Lives. The translation called Dryden's corr. from the Greek and rev.
Plutarch | Dryden, John, 1631-1700
m^t k/ m W. m « '*/"-■■ V > m€ »'.V fc-* : >'« « ^-^ f^S® ,'V-:£v". -^c^--.;i s • .'■■ • •. r / \~ f : Mi fSLj-,^. ' &&&. ' \'.''7 PXii m. ' * [0:-M<«m .-'--.- .-* A m- «■ % -«■:%: ■V-i PLUTARCH'S LIVES. THE TRANSLATION CALLED DRYDEN'S CORRECTED FROM THE GREEK AND REVISED BT A. H. CLOUGH, 80METIME FELLOW AND TUTOR OF ORIEL COLLEGE, OXFORD, AND LATE PROFESSOR OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE AT UNIVERSITY COLLEGE, LONDON. vol. n. BOSTON: LITTLE, BROWN AND COMPANY. 1859. 7 v.Z Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1859, by LITTLE, BROWN AND COMPANY, In the Clerk's Office of the District Court for the District of Massachusetts. 6 1963 866240 camreidge: allen and farnham, stereottpers and printers. CONTENTS OF VOLUME II. PAGE Life of Alcibiades 1 Life of Coriolanus 52 Comparison of Coriolanus with Alcibiades . . 101 Life of Tlmoleon 107 Life of JEmilius Pattlus 155 Comparison of -ZEmllius Paulus with Tlmoleon . .198 Life of Pelopidas 201 Life of Marcellus 238 Comparison of Marcellus with Pelopidas . . . 276 Life of Aristides 280 Life of Cato the Elder 316 Comparison of Cato the Elder with Aristides . . 353 Life of Philopcemen 360 Life of Flamininus . . 384 Comparison of Flamininus wiTn Philopcemen . . 413 Appendix, 417 pa) ALCIB1ADES. Alcibiades, as it is supposed, was anciently descended from Eurysaces, the son of Ajax, by his father's side ; and. by his mother's side from Alcmreon. Dinomache, his mother, was the daughter of Megacles. His father, Clinias, having fitted out a galley at his own expense, gained great honor in the sea-fight at Artemisium, and was afterwards slain in the battle of Coronea, fighting against the Boeotians. Pericles and Ariphron, the sons of Xanthippus, nearly related to him, became the guardians of Alcibiades. It has been said not untruly, that the friendship which Socrates felt for him, has much contrib- uted to his fame ; and certain it is, that though we have no account from any writer, concerning the mother of Nicias or Demosthenes, of Lamachus or Phormio, of Thrasybulus or Theramenes, notwithstanding these were all illustrious men of the same period, yet we know even the nurse of Alcibiades, that her country was Laceda?mon. and her name Amycla; and that Zopyrus was his teacher and attendant ; the one being recorded by Antisthenes, and the other by Plato. It is not, perhaps, material to say any thing of the beauty of Alcibiades, only that it bloomed with him in all the ages of his life, in his infancy, in his youth, and in his manhood ; and in the peculiar character becoming VOL. II. 1 2 ALCIBIADES. to each of these periods, gave him, in every one of them, a grace and a charm. What Euripides says, that " Of all fair things the autumn, too, is fair," is by no means universally true. But it happened so with Alcibiades, amongst few others, by reason of his happy constitution and natural vigor of body. It is said that his lisping, when he spoke, became him well, and gave a grace and persuasiveness to his rapid speech. Aristophanes takes notice of it in the verses in which he jests at Theorus, " How like a colax he is," says Alcibiades, that is, a flatterer, meaning a corax or crow ; * on which it is remarked, " How very happily he lisped the truth." Archippus also alludes to it in a passage where he ridi- cules the son of Alcibiades. " That people may believe him like his father, He walks like one dissolved in luxury, Lets his robe trail behind him on the ground, Carelessly leans his head, and in his talk Affects to lisp." His conduct displayed many great inconsistencies and variations, not unnaturally, in accordance with the many and wonderful vicissitudes of his fortunes; but among the many strong passions of his real character, the one most prevailing of all was his ambition and desire of superiority, which appears in several anecdotes told of his sayings whilst he was a child. Once being hard pressed in wrestling, and fearing to be thrown, he got the hand of his antagonist to his mouth, and bit it with all his force ; and when the other loosed his hold presently, and said, " You bite, Alcibiades, like a woman." " No," * This fashionable Attic lisp, or slovenly articulation, turned the sound r into I. ALCIBIADES. 