers, brassfounders, stonemasons, dyers, goldsmiths, carvers of ivory, painters, decorators, designers of embossed work, and the whole train of their assistants.
The conveyance of the goods by sea employed merchants, sailors, and pilots, and by land wheelwrights, waggoners, drivers, rope-makers, weavers, leather-cutters, road-makers, and metal-workers. Each trade had its own particular organization of menial subordinates, just as a general has an army under his command. Thus the prosperity of the state was divided and distributed, as it were, throughout all ranks and ages of the community.
Although the works which arose were conspicuous for their magnitude, and of incomparable grace and beauty, every craftsman striving to outdo his design by skilful execution, yet the most astonishing thing was the rapidity with which the work was done. Undertakings which they thought would hardly attain completion in many successive generations, all these reached their fulfilment at the zenith of a single ministry.
Yet when an artist once boasted of the ease and rapidity with which he produced his pictures, the famous painter Zeuxis replied : " I pride myself on the long time I take." For speed and facility of- execution do not give a work any abiding importance or flawless beauty, while time bestowed in advance on the labour of production is compensated by the permanence of the achievement.
Wherefore it is the more marvellous that the works of
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Pericles, destined to endure so long, were accomplished in so brief a space. Each one, at its making, seemed straight- way invested with an antique grace, yet even to this day wears the glamour of a newly finished work. Such a bloom of freshness is upon them, which preserves their aspect from the touch of time, endowed as they are with an unfading charm, and informed by the spirit of immortal beauty.
The Propylaea, or gateway, of the Acropolis was com- pleted in five years. A wonderful event which occurred while the building was in progress gave proof that the goddess* was not unfavourable, but was helping to guide the work to its fulfilment. The most active and zealous of the builders missed his footing and fell from a great height, sustaining such grievous injuries that the surgeons despaired of his life. Pericles was greatly distressed at this, but the goddess appeared to him in a dream, and imparted to him a remedy, by means of which Pericles quickly and easily healed the man. In honour of this he set up the brazen statue of Athene Hygieiaf on the Acropolis beside the altar.
The golden statue of the goddess was the work of Phidias, and his name as sculptor is inscribed upon the pedestal. Through his friendship with Pericles he had entire charge of the public works, and exercised authority over all the artists, a fact which brought envy upon himself and slander upon Pericles. Pericles was accused by his political opponents of squandering the public money. He thereupon asked the people in the assembly whether they thought that he had spent too much, and when they answered " Far too much," he said, " Let the expense,
* Athene, the guardian deity of Athens. The Parthenon, or temple of Athene Parthenos (the Virgin), was the chief building on the Acropolis. For details, consult the late Dr. Murray's " Sculptures of the Parthenon."
f Goddess of Health or Healing; hence our ubiquitous word " hygiene."
96 GREEK LIVES FROM PLUTARCH
then, be charged to me instead of to you, and I will inscribe my own name upon the public monuments."
Whether it was that they were impressed by his mag- nanimity, or were emulous to share in the glory of the work, but no sooner had he said this than shouts arose, bidding him lavish the public funds for public purposes, and spare nothing. Finally, he challenged his chief political antagonist to the issues of ostracism, exposing himself to the same risk, and succeeded in obtaining his rival's banish- ment, and breaking up the ranks of the opposition.
When the struggle had thus been effectually decided, the city became entirely at one, and Pericles assumed control of Athens and her dependencies, the revenues from the allies, the armies and fleets, the islands and the sea, a wide dominion exercised partly over Greeks and partly over barbarians, an empire fortified by subject nations, the friendship of kings, and alliances with other rulers.
From that time he became a different man. He was no A longer so subservient to the people, nor yielded so easily to every wind of popular caprice. He tightened the reins of^ government, and gave it an aristocratic and kingly character, pursuing a straight and undeviating road towards the public good. He had the genius to control those passions which naturally arise in a populace invested with so much power, and he showed how rhetoric can sway the minds of men.
But his ascendancy was not merely the result of eloquence. It was due also to his high reputation and the confidence inspired by his life. His absolute
_ The man who had made Athens from a
great city into the greatest and richest in all Greece, and whose power surpassed that of many kings and tyrants, some of whom have bequeathed their wealth to their sons — this man did not increase by a single drachma* the patrimony which his father left him.
* A drachma was equal to about icd. in our money, or a French franc.
PERICLES 97
The Athenians placed in his hands, as the poet says —
" Tributes of cities, and cities themselves, to bind or loose,
whichever he will'd ; Power to build up ramparts of stone, and power to raze them
level again ; Power of treaty, dominion, peace, their wealth, their happiness :
all in his hands."
And all this was not a temporary phase of politics, not the mere blossoming of a brief season of popular favour. For forty years he stood at the head of affairs, amid a circle of brilliant contemporaries, and for fully fifteen after the ostracism of his principal opponent."'
Throughout this long period, although he had acquired absolute control over the annual offices of state, he kept himself free from the taint of corruption. And yet he was by no means careless in money matters. He administered his lawful inheritance in such a way that it might not be lost through neglect, nor yet give him great trouble and take up time which he could not spare. He devised a system of economy which he thought the most simple and accurate. He used to dispose of a whole year's produce at once, and then he arranged his daily life on the plan of buying each article in the market as he required it.
Thus, lavish as he was in public hospitalities, he gave offence to his grown-up sons and women-folk. They grumbled at this daily doling out and cutting down of expenses to the last farthing; for there was none of that superfluity which is usual in a great house among wealthy people, but every item of expenditure or income was regu- lated according to scales and arithmetic. The management of this strict economy was entrusted to a steward, who was either exceptionally qualified by Nature for such work, or had been trained to it by Pericles.
These things, it seems, were not in accordance with the philosophy of Anaxagoras, who, in his zeal for high thinking,
* This was a statesman named Thucydides ; not to be confused with the great historian of that name.
1
98 GREEK LIVES FROM PLUTARCH
left his house, and allowed his land to lie fallow and become mere pasturage for sheep. But, in my opinion, there is a great difference between a speculative and a political philosopher.* The former turns his thoughts towards abstract ideas of good, unconcerned with external and material things ; but the latter associates virtue with human needs, and wealth to him is a source, not only of the neces- saries of life, but of noble actions.
Thus it was with Pericles, who was able with his riches to assist many of the poor. Yet they say that Anaxagoras himself in his old age, when Pericles was occupied with public affairs, had fallen into neglect, and lay with his head covered, intending to starve himself to death. When the matter reached the ears of Pericles, he was deeply moved, and running immediately to see him, used every entreaty, and declared that he grieved not for Anaxagoras, but for his own sake, if he should lose such a counsellor in his public life. Anaxagoras then uncovered his head and said to him, " Pericles, those that have need of a lamp keep it filled with oil."
Pericles did not encourage the ambitions of the Athenians when, elated by their power and prosperity, they talked of intervening in Egypt and of attacking the coast of Persia. Many, too, were possessed by that ill-fated desire for the acquisition of Sicily, which was afterwards fanned into flame by the adherents of Alcibiades. Some even had dreams of con- quest in Etruria and the Carthaginian territory. But Pericles restrained their aggressive and meddlesome impulses, and employed their resources chiefly in preserving and securing what they already possessed. He thought it most important to keep the Lacedaemonians in check, and directed all his policy against them.
-. After a thirty years' truce had been concluded between Athens and Sparta, Pericles proposed an expedition against
* Plutarch himself was an example of the political as opposed to the speculative philosopher.
PERICLES 99
^the ^island of Samos, alleging as a pretext that the Samians had refused to desist from their war with Miletus when ordered to do so. It is thought, however, that he entered on the Samian war to gratify his friend Aspasia. ^
This, then, is a fitting occasion to consider by what arts or potent fascination this woman captivated the leading statesmen of her day, and caused even philosophers to hold her in no light esteem. It is generally agreed that she was a Milesian by birth. Pericles, they say, paid court to her because of her wit and her aptitude for politics. Even Socrates and his friends occasionally resorted to her, and the men of her acquaintance used to bring their wives to hear her conversation.
The regard which Pericles had for her seems to have been of a more tender kind. His first marriage was un- happy, and ended in a mutual separation, and after that he took Aspasia. He loved her deeply, and every day he never failed to kiss her as he left the house, or when he returned from the assembly.
It was in the war with Samos that battering-rams are said to have been used for the first time, Pericles being struck with the novelty of the invention. After nine months the Samians surrendered, and Pericles razed their walls, seized their ships, and exacted a heavy indemnity. On his return to Athens he celebrated with great splendour the obsequies of those who had fallen in the war, and pronounced the customary funeral oration.
He is said to have prided himself greatly upon his victory over the Samians. He used to say that 'Agamemnon had taken ten years to capture a barbarian city,* while he in nine months had reduced the most powerful of the Ionian states. And, indeed, there was some justice in his boast, for the issue of the war had been by no means certain, and it was fraught with extreme danger, since the Samians came very near to wresting from Athens the supremacy of the sea. * I.e., Troy.
7—2
100 GREEK LIVES FROM PLUTARCH
* After this the troubles arose which led to the Pelopon- nesian War,* the origin of which is not easy to discover. But of all the causes alleged, the worst is that which has the most testimony to support it, and which is explained as follows. Phidias the sculptor, as we have said, had under- taken the contract for the statue of Athene. His enemies were jealous of his friendship and great influence with Pericles, and they decided to make an example of him, and so ascertain the sentiment of the people towards Pericles himself.
They therefore induced one of his colleagues to bring an accusation against Phidias. When the trial came on in the assembly, however, the charges of theft were not proved, for, on the advice of Pericles, Phidias had from the first attached the gold to the statue in such a way that it could all be removed and weighed, which Pericles immediately ordered the accusers to do.
But the envy excited by the fame of his works was the ruin of Phidias, and chiefly this was due to the fact that he had carved on the shield of the goddess a likeness of himself as a bald old man lifting up a stone in both hands, and had introduced an excellent portrait of Pericles fighting with an Amazon. Phidias was thrown into 'prison,! where he fell ill and died. Some say that he was poisoned by his enemies, with a view to casting suspicion upon Pericles.
About this time Aspasia was prosecuted for impiety, and a bill was passed that all those who did not believe in religion, or who put forward rational explanations of things supernatural, should be publicly impeached. Though ostensibly aimed at Anaxagoras, this measure was secretly directed against Pericles. It was passed by the people, who thereupon decreed that Pericles should furnish an account
* The great struggle between Athens and Sparta.
•j- The crime for which Phidias was punished appears to have been that of impiety — i.e., in putting portraits of himself and Pericles into a sacred subject.
PERICLES 101
of the public money. He procured the acquittal of Aspasia in direct opposition to the law, shedding tears when he appealed to the jury on her behalf. Anaxagoras he con- veyed out of Athens, as he was afraid that he might be con- demned.
Having thus offended the people on account of Phidias, he feared an indictment, and therefore fanned into flame the smouldering embers of war. By this means he hoped to dissipate the charges and abate the resentment against him, expecting that, at a time of crisis or danger, the state would place itself entirely in his hands, because of his repu- tation and power. Such are the reasons alleged for his refusing to allow the people to come to terms with the Spartans, but_the true reason is uncertain.
The Spartans saw that if once Pericles were out of the way they would find the Athenians far easier to deal with. They, therefore, called upon them " to drive out the accursed thing," alluding to an ancestral curse in the family of Pericles on his mother's side. But this attempt had the opposite effect to what they intended, for instead of sus- picion and slander, Pericles acquired still greater confidence and honour among the citizens, when they saw that he was the chief object of fear and hatred in the eyes of their enemies.
Accordingly, before the King of Sparta and the Pelo- ponnesian army invaded Attica, Pericles announced to the Athenians that, in case the king, while ravaging the rest of the country, spared his estate either from motives of friendship or to furnish ground for slander to his enemies, he did there and then present to the state all his lands and buildings.
The Spartans and their allies then invaded Attica with a large army, ravaging the country as they advanced, and encamped at a neighbouring town, hoping that the Athenians would be provoked to come out and give them battle. But Pericles thought it too great a risk to engage an army of
102 GREEK LIVES FROM PLUTARCH
60,000 men when the safety of the city itself was involved. Those who wished to fight, and who chafed at the course of events, he tried to pacify by saying that trees when lopped and pruned grow again quickly, but that when men are cut off it is not easy to replace them.
He did not convene an assembly of the people, fearing that he might be coerced into acting against his better judgment. As the helmsman of a ship, when a gale strikes it at sea, issues his orders, makes all taut, and exerts his skill, disregarding the tears and entreaties of the frightened passengers, so Pericles assumed entire control of the city, closed the gates, and stationed guards throughout, relying on his own counsels for safety, and paying little heed to clamour and opposition.
Yet all the time he had to withstand the entreaties of his friends and the threats and accusations of his enemies. Many scurrilous songs, too, were sung, deriding his tactics as a cowardly betrayal of their cause to the enemy. Pericles, however, was not diverted from his purpose by any such things, but bore all this infamy and unpopularity in silence and without resentment.
At this time the plague broke out at Athens, and destroyed the flower and strength of the nation. It not only injure^ them in body, but altogether poisoned their minds against Pericles, and they sought to do him violence, as a patient in delirium tries to maim his doctor or his father. His enemies persuaded them that the pestilence was caused by great numbers of country-folk crowding into the city, many of whom, at the height of summer, were packed into small dwellings and stifling tents, and compelled to live an idle, indoor existence, instead of the fresh and open-air life to which they were accustomed. All this was attributed to the action of Pericles.
Wishing to remedy this state of things and to strike some counter-blow at the enemy, he manned 150 ships, on which he embarked a picked body of infantry and cavalry, and
PERICLES 103
prepared to put to sea. The strength of this armament raised great hopes in the Athenians, and caused no less apprehension to the enemy.
Just as the crews had gone aboard, however, and Pericles had embarked upon his vessel, an eclipse of the sun took place, and darkness came on. All were struck with dismay, regarding it as an omen of disaster. Pericles, seeing the captain overcome with terror and despair, held his cloak up before his face, thus obscuring his vision, and asked him whether he saw anything dreadful in that or took it as a portent of anything dreadful. On his replying " No," Pericles continued, " What, then, is the difference between the one thing and the other, except that it was something larger than a cloak which caused the darkness ?"
However, Pericles does not seem to have accomplished anything on this expedition worthy of such an armament. His failure was due to the plague, which attacked not only his own men, but all who came in contact with them. This provoked the anger of the Athenians against him, which he did not succeed in pacifying. They passed a vote of censure upon him, deprived him of the command, and punished him by a fine, which some put at fifteen talents — the lowest estimation — others as high as fifty.
The public feeling soon began to subside, for, like the sting of a wasp, the anger of the people had been exhausted in dealing the blow. But his private affairs were in a sad condition, for he had lost a number of relatives by the plague, and he had long been harassed by a family quarrel.
His eldest son, Xanthippus, was by nature a spendthrift, and had a young and extravagant wife. He resented his father's closeness and the niggardly allowance which he doled out in little sums. He therefore applied to one of his friends, and borrowed money in his father's name. When the lender demanded repayment, Pericles even went so far as to prosecute him.
The youth Xanthippus was enraged at this, and took to.
104 GREEK LIVES FROM PLUTARCH
abusing his father, ridiculing the company he kept at home and his discussions with philosophers. Once, he said, when someone had been accidentally killed by a spear at the public games, Pericles spent a whole day arguing with a philosopher as to whether the cause of the accident was the spear, or the man who threw it, or the managers of the games. The young man retained this bitter animosity towards his father to the last. He died of the plague.
Pericles also lost his sister at that time, and the greater number of his kinsmen and friends, including those who were most useful to him in affairs of state. Yet he did not give way nor lose his dignity and greatness of soul under his misfortunes. He was never seen in tears, or mourning, or at the grave of any of his kindred, until, indeed, he lost his last surviving son. Then, at length, he broke down, and though he strove to remain unmoved and preserve his serenity of soul, as he was laying the wreath upon the dead he was overcome with grief, and burst into a flood of tears, weeping as he had never wept in his life before.
Athens made trial of all her other generals and orators for the conduct of the war, but as none of them displayed sufficient weight or genius equal to so great an enterprise, she felt the need of Pericles, and summoned him once more to take the lead, both in war and in debate. He was living in retirement at home, brooding over his sorrows ; but at the persuasion of Alcibiades and his other friends he came forward, and after a public apology had been made for the slight that had been put upon him, he again assumed the direction of affairs, and was appointed commander-in-chief.
At this time, however, it seems that the plague attacked him, not with a swift and sudden seizure, as in other cases, but with a lingering malady, of many variations, which gradually wasted his frame and undermined his mental powers. As an instance of how character is changed by circumstances, and loses its virtue under the influence of bodily disease, it is related that Pericles, as he lay ill,
PERICLES 105
showed one of his friends who came to see him an amulet which the women had fastened round his neck. He must have been sick indeed, says the narrator, to have submitted to such a piece of folly.
When he was at the point of death, the chief citizens and his surviving friends sat round his bed, and they began to speak of his great virtue and power, and enumerated his achievements and his trophies, nine of which he had set up, as a victorious general, to the honour of Athens. These things they were discussing among themselves, imagining him to be unconscious. But his mind had followed every word, and suddenly his voice interrupted their talk.
" I wonder," he said, " that you should extol and recall these deeds of mine, such as are due in part to chance and have befallen many other leaders, while of that which is my greatest and noblest achievement you have not made men- tion. No Athenian living has had cause through me to put on mourning,,"
VI. ALCIBIADES.
450 (CIRCA) TO 404 B.C.
" Akibiades. . , . Banishment!
It comes not ill ; I hate not to be banish'd ; It is a cause worthy my spleen and fury, That I may strike at Athens."
Timon of Athens.
ALCIBIADES was descended from an old Athenian family. His father distinguished himself in the sea-fight at Arte- misium, where he fought in a trireme fitted out at his own expense, and was afterwards killed in the battle with the Boeotians at Coronea. It has been truly said that Akibiades owed much of his fame to the friendship of Socrates. Nothing, perhaps, need be said about his beauty, except that it graced every period of his life — childhood, youth, and manhood— and gave a charm and attractiveness to his personal appear- ance. It is not always, as Euripides said, that—
11 Of all fair things the autumn, too, is fair " ;
but it was so with Alcibiades, among few others, by reason of the natural grace and vigour of his body. He spoke with a lisp, which they say imparted a charm and persuasiveness to his speech.
His character in later life displayed many inconsistencies
and changes not unnatural in one who was concerned in
great events and experienced many vicissitudes of fortune.
- He was by nature a man of many strong passions, but tha
106
ALCIBIADES 107
strongest of these was ambition and desire to excel, which is clearly seen in the reminiscences of his boyhood.
Once, when hard pressed in wrestling, to prevent being thrown he drew his antagonist's hand up to his mouth and almost bit it through. When the other let go and said, '' You bite, Alcibiades, like a woman," he replied, " No, like a lion."
When he was quite a child he was playing at dice in a narrow street, and just as it was his turn to throw, a loaded waggon came along. First he called to the driver to stop, for the waggon would pass over the spot where he wanted to throw ; but the yokel took no notice, and drove on. The other boys dispersed, but Alcibiades threw himself face downwards in front of the cart, and, stretching himself out, called to the man to drive on now if he would. The fellow pulled up his team in alarm, while those who saw it were terrified, and ran shouting to his assistance.
W7hen he came to learn lessons, while he obeyed his other teachers with docility, he declined to learn to play the flute, as being an ignoble and ungentlemanly art. The use of the plectrum * and the lyre, he would say, caused no distortion of the features, or of the expression befitting a gentleman ; but when a man was puffing on the flute even his kinsfolk could hardly recognise his face. Moreover, a person playing the lyre can speak or sing at the same time; but the flute stops the mouth, imprisons the voice, and takes away the power of speech.
So between jest and earnest he kept both himself and others from learning this accomplishment, for it soon became common talk among the Athenian youth that Alcibiades rightly despised the art of flute-playing and scoffed at those who learnt it. Thus the flute quite dropped out of fashion as a liberal accomplishment and fell into dis- repute.
By this time he began to be courted by a throng of
* The quill used for striking the strings of the lyre.
108 GREEK LIVES FROM PLUTARCH
aristocratic friends, but the affection which Socrates felt for him is a great proof of the boy's nobility of character. For no one was ever so surrounded and sheltered by Fortune with what are called the good things of this world, or so protected from the salutary weapons of philosophy and the sharp words of candid criticism.
Yet by native intuition he recognised the greatness of Socrates, and attached himself to him, while keeping at a distance his rich and high-born admirers. Everyone was surprised at seeing him join Socrates at meals and in the gymnasium and share the same tent. Yet there were times when he managed to elude the vigilance of Socrates, and gave himself up to various dissipations which his flatterers suggested. At these times Socrates would hunt him down like a runaway slave, being the only person for whom . Alcibiades had the slightest fear or respect ; all the rest he despised.
When he was beginning to grow up he went one day into a grammar school, and asked the master for a volume of Homer. On the master replying that he had no Homer, Alcibiades gave him a blow with his fist and went away. Another schoolmaster said that he had a copy of Homer corrected by himself. " What ?" said Alcibiades. " You mean to say you spend your time teaching children their letters when you are competent to correct Homer ! Why not be an educator of young men ?"
On one occasion, wishing to see Pericles, he called at his house, but was told that Pericles was not at leisure, being busied in considering how to submit his accounts to the Athenians. " He had far better consider," said Alcibiades as he went away, " how not to submit his accounts to the Athenians."
While still a youth he took part in the expedition to Potidaea, in which he and Socrates shared the same tent and fought side by side. The battle was severe, and both greatly distinguished themselves, but Alcibiades was wounded and
ALCIBIADES 109
fell. Socrates thereupon stood over him and kept off the enemy, performing a conspicuous act of gallantry in rescuing him with all his armour. Thus the prize for valour was in all justice due to Socrates, but the generals were inclined to bestow the honour upon Alcibiades on account of his rank. Socrates, wishing to encourage him in a worthy ambition, was the first to testify in his favour, and urged them to award him the crown and suit of mail.
At the battle of Delium, where the Athenians were defeated," Socrates with a few others was retreating on foot, when Alcibiades, who was on horseback, caught sight of him and immediately came to his assistance. He covered his retreat and brought him safely off the field, although the enemy were pressing them hard and killed great numbers of their men. This, however, happened some time after- wards.
Another anecdote relates to an Athenian gentleman named Hipponicus, who was a man of great reputation and influence, owing to his wealth and noble birth. One day Alcibiades struck him a blowT with his fist, not in anger or through any quarrel, but merely because he had agreed with his companions to do it as a jest. The story of this act of wanton insolence was repeated all over the town, and w,as received naturally enough with universal indignation. In the morning, however, Alcibiades appeared at the house of Hipponicus, knocked at the door, and on being admitted to his presence, took off his cloak and offered his bare body to be scourged and chastised. Hipponicus thereupon forgot his anger and forgave him, and later on gave Alcibiades his daughter Hipparete in marriage.
The doors of political advancement were thrown wide for him by his birth and wealth, his bravery in battle, and the number of his friends and relatives, yet he preferred to ascribe his influence with the people to his own natural eloquence — that and nothing else. To his skill in rhetoric * By the Boeotians, whose country they had invaded, 424 B.C.
110 GREEK LIVES FROM PLUTARCH
the comic poets bear witness, and the greatest of orators (Demosthenes) himself said that Alcibiades, in addition to his other gifts, was a most accomplished speaker. He ex- celled in hitting upon the right thing to say. He sought, however, not only to say the right thing, but to say it in the right way, in appropriate words and phrases. If he were at a loss for an expression, he would often pause in the middle of a speech, and remain silent while he collected himself and considered how he should express himself.
He was celebrated for his stud of horses and the number of his chariots,. No one else, either a private person or a king, ever entered as he did seven chariots for the Olympic games. He carried off the first, second, and .fourth (or as some say third) prizes : the most brilliant featevej achieved at that festival.
His largesses and public entertainments, which could not be surpassed in magnificence, the renown of his ancestors, his eloquence and handsome presence, his courage and skill in war, caused the Athenians to condone and tolerate his other actions. They applied the mildest terms to his offences, calling them mere youthful follies and extravagances. It was well said that Greece could not have endured another Alcibiades.
Once, after a day of triumph in debate, he was being publicly escorted from the assembly, when he encountered Timon * the misanthrope. Timon did not pass by or avoid him as he did others, but greeted him and took him by the hand, saying, " You do well, my son, to grow in power ; for you will grow into a powerful evil to all our people here." Some laughed, and some cursed at Timon, but others there were whom this saying deeply moved, so undecided was public opinion in its estimate of Alcibiades, through his own inconsistency of character.
Even while Pericles was still alive, the Athenians had
* Compare Shakespeare's play "Timon of Athens," in which Alcibiades is one of the leading characters.
A GREEK CHARIOTEER.
From a statue discovered at Delph
Seep. no.
ALCIBIADES 113
begun to covet Sicily, and as soon as he was dead they took steps to gain a hold of it. Under pretext of helping their allies, they seized every opportunity of sending assistance to those Sicilian states which were oppressed by the Syracusans, thus paving the way for a greater expedition.
This was entirely the work of Alcibiades, who kindled the ambition of the Athenians, urging them jiot to proceed little by little, but to sail with a great armament, occupy the island, and bring it into subjection. He caused the people to expect great things, but he himself was grasping at even greater. He looked upon Sicily, not, like the "rest, as the' goal of their expedition, but as the mere beginning of his projects. While Nicias was endeavouring to dissuade the Athenians, and warning them how hard a task it would be to capture Syracuse, Alcibiades was dreaming of Carthage and Libya, and after their annexation had designs on Italy and Peloponnesus. Sicily he regarded merely as a base of supplies.
These schemes, he found, immediately fired the enthusiasm of the young men of Athens, and they listened eagerly to the many wonderful stories related by their elders with respect to the proposed expedition. Numbers of them might be seen sitting in the gymnasiums and arenas drawing in the sand a map of Sicily and the position of Libya and Carthage. Socrates, however, is said to have expected no good result to the city from that enterprise.
Nicias was appointed general, against his will, not the least of his objections being the fact that Alcibiades was his colleague, for the Athenians had considered that the war would be better conducted if they did not give Alcibiades undivided_command, but tempered his jmpetupsity with the caution of Nicias. Moreover, the third general, Lamachus, although advanced in years, had shown himself no less fiery and reckless in action than Alcibiades himself. When they proceeded to discuss the numbers of their forces and the manner of equipment, Nicias again attempted to prevent the
114 GREEK LIVES FROM PLUTARCH
expedition and put a stop to the war, but Alcibiades opposed and overruled him. A decree was then drawn up giving the generals absolute power both in the preparations and the whole conduct of the campaign.
When this had been passed by the people, and all was in readiness for departure, some unfavourable omens occurred. The mutilation of the images of Hermes,"' most of which were defaced in a single night, alarmed many even among those who were accustomed to despise superstition. Rumour said that the Corinthians had done it in the interests of the Syracusans, who were their colonists, hoping that such a prodigy might lead the Athenians either to delay or abandon the war.
But this account of the matter gained no credit with the people, nor did they accept the theory that it was no portent, but merely the usual effect of wine upon licentious youths when a drunken frolic developes into wantonness. Moved both by indignation and .alarm, they treated the occurrence as the outcome of a daring conspiracy of serious import. Strict inquiries were instituted into every suspicious cir- cumstance, and both the council and the assembly met frequently in the course of a few days to discuss the matter.
Meanwhile one of the demagogues brought forward certain slaves and foreigners, who accused Alcibiades and his friends of defacing other statues, and of mimicking the sacred mysteries f in a drunken revel. A bitter feeling of exaspera- tion was aroused against Alcibiades among the people, and at first his party were thrown into confusion.
