Plutarch's Lives Volume
IV
Source: Plutarch. Lives. The Internet Classics
Archive at MIT. Copyright statement: The Internet Classics Archive by Daniel
C. Stevenson, daniels@media.mit.edu. World Wide Web presentation Copyright
(C) 1994-2001, Daniel C. Stevenson. All rights reserved under international
and pan-American copyright conventions, including the right of reproduction
in whole or in part in any form. Direct permission requests to classics@classics.mit.edu.
The provenance of this text is obscure. The lives and comparisons are
the same as those in Volume IV of the Shakespeare Head edition used in
Volume III, but the translation is that of John Dryden (1683-86) as improved
by Arthur Hugh Clough in 1864. The MIT Internet version agrees with the
Modern Library Giant Edition (ca. 1950), which appears to be a reprint
of Clough's, except in pagination, and I have no idea where that comes
from.
Before using any portion of this text in any theme, essay, research
paper, thesis, or dissertation, please read the disclaimer.
Transcription conventions: Words or phrases singled out for indexing
are marked by plus signs. In the index, numbers in parentheses indicate
how many times the item appears. I have allowed Greek passages to stand
as the scanner read them, in unintelligible strings of characters.
Table of Contents:
Lysander+ | Sylla+ | Lysander &
Sylla_+ | Cimon+ |
Lucullus+ | Lucullus & Cimon_+
| Nicias+ |
Crassus+ | Crassus & Nicias_+
| Sertorius+ |
Eumenes+ | Sertorius & Eumenes_+
Index: Academy+(1)
| affability+(1) |
affable+(3) | ambition+(1) |
Ambition+(2) | anger+(1) |
Aristotle's+(1) | Atistotle+(1)
| avarice+(1) | birth+(1)
| Blunt+(1) | boasting+(1)
| bountiful+(1) |
brag+(3)
| breach_of_faith+(1) |
brother+(1) | Cassius+(1) |
Cicero+(1) | clemency+(4) |
coincidences+(1) | common+(2) |
condescension+(1) | constancy+(3)
| death+(1) |
decimation+(1) | easiness+(1)
| effeminacy+(3) |
eloquence+(1) | exclusive+(1)|
Falstaff+(4) | flatterers+(1)
| flattering+(1) |
flattery+(2) | formality+(1)
| fortitude+(2) |
fortunate+(1) | fortune+(6) |
Fortune*+(1) | Fortune+(1) | |
friendship+(1) | frugality+(1)
| gifts+(1) | glory+(1)
| Gloucester+(1) |
good_nature+(1) | good_will+(1)
| gratitude+(1) |
gravity+(1) | Hal+(1) |
Hamlet+(3) | Harfleur+(6) |
Hen4+(1) | honest+(1) |
Hotspur+(6) | inconstancy+(1)
| incorrupt+(1) |
interest+(2) | just+(1) |
justice+(2) | Lais+(1) |
lend+(1) | liberal_arts+(1)
| liberality+(1) |
lion_fox+(3) | love+(1) |
Lucca+(1) | lucky+(1) |
luxurious+(1) | luxury+(1) |
Macbeth+(1) | magnanimity+(1)
| magnificent+(1) |
modest+(1) | money_lenders+(1)
| moon+(1) |
natural_philosophers+(1) | non_nobis+(1)
| ostracism+(1) |
pedantic+(1)
| pleasure+(1) |
poverty+(6) | Providence+(1)
| puffed+(2) | ransom+(1)
| rash+(1) | republic+(1)
| Roxana+(1) |
self_control+(1) | seventy+(1)
| shirking+(1) |
Shylock+(1) | simplicity+(1)
| Socrates+(1) |
Statira+(1) | stone+(1) |
superciliousness+(1) | superstition+(1)
| temperance+(1) |
Thucydides+(1) | timorousness+(1)
| tyrant+(1) |
unfaithfulness+(1) |
unsociable+(1)
| usury+(1) | Venus+(1)
| virgin_birth+(1) |
voluptuousness+(1) | vulgar+(1)
| wastefully+(1) |
wrath+(1) | yahoo+(1) |
<<Plut4-1>
~Lysander+
The treasure-chamber of the Acanthians at Delphi has this inscription:
"The spoils which Brasidas and the Acanthians took from the Athenians."
And, accordingly, many take the marble statue, which stands within the
building by the gates, to be Brasidas's; but, indeed, it is Lysander's,
representing him with his hair at full length, after the old fashion, and
with an ample beard. Neither is it true, as some give out, that because
the Argives, after their great defeat, shaved themselves for sorrow, that
the Spartans contrariwise triumphing in their achievements, suffered their
hair to grow; neither did the Spartans come to be ambitious of wearing
long hair, because the Bacchiadae, who fled from Corinth to Lacedaemon,
looked mean and unsightly, having their heads all close cut. But
this, also, is indeed one of the ordinances of Lycurgus, who, as it is
reported, was used to say, that long hair made good-looking men more beautiful,
and ill-looking men more terrible.
<<Plut4-2>
* Lysander's father is said to have been Aristoclitus, who was not
indeed of the royal family but yet of the stock of the Heraclidae. He was
brought up in poverty, and showed himself obedient and conformable, as
ever any one did, to the customs of his country; of a manly spirit, also,
and superior to all pleasures, excepting only that which their good actions
bring to those who are honoured and successful; and it is accounted no
base thing in Sparta for their young men to be overcome with this kind
of pleasure. For they are desirous, from the very first, to have
their youth susceptible to good and bad repute, to feel pain at disgrace,
and exultation at being commended; and any one who is insensible and unaffected
in these respects is thought poor-spirited and of no capacity for virtue.Ambition+
and the passion for distinction were thus implanted in his character by
his Laconian education, nor, if they continued there, must we blame his
natural disposition much for this. But he was submissive to great
men, beyond what seems agreeable to the Spartan temper, and could easily
bear the haughtiness of those who were in power, when it was any way for
his advantage, which some are of opinion is no small part of political
discretion. Aristotle, who says all great characters are more or less atrabilious,
as Socrates and Plato and Hercules were, writes that Lysander, not indeed
early in life, but when he was old, became thus affected. What is
singular in his character is that he endured
poverty+ very well and that he was not at all enslaved or corrupted
by wealth, and yet he filled his country with riches and the love of them,
and took away from them the glory of not admiring money; importing amongst
them an abundance of gold and silver after the Athenian war, though keeping
not one drachma for himself. When Dionysius, the tyrant, sent his
daughters some costly gowns of Sicilian manufacture, he would not receive
them, saying he was afraid they would make them look more unhandsome.
But a while after, being sent ambassador from the same city to the same
tyrant, when he had sent him a couple of robes, and bade him choose which
of them he would, and carry to his daughter: "She," said he, "will be able
to choose best for herself," and taking both of them, went his way.
<<Plut4-3>
The Peloponnesian war having now been carried on a long time, and it
being expected, after the disaster of the Athenians in Sicily, that they
would at once lose the mastery of the sea, and ere long be routed everywhere,
Alcibiades, returning from banishment, and taking the command, produced
a great change, and made the Athenians again a match for their opponents
by sea; and the Lacedaemonians, in great alarm at this, and calling up
fresh courage and zeal for the conflict, feeling the want of an able commander
and of a powerful armament, sent out Lysander to be admiral of the seas.
Being at Ephesus, and finding the city well affected towards him, and favourable
to the Lacedaemonian party, but in ill condition, and in danger to become
barbarized by adopting the manners of the Persians, who were much mingled
among them, the country of Lydia bordering upon them, and the king's generals
being quartered there for a long time, he pitched his camp there, and commanded
the merchant ships all about to put in thither, and proceeded to build
ships of war there; and thus restored their ports by the traffic he created,
and their market by the employment he gave, and filled their private houses
and their workshops with wealth, so that from that time the city began,
first of all, by Lysander's means, to have some hopes of growing to that
stateliness and grandeur which now it is at.
<<Plut4-4>
Understanding that Cyrus, the king's son, was come to Sardis, he went
up to talk with him, and to accuse Tisaphernes, who, receiving a command
to help the Lacedaemonians, and to drive the Athenians from the sea, was
thought, on account of Alcibiades, to have become remiss and unwilling,
and by paying the seamen slenderly to be ruining the fleet. Now Cyrus was
willing that Tisaphernes might be found in blame, and be ill reported of,
as being, indeed, a dishonest man, and privately at feud with himself.
By these means, and by their daily intercourse together, Lysander, especially
by the submissiveness of his conversation, won the affection of the young
prince, and greatly roused him to carry on and when he would depart, Cyrus
gave him a banquet, and desired him not to refuse his goodwill, but to
speak and ask whatever he had a mind to, and that he should not be refused
anything whatsoever: "Since you are so very kind," replied Lysander, "I
earnestly request you to add one penny to the seamen's pay, that instead
of three pence, they may now receive four pence." Cyrus, delighted with
his public spirit, gave him ten thousand darics, out of which he added
the penny to the seamen's pay, and by the renown of this in a short time
emptied the ships of the enemies, as many would come over to that side
which gave the most pay, and those who remained, being disheartened and
mutinous, daily created trouble to the captains. Yet for all Lysander
had so distracted and weakened his enemies, he was afraid to engage by
sea, Alcibiades being an energetic commander, and having the superior number
of ships, and having been hitherto, in all battles, unconquered both by
sea and land.
<<Plut4-5>
But afterwards, when Alcibiades sailed from Samos to Phocaea, leaving
Antiochus, the pilot, in command of all his forces, this Antiochus, to
insult Lysander, sailed with two galleys into the port of the Ephesians,
and with mocking and laughter proudly rowed along before the place where
the ships lay drawn up. Lysander, in indignation, launched at first
a few ships only and pursued him, but as soon as he saw the Athenians come
to his help, he added some other ships, and, at last, they fell to a set
battle together; and Lysander won the victory, and taking fifteen of their
ships, erected a trophy. For this, the people in the city being angry,
put Alcibiades out of command, and finding himself despised by the soldiers
in Samos, and ill spoken of, he sailed from the army into the Chersonese.
And this battle, although not important in itself, was made remarkable
by its consequences to Alcibiades.
<<Plut4-6>
Lysander, meanwhile, invited to Ephesus such persons in the various
cities as he saw to be bolder and haughtier-spirited than the rest, proceeded
to lay the foundations of that government by bodies of ten, and those revolutions
which afterwards came to pass, stirring up and urging them to unite in
clubs and apply themselves to public affairs, since as soon as ever the
Athenians should be put down, the popular government, he said, should be
suppressed and they should become supreme in their several countries.
And he made them believe these things by present deeds, promoting those
who were his friends already to great employments, honours, and offices,
and, to gratify their covetousness, making himself a partner in injustice
and wickedness. So much so, that all flocked to him, and courted
and desired him, hoping, if be remained in power, that the highest wishes
they could form would all be gratified. And therefore, from the very
beginning, they could not look pleasantly upon Callicratidas, when he came
to succeed Lysander as admiral; nor, afterwards, when he had given them
experience that he was a most noble and just person, were they pleased
with the manner of his government, and its straightforward, Dorian,
honest+ character. They did, indeed, admire his virtue, as they
might the beauty of some hero's image; but their wishes were for Lysander's
zealous and profitable support of the interests of his friends and partisans,
and they shed tears, and were much disheartened when he sailed from them.
He himself made them yet more disaffected to Callicratidas; for what remained
of the money which had been given him to pay the navy, he sent back again
to Sardis, bidding them, if they would, apply to Callicratidas himself,
and see how he was able to maintain the soldiers. And, at the last,
sailing away, he declared to him that he delivered up the fleet in possession
and command of the sea. But Callicratidas, to expose the emptiness
of these high pretensions, said, "In that case, leave Samos on the left
hand, and sailing to Miletus, there deliver up the ships to me; for if
we are masters of the sea, we need not fear sailing by our enemies in Samos."
To which Lysander answering, that not himself but he commanded the ships,
sailed to Peloponnesus, leaving Callicratidas in great perplexity.
For neither had he brought any money from home with him, nor could he endure
to tax the towns or force them, being in hardship enough. Therefore,
the only course that was to be taken was to go and beg at the doors of
the king's commanders, as Lysander had done; for which he was most unfit
of any man, being of a generous and great spirit, and one who thought it
more becoming for the Greeks to suffer any damage from one another than
to flatter and wait at the gates of barbarians, who, indeed, had gold enough,
but nothing else that was commendable. But being compelled by necessity,
he proceeded to Lydia, and went at once to Cyrus's house, and sent in word
that Callicratidas, the admiral, was there to speak with him; one of those
who kept the gates replied, "Cyrus, O stranger, is not now at leisure,
for he is drinking." To which Callicratidas answered, most innocently,
"Very well, I will wait till he has done his draught." This time, therefore,
they took him for some clownish fellow, and he withdrew, merely laughed
at by the barbarians; but when, afterwards, he came a second time to the
gate, and was not admitted, he took it hardly and set off for Ephesus,
wishing a great many evils to those who first let themselves be insulted
over by these barbarians, and taught them to be insolent because of their
riches; and added vows to those who were present, that as soon as ever
he came back to Sparta, he would do all he could to reconcile the Greeks,
that they might be formidable to barbarians, and that they should cease
henceforth to need their aid against one another. But Callicratidas,
who entertained purposes worthy a Lacedaemonian, and showed himself worthy
to compete with the very best of Greece, for his justice, his greatness
of mind and courage, not long after, having been beaten in a sea fight
at Arginusae, died.
<<Plut4-7>
And now, affairs going backwards, the associates in the war sent an
embassy to Sparta, requiring Lysander to be their admiral, professing themselves
ready to undertake the business much more zealously if he was commander;
and Cyrus also sent to request the same thing. But because they had
a law which would not suffer any one to be admiral twice, and wished, nevertheless,
to gratify their allies, they gave the title of admiral to one Aracus,
and sent Lysander nominally as vice-admiral, but, indeed, with full powers.
So he came out, long wished for by the greatest part of the chief persons
and leaders in the towns, who hoped to grow to greater power still by his
means, when the popular governments should be everywhere destroyed.
<<Plut4-8>
But to those who loved honest and noble behaviour in their commanders,
Lysander, compared with Callicratidas, seemed cunning and subtle, managing
most things in the war by deceit, extolling what was just when it was profitable,
and when it was not, using that which was convenient, instead of that which
was good; and not judging truth to be in nature better than falsehood,
but setting a value upon both according to interest. He would laugh
at those who thought Hercules's posterity ought not to use deceit in war:
"For where the lion's skin will not reach, you must patch it out with the
fox's." {lion_fox+}
Such is the conduct recorded of him in the business about Miletus when
his friends and connections, whom he had promised, raised to assist in
suppressing popular government, and expelling their political opponents,
had altered their minds, and were reconciled to their enemies, he pretended
openly as if he was pleased with it, and was desirous to further the reconciliation,
but privately he railed at and abused them, and provoked them to set upon
the multitude. And as soon as ever he perceived a new attempt to
be commencing, he at once came up, and entered into the city, and the first
of the conspirators he lit upon, he pretended to rebuke, and spoke roughly,
as if he would punish them; but the others, meantime, he bade be courageous,
and to fear nothing, now he was with them. And all this acting and
dissembling was with the object that the most considerable men of the popular
party might not fly away, but might stay in the city and be killed; which
so fell out, for all who believed him were put to death.
<<Plut4-9>
There is a saying also, recorded by Androclides, which makes him guilty
of great indifference to the obligations of an oath. His recommendation,
according to this account, was to "cheat boys with dice, and men with oaths,"
an imitation of Polycrates of Samos, not very honourable to a lawful commander,
to take example, namely, from a tyrant; nor in character with Laconian
usages, to treat gods as ill as enemies, or, indeed, even more injuriously
since he who overreaches by an oath admits that he fears his enemy, while
he despises his God.
<<Plut4-10>
Cyrus now sent for Lysander to Sardis, and gave him some money, and
promised him some more, youthfully protesting in favour to him, that if
his father gave him nothing, he would supply him of his own; and if he
himself should be destitute of all, he would cut up, he said, to make money,
the very throne upon which he sat to do justice, it being made of gold
and silver; and, at last on going up into Media to his father, he ordered
that he should receive the tribute of the towns, and committed his government
to him, and so taking his leave, and desiring him not to fight by sea before
he returned, for he would come back with a great many ships out of Phoenicia
and Cilicia, departed to visit the king.
<<Plut4-11>
Lysander's ships were too few for him to venture to fight, and yet
too many to allow of his remaining idle; he set out, therefore, and reduced
some of the islands, and wasted Aegina and Salamis; and from thence landing
in Attica, and saluting Agis, who came from Decelea to meet him, he made
a display to the land-forces of the strength of the fleet as though he
could sail where he pleased, and were absolute master by sea. But
hearing the Athenians pursued him, he fled another way through the island
into Asia. And finding the Hellespont without any defence, he attacked
Lampsacus with his ships by sea; while Thorax, acting in concert with him
with the land army, made an assault on the walls; and so having taken the
city by storm, he gave it up to his soldiers to plunder. The fleet
of the Athenians, a hundred and eighty ships, had just arrived at Elaeus
in the Chersonese; and hearing the news, that Lampsacus was destroyed,
they presently sailed to Sestos; where, taking in victuals, they advanced
to Aegos Potami, over against their enemies, who were still stationed about
Lampsacus. Amongst other Athenian captains who were now in command
was Philocles, he who persuaded the people to pass a decree to cut off
the right thumb of the captives in the war, that they should not be able
to hold the spear, though they might the oar.
<<Plut4-12>
Then they all rested themselves, hoping they should have battle the
next morning. But Lysander had other things in his head; he commanded
the mariners and pilots to go on board at dawn, as if there should be a
battle as soon as it was day, and to sit there in order, and without any
noise, excepting what should be commanded, and in like manner that the
land army should remain quietly in their ranks by the sea. But the
sun rising, and the Athenians sailing up with their whole fleet in line,
and challenging them to battle, though he had had his ships all drawn up
and manned before daybreak, nevertheless did not stir. He merely
sent some boats to those who lay foremost, and bade them keep still and
stay in their order; not to be disturbed, and none of them to sail out
and offer battle. So about evening, the Athenians sailing back, he
would not let the seamen go out of the ships before two or three, which
he had sent to espy, were returned, after seeing the enemies disembark.
And thus they did the next day, and the third, and so to the fourth.
So that the Athenians grew extremely confident, and disdained their enemies
as if they had been afraid and daunted. At this time, Alcibiades,
who was in his castle in the Chersonese, came on horseback to the Athenian
army, and found fault with their captains, first of all that they had pitched
their camp neither well nor safely on an exposed and open beach, a very
bad landing for the ships, and secondly, that where they were they had
to fetch all they wanted from Sestos, some considerable way off; whereas
if they sailed round a little way to the town and harbour of Sestos, they
would be at a safer distance from an enemy, who lay watching their movements,
at the command of a single general, terror of whom made every order rapidly
executed. This advice, however, they would not listen to; and Tydeus answered
disdainfully, that not he, but others, were in office now. So Alcibiades,
who even suspected there must be treachery, departed.
<<Plut4-13>
But on the fifth day, the Athenians having sailed towards them, and
gone back again as they were used to do, very proudly and full of contempt,
Lysander sending some ships, as usual, to look out, commanded the masters
of them that when they saw the Athenians go to land, they should row back
again with all their speed, and that when they were about half-way across,
they should lift up a brazen shield from the fore-deck, as the sign of
battle. And he himself sailing round, encouraged the pilots and masters
of the ships, and exhorted them to keep all their men to their places,
seamen and soldiers alike, and as soon as ever the sign should be given,
to row boldly to their enemies. Accordingly, when the shield had
been lifted up from the ships, and the trumpet from the admiral's vessel
had sounded for the battle, the ships rowed up, and the foot soldiers strove
to get along by the shore to the promontory. The distance there between
the two continents is fifteen furlongs, which, by zeal and eagerness of
the rowers, was quickly traversed. Conon, one of the Athenian commanders,
was the first who saw from the land the fleet advancing, and shouted out
to embark, and in the greatest distress bade some and entreated others,
and some he forced to man the ships. But all his diligence signified
nothing, because the men were scattered about; for as soon as they came
out of the ships, expecting no such matter, some went to market, others
walked about the country, or went to sleep in their tents, or got their
dinners ready, being, through their commanders' want of skill, as far as
possible from any thought of what was to happen; and the enemy now coming
up with shouts and noise, Conon, with eight ships, sailed out, and making
his escape, passed from thence to Cyprus, to Evagoras. The Peloponnesians
falling upon the rest, some they took quite empty, and some they destroyed
while they were filling; the men, meantime coming unarmed and scattered
to help, died at their ships, or, flying by land, were slain, their enemies
disembarking and pursuing them. Lysander took three thousand prisoners,
with the generals, and the whole fleet, excepting the sacred ship Paralus,
and those which fled with Conon. So taking their ships in tow, and
having plundered their tents, with pipe and songs of victory, he sailed
back to Lampsacus, having accomplished a great work with small pains, and
having finished in one hour a war which had been protracted in its continuance,
and diversified in its incidents and in its fortunes, to a degree exceeding
belief, compared with all before it. After altering its shape and
character a thousand times, and after having been the destruction of more
commanders than all the previous wars of Greece put together, it was now
put an end to by the good counsel and ready conduct of one man.
<<Plut4-14>
Some, therefore, looked upon the result as a divine intervention, and
there were certain who affirmed that the stars of Castor and Pollux were
seen on each side of Lysander's ship, when he first set sail from the haven
toward his enemies, shining about the helm; and some say the stone which
fell down was a sign of this slaughter. For a stone of a great size
did fall, according to the common belief, from heaven, at Aegos Potami,
which is shown to this day, and held in great esteem by the Chersonites.
And it is said that Anaxagoras foretold that the occurrence of a slip or
shake among the bodies fixed in the heavens, dislodging any one of them,
would be followed by the fall of the whole of them. For no one of
the stars is now in the same place in which it was at first; for they,
being, according to him, like stones and heavy, shine by the refraction
of the upper air round about them, and are carried along forcibly by the
violence of the circular motion by which they were originally withheld
from falling, when cold and heavy bodies were first separated from the
general universe. {gravity+} But there
is a more probable opinion than this maintained by some, who say that falling
stars are no effluxes, nor discharges of ethereal fire, extinguished almost
at the instant of its igniting by the lower air; neither are they the sudden
combustion and blazing up of a quantity of the lower air let loose in great
abundance into the upper region; but the heavenly bodies, by a relaxation
of the force of their circular movement, are carried by an irregular course,
not in general into the inhabited part of the earth, but for the most part
into the wide sea; which is the cause of their not being observed.
Daimachus, in his treatise on Religion, supports the view of Anaxagoras.
He says, that before this stone fell, for seventy-five days continually,
there was seen in the heavens a vast fiery body, as if it had been a flaming
cloud, not resting, but carried about with several intricate and broken
movements, so that the flaming pieces, which were broken off by this commotion
and running about, were carried in all directions, shining as falling stars
do. But when it afterwards came down to the ground in this district,
and the people of the place recovering from their fear and astonishment
came together, there was no fire to be seen, neither any sign of it; there
was only a stone lying, big indeed, but which bore no proportion, to speak
of, to that fiery compass. It is manifest that Daimachus needs to
have indulgent hearers; but if what he says be true, he altogether proves
those to be wrong who say that a rock broken off from the top of some mountain,
by winds and tempests, and caught and whirled about like a top, as soon
as this impetus began to slacken and cease, was precipitated and fell to
the ground. Unless, indeed, we choose to say that the phenomenon
which was observed for so many days was really fire, and that the change
in the atmosphere ensuing on its extinction was attended with violent winds
and agitations, which might be the cause of this stone being carried off.
The exacter treatment of this subject belongs, however, to a different
kind of writing.
<<Plut4-15>
Lysander, after the three thousand Athenians {Harfleur+}
whom he had taken prisoners were condemned by the commissioners to die,
called Philocles the general, and asked him what punishment he considered
himself to deserve, for having advised the citizens, as he had done, against
the Greeks; but he, being nothing cast down at his calamity, bade him not
to accuse him of matters of which nobody was a judge, but to do to him,
now he was a conqueror, as he would have suffered, had he been overcome. {constancy+}
Then washing himself, and putting on a fine cloak, he led the citizens
the way to the slaughter, as Theophrastus writes in his history. After
this Lysander, sailing about to the various cities, bade all the Athenians
he met go into Athens, declaring that he would spare none, but kill every
man whom he found out of the city, intending thus to cause immediate famine
and scarcity there, that they might not make the siege laborious to him,
having provisions sufficient to endure it. And suppressing the popular
governments and all other constitutions, he left one Lacedaemonian chief
officer in every city, with ten rulers to act with him, selected out of
the societies which he had previously formed in the different towns. And
doing thus as well in the cities of his enemies as of his associates, he
sailed leisurely on, establishing, in a manner, for himself supremacy over
the whole of Greece. Neither did he make choice of rulers by birth
or by wealth, but bestowed the offices on his own friends and partisans,
doing everything to please them, and putting absolute power of reward and
punishment into their hands. And thus, personally appearing on many
occasions of blood-shed and massacre, and aiding his friends to expel their
opponents, he did not give the Greeks a favourable specimen of the Lacedaemonian
government; and the expression of Theopompus, the comic poet, seemed but
poor, when he compared the Lacedaemonians to tavern women, because when
the Greeks had first tasted the sweet wine of liberty, they then poured
vinegar into the cup; for from the very first it had a rough and bitter
taste, all government by the people being suppressed by Lysander, and the
boldest and least scrupulous of the oligarchical party selected to rule
the cities.
<<Plut4-16>
Having spent some little time about these things, and sent some before
to Lacedaemon to tell them he was arriving with two hundred ships, he united
his forces in Attica with those of the two kings Agis and Pausanias, hoping
to take the city without delay. But when the Athenians defended themselves,
he with his fleet passed again to Asia, and in like manner destroyed the
forms of government in all the other cities, and placed them under the
rule of ten chief persons, many in every one being killed, and many driven
into exile; and in Samos he expelled the whole people, and gave their cities
to the exiles whom he brought back. And the Athenians still possessing
Sestos, he took it from them, and suffered not the Sestians themselves
to dwell in it, but gave the city and country to be divided out among the
pilots and masters of the ships under him; which was his first act that
was disallowed by the Lacedaemonians, who brought the Sestians back again
into their country. All Greece, however, rejoiced to see the Aeginetans,
by Lysander's aid, now again, after a long time, receiving back their cities,
and the Melians and Scionaeans restored, while the Athenians were driven
out, and delivered up the cities.
<<Plut4-17>
But when he now understood they were in bad case in the city because
of the famine, he sailed to Piraeus, and reduced the city, which was compelled
to surrender on what conditions he demanded. One hears it said by Lacedaemonians
that Lysander wrote to the Ephors thus: "Athens is taken;" and that these
magistrates wrote back to Lysander, "Taken is enough." But this saying
was invented for its neatness' sake; for the true decree of the magistrates
was on this manner: "The government of the Lacedaemonians has made these
orders; pull down the Piraeus and the long walls; quit all the towns, and
keep to your own land; if you do these things, you shall have peace, if
you wish it, restoring also your exiles. As concerning the number
of the ships, whatsoever there be judged necessary to appoint, that do."
This scroll of conditions the Athenians accepted, Theramenes, son of Hagnon,
supporting it. At which time, too, they say that when Cleomenes,
one of the young orators, asked him how he durst act and speak contrary
to Themistocles, delivering up the walls to the Lacedaemonians, which he
had built against the will of the Lacedaemonians, he said, "O young man,
I do nothing contrary to Themistocles; for he raised these walls for the
safety of the citizens, and we pull them down for their safety; and if
walls make a city happy, then Sparta must be the most wretched of all,
as it has none."
<<Plut4-18>
Lysander, as soon as he had taken all the ships except twelve, and
the walls of the Athenians, on the sixteenth day of the month Munychion,
the same on which they had overcome the barbarians at Salamis, then proceeded
to take measures for altering the government. But the Athenians taking
that very unwillingly, and resisting, he sent to the people and informed
them that he found that the city had broken the terms, for the walls were
standing when the days were past within which they should have been pulled
down. He should, therefore, consider their case anew, they having
broken their first articles. And some state, in fact, the proposal
was made in the congress of the allies, that the Athenians should all be
sold as slaves; on which occasion, Erianthus, the Theban, gave his vote
to pull down the city, and turn the country into sheep-pasture; yet afterwards,
when there was a meeting of the captains together, a man of Phocis, singing
the first chorus in Euripides's Electra, which begins-
"Electra, Agamemnon's child, I come Unto thy desert home,"
they were all melted with compassion, and it seemed to be a cruel deed
to destroy and pull down a city which had been so famous, and produced
such men.
<<Plut4-19>
Accordingly Lysander, the Athenians yielding up everything, sent for
a number of flute-women out of the city, and collected together all that
were in the camp, and pulled down the walls, and burnt the ships to the
sound of the flute, the allies being crowned with garlands, and making
merry together, as counting that day the beginning of their liberty. He
proceeded also at once to alter the government, placing thirty rulers in
the city and ten in the Piraeus: he put, also, a garrison into the Acropolis,
and made Callibius, a Spartan, the governor of it; who afterwards taking
up his staff to strike Autolycus, the athlete, about whom Xenophon wrote
his "Banquet," on his tripping up his heels and throwing him to the ground,
Lysander was not vexed at it, but chid Callibius, telling him he did not
know how to govern freemen. The thirty rulers, however, to gain Callibius's
favour, a little after killed Autolycus.
<<Plut4-20>
Lysander, after this, sails out to Thrace, and what remained of the
public money, and the gifts and crowns which he had himself received, numbers
of people, as might be expected, being anxious to make presents to a man
of such great power, who was, in a manner, the lord of Greece, he sends
to Lacedaemon by Gylippus, who had commanded formerly in Sicily.
But he, it is reported, unsewed the sacks at the bottom, took a considerable
amount of silver out of every one of them, and sewed them up again, not
knowing there was a writing in every one stating how much there was.
And coming into Sparta, what he had thus stolen away he hid under the tiles
of his house, and delivered up the sacks to the magistrates, and showed
the seals were upon them. But afterwards, on their opening the sacks
and counting it, the quantity of the silver differed from what the writing
expressed; and the matter causing some perplexity to the magistrates, Gylippus's
servant tells them in a riddle, that under the tiles lay many owls; for,
as it seems, the greatest part of the money then current bore the Athenian
stamp of the owl. Gylippus having committed so foul and base a deed,
after such great and distinguished exploits before, removed himself from
Lacedaemon.
<<Plut4-21>
But the wisest of the Spartans, very much on account of this occurrence,
dreading the influence of money, as being what had corrupted the greatest
citizens, exclaimed against Lysander's conduct, and declared to the Ephors
that all the silver and gold should be sent away, as mere "alien mischiefs."
These consulted about it; and Theopompus says it was Sciraphidas, but Ephorus
that it was Phlogidas, who declared they ought not to receive any gold
or silver into the city; but to use their own country coin, which was iron,
and was first of all dipped in vinegar when it was red-hot, that it might
not be worked up anew, but because of the dipping might be hard and unpliable.
It was also, of course, very heavy and troublesome to carry, and a great
deal of it in quantity and weight was but a little in value. And
perhaps all the old money was so, coin consisting of iron, or, in some
countries, copper skewers, whence it comes that we still find a great number
of small pieces of money retain the name of obolus, and the drachma is
six of these, because so much may be grasped in one's hand. But Lysander's
friends being against it, and endeavouring to keep the money in the city,
it was resolved to bring in this sort of money to be used publicly, enacting,
at the same time, that if any one was found in possession of any privately,
he should be put to death, as if Lycurgus had feared the coin, and not
the covetousness resulting from it, which they did not repress by letting
no private man keep any, so much as they encouraged it, by allowing the
state to possess it; attaching thereby a sort of dignity to it, over and
above its ordinary utility. Neither was it possible, that what they
saw so much esteemed publicly they should privately despise as unprofitable;
and that every one should think that thing could be nothing worth for his
own personal use, which was so extremely valued and desired for the use
of the state. And moral habits, induced by public practices, are
far quicker in making their way into men's private lives, than the failings
and faults of individuals are in infecting the city at large. For
it is probable that the parts will be rather corrupted by the whole if
that grows bad; while the vices which flow from a part into the whole find
many correctives and remedies from that which remains sound. Terror
and the law were now to keep guard over the citizens' houses, to prevent
any money entering into them: but their minds could no longer be expected
to remain superior to the desire of it when wealth in general was thus
set up to be striven after, as a high and noble object. On this point,
however, we have given our censure of the Lacedaemonians in one of our
other writings.
<<Plut4-22>
Lysander erected out of the spoils brazen statues at Delphi of himself,
and of every one of the masters of the ships, as also figures of the golden
stars of Castor and Pollux, which vanished before the battle at Leuctra.
In the treasury of Brasidas and the Acanthians there was a trireme made
of gold and ivory, of two cubits, which Cyrus sent Lysander in honour of
his victory. But Alexandrides of Delphi writes, in his history, that
there was also a deposit of Lysander's, a talent of silver, and fifty-two
minas, besides eleven staters; a statement not consistent with the generally
received account of his poverty. And at that time, Lysander, being
in fact of greater power than any Greek before, was yet thought to show
a pride, and to affect a superiority greater even than his power warranted.
He was the first, as Duris says in his history, among the Greeks to whom
the cities reared altars as to a god, and sacrificed; to him were songs
of triumph first sung, the beginning of one of which still remains recorded:-
"Great Greece's general from spacious Sparta we
Will celebrate with songs of victory."
And the Samians decreed that their solemnities of Juno should be called
the Lysandria; and out of the poets he had Choerilus always with him, to
extol his achievements in verse; and to Antilochus, who had made some verses
in his commendation, being pleased with them, he gave a hat full of silver;
and when Antimachus of Colophon, and one Niceratus of Heraclea competed
with each other in a poem on the deeds of Lysander, he gave the garland
to Niceratus; at which Antimachus, in vexation, suppressed his poem; but
Plato, being then a young man and admiring Antimachus for his poetry, consoled
him for his defeat by telling him that it is the ignorant who are the sufferers
by ignorance, as truly as the blind by want of sight. Afterwards,
when Aristonus, the musician, who had been a conqueror six times at the
Pythian games, told him as a piece of flattery, that if he were successful
again, he would proclaim himself in the name of Lysander, "that is," he
answered," as his slave?"
<<Plut4-23>
This ambitious temper was indeed only burdensome to the highest personages
and to his equals, but through having so many people devoted to serve him,
an extreme haughtiness and contemptuousness grew up, together with ambition,
in his character. He observed no sort of moderation, such as befitted
a private man, either in rewarding or in punishing; the recompense of his
friends and guests was absolute power over cities, and irresponsible authority
and the only satisfaction of his wrath was the destruction of his enemy;
banishment would not suffice. As for example, at a later period,
fearing lest the popular leaders of the Milesians should fly, and desiring
also to discover those who lay hid, he swore he would do them no harm,
and on their believing him coming forth, he delivered them up to the oligarchical
leaders to be slain, being in all no less than eight hundred. And,
indeed, the slaughter in general of those of the popular party in the towns
exceeded all computation as he did not kill only for offences against himself,
but granted these favours without sparing, and joined in the execution
of them, to gratify the many hatreds and the much cupidity of his friends
everywhere round about him. From whence the saying of Eteocles, the Lacedaemonian,
came to be famous, that "Greece could not have borne two Lysanders." Theophrastus
says, that Archestratus said the same thing concerning Alcibiades.
But in his case what had given most offence was a certain licentious and
wanton self-will; Lysander's power was feared and hated because of his
unmerciful disposition. The Lacedaemonians did not at all concern themselves
for any other accusers; but afterwards, when Pharnabazus, having been injured
by him, he having pillaged and wasted his country, sent some to Sparta
to inform against him, the Ephors taking it very ill, put one of his friends
and fellow-captains, Thorax, to death, taking him with some silver privately
in his possession; and they sent him a scroll, commanding him to return
home. This scroll is made up thus: When the Ephors send an
admiral or general on his way, they take two round pieces of wood, both
exactly of a length and thickness, and cut even to one another; they keep
one themselves, and the other they give to the person they send forth;
and these pieces of wood they call Scytales. When, therefore, they
have occasion to communicate any secret or important matter, making a scroll
of parchment long and narrow like a leathern thong, they roll it about
their own staff of wood, leaving no space void between, but covering the
surface of the staff with the scroll all over. When they have done
this, they write what they please on the scroll, as it is wrapped about
the staff; and when they have written, they take off the scroll, and send
it to the general without the wood. He, when he has received it,
can read nothing of the writing, because the words and letters are not
connected, but all broken up; but taking his own staff, he winds the slip
of the scroll about it, so that this folding, restoring all the parts into
the same order that they were in before, and putting what comes first into
connection with what follows, brings the whole consecutive contents to
view round the outside. And this scroll is called a staff, after
the name of the wood, as a thing measured is by the name of the measure.
<<Plut4-24>
But Lysander, when the staff came to him to the Hellespont, was troubled,
and fearing Pharnabazus's accusations most, made haste to confer with him,
hoping to end the difference by a meeting together. When they met,
he desired him to write another letter to the magistrates, stating that
he had not been wronged, and had no complaint to prefer. But he was
ignorant that Pharnabazus, as it is in the proverb, played Cretan against
Cretan; for pretending to do all that was desired, openly he wrote such
a letter as Lysander wanted, but kept by him another, written privately;
and when they came to put on the seals, changed the tablets, which differed
not at all to look upon, and gave him the letter which had been written
privately. Lysander, accordingly, coming to Lacedaemon, and going,
as the custom is, to the magistrates' office, gave Pharnabazus's letter
to the Ephors, being persuaded that the greatest accusation against him
was now withdrawn; for Pharnabazus was beloved by the Lacedaemonians, having
been the most zealous on their side in the war of all the king's captains.
But after the magistrates had read the letter they showed it him, and he
understanding now that-
"Others beside Ulysses deep can be,
Not the one wise man of the world is he,"
in extreme confusion, left them at the time. But a few days after,
meeting the Ephors, he said he must go to the temple of Ammon, and offer
the god the sacrifices which he had vowed in war. For some state
it as a truth, that when he was besieging the city of Aphytae in Thrace,
Ammon stood by him in his sleep; whereupon raising the siege, supposing
the god had commanded it, he bade the Aphytaeans sacrifice to Ammon, and
resolved to make a journey into Libya to propitiate the god. But
most were of opinion that the god was but the pretence, and that in reality
he was afraid of the Ephors, and that impatience of the yoke at home, and
dislike of living under authority, made him long for some travel and wandering,
like a horse just brought in from open feeding and pasture to the stable,
and put again to his ordinary work. For that which Ephorus states
to have been the cause of this travelling about, I shall relate by and
by.
<<Plut4-25>
And having hardly and with difficulty obtained leave of the magistrates
to depart, he set sail. But the kings, while he was on his voyage,
considering that keeping, as he did, the cities in possession by his own
friends and partisans, he was in fact their sovereign and the lord of Greece,
took measures for restoring the power to the people, and for throwing his
friends out. Disturbances commencing again about these things, and,
first of all, the Athenians from Phyle setting upon their thirty rulers
and overpowering them, Lysander, coming home in haste, persuaded the Lacedaemonians
to support the oligarchies and to put down the popular governments, and
to the thirty in Athens, first of all, they sent a hundred talents for
the war, and Lysander himself, as general, to assist them. But the kings
envying him, and fearing lest he should take Athens again, resolved that
one of themselves should take the command. Accordingly Pausanias
went, and in words, indeed, professed as if he had been for the tyrant
against the people, but in reality exerted himself for peace, that Lysander
might not by the means of his friends become lord of Athens again.
This he brought easily to pass; for, reconciling the Athenians, and quieting
the tumults, he defeated the ambitious hope of Lysander, though shortly
after, on the Athenians rebelling again, he was censured for having thus
taken, as it were, the bit out of the mouth of the people, which, being
freed from the oligarchy, would now break out again into affronts and insolence;
and Lysander regained the reputation of a person who employed his command
not in gratification of others, not for applause, but strictly for the
good of Sparta.
<<Plut4-26>
His speech, also, was bold and daunting to such as opposed him.
The Argives, for example, contended about the bounds of their land, and
thought they brought juster pleas than the Lacedaemonians; holding out
his sword, "He," said Lysander, "that is master of this, brings the best
argument about the bounds of territory." A man of Megara, at some conference,
taking freedom with him, "This language, my friend," said he, "should come
from a city." To the Boeotians, who were acting a doubtful part, he put
the question, whether he should pass through their country with spears
upright or levelled. After the revolt of the Corinthians, when, on
coming to their walls, he perceived the Lacedaemonians hesitating to make
the assault, and a hare was seen to leap through the ditch: "Are you not
ashamed," he said, "to fear an enemy, for whose laziness the very hares
sleep upon their walls?"
<<Plut4-27>
When King Agis died, leaving a brother Agesilaus, and Leontychides,
who was supposed his son, Lysander, being attached to Agesilaus, persuaded
him to lay claim to the kingdom, as being a true descendant of Hercules;
Leontychides lying under the suspicion of being the son of Alcibiades,
who lived privately in familiarity with Timaea, the wife of Agis, at the
time he was a fugitive in Sparta. Agis, they say, computing the time,
satisfied himself that she could not have conceived by him, and had hitherto
always neglected and manifestly disowned Leontychides; but now when he
was carried sick to Heraea, being ready to die, what by importunities of
the young man himself, and of his friends, in the presence of many he declared
Leontychides to be his; and desiring those who were present to bear witness
to this to the Lacedaemonians, died. They accordingly did so testify
in favour of Leontychides. And Agesilaus, being otherwise highly
reputed of and strong in the support of Lysander, was, on the other hand,
prejudiced by Diopithes, a man famous for his knowledge of oracles, who
adduced this prophecy in reference to Agesilaus's lameness:-
"Beware, great Sparta, lest there come of thee,
Though sound thyself, an halting sovereignty;
Troubles, both long and unexpected too,
And storms of deadly warfare shall ensue."
When many, therefore, yielded to the oracle, and inclined to Leontychides,
Lysander said that Diopithes did not take the prophecy rightly; for it
was not that the god would be offended if any lame person ruled over the
Lacedaemonians, but that the kingdom would be a lame one if bastards and
false-born should govern with the posterity of Hercules. By this
argument, and by his great influence among them, he prevailed, and Agesilaus
was made king.
<<Plut4-28>
Immediately, therefore, Lysander spurred him on to make an expedition
into Asia, putting him in hopes that he might destroy the Persians, and
attain the height of greatness. And he wrote to his friends in Asia,
bidding them request to have Agesilaus appointed to command them in the
war against the barbarians; which they were persuaded to, and sent ambassadors
to Lacedaemon to entreat it. And this would seem to be a second favour
done Agesilaus by Lysander, not inferior to his first in obtaining him
the kingdom. But with ambitious natures, otherwise not ill qualified
for command, the feeling of jealousy of those near them in reputation continually
stands in the way of the performance of noble actions; they make those
their rivals in virtue, whom they ought to use as their helpers to it.
Agesilaus took Lysander, among the thirty counsellors that accompanied
him, with intentions of using him as his especial friend; but when they
were come into Asia, the inhabitants there, to whom he was but little known,
addressed themselves to him but little and seldom; whereas Lysander, because
of their frequent previous intercourse, was visited and attended by large
numbers, by his friends out of observance, and by others out of fear; and
just as in tragedies it not uncommonly is the case with the actors, the
person who represents a messenger or servant is much taken notice of, and
plays the chief part, while he who wears the crown and scepter is hardly
heard to speak, even so was it about the counsellor, he had all the real
honours of the government, and to the king was left the empty name of power.
This disproportionate ambition ought very likely to have been in some way
softened down, and Lysander should have been reduced to his proper second
place, but wholly to cast off and to insult and affront for glory's sake
one who was his benefactor and friend was not worthy Agesilaus to allow
in himself. For, first of all, he gave him no opportunity for any
action, and never set him in any place of command; then, for whomsoever
he perceived him exerting his interest, these persons he always sent away
with a refusal, and with less attention than any ordinary suitors, thus
silently undoing and weakening his influence.
<<Plut4-29>
Lysander, miscarrying in everything, and perceiving that his diligence
for his friends was but a hindrance to them, forbore to help them, entreating
them that they would not address themselves to, nor observe him, but that
they would speak to the king, and to those who could be of more service
to friends than at present he could; most, on hearing this forbore to trouble
him about their concerns, but continued their observances to him, waiting
upon him in the walks and places of exercise; at which Agesilaus was more
annoyed than ever, envying him the honour; and, finally, when he gave many
of the officers places of command and the governments of cities, he appointed
Lysander carver at his table, adding, by way of insult to the Ionians,
"Let them go now, and pay their court to my carver." Upon this, Lysander
thought fit to come and speak with him; and a brief laconic dialogue passed
between them as follows: "Truly, you know very well, O Agesilaus, how to
depress your friends;" "Those friends," replied he, "who would be greater
than myself; but those who increase my power, it is just should share in
it." "Possibly, O Agesilaus," answered Lysander, "in all this there may
be more said on your part than done on mine, but I request you, for the
sake of observers from without, to place me in any command under you where
you may judge I shall be the least offensive, and most useful."
<<Plut4-30>
Upon this he was sent ambassador to the Hellespont; and though angry
with Agesilaus, yet did not neglect to perform his duty, and having induced
Spithridates the Persian, being offended with Pharnabazus, a gallant man,
and in command of some forces, to revolt, he brought him to Agesilaus.
He was not, however, employed in any other service, but having completed
his time returned to Sparta, without honour, angry with Agesilaus, and
hating more than ever the whole Spartan government, and resolved to delay
no longer, but while there was yet time, to put into execution the plans
which he appears some time before to have concerted for a revolution and
change in the constitution. These were as follows. The Heraclidae
who joined with the Dorians, and came into Peloponnesus, became a numerous
and glorious race in Sparta, but not every family belonging to it had the
right of succession in the kingdom, but the kings were chosen out of two
only, called the Eurypontidae and the Agiadae; the rest had no privilege
in the government by their nobility of birth, and the honours which followed
from merit lay open to all who could obtain them. Lysander who was
born of one of these families, when he had risen into great renown for
his exploits, and had gained great friends and power, was vexed to see
the city, which had increased to what it was by him, ruled by others not
at all better descended than himself, and formed a design to remove the
government from the two families, and to give it in common to all the Heraclidae;
or, as some say, not to the Heraclidae only, but to all Spartans; that
the reward might not belong to the posterity of Hercules, but to those
who were like Hercules, judging by that personal merit which raised even
him to the honour of the Godhead; and he hoped that when the kingdom was
thus to be competed for, no Spartan would be chosen before himself.
<<Plut4-31>
Accordingly he first attempted and prepared to persuade the citizens
privately, and studied an oration composed for this purpose by Cleon, the
Halicarnassian. Afterwards perceiving so unexpected and great an
innovation required bolder means of support, he proceeded, as it might
be on the stage, to avail himself of machinery, and to try the effects
of divine agency upon his countrymen. He collected and arranged for
his purpose answers and oracles from Apollo, not expecting to get any benefit
from Cleon's rhetoric, unless he should first alarm and overpower the minds
of his fellow-citizens by religious and superstitious terrors, before bringing
them to the consideration of his arguments. Ephorus relates, after
he had endeavoured to corrupt the oracle of Apollo, and had again failed
to persuade the priestess of Dodona by means of Pherecles, that he went
to Ammon, and discoursed with the guardians of the oracle there, proffering
them a great deal of gold, and that they, taking this ill, sent some to
Sparta to accuse Lysander; and on his acquittal the Libyans, going away,
said, "You will find us, O Spartans, better judges, when you come to dwell
with us in Libya," there being a certain ancient oracle that the Lacedaemonians
should dwell in Libya. But as the whole intrigue and the course of
the contrivance was no ordinary one, nor lightly undertaken, but depended
as it went on, like some mathematical proposition, on a variety of important
admissions, and proceeded through a series of intricate and difficult steps
to its conclusion, we will go into it at length, following the account
of one who was at once an historian and a philosopher.
<<Plut4-32>
There was a woman in Pontus {virgin_birth+}
who professed to be pregnant by Apollo, which many, as was natural, disbelieved,
and many also gave credit to, and when she had brought forth a man-child,
several, not unimportant persons, took an interest in its rearing and bringing
up. The name given the boy was Silenus, for some reason or other.
Lysander, taking this for the groundwork, frames and devises the rest himself,
making use of not a few, nor these insignificant champions of his story,
who brought the report of the child's birth into credit without any suspicion.
Another report, also, was procured from Delphi and circulated in Sparta,
that there were some very old oracles which were kept by the priests in
private writings; and they were not to be meddled with, neither was it
lawful to read them, till one in aftertimes should come, descended from
Apollo, and, on giving some known token to the keepers, should take the
books in which the oracles were. Things being thus ordered beforehand,
Silenus, it was intended, should come and ask for the oracles, as being
the child of Apollo, and those priests who were privy to the design were
to profess to search narrowly into all particulars, and to question him
concerning his birth; and finally, were to be convinced, and, as to Apollo's
son, to deliver up to him the writings. Then he, in the presence of many
witnesses, should read, amongst other prophecies, that which was the object
of the whole contrivance, relating to the office of the kings, that it
would be better and more desirable to the Spartans to choose their kings
out of the best citizens. And now, Silenus being grown up to a youth,
and being ready for the action, Lysander miscarried in his drama through
the timidity of one of his actors, or assistants, who just as he came to
the point lost heart and drew back. Yet nothing was found out while
Lysander lived, but only after his death.
<<Plut4-33>
He died before Agesilaus came back from Asia, being involved, or perhaps
more truly having himself involved Greece, in the Boeotian war. For
it is stated both ways; and the cause of it some make to be himself, others
the Thebans, and some both together; the Thebans, on the one hand, being
charged with casting away the sacrifices at Aulis, and that being bribed
with the king's money brought by Androclides and Amphitheus, they had,
with the object of entangling the Lacedaemonians in a Grecian war, set
upon the Phocians, and wasted their country; it being said, on the other
hand, that Lysander was angry that the Thebans had preferred a claim to
the tenth part of the spoils of the war, while the rest of the confederates
submitted without complaint; and because they expressed indignation about
the money which Lysander sent to Sparta, but more especially, because from
them the Athenians had obtained the first opportunity of freeing themselves
from the thirty tyrants, whom Lysander had made, and to support whom the
Lacedaemonians issued a decree that political refugees from Athens might
be arrested in whatever country they were found, and that those who impeded
their arrest should be excluded from the confederacy. In reply to
this the Thebans issued counter decrees of their own, truly in the spirit
and temper of the actions of Hercules and Bacchus, that every house and
city in Boeotia should be opened to the Athenians who required it, and
that he who did not help a fugitive who was seized should be fined a talent
for damages, and if any one should bear arms through Boeotia to Attica
against the tyrants, that none of the Thebans should either see or hear
of it. Nor did they pass these humane and truly Greek decrees without
at the same time making their acts conformable to their words. For
Thrasybulus, and those who with him occupied Phyle, set out upon that enterprise
from Thebes, with arms and money, and secrecy and a point to start from,
provided for them by the Thebans. Such were the causes of complaint
Lysander had against Thebes. And being now grown violent in his temper
through the atrabilious tendency which increased upon him in his old age,
he urged the Ephors and persuaded them to place a garrison in Thebes, and
taking the commander's place, he marched forth with a body of troops.
Pausanias, also, the king, was sent shortly after with an army. Now
Pausanias, going round by Cithaeron, was to invade Boeotia; Lysander, meantime,
advanced through Phocis to meet him, with a numerous body of soldiers.
He took the city of the Orchomenians, who came over to him of their own
accord, and plundered Lebadea. He despatched also letters to Pausanias,
ordering him to move from Plataea to meet him at Haliartus, and that himself
would be at the walls of Haliartus by break of day. These letters
were brought to the Thebans, the carrier of them falling into the hands
of some Theban scouts. They, having received aid from Athens, committed
their city to the charge of the Athenian troops, and sallying out about
the first sleep, succeeded in reaching Haliartus a little before Lysander,
and part of them entered into the city. He upon this first of all
resolved, posting his army upon a hill, to stay for Pausanias; then as
the day advanced, not being able to rest, he bade his men take up their
arms, and encouraging the allies, led them in a column along the road to
the walls. But those Thebans who had remained outside, taking the
city on the left hand, advanced against the rear of their enemies, by the
fountain which is called Cissusa; here they tell the story that the nurses
washed the infant Bacchus after birth; the water of it is of a bright wine-colour,
clear, and most pleasant to drink; and not far off the Cretan storax grows
all about which the Haliartians adduce in token of Rhadamanthus having
dwelt there, and they show his sepulchre, calling it Alea. And the
monument also of Alcmena is hard by; for there, as they say, she was buried,
having married Rhadamanthus after Amphitryon's death. But the Thebans
inside the city, forming in order of battle with the Haliartians, stood
still for some time, but on seeing Lysander with a party of those who were
foremost approaching, on a sudden opening the gates and falling on, they
killed him with the soothsayer at his side, and a few others; for the greater
part immediately fled back to the main force. But the Thebans not
slackening, but closely pursuing them, the whole body turned to fly towards
the hills. There were one thousand of them slain; there died, also, of
the Thebans three hundred, who were killed with their enemies, while chasing
them into craggy and difficult places. These had been under suspicion
of favouring the Lacedaemonians, and in their eagerness to clear themselves
in the eyes of their fellow-citizens, exposed themselves in the pursuit,
and so met their death. News of the disaster reached Pausanias as
he was on the way from Plataea to Thespiae, and having set his army in
order he came to Haliartus; Thrasybulus, also, came from Thebes, leading
the Athenians.
<<Plut4-34>
Pausanias proposing to request the bodies of the dead under truce,
the elders of the Spartans took it ill, and were angry among themselves,
and coming to the king, declared that Lysander should not be taken away
upon any conditions; if they fought it out by arms about his body, and
conquered, then they might bury him; if they were overcome, it was glorious
to die upon the spot with their commander. When the elders had spoken
these things, Pausanias saw it would be a difficult business to vanquish
the Thebans, who had but just been conquerors; that Lysander's body also
lay near the walls, so that it would be hard for them, though they overcame,
to take it away without a truce; he therefore sent a herald, obtained a
truce, and withdrew his forces, and carrying away the body of Lysander,
they buried it in the first friendly soil they reached on crossing the
Boeotian frontier, in the country the Panopaeans; where the monument still
stands as you go on the road from Delphi to Chaeronea. Now the army
quartering there, it is said that a person of Phocis, relating the battle
to one who was not in it, said, the enemies fell upon them just after Lysander
had passed over the Hoplites; surprised at which a Spartan, a friend of
Lysander, asked what Hoplites he meant, for he did not know the name. "It
was there," answered the Phocian, "that the enemy killed the first of us;
the rivulet by the city is called Hoplites." On hearing which the Spartan
shed tears and observed how impossible it is for any man to avoid his appointed
lot; Lysander, it appears, having received an oracle as follows:-
"Sounding Hoplites see thou bear in mind,
And the earthborn dragon following behind."
Some, however, say that Hoplites does not run by Haliartus, but is a watercourse
near Coronea, falling into the river Philarus, not far from the town in
former times called Hoplias, and now Isomantus.
<<Plut4-35>
The man of Haliartus who killed Lysander, by name Neochorus, bore on
his shield the device of a dragon; and this, it was supposed, the oracle
signified. It is said also that at the time of the Peloponnesian
war, the Thebans received an oracle from the sanctuary of Ismenus, referring
at once to the battle at Delium, and to this which thirty years after took
solace at Haliartus. It ran thus:- "Hunting the wolf, observe the
utmost bound, And the hill Orchalides where foxes most are found." By the
words, "the utmost bound," Delium being intended, where Boeotia touches
Attica, and by Orchalides, the hill now called Alopecus, which lies in
the parts of Haliartus towards Helicon.
<<Plut4-36>
But such a death befalling Lysander, the Spartans took it so grievously
at the time, that they put the king to a trial for his life, which he not
daring to await, fled to Tegea, and there lived out his life in the sanctuary
of Minerva. The poverty+
also of Lysander being discovered by his death made his merit more manifest,
since from so much wealth and power, from all the homage of the cities,
and of the Persian kingdom, he had not in the least degree, so far as money
goes, sought any private aggrandizement, as Theopompus in his history relates,
whom any one may rather give credit to when he commends than when he finds
fault, as it is more agreeable to him to blame than to praise. But
subsequently, Ephorus says, some controversy arising among the allies at
Sparta, which made it necessary to consult the writings which Lysander
had kept by him, Agesilaus came to his house, and finding the book in which
the oration on the Spartan constitution was written at length, to the effect
that the kingdom ought to be taken from the Eurypontidae and Agiadae, and
to be offered in common, and a choice made out of the best citizens, at
first he was eager to make it public, and to show his countrymen the real
character of Lysander. But Lacratidas, a wise man, and at that time
chief of the Ephors, hindered Agesilaus, and said they ought not to dig
up Lysander again, but rather to bury with him a discourse, composed so
plausibly and subtilely. Other honours, also, were paid him, after
his death; and amongst these they imposed a fine upon those who had engaged
themselves to marry his daughters, and then when Lysander was found to
be poor, after his decease, refused them; because when they thought him
rich they had been observant of him, but now his
poverty+ had proved him just and good, they forsook him.
For there was, it seems, in Sparta, a punishment for not marrying, for
a late, and for a bad marriage; and to the last penalty those were most
especially liable who sought alliances with the rich instead of with the
good and with their friends. Such is the account we have found given
of Lysander.
<<Plut4-37>
~Sylla+
LUCIUS Cornelius Sylla was descended of a patrician or noble family.
Of his ancestors, Rufinus, it is said, had been consul, and incurred a
disgrace more signal than his distinction. For being found possessed
of more than ten pounds of silver plate, contrary to the law, he was for
this reason put out of the senate. His posterity continued ever after
in obscurity, nor had Sylla himself any opulent parentage. In his
younger days he lived in hired lodgings, at a low rate, which in aftertimes
was adduced against him as proof that he had been fortunate above his quality.
When he was boasting and magnifying himself for his exploits in Libya,
a person of noble station made answer, "And how can you be an honest man,
who, since the death of a father who left you nothing, have become so rich?"
The time in which he lived was no longer an age of pure and upright manners,
but had already declined, and yielded to the appetite for riches and
luxury+; yet still, in the general opinion, they who deserted the hereditary
poverty+ of their family were as much blamed as those who had run
out a fair patrimonial estate. And afterwards, when he had seized
the power into his hands, and was putting many to death, a freedman, suspected
of having concealed one of the proscribed, and for that reason sentenced
to be thrown down the Tarpeian rock, in a reproachful way recounted how
they had lived long together under the same roof, himself for the upper
rooms paying two thousand sesterces, and Sylla for the lower three thousand;
so that the difference between their fortunes then was no more than one
thousand sesterces, equivalent in Attic coin to two hundred and fifty drachmas.
And thus much of his early fortune.
<<Plut4-38>
His general personal appearance may be known by his statues; only his
blue, eyes, of themselves extremely keen and glaring, were rendered all
the more forbidding and terrible by the complexion of his face, in which
white was mixed with rough blotches of fiery red. Hence, it is said,
he was surnamed Sylla, and in allusion to it one of the scurrilous jesters
at Athens made the verse upon him-
"Sylla is a mulberry sprinkled o'er with meal."
Nor is it out of place to make use of marks of character like these, in
the case of one who was by nature so addicted to raillery, that in his
youthful obscure years he would converse freely with players and professed
jesters, and join them in all their low pleasures. And when supreme
master of all, he was often wont to muster together the most impudent players
and stage-followers of the town, and to drink and bandy jests with them
without regard to his age or the dignity of his place, and to the prejudice
of important affairs that required his attention. When he was once
at table, it was not in Sylla's nature to admit of anything that was serious,
and whereas at other times he was a man of business and austere of countenance,
he underwent all of a sudden, at his first entrance upon wine and good-fellowship,
a total revolution, and was gentle and tractable with common singers and
dancers, and ready to oblige any one that spoke with him. It seems
to have been a sort of diseased result of this laxity that he was so prone
to amorous pleasures, and yielded without resistance to any temptation
of voluptuousness+, from which even
in his old age he could not refrain. He had a long attachment for
Metrobius, a player. In his first amours, it happened that he made
court to a common but rich lady, Nicopolis by name, and what by the air
of his youth, and what by long intimacy, won so far on her affections,
that she rather than he was the lover, and at her death she bequeathed
him her whole property. He likewise inherited the estate of a step-mother
who loved him as her own son. By these means he had pretty well advanced
his fortunes.
<<Plut4-39>
He was chosen quaestor to Marius in his first consulship, and set sail
with him for Libya, to war upon Jugurtha. Here, in general, he gained
approbation; and more especially, by closing in dexterously with an accidental
occasion, made a friend of Bocchus, King of Numidia. He hospitably
entertained the king's ambassadors on their escape from some Numidian robbers,
and after showing them much kindness, sent them on their journey with presents,
and an escort to protect them. Bocchus had long hated and dreaded
his son-in-law, Jugurtha, who had now been worsted in the field and had
fled to him for shelter; and it so happened he was at this time entertaining
a design to betray him. He accordingly invited Sylla to come to him,
wishing the seizure and surrender of Jugurtha to be effected rather through
him, than directly by himself. Sylla, when he had communicated the
business to Marius, and received from him a small detachment, voluntarily
put himself into this imminent danger; and confiding in a barbarian, who
had been unfaithful to his own relations, to apprehend another man's person,
made surrender of his own. Bocchus, having both of them now in his
power, was necessitated to betray one or other, and after long debate with
himself, at last resolved on his first design, and gave up Jugurtha into
the hands of Sylla.
<<Plut4-40>
For this Marius triumphed, but the glory of the enterprise, which through
people's envy of Marius was ascribed to Sylla, secretly grieved him.
And the truth is, Sylla himself was by nature vainglorious, and this being
the first time that from a low and private condition he had risen to esteem
amongst the citizens and tasted of honour, his appetite for distinction
carried him to such a pitch of ostentation, that he had a representation
of this action engraved on a signet ring, which he carried about with him,
and made use of ever after. {Hotspur+}
The impress was Bocchus delivering, and Sylla receiving, Jugurtha.