3 replied he, " like a lion." Another time as he played at dice in the street, being then but a child, a loaded cart came that way, when it was his turn to throw ; at first he called to the driver to stop, because he was to throw in the way over which the cart was to pass ; but the man giving him no attention and driving on, when the rest of the boys divided and gave way, Alcibiades threw himself on his face before the cart, and, stretching him- self out, bid the carter pass on now if he would ; which so startled the man, that he put back his horses, while all that saw it were terrified, and, crying out, ran to assist Alcibiades. When he began to study, he obeyed all his other masters fairly well, but refused to learn upon the flute, as a sordid thing, and not becoming a free citizen ; saying, that to play on the lute or the harp does not in any way disfigure a man's body or face, but one is hardly to be known by the most intimate friends, when playing on the flute. Besides, one who plays on the harp may speak or sing at the same time ; but the use of the flute stops the mouth, intercepts the voice, and pre- vents all articulation. " Therefore," said he, " let the Theban youths pipe who do not know how to speak, but we Athenians, as our ancestors have told us, have Minerva for our patroness, and Apollo for our protector, one of which threw away the flute, and the other stripped the Flute-player of his skin. Thus, between raillery and good earnest, Alcibiades kept not only himself but others from learning, as it presently became the talk of the young boys, how Alcibiades despised playing on the flute, and ridiculed those who studied it. In consequence of which, it ceased to be reckoned amongst the liberal accomplishments, and became generally neglected. It is stated in the invective which Antiphon wrote against Alcibiades, that once, when he was a boy, he ran away to the house of Democrates, one of those who made 4 ALCIBIADES. a favorite of him, and that Ariphron had determined to cause proclamation to be made for him, had not Pericles diverted him from it, by saying, that if he were dead, the proclaiming of him could only cause it to be discovered one day sooner, and if he were safe, it would be a re- proach to him as long as he lived. Antiphon also says, that he killed one of his own servants with the blow of a staff in Syburtius's wrestling ground. But it is unrea- sonable to give credit to all that is objected by an enemy, who makes open profession of his design to defame him. It was manifest that the many well-born persons who were continually seeking his company, and making their court to him, were attracted and captivated by his bril- liant and extraordinary beauty only. But the affection which Socrates entertained for him is a great evidence of the natural noble qualities and good disposition of the boy, which Socrates, indeed, detected both in and under his personal beauty ; and, fearing that his wealth and station, and the great number both of strangers and Athenians, who flattered and caressed him, might at last corrupt him, resolved, if possible, to intei^ose and preserve so hopeful a plant from perishing in the flower, before its fruit came to perfection. For never did fortune surround and enclose a man with so many of those things which we vulgarly call goods, or so protect him from every weapon of philosophy, and fence him from every access of free and scorching words, as she did Alcibiades ; who, from the beginning, was exposed to the flatteries of those who sought merely his gratification, such as might well unnerve him and indispose him to listen to any real adviser or instructor. Yet such was the happiness of his genius, that he discerned Socrates from the rest, and admitted him, whilst he drove away the wealthy and the noble who made court to him. And, in a little time, they grew intimate, and Alcibiades, listening now to language ALCIBIADES. 5 entirely free from every thought of unmanly fondness and silly displays of affection, finding himself with one who sought to lay open to him the deficiencies of his mind, and repress his vain and foolish arrogance, " Dropped like the craven cock his conquered wing." He esteemed these endeavors of Socrates, as most truly a means which the gods made use of for the care and preservation of youth,* and began to think meanly of him- self, and to admire him ; to be pleased with his kindness, and to stand in awe of his virtue ; and, unawares to him- self, there became formed in his mind that reflex image and reciprocation of Love, or Anteros,*j* that Plato talks of. the life of Theseus, that love is a f Eros and Anteros, Love and Love-again. 