But all the seamen who were to_sail for Sicily, as well as the. land-forces, were favourable to them, and the allies, who were 1,000 strong, openly declared that it was for
* Many images of Hermes, the patron god (among other things) of roads, stood as boundary-stones in various parts of Athens, and were held sacred.
f The Eleusinian Mysteries (see note on p. 128).
ALCIBIADES 115
Alcibiades' sake they were undertaking this expedition far across the sea, and that they would immediately withdraw if any injustice were done to him. When his friends dis- covered this, they began to regain their courage. They wished to seize the occasion to put forward his defence, whereupon his enemies in turn grew despondent and were afraid that the people might be too lenient in their judgment because of their present need of his services.
To prevent it, therefore, they contrived that some other orators, who were not considered hostile to Alcibiades, but who in reality hated him no less than his avowed enemies, should get up in the assembly and say that it was absurd for a general appointed to the absolute command of so large a force, when the army and allies were already assembled, to be wasting time while they were appointing a jury and fixing the date of the trial. " Let him sail at once," they said, " and good luck go with him. When the war is over, he can appear before the court to answer for his conduct. The laws will be the same then as they are now."
The malice of this postponement was not lost upon Alcibiades. He came forward and declared that it was monstrous for him to be sent to sea in command of so great a force, leaving behind him such accusations and slanders. He deserved to die if he could not acquit himself of such accusations ; but if he could acquit himself and prove his innocence, he ought to be free to turn his attention to the enemy without fear of calumny.
He failed, however, to obtain the consent of the people, and they ordered him to set sail. So he and his colleagues put to sea, with not far short of 140 ships, 5,100 men-at- arms, and archers, slingers, and light-armed troops to the number of about 1,300. The arms and provisions of the force were on a proportionate scale.
On reaching the shores of Italy, Alcibiades captured L c Rhegium, and there propounded his plans for the conduct of the campaign. Nicias opposed him, but Lamachus sup
8—2
116 GREEK LIVES FROM PLUTARCH
ported his proposals ; and so he sailed to Sicily and occupied the town of Catana.
He accomplished nothing morej however, for at this point he was recalled by the Athenians to stand his trial. At first, as we have related, certain meagre suspicions and slanders were put forward against Alcibiades by slaves and aliens. Afterwards his enemies attacked him more bitterly in his absence, mixing up the affair of the mysteries with the out- rage on the figures of Hermes, as though both events had originated in one and the same revolutionary plot.
All who were accused were indiscriminately thrown into prison, and, in view of the seriousness of the charges, the people regretted that they had not at once brought Alcibiades to trial and passed sentence upon him. Ajiy^friejid or kins- man of his who became involved in this popular resentment against him met with considerable severity at their hands.
The witnesses, however, had no strong or trustworthy evidence to bring against him. One of them, when asked how he recognised the men who defaced the images, replied that he saw them by_mQQnlight. But herein he was uttterly at fault, as it was only just the new moon when the deed was committed, a fact which, when known, raised an outcry among reasonable men. But even this disclosure had no effect in pacifying the people with regard to the accusations. They continued as at first, without intermission, receiving information and throwing into prison anyone who was denounced. Many were put to death. But not even then was the anger of the people entirely appeased. On the contrary, being now diverted from the affair of the images, their indignation was free to vent itself wholly upon Alci- biades.
Finally, they sent the sacred ship* to bring him back, at
the same time giving strict injunctions to those in charge
of it that no violence was to be done to his person. They
were to address him in moderate language, summoning him
* See note on p. 64.
ALCTBTADES 117
to follow them home, in order to stand nis trial and convince the people of his innocence ; for they feared a mutiny among the troops there in the enemy's country, which Alcibiades, had he so desired, might easily have brought about. And, indeed, the men were despondent at his departure, anticipating a long delay and idle protraction of the campaign in the hands of Nicias, now that the spur to activity, so to speak, had been removed; for Lamachus, although a brave soldier, was a man of no weight or influence, on account of his poverty.
Just as he was on the point of sailing, Alcibiades saved Messene from falling into the hands of the Athenians. TEere was a party within the town ready to betray it, but he knew them well, and spoilt their plans by giving informa- tion to the party which favoured Syracuse. On arriving at Thurii, he left the ship and went on shore, where he con- cealed himself, and succeeded in evading his pursuers.
When asked by one who knew him, " Do you not trust your native land, Alcibiades ?" he replied, " In all else I do ; but when my life is at stake I do not trust my own mother, for fear she should in ignorance record a black vote instead of a white one."* Later on, when he heard that Athens had condemned him to death, he remarked, " I will show them, however, that I am alive."
The indictment recorded against him was to this effect, that " Alcibiades has been accused of sacrilege against the two goddesses, Demeter and Persephone, by displaying to his companions in his own house a burlesque of the sacred mysteries. Attired in a robe such as the priest wears when he shows the holy emblems, he called himself the priest, one of his friends the torch-bearer, and another the herald, while he addressed the remainder of the company as initiates of different degrees."
Sentence was passed against him by default, as he did
* A black voting-tablet was used for condemnation, a white one for acquittal.
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not appear in answer to the charge. They confiscated his property, and directed all the priests and priestesses to pro- nounce a curse against him. One priestess only is said to have disobeyed the decree, declaring that her office was to utter prayers, not execrations.
When this severe sentence was passed upon him Alcibi- ades was staying at Argos, whither he had first fled after leaving Thurii and crossing over to the Peloponnese. But he was afraid of his enemies, and as he had now abandoned all hope of returning to his native city, he sent a message to Sparta asking for protection and confidence. In return he offered the Spartans services and benefits greater than the injuries he had formerly inflicted on them in defence of his country.
The Spartans granted his request and consented to receive him. He went eagerly, and one thing he accomplished forthwith — that is, he aroused them fcojn their hesitation and delay into sending immediate assistance to the Syra- cusans. Gylippus was put in command, and dispatched to Sicily to break the Athenian power there. In the second place, Alcibiades induced^them to renew the home campaign in Attica. Thirdly, and most important of all, he caused them to fortify the town of Decelea,* which more than any- thing else brought about the rmrhof Athens.
While he thus gained public renown and admiration at
Sparta, he won the hearts of the people no less in his private
„ life, and charmed them by his adoption of their manners.
^ Those who saw" him with close-cropped hair, washing in
cold water, and living on meal and black broth, could not
believe or realize that this man had ever had a cook in his
house, or had ever seen a hair-dresser, or ever consented to
wear a cloak of Milesian purple.
For among his many accomplishments he possessed above I all others that faculty of captivating people by imitating and
* Decelea was in Attica, and its occupation by an enemy was a constant menace to the safety of Athens.
ALCIBIADES 119
f entering into their habits and manner of life. He could change more quickly than the chameleon — nay, there is one colour which, it is said, that creature cannot assume- namely, white ; but Alcibiades, whether the company he was in were good_pr evil, could always adapt himself to their customs with equal facility.
!At Sparta he was a^hjeticjjfrugal, and austere ; in Ionia effeminate, voluptuous, and gay ; in Thrace a hard drinker ; in Thessaly a hard rider ; while as the guest of Tissaphernes he surpassed even Persian magnificence by his pomp and luxury. It was not that he so readily discarded his own disjDOsition_ in thus assuming one role after another, nor that his real nature assimilated each of these changes. It was rather that, when he found his natural self likely to^ffend those with whom he came in contact, he was ever ready to wear whatever mask and fashion might be agreeable to them.*
After the Athenian disaster in Sicily, many of the Greek states sent envoys to Sparta, with a view to revolting from Athens. On the advice of Alcibiades, the Spartans decided to assist the Chians first. He himself sailed to Ionia, and caused almost the whole country to rebel, striking many blows at the Athenian power in co-operation with the Spartan generals. The Spartan king,t however, whom he had injured in a private matter, was his enemy, and resented his fame, since Alcibiades got the credit for most of the achievements and successes of the war. The most powerful and ambitious of the Spartan nobles were also jealous of him, and they prevailed upon the government at home to send orders to Ionia for him to be put to death.
Alcibiades, however, was^ecretly warned_ofjthis, and while he continued to share in all the operations of the Spartans,
* He acted on the principle expressed by Shakespeare, "Assume a virtue, if you have it not," and forestalled the proverb, "When at n Rome, do as the Romans do."
•j- Although the Spartans had kings, the chief power at this time rested with the ephors (see pp. 33, 46).
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he carefully avoided putting himself in their power. Presently, as a means of safety, he offered his services to the Persian governor, Tissaphernes, and immediately became his principal adviser and a person of great importance. For the barbarian, insincere and unprincipled himself, felt an admiration for his amazing versatility and resource.
No one, indeed, of whatever character or disposition, could associate with Alcibiades in daily life and intercourse, and remain proof against his charm. Even those who feared and enyieji him took pleasure in his company, and at the mere sight of him, felt a kind of friendliness towards him. Tissaphernes, of all the Persians the bitterest enemy of the Greeks, was sp_ susceptible to the flattery of Alcibiades, that he even surpassed him in reciprocating it. The most beauti- ful park which he possessed, laid out on a princely scale, with its lakes and lawns, retreats and pleasaunces, received the name of " Alcibiades," and everyone continued so to call it.
Thus Alcibiades abandoned the Spartans, finding that he could no longer trust them, and fearing the anger of Agis.* He then began to injure their cause with Tissaphernes, and prevented him from helping them zealously or from crushing the Athenians. He advised him rather to grudge them supplies, and so gradually wear them down, one against the other, and bring them both into subjection to the King of Persia.
Tissaphernes readily followed his advice, and showed his regard and admiration for him so openly that the Greeks on both sides began to look up to Alcibiades, and the Athenians. now that they were in trouble, regretted the sentence they had passed upon him. He, too, began to feel uneasy, lest, if Athens were entirely destroyed, he should fall into the power of the Spartans, who hated him.
Now, at that time it happened that the whole of the Athenian forces were stationed at Samos. Using it as a * The king whom he had wronged.
ALCIBIADES 121
base of operations for their fleet, they were engaged in recovering some of the revolted states and in guarding the rest of their possessions as best they could. For they were still a match for their enemies by sea. But they were afraid of Tissaphernes and his 150 Phoenician vessels, which were said to be almost upon them, and whose arrival would mean despair for the safety of Athens.
Alcibiades, knowing this, sent a secret message to the Athenian leaders at Samos, holding out hopes that he would win them the favour of Tissaphernes. His object was not, he said, to ingratiate himself with the populace. He relied, not on them, but on the aristocracy, to show themselves good men and true, put a stop to the insolence of the people, and then by their own efforts save the cause of their country.
The friends of Alcibiades were now paramount at Samos, and they sent a deputyto Athens to stir up a revolution and encourage the aristocracy to seize^the government and jDut an end to the democracy, representing that these were the conditions on which Alcibiades would win for them the friendship and alliance of Tissaphernes. This was merely the excuse and pretext put forward by the oligarchical party. But the moment they were in power and had obtained the direction of affairs under the name of the Five Thousand (whereas in reality they were only four hundred), they entirely disregarded Alcibiades and began to slacken in their conduct of the war. This was partly because they distrusted the people, who still resented the change of government, and partly because they thought that the Spartans, always favourable to oligarchy, would be more likely to make terms with them.
The democrats in the city were terrorized into reluctant inactivity. Indeed, a number of them who had openly opposed the Four Hundred had been put to death. Their friends at Samos were enraged at this news, and longed to set sail immediately for the Piraeus. They sent for Alcibiades, and declaring him their general, demanded that
122 GREEK LIVES FROM PLUTARCH
he should lead them at once to Athens to put down the tyrants.
He, however, did not acquiesce in their demand, as might have been expected in one thus suddenly exalted by the favour of the multitude. A man so placed would usually think it necessary to flatter and obey in all things those who had raised him, an exile and a wanderer, to the command of a great fleet and army, and invested him with so much power. On the contrary, he disp_la^ed the qualities of a gr&atjeader, and finding them carried away by indignation, he opposed their plans and prevented them from committing a fatal error.
Thus he did, at any rate at this crisis, undoubtedly save the state. For if they had then put to sea and sailed home to Athens, the enemy would have at once been free to occupy the whole of Ionia, the Hellespont and the islands,* without opposition, while they, having carried the war to their own city, would be engaged in civil strife, Athenians against Athenians. The prevention of this disaster was almost entirely due to Alcibiades, who brought persuasion and argument to bear upon them, not only in public speeches, but also in private conversations, partly by entreaty, and partly by coercion. He was supported by one Thrasybuliis, who went round with him and harangued the men, having, it was said, the loudest voice in the whole Athenian army.
A second notable achievement of Alcibiades was his undertaking either to win over the Phoenician ships, which the Spartans were expecting from the Persian king, to the Athenian cause, or at any rate to arrange that they should notjoin the Spartans. He sailed away with all speed, with the result that the ships, which had been sighted off the neighbouring coast, were brought no nearer by Tissaphernes, who thus broke his promise to the Spartans. Both sides attributed this diversion to Alcibiades.
After this the Four Hundred at Athens were overthrown, * The JEgean Archipelago.
AL 123
the supporters of Alcibiac o-operating with the
democrats against them. And now the Athenians at home both wished and commanded Alcibiades to return. But he was unwilling to come back with empty hands, and no victory to his credit, merely through the sympathy and favour of the populace. He wanted to return in triumph. So first of all he left Samos, and taking a few ships, cruised round the islands of Cos and Cnidos. There he heard that Mindarus, the Spartan admiral, was sailing to the Helles- pont with his whole fleet, and that the Athenians were following him. So he hastened to go to the assistance of his colleagues, and by good luck arrived with his eighteen ships at a critical moment, when the whole of the two fleets were engaged in a pitched battle off Abydos, which lasted until nightfall.
The struggle was fierce, and victory inclined now to one side, and now to the other. The appearance of Alcibiades at first had the opposite effect to what he intended, for it encouraged the enemy and caused a panic among the Athenians. But he quickly hoisted the Athenian ensign from his flagship, and immediately attacked the victorious Peloponnesians as they were in pursuit. He put these to flight and succeeded in driving them on shore, when he boarded and broke up their vessels. The crews meanwhile swam to land, where the Persian army under Pharnabazus was endeavouring to assist them and co-operate with the Spartan fleet.
Finally, the Athenians captured thirty of the enemy's ships, and recovered all their own ; so they set up a trophy. Alcibiades, after such a brilliant success, was prompted by vainty to make a display before Tissaphernes ; so, providing himself with the customary presents and escorted by a retinue befitting a general, he went to visit him. He did not, however, meet with the reception he expected. Tissa- phernes had long been in bad repute with the Spartans, and had begun to fear that this might bring upon him the dis-
124 GREEK LIVES FROM PLUTARCH
pleasure of the Persian king. It seemed to him, therefore, that Alcibiades had arrived at a convenient opportunity. He seized him, and shut him up in Sardis, thinking that this act of injustice would serve to dispel the calumnies of the Spartans.
Thirty days later, however, Alcibiades, having somehow procured a horse, escaped from his guards and made his way to Clazomenae. He brought additional disgrace on Tissa- phernes by giving out that he had been a party to his escape. He then sailed to the Athenian camp, where he learned that Mindarus and Pharnabazus were together at Cyzicus. He roused his men by a speech, in which he said : " We must fight the enemy by sea and land, and, Zeus be witness, by siege also ; for there will be no pay if we are not everywhere victorious."
After manning his fleet, he gave orders to keep all small boats within their lines, that no warning of his approach might reach the enemy from any quarter. It chanced also that there was a sudden heavy fall of rain, accompanied by thunder and darkness, which favoured his design by helping to conceal their preparations. Not only did he escape observation by the enemy, but even the Athenians had abandoned the idea of starting, when he ordered them on board and put to sea. Shortly afterwards the darkness lifted, and the Peloponnesian fleet was seen riding at anchor before the harbour of Cyzicus.
Alcibiades was afraid that if they saw his full strength at first they would take refuge on shore, so he ordered the other commanders to sail slowly and lag behind, whilst he with only forty ships showed himself to the enemy and challenged them to battle. The enemy fell into the trap and rowed out to meet them, despising such small numbers, and grappling with the Athenians immediately at close quarters. But when the rest of the fleet bore down upon them in the midst of the conflict,J:hey were seized with panic and took to flight.
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Alcibiades broke through their line with twenty of his best ships and made for the shore. Having landed the crews, he fell upon the fugitives from the enemy's vessels, and killed great numbers of them. Mindarus and Phar- nabazus came up to their assistance, but he defeated them. Mindarus was slain, fighting bravely, and Pharnabazus escaped. The number of corpses, with their armour, which fell into the hands of the Athenians, was very great. They likewise captured all the enemy's ships, occupied Cyzicus, which Pharnabazus had abandoned, and slew the Spartan garrison. Thus they not only secured the Hellespont, but they had swept the Spartans by force of arms from all the other seas.
A Spartan despatch was intercepted, conveying to the ephors, in their Laconic manner,* the news of this disaster. " Our luck is gone. Mindarus is slain. The men are starving. We know not what to do."
After some other engagements with the enemy, Alcibiades sailed to the Hellespont to raise money, and captured the city of Selymbria. On this occasion he recklessly exposed himself to danger. There was a party in the town who had undertaken to betray it to him, and they had agreed to hold up a torch about midnight as a signal for him to advance. But they were compelled to do this before the appointed time, because they feared that one of the con- spirators had suddenly changed his mind. When, therefore, the torch was held up his army was not ready ; but, taking only thirty men with him, he ran towards the walls, giving orders for the rest to follow with all speed. The gates were opened to him, and his thirty men having been reinforced by twenty light-armed soldiers, he passed within, and imme- diately discovered the Selymbrians advancing to meet him in full force.
It was evident that, if he waited to receive them, there was no hope of escape ; but as for flight, he had never been * Compare the " Life of Lycurgus," p. 31.
126 GREEK LIVES FROM PLUTARCH
conquered up to that day in all his campaigns, and he loved victory too well to think of it. So he sounded a _trumpe,t to obtain silence, and ordered one of those present to call upon the Selymbrians not to take arms against the Athenians.
This proclamation damped the ardour of the warlike party, who supposed that all the enemy's forces were within the walls, while it raised the hopes of the other party for a peaceful settlement. Meanwhile, as they stood parleying with one another, the rest of his army arrived upon the scene. He judged, and rightly, that the Selymbrians desired peace, but he was afraid that the Thracians might sack the town. They were numerous, and had eagerly taken part in the campaign out of personal regard for Alcibiades. He accordingly sent them all out of the city. When the Selymbrians surrendered, he inflicted no injury upon them, but merely required a sum of money, established a garrison in the town, and went away.
He next advanced against Byzantium, which had revolted, and laid siege to the city. Some of the inhabitants agreed to deliver it up to him, on condition that no harm should be done to the citizens. He then gave out a report that dis- turbances in Ionia compelled him to raise the siege, and during the day he sailed off with all his ships ; but at night be returned, and, disembarking with his heavy-armed troops, he quietly approached the walls. Meantime the fleet entered the harbour with great violence, shouting, and uproar, thereby terrifying the Byzantines by the unexpected attack, and at the same time affording an opportunity for the Attic party to welcome Alcibiades in security, for the whole population had gone down to the harbour to resist the fleet.
Yet they did not surrender without a struggle. The Spartans, Boeotians, and Megarians in Byzantium drove the Athenians back to their ships, and then, on finding the other Athenian force inside the city, formed up and went to meet it. A stubborn fight ensued, in which Alcibiades was victorious, taking prisoners about 300 of the enemy who
ALCIBIADES 127
survived. But after the battle^ not one of the Byzantines was put to deajh or exiled, in accordance with the terms of the agreement on which the city was surrendered.
By this time Alcibiades was anxious to see his native land, and still more to be gazed at by his fellow-citizens as the hero of so many victories over their foes. So he set sail for Athens. The Attic ships, moving in circular formation, were adorned with many shields and other spoils of war. He had in tow a number of prizes, and he carried a still greater number of figure-heads of other vessels captured and destroyed. There were in all not less than 200.
It was with some apprehension that he neared the shore, and when he did arrive he would not leave his vessel until he saw standing on the quay his cousin Euryptolemus, with a group of other friends and kinsfolk, ready to give him a hearty welcome. When he came ashore the crowd that met him appeared not even to see the other generals, but thronged about him with shouts of acclamation, and escorted him upon his way. Some came near him to crown him with garlands, and others who could not approach watched him from a distance, while the old men pointed him out to the boys.
Many tears, however, mingled with this public rejoicing, as the people remembered their former misfortunes in com- parison with their present prosperity. They reflected that they would not have failed in Sicily, or have been disap- pointed in any other hopes, if they had then entrusted their affairs to Alcibiades and placed him in command. Had he not found Athens almost driven from the sea, and scarce able to protect her own suburbs by land, and, moreover, at war with herself through civil strife ? And had he not raised her from this base and sorry wreck, and not only restored to her the dominion of the sea, but on land also rendered her every- where victorious over her foes ?
The decree recalling him from exile had already been passed, when an assembly of the people was held, and
128 GREEK LIVES FROM PLUTARCH
Alcibiades came forward to speak. First he lamented his own sufferings, for which he briefly and gently remonstrated with the people ; but mainly he ascribed his misfortunes to ill-luck and some evil genius of his own. In the greater part of his speech, however, he dwelt on their prospects in the war, and used all his eloquence to encourage them.
He was crowned with golden crowns, and appointed com- mander-in-chief, with absolute power, both by land and sea. They also decreed that his estate should be restored, and that the priests should absolve him from the curses which they had pronounced against him by order of the people. But when the other priests performed this absolution, Theodorus, the priest of the mysteries, declined to do so, saying, " For my part, I never cursed him, if he is guiltless of injuring Athens."
The 100 ships were now ready with which he was again to put to sea, when an honourable project suggested itself which detained him until the celebration of the mysteries.* Since the fortification of Decelea the roads to Eleusis had been held by the enemy, and the procession, having to go by sea, had been robbed of all its magnificence. The sacrifices and dances, and many of the sacred rites per- formed by the way, had been perforce omitted.
So Alcibiades thought it would be a glorious deed, show- ing piety in the eyes of the gods, and winning renown in the eyes of men, to restore their ancestral splendour to the sacred ceremonies by escorting the procession with his army, and protecting it against the enemy ; for if A gis remained inactive, he would incur humiliation and total loss of prestige, while, if there were a battle, Alcibiades would be fig^tmg in a sacred cause within sight of his native city, on behalf of all that his countrymen held most dear and most holy, and, moreover, they would all be present as witnesses of his valour.
* This was an annual religious festival in honour of Demeter and Persephone. The ceremonies were held at Eleusis, a town of Attica, and were hence known as the Eleusinian Mysteries.
ALCIBIADES 129
When he had formed this resolve, he issued a proclama- tion to the priests and heralds, and at daybreak sent out scouts and posted watchmen on the heights. Then, taking with him the priests and their sacred train, protected on all sides by his troops, in silence and with all due ceremony he conducted them upon their way. It was an impressive and solemn spectacle, and all save the _enyious hailed him high- priest of the mysteries as well as general. None of the enemy dared to molest them, and he brought them back in safety to Athens.
Himself elated at his success, he extolled the army as invincible under his command, and so worked upon the populace that they longed to havejiim as their tyrant* Some openly spoke of it, and came and besought him to raise himself above calumny, abolish all laws and popular 'decrees, and get rid of the chattering fools who were ruining the statej so that he might have a free hand to conduct the affairs of the nation, without fear of impeachment.
How far he himself contemplated tyranny is uncertain, but the leading citizens were alarmed at the prospect, and hastened his departure by every means in their power, appointing the colleagues whom he desired, and voting on every question in accordance with his wishes.
So he set sail with 100 ships and attacked Andros, defeating the Spartan forces on the island. But he failed to take, the_city, and this gave his enemies the first occasion of bringing accusations against him. If ever a man was ruined by his own glory, it was Alcibiades. His reputation for courage and ability was so great, owing to his successes, y ^ that any fa;]"rp was attribute J~to" negligence rather than II j want^ of_power, the general opinion being that, if he tried, he / could do anything.
The Athenians were hoping to hear of the conquest of Chios and the rest of Ionia, and so they became impatient
* "Tyrant" merely in the sense of "absolute ruler"; not in the modern sense of an " oppressor. ' '
9
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at not receiving news of the sp£££Jy and imrnediate fulfilment of their wishes. They did not consider his lack of money, which compelled him, fighting as he was with enemies who were financed by the Great King,* to leave his fleet and go off on frequent expeditions in search of funds and provisions.
It was this which led to the final charge against him. Lysander, who had been sent out by the Spartans to take command of their fleet, raised the pay of his sailors from three to four obols t a day, out of the funds provided by C^xus. Alcibiades, already scarcely able to provide three obols, went off to Caria_to__rai^^mon.ey. He left the fleet in charge of Antiochus, who was a skilful seaman, but otherwise a man of no brains or personal worth.
Antiochus had strict orders from Alcibiades not to risk an engagement, even if the enemy's fleet offered battle. But he treated these instructions with insolent^ontempt. Manning his own vessel and one of the others, he sailed to Ephesus, and rowed along in front of the bows of the enemy's ships, doing all he could to provoke them, and shouting every kind of abuse and insult.
At first Lysander put out in pursuit with a few ships only, but when the Athenians came up to the rescue he engaged with his whole fleet, defeated and killed Antiochus, took a number of ships and prisoners, and erected a trophy. Alcibiades, on hearing the news, hastened back to Samos, and putting to sea with his whole force, offered battle to Lysander ; but the latter was content with his victory, and would not be drawn into an engagement.
One of the enemies of Alcibiades in the fleet now returned to Athens to lay an accusation against him, and roused the anger of the people by telling them that Alcibiades had ruined their cause and lost their ships by careless neglect of duty. He delegated the command, it was said, to boon com- panions (who were high in his favour owing to their skill in
* The King of Persia was commonly called the Great King. | An obol was worth about i|d.
ALCIBIADES 131
spinning sailors' yarns), so that he might be at liberty him- self to cruise about getting money, and indulging in drink and excess, while the enemy's fleet lay close at hand. His enemies charged him also with fortifying a stronghold in Thrace as a retreat for himself, being apparently unable or unwilling to reside in his own country.
The Athenians listened to these accusations, and appointed other generals, as a mark of their displeasure and resent- ment against him. Directly he heard of this Alcibiades became apprehensive, and quitted the camp altogether. Collecting a force of mercenaries, he made war on his own account against the independent tribes of Thrace, and amassed great wealth from the plunder. At the same time he protected the neighbouring Greeks from the barbarians.
Meanwhile the new Athenian generals, with all the available ships, had stationed themselves at ^Egospotami. Ly sander's fleet was lying off Lampsacus, and they made a practice of sailing out every morning to offer him battle, afterwards returning and passing the day in careless disorder, to show their contempt for the enemy.
Alcibiades, who was near at hand, was fully alive to their danger. He rode up on horseback and pointed out to the generals that they were in a bad anchorage, with no harbour or city near, so that they had to fetch their provisions from Sestos, a long way off. Moreover, he said, they allowed the crews when on shore to wander about at will and scatter in all directions, with a hostile fleet anchored close by, well disciplined, under a single commander, and trained to obey every order in silence. He advised them to remove the fleet to Sestos.
The generals gave nojieed to these words of Alcibiades, but one of them insolently bade him begone, as others were now in command, not he. Alcibiades, suspecting them of some treachery, took his departure, and remarked to his friends who accompanied him from the camp that, if he had not been so insulted, he would within a few days either
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132 GREEK LIVES FROM PLUTARCH
have forced the Spartans to meet them in a pitched naval battle, or else abandon their ships. Some regarded this as mere boasting, but others thought he might very likely have accomplished it, if he had brought up a number of Thracian spearmen and cavalry from the inland country and confused the Spartans by an attack upon their camp.