This touched Marius to the quick; however, judging Sylla to be beneath
his rivalry, he made use of him as lieutenant, in his second consulship,
and in his third as tribune; and many considerable services were effected
by his means. When acting as lieutenant he took Copillus, chief of
the Tectosages, prisoner, and compelled the Marsians, a great and populous
nation, to become friends and confederates of the Romans.
<<Plut4-41>
Henceforward, however, Sylla, perceiving that Marius bore a jealous
eye over him, and would no longer afford him opportunities of action, but
rather opposed his advance, attached himself to Catulus, Marius's colleague,
a worthy man, but not energetic enough as a general. And under this commander,
who intrusted him with the highest and most important commissions, he rose
at once to reputation and to power. He subdued by arms most part
of the Alpine barbarians; and when there was a scarcity in the armies,
he took that care upon himself and brought in such a store of provisions
as not only to furnish the soldiers of Catulus with abundance, but likewise
to supply Marius. This, as he writes himself, wounded Marius to the
very heart. So slight and childish were the first occasions and motives
of that enmity between them, which, passing afterwards through a long course
of civil bloodshed and incurable divisions to find its end in tyranny,
and the confusion of the whole state, proved Euripides to have been truly
wise and thoroughly acquainted with the causes of disorders in the body
politic, when he forewarned all men to beware of
Ambition+, as of all the higher Powers the most destructive and pernicious
to her votaries.
<<Plut4-42>
Sylla, by this time thinking that the reputation of his arms abroad
was sufficient to entitle him to a part in the civil administration, betook
himself immediately from the camp to the assembly, and offered himself
as a candidate for a praetorship, but failed. The fault of this disappointment
he wholly ascribes to the populace, who, knowing his intimacy with King
Bocchus, and for that reason expecting, that if he was made aedile before
his praetorship, he would then show them magnificent hunting-shows and
combats between Libyan wild beasts, chose other praetors, on purpose to
force him into the aedileship. The vanity of this pretext is sufficiently
disproved by matter-of-fact. For the year following, partly by flatteries
to the people, and partly by money, he got himself elected praetor.
Accordingly, once while he was in office, on his angrily telling Caesar
that he should make use of his authority against him, Caesar answered him
with a smile, "You do well to call it your own, as you bought it." At the
end of his praetorship he was sent over into Cappadocia, under the pretence
of reestablishing Ariobarzanes in his kingdom, but in reality to keep in
check the restless movements of Mithridates, who was gradually procuring
himself as vast a new acquired power and dominion as was that of his ancient
inheritance. He carried over with him no great forces of his own,
but making use of the cheerful aid of the confederates, succeeded, with
considerable slaughter of the Cappadocians, and yet greater of the Armenian
succours, in expelling Gordius and establishing Ariobarzanes as king.
<<Plut4-43>
During his stay on the banks of the Euphrates, there came to him Orobazus,
a Parthian, ambassador from King Arsaces, as yet there having been no correspondence
between the two nations. And this also we may lay to the account
of Sylla's felicity, that he should be the first Roman to whom the Parthians
made address for alliance and friendship. At the time of which reception,
the story is, that, having ordered three chairs of state to be set, one
for Ariobarzanes, one for Orobazus, and a third for himself, he placed
himself in the middle, and so gave audience. For this the King of
Parthia afterwards put Orobazus to death. Some people commended Sylla
for his lofty carriage towards the barbarians; others again accused him
of arrogance and unseasonable display. It is reported that a certain
Chaldaean, of Orobazus's retinue, looking Sylla wistfully in the face,
and observing carefully the motions of his mind and body, and forming a
judgment of his nature, according to the rules of his art, said that it
was impossible for him not to become the greatest of men; it was rather
a wonder how he could even then abstain from being head of all.
<<Plut4-44>
At his return, Censorinus impeached him of extortion, for having exacted
a vast sum of money from a well-affected and associate kingdom. However,
Censorinus did not appear at the trial, but dropped his accusation.
His quarrel, meantime, with Marius began to break out afresh, receiving
new material from the ambition of Bocchus, who, to please the people of
Rome, and gratify Sylla, set up in the temple of Jupiter Capitolinus images
bearing trophies, and a representation in gold of the surrender of Jugurtha
to Sylla. When Marius, in great anger, attempted to pull them down,
and others aided Sylla, the whole city would have been in tumult and commotion
with this dispute, had not the Social War, which had long lain smouldering,
blazed forth at last, and for the present put an end to the quarrel.
<<Plut4-45>
In the course of this war, which had many great changes of fortune,
and which, more than any, afflicted the Romans, and, indeed, endangered
the very being of the Commonwealth, Marius was not able to signalize his
valour in any action, but left behind him a clear proof, that warlike excellence
requires a strong and still vigorous body. Sylla, on the other hand,
by his many achievements, gained himself, with his fellow-citizens, the
name of a great commander, while his friends thought him the greatest of
all commanders, and his enemies called him the most fortunate. Nor
did this make the same sort of impression on him as it made on Timotheus
the son of Conon, the Athenian; who, when his adversaries ascribed his
successes to his good luck, and had a painting made, representing him asleep,
and Fortune by his side, casting her nets over the cities, was rough and
violent in his indignation at those who did it, as if, by attributing all
to Fortune+, they had robbed him of his
just honours; and said to the people on one occasion at his return from
war, "In this, ye men of Athens, Fortune had no part." A piece of boyish
petulance, which the deity, we are told, played back upon Timotheus; who
from that time was never able to achieve anything that was great, but proving
altogether unfortunate in his attempts, and falling into discredit with
the people, was at last banished the city. Sylla, on the contrary, not
only accepted with pleasure the credit of such divine felicities and favours,
but joining himself and extolling and glorifying what was done, gave the
honour of all to Fortune*+, whether it
were out of boastfulness, or a real feeling of divine agency. He
remarks, in his Memoirs, that of all his well-advised actions, none proved
so lucky in the execution as what he had boldly enterprised, not by calculation,
but upon the moment. And, in the character which he gives of himself,
that he was born for fortune rather than war, he seems to give Fortune
a higher place than merit, and, in short, makes himself entirely the creature
of a superior power, accounting even his concord with Metellus, his equal
in office, and his connection by marriage, a piece of preternatural felicity.
For expecting to have met in him a most troublesome, he found him a most
accommodating, colleague. Moreover, in the Memoirs which he dedicated
to Lucullus, he admonished him to esteem nothing more trustworthy than
what the divine powers advise him by night. And when he was leaving
the city with an army, to fight in the Social War, he relates that the
earth near the Laverna opened, and a quantity of fire came rushing out
of it, shooting up with a bright flame into the heavens. The soothsayers
upon this foretold that a person of great qualities, and of a rare and
singular aspect, should take the government in hand, and quiet the present
troubles of the city. Sylla affirms he was the man, for his golden head
of hair made him an extraordinary-looking man, nor had he any shame, after
the great actions he had done, in testifying to his own great qualities.
And thus much of his opinion as to divine agency.
<<Plut4-46>
In general he would seem to have been of a very irregular character,
full of inconsistencies with himself much given to rapine, to prodigality
yet more; in promoting or disgracing whom he pleased, alike unaccountable;
cringing to those he stood in need of, and domineering over others who
stood in need of him, so that it was hard to tell whether his nature had
more in it of pride or of servility. As to his unequal distribution
of punishments, as, for example, that upon slight grounds he would put
to the torture, and again would bear patiently with the greatest wrongs;
would readily forgive and he reconciled after the most heinous acts of
enmity, and yet would visit small and inconsiderable offences with death
and confiscation of goods; one might judge that in himself he was really
of a violent and revengeful nature, which, however, he could qualify, upon
reflection, for his interest. In this very Social War, when the soldiers
with stones and clubs had killed an officer of praetorian rank, his own
lieutenant, Albinus by name, he passed by this flagrant crime without any
inquiry, giving it out moreover in a boast, that the soldiers would behave
all the better now, to make amends, by some special bravery, for their
breach of discipline. He took no notice of the clamours of those
that cried for justice, but designing already to supplant Marius, now that
he saw the Social War near its end, he made much of his army, in hopes
to get himself declared general of the forces against Mithridates.
<<Plut4-47>
At his return to Rome he was chosen consul with Quintus Pompeius, in
the fiftieth year of his age, and made a most distinguished marriage with
Caecilia, daughter of Metellus, the chief priest. The common people
made a variety of verses in ridicule of the marriage, and many of the nobility
also were disgusted at it, esteeming him, as Livy writes, unworthy of this
connection, whom before they thought worthy of a consulship. This was not
his only wife, for first, in his younger days, he was married to Ilia,
by whom he had a daughter; after her to Aelia; and thirdly to Cloelia,
whom he dismissed as barren, but honourably, and with professions of respect,
adding, moreover, presents. But the match between him and Metella,
falling out a few days after, occasioned suspicions that he had complained
of Cloelia without due cause. To Metella he always showed great deference,
so much so that the people, when anxious for the recall of the exiles of
Marius's party, upon his refusal, entreated the intercession of Metella.
And the Athenians, it is thought, had harder measure, at the capture of
their town, because they used insulting language to Metella in their jests
from the walls during the siege. But of this hereafter.
<<Plut4-48>
At present esteeming the consulship but a small matter in comparison
of things to come, he was impatiently carried away in thought to the Mithridatic
War. Here he was withstood by Marius; who out of mad affectation
of glory and thirst for distinction, those never dying passions, though
he were now unwieldy in body, and had given up service, on account of his
age, during the late campaigns, still coveted after command in a distant
war beyond the seas. And whilst Sylla was departed for the camp,
to order the rest of his affairs there, he sate brooding at home, and at
last hatched that execrable sedition, which wrought Rome more mischief
than all her enemies together had done, as was indeed foreshown by the
gods. For a flame broke forth of its own accord, from under the staves
of the ensigns, and was with difficulty extinguished. Three ravens
brought their young into the open road, and ate them, carrying the relics
into the nest again. Mice having gnawed the consecrated gold in one
of the temples, the keepers caught one of them, a female, in a trap; and
she bringing forth five young ones in the very trap, devoured three of
them. But what was greatest of all, in a calm and clear sky there
was heard the sound of a trumpet, with such a loud and dismal blast, as
struck terror and amazement into the hearts of the people. The Etruscan
sages affirmed that this prodigy betokened the mutation of the age, and
a general revolution in the world. For according to them there are in all
eight ages, differing one from another in the lives and the characters
of men, and to each of these God has allotted a certain measure of time,
determined by the circuit of the great year. And when one age is run out,
at the approach of another, there appears some wonderful sign from earth
or heaven, such as makes it manifest at once to those who have made it
their business to study such things, that there has succeeded in the world
a new race of men, differing in customs and institutes of life, and more
or less regarded by the gods than the preceding. Among other great
changes that happen, as they say, at the turn of ages, the art of divination,
also, at one time rises in esteem, and is more successful in its predictions,
clearer and surer tokens being sent from God, and then, again, in another
generation declines as low, becoming mere guesswork for the most part,
and discerning future events by dim and uncertain intimations. This
was the mythology of the wisest of the Tuscan sages, who were thought to
possess a knowledge beyond other men. Whilst the senate sat in consultation
with the soothsayers, concerning these prodigies, in the temple of Bellona,
a sparrow came flying in, before them all, with a grasshopper in its mouth,
and letting fall one part of it, flew away with the remainder. The
diviners foreboded commotions and dissensions between the great landed
proprietors and the common city populace; the latter, like the grasshopper,
being loud and talkative; while the sparrow might represent the "dwellers
in the field." {Gloucester+}
<<Plut4-49>
Marius had taken into alliance Sulpicius, the tribune, a man second
to none in any villainies, so that it was less the question what others
he surpassed, but rather in what respects he most surpassed himself in
wickedness. He was cruel, bold, rapacious, and in all these points
utterly shameless and unscrupulous; not hesitating to offer Roman citizenship
by public sale to freed slaves and aliens, and to count out the price on
public money-tables in the forum. He maintained three thousand swordsmen,
and had always about him a company of young men of the equestrian class
ready for all occasions, whom he styled his Anti-senate. Having had
a law enacted, that no senator should contract a debt of above two thousand
drachmas, he himself, after death, was found indebted three millions.
This was the man whom Marius let in upon the Commonwealth, and who, confounding
all things by force and the sword, made several ordinances of dangerous
consequence, and amongst the rest one giving Marius the conduct of the
Mithridatic war. Upon this the consuls proclaimed a public cessation
of business, but as they were holding an assembly near the temple of Castor
and Pollux, he let loose the rabble upon them, and amongst many others
slew the consul Pompeius's young son in the forum, Pompeius himself hardly
escaping in the crowd. Sylla, being closely pursued into the house
of Marius, was forced to come forth and dissolve the cessation; and for
his doing this, Sulpicius, having deposed Pompeius, allowed Sylla to continue
his consulship, only transferring the Mithridatic expedition to Marius.
<<Plut4-50>
There were immediately despatched to Nola tribunes to receive the army,
and bring it to Marius; but Sylla, having got first to the camp, and the
soldiers, upon hearing the news, having stoned the tribunes, Marius, in
requital, proceeded to put the friends of Sylla in the city to the sword,
and rifled their goods. Every kind of removal and flight went on,
some hastening from the camp to the city, others from the city to the camp.
The senate, no more in its own power, but wholly governed by the dictates
of Marius and Sulpicius, alarmed at the report of Sylla's advancing with
his troops towards the city, sent forth two of the praetors, Brutus and
Servilius, to forbid his nearer approach. The soldiers would have
slain these praetors in a fury, for their bold language to Sylla; contenting
themselves, however, with breaking their rods, and tearing off their purple-edged
robes, after much contumelious usage they sent them back, to the sad dejection
of the citizens, who beheld their magistrates despoiled of their badges
of office, and announcing to them that things were now manifestly come
to a rupture past all cure. Marius put himself in readiness, and
Sylla with his colleague moved from Nola, at the head of six complete legions,
all of them willing to march up directly against the city, though he himself
as yet was doubtful in thought, and apprehensive of the danger. As
he was sacrificing, Postumius the soothsayer, having inspected the entrails,
stretching forth both hands to Sylla, required to be bound and kept in
custody till the battle was over, as willing, if they had not speedy and
complete success, to suffer the utmost punishment. It is said, also, that
there appeared to Sylla himself, in a dream, a certain goddess, whom the
Romans learnt to worship from the Cappadocians, whether it be the Moon,
or Pallas, or Bellona. This same goddess, to his thinking, stood
by him, and put into his hand thunder and lightning, then naming his enemies
one by one, bade him strike them, who, all of them, fell on the discharge
and disappeared. Encouraged by this vision, and relating it to his
colleague, next day he led on towards Rome. About Picinae being met
by a deputation, beseeching him not to attack at once, in the heat of a
march, for that the senate had decreed to do him all the right imaginable,
he consented to halt on the spot, and sent his officers to measure out
the ground, as is usual, for a camp; so that the deputation, believing
it, returned. They were no sooner gone, but he sent a party on under
the command of Lucius Basillus and Caius Mummius, to secure the city gate,
and the walls on the side of the Esquiline hill, and then close at their
heels followed himself with all speed. Basillus made his way successfully
into the city, but the unarmed multitude, pelting him with stones and tiles
from off the houses, stopped his further progress, and beat him back to
the wall. Sylla by this time was come up, and seeing what was going
on, called aloud to his men to set fire to the houses, and taking a flaming
torch, he himself led the way, and commanded the archers to make use of
their fire-darts, letting fly at the tops of houses; all which he did,
not upon any plan, but simply in his fury, yielding the conduct of that
day's work to passion, and as if all he saw were enemies, without respect
or pity either to friends, relations, or acquaintance, made his entry by
fire, which knows no distinction betwixt friend or foe.
<<Plut4-51>
In this conflict, Marius, being driven into the temple of Mother-Earth,
thence invited the slaves by proclamation of freedom, but the enemy coming
on he was overpowered and fled the city.
<<Plut4-52>
Sylla having called a senate, had sentence of death passed on Marius,
and some few others, amongst whom was Sulpicius, tribune of the people.
Sulpicius was killed, being betrayed by his servant, whom Sylla first made
free, and then threw him headlong down the Tarpeian rock. As for Marius,
he set a price on his life, by proclamation, neither gratefully nor politically,
if we consider into whose house, not long before, he put himself at mercy,
and safely dismissed. Had Marius at that time not let Sylla go, but
suffered him to be slain by the hands of Sulpicius, he might have been
lord of all: nevertheless he spared his life, and a few days after, when
in a similar position himself, received a different measure.
<<Plut4-53>
By these proceedings Sylla excited the secret distaste of the senate;
but the displeasure and free indignation of the commonalty showed itself
plainly by their actions. For they ignominiously rejected Nonius,
his nephew, and Servius, who stood for offices of state by his interest,
and elected others as magistrates, by honouring whom they thought they
should most annoy him. He made semblance of extreme satisfaction
at all this, as if the people by his means had again enjoyed the liberty
of doing what seemed best to them. And to pacify the public hostility,
he created Lucius Cinna consul, one of the adverse party, having first
bound him under oaths and imprecations to be favourable to his interest.
For Cinna, ascending the capitol with a stone in his hand, swore solemnly,
and prayed with direful curses, that he himself, if he were not true to
his friendship with Sylla, might be cast out of the city, as that stone
out of his hand; and thereupon cast the stone to the ground, in the presence
of many people. Nevertheless Cinna had no sooner entered on his charge,
but he took measures to disturb the present settlement, having prepared
an impeachment against Sylla, got Virginius, one of the tribunes of the
people, to be his accuser; but Sylla, leaving him and the court of judicature
to themselves, set forth against Mithridates.
<<Plut4-54>
About the time that Sylla was making ready to put off with his force
from Italy, besides many other omens which befell Mithridates, then staying
at Pergamus, there goes a story that a figure of Victory, with a crown
in her hand, which the Pergamenians by machinery from above let down on
him, when it had almost reached his head, fell to pieces, and the crown
tumbling down into the midst of the theatre, there broke against the ground,
occasioning a general alarm among the populace, and considerably disquieting
Mithridates himself, although his affairs at that time were succeeding
beyond expectation. For having wrested Asia from the Romans, and
Bithynia and Cappadocia from their kings, he made Pergamus his royal seat,
distributing among his friends riches, principalities, and kingdoms. Of
his sons, one residing in Pontus and Bosporus held his ancient realm as
far as the deserts beyond the lake Maeotis, without molestation; while
Ariarathes, another, was reducing Thrace and Macedon, with a great army,
to obedience. His generals, with forces under them, were establishing
his supremacy in other quarters. Archelaus, in particular, with his
fleet, held absolute mastery of the sea, and was bringing into subjection
the Cyclades, and all the other islands as far as Malea, and had taken
Euboea itself. Making Athens his headquarters, from thence as far
as Thessaly he was withdrawing the states of Greece from the Roman allegiance,
without the least ill-success, except at Chaeronea. For here Bruttius
Sura, lieutenant to Sentius, governor of Macedon, a man of singular valour
and prudence, met him, and, though he came like a torrent pouring over
Boeotia, made stout resistance, and thrice giving him battle near Chaeronea,
repulsed and forced him back to the sea. But being commanded by Lucius
Lucullus to give place to his successor, Sylla, and resign the war to whom
it was decreed, he presently left Boeotia, and retired back to Sentius,
although his success had outgone all hopes, and Greece was well disposed
to a new revolution, upon account of his gallant behaviour. These
were the glorious actions of Bruttius.
<<Plut4-55>
Sylla, on his arrival, received by their deputations the compliments
of all the cities of Greece, except Athens, against which, as it was compelled
by the tyrant Aristion to hold for the king, he advanced with all his forces,
and investing the Piraeus, laid formal siege to it, employing every variety
of engines, and trying every manner of assault; whereas, had he forborn
but a little while, he might without hazard have taken the Upper City by
famine, it being already reduced to the last extremity, through want of
necessaries. But eager to return to Rome, and fearing innovation
there, at great risk, with continual fighting and vast expense, he pushed
on the war. Besides other equipage, the very work about the engines
of battery was supplied with no less than ten thousand yoke of mules, employed
daily in that service. And when timber grew scarce, for many of the
works failed, some crushed to pieces by their own weight, others taking
fire by the continual play of the enemy, he had recourse to the sacred
groves, and cut down the trees of the Academy, the shadiest of all the
suburbs, and the Lyceum. And a vast sum of money being wanted to
carry on the war, he broke into the sanctuaries of Greece, that of Epidaurus
and that of Olympia, sending for the most beautiful and precious offerings
deposited there. He wrote, likewise, to the Amphictyons at Delphi,
that it were better to remit the wealth of the god to him, for that he
would keep it more securely, or in case he made use of it, restore as much.
He sent Caphis, the Phocian, one of his friends, with this message, commanding
him to receive each item by weight. Caphis came to Delphi, but was
loth to touch the holy things, and with many tears, in the presence of
the Amphictyons, bewailed the necessity. And on some of them declaring
they heard the sound of a harp from the inner shrine, he, whether he himself
believed it, or was willing to try the effect of religious fear upon Sylla,
sent back an express. To which Sylla replied in a scoffing way, that
it was surprising to him that Caphis did not know that music was a sign
of joy, not anger; he should, therefore, go on boldly, and accept what
a gracious and bountiful god offered.
<<Plut4-56>
Other things were sent away without much notice on the part of the
Greeks in general, but in the case of the silver tun, that only relic of
the regal donations, which its weight and bulk made it impossible for any
carriage to receive, the Amphictyons were forced to cut it into pieces,
and called to mind in so doing, how Titus Flamininus, and Manius Acilius,
and again Paulus Aemilius, one of whom drove Antiochus out of Greece, and
the others subdued the Macedonian kings, had not only abstained from violating
the Greek temples, but had even given them new gifts and honours, and increased
the general veneration for them. They, indeed, the lawful commanders
of temperate and obedient soldiers, and themselves great in soul, {magnanimity+}
and simple in expenses, lived within the bounds of the ordinary established
charges, accounting it a greater disgrace to seek popularity with their
men, than to feel fear of their enemy. Whereas the commanders of
these times, attaining to superiority by force, not worth, and having need
of arms one against another, rather than against the public enemy, were
constrained to temporize in authority, and in order to pay for the gratifications
with which they purchased the labour of their soldiers, were driven, before
they knew it, to sell the commonwealth itself, and, to gain the mastery
over men better than themselves, were content to become slaves to the vilest
of wretches. These practices drove Marius into exile and again brought
him in against Sylla. These made Cinna the assassin of Octavius,
and Fimbria of Flaccus. To which courses Sylla contributed not the
least; for to corrupt and win over those who were under the command of
others, he would be munificent and profuse towards those who were under
his own; and so, while tempting the soldiers of other generals to treachery,
and his own to dissolute living, he was naturally in want of a large treasury,
and especially during that siege.
<<Plut4-57>
Sylla had a vehement and an implacable desire to conquer Athens whether
out of emulation, fighting as it were against the shadow of the once famous
city, or out of anger, at the foul words and scurrilous jests with which
the tyrant Aristion, showing himself daily, with unseemly gesticulations,
upon the walls, had provoked him and Metella.
<<Plut4-58>
The tyrant Aristion had his very being compounded of wantonness and
cruelty, having gathered into himself all the worst of Mithridates's diseased
and vicious qualities, like some fatal malady which the city, after its
deliverance from innumerable wars, many tyrannies and seditions, was in
its last days destined to endure. At the time when a medimnus of
wheat was sold in the city for one thousand drachmas and men were forced
to live on the feverfew growing round the citadel, and to boil down shoes
and oil-bags for their food, he, carousing and feasting in the open face
of day, then dancing in armour, and making jokes at the enemy, suffered
the holy lamp of the goddess to expire for want of oil, and to the chief
priestess, who demanded of him the twelfth part of a medimnus of wheat,
he sent the like quantity of pepper. The senators and priests who
came as suppliants to beg of him to take compassion on the city, and treat
for peace with Sylla, he drove away and dispersed with a flight of arrows.
At last, with much ado, he sent forth two or three of his revelling companions
to parley, to whom Sylla, perceiving that they made no serious overtures
towards an accommodation, but went on haranguing in praise of Theseus,
Eumolpus, and the Median trophies, replied, "My good friends, you may put
up your speeches and be gone. I was sent by the Romans to Athens,
not to take lessons, but to reduce rebels to obedience."
<<Plut4-59>
In the meantime news came to Sylla that some old men, talking in the
Ceramicus, had been overheard to blame the tyrant for not securing the
passages and approaches near the Heptachalcum, the one point where the
enemy might easily get over. Sylla neglected not the report, but
going in the night, and discovering the place to be assailable, set instantly
to work. Sylla himself makes mention in his Memoirs that Marcus Teius,
the first man who scaled the wall, meeting with an adversary, and striking
him on the headpiece a home-stroke, broke his own sword, but, notwithstanding,
did not give ground, but stood and held him fast. The city was certainly
taken from that quarter, according to the tradition of the oldest of the
Athenians.
<<Plut4-60>
When they had thrown down the wall, and made all level betwixt the
Piraic and Sacred Gate, about midnight Sylla entered the breach, with all
the terrors of trumpets and cornets sounding, with the triumphant shout
and cry of an army let loose to spoil and slaughter, {Harfleur+}
and scouring through the streets with swords drawn. There was no
numbering the slain; the amount is to this day conjectured only from the
space of ground overflowed with blood. For without mentioning the
execution done in other quarters of the city, the blood that was shed about
the market-place spread over the whole Ceramicus within the Double-gate,
and, according to most writers, passed through the gate and overflowed
the suburb. Nor did the multitudes which fell thus exceed the number
of those who, out of pity and love for their country which they believed
was now finally to perish, slew themselves; the best of them, through despair
of their country's surviving, dreading themselves to survive, expecting
neither humanity nor moderation in Sylla. At length, partly at the
instance of Midias and Calliphon, two exiled men, beseeching and casting
themselves at his feet, partly by the intercession of those senators who
followed the camp, having had his fill of revenge, and making some honourable
mention of the ancient Athenians, "I forgive," said he, "the many for the
sake of the few, the living for the dead." He took Athens, according to
his own Memoirs, on the calends of March, coinciding pretty nearly with
the new moon of Anthesterion, on which day it is the Athenian usage to
perform various acts in commemoration of the ruins and devastations occasioned
by the deluge, that being supposed to be the time of its occurrence.
<<Plut4-61>
At the taking of the town, the tyrant fled into the citadel, and was
there besieged by Curio, who had that charge given him. He held out a considerable
time, but at last yielded himself up for want of water, and divine power
immediately intimated its agency in the matter. For on the same day and
hour that Curio conducted him down, the clouds gathered in a clear sky,
and there came down a great quantity of rain and filled the citadel with
water.
<<Plut4-62>
Not long after, Sylla won the Piraeus, and burnt most of it; amongst
the rest, Philo's arsenal, a work very greatly admired.
<<Plut4-63>
In the meantime Taxiles, Mithridates's general, coming down from Thrace
and Macedon, with an army of one hundred thousand foot, ten thousand horse,
and ninety chariots, armed with scythes at the wheels, would have joined
Archelaus, who lay with a navy on the coast near Munychia, reluctant to
quit the sea, and yet unwilling to engage the Romans in battle, but desiring
to protract the war and cut off the enemy's supplies. Which Sylla
perceiving much better than himself, passed with his forces into Boeotia,
quitting a barren district which was inadequate to maintain an army even
in time of peace. He was thought by some to have taken false measures
in thus leaving Attica, a rugged country, and ill suited for cavalry to
move in, and entering the plain and open fields of Boeotia, knowing as
he did the barbarian strength to consist most in horses and chariots. But
as was said before, to avoid famine and scarcity, he was forced to run
the risk of a battle. Moreover he was in anxiety for Hortensius,
a bold and active officer, whom on his way to Sylla with forces from Thessaly,
the barbarians awaited in the straits. For these reasons Sylla drew
off into Boeotia. Hortensius, meantime, was conducted by Caphis,
our countryman, another way unknown to the barbarians, by Parnassus, just
under Tithora, which was then not so large a town as it is now, but a mere
fort, surrounded by steep precipices whither the Phocians also, in old
times, when flying from the invasion of Xerxes, carried themselves and
their goods and were saved. Hortensius, encamping here, kept off
the enemy by day, and at night descending by difficult passages to Patronis,
joined the forces of Sylla who came to meet him. Thus united they
posted themselves on a fertile hill in the middle of the plain of Elatea,
shaded with trees and watered at the foot. It is called Philoboeotus,
and its situation and natural advantages are spoken of with great admiration
by Sylla.
<<Plut4-64>
As they lay thus encamped, they seemed to the enemy a contemptible
number, for there were not above fifteen hundred horse, and less than fifteen
thousand foot. Therefore the rest of the commanders, over-persuading
Archelaus and drawing up the army, covered the plain with horses, chariots,
bucklers, targets. The clamour and cries of so many nations forming
for battle rent the air, nor was the pomp and ostentation of their costly
array altogether idle and unserviceable for terror; for the brightness
of their armour, embellished magnificently with gold and silver, and the
rich colours of their Median and Scythian coats, intermixed with brass
and shining steel, presented a flaming and terrible sight as they swayed
about and moved in their ranks, so much so that the Romans shrunk within
their trenches, and Sylla, unable by any arguments to remove their fear,
and unwilling to force them to fight against their wills, was fain to sit
down in quiet, ill-brooking to become the subject of barbarian insolence
and laughter. This, however, above all advantaged him, for the enemy,
from contemning of him, fell into disorder amongst themselves, being already
less thoroughly under command, on account of the number of their leaders.
Some few of them remained within the encampment, but others, the major
part, lured out with hopes of prey and rapine, strayed about the country
many days' journey from the camp, and are related to have destroyed the
city of Panope, to have plundered Lebadea, and robbed the oracle without
any orders from their commanders.
<<Plut4-65>
Sylla, all this while, chafing and fretting to see the cities all around
destroyed, suffered not the soldiery to remain idle, but leading them out,
compelled them to divert the Cephisus from its ancient channel by casting
up ditches, and giving respite to none, showed himself rigorous in punishing
the remiss, that growing weary of labour, they might be induced by hardship
to embrace danger. Which fell out accordingly, for on the third day,
being hard at work as Sylla passed by, they begged and clamoured to be
led against the enemy. Sylla replied, that this demand of war proceeded
rather from a backwardness to labour than any forwardness to fight, but
if they were in good earnest martially inclined, he bade them take their
arms and get up thither, pointing to the ancient citadel of the Parapotamians,
of which at present, the city being laid waste, there remained only the
rocky hill itself, steep and craggy on all sides, and severed from Mount
Hedylium by the breadth of the river Assus, which, running between, and
at the bottom of the same hill falling into the Cephisus with an impetuous
confluence, makes this eminence a strong position for soldiers to occupy.
Observing that the enemy's division, called the Brazen Shields, were making
their way up thither, Sylla was willing to take first possession, and by
the vigorous efforts of the soldiers, succeeded. Archelaus, driven
from hence, bent his forces upon Chaeronea. The Chaeroneans who bore
arms in the Roman camp beseeching Sylla not to abandon the city, he despatched
Gabinius, a tribune, with one legion, and sent out also the Chaeroneans,
who endeavoured, but were not able to get in before Gabinius; so active
was he, and more zealous to bring relief than those who had entreated it.
Juba writes that Ericius was the man sent, not Gabinius. Thus narrowly
did our native city escape.
<<Plut4-66>
From Lebadea and the cave of Trophonius there came favourable rumours
and prophecies of victory to the Romans, of which the inhabitants of those
places gave a fuller account, but as Sylla himself affirms in the tenth
book of his Memoirs, Quintus Titius, a man of some repute among the Romans
who were engaged in mercantile business in Greece, came to him after the
battle won at Chaeronea, and declared that Trophonius had foretold another
fight and victory on the place, within a short time. After him a soldier,
by name Salvenius, brought an account from the god of the future issue
of affairs in Italy. As to the vision, they both agreed in this,
that they had seen one who in stature and in majesty was similar to Jupiter
Olympius.
<<Plut4-67>
Sylla, when he had passed over the Assus, marching under the Mount
Hedylium, encamped close to Archelaus, who had intrenched himself strongly
between the mountains Acontium and Hedylium, close to what are called the
Assia. The place of his intrenchment is to this day named from him,
Archelaus. Sylla, after one day's respite, having left Murena behind
him with one legion and two cohorts to amuse the enemy with continual alarms,
himself went and sacrificed on the banks of Cephisus, and the holy rites
ended, held on towards Chaeronea to receive the forces there and view Mount
Thurium, where a party of the enemy had posted themselves. This is a craggy
height running up in a conical form to a point called by us Orthopagus;
at the foot of it is the river Morius and the temple of Apollo Thurius.
The god had his surname from Thuro, mother of Chaeron, whom ancient record
makes founder of Chaeronea. Others assert that the cow, which Apollo
gave to Cadmus for a guide, appeared there, and that the place took its
name from the beast, Thor being the Phoenician word for cow.
<<Plut4-68>
At Sylla's approach to Chaeronea, the tribune who had been appointed
to guard the city led out his men in arms, and met him with a garland of
laurel in his hand; which Sylla accepting, and at the same time saluting
the soldiers and animating them to the encounter, two men of Chaeronea,
Homoloichus and Anaxidamus, presented themselves before him, and offered,
with a small party, to dislodge those who were posted on Thurium.
For there lay a path out of sight of the barbarians, from what is called
Petrochus along by the Museum, leading right down from above upon Thurium.
By this way it was easy to fall upon them and either stone them from above
or force them down into the plain. Sylla, assured of their faith
and courage by Gabinius, bade them proceed with the enterprise, and meantime
drew up the army, and disposing the cavalry on both wings, himself took
command of the right; the left being committed to the direction of Murena.
In the rear of all, Galba and Hortensius, his lieutenants, planted themselves
on the upper grounds with the cohorts of reserve, to watch the motions
of the enemy, who, with numbers of horse and swift-footed, light-armed
infantry, were noticed to have so formed their wing as to allow it readily
to change about and alter its position, and thus gave reason for suspecting
that they intended to carry it far out and so to inclose the Romans.
<<Plut4-69>
In the meanwhile, the Chaeroneans, who had Ericius for commander by
appointment of Sylla, covertly making their way around Thurium, and then
discovering themselves, occasioned a great confusion and rout among the
barbarians, and slaughter, for the most part, by their own hands.
For they kept not their place, but making down the steep descent, ran themselves
on their own spears, and violently sent each other over the cliffs the
enemy from above pressing on and wounding them where they exposed their
bodies; insomuch that there fell three thousand about Thurium. Some of
those who escaped, being met by Murena as he stood in array, were cut off
and destroyed. Others breaking through to their friends and falling
pell-mell into the ranks, filled most part of the army with fear and tumult,
and caused a hesitation and delay among the generals, which was no small
disadvantage. For immediately upon the discomposure, Sylla coming
full speed to the charge, and quickly crossing the interval between the
armies, lost them the service of their armed chariots, which require a
considerable space of ground to gather strength and impetuosity in their
career, a short course being weak and ineffectual, like that of missiles
without a full swing. Thus it fared with the barbarians at present,
whose first chariots came feebly on and made but a faint impression; the
Romans, repulsing them with shouts and laughter, called out, as they do
at the races in the circus, for more to come. By this time the mass
of both armies met; the barbarians on one side fixed their long pikes,
and with their shields locked close together, strove so far as in them
lay to preserve their line of battle entire. The Romans, on the other
side, having discharged their javelins, rushed on with their drawn swords,
and struggled to put by the pikes to get at them the sooner, in the fury
that possessed them at seeing in the front of the enemy fifteen thousand
slaves, whom the royal commanders had set free by proclamation, and ranged
amongst the men of arms. And a Roman centurion is reported to have
said at this sight, that he never knew servants allowed to play the masters,
unless at the Saturnalia. These men, by their deep and solid array,
as well as by their daring courage, yielded but slowly to the legions,
till at last by slinging engines, and darts, which the Romans poured in
upon them behind, they were forced to give way and scatter.
<<Plut4-70>
As Archelaus was extending the right wing to encompass the enemy, Hortensius
with his cohorts came down in force, with intention to charge him in the
flank. But Archelaus wheeling about suddenly with two thousand horse,
Hortensius, out-numbered and hard pressed, fell back towards the higher
grounds, and found himself gradually getting separated from the main body
and likely to be surrounded by the enemy. When Sylla heard this,
he came rapidly up to his succour from the right wing, which as yet had
not engaged. But Archelaus, guessing the matter by the dust of his
troops, turned to the right wing, from whence Sylla came, in hopes to surprise
it without a commander. At the same instant, likewise, Taxiles, with
his Brazen Shields, assailed Murena, so that a cry coming from both places,
and the hills repeating it around, Sylla stood in suspense which way to
move. Deciding to resume his own station he sent in aid to Murena
four cohorts under Hortensius, and commanding the fifth to follow him,
returned hastily to the right wing, which of itself held its ground on
equal terms against Archelaus; and, at his appearance, with one bold effort
forced them back, and, obtaining the mastery, followed them, flying in
disorder to the river and Mount Acontium. Sylla, however, did not
forget the danger Murena was in; but hasting thither and finding him victorious
also, then joined in the pursuit. Many barbarians were slain in the
field, many more were cut in pieces as they were making into the camp.
Of all the vast multitude, ten thousand only got safe into Chalcis.
Sylla writes that there were but fourteen of his soldiers missing, and
that two of these returned towards evening; he, therefore, inscribed on
the trophies the names of Mars, Victory, and Venus, as having won the day
no less by good fortune than by management and force of arms. This
trophy of the battle in the plain stands on the place where Archelaus first
gave way, near the stream of the Molus; another is erected high on the
top of Thurium, where the barbarians were environed, with an inscription
in Greek, recording that the glory of the day belonged to Homoloichus and
Anaxidamus. Sylla celebrated his victory at Thebes with spectacles,
for which he erected a stage, near Oedipus's well. The judges of
the performances were Greeks chosen out of other cities; his hostility
to the Thebans being implacable, half of whose territory he took away and
consecrated to Apollo and Jupiter, ordering that out of the revenue compensation
should be made to the gods for the riches himself had taken from them.
<<Plut4-71>
After this, hearing that Flaccus, a man of the contrary faction, had
been chosen consul, and was crossing the Ionian Sea with an army, professedly
to act against Mithridates, but in reality against himself, he hastened
towards Thessaly, designing to meet him, but in his march, when near Melitea,
received advices from all parts that the countries behind him were overrun
and ravaged by no less a royal army than the former. For Dorylaus,
arriving at Chalcis with a large fleet, on board of which he brought over
with him eighty thousand of the best appointed and best disciplined soldiers
of Mithridates's army, at once invaded Boeotia, and occupied the country
in hopes to bring Sylla to a battle, making no account of the dissuasions
of Archelaus, but giving it out as to the last fight, that without treachery
so many thousand men could never have perished. Sylla, however, facing
about expeditiously, made it clear to him that Archelaus was a wise man,
and had good skill in the Roman valour; insomuch that he himself, after
some small skirmishes with Sylla near Tilphossium, was the first of those
who thought it not advisable to put things to the decision of the sword,
but rather to wear out the war by expense of time and treasure. The
ground, however, near Orchomenus, where they then lay encamped, gave some
encouragement to Archelaus, being a battlefield admirably suited for any
army superior in cavalry. Of all the plains in Boeotia that are renowned
for their beauty and extent, this alone, which commences from the city
of Orchomenus, spreads out unbroken and clear of trees to the edge of the
fens in which the Melas, rising close under Orchomenus, loses itself, the
only Greek river which is a deep and navigable water from the very head,
increasing also about the summer solstice like the Nile, and producing
plants similar to those that grow there, only small and without fruit.
It does not run far before the main stream disappears among the blind and
woody marsh-grounds; a small branch, however, joins the Cephisus, about
the place where the lake is thought to produce the best flute-reeds.
<<Plut4-72>
Now that both armies were posted near each other, Archelaus lay still,
but Sylla employed himself in cutting ditches from either side; that if
possible, by driving the enemies from the firm and open champaign, he might
force them into the fens. They, on the other hand, not enduring this,
as soon as their leaders allowed them the word of command, issued out furiously
in large bodies; when not only the men at work were dispersed, but most
part of those who stood in arms to protect the work fled in disorder.
Upon this, Sylla leaped from his horse, and snatching hold of an ensign,
rushed through the midst of the rout upon the enemy, crying out aloud,
"To me, O Romans, it will be glorious to fall here. As for you, when
they ask you where you betrayed your general, remember and say, at Orchomenus."
His men rallying again at these words, and two cohorts coming to his succour
from the right wing, he led them to the charge and turned the day.
Then retiring some short distance and refreshing his men, he proceeded
again with his works to block up the enemy's camp. They again sallied
out in better order than before. Here Diogenes, stepson to Archelaus,
fighting on the right wing with much gallantry, made an honourable end.
And the archers, being hard pressed by the Romans, and wanting space for
a retreat, took their arrows by handfuls, and striking with these as with
swords, beat them back. In the end, however, they were all driven
into the intrenchment and had a sorrowful night of it with their slain
and wounded. The next day again, Sylla, leading forth his men up to their
quarters, went on finishing the lines of intrenchment, and when they issued
out again with larger numbers to give him battle, fell on them and put
them to the rout, and in the consternation ensuing, none daring to abide,
he took the camp by storm. The marshes were filled with blood, and
the lake with dead bodies, insomuch that to this day many bows, helmets,
fragments of iron, breastplates, and swords of barbarian make continue
to be found buried deep in mud, two hundred years after the fight.
Thus much of the actions of Chaeronea and Orchomenus.
<<Plut4-73>
At Rome, Cinna and Carbo were now using injustice and violence towards
persons of the greatest eminence, and many of them to avoid this tyranny
repaired, as to a safe harbour, to Sylla's camp, where, in a short space,
he had about him the aspect of a senate. Metella, likewise, having
with difficulty conveyed herself and children away by stealth, brought
him word that his houses, both in town and country, had been burnt by his
enemies, and entreated his help at home. Whilst he was in doubt what
to do, being impatient to hear of his country being thus outraged, and
yet not knowing how to leave so great a work as the Mithridatic war unfinished,
there comes to him Archelaus, a merchant of Delos, with hopes of an accommodation,
and private instructions from Archelaus, the king's general. Sylla
liked the business so well as to desire a speedy conference with Archelaus
in person, and a meeting took place on the seacoast near Delium, where
the temple of Apollo stands. When Archelaus opened the conversation,
and began to urge Sylla to abandon his pretensions to Asia and Pontus,
and to set sail for the war in Rome, receiving money and shipping, and
such forces as he should think fitting from the king, Sylla interposing,
bade Archelaus take no further care for Mithridates, but assume the crown
to himself, and become a confederate of Rome, delivering up the navy.
Archelaus professing his abhorrence of such treason, Sylla proceeded: "So
you, Archelaus, a Cappadocian, and slave, or if it so please you friend,
to a barbarian king, would not, upon such vast considerations, be guilty
of what is dishonourable, and yet dare to talk to me, Roman general and
Sylla, of treason? as if you were not the self-same Archelaus who ran away
at Chaeronea, with few remaining out of one hundred and twenty thousand
men; who lay for two days in the fens of Orchomenus, and left Boeotia impassable
for heaps of dead carcasses." Archelaus, changing his tone at this, humbly
besought him to lay aside the thoughts of war, and make peace with Mithridates.
Sylla consenting to this request, articles of agreement were concluded
on. That Mithridates should quit Asia and Paphlagonia, restore Bithynia
to Nicomedes, Cappadocia to Ariobarzanes, and pay the Romans two thousand
talents, and give him seventy ships of war with all their furniture.
On the other hand, that Sylla should confirm to him his other dominions,
and declare him a Roman confederate. On these terms he proceeded
by the way of Thessaly and Macedon towards the Hellespont, having Archelaus
with him, and treating him with great attention. For Archelaus being
taken dangerously ill at Larissa, he stopped the march of the army, and
took care of him, as if he had been one of his own captains, or his colleague
in command. This gave suspicion of foul play in the battle of Chaeronea;
as it was also observed that Sylla had released all the friends of Mithridates
taken prisoners in war, except only Aristion the tyrant, who was at enmity
with Archelaus, and was put to death by poison; and, above all, ten thousand
acres of land in Euboea had been given to the Cappadocian, and he had received
from Sylla the style of friend and ally of the Romans. On all which
points Sylla defends himself in his Memoirs.
<<Plut4-74>
The ambassadors of Mithridates arriving and declaring that they accepted
of the conditions, only Paphlagonia they could not part with; and as for
the ships, professing not to know of any such capitulation, Sylla in a
rage exclaimed, "What say you? Does Mithridates then withhold Paphlagonia?
and as to the ships, deny that article? I thought to have seen him
prostrate at my feet to thank me for leaving him so much as that right
hand of his, which has cut off so many Romans. He will shortly, at
my coming over into Asia, speak another language; in the meantime, let
him at his ease in Pergamus sit managing a war which he never saw." The
ambassadors in terror stood silent by, but Archelaus endeavoured with humble
supplications to assuage his wrath, laying hold on his right hand and weeping.
In conclusion he obtained permission to go himself in person to Mithridates;
for that he would either mediate a peace to the satisfaction of Sylla,
or if not, slay himself. Sylla having thus despatched him away, made
an inroad into Maedica, and after wide depopulations returned back again
into Macedon, where he received Archelaus about Philippi, bringing word
that all was well, and that Mithridates earnestly requested an interview.
The chief cause of this meeting was Fimbria; for he, having assassinated
Flaccus, the consul of the contrary faction, and worsted the Mithridatic
commanders, was advancing against Mithridates himself, who, fearing this,
chose rather to seek the friendship of Sylla.
<<Plut4-75>
And so met at Dardanus in the Troad, on one side Mithridates, attended
with two hundred ships, and land-forces consisting of twenty thousand men
at arms, six thousand horse, and a large train of scythed chariots; on
the other, Sylla with only four cohorts and two hundred horse. As
Mithridates drew near and put out his hand, Sylla demanded whether he was
willing or no to end the war on the terms Archelaus had agreed to, but
seeing the king made no answer, "How is this?" he continued, "ought not
the petitioner to speak first, and the conqueror to listen in silence?"
And when Mithridates, entering upon his plea, began to shift off the war,
partly on the gods, and partly to blame the Romans themselves, he took
him up, saying that he had heard, indeed, long since from others, and now
he knew it himself for truth, that Mithridates was a powerful speaker,
who in defence of the most foul and unjust proceedings, had not wanted
for specious pretences. Then charging him with and inveighing bitterly
against the outrages he had committed, he asked again whether he was willing
or no to ratify the treaty of Archelaus? Mithridates answering in
the affirmative, Sylla came forward, embraced and kissed him. Not
long after he introduced Ariobarzanes and Nicomedes, the two kings, and
made them friends. Mithridates, when he had handed over to Sylla
seventy ships and five hundred archers, set sail for Pontus.
<<Plut4-76>
Sylla, perceiving the soldiers to be dissatisfied with the peace (as
it seemed indeed a monstrous thing that they should see the king who was
their bitterest enemy, and who had caused one hundred and fifty thousand
Romans to be massacred in one day in Asia, now sailing off with the riches
and spoils of Asia, which he had pillaged, and put under contribution for
the space of four years), in his defence to them alleged, that he could
not have made head against Fimbria and Mithridates, had they both withstood
him in conjunction. Thence he set out and went in search of Fimbria,
who lay with the army about Thyatira, and pitching his camp not far off,
proceeded to fortify it with a trench. The soldiers of Fimbria came
out in their single coats, and saluting his men, lent ready assistance
to the work; which change Fimbria beholding, and apprehending Sylla as
irreconcilable, laid violent hands on himself in the camp.
<<Plut4-77>
Sylla imposed on Asia in general a tax of twenty thousand talents,
and despoiled individually each family by the licentious behaviour and
long residence of the soldiery in private quarters. For he ordained
that every host should allow his guest four tetradrachms each day, and
moreover entertain him, and as many friends as he should invite, with a
supper; that a centurion should receive fifty drachms a day, together with
one suit of clothes to wear within doors, and another when he went abroad.
<<Plut4-78>
Having set out from Ephesus with the whole navy, he came the third
day to anchor in the Piraeus. Here he was initiated in the mysteries,
and seized for his use the library of Apellicon the Teian, in which were
most of the works of Theophrastus and Aristotle, then not in general circulation.
When the whole was afterwards conveyed to Rome, there, it is said, the
greater part of the collection passed through the hands of Tyrannion the
grammarian, and that Andronicus the Rhodian, having through his means the
command of numerous copies, made the treatises public, and drew up the
catalogues that are now current. The elder Peripatetics appear themselves,
indeed, to have been accomplished and learned men, but of the writings
of Aristotle and Theophrastus they had no large or exact knowledge, because
Theophrastus bequeathing his books to the heir of Neleus of Scepsis, they
came into careless and illiterate hands.
<<Plut4-79>
During Sylla's stay about Athens, his feet were attacked by a heavy
benumbing pain, which Strabo calls the first inarticulate sounds of the
gout. Taking, therefore, a voyage to Aedepsus, he made use of the
hot waters there, allowing himself at the same time to forget all anxieties,
and passing away his time with actors. As he was walking along the
seashore, certain fishermen brought him some magnificent fish. Being
much delighted with the gift, and understanding, on inquiry, that they
were men of Halaeae, "What," said he, "are there any men of Halaeae surviving?"
For after his victory at Orchomenus, in the heat of a pursuit, he had destroyed
three cities of Boeotia, Anthedon, Larymna, and Halaeae. The men
not knowing what to say for fear, Sylla, with a smile, bade them cheer
up and return in peace, as they had brought with them no insignificant
intercessors. The Halaeans say that this first gave them courage to re-unite
and return to their city.
<<Plut4-80>
Sylla, having marched through Thessaly and Macedon to the sea coast,
prepared, with twelve hundred vessels, to cross over from Dyrrhachium to
Brundisium. Not far from hence is Apollonia, and near it the Nymphaeum,
a spot of ground where, from among green trees and meadows, there are found
at various points springs of fire continually streaming out. Here,
they say, a satyr, such as statuaries and painters represent, was caught
asleep, and brought before Sylla, where he was asked by several interpreters
who he was, and, after much trouble, at last uttered nothing intelligible,
but a harsh noise, something between the neighing of a horse and crying
of a goat. Sylla, in dismay, and deprecating such an omen, bade it
be removed.
<<Plut4-81>
At the point of transportation, Sylla being in alarm, lest at their
first setting foot upon Italy the soldiers should disband and disperse
one by one among the cities, they of their own accord first took an oath
to stand firm by him, and not of their good-will to injure Italy; then
seeing him in distress for money, they made, so they say, a free-will offering,
and contributed each man according to his ability. However, Sylla would
not accept of their offering, but praising their good-will, and arousing
up their courage, went over (as he himself writes) against fifteen hostile
generals in command of four hundred and fifty cohorts; but not without
the most unmistakable divine intimations of his approaching happy successes.
For when he was sacrificing at his first landing near Tarentum, the victim's
liver showed the figure of a crown of laurel with two fillets hanging from
it. And a little while before his arrival in Campania, near the mountain
Hephaeus, two stately goats were seen in the daytime, fighting together,
and performing all the motions of men in battle. It proved to be
an apparition, and rising up gradually from the ground, dispersed in the
air, like fancied representations in the clouds, and so vanished out of
sight. Not long after, in the self-same place, when Marius the younger
and Norbanus the consul attacked him with two great armies, without prescribing
the order of battle, or arranging his men according to their divisions,
by the sway only of one common alacrity and transport of courage, he overthrew
the enemy, and shut up Norbanus into the city of Capua, with the loss of
seven thousand of his men. And this was the reason, he says, that
the soldiers did not leave him and disperse into the different towns, but
held fast to him, and despised the enemy, though infinitely more in number.
<<Plut4-82>
At Silvium (as he himself relates it), there met him a servant of Pontius,
in a state of divine possession, saying that he brought him the power of
the sword and victory from Bellona, the goddess of war, and if he did not
make haste, that the capitol would be burnt, which fell out on the same
day the man foretold it, namely, on the sixth day of the month Quintilis,
which we now call July.
<<Plut4-83>
At Fidentia, also, Marcus Lucullus, one of Sylla's commanders, reposed
such confidence in the forwardness of the soldiers, as to dare to face
fifty cohorts of the enemy with only sixteen of his own: but because many
of them were unarmed delayed the onset. As he stood thus waiting,
and considering with himself, a gentle gale of wind, bearing along with
it from the neighbouring meadows a quantity of flowers, scattered them
down upon the army, on whose shields and helmets they settled, and arranged
themselves spontaneously so as to give the soldiers, in the eyes of the
enemy, the appearance of being crowned with chaplets. Upon this,
being yet further animated, they joined battle, and victoriously slaying
eight thousand men, took the camp. This Lucullus was brother to that
Lucullus who in aftertimes conquered Mithridates and Tigranes.
<<Plut4-84>
Sylla, seeing himself still surrounded by so many armies, and such
mighty hostile powers, had recourse to art, inviting Scipio, the other
consul, to a treaty of peace. The motion was willingly embraced,
and several meetings and consultations ensued, in all which Sylla, still
interposing matter of delay and new pretences, in the meanwhile, debauched
Scipio's men by means of his own, who were as well practised as the general
himself in all the artifices of inveigling. For entering into the
enemy's quarters and joining in conversation, they gained some by present
money, some by promises, others by fair words and persuasions; so that
in the end, when Sylla with twenty cohorts drew near, on his men saluting
Scipio's soldiers, they returned the greeting and came over, leaving Scipio
behind them in his tent, where he was found all alone and dismissed.
And having used his twenty cohorts as decoys to ensnare the forty of the
enemy, he led them all back into the camp. On this occasion, Carbo
was heard to say that he had both a fox and a lion {lion_fox+}
in the breast of Sylla to deal with, and was most troubled with the fox.
<<Plut4-85>
Some time after, at Signia, Marius the younger, with eighty-five cohorts,
offered battle to Sylla, who was extremely desirous to have it decided
on that very day; for the night before he had seen a vision in his sleep,
of Marius the elder, who had been some time dead, advising his son to beware
of the following day, as of fatal consequence to him. For this reason,
Sylla, longing to come to a battle, sent off for Dolabella, who lay encamped
at some distance. But because the enemy had beset and blocked up
the passes, his soldiers got tired with skirmishing and marching at once.
To these difficulties was added, moreover, tempestuous rainy weather, which
distressed
them most of all. The principal officers therefore came to Sylla,
and besought him to defer the battle that day, showing him how the soldiers
lay stretched on the ground, where they had thrown themselves down in their
weariness, resting their heads upon their shields to gain some repose.
When, with much reluctance, he had yielded, and given orders for pitching
the camp, they had no sooner begun to cast up the rampart and draw the
ditch, but Marius came riding up furiously at the head of his troops, in
hopes to scatter them in that disorder and confusion. Here the gods
fulfilled Sylla's dream. For the soldiers, stirred up with anger,
left off their work, and sticking their javelins into the bank, with drawn
swords and a courageous shout, came to blows with the enemy, who made but
small resistance, and lost great numbers in the flight. Marius fled to
Praeneste, but finding the gates shut, tied himself round by a rope that
was thrown down to him, and was taken up on the walls. Some there
are (as Fenestella for one) who affirm that Marius knew nothing of the
fight, but, overwatched and spent with hard duty, had reposed himself,
when the signal was given, beneath some shade, and was hardly to be awakened
at the flight of his men. Sylla, according to his own account, lost
only twenty-three men in this fight, having killed of the enemy twenty
thousand, {Harfleur+}
and taken alive eight thousand.
<<Plut4-86>
The like success attended his lieutenants, Pompey, Crassus, Metellus,
Servilius, who with little or no loss cut off vast numbers of the enemy,
insomuch that Carbo, the prime supporter of the cause, fled by night from
his charge of the army, and sailed over into Libya.
<<Plut4-87>
In the last struggle, however, the Samnite Telesinus, like some champion,
whose lot it is to enter last of all into the lists and take up the wearied
conqueror, came nigh to have foiled and overthrown Sylla before the gates
of Rome. For Telesinus with his second, Lamponius the Lucanian, having
collected a large force, had been hastening towards Praeneste, to relieve
Marius from the siege; but perceiving Sylla ahead of him, and Pompey behind,
both hurrying up against him, straitened thus before and behind, as a valiant
and experienced soldier, he arose by night, and marching directly with
his whole army, was within a little of making his way unexpectedly into
Rome itself. He lay that night before the city, at ten furlongs'
distance from the Colline gate, elated and full of hope at having thus
out-generalled so many eminent commanders. At break of day, being
charged by the noble youth of the city, among many others he overthrew
Appius Claudius, renowned for high birth and character. The city,
as is easy to imagine, was all in an uproar, the women shrieking and running
about, as if it had already been entered forcibly by assault, till at last
Balbus, sent forward by Sylla, was seen riding up with seven hundred horse
at full speed. Halting only long enough to wipe the sweat from the
horses, and then hastily bridling again, he at once attacked the enemy.
Presently Sylla himself appeared, and commanding those who were foremost
to take immediate refreshment, proceeded to form in order for battle.
Dolabella and Torquatus were extremely earnest with him to desist awhile,
and not with spent forces to hazard the last hope, having before them in
the field, not Carbo or Marius, but two warlike nations bearing immortal
hatred to Rome, the Samnites and Lucanians, to grapple with. But
he put them by, and commanded the trumpets to sound a charge, when it was
now about four o'clock in the afternoon. In the conflict which followed,
as sharp a one as ever was, the right wing where Crassus was posted had
clearly the advantage; the left suffered and was in distress, when Sylla
came to its succour, mounted on a white courser, full of mettle and exceedingly
swift, which two of the enemy knowing him by, had their lances ready to
throw at him; he himself observed nothing, but his attendant behind him
giving the horse a touch, he was, unknown to himself, just so far carried
forward that the points, falling beside the horse's tail, stuck in the
ground. There is a story that he had a small golden image of Apollo
from Delphi, which he was always wont in battle to carry about him in his
bosom, and that he then kissed it with these words, "O Apollo Pythius,
who in so many battles hast raised to honour and greatness the Fortunate
Cornelius Sylla, wilt thou now cast him down, bringing him before the gate
of his country, to perish shamefully with his fellow-citizens?" Thus, they
say, addressing himself to the god, he entreated some of his men, threatened
some, and seized others with his hand, till at length the left wing being
wholly shattered, he was forced, in the general rout, to betake himself
to the camp, having lost many of his friends and acquaintance. Many,
likewise, of the city spectators, who had come out, were killed or trodden
under foot. So that it was generally believed in the city that all
was lost, and the siege of Praeneste was all but raised; many fugitives
from the battle making their way thither, and urging Lucretius Ofella,
who was appointed to keep on the siege, to rise in all haste, for that
Sylla had perished, and Rome fallen into the hands of the enemy.
<<Plut4-88>
About midnight there came into Sylla's camp messengers from Crassus,
to fetch provision for him and his soldiers; for having vanquished the
enemy, they had pursued him to the walls of Antemna, and had sat down there.
Sylla, hearing this, and that most of the enemy was destroyed, came to
Antemna by break of day, where three thousand of the besieged having sent
forth a herald, he promised to receive them to mercy, on condition they
did the enemy mischief in their coming over. Trusting to his word,
they fell foul on the rest of their companions, and made a great slaughter
one of another. Nevertheless, Sylla gathered together in the circus,
as well these as other survivors of the party, to the number of six thousand,
and just as he commenced speaking to the senate, in the temple of Bellona,
proceeded to cut them down, by men appointed for that service. The
cry of so vast a multitude put to the sword, in so narrow a space, was
naturally heard some distance, and startled the senators. He, however,
continuing his speech with a calm and unconcerned countenance, bade them
listen to what he had to say, and not busy themselves with what was doing
out of doors; he had given directions for the chastisement of some offenders.
This gave the most stupid of the Romans to understand that they had merely
exchanged, not escaped, tyranny. And Marius, being of a naturally
harsh temper, had not altered, but merely continued what he had been, in
authority; whereas Sylla, using his fortune moderately and unambitiously
at first, and giving good hopes of a true patriot, firm to the interests
both of the nobility and commonalty, being, moreover, of a gay and cheerful
temper from his youth, and so easily moved to pity as to shed tears readily,
has, perhaps deservedly, cast a blemish upon offices of great authority,
as if they deranged men's former habits and character, and gave rise to
violence, pride, and inhumanity. Whether this be a real change and
revolution in the mind, caused by fortune, or rather a lurking viciousness
of nature, discovering itself in authority, it were matter of another sort
of disquisition to decide.
<<Plut4-89>
Sylla being thus wholly bent upon slaughter, and filling the city with
executions without number or limit, many wholly uninterested persons falling
a sacrifice to private enmity, through his permission and indulgence to
his friends, Caius Metellus, one of the younger men, made bold in the senate
to ask him what end there was of these evils, and at what point he might
be expected to stop? "We do not ask you," said he, "to pardon any whom
you have resolved to destroy, but to free from doubt those whom you are
pleased to save." Sylla answering, that he knew not as yet whom to spare,
"Why, then," said he, "tell us whom you will punish." This Sylla said he
would do. These last words, some authors say, were spoken not by
Metellus, but by Afidius, one of Sylla's fawning companions. Immediately
upon this, without communicating with any of the magistrates, Sylla proscribed
eighty persons, and notwithstanding the general indignation, after one
day's respite, he posted two hundred and twenty more, and on the third
again, as many. In an address to the people on this occasion, he
told them he had put up as many names as he could think of; those which
had escaped his memory, he would publish at a future time. He issued
an edict likewise, making death the punishment of humanity, proscribing
any who should dare to receive and cherish a proscribed person without
exception to brother, son, or parents. And to him who should slay
any one proscribed person, he ordained two talents reward, even were it
a slave who had killed his master, or a son his father. And what
was thought most unjust of all, he caused the attainder to pass upon their
sons, and sons' sons, and made open sale of all their property. Nor
did the proscription prevail only at Rome, but throughout all the cities
of Italy the effusion of blood was such, that neither sanctuary of the
gods, nor hearth of hospitality, nor ancestral home escaped. Men
were butchered in the embraces of their wives, children in the arms of
their mothers. Those who perished through public animosity or private
enmity were nothing in comparison of the numbers of those who suffered
for their riches. Even the murderers began to say, that "his fine
house killed this man, a garden that, a third, his hot baths." Quintus
Aurelius, a quiet, peaceable man, and one who thought all his part in the
common calamity consisted in condoling with the misfortunes of others,
coming into the forum to read the list, and finding himself among the proscribed,
cried out, "Woe is me, my Alban farm has informed against me." He had not
gone far before he was despatched by a ruffian, sent on that errand.