1* 6 ALCIBIADES. duct ; Anytus, however, said, on the contrary he had shown great consideration and tenderness in taking only a part, when he might have taken all. He behaved in the same manner to all others who courted him, except only one stranger, who, as the story is told, having but a small estate, sold it all for about a hundred staters, which he presented to Alcibiades, and besought him to accept. Alcibiades, smiling and well pleased at the thing, invited him to supper, and, after a very kind entertainment, gave him his gold again, requir- ing him, moreover, not to fail to be present the next day, when the public revenue was offered to farm, and to out- bid all others. The man would have excused himself, be- cause the contract was so large, and would cost many tal- ents ; but Alcibiades, who had at that time a private pique against the existing farmers of the revenue, threatened to have him beaten if he refused. The next morning the stranger, coming to the market-place, offered a talent more than the existing rate ; upon which the farmers, enraged and consulting together, called upon him to name his sureties, concluding that he could find none. The poor man, being startled at the proposal, began to retire ; but Alcibiades, standing at a distance, cried out to the magistrates, " Set my name down, he is a friend of mine ; I will be security for him." When the other bidders heard this, they per- ceived that all their contrivance was defeated ; for their way was, with the profits of the second year, to pay the rent for the year preceding ; so that, not seeing any other way to extricate themselves out of the difficulty, they began to entreat the stranger, and offered him a sum of money. Alcibiades would not suffer him to accept of less than a talent; but when that was paid down, he commanded him to relinquish the bargain, having by this device relieved his necessity. Though Socrates had many and powerful rivals, yet the natural good qualities of Alcibiades gave his affection ALCIBIADES. 7 the mastery. His words overcame him so much, as to draw tears from his eyes, and to disturb his very soul. Yet sometimes he would abandon himself to flatterers, when they proposed to him varieties of pleasure, and would desert Socrates ; who, then, would pursue him, as if he had been a fugitive slave. He despised every one else, and had no reverence or awe for any but him. Cleanthes, the philosopher, speaking of one to whom he was attached, says his only hold on him was by his ears ; while his rivals had all the others offered them: and there is no question that Alcibiades was very easily caught by pleasures; and the expression used by Thucydides about the excesses of his habitual course of living gives occasion to believe so. But those who endeavored to corrupt Alcibiades, took advantage chiefly of his vanity and ambition, and thrust him on unseasonably to under- take great enterprises, persuading him, that as soon as he began to concern himself in public affairs, he would not only obscure the rest of the generals and statesmen, but outdo the authority and the reputation which Peri- cles himself had gained in Greece. But in the same man- ner as iron which is softened by the fire, grows hard with the cold, and all its parts are closed again ; so, as often as Socrates observed Alcibiades to be misled by luxury or pride, he reduced and corrected him by his addresses, and made him humble and modest, by showing him in how many things he was deficient, and how very far from per- fection in virtue. When he was past his childhood, he went once to a grammar school and asked the master for one of Homer's books ; and he, making answer that he had nothing of Homer's, Alcibiades gave him a blow with his fist and went away. Another schoolmaster telling him that he had Homer corrected by himself; " How ? " said Alcibia- des, " and do you employ your time in teaching children 8 ALCIBIADES. to read ? You who are able to amend Homer, may well undertake to instruct men." Being once desirous to speak with Pericles, he went to his house, and was told there that he was not at leisure, but busied in considering how to give up his accounts to the Athenians ; Alcibiades, as he went away, said, " It were better for him to con- sider how he might avoid giving up his accounts at all." Whilst he was very young, he was a soldier in the expedition against Potidaea, where Socrates lodged in the same tent with him, and stood next him in battle. Once there happened a sharp skirmish, in which they both behaved with signal bravery ; but Alcibiades, receiving a wound, Socrates threw himself before him to defend him, and beyond any question saved him and his arms from the enemy, and so in all justice might have challenged the prize of valor. But the generals, appearing eager to adjudge the honor to Alcibiades, because of his rank, Socrates, who desired to increase his thirst after glory of a noble kind, was the first to gave evidence for him, and pressed them to crown him, and to decree to him the complete suit of armor. Afterwards, in the battle of Delium, when the Athenians were routed and Socrates with a few others was retreating on foot, Alcibiades, who was on horseback, observing it, would not pass on, but stayed to shelter him from the danger, and brought him safe off, though the enemy pressed hard upon them, and cut off many. But this happened some time after. He gave a box on the ear to Hipponicus, the father of Callias, whose birth and wealth made him a per- son of great influence and repute. And this he did unprovoked by any passion or quarrel between them, but only because, in a frolic, he had agreed with his companions to do it. People were justly offended at this insolence, when it became known through the city : but early the next morning, Alcibiades went to his ALCIBIADES. 