The event soon proved, indeed, how correctly he had judged the mistakes of the Athenians ; for Lysander swooped upon them suddenly and unexpectedly, and out of the whole fleet eight vessels only escaped. The rest, to the number of nearly 2oor were captured. Three thousand men were taken prisoners and put to death by Lysander. Not long afterwards he took Athens itself, where he burnt the shipping and demolished the Long Walls.*
After this, Alcibiades, fearing the Spartans, who were now masters both by land and sea, took refuge in Bithynia, taking with him a large sum of money, and leaving behind still more in the castle where he had resided. In Bithynia, however, he was robbed by some Thracians, and lost a great part of his possessions.
He then determined to resort to Artaxerxes, confident that, if the king would make trial of him, he would show himself the equal of Themistocles. and possessed of a better claim on -his regard. For he would not, like Themistocles, be serving the king and asking his help against his own countrymen, but on behalf of his country against her enemies.
Thinking that Pharnabazus would be most likely to afford him a safe- conduct to the king, he went to him in Phrygia, and lived there for some time, paying court toln'm, and re- ceiving honourable treatment.
The Athenians were grievously distressed a,t the loss of
their empire, but when Lysander also deprived them of their
liberty, and set up a council of thirty to govern the city,
they began to revert, now that all was lost, to those thoughts
* The walls connected Athens with the Port of Piraeus (see p. 77).
ALCIBIADES 13S
which they had rejected when "safety was still possible. As they reviewed their conduct, they lamented their mistakes and follies, the greatest of which they considered was their second fit of anger against Alcibiades. He had been cast off through no fault of his own, and in their resentment against his subordinate for shamefully losing a few ships they had much more shamefully deprived the city of her best and ablest general.
Even in their present plight, however, some faint hope remained that the cause nf Athensjwas not wholly lost while Alcibiades survived. In his former exile, they reflected, he had not been content to lead an idle and inactive life, nor would he now, they thought, if his own affairs permitted, disregard the insolence of the Spartans and the outrages of the Thirty Tyrants.
There was nothing unreasonable in the people cherishing these dreams, since^ it^occurred even to the Thirty to keep themselves well informed about him, and obtain full accounts of all his plans and movements. Finally, one of the Thirty told Lysander that the Spartans could never govern^Greece in safety while the Athenian democracy remained, and that, though the Athenians appeared to submit patiently to an oligarchy, as long as they knew that Alcibiades was alive they would never acquiesce in that state of affairs. Still, Lysander would not listen to them, until at length orders arrived from the authorities at Sparta instructing him to have Alcibiades put out of the way. Either they, too, were afraid of his energy and genius for great enterprises, or else they did it in order to gratify King Agis.
Lysander sent a message to Pharnabazus, desiring him to have the deed accomplished, and Pharnabazus entrusted it to his brother and uncle.
Alcibiades happened to be living at the time in a village of Phrygia, with a wife named Timandra.* The assassins * Timandra is one of the characters in " Timon of Athens."
134 GREEK LIVES FROM PLUTARCH
did not dare to enter his house, but surrounded it and set it on fire. When he found what had happened, Alcibiades gathered up a pile of clothes and bedding and threw it on the flames ; then, wrapping a cloak about his left arm, with a drawn sword in his right, he rushed out, unscathed by the fire, and scattered the barbarians the moment they sawr him. None of them ventured to go near or attack him at close quarters, but they kept at a distance and shot him with their darts and arrows.
So fell Alcibiades ; and when the barbarians had gone, Timandra took his body and wrapped it in her own robes, and buried him with all the honour and ceremony which she could command.
VII. DION.
410 (CIRCA) TO 353 B.C.
' ' Nor less the homage that was seen to wait On Dion's virtues, when the lunar beam Of Plato's genius, from its lofty sphere, Fell round him in the grove of Academe, Softening their inbred dignity austere."
WORDSWORTH: Dion.
DIONYSIUS the Elder, after he had firmly established him- self as tyrant of Syracuse, took to wife Aristomache, the daughter of a prominent Syracusan. Her brother, Dion, was honourably received at court at first for his sister's sake, but later on, having given proof of his own worth, he won for himself the affections of the despot. In addition to all the other favours bestowed upon him, Dionysius instructed his treasurers to give Dion whatever money he might ask for, only adding that they should furnish him with an account of it the same day.
Now, Dion was already a man of lofty character, high- minded and manly, but he developed these qualities still more when Plato, by some divine chance, crossed over into Sicily. It was through no human calculation, surely, that he came. Some heavenly power, it would seem, thus casting among the Syracusans from afar the germ of liberty, and devising the abolition of despotism, guided Plato out of Italy to Syracuse, and brought him into converse with Dion.
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136 GREEK LIVES FROM PLUTARCH
Dion was then quite a young man, but he became far the aptest pupil of all those who resorted to Plato, and his most zealous disciple in the pursuit of virtue, as Plato himself has written and as Dion's own acts bear witness. He had been nurtured in habits of submission under a tyrant ; accustomed to a life of inequality, intimidation, and that servility which attends on upstart wealth ; satiated with vulgar luxury and a mode of life which finds its highest good in pleasures and excesses. Yet, at his first taste of reason and a philosophy that leads the way to virtue, his soul was set on fire, and in his youthful innocence and ready obedience to noble impulses, he expected the same reasoning to have a similar effect on Dionysius. He .set to work eagerly, therefore, and succeeded in arranging for him to meet Plato in a leisure hour and hear him discourse.
When the meeting took place, the discussion turned on human virtue in general, but most of all on courage. Plato showed how tyrants are of all men the least courageous, and turning thence to the subject of justice, taught that the life of the just is happy and that of the unjust miserable. As he went on the tyrant began to find his words unbearable, feeling as though he himself were being convicted. He was annoyed, too, at the admiration with which those present welcomed the man, and their delight at his discourse. At last his anger broke out, and he asked him furiously what he wanted to come to Sicily for. Plato replied that he had come in search of a good man. Whereupon Dionysius retorted, " By the gods ! you do not appear to have found one yet !"
Dion and his friends thought that his wrath had thus expended itself, and they conveyed Plato, who was anxious to be gone, on board a trireme which was taking a certain Spartan back to Greece.
But Dionysius made secret overtures to the Spartan to kill Plato on the voyage, or failing that, at least to sell him into slavery. It would do him no harm, he argued, for,
COLUMNS OF AN ANCIENT GREEK TEMPLE, WHICH HAS BEEN CONVERTED INTO THE MODERN CATHEDRAL OF SYRACUSE.
DION 139
being a just man, he would be equally happy even if he became a slave. Accordingly, it is said, the Spartan carried Plato to ^Egina, and sold him there, for the ^ginetans were at war with Athens, arid there was a decree that any Athenian taken at ^Egina should be sold.
In spite of these events, Dion lost nothing of his favour and credit with Dionysius. On the contrary, he was entrusted with the management of several most important embassies, and as ambassador to Carthage he gained con- spicuous distinction. Moreover, he was the only man from whom Dionysius would brook plain speaking, and he spoke his mind fearlessly. On one occasion Dionysius was ridiculing Gelon's * government, and remarked (with a pun upon his name) that he had been the laughing-stock (yeAws) of Sicily. The other courtiers pretended to admire the jest, but Dion received it with disapproval.
" At any rate," he said, " you are tyrant because you were trusted for Gelon's sake. But for your sake no one will be trusted hereafter."
The fact was, apparently, that Gelon made a monarchy seem the best possible form of government, and Dionysius the worst.
Dionysius had four children by Aristomache, and three by another marriage.f Two of Aristomache's children were daughters, and named Sophrosyne and Arete.J Sophrosyne was married to his son Dionysius, and Arete to his brother Thearides,§ at whose death Dion took her to wife, she being his niece.
When Dionysius fell ill, and was seen to be at the point of death, Dion attempted to urge upon him the claims of
* A former tyrant of Syracuse.
f One of his children by this other marriage was Dionysius the Younger, who succeeded him.
£ Sophrosyne means "prudence"; Arete, "virtue."
§ It is not clear whether Thearides was the brother of the elder or the younger Dionysius. In the former case he would be Arete's uncle, in the latter her half-brother.
140 GREEK LIVES FROM PLUTARCH
Aristomache's children to the succession. But the physicians, wishing to gain favour with the heir to the throne, would not give him an opportunity. According to one historian, when Dionysius asked for a sleeping draught, they gave him an opiate of such power as to merge his sleep in death.
Yet at the first council of his advisers held by the young Dionysius, Dion's speech on the policy of the hour was such as to make all the other statesmen seem as children beside him in intelligence. In the light of his fearless candour they showed themselves mere slaves of tyranny, offering base and timid counsels designed to wTin the young man's favour.
But what astonished them most was his action when they were apprehensive of impending danger from Carthage.* He undertook, if Dionysius desired peace, to sail at once to Libya and conclude it on the most favourable terms ; but if he were eager for war, to fit out fifty triremes at his own expense, and place them at his disposal ready for active service.
Dionysius, for his part, was struck with admiration at his magnanimity and delighted with his zeal. But the other courtiers regarded Dion's munificence as a reflection on themselves and his power as a humiliation, and from that .moment they spared no suggestion calculated to infuriate the young man against him. They represented him as secretly subverting the tyranny by means of sea power, and using his ships to wrest the government away from Dionysius into the hands of his sister Aristomache's children.
But the chief and most obvious causes of their dislike and envy were already existent in his different mode of life and the aloofness of his manners. From the very outset of the young tyrant's reign, viciously nurtured as he was, they flattered and courted him by ministering to his pleasures
* At that time the Carthaginians were constantly making descents on Sicily.
DION 141
and devising for him all kinds of dissipation. Hence the iron rule of the tyranny became softened, and appeared to his subjects a benevolent despotism, not so much from any lenity in the ruler as from his easy-going negligence.
Dion, therefore, who never indulged in any youthful gaieties, was naturally unpopular. His enemies maligned him by plausibly applying to his virtues the names of vices, calling his dignity conceit and his frankness effrontery. His advice was regarded as censure, and his refusal to share their misdeeds as contempt.
No doubt he had in his character a certain pompousness and austerity, which rendered him unsociable and difficult to work with. It was not only the young prince, whose ears had always been accustomed to flattery, who found him ungracious and antagonistic in conversation. Many of his own intimate friends, while appreciating the integrity and nobility of his conduct, found fault with his manner, as showing a greater brusqueness and severity than the exigencies of political life demanded.
Even Plato afterwards wrote him a prophetic warning on this subject, bidding him guard against self-will as being the companion of solitude. Not but what he himself was fully aware that, although he appeared at that crisis of affairs to be held worthy of the highest honours, as the one man capable of directing and sustaining the tyranny, yet this pre- eminence was grudgingly accorded him by the tyrant under pressure of necessity.
Ascribing this to the young man's want of education, Dion was zealous to embark him on a course of liberal studies, and give him a taste of moral reasonings and precepts, that he might cease to be afraid of virtue and grow accustomed to take pleasure in the things that are excellent.
For by nature Dionysius was not one of the most worth- less of tyrants. But his father, fearing that if he acquired understanding and associated with men of intellect he
142 GREEK LIVES FROM PLUTARCH
would plot against him and usurp the government, used to keep him in close confinement at home. In the absence of other society, and at a loss for occupations, it is said, he used to spend his time making little waggons and lamps and wooden chairs and tables.
The elder Dionysius was so mistrustful, so nervously suspicious and on his guard against all men, that he would not even have his hair cut with scissors, but one of the hair- dressers who attended him regularly used to singe his hair with a piece of coal. Not even his brother or his son used to come into his chamber in the clothes which they happened to be wearing, but were first obliged to strip in the presence of the guards and put on another dress.
Once, when his brother was explaining the geography of a place, he took a spear from one of the guards, in order to make a sketch of its position on the ground. Dionysius was exceedingly angry with him, and put the soldier to death who gave him the spear. He used to say that he kept watch on those of his friends who were men of intellect, knowing that they would prefer to be tyrants than to serve a tyrant.
One of his officers whom he had advanced to high com- mand had dreamed that he was killing him, and Dionysius had him executed, arguing that this vision must have had its origin in some plan or intention formed during his waking moments. Such was the man, forsooth, who was enraged with Plato for not proclaiming him the bravest of men, while all the time his craven spirit was full of terrors and cowardly imaginings.
Dion, as we have said, seeing that the character of the young Dionysius had been crushed and corrupted through want of training, urged him continually to devote himself to study. He advised him to use every endeavour to persuade Plato, the greatest of philosophers, to visit Sicily, and, when he came, to surrender himself to his guidance.
ft With a character thus moulded to the dictates of virtue,
DION 143
after the likeness of that most Divine and glorious Exemplar, in obedience to whose will the universe assumes order out of chaos, you would," said Dion, " procure great happiness both for yourself and for the citizens. All those duties which they now perform listlessly and under compulsion you would, by moderation, justice, and goodwill, transform into willing services rendered, as it were, by sons to their father. Instead of a tyrant, you would become their king."
" For the adamantine bonds of empire," he continued, "are not, as your father used to say, terror and violence, a numerous fleet, and a barbarian garrison 10,000 strong, but rather the goodwill, zeal, and affection which result from virtue and justice. Milder they are than those other strict and austere bonds, but far more potent to make a dynasty endure.
" Moreover, it shows a poor ambition in a ruler, while he clothes his body sumptuously, and prides himself in the luxury and splendour of his house, to be in conversation and reasoning no more distinguished than an ordinary person, and not consider it his duty to keep the palace of his soul royally adorned."
Many a time did Dion offer these exhortations, inter- spersing them with some of Plato's own words, until at last Dionysius was seized with a keen and violent desire to meet Plato and hear him discourse. Forthwith, therefore, numerous letters from Dionysius found their way to Athens from time to time, with many injunctions from Dion ; others came from the Pythagorean philosophers of Italy, urging Plato to come and obtain a hold over this young soul, beat- ing about under stress of great power and authority, and bring it safe to port ballasted by his weighty admonitions.
Plato accordingly obeyed the summons, chiefly, as he himself says, from a sense of shame, that he might not appear to be a mere talker, unwilling to put his theories to a practical test, and also hoping that by the cure of one
144 GREEK LIVES FROM PLUTARCH
man, and he, as it were, the dominating organ of the body politic, he might heal the disorders of the whole of Sicily.
But Dion's enemies were alarmed at the prospect of this conversion of Dionysius. They persuaded him to recall from exile one Philistus, a man trained in dialectics and experienced in the ways of tyrants, that they might have in him a champion to counteract Plato and his philosophy. Philistus accordingly returned and immediately became a close adherent of the despotism.
From other quarters also it happened that slanders and calumnies against Dion were brought to the king, accusing him of having discussed with some of his friends the abolition of the tyranny. He was, indeed, hoping, it seems, through the intervention of Plato, to remove from the tyranny its despotic and too absolute character, and establish Dionysius as a kind of constitutional ruler in harmony with the laws. If he resisted and declined to moderate his power, Dion intended to depose him, and restore to the Syracusans their commonwealth. Not that he approved of democracy, but he considered it infinitely preferable to a tyranny if a state were unable to obtain a sound aristocracy.*
Such was the state of affairs when Plato arrived in Sicily. He was greeted at first with extraordinary marks of honour and friendliness. Dionysius sent one of the royal chariots, splendidly equipped, to meet him as he landed from his trireme, and the tyrant in person offered sacrifice to com- memorate the great blessing that had befallen his reign. The seemliness of the banquets, the decorous behaviour of the court, and the clemency of the tyrant himself in trans- acting all matters of state, inspired the citizens with
* The word "aristocracy," as used here and by Aristotle in his 1 ' Politics, ' ' meant ' ' government by the best ' ' — that is, the most virtuous and wise. In our modern sense, of course, it means, not a form of government, but a social class, and has reference to high birth rather than wisdom and virtue.
DION 145
wonderful hopes of reform. There was a universal " run," * so to speak, on philosophy and disputations, and the palace floors, it is said, were strewn with dust owing to the number of students working problems in geometry, t
A few days later there was a national sacrifice in the grounds of the palace, and the herald, according to custom, prayed that the tyranny might continue undisturbed for many years to come. Dionysius, who was standing by, is said to have remarked, " Will you not cease invoking curses upon us ?" This grievously offended Philistus and his party, who felt that, if Plato on a short acquaintance had effected such a change and transformation in the young man's mind, his influence, with time and further intercourse, would be practically unassailable.
Their calumnies against Dion, therefore, were no longer uttered singly and in secret, but openly and universally. Everyone could see, they said, that he was bewitching and drugging Dionysius with the sophistry of Plato, so that Dionysius might voluntarily resign his power, and Dion could assume it and transfer it to the children of his sister Aristomache.
Some professed indignation that the Athenians, who had formerly sailed to Sicily with a great naval and military armament, j and had been utterly destroyed before they could take Syracuse, should now by means of one sophist be subverting the tyranny of Dionysius. Was he to abandon his bodyguard of 10,000 spearmen, his fleet of 400 triremes, and his army of 10,000 horse, and infantry of many times that number, in order to seek in Academe § that mysterious
* The slang expression is, perhaps, admissible here, as it is almost exactly equivalent to the Greek, (ftopd TIS.
f The figures were drawn in sand or dust on the floor. Compare the story on p. 142 ; also the Gospel of St. John viii. 6, where Jesus " wrote with His finger on the ground." This renascence of learning at Syracuse took place about twenty-five years before the birth of Euclid, who lived at Alexandria 323-283 B.C.
| See the " Life of Alcibiades," p. 115.
§ The groves where Plato taught philosophy at Athens.
10
146 GREEK LIVES FROM PLUTARCH
Good,* and win blessedness by the aid of geometry ? Mean- while the blessedness that consists of power and wealth and pleasure was to be resigned to Dion and the children of Dion's sister.
These calumnies at first aroused the suspicions of the tyrant against Dion, and later his more open resentment and hostility. Then a letter was secretly brought to Dionysius which Dion had written to the Carthaginian deputies. In it he told them, when arranging terms of peace with Dionysius, not to hold the interview without consult- ing him, as through him they would be able to obtain a permanent settlement.
When Dionysius had read this letter he took counsel with Philistus and his party, and entrapped Dion by a pretence of reconciliation. Assuming a tone of kindness, and expressing a renewal of his goodwill, he took Dion off for a walk, unaccompanied, at the foot of the citadel towards the sea. There he showed him the letter and accused him of conspiring with the Carthaginians against himself. Dion wished to offer explanations, but Dionysius refused to listen, and there and then had him taken on board a boat, and ordered the sailors to carry him away and land him in Italy.
This was generally regarded as a harsh proceeding, and the tyrant's house became a house of mourning, on account of the women.f A feeling of elation, however, prevailed in Syracuse, as the city expected the uproar about Dion, and the general distrust of the tyrant, to result in political changes and some sudden revolution. Dionysius, seeing this, became apprehensive, and tried to console Dion's womenfolk and friends by pretending that Dion had not been banished, but merely sent abroad for a time, in case his wilful arrogance should provoke Dionysius to do him some worse injury.
* The summum bonum, or " highest good," sought by philosophers.
f Aristomache, sister of Dion and step-mother of Dionysius the Younger ; Arete, daughter of Aristomache and wife of Dion ; and Sophrosyne, daughter of Aristomache and wife of Dionysius.
DION 147
He also placed two ships at the disposal of Dion's relatives, with permission to put on board any of his property or his servants that they wished, and convey them to him in the Peloponnese. Now, Dion had a great deal of property, and his abode was furnished with almost regal magnificence. So his friends packed up his effects and con- veyed them to him. Many other things were sent him by the women of his family, so that as regards riches and wealth he made a brave show among the Greeks, and the power of the tyrant was enhanced by the prosperity of the exile.
Dionysius had at once removed Plato to the citadel, thus under pretext of hospitality and friendship contriving to keep him in honourable confinement, so that he could not accompany Dion on his voyage as a witness to the wrongs that he had suffered. But time and intercourse, which can make a wild animal amenable to human control, accustomed him to Plato's society and conversation. He conceived a violent affection for him, of a tyrannous kind, inasmuch as he expected Plato in return to love him only and admire him above all other men. He was ready to entrust Plato with the conduct of affairs — nay, more, with the tyranny itself, provided he did not prefer his friendship with Dion to his friendship with Dionysius.
To Plato this infatuation was troublesome, for Dionysius had fits of jealousy like a man badly in love, and every now and then would fall out with him, and as often make it up and beg his forgiveness. Again, he was all eagerness to listen to his discourse and share his pursuit of philosophy, and then anon he would be ashamed of it before those who tried to divert him from it, and declared that it would be his ruin.
Meanwhile, however, a war broke out, and he sent Plato away, after promising to recall Dion in the summer. This promise he broke immediately, but continued to remit to Dion the revenues of his estates. He asked Plato to pardon
10 — 2
148 GREEK LIVES FROM PLUTARCH
his not having kept to the time appointed, alleging the war as an excuse, and saying that the moment peace was declared he would send for Dion without delay. He further stipulated that Dion should keep the peace, engage in no revolutionary plots, and refrain from slandering him among the Greeks. These injunctions Plato endeavoured to fulfil, and diverting Dion's attention to philosophy, induced him to remain in the Academy.
At Athens Dion was living with one of his acquaintance named Callippus, but he had also bought an estate in the country as a holiday retreat, which on sailing for Sicily he afterwards gave to a friend named Speusippus. with whom, through Plato, he had been most intimate. Plato was anxious that Dion's character should be mellowed by mixing with genial companions who indulged in seasonable wit and pleasantry, and Speusippus was a man of that description.*
Dion also visited the other cities of Greece, where he met all the best men and leading politicians, joining them in their public ceremonies as well as in their recreations. In his manners he displayed no solecisms,! nor anything that savoured of despotism or effeminacy. He showed, on the contrary, moderation, virtue, and courage, along with culti- vated tastes in reasoning and philosophy. These qualities won him universal goodwill and admiration, while in many cities public honours were conferred upon him. The Lacedaemonians made him a citizen of Sparta, heedless of giving offence to Dionysius, in spite of the fact that he was at that time their active ally against the Thebans.
As time went on, Dionysius became jealous and alarmed
* Had Plato been familiar with Shakespeare, he would, perhaps, have quoted to Dion Graziano's satire on excessive gravity in " The Merchant of Venice": "Let me play the fool," etc. Compare Horace's " Dulce est desipere in loco."
f The expression " to commit a solecism" means to behave like an inhabitant of Soli, an Athenian colony in Cilicia, where the Attic dialect had become corrupted. In the same way we speak of "a provincialism." Compare Matthew Arnold's remark: "At Soli, I imagine, they did not talk of solecisms."
DION 149
at Dion's popularity in Greece, and. stopped the remittances of his income, handing over the estate to his own trustees. At the same time he was anxious to counteract the bad repute into which he had fallen among the philosophers on account of Plato, and he gathered round him a number of men witji a reputation for learning. In his zeal to outshine them all in debate, he was obliged to resort to Plato's argu- ments, which he used incorrectly. Then he began to long for him again, and blamed himself for not having profited by his presence, and continued to listen to his admirable discourses.
With all a tyrant's vehement caprice and impatience to gratify his desires, he took a sudden fancy to recall Plato, and used every means in his power to attain his object. He induced Archytas and the Pythagoreans to stand sureties for his promises, and invite Plato to return. So they sent one of their number to see him, and Dionysius despatched a trireme with a party of his friends to urge Plato to come. He also wrote himself expressly to say that if Plato did not yield to his request Dion would receive no favour, but every favour if he did. Many appeals likewise reached Dion from his sister and his wife urging that he should ask Plato to obey the summons of Dionysius and not afford him an excuse for his conduct. And so it was that Plato, as he himself says, came once more into the Strait of Scylla —
"Came to adventure once more the passage of deadly Charybdis."*
His coming gave Dionysius great joy, and roused in Sicily great hopes. One prayer and one desire inspired the whole people — that Plato might overcome Philistus, and philosophy triumph over despotism. The ladies of the royal household also made much of him, and he enjoyed the special confidence of Dionysius, with the privilege, which
* This is a line from Homer ("Odyssey," xii. 428), which Plato quotes in his letters (Epistle VII.). For Scylla and Charybdis, see Index.
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no one else had, of coming into his presence without being searched. Dionysius repeatedly offered him presents of money, which Plato, however, declined. Whereupon Aristippus of Cyrene remarked that Dionysius was very safe in his generosity, for he offered little to those who asked for more, but a great deal to Plato, who took nothing.
After the first friendly greetings were over, Plato had taken an opportunity to mention Dion. He was met at first by evasions, and these were followed by reproaches and recriminations. These quarrels, however, were unknown to anyone else, for Dionysius kept them secret, and by showing Plato every attention and honour in other ways, endeavoured to divert him from his allegiance to Dion. Nor did Plato himself at first disclose the perfidy and deceit of Dionysius, but waited patiently and maintained appearances.
While matters stood thus between them, and they sup- posed that no one had noticed it, Helicon of Cyzicus, one of Plato's disciples, foretold an eclipse of the sun. It took place according to his prediction, and he received as a present from the tyrant, in token of his admiration, a talent of silver. Thereupon Aristippus, jesting with the other philosophers, said that he, too, had something extraordinary to foretell. When they asked him to say what it was, he replied: "Well, then, I foretell that before long Plato and Dionysius will be at loggerheads."
At length Dionysius proceeded to sell Dion's property and appropriate the money. At the same time he removed Plato from his lodging in the gardens of the palace, and transferred him to the care of his hired bodyguard, who had long hated Plato and sought to make away with him, because, as they thought, he advised Dionysius to renounce the tyranny and dispense with mercenary troops.
When Archytas and his friends * heard that Plato was in
* The Pythagorean philosophers of Southern Italy, mentioned on p. 149.
DION 151
such danger, they immediately sent a vessel with a deputa- tion to Dionysius, requesting him to hand Plato over to them, as it was on their pledges of security that he had sailed to Sicily. Dionysius disclaimed any ill-will, and entertained him with banquets and every show of friendli- ness on the occasion of his departure. But once he broke out with the remark :
" No doubt, Plato, you will have many grievous charges to make against us, among your philosophical friends."
Plato answered with a smile : " Let us hope there may never be such a dearth of subjects in the Academy that one should bring you up for discussion."
Dion was very angry at these occurrences. Soon after- wards he declared himself an open enemy of Dionysius, and from this time forward his thoughts were turned to war. Plato himself held aloof, from a sense of the hospitality he owed to Dionysius, and also on account of his age. But Speusippus and Dion's other friends took up his cause, and called upon him to liberate Sicily — Sicily which was stretching out her hands towards him and eager to bid him welcome. For during Plato's residence in Syracuse, Speu- sippus and his companions had naturally mingled more with the people in general, and ascertained their disposition. They at first had mistrusted his plain-speaking, as possibly a plot of the tyrant's to entrap them, but in time they had given him their confidence.
Their one universal cry was to beg and entreat Dion to come, not with ships or men or horses, but merely to step on board a boat himself, and place his person and his name at the disposal of the Sicilians against Dionysius. En- couraged by this information, Dion made a secret levy, by means of agents, without revealing his design. Many politicians and philosophers supported him. But of all those who had been banished by Dionysius, not less than 1,000 in number, only five-and-twenty joined the enterprise, the rest being afraid to take the risk.
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The rendezvous was the island of Zacynthus, where the troops assembled. There were not quite 800 of them, but they had all won distinction in many a hard campaign, and were in excellent condition. In experience and daring they were quite the best men to be obtained, and well able to kindle enthusiasm and prowess in the forces which Dion hoped to raise in Sicily.
Two merchant vessels carried Dion's soldiers, and a third small ship and two thirty-oared boats accompanied them. He had on board also a supply of arms, besides those be- longing to his men — 2,000 shields, quantities of darts and spears, and a liberal store of provisions, that they might not run short of anything on the voyage. They had shaped their course entirely across the open sea, trusting to the winds, as they were afraid to keep near the coast, and they had heard that Philistus was lying in wait for them with a fleet at lapygia.