<<Plut4-90>
In the meantime, Marius, on the point of being taken, killed himself;
and Sylla, coming to Praeneste, at first proceeded judicially against each
particular person, till at last, finding it a work of too much time, he
cooped them up together in one place, to the number of twelve thousand
men, and gave order for the execution of them all, his own host alone excepted.
But he, brave man, telling him he could not accept the obligation of life
from the hands of one who had been the ruin of his country, went in among
the rest, and submitted willingly to the stroke. What Lucius Catilina
did was thought to exceed all other acts. For having, before matters
came to an issue, made away with his brother, he besought Sylla to place
him in the list of proscription, as though he had been alive, which was
done; and Catiline, to return the kind office, assassinated a certain Marcus
Marius, one of the adverse party, and brought the head to Sylla, as he
was sitting in the forum, and then going to the holy water of Apollo, which
was nigh, washed his hands.
<<Plut4-91>
There were other things, besides this bloodshed, which gave offence.
For Sylla had declared himself dictator, an office which had then been
laid aside for the space of one hundred and twenty years. There was,
likewise, an act of grace passed on his behalf, granting indemnity for
what was passed, and for the future intrusting him with the power of life
and death, confiscation, division of lands, erecting and demolishing of
cities, taking away of kingdoms, and bestowing them at pleasure. He conducted
the
sale of confiscated property after such an arbitrary, imperious way, from
the tribunal, that his gifts excited greater odium even than his usurpations;
women, mimes, and musicians, and the lowest of the freed slaves had presents
made them of the territories of nations and the revenues of cities: and
women of rank were married against their will to some of them. Wishing
to insure the fidelity of Pompey the Great by a nearer tie of blood, he
bade him divorce his present wife, and forcing Aemilia, the daughter of
Scaurus and Metella, his own wife, to leave her husband, Manius Glabrio,
he bestowed her, though then with child, on Pompey, and she died in childbirth
at his house.
<<Plut4-92>
When Lucretius Ofella, the same who reduced Marius by siege, offered
himself for the consulship, he first forbade him; then, seeing he could
not restrain him, on his coming down into the forum with a numerous train
of followers, he sent one of the centurions who were immediately about
him, and slew him, himself sitting on the tribunal in the temple of Castor,
and beholding the murder from above. The citizens apprehending the
centurion, and dragging him to the tribunal, he bade them cease their clamouring
and let the centurion go, for he had commanded it.
<<Plut4-93>
His triumph was, in itself, exceedingly splendid, and distinguished
by the rarity and magnificence of the royal spoils; but its yet greatest
glory was the noble spectacle of the exiles. For in the rear followed
the most eminent and most potent of the citizens, crowned with garlands,
and calling Sylla saviour and father, by whose means they were restored
to their own country, and again enjoyed their wives and children. When
the solemnity was over, and the time come to render an account of his actions,
addressing the public assembly, he was as profuse in enumerating the
lucky+ chances of war as any of his own military merits. And,
finally, from this felicity he requested to receive the surname of Felix.
In writing and transacting business with the Greeks, he styled himself
Epaphroditus, and on his trophies which are still extant with us the name
is given Lucius Cornelius Sylla Epaphroditus. Moreover, when his
wife had brought him forth twins, he named the male Faustus and the female
Fausta, the Roman words for what is auspicious and of happy omen.
The confidence which he reposed in his good genius, rather than in any
abilities of his own, emboldened him, though deeply involved in bloodshed,
and though he had been the author of such great changes and revolutions
of state, to lay down his authority, and place the right of consular elections
once more in the hands of the people. And when they were held, he
not only declined to seek that office, but in the forum exposed his person
publicly to the people, walking up and down as a private man. And
contrary to his will, a certain bold man and his enemy, Marcus Lepidus,
was expected to become consul, not so much by his own interest, as by the
power and solicitation of Pompey, whom the people were willing to oblige.
When the business was over, seeing Pompey going home overjoyed with the
success, he called him to him and said, "What a polite act, young man,
to pass by Catulus, the best of men, and choose Lepidus, the worst!
It will be well for you to be vigilant, now that you have strengthened
your opponent against yourself." Sylla spoke this, it may seem, by a prophetic
instinct, for, not long after, Lepidus grew insolent and broke into open
hostility to Pompey and his friends.
<<Plut4-94>
Sylla, consecrating the tenth of his whole substance to Hercules, entertained
the people with sumptuous feastings. The provision was so much above
what was necessary, that they were forced daily to throw great quantities
of meat into the river, and they drank wine forty years old and upwards.
In the midst of the banqueting, which lasted many days, Metella died of
a disease. And because that the priest forbade him to visit the sick,
or suffer his house to be polluted with mourning, he drew up an act of
divorce and caused her to be removed into another house whilst alive.
Thus far, out of religious apprehension, he observed the strict rule to
the very letter, but in the funeral expenses he transgressed the law he
himself had made, limiting the amount, and spared no cost. He transgressed,
likewise, his own sumptuary laws respecting expenditure in banquets, thinking
to allay his grief by luxurious drinking parties and revellings with common
buffoons.
<<Plut4-95>
Some few months after, at a show of gladiators, when men and women
sat promiscuously in the theatre, no distinct places being as yet appointed,
there sat down by Sylla a beautiful woman of high birth, by name Valeria,
daughter of Messala, and sister to Hortensius the orator. Now it happened
that she had been lately divorced from her husband. Passing along
behind Sylla, she leaned on him with her hand, and plucking a bit of wool
from his garment, so proceeded to her seat. And on Sylla looking
up and wondering what it meant, "What harm, mighty sir," said she, "if
I also was desirous to partake a little in your felicity?" It appeared
at once that Sylla was not displeased, but even tickled in his fancy, for
he sent out to inquire her name, her birth, and past life. From this
time there passed between them many side glances, each continually turning
round to look at the other, and frequently interchanging smiles.
In the end, overtures were made, and a marriage concluded on. All
which was innocent, perhaps, on the lady's side, but, though she had been
never so modest and virtuous, it was scarcely a temperate and worthy occasion
of marriage on the part of Sylla, to take fire, as a boy might, at a face
and a bold look, incentives not seldom to the most disorderly and shameless
passions. {effeminacy+}
<<Plut4-96>
Notwithstanding this marriage, he kept company with actresses, musicians,
and dancers, drinking with them on couches night and day. His chief
favourites were Roscius the comedian, Sorex the arch mime, and Metrobius
the player, for whom, though past his prime, he still professed a passionate
fondness. By these courses he encouraged a disease which had begun
from unimportant cause; and for a long time he failed to observe that his
bowels were ulcerated, till at length the corrupted flesh broke out into
lice. Many were employed day and night in destroying them, but the
work so multiplied under their hands, that not only his clothes, baths,
basins, but his very meat was polluted with that flux and contagion, they
came swarming out in such numbers. He went frequently by day into
the bath to scour and cleanse his body, but all in vain; the evil generated
too rapidly and too abundantly for any ablutions to overcome it.
There died of this disease, amongst those of the most ancient times, Acastus,
the son of Pelias; of later date, Alcman the poet, Pherecydes the theologian,
Callisthenes the Olynthian, in the time of his imprisonment, as also Mucius
the lawyer; and if we may mention ignoble, but notorious names, Eunus the
fugitive, who stirred up the slaves of Sicily to rebel against their masters,
after he was brought captive to Rome, died of this creeping sickness.
<<Plut4-97>
Sylla not only foresaw his end, but may be also said to have written
of it. For in the two-and-twentieth book of his Memoirs, which he
finished two days before his death, he writes that the Chaldeans foretold
him, that after he had led a life of honour, he should conclude it in fulness
of prosperity. He declares, moreover, that in a vision he had seen
his son, who had died not long before Metella, stand by in mourning attire,
and beseech his father to cast off further care, and come along with him
to his mother Metella, there to live at ease and quietness with her.
However, he could not refrain from intermeddling in public affairs. For,
ten days before his decease, he composed the differences of the people
of Dicaearchia, and prescribed laws for their better government.
And the very day before his end, it being told him that the magistrate
Granius deferred the payment of a public debt, in expectation of his death,
he sent for him to his house, and placing his attendants about him, caused
him to be strangled; but through the straining of his voice and body, the
imposthume breaking, he lost a great quantity of blood. Upon this,
his strength failing him, after spending a troublesome night, he died,
leaving behind him two young children by Metella. Valeria was afterwards
delivered of a daughter, named Posthuma; for so the Romans call those who
are born after the father's death.
<<Plut4-98>
Many ran tumultuously together, and joined with Lepidus to deprive
the corpse of the accustomed solemnities; but Pompey, though offended at
Sylla (for he alone of all his friends was not mentioned in his will),
having kept off some by his interest and entreaty, others by menaces, conveyed
the body to Rome, and gave it a secure and honourable burial. It
is said that the Roman ladies contributed such vast heaps of spices, that
besides what was carried on two hundred and ten litters, there was sufficient
to form a large figure of Sylla himself, and another representing a lictor,
out of the costly frankincense and cinnamon. The day being cloudy
in the morning, they deferred carrying forth the corpse till about three
in the afternoon, expecting it would rain. But a strong wind blowing
full upon the funeral pile, and setting it all in a bright flame, the body
was consumed so exactly in good time, that the pyre had begun to smoulder,
and the fire was upon the point of expiring, when a violent rain came down,
which continued till night. So that his good fortune was firm even
to the last, and did as it were officiate at his funeral. His monument
stands in the Campus Martius, with an epitaph of his own writing; the substance
of it being, that he had not been outdone by any of his friends in doing
good turns, nor by any of his foes in doing bad.
<<Plut4-99>
~The Comparison of Lysander with Sylla_+
By Plutarch
Having completed this Life also, come we now to the comparison.
That which was common to them both was that they were founders of their
own greatness, with this difference, that Lysander had the consent of his
fellow-citizens, in times of sober judgment, for the honours he received;
nor did he force anything from them against their good-will, nor hold any
power contrary to the laws.
"In civil strife e'en villains rise to fame."
And so then at Rome, when the people were distempered, and the government
out of order, one or other was still raised to despotic power; no wonder,
then, if Sylla reigned, when the Glauciae and Saturnini drove out the Metelli,
when sons of consuls were slain in the assemblies, when silver and gold
purchased men and arms, and fire and sword enacted new laws and put down
lawful opposition. Nor do I blame any one, in such circumstances,
for working himself into supreme power, only I would not have it thought
a sign of great goodness to be head of a state so wretchedly discomposed.
Lysander, being employed in the greatest commands and affairs of state,
by a sober and well-governed city, may be said to have had repute as the
best and most virtuous man, in the best and most virtuous commonwealth.
And thus, often returning the government into the hands of the citizens,
he received it again as often, the superiority of his merit still awarding
him the first place. Sylla, on the other hand, when he had once made
himself general of an army, kept his command for ten years together, creating
himself sometimes consul, sometimes proconsul, and sometimes dictator,
but always remaining a tyrant+.
<<Plut4-100>
It is true Lysander, as was said, designed to introduce a new form
of government; by milder methods, however, and more agreeable to law than
Sylla, not by force of arms, but persuasion, nor by subverting the whole
state at once, but simply by amending the succession of the kings; in a
way, moreover, which seemed the naturally just one, that the most deserving
should rule, especially in a city which itself exercised command in Greece,
upon account of virtue, not nobility. For as the hunter considers
the whelp itself, not the bitch, and the horsedealer the foal, not the
mare (for what if the foal should prove a mule?), so likewise were that
politician extremely out, who, in the choice of a chief magistrate, should
inquire, not what the man is, but how descended. The very Spartans
themselves have deposed several of their kings for want of kingly virtues,
as degenerated and good for nothing. As a vicious nature, though
of an ancient stock, is dishonourable, it must be virtue itself, and notbirth+,
that makes virtue honourable. Furthermore, the one committed his
acts of injustice for the sake of his friends; the other extended his to
his friends themselves. It is confessed on all hands, that Lysander offended
most commonly for the sake of his companions, committing several slaughters
to uphold their power and dominion; but as for Sylla, he, out of envy,
reduced Pompey's command by land and Dolabella's by sea, although he himself
had given them those places; and ordered Lucretius Ofella, who sued for
the consulship as the reward of many great services, to be slain before
his eyes, exciting horror and alarm in the minds of all men, by his cruelty
to his dearest friends.
<<Plut4-101>
As regards the pursuit of riches and pleasures, we yet further discover
in one a princely, in the other a tyrannical, disposition. Lysander did
nothing that was intemperate or licentious, in that full command of means
and opportunity, but kept clear, as much as ever man did, of that trite
saying-
"Lions at home, but foxes out of doors;"
{lion_fox+} and ever maintained a sober,
truly Spartan, and well-disciplined course of conduct. Whereas Sylla
could never moderate his unruly affections, either by poverty when young,
or by years when grown old, but would be still prescribing laws to the
citizens concerning chastity and sobriety, himself living all that time,
as Sallust affirms, in lewdness and adultery. By these ways he so improverished
and drained the city of her treasures, as to be forced to sell privileges
and immunities to allied and friendly cities for money, although he daily
gave up the wealthiest and the greatest families to public sale and confiscation.
There was no end of his favours vainly spent and thrown away on
flatterers+; for what hope could there be, or what likelihood of forethought
or economy, in his more private moments over wine, when, in the open face
of the people, upon the auction of a large estate, which he would have
passed over to one of his friends at a small price, because another bid
higher, and the officer announced the advance, he broke out into a passion,
saying: ""What a strange and unjust thing is this, O citizens, that I cannot
dispose of my own booty as I please!" But Lysander, on the contrary, with
the rest of the spoil, sent home for public use even the presents which
were made him. Nor do I comment [commend-North] him for it, for he,
perhaps, by excessive liberality, did Sparta more harm than ever the other
did Rome by rapine; I only use it as an argument of his indifference to
riches. They exercised a strange influence on their respective cities.
Sylla, a profuse debauchee, endeavoured to restore sober living amongst
the citizens; Lysander, temperate himself, filled Sparta with the luxury
he disregarded. So that both were blameworthy, the one for raising
himself above his own laws, the other for causing his fellow-citizens to
fall beneath his own example. He taught Sparta to want the very things
which he himself had learned to do without. And thus much of their
civil administration.
<<Plut4-102>
As for feats of arms, wise conduct in war, innumerable victories, perilous
adventures, Sylla was beyond compare. Lysander, indeed, came off
twice victorious in two battles by sea; I shall add to that the siege of
Athens, a work of greater fame than difficulty. What occurred in
Boeotia, and at Haliartus, was the result, perhaps, of ill fortune; yet
it certainly looks like ill counsel, not to wait for the king's forces,
which had all but arrived from Plataea, but out of ambition and eagerness
to fight, to approach the walls at disadvantage, and so to be cut off by
a sally of inconsiderable men. He received his death-wound, not as
Cleombrotus, at Leuctra, resisting manfully the assault of an enemy in
the field; not as Cyrus or Epaminondas, sustaining the declining battle,
or making sure the victory; all these died the death of kings and generals;
but he, as it had been some common skirmisher or scout, cast away his life
ingloriously, {rash+} giving testimony
to the wisdom of the ancient Spartan maxim, to avoid attacks on walled
cities, in which the stoutest warrior may chance to fall by the hand, not
only of a man utterly his inferior, but by that of a boy or woman, as Achilles,
they say, was slain by Paris in the gates. As for Sylla, it were hard to
reckon up how many set battles he won, or how many thousand he slew; he
took Rome itself twice, as also the Athenian Piraeus, not by famine, as
Lysander did, but by a series of great battles, driving Archelaus into
the sea. And what is most important, there was a vast difference
between the commanders they had to deal with. For I look upon it
as an easy task, or rather sport, to beat Antiochus, Alcibiades's pilot,
or to circumvent Philocles, the Athenian demagogue-
"Sharp only at the inglorious point of tongue,"
whom Mithridates would have scorned to compare with his groom, or Marius
with his lictor. But of the potentates, consuls, commanders, and
demagogues, to pass by all the rest who opposed themselves to Sylla, who
amongst the Romans so formidable as Marius, what king more powerful than
Mithridates? who of the Italians more warlike than Lamponius and Telesinus?
yet of these, one he drove into banishment, one he quelled, and the others
he slew.
<<Plut4-103>
And what is more important, in my judgment, than anything yet adduced,
is that Lysander had the assistance of the state in all his achievements;
whereas Sylla, besides that he was a banished person, and overpowered by
a faction, at a time when his wife was driven from home, his houses demolished,
adherents slain, himself then in Boeotia, stood embattled against countless
numbers of the public enemy, and, endangering himself for the sake of his
country, raised a trophy of victory; and not even when Mithridates came
with proposals of alliance and aid against his enemies would he show any
sort of compliance, or even clemency; did not so much as address him, or
vouchsafe him his hand, until he had it from the king's own mouth that
he was willing to quit Asia, surrender the navy, and restore Bithynia and
Cappadocia to the two kings. Than which action Sylla never performed
a braver, or with a nobler spirit, when preferring the public good to the
private, and like good hounds, where he had once fixed, never letting go
his hold, till the enemy yielded, then, and not until then, he set himself
to revenge his own private quarrels. We may perhaps let ourselves
be influenced, moreover, in our comparison of their characters, by considering
their treatment of Athens. Sylla, when he had made himself master
of the city, which then upheld the dominion and power of Mithridates in
opposition to him, restored her to liberty and the free exercise of her
own laws; Lysander, on the contrary, when she had fallen from a vast height
of dignity and rule, showed her no compassion, but abolishing her democratic
government, imposed on her the most cruel and lawless tyrants. We are now
qualified to consider whether we should go far from the truth or no in
pronouncing that Sylla performed the more glorious deeds, but Lysander
committed the fewer faults, as, likewise, by giving to one the pre-eminence
for moderation and self_control+, to
the other for conduct and valour.
<<Plut4-104>
~Cimon+
Peripoltas the prophet, having brought the King Opheltas, and those
under his command, from Thessaly into Boeotia, left there a family, which
flourished a long time after; the greater part of them inhabiting Chaeronea,
the first city out of which they expelled the barbarians. The descendants
of this race, being men of bold attempts and warlike habits, exposed themselves
to so many dangers in the invasions of the Mede, and in battles against
the Gauls, that at last they were almost wholly consumed.
<<Plut4-105>
There was left one orphan of this house, called Damon, surnamed Peripoltas,
in beauty and greatness of spirit surpassing all of his age, but rude and
undisciplined in temper. A Roman captain of a company that wintered
in Chaeronea became passionately fond of this youth, who was now pretty
nearly grown a man. And finding all his approaches, his gifts, his
entreaties, alike repulsed, he showed violent inclinations to assault Damon.
Our native Chaeronea was then in a distressed condition, too small and
too poor to meet with anything but neglect. Damon, being sensible
of this, and looking upon himself as injured already, resolved to inflict
punishment. Accordingly, he and sixteen of his companions conspired
against the captain; but that the design might be managed without any danger
of being discovered, they all daubed their faces at night with soot.
Thus disguised and inflamed with wine, they set upon him by break of day,
as he was sacrificing in the market-place; and having killed him, and several
others that were with him, they fled out of the city, which was extremely
alarmed and troubled at the murder. The council assembled immediately,
and pronounced sentence of death against Damon and his accomplices.
This they did to justify the city to the Romans. But that evening,
as the magistrates were at supper together, according to the custom, Damon
and his confederates, breaking into the hall, killed them, and then fled
again out of the town. About this time, Lucius Lucullus chanced to be passing
that way with a body of troops, upon some expedition, and this disaster
having but recently happened, he stayed to examine the matter. Upon
inquiry, he found the city was in no wise faulty, but rather that they
themselves had suffered; therefore he drew out the soldiers, and carried
them away with him. Yet Damon continuing to ravage the country all
about, the citizens, by messages and decrees, in appearance favourable,
enticed him into the city, and upon his return, made him Gymnasiarch; but
afterwards as he was anointing himself in the vapour baths, they set upon
him and killed him. For a long while after apparitions continuing
to be seen, and groans to be heard in that place, so our fathers have told
us, they ordered the gates of the baths to be built up; and even to this
day those who live in the neighbourhood believe that they sometimes see
spectres and hear alarming sounds. The posterity of Damon, of whom
some still remain, mostly in Phocis, near the town of Stiris, are called
Asbolomeni, that is, in the Aeolian idiom, men daubed with soot: because
Damon was thus besmeared when he committed this murder.
<<Plut4-106>
But there being a quarrel between the people of Chaeronea and the Orchomenians,
their neighbours, these latter hired an informer, a Roman, to accuse the
community of Chaeronea as if it had been a single person of the murder
of the Romans, of which only Damon and his companions were guilty; accordingly,
the process was commenced, and the cause pleaded before the Praetor of
Macedon, since the Romans as yet had not sent governors into Greece.
<<Plut4-107>
The advocates who defended the inhabitants appealed to the testimony
of Lucullus, who, in answer to a letter the praetor wrote to him, returned
a true account of the matter-of-fact. By this means the town obtained
its acquittal, and escaped a most serious danger. The citizens, thus
preserved, erected a statue to Lucullus in the market-place, near that
of the god Bacchus.
<<Plut4-108>
We also have the same impressions of gratitude+;
and though removed from the events by the distance of several generations,
we yet feel the obligation to extend to ourselves: and as we think an image
of the character and habits to be a greater honour than one merely representing
the face and the person, we will put Lucullus's life amongst our parallels
of illustrious men, and without swerving from the truth, will record his
actions. The commemoration will be itself a sufficient proof of our
grateful feeling, and he himself would not thank us, if in recompense for
a service which consisted in speaking the truth, we should abuse his memory
with a false and counterfeit narration. For as we would wish that
a painter who is to draw a beautiful face, in which there is yet some imperfection,
should neither wholly leave out, nor yet too pointedly express what is
defective, because this would deform it, and that spoil the resemblance;
so since it is hard, or indeed perhaps impossible, to show the life of
a man wholly free from blemish, in all that is excellent we must follow
truth exactly, and give it fully; any lapses or faults that occur, through
human passions or political necessities, we may regard rather as the shortcomings
of some particular virtue, than as the natural effects of vice; {Atistotle+}
and may be content without introducing them, curiously and officiously,
into our narrative, if it be but out of tenderness to the weakness of nature,{yahoo+}
which has never succeeded in producing any human character so perfect in
virtue as to be pure from all admixture and open to no criticism. On considering
with myself to whom I should compare Lucullus I find none so exactly his
parallel as Cimon.
<<Plut4-109>
They were both valiant in war, and successful against the barbarians;
both gentle in political life, and more than any others gave their countrymen
a respite from civil troubles at home, while abroad each of them raised
trophies and gained famous victories. No Greek before Cimon, nor
Roman before Lucullus, ever carried the scene of war so far from their
own country; putting out of the question the acts of Bacchus and Hercules,
and any exploit of Perseus against the Ethiopians, Medes, and Armenians,
or again of Jason, of which any record that deserves credit can be said
to have come down to our days. Moreover in this they were alike,
that they did not finish the enterprises they undertook. They brought
their enemies near their ruin, but never entirely conquered them.
There was yet a great conformity in the free good-will and lavish abundance
of their entertainments and general hospitalities, and in the youthful
laxity of their habits. Other points of resemblance, which we have
failed to notice, may be easily collected from our narrative itself.
<<Plut4-110>
Cimon was the son of Miltiades and Hegesipyle, who was by birth a Thracian,
and daughter to the King Olorus, as appears from the poems of Melanthius
and Archelaus, written in praise of Cimon. By this means the historian
Thucydides was his kinsman by the mother's side; for his father's name
also, in remembrance of this common ancestor, was Olorus, and he was the
owner of the gold mines in Thrace, and met his death, it is said, by violence,
in Scapte Hyle, a district of Thrace; and his remains having afterwards
been brought into Attica, a monument is shown as his among those of the
family of Cimon, near the tomb of Elpinice, Cimon's sister. But Thucydides
was of the township of Halimus, and Miltiades and his family were Laciadae.
Miltiades, being condemned in a fine of fifty talents of the state, and
unable to pay it, was cast into prison, and there died. Thus Cimon
was left an orphan very young, with his sister Elpinice, who was also young
and unmarried. And at first he had but an indifferent reputation,
being looked upon as disorderly in his habits, fond of drinking, and resembling
his grandfather, also called Cimon, in character, whose
simplicity+ got him the surname of Coalemus. Stesimbrotus of
Thasos, who lived near about the same time with Cimon, reports of him that
he had little acquaintance either with music, or any of the other liberal
studies and accomplishments, then {Shylock+}
common among the Greeks; that he had nothing whatever of the quickness
and the ready speech of his countrymen in Attica; that he had great nobleness
and candour in his disposition, and in his character in general resembled
rather a native of Peloponnesus than of Athens; as Euripides describes
Hercules-
"----Rude And unrefined, for great things well endued:"
for this may fairly be added to the character which Stesimbrotus has given
of him.
<<Plut4-111>
They accused him, in his younger years, of cohabiting with his own
sister Elpinice, who, indeed, otherwise had no very clear reputation, but
was reported to have been over-intimate with Polygnotus the painter; and
hence, when he painted the Trojan women in the porch, then called the Plesianactium,
and now the Poecile, he made Laodice a portrait of her. Polygnotus
was not an ordinary mechanic, nor was he paid for his work, but out of
a desire to please the Athenians painted the portico for nothing.
So it is stated by the historians, and in the following verses by the poet
Melanthius:-
"Wrought by his hand the deeds of heroes grace
At his own charge our temples and our place."
Some affirm that Elpinice lived with her brother, not secretly, but as
his married wife, her poverty excluding her from any suitable match.
But afterwards, when Callias, one of the richest men of Athens, fell in
love with her, and proffered to pay the fine the father was condemned in,
if he could obtain the daughter in marriage, with Elpinice's own consent,
Cimon betrothed her to Callias. There is no doubt but that Cimon
was, in general, of an amorous temper. For Melanthius, in his elegies,
rallies him on his attachment for Asteria of Salamis, and again for a certain
Mnestra. And there can be no doubt of his unusually passionate affection
for his lawful wife Isodice, the daughter of Euryptolemus, the son of Megacles;
nor of his regret, even to impatience, at her death, if any conclusion
may be drawn from those elegies of condolence, addressed to him upon his
loss of her. The philosopher Panaetius is of opinion that Archelaus,
the writer on physics, was the author of them, and indeed the time seems
to favour that conjecture. All the other points of Cimon's character
were noble and good. He was as daring as Miltiades, and not inferior
to Themistocles in judgment, and was incomparably more
just+ and honest than either of them. Fully their equal in all
military virtues, in the ordinary duties of a citizen at home he was immeasurably
their superior. And this, too, when he was very young, his years
not yet strengthened by any experience. For when Themistocles, upon the
Median invasion, advised the Athenians to forsake their city and their
country, and to carry all their arms on shipboard and fight the enemy by
sea, in the straits of Salamis; when all the people stood amazed at the
confidence and rashness of this advice, Cimon was seen, the first of all
men, passing with a cheerful countenance through the Ceramicus, on his
way with his companions to the citadel, carrying a bridle in his hand to
offer to the goddess, intimating that there was no more need of horsemen
now, but of mariners. There, after he had paid his devotions to the
goddess, and offered up the bridle, he took down one of the bucklers that
hung upon the walls of the temple, and went down to the port; by this example
giving confidence to many of the citizens. He was also of a fairly
handsome person, according to the poet Ion, tall and large, and let his
thick and curly hair grow long. After he had acquitted himself gallantly
in this battle of Salamis, he obtained great repute among the Athenians,
and was regarded with affection, as well as admiration. He had many who
followed after him, and bade him aspire to actions not less famous than
his father's battle of Marathon. And when he came forward in political
life, the people welcomed him gladly, being now weary of Themistocles;
in opposition to whom, and because of the frankness and
easiness+ of his temper, which was agreeable to every one, they advanced
Cimon to the highest employments in the government. The man that
contributed most to his promotion was Aristides, who early discerned in
his character his natural capacity, and purposely raised him, that he might
be a counterpoise to the craft and boldness of Themistocles.
<<Plut4-112>
After the Medes had been driven out of Greece, Cimon was sent out as
an admiral, when the Athenians had not yet attained their dominion by sea,
but still followed Pausanias and the Lacedaemonians; and his fellow-citizens
under his command were highly distinguished, both for the excellence of
their discipline, and for their extraordinary zeal and readiness.
And further, perceiving that Pausanias was carrying on secret communications
with the barbarians, and writing letters to the King of Persia to betray
Greece, and puffed+
up with authority and success, was treating the allies haughtily, and committing
many wanton injustices, Cimon, taking this advantage, by acts of kindness
to those who were suffering wrong, and by his general humane bearing, robbed
him of the command of the Greeks, before he was aware, not by arms, but
by his mere language and character. The greatest part of the allies,
no longer able to endure the harshness and pride of Pausanias, revolted
from him to Cimon and Aristides, who accepted the duty, and wrote to the
Ephors of Sparta, desiring them to recall a man who was causing dishonour
to Sparta and trouble to Greece. They tell of Pausanias, that when he was
in Byzantium, he solicited a young lady of a noble family in the city,
whose name was Cleonice, to debauch her. Her parents, dreading his
cruelty, were forced to consent, and so abandoned their daughter to his
wishes. The daughter asked the servants outside the chamber to put
out all the lights; so that approaching silently and in the dark towards
his bed, she stumbled upon the lamp, which she overturned. Pausanias,
who was fallen asleep, awakened and, startled with the noise, thought an
assassin had taken that dead time of night to murder him, so that hastily
snatching up his poniard that lay by him, he struck the girl, who fell
with the blow, and died. After this, he never had rest, but was continually
haunted by her, and saw an apparition visiting him in his sleep, {Macbeth+}
and addressing him with these angry words:-
"Go on thy way, unto the evil end,
That doth on lust and violence attend."
This was one of the chief occasions of indignation against him among the
confederates, who now, joining their resentments and forces with Cimon's,
besieged him in Byzantium. He escaped out of their hands, and, continuing,
as it is said, to be disturbed by the apparition, fled to the oracle of
the dead at Heraclea, raised the ghost of Cleonice, and entreated her to
be reconciled. Accordingly she appeared to him, and answered that,
as soon as he came to Sparta, he should speedily be freed from all evils;
obscurely foretelling, it would seem, his imminent death. This story
is related by many authors.
<<Plut4-113>
Cimon, strengthened with the accession of the allies, went as general
into Thrace. For he was told that some great men among the Persians,
of the king's kindred, being in possession of Eion, a city situated upon
the river Strymon, infested the neighbouring Greeks. First he defeated
these Persians in battle, and shut them up within the walls of their town.
Then he fell upon the Thracians of the country beyond the Strymon, because
they supplied Eion with victuals, and driving them entirely out of the
country, took possession of it as conqueror, by which means he reduced
the besieged to such straits, that Butes, who commanded there for the king,
in desperation set fire to the town, and burned himself, his goods, and
all his relations, in one common flame. By this means, Cimon got
the town, but no great booty; as the barbarians had not only consumed themselves
in the fire, but the richest of their effects. However, he put the
country about into the hands of the Athenians, a most advantageous and
desirable situation for a settlement. For this action, the people
permitted him to erect the stone Mercuries, upon the first of which was
this inscription:-
"Of bold and patient spirit, too, were those,
Who, where the Strymon under Eion flows,
With famine and the sword, to utmost need,
Reduced at last the children of the Mede."
Upon the second stood this:-
"The Athenians to their leaders this reward
For great and useful service did accord;
Others hereafter shall, from their applause,
Learn to be valiant in their country's cause."
And upon the third the following:-
"With Atreus' sons, this city sent of yore
Divine Menestheus to the Trojan shore;
Of all the Greeks, so Homer's verses say,
The ablest man an army to array:
So old the title of her sons the name
Of chiefs and champions in the field to claim."
<<Plut4-114>
Though the name of Cimon is not mentioned in these inscriptions, yet
his contemporaries considered them to be the very highest honours to him;
as neither Miltiades nor Themistocles ever received the like. When
Miltiades claimed a garland, Sochares of Decelea stood up in the midst
of the assembly and opposed it, using words which, though ungracious, were
received with applause by the people: "When you have gained a victory by
yourself, Miltiades, then you may ask to triumph so too." What then induced
them so particularly to honour Cimon? Was it that under other commanders
they stood upon the defensive? but by his conduct, they not only attacked
their enemies, but invaded them in their own country, and acquired new
territory, becoming masters of Eion and Amphipolis, where they planted
colonies, as also they did in the isle of Scyros, which Cimon had taken
on the following occasion. The Dolopians were the inhabitants of
this isle, a people who neglected all husbandry, and had, for many generations,
been devoted to piracy; this they practised to that degree, that at last
they began to plunder foreigners that brought merchandise into their ports.
Some merchants of Thessaly, who had come to shore near to Ctesium, were
not only spoiled of their goods, but themselves put into confinement.
These men afterwards escaping from their prison, went and obtained sentence
against the Scyrians in a court of Amphictyons, and when the Scyrian people
declined to make public restitution, and called upon the individuals who
had got the plunder to give it up, these persons, in alarm, wrote to Cimon
to succour them, with his fleet, and declared themselves ready to deliver
the town into his hands. Cimon, by these means, got the town, expelled
the Dolopian pirates, and so opened the traffic of the Aegean sea.
And, understanding that the ancient Theseus, the son of Aegeus, when he
fled from Athens and took refuge in this isle, was here treacherously slain
by King Lycomedes, who feared him, Cimon endeavoured to find out where
he was buried. For an oracle had commanded the Athenians to bring
home his ashes, and pay him all due honours as a hero; but hitherto they
had not been able to learn where he was interred, as the people of Scyros
dissembled the knowledge of it, and were not willing to allow a search.
But now, great inquiry being made, with some difficulty he found out the
tomb and carried the relics into his own galley, and with great pomp and
show brought them to Athens, four hundred years, or thereabouts, after
his expulsion. This act got Cimon great favour with the people, one
mark of which was the judgment, afterwards so famous, upon the tragic poets.
Sophocles, still a young man, had just brought forward his first plays;
opinions were much divided, and the spectators had taken sides with some
heat. So, to determine the case, Apsephion, who was at that time
archon, would not cast lots who should be judges; but when Cimon and his
brother commanders with him came into the theatre, after they had performed
the usual rites to the god of the festival, he would not allow them to
retire, but came forward and made them swear (being ten in all, one from
each tribe) the usual oath; and so being sworn judges, he made them sit
down to give sentence. The eagerness for victory grew all the warmer
from the ambition to get the suffrages of such honourable judges.
And the victory was at last adjudged to Sophocles, which Aeschylus is said
to have taken so ill, that he left Athens shortly after, and went in anger
to Sicily, where he died, and was buried near the city of Gela.
<<Plut4-115>
Ion relates that when he was a young man, and recently come from Chios
to Athens, he chanced to sup with Cimon at Laomedon's house. After supper,
when they had, according to custom, poured out wine to the honour of the
gods, Cimon was desired by the company to give them a song, which he did
with sufficient success, and received the commendations of the company,
who remarked on his superiority to Themistocles, who, on a like occasion,
had declared he had never learnt to sing, nor to play, and only knew how
to make a city rich and powerful. After talking of things incident
to such entertainments, they entered upon the particulars of the several
actions for which Cimon had been famous. And when they were mentioning
the most signal, he told them they had omitted one, upon which he valued
himself most for address and good contrivance. He gave this account
of it. When the allies had taken a great number of the barbarians
prisoners in Sestos and Byzantium, they gave him the preference to divide
the booty; he accordingly put the prisoners in one lot, and the spoils
of their rich attire and jewels in the other. This the allies complained
of as an unequal division; but he gave them their choice to take which
lot they would, for that the Athenians should be content with that which
they refused. Herophytus of Samos advised them to take the ornaments
for their share, and leave the slaves to the Athenians; and Cimon went
away, and was much laughed at for his ridiculous division. For the
allies carried away the golden bracelets, and armlets, and collars, and
purple robes, and the Athenians had only the naked bodies of the captives,
which they could make no advantage of, being unused to labour. But
a little while after, the friends and kinsmen of the prisoners coming from
Lydia and Phrygia, redeemed everyone his relations at a high
ransom+; so that by this means Cimon got so much treasure that he maintained
his whole fleet of galleys with the money for four months; and yet there
was some left to lay up in the treasury at Athens.
<<Plut4-116>
Cimon now grew rich, and what he gained from the barbarians with honour,
he spent yet more honourably upon the citizens. For he pulled down all
the enclosures of his gardens and grounds, that strangers, and the needy
of his fellow-citizens, might gather of his fruits freely. At home
he kept a table, plain, but sufficient for a considerable number; to which
any poor townsman had free access, and so might support himself without
labour, with his whole time left free for public duties. Aristotle states,
however, that this reception did not extend to all the Athenians, but only
to his own fellow-townsmen, the Laciadae. Besides this, he always
went attended by two or three young companions, very well clad; and if
he met with an elderly citizen in a poor habit, one of these would change
clothes with the decayed citizen, which was looked upon as very nobly done.
He enjoined them, likewise, to carry a considerable quantity of coin about
them, which they were to convey silently into the hands of the better class
of poor men, as they stood by them in the market-place. This, Cratinus
the poet speaks of in one of his comedies, the Archilochi -
"For I, Metrobius too, the scrivener poor,
Of ease and comfort in my age secure
By Greece's noblest son in life's decline,
Cimon, the generous-hearted, the divine,
Well-fed and feasted hoped till death to be,
Death which, alas! has taken him ere me."
<<Plut4-117>
Gorgias the Leontine gives him this character, that he got riches that
he might use them, and used them that he might get honour by them. {liberality+}
And Critias, one of the thirty tyrants, makes it, in his elegies, his wish
to have -
"The Scopads' wealth, and Cimon's nobleness,
And King Agesilaus's success."
<<Plut4-118>
Lichas, we know, became famous in Greece, only because on the days
of the sports, when the young boys run naked, he used to entertain the
strangers that came to see these diversions. But Cimon's generosity
outdid all the old Athenian hospitality and
good_nature+. For though it is the city's just boast that their
forefathers taught the rest of Greece to sow corn, and how to use springs
of water, and to kindle fire, yet Cimon, by keeping open house for his
fellow-citizens, and giving travellers liberty to eat the fruits which
the several seasons produced in his land, seemed to restore to the world
that community of goods, which mythology says existed in the reign of Saturn. {common+}
Those who object to him, that he did this to be popular and gain the applause
of the vulgar, are confuted by the constant tenor of the rest of his actions,
which all tended to uphold the interests of the nobility and the Spartan
policy, of which he gave instances, when together with Aristides he opposed
Themistocles, who was advancing the authority of the people beyond its
just limits, and resisted Ephialtes, who, to please the multitude, was
for abolishing the jurisdiction of the court of Areopagus. And when
all of this time, except Aristides and Ephialtes, enriched themselves out
of the public money, he still kept his hands clean and untainted, and to
his last day never acted or spoke for his own private gain or emolument.
They tell us that Rhoesaces, a Persian, who had traitorously revolted from
the king his master, fled to Athens, and there, being harassed by sycophants,
who were still accusing him to the people, he applied himself to Cimon
for redress, and, to gain his favour, laid down in his doorway two cups,
the one full of gold and the other of silver Darics. Cimon smiled
and asked him whether he wished to have Cimon's hired service or his friendship.
He replied, his friendship. "If so," said he, "take away these pieces,
for, being your friend, when I shall have occasion for them, I will send
and ask for them."{common+}
<<Plut4-119>
The allies of the Athenians began now to be weary of war and military
service, willing to have repose, and to look after their husbandry and
traffic. For they saw their enemies driven out of the country, and
did not fear any new vexations from them. They still paid the tax
they were assessed at, but did not send men and galleys, as they had done
before. This the other Athenian generals wished to constrain them
to, and by judicial proceedings against defaulters, and penalties which
they inflicted on them, made the government uneasy, and even odious.
But Cimon practised a contrary method; he forced no man to go that was
not willing, but of those that desired to be excused from service he took
money and vessels unmanned, and let them yield to the temptation of staying
at home, to attend to their private business. Thus they lost their
military habits and luxury, and their own folly quickly changed them into
unwarlike husbandmen and traders; while Cimon, continually embarking large
numbers of Athenians on board his galleys, thoroughly disciplined them
in his expeditions, and ere long made them the lords of their own paymasters.
The allies, whose indolence maintained them, while they thus went sailing
about everywhere, and incessantly bearing arms and acquiring skill, began
to fear and flatter them, and found themselves after a while allies no
longer, but unwittingly become tributaries and slaves.
<<Plut4-120>
Nor did any man ever do more than Cimon did to humble the pride of
the Persian king. He was not content with getting rid of him out
of Greece; but following close at his heels, before the barbarians could
take breath and recover themselves, he was already at work, and what with
his devastations, and his forcible reduction of some places, and the revolts
and voluntary accession of others, in the end, from Ionia to Pamphylia,
all Asia was clear of Persian soldiers. Word being brought him that
the royal commanders were lying in wait upon the coast of Pamphylia with
a numerous land army and a large fleet, he determined to make the whole
sea on his side the Chelidonian islands so formidable to them that they
should never dare to show themselves in it; and setting off from Cnidos
and the Triopian headland with two hundred galleys, which had been originally
built with particular care by Themistocles, for speed and rapid evolutions,
and to which he now gave greater width and roomier decks along the sides
to move to and fro upon, so as to allow a great number of full- armed soldiers
to take part in the engagements and fight from them, he shaped his course
first of all against the town of Phaselis, which though inhabited by Greeks,
yet would not quit the interests of Persia, but denied his galleys entrance
into their port. Upon this he wasted the country, and drew up his
army to their very walls; but the soldiers of Chios, who were then serving
under him, being ancient friends to the Phaselites, endeavouring to propitiate
the general in their behalf, at the same time shot arrows into the town,
to which were fastened letters conveying intelligence. At length
he concluded peace with them, upon the conditions that they should pay
down ten talents, and follow him against the barbarians. Ephorus
says the admiral of the Persian fleet was Tithraustes, and the general
of the land army Pherendates; but Callisthenes is positive that Ariomandes,
the son of Gobryas, had the supreme command of all the forces. He
lay waiting with the whole fleet at the mouth of the river Eurymedon, with
no design to fight, but expecting a reinforcement of eighty Phoenician
ships on their way from Cyprus. Cimon, aware of this, put out to
sea, resolved, if they would not fight a battle willingly, to force them
to it. The barbarians, seeing this, retired within the mouth of the
river to avoid being attacked; but when they saw the Athenians come upon
them, notwithstanding their retreat, they met them with six hundred ships,
as Phanodemus relates, but, according to Ephorus, only with three hundred
and fifty. However, they did nothing worthy such mighty forces, but
immediately turned the prows of their galleys toward the shore, where those
that came first threw themselves upon the land, and fled to their army
drawn up thereabout, while the rest perished with their vessel or were
taken. By this, one may guess at their number, for though a great
many escaped out of the fight, and a great many others were sunk, yet two
hundred galleys were taken by the Athenians.
<<Plut4-121>
When their land army drew toward the seaside, Cimon was in suspense
whether he should venture to try and force his way on shore; as he should
thus expose his Greeks, wearied with slaughter in the first engagement,
to the swords of the barbarians, who were all fresh men, and many times
their number. But seeing his men resolute, and flushed with victory,
he bade them land, though they were not yet cool from their first battle.
As soon as they touched ground, they set up a shout and ran upon the enemy,
who stood firm and sustained the first shock with great courage, so that
the fight was a hard one, and some principal men of the Athenians in rank
and courage were slain. At length, though with much ado, they routed
the barbarians, and killing some, took others prisoners, and plundered
all their tents and pavilions, which were full of rich spoil. Cimon,
like a skilled athlete at the games, having in one day carried off two
victories wherein he surpassed that of Salamis by sea and that of Plataea
by land, was encouraged to try for yet another success. News being
brought that the Phoenician succours, in number eighty sail, had come in
sight at Hydrum, he set off with all speed to find them, while they as
yet had not received any certain account of the larger fleet, and were
in doubt what to think; so that, thus surprised, they lost all their vessels
and most of their men with them. This success of Cimon so daunted
the King of Persia that he presently made that celebrated peace, by which
he engaged that his armies should come no nearer the Grecian sea than the
length of a horse's course, and that none of his galleys or vessels of
war should appear between the Cyanean and Chelidonian isles. Callisthenes,
however, says that he did not agree to any such articles, but that, upon
the fear this victory gave him, he did in reality thus act, and kept off
so far from Greece, that when Pericles with fifty and Ephialtes with thirty
galleys cruised beyond the Chelidonian isles, they did not discover one
Persian vessel. But in the collection which Craterus made of the
public acts of the people, there is a draft of this treaty given.
And it is told, also, that at Athens they erected the altar of Peace upon
this occasion, and decreed particular honours to Callias, who was employed
as ambassador to procure the treaty.
<<Plut4-122>
The people of Athens raised so much money from the spoils of this war,
which were publicly sold, that besides other expenses, and raising the
south wall of the citadel, they laid the foundation of the long walls,
not, indeed, finished till at a later time, which were called the Legs.
And the place where they built them being soft and marshy ground, they
were forced to sink great weights of stone and rubble to secure the foundation,
and did all this out of the money Cimon supplied them with. It was he,
likewise, who first embellished the upper city with those fine and ornamental
places of exercise and resort, which they afterwards so much frequented
and delighted in. He set the market-place with plane-trees; and theAcademy+,
which was before a bare, dry, and dirty spot, he converted into a well-watered
grove, with shady alleys to walk in, and open courses for races.
<<Plut4-123>
When the Persians who had made themselves masters of the Chersonese,
so far from quitting it, called in the people of the interior of Thrace
to help them against Cimon, whom they despised for the smallness of his
forces, he set upon them with only four galleys, and took thirteen of theirs;
and having driven out the Persians, and subdued the Thracians, he made
the whole Chersonese the property of Athens. Next he attacked the
people of Thasos, who had revolted from the Athenians; and, having defeated
them in a fight at sea, where he took thirty-three of their vessels, he
took their town by siege, and acquired for the Athenians all the mines
of gold on the opposite coast, and the territory dependent on Thasos.
This opened him a fair passage into Macedon, so that he might, it was thought,
have acquired a good portion of that country; and because he neglected
the opportunity, he was suspected of corruption, and of having been bribed
off by King Alexander. So, by the combination of his adversaries,
he was accused of being false to his country. In his defence he told
the judges that he had always shown himself in his public life the friend,
not, like other men, of rich Ionians and Thessalians, to be courted, and
to receive presents, but of the Lacedaemonians; for as he admired, so he
wished to imitate, the plainness of their habits, their temperance, and
simplicity of living, which he preferred to any sort of riches: but that
he always had been, and still was, proud to enrich his country with the
spoils of her enemies. Stesimbrotus, making mention of this trial,
states that Elpinice, in behalf of her brother, addressed herself to Pericles,
the most vehement of his accusers, to whom Pericles answered, with a smile,
"You are old, Elpinice, to meddle with affairs of this nature." However,
he proved the mildest of his prosecutors, and rose up but once all the
while, almost as a matter of form, to plead against him. Cimon was
acquitted.
<<Plut4-124>
<<PLUT4-124>
In his public life after this he continued, whilst at home, to control
and restrain the common people, who would have trampled upon the nobility.
and drawn all the power and sovereignty to themselves. But when he afterwards
was sent out to war, the multitude broke loose, as it were, and overthrew
all the ancient laws and customs they had hitherto observed, and, chiefly
at the instigation of Ephialtes, withdrew the cognisance of almost all
causes from the Areopagus; so that all jurisdiction now being transferred
to them, the government was reduced to a perfect democracy, and this by
the help of Pericles, who was already powerful, and had pronounced in favour
of the common people. Cimon, when he returned, seeing the authority
of this great council so upset, was exceedingly troubled, and endeavoured
to remedy these disorders by bringing the courts of law to their former
state, and restoring the old aristocracy of the time of Clisthenes.
This the others declaimed against with all the vehemence possible, and
began to revive those stories concerning him and his sister, and cried
out against him as the partisan of the Lacedaemonians. To these calumnies
the famous verses of Eupolis the poet upon Cimon refer:-
"He was as good as others that one sees,
But he was fond of drinking and of ease;
And would at nights to Sparta often roam,
Leaving his sister desolate at home."
<<PLUT4-125>
But if, though slothful and a drunkard, he could capture so many towns
and gain so many victories, certainly if he had been sober and minded his
business, there had been no Grecian commander, either before or after him,
that could have surpassed him for exploits of war.
<<PLUT4-126>
He was, indeed, a favourer of the Lacedaemonians, even from his youth,
and he gave the names of Lacedaemonius and Eleus to two sons, twins, whom
he had, as Stesimbrotus says, by a woman of Clitorium, whence Pericles
often upbraided them with their mother's blood. But Diodorus the
geographer asserts that both these, and another son of Cimon's, whose name
was Thessalus, were born of Isodice, the daughter of Euryptolemus, the
son of Megacles.
<<PLUT4-127>
However, this is certain, that Cimon was countenanced by the Lacedaemonians
in opposition to Themistocles, whom they disliked; and while he was yet
very young, they endeavoured to raise and increase his credit in Athens.
This the Athenians perceived at first with pleasure, and the favour the
Lacedaemonians showed him was in various ways advantageous to them and
their affairs; as at that time they were just rising to power, and were
occupied in winning the allies to their side. So they seemed not
at all offended with the honour and kindness shown to Cimon, who then had
the chief management of all the affairs of Greece, and was acceptable to
the Lacedaemonians, and courteous to the allies. But afterwards the
Athenians, grown more powerful, when they saw Cimon so entirely devoted
to the Lacedaemonians, began to be angry, for he would always in his speeches
prefer them to the Athenians, and upon every occasion, when he would reprimand
them for a fault, or incite them to emulation, he would exclaim, "The Lacedaemonians
would not do thus." This raised the discontent, and got him in some degree
the hatred of the citizens; but that which ministered chiefly to the accusation
against him fell out upon the following occasion.
<<PLUT4-128>
In the fourth year of the reign of Archidamus, the son of Zeuxidamus,
King of Sparta, there happened in the country of Lacedaemon the greatest
earthquake that was known in the memory of man; the earth opened into chasms,
and the mountain Taygetus was so shaken, that some of the rocky points
of it fell down, and except five houses, all the town of Sparta was shattered
to pieces. They say that a little before any motion was perceived,
as the young men and the boys just grown up were exercising themselves
together in the middle of the portico, a hare, of a sudden, started out
just by them, which the young men, though all naked and daubed with oil,
ran after for sport. No sooner were they gone from the place, than
the gymnasium fell down upon the boys who had stayed behind, and killed
them all. Their tomb is to this day called Sismatias. Archidamus,
by the present danger made apprehensive of what might follow, and seeing
the citizens intent upon removing the most valuable of their goods out
of their houses, commanded an alarm to be sounded, as if an enemy were
coming upon them, in order that they should collect about him in a body,
with arms. It was this alone that saved Sparta at that time, for
the Helots were got together from the country about, with design to surprise
the Spartans, and overpower those whom the earthquake had spared.
But finding them armed and well prepared, they retired into the towns and
openly made war with them, gaining over a number of the Laconians of the
country districts; while at the same time the Messenians, also, made an
attack upon the Spartans, who therefore despatched Periclidas to Athens
to solicit succours, of whom Aristophanes says in mockery that he came
and-
"In a red jacket, at the altars seated,
With a white face, for men and arms entreated."
<<PLUT4-129>
This Ephialtes opposed, protesting that they ought not to raise up
or assist a city that was a rival to Athens; but that being down, it were
best to keep her so, and let the pride and arrogance of Sparta be trodden
under. But Cimon, as Critias says, preferring the safety of Lacedaemon
to the aggrandisement of his own country, so persuaded the people, that
he soon marched out with a large army to their relief. Ion records,
also, the most successful expression which he used to move the Athenians.
"They ought not to suffer Greece to be lamed, nor their own city to be
deprived of her yoke-fellow."
<<PLUT4-130>
In his return from aiding the Lacedaemonians, he passed with his army
through the territory of Corinth; whereupon Lachartus reproached him for
bringing his army into the country without first asking leave of the people.
For he that knocks at another man's door ought not to enter the house till
the master gives him leave. "But you Corinthians, O Lachartus," said Cimon,
"did not knock at the gates of the Cleonaeans and Megarians, but broke
them down, and entered by force, thinking that all places should be open
to the stronger." And having thus rallied the Corinthian, he passed on
with his army. Some time after this, the Lacedaemonians sent a second
time to desire succours of the Athenians against the Messenians and Helots,
who had seized upon Ithome. But when they came, fearing their boldness
and gallantry, of all that came to their assistance, they sent them only
back, alleging they were designing innovations. The Athenians returned
home, enraged at this usage, and vented their anger upon all those who
were favourers of the Lacedaemonians, and seizing some slight occasion,
they banished Cimon for ten years, which is the time prescribed to those
that are banished by the ostracism. In the meantime, the Lacedaemonians,
on their return after freeing Delphi from the Phocians, encamped their
army at Tanagra, whither the Athenians presently marched with design to
fight them.
<<PLUT4-131>
Cimon, also, came thither armed, and ranged himself among those of
his own tribe which was the Oeneis, desirous of fighting with the rest
against the Spartans; but the council of five hundred being informed of
this, and frighted at it, his adversaries crying out he would disorder
the army, and bring the Lacedaemonians to Athens, commanded the officers
not to receive him. Wherefore Cimon left the army, conjuring Euthippus,
the Anaphlystian, and the rest of his companions, who were most suspected
as favouring the Lacedaemonians, to behave themselves bravely against their
enemies, and by their actions make their innocence evident to their countrymen.
These, being in all a hundred, took the arms of Cimon, and followed his
advice; and making a body by themselves, fought so desperately with the
enemy, that they were all cut off, leaving the Athenians deep regret for
the loss of such brave men, and repentance for having so unjustly suspected
them. Accordingly, they did not long retain their severity toward
Cimon, partly upon remembrance of his former services, and partly, perhaps,
induced by the juncture of the times. For being defeated at Tanagra
in a great battle, and fearing the Peloponnesians would come upon them
at the opening of the spring, they recalled Cimon by a decree, of which
Pericles himself was author. So reasonable were men's resentments
in those times, and so moderate their anger, that it always gave way to
the public good. Even ambition+,
the least governable of all human passions, could then yield to the necessities
of the state.
<<PLUT4-132>
Cimon, as soon as he returned, put an end to the war, and reconciled
the two cities. Peace thus established, seeing the Athenians impatient
of being {Hen4+} idle, and eager after
the honour and aggrandisement of war, lest they should set upon the Greeks
themselves, or with so many ships cruising about the isles and Peloponnesus
they should give occasions to intestine wars, or complaining of their allies
against them, he equipped two hundred galleys, with design to make an attempt
upon Egypt and Cyprus; purposing, by this means, to accustom the Athenians
to fight against the barbarians, and enrich themselves honestly by spoiling
those who were the natural enemies of Greece. But when all things
were prepared, and the army ready to embark, Cimon had this dream.
It seemed to him that there was a furious bitch barking at him, and mixed
with the barking a kind of human voice uttered these words:-
"Come on, for thou shalt shortly be,
A pleasure to my whelps and me."
This dream was hard to interpret, yet Astyphilus of Posidonia, a man skilled
in divinations, and intimate with Cimon, told him that his death was presaged
by this vision, which he thus explained. A dog is enemy to him he
barks at; and one is always most a pleasure to one's enemies when one is
dead; the mixture of human voice with barking signifies the Medes, for
the army of the Medes is mixed up of Greeks and barbarians. After
this dream, as he was sacrificing to Bacchus, and the priest cutting up
the victim, a number of ants, taking up the congealed particles of the
blood, laid them about Cimon's great toe. This was not observed for
a good while, but at the very time when Cimon spied it, the priest came
and showed him the liver of the sacrifice imperfect, wanting that part
of it called the head. But he could not then recede from the enterprise,
so he set sail. Sixty of his ships he sent toward Egypt; with the
rest he went and fought the King of Persia's fleet, composed of Phoenician
and Cilician galleys, recovered all the cities thereabout, and threatened
Egypt; designing no less than the entire ruin of the Persian empire.
And the rather, for that he was informed Themistocles was in great repute
among the barbarians, having promised the king to lead his army, whenever
he should make war upon Greece. But Themistocles, it is said, abandoning
all hopes of compassing his designs, very much out of the despair of overcoming
the valour and good fortune of Cimon, died a voluntary death. Cimon,
intent on great designs, which he was now to enter upon, keeping his navy
about the isle of Cyprus, sent messengers to consult the oracle of Jupiter
Ammon upon some secret matter. For it is not known about what they were
sent, and the god would give them no answer, but commanded them to return
again, for that Cimon was already with him. Hearing this, they returned
to sea, and as soon as they came to the Grecian army, which was then about
Egypt, they understood that Cimon was dead; and computing the time of the
oracle, they found that his death had been signified, he being then already
with the gods.
<<PLUT4-133>
He died, some say, of sickness, while besieging Citium, in Cyprus;
according to others, of a wound he received in a skirmish with the barbarians.
When he perceived he should die he commanded those under his charge to
return, and by no means to let the news of his death be known by the way;
this they did with such secrecy that they all came home safe, and neither
their enemies nor the allies knew what had happened. Thus, as Phanodemus
relates, the Grecian army was, as it were, conducted by Cimon thirty days
after he was dead. But after his death there was not one commander
among the Greeks that did anything considerable against the barbarians,
and instead of uniting against their common enemies, the popular leaders
and partisans of war animated them against one another to that degree,
that none could interpose their good offices to reconcile them. And while,
by their mutual discord, they ruined the power of Greece, they gave the
Persians time to recover breath, and repair all their losses. It is true,
indeed, Agesilaus carried the arms of Greece into Asia, but it was a long
time after; there were, indeed, some brief appearances of a war against
the king's lieutenants in the maritime provinces, but they all quickly
vanished; before he could perform anything of moment, he was recalled by
fresh civil dissensions and disturbances at home. So that he was
forced to leave the Persian king's officers to impose what tribute they
pleased on the Greek cities in Asia, the confederates and allies of the
Lacedaemonians. Whereas, in the time of Cimon, not so much as a letter-carrier,
or a single horseman, was ever seen to come within four hundred furlongs
of the sea.
<<PLUT4-133>
The monuments, called Cimonian to this day, in Athens, show that his
remains were conveyed home, yet the inhabitants of the city Citium pay
particular honour to a certain tomb which they call the tomb of Cimon,
according to Nausicrates the rhetorician, who states that in a time of
famine, when the crops of their land all failed, they sent to the oracle,
which commanded them not to forget Cimon, but give him the honours of a
superior being. Such was the Greek commander.
<<PLUT4-134>
~Lucullus+
The grandfather of Lucullus had been consul; his uncle by the mother's
side was Metellus, surnamed Numidicus. As for his parents, his father
was convicted of extortion, and his mother Caecilia's reputation was bad.
The first thing that Lucullus did before ever he stood for any office,
or meddled with the affairs of state, being then but a youth, was to accuse
the accuser of his father, Servilius the augur, having caught him in offence
against the state. This thing was much taken notice of among the
Romans, who commended it as an act of high merit. Even without the
provocation the accusation was esteemed no unbecoming action, for they
delighted to see young men as eagerly attacking injustice as good dogs
do wild beasts. But when great animosities ensued, insomuch that
some were wounded and killed in the fray, Servilius escaped. Lucullus
followed his studies and became a competent speaker, in both Greek and
Latin, insomuch that Sylla, when composing the commentaries of his own
life and actions, dedicated them to him, as one who could have performed
the task better himself. His speech was not only elegant and ready
for purposes of mere business, like the ordinary oratory which will in
the public market-place -
"Lash as a wounded tunny does the sea,"
but on every other occasion shows itself-
"Dried up and perished with the want of wit;"
but even in his younger days he addicted himself to the study, simply for
its own sake, of the liberal_arts+;
and when advanced in years, after a life of conflicts, he gave his mind,
as it were, its liberty, to enjoy in full leisure the refreshment of philosophy;
and summoning up his contemplative faculties, administered a timely check,
after his difference with Pompey, to his feelings of emulation and ambition.
Besides what has been said of his love of learning already, one instance
more was, that in his youth, upon a suggestion of writing the Marsian war
in Greek and Latin verse and prose, arising out of some pleasantry that
passed into a serious proposal, he agreed with Hortensius the lawyer and
Sisenna the historian, that he would take his lot; and it seems that the
lot directed him to the Greek tongue, for a Greek history of that war is
still extant.
<<PLUT4-135>
Among the many signs of the great love which he bore to his brother
Marcus, one in particular is commemorated by the Romans. Though he was
elder brother+, he would not step into authority
without him, but deferred his own advance until his brother was qualified
to bear a share with him, and so won upon the people as, when absent, to
be chosen Aedile with him.
<<PLUT4-137>
He gave many and early proofs of his valour and conduct in the Marsian
war, and was admired by Sylla for his
constancy+ and mildness, and always employed in affairs of importance,
especially in the mint; most of the money for carrying on the Mithridatic
war being coined by him in Peloponnesus, which, by the soldiers' wants,
was brought into rapid circulation and long continued current under the
name of Lucullean coin. After this, when Sylla conquered Athens,
and was victorious by land but found the supplies for his army cut off,
the enemy being master at sea, Lucullus was the man whom he sent into Libya
and Egypt to procure him shipping. It was the depth of winter when
he ventured with but three small Greek vessels, and as many Rhodian galleys,
not only into the main sea, but also among multitudes of vessels belonging
to the enemies who were cruising about as absolute masters. Arriving
at Crete he gained it, and finding the Cyrenians harassed by long tyrannies
and wars, he composed their troubles, and settled their government; putting
the city in mind of that saying which Plato once had oracularly uttered
of them, who, being requested to prescribe laws to them, and mould them
into some sound form of government, made answer that it was a hard thing
to give laws to the Cyrenians, abounding, as they did, in wealth and plenty.