9 house and knocked at the door, and being admitted to him, took off his outer garment, and presenting his naked body, desired him scourge and chastise him as he pleased. Upon this Hipponicus forgot all his resentment, and not only pardoned him, but soon after gave him his daughter Hipparete in marriage. Some say that it was not Hip- ponicus, but his son Callias, who gave Hipparete to Alci- biades, together with a portion of ten talents, and that after, when she had a child, Alcibiades forced him to give ten talents more, upon pretence that such was the agree- ment if she brought him any children. Afterwards, Cal- lias,Tor fear of coining to his death by his means, declared, in a full assembly of the people, that if he should happen to die without children, the state should inherit his house and all his goods. Hipparete was a virtuous and dutiful wife, but, at last, growing impatient of the outrages done to her by her husband's continual entertaining of courtesans, as well strangers as Athenians, she departed from him and retired to her brother's house. Alcibiades seemed not at all concerned at this, and lived on still in the same luxury ; but the law requiring that she should deliver to the archon in person, and not by proxy, the instrument by which she claimed a divorce, when, in obedience to the law, she presented herself before him to perform this, Alcibiades came in, caught her up,' and carried her home through the market-place, no one daring to oppose him, nor to take her from him. She continued with him till her death, which happened not long after, when Alcibia- des had gone to Ephesus. Nor is this violence to be thought so very enormous or unmanly. For the law, in making her who desires to be divorced appear in public, seems to design to give her husband an opportunity of treating with her, and of endeavoring to retain her. Alcibiades had a dog which cost him seventy minas, and was a very large one, and very handsome. His tail 10 ALCIBIADES. which was his principal ornament, he caused to be cut off; and his acquaintance exclaiming at him for it, and telling him that all Athens was sorry for the dog, and cried out upon him for this action, he laughed, and said, " Just what I wanted has happened then. I wished the Athenians to talk about this, that they might not say something worse of me." It is said that the first time he came into the assembly, was upon occasion of a largess of money which he made to the people. This was not clone by design, but as he passed along he heard a shout, and, inquiring the cause, and having learned that there was a donative making to the people, he went in amongst them and gave money also. The multitude thereupon applauding him, and shouting, he was so transported at it, that he forgot a quail which he had under his robe, and the bird, being frighted with the noise, flew off; upon which the people made louder acclamations than before, and many of them started up to pursue the bird ; and one Antiochus, a pilot, caught it and restored it to him, for which he was ever after a favorite with Alcibiades. He had great advantages for entering public life ; his noble birth, his riches, the personal courage he had shown in divers battles, and the multitude of his friends and dependents, threw open, so to say, folding doors for his admittance. But he did not consent to let his power with the people rest on any thing, rather than on his own gift of eloquence. That he was a master in the art of speaking, the comic poets bear him witness ; and the most eloquent of public speakers, in his oration against Midias, allows that Alcibiades, among other perfections, was a most accomplished orator. If, however, we give credit to Theophrastus, who of all philosophers was the most curious inquirer, and the greatest lover of history, we are to understand that Alcibiades had the highest ALCIBIADES. 