diff options
Diffstat (limited to '28558-tei')
| -rw-r--r-- | 28558-tei/28558-tei.tei | 27277 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 28558-tei/images/frontispiece.png | bin | 0 -> 77556 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 28558-tei/images/plate-i-a.png | bin | 0 -> 99687 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 28558-tei/images/plate-i-b.png | bin | 0 -> 98228 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 28558-tei/images/plate-ii-a.png | bin | 0 -> 79835 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 28558-tei/images/plate-ii-b.png | bin | 0 -> 98435 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 28558-tei/images/plate-iii-a.png | bin | 0 -> 77045 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 28558-tei/images/plate-iii-b.png | bin | 0 -> 86781 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 28558-tei/images/plate-iii-c.png | bin | 0 -> 86367 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 28558-tei/images/plate-iv-a.png | bin | 0 -> 88868 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 28558-tei/images/plate-iv-b.png | bin | 0 -> 94156 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 28558-tei/images/plate-iv-c.png | bin | 0 -> 99849 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 28558-tei/images/plate-v-a.png | bin | 0 -> 75742 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 28558-tei/images/plate-v-b.png | bin | 0 -> 93958 bytes |
14 files changed, 27277 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/28558-tei/28558-tei.tei b/28558-tei/28558-tei.tei new file mode 100644 index 0000000..11cd29e --- /dev/null +++ b/28558-tei/28558-tei.tei @@ -0,0 +1,27277 @@ +<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?> + +<!DOCTYPE TEI.2 SYSTEM "http://www.gutenberg.org/tei/marcello/0.4/dtd/pgtei.dtd" [ + +<!ENTITY u5 "http://www.tei-c.org/Lite/"> + +]> + +<TEI.2 lang="en"> +<teiHeader> + <fileDesc> + <titleStmt> + <title>The Ancient History of the Egyptians, Carthaginians, Assyrians, + Babylonians, Medes and Persians, Macedonians and Grecians (Vol. 1 of + 6)</title> + <author><name reg="Rollin, Charles">Charles Rollin</name></author> + <respStmt><resp>Translated by</resp><name>Robert Lynam</name></respStmt> + </titleStmt> + <editionStmt> + <edition n="1">Edition 1</edition> + </editionStmt> + <publicationStmt> + <publisher>Project Gutenberg</publisher> + <date>April 11, 2009</date> + <idno type="etext-no">28558</idno> + <availability> + <p>This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and + with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it + away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg + License online at www.gutenberg.org/license</p> + </availability> + </publicationStmt> + <sourceDesc> + <bibl> + Created electronically. + </bibl> + </sourceDesc> + </fileDesc> + <encodingDesc> + </encodingDesc> + <profileDesc> + <langUsage> + <language id="en"></language> + <language id="la"></language> + <language id="el"></language> + <language id="he"></language> + </langUsage> + </profileDesc> + <revisionDesc> + <change> + <date value="2009-04-11">April 1 2009</date> + <respStmt> + <name> + Produced by Paul Murray, David King, and the Online + Distributed Proofreading Team at <http://www.pgdp.net/>. + </name> + </respStmt> + <item>Project Gutenberg TEI edition 1</item> + </change> + </revisionDesc> +</teiHeader> + +<pgExtensions> + <pgStyleSheet> + .boxed { x-class: boxed } + .shaded { x-class: shaded } + .rules { x-class: rules; rules: all } + .indent { margin-left: 2 } + .bold { font-weight: bold } + .italic { font-style: italic } + .smallcaps { font-variant: small-caps } + </pgStyleSheet> + + <pgCharMap formats="txt.iso-8859-1"> + <char id="U0x2014"> + <charName>mdash</charName> + <desc>EM DASH</desc> + <mapping>--</mapping> + </char> + <char id="U0x2003"> + <charName>emsp</charName> + <desc>EM SPACE</desc> + <mapping> </mapping> + </char> + <char id="U0x2026"> + <charName>hellip</charName> + <desc>HORIZONTAL ELLIPSIS</desc> + <mapping>...</mapping> + </char> + </pgCharMap> +</pgExtensions> + +<text lang="en"> + <front> + <div> + <divGen type="pgheader" /> + </div> + <div> + <divGen type="encodingDesc" /> + </div> + + <div rend="page-break-before: always"> + <p rend="font-size: xx-large; text-align: center">The</p> + <p rend="font-size: xx-large; text-align: center">Ancient History</p> + <p rend="text-align: center">Of The</p> + <p rend="font-size: large; text-align: center">Egyptians, Carthaginians,</p> + <p rend="font-size: large; text-align: center">Assyrians, Babylonians,</p> + <p rend="font-size: large; text-align: center">Medes and Persians,</p> + <p rend="font-size: large; text-align: center">Macedonians and Grecians</p> + <p rend="font-size: large; text-align: center">By</p> + <p rend="font-size: x-large; text-align: center">Charles Rollin</p> + <p rend="text-align: center">Late Principal of the University of Paris</p> + <p rend="text-align: center">Professor of Eloquence in The Royal College</p> + <p rend="text-align: center">And Member of the Royal Academy</p> + <p rend="text-align: center">Of Inscriptions and Belles Letters</p> + <p rend="font-size: large; text-align: center">Translated From The French</p> + <p rend="font-size: large; text-align: center">In Six Volumes</p> + <p rend="font-size: large; text-align: center">Vol. I.</p> + <p rend="font-size: large; text-align: center">New Edition</p> + <p rend="font-size: large; text-align: center">Illustrated With Maps and Other Engravings</p> + <p rend="text-align: center">London</p> + <p rend="text-align: center">Printed for Longman And Co., J. M. Richardson,</p> + <p rend="text-align: center">Hamilton And Co., Hatchard And Son, Simpkin And Co.,</p> + <p rend="text-align: center">Rivingtons, Whittaker And Co., Allen And Co.,</p> + <p rend="text-align: center">Nisbet And Co., J. Bain, T. And W. Boone, E. Hodgson,</p> + <p rend="text-align: center">T. Bumpus, Smith, Elder, And Co., J. Capes, L. Booth,</p> + <p rend="text-align: center">Bigg And Son, Houlston And Co., H. Washbourne,</p> + <p rend="text-align: center">Bickets And Bush, Waller And Son, Cambridge,</p> + <p rend="text-align: center">Wilson And Sons, York, G. And J. Robinson, Liverpool,</p> + <p rend="text-align: center">And A. And C. Black, Edinburgh</p> + <p rend="text-align: center">1850</p> + </div> + <div rend="page-break-before: always"> + <head>Contents</head> + <divGen type="toc" /> + </div> + + </front> +<body> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> + +<p rend='text-align: center'> + <figure url='images/frontispiece.png' rend='width: 50%'> + <head rend='text-align: center'>Charles Rollin. Born 1661. Died 1741.</head> + <figDesc>Illustration: Portrait of Charles Rollin.</figDesc> + </figure> +</p> + +<p> +[Transcriber's Note: The French original of this work was published 1730-38. +The translation was done by Robert Lynam.] +</p> + +</div> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> + +<p> +A Letter written by the Right Reverend Dr. <hi rend='smallcaps'>Francis +Atterbury</hi>, late Lord Bishop of Rochester, to <hi rend='smallcaps'>M. +Rollin</hi>, in commendation of this Work. +</p> + +<p> +Reverende atque Eruditissime Vir, +</p> + +<p> +Cum, monente amico quodam, qui juxta ædes tuas habitat, scirem +te Parisios revertisse; statui salutatum te ire, ut primùm per valetudinem +liceret. Id officii, ex pedum infirmitate aliquandiu dilatum, +cùm tandem me impleturum sperarem, frustrà fui; domi non eras. +Restat, ut quod coràm exequi non potui, scriptis saltem literis +præstem; tibique ob ea omnia, quibus à te auctus sum, beneficia, +grates agam, quas habeo certè, et semper habiturus sum, maximas. +</p> + +<p> +Reverà munera ilia librorum nuperis à te annis editorum egregia +ac perhonorifica mihi visa sunt. Multi enim facio, et te, vir præstantissime, +et tua omnia quæcunque in isto literarum genere perpolita +sunt; in quo quidem Te cæteris omnibus ejusmodi scriptoribus +facilè antecellere, atque esse eundem et dicendi et sentiendi +magistrum optimum, prorsùs existimo; cùmque in excolendis his +studiis aliquantulum ipse et operæ et temporis posuerim, liberè +tamen profiteor me, tua cum legam ac relegam, ea edoctum esse à +te, non solùm quæ nesciebam prorsus, sed etiam quæ anteà didicisse +mihi visus sum. Modestè itaque nimiùm de opere tuo sentis, cùm +juventuti tantùm instituendæ elaboratum id esse contendis. Ea +certè scribis, quæ à viris istiusmodi rerum haud imperitis, cum +voluptate et fructu legi possunt. Vetera quidem et satis cognita +revocas in memoriam; sed ita revocas, ut illustres, ut ornes; ut +aliquid vetustis adjicias quod novum sit, alienis quod omnino tuum: +bonasque picturas bonâ in luce collocando efficis, ut etiam iis, à +quibus sæpissimè conspectæ sunt, elegantiores tamen solito appareant, +et placeant magis. +</p> + +<p> +Certè, dum Xenophontem sæpiùs versas, ab illo et ea quæ à te +plurimis in locis narrantur, et ipsum ubique narrandi modum videris +traxisse, stylique Xenophontei nitorem ac venustam simplicitatem +non imitari tantùm, sed planè assequi: ita ut si Gallicè scisset +Xenophon, non aliis ilium, in eo argumento quod tractas, verbis +usurum, non alio prorsùs more scripturum judicem. +</p> + +<p> +Hæc ego, haud assentandi causâ, (quod vitium procul à me abest,) +sed verè ex animi sententiâ dico. Cùm enim pulchris à te donis +ditatus sim, quibus in eodem, aut in alio quopiam doctrinæ genere +referendis imparem me sentio, volui tamen propensi erga te animi +gratique testimonium proferre, et te aliquo saltem munusculo, etsi +perquam dissimili, remunerari. +</p> + +<p> +Perge, vir docte admodùm et venerande, de bonis literis, quæ +nunc neglectæ passim et spretæ jacent, benè mereri: perge juventatem +Gallicam (quando illi solummodò te utilem esse vis) optimis +et præceptis et exemplis informare. +</p> + +<p> +Quod ut facias, annis ætatis tuæ elapsis multos adjiciat Deus! +iisque decurrentibus sanum te præstet atque incolumem. Hoc ex +animo optat ac vovet +</p> + +<p> +Tui observantissimus<lb/> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Franciscus Roffensis.</hi> +</p> + +<p> +Pransurum te mecum post festa dixit mihi amicus ille noster qui +tibi vicinus est. Cùm statueris tecum quo die adfuturus es, id illi +significabis. Me certè annis malisque debilitatum, quandocunque +veneris, domi invenies. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>6° Kal. Jan. 1731.</hi> +</p> + +</div> + +<div> + +<p> +A Letter written by the Right Reverend Dr. <hi rend='smallcaps'>Francis +Atterbury</hi>, late Lord Bishop of Rochester, to <hi rend='smallcaps'>M. +Rollin</hi>, in commendation of this Work. +</p> + +<p> +Reverend and most Learned Sir, +</p> + +<p> +When I was informed by a friend who lives near you, that you were +returned to Paris, I resolved to wait on you, as soon as my health +would admit. After having been prevented by the gout for some +time, I was in hopes at length of paying my respects to you at your +house, and went thither, but found you not at home. It is incumbent +on me therefore to do that in writing, which I could not in +person, and to return you my acknowledgments for all the favours +you have been pleased to confer upon me, of which I beg you will +be assured, that I shall always retain the most grateful sense. +</p> + +<p> +And indeed I esteem the books you have lately published, as +presents of exceeding value, and such as do me very great honour. +For I have the highest regard, most excellent Sir, both for you, and +for every thing that comes from so masterly a hand as yours, in the +kind of learning you treat; in which I must believe that you not +only excel all other writers, but are at the same time the best master +of speaking and thinking well; and I freely confess that, though I +had applied some time and pains in cultivating these studies, when +I read your volumes over and over again, I was instructed in things +by you, of which I was not only entirely ignorant, but seemed to +myself to have learnt before. You have therefore too modest an +opinion of your work, when you declare it composed solely for the +instruction of youth. What you write may undoubtedly be read +with pleasure and improvement by persons not unacquainted with +learning of the same kind. For whilst you call to mind ancient +facts and things sufficiently known, you do it in such a manner, that +you illustrate, you embellish them; still adding something new to +the old, something entirely your own to the labours of others: by +placing good pictures in a good light, you make them appear with +unusual elegance and more exalted beauties, even to those who have +seen and studied them most. +</p> + +<p> +In your frequent correspondence with Xenophon, you have certainly +extracted from him, both what you relate in many places, +and every where his very manner of relating; you seem not only to +have imitated, but attained the shining elegance and beautiful simplicity +of that author's style: so that had Xenophon excelled in the +French language, in my judgment he would have used no other +words, nor written in any other method, upon the subject you treat, +than you have done. +</p> + +<p> +I do not say this out of flattery, (which is far from being my vice,) +but from my real sentiments and opinion. As you have enriched +me with your fine presents, which I know how incapable I am of +repaying either in the same or in any other kind of learning, I was +willing to testify my gratitude and affection for you, and at least to +make you some small, though exceedingly unequal, return. +</p> + +<p> +Go on, most learned and venerable Sir, to deserve well of sound +literature, which now lies universally neglected and despised. Go +on, in forming the youth of France (since you will have their utility +to be your sole view) upon the best precepts and examples. +</p> + +<p> +Which that you may effect, may it please God to add many years +to your life, and during the course of them to preserve you in health +and safety. This is the earnest wish and prayer of +</p> + +<p> +Your most obedient Servant,<lb/> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Francis Roffen.</hi> +</p> + +<p> +P.S.—Our friend, your neighbour, tells me you intend to dine +with me after the holidays. When you have fixed upon the day, +be pleased to let him know it. Whenever you come, you will be +sure to find one so weak with age and ills as I am, at home. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>December 26, 1731.</hi> +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n='i'/><anchor id='Pgi'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Preface.</head> + +<div> +<head>The Usefulness of Profane History, especially with regard to +Religion.</head> + +<p> +The study of profane history would little deserve to have a +serious attention, and a considerable length of time bestowed +upon it, if it were confined to the bare knowledge of ancient +transactions, and an uninteresting inquiry into the æras when +each of them happened. It little concerns us to know, that +there were once such men as Alexander, Cæsar, Aristides, or +Cato, and that they lived in this or that period; that the +empire of the Assyrians made way for that of the Babylonians, +and the latter for the empire of the Medes and Persians, +who were themselves subjected by the Macedonians, as these +were afterwards by the Romans. +</p> + +<p> +But it highly concerns us to know, by what methods those +empires were founded; by what steps they rose to that exalted +pitch of grandeur which we so much admire; what it was that +constituted their true glory and felicity; and what were the +causes of their declension and fall. +</p> + +<p> +It is of no less importance to study attentively the manners +of different nations; their genius, laws, and customs; and +especially to acquaint ourselves with the character and disposition, +the talents, virtues, and even vices of those by whom +they were governed; and whose good or bad qualities contributed +to the grandeur or decay of the states over which they +presided. +</p> + +<p> +Such are the great objects which ancient history presents; +causing to pass, as it were, in review before us, all the kingdoms +and empires of the world; and at the same time, all the +great men who were any ways conspicuous; thereby instructing +us, by example rather than precept, in the arts of empire +and war, the principles of government, the rules of +policy, the maxims of civil society, and the conduct of life that +suits all ages and conditions. +</p> + +<p> +We acquire, at the same time, another knowledge, which +cannot but excite the attention of all persons who have a taste +and inclination for polite learning; I mean the manner in +<pb n='ii'/><anchor id='Pgii'/> +which arts and sciences were invented, cultivated, and improved. +We there discover, and trace as it were with the eye, their +origin and progress; and perceive, with admiration, that the +nearer we approach those countries which were once inhabited +by the sons of Noah, in the greater perfection we find the arts +and sciences; whereas they seem to be either neglected or forgotten, +in proportion to the remoteness of nations from them; +so that, when men attempted to revive those arts and sciences, +they were obliged to go back to the source from whence they +originally flowed. +</p> + +<p> +I give only a transient view of these objects, though so very +important, in this place, because I have already treated them +at some length elsewhere.<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Of the Method of Teaching +and Studying the Belles Lettres</hi>, &c. vol. iii. and iv.—Trans.</note> +</p> + +<p> +But another object of infinitely greater importance, claims +our attention. For although profane history treats only of +nations who had imbibed all the absurdities of a superstitious +worship; and abandoned themselves to all the irregularities of +which human nature, after the fall of the first man, became +capable; it nevertheless proclaims universally the greatness of +the Almighty, his power, his justice, and above all, the admirable +wisdom with which his providence governs the universe. +</p> + +<p> +If the inherent conviction of this last truth raised, according to Cicero's +observation,<note place='foot'>Pietate ac religione, atque hâc unâ sapientiâ quòd +deorum immortalium numine omnia regi gubernarique perspeximus, omnes gentes nationesque +superavimus. <hi rend='italic'>Orat. de Arusp. resp.</hi> n. 19.—Trans.</note> the +Romans above all other nations; we may, in like manner, affirm, that nothing gives +history a greater superiority to many other branches of literature, +than to see in a manner imprinted, in almost every page +of it, the precious footsteps and shining proofs of this great +truth, <hi rend='italic'>viz.</hi> that God disposes all events as supreme Lord and +Sovereign; that he alone determines the fate of kings and the +duration of empires; and that he transfers the government of +kingdoms from one nation to another, because of the unrighteous +dealing and wickedness committed therein.<note place='foot'>Ecclus. x. 8</note> +</p> + +<p> +We discover this important truth in going back to the most +remote antiquity, and the origin of profane history; I mean, to +the dispersion of the posterity of Noah into the several countries +of the earth where they settled. Liberty, chance, views +of interest, a love for certain countries, and similar motives, +were, in outward appearance, the only causes of the different +choice which men made in these various migrations. But the +<pb n='iii'/><anchor id='Pgiii'/> +Scriptures inform us, that amidst the trouble and confusion +that followed the sudden change in the language of Noah's +descendants, God presided invisibly over all their counsels and +deliberations; that nothing was transacted but by the Almighty's +appointment; and that he alone guided<note place='foot'>The ancients themselves, +according to Pindar, (<hi rend='italic'>Olymp. Od.</hi> vii.) had retained +some idea, that the dispersion of men was not the effect of chance, but that they had +been settled in different countries by the appointment of Providence.—Trans.</note> +and settled all mankind, agreeably to the dictates of his mercy and justice: +<q>The Lord scattered them abroad from thence upon the face +of the earth.</q><note place='foot'>Gen. xi. 8, 9.</note> +</p> + +<p> +It is true indeed that God, even in those early ages, had a +peculiar regard for that people, whom he was one day to consider +as his own. He pointed out the country which he +designed for them; he caused it to be possessed by another +laborious nation, who applied themselves to cultivate and +adorn it; and to improve the future inheritance of the Israelites. +He then fixed, in that country, the like number of families, +as were to be settled in it, when the sons of Israel should, +at the appointed time, take possession of it; and did not suffer +any of the nations, which were not subject to the curse pronounced +by Noah against Canaan, to enter upon an inheritance +that was to be given up entirely to the Israelites. <hi rend='italic'>Quando +dividebat Altissimus gentes, quando separabat filios Adam, +constituit terminos populorum juxta numerum filiorum +Israel.</hi><note place='foot'><q>When the Most High divided the nations, and separated +the sons of Adam, he set the bounds of the people according to the number of the +children of Israel</q> (whom he had in view.) This is one of the interpretations (which +appears very natural) that is given to this passage. Deut. xxxii. 8.—Trans.</note> +But this peculiar regard of God to his future people, does not +interfere with that which he had for the rest of the nations of +the earth, as is evident from the many passages of Scripture, +which teach us, that the entire succession of ages is present to +him; that nothing is transacted in the whole universe, but by +his appointment; and that he directs the several events of it +from age to age. <hi rend='italic'>Tu es Deus conspector seculorum. A +seculo usque in seculum respicis.</hi><note place='foot'>Ecclus. xxxvi. 17, xxxix. +19.</note> +</p> + +<p> +We must therefore consider, as an indisputable principle, +and as the basis and foundation of the study of profane history, +that the providence of the Almighty has, from all eternity, +appointed the establishment, duration, and destruction of kingdoms +and empires, as well in regard to the general plan of +the whole universe, known only to God, who constitutes the +order and wonderful harmony of its several parts; as particularly +with respect to the people of Israel, and still more with +<pb n='iv'/><anchor id='Pgiv'/> +regard to the Messiah, and the establishment of the church, +which is his great work, the end and design of all his other +works, and ever present to his sight; <hi rend='italic'>Notum à seculo est +Domino opus suum.</hi><note place='foot'>Acts xv. 18.</note> +</p> + +<p> +God has vouchsafed to discover to us, in holy Scripture, a +part of the relation of the several nations of the earth to his +own people; and the little so discovered, diffuses great light +over the history of those nations, of whom we shall have but a +very imperfect idea, unless we have recourse to the inspired +writers. They alone display, and bring to light, the secret +thoughts of princes, their incoherent projects, their foolish +pride, their impious and cruel ambition: they reveal the true +causes and hidden springs of victories and overthrows; of the +grandeur and declension of nations; the rise and ruin of states; +and teach us, what indeed is the principal benefit to be derived +from history, the judgment which the Almighty forms both of +princes and empires, and consequently, what idea we ourselves +ought to entertain of them. +</p> + +<p> +Not to mention Egypt, that served at first as the cradle (if I +may be allowed the expression) of the holy nation; and which +afterwards was a severe prison, and a fiery furnace to it<note place='foot'>I will bring +you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will rid +you out of their bondage. Exod. vi. 6. Out of the iron furnace, even out of Egypt. +Deut. iv. 20.—Trans.</note>; +and, at last, the scene of the most astonishing miracles that +God ever wrought in favour of Israel: not to mention, I say, +Egypt, the mighty empires of Nineveh and Babylon furnish a +thousand proofs of the truth here advanced. +</p> + +<p> +Their most powerful monarchs, Tiglath-Pileser, Shalmanezer, +Sennacherib, Nebuchadnezzar, and many more, were, in God's +hand, as so many instruments, which he employed to punish +the transgressions of his people. <q>He lifted up an ensign to +the nations from far, and hissed unto them from the end of +the earth, to come and receive his orders.</q><note place='foot'>Isaiah v. 26, 30, +x. 28, 34, xiii. 4, 5.</note> He himself put +the sword into their hands, and appointed their marches daily. +He breathed courage and ardour into their soldiers; made their +armies indefatigable in labour, and invincible in battle; and +spread terror and consternation wherever they directed their +steps. +</p> + +<p> +The rapidity of their conquests ought to have enabled them +to discern the invisible hand which conducted them. But, +says one of these kings<note place='foot'>Sennacherib.—Trans.</note> in the name +of the rest, <q>By the +strength of my hand I have done it, and by my wisdom; for I +<pb n='v'/><anchor id='Pgv'/> +am prudent: And I have removed the bounds of the people +and have robbed their treasures, and I have put down the +inhabitants like a valiant man. And my hand hath found as a +nest the riches of the people: and as one gathereth eggs that +are left, have I gathered all the earth, and there was none that +moved the wing, or opened the mouth, or peeped.</q><note place='foot'>Ibid. +x. 13, 14.</note> +</p> + +<p> +But this monarch, so august and wise in his own eye, how +did he appear in that of the Almighty? Only as a subaltern +agent, a servant sent by his master: <q>The rod of his anger, +and the staff in his hand.</q><note place='foot'>Isaiah x. 5.</note> +God's design was to chastise, not +to extirpate his children. But Sennacherib <q>had it in his +heart to destroy and cut off all nations.</q><note place='foot'>Ibid. +ver. 7.</note> What then will be +the issue of this kind of contest between the designs of God, +and those of this prince?<note place='foot'>Ibid. ver. 12.</note> +At the time that he fancied himself +already possessed of Jerusalem, the Lord, with a single +blast, disperses all his proud hopes; destroys, in one night, an +hundred four score and five thousand of his forces; and +putting <q>a hook in his nose, and a bridle in his lips</q>,<note place='foot'>Because +thy rage against me, and thy tumult is come up into mine ears, therefore +I will put my hook into thy nose, and my bridle in thy lips, and I will turn +thee back by the way by which thou camest. 2 Kings xix. 28.—Trans.</note> (as +though he had been a wild beast,) he leads him back to his +own dominions, covered with infamy, through the midst of +those nations, who, but a little before, had beheld him in all his +pride and haughtiness. +</p> + +<p> +Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, appears still more visibly +governed by a Providence, to which he himself is an entire +stranger, but which presides over all his deliberations, and +determines all his actions. +</p> + +<p> +Being come at the head of his army to two highways, the +one of which led to Jerusalem, and the other to Rabbah, the +chief city of the Ammonites, this king, not knowing which of +them it would be best for him to strike into, debates for some +time with himself, and at last casts lots. God makes the lot +fall on Jerusalem, to fulfil the menaces he had pronounced +against that city, <hi rend='italic'>viz.</hi> to destroy it, +to burn the temple, and lead +its inhabitants into captivity.<note place='foot'>Ezek. xxi. 19, 23.</note> +</p> + +<p> +One would imagine, at first sight, that this king had been +prompted to besiege Tyre, merely from a political view, <hi rend='italic'>viz.</hi> +that he might not leave behind him so powerful and well-fortified +a city; nevertheless, a superior will had decreed the +siege of Tyre.<note place='foot'>Ibid. xxvi. xxvii. xxviii.</note> +God designed, on one side, to humble the pride +of Ithobal its king, who fancying himself wiser than Daniel, +<pb n='vi'/><anchor id='Pgvi'/> +whose fame was spread over the whole East; and ascribing +entirely to his rare and uncommon prudence the extent of his +dominions, and the greatness of his riches, persuaded himself +that he was <q>a god, and sat in the seat of God.</q><note place='foot'>Ezek. +xxviii. 2.</note> On the other side, he also designed to chastise the luxury, the +voluptuousness, and the pride of those haughty merchants, who +thought themselves kings of the sea, and sovereigns over +crowned heads; and especially, that inhuman joy of the Tyrians, +who looked upon the fall of Jerusalem (the rival of Tyre) as +their own aggrandizement. These were the motives which +prompted God himself to lead Nebuchadnezzar to Tyre; and +to make him execute, though unknowingly, his commands. +<foreign rend='italic'>Idcirco ecce ego adducam ad Tyrum Nabuchodonosor.</foreign> +</p> + +<p> +To recompense this monarch, whose army the Almighty +had caused <q>to serve a great service against Tyre</q><note place='foot'>Ibid. xxix. +18, 20.</note> (these are +God's own words;) and to compensate the Babylonish troops, +for the grievous toils they had sustained during a thirteen +years' siege; <q>I will give,</q><note place='foot'>Dan. iv. +1-34.</note> saith the Lord God, <q>the land of +Egypt unto Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon; and he shall +take her multitude, and take her spoil, and take her prey, and +it shall be the wages for his army.</q><note place='foot'>This incident is related more at +large in the history of the Egyptians, under the +reign of Amasis.—Trans.</note> +</p> + +<p> +The same Nebuchadnezzar, eager to immortalize his name +by the grandeur of his exploits, was determined to heighten +the glory of his conquests by his splendour and magnificence, +in embellishing the capital of his empire with pompous edifices, +and the most sumptuous ornaments. But whilst a set of adulating +courtiers, on whom he lavished the highest honours and +immense riches, make all places resound with his name, an +august senate of watchful spirits is formed, who weigh, in the +balance of truth, the actions of kings, and pronounce upon +them a sentence from which there lies no appeal. The king +of Babylon is cited before this tribunal, in which there presides +the Supreme Judge, who, to a vigilance which nothing can +elude, adds a holiness that will not allow of the least irregularity. +<foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Vigil et sanctus.</foreign> +In this tribunal all Nebuchadnezzar's +actions, which were the admiration and wonder of the public, +are examined with rigour; and a search is made into the +inward recesses of his heart, to discover his most hidden +thoughts. How will this formidable inquiry end? At the +instant that Nebuchadnezzar, walking in his palace, and +revolving, with a secret complacency, his exploits, his grandeur +and magnificence, is saying to himself, <q>Is not this great +<pb n='vii'/><anchor id='Pgvii'/> +Babylon that I built for the house of the kingdom, by the +might of my power, and for the honour of my +majesty?</q><note place='foot'>Ibid. iv. 30.</note> in +this very instant, when, by vainly flattering himself that he +held his power and kingdom from himself alone, he usurped the +seat of the Almighty: a voice from heaven pronounces his +sentence, and declares to him, that <q>his kingdom was departed +from him, that he should be driven from men, and his dwelling +be with the beasts of the field, until he knew that the Most +High ruled in the kingdoms of men, and gave them to whomsoever +he would.</q><note place='foot'>Dan. iv. 31, 32.</note> +</p> + +<p> +This tribunal, which is for ever assembled, though invisible +to mortal eyes, pronounced the like sentence on those famous +conquerors, on those heroes of the pagan world, who, like +Nebuchadnezzar, considered themselves as the sole authors of +their exalted fortune; as independent on authority of every +kind, and as not holding of a superior power. +</p> + +<p> +As God appointed some princes to be the instruments of his +vengeance, he made others the dispensers of his goodness. +He ordained Cyrus to be the deliverer of his people; and, to +enable him to support with dignity so glorious a function, he +endued him with all the qualities which constitute the greatest +captains and princes: and caused that excellent education to +be given him, which the heathens so much admired, though +they neither knew the author nor true cause of it. +</p> + +<p> +We see in profane history the extent and swiftness of his +conquests, the intrepidity of his courage, the wisdom of his +views and designs; his greatness of soul, his noble generosity; +his truly paternal affection for his subjects; and, on their part, +the grateful returns of love and tenderness, which made them +consider him rather as their protector and father, than as their +lord and sovereign. We find, I say, all these particulars in +profane history; but we do not perceive the secret principle of +so many exalted qualities, nor the hidden spring which set +them in motion. +</p> + +<p> +But Isaiah discloses them, and delivers himself in words +suitable to the greatness and majesty of the God who inspired +him, He represents this all-powerful God of armies as leading +<pb n='viii'/><anchor id='Pgviii'/> +Cyrus by the hand, marching before him, conducting him from +city to city, and from province to province; <q>subduing nations +before him, loosening the loins of kings, breaking in pieces +gates of brass, cutting in sunder the bars of iron,</q> throwing +down the walls and bulwarks of cities, and putting him in possession +<q>of the treasures of darkness, and the hidden riches of +secret places.</q><note place='foot'><p>Thus saith the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus, +whose right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before him and I will loose the loins +of kings to open before him the two-leaved gates, and the gates shall not be shut. +</p> +<p> +I will go before thee, and make the crooked places straight: will break in pieces +the gates of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron. +</p> +<p> +And I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, +that thou mayest know, that I the Lord which shall call <emph>thee</emph> by thy name, +<emph>am</emph> the God of Israel. Isa. xlv. 1-3.—Trans.</p></note> +</p> + +<p> +The prophet also tells us the cause and motive of all these +wonderful events.<note place='foot'>Isa. xlv. 13, 14.</note> +It was in order to punish Babylon, and to +deliver Judah, that the Almighty conducts Cyrus, step by +step, and gives success to all his enterprises. <q>I have raised +him up in righteousness, and I will direct all his ways.—For +Jacob my servant's sake, and Israel mine elect.</q><note place='foot'>Ibid. 13, 4.</note> +But this prince is so blind and ungrateful, that he does not know his +master, nor remember his benefactor. <q>I have surnamed +thee, though thou hast not known me.—I girded thee, though +thou hast not known me.</q><note place='foot'>Ibid. 4, 5.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Men seldom form to themselves a right judgment of true +glory, and the duties essential to regal power. The Scripture +alone gives us a just idea of them, and this it does in a wonderful +manner, under the image of a very large and strong +tree, whose top reaches to heaven, and whose branches extend +to the extremities of the earth.<note place='foot'>Dan. iv. 7, 9.</note> +As its foliage is very abundant, +and it is bowed down with fruit, it constitutes the ornament +and felicity of the plains around it. It supplies a grateful +shade, and a secure retreat to beasts of every kind: animals, +both wild and tame, are safely lodged beneath it, the +birds of heaven dwell in its branches, and it supplies food to all +living creatures. +</p> + +<p> +Can there be a more just or more instructive idea of the +kingly office, whose true grandeur and solid glory does not +consist in that splendour, pomp, and magnificence which surround +it; nor in that reverence and exterior homage which +are paid to it by subjects, and which are justly due to it; but +in the real services and solid advantages it procures to nations, +whose support, defence, security, and asylum it forms, (both +from its nature and institution,) at the same time that it is the +fruitful source of blessings of every kind; especially with regard +to the poor and weak, who ought to find beneath the shade +and protection of royalty, a sweet peace and tranquillity, not to +be interrupted or disturbed; whilst the monarch himself sacrifices +his ease, and experiences alone those storms and tempests +from which he shelters all others? +</p> + +<pb n='ix'/><anchor id='Pgix'/> + +<p> +I think that I observe this noble image, and the execution +of this great plan (religion only excepted) realized in the +government of Cyrus, of which Xenophon has given us a +picture, in his beautiful preface to the history of that prince. +He has there specified a great number of nations, which, +though separated from each other by vast tracts of country, +and still more widely by the diversity of their manners, customs, +and language, were however all united, by the same sentiments +of esteem, reverence, and love for a prince, whose government +they wished, if possible, to have continued for ever, so much +happiness and tranquillity did they enjoy under it.<note place='foot'>Ἐδυνήθη +ἐπιθυμίαν ἐμβαλεῖν τοσαύτην τοῦ πάντας αὐτῷ χαριζεσθαι, ὤσι ἀεὶ +τ᾽ αὐτοῦ γνώμη ἀξιοῦν κυβερνᾶσθαι.—Trans.</note> +</p> + +<p> +To this amiable and salutary government, let us oppose the +idea which the sacred writings give us of those monarchs and +conquerors so much boasted by antiquity, who, instead of +making the happiness of mankind the sole object of their care, +were prompted by no other motives than those of interest and +ambition. The Holy Spirit represents them under the symbols +of monsters generated from the agitation of the sea, from +the tumult, confusion, and dashing of the waves one against +the other; and under the image of cruel wild beasts, which +spread terror and desolation universally, and are for ever +gorging themselves with blood and slaughter; bears, lions, +tigers, and leopards.<note place='foot'>Dan. vii.</note> +How strong and expressive is this +colouring! +</p> + +<p> +Nevertheless, it is often from such destructive models, that +the rules and maxims of the education generally bestowed on +the children of the great are borrowed; and it is these ravagers +of nations, these scourges of mankind, they propose to make +them resemble. By inspiring them with the sentiments of a +boundless ambition, and the love of false glory, they become +(to borrow an expression from Scripture) <q>young lions; they +learn to catch the prey, and devour men—to lay waste cities, +to turn lands and their fatness into desolation by the noise of +their roaring.</q><note place='foot'>Ezek. xix. 3, 7.</note> +And when this young lion is grown up, God +tells us, that the noise of his exploits, and the renown of his +victories, are nothing but a frightful roaring, which fills all +places with terror and desolation. +</p> + +<p> +The examples I have hitherto mentioned, extracted from +the history of the Egyptians, Assyrians, Babylonians, and Persians, +prove sufficiently the supreme power exercised by God +over all empires; and the relation he has thought fit to establish +<pb n='x'/><anchor id='Pgx'/> +between the rest of the nations of the earth and his own +peculiar people. The same truth appears as conspicuously +under the kings of Syria and Egypt, successors of Alexander +the Great: between whose history, and that of the Jews under +the Maccabees, every body knows the close connection. +</p> + +<p> +To these incidents I cannot forbear adding another, which +though universally known, is not therefore the less remarkable; +I mean the taking of Jerusalem by Titus. When he +had entered that city, and viewed all the fortifications of it, +this prince, though a heathen, owned the all-powerful arm of +the God of Israel; and, in a rapture of admiration, cried out, +<q>It is manifest that the Almighty has fought for us, and has +driven the Jews from those towers; since neither the utmost +human force, nor that of all the engines in the world, could +have effected it.</q><note place='foot'>Joseph. 1. iii. c. 46.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Besides the visible and sensible connection of sacred and +profane history, there is another more secret and more distinct +relation with respect to the Messiah, for whose coming the +Almighty, whose work was ever present to his sight, prepared +mankind from far, even by the state of ignorance and dissoluteness +in which he suffered them to be immersed during four +thousand years. It was to make mankind sensible of the +necessity of our having a Mediator, that God permitted the +nations to walk after their own ways; while neither the light +of reason, nor the dictates of philosophy, could dispel the +clouds of error, or reform their depraved inclinations. +</p> + +<p> +When we take a view of the grandeur of empires, the majesty +of princes, the glorious actions of great men, the order of civil +societies, and the harmony of the different members of which +they are composed, the wisdom of legislators, and the learning +of philosophers, the earth seems to exhibit nothing to the eye +of man but what is great and resplendent; nevertheless, in the +eye of God it was equally barren and uncultivated, as at the +first instant of the creation. <q>The earth was <hi rend='smallcaps'>without form +and void</hi>.</q><note place='foot'>Gen. i. 2.</note> This is +saying but little: it was wholly polluted +and impure, (the reader will observe that I speak here of the +heathens), and appeared to God only as the haunt and retreat +of ungrateful and perfidious men, as it did at the time of the +flood. <q>The earth was corrupt before God, and was filled +with iniquity.</q><note place='foot'>Ibid. vi. 11.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Nevertheless the Sovereign Arbiter of the universe, who, +pursuant to the dictates of his wisdom, dispenses both light +and darkness, and knows how to check the impetuous torrent +<pb n='xi'/><anchor id='Pgxi'/> +of human passions, would not permit mankind, though abandoned +to the utmost corruptions, to degenerate into absolute +barbarity, and brutalize themselves, in a manner, by the extinction +of the first principles of the law of nature, as is seen +in several savage nations. Such an obstacle would have too +much retarded the rapid progress, promised by him to the first +preachers of the doctrine of his Son. +</p> + +<p> +He darted from far, into the minds of men, the rays of +several great truths, to dispose them for the reception of others +more important. He prepared them for the instructions of +the Gospel, by those of philosophers; and it was with this +view that God permitted the heathen professors to examine, in +their schools, several questions, and establish several principles, +which are nearly allied to religion; and to engage the +attention of mankind, by the brilliancy of their disputations. +It is well known, that the philosophers inculcate, in every part +of their writings, the existence of a God, the necessity of a +Providence that presides over the government of the world, the +immortality of the soul, the ultimate end of man, the reward of +the good and punishment of the wicked, the nature of those +duties which constitute the band of society, the character of +the virtues that are the basis of morality, as prudence, justice, +fortitude, temperance, and other similar truths, which, though +incapable of guiding men to righteousness, were yet of use to +scatter certain clouds, and to dispel certain obscurities. +</p> + +<p> +It is by an effect of the same providence, which prepared, +from far, the ways of the gospel, that, when the Messiah +revealed himself in the flesh, God had united together almost +all nations, by the Greek and Latin tongues; and had subjected +to one monarch, from the ocean to the Euphrates, all +the people not united by language, in order to give a more free +course to the preaching of the apostles. The study of profane +history, when entered upon with judgment and maturity, must +lead us to these reflections, and point out to us the manner in +which the Almighty makes the empires of the earth subservient +to the establishment of the kingdom of his Son. +</p> + +<p> +It ought likewise to teach us how to appreciate all that +glitters most in the eye of the world, and is most capable of +dazzling it. Valour, fortitude, skill in government, profound +policy, merit in magistracy, capacity for the most abstruse +sciences, beauty of genius, delicacy of taste, and perfection in +all arts: These are the objects which profane history exhibits +to us, which excite our admiration, and often our envy. But +at the same time this very history ought to remind us, that the +Almighty, ever since the creation, has indulged to his enemies +<pb n='xii'/><anchor id='Pgxii'/> +all those shining qualities which the world esteems, and on +which it frequently bestows the highest eulogiums; while, on +the contrary, he often refuses them to his most faithful servants, +whom he endues with talents of an infinitely superior +nature, though men neither know their value, nor are desirous +of them. <q>Happy is that people that is in such a case: Yea, +happy is that people, whose God is the Lord.</q><note place='foot'>Psal. +cxliv. 15.</note> +</p> + +<p> +I shall conclude this first part of my preface with a reflection +which results naturally from what has been said. Since it is +certain, that all these great men, who are so much boasted of +in profane history, were so unhappy as not to know the true +God, and to displease him; we should therefore be cautious +and circumspect in the praises which we bestow upon them. +St. Austin, in his <hi rend='italic'>Retractions</hi>, repents his having lavished so +many encomiums on Plato, and the followers of his philosophy; +<q>because these,</q> says he, <q>were impious men, whose doctrine, +in many points, was contrary to that of Jesus Christ.</q><note place='foot'>Laus ipsa, +quâ Platonem vel Platonicos seu Academicos philosophos tantùm +extuli, quantùm impios homines non oportuit, non immeritò mihi displicuit; præsertim +quorum contra errores magnes defendenda est Christiana doctrina. +<hi rend='italic'>Retract.</hi> 1. i. c. 1.—Trans.</note> +</p> + +<p> +However, we are not to imagine, that St. Austin supposes it +to be unlawful for us to admire and praise whatever is either +beautiful in the actions, or true in the maxims, of the heathens. +He only advises us to correct whatever is erroneous, and to +approve whatever is conformable to rectitude and justice in +them.<note place='foot'>Id in quoque corrigendum, quod pravum est; quod autem rectum est, +approbandum. <hi rend='italic'>De Bapt. cont. Donat.</hi> 1. vii. c. +16.—Trans.</note> He applauds the Romans on many occasions, and particularly +in his books <hi rend='italic'>De Civitate Dei</hi>,<note place='foot'>Lib. v. c. 19, +21, &c.</note> which is one of the +last and finest of his works. He there shows, that the Almighty +raised them to be victorious over nations, and sovereigns of a +great part of the earth, because of the gentleness and equity of +their government (alluding to the happy ages of the Republic); +thus bestowing on virtues, that were merely human, rewards of +the same kind, with which that people, blind on this subject, +though so enlightened on others, were so unhappy as to content +themselves. St. Austin, therefore, does not condemn the +encomiums which are bestowed on the heathens, but only the +excess of them. +</p> + +<p> +Students ought to take care, and especially we, who by the +duties of our profession are obliged to be perpetually conversant +with heathen authors, not to enter too far into the spirit +of them; not to imbibe, unperceived, their sentiments, by +<pb n='xiii'/><anchor id='Pgxiii'/> +lavishing too great applauses on their heroes; nor to give into +excesses which the heathens indeed did not consider as such, +because they were not acquainted with virtues of a purer kind. +Some persons, whose friendship I esteem as I ought, and for +whose learning and judgment I have the highest regard, have +found this defect in some parts of my work, on the <hi rend='italic'>Method of +Teaching and Studying the Belles Lettres</hi>, &c.; and are of +opinion, that I have gone too great lengths in the encomiums +which I bestow on the illustrious men of paganism. I indeed +own, that the expressions on those occasions are sometimes +too strong and too unguarded: however, I imagined that I had +supplied a proper corrective to this, by the hints which I have +interspersed in those four volumes; and, therefore, that it would +be only losing time to repeat them; not to mention my having +laid down, in different places, the principles which the Fathers +of the Church establish on this head, declaring, with St. Austin, +that without true piety, that is, without a sincere worship of +the true God, there can be no true virtue; and that no virtue +can be such, whose object is worldly glory; a truth, says this +Father, acknowledged universally by those who are inspired +with real and solid piety. <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Illud constat inter +omnes veraciter pios, neminem sine verâ pietate, id est, veri Dei vero cultu, +veram posse habere virtutem; nec eam veram esse, quando +gloriæ servit humanæ</foreign>.<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>De Civitate Dei</hi>, +1. v. c. 19.</note> +</p> + + +<p> +When I observed that Perseus had not resolution enough +to kill himself,<note place='foot'>Vol. iv. p. 385.</note> +I do not thereby pretend to justify the practice +of the heathens, who looked upon suicide as lawful; but +simply to relate an incident, and the judgment which Paulus +Æmilius passed on it. Had I barely hinted a word or two +against that custom, it would have obviated all mistake, and +left no room for censure. +</p> + +<p> +The ostracism, employed in Athens against persons of the +greatest merit; theft connived at, as it appears, by Lycurgus +in Sparta; an equality of goods established in the same city, +by the authority of the state, and things of a like nature, may +admit of some difficulty. However, I shall pay a more immediate +attention to these particulars,<note place='foot'>This Mr Rollin has done admirably in +the several volumes of his Ancient History.—Trans.</note> when the course of the +history brings me to them; and shall avail myself with pleasure +of such lights as the learned and unprejudiced may favour me +by communicating. +</p> + +<p> +In a work like that I now offer the public, intended more +immediately for the instruction of youth, it were heartily to be +<pb n='xiv'/><anchor id='Pgxiv'/> +wished, that not one single thought or expression might occur +that could contribute to inculcate false or dangerous principles. +When I first set about writing the present history, I proposed +this for my maxim, the importance of which I perfectly conceive, +but am far from imagining that I have always observed +it, though it was my intention to do so; and therefore on this, +as on many other occasions, I shall stand in need of the reader's +indulgence. +</p> + +<p> +As I write principally for young persons, and for those who +do not intend to make very deep researches into ancient history, +I shall not burthen this Work with a sort of erudition, +that might have been naturally introduced into it, but does not +suit my purpose. My design is, in giving a continued series +of ancient history, to extract from the Greek and Latin authors +all that I shall judge most useful and entertaining with respect +to the transactions, and most instructive with regard to the +reflections. +</p> + +<p> +I should wish to be able to avoid, at the same time, the dry +sterility of epitomes, which convey no distinct idea to the +mind; and the tedious accuracy of long histories, which tire +the reader's patience. I am sensible that it is difficult to steer +exactly between the two extremes; and although, in the two +parts of history of which this first volume consists, I have +retrenched a great part of what we meet with in ancient authors, +they may still be thought too long: but I was afraid of spoiling +the incidents, by being too studious of brevity. However, +the taste of the public shall be my guide, to which I shall +endeavour to conform hereafter. +</p> + +<p> +I was so happy as not to displease the public in my first +attempt.<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>The Method of Teaching and Studying the +Belles Lettres</hi>, &c. The English translation (in four volumes) of this +excellent piece of criticism, was first printed for A. Bettesworth and C. Hitch, in +Paternoster-Row.—Trans.</note> I wish the present Work may be equally successful, +but dare not raise my hopes so high. The subjects I there +treated, <hi rend='italic'>viz.</hi> polite literature, poetry, eloquence, and curious +and detached pieces of history, gave me an opportunity of introducing +into it from ancient and modern authors, whatever is +most beautiful, affecting, delicate, and just, with regard both to +thought and expression. The beauty and justness of the +things themselves which I offered the reader, made him more +indulgent to the manner in which they were presented to him; +and besides, the variety of the subjects supplied the want of +those graces which might have been expected from the style +and composition. +</p> + +<pb n='xv'/><anchor id='Pgxv'/> + +<p> +But I have not the same advantage in the present work, the +choice of the subjects not being entirely at my discretion. In +a connected history, an author is often obliged to relate a great +many things that are not always very interesting, especially +with regard to the origin and rise of empires; and these parts +are generally overrun with thorns, and offer very few flowers. +However, the sequel will furnish matter of a more pleasing +nature, and events that engage more strongly the reader's +attention; and I shall take care to make use of the valuable +materials which the best authors will supply. In the mean +time, I must entreat the reader to remember that in a wide-extended +and beautiful region, the eye does not everywhere +meet with golden harvests, smiling meads, and fruitful orchards; +but sees, at different intervals, wild and less cultivated tracts of +land. And, to use another comparison, furnished by Pliny,<note place='foot'>Arborum +flos, est pleni veris indicium, et anni renascentis; flos gaudium arborum. +Tunc se novas, aliasque quàm sunt, ostendunt, tunc variis colorum picturis in +certamen usque luxuriant. Sed hoc negatum plerisque. Non enim omnes florent, +et sunt tristes quædam, quæque non sentiant guadia annorum; nec ullo flore exhilarantur, +natalesve pomorum recursus annuos versicolori nuntio promittunt. Plin. +<hi rend='italic'>Hist. Nat.</hi> 1. xvi. c. 25.—Trans.</note> +some trees in the spring emulously shoot forth a numberless +multitude of blossoms, which by this rich dress (the splendour +and vivacity of whose colours charm the eye) proclaim a +happy abundance in a more advanced season: while other +trees,<note place='foot'>As the fig-trees.—Trans.</note> of a less gay appearance, +though they bear good fruits, have not however the fragrance and beauty of blossoms, nor +seem to share in the joy of reviving nature. The reader will +easily apply this image to the composition of history. +</p> + +<p> +To adorn and enrich my own, I will be so ingenuous as to +confess, that I do not scruple, nor am ashamed, to rifle from +all quarters, and that I often do not cite the authors from +whom I transcribe, because of the liberty I occasionally take +to make some slight alterations. I have made the best use in +my power of the solid reflections that occur in the second and +third parts of the bishop of Meaux's<note place='foot'>Mons. +Bossuet.—Trans.</note> <hi rend='italic'>Universal History</hi>, +which is one of the most beautiful and most useful books in +our language. I have also received great assistance from the +learned Dean Prideaux's <hi rend='italic'>Connection of the Old and New +Testament</hi>, in which he has traced and cleared up, in an +admirable manner, the particulars relating to ancient history. +I shall take the same liberty with whatever comes in my way, +that may suit my design, and contribute to the perfection of my +Work. +</p> + +<pb n='xvi'/><anchor id='Pgxvi'/> + +<p> +I am very sensible, that it is not so much for a person's +reputation, thus to make use of other men's labours, and that +it is in a manner renouncing the name and quality of author. +But I am not over fond of that title; and shall be extremely +well pleased, and think myself very happy, if I can but deserve +the name of a good compiler, and supply my readers with a +tolerable history; who will not be over solicitous to inquire +whether it be an original composition of my own, or not, provided +they are but pleased with it. +</p> + +<p> +I cannot determine the exact number of volumes which this +Work will make; but am persuaded there will be no less than +ten or twelve.<note place='foot'>Former editions of this Work were printed in ten +volumes.—Trans.</note> Students, with a very moderate application, +may easily go through this course of history in a year, without +interrupting their other studies. According to my plan, my +Work should be given to the highest form but one. Youths in +this class are capable of pleasure and improvement from this +history; and I would not have them enter upon that of the +Romans till they study rhetoric. +</p> + +<p> +It would have been useful, and even necessary, to have given +some idea of the ancient authors from whence I have extracted +the facts which I here relate. But the course itself of the +history will naturally give me an opportunity of mentioning +them. +</p> + +<p> +In the mean time, it may not be improper to take notice of +the superstitious credulity with which most of these authors +are reproached, on the subject of auguries, auspices, prodigies, +dreams, and oracles. And indeed, we are shocked to see +writers, so judicious in all other respects, lay it down as a kind +of law, to relate these particulars with a scrupulous accuracy; +and to dwell gravely on a tedious detail of trifling and ridiculous +ceremonies, such as the flight of birds to the right or left +hand, signs discovered in the smoking entrails of beasts, the +greater or less greediness of chickens in pecking corn, and a +thousand similar absurdities. +</p> + +<p> +It must be confessed, that a sensible reader cannot, without +astonishment, see persons among the ancients in the highest +repute for wisdom and knowledge; generals who were the least +liable to be influenced by popular opinions, and most sensible +how necessary it is to take advantage of auspicious moments; +the wisest councils of princes perfectly well skilled in the arts +of government; the most august assemblies of grave senators; +in a word, the most powerful and most learned nations in all +ages; to see, I say, all these so unaccountably weak, as to +<pb n='xvii'/><anchor id='Pgxvii'/> +make to depend on these trifling practices and absurd observances, +the decision of the greatest affairs, such as the declaring +of war, the giving battle, or pursuing a victory, deliberations +that were of the utmost importance, and on which the fate and +welfare of kingdoms frequently depended. +</p> + +<p> +But, at the same time, we must be so just as to own, that +their manners, customs, and laws, would not permit men, in +these ages, to dispense with the observation of these practices: +that education, hereditary tradition transmitted from immemorial +time, the universal belief and consent of different nations, +the precepts, and even examples of philosophers; that all +these, I say, made the practices in question appear venerable +in their eyes: and that these ceremonies, how absurd soever +they may appear to us, and are really so in themselves, constituted +part of the religion and public worship of the ancients. +</p> + +<p> +This religion was false, and this worship mistaken; yet the +principle of it was laudable, and founded in nature; the stream +was corrupted, but the fountain was pure. Man, assisted only +by his own light, sees nothing beyond the present moment. +Futurity is to him an abyss invisible to the most keen, the +most piercing sagacity, and exhibits nothing on which he may +with certainty fix his views, or form his resolutions. He +is equally feeble and impotent with regard to the execution +of his designs. He is sensible, that he is dependent entirely +on a Supreme Power, that disposes all events with absolute +authority, and which, in spite of his utmost efforts, and of the +wisdom of the best concerted schemes, by raising only the +smallest obstacles and slightest disappointments, renders it +impossible for him to execute his measures. +</p> + +<p> +This obscurity and weakness oblige him to have recourse to +a superior knowledge and power: he is forced, both by his +immediate wants, and the strong desire he has to succeed in all +his undertakings, to address that Being who he is sensible has +reserved to himself alone the knowledge of futurity, and the +power of disposing it as he sees fitting. He accordingly directs +prayers, makes vows, and offers sacrifices, to prevail, if possible, +with the Deity, to reveal himself, either in dreams, in oracles, +or other signs which may manifest his will; fully convinced +that nothing can happen but by the divine appointment; and +that it is a man's greatest interest to know this supreme will, in +order to conform his actions to it. +</p> + +<p> +This religious principle of dependence on, and veneration of, +the Supreme Being, is natural to man: it is imprinted deep in +his heart; he is reminded of it, by the inward sense of his +extreme indigence, and by all the objects which surround him; +<pb n='xviii'/><anchor id='Pgxviii'/> +and it may be affirmed, that this perpetual recourse to the +Deity, is one of the principal foundations of religion and the +strongest band by which man is united to his Creator. +</p> + +<p> +Those who were so happy as to know the true God, and +were chosen to be his peculiar people, never failed to address +him in all their wants and doubts, in order to obtain his succour, +and to know his will. He accordingly vouchsafed to +reveal himself to them; to conduct them by apparitions, dreams, +oracles, and prophecies; and to protect them by miracles of +the most astonishing kind. +</p> + +<p> +But those who were so blind as to substitute falsehood in +the place of truth, directed themselves, for the like aid, to +fictitious and deceitful deities, who were not able to answer +their expectations, nor recompense the homage that mortals +paid them, any otherwise than by error and illusion, and a +fraudulent imitation of the conduct of the true God. +</p> + +<p> +Hence arose the vain observation of dreams, which, from +a superstitious credulity, they mistook for salutary warnings +from Heaven; those obscure and equivocal answers of oracles, +beneath whose veil the spirits of darkness concealed their ignorance; +and, by a studied ambiguity, reserved to themselves +an evasion or subterfuge, whatever might be the event. To +this are owing the prognostics with regard to futurity, which +men fancied they should find in the entrails of beasts, in the +flight and singing of birds, in the aspect of the planets, in fortuitous +accidents, and in the caprice of chance; those dreadful +prodigies that filled a whole nation with terror, and which, it +was believed, nothing could expiate but mournful ceremonies, +and even sometimes the effusion of human blood: in fine, +those black inventions of magic, those delusions, enchantments, +sorceries, invocations of ghosts, and many other kinds of divination. +</p> + +<p> +All I have here related was a received usage, observed by +the heathen nations in general; and this usage was founded +on the principles of that religion of which I have given a short +account. We have a signal proof of this in that passage of the +Cyropædia,<note place='foot'>Xenoph. <hi rend='italic'>in Cyrop.</hi> +1. i. p. 25, 27.—Trans.</note> where Cambyses, the father of Cyrus, gives that +young prince such noble instructions; instructions admirably +well adapted to form the great captain, and great king. He +exhorts him, above all things, to pay the highest reverence to +the gods; and not to undertake any enterprise, whether important +or inconsiderable, without first calling upon and consulting +them; he enjoins him to honour the priests and augurs, as +<pb n='xix'/><anchor id='Pgxix'/> +being their ministers and the interpreters of their will, but yet +not to trust or abandon himself so implicitly and blindly to +them, as not, by his own application, to learn every thing relating +to the science of divination, of auguries and auspices. The +reason which he gives for the subordination and dependence in +which kings ought to live with regard to the gods, and the +benefit derived from consulting them in all things, is this: How +clear-sighted soever mankind may be in the ordinary course of +affairs, their views are always very narrow and bounded with +regard to futurity; whereas the Deity, at a single glance, takes +in all ages and events. <q>As the gods,</q> says Cambyses to his +son, <q>are eternal, they know equally all things, past, present, +and to come. With regard to the mortals who address them, +they give salutary counsels to those whom they are pleased to +favour, that they may not be ignorant of what things they ought, +or ought not, to undertake. If it is observed, that the deities do +not give the like counsels to all men; we are not to wonder at +it, since no necessity obliges them to attend to the welfare of +those persons on whom they do not vouchsafe to confer their +favour.</q> +</p> + +<p> +Such was the doctrine of the most learned and most enlightened +nations, with respect to the different kinds of divination; +and it is no wonder that the authors who wrote the history +of those nations, thought it incumbent on them to give an exact +detail of such particulars as constituted part of their religion +and worship, and was frequently in a manner the soul of their +deliberations, and the standard of their conduct. I therefore +was of opinion, for the same reason, that it would not be proper +for me to omit entirely, in the ensuing history, what relates to +this subject, though I have however retrenched a great part +of it. +</p> + +<p> +Archbishop Usher is my usual guide in chronology. In the +history of the Carthaginians I commonly set down four æras: +The year from the creation of the world, which, for brevity's +sake, I mark thus, A.M.; those of the foundation of Carthage +and Rome; and lastly, the year before the birth of our Saviour, +which I suppose to be the 4004th year of the world; wherein +I follow Usher and others, though they suppose it to be four +years earlier. +</p> + +<p> +We shall now proceed to give the reader the proper preliminary +information concerning this Work, according to the +order in which it is executed. +</p> + +<p> +To know in what manner the states and kingdoms were +founded, that have divided the universe; the steps whereby +<pb n='xx'/><anchor id='Pgxx'/> +they rose to that pitch of grandeur related in history; by what +ties families and cities were united, in order to constitute one +body or society, and to live together under the same laws and +a common authority; it will be necessary to trace things back, +in a manner, to the infancy of the world, and to those ages in +which mankind, being dispersed into different regions, (after the +confusion of tongues,) began to people the earth. +</p> + +<p> +In these early ages every father was the supreme head of his +family; the arbiter and judge of whatever contests and divisions +might arise within it; the natural legislator over his little society; +the defender and protector of those, who, by their birth, education, +and weakness, were under his protection and safeguard, +and whose interests paternal tenderness rendered equally dear +to him as his own. +</p> + +<p> +But although these masters enjoyed an independent authority, +they made a mild and paternal use of it. So far from +being jealous of their power, they neither governed with haughtiness, +nor decided with tyranny. As they were obliged by +necessity to associate their family in their domestic labours, +they also summoned them together, and asked their opinion in +matters of importance. In this manner all affairs were transacted +in concert, and for the common good. +</p> + +<p> +The laws which paternal vigilance established in this little +domestic senate, being dictated with no other view than to +promote the general welfare; concerted with such children as +were come to years of maturity, and accepted by the inferiors +with a full and free consent; were religiously kept and +preserved in families as an hereditary polity, to which they +owed their peace and security. +</p> + +<p> +But different motives gave rise to different laws. One man, +overjoyed at the birth of a first-born son, resolved to distinguish +him from his future children, by bestowing on him a more considerable +share of his possessions, and giving him a greater +authority in his family. Another, more attentive to the interest +of a beloved wife, or darling daughter whom he wanted to settle +in the world, thought it incumbent on him to secure their +rights and increase their advantages. The solitary and cheerless +state to which a wife would be reduced in case she should +become a widow, affected more intimately another man, and +made him provide beforehand, for the subsistence and comfort +of a woman who formed his felicity. From these different +views, and others of the like nature, arose the different customs +of nations, as well as their rights, which are infinitely various. +</p> + +<p> +In proportion as every family increased, by the birth of +<pb n='xxi'/><anchor id='Pgxxi'/> +children, and their marrying into other families, they extended +their little domain, and formed, by insensible degrees, towns +and cities. +</p> + +<p> +These societies growing, in process of time, very numerous; +and the families being divided into various branches, each of +which had its head, whose different interests and characters +might interrupt the general tranquillity; it was necessary to +intrust one person with the government of the whole, in order +to unite all these chiefs or heads under a single authority, and +to maintain the public peace by an uniform administration. +The idea which men still retained of the paternal government, +and the happy effects they had experienced from it, prompted +them to choose from among their wisest and most virtuous +men, him in whom they had observed the tenderest and most +fatherly disposition. Neither ambition nor cabal had the least +share in this choice; probity alone, and the reputation of +virtue and equity, decided on these occasions, and gave the preference +to the most worthy.<note place='foot'>Quos ad fastigium nujus majestatis non ambitio +popularis, sed spectata inter bonos moderatio provebebat. Justin, 1. i. c. +1.—Trans.</note> +</p> + +<p> +To heighten the lustre of their newly-acquired dignity, and +enable them the better to put the laws in execution, as well as +to devote themselves entirely to the public good; to defend the +state against the invasions of their neighbours, and the factions +of discontented citizens; the title of king was bestowed upon +them, a throne was erected, and a sceptre put into their hands; +homage was paid them, officers were assigned, and guards +appointed for the security of their persons; tributes were +granted; they were invested with full powers to administer +justice, and for this purpose were armed with a sword, in order +to restrain injustice, and punish crimes. +</p> + +<p> +At first, every city had its particular king, who being more +solicitous to preserve his dominion than to enlarge it, confined his +ambition within the limits of his native country.<note place='foot'>Fines imperii tueri +magis quàm proferre mos erat. Intra suam cuique patriam +regna finiebantur. Justin, 1. i. c. 1.—Trans.</note> But the +almost unavoidable feuds which break out between neighbours; +jealousy against a more powerful king; a turbulent and restless +spirit; a martial disposition, or thirst of aggrandizement; or +the display of abilities; gave rise to wars, which frequently +ended in the entire subjection of the vanquished, whose cities +were possessed by the victor, and increased insensibly his dominions. +Thus, a first victory paving the way to a second, and +<pb n='xxii'/><anchor id='Pgxxii'/> +making a prince more powerful and enterprising, several cities +and provinces were united under one monarch, and formed +kingdoms of a greater or less extent, according to the degree +of ardour with which the victor had pushed his conquests.<note place='foot'>Domitis +proximis, cum accessione virium fortior ad alios transiret, et proxima +quæque victoria instrumentum sequentis esset, totius orientis populos subegit. +Justin, 1. i. c. 1.—Trans.</note> +</p> + +<p> +But among these princes were found some, whose ambition +being too vast to confine itself within a single kingdom, broke +over all bounds, and spread universally like a torrent, or the +ocean; swallowed up kingdoms and nations; and fancied that +glory consisted in depriving princes of their dominions, who +had not done them the least injury; in carrying fire and sword +into the most remote countries, and in leaving every where +bloody traces of their progress! Such was the origin of those +famous empires which included a great part of the world. +</p> + +<p> +Princes made a various use of victory, according to the +diversity of their dispositions or interests. Some, considering +themselves as absolute masters of the conquered, and imagining +they were sufficiently indulged in sparing their lives, +bereaved them, as well as their children, of their possessions, +their country, and their liberty; subjected them to a most +severe captivity; employed them in those arts which are necessary +for the support of life, in the lowest and most servile +offices of the house, in the painful toils of the field; and frequently +forced them, by the most inhuman treatment, to dig in +mines, and ransack the bowels of the earth, merely to satiate +their avarice; and hence mankind were divided into freemen +and slaves, masters and bondmen. +</p> + +<p> +Others introduced the custom of transporting whole nations +into new countries, where they settled them, and gave them lands +to cultivate. +</p> + +<p> +Other princes again, of more gentle dispositions, contented +themselves with only obliging the vanquished nations to purchase +their liberties, and the enjoyment of their laws and privileges +by annual tributes laid on them for that purpose; and +sometimes they would suffer kings to sit peaceably on their +thrones, upon condition of their paying them some kind of +homage. +</p> + +<p> +But such of these monarchs as were the wisest and ablest +politicians, thought it glorious to establish a kind of equality +betwixt the nations newly conquered and their other subjects; +granting the former almost all the rights and privileges which +the others enjoyed: and by this means a great number of +nations, that were spread over different and far distant countries, +constituted, in some measure, but one city, at least but +one people. +</p> + +<p> +Thus I have given a general and concise idea of mankind, +<pb n='xxiii'/><anchor id='Pgxxiii'/> +from the earliest monuments which history has preserved on +this subject; the particulars whereof I shall endeavour to +relate, in treating of each empire and nation. I shall not +touch upon the history of the Jews, nor that of the Romans. +</p> + +<p> +The history of the Carthaginians, that of the Assyrians, and +the Lydians, which occurs in the second volume, is supported +by the best authorities; but it is highly necessary to review +the geography, the manners, and customs of the different +nations here treated of; and first with regard to the religion, +manners, and institutions of the Persians and Grecians; because +these show their genius and character, which we may +call, in some measure, the soul of history. For to take notice +only of facts and dates, and confine our curiosity and researches +to them, would be imitating the imprudence of a traveller, +who, in visiting many countries, should content himself with +knowing their exact distance from each other, and consider +only the situation of the several places, their buildings, and the +dresses of the people; without giving himself the least trouble +to converse with the inhabitants, in order to inform himself of +their genius, manners, disposition, laws, and government. +Homer, whose design was to give, in the person of Ulysses, a +model of a wise and intelligent traveller, tells us, at the very +opening of his <hi rend='italic'>Odyssey</hi>, that his hero informed himself very +exactly of the manners and customs of the several people +whose cities he visited; in which he ought to be imitated by +every person who applies himself to the study of history. +</p> + +<p> +As Asia will hereafter be the principal scene of the history +we are now entering upon, it may not be improper to give the +reader such a general idea of it, as may at least make him +acquainted with its most considerable provinces and cities. +</p> + +<p> +The northern and eastern parts of Asia are less known in +ancient history. +</p> + +<p> +To the north are <hi rend='smallcaps'>Asiatic Sarmatia</hi> and +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Asiatic Scythia</hi>, which answer to Tartary. +</p> + +<p> +Sarmatia is situated between the river <hi rend='italic'>Tanais</hi>, which separates +Europe and Asia, and the river <hi rend='italic'>Rha</hi>, +or <hi rend='italic'>Volga</hi>. Scythia +is divided into two parts; the one on this, the other on the +other side of mount <hi rend='italic'>Imaus</hi>. The nations of Scythia best +known to us are the <hi rend='italic'>Sacæ</hi> and the <hi rend='italic'>Massagetæ</hi>. +</p> + +<p> +The most eastern parts are, <hi rend='smallcaps'>Serica</hi>, Cathay; +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Sinarum regio</hi>, China; and <hi rend='smallcaps'>India</hi>. +This last country was better +known anciently than the two former. It was divided into +two parts; the one on this side the <hi rend='italic'>Ganges</hi>, included between +that river and the <hi rend='italic'>Indus</hi>, which now composes the dominions +<pb n='xxiv'/><anchor id='Pgxxiv'/> +of the Great Mogul; the other part was that on the other side +of the Ganges. +</p> + +<p> +The remaining part of Asia, of which much greater mention +is made in history, may be divided into five or six parts, taking +it from east to west. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>I. Upper Asia</hi>, which begins at the river Indus. The chief +provinces are <hi rend='smallcaps'>Gedrosia, Carmania, Arachosia, Drangiana, +Bactriana</hi>, the capital of which was <hi rend='italic'>Bactra</hi>; +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Sogdiana, Margiana, Hyrcania</hi>, near the Caspian sea; +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Parthia, Media</hi>, its chief city <hi rend='italic'>Ecbatana</hi>; +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Persia</hi>, the cities of <hi rend='italic'>Persepolis</hi> and +<hi rend='italic'>Elymais</hi>; <hi rend='smallcaps'>Susiana</hi>, the city of +<hi rend='italic'>Susa</hi>; <hi rend='smallcaps'>Assyria</hi>, the city of +<hi rend='italic'>Nineveh</hi>, situated on the river <hi rend='italic'>Tigris</hi>; +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Mesopotamia</hi>, between the <hi rend='italic'>Euphrates</hi> and +<hi rend='italic'>Tigris</hi>; <hi rend='smallcaps'>Babylonia</hi>, the city of +<hi rend='italic'>Babylon</hi> on the river Euphrates. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>II. Asia between the Pontus Euxinus and the Caspian +Sea.</hi> Therein we may distinguish four provinces. +1. <hi rend='smallcaps'>Colchis</hi>, the river <hi rend='italic'>Phasis</hi>, and +mount <hi rend='italic'>Caucasus</hi>. 2. <hi rend='smallcaps'>Iberia.</hi> +3. <hi rend='smallcaps'>Albania</hi>; which two last-mentioned provinces now +form part of Georgia. 4. The greater <hi rend='smallcaps'>Armenia</hi>. This is +separated from the lesser by the Euphrates; from Mesopotamia +by mount <hi rend='italic'>Taurus</hi>; and from Assyria by mount +<hi rend='italic'>Niphates</hi>. Its cities are <hi rend='italic'>Artaxata</hi> +and <hi rend='italic'>Tigranocerta</hi>, and the +river <hi rend='italic'>Araxes</hi> runs through it. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>III. Asia Minor.</hi> This may be divided into four or five +parts, according to the different situation of its provinces. +</p> + +<p> +1. <hi rend='italic'>Northward</hi>, on the shore of the Pontus Euxinus; +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Pontus</hi>, under three different names. Its cities are, +<hi rend='italic'>Trapezus</hi>, not far from which are the people called +<hi rend='italic'>Chalybes</hi> or <hi rend='italic'>Chaldæi</hi>; +<hi rend='italic'>Themiscyra</hi>, a city on the river <hi rend='italic'>Thermodon</hi>, +and famous for having been the abode of the Amazons. <hi rend='smallcaps'>Paphlagonia, +Bithynia</hi>; the cities of which are, <hi rend='italic'>Nicæa</hi>, +<hi rend='italic'>Prusa</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>Nicomedia</hi>, +<hi rend='italic'>Chalcedon</hi> opposite to Constantinople, and +<hi rend='italic'>Heraclea</hi>. +</p> + +<p> +2. <hi rend='italic'>Westward</hi>, going down by the shores of the Ægean sea; +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Mysia</hi>, of which there are two. The +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Lesser</hi>, in which stood <hi rend='italic'>Cyzicus</hi>, +<hi rend='italic'>Lampsacus</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>Parium</hi>, +<hi rend='italic'>Abydos</hi> opposite to Sestos, from which it is separated only by +the Dardanelles; <hi rend='italic'>Dardanum</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>Sigæum</hi>, +<hi rend='italic'>Ilion</hi>, or <hi rend='italic'>Troy</hi>; and almost on the +opposite side, the little island of <hi rend='italic'>Tenedos</hi>. The rivers are, +the <hi rend='italic'>Æsepus</hi>, the <hi rend='italic'>Granicus</hi>, and the +<hi rend='italic'>Simois</hi>. Mount <hi rend='italic'>Ida</hi>. This region is +sometimes called Phrygia Minor, of which <hi rend='italic'>Troas</hi> is part. +</p> + +<p> +The <hi rend='smallcaps'>Greater Mysia</hi>. <hi rend='italic'>Antandros</hi>, +<hi rend='italic'>Trajanopolis</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>Adramyttium</hi>, +<pb n='xxv'/><anchor id='Pgxxv'/> +<hi rend='italic'>Pergamus</hi>. Opposite to this Mysia is the island of +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Lesbos</hi>; the cities of which are, +<hi rend='italic'>Methymna</hi>, where the celebrated <hi rend='italic'>Arion</hi> +was born; and <hi rend='italic'>Mitylene</hi>, which has given to the +whole island its modern name Metelin. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Æolia.</hi> <hi rend='italic'>Elea</hi>, +<hi rend='italic'>Cumæ</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>Phocæa</hi>. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Ionia.</hi> <hi rend='italic'>Smyrna</hi>, +<hi rend='italic'>Clazomenæ</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>Teos</hi>, +<hi rend='italic'>Lebedus</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>Colophon</hi>, +<hi rend='italic'>Ephesus</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>Priene</hi>, +<hi rend='italic'>Miletus</hi>. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Caria.</hi> <hi rend='italic'>Laodicea</hi>, +<hi rend='italic'>Antiochia</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>Magnesia</hi>, +<hi rend='italic'>Alabanda</hi>. The river <hi rend='italic'>Mæander</hi>. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Doris.</hi> <hi rend='italic'>Halicarnassus</hi>, +<hi rend='italic'>Cnidos</hi>. +</p> + +<p> +Opposite to these four last countries, are the islands <hi rend='smallcaps'>Chios, +Samos, Pathmos, Cos</hi>; and lower, towards the south, +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Rhodes</hi>. +</p> + +<p> +3. <hi rend='italic'>Southward</hi>, along the Mediterranean; +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Lycia</hi>, the cities of which are, +<hi rend='italic'>Telmessus</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>Patara</hi>. The +river <hi rend='italic'>Xanthus</hi>. Here begins mount <hi rend='italic'>Taurus</hi>, +which runs the whole length of Asia, and assumes different names, according +to the several countries through which it passes. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Pamphylia.</hi> <hi rend='italic'>Perga</hi>, +<hi rend='italic'>Aspendus</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>Sida</hi>. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Cilicia.</hi> <hi rend='italic'>Seleucia</hi>, +<hi rend='italic'>Corycium</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>Tarsus</hi>, on the river +<hi rend='italic'>Cydnus</hi>. Opposite to Cilicia is the island of +<hi rend='italic'>Cyprus</hi>. The cities are, <hi rend='italic'>Salamis</hi>, +<hi rend='italic'>Amathus</hi>, and <hi rend='italic'>Paphos</hi>. +</p> + +<p> +4. <hi rend='italic'>Along the banks of the Euphrates</hi>, going up northward; +</p> + +<p> +The <hi rend='smallcaps'>Lesser Armenia</hi>. <hi rend='italic'>Comana</hi>, +<hi rend='italic'>Arabyza</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>Melitene</hi>, +<hi rend='italic'>Satala</hi>. The river <hi rend='italic'>Melas</hi>, which empties +itself into the Euphrates. +</p> + +<p> +5. <hi rend='italic'>Inland</hi>: +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Cappadocia</hi>; the cities whereof are, +<hi rend='italic'>Neocæsarea</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>Comana +Pontica</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>Sebastia</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>Sebastopolis</hi>, +<hi rend='italic'>Diocæsarea</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>Cæsarea</hi>, otherwise +called <hi rend='italic'>Mazaca</hi>, and <hi rend='italic'>Tyana</hi>. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Lycaonia</hi> and <hi rend='smallcaps'>Isauria</hi>. +<hi rend='italic'>Iconium</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>Isauria</hi>. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Pisidia.</hi> <hi rend='italic'>Seleucia</hi> and +<hi rend='italic'>Antiochia</hi> of <hi rend='italic'>Pisidia</hi>. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Lydia.</hi> Its cities are, <hi rend='italic'>Thyatira</hi>, +<hi rend='italic'>Sardis</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>Philadelphia</hi>. +The rivers are, <hi rend='italic'>Caystrus</hi> and <hi rend='italic'>Hermus</hi>, +into which the <hi rend='italic'>Pactolus</hi> empties itself. Mount +<hi rend='italic'>Sipylus</hi> and <hi rend='italic'>Tmolus</hi>. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Phrygia Major.</hi> <hi rend='italic'>Synnada</hi>, +<hi rend='italic'>Apamia</hi>. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>IV. Syria</hi>, now named <hi rend='italic'>Suria</hi>, +called under the Roman emperors the <hi rend='italic'>East</hi>, the chief +provinces of which are, +</p> + +<p> +1. <hi rend='smallcaps'>Palestine</hi>, by which name is sometimes understood all +Judea. Its cities are, <hi rend='italic'>Jerusalem</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>Samaria</hi>, +and <hi rend='italic'>Cæsarea Palestina</hi>. The river <hi rend='italic'>Jordan</hi> +waters it. The name of Palestine is also given to the land of Canaan, which extended +along the Mediterranean; the chief cities of which were, <hi rend='italic'>Gaza</hi>, +<hi rend='italic'>Ascalon</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>Azotus</hi>, +<hi rend='italic'>Accaron</hi>, and <hi rend='italic'>Gath</hi>. +</p> + +<p> +2. <hi rend='smallcaps'>Phœnicia</hi>, whose cities are, +<hi rend='italic'>Ptolemais</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>Tyre</hi>, +<hi rend='italic'>Sidon</hi>, and <hi rend='italic'>Berytus</hi>. Its mountains, +<hi rend='italic'>Libanus</hi> and <hi rend='italic'>Antilibanus</hi>. +</p> + +<pb n='xxvi'/><anchor id='Pgxxvi'/> + +<p> +3. <hi rend='smallcaps'>Syria</hi>, properly so called, or +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Antiochena</hi>; the cities whereof are, +<hi rend='italic'>Antiochia</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>Apamia</hi>, +<hi rend='italic'>Laodicea</hi>, and <hi rend='italic'>Seleucia</hi>. +</p> + +<p> +4. <hi rend='smallcaps'>Comagena.</hi> The city of <hi rend='italic'>Samosata</hi>. +</p> + +<p> +5. <hi rend='smallcaps'>Cœlesyria.</hi> The cities are, <hi rend='italic'>Zeugma</hi>, +<hi rend='italic'>Thapsacus</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>Palmyra</hi>, +and <hi rend='italic'>Damascus</hi>. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>V. Arabia Petræa.</hi> Its cities are, <hi rend='italic'>Petra</hi>, +and <hi rend='italic'>Bostra</hi>. Mount <hi rend='italic'>Casius</hi>. +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Deserta. Felix.</hi> +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<head>Of Religion.</head> + +<p> +It is observable, that in all ages and in every country, the +several nations of the world, however various and opposite in +their characters, inclinations and manners, have always united +in one essential point; the inherent opinion of an adoration +due to a Supreme Being, and of external forms calculated to +evince such a belief. Into whatever country we cast our eyes, +we find priests, altars, sacrifices, festivals, religious ceremonies, +temples, or places consecrated to religious worship. Among +every people we discover a reverence and awe of the Divinity; +an homage and honour paid to him; and an open profession +of an entire dependence upon him in all their undertakings, in +all their necessities, in all their adversities and dangers. Incapable +of themselves to penetrate into futurity and to ensure +success, we find them careful to consult the Divinity by oracles, +and by other methods of a like nature; and to merit his +protection by prayers, vows, and offerings. It is by the same +supreme authority they believe the most solemn treaties are +rendered inviolable. It is that which gives sanction to their +oaths; and to it by imprecations is referred the punishment of +such crimes and enormities as escape the knowledge and power +of men. On all their private concerns, voyages, journeys, marriages, +diseases, the Divinity is still invoked. With him their +every repast begins and ends. No war is declared, no battle +fought, no enterprise formed, without his aid being first implored; +to which the glory of the success is constantly ascribed +by public acts of thanksgiving, and by the oblation of the most +precious of the spoils, which they never fail to set apart as +appertaining by right to the Divinity. +</p> + +<p> +No variety of opinion is discernible in regard to the foundation +of this belief. If some few persons, depraved by false philosophy, +presume from time to time to rise up against this +doctrine, they are immediately disclaimed by the public voice. +They continue singular and alone, without making parties, or +forming sects: the whole weight of the public authority falls +<pb n='xxvii'/><anchor id='Pgxxvii'/> +upon them; a price is set upon their heads; whilst they are +universally regarded as execrable persons, the bane of civil +society, with whom it is criminal to have any kind of commerce. +</p> + +<p> +So general, so uniform, so perpetual a consent of all the +nations of the universe, which neither the prejudice of the +passions, the false reasoning of some philosophers, nor the +authority and example of certain princes, have ever been able +to weaken or vary, can proceed only from a first principle, +which forms a part of the nature of man; from an inward +sentiment implanted in his heart by the Author of his being; +and from an original tradition as ancient as the world itself. +</p> + +<p> +Such were the source and origin of the religion of the +ancients; truly worthy of man, had he been capable of persisting +in the purity and simplicity of these first principles: +but the errors of the mind, and the vices of the heart, those sad +effects of the corruption of human nature, have strangely disfigured +their original beauty. There are still some faint rays, +some brilliant sparks of light, which a general depravity has not +been able to extinguish utterly; but they are incapable of +dispelling the profound darkness of the gloom which prevails +almost universally, and presents nothing to view but absurdities, +follies, extravagancies, licentiousness, and disorder; in a +word, a hideous chaos of frantic excesses and enormous vices. +</p> + +<p> +Can any thing be more admirable than these principles laid +down by Cicero?<note place='foot'>Sit hoc jam à principio persuasum civibus: dominos +esse omnium rerum ac moderatores deos, eaque quæ geruntur eorum geri judicio ac +numine; eosdemque optimè de genere hominum mereri; et, qualis quisque sit, quid agat, +quid in se admittat, quâ mente, quâ pietate religiones colat, intueri; piorumque et +impiorem habere rationem—Ad divos adeunto castè. Pietatem adhibento, opes amovento. +Cic. <hi rend='italic'>de leg.</hi> l. ii. n. 15, 19.—Trans.</note> That we ought +above all things to be convinced that there is a Supreme Being, who presides over all the +events of the world, and disposes every thing as sovereign lord +and arbiter: that it is to him mankind are indebted for all the +good they enjoy: that he penetrates into, and is conscious of, +whatever passes in the most secret recesses of our hearts: that +he treats the just and the impious according to their respective +merits: that the true means of acquiring his favour, and of +being pleasing in his sight, is not by employing of riches and +magnificence in the worship that is paid to him, but by presenting +him with a heart pure and blameless, and by adoring +him with an unfeigned and profound veneration. +</p> + +<p> +Sentiments so sublime and religious were the result of the +reflections of some few who employed themselves in the study +of the heart of man, and had recourse to the first principles of +<pb n='xxviii'/><anchor id='Pgxxviii'/> +his institution, of which they still retained some valuable relics. +But the whole system of their religion, the tendency of their +public feasts and ceremonies, the essence of the Pagan theology, +of which the poets were the only teachers and professors, +the very example of the gods, whose violent passions, scandalous +adventures, and abominable crimes, were celebrated in +their hymns or odes, and proposed in some measure to the +imitation, as well as adoration, of the people; these were +certainly very unfit means to enlighten the minds of men, and +to form them to virtue and morality. +</p> + +<p> +It is remarkable, that in the greatest solemnities of the Pagan +religion, and in their most sacred and venerable mysteries, far +from perceiving any thing which can recommend virtue, piety, +or the practice of the most essential duties of ordinary life, we +find the authority of laws, the imperious power of custom, the +presence of magistrates, the assembly of all orders of the state, +the example of fathers and mothers, all conspire to train up a +whole nation from their infancy in an impure and sacrilegious +worship, under the name, and in a manner under the sanction, +of religion itself; as we shall soon see in the sequel. +</p> + +<p> +After these general reflections upon Paganism, it is time to +proceed to a particular account of the religion of the Greeks. +I shall reduce this subject, though infinite in itself, to four +articles, which are, 1. The feasts. 2. The oracles, auguries, +and divinations. 3. The games and combats. 4. The public +shows and representations of the theatre. In each of these +articles, I shall treat only of what appears most worthy of the +reader's curiosity, and has most relation to this history. I +omit saying any thing of sacrifices, having given a sufficient +idea of them elsewhere.<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Manner of Teaching</hi>, +&c. vol. i.—Trans.</note> +</p> + +<div> +<head>Of the Feasts.</head> + +<p> +An infinite number of feasts were celebrated in the several +cities of Greece, and especially at Athens, of which I shall +describe only three of the most famous, the Panathenea, the +feasts of Bacchus, and those of Eleusis. +</p> + +<div> +<head>The Panathenea.</head> + +<p> +This feast was celebrated at Athens in honour of Minerva, +the tutelary goddess of that city, to which she gave her +name,<note place='foot'>Ἀθήνη.—Trans.</note> +as well as to the feast of which we are speaking. Its institution +<pb n='xxix'/><anchor id='Pgxxix'/> +was ancient, and it was called at first the Athenea; but after +Theseus had united the several towns of Attica into one city, +it took the name of Panathenea. These feasts were of two +kinds, the great and the less, which were solemnized with +almost the same ceremonies; the less annually, and the great +upon the expiration of every fourth year. +</p> + +<p> +In these feasts were exhibited racing, the gymnastic combats, +and the contentions for the prizes of music and poetry. Ten +commissaries, elected from the ten tribes, presided on this +occasion, to regulate the forms, and distribute the rewards to +the victors. This festival continued several days. +</p> + +<p> +In the morning of the first day a race was run on foot, in +which each of the runners carried a lighted torch in his hand, +which they exchanged continually with each other without +interrupting their race. They started from the Ceramicus, one +of the suburbs of Athens, and crossed the whole city. The first +that came to the goal, without having put out his torch, carried +the prize. In the afternoon they ran the same course on +horseback. +</p> + +<p> +The gymnastic or athletic combats followed the races. The +place for that exercise was upon the banks of the Ilissus, a +small river, which runs through Athens, and empties itself into +the sea at the Piræus. +</p> + +<p> +Pericles first instituted the prize of music. In this dispute +were sung the praises of Harmodius and Aristogiton who, at +the expense of their lives, delivered Athens from the tyranny +of the Pisistratidæ; to which was afterwards added the eulogium +of Thrasybulus, who expelled the thirty tyrants. The +prize was warmly disputed, not only amongst the musicians, +but still more so amongst the poets; and it was highly glorious +to be declared victor in this contest. Æschylus is reported to +have died with grief upon seeing the prize adjudged to Sophocles, +who was much younger than himself. +</p> + +<p> +These exercises were followed by a general procession, +wherein was carried, with great pomp and ceremony, a sail, +embroidered with gold, on which were curiously delineated the +warlike actions of Pallas against the Titans and Giants. This +sail was affixed to a vessel which bore the name of the goddess. +The vessel, equipped with sails, and with a thousand oars, was +conducted from the Ceramicus to the temple of Eleusis, not by +horses or beasts of draught, but by machines concealed in the +bottom of it, which put the oars in motion, and made the vessel +glide along. +</p> + +<p> +The march was solemn and majestic. At the head of it +were old men, who carried olive-branches in their hands, +<pb n='xxx'/><anchor id='Pgxxx'/> +θαλλοφόροι, and these were chosen for the symmetry of their +shape, and the vigour of their complexion. Athenian matrons, +of great age, also accompanied them in the same equipage. +</p> + +<p> +The grown and robust men formed the second class. They +were armed at all points, and had bucklers and lances. After +them came the strangers that inhabited Athens, carrying mattocks, +instruments proper for tillage. Next followed the Athenian +women of the same age, attended by the foreigners of +their own sex, carrying vessels in their hands for the drawing +of water. +</p> + +<p> +The third class was composed of the young persons of both +sexes, selected from the best families in the city. The young +men wore vests, with crowns upon their heads, and sang a +peculiar hymn in honour of the goddess. The maids carried +baskets, κανηφόροι, in which were placed the sacred utensils +proper to the ceremony, covered with veils to keep them from +the sight of the spectators. The person, to whose care those +sacred things were intrusted, was bound to observe a strict +continence for several days before he touched them, or distributed +them to the Athenian virgins;<note place='foot'>Οὐχὶ προειρημένον +ἡμερῶν ἀριθμὸν ἁγνεύειν μόνον, ἀλλὰ τὸν βιον ὅλον ἡγνευκέναι. +Demost. <hi rend='italic'>in extrema Aristocratia</hi>.—Trans.</note> +or rather, as Demosthenes +says, his whole life and conduct ought to have been a +perfect model of virtue and purity. It was a high honour for +a young woman to be chosen for so noble and august an office, +and an insupportable affront to be deemed unworthy of it. +We shall see that Hipparchus offered this indignity to the sister +of Harmodius, which extremely incensed the conspirators +against the Pisistratidæ. These Athenian virgins were followed +by the foreign young women, who carried umbrellas and seats +for them. +</p> + +<p> +The children of both sexes closed the pomp of the procession. +</p> + +<p> +In this august ceremony, the ῥαψωδοι were appointed to sing +certain verses of Homer; a manifest proof of the estimation in +which the works of that poet were held, even with regard to +religion. Hipparchus, son of Pisistratus, first introduced that +custom. +</p> + +<p> +I have observed elsewhere,<note place='foot'>Vol. ii. c. 3. § 2.—Trans.</note> +that in the gymnastic games of +this feast a herald proclaimed, that the people of Athens had +conferred a crown of gold upon the celebrated physician Hippocrates, +in gratitude for the signal services which he had rendered +the state during the pestilence. +</p> + +<p> +In this festival the people of Athens put themselves, and the +whole republic, under the protection of Minerva, the tutelary +<pb n='xxxi'/><anchor id='Pgxxxi'/> +goddess of their city, and implored of her all kind of prosperity. +From the time of the battle of Marathon, in these public acts +of worship, express mention was made of the Platæans, and they +were joined in all things with the people of Athens. +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<head>Feasts of Bacchus.</head> + +<p> +The worship of Bacchus had been brought out of Egypt to +Athens, where several feasts had been established in honour +of that god; two particularly more remarkable than all the +rest, called the great and the less feasts of Bacchus. The latter +were a kind of preparation for the former, and were celebrated +in the open field about autumn. They were named Lenea, +from a Greek word<note place='foot'>Ληνός.</note> that signifies a wine-press. The great +feasts were commonly called Dionysia, from one of the names +of that god,<note place='foot'>Dionysius.</note> and were solemnized in the spring +within the city. +</p> + +<p> +In each of these feasts the public were entertained with games, +shows, and dramatic representations, which were attended with +a vast concourse of people, and exceeding magnificence, as will +be seen hereafter: at the same time the poets disputed the +prize of poetry, submitting to the judgment of arbitrators, +expressly chosen for that purpose, their pieces, whether tragic +or comic, which were then represented before the people. +</p> + +<p> +These feasts continued many days. Those who were initiated, +mimicked whatever the poets had thought fit to feign of the god +Bacchus. They covered themselves with the skins of wild +beasts, carried a thyrsus in their hands, a kind of pike with +ivy-leaves twisted round it; had drums, horns, pipes, and other +instruments calculated to make a great noise; and wore upon +their heads wreaths of ivy and vine-branches, and of other +trees sacred to Bacchus. Some represented Silenus, some +Pan, others the Satyrs, all drest in suitable masquerade. Many +of them were mounted on asses; others dragged goats<note place='foot'>Goats were +sacrificed, because they spoiled the vines.—Trans.</note> along +for sacrifices. Men and women, ridiculously dressed in this +manner, appeared night and day in public; and imitating +drunkenness, and dancing with the most indecent gestures, ran +in throngs about the mountains and forests, screaming and +howling furiously; the women especially seemed more outrageous +than the men; and, quite out of their senses, in their +furious<note place='foot'>From this fury of the Bacchanalians these feasts were +distinguished by the name of Orgia, Ὀργὴ, <hi rend='italic'>ira, +furor</hi>.—Trans.</note> transports invoked the god, whose feast they celebrated, +<pb n='xxxii'/><anchor id='Pgxxxii'/> +with loud cries; εὐοῖ Βάκχε, or ὦ Ἴακχε, or Ἰόβακχε, +or Ἰὼ Βάκχε. +</p> + +<p> +This troop of Bacchanalians was followed by the virgins of +the noblest families in the city, who were called κανηφόροι, +from carrying baskets on their heads, covered with vine leaves +and ivy. +</p> + +<p> +To these ceremonies others were added, obscene to the last +excess, and worthy of the god who chose to be honoured in +such a manner. The spectators gave into the prevailing +humour, and were seized with the same frantic spirit. Nothing +was seen but dancing, drunkenness, debauchery, and all that +the most abandoned licentiousness can conceive of gross and +abominable. And this an entire people, reputed the wisest of +all Greece, not only suffered, but admired and practised. I say +an entire people; for Plato, speaking of the Bacchanalia, says +in direct terms, that he had seen the whole city of Athens +drunk at once.<note place='foot'>Πάσαν ἐθεασάμην τὴν πόλιν περὶ +τὰ Διονύσια μεθύουσαν. Lib. i. <hi rend='italic'>de leg.</hi> p. +637.—Trans.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Livy informs us,<note place='foot'>Liv. 1. xxxix. n. 8, 18.</note> +that this licentiousness of the Bacchanalia +having secretly crept into Rome, the most horrid disorders +were committed there under cover of the night, and the inviolable +secresy which all persons, who were initiated into these +impure and abominable mysteries, were obliged, under the most +horrid imprecations, to observe. The senate, being apprized of +the affair, put a stop to those sacrilegious feasts by the most +severe penalties; and first banished the practisers of them +from Rome, and afterwards from Italy. These examples inform +us, how far a mistaken sense of religion, that covers the +greatest crimes with the sacred name of the Divinity, is capable +of misleading the mind of man.<note place='foot'>Nihil in speciem fallacius est quàm +prava religio, ubi deorum numen prætenditur +sceleribus. Liv. xxxix. n. 16.—Trans.</note> +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<head>The Feast of Eleusis.</head> + +<p> +There is nothing in all Pagan antiquity more celebrated +than the feast of Ceres Eleusina. The ceremonies of this +festival were called, by way of eminence, <q>the mysteries,</q> from +being, according to Pausanias, as much above all others, as the +gods are above men. Their origin and institution are attributed +to Ceres herself, who, in the reign of Erechtheus, coming +to Eleusis, a small town of Attica, in search of her daughter +Proserpine, whom Pluto had carried away, and finding the +<pb n='xxxiii'/><anchor id='Pgxxxiii'/> +country afflicted with a famine, invented corn as a remedy for +that evil, with which she rewarded the inhabitants. She +not only taught them the use of corn, but instructed them in +the principles of probity, charity, civility, and humanity;<note place='foot'><p>Multa +eximia divinaque videntur Athenæ tuæ peperisse, atque in vitam hominum +attulisse; tum nihil melius illis mysteriis, quibus ex agresti immanique vitâ, exculti +ad humanitatem et mitigati sumus, initiaque ut appellautur, ita re vera principia vitæ +cognovimus. Cic. 1. ii. <hi rend='italic'>de leg.</hi> n. 36. +</p> +<p> +Teque Ceres, et Libera, quarum sacra, sicut opiniones hominum ac religiones ferunt, +longè maximis atque occultissimis ceremoniis continentur: à quibus initia vitæ atque +victùs, legum, morum, mansuetudinis, humanitatis exempla hominibus et civitatibus +data ac dispertita esse dicuntur. Cic. <hi rend='italic'>in Verr. de supplic.</hi> +n. 186.—Trans.</p></note> from +whence her mysteries were called Θεσμοφόρια, and <hi rend='italic'>Initia</hi>. To +these first happy lessons fabulous antiquity ascribed the courtesy, +politeness, and urbanity, so remarkable amongst the +Athenians. +</p> + +<p> +These mysteries were divided into the less and the greater; +of which the former served as a preparation for the latter. The +less were solemnized in the month Anthesterion, which answers +to our November; the great in the month Boëdromion, which +corresponds to August. Only Athenians were admitted to +these mysteries; but of them, each sex, age, and condition, +had a right to be received. All strangers were absolutely +excluded, so that Hercules, Castor, and Pollux, were obliged +to be adopted as Athenians in order to their admission; which, +however, extended only to the lesser mysteries. I shall consider +principally the great, which were celebrated at Eleusis. +</p> + +<p> +Those who demanded to be initiated into them, were obliged, +before their reception, to purify themselves in the lesser mysteries, +by bathing in the river Ilissus, by saying certain prayers, +offering sacrifices, and, above all, by living in strict continence +during a certain interval of time prescribed them. That time +was employed in instructing them in the principles and elements +of the sacred doctrine of the great mysteries. +</p> + +<p> +When the time for their initiation arrived, they were brought +into the temple; and to inspire the greater reverence and +terror, the ceremony was performed in the night. Wonderful +things took place upon this occasion. Visions were seen, and +voices heard of an extraordinary kind. A sudden splendour +dispelled the darkness of the place, and, disappearing immediately, +added new horrors to the gloom. Apparitions, claps +of thunder, earthquakes, heightened the terror and amazement; +whilst the person to be admitted, overwhelmed with +dread, and sweating through fear, heard, trembling, the mysterious +volumes read to him, if in such a condition he was capable +of hearing at all. These nocturnal rites gave birth to many +<pb n='xxxiv'/><anchor id='Pgxxxiv'/> +disorders, which the severe law of silence, imposed on the persons +initiated, prevented from coming to light, as St. Gregory +Nazianzen observes.<note place='foot'>Οἴδεν Ἐλευσὶν ταῦτα, καὶ οἱ +τῶν σιωπωένων καὶ σιωπῆς; ὄντων ἀξιον ἐτόπται. <hi rend='italic'>Orat +de sacr. lumin.</hi>—Trans.</note> What cannot superstition effect upon +the mind of man, when once his imagination is heated? The +president in this ceremony was called Hierophantes. He wore +a peculiar habit, and was not permitted to marry. The first +who served in this function, and whom Ceres herself instructed, +was Eumolpus; from whom his successors were called Eumolpidæ. +He had three colleagues; one who carried a torch;<note place='foot'>Δαδοῦχος.</note> +another a herald,<note place='foot'>Κῆρυξ.</note> whose office was to pronounce certain +mysterious words; and a third to attend at the altar. +</p> + +<p> +Besides these officers, one of the principal magistrates of the +city was appointed to take care that all the ceremonies of this +feast were exactly observed. He was called the king,<note place='foot'>Βασιλεὺς</note> +and was one of the nine Archons. His business was to offer +prayers and sacrifices. The people gave him four +assistants,<note place='foot'>Ἐπιμελήται</note> +one chosen from the family of the Eumolpidæ, a second from +that of the Ceryces, and the two last from two other families. +He had besides ten other ministers to assist him in the discharge +of his duty, and particularly in offering sacrifices, from +whence they derived their name.<note place='foot'>Ἱεροποιοὶ.</note> +</p> + +<p> +The Athenians initiated their children of both sexes very +early into these mysteries, and would have thought it criminal +to have let them die without such an advantage. It was their +general opinion, that this ceremony was an engagement to lead +a more virtuous and regular life; that it recommended them to +the peculiar protection of the goddesses (Ceres and Proserpine,) +to whose service they devoted themselves; and procured to +them a more perfect and certain happiness in the other world: +whilst, on the contrary, such as had not been initiated, besides +the evils they had to apprehend in this life, were doomed, after +their descent to the shades below, to wallow eternally in dirt, +filth, and excrement. Diogenes the Cynic believed nothing +of the matter,<note place='foot'>Diogen. Laërt. l. vi. p. 389.</note> +and when his friends endeavoured to persuade +him to avoid such a misfortune, by being initiated before his +death—<q>What,</q> said he, <q>shall Agesilaus and Epaminondas +lie amongst mud and dung, whilst the vilest Athenians, because +they have been initiated, possess the most distinguished places +in the regions of the blessed?</q> Socrates was not more credulous; +he would not be initiated into these mysteries, which was +perhaps one reason that rendered his religion suspected. +</p> + +<pb n='xxxv'/><anchor id='Pgxxxv'/> + +<p> +Without this qualification none were admitted to enter the +temple of Ceres;<note place='foot'>Liv. l. xxxi. n. 14.</note> +and Livy informs us of two Acarnanians, who, +having followed the crowd into it upon one of the feast-days, +although out of mistake and with no ill design, were both put +to death without mercy. It was also a capital crime to divulge +the secrets and mysteries of this feast. Upon this account +Diagoras the Melian was proscribed, and had a reward set upon +his head. It very nearly cost the poet Æschylus his life, for +speaking too freely of it in some of his tragedies. The disgrace +of Alcibiades proceeded from the same cause. Whoever +had violated this secresy, was avoided as a wretch accursed +and excommunicated.<note place='foot'><p>Est et fideli tuta silentio<lb/> +Merces. Vetabo, qui Cereris sacrum<lb/> +Vulgârit arcana, sub iisdem<lb/> +Sit trabibus, fragilemque mecum<lb/> +Solvat phaselum. +</p> +<p> +Hor. <hi rend='italic'>Od.</hi> 2. l. iii. +</p> +<p> +Safe is the silent tongue, which none can blame<lb/> +The faithful secret merit fame;<lb/> +Beneath one roof ne'er let him rest with me,<lb/> +Who <q>Ceres' mysteries</q> reveals;<lb/> +In one frail bark ne'er let us put to sea,<lb/> +Nor tempt the jarring winds with spreading sails. +</p> +<p>—Trans.</p></note> Pausanias, in several passages, +wherein he mentions the temple of Eleusis, and the ceremonies +practised there, stops short, and declares he cannot +proceed, because he had been forbidden by a dream or +vision.<note place='foot'>Lib. i. p. 26, 71.</note> +</p> + +<p> +This feast, the most celebrated of profane antiquity, was of +nine days' continuance. It began the fifteenth of the month +Boëdromion. After some previous ceremonies and sacrifices +on the first three days, upon the fourth in the evening began +the procession of <q>the Basket;</q> which was laid upon an open +chariot slowly drawn by oxen,<note place='foot'><p>Tardaque +Eleusinæ matris volventia plaustra. +</p> +<p> +Virg. <hi rend='italic'>Georg.</hi> l. i. ver. 163. +</p> +<p> +The Eleusinian mother's mystic car +Slow rolling—— +</p> +<p> +—Trans.</p></note> and followed by a long train of +the Athenian women. They all carried mysterious baskets in +their hands, filled with several things, which they took great +care to conceal, and covered with a veil of purple. This ceremony +represented the basket into which Proserpine put the +flowers she was gathering when Pluto seized and carried her off. +</p> + +<p> +The fifth day was called the day of <q>the Torches:</q> because +at night the men and women ran about with them in imitation +of Ceres, who having lighted a torch at the fire at mount +Ætna, wandered about from place to place in search of her +daughter. +</p> + +<pb n='xxxvi'/><anchor id='Pgxxxvi'/> + +<p> +The sixth was the most famous day of all. It was called +Iacchus, which is the same as Bacchus, the son of Jupiter and +Ceres, whose statue was then brought out with great ceremony, +crowned with myrtle, and holding a torch in its hand. The +procession began at the Ceramicus, and passing through the +principal places of the city, continued to Eleusis. The way +leading to it was called <q>the sacred way,</q> and lay across a +bridge over the river Cephisus. This procession was very +numerous, and generally consisted of thirty thousand +persons.<note place='foot'>Herod. l. viii. c. 65.</note> +The temple of Eleusis, where it ended, was large enough to +contain the whole of this multitude; and Strabo says, its extent +was equal to that of the theatres, which every body knows +were capable of holding a much greater number of +people.<note place='foot'>Lib. ix. p. 305.</note> +The whole way reechoed with the sound of trumpets, clarions, +and other musical instruments. Hymns were sung in honour +of the goddesses, accompanied with dancing, and other extraordinary +marks of rejoicing. The route before mentioned, through +the sacred way, and over the Cephisus, was the usual one: +but after the Lacedæmonians, in the Peloponnesian war, had +fortified Decelia, the Athenians were obliged to make their +procession by sea, till Alcibiades reestablished the ancient +custom. +</p> + +<p> +The seventh day was solemnized by games, and the gymnastic +combats, in which the victor was rewarded with a +measure of barley; without doubt because it was at Eleusis +the goddess first taught the method of raising that grain, and +the use of it. The two following days were employed in some +particular ceremonies, neither important nor remarkable. +</p> + +<p> +During this festival it was prohibited, under very great penalties, +to arrest any person whatsoever, in order to their being +imprisoned, or to present any bill of complaint to the judges. +It was regularly celebrated every fifth year, that is, after a +revolution of four years: and history does not mention that it +was ever interrupted, except upon the taking of Thebes by +Alexander the Great.<note place='foot'>Plut. <hi rend='italic'>in +vit. Alex.</hi> p. 671.</note> The Athenians, who were then upon +the point of celebrating the great mysteries, were so much +affected with the ruin of that city, that they could not resolve, +in so general an affliction, to solemnize a festival which breathed +nothing but merriment and rejoicing. It was continued +down to the time of the Christian emperors.<note place='foot'>Zosim. +<hi rend='italic'>Hist.</hi> l. iv.</note> Valentinian +would have abolished it, if Prætextatus, the proconsul of Greece, +had not represented, in the most lively and affecting terms, +the universal sorrow which the abrogation of that feast would +<pb n='xxxvii'/><anchor id='Pgxxxvii'/> +occasion among the people; upon which it was suffered to +subsist. It is supposed to have been finally suppressed by +Theodosius the Great; as were all the rest of the Pagan solemnities. +</p> + +</div> + +</div> + +<div> +<head>Of Auguries, Oracles, &c.</head> + +<p> +Nothing is more frequently mentioned in ancient history, +than oracles, auguries, and divinations. No war was made, or +colony settled; nothing of consequence was undertaken, either +public or private, without having first consulted the gods. +This was a custom universally established amongst the Egyptian, +Assyrian, Grecian, and Roman nations; which is no +doubt a proof, as has been already observed, that it was derived +from ancient tradition, and that it had its origin in the religion +and worship of the true God. It is not indeed to be questioned, +but that God, before the deluge, did manifest his will +to mankind in different methods, as he has since done to his +people, sometimes in his own person and <foreign rend='italic'>vivá voce</foreign>, +sometimes by the ministry of angels or of prophets inspired by himself, +and at other times by apparitions or in dreams. When the +descendants of Noah dispersed themselves into different +regions, they carried this tradition along with them, which was +every where retained, though altered and corrupted by the +darkness and ignorance of idolatry. None of the ancients +have insisted more upon the necessity of consulting the gods +on all occasions by auguries and oracles than Xenophon; and +he founds that necessity, as I have more than once observed +elsewhere, upon a principle deduced from the most refined +reason and discernment. He represents, in several places, that +man of himself is very frequently ignorant of what is advantageous +or pernicious to him; that, far from being capable of +penetrating the future, the present itself escapes him; so +narrow and short-sighted is he in all his views, that the +slightest obstacles can frustrate his greatest designs; that the +Divinity alone, to whom all ages are present, can impart a +certain knowledge of the future to him: that no other being +has power to facilitate the success of his enterprises; and that +it is reasonable to believe he will enlighten and protect those, +who adore him with the purest affection, who invoke him at +all times with greatest constancy and fidelity, and consult him +with most sincerity and integrity. +</p> + +<div> +<head>Of Auguries.</head> + +<p> +What a reproach is it to human reason, that so luminous a +<pb n='xxxviii'/><anchor id='Pgxxxviii'/> +principle should have given birth to the absurd reasonings, and +wretched notions, in favour of the science of augurs and soothsayers, +and been the occasion of espousing, with blind devotion, +the most ridiculous puerilities: should have made the +most important affairs of state depend upon a bird's happening +to sing upon the right or left hand; upon the greediness of +chickens in pecking their grain; the inspection of the entrails +of beasts; the liver's being entire and in good condition, which, +according to them, did sometimes entirely disappear, without +leaving any trace or mark of its having ever subsisted! To +these superstitious observances may be added, accidental rencounters, +words spoken by chance, and afterwards turned into +good or bad presages; forebodings, prodigies, monsters, eclipses, +comets; every extraordinary phenomenon, every unforeseen +accident, with an infinity of chimeras of the like nature. +</p> + +<p> +Whence could it happen, that so many great men, illustrious +generals, able politicians, and even learned philosophers, have +actually given into such absurd imaginations? Plutarch, in +particular, so estimable in other respects, is to be pitied for his +servile observance of the senseless customs of the Pagan idolatry, +and his ridiculous credulity in dreams, signs, and prodigies. +He tells us in his works, that he abstained a great +while from eating eggs, upon account of a dream, with which +he has not thought fit to make us further +acquainted.<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Sympos.</hi> l. +ii. quæst. 3. p. 635.</note> +</p> + +<p> +The wisest of the Pagans knew well how to appreciate the +art of divination, and often spoke of it to each other, and even +in public, with the utmost contempt, and in a manner best +adapted to expose its absurdity. The grave censor Cato was +of opinion, that one soothsayer could not look at another without +laughing. Hannibal was amazed at the simplicity of +Prusias, whom he had advised to give battle, upon his being diverted +from it by the inspection of the entrails of a victim. +<q>What,</q> said he, <q>have you more confidence in the liver of a +beast, than in so old and experienced a captain as I am?</q> +Marcellus, who had been five times consul, and was augur, +said, that he had discovered a method of not being put to a +stand by the sinister flight of birds, which was, to keep himself +close shut up in his litter. +</p> + +<p> +Cicero explains himself upon the subject of auguries without +ambiguity or reserve. Nobody was more capable of speaking +pertinently upon it than himself, (as M. Morin observes in his +dissertation upon the same subject.) As he was adopted into the +college of augurs, he had made himself acquainted with their +<pb n='xxxix'/><anchor id='Pgxxxix'/> +most abstruse secrets, and had all possible opportunity of +informing himself fully in their science. That he did so, sufficiently +appears from the two books he has left us upon divination, +in which, it may be said, he has exhausted the subject. +In the second, wherein he refutes his brother Quintus, who +had espoused the cause of the augurs, he combats and defeats +his false reasonings with a force, and at the same time with so +refined and delicate a raillery, as leaves us nothing to wish; +and he demonstrates by proofs, each more convincing than the +other, the falsity, contrariety, and impossibility of that art. +But what is very surprising, in the midst of all his arguments, +he takes occasion to blame the generals and magistrates, who +on important conjunctures had contemned the prognostics; and +maintains, that the use of them, as great an abuse as it was in +his own opinion, ought nevertheless to be respected, out of +regard to religion, and the prejudices of the people.<note place='foot'>Errabat multis +in rebus antiquitas: quam vel usu jam, vel doctrinâ, vel vetustate +immutatam videmus. Retinetur autem et ad opinionem vulgi, et ad magnas utilitates +reip. mos, religio, disciplina, jus augurum, collegii auctoritas. Nec verò non +omni supplicio digni P. Claudius, L. Junius consules, qui contra auspicia navigârunt. +Parendum enim fuit religioni, nec patrius mos tam contumaciter repudiandus +<hi rend='italic'>Divin.</hi> l. ii. n. 70, 71.—Trans.</note> +</p> + +<p> +All that I have hitherto said tends to prove, that Paganism +was divided into two sects, almost equally enemies of religion; +the one by their superstitious and blind regard for auguries, the +other by their irreligious contempt and derision of them. +</p> + +<p> +The principle of the first, founded on one side upon the +ignorance and weakness of man in the affairs of life, and on the +other upon the prescience of the Divinity and his almighty +providence, was true; but the consequence deduced from it in +favour of auguries, false and absurd. They ought to have +proved that it was certain, that the Divinity himself had established +these external signs to denote his intentions, and that +he had obliged himself to a punctual conformity to them upon +all occasions: but they had nothing of this in their system. +These auguries and divinations therefore were the effect and +invention of the ignorance, rashness, curiosity, and blind passions +of man, who presumed to interrogate God, and to oblige +him to give answers upon every idle imagination and unjust +enterprise. +</p> + +<p> +The others, who gave no real credit to any thing enjoined by +the science of augury, did not fail, however, to observe its +trivial ceremonies through policy, in order the better to subject +the minds of the people to themselves, and to reconcile them +to their own purposes, by the assistance of superstition: but by +<pb n='xl'/><anchor id='Pgxl'/> +their contempt for auguries, and their inward conviction of +their falsity, they were led into a disbelief of the Divine Providence, +and to despise religion itself; conceiving it inseparable +from the numerous absurdities of this kind, which rendered it +ridiculous, and consequently unworthy a man of sense. +</p> + +<p> +Both the one and the other behaved in this manner, because, +having mistaken the Creator, and abused the light of nature, +which might have taught them to know and to adore him, they +were deservedly abandoned to their own darkness, and to a +reprobate mind; and, if we had not been enlightened by the +true religion, we, even at this day, should give ourselves up to +the same superstitions. +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<head>Of Oracles</head> + +<p> +No country was ever richer in, or more productive of oracles, +than Greece. I shall confine myself to those which were +the most noted. +</p> + +<p> +The oracle of Dodona, a city of the Molossians, in Epirus, +was much celebrated; where Jupiter gave answers either by +vocal oaks,<note place='foot'>Certain instruments were fastened to the tops of oaks, +which, being shaken by the wind, or by some other means, gave a confused sound. Servius +observes, that the same word, in the Thessalian language, signifies +<hi rend='italic'>dove</hi> and <hi rend='italic'>prophetess</hi>, which had +given room for the fabulous tradition of doves that spoke. It was easy to make +those brazen basins sound by some secret means, and to give what signification they +pleased to a confused and inarticulate note.—Trans.</note> +or doves, which had also their language, or by +resounding basins of brass, or by the mouths of priests and +priestesses. +</p> + +<p> +The oracle of Trophonius in Bœotia, though he was +nothing more than a hero, was in great reputation.<note place='foot'>Pausan. +l. ix. p. 602, 604.</note> After +many preliminary ceremonies, as washing in the river, offering +sacrifices, drinking a water called Lethe, from its quality of +making people forget every thing, the votaries went down into +his cave, by small ladders, through a very narrow passage. At +the bottom was another little cavern, the entrance of which +was also exceeding small. There they lay down upon the +ground, with a certain composition of honey in each hand, +which they were indispensably obliged to carry with them. +Their feet were placed within the opening of the little cave; +which was no sooner done, than they perceived themselves +borne into it with great force and velocity. Futurity was there +revealed to them; but not to all in the same manner. Some +saw, others heard, wonders. From thence they returned quite +stupified, and out of their senses, and were placed in the chair +<pb n='xli'/><anchor id='Pgxli'/> +of Mnemosyne, the goddess of memory; not without great need +of her assistance to recover their remembrance, after their great +fatigue, of what they had seen and heard; admitting they had +seen or heard any thing at all. Pausanias, who had consulted +that oracle himself, and gone through all these ceremonies, +has left a most ample description of it; to which Plutarch +adds some particular circumstances,<note place='foot'>Plut. +<hi rend='italic'>de gen. Socr.</hi> p. 590.</note> which I +omit, to avoid a tedious prolixity. +</p> + +<p> +The temple and oracle of the Branchidæ, in the neighbourhood +of Miletus, so called from Branchus, the son of Apollo, +was very ancient, and in great esteem with all the Ionians and +Dorians of Asia.<note place='foot'>Herod, l. i. c. 157. Strab. +l. xiv p. 634.</note> Xerxes, in his return from Greece, burnt +this temple, after the priests had delivered its treasures to him. +That prince, in return, granted them an establishment in the +remotest parts of Asia, to secure them against the vengeance +of the Greeks. After the war was over, the Milesians reestablished +that temple with a magnificence which, according to +Strabo, surpassed that of all the other temples of Greece. +When Alexander the Great had overthrown Darius, he utterly +destroyed the city where the priests Branchidæ had settled, of +which their descendants were at that time in actual possession, +punishing in the children the sacrilegious perfidy of their +fathers. +</p> + +<p> +Tacitus relates something very singular, though not very +probable, of the oracle of Claros, a town of Ionia, in Asia +Minor, near Colophon.<note place='foot'>Tacit. <hi rend='italic'>Annal.</hi> l. ii. c. +54.</note> <q>Germanicus,</q> says he, <q>went to consult +Apollo at Claros. It is not a woman that gives the answers +there, as at Delphi, but a man, chosen out of certain families, +and almost always of Miletus. It is sufficient to let him know +the number and names of those who come to consult him. +After which he retires into a cave, and having drunk of the +waters of a spring within it, he delivers answers in verse upon +what the persons have in their thoughts, though he is often +ignorant, and knows nothing of composing in measure. It is +said, that he foretold to Germanicus his sudden death, but in +dark and ambiguous terms, according to the custom of oracles.</q> +</p> + +<p> +I omit a great number of other oracles, to proceed to the +most famous of them all. It is very obvious that I mean the +oracle of Apollo at Delphi. He was worshipped there under +the name of the Pythian, a title derived from the serpent +Python, which he had killed, or from a Greek word, that signifies +to inquire, πυθέσθαι, because people came thither to consult +<pb n='xlii'/><anchor id='Pgxlii'/> +him. From thence the Delphic priestess was called Pythia, +and the games there celebrated, the Pythian games. +</p> + +<p> +Delphi was an ancient city of Phocis in Achaia. It stood +upon the declivity, and about the middle, of the mountain +Parnassus, built upon a small extent of even ground, and surrounded +with precipices, that fortified it without the help +of art. +</p> + +<p> +Diodorus says,<note place='foot'>Lib. xiv. p. 427, +428.</note> that there was a cavity upon Parnassus, +from whence an exhalation rose, which made the goats dance +and skip about, and intoxicated the brain. A shepherd having +approached it, out of a desire to know the causes of so extraordinary +an effect, was immediately seized with violent agitations +of body, and pronounced words, which, without doubt, he did +not understand himself; but which, however, foretold futurity. +Others made the same experiment, and it was soon rumoured +throughout the neighbouring countries. The cavity was no +longer approached without reverence. The exhalation was +concluded to have something divine in it. A priestess was +appointed for the reception of its effects, and a tripod placed +upon the vent, called by the Latins Cortina, perhaps from the +skin<note place='foot'>Corium.</note> that covered it. From thence she gave her oracles. +The city of Delphi rose insensibly round about this cave; and +a temple was erected, which, at length, became very magnificent. +The reputation of this oracle almost effaced, or at least +very much exceeded, that of all others. +</p> + +<p> +At first a single Pythia sufficed to answer those who came +to consult the oracle, as they did not yet amount to any great +number: but in process of time, when it grew into universal +repute, a second was appointed to mount the tripod alternately +with the first, and a third chosen to succeed in case of death, +or disease. There were other assistants besides these to attend +the Pythia in the sanctuary, of whom the most considerable +were called prophets;<note place='foot'>Προφήται.</note> +it was their business to take care of +the sacrifices, and to inspect them. To these the demands of +the inquirers were delivered by word of mouth, or in writing; +and they returned the answers, as we shall see in the sequel. +</p> + +<p> +We must not confound the Pythia with the Sibyl of Delphi. +The ancients represent the latter as a woman that roved from +country to country, venting her predictions. She was at the +same time the Sibyl of Delphi, Erythræ, Babylon, Cumæ, and +many other places, from her having resided in them all. +</p> + +<p> +The Pythia could not prophesy till she was intoxicated by +the exhalation from the sanctuary of Apollo. This miraculous +<pb n='xliii'/><anchor id='Pgxliii'/> +vapour had not that effect at all times and upon all occasions. +The god was not always in the inspiring humour. At first he +imparted himself only once a year, but at length he was prevailed +upon to visit the Pythia every month. All days were +not proper, and upon some it was not permitted to consult the +oracle. These unfortunate days occasioned an oracle's being +given to Alexander the Great worthy of remark. He went to +Delphi to consult the god, at a time when the priestess pretended +it was forbidden to ask him any questions, and would +not enter the temple. Alexander, who was always warm and +tenacious, took hold of her by the arm to force her into it, +when she cried out, <q>Ah, my son, you are not to be resisted!</q> +or, <q>My son, you are invincible!</q><note place='foot'>Ἀνίκητος εἶ, +ὦ παῖ.—Trans.</note> Upon which words he +declared he would have no other oracle, and was contented +with that he had received. +</p> + +<p> +The Pythia, before she ascended the tripod, was a long time +preparing for it by sacrifices, purifications, a fast of three days, +and many other ceremonies. The god denoted his approach +by the moving of a laurel, that stood before the gate of the +temple, which shook also to its very foundations. +</p> + +<p> +As soon as the divine vapour,<note place='foot'><p>——Cui talia fanti<lb/> +Ante fores, subitò non vultus, non color unus,<lb/> +Non comptæ mansere comæ: sed pectus anhelum,<lb/> +Et rabie fera corda tument; majorque videri,<lb/> +Nec mortale sonans: afflata est numine quando<lb/> +Jam propiore dei. +</p> +<p> +Virg. <hi rend='italic'>Æn.</hi> l. vi. v. +46-51.—Trans.</p></note> like a penetrating fire, had +diffused itself through the entrails of the priestess, her hair +stood upright upon her head, her looks grew wild, she foamed +at the mouth, a sudden and violent trembling seized her whole +body, with all the symptoms of distraction and frenzy.<note place='foot'>Among the +various marks which God has given us in the Scriptures to distinguish +his oracles from those of the devil, the fury or madness, attributed by Virgil to +the Pythia, <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>et rabie fera corda tument</foreign>, +is one. It is I, saith God, that show the falsehood +of the diviners' predictions, and give to such as divine, the motions of fury and +madness; or according to Isa. xliv. 25, <q>That frustrateth the tokens of the liar, +and maketh diviners mad.</q> Instead of which, the prophets of the true God constantly +gave the divine answers in an equal and calm tone of voice, and with a +noble tranquillity of behaviour. Another distinguishing mark is, that the dæmons +gave their oracles in secret places, by-ways, and in the obscurity of caves; whereas +God gave his in open day, and before all the world. <q>I have not spoken in secret, in +a dark place of the earth,</q> Isa. xlv. 19. <q>I have not spoken in secret from the +beginning,</q> Isa. xlviii. 16. So that God did not permit the devil to imitate his +oracles, without imposing such conditions upon him, as might distinguish between +the true and false inspiration.—Trans.</note> She +uttered, at intervals, some words almost inarticulate, which the +prophets carefully collected, and arranged with a certain degree +<pb n='xliv'/><anchor id='Pgxliv'/> +of order and connection. After she had been a certain time +upon the tripod, she was reconducted to her cell, where she +generally continued many days to recover from her fatigue; +and, as Lucan says,<note place='foot'>Lib. v.</note> +a sudden death was often either the +reward or punishment of her enthusiasm: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l>Numinis aut pœna est mors immatura recepti,</l> +<l>Aut pretium.</l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +The prophets had poets under them, who made the oracles +into verses, which were often bad enough, and gave occasion +to remark that, it was very surprising that Apollo, who presided +over the choir of the muses, should inspire his priestess +no better. But Plutarch informs us, that it was not the god +who composed the verses of the oracle. He inflamed the +Pythia's imagination, and kindled in her soul that living light, +which unveiled all futurity to her. The words she uttered in +the heat of her enthusiasm, having neither method nor connection, +and coming only by starts, if that expression may be +used, from the bottom of her stomach, or rather<note place='foot'>Ἐγγαστρίμυθος.</note> +from her belly, were collected with care by the prophets, who gave them +afterwards to the poets to be turned into verse. These Apollo +left to their own genius and natural talents; as we may suppose +he did the Pythia when she herself composed verses, +which, though not often, happened sometimes. The substance +of the oracle was inspired by Apollo, the manner of expressing +it was the priestess's own: the oracles were however often +given in prose. +</p> + +<p> +The general characteristics of oracles were ambiguity,<note place='foot'>Quòd si aliquis +dixerit multa ab idolis esse prædicta; hoc sciendum, quòd +semper mendacium junxerint veritati, et sic sententias temperârint, ut, seu boni seu +mali quid accidisset, utrumque possit intelligi. Hieronym. in cap. xlii. Isaiæ. He +cites the two examples of Crœsus and Pyrrhus.—Trans.</note> +obscurity, and convertibility, (if I may use that expression,) +so that one answer would agree with several various, and sometimes +directly opposite, events. By the help of this artifice, +the dæmons, who of themselves are not capable of knowing +futurity, concealed their ignorance, and amused the credulity +of the Pagan world. When Crœsus was upon the point of +invading the Medes, he consulted the oracle of Delphi upon +the success of that war, and was answered, that by passing the +river Halys, he would ruin a great empire. What empire, his +own, or that of his enemies? He was to guess that; but +whatever the event might be, the oracle could not fail of being +<pb n='xlv'/><anchor id='Pgxlv'/> +in the right. As much may be said upon the same god's +answer to Pyrrhus: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +Aio te, Æacida, Romanos vincere posse. +</quote> + +<p> +I repeat it in Latin, because the equivocality, which equally +implies, that Pyrrhus could conquer the Romans, and the +Romans Pyrrhus, will not subsist in a translation. Under the +cover of such ambiguities, the god eluded all difficulties, and +was never in the wrong. +</p> + +<p> +It must, however, be confessed, that sometimes the answer +of the oracle was clear and circumstantial. I have related, in +the history of Crœsus, the stratagem he made use of to assure +himself of the veracity of the oracle, which was, to demand of +it, by his ambassador, what he was doing at a certain time +prefixed. The oracle of Delphi replied, in verse, that he was +causing a tortoise and a lamb to be drest in a vessel of brass, +which was really the case. The emperor Trajan made a +similar trial of the god at Heliopolis, by sending him a letter +sealed up,<note place='foot'>One method of consulting the oracle was by sealed letters, +which were laid upon the altar of the god unopened.