For nothing is more intractable than man when in felicity, nor anything
more docile, when he has been reduced and humbled by fortune. This
made the Cyrenians so willingly submit to the laws which Lucullus imposed
upon them. From thence sailing into Egypt, and pressed by pirates,
he lost most of his vessels; but he himself narrowly escaping, made a magnificent
entry into Alexandria. The whole fleet, a compliment due only to royalty,
met him in full array, and the young Ptolemy showed wonderful kindness
to him, appointing him lodging and diet in the palace, where no foreign
commander before him had been received. Besides, he gave him gratuities
and presents, not such as were usually given to men of his condition, but
four times as much; of which, however, he took nothing more than served
his necessity and accepted of no gift, though what was worth eighty talents
was offered him. {poverty+}
It is reported he neither went to see Memphis, nor any of the celebrated
wonders of Egypt. It was for a man of no business and much curiosity
to see such things, not for him who had left his commander in the field
lodging under the ramparts of his enemies.
<<PLUT4-138>
Ptolemy, fearing the issue of that war, deserted the confederacy, but
nevertheless sent a convoy with him as far as Cyprus, and at parting, with
much ceremony, wishing him a good voyage, gave him a very precious emerald
set in gold. Lucullus at first refused it, but when the king showed
him his own likeness cut upon it, he thought he could not persist in a
denial, for had he parted with such open offence, it might have endangered
his passage. Drawing a considerable squadron together, which he summoned
as he sailed by out of all the maritime towns except those suspected of
piracy, he sailed for Cyprus, and there understanding that the enemy lay
in wait under the promontories for him, he laid up his fleet, and sent
to the cities to send in provisions for his wintering among them.
But when time served, he launched his ships suddenly, and went off and
hoisting all his sails in the night, while he kept them down in the day,
thus came safe to Rhodes. Being furnished with ships at Rhodes, he
also prevailed upon the inhabitants of Cos and Cnidus to leave the king's
side, and join in an expedition against the Samians. Out of Chios
he himself drove the king's party, and set the Colophonians at liberty,
having seized Epigonus the tyrant, who oppressed them.
<<PLUT4-139>
About this time Mithridates left Pergamus, and retired to Pitane, where
being closely besieged by Fimbria on the land, and not daring to engage
with so bold and victorious a commander, he was concerting means for escape
by sea, and sent for all his fleets from every quarter to attend him.
Which when Fimbria perceived, having no ships of his own, he sent to Lucullus,
entreating him to assist him with his, in subduing the most odious and
warlike of kings, lest the opportunity of humbling Mithridates, the prize
which the Romans had pursued with so much blood and trouble, should now
at last be lost, when he was within the net and easily to be taken.
And were he caught, no one would be more highly commended than Lucullus,
who stopped his passage and seized him in his flight. Being driven
from the land by the one, and met in the sea by the other, he would give
matter of renown and glory to them both, and the much applauded actions
of Sylla at Orchomenus and about Chaeronea would no longer be thought of
by the Romans. The proposal was no unreasonable thing; it being obvious
to all men, that if Lucullus had hearkened to Fimbria, and with his navy,
which was then near at hand, had blocked up the haven, the war soon had
been brought to an end, and infinite numbers of mischiefs prevented thereby.
But he, whether from the sacredness of friendship+
between himself and Sylla, reckoning all other considerations of public
or of private advantage inferior to it, or out of detestation of the wickedness
of Fimbria, whom he abhorred for advancing himself by the late death of
his friend and the general of the army, or by a divine fortune sparing
Mithridates then, that he might have him an adversary for a time to come,
for whatever reason, refused to comply, and suffered Mithridates to escape
and laugh at the attempts of Fimbria. He himself alone first, near
Lectum, in Troas, in a sea-fight, overcame the king's ships; and afterwards,
discovering Neoptolemus lying in wait for him near Tenedos, with a greater
fleet, he went aboard a Rhodian quinquereme galley, commanded by Damagoras,
a man of great experience at sea, and friendly to the Romans, and sailed
before the rest. Neoptolemus made up furiously at him, and commanded
the master, with all imaginable might, to charge; but Damagoras, fearing
the bulk and massy stem of the admiral, thought it dangerous to meet him
prow to prow, and, rapidly wheeling round, bid his men back water, and
so received him astern; in which place, though violently borne upon, he
received no manner of harm, the blow being defeated by falling on those
parts of the ship which lay under water. By which time, the rest
of the fleet coming up to him, Lucullus gave order to turn again, and vigorously
falling upon the enemy, put them to flight, and pursued Neoptolemus.
After this he came to Sylla, in Chersonesus, as he was preparing to pass
the strait, and brought timely assistance for the safe transportation of
the army.
<<PLUT4-140>
<<Plut4-140>
Peace being presently made, Mithridates sailed off to the Euxine sea,
but Sylla taxed the inhabitants of Asia twenty thousand talents, and ordered
Lucullus to gather and coin the money. And it was no small comfort
to the cities under Sylla's severity, that a man of not only
incorrupt+ and just behaviour, but also of moderation, should be employed
in so heavy and odious an office. The Mitylenaeans, who absolutely
revolted, he was willing should return to their duty, and submit to a moderate
penalty for the offence they had given in the case of Marius. But
finding them bent upon their own destruction, he came up to them, defeated
them at sea, blocked them up in their city and besieged them; then sailing
off from them openly in the day to Elaea, he returned privately, and posting
an ambush near the city, lay quiet himself. And on the Mitylenaeans
coming out eagerly and in disorder to plunder the deserted camp, he fell
upon them, took many of them, and slew five hundred, who stood upon their
defence. He gained six thousand slaves and a very rich booty.
<<Plut4-141>
He was no way engaged in the great and general troubles of Italy which
Sylla and Marius created, a happy providence at that time detaining him
in Asia upon business. He was as much in Sylla's favour, however,
as any of his other friends; Sylla, as was said before, dedicated his Memoirs
to him as a token of kindness, and at his death, passing by Pompey, made
him guardian to his son; which seems, indeed, to have been the rise of
the quarrel and jealousy between them two, being both young men, and passionate
for honour.
<<Plut4-142>
A little after Sylla's death, he was made consul with Marcus Cotta,
about the one hundred and seventy-sixth Olympiad. The Mithridatic
war being then under debate, Marcus declared that it was not finished,
but only respited for a time, and therefore, upon choice of provinces,
the lot falling to Lucullus to have Gaul within the Alps, a province where
no great action was to be done, he was ill-pleased. But chiefly,
the success of Pompey in Spain fretted him, as, with the renown he got
there, if the Spanish war were finished in time, he was likely to be chosen
general before any one else against Mithridates. So that when Pompey
sent for money, and signified by letter that, unless it were sent him,
he would leave the country and Sertorius, and bring his forces home to
Italy, Lucullus most zealously supported his request, to prevent any pretence
of his returning home during his own consulship; for all things would have
been at his disposal, at the head of so great an army. For Cethegus,
the most influential popular leader at that time, owing to his always both
acting and speaking to please the people, had, as it happened, a hatred
to Lucullus, who had not concealed his disgust at his debauched, insolent,
and lawless life. Lucullus, therefore, was at open warfare with him.
And Lucius Quintius, also, another demagogue, who was taking steps against
Sylla's constitution, and endeavouring to put things out of order, by private
exhortations and public admonitions he checked in his designs, and repressed
his ambition, wisely and safely remedying a great evil at the very outset.
<<Plut4-143>
At this time news came that Octavius, the governor of Cilicia, was
dead, and many were eager for the place, courting Cethegus, as the man
best able to serve them. Lucullus set little value upon Cilicia itself,
no otherwise than as he thought, by his acceptance of it, no other man
besides himself might be employed in the war against Mithridates, by reason
of its nearness to Cappadocia. This made him strain every effort
that that province might be allotted to himself, and to none other; which
led him at last into an expedient not so honest or commendable, as it was
serviceable for compassing his design, submitting to necessity against
his own inclination. There was one Praecia, a celebrated wit and
beauty, but in other respects nothing better than an ordinary harlot; who,
however, to the charms of her person adding the reputation of one that
loved and served her friends, by making use of those who visited her to
assist their designs and promote their interests, had thus gained great
power. She had seduced Cethegus, the first man at that time in reputation
and authority of all the city, and enticed him to her love, and so had
made all authority follow her. For nothing of moment was done in
which Cethegus was not concerned, and nothing by Cethegus without Praecia.
This woman Lucullus gained to his side by gifts and flattery (and a great
price it was in itself to so stately and magnificent a dame, to be seen
engaged in the same cause with Lucullus), and thus he presently found Cethegus
his friend, using his utmost interest to procure Cilicia for him; which
when once obtained, there was no more need of applying himself either of
Praecia or Cethegus; for all unanimously voted him to the Mithridatic war,
by no hands likely to be so successfully managed as his. Pompey was
still contending with Sertorius, and Metellus by age unfit for service;
which two alone were the competitors who could prefer any claim with Lucullus
for that command. Cotta, his colleague, after much ado in the senate,
was sent away with a fleet to guard the Propontis, and defend Bithynia.
<<Plut4-144>
Lucullus carried with him a legion under his own orders, and crossed
over into Asia and took the command of the forces there, composed of men
who were all thoroughly disabled by dissoluteness and rapine, and the Fimbrians,
as they were called, utterly unmanageable by long want of any sort of discipline.{Falstaff+}
For these were they who under Fimbria had slain Flaccus, the consul and
general, and afterwards betrayed Fimbria to Sylla; a willful and lawless
set of men, but warlike, expert and hardy in the field. Lucullus
in a short time took down the courage of these, and disciplined the others,
who then first, in all probability, knew what a true commander and governor
was; whereas in former times they had been courted to service, and took
up arms at nobody's command, but their own wills.
<<Plut4-145>
The enemy's provisions for war stood thus: Mithridates, like
the Sophists, boastful and haughty at first, set upon the Romans, with
a very inefficient army, such, indeed, as made a good show, but was nothing
for use; but being shamefully routed, and taught a lesson for a second
engagement, he reduced his forces to a proper, serviceable shape. Dispensing
with the mixed multitudes, and the noisy menaces of barbarous tribes of
various languages, and with the ornaments of gold and precious stones,
a greater temptation to the victors than security to the bearers, he gave
his men broad swords like the Romans', and massy shields; chose horses
better for service than show, drew up an hundred and twenty thousand foot
in the figure of the Roman phalanx, and had sixteen thousand horse, besides
chariots armed with scythes, no less than a hundred. Besides which,
he set out a fleet not at all cumbered with gilded cabins, luxurious baths,
and women's furniture, but stored with weapons and darts, and other necessaries,
and thus made a descent upon Bithynia. Not only did these parts willingly
receive him again, but almost all Asia regarded him as their salvation
from the intolerable miseries which they were suffering from the Romanmoney_lenders+
and revenue farmers. These, afterwards, who like harpies stole away
their very nourishment, Lucullus drove away, and at this time, by reproving
them, did what he could to make them more moderate, and to prevent a general
secession, then breaking out in all parts. While Lucullus was detained
in rectifying these matters, Cotta, finding affairs ripe for action, prepared
for battle with Mithridates; and news coming from all hands that Lucullus
had already entered Phrygia, on his march against the enemy, he, thinking
he had a triumph all but actually in his hands, lest his colleague should
share in the glory of it, hasted to battle without him. But being
routed, both by sea and land, he lost sixty ships with their men, and four
thousand foot, and himself was forced into and besieged in Chalcedon, there
waiting for relief from Lucullus. There were those about Lucullus
who would have had him leave Cotta, and go forward, in hope of surprising
the defenceless kingdom of Mithridates. And this was the feeling
of the soldiers in general, who were indignant that Cotta should by his
ill-counsel not only lose his own army, but hinder them also from conquest,
which at that time, without the hazard of a battle, they might have obtained.
But Lucullus, in a public address, declared to them that he would rather
save one citizen from the enemy, than be master of all that they had.
<<Plut4-146>
Archelaus, the former commander in Boeotia under Mithridates, who afterwards
deserted him and accompanied the Romans, protested to Lucullus that, upon
his bare coming, he would possess himself of all Pontus. But he answered,
that it did not become him to be more cowardly than huntsmen, to leave
the wild beasts abroad and seek after sport in their deserted dens.
Having so said, he made towards Mithridates with thirty thousand foot and
two thousand five hundred horse. But on being come in sight of his
enemies, he was astonished at their numbers, and thought to forbear fighting,
and wear out time. But Marius, whom Sertorius had sent out of Spain
to Mithridates with forces under him, stepping out and challenging him,
he prepared for battle. In the very instant before joining battle,
without any perceptible alteration preceding, on a sudden the sky opened,
and a large luminous body fell down in the midst between the armies, in
shape like a hogshead, but in colour like melted silver, insomuch that
both armies in alarm withdrew. This wonderful prodigy happened in
Phrygia, near Otryae. Lucullus after this began to think with himself
that no human power and wealth could suffice to sustain such great numbers
as Mithridates had for any long time in the face of an enemy, and commanded
one of the captives to be brought before him, and first of all asked him
how many companions had been quartered with him and how much provision
he had left behind him, and when he had answered him, commanded him to
stand aside; then asked a second and a third the same question; after which,
comparing the quantity of provision with the men, he found that in three
or four days' time his enemies would be brought to want. This all
the more determined him to trust to time, and he took measures to store
his camp with all sorts of provision, and thus living in plenty, trusted
to watch the necessities of his hungry enemy.
<<Plut4-147>
This made Mithridates set out against the Cyzicenians, miserably shattered
in the fight at Chalcedon, where they lost no less than three thousand
citizens and ten ships. And that he might the safer steal away unobserved
by Lucullus, immediately after supper, by the help of a dark and wet night,
he went off, and by the morning gained the neighbourhood of the city, and
sat down with his forces upon the Adrastean mount. Lucullus, on finding
him gone, pursued, but was well pleased not to over-take him with his own
forces in disorder; and he sat down near what is called the Thracian village,
an admirable position for commanding all the roads and the places whence,
and through which, the provisions for Mithridates's camp must of necessity
come. And judging now of the event, he no longer kept his mind from
his soldiers, but when the camp was fortified and their work finished,
called them together, and with great assurance told them that in a few
days, without the expense of blood, he would give them victory.
<<Plut4-148>
Mithridates besieged the Cyzicenians with ten camps by land, and with
his ships occupied the strait that was betwixt their city and the mainland,
and so blocked them up on all sides; they, however, were fully prepared
stoutly to receive him, and resolved to endure the utmost extremity, rather
than forsake the Romans. That which troubled them most was, that
they knew not where Lucullus was, and heard nothing of him, though at that
time his army was visible before them. But they were imposed upon
by the Mithridatians, who, showing them the Romans encamped on the hills,
said, "Do you see those? those are the auxiliary Armenians and Medes, whom
Tigranes has sent to Mithridates." They were thus overwhelmed with thinking
of the vast numbers round them, and could not believe any way of relief
was left them, even if Lucullus should come up to their assistance. Demonax,
a messenger sent in by Archelaus, was the first who told them of Lucullus's
arrival; but they disbelieved his report, and thought he came with a story
invented merely to encourage them. At which time it happened that
a boy, a prisoner who had run away from the enemy, was brought before them;
who, being asked where Lucullus was, laughed at their jesting, as he thought,
but, finding them in earnest, with his finger pointed to the Roman camp;
upon which they took courage. The lake Dascylitis was navigated with
vessels of some little size; one, the biggest of them, Lucullus drew ashore,
and carrying her across in a wagon to the sea, filled her with soldiers,
who, sailing along unseen in the dead of the night, came safe into the
city.
<<Plut4-149>
The gods themselves, too, in admiration of the constancy of the Cyzicenians,
seem to have animated them with manifest signs, more especially now in
the festival of Proserpine, where a black heifer being wanting for sacrifice,
they supplied it by a figure made of dough, which they set before the altar.
But the holy heifer set apart for the goddess, and at that time grazing
with the other herds of the Cyzicenians, on the other side of the strait,
left the herd and swam over to the city alone, and offered herself for
sacrifice. By night, also, the goddess appearing to Aristagoras,
the town clerk, "I am come," said she, "and have brought the Libyan piper
against the Pontic trumpeter; bid the citizens, therefore, be of good courage."
While the Cyzicenians were wondering what the words could mean, a sudden
wind sprung up and caused a considerable motion on the sea. The king's
battering engines, the wonderful contrivance of Niconides of Thessaly,
then under the walls, by their cracking and rattling soon demonstrated
what would follow; after which an extraordinarily tempestuous south wind
succeeding shattered, in a short space of time, all the rest of the works,
and, by a violent concussion, threw down the wooden tower a hundred cubits
high. It is said that in Ilium Minerva appeared to many that night
in their sleep, with the sweat running down her person, and showed them
her robe torn in one place, telling them that she had just arrived from
relieving the Cyzicenians; and the inhabitants to this day show a monument,
with an inscription, including a public decree, referring to the fact.
<<Plut4-150>
Mithridates, through the knavery of his officers, not knowing for some
time the want of provision in his camp, was troubled in mind that the Cyzicenians
should hold out against him. But his ambition and anger fell, when
he saw his soldiers in the extremity of want, and feeding on men's flesh;
as, in truth, Lucullus was not carrying on the war as mere matter of show
and stage-play, but, according to the proverb, made the seat of war in
the belly, and did everything to cut off their supplies of food.
Mithridates, therefore, took advantage of the time while Lucullus was storming
a fort, and sent away almost all his horse to Bithynia, with the sumpter
cattle, and as many of the foot as were unfit for service. On intelligence
of which, Lucullus, while it was yet night, came to his camp, and in the
morning, though it was stormy weather, took with him ten cohorts of foot,
and the horse, and pursued them under falling snow and in cold so severe
that many of his soldiers were unable to proceed; and with the rest coming
upon the enemy, near the river Rhyndacus, he overthrew them with so great
a slaughter that the very women of Apollonia came out to seize on the booty
and strip the slain. Great numbers, as we may suppose, were slain;
six thousand horses were taken, with an infinite number of beasts of burden,
and no less than fifteen thousand men. All which he led along by
the enemy's camp. I cannot but wonder on this occasion at Sallust,
who says that this was the first time camels were seen by the Romans, as
if he thought those who, long before, under Scipio defeated Antiochus,
or those who lately had fought against Archelaus near Orchomenus and Chaeronea,
had not known what a camel was. Mithridates himself, fully determined
upon flight, as mere delays and diversions for Lucullus, sent his admiral
Aristonicus to the Greek sea; who, however, was betrayed in the very instant
of going off, and Lucullus became master of him, and ten thousand pieces
of gold which he was carrying with him to corrupt some of the Roman army.
After which, Mithridates himself made for the sea, leaving the foot officers
to conduct the army, upon whom Lucullus fell, near the river Granicus,
where he took a vast number alive, and slew twenty thousand. It is
reported that the total number killed, of fighting men and of others who
followed the camp, amounted to something not far short of three hundred
thousand. {Harfleur+}
<<Plut4-151>
Lucullus first went to Cyzicus, where he was received with all the
joy and gratitude suiting the occasion, and then collected a navy, visiting
the shores of the Hellespont. And arriving at Troas, he lodged in
the temple of Venus, where, in the night, he thought he saw the goddess
coming to him, and saying-
"Sleep'st thou, great lion, when the fawns are nigh?"
Rising up hereupon, he called his friends to him, it being yet night, and
told them his vision; at which instant some Ilians came up and acquainted
him that thirteen of the king's quinqueremes were seen off the Achaean
harbour, sailing for Lemnos. He at once put to sea, took these, and
slew their admiral Isidorus. And then he made after another squadron,
who were just come into port, and were hauling their vessels ashore, but
fought from the decks, and sorely galled Lucullus's men; there being neither
room to sail round them, nor to bear upon them for any damage, his ships
being afloat, while their[s] stood secure and fixed on the sand.
After much ado, at the only landing-place of the island, he disembarked
the choicest of his men, who, falling upon the enemy behind, killed some,
and forced others to cut their cables, and thus making from the shore,
they fell foul upon one another, or came within the reach of Lucullus's
fleet. Many were killed in the action. Among the captives was
Marius, the commander sent by Sertorius, who had but one eye. And
it was Lucullus's strict command to his men before the engagement, that
they should kill no man who had but one eye, that he might rather die under
disgrace and reproach.
<<Plut4-152>
This being over, he hastened his pursuit after Mithridates, whom he
hoped to still find in Bithynia, intercepted by Voconius, whom he sent
out before to Nicomedia with part of the fleet to stop his flight. But
Voconius, loitering in Samothrace to get initiated and celebrate a feast,
let slip his opportunity, Mithridates being passed by with all his fleet.
He, hastening into Pontus before Lucullus should come up to him, was caught
in a storm, which dispersed his fleet and sunk several ships. The wrecks
floated on all the neighbouring shore for many days after. The merchant
ship, in which he himself was, could not well in that heavy swell be brought
ashore by the masters for its bigness, and it being heavy with water and
ready to sink, he left it and went aboard a pirate vessel, delivering himself
into the hands of pirates, and thus unexpectedly and wonderfully came safe
to Heraclea, in Pontus.
<<Plut4-153>
Thus the proud language Lucullus had used to the senate ended without
any mischance. For they having decreed him three thousand talents
to furnish out a navy, he himself was against it, and sent them word that
without any such great and costly supplies, by the confederate shipping
alone, he did not in the least doubt but to rout Mithridates from the sea.
And so he did, by divine assistance, for it is said that the wrath of Diana
of Priapus brought the great tempest upon the men of Pontus, because they
had robbed her temple and removed her image.
<<Plut4-154>
Many were persuading Lucullus to defer the war, but he rejected their
counsel, and marched through Bithynia and Galatia into the king's country,
in such great scarcity of provision at first, that thirty thousand Galatians
followed, every man carrying a bushel of wheat at his back. But subduing
all in his progress before him, he at last found himself in such great
plenty that an ox was sold in the camp for a single drachma, and a slave
for four. The other booty they made no account of, but left it behind
or destroyed it; there being no disposing of it, where all had such abundance.
But when they had made frequent incursions with their cavalry, and had
advanced as far as Themiscyra, and the plains of the Thermodon, merely
laying waste the country before them, they began to find fault with Lucullus,
asking "why he took so many towns by surrender, and never one by storm,
which might enrich them with the plunder? and now, forsooth, leaving Amisus
behind, a rich and wealthy city, of easy conquest, if closely besieged,
he will carry us into the Tibarenian and Chaldean wilderness, to fight
with Mithridates." Lucullus, little thinking this would be of such dangerous
consequence as it afterwards proved, took no notice and slighted it; and
was rather anxious to excuse himself to those who blamed his tardiness,
in losing time about small, pitiful places not worth the while, and allowing
Mithridates opportunity to recruit. "That is what I design," said he, "and
sit here contriving by my delay, that he may grow great again, and gather
a considerable army, which may induce him to stand, and not fly away before
us. For do you not see the wide and unknown wilderness behind?
Caucasus is not far off, and a multitude of vast mountains, enough to conceal
ten thousand kings that wished to avoid a battle. Besides this, a
journey but of few days leads from Cabira to Armenia, where Tigranes reigns,
king of kings, and holds in his hands a power that has enabled him to keep
the Parthians in narrow bounds, to remove Greek cities bodily into Media,
to conquer Syria and Palestine, to put to death the kings of the royal
line of Seleucus, and carry away their wives and daughters by violence.
This same is relation and son-in-law to Mithridates, and cannot but receive
him upon entreaty, and enter into war with us to defend him; so that, while
we endeavour to dispose Mithridates, we shall endanger the bringing in
of Tigranes against us, who already has sought occasion to fall out with
us, but can never find one so justifiable as the succour of a friend and
prince in his necessity. Why, therefore, should we put Mithridates
upon this resource, who as yet does not see how he may best fight with
us, and disdains to stoop to Tigranes; and not rather allow him time to
gather a new army and grow confident again, that we may thus fight with
Colchians and Tibarenians whom we have often defeated already, and not
with Medes and Armenians."
<<Plut4-155>
Upon these motives, Lucullus sat down before Amisus, and slowly carried
on the siege. But the winter being well spent, he left Murena in
charge of it, and went himself against Mithridates, then rendezvousing
at Cabira, and resolving to await the Romans, with forty thousand foot
about him and fourteen thousand horse, on whom he chiefly confided.
Passing the river Lycus, he challenged the Romans into the plains, where
the cavalry engaged, and the Romans were beaten. Pomponius, a man
of some note, was taken wounded; and sore, and in pain as he was, was carried
before Mithridates, and asked by the king if he would become his friend
if he saved his life. He answered, "Yes, if you become reconciled to the
Romans; if not, your enemy." Mithridates wondered at him, and did him no
hurt. The enemy being with their cavalry master of the plains, Lucullus
was something afraid, and hesitated to enter the mountains, being very
large, woody, and almost inaccessible, when by good-luck, some Greeks who
had fled into a cave were taken, the eldest of whom, Artemidorus by name,
promised to bring Lucullus, and seat him in a place of safety for his army,
where there was a fort that overlooked Cabira. Lucullus, believing
him, lighted his fires, and marched in the night; and safely passing the
defile, gained the place, and in the morning was seen above the enemy,
pitching his camp in a place advantageous to descend upon them if he desired
to fight, and secure from being forced if he preferred to lie still.
Neither side was willing to engage at present. But it is related
that some of the king's party were hunting a stag, and some Romans wanting
to cut them off, came out and met them. Whereupon they skirmished,
more still drawing together to each side, and at last the king's party
prevailed, on which the Romans, from their camp seeing their companions
fly, were enraged, and ran to Lucullus with entreaties to lead them out,
demanding that the sign might be given for battle. But he, that they
might know of what consequence the presence and appearance of a wise commander
is in time of conflict and danger, ordered them to stand still. But
he went down himself into the plains, and meeting with the foremost that
fled, commanded them to stand and turn back with him. These obeying,
the rest also turned and formed again in a body, and thus, with no great
difficulty, drove back the enemies, and pursued them to their camp.
After his return, Lucullus inflicted the customary punishment upon the
fugitives, and made them dig a trench of twelve foot, working in their
frocks unfastened, while the rest stood by and looked on.
<<Plut4-156>
There was in Mithridates's camp one Olthacus, a chief of the Dandarians,
a barbarous people living near the lake Maeotis, a man remarkable for strength
and courage in fight, wise in council, and pleasant and ingratiating in
conversation. He, out of emulation, and a constant eagerness which
possessed him to outdo one of the other chiefs of his country, promised
a great piece of service to Mithridates, no less than the death of Lucullus.
The king commended his resolution, and, according to agreement, counterfeited
anger, and put some disgrace upon him; whereupon he took horse, and fled
to Lucullus, who kindly received him, being a man of great name in the
army. After some short trial of his sagacity and perseverance, he
found way to Lucullus's board and council. The Dandarian, thinking
he had a fair opportunity, commanded his servants to lead his horse out
of the camp, while he himself, as the soldiers were refreshing and resting
themselves, it being then high noon, went to the general's tent, not at
all expecting that entrance would be denied to one who was so familiar
with him, and came under pretence of extraordinary business with him.
He had certainly been admitted had not sleep, which has destroyed many
captains, saved Lucullus. For so it was, and Menedemus, one of the
bedchamber, was standing at the door, who told Olthacus that it was altogether
unseasonable to see the general, since, after long watching and hard labour,
he was but just before laid down to repose himself. Olthacus would
not go away upon this denial, but still persisted, saying that he must
go in to speak of some necessary affairs, whereupon Menedemus grew angry,
and replied that nothing was more necessary than the safety of Lucullus,
and forced him away with both hands. Upon which, out of fear, he
straightway left the camp, took horse, and without effect returned to Mithridates.
Thus in action as in physic, it is the critical moment that gives both
the fortunate+ and the fatal effect.
<<Plut4-157>
After this, Sornatius being sent out with ten companies for forage,
and pursued by Menander, one of Mithridates's captains, stood his ground,
and after a sharp engagement, routed and slew a considerable number of
the enemy. Adrianus being sent afterward, with some forces, to procure
food enough and to spare for the camp, Mithridates did not let the opportunity
slip, but despatched Menemachus and Myro, with a great force, both horse
and foot, against him, all which except two men, it is stated, were cut
off by the Romans. Mithridates concealed the loss, giving it out
that it was a small defeat, nothing near so great as reported, and occasioned
by the unskillfulness of the leaders. But Adrianus in great pomp
passed by his camp, having many wagons full of corn and other booty, filling
Mithridates with distress, and the army with confusion and consternation.
It was resolved, therefore, to stay no longer. But when the king's
servants sent away their own goods quietly, and hindered others from doing
so too, the soldiers in great fury thronged and crowded to the gates, seized
on the king's servants and killed them, and plundered the baggage.
Dorylaus, the general, in this confusion, having nothing else besides his
purple cloak, lost his life for that, and Hermaeus the priest was trod
underfoot in the gate.
<<Plut4-158>
Mithridates, having not one of his guards, nor even a groom remaining
with him, got out of the camp in the throng, but had none of his horses
with him; until Ptolemy, the eunuch, some little time after, seeing him
in the press making his way among the others, dismounted and gave his horse
to the king. The Romans were already close upon him in their pursuit,
nor was it through want of speed that they failed to catch him, but they
were as near as possible doing so. But greediness and a petty military
avarice hindered them from acquiring that booty which in so many fights
and hazards they had sought after, and lost Lucullus the prize of his victory.
For the horse which carried the king was within reach, but one of the mules
that carried the treasure either by accident stepping in, or by order of
the king so appointed to go between him and the pursuers, they seized and
pilfered the gold, and falling out among themselves about the prey, let
slip the great prize. Neither was their greediness prejudicial to
Lucullus in this only, but also they slew Callistratus, the king's confidential
attendant, under suspicion of having five hundred pieces of gold in his
girdle; whereas Lucullus had specially ordered that he should be conveyed
safe into the camp. Notwithstanding all which, he gave them leave
to plunder the camp.
<<Plut4-159>
After this, in Cabira, and other strongholds which he took, he found
great treasures, and private prisons, in which many Greeks and many of
the king's relations had been confined, who, having long since counted
themselves no other than dead men, by the favour of Lucullus met not with
relief so truly as with a new life and second birth. Nyssa, also,
sister of Mithridates, enjoyed the like fortunate captivity; while those
who seemed to be most out of danger, his wives and sisters at Phernacia,
placed in safety as they thought, miserably perished, Mithridates in his
flight sending Bacchides the eunuch to them. Among others there were
two sisters of the king, Roxana+ and
Statira+, unmarried women forty years old, and two Ionian wives, Berenice
of Chios and Monime of Biletus. This latter was the most celebrated
among the Greeks, because she so long withstood the king in his courtship
to her, though he presented her with fifteen thousand pieces of gold, until
a covenant of marriage was made, and a crown was sent her, and she was
saluted queen. She had been a sorrowful woman before, and often bewailed
her beauty, that had procured her a keeper, instead of a husband, and a
watch of barbarians, instead of the home and attendance of a wife; and,
removed far from Greece, she enjoyed the pleasure which she proposed to
herself only in a dream, being in the meantime robbed of that which is
real. And when Bacchides came and bade them prepare for death, as
every one thought most easy and painless, she took the diadem from her
head, and fastening the string to her neck, suspended herself with it;
which soon breaking, "O wretched headband!" said she, "not able to help
me even in this small thing!" And throwing it away she spat on it, and
offered her throat to Bacchides. Berenice had prepared a potion for
herself, but at her mother's entreaty, who stood by, she gave her part
of it. Both drank the potion, which prevailed over the weaker body.
But Berenice, having drunk too little, was not released by it, but lingering
on unable to die, was strangled by Bacchides for haste. It is said
that one of the unmarried sisters drank the poison, with bitter execrations
and curses; but Statira uttered nothing ungentle or reproachful, but, on
the contrary, commended her brother, who in his own danger neglected not
theirs, but carefully provided that they might go out of the world without
shame or disgrace.
<<Plut4-160>
Lucullus, being a good and humane man, was concerned at these things.
However, going on, he came to Talaura, from whence four days before his
arrival Mithridates had fled, and was got to Tigranes in Armenia.
He turned off, therefore, and subdued the Chaldeans and Tibarenians, with
the lesser Armenia, and having reduced all their forts and cities, he sent
Appius to Tigranes to demand Mithridates. He himself went to Amisus,
which still held out under the command of Callimachus, who, by his great
engineering skill, and his dexterity at all the shifts and subtleties of
a siege, had greatly incommoded the Romans. For which afterward he
paid dear enough, and was now outmanoeuvred by Lucullus, who, unexpectedly
coming upon him at the time of the day when the soldiers used to withdraw
and rest themselves, gained part of the wall, and forced him to leave the
city, in doing which he fired it; either envying the Romans the booty,
or to secure his own escape the better. No man looked after those
who went off in the ships, but as soon as the fire had seized on most part
of the wall, the soldiers prepared themselves for plunder; while Lucullus,
pitying the ruin of the city, brought assistance from without, and encouraged
his men to extinguish the flames. But all, being intent upon the
prey, and giving no heed to him, with loud outcries, beat and clashed their
arms together, until he was compelled to let them plunder, that by that
means he might at least save the city from fire. But they did quite
the contrary, for in searching the houses with lights and torches everywhere,
they were themselves the cause of the destruction of most of the buildings,
inasmuch that when Lucullus the next day went in, he shed tears, and said
to his friends, that he had often before blessed the fortune of Sylla,
but never so much admired it as then, because when he was willing he was
also able to save Athens, "but my infelicity is such, that while I endeavour
to imitate him, I become like Mummius." Nevertheless, he endeavoured to
save as much of the city as he could, and at the same time, also, by a
happy providence a fall of rain concurred to extinguish the fire.
He himself while present repaired the ruins as much as he could, receiving
back the inhabitants who had fled, and settling as many other Greeks as
were willing to live there, adding a hundred furlongs of ground to the
place.
<<Plut4-161>
This city was a colony of Athens, built at that time when she flourished
and was powerful at sea, upon which account many who fled from Aristion's
tyranny settled here, and were admitted as citizens, but had the ill-luck
to fly from evils at home into greater abroad. As many of these as
survived Lucullus furnished every one with clothes, and two hundred drachmas,
and sent them away into their own country. On this occasion Tyrannion
the grammarian was taken. Murena begged him of Lucullus, and took
him and made him a freedman; but in this he abused Lucullus's favour, who
by no means liked that a man of high repute for learning should be first
made a slave and then freed; for freedom thus speciously granted again
was a real deprivation of what he had before. But not in this case
alone Murena showed himself far inferior in generosity to the general.
<<Plut4-162>
Lucullus was now busy in looking after the cities of Asia, and having
no war to divert his time, spent it in the administration of law and
justice+, the want of which had for a long time left the province
a prey to unspeakable and incredible miseries; so plundered and enslaved
by tax-farmers and usurers that private people were compelled to sell their
sons in the flower of their youth, and their daughters in their virginity,
and the states publicly to sell their consecrated gifts, pictures, and
statues. In the end their lot was to yield themselves up slaves to
their creditors, but before this worse troubles befell them, tortures,
inflicted with ropes and by horses, standing abroad to be scorched when
the sun was hot, and being driven into ice and clay in the cold; insomuch
that slavery was no less than a redemption and joy to them. Lucullus
in a short time freed the cities from all these evils and oppressions;
for, first of all, he ordered there should be no more taken than one per
cent. Secondly, where the interest exceeded the principal, he struck
it off. The third and most considerable order was, that the creditor
should receive the fourth part of the debtor's income; but if any lender
had added the interest to the principal, it was utterly disallowed.
Insomuch, that in the space of four years all debts were paid and lands
returned to their right owners. The public debt was contracted when
Asia was fined twenty thousand talents by Sylla, but twice as much was
paid to the collectors, who by their usury+
had by this time advanced it to a hundred and twenty thousand talents.
And accordingly they inveighed against Lucullus at Rome, as grossly injured
by him, and by their money's help (as, indeed, they were very powerful,
and had many of the statesmen in their debt), they stirred up several leading
senators against him. But Lucullus was not only beloved by the cities
which he obliged, but was also wished for by other provinces, who blessed
the good-luck of those who had such a governor over them.
<<Plut4-163>
Appius Clodius, who was sent to Tigranes (the same Clodius was brother
to Lucullus's wife), being led by the king's guides a roundabout way, unnecessarily
long and tedious, through the upper country, being informed by his freedman,
a Syrian by nation, of the direct road, left that lengthy and fallacious
one; and bidding the barbarians, his guides, adieu, in a few days passed
over Euphrates, and came to Antioch upon Daphne. There being commanded
to wait for Tigranes, who at that time was reducing some towns in Phoenicia,
he won over many chiefs to his side, who unwillingly submitted to the King
of Armenia, among whom was Zarbienus, King of the Gordyenians; also many
of the conquered cities corresponded privately with him, whom he assured
of relief from Lucullus, but ordered them to lie still at present.
The Armenian government was an oppressive one, and intolerable to the Greeks,
especially that of the present king, who, growing insolent and overbearing
with his success, imagined all things valuable and esteemed among men not
only were his in fact, but had been purposely created for him alone.
From a small and inconsiderable beginning, he had gone on to be the conqueror
of many nations, had humbled the Parthian power more than any before him,
and filled Mesopotamia with Greeks, whom he carried in numbers out of Cilicia
and Cappadocia. He transplanted also the Arabs, who lived in tents,
from their country and home, and settled them near him, that by their means
he might carry on the trade.
<<Plut4-164>
He had many kings waiting on him, but four he always carried with him
as servants and guards, who, when he rode, ran by his horse's side in ordinary
under-frocks, and attended him, when sitting on his throne, and publishing
his decrees to the people, with their hands folded together; which posture
of all others was that which most expressed slavery, it being that of men
who had bidden adieu to liberty, and had prepared their bodies more for
chastisement than the service of their masters. Appius, nothing dismayed
or surprised at this theatrical display, as soon as audience was granted
him, said he came to demand Mithridates for Lucullus's triumph, otherwise
to denounce war against Tigranes: insomuch that though Tigranes endeavoured
to receive him with a smooth countenance and a forced smile, he could not
dissemble his discomposure to those who stood about him at the bold language
of the young man; for it was the first time, perhaps, in twenty-five years,
the length of his reign, or, more truly, of his tyranny, that any free
speech had been uttered to him. However, he made answer to Appius,
that he would not desert Mithridates, and would defend himself, if the
Romans attacked him. He was angry, also, with Lucullus for calling
him only king in his letter, and not king of kings, and, in his answer,
would not give him his title of imperator. Great gifts were sent
to Appius, which he refused; but on their being sent again and augmented,
that he might not seem to refuse in anger, he took one goblet and sent
the rest back, and without delay went off to the general.
<<Plut4-165>
Tigranes before this neither vouchsafed to see nor speak with Mithridates,
though a near kinsman, and forced out of so considerable a kingdom, but
proudly and scornfully kept him at a distance, as a sort of prisoner, in
a marshy and unhealthy district; but now, with much profession of respect
and kindness, he sent for him, and at a private conference between them
in the palace, they healed up all private jealousies between them, punishing
their favourites, who bore all the blame; among whom Metrodorus of Scepsis
was one, an eloquent and learned man, and so close an intimate as commonly
to be called the king's father. This man, as it happened, being employed
in an embassy by Mithridates to solicit help against the Romans, Tigranes
asked him, "What would you, Metrodorus, advise me to in this affair?" In
return to which, either out of good-will to Tigranes, or a want of solicitude
for Mithridates, he made answer, that as ambassador he counselled him to
it, but as a friend dissuaded him from it. This Tigranes reported
and affirmed to Mithridates, thinking that no irreparable harm would come
of it to Metrodorus. But upon this he was presently taken off, and Tigranes
was sorry for what he had done, though he had not, indeed, been absolutely
the cause of his death; yet he had given the fatal turn to the anger of
Mithridates, who had privately hated him before, as appeared from his cabinet
papers when taken, among which there was an order that Metrodorus should
die. Tigranes buried him splendidly, sparing no cost to his dead
body, whom he betrayed when alive. In Tigranes's court died, also,
Amphicrates the orator (if, for the sake of Athens, we may also mention
him), of whom it is told that he left his country and fled to Seleucia,
upon the river Tigris, and, being desired to teach logic among them, arrogantly
replied, that the dish was too little to hold a dolphin. He, therefore,
came to Cleopatra, daughter of Mithridates, and queen to Tigranes, but,
being accused of misdemeanours, prohibited all commerce with his countrymen,
ended his days by starving himself. He, in like manner, received
from Cleopatra an honourable burial, near Sapha, a place so called in that
country.
<<Plut4-166>
Lucullus, when he had re-established law and a lasting peace in Asia,
did not altogether forget pleasure and mirth, but, during his residence
at Ephesus, gratified the cities with sports, festival triumphs, wrestling
games, and single combats of gladiators. And they, in requital, instituted
others, called Lucullean games, in honour to him, thus manifesting theirlove+
to him, which was of more value to him than all the honour. But when Appius
came to him and told him he must prepare for war with Tigranes, he went
again into Pontus, and, gathering together his army, besieged Sinope, or
rather the Cilicians of the king's side who held it; who thereupon killed
a number of the Sinopians, and set the city on fire, and by night endeavoured
to escape. Which when Lucullus perceived, he entered the city, and
killed eight thousand of them who were still left behind; but restored
to the inhabitants what was their own, and took special care for the welfare
of the city. To which he was chiefly prompted by this vision.
One seemed to come to him in his sleep, and say, "Go on a little further,
Lucullus, for Autolycus is coming to see thee." When he arose he could
not imagine what the vision meant. The same day he took the city,
and as he was pursuing the Cilicians, who were flying by sea, he saw a
statue lying on the shore, which the Cilicians carried so far, but had
not time to carry aboard. It was one of the masterpieces of Sthenis.
And one told him that it was the statue of Autolycus, the founder of the
city. This Autolycus is reported to have been son to Deimachus, and
one of those who, under Hercules, went on the expedition out of Thessaly
against the Amazons; from whence in his return with Demoleon and Phlogius,
he lost his vessel on a point of the Chersonesus, called Pedalium.
He himself, with his companions and their weapons, being saved, came to
Sinope, and dispossessed the Syrians there. The Syrians held it, descended
from Syrus, as is the story, the son of Apollo and Sinope, the daughter
of Asopus. Which as soon as Lucullus heard he remembered the admonition
of Sylla, whose advice it is in his Memoirs to treat nothing as so certain
and so worthy of reliance as an intimation given in dreams.
<<Plut4-167>
When it was now told him that Mithridates and Tigranes were just ready
to transport their forces into Lycaonia and Cilicia, with the object of
entering Asia before him, he wondered much why the Armenian, supposing
him to entertain any real intentions to fight with the Romans, did not
assist Mithridates in his flourishing condition, and join forces when he
was fit for service, instead of suffering him to be vanquished and broken
in pieces, and now at last beginning the war, when its hopes were grown
cold, and throwing himself down headlong with them, who were irrevocably
fallen already. But when Machares, the son of Mithridates, and governor
of Bosporus, sent him a crown, valued at a thousand pieces of gold, and
desired to be enrolled as a friend and confederate of the Romans, he fairly
reputed that war at an end, and left Sornatius, his deputy, with six thousand
soldiers, to take care of Pontus. He himself, with twelve thousand
foot and a little less than three thousand horse, went forth to the second
war, advancing, it seemed very plain, with too great and ill-advised speed,
into the midst of warlike nations and many thousands upon thousands of
horse, into an unknown extent of country, every way inclosed with deep
rivers and mountains, never free from snow; which made the soldiers, already
far from orderly, follow him with great unwillingness and opposition.
For the same reason, also, the popular leaders at home publicly inveighed
and declaimed against him, as one that raised up war after war, not so
much for the interest of the republic, as that he himself, being still
in commission, might not lay down arms, but go on enriching himself by
the public dangers. These men, in the end, effected their purpose.
But Lucullus, by long journeys, came to the Euphrates, where, finding the
waters high and rough from the winter, he was much troubled for fear of
delay and difficulty while he should procure boats and make a bridge of
them. But in the evening the flood beginning to retire, and decreasing
all through the night, the next day they saw the river far down within
his banks, so much so that the inhabitants, discovering the little islands
in the river, and the water stagnating among them, a thing which had rarely
happened before, made obeisance to Lucullus, before whom the very river
was humble and submissive, and yielded an easy and swift passage.
Making use of the opportunity, he carried over his army, and met with a
lucky sign at landing. Holy heifers are pastured on purpose for Diana
Persia, whom, of all the gods, the barbarians beyond Euphrates chiefly
adore. They use these heifers only for her sacrifices. At other
times they wander up and down undisturbed, with the mark of the goddess,
a torch, branded on them; and it is no such light or easy thing, when occasion
requires, to seize one of them. But one of these, when the army had
passed the Euphrates, coming to a rock consecrated to the goddess, stood
upon it, and then, laying down her neck, like others that are forced down
with a rope, offered herself to Lucullus for sacrifice. Besides which,
he offered also a bull to Euphrates, for safe passage. That day he
tarried there, but on the next, and those that followed, he travelled through
Sophene, using no manner of violence to the people who came to him and
willingly received his army. And when the soldiers were desirous
to plunder a castle that seemed to be well stored within, "That is the
castle," said he, "that we must storm," showing them Taurus at a distance;
"the rest is reserved for those who conquer there." Wherefore hastening
his march, and passing the Tigris, he came over into Armenia.
<<Plut4-168>
The first messenger that gave notice of Lucullus's coming was so far
from pleasing Tigranes that he had his head cut off for his pains; and
no man daring to bring further information, without any intelligence at
all, Tigranes sat while war was already blazing around him, giving ear
only to those who flattered him, by saying that Lucullus would show himself
a great commander if he ventured to wait for Tigranes at Ephesus, and did
not at once fly out of Asia at the mere sight of the many thousands that
were come against him. He is a man of a strong body that can carry
off a great quantity of wine, and of a powerful constitution of mind that
can sustain felicity. Mithrobarzanes, one of his chief favourites,
first dared to tell him the truth, but had no more thanks for his freedom
of speech than to be immediately sent out against Lucullus with three thousand
horse, and a great number of foot, with peremptory demands to bring him
alive and trample down his army. Some of Lucullus's men were then
pitching their camp, and the rest were coming up to them, when the scouts
gave notice that the enemy was approaching, whereupon he was in fear lest
they should fall upon him, while his men were divided and unarranged; which
made him stay to pitch the camp himself, and send out Sextilius the legate,
with sixteen hundred horse, and about as many heavy and light arms, with
orders to advance towards the enemy, and wait until intelligence came to
him that the camp was finished. Sextilius designed to have kept this
order; but Mithrobarzanes coming furiously upon him, he was forced to fight.
In the engagement, Mithrobarzanes himself was slain, fighting, and all
his men, except a few who ran away, were destroyed. After this, Tigranes
left Tigranocerta, a great city built by himself, and retired to Taurus,
and called all his forces about him.
<<Plut4-169>
But Lucullus, giving him no time to rendezvous, sent out Murena to
harass and cut off those who marched to Tigranes, and Sextilius, also,
to disperse a great company of Arabians then on the way to the king.
Sextilius fell upon the Arabians in their camp, and destroyed most of them,
and also Murena, in his pursuit after Tigranes through a craggy and narrow
pass, opportunely fell upon him. Upon which Tigranes, abandoning
all his baggage, fled; many of the Armenians were killed and more taken.
After this success, Lucullus went to Tigranocerta, and sitting down before
the city, besieged it. In it were many Greeks carried away out of
Cilicia, and many barbarians in like circumstances with the Greeks, Adiabenians,
Assyrians, Gordyenians, and Cappadocians, whose native cities he had destroyed,
and forced away the inhabitants to settle here. It was a rich and
beautiful city, every common man, and every man of rank, in imitation of
the king, studied to enlarge and adorn it. This made Lucullus more
vigorously press the siege, in the belief that Tigranes would not patiently
endure it, but even against his own judgment would come down in anger to
force him away; in which he was not mistaken. Mithridates earnestly
dissuaded him from it, sending messengers and letters to him not to engage,
but rather with his horse to try and cut off the supplies. Taxiles,
also, who came from Mithridates, and who stayed with his army, very much
entreated the king to forbear, and to avoid the Roman arms, things it was
not safe to meddle with. To this he hearkened at first, but when
the Armenians and Gordyenians in a full body, and the whole force of Medes
and Adiabenians, under their respective kings, joined him; when many Arabians
came up from the sea beyond Babylon; and from the Caspian sea, the Albanians
and the Iberians their neighbours, and not a few of the free people, without
kings, living about the Araxes, by entreaty and hire also came together
to him; and all the king's feasts and councils rang of nothing but expectations,
boastings, and barbaric threatenings, Taxiles went in danger of his life
for giving council against fighting, and it was imputed to envy in Mithridates
thus to discourage him from so glorious an enterprise. Therefore
Tigranes would by no means tarry for him, for fear he should share in the
glory, but marched on with all his army, lamenting to his friends, as it
is said, that he should fight with Lucullus alone and not with all the
Roman generals together. Neither was his boldness to be accounted
wholly frantic or unreasonable when he had so many nations and kings attending
him, and so many tens of thousands of well-armed foot and horse about him.
He had twenty thousand archers and slingers, fifty-five thousand horse,
of which seventeen thousand were in complete armour, as Lucullus wrote
to the senate, a hundred and fifty thousand heavy-armed men, drawn up partly
into cohorts, partly into phalanxes, besides various divisions of men appointed
to make roads and lay bridges, to drain off waters and cut wood, and to
perform other necessary services, to the number of thirty-five thousand,
who, being quartered behind the army, added to its strength, and made it
the more formidable to behold.
<<Plut4-170>
As soon as he had passed Taurus, and appeared with his forces, and
saw the Romans beleaguering Tigranocerta, the barbarous people within,
with shoutings and acclamations, received the sight, and threatening the
Romans from the walls, pointed to the Armenians. In a council of
war, some advised Lucullus to leave the siege, and march up to Tigranes,
others that it would not be safe to leave the siege, and so many enemies
behind. He answered that neither side by itself was right, but together
both gave sound advice; and accordingly he divided his army, and left Murena
with six thousand foot in charge of the siege, and himself went out with
twenty-four cohorts, in which were no more than ten thousand men-at-arms,
and with all the horse and slingers and archers and about a thousand sitting
down by the river in a large plain, he appeared, indeed, very inconsiderable
to Tigranes, and a fit subject for the flattering+
wits about him. Some of whom jeered, others cast lots for the spoil,
and every one of the kings and commanders came and desired to undertake
the engagement alone, and that he would be pleased to sit still and behold.
Tigranes himself, wishing to be witty and pleasant upon the occasion, made
use of the well-known saying, that they were too many for ambassadors,
and too few for soldiers. Thus they continued sneering and scoffing.
As soon as day came, Lucullus brought out his forces under arms.
The barbarian army stood on the eastern side of the river, and there being
a bend of the river westward in that part of it, where it was easiest forded,
Lucullus, while he led his army on in haste, seemed to Tigranes to be flying;
who thereupon called Taxiles, and in derision said, "Do you not see these
invincible Romans flying?" But Taxiles replied, "Would, indeed, O king,
that some such unlikely piece of fortune might be destined you; but the
Romans do not, when going on a march, put on their best clothes, nor use
bright shields, and naked headpieces, as now you see them, with the leathern
coverings all taken off, but this is a preparation for war of men just
ready to engage with their enemies." While Taxiles was thus speaking, as
Lucullus wheeled about, the first eagle appeared, and the cohorts, according
to their divisions and companies, formed in order to pass over, when with
much ado, and like a man that is just recovering from a drunken fit, Tigranes
cried out twice or thrice, "What, are they upon us?" In great confusion,
therefore, the army got in array, the king keeping the main body to himself,
while the left wing giving in charge to the Adiabenian, and the right to
the Mede, in front of which latter were posted most of the heavy-armed
cavalry. Some officers advised Lucullus, just as he was going to
cross the river, to lie still, that day being one of the unfortunate ones
which they call black days, for on it the army under Caepio, engaging with
the Cimbrians was destroyed. But he returned the famous answer, "I
will make it a happy day to the Romans." It was the day before the Nones
of October.
<<Plut4-171>
Having so said, he bade them take courage, passed over the river, and
himself first of all led them against the enemy, clad in a coat of mail,
with shining steel scales and a fringed mantle; and his sword might already
be seen out of the scabbard, as if to signify that they must without delay
come to a hand-to-hand combat with an enemy whose skill was in distant
fighting, and by the speed of their advance curtail the space that exposed
them to the archery. But when he saw the heavy-armed horse, the flower
of the army, drawn up under a hill, on the top of which was a broad and
open plain about four furlongs distant, and of no very difficult or troublesome
access, he commanded his Thracian and Galatian horse to fall upon their
flank, and beat down their lances with their swords. The only defence of
these horsemen-at-arms are their lances; they have nothing else that they
can use to protect themselves or annoy their enemy, on account of the weight
and stiffness of their armour, with which they are, as it were, built up.
He himself, with two cohorts, made to the mountain, the soldiers briskly
following, when they saw him in arms afoot first toiling and climbing up.
Being on the top and standing in an open place, with a loud voice he cried
out, "We have overcome, we have overcome, fellow-soldiers!" And having
so said, he marched against the armed horsemen, commanding his men not
to throw their javelins, but coming up hand-to-hand with the enemy, to
hack their shins and thighs, which parts alone were unguarded in these
heavy-armed horsemen. But there was no need of this way of fighting,
for they stood not to receive the Romans, but with great clamour and worse
flight they and their heavy horses threw themselves upon the ranks of the
foot, before ever these could so much as begin the fight, insomuch that
without a wound or bloodshed, so many thousands were overthrown.
The greatest slaughter was made in the flight, or rather in the endeavouring
to fly away, which they could not well do by reason of the depth and closeness
of their own ranks, which hindered them. Tigranes at first fled with
a few, but seeing his son in the same misfortune, he took the diadem from
his head, and with tears gave it him, bidding him save himself by some
other road if he could. But the young man, not daring to put it on,
gave it to one of his trustiest servants to keep for him. This man,
as it happened, being taken, was brought to Lucullus, and so, among the
captives, the crown of Tigranes was also taken. It is stated that
above a hundred thousand foot were lost, and that of the horse but very
few escaped at all. {Harfleur+}
Of the Romans, a hundred were wounded and five killed. Antiochus
the philosopher, making mention of this fight in his book about the gods,
says that the sun never saw the like. Strabo, a second philosopher,
in his historical collection, says that the Romans could not but blush
and deride themselves for putting on armour against such pitiful slaves.
Livy also says that the Romans never fought an enemy with such unequal
forces, for the conquerors were not so much as one-twentieth part of the
number of the conquered. The most sagacious and experienced Roman commanders
made it a chief commendation of Lucullus that he had conquered two great
and potent kings by two most opposite ways, haste and delay. For
he wore out the flourishing power of Mithridates by delay and time, and
crushed that of Tigranes by haste; being one of the rare examples of generals
who made use of delay for active achievement and speed for security.
<<Plut4-178>
On this account it was that Mithridates had made no haste to come up
to fight, imagining Lucullus would, as he had done before, use caution
and delay, which made him march at his leisure to join Tigranes.
And first, as he began to meet some straggling Armenians in the way, making
off in great fear and consternation, he suspected the worst, and when greater
numbers of stripped and wounded men met him and assured him of the defeat,
he set out to seek for Tigranes. And finding him destitute and humiliated,
he by no means requited him with insolence, but alighting from his horse,
and condoling with him on their common loss, he gave him his own royal
guard to attend him, and animated him for the future. And they together
gathered fresh forces about them. In the city Tigranocerta, the Greeks
meantime, dividing from the barbarians, sought to deliver it up to Lucullus,
and he attacked and took it. He seized on the treasure himself, but
gave the city to be plundered by the soldiers, in which were found, amongst
other property, eight thousand talents of coined money. Besides this, also,
he distributed eight hundred drachmas to each man out of the spoils.
When he understood that many players were taken in the city, whom Tigranes
had invited from all parts for opening the theatre which he had built,
he made use of them for celebrating his triumphal games and spectacles.
The Greeks he sent home, allowing them money for their journey, and the
barbarians also, as many as had been forced away from their own dwellings.
So that by this one city being dissolved, many, by the restitution of their
former inhabitants, were restored. By all of which Lucullus was beloved
as a benefactor and founder. Other successes, also, attended him,
such as he well deserved, desirous as he was far more of praise for acts
of justice+ and
clemency+, than for feats in war, these being due partly to the
soldiers, and very greatly to
fortune+, while those are the sure proofs of a gentle and liberal
soul; and by such aids Lucullus, at that time, even without the help of
arms, succeeded in reducing the barbarians. For the kings of the Arabians
came to him, tendering what they had, and with them the Sophenians also
submitted. And he so dealt with the Gordyenians, that they were willing
to leave their own habitations, and to follow him with their wives and
children. Which was for this cause. Zarbienus, King of the
Gordyenians, as has been told, being impatient under the tyranny of Tigranes,
had by Appius secretly made overtures of confederacy with Lucullus, but,
being discovered, was executed, and his wife and children with him, before
the Romans entered Armenia. Lucullus forgot not this, but coming
to the Gordyenians made a solemn interment in honour of Zarbienus, and
adorning the funeral pile with royal robes, and gold, and the spoils of
Tigranes, he himself in person kindled the fire, and poured in perfumes
with the friends and relations of the deceased, calling him his companion
and the confederate of the Romans. He ordered, also, a costly monument
to be built for him. There was a large treasure of gold and silver
found in Zarbienus's palace, and no less than three million measures of
corn, so that the soldiers were provided for, and Lucullus had the high
commendation of maintaining the war at its own charge, without receiving
one drachma from the public treasury.
<<Plut4-179>
After this came an embassy from the King of Parthia to him, desiring
amity and confederacy; which being readily embraced by Lucullus, another
was sent by him in return to the Parthian, the members of which discovered
him to be a double-minded man, and to be dealing privately at the same
time with Tigranes, offering to take part with him, upon condition Mesopotamia
were delivered up to him. Which as soon as Lucullus understood, he
resolved to pass by Tigranes and Mithridates as antagonists already overcome,
and to try the power of Parthia, by leading his army against them, thinking
it would be a glorious result, thus in one current of war, like an athlete
in the games, to throw down three kings one after another, and successively
to deal as a conqueror with three of the greatest power under heaven.
He sent, therefore, into Pontus to Sornatius and his colleagues, bidding
them bring the army thence, and join with him in his expedition out of
Gordyene. The soldiers there, however, who had been restive and unruly
before, now openly displayed their mutinous temper. No manner of
entreaty or force availed with them, but they protested and cried out that
they would stay no longer even there, but would go away and desert Pontus.
The news of which, when reported to Lucullus, did no small harm to the
soldiers about him, who were already corrupted with wealth and plenty,
and desirous {Falstaff+}
of ease. And on hearing the boldness of the others, they called them
men, and declared they themselves ought to follow their example, for the
actions which they had done did now well deserve release from service and
repose.
<<Plut4-180>
Upon these and worse words, Lucullus gave up the thoughts of invading
Parthia, and in the height of summer-time went against Tigranes.
Passing over Taurus, he was filled with apprehension at the greenness of
the fields before him, so long is the season deferred in this region by
the coldness of the air. But nevertheless, he went down, and twice
or thrice putting to flight the Armenians who dared to come out against
him, he plundered and burnt their villages, and seizing on the provision
designed for Tigranes, reduced his enemies to the necessity which he had
feared for himself. But when, after doing all he could to provoke
the enemy to fight, by drawing entrenchments round their camp and by burning
the country before them, he could by no means bring them to venture out,
after their frequent defeats before, he rose up and marched to Artaxata,
the royal city of Tigranes, where his wives and young children were kept,
judging that Tigranes would never suffer that to go without the hazard
of a battle. It is related that Hannibal the Carthaginian, after the defeat
of Antiochus by the Romans, coming to Artaxas, King of Armenia, pointed
out to him many other matters to his advantage, and observing the great
natural capacities and the pleasantness of the site, then lying unoccupied
and neglected, drew a model of a city for it, and bringing Artaxas thither,
showed it to him and encouraged him to build. At which the king being
pleased, and desiring him to oversee the work, erected a large and stately
city which was called after his own name, and made metropolis of Armenia.
<<Plut4-181>
And in fact, when Lucullus proceeded against it, Tigranes no longer
suffered it, but came with his army, and on the fourth day sat down by
the Romans, the river Arsanias lying between them, which of necessity Lucullus
must pass in his march to Artaxata. Lucullus, after sacrifice to
the gods, as if victory were already obtained, carried over his army, having
twelve cohorts in the first division in front, the rest being disposed
in the rear to prevent the enemy's inclosing them. For there were
many choice horse drawn up against him; in the front stood the Mardian
horse-archers, and Iberians with long spears, in whom, being the most warlike,
Tigranes more confided than in any other of his foreign troops. But
nothing of moment was done by them, for though they skirmished with the
Roman horse at a distance, they were not able to stand when the foot came
up to them; but being broken, and flying on both sides, drew the horse
in pursuit after them. Though these were routed, yet Lucullus was
not without alarm when he saw the cavalry about Tigranes with great bravery
and in large numbers coming upon him; he recalled his horse from pursuing,
and he himself, first of all, with the best of his men, engaged the Satrapenians
who were opposite him, and before ever they came to close fight routed
them with the mere terror. Of three kings in battle against him,
Mithridates of Pontus fled away the most shamefully, being not so much
as able to endure the shout of the Romans. The pursuit reached a
long way, and all through the night the Romans slew and took prisoners,
and carried off spoils and treasure, till they were weary. Livy says
there were more taken and destroyed in the first battle, but in the second,
men of greater distinction.
<<Plut4-182>
Lucullus, flushed and animated by this victory, determined to march
on into the interior and there complete his conquests over the barbarians,
but winter weather came on, contrary to expectation, as early as the autumnal
equinox, with storms and frequent snows, and, even in the most clear days,
hoar frost and ice, which made the waters scarcely drinkable for the horses
by their exceeding coldness, and scarcely passable through the ice breaking
and cutting the horses' sinews. The country for the most part being
quite uncleared, with difficult passes, and much wood, kept them continually
wet, the snow falling thickly on them as they marched in the day, and the
ground that they lay upon at night being damp and watery. After the
battle they followed not Lucullus many days before they began to be refractory,
first of all entreating and sending the tribunes to him, but presently
they tumultuously gathered together, and made a shouting all night long
in their tents a plain sign of a mutinous army. But Lucullus as earnestly
entreated them, desiring them to have patience, till they took the Armenian
Carthage, and overturned the work of their great enemy, meaning Hannibal.
But when he could not prevail, he led them back, and crossing Taurus by
another road, came into the fruitful and sunny country of Mygdonia, where
was a great and populous city, by the barbarians called Nisibis, by the
Greeks Antioch of Mygdonia. This was defended by Guras, brother of
Tigranes, with the dignity of governor, and by the engineering skill and
dexterity of Callimachus, the same who so much annoyed the Romans at Amisus.