11 capacity for inventing, for discerning what was the right thing to be said for any purpose and on any occasion ; but aiming not only at saying what was required, but also at saying it well, in respect, that is, of words and phrases, when these did not readily occur, he would often pause in the middle of his discourse for want of the apt word, and would be silent and stop till he could recollect himself, and had considered what to say. His expenses in horses kept for the public games, and in the number of his chariots, were matter of great obser- vation ; never did any one but he, either private person or king, send seven chariots to the Olympic games. And to have carried away at once the first, the second, and the fourth prize, as Thucydides says, or the third, as Euripides relates it, outdoes far away every distinction that ever was known or thought of in that kind. Euripi- des celebrates his success in this manner : — " — But my song to you, Son of Clinias, is due. Victory is noble ; how much more To do, as never Greek before ; To obtain in the great chariot race The first, the second, and third place ; With easy step advanced to fame, To bid the herald three times claim The olive for one victor's name." The emulation displayed by the deputations of various states, in the presents which they made to him, rendered this success yet more illustrious. The Ephesians erected a tent for him, adorned magnificently ; the city of Chios furnished him with provender for his horses, and with great numbers of beasts for sacrifice ; and the Lesbians sent him wine and other provisions, for the many great entertainments which he made. Yet in the midst of all this he escaped not without censure, occasioned either by 12 ALCIBIADES. the ill-nature of his enemies, or by his own misconduct. For, it is said, that one Diomedes, an Athenian, a worthy man, and a friend to Alcibiades, passionately desiring to obtain the victory at the Olympic games, and having heard much of a chariot which belonged to the state at Argos, where he knew that Alcibiades had great power and many friends, prevailed with him to undertake to buy the chariot. Alcibiades did indeed buy it, but then claimed it for his own, leaving Diomedes to rage at him, and to call upon the gods and men to bear witness to the injustice. It would seem there was a suit at law com- menced upon this occasion, and there is yet extant an oration concerning the chariot, written by Isocrates in defence of the son of Alcibiades. But the plaintiff in this action is named Tisias, and not Diomedes. As soon as he began to intermeddle in the government, which was when he was very young, he quickly lessened the credit of all who aspired to the confidence of the people, except Ph^ax, the son of Erasistratus, and Nicias, the son of Niceratus, who alone could contest it with him. Nicias was arrived at a mature age, and was esteemed their first general. Phaaax was but a rising statesman like Alcibiades; he was descended from noble ancestors, but was his inferior, as in many other things, so, principally, in eloquence. He possessed rather the art of persuading in private conversation, than of debate before the people ; and was, as Eupolis said of him, " The best of talkers, and of speakers worst." There is extant an oration written by Phaeax against Alcibiades, in which, amongst other things, it is said, that Alcibiades made daily use, at his table, of many gold and silver vessels, which belonged to the commonwealth, as if they had been his own. There was a certain Hyperbolus of the township of ALCIBIADES. 13 Perithoicloe, whom Thucy elides also speaks of as a man of bad character, a general butt for the mockery of all the comic writers of the time, but quite unconcerned at the worst things they could say, and being careless of glory, also insensible of shame ; a temper which some people call boldness and courage, whereas it is indeed impudence and recklessness. He was liked by nobody, yet the people made frequent use of him, when they had a mind to disgrace or calumniate any persons in author- ity. At this time the people, by his persuasions, were ready to proceed to pronounce the sentence of ten years' banishment, called ostracism. This they made use of to humiliate and drive out of the city such citizens as out- did the rest in credit and power, indulging not so much perhaps their apprehensions, as their jealousies, in this way. And when, at this time, there was no doubt but that the ostracism would fall upon one of those three, Alcibiades contrived to form a coalition of parties, and communicating his project to Nicias, turned the sen- tence upon Hyperbolus himself. Others say, that it was not with Nicias, but Phoeax, that he consulted, and, by help of his party, procured the banishment of Hyperbolus when he suspected nothing less. For, before that time, no mean or obscure person had ever fallen under that punishment, so that Plato, the comic poet, speaking of Hyperbolus, might well say, " The man deserved the fate ; deny 't 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." But we have given elsewhere, a fuller statement of what is known to us of the matter. Alcibiades was not less disturbed at the distinctions which Nicias gained amongst the enemies of Athens, than VOL. II. 2 14 ALCIBIADES. at the honors which the Athenians themselves paid to him. For though Alcibiacles was the proper appointed person,* to receive all Lacedaemonians when they came to Athens, and