After sailing for twelve days with a light breeze, they arrived on the thirteenth at Pachynus, a promontory of Sicily. The pilot advised them to land at once, as, if they were driven off shore and neglected to avail themselves of the shelter of the headland, they might waste many days and nights at sea waiting for a southerly wind at that season of the summer. But Dion was afraid to make a landing so near the enemy, and preferred to attempt the more distant parts of the island. He therefore sailed past Pachynus.
Thereupon, however, a fierce gale from the north struck them, and drove the ships in a rough sea away from Sicily. A violent storm followed, accompanied by thunder and light- ning and a deluge of rain. The sailors were thrown into confusion, and had quite lost their bearings, when suddenly they saw that they were being driven by the tide towards an island off the coast of Libya, just at a point where it was most craggy and dangerous. They barely escaped being hurled upon the rocks and dashed to pieces, only
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just clearing them by hard rowing, until the storm abated.
They then fell in with a vessel, and discovered that they were at what are known as the Heads of the Great Syrtis. A calm ensued, and they tacked to and fro without making any headway; but while they were in dejection a light southerly breeze came in puffs from the land, when they were least expecting any wind in that quarter, and could hardly believe the change. Gradually the breeze increased, and as it gathered strength they put on all the sail they could, and with a prayer to the gods, hurried away from Libya, steering for the open sea towards Sicily."
Running easily before the wind, they arrived on the fifth day at a little Sicilian town in the Carthaginian territory, where there happened to be a Carthaginian commander who was a friend of Dion's. He, unaware of Dion's presence, and knowing nothing of his expedition, attempted to prevent the soldiers from landing. But they rushed on shore in full armour, and though they killed no one (for Dion had forbidden this on account of his friendship with the Carthaginian), they drove the inhabitants back to the town, entered it with them, and captured it. When the leaders met, they exchanged greetings, and Dion restored the town to his friend uninjured, while the latter entertained Dion's troops, and assisted him with whatever supplies he needed.
What encouraged them most was the fortunate circum- stance that Dionysius was away travelling, for it so happened that he had but lately sailed with eighty ships to Italy. Consequently, though Dion urged his men to stay there awhile and recruit their strength after the hardships of their long voyage, they refused to delay, and in their
* Compare the last stanza of Matthew Arnold's poem "The Scholar-Gipsy " :
" And snatch'd his rudder, and shook out more sail,
And day and night held on indignantly O'er the blue Midland waters with the gale, Betwixt the Syrtes and soft Sicily."
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spontaneous eagerness to snatch this opportunity called on Dion to lead them to Syracuse. Accordingly, after deposit- ing the superfluous arms and baggage, and requesting his friend to forward them to him as occasion arose, Dion pro- ceeded on his march towards the city.
Not less than 5,000 men joined him on the way. Though poorly armed with any weapon that came to hand, they made up for their defective equipment by their enthusiasm. This was so great, that when Dion gave the order to advance, they went forward at a run, urging each other on with shouts of joy and the watchword " Liberty."
At the gates of Syracuse the chief citizens, all dressed in white, came forward to meet him. Meantime the populace fell upon the friends of the tyrant, and seized the informers, as they were called, a set of vile and execrable wretches, who used to go prying round the city, mixing with the people, and carrying information to the tyrant of every man's opinions and conversation. These men were the first to pay the penalty, being beaten to death wherever they were en- countered.
Dion now appeared, marching at the head of his troops, and wearing splendid armour. On one side of him walked his brother Megacles, and on the other the Athenian Callippus, both crowned with garlands. A hundred of his foreign soldiers followed Dion as a bodyguard, while the officers led the rest in good order. The people of Syracuse looked on, and welcomed them as though it were some sacred procession to celebrate the advent of democracy and freedom to their city after eight-and-forty years of tyranny.*
* The entry of Dion into Syracuse is thus described by Wordsworth in his " Ode " :
" Who leads them on ? — The anxious people see Long-exiled Dion matching at their head, He also crowned with flowers of Sicily, And in a white, far-beaming corslet clad !
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The sound of a trumpet stilled the uproar, and proclama- tion was made that Dion and Megacles were come to put an end to despotism, and to free the Syracusans and all the other inhabitants of Sicily from the tyrant. Then Dion himself came forward and harangued the people, urging them to hold fast their liberty. With acclamation and rejoicings they appointed Dion and his brother generals with absolute power, and at their urgent request chose also twenty others to act as their colleagues, half of whom were among the exiles who had returned with Dion. After this he captured the heights above the town, called Epipolse, released the prisoners from the dungeon there, and then laid siege to the citadel.*
Seven days later Dionysius landed at the citadel, and at the same time some waggons arrived bringing Dion the arms which he had left in charge of his Carthaginian friend. These he served out among the citizens, and the rest equipped themselves as best they could. Dionysius at first sent agents privately to Dion, with the object of coming to terms with him. But Dion bade him discuss the matter publicly with the Syracusans as a free people, whereupon an amicable conference took place with the tyrant's repre- sentatives.
Dionysius promised them a reduction of taxes and ex- emption from military service, with a voice in the conduct of campaigns. The Syracusans laughed at these proposals, and Dion told the envoys that Dionysius need not discuss the question unless he were prepared to abdicate ; but that
Pure transport undisturbed by doubt or fear The gazers feel ; and, rushing to the plain, Salute those strangers as a holy train Or blest procession (to the Immortals dear) That brought their precious liberty again."
* The citadel, or acropolis, of Syracuse was on the island of Ortygia, at that time connected with the mainland by a causeway. On this island, also, was the famous fountain of Arethusa, whose legend inspired Shelley's poem of that name.
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if he would do that he himself would secure his safety and whatever else he reasonably could, in memory of their relationship.
Dionysius appeared to acquiesce in this, and again sent envoys inviting representatives of the Syracusans to come to the citadel, with whom he would discuss matters affect- ing their mutual advantage, each side meeting the other half-way. A deputation, nominated by Dion, was accord- ingly sent to wait upon him. A rumour emanating from the citadel became widely spread among the citizens, to the effect that Dionysius intended to resign the tyranny, and preferred to do so of his own accord rather than at the instance of Dion.
But this was a cunning pretence on the part of the tyrant to dupe the Syracusans. When the deputies arrived he seized them and put them in prison, and towards daybreak he sent his mercenaries, after plying them with neat* wine, to make a sortie against the besieging lines of the Syracusans.
The attack was unexpected, and when the barbarians, with great daring and fury, began to pull down the wall of circumvallation and fall upon the Syracusans, none dared stay to resist them, except Dion's foreign troops, who came to the rescue the moment they heard the uproar. But even they were unable to form any concerted plan of rescue, nor could they hear the word of command, owing to the cries of the Syracusans, who fled in disorder, mingling with, and breaking through, their ranks.
At length Dion, finding that no one could hear what he said, determined to show his men their duty by the force of example, and leading the way, hurled himself upon the barbarians. Round him a fierce struggle took place, for he was as well known to the enemy as to his own followers, and both sides rushed shouting into the fray.
Now, Dion, at his advanced age, had not the activity required for such combats, yet he withstood his assailants
* The Greeks and Romans usually diluted their wine with water.
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and beat them back with great courage and spirit. He was wounded in the hand with a spear, and a number of spears and darts pierced his shield and struck his breastplate, which was hardly sufficient to protect him from the shower of weapons and hand-to-hand blows which fell upon him. When the spears in his shield were wrenched back, he fell to the ground, but he was at once rescued by his men and carried off the field.
He then appointed one of his officers to command the troops, while he rode round himself on horseback, and endeavoured to check the flight of the Syracusans. Then he brought up the contingent of his foreign levies which was on guard in another part of the city, and hurled them, keen and fresh, against the barbarians, who were by this time tired out and beginning to slacken in their efforts. They had hoped to capture the wrhole city at the first rush, but finding themselves unexpectedly opposed to experienced fighting-men, they drew off towards the citadel. As they gave ground, the Greeks pressed them still harder, till at last they turned, and were driven back within the fortress. They had killed seventy-four of Dion's men, and lost a great number of their own. After this brilliant victory the Syra- cusans rewarded the foreign troops with 100 minae,* and they in turn presented Dion with a crown of gold.
Heralds then arrived from Dionysius, bringing letters to Dion from the women of his family. One of them was addressed " To his father, from Hipparinus," this being the name of Dion's son. The rest of the letters were read to the Syracusans, and were full of prayers and entreaties from the women. That which purported to be from the boy the heralds would not have publicly opened, but Dion overruled them and opened it.
It turned out to be from Dionysius, addressed ostensibly to Dion, but in reality intended for the Syracusans. Under pretence of petition and self-justification, it was so worded * The value of a mina was about £4.
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as to arouse calumny against Dion. There were reminders of his former zeal in support of the tyranny ; threats against the lives of those dearest to him, his wife, his sister, and his son ; fierce protestations and wild expressions of grief. Finally, and this was what distressed Dion most of all, Dionysius appealed to him to take over the tyranny rather than destroy it, and instead of granting freedom to men who hated him and never forgot their malice, assume the government himself, and so afford security to his friends and kinsfolk.
The reading of this letter did not strike the Syracusans as it ought to have done, with admiring wonder at the dispassionate magnanimity of Dion, in steadfastly opposing such claims of kindred for the sake of truth and justice. They rather made it the basis of fear and suspicion, on the ground that he was under such a strong obligation to deal leniently with the Ltyrant. They therefore turned their eyes at once to other leaders, and were in great excitement when they heard the news that Heraclldes was on his voyage home.
This Heraclides was among those who had been exiled by Dionysius. He was a capable general, and had distin- guished himself in the commands he had held under the tyrants, but he was a man of unstable character, fickle and untrustworthy as a colleague. He had quarrelled with Dion in the Peloponnese, and determined to make a private expedition of his own against the tyrant.
On his arrival at Syracuse with seven triremes and three small vessels, he found Dionysius once more besieged in the citadel, and the Syracusans in high spirits. He at once began to insinuate himself into the good graces of the multitude, having some of that natural persuasiveness so attractive to a mob which loves to be flattered. He won their favour the more easily as they were beginning to resent the haughtiness of Dion, whose behaviour they considered overbearing and beyond the claims of a citizen.
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First they held an assembly on their own initiative, and elected Heraclides admiral. But Dion came forward and complained that this authority bestowed on Heraclides amounted to a withdrawal of that previously bestowed upon himself, since he would no longer be supreme if another held the command at sea. So the Syracusans unwillingly cancelled the appointment of Heraclides.
After this Dion invited him to his house, and mildly remonstrated with him, saying that he had not acted well or advisedly in quarrelling with him for the honour of a title at such a crisis, when a slight turn of the scale might cause disaster. Then he called another assembly and himself proposed the appointment of Heraclides as admiral, per- suading the citizens to allow him a bodyguard like his own.
Heraclides • henceforth, to all appearances, became humbly subservient to Dion, acknowledging his obligations to him, and obsequiously following his instructions. But in secret he continued to tamper with the people and stir up agitation among the malcontents, thus involving Dion in disturbances and every kind of difficulty.
The Syracusans regarded Dion's hired troops with jealous suspicion. The struggle with the tyrant was now conducted chiefly by sea, Philistus having come up with a number of ships to help Dionysius ; and as Dion's mercenaries were infantry, the people thought that they were no longer required for the war. They were still further elated by a naval victory over Philistus, whom they put to death in a cruel and barbarous manner.
After the death of Philistus, Dionysius sent to Dion, offering to surrender to him the citadel and its garrison, with their arms and five months' pay, on condition that he should be allowed to retire, under a truce, to Italy. He proposed to settle there and live upon the produce of a large and fertile territory belonging to Syracuse, which stretched from the sea-coast a long distance inland. Dion refused to treat with him, and bade him apply to the Syracusan people.
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They, hoping to take Dionysius alive, drove his ambassadors away. He then handed over the fortress to his elder son, and placing on board ship his most valuable property and trusted followers, watched for a favourable wind and sailed away, eluding the admiral Heraclides.
The latter, finding himself in consequence the object of popular indignation and clamour, put forward a demagogue to propose to the people a redistribution of land, on the principle that the beginning of liberty is equality, while landless poverty is the beginning of slavery. Heraclides supported the proposal, and, when Dion opposed it, stirred up party feeling against him. Heraclides succeeded in per- suading the Syracusans to pass the bill, also to stop the pay of Dion's mercenaries and rid themselves of his oppression by electing other generals.
Thus having shaken off the tyranny, they attempted to conduct their affairs like a free people, just as invalids getting up after a long illness try at once to stand on their own feet. But the attempt was premature. *They stumbled, and their affairs went wrong, and all the while they hated Dion, because, physician-like, he wished to keep the city under the restraint of a strict and temperate regimen.
They held an assembly and elected twenty-five generals by show of hands, of whom Heraclides was one. Then they secretly approached Dion's foreign soldiers, and attempted to detach them from his service to their own, promising them equal rights of citizenship. But Dion's men refused to listen to them, and acted with great fidelity and zeal.
They formed up round him in full armour, and closing their ranks, escorted him out of the city. .They molested no one, but abused all whom they met for their base ingrati- tude. The Syracusans, seeing that they were but a small force and did not take the offensive, regarded them with contempt, and finding their own number greatly superior, attacked them, expecting to overpower them easily in the city and kill them all.
161
At this juncture Dion had , to face the alternative of fighting his fellow-citizens or being killed with all his men. With many an appeal to the people, he stretched out his hands and pointed to the citadel swarming with their enemies, who were looking over the ramparts and watching all that took place.
Finding, however, that the onrush of the mob was not to be checked by persuasion, and that the voice of the dema- gogues prevailed in the city like a gale at sea, he gave the word to his troops to make a feint of charging. They advanced at the double, shouting and clashing their arms, whereupon not a man of the Syracusans stood his ground, but all fled up the streets, although none pursued them. Dion immediately wheeled round his men and marched off towards the town of Leontini.
The Syracusan leaders became a laughing-stock among the women," and to redeem their disgrace they armed the citizens and once more set out in pursuit of Dion. They overtook him at the ford of a river, and sent forward their cavalry to skirmish. But when they found no further dis- position on his part to suffer their insults with paternal clemency, but saw him angrily wheeling and marshalling his troops, they fled even more disgracefully than before, with the loss of a few men, and retreated to the city.
The people of Leontini received Dion with every mark of honour, found pay for his troops, and gave them citizen rights. Meantime there arrived at Syracuse a fleet sent by Dionysius and commanded by a Neapolitan, with provisions and money on board for those besieged in the citadel. A sea-fight took place, and the Syracusans won the day, capturing four of the tyrant's vessels. But in the insolence of victory, and from lack of discipline, they gave themselves up to drinking and wild excesses, so neglecting their
* Compare Shakespeare :
" The tongues of mocking wenches are as keen As is the razor's edge invisible."
II
162 GREEK LIVES FROM PLUTARCH
advantage that when they thought the citadel was almost in their hands, they not only failed to take it, but lost the city in addition.
The Neapolitan leader, seeing the city thus demoralized, and the mob occupied in drunken revelry from dawn till far into the night, while their general looked on at the orgy with approval, made the most of the opportunity and stormed their lines. He succeeded in making a breach, through which he flung his barbarians, with orders to work their own will on anyone they met.
The Syracusans quickly perceived the disaster that had befallen them, but in their panic they found it a slow and difficult task to make any united resistance. For it was nothing less than a sack of the city that was in progress. The men were being slaughtered, the walls torn down, and the women and children dragged shrieking into the citadel. The generals had given up all for lost, finding it impossible to rally the citizens against the enemy, who were now in their midst on every hand.
Such was the state of affairs in Syracuse, and as the danger became more imminent the thoughts of all turned towards the one man in whom they could still rest any hope. But no one spoke of him, for all were ashamed of the in- gratitude and folly with which they had treated Dion.
Nevertheless, necessity at last compelled them, and a cry was raised to summon Dion and his Peloponnesians from Leontini. No sooner was the cry heard and the venture made than the Syracusans gave way to shouts and tears of joy, as they prayed and longed for his appearance. They remembered his bravery and cheerfulness in the face of danger, when he was not only undaunted himself, but inspired them, too, with courage to present a bold front to the enemy.
They immediately sent off seven of their number, who rode the whole way at a gallop, and arrived at Leontini as the day was drawing in. Leaping from their horses, they
DION 163
fell at Dion's feet, and told him with tears in their eyes the fate of the Syracusans. He at once led them to the assembly, where amid an excited crowd they related briefly the magnitude of the disaster, and besought the foreign troops to forget the wrongs they had received and come to their assistance.
When they had finished there was deep silence in the theatre. Then Dion stood up and began to speak, but his voice was choked with tears. His men sympathized with him and cheered him on, and recovering a little from his emotion, he said :
" Peloponnesians and allies, I have gathered you here to consider your own interests. For my part, it is not well that I consider mine while Syracuse is falling ; and though I may not save her, yet will I go to find a tomb amid the fiery ruin of my country. But if even now you are willing to help us, the most ill-advised and ill-fated of nations, the salvation of Syracuse will be your achievement. If, how- ever, you hold the Syracusans to blame, and disregard their call, may you yet win the blessing of heaven for your former valour and prowess in my cause ; and remember that Dion did not forsake you aforetime when you suffered wrong, nor did he afterwards desert his fellow-countrymen in their distress."
While he was yet speaking his men leapt to their feet with cheers, and bade him lead them to the rescue with all speed. The Syracusan envoys clasped his hands and em- braced him many times, and his men also, invoking many a blessing from the gods upon them.
Meanwhile at Syracuse the Neapolitan admiral had once more let loose his mercenaries from the citadel, who were now become far fiercer and more numerous. The whole rampart was demolished, the city overrun and given over to pillage. Not only men, but women and children also were massacred. Robberies were few, but destruction was universal ; for Dionysius had by this time despaired of his
II — 2
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cause, and in his bitter hatred of the Syracusans was minded, as it were, to bury his fallen tyranny in the ruins of the city.
The enemy determined, before Dion could come to the rescue, to have recourse to fire as the swiftest means of all to total destruction. The nearer portion of the city they fired with their own hands, and into the more distant parts they sent showers of burning arrows. As the Syracusans fled, some were caught and slaughtered in the streets ; others who took refuge in their houses were driven out by the fire, and many of the buildings already in flames fell upon them as they rushed through.
The news of this disaster reached Dion when he was about sixty furlongs from the gates. Having acquainted his men with the danger and urged them to fresh efforts, he led them forward, no longer marching, but running towards the city, while messenger after messenger met them and begged them to make haste. By dint of wonderful speed and the enthusiasm of his troops, he burst in at the gates, and immediately sent on his light-armed men to meet the enemy, so that the sight of them might encourage the Syracusans. The heavy-armed men he drew up himself, along with the citizens who ran in to join him, forming them in columns and distributing the commands, so that his attack, made from many points at once, might be the more formidable.
When, after completing these plans and offering a prayer to the gods, he was seen advancing at the head of his troops against the enemy, loud shouts and cries of joy, mingled with prayers and entreaties, arose from the Syracusans, who hailed Dion as their saviour and their god, and his soldiers as brothers and fellow-citizens. There was not a man at that moment, however selfish and cowardly, but seemed to have more concern for Dion than all else, as he led the way to danger through blood and fire and the corpses that lay heaped about the streets.
DION 166
When they encountered the enemy a hand-to-hand fight took place, in which but few on either side could engage, owing to the narrow space and roughness of the ground. The Syracusans cheered them on with eager shouts, and the enemy were overpowered, most of them taking refuge in the citadel, which was near at hand. Those who were left outside, becoming scattered, were pursued and slain by Dion's men.
The next day not one of the demagogues was to be found in the city. Conscious of their guilt, they had all fled. But Heraclides and another general surrendered themselves to Dion, confessing that they had wronged him, and begging him to treat them better than they had treated him.
Dion's friends urged him not to spare such worthless mischief-mongers, but hand over Heraclides to the mercy of the soldiers. Dion, however, dissuaded them, and said : " Other generals make war and arms their principal con- cern, but I did long exercise myself in Academe to overcome anger and malice and all emulation. And this is manifested not in kindness shown to friends and benefactors, but rather by the forgiveness of injuries and in having mercy upon those who do us wrong.* I desire to excel Heraclides not so much in power and esteem, as in righteousness and justice ; for these, in truth, are the things that are more excellent. But victories in war, albeit a man may have no human rival, are often disputed by the claims of fortune.
"And what though Heraclides, through malice, may be base and faithless ? Must Dion therefore suffer passion to corrupt his virtue ? The law, indeed, holds vengeance for wrongs received more just than provocation, and yet it springs from the same weakness of nature; and human malice, however bitter it may be, is not so wholly savage
* The sentiments of this passage come very near to the Christian commandment: "Love your enemies. Do good to them that hate you," etc.
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and implacable as never to be overcome by kindness or yield to the constant efforts of beneficence."
Using such arguments as these, Dion dismissed and pardoned Heraclides and his followers. The Syracusans now pressed on the siege of the citadel and finished the surrounding palisade. The besieged had no one now to come to their assistance, the food had given out, and the mercenaries were becoming disaffected.
The son of Dionysius, despairing of his cause, made a treaty with Dion and surrendered to him the citadel, with all the arms and other munitions it contained. Then, taking his mother and sisters, he manned five triremes and sailed away to his father, Dion conducting them safely out of the castle.
The whole population came to see the sight, and angry shouts were even raised against such as were not present, because they did not come to see the sun rising on a free Syracuse. Even to this day the expulsion of Dionysius is held to be one of the greatest and most remarkable examples of fortune's changes. What, then, must have been their joy, and how great the pride of those who were actually living then, and who, starting with very small resources, had destroyed the greatest tyranny the world had ever seen !
After the ships of Dionysius had gone, Dion bent his steps towards the citadel. The women, unable to contain themselves, did not wait for him to enter, but ran out to meet him at the gates, Aristomache leading Dion's son, while Arete followed behind weeping, and uncertain how to greet her husband after having been given to another.*
Dion first welcomed his sister, then his child ; then Aristomache drew forward Arete and said : " We were miserable, Dion, while you were in exile ; but your victorious return has put an end to all our sorrows, save hers alone, whom I had the misfortune to see compelled to wed another
* In Dion's absence Arete had been compelled by Dionysius to become the wife of another man.
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while you were yet alive. And now that fate has made you master of our lives, how will you regard the compulsion thus placed upon her ? Is she to greet you as her uncle or her husband ?"
At these words of Aristomache's, Dion broke into tears and tenderly embraced his wife. He gave his son into her charge, and bade her repair to his own house, where he also purposed to reside, after delivering the castle to the Syra- cusans.
Now that his efforts had thus prospered, he did not claim preference for himself in enjoying the fruits of his success. His first thought was to bestow favours on his friends and gifts on his allies, matters in which his means were exceeded by his generosity. For his own part, considering his fortunes, he led a temperate and frugal life, which gained him universal admiration.
Not only in Sicily and Carthage, but throughout Greece, the eyes of all men were turned towards him in his pros- perity. They regarded him as the greatest man of his time, and the leader most conspicuous for daring and success. Yet in his dress and retinue and table he showed himself as moderate as if he were sharing Plato's board in the Academy, instead of living among paid officers and soldiers, who find in the daily pleasures of the feast a consolation for their toils and dangers.
Plato wrote to him that the eyes of all the civilized world were now upon him. Dion himself, it seems, kept in view but one spot in a single city — the Academy. The spectators and critics there, he knew, had no admiration for deeds of prowess or military triumphs. They would only consider whether he made a wise and fitting use of victory, and showed moderation in the midst of greatness.
In social intercourse, however, he persisted in laying aside nothing of his dignity, and maintained his unbending attitude towards the people. And yet his interests demanded geniality, and Plato, as we have said, reproved him and
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wrote to warn him that self-sufficiency keeps house with solitude.
Heraclides now began to oppose him again. First, when summoned to a council, he refused to attend, saying that as a private person he would take part in the assembly with the rest of the citizens. Then he accused Dion of not having demolished the citadel, and of not allowing the people to break open the tomb of Dionysius the Elder, and cast out the corpse. He complained also that Dion sent to Corinth for advisers and colleagues, thus putting a slight upon the citizens of Syracuse.
Expecting great opposition from Heraclides, and knowing him to be an agitator and a turncoat, Dion now gave way to those whom he had formerly prevented when they wished to make away with him. So they entered his house and killed him.* The Syracusans strongly resented his death. But when Dion gave him a splendid funeral, escorting the body with his troops, and afterwards addressed the people, they realized that it would have been impossible to maintain order in the city, so long as Heraclides and Dion were political rivals.
Now, there was one of Dion's friends from Athens, named Callippus, who had distinguished himself in the fighting and had marched at Dion's side into Syracuse, wearing a garland and taking precedence of all his comrades. He, now that Heraclides was dead, and all Dion's principal friends had fallen in the war, perceived that the Syracusan democrats were destitute of a leader. He saw, too, that the soldiers favoured him, and he had the utter baseness to plot against his friend's life, looking to obtain Sicily as the prize of his crime. Some also say that he received a bribe of twenty talents from the enemy for the murder of Dion.
* ' ' But he hath overleaped the eternal bars ;
And, following guides whose craft holds no consent With aught that breathes the ethereal element, Hath stained the robes of civil power with blood, Unjustly shed, though for the public good."
WORDSWORTH.
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While the conspiracy was in progress Dion was visited by a terrible apparition.* He happened to be sitting alone one evening in a colonnade of his house, deep in meditation. Suddenly he heard a noise, and, looking round, he saw at the other end of the cloister — for it was still light — a woman of great stature, in garb and feature like one of the Furies of tragedy, sweeping the house, as it seemed, with a broom in her hand.
Greatly alarmed and terrified, he summoned his friends and related what he had seen, begging them to remain and pass the night with him, for he was quite beside himself, and dreaded that if he were left alone the spectre might appear to him again. This, however, did not happen, but a few days afterwards his son, in a fit of boyish temper on some slight and trivial occasion, threw himself from the roof of the house, and, falling on his head, was killed.
By this time Dion and his women-folk began to suspect the existence of a plot, and warnings reached them from all sides. But Dion, troubled, it would seem, by the affair of Heraclides and his assassination, which he felt as a stain upon his life and career, was in a constant state of melancholy and depression. He declared that he was ready to die many times over, and offer his body to anyone who wished to kill him, if life necessitated keeping watch, not only upon enemies, but on friends as well.f
* Wordsworth describes this apparition in his " Ode":
' • But whence that sudden check ? that fearful start !
He hears an uncouth sound —
Anon his lifted eyes
Saw, at a long-drawn gallery's dusky bound, A Shape of more than mortal size And hideous aspect, stalking round and round !
A woman's garb the Phantom wore,
And fiercely swept the marble floor. ' '
•j- This point also Wordsworth brings out :
"... Too just
To his own native greatness to desire That wretched boon, days lengthened by mistrust."
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But Callippus saw that the women meant to search thoroughly into the whole affair, and, taking alarm, he went to them and denied it with tears in his eyes, offering to give any proofs of his loyalty that they desired. They then asked him to take the great oath,* which he did.
There were many persons implicated in the conspiracy, and while Dion was sitting with some friends in a room containing several couches, some surrounded the house, and others posted themselves at the doors and windows. The men who actually designed to lay hands on him came in without swords. Those outside shut the doors and held them fast, while the others fell upon Dion and tried to beat and strangle him to death.
Failing to accomplish their purpose, they called for a sword, but no one dared to open the doors, for there were a number of Dion's friends with him in the room. Each thought, however, by deserting him, to save himself, and had not the courage to help him. After some delay a dagger was passed in through the window, and with this weapon Dion, now overpowered and trembling, was slain like a victim at the altar, f
At first, after the murder of Dion, Callippus held high state in Syracuse. He even sent despatches to Athens, a city which, next to the gods, he should have regarded with shame and fear, after perpetrating such a hateful crime. But it would seem to be spoken truly of that city, that her good men are the best and her bad men are the worst in all the world, just as their country also produces the sweetest honey and the deadliest hemlock.