Lucullus, however, brought his army up to it, and laying close siege, in
a short time took it by storm. He used Guras, who surrendered himself,
kindly, but gave no attention to Callimachus, though he offered to make
discovery of hidden treasures, commanding him to be kept in chains, to
be punished for firing the city of Amisus, which had disappointed his ambition
of showing favour and kindness to the Greeks.
<<Plut4-183>
Hitherto, one would imagine fortune had attended and fought with Lucullus,
but afterwards, as if the wind had failed of a sudden, he did all things
by force, and as it were against the grain; and showed certainly the conduct
and patience of a wise captain, but in the results met with no fresh honour
or reputation; and indeed, by bad success and vain embarrassments with
his soldiers, he came within a little of losing even what he had before.
He himself was not the least cause of all this, being far from inclined
to seek popularity with the mass of the soldiers, and more ready to think
any indulgence shown to them an invasion of his own authority. But
what was worst of all, he was naturally unsociable+
to his great officers in commission with him, despising others and thinking
them worthy of nothing in comparison with himself. These faults,
we are told, he had with all his many excellences; he was of a large and
noble person, an eloquent speaker, and a wise counsellor, both in the forum
and the camp. Sallust says the soldiers were ill-affected to him
from the beginning of the war, because they were forced to keep the field
two winters at Cyzicus and afterwards at Amisus. Their other winters,
also, vexed them, for they either spent them in an enemy's country, or
else were confined to their tents in the open field among their confederates;
for Lucullus not so much as once went into a Greek confederate town with
his army. To this ill-affection abroad, the tribunes yet more contributed
at home, invidiously accusing Lucullus as one who for empire and riches
prolonged the war, holding, it might almost be said, under his sole power
Cilicia, Asia, Bithynia, Paphlagonia, Pontus, Armenia, all as far as the
river Phasis; and now of late had plundered the royal city of Tigranes,
as if he had been commissioned not so much to subdue as to strip kings.
This is what we are told was said by Lucius Quintius, one of the praetors,
at whose instance, in particular, the people determined to send one who
should succeed Lucullus in his province, and voted, also, to relieve many
of the soldiers under him from further service.
<<Plut4-184>
Besides these evils, that which most of all prejudiced Lucullus was
Publius Clodius, an insolent man, very vicious and bold, brother to Lucullus's
wife, a woman of bad conduct, with whom Clodius was himself suspected of
criminal intercourse. Being then in the army under Lucullus, but
not in as great authority as he expected (for he would fain have been the
chief of all, but on account of his character was postponed to many), he
ingratiated himself secretly with the Fimbrian troops, and stirred them
up against Lucullus, using fair speeches to them, who of old had been used
to be flattered in such a manner. These were those whom Fimbria before
had persuaded to kill the consul Flaccus, and choose him their leader.
And so they listened not unwillingly to Clodius, and called him the soldiers'
friend, for the concern he professed for them, and the indignation he expressed
at the prospect that "there must be no end of wars and toils, but in fighting
with all nations, and wandering throughout all the world they must wear
out their lives receiving no other reward for their service than to guard
the carriages and camels of Lucullus, laden with gold and precious goblets;
while as for Pompey's soldiers, they were all citizens, living safe at
home with their wives and children, on fertile lands, or in towns, and
that, not after driving Mithridates and Tigranes into wild deserts, and
overturning the royal cities of Asia, but after having merely reduced exiles
in Spain, or fugitive slaves in Italy. Nay, if indeed we must never
have an end of fighting, should we not rather reserve the remainder of
our bodies and souls for a general who will reckon his chiefest glory to
be the wealth of his soldiers."
<<Plut4-185>
By such practices the army of Lucullus, being corrupted, neither followed
him against Tigranes, nor against Mithridates, when he now at once returned
into Pontus out of Armenia, and was recovering his kingdom, but under pretence
of the winter, sat idle in Gordyene, every minute expecting either Pompey,
or some other general, to succeed Lucullus. But when news came that Mithridates
had defeated Fabius, and was marching against Sornatius and Triarius, out
of shame they followed Lucullus. Triarius, ambitiously aiming at
victory before ever Lucullus came to him, though he was then very near,
was defeated in a great battle, in which it is said that above seven thousand
Romans fell, among whom were a hundred and fifty centurions and four-and-twenty
tribunes, and that the camp itself was taken. Lucullus, coming up a few
days after, concealed Triarius from the search of the angry soldiers.
But when Mithridates declined battle, and waited for the coming of Tigranes,
who was then on his march with great forces, he resolved before they joined
their forces to turn once more and engage with Tigranes. But in the
way the mutinous Fimbrians deserted their ranks, professing themselves
released from service by a decree, and that Lucullus, the provinces being
allotted to others, had no longer any right to command them. There
was nothing beneath the dignity of Lucullus which he did not now submit
to bear, entreating them one by one, from tent to tent, going up and down
humbly and in tears and even taking some like a suppliant by the hand.
But they turned away from his salutes, and threw down their empty purses,
bidding him engage alone with the enemy, as he alone made advantage of
it. At length by the entreaty of the other soldiers, the Fimbrians,
being prevailed upon, consented to tarry that summer under him, but if
during that time no enemy came to fight them, to be free. Lucullus
of necessity was forced to comply with this, or else to abandon the country
to the barbarians. He kept them, indeed, with him, but without urging his
authority upon them; nor did he lead them out to battle, being contented
if they should but stay with him, though he then saw Cappadocia wasted
by Tigranes, and Mithridates again triumphing, whom not long before he
reported to the senate to be wholly subdued; and commissioners were now
arrived to settle the affairs of Pontus, as if all had been quietly in
his possession. But when they came, they found him not so much as
master of himself, but contemned and derided by the common soldiers, who
arrived at that height of insolence against their general, that at the
end of summer they put on their armour and drew their swords, and defied
their enemies then absent and gone off a long while before, and with great
outcries and waving their swords in the air they quitted the camp, proclaiming
that the time was expired which they promised to stay with Lucullus.
The rest were summoned by letter Pompey to come and join him; he by the
favour of the people and by flattery of their leaders having been chosen
general of the army against Mithridates and Tigranes, though the senate
and the nobility all thought that Lucullus was injured, having those put
over his head who succeeded rather to his triumph than to his commission,
and that he was not so truly deprived of his command, as of the glory he
had deserved in his command, which he was forced to yield to another.
<<Plut4-186>
It was yet more of just matter of pity and indignation to those who
were present; for Lucullus remained no longer master of rewards or punishments
for any actions done in the war; neither would Pompey suffer any man to
go to him, or pay any respect to the orders and arrangements he made with
advice of his ten commissioners, but expressly issued edicts to the contrary,
and could not but be obeyed by reason of his greater power. Friends, however,
on both sides, thought it desirable to bring them together, and they met
in a village of Galatia, and saluted each other in a friendly manner, with
congratulations on each other's successes. Lucullus was the elder,
but Pompey the more distinguished by his more numerous commands and his
two triumphs. Both had rods dressed with laurel carried before them
for their victories, and as Pompey's laurels were withered with passing
through hot and droughty countries, Lucullus's lictors courteously gave
Pompey's some of the fresh and green ones which they had, which Pompey's
friends counted a good omen, as indeed, of a truth, Lucullus's actions
furnished the honours of Pompey's command. The interview however,
did not bring them to any amicable agreement; they parted even less friends
than they met. Pompey repealed all the acts of Lucullus, drew off
his soldiers, and left him no more than sixteen hundred for his triumph,
and even those unwilling to go with him. So wanting was Lucullus,
either through natural constitution or adverse circumstances, in that one
first and most important requisite of a general, which had he but added
to his other many and remarkable virtues, his fortitude, vigilance, wisdom,
justice, the Roman empire had not had Euphrates for its boundary, but the
utmost ends of Asia and the Hyrcanian sea; as other nations were then disabled
by the late conquests of Tigranes, and the power of Parthia had not in
Lucullus's time shown itself so formidable as Crassus afterwards found
it, nor had as yet gained that consistency, being crippled by wars at home
and on its frontiers, and unable even to make head against the encroachments
of the Armenians. And Lucullus, as it was, seems to me through others'
agency to have done Rome greater harm than he did her advantage by his
own. For the trophies in Armenia, near the Parthian frontier, and
Tigranocerta, and Nisibis, and the great wealth brought from thence to
Rome, with the captive crown of Tigranes carried in triumph, all helped
to puff up Crassus, as if the barbarians had been nothing else but spoil
and booty, and he, falling among the Parthian archers, soon demonstrated
that Lucullus's triumphs were not beholden to the inadvertency and
effeminacy+ of his enemies, but to his own courage and conduct.
But of this afterwards.
<<Plut4-187>
Lucullus, upon his return to Rome, found his brother Marcus accused
by Caius Memmius for his acts as quaestor, done by Sylla's orders; and
on his acquittal, Memmius changed the scene, and animated the people against
Lucullus himself, urging them to deny him a triumph for appropriating the
spoils and prolonging the war. In this great struggle, the nobility
and chief men went down, and mingling in person among the tribes, with
much entreaty and labour, scarce at length prevailed upon them to consent
to his triumph. The pomp of which proved not so wonderful or so wearisome
with the length of the procession and the number of things carried in it,
but consisted chiefly in vast quantities of arms and machines of the king's
with which he adorned the Flaminian circus, a spectacle by no means despicable.
In his progress there passed by a few horsemen in heavy armour, ten chariots
armed with scythes, sixty friends and officers of the king's, and a hundred
and ten brazen-beaked ships of war, which were conveyed along with them,
a golden image of Mithridates six feet high, a shield set with precious
stones, twenty loads of silver vessels, and thirty-two of golden cups,
armour, and money, all carried by men. Besides which, eight mules
were laden with golden couches, fifty-six with bullion, and a hundred and
seven with coined silver, little less than two million seven hundred thousand
pieces. There were tablets, also, with inscriptions, stating what
moneys he gave Pompey for prosecuting the piratic war, what he delivered
into the treasury, and what he gave to every soldier, which was nine hundred
and fifty drachmas each. After all which he nobly feasted the city
and adjoining villages or vici.
<<Plut4-188>
Being divorced from Clodia, a dissolute and wicked woman, he married
Servilia, sister to Cato. This also proved an unfortunate match,
for she only wanted one of all of Clodia's vices, the criminality she was
accused of with her brothers. Out of reverence to Cato, he for a
while connived at her impurity and immodesty, but at length dismissed her.
When the senate expected great things from him, hoping to find in him a
check to the usurpations of Pompey, and that with the greatness of his
station and credit he would come forward as the champion of the nobility,
he retired from business and abandoned public life either because he saw
the state to be in a difficult and diseased condition, or, as others say,
because he was as great as he could well be, and inclined to a quiet and
easy life, after those many labours and toils which had ended with him
so far from fortunately. There are those who highly commend his change
of life, saying that he thus avoided the rock on which Marius split.
For he, after the great and glorious deeds of his Cimbrian victories, was
not contented to retire upon his honours, but out of an insatiable desire
of glory and power, even in his old age, headed a political party against
young men, and let himself fall into miserable actions, and yet more miserable
sufferings. Better in like manner, they say, had it been for Cicero,
after Catiline's conspiracy, to have retired and grown old, and for Scipio,
after his Numantine and Carthaginian conquests, to have sat down contented.
For the administration of public affairs has, like other things, its proper
term, and statesmen, as well as wrestlers, will break down when strength
and youth fail. But Crassus and Pompey, on the other hand laughed
to see Lucullus abandoning himself to pleasure and expense, as if luxurious
living were not a thing that as little became his years as government of
affairs at home or of an army abroad.
<<Plut4-189>
And, indeed, Lucullus's life, like the Old Comedy, presents us at the
commencement with acts of policy and of war, at the end offering nothing
but good eating and drinking, feastings, and revellings, and mere play.
For I give no higher name to his sumptuous buildings, porticos, and baths,
still less to his paintings and sculptures, and all his industry about
these curiosities, which he collected with vast expense, lavishly bestowing
all the wealth and treasure which he got in the war upon them, insomuch
that even now, with all the advance of luxury, the Lucullean gardens are
counted the noblest the emperor has. Tubero the stoic, when he saw
his buildings at Naples, where he suspended the hills upon vast tunnels,
brought in the sea for moats and fish-ponds round his house, and built
pleasure-houses in the waters, called him Xerxes in a gown. He had
also fine seats in Tusculum, belvederes, and large open balconies for men's
apartments, and porticos to walk in, where Pompey coming to see him, blamed
him for making a house which would be pleasant in summer, but uninhabitable
in winter; whom he answered with a smile, "You think me, then, less provident
than cranes and storks, not to change my home with the season." When a
praetor, with great expense and pains, was preparing a spectacle for the
people, and asked him to lend him some purple robes for the performers
in a chorus, he told him he would go home and see, and if he had got any,
would let him have them; and the next day asking how many he wanted, and
being told that a hundred would suffice, bade him to take twice as many:
on which the poet Horace observes, that a house is but a poor one where
the valuables unseen and unthought of do not exceed all those that meet
the eye.
<<Plut4-190>
Lucullus's daily entertainments were ostentatiously extravagant, not
only with purple coverlets, and plate adorned with precious stones, and
dancings, and interludes, but with the greatest diversity of dishes the
most elaborate cookery, for the vulgar to admire and envy. It was
a happy thought of Pompey in his sickness, when his physician prescribed
a thrush for his dinner, and his servants told him that in summer-time
thrushes were not to be found anywhere but in Lucullus's fattening coops,
that he would not suffer them to fetch one thence, but observing to his
physician, "So if Lucullus had not been an epicure, Pompey had not lived,"
ordered something else that could easily be got to be prepared for him.
Cato was his friend and connection, but, nevertheless, so hated his life
and habits, that when a young man in the senate made a long and tedious
speech in praise of frugality+ and
temperance+, Cato got up and said, "How long do you mean to go on making
money like Crassus, living like Lucullus, and talking like Cato?" There
are some, however, who say the words were said, but not by Cato.
<<Plut4-191>
It is plain from the anecdotes on record of him that Lucullus was not
only pleased with, but even gloried in his way of living. For he
is said to have feasted several Greeks upon coming to Rome day after day,
who of a true Grecian principle, ashamed, and declining the invitations,
where so great an expense was every day incurred for them, he with a smile
told them, "Some of this, indeed my Grecian friends, is for your sakes,
but more for that of Lucullus." Once when he supped alone, there being
only one course, and that but moderately furnished, he called his steward
and reproved him, who professing to have supposed that there would be no
need of any great entertainment, when nobody was invited, was answered,
"What, did not you know, then, that to-day Lucullus dines with Lucullus?"
Which being much spoken of about the city Cicero and Pompey one day met
him loitering in the forum, the former his intimate friend and familiar,
and, though there had been some ill-will between Pompey and him about the
command in the war, still they used to see each other and converse on easy
terms together. Cicero accordingly saluted him, and asked him whether
to-day were a good time for asking a favour of him, and on his answering,
"Very much so," and begging to hear what it was, "Then," said Cicero, "we
shall like to dine with you to-day, just on the dinner that is prepared
for yourself." Lucullus being surprised, and requesting a day's time, they
refused to grant it, neither suffered him to talk with his servants, for
fear he should give order for more than was appointed before. But
thus much they consented to, that before their faces he might tell his
servants, that to-day he would sup in the Apollo (for so one of his best
dining-rooms was called), and by this evasion he outwitted his guests.
For every room, as it seems, had its own assessment of expenditure, dinner
at such a price, and all else in accordance; so that the servants, on knowing
where he would dine, knew also how much was to be expended, and in what
style and form dinner was to be served. The expense for the Apollo
was fifty thousand drachmas, and thus much being that day laid out, the
greatness of the cost did not so much amaze Pompey and Cicero, as the rapidity
of the outlay. One might believe Lucullus thought his money really
captive and barbarian, so wantonly and contumeliously did he treat it.
<<Plut4-192>
His furnishing a library, however, deserves praise and record, for
he collected very many choice manuscripts; and the use they were put to
was even more magnificent than the purchase, the library being always open,
and the walks and reading-rooms about it free to all Greeks, whose delight
it was to leave their other occupations and hasten thither as to the habitation
of the Muses, there walking about, and diverting one another. He
himself often passed his hours there, disputing with the learned in the
walks, and giving his advice to statesmen who required it, insomuch that
his house was altogether a home, and in a manner a Greek prytaneum for
those that visited Rome. He was fond of all sorts of philosophy,
and was well read and expert in them all. But he always from the
first specially favoured and valued the Academy; not the New one, which
at that time under Philo flourished with the precepts of Carneades, but
the Old one, then sustained and represented by Antiochus of Ascalon, a
learned and eloquent man. Lucullus with great labour made him his
friend and champion, and set him up against Philo's auditors, among whom
Cicero was one, who wrote an admirable treatise in defence of his sect,
in which he puts the argument in favour of comprehension in the mouth of
Lucullus and the opposite argument in his own. The book is called
Lucullus. For, as has been said, they were great friends, and took
the same side in politics. For Lucullus did not wholly retire from
the republic+, but only from ambition,
and from the dangerous and often lawless struggle for political preeminence,
which he left to Crassus and Cato, whom the senators, jealous of Pompey's
greatness, put forward as their champions, when Lucullus refused to head
them. For his friends' sake he came into the forum and into the senate,
when occasion offered to humble the ambition and pride of Pompey, whose
settlement, after his conquests over the kings, he got cancelled, and,
by the assistance of Cato, hindered a division of lands to his soldiers,
which he proposed. So Pompey went over to Crassus and Caesar's alliance,
or rather conspiracy, and filling the city with armed men, procured the
ratification of his decrees by force, and drove Cato and Lucullus out of
the forum. Which being resented by the nobility, Pompey's party produced
one Vettius, pretending they apprehended him in a design against Pompey's
life. Who in the senate-house accused others, but before the people
named Lucullus, as if he had been suborned by him to kill Pompey.
Nobody gave heed to what he said, and it soon appeared that they had put
him forward to make false charges and accusations. And after a few
days the whole intrigue became yet more obvious, when the dead body of
Vettius was thrown out of prison, he being reported, indeed, to have died
a natural death, but carrying marks of a halter and blows about him, and
seeming rather to have been taken off by those who suborned him. These
things kept Lucullus at a greater distance from the republic.
<<Plut4-193>
But when Cicero was banished the city, and Cato sent to Cyprus, he
quitted public affairs altogether. It is said, too, that before his
death his intellects failed him by degrees. But Cornelius Nepos denies
that either age or sickness impaired his mind, which was rather affected
by a potion, given him by Callisthenes, his freedman. The potion
was meant by Callisthenes to strengthen his affection for him, and was
supposed to have that tendency, but it stood quite otherwise, and so disabled
and unsettled his mind, that while he was yet alive, his brother took charge
of his affairs. At his death, as though it had been the death of
one taken off in the very height of military and civil glory, the people
were much concerned, and flocked together, and would have forcibly taken
his corpse, as it was carried into the market-place by young men of the
highest rank, and have buried it in the field of Mars, where they buried
Sylla. Which being altogether unexpected, and necessaries not easily
to be procured on a sudden, his brother, after much entreaty and solicitation,
prevailed upon them to suffer him to be buried on his Tusculan estate as
had been appointed. He himself survived him but a short time, coming
not far behind in death, as he did in age and renown, in all respects,
a most loving brother.
<<Plut4-194>
~The Comparison of Lucullus with Cimon_+
One might bless the end of Lucullus, which was so timed as to let him
die before the great revolution, which fate, by intestine wars, was already
effecting against the established government, and to close his life in
a free though troubled commonwealth. And in this, above all other
things, Cimon and he are alike. For he died also when Greece was
as yet undisordered, in its highest felicity; though in the field at the
head of his army, not recalled, nor out of his mind, nor sullying the glory
of his wars, engagements, and conquests, by making feastings and debauches
seem the apparent end and aim of them all; as Plato says scornfully of
Orpheus, that he makes an eternal debauch hereafter the reward of those
who lived well here. Indeed, ease and quiet, and the study of pleasant
and speculative learning, to an old man retiring from command and office,
is a most suitable and becoming solace; but to misguide virtuous actions
to pleasure+ as their utmost end, and as
the conclusion of campaigns and commands, to keep the feast of Venus, did
not become the noble Academy, and the follower of Xenocrates, but rather
one that inclined to Epicurus+. And this is one surprising point
of contrast between them; Cimon's youth was ill reputed and intemperate,
Lucullus's well disciplined and sober. Undoubtedly we must give the
preference to the change for good, {Hal+}
for it argues the better nature, where vice declines and virtue grows.
Both had great wealth, but employed it in different ways; and there is
no comparison between the south wall of the acropolis built by Cimon, and
the chambers and galleries, with their sea-views, built at Naples by Lucullus,
out of the spoils of the barbarians. Neither can we compare Cimon's
popular and liberal table with the sumptuous oriental one of Lucullus,
the former receiving a great many guests every day at small cost, and the
latter expensively spread for a few men of pleasure, unless you will say
that different times made the alteration. For who can tell but that
Cimon, if he had retired in his old age from business and war to quiet
and solitude, might have lived a more luxurious and self-indulgent life,
as he was fond of wine and company, and accused, as has been said, of laxity
with women? {effeminacy+} The better
pleasures gained in successful action and effort leave the baser appetites
no time or place, and make active and heroic men forget them. Had
but Lucullus ended his days in the field, and in command, envy and detraction
itself could never have accused him. So much for their manner of
life.
<<Plut4-195>
In war, it is plain they were both soldiers of excellent conduct, both
at land and sea. But as in the games they honour those champions
who on the same day gain the garland, both in wrestling and in the pancratium,
with the name of "Victors and more," so Cimon, honouring Greece with a
sea and land victory on the same day, may claim a certain pre-eminence
among commanders. Lucullus received command from his country, whereas
Cimon brought it to his. He annexed the territories of enemies to
her, who ruled over confederates before, but Cimon made his country, which
when he began was a mere follower of others, both rule over confederates,
and conquer enemies too, forcing the Persians to relinquish the sea, and
inducing the Lacedaemonians to surrender their command. If it be
the chiefest thing in a general to obtain the obedience of his soldiers
by good_will+, ucullus was despised by
his own army, but Cimon highly prized even by others. His soldiers
deserted the one, the confederates came over to the other. Lucullus
came home without the forces which he led out; Cimon, sent out at first
to serve as one confederate among others, returned home with authority
even over these also, having successfully effected for his city three most
difficult services, establishing peace with the enemy, dominion over confederates,
and concord with Lacedaemon. Both aiming to destroy great kingdoms,
and subdue all Asia, failed in their enterprise, Cimon by a simple piece
of ill-fortune, for he died when general, in the height of success; but
Lucullus no man can wholly acquit of being in fault with his soldiers,
whether it were he did not know, or would not comply with, the distastes
and complaints of his army, which brought him at last into such extreme
unpopularity among them. But did not Cimon also suffer like him in
this? For the citizens arraigned him, and did not leave off till
they had banished him, that, as Plato says, they might not hear him for
the space of ten years. For high and noble minds seldom please the
vulgar+, or are acceptable to them; for the force they use to straighten
their distorted actions gives the same pain as surgeons' bandages do in
bringing dislocated bones to their natural position. Both of them,
perhaps, come off pretty much with an equal acquittal on this count.
<<Plut4-196>
Lucullus very much outwent him in war, being the first Roman who carried
an army over Taurus, passed the Tigris, took and burned the royal palaces
of Asia in the sight of the kings, Tigranocerta, Cabira, Sinope, and Nisibis,
seizing and overwhelming the northern parts as far as the Phasis, the east
as far as Media, and making the South and Red Sea his own through the kings
of the Arabians. He shattered the power of the kings, and narrowly
missed their persons, while like wild beasts they fled away into deserts
and thick and impassable woods. In demonstration of this superiority,
we see that the Persians, as if no great harm had befallen them under Cimon,
soon after appeared in arms against the Greeks, and overcame and destroyed
their numerous forces in Egypt. But after Lucullus, Tigranes and
Mithridates were able to do nothing; the latter, being disabled and broken
in the former wars, never dared to show his army to Pompey outside the
camp, but fled away to Bosporus, and there died. Tigranes threw himself,
naked and unarmed, down before Pompey, and taking his crown from his head
laid it at his feet, complimenting Pompey with what was not his own, but,
in real truth, the conquest already effected by Lucullus. And when
he received the ensigns of majesty again, he was well pleased, evidently
because he had forfeited them before. And the commander, as the wrestler,
is to be accounted to have done most who leaves an adversary almost conquered
for his successor. Cimon moreover, when he took the command, found
the power of the king broken, and the spirits of the Persians humbled by
their great defeats and incessant routs under Themistocles, Pausanias,
and Leontychides, and thus easily overcame the bodies of men whose souls
were quelled and defeated beforehand. But Tigranes had never yet
in many combats been beaten, and was flushed with success when he engaged
with Lucullus. There is no comparison between the numbers which came
against Lucullus and those subdued by Cimon. All which things being
rightly considered, it is a hard matter to give judgment. For supernatural
favour also appears to have attended both of them, directing the one what
to do, the other what to avoid, and thus they have, both of them, so to
say, the vote of the gods, to declare them noble and divine characters.
<<Plut4-197>
~Nicias+
CRASSUS, in my opinion, may most properly be set against Nicias, and
the Parthian disaster compared with that in Sicily. But here it will
be well for me to entreat the reader, in all courtesy, not to think that
I contend with Thucydides+ in matters
so pathetically, vividly, and eloquently, beyond all imitation, and even
beyond himself, expressed by him; nor to believe me guilty of the like
folly with Timaeus, who, hoping in his history to surpass Thucydides in
art, and to make Philistus appear a trifler and a novice, pushes on in
his descriptions, through all the battles, sea-fights, and public speeches,
in recording which they have been most successful, without meriting so
much as to be compared, in Pindar's phrase, to-
"One that on his feet Would with the Lydian cars compete."
He simply shows himself all along a half-lettered, childish writer; in
the words of Diphilus-
" ---of wit obese, O'erlarded with Sicilian grease."
Often he sinks to the very level of Xenarchus, telling us that he thinks
it ominous to the Athenians that their general, who had victory in his
name, was unwilling to take command in the expedition; and that the defacing
of the Hermae was a divine intimation that they should suffer much in the
war by Hermocrates, the son of Hermon; and, moreover, how it was likely
that Hercules should aid the Syracusans for the sake of Proserpine, by
whose means he took Cerberus, and should be angry with the Athenians for
protecting the Egesteans, descended from Trojan ancestors, whose city he,
for an injury of their king Laomedon, had overthrown. However, all
these may be merely other instances of the same happy taste that makes
him correct the diction of Philistus, and abuse Plato and Aristotle.
This sort of contention and rivalry with others in matter of style, to
my mind, in any case, seems petty and pedantic+,
but when its objects are works of inimitable excellence, it is absolutely
senseless. Such actions in Nicias's life as Thucydides and Philistus
have related, since they cannot be passed by, illustrating as they do most
especially his character and temper, under his many and great troubles,
that I may not seem altogether negligent, I shall briefly run over.
And such things as are not commonly known, and lie scattered here and there
in other men's writings, or are found amongst the old monuments and archives,
I shall endeavour to bring together; not collecting mere useless pieces
of learning, but adducing what may make his disposition and habit of mind
understood.
<<Plut4-198>
First of all, I would mention what Aristotle has said of Nicias, that
there had been three good citizens eminent above the rest for their hereditary
affection and love to the people, Nicias the son of Niceratus, Thucydides
the son of Melesias, and Theramenes the son of Hagnon, but the last less
than the others; for he had his dubious extraction cast in his teeth, as
a foreigner from Ceos, and his inconstancy+,
which made him side sometimes with one party, sometimes with another, in
public life, and which obtained him the nickname of the Buskin.
<<Plut4-199>
Thucydides came earlier, and, on the behalf of the nobility, was a
great opponent of the measures by which Pericles courted the favour of
the people.
<<Plut4-200>
Nicias was a younger man, yet was in some reputation even whilst Pericles
lived; so much so as to have been his colleague in the office of general,
and to have held command by himself more than once. But on the death of
Pericles, he presently rose to the highest place, chiefly by the favour
of the rich and eminent citizens, who set him up for their bulwark against
the presumption and insolence of Cleon; nevertheless, he did not forfeit
the good-will of the commonalty, who, likewise, contributed to his advancement.
For though Cleon got great influence by his exertions - "---to please The
old men, who trusted him to find them fees," yet even those, for whose
interest and to gain whose favour he acted, nevertheless observing the
avarice, the arrogance, and the presumption of the man, many of them supported
Nicias. For his was not that sort of gravity which is harsh and offensive,
but he tempered it with a certain caution and deference, winning upon the
people, by seeming afraid of them. And being naturally diffident
and unhopeful in war, his good-fortune supplied his want of courage, and
kept it from being detected, as in all his commands he was constantly successful.
And his timorousness in civil life, and his extreme dread of accusers,
was thought very suitable in a citizen of a free state; and from the people's
good-will towards him, got him no small power over them, they being fearful
of all that despised them, but willing to promote one who seemed to be
afraid of them; the greatest compliment their betters could pay them being
not to contemn them.
200a Pericles, who by solid virtue and the pure force of argument ruled
the commonwealth, had stood in need of no disguises nor persuasions with
the people. Nicias, inferior in these respects, used his riches,
of which he had abundance, to gain popularity. Neither had he the
nimble wit of Cleon to win the Athenians to his purposes by amusing them
with bold jests; unprovided with such qualities, he courted them with dramatic
exhibitions, gymnastic games, and other public shows, more sumptuous and
more splendid than had been ever known in his or in former ages.
Amongst his religious offerings, there was extant, even in our days, the
small figure of Minerva in the citadel, having lost the gold that covered
it; and a shrine in the temple of Bacchus, under the tripods, that were
presented by those who won the prize in the shows or plays. For at
these he had often carried off the prize, and never once failed.
We are told that on one of these occasions, a slave of his appeared in
the character of Bacchus, of a beautiful person and noble stature, and
with as yet no beard upon his chin; and on the Athenians being pleased
with the sight, and applauding a long time, Nicias stood up, and said he
could not in piety keep as a slave one whose person had been consecrated
to represent a god. And forthwith he set the young man free.
His performances at Delos are, also, on record, as noble and magnificent
works of devotion. For whereas the choruses which the cities sent
to sing hymns to the god were wont to arrive in no order, as it might happen,
and, being there met by a crowd of people crying out to them to sing, in
their hurry to begin, used to disembark confusedly, putting on their garlands,
and changing their dresses as they left the ships, he, when he had to convoy
the sacred company, disembarked the chorus at Rhenea, together with the
sacrifice, and other holy appurtenances. And having brought along
with him from Athens a bridge fitted by measurement for the purpose, and
magnificently adorned with gilding and colouring, and with garlands and
tapestries: this he laid in the night over the channel betwixt Rhenea and
Delos, being no great distance. And at break of day he marched forth
with all the procession to the god, and led the chorus, sumptuously ornamented,
and singing their hymns, along over the bridge. The sacrifices, the
games, and the feast being over, he set up a palm-tree of brass for a present
to the god, and bought a parcel of land with ten thousand drachmas which
he consecrated; with the revenue the inhabitants of Delos were to sacrifice
and to feast, and to pray the gods for many good things to Nicias.
This he engraved on a pillar, which he left in Delos to be a record of
his bequest. This same palm-tree, afterwards broken down by the wind, fell
on the great statue which the men of Naxos presented, and struck it to
the ground.
<<Plut4-201>
It is plain that much of this might be vainglory, and the mere desire
of popularity and applause; yet from other qualities and carriages of the
man one might believe all this cost and public display to be the effect
of devotion. For he was one of those who dreaded the divine powers
extremely, and, as Thucydides tells us, was much given to arts of divination.
In one of Pasiphon's dialogues, it is stated that he daily sacrificed to
the gods, and keeping a diviner at his house, professed to be consulting
always about the commonwealth, but for the most part inquired about his
own private affairs, more especially concerning his silver mines; for he
owned many works at Laurium, of great value, but somewhat hazardous to
carry on. He maintained there a multitude of slaves, and his wealth
consisted chiefly in silver. Hence he had many hangers-on about him,
begging and obtaining. For he gave to those who could do him mischief
no less than to those who deserved well. In short, his timidity was
a revenue to rogues, and his humanity to honest men. We find testimony
in the comic writers, as when Teleclides, speaking of one of the professed
informers, says -
"Charicles gave the man a pound, the matter not to name,
That from inside a money-bag into the world he came;
And Nicias, also, paid him four; I know the reason well
But Nicias is a worthy man, and so I will not tell."
So, also, the informer whom Eupolis introduces in his Maricas, attacking
a good, simple, poor man:-
"How long ago did you and Nicias meet?
I did but see him just now in the street. The man has seen him
and denies it not,
'Tis evident that they are in a plot. See you, O citizens! 'tis
fact,
Nicias is taken in the act. Taken, Fools! take so good a man
In aught that's wrong none will or can."
Cleon, in Aristophanes, makes it one of his threats:-
"I'll outscream all the speakers, and make Nicias stand aghast."
Phrynichus also implies his want of spirit and his easiness to be intimated
in the verses-
"A noble man he was, I well can say,
Nor walked like Nicias, cowering on his way."
<<Plut4-202>
So cautious was he of informers, and so reserved, that he never would
dine out with any citizen, nor allowed himself to indulge in talk and conversation
with his friends, nor give himself any leisure for such amusements; but
when he was general he used to stay at the office till night, and was the
first that came to the council-house, and the last that left it.
And if no public business engaged him, it was very hard to have access,
or to speak with him, he being retired at home and locked up. And
when any came to the door, some friend of his gave them good words, and
begged them to excuse him, Nicias was very busy; as if affairs of state
and public duties still kept him occupied. He who principally acted
this part for him, and contributed most to this state and show, was Hiero,
a man educated in Nicias's family, and instructed by him in letters and
music. He professed to be the son of Dionysius, surnamed Chalcus, whose
poems are yet extant, and had led out the colony to Italy and founded Thurii.
This Hiero transacted all his secrets for Nicias with the diviners; and
gave out to the people what a toilsome and miserable life he led for the
sake of the commonwealth. "He," said Hiero, "can never be either at the
bath or at his meat but some public business interferes. Careless
of his own and zealous for the public good, he scarcely ever goes to bed
till after others have had their first sleep. So that his health
is impaired and his body out of order, nor is he cheerful or
affable+ with his friends, but loses them as well as his money
in the service of the state, while other men gain friends by public speaking,
enrich themselves, fare delicately and make government their amusement."
And in fact this was Nicias's manner of life, so that he well might apply
to himself the words of Agamemnon:-
"Vain pomp's the ruler of the life we live,
And a slave's service to the crowd we give."
<<Plut4-203>
He observed that the people, in the case of men of eloquence, or of
eminent parts, make use of their talents upon occasion, but were always
jealous of their abilities, and held a watchful eye upon them, taking all
opportunities to humble their pride and abate their reputation; as was
manifest in their condemnation of Pericles, their banishment of Damon,
their distrust of Antiphon the Rhamnusian, but especially in the case of
Paches who took Lesbos, who having to give an account of his conduct, in
the very court of justice unsheathed his sword and slew himself.
Upon such considerations, Nicias declined all difficult and lengthy enterprises;
if he took a command, he was for doing what was safe; and if, as thus was
likely, he had for the most part success, he did not attribute it to any
wisdom, conduct, or courage of his own, but, to avoid envy, he thankedfortune+
for all, and gave the glory to the divine powers. {non_nobis+}
And the actions themselves bore testimony in his favour; the city met at
that time with several considerable reverses, but he had not a hand in
any of them. The Athenians were routed in Thrace by the Chalcidians,
Calliades and Xenophon commanding in chief. Demosthenes was the general
when they were unfortunate in Aetolia. At Delium they lost a thousand
citizens under the conduct of Hippocrates; the plague was principally laid
to the charge of Pericles, he, to carry on the war, having shut up close
together in the town the crowd of people from the country who, by the change
of place, and of their usual course of living, bred the pestilence.
Nicias stood clear of all this; under his conduct was taken Cythera, an
island most commodious against Laconia, and occupied by the Lacedaemonian
settlers; many places, likewise, in Thrace, which had revolted, were taken
or won over by him; he shutting up the Megarians within their town, seized
upon the isle of Minoa; and soon after, advancing from thence to Nisaea,
made himself master there, and then making a descent upon the Corinthian
territory, fought a successful battle, and slew a great number of the Corinthians
with their captain Lycophron. There it happened that two of his men
were left by an oversight, when they carried off the dead, which when he
understood, he stopped the fleet, and sent a herald to the enemy for leave
to carry off the dead; though by law and custom, he that by a truce craved
leave to carry off the dead was hereby supposed to give up all claim to
the victory. Nor was it lawful for him that did this to erect a trophy,
for his is the victory who is master of the field, and he is not master
who asks leave, as wanting power to take. But he chose rather to
renounce his victory and his glory than to let two citizens lie unburied.{Hotspur+}
He scoured the coast of Laconia all along, and beat the Lacedaemonians
that made head against him. He took Thyrea, occupied by the Aeginetans,
and carried the prisoners to Athens.
<<Plut4-204>
When Demosthenes had fortified Pylos, and the Peloponnesians brought
together both their sea and land-forces before it, after the fight, about
the number of four hundred native Spartans were left ashore in the isle
Sphacteria. The Athenians thought it a great prize, as indeed it
was, to take these men prisoners. But the siege, in places that wanted
water, being very difficult and untoward, and to convey necessaries about
by sea in summer tedious and expensive, in winter doubtful, or plainly
impossible, they began to be annoyed, and to repent their having rejected
the embassy of the Lacedaemonians, that had been sent to propose a treaty
of peace, which had been done at the importunity of Cleon, who opposed
it chiefly out of a pique to Nicias; for, being his enemy, and observing
him to be extremely solicitous to support the offers of the Lacedaemonians,
he persuaded the people to refuse them.
<<Plut4-205>
Now, therefore, that the siege was protracted, and they heard of the
difficulties that pressed their army, they grew enraged against Cleon.
But he turned all the blame upon Nicias, charging it on his softness and
cowardice, that the besieged were not yet taken. "Were I general," said
he, "they should not hold out so long." The Athenians not unnaturally asked
the question, "Why, then, as it is, do not you go with a squadron against
them?" And Nicias standing up resigned his command at Pylos to him, and
bade him take what forces he pleased along with him, and not be bold in
words, out of harm's way, but go forth and perform some real service for
the commonwealth. Cleon, at the first, tried to draw back, disconcerted
at the proposal, which he had never expected; but the Athenians insisting,
and Nicias loudly upbraiding him, he thus provoked, and fired with ambition,
took upon him the charge, and said further, that within twenty days after
he embarked, he would either kill the enemy, upon the place, or bring them
alive to Athens. This the Athenians were readier to launch at than
to believe, as on other occasions, also, his bold assertions and extravagances
used to make them sport, and were pleasant enough. As, for instance,
it is reported that once when the people were assembled, and had waited
his coming a long time, at last he appeared with a garland on his head,
and prayed them to adjourn to the next day. "For," said he, "I am not at
leisure to-day; I have sacrificed to the gods, and am to entertain some
strangers." Whereupon the Athenians, laughing, rose up, and dissolved the
assembly. However, at this time he had good-fortune, and in conjunction
with Demosthenes, conducted the enterprise so well that, within the time
he had limited, he carried captive to Athens all the Spartans that had
not fallen in battle.
<<Plut4-206>
This brought great disgrace on Nicias; for this was not to throw away
his shield, but something yet more shameful and ignominious, to quit his
charge voluntarily out of cowardice, and voting himself, as it were, out
of his command of his own accord, to put into his enemy's hand the opportunity
of achieving so brave an action. Aristophanes has a jest against
him on this occasion in the Birds:-
"Indeed, not now the word that must be said
Is, do like Nicias, or retire to bed."
And, again, in his Husbandmen:-
"I wish to stay at home and farm,
@@@ What then? Who should prevent you?
@@@ You, my countrymen;
Whom I would pay a thousand drachmas down,
To let me give up office and leave town.
Enough; content; the sum two thousand is,
With those that Nicias paid to give up his."
<<Plut4-207>
Besides all this, he did great mischief to the city by suffering the
accession of so much reputation and power to Cleon, who now assumed such
lofty airs, and allowed himself in such intolerable audacity, as led to
many unfortunate results, a sufficient part of which fell to his own share.
Amongst other things, he destroyed all the decorum of public speaking;
he was the first who ever broke out into exclamations, flung open his dress,
smote his thigh, and ran up and down whilst he was speaking, things which
soon after introduced, amongst those who managed the affairs of state,
such licence and contempt of decency as brought all into confusion.
<<Plut4-208>
Already, too, Alcibiades was beginning to show his strength at Athens,
a popular leader, not, indeed, as utterly violent as Cleon, but as the
land of Egypt, through the richness of its soil, is said- "---great plenty
to produce, Both wholesome herbs, and drugs of deadly juice," so the nature
of Alcibiades was strong and luxuriant in both kinds, and made way for
many serious innovations. Thus it fell out that after Nicias had
got his hands clear of Cleon, he had not opportunity to settle the city
perfectly into quietness. For having brought matters to a pretty
hopeful condition, he found everything carried away and plunged again into
confusion by Alcibiades, through the wildness and vehemence of his ambition,
and all embroiled again in war worse than ever. Which fell out thus.
The persons who had principally hindered the peace were Cleon and Brasidas.
War setting off the virtue of the one and hiding the villainy of the other,
gave to the one occasions of achieving brave actions, to the other opportunity
of committing equal dishonesties. Now when these two were in one
battle both slain near Amphipolis, Nicias was aware that the Spartans had
long been desirous of a peace, and that the Athenians had no longer the
same confidence in the war. Both being alike tired, and, as it were
by consent, letting fall their hands, he, therefore, in this nick of time,
employed his efforts to make a friendship betwixt the two cities, and to
deliver the other states of Greece from the evils and calamities they laboured
under, and so establish his own good name for success as a statesman for
all future time. He found the men of substance, the elder men, and
the land-owners and farmers pretty generally all inclined to peace.
And when, in addition to these, by conversing and reasoning, he had cooled
the wishes of a good many others for war, he now encouraged the hopes of
the Lacedaemonians, and counselled them to seek peace. They confided
in him, as on account of his general character for moderation and equity,
so, also, because of the kindness and care he had shown to the prisoners
taken at Pylos and kept in confinement, making their misfortune the more
easy to them.
<<Plut4-209>
The Athenians and the Spartans had before this concluded a truce for
a year, and during this, by associating with one another, they had tasted
again the sweets of peace and security and unimpeded intercourse with friends
and connections, and thus longed for an end of that fighting and bloodshed,
and heard with delight the chorus sing such verses as- "----my lance I'll
leave Laid by, for spiders to o'erweave," and remembered with joy the saying,
In peace, they who sleep are awaked by the cock-crow, not by the trumpet.
So shutting their ears, with loud reproaches, to the forebodings of those
who said that the Fates decreed this to be a war of thrice nine years,
the whole question having been debated, they made a peace. And most
people thought, now, indeed, they had got an end of all their evils.
And Nicias was in every man's mouth, as one especially beloved of the gods,
who, for his piety and devotion, had been appointed to give a name to the
fairest and greatest of all blessings. For in fact they considered
the peace Nicias's work, as the war the work of Pericles; because he, on
light occasions, seemed to have plunged the Greeks into great calamities,
while Nicias had induced them to forget all the evils they had done each
other and to be friends again; and so to this day it is called the Peace
of Nicias.
<<Plut4-210>
The articles being, that the garrisons and towns taken or, either side
and the prisoners should be restored, and they to restore the first to
whom it should fall by lot. Nicias, as Theophrastus tells us, by
a sum of money procured that the lot should fall for the Lacedaemonians
to deliver the first. Afterwards, when the Corinthians and the Boeotians
showed their dislike of what was done, and by their complaints and accusations
were well-nigh bringing the war back again, Nicias persuaded the Athenians
and the Lacedaemonians, besides the peace, to make a treaty of alliance,
offensive and defensive, as a tie and confirmation of the peace, which
would make them more terrible to those that held out, and the firmer to
each other. Whilst these matters were on foot, Alcibiades, who was
no lover of tranquillity, and who was offended with the Lacedaemonians
because of their applications and attentions to Nicias, while they overlooked
and despised himself, from first to last, indeed, had opposed the peace,
though all in vain, but now finding that the Lacedaemonians did not altogether
continue to please the Athenians, but were thought to have acted unfairly
in having made a league with the Boeotians, and had not given up Panactum,
as they should have done, with its fortifications unrazed, nor yet Amphipolis,
he laid hold on these occasions for his purpose, and availed himself of
every one of them to irritate the people. And, at length, sending
for ambassadors from the Argives, he exerted himself to effect a confederacy
between the Athenians and them. And now, when Lacedaemonian ambassadors
were come with full powers, and at their preliminary audience by the council
seemed to come in all points with just proposals, he, fearing that the
general assembly, also, would be won to their offers, overreached them
with false professions and oaths of assistance, on the condition that they
would not avow that they came with full powers; this, he said, being the
only way for them to attain their desires. They being over-persuaded
and decoyed from Nicias to follow him, he introduced them to the assembly,
and asked them presently whether or no they came in all points with full
powers, which, when they denied, he, contrary to their expectation, changing
his countenance, called the council to witness their words, and now bade
the people beware how they trust or transact anything with such manifest
liars, who say at one time one thing, and at another the very opposite
upon the same subject. These plenipotentiaries were, as well they might
be, confounded at this, and Nicias, also being at a loss what to say, and
struck with amazement and wonder, the assembly resolved to send immediately
for the Argives, to enter into a league with them. An earthquake,
which interrupted the assembly, made for Nicias's advantage; and the next
day the people being again assembled, after much speaking and soliciting,
with great ado he brought it about that the treaty with the Argives should
be deferred, and he be sent to the Lacedaemonians, in full expectation
that so all would go well.
<<Plut4-211>
When he arrived at Sparta, they received him there as a good man, and
one well inclined towards them; yet he effected nothing, but, baffled by
the party that favoured the Boeotians, he returned home, not only dishonoured
and
hardly spoken of, but likewise in fear of the Athenians, who were vexed
and enraged that through his persuasions they had released so many and
such considerable persons, their prisoners, for the men who had been brought
from Pylos were of the chiefest families of Sparta, and had those who were
highest there in place and power for their friends and kindred. Yet
did they not in their heat proceed against him, otherwise than that they
chose Alcibiades general, and took the Mantineans and Eleans, who had thrown
up their alliance with the Lacedaemonians, into the league, together with
the Argives, and sent to Pylos freebooters to infest Laconia, whereby the
war began to break out afresh.
<<Plut4-212>
But the enmity betwixt Nicias and Alcibiades running higher and higher,
and the time being at hand for decreeing the ostracism or banishment, for
ten years, which the people, putting the name on a sherd, were wont to
inflict at certain times on some person suspected or regarded with jealousy
for his popularity or wealth, both were now in alarm and apprehension,
one of them, in all likelihood, being to undergo this ostracism; as the
people abominated the life of Alcibiades, and stood in fear of his boldness
and resolution, as is shown particularly in the history of him; while as
for Nicias, his riches made him envied, and his habits of living, in particular
his unsociable and exclusive+ ways, not
like those of a fellow-citizen, or even a fellow-man, went against him,
and having many times opposed their inclinations, forcing them against
their feelings to do what was their interest, he had got himself disliked.
<<Plut4-213>
To speak plainly, it was a contest of the young men who were eager
for war, against the men of years and lovers of peace, they turning the
ostracism upon the one, these upon the other. But-
"In civil strife e'en villains rise to fame."
And so now it happened that the city, distracted into two factions, allowed
free course to the most impudent and profligate persons, among whom was
Hyperbolus of the Perithoedae, one who could not, indeed, be said to be
presuming upon any power, but rather by his presumption rose into power,
and by the honour he found in the city, became the scandal of it.
He, at this time, thought himself far enough from the ostracism, as more
properly deserving the slave's gallows, and made account, that one of these
men being despatched out of the way he might be able to play a part against
the other that should be left, and openly showed his pleasure at the dissension,
and his desire to inflame the people against both of them. Nicias
and Alcibiades, perceiving his malice, secretly combined together, and
setting both their interests jointly at work, succeeded in fixing the ostracism
not on either of them, but even on Hyperbolus. This, indeed, at the
first made sport, and raised laughter among the people; but afterwards
it was felt as an affront, that the thing should be dishonoured by being
employed upon so unworthy a subject; punishment, also, having its proper
dignity, and ostracism+ being one that
was appropriate rather for Thucydides, Aristides, and such like persons;
whereas for Hyperbolus it was a glory, and a fair ground for boasting on
his part, when for his villainy he suffered the same with the best men.
As Plato, the comic poet, said of him:-
"The man deserved the fate, deny who can;
Yes, but the fate did not deserve the man; Not for the like of him
and his slave-brands,
Did Athens put the sherd into our hands."
<<Plut4-214>
And, in fact, none ever afterwards suffered this sort of punishment,
but Hyperbolus was the last, as Hipparchus the Cholargian, who was kin
to the tyrant, was the first.
<<Plut4-215>
There is no judgment to be made of
fortune+; nor can any reasoning bring us to a certainty about it.
If Nicias had run the risk with Alcibiades whether of the two should undergo
the ostracism, he had either prevailed, and, his rival being expelled the
city, he had remained secure; or, being overcome, he had avoided the utmost
disasters, and preserved the reputation of a most excellent commander.
Meantime I am not ignorant that Theophrastus says, that when Hyperbolus
was banished, Phaeax, not Nicias, contested it with Alcibiades; but most
authors differ from him.
<<Plut4-216>
It was Alcibiades, at any rate, whom when the Aegestean and Leontine
ambassadors arrived and urged the Athenians to make an expedition against
Sicily, Nicias opposed, and by whose persuasions and ambition he found
himself overborne, who, even before the people could be assembled, had
preoccupied and corrupted their judgment with hopes and with speeches;
insomuch that the young men at their sports, and the old men in their workshops,
and sitting together on the benches, would be drawing maps of Sicily, and
making charts showing the seas, the harbours, and general character of
the coast of the island opposite Africa. For they made not Sicily
the end of the war but rather its starting-point and headquarters from
whence they might carry it to the Carthaginians, and possess themselves
of Africa, and of the seas as far as the pillars of Hercules. The
bulk of the people, therefore, pressing this way, Nicias, who opposed them,
found but few supporters, nor those of much influence; for the men of substance,
fearing lest they should seem to shun the public charges and ship-money,
were quiet against their inclination; nevertheless he did not tire nor
give it up, but even after the Athenians decreed a war and chose him in
the first place general, together with Alcibiades and Lamachus, when they
were again assembled, he stood up, dissuaded them, and protested against
the decision, and laid the blame on Alcibiades, charging him with going
about to involve the city in foreign dangers and difficulties, merely with
a view to his own private lucre and ambition. Yet it came to nothing.
Nicias, because of his experience, was looked upon as the fitter for the
employment, and his wariness with the bravery of Alcibiades, and the easy
temper of Lamachus, all compounded together, promised such security, that
he did but confirm the resolution. Demostratus, who, of the popular leaders,
was the one who chiefly pressed the Athenians to the expedition, stood
up and said he would stop the mouth of Nicias from urging any more excuses,
and moved that the generals should have absolute power, both at home and
abroad, to order and to act as they thought best; and this vote the people
passed.
<<Plut4-217>
The priests, however, are said to have very earnestly opposed the enterprise.
But Alcibiades had his diviners of another sort, who from some old prophecies
announced that "there shall be great fame of the Athenians in Sicily,"
and messengers came back to him from Jupiter Ammon with oracles importing
that "the Athenians shall take all the Syracusans." Those, meanwhile, who
knew anything that boded ill, concealed it lest they might seem to fore-speak
ill-luck. For even prodigies that were obvious and plain would not
deter them; not the defacing of the Hermae, all maimed in one night except
one, called the Hermes of Andocides, erected by the tribe of Aegeus, placed
directly before the house then occupied by Andocides; or what was perpetrated
on the altar of the twelve gods, upon which a certain man leaped suddenly
up, and then turning round mutilated himself with a stone. Likewise
at Delphi there stood a golden image of Minerva, set on a palm-tree of
brass, erected by the city of Athens from the spoils they won from the
Medes; this was pecked at several days together by crows flying upon it,
who also plucked off and knocked down the fruit, made of gold, upon the
palm-tree. But the Athenians said these were all but inventions of
the Delphians, corrupted by the men of Syracuse. A certain oracle
bade them bring from Clazomenae the priestess of Minerva there; they sent
for the woman and found her named Hesychia, Quietness, this being, it would
seem, what the divine powers advised the city at this time, to be quiet.
Whether, therefore, the astrologer Meton feared these presages, or that
from human reason he doubted its success (for he was appointed to a command
in it), feigning himself mad, he set his house on fire. Others say
he did not counterfeit madness, but set his house on fire in the night,
and the next morning came before the assembly in great distress, and besought
the people, in consideration of the sad disaster, to release his son from
the service, who was about to go captain of a galley for Sicily.
The genius, also, of the philosopher Socrates+,
on this occasion, too, gave him intimation by the usual tokens, that the
expedition would prove the ruin of the commonwealth; this he imparted to
his friends and familiars, and by them it was mentioned to a number of
people. Not a few were troubled because the days on which the fleet
set sail happened to be the time when the women celebrated the death of
Adonis; there being everywhere then exposed to view images of dead men,
carried about with mourning and lamentation, and women beating their breasts.
So that such as laid any stress on these matters were extremely troubled,
and feared lest that all this warlike preparation, so splendid and so glorious,
should suddenly, in a little time, be blasted in its very prime of magnificence,
and come to nothing.
<<Plut4-218>
Nicias, in opposing the voting of this expedition, and neither being
puffed up with hopes, nor transported with the honour of his high command
so as to modify his judgment, showed himself a man of virtue and constancy.{modest+}
But when his endeavours could not diverge the people from the war, nor
get leave for himself to be discharged of the command, but the people,
as it were, violently him took up and carried him, and against his will
put him in the office of general, this was no longer now a time for his
excessive caution and his delays, nor was it for him, like a child, to
look back from the ship, often repeating and reconsidering over and over
again how that his advice had not been over-ruled by fair arguments, thus
blunting the courage of his fellow-commanders and spoiling the season of
action. Whereas, he ought speedily to have closed with the enemy
and brought the matter to an issue, and put fortune immediately to the
test in battle. But, on the contrary, when Lamachus counselled to
sail directly to Syracuse, and fight the enemy under their city walls,
and Alcibiades advised to secure the friendship of the other towns, and
then to march against them, Nicias dissented from them both, and insisted
that they should cruise quietly around the island and display their armament,
and having landed a small supply of men for the Egesteans, return to Athens,
weakening at once the resolution and casting down the spirits of the men.
And while, a little while after, the Athenians called home Alcibiades in
order to his trial, he being, though joined nominally with another in commission,
in effect the only general, made now no end of loitering, of cruising,
and considering, till their hopes were grown stale, and all the disorder
and consternation which the first approach and view of their forces had
cast amongst the enemy was worn off and had left them.
<<Plut4-219>
Whilst yet Alcibiades was with the fleet, they went before Syracuse
with a squadron of sixty galleys, fifty of them lying in array without
the harbour, while the other ten rowed in to reconnoitre, and by a herald
called upon the citizens of Leontini to return to their own country.
These scouts took a galley of the enemy's, in which they found certain
tablets, on which was set down a list of all the Syracusans, according
to their tribes. These were wont to be laid up at a distance from
the city, in the temple of Jupiter Olympius, but were now brought forth
for examination to furnish a muster-roll of young men for the war.
These being so taken by the Athenians, and carried to the officers, and
the multitude of names appearing, the diviners thought it unpropitious,
and were in apprehension lest this should be the only destined fulfillment
of the prophecy, that "the Athenians shall take all the Syracusans." Yet,
indeed, this was said to be accomplished by the Athenians at another time,
when Callippus the Athenian, having slain Dion, became master of Syracuse,
But when Alcibiades shortly after sailed away from Sicily, the command
fell wholly to Nicias. Lamachus was, indeed, a brave and honest man, and
ready to fight fearlessly with his own hand in battle, but so poor and
ill-off that, whenever he was appointed general, he used always, in accounting
for his outlay of public money, to bring some little reckoning or other
of money for his very clothes and shoes. On the contrary, Nicias,
as on other accounts, so, also, because of his wealth and station, was
very much thought of. The story is told that once upon a time the commission
of generals being in consultation together in their public office, he bade
Sophocles the poet give his opinion first, as the senior of the board.
"I," replied Sophocles, "am the older, but you are the senior." And so
now, also, Lamachus, who better understood military affairs, being quite
his subordinate, he himself, evermore delaying and avoiding risk, and faintly
employing his forces, first by his sailing about Sicily at the greatest
distance aloof from the enemy, gave them confidence, then by afterwards
attacking Hybla, a petty fortress, and drawing off before he could take
it, make himself utterly despised. At the last he retreated to Catana
without having achieved anything, save that he demolished Hyccara, an humble
town of the barbarians, out of which, the story goes, that
Lais+ the courtesan, yet a mere girl, was sold amongst the other prisoners,
and carried thence away to Peloponnesus.
<<Plut4-220>
But when the summer was spent, after reports began to reach him that
the Syracusans were grown so confident that they would come first to attack
him, and troopers skirmishing to the very camp twitted his soldiers, asking
whether they came to settle with the Catanians, or to put the Leontines
in possession of their city, at last, with much ado, Nicias resolved to
sail against Syracuse. And wishing to form his camp safely and without
molestation, he procured a man to carry from Catana intelligence to the
Syracusans that they might seize the camp of the Athenians unprotected,
and all their arms, if on such a day they should march with all their forces
to Catana; and that, the Athenians living mostly in the town, the friends
of the Syracusans had concerted, as soon as they should perceive them coming,
to possess themselves of one of the gates, and to fire the arsenal; that
many now were in the conspiracy and awaited their arrival. This was
the ablest thing Nicias did in the whole of his conduct of the expedition.
For having drawn out all the strength of the enemy, and made the city destitute
of men, he set out from Catana, entered the harbour, and chose a fit place
for his camp, where the enemy could least incommode him with the means
in which they were superior to him, while with the means in which he was
superior to them he might expect to carry on the war without impediment.
<<Plut4-221>
When the Syracusans returned from Catana, and stood in battle array
before the city gates, he rapidly led up the Athenians and fell on them
and defeated them, but did not kill many, their horse hindering the pursuit.
And his cutting and breaking down the bridges that lay over the river gave
Hermocrates, when cheering up the Syracusans, occasion to say that Nicias
was ridiculous, whose great aim seemed to be to avoid fighting, as if fighting
were not the thing he came for. However, he put the Syracusans into
a very great alarm and consternation, so that instead of fifteen generals
then in service, they chose three others, to whom the people engaged by
oath to allow absolute authority.
<<Plut4-222>
There stood near them the temple of Jupiter Olympius, which the Athenians
(there being in it many consecrated things of gold and silver) were eager
to take, but were purposely withheld from it by Nicias, who let the opportunity
slip, and allowed a garrison of the Syracusans to enter it, judging that
if the soldiers should make booty of that wealth it would be no advantage
to the public, and he should bear the guilt of the impiety. Not improving
in the least this success, which was everywhere famous, after a few days'
stay, away he goes to Naxos, and there winters, spending largely for the
maintenance of so great an army, and not doing anything except some matters
of little consequence with some native Sicilians that revolted to him.
Insomuch that the Syracusans took heart again, made excursions to Catana,
wasted the country, and fired the camp of the Athenians. For which everybody
blamed Nicias, who, with his long reflection, his deliberateness, and his
caution, had let slip the time for action. {Hamlet+}
None ever found fault with the man when once at work, for in the brunt
he showed vigour and activity enough, but was slow and wanted assurance
to engage.
<<Plut4-223>
When, therefore, he brought again the army to Syracuse, such was his
conduct, and with such celerity, and at the same time security, he came
upon them, that nobody knew of his approach, when already he, had come
to shore with his galleys at Thapsus, and had landed his men; and before
any could help it, he had surprised Epipolae, had defeated the body of
picked men that came to its succour, took three hundred prisoners, and
routed the cavalry of the enemy, which had been thought invincible.
But what chiefly astonished the Syracusans, and seemed incredible to the
Greeks, was in so short a space of time the walling about of Syracuse,
a town not less than Athens, and far more difficult, by the unevenness
of the ground, and the nearness of the sea and the marshes adjacent, to
have such a wall drawn in a circle round it; yet this, all within a very
little, finished by a man that had not even his health for such weighty
cares, but lay ill of the stone+, which may
justly bear the blame for what was left undone. I admire the industry of
the general, and the bravery of the soldiers for what they succeeded in.
Euripides, after their ruin and disaster, writing their funeral elegy,
said that- "Eight victories over Syracuse they gained, While equal yet
to both the gods remained." And in truth one shall not find eight, but
many more victories, won by these men against the Syracusans, till the
gods, in real truth, or fortune intervened to check the Athenians in this
advance to the height of power and greatness.
<<Plut4-224>
Nicias, therefore, doing violence to his body, was present in most
actions. But once, when his disease was the sharpest upon him, he
lay in the camp with some few servants to attend him. And Lamachus
having the command fought the Syracusans, who were bringing a cross-wall
from the city along to that of the Athenians, to hinder them from carrying
it round; and in the victory, the Athenians hurrying in some disorder to
the pursuit, Lamachus getting separated from his men, had to resist the
Syracusan horse that came upon him. Before the rest advanced Callicrates,
a man of good courage and skill in war. Lamachus, upon a challenge,
engaged with him in single combat, and receiving the first wound, returned
it so home to Callicrates, that they both fell and died together.
The Syracusans took away his body and arms, and at full speed advanced
to the wall of the Athenians, where Nicias lay without any troops to oppose
to them, yet roused by this necessity, and seeing the danger, he bade those
about him go and set on fire all the wood and materials that lay provided
before the wall for the engines, and the engines themselves; this put a
stop to the Syracusans, saved Nicias, saved the walls and all the money
of the Athenians. For when the Syracusans saw such a fire blazing
up between them and the wall, they retired.
<<Plut4-225>
Nicias now remained sole general, and with great prospects; for cities
began to come over to alliance with him, and ships laden with corn from
every coast came to the camp, every one favouring when matters went well.