—Trans.</note> +to which he demanded an answer.<note place='foot'>Macrob. +l. i. <hi rend='italic'>Saturnal.</hi> c. 23.</note> The oracle +made no other return, than to command a blank paper, well +folded and sealed, to be delivered to him. Trajan, upon the +receipt of it, was struck with amazement to see an answer so +correspondent with his own letter, in which he knew he had +written nothing. The wonderful facility with which dæmons +can transfer themselves almost in an instant from place to +place, made it not impossible for them to give the two answers, +which I have last mentioned, and to foretell in one country, +what they had seen in another; this is Tertullian's opinion.<note place='foot'>Omnis +spiritus ales. Hoc et angeli et dæmones. Igitur momento ubique +sunt; totus orbis illis locus unus est: quid ubi geratur tam facilè sciunt, quàm +enuntiant. Velocitas divinitas creditur, quia substantia ignoratur.—Cæterùm +testudinem decoqui cum carnibus pecudis Pythius eo modo renunciavit, quo suprà +diximus. Momento apud Lydiam fuerat. Tertul <hi rend='italic'>in +Apolog.</hi>—Trans.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Admitting it to be true, that some oracles have been followed +precisely by the events foretold, we may believe that God, to +punish the blind and sacrilegious credulity of the Pagans, has +sometimes permitted the dæmons to have a knowledge of things +to come, and to foretell them distinctly enough. Which conduct +of God, though very much above human comprehension, is +frequently attested in the Holy Scriptures. +</p> + +<p> +It has been questioned, whether the oracles, mentioned in +profane history, should be ascribed to the operations of dæmons, +<pb n='xlvi'/><anchor id='Pgxlvi'/> +or only to the wickedness and imposture of men. Van +dale, a Dutch physician, has maintained the latter opinion, +and Monsieur Fontenelle, when a young man, adopted it, in +the persuasion (to use his own words) that it was indifferent, +as to the truth of Christianity, whether the oracles were the +effect of the agency of spirits, or a series of impostures. Father +Baltus, the Jesuit, professor of the Holy Scriptures in the +university of Strasburgh, has refuted them both in a very solid +treatise, wherein he demonstrates, invincibly, from the unanimous +authority of the Fathers, that dæmons were the real +agents in the oracles. He attacks, with equal force and success, +the rashness and presumption of the Anabaptist physician; +who, calling in question the capacity and discernment of those +holy doctors, secretly endeavoured to efface the high idea all +true believers should entertain of those great leaders of the +Church, and to depreciate their venerable authority, which is +so great a difficulty to all who deviate from the principles of +ancient tradition. Now, if that was ever certain and uniform +in any thing, it is so in this point; for all the Fathers of the +Church, and ecclesiastical writers of all ages, maintain, and +attest, that the devil was the author of idolatry in general, and +of oracles in particular. +</p> + +<p> +This opinion does not hinder our believing that the priests +and priestesses were frequently guilty of fraud and imposture +in the answers of the oracles. For is not the devil the father +and prince of lies? In the Grecian history, we have seen +more than once the Delphic priestess suffer herself to be corrupted +by presents. It was from that motive, she persuaded +the Lacedæmonians to assist the people of Athens in the expulsion +of the thirty tyrants; that she caused Demaratus to be +divested of the royal dignity, to make way for Cleomenes; and +drest up an oracle to support the imposture of Lysander, when +he endeavoured to change the succession to the throne of +Sparta. And I am apt to believe that Themistocles, who well +knew the importance of acting against the Persians by sea, +inspired the god with the answer he gave, <q>to defend themselves +with wooden walls.</q> Demosthenes, convinced that the +oracles were frequently suggested by passion or interest, and +suspecting, with reason, that Philip had instructed them to +speak in his favour, boldly declared,<note place='foot'>Plut. <hi rend='italic'>in +Demosth.</hi> p. 854.</note> that the Pythia <q>philippized;</q> +and bade the Athenians and Thebans remember that +Pericles and Epaminondas, instead of listening to, and amusing +themselves with, the frivolous answers of the oracle, those idle +<pb n='xlvii'/><anchor id='Pgxlvii'/> +bugbears of the base and cowardly, consulted only reason in +the choice and execution of their measures. +</p> + +<p> +The same father Baltus examines, with equal success, a +second point in dispute, namely, the cessation of oracles. Mr. +Vandale, to oppose with some advantage a truth so glorious to +Jesus Christ, the subverter of idolatry, had falsified the sense +of the Fathers, by making them say, <q>that oracles ceased precisely +at the moment of Christ's birth.</q> The learned apologist +for the Fathers shows, that they all allege that oracles ceased +after our Saviour's birth, and the preaching of his Gospel; not +on a sudden, but in proportion as his salutary doctrines became +known to mankind, and gained ground in the world. This +unanimous opinion of the Fathers is confirmed by the unexceptionable +evidence of great numbers of the Pagans, who agree +with them as to the time when the oracles ceased. +</p> + +<p> +What an honour to the Christian religion was this silence +imposed upon the oracles by the victory of Jesus Christ! +Every Christian had this power. Tertullian, in one of his +<hi rend='italic'>Apologies</hi>,<note place='foot'>Tertull. <hi rend='italic'>in +Apolog.</hi></note> challenges the Pagans to make the experiment, and +consents that a Christian should be put to death, if he did not +oblige these givers of oracles to confess themselves devils. +Lactantius informs us, that every Christian could silence them +by only the sign of the cross.<note place='foot'>Lib. <hi rend='italic'>de +verà sapient.</hi>, c. 27.</note> And all the world knows, that +when Julian the Apostate was at Daphne, a suburb of Antioch, +to consult Apollo, the god, notwithstanding all the sacrifices +offered to him, continued mute, and only recovered his speech +to answer those who inquired the cause of his silence, that they +must ascribe it to the interment of certain bodies in the neighbourhood. +Those were the bodies of Christian martyrs, amongst +which was that of St. Babylas. +</p> + +<p> +This triumph of the Christian religion ought to give us a due +sense of our obligations to Jesus Christ, and, at the same time, +of the darkness to which all mankind were abandoned before +his coming. We have seen amongst the Carthaginians, fathers +and mothers, more cruel than wild beasts, inhumanly giving +up their children, and annually depopulating their cities, by +destroying the most vigorous of their youth, in obedience to the +bloody dictates of their oracles and false gods.<note place='foot'>Tam barbaros, +tam immanes fuisse homines, ut parricidium suum, id est tetrum +atque execrabib humano generi facinus, sacrificium vocarent. Cùm teneras atque +innocentes animas, quæ maximè est ætas parentibus dulcior, sine ullo respectu pietatis +extinguerunt, immanitatemque omnium bestiarum, quæ tamen fœtus suos amant, +seritate superarent. O dementiam insanabilem! Quid illis isti dii ampliùs facere +possent si essent iratissimi, quàm faciunt propitii? Cùm suos cultores parricidiis +inquinant, orbitatibus mactant, humanis sensibus spoliant. Lactant. l. i. c. +21.—Trans.</note> The victims +<pb n='xlviii'/><anchor id='Pgxlviii'/> +were chosen without any regard to rank, sex, age, or condition. +Such bloody executions were honoured with the name of +sacrifices, and designed to make the gods propitious. <q>What +greater evil,</q> cries Lactantius, <q>could they inflict in their most +violent displeasure, than thus to deprive their adorers of all +sense of humanity, to make them cut the throats of their own +children, and pollute their sacrilegious hands with such execrable +parricides?</q> +</p> + +<p> +A thousand frauds and impostures, openly detected at Delphi, +and every where else, had not opened men's eyes, nor in the +least diminished the credit of the oracles; which subsisted +upwards of two thousand years, and was carried to an inconceivable +height, even in the minds of the greatest men, the most +profound philosophers, the most powerful princes, and generally +among the most civilized nations, and such as valued themselves +most upon their wisdom and policy. The estimation +they were in, may be judged from the magnificence of the +temple of Delphi, and the immense riches amassed in it through +the superstitious credulity of nations and monarchs. +</p> + +<p> +The temple of Delphi having been burnt about the fifty-eighth +Olympiad, the Amphictyons, those celebrated judges of +Greece, took upon themselves the care of rebuilding it.<note place='foot'>Herod l. +ii. c 180; l. v. c. 62.</note> They +agreed with an architect for three hundred talents, which +amounts to nine hundred thousand livres.<note place='foot'>About +44,428<hi rend='italic'>l.</hi> sterling.—Trans.</note> The cities of +Greece were to furnish that sum. The inhabitants of Delphi +were taxed a fourth part of it, and collected contributions in +all parts, even in foreign nations, for that service. Amasis, at +that time king of Egypt, and the Grecian inhabitants of his +country, contributed considerable sums towards it. The Alcmæonidæ, +a potent family of Athens, took upon themselves +the conduct of the building, and made it more magnificent, by +considerable additions of their own, than had been proposed in +the model. +</p> + +<p> +Gyges, king of Lydia, and Crœsus, one of his successors, +enriched the temple of Delphi with an incredible number of +presents. Many other princes, cities, and private persons, by +their example, in a kind of emulation of each other, had +heaped up in it tripods, vases, tables, shields, crowns, chariots, +and statues of gold and silver of all sizes, equally infinite in +number and value. The presents of gold which Crœsus alone +made to this temple, amounted, according to Herodotus,<note place='foot'>Ibid. +l. i. c. 50, 51.</note> to upwards of 254 talents; that is, about +762,000 French livres;<note place='foot'>About 33,500<hi rend='italic'>l.</hi> +sterling.—Trans.</note> +<pb n='xlix'/><anchor id='Pgxlix'/> +and perhaps those of silver to as much. Most of these presents +were in being in the time of Herodotus. Diodorus Siculus,<note place='foot'>Diod. +l. xvi p. 453.</note> adding those of other princes to them, makes their amount ten +thousand talents, or thirty millions of livres.<note place='foot'>About +1,300,000<hi rend='italic'>l.</hi>—Trans.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Amongst the statues of gold, consecrated by Crœsus in +the temple of Delphi, was placed that of his female baker, the +occasion of which was this:<note place='foot'>Plut. <hi rend='italic'>de +Pyth. orac.</hi> p. 401.</note> Alyattes, Crœsus's father, having +married a second wife, by whom he had children, she laid a +plan to get rid of her son-in-law, that the crown might descend +to her own issue. For this purpose she engaged the female +baker to put poison into a loaf, that was to be served at the +young prince's table. The woman, who was struck with horror +at the crime, (in which she ought to have had no part at all,) +gave Crœsus notice of it. The poisoned loaf was served to +the queen's own children, and their death secured the crown to +the lawful successor. When he ascended the throne, in gratitude +to his benefactress, he erected a statue to her in the +temple of Delphi. But, it may be said, could a person of so +mean a condition deserve so great an honour? Plutarch +answers in the affirmative; and with a much better title, he +says, than many of the so-much-vaunted conquerors and +heroes, who have acquired their fame only by murder and +devastation. +</p> + +<p> +It is not to be wondered at, that such immense riches should +have tempted the avarice of mankind, and exposed Delphi to +being frequently pillaged. Without mentioning more ancient +times, Xerxes, who invaded Greece with a million of men, +endeavoured to seize upon the spoils of this temple. Above +an hundred years after, the Phoceans, near neighbours of +Delphi, plundered it at several times. The same rich booty +was the sole motive of the irruption of the Gauls into Greece +under Brennus. The guardian god of Delphi, if we may +believe historians, sometimes defended this temple by surprising +prodigies; and at others, either from impotence or +want of presence of mind, suffered himself to be plundered. +When Nero made this temple, so famous throughout the universe, +a visit, and found in it five hundred fine brass statues +of illustrious men and gods to his liking, which had been +consecrated to Apollo, (those of gold and silver having undoubtedly +disappeared upon his approach,) he ordered them +to be taken down, and shipping them on board his vessels, +carried them with him to Rome. +</p> + +<pb n='l'/><anchor id='Pgl'/> + +<p> +Those who are desirous of more particular information +concerning the oracles and riches of the temple of Delphi, may +consult some dissertations upon this subject, printed in the +<hi rend='italic'>Memoirs of the Academy of Belles Lettres</hi>,<note place='foot'>Vol. +iii.</note> of which I have +made good use, according to my custom. +</p> + +</div> + +</div> + +<div> +<head>Of the Games and Combats.</head> + +<p> +Games and combats made a part of the religion, and had a +share in almost all the festivals of the ancients; and for that +reason it is proper that they should find a place in this Work. +Whether we consider their origin, or the design of their institution, +we shall not be surprised at their being so prevalent in +the best governed states. +</p> + +<p> +Hercules, Theseus, Castor and Pollux, and the greatest +heroes of antiquity, were not only the institutors or restorers +of them, but thought it glorious to share in the exercise of +them, and meritorious to succeed therein. These subduers of +monsters, and of the common enemies of mankind, thought +it no disgrace to them, to aspire to the victories in these combats; +nor that the new wreaths with which their brows were +encircled in the solemnization of these games, detracted from +the lustre of those they had before acquired. Hence the most +famous poets made these combats the subject of their verses; +the beauty of whose poetry, whilst it immortalized themselves, +seemed to promise an eternity of fame to those whose victories +it celebrated. Hence arose that uncommon ardour which animated +all Greece, to tread in the steps of those ancient heroes, +and like them, to signalize themselves in the public combats. +</p> + +<p> +A reason more solid, and originating in the very nature of +these combats, and of the people who used them, may be given +for their prevalence. The Greeks, by nature warlike, and +equally intent upon forming the bodies and minds of their +youth, introduced these exercises, and annexed honours to +them, in order to prepare the younger sort for the profession of +arms, to confirm their health, to render them stronger and more +robust, to inure them to fatigues, and to make them intrepid +in close fight, in which, the use of fire-arms being then unknown, +strength of body generally decided the victory. These athletic +exercises supplied the place of those in use amongst our nobility, +as dancing, fencing, riding the great horse, &c.; but they +did not confine themselves to a graceful mien, nor to the +beauties of a shape and face; they were for joining strength to +the charms of person. +</p> + +<pb n='li'/><anchor id='Pgli'/> + +<p> +It is true, these exercises, so illustrious by their founders, +and so useful in the ends at first proposed from them, introduced +public masters, who taught them to young persons, and +from practising them with success, made public show and ostentation +of their skill. This sort of men applied themselves +solely to the practice of this art, and carrying it to an excess, +they formed it into a kind of science, by the addition of rules +and refinements; often challenging each other out of a vain +emulation, till at length they degenerated into a profession of +people, who, without any other employment or merit, exhibited +themselves as a sight for the diversion of the public. Our +dancing-masters are not unlike them in this respect, whose +natural and original designation was to teach youth a graceful +manner of walking, and a good address; but now we see them +mount the stage, and perform ballets in the garb of comedians, +capering, jumping, skipping, and making variety of strange +unnatural motions. We shall see in the sequel, what opinion +the wiser among the ancients had of their professed combatants +and wrestling-masters. +</p> + +<p> +There were four games solemnized in Greece. The <hi rend='italic'>Olympic</hi>, +so called from Olympia, otherwise Pisa, a town of Elis in Peloponnesus, +near which they were celebrated, after the expiration +of every four years, in honour of Jupiter Olympicus. The +<hi rend='italic'>Pythian</hi>, sacred to Apollo Pythius,<note place='foot'>Several +reasons are given for this name.—Trans.</note> so called from the serpent +Python, killed by him; they were celebrated at Delphi every +four years. The <hi rend='italic'>Nemæan</hi>, which took their name from +Nemæa, a city and forest of Peloponnesus, and were either +instituted or restored by Hercules, after he had slain the lion +of the Nemæan forest. They were solemnized every two years. +And lastly, the <hi rend='italic'>Isthmian</hi>, celebrated upon the isthmus of +Corinth, every four years, in honour of Neptune. Theseus<note place='foot'>Pausan. +l. ii. p. 88.</note> was the restorer of them, and they continued even after the +ruin of Corinth. That persons might be present at these +public sports with greater quiet and security, there was a general +suspension of arms, and cessation of hostilities throughout +all Greece, during the time of their celebration. +</p> + +<p> +In these games, which were solemnized with incredible magnificence, +and drew together a prodigious concourse of spectators +and combatants from all parts, a simple wreath was all +the reward of the victors. In the Olympic games, it was composed +of wild olive. In the Pythian, of laurel. In the Nemæan, +of green parsley;<note place='foot'>Apium.</note> and in the Isthmian, of the same +<pb n='lii'/><anchor id='Pglii'/> +herb dried. The institutors of these games wished that it +should be implied from hence, that honour alone, and not +mean and sordid interest, ought to be the motive of great +actions. Of what were men not capable, accustomed to act +solely from so glorious a principle! We have seen in the +Persian war,<note place='foot'>Herod. l. viii. c. 26.</note> +that Tigranes, one of the most considerable captains +in the army of Xerxes, having heard the prizes in the +Grecian games described, cried out with astonishment, addressing +himself to Mardonius, who commanded in chief, <q>Heavens! +against what men are you leading us? Insensible to +interest, they combat only for glory!</q><note place='foot'>Παπαὶ, Μαρδόνιε, +κόιους ἐπ᾽ ἄνδρας ἤγαγες μαχησομένους ἡμέας, οἵ οὐ περ᾽ +χρημάσων τὸν αγῶνα ποιεῦνται, ἀλλά περὶ ἀρετῆς.—Trans.</note> Which exclamation, +though looked upon by Xerxes as an effect of abject fear, +abounds with sense and judgment. +</p> + +<p> +It was from the same principle that the Romans, whilst +they bestowed upon other occasions crowns of gold of great +value, persisted always in giving only a wreath of oaken leaves +to him who had saved the life of a citizen.<note place='foot'>Plin. +l. xvi. c. 4.</note> <q>O manners, +worthy of eternal remembrance!</q> cried Pliny, in relating this +laudable custom, <q>O grandeur, truly Roman, that would assign +no other reward but honour, for the preservation of a citizen! +a service, indeed, above all reward; thereby sufficiently evincing +their opinion, that it was criminal to save a man's life +from the motive of lucre and interest!</q> <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>O mores +æternos, qui tanta opera honore solo donaverint; et cùm reliquas coronas +auro commendarent, salutem civis in pretio esse noluerint, +clarâ professione servari quidem hominem nefus esse lucri +causâ!</foreign> +</p> + +<p> +Amongst all the Grecian games, the Olympic held undeniably +the first rank, and that for three reasons. They were +sacred to Jupiter, the greatest of the gods; instituted by +Hercules, the first of the heroes; and celebrated with more +pomp and magnificence, amidst a greater concourse of spectators +attracted from all parts, than any of the rest. +</p> + +<p> +If Pausanias may be believed,<note place='foot'>Pausan. l. v. p. +297.</note> women were prohibited to +be present at them upon pain of death; and during their continuance, +it was ordained, that no woman should approach the +place where the games were celebrated, or pass on that side of +the river Alpheus. One only was so bold as to violate this law, +and slipt in disguise amongst those who were training the +wrestlers. She was tried for the offence, and would have +suffered the penalty enacted by the law, if the judges, in regard +to her father, her brother, and her son, who had all been victors +<pb n='liii'/><anchor id='Pgliii'/> +in the Olympic games, had not pardoned her offence, and saved +her life. +</p> + +<p> +This law was very conformable with the manners of the +Greeks, amongst whom the ladies were very reserved, seldom +appeared in public, had separate apartments, called +<foreign lang='el' rend='italic'>Gynæcea</foreign>, +and never ate at table with the men when strangers were +present. It was certainly inconsistent with decency to admit +them at some of the games, as those of wrestling and the Pancratium, +in which the combatants fought naked. +</p> + +<p> +The same Pausanias tells us in another place,<note place='foot'>Pausan. +l. vi. p. 382.</note> that the +priestess of Ceres had an honourable seat in these games, and +that virgins were not denied the liberty of being present at +them. For my part, I cannot conceive the reason of such +inconsistency, which indeed seems incredible. +</p> + +<p> +The Greeks thought nothing comparable to the victory in +these games. They looked upon it as the perfection of glory, +and did not believe it permitted to mortals to desire any thing +beyond it. Cicero assures us,<note place='foot'>Olympiorum victoria, Græcis +consulatus ille antiquus videbatur. <hi rend='italic'>Tuscul. +Quæst.</hi> l. ii. n. 41.—Trans.</note> that with them it was no less +honourable than the consular dignity in its original splendour +with the ancient Romans. And in another place he says,<note place='foot'>Olympionicam +esse apud Græcos propè majus fuit et gloriosius quàm Romæ +triumphâsse. <hi rend='italic'>Pro Flacco</hi>, n. 31.—Trans.</note> +that to conquer at Olympia, was almost, in the estimation of +the Grecians, more great and glorious, than to receive the +honour of a triumph at Rome. Horace speaks in still stronger +terms of this kind of victory. He is not afraid to +say,<note place='foot'><p>——Palmaque nobilis<lb/> +Terrarum dominos evehit ad deos. +</p> +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Od.</hi> i. l. i. +</p> +<p> +Sive quos Elea domum reducit<lb/> +Palma cœlestes +</p> +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Od.</hi> ii. l. i.—Trans.</p></note> that +<q>it exalts the victor above human nature; they were no longer +men but gods.</q> +</p> + +<p> +We shall see hereafter what extraordinary honours were paid +the victor, of which one of the most affecting was, to date the +year with his name. Nothing could more effectually stimulate +their endeavours, and make them regardless of expenses, than +the assurance of immortalizing their names, which, through all +future ages would be enrolled in their annals, and stand in the +front of all laws made in the same year with the victory. To +this motive may be added the joy of knowing, that their praises +would be celebrated by the most famous poets, and form the +subject of conversation in the most illustrious assemblies; for +<pb n='liv'/><anchor id='Pgliv'/> +these odes were sung in every house, and formed a part in +every entertainment. What could be a more powerful incentive +to a people, who had no other object and aim than that of +human glory? +</p> + +<p> +I shall confine myself upon this head to the Olympic games, +which continued five days; and shall describe, in as brief a +manner as possible, the several kinds of combats of which they +were composed. M. Burette has treated this subject in several +dissertations, printed in the <hi rend='italic'>Memoirs of the Academy of Belles +Lettres</hi>; wherein purity, perspicuity, and elegance of style are +united with profound erudition. I make no scruple in appropriating +to my use the riches of my brethren; and, in what I +have already said upon the Olympic games, have made very +free with the late Abbé Massieu's remarks upon the <hi rend='italic'>Odes</hi> of +Pindar. +</p> + +<p> +The combats which had the greatest share in the solemnity +of the public games, were boxing, wrestling, the pancratium, +the discus or quoit, and racing. To these may be added the +exercises of leaping, throwing the dart, and that of the trochus +or wheel; but as these were neither important nor of any great +reputation, I shall content myself with having only mentioned +them in this place. For the better methodizing the particulars +of these games and exercises, it will be necessary to begin with +an account of the Athletæ, or combatants. +</p> + +<div> +<head>Of the Athletæ, or Combatants.</head> + +<p> +The term Athletæ is derived from the Greek word ἆθλος, +which signifies labour, combat. This name was given to those +who exercised themselves with an intention to dispute the +prizes in the public games. The art by which they formed +themselves for these encounters, was called Gymnastic, from +the Athletæ's practising naked. +</p> + +<p> +Those who were designed for this profession frequented, from +their most tender age, the Gymnasia or Palæstræ, which were +a kind of academies maintained for that purpose at the public +expense. In these places, such young people were under the +direction of different masters, who employed the most effectual +methods to inure their bodies for the fatigues of the public +games, and to train them for the combats. The regimen they +were under was very hard and severe. At first they had no +other nourishment than dried figs, nuts, soft cheese, and a +coarse heavy sort of bread, called μάζα. They were absolutely +<pb n='lv'/><anchor id='Pglv'/> +forbidden the use of wine, and enjoined continence; which +Horace expresses thus:<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Art. Poet.</hi> v. 412.</note> +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l>Qui studet optatam cursu contingere metam</l> +<l>Multa tulit fecitque puer, sudavit et alsit,</l> +<l>Abstinuit venere et vino.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Who in th' Olympic race the prize would gain,</l> +<l>Has borne from early youth fatigue and pain,</l> +<l>Excess of heat and cold has often try'd,</l> +<l>Love's softness banish'd, and the glass deny'd.</l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +St. Paul, by a comparison drawn from the Athletæ, exhorts +the Corinthians, near whose city the Isthmian games were +celebrated, to a sober and penitent life. <q>Those who strive,</q> +says he, <q>for the mastery, are temperate in all things: Now +they do it to obtain a corruptible crown, but we an incorruptible.</q> +Tertullian uses the same thought to encourage the martyrs.<note place='foot'>Nempe +enim et Athletæ segregantur ad strictiorem disciplinam, ut robori ædificando +vacent; continentui à luxuriâ, à cibis lætioribus, à potu jucundiore; coguntur, +cruciantur, fatigantur. Tertul. <hi rend='italic'>ad Martyr.</hi>—Trans.</note> +He makes a comparison from what the hopes of victory made +the Athletæ endure. He repeats the severe and painful exercises +they were obliged to undergo; the continual denial and +constraint, in which they passed the best years of their lives; +and the voluntary privation which they imposed upon themselves, +of all that was most pleasing and grateful to their passions. +It is true, the Athletæ did not always observe so severe +a regimen, but at length substituted in its stead a voracity and +indolence extremely remote from it. +</p> + +<p> +The Athletæ, before their exercises,<note place='foot'>The persons employed in +this office were called <hi rend='italic'>Aliptæ</hi>.—Trans.</note> were rubbed +with oils and ointments to make their bodies more supple and vigorous. +At first they made use of a belt, with an apron or scarf fastened +to it, for their more decent appearance in the combats; but +one of the combatants happening to lose the victory by this +covering's falling off, that accident was the occasion of sacrificing +modesty to convenience, and retrenching the apron for +the future. The Athletæ were naked only in some exercises, +as wrestling, boxing, the pancratium, and the foot-race. They +practised a kind of novitiate in the Gymnasia for ten months, +to accomplish themselves in the several exercises by assiduous +application; and this they did in the presence of such, as +curiosity or idleness conducted to look on. But when the +celebration of the Olympic games drew nigh, the Athletæ who +were to appear in them were kept to double exercise. +</p> + +<pb n='lvi'/><anchor id='Pglvi'/> + +<p> +Before they were admitted to combat, other proofs were +required; as to birth, none but Greeks were to be received. +It was also necessary, that their manners should be unexceptionable, +and their condition free. No foreigner was admitted +to combat in the Olympic games; and when Alexander, the +son of Amyntas, king of Macedon, presented himself to dispute +the prize, his competitors, without any regard to the royal +dignity, opposed his reception as a Macedonian, and consequently +a barbarian and a stranger; nor could the judges be +prevailed upon to admit him, till he had proved in due form +his family originally descended from the Argives. +</p> + +<p> +The persons who presided in the games were called +<foreign lang='el' rend='italic'>Agonothetæ</foreign>, +<foreign lang='el' rend='italic'>Athlothetæ</foreign>, and +<foreign lang='el' rend='italic'>Hellanodicæ</foreign>: they registered the name +and country of each champion; and upon the opening of the +games a herald proclaimed the names of the combatants. They +were then made to take an oath, that they would religiously +observe the several laws prescribed in each kind of combat, +and do nothing contrary to the established orders and regulations +of the games. Fraud, artifice, and excessive violence, +were absolutely prohibited; and the maxim so generally received +elsewhere,<note place='foot'>Dolus an virtus, quis in noste requirat?—Trans.</note> +that it is indifferent whether an enemy is +conquered by deceit or valour, was banished from these combats. +The address of a combatant, expert in all the niceties +of his art, who knows how to shift and ward dexterously, to put +the change upon his adversary with art and subtlety, and to +improve the least advantages, must not be confounded here +with the cowardly and knavish cunning of one who, without +regard to the laws prescribed, employs the most unfair means +to vanquish his competitor. Those who disputed the prize in +the several kinds of combats, drew lots for their precedency in +them. +</p> + +<p> +It is time to bring our champions to blows, and to run over the +different kinds of combats, in which they exercised themselves. +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<head>Of Wrestling.</head> + +<p> +Wrestling is one of the most ancient exercises of which we +have any knowledge, having been practised in the time of the +patriarchs, as the wrestling of the angel with Jacob proves.<note place='foot'>Gen. +xxxii. 24.</note> Jacob supported the angel's attack so vigorously, that the +latter, perceiving he could not throw so rough a wrestler, was +reduced to make him lame by touching the sinew of his thigh, +which immediately shrunk up. +</p> + +<pb n='lvii'/><anchor id='Pglvii'/> + +<p> +Wrestling, among the Greeks, as well as other nations, was +practised at first with simplicity, little art, and in a natural +manner; the weight of the body, and the strength of the +muscles, having more share in it than address and skill. +Theseus was the first that reduced it to method, and refined it +by the rules of art. He was also the first who established the +public schools, called <foreign lang='el' rend='italic'>Palæstræ</foreign>, +where the young people had masters to instruct them in it. +</p> + +<p> +The wrestlers, before they began the combat, were rubbed +all over in a rough manner, and afterwards anointed with oils, +which added to the strength and flexibility of their limbs. But +as this unction, by making the skin too slippery, rendered it +difficult for them to take good hold of each other, they remedied +that inconvenience, sometimes by rolling themselves in +the dust of the Palæstra, sometimes by throwing a fine sand +upon each other, kept for that purpose in the Xystæ, or porticoes +of the Gymnasia. +</p> + +<p> +Thus prepared, the wrestlers began their combat. They +were matched two against two, and sometimes several couples +contended at the same time. In this combat, the whole aim +and design of the wrestlers was to throw their adversary upon +the ground. Both strength and art were employed for this +purpose: they seized each other by the arms, drew forwards, +pushed backwards, used many distortions and twistings of the +body; locking their limbs into each other's, seizing by the +neck, throttling, pressing in their arms, struggling, plying on all +sides, lifting from the ground, dashing their heads together like +rams, and twisting one another's necks. The most considerable +advantage in the wrestler's art, was to make himself master of +his adversary's legs, of which a fall was the immediate consequence. +From whence Plautus says in his <hi rend='italic'>Pseudolus</hi>, speaking +of wine, <q>He is a dangerous wrestler, he presently trips up +the heels.</q><note place='foot'>Captat pedes primùm, luctator dolosus +est.—Trans.</note> The Greek terms υποσκελίζειν and πτερνίζειν, and +the Latin word <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>supplantare</foreign>, seem to imply, +that one of these arts consisted in stooping down to seize the antagonist under +the soles of his feet, and in raising them up to give him a fall. +</p> + +<p> +In this manner the Athletæ wrestled standing, the combat +ending with the fall of one of the competitors. But when it +happened that the wrestler who was down, drew his adversary +along with him, either by art or accident, the combat continued +upon the sand, the antagonists tumbling and twining with each +other in a thousand different ways, till one of them got uppermost, +and compelled the other to ask quarter, and confess +<pb n='lviii'/><anchor id='Pglviii'/> +himself vanquished. There was a third sort of wrestling, called +Ἀκροχειρισμὸς, from the Athletæ's using only their hands in it, +without taking hold of the body, as in the other kinds; and +this exercise served as a prelude to the greater combat. It +consisted in intermingling their fingers, and in squeezing them +with all their force; in pushing one another, by joining the +palms of their hands together; in twisting their fingers, wrists, +and other joints of the arm, without the assistance of any other +member; and the victory was his, who obliged his opponent to +ask quarter. +</p> + +<p> +The combatants were to fight three times successively, and +to throw their antagonists at least twice, before the prize could +be adjudged to them. +</p> + +<p> +Homer describes the wrestling of Ajax and Ulysses; Ovid, +that of Hercules and Achelous; Lucan, of Hercules and +Antæus; and Statius, in his <hi rend='italic'>Thebaid</hi>, that of Tydeus and +Agylleus.<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Iliad</hi>. l. xxiii v. 708, +&c. Ovid. <hi rend='italic'>Metam.</hi> l. ix. v. 31, &c. +<hi rend='italic'>Phars.</hi> l. iv. v. 612. Stat. l. vi. v. 847.</note> +</p> + +<p> +The wrestlers of greatest reputation amongst the Greeks, +were Milo of Crotona, whose history I have related elsewhere +at large, and Polydamas. The latter, alone and without arms, +killed a furious lion upon mount Olympus, in imitation of +Hercules, whom he proposed to himself as a model in this +action. Another time having seized a bull by one of his +hinder legs, the beast could not get loose without leaving his +hoof in his hands. He could hold a chariot behind, while the +coachman whipt his horses in vain to make them go forward. +Darius Nothus, king of Persia, hearing of his prodigious +strength, was desirous of seeing him, and invited him to Susa. +Three soldiers of that Prince's guard, and of that band which +the Persians called <q>immortal,</q> esteemed the most warlike of +their troops, were ordered to fall upon him. Our champion +fought and killed them all three. +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<head>Of Boxing, or the Cestus.</head> + +<p> +Boxing is a combat at blows with the fist, from whence it +derives its name. The combatants covered their fists with a +kind of offensive arms, called <foreign lang='el' rend='italic'>Cestus</foreign>, +and their heads with a sort of leather cap, to defend their temples and ears, which +were most exposed to blows, and to deaden their violence. +The Cestus was a kind of gauntlet, or glove, made of straps of +leather, and plated with brass, lead or iron. Their use was to +<pb n='lix'/><anchor id='Pglix'/> +strengthen the hands of the combatants, and to add violence to +their blows. +</p> + +<p> +Sometimes the Athletæ came immediately to the most violent +blows, and began their onset in the most furious manner. +Sometimes whole hours passed in harassing and fatiguing each +other, by a continual extension of their arms, rendering each +other's blows ineffectual, and endeavouring by that sparring to +keep off their adversary. But when they fought with the +utmost fury, they aimed chiefly at the head and face, which +parts they were most careful to defend, by either avoiding or +parrying the blows made at them. When a combatant came +on to throw himself with all his force and vigour upon another, +they had a surprising address in avoiding the attack, by a +nimble turn of the body, which threw the imprudent adversary +down, and deprived him of the victory. +</p> + +<p> +However fierce the combatants were against each other, +their being exhausted by the length of the combat, would +frequently reduce them to the necessity of making a truce; +upon which the battle was suspended by mutual consent for +some minutes, that were employed in recovering their fatigue, +and rubbing off the sweat in which they were bathed: after +which they renewed the fight, till one of them, by letting fall +his arms through weakness and faintness, explained that he +could no longer support the pain or fatigue, and desired +quarter; which was confessing himself vanquished. +</p> + +<p> +Boxing was one of the roughest and most dangerous of the +gymnastic combats; because, besides the danger of being +crippled, the combatants ran the hazard of their lives. They +sometimes fell down dead, or dying upon the sand; though +that seldom happened, except the vanquished person persisted +too long in not acknowledging his defeat: yet it was common +for them to quit the fight with a countenance so disfigured, +that it was not easy to know them afterwards; carrying away +with them the sad marks of their vigorous resistance, such as +bruises and contusions in the face, the loss of an eye, their +teeth knocked out, their jaws broken, or some more considerable +fracture. +</p> + +<p> +We find in the poets, both Latin and Greek, several descriptions +of this kind of combat. In Homer, that of Epeus and +Euryalus; in Theocritus, of Pollux and Amycus; in Apollonius +Rhodius, the same battle of Pollux and Amycus; in Virgil, +that of Dares and Entellus; and in Statius, and Valerius +Flaccus, of several other combatants.<note place='foot'>Dioscoi. +<hi rend='italic'>Idyl.</hi> xxii. <hi rend='italic'>Argonautic</hi>, l. ii. +<hi rend='italic'>Æneid.</hi> l. v. <hi rend='italic'>Thebaid.</hi> l. vii. +<hi rend='italic'>Argonaut.</hi> l. iv.</note> +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n='lx'/><anchor id='Pglx'/> + +<div> +<head>Of the Pancratium.</head> + +<p> +The Pancratium was so called from two Greek +words,<note place='foot'>Πᾶν κράτος.</note> which +signify that the whole force of the body was necessary for +succeeding in it. It united boxing and wrestling in the same +fight, borrowing from one its manner of struggling and flinging, +and from the other, the art of dealing blows and of avoiding +them with success. In wrestling it was not permitted to strike +with the hand, nor in boxing to seize each other in the +manner of the wrestlers; but in the Pancratium, it was not +only allowed to make use of all the gripes and artifices of +wrestling, but the hands and feet, and even the teeth and nails, +might be employed to conquer an antagonist. +</p> + +<p> +This combat was the most rough and dangerous. A Pancratiast +in the Olympic games (called Arrichion, or Arrachion,) +perceiving himself almost suffocated by his adversary, who had +got fast hold of him by the throat, at the same time that he +held him by the foot, broke one of his enemy's toes, the extreme +anguish of which obliged him to ask quarter at the very instant +that Arrichion himself expired. The Agonothetæ crowned +Arrichion, though dead, and proclaimed him victor. Philostratus +has left us a very lively description of a painting, which +represented this combat. +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<head>Of the Discus, or Quoit.</head> + +<p> +The Discus was a kind of quoit of a round form, made sometimes +of wood, but more frequently of stone, lead, or other +metal; as iron or brass. Those who used this exercise were +called Discoboli, that is, flingers of the Discus. The epithet +κατωμάδιος, which signifies <q>borne upon the shoulders,</q> given +to this instrument by Homer, sufficiently shows, that it was of +too great a weight to be carried from place to place in the +hands only, and that the shoulders were necessary for the +support of such a burden for any length of time. +</p> + +<p> +The intent of this exercise, as of almost all the others, was +to invigorate the body, and to make men more capable of +supporting the weight and use of arms. In war they were +often obliged to carry such loads, as appear excessive in these +days, either of provisions, fascines, palisades; or in scaling of +walls, when, to equal the height of them, several of the besiegers +mounted upon the shoulders of each other. +</p> + +<p> +The Athletæ, in hurling the Discus, put themselves into +<pb n='lxi'/><anchor id='Pglxi'/> +the posture best adapted to add force to their cast; that is, +they advanced one foot, upon which they leaned the whole +weight of their bodies. They then poised the Discus in their +hands, and whirling it round several times almost horizontally, +to add force to its motion, they threw it off with the joint +strength of hands, arms, and body, which had all a share in +the vigour of the discharge. He that flung the Discus farthest +was the victor. +</p> + +<p> +The most famous painters and sculptors of antiquity, in their +endeavours to represent naturally the attitudes of the Discoboli, +have left to posterity many masterpieces in their several arts. +Quintilian exceedingly extols a statue of that kind, which had +been finished with infinite care and application by the celebrated +Myron: <q>What can be more finished,</q> says he, <q>or +express more happily the muscular distortions of the body in +the exercise of the Discus, than the Discobolus of Myron?</q><note place='foot'>Quid +tam distortum et elaboratum, quàm est ille Discobolos Myronis? Quintil. +l. ii. c. 13.—Trans.</note> +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<head>Of the Pentathlum.</head> + +<p> +The Greeks gave this name to an exercise composed of five +others. It is the common opinion, that those five exercises +were wrestling, running, leaping, throwing the dart, and the +Discus. It is believed that this sort of combat was decided in +one day, and sometimes the same morning: and that to obtain +the prize, which was single, it was required that a combatant +should be the victor in all those exercises. +</p> + +<p> +The exercise of leaping, and throwing the javelin, of which +the first consisted in leaping a certain length, and the other in +hitting a mark with a javelin at a certain distance, contributed +to the forming of a soldier, by making him nimble and active +in battle, and expert in flinging the spear and dart. +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<head>Of Races.</head> + +<p> +Of all the exercises which the Athletæ cultivated with so +much pains and industry to enable them to appear in the public +games, running held the foremost rank. The Olympic games +generally opened with races, and were solemnized at first with +no other exercise. +</p> + +<p> +The place where the Athletæ exercised themselves in running +was generally called the <foreign lang='el' rend='italic'>Stadium</foreign> +by the Greeks; as was that wherein they disputed in earnest for the prize. As the lists or +<pb n='lxii'/><anchor id='Pglxii'/> +course for these games was at first but one Stadium<note place='foot'>The Stadium +was a measure of distance among the Greeks, and was, according +to Herodotus, l. ii. c. 149, six hundred feet in length. Pliny says, l. ii. c. 23, that +it was six hundred and twenty-five. Those two authors may be reconciled by considering +the difference between the Greek and Roman foot; besides which, the length of the +Stadium varies, according to the difference of times and places.—Trans.</note> +in length, it took its name from its measure, and was called the Stadium, +whether precisely of that extent, or of a much greater. Under +that denomination was included not only the space in which +the Athletæ ran, but also that which contained the spectators +of the gymnastic games. The place where the Athletæ contended +was called Scamma, from its lying lower than the rest +of the Stadium, on each side of which, and at the extremity +ran an ascent or kind of terrace, covered with seats and +benches, upon which the spectators were seated. The most +remarkable parts of the Stadium were its entrance, middle, +and extremity. +</p> + +<p> +The entrance of the course, from whence the competitors +started, was marked at first only by a line drawn on the sand +from side to side of the Stadium. To that at length was substituted +a kind of barrier, which was only a cord strained tight +in the front of the horses or men that were to run. It was +sometimes a rail of wood. The opening of this barrier was +the signal for the racers to start. +</p> + +<p> +The middle of the Stadium was remarkable only by the circumstance +of having the prizes allotted to the victors set up +there. St. Chrysostom<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Hom.</hi> lv. +<hi rend='italic'>in Matth.</hi> c. 16.—Trans.</note> draws a fine comparison +from this custom. <q>As the judges,</q> says he, <q>in the races and other +games, expose in the midst of the Stadium, to the view of the +champions, the crowns which they are to receive; in like manner +the Lord, by the mouth of his prophets, has placed in the +midst of the course, the prizes which he designs for those who +have the courage to contend for them.</q> +</p> + +<p> +At the extremity of the Stadium was a goal, where the footraces +ended, but in those of chariots and horses they were to +run several times round it without stopping, and afterwards +conclude the race by regaining the other extremity of the lists, +from whence they started. +</p> + +<p> +There were three kinds of races, the chariot, the horse, and +the footrace. I shall begin with the last, as the most simple, +natural, and ancient. +</p> + +<pb n='lxiii'/><anchor id='Pglxiii'/> + +<div> +<head>1. Of the Foot-race.</head> + +<p> +The runners, of whatever number they were, ranged themselves +in a line, after having drawn lots for their places. +Whilst they waited the signal to start, they practised, by way +of prelude, various motions to awaken their activity, and to +keep their limbs pliable and in a right temper.<note place='foot'><p>——Tunc +ritè citatos<lb/> +Explorant, acuuntque gradus, variasque per artes<lb/> +Instimulant docto languentia membra tumultu.<lb/> +Poplite nunc flexo sidunt, nunc lubrica forti<lb/> +Pectora collidunt plausu; nunc ignea tollunt<lb/> +Crura, brevemque fugam nec opino fine reponunt. +</p> +<p> +Stat. <hi rend='italic'>Theb.</hi> l. vi v. 587, &c. +</p> +<p> +They try, they rouse their speed, with various arts;<lb/> +Their languid limbs they prompt to act their parts.<lb/> +Now with bent hams, amidst the practis'd crowd,<lb/> +They sit; now strain their lungs, and shout aloud<lb/> +Now a short flight with fiery steps they trace,<lb/> +And with a sudden stop abridge the mimic race. +</p> +<p> +—Trans.</p></note> They kept +themselves in wind by small leaps, and making little excursions, +that were a kind of trial of their speed and agility. Upon the +signal being given they flew towards the goal, with a rapidity +scarce to be followed by the eye, which was solely to decide +the victory. For the Agonistic laws prohibited, under the +penalty of infamy, the attaining it by any foul method. +</p> + +<p> +In the simple race the extent of the Stadium was run but +once, at the end of which the prize attended the victor, that is, +he who came in first. In the race called Δίαυλος, the competitors +ran twice that length; that is, after having arrived at +the goal, they returned to the barrier. To these may be added +a third sort, called Δολιχὸς, which was the longest of all, as its +name implies, and was composed of several Diauli. Sometimes +it consisted of twenty-four Stadia backwards and forwards, +turning twelve times round the goal. +</p> + +<p> +There were some runners in ancient times, as well among +the Greeks as Romans, who have been much celebrated for +their swiftness. Pliny tells us,<note place='foot'>Plin. l. vii. +c. 20.</note> that it was thought prodigious +in Phidippides to run eleven hundred and forty Stadia<note place='foot'>57 +leagues.</note> between +Athens and Lacedæmon in the space of two days, till Anystis +of the latter place, and Philonides, the runner of Alexander +the Great, went twelve hundred Stadia<note place='foot'>60 leagues.</note> +in one day, from Sicyon to Elis. These runners were denominated ἡμεροδρόμους +<pb n='lxiv'/><anchor id='Pglxiv'/> +as we find in that passage of Herodotus, which mentions +Phidippides.<note place='foot'>Herod. l. vi. c. 106.</note> +In the consulate of Fonteius and Vipsanus, in the +reign of Nero, a boy of nine years old ran seventy-five thousand +paces<note place='foot'>30 leagues.</note> between noon +and night. Pliny adds, that in his time there were runners, who +ran one hundred and sixty thousand paces<note place='foot'>More +than 53 leagues.</note> in the circus. Our wonder at such a prodigious +speed will increase, (continues he,)<note place='foot'>Val. Max. l. +v. c. 5.</note> if we reflect, that when +Tiberius went to Germany to his brother Drusius, then at the +point of death, he could not arrive there in less than four-and-twenty +hours, though the distance was but two hundred thousand +paces,<note place='foot'>67 leagues.</note> and he changed his carriage +three times,<note place='foot'>He had only a guide and one officer +with him.—Trans.</note> and went with the utmost diligence. +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<head>2. Of the Horse-races.</head> + +<p> +The race of a single horse with a rider was less celebrated +among the ancients, yet it had its favourers amongst the most +considerable persons, and even kings themselves, and was +attended with uncommon glory to the victor. Pindar, in his +first ode, celebrates a victory of this kind, obtained by Hiero, +king of Syracuse, to whom he gives the title of Κέλης, that is, +<q>Victor in the horse-race;</q> which name was given to the horses +carrying only a single rider, Κέλητες. Sometimes the rider led +another horse by the bridle, and then the horses were called +<foreign lang='el' rend='italic'>Desultorii</foreign>, and their +riders <foreign lang='el' rend='italic'>Desultores</foreign>; because, after a number +of turns in the Stadium, they changed horses, by dexterously +vaulting from one to the other. A surprising address +was necessary upon this occasion, especially in an age unacquainted +with the use of stirrups, and when the horses had +no saddles, which made the leap still more difficult. Among +the African troops there were also cavalry,<note place='foot'>Nec omnes +Numidæ in dextro locati cornu, sed quibus desultorum in modum +binos trahentibus equos, inter acerrimam sæpe pugnam, in recentem equum ex fesso +armatis transultare mos erat; tanta velocitas ipsis, tamque docile equorum genus +est. Liv. l. xxiii.—Trans.</note> called +<foreign lang='el' rend='italic'>Desultores</foreign>, +who vaulted from one horse to another, as occasion required; +and these were generally Numidians. +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<head>3. Of the Chariot-races.</head> + +<p> +This kind of race was the most renowned of all the exercises +used in the games of the ancients, and that from whence most +honour redounded to the victors; which is not to be wondered +<pb n='lxv'/><anchor id='Pglxv'/> +at, if we consider whence it arose. It is plain that it was derived +from the constant custom of princes, heroes, and great +men, of fighting in battle upon chariots. Homer has an infinity +of examples of this kind. This custom being admitted, +it is natural to suppose it very agreeable to these heroes, to +have their charioteers as expert as possible in driving, as their +success depended, in a very great measure, upon the address +of their drivers. It was anciently, therefore, only to persons +of the first consideration that this office was confided. Hence +arose a laudable emulation to excel others in the art of guiding +a chariot, and a kind of necessity to practise it very much, in +order to succeed. The high rank of the persons who made use +of chariots ennobled, as it always happens, an exercise peculiar +to them. The other exercises were adapted to private soldiers +and horsemen, as wrestling, running, and the single horse-race; +but the use of chariots in the field was always reserved to +princes, and generals of armies. +</p> + +<p> +Hence it was, that all those who presented themselves in the +Olympic games to dispute the prize in the chariot-races, were +persons considerable either for their riches, their birth, their +employments, or great actions. Kings themselves eagerly +aspired to this glory, from the belief that the title of victor in +these games was scarce inferior to that of conqueror, and that +the Olympic palm added new dignity to the splendours of a +throne. Pindar's odes inform us, that Gelon and Hiero, kings +of Syracuse, were of that opinion. Dionysius, who reigned +there long after them, carried the same ambition much higher. +Philip of Macedon had these victories stampt upon his coins, +and seemed as much gratified with them as with those obtained +against the enemies of his state. All the world knows the +answer of Alexander the Great on this subject.<note place='foot'>Plut. +<hi rend='italic'>in Alex.</hi> p. 666.</note> When his +friends asked him whether he would not dispute the prize of +the races in these games? <q>Yes,</q> said he, <q>if kings were to +be my antagonists.</q> Which shows, that he would not have +disdained these contests, if there had been competitors in them +worthy of him. +</p> + +<p> +The chariots were generally drawn by two or four horses, +ranged abreast; <foreign rend='italic'>bigæ</foreign>, +<foreign rend='italic'>quadrigæ</foreign>. Sometimes mules supplied +the place of horses, and then the chariot was called ἀπήνη. +Pindar, in the fifth ode of his first book, celebrates one +Psaumis, who had obtained a triple victory; one by a chariot +drawn by four horses, τεθρίππῳ; another by one drawn by +mules, ἀπήνη; and the third by a single horse, κέλητι, which +the title of the ode expresses. +</p> + +<pb n='lxvi'/><anchor id='Pglxvi'/> + +<p> +These chariots, upon a signal given, started together from a +place called <foreign rend='italic'>Carceres</foreign>. Their places were regulated by +lot, which was not an indifferent circumstance as to the victory; +for as they were to turn round a boundary, the chariot on the +left was nearer than those on the right, which consequently had +a greater compass to take. It appears from several passages +in Pindar, and especially from one in Sophocles, which I shall +cite very soon, that they ran twelve times round the Stadium. +He that came in first the twelfth round was victor. The chief +art consisted in taking the best ground at the turning of the +boundary: for if the charioteer drove too near it, he was in +danger of dashing the chariot to pieces; and if he kept too +wide of it, his nearest antagonist might cut between him, and +get foremost. +</p> + +<p> +It is obvious that these chariot-races could not be run without +some danger; for as the motion<note place='foot'><p>Metaque fervidis +Evitata rotis. Horat. <hi rend='italic'>Od.</hi> i. 1. i. +</p> +<p> +The goal shunn'd by the burning wheels. +</p> +<p> +—Trans.</p></note> of the wheels was very +rapid, and it was requisite to graze against the boundary in +turning, the least error in driving would have broken the +chariot in pieces, and might have dangerously wounded the +charioteer. An example of which we find in the <hi rend='italic'>Electra</hi> of +Sophocles, who gives an admirable description of a chariot-race +run by ten competitors. The pretended Orestes, at the +twelfth and last round, which was to decide the victory, having +only one antagonist, the rest having been thrown out, was so +unfortunate as to break one of his wheels against the boundary, +and falling out of his seat entangled in the reins, the horses +dragged him violently forwards along with them, and tore him +to pieces. But this very seldom happened. To avoid such +danger, Nestor gave the following directions to his son Antilochus, +who was going to dispute the prize in the chariot-race.<note place='foot'>Hom. +<hi rend='italic'>Il.</hi> l. xxiii. v. 334, &c.</note> +<q>My son,</q> says he, <q>drive your horses as near as possible to +the boundary; for which reason, always inclining your body +over your chariot, get the left of your competitors, and encouraging +the horse on the right, give him the rein, whilst the +near horse, hard held, turns the boundary so close that the +nave of the wheel seems to graze upon it; but have a care of +running against the stone, lest you wound your horses, and +dash the chariot in pieces.</q> +</p> + +<p> +Father Montfaucon mentions a difficulty, in his opinion of +much consequence, in regard to the places of those who contended +for the prize in the chariot-race. They all started +indeed from the same line, and at the same time, and so far +<pb n='lxvii'/><anchor id='Pglxvii'/> +had no advantage of each other; but he, whose lot gave him +the first place, being nearest the boundary at the end of the +career, and having but a small compass to describe in turning +about it, had less way to make than the second, third, fourth, +&c. especially when the chariots were drawn by four horses, +which took up a greater space between the first and the others, +and obliged them to make a larger circle in coming round. +This advantage twelve times together, as must happen, admitting +the Stadium was to be run round twelve times, gave such +a superiority to the first, as seemed to assure him infallibly of +the victory against all his competitors. To me it seems, that +the fleetness of the horses, joined with the address of the driver, +might countervail this odds; either by getting before the first, +or by taking his place; if not in the first, at least in some of +the subsequent rounds; for it is not to be supposed, that in the +progress of the race the antagonists always continued in the +same order in which they started. They often changed places +in a short interval of time, and in that variety and vicissitude +consisted all the diversion of the spectators. +</p> + +<p> +It was not required, that those who aspired to the victory +should enter the lists, and drive their chariots in person. Their +being spectators of the games, or even sending their horses +thither, was sufficient; but in either case, it was previously +necessary to register the names of the persons for whom the +horses were to run, either in the chariot or single horse-races. +</p> + +<p> +At the time that the city of Potidæa surrendered to Philip, +three couriers brought him advices; the first, that the Illyrians +had been defeated in a great battle by his general Parmenio; +the second, that he had carried the prize of the horse-race in +the Olympic games; and the third, that the queen was delivered +of a son. Plutarch seems to insinuate, that Philip was equally +delighted with each of these circumstances.<note place='foot'>Plut. +<hi rend='italic'>in Alex.</hi> p. 666.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Hiero sent horses to Olympia, to run for the prize, and +caused a magnificent pavilion to be erected for them.<note place='foot'>Ibid. +<hi rend='italic'>in Themist.</hi> p. 124.</note> Upon +this occasion Themistocles harangued the Greeks, to persuade +them to pull down the tyrant's pavilion, who had refused his +aid against the common enemy, and to hinder his horses from +running with the rest. It does not appear that any regard was +had to this remonstrance; for we find, by one of Pindar's odes, +composed in honour of Hiero, that he won the prize in the +equestrian races. +</p> + +<p> +No one ever carried the ambition of making a great figure +<pb n='lxviii'/><anchor id='Pglxviii'/> +in the public games of Greece so far as Alcibiades,<note place='foot'>Ibid. +<hi rend='italic'>in Alcib.</hi> p. 196.</note> in which he +distinguished himself in the most splendid manner, by the +great number of horses and chariots which he kept only for +the races. There never was either private person or king that +sent, as he did, seven chariots at once to the Olympic games, +wherein he carried the first, second, and third prizes; an +honour no one ever had before him. The famous poet +Euripides celebrated these victories in an ode, of which Plutarch +has preserved a fragment. The victor, after having +made a sumptuous sacrifice to Jupiter, gave a magnificent +feast to the innumerable multitude of spectators at the games. +It is not easy to comprehend, how the wealth of a private person +should suffice for so enormous an expense: but Antisthenes, +the scholar of Socrates, who relates what he saw, informs +us, that many cities of the allies, in emulation of each +other, supplied Alcibiades with all things necessary for the +support of such incredible magnificence; equipages, horses, +tents, sacrifices, the most exquisite provisions, the most delicate +wines; in a word, all that was necessary to the support of his +table or train. The passage is remarkable; for the same +author assures us, that this was not only done when Alcibiades +went to the Olympic games, but in all his military expeditions +and journeys by land or sea. <q>Wherever,</q> says he, <q>Alcibiades +travelled, he made use of four of the allied cities as his servants. +Ephesus furnished him with tents, as magnificent as +those of the Persians; Chios took care to provide for his horses; +Cyzicum supplied him with sacrifices, and provisions for his +table; and Lesbos gave him wine, with whatever else was requisite +for his house.</q> +</p> + +<p> +I must not omit, in speaking of the Olympic games, that the +ladies were admitted to dispute the prize in them as well as the +men; and that many of them obtained it. Cynisca, sister of +Agesilaus, king of Sparta, first opened this new path of glory +to her sex, and was proclaimed conqueror in the race of chariots +with four horses.<note place='foot'>Pausan. l. iii. p. 172.</note> +This victory, of which till then there had +been no example, did not fail of being celebrated with all +possible splendour.<note place='foot'>Ibid. p. 188.</note> +A magnificent monument was erected at Sparta in honour of +Cynisca;<note place='foot'>Ibid. p. 172.</note> and the Lacedæmonians, +though otherwise very little sensible to the charms of poetry, +appointed a poet to transmit this new triumph to posterity, and +to immortalize its memory by an inscription in verse. She +herself dedicated a chariot of brass, drawn by four horses, in +<pb n='lxix'/><anchor id='Pglxix'/> +the temple of Delphi;<note place='foot'>Ibid. l. v. p. 309.</note> +in which the charioteer was also represented; +a certain proof that she did not drive it herself. In +process of time, the picture of Cynisca, drawn by the famous +Apelles, was annexed to it, and the whole adorned with many +inscriptions in honour of that Spartan heroine.<note place='foot'>Pausan. +l. vi. p. 344.</note> +</p> + +</div> + +</div> + +<div> +<head>Of the honours and rewards granted to the victors.</head> + +<p> +These honours and rewards were of several kinds. The +acclamations of the spectators in honour of the victors were +only a prelude to the prizes designed them. These prizes +were different wreaths of wild olive, pine, parsley, or laurel, +according to the different places where the games were celebrated. +Those crowns were always attended with branches of +palm, that the victors carried in their right hands; which +custom, according to Plutarch,<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Sympos.</hi> +l. viii. <hi rend='italic'>quæst.</hi> 4.</note> arose (perhaps) from a property +of the palm-tree, which displays new vigour the more +endeavours are used to crush or bend it, and is a symbol of the +courage and resistance of the champion who had obtained the +prize. As he might be victor more than once in the same +games, and sometimes on the same day, he might also receive +several crowns and palms. +</p> + +<p> +When the victor had received the crown and palm, a herald, +preceded by a trumpet, conducted him through the Stadium, +and proclaimed aloud the name and country of the successful +champion, who passed in that kind of review before the people, +whilst they redoubled their acclamations and applauses at the +sight of him. +</p> + +<p> +When he returned to his own country, the people came out +in a body to meet him, and conducted him into the city, +adorned with all the marks of his victory, and riding upon a +chariot drawn by four horses. He made his entry not through +the gates, but through a breach purposely made in the walls. +Lighted torches were carried before him, and a numerous train +followed to do honour to the procession. +</p> + +<p> +The athletic triumph almost always concluded with feasts +made for the victors, their relations, and friends, either at the +expense of the public, or by private individuals, who regaled +not only their families and friends, but often a great part of +the spectators. Alcibiades,<note place='foot'>Plut. <hi rend='italic'>in +Alcib.</hi> p. 196.</note> after having sacrificed to the +Olympian Jupiter, which was always the first care of the victor, +treated the whole assembly. Leophron did the same, as Athenæus +<pb n='lxx'/><anchor id='Pglxx'/> +reports;<note place='foot'>Lib. i. p. 3.</note> who adds, that Empedocles of Agrigentum, +having conquered in the same games, and not having it in his +power, being a Pythagorean, to regale the people with flesh or +fish, caused an ox to be made of a paste, composed of myrrh, +incense, and all sorts of spices, of which pieces were given to +all who were present. +</p> + +<p> +One of the most honourable privileges granted to the Athletic +victors, was the right of precedency at the public games. At +Sparta it was a custom for the king to take them with him in +military expeditions, to fight near his person, and to be his +guard; which, with reason, was judged very honourable. Another +privilege, in which advantage was united with honour, +was that of being maintained for the rest of their lives at the +expense of their country. That this expense might not +become too chargeable to the state, Solon<note place='foot'>Diog. +Laërt. <hi rend='italic'>in Solon</hi>, p. 37.</note> reduced the pension +of a victor in the Olympic games to five hundred drachmas;<note place='foot'>About +11<hi rend='italic'>l.</hi></note> in the Isthmian +to a hundred;<note place='foot'>About 2<hi rend='italic'>l.</hi></note> and in the +rest in proportion. The victor and his country considered this pension, less as a +relief of the champion's indigence, than as a mark of honour +and distinction. They were also exempted from all civil +offices and employments. +</p> + +<p> +The celebration of the games being over, one of the first +cares of the magistrates, who presided in them, was to inscribe, +in the public register, the name and country of the Athletæ +who had carried the prizes, and to annex the species of combat +in which they had been victorious. The chariot-race had the +preference to all other games. Hence the historians, who +date occurrences by the Olympiads, as Thucydides, Dionysius +of Halicarnassus, Diodorus Siculus, and Pausanias, almost +always express the Olympiad by the name and country of the +victors in that race. +</p> + +<p> +The praises of the victorious Athletæ were amongst the +Greeks one of the principal subjects of their lyric poetry. We +find, that all the odes of the four books of Pindar turn upon it, +each of which takes its title from the games in which the combatants +signalized themselves, whose victories those poems +celebrate. The poet, indeed, frequently enriches his matter, +by calling in to the champion's assistance, incapable alone of +inspiring all the enthusiasm necessary, the aid of the gods, +heroes, and princes, who have any relation to his subject; and +to support the flights of imagination, to which he abandons +himself. Before Pindar, the poet Simonides practised the +<pb n='lxxi'/><anchor id='Pglxxi'/> +same manner of writing, intermingling the praises of the gods +and heroes with those of the champions, whose victories he +sang. It is related upon this head,<note place='foot'>Cic. +<hi rend='italic'>de Orat.</hi> l. ii. n. 352, 353. Phæd. l. +ii. <hi rend='italic'>fab.</hi> 24. Quintil. l. xi. c 2.</note> +that one of the victors in +boxing, called Scopas, having agreed with Simonides for a +poem upon his victory, the poet, according to custom, after +having given the highest praises to the champion, expatiated in +a long digression to the honour of Castor and Pollux. Scopas, +satisfied in appearance with the performance of Simonides, +paid him however only the third part of the sum agreed on, +referring him for the remainder to the Tyndaridæ, whom he +had celebrated so well. And in fact he was well paid by them, +if we may believe the sequel; for, at the feast given by the +champion, whilst the guests were at table, a servant came to +Simonides, and told him, that two men, covered with dust and +sweat, were at the door, and desired to speak with him in all +haste. He had scarce set his foot out of the chamber, in order +to go to them, when the roof fell in, and crushed the champion, +with all his guests, to death. +</p> + +<p> +Sculpture united with poetry to perpetuate the fame of the +champions. Statues were erected to the victors, especially in +the Olympic games, in the very place where they had been +crowned, and sometimes in that of their birth also; which was +commonly done at the expense of their country. Amongst +the statues which adorned Olympia, were those of several children +of ten or twelve years old, who had obtained the prize at +that age in the Olympic games. They did not only raise +such monuments to the champions, but to the very horses, to +whose swiftness they were indebted for the Agonistic crown: +and Pausanias<note place='foot'>Lib. vi. p. 368.</note> +mentions one, which was erected in honour of +a mare, called Aura, whose history is worth repeating. Phidolas +her rider, having fallen off in the beginning of the race, +the mare continued to run in the same manner as if he had +been upon her back. She outstripped all the rest; and upon +the sound of the trumpets, which was usual toward the end of +the race to animate the competitors, she redoubled her vigour +and courage, turned round the goal; and, as if she had been +sensible that she had gained the victory, presented herself +before the judges of the games. The Eleans declared Phidolas +victor, with permission to erect a monument to himself and the +mare, that had served him so well. +</p> + +</div> + +</div> + +<pb n='lxxii'/><anchor id='Pglxxii'/> + +<div> +<head>The different Taste of the Greeks and Romans, in regard to +Public Shows.</head> + +<p> +Before I make an end of these remarks upon the combats +and games so much in estimation amongst the Greeks, I beg +the reader's permission to make a reflection, that may serve to +explain the difference of character between the Greeks and +Romans, with regard to this subject. +</p> + +<p> +The most common entertainment of the latter, at which the +fair sex, by nature tender and compassionate, were present in +throngs, was the combat of the gladiators, and of men with +bears and lions; in which the cries of the wounded and dying, +and the abundant effusion of human blood, supplied a grateful +spectacle for a whole people, who feasted their cruel eyes with +the savage pleasure of seeing men murder one another in cool +blood; and in the times of the persecutions, with the tearing +in pieces of old men and infants, of women and tender virgins, +whose age and weakness are apt to excite compassion in the +hardest hearts. +</p> + +<p> +In Greece these combats were absolutely unknown, and +were only introduced into some cities, after their subjection to +the Roman people. The Athenians, however, whose distinguishing +characteristics were benevolence and humanity, never +admitted them into their city;<note place='foot'>Lucian. <hi rend='italic'>in +vit. Demonact.</hi> p. 1014.</note> and when it was proposed to +introduce the combats of the gladiators, that they might not be +outdone by the Corinthians in that point, <q>First throw down,</q> +cried out an Athenian<note place='foot'>It was Demonax, a +celebrated philosopher, whose disciple Lucian had been. +He flourished in the reign of Marcus Aurelius.—Trans.</note> +from the midst of the assembly, <q>throw +down the altar, erected above a thousand years ago by our +ancestors to Mercy.</q> +</p> + +<p> +It must be allowed that in this respect the conduct and +wisdom of the Greeks were infinitely superior to that of the +Romans. I speak of the wisdom of Pagans. Convinced that +the multitude, too much governed by the objects of sense to be +sufficiently amused and entertained with the pleasures of the +understanding, could be delighted only with sensible objects, +both nations were studious to divert them with games and +shows, and such external contrivances, as were proper to affect +the senses; in the institution of which, each evinced and followed +its peculiar inclination and disposition. +</p> + +<p> +The Romans, educated in war, and accustomed to battles, +always retained, notwithstanding the politeness upon which +<pb n='lxxiii'/><anchor id='Pglxxiii'/> +they piqued themselves, something of their ancient ferocity; +and hence it was, that the effusion of blood, and the murders +exhibited in their public shows, far from inspiring them with +horror, formed a grateful entertainment to them. +</p> + +<p> +The insolent pomp of triumphs flowed from the same source, +and argued no less inhumanity. To obtain this honour, it was +necessary to prove, that eight or ten thousand men had been +killed in battle. The spoils, which were carried with so much +ostentation, proclaimed, that an infinity of worthy families had +been reduced to the utmost misery. The innumerable troop +of captives had been free persons a few days before, and were +often distinguishable for honour, merit, and virtue. The representation +of the towns that had been taken in the war, explained +that they had sacked, plundered, and burnt the most opulent +cities; and had either destroyed or enslaved their inhabitants. +In short, nothing was more inhuman, than to drag kings and +princes in chains before the chariot of a Roman citizen, and to +insult their misfortunes and humiliation in that public manner. +</p> + +<p> +The triumphal arches, erected under the emperors, where +the enemies appeared with chains upon their hands and legs, +could proceed only from a haughty fierceness of disposition, +and an inhuman pride, that took delight in immortalizing the +shame and sorrow of subjected nations. +</p> + +<p> +The joy of the Greeks after a victory was far more modest.<note place='foot'>Plut. +<hi rend='italic'>in Quæst. Rom.</hi> p. 273.</note> +They erected trophies indeed, but of wood, a substance of no +long duration, which time would soon consume; and these it +was prohibited to renew. Plutarch's reason for this is admirable.<note place='foot'>Ὅτι +τοῦ χρόνου τἀ σεμεῖα τῆς πρὸς τοὺς πολεμίους διαφορᾶς ἀμαυροῦντος, αὐτοὺς +ἀν λαμβάνειν καὶ καινοποιεῖν ἐπιφθονόν ἐστι καὶ φιλαπεχθῆμον.—Trans.</note> +After time had destroyed and obliterated the marks of +dissension and enmity that had divided nations, it would have +been the excess of odious and barbarous animosity, to have +thought of reestablishing them, to perpetuate the remembrance +of ancient quarrels, which could not be buried too soon in +silence and oblivion. He adds, that the trophies of stone and +brass, since substituted to those of wood, reflect no honour +upon those who introduced the custom. +</p> + +<p> +I am pleased with the grief depicted on Agesilaus's countenance,<note place='foot'>Plut. +<hi rend='italic'>in Lacon. Apophthegm</hi>. p. 211.</note> +after a considerable victory, wherein a great number +of his enemies, that is to say, of Greeks, were left upon the +field, and to hear him utter with sighs and groans, these words, +so full of moderation and humanity: <q>Oh unhappy Greece, +to deprive thyself of so many brave citizens, and to destroy +<pb n='lxxiv'/><anchor id='Pglxxiv'/> +those who had been sufficient to have conquered all the Barbarians!</q> +</p> + +<p> +The same spirit of moderation and humanity prevailed in +the public shows of the Greeks. Their festivals had nothing +mournful or afflictive in them. Every thing in those feasts +tended to delight, friendship, and harmony: and in that consisted +one of the greatest advantages which resulted to Greece, +from the solemnization of these games. The republics, separated +by distance of country, and diversity of interests, having +the opportunity of meeting from time to time, in the same +place, and in the midst of rejoicing and festivity, allied themselves +more strictly with one another, stimulated each other +against the Barbarians and the common enemies of their +liberty, and made up their differences by the mediation of +some neutral state in alliance with them. The same language, +manners, sacrifices, exercises, and worship, all conspired to +unite the several little states of Greece into one great and formidable +nation; and to preserve amongst them the same disposition, +the same principles, the same zeal for their liberty, and +the same fondness for the arts and sciences. +</p> + +<div> +<head>Of the Prizes of Wit, and the Shows and Representations of +the Theatre.</head> + +<p> +I have reserved for the conclusion of this head another kind +of competition, which does not at all depend upon the strength, +activity, and address of the body, and may be called with +reason the combat of the mind; wherein the orators, historians, +and poets, made trial of their capacities, and submitted their +productions to the censure and judgment of the public. The +emulation in this sort of dispute was so much the more lively +and ardent, as the victory in question might justly be deemed +to be infinitely superior to all others, because it affects the man +more nearly, is founded on his personal and internal qualities, +and decides upon the merit of his intellectual capacity; which +are advantages we are apt to aspire after with the utmost +vivacity and passion, and of which we are least of all inclined +to renounce the glory to others. +</p> + +<p> +It was a great honour, and at the same time a most sensible +pleasure, for writers, who are generally fond of fame and applause, +to have known how to unite in their favour the suffrages +of so numerous and select an assembly as that of the Olympic +games; in which were present all the finest geniuses of +Greece, and all who were most capable of judging of the excellency +<pb n='lxxv'/><anchor id='Pglxxv'/> +of a work. This theatre was equally open to history, +eloquence, and poetry. +</p> + +<p> +Herodotus read his history<note place='foot'>Lucian. <hi rend='italic'>in +Herod.</hi> p. 622.</note> at the Olympic games to all +Greece, assembled at them, and was heard with such applause, +that the names of the nine Muses were given to the nine books +which compose his work, and the people cried out wherever he +passed, <q>That is he, who has written our history, and celebrated +our glorious successes against the Barbarians so excellently.</q> +</p> + +<p> +All who had been present at the games, caused afterwards +every part of Greece to resound with the name and glory of +this illustrious historian. +</p> + +<p> +Lucian, who writes the fact which I have related, adds, that +after the example of Herodotus, many of the sophists and rhetoricians +went to Olympia, to read the harangues of their composing; +finding that the shortest and most certain method of +acquiring a great reputation in a little time. +</p> + +<p> +Plutarch observes,<note place='foot'>Plut. <hi rend='italic'>de vit Orat.</hi> +p. 836.</note> that Lysias, the famous Athenian orator, +contemporary with Herodotus, pronounced a speech in the +Olympic games, wherein he congratulated the Greeks upon +their reconciliation with each other, and their having united to +reduce the power of Dionysius the Tyrant, as upon the greatest +action they had ever done. +</p> + +<p> +We may judge of the eagerness of the poets to signalize +themselves in these solemn games, from that of Dionysius +himself.<note place='foot'>Diod. l. xiv. p. 318.</note> +That prince, who had the foolish vanity to believe +himself the most excellent poet of his time, appointed readers, +called in Greek, ῥαψωδοὶ (<hi rend='italic'>Rhapsodists</hi>,) to read several pieces +of his composing at Olympia. When they began to pronounce +the verses of the royal poet, the strong and harmonious voices +of the readers occasioned a profound silence, and they were +heard at first with the greatest attention, which continually +decreased as they went on, and turned at last into downright +horse-laughs and hooting; so miserable did the verses appear. +He comforted himself for this disgrace by a victory he gained +some time after in the feast of Bacchus at Athens, in which he +caused a tragedy of his composition to be represented.<note place='foot'>Ibid. +l. xv. p. 384.</note> +</p> + +<p> +The disputes of the poets in the Olympic games were +nothing, in comparison with the ardour and emulation that +prevailed at Athens; which is what remains to be said upon +this subject, and therefore I shall conclude with it: taking +occasion to give my readers, at the same time, a short view of +the shows and representations of the theatre of the ancients. +</p> + +<pb n='lxxvi'/><anchor id='Pglxxvi'/> + +<p> +Those who would be more fully informed on this subject, will +find it treated at large in a work lately made public by the +reverend father Brumoi the Jesuit; a work which abounds with +profound knowledge and erudition, and with reflections entirely +new, deduced from the nature of the poems of which it treats. +I shall make considerable use of that piece, and often without +citing it; which is not uncommon with me. +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<head>Extraordinary Fondness of the Athenians for the Entertainments +of the Stage. Emulation of the Poets in disputing +the Prizes in those Representations. A short Idea of Dramatic +Poetry.</head> + +<p> +No people ever expressed so much ardour and eagerness for +the entertainments of the theatre as the Greeks, and especially +the Athenians. The reason is obvious: as no people ever +demonstrated such extent of genius, nor carried so far the love +of eloquence and poesy, taste for the sciences, justness of sentiments, +elegance of ear, and delicacy in all the refinements of +language. A poor woman, who sold herbs at Athens, discovered +Theophrastus to be a stranger, by a single word which he +affectedly made use of in expressing himself.<note place='foot'>Attica anus +Theophrastum, hominem alioqui disertissimum, annotatâ unius +affectatione verbi, hospitem dixit. Quint. l. viii. c. 1.—Trans.</note> +The common people got the tragedies of Euripides by heart. The genius of +every nation expresses itself in the people's manner of passing +their time, and in their pleasures. The great employment and +delight of the Athenians were to amuse themselves with works +of wit, and to judge of the dramatic pieces, that were acted by +public authority several times a year, especially at the feasts of +Bacchus, when the tragic and comic poets disputed for the +prize. The former used to present four of their pieces at a +time; except Sophocles, who did not think fit to continue so +laborious an exercise, and confined himself to one performance, +when he disputed the prize. +</p> + +<p> +The state appointed judges, to determine upon the merit of +the tragic or comic pieces, before they were represented in the +festivals. They were acted before them in the presence of the +people; but undoubtedly with no great preparation. The +judges gave their suffrages, and that performance, which had +the most voices, was declared victorious, received the crown as +such, and was represented with all possible pomp at the expense +of the republic. This did not, however, exclude such pieces, +as were only in the second or third class. The best had not +<pb n='lxxvii'/><anchor id='Pglxxvii'/> +always the preference; for what times have been exempt from +party, caprice, ignorance, and prejudice? Ælian<note place='foot'>Ælian, +l ii. c. 8.</note> is very +angry with the judges, who, in one of these disputes, gave only +the second place to Euripides. He accuses them of judging +either without capacity, or of suffering themselves to be bribed. +It is easy to conceive the warmth and emulation, which these +disputes and public rewards excited amongst the poets, and +how much they contributed to the perfection, to which Greece +carried dramatic performances. +</p> + +<p> +The dramatic poem introduces the persons themselves, speaking +and acting upon the stage: in the epic, on the contrary, +the poet only relates the different adventures of his characters. +It is natural to be delighted with fine descriptions of events, in +which illustrious persons and whole nations are interested; +and hence the epic poem had its origin. But we are quite +differently affected with hearing those persons themselves, with +being the confidents of their most secret sentiments, and auditors +and spectators of their resolutions, enterprises, and the +happy or unhappy events attending them. To read and see +an action, are quite different things; we are infinitely more +moved with what is acted, than with what we merely read. +Our eyes as well as our minds are addressed at the same time. +The spectator, agreeably deceived by an imitation so nearly +approaching life, mistakes the picture for the original, and +thinks the object real. This gave birth to dramatic poetry, +which includes tragedy and comedy. +</p> + +<p> +To these may be added the satiric poem, which derives its +name from the satyrs, rural gods, who were always the chief +characters in it; and not from the <q>satire,</q> a kind of abusive +poetry, which has no resemblance to this, and is of a much later +date. The satiric poem was neither tragedy nor comedy, but +something between both, participating of the character of each. +The poets, who disputed the prize, generally added one of +these pieces to their tragedies, to allay the gravity and solemnity +of the one, with the mirth and pleasantry of the other. +There is but one example of this ancient poem come down to +us, which is the <hi rend='italic'>Cyclops</hi> of Euripides. +</p> + +<p> +I shall confine myself upon this head to tragedy and comedy; +both which had their origin amongst the Greeks, who looked +upon them as fruits of their own growth, of which they could +never have enough. Athens was remarkable for an extraordinary +appetite of this kind. These two poems, which were for +a long time comprised under the general name of tragedy, +<pb n='lxxviii'/><anchor id='Pglxxviii'/> +received there by degrees such improvements, as at length raised +them to their highest perfection. +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<head>The Origin and Progress of Tragedy. Poets who excelled in +it at Athens; Æschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides.</head> + +<p> +There had been many tragic and comic poets before Thespis; +but as they had made no alterations in the original rude form +of this poem, and as Thespis was the first that made any improvement +in it, he was generally esteemed its inventor. Before +him, tragedy was no more than a jumble of buffoon tales in +the comic style, intermixed with the singing of a chorus in praise +of Bacchus; for it is to the feasts of that god, celebrated at +the time of the vintage, that tragedy owes its birth. +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l>La tragédie, informe et grossière en na'ssant,</l> +<l>N'étoit qu'un simple chœur, où chacun en dansant,</l> +<l>Et du dieu des raisins entonnant les louanges,</l> +<l>S'éfforçoit d'attirer de fertiles vendanges.</l> +<l>Là, le vin et la joie éveillant les esprits,</l> +<l>Du plus habile chantre un bouc étoit le prix.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>Formless and gross did tragedy arise,</l> +<l>A simple chorus, rather mad than wise;</l> +<l>For fruitful vintages the dancing throng</l> +<l>Roar'd to the god of grapes a drunken song:</l> +<l>Wild mirth and wine sustain'd the frantic note,</l> +<l>And the best singer had the prize, a goat.<note place='foot'>Boileau, +<hi rend='italic'>Art. Poët.</hi> chant. iii.</note></l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +Thespis made several alterations in it, which Horace describes +after Aristotle, in his <hi rend='italic'>Art of Poetry</hi>. The +first<note place='foot'><p>Ignotum tragicæ genus invenisse camœnæ<lb/> +Dicitur, et plaustris vexisse poëmata Thespis,<lb/> +Quæ canerent agerentque peruncti fæcibus ora. +</p> +<p> +Hor. <hi rend='italic'>de Art. Poët.</hi> +</p> +<p> +When Thespis first expos'd the tragic Muse,<lb/> +Rude were the actors, and a cart the scene,<lb/> +Where ghastly faces, smear'd with lees of wine,<lb/> +Frighted the children, and amus'd the crowd. +</p> +<p> +Roscom. <hi rend='italic'>Art of Poet.</hi> +</p> +<p> +—Trans.</p></note> was to carry +his actors about in a cart, whereas before they used to sing in +the streets, wherever chance led them. Another was to have +their faces smeared over with wine-lees, instead of acting +without disguise, as at first. He also introduced a character +among the chorus, who, to give the actors time to rest themselves +and to take breath, repeated the adventures of some +illustrious person; which recital, at length, gave place to the +subjects of tragedy. +</p> + +<pb n='lxxix'/><anchor id='Pglxxix'/> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l>Thespis fut le premier, qui barbouillé de lie,</l> +<l>Promena par les bourgs cette heureuse folie,</l> +<l>Et d'acteurs mal oinés chargeant un tombereau,</l> +<l>Amusa les passans d'un spectacle nouveau.<note place='foot'>Boileau, +<hi rend='italic'>Art. Poet.</hi> chant. iii.</note></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>First Thespis, smear'd with lees, and void of art,</l> +<l>The grateful folly vented from a cart;</l> +<l>And as his tawdry actors drove about,</l> +<l>The sight was new, and charm'd the gaping rout.</l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>A.M. 3440. Ant. J.C. 564.</note> +Thespis lived in the time of Solon.<note place='foot'>Plut. <hi rend='italic'>in +Solon</hi> p. 95.</note> That wise legislator, +upon seeing his pieces performed, expressed his +dislike, by striking his staff against the ground; apprehending +that these poetical fictions and idle stories, +from mere theatrical representations, would soon become matters +of importance, and have too great a share in all public and +private affairs. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>A.M. 3464. Ant. J.C. 540.</note> +It is not so easy to invent, as to improve the inventions of +others. The alterations Thespis made in tragedy, +gave room for Æschylus to make new and more considerable +of his own. He was born at Athens, in +the first year of the sixtieth Olympiad. He took upon him +the profession of arms, at a time when the Athenians reckoned +almost as many heroes as citizens. He was at the battles of +Marathon, Salamis, and Platæa, where he did his duty. +<note place='margin'>A.M. 3514. Ant. J.C. 490.</note> +But his disposition called him elsewhere, and put him +upon entering into another course, where no less +glory was to be acquired; and where he was soon +without any competitors. As a superior genius, he took upon +him to reform, or rather to create tragedy anew; of which he +has, in consequence, been always acknowledged the inventor +and father. Father Brumoi, in a dissertation which abounds +with wit and good sense, explains the manner in which +Æschylus conceived the true idea of tragedy from Homer's +epic poems. The poet himself used to say, that his works +were the remnants of the feasts given by Homer in the <hi rend='italic'>Iliad</hi> +and <hi rend='italic'>Odyssey</hi>. +</p> + +<p> +Tragedy therefore took a new form under him. He gave +masks<note place='foot'><p>Post hunc personæ pallæque repertor honestæ<lb/> +Æschylus, et modicis instravit pulpita tignis,<lb/> +Et docuit magnumque loqui, nitique cothurno. +</p> +<p> +Hor. <hi rend='italic'>de Art. Poët.</hi> +</p> +<p> +This, Æschylus (with indignation) saw,<lb/> +And built a stage, found out a decent dress,<lb/> +Brought vizards in (a civiler disguise),<lb/> +And taught men how to speak and how to act. +</p> +<p> +Roscom. <hi rend='italic'>Art of Poet.</hi>—Trans.</p></note> +to his actors, adorned them with robes and trains, and +<pb n='lxxx'/><anchor id='Pglxxx'/> +made them wear buskins. Instead of a cart, he erected a +theatre of a moderate elevation, and entirely changed their +style; which from being merry and burlesque, as at first, became +majestic and serious. +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l>Eschyle dans le chœur jetta les personages:</l> +<l>D'un masque plus honnête habilla les visages:</l> +<l>Sur les ais d'un théâtre en public exhaussé</l> +<l>Fit paroître l'acteur d'un brodequin chaussé.<note place='foot'>Boileau, +<hi rend='italic'>Art. Poet.</hi></note></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>From Æschylus the chorus learnt new grace:</l> +<l>He veil'd with decent masks the actor's face,</l> +<l>Taught him in buskins first to tread the stage,</l> +<l>And rais'd a theatre to please the age.</l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +But that was only the external part or body of tragedy. Its +soul, which was the most important and essential addition of +Æschylus, consisted in the vivacity and spirit of the action, +sustained by the dialogue of the persons of the drama introduced +by him; in the artful working up of the stronger passions, +especially of terror and pity, which, by alternately afflicting +and agitating the soul with mournful or terrible objects, +produce a grateful pleasure and delight from that very trouble +and emotion; in the choice of a subject, great, noble, interesting, +and contained within due bounds by the unity of time, +place, and action: in short, it is the conduct and disposition +of the whole piece, which, by the order and harmony of its +parts, and the happy connection of its incidents and intrigues, +holds the mind of the spectator in suspense till the catastrophe, +and then restores him his tranquillity, and dismisses him with +satisfaction. +</p> + +<p> +The chorus had been established before Æschylus, as it +composed alone, or next to alone, what was then called tragedy. +He did not therefore exclude it, but, on the contrary, thought +fit to incorporate it, to sing as chorus between the acts. Thus +it supplied the interval of resting, and was a kind of person of +the drama, employed either<note place='foot'><p>Actoris +partes chorus officiumque virile<lb/> +Defendat, neu quid medios intercinat actus,<lb/> +Quod non proposito conducat, et hæreat apté.<lb/> +Ille bonis faveatque, et concilietur amicis,<lb/> +Et regat iratos, et amet peccare timentes.<lb/> +Ille dapes laudet mensæ brevis; ille salubrem<lb/> +Justitiam, legesque, et apertis otia portis.<lb/> +Ille tegat commissa, deosque precetur et oret,<lb/> +Ut redeat miseris, abeat fortuna superbis.<lb/> +</p> +<p> +Hor. <hi rend='italic'>de Art. Poët.</hi> +</p> +<p> +The chorus should supply what action wants,<lb/> +And hath a generous and manly part; +Bridles wild rage, loves rigid honesty,<lb/> +And strict observance of impartial laws,<lb/> +Sobriety, security, and peace,<lb/> +And begs the gods to turn blind Fortune's wheel,<lb/> +To raise the wretched, and pull down the proud;<lb/> +But nothing must be sung between the acts,<lb/> +But what someway conduces to the plot. +</p> +<p> +Roscom. <hi rend='italic'>Art of Poet</hi>. translat.—Trans.</p></note> +in giving useful advice and salutary +<pb n='lxxxi'/><anchor id='Pglxxxi'/> +instructions, in espousing the party of innocence and +virtue, in being the depository of secrets, and the avenger of +violated religion, or in sustaining all those characters at the +same time according to Horace. The coryphæus, or principal +person of the chorus, spoke for the rest. +</p> + +<p> +In one of Æschylus's pieces, called the <hi rend='italic'>Eumenides</hi>, the +poet represents Orestes at the bottom of the stage, surrounded +by the Furies, laid asleep by Apollo. Their figure must have +been extremely horrible, as it is related, that upon their waking +and appearing tumultuously on the theatre, where they were to +act as a chorus, some women miscarried with the surprise, and +several children died of the fright. The chorus at that time +consisted of fifty actors. After this accident, it was reduced +to fifteen by an express law, and at length to twelve. +</p> + +<p> +I have observed, that one of the alterations made by Æschylus +in tragedy, was the mask worn by his actors. These dramatic +masks had no resemblance to ours, which only cover the +face, but were a kind of case for the whole head, and which, +besides the features, represented the beard, the hair, the ears, +and even the ornaments used by women in their head-dresses. +These masks varied according to the different pieces that were +acted. The subject is treated at large in a dissertation of M. +Boindin's, inserted in the <hi rend='italic'>Memoirs of the Academy of Belles +Lettres</hi>.<note place='foot'>Vol. iv.</note> +</p> + +<p> +I could never comprehend, as I have observed +elsewhere,<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Manner of Teaching</hi>, +&c. vol. iv.</note> in +speaking of pronunciation, how masks came to continue so long +upon the stage of the ancients; for certainly they could not +be used, without considerably deadening the spirit of the +action, which is principally expressed in the countenance, the +seat and mirror of what passes in the soul. Does it not often +happen, that the blood, according as it is put in motion by +different passions, sometimes covers the face with a sudden +and modest blush, sometimes enflames it with the heat of rage +and fury, sometimes retires, leaving it pale with fear, and at +others diffuses a calm and amiable serenity over it? All these +affections are strongly imaged and distinguished in the lineaments +of the face. The mask deprives the features of this +<pb n='lxxxii'/><anchor id='Pglxxxii'/> +energetic language, and of that life and soul, by which it is the +faithful interpreter of all the sentiments of the heart. I do not +wonder, therefore, at Cicero's remark upon the action of +Roscius.<note place='foot'>Quo meliùs nostri illi senes, qui personatum, +ne Roscium quidem, magnoperé laudabant. Lib. iii. <hi rend='italic'>de +Orat.</hi> n. 221.—Trans.</note> <q>Our ancestors,</q>' says he, <q>were +better judges than we are. They could not wholly approve even Roscius himself, +whilst he performed in a mask.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>A.M. 3509. Ant. J.C. 495.</note> +Æschylus was in the sole possession of the glory of the +stage, with almost every voice in his favour, when a young +rival made his appearance to dispute the palm with him. This +was Sophocles. He was born at Colonos, a town in +Attica, in the second year of the seventy-first Olympiad. +His father was a blacksmith, or one who kept +people of that trade to work for him. His first essay was a +masterpiece. +<note place='margin'>A.M. 3534. Ant. J.C. 470.</note> +When, upon the occasion of Cimon's having +found the bones of Theseus, and their being brought to Athens, +a dispute between the tragic poets was appointed, +Sophocles entered the lists with Æschylus, and +carried the prize against him. The ancient victor, +laden till then with the wreaths he had acquired, believed +them all lost by failing of the last, and withdrew in disgust into +Sicily to king Hiero, the protector and patron of all the learned +in disgrace at Athens. He died there soon after in a very +singular manner, if we may believe Suidas. As he lay asleep +in the fields, with his head bare, an eagle, taking his bald +crown for a stone, let a tortoise fall upon it, which killed him. +Of ninety, or at least seventy, tragedies, composed by him, +only seven are now extant. +</p> + +<p> +Nor have those of Sophocles escaped the injury of time +better, though one hundred and seventeen in number, and according +to some one hundred and thirty. He retained to +extreme old age all the force and vigour of his genius, as appears +from a circumstance in his history. His children, +unworthy of so great a father, upon pretence that he had lost +his senses, summoned him before the judges, in order to obtain +a decree, that his estate might be taken from him, and put into +their hands. He made no other defence, than to read a tragedy +he was at that time composing, called <hi rend='italic'>Œdipus at Colonos</hi>, +with which the judges were so charmed, that he carried his +cause unanimously; and his children, detested by the whole +assembly, got nothing by their suit, but the shame and infamy +due to so flagrant ingratitude. He was twenty times crowned +victor. Some say he expired in repeating his <hi rend='italic'>Antigone</hi>, for +<pb n='lxxxiii'/><anchor id='Pglxxxiii'/> +want of power to recover his breath, after a violent endeavour +to pronounce a long period to the end; others, that he died of +joy upon his being declared victor, contrary to his expectation. +The figure of a hive was placed upon his tomb, to perpetuate +the name of Bee, which had been given him, from the sweetness +of his verses: whence, it is probable, the notion was derived, +of the bees having settled upon his lips when in his +cradle. +<note place='margin'>A.M. 3599. Ant. J.C. 405.</note> +He died in his ninetieth year, the fourth of +the ninety-third Olympiad, after having survived +Euripides six years, who was not so old as himself. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>A.M. 3524. Ant. J.C. 480.</note> +The latter was born in the first year of the seventy-fifth +Olympiad, at Salamis, whither his father Mnesarchus +and mother Clito had retired when Xerxes was preparing +for his great expedition against Greece. He +applied himself at first to philosophy, and, amongst others, had +the celebrated Anaxagoras for his master. But the danger +incurred by that great man, who was very near being made the +victim of his philosophical tenets, inclined him to the study of +poetry. He discovered in himself a genius for the drama, +unknown to him at first; and employed it with such success, +that he entered the lists with the great masters of whom we +have been speaking. His works<note place='foot'>Sententiis densus, +et in iis quæ à sapientibus sunt, penè ipsis est par. Quintil. +l. x. c. 1.—Trans.</note> sufficiently denote his profound +application to philosophy. They abound with excellent +maxims of morality; and it is in that view that Socrates in his +time, and Cicero long after him,<note place='foot'>Cui (Euripidi) tu +quantum credas nescio; ego certè singulos ejus versus singula +testimonia puto. <hi rend='italic'>Epist.</hi> viii. l. 14. +<hi rend='italic'>ad Famil.</hi>—Trans.</note> set so high a value upon +Euripides. +</p> + +<p> +One cannot sufficiently admire the extreme delicacy expressed +by the Athenian audience on certain occasions, and +their solicitude to preserve the reverence due to morality, +virtue, decency, and justice. It is surprising to observe the +warmth with which they unanimously reproved whatever +seemed inconsistent with them, and called the poet to an +account for it, notwithstanding his having a well-founded excuse, +as he had given such sentiments only to persons notoriously +vicious, and actuated by the most unjust passions. +</p> + +<p> +Euripides had put into the mouth of Bellerophon a pompous +panegyric upon riches, which concluded with this thought: +<q>Riches are the supreme good of the human race, and with +reason excite the admiration of the gods and men.</q> The whole +theatre cried out against these expressions; and he would have +been banished directly, if he had not desired the sentence to +<pb n='lxxxiv'/><anchor id='Pglxxxiv'/> +be respited till the conclusion of the piece, in which the advocate +for riches perished miserably. +</p> + +<p> +He was in danger of incurring serious inconveniences from +an answer he puts into the mouth of Hippolytus. Phædra's +nurse represented to him, that he had engaged himself under +an inviolable oath to keep her secret. <q>My tongue, it is true, +pronounced that oath,</q> replied he, <q>but my heart gave no consent +to it.</q> This frivolous distinction appeared to the whole +people, as an express contempt of the religion and sanctity of +an oath, that tended to banish all sincerity and good faith from +society and the intercourse of life. +</p> + +<p> +Another maxim<note place='foot'><p>Ipse autem socer (Cæsar) in ore +semper Græcos versus Euripidis de Phœnissis habebat, quos dicam ut +potero, inconditè fortasse, sed tamen ut res possit intelligi: +</p> +<p> +Nam, si violandum est jus, regnandi gratià<lb/> +Violandum est; aliis rebus pietatem colas. +</p> +<p> +Capitalis Eteocles, vel potiùs Euripides, qui id unum, quod omnium sceleratissimum +fuerat, exceperit. <hi rend='italic'>Offic.</hi> l. iii. n. 82.—Trans.</p></note> +advanced by Eteocles in the tragedy +called the <hi rend='italic'>Phœnicians</hi>, and which Cæsar had always in his +mouth, is no less pernicious: <q>If justice may be violated at +all, it is when a throne is in question; in other respects, let it +be duly revered.</q> It is highly criminal in Eteocles, or rather +in Euripides, says Cicero, to make an exception in that very +point, wherein such violation is the highest crime that can be +committed. Eteocles is a tyrant, and speaks like a tyrant, +who vindicates his unjust conduct by a false maxim; and it is +not strange that Cæsar, who was a tyrant by nature, and +equally unjust, should lay great stress upon the sentiments of +a prince whom he so much resembled. But what is remarkable +in Cicero, is his falling upon the poet himself, and imputing +to him as a crime the having advanced so pernicious a principle +upon the stage. +</p> + +<p> +Lycurgus, the orator,<note place='foot'>Plut. <hi rend='italic'>in +vit.</hi> x. <hi rend='italic'>orat.</hi> p. 841.</note> +who lived in the time of Philip and +Alexander the Great, to reanimate the spirit of the tragic +poets, caused three statues of brass to be erected, in the name +of the people, to Æschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides; and +having ordered their works to be transcribed, he appointed +them to be carefully preserved amongst the public archives, +from whence they were taken from time to time to be read; +the players not being permitted to represent them on the +stage. +</p> + +<p> +The reader expects, no doubt, after what has been said relating +to the three poets, who invented, improved, and carried +<pb n='lxxxv'/><anchor id='Pglxxxv'/> +tragedy to its perfection, that I should point out the peculiar +excellencies of their style and character. For that I must +refer to father Brumoi, who will do it much better than it is in +my power. After having laid down, as an undoubted principle, +that the epic poem, that is to say Homer, pointed out the way +for the tragic poets; and having demonstrated, by reflections +drawn from human nature, upon what principles and by what +degrees this happy imitation was conducted to its end, he goes +on to describe the three poets above mentioned, in the most +lively and brilliant colours. +</p> + +<p> +Tragedy took at first from Æschylus its inventor, a much +more lofty style than the <hi rend='italic'>Iliad</hi>; +that is, the <foreign rend='italic'>magnum loqui</foreign> +mentioned by Horace. Perhaps Æschylus, who had a full +conception of the grandeur of the language of tragedy, carried +it too high. It is not Homer's trumpet, but something more. +His pompous, swelling, gigantic diction, resembles rather the +beating of drums and the shouts of battle, than the noble harmony +of the trumpets. The elevation and grandeur of his +genius would not permit him to speak the language of other +men, so that his Muse seemed rather to walk in stilts, than in +the buskins of his own invention. +</p> + +<p> +Sophocles understood much better the true excellence of the +dramatic style: he therefore copies Homer more closely, and +blends in his diction that honeyed sweetness, from whence he +was denominated <q>the Bee,</q> with a gravity that gives his tragedy +the modest air of a matron, compelled to appear in public with +dignity, as Horace expresses it. +</p> + +<p> +The style of Euripides, though noble, is less removed from +the familiar; and he seems to have affected rather the pathetic +and the elegant, than the nervous and the lofty. +</p> + +<p> +As Corneille, says father Brumoi in another place, after +having opened to himself a path entirely new and unknown to +the ancients, seems like an eagle towering in the clouds, from +the sublimity, force, unbroken progress, and rapidity of his +flight; and, as Racine, in copying the ancients in a manner +entirely his own, imitates the swan, that sometimes floats upon +the air, sometimes rises, then falls again with an elegance of +motion, and a grace peculiar to herself; so Æschylus, Sophocles, +and Euripides, have each of them a particular characteristic +and method. The first, as the inventor and father of +tragedy, is like a torrent rolling impetuously over rocks, forests, +and precipices; the second resembles a canal,<note place='foot'>I know not +whether the idea of <q>a canal, that flows gently through delicious +gardens,</q> is well adapted to designate the character of Sophocles, +which is peculiarly distinguished by nobleness, grandeur, and elevation. +That of an impetuous and rapid stream, whose waves, from the violence +of their motion, are loud, and to be heard afar off, seems to me a more +suitable image of that poet.—Trans.</note> which flows +<pb n='lxxxvi'/><anchor id='Pglxxxvi'/> +gently through delicious gardens; and the third a river, that +does not follow its course in a continued line, but loves to turn +and wind his silver wave through flowery meads and rural +scenes. +</p> + +<p> +This is the character which father Brumoi gives of the three +poets, to whom the Athenian stage was indebted for its perfection +in tragedy. Æschylus<note place='foot'>Tragædias primus in lucem +Æschylus protulit: sublimis et gravis, et grandiloquus +sæpe usque ad vitium; sed rudis in plerisque et incompositus. +Quintil. l. x. c. 1.—Trans.</note> drew it out of its original chaos +and confusion, and made it appear in some degree of lustre; +but it still retained the rude unfinished air of things in their +beginning, which are generally defective in point of art and +method. Sophocles and Euripides added infinitely to the dignity +of tragedy. The style of the first, as has been observed, +is more noble and majestic; of the latter, more tender and +pathetic; each perfect in their way. In this diversity of character, +it is difficult to decide which is most excellent. The +learned have always been divided upon this head; as we are +at this day, with respect to the two poets of our own nation,<note place='foot'>Corneille +and Racine.—Trans.</note> +whose tragedies have made our stage illustrious, and not inferior +to that of Athens. +</p> + +<p> +I have observed, that the tender and pathetic distinguishes +the compositions of Euripides, of which Alexander of Pheræ, +the most cruel of tyrants, was a proof. That barbarous man, +upon seeing the <hi rend='italic'>Troades</hi> of Euripides acted, found himself so +moved with it, that he quitted the theatre before the conclusion +of the play, professing that he was ashamed to be seen in tears +for the distress of Hecuba and Andromache, who had never +shown the least compassion for his own citizens, of whom he +had butchered such numbers. +</p> + +<p> +When I speak of the tender and pathetic, I would not be +understood to mean a passion that softens the heart into +effeminacy, and which, to our reproach, is almost alone, or at +least more than any other passion received upon our stage, +though rejected by the ancients, and condemned by the nations +around us of greatest reputation for their genius, and taste for +the sciences and polite learning. The two great principles for +moving the passions amongst the ancients, were terror and +pity.<note place='foot'>Φόβος καὶ ἔλεος.</note> And, indeed, as we +naturally refer every thing to ourselves, +or our own particular interest, when we see persons of +<pb n='lxxxvii'/><anchor id='Pglxxxvii'/> +exalted rank or virtue sinking under great evils, the fear of the +like misfortunes, with which we know that human life is on all +sides invested, seizes upon us, and from a secret impulse of +self-love we find ourselves sensibly affected with the distresses +of others: besides which, the sharing a common nature<note place='foot'>Homo +sum: humani nihil à me alienum puto. Ter.—Trans.</note> with +the rest of our species, makes us sensible to whatever befalls +them. Upon a close and attentive inquiry into those two passions, +they will be found the most deeply inherent, active, extensive, +and general affections of the soul; including all orders +of men, great and small, rich and poor, of whatever age or +condition. Hence the ancients, accustomed to consult nature, +and to take her for their guide in all things, with reason conceived +terror and compassion to be the soul of tragedy; and +that those affections ought to prevail in it. The passion of +love was in no estimation amongst them, and had seldom any +share in their dramatic pieces; though with us it is a received +opinion, that they cannot be supported without it. +</p> + +<p> +It is worth our trouble to examine briefly in what manner +this passion, which has always been deemed a weakness and a +blemish in the greatest characters, got such footing upon our +stage. Corneille, who was the first who brought the French +tragedy to any perfection, and whom all the rest have followed, +found the whole nation enamoured with the perusal of romances, +and little disposed to admire any thing not resembling +them. From the desire of pleasing his audience, who were at +the same time his judges, he endeavoured to move them in the +manner they had been accustomed to be affected; and, by introducing +love in his scenes, to bring them the nearer to the +predominant taste of the age for romance. From the same +source arose that multiplicity of incidents, episodes, and adventures, +with which our tragic pieces are crowded and obscured; +so contrary to probability, which will not admit such +a number of extraordinary and surprising events in the short +space of four-and-twenty hours; so contrary to the simplicity +of ancient tragedy; and so adapted to conceal, by the assemblage +of so many different objects, the sterility of the genius of +a poet, more intent upon the marvellous, than upon the probable +and natural. +</p> + +<p> +Both the Greeks and Romans have preferred the iambic to +the heroic verse in their tragedies; not only because the first +has a kind of dignity better adapted to the stage, but, whilst it +approaches nearer to prose, retains sufficiently the air of poetry +to please the ear; and yet has too little of it to put the audience +<pb n='lxxxviii'/><anchor id='Pglxxxviii'/> +in mind of the poet, who ought not to appear at all in representations, +where other persons are supposed to speak and +act. Monsieur Dacier makes a very just reflection on this +subject. He says, that it is the misfortune of our tragedy to +have almost no other verse than what it has in common with +epic poetry, elegy, pastoral, satire, and comedy; whereas the +learned languages have a great variety of versification. +</p> + +<p> +This inconvenience is highly obvious in our tragedy; which +consequently is obliged to lose sight of nature and probability, +as it obliges heroes, princes, kings, and queens, to express +themselves in a pompous strain in their familiar conversation, +which it would be ridiculous to attempt in real life. The +giving utterance to the most impetuous passions in an uniform +cadence, and by hemistichs and rhymes, would undoubtedly be +tedious and offensive to the ear, if the charms of poetry, the +elegance of expression, and the spirit of the sentiments, and +perhaps, more than all of them, the resistless force of custom, +had not in a manner subjected our reason, and spread a veil +before our judgment. +</p> + +<p> +It was not chance, therefore, which suggested to the Greeks +the use of iambics in their tragedy. Nature itself seems to have +dictated that kind of verse to them. Instructed by the same +unerring guide, they made choice of a different versification for +the chorus, better adapted to the motions of the dance, and the +variations of the song; because it was necessary for poetry +here to shine out in all its lustre, whilst the mere conversation +between the real actors was suspended. The chorus was an +embellishment of the representation, and a relaxation to the +audience, and therefore required more exalted poetry and +numbers to support it, when united with music and dancing. +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<head>Of the Old, Middle, and New Comedy.</head> + +<p> +Whilst tragedy was thus rising to perfection at Athens, +comedy, the second species of dramatic poetry, and which, till +then, had been much neglected, began to be cultivated with +more attention. Nature was the common parent of both. +We are sensibly affected with the dangers, distresses, misfortunes, +and, in a word, with whatever relates to the lives and +conduct of illustrious persons; and this gave birth to tragedy. +And we are as curious to know the adventures, conduct, and +defects of our equals; which supply us with occasions of +laughing, and being merry at the expense of others. Hence +comedy derives itself; which is properly an image of private +life. Its design is to expose defects and vices upon the stage, +<pb n='lxxxix'/><anchor id='Pglxxxix'/> +and, by affixing ridicule to them, to make them contemptible; +and, consequently, to instruct by diverting. Ridicule, therefore, +(or, to express the same word by another, pleasantry,) +ought to prevail in comedy. +</p> + +<p> +This species of entertainment took at different times three +different forms at Athens, as well from the genius of the poets, +as from the influence of the government, which occasioned +various alterations in it. +</p> + +<p> +The old comedy, so called by Horace,<note place='foot'>Successit vetus +his comœdia non sinc multâ Laude. Hor. +<hi rend='italic'>in Art. Poët.</hi>—Trans.</note> and which he dates +after the time of Æschylus, retained something of its original +rudeness, and the liberty it had been used to take of throwing +out coarse jests and reviling the spectators from the cart of +Thespis. Though it was become regular in its plan, and worthy +of a great theatre, it had not learnt to be more reserved. +It represented real transactions, with the names, dress, gestures, +and likeness, in masks, of whomsoever it thought fit to +sacrifice to the public derision. In a state where it was held +good policy to unmask whatever carried the air of ambition, +singularity, or knavery, comedy assumed the privilege to +harangue, reform, and advise the people upon their most important +interests. No one was spared in a city of so much +liberty, or rather licentiousness, as Athens was at that time. +Generals, magistrates, government, the very gods were abandoned +to the poet's satirical vein; and all was well received, +provided the comedy was diverting, and the Attic salt not +wanting. +</p> + +<p> +In one of these comedies,<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Plutus.</hi></note> +not only the priest of Jupiter +determines to quit his service, because no more sacrifices are +offered to the god; but Mercury himself comes, in a starving +condition, to seek his fortune amongst mankind, and offers to +serve as a porter, sutler, bailiff, guide, door-keeper; in short, +in any capacity, rather than return to heaven. In +another,<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>The Birds.</hi></note> +the same gods, reduced to the extremity of famine, from the +birds having built a city in the air, whereby their provisions +are cut off, and the smoke of incense and sacrifices prevented +from ascending to heaven, depute three ambassadors in the +name of Jupiter to conclude a treaty of accommodation with +the birds, upon such conditions as they shall approve. The +chamber of audience, where the three famished gods are +received, is a kitchen well stored with excellent game of all +sorts. Here Hercules, deeply smitten with the smell of roast +<pb n='xc'/><anchor id='Pgxc'/> +meat, which he apprehends to be more exquisite and nutritious +than that of incense, begs leave to make his abode, and to +turn the spit, and assist the cook upon occasion. The other +pieces of Aristophanes abound with strokes still more satirical +and severe upon the principal divinities. +</p> + +<p> +I am not much surprised at the poet's insulting the gods, +and treating them with the utmost contempt, as from them he +had nothing fear; but I cannot help wondering at his having +brought the most illustrious and powerful persons of Athens +upon the stage, and presuming to attack the government itself, +without any manner of respect or reserve. +</p> + +<p> +Cleon having returned triumphant, contrary to the general +expectation, from the expedition against Sphacteria, was looked +upon by the people as the greatest captain of that age. Aristophanes, +to set that bad man in a true light, who was the +son of a tanner, and a tanner himself, and whose rise was owing +solely to his temerity and impudence, was so bold as to make +him the subject of a comedy,<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>The +Knights.</hi></note> without being awed by his power +and influence: but he was obliged to play the part of Cleon +himself, and appeared for the first time upon the stage in that +character; not one of the comedians daring to represent it, nor +to expose himself to the resentment of so formidable an enemy. +His face was smeared over with wine-lees; because no workman +could be found, that would venture to make a mask +resembling Cleon, as was usual when persons were brought +upon the stage. In this piece he reproaches him with embezzling +the public treasures, with a violent passion for bribes and +presents, with craft in seducing the people, and denies him the +glory of the action at Sphacteria, which he attributes chiefly +to the share his colleague had in it. +</p> + +<p> +In the <hi rend='italic'>Acharnians</hi>, he accuses Lamachus of having been +made general, rather by bribery than merit. He imputes to +him his youth, inexperience, and idleness; at the same time +that he, and many others, whom he covertly designates, convert +to their own use the rewards due only to valour and real services. +He reproaches the republic with their preference of the +younger citizens to the elder, in the government of the state, +and the command of their armies. He tells them plainly, that +when peace shall be concluded, neither Cleonymus, Hyperbolus, +nor many other such knaves, all mentioned by name, +shall have any share in the public affairs; they being always +ready to accuse their fellow-citizens of crimes, and to enrich +themselves by such informations. +</p> + +<pb n='xci'/><anchor id='Pgxci'/> + +<p> +In his comedy called the <hi rend='italic'>Wasps</hi>, imitated by Racine in his +<hi rend='italic'>Plaideurs</hi>, he exposes the mad passion of the people for +prosecutions and trials at law, and the enormous injustice frequently +committed in passing sentence and giving judgment. +</p> + +<p> +The poet,<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>The Peace.</hi></note> +concerned to see the republic obstinately bent +upon the unhappy expedition to Sicily, endeavours to excite in +the people a thorough disgust for so ruinous a war, and to +inspire them with the desire of a peace, as much the interest of +the victors as the vanquished, after a war of several years' +duration, equally pernicious to each party, and capable of +involving all Greece in ruin. +</p> + +<p> +None of Aristophanes's pieces explains better his boldness, +in speaking upon the most delicate affairs of the state in the +crowded theatre, than his comedy called <hi rend='italic'>Lysistrata</hi>. One of +the principal magistrates of Athens had a wife of that name, +who is supposed to have taken it into her head to compel +Greece to conclude a peace. She relates, how, during the +war, the women inquiring of their husbands the result of their +counsels, and whether they had not resolved to make peace +with Sparta, received no answers but imperious looks, and +orders to mind their own business: that, however, they perceived +plainly to what a low condition the government was +declined: that they took the liberty to remonstrate mildly to +their husbands upon the sad consequences of their rash determinations, +but that their humble representations had no other +effect than to offend and enrage them: that, at length, being +confirmed by the general opinion of all Attica, that there were +no longer any men in the state, nor heads for the administration +of affairs, their patience being quite exhausted, the women had +thought it proper and advisable to take the government upon +themselves, and preserve Greece, whether it would or no, +from the folly and madness of its resolves. <q>For her part, +she declares, that she has taken possession of the city and +treasury, in order,</q> says she, <q>to prevent Pisander and his +confederates, the four hundred administrators, from exciting +troubles, according to their custom, and from robbing the +public as usual.</q> (Was ever any thing so bold?) She goes +on to prove, that the women only are capable of retrieving +affairs by this burlesque argument; that admitting things to be +in such a state of perplexity and confusion, the sex, accustomed +to untangling their threads, were the only persons to +set them right again, as being best qualified with the necessary +address, patience, and moderation. The Athenian politics are +<pb n='xcii'/><anchor id='Pgxcii'/> +thus made inferior to those of the women, who are only represented +in a ridiculous light, to turn the derision upon their +husbands, who were engaged in the administration of the +government. +</p> + +<p> +These extracts from Aristophanes, taken almost word for +word from father Brumoi, seemed to me very proper to give +an insight into that poet's character, and the genius of the +ancient comedy, which was, as we see, a satire of the most +poignant and severe kind, that had assumed to itself an independency +from respect to persons, and to which nothing was +sacred. It is no wonder that Cicero condemns so licentious +and uncurbed a liberty. It might, he says,<note place='foot'>Quem illa +non attigit, vel potiùs quem non vexavit? Esto, populares homines, improbos, +in remp. seditiosos, Cleonem, Cleophontem, Hyperbolum læsit: patiamur—Sed +Periclem, cùm jam suæ civitati maximâ auctoritate plurimos annos domi et belli +præfuisset, violari versibus, et eos agi in scenâ, non plùs decuit, quam si Plautus +noster voluisset, aut Nævius, P. et Cn. Scipioni, aut Cæcilius M. Catoni maledicere. +Ex fragm. Cic. <hi rend='italic'>de Rep.</hi> l. iv.—Trans.</note> have been +tolerable, had it attacked only bad citizens, and seditious +orators, who endeavoured to raise commotions in the state, +such as Cleon, Cleophon, and Hyperbolus; but when a +Pericles, who for many years had governed the commonwealth +both in war and peace with equal wisdom and authority (he +might have added, and a Socrates, declared by Apollo the +wisest of mankind) is brought upon the stage to be laughed at +by the public, it is as if our Plautus or Nævius had attacked +the Scipios, or Cæcilius had dared to revile Marcus Cato in +his plays. +</p> + +<p> +That liberty is still more offensive to us, who are born, and +live under a monarchical government, which is far from being +favourable to licentiousness. But without intending to justify +the conduct of Aristophanes, which is certainly inexcusable, I +think, to judge properly of it, it would be necessary to lay +aside the prejudices of birth, nations, and times, and to imagine +we live in those remote ages in a state purely democratical. +We must not fancy Aristophanes to have been a person of +little consequence in his republic, as the comic writers generally +are in our days. The king of Persia had a very different +idea of him.<note place='foot'>Aristophan. <hi rend='italic'>in +Acharn.</hi></note> It is a known story, that in an audience of the +Greek ambassadors, his first inquiry was after a certain comic +poet (meaning Aristophanes) that put all Greece in motion, +and gave such effectual counsels against him. Aristophanes +did that upon the stage, which Demosthenes did afterwards in +the public assemblies. The poet's reproaches were no less +animated than the orator's. In his comedies he uttered the +<pb n='xciii'/><anchor id='Pgxciii'/> +same sentiments as he had a right to deliver from the public +rostrum. They were addressed to the same people, upon the +same occasions of the state, the same means of success, and +the same obstacles to their measures. In Athens the whole +people were the sovereign, and each of them had an equal +share in the supreme authority. Upon this they were continually +intent, were fond of discoursing upon it themselves, and +of hearing the sentiments of others. The public affairs were +the business of every individual, on which they were desirous +of being fully informed, that they might know how to conduct +themselves on every occasion of war or peace, which frequently +offered, and to decide upon their own, as well as upon the +destiny of their allies or enemies. Hence rose the liberty +taken by the comic poets, of discussing affairs of the state in +their performances. The people were so far from being +offended at it, or at the manner in which those writers treated +the principal persons of the state, that they conceived their +liberty in some measure to consist in it. +</p> + +<p> +Three poets<note place='foot'><p>Eupolis, atque Cratinus, Aristophanesque poëtæ,<lb/> +Atque alii, quorum comœdia prisca virorum est,<lb/> +Si quis erat dignus describi, quòd malus, aut fur,<lb/> +Quòd mœchus foret, aut sicarius, aut alioqui<lb/> +Famosus; multâ cum libertate notabant. +</p> +<p> +Hor. <hi rend='italic'>Sat.</hi> iv. l. i. +</p> +<p> +With Aristophanes' satiric rage,<lb/> +When ancient comedy amus'd the age,<lb/> +Or Eupolis's or Cratinus' wit,<lb/> +And others that all-licens'd poem writ;<lb/> +None, worthy to be shown, escap'd the scene,<lb/> +No public knave, or thief of lofty mien;<lb/> +The loose adult'rer was drawn forth to sight;<lb/> +The secret murd'rer trembling lurk'd the night;<lb/> +Vice play'd itself, and each ambitious spark;<lb/> +All boldly branded with the poet's mark.<lb/> +</p> +<p> +—Trans.</p></note> particularly excelled in the old comedy; +Eupolis, Cratinus, and Aristophanes. The last is the only one +of them, whose pieces have come down to us entire; and, out of +the great number which he composed, eleven are all that remain. +He flourished in an age when Greece abounded with great +men, and was contemporary with Socrates and Euripides, +whom he survived. During the Peloponnesian war, he made +his greatest figure; less as a writer to amuse the people with +his comedies, than as a censor of the government, retained to +reform the state, and to be almost the arbiter of his country. +</p> + +<p> +He is admired for an elegance, poignancy, and happiness of +expression, or, in a word, that Attic salt and spirit, to which +the Roman language could never attain, and for which +Aristophanes<note place='foot'>Antiqua comœdia sinceram illam sermonis Attici +gratiam propè sola retinet. Quintil.—Trans.</note> +<pb n='xciv'/><anchor id='Pgxciv'/> +is more remarkable than any other of the Greek +authors. His particular excellence was raillery. None ever +touched what was ridiculous in the characters whom he wished +to expose with such success, or knew better how to convey it +in all its full force to others. But it would be necessary to +have lived in his times, to be qualified to judge of this. The +subtle salt and spirit of the ancient raillery, according to father +Brumoi, is evaporated through length of time, and what remains +of it is become flat and insipid to us; though the sharpest +part will retain its vigour throughout all ages. +</p> + +<p> +Two considerable defects are justly imputed to this poet, +which very much obscure, if not entirely efface, his glory. +These are, low buffoonery, and gross obscenity; and it has in +vain been attempted to offer, in excuse for the first of these +faults, the character of his audience; the bulk of which generally +consisted of the poor, the ignorant, and dregs of the +people, whom, however, it was as necessary to please, as the +learned and the rich. The depraved taste of the lower order +of people, which once banished Cratinus and his company, +because his scenes were not grossly comic enough for them, is +no excuse for Aristophanes, as Menander could find out the +art of changing that grovelling taste, by introducing a species +of comedy, not altogether so modest as Plutarch seems to +insinuate, yet much less licentious than any before his time. +</p> + +<p> +The gross obscenities, with which all Aristophanes's comedies +abound, have no excuse; they only denote to what a pitch +the libertinism of the spectators, and the depravity of the poet, +had proceeded. Had he even impregnated them with the +utmost wit, which however is not the case, the privilege of +laughing himself, or of making others laugh, would have been +too dearly purchased at the expense of decency and good +manners.<note place='foot'>Nimium risûs pretium est, si +probitatis impendio constat. Quintil. l. vi. c. 3.—Trans.</note> +And in this case it may well be said, that it were +better to have no wit at all, than to make so ill a use of it.<note place='foot'>Non +pejus duxerim tardi ingenii esse, quàm mali. Quintil. l. i. c. 3.—Trans.</note> +F. Brumoi is very much to be commended for having taken +care, in giving a general idea of Aristophanes's writings, to +throw a veil over those parts of them that might have given +offence to modesty. Though such behaviour be the indispensable +rule of religion, it is not always observed by those who +pique themselves most on their erudition, and sometimes prefer +the title of scholar to that of Christian. +</p> + +<p> +The old comedy subsisted till Lysander's time; who, upon +having made himself master of Athens, changed the form or +<pb n='xcv'/><anchor id='Pgxcv'/> +the government, and put it into the hands of thirty of the +principal citizens. The satirical liberty of the theatre was +offensive to them, and therefore they thought fit to put a stop +to it. The reason of this alteration is evident, and confirms +the reflection made before upon the privilege which the poets +possessed of criticizing with impunity the persons at the head +of the state. The whole authority of Athens was then invested +in tyrants. The democracy was abolished. The people had +no longer any share in the government. They were no more +the prince; their sovereignty had expired. The right of giving +their opinions and suffrages upon affairs of state was at an +end; nor dared they, either in their own persons or by the +poets, presume to censure the sentiments and conduct of their +masters. The calling persons by their names upon the stage +was prohibited: but poetical ill-nature soon found the secret +of eluding the intention of the law, and of making itself +amends for the restraint which was imposed upon it by the +necessity of using feigned names. It then applied itself to +discover what was ridiculous in known characters, which it +copied to the life, and from thence acquired the double advantage +of gratifying the vanity of the poets, and the malice of the +audience, in a more refined manner: the one had the delicate +pleasure of putting the spectators upon guessing their meaning, +and the other of not being mistaken in their suppositions, and +of affixing the right name to the characters represented. Such +was the comedy, since called the <hi rend='italic'>Middle Comedy</hi>, of which +there are some instances in Aristophanes. +</p> + +<p> +It continued till the time of Alexander the Great, who, +having entirely assured himself of the empire of Greece by the +defeat of the Thebans, caused a check to be put upon the +licentiousness of the poets, which increased daily. From +thence the <hi rend='italic'>New Comedy</hi> took its birth, which was only an +imitation of private life, and brought nothing upon the stage +but feigned names, and fictitious adventures. +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l>Chacun peint avec art dans ce nouveau miroir,</l> +<l>S'y vit avec plaisir, ou crut ne s'y pas voir.</l> +<l>L'avare des premiers rit du tableau fidèle</l> +<l>D'un avare souvent tracé sur son modèle;</l> +<l>Et mille fois un fat, finement exprimé,</l> +<l>Méconnut le portrait sur lui-mème formé.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>In this new glass, whilst each himself survey'd,</l> +<l>He sat with pleasure, though himself was play'd:</l> +<l>The miser grinn'd whilst avarice was drawn,</l> +<l>Nor thought the faithful likeness was his own;</l> +<l>His own dear self no imag'd fool could find,</l> +<l>But saw a thousand other fops design'd.<note place='foot'>Boileau, +<hi rend='italic'>Art. Poet.</hi>, chant. iii.</note></l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<pb n='xcvi'/><anchor id='Pgxcvi'/> + +<p> +This may properly be called fine comedy, and is that of +Menander. Of one hundred and eighty, or rather eighty plays, +according to Suidas, composed by him, all of which Terence +is said to have translated, there remain only a few fragments. +We may form a judgment of the merit of the originals from +the excellence of the copy. Quintilian, in speaking of Menander, +is not afraid to say,<note place='foot'>Atque ille quidem omnibus +ejusdem operis auctoribus abstulit nomen, et fulgore +quodam suæ claritatis tenebras obduxit. Quintil. l. x. c. +1.—Trans.</note> that with the beauty of his works, +and the height of his reputation, he obscured, or rather obliterated, +the fame of all other writers in the same way. He +observes in another passage,<note place='foot'>Quidam, sicut Menander, +justiora posterorum quàm suæ ætatis, judicia sunt +consecuti. Quintil. l. iii. c. 6.—Trans.</note> that his own times were not so +just to his merit as they ought to have been, which has +been the fate of many others; but that he was sufficiently +made amends by the favourable opinion of posterity. And +indeed Philemon, a comic poet, who flourished about the same +period, though older than Menander, was preferred before +him. +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<head>The Theatre of the Ancients described.</head> + +<p> +I have already observed, that Æschylus was the first founder +of a fixed and durable theatre adorned with suitable decorations. +It was at first, as well as the amphitheatres, composed +of wooden planks, the seats in which rose one above another; +but those having one day broke down, by having too great a +weight upon them, the Athenians, excessively enamoured of +dramatic representations, were induced by that accident to +erect those superb structures, which were imitated afterwards +with so much splendour by the Roman magnificence. What +I shall say of them, has almost as much relation to the Roman +as the Athenian theatres; and is extracted entirely from M. +Boindin's learned dissertation upon the theatre of the +ancients,<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Memoirs of the Acad. +of Inscript.</hi> &c. vol i. p. 136, &c.</note> +who has treated the subject in its fullest extent. +</p> + +<p> +The theatre of the ancients was divided into three principal +parts; each of which had its peculiar appellation. The division +for the actors was called in general the scene, or stage; +that for the spectators was particularly termed the theatre, +which must have been of vast extent,<note place='foot'>Strab. l. +ix. p. 395. Herod. l. viii. c. 65.