Not for long, however, did Callippus survive as a reproach
* This was a solemn ceremony performed in the temple of Demeter and Persephone.
f " O matchless perfidy ! portentous lust
Of monstrous crime ! — that horror-striking blade, Drawn in defiance of the Gods, hath laid The noble Syracusan low in dust."
WORDSWORTH.
DION 171
against the gods and destiny, but quickly paid the penalty that he deserved. He went to take Catana, and immedi- ately lost Syracuse : then in making an attack upon Messene the greater number of his men were slain, among them the murderers of Dion. Not a city in Sicily would receive him : all hated him and cast him out. Then he seized the town of Rhegium, and there, being in difficulties and unable to pay his troops, he was assassinated. As fate would have it, he fell by the self-same dagger that had struck down Dion.
VIII. DEMOSTHENES.
385 TO 322 B.C.
" Ssevus et ilium
Exitus eripuit, quern mirabantur Athenae Torrentem et pleni moderantem frena theatri."
JUVENAL.
THE father of Demosthenes (also named Demosthenes) was an Athenian citizen of good birth and position, surnamed the Swordmaker from his having a large manufactory and a number of slaves who were skilled in that trade. On the death of his father, Demosthenes was left at the age of seven in good circumstances, his whole estate being not far short of fifteen talents/1' But he was wronged by his guardians, who appropriated part of his money and neglected the rest, so that even his teachers were deprived of their remunera- tion. This seems to have been one reason why he did not receive the liberal education befitting his birth, but another reason was his bodily weakness and delicate health, on account of which his mother would not press him to work and his teachers did not try to force him.
His ambition in the direction of oratory, it is said, was first aroused in the following manner. The orator Callis- tratus had been engaged to plead before the courts in a famous case. The public were eagerly anticipating the trial, not only for the sake of hearing this powerful speaker,
* This would amount to about /3,66o, a talent being worth something like £244.
172
DEMOSTHENES 173
who was then at the height of his reputation, but also because the case itself was notorious. Demosthenes over- heard some schoolmasters and tutors arranging to go to the trial, and persuaded his own tutor by eager entreaties to take him to it. The tutor, having some acquaintance with the doorkeepers at the law courts, obtained a good place, in which the boy could sit unnoticed and listen to the speeches.
When Callistratus won the day, amid immense applause, Demosthenes was moved with envy at his triumph, as he saw him escorted by the crowd and congratulated on every side. But still more he admired the speech, and took to heart the power of the man whose natural faculties enabled him thus to subdue all things to his will. From that day he discarded other studies and boyish pursuits, and began to train himself and devote his whole energy to practising the art of rhetoric, in the hope that he, too, might one day be numbered among the orators.
When he grew up to manhood he instituted a lawsuit with his guardians, and wrote speeches against them, while they meantime devised all kinds of evasions and appeals to other courts. Thus he gained some experience, not without risk and by diligent practice. But though he won his case, he was unable to recover a farthing of his patrimony. He did acquire, however, some confidence and a certain facility in speaking, and now that he had tasted something of the power and reputation gained by pleading in the courts, he essayed to come forward and take part in public affairs.
It is related of the famous athlete Laomedon that he first took to running long distances at the doctor's orders, in order to avert some diseases of the spleen, and when he had thus got himself into thorough training, he entered at the garland* games and became one of the best long-distance runners. It was just the same with Demosthenes. Resorting first to oratory in order to recover his private property, he thus
* That is, the great contests, like the Olympic and Isthmian games, where the victors were crowned with garlands (see note on p. 74).
174 GREEK LIVES FROM PLUTARCH
acquired the skill and power which enabled him to engage in public affairs, like an athlete in the great games, and eventually to excel all his rivals on the platform of the assembly.
And yet when he first appeared before the people he was received with interruptions and silenced by derisive laughter, owing to the strangeness of his manner. His speech was involved in long periods, and tortured into over-elaborated, awkward phrases. He had also, it appears, a weak voice and indistinct pronunciation, accompanied by shortness of breath, which confused the meaning of his words and dis- jointed his sentences. At length he left the assembly, and was wandering about the Piraeus in dejection, when an old man named Eunomus observed him and rallied him, saying that his style of speaking was very like that of Pericles, but that he spoilt himself by nervousness and want of courage, instead of boldly facing the multitude. Neither did he properly exercise his body, but let it waste away in effeminacyT?
Another time, after a similar failure, as he was going home muffled up and in deep despondency, an actor named Satyrus, who was a friend of his, followed him and joined him. Demosthenes poured out his trouble to him, complain- ing that though he was the most painstaking of all the speakers, and had well-nigh exhausted his physical strength "in this pursuit, he could win no favour with the people. Drunkards and sailors, and any ignorant fellows, were listened to and able to hold the platform, while he was disregarded.
''You are right, Demosthenes," said Satyrus. " But I will soon remedy this defect, if you will recite some speech out of Euripides or Sophocles."
Demosthenes did so, and when he had finished Satyrus took it up and went through the same speech, rendering it in such a way, with appropriate gesture and delivery, that it seemed to Demosthenes quite a different thing. He
DEMOSTHENES 177
was thus convinced how much beauty and grace is added to language by action, and so he came to consider it of little or no use for a man to practise speaking if he neglected the enunciation and delivery of his words.
After this he built himself an underground study (which was still preserved even in our time),* and thither he used to go down every day to model his action and exercise his voice. He would often continue this for two or three months together, keeping one side of his head shaved, so that it might be impossible for him to go out for very shame, however much he might want to do so.
Not but what he also made subjects for study out of his meetings and conversations with people out of doors and in the way of business ; for as soon as he had left them he would descend into his study and go through each matter in order, with the arguments bearing upon it. Any speeches, too, at the delivery of which he happened to be present he would adapt for himself and reduce into reasoned periods ; and he was continually recasting, with all kinds of corrections and paraphrases, things which someone else had said to him or he had said to someone else.
The result was that he was regarded as possessing no natural ability, but as having acquired his skill and power by laborious perseverance. It was considered a strong proof of this that one seldom heard Demosthenes speak on the spur of the moment, but often when the people called on him by name as he sat in the assembly he would decline to come forward, unless he happened to have thought over the subject and prepared a speech beforehand. Many of the demagogues used to chaff him about this, and one Pytheasf remarked jestingly that his phrases smelt of the lamp. " My lamp and yours, Pytheas," retorted Demos- thenes with asperity, " assist at very different proceedings."
To others, however, he did not altogether deny the impu-
* That is, when Plutarch was a student at Athens, f See p. 190.
12
378 GREEK LIVES FROM PLUTARCH
tation, but admitted that his speeches were neither wholly written nor wholly spontaneous. He maintained, however, that for a man to prepare his speeches was the mark of a good democrat, as showing respect for the people ; while to be indifferent as to their reception of a speech was a sign of oligarchical tendencies and reliance on force rather than persuasion.
To remedy his physical defects, as we are told by a historian who claims to have heard it from Demosthenes himself in his old age, he used the following means. The lisping and indistinctness in his speech he mastered and corrected by speaking with pebbles in his mouth. He exercised his voice by debating as he ran or climbed steep places, and by reciting speeches or verses while he was out of breath. He also had at home a large mirror, before which he would stand and go through his exercises.
A story is told of a man who came to him to request his services as an advocate, and related how someone had struck him. " It is very clear," replied Demosthenes, " that nothing of the sort has really happened to you." " What !" cried the man, raising his voice to a shout, " you mean to tell me, Demosthenes, that I have not been ill-used ?" " Ah !" said Demosthenes, " now I hear the voice of an injured man." Such importance did he attach to the tone and gesture of a speaker as a means of gaining credence.
That his written speeches are for the most part marked by austerity and sternness, no one would deny, but in his impromptu retorts he made use of humour. The notorious thief who went by the name of Brassbound * once tried to make some remark about his sitting up late to write and burning the midnight oil. " I know," replied Demosthenes,
* Mr. Bernard Shaw, author of ' ' Captain Brassbound's Conversion, ' ' has somewhere said, we believe, that literary work should be done by daylight and (in summer) out of doors, and condemns the habit some writers have of burning the midnight oil in an atmosphere of tobacco and alcohol. It seems clear, therefore, that XaA/cous should be trans- lated " Brass-bound " rather than merely " Brazen."
DEMOSTHENES 179
" that I inconvenience you by burning my lamp ; but you cannot be surprised, men of Athens, that so many robberies occur, when we have brass-bound burglars and walls only made of clay."
Demosthenes chose a glorious object for his political career in undertaking to plead the cause of Greece against King Philip of Macedon. It was a noble cause, and he sustained it nobly. He very soon made a reputation, and rose to fame through his eloquence and fearless pleading. He was admired in Greece, courted by the King of Persia, and held in higher esteem by Philip than all the other popular leaders at Athens. Even his enemies were com- pelled to acknowledge that they had to contend with a man of genius.
Most of his speeches, it is said, were written on the principle that the right course must be pursued for its own sake,* as, for example, his famous speech on the Crown and his Philippics.t In all of these he does not lead his countrymen by the way that is most pleasant, easy, and profitable, but holds that safety and security ought always to be a secondary consideration, and that right and duty should come first.
If only these honourable principles and his distinguished eloquence had been accompanied by warlike courage and unsullied honesty,! he would not have been reckoned
* Compare Tennyson's lines :
1 ' And, because right is right, to follow right Were wisdom in the scorn of consequence."
t The Philippics were a series of speeches directed against Philip of Macedon. The speech on the Crown was a defence by Demosthenes of his own public career. It had been proposed to reward his services to the state by a golden crown, and one of his opponents, /Eschines, made this an occasion to impeach him. The speech was his reply (see p. 187).
t It is remarkable that the Greek conception of honour, meaning chiefly civic duty and patriotism, did not necessarily include financial honesty. Incorruptibility was a virtue so rare as to stand on a pinnacle apart .
12 — 2
180 GREEK LIVES FROM PLUTARCH
merely among the orators, but would have been worthy to rank with statesmen such as Cimon and Pericles. But Demosthenes inspired no confidence as a commander, nor was he entirely impervious to bribery. It is true that he resisted the overtures of Philip and Macedonia, but his scruples were swept away by the deluge of Persian gold from Susa and Ecbatana. Most competent to praise the virtues of his ancestors, he was unequal to the task of emulating them.
Yet he excelled the other orators of his day in his manner of life, as well as in eloquence. It is clear also from his speeches that he spoke his mind freely to the people, de- nounced their faults, and strenuously resisted their caprices. A historian relates that on one occasion the Athenians urged him to undertake a certain accusation, but he de- clined ; and when they began to clamour against him, he stood up and said : " You shall have me as your coun- sellor, men of Athens, whether you will or no, but a false accuser you shall never find in me, however much you wish it."
The policy of Demosthenes was manifestly to omit no opportunity, even in time of peace, of denouncing Philip's actions, or of rousing and inflaming the Athenians against him. Consequently, at the court of Philip no one was more talked of than Demosthenes ; and when he went with nine others on an embassy to Macedonia, Philip, while listening to them all, took especial care in replying to his speech.
But in other marks of honour and hospitality he did not treat Demosthenes with such favour as the other ambas- sadors. So when they were praising Philip for his eloquence, his personal beauty, and his drinking capacity, Demosthenes remarked with sarcasm that the first quality was that of a sophist, the second of a woman, and the third of a sponge, and that none of them was an attribute worthy of a king.
Finally, matters drifted into war, Philip being too restless
DEMOSTHENES 181
to remain quiet, and the Athenians being continually roused to action by Demosthenes. The latter then conducted an embassy through the Greek states, and by his arguments and stirring addresses succeeded in uniting them all but a few in a league against Philip. Thus, in addition to the Athenian forces, there was an army of 15,000 foot and 2,000 horse, and the pay for these allies was cheerfully con- tributed.
Greece was now up in arms and awaiting the event, most of the states having joined the league, but the greatest task still remained for Demosthenes to accomplish — namely, to bring over the Thebans to the cause. Their territory bordered upon Attica, they had a fighting force in readiness, and at that time their military reputation stood higher than that of all the other Greeks. But it was no easy matter to detach the Thebans from Phij/ip, as they were under obligations to him for his recent assistance in a war with Phocis, and, above all, disputes between Athens and Thebes were constantly breaking out afresh through frontier skirmishes.
At this point Philip, elated by a successful engagement, suddenly fell upon Elatea and occupied Phocis. The Athenians were panic-stricken, and no one dared to mount the orator's platform, or had anything to say. A helpless silence reigned in the assembly. Demosthenes alone came forward, and counselled them to attempt an alliance with the Thebans. His speech, as usual, put heart into the people and raised their hopes, and he himself, with others, was sent as ambassador to Thebes. Philip also sent envoys thither to speak against them.
Now, the Thebans in their deliberations knew quite well what would be to their interest. Every one of them had in mind the horrors of war, for their Phocian wounds were still unhealed ; but the power of the orator, it is said, so kindled their zeal and fired them with emulation as to obscure all other sentiments, and, in the passion for honour to which his
182 GREEK LIVES FROM PLUTARCH
burning eloquence aroused them, they cast aside every consideration, alike of fear, prudence and gratitude.
So great and glorious did this achievement of the orator appear, that Philip immediately sent heralds to treat for peace, and Greece once more stood firm and united to meet her destiny. Not only the Athenian generals, but even the Boeotian* leaders, deferred to Demosthenes and obeyed his instructions, while all the assemblies, at Thebes no less than at Athens, were under his direction. He was beloved in both places, and wielded no unjust or unmerited authority, but one which he had thoroughly deserved.
But it would seem as though some mysterious fate were at work in the cycle of events to bring to an end at that time the liberty of Greece, hindering all their efforts, and revealing many omens of the future. Among these the Pythian priestesst uttered alarming prophecies, and an ancient oracle was sung :
" Far may I be from the fight that is fought on the banks of
Thermodon,J Watch it from far as an eagle, high in the clouds and the
heavens, Lo ! the vanquished weep, and lo ! the victor is fallen."
Another oracle was repeated, which ran as follows :
" Wait for the fight by Thermodon, bird of funereal blackness ! ' There shalt thou find thee a banquet of human corpses to feed
* Thebes was in Boeotia.
f At the temple of Apollo at Delphi, the great oracle of Greece.
J Said to be the old name of a stream near Chaeronea, where the battle was fought.
§ For similar allusions to carrion birds — such as crows or ravens — feeding on the dead, compare the anonymous seventeenth-century lyric " The Twa Corbies " :
" As I was walking all alane I heard twa corbies making a mane ; The tane unto the t'other say, ' Where shall w.e gang and dine to-day ?' "
The same idea occurs in a poem called "A Croon on Hennacliff,"
DEMOSTHENES 183
But Demosthenes, emboldened by the strength of the Greek army, and elated by the courage and enthusiasm with which the troops challenged the enemy, would not allow them to give any heed to oracles or listen to prophecy. He even declared that he suspected the Pythian priestess herself of being in league with Philip. He reminded the Thebans of Epaminondas* and the Athenians of Pericles, men who regarded such things as mere pretexts for cowardice, and always based their actions upon grounds of reason.
So far, therefore, he acquitted himself like a man. But in the battle he performed no honourable deeds in keeping with the brave language he had used. He deserted his post in ignominious flight, and threw away his arms, unshamed even by the inscription on his shield, which was engraved in letters of gold — "Fair Fortune."
In the first flush of victory Philip gave way to wild excesses, exulting and dancing over the dead, in a drunken revel, and singing as he beat time to the rhythm the first words of the decree! proposed by Demosthenes in the Athenian assembly. It ran thus :
" Demos | thenes | Dem5s | thenous | Paian | Teus | ted'ei | pen " (Demosthenes, son of Demosthenes, of Pseania,J proposed these things).
by the Cornish poet R. S. Hawker, relating to bodies cast up from a wreck :
" Thus said the rushing raven
Unto his hungry mate : ' Ho ! gossip ! for Bude Haven : There be corpses six or eight. Cawk ! cawk ! the crew and skipper
Are wallowing in the sea : So there's a savoury supper For my old dame and me. ' "
* A famous Theban general.
t The decree deciding to prosecute the war with Philip.
J Pseania was one of the districts of Athens, to which Demosthenes belonged. Philip, no doubt, intended an ironical play on the word " pasan " (iratav}, or "song of triumph," so that "Demosthenes Paianieus " would convey to a Greek ear something like "victorious Demosthenes."
184 GREEK LIVES FROM PLUTARCH
But when he was once more sober* and bethought him with how great a peril he had been encompassed, Philip shuddered at the genius and power of the orator who had compelled him to hazard his empire and his life on a brief portion of a single day.
The rumour of it reached the King of Persia, and he sent letters to the governors of his seaboard provinces bidding them furnish Demosthenes with money, and show him greater regard than any other of the Greeks, as the one man capable of diverting Philip's attention and keeping him occupied with the disturbances in Greece. This was detected afterwards by Alexander, who found at Sardis some letters written by Demosthenes, and other documents belonging to the king's ministers, which revealed the large sums of money that had been given him.
When this disaster at Chaeronea had befallen the Greeks, the political opponents of Demosthenes began to attack him and prepared various indictments and impeachments against him. The people, however, not only acquitted him on these counts, but continued, moreover, to hold him in honour, and invited him to resume the direction of affairs, for they recognised in him one who had the interests of the state at heart. They even appointed him to pronounce the funeral oration over the bones of those who fell at Chaeronea, when they were brought home for burial.
So Demosthenes pronounced the oration. In subsequent decrees, however, he did not inscribe his own name, but used that of each of his friends in turn, for he thought that an evil genius attended him and that his name would bring misfortune. Later on he took heart again, upon the death of Philip, who did not long survive his success at Chaeronea. This, it would seem, was what the oracle foretold in the last of those three verses :
" Lo ! the vanquished weeps, and lo ! the victor is fallen."
* It has become a proverbial expression " to appeal from Philip drunk to Philip sober, ' '
DEMOSTHENES 185
Demosthenes had secret intelligence of Philip's death, and wishing to get the credit for predisposing the people to a cheerful expectation of good news, he came beaming into the assembly, and pretended to have had a dream, from which he anticipated some great blessing in store for the Athenians. Shortly afterwards arrived the messengers with tidings of the death of Philip. The people at once proceeded to offer sacrifice in honour of the joyful news, and passed a decree voting a crown to the assassin.*
Demosthenes appeared wearing a gorgeous cloak, with a garland on his head, though it was but seven days since his own daughter had died. ^Eschines f reproaches him on this account and charges him with lack of paternal affection. But ^Eschines himself must have been of an ignoble and craven spirit, if he thought weeping and wailing the signs of a gentle and loving nature, and condemned those who bear such griefs with calmness and composure.
For my part, I should not call it honourable in the Athenians to sacrifice and wear garlands on the death of a king who, in the hour of his own victory and their defeat, had treated them with such humanity and kindness. For it was a base and despicable thing, in his lifetime to show him honour and make him a citizen of Athens, and then, the moment he fell by the hand of another, instead of keep- ing their joy within bounds, to insult the dead and sing paeans of victory, as though they had themselves performed some valorous deed.
But, with regard to Demosthenes, I commend his conduct in leaving to the womenfolk tears and mourning for domestic sorrows, and in acting as he thought best for the interests of his country.
The Greek states, whose ardour was rekindled by Demos- thenes, now began to form another league. The Thebans,
* A youth named Pausanias stabbed Philip at a festival in honour of his daughter's marriage.
t The great rival of Demosthenes, who impeached him, and thus drew from him his apologia, the speech on the Crown (see p. 179).
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whom he had assisted in providing with arms, fell upon their Macedonian garrison and killed a great number, while the Athenians prepared to join forces with them. Demosthenes controlled the assembly, and wrote letters to the King of Persia's generals in Asia, urging them to war with Alexander, whom he referred to as " a boy " and " a jack-of-all-trades." :;
When, however, Alexander had settled affairs in Mace- donia, and appeared in person with his army in Bceotia, the courage of the Athenians broke down, and the power of Demosthenes was extinguished. The Thebans, deserted by the Athenians, had to struggle by themselves, and lost their city.f A great tumult took place at Athens, and Demosthenes was chosen with others and sent as an envoy to Alexander ; but dreading the king's anger, he turned back on the way and abandoned the embassy.
Alexander immediately sent to demand the surrender of eight of the popular leaders, Demosthenes amongst them. Hereupon Demosthenes told the story of the sheep who gave up their dogs to the wolves, which he explained by comparing himself and his companions to the dogs who defended the flock, while Alexander he described as the Macedonian arch-wolf. " And again," he said, " just as we see merchants carry about a sample in a dish, and sell a large quantity of corn by means of a few grains, so in sur- rendering us you are all of you unconsciously delivering up yourselves."
While the Athenians were deliberating and uncertain how to act, an orator named Demades undertook, for the sum of five talents, which he received from the men whom Alexander had demanded, to go as an envoy and intercede with the king on their behalf. Either he relied on his
* Literally, "a Margites." Margites was the principal character in an old poem formerly attributed to Homer. He was ridiculed as knowing many things, and all of them badly— a jack-of-all-trades and master of none. For Alexander's retort, see p. 197.
•j- Thebes was utterly destroyed (see the "Life of Alexander," p. 198).
DEMOSTHENES 187
friendship with Alexander, or hoped to find his fury satiated, like a lion who has had his fill of slaughter. Be this as it may, Demades succeeded in procuring their pardon, and in conciliating Alexander on behalf of Athens.*
After Alexander had gone, Demades and his party were in power, and Demosthenes fell into the background. It was at this time that the indictment of Ctesiphon f in the matter of the crown came on for trial. The proceedings had begun shortly before the battle of Chaeronea, some ten years past, but the case had not hitherto come into court.
It was the most celebrated public trial that ever took place at Athens. This was partly due to the fame of the speakers, and also to the magnanimous conduct of the judges. Although the prosecutors of Demosthenes were at that time paramount in the state and in favour at Macedon, the judges refused to yield to them by bringing in a verdict against him. On the contrary, they acquitted him so honourably that ./Eschines did not obtain a fifth of the votes, and in consequence immediately left Athens. He spent the rest of his life as a teacher of rhetoric at Rhodes and in the surrounding district of Ionia.
Not long afterwards there arrived at Athens, from Asia, a Macedonian named Harpalus. :]: He had fled from Alexander because, for one thing, he was conscious of having committed misdeeds through profligate living, and also because he dreaded the king, who had by this time become terrible even to his friends. § No sooner had he taken refuge with the
* See p. 198.
f Ctesiphon had proposed that Demosthenes should be rewarded with a crown for his public services. This crown, of course, carried with it no suggestion of royalty. It was merely a mark of distinction- something like our orders and crosses conferred on distinguished men.
£ Harpalus, one of Alexander's officers, had accompanied him in his Asian campaigns, but had been left in charge of Babylon while the king went on to India. Alexander returned before he was expected, and Harpalus, who had been squandering the treasures of Babylon on luxurious living, fled at his approach with a body of troops and 5,000 talents.
§ See p. 213.
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Athenians, and given into their keeping himself, his money and his ships, than all the orators, with an eye to his wealth, took up his cause, and unanimously urged the people to receive him and offer protection to the suppliant.
Demosthenes at first advised them to drive Harpalus away, and take care not to involve the city in war for an unjust and unnecessary cause. A few days later, however, as they were looking at the treasure, Harpalus noticed that a Persian cup had caught the fancy of Demosthenes, who was carefully examining its shape and the carving upon it. So he asked him to take it in his hand and feel the weight of the gold. Demosthenes was astonished to find how heavy it was, and asked what the weight came to.
" It shall come to you," replied Harpalus, smiling, "with twenty talents." Very soon after, when night had fallen, he sent him the cup with the twenty talents. Harpalus knew well enough how to detect covetousness in a man by the expression in his face and the glances of his eyes. Demosthenes could not resist the temptation. He fell a victim to his own cupidity, admitting the bribe as a garrison into his house, and went over to the interest of Harpalus.
Next day he came into the assembly with his neck well wrapped up in woollen scarves, and when called upon to stand up and speak he shook his head, to indicate that he had lost his voice. The wits remarked, scoffing, that it was no ordinary sore throat, but a silver quinsy, which had seized him during the night. Later on, when the transaction became generally known to the people, Demosthenes wished to speak in his own defence, but they refused to hear him. A tumult of indignation ensued, during which someone rose up and said, in mocking tones : " Will ye not listen, men of Athens, to him who holds the cup ?"
The Athenians thereupon banished Harpalus from the city, and fearing that they might be called to account for the moneys which the orators had accepted, they instituted a vigorous inquiry, by means of a house-to-house investiga-
DEMOSTHENES 189
tion. One exception, however, was made in the case of a citizen named Callicles, who was newly married, and whose house they forbore to enter and search, because he had just brought home his bride.
Demosthenes put a bold face upon the matter, and moved that the Council of the Areopagus* should hold an inquiry into the affair, and that those whom it found guilty should be punished. He was himself, however, among the first to be condemned, and was brought before the courts, fined fifty talents, and sent to prison. The disgrace of his conviction, combined with his bodily weakness, made the confinement unendurable to him, and he managed to escape, eluding some of the warders, and, it is said, with the connivance of others.
The story goes, at any rate, that when he was not far from the city in his flight, he saw some of his political opponents in pursuit, and attempted to hide himself; but they called to him by name, and advancing within a short distance, begged him to accept from them supplies of money for his journey. They said that they had brought money from home on purpose, and that this had been their sole object in following him. At the same time they urged him to take courage, and not distress himself over what had befallen him.
But Demosthenes only lamented his fate the more. "How can I help being distressed," he said, "at leaving a city which contains such generous foes ? In another I shall not easily find friends who are equal to enemies like you."
He did not bear his exile with fortitude. He resided for the most part in ^Egina and Trcezen, and he would shed tears as he looked across to Attica. Some sayings of his have also been recorded, which show a bitter spirit, little
* The Council of the Areopagus was a court of justice, held in great honour on account of its antiquity and the religious associations with which it was invested. It consisted of veteran statesmen, and its functions were partly those of a criminal tribunal.
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in keeping with the vigorous sentiments of his earlier public life.
Tradition relates that, as he was leaving the city, he stretched out his hands towards the Acropolis and said : " O Lady Goddess of Athens, why dost thou take delight in those three most savage monsters — an owl, a serpent and a people ?"*
The young men who resorted to him for conversation he dissuaded from entering public life. " If," he said, " two paths had lain before me at the outset of my career, one leading to the platform and the assembly, and the other straight to destruction, and if I had foreknown the evils of politics, the fears, the envies, the calumnies, and the conten- tions, I would have chosen unhesitatingly that path which led to immediate death."
While Demosthenes was still undergoing his term of exile, however, Alexander died, and once more there arose a Greek confederacy. An orator named Pytheas, t who had been banished from Athens, went round urging the states not to revolt from Macedon or make common cause with the Athenians. But Demosthenes attached himself to the envoys from Athens, and vigorously supported their efforts towards a combined attack upon the Macedonians for the purpose of driving them out of Greece.
At one town Pytheas and Demosthenes appeared together in the assembly, and fell to abusing each other, the one on behalf of the Macedonians and the other of the Greeks.
" When we see asses' milk being taken into a house," said Pytheas, " we conclude that there is sickness in that house. And just so a city must surely be in a bad way where an Athenian embassy is introduced."
Demosthenes replied, reversing the comparison, " Asses'
* An owl and a serpent were among the sacred emblems of Athene, whose temple (the Parthenon) was on the Acropolis. The serpent is alluded to on p. 66.
f See p. 177.
DEMOSTHENES 191
milk is taken to restore health, and in like manner the Athenians come to promote the welfare of the sick."
^.The Athenian people were delighted when they heard this repartee, and voted the recall of Demosthenes. A trireme was sent to fetch him from ^Egina, and when he stepped ashore at the Piraeus, the whole population of the city, who had come down to meet him, gave him an enthusiastic welcome. Not an archon* or a priest had stayed behind.