And some proposals from among the Syracusans despairing to defend the city,
about a capitulation, were already conveyed to him. And in fact Gylippus,
who was on his way with a squadron to their aid from Lacedaemon, hearing
on his voyage of the wall surrounding them, and of their distress, only
continued his enterprise thenceforth, that, giving Sicily up for lost,
he might, if even that should be possible, secure the Italians their cities.
For a strong report was everywhere spread about that the Athenians carried
all before them, and had a general alike for conduct and for fortune invincible.
<<Plut4-226>
And Nicias himself, too, now against his nature grown bold in his present
strength and success, especially from the intelligence he received underhand
of the Syracusans, believing they would almost immediately surrender the
town upon terms, paid no manner of regard to Gylippus coming to their assistance,
nor kept any watch of his approach, so that, neglected altogether and despised,
Gylippus went in a long-boat ashore without the knowledge of Nicias, and,
having landed in the remotest parts from Syracuse, mustered up a considerable
force, the Syracusans not so much as knowing of his arrival nor expecting
him; so that an assembly was summoned to consider the terms to be arranged
with Nicias, and some were actually on the way, thinking it essential to
have all despatched before the town should be quite walled round, for now
there remained very little to be done, and the materials for the building
lay all ready along the line.
<<Plut4-227>
In this very nick of time and danger arrived Gongylus in one galley
from Corinth, and every one, as may be imagined, flocking about him, he
told them that Gylippus would be with them speedily, and that other ships
were coming to relieve them. And, ere yet they could perfectly believe
Gongylus, an express was brought from Gylippus, to bid them go forth to
meet him. So now taking good heart, they armed themselves; and Gylippus
at once led on his men from their march in battle array against the Athenians,
as Nicias also embattled these. And Gylippus, piling his arms in
view of the Athenians, sent a herald to tell them he would give them leave
to depart from Sicily without molestation. To this Nicias would not
vouchsafe any answer, but some of his soldiers laughing, asked if with
the sight of one coarse coat and Laconian staff the Syracusan prospects
had become so brilliant that they could despise the Athenians, who had
released to the Lacedaemonians three hundred, whom they held in chains,
bigger men than Gylippus, and longer-haired? Timaeus, also, writes
that even the Syracusans made no account of Gylippus, at the first sight
mocking at his staff and long hair, as afterwards they found reason to
blame his covetousness and meanness. The same author, however, adds
that on Gylippus's first appearance, as it might have been at the sight
of an owl abroad in the air, there was a general flocking together of men
to serve in the war. And this is the truer saying of the two; for in the
staff and the cloak they saw the badge and authority of Sparta, and crowded
to him accordingly. And not only Thucydides affirms that the whole thing
was done by him alone, but so, also, does Philistus, who was a Syracusan
and an actual witness of what happened.
<<Plut4-228>
However, the Athenians had the better in the first encounter, and slew
some few of the Syracusans, and amongst them Gongylus of Corinth.
But on the next day Gylippus, showed what it is to be a man of experience;
for with the same arms, the same horses, and on the same spot of ground,
only employing them otherwise, he overcame the Athenians; and they fleeing
to their camp, he set the Syracusans to work, and with the stone and materials
that had been brought together for finishing the wall of the Athenians,
he built a cross-wall to intercept theirs and break it off, so that even
if they were successful in the field, they would not be able to do anything.
And after this the Syracusans taking courage manned their galleys, and
with their horse and followers ranging about took a good many prisoners;
and Gylippus going himself to the cities, called upon them to join with
him, and was listened to and supported vigorously by them. So that
Nicias fell back again to his old views, and, seeing the face of affairs
change, desponded, and wrote to Athens, bidding them either send another
army, or recall this out of Sicily, and that he might, in any case, be
wholly relieved of the command, because of his disease.
<<Plut4-229>
Before this the Athenians had been intending to send another army to
Sicily, but envy of Nicias's early achievements and high fortune had occasioned,
up to this time, many delays; but now they were all eager to send off succours.
Eurymedon went before, in midwinter, with money, and to announce that Euthydemus
and Menander were chosen out of those that served there under Nicias to
be joint commanders with him. Demosthenes was to go after in the spring
with a great armament. In the meantime Nicias was briskly attacked,
both by sea and land; in the beginning he had the disadvantage on the water,
but in the end repulsed and sunk many galleys of the enemy. But by
land he could not provide succour in time, so Gylippus surprised and captured
Plemmyrium, in which the stores for the navy, and a great sum of money
being there kept, all fell into his hands, and many were slain, and many
taken prisoners. And what was of greatest importance, he now cut
off Nicias's supplies, which had been safely and readily conveyed to him
under Plemmyrium, while the Athenians still held it, but now that they
were beaten out, he could only procure them with great difficulty, and
with opposition from the enemy, who lay in wait with their ships under
that fort. Moreover, it seemed manifest to the Syracusans that their
navy had not been beaten by strength, but by their disorder in the pursuit.
Now, therefore, all hands went to work to prepare for a new attempt that
should succeed better than the former. Nicias had no wish for a sea-fight,
but said it was mere folly for them, when Demosthenes was coming in all
haste with so great a fleet and fresh forces to their succour, to engage
the enemy with a less number of ships and ill provided. But, on the
other hand, Menander and Euthydemus, who were just commencing their new
command, prompted by a feeling of rivalry and emulation of both the generals,
were eager to gain some great success before Demosthenes came, and to prove
themselves superior to Nicias. They urged the honour of the city,
which, said they, would be blemished and utterly lost if they should decline
a challenge from the Syracusans. Thus they forced Nicias to a sea-fight;
and by the stratagem of Ariston, the Corinthian pilot (his trick, described
by Thucydides, about the men's dinners), they were worsted, and lost many
of their men, causing the greatest dejection to Nicias, who had suffered
so much from having the sole command, and now again miscarried through
his colleagues.
<<Plut4-230>
But now by this time Demosthenes with his splendid fleet came in sight
outside the harbour, a terror to the enemy. He brought along, in
seventy-three galleys, five thousand men-at-arms; of darters, archers,
and slingers, not less than three thousand with the glittering of their
armour, the flags waving from the galleys, the multitude of coxswains and
flute-players giving time to the rowers, setting off the whole with all
possible warlike pomp and ostentation to dismay the enemy. Now one
may believe the Syracusans were again in extreme alarm, seeing no end or
prospect of release before them, toiling, as it seemed, in vain, and perishing
to no purpose. Nicias, however, was not long overjoyed with the reinforcement;
for the first time he conferred with Demosthenes, who advised forthwith
to attack the Syracusans, and to put all to the speediest hazard, to win
Syracuse, or else return home, afraid, and wondering at his promptness
and audacity, he besought him to do nothing rashly and, desperately, since
delay would be the ruin of the enemy, whose money would not hold out, nor
their confederates be long kept together; that when once they came to be
pinched with want, they would presently come again to him for terms, as
formerly. For, indeed, many in Syracuse held secret correspondence
with him, and urged him to stay, declaring that even now the people were
quite worn out with the war and weary of Gylippus. And if their necessities
should the least sharpen upon them they would give up all.
<<Plut4-231>
Nicias glancing darkly at these matters, and unwilling to speak out
plainly, made his colleagues imagine that it was cowardice which made him
talk in this manner. And saying that this was the old story over
again, the well-known procrastinations and delays and refinements with
which at first he let slip the opportunity in not immediately falling on
the enemy, {Hamlet+}
but suffering the armament to become a thing of yesterday, that nobody
was alarmed with, they took the side of Demosthenes, and with ado forced
Nicias to comply. And so Demosthenes, taking the land-forces, by
night made an assault upon Epipolae; part of the enemy he slew ere they
took the alarm, the rest defending themselves he put to flight. Nor
was he content with this victory there, but pushed on further, till he
met the Boeotians. For these were the first that made head against
the Athenians, and charged them with a shout, spear against spear, and
killed many on the place. And now at once there ensued a panic and
confusion throughout the whole army; the victorious portion got infected
with the fears of the flying part, and those who were still disembarking
and coming forward falling foul of the retreaters, came into conflict with
their own party, taking the fugitives for pursuers, and treating their
friends as if they were the enemy.
<<Plut4-232>
Thus huddled together in disorder, distracted with fear and uncertainties,
and unable to be sure of seeing anything, the night not being absolutely
dark, nor yielding any steady light, the moon then towards setting, shadowed
with the many weapons and bodies that moved to and fro, and glimmering
so as not to show an object plain, but to make friends through fear suspected
for foes, the Athenians fell into utter perplexity and desperation.
For, moreover, they had the moon at their backs, and consequently their
own shadows fell upon them, and both hid the number and the glittering
of their arms; while the reflection of the moon from the shields of the
enemy made them show more numerous and better appointed than, indeed, they
were. At last, being pressed on every side, when once they had given
way, they took to rout, and in their flight were destroyed, some by the
enemy, some by the hand of their friends, and some tumbling down the rocks,
while those that were dispersed and straggled about were picked off in
the morning by the horsemen and put to the sword. The slain were
two thousand; and of the rest few came off safe with their arms.
<<Plut4-233>
Upon this disaster, which to him was not wholly an unexpected one,
Nicias accused the rashness of Demosthenes; but he, making his excuses
for the past, now advised to be gone in all haste, for neither were other
forces to come, nor could the enemy be beaten with the present. And,
indeed, even supposing they were yet too hard for the enemy in any case,
they ought to remove and quit a situation which they understood to be always
accounted a sickly one, and dangerous for an army, and was more particularly
unwholesome now, as they could see themselves, because of the time of year.
It was the beginning of autumn, and many now lay sick, and all were out
of heart.
<<Plut4-234>
It grieved Nicias to hear of flight and departing home, not that he
did not fear the Syracusans, but he was worse afraid of the Athenians,
their impeachments and sentences; he professed that he apprehended no further
harm there, or if it must be, he would rather die by the hand of an enemy
than by his fellow-citizens. He was not of the opinion which Leo
of Byzantium declared to his fellow-citizens: "I had rather," said he,
"perish by you, than with you." As to the matter of place and quarter whither
to remove their camp, that, he said, might be debated at leisure.
And Demosthenes, his former counsel having succeeded so ill, ceased to
press him further; others thought Nicias had reasons for expectation, and
relied on some assurance from people within the city, and that this made
him so strongly oppose their retreat, so they acquiesced. But fresh
forces now coming to the Syracusans and the sickness growing worse in his
camp, he, also, now approved of their retreat, and commanded the soldiers
to make ready to go aboard.
<<Plut4-235>
And when all were in readiness, and none of the enemy had observed
them, not expecting such a thing, the moon was eclipsed in the night, to
the great fright of Nicias and others, who, for want of experience, or
out of superstition+, felt alarm at
such appearances. That the sun might be darkened about the close
of the month, this even ordinary people now understood pretty well to be
the effect of the moon; but the moon itself to be darkened, how that could
come about, and how, on the sudden, a broad full moon should lose her light,
and show such various colours, was not easy to be comprehended; they concluded
it to be ominous, and a divine intimation of some heavy calamities.
For he who the first, and the most plainly of any, and with the greatest
assurance committed to writing how the moon+
is enlightened and overshadowed, was Anaxagoras; and he was as yet but
recent, nor was his argument much known, but was rather kept secret, passing
only amongst a few, under some kind of caution and confidence. People
would not then tolerate natural_philosophers+,
and theorists, as they then called them, about things above; as lessening
the divine power, by explaining away its agency into the operation of irrational
causes and senseless forces acting by necessity, without anything of Providence
or a free agent. Hence it was that Protagoras was banished, and Anaxagoras
cast in prison, so that Pericles had much difficulty to procure his liberty;
and Socrates, though he had no concern whatever with this sort of learning,
yet was put to death for philosophy. It was only afterwards that
the reputation of Plato, shining forth by his life, and because he subjected
natural necessity to divine and more excellent principles, took away the
obloquy and scandal that had attached to such contemplations, and obtained
these
studies currency among all people. So his friend Dion, when the moon,
at the time he was to embark from Zacynthus to go against Dionysius, was
eclipsed, was not in the least disturbed, but went on, and arriving at
Syracuse, expelled the tyrant. But it so fell out with Nicias, that
he had not at this time a skilful diviner with him; his former habitual
adviser who used to moderate much of his superstition, Stilbides, had died
a little before. For, in fact, this prodigy, as Philochorus observes,
was not unlucky for men wishing to fly, but on the contrary very favourable;
for things done in fear require to be hidden, and the light is their foe.
Nor was it usual to observe signs in the sun or moon more than three days,
as Autoclides states in his Commentaries. But Nicias persuaded them to
wait another full course of the moon, as if he had not seen it clear again
as soon as ever it had passed the region of shadow where the light was
obstructed by the earth.
<<Plut4-236>
In a manner abandoning all other cares, he betook himself wholly to
his sacrifices, till the enemy came upon them with their infantry, besieging
the forts and camp, and placing their ships in a circle about the harbour.
Nor did the men in the galleys only, but the little boys everywhere got
into the fishing-boats and rowed up and challenged the Athenians, and insulted
over them. Amongst these a youth of noble parentage, Heraclides by
name, having ventured out beyond the rest, an Athenian ship pursued and
well-nigh took him. His uncle Pollichus, in fear for him, put out
with ten galleys which he commanded, and the rest, to relieve Pollichus,
in like manner drew forth; the result of it being a very sharp engagement,
in which the Syracusans had the victory, and slew Eurymedon, with many
others. After this the Athenian soldiers had no patience to stay
longer, but raised an outcry against their officers, requiring them to
depart by land; for the Syracusans, upon their victory, immediately shut
and blocked up the entrance of the harbour; but Nicias would not consent
to this, as it was a shameful thing to leave behind so many ships of burden,
and galleys little less than two hundred. Putting, therefore, on
board the best of the foot, and the most serviceable darters, they filled
one hundred and ten galleys; the rest wanted oars. The remainder
of his army Nicias posted along by the seaside, abandoning the great camp
and the fortifications adjoining the temple of Hercules; so the Syracusans,
not having for a long time performed their usual sacrifice to Hercules,
went up now, both priests and captains, to sacrifice.
<<Plut4-237>
And their galleys being manned, the diviners predicted from their sacrifices
victory and glory to the Syracusans, provided they would not be the aggressors,
but fight upon the defensive; for so Hercules overcame all, by only defending
himself when set upon. In this confidence they set out; and this
proved the hottest and fiercest of all their sea-fights, raising no less
concern and passion in the beholders than in the actors; as they could
oversee the whole action with all the various and unexpected turns of fortune
which, in a short space, occurred in it; the Athenians suffering no less
from their own preparations, than from the enemy; for they fought against
light and nimble ships, that could attack from any quarter, with theirs
laden and heavy. And they were thrown at with stones that fly indifferently
any way, for which they could only return darts and arrows, the direct
aim of which the motion of the water disturbed, preventing their coming
true, point foremost to their mark. This the Syracusans had learned
from Ariston the Corinthian pilot, who, fighting stoutly, fell himself
in this very engagement, when the victory had already declared for the
Syracusans.
<<Plut4-238>
The Athenians, their loss and slaughter being very great, their flight
by sea cut off, their safety by land so difficult, did not attempt to hinder
the enemy towing away their ships, under their eyes, nor demanded their
dead, as, indeed, their want of burial seemed a less calamity than the
leaving behind the sick and wounded which they now had before them.
Yet more miserable still than those did they reckon themselves, who were
to work on yet, through more such sufferings, after all to reach the same
end.
<<Plut4-239>
They prepared to dislodge that night. And Gylippus and his friends
seeing the Syracusans engaged in their sacrifices and at their cups, for
their victories, and it being also a holiday, did not expect either by
persuasion or by force to rouse them up and carry them against the Athenians
as they decamped. But Hermocrates, of his own head, put a trick upon
Nicias, and sent some of his companions to him, who pretended they came
from those that were wont to hold secret intelligence with him, and advised
him not to stir that night, the Syracusans having laid ambushes and beset
the ways. Nicias, caught with this stratagem, remained, to encounter
presently in reality what he had feared when there was no occasion.
For they, the next morning, marching before, seized the defiles, fortified
the passes where the rivers were fordable, cut down the bridges, and ordered
their horsemen to range the plains and ground that lay open, so as to leave
no part of the country where the Athenians could move without fighting.
They stayed both that day and another night, and then went along as if
they were leaving their own, not an enemy's country, lamenting and bewailing
for want of necessaries, and for their parting from friends and companions
that were not able to help themselves; and, nevertheless, judging the present
evils lighter than those they expected to come. But among the many
miserable spectacles that appeared up and down in the camp, the saddest
sight of all was Nicias himself, labouring under his malady, and unworthily
reduced to the scantiest supply of all the accommodations necessary for
human wants, of which he in his condition required more than ordinary,
because of his sickness, yet bearing up under all this illness, and doing
and undergoing more than many in perfect health. {fortitude+}
And it was plainly evident that all this toil was not for himself, or from
any regard to his own life, but that purely for the sake of those under
his command he would not abandon hope. And, indeed, the rest were
given over to weeping and lamentation through fear or sorrow, but he, whenever
he yielded to anything of the kind, did so, it was evident, from reflection
upon the shame and dishonour of the enterprise, contrasted with the greatness
and glory of the success he had anticipated, and not only the sight of
his person, but, also, the recollection of the arguments and the dissuasions
he used to prevent this expedition enhanced their sense of the undeservedness
of his sufferings, nor had they any heart to put their trust in the gods,
considering that a man so religious, who had performed to the divine powers
so many and so great acts of devotion, should have no more favourable treatment
than the wickedest and meanest of the army.
<<Plut4-240>
Nicias, however, endeavoured all the while by his voice, his countenance,
and his carriage, to show himself undefeated by these misfortunes.
And all along the way shot at, and receiving wounds eight days continually
from the enemy, he yet preserved the forces with him in a body entire,
till that Demosthenes was taken prisoner with the party that he led, whilst
they fought and made a resistance, and so got behind and were surrounded
near the country house of Polyzelus. Demosthenes thereupon drew his
sword, and wounded but did not kill himself, the enemy speedily running
in and seizing upon him. So soon as the Syracusans had gone and informed
Nicias of this, and he had sent some horsemen, and by them knew the certainty
of the defeat of that division, he then vouchsafed to sue to Gylippus for
a truce for the Athenians to depart out of Sicily, leaving hostages for
payment of money that the Syracusans had expended in the war.
<<Plut4-241>
But now they would not hear of these proposals, but threatening and
reviling them, angrily and insultingly continued to ply their missiles
at them, now destitute of every necessary. Yet Nicias still made
good his retreat all that night, and the next day, through all their darts,
made his way to the river Asinarus. There, however, the enemy encountering
them, drove some into the stream, while others, ready to die for thirst,
plunged in headlong, while they drank at the same time, and were cut down
by their enemies. And here was the cruellest and the most immoderate
slaughter. Till at last Nicias falling down to Gylippus, "Let pity,
O Gylippus," said he, "move you in your victory; not for me, who was destined,
it seems, to bring the glory I once had to this end but for the other Athenians;
as you well know that the chances of war are common to all, and the Athenians
used them moderately and mildly towards you in their prosperity."
<<Plut4-242>
At these words, and at the sight of Nicias, Gylippus was somewhat troubled,
for he was sensible that the Lacedaemonians had received good offices from
Nicias in the late treaty, and he thought it would be a great and glorious
thing for him to carry off the chief commanders of the Athenians alive.
He therefore raised Nicias with respect, and bade him be of good cheer,
and commanded his men to spare the lives of the rest. But the word of command
being communicated slowly, the slain were a far greater number than the
prisoners. Many, however, were privately conveyed away by particular
soldiers. Those taken openly were hurried together in a mass; their
arms and spoils hung up on the finest and largest trees along the river.
The conquerors, with garlands on their heads, with their own horses splendidly
adorned, and cropping short the manes and tails of those of their enemies,
entered the city, having, in the most signal conflict ever waged by Greeks
against Greeks, and with the greatest strength and the utmost effort of
valour and manhood won a most entire victory.
<<Plut4-243>
And a general assembly of the people of Syracuse and their confederates
sitting, Eurycles, the popular leader, moved, first, that the day on which
they took Nicias should from thenceforward be kept holiday by sacrificing
and forbearing all manner of work, and from the river he called the Asinarian
Feast. This was the twenty-sixth day of the month Carneus, the Athenian
Metagitnion. And that the servants of the Athenians with the other
confederates be sold for slaves, and they themselves and the Sicilian auxiliaries
be kept and employed in the quarries, except the generals, who should be
put to death. The Syracusans favoured the proposals, and when Hermocrates
said, that to use well a victory was better than to gain a victory, he
was met with great clamour and outcry. When Gylippus, also, demanded
the Athenian generals to be delivered to him, that he might carry them
to the Lacedaemonians, the Syracusans, now insolent with their good-fortune,
gave him ill words. Indeed, before this, even in the war, they had
been impatient at his rough behaviour and Lacedaemonian haughtiness, and
had, as Timaeus tells us, discovered sordidness and avarice in his character,
vices which may have descended to him from his father Cleandrides, who
was convicted of bribery and banished. And the very man himself,
of the one thousand talents which Lysander sent to Sparta, embezzled thirty,
and hid them under the tiles of his house, and was detected and shamefully
fled his country. But this is related more at large in the life of
Lysander. Timaeus says that Demosthenes and Nicias did not die, as Thucydides
and Philistus have written, by the order of the Syracusans, but that upon
a message sent them from Hermocrates, whilst yet the assembly were sitting,
by the connivance of some of their guards, they were enabled to put an
end to themselves. Their bodies, however, were thrown out before
the gates and offered for a public spectacle. And I have heard that
to this day in a temple at Syracuse is shown a shield, said to have been
Nicias's, curiously wrought and embroidered with gold and purple intermixed.
Most of the Athenians perished in the quarries by diseases and ill diet,
being allowed only one pint of barley every day, and one half pint of water.
Many of them, however, were carried off by stealth, or, from the first,
were supposed to be servants, and were sold as slaves. These latter
were branded on their foreheads with the figure of a horse. There
were, however, Athenians who, in addition to slavery, had to endure even
this. But their discreet and orderly conduct was an advantage to
them; they were either soon set free, or won the respect of their masters
with whom they continued to live. Several were saved for the sake
of Euripides, whose poetry, it appears, was in request among the Sicilians
more than among any of the settlers out of Greece. And when any travellers
arrived that could tell them some passage, or give them any specimen of
his verses, they were delighted to be able to communicate them to one another.
Many of the captives who got safe back to Athens are said, after they reached
home, to have gone and made their acknowledgments to Euripides, relating
how that some of them had been released from their slavery by teaching
what they could remember of his poems, and others, when straggling after
the fight, been relieved with meat and drink for repeating some of his
lyrics. Nor need this be any wonder, for it is told that a ship of
Caunus fleeing into one of their harbours for protection, pursued by pirates,
was not received, but forced back, till one asked if they knew any of Euripides's
verses, and on their saying they did, they were admitted, and their ship
brought into harbour.
<<Plut4-244>
It is said that the Athenians would not believe their loss, in a great
degree because of the person who first brought them news of it. For
a certain stranger, it seems, coming to Piraeus, and there sitting in a
barber's shop, began to talk of what had happened, as if the Athenians
already knew all that had passed; which the barber hearing, before he acquainted
anybody else, ran as fast as he could up into the city, addressed himself
to the Archons, and presently spread it about in the public Place. On which,
there being everywhere, as may be imagined, terror and consternation, the
Archons summoned a general assembly, and there brought in the man and questioned
him how he came to know. And he, giving no satisfactory account,
was taken for a spreader of false intelligence and a disturber of the city,
and was, therefore, fastened to the wheel and racked a long time, till
other messengers arrived that related the whole disaster particularly.
So hardly was Nicias believed to have suffered the calamity which he had
often predicted.
<<Plut4-245>
~Crassus+
Marcus CRASSUS, whose father had borne the office of a censor, and received
the honour of a triumph, was educated in a little house together with his
two brothers, who both married in their parents' lifetime; they kept but
one table amongst them; all which, perhaps, was not the least reason of
his own temperance and moderation in diet. One of his brothers dying,
he married his widow, by whom he had his children; neither was there in
these respects any of the Romans who lived a more orderly life than he
did, though later in life he was suspected to have been too familiar with
one of the vestal virgins, named Licinia, who was, nevertheless, acquitted,
upon an impeachment brought against her by one Plotinus. Licinia
stood possessed of a beautiful property in the suburbs, which Crassus desiring
to purchase at a low price, for this reason was frequent in his attentions
to her, which gave occasion to the scandal, and his avarice, so to say,
serving to clear him of the crime, he was acquitted. Nor did he leave
the lady till he had got the estate.
<<Plut4-246>
People were wont to say that the many virtues of Crassus were darkened
by the one vice of avarice+, and indeed
he seemed to have no other but that; for it being the most predominant,
obscured others to which he was inclined. The arguments in proof
of his avarice were the vastness of his estate, and the manner of raising
it; for whereas at first he was not worth above three hundred talents,
yet, though in the course of his political life he dedicated the tenth
of all he had to Hercules, and feasted the people, and gave to every citizen
corn enough to serve him three months, upon casting up his accounts, before
he went upon his Parthian expedition, he found his possessions to amount
to seven thousand one hundred talents; most of which, if we may scandal
him with a truth, he got by fire and rapine, making his advantages of the
public calamities. For when Sylla seized the city, and exposed to sale
the goods of those that he had caused to be slain, accounting them booty
and spoils, and, indeed, calling them so too, and was desirous of making
as many, and as eminent men as he could, partakers in the crime, Crassus
never was the man that refused to accept, or give money for them.
Moreover, observing how extremely subject the city was to fire and falling
down of houses, by reason of their height and their standing so near together,
he bought slaves that were builders and architects, and when he had collected
these to the number of more than five hundred, he made it his practice
to buy houses that were on fire, and those in the neighbourhood, which,
in the immediate danger and uncertainty the proprietors were willing to
part with for little or nothing, so that the greatest part of Rome, at
one time or other, came into his hands. Yet for all he had so many
workmen, he never built anything but his own house, and used to say that
those that were addicted to building would undo themselves soon enough
without the help of other enemies. And though he had many silver
mines, and much valuable land, and labourers to work in it, yet all this
was nothing in comparison of his slaves, such a number and variety did
he possess of excellent readers, amanuenses, silversmiths, stewards and
table-waiters, whose instruction he always attended to himself, superintending
in persons, while they learned, and teaching them himself, accounting it
the main duty of a master to look over the servants that are, indeed, the
living tools of housekeeping; and in this, indeed, he was in the right,
in thinking, that is, as he used to say, that servants ought to look after
all other things, and the master after them. For economy, which in
things inanimate is but money-making, when exercised over men becomes policy.
But it was surely a mistaken judgment, when he said no man was to be accounted
rich that could not maintain an army at his own cost and charges, for war,
as Archidamus well observed, is not fed at a fixed allowance, so that there
is no saying what wealth suffices for it, and certainly it was one very
far removed from that of Marius; for when he had distributed fourteen acres
of land a man, and understood that some desired more, "God forbid," said
he, "that any Roman should think that too little which is enough to keep
him alive and well." {poverty+}
<<Plut4-247>
Crassus, however, was very eager to be hospitable to strangers; he
kept open house, and to his friends he would lend+
money without interest+,
but called it in precisely at the time; so that his kindness was often
thought worse than the paying the interest would have been. His entertainments
were, for the most part, plain and citizen-like, the company general and
popular; good taste and kindness made them pleasanter than sumptuosity
would have done. As for learning he chiefly cared for rhetoric, and
what would be serviceable with large numbers; he became one of the best
speakers at Rome, and by his pains and industry outdid the best natural
orators. For there was no trial how mean and contemptible soever
that he came to unprepared; nay, several times he undertook and concluded
a cause when Pompey and Caesar and Cicero refused to stand up, upon which
account particularly he got the love of the people, who looked upon him
as a diligent and careful man, ready to help and succour his fellow citizens.
Besides, the people were pleased with his courteous and unpretending salutations
and greetings, for he never met any citizen however humble and low, but
he returned him his salute by name. He was looked upon as a man well-read
in history, and pretty well versed in Aristotle's+
philosophy, in which one Alexander instructed him, a man whose intercourse
with Crassus gave a sufficient proof of his good nature and gentle disposition;
for it is hard to say whether he was poorer when he entered into his service,
or while he continued in it; for being his only friend that used to accompany
him when travelling, he used to receive from him a cloak for the journey,
and when he came home had it demanded from him again; poor, patient sufferer,
when even the philosophy he professed did not look upon poverty as a thing
indifferent. But of this hereafter.
<<Plut4-248>
When Cinna and Marius got the power in their hands it was soon perceived
that they had not come back for any good they intended to their country,
but to effect the ruin and utter destruction of the nobility. And as many
as they could lay their hands on they slew, amongst whom were Crassus's
father and brother; he himself, being very young, for the moment escaped
the danger; but understanding that he was every way beset and hunted after
by the tyrants, taking with him three friends and ten servants, with all
possible speed he fled into Spain, having formerly been there and secured
a great number of friends, while his father was praetor of that country.
But finding all people in a consternation, and trembling at the cruelty
of Marius, as if he was already standing over them in person, he durst
not discover himself to anybody, but hid himself in a large cave which
was by the seashore, and belonged to Vibius Pacianus, to whom he sent one
of his servants to sound him, his provisions, also, beginning to fail.
Vibius was well pleased at his escape, and inquiring the place of his abode
and the number of his companions, he went not to him himself, but commanded
his steward to provide every day a good meal's meat, and carry it and leave
it near such a rock, and to return without taking any further notice or
being inquisitive, promising him his liberty if he did as he commanded
and that he would kill him if he intermeddled. The cave is not far
from the sea; a small and insignificant looking opening in the cliffs conducts
you in; when you are entered, a wonderfully high roof spreads above you,
and large chambers open out one beyond another, nor does it lack either
water or light, for a very pleasant and wholesome spring runs at the foot
of the cliffs, and natural chinks, in the most advantageous place, let
in the light all day long, and the thickness of the rock makes the air
within pure and clear, all the wet and moisture being carried off into
the spring.
<<Plut4-249>
While Crassus remained here, the steward brought them what was necessary,
but never saw them, nor knew anything of the matter, though they within
saw, and expected him at the customary times. Neither was their entertainment
such as just to keep them alive, but given them in abundance and for their
enjoyment; for Pacianus resolved to treat him with all imaginable kindness,
and considering that he was a young man, thought it well to gratify a little
his youthful inclinations; for to give just what is needful seems rather
to come from necessity than from a hearty friendship. Once taking
with him two female servants, he showed them the place and bade them go
in boldly, whom when Crassus and his friends saw, they were afraid of being
betrayed and demanded what they were, and what they would have. They,
according as they were instructed, answered, they came to wait upon their
master, who was hid in that cave. And so Crassus perceiving it was
a piece of pleasantry and of good-will on the part of Vibius, took them
in and kept them there with him as long as he stayed, and employed them
to give information to Vibius of what they wanted, and how they were.
Fenestella says he saw one of them, then very old, and often heard her
speak of the time and repeat the story with pleasure.
<<Plut4-250>
After Crassus had lain concealed there eight months, on hearing that
Cinna was dead, he appeared abroad, and a great number of people flocking
to him, out of whom he selected a body of two thousand five hundred, he
visited many cities, and, as some write, sacked Malaca, which he himself,
however, always denied, and contradicted all who said so. Afterwards,
getting together some ships, he passed into Africa, and joined with Metellus
Pius, an eminent person that had raised a very considerable force; but
upon some difference between him and Metellus, he stayed not long there,
but went over to Sylla, by whom he was very much esteemed. When Sylla passed
over into Italy, he was anxious to put all the young men that were with
him in employment; and as he despatched some one way, and some another,
Crassus, on its falling to his share to raise men among the Marsians, demanded
a guard, being to pass through the enemy's country, upon which Sylla replied
sharply, "I give you for guard your father, your brother, your friends
and kindred, whose unjust and cruel murder I am now going to revenge;"
and Crassus, being nettled, went his way, broke boldly through the enemy,
collected a considerable force, and in all Sylla's wars acted with great
zeal and courage. And in these times and occasions, they say, began
the emulation and rivalry for glory between him and Pompey; for though
Pompey was the younger man, and had the disadvantage to be descended of
a father that was disesteemed by the citizens, and hated as much as ever
man was, yet in these actions he shone out and was proved so great that
Sylla always used, when he came in, to stand up and uncover his head, an
honour which he seldom showed to older men and his own equals, and always
saluted him Imperator. This fired and stung Crassus, though, indeed,
he could not with any fairness claim to be preferred; for he both wanted
experience, and his two innate vices, sordidness and avarice, tarnished
all the lustre of his actions. For when he had taken Tudertia, a
town of the Umbrians, he converted, it was said, all the spoils to his
own use, for which he was complained of to Sylla. But in the last
and greatest battle before Rome itself when Sylla was worsted, some of
his battalions giving ground, and others being quite broken, Crassus got
the victory on the right wing, which he commanded, and pursued the enemy
till night, and then sent to Sylla to acquaint him with his success, and
demand provision for his soldiers. In the time, however, of the proscriptions
and sequestrations, he lost his repute again, by making great purchases
for little or nothing, and asking for grants. Nay, they say he proscribed
one of the Bruttians without Sylla's order, only for his own profit, and
that, on discovering this, Sylla never after trusted him in any public
affairs. As no man was more cunning than Crassus to ensnare others
by flattery+,
so no man lay more open to it, or swallowed it more greedily than himself.
And this particularly was observed of him, that though he was the most
covetous man in the world, yet he habitually disliked and cried out against
others who were so.
<<Plut4-251>
It troubled him to see Pompey so successful in all his undertakings;
that he had had a triumph before he was capable to sit in the senate, and
that the people had surnamed him Magnus, or the great. When somebody was
saying Pompey the Great was coming, he smiled, and asked him, "How big
is he?" Despairing to equal him by feats of arms, he betook himself to
civil life, where by doing kindnesses, pleading, lending money, by speaking
and canvassing among the people for those who had objects to obtain from
them, he gradually gained as great honour and power as Pompey had from
his many famous expeditions. And it was a curious thing in their
rivalry, that Pompey's name and interests in the city was greatest when
he was absent, for his renown in war, but when present he was often less
successful than Crassus, by reason of his
superciliousness+ and haughty way of living, shunning crowds of people,
and appearing rarely in the forum, and assisting only some few, and that
not readily, that his interests might be the stronger when he came to use
it for himself. Whereas Crassus, being a friend always at hand, ready
to be had and easy of access, and always with his hands full of other people's
business, with his freedom and courtesy, got the better of Pompey's
formality+. In point of dignity of person, eloquence of language,
and attractiveness of countenance, they were pretty equally excellent.
But, however, this emulation never transported Crassus so far as to make
him bear enmity or any ill-will; for though he was vexed to see Pompey
and Caesar preferred to him, yet he never mingled any hostility or malice
with his jealousy; though Caesar, when he was taken captive by the corsairs
in Asia, cried out, "O Crassus, how glad you will be at the news of my
captivity!" Afterwards they lived together on friendly terms, for when
Caesar was going praetor into Spain, and his creditors, he being then in
want of money, came upon him and seized his equipage, Crassus then stood
by him and relieved him, and was his security for eight hundred and thirty
talents. And in general, Rome being divided into three great interests,
those of Pompey, Caesar, and Crassus (for as for Cato, his fame was greater
than his power, and he was rather admired than followed), the sober and
quiet part were for Pompey, the restless and hot-headed followed Caesar's
ambition, but Crassus trimmed between them, making advantages of both,
and changed sides continually, being neither a trusty friend nor an implacable
enemy, and easily abandoned both his attachments and his animosities, as
he found it for his advantage, so that in short spaces of time the same
men and the same measures had him both as their supporter and as their
opponent. He was much liked, but was feared as much or even more.
At any rate, when Sicinius, who was the greatest troubler of the magistrates
and ministers of his time, was asked how it was he let Crassus alone, "Oh,"
said he, "he carries hay on his horns," alluding to the custom of tying
hay to the horns of the bull that used to butt, that people might keep
out of his way.
<<Plut4-252>
The insurrection of the gladiators and the devastation of Italy, commonly
called the war of Spartacus, began upon this occasion. One Lentulus Batiates
trained up a great many gladiators in Capua, most of them Gauls and Thracians,
who, not for any fault by them committed, but simply through the cruelty
of their master, were kept in confinement for this object of fighting one
with another. Two hundred of these formed a plan to escape, but being
discovered, those of them who became aware of it in time to anticipate
their master, being seventy-eight, got out of a cook's shop chopping-knives
and spits, and made their way through the city, and lighting by the way
on several wagons that were carrying gladiators' arms to another city,
they seized upon them and armed themselves. And seizing upon a defensible
place, they chose three captains, of whom Spartacus was chief, a Thracian
of one of the nomad tribes, and a man not only of high spirit and valiant,
but in understanding, also, and in gentleness superior to his condition,
and more of a Grecian than the people of his country usually are.
When he first came to be sold at Rome, they say a snake coiled itself upon
his face as he lay asleep, and his wife, who at this latter time also accompanied
him in his flight, his countrywoman, a kind of prophetess, and one of those
possessed with the bacchanal frenzy, declared that it was a sign portending
great and formidable power to him with no happy event.
<<Plut4-253>
First, then, routing those that came out of Capua against them, and
thus procuring a quantity of proper soldiers' arms, they gladly threw away
their own as barbarous and dishonourable. Afterwards Clodius, the
praetor, took the command against them with a body of three thousand men
from Rome, and besieged them within a mountain, accessible only by one
narrow and difficult passage, which Clodius kept guarded, encompassed on
all other sides with steep and slippery precipices. Upon the top,
however, grew a great many wild vines, and cutting down as many of their
boughs as they had need of, they twisted them into strong ladders long
enough to reach from thence to the bottom, by which, without any danger,
they got down all but one, who stayed there to throw them down their arms,
and after this succeeded in saving himself. The Romans were ignorant
of all this, and, therefore, coming upon them in the rear, they assaulted
them unawares and took their camp. Several, also, of the shepherds
and herdsmen that were there, stout and nimble fellows, revolted over to
them, to some of whom they gave complete arms, and made use of others as
scouts and light-armed soldiers. Publius Varinus, the praetor, was
now sent against them, whose lieutenant, Furius, with two thousand men,
they fought and routed. Then Cossinius was sent with considerable
forces, to give his assistance and advice, and him Spartacus missed but
very little of capturing in person, as he was bathing at Salinae; for he
with great difficulty made his escape, while Spartacus possessed himself
of his baggage, and following the chase with a great slaughter, stormed
his camp and took it, where Cossinius himself was slain. After many
successful skirmishes with the praetor himself, in one of which he took
his lictors and his own horse, he began to be great and terrible; but wisely
considering that he was not to expect to match the force of the empire,
he marched his army towards the Alps, intending, when he had passed them,
that every man should go to his own home, some to Thrace, some to Gaul.
But they, grown confident in their numbers, and puffed up with their success,
would give no obedience to him, but went about and ravaged Italy; so that
now the senate was not only moved at the indignity and baseness, both of
the enemy and of the insurrection, but, looking upon it as a matter of
alarm and of dangerous consequence, sent out both the consuls to it, as
to a great and difficult enterprise. The consul Gellius, falling
suddenly upon a party of Germans, who through contempt, and confidence
had straggled from Spartacus, cut them all to pieces. But when Lentulus
with a large army besieged Spartacus, he sallied out upon him, and, joining
battle, defeated his chief officers, and captured all his baggage.
As he made toward the Alps, Cassius+, who
was praetor of that part of Gaul that lies about the Po, met him with ten
thousand men, but being overcome in the battle, he had much ado to escape
himself, with the loss of a great many of his men.
<<Plut4-254>
When the senate understood this, they were displeased at the consuls,
and ordering them to meddle no further, they appointed Crassus general
of the war, and a great many of the nobility went volunteers with him,
partly out of friendship, and partly to get honour. He stayed himself
on the borders of Picenum, expecting Spartacus would come that way, and
sent his lieutenant, Mummius, with two legions, to wheel about and observe
the enemy's motions, but upon no account to engage or skirmish. But he,
upon the first opportunity, joined battle, and was routed, having a great
many of his men slain, and a great many only saving their lives with the
loss of their arms. Crassus rebuked Mummius severely, and arming
the soldiers again, he made them find sureties for their arms, that they
would part with them no more, and five hundred that were the beginners
of the flight he divided into fifty tens, and one of each was to die by
lot, thus reviving the ancient Roman punishment of
decimation+, where ignominy is added to the penalty of death, with
a variety of appalling and terrible circumstances, presented before the
eyes of the whole army, assembled as spectators. When he had thus
reclaimed his men, he led them against the enemy; but Spartacus retreated
through Lucania toward the sea, and in the straits meeting with some Cilician
pirate ships, he had thoughts of attempting Sicily, where, by landing two
thousand men, he hoped to new kindle the war of the slaves, which was but
lately extinguished, and seemed to need but little fuel to set it burning
again. But after the pirates had struck a bargain with him, and received
his earnest they deceived him and sailed away. He thereupon retired
again from the sea, and established his army in the peninsula of Rhegium;
there Crassus came upon him, and considering the nature of the place, which
of itself suggested the undertaking, he set to work to build a wall across
the isthmus; thus keeping his soldiers at once from idleness and his foes
from forage. This great and difficult work he perfected in a space
of time short beyond all expectation, making a ditch from one sea to the
other, over the neck of land, three hundred furlongs long, fifteen feet
broad, and as much in depth, and above it built a wonderfully high and
strong wall. All which Spartacus at first slighted and despised,
but when provisions began to fail, and on his proposing to pass further,
he found he was walled in, and no more was to be had in the peninsula,
taking the opportunity of a snowy, stormy night, he filled up part of the
ditch with earth and boughs of trees, and so passed the third part of his
army over.
<<Plut4-255>
Crassus was afraid lest he should march directly to Rome, but was soon
eased of that fear when he saw many of his men break out in a mutiny and
quit him, and encamped by themselves upon the Lucanian lake. This
lake they say changes at intervals of time, and is sometimes sweet, and
sometimes so salt that it cannot be drunk. Crassus falling upon these
beat them from the lake, but he could not pursue the slaughter, because
of Spartacus suddenly coming up and checking the flight. Now he began
to repent that he had previously written to the senate to call Lucullus
out of Thrace, and Pompey out of Spain; so that he did all he could to
finish the war before they came, knowing that the honour of the action
would redound to him that came to his assistance. Resolving, therefore,
first to set upon those that had mutinied and encamped apart, whom Caius
Cannicius and Castus commanded, he sent six thousand men before to secure
a little eminence, and to do it as privately as possible, which that they
might do they covered their helmets, but being discovered by two women
that were sacrificing for the enemy, they had been in great hazard, had
not Crassus immediately appeared, and engaged in a battle which proved
a most bloody one. Of twelve thousand three hundred whom he killed,
two only were found wounded in their backs, the rest all having died standing
in their ranks and fighting bravely. Spartacus, after this discomfiture,
retired to the mountains of Petelia, but Quintius, one of Crassus's officers,
and Scrofa, the quaestor, pursued and overtook him. But when Spartacus
rallied and faced them, they were utterly routed and fled, and had much
ado to carry off their quaestor, who was wounded. This success, however,
ruined Spartacus, because it encouraged the slaves, who now disdained any
longer to avoid fighting, or to obey their officers, but as they were upon
the march, they came to them with their swords in their hands, and compelled
them to lead them back again through Lucania, against the Romans, the very
thing which Crassus was eager for. For news was already brought that
Pompey was at hand; and people began to talk openly that the honour of
this war was reserved to him, who would come and at once oblige the enemy
to fight and put an end to the war. Crassus, therefore, eager to
fight a decisive battle, encamped very near the enemy, and began to make
lines of circumvallation; but the slaves made a sally and attacked the
pioneers. As fresh supplies came in on either side, Spartacus, seeing
there was no avoiding it, set all his army in array, and when his horse
was brought him, he drew out his sword and killed him, saying, if he got
the day he should have a great many better horses of the enemies', and
if he lost it he should have no need of this. And so making directly
towards Crassus himself, through the midst of arms and wounds, he missed
him, but slew two centurions that fell upon him together. At last
being deserted by those that were about him, he himself stood his ground,
and, surrounded by the enemy, bravely defending himself, was cut in pieces.
But though Crassus had good fortune, and not only did the part of a good
general, but gallantly exposed his person, yet Pompey had much of the credit
of the action. For he met with many of the fugitives, and slew them,
and wrote to the senate that Crassus indeed had vanquished the slaves in
a pitched battle, but that he had put an end to the war, Pompey was honoured
with a magnificent triumph for his conquest over Sertorius and Spain, while
Crassus could not himself so much as desire a triumph in its full form,
and indeed it was thought to look but meanly in him to accept of the lesser
honour, called the ovation, for a servile war, and perform a procession
on foot. The difference between this and the other, and the origin
of the name, are explained in the life of Marcellus.
<<Plut4-256>
And Pompey being immediately invited to the consulship, Crassus, who
had hoped to be joined with him, did not scruple to request his assistance.
Pompey most readily seized the opportunity, as he desired by all means
to lay some obligation upon Crassus, and zealously promoted his interest;
and at last he declared in one of his speeches to the people that he should
be not less beholden to them for his colleague than for the honour of his
own appointment. But once entered upon the employment, this amity
continued not long; but differing almost in everything, disagreeing, quarrelling,
and contending, they spent the time of their consulship without effecting
any measure of consequence, except that Crassus made a great sacrifice
to Hercules, and feasted the people at ten thousand tables, and measured
them out corn for three months. When their command was now ready
to expire, and they were, as it happened, addressing the people, a Roman
knight, one Onatius Aurelius, an ordinary private person, living in the
country, mounted the hustings, and declared a vision he had in his sleep.
"Jupiter," said he, "appeared to me, and commanded me to tell you, that
you should not suffer your consuls to lay down their charge before they
are made friends." When he had spoken, the people cried out that they should
be reconciled. Pompey stood still and said nothing, but Crassus,
first offering him his hand, said, "I cannot think, my countrymen, that
I do anything humiliating or unworthy of myself, if I make the first offers
of accommodation and friendship with Pompey, whom you yourselves styled
the Great before he was of man's estate, and decreed him a triumph before
he was capable of sitting in the senate."
<<Plut4-257>
This is what was memorable in Crassus's consulship, but as for his
censorship, that was altogether idle and inactive, for he neither made
a scrutiny of the senate, nor took a review of the horsemen, nor a census
of the people, though he had as mild a man as could be desired for his
colleague, Lutatius Catulus. It is said, indeed, that when Crassus
intended a violent and unjust measure, which was the reducing Egypt to
be tributary to Rome, Catulus strongly opposed it, and falling out about
it, they laid down their office by consent. In the great conspiracy
of Catiline, which was very near subverting the government, Crassus was
not without some suspicion of being concerned, and one man came forward
and declared him to be in the plot; but nobody credited him. Yet
Cicero, in one of his orations, clearly charges both Crassus and Caesar
with the guilt of it, though that speech was not published till they were
both dead. But in his speech upon his consulship, he declares that
Crassus came to him by night, and brought a letter concerning Catiline,
stating the details of the conspiracy. Crassus hated him ever after,
but was hindered by his son from doing him any injury; for Publius was
a great lover of learning and eloquence, and a constant follower of
Cicero+, insomuch that he put himself into mourning when he was accused,
and induced the other young men to do the same. And at last he reconciled
him to his father.
<<Plut4-258>
Caesar now returning from his command, and designing to get the consulship,
and seeing that Crassus and Pompey were again at variance, was unwilling
to disoblige one by making application to the other, and despaired of success
without the help of one of them; he therefore made it his business to reconcile
them, making it appear that by weakening each other's influence they were
promoting the interest of the Ciceros, the Catuli, and the Catos, who would
really be of no account if they would join their interests and their factions,
and act together in public with one policy and one united power.
And so reconciling them by his persuasions, out of the three parties he
set up one irresistible power, which utterly subverted the government both
of senate and people. Not that he made either Pompey or Crassus greater
than they were before, but by their means made himself greatest of all;
for by the help of the adherents of both, he was at once gloriously declared
consul, which office when he administered with credit, they decreed him
the command of an army, and allotted him Gaul for his province, and so
placed him as it were in the citadel, not doubting but they should divide
the rest at their pleasure between themselves, when they had confirmed
him in his allotted command. Pompey was actuated in all this by an
immoderate desire of ruling, but Crassus, adding to his old disease of
covetousness, a new passion after trophies and triumphs, emulous of Caesar's
exploits, not content to be beneath him in these points, though above him
in all others, could not be at rest, till it ended in an ignominious overthrow
and a public calamity. When Caesar came out of Gaul to
Lucca+, a great many went thither from Rome to meet him. Pompey
and Crassus had various conferences with him in secret, in which they came
to the resolution to proceed to still more decisive steps, and to get the
whole management of affairs into their hands, Caesar to keep his army,
and Pompey and Crassus to obtain new ones and new provinces. To effect
all which there was but one way, the getting the consulate a second time,
which they were to stand for, and Caesar to assist them by writing to his
friends and sending many of his soldiers to vote.
<<Plut4-259>
But when they returned to Rome, their design was presently suspected,
and a report was soon spread that this interview had been for no good.
When Marcellinus and Domitius asked Pompey in the senate if he intended
to stand for the consulship, he answered, perhaps he would, perhaps not;
and being urged again, replied, he would ask it of the honest citizens,
but not of the dishonest. Which answer appearing too haughty and
arrogant, Crassus said, more modestly, that he would desire it if it might
be for the advantage of the public, otherwise he would decline it. Upon
this some others took confidence and came forward as candidates, among
them Domitius. But when Pompey and Crassus now openly appeared for
it, the rest were afraid and drew back; only Cato encouraged Domitius,
who was his friend and relation, to proceed, exciting him to persist, as
though he was now defending the public liberty, as these men, he said,
did not so much aim at the consulate as at arbitrary government, and it
was not a petition for office, but a seizure of provinces and armies.
Thus spoke and thought Cato, and almost forcibly compelled Domitius to
appear in the forum, where many sided with them. For there was, indeed,
much wonder and question among the people, "Why should Pompey and Crassus
want another consulship? and why they two together, and not with some third
person? We have a great many men not unworthy to be fellow-consuls with
either the one or the other." Pompey's party, being apprehensive of this,
committed all manner of indecencies and violences, and amongst other things
lay in wait for Domitius, as he was coming thither before daybreak with
his friends; his torch-bearer they killed, and wounded several others,
of whom Cato was one. And these being beaten back and driven into
a house, Pompey and Crassus were proclaimed consuls. Not long after,
they surrounded the house with armed men, thrust Cato out of the forum,
killed some that made resistance, and decreed Caesar his command for five
years longer, and provinces for themselves, Syria and both the Spains,
which being divided by lots, Syria fell to Crassus, and the Spains to Pompey.
<<Plut4-260>
All were well pleased with the change, for the people were desirous
that Pompey should go far from the city, and he, being extremely fond of
his wife, was very glad to continue there; but Crassus was so transported
with his fortune, that it was manifest he thought he had never had such
good luck befall him as now, so that he had much to do to contain himself
before company and strangers; but amongst his private friends he let fall
many vain and childish words, which were unworthy of his age, and contrary
to his usual character, for he had been very little given to
boasting+ hitherto. But then being strangely
puffed+ up, and his head heated, he would not limit his fortune with
Parthia and Syria; but looking on the actions of Lucullus against Tigranes
and the exploits of Pompey against Mithridates as but child's play, he
proposed to himself in his hopes to pass as far as Bactria and India, and
the utmost ocean. Not that he was called upon by the decree which
appointed him to his office to undertake any expedition against the Parthians,
but it was well known that he was eager for it, and Caesar wrote to him
out of Gaul commending his resolution, and inciting him to the war.
And when Ateius, the tribune of the people, designed to stop his journey,
and many others murmured that one man should undertake a war against a
people that had done them no injury, and were at amity with them, he desired
Pompey to stand by him and accompany him out of the town, as he had a great
name amongst the common people. And when several were ready prepared
to interfere and raise an outcry, Pompey appeared with a pleasing countenance,
and so mollified the people, that they let Crassus pass quietly.
Ateius, however, met him, and first by word of mouth warned and conjured
him not to proceed, and then commanded his attendant officer to seize him
and detain him; but the other tribunes not permitting it, the officer released
Crassus. Ateius, therefore, running to the gate, when Crassus was
come thither, set down a chafing-dish with lighted fire in it, and burning
incense and pouring libations on it, cursed him with dreadful imprecations,
calling upon and naming several strange and horrible deities. In
the Roman belief there is so much virtue in these sacred and ancient rites,
that no man can escape the effects of them, and that the utterer himself
seldom prospers; so that they are not often made use of, and but upon a
great occasion. And Ateius was blamed at the time for resorting to
them, as the city itself, in whose cause he used them, would be the first
to feel the ill effects of these curses and supernatural terrors.
<<Plut4-261>
Crassus arrived at Brundusium, and though the sea was very rough, he
had not patience to wait, but went on board, and lost many of his ships.
With the remnant of his army he marched rapidly through Galatia, where
meeting with King Deiotarus, who, though he was very old, was about building
a new city, Crassus scoffingly told him, "Your majesty begins to build
at the twelfth hour." "Neither do you," said he, "O general, undertake
your Parthian expedition very early." For Crassus was then sixty years
old, and he seemed older than he was. At his first coming, things
went as he would have them, for he made a bridge over the Euphrates, without
much difficulty, and passed over his army in safety, and occupied many
cities of Mesopotamia, which yielded voluntarily. But a hundred of
his men were killed in one, in which Apollonius was tyrant; therefore,
bringing his forces against it, he took it by storm, plundered the goods,
and sold the inhabitants. The Greeks call this city Zenodotia, upon
the taking of which he permitted the army to salute him Imperator, but
this was very ill thought of, and it looked as if he despaired a nobler
achievement, that he made so much of this little success. Putting
garrisons of seven thousand foot and one thousand horse in the new conquests,
he returned to take up his winter quarters in Syria, where his son was
to meet him coming from Caesar out of Gaul, decorated with rewards for
his valour, and bringing with him one thousand select horse. Here
Crassus seemed to commit his first error, and except, indeed, the whole
expedition, his greatest; for, whereas he ought to have gone forward and
seized Babylon and Seleucia, cities that were ever at enmity with the Parthians,
he gave the enemy time to provide against him. Besides, he spent
his time in Syria more like an usurer than a general, not in taking an
account of the arms, and in improving the skill and discipline of his soldiers,
but in computing the revenue of the cities, wasting many days in weighing
by scale and balance the treasure that was in the temple of Hierapolis,
issuing requisitions for levies of soldiers upon particular towns and kingdoms,
and then again withdrawing them on payment of sums of money, by which he
lost his credit and became despised. Here, too, he met with the first
ill-omen from that goddess, whom some call Venus+,
others Juno, others Nature, or the Cause that produces out of moisture
the first principles and seeds of all things, and gives mankind their earliest
knowledge of all that is good for them. For as they were going out
of the temple young Crassus stumbled and his father fell upon him.
<<Plut4-262>
When he drew his army out of winter quarters, ambassadors came to him
from Arsaces, with this short speech: If the army was sent by the
people of Rome, he denounced mortal war, but if, as he understood was the
case, against the consent of his country, Crassus for his own private profit
had invaded his territory, then their king would be more merciful, and
taking pity upon Crassus's dotage, would send those soldiers back who had
been left not so truly to keep guard on him as to be his prisoners. Crassus
boastfully told them he would return his answer at Seleucia, upon which
Vagises, the eldest of them, laughed and showed the palm of his hand, saying,
"Hair will grow here before you will see Seleucia;" so they returned to
their king, Hyrodes, telling him it was war. Several of the Romans
that were in garrison in Mesopotamia with great hazard made their escape,
and brought word that the danger was worth consideration, urging their
own eye-witness of the numbers of the enemy, and the manner of their fighting,
when they assaulted their towns; and, as men's manner is, made all seem
greater than really it was. By flight it was impossible to escape
them, and as impossible to overtake them when they fled, and they had a
new and strange sort of darts, as swift as sight, for they pierced whatever
they met with, before you could see who threw them; their men-at-arms were
so provided that their weapons would cut through anything, and their armour
give way to nothing. All which when the soldiers heard their hearts
failed them; for till now they thought there was no difference between
the Parthians and the Armenians or Cappadocians, whom Lucullus grew weary
with plundering, and had been persuaded that the main difficulty of the
war consisted only in the tediousness of the march and the trouble of chasing
men that durst not come to blows, so that the danger of a battle was beyond
their expectation; accordingly, some of the officers advised Crassus to
proceed no further at present, but reconsider the whole enterprise, amongst
whom in particular was Cassius, the quaestor. The soothsayers, also,
told him privately the signs found in the sacrifices were continually adverse
and unfavourable. But he paid no heed to them, or to anybody who gave any
other advice than to proceed. Nor did Artabazes, King of Armenia,
confirm him a little, who came to his aid with six thousand horse; who,
however, were said to be only the king's life-guard and suit, for he promised
ten thousand cuirassiers more, and thirty thousand foot, at his own charge.
He urged Crassus to invade Parthia by the way of Armenia, for not only
would he be able there to supply his army with abundant provision, which
he would give him, but his passage would be more secure in the mountains
and hills, with which the whole country was covered, making it almost impassable
to horse, in which the main strength of the Parthians consisted.
Crassus returned him but cold thanks for his readiness to serve him, and
for the splendour of his assistance, and told him he was resolved to pass
through Mesopotamia, where he had left a great many brave Roman soldiers;
whereupon the Armenian went his way. As Crassus was taking the army
over the river at Zeugma, he encountered preternaturally violent thunder,
and the lightning flashed in the faces of the troops, and during the storm
a hurricane broke upon the bridge, and carried part of it away; two thunderbolts
fell upon the very place where the army was going to encamp; and one of
the general's horses, magnificently caparisoned, dragged away the groom
into the river and was drowned. It is said, too, that when they went
to take up the first standard, the eagle of itself turned its head backward;
and after he had passed over his army, as they were distributing provisions,
the first thing they gave was lentils and salt, which with the Romans are
the food proper to funerals, and are offered to the dead. And as
Crassus was haranguing his soldiers, he let fall a word which was thought
very ominous in the army; for "I am going," he said, "to break down the
bridge, that none of you may return;" and whereas he ought, when he had
perceived his blunder, to have corrected himself, and explained his meaning,
seeing the men alarmed at the expression, he would not do it out of mere
stubbornness. And when at the last general sacrifice the priest gave
him the entrails, they slipped out of his hand, and when he saw the standers-by
concerned at it, he laughed and said, "See what it is to be an old man;
but I shall hold my sword fast enough."
<<Plut4-263>
So he marched his army along the river with seven legions, little less
than four thousand horse, and as many light-armed soldiers, and the scouts
returning declared that not one man appeared, but that they saw the footing
of a great many horses which seemed to be retiring in flight, whereupon
Crassus conceived great hopes, and the Romans began to despise the Parthians,
as men that would not come to combat, hand to hand. But Cassius spoke
with him again, and advised him to refresh his army in some of the garrison
towns, and remain there till they could get some certain intelligence of
the enemy, or at least to make toward Seleucia, and keep by the river,
that so they might have the convenience of having provision constantly
supplied by the boats, which might always accompany the army, and the river
would secure them from being environed, and, if they should fight, it might
be upon equal terms.
<<Plut4-264>
While Crassus was still considering, and as yet undetermined, there
came to the camp an Arab chief named Ariamnes, a cunning and wily fellow,
who, of all the evil chances which combined to lead them on to destruction,
was the chief and the most fatal. Some of Pompey's old soldiers knew
him, and remembered him to have received some kindnesses of Pompey, and
to have been looked upon as a friend to the Romans, but he was now suborned
by the king's generals, and sent to Crassus to entice him if possible from
the river and hills into the wide open plain, where he might be surrounded.
For the Parthians desired anything rather than to be obliged to meet the
Romans face to face. He, therefore, coming to Crassus (and he had
a persuasive tongue), highly commended Pompey as his benefactor, and admired
the forces that Crassus had with him, but seemed to wonder why he delayed
and made preparations, as if he should not use his feet more than any arms,
against men that, taking with them their best goods and chattels, had designed
long ago to fly for refuge to the Scythians or Hyrcanians. "If you meant
to fight, you should have made all possible haste, before the king should
recover courage, and collect his forces together; at present you see Surena
and Sillaces opposed to you, to draw you off in pursuit of them, while
the king himself keeps out of the way." But this was all a lie, for Hyrodes
had divided his army in two parts; with one he in person wasted Armenia,
revenging himself upon Artavasdes, and sent Surena against the Romans,
not out of contempt, as some pretend, for there is no likelihood that he
should despise Crassus, one of the chiefest men of Rome, to go and fight
with Artavasdes, and invade Armenia; but much more probably he really apprehended
the danger, and therefore waited to see the event, intending that Surena
should first run the hazard of a battle, and draw the enemy on. Nor
was this Surena an ordinary person, but in wealth, family, and reputation,
the second man in the kingdom, and in courage and prowess the first, and
for bodily stature and beauty no man like him. Whenever he travelled
privately, he had one thousand camels to carry his baggage, two hundred
chariots for his concubines, one thousand completely armed men for life-guards,
and a great many more light-armed; and he had at least ten thousand horsemen
altogether, of his servants and retinue. The honour had long belonged
to his family, that at the king's coronation he put the crown upon his
head, and when this very king Hyrodes had been exiled, he brought him in;
it was he, also, that took the great city of Seleucia, was the first man
that scaled the walls, and with his own hand beat off the defenders.