</note> as at Athens it was +capable of containing above thirty thousand persons; and the +orchestra, which amongst the Greeks was the place assigned for +<pb n='xcvii'/><anchor id='Pgxcvii'/> +the pantomimes and dancers, though at Rome it was appropriated +to the senators and vestal virgins. +</p> + +<p> +The theatre was of a semicircular form on one side, and +square on the other. The space contained within the semicircle +was allotted to the spectators, and had seats placed one +above another to the top of the building. The square part in +the front of it was appropriated to the actors; and in the interval, +between both, was the orchestra. +</p> + +<p> +The great theatres had three rows of porticoes, raised one +upon another, which formed the body of the edifice, and at +the same time three different stories for the seats. From the +highest of those porticoes the women saw the representation, +sheltered from the weather. The rest of the theatre was +uncovered, and all the business of the stage was performed in +the open air. +</p> + +<p> +Each of these stories consisted of nine rows of seats, including +the landing-place, which divided them from each other, +and served as a passage from side to side. But as this landing-place +and passage took up the space of two benches, there +were only seven to sit upon, and consequently in each story +there were seven rows of seats. They were from fifteen to +eighteen inches in height, and twice as much in breadth; so +that the spectators had room to sit at their ease, and without +being incommoded by the legs of the people above them, no +foot-boards being provided for them. +</p> + +<p> +Each of these stories of benches were divided in two different +manners; in their height by the landing-places, called by the +Romans <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Præcinctiones</foreign>, +and in their circumferences by several +staircases, peculiar to each story, which intersecting them in +right lines, tending towards the centre of the theatre, gave the +form of wedges to the quantity of seats between them, from +whence they were called <foreign rend='italic'>Cunei</foreign>. +</p> + +<p> +Behind these stories of seats were covered galleries, through +which the people thronged into the theatre by great square +openings, contrived for that purpose in the walls next the seats. +Those openings were called <foreign rend='italic'>Vomitoria</foreign>, +from the multitude of people crowding through them into their places. +</p> + +<p> +As the actors could not be heard to the extremity of the +theatre, the Greeks contrived a means to supply that defect, +and to augment the force of the voice, and make it more +distinct and articulate. For that purpose they invented a kind +of large vessels of copper, which were disposed under the seats +of the theatre, in such a manner, as made all sounds strike +upon the ear with more force and distinctness. +</p> + +<p> +The orchestra being situated, as I have observed, between +<pb n='xcviii'/><anchor id='Pgxcviii'/> +the two other parts of the theatre, of which one was circular, +and the other square, it participated of the form of each, and +occupied the space between both. It was divided into three +parts. +</p> + +<p> +The first and most considerable was more particularly called +the orchestra, from a Greek word<note place='foot'>Ὀρχεῖσθαι.</note> +that signifies to dance. It +was appropriated to the pantomimes and dancers, and to all +such subaltern actors as played between the acts, and at the +end of the representations. +</p> + +<p> +The second was named θυλέλη, from its being square, in the +form of an altar. Here the chorus was generally placed. +</p> + +<p> +And in the third the Greeks disposed their band of music. +They called it ὑποσκήνιον, from its being situate at the bottom +of the principal part of the theatre, to which they gave the +general name of the scene. +</p> + +<p> +I shall describe here this third part of the theatre, called the +scene; which was also subdivided into three different parts. +</p> + +<p> +The first and most considerable was properly called the +scene, and gave its name to this whole division. It occupied +the whole front of the building from side to side, and was the +place allotted for the decorations. This front had two small +wings at its extremity, from which hung a large curtain, that +was let down to open the scene, and drawn up between the +acts, when any thing in the representation made it necessary. +</p> + +<p> +The second, called by the Greeks indifferently προσκήνιον, +and λοτεῖον and by the Romans <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>proscenium</foreign>, +and <foreign rend='italic'>pulpitum</foreign>, was +a large open space in front of the scene, in which the actors +performed their parts, and which, by the help of the decorations, +represented either a public square or forum, a common +street, or the country; but the place so represented was always +in the open air. +</p> + +<p> +The third division was a part reserved behind the scenes, +and called by the Greeks παρασκήνιον. Here the actors dressed +themselves, and the decorations were locked up. In the same +place were also kept the machines, of which the ancients had +abundance in their theatres. +</p> + +<p> +As only the porticoes and the building of the scene were +roofed, it was necessary to draw sails, fastened with cords to +masts, over the rest of the theatre, to screen the audience from +the heat of the sun. But as this contrivance did not prevent +the heat, occasioned by the perspiration and breath of so +numerous an assembly, the ancients took care to allay it by a +kind of rain; conveying the water for that use above the porticoes, +<pb n='xcix'/><anchor id='Pgxcix'/> +which falling again in form of dew through an infinity +of small pores concealed in the statues, with which the theatre +abounded, did not only diffuse a grateful coolness all around, +but the most fragrant exhalations along with it; for this dew +was always perfumed. Whenever the representations were +interrupted by storms, the spectators retired into the porticoes +behind the seats of the theatre. +</p> + +<p> +The fondness of the Athenians for representations of this +kind cannot be expressed. Their eyes, their ears, their imagination, +their understanding, all shared in the satisfaction. +Nothing gave them so sensible a pleasure in dramatic performances, +either tragic or comic, as the strokes which were +aimed at the affairs of the public; whether pure chance occasioned +the application, or the address of the poets, who knew +how to reconcile the most remote subjects with the transactions +of the republic. They entered by that means into the interests +of the people, took occasion to soothe their passions, authorize +their pretensions, justify, and sometimes condemn, their conduct, +entertain them with agreeable hopes, instruct them in +their duty in certain nice conjunctures; in consequence of +which they often not only acquired the applauses of the spectators, +but credit and influence in the public affairs and counsels: +hence the theatre became so grateful and so interesting +to the people. It was in this manner, according to some authors, +that Euripides artfully adapted his tragedy of +<hi rend='italic'>Palamedes</hi><note place='foot'>It is not certain +whether this piece was prior or posterior to the death of +Socrates.—Trans.</note> +to the sentence passed against Socrates; and pointed out, by +an illustrious example of antiquity, the innocence of a philosopher, +oppressed by malignity supported by power and faction. +</p> + +<p> +Accident was often the occasion of sudden and unforeseen +applications, which from their appositeness were very agreeable +to the people. Upon this verse of Æschylus, in praise of +Amphiaraus, +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 8'>—— 'Tis his desire</l> +<l>Not to appear, but be the great and good,</l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +the whole audience rose up, and unanimously applied it to +Aristides.<note place='foot'>Plut. <hi rend='italic'>in Aristid.</hi> p. +320.</note> The same thing happened to Philopœmen at the +Nemæan games. At the instant he entered the theatre, these +verses were singing upon the stage: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 8'>—— He comes, to whom we owe</l> +<l>Our liberty, the noblest good below.</l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<pb n='c'/><anchor id='Pgc'/> + +<p> +All the Greeks cast their eyes upon Philopœmen,<note place='foot'>Plut. +<hi rend='italic'>in Philipœm.</hi> p. 362.</note> and with +clapping of hands and acclamations of joy expressed their +veneration for the hero. +</p> + +<p> +In the same manner at Rome, during the banishment of +Cicero,<note place='foot'>Cic. <hi rend='italic'>in Orat. pro. +Sext.</hi> n. 120, 123.</note> when some verses of Accius,<note place='foot'><p>O +ingratifici Argivi, inanes Graii, immemores beneficii,<lb/> +Exulare sivistis, sivistis pelli, pulsum patimini. +</p> +<p> +—Trans.</p></note> which reproached the +Greeks with their ingratitude in suffering the banishment of +Telamon, were repeated by Æsop, the best actor of his time, +they drew tears from the eyes of the whole assembly. +</p> + +<p> +Upon another, though very different, occasion, the Roman +people applied to Pompey the Great some verses to this effect: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l>'Tis our unhappiness has made thee great;<note place='foot'>Cic. +<hi rend='italic'>ad Attic.</hi> l. ii. <hi rend='italic'>Epist.</hi> +19. Val. Max. l. vi. c. 2.</note></l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +and then addressing the people; +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l>The time shall come when you shall late deplore</l> +<l>So great a power confided to such hands;</l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +the spectators obliged the actor to repeat these verses several +times. +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<head>Fondness for Theatrical Representations one of the principal +Causes of the Decline, Degeneracy, and Corruption of the +Athenian State.</head> + +<p> +When we compare the happy times of Greece, in which +Europe and Asia resounded with nothing but the fame of the +Athenian victories, with the later ages, when the power of +Philip and Alexander the Great had in a manner reduced it to +slavery, we shall be surprised at the strange alteration in that +republic. But what is most material, is the investigation of +the causes and progress of this declension; and these M. de +Tourreil has discussed in an admirable manner in the elegant +preface to his translation of Demosthenes's orations. +</p> + +<p> +There were no longer, he observes, at Athens any traces of +that manly and vigorous policy, equally capable of planning +good and retrieving bad success. Instead of that, there remained +only an inconsistent loftiness, apt to evaporate in pompous +decrees. They were no more those Athenians, who, +when menaced by a deluge of barbarians, demolished their +houses to build ships with the timber, and whose women +stoned the abject wretch to death that proposed to appease the +great king by tribute or homage. The love of ease and pleasure +<pb n='ci'/><anchor id='Pgci'/> +had almost entirely extinguished that of glory, liberty, and +independence. +</p> + +<p> +Pericles, that great man, so absolute, that those who envied +him treated him as a second Pisistratus, was the first author of +this degeneracy and corruption. With the design of conciliating +the favour of the people, he ordained that upon such days +as games or sacrifices were celebrated, a certain number of +oboli should be distributed amongst them; and that in the +assemblies in which affairs of state were to be discussed, every +individual should receive a certain pecuniary gratification in +right of being present. Thus the members of the republic +were seen for the first time to sell their care in the administration +of the government, and to rank amongst servile employments +the most noble functions of the sovereign power. +</p> + +<p> +It was not difficult to foresee where so excessive an abuse +would end: and to remedy it, it was proposed to establish a +fund for the support of the war, and to make it a capital crime +to advise, upon any account whatsoever, the application of it +to other uses: but, notwithstanding, the abuse always subsisted. +At first it seemed tolerable, whilst the citizen, who was supported +at the public expense, endeavoured to deserve it by +doing his duty in the field for nine months together. Every +one was to serve in his turn, and whoever failed was treated as +a deserter without distinction: but at length the number of the +transgressors carried it against the law; and impunity, as it +commonly happens, multiplied their number. People accustomed +to the delightful abode of a city, where feasts and games +were perpetually taking place, conceived an invincible repugnance +for labour and fatigue, which they looked upon as unworthy +of free-born men. +</p> + +<p> +It was therefore necessary to find amusement for this indolent +people, to fill up the great void of an unactive, useless life. +Hence arose principally their fondness, or rather frenzy, for +public shows. The death of Epaminondas, which seemed to +promise them the greatest advantage, gave the final stroke to +their ruin and destruction. <q>Their courage,</q> says Justin,<note place='foot'>Justin, +l. vi. c. 9.</note> +<q>did not survive that illustrious Theban. Freed from a rival, +who kept their emulation alive, they sunk into a lethargic sloth +and effeminacy. The funds for armaments by land and sea +were soon lavished upon games and feasts. The seaman's and +soldier's pay was distributed to the idle citizen. An indolent +and luxurious mode of life enervated every breast. The representations +of the theatre were preferred to the exercises of the +<pb n='cii'/><anchor id='Pgcii'/> +camp. Valour and military knowledge were entirely disregarded. +Great captains were in no estimation; whilst good +poets and excellent comedians engrossed the universal applause.</q> +</p> + +<p> +Extravagance of this kind makes it easy to comprehend in +what multitudes the people thronged to the dramatic performances. +As no expense was spared in embellishing them, +exorbitant sums were sunk in the service of the theatre. <q>If,</q> +says Plutarch,<note place='foot'>Plut. <hi rend='italic'>de glor. +Athen.</hi> p. 349.</note> <q>an accurate calculation were to be made what +each representation of the dramatic pieces cost the Athenians, +it would appear, that their expenses in playing the +<hi rend='italic'>Bacchanalians</hi>, the <hi rend='italic'>Phœnicians</hi>, +<hi rend='italic'>Œdipus</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>Antigone</hi>, +<hi rend='italic'>Medea</hi>, and <hi rend='italic'>Electra</hi>, +(tragedies written either by Sophocles or Euripides,) were +greater than those which had been employed against the Barbarians, +in defence of the liberty and for the preservation of +Greece.</q> This gave a Spartan just reason to exclaim, on seeing +an estimate of the enormous sums laid out in these contests of +the tragic poets, and the extraordinary pains taken by the +magistrates who presided in them,<note place='foot'>Plut. +<hi rend='italic'>Sympos.</hi> l. vii. <hi rend='italic'>quæst.</hi> +vii. p. 719.</note> <q>that a people must be void +of sense to apply themselves in so warm and serious a manner +to things so frivolous. For,</q> added he, <q>games should be only +games; and nothing is more unreasonable than to purchase a +short and trivial amusement at so great a price. Pleasures of +this kind agree only with public rejoicings and seasons of +festivity, and were designed to divert people at their leisure +hours; but should by no means interfere with the affairs of the +public, nor the necessary expenses of the government.</q> +</p> + +<p> +After all, says Plutarch, in the passage which I have already +cited, of what utility have these tragedies been to Athens, +though so much boasted by the people, and admired by the +rest of the world? I find that the prudence of Themistocles +enclosed the city with strong walls; that the fine taste and +magnificence of Pericles improved and adorned it; that the +noble fortitude of Miltiades preserved its liberty; and that the +moderate conduct of Cimon acquired it the empire and government +of all Greece. If the wise and learned poetry of +Euripides, the sublime diction of Sophocles, the lofty buskin +of Æschylus, have obtained equal advantages for the city of +Athens, by delivering it from impending calamities, or by adding +to its glory, I am willing (he goes on) that dramatic pieces +should be placed in competition with trophies of victory, the +poetic theatre with the field of battle, and the compositions of +the poets with the great exploits of the generals. But what a +<pb n='ciii'/><anchor id='Pgciii'/> +comparison would this be? On the one side would be seen a +few writers, crowned with wreaths of ivy, and dragging a goat +or an ox after them, the rewards and victims assigned them for +excelling in tragic poetry: on the other, a train of illustrious +captains, surrounded by the colonies which they founded, the +cities which they captured, and the nations which they subjected. +It is not to perpetuate the victories of Æschylus and +Sophocles, but in remembrance of the glorious battles of Marathon, +Salamis, Eurymedon, and many others, that so many +feasts are celebrated every month with such pomp by the +Grecians. +</p> + +<p> +The inference which Plutarch draws from hence, in which +we ought to agree with him, is,<note place='foot'>Ἀμαρτάνουσιν +Ἀθηναῖοι μεγάλα. τὴν σπουδὴν εὶς τὴν παιδιὰν καταναλίσκοντες, +τουτεστι μεγάλων ἀποστόλων δαπάνας καὶ στρατευμάτων ἐφύδια καταχορηγοῦντες εἰς τὸ +θέατρον.—Trans.</note> that it was the highest imprudence +in the Athenians thus to prefer pleasure to duty, fondness +for the theatre to the love of their country, trivial shows +to application to public business, and to consume, in useless +expenses and dramatic entertainments, the funds intended for +the support of fleets and armies. Macedon, till then obscure +and inconsiderable, well knew how to take advantage of the +Athenian indolence and effeminacy;<note place='foot'>Quibus rebus +effectum est, ut inter otia Græecorum, sordidum et obscurum antea +Macedonum nomen emergeret; et Philippus, obses triennio Thebis habitus, Epaminondæ +et Pelopidæ virtutibus eruditus, regnum Macedoniæ, Græciæ et Asiæ cervicibus, +velut jugum servitutis, imponeret. Just. l. vi. c. 9.—Trans.</note> and Philip, +instructed by the Greeks themselves, amongst whom he had for several +years applied himself successfully to the art of war, was not +long before he gave Greece a master, and subjected it to the +yoke, as we shall see in the sequel. +</p> + +<p> +I am now to open an entirely new scene to the reader's view, +not unworthy his curiosity and attention. We have seen two +states of no great consideration, Media and Persia, extend +themselves far and wide, under the conduct of Cyrus, like a +torrent or a conflagration; and, with amazing rapidity, conquer +and subdue many provinces and kingdoms. We shall see now +that vast empire setting the nations under its dominion in motion, +the Persians, Medes, Phœnicians, Egyptians, Babylonians, +Indians, and many others; and falling, with all the +forces of Asia and the East upon a little country, of very small +extent, and destitute of all foreign assistance; I mean Greece. +When, on the one hand, we behold so many nations united +together, such preparations of war made for several years with +so much diligence; innumerable armies by sea and land, and +such fleets as the sea could hardly contain; and, on the other +<pb n='civ'/><anchor id='Pgciv'/> +hand, two weak cities, Athens and Lacedæmon, abandoned by +all their allies, and left almost entirely to themselves; have we +not reason to believe, that these two little cities are going to be +utterly destroyed and swallowed up by so formidable an enemy; +and that no footsteps of them will be left remaining? And +yet we shall find that they will prove victorious; and by their +invincible courage, and the several battles they gain, both by +sea and land, will make the Persian empire lay aside all +thoughts of ever again turning their arms against Greece. +</p> + +<p> +The history of the war between the Persians and the Greeks +will illustrate the truth of this maxim, that it is not the number, +but the valour of the troops, and the conduct of the +generals, on which depends the success of military expeditions. +The reader will admire the surprising courage and intrepidity +of the great men at the head of the Grecian affairs, whom +neither all the world in motion against them could deject, nor +the greatest misfortunes disconcert; who undertook, with an +handful of men, to make head against innumerable armies; +who, notwithstanding such a prodigious inequality of forces, +dared to hope for success; who even compelled victory to declare +on the side of merit and virtue; and taught all succeeding +generations what infinite resources are to be found in prudence, +valour, and experience; in a zeal for liberty and our +country; in the love of our duty; and in all the sentiments of +noble and generous souls. +</p> + +<p> +This war of the Persians against the Grecians will be followed +by another amongst the Greeks themselves, but of a very different +kind from the former. In the latter, there will scarce be +any actions, but what in appearance are of little consequence, +and seemingly unworthy of a reader's curiosity who is fond of +great events; in this he will meet with little besides private +quarrels between certain cities, or some small commonwealths; +some inconsiderable sieges, (excepting that of Syracuse, one of +the most important related in ancient history,) though several +of these sieges were of no short duration; some battles between +armies, where the numbers were small, and but little blood +shed. What is it, then, that has rendered these wars so famous +in history? Sallust informs us in these words: <q>The actions +of the Athenians doubtless were great; and yet I believe they +were somewhat less than fame will have us conceive of them. +<pb n='cv'/><anchor id='Pgcv'/> +But because Athens abounded in noble writers, the acts of that +republic are celebrated throughout the whole world as most +glorious; and the gallantry of those heroes who performed +them, has had the good fortune to be thought as transcendent +as the eloquence of those who have described them.</q><note place='foot'>Atheniensium +res gestæ, sicuti ego existimo, satis amplæ magnificæque fuerunt +verùm aliquanto minores tamen, quàm famâ feruntur. Sed quia provenere ibi scriptorum +magna ingenia, per terrarum orbem Atheniensiam facta pro maximis celeorantur. +Ita eorum, quæ fecere, virtus tanta habetur, quantum eam verbis potuere +extollere præclara ingenia. Sallust. <hi rend='italic'>in Bell. +Catilin.</hi>—Trans.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Sallust, though jealous enough of the glory the Romans had +acquired by a series of distinguished actions, with which their +history abounds, yet does justice in this passage to the Grecians, +by acknowledging, that their exploits were truly great +and illustrious, though somewhat inferior, in his opinion, to +their fame. What is then this foreign and borrowed lustre, +which the Athenian actions have derived from the eloquence +of their historians? It is, that the whole universe agrees in +looking upon them as the greatest and most glorious that ever +were performed: <hi rend='italic'>Per terrarum orbem Atheniensium facta</hi> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>pro maximis celebrantur</hi>. All nations, seduced and enchanted +as it were with the beauties of the Greek authors, think that +people's exploits superior to any thing that was ever done by +any other nation. This, according to Sallust, is the service +which the Greek authors have done the Athenians, by their +excellent manner of describing their actions; and very unhappy +it is for us, that our history, for want of similar assistance, has +left a thousand brilliant actions and fine sayings unrecorded, +which would have been put in the strongest light by the writers +of antiquity, and have done great honour to our country. +</p> + +<p> +But, be this as it may, it must be confessed, that we are not +always to judge of the value of an action, or the merit of the +persons who shared in it, by the importance of the event. It +is rather in such sieges and engagements as we find recorded +in the history of the Peloponnesian war, that the conduct and +abilities of a general are truly conspicuous. Accordingly, it is +observed, that it was chiefly at the head of small armies, and +in countries of no great extent, that our best generals of the +last age displayed their great capacity, and showed themselves +not inferior to the most celebrated captains of antiquity. In +actions of this sort chance has no share, and does not cover +any oversights that are committed. Every thing is conducted +and carried on by the prudence of the general. He is truly the +soul of the forces, which neither act nor move but by his direction. +He sees every thing, and is present every where. Nothing +escapes his vigilance and attention. Orders are seasonably +given, and seasonably executed. Contrivances, stratagems, +false marches, real or feigned attacks, encampments, decampments; +in a word, every thing depends upon him alone. +</p> + +<p> +On this account, the reading of the Greek historians, such +<pb n='cvi'/><anchor id='Pgcvi'/> +as Thucydides, Xenophon, and Polybius, is of infinite service +to young officers; because those historians, who were also +excellent commanders, enter into all the particulars of the +events which they relate, and lead the readers, as it were by +the hand, through all the sieges and battles they describe; +showing them, by the example of the greatest generals of antiquity, +and by a kind of anticipated experience, in what manner +war is to be carried on. +</p> + +<p> +Nor is it only with regard to military exploits, that the +Grecian history affords us such excellent models. We shall +there find celebrated legislators, able politicians, magistrates +born for government, men that have excelled in all arts and +sciences, philosophers that carried their inquiries as far as was +possible in those early ages, and who have left us such maxims +of morality, as might put many Christians to the blush. +</p> + +<p> +If the virtues of those who are celebrated in history may +serve us for models in the conduct of our lives; their vices and +failings, on the other hand, are no less proper to caution and +instruct us; and the strict regard which an historian is obliged +to pay to truth will not allow him to dissemble the latter, +through fear of eclipsing the lustre of the former. Nor does +what I here advance contradict the rule laid down by Plutarch, +on the same subject, in his preface to the life of +<hi rend='italic'>Cimon</hi>.<note place='foot'>In <hi rend='italic'>Cim.</hi> +p. 479, 480.</note> He +requires, that the illustrious actions of great men be represented +in their full light; but as to the faults, which may sometimes +escape them through passion or surprise, or into which they +may be drawn by the necessity of affairs, considering them +rather as a certain degree of perfection wanting to their +virtue,<note place='foot'>Ἐλλείμματα μᾶλλον ἀρετῆς τινος ἢ κακίας +πόνηρεύματα.—Trans.</note> +than as vices or crimes that proceed from any corruption of +the heart; such imperfections as these, he would have the historian, +out of compassion to the weakness of human nature, +which produces nothing entirely perfect, content himself with +touching very lightly; in the same manner as an able painter, +when he has a fine face to draw, in which he finds some little +blemish or defect, does neither entirely suppress it, nor think +himself obliged to represent it with a strict exactness, because +the one would spoil the beauty of the picture, and the other +would destroy the likeness. The very comparison Plutarch +uses, shows, that he speaks only of slight and excusable faults. +But as to actions of injustice, violence, and brutality, they +ought not to be concealed or disguised on any pretence; nor +can we suppose, that the same privilege should be allowed in +<pb n='cvii'/><anchor id='Pgcvii'/> +history as is in painting, which invented the profile, to represent +the side-face of a prince who had lost an eye, and by that +means ingeniously concealed so disagreeable a deformity.<note place='foot'>Habet in +picturâ speciem tota facies. Apelles tamen imaginem Antigoni latere +tantùm altero ostendit, ut amissi oculi deformitas lateret. Quintil. l. ii. c. +13.—Trans.</note> +History, the most essential rule of which is sincerity, will by no +means admit of such indulgences, as indeed would deprive it of +its greatest advantage. +</p> + +<p> +Shame, reproach, infamy, hatred, and the execrations of the +public, which are the inseparable attendants on criminal and +brutal actions, are no less proper to excite a horror for vice, +than the glory, which perpetually attends good actions, is to +inspire us with the love of virtue. And these, according to +Tacitus, are the two ends which every historian ought to propose +to himself, by making a judicious choice of what is most +extraordinary both in good and evil, in order to occasion that +public homage to be paid to virtue, which is justly due to it, +and to create the greater abhorrence for vice, on account of +that eternal infamy that attends it.<note place='foot'>Exequi sententias +haud institui, nisi insignes per honestum, aut notabili dedecore: +quod præcipuum munus annalium reor, ne virtutes sileantur, utque pravis +dictis factisque ex posteritate et infamiâ motus sit. Tacit. +<hi rend='italic'>Annal.</hi> l. iii. c. 65.—Trans.</note> +</p> + +<p> +The history which I am writing furnishes but too many +examples of the latter sort. With respect to the Persians, it +will appear, by what is said of their kings, that those princes, +whose power has no other bounds than those of their will, often +abandon themselves to all their passions; that nothing is more +difficult than to resist the illusions of a man's own greatness, +and the flatteries of those that surround him; that the liberty +of gratifying all one's desires, and of doing evil with impunity, +is a dangerous situation; that the best dispositions can hardly +withstand such a temptation; that even after having begun +their career favourably, they are insensibly corrupted by softness +and effeminacy, by pride, and their aversion to sincere +counsels; and that it rarely happens they are wise enough to +consider, that, when they find themselves exalted above all +laws and restraints, they stand then most in need of moderation +and wisdom, both in regard to themselves and others; and +that in such a situation they ought to be doubly wise, and +doubly strong, in order to set bounds within, by their reason, +to a power that has none without. +</p> + +<p> +With respect to the Grecians, the Peloponnesian war will +show the miserable effects of their intestine divisions, and the +fatal excesses into which they were led by their thirst of +dominion: scenes of injustice, ingratitude, and perfidy, together +<pb n='cviii'/><anchor id='Pgcviii'/> +with the open violation of treaties, or mean artifices and +unworthy tricks to elude their execution. It will show, how +scandalously the Lacedæmonians and Athenians debased +themselves to the barbarians, in order to beg aids of money +from them: how shamefully the great deliverers of Greece +renounced the glory of all their past labours and exploits, by +stooping and making their court to haughty and insolent +satrapæ, and by going successively, with a kind of emulation, +to implore the protection of the common enemy, whom they +had so often conquered; and in what manner they employed +the succours they obtained from them, in oppressing their +ancient allies, and extending their own territories by unjust and +violent methods. +</p> + +<p> +On both sides, and sometimes in the same person, we shall +find a surprising mixture of good and bad, of virtues and vices, +of glorious actions and mean sentiments; and sometimes, +perhaps, we shall be ready to ask ourselves, whether these can +be the same persons and the same people, of whom such different +things are related: and whether it be possible, that such +a bright and shining light, and such thick clouds of smoke and +darkness, can proceed from the same source? +</p> + +<p> +The Persian history includes the space of one hundred and +seventeen years, during the reigns of six kings of Persia: +Darius, the first of the name, the son of Hystaspes; Xerxes +the first; Artaxerxes, surnamed Longimanus; Xerxes the +second; Sogdianus (these two last reigned but a very little +time); and Darius the second, commonly called Darius +Nothus. This history begins at the year of the world 3483, +and extends to the year 3600. As this whole period naturally +divides itself into two parts, I shall also divide it into two +distinct books. +</p> + +<p> +The first part, which consists of ninety years, extends from +the beginning of the reign of Darius the first, to the forty-second +year of Artaxerxes, the same year in which the Peloponnesian +war began; that is, from the year of the world +3483, to the year 3573. This part chiefly contains the different +enterprises and expeditions of the Persians against +Greece, which never produced more great men and great +events, nor ever displayed more conspicuous or more solid +virtues. Here will be seen the famous battles of Marathon, +Thermopylæ, Artemisium, Salamis, Platææ, Mycale, Eurymedon, +&c. Here the most eminent commanders of Greece +signalized their courage; Miltiades, Leonidas, Themistocles, +Aristides, Cimon, Pausanias, Pericles, Thucydides, &c. +</p> + +<p> +To enable the reader the more easily to recollect what passed +<pb n='cix'/><anchor id='Pgcix'/> +within this space of time among the Jews, and also among the +Romans, the history of both which nations is entirely foreign +to that of the Persians and Greeks, I shall here set down in +few words the principal epochas relating to them. +</p> + +</div> + +</div> + +</div> + +<div> +<head>Epochas of the Jewish History.</head> + +<p> +The people of God were at this time returned from their +Babylonish captivity to Jerusalem, under the conduct of Zorobabel. +Usher is of opinion, that the history of Esther ought +to be placed in the reign of Darius. The Israelites, under the +shadow of this prince's protection, and animated by the earnest +exhortations of the prophets Haggai and Zechariah, did at last +finish the building of the temple, which had been interrupted +for many years by the cabals of their enemies. Artaxerxes +was no less favourable to the Jews than Darius: he first of all +sent Ezra to Jerusalem, who restored the public worship, and +the observation of the law; then Nehemiah, who caused walls +to be built round the city, and fortified it against the attacks +of their neighbours, who were jealous of its reviving greatness. +It is thought that Malachi, the last of the prophets, was contemporary +with Nehemiah, or that he prophesied not long +after him. +</p> + +<p> +This interval of the sacred history extends from the reign of +Darius I. to the beginning of the reign of Darius Nothus; +that is to say, from the year of the world 3485, to the year 3581. +After which the Scripture is entirely silent, till the time of the +Maccabees. +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<head>Epochas of the Roman History.</head> + +<p> +The first year of Darius I. was the 233d of the building of +Rome. Tarquin the Proud was then on the throne, and about +ten years afterwards was expelled, when the consular government +was substituted to that of the kings. In the succeeding +part of this period happened the war against Porsenna; the +creation of the tribunes of the people; Coriolanus's retreat +among the Volsci, and the war that ensued thereupon; the +wars of the Romans against the Latins, the Veientes, the +Volsci, and other neighbouring nations; the death of Virginia +under the Decemvirate; the disputes between the people +and senate about marriages and the consulship, which occasioned +the creating of military tribunes instead of consuls. +<pb n='cx'/><anchor id='Pgcx'/> +This period of time terminates in the 323d year from the +foundation of Rome. +</p> + +<p> +The second part, which consists of twenty-seven years, extends +from the 43d year of Artaxerxes Longimanus, to the death +of Darius Nothus; that is, from the year of the world 3573, to +the year 3600. It contains the first nineteen years of the +Peloponnesian war, which continued twenty-seven, of which +Greece and Sicily were the seat, and wherein the Greeks, who +had before triumphed over the barbarians, turned their arms +against each other. Among the Athenians, Pericles, Nicias, +and Alcibiades; among the Lacedæmonians, Brasidas, Gylippus, +and Lysander, distinguished themselves in the most extraordinary +manner. +</p> + +<p> +Rome continues to be agitated by different disputes between +the senate and the people. Towards the end of this period, +and about the 350th year of Rome, the Romans formed the +siege of Veji, which lasted ten years. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>A.M. 2900. Ant. J.C. 1104.</note> +I have already observed, that eighty years after the taking +of Troy, the Heraclidæ, that is, the descendants of +Hercules, returned into the Peloponnesus, and made +themselves masters of Lacedæmon, where two brothers, +Eurysthenes and Procles, sons of Aristodemus, reigned +jointly together. +</p> + +<p> +Herodotus observes,<note place='foot'>Lib. vi. c. 52.</note> +that these two brothers were, during +their whole lives, at variance; and that almost all their descendants +inherited the like disposition of mutual hatred and +antipathy; so true it is, that the sovereign power will admit of +no partnership, and that two kings will always be too many for +one kingdom! However, after the death of these two, the +descendants of both still continued to sway the sceptre jointly: +and, what is very remarkable, these two branches subsisted for +near nine hundred years, from the return of the Heraclidæ into +the Peloponnesus, to the death of Cleomenes, and supplied +Sparta with kings without interruption, and that generally in a +regular succession from father to son, especially in the elder +branch of the family. +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<head>The Origin and Condition of the Elotæ, or Helots.</head> + +<p> +When the Lacedæmonians first began to settle in Peloponnesus, +they met with great opposition from the inhabitants of +the country, whom they were obliged to subdue one after another +by force of arms, or receive into their alliance on easy +<pb n='cxi'/><anchor id='Pgcxi'/> +and equitable terms, with the imposition of a small tribute. +Strabo<note place='foot'>Lib. viii. p. 365. Plut. <hi rend='italic'>in +Lycurg.</hi> p. 40.</note> speaks of a city, called Elos, not far from Sparta, +which, after having submitted to the yoke, as others had done, +revolted openly, and refused to pay the tribute. Agis, the son +of Eurysthenes, newly settled in the throne, was sensible of the +dangerous tendency of this first revolt, and therefore immediately +marched with an army against them, together with +Soüs, his colleague. They laid siege to the city, which, after +a pretty long resistance, was forced to surrender at discretion. +This prince thought it proper to make such an example of +them as should intimidate all their neighbours, and deter them +from the like attempts, and yet not alienate their minds by too +cruel a treatment; for which reason he put none to death. He +spared the lives of all the inhabitants, but at the same time +deprived them of their liberty, and reduced them all to a state +of slavery. From thenceforward they were employed in all +mean and servile offices, and treated with extreme rigour. +These were the people who were called Elotæ, or Helots. The +number of them exceedingly increased in process of time, the +Lacedæmonians giving undoubtedly the same name to all the +people whom they reduced to the same condition of servitude. +As they themselves were averse to labour, and entirely addicted +to war, they left the cultivation of their lands to these slaves, +assigning every one of them a certain portion of ground, the +produce of which they were obliged to carry every year to their +respective masters, who endeavoured, by all sorts of ill usage, +to make their yoke more grievous and insupportable. This +was certainly very bad policy, and could only tend to breed a +vast number of dangerous enemies in the very heart of the +state, who were always ready to take arms and revolt on every +occasion. The Romans acted more prudently; for they incorporated +the conquered nations into their state, by associating +them into the freedom of their city, and thereby converted them +from enemies, into brethren and fellow-citizens. +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<head>Lycurgus, the Lacedæmonian Lawgiver</head> + +<p> +Eurytion, or Eurypon, as he is named by others, succeeded +Soüs.<note place='foot'>Plut. <hi rend='italic'>in Lycurg.</hi> +p. 40.</note> In order to gain the affection of his people, and render +his government agreeable, he thought fit to recede in some +points from the absolute power exercised by the kings his +predecessors: this rendered his name so dear to his subjects, +<pb n='cxii'/><anchor id='Pgcxii'/> +that all his descendants were, from him, called Eurytionidæ. +But this relaxation gave birth to horrible confusion, and an +unbounded licentiousness in Sparta; and for a long time occasioned +infinite mischiefs. The people became so insolent, that +nothing could restrain them. If Eurytion's successors attempted +to recover their authority by force, they became +odious; and if, through complaisance or weakness, they chose +to dissemble, their mildness served only to render them contemptible; +so that order in a manner was abolished, and the +laws no longer regarded. These confusions hastened the death +of Lycurgus's father, whose name was Eunomus, and who +was killed in an insurrection. Polydectes, his eldest son and +successor, dying soon after without children, every body expected +Lycurgus would have been king. And indeed he was +so in effect, as long as the pregnancy of his brother's wife was +uncertain; but as soon as that was manifest, he declared, that +the kingdom belonged to her child, in case it proved a son: +and from that moment he took upon himself the administration +of the government, as guardian to his unborn nephew, under +the title of Prodicos, which was the name given by the Lacedæmonians +to the guardians of their kings. When the child +was born, Lycurgus took him in his arms, and cried out to the +company that was present, <emph>Behold, my lords of Sparta, your +new-born king!</emph> and, at the same time, he put the infant into +the king's seat, and named him Charilaus, because of the joy +the people expressed upon occasion of his birth. The reader +will find, in the second volume of this history, all that relates +to the history of Lycurgus, the reformation he made, and the +excellent laws he established in Sparta. Agesilaus was at this +time king in the elder branch of the family. +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<head>War between the Argives and the Lacedæmonians.</head> + +<p> +Some time after this, in the reign of Theopompus, a war +broke out between the Argives and Lacedæmonians, on account +of a little country, called Thyrea, that lay upon the confines of +the two states, and to which each of them pretended a right.<note place='foot'>Herod. +l. i. c. 82.</note> +When the two armies were ready to engage, it was agreed on +both sides, in order to spare the effusion of blood, that the +quarrel should be decided by three hundred of the bravest men +chosen from their respective armies; and that the land in +question should become the property of the victorious party. +To leave the combatants more room to engage, the two armies +<pb n='cxiii'/><anchor id='Pgcxiii'/> +retired to some distance. Those generous champions then, +who had all the courage of two mighty armies, boldly advanced +towards each other, and fought with so much resolution and +fury, that the whole number, except three men, two on the side +of the Argives, and one on that of the Lacedæmonians, lay +dead upon the spot; and only the night parted them. The +two Argives, looking upon themselves as the conquerors, made +what haste they could to Argos to carry the news; the single +Lacedæmonian, Othryades by name, instead of retiring, stripped +the dead bodies of the Argives, and carrying their arms into +the Lacedæmonian camp, continued in his post. The next +day the two armies returned to the field of battle. Both sides +laid equal claim to the victory: the Argives, because they had +more of their champions left alive than the enemy had; the +Lacedæmonians, because the two Argives that remained alive +had fled; whereas their single soldier had remained master of +the field of battle, and had carried off the spoils of the enemy: +in short, they could not determine the dispute without coming +to another engagement. Here fortune declared in favour of +the Lacedæmonians, and the little territory of Thyrea was the +prize of their victory. But Othryades, not able to bear the +thoughts of surviving his brave companions, or of enduring the +sight of Sparta after their death, killed himself on the same +field of battle where they had fought, resolving to have one +fate and tomb with them. +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<head>Wars between the Messenians and Lacedæmonians.</head> + +<p> +There were no less than three several wars between the +Messenians and the Lacedæmonians, all of them very fierce +and bloody. Messenia was a country in Peloponnesus, towards +the west, and not far from Sparta: it was of considerable +strength, and was governed by its own kings. +</p> + +<div> +<head>The First Messenian War.</head> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>A.M. 3261. Ant. J.C. 743.</note> +The first Messenian war lasted twenty years, and broke out +the second year of the ninth Olympiad.<note place='foot'>Pausan. +l. iv. p. 216-242. Justin, l. iii. c. 4.</note> The Lacedæmonians +pretended to have received several considerable +injuries from the Messenians, and among +others, that of having had their daughters ravished by the +inhabitants of Messenia, when they went, according to custom, +to a temple, that stood on the borders of the two nations; +as also that of the murder of Telecles, their king, which was +<pb n='cxiv'/><anchor id='Pgcxiv'/> +a consequence of the former outrage. Probably a desire of +extending their dominion, and of seizing a territory which lay +so convenient for them, might be the true cause of the war. +But be that as it may, the war broke out in the reign of Polydorus +and Theopompus, kings of Sparta, at the time when the +office of archon at Athens was still decennial. +</p> + +<p> +Euphaes, the thirteenth descendant from Hercules, was +then king of Messenia.<note place='foot'>Pausan. l. iv. +p. 225, 226.</note> He gave the command of his army to +Cleonnis. The Lacedæmonians opened the campaign with the +siege of Amphea, a small, inconsiderable city, which, however, +they thought would suit them very well as a place for military +stores. The town was taken by storm, and all the inhabitants +put to the sword. This first blow served only to animate the +Messenians, by showing them what they were to expect from +the enemy, if they did not defend themselves with vigour. The +Lacedæmonians, on their part, bound themselves by an oath not +to lay down their arms, nor to return to Sparta, till they had made +themselves masters of all the cities and lands belonging to the +Messenians: so much did they rely upon their strength and +valour. +</p> + +<p> +Two battles were fought, wherein the loss was nearly equal +on both sides.<note place='foot'>Ibid. l. iv. 227-234.</note> +But after the second, the Messenians suffered +extremely through the want of provisions, which occasioned a +great desertion in their troops, and at last brought a pestilence +among them. +</p> + +<p> +Hereupon they consulted the oracle of Delphi, which +directed them, in order to appease the wrath of the gods, to +offer up a virgin of the royal blood in sacrifice. Aristomenes, +who was of the race of the Epytides, offered his own daughter. +The Messenians then considering, that if they left garrisons in +all their towns they should extremely weaken their army, resolved +to abandon them all, except Ithome, a little place seated +on the top of a hill of the same name, about which they encamped +and fortified themselves. In this situation were seven +years spent, during which nothing passed but slight skirmishes +on both sides; the Lacedæmonians not daring in all that time +to force the enemy to a battle. +</p> + +<p> +Indeed, they almost despaired of being able to reduce them: +nor was there any thing but the obligation of the oath, by +which they had bound themselves, that made them continue +so burthensome a war. What gave them the greatest uneasiness +was, their apprehension, lest their absence from their +<pb n='cxv'/><anchor id='Pgcxv'/> +wives for so many years, an absence which might still continue +many more, should destroy their families at home, and leave +Sparta destitute of citizens.<note place='foot'>Diod. l. xv. +p. 378.</note> To prevent this misfortune, they +sent home such of their soldiers as were come to the army since +the forementioned oath had been taken, and made no scruple +of prostituting their wives to their embraces. The children that +sprung from this unlawful intercourse were called Partheniæ, +a name given them to denote the infamy of their birth. As +soon as they were grown up, not being able to endure such an +opprobrious distinction, they banished themselves from Sparta +with one consent, and, under the conduct of Phalantus, went +and settled at Tarentum in Italy, after driving out the ancient +inhabitants.<note place='foot'>Et regnata petam Laconi rura Phalanto. +Hor. <hi rend='italic'>Od.</hi> vi. l. 2.—Trans.</note> +</p> + +<p> +At last, in the eighth year of the war, which was the thirteenth +of Euphaes's reign, a fierce and bloody battle was fought +near Ithome.<note place='foot'>Pausan. l. iv. p. 234, 235. +Diod. <hi rend='italic'>in Frag.</hi></note> +Euphaes pierced through the battalions of +Theopompus with too much heat and precipitation for a king. +He there received a multitude of wounds, several of which +were mortal. He fell, and seemed to give up the ghost. +Whereupon, wonderful efforts of courage were exerted on both +sides; by the one, to carry off the king; by the other, to save +him. Cleonnis killed eight Spartans, who were dragging him +along, and spoiled them of their arms, which he committed to +the custody of some of his soldiers. He himself received several +wounds, all in the fore part of his body, which was a certain +proof that he had never turned his back upon his enemies. +Aristomenes, fighting on the same occasion, and for the same +end, killed five Lacedæmonians, whose spoils he likewise carried +off, without receiving any wound. In short, the king was +saved and carried off by the Messenians; and, all mangled +and bloody as he was, he expressed great joy that he had not +been worsted. Aristomenes, after the battle was over, met +Cleonnis, who, by reason of his wounds, could neither walk by +himself, nor with the assistance of those that lent him their +hands. He therefore took him upon his shoulders, without +quitting his arms, and carried him to the camp. +</p> + +<p> +As soon as they had applied the first dressing to the wounds +of the king of Messenia and of his officers, there arose a new +contention among the Messenians, that was pursued with as +much warmth as the former, but was of a very different kind, +and yet the consequence of the other. The affair in question +was the adjudging the prize of glory to him that had signalized +<pb n='cxvi'/><anchor id='Pgcxvi'/> +his valour most in the late engagement. It was a custom +among them, which had long been established, publicly to proclaim, +after a battle, the name of the man that had showed the +greatest courage. Nothing could be more proper to animate +the officers and soldiers, to inspire them with resolution and +intrepidity, and to stifle the natural apprehension of death and +danger. Two illustrious champions entered the lists on this +occasion, namely, Cleonnis and Aristomenes. +</p> + +<p> +The king, notwithstanding his weak condition, attended by +the principal officers of his army, presided in the council, +where this important dispute was to be decided. Each competitor +pleaded his own cause. Cleonnis founded his pretensions +upon the great number of the enemies he had slain, and +upon the multitude of wounds he had received in the action, +which were so many undoubted testimonies of the courage with +which he had faced both death and danger; whereas, the condition +in which Aristomenes came out of the engagement, without +hurt and without wound, seemed to show, that he had been +very careful of his own person, or, at most, could only prove +that he had been more fortunate, but not more brave or courageous, +than himself. And as to his having carried him on +his shoulders into the camp, that action indeed might serve +to prove the strength of his body, but nothing farther; and +the thing in dispute at this time, says he, is not strength, but +valour. +</p> + +<p> +The only thing Aristomenes was reproached for, was his not +being wounded; therefore he confined himself to that point: +<q>I am,</q> says he, <q>called fortunate because I have escaped +from the battle without wounds. If that were owing to my +cowardice, I should deserve another epithet than that of fortunate; +and, instead of being admitted to dispute the prize, ought +to undergo the rigour of the laws that punish cowards. But +what is objected to me as a crime, is in truth my greatest glory. +For, if my enemies, astonished at my valour, durst not venture +to attack or oppose me, it is no small degree of merit that I +made them fear me; or, if whilst they engaged me, I had at +the same time strength to cut them in pieces, and skill to +guard against their attacks, I must then have been at once both +valiant and prudent. For whoever, in the midst of an engagement, +can expose himself to dangers with caution and security, +shows that he excels at the same time both in the virtues of +the mind and the body. As for courage, no man living can +reproach Cleonnis with any want of it; but, for his honour's +sake, I am sorry that he should appear to want gratitude.</q> +</p> + +<p> +After the conclusion of these harangues, the question was +<pb n='cxvii'/><anchor id='Pgcxvii'/> +put to the vote. The whole army is in suspense, and impatiently +waits for the decision. No dispute could be so warm and +interesting as this. It is not a competition for gold or silver, +but solely for honour. The proper reward of virtue is pure +disinterested glory. Here the judges are unsuspected. The +actions of the competitors still speak for them. It is the king +himself, surrounded with his officers, who presides and adjudges. +A whole army are the witnesses. The field of battle +is a tribunal without partiality and cabal. In short, all the +votes concurred in favour of Aristomenes, and adjudged him +the prize. +</p> + +<p> +Euphaes died not many days after the decision of this +affair.<note place='foot'>Pausan. l. iv. p. 235, 241.</note> +He had reigned thirteen years, and during all that time +had been engaged in war with the Lacedæmonians. As he +died without children, he left the Messenians at liberty to +choose his successor. Cleonnis and Damis were candidates in +opposition to Aristomenes; but he was elected king in preference +to them. When he was on the throne, he did not scruple +to confer on his two rivals the principal offices of the state; all +strongly attached to the public good, even more than to their +own glory; competitors, but not enemies, these great men +were actuated by a zeal for their country, and were neither +friends nor adversaries to one another, but for its preservation. +</p> + +<p> +In this relation, I have followed the opinion of the late +Monsieur Boivin, the elder,<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Memoirs +of the Academy of Inscriptions</hi>, vol. ii. p. 84-113.—Trans.</note> +and have made use of his learned +dissertation upon a fragment of Diodorus Siculus, which the +world was little acquainted with. He supposes, and proves in +it, that the king, spoken of in that fragment, is Euphaes; and +that Aristomenes is the same that Pausanias calls Aristodemus, +according to the custom of the ancients, who were often called +by two different names. +</p> + +<p> +Aristomenes, otherwise called Aristodemus, reigned near +seven years, and was equally esteemed and beloved by his subjects. +The war still continued all this time.<note place='foot'>Clem. Alex. +<hi rend='italic'>in Protrep.</hi> p. 20. Euseb. <hi rend='italic'>in +Prœp.</hi> l. iv. c. 16.</note> Towards the +end of his reign he beat the Lacedæmonians, took their king +Theopompus, and, in honour of Jupiter of Ithome, sacrificed +three hundred of them, among whom their king was the principal +victim. Shortly after, Aristodemus sacrificed himself +upon the tomb of his daughter, in conformity to the answer of +an oracle. Damis was his successor, but without taking upon +him the title of king. +</p> + +<pb n='cxviii'/><anchor id='Pgcxviii'/> + +<p> +After his death, the Messenians never had any success in +their affairs, but found themselves in a very wretched and +hopeless condition.<note place='foot'>Pausan. l. iv. p. +241-242.</note> Being reduced to the last extremity, and +utterly destitute of provisions, they abandoned Ithome, and +fled to such of their allies as were nearest to them. The city +was immediately razed, and the other part of the country submitted. +They were made to engage by oath never to forsake +the party of the Lacedæmonians, and never to revolt from +them: a very useless precaution, only proper to make them +add the guilt of perjury to their rebellion. Their new masters +imposed no tribute upon them; but contented themselves with +obliging them to bring to the Spartan market one half of the +corn they should reap every harvest. It was likewise stipulated, +that the Messenians, both men and women, should +attend, in mourning, the funerals of the kings and chief citizens +of Sparta; which the Lacedæmonians probably looked upon +as a mark of dependence, and as a kind of homage +paid to their nation. +<note place='margin'>A.M. 3281. Ant. J.C. 723.</note> +Thus ended the first Messenian +war, after having lasted twenty years. +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<head>The Second Messenian War.</head> + +<p> +The lenity with which the Lacedæmonians treated the +Messenians at first, was of no long duration.<note place='foot'>Ibid. +p. 242, 261. Justin, l. iii. c. 5.</note> When once they +found the whole country had submitted, and thought the people +incapable of giving them any further trouble, they returned +to their natural character of insolence and haughtiness, that +often degenerated into cruelty, and sometimes even into ferocity. +Instead of treating the vanquished with kindness, as +friends and allies, and endeavouring by gentle methods to win +those whom they had subdued by force, they seemed intent +upon nothing but aggravating their yoke, and making them feel +the whole weight of subjection. They laid heavy taxes upon +them, delivered them up to the avarice of the collectors of those +taxes, gave no ear to their complaints, rendered them no justice, +treated them with contempt like vile slaves, and committed +the most heinous outrages against them. +</p> + +<p> +Man, who is born for liberty, can never reconcile himself to +servitude: the most gentle slavery exasperates, and provokes +him to rebel. What could be expected then from so cruel a +one, as that under which the Messenians groaned? After +<pb n='cxix'/><anchor id='Pgcxix'/> +having endured it with great uneasiness<note place='foot'>Cùm per +complures annos gravia servitutis verbera, plerumque ac vincula, +cæteraque captivitatis mala perpessi essent, post longam pænarum patientiam +bellum instaurant. Justin, l. iii. c. 5.—Trans.</note> near forty years, they +resolved to throw off the yoke, and to recover their ancient +liberty. +<note place='margin'>A.M. 3320. Ant. J.C. 684.</note> +This was in the fourth year of the twenty-third +Olympiad: the office of archon at Athens was then +made annual; and Anaxander and Anaxidamus +reigned at Sparta. +</p> + +<p> +The Messenians' first care was to strengthen themselves by +the alliance of the neighbouring nations. These they found +well inclined to enter into their views, as very agreeable to their +own interests. For it was not without jealousy and apprehensions, +that they saw so powerful a city rising up in the midst +of them, which manifestly seemed to aim at extending her +dominion over all the rest. The people therefore of Elis, the +Argives and Sicyonians, declared for the Messenians. But +before their forces were joined, a battle was fought between the +Lacedæmonians and Messenians. Aristomenes, the second +of that name,<note place='foot'>According to several historians, +there was another Aristomenes in the first Messenian war. +Diod. l. xv. p. 378.—Trans.</note> +was at the head of the latter. He was a commander +of intrepid courage, and of great abilities in war. The +Lacedæmonians were beaten in this engagement. Aristomenes, +to give the enemy at first an advantageous opinion of his bravery, +knowing what influence it has on the success of future +enterprises, boldly ventured to enter into Sparta by night, and +upon the gate of the temple of Minerva, surnamed Chalcioecos, +to hang up a shield, on which was an inscription, signifying, +that it was a present offered by Aristomenes to the goddess, +out of the spoils of the Lacedæmonians. +</p> + +<p> +This bravado did in reality astonish the Lacedæmonians. +But they were still more alarmed at the formidable league that +was formed against them. The Delphic oracle, which they +consulted, in order to know by what means they should be +successful in this war, directed them to send to Athens for a +commander, and to submit to his counsel and conduct. This +was a very mortifying step to so haughty a city as Sparta. But +the fear of incurring the god's displeasure by a direct disobedience +prevailed over all other considerations. They sent +an embassy therefore to the Athenians. The people of Athens +were somewhat perplexed at the request. On the one hand, +they were not sorry to see the Lacedæmonians at war with +their neighbours, and were far from desiring to furnish them +with a good general: on the other, they were afraid also of +<pb n='cxx'/><anchor id='Pgcxx'/> +disobeying the god. To extricate themselves out of this difficulty, +they offered the Lacedæmonians Tyrtæus. He was a +poet by profession, and had something original in the turn of +his mind, and disagreeable in his person; for he was lame. +Notwithstanding these defects, the Lacedæmonians received +him as a general, sent them by Heaven itself. Their success +did not at first answer their expectation, for they lost three +battles successively. +</p> + +<p> +The kings of Sparta, discouraged by so many disappointments, +and out of all hopes of better success for the future, +were absolutely bent upon returning to Sparta, and marching +home again with their forces. Tyrtæus opposed this design +very warmly, and at length brought them over to his opinion. +He addressed the troops, and repeated to them some verses he +had made with that intention, and on which he had bestowed +great pains and application. He first endeavoured to comfort +them for their past losses, which he imputed to no fault of +theirs, but only to ill fortune, or to fate, which no human wisdom +can surmount. He then represented to them, how shameful +it would be for Spartans to fly from an enemy; and how +glorious it would be for them rather to perish sword in hand, if +it was so decreed by fate, in fighting for their country. Then, +as if all danger was vanished, and the gods, fully satisfied and +appeased with their late calamities, were entirely turned to +their side, he set victory before their eyes as present and certain, +and as if she herself were inviting them to battle. All +the ancient authors,<note place='foot'>Plat. l. i. <hi rend='italic'>de +Legib.</hi> p. 629. Plut. <hi rend='italic'>in Agid. et Cleom.</hi> +p. 805.</note> who have made any mention of the style +and character of Tyrtæus's poetry, observe, that it was full of +a certain fire, ardour, and enthusiasm, that inflamed the minds +of men, that exalted them above themselves, that inspired +them with something generous and martial, that extinguished +all fear and apprehension of danger or death, and made them +wholly intent upon the preservation of their country and their +own glory.<note place='foot'><p>Tyrtæusque mares animos in martia bella<lb/> +Versibus exacuit. +</p> +<p> +Hor. <hi rend='italic'>in Art. Poët.</hi>—Trans.</p></note> +Tyrtæus's verses had really this effect on the soldiers upon +this occasion. They all desired, with one voice, to march +against the enemy. Being become indifferent as to their lives, +they had no thoughts but to secure themselves the honour of a +burial. To this end they all tied strings round their right arms, +on which were inscribed their own and their fathers' names, +that, if they chanced to be killed in the battle, and to have +<pb n='cxxi'/><anchor id='Pgcxxi'/> +their faces so altered through time, or accidents, as not to be +distinguishable, it might certainly be known who each of them +was by these marks. Soldiers determined to die are very +valiant. This appeared in the battle that ensued. It was very +bloody, the victory being a long time disputed on both sides; +but at last the Messenians gave way. When Tyrtæus went +afterwards to Sparta, he was received with the greatest marks +of distinction, and incorporated into the body of citizens. +</p> + +<p> +The gaining of this battle did not put an end to the war, +which had already lasted three years. Aristomenes, having +assembled the remains of his army, retired to the top of a +mountain, of difficult access, which was called Ira. The conquerors +attempted to carry the place by assault, but that brave +prince defended himself there for the space of eleven years, and +performed the most extraordinary actions of valour. He was +at last obliged to quit it, only by surprise and treachery, after +having defended it like a lion. Such of the Messenians as fell +into the hands of the Lacedæmonians on this occasion were +reduced to the condition of the Helots. The rest, seeing their +country ruined, went and settled at Zancle, a city in Sicily, +which afterwards took its name from this people, and was called +Messana; the same place as is called at this day Messina. +Aristomenes, after having conducted one of his daughters to +Rhodes, whom he had given in marriage to the tyrant of that +place, thought of passing on to Sardis, to remain with Ardys, +king of the Lydians, or to Ecbatana, with Phraortes, king of +the Medes; but death prevented the execution of all his designs. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>A.M. 3334. Ant. J.C. 670.</note> +The second Messenian war was of fourteen years' +duration, and ended the first year of the twenty-seventh +Olympiad. +</p> + +<p> +There was a third war between these people and the Lacedæmonians, +which began both at the time and on the occasion +of a great earthquake that happened at Sparta. We shall +speak of this war in its place. +</p> + +<p> +The history, of which it remains for me to treat in this work, +is that of the successors of Alexander, and comprehends the +space of two hundred and ninety-three years; from the death +of that monarch, and the commencement of the reign of +Ptolemy, the son of Lagus, in Egypt, to the death of Cleopatra, +when that kingdom became a Roman province, under the +emperor Augustus. +</p> + +<p> +The history will present to our view a series of all the crimes +which usually arise from inordinate ambition; scenes of jealousy +and perfidy, treason, ingratitude, and flagrant abuses of +<pb n='cxxii'/><anchor id='Pgcxxii'/> +sovereign power; cruelty, impiety, an utter oblivion of the +natural sentiments of probity and honour, with the violation of +all laws human and divine, will rise before us. We shall behold +nothing but fatal dissensions, destructive wars, and dreadful +revolutions. Men, originally friends, brought up together, +and natives of the same country, companions in the same +dangers, and instruments in the accomplishment of the same +exploits and victories, will conspire to tear in pieces the empire +they had all concurred to form at the expense of their blood. +We shall see the captains of Alexander sacrifice the mother, +the wives, the brother, the sisters, of that prince, to their own +ambition; without sparing even those to whom they themselves +either owed or gave life. We shall no longer behold those +glorious times of Greece, that were once so productive of great +men and great examples; or, if we should happen to discover +some traces and remains of them, they will only resemble the +gleams of lightning that shoot along in a rapid track, and attract +attention only in consequence of the profound darkness +that precedes and follows them. +</p> + +<p> +I acknowledge myself to be sufficiently sensible how much a +writer is to be pitied, for being obliged to represent human nature +in such colours and lineaments as dishonour her, and +which cannot fail of inspiring disgust and a secret affliction in +the minds of those who are made spectators of such a picture. +History loses whatever is most interesting and most capable of +conveying pleasure and instruction, when she can only produce +those effects, by inspiring the mind with horror for criminal +actions, and by a representation of the calamities which usually +succeed them, and are to be considered as their just punishment. +It is difficult to engage the attention of a reader, for any +considerable time, on objects which only raise his indignation, +and it would be affronting him, to seem desirous of dissuading +him from the excess of inordinate passions, of which he conceives +himself incapable. +</p> + +<p> +How is it possible to diffuse any interest through a narration, +which has nothing to offer but an uniform series of vices and +great crimes; and which makes it necessary to enter into a +particular detail of the actions and characters of men born for +the calamity of the human race, and whose very name should +not be transmitted to posterity? It may even be thought dangerous, +to familiarize the minds of the generality of mankind +to uninterrupted scenes of too successful iniquity and to be +particular in describing the unjust success which waited on +those illustrious criminals, the long duration of whose prosperity +being frequently attended with the privileges and rewards +<pb n='cxxiii'/><anchor id='Pgcxxiii'/> +of virtue, may be thought an imputation on Providence by +persons of weak understandings. +</p> + +<p> +This history, which seems likely to prove very disagreeable, +from the reasons I have just mentioned, will become more so +from the obscurity and confusion in which the several transactions +will be involved, and which it will be difficult, if not +impossible, to remedy. Ten or twelve of Alexander's captains +were engaged in a course of hostilities against each other, for +the partition of his empire after his death; and to secure to +themselves some portion, greater or less, of that vast body. +Sometimes feigned friends, sometimes declared enemies, they +are continually forming different parties and leagues, which +are to subsist no longer than is consistent with the interest of +each individual. Macedonia changed its master five or six +times in a very short space; by what means then can order +and perspicuity be preserved, in so prodigious a variety of +events that are perpetually crossing and breaking in upon each +other? +</p> + +<p> +Besides which, I am no longer supported by any ancient +authors capable of conducting me through this darkness and +confusion. Diodorus will entirely abandon me, after having +been my guide for some time; and no other historian will +appear to take his place. No proper series of affairs will remain; +the several events are not to be disposed into any regular +connection with each other; nor will it be possible to point +out, either the motives to the resolutions formed, or the proper +character of the principal actors in this scene of obscurity. I +think myself happy when Polybius, or Plutarch, lend me their +assistance. In my account of Alexander's successors, whose +transactions are, perhaps, the most complicated and perplexed +part of ancient history, Usher, Prideaux, and Vaillant, will be +my usual guides; and, on many occasions, I shall only transcribe +from Prideaux; but, with all these aids, I shall not +promise to throw so much light upon this history as I could +desire. +</p> + +<p> +After a war of more than twenty years, the number of the +principal competitors was reduced to four; Ptolemy, Cassander, +Seleucus, and Lysimachus; the empire of Alexander +was divided into four fixed kingdoms, agreeably to the prediction +of Daniel, by a solemn treaty concluded between the +parties. Three of these kingdoms, Egypt, Macedonia, Syria, +or Asia, will have a regular succession of monarchs, sufficiently +clear and distinct; but the fourth, which comprehended +Thrace, with part of the Lesser Asia, and some neighbouring +provinces, will suffer a number of variations. +</p> + +<pb n='cxxiv'/><anchor id='Pgcxxiv'/> + +<p> +As the kingdom of Egypt was that which was subject to the +fewest changes, because Ptolemy, who was established there as +governor, at the death of Alexander, retained the possession of +it ever after, and left it to his posterity: we shall, therefore, +consider this prince as the basis of our chronology, and our +several epochas shall be fixed from him. +</p> + +<p> +The fourth volume contains the events for the space of one +hundred and twenty years, under the first four kings of Egypt, +<hi rend='italic'>viz.</hi> Ptolemy, the son of Lagus, who reigned thirty-eight years; +Ptolemy Philadelphus, who reigned forty; Ptolemy Euergetes, +who reigned twenty-five; and Ptolemy Philopator, whose +reign continued seventeen. +</p> + +<p> +In order to throw some light upon the history contained +therein, I shall, in the first place, give the principal events of +it, in a chronological abridgement. +</p> + +<p> +Introductory to which, I must desire the reader to accompany +me in some reflections, which have not escaped Monsieur +Bossuet, with relation to Alexander. This prince, who was +the most renowned and illustrious conqueror in all history, was +the last monarch of his race. Macedonia, his ancient kingdom, +which his ancestors had governed for so many ages, was +invaded from all quarters, as a vacant succession; and after it +had long been a prey to the strongest, it was at last transferred +to another family. If Alexander had continued peaceably in +Macedonia, the grandeur of his empire would not have excited +the ambition of his captains; and he might have transmitted +the sceptre of his progenitors to his own descendants; but, as +he had not prescribed any bounds to his power, he was instrumental +in the destruction of his house, and we shall behold the +extermination of his family, without the least remaining traces +of them in history. His conquests occasioned a vast effusion +of blood, and furnished his captains with a pretext for murdering +one another. These were the effects that flowed from the +boasted bravery of Alexander, or rather from that brutality, +which, under the specious names of ambition and glory, spread +desolation, and carried fire and sword through whole provinces, +without the least provocation, and shed the blood of multitudes +who had never injured him. +</p> + +<p> +We are not to imagine, however, that Providence abandoned +these events to chance; but, as it was then preparing all things +for the approaching appearance of the Messiah, it was vigilant +to unite all the nations that were to be first enlightened with +the Gospel, by the use of one and the same language, which +was that of Greece: and the same Providence made it necessary +for them to learn this foreign tongue, by subjecting them +<pb n='cxxv'/><anchor id='Pgcxxv'/> +to such masters as spoke no other. The Deity, therefore, by +the agency of this language, which became more common and +universal than any other, facilitated the preaching of the +apostles, and rendered it more uniform. +</p> + +<p> +The partition of the empire of Alexander the Great, among +the generals of that prince, immediately after his death, did +not subsist for any length of time, and hardly took place, if we +except Egypt, where Ptolemy had first established himself, +and on the throne of which he always maintained himself +without acknowledging any superior. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>A.M. 3704. Ant. J.C. 300.</note> +It was not till after the battle of Ipsus in Phrygia, wherein +Antigonus, and his son Demetrius, surnamed Poliorcetes, +were defeated, and the former lost his life, that +this partition was fully regulated and fixed. The +empire of Alexander was then divided into four kingdoms, by +a solemn treaty, as had been foretold by Daniel. Ptolemy had +Egypt, Libya, Arabia, Cœlesyria, and Palestine. Cassander, +the son of Antipater, obtained Macedonia and Greece. Lysimachus +acquired Thrace, Bithynia, and some other provinces +on the other side of the Hellespont and the Bosphorus. And +Seleucus had Syria, and all that part of the greater Asia which +extended to the other side of the Euphrates, and as far as the +river Indus. +</p> + +<p> +Of these four kingdoms, those of Egypt and Syria subsisted, +almost without any interruption, in the same families, through +a long succession of princes. The kingdom of Macedonia had +several masters of different families successively. That of +Thrace was at last divided into several branches, and no longer +constituted one entire body, by which means all traces of +regular succession ceased to subsist. +</p> + +</div> + +</div> + +<div> +<head>I. The Kingdom of Egypt.</head> + +<p> +The kingdom of Egypt had fourteen monarchs, including +Cleopatra, after whose death, those dominions became a province +of the Roman empire. All these princes had the common +name of Ptolemy, but each of them was likewise distinguished +by a peculiar surname. They had also the appellation +of Lagides, from Lagus the father of that Ptolemy who reigned +the first in Egypt. The fourth and fifth volumes contain the +histories of six of these kings, and I shall give their names a +place here, with the duration of their reigns, the first of which +commenced immediately upon the death of Alexander the +Great. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>A.M. 3680.</note> Ptolemy Soter. He reigned thirty-eight years and +some months. +</p> + +<pb n='cxxvi'/><anchor id='Pgcxxvi'/> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>A.M. 3718.</note> Ptolemy Philadelphus. He reigned forty years +including the two years of his reign in the lifetime +of his father. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>3758.</note> Ptolemy Euergetes, twenty-five years. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>3783.</note> Ptolemy Philopator, seventeen. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>3800.</note> Ptolemy Epiphanes, twenty-four. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>3824.</note> Ptolemy Philometor, thirty-four. +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<head>II. The Kingdom of Syria.</head> + +<p> +The kingdom of Syria had twenty-seven kings; which makes +it evident, that their reigns were often very short: and indeed +several of these princes waded to the throne through the blood +of their predecessors. +</p> + +<p> +They are usually called the Seleucidæ, from Seleucus, who +reigned the first in Syria. History reckons up six kings of this +name, and thirteen who are called by that of Antiochus; but +they are all distinguished by different surnames. Others of +them assumed different names, and the last, Antiochus XIII., +was surnamed Epiphanes, Asiaticus, and Commagenus. In +his reign Pompey reduced Syria into a Roman province, after +it had been governed by kings for the space of two hundred +and fifty years, according to Eusebius. +</p> + +<p> +The kings of Syria, the transactions of whose reigns are +contained in the fourth and fifth volumes, are eight in number. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>A.M. 3704.</note> Seleucus Nicator. He reigned twenty years. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>3724.</note> Antiochus Soter, nineteen. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>3743.</note> Antiochus Theos, fifteen. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>3758.</note> Seleucus Callinicus, twenty. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>3778.</note> Seleucus Ceraunus, three. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>3781.</note> Antiochus the Great, thirty-six. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>3817.</note> Seleucus Philopator, twelve. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>3829.</note> Antiochus Epiphanes, brother of Seleucus Philopator, +eleven. +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<head>III. The Kingdom of Macedonia.</head> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>A.M. 3707.</note> Macedonia frequently changed its masters, after +the solemn partition had been made between the four princes. +Cassander died three or four years after that partition, +and left three sons. Philip, the eldest, died shortly after +his father. The other two contended for the crown without +enjoying it, both dying soon after without issue. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>3710.</note> Demetrius Poliorcetes, Pyrrhus, and Lysimachus, +made themselves masters of all, or the greatest part of Macedonia; +<pb n='cxxvii'/><anchor id='Pgcxxvii'/> +sometimes in conjunction, and at other times separately. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>A.M. 3723.</note> After the death of Lysimachus, Seleucus possessed +himself of Macedonia, but did not long enjoy it. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>3724.</note> Ptolemy Ceraunus having slain the preceding +prince, seized the kingdom, and possessed it but a very short +time, having lost his life in a battle with the Gauls, who had +made an irruption into that country. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>3726.</note> Sosthenes, who defeated the Gauls, reigned but a +short time in Macedonia. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>3728.</note> Antigonus Gonatas, the son of Demetrius Poliorcetes, +at length obtained the peaceable possession of the +kingdom of Macedonia, and transmitted it to his descendants, +after he had reigned thirty-four years. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>3762.</note> He was succeeded by his son Demetrius, who +reigned ten years, and then died, leaving a son named Philip, +who was but two years old. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>3772.</note> Antigonus Doson reigned twelve years in the quality +of guardian to the young prince. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>3784.</note> Philip, after the death of Antigonus, ascended the +throne at the age of fourteen years, and reigned something +more than forty. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>3824.</note> His son Perseus succeeded him, and reigned about +eleven years. He was defeated and taken prisoner by Paulus +Emilius; and Macedonia, in consequence of that victory, was +added to the provinces of the Roman empire. +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<head>IV. The Kingdom of Thrace, and Bithynia, &c.</head> + +<p> +This fourth kingdom, composed of several separate provinces +very remote from one another, had not any succession +of princes, and did not long subsist in its first condition; Lysimachus, +who first obtained it, having been killed in a battle +after a reign of twenty years, and all his family being exterminated +by assassinations, his dominions were dismembered, and +no longer constituted one kingdom. +</p> + +<p> +Beside the provinces which were divided among the captains +of Alexander, there were others which had been either formed +before, or were then erected into different states, independent +of the Greeks, whose power greatly increased in process of +time. +</p> + +<div> +<head>Kings of Bithynia</head> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>3686.</note> Whilst Alexander was extending his conquests in +the east, Zypethes had laid the foundations of the kingdom of +<pb n='cxxviii'/><anchor id='Pgcxxviii'/> +Bithynia. It is not certain who this Zypethes was, unless that +Pausanias,<note place='foot'>Lib. v. p. 310.—Trans.</note> +from his name, conjectures that he was a Thracian. +His successors, however, are better known. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>A.M. 3726.</note> Nicomedes I. This prince invited the Gauls to +assist him against his brother, with whom he was +engaged in a war. +</p> + +<p> +Prusias I. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>3820.</note> Prusias II., surnamed the Hunter, in whose court +Hannibal took refuge, and assisted him with his counsels, in +his war against Eumenes II. king of Pergamus. +</p> + +<p> +Nicomedes II. was killed by his son Socrates. +</p> + +<p> +Nicomedes III. was assisted by the Romans in his wars +with Mithridates, and bequeathed to them at his death the +kingdom of Bithynia, as a testimonial of his gratitude to them; +by which means these territories became a Roman province. +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<head>Kings of Pergamus</head> + +<p> +This kingdom at first comprehended only one of the smallest +provinces of Mysia, on the coast of the Ægean sea, over-against +the island of Lesbos. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>A.M. 3721. Ant. J.C. 283.</note> +It was founded by Philetærus, an eunuch, who had +served under Docimus, a commander of the troops +of Antigonus. Lysimachus confided to him the +treasures he had deposited in the castle of the city of Pergamus, +and he became master both of these and the city after +the death of that prince. He governed this little sovereignty +for the space of twenty years, and then left it to Eumenes his +nephew. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>A.M. 3741. Ant. J.C. 263.</note> +Eumenes I. enlarged his principality, by the addition +of several cities, which he took from the kings of +Syria, having defeated Antiochus, the son of Seleucus, +in a battle. He reigned twenty-two years. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>A.M. 3763. Ant. J.C. 241.</note> +He was succeeded by Attalus I., his cousin-german, +who assumed the title of king, after he had conquered +the Galatians; and transmitted it to his posterity, +who enjoyed it to the third generation. He assisted the +Romans in their war with Philip, and died after a reign of +forty-three years. He left four sons. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>A.M. 3807. Ant. J.C. 197.</note> +His successor was Eumenes II., his eldest son, who +founded the famous library of Pergamus. He +reigned thirty-nine years, and left the crown to his +brother Attalus, in the quality of guardian to one of his sons, +<pb n='cxxix'/><anchor id='Pgcxxix'/> +whom he had by Stratonice, the sister of Ariarathes, king of +Cappadocia. The Romans enlarged his dominions considerably, +after the victory they obtained over Antiochus the +Great. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>A.M. 3845. Ant. J.C. 159.</note> +Attalus II. espoused Stratonice his brother's widow, +and took extraordinary care of his nephew, to whom +he left the crown, after he had worn it twenty-one +years. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>A.M. 3866. Ant. J.C. 138.</note> +Attalus III., surnamed Philometor, distinguished +himself by his barbarous and extravagant conduct. +He died after he had reigned five years, and bequeathed +his riches and dominions to the Romans. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>A.M. 3871. Ant. J.C. 133.</note> +Aristonicus, who claimed the succession, endeavoured +to defend his pretensions against the Romans; +but the kingdom of Pergamus was reduced after a war +of four years, into a Roman province. +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<head>Kings of Pontus.</head> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>A.M. 3490. Ant. J.C. 514.</note> +The kingdom of Pontus in Asia Minor was anciently +dismembered from the monarchy of Persia, +by Darius the son of Hystaspes, in favour of Artabazus, +who is said, by some historians, to have been the son of +one of those Persian lords who conspired against the Magi. +</p> + +<p> +Pontus is a region of Asia Minor, situated partly along the +coast of the Euxine sea (<hi rend='italic'>Pontus Euxinus</hi>), from which it +derives its name. It extends from the river Halys, as far as +Colchis. Several princes reigned in that country since Artabazus. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>A.M. 3600. Ant. J.C. 404.</note> +The sixth monarch was Mithridates I., who is properly +considered as the founder of the kingdom of +Pontus, and his name was assumed by the generality +of his successors. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>A.M. 3641. Ant. J.C. 363.</note> +He was succeeded by his son Ariobarzanes, who +had governed Phrygia under Artaxerxes Mnemon: +he reigned twenty-six years. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>A.M. 3667. Ant. J.C. 337.</note> +His successor was Mithridates II. Antigonus +suspecting, in consequence of a dream, that he favoured +Cassander, had determined to destroy him, +but he eluded the danger by flight. This prince was called +Κτισὴς, or <emph>the Founder</emph>, and reigned thirty-five years. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>A.M. 3702. Ant. J.C. 302.</note> +Mithridates III., who succeeded him, added Cappadocia +and Paphlagonia to his dominions, and +reigned thirty-six years. +</p> + +<p> +After the reigns of two other kings, Mithridates IV., the great +<pb n='cxxx'/><anchor id='Pgcxxx'/> +grandfather of Mithridates the Great, ascended the throne, +and espoused a daughter of Seleucus Callinicus, king of +Syria, by whom he had Laodice, who was married to Antiochus +the Great. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>A.M. 3819. Ant. J.C. 185.</note> +He was succeeded by his son Pharnaces, who had +some disagreement with the kings of Pergamus. He +made himself master of Sinope, which afterwards +became the capital of the kingdom of Pontus. +</p> + +<p> +After him reigned Mithridates V., surnamed Euergetes, the +first who was called the friend of the Romans, because he had +assisted them against the Carthaginians in the third Punic +war. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>A.M. 3880. Ant. J.C. 124.</note> +He was succeeded by his son Mithridates VI., surnamed +Eupator. This is the great Mithridates who +sustained so long a war with the Romans: he reigned +sixty-six years. +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<head>Kings of Cappadocia.</head> + +<p> +Strabo informs us,<note place='foot'>Strab. l. xii. p. 534.</note> +that Cappadocia was divided into two +satrapies, or governments, under the Persians, as it also was +under the Macedonians. The maritime part of Cappadocia +formed the kingdom of Pontus: the other tracts constituted +Cappadocia properly so called, or Cappadocia Major, which +extended along mount Taurus, and to a great distance beyond +it. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>A.M. 3682. Ant. J.C. 322.</note> +When Alexander's captains divided the provinces +of his empire among themselves, Cappadocia was +governed by a prince named Ariarathes. Perdiccas +attacked and defeated him, after which he caused him to be +slain. +</p> + +<p> +His son Ariarathes re-entered the kingdom of his father +some time after this event, and established himself so effectually, +that he left it to his posterity. +</p> + +<p> +The generality of his successors assumed the same name, +and will have their place in the series of the history. +</p> + +<p> +Cappadocia, after the death of Archelaus, the last of its +kings, became a province of the Roman empire, as the rest of +Asia also did much about the same time. +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<head>Kings of Armenia.</head> + +<p> +Armenia, a vast country of Asia, extending on each side of +the Euphrates, was conquered by the Persians; after which it +<pb n='cxxxi'/><anchor id='Pgcxxxi'/> +was transferred, with the rest of the empire, to the Macedonians, +and at last fell to the share of the Romans. It was +governed for a great length of time by its own kings, the most +considerable of whom was Tigranes, who espoused the daughter +of the great Mithridates king of Pontus, and was also engaged +in a long war with the Romans. This kingdom supported itself +many years, between the Roman and Parthian empires, sometimes +depending on the one, and sometimes on the other, till at +last the Romans became its masters. +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<head>Kings of Epirus.</head> + +<p> +Epirus is a province of Greece, separated from Thessaly +and Macedonia by mount Pindus. The most powerful people +of this country were the Molossians. +</p> + +<p> +The kings of Epirus pretended to derive their descent from +Pyrrhus the son of Achilles, who established himself in that +country, and called themselves Æacides, from Æacus the +grandfather of Achilles. +</p> + +<p> +The genealogy of the latter kings, who were the only sovereigns +of this country of whom any accounts remain, is +variously related by authors, and consequently must be doubtful +and obscure.<note place='foot'>Diod. l. xvi. p. 465. Justin, l. +viii. c. 6. Plut. <hi rend='italic'>in Pyrrho</hi>.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Arymbas ascended the throne, after a long succession of +kings; and as he was then very young, the states of Epirus, +who were sensible that the welfare of the people depends on +the proper education of their princes, sent him to Athens, +which was the residence and centre of all the arts and sciences, +in order to cultivate, in that excellent school, such knowledge +as was necessary to form the mind of a king. He there learned +the art of reigning, and as he surpassed all his ancestors in +ability and knowledge, he was in consequence infinitely more +esteemed and beloved by his people than they had been.<note place='foot'>Quanto +doctior majoribus, tanto et gratioi populo fuit. Justin, l. xvii. c. +3.—Trans.</note> When +he returned from Athens, he made laws, established a senate +and magistracy, and regulated the form of the government. +</p> + +<p> +Neoptolemus, whose daughter Olympias had espoused Philip +king of Macedon, attained an equal share in the regal government +with Arymbas his elder brother, by the influence of his +son-in-law. After the death of Arymbas, Æacides his son +ought to have been his successor; but Philip had still sufficient +influence to procure his expulsion from the kingdom by the +Molossians, who established Alexander the son of Neoptolemus +sole monarch of Epirus. +</p> + +<pb n='cxxxii'/><anchor id='Pgcxxxii'/> + +<p> +Alexander espoused Cleopatra the daughter of Philip, and +marched with an army into Italy, where he lost his life in the +country of the Brutians. +</p> + +<p> +Æacides then ascended the throne, and reigned without any +associate in Epirus. He espoused Phthia, the daughter of +Menon the Thessalian, by whom he had two daughters, Deidamia +and Troias, and one son, the celebrated Pyrrhus. +</p> + +<p> +As he was marching to the assistance of Olympias, his troops +mutinied against him, condemned him to exile, and slaughtered +most of his friends. Pyrrhus, who was then an infant, happily +escaped this massacre. +</p> + +<p> +Neoptolemus, a prince of the blood, but whose particular +extraction is little known, was placed on the throne by the +people of Epirus. +</p> + +<p> +Pyrrhus, being recalled by his subjects at the age of twelve +years, first shared the sovereignty with Neoptolemus; but +having afterwards divested him of his dignity, he reigned alone. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>A.M. 3733. Ant. J.C. 271.</note> +This history will treat of the various adventures of +this prince. He died in the city of Argos, in an +attack to make himself master of it. +</p> + +<p> +Helenus his son reigned after him for some time in Epirus, +which was afterwards united to the Roman empire. +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<head>Tyrants of Heraclea.</head> + +<p> +Heraclea is a city of Pontus, anciently founded by the +Bœotians, who sent a colony into that country by the order of +an oracle. +</p> + +<p> +When the Athenians, having conquered the Persians, had +imposed a tribute on the cities of Greece and Asia Minor, for +the fitting out and support of a fleet intended for the defence +of the common liberty, the inhabitants of Heraclea, in consequence +of their attachment to the Persians, were the only people +who refused to acquiesce in so just a contribution.<note place='foot'>Justin, +l. xvi. c. 3-5. Diod. l. xv. p. 390.</note> Lamachus +was therefore sent against them, and he ravaged their +territories; but a violent tempest having destroyed his whole +fleet, he beheld himself abandoned to the mercy of that people, +whose innate ferocity might naturally have been increased by +the severe treatment they had lately received. But they had +recourse to no other vengeance than kindness;<note place='foot'>Heraclienses +honestiorem beneficii, quàm ultionis occasionem rati, instructos +commeatibus auxiliisque aimittunt; bene agrorum suorum populationem impensam +existimantes, si, quos hostes habuerant, amicos reddidissent. +Justin.—Trans.</note> they furnished +him with provisions and troops for his return, and were willing +<pb n='cxxxiii'/><anchor id='Pgcxxxiii'/> +to consider the depredations which had been committed in +their country as advantageous to them, if at that price they +could convert the enmity of the Athenians into friendship. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>A.M. 3640. Ant. J.C. 364.</note> +Some time after this event, the populace of Heraclea excited +a violent commotion against the rich citizens and +senators, who having implored assistance to no effect, +first from Timotheus the Athenian, and afterwards +from Epaminondas the Theban, were necessitated to recall +Clearchus, a senator, to their defence, whom themselves had +banished; but his exile had neither improved his morals nor +rendered him a better citizen than he was before. He therefore +made the troubles, in which he found the city involved, +subservient to his design of subjecting it to his own power. +With this view he openly declared for the people, caused himself +to be invested with the highest office in the magistracy, and +assumed a sovereign authority in a short time. Being thus +become a professed tyrant, there were no kinds of violence to +which he had not recourse against the rich, and the senators, +to satiate his avarice and cruelty. He proposed for his model +Dionysius the Tyrant, who had established his power over the +Syracusans at the same time. +</p> + +<p> +After a hard and inhuman servitude of twelve years, two +young citizens, who were Plato's disciples, and had been instructed +in his maxims, formed a conspiracy against Clearchus, +and slew him; but, though they delivered their country from +the tyrant, the tyranny still subsisted. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>A.M. 3652. Ant. J.C. 352.</note> +Timotheus, the son of Clearchus, assumed his +place, and pursued his conduct for the space of +fifteen years.<note place='foot'>l. xvi. p. 435.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>A.M. 3667. Ant. J.C. 337.</note> +He was succeeded by his brother Dionysius, who was in +danger of being dispossessed of his authority by +Perdiccas; but as this last was soon destroyed, +Dionysius contracted a friendship with Antigonus, +whom he assisted against Ptolemy in the Cyprian war.<note place='foot'>Ibid. p. +478.</note> +</p> + +<p> +He espoused Amastris, the widow of Craterus, and daughter +of Oxiathres, the brother of Darius. This alliance inspired +him with so much courage, that he assumed the title of king, +and enlarged his dominions by the addition of several places, +which he seized, on the confines of Heraclea. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>A.M. 3700. Ant. J.C. 304.</note> +He died two or three years before the battle of +Ipsus, after a reign of thirty-three years, leaving two +sons and a daughter under the tutelage and regency +of Amastris. +</p> + +<pb n='cxxxiv'/><anchor id='Pgcxxxiv'/> + +<p> +This princess was rendered happy in her administration, by +the affection Antigonus entertained for her. She founded a +city, and called it by her own name; into which she transplanted +the inhabitants of three other cities, and espoused Lysimachus, +after the death of Antigonus.<note place='foot'>Diod. l. xx. p. 833.</note> +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<head>Kings of Syracuse.</head> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>A.M. 3735. Ant. J.C. 269.</note> +Hiero, and his son Hieronymus, reigned at Syracuse; +the first fifty-four years, the second but one +year. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>A.M. 3789. Ant. J.C. 215.</note> +Syracuse recovered its liberty by the death of the +last, but continued in the interest of the Carthaginians, +which Hieronymus had caused it to espouse. +<note place='margin'>A.M. 3791. Ant. J.C. 213.</note> +His conduct obliged Marcellus to form the siege of that city, +which he took the following year. I shall enlarge +upon the history of these two kings in another +place. +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<head>Other Kings.</head> + +<p> +Several kings likewise reigned in the Cimmerian Bosphorus, +as also in Thrace, Cyrene in Africa, Paphlagonia, Colchis, +Iberia, Albania, and a variety of other places; but their history +is very uncertain, and their successions have but little regularity. +</p> + +<p> +These circumstances are very different with respect to the +kingdom of the Parthians, who formed themselves, as we shall +see in the sequel, into such a powerful monarchy, as became +formidable even to the Roman empire. That of the Bactrians +received its original about the same period: I shall treat of +each in their proper places. +</p> + +</div> + +</div> + +<pb n='cxxxv'/><anchor id='Pgcxxxv'/> + +<div> +<head>Catalogue of the Editions of the principal Greek Authors cited in +this Work.</head> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Herodotus.</hi> Francof. An. 1608. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Thucydides.</hi> Apud Henricum Stephanum, An. 1588. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Xenophon.</hi> Lutetiæ Parisiorum, apud Societatem Græcarum +Editionum, An. +1625. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Polybius.</hi> Parisiis, An. 1609. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Diodorus Siculus.</hi> Hanoviæ, Typis Wechelianis, An 1604. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Plutarchus.</hi> Lutetiæ Parisiorum, apud Societatem Græcanum +Editionum, An. 1624. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Strabo.</hi> Lutetiæ Parisiorum, Typis regiis, An. 1620. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Athenæus.</hi> Lugdani, An. 1612. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Pausanias.</hi> Hanoviæ, Typis Wechelianis, An. 1613. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Appianus Alexander.</hi> Apud Henric. Stephan. An. 1592. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Plato.</hi> Ex novâ Joannis Serrani interpretatione. Apud +Henricum Stephanum, An. 1578. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Aristoteles.</hi> Lutetiæ Parisiorum, apud Societatem Græcarum +Editionum, An. 1619. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Isocrates.</hi> Apud Paulum Stephanum, An. 1604. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Diogenes Laertius.</hi> Apud Henricum Stepnanum, An. 1594. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Demosthenes.</hi> Francof. An. 1604. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Arrianus.</hi> Lugd. Batav. An. 1704. +</p> + +</div> + +</div> + +<pb n='001'/><anchor id='Pg001'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf' level1='Book The First. The History of the Egyptians.'/> +<head>Book The First. The Ancient History Of The Egyptians.</head> + +<div> +<index index='toc' level1='Part The First. Description of Egypt.'/> +<index index='pdf' level1='Part The First. Description of Egypt.'/> +<head>Part The First. +Description of Egypt: with an Account of whatever is +most curious and remarkable in that Country.</head> + +<p> +Egypt comprehended anciently, within limits of no very great +extent, a prodigious number of cities,<note place='foot'>It is related, +that under Amasis there were twenty thousand inhabited cities in +Egypt. Herod 1. ii c. 177.—Trans.</note> and an incredible multitude +of inhabitants. +</p> + +<p> +It is bounded on the east by the Red-Sea and the Isthmus +of Suez; on the south by Ethiopia, on the west by Libya, and +on the north by the Mediterranean. The Nile runs from south +to north, through the whole country, about two hundred leagues +in length. This country is enclosed on each side with a ridge +of mountains, which very often leave, between the foot of the +hills and the river Nile, a tract of ground, of not above half a +day's journey in length,<note place='foot'>A day's journey is +twenty-four eastern, or thirty-three English miles and a +quarter.—Trans.</note> and sometimes less. +</p> + +<p> +On the west side, the plain grows wider in some places, and +extends to twenty-five or thirty leagues. The greatest breadth +of Egypt is from Alexandria to Damietta, being about fifty +leagues. +</p> + +<p> +Ancient Egypt may be divided into three principal parts: +Upper Egypt, otherwise called Thebais, which was the most +<pb n='002'/><anchor id='Pg002'/> +southern part; Middle Egypt, or Heptanomis, so called from +the seven Nomi or districts it contained; Lower Egypt, which +included what the Greeks call Delta, and all the country as far +as the Red-Sea, and along the Mediterranean to Rhinocolura, +or Mount Casius. Under Sesostris, all Egypt became one +kingdom, and was divided into thirty-six governments, or +Nomi; ten in Thebais, ten in Delta, and sixteen in the country +between both.<note place='foot'>Strabo, 1 xvii. p. 787.</note> +</p> + +<p> +The cities of Syene and Elephantina divided Egypt from +Ethiopia; and in the days of Augustus were the boundaries of +the Roman empire: <hi rend='italic'>Claustra olim Romani Imperii</hi>, Tacit. +<hi rend='italic'>Annal.</hi> Lib. ii. cap. 61. +</p> + +<div> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Chapter I. Thebais.</head> + +<p> +Thebes, from whence Thebais had its name, might vie with +the noblest cities in the universe. Its hundred gates, celebrated +by Homer,<note place='foot'>Hom. <hi rend='italic'>Il.</hi> i. +ver. 381.</note> are universally known; and acquired it the +surname of Hecatompylos, to distinguish it from the other +Thebes in Bœotia. Its population was proportionate to its +extent; and, according to History, it could send out at once +two hundred chariots, and ten thousand fighting men at each +of its gates.<note place='foot'>Strab. 1. xvii. p. 816.</note> +The Greeks and Romans have celebrated its +magnificence and grandeur, though they saw it only in its +ruins; so august were the remains of this city.<note place='foot'>Tacit. +<hi rend='italic'>Ann.</hi> 1. ii. c. 60.</note> +</p> + +<p> +In the Thebaid, now called Said, have been discovered temples +and palaces which are still almost entire, adorned with innumerable +columns and statues.<note place='foot'>Thevenot's +<hi rend='italic'>Travels</hi>.</note> One palace especially is admired, +the remains whereof seem to have existed purely to +eclipse the glory of the most pompous edifices. Four walks +extending farther than the eye can see, and bounded on each +side with sphinxes, composed of materials as rare and extraordinary +as their size is remarkable, serve as avenues to four porticos, +whose height is amazing to behold. And even they who +have given us the description of this wonderful edifice, had not +time to go round it; and are not sure that they saw above +half: however, what they had a sight of was astonishing. A +<pb n='003'/><anchor id='Pg003'/> +hall, which, in all appearance, stood in the middle of this +stately palace, was supported by a hundred-and-twenty pillars, +six fathoms round, of a proportionable height, and intermixed +with obelisks, which so many ages have not been able to demolish. +Painting had displayed all her art and magnificence +in this edifice. The colours themselves, which soonest feel the +injury of time, still remain amidst the ruins of this wonderful +structure, and preserve their beauty and lustre; so happily +could the Egyptians imprint a character of immortality on all +their works. Strabo, who was on the spot, describes a temple +he saw in Egypt, very much resembling that of which I +have been speaking.<note place='foot'>Lib. xvii. p. 805.</note> +</p> + +<p> +The same author, describing the curiosities of Thebais,<note place='foot'>P. +816.</note> speaks of a very famous statue of Memnon, the remains whereof +he had seen. It is said that this statue, when the beams of the +rising sun first shone upon it in the morning, uttered an articulate +sound.<note place='foot'>Germanicus alus quoque miraculis intendit animum, quorum +præcipua fuere Memnonis saxea effigies, ubi radiis solis icta est, vocalem sonum +reddens, &c. Tacit <hi rend='italic'>Annal.</hi> 1. ii. c. 61.—Trans.</note> +And, indeed, Strabo himself was an ear-witness +of this; but then he doubts whether the sound came from +the statue. +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Chapter II. Middle Egypt, or Heptanomis.</head> + +<p> +Memphis was the capital of this part of Egypt. In this city +were to be seen many stately temples, among them that of the +god Apis, who was honoured here after a peculiar manner. I +shall speak of it hereafter, as well as of the pyramids which +stood in the neighbourhood of this place, and rendered it so +famous. Memphis was situated on the west side of the Nile. +</p> + +<p> +Grand Cairo, which seems to have succeeded Memphis, is +built on the other side of that river.<note place='foot'>Thevenot.</note> +The castle of Cairo is one +of the greatest curiosities in Egypt. It stands on a hill without +the city, has a rock for its foundation, and is surrounded with +walls of a vast height and solidity. You go up to the castle by +a way hewn out of the rock, and which is so easy of ascent, +that loaded horses and camels get up without difficulty. The +<pb n='004'/><anchor id='Pg004'/> +greatest rarity in this castle is Joseph's well, so called, either +because the Egyptians are pleased with ascribing what is most +remarkable among them to that great man, or because such a +tradition has been preserved in the country. This is a proof, +at least, that the work in question is very ancient; and it is +certainly worthy the magnificence of the most powerful kings +of Egypt. This well has, as it were, two stories, cut out of the +solid rock to a prodigious depth. The descent to the reservoir +of water, between the two wells, is by a staircase seven or eight +feet broad, consisting of two hundred and twenty steps, and so +contrived, that the oxen employed to throw up the water, go +down with all imaginable ease, the descent being scarcely perceptible. +The well is supplied from a spring, which is almost +the only one in the whole country. The oxen are continually +turning a wheel with a rope, to which a number of buckets are +fastened. The water thus drawn from the first and lower-most +well, is conveyed by a little canal into a reservoir, which forms +the second well; from whence it is drawn to the top in the +same manner, and then conveyed by pipes to all parts of the +castle. As this well is supposed by the inhabitants of the country +to be of great antiquity, and has, indeed, much of the antique +manner of the Egyptians, I thought it might deserve a +place among the curiosities of ancient Egypt. +</p> + +<p> +Strabo speaks of a similar engine, which, by wheels and +pulleys, threw up the water of the Nile to the top of a very high +hill; with this difference, that, instead of oxen, a hundred and +fifty slaves were employed to turn these wheels.<note place='foot'>L. xvii. p. 807.</note> +</p> + +<p> +The part of Egypt of which we now speak, is famous for several +rarities, each of which deserves a particular examination. +I shall mention only the principal, such as the obelisks, the +pyramids, the labyrinth, the lake of Mœris, and the Nile. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Sect. I. The Obelisks.</hi>—Egypt +seemed to place its chief glory in raising monuments for posterity. Its obelisks form at +this day, on account of their beauty as well as height, the principal +ornament of Rome; and the Roman power, despairing to +equal the Egyptians, thought it honour enough to borrow the +monuments of their kings. +</p> + +<pb n='005'/><anchor id='Pg005'/> + +<p> +An obelisk is a quadrangular, taper, high spire or pyramid, +raised perpendicularly, and terminating in a point, to serve as +an ornament to some open square; and is very often covered +with inscriptions or hieroglyphics, that is, with mystical characters +or symbols used by the Egyptians to conceal and disguise +their sacred things, and the mysteries of their theology. +</p> + +<p> +Sesostris erected in the city of Heliopolis two obelisks of +extreme hard stone, brought from the quarries of Syene, at the +extremity of Egypt.<note place='foot'>Diod. lib. i. p. +37.</note> They were each one hundred-and-twenty +cubits high, that is, thirty fathoms, or one hundred and eighty +feet.<note place='foot'>It is proper to observe, once for all, +that an Egyptian cubit, according to Mr. Greaves, was one foot +nine inches, and about 3/4 of our measure.—Trans.</note> +The emperor Augustus, having made Egypt a province +of the empire, caused these two obelisks to be transported to +Rome, one whereof was afterwards broken to pieces. He +dared not venture to make the same attempt upon a third, +which was of a monstrous size.<note place='foot'>Plin. l. +xxxvi. c. 8, 9.</note> It was made in the reign of +Rameses: it is said that twenty thousand men were employed +in the cutting of it. Constantius, more daring than Augustus, +caused it to be removed to Rome. Two of these obelisks are +still to be seen there, as well as another a hundred cubits, or +twenty-five fathoms high, and eight cubits, or two fathoms, in +diameter. Caius Cæsar had it brought from Egypt in a ship +of so odd a form, that, according to Pliny, the like had never +been seen.<note place='foot'>Plin. l. xxxvi c. 9.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Every part of Egypt abounded with this kind of obelisks; +they were for the most part cut in the quarries of Upper Egypt, +where some are now to be seen half finished. But the most +wonderful circumstance is, that the ancient Egyptians should +have had the art and contrivance to dig even in the very quarry +a canal, through which the water of the Nile ran in the time of +its inundation; from whence they afterwards raised up the columns, +obelisks, and statues on rafts,<note place='foot'>Rafts are pieces +of flat timber put together to carry goods on +rivers.—Trans.</note> proportioned to their +weight, in order to convey them into Lower Egypt. And as +the country was intersected every where with canals, there were +few places to which those huge bodies might not be carried +with ease; although their weight would have broken every +other kind of engine. +</p> + +<pb n='006'/><anchor id='Pg006'/> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Sect. II. The Pyramids.</hi>—A +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Pyramid</hi> is a solid or hollow +body, having a large, and generally a square base, and terminating +in a point.<note place='foot'>Herod. l. ii c. 124, &c. Diod. l. +i. p. 39-41. Plin. lib. xxxvi. c. 12.</note> +</p> + +<p> +There were three pyramids in Egypt more famous than the +rest, one whereof was justly ranked among the seven wonders +of the world; they stood not very far from the city of Memphis. +I shall take notice here only of the largest of the three. +This pyramid, like the rest, was built on a rock, having a square +base, cut on the outside as so many steps, and decreasing gradually +quite to the summit. It was built with stones of a prodigious +size, the least of which were thirty feet, wrought with +wonderful art, and covered with hieroglyphics. According to +several ancient authors, each side was eight hundred feet broad, +and as many high. The summit of the pyramid, which to those +who viewed it from below seemed a point, was a fine platform, +composed of ten or twelve massy stones, and each side of that +platform sixteen or eighteen feet long. +</p> + +<p> +M. de Chazelles, of the Academy of Sciences, who went purposely +to the spot in 1693, gives us the following dimensions: +</p> + +<p> +The side of the square base 110 fathoms; the fronts are +equilateral triangles, and therefore the superficies of the base is +12100 square fathoms; the perpendicular height, 77-3/4 fathoms; +the solid contents, 313590 cubical fathoms. A hundred thousand +men were constantly employed about this work, and were relieved +every three months by the same number. Ten complete years were +spent in hewing out the stones, either in Arabia or Ethiopia, +and in conveying them to Egypt; and twenty years more in +building this immense edifice, the inside of which contained +numberless rooms and apartments. There were expressed on +the pyramid, in Egyptian characters, the sums it cost only for +garlic, leeks, onions, and other vegetables of this description, +for the workmen; and the whole amounted to sixteen hundred +talents of silver,<note place='foot'>About 200,000<hi rend='italic'>l.</hi> +sterl.—Trans.</note> that is, four millions five hundred thousand +French livres; from whence it was easy to conjecture what a +vast sum the whole expense must have amounted to. +</p> + +<p> +Such were the famous Egyptian pyramids, which by their +figure, as well as size, have triumphed over the injuries of time +<pb n='007'/><anchor id='Pg007'/> +and the Barbarians. But what efforts soever men may make, +their nothingness will always appear. These pyramids were +tombs; and there is still to be seen, in the middle of the largest, +an empty sepulchre, cut out of one entire stone, about three +feet deep and broad, and a little above six feet long.<note place='foot'>Strabo +mentions the sepulchre, lib. xvii. p. 808.—Trans.</note> Thus +all this bustle, all this expense, and all the labours of so many +thousand men for so many years, ended in procuring for a +prince, in this vast and almost boundless pile of building, a +little vault six feet in length. Besides, the kings who built +these pyramids, had it not in their power to be buried in them; +and so did not enjoy the sepulchre they had built. The public +hatred which they incurred, by reason of their unheard-of cruelties +to their subjects, in laying such heavy tasks upon them, +occasioned their being interred in some obscure place, to prevent +their bodies from being exposed to the fury and vengeance +of the populace. +</p> + +<p> +This last circumstance, which historians have taken particular +notice of, teaches us what judgment we ought to pass on +these edifices, so much boasted of by the ancients.<note place='foot'>Diod. +lib. i. p. 40.</note> It is but +just to remark and esteem the noble genius which the Egyptians +had for architecture; a genius that prompted them from the +earliest times, and before they could have any models to imitate, +to aim in all things at the grand and magnificent; and to be +intent on real beauties, without deviating in the least from a +noble simplicity, in which the highest perfection of the art +consists. But what idea ought we to form of those princes, +who considered as something grand, the raising by a multitude +of hands, and by the help of money, immense structures, with +the sole view of rendering their names immortal; and who did +not scruple to destroy thousands of their subjects to satisfy +their vain glory! They differed very much from the Romans, +who sought to immortalize themselves by works of a magnificent +kind, but, at the same time, of public utility. +</p> + +<p> +Pliny gives us, in few words,<note place='foot'>Lib. xxxvi. c. +12.</note> a just idea of these pyramids, +when he calls them a foolish and useless ostentation of the +wealth of the Egyptian kings; <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Regum pecuniæ otiosa ac +stulta ostentatio.</foreign> And adds, that by a just punishment their memory +<pb n='008'/><anchor id='Pg008'/> +is buried in oblivion; the historians not agreeing among themselves +about the names of those who first raised those vain +monuments: <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Inter eos non constat à quibus factæ sint, +justissimo casu obliteratis tantæ vanitatis auctoribus.</foreign> In a word, +according to the judicious remark of Diodorus, the industry of +the architects of those pyramids is no less valuable and praiseworthy, +than the design of the Egyptian kings is contemptible +and ridiculous. +</p> + +<p> +But what we should most admire in these ancient monuments, +is, the true and standing evidence they give of the skill +of the Egyptians in astronomy; that is, in a science which +seems incapable of being brought to perfection, but by a long +series of years, and a great number of observations. M. de +Chazelles, when he measured the great pyramid in question, +found that the four sides of it were turned exactly to the four +quarters of the world; and, consequently, showed the true +meridian of that place. Now, as so exact a situation was, in +all probability, purposely pitched upon by those who piled up +this huge mass of stones, above three thousand years ago, it +follows, that during so long a space of time, there has been no +alteration in the heavens in that respect, or (which amounts to +the same thing) in the poles of the earth or the meridians. +This is M. de Fontenelle's remark in his eulogium of M. de +Chazelles. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Sect. III. The Labyrinth.</hi>—What has been said concerning +the judgment we ought to form of the pyramids, may +also be applied to the labyrinth, which Herodotus, who saw it, +assures us, was still more surprising than the pyramids.<note place='foot'>Herod. l. ii. +c. 148. Diod. l. i. p. 42. Plin. l. xxxvi. c. 13. Strab. l. xvii. p. 811.</note> It +was built at the southern extremity of the lake of Mœris, +whereof mention will be made presently, near the town of +Crocodiles, the same with Arsinoë. It was not so much one +single palace, as a magnificent pile composed of twelve palaces, +regularly disposed, which had a communication with each +other. Fifteen hundred rooms, interspersed with terraces, +were ranged round twelve halls, and discovered no outlet to +such as went to see them. There was the like number of +buildings under ground. These subterraneous structures were +<pb n='009'/><anchor id='Pg009'/> +designed for the burying-place of the kings, and also (who can +speak this without confusion, and without deploring the blindness +of man!) for keeping the sacred crocodiles, which a nation, +so wise in other respects, worshipped as gods. +</p> + +<p> +In order to visit the rooms and halls of the labyrinth, it was +necessary, as the reader will naturally suppose, for people to +take the same precaution as Ariadne made Theseus use, when +he was obliged to go and fight the Minotaur in the labyrinth +of Crete. Virgil describes it in this manner:— +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l>Ut quondam Cretâ fertur labyrinthus in altâ</l> +<l>Parietibus textum cæcis iter ancipitémque</l> +<l>Mille viis habuisse dolum, quà signa sequendi</l> +<l>Falleret indeprensus et irremeabilis error.<note place='foot'>Æneid, l. v. ver. 588, +&c.</note></l> +<l>Híc labor ille domûs, et inextricabilis error.</l> +<l>Dædalus, ipse dolos tecti ambagésque resolvit,</l> +<l>Cæca regens filo vestigia.<note place='foot'>l. vi. ver. 27, &c.</note></l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l>And as the Cretan labyrinth of old,</l> +<l>With wand'ring ways, and many a winding fold,</l> +<l>Involv'd the weary feet without redress,</l> +<l>In a round error, which deny'd recess:</l> +<l>Not far from thence he grav'd the wond'rous maze;</l> +<l>A thousand doors, a thousand winding ways</l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Sect. IV. The Lake of Mœris.</hi>—The noblest and most +wonderful of all the structures or works of the kings of Egypt, +was the lake of Mœris: accordingly, Herodotus considers it as +vastly superior to the pyramids and labyrinth.<note place='foot'>Herod. l. ii. c. 140. +Strab. l. xvii. p. 787. Diod. l. i p. 47. Plin. l. v. c. 9. +Pomp. <hi rend='italic'>Mela</hi>, l. i.</note> As Egypt was +more or less fruitful in proportion to the inundations of the +Nile; and as in these floods, the too great or too little rise of +the waters was equally fatal to the lands, king Mœris, to prevent +these two inconveniences, and to correct, as far as lay in his +power, the irregularities of the Nile, thought proper to call art +to the assistance of nature; and so caused the lake to be dug, +which afterwards went by his name. This lake was in circumference +about three thousand six hundred stadia, that is, +about one hundred and eighty French leagues, and three hundred +feet deep.<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Vide Herod. et Diod.</hi> Pliny agrees +almost with them.—Trans.</note> Two pyramids, on each of which was placed a +colossal statue, seated on a throne, raised their heads to the +height of three hundred feet, in the midst of the lake, whilst +their foundations took up the same space under the water; a +proof that they were erected before the cavity was filled, and a +<pb n='010'/><anchor id='Pg010'/> +demonstration that a lake of such vast extent was the work of +man's hands, in one prince's reign. This is what several historians +have related concerning the lake Mœris, on the testimony +of the inhabitants of the country. And M. Bossuet, the bishop +of Meaux, in his discourse on universal history, relates the whole +as fact. For my part, I will confess that I do not see the least +probability in it. Is it possible to conceive, that a lake of a +hundred and eighty leagues in circumference, could have been +dug in the reign of one prince? In what manner, and where, +could the earth taken from it be conveyed? What should +prompt the Egyptians to lose the surface of so much land? By +what arts could they fill this vast tract with the superfluous +waters of the Nile? Many other objections might be made. +In my opinion, therefore, we ought to follow Pomponius Mela, +an ancient geographer; especially as his account is confirmed +by several modern travellers. According to that author, this +lake is but twenty thousand paces; that is, seven or eight +French leagues in circumference. <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Mœris, aliquando campus, +nunc lacus, viginti millia passuum in circuitu patens.</foreign><note place='foot'>Mela, +l. i.</note> +</p> + +<p> +This lake had a communication with the Nile, by a great +canal, more than four leagues long,<note place='foot'>Eighty-five +<hi rend='italic'>stadia</hi>.—Trans.</note> and fifty feet broad. +Great sluices either opened or shut the canal and lake, as there +was occasion. +</p> + +<p> +The charge of opening or shutting them amounted to fifty +talents, that is, fifty thousand French +crowns.<note place='foot'>11,250<hi rend='italic'>l.</hi> sterling.—Trans.</note> +The fishing of this lake brought the monarch immense sums; but its chief +utility related to the overflowing of the Nile. When it rose +too high, and was like to be attended with fatal consequences, +the sluices were opened; and the waters, having a free passage +into the lake, covered the lands no longer than was necessary +to enrich them. On the contrary, when the inundation was +too low, and threatened a famine, a sufficient quantity of water, +by the help of drains, was let out of the lake, to water the +lands. In this manner the irregularities of the Nile were corrected; +and Strabo remarks, that, in his time, under Petronius, +a governor of Egypt, when the inundation of the Nile was +twelve cubits, a very great plenty ensued; and even when it +<pb n='011'/><anchor id='Pg011'/> +rose but to eight cubits, the dearth was scarce felt in the country; +doubtless because the waters of the lake made up for +those of the inundation, by the help of canals and drains. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Sect. V. The Inundations of the Nile.</hi>—The Nile is +the greatest wonder of Egypt. As it seldom rains there, this +river, which waters the whole country by its regular inundations, +supplies that defect, by bringing, as a yearly tribute, the rains +of other countries; which made a poet say ingeniously, <q>the +Egyptian pastures, how great soever the drought may be, never +implore Jupiter for rain:</q> +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l>Te propter nullos tellus tua postulat imbres,</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>Arida nec pluvio supplicat herba Jovi.<note place='foot'>Seneca +(<hi rend='italic'>Nat. Quæst.</hi> l. iv. c. 2.) ascribes these verses to Ovid, but +they are Tibullus's.—Trans.</note></l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +To multiply so beneficent a river, Egypt was cut into numberless +canals, of a length and breadth proportioned to the +different situations and wants of the lands. The Nile brought +fertility every where with its salutary streams; united cities +one with another, and the Mediterranean with the Red-Sea; +maintained trade at home and abroad, and fortified the kingdom +against the enemy; so that it was at once the nourisher +and protector of Egypt. +</p> + +<p> +The fields were delivered up to it; but the cities that were +raised with immense labour, and stood like islands in the midst +of the waters, looked down with joy on the plains which were +overflowed, and at the same time enriched, by the Nile. +</p> + +<p> +This is a general idea of the nature and effects of this river, +so famous among the ancients. But a wonder so astonishing +in itself, and which has been the object of the curiosity and +admiration of the learned in all ages, seems to require a +more particular description, in which I shall be as concise as +possible. +</p> + +<p> +1. <hi rend='italic'>The Sources of the Nile.</hi>—The ancients placed the +sources of the Nile in the mountains of the moon (as they are +commonly called), in the 10th degree of south latitude. But +our modern travellers have discovered that they lie in the +12th degree of north latitude; and by that means they cut off +about four or five hundred leagues of the course which the +ancients gave that river. It rises at the foot of a great mountain +<pb n='012'/><anchor id='Pg012'/> +in the kingdom of Gojam in Abyssinia, from two springs, +or eyes, to speak in the language of the country, the same +word in Arabic signifying eye and fountain. These springs +are thirty paces from one another, each as large as one of our +wells or a coach-wheel. The Nile is increased with many +rivulets which run into it; and after passing through Ethiopia +in a very winding course, flows at last into Egypt. +</p> + +<p> +2. <hi rend='italic'>The Cataracts of the Nile.</hi>—This name is given to some +parts of the Nile, where the water falls down from the steep +rocks.<note place='foot'>Excipiunt eum (Nilum) cataractæ, nobilis insigni spectaculo +locus.—Illic excitatis primùm aquis, quas sine tumultu leni alveo duxerat, +violentus et toriens per malignos transitus prosilit, dissimilis sibi—tandemque +eluctatus obstantia, in vastam altitudinem subito destitutus cadit, cum ingenti +circumjacentium regionum strepitu; quem perferre gens ibi à Persis collocata non potuit, +obtusis assiduo fragore auribus, et ob hoc sedibus ad quietiora translatis. Inter +miracula fluminis incredibilem incolarum audaciam accepi. Bini parvula navigia +conscendunt, quorum alter navem regit, alter exhaurit. Deinde multùm inter rapidam +insaniam Nili et reciprocos fluctus volutati, tandem tenuissimos canales tenent, per +quos angusta rupium effugiunt: et cum toto flumine effusi navigium ruens manu temperant, +magnoque spectantium metu in caput nixi, cum jam adploraveris, mersosque atque obrutos +tantâ mole credideris, longè ab eo in quem ceciderant loco navigant, tormenti modo +missi. Nec mergit cadens unda, sed planis aquis tradit. Senec. <hi rend='italic'>Nat. +Quæst.</hi> l. iv. c. 2.—Trans.</note> This river, which at first glided smoothly +along the vast deserts of Ethiopia, before it enters Egypt, passes by +the cataracts. Then growing on a sudden, contrary to its nature, +raging and violent in those places where it is pent up and +restrained; after having, at last, broken through all obstacles +in its way, it precipitates itself from the top of some rocks to +the bottom, with so loud a noise, that it is heard three leagues off. +</p> + +<p> +The inhabitants of the country, accustomed by long practice +to this sport, exhibit here a spectacle to travellers that is more +terrifying than diverting. Two of them go into a little boat; +the one to guide it, the other to throw out the water. After +having long sustained the violence of the raging waves, by +managing their little boat very dexterously, they suffer themselves +to be carried away with the impetuous torrent as swift as +an arrow. The affrighted spectator imagines they are going to +be swallowed up in the precipice down which they fall; when +the Nile, restored to its natural course, discovers them again, +at a considerable distance, on its smooth and calm waters. +This is Seneca's account, which is confirmed by our modern +travellers. +</p> + +<pb n='013'/><anchor id='Pg013'/> + +<p> +3. <hi rend='italic'>Causes of the Inundations of the Nile.</hi>—The ancients +have invented many subtle reasons for the Nile's great increase, +as may be seen in Herodotus, Diodorus Siculus, and Seneca.<note place='foot'>Herod. +l. ii. c. 19-27. Diod. l. i. p. 35-39. Senec. <hi rend='italic'>Nat. Quæst.</hi> l. iv. +1 & 2.</note> +But it is now no longer a matter of dispute, it being almost +universally allowed, that the inundations of the Nile are owing +to the great rains which fall in Ethiopia, from whence this river +flows. These rains swell it to such a degree, that Ethiopia first, +and then Egypt, are overflowed; and that which at first was +but a large river, rises like a sea, and overspreads the whole +country. +</p> + +<p> +Strabo observes,<note place='foot'>Lib. xvii. p. 789.</note> +that the ancients only guessed that the +inundations of the Nile were owing to the rains which fall in +great abundance in Ethiopia; but adds, that several travellers +have since been eye-witnesses of it; Ptolemy Philadelphus, +who was very curious in all things relating to arts and sciences, +having sent thither able persons, purposely to examine this +matter, and to ascertain the cause of so uncommon and +remarkable an effect. +</p> + +<p> +4. <hi rend='italic'>The Time and Continuance of the Inundations.</hi>—Herodotus, +and after him Diodorus Siculus, and several other +authors, declare, that the Nile begins to swell in Egypt at the +summer solstice, that is, about the end of June, and continues to +rise till the end of September; and then decreases gradually +during the months of October and November; after which it +returns to its channel, and resumes its wonted course.<note place='foot'>Herod. +l. ii. c. 19. Diod. l. i. p 32.</note> This +account agrees very nearly with the relations of all the moderns, +and is founded in reality on the natural cause of the inundation, +<hi rend='italic'>viz.</hi> the rains which fall in Ethiopia. Now, according to the +constant testimony of those who have been on the spot, these +rains begin to fall in the month of April, and continue, during +five months, till the end of August and beginning of September. +The Nile's increase in Egypt must, consequently, begin three +weeks or a month after the rains have begun to fall in Abyssinia; +and accordingly travellers observe, that the Nile begins +to rise in the month of May, but so slowly at the first, that it +probably does not yet overflow its banks. The inundation +happens not till about the end of June, and lasts the three +following months, according to Herodotus. +</p> + +<pb n='014'/><anchor id='Pg014'/> + +<p> +I must point out to such as consult the originals, a contradiction +in this place between Herodotus and Diodorus on one +side; and between Strabo, Pliny, and Solinus, on the other. +These last shorten very much the continuance of the inundation; +and suppose the Nile to draw off from the lands in three +months or a hundred days. And what adds to the difficulty, +is, that Pliny seems to ground his opinion on the testimony of +Herodotus: <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>In totum autem revocatur Nilus intra ripas in +Librá, ut tradit Herodotus, centesimo die.</foreign> I leave to the +learned the reconciling of this contradiction. +</p> + +<p> +5. <hi rend='italic'>The Height of the Inundations.</hi>—The just height of +the inundation, according to Pliny, is sixteen cubits.<note place='foot'>Justum +incrementum est cubitorum xvi. Minores aquæ non omnia rigant: +ampliores detinent tardiùs recedendo. Hæ serendi tempora absumunt solo madente: +illæ non dant sitiente. Utrumque reputat provincia. In duodecim cubitis famem +sentit, in tredecim etiamnum esurit: quatuordecim cubita hilaritatem afferunt, +quindecim securitatem, sexdecim delicias. Plin. l. v. c. 9.—Trans.</note> When it +rises but to twelve or thirteen, a famine is threatened; and +when it exceeds sixteen, there is danger. It must be remembered, +that a cubit is a foot and a half. The emperor Julian +takes notice, in a letter to Ecdicius, prefect of Egypt,<note place='foot'>Jul. +<hi rend='italic'>Epist.</hi> 50.</note> that the +height of the Nile's overflowing was fifteen cubits, the 20th of +September, in 362. The ancients do not agree entirely with +one another, nor with the moderns, with regard to the height +of the inundation; but the difference is not very considerable, +and may proceed, 1. from the disparity between the ancient +and modern measures, which it is hard to estimate on a fixed +and certain foot; 2. from the carelessness of the observers and +historians; 3. from the real difference of the Nile's increase, +which was not so great the nearer it approached the sea. +</p> + +<p> +As the riches of Egypt depended on the inundation of the +Nile, all the circumstances and different degrees of its increase +had been carefully considered; and by a long series of regular +observations, made during many years, the inundation itself +discovered what kind of harvest the ensuing year was likely to +produce.<note place='foot'>Diod. l. i. p 33.</note> +The kings had placed at Memphis a measure on +which these different increases were marked; and from thence +notice was given to all the rest of Egypt, the inhabitants of +which knew, by that means, beforehand, what they might fear +<pb n='015'/><anchor id='Pg015'/> +or promise themselves from the harvest. Strabo speaks of a +well on the banks of the Nile near the town of Syene, made +for that purpose.<note place='foot'>Lib. xvii. p. 817.</note> +</p> + +<p> +The same custom is observed to this day at Grand Cairo. +In the court of a mosque there stands a pillar, on which are +marked the degrees of the Nile's increase; and common criers +every day proclaim, in all parts of the city, how high it is risen. +The tribute paid to the Grand Signior for the lands, is regulated +by the inundation. The day on which it rises to a certain +height, is kept as a grand festival, and solemnized with fire-works, +feastings, and all the demonstrations of public rejoicing; +and in the remotest ages, the overflowing of the Nile was +always attended with an universal joy throughout all Egypt, +that being the fountain of its happiness. +</p> + +<p> +The heathens ascribed the inundation of the Nile to their +god Serapis; and the pillar on which was marked the increase, +was preserved religiously in the temple of that idol.<note place='foot'>Socrat. +l. i. c. 18. Sozom. l. v. c. 3.</note> The +emperor Constantine having ordered it to be removed into the +church of Alexandria, the Egyptians spread a report, that the +Nile would rise no more by reason of the wrath of Serapis; +but the river overflowed and increased as usual the following +years. Julian the apostate, a zealous protector of idolatry, +caused this pillar to be replaced in the same temple, out of +which it was again removed by the command of Theodosius. +</p> + +<p> +6. <hi rend='italic'>The Canals of the Nile and Spiral Pumps.</hi>—Divine +Providence, in giving so beneficent a river to Egypt, did not +thereby intend that the inhabitants of it should be idle, and +enjoy so great a blessing without taking any pains. One may +naturally suppose, that as the Nile could not of itself cover the +whole country, great labour was to be used to facilitate the +overflowing of the lands; and numberless canals cut, in order +to convey the waters to all parts. The villages, which stand +very thick on the banks of the Nile on eminences, have each +their canals, which are opened at proper times, to let the water +into the country. The more distant villages have theirs also, +even to the extremities of the kingdom. Thus the waters are +successively conveyed to the most remote places. Persons are +not permitted to cut the trenches to receive the waters, till the +<pb n='016'/><anchor id='Pg016'/> +river is at a certain height; nor to open them all at once; +because otherwise some lands would be too much overflowed, +and others not covered enough. They begin with opening +them in Upper, and afterwards in Lower Egypt, according to +the rules prescribed in a roll or book, in which all the measures +are exactly set down. By this means the water is husbanded +with such care, that it spreads itself over all the lands. The +countries overflowed by the Nile are so extensive, and lie so +low, and the number of canals so great, that of all the waters +which flow into Egypt during the months of June, July, and +August, it is believed that not a tenth part of them reaches the +sea. +</p> + +<p> +But as, notwithstanding all these canals, there are still +abundance of high lands which cannot receive the benefit of +the Nile's overflowing; this want is supplied by spiral pumps, +which are turned by oxen, in order to bring the water into pipes, +which convey it to these lands. Diodorus speaks of a +similar engine invented by Archimedes in his travels into Egypt, +which is called <hi rend='italic'>Cochlea Ægyptia</hi>.