had taken particular care of those that were made prisoners at Pylos, yet, after they had obtained the peace and restitution of the captives, by the procure- ment chiefly of Nicias, they paid him very special attentions. And it was commonly said, in Greece, that the war was begun by Pericles, and that Nicias made an end of it, and the peace was generally called the peace of Nicias. Alci- biades was extremely annoyed at this, and being full of envy, set himself to break the league. First, therefore, observing that the Argives, as well out of fear as hatred to the Lacedaemonians, sought for protection against them, he gave them a secret assurance of alliance with Athens. And communicating, as well in person as by letters, with the chief advisers of the people there, he encouraged them not to fear the Lacedaemonians, nor make concessions to them, but to wait a little and keep their eyes on the Athenians, who, already, were all but sorry they had made peace, and would soon give it up. And, afterwards, when the Lacedaemonians had made a league with the Boeotians, and had not delivered up Panactum entire, as they ought to have clone by the treaty, but only after first destroying it, which gave great offence to the people of Athens, Alcibiades laid hold of that opportunity to exasperate them more highly. He exclaimed fiercely against Nicias, and accused him of many things, which seemed probable enough : as that, when he was general, he made no attempt himself to cap- * The Proxenus that is, who in of the state in which he resided, the ancient cities exercised, in a many of the duties of protection private station, and as a matter of now officially committed to consuls private magnificence and splendid and resident ministers, hospitality, he being always a citizen ALCIBIADES. 15 tnre their enemies that were shut up in the isle of Sphacteria ; but when they were afterwards made prisoners by others, he procured their release and sent them back to the Lacedaemonians, only to get favor with them ; that he would not make use of his credit with them, to prevent their entering into this confederacy with the Boeotians and Corinthians ; and yet, on the other side, that he sought to stand in the way of those Greeks, who were inclined to make an alliance and friendship with Athens, if the Lacedaemonians did not like it. It happened, at the very time when Nicias was by these arts brought into disgrace with the people, that ambas- sadors arrived from Lacedaemon, who, at their first coming, said what seemed very satisfactory, declaring that they had full powers to arrange all matters in dispute upon fair and equal terms. The council received their propo- sitions, and the people was to assemble on the morrow to give them audience. Alcibiades grew very apprehensive of this, and contrived to gain a secret conference with the ambassadors. When they were met, he said : " What is it you intend, you men of Sparta ? Can you be igno- rant that the council always act with moderation and respect towards ambassadors, but that the people are full of ambition and great designs ? So that, if you let them know what full powers your commission gives you, they will urge and press you to unreasonable conditions. Quit, therefore, this indiscreet simplicity, if you expect to obtain equal terms from the Athenians, and would not have things extorted from you contrary to your inclina- tions ; and begin to treat with the people upon some reasonable articles, not avowing yourselves j)lenipotentia- ries, and I will be ready to assist you, out of good-will to the Lacedaemonians." When he had said thus, he gave them his oath for the performance of what he promised, and by this way drew them from Nicias to rely entirely 16 ALCIBIADES. upon himself; and left them full of admiration of the discernment and sagacity they had seen in him. The next day, when the people were assembled and the ambassadors introduced, Alcibiades, with great apparent courtesy, demanded of them, With what powers they were come? They made answer, that they were not come as plenipotentiaries. Instantly upon that, Alcibiades, with a loud voice, as though he had received and not done the wrong, began to call them dishonest prevaricators, and to urge that such men could not possibly come with a purpose to say or do any thing that was sincere. The council was incensed, the people were in a rage, and Nicias, who knew nothing of the deceit and the imposture, was in the greatest confusion, equally surprised and ashamed at such a change in the men. So thus the Lacedaemonian ambas- sadors were utterly rejected, and Alcibiades was declared general, who presently united the Argives, the Eleans, and the people of Mantinea, into a confederacy with the Athenians. No man commended the method by which Alcibiades effected all this, yet it was a great political feat thus to divide and shake almost all Peloponnesus, and to combine so many men in arms against the Lacedaemonians in one day before Mantinea ; and, moreover, to remove the war and the danger so far from the frontier of the Athenians, that even success would profit the enemy but little, should they be conquerors, whereas if they were defeated, Sparta itself was hardly safe. After this battle at Mantinea, the select thousand of the army of the Argives attempted to overthrow the government of the people in Argos, and make themselves masters of the city ; and the Lacedaemonians came to their aid and abolished the democracy. But the people took arms again and gained the advantage, and Alcibia- ALCIBIADES. 