And though at this time he was not above thirty years old, he had a great
name for wisdom and sagacity, and, indeed, by these qualities chiefly,
he overthrew Crassus, who first through his overweening confidence, and
afterwards because he was cowed by his calamities, fell a ready victim
to his subtlety. When Ariamnes had thus worked upon him, he drew
him from the river into vast plains, by a way that at first was pleasant
and easy but afterwards very troublesome by reason of the depth of the
sand; no tree, nor any water, and no end of this to be seen; so that they
were not only spent with thirst, and the difficulty of the passage, but
were dismayed with the uncomfortable prospect of not a bough, not a stream,
not a hillock, not a green herb, but in fact a sea of sand, which encompassed
the army with its waves. They began to suspect some treachery, and
at the same time came messengers from Artavasdes, that he was fiercely
attacked by Hyrodes, who had invaded his country, so that now it was impossible
for him to send any succours, and that he therefore advised Crassus to
turn back, and with joint forces to give Hyrodes battle, or at least that
he should march and encamp where horses could not easily come, and keep
to the mountains. Crassus, out of anger and perverseness, wrote him
no answer, but told them, at present he was not at leisure to mind the
Armenians, but he would call upon them another time, and revenge himself
upon Artavasdes for his treachery. Cassius and his friends began
again to complain, but when they perceived that it merely displeased Crassus,
they gave over, but privately railed at the barbarian, "What evil genius,
O thou worst of men, brought thee to our camp, and with what charms and
potions hast thou bewitched Crassus, that he should march his army through
a vast and deep desert, through ways which are rather fit for a captain
of Arabian robbers, than for the general of a Roman army?" But the barbarian,
being a wily fellow, very submissively exhorted them, and encouraged them
to sustain it a little further, and ran about the camp, and professing
to cheer up the soldiers, asked them, jokingly, "What, do you think you
march through Campania, expecting everywhere to find springs, and shady
trees, and baths, and inns of entertainment? Consider you now travel through
the confines of Arabia and Assyria." Thus he managed them like children,
and before the cheat was discovered, he rode away; not but that Crassus
was aware of his going, but he had persuaded him that he would go and contrive
how to disorder the affairs of the enemy.
<<Plut4-265>
It is related that Crassus came abroad that day not in his scarlet
robe, which Roman generals usually wear, but in a black one, which, as
soon as he perceived, he changed. And the standard-bearers had much
ado to take up their eagles, which seemed to be fixed to the place. Crassus
laughed at it, and hastened their march, and compelled his infantry to
keep pace with his cavalry, till some few of the scouts returned and told
them that their fellows were slain and they hardly escaped, that the enemy
was at hand in full force, and resolved to give them battle. On this
all was in an uproar; Crassus was struck with amazement, and for haste
could scarcely put his army in good order. First, as Cassius advised,
he opened their ranks and files that they might take up as much space as
could be, to prevent their being surrounded, and distributed the horse
upon the wings, but afterwards changing his mind, he drew up his army in
a square, and made a front every way, each of which consisted of twelve
cohorts, to every one of which he allotted a troop of horse, that no part
might be destitute of the assistance that the horse might give, and that
they might be ready to assist everywhere, as need should require.
Cassius commanded one of the wings, young Crassus the other, and he himself
was in the middle. Thus they marched on till they came to a little river
named Balissus, a very inconsiderable one in itself, but very grateful
to the soldiers, who had suffered so much by drouth and heat all along
their march. Most of the commanders were of the opinion that they
ought to remain there that night, and to inform themselves as much as possible
of the number of the enemies, and their order, and so march against them
at break of day; but Crassus was so carried away by the eagerness of his
son, and the horsemen that were with him, who desired and urged him to
lead them on and engage, that he commanded those that had a mind to it
to eat and drink as they stood in their ranks, and before they had all
well done, he led them on, not leisurely and with halts to take breath,
as if he was going to battle, but kept on his pace as if he had been in
haste, till they saw the enemy, contrary to their expectation, neither
so many nor so magnificently armed as the Romans expected. For Surena
had hid his main force behind the first ranks, and ordered them to hide
the glittering of their armour with coats and skins. But when they
approached and the general gave the signal, immediately all the field rung
with a hideous noise and terrible clamour. For the Parthians do not
encourage themselves to war with cornets and trumpets, but with a kind
of kettle-drum, which they strike all at once in various quarters. With
these they make a dead, hollow noise, like the bellowing of beasts, mixed
with sounds resembling thunder, having, it would seem, very correctly observed
that of all our senses hearing most confounds and disorders us, and that
the feelings excited through it most quickly disturb and most entirely
overpower the understanding.
<<Plut4-266>
When they had sufficiently terrified the Romans with their noise, they
threw off the covering of their armour, and shone like lightning in their
breastplates and helmets of polished Margianian steel, and with their horses
covered with brass and steel trappings. Surena was the tallest and
finest looking man himself, but the delicacy of his looks and effeminacy
of his dress did not promise so much manhood as he really was master of;
for his face was painted, and his hair parted after the fashion of the
Medes, whereas the other Parthians made a more terrible appearance, with
their shaggy hair gathered in a mass upon their foreheads after the Scythian
mode. Their first design was with their lances to beat down and force
back the first ranks of the Romans, but when they perceived the depth of
their battle, and that the soldiers firmly kept their ground, they made
a retreat, and pretending to break their order and disperse, they encompassed
the Roman square before they were aware of it. Crassus commanded
his light-armed soldiers to charge, but they had not gone far before they
were received with such a shower of arrows that they were glad to retire
amongst the heavy-armed, with whom this was the first occasion of disorder
and terror, when they perceived the strength and force of their darts,
which pierced their arms, and passed through every kind of covering, hard
and soft alike. The Parthians now placing themselves at distances
began to shoot from all sides, not aiming at any particular mark (for,
indeed, the order of the Romans was so close, that they could not miss
if they would), but simply sent their arrows with great force out of strong
bent bows, the strokes from which came with extreme violence. The
position of the Romans was a very bad one from the first; for if they kept
their ranks, they were wounded, and if they tried to charge, they hurt
the enemy none the more, and themselves suffered none the less. For
the Parthians threw their darts as they fled, an art in which none but
the Scythians excel them, and it is, indeed, a cunning practice, for while
they thus fight to make their escape, they avoid the dishonour of a flight.
<<Plut4-267>
However, the Romans had some comfort to think that when they had spent
all their arrows, they would either give over or come to blows but when
they presently understood that there were numerous camels loaded with arrows,
and that when the first ranks had discharged those they had, they wheeled
off and took more, Crassus seeing no end of it, was out of all heart, and
sent to his son that he should endeavour to fall in upon them before he
was quite surrounded; for the enemy advanced most upon that quarter, and
seemed to be trying to ride around and come upon the rear. Therefore
the young man, taking with him thirteen hundred horse, one thousand of
which he had from Caesar, five hundred archers, and eight cohorts of the
full-armed soldiers that stood next him, led them up with design to charge
the Parthians. Whether it was that they found themselves in a piece
of marshy ground, as some think, or else designing to entice young Crassus
as far as they could from his father, they turned and began to fly whereupon
he crying out that they durst not stand, pursued them, and with him Censorinus
and Megabacchus, both famous, the latter for his courage and prowess, the
other for being of a senator's family, and an excellent orator, both intimates
of Crassus, and of about the same age. The horse thus pushing on, the infantry
stayed a little behind, being exalted with hopes and joy, for they supposed
they had already conquered, and now were only pursuing; till when they
were gone too far, they perceived the deceit, for they that seemed to fly
now turned again, and a great many fresh ones came on. Upon this
they made a halt, for they doubted not but now the enemy would attack them,
because they were so few. But they merely placed their cuirassiers
to face the Romans, and with the rest of their horse rode about scouring
the field, and thus stirring up the sand, they raised such a dust that
the Romans could neither see nor speak to one another, and being driven
in upon one another in one close body, they were thus hit and killed, dying,
not by a quick and easy death, but with miserable pains and convulsions;
for writhing upon the darts in their bodies, they broke them in their wounds,
and when they would by force pluck out the barbed points, they caught the
nerves and veins, so that they tore and tortured themselves. Many
of them died thus, and those that survived were disabled for any service,
and when Publius exhorted them to charge the cuirassiers, they showed him
their hands nailed to their shields, and their feet stuck to the ground,
so that they could neither fly nor fight. He charged in himself boldly,
however, with his horse, and came to close quarters with them, but was
very unequal, whether as to the offensive or defensive part; for with his
weak and little javelins, he struck against targets that were of tough
raw hides and iron, whereas, the lightly-clad bodies of his Gaulish horsemen
were exposed to the strong spears of the enemy. For upon these he mostly
depended, and with them he wrought wonders; for they would catch hold of
the great spears, and close upon the enemy, and so pull them off from their
horses, where they could scarce stir by reason of the heaviness of their
armour, and many of the Gauls quitting their own horses, would creep under
those of the enemy, and stick them in the belly; which, growing unruly
with the pain, trampled upon their riders and upon the enemies promiscuously.
The Gauls were chiefly tormented by the heat and drouth, being not accustomed
to either, and most of their horses were slain by being spurred on against
the spears, so that they were forced to retire among the foot, bearing
off Publius grievously wounded. Observing a sandy hillock not far off,
they made to it, and tying their horses to one another, and placing them
in the midst, and joining all their shields together before them, they
thought they might make some defence against the barbarians. But
it fell out quite contrary, for when they were drawn up in a plain, the
front in some measure secured those that were behind; but when they were
upon the hill, one being of necessity higher up than another, none were
in shelter, but all alike stood equally exposed, bewailing their inglorious
and useless fate. There were with Publius two Greeks that lived near
there at Carrhae, Hieronymus and Nicomachus; these men urged him to retire
with them and fly to Ichnae, a town not far from thence, and friendly to
the Romans. "No," said he, "there is no death so terrible, for the fear
of which Publius would leave his friends that die upon his account;" and
bidding them to take care of themselves, he embraced them and sent them
away, and, because he could not use his arm, for he was run through with
a dart, he opened his side to his armour-bearer, and commanded him to run
him through. It is said Censorinus fell in the same manner.
Megabacchus slew himself, as did also the rest of best note. The
Parthians coming upon the rest with their lances, killed them fighting,
nor were there above five hundred taken prisoners. Cutting off the
head of Publius, they rode off directly towards Crassus.
<<Plut4-268>
His condition was thus. When he had commanded his son to fall
upon the enemy, and word was brought him that they fled and that there
was a distant pursuit, and perceiving also that the enemy did not press
upon him so hard as formerly, for they were mostly gone to fall upon Publius,
he began to take heart a little; and drawing his army towards some sloping
ground, expected when his son would return from the pursuit. Of the messengers
whom Publius sent to him (as soon as he saw his danger), the first were
intercepted by the enemy, and slain; the last, hardly escaping, came and
declared that Publius was lost, unless he had speedy succours. Crassus
was terribly distracted, not knowing what counsel to take, and indeed no
longer capable of taking any; overpowered now by fear for the whole army,
now by desire to help his son. At last he resolved to move with his
forces. Just upon this, up came the enemy with their shouts and noises
more terrible than before, their drums sounding again in the ears of the
Romans, who now feared a fresh engagement. And they who brought Publius's
head upon the point of a spear, riding up near enough that it could be
known, scoffingly inquired where were his parents, and what family he was
of, for it was impossible that so brave and gallant a warrior should be
the son of so pitiful a coward as Crassus. This sight above all the
rest dismayed the Romans, for it did not incite them to anger as it might
have done, but to horror and trembling, though they say Crassus outdid
himself in this calamity, for he passed through the ranks and cried out
to them, "This, O my countrymen, is my own peculiar loss, but the fortune
and the glory of Rome is safe and untainted so long as you are safe.
But if any one be concerned for my loss of the best of sons, let him show
it in revenging him upon the enemy. Take away their joy, revenge
their cruelty, nor be dismayed at what is past; for whoever tries for great
objects must suffer something. Neither did Lucullus overthrow Tigranes
without bloodshed, nor Scipio Antiochus; our ancestors lost one thousand
ships about Sicily, and how many generals and captains in Italy? no one
of which losses hindered them from overthrowing their conquerors; for the
State of Rome did not arrive to this height by fortune, but by perseverance
and virtue in confronting danger."
<<Plut4-269>
While Crassus thus spoke exhorting them, he saw but few that gave much
heed to him, and when he ordered them to shout for battle, he could no
longer mistake the despondency of his army, which made but a faint and
unsteady noise, while the shout of the enemy was clear and bold.
And when they came to the business, the Parthian servants and dependents
riding about shot their arrows, and the horsemen in the foremost ranks
with their spears drove the Romans close together, except those who rushed
upon them for fear of being killed by their arrows. Neither did these
do much execution, being quickly despatched; for the strong, thick spear
made large and mortal wounds, and often run through two men at once. As
they were thus fighting, the night coming on parted them, the Parthians
boasting that they would indulge Crassus with one night to mourn his son,
unless upon better consideration he would rather go to Arsaces than be
carried to him. These, therefore, took up their quarters near them,
being flushed with their victory. But the Romans had a sad night
of it; for neither taking care for the burial of their dead, nor the cure
of the wounded, nor the groans of the expiring, every one bewailed his
own fate. For there was no means of escaping, whether they should
stay for the light, or venture to retreat into the vast desert in the dark.
And now the wounded men have them new trouble, since to take them with
them would retard their flight, and if they should leave them, they might
serve as guides to the enemy by their cries. However, they were all
desirous to see and hear Crassus, though they were sensible that he was
the cause of all their mischief. But he wrapped his cloak around him, and
hid himself, where he lay as an example, to ordinary minds, of the caprice
of fortune, but to the wise, of inconsiderateness and ambition; who, not
content to be superior to so many millions of men, being inferior to two,
esteemed himself as the lowest of all. Then came Octavius, his lieutenant,
and Cassius, to comfort him, but he being altogether past helping, they
themselves called together the centurions and tribunes, and agreeing that
the best way was to fly, they ordered the army out, without sound of trumpet,
and at first with silence. But before long, when the disabled men found
they were left behind, strange confusion and disorder, with an outcry and
lamentation, seized the camp, and a trembling and dread presently fell
upon them, as if the enemy were at their heels. By which means, now
and then turning out of their way, now and then standing to their ranks,
sometimes taking up the wounded that followed, sometimes laying them down,
they wasted the time, except three hundred horse, whom Egnatius brought
safe to Carrhae about midnight; where calling, in the Roman tongue, to
the watch, as soon as they heard him, he bade them tell Coponius, the governor,
that Crassus had fought a very great battle with the Parthians; and having
said but this, and not so much as telling his name, he rode away at full
speed to Zeugma. And by this means he saved himself and his men,
but lost his reputation by deserting his general. However, his message
to Coponius was for the advantage of Crassus; for he, suspecting by this
hasty and confused delivery of the message that all was not well, immediately
ordered the garrison to be in arms, and as soon as he understood that Crassus
was upon the way towards him, he went out to meet him, and received him
with his army into the town.
<<Plut4-270>
The Parthians, although they perceived their dislodgment in the night,
yet did not pursue them, but as soon as it was day, they came upon those
that were left in the camp, and put no less than four thousand to the sword
and with their light horse picked up a great many stragglers. Varguntinus,
the lieutenant, while it was yet dark, had broken off from the main body
with four cohorts which had strayed out of the way; and the Parthians encompassing
these on a small hill, slew every man of them excepting twenty, who with
their drawn swords forced their way through the thickest, and they admiring
their courage, opened their ranks to the right and left, and let them pass
without molestation to Carrhae.
<<Plut4-271>
Soon after a false report was brought to Surena, that Crassus, with
his principal officers, had escaped, and that those who were got into Carrhae
were but a confused rout of insignificant people, not worth further pursuit.
Supposing, therefore, that he had lost the very crown and glory of his
victory, and yet being uncertain whether it were so or not, and anxious
to ascertain the fact, that so he should either stay and besiege Carrhae
or follow Crassus, he sent one of his interpreters to the walls, commanding
him in Latin to call for Crassus or Cassius, for that the general, Surena,
desired a conference. As soon as Crassus heard this, he embraced
the proposal, and soon after there came up a band of Arabians, who very
well knew the faces of Crassus and Cassius, as having been frequently in
the Roman camp before the battle. They having espied Cassius from
the wall, told him that Surena desired a peace, and would give them safe
convoy, if they would make a treaty with the king his master, and withdraw
all their troops out of Mesopotamia; and this he thought most advisable
for them both, before things came to the last extremity; Cassius, embracing
the proposal, desired that a time and place might be appointed where Crassus
and Surena might have an interview. The Arabians, having charged
themselves with the message, went back to Surena, who was not a little
rejoiced that Crassus was there to be besieged.
<<Plut4-272>
Next day, therefore, he came up with his army, insulting over the Romans,
and haughtily demanded of them Crassus and Cassius, bound, if they expected
any mercy. The Romans, seeing themselves deluded and mocked, were
much troubled at it, but advising Crassus to lay aside his distant and
empty hopes of aid from the Armenians, resolved to fly for it; and this
design ought to have been kept private, till they were upon their way,
and not have been told to any of the people of Carrhae. But Crassus
let this also be known to Andromachus, the most faithless of men, nay,
he was so infatuated as to choose him for his guide. The Parthians
then, to be sure, had punctual intelligence of all that passed; but it
being contrary to their usage, and also difficult for them to fight by
night, and Crassus having chosen that time to set out, Andromachus, lest
he should get the start too far of his pursuers, led him hither and thither,
and at last conveyed him into the midst of morasses and places full of
ditches, so that the Romans had a troublesome and perplexing journey of
it, and some were who, supposing by these windings and turnings of Andromachus
that no good was intended, resolved to follow him no further. And
at last Cassius himself returned to Carrhae, and his guides, the Arabians,
advising him to tarry there till the moon was got out of Scorpio, he told
them that he was most afraid of Sagittarius, and so with five hundred horse
went off to Syria. Others there were who, having got honest guides,
took their way by the mountains called Sinnaca, and got into places of
security by daybreak; these were five thousand under the command of Octavius,
a very gallant man. But Crassus fared worse; day overtook him still
deceived by Andromachus, and entangled in the fens and the difficult country.
There were with him four cohorts of legionary soldiers, a very few horsemen,
and five lictors, with whom having with great difficulty got into the way,
and not being a mile and a half from Octavius, instead of going to join
him, although the enemy were already upon him, he retreated to another
hill, neither so defensible nor impassable for the horse, but lying under
the hills at Sinnaca, and continued so as to join them in a long ridge
through the plain. Octavius could see in what danger the general
was, and himself, at first but slenderly followed, hurried to the rescue.
Soon after, the rest, upbraiding one another with baseness in forsaking
their officers, marched down, and falling upon the Parthians, drove them
from the hill, and compassing Crassus about, and fencing him with their
shields, declared proudly, that no arrow in Parthia should ever touch their
general, so long as there was a man of them left alive to protect him.
<<Plut4-273>
Surena, therefore, perceiving his soldiers less inclined to expose
themselves, and knowing that if the Romans should prolong the battle till
night, they might then gain the mountains and be out of his reach, betook
himself to his usual craft. Some of the prisoners were set free,
who had, as it was contrived, been in hearing, while some of the barbarians
spoke a set purpose in the camp to the effect that the king did not design
the war to be pursued to extremity against the Romans, but rather desired,
by his general treatment of Crassus, to make a step towards reconciliation.
And the barbarians desisted from fighting, and Surena himself, with his
chief officers, riding gently to the hill, unbent his bow and held out
his hand, inviting Crassus to an agreement, and saying that it was beside
the king's intentions, that they had thus had experience of the courage
and the strength of his soldiers; that now he desired no other contention
but that of kindness and friendship, by making a truce, and permitting
them to go away in safety. These words of Surena the rest received
joyfully, and were eager to accept the offer, but Crassus, who had sufficient
experience of their perfidiousness, and was unable to see any reason for
the sudden change, would give no ear to them, and only took time to consider.
But the soldiers cried out and advised him to treat, and then went on to
upbraid and affront him, saying that it was very unreasonable that he should
bring them to fight with such men armed, whom himself, without their arms,
durst not look in the face. He tried first to prevail with them by
entreaties, and told them that if they would have patience till evening,
they might get into the mountains and passes, inaccessible for horse, and
be out of danger, and withal he pointed out the way with his hand, entreating
them not to abandon their preservation, now close before them. But
when they mutinied and clashed their targets in a threatening manner, he
was overpowered and forced to go, and only turning about at parting, said,
"You, Octavius and Petronius, and the rest of the officers who are present,
see the necessity of going which I lie under, and cannot but be sensible
of the indignities and violence offered to me. Tell all men when
you have escaped, that Crassus perished rather by the subtlety of his enemies,
than by the disobedience of his countrymen."
<<Plut4-274>
Octavius, however, would not stay there, but with Petronius went down
from the hill; as for the lictors, Crassus bade them be gone. The
first that met him were two half-blood Greeks, who, leaping from their
horses, made a profound reverence to Crassus, and desired him, in Greek,
to send some before him, who might see that Surena himself was coming towards
them, his retinue disarmed, and not having so much as their wearing swords
along with them. But Crassus answered, that if he had the least concern
for his life, he would never have intrusted himself in their hands, but
sent two brothers of the name of Roscius to inquire on what terms and in
what numbers they should meet. These Surena ordered immediately to
be seized, and himself with his principal officers came up on horseback,
and greeting him, said, "How is this, then? A Roman commander is
on foot, whilst I and my train are mounted." But Crassus replied, that
there was no error committed on either side, for they both met according
to the custom of their own country. Surena told him that from that
time there was a league between the king his master and the Romans, but
that Crassus must go with him to the river to sign it, "for you Romans,"
said he, "have not good memories for conditions," and so saying, reached
out his hand to him. Crassus, therefore, gave order that one of his
horses should be brought; but Surena told him there was no need, "the king,
my master, presents you with this;" and immediately a horse with a golden
bit was brought up to him, and himself was forcibly put into the saddle
by the grooms, who ran by the side and struck the horse to make the more
haste. But Octavius running up, got hold of the bridle, and soon
after one of the officers, Petronius, and the rest of the company came
up, striving to stop the horse, and pulling back those who on both sides
of him forced Crassus forward. Thus from pulling and thrusting one
another, they came to a tumult, and soon after to blows. Octavius, drawing
his sword, killed a groom of one of the barbarians, and one of them, getting
behind Octavius, killed him. Petronius was not armed, but being struck
on the breastplate, fell down from his horse, though without hurt.
Crassus was killed by a Parthian, called Pomaxathres; others say by a different
man, and that Pomaxathres only cut off his head and right hand after he
had fallen. But this is conjecture rather than certain knowledge,
for those that were by had not leisure to observe particulars, and were
either killed fighting about Crassus, or ran off at once to get to their
comrades on the hill. But the Parthians coming up to them, and saying
that Crassus had the punishment he justly deserved, and that Surena bade
the rest come down from the hill without fear, some of them came down and
surrendered themselves, others were scattered up and down in the night,
a very few of whom got safe home, and others the Arabians, beating through
the country, hunted down and put to death. It is generally said,
that in all twenty thousand men were slain and ten thousand taken prisoners.
<<Plut4-275>
Surena sent the head and hand of Crassus to Hyrodes the king, into
Armenia, but himself by his messengers scattering a report that he was
bringing Crassus alive to Seleucia, made a ridiculous procession, which,
by way of scorn, he called a triumph. For one Caius Paccianus, who
of all the prisoners was most like Crassus, being put into a woman's dress
of the fashion of the barbarians, and instructed to answer to the title
of Crassus and Imperator, was brought sitting upon his horse, while before
him went a parcel of trumpeters and lictors upon camels. Purses were
hung at the end of the bundles of rods, and the heads of the slain fresh
bleeding at the end of their axes. After them followed the Seleucian
singing women, repeating scurrilous and abusive songs upon the effeminacy
and cowardliness of Crassus. This show was seen by everybody; but
Surena, calling together the senate of Seleucia, laid before them certain
wanton books, of the writings of Aristides, his Milesiaca; neither, indeed,
was this any forgery, for they had been found among the baggage of Rustius,
and were a good subject to supply Surena with insulting remarks upon the
Romans, who were not able even in the time of war to forget such writings
and practices. But the people of Seleucia had reason to commend the
wisdom of Aesop's fable of the wallet, seeing their general Surena carrying
a bag full of loose Milesian stories before him, but keeping behind him
a whole Parthian Sybaris in his many wagons full of concubines; like the
vipers and asps people talk of, all the foremost and more visible parts
fierce and terrible with spears and arrows and horsemen, but the rear terminating
in loose women and castanets, music of the lute, and midnight revellings.
Rustius, indeed, is not to be excused, but the Parthians had forgot, when
they mocked at the Milesian stories, that many of the royal line of their
Arsacidae had been born of Milesian and Ionian mistresses.
<<Plut4-276>
Whilst these things were doing, Hyrodes had struck up a peace with
the King of Armenia, and made a match between his son Pacorus and the King
of Armenia's sister. Their feastings and entertainments in consequence
were very sumptuous, and various Grecian compositions, suitable to the
occasion, were recited before them. For Hyrodes was not ignorant
of the Greek language and literature, and Artavasdes was so expert in it,
that he wrote tragedies and orations and histories, some of which are still
extant. When the head of Crassus was brought to the door, the tables
were just taken away, and one Jason, a tragic actor, of the town of Tralles,
was singing the scene in the Bacchae of Euripides concerning Agave.
He was receiving much applause, when Sillaces, coming to the room, and
having made obeisance to the king, threw down the head of Crassus into
the midst of the company. The Parthians receiving it with joy and
acclamations, Sillaces, by the king's command, was made to sit down while
Jason handed over the costume of Pentheus to one of the dancers in the
chorus, and taking up the head of Crassus, and acting the part of a bacchante
in her frenzy, in a rapturous impassioned manner, sang the lyric passages-
"We've hunted down a mighty chase to-day,
And from the mountain bring the noble prey,"
to the great delight of all the company; but when the verses of the dialogue
followed-
"What happy hand the glorious victim slew? I claim
that honour to my courage due,"
100000 Pomaxathres, who happened to be there at the supper, started up
and would have got the head into his own hands, "for it is my due," said
he, "and no man's else." The king was greatly pleased, and gave presents,
according to the custom of the Parthians, to them, and to Jason, the actor,
a talent. Such was the burlesque that was played, they tell us, as
the afterpiece to the tragedy of Crassus's expedition. But divine
justice failed not to punish both Hyrodes for his cruelty and Surena for
his perjury; for Surena not long after was put to death by Hyrodes, out
of mere envy to his glory; and Hyrodes himself, having lost his son Pacorus,
who was beaten in a battle with the Romans, falling into a disease which
turned to a dropsy, had aconite given him by his second son, Phraates;
but the poison working only upon the disease, and carrying away the dropsical
matter with itself, the king began suddenly to recover, so that Phraates
at length was forced to take the shortest course, and strangled him.
<<Plut4-277>
~The Comparison of Crassus with Nicias_+
IN the comparison of these two, first, if we compare the estate of Nicias
with that of Crassus, we must acknowledge Nicias's to have been more honestly
got. In itself, indeed, one cannot much approve of gaining riches
by working mines, the greatest part of which is done by malefactors and
barbarians, some of them, too, bound, and perishing in those close and
unwholesome places. But if we compare this with the sequestrations
of Sylla, and the contracts for houses ruined by fire, we shall then think
Nicias came very honestly by his money. For Crassus publicly and
avowedly made use of these arts, as other men do of husbandry, and putting
out money to interest+; while as for other
matters which he used to deny, when taxed with them, as, namely, selling
his voice in the senate for gain's sake, and injuring allies, and courting
women, and conniving at criminals, these are things which Nicias was never
so much as falsely accused of; nay, he was rather laughed at for giving
money to those who made a trade of impeachments, merely out of timorousness,
a course, indeed, that would by no means become Pericles and Aristides,
but necessary for him who by nature was wanting in assurance, even as Lycurgus,
the orator, frankly acknowledged to the people; for when he was accused
for buying off an evidence, he said that he was very much pleased that,
having administered their affairs for so long a time; he was at last accused,
rather for giving than receiving. Again, Nicias, in his expenses, was a
more public spirit than Crassus, priding himself much on the dedication
of gifts+ in temples, on presiding at gymnastic
games, and furnishing choruses for the plays, and adorning processions,
while the expenses of Crassus, in feasting and afterwards providing food
for so many myriads of people, were much greater than all that Nicias possessed
as well as spent put together. So that one might wonder at any one's
failing to see that vice is a certain inconsistency and incongruity of
habit, after such an example of money dishonourably obtained and
wastefully+ lavished away.
<<Plut4-278>
Let so much be said of their estates; as for their management of public
affairs, I see not that any dishonesty, injustice, or arbitrary action
can be objected to Nicias, who was rather the victim of Alcibiades's tricks,
and was always careful and scrupulous in his dealings with the people.
But Crassus is very generally blamed for his changeableness in his friendships
and enmities, for his unfaithfulness+,
and his mean and underhand proceedings; since he himself could not deny
that to compass the consulship he hired men to lay violent hands upon Domitius
and Cato. Then at the assembly held for assigning the provinces, many were
wounded and four actually killed, and he himself, which I had omitted in
the narrative of his life, struck with his fist one Lucius Analius, a senator,
for contradicting him, so that he left the place bleeding. But as
Crassus was to be blamed for his violent and arbitrary courses, so is Nicias
no less to be blamed for his timorousness+
[womanish+-North] and meanness of spirit, which made him submit and give
in to the basest people, whereas in this respect Crassus showed himself
lofty-spirited and magnanimous, who having to do not with such as Cleon
or Hyperbolus, but with the splendid acts of Caesar and the three triumphs
of Pompey, would not stoop, but bravely bore up against their joint interests,
and in obtaining the office of censor, surpassed even Pompey himself.
For a statesman ought not to regard how invidious the thing is, but how
noble, and by his greatness to overpower envy; but if he will be always
aiming at security and quiet, and dread Alcibiades upon the hustings, and
the Lacedaemonians at Pylos, and Perdiccas in Thrace, there is room and
opportunity enough for retirement, and he may sit out of the noise of business,
and weave himself, as one of the sophists says, his triumphal garland of
inactivity. {Hamlet+} His desire of
peace, indeed, and of finishing the war was a divine and truly Grecian
ambition, nor in this respect would Crassus deserve to be compared to him,
though he had enlarged the Roman empire to the Caspian Sea or the Indian
Ocean.
<<Plut4-279>
In a state where there is a sense of virtue, a powerful man ought not
to give way to the ill-affected, or expose the government to those that
are incapable of it, nor suffer high trusts to be committed to those who
want common honesty. Yet Nicias, by his connivance, raised Cleon,
a fellow remarkable for nothing but his loud voice and brazen face, to
the command of an army. Indeed, I do not commend Crassus, who in
the war with Spartacus was more forward to fight than became a discreet
general, though he was urged into it by a point of honour, lest Pompey
by his coming should rob him of the glory+
of the action, as Mummius did Metellus at the taking of Corinth, but Nicias's
proceedings are inexcusable. For he did not yield up a mere opportunity
of getting honour and advantage to his competitor, but believing that the
expedition would be very hazardous, was thankful to take care of himself,
and left the commonwealth to shift for itself. {shirking+}
And whereas Themistocles, lest a mean and incapable fellow should ruin
the state by holding command in the Persian war, bought him off, and Cato,
in a most dangerous and critical conjuncture, stood for the tribuneship
for the sake of his country, Nicias, reserving himself for trifling expeditions
against Minoa and Cythera, and the miserable Melians, if there be occasion
to come to blows with the Lacedaemonians, slips off his general's cloak
and hands over to the unskillfulness and rashness of Cleon, fleet, men,
and arms, and the whole command, where the utmost possible skill was called
for. Such conduct, I say, is not to be thought so much carelessness
of his own fame, as of the interest and preservation of his country.
By this means it came to pass he was compelled to the Sicilian war, men
generally believing that he was so much honestly convinced of the difficu*ty
of the enterprise, as ready out of mere love of ease and cowardice to lose
the city the conquest of Sicily. But yet it is a great sign of his
integrity, that though he was always averse from war, and unwilling to
command, yet they always continued to appoint him as the best experienced
and ablest general they had. On the other hand Crassus, though always
ambitious of command, never attained to it, except by mere necessity in
the servile war, Pompey and Metellus and the two brothers Lucullus being
absent, although at that time he was at his highest pitch of interest and
reputation. Even those who thought most of him seem to have thought
him, as the comic poet says- "A brave man anywhere but in the field." There
was no help, however, for the Romans, against his passion for command and
for distinction. The Athenians sent out Nicias against his will to
the war, and Crassus led out the Romans against theirs; Crassus brought
misfortune on Rome, as Athens brought it on Nicias.
<<Plut4-280>
Still this is rather ground for praising Nicias, than for finding fault
with Crassus. His experience and sound judgment as a general saved
him from being carried away by the delusive hopes of his fellow-citizens,
and made him refuse to entertain any prospect of conquering Sicily.
Crassus, on the other hand, mistook, in entering on a Parthian war as an
easy matter. {Hotspur+}
He was eager, while Caesar was subduing the west, Gaul, Germany, and Britain,
to advance for his part to the east and the Indian Sea, by the conquest
of Asia, to complete the incursion of Pompey and the attempts of Lucullus,
men of prudent temper and of unimpeachable worth, who nevertheless entertained
the same projects as Crassus, and acted under the same convictions.
When Pompey was appointed to the like command, the senate was opposed to
it; and after Caesar had routed three hundred thousand Germans, Cato recommended
that he should be surrendered to the defeated enemy, to expiate in his
own person the guilt of breach_of_faith+.
The people, meantime (their service to Cato!), kept holiday for fifteen
days, and were overjoyed. What would have been their feelings, and
how many holidays would they have celebrated, if Crassus had sent news
from Babylon of victory, and thence marching onward had converted Media
and Persia, the Hyrcanians, Susa and Bactra, into Roman provinces?
<<Plut4-281>
If wrong we must do, as Euripides says, and cannot be content with
peace and present good things, let it not be for such results as destroying
Mende or Scandea, or beating up the exiled Aeginetans in the coverts to
which like hunted birds they had fled, when expelled from their homes,
but let it be for some really great remuneration: nor let us part with
justice, like a cheap and common thing, for a small and trifling price.
Those who praise Alexander's enterprise and blame that of Crassus, judge
of the beginning unfairly by the results.
<<Plut4-282>
In actual service, Nicias did much that deserves high praise.
He frequently defeated the enemy in battle, and was on the very point of
capturing Syracuse; nor should he bear the whole blame of the disaster,
which may fairly be ascribed in part to his want of health and to the jealousy
entertained of him at home. Crassus, on the other hand, committed
so many errors as not to leave
fortune+ room to show him favour. It is no surprise to find such
imbecility fall a victim to the power of Parthia; the only wonder is to
see it prevailing over the wonted good fortune of Rome. One scrupulously
observed, the other entirely slighted the arts of divination: and as both
equally perished, it is difficult to see what inference we should draw.
Yet the fault of over-caution, supported by old and general opinion, better
deserves forgiveness than that of self-willed and lawless transgression. {Hotspur+}
<<Plut4-283>
In his death, however, Crassus had the advantage, as he did not surrender
himself, nor submit to bondage, nor let himself be taken in by trickery,
but was the victim only of the entreaties of his friends and the perfidy
of his enemies; whereas Nicias enhanced the shame of his death by yielding
himself up in the hope of disgraceful and inglorious escape.
<<Plut4-284>
~Sertorius+
IT is no great wonder if in long process of time, while fortune takes
her course hither and thither, numerous
coincidences+ should spontaneously occur. If the number and variety
of subjects to be wrought upon be infinite, it is all the more easy for
fortune, with such an abundance of material, to effect this similarity
of results. Or if, on the other hand, events are limited to the combinations
of some finite number, then of necessity the same must often recur, and
in the same sequence. There are people who take a pleasure in making
collections of all such fortuitous occurrences that they have heard or
read of, as look like works of a rational power and design; they observe,
for example, that two eminent persons whose names were Attis, the one a
Syrian, the other of Arcadia, were both slain by a wild boar; that of two
whose names were Actaeon, the one was torn in pieces by his dogs, the other
by his lovers; that of two famous Scipios, the one overthrew the Carthaginians
in war, the other totally ruined and destroyed them; the city of Troy was
the first time taken by Hercules for the horses promised him by Laomedon,
the second time by Agamemnon, by means of the celebrated great wooden horse,
and the third time by Charidemus, by occasion of a horse falling down at
the gate, which hindered the Trojans, so that they could not shut them
soon enough; and of two cities which take their names from the most agreeable
odoriferous plants, Ios and Smyrna, the one from a violet, the other from
myrrh, the poet Homer is reported to have been born in the one and to have
died in the other. And so to these instances let us further add,
that the most warlike commanders, and most remarkable for exploits of skilful
stratagem, have had but one eye; as Philip, Antigonus, Hannibal, and Sertorius,
whose life and actions we describe at present; of whom, indeed, we might
truly say, that he was more continent than Philip, more faithful to his
friends than Antigonus, and more merciful to his enemies than Hannibal;
and that for prudence and judgment he gave place to none of them, but in
fortune+ was inferior to them all. Yet though he had continually
in her a far more difficult adversary to contend against than his open
enemies, he nevertheless maintained his ground, with the military skill
of Metellus, the boldness of Pompey, the success of Sylla, and the power
of the Roman people, all to be encountered by one who was a banished man
and a stranger at the head of a body of barbarians. Among Greek commanders,
Eumenes of Cardia may be best compared with him; they were both of them
men born for command, for warfare, and for stratagem; both banished from
their countries, and holding command over strangers; both had fortune for
their adversary, in their last days so harshly so, that they were both
betrayed and murdered by those who served them, and with whom they had
formerly overcome their enemies.
<<Plut4-285>
Quintus Sertorius was of a noble family, born in the city of Nursia,
in the country of the Sabines; his father died when he was young, and he
was carefully and decently educated by his mother, whose name was Rhea,
and whom he appears to have extremely loved and honoured. He paid some
attention to the study of oratory and pleading in his youth, and acquired
some reputation and influence in Rome by his
eloquence+; but the splendour of his actions in arms, and his successful
achievements in the wars, drew off his ambition in that direction.
<<Plut4-286>
At his first beginning, he served under Caepio, when the Cimbri and
Teutones invaded Gaul; where the Romans fighting unsuccessfully, and being
put to flight, he was wounded in many parts of his body, and lost his horse,
yet, nevertheless, swam across the river Rhone in his armour, with his
breastplate and shield, bearing himself up against the violence of the
current; so strong and so well inured to hardship was his body.
<<Plut4-287>
The second time that the Cimbri and Teutones came down with some hundreds
of thousands, threatening death and destruction to all, when it was no
small piece of service for a Roman soldier to keep his ranks and obey his
commander, Sertorius undertook, while Marius led the army, to spy out the
enemy's camp. Procuring a Celtic dress, and acquainting himself with
the ordinary expressions of their language requisite for common intercourse,
he threw himself in amongst the barbarians; where having carefully seen
with his own eyes, or having been fully informed by persons upon the place
of all their most important concerns, he returned to Marius, from whose
hands he received the rewards of valour; and afterwards giving frequent
proof both of conduct and courage in all the following war, he was advanced
to places of honour and trust under his general. After the wars with
the Cimbri and Teutones, he was sent into Spain, having the command of
a thousand men under Didius, the Roman general, and wintered in the country
of the Celtiberians, in the city of Castulo, where the soldiers enjoying
great plenty, and growing insolent and continually drinking, {Falstaff+}
the inhabitants despised them and sent for aid by night to the Gyrisoenians,
their near neighbours, who fell upon the Romans in their lodgings and slew
a great number of them. Sertorius, with a few of his soldiers, made
his way out, and rallying together the rest who escaped, he marched round
about the walls, and finding the gate open, by which the Gyrisoenians had
made their secret entrance, he gave not them the same opportunity, but
placing a guard at the gate, and seizing upon all quarters of the city,
he slew all who were of age to bear arms, and then ordering his soldiers
to lay aside their weapons and put off their own clothes, and put on the
accoutrements of the barbarians, he commanded them to follow him to the
city from whence the men came who had made this night attack upon the Romans.
And thus deceiving the Gyrisoenians with the sight of their own armour,
he found the gates of their city open, and took a great number prisoners,
who came out thinking to meet their friends and fellow-citizens come home
from a successful expedition. Most of them were thus slain by the Romans
at their own gates, and the rest within yielded up themselves and were
sold for slaves.
<<Plut4-288>
This action made Sertorius highly renowned throughout all Spain, and
as soon as he returned to Rome he was appointed quaestor of Cisalpine Gaul,
at a very seasonable moment for his country, the Marsian war being on the
point of breaking out. Sertorius was ordered to raise soldiers and
provide arms, which he performed with a diligence and alacrity, so contrasting
with the feebleness and slothfulness of other officers of his age, that
he got the repute of a man whose life would be one of action. Nor did he
relinquish the part of a soldier, now that he had arrived at the dignity
of a commander, but performed wonders with his own hands, and never sparing
himself, but exposing his body freely in all conflicts, he lost one of
his eyes. {condescension+} This
he always esteemed an honour to him; observing that others do not continually
carry about with them the marks and testimonies of their valour, but must
often lay aside their chains of gold, their spears and crowns; whereas
his ensigns of honour, and the manifestations of his courage, always remained
with him, and those who beheld his misfortune must at the same time recognize
his merits. The people also paid him the respect he deserved, and
when he came into the theatre, received him with plaudits and joyful acclamations,
an honour rarely bestowed even on persons of advanced standing and established
reputation. Yet, notwithstanding this popularity, when he stood to be tribune
of the people, he was disappointed, and lost the place, being opposed by
the party of Sylla, which seems to have been the principal cause of his
subsequent enmity to Sylla.
<<Plut4-289>
After that Marius was overcome by Sylla and fled into Africa, and Sylla
had left Italy to go to the wars against Mithridates, and of the two consuls
Octavius and Cinna, Octavius remained steadfast to the policy of Sylla,
but Cinna, desirous of a new revolution, attempted to recall the lost interest
of Marius, Sertorius joined Cinna's party, more particularly as he saw
that Octavius was not very capable, and was also suspicious of any one
that was a friend to Marius. When a great battle was fought between
the two consuls in the forum, Octavius overcame, and Cinna and Sertorius,
having lost not less than ten thousand men, left the city, and gaining
over most part of the troops who were dispersed about and remained still
in many parts of Italy, they in a short time mustered up a force against
Octavius sufficient to give him battle again, and Marius, also, now coming
by sea out of Africa, proffered himself to serve under Cinna, as a private
soldier under his consul and commander.
<<Plut4-290>
Most were for the immediate reception of Marius, but Sertorius openly
declared against it, whether he thought that Cinna would not now pay as
much attention to himself, when a man of higher military repute was present,
or feared that the violence of Marius would bring all things to confusion,
by his boundless wrath+ and vengeance after
victory. He insisted upon it with Cinna that they were already victorious,
that there remained little to be done, and that if they admitted Marius,
he would deprive them of the glory and advantage of the war, as there was
no man less easy to deal with, or less to be trusted in, as a partner in
power. Cinna answered, that Sertorius rightly judged the affair,
but that he himself was at a loss, and ashamed, and knew not how to reject
him, after he had sent for him to share in his fortunes. To which
Sertorius immediately replied, that he had thought that Marius came into
Italy of his own accord, and therefore had deliberated as to what might
be most expedient, but that Cinna ought not so much as to have questioned
whether he should accept him whom he had already invited, but should have
honourably received and employed him, for his word once passed left no
room for debate. Thus Marius being sent for by Cinna, and their forces
being divided into three parts, under Cinna, Marius, and Sertorius, the
war was brought to a successful conclusion; but those about Cinna and Marius
committing all manner of insolence and cruelty, made the Romans think the
evils of war a golden time in comparison. On the contrary, it is
reported of Sertorius that he never slew any man in his
anger+ to satisfy his own private revenge, {clemency+}
nor ever insulted over any one whom he had overcome, but was much offended
with Marius, and often privately entreated Cinna to use his power more
moderately. And in the end, when the slaves whom Marius had freed
at his landing to increase his army, being made not only his fellow-soldiers
in the war, but also now his guard in his usurpation, enriched and powerful
by his favour, either by the command or permission of Marius, or by their
own lawless violence, committed all sorts of crimes, killed their masters,
ravished their masters' wives and abused their children, their conduct
appeared so intolerable to Sertorius that he slew the whole body of them,
four thousand in number, commanding his soldiers to shoot them down with
their javelins, as they lay encamped together.
<<Plut4-291>
Afterwards when Marius died, and Cinna shortly after was slain, when
the younger Marius made himself consul against Sertorius's wishes and contrary
to law, when Carbo, Norbanus, and Scipio fought unsuccessfully against
Sylla, now advancing to Rome, when much was lost by the cowardice and remissness
of the commanders, but more by the treachery of their party, when with
the want of prudence in the chief leaders, all went so ill that his presence
could do no good, in the end when Sylla had placed his camp near to Scipio,
and by pretending friendship, and putting him in hopes of a peace, corrupted
his army, and Scipio could not be made sensible of this, although often
forewarned of it by Sertorius - at last he utterly despaired of Rome, and
hasted into Spain, that by taking possession there beforehand, he might
secure a refuge to his friends from their misfortunes at home. Having
bad weather in his journey, and travelling through mountainous countries,
and the inhabitants stopping the way, and demanding a toll and money for
passage, those who were with him were out of all patience at the indignity
and shame it would be for a proconsul of Rome to pay tribute to a crew
of wretched barbarians. But he little regarded their censure, and
slighting that which had only the appearance of an indecency, told them
he must buy time, the most precious of all things to those who go upon
great enterprises; and pacifying the barbarous people with money, he hastened
his journey, and took possession of Spain, a country flourishing and populous,
abounding with young men fit to bear arms; but on account of the insolence
and covetousness of the governors from time to time sent thither from Rome
they had generally an aversion to Roman supremacy. He, however, soon
gained the affection of their nobles by intercourse with them, {affability+}
and the good opinion of the people by remitting their taxes. But
that which won him most popularity was his exempting them from finding
lodgings for the soldiers, when he commanded his army to take up their
winter quarters outside the cities, and to pitch their camp in the suburbs;
and when he himself, first of all, caused his own tent to be raised without
the walls. Yet not being willing to rely totally upon the good inclination
of the inhabitants he armed all the Romans who lived in those countries
that were of military age, and undertook the building of ships and the
making of all sorts of warlike engines, by which means he kept the cities
in due obedience, showing himself gentle in all peaceful business, and
at the same time formidable to his enemies by his great preparations for
war.
<<Plut4-292>
As soon as he was informed that Sylla had made himself master of Rome,
and that the party which sided with Marius and Carbo was going to destruction,
he expected that some commander with a considerable army would speedily
come against him, and therefore sent away Julius Salinator immediately,
with six thousand men fully armed, to fortify and defend the passes of
the Pyrenees. And Caius Annius not long after being sent out by Sylla,
finding Julius unassailable, sat down short at the foot of the mountains
in perplexity. But a certain Calpurnius, surnamed Lanarius, having
treacherously slain Julius, and his soldiers then forsaking the heights
of the Pyrenees, Caius Annius advanced with large numbers and drove before
him all who endeavoured to hinder his march. Sertorius, also, not
being strong enough to give him battle, retreated with three thousand men
into New Carthage, where he took shipping, and crossed the seas into Africa.
And coming near the coast of Mauritania, his men went on shore to water,
and straggling about negligently, the natives fell upon them and slew a
great number. This new misfortune forced him to sail back again into
Spain, whence he was also repulsed, and, some Cilician private ships joining
with him, they made for the island of Pityussa, where they landed and overpowered
the garrison placed there by Annius, who, however, came not long after
with a great fleet of ships and five thousand soldiers. And Sertorius
made ready to fight him by sea, although his ships were not built for strength,
but for lightness and swift sailing; but a violent west wind raised such
a sea that many of them were run aground and shipwrecked, and he himself,
with a few vessels, being kept from putting further out to sea by the fury
of the weather, and from landing by the power of his enemies, were tossed
about painfully for ten days together, amidst the boisterous and adverse
waves.
<<Plut4-293>
He escaped with difficulty, and after the wind ceased, ran for certain
desert islands scattered in those seas, affording no water, and after passing
a night there, making out to sea again, he went through the straits of
Cadiz, and sailing outward, keeping the Spanish shore on his right hand,
landed a little above the mouth of the river Baetis, where it falls into
the Atlantic Sea, and gives the name to that part of Spain. Here he met
with seamen recently arrived from the Atlantic islands, two in number,
divided from one another only by a narrow channel, and distant from the
coast of Africa ten thousand furlongs. These are called the Islands
of the Blest; rain falls there seldom, and in moderate showers, but for
the most part they have gentle breezes, bringing along with them soft dews,
which render the soil not only rich for ploughing and planting, but so
abundantly fruitful that it produces spontaneously an abundance of delicate
fruits, sufficient to feed the inhabitants, who may here enjoy all things
without trouble or labour. The seasons of the year are temperate,
and the transitions from one to another so moderate that the air is almost
always serene and pleasant. The rough northerly and easterly winds
which blow from the coasts of Europe and Africa, dissipated in the vast
open space, utterly lose their force before they reach the islands.
The soft western and southerly winds which breathe upon them sometimes
produce gentle sprinkling showers, which they convey along with them from
the sea, but more usually bring days of moist, bright weather, cooling
and gently fertilizing the soil, so that the firm belief prevails, even
among the barbarians, that this is the seat of the blessed and that these
are the Elysian Fields celebrated by Homer.
<<Plut4-294>
When Sertorius heard this account, he was seized with a wonderful passion
for these islands, and had an extreme desire to go and live there in peace
and quietness, and safe from oppression and unending wars; but his inclinations
being perceived by the Cilician pirates, who desired not peace nor quiet,
but riches and spoils, they immediately forsook him and sailed away into
Africa to assist Ascalis, the son of Iphtha, and to help to restore him
to his kingdom of Mauritania. Their sudden departure noways discouraged
Sertorius; he presently resolved to assist the enemies of Ascalis, and
by this new adventure trusted to keep his soldiers together, who from this
might conceive new hopes, and a prospect of a new scene of action.
His arrival in Mauritania being very acceptable to the Moors, he lost no
time, but immediately giving battle to Ascalis, beat him out of the field
and besieged him; and Paccianus being sent by Sylla, with a powerful supply,
to raise the siege, Sertorius slew him in the field, gained over all his
forces, and took the city of Tingis, into which Ascalis and his brothers
were fled for refuge. The Africans tell that Antaeus was buried in
this city, and Sertorius had the grave opened, doubting the story because
of the prodigious size, and finding there his body, in effect, it is said,
full sixty cubits long, he was infinitely astonished, offered sacrifice,
and heaped up the tomb again, gave his confirmation to the story, and added
new honours to the memory of Antaeus. The Africans tell that after
the death of Antaeus, his wife Tinga lived with Hercules, and had a son
by him called Sophax, who was king of these countries, and gave his mother's
name to this city, whose son, also, was Diodorus, a great conqueror, who
brought the greatest part of the Libyan tribes under his subjection, with
an army of Greeks, raised out of the colonies of the Olbians and Myceneans
placed here by Hercules. Thus much I may mention for the sake of
King Juba, of all monarchs the greatest student of history whose ancestors
are said to have sprung from Diodorus and Sophax.
<<Plut4-295>
When Sertorius had made himself absolute master of the whole country,
he acted with great fairness to those who had confided in him, and who
yielded to his mercy; he restored to them their property, cities, and government,
accepting only of such acknowledgments as they themselves freely offered.
And whilst he considered which way next to turn his arms, the Lusitanians
sent ambassadors to desire him to be their general; for being terrified
with the Roman power, and finding the necessity of having a commander of
great authority and experience in war, being also sufficiently assured
of his worth and valour by those who had formerly known him, they were
desirous to commit themselves especially to his care. And in fact Sertorius
is said to have been of a temper unassailable either by fear or pleasure,
in adversity and dangers undaunted, and noways puffed up with prosperity.{constancy+}
In straightforward fighting, no commander in his time was more bold and
daring, and in whatever was to be performed in war by stratagem, secrecy,
or surprise, if any strong place was to be secured, any pass to be gained
speedily, for deceiving and overreaching an enemy, there was no man equal
to him in subtlety and skill. In bestowing rewards and conferring
honours upon those who had performed good service in the wars, he was
bountiful+ and magnificent+, and
was no less sparing and moderate in inflicting punishment. {clemency+}
It is true that that piece of harshness and cruelty which he executed in
the latter part of his days upon the Spanish hostages seems to argue that
his clemency was not natural to him, but only worn as a dress, and employed
upon calculation, as his occasion or necessity required. As to my
own opinion, I am persuaded that pure virtue, established by reason and
judgment, can never be totally perverted or changed into its opposite,
by any misfortune whatever. Yet I think it at the same time possible
that virtuous inclinations and natural good qualities may, when unworthily
oppressed by calamities, show, with change of fortune, some change and
alteration of their temper; and thus I conceive it happened to Sertorius,
who, when prosperity failed him, became exasperated by his disasters against
those who had done him wrong.
<<Plut4-296>
The Lusitanians having sent for Sertorius, he left Africa, and being
made general with absolute authority, he put all in order amongst them,
and brought the neighbouring parts of Spain under subjection. Most of the
tribes voluntarily submitted themselves, won by the fame of his
clemency+ and of his courage, and, to some extent, also, he availed
himself of cunning artifices of his own devising to impose upon them and
gain influence over them. Amongst which, certainly, that of the hind
was not the least. Spanus, a countryman who lived in those parts,
meeting by chance a hind that had recently calved, flying from the hunters,
let the dam go, and pursuing the fawn, took it, being wonderfully pleased
with the rarity of the colour, which was all milk-white. As at that
time Sertorius was living in the neighbourhood, and accepted gladly any
presents of fruit, fowl, or venison that the country afforded, and rewarded
liberally those who presented them, the countryman brought him his young
hind, which he took and was well pleased with at the first sight; but when
in time he had made it so tame and gentle that it would come when he called,
and follow him wheresoever he went, and could endure the noise and tumult
of the camp, knowing well that uncivilized people are naturally prone to
superstition, by little and little he raised it into something preternatural,
saying that it was given him by the goddess Diana, and that it revealed
to him many secrets. He added, also, further contrivances.
If he had received at any time private intelligence that the enemies had
made an incursion into any part of the districts under his command, or
had solicited any city to revolt, he pretended that the hind had informed
him of it in his sleep, and charged him to keep his forces in readiness.
Or if again he had noticed that any of the commanders under him had got
a victory, he would hide the messengers and bring forth the hind crowned
with flowers, for joy of the good news that was to come, and would encourage
them to rejoice and sacrifice to the gods for the good account they should
soon receive of their prosperous success.
<<Plut4-297>
By such practices, he brought them to be more tractable and obedient
in all things; for now they thought themselves no longer to be led by a
stranger, but rather conducted by a god, and the more so, as the facts
themselves seemed to bear witness to it, his power, contrary to all expectation
or probability, continually increasing. For with two thousand six
hundred men, whom for honour's sake he called Romans, combined with seven
hundred Africans, who landed with him when he first entered Lusitania,
together with four thousand targeteers and seven hundred horse of the Lusitanians
themselves, he made war against four Roman generals, who commanded a hundred
and twenty thousand foot, six thousand horse, two thousand archers and
slingers, and had cities innumerable in their power; whereas at the first
he had not above twenty cities in all. From this weak and slender
beginning, he raised himself to the command of large nations of men, and
the possession of numerous cities; and of the Roman commanders who were
sent against him, he overthrew Cotta in a sea-fight, in the channel near
the town of Mellaria; he routed Fufidius, the governor of Baetica, with
the loss of two thousand Romans, near the banks of the river Baetis; Lucius
Domitius, proconsul of the other province of Spain, was overthrown by one
of his lieutenants; Thoranius, another commander sent against him by Metellus
with a great force, was slain, and Metellus, one of the greatest and most
approved Roman generals then living, by a series of defeats, was reduced
to such extremities, that Lucius Manlius came to his assistance out of
Gallia Narbonensis, and Pompey the Great was sent from Rome itself in all
haste with considerable forces. Nor did Metellus know which way to
turn himself, in a war with such a bold and ready commander, who was continually
molesting him, and yet could not be brought to a set battle, but by the
swiftness and dexterity of his Spanish soldiery was enabled to shift and
adapt himself to any change of circumstances. Metellus had had experience
in battles fought by regular legions of soldiers, fully armed and drawn
up in due order into a heavy standing phalanx, admirably trained for encountering
and overpowering an enemy who came to close combat, hand to hand, but entirely
unfit for climbing among the hills, and competing incessantly with the
swift attacks and retreats of a set of fleet mountaineers, or to endure
hunger and thirst and live exposed like them to the wind and weather, without
fire or covering.
<<Plut4-298>
Besides, being now in years, and having been formerly engaged in many
fights and dangerous conflicts, he had grown inclined to a more remiss,
easy, and luxurious+ life, and was the
less able to contend with Sertorius who was in the prime of his strength
and vigour, and had a body wonderfully fitted for war, being strong, active,
and temperate, continually accustomed to endure hard labour, to take long,
tedious journeys, to pass many nights together without sleep, to eat little,
and to be satisfied with very coarse fare, and who was never stained with
the least excess in wine, even when he was most at leisure. {fortitude+}
What leisure time he allowed himself he spent in hunting and riding about,
and so made himself thoroughly acquainted with every passage for escape
when he would fly, and for overtaking and intercepting a pursuit, and gained
a perfect knowledge of where he could and where he could not go.
Insomuch that Metellus suffered all the inconveniences of defeat, although
he earnestly desired to fight, and Sertorius, though he refused the field,
reaped all the advantages of a conqueror. For he hindered them from
foraging, and cut them off from water; if they advanced, he was nowhere
to be found; if they stayed in any place and encamped, he continually molested
and alarmed them; if they besieged any town, he presently appeared and
besieged them again, and put them to extremities for want of necessaries.
Thus he so wearied out the Roman army that when Sertorius challenged Metellus
to fight singly with him, they commended it, and cried out it was a fair
offer, a Roman to fight against a Roman, and a general against a general;
and when Metellus refused the challenge, they reproached him. Metellus
derided and contemned this, and rightly so; for, as Theophrastus observes,
a general should die like a general, and not like a skirmisher. But
perceiving that the town of the Langobritae, which gave great assistance
to Sertorius, might easily be taken for want of water, as there was but
one well within the walls, and the besieger would be master of the springs
and fountains in the suburbs, he advanced against the place, expecting
to carry it in two days' time, there being no more water, and gave command
to his soldiers to take five days' provision only. Sertorius, however,
resolving to send speedy relief, ordered two thousand skins to be filled
with water, naming a considerable sum of money for the carriage of every
skin; and many Spaniards and Moors undertaking the work, he chose out those
who were the strongest and swiftest of foot, and sent them through the
mountains, with order that when they had delivered the water, they should
convey away privately all those who would be least serviceable in the siege,
that there might be water sufficient for the defendants. As soon
as Metellus understood this, he was disturbed, as he had already consumed
most part of the necessary provisions for his army, but he sent out Aquinus
with six thousand soldiers to fetch in fresh supplies. But Sertorius
having notice of it, laid an ambush for him, and having sent out beforehand
three thousand men to take post in a thickly wooded water-course, with
these he attacked the rear of Aquinus in his return, while he himself,
charging him in the front, destroyed part of his army, and took the rest
prisoners, Aquinus only escaping, after the loss of both his horse and
his armour. And Metellus, being forced shamefully to raise the siege,
withdrew amidst the laughter and contempt of the Spaniards; while Sertorius
became yet more the object of their esteem and admiration.
<<Plut4-299>
He was also highly honoured for his introducing discipline and good
order amongst them, for he altered their furious savage manner of fighting,
and brought them to make use of the Roman armour, taught them to keep their
ranks, and observe signals and watchwards; and out of a confused number
of thieves and robbers {Falstaff+}
he constituted a regular, well-disciplined army. He bestowed silver
and gold upon them liberally to gild and adorn their helmets, he had their
shields worked with various figures and designs, he brought them into the
mode of wearing flowered and embroidered cloaks and coats, and by supplying
money for these purposes, and joining with them in all improvements, he
won the hearts of all. {affable+}
That, however, which delighted them most was the care that he took of their
children. He sent for all the boys of noblest parentage out of all
their tribes, and placed them in the great city of Osca, where he appointed
masters to instruct them in the Grecian and Roman learning, that when they
came to be men, they might, as he professed, be fitted to share with him
in authority, and in conducting the government, although under this pretext
he really made them hostages. However, their fathers were wonderfully
pleased to see their children going daily to the schools in good order,
handsomely dressed in gowns edged with purple, and that Sertorius paid
for their lessons, examined them often, distributed rewards to the most
deserving, and gave them the golden bosses to hang about their necks, which
the Romans called bullae.
<<Plut4-300>
There being a custom in Spain that when a commander was slain in battle,
those who attended his person fought it out till they all died with him,
which the inhabitants of those countries called an offering, or libation,
there were few commanders that had any considerable guard or number of
attendants; but Sertorius was followed by many thousands who offered themselves,
and vowed to spend their blood with his. {Blunt+}
And it is told that when his army was defeated near a city in Spain, and
the enemy pressed hard upon them, the Spaniards, with no care for themselves,
but being totally solicitous to save Sertorius, took him upon their shoulders
and passed him from one to another, till they carried him into the city,
and only when they had thus placed their general in safety, provided afterwards
each man for his own security.
<<Plut4-301>
Nor were the Spaniards alone ambitious to serve him, but the Roman
soldiers, also, that came out of Italy, were impatient to be under his
command; and when Perpenna Vento, who was of the same faction with Sertorius,
came into Spain with a quantity of money and a large number of troops,
and designed to make war against Metellus on his own account, his own soldiers
opposed it, and talked continually of Sertorius, much to the mortification
of Perpenna, who was puffed {brag+}
up with the grandeur of his family and his riches. And when they
afterwards received tidings that Pompey was passing the Pyrenees, they
took up their arms laid hold on their ensigns, called upon Perpenna to
lead them to Sertorius, and threatened him that if he refused they would
go without him and place themselves under a commander who was able to defend
himself and those that served him. And so Perpenna was obliged to
yield to their desires, and joining Sertorius, added to his army three-and-fifty
cohorts.