<note place='foot'>Lib. +i. p. 30. & lib. v. p. 313.</note> +</p> + +<p> +7. <hi rend='italic'>The Fertility caused by the Nile.</hi>—There is no country +in the world where the soil is more fruitful than in Egypt; +which is owing entirely to the Nile. For whereas other rivers, +when they overflow lands, wash away and exhaust their vivific +moisture; the Nile, on the contrary, by the excellent slime it +brings along with it, fattens and enriches them in such a +manner, as sufficiently compensates for what the foregoing +harvest had impaired.<note place='foot'>Cùm cæteri amnes abluant terras et eviscerent; +Nilus adeò nihil exedit nec abradit, ut contrà adjiciat vires.—Ita juvat agros +duabus ex causis, et quòd inundat, et quòd oblimat. Senec. +<hi rend='italic'>Nat. Quæst.</hi> l. iv. c. 2.—Trans.</note> +The husbandman, in this country, +never tires himself with holding the plough, or breaking the +clods of earth. As soon as the Nile retires, he has nothing to +do but to turn up the earth, and temper it with a little sand, +in order to lessen its rankness; after which he sows it with +great ease, and with little or no expense. Two months after, +it is covered with all sorts of corn and pulse. The Egyptians +generally sow in October and November, according as the +waters draw off; and their harvest is in March and April. +</p> + +<p> +The same land bears, in one year, three or four different +<pb n='017'/><anchor id='Pg017'/> +kinds of crops. Lettuces and cucumbers are sown first; then +corn; and, after harvest, several sorts of pulse which are +peculiar to Egypt. As the sun is extremely hot in this country, +and rains fall very seldom in it, it is natural to suppose that the +earth would soon be parched, and the corn and pulse burnt up +by so scorching a heat, were it not for the canals and reservoirs +with which Egypt abounds; and which, by the drains from +thence, amply supply wherewith to water and refresh the fields +and gardens. +</p> + +<p> +The Nile contributes no less to the nourishment of cattle, +which is another source of wealth to Egypt. The Egyptians +begin to turn them out to grass in November, and they graze +till the end of March. Words could never express how rich +their pastures are; and how fat the flocks and herds (which, +by reason of the mildness of the air, are out night and day) +grow in a very little time. During the inundation of the Nile, +they are fed with hay and cut straw, barley and beans, which +are their common food. +</p> + +<p> +A man cannot, says Corneille de Bruyn in his Travels,<note place='foot'>Vol. ii.</note> +help observing the admirable providence of God towards this +country, who sends at a fixed season such great quantities +of rain in Ethiopia, in order to water Egypt, where a shower +of rain scarce ever falls; and who, by that means, causes the +driest and most sandy soil to become the richest and most +fruitful country in the universe. +</p> + +<p> +Another thing to be observed here is, that (as the inhabitants +say) in the beginning of June, and the four following months, +the north-east winds blow constantly, in order to keep back the +waters, which otherwise would draw off too fast; and to hinder +them from discharging themselves into the sea, the entrance to +which these winds bar up, as it were, from them. The ancients +have not omitted this circumstance. +</p> + +<p> +The same Providence, whose ways are wonderful and +infinitely various, displayed itself after a quite different manner +in Palestine, in rendering it exceeding fruitful;<note place='foot'>Multiformis +sapientia. Eph. iii. 10.</note> not by rains, +which fall during the course of the year, as is usual in other +places; nor by a peculiar inundation like that of the Nile in +Egypt; but by sending fixed rains at two seasons, when his +<pb n='018'/><anchor id='Pg018'/> +people were obedient to him, to make them more sensible of +their continual dependence upon him. God himself commands +them, by his servant Moses, to make this reflection: <q>The +land whither thou goest in to possess it, is not as the land of +Egypt, from whence ye came out, where thou sowedst thy +seed, and wateredst it with thy foot, as a garden of herbs: but +the land whither ye go to possess it, is a land of hills and +valleys, and drinketh water of the rain of heaven.</q><note place='foot'>Deut. +xi. 10-13.</note> After this, +God promises to give his people, so long as they shall continue +obedient to him, <q>the former</q> and <q>the latter rain:</q> the +first in autumn, to bring up the corn; and the second in the +spring and summer, to make it grow and ripen. +</p> + +<p> +8. <hi rend='italic'>The different Prospects exhibited by the Nile.</hi>—There +cannot be a finer sight than Egypt at two seasons of the year. +For if a man ascends some mountain, or one of the largest +pyramids of Grand Cairo, in the months of July and August, +he beholds a vast sea, in which numberless towns and villages +appear, with several causeys leading from place to place; the +whole interspersed with groves and fruit trees, whose tops only +are visible; all which forms a delightful prospect.<note place='foot'>Illa facies +pulcherrima est, cùm jam se in agros Nilus ingessit. Latent campi, +opertæque sunt valles: oppida insularum modo extant. Nullum in mediterraneis, +nisi per navigia, commercium est: majorque est lætitia in gentibus, quo minus +terrarum suarum vident. Senec. <hi rend='italic'>Nat. Quæst.</hi> l. iv. c. +2.—Trans.</note> This view +is bounded by mountains and woods, which terminate, at the +utmost distance the eye can discover, the most beautiful +horizon that can be imagined. On the contrary, in winter, that +is to say, in the months of January and February, the whole +country is like one continued scene of beautiful meadows, +whose verdure, enamelled with flowers, charms the eye. The +spectator beholds, on every side, flocks and herds dispersed +over all the plains, with infinite numbers of husbandmen and +gardeners. The air is then perfumed by the great quantity of +blossoms on the orange, lemon, and other trees; and is so +pure, that a wholesomer or more agreeable is not found in the +world; so that nature, being then dead, as it were, in all other +climates, seems to be alive only for so delightful an abode. +</p> + +<p> +9. <hi rend='italic'>The Canal formed by the Nile, by which a communication +in made between the two Seas.</hi>—The canal, by which a +<pb n='019'/><anchor id='Pg019'/> +communication was made between the Red-Sea and the +Mediterranean, ought to have a place here, as it was not one +of the least advantages which the Nile procured to Egypt.<note place='foot'>Herod. +l. ii. c. 158. Strab. l. xvii. p. 804. Plin l. vi. +c. 29. Diod. l. i p. 29.</note> +Sesostris, or, according to others, Psammetichus, first projected +the design, and began this work. Necho, successor to the last +prince, laid out immense sums upon it, and employed a prodigious +number of men. It is said, that above six score +thousand Egyptians perished in the undertaking. He gave it +over, terrified by an oracle, which told him that he would +thereby open a door for Barbarians (for by this name they +called all foreigners) to enter Egypt. The work was continued +by Darius, the first of that name; but he also desisted from it, +upon his being told, that as the Red-Sea lay higher than +Egypt, it would drown the whole country. But it was at last +finished under the Ptolemies, who, by the help of sluices, +opened or shut the canal as there was occasion. It began not +far from the Delta, near the town of Bubastus. It was a +hundred cubits, that is, twenty-five fathoms broad, so that two +vessels might pass with ease; it had depth enough to carry the +largest ships; and was about a thousand stadia, that is, above +fifty leagues long. This canal was of great service to the trade +of Egypt. But it is now almost filled up, and there are scarce +any remains of it to be seen. +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Chapter III. Lower Egypt.</head> + +<p> +I am now to speak of Lower Egypt. Its shape, which +resembles a triangle, or Delta, Δ, gave occasion to its bearing +the latter name, which is that of one of the Greek letters. +Lower Egypt forms a kind of island; it begins at a place +where the Nile is divided into two large canals, through which +it empties itself into the Mediterranean: the mouth on the +right hand is called the Pelusian, and the other the Canopic, +from two cities in their neighbourhood, Pelusium and Canopus, +now called Damietta and Rosetta. Between these two large +branches, there are five others of less note. This island is the +best cultivated, the most fruitful, and the richest part of Egypt. +Its chief cities (very anciently) were Heliopolis, Heracleopolis, +Naucratis, Sais, Tanis, Canopus, Pelusium; and, in latter +<pb n='020'/><anchor id='Pg020'/> +times, Alexandria, Nicopolis, &c. It was in the country of +Tanis that the Israelites dwelt. +</p> + +<p> +There was at Sais,<note place='foot'>Plutar. <hi rend='italic'>de +Isid.</hi> p. 354.</note> a temple dedicated to Minerva, who is +supposed to be the same as Isis, with the following inscription: +<q>I am whatever hath been, and is, and shall be; and no mortal +hath yet pierced through the veil that shrouds me.</q> +</p> + +<p> +Heliopolis, that is, the city of the sun, was so called from +a magnificent temple there dedicated to that planet.<note place='foot'>Strab. l. +xvii. p. 805. Herod l. ii. c. 73. Plin. l. x. c. 2. +Tacit. <hi rend='italic'>Ann.</hi> l. vi. c. 28.</note> Herodotus, +and other authors after him, relate some particulars +concerning the Phœnix and this temple, which, if true, would +indeed be very wonderful. Of this kind of birds, if we may +believe the ancients, there is never but one at a time in the +world. He is brought forth in Arabia, lives five or six hundred +years, and is of the size of an eagle. His head is adorned +with a shining and most beautiful crest; the feathers of his +neck are of a gold colour, and the rest of a purple; his tail is +white, intermixed with red, and his eyes sparkling like stars. +When he is old, and finds his end approaching, he builds a +nest with wood and aromatic spices, and then dies. Of his +bones and marrow, a worm is produced, out of which another +Phœnix is formed. His first care is to solemnize his parent's +obsequies, for which purpose he makes up a ball in the shape +of an egg, with abundance of perfumes of myrrh, as heavy as +he can carry, which he often essays beforehand; then he makes +a hole in it, where he deposits his parent's body, and closes it +carefully with myrrh and other perfumes. After this he takes +up the precious load on his shoulders, and flying to the altar +of the sun, in the city of Heliopolis, he there burns it. +</p> + +<p> +Herodotus and Tacitus dispute the truth of some of the circumstances +of this account, but seem to suppose it true in +general. Pliny, on the contrary, in the very beginning of his +account of it, insinuates plainly enough, that he looks upon the +whole as fabulous; and this is the opinion of all modern +authors. +</p> + +<p> +This ancient tradition, though grounded on an evident falsehood, +hath yet introduced into almost all languages, the custom +of giving the name of phœnix to whatever is singular and +<pb n='021'/><anchor id='Pg021'/> +uncommon in its kind: <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Rara avis in +terris</foreign>, says Juvenal,<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Sat.</hi> vi.</note> +speaking of the difficulty of finding an accomplished woman in +all respects. And Seneca observes the same of a good man.<note place='foot'>Vir +bonus tam citò nec fieri potest, nec intelligi—tanquam Phœnix, semel anno +quingentesimo nascitur. <hi rend='italic'>Ep.</hi> 40.—Trans.</note> +</p> + +<p> +What is reported of swans, <hi rend='italic'>viz.</hi> that they never sing but in +their expiring moments, and that then they warble very melodiously, +is likewise grounded merely on a vulgar error; and +yet it is used, not only by the poets, but also by the orators, +and even the philosophers. <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>O mutis quoque piscibus +donatura cycni, si libeat, sonum</foreign>,<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Od.</hi> +iii. l. iv.</note> says Horace to Melpomene. +Cicero compares the excellent discourse which Crassus made +in the Senate, a few days before his death, to the melodious +singing of a dying swan: <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Illa tanquam cycnea fuit divini +hominis vox et oratio.</foreign> <hi rend='italic'>De Orat.</hi> l. iii. n. 6. And +Socrates used to say, that good men ought to imitate swans, who, perceiving +by a secret instinct, and a sort of divination, what advantage +there is in death, die singing and with joy: <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Providentes +quid in morte boni sit, cum cantu et voluptate moriuntur.</foreign> +<hi rend='italic'>Tusc. Qu.</hi> l. i. n. 73. I thought this short digression might be +of service to youth; and return now to my subject. +</p> + +<p> +It was in Heliopolis, that an ox, under the name of Mnevis, +was worshipped as a god.<note place='foot'>Strab. l. xvii. +p. 805.</note> Cambyses, king of Persia, exercised +his sacrilegious rage on this city; burning the temples, demolishing +the palaces, and destroying the most precious monuments +of antiquity in it. There are still to be seen some obelisks +which escaped his fury; and others were brought from +thence to Rome, to which city they are an ornament even at +this day. +</p> + +<p> +Alexandria, built by Alexander the Great, from whom it had +its name, vied almost in magnificence with the ancient cities +in Egypt. It stands four days' journey from Cairo, and was +formerly the chief mart of all the trade of the East. The +merchandises were unloaded at Portus Murius,<note place='foot'>Or +Myos Hormos.—Trans.</note> a town on the western coast +of the Red-Sea;<note place='foot'>Strab. l. xvi p. 781.</note> +from whence they were brought +upon camels to a town of Thebais, called Copht, and afterwards +conveyed down the Nile to Alexandria, whither merchants +resorted from all parts. +</p> + +<pb n='022'/><anchor id='Pg022'/> + +<p> +It is well known that the trade of the East hath, at all times, +enriched those who carried it on. This was the chief source +of the vast treasures that Solomon amassed, and which enabled +him to build the magnificent temple of Jerusalem. David, +by conquering Idumæa, became master of Elath and Esiongeber, +two towns situated on the eastern shore of the Red-Sea.<note place='foot'>2 +Sam. viii. 14.</note> +From these two ports,<note place='foot'>1 Kings ix. 26.</note> +Solomon sent fleets to Ophir and Tarshish, +which always brought back immense riches.<note place='foot'>He got in one voyage 450 +talents of gold, 2 Chron. viii. 18, which amounts to three millions two +hundred and forty thousand pounds sterling. Prid. <hi rend='italic'>Connect.</hi>, vol. i. +<hi rend='italic'>ad ann.</hi> 740, <hi rend='italic'>not.</hi>—Trans.</note> This +traffic, after having been enjoyed some time by the Syrians, +who regained Idumæa, passed from them into the hands of the +Tyrians. These got all their merchandise conveyed, by the +way of Rhinocolura (a sea-port town lying between the confines +of Egypt and Palestine) to Tyre, from whence they distributed +them all over the western world.<note place='foot'>Strab. l. xvi. +p. 481.</note> Hereby the Tyrians +enriched themselves exceedingly, under the Persian empire, +by the favour and protection of whose monarchs they had the +full possession of this trade. But when the Ptolemies had +made themselves masters of Egypt, they soon drew all this +trade into their kingdom, by building Berenice and other ports +on the western side of the Red-Sea, belonging to Egypt; and +fixed their chief mart at Alexandria, which thereby rose to be +the city of the greatest trade in the world. There it continued +for a great many centuries after; and all the traffic which the +western parts of the world from that time had with Persia, +India, Arabia, and the eastern coasts of Africa, was wholly +carried on through the Red-Sea and the mouth of the Nile, +till a way was discovered, a little above two hundred years +since, of sailing to those parts by the Cape of Good Hope. +After this, the Portuguese for some time were masters of this +trade; but now it is in a manner engrossed wholly by the +English and Dutch. This short account of the East-India +trade, from Solomon's time, to the present age, is extracted +from Dr. Prideaux.<note place='foot'>Part I. i. p. 9.</note> +</p> + +<p> +For the convenience of trade, there was built near Alexandria, +in an island called Pharos, a tower which bore the same +<pb n='023'/><anchor id='Pg023'/> +name.<note place='foot'>Strab. l. xvii. p. 791. Plin. l. xxxvi. +c. 12.</note> At the top of this tower was kept a fire, to light such +ships as sailed by night near those dangerous coasts, which +were full of sands and shelves, from whence all other towers, +designed for the same use, have derived their name, as, Pharo +di Messina, &c. The famous architect Sostratus built it by +order of Ptolemy Philadelphus, who expended eight hundred +talents upon it.<note place='foot'>Eight hundred thousand crowns, +or 180,000<hi rend='italic'>l</hi>. sterling.—Trans.</note> +It was reckoned one of the seven wonders of +the world. Some, through a mistake, have commended that +prince, for permitting the architect to put his name in the inscription, +which was fixed on the tower, instead of his own.<note place='foot'>Magno +animo Ptolemæi regis, quòd in eà permiserit Sostrati Cnidii architecti +structuræ nomen inscribi. Plin.—Trans.</note> +It was very short and plain, according to the manner of the +ancients. <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Sostratus Cnidius Dexiphanis F. Diis +Servatoribus pro navigantibus</foreign>: <hi rend='italic'>i.e.</hi> Sostratus the +Cnidian, son of Dexiphanes, to the protecting deities, for the use of sea-faring +people. But certainly Ptolemy must have very much undervalued +that kind of immortality which princes are generally so +fond of, to suffer, that his name should not be so much as +mentioned in the inscription of an edifice so capable of immortalizing +him. What we read in Lucian concerning this matter, +deprives Ptolemy of a modesty, which indeed would be very +ill placed here.<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>De scribend. +Hist.</hi> p. 706.</note> This author informs us that Sostratus, to +engross in after-times the whole glory of that noble structure +to himself, caused the inscription with his own name to be +carved in the marble, which he afterwards covered with lime, +and thereon put the king's name. The lime soon mouldered +away; and by that means, instead of procuring the architect +the honour with which he had flattered himself, served only to +discover to future ages his mean fraud and ridiculous vanity. +</p> + +<p> +Riches failed not to bring into this city, as they usually do +in all places, luxury and licentiousness; so that the Alexandrian +voluptuousness became a proverb.<note place='foot'>Ne Alexandrinis +quidem permittenda deliciis. Quintil.—Trans.</note> In this city arts and +sciences were also industriously cultivated, witness that stately +edifice, surnamed the Museum, where the literati used to meet, +and were maintained at the public expense; and the famous +library, which was augmented considerably by Ptolemy Philadelphus; +<pb n='024'/><anchor id='Pg024'/> +and which, by the magnificence of the kings his successors, +at last contained seven hundred thousand volumes. +In Cæsar's wars with the Alexandrians, part of this library, +(situate in the Bruchion,<note place='foot'>A quarter or division of the city of +Alexandria.—Trans.</note>) which consisted of four hundred +thousand volumes, was unhappily consumed by fire.<note place='foot'>Plut. +<hi rend='italic'>in Cæs.</hi> p. 731. Seneca, <hi rend='italic'>de Tranquill. +Amm.</hi> c. 9.</note> +</p> + +</div> + +</div> + +<div> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf' level1='Part The Second. Of the Manners and Customs.'/> +<head>Part The Second. +Of the Manners and Customs of the Egyptians.</head> + +<p> +Egypt was ever considered, by all the ancients, as the +most renowned school for wisdom and politics, and the source +from whence most arts and sciences were derived. This kingdom +bestowed its noblest labours and finest arts on the improvement +of mankind; and Greece was so sensible of this, +that its most illustrious men, as Homer, Pythagoras, Plato; +even its great legislators, Lycurgus and Solon, with many +more whom it is needless to mention, travelled into Egypt, +to complete their studies, and draw from that fountain whatever +was most rare and valuable in every kind of learning. +God himself has given this kingdom a glorious testimony, +when praising Moses, he says of him, that <q>He was learned +in all the wisdom of the Egyptians.</q><note place='foot'>Acts vii. 22.</note> +</p> + +<p> +To give some idea of the manners and customs of Egypt, I +shall confine myself principally to these particulars: its kings +and government; priests and religion; soldiers and war; +sciences, arts, and trades. +</p> + +<p> +The reader must not be surprised if he sometimes finds, in +the customs I take notice of, a kind of contradiction. This +circumstance is owing either to the difference of countries and +nations, which did not always follow the same usages; or to +the different way of thinking of the historians whom I copy. +</p> + +<pb n='025'/><anchor id='Pg025'/> + +<div> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Chapter I. Concerning The Kings And Government.</head> + +<p> +The Egyptians were the first people who rightly understood +the rules of government. A nation so grave and serious immediately +perceived, that the true end of politics is, to make +life easy, and a people happy. +</p> + +<p> +The kingdom was hereditary; but, according to Diodorus,<note place='foot'>Diod. +l. i. p. 63, &c.</note> +the Egyptian princes conducted themselves in a different +manner from what is usually seen in other monarchies, +where the prince acknowledges no other rule of his actions +than his own arbitrary will and pleasure. But here, kings +were under greater restraint from the laws than their subjects. +They had some particular ones digested by a former monarch, +that composed part of what the Egyptians called the sacred +books. Thus every thing being settled by ancient custom, they +never sought to live in a different way from their ancestors. +</p> + +<p> +No slave nor foreigner was admitted into the immediate +service of the prince; such a post was too important to be +intrusted to any persons, except those who were the most distinguished +by their birth, and had received the most excellent +education; to the end that, as they had the liberty of approaching +the king's person day and night, he might, from men so +qualified, hear nothing which was unbecoming the royal majesty; +nor have any sentiments instilled into him but such as +were of a noble and generous kind. For, adds Diodorus, it is +very rarely seen that kings fly out into any vicious excess, +unless those who approach them approve their irregularities, +or serve as instruments to their passions. +</p> + +<p> +The kings of Egypt freely permitted, not only the quality +and proportion of what they ate and drank to be prescribed +them, (a thing customary in Egypt, whose inhabitants were all +sober, and whose air inspired frugality,) but even that all their +hours, and almost every action, should be under the regulation +of the laws. +</p> + +<p> +In the morning at day break, when the head is clearest, and +the thoughts most unperplexed, they read the several letters +they received; to form a more just and distinct idea of the +affairs which were to come under their consideration that day. +</p> + +<pb n='026'/><anchor id='Pg026'/> + +<p> +As soon as they were dressed, they went to the daily sacrifice +performed in the temple; where, surrounded with their +whole court, and the victims placed before the altar, they assisted +at the prayer pronounced aloud by the high priest, in +which he asked of the gods, health and all other blessings for +the king, because he governed his people with clemency and +justice, and made the laws of his kingdom the rule and standard +of his actions. The high priest entered into a long detail +of his royal virtues; observing, that he was religious to the +gods, affable to men, moderate, just, magnanimous, sincere; +an enemy to falsehood; liberal; master of his passions; +punishing crimes with the utmost lenity, but boundless in +rewarding merit. He next spoke of the faults which kings +might be guilty of; but supposed at the same time that they +never committed any, except by surprise or ignorance; and +loaded with imprecations such of their ministers as gave them +ill council, and suppressed or disguised the truth. Such were +the methods of conveying instruction to their kings. It was +thought that reproaches would only sour their tempers; and +that the most effectual method to inspire them with virtue, +would be to point out to them their duty in praises conformable +to the sense of the laws, and pronounced in a solemn +manner before the gods. After the prayers and sacrifices were +ended, the councils and actions of great men were read to the +king out of the sacred books, in order that he might govern his +dominions according to their maxims, and maintain the laws +which had made his predecessors and their subjects so happy. +</p> + +<p> +I have already observed, that the quantity as well as quality +of what he ate or drank were prescribed, by the laws, to the +king: his table was covered with nothing but the most common +food; because eating in Egypt was designed, not to +tickle the palate, but to satisfy the cravings of nature. One +would have concluded, (observes the historian,) that these +rules had been laid down by some able physician, who was +attentive only to the health of the prince, rather than by a +legislator. The same simplicity was seen in all other things; +and we read in Plutarch of a temple in Thebes, which had +one of its pillars inscribed with imprecations against that king +who first introduced profusion and luxury into +Egypt.<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>De Isid. et Osir.</hi> p. 354.</note> +</p> + +<pb n='027'/><anchor id='Pg027'/> + +<p> +The principal duty of kings, and their most essential function, +is the administering justice to their subjects. Accordingly +the kings of Egypt cultivated more immediately this duty; +convinced that on this depended not only the ease and comfort +of individuals, but the happiness of the state; which +would be a herd of robbers rather than a kingdom, should the +weak be unprotected, and the powerful enabled by their riches +and influence to commit crimes with impunity. +</p> + +<p> +Thirty judges were selected out of the principal cities, to +form a body for dispensing justice through the whole kingdom. +The prince, in filling these vacancies, chose such as were +most renowned for their honesty; and put at their head, him +who was most distinguished for his knowledge and love of the +laws, and was had in the most universal esteem. They had +revenues assigned them, to the end that, being freed from domestic +cares, they might devote their whole time to the execution +of the laws. Thus honourably maintained by the generosity +of the prince, they administered gratuitously to the +people, that justice to which they have a natural right, and +which ought to be equally open to all; and, in some sense, to +the poor more than the rich, because the latter find a support +within themselves; whereas the very condition of the former +exposes them more to injuries, and therefore calls louder for +the protection of the laws. To guard against surprise, affairs +were transacted by writing in the assemblies of these judges. +That false eloquence was dreaded, which dazzles the mind, and +moves the passions. Truth could not be expressed with too +much plainness, as it alone was to have the sway in judgments; +because in that alone the rich and poor, the powerful and weak, +the learned and the ignorant, were to find relief and security. +The president of this senate wore a collar of gold set with precious +stones, at which hung a figure represented blind, this +being called the emblem of truth. When the president put +this collar on, it was understood as a signal to enter upon business. +He touched the party with it who was to gain his cause, +and this was the form of passing sentence. +</p> + +<p> +The most excellent circumstance in the laws of the Egyptians, +was, that every individual, from his infancy, was nurtured +<pb n='028'/><anchor id='Pg028'/> +in the strictest observance of them. A new custom in Egypt +was a kind of miracle.<note place='foot'>Plat. <hi rend='italic'>in +Tim.</hi> p. 656.</note> All things there ran in the old channel; +and the exactness with which little matters were adhered to, +preserved those of more importance; and consequently no +nation ever retained their laws and customs longer than the +Egyptians. +</p> + +<p> +Wilful murder was punished with death,<note place='foot'>Diod. +l. i. p. 70.</note> whatever might +be the condition of the murdered person, whether he was free-born +or otherwise. In this the humanity and equity of the +Egyptians were superior to that of the Romans, who gave the +master an absolute power of life and death over his slave. +The emperor Adrian, indeed, abolished this law; from an opinion, +that an abuse of this nature ought to be reformed, let its +antiquity or authority be ever so great. +</p> + +<p> +Perjury was also punished with death,<note place='foot'>Pag. +69.</note> because that crime +attacks both the gods, whose majesty is trampled upon by +invoking their name to a false oath, and men, by breaking +the strongest tie of human society, <hi rend='italic'>viz.</hi> sincerity and veracity. +</p> + +<p> +The false accuser was condemned to undergo the punishment +which the person accused was to have suffered, had the +accusation been proved.<note place='foot'>Ibid.</note> +</p> + +<p> +He who had neglected or refused to save a man's life +when attacked, if it was in his power to assist him, was punished +as rigorously as the assassin:<note place='foot'>Ibid.</note> but if the unfortunate +person could not be succoured, the offender was at least to be impeached; +and penalties were decreed for any neglect of this +kind. Thus the subjects were a guard and protection to one +another; and the whole body of the community united against +the designs of the bad. +</p> + +<p> +No man was allowed to be useless to the state;<note place='foot'>Ibid.</note> but every +one was obliged to enter his name and place of abode in a +public register, that remained in the hands of the magistrate, +and to describe his profession, and his means of support. If +he gave a false account of himself, he was immediately put to +death. +</p> + +<p> +To prevent borrowing of money, the parent of sloth, +<pb n='029'/><anchor id='Pg029'/> +frauds, and chicane, king Asychis made a very judicious law.<note place='foot'>Herod. +l. ii. c. 136</note> +The wisest and best regulated states, as Athens and Rome, +ever found insuperable difficulties, in contriving a just medium, +to restrain, on one hand, the cruelty of the creditor in the +exaction of his loan; and on the other, the knavery of the +debtor, who refused or neglected to pay his debts. Now +Egypt took a wise course on this occasion; and, without doing +any injury to the personal liberty of its inhabitants, or ruining +their families, pursued the debtor with incessant fears of infamy +in case he were dishonest. No man was permitted to borrow +money without pawning to the creditor the body of his father, +which every Egyptian embalmed with great care; and kept +reverentially in his house, (as will be observed in the sequel,) +and therefore might be easily moved from one place to another. +But it was equally impious and infamous not to redeem +soon so precious a pledge; and he who died without having +discharged this duty, was deprived of the customary honours +paid to the dead.<note place='foot'>This law put the whole +sepulchre of the debtor into the power of the creditor, +who removed to his own house the body of the father: the debtor refusing to discharge +his obligation, was to be deprived of burial, either in his father's sepulchre or +any other; and whilst he lived, he was not permitted to bury any person descended +from him. Μηδὲ αὐτῷ ἐκείνῳ τελευτήσαντι εἶναι ταφῆς κυρῆσαι—μήτ᾽ ἄλλον +μηδένα τὸν ἑαυτοῦ ἀπὸ γενόμενον θάψαι. +Herod.—Trans.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Diodorus remarks an error committed by some of the +Grecian legislators.<note place='foot'>Diod. l. i. p. +71.</note> They forbid, for instance, the taking +away (to satisfy debts) the horses, ploughs, and other implements +of husbandry employed by peasants; judging it inhuman +to reduce, by this security, these poor men to an impossibility +of discharging their debts, and getting their bread: but, +at the same time, they permitted the creditor to imprison the +peasants themselves, who alone were capable of using these +implements, which exposed them to the same inconveniences, +and at the same time deprived the government of persons who +belong, and are necessary, to it; who labour for the public emolument, +and over whose person no private man has any right. +</p> + +<p> +Polygamy was allowed in Egypt, except to the priests, who +could marry but one woman.<note place='foot'>Ibid. p. +72.</note> Whatever was the condition of +the woman, whether she was free or a slave, her children were +deemed free and legitimate. +</p> + +<pb n='030'/><anchor id='Pg030'/> + +<p> +One custom that was practised in Egypt, shows the profound +darkness into which such nations as were most celebrated +for their wisdom have been plunged; and this is the +marriage of brothers with their sisters, which was not only +authorized by the laws, but even, in some measure, originated +from their religion, from the example and practice of such of +their gods as had been the most anciently and universally +adored in Egypt, that is, Osiris and Isis.<note place='foot'>Diod. l. i. p. 22.</note> +</p> + +<p> +A very great respect was there paid to old age.<note place='foot'>Herod. +l. ii. c. 20.</note> The +young were obliged to rise up for the old; and on every occasion, +to resign to them the most honourable seat. The Spartans +borrowed this law from the Egyptians. +</p> + +<p> +The virtue in the highest esteem among the Egyptians, was +gratitude. The glory which has been given them of being the +most grateful of all men, shows that they were the best formed +of any nation for social life. Benefits are the band of concord, +both public and private. He who acknowledges favours, +loves to confer them; and in banishing ingratitude, the pleasure +of doing good remains so pure and engaging, that it is +impossible for a man to be insensible of it. But it was particularly +towards their kings that the Egyptians prided themselves +on evincing their gratitude. They honoured them whilst +living, as so many visible representations of the Deity; and +after their death lamented for them as the fathers of their +country. These sentiments of respect and tenderness proceeded +from a strong persuasion, that the Divinity himself had +placed them upon the throne, as he distinguished them so +greatly from all other mortals; and that kings bore the most +noble characteristics of the Supreme Being, as the power and +will of doing good to others were united in their persons. +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Chapter II. Concerning the Priests And Religion +Of The Egyptians.</head> + +<p> +Priests, in Egypt, held the second rank to kings. They had +great privileges and revenues; their lands were exempted from +all imposts; of which some traces are seen in Genesis, where +<pb n='031'/><anchor id='Pg031'/> +it is said, <q>Joseph made it a law over the land of Egypt, that +Pharaoh should have the fifth part, except the land of the +priests only, which became not Pharaoh's.</q><note place='foot'>Gen. xlvii. 26.</note> +</p> + +<p> +The prince usually honoured them with a large share in his +confidence and government, because they, of all his subjects, +had received the best education, had acquired the greatest +knowledge, and were most strongly attached to the king's person +and the good of the public. They were at one and the +same time the depositaries of religion and of the sciences; +and to this circumstance was owing the great respect which +was paid them by the natives as well as foreigners, by whom +they were alike consulted upon the most sacred things relating +to the mysteries of religion, and the most profound subjects in +the several sciences. +</p> + +<p> +The Egyptians pretend to be the first institutors of festivals +and processions in honour of the gods.<note place='foot'>Herod. +l. ii. c. 60.</note> One festival was celebrated +in the city of Bubastus, whither persons resorted from all +parts of Egypt, and upwards of seventy thousand, besides children, +were seen at it. Another, surnamed the feast of the lights, +was solemnized at Sais. All persons, throughout Egypt, who +did not go to Sais, were obliged to illuminate their windows. +</p> + +<p> +Different animals were sacrificed in different countries, +but one common and general ceremony was observed in all +sacrifices, <hi rend='italic'>viz.</hi> the laying of hands upon the head of the victim, +loading it at the same time with imprecations; and praying +the gods to divert upon that victim all the calamities which +might threaten Egypt.<note place='foot'>Ibid. c. 39.</note> +</p> + +<p> +It is to Egypt that Pythagoras owed his favourite doctrine +of the Metempsychosis or transmigration of souls.<note place='foot'>Diod. +l. i. p. 88.</note> The Egyptians +believed, that at the death of men their souls transmigrated +into other human bodies; and that, if they had been +vicious, they were imprisoned in the bodies of unclean or ill-conditioned +beasts, to expiate in them their past transgressions; +and that after a revolution of some centuries they again +animated other human bodies. +</p> + +<p> +The priests had the possession of the sacred books, which +contained, at large, the principles of government, as well as the +mysteries of divine worship. Both were uncommonly involved +<pb n='032'/><anchor id='Pg032'/> +in symbols and enigmas, which, under these veils, made truth +more venerable, and excited more strongly the curiosity of +men.<note place='foot'>Plut. <hi rend='italic'>de Isid. et +Osir.</hi> p. 354.</note> The figure of Harpocrates, in the Egyptian sanctuaries, +with his finger upon his mouth, seemed to intimate, that mysteries +were there enclosed, the knowledge of which was revealed +to very few. The sphinxes, placed at the entrance of all +temples, implied the same. It is very well known that pyramids, +obelisks, pillars, statues, in a word, all public monuments, +were usually adorned with hieroglyphics; that is, with symbolical +writings; whether these were characters unknown to +the vulgar, or figures of animals, under which was couched a +hidden and parabolical meaning. Thus, by a hare, was signified +a lively and piercing attention, because this creature has a +very delicate sense of hearing.<note place='foot'>Plut. +<hi rend='italic'>Sympos.</hi> l. iv. p. 670</note> The statue of a judge without +hands, and with eyes fixed upon the ground, symbolized the +duties of those who were to exercise the judiciary functions.<note place='foot'>Id. +<hi rend='italic'>de Isid.</hi> p. 355.</note> +</p> + +<p> +It would require a volume to treat fully of the religion of the +Egyptians. But I shall confine myself to two articles, which +form the principal part of it; and these are the worship of the +different deities, and the ceremonies relating to funerals. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Sect. I. The Worship of the various Deities.</hi>—Never +were any people more superstitious than the Egyptians; they +had a great number of gods, of different orders and degrees, +which I shall omit, because they belong more to fable than to +history. Among the rest, two were universally adored in that +country, and these were Osiris and Isis, which are thought to +be the sun and moon; and, indeed, the worship of those planets +gave rise to idolatry. +</p> + +<p> +Besides these gods, the Egyptians worshipped a great number +of beasts; as the ox, the dog, the wolf, the hawk, the crocodile, +the ibis,<note place='foot'>Or Egyptian stork.—Trans.</note> +the cat, &c. Many of these beasts were the +objects of the superstition only of some particular cities; and +whilst one people worshipped one species of animals as gods, +their neighbours held the same animals in abomination. This +was the source of the continual wars which were carried on +between one city and another; and this was owing to the false +policy of one of their kings, who, to deprive them of the opportunity +<pb n='033'/><anchor id='Pg033'/> +and means of conspiring against the state, endeavoured +to draw off their attention, by engaging them in religious contests. +I call this a false and mistaken policy; because it +directly thwarts the true spirit of government, the aim of which +is, to unite all its members in the strictest ties, and to make all +its strength consist in the perfect harmony of its several parts. +</p> + +<p> +Every nation had a great zeal for their gods. <q>Among us,</q> +says Cicero,<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>De Nat. Deor.</hi> +l. i. n. 82. <hi rend='italic'>Tusc. Quæst.</hi> l. v. n. 78.</note> +<q>it is very common to see temples robbed, and +statues carried off, but it was never known that any person in +Egypt ever abused a crocodile, an ibis, a cat; for its inhabitants +would have suffered the most, extreme torments, rather +than be guilty of such sacrilege.</q> It was death for any person +to kill one of these animals voluntarily; and even a punishment +was decreed against him who should have killed an ibis, or cat, +with or without design.<note place='foot'>Herod. l. ii. c. +65.</note> Diodorus relates an incident,<note place='foot'>Diod. +l. i. p. 74. 75.</note> to which +he himself was an eye-witness during his stay in Egypt. A Roman +having inadvertently, and without design, killed a cat, the +exasperated populace ran to his house; and neither the authority +of the king, who immediately detached a body of his guards, +nor the terror of the Roman name, could rescue the unfortunate +criminal. And such was the reverence which the Egyptians +had for these animals, that in an extreme famine they +chose to eat one another, rather than feed upon their imagined +deities. +</p> + +<p> +Of all these animals, the bull Apis, called Epaphus by the +Greeks, was the most famous.<note place='foot'>Herod. l. iii. +c. 27, &c. Diod. l. i. p. 76. Plin. l. viii. c. 46.</note> Magnificent temples were +erected to him; extraordinary honours were paid him while he +lived, and still greater after his death. Egypt went then into +a general mourning. His obsequies were solemnized with +such a pomp as is hardly credible. In the reign of Ptolemy +Lagus, the bull Apis dying of old age,<note place='foot'>Pliny affirms, +that he was not allowed to exceed a certain term of years; and +was drowned in the priests' well. Non est fas eum certos vitæ excedere annos, +mersumque in sacerdotum fonte enecant. <hi rend='italic'>Nat. Hist.</hi> +l. viii. c. 46.—Trans.</note> the funeral pomp, besides +the ordinary expenses, amounted to upwards of fifty +thousand French crowns.<note place='foot'>Above +11,250<hi rend='italic'>l.</hi> sterling.—Trans.</note> +After the last honours had been +paid to the deceased god, the next care was to provide him a +<pb n='034'/><anchor id='Pg034'/> +successor; and all Egypt was sought through for that purpose. +He was known by certain signs, which distinguished him from +all other animals of that species; upon his forehead was to be +a white spot, in form of a crescent; on his back, the figure of +an eagle; upon his tongue, that of a beetle. As soon as he +was found, mourning gave place to joy; and nothing was heard, +in all parts of Egypt, but festivals and rejoicings. The new +god was brought to Memphis, to take possession of his dignity, +and there installed with a great number of ceremonies. The +reader will find hereafter, that Cambyses, at his return from his +unfortunate expedition against Ethiopia, finding all the Egyptians +in transports of joy for the discovery of their new god +Apis, and imagining that this was intended as an insult upon +his misfortunes, killed, in the first impulse of his fury, the +young bull, who, by that means, had but a short enjoyment of +his divinity. +</p> + +<p> +It is plain, that the golden calf set up near mount Sinai by +the Israelites, was owing to their abode in Egypt, and an imitation +of the god Apis; as well as those which were afterwards +set up by Jeroboam (who had resided a considerable time in +Egypt) in the two extremities of the kingdom of Israel. +</p> + +<p> +The Egyptians, not contented with offering incense to animals, +carried their folly to such an excess, as to ascribe a divinity +to the pulse and roots of their gardens. For this they are ingeniously +reproached by the satirist: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l>Who has not heard where Egypt's realms are nam'd,</l> +<l>What monster-gods her frantic sons have fram'd?</l> +<l>Here Ibis gorg'd with well-grown serpents, there</l> +<l>The Crocodile commands religious fear:</l> +<l>Where Memnon's statue magic strings inspire</l> +<l>With vocal sounds, that emulate the lyre;</l> +<l>And Thebes, such, Fate, are thy disastrous turns!</l> +<l>Now prostrate o'er her pompous ruins mourns;</l> +<l>A monkey-god, prodigious to be told!</l> +<l>Strikes the beholder's eye with burnish'd gold:</l> +<l>To godship here blue Triton's scaly herd,</l> +<l>The river-progeny is there preferr'd:</l> +<l>Through towns Diana's power neglected lies,</l> +<l>Where to her dogs aspiring temples rise:</l> +<l>And should you leeks or onions eat, no time</l> +<l>Would expiate the sacrilegious crime</l> +<l>Religious nations sure, and blest abodes,</l> +<l>Where ev'ry orchard is o'errun with gods.<note place='foot'><p>Quis +nescit, Volusi Bithynice, qualia demens<lb/> +Ægyptus portenta colat? Crocodilon adorat<lb/> +Pars hæc: illa pavet saturam serpentibus Ibin.<lb/> +Effigies sacri nitet aurea Cercopitheci,<lb/> +Dimidio magicæ resonant ubi Memnone chordæ,<lb/> +Atque vetus Thebe centum jacet obruta portis.<lb/> +Illic cœruleos, hic piscem fluminis, illic<lb/> +Oppida tota canem venerantur, nemo Dianam.<lb/> +Porrum et cœpe nefas violare, ac frangere morsu.<lb/> +O sanctas gentes, quibus hæc nascuntur in hortis<lb/> +Numina! +</p> +<p> +Juven. <hi rend='italic'>Sat.</hi> xv.—Trans.</p></note></l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<pb n='035'/><anchor id='Pg035'/> + +<p> +It is astonishing to see a nation, which boasted its superiority +above all others with regard to wisdom and learning, thus +blindly abandon itself to the most gross and ridiculous superstitions. +Indeed, to read of animals and vile insects, honoured +with religious worship, placed in temples, and maintained with +great care, and at an extravagant expense;<note place='foot'>Diodorus affirms, +that in his time, the expense amounted to no less than one +hundred thousand crowns, or 22,500<hi rend='italic'>l.</hi> sterling. +Lib. i. p. 76.—Trans.</note> to read, that those +who murdered them were punished with death; and that these +animals were embalmed, and solemnly deposited in tombs assigned +them by the public; to hear that this extravagance was +carried to such lengths, as that leeks and onions were acknowledged +as deities; were invoked in necessity, and depended +upon for succour and protection; are absurdities which we, at +this distance of time, can scarce believe; and yet they have +the evidence of all antiquity. <q>You enter,</q> says +Lucian,<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Imag.</hi></note> <q>into +a magnificent temple, every part of which glitters with gold +and silver. You there look attentively for a god, and are +cheated with a stork, an ape, or a cat;</q> <q>a just emblem,</q> adds +that author, <q>of too many palaces, the masters of which are +far from being the brightest ornaments of them.</q> +</p> + +<p> +Several reasons are assigned for the worship paid to animals +by the Egyptians.<note place='foot'>Diod. l. i. p. 77, &c.</note> +</p> + +<p> +The first is drawn from fabulous history. It is pretended +that the gods, in a rebellion made against them by men, fled +into Egypt, and there concealed themselves under the form of +different animals; and that this gave birth to the worship which +was afterwards paid to those animals. +</p> + +<p> +The second is taken from the benefit which these several +animals procure to mankind:<note place='foot'>Ipsi qui irridentur +Ægyptii, nullam belluam nisi ob aliquam utilitatem, quam +ex eâ caperent, consecraverunt. Cic. lib. i. +<hi rend='italic'>De Nat. Deor.</hi> n. 101.—Trans.</note> +oxen by their labour; sheep by +their wool and milk; dogs by their service in hunting, and +<pb n='036'/><anchor id='Pg036'/> +guarding houses, whence the god Anubis was represented with +a dog's head: the ibis, a bird very much resembling a stork, +was worshipped, because he put to flight the winged serpents, +with which Egypt would otherwise have been grievously infested; +the crocodile, an amphibious creature, that is, living +alike upon land and water, of a surprising strength and size,<note place='foot'>Which, +according to Herodotus, is more than 17 cubits in length: l. ii. c. +68.—Trans.</note> was worshipped, because he defended Egypt from the incursions +of the wild Arabs; the ichneumon was adored, because +he prevented the too great increase of crocodiles, which might +have proved destructive to Egypt. Now the little animal in +question does this service to the country two ways. First, it +watches the time when the crocodile is absent, and breaks his +eggs, but does not eat them. Secondly, when the crocodile is +asleep upon the banks of the Nile, (and he always sleeps with +his mouth open,) the ichneumon, which lies concealed in the +mud, leaps at once into his mouth; gets down to his entrails, +which he gnaws; then piercing his belly, the skin of which is +very tender, he escapes with safety; and thus, by his address +and subtilty, returns victorious over so terrible an animal. +</p> + +<p> +Philosophers, not satisfied with reasons which were too +trifling to account for such strange absurdities as dishonoured +the heathen system, and at which themselves secretly blushed, +have, since the establishment of Christianity, supposed a third +reason for the worship which the Egyptians paid to animals, +and declared, that it was not offered to the animals themselves, +but to the gods, of whom they are symbols. Plutarch, in his +treatise where he examines professedly the pretensions of Isis +and Osiris, the two most famous deities of the Egyptians, says +as follows:<note place='foot'>P. 382.</note> <q>Philosophers +honour the image of God wherever +they find it, even in inanimate beings, and consequently more +in those which have life. We are therefore to approve, not +the worshippers of these animals, but those who, by their +means, ascend to the Deity; they are to be considered as so +many mirrors, which nature holds forth, and in which the Supreme +Being displays himself in a wonderful manner; or, as +so many instruments, which he makes use of to manifest outwardly +his incomprehensible wisdom. Should men therefore, +<pb n='037'/><anchor id='Pg037'/> +for the embellishing of statues, amass together all the gold and +precious stones in the world; the worship must not be referred +to the statues, for the Deity does not exist in colours artfully +disposed, nor in frail matter destitute of sense and motion.</q> +Plutarch says in the same treatise,<note place='foot'>P. 377 and +378.</note> <q>that as the sun and moon, +heaven, earth, and the sea, are common to all men, but have +different names, according to the difference of nations and languages; +in like manner, though there is but one Deity, and +one providence which governs the universe, and which has +several subaltern ministers under it; men give to the Deity, +which is the same, different names, and pay it different honours, +according to the laws and customs of every country.</q> +</p> + +<p> +But were these reflections, which offer the most rational +vindication that can be suggested of idolatrous worship, sufficient +to cover the absurdity of it; could it be called a raising of the +divine attributes in a suitable manner, to direct the worshipper +to admire and seek for the image of them in beasts of the most +vile and contemptible kinds, as crocodiles, serpents, and cats? +Was not this rather degrading and debasing the Deity, of whom +even the most stupid usually entertain a much greater and +more august idea? +</p> + +<p> +And even these philosophers were not always so just, as to +ascend from sensible beings to their invisible Author. The +Scriptures tell us, that these pretended sages deserved, on account +of their pride and ingratitude, to be <q>given over to a +reprobate mind; and whilst they professed themselves wise, to +become fools, for having changed the glory of the incorruptible +God, into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, +and four-footed beasts, and creeping things.</q><note place='foot'>Rom. +i. ver. 22, 25.</note> To show what +man is when left to himself, God permitted that very nation, +which had carried human wisdom to its greatest height, to be +the theatre in which the most ridiculous and absurd idolatry +was acted. And, on the other side, to display the almighty +power of his grace, he converted the frightful deserts of Egypt +into a terrestrial paradise; by peopling them, in the time appointed +by his providence, with numberless multitudes of +illustrious hermits, whose fervent piety and rigorous penance +have done so much honour to the Christian religion. I cannot +<pb n='038'/><anchor id='Pg038'/> +not forbear giving here a famous instance of it; and I hope +the reader will excuse this kind of digression. +</p> + +<p> +<q>The great wonder of Lower Egypt,</q> says Abbé Fleury, in +his Ecclesiastical History,<note place='foot'>Tom. v. pp. 25, +26.</note> <q>was the city of Oxyrinchus, peopled +with monks, both within and without, so that they were +more numerous than its other inhabitants. The public edifices +and idol temples had been converted into monasteries, and +these likewise were more in number than the private houses. +The monks lodged even over the gates and in the towers. +The people had twelve churches to assemble in, exclusive of +the oratories belonging to the monasteries. There were twenty +thousand virgins and ten thousand monks in this city, every +part of which echoed night and day with the praises of God. +By order of the magistrates, sentinels were posted at the gates, +to take notice of all strangers and poor who came into the +city; and the inhabitants vied with each other who should +first receive them, in order to have an opportunity of exercising +their hospitality towards them.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Sect. II. The Ceremonies of the Egyptian Funerals.</hi>—I +shall now give a concise account of the funeral ceremonies +of the Egyptians. +</p> + +<p> +The honours which have been paid in all ages and nations +to the bodies of the dead, and the religious care which has +always been taken of sepulchres, seem to insinuate an universal +persuasion, that bodies were lodged in sepulchres merely +as a deposit or trust. +</p> + +<p> +We have already observed, in our mention of the pyramids, +with what magnificence sepulchres were built in Egypt for, +besides that they were erected as so many sacred monuments, +destined to transmit to future times the memory of great +princes; they were likewise considered as the mansions where +the body was to remain during a long succession of ages: +whereas common houses were called inns, in which men +were to abide only as travellers, and that during the course of +a life which was too short to engage their affections. +</p> + +<p> +When any person in a family died, all the kindred and +friends quitted their usual habits, and put on mourning, and +<pb n='039'/><anchor id='Pg039'/> +abstained from baths, wine, and dainties of every kind. This +mourning continued forty or seventy days, probably according +to the quality of the person. +</p> + +<p> +Bodies were embalmed three different ways.<note place='foot'>Herod. +l. ii. c. 85, &c.</note> The most +magnificent was bestowed on persons of distinguished rank, +and the expense amounted to a talent of silver, or three thousand +French livres.<note place='foot'>About 137<hi rend='italic'>l.</hi> +10<hi rend='italic'>s.</hi> sterling.—Trans.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Many hands were employed in this ceremony.<note place='foot'>Diod. l. i. p. 81.</note> +Some drew the brain through the nostrils, by an instrument made for that +purpose. Others emptied the bowels and intestines, by cutting +a hole in the side, with an Ethiopian stone that was as sharp +as a razor; after which the cavities were filled with perfumes +and various odoriferous drugs. As this evacuation (which was +necessarily attended with some dissections) seemed in some +measure cruel and inhuman, the persons employed fled as +soon as the operation was over, and were pursued with stones +by the standers-by. But those who embalmed the body were +honourably treated. They filled it with myrrh, cinnamon, and +all sorts of spices. After a certain time, the body was swathed +in lawn fillets, which were glued together with a kind of very +thin gum, and then crusted over with the most exquisite perfumes. +By this means, it is said, that the entire figure of the +body, the very lineaments of the face, and even the hairs on +the lids and eye-brows were preserved in their natural perfection. +The body, thus embalmed, was delivered to the relations, +who shut it up in a kind of open chest, fitted exactly to the +size of the corpse; then they placed it upright against the wall, +either in their sepulchres (if they had any) or in their houses. +These embalmed bodies are what we now call Mummies, which +are still brought from Egypt, and are found in the cabinets of +the curious. This shows the care which the Egyptians took +of their dead. Their gratitude to their deceased relations was +immortal. Children, by seeing the bodies of their ancestors +thus preserved, recalled to mind those virtues for which the +public had honoured them; and were excited to a love of those +laws which such excellent persons had left for their security. +<pb n='040'/><anchor id='Pg040'/> +We find that part of these ceremonies were performed in the +funeral honours paid to Joseph in Egypt. +</p> + +<p> +I have said that the public recognised the virtues of deceased +persons, because that, before they could be admitted into the +sacred asylum of the tomb, they underwent a solemn trial. +And this circumstance in the Egyptian funerals, is one of the +most remarkable to be found in ancient history. +</p> + +<p> +It was a consolation among the heathens, to a dying man, +to leave a good name behind him; and they imagined that this +is the only human blessing of which death cannot deprive us. +But the Egyptians would not suffer praises to be bestowed +indiscriminately on all deceased persons. This honour was to +be obtained only from the public voice. The assembly of the +judges met on the other side of a lake, which they crossed in a +boat. He who sat at the helm was called Charon, in the +Egyptian language; and this first gave the hint to Orpheus, +who had been in Egypt, and after him, to the other Greeks, +to invent the fiction of Charon's boat. As soon as a man was +dead, he was brought to his trial. The public accuser was +heard. If he proved that the deceased had led a bad life, his +memory was condemned, and he was deprived of burial. The +people admired the power of the laws, which extended even +beyond the grave; and every one, struck with the disgrace +inflicted on the dead person, was afraid to reflect dishonour on +his own memory, and his family. But if the deceased person +was not convicted of any crime, he was interred in an honourable +manner. +</p> + +<p> +A still more astonishing circumstance, in this public inquest +upon the dead, was, that the throne itself was no protection +from it. Kings were spared during their lives, because the +public peace was concerned in this forbearance; but their +quality did not exempt them from the judgment passed upon +the dead, and even some of them were deprived of sepulture. +This custom was imitated by the Israelites. We see, in Scripture, +that bad kings were not interred in the monuments of +their ancestors. This practice suggested to princes, that if +their majesty placed them out of the reach of men's judgment +while they were alive, they would at last be liable to it when +death should reduce them to a level with their subjects. +</p> + +<pb n='041'/><anchor id='Pg041'/> + +<p> +When therefore a favourable judgment was pronounced on a +deceased person, the next thing was to proceed to the ceremonies +of interment. In his panegyric, no mention was made +of his birth, because every Egyptian was deemed noble. No +praises were considered as just or true, but such as related to +the personal merit of the deceased. He was applauded for +having received an excellent education in his younger years; +and in his more advanced age, for having cultivated piety +towards the gods, justice towards men, gentleness, modesty, +moderation, and all other virtues which constitute the good +man. Then all the people besought the gods to receive the +deceased into the assembly of the just, and to admit him as +a partaker with them of their everlasting felicity. +</p> + +<p> +To conclude this article of the ceremonies of funerals, it may +not be amiss to observe to young pupils the different manners +in which the bodies of the dead were treated by the ancients. +Some, as we observed of the Egyptians, exposed them to view +after they had been embalmed, and thus preserved them to +after-ages. Others, as the Romans, burnt them on a funeral +pile; and others again, laid them in the earth. +</p> + +<p> +The care to preserve bodies without lodging them in tombs, +appears injurious to human nature in general, and to those +persons in particular to whom respect is designed to be shown +by this custom; because it exposes too visibly their wretched +state and deformity; since, whatever care may be taken, spectators +see nothing but the melancholy and frightful remains of +what they once were. The custom of burning dead bodies has +something in it cruel and barbarous, in destroying so hastily +the remains of persons once dear to us. That of interment is +certainly the most ancient and religious. It restores to the +earth what had been taken from it; and prepares our belief of +a second restitution of our bodies, from that dust of which they +were at first formed. +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Chapter III. Of The Egyptian Soldiers And War.</head> + +<p> +The profession of arms was in great repute among the Egyptians. +After the sacerdotal families, the most illustrious, as +with us, were those devoted to a military life. They were not +<pb n='042'/><anchor id='Pg042'/> +only distinguished by honours, but by ample liberalities. Every +soldier was allowed twelve Arouræ, that is, a piece of arable +land very near answering to half a French acre,<note place='foot'>Twelve +<hi rend='italic'>Arouræ</hi>. An <hi rend='italic'>Egyptian Aroura</hi> was 10,000 +square cubits, equal to three roods, two perches, 55-1/4 square feet of our +measure.—Trans.</note> exempt from +all tax or tribute. Besides this privilege, each soldier received +a daily allowance of five pounds of bread, two of flesh, and a +quart of wine.<note place='foot'>The Greek is, οἴνου τέσσαρες ἀρυστῆρες, which some have +made to signify a determinate quantity of wine, or any other liquid: others, regarding +the etymology of the word ἀρυστὴρ, have translated it by +<foreign rend='italic'>haustrum</foreign>, a bucket, as Lucretius, lib. v. 51, others by +<foreign rend='italic'>haustus</foreign>, a draught or sup. Herodotus says, this +allowance was given only to the two thousand guards who attended annually on the kings. +Lib. ii. c. 168.—Trans.</note> This allowance was sufficient to support part +of their family. Such an indulgence made them more affectionate +to the person of their prince, and the interests of their +country, and more resolute in their defence of both; and as +Diodorus observes,<note place='foot'>Lib. i. p. 67.</note> it was thought inconsistent +with good policy, and even common sense, to commit the defence of a +country to men who had no interest in its preservation. +</p> + +<p> +Four hundred thousand soldiers were kept in continual +pay;<note place='foot'>Herod. l. ii. c. 164, 168.</note> all natives of Egypt, and +trained up in the exactest discipline. They were inured to the fatigues of war, by a +severe and rigorous education. There is an art of forming the body +as well as the mind. This art, lost by our sloth, was well +known to the ancients, and especially to the Egyptians. Foot, +horse, and chariot races, were performed in Egypt with wonderful +agility, and the world could not show better horsemen +than the Egyptians. The Scripture in several places speaks +advantageously of their cavalry.<note place='foot'>Cant. i. 8. Isa. xxxvi. 9.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Military laws were easily preserved in Egypt, because sons +received them from their fathers; the profession of war, as all +others, being transmitted from father to son. Those who fled +in battle, or discovered any signs of cowardice, were only +distinguished by some particular mark of ignominy; it being +thought more advisable to restrain them by motives of honour, +than by the terrors of punishment.<note place='foot'>Diod. p. 76.</note> +</p> + +<p> +But notwithstanding this, I will not pretend to say, that the +Egyptians were a warlike people. It is of little advantage to +have regular and well-paid troops; to have armies exercised +<pb n='043'/><anchor id='Pg043'/> +in peace, and employed only in mock fights; it is war alone, +and real combats, which form the soldier. Egypt loved peace, +because it loved justice, and maintained soldiers only for its +security. Its inhabitants, content with a country which +abounded in all things, had no ambitious dreams of conquest. +The Egyptians extended their reputation in a very different +manner, by sending colonies into all parts of the world, and +with them laws and politeness. They triumphed by the wisdom +of their counsels, and the superiority of their knowledge; and +this empire of the mind appeared more noble and glorious to +them, than that which is achieved by arms and conquest. +But, nevertheless, Egypt has given birth to illustrious conquerors, +as will be observed hereafter, when we come to treat +of its kings. +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Chapter IV. Of Their Arts And Sciences.</head> + +<p> +The Egyptians had an inventive genius, but directed it only to +useful projects. Their Mercuries filled Egypt with wonderful +inventions, and left it scarcely ignorant of any thing which +could contribute to accomplish the mind, or procure ease and +happiness. The discoverers of any useful invention received, +both living and dead, rewards worthy of their profitable labours. +It is this which consecrated the books of their two Mercuries, +and stamped them with a divine authority. The first libraries +were in Egypt; and the titles they bore inspired an eager desire +to enter them, and dive into the secrets they contained. They +were called the <emph>remedy for the diseases of the +soul</emph>,<note place='foot'>Ψυχῆς ἰατρεῖον.—Trans.</note> and that +very justly, because the soul was there cured of ignorance, the +most dangerous, and the parent of all other maladies. +</p> + +<p> +As their country was level, and the sky always serene and +unclouded, the Egyptians were among the first who observed +the courses of the planets. These observations led them to +regulate the year<note place='foot'>It will not seem surprising that the Egyptians, who +were the most ancient observers of the celestial motions, should have arrived to this +knowledge, when it is considered, that the lunar year, made use of by the Greeks and +Romans, though it appears so inconvenient and irregular, supposed nevertheless a +knowledge of the solar year, such as Diodorus Siculus ascribes to the Egyptians. +It will appear at first sight, by calculating their intercalations, that those who first +divided the year in this manner, were not ignorant, that, to three hundred sixty-five +days, some hours were to be added, to keep pace with the sun. Their only error lay in +the supposition, that only six hours were wanting; whereas an addition of almost +eleven minutes more was requisite.—Trans.</note> from the course of the sun; for +as Diodorus +<pb n='044'/><anchor id='Pg044'/> +observes, their year, from the most remote antiquity, was composed +of three hundred sixty-five days and six hours. To +adjust the property of their lands, which were every year +covered by the overflowing of the Nile, they were obliged to +have recourse to surveys; and this first taught them geometry. +They were great observers of nature, which, in a climate so +serene, and under so intense a sun, was vigorous and fruitful. +</p> + +<p> +By this study and application they invented or improved the +science of physic. The sick were not abandoned to the arbitrary +will and caprice of the physician. He was obliged to +follow fixed rules, which were the observations of old and experienced +practitioners, and written in the sacred books. While +these rules were observed, the physician was not answerable for +the success; otherwise, a miscarriage cost him his life. This +law checked, indeed, the temerity of empirics; but then it +might prevent new discoveries, and keep the art from attaining +to its just perfection. Every physician, if Herodotus may +be credited,<note place='foot'>Lib. ii. c. 84.</note> +confined his practice to the cure of one disease +only; one was for the eyes, another for the teeth, and so on. +</p> + +<p> +What we have said of the pyramids, the labyrinth, and that +infinite number of obelisks, temples, and palaces, whose precious +remains still strike the beholder with admiration, and in +which the magnificence of the princes who raised them, the +skill of the workmen, the riches of the ornaments diffused over +every part of them, and the just proportion and beautiful symmetry +of the parts, in which their greatest beauty consisted, +seemed to vie with each other; works, in many of which the +liveliness of the colours remains to this day, in spite of the +rude hand of time, which commonly deadens or destroys them: +all this, I say, shows the perfection to which architecture, +painting, sculpture, and all other arts, had arrived in Egypt. +</p> + +<p> +The Egyptians entertained but a mean opinion of those +gymnastic exercises, which did not contribute to invigorate the +body, or improve health;<note place='foot'>Diod. l. i. p. 73.</note> +as well as of music, which they +<pb n='045'/><anchor id='Pg045'/> +considered as a diversion not only useless but dangerous, and +only fit to enervate the mind.<note place='foot'>Τὴν δὲ μουσικὴν νομίζουειν οὐ μόνον +ἄχρηστον ὑπάρχειν, ἀλλὰ καὶ βλαβερὰν, +ὡς ἄι ἐκθηλύνουσαν τὰς τῶν ἀνδρῶν ψυχάς.—Trans.</note> +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Chapter V. Of Their Husbandmen, Shepherds, and Artificers.</head> + +<p> +Husbandmen, shepherds, and artificers, formed the three +classes of lower life in Egypt, but were nevertheless had in +very great esteem, particularly husbandmen and shepherds.<note place='foot'>Diod. +l. i. pp. 67, 68.</note> The body politic requires a superiority and subordination of +its several members; for as in the natural body, the eye may +be said to hold the first rank, yet its lustre does not dart contempt +upon the feet, the hands, or even on those parts which +are less honourable. In like manner, among the Egyptians, +the priests, soldiers, and scholars were distinguished by particular +honours; but all professions, to the meanest, had their +share in the public esteem, because the despising any man, +whose labours, however mean, were useful to the state, was +thought a crime. +</p> + +<p> +A better reason than the foregoing might have inspired +them at the first with these sentiments of equity and moderation, +which they so long preserved. As they all descended +from Cham,<note place='foot'>Or Ham.—Trans.</note> their common father, the memory +of their still recent origin occurring to the minds of all in those first ages, +established among them a kind of equality, and stamped, in +their opinion, a nobility on every person derived from the common +stock. Indeed the difference of conditions, and the contempt +with which persons of the lowest rank are treated, are +owing merely to the distance from the common root; which +makes us forget that the meanest plebeian, when his descent is +traced back to the source, is equally noble with those of the +most elevated rank and titles. +</p> + +<p> +Be that as it will, no profession in Egypt was considered as +grovelling or sordid. By this means arts were raised to their +highest perfection. The honour which cherished them mixed +with every thought and care for their improvement. Every +man had his way of life assigned him by the laws, and it was +<pb n='046'/><anchor id='Pg046'/> +perpetuated from father to son. Two professions at one time, +or a change of that which a man was born to, were never +allowed. By this means, men became more able and expert +in employments which they had always exercised from their +infancy; and every man, adding his own experience to that of +his ancestors, was more capable of attaining perfection in his +particular art. Besides, this wholesome institution, which had +been established anciently throughout Egypt, extinguished all +irregular ambition, and taught every man to sit down contented +with his condition, without aspiring to one more elevated, +from interest, vain-glory, or levity. +</p> + +<p> +From this source flowed numberless inventions for the improvement +of all the arts, and for rendering life more commodious, +and trade more easy. I once could not believe that +Diodorus was in earnest, in what he relates concerning the +Egyptian industry,<note place='foot'>Diod. l. i. p. 67.</note> +<hi rend='italic'>viz.</hi> that this people had found out a way, +by an artificial fecundity, to hatch eggs without the sitting of +the hen; but all modern travellers declare it to be a fact, +which certainly is worthy our investigation, and is said to be +practised also in Europe. Their relations inform us, that the +Egyptians stow eggs in ovens, which are heated to such a temperament, +and with such just proportion to the natural warmth +of the hen, that the chickens produced by these means are as +strong as those which are hatched the natural way. The season +of the year proper for this operation is, from the end of +December to the end of April; the heat in Egypt being too +violent in the other months. During these four months, upwards +of three hundred thousand eggs are laid in these ovens, +which, though they are not all successful, nevertheless produce +vast numbers of fowls at an easy rate. The art lies in giving +the ovens a due degree of heat, which must not exceed a fixed +proportion. About ten days are bestowed in heating these +ovens, and very near as much time in hatching the eggs. It is +very entertaining, say these travellers, to observe the hatching +of these chickens, some of which show at first nothing but +their heads, others but half their bodies, and others again come +quite out of the egg: these last, the moment they are hatched, +make their way over the unhatched eggs, and form a diverting +<pb n='047'/><anchor id='Pg047'/> +spectacle. Corneille le Bruyn, in his Travels,<note place='foot'>Tom. ii. p. 64.</note> +has collected the observations of other travellers on this subject. Pliny +likewise mentions it;<note place='foot'>Lib. x. c. 54.</note> but it appears from him, +that the Egyptians, anciently, employed warm dung, not ovens, to hatch +eggs. +</p> + +<p> +I have said, that husbandmen particularly, and those who +took care of flocks, were in great esteem in Egypt, some parts +of it excepted, where the latter were not suffered.<note place='foot'>Swineherds, in +particular, had a general ill name throughout Egypt, as they had the care of so impure +an animal. Herodotus (l. ii. c. 47.) tells us, that they were not permitted to enter +the Egyptian Temples, nor would any man give them his daughter in +marriage.—Trans.</note> It was, +indeed, to these two professions that Egypt owed its riches and +plenty. It is astonishing to reflect what advantages the +Egyptians, by their art and labour, drew from a country of no +great extent, but whose soil was made wonderfully fruitful by +the inundations of the Nile, and the laborious industry of the +inhabitants. +</p> + +<p> +It will be always so with every kingdom whose governors +direct all their actions to the public welfare. The culture of +lands, and the breeding of cattle, will be an inexhaustible fund +of wealth in all countries, where, as in Egypt, these profitable +callings are supported and encouraged by maxims of state and +policy: and we may consider it as a misfortune, that they are +at present fallen into so general a disesteem; though it is from +them that the most elevated ranks (as we esteem them) are +furnished, not only with the necessaries, but even the luxuries +of life. <q>For,</q> says Abbé Fleury, in his admirable work, <hi rend='italic'>Of +the manners of the Israelites</hi>, where the subject I am upon is +thoroughly examined, <q rend='pre'>it is the peasant who feeds the citizen, +the magistrate, the gentleman, the ecclesiastic: and whatever +artifice and craft may be used to convert money into commodities, +and these back again into money; yet all must +ultimately be owned to be received from the products of the +earth, and the animals which it sustains and nourishes. +Nevertheless, when we compare men's different stations of +life together, we give the lowest place to the husbandman: +and with many people a wealthy citizen, enervated with sloth, +useless to the public, and void of all merit, has the preference, +<pb n='048'/><anchor id='Pg048'/> +merely because he has more money, and lives a more +easy and delightful life.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q>But let us imagine to ourselves a country where so +great a difference is not made between the several conditions; +where the life of a nobleman is not made to consist +in idleness and doing nothing, but in a careful preservation +of his liberty; that is, in a due subjection to the laws +and the constitution; by a man's subsisting upon his estate +without a dependence on any one, and being contented to +enjoy a little with liberty, rather than a great deal at the +price of mean and base compliances: a country, where sloth, +effeminacy, and the ignorance of things necessary for life, +are held in just contempt; and where pleasure is less valued +than health and bodily strength: in such a country, it will be +much more for a man's reputation to plough, and keep flocks, +than to waste all his hours in sauntering from place to place, +in gaming and expensive diversions.</q> +</p> + +<p> +But we need not have recourse to Plato's commonwealth, +for instances of men who have led these useful lives. It was +thus that the greatest part of mankind lived during near four +thousand years; and that not only the Israelites, but the +Egyptians, the Greeks, and the Romans, that is to say, nations +the most civilized, and most renowned for arms and wisdom. +They all inculcate the regard which ought to be paid to agriculture, +and the breeding of cattle: one of which (without +saying any thing of hemp and flax so necessary for our clothing) +supplies us by corn, fruits, and pulse, with not only a +plentiful but delicious nourishment; and the other, besides +its supply of exquisite meats to cover our tables, almost alone +gives life to manufactures and trade, by the skins and stuffs +it furnishes. +</p> + +<p> +Princes are commonly desirous, and their interest certainly +requires it, that the peasant who, in a literal sense, sustains the +heat and burden of the day, and pays so great a proportion of +the national taxes, should meet with favour and encouragement. +But the kind and good intentions of princes are too +often defeated by the insatiable and merciless avarice of those +who are appointed to collect their revenues. History has transmitted +<pb n='049'/><anchor id='Pg049'/> +to us a fine saying of Tiberius on this head. A prefect +of Egypt having augmented the annual tribute of the province, +and, doubtless, with the view of making his court to the emperor, +remitted to him a much larger sum than was customary; +that prince, who, in the beginning of his reign, thought, or at +least spoke justly, answered, <q>that it was his design not to flay, +but to shear his sheep.</q><note place='foot'>Xiphilin. <hi rend='italic'>in +Apophthegm</hi>. <hi rend='italic'>Tib. Cæs.</hi> +Κείρεσθαί μου τὰ πρόβατα, ἀλλ᾽ οὐκ ἀπαξύρεσθαι βούλομκι.</note> +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Chapter VI. Of The Fertility Of Egypt.</head> + +<p> +Under this head, I shall treat only of some plants peculiar to +Egypt, and of the abundance of corn which it produced. +</p> + +<p> +Papyrus. This is a plant, from the root of which shoot out +a great many triangular stalks, to the height of six or seven +cubits. The ancients writ at first upon palm leaves;<note place='foot'>Plin. l. xiii. c. +11.</note> next, on the inside of the bark of trees, from whence the word +<foreign rend='italic'>liber</foreign>, +or book, is derived; after that, upon tables covered over with +wax, on which the characters were impressed with an instrument +called Stylus, sharp-pointed at one end to write with, and +flat at the other, to efface what had been written; which gave +occasion to the following expression of Horace: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l>Sæpe stylum vertas, iterum quæ digna legi sint</l> +<l>Scripturus:</l> +</lg> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Sat.</hi> lib. i. x. ver. 72. +</p> + +<lg> +<l>Oft turn your style, if you desire to write</l> +<l>Things that will bear a second reading——</l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +The meaning of which is, that a good performance is not to +be expected without many erasures and corrections. At last +the use of paper<note place='foot'>The Papyrus was divided into thin flakes, (into which +it naturally parted,) which being laid on a table, and moistened with the glutinous +waters of the Nile, were afterwards pressed together, and dried in the +sun.—Trans.</note> was introduced, and this was made of the +bark of Papyrus, divided into thin flakes or leaves, which were +very proper for writing; and this Papyrus was likewise called +Byblus. +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l>Nondum flumineas Memphis contexere byblos</l> +<l>Noverat.</l> +</lg> + +<p> +Lucan. +</p> + +<lg> +<l>Memphis as yet knew not to form in leaves</l> +<l>The wat'ry Byblos.</l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<pb n='050'/><anchor id='Pg050'/> + +<p> +Pliny calls it a wonderful invention,<note place='foot'>Posteà promiscuè patuit usus +rei, quâ cons ... immortalitas hominum.—Chartæ ... +maxime humanitas constat in memoriâ.—Trans.</note> so useful to life, that +it preserves the memory of great actions, and immortalizes +those who achieved them. Varro ascribes this invention to +Alexander the Great, when he built Alexandria; but he had +only the merit of making paper more common, for the invention +was of much greater antiquity. The same Pliny adds, +that Eumenes, king of Pergamus, substituted parchment instead +of paper, in emulation of Ptolemy, king of Egypt, whose +library he was ambitious to excel by this invention, which had +the advantage over paper. Parchment is the skin of a sheep +dressed and made fit to write upon. It was called Pergamenum +from Pergamus, whose kings had the honour of the invention. +All the ancient manuscripts are either upon parchment, or +vellum, which is calf-skin, and a great deal finer than the common +parchment. It is very curious to see white fine paper +wrought out of filthy rags picked up in the streets. The +plant Papyrus was useful likewise for sails, tackling, clothes, +coverlets, &c.<note place='foot'>Plin. l. xix. c. 1.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Linum. Flax is a plant whose bark, full of fibres or strings, +is useful in making fine linen. The method of making this +linen in Egypt was wonderful, and carried to such perfection, +that the threads which were drawn out of them, were almost +too small for the observation of the sharpest eye. Priests were +always habited in linen, and never in woollen; and all persons +of distinction generally wore linen clothes. This flax formed +a considerable branch of the Egyptian trade, and great quantities +of it were exported into foreign countries. The manufacture +of flax employed a great number of hands in Egypt, especially +of the women, as appears from that passage of Isaiah, +in which the prophet menaces Egypt with a drought of so terrible +a nature, that it should interrupt every kind of labour. +<q>Moreover, they that work in fine flax, and they that weave +network, shall be confounded.</q><note place='foot'>Isa. xiv. +9.</note> We likewise find in Scripture, +that one effect of the plague of hail, called down by Moses +upon Egypt, was the destruction of all the flax which was then +bolled.<note place='foot'>Exod. ix. 31.</note> This storm was in March. +</p> + +<pb n='051'/><anchor id='Pg051'/> + +<p> +Byssus. This was another kind of flax extremely fine and +delicate, which often received a purple dye.<note place='foot'>Plin. lib. xix. c. +1.</note> It was very dear; and none but rich and wealthy persons could afford to wear it. +Pliny, who gives the first place to the Asbeston or Asbestinum, +(<hi rend='italic'>i.e.</hi> the incombustible flax,) places the Byssus in the next +rank; and says, <q>that the dress and ornaments of the ladies +were made of it.</q><note place='foot'>Proximus Byssino mulierum maximè deliciis genito: +inventum jam est etiam [scilicet Linum] quod ignibus non absumetur, vivum id vocant, +ardentesque in focis conviviorum ex eo vidimus mappas, sordibus exustis splendescentes +igni magis, quàm possent aquis: <hi rend='italic'>i.e.</hi> A flax is now found out, +which is proof against the violence of fire; it is called living flax; and we have seen +table napkins of it glowing in the fires of our dining rooms; and receiving a lustre and +a cleanness from flames, which no water could have given it.—Trans.</note> It +appears from the Holy Scriptures, that +it was chiefly from Egypt that cloth made of this fine flax was +brought: <q>fine linen with broidered work from Egypt.</q><note place='foot'>Ezek. +xxvii. 7.</note> +</p> + +<p> +I take no notice of the Lotus, a very common plant, and in +great request among the Egyptians, of whose berries, in former +times, they made bread. There was another Lotus in Africa, +which gave its name to the Lotophagi or Lotus-eaters; because +they lived upon the fruit of this tree, which had so delicious a +taste, if Homer may be credited, that it made those who ate +it forget all the sweets of their native country,<note place='foot'><p>Των +δ οστις λωτοιο φαγοι μελιηδεα καρπον,<lb/> +Ουκ ετ απαγγειλαι παλιν ηθελεν, ουδε νεεσθαι.<lb/> +Μη πω τις λωτοιο φαγων, νοστοιο λαθηται. +</p> +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Odyss.</hi> ix. ver. 94, 95, 102. +</p> +<p>—Trans.</p></note> as Ulysses +found to his cost in his return from Troy. +</p> + +<p> +In general, it may be said, that the Egyptian pulse and +fruits were excellent; and might, as Pliny observes,<note place='foot'>Ægyptus frugum +quidem fertilissima, sed ut propè sola iis carere possit, tanta +est ciborum ex herbis abundantia. Plin. l. xxi. c. 15.—Trans.</note> have sufficed +singly for the nourishment of the inhabitants, such was +their excellent quality, and so great their plenty. And, indeed, +working men lived then almost upon nothing else, as appears +from those who were employed in building the pyramids. +</p> + +<p> +Besides these rural riches, the Nile, from its fish, and the +fatness it gave to the soil for the feeding of cattle, furnished the +tables of the Egyptians with the most exquisite fish of every +kind, and the most succulent flesh. This it was which made +the Israelites so deeply regret the loss of Egypt, when they +found themselves in the wilderness: <q>Who,</q> say they, in a +<pb n='052'/><anchor id='Pg052'/> +plaintive, and at the same time, seditious tone, <q>shall give us +flesh to eat? We remember the flesh which we did eat in +Egypt freely; the cucumbers and melons, and the leeks, and +the onions, and the garlick.<note place='foot'>Numb. xi. 4, 5.</note> +We sat by the flesh-pots, and +we did eat bread to the full.</q><note place='foot'>Exod. xvi. 3.</note> +</p> + +<p> +But the great and matchless wealth of Egypt arose from its +corn, which, even in an almost universal famine, enabled it to +support all the neighbouring nations, as it particularly did under +Joseph's administration. In later ages, it was the resource and +most certain granary of Rome and Constantinople. It is a +well-known story, how a calumny raised against St. Athanasius, +<hi rend='italic'>viz.</hi> of his having threatened to prevent in future the importation +of corn into Constantinople from Alexandria, incensed the +emperor Constantine against that holy bishop, because he knew +that his capital city could not subsist without the corn which +was brought to it from Egypt. The same reason induced all +the emperors of Rome to take so great a care of Egypt, which +they considered as the nursing mother of the world's metropolis. +</p> + +<p> +Nevertheless, the same river which enabled this province to +subsist the two most populous cities in the world, sometimes +reduced even Egypt itself to the most terrible famine: and it +is astonishing that Joseph's wise foresight, which in fruitful +years had made provision for seasons of sterility, should not +have taught these so much boasted politicians, to adopt similar +precautions against the changes and inconstancy of the Nile. +Pliny, in his panegyric upon Trajan, paints with wonderful +strength the extremity to which that country was reduced by +a famine under that prince's reign, and his generous relief of +it. The reader will not be displeased to read here an extract +of it, in which a greater regard will be had to Pliny's thoughts, +than to his expressions. +</p> + +<p> +<q>The Egyptians,</q> says Pliny, <q>who gloried that they needed +neither rain nor sun to produce their corn, and who believed +they might confidently contest the prize of plenty with the most +fruitful countries of the world, were condemned to an unexpected +drought, and a fatal sterility; from the greatest part of +their territories being deserted and left unwatered by the Nile, +<pb n='053'/><anchor id='Pg053'/> +whose inundation is the source and sure standard of their +abundance. <q>They then implored that assistance from their +prince which they had been accustomed to expect only from +their river.</q><note place='foot'>Inundatione, id est, ubertate regio fraudata, sic +opem Cæsaris invocavit, ut solet amnem suum.—Trans.</note> The delay of their +relief was no longer than that which employed a courier to bring the melancholy news to +Rome; and one would have imagined, that this misfortune had +befallen them only to display with greater lustre the generosity +and goodness of Cæsar. It was an ancient and general opinion, +that our city could not subsist without provisions drawn from +Egypt.<note place='foot'>Percrebuerat antiquitùs urbem nostram nisi opibus Ægypti ali +sustentarique non posse. Superbiebat ventosa et insolens natio, quòd victorem quidem +populum pasceret tamen, quòdque in suo flumine, in suis manibus, vel abundantia nostra +vel fames esset. Refudimus Nilo suas copias. Recepit frumenta quæ miserat, deportatasque +messes revexit.—Trans.</note> This vain and proud nation boasted, that though +conquered, they nevertheless fed their conquerors; that, by means +of their river, either abundance or scarcity were entirely in +their own disposal. But we now have returned the Nile his +own harvests, and given him back the provisions he sent us. +Let the Egyptians be then convinced, by their own experience, +that they are not necessary to us, and are only our vassals. +Let them know that their ships do not so much bring us the +provision we stand in need of, as the tribute which they owe +us. And let them never forget that we can do without them, +but that they can never do without us. This most fruitful province +had been ruined, had it not worn the Roman chains. +The Egyptians, in their sovereign, found a deliverer, and a +father. Astonished at the sight of their granaries, filled without +any labour of their own, they were at a loss to know to +whom they owed this foreign and gratuitous plenty. The +famine of a people, though at such a distance from us, yet so +speedily stopped, served only to let them feel the advantage of +living under our empire. The Nile may, in other times, have +diffused more plenty on Egypt, but never more glory upon us.<note place='foot'>Nilus +Ægypto quidem sæpe. sed gloriæ nostræ nuaquam largior +fluxit.—Trans.</note> +May Heaven, content with this proof of the people's patience, +and the prince's generosity, restore for ever back to Egypt its +ancient fertility!</q> +</p> + +<p> +Pliny's reproach to the Egyptians, for their vain and foolish +<pb n='054'/><anchor id='Pg054'/> +pride with regard to the inundations of the Nile, points out +one of their most peculiar characteristics, and recalls to my +mind a fine passage of Ezekiel, where God thus speaks to +Pharaoh, one of their kings, <q>Behold I am against thee, +Pharaoh, king of Egypt, the great Dragon that lieth in the +midst of his rivers, which hath said, My river is my own, and +I have made it for myself.</q><note place='foot'>Ezek. xxix. 3, +9.</note> God perceived an insupportable +pride in the heart of this prince: a sense of security and confidence +in the inundations of the Nile, independent entirely on +the influences of heaven; as though the happy effects of this +inundation had been owing to nothing but his own care and +labour, or those of his predecessors: <q>the river is mine, and I +have made it.</q> +</p> + +<p> +Before I conclude this second part, which treats of the +manners of the Egyptians, I think it incumbent on me to bespeak +the attention of my readers to different passages scattered +in the history of Abraham, Jacob, Joseph, and Moses, +which confirm and illustrate part of what we meet with in profane +authors upon this subject. They will there observe the +perfect polity which reigned in Egypt, both in the court and +the rest of the kingdom; the vigilance of the prince, who was +informed of all transactions, had a regular council, a chosen +number of ministers, armies ever well maintained and disciplined, +both of horse, foot, and armed chariots; intendants in +all the provinces; overseers or guardians of the public granaries; +wise and exact dispensers of the corn lodged in them; +a court composed of great officers of the crown, a captain of +his guards, a chief cup-bearer, a master of his pantry; in a +word, all things that compose a prince's household, and constitute +a magnificent court. But above all these, the readers +will admire the fear in which the threatenings of God were +held, the inspector of all actions, and the judge of kings themselves; +and the horror the Egyptians had for adultery, which +was acknowledged to be a crime of so heinous a nature, that +it alone was capable of bringing destruction on a nation.<note place='foot'>Gen. +xii. 10-26.</note> +</p> + +</div> + +</div> + +<pb n='055'/><anchor id='Pg055'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf' level1='Part The Third. The Kings of Egypt.'/> +<head>Part The Third. The History of the Kings of Egypt.</head> + +<p> +No part of ancient history is more obscure or uncertain, than +that of the first kings of Egypt. This proud nation, fondly +conceited of its antiquity and nobility, thought it glorious to +lose itself in an abyss of infinite ages, which seemed to carry +its pretensions backward to eternity. According to its own +historians,<note place='foot'>Diod. l. i. p. 41.</note> first, +gods, and afterwards demigods or heroes, +governed it successively, through a series of more than twenty +thousand years. But the absurdity of this vain and fabulous +claim is easily discovered. +</p> + +<p> +To gods and demigods, men succeeded as rulers or kings in +Egypt, of whom Manetho has left us thirty dynasties or principalities. +This Manetho was an Egyptian high priest, and +keeper of the sacred archives of Egypt, and had been instructed +in the Grecian learning: he wrote a history of Egypt, which +he pretended to have extracted from the writings of Mercurius, +and other ancient memoirs, preserved in the archives of the +Egyptian temples. He drew up this history under the reign, +and at the command of Ptolemy Philadelphus. If his thirty +dynasties are allowed to be successive, they make up a series +of time, of more than five thousand three hundred years, to +the reign of Alexander the Great; but this is a manifest forgery. +Besides, we find in Eratosthenes,<note place='foot'>An historian +of Cyrene.—Trans.</note> who was invited to +Alexandria by Ptolemy Euergetes, a catalogue of thirty-eight +kings of Thebes, all different from those of Manetho. The +clearing up of these difficulties has put the learned to a great +deal of trouble and labour. The most effectual way to reconcile +such contradictions, is to suppose, with almost all the +modern writers upon this subject, that the kings of these different +dynasties did not reign successively after one another, +but many of them at the same time, and in different countries +of Egypt. There were in Egypt four principal dynasties, that +of Thebes, of Thin, of Memphis, and of Tanis. I shall not +<pb n='056'/><anchor id='Pg056'/> +here give my readers a list of the kings who have reigned in +Egypt, of most of whom we have only the names transmitted +to us. I shall only take notice of what seems to me most +proper, to give youth the necessary light into this part of history, +for whose sake principally I engaged in this undertaking; +and I shall confine myself chiefly to the memoirs left us by +Herodotus and Diodorus Siculus, concerning the Egyptian +kings, without even scrupulously preserving the exactness of +succession, at least in the early part of the monarchy, which is +very obscure; and without pretending to reconcile these two +historians. Their design, especially that of Herodotus, was +not to lay before us an exact series of the kings of Egypt, but +only to point out those princes whose history appeared to them +most important and instructive. I shall follow the same plan, +and hope to be forgiven, for not having involved either myself +or my readers in a labyrinth of almost inextricable difficulties, +from which the most able can scarce disengage themselves, +when they pretend to follow the series of history, and reduce +it to fixed and certain dates. The curious may consult +the learned pieces,<note place='foot'>Sir John Marsham's <hi rend='italic'>Canon +Chronic</hi>. Father Pezron; the Dissertations of F. Tournemine, and Abbé Sevin, +&c.—Trans.</note> in which this subject is treated in all +its extent. +</p> + +<p> +I am to premise, that Herodotus, upon the credit of the +Egyptian priests, whom he had consulted, gives us a great +number of oracles and singular incidents, all which, though he +relates them as so many facts, the judicious reader will easily +discover to be what they really are—I mean, fictions. +</p> + +<p> +The ancient history of Egypt comprehends 2158 years, and +is naturally divided into three periods. +</p> + +<p> +The first begins with the establishment of the Egyptian +monarchy, by Menes or Misraim, the son of Cham,<note place='foot'>Or Ham.</note> in the +year of the world 1816; and ends with the destruction of that +monarchy by Cambyses, king of Persia, in the year of the +world 3479. This first period contains 1663 years. +</p> + +<p> +The second period is intermixed with the Persian and Grecian +history, and extends to the death of Alexander the Great, +which happened in the year 3681, and consequently includes +202 years. +</p> + +<pb n='057'/><anchor id='Pg057'/> + +<p> +The third period is that in which a new monarchy was +formed in Egypt by the Lagidæ, or Ptolemies, descendants +from Lagus, to the death of Cleopatra, the last queen of Egypt, +in 3974; and this last comprehends 293 years. +</p> + +<p> +I shall now treat only of the first period, reserving the two +others for the Æras to which they belong. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>A.M. 1816. Ant. J.C. 2188.</note> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>The Kings of Egypt.—Menes.</hi> Historians are unanimously +agreed, that Menes was the first king of Egypt. +It is pretended, and not without foundation, that he +is the same with Misraïm, the son of Cham. +</p> + +<p> +Cham was the second son of Noah. When the family of +the latter, after the extravagant attempt of building the tower +of Babel, dispersed themselves into different countries, Cham +retired to Africa; and it doubtless was he who afterwards was +worshipped as a god, under the name of Jupiter Ammon. He +had four children, Chus,<note place='foot'>Or Cush, Gen. x. +6.</note> Misraïm, Phut, and Canaan. Chus +settled in Ethiopia, Misraïm in Egypt, which generally is called +in Scripture after his name, and by that of Cham,<note place='foot'>The footsteps of its +old name (Mesraim) remain to this day among the Arabians, +who call it Mesre; by the testimony of Plutarch, it was called χημία, Chemia, by +an easy corruption of Chamia, and this for Cham or Ham.—Trans.</note> his father; +Phut took possession of that part of Africa which lies westward +of Egypt; and Canaan, of the country which afterwards bore +his name. The Canaanites are certainly the same people who +are called almost always Phœnicians by the Greeks, of which +foreign name no reason can be given, any more than of the +oblivion of the true one. +</p> + +<p> +I return to Misraïm.<note place='foot'>Herod. l. ii. p. 99. Diod. +l. i. p. 42.</note> He is allowed to be the same with +Menes, whom all historians declare to be the first king of Egypt, +the institutor of the worship of the gods, and of the ceremonies +of the sacrifices. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Busiris</hi>, some ages after him, built the famous city of +Thebes, and made it the seat of his empire. We have elsewhere +taken notice of the wealth and magnificence of this city. +This prince is not to be confounded with Busiris, so infamous +for his cruelties. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Osymandyas.</hi> Diodorus gives a very particular description +of many magnificent edifices raised by this king;<note place='foot'>Diod. +l. i. pp. 44, 45.</note> one of +<pb n='058'/><anchor id='Pg058'/> +which was adorned with sculptures and paintings of exquisite +beauty, representing his expedition against the Bactrians, a +people of Asia, whom he had invaded with four hundred thousand +foot and twenty thousand horse. In another part of the +edifice was exhibited an assembly of the judges, whose president +wore, on his breast, a picture of Truth, with her eyes shut, +and himself was surrounded with books—an emphatic emblem, +denoting that judges ought to be perfectly versed in the laws, +and impartial in the administration of them. +</p> + +<p> +The king likewise was painted here, offering to the gods +gold and silver, which he drew every year from the mines of +Egypt, amounting to the sum of sixteen millions.<note place='foot'>Three +thousand two hundred myriads of Minæ.—Trans.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Not far from hence was seen a magnificent library, the oldest +mentioned in history. Its title or inscription on the front was, +<hi rend='italic'>The office, or treasury, of remedies for the diseases of the soul</hi>. +Near it were placed statues, representing all the Egyptian gods, +to each of whom the king made suitable offerings; by which +he seemed to be desirous of informing posterity that his life +and reign had been crowned with piety to the gods, and justice +to men. +</p> + +<p> +His mausoleum displayed uncommon magnificence; it was +encompassed with a circle of gold, a cubit in breadth, and 365 +cubits in circumference; each of which showed the rising and +setting of the sun, moon, and the rest of the planets. For +so early as this king's reign, the Egyptians divided the year +into twelve months, each consisting of thirty days; to which +they added every year five days and six hours.<note place='foot'>See Sir +Isaac Newton's <hi rend='italic'>Chronology</hi>, p. 30.</note> The spectator +did not know which to admire most in this stately monument, +whether the richness of its materials, or the genius and industry +of the artists. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Uchoreus</hi>, one of the successors of Osymandyas, built +the city of Memphis.<note place='foot'>Diod. p. 46.</note> This city was 150 furlongs, +or more than seven leagues in circumference, and stood at the point of +the Delta, in that part where the Nile divides itself into several +branches or streams. Southward from the city, he raised a +lofty mole. On the right and left he dug very deep moats to +receive the river. These were faced with stone, and raised, +<pb n='059'/><anchor id='Pg059'/> +near the city, by strong causeys; the whole designed to secure +the city from the inundations of the Nile, and the incursions +of the enemy. A city so advantageously situated, and so +strongly fortified, that it was almost the key of the Nile, and +by this means commanded the whole country, became soon the +usual residence of the Egyptian kings. It kept possession of +this honour till Alexandria was built by Alexander the Great. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Mœris</hi>. This king made the famous lake, which went by +his name, and whereof mention has been already made, +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>A.M. 1920. Ant. J.C. 2084.</note> +Egypt had long been governed by its native princes, +when strangers, called Shepherd-kings, (Hycsos +in the Egyptian language,) from Arabia or Phœnicia, +invaded and seized a great part of Lower Egypt, +and Memphis itself; but Upper Egypt remained unconquered, +and the kingdom of Thebes existed till the reign of Sesostris. +These foreign princes governed about 260 years. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>A.M. 2084. Ant. J.C. 1920.</note> +Under one of these princes, called Pharaoh in Scripture,<note place='foot'>Gen. +xii. 10-20.</note> (a name common to all the kings of Egypt,) Abraham +arrived there with his wife Sarah, who was exposed +to great hazard, on account of her exquisite beauty, +which reaching the prince's ear, she was by him taken from +Abraham, upon the supposition that she was not his wife, but +only his sister. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>A.M. 2179. Ant. J.C. 1825.</note> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Thethmosis</hi>, or Amosis, having expelled the Shepherd-kings, +reigned in Lower Egypt. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>A.M. 2276. Ant. J.C. 1728.</note> +Long after his reign, Joseph was brought a slave +into Egypt, by some Ishmaelitish merchants; sold +to Potiphar; and, by a series of wonderful events, +enjoyed the supreme authority, by his being raised to +the chief employment of the kingdom. I shall pass over +his history, as it is so universally known. But I must take +notice of a remark of Justin, (the epitomizer of Trogus Pompeius,<note place='foot'>Lib. +xxxvi. c. 2.</note> +an excellent historian of the Augustan age,) <hi rend='italic'>viz.</hi> that +Joseph, the youngest of Jacob's children, whom his brethren, +through envy, had sold to foreign merchants, being endowed +from heaven<note place='foot'>Justin ascribes this gift of heaven to +Joseph's skill in magical arts: Cùm magicas ibi artes (Egypto) solerti +ingenio percepisset, &c.—Trans.</note> +with the interpretation of dreams, and a knowledge +of futurity, preserved, by his uncommon prudence, +<pb n='060'/><anchor id='Pg060'/> +Egypt from the famine with which it was menaced, and was +extremely caressed by the king. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>A.M. 2298. Ant. J.C. 1706.</note> +Jacob also went into Egypt with his whole family, which +met with the kindest treatment from the Egyptians, +whilst Joseph's important services were fresh in +their memories. But after his death, say the Scriptures,<note place='foot'>Exod. +i. 8.</note> <q>there arose up a new king, which knew not Joseph.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>A.M. 2427. Ant. J.C. 1577.</note> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Rameses-miamun</hi>, according to archbishop Usher, was the +name of this king, who is called Pharaoh in Scripture. +He reigned sixty-six years, and oppressed the Israelites +in a most grievous manner. <q>He set over them +task-masters, to afflict them with their burdens, and they built +for Pharaoh treasure-cities,<note place='foot'>Heb. urbes thesaurorum. LXX. +urbes munitas. These cities were appointed to preserve, as in a storehouse, +the corn, oil, and other products of Egypt. Vatab.—Trans.</note> +Pithom and Raamses—and the +Egyptians made the children of Israel to serve with rigour, +and they made their lives bitter with hard bondage, in mortar +and in brick, and in all manner of service in the field; all their +service wherein they made them serve, was with rigour.</q><note place='foot'>Exod. +i. 11, 13, 14.</note> This king had two sons, Amenophis and Busiris. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>A.M. 2494. Ant. J.C. 1510.</note> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Amenophis</hi>, the eldest, succeeded him. He was the Pharaoh, +under whose reign the Israelites departed out +of Egypt, and was drowned in passing the Red-Sea. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>A.M. 2513. Ant. J.C. 1491.</note> +Father Tournemine makes Sesostris, of whom we shall +speak immediately, the Pharaoh who raised the persecution +against the Israelites, and oppressed them +with the most painful toils. This is exactly agreeable +to the account given by Diodorus of this prince, who employed +in his Egyptian works only foreigners; so that we may place +the memorable event of the passage of the Red-Sea, under +his son Pheron;<note place='foot'>This name bears a great resemblance to Pharaoh, which +was common to the Egyptian kings.—Trans.</note> and the characteristic of impiety +ascribed to him by Herodotus, greatly strengthens the probability of this +conjecture. The plan I have proposed to follow in this history, +excuses me from entering into chronological discussions. +</p> + +<p> +Diodorus, speaking of the Red-Sea,<note place='foot'>Lib. iii. p. 74.</note> has made one +remark very worthy our observation; a tradition (says that historian) +has been transmitted through the whole nation, from father to +<pb n='061'/><anchor id='Pg061'/> +son, for many ages, that once an extraordinary ebb dried up +the sea, so that its bottom was seen; and that a violent flow +immediately after brought back the waters to their former +channel. It is evident, that the miraculous passage of Moses +over the Red-Sea is here hinted at; and I make this remark, +purposely to admonish young students, not to slip over, in +their perusal of authors, these precious remains of antiquity; +especially when they bear, like this passage, any relation to +religion. +</p> + +<p> +Archbishop Usher says, that Amenophis left two sons, one +called Sesothis or Sesostris, and the other Armais. The Greeks +call him Belus, and his two sons Egyptus and Danaus. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Sesostris</hi><note place='foot'>Herod. l. +ii. c. 102, 110. Diod. l. i. pp. 48, 54.</note> +was not only one of the most powerful kings of +Egypt, but one of the greatest conquerors that antiquity boasts +of. His father, whether by inspiration, caprice, or, as the +Egyptians say, by the authority of an oracle, formed a design +of making his son a conqueror. This he set about after the +Egyptian manner, that is, in a great and noble way. All the +male children, born the same day with Sesostris, were, by +the king's order, brought to court. Here they were educated +as if they had been his own children, with the same care bestowed +on Sesostris, with whom they were brought up. He +could not possibly have given him more faithful ministers, nor +officers who more zealously desired the success of his arms. +The chief part of their education was, the enuring them, from +their infancy, to a hard and laborious life, in order that they +might one day be capable of sustaining with ease the toils of +war. They were never suffered to eat, till they had run, on +foot or horseback, a considerable race. Hunting was their +most common exercise. +</p> + +<p> +Ælian remarks<note place='foot'>Τὰ νοήματα ἐκμενσώθηναι, lib. xii. c. +4.</note> that Sesostris was taught by Mercury, who +instructed him in politics, and the art of government. This +Mercury is he whom the Greeks called Trismegistus, <hi rend='italic'>i.e.</hi> +thrice great. Egypt, his native country, owes to him the invention +of almost every art. The two books, which go under +his name, bear such evident characters of novelty, that the +forgery is no longer doubted. There was another Mercury +<pb n='062'/><anchor id='Pg062'/> +who also was very famous amongst the Egyptians for his rare +knowledge; and of much greater antiquity than he of whom +we have been speaking. Jamblicus, a priest of Egypt, affirms, +that it was customary with the Egyptians, to affix the name of +Hermes or Mercury to all the new books or inventions that +were offered to the public. +</p> + +<p> +When Sesostris was more advanced in years, his father sent +him against the Arabians, in order to acquire military knowledge. +Here the young prince learned to bear hunger and +thirst; and subdued a nation which till then had never been +conquered. The youths educated with him attended him in all +his campaigns. +</p> + +<p> +Accustomed by this conquest to martial toils, he was next +sent by his father to try his fortune westward. He invaded +Libya, and subdued the greatest part of that vast country. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>A.M. 2513. Ant. J.C. 1491.</note> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Sesostris</hi>. During this expedition his father died, and left +him capable of attempting the greatest enterprises. +He formed no less a design than that of the conquest +of the world. But before he left his kingdom, +he provided for his domestic security, in winning the +hearts of his subjects by his generosity, justice, and a popular +and obliging behaviour. He was no less studious to gain the +affection of his officers and soldiers, whom he wished to be +ever ready to shed the last drop of their blood in his service; +persuaded that his enterprises would all be unsuccessful, unless +his army should be attached to his person, by all the ties +of esteem, affection, and interest. He divided the country +into thirty-six governments (called Nomi,) and bestowed them +on persons of merit, and the most approved fidelity. +</p> + +<p> +In the mean time he made the requisite preparations, levied +forces, and headed them with officers of the greatest bravery +and reputation, and these were taken chiefly from among the +youths who had been educated with him. He had seventeen +hundred of these officers, who were all capable of inspiring his +troops with resolution, a love of discipline, and a zeal for the +service of their prince. His army consisted of six hundred +thousand foot, and twenty-four thousand horse, besides twenty-seven +thousand armed chariots. +</p> + +<p> +He began his expedition by invading Æthiopia, situated to +<pb n='063'/><anchor id='Pg063'/> +the south of Egypt. He made it tributary, and obliged the +nations of it to furnish him annually with a certain quantity of +ebony, ivory, and gold. +</p> + +<p> +He had fitted out a fleet of four hundred sail, and ordering +it to advance to the Red-Sea, made himself master of the isles +and cities lying on the coasts of that sea. He himself heading +his land army, overran and subdued Asia with amazing rapidity, +and advanced farther into India than Hercules, Bacchus, +and in after-times Alexander himself, had ever done; for he +subdued the countries beyond the Ganges, and advanced as +far as the Ocean. One may judge from hence how unable the +more neighbouring countries were to resist him. The Scythians, +as far as the river Tanais, as well as Armenia, and +Cappadocia, were conquered. He left a colony in the ancient +kingdom of Colchos, situated to the east of the Black Sea, +where the Egyptian customs and manners have been ever +since retained. Herodotus saw in Asia Minor, from one sea +to the other, monuments of his victories. In several countries +was read the following inscription engraven on pillars: <q>Sesostris, +king of kings, and lord of lords, subdued this country by +the power of his arms.</q> Such pillars were found even in +Thrace, and his empire extended from the Ganges to the +Danube. In his expeditions, some nations bravely defended +their liberties, and others yielded them up without making the +least resistance. This disparity was denoted by him in hieroglyphical +figures, on the monuments erected to perpetuate +the remembrance of his victories, agreeably to the Egyptian +practice. +</p> + +<p> +The scarcity of provisions in Thrace stopped the progress +of his conquests, and prevented his advancing farther in +Europe. One remarkable circumstance is observed in this +conqueror, who never once thought, as others had done, of +preserving his acquisitions; but contenting himself with the +glory of having subdued and despoiled so many nations; after +having made wild havoc up and down the world for nine +years, he confined himself almost within the ancient limits of +Egypt, a few neighbouring provinces excepted; for we do not +find any traces or footsteps of this new empire, either under +himself or his successors. +</p> + +<pb n='064'/><anchor id='Pg064'/> + +<p> +He returned therefore laden with the spoils of the vanquished +nations, dragging after him a numberless multitude +of captives, and covered with greater glory than any of his +predecessors; that glory, I mean, which employs so many +tongues and pens in its praise; which consists in invading a +great number of provinces in a hostile way, and is often productive +of numberless calamities. He rewarded his officers +and soldiers with a truly royal magnificence, in proportion to +their rank and merit. He made it both his pleasure and duty, +to put the companions of his victory in such a condition as +might enable them to enjoy, during the remainder of their +days, a calm and easy repose, the just reward of their past +toils. +</p> + +<p> +With regard to himself, for ever careful of his own reputation, +and still more of making his power advantageous to his +subjects, he employed the repose which peace allowed him, in +raising works that might contribute more to the enriching of +Egypt, than the immortalizing his name; works, in which the +art and industry of the workman were more admired, than the +immense sums which had been expended on them. +</p> + +<p> +A hundred famous temples, raised as so many monuments +of gratitude to the tutelar gods of all the cities, were the first, +as well as the most illustrious, testimonies of his victories; and +he took care to publish in the inscriptions on them, that these +mighty works had been completed without burdening any of his +subjects. He made it his glory to be tender of them, and to +employ only captives in these monuments of his conquests. +The Scriptures take notice of something like this, where they +speak of the buildings of Solomon.<note place='foot'>2 Chron. viii. +9. But of the children of Israel did Solomon make no servants for +his work.—Trans.</note> But he prided himself +particularly in adorning and enriching the temple of Vulcan at +Pelusium, in acknowledgment of the protection which he fancied +that god had bestowed on him, when, on his return from +his expeditions, his brother had a design of destroying him in +that city, with his wife and children, by setting fire to the +apartment where he then lay. +</p> + +<p> +His great work was, the raising, in every part of Egypt, a +considerable number of high banks or moles, on which new +<pb n='065'/><anchor id='Pg065'/> +cities were built, in order that these might be a security for +men and beasts during the inundations of the Nile. +</p> + +<p> +From Memphis, as far as the sea, he cut, on both sides of +the river, a great number of canals, for the conveniency of +trade, and the conveying of provisions, and for the settling an +easy correspondence between such cities as were most distant +from one another. Besides the advantages of traffic, Egypt was, +by these canals, made inaccessible to the cavalry of its enemies, +which before had so often harassed it by repeated incursions. +</p> + +<p> +He did still more. To secure Egypt from the inroads of +its nearer neighbours, the Syrians and Arabians, he fortified +all the eastern coast from Pelusium to Heliopolis, that is, for +upwards of seven leagues.<note place='foot'>150 stadia, about 18 miles +English.—Trans.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Sesostris might have been considered as one of the most +illustrious and most boasted heroes of antiquity, had not the +lustre of his warlike actions, as well as his pacific virtues, been +tarnished by a thirst of glory, and a blind fondness for his own +grandeur, which made him forget that he was a man. The +kings and chiefs of the conquered nations came, at stated +times, to do homage to their victor, and pay him the appointed +tribute. On every other occasion, he treated them with sufficient +humanity and generosity. But when he went to the +temple, or entered his capital, he caused these princes to be +harnessed to his car, four abreast, instead of horses; and +valued himself upon his being thus drawn by the lords and +sovereigns of other nations. What I am most surprised at, is, +that Diodorus should rank this foolish and inhuman vanity +among the most shining actions of this prince. +</p> + +<p> +Being grown blind in his old age, he died by his own hands, +after having reigned thirty-three years, and left his kingdom +infinitely rich. His empire, nevertheless, did not reach beyond +the fourth generation. But there still remained, so low as the +reign of Tiberius, magnificent monuments, which showed the +extent of Egypt under Sesostris,<note place='foot'>Tacit. +<hi rend='italic'>Ann.</hi> l. ii. c. 60.</note> and the immense tributes +which were paid to it.<note place='foot'>Legebantur indicta gentibus +tributa—haud minùs magnifica quàm nunc vi Parthorum aut +potentiâ Romanâ jubentur—Inscribed on pillars, were read the tributes +imposed on vanquished nations, which were not inferior to those now paid to +the Parthian and Roman powers.—Trans.</note> +</p> + +<pb n='066'/><anchor id='Pg066'/> + +<p> +I now go back to some facts which took place in this period, +but which were omitted, in order that I might not break +the thread of the history, and now I shall but barely mention +them. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>A.M. 2448.</note> About the æra in question, the Egyptians settled +themselves in divers parts of the earth. The colony, which Cecrops +led out of Egypt, built twelve cities, or rather +as many towns, of which he composed the kingdom of Athens. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>A.M. 2530.</note> We observed, that the brother of Sesostris, called +by the Greeks Danaus, had formed a design to murder him, on his +return to Egypt, after his conquest. But being defeated +in his horrid project, he was obliged to fly. +He thereupon retired to Peloponnesus, where he seized upon +the kingdom of Argos, which had been founded about four +hundred years before, by Inachus. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>A.M. 2533.</note> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Busiris</hi>, brother of +Amenophis, so infamous among the ancients for his cruelties, exercised his tyranny at +that time on the banks of the Nile; and barbarously +murdered all foreigners who landed in his country: this was +probably during the absence of Sesostris. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>A.M. 2549.</note> About the same time, Cadmus brought from Syria +into Greece the invention of letters. Some pretend, that these +characters or letters were Egyptian, and that Cadmus +himself was a native of Egypt, and not of Phœnicia; and +the Egyptians, who ascribe to themselves the invention of every +art, and boast a greater antiquity than any other nation, give +to their Mercury the honour of inventing letters. Most of the +learned agree,<note place='foot'>The reader may consult, on this subject, two learned +dissertations of Abbé Renaudot, inserted in the second volume of +<hi rend='italic'>The History of the Academy of Inscriptions</hi>.—Trans.</note> +that Cadmus carried the Phœnician or Syrian +letters into Greece, and that those letters were the same as the +Hebraic; the Hebrews, who formed but a small nation, being +comprehended under the general name of Syrians. Joseph +Scaliger, in his notes on the <hi rend='italic'>Chronicon</hi> of Eusebius, proves, +that the Greek letters, and those of the Latin alphabet formed +from them, derive their original from the ancient Phœnician +letters, which are the same with the Samaritan, and were used +by the Jews before the Babylonish captivity. Cadmus carried +<pb n='067'/><anchor id='Pg067'/> +only sixteen letters<note place='foot'>The sixteen letters brought by Cadmus into Greece, +are α, β, γ, δ, ε, ι, κ, λ, μ, ν, ο, π, ρ, σ, τ, υ. +Palamedes, at the siege of Troy, <hi rend='italic'>i.e.</hi> upwards of two hundred and +fifty years lower than Cadmus, added the four following, ξ, θ, φ, χ; and Simonides, +a long time after, invented the four others, namely, η, ω, ζ, ψ.—Trans.</note> +into Greece, eight others being added afterwards. +</p> + +<p> +I return to the history of the Egyptian kings, whom I shall +hereafter rank in the same order as Herodotus has assigned +to them. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>A.M. 2517. Ant. J.C. 1547.</note> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Pheron</hi> succeeded Sesostris in his kingdom, but not in his +glory. Herodotus<note place='foot'>Herod. l. ii. c. 111. Diod. l. i. +p. 54.</note> relates but one action of his, which +shows how greatly he had degenerated from the religious +sentiments of his father. In an extraordinary +inundation of the Nile, which exceeded eighteen cubits, this +prince, enraged at the wild havoc which was made by it, threw +a javelin at the river, as if he intended thereby to chastise its +insolence; but was himself immediately punished for his impiety, +if the historian may be credited, with the loss of sight. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>A.M. 2800. Ant. J.C. 1204.</note> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Proteus</hi>.<note place='foot'>I do not think myself obliged to +enter here into a discussion, which would be attended with very perplexing difficulties, +should I pretend to reconcile the series, or succession of the kings, as given by +Herodotus, with the opinion of archbishop Usher. This last supposes, with many other +learned men, that Sesostris is the son of that Egyptian king who was drowned in the +Red-Sea, whose reign must consequently have begun in the year of the world 2513, and +continued till the year 2547, since it lasted thirty-three years. Should we allow fifty +years to the reign of Pheron his son, there would still be an interval of above two +hundred years between Pheron and Proteus, who, according to Herodotus, was the immediate +successor of the former; since Proteus lived at the time of the siege of Troy, which, +according to Usher, was taken An. Mun. 2820. I know not whether his almost total silence +on the Egyptian kings after Sesostris, was owing to his sense of this difficulty. I +suppose a long interval to have occurred between Pheron and Proteus; accordingly, +Diodorus (lib. i. p. liv.) fills it up with a great many kings; and the same must be +said of some of the following kings.—Trans.</note> +He was of Memphis, where, in Herodotus's +time,<note place='foot'>Herod. l. ii. c. 112, 120.</note> his temple was still standing, +in which was a chapel dedicated to Venus the Stranger. It is conjectured +that this Venus was Helen. For, in the reign +of this monarch, Paris the Trojan, returning home with Helen +whom he had stolen, was driven by a storm into one of the +mouths of the Nile, called Canopic; and from thence was +conducted to Proteus at Memphis, who reproached him in the +strongest terms for his base perfidy and guilt, in stealing the +wife of his host, and with her all the effects in his house. He +added, that the only reason why he did not punish him with +<pb n='068'/><anchor id='Pg068'/> +death (as his crime deserved) was, because the Egyptians +were careful not to imbrue their hands in the blood of strangers: +that he would keep Helen, with all the riches that were brought +with her, in order to restore them to their lawful owner: that +as for himself, (Paris,) he must either quit his dominions in +three days, or expect to be treated as an enemy. The king's +order was obeyed. Paris continued his voyage, and arrived +at Troy, whither he was closely pursued by the Grecian army. +The Greeks summoned the Trojans to surrender Helen, and +with her all the treasures of which her husband had been +plundered. The Trojans answered, that neither Helen, nor +her treasures, were in their city. And, indeed, was it at all +likely, says Herodotus, that Priam, who was so wise an old +prince, should choose to see his children and country destroyed +before his eyes, rather than give the Greeks the just and reasonable +satisfaction they desired? But it was to no purpose +for them to affirm with an oath, that Helen was not in their +city; the Greeks, being firmly persuaded that they were trifled +with, persisted obstinately in their unbelief: the deity, continues +the same historian, being resolved that the Trojans, by +the total destruction of their city and empire, should teach the +affrighted world this lesson:<note place='foot'>Ὡς τῶν μεγαλων ἀδικημάτον μεγάλαι εἰσὶ +καὶ αἱ τιμωρὶαι παρὰ τῶν Θεῶν.—Trans.</note>—<hi rend='smallcaps'>That +great crimes are attended with as great and signal punishments from the +offended gods.</hi> Menelaus, on his return from Troy, called +at the court of king Proteus, who restored him Helen, with all +her treasure. Herodotus proves, from some passages in Homer, +that the voyage of Paris to Egypt was not unknown to +this poet. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Rhampsinitus.</hi> What is related by Herodotus<note place='foot'>L. +ii. c. 121, 123.</note> concerning the treasury built by this king, who was the richest +of all his predecessors, and his descent into hell, has so much the air of +romance and fiction, as to deserve no mention here. +</p> + +<p> +Till the reign of this king, there had been some shadow, at +least, of justice and moderation in Egypt; but in the two following +reigns, violence and cruelty usurped their place. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Cheops</hi> and +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Cephren</hi>.<note place='foot'>Herod. l. ii. c. 124, +128. Diod. l. i. p. 57.</note> These two princes, who were +truly brothers by the similitude of their manners, seem to +<pb n='069'/><anchor id='Pg069'/> +have vied with each other which of them should distinguish +himself most, by a barefaced impiety towards the gods, and a +barbarous inhumanity to men. Cheops reigned fifty years, +and his brother Cephren fifty-six years after him. They kept +the temples shut during the whole time of their long reigns; +and forbid the offering of sacrifices under the severest penalties. +On the other hand, they oppressed their subjects by employing +them in the most grievous and useless works; and +sacrificed the lives of numberless multitudes of men, merely to +gratify a senseless ambition of immortalizing their names by +edifices of an enormous magnitude, and a boundless expense. +It is remarkable, that those stately pyramids, which have so +long been the admiration of the whole world, were the effect +of the irreligion and merciless cruelty of those princes. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Mycerinus.</hi><note place='foot'>Herod. l. ii. +p. 139. 140. Diod. p. 58.</note> He was the son of Cheops, but of a character +opposite to that of his father. So far from walking in his +steps, he detested his conduct, and pursued quite different +measures. He again opened the temples of the gods, restored +the sacrifices, did all that lay in his power to comfort his subjects, +and make them forget their past miseries; and believed +himself set over them for no other purpose but to exercise justice, +and to make them taste all the blessings of an equitable +and peaceful administration. He heard their complaints, dried +their tears, alleviated their misery, and thought himself not so +much the master as the father of his people. This procured +him the love of them all. Egypt resounded with his praises, +and his name commanded veneration in all places. +</p> + +<p> +One would naturally conclude, that so prudent and humane +a conduct must have drawn down on Mycerinus the protection +of the gods. But it happened far otherwise. His misfortunes +began from the death of a darling and only daughter, in whom +his whole felicity consisted. He ordered extraordinary honours +to be paid to her memory, which were still continued in +Herodotus's time. This historian informs us, that in the city +of Saïs, exquisite odours were burnt, in the day-time, at the +tomb of this princess; and that during the night, a lamp was +kept constantly burning. +</p> + +<p> +He was told by an oracle, that his reign would continue but +<pb n='070'/><anchor id='Pg070'/> +seven years. And as he complained of this to the gods, and +inquired the reason why so long and prosperous a reign had +been granted to his father and uncle, who were equally cruel +and impious, whilst his own, which he had endeavoured so +carefully to render as equitable and mild as it was possible for +him to do, should be so short and unhappy; he was answered, +that these were the very causes of it, it being the will of the +gods, to oppress and afflict Egypt during the space of one +hundred and fifty years, as a punishment for its crimes; and +that his reign, which was to have been like those of the preceding +monarchs, of fifty years' continuance, was shortened on +account of his too great lenity. Mycerinus likewise built a +pyramid, but much inferior in dimensions to that of his father. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Asychis.</hi><note place='foot'>Herod. l. ii. +c. 136.</note> He enacted the law relating to loans, which +forbade a son to borrow money, without giving the dead body +of his father by way of security for it. The law added, that +in case the son took no care to redeem his father's body by +restoring the loan, both himself and his children should be +deprived for ever of the rights of sepulture. +</p> + +<p> +He valued himself for having surpassed all his predecessors, +by the building a pyramid of brick, more magnificent, if this +king was to be credited, than any hitherto seen. The following +inscription, by its founder's order, was engraved upon it. +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Compare me not with pyramids built of stone; which +I as much excel as jupiter does all the other gods.</hi><note place='foot'>The +remainder of the inscription, as we find it in Herodotus, is—for men plunging +long poles down to the bottom of the lake, drew bricks (πλίνθος εἴρυσαν) out of +the mud which stuck to them, and gave me this form.—Trans.</note> +</p> + +<p> +If we suppose the six preceding reigns (the exact duration +of some of which is not fixed by Herodotus) to comprise one +hundred and seventy years, there will remain an interval of +near three hundred years, to the reign of Sabachus the Ethiopian. +In this interval, I place a few circumstances related in +Holy Scripture. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>A.M. 2991. Ant. J.C. 1013.</note> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Pharaoh</hi>, king of Egypt, gave his daughter in marriage +to Solomon king of Israel; who received her in that +part of Jerusalem called the city of David, till he had +built her a palace.<note place='foot'>1 Kings iii. 1.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Sesach</hi> or Shishak, otherwise called Sesonchis. +<pb n='071'/><anchor id='Pg071'/> +<note place='margin'>A.M. 3026. Ant. J.C. 978.</note> +It was to him that Jeroboam fled, to avoid the wrath of +Solomon, who intended to kill him.<note place='foot'>1 Kings xi. +40. and xii.</note> He abode in +Egypt till Solomon's death, and then returned to +Jerusalem, when, putting himself at the head of the +rebels, he won from Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, ten tribes, +over whom he declared himself king. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>A.M. 3033. Ant. J.C. 971.</note> +This Sesach, in the fifth year of the reign of Rehoboam, +marched against Jerusalem, because the Jews had +transgressed against the Lord. He came with twelve +hundred chariots of war, and sixty thousand horse.<note place='foot'>2 +Chron. xii. 1-9.</note> He had brought numberless multitudes of people, who were all +Libyans,<note place='foot'>The English version of the Bible says, The Lubims, the +Sukkiims, and the Ethiopians.—Trans.</note> Troglodytes, and Ethiopians. He +made himself master of all the strongest cities of Judah, and advanced as +far as Jerusalem. Then the king, and the princes of Israel, +having humbled themselves, and implored the protection of +the God of Israel; God told them, by his prophet Shemaiah, +that, because they humbled themselves, he would not utterly +destroy them as they had deserved; but that they should be +the servants of Sesach: in order <q>that they might know the +difference of his service, and the service of the kingdoms of +the country.</q><note place='foot'>Or, of the kingdoms of +the earth.—Trans.</note> Sesach retired from Jerusalem, after having +plundered the treasures of the house of the Lord, and of the +king's house; he carried off every thing with him, <q>and even +also the three hundred shields of gold which Solomon had +made.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>A.M. 3063. Ant. J.C. 941.</note> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Zerah</hi>, king of Ethiopia, and doubtless of Egypt at the same +time, made war upon Asa king of Judah.<note place='foot'>2 Chron. +xiv. 9-13.</note> His army +consisted of a million of men, and three hundred chariots +of war. Asa marched against him, and drawing +up his army in order of battle, in full reliance on the God whom +he served: <q>Lord,</q> says he, <q>it is nothing for thee to help +whether with many, or with them that have no power. Help +us, O Lord our God, for we rest on thee, and in thy name we +go against this multitude; O Lord, thou art our God, let not +man prevail against thee.</q> A prayer offered up with such +strong faith was heard. God struck the Ethiopians with terror; +<pb n='072'/><anchor id='Pg072'/> +they fled, and all were irrevocably defeated, being <q>destroyed +before the Lord, and before his host.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Anysis.</hi><note place='foot'>Herod. +l. ii. c. 137. Diod, l. i. p. 59.</note> He was blind, and under his reign +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Sabachus</hi>, king of Ethiopia, being encouraged by an oracle, +entered Egypt with a numerous army, and possessed himself +of it. He reigned with great clemency and justice. Instead +of putting to death such criminals as had been sentenced to +die by the judges, he made them repair the causeys, on which +the respective cities to which they belonged were situated. +He built several magnificent temples, and among the rest, one +in the city of Bubastus, of which Herodotus gives a long and +elegant description. After a reign of fifty years, which was the +time appointed by the oracle, he retired voluntarily to his old +kingdom of Ethiopia, and left the throne of Egypt to Anysis, +who, during this time, had concealed himself in the fens. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>A.M. 3279. Ant. J.C. 725.</note> It is +believed that this Sabachus was the same with +So, whose aid was implored by Hoshea, king of +Israel, against Shalmanezer, king of Assyria.<note place='foot'>2 Kings xvii. 4.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Sethon.</hi> He reigned fourteen years. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>A.M. 3285. Ant. J.C. 719.