Demosthenes lifted up his hands and blessed that happy day. " My return," he said, "is more honourable than that of Alcibiades, for it is through persuasion, and not by force, that the Athenians have received me."
The fine which had been imposed upon him still remained, for it was unlawful to revoke a sentence by act of grace, but they devised a specious method of evading the law. It was the custom at the sacrifices to Zeus the Preserver to award a sum of money to those who furnished and adorned the altar. They therefore assigned this duty to Demosthenes, and awarded him fifty talents, which was the amount of his fine.
But it was not for long that Demosthenes enjoyed his restoration to his country. Disaster soon overtook the cause of Greece. A battle was fought in which the Greeks were defeated; a month later a Macedonian garrison occupied Munychia,t and a month after that Demosthenes died in the following manner.
When the Macedonians were reported to be advancing upon Athens, Demosthenes and his party made their escape beforehand from the city, and the people condemned them to death. They dispersed in different directions, and Antipater, the Macedonian general, sent men to scour the country and capture them, under the command of one Archias, who was called "the exile-hunter." He is supposed to have been at one time an actor on the tragic stage. He
* The nine archons were the chief ministers of state at Athens, f A hill on the peninsula of Piraeus, near Athens.
192 GREEK LIVES FROM PLUTARCH
found some of the refugees at ^Egina, where they had taken sanctuary in the shrine of ^Eacus.* He dragged them out, and sent them to Antipater, who put them to death. It is said that the orator Hyperides had his tongue cut out.
Archias heard that Demosthenes had taken refuge in the temple of Poseidon at Calauria.f So he crossed over in some small vessels and landed there with a force of Thracian spearmen. He tried to persuade Demosthenes to quit the sanctuary and go with him to Antipater, promising that he should suffer no violence. But it chanced that Demosthenes had had a strange dream the previous night. He thought he was competing with Archias in acting a tragedy, and though he was successful in holding the audience, he lost the prize through lack of stage furniture and decoration.
Accordingly, after Archias had conversed for some time, with many expressions of goodwill, Demosthenes looked up at him from where he sat, and without moving said : " Archias, you never convinced me as an actor, and you will not convince me now as an ambassador."
Archias then began to threaten him in anger. "Ah!" said Demosthenes, " now you are delivering the true utter- ances of the Macedonian oracle, but hitherto you were only acting. Wait a little, that I may send a message to my friends at home."
With that he retired into the inner part of the temple, and taking a scroll, as though about to write, he put the pen to his mouth and bit it, as he was accustomed to do when pondering over his writing. Thus he remained some time, and then he bowed his head and covered it with his cloak.
The spearmen at the door began to jeer at him, thinking he was weakly putting off the fatal moment, and calling him a coward. Archias approached and urged him to leave the
* A son of Zeus, and guardian deity of y£gina.
t A small island in the Saronic Gulf, off the coast of Argolis.
DEMOSTHENES 198
temple, going over all the same arguments again, and promising him reconciliation with Antipater.
But by this time Demosthenes perceived that the poison had entered his system and was overcoming him. So he uncovered his face, and fixing his gaze on Archias, said, u Now you may play Creon * as soon as you please, and cast out this body of mine unburied. For my part, gracious Poseidon, I quit thy temple still alive, but Antipater and the Macedonians have left not even thy shrine unpolluted."
When he had said this he began to tremble and stagger, and bade them support him as he walked ; but in passing the altar he fell down, and so with a groan he yielded up his spirit.
Not long afterwards the Athenian people rendered him the honour that was his due. They erected a brazen statue to his memory, and on the pedestal was engraved the famous inscription :
" If but thy courage had been to thy wit, Demosthenes, equal, Never would Greece have then own'd Macedonian sway."f
* A character in the " Antigone " of Sophocles. Creon, King of Thebes, refused burial to the corpse of Antigone's brother, Polynices. She buried the body, and Creon shut her up in an underground cave, where she killed herself, along with her lover, a son of Creon.
f This, and several of Plutarch's other quotations from Greek verse, have been translated in the same metre as the original. See pp. 19, 54, 97, 149, 182, 184, 206.
IX.
ALEXANDER.
356 TO 323 B.C.
" Now crouch, ye kings of greatest Asia, And tremble, when ye hear this scourge will come, That whips down cities and controlleth crowns, Adding their wealth and treasure to my store."
MARLOWE : Tambitrlaine tlie Great.
^ALEXANDER, son of Philip, King of Macedon, and Olympias, walTbbrn on the same day on which Ibe Temple oFArtemis* jif^Eghesus was Jburat-jdowji^ ^11 the jsoothsayers who happened to be then at Ephesus regardeajHe" the temple as a sign foretelling some other disaster^jfjThey ran about beating their faces, and crying out : " This day hath brought forth a mighty scourge and plague for Asia."
fin his boyhood, whenever news came that Philip had captured some famous city, or won a glorious victory, Alexander would be quite cast dpwn at hearing it]" Boys,'' he used to say, " my father will take everything before we have a chance. He will leave no great and splendid achievement for you and me to perform."
rHis heart was set, not on pleasure irtu
virtue and fame, and so. he thought that the more he should receive from his father, the less there would be for Jnm to accomplish by his own efforts. He wished to inherit a king- dom which brought him, not riches, luxuries, and the means
* Better known, through its occurrence in the Bible, as the Temple of Diana, the Roman equivalent of Artemis (see Acts xix.).
194
ALEXANDER 195
of self-indulgence, but strife and warfare, and a field for his ambitions. /
When the horse Bucephalus* was brought to Philip on sale, at the price of thirteen talents,! they went down into the plain to put the animal through his paces. He seemed vicious and utterly unmanageable, allowing no one to mount him or come near him, and Philip in anger told them to take the wild and savage brute away. But Alexander, who was there, said : " What a horse they are losing just be- cause they are too stupid and cowardly to manage him !"
Philip at first remained silent, but when Alexander kept
repeating his remark and became violently excited, he
said : " Do you presume to blame your elders, as though
you knew more than they, and could handle a horse
etter ?"
" At any rate," replied Alexander, " I could handle this one better."
" Supposing you fail," said Philip, " what forfeit will you pay for your rashness ?"
" By Zeus !" said Alexander, " I will pay the price of the horse."
Everybody laughed, and the wager was duly arranged between them. Alexander at once ran up to the horse, seized his bridle, and turned him toward the sun. He had noticed, apparently, that the animal was irritated at the sight of his own shadow constantly dancing before him. Then he ran a little way at the horse's side, patting and soothing him, and when he saw that his fit of furious snort- ing was exhausted, he quietly threw away his cloak, and leapt safely on the animal's back. For a few minutes he reined him in tightly and held him in check without a blow. Then, when he saw that the horse had spent his fury, and
* This famous charger carried Alexander all through his Asiatic campaigns, and died in India, in 327 B.C., after the battle with Porus (see p. 213). Alexander founded the city of Bucephalia, on the banks of the Hydaspes, at the place where his favourite died.
f About £3, 172.
13—2
196 GREEK LIVES FROM PLUTARCH
was eager for a gallop, he gave him his head, and urged him on more boldly with voice and spur,
Philip and those about him at first looked on silently in an agony of apprehension, but when Alexander duly turned the horse and rode back exulting and triumphant, they all burst into a shout. His father, as the story goes, wept for joy, and when Alexander dismounted, kissed his head, and said to him, " My son, you must seek a kingdom worthy of yourself, for Macedonia is not great enough foryou."
jPhilip saw that Alexander's was one of those masterful natures which will not brook compulsion, but are easily led by reasoning into the path of duty. So he himself always endeavoured rather to persuade than command the boy. Nor did he entrust his education entirely to ordinary teachers, but sent for that most famous and learned of philosophers, Aristotle, to whom he awarded a fitting and honourable remuneration^/
Afterwards, wherr Alexander had crossed over into Asia, he heard that Aristotle had published certain of his dis- courses in a book, whereupon he wrote him a letter of remonstrance in the interests of philosophy, of which the following is a copy :
" Alexander to Aristotle, good fortune. You did not well to publish your oral teaching* in a book. For how shall we differ from the rest of men if those lessons by which we were trained be made common to all the world ? For my part, I would rather excel in knowledge than in power. Farewell."
I think (rtjvas Aristotle also who imbued Alexander with a taste for medical science. It was not only the theory of medicine that he loved. He used to prescribe for his friends when they were ill, and arrange their treatment and diet, as we find from his lettersT)
* The book in question was Aristotle's treatise on metaphysics.
ALEXANDER 197
'He had, too, a natural love of literature and reading. Iliad " he considered and called a vade-mecum of the art of war. He took with him a copy corrected by Aristotle, which is known as the " casket Iliad," and this he always kept with his dagger lying under his pillow. When he was in distant countries where other books were scarce, he ordered one of his generals at home to send him a supply. The general sent him, among a number of other works, the tragedies of Euripides, Sophocles, and ^Eschylus7\
In his youth Alexander admired and lover!"-frnstotle, as he says himself, not. less than his own father. The latter, he said, had given him life, but the former had taught him to live nobly.
\[When he was sixteen years old Alexander was entrusted with the charge of affairs in Macedonia and the keeping of the royal seal while Philip was on an expedition against Byzantium. At the age of twenty he succeeded to the kingdom, which he found threatened on all sides by jealousies, feuds, and dangers. The neighbouring tribes of barbarians would not submit to slavery, and were longing for their ancestral kings. Neither had Philip, although victorious in arms against Greece, had time to accustom her to the yoke of his dominion. He had merely caused an upheaval and confusion, and left the country unsettled and seething with disturbanCe"sT)
When Alexander heard that the Thebans had revolted and the Athenians were in sympathy with them, he imme- diately led an army through the pass of Thermopylae. " Demosthenes," he said, "called me a boy* when I was in Illyria,! and a youth when I came to Thessaly. Now
* See p. 1 86.
t Alexander had subdued some Illyrian tribes when left regent of Macedonia at the age of sixteen (see above). For Illyria, compare "Twelfth Night":
" 'What country, friends, is this?' 'This is Illyria, lady.' ' And what should I do in Illyria ? 'My brother, he is in Elysium.'"
198 GREEK LIVES FROM PLUTARCH
before the walls of Athens I desire to show myself a man."
On arriving before Thebes, he gave the inhabitants an opportunity to repent of what they had done, offering by herald an amnesty if they would surrender the two leaders of the revolt. But the Thebans in reply demanded two hostages from Alexander, and made proclamation summon- ing all who wished to share in the liberation of Greece to join their ranks.
The Thebans fought with a valour and zeal beyond their strength in the face of far superior numbers ; but when the Macedonian garrison left the citadel and fell upon them in the rear, they were surrounded, and most of them fell where they fought. The city was captured, sacked, and razed to the ground. Alexander spared the priests, and all who had exchanged hospitality with Macedonians ; also the descend- ants of Pindar,* and those who had voted against the rebellion. All the rest he sold into slavery, to the number of 30,000. More than 6,000 had been killed in the battle.
With the Athenians Alexander became reconciled,! although they were deeply indignant at the fate of Thebes. The festival of the mysteries, which they had in hand, was put off in token of mourning, and they welcomed refugees to Athens with every mark of kindness. Whether it was that, lion-like, his fury had been satiated, or that he wished to balance a deed of ruthless cruelty by an act of clemency, Alexander not only acquitted the Athenians of all blame, but even bade the city look to her affairs, since, if aught
* On this, as on other occasions, Alexander showed a tenderness for literary associations. Pindar, the greatest of Greek lyric poets, was a native of Thebes. He lived about 522-442 B.C., and had been an especial favourite of Alexander I. of Macedon. Milton alludes to the above incident in one of his sonnets :
The great Emathian conqueror bid spare
The house of Pindarus, when temple and tower
Went to the ground."
t See p. 187.
ALEXANDER 199
were to happen to him, Athens would take the lead in Greece.
An assembly of the Greeks was now held at the Isthmus of Corinth, when they passed a vote in favour of joining Alexander in an expedition against the Persians, and he was proclaimed general-in-chief. Numbers of statesmen and philosophers came to offer him congratulations, and he was hoping that Diogenes of Sinope, who was then living at Corinth, would do the same ; but Diogenes took very little account of him, and continued to enjoy his leisure at home, so Alexander went in person to see him.
Diogenes happened to be lying in the sun. On the approach of such a company of people he sat up a little and looked full at Alexander. The king greeted him kindly, and asked whether he had need of anything. Diogenes answered, " Yes, you are keeping the sun from me ; stand a little aside." Alexander, it is said, was so astonished at this contemptuous treatment, and struck by the greatness of the man, that when his courtiers as they went away laughed and jeered at the philosopher, he said, " For my part, were I not Alexander, I should be Diogenes."
Alexander crossed the Hellespont with an army (accord- ing to the lowest computation) of 30,000 foot and 4,000 horse, the highest estimate being 43,000 infantry and 4,000 cavalry. He landed at Ilium,* where he offered sacrifice to Athene and poured libations to the heroes. The pillar of Achilles he anointed with oil, as the custom is, and set a wreath upon it. " For I count him happy," he said, " that in his life he found a faithful friend, and after death a mighty herald of his fame."
Meanwhile the generals of Darius had assembled a great army, and posted themselves at the passage of the river
* Ilium or Troy; hence, Homer's epic of the Trojan War is called the " Iliad." Alexander, as we have seen, had a great admiration for Homer and his heroes. He regarded himself as a second Ach: whom he always tried to emulate. The "faithful tnend of Ach was Patroclus, and the " mighty herald" Homer.
200 GREEK LIVES FROM PLUTARCH
Granicus. This being,- as it were, the gate of Asia, it was necessary to give them battle there, as well for entrance as for mastery. But most of Alexander's generals hesitated at the depth of the stream and the roughness of the ground on the opposite bank. Parmenio objected to running the risk in the evening, as it then was ; but Alexander replied that the Hellespont would blush if, after crossing it, he were afraid of the Granicus ; and so saying he dashed into the stream with thirteen companies of cavalry.
The barbarians are said to have lost 20,000 foot and 2,500 horse ; while on Alexander's side the dead numbered only thirty-four in all, of whom nine were foot-soldiers. This battle at once made a great change in Alexander's position, inasmuch that he even got possession of Sardis, the chief ornament of the seaward portion of the barbarian empire, and all the other neighbouring places. Only Hali- carnassus and Miletus held out, and these he took by force, subduing the country round about.
After this he conquered Pisidia and Phrygia. When he took the r^ify rif r^ni-rllum^ said to be the ancient home of King Midas, he saw the celebrated chariot fastened by a knot of -cornel bark, and heard the legend which the barbarians believed about it, that whoever loosed the knot was destined to bejdn^of^all the world. According to most accounts, Alexander., in despair of untying it, severed the knot with his sword,* but some say that he unravelled it with ease.
By this time Darius was marching down from Susa, con- fident in the numbers of his forces, for he was at the head of 600,000 men. He was still more encouraged by Alexander's long delay in Cilicia, which he attributed to cowardice ; but in reality it was due to an illness which Alexander contracted through bathing in a frozen river. Most of the physicians dared not relieve him, as they thought the risk too great,
* To " cut the Gordian knot " has passed into a proverbial expression for taking a short way out of a difficulty.
ALEXANDER 203
and were afraid of the suspicion* they might incur if they failed.
But one of them, named Philip, seeing how desperate the case was, trusted in Alexander's friendship, and decided that it would be a shameful thing, when he was in such danger, not to risk something also in using his uttermost skill to save him. Meantime Parmeniof sent a letter to Alexander, urging him to be on his guard against Philip, who, he said, had received large bribes from Darius and a promise of his daughter's hand in marriage if he would make away with Alexander.
Alexander read the letter, and, without showing it to any of his friends, placed it under his pillow. When at the appointed time Philip came in carrying medicine in a cup, Alexander handed him the letter, and took the medicine himself readily and without suspicion. It was a wonderfully dramatic scene, the one reading and the other drinking, and then at the same moment meeting each other's eyes, but with a very different expression in their faces.
Alexander's cheerful and smiling looks betokened the favour and confidence with which he regarded Philip, while the latter stood astounded at the calumny against him. Stretching out his hands, he called Heaven to witness his innocence, and anon falling at the bedside, entreated Alexander to be of good courage and rely on his fidelity.
The drug at first overpowered the king, and seemed to drive all strength out of his body, so that even his voice failed, and his senses grew quite feeble and indistinct, for a dead faint had fallen upon him. But he was soon restored by Philip, and recovered sufficiently to show himself to the Macedonians, who were in despair until they saw Alexander again.
Darius now set out on his march into Cilicia, and
* Suspicion, that is, of poisoning him. The Greek for medicine and poison is the same word.
f One of Alexander's principal officers (see p. 200).
204 GREEK LIVES FROM PLUTARCH
Alexander at the same time went to find him in Syria. Missing each other in the night, they both turned back again, Alexander rejoicing in his good-fortune and hastening to meet him in the defiles, while Darius endeavoured to regain his former camp and extricate his forces from their confined position. For by this time he realized his mistake in throw- ing himself into a place shut in between the sea and the mountains, with a river flowing through it — a position so intersected as to be impracticable for cavalry, and altogether in favour of the enemy's inferior numbers.
Fortune thus gave Alexander the advantage in the choice of ground, but it was by superior generalship that he so used it as to obtain a brilliant victory.* He destroyed more than 110,000 of the enemy, but he did not capture Darius, who took to flight, and got four or five furlongs start of his pursuers. His chariot and bow, however, fell into the hands of Alexander, who on his return found the Macedonians plundering the barbarian camp.
The tent of Darius, however, with its sumptuous furniture and quantities of treasure, they had reserved for Alexander. He immediately put off his armour, and went towards the bath, remarking, " Let "us go and wash off the sweat of battle in the bath of Darius." But one of his comrades replied : " Say rather ' the bath of Alexander,' for the goods of the vanquished belong to the conqueror."
Just as he was betaking himself to supper, someone told him that among the captives were the wife and mother of Darius, and his two unwedded daughters, who, when they saw the chariot and bow, began to wail and beat their breasts, thinking that Darius must be dead. Alexander paused some while in thought, being affected rather by their fortunes than his own. Then he sent an officer to them with a message that Darius was not dead, and that they had nothing to fear from Alexander : it was for empire that he was warring with Darius, but they should have every - * The battle was fought at Issus, in Cilicia, 333 B.C.
ALEXANDER 205
thing they were wont to consider their due, as though Darius had his kingdom still.
But if his words seemed chivalrous and gentle to the ladies, they found a still greater kindness in his actions. He suffered them to give burial to as many Persians as they would, using robes and decorations out of the spoils, and he diminished nothing of their former state and retinue. Indeed, they enjoyed even greater riches than they had before. But the most honourable and kingly favour which he bestowed upon these noble ladies in their captivity was the care he took that they should hear no word of shame, but live as secure from molestation as if they were not in an enemy's camp, but in the sacred precincts of a temple.
Alexander was very temperate in eating, as appears from what he said Jo_^Ada^Queen of Carja^ who in the kindness of her heart used to send him every day all sorts of delicacies, and even skilled cooks to make them. He remarked that he did not require any of them, for he had excellent appetizers given him when he was a boy by his tutor — namely, for breakfast a night's march, and for dinner a light breakfast.
Nor was he so much given to wine as he was thought to be. He had this reputation because he used to linger over every cup, but for the sake of talking rather than of drinking. He ever loved to propound some subject for a long dispute — that is, when he had plenty of leisure. When there was work to do, neither wine, nor sleep, nor the claims of marriage, nor any kind of show or amusement could stay him as they have stayed other generals. And this is proved by his life, which, though quite short," he filled with so many and marvellous achievements.
In his days of leisure, when he rose in the morning the
first thing he did was to sacrifice to the gods. Then he at
once sat down to his morning meal, after which he passed
the rest of the day either in hunting or dispensing justice,
* He died at thirty-two.
206 GREEK LIVES FROM PLUTARCH
or arranging some military business, or in reading. If he were going a journey of no great urgency, he would practise shooting with his bow as he went, or leaping on and off his chariot while in motion. Often he would hunt foxes and birds for sport, as may be gathered from his diaries.
Alexander now determined that he must first make himself master of the Persian sea-board. The kings of Cyprus and Phoenicia, with the exception of Tyre, came to offer their allegiance. Tyre he besieged for seven months, and after he had taken it he laid siege to Gaza, the chief city of Syria. There he was wounded in the shoulder, but he took the city.
After he had conquered Egypt, he resolved to found there a great and populous Greek city, named after himself, and thus perpetuate his memory. On the advice of his architects he had all but marked out and enclosed a piece of ground, when he saw in his sleep a wonderful vision. An old man, hoary-headed and of venerable mien, appeared to him, and, standing beside him, spoke these lines :
" There is an island beyond in the midst of the billowy ocean : Lo ! before Egypt it lies, and the name which men give it is Pharos."
As soon as he rose in the morning Alexander went out towards Pharos, which was at that time an island lying a little way off the mouth of the Nile, but is now attached to the mainland by a causeway. There is a broad tongue of land, like an isthmus, with a large lake on one side and on the other the sea," which there terminates in a spacious . harbour.
When Alexander saw what an excellent site it was, he remarked that Homer, marvellous in all else, was likewise a most skilful architect. He then gave orders for a city t
* " On one side lay the ocean, and on one Lay a great water."
TENNYSON : The Passing of Arthur. f Alexandria.
ALEXANDER 207
to be marked out on a plan harmonizing with the natural features of the place.
On his return to Phoenicia from Egypt, he-held sacrifices aniLsaei^-processionsJn honour of the gods, also contests in . dancing, jand tragedies, remarkable not only for their staging, but for the emulation of the actors.
Darius at this time sent him a letter by the hand of some friends, asking him to accept 10,000 talents as a ransom for his prisoners, and offering to cede all the country this side of the Euphrates, and to give him one of his daughters in marriage, if Alexander on these terms would be his friend and ally. Alexander communicated the offer to his friends, and Parmenio said : " If I were Alexander I would accept it."
"Zeus! and so would I," replied Alexander, "if I were Parmenio."
Thereupon he wrote to Darius : " Come to me, and you shall be treated with all courtesy ; but if you refuse, know that I am already on the march against you."
When he had brought into subjection the country this side of the Euphrates, Alexander began his march against Darius, who had taken the field with an army of a million men. The great battle Jook place, not at Arbela, as most writers assert, but at 'GaugamHal The older men among Alexander's officers, especially Parmenio, when they saw the whole plain illuminated by the lights of the barbarian camp, and heard a confused uproar like the sound of a vast sea, were amazed at the immensity of the enemy's host, and discussed among themselves how great and hazardous an enterprise it would be to attack such a force in open day.
They waited upon the king as he came from offering sacrifice, and urged him to make a night attack upon the enemy, and thus hide under cover of darkness the most formidable aspect of the coming struggle. Alexander then gave that memorable answer, " I do not steal a victory."
208 GREEK LIVES FROM PLUTARCH
To some, indeed, it seemed a young man's empty boast, trifling in the face of such grave peril. Others, however, thought that, besides raising the spirit of his men, he had also rightly gauged the future. For he did not give Darius, if defeated, any ground to renew his courage for a fresh effort, as he would if he could ascribe failure to the darkness of night, in the same way that he had previously ascribed it to the mountain passes and the sea. It would never be through lack of arms or men that Darius would abandon the war, so great were his resources and dominions. He would only cease to struggle when he had lost heart and hope — when the issue had been fought out to the end and he had been signally defeated.
Before the front ranks had well engaged, the barbarians began to give way, and there was a great rout. Meanwhile Alexander drove into the midst of the vanquished enemy, where Darius was. He saw him in the distance, beyond the ranks in front, standing conspicuous amid his royal bodyguard. For Darius was a tall and handsome man, and he was mounted on a lofty chariot. He was surrounded by a strong force of cavalry, in gorgeous armour, who stood prepared to receive the enemy.
But so terrible was the sight of Alexander near at hand, as he hurled himself upon the fugitives, that the Persians who still stood their ground were panic-stricken and scattered in all directions. The bravest of them were slain in front of -the king, and as they fell one upon another they hindered the pursuit by clinging to the Macedonians and their horses.
Darius was now face to face with deadly peril. His own ranks in front were flung back upon him, so that it was difficult to turn his chariot and drive through the press. The wheels became clogged by the bodies of the dead, and the horses too, almost hidden among the heaps of corpses, began to plunge so that the driver could no longer control them. Darius then quitted his chariot and his arms, and fled on horseback from the field.
ALEXANDER 209
Such being the issue of that battle, the Persian Empire appeared to have been utterly destroyed, and Alexander was hailed as King of Asia. His first act was to offer magnifi- cent sacrifices to the. gods. Then he proceeded to bestow upon his friends gifts of money and houses and dignities. Being ambitious to win the favour of the Greeks, he wrote that all tyrannies should be abolished and every state be free and independent.
Alexander made himself master of Susa, where he found in the royal palace bullion to the amount of 40,000 talents,* and other treasure of incalculable value. At Persepolis, when on the point of starting in pursuit of Darius, he happened to have bestowed his presence at a revel held by some of his friends, in which fair ladies also were taking part. Chief among them was the famous Thais, an Athenian by birth. Partly in subtle flattery, and partly in jest, she made bold, as the wine went round, to address Alexander in words that suited the spirit of her country, but were of graver import than befitted her position.
" For all the toils I have endured," she said, " in wander- ing over Asia, I am fully recompensed by this day's merri- ment in the proud palace of the Persian kings. But far sweeter would it be to end our revel by burning the house of Xerxes, as Xerxes gave Athens to the flames : nay, more, to kindle the fire with my own hands, before the eyes of the king. So the story would be told among men, that the very women of Alexander's train had wrought a greater vengeance on Persia, in behalf of Greece, than all the captains of his fleets and armies !"
A clamour of applause followed this speech, and eager appeals to Alexander from his companions to do as Thais said. The king consented, and leaping to his feet, led the way with a garland on his head and a torch in his
* In our money, about £9,760,000.
210 GREEK LIVES FROM PLUTARCH
hand.* The .others followed in a noisy rout, surrounding the palace, and all. the other Macedonians who heard what was afoot ran up gleefully with torches. For they hoped that the burning of the palace meant that the king's mind was set on home, and that he did not purpose to dwell among the barbarians. According to some accounts, he set fire to the palace deliberately, and not in the manner related, but in any case it is generally agreed that he soon repented of his act and ordered the flames to be extinguished.
When Alexander found that his officers were become vulgarly luxurious and extravagant in their manner of life, he rebuked them kindly and like a philosopher. " How will a man," he said, " attend to his own horse, and keep his spear and helmet in order, who has given up the habit of tending his own person with his own hands ? Know you not," he continued, " that, in our view, the end of conquest is to avoid doing as the conquered did ?"
He now set out on a march against Darius, expecting to fight another battle, but he received news that Darius was a prisoner in the hands of his kinsman, Bessus. The pursuit was long and arduous, and the troops suffered greatly from want of water.
Some Macedonians bringing water from the river in skins
* The story of this episode is told in Dryden's poem, "Alexander's Feast ; or, The Power ot Music." The instigator, according to Dryden, is not Thais, but the musician Timotheus.
" The lovely Thais by his side Sate like a blooming Eastern bride In flower of youth and beauty's pride :— Happy, happy, happy pair! None but the brave, None but the brave, None but the brave deserves the fair !"
When Timotheus raises his cry for " Revenge !"—
" The priaces applaud with a furious joy ; And the king seized a flambeau with zeal to destroy ; Thais led the way To light him to his prey, And, like another Helen, fired another Troy !"
ALEXANDER 211
on the backs of mules met Alexander one day about noon, and seeing* that he suffered greatly from thirst, quickly came, and offered him water in a helmet.