17 des came in to their aid, and completed the victory, and persuaded them to build long walls, and by that means to join their city to the sea, and so to bring it wholly within the reach of the Athenian power. To this purpose he procured them builders and masons from Athens, and dis- played the greatest zeal for their service, and gained no less honor and power to himself, than to the common- wealth of Athens. He also persuaded the people of Patroe to join their city to the sea, by building long walls ; and when some one told them, by way of warning, that the Athenians would swallow them up at last, Alcibiades made answer, Possibly it may be so, but it will be by little and little, and beginning at the feet, whereas the Lacedremonians will begin at the head, and devour you all at once. Nor did he neglect either to advise the Athenians to look to their interests by land, and often put the young men in mind of the oath which they had made at Agraulos, to the effect that they would account wheat and barley, and vines and olives, to be the limits of Attica ; by which they were taught to claim a title to all land that was cultivated and productive. But with all these words and deeds, and with all this sagacity and eloquence, he intermingled exorbitant lux- ury and wantonness in his eating and drinking and disso- lute living ; wore long purple robes like a woman, which dragged after him as he went through the market-place ; caused the planks of his galley to be cut away, that so he might lie the softer, his bed not being placed on the boards, but hanging upon girths. His shield, again, which was richly gilded, had not the usual ensigns of the Athe- nians, but a Cupid, holding a thunderbolt in his hand, was painted upon it. The sight of all this made the people of good repute in the city feel disgust and abhorrence, and apprehension also at his free-living, and his contempt of law, as things monstrous in themselves, and indicating 2* 18 ALICBIADES. designs of usurpation. Aristophanes has well expressed the people's feeling towards him : — " They love, and hate, and cannot do without him." And still more strongly, under a figurative expression, " Best rear no lion in your State, 'tis true ; But treat him like a lion if you do." The truth is, his liberalities, his public shows, and other munificence to the people, which were such as nothing could exceed ; the glory of his ancestors, the force of his eloquence, the grace of his person, his strength of body, joined with his great courage and knowledge in military affairs, prevailed upon the Athenians to endure patiently his excesses, to indulge many things to him, and, accord- ing to their habit, to give the softest names to his faults, attributing them to youth and good nature. As, for example, he kept Agatharchus, the painter, a prisoner till he had painted his whole house, but then dismissed him with a reward. He publicly struck Taureas, who exhib- ited certain shows in opposition to him, and contended with him for the prize. He selected for himself one of the captive Melian women, and had a son by her, whom he took care to educate. This the Athenians styled great humanity ; and yet he was the principal cause of the slaughter of all the inhabitants of the isle of Melos who were of age to bear arms, having spoken in favor of that decree. When Aristophon, the painter, had drawn Nemea the courtesan, sitting and holding Alcibiades in her arms, the multitude seemed pleased with the piece, and thronged to see it, but older people disliked and disrel- ished it, and looked on the things as enormities, and movements towards tyranny. So that it was not said amiss by Archestratus, that Greece could not support two Alcibiades. Once, when Alcibiades succeeded well in an ALCIBIADES. The Athenians, even in the lifetime of Pericles, had already cast a longing eye upon Sicily ; but did not attempt any thing till after his death. Then, under pre- tence of aiding their confederates, they sent succors upon all occasions to those who were oppressed by the Syracu- sans, preparing the way for sending over a greater force. But Alcibiades was