</note> +He is the same with Sevechus, the son of Sabacon, or So, the +Ethiopian, who reigned so long over Egypt. This +prince, so far from discharging the functions of a +king, was ambitious of those of a priest; causing himself +to be consecrated high-priest of Vulcan. Abandoning himself +entirely to superstition, he neglected to defend his kingdom +by force of arms; paying no regard to military men, from a firm +persuasion that he should never have occasion for their assistance; +he, therefore, was so far from endeavouring to gain +their affections, that he deprived them of their privileges, and +even dispossessed them of their revenues of such lands as his +predecessors had given them. +</p> + +<p> +He was soon made sensible of their resentment in a war that +broke out suddenly, and from which he delivered himself solely +by a miraculous protection, if Herodotus may be credited, who +intermixes his account of this war with a great many fabulous +particulars. Sanacharib (so Herodotus calls this prince) king +of the Arabians and Assyrians, having entered Egypt with a +numerous army, the Egyptian officers and soldiers refused to +<pb n='073'/><anchor id='Pg073'/> +march against him. The high priest of Vulcan, being thus +reduced to the greatest extremity, had recourse to his god, who +bid him not despond, but march courageously against the +enemy with the few soldiers he could raise. Sethon obeyed. +A small number of merchants, artificers, and others who were +the dregs of the populace, joined him; and with this handful +of men, he marched to Pelusium, where Sanacharib had pitched +his camp. The night following, a prodigious multitude of rats +entered the camp of the Assyrians, and gnawing to pieces all +their bowstrings, and the thongs of their shields, rendered them +incapable of making the least defence. Being disarmed in +this manner, they were obliged to fly; and they retreated with +the loss of a great part of their forces. Sethon, when he returned +home, ordered a statue of himself to be set up in the +temple of Vulcan, holding in his right hand a rat, and these +words to be inscribed thereon:—<hi rend='smallcaps'>Let the man who beholds +me learn to reverence the gods.</hi><note place='foot'>Ἐς ἐμέ τις ὁρέων. εὐσεβης +ἔστω—Trans.</note> +</p> + +<p> +It is very obvious that this story, as related here from Herodotus, +is an alteration of that which is told in the second book +of Kings. We there see,<note place='foot'>Chap. xvii.</note> +that Sennacherib, king of the Assyrians, +having subdued all the neighbouring nations, and +made himself master of all the other cities of Judah, resolved +to besiege Hezekiah in Jerusalem, his capital city. The ministers +of this holy king, in spite of his opposition, and the +remonstrances of the prophet Isaiah, who promised them, in +God's name, a sure and certain protection, provided they +would trust in him only, sent secretly to the Egyptians and +Ethiopians for succour. Their armies, being united, marched +to the relief of Jerusalem at the time appointed, and were met +and vanquished by the Assyrian in a pitched battle. He pursued +them into Egypt and entirely laid waste the country. +At his return from thence, the very night before he was to +have given a general assault to Jerusalem, which then seemed +lost to all hopes, the destroying angel made dreadful havoc in +the camp of the Assyrians; destroyed a hundred fourscore +and five thousand men by fire and sword; and proved evidently, +that they had great reason to rely, as Hezekiah had +done, on the promise of the God of Israel. +</p> + +<pb n='074'/><anchor id='Pg074'/> + +<p> +This is the real fact. But as it was no ways honourable to +the Egyptians, they endeavoured to turn it to their own advantage, +by disguising and corrupting the circumstances of it. +Nevertheless, the footsteps of this history, though so much +defaced, ought yet to be highly valued, as coming from an +historian of so great antiquity and authority as Herodotus. +</p> + +<p> +The prophet Isaiah had foretold, at several times, that this +expedition of the Egyptians, which had been concerted, seemingly, +with such prudence, conducted with the greatest skill, +and in which the forces of two powerful empires were united, +in order to relieve the Jews, would not only be of no service +to Jerusalem, but even destructive to Egypt itself, whose +strongest cities would be taken, its territories plundered, and +its inhabitants of all ages and sexes led into captivity. See +the 18th, 19th, 20th, 30th, 31st, &c. chapters of his prophecy. +</p> + +<p> +Archbishop Usher and Dean Prideaux suppose that it was +at this period that the ruin of the famous city No-Amon,<note place='foot'>The Vulgate +calls that city Alexandria, to which the Hebrew gives the name +of No-Amon, because Alexandria was afterwards built in the place where this stood. +Dean Prideaux, after Bochart, thinks that it was Thebes, surnamed Diospolis. Indeed, +the Egyptian Amon is the same with Jupiter. But Thebes is not the place +where Alexandria was since built. Perhaps there was another city there, which also +was called No-Amon.—Trans.</note> spoken of by the prophet Nahum, happened. That +prophet says,<note place='foot'>Nahum iii. 8, 10.</note> that <q>she was carried +away—that her young children +were dashed in pieces at the top of all the streets—that the +enemy cast lots for her honourable men, and that all her great +men were bound in chains.</q> He observes, that all these misfortunes +befell that city, when Egypt and Ethiopia were her +strength; which seems to refer clearly enough to the time of +which we are here speaking, when Tharaca and Sethon had +united their forces. However, this opinion is not without some +difficulties, and is contradicted by some learned men. It is +sufficient for me to have hinted it to the reader. +</p> + +<p> +Till the reign of Sethon, the Egyptian priests computed +three hundred and forty-one generations of men;<note place='foot'>Herod. +l. ii. c. 142.</note> which make +eleven thousand three hundred and forty years; allowing three +generations to a hundred years. They counted the like number +of priests and kings. The latter, whether gods or men, +had succeeded one another without interruption, under the +<pb n='075'/><anchor id='Pg075'/> +name of Piromis, an Egyptian word signifying good and virtuous. +The Egyptian priests showed Herodotus three hundred +and forty-one wooden colossal statues of these Piromis, +all ranged in order in a great hall. Such was the folly of the +Egyptians, to lose themselves as it were in a remote antiquity, +to which no other people could dare to pretend. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>A.M. 3299. Ant. J.C. 705.</note> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Tharaca.</hi> He it was who joined Sethon, with an Ethiopian +army, to relieve Jerusalem.<note place='foot'>Afric. apud +Syncel. p. 74. Diod l. i. p. 59.</note> After the death of +Sethon, who had sitten fourteen years on the throne, +Tharaca ascended it, and reigned eighteen years. +He was the last Ethiopian king who reigned in Egypt. +</p> + +<p> +After his death, the Egyptians, not being able to agree about +the succession, were two years in a state of anarchy, during +which there were great disorders and confusions among them. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>A.M. 3319. Ant. J.C. 685.</note> +At last,<note place='foot'>Herod. +l. ii. c. 147, 152.</note> twelve of the principal noblemen, conspiring together, +seized upon the kingdom, and divided it +amongst themselves into as many parts. It was +agreed by them, that each should govern his own district +with equal power and authority, and that no one should +attempt to invade or seize the dominions of another. They +thought it necessary to make this agreement, and to bind it +with the most dreadful oaths, to elude the prediction of an +oracle, which had foretold, that he among them who should +offer his libation to Vulcan out of a brazen bowl, should gain +the sovereignty of Egypt. They reigned together fifteen years +in the utmost harmony: and to leave a famous monument of +their concord to posterity, they jointly, and at a common expense, +built the famous labyrinth, which was a pile of building +consisting of twelve large palaces, with as many edifices +underground as appeared above it. I have spoken elsewhere +of this labyrinth. +</p> + +<p> +One day, as the twelve kings were assisting at a solemn and +periodical sacrifice offered in the temple of Vulcan, the priests, +having presented each of them a golden bowl for the libation, +one was wanting; when Psammetichus,<note place='foot'>He was +one of the twelve.—Trans.</note> without any design, +<pb n='076'/><anchor id='Pg076'/> +supplied the want of this bowl with his brazen helmet, (for each +wore one,) and with it performed the ceremony of the libation. +This accident struck the rest of the kings, and recalled to their +memory the prediction of the oracle above mentioned. They +thought it therefore necessary to secure themselves from his +attempts, and therefore, with one consent, banished him into +the fenny parts of Egypt. +</p> + +<p> +After Psammetichus had passed some years there, waiting a +favourable opportunity to revenge himself for the affront which +had been put upon him, a courier brought him advice, that +brazen men were landed in Egypt. These were Grecian soldiers, +Carians and Ionians, who had been cast upon the +coasts of Egypt by a storm, and were completely covered with +helmets, cuirasses, and other arms of brass. Psammetichus +immediately called to mind the oracle, which had answered +him, that he should be succoured by brazen men from the sea-coast. +He did not doubt but the prediction was now fulfilled. +He therefore made a league with these strangers; engaged +them with great promises to stay with him; privately levied +other forces; and put these Greeks at their head; when giving +battle to the eleven kings, he defeated them, and remained +sole possessor of Egypt. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>A.M. 3334. Ant. J.C. 670.</note> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Psammetichus.</hi> As this prince owed his preservation to +the Ionians and Carians, he settled them in Egypt, +(from which all foreigners hitherto had been excluded;) +and, by assigning them sufficient lands and +fixed revenues, he made them forget their native country.<note place='foot'>Herod. +l. ii. c. 153, 154.</note> +By his order, Egyptian children were put under their care to +learn the Greek tongue; and on this occasion, and by this +means, the Egyptians began to have a correspondence with the +Greeks; and from that æra, the Egyptian history, which, till +then, had been intermixed with pompous fables, by the artifice +of the priests, begins, according to Herodotus, to speak with +greater truth and certainty. +</p> + +<p> +As soon as Psammetichus was settled on the throne, he +engaged in war against the king of Assyria, on the subject of +the boundaries of the two empires. This war was of long continuance. +Ever since Syria had been conquered by the +<pb n='077'/><anchor id='Pg077'/> +Assyrians, Palestine, being the only country that separated the +two kingdoms, was the subject of continual discord; as afterwards +it was between the Ptolemies and the Seleucidæ. They +were eternally contending for it, and it was alternately won by +the stronger. Psammetichus, seeing himself the peaceable +possessor of all Egypt, and having restored the ancient form +of government,<note place='foot'>This revolution happened about seven years after the +captivity of Manasseh, king of Judah.—Trans.</note> thought it high time for him +to look to his frontiers, and to secure them against the Assyrian, his neighbour, +whose power increased daily. For this purpose, he entered +Palestine at the head of an army. +</p> + +<p> +Perhaps we are to refer to the beginning of this war, an +incident related by Diodorus;<note place='foot'>Lib. i. p. +61.</note> that the Egyptians, provoked +to see the Greeks posted on the right wing by the king himself, +in preference to them, quitted the service, to the number of +upwards of two hundred thousand men, and retired into Ethiopia, +where they met with an advantageous settlement. +</p> + +<p> +Be this as it will, Psammetichus entered Palestine,<note place='foot'>Herod. l. ii. c. +157.</note> where his career was stopped by Azotus, one of the principal cities +of the country, which gave him so much trouble, that he was +forced to besiege it twenty-nine years before he could take it. +This is the longest siege mentioned in ancient history. +</p> + +<p> +This was anciently one of the five capital cities of the Philistines. +The Egyptians, having seized it some time before, +had fortified it with such care, that it was their strongest bulwark +on that side. Nor could Sennacherib enter Egypt, till +he had first made himself master of this city,<note place='foot'>Isa. xx. 1.</note> which +was taken by Tartan, one of his generals. The Assyrians had possessed +it hitherto; and it was not till after the long siege just now +mentioned, that the Egyptians recovered it. +</p> + +<p> +In this period,<note place='foot'>Herod. l. i. c. 105.</note> the Scythians, leaving the +banks of the Palus Mæotis, made an inroad into Media, defeated Cyaxares, +the king of that country, and deprived him of all Upper Asia, +of which they kept possession during twenty-eight years. +They pushed their conquests in Syria as far as to the frontiers +of Egypt. But Psammetichus marching out to meet them, +prevailed so far, by his presents and entreaties, that they +<pb n='078'/><anchor id='Pg078'/> +advanced no farther, and by that means delivered his kingdom +from these dangerous enemies. +</p> + +<p> +Till his reign,<note place='foot'>Herod. l. ii. c. 2, 3.</note> the Egyptians had +imagined themselves to be the most ancient nation upon earth. Psammetichus was +desirous to prove this himself, and he employed a very extraordinary +experiment for this purpose. He commanded (if we +may credit the relation) two children, newly born of poor +parents, to be brought up (in the country) in a hovel, that +was to be kept continually shut. They were committed to +the care of a shepherd, (others say, of nurses, whose tongues +were cut out,) who was to feed them with the milk of goats; +and was commanded not to suffer any person to enter into this +hut, nor himself to speak even a single word in the hearing of +these children. At the expiration of two years, as the shepherd +was one day coming into the hut to feed these children, +they both cried out, with hands extended towards their foster-father, +<foreign rend='italic'>beccos, beccos</foreign>. The shepherd, surprised to hear a +language that was quite new to him, but which they repeated frequently +afterwards, sent advice of this to the king, who ordered +the children to be brought before him, in order that he himself +might be a witness to the truth of what was told him; and accordingly +both of them began, in his presence, to stammer out +the sounds above mentioned. Nothing now was wanting but +to ascertain what nation it was that used this word; and it was +found that the Phrygians called bread by this name. From +this time they were allowed the honour of antiquity, or rather +of priority, which the Egyptians themselves, notwithstanding +their jealousy of it, and the many ages they had possessed this +glory, were obliged to resign to them. As goats were brought +to these children, in order that they might feed upon their +milk, and historians do not say that they were deaf, some are +of opinion that they might have learnt the word <hi rend='italic'>bec</hi>, +or <hi rend='italic'>beccos</hi>, +by mimicking the cry of those creatures. +</p> + +<p> +Psammetichus died in the 24th year of Josias, king of Judah, +and was succeeded by his son Nechao. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>A.M. 3388. Ant. J.C. 616.</note> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Nechao.</hi><note place='foot'>He is called Necho in the English +version of the Scriptures.—Trans.</note> This prince is often mentioned in +Scripture under the name of Pharaoh-Necho.<note place='foot'>Herod. l. ii. c. 158.</note> +</p> + +<pb n='079'/><anchor id='Pg079'/> + +<p> +He attempted to join the Nile to the Red-Sea, by cutting +a canal from one to the other. The distance which +separates them is at least a thousand stadia.<note place='foot'>Allowing 625 feet (or +125 geometrical paces) to each stadium, the distance will be 118 English miles, +and a little above one-third of a mile. Herodotus says, that this design was +afterwards put in execution by Darius the Persian, b. ii. c. 158.—Trans.</note> +After a hundred and twenty thousand workmen had lost their lives in this +attempt, Nechao was obliged to desist; the oracle which had +been consulted by him, having answered, that this new canal +would open a passage to the Barbarians (for so the Egyptians +called all other nations) to invade Egypt. +</p> + +<p> +Nechao was more successful in another enterprise.<note place='foot'>Herod. l. iv. c. +42.</note> Skilful Phœnician mariners, whom he had taken into his service, +having sailed from the Red-Sea in order to discover the coasts +of Africa, went successfully round it; and the third year after +their setting out, returned to Egypt through the Straits of +Gibraltar. This was a very extraordinary voyage, in an age +when the compass was not known. It was made twenty-one +centuries before Vasco de Gama, a Portuguese, (by discovering +the Cape of Good Hope, in the year 1497,) found out the +very same way to sail to the Indies, by which these Phœnicians +had come from thence into the Mediterranean. +</p> + +<p> +The Babylonians and Medes, having destroyed Nineveh, +and with it the empire of the Assyrians, were thereby become +so formidable, that they drew upon themselves the jealousy of +all their neighbours.<note place='foot'>Joseph. <hi rend='italic'>Antiq.</hi> l. x. c. +6. 2 Kings, xxiii. 29, 30. 2 Chron. xxxv. 20-25.</note> Nechao, alarmed at the danger, +advanced to the Euphrates, at the head of a powerful army, in order to +check their progress. Josiah, king of Judah, so famous for +his uncommon piety, observing that he took his route through +Judea, resolved to oppose his passage. With this view, he +raised all the forces of his kingdom, and posted himself in the +valley of Megiddo, (a city on this side Jordan, belonging to +the tribe of Manasseh, and called Magdolus by Herodotus.) +Nechao informed him, by a herald, that his enterprise was not +designed against him; that he had other enemies in view, +and that he had undertaken this war in the name of God, who +was with him; that for this reason he advised Josiah not to +concern himself with this war, for fear lest it otherwise should +turn to his disadvantage. However, Josiah was not moved by +<pb n='080'/><anchor id='Pg080'/> +these reasons: he was sensible that the bare march of so powerful +an army through Judea, would entirely ruin it. And +besides, he feared that the victor, after the defeat of the Babylonians, +would fall upon him, and dispossess him of part of his +dominions. He therefore marched to engage Nechao; and +was not only overthrown by him, but unfortunately received a +wound, of which he died at Jerusalem, whither he had ordered +himself to be carried. +</p> + +<p> +Nechao, animated by this victory, continued his march, and +advanced towards the Euphrates. He defeated the Babylonians; +took Carchemish, a large city in that country; and +securing to himself the possession of it by a strong garrison, +returned to his own kingdom, after having been absent from it +three months. +</p> + +<p> +Being informed in his march homeward, that Jehoahaz +had caused himself to be proclaimed king at Jerusalem, without +first asking his consent, he commanded him to meet him +at Riblah in Syria.<note place='foot'>2 Kings xxiii. 33, 35. 2 Chron. xxxvi. 1, +4.</note> The unhappy prince was no sooner arrived +there, than he was put in chains by Nechao's order, and +sent prisoner to Egypt, where he died. From thence, pursuing +his march, he came to Jerusalem, where he placed Eliakim, +(called by him Jehoiakim,) another of Josiah's sons, upon the +throne, in the room of his brother: and imposed an annual +tribute on the land, of a hundred talents of silver, and one +talent of gold.<note place='foot'>The Hebrew silver talent, according to Dr. Cumberland, +is equivalent to 353<hi rend='italic'>l.</hi> 11<hi rend='italic'>s.</hi> +10-1/2<hi rend='italic'>d.</hi> so that 100 talents, English money, make +£35,359 7<hi rend='italic'>s.</hi> 6<hi rend='italic'>d.</hi> +The gold talent, according to the same source, is 5075<hi rend='italic'>l.</hi> +15<hi rend='italic'>s.</hi> 7-1/2<hi rend='italic'>d.</hi>, so +the amount of the whole tribute was 40,435<hi rend='italic'>l.</hi> +3<hi rend='italic'>s.</hi> 1-1/2<hi rend='italic'>d.</hi>—Trans.</note> +This being done, he returned in triumph to Egypt. +</p> + +<p> +Herodotus, mentioning this king's expedition,<note place='foot'>Lib. ii c. 159.</note> +and the victory gained by him at Magdolus,<note place='foot'>Megiddo.—Trans.</note> +(as he calls it,) says, that he afterwards took the city Cadytis, which he represents +as situated in the mountains of Palestine, and equal in extent +to Sardis, the capital at that time not only of Lydia, but of all +Asia Minor: this description can suit only Jerusalem, which +was situated in the manner above described, and was then the +only city in those parts that could be compared to Sardis. It +<pb n='081'/><anchor id='Pg081'/> +appears besides from Scripture, that Nechao, after his victory, +made himself master of this capital of Judea; for he was there +in person, when he gave the crown to Jehoiakim. The very +name Cadytis, which in Hebrew signifies the Holy, clearly +denotes the city of Jerusalem, as is proved by the learned Dean +Prideaux.<note place='foot'>From the time that Solomon, by means of his temple, had made +Jerusalem the common place of worship to all Israel, it was distinguished from the rest +of the cities by the epithet <emph>Holy</emph>, and in the Old Testament was called +<foreign rend='italic'>Air Hakkodesh</foreign>, <hi rend='italic'>i.e.</hi> the +city of holiness, or the holy city. It bore this title upon the coins, and the shekel +was inscribed <hi rend='italic'>Jerusalem Kedusha</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>i.e.</hi> +Jerusalem the holy. At length Jerusalem, for brevity's sake, was omitted, and only +<foreign rend='italic'>Kedusha</foreign> reserved. The Syriac being the prevailing +language in Herodotus's time, Kedusha, by a change in that dialect of +<hi rend='italic'>sh</hi> into <hi rend='italic'>th</hi>, was made Kedutha; and +Herodotus giving it a Greek termination, it was writ Κάδυτις or Cadytis. Prideaux's +<hi rend='italic'>Connection of the Old and New Testament</hi>, +ol. i. part i. p. 80, 81. 8vo. Edit.—Trans.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>A.M. 3397. Ant. J.C. 607.</note> Nabopolassar, king of Babylon, +observing that, since the taking of Carchemish by Nechao, all Syria and Palestine +had shaken off their allegiance to him, and that +his years and infirmities would not permit him to +march against the rebels in person, he therefore associated his +son Nabuchodonosor, or Nebuchadnezzar, with him in the +empire, and sent him at the head of an army into those countries. +This young prince vanquished the army of Nechao near +the river Euphrates, recovered Carchemish, and reduced the +revolted provinces to their allegiance, as Jeremiah had foretold.<note place='foot'>Jer. +xlvi. 2.</note> Thus he dispossessed the Egyptians of all that belonged +to them,<note place='foot'>2 Kings, xxiv. 7.</note> from the little +river<note place='foot'>A rivo Ægypti.</note><note place='foot'>This little river of +Egypt, so often mentioned in Scripture as the boundary of +Palestine towards Egypt, was not the Nile, but a small river, which, running through +the desert that lay betwixt those two nations, was anciently the common boundary +of both. So far the land, which had been promised to the posterity of Abraham, and +divided among them by lot, extended. Gen. xv. 18. Josh. xv. +4.—Trans.</note> of Egypt to the Euphrates, which comprehended all Syria and +Palestine. +</p> + +<p> +Nechao dying after he had reigned sixteen years, left the +kingdom to his son. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>A.M. 3404. Ant. J.C. 600.</note> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Psammis.</hi> His reign was but of six years' duration; and +history has left us nothing memorable concerning him, +except that he made an expedition into Ethiopia.<note place='foot'>Herod. l. ii. c. +160.</note> +</p> + +<p> +It was to this prince that the Eleans sent a splendid embassy, +after having instituted the Olympic games. They had +established all the regulations, and arranged every circumstance +<pb n='082'/><anchor id='Pg082'/> +relating to them, with such care, that, in their opinion, +nothing seemed wanting to their perfection, and envy itself +could not find any fault with them. However, they did not +desire so much to have the opinion, as to gain the approbation +of the Egyptians, who were looked upon as the wisest and +most judicious people in the world.<note place='foot'>Herod. +c. 160.</note> Accordingly, the king +assembled the sages of his nation. After every thing had been +heard which could be said in favour of this institution, the +Eleans were asked, whether citizens and foreigners were admitted +indifferently to these games; to which answer was made, +that they were open to every one. To this the Egyptians +replied, that the rules of justice would have been more strictly +observed, had foreigners only been admitted to these combats; +because it was very difficult for the judges, in their award of +the victory and the prize, not to be prejudiced in favour of +their fellow citizens. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>A.M. 3410. Ant. J.C. 594.</note> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Apries.</hi> In Scripture he is called Pharaoh-Hophra. He +succeeded his father Psammis, and reigned twenty-five +years.<note place='foot'>Jer. xliv. 30.</note> +</p> + +<p> +During the first years of his reign, he was as fortunate as +any of his predecessors. He turned his arms against the +island of Cyprus; besieged the city of Sidon by sea and land; +took it, and made himself master of all Phœnicia and Palestine.<note place='foot'>Herod. +l. ii. c. 161. Diod. l. i. p. 62.</note> +</p> + +<p> +So rapid a success elated his heart to a prodigious degree, +and, as Herodotus informs us, swelled him with so much pride +and infatuation, that he boasted, it was not in the power of +the gods themselves to dethrone him; so great was the idea +he had formed to himself of the firm establishment of his own +power. It was with a view to these arrogant notions, that +Ezekiel put the vain and impious words following into his +mouth: <q>My river is mine own, and I have made it for +myself.</q><note place='foot'>Ezek. xxix. 3.</note> +But the true God proved to him afterwards that he had +a master, and that he was a mere man; and he had threatened +him long before, by his prophets, with all the calamities +he was resolved to bring upon him, in order to punish him for +his pride. +</p> + +<pb n='083'/><anchor id='Pg083'/> + +<p> +Shortly after Hophra had ascended the throne, Zedekiah, +king of Judah, sent an embassy, and concluded an alliance +with him; and the year following, breaking the oath of fidelity +which he had taken to the king of Babylon, he rebelled +openly against him.<note place='foot'>Ezek. xvii. 15.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Notwithstanding God had so often forbidden his people to +have recourse to the Egyptians, or to put any confidence in +that people; notwithstanding the repeated calamities which +had ensued upon the various attempts which they had made +to procure assistance from them; they still thought this nation +their most sure refuge in danger, and accordingly could not forbear +applying to it. This they had already done in the reign +of the holy king Hezekiah; which gave occasion to God's +message to his people, by the mouth of his prophet Isaiah: +<q>Wo to them that go down to Egypt for help, and stay on +horses and trust in chariots, because they are many; but they +look not unto the holy One of Israel, neither seek the Lord. +The Egyptians are men, and not God; and their horses flesh, +not spirit: when the Lord shall stretch out his hand, both he +that helpeth shall fall, and he that is holpen shall fall down, +and they shall fail together.</q><note place='foot'>Isa. xxxi. +1, 3.</note> But neither the prophet nor the +king were heard; and nothing but the most fatal experience +could open their eyes, and make them see evidently the truth +of God's threatenings. +</p> + +<p> +The Jews behaved in the very same manner on this occasion. +Zedekiah, notwithstanding all the remonstrances of +Jeremiah to the contrary, resolved to conclude an alliance with +the Egyptian monarch; who, puffed up with the success of +his arms, and confident that nothing could resist his power, +declared himself the protector of Israel, and promised to deliver +it from the tyranny of Nabuchodonosor. But God, offended +that a mortal had dared to intrude himself into his place, thus +declared himself to another prophet: <q>Son of man, set thy face +against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and prophesy against him, and +against all Egypt. Speak and say, Thus saith the Lord God, +Behold, I am against thee, Pharaoh, king of Egypt, the great +dragon that lieth in the midst of his rivers, which hath said, My +river is my own, and I have made it for myself. But I will put +<pb n='084'/><anchor id='Pg084'/> +hooks in thy jaws,</q><note place='foot'>Ezek. xxix. 2, 3, 4.</note> +&c. God, after comparing him to a reed, +which breaks under the man who leans upon it, and wounds +his hand, adds, <q>Behold, I will bring a sword upon thee, and +cut off man and beast out of thee; the land of Egypt shall be +desolate, and they shall know that I am the Lord, because he +hath said, The river is mine, and I have made it.</q><note place='foot'>Ezek. +xxix. 8, 9.</note> The same +prophet, in several succeeding chapters, continues to foretell +the calamities with which Egypt was going to be overwhelmed.<note place='foot'>Chap. +xxix. xxx. xxxi. xxxii.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Zedekiah was far from giving credit to these predictions. +When he heard of the approach of the Egyptian army, and +saw Nabuchodonosor raise the siege of Jerusalem, he fancied +that his deliverance was completed, and anticipated a triumph. +His joy, however, was but of short duration; for the Egyptians +seeing the Chaldeans advancing, did not dare to encounter +so numerous and well-disciplined an army. +<note place='margin'>A.M. 3416. Ant. J.C. 588.</note> +They therefore marched back into their own country, and +left the unfortunate Zedekiah exposed to all the dangers +of a war in which they themselves had involved him.<note place='foot'>Jer. +xxxvii. 6, 7.</note> +Nabuchodonosor again sat down before Jerusalem, took and +burnt it, as Jeremiah had prophesied. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>A.M. 3430. Ant. J.C. 574.</note> +Many years after, the chastisements with which God had +threatened Apries (Pharaoh-Hophra) began to fall +upon him.<note place='foot'>Herod. l. ii. c. 161, &c. +Diod. l. i. p. 62.</note> For the Cyrenians, a Greek colony, which +had settled in Africa, between Libya and Egypt, having +seized upon, and divided among themselves, a great part +of the country belonging to the Libyans, forced these nations, +who were thus dispossessed by violence, to throw themselves +into the arms of this prince, and implore his protection. Immediately +Apries sent a mighty army into Libya to oppose the +Cyrenians; but this army being defeated and almost cut to +pieces, the Egyptians imagined that Apries had sent it into +Libya, only to get it destroyed; and by that means to attain +the power of governing his subjects without check or control. +This reflection prompted the Egyptians to shake off the yoke +of a prince, whom they now considered as their enemy. But +Apries, hearing of the rebellion, despatched Amasis, one of his +<pb n='085'/><anchor id='Pg085'/> +officers, to suppress it, and force the rebels to return to their +allegiance. But the moment Amasis began to address them, +they placed a helmet upon his head, in token of the exalted +dignity to which they intended to raise him, and proclaimed +him king. Amasis having accepted the crown, staid with the +mutineers, and confirmed them in their rebellion. +</p> + +<p> +Apries, more exasperated than ever at this news, sent Patarbemis, +another of his great officers, and one of the principal +lords of his court, to put Amasis under an arrest, and bring +him before him; but Patarbemis not being able to carry off +Amasis from the midst of the rebel army, by which he was +surrounded, was treated by Apries, at his return, in the most +ignominious and inhuman manner; for his nose and ears were +cut off by the command of that prince, who never considered, +that only his want of power had prevented his executing his +commission. So barbarous an outrage, committed upon a +person of such high distinction, exasperated the Egyptians so +much, that the greatest part of them joined the rebels, and the +insurrection became general. Apries was now forced to retire +into Upper Egypt, where he supported himself some years, +during which Amasis made himself master of the rest of his +dominions. +</p> + +<p> +The troubles which thus distracted Egypt, afforded Nabuchodonosor +a favourable opportunity to invade that kingdom; +and it was God himself who inspired him with the resolution. +This prince, who was the instrument of God's wrath (though he +did not know himself to be so) against a people whom he was +resolved to chastise, had just before taken Tyre, where himself +and his army had laboured under incredible difficulties. To +recompense their toils, God abandoned Egypt to their arms. +It is wonderful to hear the Creator himself revealing his designs +on this subject. There are few passages in Scripture more +remarkable than this, or which give a clearer idea of the supreme +authority which God exercises over all the princes and +kingdoms of the earth: <q>Son of man, (says the Almighty to +his prophet Ezekiel,) Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, caused +his army to serve a great service against Tyrus: every head +<pb n='086'/><anchor id='Pg086'/> +was made bald, and every shoulder was peeled:<note place='foot'>The baldness of the +heads of the Babylonians was owing to the pressure of their +helmets; and their peeled shoulders to their carrying baskets of earth, and large +pieces of timber, to join Tyre to the continent. Baldness was itself a badge of slavery; +and joined to the peeled shoulders, shows that the conqueror's army sustained +even the most servile labours in this memorable siege.—Trans.</note> yet had he +no wages, nor his army,<note place='foot'>For the better understanding of +this passage, we are to know that Nabuchodonosor +sustained incredible hardships at the siege of Tyre; and that when the Tyrians +saw themselves closely attacked, the nobles conveyed themselves and their richest +effects on shipboard, and retired into other islands. So that when Nabuchodonosor +took the city, he found nothing to recompense the toil which he had undergone in +this siege. S. Jerom.—Trans.</note> for the service he had served against +it. Therefore, thus saith the Lord God: Behold, I will give +the land of Egypt unto Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, and +he shall take her multitude, and take her spoil, and take her +prey, and it shall be the wages for his army. I have given him +the land of Egypt for his labour, wherewith he served against +it, because they wrought for me, saith the Lord God.</q><note place='foot'>Chap. +xxix. 18, 19, 20.</note> Says +another prophet: <q>He shall array himself with the land of +Egypt, as a shepherd putteth on his garment, and he shall go +forth from thence in peace.</q><note place='foot'>Jerem. xliii. +12.</note> Thus shall he load himself with +booty, and thus cover his own shoulders, and those of his fold, +with all the spoils of Egypt. Noble expressions! which show +the ease with which all the power and riches of a kingdom are +carried away, when God appoints the revolution; and shift, like +a garment, to a new owner, who has no more to do but to take +it, and clothe himself with it. +</p> + +<p> +The king of Babylon, taking advantage, therefore, of the intestine +divisions which the rebellion of Amasis had occasioned +in that kingdom, marched thither at the head of his army. +He subdued Egypt from Migdol or Magdol, a town on the +frontiers of the kingdom, as far as Syene, in the opposite extremity +where it borders on Ethiopia. He made a horrible +devastation wherever he came; killed a great number of the +inhabitants, and made such dreadful havoc in the country, +that the damage could not be repaired in forty years. Nabuchodonosor, +having loaded his army with spoils, and conquered +the whole kingdom, came to an accommodation with Amasis; +and leaving him as his viceroy there, returned to Babylon. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Apries</hi> (Pharaoh-Hophra) now leaving the place where he +had concealed himself, advanced towards the sea-coast, (probably +<pb n='087'/><anchor id='Pg087'/> +on the side of Libya;) and hiring an army of Carians, +Ionians, and other foreigners, he marched against Amasis, to +whom he gave battle near Memphis; but being overcome, +Apries was taken prisoner, carried to the city of Sais, and there +strangled in his own palace.<note place='foot'>Herod. l. ii. +c. 163, 169. Diod. l. i. p. 62.</note> +</p> + +<p> +The Almighty had given, by the mouth of his prophets, an +astonishing relation of the several circumstances of this mighty +event. It was He who had broken the power of Apries, which +was once so formidable; and put the sword into the hand of +Nabuchodonosor, in order that he might chastise and humble +that haughty prince. <q>I am,</q> said he, <q>against Pharaoh king +of Egypt, and will break his arms, which were strong, but now +are broken; and I will cause the sword to fall out of his +hand.</q><note place='foot'>Ezek. xxx. 22.</note>—<q>But +I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, +and put my sword into his hand.</q><note place='foot'>Ezek. +xxx. 24.</note>—<q>And they shall know +that I am the Lord.</q><note place='foot'>Ezek. xxx. 25.</note> +</p> + +<p> +He enumerates the towns which were to fall a prey to the +victors; Pathros, Zoan, No, (called in the Vulgate Alexandria,) +Sin, Aven, Phibeseth, &c.<note place='foot'>Ver. 14, +17.</note><note place='foot'>I have given the names of these towns +as they stand in our English version. In +the margin are printed against Zoan, Tanis; against Sin, Pelusium; against Aven, +Heliopolis; against Phibeseth, Pubastum, (Bubastus;) and by these last names +they are mentioned in the original French of M. Rollin.—Trans.</note> +</p> + +<p> +He takes notice particularly of the unhappy end of the +king, who was to be delivered up to his enemies. Thus +saith the Lord; <q>Behold, I will give Pharaoh-Hophra, the +king of Egypt, into the hand of his enemies, and into the hand +of them that seek his life.</q><note place='foot'>Jerem. xliv. 30.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Lastly, he declares, that during forty years the Egyptians +shall be oppressed with every species of calamity, and be reduced +to so deplorable a state, <q>That there shall be no more +a prince of the land of Egypt.</q><note place='foot'>Ezek. +xxx. 13</note> The event verified this prophecy, +which was gradually accomplished. Soon after the expiration +of these forty years, Egypt was made a province of +the Persian empire, to which its kings, though natives of the +country, were tributary, and thus the accomplishment of the +prediction began. It was completely fulfilled on the death of +Nectanebus, the last king of Egyptian extraction, A.M. 3654. +</p> + +<pb n='088'/><anchor id='Pg088'/> + +<p> +Since that time, Egypt has constantly been governed by +foreigners. For since the ruin of the Persian monarchy, it has +been subject, successively, to the Macedonians, the Romans, +the Saracens, the Mamalukes, and lastly, to the Turks, who +possess it to this day. +</p> + +<p> +God was not less punctual in the accomplishment of his +prophecies, with regard to such of his own people as had retired, +contrary to his prohibition, into Egypt, after the taking +of Jerusalem; and had forced Jeremiah along with them.<note place='foot'>Jerem +ch. xliii. xliv.</note> The +instant they had reached Egypt, and were arrived at Tahpanhes, +(or Tanis,) the prophet, after having hid in their presence +(by God's command) stones in a grotto, which was near the +king's palace, declared to them, that Nabuchodonosor should +soon arrive in Egypt, and that God would establish his throne +in that very place; that this prince would lay waste the whole +kingdom, and carry fire and sword into all places; that themselves +should fall into the hand of these cruel enemies, when +one part of them would be massacred, and the rest led captive +to Babylon; that only a very small number should escape the +common desolation, and be at last restored to their country. +All these prophecies had their accomplishment in the appointed +time. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>A.M. 3435. Ant. J.C. 569.</note> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Amasis.</hi> After the death of Apries, Amasis became peaceable +possessor of Egypt, and reigned over it forty +years. He was, according to Plato, a native of the +city of Sais.<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>In Tim.</hi></note> +</p> + +<p> +As he was but of mean extraction, he met with no respect +in the beginning of his reign, but was only contemned by his +subjects:<note place='foot'>Herod. l. ii. c. 172.</note> +he was not insensible of this; but, nevertheless, +thought it his interest to subdue their tempers by management +and address, and win their affections by gentleness and reason. +He had a golden cistern, in which himself and those persons +who were admitted to his table, used to wash their feet: he +melted it down, and had it cast into a statue, and then exposed +the new god to public worship. The people hasted in crowds +to pay their adoration to the statue. The king having assembled +the people, informed them of the vile uses to which this +statue had once been put, which, nevertheless, was now the +<pb n='089'/><anchor id='Pg089'/> +object of their religious prostrations: the application was easy, +and had the desired success; the people thenceforward paid +the king all the respect that is due to majesty. +</p> + +<p> +He always used to devote the whole morning to public +business, to receive petitions, give audience, pronounce sentence, +and hold his councils: the rest of the day was given to +pleasure: and as Amasis, in hours of diversion, was extremely +gay, and seemed to carry his mirth beyond due bounds, his +courtiers took the liberty to represent to him the unsuitableness +of such a behaviour; when he answered, that it was as +impossible for the mind to be always serious and intent upon +business, as for a bow to continue always bent.<note place='foot'>Herod. +l. ii. c. 73.</note> +</p> + +<p> +It was this king who obliged the inhabitants of every town +to enter their names in a book, kept by the magistrate for that +purpose, with their profession, and manner of living. Solon +inserted this custom among his laws. +</p> + +<p> +He built many magnificent temples, especially at Sais, the +place of his birth. Herodotus admired especially a chapel +there formed of one single stone, which was twenty-one cubits<note place='foot'>The +cubit is one foot and almost ten inches. Vide supra.—Trans.</note> +in front, fourteen in depth, and eight in height; its dimensions +within were not quite so large; it had been brought from +Elephantina, and two thousand men had employed three years +in conveying it along the Nile. +</p> + +<p> +Amasis had a great esteem for the Greeks. He granted +them large privileges; and permitted such of them as were +desirous of settling in Egypt, to live in the city of Naucratis, +so famous for its harbour. When the rebuilding of the temple +of Delphi, which had been burnt, was debated on, and the expense +was computed at three hundred talents,<note place='foot'>Or, +58,125<hi rend='italic'>l.</hi> sterling.—Trans.</note> Amasis furnished +the Delphians with a very considerable sum towards +discharging their quota, which was the fourth part of the whole +charge. +</p> + +<p> +He made an alliance with the Cyrenians, and married a +wife from among them. +</p> + +<p> +He is the only king of Egypt who conquered the island of +Cyprus, and made it tributary. +</p> + +<p> +Under his reign Pythagoras came into Egypt, being recommended +<pb n='090'/><anchor id='Pg090'/> +to that monarch by the famous Polycrates, tyrant of +Samos, who had contracted a friendship with Amasis, and will +be mentioned hereafter. Pythagoras, during his stay in Egypt, +was initiated in all the mysteries of the country; and instructed +by the priests in whatever was most abstruse and important +in their religion. It was here he imbibed his doctrine +of the Metempsychosis, or transmigration of souls. +</p> + +<p> +In the expedition in which Cyrus conquered so great a part +of the world, Egypt doubtless was subdued, like the rest of the +provinces; and Xenophon positively declares this in the beginning +of his <hi rend='italic'>Cyropædia</hi>, or institution of that +prince.<note place='foot'>Ἐπῆρξε δὲ καὶ Ἑλλήνων τῶν ἐν τῆ Ἀσίᾳ, καταβὰς δὲ ἐπὶ Θάλατταν, +καὶ Κυπρίωι καὶ Αἰγυπτίων, p. 5. edit. Hutchinsoni.—Trans.</note> Probably, +after that the forty years of desolation, which had been +foretold by the prophet, were expired, Egypt beginning gradually +to regain strength, Amasis shook off the yoke, and recovered +his liberty. +</p> + +<p> +Accordingly, we find, that one of the first cares of Cambyses, +the son of Cyrus, after he had ascended the throne, was +to carry his arms into Egypt. On his arrival there, Amasis +was just dead, and succeeded by his son Psammenitus. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>A.M. 3479. Ant. J.C. 525.</note> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Psammenitus.</hi> Cambyses, after having gained a battle, +pursued the enemy to Memphis; besieged the city, +and soon took it: however, he treated the king with +clemency, granted him his life, and assigned him an +honourable pension; but being informed that he was secretly +concerting measures to reascend his throne, he put him to +death. Psammenitus reigned but six months: all Egypt submitted +immediately to the victor. The particulars of this history +will be related more at large, when I come to that of +Cambyses. +</p> + +<p> +Here ends the succession of the Egyptian kings. From this +æra the history of this nation, as was before observed, will be +blended with that of the Persians and Greeks, till the death of +Alexander. At that period, a new monarchy will arise in Egypt, +founded by Ptolemy the son of Lagus, which will continue to +Cleopatra, that is, for about three hundred years. I shall treat +each of these subjects, in the several periods to which they +belong. +</p> + +</div> + +</div> + +<pb n='091'/><anchor id='Pg091'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf' level1='Book The Second. The History of the Carthaginians.'/> +<head>Book The Second. The History Of The Carthaginians.</head> + +<div> +<index index='toc' level1='Part The First. Character, Manners, Religion, Government.'/> +<index index='pdf' level1='Part The First. Character, Manners, Religion.'/> +<head>Part The First. Character, Manners, Religion, And Government +Of The Carthaginians.</head> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Sect. I. Carthage formed after the Model of Tyre, of +which that City was a Colony.</hi> +The Carthaginians were indebted to the Tyrians, not only for +their origin, but for their manners, language, customs, laws, +religion, and their great application to commerce, as will +appear from every part of the sequel. They spoke the same +language with the Tyrians, and these the same with the Canaanites +and Israelites, that is, the Hebrew tongue, or at least +a language which was entirely derived from it. Their names +had commonly some particular meaning:<note place='foot'>Bochart, part II. l. ii. +c. 16.</note> thus <foreign rend='italic'>Hanno</foreign> signified +<hi rend='italic'>gracious</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>bountiful</hi>; Dido, +<hi rend='italic'>amiable</hi>, or <hi rend='italic'>well-beloved</hi>; +Sophonisba, <hi rend='italic'>one who keeps faithfully her husband's secrets</hi>. +From a spirit of religion, they likewise joined the name of +God to their own, conformably to the genius of the Hebrews. +Hannibal, which answers to Hananias, signifies <hi rend='italic'>Baal</hi>, +[or <hi rend='italic'>the Lord</hi>] <hi rend='italic'>has been gracious to me</hi>. +Asdrubal, answering to Azarias, implies, <hi rend='italic'>the Lord will be our +succour</hi>. It is the same with other names, Adherbal, Maharbal, Mastanabal, +&c. The word Pœni, from which Punic is derived, is the same with +<pb n='092'/><anchor id='Pg092'/> +Phœni, or Phœnicians, because they came originally from +Phœnicia. In the <hi rend='italic'>Pœnulus</hi> of Plautus, is a scene written in +the Punic tongue, which has very much exercised the learned.<note place='foot'>The +first scene of the fifth act, translated into Latin by Petit, in the second +book of his <hi rend='italic'>Miscellanies</hi>.—Trans.</note> +</p> + +<p> +But the strict union which always subsisted between the +Phœnicians and Carthaginians, is still more remarkable. +When Cambyses had resolved to make war upon the latter, +the Phœnicians, who formed the chief strength of his fleet, +told him plainly that they could not serve him against their +countrymen; and this declaration obliged that prince to lay +aside his design.<note place='foot'>Herod. l. iii. c. +17-19.</note> The Carthaginians, on their side, were never +forgetful of the country from whence they came, and to which +they owed their origin. They sent regularly every year to +Tyre a ship freighted with presents, as a quit-rent, or acknowledgment +paid to their ancient country; and an annual sacrifice +was offered to the tutelar gods of Tyre, by the Carthaginians, +who considered them as their protectors likewise.<note place='foot'>Polyb. +944. Q. Curt. l. iv. c. 2, 3.</note> They never +failed to send thither the first fruits of their revenues, nor the +tithe of the spoils taken from their enemies, as offerings to +Hercules, one of the principal gods of Tyre and Carthage. +The Tyrians, to secure from Alexander (who was then besieging +their city) what they valued above all things, I mean their +wives and children, sent them to Carthage, where, though at a +time when the inhabitants of the latter were involved in a +furious war, they were received and entertained with such a +kindness and generosity as might be expected from the most +tender and opulent parents. Such uninterrupted testimonies +of a warm and sincere gratitude, do a nation more honour, +than the greatest conquests and the most glorious victories. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Sect. II. The Religion of the Carthaginians.</hi>—It +appears from several passages of the history of Carthage, that +its generals looked upon it as an indispensable duty, to begin +and end all their enterprises with the worship of the gods. +Hamilcar, father of the great Hannibal, before he entered +Spain in a hostile manner, offered up a sacrifice to the gods; +and his son, treading in his steps, before he left Spain, and +marched against Rome, went as far as Cadiz, in order to pay +<pb n='093'/><anchor id='Pg093'/> +the vows which he had made to Hercules, and to offer up new +ones, in case that god should be propitious to him.<note place='foot'>Liv. +l. xxi. n. 1. Ibid. n. 21.</note> After the +battle of Cannæ, when he acquainted the Carthaginians with +the joyful news, he recommended to them, above all things, +the offering up a solemn thanksgiving to the immortal gods, +for the several victories he had obtained.<note place='foot'>Liv. +l. xxiii. n. 1.</note> <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Pro his tantis totque +victoriis verum esse grates diis immortalibus agi haberique.</foreign> +</p> + +<p> +Neither did individuals alone pride themselves upon displaying, +on every occasion, this religious care to honour the deity; +but it evidently was the genius and disposition of the whole +nation. +</p> + +<p> +Polybius has transmitted to us a treaty of peace concluded +between Philip, son of Demetrius, king of Macedon, and the +Carthaginians, in which the great respect and veneration of the +latter for the deity, and their inherent persuasion that the gods +engage in, and preside over, human affairs, and particularly +over the solemn treaties made in their name and presence, are +strongly displayed.<note place='foot'>Lib. vii. p. 502.</note> +Mention is therein made of five or six +different orders of deities; and this enumeration appears very +extraordinary in a public instrument, such as a treaty of peace +concluded between two nations. I will here present my reader +with the very words of the historian, as it will give some idea +of the Carthaginian theology. <q>This treaty was concluded in +the presence of Jupiter, Juno, and Apollo; in the presence of +the dæmon or genius (δαίμονος) of the Carthaginians, of Hercules +and Iolaus; in the presence of Mars, Triton, and Neptune; +in the presence of all the confederate gods of the Carthaginians; +and of the sun, the moon, and the earth; in the +presence of the rivers, meads, and waters; in the presence of +all those gods who possess Carthage:</q> what should we now say +to an instrument of this kind, in which the tutelar angels and +saints of a kingdom should be introduced? +</p> + +<p> +The Carthaginians had two deities to whom they paid a more +particular worship, and who deserve to have some mention +made of them in this place. +</p> + +<p> +The first was the goddess Cœlestis, called likewise Urania, +the same with the moon, who was invoked in great calamities, +and particularly in droughts, in order to obtain rain: that +<pb n='094'/><anchor id='Pg094'/> +very virgin Cœlestis, says Tertullian,<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Apolog.</hi> +c. 23.</note> the promiser of rain, <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Ista +ipsa Virgo Cœlestis pluviarum pollicitatrix</foreign>. Tertullian, speaking +of this goddess and of Æsculapius, makes the heathens of +that age a challenge, which is bold indeed, but at the same time +very glorious to the cause of Christianity; declaring, that any +Christian who may first come, shall oblige these false gods to +confess publicly, that they are but devils; and consenting that +this Christian shall be immediately killed, if he does not extort +such a confession from the mouth of these gods. <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Nisi se +dæmones confessi fuerint Christiano mentiri non audentes, ibidem +illius Christiani procacissimi sanguinem fundite.</foreign> St. Austin +likewise makes frequent mention of this deity. <q>What is +now,</q> says he,<note place='foot'>In Psalm xcviii.</note> +<q>become of Cœlestis, whose empire was once so +great in Carthage?</q> This was doubtless the same deity whom +Jeremiah calls the queen of heaven;<note place='foot'>Jer. vii. +18. and xliv. 17-25.</note> and who was held in so +much reverence by the Jewish women, that they addressed their +vows, burnt incense, poured out drink-offerings, and made +cakes for her with their own hands, <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>ut faciant +placentas reginæ cœli</foreign>; and from whom they boasted their having received all +manner of blessings, whilst they regularly paid her this worship; +whereas, since they had failed in it, they had been oppressed +with misfortunes of every kind. +</p> + +<p> +The second deity particularly adored by the Carthaginians, +and in whose honour human sacrifices were offered, was Saturn, +known in Scripture by the name of Moloch; and this worship +had passed from Tyre to Carthage. Philo quotes a passage +from Sanchoniathon, which shows that the kings of Tyre, in +great dangers, used to sacrifice their sons to appease the anger +of the gods; and that one of them, by this action, procured +himself divine honours, and was worshipped as a god, under the +name of the planet Saturn; to this doubtless was owing the +fable of Saturn's devouring his own children. Private persons, +when they were desirous of averting any great calamity, took +the same method; and, in imitation of their princes, were so +very superstitious, that such as had no children, purchased +those of the poor, in order that they might not be deprived of +the merit of such a sacrifice. This custom prevailed long +among the Phœnicians and Canaanites, from whom the Israelites +<pb n='095'/><anchor id='Pg095'/> +borrowed it, though forbidden expressly by heaven. At +first, these children were inhumanly burnt, either in a fiery furnace, +like those in the valley of Hinnon, so often mentioned in +Scripture, or enclosed in a flaming statue of Saturn. The +cries of these unhappy victims were drowned by the uninterrupted +noise of drums and trumpets.<note place='foot'>Plut. <hi rend='italic'>de +Superstit.</hi> p. 171.</note> Mothers<note place='foot'>Παρειστήκει δὲ ἡ μήτηρ +ἄτεγκτος καὶ ἀστένακτος, &c. The cruel and pitiless +mother stood by as an unconcerned spectator; a groan or a tear falling from her, +<q>would have been punished by a fine;</q> and still the child must have been sacrificed. +Plut. <hi rend='italic'>de Superstitione</hi>.—Trans.</note> made it a +merit, and a part of their religion, to view this barbarous spectacle +with dry eyes, and without so much as a groan; and, if a +tear or a sigh stole from them, the sacrifice was less acceptable +to the deity, and all the effects of it were entirely lost. This +strength of mind, or rather savage barbarity, was carried to +such excess, that even mothers would endeavour, with embraces +and kisses, to hush the cries of their children;<note place='foot'>Tertul. +<hi rend='italic'>in Apolog.</hi></note> lest, had +the victim been offered with an unbecoming grace, and in the +midst of tears, it should be displeasing to the god: +<foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Blanditiis et osculis comprimebant vagitum, +ne flebilis hostia immolaretur.</foreign><note place='foot'>Minut. Felix.</note> +They afterwards contented themselves with making +their children pass through the fire; as appears from several +passages of Scripture, in which they frequently perished. +</p> + +<p> +The Carthaginians retained the barbarous custom of offering +human sacrifices to their gods,<note place='foot'>Q. Curt. l. +iv. c. 5.</note> till the ruin of their city:<note place='foot'>It appears from +Tertullian's <hi rend='italic'>Apology</hi>, that this barbarous custom prevailed in +Africa long after the ruin of Carthage. Infantes penès Africam Saturno immolabantur +palàm usque ad proconsulatum Tiberii, qui eosdem sacerdotes in eisdem arboribus +templi sui obumbratricibus scelerum votivis crucibus exposuit, teste militiâ patriæ +nostræ, quæ id ipsum munus illi proconsuli functa est, <hi rend='italic'>i.e.</hi> +Children were publicly sacrificed to Saturn, down to the proconsulship of Tiberius, who +hanged the sacrificing priests themselves on the trees which shaded their temple, as on +so many crosses, raised to expiate their crimes, of which the militia of our country are +witnesses, who were the actors of this execution at the command of this proconsul. +Tertul. <hi rend='italic'>Apolog.</hi> c. 9. Two learned men are at variance about the +proconsul, and the time of his government. Salmasius confesses his ignorance of both; +but rejects the authority of Scaliger, who, for proconsulatum, reads proconsulem Tiberii, +and thinks Tertullian, when he writ his <hi rend='italic'>Apology</hi>, had forgot his +name. However this be, it is certain that the memory of the incident here related by +Tertullian was then recent, and probably the witnesses of it had not been long +dead.—Trans.</note> an +action which ought to have been called a sacrilege rather than +a sacrifice. <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Sacrilegium veriùs quàm sacrum.</foreign> +It was suspended only for some years, from the fear they were under of +drawing upon themselves the indignation and arms of Darius I. +<pb n='096'/><anchor id='Pg096'/> +king of Persia, who forbade them the offering up of human +sacrifices, and the eating the flesh of dogs: but they soon +resumed this horrid practice, since, in the reign of Xerxes, the +successor to Darius, Gelon the tyrant of Syracuse, having gained +a considerable victory over the Carthaginians in Sicily, among +other conditions of peace which he enjoined them, inserted this +article:<note place='foot'>Plut. <hi rend='italic'>de serâ vindic. +deorum</hi>, p. 552.</note> <hi rend='italic'>viz.</hi> <q>That +no more human sacrifices should be offered to Saturn.</q> +And, doubtless, the practice of the Carthaginians, +on this very occasion, made Gelon use this precaution. For +during the whole engagement, which lasted from morning till +night, Hamilcar, the son of Hanno their general, was perpetually +offering up to the gods sacrifices of living men, who were +thrown in great numbers on a flaming pile; and seeing his +troops routed and put to flight, he himself rushed into it, in +order that he might not survive his own disgrace, and to extinguish, +says St. Ambrose speaking of this action, with his own +blood this sacrilegious fire, when he found that it had not +proved of service to him.<note place='foot'>Herod. l. vii. c. +167.</note><note place='foot'>In ipsos quos adolebat sese præcipitavit ignes, ut eos vel +cruore suo extingueret, quos sibi nihil profuisse cognoverat. S. Amb.—Trans.</note> +</p> + +<p> +In times of pestilence<note place='foot'>Cûm peste laborarent, cruentâ sacrorum +religione et scelere pro remedio usi sunt. Quippe homines ut victimas immolabant, et +impuberes (quæ ætas etiam hostium misericordiam provocat) aris admovebant, pacem deorum +sanguine eorum exposcentes, pro quorum vitâ dii maximè rogari solent. Justin, l. +xviii. c. 6. The Gauls as well as Germans used to sacrifice men, if Dionysius and +Tacitus may be credited.—Trans.</note> they used to sacrifice a great number +of children to their gods, unmoved with pity for a tender age, +which excites compassion in the most cruel enemies; thus seeking +a remedy for their evils in guilt itself; and endeavouring to +appease the gods by the most shocking barbarity. +</p> + +<p> +Diodorus relates<note place='foot'>Lib. xx. p. 756.</note> an instance of this cruelty +which strikes the reader with horror. At the time that Agathocles was just +going to besiege Carthage, its inhabitants, seeing the extremity +to which they were reduced, imputed all their misfortunes +to the just anger of Saturn, because that, instead of offering up +children nobly born, who were usually sacrificed to him, there +had been fraudulently substituted in their stead the children +of slaves and foreigners. To atone for this crime, two hundred +children of the best families in Carthage were sacrificed to +Saturn; besides which, upwards of three hundred citizens, from +<pb n='097'/><anchor id='Pg097'/> +a sense of their guilt of this pretended crime, voluntarily sacrificed +themselves. Diodorus adds, that there was a brazen +statue of Saturn, the hands of which were turned downward; +so that when a child was laid on them, it dropped immediately +into a hollow, where was a fiery furnace. +</p> + +<p> +Can this, says Plutarch,<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>De Superstitione</hi>, +p. 169-171.</note> be called worshipping the +gods? Can we be said to entertain an honourable idea of +them, if we suppose that they are pleased with slaughter, thirsty +of human blood, and capable of requiring or accepting such +offerings? Religion, says this judicious author,<note place='foot'>Idem. +<hi rend='italic'>in Camill.</hi> p. 132.</note> is placed +between two rocks, that are equally dangerous to man, and +injurious to the deity, I mean impiety and superstition. The +one, from an affectation of free-thinking, believes nothing; and +the other, from a blind weakness, believes all things. Impiety, +to rid itself of a terror which galls it, denies the very existence +of the gods: whilst superstition, to calm its fears, capriciously +forges gods, which it makes not only the friends, but protectors +and models, of crimes. Had it not been better, says he +further,<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>De Superstitione.</hi></note> +for the Carthaginians to have had originally a Critias, +or a Diagoras, who were open and undisguised atheists, for +their lawgivers, than to have established so frantic and wicked +a religion? Could the Typhons and the giants, (the avowed +enemies of the gods,) had they gained a victory over them, +have established more abominable sacrifices? +</p> + +<p> +Such were the sentiments which a heathen entertained of +this part of the Carthaginian worship. One would indeed +scarce believe that mankind were capable of such madness +and frenzy. Men do not generally of themselves entertain +ideas so destructive of all that nature considers as most sacred, +as to sacrifice, to murder, their children with their own hands, +and to throw them in cool blood into fiery furnaces! Sentiments +so unnatural and barbarous, and yet adopted by whole +nations, and even by the most civilized, by the Phœnicians, +Carthaginians, Gauls, Scythians, and even the Greeks and +Romans, and consecrated by custom during a long series of +ages, can have been inspired by him only who was a murderer +from the beginning; and who delights in nothing but the humiliation, +misery, and perdition of man. +</p> + +<pb n='098'/><anchor id='Pg098'/> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Sect. III. Form of the Government of Carthage.</hi>—The +government of Carthage was founded upon principles of +the most consummate wisdom; and it is with reason that +Aristotle<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>De Rep.</hi> l. ii. +c. 11.</note> ranks this republic in the number of those that were +had in the greatest esteem by the ancients, and which were fit +to serve as a model for others. He grounds his opinion on a +reflection, which does great honour to Carthage, by remarking, +that, from its foundation to his time, (that is, upwards of five +hundred years,) no considerable sedition had disturbed the +peace, nor any tyrant oppressed the liberty of that state. Indeed, +mixed governments, such as that of Carthage, where the +power was divided betwixt the nobles and the people, are subject +to two inconveniences; either of degenerating into an +abuse of liberty by the seditions of the populace, as frequently +happened in Athens, and in all the Grecian republics; or into +the oppression of the public liberty by the tyranny of the +nobles, as in Athens, Syracuse, Corinth, Thebes, and Rome +itself under Sylla and Cæsar. It is, therefore, giving Carthage +the highest praise, to observe, that it had found out the art, by +the wisdom of its laws, and the harmony of the different parts +of its government, to shun, during so long a series of years, +two rocks that are so dangerous, and on which others so often +split. +</p> + +<p> +It were to be wished, that some ancient author had left us +an accurate and regular description of the customs and laws of +this famous republic. For want of such assistance, we can +only give our readers a confused and imperfect idea of them, +by collecting the several passages which lie scattered up and +down in authors. Christopher Hendrich has obliged the +learned world in this particular, and his work<note place='foot'>It is entitled, +<hi rend='italic'>Carthago, sive Carthaginensium Respublica</hi>, &c. Francofurti ad +Oderam, ann. 1664.—Trans.</note> has been of +great service to me. +</p> + +<p> +The government of Carthage,<note place='foot'>Polyb. l. iv. p. +493.</note> like that of Sparta and Rome, +united three different authorities, which counterpoised and +gave mutual assistance to one another. These authorities +were, that of the two supreme magistrates, called Suffetes;<note place='foot'>This +name is derived from a word, which, with the Hebrews and Phœnicians, +signifies judges. <foreign rend='italic'>Shophetim.</foreign>—Trans.</note> +<pb n='099'/><anchor id='Pg099'/> +that of the Senate; and that of the people. There afterwards +was added the tribunal of One Hundred, which had great +credit and influence in the republic. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>The Suffetes.</hi>—The power of the Suffetes was only annual, +and their authority in Carthage answered to that of the consuls +at Rome.<note place='foot'>Ut Romæ consules, sic Carthagine quotannis +annui bini reges creabantur. Corn Nep. <hi rend='italic'>in vitâ Annibalis</hi>, +c. 7. The great Hannibal was one of the Suffetes.—Trans.</note> In authors they +are frequently called kings, dictators, consuls, because they exercised the functions of +all three. History does not inform us of the manner of their election. +They were empowered to assemble the senate;<note place='foot'>Senatum itaque Suffetes, +quod velut consulare imperium apud eos erat, voca verunt. Liv. l. xxx. n. +7.—Trans.</note> in which they presided, proposed subjects for deliberation, and +collected the votes;<note place='foot'>Cum Suffetes ad jus dicendum consedissent. Id. +l. xxxiv. n. 62.—Trans.</note> and they likewise presided in all debates +on matters of importance. Their authority was not limited to +the city, nor confined to civil affairs: they sometimes had the +command of the armies. We find, that when their employment +of Suffetes expired, they were made prætors, which was +a considerable office, since, besides conferring upon them the +privilege of presiding in some causes, it also empowered them +to propose and enact new laws, and call to account the receivers +of the public revenues, as appears from what Livy +relates<note place='foot'>Lib. xxxiii. n. 46, 47.</note> concerning Hannibal on this +head, and which I shall take notice of in the sequel. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>The Senate.</hi>—The Senate, composed of persons who were +venerable on account of their age, their experience, their +birth, their riches, and especially their merit, formed the council +of state; and were, if I may use that expression, the soul of +the public deliberations. Their number is not exactly known: +it must, however, have been very great, since a hundred were +selected from it to form a separate assembly, of which I shall +immediately have occasion to speak. In the senate, all affairs +of consequence were debated, the letters from generals read, +the complaints of provinces heard, ambassadors admitted to +audience, and peace or war determined, as is seen on many +occasions. +</p> + +<p> +When the sentiments and votes were unanimous, the senate +<pb n='100'/><anchor id='Pg100'/> +decided supremely, and there lay no appeal from it.<note place='foot'>Arist. +loc. cit.</note> When there was a division, and the senate could not be brought to an +agreement, the affair was then laid before the people, on whom +the power of deciding thereby devolved. The reader will +easily perceive the great wisdom of this regulation: and how +happily it was adapted to crush factions, to produce harmony, +and to enforce and corroborate good counsels; such an assembly +being extremely jealous of its authority, and not easily +prevailed upon to let it pass into other hands. Of this we have a +memorable instance in Polybius.<note place='foot'>Lib. xv. +p. 706, 707.</note> When after the loss of the +battle fought in Africa, at the end of the second Punic war, the +conditions of peace offered by the victor were read in the senate; +Hannibal, observing that one of the senators opposed them, +represented in the strongest terms, that as the safety of the +republic lay at stake, it was of the utmost importance for the +senators to be unanimous in their resolutions, to prevent such +a debate from coming before the people; and he carried his +point. This, doubtless, laid the foundation, in the infancy of +the republic, of the senate's power, and raised its authority to +so great a height. And the same author observes, in another +place,<note place='foot'>Polyb. l. vi. p. 494</note> +that whilst the senate had the administration of affairs, +the state was governed with great wisdom, and was successful +in all its enterprises. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>The People.</hi>—It appears from every thing related hitherto, +that even so low as Aristotle's time, who gives so beautiful a +picture, and bestows so noble an eulogium on the government +of Carthage, the people spontaneously left the care of public +affairs, and the chief administration of them, to the senate: +and this it was which made the republic so powerful. But +things changed afterwards. For the people, grown insolent by +their wealth and conquests, and forgetting that they owed these +blessings to the prudent conduct of the senate, were desirous +of having a share in the government, and arrogated to themselves +almost the whole power. From that period, the public +affairs were transacted wholly by cabals and factions: and +this Polybius assigns as one of the chief causes of the ruin of +Carthage. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>The Tribunal of the Hundred.</hi>—This was a body composed +<pb n='101'/><anchor id='Pg101'/> +of a hundred and four persons; though often, for brevity's sake, +they are called only, the Hundred. These, according to Aristotle, +were the same in Carthage, as the Ephori in Sparta; +whence it appears, that they were instituted to balance the +power of the nobles and senate: but with this difference, that +the Ephori were but five in number, and continued in office +but a year; whereas these were perpetual, and were upwards +of a hundred. +<note place='margin'>A.M. 3609. A. Carth. 487.</note> +It is believed, that these Centumviri +are the same with the hundred judges mentioned by +Justin,<note place='foot'>Lib. ix. c. 2.</note> who were taken out of the senate, and +appointed to inquire into the conduct of their generals. The exorbitant +power of Mago's family, which, by its engrossing the +chief employments both of the state and the army, had thereby +the sole direction and management of all affairs, gave occasion +to this establishment. It was intended as a curb to the authority +of their generals, which, whilst the armies were in the field, +was almost boundless and absolute; but, by this institution, it +became subject to the laws, by the obligation their generals +were under, of giving an account of their actions before these +judges on their return from the campaign: <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Ut hoc metu +ita in bello imperia cogitarent, ut domi judicia legesque +respicerent.</foreign><note place='foot'>Justin l. xix.</note> +Of these hundred and four judges, five had a particular jurisdiction +superior to that of the rest; but it is not known how +long their authority lasted. This council of five was like the +council of ten in the Venetian senate. A vacancy in their +number could be filled by none but themselves. They also +had the power of choosing those who composed the council of +the hundred. Their authority was very great, and for that +reason none were elected into this office but persons of uncommon +merit; and it was not judged proper to annex any +salary or reward to it; the single motive of the public good, +being thought a tie sufficient to engage honest men to a conscientious +and faithful discharge of their duty. Polybius, in his +account of the taking of New Carthage by Scipio,<note place='foot'>Lib. +x. p. 824 edit Gionov.</note> distinguishes +clearly two orders of magistrates established in Old Carthage; +for he says, that among the prisoners taken at New Carthage, +were two magistrates belonging to the body or assembly of old +men, ἐκ τῆς Γερουσίας: so he calls the council of the hundred; +<pb n='102'/><anchor id='Pg102'/> +and fifteen of the senate, ἐκ τῆς Συγκλήτου. Livy +mentions<note place='foot'>Lib. xxvi. n. 51. Lib xxx. n. +16.</note> only the fifteen of the senators; but, in another +place, he names the old men; and tells us, that they formed +the most venerable council of the government, and had great +authority in the senate. +<foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Carthaginenses—Oratores ad pacem +petendam mittunt triginta seniorum principes. Id erat +sanctius apud illos concilium, maximaque ad ipsum senatum +regendum vis.</foreign><note place='foot'>M. Rollin might have taken notice of some +civil officers who were established at Carthage, with a power like that of the censors +of Rome, to inspect the manners of the citizens. The chief of these officers took from +Hamilcar, the father of Hannibal, a beautiful youth, named Asdrubal, on a report that +Hamilcar was more familiar with this youth than was consistent with modesty. Erat +prætereà cum eo [Amilcare] adolescens illustiis et formosus Hasdrubal, quem nonnulli +diligi turpiùs quàm par erat, ab Amilcare, loquebantur.—Quo factum est ut à +præfecto morum Hasdrubal cum eo vetaretur esse. Corn. Nep. <hi rend='italic'>in vitâ +Amalcaris</hi>.—Trans.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Establishments, though constituted with the greatest wisdom +and the justest harmony of parts, degenerate, however insensibly, +into disorder and the most destructive licentiousness. +These judges, who by the lawful execution of their power were +a terror to transgressors, and the great pillars of justice, abusing +their almost unlimited authority, became so many petty +tyrants. +<note place='margin'>A.M. 3082. A. Carth. 682.</note> +We shall see this verified in the history of the great +Hannibal, who during his prætorship, after his return to Africa, +employed all his influence to reform so horrid an +abuse; and made the authority of these judges, +which before was perpetual, only annual, about two +hundred years from the first founding the tribunal of the One +Hundred. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Defects in the Government of Carthage.</hi>—Aristotle, among +other reflections made by him on the government of Carthage, +remarks two great defects in it, both which, in his opinion, are +repugnant to the views of a wise lawgiver and the maxims of +sound policy. +</p> + +<p> +The first of these defects was, the investing the same person +with different employments, which was considered at Carthage +as a proof of uncommon merit. But Aristotle thinks this practice +highly prejudicial to the public welfare. For, says this +author, a man possessed but of one employment, is much +more capable of acquitting himself well in the execution of it; +because affairs are then examined with greater care, and sooner +<pb n='103'/><anchor id='Pg103'/> +despatched. We never see, continues our author, either by sea +or land, the same officer commanding two different bodies, or +the same pilot steering two ships. Besides, the welfare of the +state requires that places and preferments should be divided, in +order to excite an emulation among men of merit: whereas the +bestowing of them on one man, too often dazzles him by so +distinguishing a preference, and always fills others with jealousy, +discontent, and murmurs. +</p> + +<p> +The second defect taken notice of by Aristotle in the government +of Carthage, was, that in order for a man to attain the +first posts, a certain income was required (besides merit and +noble birth.) By which means, poverty might exclude persons +of the most exalted merit, which he considers as a great evil in +a government. For then, says he, as virtue is wholly disregarded, +and money is all-powerful, because all things are attained +by it, the admiration and desire of riches seize and +corrupt the whole community. Add to this, that when magistrates +and judges are obliged to pay large sums for their employments, +they seem to have a right to reimburse themselves.' +</p> + +<p> +There is not, I believe, one instance in all antiquity, to show +that employments, either in the state or the courts of justice, +were sold. The expense, therefore, which Aristotle talks of +here to raise men to preferments in Carthage, must doubtless be +understood of the presents that were given in order to procure +the votes of the electors: a practice, as Polybius observes, very +common at Carthage, where no kind of gain was judged a disgrace.<note place='foot'>Παρὰ +Καρχηδονίοις οὐδὲν αἰσχρὸν τῶν ἀνηκόντων πρὸς κέρδας. Polyb. l. vi. p. +497.—Trans.</note> +It is, therefore, no wonder, that Aristotle should condemn +a practice whose consequences, it is very plain, may +prove fatal to a government. +</p> + +<p> +But in case he pretended that the chief employments of a +state ought to be equally accessible to the rich and the poor, +as he seems to insinuate, his opinion is refuted by the general +practice of the wisest republics; for these, without any way +demeaning or aspersing poverty, have thought that, on this +occasion, the preference ought to be given to riches; because +it is to be presumed that the wealthy have received a better +education, have nobler sentiments, are more out of the +reach of corruption, and less liable to commit base actions; +<pb n='104'/><anchor id='Pg104'/> +and that even the state of their affairs makes them more affectionate +to the government, more disposed to maintain peace +and order in it, and more interested in suppressing whatever +may tend to sedition and rebellion. +</p> + +<p> +Aristotle, in concluding his reflections on the republic of +Carthage, is much pleased with a custom that prevailed there: +<hi rend='italic'>viz.</hi> of sending from time to time colonies into different +countries; and in this manner procuring its citizens commodious +settlements. This provided for the necessities of the poor, +who, equally with the rich, are members of the state: and it +disburdened Carthage of multitudes of lazy, indolent people, +who were its disgrace, and often proved dangerous to it: it +prevented commotions and insurrections, by thus removing +such persons as commonly occasion them; and who being ever +discontented under their present circumstances, are always +ready for innovations and tumults. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Sect. IV. Trade of Carthage, the first Source of +its Wealth and Power.</hi>—Commerce, strictly speaking, was +the occupation of Carthage, the particular object of its industry, +and its peculiar and predominant characteristic. It formed +the greatest strength and the chief support of that commonwealth. +In a word, we may affirm that the power, the conquests, +the credit, and glory of the Carthaginians, all flowed +from their commerce. Situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, +and stretching out their arms eastward and westward, +the extent of their commerce took in all the known world, +and wafted it to the coast of Spain, of Mauritania, of Gaul, +and beyond the straits and pillars of Hercules. They sailed +to all countries, in order to buy at a cheap rate the superfluities +of every nation; which, by the wants of others, became necessaries; +and these they sold to them at the dearest rates. +From Egypt the Carthaginians fetched fine flax, paper, corn, +sails and cables for ships; from the coast of the Red-Sea, +spices, frankincense, perfumes, gold, pearls, and precious +stones; from Tyre and Phoenicia, purple and scarlet, rich stuffs, +tapestry, costly furniture, and divers curious and exquisite +works of art: in a word, they fetched, from various countries, +all things that can supply the necessities, or are capable of +<pb n='105'/><anchor id='Pg105'/> +contributing to the convenience, the luxury, and the delights of +life. They brought back from the western parts of the world, +in return for the articles carried thither, iron, tin, lead, and +copper: by the sale of these various commodities, they enriched +themselves at the expense of all nations; and put them under +a kind of contribution, which was so much the surer as it was +spontaneous. +</p> + +<p> +In thus becoming the factors and agents of all nations, they +had made themselves lords of the sea; the band which held +the east, the west, and south together; and the necessary +channel of their communication: so that Carthage rose to be +the common city, and the centre of the trade, of all those +nations which the sea separated from one another. +</p> + +<p> +The most considerable personages of the city were not ashamed +of engaging in trade. They applied themselves to it as industriously +as the meanest citizens; and their great wealth did not +make them less in love with the diligence, patience, and labour, +which are necessary to augment it. To this they owed their empire +of the sea, the splendour of their republic; their being able +to dispute for the superiority with Rome itself; and their exalted +pitch of power, which forced the Romans to carry on a +bloody and doubtful war, for upwards of forty years, in order +to humble and subdue this haughty rival. In short, Rome, +even when triumphant, thought Carthage was not to be entirely +reduced any other way, than by depriving that city of the +resources which it might still derive from its commerce, by +which it had so long been enabled to resist the whole strength +of that mighty republic. +</p> + +<p> +However, it is no wonder that, as Carthage came in a manner +out of the greatest school of traffic in the world, I mean +Tyre, she should have been crowned with such rapid and uninterrupted +success. The very vessels on which its founders +had been conveyed into Africa, were afterwards employed by +them in their trade. They began to make settlements upon the +coasts of Spain, in those ports where they unloaded their goods. +The ease with which they had founded these settlements, and +the conveniences they met with, inspired them with the design +of conquering those vast regions; and some time after, <hi rend='italic'>Nova +Carthago</hi>, or New Carthage, gave the Carthaginians an empire +<pb n='106'/><anchor id='Pg106'/> +in that country, almost equal to that which they enjoyed in +Africa. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Sect. V. The Mines of Spain, the second Source +of the Riches and Power of Carthage.</hi>—Diodorus +justly remarks,<note place='foot'>Lib. iv. p. 312, &c.</note> +that the gold and silver mines found by the +Carthaginians in Spain, were an inexhaustible fund of wealth, +that enabled them to sustain such long wars against the Romans. +The natives had long been ignorant of these treasures +that lay concealed in the bowels of the earth, at least of their +use and value. The Phœnicians took advantage of this ignorance; +and, by bartering some wares of little value for this +precious metal, they amassed infinite wealth. When the Carthaginians +had made themselves masters of the country, they +dug much deeper into the earth than the old inhabitants of +Spain had done, who probably were content with what they +could collect on the surface; and the Romans, when they had +dispossessed the Carthaginians of Spain, profited by their example, +and drew an immense revenue from these mines of gold +and silver. +</p> + +<p> +The labour employed to come at these mines, and to dig +the gold and silver out of them, was incredible.<note place='foot'>Diod. +l. iv. p. 312, &c.</note> For the veins +of these metals rarely appeared on the surface; they were to +be sought for and traced through frightful depths, where very +often floods of water stopped the miners, and seemed to defeat all +future pursuits. But avarice is no less patient in undergoing +fatigues, than ingenious in finding expedients. By pumps, +which Archimedes had invented when in Egypt, the Romans +afterwards threw up the water out of these pits, and quite +drained them. Numberless multitudes of slaves perished in +these mines, which were dug to enrich their masters; who +treated them with the utmost barbarity, forced them by heavy +stripes to labour, and gave them no respite either day or +night. +</p> + +<p> +Polybius, as quoted by Strabo,<note place='foot'>Lib. iii. +p. 147</note> says, that, in his time, upwards +of forty thousand men were employed in the mines near +<hi rend='italic'>Nova Carthago</hi>; and furnished the Romans every day with +<pb n='107'/><anchor id='Pg107'/> +twenty-five thousand drachmas, or eight hundred fifty-nine +pounds seven shillings and sixpence.<note place='foot'>25,000 drachmas.—An Attic +drachma, according to Dr. Bernard=8-1/4<hi rend='italic'>d.</hi> English +money, consequently 25,000=859<hi rend='italic'>l.</hi> 7<hi rend='italic'>s.</hi> +6<hi rend='italic'>d.</hi>—Trans.</note> +</p> + +<p> +We must not be surprised to see the Carthaginians, soon +after the greatest defeats, sending fresh and numerous armies +again into the field; fitting out mighty fleets, and supporting, +at a great expense, for many years, wars carried on by them in +far-distant countries. But it must appear surprising to us that +the Romans should be capable of doing the same; they whose +revenues were very inconsiderable before those great conquests +which subjected to them the most powerful nations; and who +had no resources, either from trade, to which they were absolute +strangers, or from gold or silver mines, which were very +rarely found in Italy, in case there were any; and the expenses +of which must, for that very reason, have swallowed up all the +profit. The Romans, in the frugal and simple life they led, in +their zeal for the public welfare, and their love for their country, +possessed funds which were not less ready or secure than +those of Carthage, but at the same time were far more honourable +to their nation. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Sect. VI. War.</hi>—Carthage must be considered as a +trading, and, at the same time, a warlike republic. Its genius +and the nature of its government led it to traffic; and it became +warlike, first, from the necessity the Carthaginians were +under of defending themselves against the neighbouring nations, +and afterwards from a desire of extending their commerce and +empire. This double idea gives us, in my opinion, the true +plan and character of the Carthaginian republic. We have +already spoken of its commerce. +</p> + +<p> +The military power of the Carthaginians consisted in their +alliances with kings; in tributary nations, from which they +drew both men and money; in some troops raised from among +their own citizens; and in mercenary soldiers purchased of +neighbouring states, without being themselves obliged to levy +or exercise them, because they were already well disciplined +and inured to the fatigues of war; they making choice, in every +country, of such troops as had the greatest merit and reputation. +<pb n='108'/><anchor id='Pg108'/> +They drew from Numidia a light, bold, impetuous, and +indefatigable cavalry, which formed the principal strength of +their armies; from the Balearic isles, the most expert slingers +in the world; from Spain, a steady and invincible infantry; from +the coasts of Genoa and Gaul, troops of acknowledged valour; +and from Greece itself, soldiers fit for all the various operations +of war, for the field or the garrisons, for besieging or +defending cities. +</p> + +<p> +In this manner the Carthaginians sent out at once powerful +armies, composed of soldiers which were the flower of all the +armies in the universe, without depopulating either their fields +or cities by new levies; without suspending their manufactures, +or disturbing the peaceful artificer; without interrupting their +commerce, or weakening their navy. By venal blood they +possessed themselves of provinces and kingdoms; and made +other nations the instruments of their grandeur and glory, with +no other expense of their own than their money; and even +this furnished from the traffic they carried on with foreign +nations. +</p> + +<p> +If the Carthaginians, in the course of a war, sustained some +losses, these were but as so many foreign accidents, which only +grazed, as it were, over the body of the state, but did not make +a deep wound in the bowels or heart of the republic. These +losses were speedily repaired, by sums arising out of a flourishing +commerce, as from a perpetual sinew of war, by which the +government was continually reinforced with new supplies for +the purchase of mercenary forces, who were ready at the first +summons. And from the vast extent of the coasts which the +Carthaginians possessed, it was easy for them to levy, in a very +little time, a sufficient number of sailors and rowers for the +working of their fleets, and to procure able pilots and experienced +captains to conduct them. +</p> + +<p> +But as these parts were fortuitously brought together, they +did not adhere by any natural, intimate, or necessary tie. No +common and reciprocal interest united them in such a manner, +as to form a solid and unalterable body. Not one individual +in these mercenary armies, was sincerely interested in the +success of measures, or in the prosperity of the state. They +did not act with the same zeal, nor expose themselves to dangers +<pb n='109'/><anchor id='Pg109'/> +with equal resolution, for a republic which they considered +as foreign, and which consequently was indifferent to +them, as they would have done for their native country, +whose happiness constitutes that of the several members who +compose it. +</p> + +<p> +In great reverses of fortune, the kings in alliance with the +Carthaginians<note place='foot'>As Syphax and Masinissa.</note> +might easily be detached from their interest, +either by that jealousy which the grandeur of a more powerful +neighbour naturally excites; or by the hopes of reaping greater +advantages from a new friend; or by the fear of being involved +in the misfortunes of an old ally. +</p> + +<p> +The tributary nations, impatient under the weight and disgrace +of a yoke which had been forced upon their necks, +generally flattered themselves with the hopes of finding one +less galling in changing their masters; or, in case servitude +was unavoidable, the choice was indifferent to them, as will +appear from many instances in the course of this history. +</p> + +<p> +The mercenary forces, accustomed to measure their fidelity +by the largeness or continuance of their pay, were ever ready, +on the least discontent, or the slightest expectation of a more +considerable stipend, to desert to the enemy with whom they +had just before fought, and to turn their arms against those +who had invited them to their assistance. +</p> + +<p> +Thus the grandeur of the Carthaginians being sustained only +by these foreign supports, was shaken to the very foundation +when they were once taken away. And if to this there happened +to be added an interruption of their commerce, (which +was their sole resource,) arising from the loss of a naval engagement, +they imagined themselves to be on the brink of +ruin, and abandoned themselves to despondency and despair, +as was evidently seen at the end of the first Punic war. +</p> + +<p> +Aristotle, in the treatise where he shows the advantages and +defects of the government of Carthage, finds no fault with its +keeping up none but foreign forces; it is therefore probable, +that the Carthaginians did not fall into this practice till a long +time after. But the rebellions which harassed Carthage in its +later years, out to have taught its citizens, that no miseries are +comparable to those of a government which is supported only +<pb n='110'/><anchor id='Pg110'/> +by foreigners; since neither zeal, security, nor obedience, can +be expected from them. +</p> + +<p> +But this was not the case with the republic of Rome. As +the Romans had neither trade nor money, they were not able +to hire forces to push on their conquests with the same rapidity +as the Carthaginians: but then, as they procured every thing +from within themselves; and as all the parts of the state were +intimately united; they had surer resources in great misfortunes +than the Carthaginians. And for this reason they never +once thought of suing for peace after the battle of Cannæ, +as the Carthaginians had done in a less imminent danger. +</p> + +<p> +The Carthaginians had, besides, a body of troops (which +was not very numerous) levied from among their own citizens; +and this was a kind of school, in which the flower of their nobility, +and those whose talents and ambition prompted them to +aspire to the first dignities, learned the rudiments of the art of +war. From among these were selected all the general officers, +who were put at the head of the different bodies of their forces, +and had the chief command in the armies. This nation was too +jealous and suspicious to employ foreign generals. But they +were not so distrustful of their own citizens as Rome and +Athens; for the Carthaginians, at the same time that they +invested them with great power, did not guard against the abuse +they might make of it in order to oppress their country. The +command of armies was neither annual, nor limited to any +time, as in the two republics above-mentioned. Many generals +held their commissions for a great number of years, either till +the war or their lives ended; though they were still accountable +to the commonwealth for their conduct; and liable to be +recalled, whenever a real fault, a misfortune, or the superior +interest of a cabal, furnished an opportunity for it. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Sect. VII. Arts and Sciences.</hi>—It cannot be said that +the Carthaginians renounced entirely the glory which results +from study and knowledge. The sending of Masinissa, son +of a powerful king,<note place='foot'>King of the Massylians in +Africa.—Trans.</note> thither for education, gives us room to +believe that Carthage was provided with an excellent school. +The great Hannibal,<note place='foot'>Nepos, <hi rend='italic'>in vitâ +Annibalis</hi>.</note> who in all respects was an ornament to +<pb n='111'/><anchor id='Pg111'/> +that city, was not unacquainted with polite literature, as will +be seen hereafter. Mago,<note place='foot'>Cic. l. i. <hi rend='italic'>De Orat.</hi> +n. 249. Plin. l. xviii. c. 3.</note> another very celebrated general, +did as much honour to Carthage by his pen as by his victories. +He wrote twenty-eight volumes upon husbandry, which the +Roman senate had in such esteem, that after the taking of +Carthage, when they presented the African princes with the +libraries found there, (another proof that learning was not entirely +banished from Carthage,) they gave orders to have these +books translated into Latin,<note place='foot'>These books were written by Mago in the +Punic language, and translated into Greek by Cassius Dionysius of Utica, from whose +version, we may probably suppose, the Latin was made.—Trans.</note> though Cato +had before written his books on that subject. There is still extant a Greek version +of a treatise drawn up by Hanno in the Punic tongue,<note place='foot'>Voss. +<hi rend='italic'>de Hist. Gr.</hi> l. iv.</note> +relating to a voyage he made (by order of the senate) with a +considerable fleet round Africa, for the settling of different +colonies in that part of the world. This Hanno is believed to +be more ancient than that person of the same name who lived +in the time of Agathocles. +</p> + +<p> +Clitomachus, called in the Punic language Asdrubal, was a +great philosopher.<note place='foot'>Plut. <hi rend='italic'>de +fort. Alex.</hi> p. 328. Diog. Laërt. <hi rend='italic'>in +Clitom.</hi></note> He succeeded the famous Carneades, +whose disciple he had been; and maintained in Athens the +honour of the Academic sect. Cicero says,<note place='foot'>Clitomachus, homo et +acutus ut Pœnus et valdè studiosus ac diligens. <hi rend='italic'>Academ. +Quæst.</hi> l. iv. n. 98.—Trans.</note> that he was a +more sensible man, and fonder of study, than the Carthaginians +generally are. He wrote several books;<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Tusc. +Quæst.</hi> l. lii. n. 54.</note> in one of which he +composed a piece to console the unhappy citizens of Carthage, +who, by the ruin of their city, were reduced to slavery. +</p> + +<p> +I might rank among, or rather place at the head of, the +writers who have adorned Africa, the celebrated Terence; himself +singly being capable of reflecting infinite honour on his +country by the fame of his productions, if, on this account, +Carthage, the place of his birth, ought not to be less considered +as his country than Rome, where he was educated, and +acquired that purity of style, that delicacy and elegance, which +have gained him the admiration of all succeeding ages. It is +supposed,<note place='foot'>Suet. <hi rend='italic'>in vit. +Terent.</hi></note> that he was carried off when an infant, or at least +<pb n='112'/><anchor id='Pg112'/> +very young, by the Numidians in their incursions into the +Carthaginian territories, during the war carried on between +these two nations, from the conclusion of the second, to the +beginning of the third Punic war. He was sold for a slave to +Terentius Lucanus, a Roman senator; who, after giving him +an excellent education, gave him his liberty, and called him by +his own name, as was then the custom. He was united in a +very strict friendship with the second Scipio Africanus, and +Lælius; and it was a common report at Rome, that he had +the assistance of these two great men in composing his pieces. +The poet, so far from endeavouring to stifle a report so advantageous +to him, made a merit of it. Only six of his comedies +are extant. Some authors, on the authority of Suetonius, (the +writer of his life,) say, that in his return from Greece, whither +he had made a voyage, he lost a hundred and eight comedies, +which he had translated from Menander, and could not survive +an accident which must naturally afflict him in a sensible +manner; but this incident is not very well founded. Be +this as it may, he died in the year of Rome 594, under the +consulship of Cneius Cornelius Dolabella, and M. Fulvius, at +the age of thirty-five years, and consequently he was born +anno 560. +</p> + +<p> +It must yet be confessed, notwithstanding all we have said, +that there ever was a great scarcity of learned men in Carthage, +since it hardly furnished three or four writers of reputation +in upwards of seven hundred years. Although the Carthaginians +held a correspondence with Greece and the most +civilized nations, yet this did not excite them to borrow their +learning, as being foreign to their views of trade and commerce. +Eloquence, poetry, history, seem to have been little +known among them. A Carthaginian philosopher was considered +as a sort of prodigy by the learned. What then would +an astronomer or a geometrician have been thought? I know +not in what esteem physic, which is so highly useful to life, +was held at Carthage; or jurisprudence, so necessary to +society. +</p> + +<p> +As works of wit were generally had in so much disregard, +the education of youth must necessarily have been very imperfect +and unpolished. In Carthage, the study and knowledge +<pb n='113'/><anchor id='Pg113'/> +of youth were for the most part confined to writing, arithmetic, +book-keeping, and the buying and selling goods; in a word, to +whatever related to traffic. But polite learning, history, and +philosophy, were in little repute among them. These were, in +later years, even prohibited by the laws, which expressly forbade +any Carthaginian to learn the Greek tongue, lest it might +qualify them for carrying on a dangerous correspondence with +the enemy, either by letter or word of mouth.<note place='foot'>Factum senatûs consultum +ne quis postea Carthaginensis aut literis Græcis aut sermoni studeret; ne aut loqui +cum hoste, aut scribere sine interprete posset. Justin, l. xx. c. 5. Justin +ascribes the reason of this law to a treasonable correspondence +between one Suniatus, a powerful Carthaginian, and Dionysius the tyrant of Sicily; +the former, by letters written in Greek, (which afterwards fell into the hands of the +Carthaginians,) having informed the tyrant of the war designed against him by his +country, out of hatred to Hanno the general, to whom he was an enemy.—Trans.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Now what could be expected from such a cast of mind? +Accordingly there was never seen among them that elegance +of behaviour, that ease and complacency of manners, and those +sentiments of virtue, which are generally the fruits of a liberal +education in all civilized nations. The small number of great +men which this nation has produced, must therefore have owed +their merit to the felicity of their genius, to the singularity of +their talents, and a long experience, without any great assistance +from cultivation and instruction. Hence it was, that the +merit of the greatest men of Carthage was sullied by great +failings, low vices, and cruel passions; and it is rare to meet +with any conspicuous virtue among them without some blemish; +with any virtue of a noble, generous, and amiable kind, and +supported by enlightened and steady principles, such as is +every where found among the Greeks and Romans. The +reader will perceive that I here speak only of the heathen virtues, +and agreeably to the idea which the Pagans entertained +of them. +</p> + +<p> +I meet with as few monuments of their skill in arts of a less +noble and necessary kind, as painting and sculpture. I find, +indeed, that they had plundered the conquered nations of a +great many works in both these kinds; but it does not appear +that they themselves had produced many. +</p> + +<p> +From what has been said, one cannot help concluding, that +traffic was the predominant inclination, and the peculiar characteristic +of the Carthaginians; that it formed, in a manner, +<pb n='114'/><anchor id='Pg114'/> +the basis of the state, the soul of the commonwealth, and the +grand spring which gave motion to all their enterprises. The +Carthaginians, in general, were skilful merchants; employed +wholly in traffic; excited strongly by the desire of gain, and +esteeming nothing but riches; directing all their talents, and +placing their chief glory, in amassing them; though at the +same time they scarce knew the purpose for which they were +designed, or how to use them in a noble or worthy manner. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Sect. VIII. The Character, Manners, and Qualities +of the Carthaginians.</hi>—In the enumeration of the various +qualities which Cicero<note place='foot'>Quàm volumus licèt ipsi nos amemus, +tamen nec numero Hispanos, nec robore Gallos, nec calliditate Pœnes, +&c. sed pietate ac religione, &c. omnes gentes nationesque +superavimus. <hi rend='italic'>De Arusp. Resp.</hi> n. 19.—Trans.</note> +assigns to different nations, as their +distinguishing characteristics, he declares that of the Carthaginians +to be craft, skill, address, industry, cunning, +<foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>calliditas</foreign>; +which doubtless appeared in war, but was still more conspicuous +in the rest of their conduct; and this was joined to +another quality that bears a very near relation to it, and is still +less reputable. Craft and cunning lead naturally to lying, +duplicity, and breach of faith; and these, by accustoming the +mind insensibly to be less scrupulous with regard to the choice +of the means for compassing its designs, prepare it for the +basest frauds and the most perfidious actions. This was also +one of the characteristics of the Carthaginians;<note place='foot'>Carthaginenses +fraudulenti et mendaces—multis et variis mercatorum advenarumque +sermonibus ad studium fallendi quæstûs cupiditate vocabantur. Cic. +<hi rend='italic'>Orat. ii. in Rull.</hi> n. 94.—Trans.</note> and it was so +notorious, that to signify any remarkable dishonesty, it was +usual to call it <hi rend='italic'>Punic faith, fides Punica</hi>; and to denote a +knavish, deceitful disposition, no expression was thought more +proper and emphatical than this, a Carthaginian disposition, +<foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Punicum ingenium</foreign>. +</p> + +<p> +An excessive thirst for amassing wealth, and an inordinate +love of gain, generally gave occasion in Carthage to the committing +base and unjust actions. One single example will +prove this. During a truce, granted by Scipio to the earnest +entreaties of the Carthaginians, some Roman vessels, being +driven by a storm on the coasts of Carthage, were seized by +<pb n='115'/><anchor id='Pg115'/> +order of the senate and people,<note place='foot'>Magistratus senatum vocare, +populus in curiæ vestibulo fremere, ne tanta ex +oculis manibusque amitteretur præda. Consensum est ut, &c. +Liv. l. xxx. n. 24.—Trans.</note> who could not suffer so +tempting a prey to escape them. They were resolved to get +money, though the manner of acquiring it were ever so scandalous.<note place='foot'>A +mountebank had promised the citizens of Carthage to discover to them their +most secret thoughts, in case they would come, on a day appointed, to hear him. +Being all met, he told them, they were desirous to buy cheap and sell dear. +Every man's conscience pleaded guilty to the charge; and the mountebank was +dismissed with applause and laughter. Vili vultis emere, et carè vendere; in quo +dicto levissimi scenici omnes tamen conscientias invenerunt suas, eique vera et +tamen improvisa dicenti admirabili favore plauserunt. S. August. l. xiii. +<hi rend='italic'>de Trinit.</hi> c. 3.—Trans.</note> +The inhabitants of Carthage, even in St. Austin's +time, (as that Father informs us,) showed on a particular occasion, +that they still retained part of this characteristic. +</p> + +<p> +But these were not the only blemishes and faults of the +Carthaginians.<note place='foot'>Plut. <hi rend='italic'>de +gen. Rep.</hi> p. 799.</note> They had something austere and savage in +their disposition and genius, a haughty and imperious air, a +sort of ferocity, which, in the first transports of passion, was +deaf to both reason and remonstrances, and plunged brutally +into the utmost excesses of violence. The people, cowardly +and grovelling under apprehensions, were proud and cruel in +their transports; at the same time that they trembled under +their magistrates, they were dreaded in their turn by their +miserable vassals. In this we see the difference which education +makes between one nation and another. The Athenians, +whose city was always considered as the centre of learning, +were naturally jealous of their authority, and difficult to govern; +but still, a fund of good nature and humanity made them compassionate +the misfortunes of others, and be indulgent to the +errors of their leaders. Cleon one day desired the assembly, +in which he presided, to break up, because, as he told them, +he had a sacrifice to offer, and friends to entertain. The +people only laughed at the request, and immediately separated. +Such a liberty, says Plutarch, at Carthage, would have cost +a man his life. +</p> + +<p> +Livy makes a like reflection with regard to Terentius Varro.<note place='foot'>Lib. +xxii. n. 61.</note> That general on his return to Rome after the battle of Cannæ, +which had been lost by his ill conduct, was met by persons of +all orders of the state, at some distance from Rome; and +<pb n='116'/><anchor id='Pg116'/> +thanked by them, for his not having despaired of the commonwealth; +who, says the historian, had he been a general of the +Carthaginians, must have expected the most severe punishment: +<foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Cui, si Carthaginensium ductor fuisset, nihil recusandum +supplicii foret.</foreign> Indeed, a court was established at Carthage, +where the generals were obliged to give an account of +their conduct; and they all were made responsible for the +events of the war. Ill success was punished there as a crime +against the state; and whenever a general lost a battle, he was +almost sure, at his return, of ending his life upon a gibbet. +Such was the furious, cruel, and barbarous disposition of the +Carthaginians, who were always ready to shed the blood of +their citizens as well as of foreigners. The unheard-of tortures +which they made Regulus suffer, are a manifest proof of this +assertion; and their history will furnish us with such instances +of it, as are not to be read without horror. +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf' level1='Part The Second. The History.'/> +<head>Part The Second. The History of the Carthaginians.</head> + +<p> +The interval of time between the foundation of Carthage and +its ruin, included seven hundred years, and may be divided +into two parts. The first, which is much the longest and the +least known, (as is ordinary with the beginnings of all states,) +extends to the first Punic war, and takes up five hundred and +eighty-two years. The second, which ends at the destruction +of Carthage, contains but a hundred and eighteen years. +</p> + +<div> +<index index='toc' level1='Chapter I. The Foundation of Carthage.'/> +<index index='pdf' level1='Chapter I. The Foundation of Carthage.'/> +<head>Chapter I. The Foundation of Carthage and its Aggrandizement till the +Time of the first Punic War.</head> + +<p> +Carthage in Africa was a colony from Tyre, the most renowned +city at that time for commerce in the world. Tyre +<pb n='117'/><anchor id='Pg117'/> +had long before transplanted into that country another colony, +which built Utica,<note place='foot'>Utica et Carthago, ambæ inclytæ, +ambæ à Phoenicibus conditæ; illa fato +Catonis insignis, hæc suo. Pompon. Mel. c. 67. Utica and Carthage, both +famous, and both built by Phoenicians; the first renowned by Cato's fate, the last +by its own.—Trans.</note> made famous by the death of the second +Cato, who, for this reason, is generally called Cato Uticensis. +</p> + +<p> +Authors disagree very much with regard to the æra of the +foundation of Carthage.<note place='foot'><p>Our countryman Howel +endeavours to reconcile the three different accounts of +the foundation of Carthage, in the following manner. He says, that the town consisted +of three parts, <hi rend='italic'>viz.</hi> Cothon, or the port and buildings +adjoining to it, which he supposes to have been first built; Megara, built next, +and in respect of Cothon, called the New Town, or Karthada; and Byrsa, or the +citadel, built last of all, and probably by Dido. +</p> +<p> +Cothon, to agree with Appian, was built fifty years before the taking of Troy; +Megara, to correspond with Eusebius, was built a hundred ninety-four years later; +Byrsa, to agree with Menander, (cited by Josephus,) was built a hundred sixty-six +years after Megara.—Trans.</p></note> It is a difficult matter, and not +very material, to reconcile them; at least, agreeably to the +plan laid down by me, it is sufficient to know, within a few +years, the time in which that city was built. +</p> + +<p> +Carthage existed a little above seven hundred years.<note place='foot'>Liv. +<hi rend='italic'>Epit.</hi> l. ii.</note> It +was destroyed under the consulate of Cn. Lentulus, and L. +Mummius, the 603d year of Rome, 3859th of the world, and +145 before Christ. The foundation of it may therefore be +fixed in the year of the world 3158, when Joash was king of +Judah, 98 years before the building of Rome, and 846 before +our Saviour. +</p> + +<p> +The foundation of Carthage is ascribed to Elisa, a Tyrian +princess, better known by the name of Dido.<note place='foot'>Justin, +l. xviii. c. 4-6. App. <hi rend='italic'>de bello Pun.</hi> p. 1. +Strab. l. xvii. p. 832. Paterc. l. i. c. 6.</note> Ithobal, king of +Tyre, and father of the famous Jezebel, called in Scripture +Ethbaal, was her great-grandfather. She married her near +relation Acerbas, called otherwise Sicharbas and Sichæus, an +extremely rich prince, and Pygmalion, king of Tyre, was her +brother. This prince having put Sichæus to death, in order +that he might have an opportunity of seizing his immense +wealth, Dido eluded the cruel avarice of her brother, by withdrawing +secretly with all her dead husband's treasures. After +having long wandered, she at last landed on the coast of the +Mediterranean, in the gulf where Utica stood, and in the +<pb n='118'/><anchor id='Pg118'/> +country of Africa, properly so called, distant almost fifteen<note place='foot'>120 +Stadia. Strab. l. xiv. p. 687.—Trans.</note> +miles from Tunis, so famous at this time for its corsairs; and +there settled with her few followers, after having purchased +some lands from the inhabitants of the country.<note place='foot'>Some authors +say, that Dido put a trick on the natives, by desiring to purchase +of them, for her intended settlement, only so much land as an ox's hide would encompass. +The request was thought too moderate to be denied. She then cut the +hide into the smallest thongs; and, with them, encompassed a large tract of ground, +on which she built a citadel called Byrsa, from the hide. But this tale of the hide +is generally exploded by the learned; who observe that the Hebrew word +<foreign lang='he' rend='italic'>Bosra</foreign>, which signifies a fortification, +gave rise to the Greek word <foreign lang='el' rend='italic'>Byrsa</foreign>, which +is the name of the citadel of Carthage.—Trans.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Many of the neighbouring people, invited by the prospect +of lucre, repaired thither to sell these new comers the necessaries +of life; and shortly after incorporated themselves with +them. These inhabitants, who had been thus gathered from +different places, soon grew very numerous. The citizens of +Utica, considering them as their countrymen, and as descended +from the same common stock, deputed envoys with very considerable +presents, and exhorted them to build a city in the +place where they had first settled. The natives of the country, +from the esteem and respect frequently shown to strangers, +did as much on their part. Thus all things conspiring with +Dido's views, she built her city, which was charged with the +payment of an annual tribute to the Africans for the ground it +stood upon; and called Carthada,<note place='foot'>Kartha Hadath +or Hadtha.—Trans.</note> or Carthage, a name that, +in the Phoenician and Hebrew tongues, (which have a great +affinity,) signifies the New City. It is said, that when the +foundations were dug, a horse's head was found, which was +thought a good omen, and a presage of the future warlike +genius of that people.<note place='foot'><p>Effodêre loco signum, quod regia Juno<lb/> +Monstrârat, caput acris equi; nam sic fore bello<lb/> +Egregiam, et facilem victu per secula gentem. +</p> +<p> +Virg. <hi rend='italic'>Æn.</hi> l. i. ver. 447. +</p> +<p> +The Tyrians landing near this holy ground,<lb/> +And digging here, a prosp'rous omen found:<lb/> +From under earth a courser's head they drew,<lb/> +Their growth and future fortune to foreshew:<lb/> +This fated sign their foundress Juno gave,<lb/> +Of a soil fruitful, and a people brave. +</p> +<p> +Dryden.—Trans.</p></note> +</p> + +<p> +This princess was afterwards courted by Iarbas king of +Getulia, and threatened with a war in case of refusal. Dido, +<pb n='119'/><anchor id='Pg119'/> +who had bound herself by an oath not to consent to a second +marriage, being incapable of violating the faith she had sworn +to Sichæus, desired time for deliberation, and for appeasing +the manes of her first husband by sacrifice. Having therefore +ordered a pile to be raised, she ascended it; and drawing +out a dagger which she had concealed under her robe, stabbed +herself with it.<note place='foot'>The story, as it is +told more at large in Justin, (l. xviii. c. 6.) is this—Iarbas, +king of the Mauritanians, sending for ten of the principal Carthaginians, demanded +Dido in marriage, threatening to declare war against her in case of a refusal: the +ambassadors being afraid to deliver the message of Iarbas, told her, (with Punic +honesty,) <q>that he wanted to have some person sent him, who was capable of civilizing +and polishing himself and his Africans; but that there was no possibility +of finding any Carthaginian, who would be willing to quit his native place and +kindred, for the conversation of Barbarians, who were as savage as the wildest +beasts.</q> Here the queen, with indignation, interrupting them, and asking, <q>if they +were not ashamed to refuse living in any manner which might be beneficial to +their country, to which they owed even their lives?</q> they then delivered the king's +message; and bid her <q>set them a pattern, and sacrifice herself to her country's +welfare.</q> Dido being thus ensnared, called on Sichæus with tears and lamentations, +and answered, <q>that she would go where the fate of her city called her.</q> At the +expiration of three months, she ascended the fatal pile; and with her last breath +told the spectators, that she was going to her husband, as they had ordered +her.—Trans.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Virgil has made a great alteration in this history, by supposing +that Æneas, his hero, was contemporary with Dido, though +there was an interval of near three centuries between the one +and the other; Carthage being built three hundred years after +the destruction of Troy. This liberty is very excusable in a +poet, who is not tied to the scrupulous accuracy of an historian; +and we admire, with great reason, the judgment which +he has shown in his plan, when, to interest the Romans (for +whom he wrote) in his subject, he has the art of introducing +into it the implacable hatred which subsisted between Carthage +and Rome, and ingeniously deduces the original of it from the +very remote foundation of those two rival cities. +</p> + +<p> +Carthage, whose beginnings, as we have observed, were +very weak at first, grew larger by insensible degrees, in the +country where it was founded. But its dominion was not +long confined to Africa. This ambitious city extended her +conquests into Europe, invaded Sardinia, made herself mistress +of a great part of Sicily, and reduced to her subjection +almost the whole of Spain; and having sent out powerful +colonies into all quarters, enjoyed the empire of the seas for +more than six hundred years; and formed a state which was +<pb n='120'/><anchor id='Pg120'/> +able to dispute preeminence with the greatest empires of the +world, by her wealth, her commerce, her numerous armies, +her formidable fleets, and, above all, by the courage and +ability of her captains. The dates and circumstances of many +of these conquests are little known. I shall take but a transient +notice of them, in order to enable my readers to form +some idea of the countries, which will be often mentioned in +the course of this history. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Conquests of the Carthaginians in Africa.</hi>—The first wars +made by the Carthaginians were to free themselves from the +annual tribute which they had engaged to pay the Africans, +for the territory which had been ceded to them.<note place='foot'>Justin, +l. xix. c. 1.</note> This conduct +does them no honour, as the settlement was granted them +upon condition of their paying a tribute. One would be apt +to imagine, that they were desirous of covering the obscurity +of their original, by abolishing this proof of it. But they were +not successful on this occasion. The Africans had justice on +their side, and they prospered accordingly; the war being terminated +by the payment of the tribute. +</p> + +<p> +The Carthaginians afterwards carried their arms against +the Moors and Numidians, and gained many conquests over +both.<note place='foot'>Justin, l. xix. c. 2.</note> Being +now emboldened by these happy successes, they +shook off entirely the tribute which gave them so much +uneasiness,<note place='foot'>Afri compulsi stipendium urbis conditæ +Carthageniensibus remittere. Justin, l. xix. c 2.—Trans.</note> +and possessed themselves of a great part of Africa. +</p> + +<p> +About this time there arose a great dispute between +Carthage and Cyrene, on the subject of their respective limits. +Cyrene was a very powerful city, situated on the Mediterranean, +towards the greater Syrtis, and had been built by Battus the +Lacedæmonian.<note place='foot'>Sallust. <hi rend='italic'>de bello Jugurth.</hi> n. 77. +Valer. Max. l. v. c. 6.</note> +</p> + +<p> +It was agreed on each side, that two young men should set +out at the same time, from either city; and that the place of +their meeting should be the common boundary of both states. +The Carthaginians (these were two brothers named Philæni) +made the most haste; and their antagonists pretending that +foul play had been used, and that the two brothers had set out +before the time appointed, refused to stand to the agreement +<pb n='121'/><anchor id='Pg121'/> +unless the two brothers (to remove all suspicion of unfair +dealing) would consent to be buried alive in the place where +they had met. They acquiesced with the proposal; and the +Carthaginians erected, on that spot, two altars to their memories, +and paid them divine honours in their city; and from +that time the place was called the altars of the Philæni, Aræ +Philænorum,<note place='foot'>These altars were not standing in Strabo's time. Some +geographers think Arcadia to be the city which was anciently called Philænorum Aræ; +but others believe it was Naina or Tain, situated a little west of Arcadia, in the +gulf of Sidra.—Trans.</note> and served as the boundary of the Carthaginian +empire, which extended from thence to the pillars of Hercules. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Conquests of the Carthaginians in Sardinia, &c.</hi>—History +does not inform us exactly, either of the time when the Carthaginians +entered Sardinia, or of the manner in which they got +possession of it. This island was of great use to them; and +during all their wars supplied them abundantly with provisions.<note place='foot'>Strab. +l. v. p. 224. Diod. l. v. p. 296.</note> +It is separated from Corsica only by a strait of about three +leagues in breadth. The metropolis of the southern and most +fertile part of it, was Caralis or Calaris, now called Cagliari. +On the arrival of the Carthaginians, the natives withdrew to +the mountains in the northern parts of the island, which are +almost inaccessible, and whence the enemy could not dislodge +them. +</p> + +<p> +The Carthaginians seized likewise on the Balearic isles, now +called Majorca and Minorca. Port Mahon, (<hi rend='italic'>Portus Magonis</hi>,) +in the latter island, was so called from Mago, a Carthaginian +general, who first made use of, and fortified it. It is not +known who this Mago was; but it is very probable that he was +Hannibal's brother.<note place='foot'>Liv. l. xxviii. n. 37.</note> +This harbour is, at this day, one of the +most considerable in the Mediterranean. +</p> + +<p> +These isles furnished the Carthaginians with the most +expert slingers in the world, who did them great service in +battles and sieges.<note place='foot'>Diod. l. v. p. 298. and +l. xix. p. 742. Liv. loco citato.</note> They slang large stones of above a pound +weight; and sometimes threw leaden bullets,<note place='foot'>Liquescit excussa +glans fundâ, et attritu aeris, velut igne, distillat. <hi rend='italic'>i.e.</hi> +The ball, when thrown from the sling, dissolves; and, by the friction of the air, +runs as if it was melted by fire. Senec. <hi rend='italic'>Nat. Quæst.</hi> +l. ii. c. 57.—Trans.</note> with so much +violence, that they would pierce even the strongest helmets, +shields, and cuirasses; and were so dexterous in their aim, +<pb n='122'/><anchor id='Pg122'/> +that they scarce ever missed the mark. The inhabitants of +these islands were accustomed, from their infancy, to handle +the sling; for which purpose their mothers placed on the bough +of a high tree, the piece of bread designed for their children's +breakfast, who were not allowed a morsel till they had brought +it down with their slings. From this practice, these islands +were called Baleares and Gymnasiæ, by the Greeks,<note place='foot'>Strab. +l. iii. p. 167.</note> because the inhabitants used to exercise themselves so early in +slinging of stones.<note place='foot'>Bochart derives the name of +these islands from two Phoenician words, Baal-jare, or master of +the art of slinging. This strengthens the authority of Strabo, +<hi rend='italic'>viz.</hi> that the inhabitants learnt their art from +the Phœnicians, who were once their masters. Σφενδονῆται ἄριστοι +λέγονται—ἐξότε Φοίνικες κατέσχον τὰς νήσες. And this is still more +probable, when we consider that both the Hebrews and Phœnicians excelled in this +art. The Balearian slings would annoy an enemy either near at hand, or at a distance. +Every slinger carried three of them in war. One hung from the neck, a +second from the waist, and a third was carried in the hand. To this, give me leave +to add two more observations, (foreign indeed to the present purpose, but relating to +these islands,) which I hope will not be unentertaining to the reader. The first is, +that these islands were once so infested with rabbits, that the inhabitants of it +applied to Rome, either for aid against them, or otherwise desired new habitations, +ἐκβάλλεσθαι γὰρ ὑπὸ τῶν ζώων τέτων, those creatures having ejected them out of their +old ones. Vide Strab. Plin. l. viii. c. 55. The second observation is, that these +islanders were not only expert slingers, but likewise excellent swimmers, which +they are to this day, by the testimony of our countryman Biddulph, who, in his +<hi rend='italic'>Travels</hi>, informs us, that being becalmed near these islands, +a woman swam to him out of one of them, with a basket of fruit to +sell.—Trans.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Conquests of the Carthaginians in Spain.</hi>—Before I enter +on the relation of these conquests, I think it proper to give my +readers some idea of Spain. +</p> + +<p> +Spain is divided into three parts, Bœtica, Lusitania, +Tarraconensis.<note place='foot'>Cluver, l. ii. c. 2.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Bœtica, so called from the river Bœtis,<note place='foot'>Guadalquivir.</note> +was the southern division of it, and comprehended the present kingdom of Granada, +Andalusia, part of New Castile, and Estremadura. +Cadiz, called by the ancients Gades and Gadira, is a town +situated in a small island of the same name, on the western +coast of Andalusia, about nine leagues from Gibraltar. It is +well known that Hercules, having extended his conquests to +this place, halted, from the supposition that he was come to +the extremity of the world.<note place='foot'>Strab. l. iii. p. 171.</note> +He here erected two pillars, as monuments of his victories, pursuant to the custom of +that age. The place has always retained the name, though time has quite +<pb n='123'/><anchor id='Pg123'/> +destroyed these pillars. Authors are divided in opinion, with +regard to the place where these pillars were erected. Bœtica +was the most fruitful, the wealthiest, and most populous part +of Spain.<note place='foot'>Strab. l. iii. p. 139-142.</note> +It contained two hundred cities, and was inhabited +by the Turdetani, or Turduli. On the banks of the Bœtis +stood three large cities, Castulo towards the source, Corduba +lower down, the native place of Lucan and the two Senecas, +lastly, Hispalis.<note place='foot'>Seville.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Lusitania is bounded on the west by the Ocean, on the north +by the river Durius,<note place='foot'>Duero.</note> and on +the south by the river Anas.<note place='foot'>Guadiana.</note> +Between these two rivers is the Tagus. Lusitania was what is +now called Portugal, with part of Old and New Castile. +</p> + +<p> +Tarraconensis comprehended the rest of Spain, that is, the +kingdoms of Murcia and Valentia, Catalonia, Arragon, Navarre, +Biscay, the Asturias, Gallicia, the kingdom of Leon, and the +greatest part of the two Castiles. Tarraco,<note place='foot'>Tarragona.</note> +a very considerable city, gave its name to this part of Spain. Pretty near it +lay Barcino.<note place='foot'>Barcelona.</note> Its name gives rise to the conjecture, +that it was built by Hamilcar, surnamed Barca, father of the great +Hannibal. The most renowned nations of Tarraconensis were +the Celtiberi, beyond the river Iberus;<note place='foot'>Ebro.</note> the Cantabri, where +Biscay now lies; the Carpetani, whose capital was Toledo; +the Oretani, &c. +</p> + +<p> +Spain, abounding with mines of gold and silver, and peopled +with a martial race of men, had sufficient to excite both the +avarice and ambition of the Carthaginians, who were more of +a mercantile than of a warlike disposition, from the very genius +and constitution of their republic. They doubtless knew that +their Phœnician ancestors, (as Diodorus relates,)<note place='foot'>Lib. +v. p. 312.</note> taking advantage +of the happy ignorance of the Spaniards, with regard +to the immense riches which were hid in the bowels of their +lands, first took from them these precious treasures, in exchange +for commodities of little value. They likewise foresaw, +that if they could once subdue this country, it would furnish +them abundantly with well-disciplined troops for the conquest +of other nations, as actually happened. +</p> + +<pb n='124'/><anchor id='Pg124'/> + +<p> +The occasion of the Carthaginians first landing in Spain, +was to assist the inhabitants of Cadiz, who were invaded by the +Spaniards.<note place='foot'>Justin, l. xliv. c. 5. Diod. l. +v. p. 300.</note> That city was a colony from Tyre, as well as Utica +and Carthage, and even more ancient than either of them. +The Tyrians having built it, established there the worship of +Hercules, and erected, in his honour, a magnificent temple, +which became famous in after ages. The success of this first +expedition of the Carthaginians made them desirous of carrying +their arms into Spain. +</p> + +<p> +It is not exactly known in what period they entered Spain, +nor how far they extended their first conquests. It is probable +that these were slow in the beginning, as the Carthaginians +had to do with very warlike nations, who defended themselves +with great resolution and courage. Nor could they ever have +accomplished their design, as Strabo observes,<note place='foot'>Lib. +iii. p. 158.</note> had the Spaniards +(united in a body) formed but one state, and mutually +assisted one another. But as every district, every people, +were entirely detached from their neighbours, and had not the +least correspondence nor connection with them, the Carthaginians +were forced to subdue them one after another. This +circumstance occasioned, on one hand, the loss of Spain; but +on the other, protracted the war, and made the conquest of +the country much more difficult.<note place='foot'>Such a division +of Britain retarded, and at the same time facilitated, the conquest +of it to the Romans. Dum singuli pugnant universi vincuntur. +Tacit.—Trans.</note> Accordingly it has been +observed, that though Spain was the first province which the Romans +invaded on the continent, it was the last they subdued;<note place='foot'>Hispania, +prima Romanis inita Provinciarum quæ quidem continentis sint, +postrema omnium perdomita est. Liv. l. xxviii. p. 12.—Trans.</note> +and was not entirely subjected to their power, till after having +made a vigorous opposition for upwards of 200 years. +</p> + +<p> +It appears from the accounts given by Polybius and Livy, +of the wars of Hamilcar, Asdrubal, and Hannibal in Spain, +which will soon be mentioned, that the arms of the Carthaginians +had not made any considerable progress in that country +before that period, and that the greatest part of Spain was then +unconquered. But in twenty years' time they completed the +conquest of almost the whole country. +</p> + +<pb n='125'/><anchor id='Pg125'/> + +<p> +At the time that Hannibal set out for Italy, all the coast of +Africa, from the Philænorum Aræ, by the great Syrtis, to the +pillars of Hercules, was subject to the Carthaginians.<note place='foot'>Polyb. +l. iii. p. 192. l. i. p. 9.</note> Passing +through the straits, they had conquered all the western coast +of Spain, along the ocean, as far as the Pyrenean hills. The +coast, which lies on the Mediterranean, had been almost wholly +subdued by them; and it was there they had built Carthagena; +and they were masters of all the country, as far as the river +Iberus, which bounded their dominions. Such was, at that +time, the extent of their empire. In the centre of the country, +some nations had indeed held out against all their efforts, and +could not be subdued by them. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Conquests of the Carthaginians in Sicily.</hi>—The wars which +the Carthaginians carried on in Sicily are more known. I shall +here relate those which were waged from the reign of Xerxes, +who first prompted the Carthaginians to carry their arms into +Sicily, till the first Punic war. This period includes near two +hundred and twenty years; <hi rend='italic'>viz.</hi> from the year of the world +3520 to 3738. At the breaking out of these wars, Syracuse, +the most considerable as well as most powerful city of Sicily, +had invested Gelon, Hiero, and Thrasybulus, (three brothers +who succeeded one another,) with the sovereign power. After +their deaths, a democracy or popular government was established +in that city, and subsisted above sixty years. From this time, +the two Dionysius's, Timoleon, and Agathocles, bore the sway +in Syracuse. Pyrrhus was afterwards invited into Sicily, but +he kept possession of it only a few years. Such was the government +of Sicily during the wars of which I am going to +treat. They will give us great light with regard to the power +of the Carthaginians, at the time that they began to be engaged +in war with the Romans. +</p> + +<p> +Sicily is the largest and most considerable island in the Mediterranean. +It is of a triangular form, and for that reason +was called Trinacria and Triquetra. The eastern side, which +faces the Ionian or Grecian sea, extends from Cape +Pachynum<note place='foot'>Passaro.</note> to Pelorum.<note place='foot'>Il +Faro.</note> The most celebrated cities on this coast are +Syracuse, Tauromenium, and Messana. The northern coast, +which looks towards Italy, reaches from Cape Pelorum to Cape +<pb n='126'/><anchor id='Pg126'/> +Lilybæum.<note place='foot'>Cape Boéo.</note> The most noted cities on this coast are +Mylæ, Hymera, Panormus, Eryx, Motya, Lilybæum. The southern +coast, which lies opposite to Africa, extends from Cape Lilybæum +to Pachynum. The most remarkable cities on this +coast are Selinus, Agrigentum, Gela, and Camarina. This +island is separated from Italy by a strait, which is not more +than a mile and a half over, and called the Faro or strait of +Messina, from its contiguity to that city. The passage from +Lilybæum to Africa is but 1500 furlongs,<note place='foot'>Strab. +l. vi. p. 267.</note> that is, about seventy-five leagues.<note place='foot'>This is +Strabo's calculation; but there must be a mistake in the numeral characters, +and what he immediately subjoins, is a proof of this mistake. He says, that +a man, whose eye-sight was good, might, from the coast of Sicily, count the vessels +that came out of the port of Carthage. Is it possible that the eye can carry so far as +60 or 75 leagues? This passage of Strabo, therefore, must be thus corrected. The +passage from Lilybæum to Africa, is only 25 leagues.—Trans.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>A.M. 3501. A. Carth. 343. Rome, 245. Ant. J.C. 503.</note> +The period in which the Carthaginians first carried their +arms into Sicily is not exactly known.<note place='foot'>Polyb. l iii. p. +245, et seq. edit. Gronov.</note> All we are +certain of is, that they were already possessed of +some part of it, at the time that they entered into a +treaty with the Romans; the same year that the +kings were expelled, and consuls appointed in their +room, <hi rend='italic'>viz.</hi> twenty-eight years before Xerxes invaded +Greece. This treaty, which is the first we find mentioned +to have been made between these two nations, speaks of +Africa and Sardinia as possessed by the Carthaginians; +whereas the conventions with regard to Sicily, relate only to +those parts of the island which were subject to them. By +this treaty it is expressly stipulated, that neither the Romans +nor their allies shall sail beyond the Fair Promontory,<note place='foot'>The +reason of this restraint, according to Polybius, was, the unwillingness of the +Carthaginians to let the Romans have any knowledge of the countries which lay +more to the south, in order that this enterprising people might not hear of +their futility. Polyb. l. iii. p. 247. edit. Gronov.—Trans.</note> which +was very near Carthage; and that such merchants, as shall +resort to this city for traffic, shall pay only certain duties which +are settled in it.<note place='foot'>Idem, p. 246.</note> +</p> + +<p> +It appears by the same treaty, that the Carthaginians were +particularly careful to exclude the Romans from all the countries +subject to them; as well as from the knowledge of what +was transacting in them; as though the Carthaginians, even +<pb n='127'/><anchor id='Pg127'/> +at that time, had taken umbrage at the rising power of the +Romans; and already harboured in their breasts the secret +seeds of that jealousy and distrust, that were one day to burst +out in long and cruel wars, and a mutual hatred and animosity, +which nothing could extinguish but the ruin of one of the contending +powers. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>A.M. 3520. Ant. J.C. 484.</note> +Some years after the conclusion of this first treaty, the Carthaginians +made an alliance with Xerxes king of Persia.<note place='foot'>Diod. +l. xi. p. 1, 16, & 22.</note> +This prince, who aimed at nothing less than the +total extirpation of the Greeks, whom he considered +as his irreconcilable enemies, thought it would be impossible +for him to succeed in his enterprise without the assistance of +Carthage, whose power was formidable even at that time. The +Carthaginians, who always kept in view the design they entertained +of seizing upon the remainder of Sicily, greedily snatched +the favourable opportunity which now presented itself for their +completing the reduction of it. A treaty was therefore concluded; +wherein it was agreed that the Carthaginians were +to invade, with all their forces, those Greeks who were settled +in Sicily and Italy, while Xerxes should march in person +against Greece itself. +</p> + +<p> +The preparations for this war lasted three years. The land +army amounted to no less than three hundred thousand men. +The fleet consisted of two thousand ships of war, and upwards +of three thousand small vessels of burden. Hamilcar, the +most experienced captain of his age, sailed from Carthage with +this formidable army. He landed at Palermo;<note place='foot'>This city +is called in Latin Panormus.