He asked for whom they were bringing it, and they replied, " For our own sons. But if you live, we shall get other children, even though we lose these." On this he took the helmet in his hands. Then he looked round, and seeing all the horsemen about him bending their heads intent upon the water, he handed it back without drinking. But he thanked those who brought it, and said, <; If I alone drink, these men here will lose heart."
When the cavalry saw his act of self-restraint and mag- nanimity, they broke into cheers and cried out to him to lead them on with confidence, for they felt no weariness or thirst, nor, indeed, could they deem themselves wholly mortal, while serving such a king.
The same spirit of enthusiasm animated the whole force, but only sixty, it is said, were with him when he entered the enemy's camp. Passing a number of waggons full of women and children, they pursued the ranks in front, thinking Darius would be among them. At last he was found lying in a chariot, his body pierced with many darts, and very near his end. Yet he was able to ask for something to drink, and as he drank some cold water he said to the man who gave it him:
" My friend, this is the crown of all my ill-fortune, not to be able to return a courtesy ; but Alexander will reward you. And may the gods reward Alexander for his chivalry towards my wife and mother and children. This my right hand I give to him through you." So saying, he took the soldier by the hand and passed away.
When Alexander came up, he openly showed his sorrow at this calamity, and taking off his own cloak he laid it on the body and wrapped it round. He then had the corpse royally embalmed, and sent it to the mother of Darius. His brother he admitted into the circle of his own friends.
14—2
212 GREEK LIVES FROM PLUTARGH
Alexander next marched in person with the flower of his army into Hyrcania, where he had sight of a sea* which appeared as large as the Euxine. From thence he moved into Parthia,f and there it was in a period of leisure that he fi^st RJorjtgfLFRst^rn Hrpgg He did so either from a desire to conform to the customs of the country, knowing how powerful a means of conciliation is a similarity of manners, or else to test the loyalty of the Macedonians by gradually making them familiar with his altered habits of life. At the same time he induced the barbarians to adopt_.SQme_ of the Macedonian fashions. He thought that by such an amicable fusion he would effect a better settlement of affairs than by violence.
His marriage with Roxana j was entirely a love- match. He saw her at some festival, and marked her beauty in the dance. This alliance, too, accorded well with his existing policy, for it gave confidence to the bar- barians. They were delighted, moreover, with Alexander's honourable conduct in the matter, and his insistence on a lawful union with the only woman who had ever won his heart.
About this time a plot was discovered against Alexander's life, and Philotas, son of Parmenio, was suspected of com- plicity therein. He was arrested and put to the torture. After his death Alexander sent into Media and had Parmenio likewise executed. And this was a man who had helped Philip in many of his enterprises, and alone, or almost alone, among his older friends, had urged upon Alexander the expedition into Asia ! Of his three sons, two, slain in battle, he had already given to the cause, and now he him-
* The Caspian Sea. The Euxine was the ancient name of the Black Sea.
f This country has bequeathed us the expression " a Parthian shot," from the favourite tactics of Parthian cavalry. They used to turn in their saddles as they rode away, and send volleys of arrows at the pursuing enemy.
J A Parthian princess.
ALEXANDER 213
self shared the fate of the third. These deeds* made Alexander terrible to many of his friends.
When he was ready to start on his march into India, he saw that the army was so loaded with spoils that it could hardly move. At daybreak, therefore, he collected the baggage waggons, and set fire first to his own and those of his friends, and then ordered the troops to burn theirs also.
The most warlike of the Indians fought as mercenaries in defence of the various cities. They made a resolute resistance, and inflicted many losses on Alexander's army.
He has written in his own letters an account of his battle with Porus, in which the enemy did not give ground until the eighth hour of the day. When Porus was captured, Alexander asked him how he would wish to be treated. " Like a king," he replied. Alexander accordingly not only allowed him to rule the kingdom as his deputy, but even bestowed on him additional territory that he had conquered.
After the battle with Porus, Alexander's horse Bucephalus died, either of wounds or old age, for he was thirty years old. Alexander was deeply grieved, exactly as though he had lost a friend and companion. He founded a city in his honour on the Hydaspes, and called it Bucephalia.
The struggle with Porus dulled the ardour of the Mace- donians, and made them reluctg.nl. to.. advance further into India. They strongly opposed Alexandej:_when he tried to compel them to cross the Ganges. At first in his despair and anger he shut himself up in his tent and lay on the ground. He admitted no gratitude for what they had already accomplished if he could not cross the Ganges, and
* Shortly after the execution of Parmenio and Philotas, Alexander killed his friend Clitus in a quarrel over their wine. The story is told in detail by Plutarch, but it is too long to be inserted here. Clitus had saved Alexander's life at the Battle of the Granicus, his first great fight against the Persians, and Alexander was filled with remorse when he had done the deed.
214 GREEK LIVES FROM PLUTARCH
regarded a retreat as an acknowledgment of failure. But when his friends consoled and reasoned with him, and the soldiers with cries and tears came and stood about his doors, he gave way to their supplications.
He_was_e_ager, on departing thence, to get_a view of the ocean, and had a number of rowing-boats and rafts con- structed, in which he conveyed his troops, driftingjeisurely downjhe rivers. Thisjrecupied severi months. On reach- ing the sea, he embarked on board ship and sailed to an island, where he landed and performed sacrifices to the gods. Then, after offering up a prayer that no man after him might ever pass beyond the boundaries of his expedi- tion, he turned his face towards home.
He ordered the fleet to sail round the coast, keeping India on the right, and appointed Nearchus admiral. He himself with the army marched overland. Through disease, bad food, scorching heats, and, above all, famine, his troops were reduced to the last extremity, for it was a barren country through which they had to pass. Consequently, he did not bring back from India but a quarter of his fighting strength, which had consisted of 120,000 foot and 15,000 horse. He crossed this region writh difficulty in sixty days and reached Gedrosia, where he was in the midst of plenty, ^and tor a week his progress became a Bacchanalian revel.
At the royal palace of Gedrosia he was joined by Nearchus and his men, and Alexander listened with de- light to a full account of their voyage. In his enthusiasm he designed to sail in person down the Euphrates with a great armament, coast round Arabia and Libya, and enter the Mediterranean by the Pillars of Hercules." *He had vessels of every description built at Thapsacus, and crews
* The ancient name for the Straits of Gibraltar. Alexander's plan would have involved the circumnavigation of Africa, and even he might have found this a greater undertaking than he anticipated. Africa was then known as Libya.
216 GREEK LIVES FROM PLUTARCH (/
and pilots collected from all quarters. B.ut rumours as to the hardships of his inland expedition, and his great losses, . together with doubts of his safe return, moved his subjects to rebellion, and caused — his -generals an4— -governors to conimit ar.ts-oLinjustice, insolence, and aggression.
Consequently, he sent Nearchus again to sea, while he himself marched to punish the guilty officers. When he— 1 in Ppr^ia, he found that the tomb of Cyrus had
been broken open, and he put the offender to death, although a native of Pella,* and a man of some distinction. Alexander read the epitaph, and ordered it to be inscribed also in Greek characters. It ran thus :
"O man, whosoever thou art and whencesoever thou comest (for that thou wilt come, I know), I am that Cyrus who did found the Persian Empire. Grudge me not, then, this little space of earth which hides my body."
Alexander was much affected by these words, which brought home to his mind the uncertainty and vicissitude of earthly things.
At Susa he took to wife Statira, the daughter of Darius, and caused his friends also to marry Persian ladies, bestow- ing the noblest maidens on the noblest of the Macedonians. In honour of those who had already married he gave a great banquet, to which they say nine thousand guests were invited, each one of whom wras presented with a golden cup for the libation.
Nearchus had now returned up the Euphrates from his second voyage. He was conducting the king towards Babylon, wrhen some Chaldeans met him and warned him that Alexander should not enter the city. He spoke of this to this king, but Alexander took no thought of it, and con- tinuedjns .march. Afterwards he sent for the soothsayer, and on hearing that the omens were unfavourable, he was troubled that he had not listened to Nearchus.
When Alexander had once given way to superstition, his * The capital of Macedonia,
ALEXANDER 217
mind became disordered and full of apprehension. No circumstance was so small, if it were unusual or out of place, but that he would regard it as a sign and a portent, and the palace teemed with priests performing sacrifices or purifications, and soothsayers uttering predictions.
Alexander_had^given a splendid^ banquet to Nearchus and his friends, ana had then gone to take a bath, according to his custom, before retiring to rest, when another friend came and invited him to join a revel. He stayed there drinking the whole of the following day, and thus contracted a fever.
^Ajr^Qrv^nnf nf Viin. illnnnn in g^rpn jn hie Hiary It began
on the 1 8th of June. On the 2oth he amusedLhimself by listening to NearcHus telling stories pf his adventures and of the great sea. On the night of the 2ist he was ill, and the next day fell into a high fever. Even then he conversed with his generals about the vacancies for officers in the army, instructing them to make appointments only after full examination. On the 24th he was very feverish, but he got up to sacrifice, and ordered his chief officers to wait in the ante-chamber, and the lesser officers to spend the night outside.
On the 25th he was removed to another palace, where he slept a little, but the fever did not abate. When his generals came to see him he could not speak, and he was in the same condition the next day. The Macedonians thought that he was dead, and came clamouring to the doors, threatening their comrades until they forcibly gained admission. The doors were opened, and one by one they all passed, unarmed, beside the bed.
On the 28th of June, towards evening, Alexander died.
At the time no one had any suspicion of poison, but six years later, it is said, certain information was given to his mother, Olympias, who thereupon put a number of men to death, and cast out from the grave the remains of one who had died and who was supposed to have administered the draught.
218 GREEK LIVES FROM PLUTARCH
Most people, however, think that the story of the poison is entirely ftctitious>* And this they regard as no small proof of their opinion, that although the corpse of Alexander, during the strife that ensued among his generals, lay for many days untended * in that hot and stifling country, yet it showed no sign of any such foul dealing, but remained as clean and fresh as a corpse could be.
* The most tragic part of the story of Alexander's death is the fact that he seems to have left no one behind who cared for him. His end recalls the words of Antony over the body of Caesar :
" But yesterday the word of Caesar might Have stood against the world. Now lies he there, And none so poor to do him reverence."
It may have been that his wife, Roxana, was prevented by an illness, of which Plutarch speaks, from tending Alexander's body after his death.
SOME GREEK NAMES,
WITH THEIR USUAL ENGLISH PRONUNCIATION.
N.B. — The syllable foll<nved by a dowmvard stroke is the one on which the emphasis falls in Knglish.
Academe, ak'adeem. Achaea, akee'a. Achilles, akill'eez. JEgeus, ee'juce. jSJgospotami, eegospot'ameye. £Jschines, ees'klneez. -ffischylus, ees'kylus. Aidoneus, a-i-doan'uce. Alcibiades, alsl-buy'adeez. Androgeus, androg'g-us. Antigone, antig'Snee. Architeles, arkit'eieez. Ariamenes, arriam'eneez. Aristides, arristie'deez. Aristomaclie, arristomm'akee. Bceotia, bee-oash'ia. Callicrates, kallick'rateez. Chseronea, keeronee'a. Clymene, climm'ynee. Cnidus, knide'us. Corcyra, cor-sire'a. Ctesiphon, ktees'lphon. Cybele, cibbylee. Darius, d^r-eye'us. Deidameia, de-id-ft-mei'a. Delphi, del-fie. Demades, deem'adeez. Demeter, deemeeteer. Demosthenes, demos'thfneez. Diogenes, die-oj'6neez. Dionysius, die-oniss'ius. Dionysus, die-onice'-us. Drangiane, drangiay'ne. Ecbatana, ecbat'ana. Epicrates, epick'rateez. Erectheus, erec'thuce. Euripides, eurip'tdeez. Eurybiades, your-y-buy'adeez. Heraclides, heeradide'eez. lapygia, eye'apijia.
Ilium, ile'ium.
Iphitus, ifeltus.
Lacedsemon, lassydeemon.
Lacedaemonians, lassydemoan'ians.
Laomedon, layom'edon.
Lycomedes, lycomeed'eez.
Margites, marg-ite'eez.
Meleager, mellyayg'er.
Menestheus, meness'thuce.
Miltiades, miltie'adeez.
Minotaur, minnow tore.
Mnesiptolema, mneeaipto'/ema.
Munychia, munick'ia.
Ortygia, ortrj'ia.
Panathensea, pan-ath-e-nee'a.
Fatroclus, pat-roc'lus.
Pausanias, paw-sane'las.
Pericles, perrycleez.
Persephone, persefonee.
Pharnabazus, pharnabaid'zus.
Phidias, phide'las.
Pirithous, pie-rith'o-u«.
Pittheus, pit-thuce.
Rhegium, reej'ium.
Simonides, simon'kleez
Socrates, soc'iateez.
Sophocles, soph'ocleez.
Sophrosyne, so-phroz'yr.ee.
Taygetus, tay-ij'&tus. -Thais, thay'is. : Thearides, the-anTdeez. • Themistocles, themist'Ocleez. -Thermopylae, therniop'ylee. "Theseum, theecee'um. ''Theseus, tlieece'uce.
Thrasybulus, thrazzybule'us.
Thucydides, thucidd'ldeez.
Timoxena, tiemox'^na.
Xanthippus, xantip'pus.
Th" in Greek words is pronounced as in " thin," and not as in " then." 219
INDEX,
WITH AN ACCOUNT OF IMPORTANT PROPER NAMES.
A FEW words are necessary to explain the principles on which the following Index has been compiled. It is intended to serve at once the ordinary purpose of an index, and to form a miniature Classical Dictionary of the principal allusions in this volume. To many of the pupils who will probably use the book the proper names may present a difficulty, and a Classical Dictionary may not always be available. Where no account of a name is given, either it is of minor importance, or a sufficient account of it appears in the text.
The pronunciation of Greek names may also prove a stumbling- block, and for this reason quantities have been marked on the first appearance in the text of names which might be mispronounced, and also in the Index. In the list of more difficult names given on p. 219, an attempt has been made to reproduce in print (not a very easy matter) the commonly accepted English pronunciation. If the teacher will explain the meaning of the signs w and - as expressing short and long quantity, and point out that many Greek names end in -es (eez), so as to prevent "Pericles" and " Themistocles " being made to rhyme with " clericals " and " cockles," this should go far to remove the difficulty.
To some extent subjects have been indexed as well as proper names, chiefly in the case of moral qualities, such as charity, chivalry, patriotism, humour, self-sacrifice, and ideas or actions akin to Christian ethics. This has been done for the benefit of teachers who may wish to employ Plutarch to " point a moral " as well as to " adorn a tale. "
The compiler has endeavoured as far as possible, by means of quota- tions, to connect the people and places mentioned by Plutarch with allusions in English poetry. Such quotations, it is believed, will increase a pupil's interest both in poetry and in Plutarch, and help to bring the times of ancient Greece nearer to his mind. It is important he should realize that these Greek men and women were real people, very much like ourselves, and that to them the year 400 or 350 B.C. (as the case might be) was the living present, their to-day, just as this year is to us.
Abrotonon, 60
Abydos, 43, 123. See also Sestos
Academe (or Academy) at Athens,
145, 151, 167 Achaea. The whole of Southern
Greece became a Roman province in 146 B.C. under the name of Achaea. i
Achilles (pronounced " A-kill'-eez "), the hero of Homer's " Iliad," and
220
INDEX
221
champion of the Greek host against
Troy. (London scholars should
see the statue of Achilles at Hyde
Park Corner.) 199 Acropolis, the Greek word for citadel.
The Acropolis of Athens is the most
famous. 93, 95, 155, 190 Ada, Queen of Caria, 205 Admetus, 78, 79 Abacus, 192
.ffigean Sea, 13, 43, 215 -ffigeus, 5, 6, 9-13 £glna, 42, 43, 62, 73, 139, 189,
191-2 .ffigosp&tami, on the Hellespont, 43,
J3i
£0118, in Asia Minor, the district colonized by the .diolian Greeks, 43. 80
-ffischlnes, Athenian orator, 179, 18=, 187
^schylus (525 to 456 B.C.), the father of tragedy. One of the greatest of the Greek dramatic poets. His extant plays are The Persians, The Seven against Thebes, The Sup- pliants, Prometheus, Agamemnon, The Choephori, and The Eumenides. 38, 71, 197
£thra, 5. 6, 19
Africa, 214
Agamemnon, mythical king of My- cenae. Leader of the Greek host against Troy, and as such one of the chief figures in Homer's " Iliad." His brother Menelaus was the husband of Helen. The story of Agamemnon's return home after the fall of Troy, and his death at the hands of his wife Clytemnestra, is the subject of one of the tragedies
^ of /Kschylus. 99
Agis. There were several kings of Sparta of this name. The Agis mentioned in the " Life of Alci- biades" reigned 427-398 B.C. He took part in the Peloponnesian War, and several times invaded Attica. 31, 119-20, 133
Aidoneus, 18, 19
Alcibiades, 29, 98, 104; life, 106-134, 191
Alexander, King of Macedon, 506 B.C., 49
Alexander the Great, 184, 186-7, 190 ; life, 194-218 ; map of empire, 215
Alexandria, 145, 206, 215
Amazons, a mythical race of female warriors. They appear in many Greek legends. One of the labours of Hercules was to capture the girdle of Hippolyta, whom, accord- ing to other accounts, Theseus wedded. In the Trojan War the Amazons fought on the side of Troy, and Penthesllea, their queen, was slain by Achilles. 15, 16
Anaxagdras (500-428 B.C.). a famous Greek philosopher and friend of Pericles. He came to Athens at the age of twenty, and lived there thirty years. His chief doctrine was that mind, nor matter, is the great first cause of the universe. 88, 89, 97, 98, loo, 101
Androgeus, 10
Andros, an island in the .-Egean Sea, 43. 77, 129
Antaeus, a mythical giant of Libya, slain by Hercules, 9
Antigone", 193. Compare Matthew Arnold's "Fragment of an 'Anti- gone'"
Antiochus, 130
Antidpe, 15, 1 6
Antipater, 191-3
Aphidnse, 18. 19, 43
Aphidnus. 18
Apollo (or Phoebus), the Greek god of the sun. He had many other attributes, being also the god of music and song, of prophecy, the protector of flocks, and guardian of newly-founded cities. As the god of prophecy his chief shrine was at Delphi, and his oracle there exercised a paramount influence in both public and private affairs. The famous statue called the Apollo Belvedere, at Rome, was found in 1503. 10-12, 25, 34, 182
Arabia, 214-15
Arabian Gulf, 215
Arachosia, 215
Arbela. 207, 215
Arcadia, a mountainous district of the Peloponnesus, next to Argolis. The inhabitants, chiefly hunters and shepherds, were people of simple habits, and fond of music. Hence the name Arcadia has be- come typical of ideal simplicity combined with artistic taste. 9.
222
GREEK LIVES FROM PLUTARCH
Compare Tennyson's lines in " In Memoriam":
" And many an old philosophy
On Argive heights divinely
sang, And round us all the thicket
rang To many a flute of Arcady."
Archias, 191-3
Architeies, 64, 65
Archons, 191
Archytas, 149, 150
Areopagus, 189
Ar6te, 139, 146, 166-7
Arethusa, 155
Argolis, the country round Argos, 43
Argos, 43, 78, 118
Aria, 215
Ariadne. The story of the desertion of Ariadne by Thesus in the island of Naxos and of her rescue by the god Dionysus has always been a favourite subject with poets and painters. Homer mentions her in the eleventh book of the "Odyssey," and Ovid in his " Heroides " (letters from heroines to their lovers). Titian's great picture of " Bacchus and Ariadne" is in the National Gallery. 12, 14
Ariamgnes, 72
Aristldes, 36-59, 61, 69
Aristippus, 150
Aristocracy, 144
Aristomache. 139, 146, 166-7
Aristotle (384-322 B.C.), the great philosopher. Born at Stagira, in Macedonia ; hence sometimes called the Stagirite. Became a pupil of Plato, and wrote a great number of works on every branch of know- ledge, including ethics, physics, metaphysics, politics, economics, poetics, natural history, etc. His learning was encyclopaedic, and he may be called the founder of scien- tific method. He was tutor to Alexander the Great. 33, 144, 196-7
Armada, Spanish, 62
Arnold, Matthew, quoted in foot- notes, 17, 148, 153. See also Anti- gone, Asopus, Chios, Homer, Oxus, Fersepolis, Pillars of Hercules, Sophocles.
Artabanus, 81
Artaxerxes. Four kings of Persia
bore this name. Artaxerxes I. (465-425 B.C.) was the son of the Xerxes whom the Greeks defeated at Salamis. This is the Arta- xerxes mentioned in the "Life of Themistocles." Artaxerxes II. (405-359 B.C.) is the subject of one of Plutarch's Lives. 81, 132
Artgmis, one of the chief Greek goddesses. Sister of Apollo, and goddess of the moon, as he was god of the sun. She was also the goddess of the chase, and was identified by the Romans with " the huntress Diana." 18, 30, 54, 194
Artemisia, Queen of Halicarnassus, in Caria. Fought on the Persian side at Salamis, and so distin- guished herself that Xerxes ex- claimed, "Our men are become women, and our women men." 72
Artemlsium, 43, 64, 65, 106
Arthur, King, 6
Asia Minor, 25, 43, 199-218, 215
Asopus, river in Peloponnesus. 43,
47. 48
Matthew Arnold alludes to it in "The Strayed Reveller," and "A Fragment of an ' Antigone ' ":
" From the pine-dotted spurs Of Parnes, where thy waves, Asopus, gleam rock-hemm'd."
Aspasia, 99. 100, 101
Assyria, 215
1 ' Atalanta in Calydon," 16. See also Bosphorus, Meleager, Persephone, Propontis.
Athene (or Athena), daughter of Zeus, from whose head she is said to have sprung fully armed. She was the guardian deity of Athens. On the Acropolis stood her great temple — the Parthenon — and a colossal statue of herself in armour, a figure something like pur Britannia. The name "Parthenon" means the temple of the maiden goddess (Parthenos). The character of Athene is finely suggested 'in Tennyson's poem " CEnone. " She was also called by the Greeks Pallas, and by the Romans identified with .Minerva. 54, 66, 95, 100, 190, 199
Athens : Plutarch at, i ; founded by Theseus, 14, 18 ; tomb of Theseus, 23 ; on map of Greece, 43 ; sacked
INDEX
223
by the Persians, 45, 46 ; exodus during Persian invasion, 67 ; rebuilt by Themistocles, 77 ; Shelley's de- scription of, 87 ; buildings in time of Pericles, 91-6 ; plague at, 102 ; re- turn of Alcibiades, 127 ; captured by Lysander, 132 ; occupied by the Macedonians, 191 ; on map, 215. See also Academe Attica, 10, 14, 15, 40, 41, 43, 101
Babies, care of, 29
Babylon, 187, 215, 216
Bible, the, quoted in footnotes, 31,
67, 145, 165, 194 Bithy
lynia, country in Asia Minor, 43 Bceotia, i, 41, 43, 45, 182, 186 Bosphorus, the strait between the Propontis (Sea of Marmora) and the Pontus Euxinus (Black Sea).
!S. 43. 2I5
Compare Swinburne, " Atalanta in Calydon":
" Where the thundering Bosphorus answers the thunder of Pontic seas."
Brassbound the burglar, 178 BucSphala (or Bucephalia), 195, 213,
215
Bucephalus, 195, 213
Buslris, a mythical king of Egypt, who sacrificed all strangers who visited the country, and was slain by Hercules, 9
Byron, 70. See also Delos, Helles- pont, Marathon, Sestos.
Byzantium, the ancient city on the Bosphorus, which was rebuilt by Constantine the Great and named Constantinople, 43, 56, 126-7, 197
Cadmea, 16
Calauria, 43, 192
Callias, 58, 59
Callicles, 189
Calibrates, 51
Callippus, 148. 154, 1 68, 170-1
Callistratus, 172-3
Calydonian Boar, 16
Caria, 43, 205, 215
Carmania, 215
Carthage, a great city of ancient times on the north coast of Africa. The Carthaginians made conquests in .Sicily, and were constantly at war with the tyrants of Syracuse. C.ir-
thage later was the rival of Rome, and her great general, Hannibal, invaded Italy, and almost succeeded in taking the capital. See Plutarch's " Life of Fabius Maximus." 43 (inset map), 113, 139, 140
Caspian Sea, 212, 215
Castor. Castor and Pollux (or Poly- deuces) were twin demigods, about whom there are many traditions. One of these was that they were the brothers of Helen. When Theseus carried off Helen, Castor and Pollux rescued her. See Tyndaridae
Catana, 43 (inset map), 116, 171
Centaurs, mythical creatures with the head and breast of a man and the body and legs of a horse. Chiefly famous for their battle with the Lapithae at the marriage feast of Pirithous and Hippodameia, when they attempted to carry off the bride and the other women. 16, 17, 23
Ceos, an island off the coast of Attica. See Simonides
Cephallenia, 43
Cerberus, the monstrous three-headed dog which guarded the entrance into Hades. 18 Compare Milton's " L'Allegro":
" Hence, loathed Melancholy, Of Cerberus and blackest Midnight born."
Cercyon, 9
Chaerdnea. i, 43, 182-4
Chaldeans, 216
Charity, instances of, 23, 98
Charybdis. Scylla and Charybdis were the names of two rocks, one on either s:de of the strait between Italy and Sicily. Both were per- sonified as monsters. Scylla de- voured six of the comrades of Ulysses as his ship passed between them. 149
Children, training of, 29. See also Education
Chios, an island oft the Ionian coast, 43 Compare Matthew Arnold, "The Scholar-Gipsy":
" Freighted with amber grapes and Chian wine."
Chivalry, 7 ; instances of, 8, 17, 33,
48, 204-5, 2I1 Chorasinia, 215. See Oxus.
224
GREEK LIVES FROM PLUTARCH
Christian ethics, ideas and actions akin to, 23, 27, 31, 38, 39, 40, 42, 58, 59, 165, 167, 179
Cilicia, country of Asia Minor, 85, 200. 215
Cimon, son of Miltiades. A great Athenian general and statesman, and a rival of Pericles, 510 (circa) to 449 B.C. He is the subject of one of Plutarch's Lives (extant). 20, 23. 55. 59. 79, 85, 89
Cithseron, Mount, 43, 47
Clazdmgnse, a town of Ionia, in Asia Minor, 43, 124
Cleocrltus, 53
Clitus, 213
Clymgne, 19
Cnidos, an island near Rhodes, 43, 123
Coinage. See Money
Colchis, 16, 215
Corcyra, an island off the coast of Epirus, 43, 78
Core, 18
Corinth, town and isthmus, 8, 9, 15, 43, 66, 168, 199 ; ruins, 200
Coronea, 43, 106
Cos, an island off the coast of Caria. Famous in ancient times for the manufacture of a kind of gauze. 43, 123
Creon. 193
CrSophylus, an ancient epic poet of Chios, said to have been the friend or son-in-law of Homer, 25
Crete, 10-14, 24> 25> 43. 2I5
Crommyon, 9, 43
Cronos. See Saturn
Ctesiphon, 187
Cybele, the great Asiatic goddess known as "the Mother of the Gods," and identified by the Greeks with their goddess Rhea, wife of Cronos. 84
Cygnus, a legendary warrior slain by Hercules, 9
Cyprus, 12, 85, 206, 215
Cyrene, 43 (inset map), 150
Cyrus I, King of Persia, lived about 600-529 B.C. His tomb, 216.
Cyrus the Younger. Lived about 430-400 B.C. When his brother Artaxerxes became King of Persia, this Cyrus plotted to obtain the throne, but was killed in battle. The story forms the subject of Xenophon's " Anabasis." 130
C^zlcus, on the Propontis, 43, 124, 150
Darius I., King of Persia (521-485 B.C.), sent the first great expedition against Greece, which was defeated at Marathon. 39.
Darius II., King of Persia (424-405 B.C.). Father of Artaxerxes and Cyrus the Younger.