the person who inflamed this desire of theirs to the height, and prevailed with them no longer to proceed secretly and by little and little, in their design, but to sail out with a great fleet, and undertake at once to make themselves masters of the island. He possessed the people with great hopes, and he himself entertained yet greater ; and the conquest of Sicily, which was the utmost bound of their ambition, was- but the mere outset of his expectation. Nicias endeavored to divert the peo- ple from the expedition, by representing to them that the taking of Syracuse would be a work of great dif- ficulty ; but Alcibiades dreamed of nothing less than the conquest of Carthage and Libya, and by the accession of these, conceiving himself at once made master of Italy and of Peloponnesus, seemed to look upon Sicily as little more than a magazine for the war. The young men were soon elevated with these hopes, and listened gladly to those of riper years, who talked wonders of the coun- 20 ALCIBIADES. tries they were going to ; so that you might see great numbers sitting in the wrestling grounds and public places drawing on the ground the figure of the island, and the situation of Libya and Carthage. Socrates the philosopher, and Meton the astrologer, are said, however, never to have hoped for any good to the commonwealth from this war; the one, it is to be supposed, presaging what would ensue, by the intervention of his attendant Genius or Daemon ; and the other, either upon rational consideration of the project, or by use of the art of divination, conceived fears for its issue, and, feigning mad- ness, caught up a burning torch, and seemed as if he would have set his own house on fire. Others report, that he did not take upon him to act the madman, but secretly in the night set his house on fire, and the next morning besought the people that for his comfort, after such a calamity, they would spare his son from the expe- dition. By which artifice, he deceived his fellow-citizens, and obtained of them what he desired. Together with Alcibiades, Nicias, much against his will, was appointed general ; and he endeavored to avoid the command, not the less on account of his colleague. But the Athenians thought the war would proceed more pros- perously, if they did not send Alcibiades free from all restraint, but tempered his heat with the caution of Nicias. This they chose the rather to do, because Lama- chus, the third general, though he was of mature years, yet in several battles had appeared no less hot and rash than Alcibiades himself. When they began to deliberate of the number of forces, and of the manner of making the necessary provisions, Nicias made another attempt to oppose the design, and to prevent the war ; but Alcibia- des contradicted him, and carried his point with the peo- ple. And one Demostratus, an orator, proposing to give the generals absolute power over the preparations, and ALCIBIADES. 21 the whole management of the war, it was presently decreed so. When all things were fitted for the voyage, many unlucky omens appeared. At that very time the feast of Adonis happened, in which the women were used to expose, in all parts of the city, images resembling dead men carried out to their burial, and to represent funeral solemnities by lamentations and mournful songs. The mutilation, however, of the images of Mercury, most of which, in one night, [had their faces all disfigured, terrified many persons who were wont to despise most things of that nature. It was given out that it was done by the Corinthians, for the sake of the Syracusans, who were their colony, in hopes that the Athenians, by such prodigies, might be induced to delay or abandon the war. But the report gained no credit with the people, nor yet the opinion of those who would not believe that there was any thing ominous in the matter, but that it was only an extravagant action, committed in that sort of sport which runs into license, by wild young men coming from a debauch. Alike enraged and terrified at the thing, looking upon it to proceed from a conspiracy of persons, who designed some commotions in the state, the council, as well as the assembly of the people, which was held frequently in a few days' space, examined diligently every thing that might administer ground -for suspicion. Dur- ing this examination, Androcles, one of the demagogues, produced certain slaves and strangers before them, who accused Alcibiades and some of his friends of defacing other images in the same manner, and for having pro- fanely acted the sacred mysteries at a drunken meeting, where one Theodorus represented the herald, Polytion the torch-bearer, and Alcibiades the chief priest, while the rest of the party appeared as candidates for initiation, and received the title of Mysta3 or Initiates. These were 22 ALCIBIADES. 