—Trans.</note> and, after +refreshing his troops, he marched against Hymera, a city not +far distant from Palermo, and laid siege to it. Theron, who +commanded in it, seeing himself very much straitened, sent to +Gelon, who had possessed himself of Syracuse. He flew immediately +to his relief, with fifty thousand foot, and five thousand +horse. His arrival infused new courage into the besieged, +who, from that time, made a very vigorous defence. +</p> + +<p> +Gelon was an able warrior, and excelled in stratagems. A +courier was brought to him, who had been despatched from +Selinus, a city of Sicily, with a letter for Hamilcar, to inform +<pb n='128'/><anchor id='Pg128'/> +him of the day when he might expect the cavalry which he +had demanded of them. Gelon drew out an equal number of +his own troops, and sent them from his camp about the time +agreed on. These being admitted into the enemy's camp, as +coming from Selinus, rushed upon Hamilcar, killed him, and +set fire to his ships. In this critical conjuncture, Gelon attacked, +with all his forces, the Carthaginians, who at first +made a gallant resistance. But when the news of their general's +death was brought them, and they saw their fleet in a +blaze, their courage failed them, and they fled. And now a +dreadful slaughter ensued; upwards of a hundred and fifty +thousand being slain. The rest of the army, having retired to +a place where they were in want of every thing, could not +make a long defence, and were forced to surrender at discretion. +This battle was fought the very day of the famous action +of Thermopylæ, in which three hundred Spartans,<note place='foot'>Besides +the 300 Spartans, the Thespians, a people of Bœotia, to the number of +700, fought and died with Leonidas in this memorable battle. Herod. l. +vii. c. 202-222.—Trans.</note> with the +sacrifice of their lives, disputed Xerxes's entrance into Greece. +</p> + +<p> +When the sad news was brought to Carthage of the entire +defeat of the army, consternation, grief, and despair, threw the +whole city into such a confusion and alarm as are not to be +expressed. It was imagined that the enemy was already at +the gates. The Carthaginians, in great reverses of fortune, +always lost their courage, and sunk into the opposite extreme. +Immediately they sent a deputation to Gelon, by which they +desired peace upon any terms. He heard their envoys with +great humanity. The complete victory he had gained, so far +from making him haughty and untractable, had only increased +his modesty and clemency even towards the enemy. He +therefore granted them a peace, without any other condition, +than their paying two thousand<note place='foot'>An Attic silver +talent, according to Dr. Bernard, is 206<hi rend='italic'>l.</hi> +5<hi rend='italic'>s.</hi>, consequently 2000 talents is +412,500<hi rend='italic'>l.</hi>—Trans.</note> talents towards the expense +of the war. He likewise required them to build two temples, +where the treaty of this peace should be deposited, and exposed +at all times to public view. The Carthaginians did not +think this a dear purchase of a peace, that was so absolutely +necessary to their affairs, and which they hardly durst hope +<pb n='129'/><anchor id='Pg129'/> +for. Gisgo, the son of Hamilcar, pursuant to the unjust custom +of the Carthaginians, of ascribing to the general the ill +success of a war, and making him bear the blame of it, was +punished for his father's misfortune, and sent into banishment. +He passed the remainder of his days at Selinus, a city of +Sicily. +</p> + +<p> +Gelon, on his return to Syracuse, convened the people, +and invited all the citizens to appear under arms. He himself +entered the assembly, unarmed and without his guards, and +there gave an account of the whole conduct of his life. His +speech met with no other interruption, than the public testimonies +which were given him of gratitude and admiration. So far +from being treated as a tyrant, and the oppressor of his country's +liberty, he was considered as its benefactor and deliverer; +all, with an unanimous voice, proclaimed him king; and the +crown was bestowed, after his death, on his two brothers. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>A.M. 3592. A. Carth. 434. A. Rom. 336. Ant. J.C. 412.</note> +After the memorable defeat of the Athenians before +Syracuse, where Nicias perished with his whole +fleet;<note place='foot'>Diod. l. xiii. p. 169-171. 179-186.</note> +the Segestans, who had declared in favour +of the Athenians against the Syracusans, fearing +the resentment of their enemies, and being attacked +by the inhabitants of Selinus, implored the aid of the +Carthaginians, and put themselves and city under their protection. +At Carthage the people debated some time, what +course it would be proper for them to take, the affair meeting +with great difficulties. On one hand, the Carthaginians were +very desirous to possess themselves of a city which lay so convenient +for them; on the other, they dreaded the power and +forces of Syracuse, which had so lately cut to pieces a numerous +army of the Athenians; and become, by so shining a +victory, more formidable than ever. At last, the lust of empire +prevailed, and the Segestans were promised succours. +</p> + +<p> +The conduct of this war was committed to Hannibal, who +at that time was invested with the highest dignity of the state, +being one of the Suffetes. He was grandson to Hamilcar, +who had been defeated by Gelon, and killed before Himera; +and son to Gisgo, who had been condemned to exile. He +left Carthage, animated with an ardent desire of revenging his +<pb n='130'/><anchor id='Pg130'/> +family and country, and of wiping away the disgrace of the +last defeat. He had a very great army as well as fleet under +his command. He landed at a place called the <hi rend='italic'>Well of Lilybæum</hi>, +which gave its name to a city afterwards built on the +same spot. His first enterprise was the siege of Selinus. +The attack and defence were equally vigorous, the very women +showing a resolution and bravery above their sex. The +city, after making a long resistance, was taken by storm, and +the plunder of it abandoned to the soldiers. The victor exercised +the most horrid cruelties, without showing the least +regard to either age or sex. He permitted such inhabitants +as had fled, to continue in the city after it had been dismantled; +and to till the lands, on condition of their paying a +tribute to the Carthaginians. This city had been built two +hundred and forty-two years. +</p> + +<p> +Himera, which he next besieged and took likewise by storm, +after being more cruelly treated than Selinus, was entirely +razed, two hundred and forty years after its foundation. He +forced three thousand prisoners to undergo every kind of +ignominious punishments; and at last murdered them all on +the very spot where his grandfather had been killed by Gelon's +cavalry, to appease and satisfy his manes by the blood of +these unhappy victims. +</p> + +<p> +These expeditions being ended, Hannibal returned to Carthage, +on which occasion the whole city came out to meet +him, and received him amidst the most joyful acclamations. +</p> + +<p> +These successes reinflamed the desire, and revived the design, +which the Carthaginians had ever entertained, of making +themselves masters of the whole of Sicily.<note place='foot'>Diod. +l. xiii. p. 201-203. 206-211. 226-231.</note> Three years after, +they appointed Hannibal their general a second time; and on +his pleading his great age, and refusing the command of this +war, they gave him for lieutenant, Imilcon, son of Hanno, of +the same family. The preparations for this war were proportioned +to the great design which the Carthaginians had formed. +The fleet and army were soon ready, and set out for Sicily. +The number of their forces, according to Timæus, amounted +to above six-score thousand; and, according to Ephorus, to +three hundred thousand men. The enemy, on their side, +<pb n='131'/><anchor id='Pg131'/> +were prepared to give the Carthaginians a warm reception. +The Syracusans had sent to all their allies, in order to levy +forces among them; and to all the cities of Sicily, to exhort +them to exert themselves vigorously in defence of their liberties. +</p> + +<p> +Agrigentum expected to feel the first fury of the enemy. +This city was prodigiously rich,<note place='foot'>The very +sepulchral monuments showed the magnificence and luxury of this +city, being adorned with statues of birds and horses. But the wealth and boundless +generosity of Gellias, one of its inhabitants, is almost incredible. He entertained the +people with spectacles and feasts; and, during a famine, prevented the citizens +from dying with hunger: he gave portions to poor maidens, and rescued the unfortunate +from want and despair: he had built houses in the city and the country purposely +for the accommodation of strangers, whom he usually dismissed with handsome +presents. Five hundred shipwrecked citizens of Gela, applying to him, were +bountifully relieved; and every man supplied with a cloak and a coat out of his +wardrobe. Diod. l. xiii. Valer. Max. l. iv. c. ult. Empedocles the philosopher, born +in Agrigentum, has a memorable saying concerning his fellow citizens: That the +Agrigentines squandered their money so excessively every day, as if they expected +it could never be exhausted; and built with such solidity and magnificence, as if +they thought they should live for ever.—Trans.</note> and strongly fortified. It +was situated, as was also Selinus, on that coast of Sicily which +faces Africa. Accordingly, Hannibal opened the campaign +with the siege of this city. Imagining that it was impregnable +except on one side, he directed his whole force to +that quarter. He threw up banks and terraces as high as the +walls: and made use, on this occasion, of the rubbish and +fragments of the tombs standing round the city, which he had +demolished for that purpose. Soon after, the plague infected +the army, and swept away a great number of the soldiers, and +the general himself. The Carthaginians interpreted this disaster +as a punishment inflicted by the gods, who revenged in +this manner the injuries done to the dead, whose ghosts many +fancied they had seen stalking before them in the night. No +more tombs were therefore demolished, prayers were ordered +to be made according to the practice of Carthage; a child +was sacrificed to Saturn, in compliance with a most inhuman +superstitious custom; and many victims were thrown into the +sea in honour of Neptune. +</p> + +<p> +The besieged, who at first had gained several advantages, +were at last so pressed by famine, that all hopes of relief seeming +desperate, they resolved to abandon the city. The following +night was fixed on for this purpose. The reader will +naturally image to himself the grief with which these miserable +<pb n='132'/><anchor id='Pg132'/> +people must be seized, on their being forced to leave their +houses, their rich possessions, and their country; but life was +still dearer to them than all these. Never was a more melancholy +spectacle seen. To omit the rest, a crowd of women, +bathed in tears, were seen dragging after them their helpless +infants, in order to secure them from the brutal fury of the +victor. But the most grievous circumstance was, the necessity +they were under of leaving behind them the aged and sick, +who were unable either to fly or to make the least resistance. +The unhappy exiles arrived at Gela, which was the nearest +city, and there received all the comforts they could expect in +the deplorable condition to which they were reduced. +</p> + +<p> +In the mean time, Imilcon entered the city, and murdered +all who were found in it. The plunder was immensely rich, +and such as might be expected from one of the most opulent +cities of Sicily, which contained two hundred thousand inhabitants, +and had never been besieged, nor consequently plundered, +before. A numberless multitude of pictures, vases, +and statues of all kinds, were found here; the citizens having +an exquisite taste for the polite arts. Among other curiosities +was the famous bull<note place='foot'>This bull, with other spoils +here taken, was afterwards restored to the Agrigentines by Scipio, +when he took Carthage in the third Punic war. Cic. <hi rend='italic'>Orat.</hi> +iv. <hi rend='italic'>in Verrem.</hi> c. 33.—Trans.</note> +of Phalaris, which was sent to Carthage. +</p> + +<p> +The siege of Agrigentum had lasted eight months. Imilcon +made his forces take up their winter-quarters in it, to give +them the necessary refreshment; and left this city (after laying +it entirely in ruins) in the beginning of the spring. He afterwards +besieged Gela, and took it, notwithstanding the succours +which were brought by Dionysius the Tyrant, who had seized +upon the government of Syracuse. Imilcon ended the war by +a treaty with Dionysius. The conditions of it were, that the +Carthaginians, besides their ancient acquisitions in Sicily, +should still possess the country of the Sicanians,<note place='foot'>The Sicanians +and Sicilians were anciently two distinct people.—Trans.</note> Selinus, +Agrigentum, and Himera; as likewise that of Gela and Camarina, +with leave for the inhabitants to reside in their respective +dismantled cities, on condition of their paying a tribute to +Carthage; that the Leontines, the Messenians, and all the +Sicilians, should retain their own laws, and preserve their +<pb n='133'/><anchor id='Pg133'/> +liberty and independence: lastly, that the Syracusans should +still continue subject to Dionysius. After this treaty was concluded, +Imilcon returned to Carthage, where the plague still +made dreadful havoc. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>A.M. 3600. A. Carth. 412. A. Rom. 344. Ant. J.C. 404.</note> +Dionysius had concluded the late peace with the Carthaginians +with no other view than to get time to establish +his new authority, and make the necessary preparations +for the war which he meditated against them.<note place='foot'>Diod. +l. xiv. p. 268-278.</note> As he was very sensible how formidable the power of +this state was, he used his utmost endeavours to enable +himself to invade them with success; and his design was wonderfully +well seconded by the zeal of his subjects. The fame of +this prince, the strong desire he had to distinguish himself, the +charms of gain, and the prospect of the rewards which he promised +those who should show the greatest industry; invited, +from all quarters, into Sicily, the most able artists and workmen +at that time in the world. All Syracuse now became in a manner +an immense workshop, in every part of which men were +seen making swords, helmets, shields, and military engines; +and preparing all things necessary for building ships and +fitting out fleets. The invention of vessels with five benches +of oars (or <foreign rend='italic'>Quinqueremes</foreign>) was at that time very recent; +for, till then, those with three alone<note place='foot'>Triremes.</note> had been used. +Dionysius animated the workmen by his presence, and by the applauses +he gave, and the bounty which he bestowed seasonably; +but chiefly by his popular and engaging behaviour, which +excited, more strongly than any other conduct, the industry +and ardour of the workmen;<note place='foot'>Honos alit +artes.</note> and he frequently allowed +those of them who most excelled in their respective arts the +honour to dine with him. +</p> + +<p> +When all things were ready, and a great number of forces +had been levied in different countries, he called the Syracusans +together, laid his design before them, and represented to +them that the Carthaginians were the professed enemies to the +Greeks; that they had no less in view than the invasion of all +Sicily; the subjecting all the Grecian cities; and that, in case +their progress was not checked, the Syracusans themselves +would soon be attacked: that the reason why the Carthaginians +<pb n='134'/><anchor id='Pg134'/> +did not attempt any enterprise, and continued unactive, +was owing entirely to the dreadful havoc made by the plague +among them; which (he observed) was a favourable opportunity, +of which the Syracusans ought to take advantage. Though +the tyranny and the tyrant were equally odious to Syracuse, +yet the hatred the people bore to the Carthaginians prevailed +over all other considerations; and every one, guided more by +the views of an interested policy than by the dictates of justice, +received the speech with applause. Upon this, without +the least complaint made, or any declaration of war, Dionysius +gave up to the fury of the populace the persons and possessions +of the Carthaginians. Great numbers of them resided at +that time in Syracuse, and traded there on the faith of treaties. +The common people ran to their houses, plundered their effects, +and pretended they were sufficiently authorized to exercise +every ignominy, and inflict every kind of punishment on them, +for the cruelties they had exercised against the natives of the +country. And this horrid example of perfidy and inhumanity +was followed throughout the whole island of Sicily. This was +the bloody signal of the war which was declared against them. +Dionysius having thus begun to do himself justice, (in his way,) +sent deputies to Carthage, to require them to restore all the +Sicilian cities to their liberties; and that otherwise, all the Carthaginians +found in them should be treated as enemies. This +news spread a general alarm in Carthage, especially when they +reflected on the sad condition to which they were reduced. +</p> + +<p> +Dionysius opened the campaign with the siege of Motya, +which was the magazine of the Carthaginians in Sicily; and he +pushed on the siege with so much vigour, that it was impossible +for Imilcon, the Carthaginian admiral, to relieve it. He +brought forward his engines, battered the place with his battering-rams, +advanced to the wall towers, six stories high (rolled +upon wheels,) and of an equal height with their houses; and +from these he greatly annoyed the besieged, with his Catapultæ, +an engine<note place='foot'>The curious reader will find a +very particular account of it in book xxii. art. ii. sect. +ii.—Trans.</note> then recently invented, which hurled, with +great violence, numerous volleys of arrows and stones against +the enemy. At last, the city, after a long and vigorous defence, +<pb n='135'/><anchor id='Pg135'/> +was taken by storm, and all the inhabitants of it put to the +sword, those excepted who took sanctuary in the temples. The +plunder of it was abandoned to the soldiers, and Dionysius, +leaving a strong garrison and a trusty governor in it, returned +to Syracuse. +</p> + +<p> +The following year Imilcon being appointed one of the +Suffetes, returned to Sicily with a far greater army than before.<note place='foot'>Diod. +l. xiv. p. 279-295. Justin, l. xix. c. 2, 3.</note> +He landed at Palermo,<note place='foot'>Panormus.—Trans.</note> +recovered Motya by force, and +took several other cities. Animated by these successes, he advanced +towards Syracuse, with design to besiege it; marching +his infantry by land, whilst his fleet, under the command of +Mago, sailed along the coast. +</p> + +<p> +The arrival of Imilcon threw the Syracusans into great consternation. +Above two hundred ships laden with the spoils of +the enemy, and advancing in good order, entered in a kind of +triumph the great harbour, being followed by five hundred +barks. At the same time, the land army, consisting, according +to some authors, of three hundred thousand foot,<note place='foot'>Some authors +say but thirty thousand foot, which is the more probable account, +as the fleet which blocked up the town by sea was so +formidable.—Trans.</note> and three +thousand horse, was seen marching forward on the other side +of the city. Imilcon pitched his tent in the very temple of +Jupiter; and the rest of the army encamped at twelve furlongs, +or about a mile and a half from the city. Marching up +to it, Imilcon offered battle to the inhabitants, who did not +care to accept the challenge. Imilcon, satisfied at his having +extorted from the Syracusans this confession of their own +weakness and his superiority, returned to his camp; not doubting +but he should soon be master of the city, considering it +already as a certain prey which could not possibly escape him. +For thirty days together, he laid waste the neighbourhood about +Syracuse, and ruined the whole country. He possessed himself +of the suburb of Acradina, and plundered the temples of Ceres +and Proserpine. To fortify his camp, he beat down the tombs +which stood round the city; and, among others, that of Gelon +and his wife Demarata, which was prodigiously magnificent. +</p> + +<p> +But these successes were not lasting. All the splendour of +this anticipated triumph vanished in a moment, and taught +<pb n='136'/><anchor id='Pg136'/> +mankind, says the historian,<note place='foot'>Diodorus.</note> +that the proudest mortal, blasted +sooner or later by a superior power, shall be forced to confess +his own weakness. Whilst Imilcon, now master of almost all +the cities of Sicily, expected to crown his conquests by the +reduction of Syracuse, a contagious distemper seized his army, +and made dreadful havoc in it. It was now the midst of summer, +and the heat that year was excessive. The infection began +among the Africans, multitudes of whom died, without any possibility +of their being relieved. At first, care was taken to inter +the dead; but the number increasing daily, and the infection +spreading very fast, the dead lay unburied, and the sick could +have no assistance. This plague was attended with very uncommon +symptoms, such as violent dysenteries, raging fevers, +burning entrails, acute pains in every part of the body. The +infected were even seized with madness and fury, so that they +would fall upon any persons that came in their way, and tear +them to pieces. +</p> + +<p> +Dionysius did not suffer to escape so favourable an opportunity +for attacking the enemy. Being more than half conquered +by the plague, they made but a feeble resistance. The +Carthaginian ships were almost all either taken or burnt. The +inhabitants in general of Syracuse, old men, women, and children, +came pouring out of the city to behold an event which +to them appeared miraculous. With hands lifted up to heaven, +they thanked the tutelar gods of their city, for having avenged +the sanctity of the temples and tombs, which had been so +brutally violated by these barbarians. Night coming on, both +parties retired; when Imilcon, taking the opportunity of this +short suspension of hostilities, sent to Dionysius, requesting +leave to carry back with him the small remains of his shattered +army, with an offer of three hundred talents,<note place='foot'>About +61,800<hi rend='italic'>l.</hi> English money.—Trans.</note> which was +all the specie he had then left. But this permission could +only be obtained for the Carthaginians, with whom Imilcon +stole away in the night, and left the rest to the mercy of the +conqueror. +</p> + +<p> +Such was the condition in which this Carthaginian general, +who a few days before had been so proud and haughty, retired +<pb n='137'/><anchor id='Pg137'/> +from Syracuse. Bitterly bewailing his own fate, and still more +that of his country, he, with the most insolent fury, accused +the gods as the sole authors of his misfortunes. <q>The enemy,</q> +continued he, <q>may indeed rejoice at our misery, but have no +reason to glory in it. We return victorious over the Syracusans, +and are defeated by the plague alone.</q> His greatest +subject of grief, and that which most keenly distressed him, +was his having survived so many gallant soldiers, who had died +in arms. <q>But,</q> added he, <q>the sequel shall make it appear, +whether it is through fear of death, or from the desire of leading +back to their native country the miserable remains of my +fellow-citizens, that I have survived the loss of so many brave +comrades.</q> And in fact, on his arrival at Carthage, which he +found overwhelmed with grief and despair, he entered his house, +shut his doors against the citizens, and even his own children; +and then gave himself the fatal stroke, in compliance with a +practice to which the heathens falsely gave the name of courage, +though it was, in reality, no other than a cowardly despair. +</p> + +<p> +But the calamities of this unhappy city did not stop here; +for the Africans, who had ever borne an implacable hatred to +the Carthaginians, but were now exasperated to fury, because +their countrymen had been left behind, and exposed to the +murdering sword of the Syracusans, assemble in the most +frantic manner, sound the alarm, take up arms, and, after +seizing upon Tunis, march directly to Carthage, to the number +of more than two hundred thousand men. The citizens +now gave themselves up for lost. This new incident was considered +by them as the sad effect of the wrath of the gods, +which pursued the guilty wretches even to Carthage. As its inhabitants, +especially in all public calamities, carried their superstition +to the greatest excess, their first care was to appease the +offended gods. Ceres and Proserpine were deities who, till that +time, had never been heard of in Africa. But now, to atone +for the outrage which had been done them in the plundering +of their temples, magnificent statues were erected to their honour; +priests were selected from among the most distinguished +families of the city; sacrifices and victims, according to the +Greek ritual, (if I may use that expression,) were offered up to +them; in a word, nothing was omitted which could be thought +<pb n='138'/><anchor id='Pg138'/> +conducive in any manner to appease and propitiate the angry +goddesses. After this, the defence of the city was the next +object of their care. Happily for the Carthaginians, this numerous +army had no leader, but was like a body uninformed +with a soul; no provisions nor military engines; no discipline +nor subordination, was seen among them: every man setting +himself up for a general, or claiming an independence on the +rest. Divisions therefore arising in this rabble of an army, and +the famine increasing daily, the individuals of it withdrew to +their respective homes, and delivered Carthage from a dreadful +alarm. +</p> + +<p> +The Carthaginians were not discouraged by their late disaster, +but continued their enterprises on Sicily. Mago, their +general, and one of the Suffetes, lost a great battle, in which +he was slain. The Carthaginian chiefs demanded a peace, +which was granted, on condition of their evacuating all Sicily, +and defraying the expenses of the war. They pretended to +accept the terms; but representing that it was not in their +power to deliver up the cities, without first obtaining an order +from their republic, they obtained so long a truce, as gave them +time sufficient for sending to Carthage. They took advantage +of this interval, to raise and discipline new troops, over which +Mago, son of him who had been lately killed, was appointed +general. He was very young, but of great abilities and reputation. +As soon as he arrived in Sicily, at the expiration of +the truce, he gave Dionysius battle; in which Leptines,<note place='foot'>This +Leptines was brother to Dionysius.—Trans.</note> one +of the generals of the latter, was killed, and upwards of fourteen +thousand Syracusans left dead in the field. By this victory +the Carthaginians obtained an honourable peace, which +left them in the possession of all they had in Sicily, with even +the addition of some strong-holds; besides a thousand talents,<note place='foot'>About +206,000<hi rend='italic'>l.</hi>—Trans.</note> +which were paid to them towards defraying the expenses of +the war. +</p> + +<p> +About this time a law was enacted at Carthage, by which +its inhabitants were forbid to learn to write or speak the Greek +language;<note place='foot'>Justin, l. xx. c. 5.</note> in +order to deprive them of the means of corresponding +<pb n='139'/><anchor id='Pg139'/> +with the enemy, either by word of mouth, or in writing. +This was occasioned by the treachery of a Carthaginian, +who had written in Greek to Dionysius, to give him advice of +the departure of the army from Carthage. +</p> + +<p> +Carthage had, soon after, another calamity to struggle with.<note place='foot'>Diod. +l. xv. p. 344.</note> The plague spread in the city, and made terrible havoc. Panic +terrors, and violent fits of frenzy, seized on a sudden the unhappy +sufferers; who sallying, sword in hand, out of their +houses, as if the enemy had taken the city, killed or wounded +all who came in their way. The Africans and Sardinians +would very willingly have taken this opportunity to shake off a +yoke which was so hateful to them; but both were subjected, +and reduced to their allegiance. Dionysius formed at this +time an enterprise, in Sicily, with the same views, which was +equally unsuccessful. He died<note place='foot'>This is the +Dionysius who invited Plato to his court; and who, being afterwards +offended with his freedom, sold him for a slave. Some philosophers came +from Greece to Syracuse in order to redeem their brother, which having done, they +sent him home with this useful lesson: That philosophers ought very rarely, or very +obligingly, to converse with tyrants. This prince had learning, and affected to pass +for a poet: but could not gain that name at the Olympic games, whither he had sent +his verses, to be repeated by his brother Thearides. It had been happy for Dionysus, +had the Athenians entertained no better an opinion of his poetry; for on their +pronouncing him victor, when his poems were repeated in their city, he was raised +to such a transport of joy and intemperance, that both together killed him; and +thus, perhaps, was verified the prediction of the oracle, +<hi rend='italic'>viz.</hi> that he should die when +he had overcome his betters.—Trans.</note> some time after, and was +succeeded by his son of the same name. +</p> + +<p> +We have already taken notice of the first treaty which the +Carthaginians concluded with the Romans. There was another, +which, according to Orosius, was concluded in the 402d year +of the foundation of Rome, and consequently about the time +we are now speaking of. This second treaty was very near the +same with the first, except that the inhabitants of Tyre and +Utica were expressly comprehended in it, and joined with the +Carthaginians. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>A.M. 3656. A. Carth. 498. A. Rom. 400. Ant. J.C. 348.</note> +After the death of the elder Dionysius, Syracuse was involved +in great troubles.<note place='foot'>Diod. l. xvi. p. 459-472. Polyb. l. iii. +p. 178. Plut. <hi rend='italic'>in Timol.</hi></note> Dionysius the younger, who +had been expelled, restored himself by force of arms, +and exercised great cruelties there. One part of the +citizens implored the aid of Icetes, tyrant of the Leontines, +and by descent a Syracusan. This seemed a +<pb n='140'/><anchor id='Pg140'/> +very favourable opportunity for the Carthaginians to seize +upon all Sicily, and accordingly they sent a mighty fleet thither. +In this extremity, such of the Syracusans as loved their country +best, had recourse to the Corinthians, who had often assisted +them in their dangers; and were, besides, of all the +Grecian nations, the most professed enemies of tyranny, and the +most avowed and most generous assertors of liberty. Accordingly, +the Corinthians sent over Timoleon, a man of great +merit, who had signalized his zeal for the public welfare, by +freeing his country from tyranny, at the expense of his own +family. He set sail with only ten ships, and arriving at Rhegium, +he eluded, by a happy stratagem, the vigilance of the +Carthaginians; who having been informed, by Icetes, of his +voyage and design, wanted to intercept him in his passage to +Sicily. +</p> + +<p> +Timoleon had scarce above a thousand soldiers under his +command; and yet, with this handful of men, he marched +boldly to the relief of Syracuse. His small army increased in +proportion as he advanced. The Syracusans were now in a +desperate condition, and quite hopeless. They saw the Carthaginians +masters of the port; Icetes of the city; and Dionysius +of the citadel. Happily, on Timoleon's arrival, Dionysius +having no refuge left, put the citadel into his hands, with all +the forces, arms, and ammunition in it, and escaped, by his +assistance, to Corinth.<note place='foot'>Here he preserved +some resemblance of his former tyranny, by turning schoolmaster; +and exercising a discipline over boys, when he could no longer tyrannize +over men. He had learning, and was once a scholar to Plato, whom he caused to +come again into Sicily, notwithstanding the unworthy treatment he had met with +from Dionysius's father. Philip, king of Macedon, meeting him in the streets of +Corinth, and asking him how he came to lose so considerable a principality as had +been left him by his father; he answered, that his father had indeed left him the +inheritance, but not the fortune which had preserved both himself and that.—However, +fortune did him no great injury in replacing him on the dunghill, from which +she had raised his father.—Trans.</note> Timoleon had, by his emissaries, +artfully represented to the foreign soldiers, who (by that error +in the constitution of Carthage, which we have before taken +notice of) formed the principal strength of Mago's army, and +the greatest part of whom were Greeks; that it was astonishing +to see Greeks using their endeavours to make barbarians +masters of Sicily, from whence they, in a very little time, would +pass over into Greece. For could they imagine, that the Carthaginians +<pb n='141'/><anchor id='Pg141'/> +were come so far, with no other view than to establish +Icetes tyrant of Syracuse? Such discourses being spread +among Mago's soldiers, gave this general very great uneasiness; +and, as he wanted only a pretence to retire, he was glad to +have it believed, that his forces were going to betray and desert +him; and upon this, he sailed with his fleet out of the +harbour, and steered for Carthage. Icetes, after his departure, +could not hold out long against the Corinthians; so that they +now got entire possession of the whole city. +</p> + +<p> +Mago, on his arrival at Carthage, was impeached, but he +prevented the execution of the sentence passed upon him, by +a voluntary death. His body was hung upon a gallows, and +exposed as a public spectacle to the people. New forces +were levied at Carthage, and a greater and more powerful fleet +than the former was sent to Sicily.<note place='foot'>Plut. p. +248-250.</note> It consisted of two hundred +ships of war, besides a thousand transports; and the army +amounted to upwards of seventy thousand men. They landed +at Lilybæum, under the command of Hamilcar and Hannibal, +and resolved to attack the Corinthians first. Timoleon did +not wait for, but marched out to meet them. But such was +the consternation of Syracuse, that, of all the forces which +were in that city, only three thousand Syracusans and four +thousand mercenaries followed him; and even of these latter a +thousand deserted upon the march, through fear of the danger +they were going to encounter. Timoleon, however, was not +discouraged; but exhorting the remainder of his forces to +exert themselves courageously for the safety and liberties of +their allies, he led them against the enemy, whose rendezvous +he had been informed was on the banks of the little river Crimisus. +It appeared, at the first reflection, madness to attack +an army so numerous as that of the enemy, with only four or +five thousand foot, and a thousand horse; but Timoleon, who +knew that bravery, conducted by prudence, is superior to number, +relied on the courage of his soldiers, who seemed resolved +to die rather than yield, and with ardour demanded to be led +against the enemy. The event justified his views and hopes. +A battle was fought; the Carthaginians were routed, and upwards +of ten thousand of them slain, full three thousand of +<pb n='142'/><anchor id='Pg142'/> +whom were Carthaginian citizens, which filled their city with +mourning and the greatest consternation. Their camp was +taken, and with it immense riches, and a great number of +prisoners. +</p> + +<p> +Timoleon, at the same time that he despatched the news of +this victory to Corinth, sent thither the finest arms found among +the plunder.<note place='foot'>Plut. p. 248-250.</note> +For he was desirous of having his city applauded +and admired by all men, when they should see that Corinth +alone, among all the Grecian cities, adorned its finest temples, +not with the spoils of Greece, and offerings dyed in the blood +of its citizens, the sight of which could tend only to preserve +the sad remembrance of their losses, but with those of barbarians, +which, by fine inscriptions, displayed at once the +courage and religious gratitude of those who had won them. +For these inscriptions imported, <q>That the Corinthians, and +Timoleon their general, after having freed the Greeks, settled +in Sicily, from the Carthaginian yoke, had hung up these arms +in their temples, as an eternal acknowledgment of the favour +and goodness of the gods.</q> +</p> + +<p> +After this, Timoleon, leaving the mercenary troops in the +Carthaginian territories to waste and destroy them, returned to +Syracuse. On his arrival there, he banished the thousand +soldiers who had deserted him; and took no other revenge than +the commanding them to leave Syracuse before sun-set. +</p> + +<p> +This victory gained by the Corinthians was followed by the +capture of a great many cities, which obliged the Carthaginians +to sue for peace. +</p> + +<p> +In proportion as the appearance of success made the Carthaginians +vigorously exert themselves to raise powerful armies +both by land and sea, and prosperity led them to make an insolent +and cruel use of victory; so their courage would sink in +unforeseen adversities, their hopes of new resources vanish, +and their grovelling souls condescend to ask quarter of the +most inconsiderable enemy, and without sense of shame accept +the hardest and most mortifying conditions. Those now imposed +were, that they should possess only the lands lying beyond +the river Halycus;<note place='foot'>This river is not far +from Agrigentum. It is called Lycus, by Diodorus and Plutarch; but +this is thought a mistake.—Trans.</note> that they should give all the natives +<pb n='143'/><anchor id='Pg143'/> +free liberty to retire to Syracuse with their families and effects; +and that they should neither continue in the alliance, nor hold +any correspondence with the tyrants of that city. +</p> + +<p> +About this time, in all probability, there happened at Carthage +a memorable incident, related by Justin.<note place='foot'>Justin, +l. xvi. c. 4.</note> Hanno, one of its +most powerful citizens, formed a design of seizing upon the +republic, by destroying the whole senate. He chose, for the +execution of this bloody plan, the day on which his daughter +was to be married, on which occasion he designed to invite the +senators to an entertainment, and there poison them all. The +conspiracy was discovered; but Hanno had such influence, +that the government did not dare to punish so execrable a +crime; the magistrates contented themselves with only preventing +it, by an order which forbade, in general, too great a +magnificence at weddings, and limited the expense on those +occasions. Hanno, seeing his stratagem defeated, resolved to +employ open force, and for that purpose armed all the slaves. +However, he was again discovered; and, to escape punishment, +retired, with twenty thousand armed slaves, to a castle that was +very strongly fortified, and there endeavoured, but without +success, to engage in his rebellion the Africans and the king of +Mauritania. He afterwards was taken prisoner, and carried to +Carthage; where, after being whipped, his eyes were put out, +his arms and thighs broken; he was put to death in presence +of the people, and his body, all torn with stripes, was hung on +a gibbet. His children and all his relations, though they had +not joined in his guilt, shared in his punishment. They were +all sentenced to die, in order that not a single person of his +family might be left, either to imitate his crime, or revenge his +death. Such was the temper of the Carthaginians; ever severe +and violent in their punishments, they carried them to the +extremes of rigour, and made them extend even to the innocent, +without showing the least regard to equity, moderation, +or gratitude. +</p> + +<p> +I come now to the wars sustained by the Carthaginians, in +Africa itself as well as in Sicily, against Agathocles, which +exercised their arms during several years.<note place='foot'>Diod. +l. xix. p. 651-656-710-712-737-743-760. Justin, l. ii. c. 1-6.</note> +</p> + +<pb n='144'/><anchor id='Pg144'/> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>A.M. 3685. A. Carth. 527. A. Rom. 429. Ant. J.C. 319.</note> +This Agathocles was a Sicilian, of obscure birth and low fortune.<note place='foot'>He +was, according to most historians, the son of a potter; but all allow him to +have worked at the trade. From the obscurity of his birth and condition, Polybius +raises an argument to prove his capacity and talents, in opposition to the slanders of +Timæus. But his greatest eulogium was the praise of Scipio. That illustrious Roman +being asked who, in his opinion, were the most prudent in the conduct of their +affairs, and most judiciously bold in the execution of their designs; answered, +Agathocles and Dionysius. Polyb. l. xv. p. 1003. edit. Gronov. However, let his +capacity have been ever so great, it was exceeded by his cruelties.—Trans.</note> +Supported at first by the forces of the Carthaginians, +he had invaded the sovereignty of Syracuse, +and made himself tyrant over it. In the infancy of his +power, the Carthaginians kept him within bounds; and +Hamilcar, their chief, forced him to agree to a treaty, +which restored tranquillity to Sicily. But he soon infringed the +articles of it, and declared war against the Carthaginians themselves; +who, under the conduct of Hamilcar, obtained a signal +victory over him,<note place='foot'>The battle was fought near the river +and city of Himera.—Trans.</note> and forced him to shut himself up in Syracuse. +The Carthaginians pursued him thither, and laid siege to that +important city, the capture of which would have given them +possession of all Sicily. +</p> + +<p> +Agathocles, whose forces were greatly inferior to theirs, and +who moreover saw himself deserted by all his allies, from their +detestation of his horrid cruelties, meditated a design of so +daring, and, to all appearance, so impracticable a nature, that, +even after being happily carried into execution, it yet appears +almost incredible. This design was no less than to make Africa +the seat of war, and to besiege Carthage, at a time when he +could neither defend himself in Sicily, nor sustain the siege of +Syracuse. His profound secresy in the execution is as astonishing +as the design itself. He communicated his thoughts +on this affair to no person whatsoever, but contented himself +with declaring, that he had found out an infallible way to free +the Syracusans from the danger that surrounded them; that +they had only to endure with patience, for a short time, the +inconveniences of a siege; but that those who could not bring +themselves to this resolution, might freely depart the city. +Only sixteen hundred persons quitted it. He left his brother +Antander there, with forces and provisions sufficient for him +to make a stout defence. He set at liberty all slaves who were +<pb n='145'/><anchor id='Pg145'/> +of age to bear arms, and, after obliging them to take an oath, +joined them to his forces. He carried with him only fifty +talents,<note place='foot'>50,000 French crowns, or 11,250<hi rend='italic'>l.</hi> +sterling.—Trans.</note> +to supply his present wants, well assured that he should +find in the enemy's country whatever was necessary to his +subsistence. He therefore set sail with two of his sons, Archagathus +and Heraclides, without letting any one person know +whither he intended to direct his course. All who were on +board his fleet believed that they were to be conducted either +to Italy or Sardinia, in order to plunder those countries, or to +lay waste those coasts of Sicily which belonged to the enemy. +The Carthaginians, surprised at so unexpected a departure, +endeavoured to prevent it; but Agathocles eluded their pursuit, +and made for the main ocean. +</p> + +<p> +He did not discover his design till he had landed in Africa. +There, assembling his troops, he told them, in few words, the +motives which had prompted him to this expedition. He +represented, that the only way to free their country, was to +carry the war into the territories of their enemies: that he led +them who were enured to war, and of intrepid dispositions, +against a parcel of enemies who were softened and enervated +by ease and luxury: that the natives of the country, oppressed +with the yoke of a servitude equally cruel and ignominious, +would run in crowds to join them on the first news of their +arrival: that the boldness of their attempt would alone disconcert +the Carthaginians, who had no expectation of seeing an +enemy at their gates: in short, that no enterprise could possibly +be more advantageous or honourable than this; since +the whole wealth of Carthage would become the prey of the +victors, whose courage would be praised and admired by latest +posterity. The soldiers fancied themselves already masters of +Carthage, and received his speech with applauses and acclamations. +One circumstance alone gave them uneasiness, and +that was an eclipse of the sun, which happened just as they +were setting sail. In these ages, even the most civilized nations +understood very little the reason of these extraordinary +phenomena of nature; and used to draw from them (by their +soothsayers) superstitious and arbitrary conjectures, which +frequently would either suspend or hasten the more important +<pb n='146'/><anchor id='Pg146'/> +enterprises. However, Agathocles revived the drooping courage +of his soldiers, by assuring them that these eclipses +always foretold some instant change: that, therefore, good +fortune was taking its leave of Carthage, and coming over to +them. +</p> + +<p> +Finding his soldiers in the good disposition he wished them, +he executed, almost at the same time, a second enterprise, +which was even more daring and hazardous than his first, of +carrying them over into Africa; and this was the burning every +ship in his fleet. Many reasons determined him to so desperate +an action. He had not one good harbour in Africa where +his ships could lie in safety. As the Carthaginians were masters +of the sea, they would not have failed to possess themselves +immediately of his fleet, which was incapable of making +the least resistance. In case he had left as many hands as +were necessary to defend it, he would have weakened his army, +(which was inconsiderable at the best,) and put it out of his +power to gain any advantage from this unexpected diversion, +the success of which depended entirely on the swiftness and +vigour of the execution. Lastly, he was desirous of putting +his soldiers under a necessity of conquering, by leaving them +no other refuge than victory. Much courage was necessary to +adopt such a resolution. He had already prepared all his +officers, who were entirely devoted to his service, and received +every impression he gave them. He then came suddenly into +the assembly with a crown upon his head, dressed in a magnificent +habit, and with the air and behaviour of a man who was +going to perform some religious ceremony, and addressing himself +to the assembly: <q>When we,</q> says he, <q>left Syracuse, +and were warmly pursued by the enemy; in this fatal necessity +I addressed myself to Ceres and Proserpine, the tutelar +divinities of Sicily; and promised, that if they would free us +from this imminent danger, I would burn all our ships in their +honour, at our first landing here. Aid me therefore, O soldiers, +to discharge my vow; for the goddesses can easily make +us amends for this sacrifice.</q> At the same time, taking a +flambeau in his hand, he hastily led the way on board his own +ship, and set it on fire. All the officers did the like, and were +cheerfully followed by the soldiers. The trumpets sounded +<pb n='147'/><anchor id='Pg147'/> +from every quarter, and the whole army echoed with joyful +shouts and acclamations. The fleet was soon consumed. The +soldiers had not been allowed time to reflect on the proposal +made to them. They all had been hurried on by a blind and +impetuous ardour; but when they had a little recovered their +reason, and, surveying in their minds the vast extent of ocean +which separated them from their own country, saw themselves +in that of the enemy without the least resource, or any means +of escaping out of it; a sad and melancholy silence succeeded +the transport of joy and acclamations, which, but a moment +before, had been so general in the army. +</p> + +<p> +Here again Agathocles left no time for reflection. He +marched his army towards a place called the Great City, which +was part of the domain of Carthage. The country through +which they marched to this place, afforded the most delicious +and agreeable prospect in the world. On either side were +seen large meads, watered by beautiful streams, and covered +with innumerable flocks of all kinds of cattle; country seats +built with extraordinary magnificence; delightful avenues +planted with olive and all sorts of fruit trees; gardens of a +prodigious extent, and kept with a care and elegance which +delighted the eye. This prospect reanimated the soldiers. +They marched full of courage to the Great City, which they +took sword in hand, and enriched themselves with the plunder of +it, which was entirely abandoned to them. Tunis made as little +resistance; and this place was not far distant from Carthage. +</p> + +<p> +The Carthaginians were in prodigious alarm when it was +known that the enemy was in the country, advancing by hasty +marches. This arrival of Agathocles made the Carthaginians +conclude, that their army before Syracuse had been defeated, +and their fleet lost. The people ran in disorder to the great +square of the city, whilst the senate assembled in haste and in +a tumultuous manner. Immediately they deliberated on the +means for preserving the city. They had no army in readiness +to oppose the enemy; and their imminent danger did not +permit them to wait the arrival of those forces which might +be raised in the country and among the allies. It was therefore +resolved, after several different opinions had been heard, +to arm the citizens. The number of the forces thus levied, +<pb n='148'/><anchor id='Pg148'/> +amounted to forty thousand foot, a thousand horse, and two +thousand armed chariots. Hanno and Bomilcar, though divided +betwixt themselves by some family quarrels, were +however joined in the command of these troops. They +marched immediately to meet the enemy; and, on sight of +them, drew up their forces in order of battle. Agathocles<note place='foot'>Agathocles +wanting arms for many of his soldiers, provided them with such as +were counterfeit, which looked well at a distance. And perceiving the discouragement +his forces were under on sight of the enemy's horse, he let fly a great many +owls, (privately procured for that purpose,) which his soldiers interpreted as an omen +and assurance of victory. Diod. l. xx. p. 754.—Trans.</note> +had, at most, but thirteen or fourteen thousand men. The +signal was given, and an obstinate fight ensued. Hanno, with +his sacred cohort, (the flower of the Carthaginian forces,) long +sustained the fury of the Greeks, and sometimes even broke +their ranks; but at last, overwhelmed with a shower of stones, +and covered with wounds, he fell dead on the field. Bomilcar +might have changed the face of things; but he had private +and personal reasons not to obtain a victory for his country. +He therefore thought proper to retire with the forces under +his command, and was followed by the whole army, which, by +that means, was forced to leave the field to Agathocles. After +pursuing the enemy some time, he returned, and plundered +the Carthaginian camp. Twenty thousand pair of manacles +were found in it, with which the Carthaginians had furnished +themselves, in the firm persuasion of their taking many prisoners. +The result of this victory was the capture of a great +number of strong-holds, and the defection of many of the +natives of the country, who joined the victor. +</p> + +<p> +This descent of Agathocles into Africa, doubtless gave +birth to Scipio's design of making a like attempt upon the +same republic, and from the same place.<note place='foot'>Liv. +l. xxvii. n. 43.</note> Wherefore, in his +answer to Fabius, who ascribed to temerity his design of making +Africa the seat of the war, he forgot not to mention the +example of Agathocles, as an instance in favour of his enterprise; +and to show, that frequently there is no other way to +get rid of an enemy who presses too closely upon us, than by +carrying the war into his own country; and that men are +much more courageous when they act upon the offensive, than +when they stand only upon the defensive. +</p> + +<pb n='149'/><anchor id='Pg149'/> + +<p> +While the Carthaginians were thus warmly attacked by +their enemies, ambassadors arrived to them from Tyre.<note place='foot'>Diod. +l. xvii. p. 519. Quint. Curt. l. iv. c. 3.</note> They +came to implore their succour against Alexander the Great, +who was upon the point of taking their city, which he had long +besieged. The extremity to which their countrymen (for so +they called them) were reduced, touched the Carthaginians as +sensibly as their own danger. Though they were unable to +relieve, they at least thought it their duty to comfort them; +and deputed thirty of their principal citizens to express their +grief that they could not spare them any troops, because of the +present melancholy situation of their own affairs. The Tyrians, +though disappointed of the only hope they had left, did +not however despond; they committed their wives, children,<note place='foot'>Τῶν +τέκνων καὶ γυναικῶν μέρος, some of their wives and children. Diod. +l. xvii. p. 519.—Trans.</note> +and old men, to the care of these deputies; and thus, being +delivered from all inquietude, with regard to persons who were +dearer to them than any thing in the world, they thought alone +of making a resolute defence, prepared for the worst that might +happen. Carthage received this afflicted company with all +possible marks of amity, and paid to guests who were so dear +and worthy of compassion, all the services which they could +have expected from the most affectionate and tender parents. +</p> + +<p> +Quintus Curtius places this embassy from Tyre to the Carthaginians +at the same time that the Syracusans were ravaging +Africa, and had advanced to the very gates of Carthage. But +the expedition of Agathocles against Africa cannot agree in +time with the siege of Tyre, which was more than twenty years +before it. +</p> + +<p> +At the same time, Carthage was solicitous how to extricate +itself from the difficulties with which it was surrounded. The +present unhappy state of the republic was considered as the +effect of the wrath of the gods: and it was acknowledged to be +justly deserved, particularly with regard to two deities, towards +whom the Carthaginians had been remiss in the discharge of +certain duties prescribed by their religion, and which had once +been observed with great exactness. It was a custom (coeval +with the city itself) at Carthage, to send annually to Tyre (the +<pb n='150'/><anchor id='Pg150'/> +mother city) the tenth of all the revenues of the republic, as an +offering to Hercules, the patron and protector of both cities. +The domain, and consequently the revenues of Carthage, having +increased considerably, the portion, on the contrary, of the +god, had been lessened; and they were far from remitting the +whole tenth to him. They were seized with a scruple on this +point: they made an open and public confession of their insincerity +and sacrilegious avarice; and, to expiate their guilt, they +sent to Tyre a great number of presents, and small shrines +of their deities all of gold, which amounted to a prodigious +value. +</p> + +<p> +Another violation of religion, which to their inhuman superstition +seemed as flagrant as the former, gave them no less +uneasiness. Anciently, children of the best families in Carthage +used to be sacrificed to Saturn. They now reproached +themselves with having failed to pay to the god the honours +which they thought were due to him; and with having used +fraud and dishonest dealing towards him, by having substituted, +in their sacrifices, children of slaves or beggars, bought for +that purpose, in the room of those nobly born. To expiate +the guilt of so horrid an impiety, a sacrifice was made to this +blood-thirsty god, of two hundred children of the first rank; +and upwards of three hundred persons, through a sense of this +terrible neglect, offered themselves voluntarily as victims, to +pacify, by the effusion of their blood, the wrath of the gods. +</p> + +<p> +After these expiations, expresses were despatched to Hamilcar +in Sicily, with the news of what had happened in Africa, +and, at the same time, to request immediate succours. He +commanded the deputies to observe the strictest silence on the +subject of the victory of Agathocles; and spread a contrary +report, that he had been entirely defeated, his forces all cut off, +and his whole fleet taken by the Carthaginians; and, in confirmation +of this report, he showed the irons of the vessels pretended +to be taken, which had been carefully sent to him. The +truth of this report was not at all doubted in Syracuse; the +majority were for capitulating;<note place='foot'>And the most +forward of all the rest was Antander, the brother of Agathocles, +left commander in his absence; who was so terrified with the report, that he was +eager for having the city surrendered; and expelled out of it eight thousand inhabitants +who were of a contrary opinion.—Trans.</note> when a galley of thirty oars, +<pb n='151'/><anchor id='Pg151'/> +built in haste by Agathocles, arrived in the port; and through +great difficulties and dangers forced its way to the besieged. +The news of Agathocles's victory immediately flew through the +city, and restored alacrity and resolution to the inhabitants. +Hamilcar made a last effort to storm the city, but was beaten +off with loss. He then raised the siege, and sent five thousand +men to the relief of his distressed country. Some time after,<note place='foot'>Diod. +p. 767-769.</note> having resumed the siege, and hoping to surprise the Syracusans +by attacking them in the night, his design was discovered; +and falling alive into the enemy's hands, he was put to death +with the most exquisite tortures.<note place='foot'>He was cruelly +tortured till he died, and so met with the fate which his fellow-citizens, +offended at his conduct in Sicily, had probably allotted for him at home. +He was too formidable to be attacked at the head of his army; and therefore the +votes of the senate (whatever they were) being, according to custom, cast into a +vessel, it was immediately closed, with an order not to uncover it, till he was returned, +and had thrown up his commission. Justin, l. xxii. c. 3.—Trans.</note> +Hamilcar's head was sent +immediately to Agathocles, who, advancing to the enemy's +camp, threw it into a general consternation, by displaying to +them the head of this general, which manifested the melancholy +situation of their affairs in Sicily. +</p> + +<p> +To these foreign enemies was joined a domestic one, +which was more to be feared, as being more dangerous than +the others;<note place='foot'>Diod. p. 779-781. Justin, l. +xxii. c. 7.</note> this was Bomilcar their general, who was then in +possession of the first post in Carthage. He had long meditated +the establishment of himself as tyrant at Carthage, and +attaining the sovereign authority there; and imagined that the +present troubles offered him the wished-for opportunity. He +therefore entered the city, and being seconded by a small number +of citizens, who were the accomplices of his rebellion, and +a body of foreign soldiers, he proclaimed himself tyrant; and +showed himself literally such, by cutting the throats of all the +citizens whom he met with in the streets. A tumult arising +immediately in the city, it was at first thought that the enemy +had taken it by some treachery; but when it was known that +Bomilcar caused all this disturbance, the young men took up +arms to repel the tyrant, and from the tops of the houses discharged +whole volleys of darts and stones upon the heads of +his soldiers. When he saw an army marching in order against +him, he retired with his troops to an eminence, with design to +<pb n='152'/><anchor id='Pg152'/> +make a vigorous defence, and to sell his life as dear as possible. +To spare the blood of the citizens, a general pardon was +proclaimed for all without exception who would lay down their +arms. They surrendered upon this proclamation, and all enjoyed +the benefit of it, Bomilcar their chief excepted: for the +Carthaginians, without regarding their oath, condemned him +to death, and fastened him to a cross, where he suffered the +most exquisite torments. From the cross, as from a rostrum, +he harangued the people; and thought himself justly entitled +to reproach them for their injustice, their ingratitude, and perfidy, +which he did by enumerating many illustrious generals, +whose services they had rewarded with an ignominious death. +He expired on the cross whilst uttering these reproaches.<note place='foot'>It +would seem incredible that any man could so far triumph over the pains of +the cross, as to talk with any coherence in his discourse; had not Seneca assured us, +that some have so far despised and insulted its tortures, that they spit contemptuously +upon the spectators. Quidam ex patibulo suos spectatores conspuerunt. +<hi rend='italic'>De vitâ beatâ</hi>, c. 19.—Trans.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Agathocles had won over to his interest a powerful king of +Cyrene,<note place='foot'>Diod. p. 777-779-791-802. Justin, +l. xxii. c. 7, 8</note> named Ophellas, whose ambition he had flattered +with the most splendid hopes, by leading him to understand, +that, contenting himself with Sicily, he would leave to Ophellas +the empire of Africa. But, as Agathocles did not scruple +to commit the most horrid crimes when he thought them conducive +to his interest, the credulous prince had no sooner put +himself and his army in his power, than, by the blackest perfidy, +he caused him to be murdered, in order that Ophellas's +army might be entirely at his devotion. Many nations were +now joined in alliance with Agathocles, and several strongholds +were garrisoned by his forces. As he now saw the +affairs of Africa in a flourishing condition, he thought it proper +to look after those of Sicily; accordingly he sailed back thither, +having left the command of the army to his son Archagathus. +His renown, and the report of his victories, flew before him. +On the news of his arrival in Sicily many towns revolted to +him; but bad news soon recalled him to Africa. His absence +had quite changed the face of things; and all his endeavours +were incapable of restoring them to their former condition. +All his strong-holds had surrendered to the enemy; the Africans +<pb n='153'/><anchor id='Pg153'/> +had deserted him; some of his troops were lost, and the +remainder were unable to make head against the Carthaginians; +he had no way to transport them into Sicily, as he was +destitute of ships, and the enemy were masters at sea: he could +not hope for either peace or treaty with the barbarians, since +he had insulted them in so outrageous a manner, by his being +the first who had dared to make a descent in their country. +In this extremity, he thought only of providing for his own +safety. After many adventures, this base deserter of his army, +and perfidious betrayer of his own children, who were left by +him to the wild fury of his disappointed soldiers, stole away +from the dangers which threatened him, and arrived at Syracuse +with very few followers. His soldiers, seeing themselves +thus betrayed, murdered his sons, and surrendered to the enemy. +Himself died miserably soon after, and ended, by a cruel +death,<note place='foot'>He was poisoned by one Mænon, whom +he had unnaturally abused. His teeth were putrified by the +violence of the poison, and his body tortured all over with the +most racking pains. Mænon was excited to this deed by Archagathus, grandson of +Agathocles, whom he designed to defeat of the succession, in favour of his other son +Agathocles. Before his death, he restored the democracy to the people. It is observable, +that Justin (or rather Trogus) and Diodorus disagree in all the material +part of this tyrant's history.—Trans.</note> a life that had +been polluted with the blackest crimes. +</p> + +<p> +In this period may be placed another incident related by +Justin.<note place='foot'>Justin, l. xxi. c. 6.</note> +The fame of Alexander's conquests made the Carthaginians +fear, that he might think of turning his arms towards +Africa. The disastrous fate of Tyre, whence they drew their +origin, and which he had so lately destroyed; the building of +Alexandria upon the confines of Africa and Egypt, as if he intended +it as a rival city to Carthage; the uninterrupted successes +of that prince, whose ambition and good fortune were +boundless; all this justly alarmed the Carthaginians. To +sound his inclinations, Hamilcar, surnamed Rhodanus, pretending +to have been driven from his country by the cabals of +his enemies, went over to the camp of Alexander, to whom he +was introduced by Parmenio, and offered him his services. +The king received him graciously, and had several conferences +with him. Hamilcar did not fail to transmit to his country +whatever discoveries he made from time to time of Alexander's +designs. Nevertheless, on his return to Carthage, after Alexander's +<pb n='154'/><anchor id='Pg154'/> +death, he was considered as a betrayer of his country +to that prince; and accordingly was put to death, by a sentence +which displayed equally the ingratitude and cruelty of his +countrymen. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>A.M. 3727. A. Carth. 569. A. Rom. 471. Ant. J.C. 277.</note> +I am now to speak of the wars of the Carthaginians in Sicily, +in the time of Pyrrhus, king of Epirus.<note place='foot'>Polyb. l. +iii. p. 250. edit. Gronov.</note> The Romans, +to whom the designs of that ambitious prince were +not unknown, in order to strengthen themselves +against any attempts he might make upon Italy, had +renewed their treaties with the Carthaginians, who, +on their side, were no less afraid of his crossing into Sicily. +To the articles of the preceding treaties, there was added an +engagement of mutual assistance, in case either of the contracting +powers should be attacked by Pyrrhus. +</p> + +<p> +The foresight of the Romans was well founded: Pyrrhus +turned his arms against Italy, and gained many victories.<note place='foot'>Justin, +l. xviii. c. 2.</note> The +Carthaginians, in consequence of the last treaty, thought themselves +obliged to assist the Romans; and accordingly sent +them a fleet of six-score sail, under the command of Mago. +This general, in an audience before the senate, signified to +them the interest which his superiors took in the war which +they heard was carrying on against the Romans, and offered +them their assistance. The senate returned thanks for the +obliging offer of the Carthaginians, but at present thought fit +to decline it. +</p> + +<p> +Mago,<note place='foot'>Idem.</note> some days after, repaired to Pyrrhus, upon pretence +of offering the mediation of Carthage for terminating his quarrel +with the Romans; but in reality to sound him, and discover, +if possible, his designs with regard to Sicily, which common +fame reported he was going to invade. The Carthaginians +were afraid that either Pyrrhus or the Romans would interfere +in the affairs of that island, and transport forces thither for the +conquest of it. And, indeed, the Syracusans, who had been +besieged for some time by the Carthaginians, had sent pressingly +for succour to Pyrrhus. This prince had a particular +reason to espouse their interests, having married Lanassa, +daughter of Agathocles, by whom he had a son named Alexander. +He at last sailed from Tarentum, passed the Strait, +<pb n='155'/><anchor id='Pg155'/> +and arrived in Sicily. His conquests at first were so rapid, +that he left the Carthaginians, in the whole island, only the +single town of Lilybæum. He laid siege to it, but meeting +with a vigorous resistance, was obliged to raise the siege; not +to mention that the urgent necessity of his affairs called him +back to Italy, where his presence was absolutely necessary. +Nor was it less so in Sicily, which, on his departure, returned +to the obedience of its former masters. Thus he lost this +island with the same rapidity that he had won it. As he was +embarking, he turned his eyes back to Sicily, and exclaimed to +those about him,<note place='foot'>Plut. <hi rend='italic'>in +Pyrrh.</hi> p. 398.</note> <q>What a fine field of battle<note place='foot'>Οἵαν +ἀπολείπομεν, ὦ φίλοι, Καρχηδονίοις καὶ Ῥωμαίοις παλαίστραν. +The Greek expression is beautiful. Indeed Sicily was a kind of Palæstra, where the +Carthaginians and Romans exercised themselves in war, and for many years seemed to play +the part of wrestlers with each other. The English language, as well as the French, +has no word to express the Greek term.—Trans.</note> do we leave +the Carthaginians and Romans!</q> His prediction was soon +verified. +</p> + +<p> +After his departure, the chief magistracy of Syracuse was +conferred on Hiero, who afterwards obtained the name and +dignity of king, by the united suffrages of the citizens; so +greatly had his government pleased. He was appointed to +carry on the war against the Carthaginians, and obtained several +advantages over them. But now a common interest reunited +them against a new enemy, who began to appear in +Sicily, and justly alarmed both: these were the Romans, who, +having crushed all the enemies which had hitherto exercised +their arms in Italy itself, were now powerful enough to carry +them out of it; and to lay the foundation of that vast power +there to which they afterwards attained, and of which it was +probable they had even then formed the design. Sicily lay too +commodious for them, not to form a resolution of establishing +themselves in it. They therefore eagerly snatched this opportunity +for crossing into it, which caused the rupture between +them and the Carthaginians, and gave rise to the first Punic +war. This I shall treat of more at large, by relating the causes +of that war. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n='156'/><anchor id='Pg156'/> + +<div> +<index index='toc' level1='Chapter II. The History of Carthage.'/> +<index index='pdf' level1='Chapter II. The History of Carthage.'/> +<head>Chapter II. The History of Carthage from the first Punic War +to its destruction.</head> + +<p> +The plan which I have laid down does not allow me to enter +into an exact detail of the wars between Rome and Carthage; +since that pertains rather to the Roman history, which I do not +intend to touch upon, except transiently and occasionally. I +shall therefore relate such facts only as may give the reader a +just idea of the republic whose history lies before me; by confining +myself to those particulars which relate chiefly to the +Carthaginians, and to their most important transactions in Sicily, +Spain, and Africa: a subject in itself sufficiently extensive. +</p> + +<p> +I have already observed, that from the first Punic war to the +ruin of Carthage, a hundred and eighteen years elapsed. This +whole time may be divided into five parts or intervals. +</p> + +<p> +I. The first Punic war lasted twenty-four years. +</p> + +<p> +II. The interval betwixt the first and second Punic war is +also twenty-four years. +</p> + +<p> +III. The second Punic war took up seventeen years. +</p> + +<p> +IV. The interval between the second and third is forty-nine +years. +</p> + +<p> +V. The third Punic war, terminated by the destruction of +Carthage, continued but four years and some months. +</p> + +<p> +Total: 118 years. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>A.M. 3724. A. Carth. 566. A. Rom. 468. Ant. J.C. 280.</note> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Article I. The first Punic War.</hi>—The first Punic war +arose from the following cause. Some Campanian +soldiers, in the service of Agathocles, the Sicilian +tyrant, having entered as friends into Messina, soon +after murdered part of the townsmen, drove out the +rest, married their wives, seized their effects, and remained +sole masters of that important city.<note place='foot'>Polyb. +l. i. p. 8. edit Gronov.</note> They then assumed +the name of Mamertines. In imitation of them, and by their +assistance, a Roman legion treated in the same cruel manner +the city of Rhegium, lying directly opposite to Messina, on the +other side of the strait. These two perfidious cities, supporting +one another, rendered themselves at length formidable to their +neighbours; and especially Messina, which became very powerful, +<pb n='157'/><anchor id='Pg157'/> +and gave great umbrage and uneasiness both to the Syracusans +and Carthaginians, who possessed one part of Sicily. +As soon as the Romans had got rid of the enemies they had +so long contended with, and particularly of Pyrrhus, they +began to think of punishing the crime of their citizens, who +had settled themselves at Rhegium, in so cruel and treacherous +a manner, nearly ten years before. Accordingly, they took +the city, and killed, in the attack, the greatest part of the inhabitants, +who, instigated by despair, had fought to the last +gasp: three hundred only were left, who were carried to Rome, +whipped, and then publicly beheaded in the forum. The view +which the Romans had in making this bloody execution, was, +to prove to their allies their own sincerity and innocence. +Rhegium was immediately restored to its lawful possessors. +The Mamertines, who were considerably weakened, as well by +the ruin of their confederate city, as by the losses which they +had sustained from the Syracusans, who had lately placed +Hiero at their head, thought it time to provide for their own +safety. But divisions arising among them, one part surrendered +the citadel to the Carthaginians, whilst the other called +in the Romans to their assistance, and resolved to put them in +possession of their city. +</p> + +<p> +The affair was debated in the Roman senate, where, being +considered in all its lights, it appeared to have some +difficulties.<note place='foot'>Polyb. l. i. p. 12-15. edit. Gronov.</note> +On one hand, it was thought base, and altogether unworthy of +the Roman virtue, for them to undertake openly the defence of +traitors, whose perfidy was exactly the same with that of the +Rhegians, whom the Romans had recently punished with so +exemplary a severity. On the other hand, it was of the utmost +consequence to stop the progress of the Carthaginians, who, +not satisfied with their conquests in Africa and Spain, had also +made themselves masters of almost all the islands of the Sardinian +and Hetrurian seas; and would certainly get all Sicily +into their hands, if they should be suffered to possess themselves +of Messina. From thence into Italy, the passage was +very short; and it was in some manner to invite an enemy to +come over, to leave the entrance open. These reasons, though +<pb n='158'/><anchor id='Pg158'/> +so strong, could not prevail with the senate to declare +in favour of the Mamertines; and accordingly, motives +of honour and justice prevailed in this instance over +those of interest and policy. +<note place='margin'>A.M. 3741. A. Carth. 583. A. Rom. 485. Ant. J.C. 263.</note> +But the people were not so scrupulous; for, in an assembly held on this +subject, it was resolved that the Mamertines should be +assisted.<note place='foot'>Frontin.</note> +The consul Appius Claudius immediately set forward with his +army, and boldly crossed the strait, after he had, by an ingenious +stratagem, eluded the vigilance of the Carthaginian +general. The Carthaginians, partly by art and partly by force, +were driven out of the citadel; and the city was surrendered +immediately to the consul. The Carthaginians hanged their +general, for having given up the citadel in so cowardly a manner, +and prepared to besiege the town with all their forces. +Hiero joined them with his own. But the consul, having +defeated them separately, raised the siege, and laid waste at +pleasure the neighbouring country, the enemy not daring to +face him. This was the first expedition which the Romans +made out of Italy. +</p> + +<p> +It is doubted<note place='foot'>The Chevalier Folard +examines this question in his remarks upon Polybius, +l. i. p. 16.—Trans.</note> whether the motives which prompted the +Romans to undertake this expedition, were very upright, and +exactly conformable to the rules of strict justice. Be this as +it may, their passage into Sicily, and the succour they gave to +the inhabitants of Messina, may be said to have been the first +step by which they ascended to that height of glory and grandeur +which they afterwards attained. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>A.M. 3743. A. Rom. 487.</note> +Hiero, having reconciled himself to the Romans, and +entered into an alliance with them, the Carthaginians bent all +their thoughts on Sicily, and sent numerous armies +thither.<note place='foot'>Polyb. l. i. p. 15-19.</note> +Agrigentum was their place of arms; which, +being attacked by the Romans, was won by them, +after they had besieged it seven months, and gained one battle. +</p> + +<p> +Notwithstanding the advantage of this victory, and the +conquest of so important a city, the Romans were sensible, +that whilst the Carthaginians should continue masters at sea, +the maritime places in the island would always side with them, +<pb n='159'/><anchor id='Pg159'/> +and put it out of their power ever to drive them out of +Sicily.<note place='foot'>Id. p. 20.</note> +Besides, they saw with reluctance Africa enjoy a profound +tranquillity, at a time that Italy was infested by the frequent +incursions of its enemies. They now first formed the design +of having a fleet, and of disputing the empire of the sea with +the Carthaginians. The undertaking was bold, and in outward +appearance rash; but it evinces the courage and magnanimity +of the Romans. They were not at that time possessed of a +single vessel which they could call their own; and the ships +which had transported their forces into Sicily had been borrowed +of their neighbours. They were unexperienced in sea +affairs, had no carpenters acquainted with the building of ships, +and did not know even the shape of the Quinqueremes, or +galleys with five benches of oars, in which the chief strength +of fleets at that time consisted. But happily, the year before, +one had been taken upon the coasts of Italy, which served +them as a model. They therefore applied themselves with +incredible industry and ardour to the building of ships in the +same form; and in the mean time they got together a set of +rowers, who were taught an exercise and discipline utterly +unknown to them before, in the following manner. Benches +were made, on the shore, in the same order and fashion with +those of galleys. The rowers were seated on these benches, +and taught, as if they had been furnished with oars, to throw +themselves backwards with their arms drawn to their breasts; +and then to throw their bodies and arms forward in one regular +motion, the instant their commanding officer gave the signal. +In two months, one hundred galleys of five benches of oars, +and twenty of three benches, were built; and after some time +had been spent in exercising the rowers on shipboard, the fleet +put to sea, and went in quest of the enemy. The consul +Duillius had the command of it. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>A.M. 3745. A. Rom. 489.</note> +The Romans coming up with the Carthaginians near the +coast of Myle, they prepared for an engagement.<note place='foot'>Polyb. +l. i. p. 22.</note> As the Roman galleys, by their being clumsily and +hastily built, were neither very nimble nor easy to +work; this inconvenience was supplied by a machine invented +<pb n='160'/><anchor id='Pg160'/> +for this occasion, and afterwards known by the name of the +Corvus,<note place='foot'>Polyb. l. i. p. 22.</note> +(<hi rend='italic'>Crow</hi>, or <hi rend='italic'>Crane</hi>,) +by the help of which they grappled +the enemy's ships, boarded them, and immediately came +to close engagement. The signal for fighting was given. The +Carthaginian fleet consisted of a hundred and thirty sail, under +the command of Hannibal.<note place='foot'>A different person +from the great Hannibal.—Trans.</note> He himself was on board a +galley of seven benches of oars, which had once belonged to +Pyrrhus. The Carthaginians, thoroughly despising enemies +who were utterly unacquainted with sea affairs, imagined that +their very appearance would put them to flight, and therefore +came forward boldly, with little expectation of fighting; but +firmly imagining they should reap the spoils, which they had +already devoured with their eyes. They were nevertheless a +little surprised at the sight of the above-mentioned engines, +raised on the prow of every one of the enemy's ships, and +which were entirely new to them. But their astonishment +increased, when they saw these engines drop down at once; +and being thrown forcibly into their vessels, grapple them in +spite of all resistance. This changed the form of the engagement, +and obliged the Carthaginians to come to close engagement +with their enemies, as though they had fought them on +land. They were unable to sustain the attack of the Romans: +a horrible slaughter ensued, and the Carthaginians lost fourscore +vessels, among which was the admiral's galley, he himself +escaping with difficulty in a small boat. +</p> + +<p> +So considerable and unexpected a victory raised the courage +of the Romans, and seemed to redouble their vigour for the +continuance of the war. Extraordinary honours were bestowed +on the consul Duillius, who was the first Roman that had a +naval triumph decreed him. A rostral pillar was erected in +his honour, with a noble inscription; which pillar is yet standing +in Rome.<note place='foot'>These pillars were called <hi rend='italic'>Rostratæ</hi>, +from the beaks of ships with which they +were adorned; <hi rend='italic'>Rostra</hi>.—Trans.</note> +</p> + +<p> +During the two following years, the Romans grew still +stronger at sea, by their success in several engagements.<note place='foot'>Polyb. +l. i. p. 24.</note> But these were considered by them only as essays preparatory to +the great design they meditated of carrying the war into Africa, +<pb n='161'/><anchor id='Pg161'/> +and of combating the Carthaginians in their own country. +There was nothing the latter dreaded more; and to divert so +dangerous a blow, they resolved to fight the enemy, whatever +might be the consequence. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>A.M. 3749. A. Rom. 493.</note> +The Romans had elected M. Atilius Regulus, and L. Manlius, +consuls for this year.<note place='foot'>Polyb l. i. +p. 25.</note> Their fleet consisted of +three hundred and thirty vessels, on board of which +were one hundred and forty thousand men, each +vessel having three hundred rowers, and a hundred and twenty +soldiers. That of the Carthaginians, commanded by Hanno +and Hamilcar, had twenty vessels more than the Romans, and +a greater number of men in proportion. The two fleets came +in sight of each other near Ecnomus in Sicily. No man could +behold two such formidable navies, or be a spectator of the +extraordinary preparations they made for fighting, without +being under some concern, on seeing the danger which menaced +two of the most powerful states in the world. As the +courage on both sides was equal, and no great disparity in the +forces, the fight was obstinate, and the victory long doubtful; +but at last the Carthaginians were overcome. More than sixty +of their ships were taken by the enemy, and thirty sunk. The +Romans lost twenty-four, not one of which fell into the enemy's +hands. +</p> + +<p> +The fruit of this victory, as the Romans had designed it, +was their sailing to Africa, after having refitted their ships, and +provided them with all necessaries for carrying on a long war +in a foreign country.<note place='foot'>Id. p. 30.</note> +They landed happily in Africa, and began +the war by taking a town called Clypea, which had a commodious +haven. From thence, after having sent an express to +Rome, to give advice of their landing, and to receive orders +from the senate, they overran the open country, in which they +made terrible havoc; bringing away whole flocks of cattle, and +twenty thousand prisoners. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>A.M. 3750. A. Rom. 494.</note> +The express returned in the mean time with the orders of +the senate, who decreed, that Regulus should continue +to command the armies in Africa, with the +title of Proconsul; and that his colleague should +<pb n='162'/><anchor id='Pg162'/> +return with a great part of the fleet and the forces; leaving +Regulus only forty vessels, fifteen thousand foot, and five +hundred horse. Their leaving the latter with so few ships and +troops, was a visible renunciation of the advantages which +might have been expected from this descent upon Africa. +</p> + +<p> +The people at Rome depended greatly on the courage and +abilities of Regulus; and the joy was universal, when it was +known that he was continued in the command in Africa; he +alone was afflicted on that account.<note place='foot'>Val. +Max. l. iv. c. 4.</note> When news was brought +him of it, he wrote to Rome, and desired, in the strongest +terms, that he might be appointed a successor. His chief +reason was, that the death of the farmer who rented his +grounds, having given one of his hirelings an opportunity of +carrying off all the implements of tillage, his presence was +necessary for taking care of his little spot of ground, (but seven +acres,) which was all his family subsisted upon. But the +senate undertook to have his lands cultivated at the public +expense; to maintain his wife and children; and to indemnify +him for the loss he had sustained by the robbery of his hireling. +Thrice happy age! in which poverty was thus had in +honour, and was united with the most rare and uncommon +merit, and the highest employments of the state! Regulus +thus freed from his domestic cares, bent his whole thoughts on +discharging the duty of a general. +</p> + +<p> +After taking several castles, he laid siege to Adis one of +the strongest fortresses of the country.<note place='foot'>Polyb. +l. i. p. 31-36.</note> The Carthaginians, +exasperated at seeing their enemies thus laying waste their +lands at pleasure, at last took the field, and marched +against them, to force them to raise the siege. With this +view, they posted themselves on a hill, which overlooked the +Roman camp, and was convenient for annoying the enemy; +but, at the same time, by its situation, rendered one part of +their army useless. For the strength of the Carthaginians lay +chiefly in their horses and elephants, which are of no service +but in plains. Regulus did not give them an opportunity of +descending from the hill; but, in order to take advantage of +this essential mistake of the Carthaginian generals, fell upon +them in this post; and after meeting with a feeble resistance, +<pb n='163'/><anchor id='Pg163'/> +put the enemy to flight, plundered their camp, and laid waste +the adjacent country. Then, having taken Tunis,<note place='foot'>In the interval +betwixt the departure of Manlius and the taking of Tunis, we +are to place the memorable combat of Regulus and his whole army, with a serpent +of so prodigious a size, that the fabulous one of Cadmus is hardly comparable to it. +The story of this serpent was elegantly written by Livy, but it is now lost. Valerius +Maximus, however, partly repairs that loss; and in the last chapter of his first book, +gives us this account of this monster from Livy himself.—He [Livy] says, that on the +banks of Bragada (an African river) lay a serpent of so enormous a size, that it +kept the whole Roman army from coming to the river. Several soldiers had been +buried in the wide caverns of its belly, and many pressed to death in the spiral +volumes of its tail. Its skin was impenetrable to darts: and it was with repeated +endeavours that stones, slung from the military engines, at last killed it. The serpent +then exhibited a sight that was more terrible to the Roman cohorts and legions +than even Carthage itself. The streams of the river were dyed with its blood, and +the stench of its putrified carcass infected the adjacent country, so that the Roman +army was forced to decamp. Its skin, one hundred and twenty feet long, was sent +to Rome: and, if Pliny may be credited, was to be seen (together with the jaw-bone +of the same monster, in the temple where they were first deposited,) as late as the +Numantine war.—Trans.</note> an important +city, and which brought him near Carthage, he made his +army encamp there. +</p> + +<p> +The enemy were in the utmost alarm. All things had succeeded +ill with them, their forces had been defeated by sea and +land, and upwards of two hundred towns had surrendered to +the conqueror. Besides, the Numidians made greater havoc +in their territories than even the Romans. They expected +every moment to see their capital besieged. And their affliction +was increased by the concourse of peasants with their wives +and children, who flocked from all parts to Carthage for safety: +which gave them melancholy apprehensions of a famine in +case of a siege. Regulus, afraid of having the glory of his +victories torn from him by a successor, made some proposal of +an accommodation to the vanquished enemy; but the conditions +appeared so hard, that they could not listen to them. As +he did not doubt his being soon master of Carthage, he would +not abate any thing in his demands; but, by an infatuation +which is almost inseparable from great and unexpected success, +he treated them with haughtiness; and pretended, that +every thing he suffered them to possess, ought to be esteemed +a favour; adding this farther insult, <q>That they ought either +to overcome like brave men, or learn to submit to the victor.</q><note place='foot'>Δεῖ +τοὺς ἀγαθοὺς ἤ νικᾷν, ἤ εἴκειν τοῖς ὑπερέχουσιν. Diod. +<hi rend='italic'>Eclog.</hi> l. xxiii. c. 10.—Trans.</note> +So harsh and disdainful a treatment only fired their resentment; +<pb n='164'/><anchor id='Pg164'/> +and they resolved rather to die sword in hand, than to do any +thing which might derogate from the dignity of Carthage. +</p> + +<p> +Reduced to this fatal extremity, they received, in the happiest +juncture, a reinforcement of auxiliary troops out of Greece, +with Xanthippus the Lacedæmonian at their head, who had +been educated in the discipline of Sparta, and learnt the art of +war in that renowned and excellent school. When he had +heard the circumstances of the last battle, which were told him +at his request; had clearly discerned the occasion of its being +lost; and perfectly informed himself in what the strength of +Carthage consisted; he declared publicly, and repeated it often, +in the hearing of the rest of the officers, that the misfortunes +of the Carthaginians were owing entirely to the incapacity of +their generals. These discourses came at last to the ear of the +public council; the members of it were struck with them, and +they requested him to attend them. He enforced his opinion +with such strong and convincing reasons, that the oversights +committed by the generals were visible to every one; and he +proved as clearly, that, by a conduct opposite to the former, +they would not only secure their dominions, but drive the +enemy out of them. This speech revived the courage and +hopes of the Carthaginians; and Xanthippus was entreated, +and, in some measure, forced, to accept the command of the +army. When the Carthaginians saw, in his exercising of their +forces near the city, the manner in which he drew them up in +order of battle, made them advance or retreat on the first signal, +file off with order and expedition; in a word, perform all +the evolutions and movements of the military art; they were +struck with astonishment, and owned, that the ablest generals +which Carthage had hitherto produced, knew nothing in +comparison of Xanthippus. +</p> + +<p> +The officers, soldiers, and every one, were lost in admiration; +and, what is very uncommon, jealousy gave no alloy to it; the +fear of the present danger, and the love of their country, +stifling, without doubt, all other sentiments. The gloomy consternation, +which had before seized the whole army, was succeeded +by joy and alacrity. The soldiers were urgent to be +led against the enemy, in the firm assurance (as they said) of +<pb n='165'/><anchor id='Pg165'/> +being victorious under their new leader, and of obliterating the +disgrace of former defeats. Xanthippus did not suffer their +ardour to cool; and the sight of the enemy only inflamed it. +When he had approached within little more than twelve hundred +paces of them, he thought proper to call a council of war, +in order to show respect to the Carthaginian generals, by consulting +them. All unanimously deferred to his opinion; upon +which it was resolved to give the enemy battle the following +day. +</p> + +<p> +The Carthaginian army was composed of twelve thousand +foot, four thousand horse, and about a hundred elephants. +That of the Romans, as near as may be guessed from what +goes before, (for Polybius does not mention their numbers +here,) consisted of fifteen thousand foot and three hundred +horse. +</p> + +<p> +It must be a noble sight to see two armies like these before +us, not overcharged with numbers, but composed of brave soldiers, +and commanded by very able generals, engaged in battle. +In those tumultuous fights, where two or three hundred thousand +are engaged on both sides, confusion is inevitable; and it +is difficult, amidst a thousand events, where chance generally +seems to have a greater share than counsel, to discover the +true merit of commanders, and the real causes of victory. But +in such engagements as this before us, nothing escapes the +curiosity of the reader; for he clearly sees the disposition of +the two armies; imagines he almost hears the orders given out +by the generals; follows all the movements of the army; can +point out the faults committed on both sides; and is thereby +qualified to determine, with certainty, the causes to which the +victory or defeat is owing. The success of this battle, however +inconsiderable it may appear from the small number of the +combatants, was nevertheless to decide the fate of Carthage. +</p> + +<p> +The disposition of both armies was as follows. Xanthippus +drew up all his elephants in front. Behind these, at some distance, +he placed the Carthaginian infantry in one body or +phalanx. The foreign troops in the Carthaginian service were +posted, one part of them on the right, between the phalanx and +the horse; and the other, composed of light-armed soldiers, in +platoons, at the head of the two wings of the cavalry. +</p> + +<pb n='166'/><anchor id='Pg166'/> + +<p> +On the side of the Romans, as they apprehended the elephants +most, Regulus, to provide against them, posted his light-armed +soldiers, on a line, in the front of the legions. In the +rear of these, he placed the cohorts one behind another, and +the horse on the wings. In thus straitening the front of his +main battle, to give it more depth, he indeed took a just precaution, +says Polybius, against the elephants; but he did not +provide for the inequality of his cavalry, which was much inferior +in numbers to that of the enemy. +</p> + +<p> +The two armies being thus drawn up, waited only for the +signal. Xanthippus orders the elephants to advance, to break +the ranks of the enemy; and commands the two wings of the +cavalry to charge the Romans in flank. At the same time, the +latter, clashing their arms, and shouting after the manner of +their country, advance against the enemy. Their cavalry did +not stand the onset long, being so much inferior to that of the +Carthaginians. The infantry in the left wing, to avoid the +attack of the elephants, and show how little they feared the +mercenaries who formed the enemies' right wing, attacks it, +puts it to flight, and pursues it to the camp. Those in the +first ranks, who were opposed to the elephants, were broken +and trodden under foot, after fighting valiantly; and the rest +of the main body stood firm for some time, by reason of its +great depth. But when the rear, being attacked by the enemy's +cavalry, was obliged to face about and receive it; and those +who had broken through the elephants, met the phalanx of the +Carthaginians, which had not yet engaged, and which received +them in good order, the Romans were routed on all sides, and +entirely defeated. The greatest part of them were crushed to +death by the enormous weight of the elephants: and the +remainder, standing in the ranks, were shot through and +through with arrows from the enemy's horse. Only a small +number fled; and as they were in an open country, the horse +and elephants killed a great part of them. Five hundred, or +thereabouts, who went off with Regulus, were taken prisoners +with him. The Carthaginians lost in this battle eight hundred +mercenaries, who were opposed to the left wing of the Romans; +and of the latter only two thousand escaped, who, by their +pursuing the enemy's right wing, had drawn themselves out of +<pb n='167'/><anchor id='Pg167'/> +the engagement. All the rest, Regulus and those taken with +him excepted, were left dead in the field. The two thousand, +who had escaped the slaughter, retired to Clypea, and were +saved in an almost miraculous manner. +</p> + +<p> +The Carthaginians, after having stripped the dead, entered +Carthage in triumph, dragging after them the unfortunate +Regulus, and five hundred prisoners. Their joy was so much +the greater, as, but a very few days before, they had seen +themselves upon the brink of ruin. The men and women, old +and young people, crowded the temples, to return thanks to +the immortal gods; and several days were devoted wholly to +festivities and rejoicings. +</p> + +<p> +Xanthippus, who had contributed so much to this happy +change, had the wisdom to withdraw shortly after, from the +apprehension lest his glory, which had hitherto been unsullied, +might, after this first blaze, insensibly fade away, and leave +him exposed to the darts of envy and calumny, which are +always dangerous, but most in a foreign country, when a man +stands alone, unsustained by friends and relations, and destitute +of all support. +</p> + +<p> +Polybius tells us, that Xanthippus's departure was related +in a different manner, and promises to take notice of it in +another place: but that part of his history has not come down +to us. We read in Appian,<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>De +Bell. Pun.</hi> p. 30.</note> that the Carthaginians, excited +by a mean and detestable jealousy of Xanthippus's glory, and +unable to bear the thoughts that they should stand indebted to +Sparta for their safety; upon pretence of conducting him and +his attendants back with honour to his own country, with a +numerous convoy of ships, gave private orders to have them +all put to death in their passage; as if with him they could +have buried in the waves for ever the memory of his services, +and their horrid ingratitude to him.<note place='foot'>This +perfidious action, as it is related by Appian, may possibly be true, when +we consider the character of the Carthaginians, who were certainly a cruel and +treacherous people. But if it be fact, one would wonder why Polybius should reserve +for another occasion, the relation of an incident which comes in most properly +here, as it finishes at once the character and life of Xanthippus. His silence therefore +in this place makes me think, that he intended to bring Xanthippus again upon +the stage; and to exhibit him to the reader in a different light from that in which +he is placed by Appian. To this let me add, that it showed no great depth of policy +in the Carthaginians, to take this method of despatching him, when so many +others offered which were less liable to censure. In this scheme formed for his +destruction, not only himself, but all his followers, were to be murdered, without +the pretence of even a storm, or loss of one single Carthaginian, to cover or excuse +the perpetration of so horrid a crime.—Trans.</note> +</p> + +<pb n='168'/><anchor id='Pg168'/> + +<p> +<q>This battle,</q> says Polybius,<note place='foot'>Lib. +i. p. 36, 37.</note> <q>though not so considerable +as many others, may yet furnish very salutary instructions; +which,</q> adds that author, <q>is the greatest benefit that can be +reaped from the study of history.</q> +</p> + +<p> +First, ought any man to put a great confidence in his good +fortune, after he has considered the fate of Regulus? That +general, insolent with victory, inexorable to the conquered, +scarcely deigning to listen to them, saw himself a few days +after vanquished by them, and made their prisoner. Hannibal +suggested the same reflection to Scipio, when he exhorted him +not to be dazzled with the success of his arms. Regulus, said +he, would have been recorded as one of the most uncommon +instances of valour and felicity, had he, after the victory obtained +in this very country, granted our fathers the peace which +they sued for. But putting no bounds to his ambition and the +insolence of success, the greater his prosperity, the more ignominious +was his fall.<note place='foot'>Inter pauca felicitatis +virtutisque exempla M. Atilius quondam in hâc eâdem +terrâ fuisset, si victor pacem petentibus dedisset patribus nostris. Sed non statuendo +tandem felicitati modum, nec cohibendo efferentem se fortunam, quanto altiùs elatus +erat, eo fœdiùs corruit. Liv. l. xxx. n. 30.—Trans.</note> +</p> + +<p> +In the second place, the truth of the saying of Euripides is +here seen in its full extent, <q>That one wise head is worth a +great many hands.</q><note place='foot'> Ὡς ἕν σοφὸν βούλευμα +τὰς πολλὰς χεῖρας νικᾶ. It may not be improper to take +notice in this place (as it was forgotten before) of a mistake of the learned Casaubon, +in his translation of a passage of Polybius concerning Xanthippus. The passage is +this, Ἐν οἷς καὶ Ξάνθιππόν τινα Λακεδαιμόνιον ἄνδρα τὴς Λακωνικῆς ἀγωγῆς μετεχηκότα, +καὶ τριβὴν ἐν τοῖς πολεμικοῖς ἔχοντα σύμμετρον. Which is thus rendered by Casaubon: +In queis [militibus sc. Græciâ allatis] Xanthippus quidam fuit Lacedæmonius, vir +disciplinà Laconicâ imbutus, et qui rei militaris usum mediocrem habebat. Whereas, +agreeably with the whole character and conduct of Xanthippus, I take the sense of +this passage to be, <q>a man formed by the Spartan discipline, and proportionably [not +moderately] skilful in military affairs.</q>—Trans.</note> +A single man here changes the whole +face of affairs. On one hand, he defeats troops which were +thought invincible; on the other, he revives the courage of +a city and an army, whom he had found in consternation and +despair. +</p> + +<p> +Such, as Polybius observes, is the use which ought to be +made of the study of history. For there being two ways of +<pb n='169'/><anchor id='Pg169'/> +acquiring improvement and instruction, first by one's own experience, +and secondly by that of other men; it is much more wise and +useful to improve by other men's miscarriages than by our own. +</p> + +<p> +I return to Regulus, that I may here finish what relates to +him; Polybius, to our great disappointment, taking no further +notice of that general.<note place='foot'>This silence of +Polybius has prejudiced a great many learned men against +many of the stories told of Regulus's barbarous treatment, after he was taken by the +Carthaginians. M. Rollin speaks no further of this matter; and therefore I shall +give my reader the substance of what is brought against the general belief of the +Roman writers, (as well historians as poets,) and of Appian on this subject. First, it +is urged, that Polybius was very sensible that the story of these cruelties was false; +and therefore, that he might not disoblige the Romans, by contradicting so general +a belief, he chose rather to be silent concerning Regulus after he was taken prisoner, +than to violate the truth of history, of which he was so strict an observer. +This opinion is further strengthened (say the adversaries of this belief) by a fragment +of Diodorus, which says, that the wife of Regulus, exasperated at the death of her +husband in Carthage, occasioned, as she imagined, by barbarous usage, persuaded +her sons to revenge the fate of their father, by the cruel treatment of two Carthaginian +captives (thought to be Bostar and Hamilcar) taken in the sea-fight against +Sicily, after the misfortune of Regulus, and put into her hands for the redemption of +her husband. One of these died by the severity of his imprisonment; and the +other, by the care of the senate, who detested the cruelty, survived, and was recovered +to health. This treatment of the captives, and the resentment of the senate +on that account, form a third argument or presumption against the truth of this +story of Regulus, which is thus argued. Regulus dying in his captivity by the +usual course of nature, his wife, thus frustrated of her hopes of redeeming him by +the exchange of her captives, treated them with the utmost barbarity in consequence +of her belief of the ill usage which Regulus had received. The senate being angry +with her for it, to give some colour to her cruelties, she gave out among her +acquaintance and kindred, that her husband died in the way generally related. This, like +all other reports, increased gradually; and, from the national hatred betwixt the +Carthaginians and Romans, was easily and generally believed by the latter. How +far this is conclusive against the testimonies of two such weighty authors as Cicero +and Seneca (to say nothing of the poets) is left to the judgment of the +reader.—Trans.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>A.M. 3755. A. Rom. 499.</note> +After being kept some years in prison, he was sent to Rome +to propose an exchange of prisoners.<note place='foot'>Appian, +<hi rend='italic'>de Bella Pun.</hi> p. 2, 3. Cic. +<hi rend='italic'>de Off.</hi> l. iii. n. 99, 100. Aul. Gel. l. vi. +c. 4. Senec. <hi rend='italic'>Ep.</hi> 99.</note> He had +been obliged to take an oath, that he would return +in case he proved unsuccessful. He then acquainted +the senate with the subject of his voyage; and being invited +by them to give his opinion freely, he answered, that he could +no longer do it as a senator, having lost both this quality, and +that of a Roman citizen, from the time that he had fallen into +the hands of his enemies; but he did not refuse to offer his +thoughts as a private person. This was a very delicate affair. +Every one was touched with the misfortunes of so great a +man. <q>He needed only,</q> says Cicero, <q>to have spoken one +<pb n='170'/><anchor id='Pg170'/> +word, and it would have restored him to his liberty, his estate, +his dignity, his wife, his children, and his country;</q> but that +word appeared to him contrary to the honour and welfare of +the state. He therefore plainly declared, that an exchange of +prisoners ought not to be so much as thought of: that such +an example would be of fatal consequence to the republic: +that citizens who had so basely surrendered their arms to the +enemy, were unworthy of the least compassion, and incapable +of serving their country; that with regard to himself, as he +was so far advanced in years, his death ought to be considered +as nothing; whereas they had in their hands several Carthaginian +generals, in the flower of their age, and capable of +doing their country great services for many years. It was +with difficulty that the senate complied with so generous and +unexampled a counsel. The illustrious exile therefore left +Rome, in order to return to Carthage, unmoved either with +the deep affliction of his friends, or the tears of his wife and +children, although he knew but too well the grievous torments +which were prepared for him.<note place='foot'>Horat. l. iii. +<hi rend='italic'>Od.</hi> 3.</note> And indeed, the moment his +enemies saw him returned without having obtained the exchange +of prisoners, they put him to every kind of torture +their barbarous cruelty could invent. They imprisoned him for +a long time in a dismal dungeon, whence (after cutting off his +eye-lids) they drew him at once into the sun, when its beams +darted the strongest heat. They next put him into a kind of +chest stuck full of nails, whose points wounding him did not +allow him a moment's ease either day or night. Lastly, after +having been long tormented by being kept for ever awake in +this dreadful torture, his merciless enemies nailed him to a +cross, their usual punishment, and left him to expire on it. +Such was the end of this great man. His enemies, by depriving +him of some days, perhaps years, of life, brought eternal +infamy on themselves. +</p> + +<p> +The blow which the Romans had received in Africa did +not discourage them.<note place='foot'>Polyb. l. i. p. +37.</note> They made greater preparations than +before, to retrieve their loss; and put to sea, the following +campaign, three hundred and sixty vessels. The Carthaginians +sailed out to meet them with two hundred; but were +<pb n='171'/><anchor id='Pg171'/> +beaten in an engagement fought on the coasts of Sicily, and a +hundred and fourteen of their ships were taken by the Romans. +The latter sailed into Africa to take in the few soldiers +who had escaped the pursuit of the enemy, after the defeat of +Regulus; and had defended themselves vigorously in Clupea,<note place='foot'>Or +Clypea.—Trans.</note> +where they had been unsuccessfully besieged. +</p> + +<p> +Here again we are astonished that the Romans, after so +considerable a victory, and with so large a fleet, should sail into +Africa, only to bring from thence a small garrison; whereas +they might have attempted the conquest of it, since Regulus, +with much fewer forces, had almost completed it. +</p> + +<p> +The Romans, on their return, were overtaken by a storm, +which almost destroyed their whole fleet.<note place='foot'>Polyb. +l. i. p. 38-40.</note> The like misfortune +befell them also the following year.<note place='foot'>P. 41, +42.</note> However, they consoled +themselves for this double loss, by a victory which they gained +over Asdrubal, from whom they took near a hundred and forty +elephants. This news being brought to Rome, filled the whole +city with joy; not only because the strength of the enemy's +army was considerably diminished by the loss of their elephants, +but chiefly because this victory had inspired the land +forces with fresh courage; who, since the defeat of Regulus, +had not dared to venture upon an engagement; so great was +the terror with which those formidable animals had filled the +minds of all the soldiers. It was therefore judged proper to +make a greater effort than ever, in order to finish, if possible, +a war which had continued fourteen years. The two consuls +set sail with a fleet of two hundred ships, and arriving in Sicily, +formed the bold design of besieging Lilybæum. This was the +strongest town which the Carthaginians possessed, and the loss +of it would be attended with that of every part of the island +and open to the Romans a free passage into Africa. +</p> + +<p> +The reader will suppose, that the utmost ardour was shown, +both in the assault and defence of the place.<note place='foot'>Ibid. +l. i. p. 44-50.</note> Imilcon was +governor there, with ten thousand regular forces, exclusive of +the inhabitants; and Hannibal, the son of Hamilcar, soon +brought him as many more from Carthage; he having, with +<pb n='172'/><anchor id='Pg172'/> +the most intrepid courage, forced his way through the enemy's +fleet, and arrived happily in the port. +</p> + +<p> +The Romans had not lost any time. Having brought forward +their engines, they beat down several towers with their +battering rams; and gaining ground daily, they made such +progress, as gave the besieged, who now were closely pressed, +some fears. The governor saw plainly that there was no other +way left to save the city, but by firing the engines of the besiegers. +Having therefore prepared his forces for this enterprise, +he sent them out at daybreak with torches in their hands, +tow, and all kind of combustible matters; and at the same +time attacked all the engines. The Romans exerted their +utmost efforts to repel them, and the engagement was very +bloody. Every man, assailant as well as defendant, stood to +his post, and chose to die rather than quit it. At last, after +a long resistance and dreadful slaughter, the besieged sounded +a retreat, and left the Romans in possession of their works. +This conflict being over, Hannibal embarked in the night, and +concealing his departure from the enemy, sailed for Drepanum, +where Adherbal commanded for the Carthaginians. Drepanum +was advantageously situated; having a commodious port, and +lying about a hundred and twenty furlongs from Lilybæum; +and the Carthaginians had been always very desirous of preserving +it. +</p> + +<p> +The Romans, animated by their late success, renewed the +attack with greater vigour than ever; the besieged not daring +to make a second attempt to burn their machines, so much +were they disheartened by the ill success of the former. But +a furious wind rising suddenly, some mercenary soldiers represented +to the governor, that now was the favourable opportunity +for them to fire the engines of the besiegers, especially +as the wind blew full against them; and they offered themselves +for the enterprise. The offer was accepted, and accordingly +they were furnished with every thing necessary. In a +moment the fire caught all the engines; and the Romans +could not possibly extinguish it, because the flames being spread +instantly every where, the wind carried the sparks and smoke +full in their eyes, so that they could not see where to apply +<pb n='173'/><anchor id='Pg173'/> +relief; whereas their enemies saw clearly where to aim their +strokes, and throw their fire. This accident made the Romans +lose all hopes of being ever able to carry the place by force. +They therefore turned the siege into a blockade; raised a strong +line of contravallation round the town; and, dispersing their +army in every part of the neighbourhood, resolved to effect by +time, what they found themselves absolutely unable to perform +any other way. +</p> + +<p> +When the transactions of the siege of Lilybæum, and the +loss of part of the forces, were known at Rome, the citizens, so +far from desponding at this ill news, seemed to be fired with +new vigour.<note place='foot'>Polyb. p. 50.</note> +Every man strove to be foremost in the muster +roll; so that, in a very little time, an army of ten thousand +men was raised, who, crossing the strait, marched by land to +join the besiegers. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>A.M. 3756. A. Rom. 500.</note> +At the same time, P. Claudius Pulcher, the consul, formed +a design of attacking Adherbal in Drepanum.<note place='foot'>Ibid. p. 51.</note> He +thought himself sure of surprising him, because, after +the loss lately sustained by the Romans at Lilybæum, +the enemy could not imagine that they would venture out +again at sea. Flushed with these hopes, he sailed out with +his fleet in the night, the better to conceal his design. But he +had to do with an active general, whose vigilance he could not +elude, and who did not even give him time to draw up his +ships in line of battle, but fell vigorously upon him whilst his +fleet was in disorder and confusion. The Carthaginians gained +a complete victory. Of the Roman fleet, only thirty vessels +got off, which being in company with the consul, fled with him, +and got away in the best manner they could along the coast. +All the rest, amounting to fourscore and thirteen, with the +men on board them, were taken by the Carthaginians; a few +soldiers excepted, who had escaped from the wreck of their +vessels. This victory displayed as much the prudence and +valour of Adherbal, as it reflected shame and ignominy on the +Roman consul. +</p> + +<p> +Junius, his colleague, was neither more prudent nor more +fortunate than himself, but lost his whole fleet by his ill +conduct.<note place='foot'>Ibid. p. 54-59.</note> +Endeavouring to atone for his misfortune by some +<pb n='174'/><anchor id='Pg174'/> +considerable action, he held a secret correspondence with the +inhabitants of Eryx,<note place='foot'>A city and mountain of +Sicily.—Trans.</note> and by that means got the city surrendered +to him. On the summit of the mountain stood the +temple of Venus Erycina, which was certainly the most beautiful +as well as the richest of all the Sicilian temples. The +city stood a little below the summit of this mountain, and the +only access to it was by a road very long and very rugged. +Junius posted one part of his troops upon the top, and the +remainder at the foot of the mountain, imagining that he now +had nothing to fear; but Hamilcar, surnamed Barca, father +of the famous Hannibal, found means to get into the city, +which lay between the two camps of the enemy, and there +fortified himself. From this advantageous post he harassed +the Romans incessantly for two years. One can scarce conceive +how it was possible for the Carthaginians to defend +themselves, when thus attacked from both the summit and foot +of the mountain; and unable to get provisions, but from a +little port, which was the only one open to them. By such +enterprises as these, the abilities and prudent courage of a +general, are as well, or perhaps better discovered, than by the +winning of a battle. +</p> + +<p> +For five years, nothing memorable was performed on either +side.<note place='foot'>Polyb. l. i. p. 59-62.</note> +The Romans had imagined that their land forces would +alone be capable of finishing the siege of Lilybæum: but as +they saw it protracted beyond their expectation, they returned +to their first plan, and made extraordinary efforts to fit out a +new fleet. The public treasury was at a low ebb; but this +want was supplied by the zeal of individuals; so ardent was +the love which the Romans bore their country. Every man, +according to his circumstances, contributed to the common +expense; and, upon public security, advanced money, without +the least scruple, for an expedition on which the glory and +safety of Rome depended. One man fitted out a ship at his +own charge; another was equipped by the contributions of +two or three; so that, in a very little time, two hundred +were ready for sailing. +<note place='margin'>A.M. 3763. A. Rom. 507.</note> +The command was given to Lutatius the consul, who immediately put to sea. +<pb n='175'/><anchor id='Pg175'/> +The enemy's fleet had retired into Africa: the consul therefore +easily seized upon all the advantageous posts in the neighbourhood +of Lilybæum; and foreseeing that he should soon be +forced to fight, he omitted no precautions to ensure success; +and employed the interval in exercising his soldiers and seamen +at sea. +</p> + +<p> +He was soon informed that the Carthaginian fleet drew near, +under the command of Hanno, who landed in a small island +called Hiera, opposite to Drepanum. His design was to reach +Eryx undiscovered by the Romans, in order to supply the army +there; to reinforce his troops, and take Barca on board to +assist him in the expected engagement. But the consul, suspecting +his intention, was beforehand with him; and having +assembled all his best forces, sailed for the small island +Ægusa,<note place='foot'>These islands are also called Ægates.—Trans.</note> +which lay near the other. He acquainted his officers with the +design he had of attacking the enemy on the morrow. Accordingly, +at daybreak, he prepared to engage: unfortunately +the wind was favourable for the enemy, which made him hesitate +whether he should give him battle. But considering that +the Carthaginian fleet, when unloaded of its provisions, would +become lighter and more fit for action; and, besides, would be +considerably strengthened by the forces and presence of Barca +he came to a resolution at once; and, notwithstanding the foul +weather, made directly to the enemy. The consul had choice +forces, able seamen, and excellent ships, built after the model +of a galley that had been lately taken from the enemy; and +which was the completest in its kind that had ever been seen. +The Carthaginians, on the other hand, were destitute of all +these advantages. As they had been the entire masters at sea +for some years, and the Romans did not once dare to face them, +they held them in the highest contempt, and looked upon +themselves as invincible. On the first report of the enemy +being in motion, the Carthaginians had put to sea a fleet fitted +out in haste, as appeared from every circumstance of it: the +soldiers and seamen being all mercenaries, newly levied, without +the least experience, resolution, or zeal, since it was not +for their own country they were going to fight. This soon +appeared in the engagement. They could not sustain the first +<pb n='176'/><anchor id='Pg176'/> +attack. Fifty of their vessels were sunk, and seventy taken, +with their whole crews. The rest, favoured by a wind which +rose very seasonably for them, made the best of their way to +the little island from whence they had sailed. There were +upwards of ten thousand taken prisoners. The consul sailed +immediately for Lilybæum, and joined his forces to those of +the besiegers. +</p> + +<p> +When the news of this defeat arrived at Carthage, it occasioned +so much the greater surprise and terror, as it was less +expected. The senate, however, did not lose their courage, +though they saw themselves quite unable to continue the war. +As the Romans were now masters of the sea, it was not possible +for the Carthaginians to send either provisions, or reinforcements, +to the armies in Sicily. An express was therefore immediately +despatched to Barca, the general there, empowering +him to act as he should think proper. Barca, so long as he +had room to entertain the least hopes, had done every thing +that could be expected from the most intrepid courage and the +most consummate wisdom. But having now no resource left, +he sent a deputation to the consul, in order to treat about a +peace. <q>Prudence,</q> says Polybius, <q>consists in knowing how +to resist and yield at a seasonable juncture.</q> Lutatius was not +insensible how tired the Romans were grown of a war, which +had exhausted them both of men and money; and the dreadful +consequences which had attended on Regulus's inexorable and +imprudent obstinacy, were fresh in his memory. He therefore +complied without difficulty, and dictated the following treaty. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>There shall be peace between Rome and Carthage +(in case the Roman people approve of it) on the following +conditions: The Carthaginians shall evacuate +all Sicily; shall no longer make war upon Hiero, +the Syracusans, or their allies: They shall restore +to the Romans, without ransom, all the prisoners +which they have taken from them; and pay them, +within twenty years, two thousand two hundred +Euboic talents of silver.</hi><note place='foot'>This sum +amounts to near six millions one hundred and eighty thousand French +livres, or 515,000<hi rend='italic'>l.</hi> English money.</note> +It is worth the reader's +<pb n='177'/><anchor id='Pg177'/> +remarking, by the way, the simple, exact, and clear terms in +which this treaty is expressed; that, in so short a compass, +adjusts the interests of two powerful republics and their allies, +both by sea and land. +</p> + +<p> +When these conditions were brought to Rome, the people, +not approving of them, sent ten commissioners to Sicily, to +terminate the affair. These made no alteration as to the +substance of the treaty;<note place='foot'>Polyb. l. +iii. p. 182.</note> only shortening the time appointed +for the payment, reducing it to ten years: a thousand talents +were added to the sum that had been stipulated, which were +to be paid immediately; and the Carthaginians were required +to depart out of all the islands situated between Italy and +Sicily. Sardinia was not comprehended in this treaty; but +they gave it up by another treaty which was made some years +afterwards. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>A.M. 3763. A. Carth. 605. A. Rom. 507. Ant. J.C. 241.</note> +Such was the conclusion of a war, one of the longest mentioned +in history, since it continued twenty-four years +without intermission. The obstinacy, in disputing for +empire, was equal on either side: the same resolution, +the same greatness of soul, in forming as well +as in executing of projects, being conspicuous on both +sides. The Carthaginians had the superiority in their acquaintance +with naval affairs; in their skill in the construction +of their vessels; the working of them; the experience and +capacity of their pilots; the knowledge of coasts, shallows, +roads, and winds; and in the inexhaustible fund of wealth, +which furnished all the expenses of so long and obstinate a +war. The Romans had none of these advantages; but their +courage, zeal for the public good, love of their country, and a +noble emulation of glory, supplied all other deficiencies. We +are astonished to see a nation, so raw and inexperienced in +naval affairs, not only making head against a people who were +better skilled in them, and more powerful than any that had +ever been before; but even gaining several victories over them +at sea. No difficulties or calamities could discourage them. +They certainly would not have thought of peace, in the circumstances +under which the Carthaginians demanded it. One +<pb n='178'/><anchor id='Pg178'/> +unfortunate campaign dispirits the latter; whereas the Romans +are not shaken by a succession of them. +</p> + +<p> +As to soldiers, there was no comparison between those of +Rome and Carthage, the former being infinitely superior in +point of courage. Among the generals who commanded in +this war, Hamilcar, surnamed Barca, was, doubtless, the most +conspicuous for his bravery and prudence. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>The Libyan War; or against the +Mercenaries.</hi><note place='foot'>Polyb. l. i. p. 65-89.</note>—The war +which the Carthaginians waged against the Romans, was +succeeded immediately by another,<note place='foot'>The same +year that the first Punic war ended.—Trans.</note> which, though of much +shorter continuance, was infinitely more dangerous; as it was +carried on in the very heart of the republic, and attended with +such cruelty and barbarity, as is scarce to be paralleled in +history; I mean the war which the Carthaginians were obliged +to sustain against their mercenary troops, who had served +under them in Sicily, and which is commonly called the +African or Libyan war.<note place='foot'>And sometimes ξενικὸν, or the war with the +mercenaries.—Trans.</note> It continued only three years and a +half, but was a very bloody one. The occasion of it was this: +</p> + +<p> +As soon as the treaty was concluded with the +Romans,<note place='foot'>Ibid. p. 66.</note> +Hamilcar, having carried to Lilybæum the forces which were +in Eryx, resigned his commission; and left to Gisgo, governor +of the place, the care of transporting these forces into Africa. +Gisgo, as though he had foreseen what would happen, did not +ship them all off at once, but in small and separate parties, in +order that those who came first might be paid off, and sent +home, before the arrival of the rest. This conduct evinced +great forecast and wisdom, but was not seconded equally at +Carthage. As the republic had been exhausted by the expense +of a long war, and the payment of near one hundred and thirty +thousand pounds to the Romans on signing the peace, the +forces were not paid off in proportion as they arrived; but it +was thought proper to wait for the rest, in the hopes of obtaining +from them (when they should be all together) a remission +of some part of their arrears. This was the first oversight. +</p> + +<p> +Here we discover the genius of a state composed of merchants, +who know the full value of money, but are little +<pb n='179'/><anchor id='Pg179'/> +acquainted with that of the services of soldiers; who bargain +for blood, as though it were an article of trade, and always go +to the cheapest market. In such a republic, when an exigency +is once answered, the merit of services is no longer +remembered. +</p> + +<p> +These soldiers, most of whom came to Carthage, having +been long accustomed to a licentious life, caused great disturbances +in the city; to remedy which, it was proposed to +their officers, to march them all to a little neighbouring town +called Sicca, and there supply them with whatever was necessary +for their subsistence, till the arrival of the rest of their +companions; and that then they should all be paid off, and +sent home. This was a second oversight. +</p> + +<p> +A third was, the refusing to let them leave their baggage, +their wives, and children in Carthage, as they desired; and the +forcing them to remove these to Sicca; whereas, had they +staid in Carthage, they would have been in a manner so many +hostages. +</p> + +<p> +Being all met together at Sicca, they began (having little +else to do) to compute the arrears of their pay, which they +made amount to much more than was really due to them. +To this computation, they added the mighty promises which +had been made them, at different times, as an encouragement +for them to do their duty; and pretended that these likewise +ought to be brought into the account. Hanno, who was then +governor of Africa, and had been sent to them from the magistrates +of Carthage, proposed to them to consent to some +abatement of their arrears; and to content themselves with +receiving a part, in consideration of the great distress to which +the commonwealth was reduced, and its present unhappy circumstances. +The reader will easily guess how such a proposal +was received. Complaints, murmurs, seditious and insolent +clamours, were every where heard. These troops being composed +of different nations, who were strangers to one another's +language, were incapable of hearing reason when they once +mutinied. Spaniards, Gauls, Ligurians; inhabitants of the +Balearic isles; Greeks, the greatest part of them slaves or +deserters, and a very great number of Africans, composed +these mercenary forces. Transported with rage, they immediately +<pb n='180'/><anchor id='Pg180'/> +break up, march towards Carthage, (being upwards of +twenty thousand,) and encamp at Tunis, not far from that +metropolis. +</p> + +<p> +The Carthaginians discovered too late their error. There +was no compliance, how grovelling soever, to which they did +not stoop, to soothe these exasperated soldiers: who, on their +side, practised every knavish art which could be thought of, +in order to extort money from them. When one point was +gained, they immediately had recourse to a new artifice, on +which to ground some new demand. Was their pay settled +beyond the agreement made with them, they still would be +reimbursed for the losses which they pretended to have sustained, +either by the death of their horses, by the excessive +price which, at certain times, they had paid for bread-corn; +and still insisted on the recompense which had been promised +them. As nothing could be fixed, the Carthaginians, with +great difficulty, prevailed on them to refer themselves to the +opinion of some general who had commanded in Sicily. Accordingly +they pitched upon Gisgo, who had always been very +acceptable to them. This general harangued them in a mild +and insinuating manner; recalled to their memories the long +time they had been in the Carthaginian service; the considerable +sums they had received from the republic; and granted +almost all their demands. +</p> + +<p> +The treaty was upon the point of being concluded, when +two mutineers occasioned a tumult in every part of the camp. +One of those was Spendius a Capuan, who had been a slave at +Rome, and had fled to the Carthaginians. He was tall and +bold. The fear he was under, of falling into the hands of his +former master, by whom he was sure to be hanged, (as was +the custom,) prompted him to break off the agreement. He was +seconded by one Matho,<note place='foot'>Matho was +an African, and free born; but as he had been active in raising +the rebellion, an accommodation would have ruined him. He, therefore, despairing +of a pardon, embraced the interests of Spendius with more zeal than any of the +rebels; and first insinuated to the Africans the danger of concluding a peace, as this +would leave them alone, and exposed to the rage of their old masters. Polyb. p. 98. +edit. Gronov.—Trans.</note> who had been very active in forming +the conspiracy. These two represented to the Africans, that +the instant after their companions should be discharged and +sent home, they, being thus left alone in their own country, +<pb n='181'/><anchor id='Pg181'/> +would fall a sacrifice to the rage of the Carthaginians, who +would take vengeance upon them for the common rebellion. +This was sufficient to raise them to fury. They immediately +made choice of Spendius and Matho for their chiefs. No +remonstrances were heard; and whoever offered to make any, +was immediately put to death. They ran to Gisgo's tent, +plundered it of the money designed for the payment of the +forces: dragged that general himself to prison, with all his +attendants; after having treated them with the utmost indignities. +All the cities of Africa, to whom they had sent deputies +to exhort them to recover their liberty, came over to them, +Utica and Hippacra excepted, which they therefore immediately +besieged. +</p> + +<p> +Carthage had never been before exposed to such imminent +danger. The citizens individually drew each his subsistence +from the rents or revenues of their lands, and the public +expenses from the tribute paid by Africa. But all this was +stopped at once; and (a much worse circumstance) was +turned against them. They found themselves destitute of arms +and forces, either for sea or land; of all necessary preparations +either for the sustaining of a siege, or the equipping of a fleet; +and, to complete their misfortunes, without any hopes of +foreign assistance, either from their friends or allies. +</p> + +<p> +They might, in some sense, impute to themselves the distress +to which they were reduced. During the last war, they +had treated the African nations with the utmost rigour, by +imposing excessive tributes on them, in the exaction of which +no allowance was made for poverty and extreme misery; and +governors, such as Hanno, were treated with the greater respect, +the more severe they had been in levying those tributes. +So that no great efforts were necessary to prevail upon the +Africans to engage in this rebellion. At the very first signal +that was made, it broke out, and in a moment became general. +The women, who had often, with the deepest affliction, seen +their husbands and fathers dragged to prison for non-payment, +were more exasperated than the men; and with pleasure gave +up all their ornaments towards the expenses of the war; so +that the chiefs of the rebels, after paying all they had promised +the soldiers, found themselves still in the midst of plenty: an +<pb n='182'/><anchor id='Pg182'/> +instructive lesson, says Polybius, to ministers, how a people +should be treated; as it teaches them to look, not only to the +present occasion, but to extend their views to futurity. +</p> + +<p> +The Carthaginians, notwithstanding their present distress, +did not despond, but made the most extraordinary efforts. +The command of the army was given to Hanno. Troops were +levied by land and sea; horse as well as foot. All citizens, +capable of bearing arms, were mustered; mercenaries were +invited from all parts; and all the ships which the republic had +left were refitted. +</p> + +<p> +The rebels discovered no less ardour. We related before, +that they had formed the siege of the two only cities which +refused to join them. Their army was now increased to +seventy thousand men. After detachments had been drawn +from it to carry on those sieges, they pitched their camp at +Tunis; and thereby held Carthage in a kind of blockade, filling +it with perpetual alarms, and frequently advancing up to +its very walls by day as well as by night. +</p> + +<p> +Hanno had marched to the relief of Utica, and gained a +considerable advantage, which, had he made a proper use of +it, might have proved decisive: but entering the city, and only +diverting himself there, the mercenaries, who had retreated to +a neighbouring hill covered with trees, hearing how careless +the enemy were, poured down upon them; found the soldiers +straggling in all parts; took and plundered the camp, and +seized upon all the supplies that had been brought from Carthage +for the relief of the besieged. Nor was this the only +error committed by Hanno; and errors, in such critical junctures, +are much the most fatal. Hamilcar, surnamed Barca, +was therefore appointed to succeed him. This general answered +the idea which had been entertained of him; and his +first success was the obliging the rebels to raise the siege of +Utica. He then marched against their army which was encamped +near Carthage; defeated part of it, and seized almost +all their advantageous posts. These successes revived the +courage of the Carthaginians. +</p> + +<p> +The arrival of a young Numidian nobleman, Naravasus by +name, who, out of esteem for the person and merit of Barca, +joined him with two thousand Numidians, was of great service +<pb n='183'/><anchor id='Pg183'/> +to that general. Animated by this reinforcement, he fell upon +the rebels, who had cooped him up in a valley; killed ten +thousand of them, and took four thousand prisoners. The +young Numidian distinguished himself greatly in this battle. +Barca took into his troops as many of the prisoners as were +desirous of being enlisted, and gave the rest free liberty to go +wherever they pleased, on condition that they should never +take up arms any more against the Carthaginians; otherwise, +that every man of them, if taken, should be put to death. This +conduct proves the wisdom of that general. He thought this +a better expedient than extreme severity. And indeed where +a multitude of mutineers are concerned, the greatest part of +whom have been drawn in by the persuasions of the most hotheaded, +or through fear of the most furious, clemency seldom +fails of being successful. +</p> + +<p> +Spendius, the chief of the rebels, fearing that this affected +lenity of Barca might occasion a defection among his troops, +thought the only expedient left him to prevent it, would be, to +strike some signal blow, which would deprive them of all hopes +of being ever reconciled to the enemy. With this view, after +having read to them some fictitious letters, by which advice +was given him, of a secret design concerted betwixt some +of their comrades and Gisgo for rescuing him out of prison, +where he had been so long detained; he brought them to the +barbarous resolution of murdering him and all the rest of the +prisoners; and any man, who durst offer any milder counsel, +was immediately sacrificed to their fury. Accordingly, this +unfortunate general, and seven hundred prisoners who were +confined with him, were brought out to the front of the camp, +where Gisgo fell the first sacrifice, and afterwards all the rest. +Their hands were cut off, their thighs broken, and their bodies, +still breathing, were thrown into a hole. The Carthaginians +sent a herald to demand their remains, in order to pay them +the last sad office, but were refused; and the herald was further +told, that whoever presumed to come upon the like errand, +should meet with Gisgo's fate. And, indeed, the rebels immediately +came to the unanimous resolution, of treating all such +Carthaginians as should fall into their hands in the same barbarous +manner; and decreed farther, that if any of their allies +<pb n='184'/><anchor id='Pg184'/> +were taken, they should, after their hands were cut off, be sent +back to Carthage. This bloody resolution was but too punctually +executed. +</p> + +<p> +The Carthaginians were now just beginning to breathe, as it +were, and recover their spirits, when a number of unlucky accidents +plunged them again into fresh dangers. A division arose +among their generals; and the provisions, of which they were +in extreme necessity, coming to them by sea, were all cast away +in a storm. But the misfortune which they most keenly felt, +was, the sudden defection of the two only cities which till then +had preserved their allegiance, and in all times adhered inviolably +to the commonwealth. These were Utica and Hippacra. +These cities, without the least reason, or even so much as a +pretence, went over at once to the rebels; and, transported +with the like rage and fury, murdered the governor, with the +garrison sent to their relief; and carried their inhumanity so +far, as to refuse their dead bodies to the Carthaginians, who +demanded them back in order for burial. +</p> + +<p> +The rebels, animated by so much success, laid siege to Carthage, +but were obliged immediately to raise it. They nevertheless +continued the war. Having drawn together, into one +body, all their own troops and those of the allies, (making upwards +of fifty thousand men in all,) they watched the motions +of Hamilcar's army, but carefully kept their own on the hills; +and avoided coming down into the plains, because the enemy +would there have had too great an advantage over them, on +account of their elephants and cavalry. Hamilcar, more skilful +in the art of war than they, never exposed himself to any of +their attacks; but taking advantage of their oversights, often +dispossessed them of their posts, if their soldiers straggled but +ever so little; and harassed them a thousand ways. Such of +them as fell into his hands, were thrown to wild beasts. At +last, he surprised them at a time when they least expected it, +and shut them up in a post which was so situated, that it was +impossible for them to get out of it. Not daring to venture a +battle, and being unable to get off, they began to fortify their +camp, and surrounded it with ditches and intrenchments. But +an enemy among themselves, and which was much more formidable, +had reduced them to the greatest extremity: this was +<pb n='185'/><anchor id='Pg185'/> +hunger, which was so raging, that they at last ate one another; +Divine Providence, says Polybius, thus revenging upon themselves +the barbarous cruelty they had exercised on others. +They now had no resource left; and knew but too well the +punishments which would be inflicted on them, in case they +should fall alive into the hands of the enemy. After such +bloody scenes as had been acted by them, they did not so +much as think of peace, or of coming to an accommodation. +They had sent to their forces encamped at Tunis for assistance, +but with no success. In the mean time the famine increased +daily. They had first eaten their prisoners, then their slaves; +and now their fellow-citizens only were left. Their chiefs, now +no longer able to resist the complaints and cries of the multitude, +who threatened to massacre them if they did not surrender, +went themselves to Hamilcar, after having obtained a safe +conduct from him. The conditions of the treaty were, that the +Carthaginians should select any ten of the rebels, to treat them +as they should think fit, and that the rest should be dismissed +with only one suit of clothes for each. When the treaty was +signed, the chiefs themselves were arrested and detained by the +Carthaginians, who plainly showed, on this occasion, that they +did not pride themselves upon their good faith and sincerity. +The rebels, hearing that their chiefs were seized, and knowing +nothing of the convention, suspected that they were betrayed, +and thereupon immediately took up arms. But Hamilcar, +having surrounded them, brought forward his elephants; and +either trod them all under foot, or cut them to pieces, they +being upwards of forty thousand. +</p> + +<p> +The consequence of this victory was, the reduction of almost +all the cities of Africa, which immediately returned to their +allegiance. Hamilcar, without loss of time, marched against +Tunis, which, ever since the beginning of the war, had been +the asylum of the rebels, and their place of arms. He invested +it on one side, whilst Hannibal, who was joined in the command +with him, besieged it on the other. Then advancing +near the walls, and ordering crosses to be set up, he hung +Spendius on one of them, and his companions who had been +seized with him on the rest, where they all expired. Matho, +the other chief, who commanded in the city, saw plainly by +<pb n='186'/><anchor id='Pg186'/> +this what he himself might expect; and for that reason was +much more attentive to his own defence. Perceiving that +Hannibal, as being confident of success, was very negligent in +all his motions, he made a sally, attacked his quarters, killed +many of his men, took several prisoners, among whom was +Hannibal himself, and plundered his camp. Then taking +Spendius from the cross, he put Hannibal in his place, after +having made him suffer inexpressible torments; and sacrificed +round the body of Spendius thirty citizens of the first quality in +Carthage, as so many victims of his vengeance. One would +conclude, that there had been a mutual emulation betwixt the +contending parties, which of them should outdo the other in +acts of the most barbarous cruelty. +</p> + +<p> +Barca being at that time at a distance, it was long before the +news of his colleague's misfortune reached him; and besides, +the road lying betwixt the two camps being impassable, it was +impossible for him to advance hastily to his assistance. This +disastrous accident caused a great consternation in Carthage. +The reader may have observed, in the course of this war, a +continual vicissitude of prosperity and adversity, of security +and fear, of joy and grief; so various and inconstant were the +events on either side. +</p> + +<p> +In Carthage it was thought advisable to make one bold effort. +Accordingly, all the youth capable of bearing arms were pressed +into the service. Hanno was sent to join Hamilcar; and thirty +senators were deputed to conjure those generals, in the name of +the republic, to forget past quarrels, and sacrifice their resentments +to their country's welfare. This was immediately complied +with; they mutually embraced, and were reconciled +sincerely to one another. +</p> + +<p> +From this time, the Carthaginians were successful in all +things; and Matho, who in every attempt after this came off +with disadvantage, at last thought himself obliged to hazard a +battle; and this was just what the Carthaginians wanted. The +leaders on both sides animated their troops, as going to fight +a battle which would for ever decide their fate. An engagement +ensued. Victory was not long in suspense; for the +rebels every where giving ground, the Africans were almost +all slain, and the rest surrendered. Matho was taken alive +<pb n='187'/><anchor id='Pg187'/> +and carried to Carthage. All Africa returned immediately to +its allegiance, except the two perfidious cities which had lately +revolted; however, they were soon forced to surrender at +discretion. +</p> + +<p> +And now the victorious army returned to Carthage, and was +there received with shouts of joy, and the congratulations of +the whole city. Matho and his soldiers, after having adorned +the public triumph, were led to execution; and finished, by a +painful and ignominious death, a life that had been polluted +with the blackest treasons and unparalleled barbarities. Such +was the conclusion of the war against the mercenaries, after +having lasted three years and four months. It furnished, says +Polybius, an ever-memorable lesson to all nations, not to +employ in their armies a greater number of mercenaries than +citizens; nor to rely, for the defence of their state, on a body of +men who are not attached to it either by interest or affection. +</p> + +<p> +I have hitherto purposely deferred taking notice of such +transactions in Sardinia, as passed at the time I have been +speaking of, and which were, in some measure, dependent on, +and resulting from, the war waged in Africa against the mercenaries. +They exhibit the same violent methods to promote +rebellion; the same excesses of cruelty; as if the wind had +carried the same spirit of discord and fury from Africa into +Sardinia. +</p> + +<p> +When the news was brought there of what Spendius and +Matho were doing in Africa, the mercenaries in that island +also shook off the yoke, in imitation of these incendiaries. +They began by the murder of Bostar their general, and of all +the Carthaginians under him. A successor was sent; but all +the forces which he carried with him went over to the rebels; +hung the general on a cross; and, throughout the whole +island, put all the Carthaginians to the sword, after having +made them suffer inexpressible torments. They then besieged +all the cities one after another, and soon got possession of the +whole country. But feuds arising between them and the +natives, the mercenaries were driven entirely out of the island, +and took refuge in Italy. Thus the Carthaginians lost Sardinia, +an island of great importance to them, on account of +its extent, its fertility, and the great number of its inhabitants. +</p> + +<pb n='188'/><anchor id='Pg188'/> + +<p> +The Romans, ever since their treaty with the Carthaginians, +had behaved towards them with great justice and moderation. +A slight quarrel, on account of some Roman merchants +who were seized at Carthage for having supplied the enemy +with provisions, had embroiled them a little. But these merchants +being restored on the first complaint made to the senate +of Carthage; the Romans, who prided themselves upon their +justice and generosity on all occasions, made the Carthaginians +a return of their former friendship; served them to the utmost +of their power; forbade their merchants to furnish any other +nation with provisions; and even refused to listen to the proposals +made by the Sardinian rebels, when invited by them to +take possession of the island. +</p> + +<p> +But these scruples and delicacy wore off by degrees; and +Cæsar's advantageous testimony (in Sallust) of their honesty +and plain-dealing, could not with any propriety be applied +here:<note place='foot'>Bellis Punicis omnibus, cum sæpe Carthaginenses et in pace et +per inducias multa nefanda facinora fecissent, nunquam ipsi per occasionem talia fecere: +magis quod se dignum foret, quàm quod in illos jure fieri posset, quærebant. Sallust. +<hi rend='italic'>in Bell. Gatilin.