Darius III. Last King of Persia (336- 331 B.C.). This was the Darius who was conquered by Alexander. 199-205, 207-8, 210-11
Datis, one of the generals who com- manded the Persian forces at Marathon, 39
DScelea, 43, 118, 128
Deidameia, 17
Deliura. 43, 109
Delos, an island in the .-Egean Sea. Famous for a great temple of Apollo, who was said to have been born there. The treasury of the Greek confederacy against Persia was at first placed at Delos, but afterwards removed to Athens by Pericles. 12, 13, 43, 91
Compare Byron's apostrophe to the Isles of Greece in " Don Juan "
" Where Delos rose and Phoebus sprung :'
and Keats's lines in " Hyperion," book iii. , beginning —
' ' Chief isle of the embowered
Cyclades,
Rejoice, O Delos, with thine olives green."
Delphi, a small town in Phocis, where was the famous temple and oracle of Apollo, the centre of Greek religion. In the temple was a chasm which exhaled vapours, and the priestess, or Pythia, sat on a tripod over this chasm, while she pro- nounced the utterances inspired by the god. These were mostly given in hexameters, or were at once rendered into that metre by a poer attached to the temple. 25, 34, 43, 54, 66, in, 182
Demades, 186
Demeter, the Greek goddess of the earth and its fruits, equivalent to
INDEX
225
the Roman Ceres (hence our word "cereal"). Part of her legend is the subject of Tennyson's poem " Demeter and Persephone" (see Persephone). 117, 170
Democracy, 31
Demosthenes, no ; life, 173-193, 197
Diodorus Siculus, a historian, of Agyrium in Sicily. Contemporary with Julius Coesar and Augustus. Wrote a universal history from the earliest times to the beginning of Caesar's Gallic Wars. 85.
Diogenes, the Cynic philosopher, 412 (circa) to 323 B.C. Born at Sinope in Pontus. He went as a youth to Athens, and, under the influence of the philosopher Antis- thenes, changed from the extreme of dissolute extravagance to the extreme of austerity and cynicism. He was a man of many eccentrici- ties, but the story of his living in a tub is doubtful. On a voyage to ^Egina he was captured by pirates and sold as a slave in Crete. He was bought by a Corinthian, who gave him back his freedom, and he spent the rest of his long life at Corinth, where his famous interview with Alexander took place. 199
Dion, Syracusan patriot, 135-171
Dionysius the Elder, 135-142
Dionysius the Younger, "Life of Dion," passim, 139-166. Nine years of anarchy followed Dion's death at Syracuse. Dionysius then returned as tyrant, in 346 B.C., but was ex- pelled three years later byTimoleon, and spent the rest of his days at Corinth as a teacher of singing, reading and recitation.
Dionysus, better known as Bacchus, the god of wine. He is said to have consoled Ariadne when she was deserted by Theseus in Naxos (see p. 12). This legend is the subject of a famous picture by Titian. Dionysus must be carefully distinguished from Dionysius, tyrant of Syracuse — see p. 135. 12, 14,
44, 7i Dogs, 67 Domitian, i Drangiane, 215 Dryden, quoted, 210
Earthquake in Peloponnesus, 33
Ecbatana, 180, 215
Education, i ; Spartan, 28-30 ; of
girls, 29 ; slaves as tutors, 69 ;
philosophy, 141 ; class prejudice
in, 196
Egypt, 25, 85. 206-7, 215 Elatea, 43> 181 Elephenor (or Elpenor). 20 Eleusisand Eleusinian Mysteries, 9,
43, 114, 128
Empire, ethics of, 91, 96, 143 Epaminondas, a great Theban
general and statesman, who raised
Thebes to temporary supremacy in
Greece. He died 362 B.C. i, 183 Eph6sus,43, 194 Ephors, 33, 46 Epicrates, 79 Epicydes, 63 Epidauria, town in Peloponnesus, 7,
43
Epipolse, 155
Epirus/ 18, 43, 78
Erectheidse. See Erectheus
Erectheus, a mythical King of Athens He was deified, and his temple, the Erectheum, said to have been originally his dwelling-house, stood on the Acropolis (see illustration, p. 93). His descendants were called the Erectheidae. 5, 10, 18
Eretria, 43, 69
Erythrean Sea, 215
Etruria, a country on the west side of Central Italy, north of Rome, 98
Euboea, a large island off the north- east coast of Greece, 20, 43
Euchldas, 54
Euclid, 145
Eunomus, 174
Euphrantldas, 44, 71
Euphrates, river, 207, 214-16
Euripides, the famous Athenian tragic poet. Said to have been born at Salamis on the day of the battle, 480 B.C. Died in Macedonia, 406 B.C. Eighteen of his plays (of which he wrote between seventy and ninety in all) are still extant, n, 16, 106, 174, 197
Eurybiades, the Spartan commander at the battle of Salamis, 42, 64, 68,
69.74
Euryptolemus, 127 Euxine. The Euxine Sea, now the
Black Sea, 15, 215
226
GREEK LIVES FROM PLUTARCH
Food. See Meals
Forgiveness, instances of, 27, 79, 165 Fox stolen by Spartan boy, 30 Frugality. See Temperance Furies (Greek Eumenides — see
^Eschylus), goddesses who were the
avengers of crime, 16
Ganges, river, 213
Gaugamela, 207, 215
Gaza, 206, 215
Gedrosia, 214-15
Gelon, tyrant of Syracuse, and famous for the beneficence of his rule. Died 478 B.C. 139
Geometry, 145-6
Gibraltar, 214
Goat, sacrificial, 31
Gordian knot, 200
Gordium, 200, 215
Granlcus, river, 200, 213, 215
Gylippus, the Spartan general who was sent to the assistance of Syra- cuse when the Athenians invaded Sicily, B.C. 414, and who destroyed the Athenian armament. 118
Halicarnassus, town in Caria, 43, 200
Harpalus. 187-8
Hawker. R. S. , 183
Helen, daughter of Zeus and Leda : sister of Castor and Pollux, and wife of Menelaus, King of Sparta. Her abduction by Paris to Troy was the cause of the Trojan War. Compare Marlowe's lines :
' ' Was this the face that launched
a thousand ships And burnt the topless towers of
Ilium?'
After the fall of Troy Helen re- turned with Menelaus to Sparta. She was carried off by 1'heseus before her marriage with Menelaus. 17, 18, 19
Helicon, philosopher, 150 Hellas, ancient name of Greece, 7 Hellespont. 43, 44, 45, 73, 123, 125, 199
Compare Byron, " The Bride of Abydos": "The winds are high, and Helle's
tide
Rolls darkly heaving to the main."
Helots, 33, 46
Hera (Roman Juno), queen of the gods, and wife of Zeus, 51
Heraclides, 158-60, 165-6, 168-9
Hercules, the most famous of Greek heroes. His principal character- istic was his enormous strength. He was the hero of innumerable adventures, chief among them being the Twelve Labours of Hercules. 6, 7, 8, 15, 16, 17, 19
Hermes (Roman Mercury), the herald of the gods. Among various other functions, he was the protector of roads, on which numerous statues of him used to be erected. 114, 116
HSrodotus, the father of history. Born at Halicarnassus, 484 B.C. Wrote the history of the struggle between Greece and Persia. He was a great traveller, and wandered all over Greece, Asia Minor, and Egypt. 64, 77
Hipparete, 109
Hipparinus, 157
Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons, and married to Theseus, according to one legend, which is followed by Shakespeare in A Midsummer Night's Dream. T6
Hipponicus, 109
Homer. The two great epics ascribed to Homer are the " Iliad," which tells the story of the Siege of Troy (or Ilium), and the " Odyssey," which recounts the wanderings of Odysseus (Ulysses) after Troy had fallen. The best English versions are those in prose by Andrew Lang and other translators (Macmillan). Pope's translation is much re- printed, but it is more like Pope than Homer. Everyone interested in the subject should read Matthew Arnold's book "On Translating Homer" (Rdutledge, is. net). 19, 25, 108, 149, 186, 197, 199, 206
Human sacrifices, 30, 44, 71
Humour, instances of Greek. 37, 41, 46, 63, 69, 77, 150, 183, 186
Hydaspes, river, 213, 215
Hyperldes, 192
Hyrcania, 212, 215
lapygia, 43 (inset map), 152 " Iliad." See Homer
INDEX
227
Ilium. See Troy
niyria, 43, 197
India, 213-15
Indus, river, 215
Ionia and lonians. On p. 15 Theseus describes the part of Greece east of the Isthmus of Corinth, including Attica, as Ionia. The lonians were one of the great divisions of the Greek race. They colonized the coast of Asia Minor and some of the adjacent islands, and the name Ionia came to be used chiefly of those colonies. 15, 25, 43, 65, 119
Iphltus, one of the Argonauts (see Jason). Afterwards slain by Her- cules. 7
Issus. a city of Cilicia. 204
Jason, the Greek hero who sailed in the ship Argo with other heroes in search of the Golden Fleece. He and his companions are called the "Argonauts" from the name of their vessel. William Morris's poem, " The Life and Death of Jason," may be read in this con- nection. 16
Juvenal, Roman satirist, quoted, 172
Keats, 57. See also Delos and Saturn Kipling. Rudyard, 77
Labyrinth of Minos, n
Lacedsemon, 31. See Sparta
Lacedaemonians. See Spartans
Laconia, 31
Laconic speech, 30, 31, 125
Lamachus, 113, 115, 117
Lamprius. 2
Lampsacus. on the Hellespont, 43, 84, 131
Laomedon, 173
Lapithae. a mythical people of Thes- ' saly, ruled over by Pirithous, 16, 17. See Centaurs
Laurium, a mountain in Attica, cele- brated for its silver mines, 62
Leonldas, King of Sparta (491-480 B.C.). Held the pass of Ther- mopylae with a small force against the invading host of Xerxes, and after a valiant stand was slain with all his men. 65
Leontini, 43 (inset map), 161-2
Leontdcephalus, 84
Libya, the Greek name for Africa, 25, 43 (inset map), 152-3, 214
Luke. St., 31
Lyc6medes, mythical King of Scyros, 20
Lycomedes, an Athenian naval officer, 72
Lycurgus, 24-35
Lydia, 7, 43. 215
Lysander, 130, 132-3
Macedonia (or Macedon), i, 43, 49, 179-80, 191, 194-8, 215
Magi, the, 83
Magnesia, town in Lydia, 43, 84, 85
Malory, Sir T., 6
Marathon, a town near the coast of Attica. On the neighbouring plain was fought one of the most famous and important battles in history, when the invading Persians were defeated by the Athenians, in 490 B.C. io, 14, 17, 20, 39-41, 43, 62
Compare Byron's famous descrip- tion in " Don Juan" (canto iii. ) : 1 ' The mountains look on Mara- thon,
And Marathon looks on the sea."
Mardonius, the Persian general who was defeited and killed at Platea, 479 B.C., 45. 46, 47, 73
Margites, 186
Marlowe, Christopher, quoted, 194. See also Helen
Meals, 27, 28, 45, 53, 156, 205
Medea, a mythical princess, daughter of yEetes, King of Colchis. Helped Jason to win the Golden Fleece, and married him. She practised magic, and by this means com- mitted several terrible crimes. She is the heroine of one of the extant plays of Euripides. 6, 9
Media, country of Asia, 215
Megacles, 154-5
Mggara, 8-9. 43
Megarians, 47-8
Megarid, 9, 14
MelSager, a mythical hero. He was one of the Argonauts, but his most famous achievement was the hunt- ing and slaying of the Calydonian Boar. This legend is the subject of Swinburne's dramatic poem " Atalanta in Calydon," with its wonderful lyric choruses, 16
I~ 2
228
GREEK LIVES FROM PLUTARCH
Menestheus, 1 8, 19, 20
Messene, 43 (inset map), 117
Midas, A fabulous king of Phrygia, re- nowned for his vast wealth. His name stands as the type of vulgar affluence. Those familiar with the back numbers of Punch will, of course, remember Sir Gorgius Midas, the millionaire. 200
1 ' Midsummer Night's Dream," 3, 5, 16. 23
Miletus, 43, 200
Militarism, 30
Miltiadgs, the great Athenian general who defeated the Persians at Mara- thon, 7, 39, 62
Milton, quoted, 32, 198. See also Cerberus
Mindarus, 123, 125
Minos, a mythical king of Crete and a great lawgiver. Some of his laws were adopted by Lycurgus. 10. ii
Minotaur, 11, 12, 14
Mnesiptolgma, 84
Molossians, 18, 43, 79
Molpadia, 16
Money, Greek, 26, 67, 80, 91, 96, 130, 157, 172, 209
Munychia, 191
Music, 32, 61, 107
Myus, town of Caria, 43, 84
Naxos, an island in the /Egean Sea, 12, 43, 79
Nearchus, 214, 216-17
Neocles, 60
Nicias, one of the Athenian generals in command of the Sicilian expedi- tion and an opponent of Alcibiades. His characteristic slowness and caution were the chief cause of the failure of the expedition. He was captured by the Syracusans and put to death. 113, 115, 117
Nile, 206, 215
North, Sir T. , v, 2
Olympia, a plain where the Olympic Games were held, situated in Elis near Mount Olympus. These games were the great national con- test of Greece, and were held every fifth year. 43, 75
Olympias, 194, 217
Olympic Games, 74, 75, no, 173
Omphale, Queen ol Lydia. Hercules, for having killed Iphitus, was
afflicted with a disease of which an oracle told him he could only be cured by becoming a slave for three years. So he became the slave of Omphale, and afterwards her lover.
Ortygia, 155
Ostracism, a method of banishment used at Athens for the temporary removal from political life of any statesman who was becoming too powerful, 41, 78, 96 Oxus, the great river which flows northward into the Aral Sea, and in ancient times probably into the Cas- pian. It is described in the last lines of Matthew Arnold's " Sohrab and Rustum," beginning thus : " But the majestic river floated on, Out of the mist and hum of that
low land, Into the frosty starlight, and there
moved, Rejoicing, through the hush'd
Chorasmian waste, Under the solitary moon." There are allusions to the Oxus also in the same poet's " Strayed Reveller." Alexander crossed the Oxus from Bactria into Sogdiana. 215
Pachynus, promontory, 43 (inset map), 152
Panathensea, an Athenian festival, 14
" Paradise Lost," 32
Paralus, 64
Parme'nlo, 200, 203, 207, 212-13
Parthenon, 95
Parthia, 212, 215
Patriotism, 34, 37, 163
Patroclus, a Greek hero in Homer's " Iliad," and friend of Achilles. When Achilles was offended with the other Greek leaders, and with- drew from the, war, he allowed Patrocius to wear his armour. Patroclus did so, and was slain by Hector. 199. See also Achilles
Pausanias, the Spartan general who defeated the Persians at Platea. He was afterwards convicted of treasonable dealings with Persia, and was starved out by the Spartans in a temple where he had taken refuge. He died thus in the year 470 B.C. 46, 49-51, 55-6. 78
INDEX
229
Pausanias, author of a famous work, written in Greek, entitled 'EAA.d6o? IlepiTjyrjcris (Latin, Peregrinatio Gr<267>)— that is, an " Itinerary of Greece." He lived during the reigns of the Roman Emperors Antoninus Pius and Marcus Aurelius (138 to iSoA.D.). See Frontispiece
Pausanias, assassin of Philip of Macedon, 185
Fella, capital of Macedonia, 43, 215, 216
Peloponnesian War, 100
Peloponnesus (or Peloponnese), 5, 7,
15. l8- 43
Pelops, a mythical Greek king- who gave his name to the Peloponnesus (modern Morea), 5
P6rlcles, 59, 67 ; his life, 87 - 105, 108
Perig-une, 8
Periphetes, 7
Persephdne (Roman Proserpina), daughter of Demeter (q.v.}, was carried off by Hades (or Pluto), the god of the under-world, but was allowed to spend part of each year on earth. Her return to earth is the subject of one of Lord Leighton's pictures. As queen of the dead she appears in Swinburne's poem, "The Garden of Proserpine":
' ' She waits for each and other.
She waits for all men born ;
Forgets the earth her mother.
The life of fruits and corn."
117, 170
Persepolis, the ancient capital of Persia, some of whose ruins are still to be seen. Matthew Arnold alludes to them in " Sohrab and Rustum ":
"As those black granite pillars,
once high-rear'd
By Jemshid in Persepolis, to bear His house, now 'mid their broken
flights of steps Lie prone, enormous, down the
mountain side."
Jemshid was the mythical founder of Persepolis. His palace is referred to by Omar Khayyam (Fitzgerald's translation) as —
1 ' The courts where Jamshyd gloried and drank deep."
The note on this line in the " Flowers of Parnassus" edition of Omar (John Lane, is. net) gives some details of the ruins. 209,
Persia, 215-16. See also Darius, Xerxes, Artaxerxes, and Cyrus
Persian Gulf, 211;
Persian War, 20", Lives of Aristides and Themistocles, passim
Phaea, 8
Phalanx, 31, 32, 52
Pharnabazus (circa 440-370 B.C.), satrap or governor of the Persian provinces near the Hellespont, 124-
5. J32 Phidias
, the great Athenian sculptor who designed and directed the adornment of Athens in the golden age of Pericles. He and his pupils executed the sculptures on the frieze of the Parthenon, the Temple of Athena on the Acropolis at Athens. Some of these sculptures are now in the British Museum. They are called the Elgin Marbles, after Lord Elgin, British Ambassador to the Porte, who brought them to England about the year 1800. Among the most famous statues by Phidias were that of Athena Parthenos in the Parthenon, and that of Zeus in the great temple of Zeus at Olympia. Readers who wish to study the sub- ject may be referred to the late Dr. A. S. Murray's "Greek Sculp- ture." and " The Sculptures of the Parthenon," and Mr. W. C. Perry's "Greek and Roman Sculpture." 100, 101
Philip of Macedon (382-336 B.C.), father of Alexander the Great, and founder of the Macedonian power. The Battle of Chaeronea (338 B.C.) made him master of Greece, and he was planning the invasion of Persia (afterwards carried out by Alex- ander) when he was assassinated. T , 179, 180-5, !95-7
Philip, Alexander's physician, 203
Philippics, 179
Philistus. 144-6, 149, 152, 159
Phllotas, 212-13
Phocis, 43, 66. 181
Phoebus. See Apollo
Phoenicia, 121, 206-7, 215
Phrygla, 84. 132-3, 200, 215
230
GREEK LIVES FROM PLUTARCH
Pillars of Hercules, the ancient name of the Straits of Gibraltar. 214
Compare Matthew Arnold's "Fragment of an Antigone ":
" Beholding him where the Two
Pillars stand
O'er the sun-redden'd western straits.'
Pindar, the greatest of Greek lyric poets, born about B.C. 522, at or near Thebes in Bceotia. Died about F442 B.C. i, 198
Piraeus, port of Athens, 43, 77, 86, 174, 191
Plrlthdus, King of the Lapithas and friend of Theseus, 16, 17, 18,
19
Pisidia, 200, 215
Pittheus, 5, 6, 7, 19
Plague at Athens, 102, 104
Platea, the second great land -battle between the Greeks and Persians, near Platea, was fought in 479 B.C. 43, 46, 50-5, 73
Plato (429-347 B.C.), the great Greek philosopher. In his dialogues Socrates, who left no written works, is almost always the chief speaker. 25. 33- 59. " Life of Dion," passim, 135-51, 167
Plutarch: life, 1-3 ; list of works, 4
Pnyx, a hill in Athens, 15, 175
Pontus, 59, 215
Porus, 213
Poseidon (Roman Neptune), god of the sea, 6, 7, 192
Pdtldsea, 43
Procrustes (= "the Stretcher"), a mythical robber who used to tie his victims on a bed. If they were too short for it, he stretched them to the requisite length ; if too long, he lopped off a piece of their legs. The expression " Procrustean methods " is often applied nowadays to violent and arbitrary proceedings, as, for instance, when a manuscript is cut down by an editor to fit the space available in his paper. 9
Propontis. ancient name of the Sea of Marmora. 43
Swinburne has a line in ' ' Atalanta in Calydon " referring to the legend of the clashing rocks (Symplegades) at the mouth of the Hellespont :
' ' Where the narrowing Symplegades whitened the straits of Propontis with spray."
Pydna, 43, 79
Pyramus and Thisbe, 23
Pythagdras (flourished about 540- 510 B.C.), a famous Greek philo- sopher. He settled at Crotona in Southern Italy. His chief doctrine was the transmigration of souls. 149
Pythagoreans,disciples of Pythagoras
Pytheas, 177, 190
Pytnia( or Pythian priestess of Apollo), 5, 20, 25, 182-3
Rhegium 43 (inset map), 115 Rhodes, 43, 187 Roman Emperors, i Rome, Plutarch at, i Roxana, 212, 218 Ruskin, 74
Sacrifices, religious, 30, 31, 44, 51, 71, 205, 207, 214, 217
Sagartia, 215
Salaminia, 64
Salamis, an island off the coast of Attica. In the strait between its eastern side and the mainland took place the memorable sea-fight between the fleets of Greece and Persia, in 480 B.C. 42-4, 46, 66, 67, 69-72
Samos, island near Miletus, 43, 99, 120-123
Saudauce, 44
Sardis, 39, 43, 124, 184, 200, 215
Saronic Gulf, 43, 192
Saturn, a mythical Italian king whose reign was regarded as the golden age of Italy. He was deified by the Romans and, somewhat in- appropriately, 'identified with the Greek god Cronos. Cronos was son of Uranus and father of Zeus, who deposed him from the throne of heaven, 57
The legend of Saturn as told in Keats's fragment "Hyperion" is really the legend of Cronos, but this in no way impairs the splendour of the poem, as in such lines as these :
INDEX
231
" All the air
Is emptied of thine hoary majesty. Thy thunder, conscious of the new
command, Rumbles reluctant o'er our fallen
house." Satyrus, 174 Sciron. 9
Scylla, 149. See also Charybdis Scyros, an island in the /Egean
Sea, 20, 43 Self-sacrifice, instances of, 34, 39,
157-8, 211 Selymbria, on the north shore of
Propontis, 43, 125-6 SSriphos, island in the ^gean Sea,
43. 77
Sestos, on the Hellespont. Sestos and Abydos, on the opposite shore, are associated with the legend of Hero and Leander. 43, 131
Compare canto ii. of Byron's " Bride of Abydos : "
"The winds are high on Helle's
wave,
As on that night of stormy water, When Love, who sent, forgot to
save The young, the beautiful, the
brave,
The lonely hope of Sestos' daughter."
Shakespeare, quoted in notes, 2, 5, 23, 38, no, 119, 148, 155, 161, 197
Shaw, Bernard, 178
Shelley, 87
Ships, 23, 64, 71, 72
Sicily 43 (inset map), 113-15, " Life of Dion," passim, 135-71
Sicinnus, 69
Simonides of Ceos (556-467 B.C.), a celebrated lyric poet, of whose works only a few fragments remain. 6-
Sinis
Sinope, 199, 215
Slavery, 33
Social life in Greece : Sparta, 25-33, 118 ; trades at Athens, 92 ; the household of Pericles, 97, 103, 205
Social reform, 26-29, i°o
Socrates (469 to 399 B.C.), the most famous of Greek philosophers. He wrote nothing, but taught his dis- ciples orally. His greatest pupil
was Plato, who has immortalized him in his Dialogues. The tragic and heroic death of Socrates is de- scribed in the dialogue called the " Phaedo." 106, 108-9, IJ3 Sogdia, 215
Solecism, meaning of word, 148 Sophdcles (495 to 406 B.C.). the second of the Ihree great Athenian tragic poets, the first being ALs- chylus and the third Euripides. He is said to have written 130 plays, of which seven only are ex- tant. They are Antigone, Electra, Trachinice, (Edipus Tyrannus, CEdipus Coloneus, Ajax, Philoc- tetes. 174, 193, 197 Matthew Arnold calls Sophocles—
"The mellow glory of the Attic
stage,
Singer of sweet Colonus, and its child."
Sophrosyne, 139, 146
Southey, 72
Sparta (also called Lac£daemon), 19,
24-35. 43. 74, H9
! Spartans, the, 24-35. 45- 50-52, 56, 101, 118
Speusippus, 148, 151 ! Statira, 216, 218 ! Stephen, J. K. , 3
" Strayed Reveller, The," 17
Suicide, 34, 85
Susa, 180, 200, 209, 215, 216
Swinburne, 16. See also Bosphorus, Persephone, Propontis
Sword-making, 172
Sword-swallowing, 31
Syracuse, 43 (inset map), "Life of Dion," passim, 135-171 ; picture of cathedral, 137. For the history of Syracuse in the years following the death of Dion, the reader may con- sult Oman's " History of Greece," pp. 447-9, and Plutarch's " Life of Timoleon." See also Dionysius the Younger.
Syria, 204. 215
Syrtis Major, 43 (inset map), 153
i Tayggtus, Mount, 29. 43 Tegea, town in Peloponnesus, 43, 47 Tempe, river and valley in Thessaly,
43,63 Temperance, 27-8, 118, 167, 205
232
GREEK LIVES FROM PLUTARCH
Tennyson, quoted, 30, 36, 59, 87, 179, 206. See also Demeter
Tenos, island in the ^Egean Sea, 43, 70
Termerus, 9
Thais, 209-10
Thapsacus, 215
Thasos, island near Macedonia, 43
Thebans, ^3, 181
Thebes, ihe chief city of Breotia. 16, 43, 186 ; destroyed by Alexander, 198
Themistocles, 36-8, 40, 42-5, 55, 59 ; his life, 60-86
Thermodon, 182
Thermopylae, a pass leading from Thessaly into Locris, between Mount ~CEta and a morass. For the famous defence of Thermopylae by the Spartans see under Leonidas.
43. 65- *97 Theseum (or Temple of Theseus),
picture of, 21 Theseus, 1-23
Thessaly, 41, 43, 45, 63, 119, 215 Thirty Tyrants, 132-3 Thrace, 119, 131, 215 Thrasybulus, 122 Thucydldes (471-401 B.C.), the great
Athenian historian, who wrote the
story of the long struggle between
Athens and Sparta, known as the
Peloponnesian War. 80 Thucydides, statesman, 97 Thurii, 43 (inset map), 117 Tigris, river, 215 Timandra, 133-4 Timon, no, 133 TimoxSna, wite of Plutarch, 2 Tissaphernes, Satrap, or Governor,
of Lower Asia (414-395 B.C.), 120-3 Trajan, i Troezen, town of Argolis, 5, 6, 43,
67, 189 Troy (or Ilium), 19, 20, 43, 99, 199.
See also Homer
Tyndarldae, the sons of Tyndareus.
Castor and Pollux, brothers of
Helen. 18 "Twa Corbies," 182 Tyre, 206. 215
Ulysses (Greek Odysseus), the hero of Homer's " Odyssey." See Charybdis
War, methods of, 16, 32, 47-8 ;
naval, 65, 71 Wit and repartee, 31, 77, 83, 180,
188, 190, 192, 207 Women, position and treatment of,
80, 99, 205, 212 Wordsworth, quoted in notes, 3, #4,
135. I54-5- 168-9, 17°
Xanthippus, father of Pericles, 67 ;
son of Pericles, 103 Xerxes, King of Persia (485-465 B.C.),
41, 45, 65, 69, 70, 73, 209
Zacynthus, island west of Pelopon- nese, 43, 152
Zeus (Roman Jupiter), the king of the gods. Often called Olympian Zeus, from Mount Olympus in Thessaly, which was the fabled seat of the gods. There was a great temple of Zeus at Olympia in Elis, containing a statue of the god by Phidias. 82, 191-2, 195, 207
Zeuxls, a celebrated Greek painter. Flourished 424-400 B.C. His most famous picture was his " Helen,' painted for the city of Croton, in Southern Italy. He was allowed to choose the five most beautiful maidens in Croton as his models for the work. 92
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