<<Plut4-302>
When now all the cities on this side of the river Ebro also united
their forces together under his command, his army grew great, for they
flocked together and flowed in upon him from all quarters. But when they
continually cried out to attack the enemy, and were impatient of delay,
their inexperienced, disorderly rashness caused Sertorius much trouble,
who at first strove to restrain them with reason and good counsel; but
when he perceived them refractory and unseasonably violent, he gave way
to their impetuous desires, and permitted them to engage with the enemy,
in such sort that they might, being repulsed, yet not totally routed become
more obedient to his commands for the future. Which happening as
he had anticipated, he soon rescued them, and brought them safe into his
camp. After a few days, being willing to encourage them again, when he
had called all his army together, he caused two horses to be brought into
the field, one old, feeble, lean animal the other a lusty, strong horse,
with a remarkably thick and long tail. Near the lean one he placed
a tall, strong man, and near the strong young horse a weak, despicable-looking
fellow; and at a sign given, the strong man took hold of the weak horse's
tail with both his hands, and drew it to him with his whole force, as if
he would pull it off; the other, the weak man, in the meantime, set to
work to pluck off hair by hair from the great horse's tail. When
the strong man had given trouble enough to himself in vain, and sufficient
diversion to the company, and had abandoned his attempt, whilst the weak,
pitiful fellow in a short time and with little pains had left not a hair
on the great horse's tail, Sertorius rose up and spoke to his army. "You
see, fellow-soldiers, that perseverance is more prevailing than violence,{Hotspur+}
and that many things which cannot be overcome when they are together, yield
themselves up when taken little by little. Assiduity and persistence
are irresistible, and in time overthrow and destroy the greatest powers
whatever. Time being the favourable friend and assistant of those
who use their judgment to await his occasions, and the destructive enemy
of those who are unreasonably urging and pressing forward." With a frequent
use of such words and such devices, he soothed the fierceness of the barbarous
people, and taught them to attend and watch for their opportunities.
<<Plut4-303>
Of all his remarkable exploits, none raised greater admiration than
that which he put in practice against the Characitanians. These are a people
beyond the river Tagus, who inhabit neither cities nor towns, but live
in a vast high hill, within the deep dens and caves of the rocks, the mouths
of which open all towards the north. The country below is of a soil
resembling a light clay, so loose as easily to break into powder, and is
not firm enough to bear any one that treads upon it, and if you touch it
in the least it flies about like ashes or unslacked lime. In any
danger of war, these people descended into their caves, and carrying in
their booty and prey along with them, stayed quietly within, secure from
every attack. And when Sertorius, leaving Metellus some distance
off, had placed his camp near this hill, they slighted and despised him,
imagining that he retired into these parts, being overthrown by the Romans.
And whether out of anger or resentment, or out of his unwillingness to
be thought to fly from his enemies, early in the morning he rode up to
view the situation of the place. But finding there was no way to
come at it, as he rode about, threatening them in vain and disconcerted,
he took notice that the wind raised the dust and carried it up towards
the caves of the Characitanians, the mouths of which, as I said before,
opened towards the north; and the northern wind, which some call Caecias,
prevailing most in those parts, coming up out of moist plains or mountains
covered with snow, at this particular time, in the heat of summer, being
further supplied and increased by the melting of the ice in the northern
regions, blew a delightful fresh gale, cooling and refreshing the Characitanians
and their cattle all the day long. Sertorius, considering well all
circumstances in which either the information of the inhabitants or his
own experience had instructed him, commanded his soldiers to shovel up
a great quantity of this light, dusty earth, to heap it up together, and
make a mount of it over against the hill in which those barbarous people
resided, who, imagining that all this preparation was for raising a mound
to get at them, only mocked and laughed at it. However, he continued
the work till the evening, and brought his soldiers back into their camp.
<<Plut4-304>
The next morning a gentle breeze at first arose, and moved the lightest
parts of the earth and dispersed it about as the chaff before the wind;
but when the sun coming to be higher, the strong northerly wind had covered
the hills with the dust, the soldiers came and turned this mound of earth
over and over, and broke the hard clods in pieces, whilst others on horseback
rode through it backward and forward, and raised a cloud of dust into the
air: there with the wind the whole of it was carried away and blown into
the dwellings of the Characitanians, all lying open to the north.
And there being no other vent or breathing-place than that through which
the Caecias rushed in upon them, it quickly blinded their eyes and filled
their lungs, and all but choked them, whilst they strove to draw in the
rough air mingled with dust and powdered earth. Nor were they able,
with all they could do, to hold out above two days, but yielding up themselves
on the third, adding, by their defeat, not so much of the power of Sertorius,
as to his renown, in proving that he was able to conquer places by art,
which were impregnable by the force of arms.
<<Plut4-305>
So long as he had to do with Metellus, he was thought to owe his successes
to his opponent's age and slow temper, which were ill suited for coping
with the daring and activity of one who commanded a light army more like
a band of robbers than regular soldiers. But when Pompey also passed
over the Pyrenees, and Sertorius pitched his camp near him, and offered
and himself accepted every occasion by which military skill could be put
to the proof, and in this contest of dexterity was found to have the better,
both in baffling his enemy's designs and in counter-scheming himself, the
fame of him now spread even to Rome itself, as the most expert commander
of his time. For the renown of Pompey was not small, who had already
won much honour by his achievements in the wars of Sylla, from whom he
received the title of Magnus, and was called Pompey the Great; and who
had risen to the honour of a triumph before the beard had grown on his
face. And many cities which were under Sertorius were on the very
eve of revolting and going over to Pompey, when they were deterred from
it by that great action, amongst others, which he performed near the city
of Lauron, contrary to the expectation of all.
<<Plut4-306>
For Sertorius had laid siege to Lauron, and Pompey came with his whole
army to relieve it; and there being a hill near this city very advantageously
situated, they both made haste to take it. Sertorius was beforehand,
and took possession of it first, and Pompey, having drawn down his forces,
was not sorry that it had thus happened, imagining that he had hereby enclosed
his enemy between his own army and the city, and sent in a messenger to
the citizens of Lauron, to bid them be of good courage, and to come upon
their walls, where they might see their besieger besieged. Sertorius, perceiving
their intentions, smiled, and said he would now teach Sylla's scholar,
for so he called Pompey in derision, that it was the part of a general
to look as well behind him as before him, and at the same time showed them
six thousand soldiers, whom he had left in his former camp, from whence
he marched out to take the hill, where, if Pompey should assault him, they
might fall upon his rear. Pompey discovered this too late and not
daring to give battle, for fear of being encompassed, and yet being ashamed
to desert his friends and confederates in their extreme danger, was thus
forced to sit still, and see them ruined before his face. For the besieged
despaired of relief, and delivered up themselves to Sertorius, who spared
their lives and granted them their liberty, but burnt their city, not out
of anger or cruelty, for of all commanders that ever were Sertorius seemed
least of all to have indulged these passions, but only for the greater
shame and confusion of the admirers of Pompey, and that it might be reported
amongst the Spaniards, that though he had been so close to the fire which
burnt down the city of his confederates as actually to feel the heat of
it, he still had not dared to make any opposition.
<<Plut4-307>
Sertorius, however, sustained many losses; but he always maintained
himself and those immediately with him undefeated, and it was by other
commanders under him that he suffered; and he was more admired for being
able to repair his losses, and for recovering the victory, than the Roman
generals against him for gaining these advantages; as at the battle of
Sucro against Pompey, and at the battle near Tuttia, against him and Metellus
together. The battle near the Sucro was fought, it is said, through
the impatience of Pompey, lest Metellus should share with him in the victory,
Sertorius being also willing to engage Pompey before the arrival of Metellus,
Sertorius delayed the time till the evening, considering that the darkness
of the night would be a disadvantage to his enemies, whether flying or
pursuing, being strangers, and having no knowledge of the country.
<<Plut4-308>
When the fight began, it happened that Sertorius was not placed directly
against Pompey, but against Afranius, who had command of the left wing
of the Roman army, as he commanded the right wing of his own; but when
he understood that his left wing began to give way, and yield to the assault
of Pompey, he committed the care of his right wing to other commanders,
and made haste to relieve those in distress; and rallying some that were
flying, and encouraging others that still kept their ranks, he renewed
the fight, and attacked the enemy in their pursuit so effectively as to
cause a considerable rout, and brought Pompey into great danger of his
life. For after being wounded and losing his horse, he escaped unexpectedly.
For the Africans with Sertorius, who took Pompey's horse, set out with
gold, and covered with rich trappings, fell out with one another; and upon
the dividing of the spoil, gave over the pursuit. Afranius, in the
meantime, as soon as Sertorius had left his right wing, to assist the other
part of his army, overthrew all that opposed him; and pursuing them to
their camp, fell in together with them, and plundered them till it was
dark night; knowing nothing of Pompey's overthrow, nor being able to restrain
his soldiers from pillaging; when Sertorius, returning with victory, fell
upon him and upon his men, who were all in disorder, and slew many of them.
And the next morning he came into the field again well armed, and offered
battle, but perceiving that Metellus was near, he drew off, and returned
to his camp, saying, "If this old woman had not come up, I would have whipped
that boy soundly, and sent him to Rome."
<<Plut4-309>
He was much concerned that his white hind could nowhere be found; as
he was thus destitute of an admirable contrivance to encourage the barbarous
people at a time when he most stood in need of it. Some men, however,
wandering in the night, chanced to meet her, and knowing her by her colour,
took her; to whom Sertorius promised a good reward, if they would tell
no one of it; and immediately shut her up. A few days after, he appeared
in public with a very cheerful look, and declared to the chief men of the
country that the gods had foretold him in a dream that some great good
fortune should shortly attend him; and, taking his seat, proceeded to answer
the petitions of those who applied themselves to him. The keepers
of the hind, who were not far off, now let her loose, and she no sooner
espied Sertorius, but she came leaping with great joy to his feet, laid
her head upon his knees, and licked his hands, as she formerly used to
do. And Sertorius stroking her, and making much of her again, with
that tenderness that the tears stood in his eyes, all that were present
were immediately filled with wonder and astonishment, and accompanying
him to his house with loud shouts for joy, looked upon him as a person
above the rank of mortal men, and highly beloved by the gods; and were
in great courage and hope for the future.
<<Plut4-310>
When he had reduced his enemies to the last extremity for want of provision,
he was forced to give them battle, in the plains near Saguntum, to hinder
them from foraging and plundering the country. Both parties fought gloriously.
Memmius, the best commander in Pompey's army, was slain in the heat of
the battle. Sertorius overthrew all before him, and with great slaughter
of his enemies pressed forward towards Metellus. This old commander, making
a resistance beyond what could be expected from one of his years, was wounded
with a lance; an occurrence which filled all who either saw it or heard
of it with shame, to be thought to have left their general in distress,
but at the same time to provoke them to revenge and fury against their
enemies; they covered Metellus with their shields, and brought him off
in safety, and then valiantly repulsed the Spaniards; and so victory changed
sides, and Sertorius, that he might afford a more secure retreat to his
army, and that fresh forces might more easily be raised, retired into a
strong city in the mountains. And though it was the least of his
intention to sustain a long siege, yet he began to repair the walls, and
to fortify the gates, thus deluding his enemies, who came and sat down
before the town, hoping to take it without much resistance; and meantime
gave over the pursuit of the Spaniards, and allowed opportunity for raising
new forces for Sertorius, to which purpose he had sent commanders to all
their cities, with orders, when they had sufficiently increased their numbers,
to send him word of it. This news he no sooner received, but he sallied
out and forced his way through his enemies, and easily joined them with
the rest of his army. Having received this considerable reinforcement,
he set upon the Romans again, and by rapidly assaulting them, by alarming
them on all sides, by ensnaring, circumventing, and laying ambushes for
them, he cut off all provisions by land, while with his piratical vessels
he kept all the coast in awe, and hindered their supplies by sea.
He thus forced the Roman generals to dislodge and to separate from one
another: Metellus departed into Gaul, and Pompey wintered among the Vaccaeans,
in a wretched condition, where, being in extreme want of money, he wrote
a letter to the senate, to let them know that if they did not speedily
support him, he must draw off his army; for he had already spent his own
money in the defence of Italy. To these extremities, the chiefest
and the most powerful commanders of the age were reduced by the skill of
Sertorius; and it was the common opinion in Rome that he would be in Italy
before Pompey.
<<Plut4-311>
How far Metellus was terrified and at what rate he esteemed him, he
plainly declared, when he offered by proclamation an hundred talents and
twenty thousand acres of land to any Roman that should kill him, and leave,
if he were banished, to return; attempting villainously to buy his life
by treachery, when he despaired of ever being able to overcome him in open
war. When once he gained the advantage in a battle against Sertorius,
he was so pleased and transported with his good fortune, that he caused
himself to be publicly proclaimed imperator; and all the cities which he
visited received him with altars and sacrifices; he allowed himself, it
is said, to have garlands placed on his head, and accepted sumptuous entertainments,
at which he sat drinking in triumphal robes, while images and figures of
victory were introduced by the motion of machines, bringing in with them
crowns and trophies of gold to present to him, and companies of young men
and women danced before him, and sang to him songs of joy and triumph.
By all which he rendered himself deservedly ridiculous, for being so excessively
delighted and puffed {brag+}
up with the thoughts of having followed one who was retiring of his own
accord, and for having once had the better of him whom he used to call
Sylla's runaway slave, and his forces, the remnant of the defeated troops
of Carbo.
<<Plut4-312>
Sertorius, meantime, showed the loftiness of his temper in calling
together all the Roman senators who had fled from Rome, and had come and
resided with him, and giving them the name of a senate; and out of these
he chose praetors and quaestors, and adorned his government with all the
Roman laws and institutions. And though he made use of the arms,
riches, and cities of the Spaniards, yet he would never, even in word,
remit to them the imperial authority, but set Roman officers and commanders
over them, intimating his purpose to restore liberty to the Romans, not
to raise up the Spaniard's power against them. For he was a sincere
lover of his country, and had a great desire to return home; but in his
adverse fortune he showed undaunted courage, and behaved himself towards
his enemies in a manner free from all dejection and mean-spiritedness;
and when he was in his prosperity, and in the height of his victories,
he sent word to Metellus and Pompey that he was ready to lay down his arms
and live a private life if he were allowed to return home, declaring that
he had rather live as the meanest citizen in Rome than, exiled from it,
be supreme commander of all other cities together. And it is thought
that his great desire for his country was in no small measure promoted
by the tenderness he had for his mother, under whom he was brought up after
the death of his father, and upon whom he had placed his entire affection.
After that his friends had sent for him into Spain to be their general,
as soon as he heard of his mother's death he had almost cast away himself
and died for grief; for he lay seven days together continually in his tent,
without giving the word, or being seen by the nearest of his friends; and
when the chief commanders of the army and persons of the greatest note
came about his tent, with great difficulty they prevailed with him at last
to come abroad, and speak to his soldiers, and to take upon him the management
of affairs, which were in a prosperous condition. And thus, to many
men's judgment, he seemed to have been in himself of a mild and compassionate
temper, and naturally given to ease and quietness, and to have accepted
of the command of military forces contrary to his own inclination, and
not being able to live in safety otherwise, to have been driven by his
enemies to have recourse to arms, and to espouse the wars as a necessary
guard for the defence of his person.
<<Plut4-313>
His negotiations with King Mithridates further argue the greatness
of his mind. For when Mithridates recovering himself from his overthrow
by Sylla, like a strong wrestler that gets up to try another fall, was
again endeavouring to re-establish his power in Asia, at this time the
great fame of Sertorius was celebrated in all places; and when the merchants
who came out of the western parts of Europe, bringing these, as it were,
among their other foreign wares, had filled the kingdom of Pontus with
their stories of his exploits in war, Mithridates was extremely desirous
to send an embassy to him, being also highly encouraged to it by the boastings
of his flattering courtiers, who, comparing Mithridates to Pyrrhus, and
Sertorius to Hannibal, professed that the Romans would never be able to
make any considerable resistance against such great forces, and such admirable
commanders, when they should be set upon on both sides at once, on one
by the most warlike general, and on the other by the most powerful prince
in existence.
<<Plut4-314>
Accordingly, Mithridates sends ambassadors into Spain to Sertorius
with letters and instructions, and commission to promise ships and money
toward the charge of the war, if Sertorius would confirm his pretensions
upon Asia, and authorize to possess all that he had surrendered to the
Romans in his treaty with Sylla. Sertorius summoned a full council
which he called a senate, where, when others joyfully approved of the conditions,
and were desirous immediately to accept of his offer, seeing that he desired
nothing of them but a name, and an empty title to places not in their power
to dispose of, in recompense of which they should be supplied with what
they then stood most in need of, Sertorius would by no means agree to it;
declaring that he was willing that King Mithridates should exercise all
royal power and authority over Bithynia and Cappadocia, countries accustomed
to a monarchical government, and not belonging to Rome, but he could never
consent that he should seize or detain a province, which, by the justest
right and title, was possessed by the Romans, which Mithridates had formerly
taken away from them, and had afterwards lost in open war to Fimbria, and
quitted upon a treaty of peace with Sylla. For he looked upon it
as his duty to enlarge the Roman possessions by his conquering arms, and
not to increase his own power by the diminution of the Roman territories.
Since a noble-minded man, though he willingly accepts of victory when it
comes with honour, will never so much as endeavour to save his own life
upon any dishonourable terms.
<<Plut4-315>
When this was related to Mithridates, he was struck with amazement,
and said to his intimate friends, "What will Sertorius enjoin us to do
when he comes to be seated in the Palatium in Rome, who at present, when
he is driven out to the borders of the Atlantic Sea, sets bounds to our
kingdoms in the east, and threatens us with war if we attempt the recovery
of Asia?" However, they solemnly, upon oath, concluded a league between
them, upon these terms: that Mithridates should enjoy the free possessions
of Cappadocia and Bithynia, and that Sertorius should send him soldiers
and a general for his army, in recompense of which the king was to supply
him with three thousand talents and forty ships. Marcus Marius, a
Roman senator who had quitted Rome to follow Sertorius, was sent general
into Asia, in company with whom, when Mithridates had reduced divers of
the Asian cities, Marius made his entrance with rods and axes carried before
him, and Mithridates followed in the second place, voluntarily waiting
upon him. Some of these cities he set at liberty, and others he freed
from taxes, signifying to them that these privileges were granted to them
by the favour of Sertorius, and hereby Asia, which had been miserably tormented
by the revenue farmers, and oppressed by the insolent pride and covetousness
of the soldiers, began to rise again to new hopes and to look forward with
joy to the expected change of government.
<<Plut4-316>
But in Spain, the senators about Sertorius, and others of the nobility,
finding themselves strong enough for their enemies, no sooner laid aside
fear, but their minds were possessed by envy and irrational jealousies
of Sertorius's power. And chiefly Perpenna, elevated by the thoughts
of his noble birth, and carried away with a fond ambition of commanding
the army, threw out villainous discourses in private amongst his acquaintance.
"What evil genius," he would say, "hurries us perpetually from worse to
worse? We who disdained to obey the dictates of Sylla, the ruler
of the sea and land, and thus to live at home in peace and quiet, are come
hither to our destruction, hoping to enjoy our liberty, and have made ourselves
slaves of our own accord; and are become the contemptible guards and attendants
of the banished Sertorius, who, that he may expose us the further, gives
us a name that renders us ridiculous to all that hear it, and calls us
the Senate, when at the same time he makes us undergo as much hard labour,
and forces us to be as subject to his haughty commands and insolences,
as any Spaniards and Lusitanians." With these mutinous discourses he seduced
them; and though the greater number could not be led into open rebellion
against Sertorius, fearing his power, they were prevailed with to endeavour
to destroy his interest secretly. For by abusing the Lusitanians
and Spaniards, by inflicting severe punishments upon them, by raising exorbitant
taxes, and by pretending that all this was done by the strict command of
Sertorius, they caused great troubles, and made many cities to revolt;
and those who were sent to mitigate and heal these differences did rather
exasperate them, and increase the number of his enemies, and left them
at their return more obstinate and rebellious than they found them.
And Sertorius, incensed with all this, now so far forgot his former clemency
and goodness as to lay hands on the sons of the Spaniards educated in the
city of Osca; and, contrary to all justice, he cruelly put some of them
to death, and sold others.
<<Plut4-317>
In the meantime, Perpenna, having increased the number of his conspirators,
drew in Manlius, a commander in the army, who, at that time being attached
to a youth, to gain his affections the more, discovered the confederacy
to him, bidding him neglect others, and be constant to him alone; who,
in a few days, was to be a person of great power and authority. But
the youth having a greater inclination for Aufidius, disclosed all to him,
which much surprised and amazed him. For he was also one of the confederacy,
but knew not that Manlius was anyways engaged in it; but when the youth
began to name Perpenna, Gracinus, and others, whom he new very well to
be sworn conspirators, he was very much terrified and astonished; but made
light of it to the youth, and bade him not regard what Manlius said, a
vain, boasting fellow. However, he went presently to Perpenna, and
giving him notice of the danger they were in, and of the shortness of their
time, desired him immediately to put their designs in execution. When all
the confederates had consented to it, they provided a messenger who brought
feigned letters to Sertorius, in which he had notice of a victory obtained,
it said, by one of his lieutenants, and of the great slaughter of his enemies:
and as Sertorius, being extremely well pleased, was sacrificing and giving
thanks to the gods for his prosperous success, Perpenna invited him, and
those with him, who were also of the conspiracy, to an entertainment, and
being very importunate, prevailed with him to come. At all suppers
and entertainments where Sertorius was present, great order and decency
was wont to be observed; for he would not endure to hear or see anything
that was rude or unhandsome, but made it the habit of all who kept his
company to entertain themselves with quiet and inoffensive amusements.
But in the middle of this entertainment, those who sought occasion to quarrel
fell into dissolute discourse openly, and making as if they were very drunk,
committed many insolences on purpose to provoke him. Sertorius, being
offended with their ill-behaviour, or perceiving the state of their minds
by their way of speaking and their unusually disrespectful manner changed
the posture of his lying, and leaned backward, as one that neither heard
nor regarded them. Perpenna now took a cup full of wine, and, as
he was drinking, let it fall out of his hand and made a noise, which was
the sign agreed upon amongst them; and Antonius, who was next to Sertorius,
immediately wounded him with his sword. And whilst Sertorius, upon
receiving the wound, turned himself, and strove to get up, Antonius threw
himself upon his breast, and held both his hands, so that he died by a
number of blows, without being able even to defend himself.
<<Plut4-318>
Upon the first news of his death, most of the Spaniards left the conspirators,
and sent ambassadors to Pompey and Metellus, and yielded themselves up
to them. Perpenna attempted to do something with those that remained,
but he made only so much use of Sertorius's arms and preparations for war
as to disgrace himself in them, and to let it be evident to all that he
understood no more how to command than he knew how to obey; and when he
came against Pompey, he was soon overthrown and taken prisoner. Neither
did he bear this last affliction with any bravery, but having Sertorius's
papers and writings in his hands, he offered to show Pompey letters from
persons of consular dignity, and of the highest quality in Rome, written
with their own hands, expressly to call Sertorius into Italy, and to let
him know what great numbers there were that earnestly desired to alter
the present state of affairs, and to introduce another manner of government.
Upon this occasion, Pompey behaved not like a youth, or one of a light
inconsiderate mind, but as a man of a confirmed, mature, and solid judgment;
and so freed Rome from great fears and dangers of change. For he
put all Sertorius's writings and letters together and read not one of them,
nor suffered any one else to read them, but burnt them all, and caused
Perpenna immediately to be put to death, lest by discovering their names
further troubles and revolutions might ensue.
<<Plut4-319>
Of the rest of the conspirators with Perpenna, some were taken and
slain by the command of Pompey, others fled into Africa, and were set upon
by the Moors, and run through with their darts: and in a short time not
one of them was left alive, except only Aufidius, the rival of Manlius,
who, hiding himself, or not being much inquired after, died an old man,
in an obscure village in Spain, in extreme poverty, and hated by all.
<<Plut4-320>
~Eumenes+
Duris reports that Eumenes, the Cardian, was the son of a poor wagoner
in the Thracian Chersonesus, yet liberally educated, both as a scholar
and a soldier; and that while he was but young, Philip, passing through
Cardia, diverted himself with a sight of the wrestling matches and other
exercises of the youth of that place, among whom Eumenes performing with
success, and showing signs of intelligence and bravery, Philip was so pleased
with him as to take him into his service. But they seem to speak
more probably who tell us that Philip advanced Eumenes for the friendship
he bore to his father, whose guest he had sometime been. After the
death of Philip, he continued in the service of Alexander, with the title
of his principal secretary, but in as great favour as the most intimate
of his familiars, being esteemed as wise and faithful as any person about
him, so that he went with troops under his immediate command as general
in the expedition against India, and succeeded to the post of Perdiccas,
when Perdiccas was advanced to that of Hephaestion, then newly deceased.
And therefore, after the death of Alexander, when Neoptolemus, who had
been captain of his life-guard, said that he had followed Alexander with
shield and spear, but Eumenes only with pen and paper, the Macedonians
laughed at him, as knowing very well that, besides other marks of favour,
the king had done him the honour to make him a kind of kinsman to himself
by marriage. For Alexander's first mistress in Asia, by whom he had
his son Hercules, was Barsine the daughter of Artabazus; and in the distribution
of the Persian ladies amongst his captains, Alexander gave Apame, one of
his sisters, to Ptolemy, and another, also called Barsine, to Eumenes.
<<Plut4-321>
Notwithstanding, he frequently incurred Alexander's displeasure, and
put himself into some danger, through Hephaestion. The quarters that
had been taken up for Eumenes, Hephaestion assigned to Euius, the flute-player.
Upon which, in great anger, Eumenes and Mentor came to Alexander and loudly
complained, saying that the way to be regarded was to throw away their
arms and turn flute-players or tragedians; so much so that Alexander took
their part and chid Hephaestion; but soon after changed his mind again,
and was angry with Eumenes, and accounted the freedom he had taken to be
rather an affront to the king than a reflection upon Hephaestion.
Afterwards, when Nearchus, with a fleet, was to be sent to the Southern
Sea, Alexander borrowed money of his friends, his own treasury being exhausted,
and would have had three hundred talents of Eumenes, but he sent a hundred
only, pretending that it was not without great difficulty he had raised
so much from his stewards. Alexander neither complained nor took
the money, but gave private orders to set Eumenes's tent on fire, designing
to take him in a manifest lie, when his money was carried out. But before
that could be done the tent was consumed, and Alexander repented of his
orders, all his papers being burnt; the gold and silver, however, which
was melted down in the fire, being afterwards collected, was found to be
more than one thousand talents; yet Alexander took none of it, and only
wrote to the several governors and generals to send new copies of the papers
that were burnt, and ordered them to be delivered to Eumenes.
<<Plut4-322>
Another difference happened between him and Hephaestion concerning
a gift, and a great deal of ill language passed between them, yet Eumenes
still continued in favour. But Hephaestion dying soon after, the
king, in his grief, presuming all those that differed with Hephaestion
in his lifetime were now rejoicing at his death, showed much harshness
and severity in his behaviour with them, especially towards Eumenes, whom
he often upbraided with his quarrels and ill language to Hephaestion.
But he, being a wise and dexterous courtier, made advantage of what had
done him prejudice, and struck in with the king's passion for glorifying
his friend's memory, suggesting various plans to do him honour, and contributing
largely and readily towards erecting his monument.
<<Plut4-324>
After Alexander's death, when the quarrel broke out between the troops
of the phalanx and the officers, his companions, Eumenes, though in his
judgment he inclined to the latter, yet in his professions stood neuter,
as if he thought it unbecoming him, who was a stranger, to interpose in
the private quarrels of the Macedonians. When the rest of Alexander's
friends left Babylon, he stayed behind, and did much to pacify the foot-soldiers,
and to dispose them towards an accommodation. And when the officers
had agreed among themselves, and, recovering from the first disorder proceeded
to share out the several commands and provinces, they made Eumenes governor
of Cappadocia and Paphlagonia, and all the coast upon the Pontic Sea as
far as Trebizond, which at that time was not subject to the Macedonians,
for Ariarathes kept it as king, but Leonnatus and Antigonus, with a large
army, were to put him in possession of it.
<<Plut4-325>
Antigonus, already filled with hopes of his own, and despising all
men, took no notice of Perdiccas's letter; but Leonnatus with his army
came down into Phrygia to the service of Eumenes. But being visited
by Hecataeus, the tyrant of the Cardians, and requested rather to relieve
Antipater and the Macedonians that were besieged in Lamia, he resolved
upon that expedition, inviting Eumenes to a share in it, and endeavouring
to reconcile him to Hecataeus. For there was an hereditary feud between
them, arising out of political differences, and Eumenes had more than once
been known to denounce Hecataeus as a tyrant, and to exhort Alexander to
restore the Cardians their liberty. Therefore at this time, also,
he declined the expedition proposed, pretending that he feared lest Antipater,
who already hated him, should for that reason, and to gratify Hecataeus,
kill him. Leonnatus so far believed as to impart to Eumenes his whole
design, which, as he had pretended and given out, was to aid Antipater,
but in truth was to seize the kingdom of Macedon; and he showed him letters
from Cleopatra, in which, it appeared, she invited him to Pella, with promises
to marry him. But Eumenes, whether fearing Antipater, or looking
upon Leonnatus as a rash, headstrong, and unsafe man, stole away from him
by night, taking with him all his men, namely, three hundred horse, and
two hundred of his own servants armed, and all his gold, to the value of
five thousand talents of silver, and fled to Perdiccas, discovered to him
Leonnatus's design, and thus gained great interest with him, and was made
of the council. Soon after, Perdiccas, with a great army, which he
led himself, conducted Eumenes into Cappadocia, and, having taken Ariarathes
prisoner, and subdued the whole country, declared him governor of it.
He accordingly proceeded to dispose of the chief cities among his own friends,
and made captains of garrisons, judges, receivers, and other officers,
of such as he thought fit himself, Perdiccas not at all interposing.
Eumenes, however, still continued to attend upon Perdiccas, both out of
respect to him, and a desire not to be absent from the royal family.
<<Plut4-326>
But Perdiccas, believing he was able enough to attain his own further
objects without assistance, and that the country he left behind him might
stand in need of an active and faithful governor, when he came into Cilicia
dismissed Eumenes, under colour of sending him to his command, but in truth
to secure Armenia, which was on its frontier, and was unsettled through
the practices of Neoptolemus. Him, a proud and vain man, Eumenes
exerted himself to gain by personal attentions; but to balance the Macedonian
foot, whom he found insolent and self-willed, he contrived to raise an
army of horse, excusing from tax and contribution all those of the country
that were able to serve on horseback, and buying up a number of horses,
which he distributed among such of his own men as he most confided in,
stimulating the courage of his new soldiers by gifts and honours, and inuring
their bodies to service by frequent marching and exercising; so that the
Macedonians were some of them astonished, others overjoyed to see that
in so short a time he had got together a body of no less than six thousand
three hundred horsemen.
<<Plut4-328>
But when Craterus and Antipater, having subdued the Greeks, advanced
into Asia, with intentions to quell the power of Perdiccas, and were reported
to design an invasion of Cappadocia, Perdiccas, resolving himself to march
against Ptolemy, made Eumenes commander-in-chief of all the forces of Armenia
and Cappadocia, and to that purpose wrote letters, requiring Alcetas and
Neoptolemus to be obedient to Eumenes, and giving full commission to Eumenes
to dispose and order all things as he thought fit. Alcetas flatly
refused to serve, because his Macedonians, he said were ashamed to fight
against Antipater, and loved Craterus so well, they were ready to receive
him for their commander. Neoptolemus designed treachery against Eumenes,
but was discovered; and being summoned, refused to obey, and put himself
in a posture of defence. Here Eumenes first found the benefit of
his own foresight and contrivance, for his foot being beaten, he routed
Neoptolemus with his horse, and took all his baggage; and coming up with
his whole force upon the phalanx while broken and disordered in its flight,
obliged the men to lay down their arms and take an oath to serve under
him. Neoptolemus, with some few stragglers whom he rallied, fled
to Craterus and Antipater. From them had come an embassy to Eumenes,
inviting him over to their side, offering to secure him in his present
government and to give him additional command, both of men and of territory,
with the advantage of gaining his enemy Antipater to become his friend,
and keeping Craterus his friend from turning to be his enemy. To
which Eumenes replied that he could not so suddenly be reconciled to his
old enemy Antipater, especially at a time when he saw him use his friends
like enemies, but was ready to reconcile Craterus to Perdiccas, upon any
and equitable terms; but in case of any aggression, he would resist the
injustice to his last breath, and would rather lose his life than betray
his word.
<<Plut4-329>
Antipater, receiving this answer, took time to consider upon the whole
matter; when Neoptolemus arrived from his defeat and acquainted them with
the ill success of his arms, and urged them to give him assistance, to
come, both of them if possible, but Craterus at any rate, for the Macedonians
loved him so excessively, that if they saw but his hat, or heard his voice,
they would all pass over in a body with their arms. And in truth
Craterus had a mighty name among them, and the soldiers after Alexander's
death were extremely fond of him, remembering how he had often for their
sakes incurred Alexander's displeasure, doing his best to withhold him
when he began to follow the Persian fashions, and always maintaining the
customs of his country, when, through pride and luxuriousness, they began
to be disregarded. Craterus, therefore, sent on Antipater into Cilicia,
and himself and Neoptolemus marched with a large division of the army against
Eumenes; expecting to come upon him unawares, and to find his army disordered
with revelling after the late victory. Now that Eumenes should suspect
his coming, and be prepared to receive him, is an argument of his vigilance,
but not perhaps a proof of any extraordinary sagacity, but that he should
contrive both to conceal from his enemies the disadvantages of his position,
and from his own men whom they were to fight with, so that he led them
on against Craterus himself, without their knowing that he commanded the
enemy, this, indeed, seems to show peculiar address and skill in the general.
He gave out that Neoptolemus and Pigres were approaching with some Cappadocian
and Paphlagonian horse. And at night, having resolved on marching,
he fell asleep, and had an extraordinary dream. For he thought he
saw two Alexanders ready to engage, each commanding his several phalanx,
the one assisted by Minerva, the other by Ceres; and that after a hot dispute,
he on whose side Minerva was, was beaten, and Ceres, gathering ears of
corn, wove them into a crown for the victor.
<<Plut4-330>
This vision Eumenes interpreted at once as boding success to himself,
who was to fight for a fruitful country, and at that very time covered
with the young ears, the whole being sown with corn, and the fields so
thick with it that they made a beautiful show of a long peace. And
he was further emboldened when he understood that the enemy's password
was Minerva and Alexander. Accordingly he also gave out as his Ceres
and Alexander, and gave his men orders to make garlands for themselves,
and to dress their arms with wreaths of corn. He found himself under
many temptations to discover to his captains and officers whom they were
to engage with, and not to conceal a secret of such moment in his own breast
alone, yet he kept to his first resolutions, and ventured to run the hazard
of his own judgment.
<<Plut4-325>
When he came to give battle, he would not trust any Macedonian to engage
Craterus, but appointed two troops of foreign horse, commanded by Pharnabazus,
son to Artabazus, and Phoenix of Tenedos, with order to charge as soon
as ever they saw the enemy, without giving them leisure to speak or retire,
or receiving any herald or trumpet from them. For he was exceedingly
afraid about his Macedonians, lest, if they found out Craterus to be there,
they should go over to his side. He himself, with three hundred of
his best horse, led the right wing against Neoptolemus. When having passed
a little hill they came in view, and were seen advancing with more than
ordinary briskness, Craterus was amazed, and bitterly reproached Neoptolemus
for deceiving him with hopes of the Macedonians' revolt, but he encouraged
his men to do bravely, and forthwith charged.
<<Plut4-325>
The first engagement was very fierce, and the spears being soon broken
to pieces, they came to close fighting with their swords; and here Craterus
did by no means dishonour Alexander, but slew many of his enemies and repulsed
many assaults, but at last received a wound in his side from a Thracian,
and fell off his horse. Being down, many not knowing him went past
him, but Gorgias, one of Eumenes's captains, knew him, and alighting from
his horse kept guard over him as he lay badly wounded and slowly dying.
In the meantime Neoptolemus and Eumenes were engaged; who, being inveterate
and mortal enemies, sought for one another, but missed for the two first
courses, but in the third discovering one another, they drew their swords,
and with loud shouts immediately charged. And their horses striking
against one another like two galleys, they quitted their reins, and taking
mutual hold pulled at one another's helmets, and at the armour from their
shoulders. While they were thus struggling, their horses went from
under them, and they fell together to the ground, there again still keeping
their hold and wrestling. Neoptolemus was getting up first, but Eumenes
wounded him in the ham, and got upon his feet before him. Neoptolemus
supporting himself upon one knee, the other leg being disabled, and himself
undermost, fought courageously, though his blows were not mortal, but receiving
a stroke in the neck he fell and ceased to resist. Eumenes, transported
with passion and his inveterate hatred to him, fell to reviling and stripping
him, and perceived not that his sword was still in his hand. And
with this he wounded Eumenes under the bottom of his corslet in the groin,
but in truth more frightened than hurt him; his blow being faint for want
of strength. Having stript the dead body, ill as he was with the wounds
he had received in his legs and arms, he took horse again, and hurried
towards the left wing of his army, which he supposed to be still engaged.
Hearing of the death of Craterus, he rode up to him, and finding there
was yet some life in him, alighted from his horse and wept, and laying
his right hand upon him, inveighed bitterly against Neoptolemus, and lamented
both Craterus's misfortune and his own hard fate, that he should be necessitated
to engage against an old friend and acquaintance, and either do or suffer
so much mischief.
<<Plut4-327>
This victory Eumenes obtained about ten days after the former, and
got great reputation alike for his conduct and his valour in achieving
it. But, on the other hand, it created him great envy both among
his own troops and his enemies that he, a stranger and a foreigner, should
employ the forces and arms of Macedon to cut off the bravest and most approved
man among them. Had the news of this defeat come timely enough to
Perdiccas, he had doubtless been the greatest of all the Macedonians; but
now, he being slain in a mutiny in Egypt, two days before the news arrived,
the Macedonians in a rage decreed Eumenes's death, giving joint commission
to Antigonus and Antipater to prosecute the war against him.
<<Plut4-329>
Passing by Mount Ida, where there was a royal establishment of horses,
Eumenes took as many as he had occasion for, and sent an account of his
doing so to the overseers, at which Antipater is said to have laughed,
calling it truly laudable in Eumenes thus to hold himself prepared for
giving in to them (or would it be taking from them?) strict account of
all matters of administration. Eumenes had designed to engage in
the plains of Lydia, near Sardis, both because his chief strength lay in
horse, and to let Cleopatra see how powerful he was. But at her particular
request, for she was afraid to give any umbrage to Antipater, he marched
into the upper Phrygia, and wintered in Celaenae; when Alcetas, Polemon,
and Docimus disputing with him who should command in chief, "You know,"
said he, "the old saying: That destruction regards no punctilios."
Having promised his soldiers pay within three days, he sold them all the
farms and castles in the country, together with the men and beasts with
which they were filled; every captain or officer that bought received from
Eumenes the use of his engines to storm the place, and divided the spoils
among his company, proportionably to every man's arrears. By this
Eumenes came again to be popular, so that when letters were found thrown
about the camp by the enemy promising one hundred talents, besides great
honours, to any one that should kill Eumenes, the Macedonians were extremely
offended, and made an order that from that time forward one thousand of
their best men should continually guard his person, and keep strict watch
about him by night in their several turns. This order was cheerfully obeyed,
and they gladly received of Eumenes the same honours which the kings used
to confer upon their favourites. He now had leave to bestow purple
hats and cloaks, which among the Macedonians is one of the greatest honours
the king can give.
<<Plut4-330>
Good fortune will elevate even petty minds, and give them the appearance
of a certain greatness and stateliness, as from their high place they look
down upon the world; but the truly noble and resolved spirit raises itself,
and becomes more conspicuous in times of disaster and ill
fortune+, as was now the case with Eumenes. For having by the
treason of one of his own men lost the field to Antigonus at Orcynii, in
Cappadocia, in his flight he gave the traitor no opportunity to escape
to the enemy, but immediately seized and hanged him. Then in his
flight, taking a contrary course to his pursuers, he stole by them unawares,
returned to the place where the battle had been fought, and encamped.
There he gathered up the dead bodies and burnt them with the doors and
windows of the neighbouring villages, and raised heaps of earth upon their
graves; insomuch that Antigonus, who came thither soon after, expressed
his astonishment at his courage and firm resolution. Falling afterwards
upon the baggage of Antigonus, he might easily have taken many captives,
both bond and freemen, and much wealth collected from the spoils of so
many wars; but he feared lest his men, overladen with so much booty, might
become unfit for rapid retreat, and too fond of their ease to sustain the
continual marches and endure the long waiting on which he depended for
success, expecting to tire Antigonus into some other course. But
then considering it would be extremely difficult to restrain the Macedonians
from plunder, when it seemed to offer itself, he gave them order to refresh
themselves, and bait their horses, and then attack the enemy. In
the meantime he sent privately to Menander, who had care of all this baggage,
professing a concern for him upon the score of old friendship and acquaintance;
and therefore advising him to quit the plain and secure himself upon the
sides of the neighbouring hills, where the horse might not be able to hem
him in. When Menander, sensible of his danger, had speedily packed
up his goods and decamped, Eumenes openly sent his scouts to discover the
enemy's posture, and commanded his men to arm and bridle their horses,
as designing immediately to give battle; but the scouts returning with
news that Menander had secured so difficult a post it was impossible to
take him, Eumenes, pretending to be grieved with the disappointment, drew
off his men another way. It is said that when Menander reported this
afterwards to Antigonus, and the Macedonians commended Eumenes, imputing
it to his singular good_nattre+, that having it in his power to make slaves
of their children and outrage their wives{Harfleur+}
he forbore and spared them all, Antigonus replied, "Alas, good friends,
he had no regard to us, but to himself, being loath to wear so many shackles
when he designed to fly."
<<Plut4-331>
From this time Eumenes, daily flying and wandering about, persuaded
many of his men to disband, whether out of kindness to them, or unwillingness
to lead about such a body of men as were too few to engage and too many
to fly undiscovered. Taking refuge at Nora, a place on the confines
of Lycaonia and Cappadocia, with five hundred horse and two hundred heavy-armed
foot, he again dismissed as many of his friends as desired it, through
fear of the probable hardships to be encountered there, and embracing them
with all demonstrations of kindness gave them licence to depart.
Antigonus, when he came before this fort, desired to have an interview
with Eumenes before the siege; but he returned answer that Antigonus had
many friends who might command in his room; but they whom Eumenes defended
had nobody to substitute if he should miscarry; therefore, if Antigonus
thought it worth while to treat with him, he should first send him hostages.
And when Antigonus required that Eumenes should first address himself to
him as his superior, he replied, "While I am able to wield a sword, I shall
think no man greater than myself." At last, when, according to Eumenes's
demand, Antigonus sent his own nephew Ptolemy to the fort, Eumenes went
out to him, and they mutually embraced with great tenderness and friendship,
as having formerly been very intimate. After long conversation, Eumenes
making no mention of his own pardon and security, but requiring that he
should be confirmed in his several governments, and restitution be made
him of the rewards of his service, all that were present were astonished
at his courage and gallantry. And many of the Macedonians flocked
to see what sort of person Eumenes was, for since the death of Craterus
no man had been so much talked of in the army. But Antigonus, being
afraid lest he might suffer some violence, first commanded the soldiers
to keep off, calling out and throwing stones at those who pressed forwards.
At last, taking Eumenes in his arms, and keeping off the crowd with his
guards, not without great difficulty, he returned him safe into the fort.
<<Plut4-332>
Then Antigonus, having built a wall round Nora, left a force sufficient
to carry on the siege, and drew off the rest of his army; and Eumenes was
beleaguered and kept garrison, having plenty of corn and water and salt,
but no other thing, either for food or delicacy; yet with such as he had,
he kept a cheerful table for his friends, inviting them severally in their
turns, and seasoning his entertainment with a gentle and
affable+ behaviour. For he had a pleasant countenance, and looked
not like an old and practised soldier, but was smooth and florid, and his
shape as delicate as if his limbs had been carved by art in the most accurate
proportions. He was not a great orator, but winning and persuasive,
as may be seen in his letters.
<<Plut4-333>
The greatest distress of the besieged was the narrowness of the place
they were in, their quarters being very confined, and the whole place but
two furlongs in compass; so that both they and their horses fed without
exercise. Accordingly, not only to prevent the listlessness of such
inactive living, but to have them in condition to fly if occasion required,
he assigned a room one-and-twenty feet long, the largest in all the fort,
for the men to walk in, directing them to begin their walk gently, and
so gradually mend their pace. And for the horses, he tied them to
the roof with great halters, fastening which about their necks, with a
pulley he gently raised them, till standing upon the ground with their
hinder feet, they just touched it with the very ends of their forefeet.
In this posture the grooms plied them with whips and shouts, provoking
them to curvet and kick out with their hind legs, struggling and stamping
at the same time to find support for their forefeet, and thus their whole
body was exercised, till they were all in a foam and sweat; excellent exercise,
whether for strength or speed; and then he gave them their corn already
coarsely ground, that they might sooner despatch and better digest it.
<<Plut4-335>
The siege continuing long, Antigonus received advice that Antipater
was dead in Macedon, and that affairs were embroiled by the differences
of Cassander and Polysperchon, upon which he conceived no mean hopes, purposing
to make himself master of all, and, in order to his design, thought to
bring over Eumenes, that he might have his advice and assistance.
He, therefore, sent Hieronymus to treat with him, proposing a certain oath,
which Eumenes first corrected, and then referred himself to the Macedonians
themselves that besieged him, to be judged by them, which of the two forms
was the most equitable. Antigonus in the beginning of his had slightly
mentioned the kings as by way of ceremony, while all the sequel referred
to himself alone; but Eumenes changed the form of it to Olympias and the
kings, and proceeded to swear not to be true to Antigonus, only, but to
them, and have the same friends and enemies, not with Antigonus, but with
Olympias and the kings. This form the Macedonians thinking the more
reasonable, swore Eumenes according to it, and raised the siege, sending
also to Antigonus that he should swear in the same form to Eumenes.
Meantime, all the hostages of the Cappadocians Eumenes had in Nora he returned,
obtaining from their friends war-horses, beasts of carriage, and tents
in exchange. And collecting again all the soldiers who had dispersed at
the time of his flight, and were now wandering about the country, he got
together a body of near a thousand horse, and with them fled from Antigonus,
whom he justly feared. For he had sent orders not only to have him
blocked up and besieged again, but had given a very sharp answer to the
Macedonians for admitting Eumenes's amendment of the oath.
<<Plut4-336>
While Eumenes was flying, he received letters from those in Macedonia,
who were jealous of Antigonus's greatness, from Olympias, inviting him
thither to take the charge and protection of Alexander's infant son, whose
person was in danger, and other letters from Polysperchon and Philip the
king, requiring him to make war upon Antigonus, as general of the forces
in Cappadocia, and empowering him out of the treasure at Quinda to take
five hundred talents' compensation for his own losses, and to levy as much
as he thought necessary to carry on the war. They wrote also to the
same effect to Antigenes and Teutamus, the chief officers of the Argyraspids;
who, on receiving these letters, treated Eumenes with a show of respect
and kindness; but it was apparent enough that they were full of envy and
emulation, disdaining to give place to him. Their envy Eumenes moderated
by refusing to accept the money, as if he had not needed it; and their
ambition and emulation, who were neither able to govern nor willing to
obey, he conquered by help of superstition. For he told them that
Alexander had appeared to him in a dream, and showed him a regal pavilion
richly furnished, with a throne in it; and told him if they would sit in
council there, he himself would be present, and prosper all the consultations
and actions upon which they should enter in his name. Antigenes and
Teutamus were easily prevailed upon to believe this, being as little willing
to come and consult Eumenes as he himself was to be seen waiting at other
men's doors. Accordingly, they erected a tent royal, and a throne,
called Alexander's, and there they met to consult upon all affairs of moment.
<<Plut4-337>
Afterwards they advanced into the interior of Asia, and in their march
met with Peucestes, who was friendly to them and with the other satraps,
who joined forces with them, and greatly encouraged the Macedonians with
the number and appearance of their men. But they themselves, having
since Alexander's decease become imperious and ungoverned in their tempers,
and luxurious in their daily habits, imagining themselves great princes,
and pampered in their conceit by the flattery+{brag+}
of the barbarians, when all these conflicting pretensions now came together,
were soon found to be exacting and quarrelsome one with another, while
all alike unmeasurably flattered the Macedonians, giving them money for
revels and sacrifices, till in a short time they brought the camp to be
a dissolute place of entertainment, and the army a mere multitude of voters,
canvassed as in a democracy for the election of this or that commander.
Eumenes, perceiving they despised one another, and all of them feared him,
and sought an opportunity to kill him, pretended to be in want of money,
and borrowed many talents, of those especially who most hated him, to make
them at once confide in him and forbear all violence to him for fear of
losing their own money. Thus his enemies' estates were the guard
of his person, and by receiving money he purchased safety, for which it
is more common to give it.
<<Plut4-338>
The Macedonians, also, while there was no show of danger, allowed themselves
to be corrupted, and made all their court to those who gave them presents,
who had their body-guards, and affected to appear generals-in-chief.
But when Antigonus came upon them with a great army, and their affairs
themselves seemed to call out for a true general, then not only the common
soldiers cast their eyes upon Eumenes, but these men, who had appeared
so great in a peaceful time of ease, submitted all of them to him, and
quietly posted themselves severally as he appointed them. And when
Antigonus attempted to pass the river Pasitigris, all the rest that were
appointed to guard the passes were not so much as aware of his march; only
Eumenes met and encountered him, slew many of his men, and filled the river
with the dead, and took four thousand prisoners. But it was most
particularly when Eumenes was sick that the Macedonians let it be seen
how in their judgment, while others could feast them handsomely and make
entertainments, he alone knew how to fight and lead an army. For
Peucestes, having made a splendid entertainment in Persia, and given each
of the soldiers a sheep to sacrifice with, made himself sure of being commander-in-chief.
Some few days after the army was to march, and Eumenes having been dangerously
ill was carried in a litter apart from the body of the army, that any rest
he got might not be disturbed. But when they were a little advanced,
unexpectedly they had a view of the enemy, who had passed the hills that
lay between them, and was marching down into the plain. At the sight
of the golden armour glittering in the sun as they marched down in their
order, the elephants with their castles on their backs, and the men in
their purple, as their manner was when they were going to give battle,
the front stopped their march, and called out for Eumenes, for they would
not advance a step but under his conduct; and fixing their arms in the
ground gave the word among themselves to stand, requiring their officers
also not to stir or engage or hazard themselves without Eumenes.
News of this being brought to Eumenes, he hastened those that carried his
litter, and drawing back the curtains on both sides, joyfully put forth
his right hand. As soon as the soldiers saw him they saluted him
in their Macedonian dialect, and took up their shields, and striking them
with their pikes, gave a great shout; inviting the enemy to come on, for
now they had a leader.
<<Plut4-339>
Antigonus understanding by some prisoners he had taken that Eumenes
was out of health, to that degree that he was carried in a litter, presumed
it would be no hard matter to crush the rest of them, since he was ill.
He therefore made the greater haste to come up with them and engage.
But being come so near as to discover how the enemy was drawn up and appointed,
he was astonished, and paused for some time; at last he saw the litter
carrying from one wing of the army to the other, and, as his manner was,
laughing aloud, he said to his friends, "That litter there, it seems, is
the thing that offers us battle;" and immediately wheeled about, retired
with all his army, and pitched his camp. The men on the other side,
finding a little respite, returned to their former habits, and allowing
themselves to be flattered, and making the most of the indulgence of their
generals, took up for their winter quarters near the whole country of the
Gabeni, so that the front was quartered nearly a thousand furlongs from
the rear; which Antigonus understanding, marched suddenly towards them,
taking the most difficult road through a country that wanted water; but
the way was short though uneven; hoping, if he should surprise them thus
scattered in their winter quarters, the soldiers would not easily be able
to come up in time enough and join with their officers. But having
to pass through a country uninhabited, where he met with violent winds
and severe frosts, he was much checked in his march, and his men suffered
exceedingly. The only possible relief was making numerous fires,
by which his enemies got notice of his coming. For the barbarians
who dwelt on the mountains overlooking the desert, amazed at the multitude
of fires they saw, sent messengers upon dromedaries to acquaint Peucestes.
He being astonished and almost out of his senses with the news, and finding
the rest in no less disorder, resolved to fly, and collect what men he
could by the way. But Eumenes relieved him from his fear and trouble, undertaking
so to stop the enemy's advance that he should arrive three days later than
he was expected. Having persuaded them, he immediately despatched
expresses to all the officers to draw the men out of their winter quarters
and muster them with all speed. He himself, with some of the chief
officers, rode out, and chose an elevated tract within view, at a distance,
of such as travelled the desert; this he occupied and quartered out, and
commanded many fires to be made in it, as the custom is in a camp.
This done, and the enemies seeing the fire upon the mountains, Antigonus
was filled with vexation and despondency, supposing that his enemies had
been long since advertised of his march, and were prepared to receive him.
Therefore, lest his army, now tired and wearied out with their march, should
be immediately forced to encounter with fresh men, who had wintered well
and were ready for him, quitting the near way, he marched slowly through
the towns and villages to refresh his men. But meeting with no such
skirmishes as are usual when two armies lie near one another, and being
assured by the people of the country that no army had been seen, but only
continual fires at that place, he concluded he had been outwitted by a
stratagem of Eumenes, and, much troubled, advanced to give open battle.
<<Plut4-340>
By this time, the greater part of the forces were come together to
Eumenes, and admiring his sagacity, declared him alone commander-in-chief
of the whole army; upon which Antigenes and Teutamus, the commanders of
the Argyraspids, being very much offended, and envying Eumenes, formed
a conspiracy against him; and assembling the greater part of the satraps
and officers, consulted when and how to cut him off. When they had
unanimously agreed, first to use his service in the next battle, and then
to take an occasion to destroy him, Eudamus, the master of the elephants,
and Phaedimus gave Eumenes private advice of this design, not out of kindness
or good-will to him, but lest they should lose the money they had lent
him. Eumenes, having commended them, retired to his tent, and telling
his friends he lived among a herd of wild beasts, made his will, and tore
up all his letters, lest his correspondents after his death should be questioned
or punished on account of anything in his secret papers.
<<Plut4-341>
Having thus disposed of his affairs, he thought of letting the enemy
win the field, or of flying through Media and Armenia and seizing Cappadocia,
but came to no resolution while his friends stayed with him. After
turning to many expedients in his mind, which his changeable fortune had
made versatile, he at last put his men in array, and encouraged the Greeks
and barbarians; as for the phalanx and the Argyraspids, they encouraged
him, and bade him be of good heart, for the enemy would never be able to
stand them. For indeed they were the oldest of Philip's and Alexander's
soldiers, tried men, that had long made war their exercise, that had never
been beaten or foiled; most of them seventy+,
none less than sixty years old. And so when they charged Antigonus's
men, they cried out, "You fight against your fathers, you rascals," and
furiously falling on, routed the whole phalanx at once, nobody being able
to stand them, and the greatest part dying by their hands. So that
Antigonus's foot was routed, but his horse got the better, and he became
master of the baggage through the cowardice of Peucestes, who behaved himself
negligently and basely; while Antigonus used his judgment calmly in the
danger, being aided moreover by the ground. For the place where they
fought was a large plain, neither deep nor hard under foot, but, like the
seashore, covered with a fine soft sand which the treading of so many men
and horses in the time of battle reduced to a small white dust, that like
a cloud of lime darkened the air, so that one could not see clearly at
any distance, and so made it easy for Antigonus to take the baggage unperceived.
<<Plut4-342>
After the battle, Teutamus sent a message to Antigonus to demand the
baggage. He made answer, he would not only restore it to the Argyraspids,
but serve them further in the other things if they would but deliver up
Eumenes. Upon which the Argyraspids took a villainous resolution
to deliver him up alive into the hands of his enemies. So they came
to wait upon him, being unsuspected by him, but watching their opportunity,
some lamenting the loss of the baggage, some encouraging him as if he had
been victor, some accusing the other commanders, till at last they all
fell upon him, and seizing his sword, bound his hands behind him with his
own girdle.
<<Plut4-343>
When Antigonus had sent Nicanor to receive him he begged he might be
led through the body of the Macedonians, and have liberty to speak to them,
neither to request nor deprecate anything, but only to advise them what
would be for their interest. A silence being made, as he stood upon
a rising ground, he stretched out his hands bound, and said, "What trophy,
O ye basest of all the Macedonians, could Antigonus have wished for so
great as you yourselves have erected for him in delivering up your general
captive into his hands? You are not ashamed, when you are conquerors,
to own yourselves conquered, for the sake only of your baggage, as if it
were wealth, not arms, wherein victory consisted; nay, you deliver up your
general to redeem your stuff. As for me I am unvanquished, though
a captive, conqueror of my enemies, and betrayed by my fellow-soldiers.
For you, I adjure you by Jupiter, the protector of arms, and by all the
gods that are the avengers of perjury, to kill me here with your own hands;
for it is all one; and if I am murdered yonder it will be esteemed your
act, nor will Antigonus complain, for he desires not Eumenes alive, but
dead. Or if you withhold your own hands, release but one of mine,
it shall suffice to do the work; and if you dare not trust me with a sword,
throw me bound as I am under the feet of the wild beasts. This if
you do I shall freely acquit you from the guilt of my death, as the most
just and kind of men to their general."
<<Plut4-344>
While Eumenes was thus speaking, the rest of the soldiers wept for
grief, but the Argyraspids shouted out to lead him on, and give no attention
to his trifling. For it was no such great matter if this Chersonesian
pest should meet his death, who in thousands of battles had annoyed and
wasted the Macedonians; it would be a much more grievous thing for the
choicest of Philip's and Alexander's soldiers to be defrauded of the fruits
of so long service, and in their old age to come to beg their bread, and
to leave their wives three nights in the power of their enemies. So they
hurried him on with violence. But Antigonus, fearing the multitude,
for nobody was left in the camp, sent ten of his strongest elephants with
divers of his Mede and Parthian lances to keep off the press. Then
he could not endure to have Eumenes brought into his presence, by reason
of their former intimacy and friendship; but when they that had taken him
inquired how he would have him kept, "As I would," said he, "an elephant,
or a lion." A little after, being moved with compassion, he commanded the
heaviest of his irons to be knocked off, one of his servants to be admitted
to anoint him, and that any of his friends that were willing should have
liberty to visit him, and bring him what he wanted. Long time he
deliberated what to do with him, sometimes inclining to the advice and
promises of Nearchus of Crete and Demetrius his son, who were very earnest
to preserve Eumenes, whilst all the rest were unanimously instant and importunate
to have him taken off. It is related that Eumenes inquired of Onomarchus,
his keeper, why Antigonus, now he had his enemy in his hands, would not
forthwith despatch or generously release him? And that Onomarchus
contumeliously answered him, that the field had been a more proper place
than this to show his contempt of death. To whom Eumenes replied,
"And, by heavens, I showed it there; ask the men else that engaged me,
but I could never meet a man that was my superior." "Therefore," rejoined
Onomarchus, "now you have found such a man, why don't you submit quietly
to his pleasure?"
<<Plut4-345>
When Antigonus resolved to kill Eumenes, he commanded to keep his food
from him, and so with two or three days' fasting he began to draw near
his end; but the camp being on a sudden to remove, an executioner was sent
to despatch him. Antigonus granted his body to his friends, permitted
them to burn it, and having gathered his ashes into a silver urn, to send
them to his wife and children.
<<Plut4-346>
Eumenes was thus taken off and Divine
Providence+ assigned to no other man the chastisement of the commanders
and soldiers that had betrayed him; but Antigonus himself, abominating
the Argyraspids as wicked and inhuman villains, delivered them up to Sibyrtius,
the governor of Arachosia, commanding him by all ways and means to destroy
and exterminate them, so that not a man of them might ever come to Macedon,
or so much as within sight of the Greek Sea.
<<Plut4-347>
~The Comparison of Sertorius with Eumenes_+
These are the most remarkable passages that are come to our knowledge
concerning Eumenes and Sertorius. In comparing their lives, we may
observe that this was common to them both; that being aliens, strangers,
and banished men, they came to be commanders of powerful forces, and had
the leading of numerous and warlike armies, made up of divers nations.
This was peculiar to Sertorius, that the chief command was, by his whole
party, freely yielded to him, as to the person of the greatest merit and
renown, whereas Eumenes had many who contested the office with him, and
only by his actions obtained the superiority. They followed the one
honestly, out of desire to be commanded by him; they submitted themselves
to the other for their own security, because they could not command themselves.
The one, being a Roman, was the general of the Spaniards and Lusitanians,
who for many years had been under the subjection of Rome; and the other,
a Chersonesian, who was chief commander of the Macedonians, who were the
great conquerors of mankind, and were at that time subduing the world.
Sertorius, being already in high esteem for his former services in the
wars and his abilities in the senate, was advanced to the dignity of a
general; whereas Eumenes obtained this honour from the office of a writer,
or secretary, in which he had been despised. Nor did he only at first
rise from inferior opportunities, but afterwards, also, met with greater
impediments in the progress of his authority, and that not only from those
who publicly resisted him, but from many others that privately conspired
against him. It was much otherwise with Sertorius, not one of whose
party publicly opposed him, only late in life, and secretly, a few of his
acquaintance entered into a conspiracy against him. Sertorius put
an end to his dangers as often as he was victorious in the field, whereas
the victories of Eumenes were the beginning of his perils, through the
malice of those that envied him.
<<Plut4-348>
Their deeds in war were equal and parallel, but their general inclinations
different. Eumenes naturally loved war and contention, but Sertorius
esteemed peace and tranquillity; when Eumenes might have lived in safety,
with honour, if he would have quietly retired out of their way, he persisted
in a dangerous contest with the greatest of the Macedonian leaders; but
Sertorius, who was unwilling to trouble himself with any public disturbances,
was forced, for the safety of his person, to make war against those who
would not suffer him to live in peace. If Eumenes could have contented
himself with the second place, Antigonus, freed from his competition for
the first, would have used him well, and shown him favour, whereas Pompey's
friends would never permit Sertorius so much as to live in quiet. The one
made war of his own accord, out of a desire for command; and the other
was constrained to accept of command to defend himself from war that was
made against him. Eumenes was certainly a true lover of war, for
he preferred his covetous ambition before his own security; {Hotspur+}
but Sertorius was truly warlike, who procured his own safety by the success
of his arms.
<<Plut4-349>
As to the manner of their deaths, it happened to one without the least
thought or surmise of it; but to the other when he suspected it daily;
which in the first argues an equitable temper, and a noble mind, not to
distrust his friends; but in the other it showed some infirmity of spirit,
for Eumenes intended to fly and was taken. The death of Sertorius
dishonoured not his life; he suffered that from his companions which none
of his enemies were ever able to perform. {death+}
The other, not being able to deliver himself before his imprisonment, being
willing also to live in captivity, did neither prevent nor expect his fate
with honour or bravery; for by meanly supplicating and petitioning, he
made his enemy, that pretended only to have power over his body, to be
lord and master of his body and mind.
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