</hi>—Trans.</note> +<q>Although,</q> says he, <q>in all the Punic wars, the Carthaginians, +both in peace and during truces, had committed a +number of detestable actions, the Romans could never (how +inviting soever the opportunity might be) be prevailed upon +to retaliate such usage; being more attentive to their own +glory, than to the revenge they might have justly taken on +such perfidious enemies.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>A.M. 3767. A. Carth. 609. A. Rom. 511. Ant. J.C. 237.</note> +The mercenaries, who, as was observed, had retired into +Italy, brought the Romans at last to the resolution +of sailing over into Sardinia, to render themselves +masters of it. The Carthaginians were deeply afflicted +at the news, upon pretence that they had a +more just title to Sardinia than the Romans; they +therefore put themselves in a posture to take a speedy and +just revenge on those who had excited the people of that +island to take up arms against them. But the Romans, pretending +that these preparations were made not against Sardinia +but their state, declared war against the Carthaginians. The +latter, quite exhausted in every respect, and scarce beginning +to breathe, were in no condition to sustain a war. The +<pb n='189'/><anchor id='Pg189'/> +necessity of the times was therefore to be complied with, and +they were forced to yield to a more powerful rival. A fresh +treaty was thereupon made, by which they gave up Sardinia +to the Romans; and obliged themselves to a new payment +of twelve hundred talents, to keep off the war with which +they were menaced. This injustice of the Romans was +the true cause of the second Punic war, as will appear in the +sequel. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>The second Punic War.</hi><note place='foot'>Liv. +l. xxi. n. 1.</note>—The second Punic war, which I +am now going to relate, is one of the most memorable recorded +in history, and most worthy the attention of an inquisitive +reader; whether we consider the boldness of the enterprises; +the wisdom employed in the execution; the obstinate +efforts of two rival nations, and the ready resources they found +in their lowest ebb of fortune; the variety of uncommon +events, and the uncertain issue of so long and bloody a war; +or lastly, the assemblage of the most perfect models in every +kind of merit; and the most instructive lessons that occur in +history, either with regard to war, policy, or government. +Never did two more powerful, or at least more warlike, states +or nations make war against each other; and never had these +in question seen themselves raised to a more exalted pitch of +power and glory. Rome and Carthage were, doubtless, at +that time, the two first states of the world. Having already +tried their strength in the first Punic war, and thereby made +an essay of each other's power, they knew perfectly well what +either could do. In this second war, the fate of arms was so +equally balanced, and the success so intermixed with vicissitudes +and varieties, that that party triumphed which had been +most in danger of being ruined. Great as the forces of these +two nations were, it may almost be said, that their mutual +hatred was still greater. The Romans, on one side, could not +without indignation see the vanquished presuming to attack +them; and the Carthaginians, on the other, were exasperated +at the equally rapacious and harsh treatment which they pretended +to have received from the victor. +</p> + +<p> +The plan which I have laid down does not permit me to +enter into an exact detail of this war, whereof Italy, Sicily, +<pb n='190'/><anchor id='Pg190'/> +Spain, and Africa, were the several seats; and which has a still +closer connection with the Roman history than with that I am +now writing. I shall confine myself therefore, principally, to +such transactions as relate to the Carthaginians: and endeavour, +as far as I am able, to give my reader an idea of the +genius and character of Hannibal, who perhaps was the greatest +warrior that antiquity has to boast of. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>The remote and more immediate Causes of the second Punic +War.</hi>—Before I come to speak of the declaration of war +betwixt the Romans and Carthaginians, I think it necessary to +explain the true causes of it; and to point out by what steps +this rupture, betwixt these two nations, was so long preparing, +before it openly broke out. +</p> + +<p> +That man would be grossly mistaken, says Polybius,<note place='foot'>Lib. +iii. p. 162-168.</note> who +should look upon the taking of Saguntum by Hannibal as the +true cause of the second Punic war. The regret of the Carthaginians +for having so tamely given up Sicily, by the treaty +which terminated the first Punic war; the injustice and violence +of the Romans, who took advantage of the troubles +excited in Africa, to dispossess the Carthaginians of Sardinia, +and to impose a new tribute on them; and the success and +conquests of the latter in Spain; these were the true causes +of the violation of the treaty, as Livy<note place='foot'>Angebant +ingentis spiritûs virum Sicilia Sardiniaque amissæ: Nam et Siciliam +nimis celeri desperatione rerum concessam; et Sardiniam inter motum Africæ fraude +Romanorum, stipendio etiam superimposito, interceptam. Liv. l. xxi. n. +1.—Trans.</note> (agreeing here with +Polybius) insinuates in few words, in the beginning of his +history of the second Punic war. +</p> + +<p> +And indeed Hamilcar, surnamed Barca, was highly exasperated +on account of the last treaty, which the necessity of +the times had compelled the Carthaginians to submit to; and +he therefore meditated the design of taking just, though distant +measures, for breaking it on the first favourable opportunity +that should offer. +</p> + +<p> +When the troubles of Africa were appeased, he was sent +upon an expedition against the Numidians;<note place='foot'>Polyb. +l. ii. p. 90.</note> in which, giving +fresh proofs of his courage and abilities, his merit raised him +to the command of the army which was to act in Spain. Hannibal, +<pb n='191'/><anchor id='Pg191'/> +his son, at that time but nine years of age, begged with +the utmost importunity to attend him on this occasion;<note place='foot'>Polyb. +l. iii. p. 167. Liv. l. xxi. n. 1.</note> and +for that purpose employed all the soothing arts so common to +children of his age, and which have so much power over a +tender father. Hamilcar could not refuse him; and after +having made him swear upon the altars, that he would declare +himself an enemy to the Romans as soon as age would allow +him to do it, he took his son with him. +</p> + +<p> +Hamilcar possessed all the qualities which constitute the +great general. To an invincible courage, and the most consummate +prudence, he added a most engaging and insinuating +behaviour. He subdued, in a very short time, the greatest +part of the nations of Spain, either by the terror of his arms +or his engaging conduct; and after enjoying the command +there nine years, came to an end worthy his exalted character, +dying gloriously in arms for the cause of his country. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>A.M. 3776. A. Rom. 520.</note> +The Carthaginians appointed Asdrubal, his son-in-law, to +succeed him.<note place='foot'>Polyb. l. ii. p. +101.</note> This general, to strengthen his footing +in the country, built a city, which, by the advantage +of its situation, the commodiousness of its harbour, +its fortifications, and opulence occasioned by its great commerce, +became one of the most considerable cities in the world. +It was called New Carthage, and is at this day known by the +name of Carthagena. +</p> + +<p> +From the several steps of these two great generals, it was +easy to perceive that they were meditating some mighty design +which they had always in view, and laid their schemes at a +great distance for the putting it in execution. The Romans +were sensible of this, and reproached themselves for their +indolence and torpor, which had thrown them into a kind of +lethargy; at a time that the enemy were rapidly pursuing their +victories in Spain, which might one day be turned against +them. They would have been very well pleased to attack +them by open force, and to wrest their conquests out of their +hands; but the fear of another (not less formidable) enemy, +the Gauls, whom they expected shortly to see at their very +gates, kept them from showing their resentment. They therefore +had recourse to negotiations; and concluded a treaty +<pb n='192'/><anchor id='Pg192'/> +with Asdrubal, in which, without taking any notice of the rest +of Spain, they contented themselves with introducing an article, +by which the Carthaginians were not allowed to make any +conquests beyond the Iberus. +</p> + +<p> +Asdrubal, in the mean time, still pushed on his conquests;<note place='foot'>Polyb. +l. ii. p. 123. Liv. l. xxi. n. 2.</note> +still, however, taking care not to pass beyond the limits stipulated +by the treaty; but by sparing no endeavours to win the +chiefs of the several nations by a courteous and engaging +behaviour, he furthered the interests of Carthage still more by +persuasive methods than force of arms. But unhappily, after +having governed Spain eight years, he was treacherously murdered +by a Gaul, who took so barbarous a revenge for a private +grudge he bore him.<note place='foot'>The murder +was an effect of the extraordinary fidelity of this Gaul, whose +master had fallen by the hand of Asdrubal. It was perpetrated in public; and the +murderer being seized by the guards, and put to the torture, expressed so strong a +satisfaction in the thoughts of his having executed his revenge so successfully, that +he seemed to ridicule all the terror of his torments. Eo fuit habitu oris, ut superante +lætitià dolores, ridentis etiam speciem præbuerit. Liv. l. xxi. n. 1.—Trans.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>A.M. 3783. A. Rom. 530.</note> +Three years before his death, he had written to Carthage, +to desire that Hannibal, then twenty-two years of +age, might be sent to him.<note place='foot'>Liv. +l. xxi. n. 3, 4.</note> The proposal met with +some difficulty, as the senate was divided betwixt +two powerful factions, which, from Hamilcar's time, had began +to follow opposite views in the administration and affairs of +the state. One faction was headed by Hanno, whose birth, +merit, and zeal for the public welfare, gave him great influence +in the public deliberations. This faction proposed, on every +occasion, the concluding of a safe peace, and the preserving +the conquests in Spain, as being preferable to the uncertain +events of an expensive war, which they foresaw would one day +occasion the ruin of Carthage. The other, called the Barcinian +faction, because it supported the interests of Barca and +his family, had, to the credit and influence which it had long +enjoyed in the city, added the reputation which the signal exploits +of Hamilcar and Asdrubal had given it; and declared +openly for war. When therefore Asdrubal's demand came to +be debated in the senate, Hanno represented the danger of +sending so early into the field a young man, who already possessed +all the haughtiness and imperious temper of his father; +<pb n='193'/><anchor id='Pg193'/> +and who ought, therefore, rather to be kept a long time, and +very carefully, under the eye of the magistrates and the power +of the laws, that he might learn obedience, and a modesty +which should teach him not to think himself superior to all +other men. He concluded with saying, that he feared this +spark, which was then kindling, would one day rise to a conflagration. +His remonstrances were not heard, so that the +Barcinian faction had the superiority, and Hannibal set out +for Spain. +</p> + +<p> +The moment of his arrival there, he drew upon himself the +eyes of the whole army, who fancied they saw Hamilcar his +father revive in him. He seemed to dart the same fire from +his eyes; the same martial vigour displayed itself in the air of +his countenance, with the same features and engaging carriage. +But his personal qualities endeared him still more. He possessed +almost every talent that constitutes the great man. His +patience in labour was invincible, his temperance was surprising, +his courage in the greatest dangers intrepid, and his +presence of mind in the heat of battle admirable; and, a still +more wonderful circumstance, his disposition and cast of mind +were so flexible, that nature had formed him equally for commanding +or obeying; so that it was doubtful whether he was +dearer to the soldiers or the generals. He served three campaigns +under Asdrubal. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>A.M. 3784. A. Carth. 626. A. Rom. 528.</note> +Upon the death of that general, the suffrages of both the +army and people concurred in raising Hannibal +to the supreme command.<note place='foot'>Polyb. l. iii. p. 168, +169. Liv. l. xxi. n. 3-5.</note> I know not whether it +was not even then, or about that time, that the +republic, to heighten his influence and authority, +appointed him one of its Suffetes, the first dignity of the +state, which was sometimes conferred upon generals. It is +from Cornelius Nepos<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>In vit. +Annib.</hi> c. 7.</note> that we have borrowed this circumstance +of his life, who, speaking of the prætorship bestowed on +Hannibal, upon his return to Carthage, and the conclusion of +the peace, says, that this was twenty-two years after he had +been nominated king.<note place='foot'>Hic, ut rediit, Prætor +factus est, postquam rex fuerat anno secundo et vigesimo.—Trans.</note> +</p> + +<p> +The moment he was created general, Hannibal, as if Italy +<pb n='194'/><anchor id='Pg194'/> +had been allotted to him, and he had even then been appointed +to make war upon the Romans, turned secretly his whole views +on that side; and lost no time, for fear of being prevented by +death, as his father and brother-in-law had been. In Spain +he took several strong towns, and conquered many nations: +and although the Spaniards greatly exceeded him in the number +of forces, (their army amounting to upwards of a hundred +thousand men,) yet he chose his time and posts so judiciously, +that he entirely defeated them. After this victory, every +thing submitted to his arms. But he still forbore laying siege +to Saguntum,<note place='foot'>This city lay +on the Carthaginian side of the Iberus, very near the mouth of +that river, and in a country where the Carthaginians were allowed to make war, +but Saguntum, as an ally of the Romans, was excepted from all hostilities, by +virtue of the late treaty.—Trans.</note> carefully avoiding every occasion of a +rupture with the Romans, till he should have taken every step which +he judged necessary for so important an enterprise, pursuant +to the advice given him by his father. He applied himself +particularly to engage the affections of the citizens and allies, +and to gain their confidence, by generously allotting them a +large share of the plunder taken from the enemy, and by scrupulously +paying them all their arrears:<note place='foot'>Ibi largè +partiendo prædam, stipendia præterita cum fide exsolvendo, cunctos civium sociorumque +animos in se firmavit. Liv. l xxi. n. 5.—Trans.</note> a wise step, which +never fails of producing its advantage at a proper season. +</p> + +<p> +The Saguntines, on their side, sensible of the danger with +which they were threatened, informed the Romans of the +progress of Hannibal's conquests.<note place='foot'>Polyb. +l. iii. p. 170-173. Liv. l. xxi. n. 6-15.</note> Upon this, deputies were +nominated by the latter, and ordered to go and acquaint themselves +with the state of affairs upon the spot; they commanded +them also to lay their complaints before Hannibal, if it should +be thought proper; and in case he should refuse to do justice, +that then they should go directly to Carthage, and make the +same complaints. +</p> + +<p> +In the mean time Hannibal laid siege to Saguntum, foreseeing +that great advantages would accrue from the taking of this +city. He was persuaded, that this would deprive the Romans +of all hopes of carrying on the war in Spain; that this new +conquest would secure those he had already made; that as no +enemy would be left behind him, his march would be more +<pb n='195'/><anchor id='Pg195'/> +secure and unmolested; that he should find money enough in +it for the execution of his designs; that the plunder of the +city would inspire his soldiers with greater ardour, and make +them follow him with greater cheerfulness; that, lastly, the +spoils which he should send to Carthage, would gain him the +favour of the citizens. Animated by these motives, he carried +on the siege with the utmost vigour. He himself set an example +to his troops, was present at all the works, and exposed +himself to the greatest dangers. +</p> + +<p> +News was soon carried to Rome that Saguntum was besieged. +But the Romans, instead of flying to its relief, lost +their time in fruitless debates, and in deputations equally +fruitless. Hannibal sent word to the Roman deputies, that he +was not at leisure to hear them; they therefore repaired to +Carthage, but met with no better reception, the Barcinian +faction having prevailed over the complaints of the Romans, +and all the remonstrances of Hanno. +</p> + +<p> +During all these voyages and negotiations, the siege was +carried on with great vigour. The Saguntines were now reduced +to the last extremity, and in want of all things. An +accommodation was thereupon proposed; but the conditions +on which it was offered appeared so harsh, that the Saguntines +could not prevail upon themselves to accept them. +Before they gave their final answer, the principal senators, +bringing their gold and silver, and that of the public treasury, +into the market-place, threw both into a fire lighted for that +purpose, and afterwards rushed headlong into it themselves. +At the same time, a tower, which had been long assaulted by the +battering rams, falling with a dreadful noise, the Carthaginians +entered the city by the breach, soon made themselves masters +of it, and cut to pieces all the inhabitants who were of age +to bear arms. But notwithstanding the fire, the Carthaginians +got a very great booty. Hannibal did not reserve to himself +any part of the spoils gained by his victories, but applied them +solely to the carrying on his enterprises. Accordingly, Polybius +remarks, that the taking of Saguntum was of service to +him, as it awakened the ardour of his soldiers, by the sight of +the rich booty which they had just obtained, and by the hopes +of more; and it reconciled all the principal persons of Carthage +<pb n='196'/><anchor id='Pg196'/> +to Hannibal, by the large presents he made to them out +of the spoils. +</p> + +<p> +Words could never express the grief and consternation +with which the melancholy news of the capture and cruel fate +of Saguntum was received at Rome.<note place='foot'>Polyb. p. +174, 175. Liv. l. xxi. n. 16, 17.</note> Compassion for this +unfortunate city, shame for having failed to succour such faithful +allies, a just indignation against the Carthaginians, the +authors of all these calamities; a strong alarm raised by the +successes of Hannibal, whom the Romans fancied they saw +already at their gates; all these sentiments caused so violent +an emotion, that during the first moments of their agitation, +the Romans were unable to come to any resolution, or do any +thing but give way to the torrent of their passion, and sacrifice +floods of tears to the memory of a city which fell the victim +of its inviolable fidelity<note place='foot'>Sanctitate disciplinæ, +quâ fidem socialem usque ad perniciem suam coluerunt. Liv. l. +xxi. n. 7.—Trans.</note> to the Romans, and had been betrayed +by their unaccountable indolence and imprudent delays. +When they were a little recovered, an assembly of the people +was called, and war was decreed unanimously against the +Carthaginians. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>War proclaimed.</hi>—That no ceremony might be wanting, +deputies were sent to Carthage, to inquire whether Saguntum +had been besieged by order of the republic, and if so, to +declare war; or, in case this siege had been undertaken solely +by the authority of Hannibal, to require that he should be +delivered up to the Romans.<note place='foot'>Polyb. p. 187. +Liv. l. xxi. n. 18, 19.</note> The deputies perceiving that the +senate gave no direct answer to their demands, one of them +taking up the folded lappet of his robe, <q>I bring here,</q> says he, +in a haughty tone, <q>either peace or war; the choice is left to +yourselves.</q> The senate answering, that they left the choice to +him: <q>I give you war then,</q> says he, unfolding his robe. <q>And +we,</q> replied the Carthaginians, with the same haughtiness, <q>as +heartily accept it, and are resolved to prosecute it with the +same cheerfulness.</q> Such was the beginning of the second +Punic war. +</p> + +<p> +If the cause of this war should be ascribed to the taking +of Saguntum, the whole blame, says Polybius,<note place='foot'>Polyb. +l. iii. p. 184, 185.</note> lies upon the +<pb n='197'/><anchor id='Pg197'/> +Carthaginians, who could not, with any colourable pretence, +besiege a city that was in alliance with Rome, and, as such, +comprehended in the treaty, which forbade either party to +make war upon the allies of the other. But, should the origin +of this war be traced higher, and carried back to the time when +the Carthaginians were dispossessed of Sardinia by the Romans, +and a new tribute was so unreasonably imposed on them; it +must be confessed, continues Polybius, that the conduct of the +Romans is entirely unjustifiable on these two points, as being +founded merely on violence and injustice; and that, had the +Carthaginians, without having recourse to ambiguous and +frivolous pretences, plainly demanded satisfaction upon these +two grievances, and, upon their being refused it, had declared +war against Rome, in that case, reason and justice had been +entirely on their side. +</p> + +<p> +The interval between the conclusion of the first, and the +beginning of the second Punic war, was twenty-four years. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>A.M. 3787. A. Carth. 629. A. Rom. 531. Ant. J.C. 217.</note> +<hi rend='italic'>The Beginning of the Second Punic War.</hi>—When war was +resolved upon, and proclaimed on both sides, Hannibal, +who then was twenty-six or twenty-seven years +of age, before he discovered his grand design, thought +it incumbent on him to provide for the security of +Spain and Africa.<note place='foot'>Polyb. l. iii. +p. 187. Liv. l. xxi. n. 21, 22.</note> With this view, he marched the +forces out of the one into the other, so that the Africans +served in Spain and the Spaniards in Africa. He was prompted +to this from a persuasion, that these soldiers, being thus at a +distance from their respective countries, would be fitter for +service; and more firmly attached to him, as they would be a +kind of hostages for each other's fidelity. The forces which he +left in Africa amounted to about forty thousand men, twelve +hundred whereof were cavalry. Those of Spain were something +above fifteen thousand, of which two thousand five hundred +and fifty were horse. He left the command of the Spanish +forces to his brother Asdrubal, with a fleet of about sixty ships +to guard the coasts; and, at the same time, gave him the wisest +directions for his conduct, whether with regard to the Spaniards +or the Romans, in case they should attack him. +</p> + +<p> +Livy observes, that Hannibal, before he set forward on this +<pb n='198'/><anchor id='Pg198'/> +expedition, went to Cadiz to discharge some vows which he +had made to Hercules; and that he engaged himself by new +ones, in order to obtain success in the war he was entering +upon. Polybius gives us,<note place='foot'>Lib. iii. p. +192, 193.</note> in few words, a very clear idea of +the distance of the several places through which Hannibal was +to march in his way to Italy. From New Carthage, whence +he set out to the Iberus, were computed two thousand two +hundred furlongs.<note place='foot'>275 miles.</note><note place='foot'>Polybius +makes the distance from New Carthage to be 2600 furlongs; consequently, +the whole number of furlongs will be 8400, or (allowing 625 feet to the +furlong) 944 English miles, and almost one-third. See Polybius, +edit. Gronov. p. 267.—Trans.</note> From the Iberus to Emporium, a small +maritime town, which separates Spain from the Gauls, according +to Strabo,<note place='foot'>Lib. iii. p. 199.</note> were +sixteen hundred furlongs.<note place='foot'>200 miles.</note> From Emporium +to the pass of the Rhone, the like space of sixteen hundred +furlongs.<note place='foot'>200 miles.</note> From the pass of the Rhone to the Alps, +fourteen hundred furlongs.<note place='foot'>175 miles.</note> From the Alps to the +plains of Italy, twelve hundred furlongs.<note place='foot'>150 miles.</note> +Thus from New Carthage to the plains of Italy, were eight thousand +furlongs.<note place='foot'>1000 miles.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Hannibal had long before taken the prudent precaution of +acquainting himself with the nature and situation of the places +through which he was to pass;<note place='foot'>Polyb. l. iii. +p. 188, 189.</note> of sounding how the Gauls +stood affected to the Romans; of winning over their chiefs, +whom he knew to be very greedy of gold, by his bounty to +them;<note place='foot'>Audierunt præoccupatos jam +ab Annibale Gallorum animos esse: sed ne illi +quidem ipsi satis mitem gentem fore, ni subinde anro, cujus avidissima +gens est, principum animi concilientur. Liv. l. xxi. n. +20.—Trans.</note> and of securing to himself the affection and fidelity +of one part of the nations through whose country his march lay. +He was not ignorant that the passage of the Alps would be +attended with great difficulties; but he knew they were not +unsurmountable, and that was enough for his purpose. +</p> + +<p> +Hannibal began his march early in the spring, from New +Carthage, where he had wintered.<note place='foot'>Polyb. p. +189, 190. Liv. l. xxi. n. 22-24.</note> His army then consisted +of above a hundred thousand men, of which twelve thousand +were cavalry, and he had near forty elephants. Having crossed +the Iberus, he soon subdued the several nations which opposed +him in his march; and lost a considerable part of his army in +this expedition. He left Hanno to command all the country +<pb n='199'/><anchor id='Pg199'/> +lying between the Iberus and the Pyrenean hills, with eleven +thousand men, who were appointed to guard the baggage of +those that were to follow him. He dismissed the like number, +sending them back to their respective countries; thus securing +to himself their affection when he should want recruits, and +affording to the rest a sure hope that they should be allowed +to return whenever they should desire it. He passed the +Pyrenean hills, and advanced as far as the banks of the Rhone, +at the head of fifty thousand foot, and nine thousand horse; +a formidable army, but less so from the number than from the +valour of the troops that composed it; troops who had served +several years in Spain, and learned the art of war, under the +ablest captains that Carthage could ever boast. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Passage of the Rhone.</hi>—Hannibal, being arrived within +about four days' march from the mouth of the Rhone,<note place='foot'>A little +above Avignon.—Trans.</note> attempted +to cross it, because the river in this place took up only +the breadth of its channel.<note place='foot'>Polyb. l. iii. +p. 270-274. edit. Gronov. Liv. l. xxi. ii. 26-28.</note> He bought up all +the ship-boats and little vessels he could meet with, of which the inhabitants +had a great number, because of their commerce. He likewise +built, with great diligence, a prodigious number of boats, little +vessels, and rafts. On his arrival, he found the Gauls encamped +on the opposite bank, and prepared to dispute the passage. +There was no possibility of his attacking them in front. He +therefore ordered a considerable detachment of his forces, +under the command of Hanno, the son of Bomilcar, to pass +the river higher up; and in order to conceal his march, and +the design he had in view, from the enemy, he obliged them to +set out in the night. All things succeeded as he had planned; +and they passed the river<note place='foot'>It is thought this was betwixt +Roquemaure and Pont St. Esprit.—Trans.</note> the next day without the least +opposition. +</p> + +<p> +They passed the rest of the day in refreshing themselves, +and in the night they advanced silently towards the enemy. +In the morning, when the signals agreed upon had been given, +Hannibal prepared to attempt the passage. Part of his horses, +completely harnessed, were put into boats, that their riders +might, on landing, immediately charge the enemy. The rest +<pb n='200'/><anchor id='Pg200'/> +of the horses swam over on both sides of the boats, from which +one single man held the bridles of three or four. The infantry +crossed the river, either on rafts, or in small boats, and in a +kind of gondolas, which were only the trunks of trees, which +they themselves had made hollow. The great boats were drawn +up in a line at the top of the channel, in order to break the +force of the waves, and facilitate the passage to the rest of the +small fleet. When the Gauls saw it advancing on the river, +they, according to their custom, uttered dreadful cries and +howlings; and clashing their bucklers over their heads, one +against the other, let fly a shower of darts. But they were +prodigiously astonished, when they heard a great noise behind +them, perceived their tents on fire, and saw themselves attacked +both in front and rear. They now had no way left to save +themselves but by flight, and accordingly retreated to their +respective villages. After this, the rest of the troops crossed +the river quietly, and without any opposition. +</p> + +<p> +The elephants alone occasioned a great deal of trouble. +They were wafted over the next day in the following manner. +From the bank of the river was thrown a raft, two hundred +feet in length, and fifty in breadth; this was fixed strongly to +the banks by large ropes, and quite covered over with earth; +so that the elephants, deceived by its appearance, thought +themselves upon firm ground. From this first raft they proceeded +to a second, which was built in the same form, but +only a hundred feet long, and fastened to the former by chains +that were easily loosened. The female elephants were put +upon the first raft, and the males followed after; and when +they were got upon the second raft, it was loosened from the +first, and, by the help of small boats, towed to the opposite +shore. After this, it was sent back to fetch those which were +behind. Some fell into the water, but they at last got safe to +shore, and not a single elephant was drowned. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>The March after the Battle of the Rhone.</hi>—The two Roman +consuls had, in the beginning of the spring, set out for their +respective provinces;<note place='foot'>Polyb. l. iii. p. 200-202, &c. +Liv. l. xxi. n. 31, 32.</note> P. Scipio for Spain with sixty ships, two +Roman legions, fourteen thousand foot, and twelve hundred +horse of the allies; Tiberius Sempronius for Sicily, with a +<pb n='201'/><anchor id='Pg201'/> +hundred and sixty ships, two legions, sixteen thousand foot, +and eighteen hundred horse of the allies. The Roman legion +consisted, at that time, of four thousand foot and three hundred +horse. Sempronius had made extraordinary preparations +at Lilybæum, a seaport town in Sicily, with the design of +crossing over directly into Africa. Scipio was equally confident +that he should find Hannibal still in Spain, and make that +country the seat of war. But he was greatly astonished, when, +on his arrival at Marseilles, advice was brought him, that +Hannibal was upon the banks of the Rhone, and preparing to +cross it. He then detached three hundred horse, to view the +posture of the enemy; and Hannibal detached five hundred +Numidian horse for the same purpose; during which, some of +his soldiers were employed in wafting over the elephants. +</p> + +<p> +At the same time he gave audience, in the presence of his +whole army, to one of the princes of that part of Gaul which is +situated near the Po, who assured him, by an interpreter, in +the name of his subjects, that his arrival was impatiently +expected; that the Gauls were ready to join him, and march +against the Romans, and he himself offered to conduct his +army through places where they should meet with a plentiful +supply of provisions. When the prince was withdrawn, Hannibal, +in a speech to his troops, magnified extremely this deputation +from the Gauls; extolled, with just praises, the bravery +which his forces had shown hitherto; and exhorted them to +sustain, to the last, their reputation and glory. The soldiers +inspired with fresh ardour and courage, all at once raised their +hands, and declared their readiness to follow whithersoever he +should lead the way. Accordingly, he appointed the next day +for his march; and, after offering up vows, and making supplications +to the gods for the safety of his troops, he dismissed +them; desiring, at the same time, that they would take the +necessary refreshments. +</p> + +<p> +Whilst this was doing, the Numidians returned. They had +met with, and charged, the Roman detachment: the conflict +was very obstinate, and the slaughter great, considering the +small number of the combatants. A hundred and sixty of the +Romans were left dead upon the spot, and more than two hundred +of their enemies. But the honour of this skirmish fell to +<pb n='202'/><anchor id='Pg202'/> +the Romans; the Numidians having retired and left them the +field of battle. This first action was interpreted as an omen<note place='foot'>Hoc +principium simulque omen belli, ut summâ rerum prosperum eventum, +ita haud sanè incruentam ancipitisque certaminis victoriam Romanis portendit. Liv. +l. xxi. n. 29.—Trans.</note> +of the fate of the whole war, and seemed to promise success +to the Romans, but which, at the same time, would be dearly +bought, and strongly contested. On both sides, those who +had survived this engagement, and who had been engaged in +reconnoitring, returned to inform their respective generals of +what they had discovered. +</p> + +<p> +Hannibal, as he had declared, decamped the next day, and +crossed through the midst of Gaul, advancing northward; not +that this was the shortest way to the Alps, but only, as by +leading him from the sea, it prevented his meeting Scipio; +and, by that means, favoured the design he had, of marching +all his forces into Italy, without having weakened them by a +battle. +</p> + +<p> +Though Scipio marched with the utmost expedition, he did +not reach the place where Hannibal had passed the Rhone, +till three days after he had set out from it. Despairing therefore +to overtake him, he returned to his fleet, and reimbarked, +fully resolved to wait for Hannibal at the foot of the Alps. +But, in order that he might not leave Spain defenceless, he +sent his brother Cneius thither, with the greatest part of his +army, to make head against Asdrubal; and himself set forward +immediately for Genoa, with intention to oppose the army +which was in Gaul, near the Po, to that of Hannibal. +</p> + +<p> +The latter, after four days' march, arrived at a kind of +island, formed by the conflux<note place='foot'>The text of Polybius, +as it has been transmitted to us, and that of Livy, place +this island at the meeting of the Saone and the Rhone, that is, in that part where +the city of Lyons stands. But this is a manifest error. It was Σκώρας in the Greek, +instead of which ὁ Ἄραρος has been substituted. J. Gronovius says, that he had +read, in a manuscript of Livy, <hi rend='italic'>Bisarar</hi>, which shows, that +we are to read <emph>Isara Rhodanusque amnes</emph>, instead of <emph>Arar +Rhodanusque</emph>; and, that the island in question is formed by the conflux +of the Isere and the Rhone. The situation of the Allobroges, here spoken of, +proves this evidently.—Trans.</note> of two rivers, which unite their +streams in this place. Here he was chosen umpire between +two brothers, who disputed their right to the kingdom. He +to whom Hannibal decreed it, furnished his whole army with +provisions, clothes, and arms. This was the country of the +<pb n='203'/><anchor id='Pg203'/> +Allobroges, by which name the people were called, who now +inhabit the district of Geneva,<note place='foot'>In +Dauphiné.—Trans.</note> Vienne, and Grenoble. His +march was not much interrupted till he arrived at the Durance, +and from thence he reached the foot of the Alps without any +opposition. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>The Passage of the Alps.</hi>—The sight of these mountains, +whose tops seemed to touch the skies, and were covered with +snow, and where nothing appeared to the eye but a few pitiful +cottages, scattered here and there, on the sharp tops of inaccessible +rocks; nothing but meagre flocks, almost perished +with cold, and hairy men of a savage and fierce aspect; this +spectacle, I say, renewed the terror which the distant prospect +had raised, and chilled with fear the hearts of the soldiers.<note place='foot'>Polyb. +l. iii. p. 203-208. Liv. l. xxi. n. 32-37.</note> +When they began to climb up, they perceived the mountaineers, +who had seized upon the highest cliffs, and were prepared +to oppose their passage. They therefore were forced to +halt. Had the mountaineers, says Polybius, only lain in +ambuscade, and after having suffered Hannibal's troops to +entangle themselves in some difficult passage, had then charged +them on a sudden, the Carthaginian army would have been +irrecoverably lost. Hannibal, being informed that they kept +those posts only in the daytime, and quitted them in the +evening, possessed himself of them by night. The Gauls +returning early in the morning, were very much surprised to +find their posts in the enemy's hand: but still they were not +disheartened. Being used to climb up those rocks, they attacked +the Carthaginians who were upon their march, and +harassed them on all sides. The latter were obliged, at one +and the same time, to engage with the enemy, and struggle +with the ruggedness of the paths of the mountains, where they +could hardly stand. But the greatest disorder was caused by +the horses and beasts of burden laden with the baggage; who +being frighted by the cries and howling of the Gauls, which +echoed dreadfully among the mountains, and being sometimes +wounded by the mountaineers, came tumbling on the soldiers, +and dragged them headlong with them down the precipices +which skirted the road. Hannibal, being sensible that the +<pb n='204'/><anchor id='Pg204'/> +loss of his baggage alone was enough to destroy his army, ran +to the assistance of his troops, who were thus embarrassed; +and having put the enemy to flight, continued his march +without molestation or danger, and came to a castle, which +was the most important fortress in the whole country. He +possessed himself of it, and of all the neighbouring villages, in +which he found a large quantity of corn, and cattle sufficient +to subsist his army three days. +</p> + +<p> +After a pretty quiet march, the Carthaginians were to encounter +a new danger. The Gauls, feigning to take advantage +of the misfortunes of their neighbours, who had suffered for +opposing the passage of Hannibal's troops, came to pay their +respects to that general, brought him provisions, offered to be +his guides; and left him hostages, as pledges of their fidelity. +However, Hannibal placed no great confidence in them. The +elephants and horses marched in the front, whilst himself followed +with the main body of his foot, keeping a vigilant eye +over all. They came at length to a very narrow and rugged +pass, which was commanded by an eminence where the Gauls +had placed an ambuscade. These rushing out on a sudden, +assailed the Carthaginians on every side, rolling down stones +upon them of a prodigious size. The army would have been +entirely routed, had not Hannibal exerted himself in an extraordinary +manner to extricate them out of this difficulty. +</p> + +<p> +At last, on the ninth day, they reached the summit of the +Alps. Here the army halted two days, to rest and refresh +themselves after their fatigue, after which they continued their +march. As it was now autumn, a great quantity of snow had +lately fallen, and covered all the roads, which caused a consternation +among the troops, and disheartened them very +much. Hannibal perceived it, and halting on a hill from +whence there was a prospect of all Italy, he showed them the +fruitful plains<note place='foot'>Of Piedmont.—Trans.</note> +watered by the river Po, to which they were +almost come; adding, that they had but one effort more to +make, before they arrived at them. He represented to them, +that a battle or two would put a glorious period to their toils, +and enrich them for ever, by giving them possession of the +capital of the Roman empire. This speech, filled with such +<pb n='205'/><anchor id='Pg205'/> +pleasing hopes, and enforced by the sight of Italy, inspired the +dejected soldiers with fresh vigour and alacrity. They therefore +pursued their march. But still the road was more craggy +and troublesome than ever; and as they were now on a descent, +the difficulty and danger increased. For the ways were +narrow, steep, and slippery, in most places; so that the soldiers +could neither keep upon their feet as they marched, nor +recover themselves when they made a false step, but stumbled, +and beat down one another. +</p> + +<p> +They were now come to a worse place than any they had +yet met with. This was a path naturally very rugged and +craggy, which having been made more so by the late falling in +of the earth, terminated in a frightful precipice above a thousand +feet deep. Here the cavalry stopped short. Hannibal, +wondering at this sudden halt, ran to the place, and saw that +it really would be impossible for the troops to advance. He +therefore was for making a circuitous route, but this also was +found impracticable. As, upon the old snow, which was +grown hard by lying, there was some newly fallen that was of +no great depth, the feet, at first, by their sinking into it, found +a firm support; but this snow being soon dissolved, by the +treading of the foremost troops and beasts of burden, the soldiers +marched on nothing but ice, which was so slippery, that +they had no firm footing; and where, if they made the least +false step, or endeavoured to save themselves with their hands +or knees, there were no boughs or roots to catch hold of. +Besides this difficulty, the horses, striking their feet forcibly +into the ice to keep themselves from falling, could not draw +them out again, but were caught as in a gin. They therefore +were forced to seek some other expedient. +</p> + +<p> +Hannibal resolved to pitch his camp, and to give his troops +some days' rest on the summit of this hill, which was of a +considerable extent; after they should have cleared the ground, +and removed all the old as well as the new fallen snow, which +was a work of immense labour. He afterwards ordered a +path to be cut into the rock itself, and this was carried on +with amazing patience and ardour. To open and enlarge this +path, all the trees thereabouts were cut down, and piled round +the rock; after which fire was set to them. The wind, by +<pb n='206'/><anchor id='Pg206'/> +good fortune, blowing hard, a fierce flame soon broke out, so +that the rock glowed like the very coals with which it was surrounded. +Then Hannibal, if Livy may be credited, (for Polybius +says nothing of this matter,) caused a great quantity of +vinegar to be poured on the rock,<note place='foot'>Many reject this +incident as fictitious. Pliny takes notice of a remarkable quality in +vinegar; <hi rend='italic'>viz.</hi> its being able to break rocks and stones. Saxa +rumpit infusum, quæ non ruperit ignis antecedens, l. xxiii. c. 1. He therefore calls it, +Succus rerum domitor, l. xxxiii. c 2. Dion, speaking of the siege of Eleutheræ, +says, that the walls of it were made to fall by the force of vinegar, l. xxxvi. p. 8. +Probably, the circumstance that seems improbable on this occasion, is, the difficulty +of Hannibal's procuring, in those mountains, a quantity of vinegar sufficient for this +purpose.—Trans.</note> which piercing into the +veins of it, that were now cracked by the intense heat of the +fire, calcined and softened it. In this manner, taking a large +compass about, in order that the descent might be easier, they +cut away along the rock, which opened a free passage to the +forces, the baggage, and even to the elephants. Four days +were employed in this work, during which the beasts of burden +were dying with hunger; there being no food for them on +these mountains buried under eternal snows. At last they +came into cultivated and fruitful spots, which yielded plenty +of forage for the horses, and all kinds of food for the soldiers. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Hannibal enters Italy.</hi>—When Hannibal entered into +Italy, his army was not near so numerous as when he left +Spain, where we have seen it amounted to near sixty thousand +men.<note place='foot'>Polyb. l. iii. p. 209 & 212-214. Liv. +l. xxi. c. 39.</note> It had sustained great losses during the march, either in +the battles it was forced to fight, or in the passage of rivers. At +his departure from the Rhone, it still consisted of thirty-eight +thousand foot, and above eight thousand horse. The march +over the Alps destroyed near half this number; so that Hannibal +had now remaining only twelve thousand Africans, eight +thousand Spanish foot, and six thousand horse. This account +he himself caused to be engraved on a pillar near the promontory +called Lacinium. It was five months and a half since his +first setting out from New Carthage, including the fortnight he +employed in marching over the Alps, when he set up his standards +in the plains of the Po, at the entrance of Piedmont. It +might then be September. +</p> + +<p> +His first care was to give his troops some rest, which they +very much wanted. When he perceived that they were fit for +<pb n='207'/><anchor id='Pg207'/> +action, the inhabitants of the territories of +Turin<note place='foot'>Taurini.—Trans.</note> refusing to +conclude an alliance with him, he marched and encamped +before their chief city; carried it in three days, and put all who +had opposed him to the sword. This expedition struck the +barbarians with so much dread, that they all came voluntarily, +and surrendered at discretion. The rest of the Gauls would +have done the same, had they not been awed by the terror of +the Roman arms, which were now approaching. Hannibal +thought therefore that he had no time to lose; that it was his +interest to march up into the country, and attempt some great +exploit; such as might inspire those who should have an +inclination to join him with confidence. +</p> + +<p> +The rapid progress which Hannibal had made, greatly +alarmed Rome, and caused the utmost consternation throughout +the city. Sempronius was ordered to leave Sicily, and +hasten to the relief of his country; and P. Scipio, the other +consul, advanced by forced marches towards the enemy, crossed +the Po, and pitched his camp near the Ticinus.<note place='foot'>A small +river (now called Tesino) in Lombardy.—Trans.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Battle of the Cavalry near the Ticinus.</hi>—The armies +being now in sight, the generals on each side made a speech +to their soldiers before they engaged.<note place='foot'>Polyb. l. +iii. p. 214-218. Liv. l. xxi. n. 39-47.</note> Scipio, after having +represented to his forces the glory of their country, the achievements +of their ancestors, observed to them, that victory was in +their hands, since they were to combat only with Carthaginians, +a people who had been so often defeated by them, as +well as forced to be their tributaries for twenty years, and long +accustomed to be almost their slaves: that the advantage they +had gained over the flower of the Carthaginian horse, was a +sure omen of their success during the rest of the war: that +Hannibal, in his march over the Alps, had just before lost the +best part of his army; and that those who survived were exhausted +by hunger, cold, and fatigue: that the bare sight of +the Romans was sufficient to put to flight a parcel of soldiers, +who had the aspects of ghosts rather than of men: in a word, +that victory was become necessary, not only to secure Italy, +<pb n='208'/><anchor id='Pg208'/> +but to save Rome itself, whose fate the present battle would +decide, as that city had no other army wherewith to oppose the +enemy. +</p> + +<p> +Hannibal, that his words might make the stronger impression +on the rude minds of his soldiers, speaks to their eyes, +before he addresses their ears; and does not attempt to persuade +them by arguments, till he has first moved them by the +following spectacle. He arms some of the prisoners whom he +had taken in the mountains, and obliges them to fight, two +and two, in sight of his army; promising to reward the conquerors +with their liberty and rich presents. The alacrity +wherewith these barbarians engaged upon these motives, gives +Hannibal an occasion of exhibiting to his soldiers a lively +image of their present condition; which, by depriving them of +all means of returning back, puts them under an absolute +necessity either of conquering or dying, in order to avoid the +endless evils prepared for those that should be so base and +cowardly as to submit to the Romans. He displays to them +the greatness of their reward, <hi rend='italic'>viz.</hi> the conquest of all Italy; +the plunder of the rich and wealthy city of Rome; an illustrious +victory, and immortal glory. He speaks contemptibly +of the Roman power, the false lustre of which (he observed) +ought not to dazzle such warriors as themselves, who had +marched from the pillars of Hercules, through the fiercest +nations, into the very centre of Italy. As for his own part, he +scorns to compare himself with Scipio, a general of but six +months' standing: himself, who was almost born, at least +brought up, in the tent of Hamilcar his father; the conqueror +of Spain, of Gaul, of the inhabitants of the Alps, and what is +still more, conqueror of the Alps themselves. He rouses their +indignation against the insolence of the Romans, who had dared +to demand that himself, and the rest who had taken Saguntum, +should be delivered up to them; and excites their jealousy +against the intolerable pride of those imperious masters, who +imagined that all things ought to obey them, and that they had +a right to give laws to the whole world. +</p> + +<p> +After these speeches, both sides prepare for battle. Scipio, +having thrown a bridge across the Ticinus, marched his troops +<pb n='209'/><anchor id='Pg209'/> +over it. Two ill omens<note place='foot'>These two ill omens were, +first, a wolf had stolen into the camp of the Romans, and cruelly +mangled some of the soldiers, without receiving the least harm from +those who endeavoured to kill it: and secondly, a swarm of bees had pitched upon a +tree near the Prætorium or general's tent. Liv. l. xxi. c. 46.—Trans.</note> +had filled his army with consternation +and dread. As for the Carthaginians, they were inspired +with the boldest courage. Hannibal animates them with fresh +promises; and cleaving with a stone the skull of the lamb he +was sacrificing, he prays Jupiter to dash to pieces his head in +like manner, in case he did not give his soldiers the rewards he +had promised them. +</p> + +<p> +Scipio posts, in the first line, the troops armed with missive +weapons, and the Gaulish horse; and forming his second line +of the flower of the confederate cavalry, he advances slowly. +Hannibal advanced with his whole cavalry, in the centre of +which he had posted the troopers who rid with bridles, and the +Numidian horsemen on<note place='foot'>The Numidians used to ride without +saddle or bridle.—Trans.</note> the wings, in order to surround the +enemy. The officers and cavalry being eager to engage, a +charge ensues. At the first onset, Scipio's light-armed soldiers +had scarcely discharged their darts, when, frighted at the +Carthaginian cavalry, which came pouring upon them, and +fearing lest they should be trampled under the horses' feet, +they gave way, and retired through the intervals of the squadrons. +The fight continued a long time with equal success. +Many troopers on both sides dismounted, so that the battle was +carried on between infantry as well as cavalry. In the mean +time, the Numidians surround the enemy, and charge the rear +of the light-armed troops, who at first had escaped the attack +of the cavalry, and tread them under their horses' feet. The +centre of the Roman forces had hitherto fought with great +bravery. Many were killed on both sides, and even more on +that of the Carthaginians. But the Roman troops were put +into disorder by the Numidians, who attacked them in the rear; +and especially by a wound the consul received, which disabled +him from continuing the combat. However, this general was +rescued out of the enemy's hands by the bravery of his son, +then but seventeen years old; and who afterwards was +honoured with the surname of Africanus, for having put a +glorious period to this war. +</p> + +<pb n='210'/><anchor id='Pg210'/> + +<p> +The consul, though dangerously wounded, retreated in good +order, and was conveyed to his camp by a body of horse, who +covered him with their arms and bodies: the rest of the army +followed him thither. He hastened to the Po, which he crossed +with his army, and then broke down the bridge, whereby he +prevented Hannibal from overtaking him. +</p> + +<p> +It is agreed, that Hannibal owed this first victory to his +cavalry; and it was judged from thenceforth that the main +strength of his army consisted in his horse; and therefore, +that it would be proper for the Romans to avoid large open +plains, such as are those between the Po and the Alps. +</p> + +<p> +Immediately after the battle of the Ticinus, all the neighbouring +Gauls seemed to contend who should submit themselves +first to Hannibal, furnish him with ammunition, and +enlist in his army. And this, as Polybius has observed, was +what chiefly induced that wise and skilful general, notwithstanding +the small number and weakness of his troops, to +hazard a battle; which he indeed was now obliged to venture, +from the impossibility of marching back whenever he should +desire to do it; because nothing but a battle would oblige the +Gauls to declare for him, whose assistance was the only refuge +he then had left. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Battle of the Trebia.</hi>—Sempronius the consul, upon the +orders he had received from the senate, was returned from +Sicily to Ariminum.<note place='foot'>Polyb. l. iii. p. 220-227. Liv. l. xxi. +n. 51-56.</note> From thence he marched towards the +Trebia, a small river of Lombardy, which falls into the Po a +little above Placentia, where he joined his forces to those of +Scipio. Hannibal advanced towards the camp of the Romans, +from which he was separated only by that small river. The +armies lying so near one another, gave occasion to frequent +skirmishes, in one of which Sempronius, at the head of a body +of horse, gained some advantage over a party of Carthaginians, +very trifling indeed, but which nevertheless very much increased +the good opinion this general naturally entertained of +his own merit. +</p> + +<p> +This inconsiderable success seemed to him a complete victory. +He boasted his having vanquished the enemy in the +same kind of fight in which his colleague had been defeated, +<pb n='211'/><anchor id='Pg211'/> +and that he thereby had revived the courage of the dejected +Romans. Being now resolutely bent to come, as soon as possible, +to a decisive battle, he thought it proper, for decency's +sake, to consult Scipio, whom he found of a quite different +opinion from himself. Scipio represented, that in case time +should be allowed for disciplining the new levies during the +winter, they would be much fitter for service in the ensuing +campaign; that the Gauls, who were naturally fickle and inconstant, +would disengage themselves insensibly from Hannibal; +that as soon as his wounds should be healed, his presence +might be of some use in an affair of such general concern: in +a word, he besought him earnestly not to proceed any further. +</p> + +<p> +These reasons, though so just, made no impression upon +Sempronius. He saw himself at the head of sixteen thousand +Romans, and twenty thousand allies, exclusive of cavalry, (a +number which, in those ages, formed a complete army,) when +both consuls joined their forces. The troops of the enemy +amounted to near the same number. He thought the juncture +extremely favourable for him. He declared publicly, that all +the officers and soldiers were desirous of a battle, except his +colleague, whose mind (he observed) being more affected by +his wound than his body, could not, for that reason, bear to +hear of an engagement. But still, continued Sempronius, is it +just to let the whole army droop and languish with him? +What could Scipio expect more? Did he flatter himself with +the hopes that a third consul, and a new army, would come to +his assistance? Such were the expressions he employed both +among the soldiers, and even about Scipio's tent. The time +for the election of new generals drawing near, Sempronius was +afraid a successor would be sent before he had put an end to +the war; and therefore it was his opinion, that he ought to +take advantage of his colleague's illness, to secure the whole +honour of the victory to himself. As he had no regard, says +Polybius, to the time proper for action, and only to that which +he thought suited his own interest, he could not fail of taking +wrong measures. He therefore ordered his army to prepare +for battle. +</p> + +<p> +This was the very thing Hannibal desired; as he held it for +a maxim, that a general who has entered a foreign country, or +<pb n='212'/><anchor id='Pg212'/> +one possessed by the enemy, and has formed some great +design, has no other refuge left, than continually to raise the +expectations of his allies by some fresh exploits. Besides, +knowing that he should have to deal only with new-levied and +unexperienced troops, he was desirous of taking advantage of +the ardour of the Gauls, who were extremely desirous of fighting; +and of Scipio's absence, who, by reason of his wound, +could not be present in the battle. Mago was therefore ordered +to lie in ambush with two thousand men, consisting of horse +and foot, on the steep banks of a small rivulet which ran between +the two camps, and to conceal himself among the bushes +that were very thick there. An ambuscade is often safer in a +smooth open country, but full of thickets, as this was, than in +woods, because such a spot is less apt to be suspected. He +afterwards caused a detachment of Numidian cavalry to cross +the Trebia with orders to advance at break of day as far as +the very barriers of the enemy's camp, in order to provoke +them to fight; and then to retreat and repass the river, in +order to draw the Romans after them. What he had foreseen, +came directly to pass. The fiery Sempronius immediately +detached his whole cavalry against the Numidians, and then +six thousand light-armed troops, who were soon followed by +all the rest of the army. The Numidians fled designedly; +upon which the Romans pursued them with great eagerness, +and crossed the Trebia without resistance, but not without +great difficulty, being forced to wade up to their very arm-pits +through the rivulet, which was swoln with the torrents that had +fallen in the night from the neighbouring mountains. It was +then about the winter-solstice, that is, in December. It happened +to snow that day, and the cold was excessively piercing. +The Romans had left their camp fasting, and without having +taken the least precaution; whereas the Carthaginians had, by +Hannibal's order, eaten and drunk plentifully in their tents; +had got their horses in readiness, rubbed themselves with oil, +and put on their armour by the fire-side. +</p> + +<p> +They were thus prepared when the fight began. The Romans +defended themselves valiantly for a considerable time, +though they were half spent with hunger, fatigue, and cold; +but their cavalry was at last broken and put to flight by that +<pb n='213'/><anchor id='Pg213'/> +of the Carthaginians, which much exceeded theirs in numbers +and strength. The infantry also were soon in great disorder. +The soldiers in ambuscade sallying out at a proper time, rushed +on a sudden upon their rear, and completed the overthrow. +A body of above ten thousand men resolutely fought their way +through the Gauls and Africans, of whom they made a dreadful +slaughter; but as they could neither assist their friends, nor +return to the camp, the way to it being cut off by the Numidian +horse, the river, and the rain, they retreated in good order to +Placentia. Most of the rest lost their lives on the banks of the +river, being trampled to pieces by the elephants and horses. +Those who escaped, went and joined the body above mentioned. +The next night Scipio retired also to Placentia. The Carthaginians +gained a complete victory, and their loss was inconsiderable, +except that a great number of their horses were +destroyed by the cold, the rain, and the snow; and that, of all +their elephants, they saved but one only. +</p> + +<p> +In Spain, the Romans had better success in this and the +following campaign;<note place='foot'>Polyb. l. iii. pp. +228, 229. Liv. l. xxi. n. 60, 61.</note> for Cn. Scipio extended his conquests as +far as the river Iberus,<note place='foot'>Or Ebro.—Trans.</note> +defeated Hanno, and took him prisoner. +</p> + +<p> +Hannibal took the opportunity, whilst he was in winter +quarters, to refresh his troops, and gain the affection of the +natives.<note place='foot'>Polyb. p. 229.</note> +For this purpose, after having declared to the prisoners +whom he had taken from the allies of the Romans, that +he was not come with the view of making war upon them, but +of restoring the Italians to their liberty, and protecting them +against the Romans, he sent them all home to their own countries, +without requiring the least ransom. +</p> + +<p> +The winter was no sooner over, than he set out towards +Tuscany,<note place='foot'>Liv. l. xxi. n. 58.</note> +whither he hastened his march for two important +reasons: first, to avoid the ill effects which would arise from +the ill will of the Gauls, who were tired with the long stay of +the Carthaginian army in their territories; and were impatient +of bearing the whole burden of a war, in which they had +engaged with no other view than to carry it into the country of +their common enemy: secondly, that he might increase, by +some bold exploit, the reputation of his arms in the minds of +<pb n='214'/><anchor id='Pg214'/> +all the inhabitants of Italy, by carrying the war to the very +gates of Rome; and at the same time reanimate his troops, +and the Gauls his allies, by the plunder of the enemy's lands. +But in his march over the Apennines, he was overtaken by a +dreadful storm, which destroyed great numbers of his men. +The cold, the rain, the wind and hail, seemed to conspire his +ruin; so that the fatigues which the Carthaginians had undergone +in crossing the Alps, seemed less dreadful than those they +now suffered. He therefore marched back to Placentia, where +he again fought Sempronius, who was returned from Rome. +The loss on both sides was very nearly equal. +</p> + +<p> +Whilst Hannibal was in these winter quarters, he hit upon +a true Carthaginian stratagem.<note place='foot'>Polyb. l. iii. p. +229. Liv. l. xxii. n. 1. Appian. <hi rend='italic'>in Bell. Annib.</hi> +p. 316.</note> He was surrounded with fickle +and inconstant nations: the friendship he had contracted with +them was but of recent date. He had reason to apprehend a +change in their disposition, and, consequently, that attempts +would be made upon his life. To secure himself, therefore, +he got perukes made, and clothes suited to every age. Of +these he sometimes wore one, sometimes another; and disguised +himself so often, that not merely such as saw him only +transiently, but even his intimate acquaintance, could scarce +know him. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>A.M. 3788. A. Rom. 532.</note> +At Rome, Cn. Servilius and C. Flaminius had been appointed +consuls.<note place='foot'>Polyb. pp. 230, 231. Liv. l. +xxii. n. 2.</note> Hannibal having advice that the +latter was advanced already as far as Arretium, a +town of Tuscany, resolved to go and engage him as +soon as possible. Two ways being shown him, he chose the +shortest, though the most troublesome, nay, almost impassable, +by reason of a fen which he was forced to go through. Here +the army suffered incredible hardships. During four days and +three nights they marched halfway up the leg in water, and, +consequently, could not get a moment's sleep. Hannibal himself, +who rode upon the only elephant he had left, could hardly +get through. His long want of sleep, and the thick vapours +which exhaled from that marshy place, together with the +unhealthiness of the season, cost him one of his eyes. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Battle of Thrasymenus.<note place='foot'>Polyb. l. +iii. p. 231-238. Liv. l. xxii. n. 3-8.</note></hi>—Hannibal being thus got, almost +<pb n='215'/><anchor id='Pg215'/> +unexpectedly, out of this dangerous situation, and having +refreshed his troops, marched and pitched his camp between +Arretium and Fesulæ, in the richest and most fruitful part of +Tuscany. His first endeavours were, to discover the disposition +of Flaminius, in order that he might take advantage of his +weak side, which, according to Polybius, ought to be the chief +study of a general. He was told, that Flaminius was greatly +conceited of his own merit, bold, enterprising, rash, and fond +of glory. To plunge him the deeper into these excesses, to +which he was naturally prone,<note place='foot'>Apparebat ferociter omnia ac +præpioperè acturum. Quóque pronior esset in sua vitia, agitare eum atque +irritare Pœnus parat. Liv. l. xxii. n. 3.—Trans.</note> he inflamed his impetuous +spirit, by laying waste and burning the whole country in his sight. +</p> + +<p> +Flaminius was not of a temper to continue inactive in his +camp, even if Hannibal had lain still. But when he saw the +territories of his allies laid waste before his eyes, he thought it +would reflect dishonour upon him, should he suffer Hannibal +to ransack Italy without control, and even advance to the very +walls of Rome without meeting any resistance. He rejected +with scorn the prudent counsels of those who advised him to +wait the arrival of his colleague, and to be satisfied, for the +present, with putting a stop to the devastation of the enemy. +</p> + +<p> +In the mean time, Hannibal was still advancing towards +Rome, having Cortona on the left hand, and the lake Thrasymenus +on his right. When he saw that the consul followed +close after him, with design to give him battle, in order to stop +him in his march; having observed that the ground was convenient +for an engagement, he thought only of making preparations +for it. The lake Thrasymenus and the mountains of +Cortona form a very narrow defile, which leads into a large +valley, lined on both sides with hills of a considerable height, +and closed, at the outlet, by a steep hill of difficult access. +On this hill, Hannibal, after having crossed the valley, came +and encamped with the main body of his army; posting his +light-armed infantry in ambuscade upon the hills on the right, +and part of his cavalry behind those on the left, as far almost +as the entrance of the defile, through which Flaminius was +obliged to pass. Accordingly, this general, who followed him +very eagerly with the resolution to fight him, being come to +<pb n='216'/><anchor id='Pg216'/> +the defile near the lake, was forced to halt, because night was +coming on; but he entered it the next morning at daybreak. +</p> + +<p> +Hannibal having permitted him to advance, with all his +forces, above half way through the valley, and seeing the Roman +van-guard pretty near him, gave the signal for the battle, +and commanded his troops to come out of their ambuscade, +in order that he might attack the enemy at the same time +from all quarters. The reader may guess at the consternation +with which the Romans were seized. +</p> + +<p> +They were not yet drawn up in order of battle, neither had +they got their arms in readiness, when they found themselves +attacked in front, in rear, and in flank. In a moment, all the +ranks were put into disorder. Flaminius, alone undaunted in +so universal a consternation, animates his soldiers both with +his hand and voice, and exhorts them to cut themselves a +passage with their swords through the midst of the enemy. +But the tumult which reigned every where, the dreadful shouts +of the enemy, and a fog that was risen, prevented his being +seen or heard. However, when the Romans saw themselves +surrounded on all sides, either by the enemy or the lake, the +impossibility of saving their lives by flight roused their courage, +and both parties began the fight with astonishing animosity. +Their fury was so great, that not a soldier in either army perceived +an earthquake which happened in that country, and +buried whole cities in ruins. In this confusion, Flaminius +being slain by one of the Insubrian Gauls, the Romans began +to give ground, and at last fairly fled. Great numbers, endeavouring +to save themselves, leaped into the lake; whilst +others, directing their course towards the mountains, fell into +the enemy's hands whom they strove to avoid. Six thousand +only cut their way through the conquerors, and retreated to +a place of safety; but the next day they were taken prisoners. +In this battle fifteen thousand Romans were killed, and about +ten thousand escaped to Rome by different roads. Hannibal +sent back the Latins, who were allies of the Romans, into their +own country, without demanding the least ransom. He commanded +search to be made for the body of Flaminius, in order +to give it burial; but it could not be found. He afterwards +put his troops into quarters of refreshment, and solemnized the +<pb n='217'/><anchor id='Pg217'/> +funerals of thirty of his chief officers who were killed in the +battle. He lost in all but fifteen hundred men, most of whom +were Gauls. +</p> + +<p> +Immediately after, Hannibal despatched a courier to Carthage, +with the news of his good success hitherto in Italy. This +caused the greatest joy for the present, gave birth to the most +promising hopes with regard to the future, and revived the +courage of all the citizens. They now prepared, with incredible +ardour, to send into Italy and Spain all necessary succours. +</p> + +<p> +Rome, on the contrary, was filled with universal grief and +alarm, as soon as the prætor had pronounced from the rostra +the following words, <q>We have lost a great battle.</q> The senate, +studious of nothing but the public welfare, thought that in so +great a calamity and so imminent a danger, recourse must be +had to extraordinary remedies. They therefore appointed +Quintus Fabius dictator, a person as conspicuous for his +wisdom as his birth. It was the custom at Rome, that the +moment a dictator was nominated, all authority ceased, that +of the tribunes of the people excepted. M. Minucius was +appointed his general of horse. We are now in the second +year of the war. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Hannibal's Conduct with respect to Fabius.<note place='foot'>Polyb. +l. iii. p. 239-255. Liv. l. xxii. n. 9-30.</note></hi>—Hannibal, +after the battle of Thrasymenus, not thinking it yet proper to +march directly to Rome, contented himself, in the mean time, +with laying waste the country. He crossed Umbria and Picenum; +and after ten days' march, arrived in the territory of +Adria.<note place='foot'>A small town, which gave its name to the +Adriatic sea.—Trans.</note> He got a very considerable booty in this march. +Out of his implacable enmity to the Romans, he commanded, +that all who were able to bear arms, should be put to the +sword; and meeting no obstacle any where, he advanced as +far as Apulia; plundering the countries which lay in his way, +and carrying desolation wherever he came, in order to compel +the nations to disengage themselves from their alliance with +the Romans; and to show all Italy, that Rome itself, now quite +dispirited, yielded him the victory. +</p> + +<p> +Fabius, followed by Minucius and four legions, had marched +from Rome in quest of the enemy, but with a firm resolution +<pb n='218'/><anchor id='Pg218'/> +not to let him take the least advantage, nor to advance one +step till he had first reconnoitred every place; nor hazard a +battle till he should be sure of success. +</p> + +<p> +As soon as both armies were in sight, Hannibal, to terrify +the Roman forces, offered them battle, by advancing almost +to the very entrenchments of their camp. But finding every +thing quiet there, he retired; blaming, in appearance, the +cowardice of the enemy, whom he upbraided with having at +last lost that valour so natural to their ancestors; but fretted +inwardly, to find he had to do with a general of so different a +disposition from Sempronius and Flaminius; and that the +Romans, instructed by their defeat, had at last made choice of +a commander capable of opposing Hannibal. +</p> + +<p> +From this moment he perceived that the dictator would not +be formidable to him by the boldness of his attacks, but by +the prudence and regularity of his conduct, which might perplex +and embarrass him very much. The only circumstance he +now wanted to know, was, whether the new general had firmness +enough to pursue steadily the plan he seemed to have laid +down. He endeavoured, therefore, to shake his resolution by +the different movements which he made, by laying waste the +lands, plundering the cities, and burning the villages and towns. +He, at one time, would raise his camp with the utmost precipitation; +and, at another, stop short in some valley out of the +common route, to try whether he could not surprise him in the +plain. However, Fabius still kept his troops on the hills, but +without losing sight of Hannibal; never approaching near +enough to come to an engagement; nor yet keeping at such a +distance, as might give him an opportunity of escaping him. +He never suffered his soldiers to stir out of the camp, except +to forage, nor ever on those occasions without a numerous +convoy. If ever he engaged, it was only in slight skirmishes, +and so very cautiously, that his troops had always the advantage. +By this conduct he revived, by insensible degrees, the +courage of the soldiers, which the loss of three battles had +entirely damped; and enabled them to rely, as they had +formerly done, on their valour and good fortune. +</p> + +<p> +Hannibal, having got an immense booty in Campania, where +he had resided a considerable time, left that country, in order +<pb n='219'/><anchor id='Pg219'/> +that he might not consume the provisions he had laid up, and +which he reserved for the winter season. Besides, he could +no longer continue in a country of gardens and vineyards, +which were more agreeable to the eye than useful for the subsistence +of an army; a country where he would have been +forced to take up his winter quarters among marshes, rocks, +and sands; while the Romans would have drawn plentiful supplies +from Capua, and the richest parts of Italy. He therefore +resolved to settle elsewhere. +</p> + +<p> +Fabius naturally supposed, that Hannibal would be obliged +to return the same way he came, and that he might easily +annoy him during his march. He began by throwing a considerable +body of troops into Casilinum, and thereby securing +that small town, situated on the Vulturnus, which separated +the territories of Falernum from those of Capua: he afterwards +detached four thousand men, to seize the only pass through +which Hannibal could come out; and then, according to his +usual custom, posted himself with the remainder of the army +on the hills adjoining to the road. +</p> + +<p> +The Carthaginians arrive, and encamp in the plain at the +foot of the mountains. And now the crafty Carthaginian falls +into the same snare he had laid for Flaminius at the defile of +Thrasymenus; and it seemed impossible for him ever to extricate +himself out of this difficulty, there being but one outlet, +of which the Romans were possessed. Fabius, fancying himself +sure of his prey, was only contriving how to seize it. He +flattered himself, and not without the appearance of probability, +with the hopes of putting an end to the war by this single battle. +Nevertheless, he thought fit to defer the attack till the next day. +</p> + +<p> +Hannibal perceived, that his own artifices were now employed +against him.<note place='foot'>Nec Annibalem lefellit suis se artibus +peti. Liv.—Trans.</note> It is in such junctures as these, that a +general has need of unusual presence of mind and fortitude, +to view danger in its utmost extent, without being dismayed; +and to find out sure and instant expedients without deliberating. +Immediately, the Carthaginian general caused two thousand +oxen to be got together, and ordered small bundles of vine-branches +to be tied to their horns. Towards the dead of night, +having commanded the branches to be set on fire, he caused +<pb n='220'/><anchor id='Pg220'/> +the oxen to be driven with violence to the top of the hills where +the Romans were encamped. As soon as these creatures felt +the flame, the pain rendering them furious, they flew up and +down on all sides, and set fire to the shrubs and bushes they +met in their way. This squadron, of a new kind, was sustained +by a good number of light-armed soldiers, who had orders to +seize upon the summit of the mountain, and to charge the +enemy, in case they should meet them. All things happened +as Hannibal had foreseen. The Romans who guarded the +defile, seeing the fires spread over the hills which were above +them, and imagining that it was Hannibal making his escape +by torch-light, quit their post, and run up to the mountains to +oppose his passage. The main body of the army not knowing +what to think of all this tumult, and Fabius himself not daring +to stir, while it was dark, for fear of a surprise, wait for the +return of the day. Hannibal seizes this opportunity, marches +his troops and the spoils through the defile, which was now unguarded, +and rescues his army out of a snare in which, had +Fabius been but a little more vigorous, it would either have +been destroyed, or at least very much weakened. It is glorious +for a man to turn his very errors to his advantage, and make +them subservient to his reputation. +</p> + +<p> +The Carthaginian army returned to Apulia, still pursued +and harassed by the Romans. The dictator, being obliged to +take a journey to Rome on account of some religious ceremonies, +earnestly entreated his general of horse, before his departure, +not to fight during his absence. However, Minucius +did not regard either his advice or his entreaties; but the very +first opportunity he had, whilst part of Hannibal's troops were +foraging, he charged the rest, and gained some advantage. He +immediately sent advice of this to Rome, as if he had obtained +a considerable victory. The news of this, with what had just +before happened at the passage of the defile, raised complaints +and murmurs against the slow and timorous circumspection of +Fabius. In a word, matters were carried so far, that the +Roman people gave his general of horse an equal authority with +him; a thing unheard-of before. The dictator was upon the +road when he received advice of this: for he had left Rome, in +order that he might not be an eye-witness of what was contriving +<pb n='221'/><anchor id='Pg221'/> +against him. His constancy, however, was not shaken. +He was very sensible, that though his authority in the command +was divided, yet his skill in the art of war was not so.<note place='foot'>Satis +fidens haudquaquam cum imperii jure artem imperandi æquatam. Liv. l. +xxii. n. 26.—Trans.</note> This soon became manifest. +</p> + +<p> +Minucius, grown arrogant at the advantage he had gained +over his colleague, proposed that each should command a day +alternately, or even a longer time. But Fabius rejected this +proposal, as it would have exposed the whole army to danger +whilst under the command of Minucius. He therefore chose +to divide the troops, in order that it might be in his power to +preserve, at least, that part which should fall to his share. +</p> + +<p> +Hannibal, fully informed of all that passed in the Roman +camp, was overjoyed to hear of this dissension between the two +commanders. He therefore laid a snare for the rash Minucius, +who accordingly plunged headlong into it; and engaged the +enemy on an eminence, in which an ambuscade was concealed. +But his troops being soon put into disorder, were just upon +the point of being cut to pieces, when Fabius, alarmed by the +sudden outcries of the wounded, called aloud to his soldiers: +<q>Let us hasten to the assistance of Minucius: let us fly and +snatch the victory from the enemy, and extort from our fellow-citizens +a confession of their fault.</q> This succour was very +seasonable, and compelled Hannibal to sound a retreat. The +latter, as he was retiring, said, <q>That the cloud which had been +long hovering on the summit of the mountain, had at last +burst with a loud crack, and caused a mighty storm.</q> So important +and seasonable a service done by the dictator, opened +the eyes of Minucius. He accordingly acknowledged his error, +returned immediately to his duty and obedience, and showed, +that it is sometimes more glorious to know how to atone for +a fault, than not to have committed it. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>The state of Affairs in Spain.<note place='foot'>Polyb. +l. iii. p. 245-250. Liv. l. xxii. n. 19-22.</note></hi>—In the +beginning of this campaign, Cn. Scipio, having suddenly attacked the Carthaginian +fleet, commanded by Hamilcar, defeated it, and took twenty-five +ships, with a great quantity of rich spoils. This victory made +the Romans sensible, that they ought to be particularly attentive +<pb n='222'/><anchor id='Pg222'/> +to the affairs of Spain, because Hannibal could draw considerable +supplies both of men and money from that country. +Accordingly, they sent a fleet thither, the command whereof was +given to P. Scipio, who, after his arrival in Spain, having joined +his brother, did the commonwealth very great service. Till +that time the Romans had never ventured beyond the Ebro. +They had been satisfied with having gained the friendship of +the nations situated between that river and Italy, and confirming +it by alliances: but under Publius, they crossed the Ebro, +and carried their arms much further up into the country. +</p> + +<p> +The circumstance which contributed most to promote their +affairs, was, the treachery of a Spaniard in Saguntum. Hannibal +had left there the children of the most distinguished families +in Spain, whom he had taken as hostages. Abelox, for so +this Spaniard was called, persuaded Bostar, the governor of +the city, to send back these young men into their country, in +order, by that means, to attach the inhabitants more firmly to +the Carthaginian interest. He himself was charged with this +commission. But he carried them to the Romans, who afterwards +delivered them to their relations, and, by so acceptable +a present, acquired their amity. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>A.M. 3789. A. Rom. 533.</note> +<hi rend='italic'>The Battle of Cannæ.<note place='foot'>Polyb. l. iii. p. 255-268. Liv. +l. xxii. n. 34-54.</note></hi>—The next spring, C. Terentius Varro +and L. Æmilius Paulus were chosen consuls at Rome. +In this campaign, which was the third of the second +Punic war, the Romans did what had never been practised +before, that is, they composed the army of eight legions, +each consisting of five thousand men, exclusive of the allies. +For, as we have already observed, the Romans never raised but +four legions, each of which consisted of about four thousand foot, +and three hundred horse.<note place='foot'>Polybius supposes only two hundred horse +in each legion: but J. Lipsius thinks that this is a mistake either of the author +or transcriber.—Trans.</note> They never, except on the most important +occasions, made them consist of five thousand of the +one, and four hundred of the other. As for the troops of the +allies, their infantry was equal to that of the legions, but they +had three times as many horse. Each of the consuls had commonly +half the troops of the allies, with two legions, in order +for them to act separately; and it was very seldom that all +<pb n='223'/><anchor id='Pg223'/> +these forces were used at the same time, and in the same expedition. +Here the Romans had not only four, but eight legions, +so important did the affair appear to them. The senate +even thought fit, that the two consuls of the foregoing year, +Servilius and Attilius, should serve in the army as proconsuls; +but the latter could not go into the field, by reason of his +great age. +</p> + +<p> +Varro, at his setting out from Rome, had declared openly, +that he would fall upon the enemy the very first opportunity, +and put an end to the war; adding, that it would never be terminated, +so long as men such as Fabius should be at the head +of the Roman armies. An advantage which he gained over +the Carthaginians, of whom near seventeen hundred were +killed, greatly increased his boldness and arrogance. As for +Hannibal, he considered this loss as a real advantage; being +persuaded that it would serve as a bait to the consul's rashness, +and prompt him on to a battles which he wanted extremely. It +was afterwards known, that Hannibal was reduced to such a +scarcity of provisions, that he could not possibly have subsisted +ten days longer. The Spaniards were already meditating to +leave him. So that there would have been an end of Hannibal +and his army, if his good fortune had not thrown a Varro in +in his way. +</p> + +<p> +Both armies, having often removed from place to place, came +in sight of each other near Cannæ, a little town in Apulia, +situated on the river Aufidus. As Hannibal was encamped in +a level open country, and his cavalry much superior to that of +the Romans, Æmilius did not think proper to engage in such a +place. He wished to draw the enemy into a spot, where the +infantry might have the greatest share in the action. But his +colleague, who was unexperienced, was of a contrary opinion. +Such is the inconveniency of a divided command; jealousy, a +disparity of tempers, or a diversity of views, seldom failing to +create a dissension between the two generals. +</p> + +<p> +The troops on each side were, for some time, contented with +slight skirmishes. But, at last, one day, when Varro had the +command, (for the two consuls took it by turns,) preparations +were made on both sides for battle. Æmilius had not been +consulted; yet, though he extremely disapproved the conduct +<pb n='224'/><anchor id='Pg224'/> +of his colleague, as it was not in his power to prevent it, he +seconded him to the utmost. +</p> + +<p> +Hannibal, after having made his soldiers observe, that, +being superior in cavalry, they could not possibly have pitched +upon a better spot for fighting, had it been left to their choice: +<q>Return, then,</q> says he, <q>thanks to the gods for having brought +the enemy hither, that you may triumph over them; and thank +me also, for having reduced the Romans to a necessity of +coming to an engagement. After three great successive victories, +is not the remembrance of your own actions sufficient to +inspire you with courage? By the former battles, you are +become masters of the open country; but this will put you in +possession of all the cities, and, I presume to say it, of all the +riches and power of the Romans. It is not words that we +want, but action. I trust in the gods, that you shall soon see +my promises verified.</q> +</p> + +<p> +The two armies were very unequal in number. That of the +Romans, including the allies, amounted to fourscore thousand +foot, and a little above six thousand horse; and that of the +Carthaginians consisted but of forty thousand foot, all well +disciplined, and of ten thousand horse. Æmilius commanded +the right wing of the Romans, Varro the left, and Servilius, +one of the consuls of the last year, was posted in the centre. +Hannibal, who had the art of turning every incident to advantage, +had posted himself, so as that the wind Vulturnus,<note place='foot'>A violent +burning wind, blowing south-south-east, which, in this flat and sandy country, +raised clouds of hot dust, and blinded and choked the Romans.—Trans.</note> which +rises at certain stated times, should blow directly in the faces +of the Romans during the fight, and cover them with dust; +then keeping the river Aufidus on his left, and posting his +cavalry in the wings, he formed his main body of the Spanish +and Gaulish infantry, which he posted in the centre, with half the +African heavy-armed foot on their right, and half on their left, +on the same line with the cavalry. His army being thus drawn +up, he put himself at the head of the Spanish and Gaulish +infantry; and having drawn them out of the line, advanced to +give battle, rounding his front as he drew nearer the enemy; +and extending his flanks in the shape of a half moon, in order +that he might leave no interval between his main body and the +<pb n='225'/><anchor id='Pg225'/> +rest of the line, which consisted of the heavy-armed infantry, +who had not moved from their posts. +</p> + +<p> +The fight soon began, and the Roman legions that were in +the wings, seeing their centre warmly attacked, advanced to +charge the enemy in flank. Hannibal's main body, after a +brave resistance, finding themselves furiously attacked on all +sides, gave way, being overpowered by numbers; and retired +through the interval they had left in the centre of the line. +The Romans having pursued them thither with eager confusion, +the two wings of the African infantry, which were fresh, well +armed, and in good order, wheeled about on a sudden towards +that void space in which the Romans, who were already fatigued, +had thrown themselves in disorder; and attacked them vigorously +on both sides, without allowing them time to recover +themselves, or leaving them ground to draw up. In the mean +time, the two wings of the cavalry, having defeated those of +the Romans, which were much inferior to them, and having +left in the pursuit of the broken and scattered squadrons, only as +many forces as were necessary to keep them from rallying, +advanced and charged the rear of the Roman infantry, which +being surrounded at once on every side by the enemy's horse +and foot was all cut to pieces, after having fought with unparalleled +bravery. Æmilius being covered with the wounds +he had received in the fight, was afterwards killed by a body +of the enemy to whom he was not known; and with him two +quæstors; one and twenty military tribunes; many who had +been either consuls or prætors; Servilius, one of the last +year's consuls; Minucius, the late general of horse to Fabius; +and fourscore senators. Above seventy thousand men fell in +this battle;<note place='foot'>Livy lessens very much the number of +the slain, making them amount but to about forty-three thousand. But +Polybius ought rather to be believed.—Trans.</note> and the +Carthaginians, so great was their fury,<note place='foot'>Duo maximi exercitus +cæsi ad hostium satietatem, donec Annibal diceret militi suo: Parce ferro. +Flor. l. 1. c. 6.—Trans.</note> +did not give over the slaughter, till Hannibal, in the very heat +of it, called out to them several times; <q>Stop, soldiers, spare +the vanquished.</q> Ten thousand men, who had been left to +guard the camp, surrendered themselves prisoners of war after +the battle. Varro the consul retired to Venusia, with only +seventy horse; and about four thousand men escaped into the +<pb n='226'/><anchor id='Pg226'/> +neighbouring cities. Thus Hannibal remained master of the +field, he being chiefly indebted for this, as well as for his +former victories, to the superiority of his cavalry over that of +the Romans. He lost four thousand Gauls, fifteen hundred +Spaniards and Africans, and two hundred horse. +</p> + +<p> +Maharbal, one of the Carthaginian generals, advised Hannibal +to march without loss of time directly to Rome, promising +him, that within five days they should sup in the Capitol. +Hannibal answering, that it was an affair which required +mature deliberation; <q>I see,</q> replies Maharbal, <q>that the +gods have not endowed the same man with all talents. You, +Hannibal, know how to conquer, but not to make the best use +of a victory.</q><note place='foot'>Tum Maharbal: Non omnia nimirum eidem Dii dedêre. +Vincere scis, Annibal, victoriâ uti nescis. Liv. l. xxii. n. 51.—Trans.</note> +</p> + +<p> +It is pretended that this delay saved Rome and the empire. +Many authors, and among the rest Livy, charge Hannibal, on +this occasion, as being guilty of a capital error. But others, +more reserved, are not for condemning, without evident proofs, +so renowned a general, who in the rest of his conduct was +never wanting, either in prudence to make choice of the best +expedients, or in readiness to put his designs in execution. +They, besides, are inclined to judge favourably of him, from +the authority, or at least the silence, of Polybius, who, speaking +of the memorable consequences of this celebrated battle, says, +that the Carthaginians were firmly persuaded, that they should +possess themselves of Rome at the first assault; but then he +does not mention how this could possibly have been effected, +as that city was very populous, warlike, strongly fortified, and +defended with a garrison of two legions; nor does he any +where give the least hint that such a project was feasible, or +that Hannibal did wrong in not attempting to put it in +execution. +</p> + +<p> +And indeed, if we examine matters more narrowly, we shall +find, that according to the common maxims of war it could +not be undertaken. It is certain, that Hannibal's whole infantry, +before the battle, amounted but to forty thousand men; +and, as six thousand of these had been slain in the action, +and doubtless, many more wounded and disabled, there could +<pb n='227'/><anchor id='Pg227'/> +remain but six or seven and twenty thousand foot fit for service; +now this number was not sufficient to invest so large a city as +Rome, which had a river running through it; nor to attack it +in form, because they had neither engines, ammunition, nor +any other things necessary for carrying on a siege. For +want of these, Hannibal, even after his victory at Thrasymenus, +miscarried in his attempt upon Spoletum;<note place='foot'>Liv. l. +xxii. n. 9. Ibid. l. xxiii. n. 18.</note> and soon after the +battle of Cannæ, was forced to raise the siege of a little +city,<note place='foot'>Casilinum.—Trans.</note> +of no note, and of no great strength. It cannot be +denied, but that had he miscarried on the present occasion, +nothing less could have been expected but that he must have +been irrecoverably lost. However, to form a just judgment of +this matter, a man ought to be a soldier, and a soldier, perhaps, +of those times. This is an old dispute, on which none +but those who are perfectly well skilled in the art of war +should pretend to give their opinion. +</p> + +<p> +Soon after the battle of Cannæ, Hannibal had despatched +his brother Mago to Carthage, with the news of his victory, +and at the same time to demand succours, in order that he +might be enabled to put an end to the war.<note place='foot'>Liv. +l. xxiii. n. 11-14.</note> Mago, on his +arrival, made, in full senate, a lofty speech, in which he extolled +his brother's exploits, and displayed the great advantages +he had gained over the Romans. And, to give a more +lively idea of the greatness of the victory, by speaking in some +measure to the eye, he poured out, in the middle of the senate, +a bushel<note place='foot'>Pliny, l. xxxiii. c. 1, says, that there +were three bushels sent to Carthage. Livy observes, that some authors +make them amount to three bushels and a half; but he thinks it most +probable that there was but one, l. xxxiii. n. 12. Florus, l. ii. c. +16, makes it two bushels.—Trans.</note> +of gold rings, which had been taken from the fingers +of such of the Roman nobility as had fallen in the battle of +Cannæ. He concluded with demanding money, provisions, +and fresh troops. All the spectators were struck with an +extraordinary joy; upon which Imilcon, a great stickler for +Hannibal, fancying he had now a fair opportunity to insult +Hanno, the chief of the contrary faction, asked him, whether +he was still dissatisfied with the war they were carrying on +against the Romans, and was for having Hannibal delivered +<pb n='228'/><anchor id='Pg228'/> +up to them? Hanno, without discovering the least emotion, +replied, that he was still of the same mind; and that the victories +of which they so much boasted (supposing them real) +could not give him joy, but only in proportion as they should +be made subservient to an advantageous peace: he then undertook +to prove, that the mighty exploits, on which they +insisted so much, were wholly chimerical and imaginary. <q>I +have cut to pieces,</q> says he (continuing Mago's speech,) <q>the +Roman armies: send me some troops.—What more could you +ask had you been conquered? I have twice seized upon the +enemy's camp, full (no doubt) of provisions of every kind.—Send +me provisions and money.—Could you have talked +otherwise had you lost your camp?</q> He then asked Mago, +whether any of the Latin nations had come over to Hannibal, +and whether the Romans had made him any proposals of +peace? To this Mago answering in the negative: <q>I then perceive,</q> +replied Hanno, <q>that we are no farther advanced, than +when Hannibal first landed in Italy.</q> The inference he drew +from hence was, that neither men nor money ought to be sent. +But Hannibal's faction prevailing at that time, no regard was +paid to Hanno's remonstrances, which were considered merely +as the effect of prejudice and jealousy; and, accordingly, orders +were given for levying, without delay, the supplies of men and +money which Hannibal required. Mago set out immediately +for Spain, to raise twenty-four thousand foot, and four thousand +horse in that country; but these levies were afterwards stopped, +and sent to another quarter; so eager was the contrary faction +to oppose the designs of a general whom they utterly abhorred. +While in Rome, a consul,<note place='foot'>De St. Evremond.</note> +who had fled, was thanked because he +had not despaired of the commonwealth; at Carthage, people +were almost angry with Hannibal, for being victorious. But +Hanno could never forgive him the advantages he had gained +in this war, because he had undertaken it in opposition to his +counsel. Thus being more jealous for the honour of his own +opinions than for the good of his country, and a greater enemy +to the Carthaginian general than to the Romans, he did all that +lay in his power to prevent future success, and to render of no +avail that which had been already gained. +</p> + +<pb n='229'/><anchor id='Pg229'/> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Hannibal takes up his Winter Quarters in Capua.<note place='foot'>Liv. +l. xxiii. n. 4-18.</note></hi>—The +battle of Cannæ subjected the most powerful nations of Italy +to Hannibal, drew over to his interest Græcia Magna,<note place='foot'>Cæterùm quum +Græci omnem ferè oram maritimam Coloniis suis, è Græciâ deductis, obsiderent, &c. But +after the Greeks had, by their colonies, possessed themselves of almost all the maritime +coast, this very country (together with Sicily) was called Græcia Magna, &c. Cluver. +<hi rend='italic'>Geograph.</hi> l. iii. c. 30.—Trans.</note> with +the city of Tarentum; and thus wrested from the Romans +their most ancient allies, among whom the Capuans held the +first rank. This city, by the fertility of its soil, its advantageous +situation, and the blessings of a long peace, had risen +to great wealth and power. Luxury, and a fondness for pleasure, +(the usual attendants on wealth,) had corrupted the minds +of all its citizens, who, from their natural inclination, were but +too much inclined to voluptuousness and excess. +</p> + +<p> +Hannibal<note place='foot'>Ibi partem majorem hiemis exercitum in tectis habuit; +adversùs omnia humana mala sæpe ac diu durantem, bonis inexpertum atque insuetum. Itaque +quos nulla mali vicerat vis, perdidere nimia bona ac voluptates immodicæ, et eo impensiùs +quo avidiùs ex insolentiâ ineas se merserant. Liv. l. xxiii. n. 18.—Trans.</note> +made choice of this city for his winter quarters. +Here it was that those soldiers, who had sustained the most +grievous toils, and braved the most formidable dangers, were +overthrown by abundance and a profusion of luxuries, into +which they plunged with the greater eagerness, as they, till +then, had been strangers to them. Their courage was so +greatly enervated in this bewitching retirement, that all their +after efforts were owing rather to the fame and splendour of +their former victories than to their present strength. When +Hannibal marched his forces out of the city, one would have +taken them for other men, and the reverse of those who had +so lately marched into it. Accustomed, during the winter +season, to commodious lodgings, to ease and plenty, they +were no longer able to bear hunger, thirst, long marches, +watchings, and the other toils of war; not to mention that all +obedience, all discipline, were entirely laid aside. +</p> + +<p> +I only transcribe on this occasion from Livy. If we are to +adopt his opinion on this subject, Hannibal's stay at Capua +was a capital blemish in his conduct; and he pretends, that +this general was guilty of an infinitely greater error, than when +he neglected to march directly to Rome after the battle of +<pb n='230'/><anchor id='Pg230'/> +Cannæ. For this delay,<note place='foot'>Illa enim cunctatio distulisse +modò victoriam videri potuit, hic error vires ademisse +ad vincendum. Liv. l. xxiii. n. 18.—Trans.</note> says Livy, might seem only to +have retarded his victory; whereas this last misconduct rendered +him absolutely incapable of ever defeating the enemy. +In a word, as Marcellus observed judiciously afterwards, +Capua was to the Carthaginians and their general, what +Cannæ<note place='foot'>Capuam Annibali Cannas fuisse: ibi virtutem bellicam, +ibi militarem disciplinam, ibi præteriti temporis famam, ibi spem futuri +extinctam. Liv. l. xxiii. n. 45.—Trans.</note> had been to the Romans. There their +martial genius, their love of discipline, were lost: there their former fame, and +their almost certain hopes of future glory, vanished at once. +And, indeed, from thenceforth the affairs of Hannibal advanced +to their decline by swift steps; fortune declared in favour of +prudence, and victory seemed now reconciled to the Romans. +</p> + +<p> +I know not whether Livy has just ground to impute all +these fatal consequences to the delicious abode of Capua. If +we examine carefully all the circumstances of this history, we +shall scarce be able to persuade ourselves, that the little progress +which was afterwards made by the arms of Hannibal, +ought to be ascribed to his wintering at Capua. It might, +indeed, have been one cause, but a very inconsiderable one: +and the bravery with which the forces of Hannibal afterwards +defeated the armies of consuls and prætors; the towns they +took even in sight of the Romans; their maintaining their +conquests so vigorously, and staying fourteen years after this +in Italy, in spite of the Romans: all these circumstances may +induce us to believe, that Livy lays too great a stress on the +delights of Capua. +</p> + +<p> +The real cause of the decline of Hannibal's affairs, was +owing to his want of necessary recruits and succours from +Carthage. After Mago's speech, the Carthaginian senate +had judged it necessary,<note place='foot'>Liv. l. xxiii. n. +13.</note> in order for the carrying on the conquests +in Italy, to send thither a considerable reinforcement of +Numidian horse, forty elephants, and a thousand talents; and +to hire, in Spain, twenty thousand foot, and four thousand +horse, to reinforce their armies in Spain and Italy. Nevertheless, +Mago could obtain an order but for twelve thousand +foot, and two thousand five hundred horse:<note place='foot'>Ibid. n. +32.</note> and even when he +<pb n='231'/><anchor id='Pg231'/> +was just going to march to Italy with this reinforcement, so +much inferior to that which had been promised him, he was +countermanded and sent to Spain. So that Hannibal, after +these mighty promises, had neither infantry, cavalry, elephants, +nor money sent him; but was left to depend upon his own +personal resources. His army was now reduced to twenty-six +thousand foot, and nine thousand horse. How could it be +possible for him, with so inconsiderable an army, to seize, in +an enemy's country, on all the advantageous posts; to awe +his new allies; to preserve his old conquests and form new +ones; and to keep the field, with advantage, against two +armies of the Romans which were recruited every year? This +was the true cause of the declension of Hannibal's affairs, and +of the ruin of those of Carthage. Was the part where Polybius +treated this subject extant, we doubtless should find, that he +lays a greater stress on this cause, than on the luxurious +delights of Capua. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>A.M. 3790. A. Rom. 534.</note> +<hi rend='italic'>Transactions relating to Spain and Sardinia.<note place='foot'>Liv. l. +xxiii. n. 26-30. and n. 32, 40, 41.</note></hi>—The two +Scipios still continued in the command of Spain, and +their arms were making a considerable progress there, +when Asdrubal, who alone seemed able to cope with +them, received orders from Carthage to march into Italy to +the relief of his brother. Before he left Spain, he writ to the +senate, to convince them of the absolute necessity of their +sending a general in his stead, who was capable of making +head against the Romans. Imilcon was therefore sent thither +with an army; and Asdrubal set out upon his march with his, +in order to go and join his brother. The news of his departure +was no sooner known, than the greatest part of Spain +was subjected by the Scipios. These two generals, animated +by such signal success, resolved to prevent him, if possible, +from leaving Spain. They considered the danger to which +the Romans would be exposed, if, being scarce able to resist +Hannibal alone, they should be attacked by the two brothers, +at the head of two powerful armies. They therefore pursued +Asdrubal, and, coming up with that general, forced him to +fight against his inclination. Asdrubal was overcome; and, +so far from being able to continue his march for Italy, he +<pb n='232'/><anchor id='Pg232'/> +found that it would be impossible for him to continue with +any safety in Spain. +</p> + +<p> +The Carthaginians had no better success in Sardinia. Designing +to take advantage of some rebellions which they had +fomented in that country, they lost twelve thousand men in a +battle fought against the Romans, who took a still greater +number of prisoners, among whom were Asdrubal, surnamed +Calvus, Hanno, and Mago,<note place='foot'>Not Hannibal's +brother.—Trans.</note> who were distinguished by their +birth as well as military exploits. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>A.M. 3791. A. Rom. 535.</note> +<hi rend='italic'>The ill Success of Hannibal. The Sieges of Capua and +Rome.<note place='foot'>Liv. l. xxiii. n. 41-46. l. xxv. n. 22. +l. xxvi. n. 5-16.</note></hi>—From the time of Hannibal's abode in +Capua, the Carthaginian affairs in Italy no longer +supported their former reputation. M. Marcellus, +first as prætor, and afterwards as consul, had contributed very +much to this revolution. He harassed Hannibal's army on +every occasion, seized upon his quarters, forced him to raise +sieges, and even defeated him in several engagements; so that +he was called the Sword of Rome, as Fabius had before been +named its Buckler. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>A.M. 3793. A. Rom 537.</note> +But what most affected the Carthaginian general, was, to +see Capua besieged by the Romans. In order, +therefore, to preserve his reputation among his +allies, by a vigorous support of those who held the +chief rank as such, he flew to the relief of that city, brought +forward his forces, attacked the Romans, and fought several +battles to oblige them to raise the siege. +<note place='margin'>A.M. 3794. A. Rom. 538.</note> At last, +seeing all his measures defeated, he marched hastily +towards Rome, in order to make a powerful diversion. +He was not without hope of being able, in case he could +have an opportunity, in the first consternation, to storm some +part of the city, of drawing the Roman generals with all their +forces from the siege of Capua, to the relief of their capital; +at least he flattered himself, that if, for the sake of continuing +the siege, they should divide their forces, their weakness +might then offer an occasion, either to the Capuans or himself, +of engaging and defeating them. Rome was surprised, but +not confounded. A proposal being made by one of the +<pb n='233'/><anchor id='Pg233'/> +senators, to recall all the armies to succour Rome; Fabius<note place='foot'>Flagitiosum +esse terreri ac circumagi ad omnes Annibalis comminationes. +Liv. l. xxvi. n. 8.—Trans.</note> +declared, that it would be shameful in them to be terrified, +and forced to change their measures upon every motion of +Hannibal. They therefore contented themselves with only +recalling part of the army, and one of the generals, Q. Fulvius +the proconsul, from the siege. Hannibal, after making some +devastations, drew up his army in order of battle before the +city, and the consul did the same. Both sides were preparing +to signalize themselves in a battle, of which Rome was to be +the recompense, when a violent storm obliged them to separate. +They were no sooner returned to their respective camps, +than the face of the heavens grew calm and serene. The +same incident happened frequently afterwards; insomuch that +Hannibal, believing that there was something supernatural in +the event, said, according to Livy, that sometimes<note place='foot'>Audita vox +Annibalis fertur, Potiundæ sibi urbis Romæ, modò mentem non +dari, modò fortunam. Liv. l. xxvi. n. 11.—Trans.</note> his own +will, and sometimes fortune, would not suffer him to take +Rome. +</p> + +<p> +But the circumstance which most surprised and intimidated +him, was the news, that, whilst he lay encamped at one of the +gates of Rome, the Romans had sent out recruits for the army +in Spain at another gate; and that the ground, whereon his +camp was pitched, had been sold, notwithstanding that circumstance, +for its full value. So barefaced a contempt stung +Hannibal to the quick; he, therefore, on the other side, put +up to auction the shops of the goldsmiths round the Forum. +After this bravado he retired, and, in his march, plundered +the rich temple of the goddess Feronia.<note place='foot'>Feronia was +the goddess of groves, and there was one, with a temple in it, dedicated +to her, at the foot of the mountain Soracte. Strabo, speaking of the grove +where the goddess was worshipped, says, that a sacrifice was offered annually to her +in it; and that her votaries, inspired by this goddess, walked unhurt over burning +coals. There are still extant some medals of Augustus, in which this goddess is +represented with a crown on her head.—Trans.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Capua, thus left to itself, held out but very little longer. +After that such of its senators as had the chief hand in the +revolt, and consequently could not expect any quarter from +the Romans, had put themselves to a truly tragical death,<note place='foot'>Vilius +Virius, the chief of this conspiracy, after having represented to the +Capuan senate, the severe treatment which his country might expect from the Romans, +prevailed with twenty-seven senators to go with him to his own house, where, +after eating a plentiful dinner, and heating themselves with wine, they all drank +poison. Then taking their last farewell, some withdrew to their own houses, others +staid with Virius; and all expired before the gates were opened to the Romans. +Liv. l. xxvi. n. 13, 14.—Trans.</note> the +<pb n='234'/><anchor id='Pg234'/> +city surrendered at discretion. The success of this siege, which, +by the happy consequences wherewith it was attended, proved +decisive, and fully restored to the Romans their superiority +over the Carthaginians; displayed, at the same time, how +formidable the power of the Romans was,<note place='foot'>Confessio +expressa hosti, quanta vis in Romanis ad expetendas pœnas ab infidelibus +sociis, et quàm nihil in Annibale auxilii ad receptos in fidem tuendos esset. +Liv. l. xxvi. n. 16.—Trans.</note> when they undertook +to punish their perfidious allies; and the feeble protection +which Hannibal could afford his friends at a time when they +most wanted it. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>A.M. 3793. A. Rom. 537.</note> +<hi rend='italic'>The Defeat and Death of the two Scipios in Spain.<note place='foot'>Liv. +xxv. n. 32-39.</note></hi>—The +face of affairs was very much changed in Spain. The +Carthaginians had three armies in that country; one +commanded by Asdrubal, the son of Gisgo; the +second by Asdrubal, son of Hamilcar; and a third under Mago, +who had joined the first Asdrubal. The two Scipios, Cneus +and Publius, were for dividing their forces, and attacking the +enemy separately, which was the cause of their ruin. They +agreed that Cneus, with a small number of Romans, and thirty +thousand Celtiberians, should march against Asdrubal, the son +of Hamilcar; whilst Publius, with the remainder of the forces, +composed of Romans and the Italian allies, should advance +against the other two generals. +</p> + +<p> +Publius was vanquished first. To the two leaders whom he +had to oppose, Masinissa, elate with the victories he had lately +gained over Syphax, joined himself; and was to be soon followed +by Indibilis, a powerful Spanish prince. The armies +came to an engagement. The Romans, being thus attacked +on all sides at once, made a brave resistance as long as they +had their general at their head; but the moment he fell, the +few troops which had escaped the slaughter, secured themselves +by flight. +</p> + +<p> +The three victorious armies marched immediately in quest +of Cneus, in order to put an end to the war by his defeat. He +<pb n='235'/><anchor id='Pg235'/> +was already more than half vanquished by the desertion of his +allies, who all forsook him; and left to the Roman generals +this important instruction;<note place='foot'>Id quidem +cavendum semper Romanis ducibus erit, exemplaque hæc verè pro +documentis habenda. Ne ita externis credant auxiliis, ut non plus sui roboris suarumque +propriè virium in castris habeant. Liv. n. 33.—Trans.</note> +<hi rend='italic'>viz.</hi> never to let their own forces +be exceeded in number by those of foreigners. He guessed +that his brother was slain, and his army defeated, upon seeing +such great bodies of the enemy arrive. He survived him but a +short time, being killed in the engagement. These two great +men were equally lamented by their citizens and allies; and +Spain deeply felt their loss, because of the justice and moderation +of their conduct. +</p> + +<p> +These extensive countries seemed now inevitably lost; but +the valour of L. Marcius,<note place='foot'>He attacked +the Carthaginians, who had divided themselves into two camps, +and were secure, as they thought, from any immediate attempt of the Romans; +killed thirty-seven thousand of them; took one thousand eight hundred prisoners +and brought off immense plunder. Liv. l. xxv. n. 39.—Trans.</note> +a private officer of the equestrian +order, preserved them to the Romans. Shortly after this, the +younger Scipio was sent thither, who severely revenged the +death of his father and uncle, and restored the affairs of the +Romans in Spain to their former flourishing condition. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>A.M. 3798. A. Rom. 542.</note> +<hi rend='italic'>The Defeat and Death of Asdrubal.<note place='foot'>Polyb. l. xi. p. +622-625. Liv. l. xxvii. p. 35-51.</note></hi>—One unforeseen +defeat ruined all the measures, and blasted all the +hopes of Hannibal with regard to Italy. The consuls +of this year, which was the eleventh of the +second Punic war, (for I pass over several events for brevity's +sake,) were C. Claudius Nero, and M. Livius. The latter +had, for his province, the Cisalpine Gaul, where he was to +oppose Asdrubal, who, it was reported, was preparing to pass +the Alps. The former commanded in the country of the Brutians, +and in Lucania, that is, in the opposite extremity of Italy, +and was there making head against Hannibal. +</p> + +<p> +The passage of the Alps gave Asdrubal very little trouble, +because his brother had cleared the way for him, and all the +nations were disposed to receive him. Some time after this, +he despatched couriers to Hannibal, but they were intercepted. +Nero found by their letters, that Asdrubal was hastening to join +his brother in Umbria. In a conjuncture of so important a +<pb n='236'/><anchor id='Pg236'/> +nature as this, when the safety of Rome lay at stake, he +thought himself at liberty to dispense with the established +rules<note place='foot'>No general was allowed to leave his own province, +to go into that of another.—Trans.</note> of his duty, for the welfare of his +country. In consequence of this, it was his opinion, that such a bold and unexpected +blow ought to be struck, as might be capable of striking +terror into the enemy; by marching to join his colleague, in +order that they might charge Asdrubal unexpectedly with their +united forces. This design, if the several circumstances of it +are thoroughly examined, should not be hastily charged with +imprudence. To prevent the two brothers from joining their +armies, was to save the state. Very little would be hazarded, +even though Hannibal should be informed of the absence of +the consul. From his army, which consisted of forty-two thousand +men, he drew out but seven thousand for his own detachment, +which indeed were the flower of his troops, but, at the +same time, a very inconsiderable part of them. The rest remained +in the camp, which was advantageously situated, and +strongly fortified. Now could it be supposed that Hannibal +would attack, and force a strong camp defended by thirty-five +thousand men? +</p> + +<p> +Nero set out without giving his soldiers the least notice of +his design. When he had advanced so far, as that it might be +communicated without any danger, he told them, that he was +leading them to certain victory: that, in war, all things depended +upon reputation; that the bare rumour of their arrival +would disconcert all the measures of the Carthaginians; and +that the whole honour of this battle would fall to them. +</p> + +<p> +They marched with extraordinary diligence, and joined the +other consul in the night, but did not pitch separate camps, +the better to impose upon the enemy. The troops which were +newly arrived joined those of Livius. The army of Porcius the +prætor was encamped near that of the consul, and in the morning +a council of war was held. Livius was of opinion, that it +would be better to allow the troops some days to refresh themselves; +but Nero besought him not to ruin, by delay, an enterprise +to which despatch only could give success; and to take +advantage of the error of the enemy, as well absent as present. +This advice was complied with, and accordingly the signal for +<pb n='237'/><anchor id='Pg237'/> +battle was given. Asdrubal, advancing to his foremost ranks, +discovered, by several circumstances, that fresh troops were +arrived; and he did not doubt but that they belonged to the +other consul. This made him conjecture, that his brother had +sustained a considerable loss, and, at the same time, fear, that +he was come too late to his assistance. +</p> + +<p> +After making these reflections, he caused a retreat to be +sounded, and his army began to march in great disorder. Night +overtaking him, and his guides deserting, he was uncertain +what way to go. He marched at random, along the banks of +the river Metaurus,<note place='foot'>Now called +Metaro.—Trans.</note> and was preparing to cross it, when the +three armies of the enemy came up with him. In this extremity, +he saw it would be impossible for him to avoid coming +to an engagement; and therefore did every thing which could +be expected from the presence of mind and valour of a great +captain. He seized an advantageous post, and drew up his +forces on a narrow spot, which gave him an opportunity of +posting his left wing (the weakest part of his army) in such a +manner, that it could neither be attacked in front, nor charged +in flank; and of giving to his main battle and right wing a +greater depth than front. After this hasty disposition of his +forces, he posted himself in the centre, and was the first to +march to attack the enemy's left wing; well knowing that all +was at stake, and that he must either conquer or die. The +battle lasted a long time, and was obstinately disputed by both +parties. Asdrubal, especially, signalized himself in this engagement, +and added new glory to that he had already acquired +by a series of shining actions. He led on his soldiers, +trembling and quite dispirited, against an enemy superior to +them both in numbers and resolution. He animated them by +his words, supported them by his example, and, with entreaties +and menaces, endeavoured to bring back those who fled; till, +at last, seeing that victory declared for the Romans, and being +unable to survive the loss of so many thousand men, who had +quitted their country to follow his fortune, he rushed at once +into the midst of a Roman cohort, and there died in a manner +worthy the son of Hamilcar, and the brother of Hannibal. +</p> + +<p> +This was the most bloody battle the Carthaginians had +<pb n='238'/><anchor id='Pg238'/> +fought during this war: and, whether we consider the death of +the general, or the slaughter made of the Carthaginian forces, +it may be looked upon as a reprisal for the battle of Cannæ. +The Carthaginians lost fifty-five thousand men,<note place='foot'>According +to Polybius, the loss amounted but to ten thousand men, and that of +the Romans to two thousand, l. xi. p. 870, edit. Gronov.—Trans.</note> +and six thousand +were taken prisoners. The Romans lost eight thousand. +These were so weary of killing, that some person telling Livius, +that he might very easily cut to pieces a body of the enemy +who were flying: <q>It is fit,</q> says he, <q>that some should survive, +in order that they may carry the news of this defeat to the +Carthaginians.</q> +</p> + +<p> +Nero set out upon his march, on the very night which followed +the engagement. Through every place where he passed, +in his return, shouts of joy and loud acclamations welcomed +him, instead of those fears and uneasiness which his coming +had occasioned. He arrived in his camp the sixth day. Asdrubal's +head being thrown into the camp of the Carthaginians, +informed Hannibal of his brother's unhappy fate. Hannibal +perceived, by this cruel stroke, the fortune of Carthage: <q>All +is over,</q> says he,<note place='foot'><p>Horace makes +him speak thus, in the beautiful ode where this defeat is described: +</p> +<p> +Carthagini jam non ego nuntios<lb/> +Mittara superbos. Occidit, occidit<lb/> +Spes omnis, et fortuna nostri<lb/> +Nominis, Asdrubale interempto. Lib. iv. <hi rend='italic'>Od.</hi> +4.—Trans.</p></note> <q>I shall no longer send triumphant messages +to Carthage. In losing Asdrubal, I have lost at once all my +hope, all my good fortune.</q> He afterwards retired to the +extremities of the country of the Brutians, where he assembled +all his forces, who found it a very difficult matter to subsist +there, as no provisions were sent them from Carthage. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>A.M. 3799. A. Rom. 543.</note> +<hi rend='italic'>Scipio conquers all Spain. Is appointed Consul, and sails +into Africa. Hannibal is recalled.<note place='foot'>Polyb. l. xi. p. +650. & l. xiv. p. 677-687. & l. xv. p. 689-694. Liv. l. xxviii. +n. 1-4. 16. 38. 40-46. l. xxix. n. 24-36. l. xxx. n. 20-28.</note></hi>—The fate of +arms was not more propitious to the Carthaginians +in Spain. The prudent vivacity of young Scipio had +restored the Roman affairs in that country to their former +flourishing state, as the courageous slowness of Fabius had +before done in Italy. The three Carthaginian generals in +Spain, Asdrubal son of Gisco, Hanno, and Mago, having been +<pb n='239'/><anchor id='Pg239'/> +defeated with their numerous armies by the Romans in several +engagements, Scipio at last possessed himself of Spain, and +subjected it entirely to the Roman power. It was at this time +that Masinissa, a very powerful African prince, went over to +the Romans, and Syphax, on the contrary, to the Carthaginians. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>A.M. 3800. A. Rom. 544.</note> +Scipio, at his return to Rome, was declared consul, being +then thirty years of age. He had P. Licinius Crassus +for his colleague. Sicily was allotted to Scipio, with +permission for him to cross into Africa, if he found it +convenient. He set out with all imaginable expedition for his +province; whilst his colleague was to command in the country +whither Hannibal was retired. +</p> + +<p> +The taking of New Carthage, where Scipio had displayed all +the prudence, the courage, and capacity which could have +been expected from the greatest generals, and the conquest of +all Spain, were more than sufficient to immortalize his name: +but he had considered these only as so many steps by which +he was to climb to a nobler enterprise: this was the conquest +of Africa. Accordingly, he crossed over thither, and made it +the seat of the war. +</p> + +<p> +The devastation of the country, the siege of Utica, one of +the strongest cities of Africa; the entire defeat of the two +armies under Syphax and Asdrubal, whose camp was burnt by +Scipio; and afterwards the taking Syphax himself prisoner, +who was the most powerful resource the Carthaginians had left; +all these things forced them at last to turn their thoughts to +peace. For this purpose they deputed thirty of their principal +senators, who were selected from that powerful body at Carthage, +called the <hi rend='italic'>council of the hundred</hi>. Being introduced +into the Roman general's tent, they all threw themselves prostrate +on the earth, (such was the custom of their country,) +spoke to him in terms of great submission, accusing Hannibal +as the author of all their calamities, and promising, in the name +of the senate, an implicit obedience to whatever the Romans +should please to ordain. Scipio answered, that though he was +come into Africa not for peace, but conquest, he would however +grant them a peace, upon condition that they should +deliver up all the prisoners and deserters to the Romans; that +they should recall their armies out of Italy and Gaul; should +<pb n='240'/><anchor id='Pg240'/> +never set foot again in Spain; should retire out of all the +islands between Italy and Africa; should deliver up all their +ships, twenty excepted, to the victor; should give to the Romans +five hundred thousand bushels of wheat, three hundred +thousand of barley, and pay fifteen thousand talents: that in +case they were pleased with these conditions, they then, he +said, might send ambassadors to the senate. The Carthaginians +feigned a compliance, but this was only to gain time, till +Hannibal should be returned. A truce was then granted to +the Carthaginians, who immediately sent deputies to Rome, +and at the same time an express to Hannibal, to order his +return into Africa. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>A.M. 3802. A. Rom. 516.</note> +He was then, as was observed before, in the extremity of +Italy. Here he received the orders from Carthage, +which he could not listen to without groans, and +almost shedding tears; and was exasperated almost +to madness, to see himself thus forced to quit his prey. Never +banished man<note place='foot'>Rarò quenquam +alium patriam exilii causâ relinquentem magis mœstum abiisse +ferunt, quàm Annibalem hostium terrà excedentem. Respexisse sæpe Italiæ littora, +et deos hominesque accusantem, in se quoque ac suum ipsius caput execratum. +Quòd non cruentum ab Cannensi victorià militem Romam duxisset. Liv. l. +xxx. n. 20.—Trans.</note> showed so much regret at leaving his native +country, as Hannibal did in going out of that of an enemy. +He often turned his eyes wishfully to Italy, accusing gods and +men of his misfortunes, and calling down a thousand curses, +says<note place='foot'>Livy supposes, however, that this +delay was a capital error in Hannibal, which he himself afterwards +regretted.—Trans.</note> Livy, upon himself, for not having marched his soldiers +directly to Rome, after the battle of Cannæ, whilst they were +still reeking with the blood of its citizens. +</p> + +<p> +At Rome, the senate, greatly dissatisfied with the excuses +made by the Carthaginian deputies, in justification of their +republic, and the ridiculous offer which they made, in its name, +of adhering to the treaty of Lutatius; thought proper to refer +the decision of the whole to Scipio, who, being on the spot, +could best judge what conditions the welfare of the state +required. +</p> + +<p> +About the same time, Octavius the prætor sailing from Sicily +into Africa with two hundred vessels of burden, was attacked +near Carthage by a furious storm, which dispersed all his fleet. +The citizens, not bearing to see so rich a prey escape them, +<pb n='241'/><anchor id='Pg241'/> +demanded importunately that the Carthaginian fleet might sail +out and seize it. The senate, after a faint resistance, complied. +Asdrubal, sailing out of the harbour, seized the greatest part of +the Roman ships, and brought them to Carthage, although the +truce was still subsisting. +</p> + +<p> +Scipio sent deputies to the Carthaginian senate, to complain +of this, but they were little regarded. Hannibal's approach +had revived their courage, and filled them with great hopes. +The deputies were even in great danger of being ill treated by +the populace. They therefore demanded a convoy, which was +granted, and accordingly two ships of the republic attended +them. But the magistrates, who were absolutely against peace, +and determined to renew the war, gave private orders to Asdrubal, +(who was with the fleet near Utica,) to attack the Roman +galley when it should arrive in the river Bagrada near the +Roman camp, where the convoy was ordered to leave them. +He obeyed the order, and sent out two galleys against the +ambassadors, who nevertheless made their escape, but with +difficulty and danger. +</p> + +<p> +This was a fresh subject for a war between the two nations, +who now were more animated, or rather more exasperated, +one against the other, than ever: the Romans, from a desire +of taking vengeance for so black a perfidy; and the Carthaginians, +from a persuasion that they were not now to expect a +peace. +</p> + +<p> +At the same time, Lælius and Fulvius, who carried the full +powers with which the senate and people of Rome had invested +Scipio, arrived in the camp, accompanied by the deputies of +Carthage. As the Carthaginians had not only infringed the +truce, but violated the law of nations, in the person of the +Roman ambassadors, it might naturally be expected that they +should order the Carthaginian deputies to be seized by way of +reprisal. However, Scipio,<note place='foot'><p>Ἐσκοπεῖτο παρ᾽ +αὐτῷ συλλογιζόμενος, οὐχ οὕτω τί δέον παθεῖν Καρχηδονίους, +ὡς τί δέον ἦν πράξει Ῥωμαίους. Polyb. l. xv. p. 965. edit. Gronov. +</p> +<p> +Quibus Scipio. Etsi nou induciarum modò fides, sed etiam jus gentium in legatis +violatum esset; tamen se nihil nec institutis populi Romani nec suis moribus +indignum in iis facturum esse. Liv. l. xxx. n. 25.—Trans.</p></note> +more attentive to what was required +by the Roman generosity, than by the perfidy of the +Carthaginians, in order not to deviate from the principles and +<pb n='242'/><anchor id='Pg242'/> +maxims of his own countrymen, nor his own character, dismissed +the deputies, without offering them the least injury. +So astonishing an instance of moderation, and at such a juncture, +terrified the Carthaginians, and even put them to the +blush; and made Hannibal himself entertain a still higher idea +of a general, who, to the dishonourable practices of his enemies, +opposed only a rectitude and greatness of soul, that was +still more worthy of admiration than all his military virtues. +</p> + +<p> +In the mean time, Hannibal, being strongly importuned by +his fellow-citizens, advanced forward into the country; and +arriving at Zama, which is five days' march from Carthage, he +there pitched his camp. He thence sent out spies to observe +the position of the Romans. Scipio having seized these, so +far from punishing them, only commanded them to be led +about the Roman camp, in order that they might take an +exact survey of it, and then sent them back to Hannibal. The +latter knew very well whence so noble an assurance flowed. +After the strange reverses he had met with, he no longer expected +that fortune would again be propitious. Whilst every one +was exciting him to give battle, himself only meditated a peace. +He flattered himself that the conditions of it would be more +honourable, as he was at the head of an army, and as the fate +of arms might still appear uncertain. He, therefore, sent to +desire an interview with Scipio, which accordingly was agreed +to, and the time and place fixed. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>A.M. 3803. A. Rom. 547.</note> +<hi rend='italic'>The Interview between Hannibal and Scipio in Africa, followed +by a Battle.<note place='foot'>Polyb l. xv. p. 694-703. Liv. l. +xxx. n. 29-35.</note></hi>—These two generals, who were not only +the most illustrious of their own age, but worthy of +being ranked with the most renowned princes and +warriors that had ever lived, having met at the place +appointed, continued for some time in a deep silence, as +though they were astonished, and struck with a mutual admiration +at the sight of each other. At last Hannibal spoke, and +after having praised Scipio in the most artful and delicate +manner, he gave a very lively description of the ravages of the +war, and the calamities in which it had involved both the +victors and the vanquished. He conjured him not to suffer +himself to be dazzled by the splendour of his victories. He +<pb n='243'/><anchor id='Pg243'/> +represented to him, that how successful soever he might have +hitherto been, he ought, however, to be aware of the inconstancy +of fortune: that without going far back for examples, +he himself, who was then speaking to him, was a glaring proof +of this: that Scipio was at that time what Hannibal had been +at Thrasymenus and Cannæ: that he ought to make a better +use of opportunity than himself had done, by consenting to a +peace, now it was in his power to propose the conditions of it. +He concluded with declaring, that the Carthaginians would +willingly resign Sicily, Sardinia, Spain, and all the islands +between Africa and Italy, to the Romans: that they must be +forced, since such was the will of the gods, to confine themselves +to Africa; whilst they should see the Romans extending +their conquests to the most remote regions, and obliging all +nations to pay obedience to their laws. +</p> + +<p> +Scipio answered in few words, but not with less dignity. He +reproached the Carthaginians for their perfidy, in plundering +the Roman galleys before the truce was expired. He imputed +to them alone, and to their injustice, all the calamities with +which the two wars had been attended. After thanking +Hannibal for the admonition he had given him, with regard to +the uncertainty of human events, he concluded with desiring +him to prepare for battle, unless he chose rather to accept of +the conditions that had been already proposed; to which (he +observed) some others would be added, in order to punish the +Carthaginians for their having violated the truce. +</p> + +<p> +Hannibal could not prevail with himself to accept these conditions, +and the generals left one another, with the resolution +to decide the fate of Carthage by a general battle. Each +commander exhorted his troops to fight valiantly. Hannibal +enumerated the victories he had gained over the Romans, the +generals he had slain, the armies he had cut to pieces. Scipio +represented to his soldiers, the conquest of both the Spains, his +successes in Africa, and the confession the enemies themselves +made of their weakness, by thus coming to sue for peace. All +this he spoke<note place='foot'>Celsus hæc corpore, +vultuque ita læto, ut vicisse jam crederes, dicebat. Liv. l. xxx. +n. 32.—Trans.</note> with the tone and air of a conqueror. Never +were motives more powerful to prompt troops to behave gallantly. +<pb n='244'/><anchor id='Pg244'/> +This day was to complete the glory of the one or the +other of the generals; and to decide whether Rome or Carthage +was to prescribe laws to all other nations. +</p> + +<p> +I shall not undertake to describe the order of the battle, +nor the valour of the forces on both sides. The reader will +naturally suppose, that two such experienced generals did not +forget any circumstance which could contribute to the victory. +The Carthaginians, after a very obstinate fight, were obliged +to fly, leaving twenty thousand men on the field of battle, and +the like number of prisoners were taken by the Romans. +Hannibal escaped in the tumult, and entering Carthage, owned +that he was irrecoverably overthrown, and that the citizens +had no other choice left than to accept of peace on any conditions. +Scipio bestowed great eulogiums on Hannibal, chiefly +with regard to his ability in taking advantages, his manner of +drawing up his army, and giving out his orders in the engagement; +and he affirmed, that Hannibal had this day surpassed +himself, although the success had not answered his valour and +conduct. +</p> + +<p> +With regard to himself, he well knew how to make a proper +advantage of the victory, and the consternation with which he +had filled the enemy. He commanded one of his lieutenants +to march his land army to Carthage, whilst himself prepared +to conduct the fleet thither. +</p> + +<p> +He was not far from the city, when he met a vessel covered +with streamers and olive-branches, bringing ten of the +most considerable persons of the state, as ambassadors to implore +his clemency. However, he dismissed them without +making any answer, and bade them come to him at Tunis, +where he should halt. The deputies of Carthage, thirty in +number, came to him at the place appointed, and sued for +peace in the most submissive terms. He then called a council +there, the majority of which were for rasing Carthage, and +treating the inhabitants with the utmost severity. But the +consideration of the time which must necessarily be employed +before so strongly fortified a city could be taken; and Scipio's +fear lest a successor might be appointed him whilst he should +be employed in the siege, made him incline to clemency. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>A Peace concluded between the Carthaginians and the +<pb n='245'/><anchor id='Pg245'/> +Romans. The End of the Second Punic War.<note place='foot'>Polyb. +l. xv. p. 704-707. Liv. l. xxx. n. 36-44.</note></hi>—The conditions +of the peace dictated by Scipio to the Carthaginians +were, <q>That the Carthaginians should continue free, and preserve +their laws, their territories, and the cities they possessed +in Africa before the war—That they should deliver up to the +Romans all deserters, slaves, and prisoners belonging to them; +all their ships, except ten triremes; all the elephants which +they then had, and that they should not train up any more +for war—That they should not make war out of Africa, nor +even in that country, without first obtaining leave for that +purpose from the Roman people—Should restore to Masinissa +every thing of which they had dispossessed either him or his +ancestors—Should furnish money and corn to the Roman +auxiliaries, till their ambassadors should be returned from +Rome—Should pay to the Romans ten thousand Euboic talents<note place='foot'><p>Ten +thousand Attic talents make thirty millions French money. Ten thousand +Euboic talents make something more than twenty-eight millions, thirty-three thousand +livres; because, according to Budæus, the Euboic talent is equivalent but to +fifty-six minæ and something more, whereas the Attic talent is worth sixty minæ. +</p> +<p> +Or otherwise thus calculated in English money: +</p> +<p> +According to Budæus, the Euboic talent is 56 Minæ<lb/> +56 Minæ reduced to English money is 175<hi rend='italic'>l.</hi><lb/> +Consequently, 10,000 Euboic talents make 1,750,000<hi rend='italic'>l.</hi><lb/> +So that the Carthaginians paid annually 35,000<hi rend='italic'>l.</hi> +</p> +<p> +This calculation is as near the truth as it can well be brought; the Euboic talent +being something more than 56 minæ.—Trans.</p></note> +of silver in fifty annual payments; and give a hundred hostages, +who should be nominated by Scipio. And in order that +they might have time to send to Rome, he agreed to grant +them a truce, upon condition that they should restore the +ships taken during the former, without which they were not +to expect either a truce or peace.</q> +</p> + +<p> +When the deputies were returned to Carthage, they laid +before the senate the conditions dictated by Scipio. But they +appeared so intolerable to Gisgo, that rising up, he made a +speech, in order to dissuade his citizens from accepting a +peace on such shameful terms. Hannibal, provoked at the +calmness with which such an orator was heard, took Gisgo by +the arm, and dragged him from his seat. A behaviour so outrageous, +and so remote from the manners of a free city like +Carthage, raised an universal murmur. Hannibal himself was +vexed when he reflected on what he had done, and immediately +<pb n='246'/><anchor id='Pg246'/> +made an apology for it. <q>As I left,</q> says he, <q>your +city at nine years of age, and did not return to it till after +thirty-six years' absence, I had full leisure to learn the arts of +war, and flatter myself that I have made some improvement +in them. As for your laws and customs, it is no wonder I am +ignorant of them, and I therefore desire you to instruct me in +them.</q> He then expatiated on the indispensable necessity +they were under of concluding a peace. He added, that +they ought to thank the gods for having prompted the +Romans to grant them a peace even on these conditions. He +pointed out to them the great importance of their uniting in +opinion; and of not giving an opportunity, by their divisions, +for the people to take an affair of this nature under their +cognizance. The whole city came over to his opinion; and +accordingly the peace was accepted. The senate made Scipio +satisfaction with regard to the ships reclaimed by him; and, +after obtaining a truce for three months, they sent ambassadors +to Rome. +</p> + +<p> +These Carthaginians, who were all venerable for their years +and dignity, were admitted immediately to an audience. Asdrubal, +surnamed Hœdus, who was still an irreconcileable +enemy to Hannibal and his faction, spoke first; and after +having excused, to the best of his power, the people of Carthage, +by imputing the rupture to the ambition of some particular +persons, he added, that had the Carthaginians listened +to his counsels and those of Hanno, they would have been +able to grant the Romans the peace for which they now were +obliged to sue. <q>But,</q><note place='foot'>Rarò simul +hominibus bonam fortunam bonamque mentem dari. Populum Romanum eo +invictum esse, quòd in secundis rebus sapere et consulere meminerit. +Et herclè mirandum fuisse si aliter facerent. Ex insolentiâ, quibus nova bona fortuna +sit, impotentes lætitiæ insanire: populo Romano usitata ac propè obsoleta ex +victoriâ gaudia esse; ac plus penè parcendo victis, quàm vincendo, imnerium auxisse. +Liv. l. xxx n. 42.—Trans.</note> continued he, <q>wisdom and prosperity +are very rarely found together. The Romans are invincible, +because they never suffer themselves to be blinded by +good fortune. And it would be surprising should they act +otherwise. Success dazzles those only to whom it is new and +unusual; whereas the Romans are so much accustomed to +conquer, that they are almost insensible to the charms of victory; +and it may be said to their glory, that they have extended +<pb n='247'/><anchor id='Pg247'/> +their empire, in some measure, more by the humanity they have +shown to the conquered, than by the conquest itself.</q> The +other ambassadors spoke with a more plaintive tone of voice, +and represented the calamitous state to which Carthage was +going to be reduced, and the grandeur and power from which +it was fallen. +</p> + +<p> +The senate and people being equally inclined to peace, +sent full power to Scipio to conclude it; left the conditions to +that general, and permitted him to march back his army, after +the treaty should be concluded. +</p> + +<p> +The ambassadors desired leave to enter the city, to redeem +some of their prisoners, and they found about two hundred +whom they desired to ransom. But the senate sent them to +Scipio, with orders that they should be restored without any +pecuniary consideration, in case a peace should be concluded. +</p> + +<p> +The Carthaginians, on the return of their ambassadors, +concluded a peace with Scipio, on the terms he himself had +prescribed. They then delivered up to him more than five +hundred ships, all which he burnt in sight of Carthage; a +lamentable spectacle to the inhabitants of that ill-fated city! +He struck off the heads of the allies of the Latin name, and +hanged all the Roman citizens who were surrendered up to +him, as deserters. +</p> + +<p> +When the time for the payment of the first tribute imposed +by the treaty was expired, as the funds of the government +were exhausted by this long and expensive war; the +difficulty of levying so great a sum, threw the senate into deep +affliction, and many could not refrain even from tears. Hannibal +on this occasion is said to have laughed; and when he +was reproached by Asdrubal Hœdus, for thus insulting his +country in the affliction which he had brought upon it, <q>Were +it possible,</q> says Hannibal, <q>for my heart to be seen, and that +as clearly as my countenance; you would then find that this +laughter which offends so much, flows not from an intemperate +joy, but from a mind almost distracted with the public calamities. +But is this laughter more unseasonable than your +unbecoming tears? Then, then, ought you to have wept, +when your arms were ingloriously taken from you, your ships +burnt, and you were forbidden to engage in any foreign wars. +<pb n='248'/><anchor id='Pg248'/> +This was the mortal blow which laid us prostrate.—We are +sensible of the public calamity, so far only as we have a personal +concern in it; and the loss of our money gives us the +most pungent sorrow. Hence it was, that when our city was +made the spoil of the victor; when it was left disarmed and +defenceless amidst so many powerful nations of Africa, who +had at that time taken the field, not a groan, not a sigh was +heard. But now, when you are called on to contribute individually +to the tax imposed upon the state, you bewail and +lament as if all were lost. Alas! I only wish that the subject +of this day's grief does not soon appear to you the least of +your misfortunes.</q> +</p> + +<p> +Scipio, after all things were concluded, embarked, in order +to return to Italy. He arrived at Rome, through crowds of +people, whom curiosity had drawn together to behold his +march. The most magnificent triumph that Rome had ever +seen was decreed him, and the surname of Africanus was +bestowed upon this great man; an honour till then unknown, +no person before him having assumed the name of a vanquished +nation. Such was the conclusion of the second Punic war, +after having lasted seventeen years. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>A.M. 3804. A. Carth. 646. A. Rom. 548. Ant. J.C. 200.</note> +<hi rend='italic'>A short Reflection on the Government of Carthage in the +time of the Second Punic War.</hi>—I shall conclude +the particulars which relate to the second Punic war, +with a reflection of Polybius,<note place='foot'>Lib. vi. +p. 493, 494.</note> which will show the +difference between the two commonwealths of Rome +and Carthage. It may be affirmed, in some measure, +that at the beginning of the second Punic war, and in Hannibal's +time, Carthage was in its decline. The flower of its +youth, and its sprightly vigour were already diminished. It +had begun to fall from its exalted pitch of power, and was +inclining towards its ruin; whereas Rome was then, as it were, +in its bloom and prime of life, and swiftly advancing to the +conquest of the universe. The reason of the declension of +the one, and the rise of the other, is deduced, by Polybius, +from the different form of government established in these +commonwealths, at the time we are now speaking of. At +Carthage, the common people had seized upon the sovereign +<pb n='249'/><anchor id='Pg249'/> +authority with regard to public affairs, and the advice of their +ancient men or magistrates was no longer listened to; all +affairs were transacted by intrigue and cabal. To take no +notice of the artifices which the faction adverse to Hannibal +employed, during the whole time of his command, to perplex +him; the single instance of burning the Roman vessels during +a truce, a perfidious action to which the common people compelled +the senate to lend their name and assistance, is a proof +of Polybius's assertion. On the contrary, at this very time, the +Romans paid the highest regard to their senate, that is, to a +body composed of the greatest sages; and their old men were +listened to and revered as oracles. It is well known that the +Roman people were exceedingly jealous of their authority, and +especially in whatever related to the election of magistrates. +A century of young men, who by lot were to give the first +vote, which generally directed all the rest, had nominated two +consuls.<note place='foot'>Liv. l. xxiv. n. 8, +9.</note> On the bare remonstrance of Fabius,<note place='foot'>Quilibet +nautarum rectorumque tranquillo mari gubernare potest: Ubi sæva +orta tempestas est, ac turbato mari rapitur vento navis, tum viro et gubernatore opus +est. Non tranquillo navigamus, sed jam aliquot procellis submersi penè sumus. +Itaque quis ad gubernacula sedeat, summâ curâ providendum ac præcavendum +nubis est.—Trans.</note> who represented +to the people, that in a tempest, like that with which +Rome was then struggling, the ablest pilots ought to be chosen +to steer the vessel of the state, the century returned to their +suffrages, and nominated other consuls. Polybius infers, that +a people, thus guided by the prudence of old men, could not +fail of prevailing over a state which was governed wholly by +the giddy multitude. And indeed, the Romans, under the +guidance of the wise counsels of their senate, gained at last +the superiority with regard to the war considered in general, +though they were defeated in several particular engagements; +and established their power and grandeur on the ruin of their +rivals. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>The interval between the Second and Third Punic War.</hi>—This +interval, though considerable enough with regard to its +duration, since it took up above fifty years, is very little remarkable +as to the events which relate to Carthage. They may +be reduced to two heads; of which the one relates to the person +of Hannibal, and the other to some particular differences +<pb n='250'/><anchor id='Pg250'/> +between the Carthaginians and Masinissa king of the Numidians. +We shall treat both separately, but at no great length. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Sect. I. Continuation of the History of Hannibal.</hi>—When +the second Punic war was ended, by the treaty of peace +concluded with Scipio, Hannibal, as he himself observed in the +Carthaginian senate, was forty-five years of age. What we +have farther to say of this great man, includes the space of +twenty-five years. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Hannibal undertakes and completes the Reformation of the +Courts of Justice, and the Treasury of Carthage.</hi>—After the +conclusion of the peace, Hannibal, at least at first, was greatly +respected at Carthage, where he filled the first employments of +the state with honour and applause. He headed the Carthaginian +forces in some wars against the Africans:<note place='foot'>Corn. Nep. +<hi rend='italic'>in Annib.</hi> c. 7.</note> but the +Romans, to whom the very name of Hannibal gave uneasiness, +not being able to see him in arms without displeasure, made +complaints on that account, and accordingly he was recalled +to Carthage. +</p> + +<p> +On his return he was appointed prætor, which seems to have +been a very considerable employment, and to have conferred +great authority. Carthage is therefore going to be, with regard +to him, a new theatre, as it were, on which he will display virtues +and qualities of a quite different nature from those we have +hitherto admired in him, and which will finish the picture of +this illustrious man. +</p> + +<p> +Eagerly desirous of restoring the affairs of his afflicted country +to their former happy condition, he was persuaded, that the +two most powerful methods to make a state flourish, were, an +exact and equal distribution of justice to all its subjects in +general, and a scrupulous fidelity in the management of the +public finances. The former, by preserving an equality among +the citizens, and making them enjoy such a delightful, undisturbed +liberty under the protection of the laws, as fully secures +their honour, their lives, and properties; unites the individuals +of the commonwealth more closely together, and attaches them +more firmly to the state, to which they owe the preservation of +all that is most dear and valuable to them. The latter, by a +<pb n='251'/><anchor id='Pg251'/> +faithful administration of the public revenues, supplies punctually +the several wants and necessities of the state; keeps in +reserve a never failing resource for sudden emergencies, and +prevents the people from being burthened with new taxes, +which are rendered necessary by extravagant profusion, and +which chiefly contribute to make men harbour an aversion for +the government. +</p> + +<p> +Hannibal saw, with great concern, the irregularities which +had crept equally into the administration of justice, and the +management of the finances. Upon his being nominated +prætor, as his love for regularity and order made him uneasy +at every deviation from it, and prompted him to use his utmost +endeavours to restore it; he had the courage to attempt the +reformation of this double abuse, which drew after it a numberless +multitude of others, without dreading, either the animosity +of the old faction that opposed him, or the new enmity +which his zeal for the republic must necessarily draw upon +him. +</p> + +<p> +The judges exercised the most flagrant extortion with +impunity.<note place='foot'>Liv. l. xxxiii. n. +46.</note> They were so many petty tyrants, who disposed, in +an arbitrary manner, of the lives and fortunes of the citizens; +without there being the least possibility of putting a stop +to their injustice, because they held their commissions for +life, and mutually supported one another. Hannibal, as prætor, +summoned before his tribunal an officer belonging to the +bench of judges, who openly abused his power. Livy tells us +that he was a questor. This officer, who was of the opposite +faction to Hannibal, and had already assumed all the pride +and haughtiness of the judges, among whom he was to be +admitted at the expiration of his present office, insolently +refused to obey the summons. Hannibal was not of a disposition +to suffer an affront of this nature tamely. Accordingly, +he caused him to be seized by a lictor, and brought him before +an assembly of the people. There, not satisfied with directing +his resentment against this single officer, he impeached the +whole bench of judges; whose insupportable and tyrannical +pride was not restrained, either by the fear of the laws, or a +reverence for the magistrates. And, as Hannibal perceived +<pb n='252'/><anchor id='Pg252'/> +that he was heard with pleasure, and that the lowest and most +inconsiderable of the people discovered, on this occasion, that +they were no longer able to bear the insolent pride of these +judges, who seemed to have a design upon their liberties; he +proposed a law, (which accordingly passed,) by which it was +enacted, that new judges should be chosen annually; with a +clause, that none should continue in office beyond that term. +This law, at the same time that it acquired him the friendship +and esteem of the people, drew upon him, proportionably, the +hatred of the greatest part of the grandees and nobility. +</p> + +<p> +He attempted another reformation, which created him new +enemies, but gained him great honour.<note place='foot'>Liv. +l. xxiii. n. 46, 47.</note> The public revenues +were either squandered away by the negligence of those who +had the management of them, or were plundered by the chief +men of the city and the magistrates; so that, money being +wanting to pay the annual tribute due to the Romans, the +Carthaginians were going to levy it upon the people in general. +Hannibal, entering into a large detail of the public revenues, +ordered an exact estimate of them to be laid before him; +inquired in what manner they had been applied; the employments +and ordinary expenses of the state; and having discovered, +by this inquiry, that the public funds had been in a +great measure embezzled by the fraud of the officers who had +the management of them, he declared and promised, in a full +assembly of the people, that, without laying any new taxes +upon private men, the republic should hereafter be enabled to +pay the tribute to the Romans; and he was as good as his word. +The farmers of the revenues, whose plunder and rapine he had +publicly detected, having accustomed themselves hitherto to +fatten upon the spoils of their country, exclaimed<note place='foot'>Tum +verò isti quos paverat per aliquot annos publicus peculatus, velut bonis +ereptis, non furto eorum manibus extorto, infensi et irati, Romanos in Annibaleim, et +ipsos causam odii quærentes, instigabant. Liv.—Trans.</note> vehemently +against these regulations, as if their own property had been +forced out of their hands, and not the sums they had plundered +from the public. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>The Retreat and Death of Hannibal.<note place='foot'>Liv. +l. xxiii. n. 45-49.</note></hi>—This double reformation +of abuses raised great clamours against Hannibal. His +enemies were writing incessantly to the chief men, or their +<pb n='253'/><anchor id='Pg253'/> +friends, at Rome, to inform them, that he was carrying on a +secret intelligence with Antiochus king of Syria; that he frequently +received couriers from him; and that this prince had +privately despatched agents to Hannibal, to concert with him +the measures for carrying on the war he was meditating: that +as some animals are so extremely fierce, that it is impossible +ever to tame them; in like manner this man was of so turbulent +and implacable a spirit, that he could not brook ease, and +therefore would, sooner or later, break out again. These informations +were listened to at Rome; and as the transactions of +the preceding war had been begun and carried on almost solely +by Hannibal, they appeared more probable. However, Scipio +strongly opposed the violent measures which the senate were +going to take on their receiving this intelligence, by representing +it as derogatory to the dignity of the Roman people, to +countenance the hatred and accusations of Hannibal's enemies; +to support, with their authority, their unjust passions; +and obstinately to persecute him even in the very heart of his +country; as though the Romans had not humbled him sufficiently, +in driving him out of the field, and forcing him to lay +down his arms. +</p> + +<p> +But notwithstanding these prudent remonstrances, the senate +appointed three commissioners to go and make their complaints +to Carthage, and to demand that Hannibal should be +delivered up to them. On their arrival in that city, though +other motives were speciously pretended, yet Hannibal was +perfectly sensible that himself only was aimed at. The evening +being come, he conveyed himself on board a ship, which +he had secretly provided for that purpose; on which occasion +he bewailed his country's fate more than his own. <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Sæpiùs +patriæ quàm suorum<note place='foot'>It is probable that we should +read <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>suos</foreign>.—Trans.</note> +eventus miseratus.</foreign> This was the +eighth year after the conclusion of the peace. The first place +he landed at was Tyre, where he was received as in his second +country, and had all the honours paid him which were due to +his exalted merit. +<note place='margin'>A.M. 3812. A. Rom. 556.</note> +After staying some days here, he +set out for Antioch, which the king had lately left, +and from thence waited upon him at Ephesus. The +arrival of so renowned a general gave great pleasure to the +<pb n='254'/><anchor id='Pg254'/> +king; and did not a little contribute to determine him to +engage in war against Rome; for hitherto he had appeared +wavering and uncertain on that head. In this city, a philosopher, +who was looked upon as the greatest orator of Asia, +had the imprudence to make a long harangue before Hannibal, +on the duties of a general, and the rules of the art-military.<note place='foot'>Cic. +<hi rend='italic'>de Orat.</hi> l. ii. n. 75, 76.</note> +The speech charmed the whole audience. But Hannibal +being asked his opinion of it, <q>I have seen,</q> says he, <q>many +old dotards in my life, but this exceeds them all.</q><note place='foot'>Hìc +Pœnus liberè respondisse fertur, multos se deliros senes sæpe vidisse: Sed +qui magis quàm Phormio deliraret vidisse neminem. Stobæus, <hi rend='italic'>Serm.</hi> +lii. gives the following account of this matter: Ἀννίβας ἀκούσας Στοικοῦ τίνος +ἐπιχειροῦντος, ὅτι ὁ σοφὸς μόνος στρατηγὸς ἐστὶν, ἐγέλασε, νομίζων ἀδύνατον εἶναι +ἐκτὸς τῆς δι᾽ ἔργων ἐμπειρίας τὴν ἐν τούτοις ἑπιστήμην ἔχειν. +<hi rend='italic'>i.e.</hi> Hannibal hearing a Stoic philosopher undertake to +prove that the wise man was the only general, laughed, as thinking it impossible for +a man to have any skill in war without having long practised it.—Trans.</note> +</p> + +<p> +The Carthaginians, justly fearing that Hannibal's escape +would certainly draw upon them the arms of the Romans, sent +them advice that Hannibal was withdrawn to Antiochus.<note place='foot'>They did +more, for they sent two ships to pursue Hannibal, and bring him back; +they sold off his goods, rased his house; and, by a public decree, declared him an +exile. Such was the gratitude the Carthaginians showed to the greatest general +they ever had. Corn. Nep. <hi rend='italic'>in vitâ Hannib.</hi> c. +7.—Trans.</note> The +Romans were very much disturbed at this news; and the king +might have turned it extremely to his advantage, had he known +how to make a proper use of it. +</p> + +<p> +The first advice that Hannibal gave him at this time, and +which he frequently repeated afterwards, was, to make Italy +the seat of the war.<note place='foot'>Liv. l. xxxiv. n. +60.</note> He required an hundred ships, eleven or +twelve thousand land forces, and offered to take upon himself +the command of the fleet; to cross into Africa, in order to engage +the Carthaginians in the war; and afterwards to make a +descent upon Italy, during which the king himself should remain +in Greece with his army, holding himself constantly in +readiness to cross over into Italy, whenever it should be thought +convenient. This was the only thing proper to be done, and +the king very much approved the proposal at first. +</p> + +<p> +Hannibal thought it would be expedient to prepare his +friends at Carthage, in order to engage them the more strongly +in his views.<note place='foot'>Ib. n. 61.</note> +The transmitting of information by letters, is not +only unsafe, but they can give only an imperfect idea of things, +<pb n='255'/><anchor id='Pg255'/> +and are never sufficiently particular. He therefore despatched +a trusty person with ample instructions to Carthage. This +man was scarce arrived in the city, but his business was +suspected. Accordingly, he was watched and followed: and, +at last, orders were issued for his being seized. However, he +prevented the vigilance of his enemies, and escaped in the +night; after having fixed, in several public places, papers, +which fully declared the occasion of his journey. The senate +immediately sent advice of this to the Romans. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>A.M. 3813. A. Rom. 557.</note> +Villius, one of the deputies who had been sent into Asia, +to inquire into the state of affairs there, and, if +possible, to discover the real designs of Antiochus, +found Hannibal in Ephesus.<note place='foot'>Liv. l. xxxv. +n. 14. Polyb. l. iii. p. 166, 167.</note> He had many conferences +with him, paid him several visits, and speciously affected +to show a particular esteem for him on all occasions. But his +chief aim, by all this designing behaviour, was to make him be +suspected, and to lessen his credit with the king, in which he +succeeded but too well.<note place='foot'>Polybius represents +this application of Villius to Hannibal, as a premeditated +design, in order to render him suspected to Antiochus, because of his intimacy with +a Roman. Livy owns, that the affair succeeded as if it had been designed; but, at +the same time, he gives, for a very obvious reason, another turn to this conversation, +and says, that no more was intended by it, than to sound Hannibal, and to remove +any fears or apprehensions he might be under from the Romans.—Trans.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Some authors affirm, that Scipio was joined in this embassy;<note place='foot'>Liv. +l. xxxv. n. 14. Plut. <hi rend='italic'>in vitâ Flamin.</hi> &c.</note> +and they even relate the conversation which that general had +with Hannibal. They tell us, that the Roman having asked +him, who, in his opinion, was the greatest captain that had ever +lived; he answered, Alexander the Great, because, with a +handful of Macedonians, he had defeated numberless armies, +and carried his conquests into countries so very remote, that +it seemed scarce possible for any man only to travel so far. +Being afterwards asked, to whom he gave the second rank; +he answered, to Pyrrhus: Because this king was the first who +understood the art of pitching a camp to advantage; no commander +ever made a more judicious choice of his posts, was +better skilled in drawing up his forces, or was more dexterous +in winning the affection of foreign soldiers; insomuch +that even the people of Italy were more desirous to have him +<pb n='256'/><anchor id='Pg256'/> +for their governor, though a foreigner, than the Romans themselves, +who had so long been settled in their country. Scipio +proceeding, asked him next, whom he looked upon as the +third: on which Hannibal made no scruple to assign that rank +to himself. Here Scipio could not forbear laughing: <q>But +what would you have said,</q> continued Scipio, <q>had you conquered +me?</q> <q>I would,</q> replied Hannibal, <q>have ranked myself +above Alexander, Pyrrhus, and all the generals the world ever +produced.</q> Scipio was not insensible of so refined and delicate +a flattery, which he no ways expected; and which, by giving +him no rival, seemed to insinuate, that no captain was worthy +of being put in comparison with him. +</p> + +<p> +The answer, as told by Plutarch,<note place='foot'>Plut. +<hi rend='italic'>in Pyrrho</hi>, p. 687.</note> is less witty, and not so +probable. In this author, Hannibal gives Pyrrhus the first +place, Scipio the second, and himself the third. +</p> + +<p> +Hannibal, sensible of the coldness with which Antiochus +received him, ever since his conferences with Villius or Scipio, +took no notice of it for some time, and seemed insensible of it.<note place='foot'>Liv. +l. xxxv. n. 19.</note> +But at last he thought it advisable to come to an explanation +with the king, and to open his mind freely to him. <q>The +hatred (says he) which I bear to the Romans, is known to the +whole world. I bound myself to it by an oath, from my most +tender infancy. It is this hatred that made me draw the sword +against Rome during thirty-six years. It is that, which, even +in times of peace, has caused me to be driven from my native +country, and forced me to seek an asylum in your dominions. +For ever guided and fired by the same passion, should my hopes +be frustrated here, I will fly to every part of the globe, and +rouse up all nations against the Romans. I hate them, and +will hate them eternally; and know that they bear me no less +animosity. So long as you shall continue in the resolution to +take up arms against them, you may rank Hannibal in the +number of your best friends. But if other counsels incline +you to peace, I declare to you, once for all, address yourself +to others for advice, and not to me.</q> Such a speech, which +came from his heart, and expressed the greatest sincerity, struck +the king, and seemed to remove all his suspicions; so that he +now resolved to give Hannibal the command of part of his fleet. +</p> + +<pb n='257'/><anchor id='Pg257'/> + +<p> +But what havoc is not flattery capable of making in courts +and in the minds of princes!<note place='foot'>Liv. l. xxxv. +n. 42, 43.</note> Antiochus was told, <q>that it +was imprudent in him to put so much confidence in Hannibal, +an exile, a Carthaginian, whose fortune or genius might suggest +to him, in one day, a thousand different projects: that besides, +this very fame which Hannibal had acquired in war, and which +he considered as his peculiar inheritance, was too great for a +man who fought only under the ensigns of another: that none +but the king ought to be the general and conductor of the war, +and that it was incumbent on him to draw upon himself alone +the eyes and attention of all men; whereas, should Hannibal +be employed, he (a foreigner) would have the glory of all the +successes ascribed to him.</q> <q>No minds,</q><note place='foot'>Nulla +ingenia tam prona ad invidiam sunt, quàm eorum qui genus ac fortunam +suam animis non æquant: Quia virtutem et bonum alienum oderunt. Methinks it +is better to read ut bonum alienum.—Trans.</note> says Livy, on this +occasion, <q>are more susceptible of envy, than those whose +merit is below their birth and dignity; such persons always +abhorring virtue and worth in others, for this reason alone, +because they are strange and foreign to themselves.</q> This +observation was fully verified on this occasion. Antiochus had +been taken on his weak side; a low and sordid jealousy, which +is the defect and characteristic of little minds, extinguished +every generous sentiment in that monarch. Hannibal was now +slighted and laid aside: however, he was greatly revenged on +Antiochus, by the ill success this prince met with; and showed +how unfortunate that king is whose soul is accessible to envy, +and his ears open to the poisonous insinuation of flatterers. +</p> + +<p> +In a council held some time after, to which Hannibal, for +form sake, was admitted, he, when it came to his turn to speak, +endeavoured chiefly to prove, that Philip of Macedon ought, +on any terms, to be engaged to form an alliance with Antiochus, +which was not so difficult as might be imagined.<note place='foot'>Ib. +l. xxxvi. n. 7.</note> <q>With regard,</q> +says Hannibal, <q>to the operations of the war, I adhere immovably +to my first opinion; and had my counsels been listened +to before, Tuscany and Liguria would now be all in a flame: +and Hannibal (a name that strikes terror into the Romans) in +Italy. Though I should not be very well skilled as to other +matters, yet the good and ill success I have met with must +<pb n='258'/><anchor id='Pg258'/> +necessarily have taught me sufficiently how to carry on a war +against the Romans. I have nothing now in my power, but to +give you my counsel, and offer you my service. May the gods +give success to all your undertakings!</q> Hannibal's speech +was received with applause, but not one of his counsels was +put in execution. +</p> + +<p> +Antiochus, imposed upon and lulled asleep by his flatterers, +remained quiet at Ephesus, after the Romans had driven him +out of Greece;<note place='foot'>Liv. l. xxxvi. n. +41.</note> not once imagining that they would ever invade +his dominions. Hannibal, who was now restored to favour, +was for ever assuring him, that the war would soon be removed +into Asia, and that he would soon see the enemy at his gates: +that he must resolve, either to abdicate his throne, or oppose +vigorously a people who grasped at the empire of the world. +This discourse awakened, in some little measure, the king out +of his lethargy, and prompted him to make some weak efforts. +But, as his conduct was unsteady, after sustaining a great +many considerable losses, he was forced to terminate the war +by an ignominious peace; one of the articles of which was, +that he should deliver up Hannibal to the Romans. However, +the latter did not give him opportunity to put it in execution, +but retired to the island of Crete, to consider there what course +it would be best for him to take. +</p> + +<p> +The riches he had brought along with him, of which the +people of the island got some notice, had like to have proved +his ruin.<note place='foot'>Corn. Nep. <hi rend='italic'>in Annib.</hi> +c. 9, 10. Justin, l. xxxii. c. 4.</note> Hannibal was never wanting in stratagems, and he +had occasion to employ them now, to save both himself and +his treasure. He filled several vessels with molten lead, the +tops of which he just covered over with gold and silver. These +he deposited in the temple of Diana, in presence of several +Cretans, to whose honesty, he said, he confided all his treasure. +A strong guard was then posted round the temple, and Hannibal +left at full liberty, from a supposition that his riches +were secured. +<note place='margin'>A.M. 3820. A. Rom. 564.</note> +But he had concealed them in hollow statues +of brass,<note place='foot'>These statues were +thrown out by him, in a place of public resort, as things of +little value. Corn. Nep.—Trans.</note> which he always carried along with him. +And then, embracing a favourable opportunity to +<pb n='259'/><anchor id='Pg259'/> +make his escape, he fled to the court of Prusias, king of +Bithynia.<note place='foot'>Corn. Nep. <hi rend='italic'>in +Annib.</hi> c. 10, 11. Justin, l. xxxiii c. 4.</note> +</p> + +<p> +It appears from history, that he made some stay in the court +of this prince, who soon engaged in war with Eumenes, king +of Pergamus, a professed friend to the Romans. By means of +Hannibal, the troops of Prusias gained several victories both +by land and sea. +</p> + +<p> +He employed a stratagem of an extraordinary kind, in a +sea-fight.<note place='foot'>Justin, l. xxxii. c. 4. Corn. Nep. +<hi rend='italic'>in vit. Annib.</hi></note> As the enemy's fleet consisted of more +ships than his, he had recourse to artifice. He put into earthen vessels +all kinds of serpents, and ordered these vessels to be thrown +into the enemy's ships. His chief aim was to destroy Eumenes; +and for that purpose it was necessary for him to find out which +ship he was on board of. This Hannibal discovered by sending +out a boat, upon pretence of conveying a letter to him. Having +gained his point thus far, he ordered the commanders of +the respective vessels to direct their attack principally against +Eumenes's ship. They obeyed, and would have taken it, had +he not outsailed his pursuers. The rest of the ships of Pergamus +sustained the fight with great vigour, till the earthen vessels +had been thrown into them. At first they only laughed at +this, and were very much surprised to find such weapons +employed against them. But when they saw themselves surrounded +with the serpents, which darted out of these vessels +when they flew to pieces, they were seized with dread, retired +in disorder, and yielded the victory to the enemy. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>A.M. 3882. A. Rom. 566.</note> +Services of so important a nature seemed to secure for +ever to Hannibal an undisturbed asylum at that +prince's court.<note place='foot'>Liv. l. xxxix. n. +51.</note> However, the Romans would not +suffer him to be easy there, but deputed Q. Flamininus +to Prusias, to complain of the protection he gave Hannibal. +The latter easily guessed the motive of this embassy, and therefore +did not wait till his enemies had an opportunity of delivering +him up. At first he attempted to secure himself by flight; +but perceiving that the seven secret outlets, which he had contrived +in his palace, were all seized by the soldiers of Prusias, +who, by perfidiously betraying his guest, was desirous of making +<pb n='260'/><anchor id='Pg260'/> +his court to the Romans; he ordered the poison, which he had +long kept for this melancholy occasion, to be brought him; and +taking it in his hand, <q>Let us,</q> said he, <q>free the Romans from +the disquiet with which they have so long been tortured, since +they have not patience to wait for an old man's death. The +victory which Flamininus gains over a man disarmed and +betrayed will not do him much honour. This single day will +be a lasting testimony of the great degeneracy of the Romans. +Their fathers sent notice to Pyrrhus, to desire he would beware +of a traitor who intended to poison him, and that at a time +when this prince was at war with them in the very centre of +Italy; but their sons have deputed a person of consular dignity +to spirit up Prusias, impiously to murder one who is not +only his friend, but his guest.</q> After calling down curses +upon Prusias, and having invoked the gods, the protectors and +avengers of the sacred rights of hospitality, he swallowed the +poison,<note place='foot'>Plutarch, according to +his custom, assigns him three different deaths. Some, says he, +relate, <q>that having wrapped his cloak about his neck, he ordered his servant +to fix his knees against his buttocks, and not to leave twisting till he had +strangled him.</q> Others say, that, in imitation of Themistocles and Midas, he drank +bull's blood. Livy tells us, that Hannibal drank a poison which he always carried +about him; and taking the cup into his hands, cried, <q>Let us free,</q> +&c. In <hi rend='italic'>vitâ Flaminini</hi>.—Trans.</note> +and died at seventy years of age. +</p> + +<p> +This year was remarkable for the death of three great men, +Hannibal, Philopœmen, and Scipio, who had this in common, +that they all died out of their native countries, by a death little +correspondent to the glory of their actions. The two first died +by poison: Hannibal being betrayed by his host; and Philopœmen +being taken prisoner in a battle against the Messenians, +and thrown into a dungeon, was forced to swallow poison. As +to Scipio, he banished himself, to avoid an unjust prosecution +which was carrying on against him at Rome, and ended his +days in a kind of obscurity. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>The Character and Eulogium of Hannibal.</hi>—This would be +the proper place for representing the excellent qualities of +Hannibal, who reflected so much glory on Carthage. But as +I have attempted to draw his character elsewhere,<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Of +the Method of Studying and Teaching the Belles Lettres</hi>, vol. +ii.—Trans.</note> and to give +a just idea of him, by making a comparison between him and +<pb n='261'/><anchor id='Pg261'/> +Scipio, I think myself dispensed from giving his eulogium at +large in this place. +</p> + +<p> +Persons who devote themselves to the profession of arms, +cannot spend too much time in the study of this great man, +who is looked upon, by the best judges, as the most complete +general, in almost every respect, that ever the world produced. +</p> + +<p> +During the whole seventeen years that the war lasted, two +errors only are objected to him: first, his not marching, immediately +after the battle of Cannæ, his victorious army to +Rome, in order to besiege that city: secondly, his suffering +their courage to be softened and enervated during their winter-quarters +in Capua: errors, which only show that great men +are not so in all things;<note place='foot'>Quintil.—Trans.</note> +<foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>summi enim sunt, homine tamen</foreign>; +and which, perhaps, may be partly excused. +</p> + +<p> +But then, for these two errors, what a multitude of shining +qualities appear in Hannibal! How extensive were his views +and designs, even in his most tender years! What greatness +of soul! What intrepidity! What presence of mind must he +have possessed, to be able, even in the fire and heat of action, +to turn every thing to advantage! With what surprising +address must he have managed the minds of men, that, amidst +so great a variety of nations which composed his army, who +often were in want both of money and provisions, his camp +was not once disturbed with any insurrection, either against +himself or any of his generals! With what equity, what moderation +must he have behaved towards his new allies, to have +prevailed so far as to attach them inviolably to his service, +though he was reduced to the necessity of making them sustain +almost the whole burthen of the war, by quartering his army +upon them, and levying contributions in their several countries! +In short, how fruitful must he have been in expedients, to be +able to carry on, for so many years, a war in a remote country, +in spite of the violent opposition made by a powerful faction +at home, which refused him supplies of every kind, and thwarted +him on all occasions; it may be affirmed, that Hannibal, +during the whole series of this war, seemed the only prop of +the state, and the soul of every part of the empire of the +<pb n='262'/><anchor id='Pg262'/> +Carthaginians, who could never believe themselves conquered, +till Hannibal confessed that he himself was so. +</p> + +<p> +But our acquaintance with Hannibal will be very imperfect, +if we consider him only at the head of armies. The particulars +we learn from history, concerning the secret intelligence he +held with Philip of Macedon; the wise counsels he gave to +Antiochus, king of Syria; the double reformation he introduced +in Carthage, with regard to the management of the public +revenues and the administration of justice, prove, that he was +a great statesman in every respect. So superior and universal +was his genius, that it took in all parts of government; and +so great were his natural abilities, that he was capable of +acquitting himself in all the various functions of it with glory. +Hannibal shone as conspicuously in the cabinet as in the field; +equally able to fill the civil as the military employments. In +a word, he united in his own person the different talents and +merits of all professions, the sword, the gown, and the finances. +</p> + +<p> +He had some learning, and though he was so much employed +in military labours, and engaged in so many wars, he, +however, found some leisure to devote to literature.<note place='foot'>Atque +hic tantus vir, tantisque bellis districtus, nonnibil temporis tribuit litteris, +&c. Corn. Nep <hi rend='italic'>in vitá Annib.</hi> cap. 13.—Trans.</note> +Several smart repartees of Hannibal, which have been transmitted to +us, show that he had a great fund of natural wit; and this he +improved by the most polite education that could be bestowed +at that time, and in such a republic as Carthage. He spoke +Greek tolerably well, and even wrote some books in that +language. His preceptor was a Lacedæmonian, named Sosilus, +who, with Philenius, another Lacedæmonian, accompanied him +in all his expeditions. Both these undertook to write the +history of this renowned warrior. +</p> + +<p> +With regard to his religion and moral conduct, he was not +altogether so profligate and wicked as he is represented by +Livy:<note place='foot'>Lib. xxi. n, 4.</note> <q>cruel even to inhumanity, more +perfidious than a Carthaginian; regardless of truth, of probity, of the sacred ties +of oaths; fearless of the gods, and utterly void of religion.</q> +<foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Inhumana crudelitas, perfida plusquam Punica; nihil veri, +nihil sancti, nullus deúm metus, nullum jusjurandum, nulla +<pb n='263'/><anchor id='Pg263'/> +religio.</foreign> According to Polybius,<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Excerpt. +è</hi> Polyb. p. 33.</note> he rejected a barbarous proposal +that was made him before he entered Italy, which was, +to eat human flesh, at a time when his army was in absolute +want of provisions. Some years after, so far from treating +with barbarity, as he was advised to do, the dead body of +Sempronius Gracchus, which Mago had sent him, he caused +his funeral obsequies to be solemnized in presence of the whole +army.<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Excerpt. è</hi> Diod. +p. 282. Liv. l. xxv. n. 17.</note> We have seen him, on many occasions, evince the +highest reverence for the gods; and Justin,<note place='foot'>Lib. xxxii. c. 4.</note> +who copied Trogus Pompeius, an author worthy of credit, observes, that +he always showed uncommon moderation and continence, with +regard to the great number of women taken by him during the +course of so long a war; insomuch that no one would have +imagined he had been born in Africa, where incontinence is +the predominant vice of the country. <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Pudicitiamque eum +tantam inter tot captivas habuisse, ut in Africa natum quivis +negaret.</foreign> +</p> + +<p> +His disregard of wealth, at a time when he had so many +opportunities to enrich himself by the plunder of the cities he +stormed, and the nations he subdued, shows that he knew the +true and genuine use which a general ought to make of riches, +<hi rend='italic'>viz.</hi> to gain the affection of his soldiers, and to attach his +allies to his interest, by diffusing his beneficence on proper occasions, +and not being sparing in his rewards: a quality very essential, +and at the same time as uncommon, in a commander. The +only use Hannibal made of money was to purchase success; +firmly persuaded, that a man who is at the head of affairs is +sufficiently recompensed by the glory derived from victory. +</p> + +<p> +He always led a very regular, austere life;<note place='foot'><p>Cibi potionisque, +desiderio naturali, non voluptate, modus finitus. Liv. l. xxi. n. 4. +</p> +<p> +Constat Annibalem, nec tum cùm Romano tonantem bello Italia contremuit, nec +cùm reversus Carthaginem summum imperium tenuit, aut cubantem cœnâsse, aut +plus quàm sextario vini indulsisse. Justin, l. xxxii. c. 4.—Trans.</p></note> +and even in times of peace, and in the midst of Carthage, when he was +invested with the first dignity of the city, we are told that he +never used to recline himself on a bed at meals, as was the +custom in those ages, and that he drank but very little wine. +So regular and uniform a life may serve as an illustrious +<pb n='264'/><anchor id='Pg264'/> +example to our commanders, who often include, among the +privileges of war and the duty of officers, the keeping of splendid +tables, and living luxuriously. +</p> + +<p> +I do not, however, pretend altogether to exculpate Hannibal +from all the errors with which he is charged. Though he +possessed an assemblage of the most exalted qualities, it +cannot be denied but that he had some little tincture of the +vices of his country; and that it would be difficult to excuse +some actions and circumstances of his life. Polybius +observes,<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Except é</hi> Polyb. p. 34 & 37.</note> +that Hannibal was accused of avarice in Carthage, and +of cruelty in Rome. He adds, on the same occasion, that +people were very much divided in opinion concerning him; +and it would be no wonder, as he had made himself so many +enemies in both cities, that they should have drawn him in disadvantageous +colours. But Polybius is of opinion, that though +it should be taken for granted, that all the defects with which +he is charged are true; yet that they were not so much owing +to his nature and disposition, as to the difficulties with which +he was surrounded, in the course of so long and laborious a +war; and to the complacency he was obliged to show to the +general officers, whose assistance he absolutely wanted, for the +execution of his various enterprises; and whom he was not +always able to restrain, any more than he could the soldiers +who fought under them. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Sect. II. Dissensions between the Carthaginians and +Masinissa, King of Numidia.</hi>—Among the conditions of the +peace granted to the Carthaginians, there was one which +enacted, that they should restore to Masinissa all the territories +and cities he possessed before the war; and further, +Scipio, to reward the zeal and fidelity which that monarch had +shown towards the Romans, had added to his dominions those +of Syphax. This present afterwards gave rise to disputes +and quarrels between the Carthaginians and Numidians. +</p> + +<p> +These two princes, Syphax and Masinissa, were both kings +in Numidia, but reigned over different nations. The subjects +of Syphax were called Masæsuli, and their capital was Cirtha. +Those of Masinissa were the Massyli: but they are better +<pb n='265'/><anchor id='Pg265'/> +known by the name of Numidians, which was common to them +both. Their principal strength consisted in their cavalry. +They always rode without saddles, and some even without +bridles, whence Virgil<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Æn.</hi> l. iv. +ver. 41.—Trans.</note> calls them <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Numidæ +infræni</foreign>. +</p> + +<p> +In the beginning of the second Punic war,<note place='foot'>Liv. l. xxiv. n. +48, 49.</note> Syphax siding +with the Romans, Gala, the father of Masinissa, to check the +career of so powerful a neighbour, thought it his interest to +join the Carthaginians, and accordingly sent out against Syphax +a powerful army under the conduct of his son, at that +time but seventeen years of age. Syphax, being overcome in +a battle, in which it is said he lost thirty thousand men, escaped +into Mauritania. However, the face of things was afterwards +greatly changed. +</p> + +<p> +Masinissa, after his father's death, was often reduced to the +brink of ruin;<note place='foot'>Id. l. xxix. n. +29-34.</note> being driven from his kingdom by an usurper; +pursued warmly by Syphax; in danger every instant of falling +into the hands of his enemies; destitute of forces, money, and +of every resource. He was at that time in alliance with the +Romans, and the friend of Scipio, with whom he had had an +interview in Spain. His misfortunes would not permit him to +bring great succours to that general. When Lælius arrived in +Africa, Masinissa joined him with a few horse, and from that +time continued inviolably attached to the Roman interest. +Syphax, on the contrary, having married the famous Sophonisba, +daughter of Asdrubal, went over to the Carthaginians.<note place='foot'>Id. +l. xxix. n. 23.</note> +</p> + +<p> +The fate of these two princes again changed, but the +change was now final.<note place='foot'>Id. l. xxx n. +11, 12.</note> Syphax lost a great battle, and was +taken alive by the enemy. Masinissa, the victor, besieged +Cirtha, his capital, and took it. But he met with a greater +danger in that city than he had faced in the field, and this +was Sophonisba, whose charms and endearments he was unable +to resist. To secure this princess to himself, he married her, +but a few days after, he was obliged to send her a dose of +poison, as her nuptial present; this being the only way that he +could devise to keep his promise with his queen, and preserve +her from the power of the Romans. +</p> + +<pb n='266'/><anchor id='Pg266'/> + +<p> +This was a considerable error in itself, and one that could +not fail to disoblige a nation that was so jealous of its authority: +but this young prince gloriously made amends for his fault, by +the signal services he afterwards rendered to Scipio. We +observed, that after the defeat and capture of Syphax, the +dominions of this prince were bestowed upon him;<note place='foot'>Liv. l. xxx. +n. 44.</note> and that the +Carthaginians were forced to restore all he possessed before. +This gave rise to the divisions which we are now going to +relate. +</p> + +<p> +A territory situated towards the sea-side, near the lesser +Syrtis, was the subject of the dispute.<note place='foot'>Id. +l. xxxiv. n. 62.</note> The country was very +rich, and the soil extremely fruitful; a proof of which is, that +the city of Leptis alone, which belonged to that territory, paid +daily a talent to the Carthaginians, by way of tribute. Masinissa +had seized part of this territory. Each side despatched +deputies to Rome, to plead the cause of their respective superiors +before the senate. This assembly thought proper to send +Scipio Africanus, with two other commissioners, to examine +the controversy upon the spot. However, they returned without +coming to any decision, and left the business in the same +uncertain state in which they had found it. Possibly they +acted in this manner by order of the senate, and had received +private instructions to favour Masinissa, who was then possessed +of the district in question. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>A.M. 3823. A. Rom. 567.</note> +Ten years after, new commissioners having been appointed +to examine the same affair, they acted as the former +had done, and left the whole undetermined.<note place='foot'>Id. l. xl. n. 17.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>A.M. 3833. A. Rom. 577.</note> +After the like distance of time, the Carthaginians again +brought their complaint before the senate, but with +greater importunity than before.<note place='foot'>Id. l. +xlii. n. 23, 24.</note> They represented, +that besides the lands at first contested, Masinissa +had, during the two preceding years, dispossessed them of +upwards of seventy towns and castles: their hands were bound +up by that article of the last treaty, which forbade their making +war upon any of the allies of the Romans: that they could +no longer bear the insolence, the avarice, and cruelty of that +prince: that they were deputed to Rome with three requests, +<pb n='267'/><anchor id='Pg267'/> +(one of which they desired might be immediately complied +with,) <hi rend='italic'>viz.</hi> either that the affair might be examined and decided +by the senate; or, secondly, that they might be permitted to +repel force by force, and defend themselves by arms; or, +lastly, that, if favour was to prevail over justice, they then +entreated the Romans to specify once for all, which of the +Carthaginian lands they were desirous should be given up to +Masinissa, that they, by this means, might hereafter know what +they had to depend on, and that the Roman people would +show some moderation in their behalf, at a time that this prince +set no other bounds to his pretensions, than his insatiable +avarice. The deputies concluded with beseeching the Romans, +that if they had any cause of complaint against the Carthaginians +since the conclusion of the last peace, that they themselves +would punish them; and not to give them up to the +wild caprice of a prince, by whom their liberties were made +precarious, and their lives insupportable. After ending their +speech, being pierced with grief, shedding floods of tears, they +fell prostrate upon the earth; a spectacle that moved all who +were present to compassion, and raised a violent hatred against +Masinissa. Gulussa, his son, who was then present, being +asked what he had to reply, he answered, that his father had +not given him any instructions, not knowing that any thing +would be laid to his charge. He only desired the senate to +reflect, that the circumstance which drew all this hatred upon +him from the Carthaginians, was, the inviolable fidelity with +which he had always been attached to the side of the Romans. +The senate, after hearing both sides, answered, that they were +inclined to do justice to either party to whom it might be due: +that Gulussa should set out immediately with their orders to +his father, who was thereby commanded to send immediately +deputies with those of Carthage; that they would do all that +lay in their power to serve him, but not to the prejudice of the +Carthaginians: that it was but just the ancient limits should be +preserved; and that it was far from being the intention of the +Romans, to have the Carthaginians dispossessed, during the +peace, of those territories and cities which had been left them +by the treaty. The deputies of both powers were then dismissed +with the usual presents. +</p> + +<pb n='268'/><anchor id='Pg268'/> + +<p> +But all these assurances were but mere words.<note place='foot'>Polyb. +p. 951.</note> It is plain +that the Romans did not once endeavour to satisfy the Carthaginians, +or do them the least justice; and that they protracted +the business, on purpose to give Masinissa time to establish +himself in his usurpation, and weaken his enemies. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>A.M. 3848. A. Rom. 592.</note> +A new deputation was sent to examine the affair upon the +spot, and Cato was one of the commissioners.<note place='foot'>App. +<hi rend='italic'>de bell. Pun.</hi> p. 37.</note> On +their arrival, they asked the parties if they were +willing to abide by their determination. Masinissa +readily complied. The Carthaginians answered, that they had +fixed a rule to which they adhered, and that this was the treaty +which had been concluded by Scipio, and desired that their +cause might be examined with all possible rigour. They therefore +could not come to any decision. The deputies visited all +the country, and found it in a very good condition, especially +the city of Carthage: and they were surprised to see it, after +having been involved in such a calamity, so soon again +raised to so exalted a pitch of power and grandeur. The deputies, +on their return, did not fail to acquaint the senate with +this circumstance; and declared, Rome could never be in +safety, so long as Carthage should subsist. From this time, +whatever affair was debated in the senate, Cato always added +the following words to his opinion, <q>and I conclude that Carthage +ought to be destroyed.</q> This grave senator did not give +himself the trouble to prove, that bare jealousy of the growing +power of a neighbouring state, is a warrant sufficient for destroying +a city, contrary to the faith of treaties. Scipio Nasica +on the other hand, was of opinion, that the ruin of this city +would draw after it that of their commonwealth; because that +the Romans, having then no rival to fear, would quit the +ancient severity of their manners, and abandon themselves to +luxury and pleasures, the never-failing subverters of the most +flourishing empires. +</p> + +<p> +In the mean time, divisions broke out in Carthage.<note place='foot'>App. +p. 38.</note> The popular faction, being now become superior to that of the grandees +and senators, sent forty citizens into banishment; and +bound the people by an oath, never to suffer the least mention +to be made of recalling those exiles. They withdrew to the +<pb n='269'/><anchor id='Pg269'/> +court of Masinissa, who despatched Gulussa and Micipsa, his +two sons, to Carthage, to solicit their recall. However, the +gates of the city were shut against them, and one of them was +closely pursued by Hamilcar, one of the generals of the republic. +This gave occasion to a new war, and accordingly armies +were levied on both sides. A battle was fought; and the +younger Scipio, who afterwards ruined Carthage, was spectator +of it. He had been sent from Lucullus, who was then carrying +on war in Spain, and under whom Scipio then served, to +Masinissa, to desire some elephants from that monarch. +During the whole engagement, he stood upon a neighbouring +hill; and was surprised to see Masinissa, then upwards of +eighty years of age, mounted (agreeably to the custom of his +country) on a horse without a saddle; flying from rank to +rank like a young officer, and sustaining the most arduous toils. +The fight was very obstinate, and continued from morning till +night, but at last the Carthaginians gave way. Scipio used to +say afterwards, that he had been present at many battles, but +at none with so much pleasure as at this; having never before +beheld so formidable an army engage, without any danger or +trouble to himself. And being very conversant in the writings +of Homer, he added, that till his time, there were but two more +who had had the pleasure of being spectators of such an action, +<hi rend='italic'>viz.</hi> Jupiter from mount Ida, and Neptune from Samothrace, +when the Greeks and Trojans fought before Troy. I know +not whether the sight of a hundred thousand men (for so many +there were) butchering one another, can administer a real +pleasure; or whether such a pleasure is consistent with the +sentiments of humanity, so natural to mankind. +</p> + +<p> +The Carthaginians, after the battle was over, entreated +Scipio to terminate their contests with Masinissa.<note place='foot'>App. +<hi rend='italic'>de bell. Pun.</hi> 40.</note> Accordingly, +he heard both parties, and the Carthaginians consented +to yield up the territory of Emporium,<note place='foot'>Emporium, +or Emporia, was a country of Africa, on the Lesser Syrtis, in which +Leptis stood. No part of the Carthaginian dominions was more fruitful than this. +Polybius, l. i. says, that the revenue that arose from this place was so considerable, +that all their hopes were almost founded on it, ἐν ἁῖς (<hi rend='italic'>viz.</hi> +their revenues from Emporia) εἶχον τὰς μεγίστας ἔλπιδας. To this was owing their care +and state-jealousy above mentioned, lest the Romans should sail beyond the Fair +Promontory, that lay before Carthage; and become acquainted with a country which might +induce them to attempt the conquest of it.—Trans.</note> which had been the +<pb n='270'/><anchor id='Pg270'/> +first cause of the dispute, to pay Masinissa two hundred talents +of silver down, and eight hundred more, at such times as +should be agreed. But Masinissa insisting on the return of +the exiles, and the Carthaginians being unwilling to agree to +this proposition, they did not come to any decision. Scipio, +after having paid his compliments, and returned thanks to +Masinissa, set out with the elephants for which he had been sent. +</p> + +<p> +The king, immediately after the battle was over, had +blocked up the enemy's camp, which was pitched upon a hill, +whither neither troops nor provisions could come to them.<note place='foot'>App. +<hi rend='italic'>de bell. Pun.</hi> 40.</note> +During this interval, there arrived deputies from Rome, with +orders from the senate to decide the quarrel, in case the king +should be defeated; otherwise, to leave it undetermined, and +to give the king the strongest assurances of the continuation +of their friendship; and they complied with the latter injunction. +In the mean time, the famine daily increased in the enemy's +camp; and to add to their calamity, it was followed by a +plague, which made dreadful havoc. Being now reduced to +the last extremity, they surrendered to Masinissa, promising to +deliver up the deserters, to pay him five thousand talents of +silver in fifty years, and restore the exiles, notwithstanding +their oaths to the contrary. They all submitted to the ignominious +ceremony of passing under the yoke,<note place='foot'>Ils furent +tous passés sous le joug: Sub jugum missi; a kind of gallows (made +by two forked sticks, standing upright) was erected, and a spear laid across, under +which vanquished enemies were obliged to pass. Festus.—Trans.</note> +and were dismissed, with only one suit of clothes for each. Gulussa, to +satiate his vengeance for the ill treatment which, as we before +observed, he had met with, sent out against them a body of +cavalry, whom, from their great weakness, they could neither +escape nor resist. So that of fifty-eight thousand men, very +few returned to Carthage. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>A.M. 3855. A. Carth. 697. A. Rom. 599. Ant. J.C. 149.</note> +<hi rend='italic'>The Third Punic War.</hi>—The third Punic war, which was +less considerable than either of the two former, with +regard to the number and greatness of the battles, +and its continuance, which was only four years, was +still more remarkable with respect to the success and +event of it, as it ended in the total ruin and destruction +of Carthage. +</p> + +<pb n='271'/><anchor id='Pg271'/> + +<p> +The inhabitants of this city, from their last defeat, knew +what they had to fear from the Romans, who had uniformly +displayed great ill-will towards them, as often as they had +addressed them upon their disputes with Masinissa.<note place='foot'>Appian, +p. 41, 42.</note> To prevent the consequences of it, the Carthaginians, by a decree of +the senate, impeached Asdrubal, general of the army, and +Carthalo, commander of the auxiliary<note place='foot'>The foreign forces were +commanded by leaders of their respective nations, who were all under the command of +a Carthaginian officer, called by Appian Βοήθαρχος.—Trans.</note> forces, as +guilty of high treason, for being the authors of the war against the king +of Numidia. They then sent a deputation to Rome, to inquire +what opinion that republic entertained of their late proceedings, +and what was desired of them. The deputies were coldly +answered, that it was the business of the senate and people of +Carthage to know what satisfaction was due to the Romans. +A second deputation bringing them no clearer answer, they +fell into the greatest dejection; and being seized with the +strongest terrors, from the recollection of their past sufferings, +they fancied the enemy was already at their gates, and imagined +to themselves all the dismal consequences of a long +siege, and of a city taken sword in hand. +</p> + +<p> +In the mean time, the senate debated at Rome on the +measures it would be proper for them to take; and the disputes +between Cato the elder and Scipio Nasica, who entertained +totally different opinions on this subject, were renewed.<note place='foot'>Plut. +<hi rend='italic'>in vit. Cat.</hi> p. 352.</note> +The former, on his return from Africa, had declared, in the +strongest terms, that he had found Carthage, not as the +Romans supposed it to be, exhausted of men or money, or in +a weak and humble state; but, on the contrary, that it was +crowded with vigorous young men, abounded with immense +quantities of gold and silver, and prodigious magazines of arms +and all warlike stores; and was so haughty and confident on +account of this force, that their hopes and ambition had no +bounds. It is farther said, that after he had ended his speech, +he threw, out of the lappet of his robe, in the midst of the +senate, some African figs; and, as the senators admired their +beauty and size, <q>Know,</q> says he, <q>that it is but three days +<pb n='272'/><anchor id='Pg272'/> +since these figs were gathered. Such is the distance between +the enemy and us.</q><note place='foot'>Plin. l. xv. c. 18.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Cato and Nasica had each of them their reasons for voting +as they did.<note place='foot'>Plut. ibid. <hi rend='italic'>in +vitâ Cat.</hi></note> Nasica, observing that the people had risen to +such a height of insolence, as led them into excesses of every +kind; that their prosperity had swelled them with a pride +which the senate itself was not able to check; and that their +power was become so enormous, that they were able to draw +the city, by force, into every mad design they might undertake; +Nasica, I say, observing this, was desirous that they should +continue in fear of Carthage, in order that this might serve as +a curb to restrain and check their audacious conduct. For it +was his opinion, that the Carthaginians were too weak to subdue +the Romans; and at the same time too strong to be considered +by them in a contemptible light. With regard to Cato, +he thought that as his countrymen were become haughty and +insolent by success, and plunged headlong into profligacy of +every kind; nothing could be more dangerous, than for them +to have for a rival and an enemy, a city that till now had been +powerful, but was become, even by its misfortunes, more wise +and provident than ever; and not to remove the fears of the +inhabitants entirely with regard to a foreign power; since they +had, within their own walls, all the opportunities of indulging +themselves in excesses of every kind. +</p> + +<p> +To lay aside, for one instant, the laws of equity, I leave the +reader to determine which of these two great men reasoned +most justly, according to the maxims of sound policy, and the +true interest of a state. One undoubted circumstance is, that +all historians have observed that there was a sensible change in +the conduct and government of the Romans, immediately after +the ruin of Carthage:<note place='foot'><p>Ubi Carthago, +et æmula imperii Romani ab stirpe interiit, Fortuna sævire ac +miscere omnia cœpit. Sallust. <hi rend='italic'>in bell. Catilin.</hi> +</p> +<p> +Ante Carthaginem deletam populus et senatus Romanus placidè modestéque inter +se Remp. tractabant.—Metus hostilis in bonis artibus civitatem retinebat. Sed ubi +formido illa mentibus decessit, illicet ea, quæ secundæ res amant, lascivia atquæ +superbia incessere. Idem <hi rend='italic'>in bello +Jugurthino</hi>.—Trans.</p></note> that vice no longer made its way into +Rome with a timorous pace, and as it were by stealth, but +appeared barefaced, and seized, with astonishing rapidity, upon +<pb n='273'/><anchor id='Pg273'/> +all orders of the republic: that the senators, plebeians, in a +word, all conditions, abandoned themselves to luxury and +voluptuousness, without moderation or sense of decency, which +occasioned, as it must necessarily, the ruin of the state. <q>The +first Scipio,</q><note place='foot'>Potentiæ Romanorum prior +Scipio viam aperuerat, luxuriæ posterior aperuit. Quippe remoto Carthaginis +metu, sublatàque imperii æmulà, non gradu, sed præcipiti cursu à virtute +descitum, ad vitia transcursum. Vel. Paterc. l. ii. c. 1.—Trans.</note> +says Paterculus, speaking of the Romans, <q>had +laid the foundations of their future grandeur; and the last, by +his conquests, opened a door to all manner of luxury and dissoluteness. +For, after Carthage, which obliged Rome to stand +for ever on its guard, by disputing empire with that city, had +been totally destroyed, the depravity of manners was no longer +slow in its progress, but swelled at once into the utmost excess +of corruption.</q> +</p> + +<p> +Be this as it may, the senate resolved to declare war +against the Carthaginians; and the reasons or pretences urged +for it were, their having maintained ships contrary to the tenour +of the treaty; their having sent an army out of their territories, +against a prince who was in alliance with Rome, and whose +son they had treated ill, at the time that he was accompanied +by a Roman ambassador.<note place='foot'>App. p. 42.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>A.M. 3856. A. Rom. 600.</note> +An event, that chance occasioned to happen very fortunately, +at the time that the senate of Rome was debating +on the affair of Carthage, doubtless contributed +very much to make them take that resolution.<note place='foot'>Ibid.</note> +This was the arrival of deputies from Utica, who came to surrender +up themselves, their effects, their lands, and their city, +into the hands of the Romans. Nothing could have happened +more seasonably. Utica was the second city of Africa, +vastly rich, and had a port equally spacious and commodious; +it stood within sixty furlongs of Carthage, so that it might +serve as a place of arms in the attack of that city. The +Romans now hesitated no longer, but formally proclaimed war. +M. Manilius, and L. Marcius Censorinus, the two consuls, +were desired to set out as soon as possible. They had secret +orders from the senate, not to end the war but by the +destruction of Carthage. The consuls immediately left Rome, +and stopped at Lilybæum in Sicily. They had a considerable +<pb n='274'/><anchor id='Pg274'/> +fleet, on board of which were fourscore thousand foot, and +about four thousand horse. +</p> + +<p> +The Carthaginians were not yet acquainted with the resolutions +which had been taken at Rome.<note place='foot'>Polyb. +<hi rend='italic'>excerpt. legat.</hi>. p. 972</note> The answer brought +back by their deputies, had only increased their fears, <hi rend='italic'>viz.</hi> <q>It +was the business of the Carthaginians to consider what satisfaction +was due to them.</q><note place='foot'>To the Romans.—Trans.</note> +This made them not know what course to take. At last they sent new deputies, whom they +invested with full powers to act as they should see fitting; and +even (what the former wars could never make them stoop to) +to declare, that the Carthaginians gave up themselves, and all +they possessed, to the will and pleasure of the Romans. This, +according to the import of the clause, <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>se suaque eorum +arbitrio permittere</foreign>, was submitting themselves, without reserve, to the +power of the Romans, and acknowledging themselves their +vassals. Nevertheless, they did not expect any great success +from this condescension, though so very mortifying; because, +as the Uticans had been beforehand with them on that occasion, +this circumstance had deprived them of the merit of a +ready and voluntary submission. +</p> + +<p> +The deputies, on their arrival at Rome, were informed that +war had been proclaimed, and that the army was set out. The +Romans had despatched a courier to Carthage, with the decree +of the senate; and to inform that city, that the Roman fleet +had sailed. The deputies had therefore no time for deliberation, +but delivered up themselves, and all they possessed, to +the Romans. In consequence of this behaviour, they were +answered, that since they had at last taken a right step, the +senate granted them their liberty, the enjoyment of their laws, +and all their territories and other possessions, whether public +or private, provided that, within the space of thirty days, they +should send, as hostages, to Lilybæum, three hundred young +Carthaginians of the first distinction, and comply with the +orders of the consuls. This last condition filled them with +inexpressible anxiety: but the concern they were under would +not allow them to make the least reply, or to demand an +explanation; nor, indeed, would it have been to any purpose. +<pb n='275'/><anchor id='Pg275'/> +They therefore set out for Carthage, and there gave an account +of their embassy. +</p> + +<p> +All the articles of the treaty were extremely severe with +regard to the Carthaginians; but the silence of the Romans, +with respect to the cities of which no notice was taken in the +concessions which that people was willing to make, perplexed +them exceedingly.<note place='foot'>Polyb. <hi rend='italic'>excerpt. +legat.</hi> p. 972.</note> But all they had to do was to obey. After +the many former and recent losses which the Carthaginians +had sustained, they were by no means in a condition to resist +such an enemy, since they had not been able to oppose Masinissa. +Troops, provisions, ships, allies, in a word, every thing +was wanting, and hope and vigour more than all the rest. +</p> + +<p> +They did not think it proper to wait till the thirty days, +which had been allowed them, were expired, but immediately +sent their hostages, in hopes of softening the enemy by the +readiness of their obedience, though they dared not flatter +themselves with the expectation of meeting with favour on this +occasion. These hostages were the flower, and the only hopes, +of the noblest families of Carthage. Never was any spectacle +more moving; nothing was now heard but cries, nothing seen +but tears, and all places echoed with groans and lamentations. +But above all, the disconsolate mothers, bathed in tears, tore +their dishevelled hair, beat their breasts, and, as if grief and +despair had distracted them, they yelled in such a manner as +might have moved the most savage breasts to compassion. +But the scene was much more mournful, when the fatal moment +of their separation was come; when, after having accompanied +their dear children to the ship, they bid them a long +last farewell, persuaded that they should never see them more; +bathed them with their tears; embraced them with the utmost +fondness; clasped them eagerly in their arms; could not be +prevailed upon to part with them, till they were forced away, +which was more grievous and afflicting than if their hearts had +been torn out of their breasts. The hostages being arrived in +Sicily, were carried from thence to Rome; and the consuls +told the deputies, that when they should arrive at Utica, they +would acquaint them with the orders of the republic. +</p> + +<p> +In such a situation of affairs, nothing can be more grievous +<pb n='276'/><anchor id='Pg276'/> +than a state of uncertainty, which, without descending to particulars, +gives occasion to the mind to image to itself every +misery.<note place='foot'>Polyb. p. 975. Appian, p. 44-46.</note> +As soon as it was known that the fleet was arrived at +Utica, the deputies repaired to the Roman camp; signifying, +that they were come in the name of their republic, in order to +receive their commands, which they were ready to obey. The +consul, after praising their good disposition and compliance, +commanded them to deliver up to him, without fraud or delay, +all their arms. This they consented to, but besought him to +reflect on the sad condition to which he was reducing them, +at a time when Asdrubal, whose quarrel against them was +owing to no other cause than their perfect submission to the +orders of the Romans, was advanced almost to their gates, +with an army of twenty thousand men. The answer returned +them was, that the Romans would set that matter right. +</p> + +<p> +This order was immediately put in execution.<note place='foot'>Appian, p. 46.</note> +There arrived in the camp a long train of waggons, loaded with all +the preparations of war, taken out of Carthage: two hundred +thousand complete sets of armour, a numberless multitude of +darts and javelins, with two thousand engines for shooting +darts and stones.<note place='foot'>Balistæ or +Catapultæ.—Trans.</note> Then followed the deputies of Carthage, +accompanied by the most venerable senators and priests, who +came purposely to try to move the Romans to compassion in +this critical moment, when their sentence was going to be +pronounced, and their fate would be irreversible. Censorinus, +the consul, for it was he who had all along spoken, rose up +for a moment at their coming, and expressed some kindness +and affection for them; but suddenly assuming a grave and +severe countenance: <q>I cannot,</q> says he, <q>but commend the +readiness with which you execute the orders of the senate. +They have commanded me to tell you, that it is their absolute +will and pleasure that you depart out of Carthage, which they +have resolved to destroy; and that you remove into any other +part of your dominions which you shall think proper, provided +it be at the distance of eighty stadia<note place='foot'>Four leagues, +or twelve miles.—Trans.</note> from the sea.</q> +</p> + +<p> +The instant the consul had pronounced this fulminating +decree, nothing was heard among the Carthaginians but +<pb n='277'/><anchor id='Pg277'/> +lamentable shrieks and howlings.<note place='foot'>Appian, p. +46-53.</note> Being now in a manner +thunderstruck, they neither knew where they were, nor what +they did; but rolled themselves in the dust, tearing their +clothes, and unable to vent their grief any otherwise, than by +broken sighs and deep groans. Being afterwards a little recovered, +they lifted up their hands with the air of suppliants +one moment towards the gods, and the next towards the +Romans, imploring their mercy and justice towards a people, +who would soon be reduced to the extremes of despair. But +as both the gods and men were deaf to their fervent prayers, +they soon changed them into reproaches and imprecations; +bidding the Romans call to mind, that there were such beings +as avenging deities, whose severe eyes were for ever open on +guilt and treachery. The Romans themselves could not refrain +from tears at so moving a spectacle, but their resolution +was fixed. The deputies could not even prevail so far, as to +get the execution of this order suspended, till they should +have an opportunity of presenting themselves again before the +senate, to attempt, if possible, to get it revoked. They +were forced to set out immediately, and carry the answer to +Carthage. +</p> + +<p> +The people waited for their return with such an impatience +and terror, as words could never express.<note place='foot'>Appian, +p. 53, 54.</note> It was scarce possible +for them to break through the crowd that flocked round +them, to hear the answer, which was but too strongly painted +in their faces. When they were come into the senate, and +had declared the barbarous orders of the Romans, a general +shriek informed the people of their fate; and from that instant, +nothing was seen and heard in every part of the city, but +howling and despair, madness and fury. +</p> + +<p> +The reader will here give me leave to interrupt the course +of the history for a moment, to reflect on the conduct of the +Romans. It is great pity that the fragment of Polybius, +where an account is given of this deputation, should end +exactly in the most interesting part of this narrative. I +should set a much higher value on one short reflection of so +judicious an author, than on the long harangues which Appian +ascribes to the deputies and the consul. I can never believe, +<pb n='278'/><anchor id='Pg278'/> +that so rational, judicious, and just a man as Polybius, could +have approved the proceedings of the Romans on the present +occasion. We do not here discover, in my opinion, any of +the characteristics which distinguished them anciently; that +greatness of soul, that rectitude, that utter abhorrence of all +mean artifices, frauds, and impostures, which, as is somewhere +said, formed no part of the Roman disposition; <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Minimè +Romanis artibus</foreign>. Why did not the Romans attack the Carthaginians +by open force? Why should they declare expressly +in a treaty (a most solemn and sacred thing) that they allowed +them the full enjoyment of their liberties and laws; and understand, +at the same time, certain private conditions, which +proved the entire ruin of both? Why should they conceal, +under the scandalous omission of the word <emph>city</emph> in this treaty, +the perfidious design of destroying Carthage? as if, beneath +the cover of such an equivocation, they might destroy it with +justice. In short, why did the Romans not make their last +declaration, till after they had extorted from the Carthaginians, +at different times, their hostages and arms, that is, till they +had absolutely rendered them incapable of disobeying their +most arbitrary commands? Is it not manifest, that Carthage, +notwithstanding all its defeats and losses, though it was weakened +and almost exhausted, was still a terror to the Romans, +and that they were persuaded they were not able to conquer +it by force of arms? It is very dangerous to be possessed of +so much power, as to be able to commit injustice with impunity, +and with a prospect of being a gainer by it. The experience +of all ages shows, that states seldom scruple to commit +injustice, when they think it will conduce to their advantage. +</p> + +<p> +The noble character which Polybius gives of the Achæans, +differs widely from what was practised here.<note place='foot'>Polyb. +l. xiii. p. 671, 672.</note> That people, +says he, far from using artifice and deceit towards their allies, +in order to enlarge their power, did not think themselves allowed +to employ them even against their enemies, considering +only those victories as solid and glorious, which were obtained +sword in hand, by dint of courage and bravery. He owns, in +the same place, that there then remained among the Romans +but very faint traces of the ancient generosity of their ancestors; +<pb n='279'/><anchor id='Pg279'/> +and he thinks it incumbent on him (as he declares) to +make this remark, in opposition to a maxim which was grown +very common in his time among persons in the administration +of the government, who imagined, that sincerity is inconsistent +with good policy; and that it is impossible to succeed in the +administration of state affairs, either in war or peace, without +using fraud and deceit on some occasions. +</p> + +<p> +I now return to my subject.<note place='foot'>Appian, +p. 55. Strabo, l. xvii. p. 833.</note> The consuls made no great +haste to march against Carthage, not suspecting they had any +thing to fear from that city, as it was now disarmed. The +inhabitants took the opportunity of this delay to put themselves +in a posture of defence, being all unanimously resolved not to +quit the city. They appointed as general, without the walls, +Asdrubal, who was at the head of twenty thousand men; and +to whom deputies were sent accordingly, to entreat him to +forget, for his country's sake, the injustice which had been +done him, from the dread they were under of the Romans. +The command of the troops, within the walls, was given to +another Asdrubal, grandson of Masinissa. They then applied +themselves to the making arms with incredible expedition. +The temples, the palaces, the open markets and squares, were +all changed into so many arsenals, where men and women +worked day and night. Every day were made a hundred and +and forty shields, three hundred swords, five hundred pikes or +javelins, a thousand arrows, and a great number of engines to +discharge them; and because they wanted materials to make +ropes, the women cut off their hair, and abundantly supplied +their wants on this occasion. +</p> + +<p> +Masinissa was very much disgusted at the Romans, because, +after he had extremely weakened the Carthaginians, they came +and reaped the fruits of his victory, without acquainting him +in any manner with their design, which circumstance caused +some coldness between them.<note place='foot'>Appian, p. 55.</note> +</p> + +<p> +During this interval, the consuls were advancing towards +the city, in order to besiege it.<note place='foot'>Appian, p. 55-63.</note> +As they expected nothing less +than a vigorous resistance, the incredible resolution and courage +of the besieged filled them with the utmost astonishment. +</p> + +<p> +The Carthaginians were for ever making the boldest sallies, +<pb n='280'/><anchor id='Pg280'/> +in order to repulse the besiegers, to burn their engines, and +harass their foragers. Censorinus attacked the city on one +side, and Manilius on the other. Scipio, afterwards surnamed +Africanus, served then as tribune in the army; and distinguished +himself above the rest of the officers, no less by his +prudence than by his bravery. The consul, under whom he +fought, committed many oversights, by having refused to follow +his advice. This young officer extricated the troops from +several dangers, into which the imprudence of their leaders +had plunged them. A renowned officer, Phamæas by name, +who was general of the enemy's cavalry, and continually +harassed the foragers, did not dare ever to keep the field, +when it was Scipio's turn to support them; so capable was he +of keeping his troops in good order, and posting himself to +advantage. So great and universal a reputation excited some +envy against him at first; but as he behaved, in all respects, +with the utmost modesty and reserve, that envy was soon +changed into admiration; so that when the senate sent deputies +to the camp, to inquire into the state of the siege, the +whole army gave him unanimously the highest commendations; +the soldiers, as well as officers, nay, the very generals, with +one voice extolled the merit of young Scipio: so necessary is +it for a man to deaden, if I may be allowed the expression, +the splendour of his rising glory, by a sweet and modest carriage; +and not to excite jealousy, by haughty and self-sufficient +behaviour, as this naturally awakens pride in others, and +makes even virtue itself odious! +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>A.M. 3857. A. Rom. 601.</note> +About the same time, Masinissa, finding his end approach, +sent to desire a visit from Scipio, in order that he +might invest him with full powers to dispose, as he +should see proper, of his kingdom and property, in +behalf of his children.<note place='foot'>Appian, p. +63.</note> But, on Scipio's arrival, he found that +monarch dead. Masinissa had commanded them, with his +dying breath, to follow implicitly the directions of Scipio, +whom he appointed to be a kind of father and guardian to +them. I shall give no farther account here of the family and +posterity of Masinissa, because that would interrupt too much +the history of Carthage. +</p> + +<pb n='281'/><anchor id='Pg281'/> + +<p> +The high esteem which Phamæas had entertained for +Scipio induced him to forsake the Carthaginians, and go over +to the Romans.<note place='foot'>Appian, p. 65.</note> +Accordingly, he joined them with above two +thousand horse, and was afterwards of great service at the +siege. +</p> + +<p> +Calpurnius Piso, the consul, and L. Mancinus, his lieutenant, +arrived in Africa in the beginning of the spring.<note place='foot'>Page 66.</note> +Nothing remarkable was transacted during this campaign. +The Romans were even defeated on several occasions, and +carried on the siege of Carthage but slowly. The besieged, +on the contrary, had recovered their spirits. Their troops +were considerably increased; they daily got new allies; and +even sent an express as far as Macedonia, to the counterfeit +Philip,<note place='foot'>Andriscus.—Trans.</note> +who pretended to be the son of Perseus, and was then +engaged in a war with the Romans; to exhort him to carry +it on with vigour, and promising to furnish him with money +and ships. +</p> + +<p> +This news occasioned some uneasiness at Rome.<note place='foot'>Page 68.</note> +The people began to doubt the success of a war, which grew daily +more uncertain, and was more important, than had at first +been imagined. As much as they were dissatisfied with the +dilatoriness of the generals, and exclaimed against their conduct, +so much did they unanimously agree in applauding +young Scipio, and extolling his rare and uncommon virtues. +He was come to Rome, in order to stand candidate for the +edileship. The instant he appeared in the assembly, his name, +his countenance, his reputation, a general persuasion that he +was designed by the gods to end the third Punic war, as the +first Scipio, his grandfather by adoption, had terminated the +second; these several circumstances made a very strong impression +on the people, and though it was contrary to law, and +therefore opposed by the ancient men, instead of the edileship +which<note place='margin'>A.M. 3858. A. Rom. 602.</note> +he sued for, the people, disregarding for once +the laws, conferred the consulship upon him, and +assigned him Africa for his province, without casting +lots for the provinces, as usual, and as Drusus his colleague +demanded. +</p> + +<pb n='282'/><anchor id='Pg282'/> + +<p> +As soon as Scipio had completed his recruits, he set out +for Sicily, and arrived soon after in Utica.<note place='foot'>Appian, +p. 69.</note> He came very +seasonably for Mancinus, Piso's lieutenant, who had rashly +fixed himself in a post where he was surrounded by the enemy; +and would have been cut to pieces that very morning, had not +the new consul, who, on his arrival, heard of the danger he was +in, reembarked his troops in the night, and sailed with the +utmost speed to his assistance. +</p> + +<p> +Scipio's first care, after his arrival, was to revive discipline +among the troops, which he found had been entirely neglected.<note place='foot'>Page +70.</note> There was not the least regularity, subordination, or obedience. +Nothing was attended to but rapine, feasting, and diversions. +He drove from the camp all useless persons, settled the quality +of the provisions he would have brought in by the sutlers, and +allowed of none but what were plain and fit for soldiers, studiously +banishing all dainties and luxuries. +</p> + +<p> +After he had made these regulations, which cost him but +little time and pains, because he himself first set the example, +he was persuaded that those under him were soldiers, and +thereupon he prepared to carry on the siege with vigour. +Having ordered his troops to provide themselves with axes, +levers, and scaling-ladders, he led them in the dead of the +night, and without the least noise, to a district of the city, +called Megara; when ordering them to give a sudden and +general shout, he attacked it with great vigour. The enemy, +who did not expect to be attacked in the night, were at first +in the utmost terror; however, they defended themselves so +courageously, that Scipio could not scale the walls. But perceiving +a tower that was forsaken, and which stood without the +city, very near the walls, he detached thither a party of intrepid +and resolute soldiers, who, by the help of pontons,<note place='foot'>A +sort of movable bridge.—Trans.</note> got +from the tower on the walls, and from thence into Megara, the +gates of which they broke down. Scipio entered it immediately +after, and drove the enemies out of that post; who, +terrified at this unexpected assault, and imagining that the +whole city was taken, fled into the citadel, whither they were +followed even by those forces that were encamped without the +<pb n='283'/><anchor id='Pg283'/> +city, who abandoned their camp to the Romans, and thought it +necessary for them to fly to a place of security. +</p> + +<p> +Before I proceed further, it will be proper to give some +account of the situation and dimensions of Carthage, which, in +the beginning of the war against the Romans, contained seven +hundred thousand inhabitants.<note place='foot'>Appian, +p. 56, 57. Strabo, l. xvii. p. 832.</note> It stood at the bottom of a +gulf, surrounded by the sea, and in the form of a peninsula, +whose neck, that is, the isthmus which joined it to the continent, +was twenty-five stadia, or a league and a quarter in +breadth. The peninsula was three hundred and sixty stadia, +or eighteen leagues round. On the west side there projected +from it a long neck of land, half a stadium, or twelve fathoms +broad; which, advancing into the sea, divided it from a morass, +and was fenced on all sides with rocks and a single wall. On +the south side, towards the continent, where stood the citadel +called Byrsa, the city was surrounded with a triple wall, thirty +cubits high, exclusive of the parapets and towers, with which +it was flanked all round at equal distances, each interval being +fourscore fathoms. Every tower was four stories high, and +the stalls but two; they were arched, and in the lower part +were walls to hold three hundred elephants with their fodder, +and over these were stables for four thousand horses, and lofts +for their food. There likewise was room enough to lodge +twenty thousand foot, and four thousand horse. All these +were contained within the walls alone. In one place only the +walls were weak and low; and that was a neglected angle, +which began at the neck of land above-mentioned, and extended +as far as the harbours, which were on the west side. Of +these there were two, which communicated with each other, +but had only one entrance, seventy feet broad, shut up with +chains. The first was appropriated for the merchants, and had +several distinct habitations for the seamen. The second, or +inner harbour, was for the ships of war, in the midst of which +stood an island called Cothon, lined, as the harbour was, with +large quays, in which were distinct receptacles<note place='foot'>Νεωσοίκους, +Strabo.—Trans.</note> for sheltering +from the weather two hundred and twenty ships; over these +were magazines or storehouses, wherein was lodged whatever +<pb n='284'/><anchor id='Pg284'/> +is necessary for arming and equipping fleets. The entrance +into each of these receptacles was adorned with two marble +pillars of the Ionic order. So that both the harbour and the +island represented on each side two magnificent galleries. In +this island was the admiral's palace; and, as it stood opposite +to the mouth of the harbour, he could from thence discover +whatever was doing at sea, though no one, from thence, could +see what was transacting in the inward part of the harbour. +The merchants, in like manner, had no prospect of the men of +war; the two ports being separated by a double wall, each +having its particular gate, that led to the city, without passing +through the other harbour. So that Carthage may be +divided into three parts:<note place='foot'>Boch. in +Phal. p. 512.</note> the harbour, which was double, and +called sometimes Cothon, from the little island of that name: +the citadel, named Byrsa: the city properly so called, where +the inhabitants dwelt, which lay round the citadel, and was +called Megara. +</p> + +<p> +At daybreak,<note place='foot'>Appian, p. 72.</note> Asdrubal<note place='foot'>It +was he who had first commanded without the city, but having caused the +other Asdrubal, Masinissa's grandson, to be put to death, he got the command of the +troops within the walls.—Trans.</note> perceiving the ignominious defeat +of his troops, in order that he might be revenged on the +Romans, and, at the same time, deprive the inhabitants of all +hopes of accommodation and pardon, brought all the Roman +prisoners he had taken, upon the walls, in sight of the whole +army. There he put them to the most exquisite torture; +putting out their eyes, cutting off their noses, ears, and fingers; +tearing their skin from their body with iron rakes or harrows, +and then threw them headlong from the top of the battlements. +So inhuman a treatment filled the Carthaginians with +horror: however, he did not spare even them; but murdered +many senators who had ventured to oppose his tyranny. +</p> + +<p> +Scipio,<note place='foot'>Page 73.</note> finding +himself absolute master of the isthmus, +burnt the camp, which the enemy had deserted, and built a +new one for his troops. It was of a square form, surrounded +with large and deep intrenchments, and fenced with strong +palisades. On the side which faced the Carthaginians, he +built a wall twelve feet high, flanked at proper distances with +towers and redoubts; and on the middle tower, he erected a +<pb n='285'/><anchor id='Pg285'/> +very high wooden fort, from whence could be seen whatever +was doing in the city. This wall was equal to the whole +breadth of the isthmus, that is, twenty-five stadia.<note place='foot'>Four +miles and three quarters.—Trans.</note> The +enemy, who were within bow-shot of it, employed their utmost +efforts to put a stop to this work; but, as the whole army +were employed upon it day and night, without intermission, it +was finished in twenty-four days. Scipio reaped a double +advantage from this work: first, his forces were lodged more +safely and commodiously than before: secondly, he cut off all +provisions from the besieged, to whom none could now be +brought but by sea; which was attended with many difficulties, +both because the sea is frequently very tempestuous in that +place, and because the Roman fleet kept a strict guard. This +proved one of the chief causes of the famine which raged soon +after in the city. Besides, Asdrubal distributed the corn that +was brought, only among the thirty thousand men who served +under him, caring very little what became of the rest of the +inhabitants. +</p> + +<p> +To distress them still more by the want of provisions, +Scipio attempted to stop up the mouth of the haven by a +mole, beginning at the above-mentioned neck of land, which +was near the harbour.<note place='foot'>Appian, p. +74.</note> The besieged, at first, looked upon +this attempt as ridiculous, and accordingly they insulted the +workmen: but, at last, seeing them make an astonishing progress +every day, they began to be afraid; and to take such +measures as might, if possible, render the attempt unsuccessful. +Every one, to the women and children, fell to work, +but so privately, that all that Scipio could learn from the prisoners, +was, that they had heard a great noise in the harbour, +but did not know the occasion of it. At last, all things being +ready, the Carthaginians opened, on a sudden, a new outlet +on the other side of the haven; and appeared at sea with a +numerous fleet, which they had just then built with the old +materials found in their magazines. It is generally allowed, +that had they attacked the Roman fleet directly, they must +infallibly have taken it; because, as no such attempt was +expected, and every man was elsewhere employed, the Carthaginians +<pb n='286'/><anchor id='Pg286'/> +would have found it without rowers, soldiers, or officers. +But the ruin of Carthage, says the historian, was decreed. +Having therefore only offered a kind of insult or bravado to +the Romans, they returned into the harbour. +</p> + +<p> +Two days after, they brought forward their ships, with a +resolution to fight in good earnest, and found the enemy ready +for them.<note place='foot'>Appian, p. 75.</note> +This battle was to determine the fate of both parties. +The conflict was long and obstinate, each exerting themselves +to the utmost; the one to save their country, now reduced to +the last extremity, and the other to complete their victory. +During the fight, the Carthaginian brigantines running along +under the large Roman ships, broke to pieces sometimes their +sterns, and at other times their rudders and oars; and, when +briskly attacked, retreated with surprising swiftness, and +returned immediately to the charge. At last, after the two +armies had fought with equal success till sunset, the Carthaginians +thought proper to retire; not that they believed themselves +overcome, but in order to begin the fight again on the +morrow. Part of their ships, not being able to run swiftly +enough into the harbour, because the mouth of it was too +narrow, took shelter under a very spacious terrace, which had +been thrown up against the walls to unload goods, on the side +of which a small rampart had been raised during this war, to +prevent the enemy from possessing themselves of it. Here +the fight was again renewed with more vigour than ever, and +lasted till late at night. The Carthaginians suffered very much, +and the few ships which got off, sailed for refuge to the city. +Morning being come, Scipio attacked the terrace, and carried +it, though with great difficulty; after which he made a lodgement +there, and fortified himself on it, and built a brick-wall +close to those of the city, and of the same height. When it +was finished, he commanded four thousand men to get on the +top of it, and to discharge from it a perpetual shower of darts +and arrows upon the enemy, which did great execution; because, +as the two walls were of equal height, almost every dart +took effect. Thus ended this campaign. +</p> + +<p> +During the winter quarters, Scipio endeavoured to overpower +the enemy's troops without the city,<note place='foot'>Ibid. +p. 78.</note> who very much +<pb n='287'/><anchor id='Pg287'/> +harassed the convoys that brought his provisions, and protected +such as were sent to the besieged. For this purpose he +attacked a neighbouring fort, called Nepheris, where they +used to shelter themselves. In the last action, above seventy +thousand of the enemy, as well soldiers as peasants, who had +been enlisted, were cut to pieces; and the fort was carried with +great difficulty, after sustaining a siege of two and twenty days. +The seizure of this fort was followed by the surrender of almost +all the strong-holds in Africa; and contributed very much to +the taking of Carthage itself, into which, from that time, it was +almost impossible to bring any provisions. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>A.M. 3859. A. Rom. 603.</note> +Early in the spring, Scipio attacked, at one and the same +time, the harbour called Cothon, and the citadel.<note place='foot'>Appian, p. 79.</note> +Having possessed himself of the wall which surrounded +this port, he threw himself into the great +square of the city that was near it, from whence was an ascent +to the citadel, up three streets, on each side of which were +houses, from the tops whereof a shower of darts was discharged +upon the Romans, who were obliged, before they could advance +farther, to force the houses they came first to, and post themselves +in them, in order to dislodge from thence the enemy +who fought from the neighbouring houses. The combat, which +was carried on from the tops, and in every part of the houses, +continued six days, during which a dreadful slaughter was +made. To clear the streets, and make way for the troops, the +Romans dragged aside, with hooks, the bodies of such of the +inhabitants as had been slain, or precipitated headlong from +the houses, and threw them into pits, the greatest part of them +being still alive and panting. In this toil, which lasted six +days and as many nights, the soldiers were relieved from +time to time by fresh ones, without which they would have +been quite spent. Scipio was the only person who did not +take a wink of sleep all this time; giving orders in all +places, and scarce allowing himself leisure to take the least +refreshment. +</p> + +<p> +There was every reason to believe, that the siege would +last much longer, and occasion a great effusion of +blood.<note place='foot'>Ibid. p. 81.</note> But +on the seventh day, there appeared a company of men in the +<pb n='288'/><anchor id='Pg288'/> +posture and habit of suppliants, who desired no other conditions, +than that the Romans would please to spare the lives of +all those who should be willing to leave the citadel: which +request was granted them, only the deserters were excepted. +Accordingly, there came out fifty thousand men and women, +who were sent into the fields under a strong guard. The +deserters, who were about nine hundred, finding they would +not be allowed quarter, fortified themselves in the temple of +Æsculapius, with Asdrubal, his wife, and two children; where, +though their number was but small, they might have held out +a long time, because the temple stood on a very high hill, +upon rocks, the ascent to which was by sixty steps. But at +last, exhausted by hunger and watching, oppressed with fear, +and seeing their destruction at hand, they lost all patience; +and abandoning the lower part of the temple, they retired to +the uppermost story, resolved not to quit it but with their lives. +</p> + +<p> +In the mean time, Asdrubal, being desirous of saving his +own life, came down privately to Scipio, carrying an olive +branch in his hand, and threw himself at his feet. Scipio +showed him immediately to the deserters, who, transported +with rage and fury at the sight, vented millions of imprecations +against him, and set fire to the temple. Whilst it was kindling, +we are told, that Asdrubal's wife, dressing herself as splendidly +as possible, and placing herself with her two children in sight +of Scipio, addressed him with a loud voice: <q>I call not down,</q> +says she, <q>curses upon thy head, O Roman; for thou only +takest the privilege allowed by the laws of war: but may the +gods of Carthage, and thou in concert with them, punish, +according to his deserts, the false wretch, who has betrayed his +country, his gods, his wife, his children!</q> Then directing +herself to Asdrubal, <q>Perfidious wretch,</q> says she, <q>thou basest +of men! this fire will presently consume both me and my +children; but as to thee, unworthy general of Carthage, go—adorn +the gay triumph of thy conqueror—suffer, in the sight +of all Rome, the tortures thou so justly deservest!</q> She had +no sooner pronounced these words, than, seizing her children, +she cut their throats, threw them into the flames, and afterwards +rushed into them herself; in which she was imitated by +all the deserters. +</p> + +<pb n='289'/><anchor id='Pg289'/> + +<p> +With regard to Scipio,<note place='foot'>Appian, p. +82.</note> when he saw this famous city, which +had been so flourishing for seven hundred years, and might +have been compared to the greatest empires, on account of the +extent of its dominions both by sea and land; its mighty +armies; its fleets, elephants, and riches; while the Carthaginians +were even superior to other nations, by their courage +and greatness of soul; as, notwithstanding their being deprived +of arms and ships, they had sustained, for three whole years, +all the hardships and calamities of a long siege; seeing, I say, +this city entirely ruined, historians relate, that he could not +refuse his tears to the unhappy fate of Carthage. He reflected, +that cities, nations, and empires, are liable to revolutions no +less than private men; that the like sad fate had befallen Troy +anciently so powerful; and, in later times, the Assyrians, +Medes, and Persians, whose dominions were once of so great +an extent; and very recently, the Macedonians, whose empire +had been so glorious throughout the world. Full of these +mournful ideas, he repeated the following verses of Homer: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l>Ἔσσεται ἦμαρ, ὄταν ποτ᾽ ὀλώλη Ἴλιος ἱρὴ,</l> +<l>Καὶ Πρίαμος, καὶ λαὸς εὐμμελίω Πριάμοιο.</l> +</lg> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Il.</hi> δ. 164, 165. +</p> + +<lg> +<l>The day shall come, that great avenging day.</l> +<l>Which Troy's proud glories in the dust shall lay,</l> +<l>When Priam's pow'rs and Priam's self shall fall,</l> +<l>And one prodigious ruin swallow all.</l> +</lg> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Pope.</hi> +</p> +</quote> + +<p> +thereby denouncing the future destiny of Rome, as he himself +confessed to Polybius, who desired Scipio to explain himself +on that occasion. +</p> + +<p> +Had the truth enlightened his soul, he would have discovered +what we are taught in the Scriptures, that <q>because of unrighteous +dealings, injuries, and riches got by deceit, a kingdom +is translated from one people to another.</q><note place='foot'>Ecclus, +x. 8.</note> Carthage is destroyed, +because its avarice, perfidiousness, and cruelty, have +attained their utmost height. The like fate will attend Rome, +when its luxury, ambition, pride, and unjust usurpations, +concealed beneath a specious and delusive show of justice +and virtue, shall have compelled the sovereign Lord, the +disposer of empires, to give the universe an important lesson +in its fall. +</p> + +<pb n='290'/><anchor id='Pg290'/> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>A.M. 3859. A. Carth. 701. A. Rom. 603. Ant. J.C. 145.</note> +Carthage being taken in this manner, Scipio gave the +plunder of it (the gold, silver, statues, and other +offerings which should be found in the temples, +excepted) to his soldiers for some days.<note place='foot'>Appian, +p. 83.</note> He afterwards +bestowed several military rewards on them, as +well as on the officers, two of whom had particularly +distinguished themselves, <hi rend='italic'>viz.</hi> Tib. Gracchus, and Caius Fannius, +who first scaled the walls. After this, adorning a small ship +(an excellent sailer) with the enemy's spoils, he sent it to +Rome with the news of the victory. +</p> + +<p> +At the same time he invited the inhabitants of Sicily to +come and take possession of the pictures and statues which the +Carthaginians had plundered them of in the former wars.<note place='foot'>Ibid.</note> +When he restored to the citizens of Agrigentum, Phalaris's +famous bull,<note place='foot'>Quem taurum Scipio +cùm redderet Agrigentinis, dixisse dicitur, æquum esse illos cogitare +utrum esset Siculis utilius, suisne servire, au populo R. obtemperare, +cùm idem monumentum et domesticæ crudelitatis, et nostræ mansuetudinis haberent. +Cicer. <hi rend='italic'>Verr.</hi> vi. n. 73.—Trans.</note> +he told them that this bull, which was, at one +and the same time, a monument of the cruelty of their ancient +kings, and of the lenity of their present sovereigns, ought to +make them sensible which would be most advantageous for +them, to live under the yoke of Sicilians, or the government of +the Romans. +</p> + +<p> +Having exposed to sale part of the spoils of Carthage, he +commanded, on the most severe penalties, his family not to +take or even buy any of them; so careful was he to remove +from himself, and all belonging to him, the least suspicion +of avarice. +</p> + +<p> +When the news of the taking of Carthage was brought to +Rome, the people abandoned themselves to the most immoderate +transports of joy, as if the public tranquillity had not been +secured till that instant.<note place='foot'>Ibid.</note> +They revolved in their minds, all the +calamities which the Carthaginians had brought upon them, +in Sicily, in Spain, and even in Italy, for sixteen years together; +during which, Hannibal had plundered four hundred towns, +destroyed, in different engagements, three hundred thousand +men, and reduced Rome itself to the utmost extremity. +Amidst the remembrance of these past evils, the people in +<pb n='291'/><anchor id='Pg291'/> +Rome would ask one another, whether it were really true that +Carthage was in ashes. All ranks and degrees of men emulously +strove who should show the greatest gratitude towards +the gods; and the citizens were, for many days, employed +wholly in solemn sacrifices, in public prayers, games, and +spectacles. +</p> + +<p> +After these religious duties were ended, the senate sent ten +commissioners into Africa, to regulate, in conjunction with +Scipio, the fate and condition of that country for the time to +come.<note place='foot'>Appian, p. 84.</note> +Their first care was, to demolish whatever was still +remaining of Carthage.<note place='foot'>We may guess +at the dimensions of this famous city, by what Florus says, <hi rend='italic'>viz.</hi> +that it was seventeen days on fire, before it could be all consumed. Quanta urbs +deleta sit, ut de cæteris taceam, vel ignium morâ probari potest: quippe per continuos +decem et septem dies vix potuit incendium extingui. Lib. ii. c. +15.—Trans.</note> Rome,<note place='foot'>Neque se Roma, +jam terrarum orbe superato, securam speravit fore, si nomen +usquam maneret Carthaginis. Adeo odium certaminibus ortum, ultra metum durat, +et ne in victis quidem deponitur, neque antè invisum esse desinit, quàm esse desiit. +Vel. Paterc. l. i. c. 12.—Trans.</note> though mistress of almost +the whole world, could not believe herself safe as long as even +the name of Carthage was in being. So true it is, that an +inveterate hatred, fomented by long and bloody wars, lasts even +beyond the time when all cause of fear is removed; and does +not cease, till the object that occasions it is no more. Orders +were given, in the name of the Romans, that it should never +be inhabited again; and dreadful imprecations were denounced +against those, who, contrary to this prohibition, should attempt +to rebuild any parts of it, especially those called Byrsa and +Megara. In the mean time, every one who desired it, was +admitted to see Carthage: Scipio being well pleased, to have +people view the sad ruins of a city which had dared to contend +with Rome for empire.<note place='foot'>Ut ipse locus eorum, +qui cum hâc urbe de imperio certârunt, vestigia calamitatis +ostenderet. Cic. <hi rend='italic'>Agrar.</hi> ii. n. +50.—Trans.</note> The commissioners decreed farther, +that those cities which, during this war, had joined with the +enemy, should all be rased, and their territories be given to +the Roman allies; they particularly made a grant to the citizens +of Utica, of the whole country lying between Carthage and +Hippo. All the rest they made tributary, and reduced it into +a Roman province, whither a prætor was sent annually. +</p> + +<p> +All matters being thus settled, Scipio returned to Rome, +where he made his entry in triumph.<note place='foot'>Ibid.</note> So magnificent a one +<pb n='292'/><anchor id='Pg292'/> +had never been seen before; the whole exhibiting nothing but +statues, rare, invaluable pictures, and other curiosities, which +the Carthaginians had, for many years, been collecting in other +countries; not to mention the money carried into the public +treasury, which amounted to immense sums. +</p> + +<p> +Notwithstanding the great precautions which were taken to +hinder Carthage from being ever rebuilt, in less than thirty +years after, and even in Scipio's lifetime, one of the Gracchi, +to ingratiate himself with the people, undertook to found it +anew, and conducted thither a colony consisting of six thousand +citizens for that purpose.<note place='foot'>Appian, p. 85. +Plut. <hi rend='italic'>in vit. Gracch</hi> p. 839.</note> +The senate, hearing that the workmen +had been terrified by many unlucky omens, at the time +they were tracing the limits, and laying the foundations of the +new city, would have suspended the attempt; but the tribune, not +being over scrupulous in religious matters, carried on the work, +notwithstanding all these bad presages, and finished it in a few +days. This was the first Roman colony that was ever sent out +of Italy. +</p> + +<p> +It is probable, that only a kind of huts were built there, since +we are told,<note place='foot'>Marius cursum in +Africam direxit, inopemque vitam in tugurio ruinarum Carthaginensium +toleravit: cùm Marius aspiciens Carthaginem, illa intuens Marium, +alter alteri possent esse solatio. Vel. Paterc. l. ii c. +19.—Trans.</note> that when Marius retired hither, in his flight to +Africa, he lived in a mean and poor condition amid the ruins +of Carthage, consoling himself by the sight of so astonishing a +spectacle; himself serving, in some measure, as a consolation +to that ill-fated city. +</p> + +<p> +Appian relates,<note place='foot'>Appian, p. 85.</note> +that Julius Cæsar, after the death of Pompey, +having crossed into Africa, saw, in a dream, an army composed +of a prodigious number of soldiers, who, with tears in +their eyes, called him; and that, struck with the vision, he writ +down in his pocket-book the design which he formed on this +occasion, of rebuilding Carthage and Corinth: but that having +been murdered soon after by the conspirators, Augustus Cæsar, +his adopted son, who found this memorandum among his papers, +rebuilt Carthage near the spot where it stood formerly, in order +that the imprecations which had been vented, at the time of its +destruction, against those who should presume to rebuild it, +might not fall upon him. +</p> + +<pb n='293'/><anchor id='Pg293'/> + +<p> +I know not what foundation Appian has for this story; but +we read in Strabo,<note place='foot'>Strabo, l. xvii. p. +833.</note> that Carthage and Corinth were rebuilt at +the same time by Cæsar, to whom he gives the name of god, by +which title, a little before, he had plainly intended Julius +Cæsar;<note place='foot'>Ibid. 831.</note> and +Plutarch,<note place='foot'>Page 733.</note> in the life of that emperor, ascribes +expressly to him the establishment of these two colonies; and +observes, that one remarkable circumstance in these two cities +is, that as both had been taken and destroyed at the same +time, they likewise were at the same time rebuilt and repeopled. +However this be, Strabo affirms, that in his time Carthage +was as populous as any city in Africa; and it rose to be +the capital of Africa, under the succeeding emperors. It +existed for about seven hundred years after, in splendour, but +at last was so completely destroyed by the Saracens, in the +beginning of the seventh century, that neither its name, nor +the least footsteps of it, are known at this time in the country. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>A Digression on the Manners and Character of the second +Scipio Africanus.</hi>—Scipio, the destroyer of Carthage, was son +to the famous Paulus Æmilius, who conquered Perseus, the +last king of Macedon; and consequently grandson to that +Paulus Æmilius who lost his life in the battle of Cannæ. He +was adopted by the son of the great Scipio Africanus, and +called Scipio Æmilianus; the names of the two families being so +united, pursuant to the law of adoptions. He supported, +with equal lustre, the dignity of both houses, by all the qualities +that can confer honour on the sword and gown.<note place='foot'>Scipio +Æmilianus, vir avitis P. Africani paternisque L. Pauli virtutibus simillimus, +omnibus belli ac togæ dotibus, ingeniique ac studiorum eminentissimus seculi +sui, qui nihil in vitâ nisi laudandum aut fecit aut dixit aut seusit. Vel. Paterc. +l. i. c. 12.—Trans.</note> The +whole tenour of his life, says an historian, whether with regard +to his actions, his thoughts, or words, was deserving of the +highest praise. He distinguished himself particularly (an eulogium +that, at present, can seldom be applied to persons of the +military profession) by his exquisite taste for polite literature, +and all the sciences, as well as by the uncommon regard he +showed to learned men. It is universally known, that he was +reported to be the author of Terence's comedies, the most +polite and elegant writings which the Romans could boast. We +<pb n='294'/><anchor id='Pg294'/> +are told of Scipio,<note place='foot'>Neque enim quisquam +hoc Scipione elegantiùs intervalla negotiorum otio dispunxit: +semperque aut belli aut pacis serviit artibus, semper inter arma ac studia +versatus, aut corpus periculis, aut animum disciplinis exercuit. Vel. +Paterc. l. i. c. 13.—Trans.</note> that no man could blend more happily repose +and action, nor employ his leisure hours with greater delicacy +and taste: thus was he divided between arms and books, between +the military labours of the camp, and the peaceful employment +of the cabinet; in which he either exercised his body in +toils of war, or his mind in the study of the sciences. By this +he showed, that nothing does greater honour to a person of +distinction, of what quality or profession soever he be, than the +adorning his mind with knowledge. Cicero, speaking of Scipio, +says,<note place='foot'>Africanus semper Socraticum +Xenophontem in manibus habebat. <hi rend='italic'>Tusc. Quæst.</hi> +l. ii. n. 62.—Trans.</note> that he always had Xenophon's works in his hands, +which are so famous for the solid and excellent instructions +they contain, both in regard to war and policy. +</p> + +<p> +He owed this exquisite taste for polite learning and the +sciences, to the excellent education which Paulus Æmilius +bestowed on his children.<note place='foot'>Plut. <hi rend='italic'>in vit. +Æmil. Paul.</hi> p. 258.</note> He had put them under the ablest +masters in every art; and did not spare any expense on that +occasion, though his circumstances were very narrow: P. +Æmilius himself was present at all their lessons, as often as +the affairs of the state would permit; becoming, by this means, +their chief preceptor. +</p> + +<p> +The intimate union between Polybius and Scipio put the +finishing stroke to the exalted qualities which, by the superiority +of his genius and disposition, and the excellency of his education, +were already the subject of admiration.<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Excerpt. +è</hi> Polyb. p. 147-163.</note> Polybius, with +a great number of Achæans, whose fidelity the Romans suspected +during the war with Perseus, was detained in Rome, where his +merit soon caused his company to be coveted by all persons of +the highest quality in that city. Scipio, when scarce eighteen, +devoted himself entirely to Polybius: and considered as the +greatest felicity of his life, the opportunity he had of being +instructed by so great a master, whose society he preferred to +all the vain and idle amusements which are generally so alluring +to young persons. +</p> + +<p> +Polybius's first care was to inspire Scipio with an aversion +<pb n='295'/><anchor id='Pg295'/> +for those equally dangerous and ignominious pleasures, to +which the Roman youth were so strongly addicted; the greatest +part of them being already depraved and corrupted by the luxury +and licentiousness which riches and new conquests had +introduced in Rome. Scipio, during the first five years that he +continued in so excellent a school, made the greatest improvement +in it; and, despising the ridicule, as well as the pernicious +examples, of persons of the same age with himself, he was looked +upon, even at that time, as a model of discretion and wisdom. +</p> + +<p> +From hence, the transition was easy and natural to generosity, +to a noble disregard of riches, and to a laudable use of +them; all virtues so requisite in persons of illustrious birth, and +which Scipio carried to the most exalted pitch, as appears from +some instances of this kind related by Polybius, which are +highly worthy our admiration. +</p> + +<p> +Æmilia,<note place='foot'>She was sister of Paulus Æmilius, father of the second +Scipio Africanus.—Trans.</note> wife of the first Scipio Africanus, and mother of +him who had adopted the Scipio mentioned here by Polybius, +had bequeathed, at her death, a great estate to the latter. This +lady, besides the diamonds and jewels which are worn by women +of her high rank, possessed a great number of gold and silver +vessels used in sacrifices, together with several splendid equipages, +and a considerable number of slaves of both sexes; the +whole suited to the opulence of the august house into which +she had married. At her death, Scipio made over all those rich +possessions to Papiria his mother, who, having been divorced a +considerable time before by Paulus Æmilius, and not being in +circumstances to support the dignity of her birth, lived in +great obscurity, and never appeared in the assemblies or public +ceremonies. But when she again frequented them with a +magnificent train, this noble generosity of Scipio did him great +honour, especially in the minds of the ladies, who expatiated on +it in all their conversations, and in a city whose inhabitants, +says Polybius, were not easily prevailed upon to part with +their money. +</p> + +<p> +Scipio was no less admired on another occasion. He was +bound, in consequence of the estate that had fallen to him by +the death of his grandmother, to pay, at three different times, +to the two daughters of Scipio, his grandfather by adoption, +<pb n='296'/><anchor id='Pg296'/> +half their portions, which amounted to 50,000 French crowns.<note place='foot'>Or, +11,250<hi rend='italic'>l.</hi> sterling.—Trans.</note> +The time for the payment of the first sum being expired, Scipio +put the whole money into the hands of a banker. Tiberius +Gracchus, and Scipio Nasica, who had married the two sisters, +imagining that Scipio had made a mistake, went to him, and +observed, that the laws allowed him three years to pay this sum +in, and at three different times. Young Scipio answered, that +he knew very well what the laws directed on this occasion; +that they might indeed be executed in their greatest rigour +towards strangers, but that friends and relations ought to treat +one another with a more generous simplicity; and therefore +desired them to receive the whole sum. They were struck with +such admiration at the generosity of their kinsman, that in their +return home, they reproached<note place='foot'>Κατεγνωκότες +τῆς αὐτῶν μικρολογίας.—Trans.</note> themselves for their narrow +way of thinking, at a time when they made the greatest figure, +and had the highest regard paid to them, of any family in +Rome. This generous action, says Polybius, was the more +admired, because no person in Rome, so far from consenting +to pay 50,000 crowns before they were due, would pay even a +thousand before the time for payment was elapsed. +</p> + +<p> +It was from the same noble spirit that, two years after, Paulus +Æmilius his father being dead, he made over to his brother +Fabius, who was not so wealthy as himself, the part of their +father's estate, which was his (Scipio's) due, (amounting to +above threescore thousand crowns,<note place='foot'>Or, 13,500<hi rend='italic'>l.</hi> +sterling.—Trans.</note>) in order that there might +not be so great a disparity between his fortune and that of his +brother. +</p> + +<p> +This Fabius being desirous to exhibit a show of gladiators +after his father's decease, in honour of his memory, (as was +the custom in that age,) and not being able to defray the expenses +on this occasion, which amounted to a very heavy sum, +Scipio made him a present of fifteen thousand<note place='foot'>Or, +5375<hi rend='italic'>l.</hi> sterling.—Trans.</note> crowns, in +order to defray at least half the charges of it. +</p> + +<p> +The splendid presents which Scipio had made his mother +Papiria, reverted to him, by law as well as equity, after her +demise; and his sisters, according to the custom of those times +<pb n='297'/><anchor id='Pg297'/> +had not the least claim to them. Nevertheless, Scipio thought +it would have been dishonourable in him, had he taken them +back again. He therefore made over to his sisters whatever +he had presented to their mother, which amounted to a very +considerable sum; and by this fresh proof of his glorious +disregard of wealth, and the tender friendship he had for his +family, acquired the applause of the whole city. +</p> + +<p> +These different benefactions, which amounted all together to +a prodigious sum, seem to have received a brighter lustre from +the age in which he bestowed them, he being still very young; +and yet more from the circumstances of the time when they +were presented, as well as the kind and obliging carriage he +assumed on those occasions. +</p> + +<p> +The incidents I have here related are so repugnant to the +maxims of this age, that there might be reason to fear the +reader would consider them merely as the rhetorical flourishes +of an historian who was prejudiced in favour of his hero; if it +was not well known, that the predominant characteristic of +Polybius, by whom they are related, is a sincere love for truth, +and an utter aversion to adulation of every kind. In the very +passage whence this relation is extracted, he has thought it +necessary for him to be a little guarded, where he expatiates +on the virtuous actions and rare qualities of Scipio; and he +observes, that as his writings were to be perused by the Romans, +who were perfectly well acquainted with all the particulars +of this great man's life, he could not fail of being convicted +by them, should he venture to advance any falsehood; an +affront, to which it is not probable that an author, who has +ever so little regard for his reputation, would expose himself, +especially if no advantage was to accrue to him from it. +</p> + +<p> +We have already observed, that Scipio had never given into +the fashionable debaucheries and excesses to which the young +people at Rome so generally abandoned themselves. But he +was sufficiently compensated for this self-denial of all destructive +pleasures, by the vigorous health he enjoyed all the +rest of his life, which enabled him to taste pleasure of a much +purer and more exalted kind, and to perform the great actions +that reflected so much glory upon him. +</p> + +<p> +Hunting, which was his darling exercise, contributed also +<pb n='298'/><anchor id='Pg298'/> +very much to invigorate his constitution, and enabled him +also to endure the hardest toils. Macedonia, whither he followed +his father, gave him an opportunity of indulging to the +utmost of his desire his passion in this respect; for the chase, +which was the usual diversion of the Macedonian monarchs, +having been laid aside for some years on account of the wars, +Scipio found there an incredible quantity of game of every +kind. Paulus Æmilius, studious of procuring his son virtuous +pleasures of every kind, in order to divert his mind from those +which reason prohibits, gave him full liberty to indulge himself +in his favourite sport, during all the time that the Roman +forces continued in that country, after the victory he had gained +over Perseus. The illustrious youth employed his leisure hours +in an exercise which suited so well his age and inclination; and +was as successful in this innocent war against the beasts of +Macedonia, as his father had been in that which he had carried +on against the inhabitants of the country. +</p> + +<p> +It was at Scipio's return from Macedon, that he met with +Polybius in Rome; and contracted the strict friendship with +him, which was afterwards so beneficial to our young Roman, +and did him almost as much honour in after-ages as all his +conquests. We find, from history, that Polybius lived with +the two brothers. One day, when himself and Scipio were +alone, the latter unbosomed himself freely to him, and complained, +but in the mildest and most gentle terms, that he, in +their conversations at table, always directed himself to his +brother Fabius, and never to him. <q>I am sensible,</q> says he, +<q>that this indifference arises from your supposing, with all +our citizens, that I am a heedless young man, and wholly +averse to the taste which now prevails in Rome, because I do +not devote myself to the studies of the bar, nor cultivate the +graces of elocution. But how should I do this? I am told +perpetually, that the Romans expect a general, and not an +orator, from the house of the Scipios. I will confess to you, +(pardon the sincerity with which I reveal my thoughts,) that +your coldness and indifference grieve me exceedingly.</q> Polybius, +surprised at this unexpected address, made Scipio the +kindest answer; and assured the illustrious youth, that though +he generally directed himself to his brother, yet this was not +<pb n='299'/><anchor id='Pg299'/> +out of disrespect to him, but only because Fabius was the +elder; not to mention (continued Polybius) that, knowing +you possessed but one soul, I conceived that I addressed both +when I spoke to either of you. He then assured Scipio, that +he was entirely at his command: that with regard to the +sciences, for which he discovered the happiest genius, he +would have opportunities sufficient to improve himself in +them, from the great number of learned Grecians who resorted +daily to Rome; but that, as to the art of war, which was +properly his profession, and his favourite study, he (Polybius) +might be of some little service to him. He had no sooner +spoke these words, than Scipio, grasping his hand in a kind +of rapture: <q>Oh! when,</q> says he, <q>shall I see the happy +day, when, disengaged from all other avocations, and living +with me, you will be so much my friend, as to direct your +endeavours to improve my understanding and regulate my +affections? It is then I shall think myself worthy of my +illustrious ancestors.</q> From that time Polybius, overjoyed to +see so young a man breathe such noble sentiments, devoted +himself particularly to our Scipio, who ever after paid him as +much reverence as if he had been his father. +</p> + +<p> +However, Scipio did not esteem Polybius only as an excellent +historian, but valued him much more, and reaped much +greater advantages from him, as an able warrior and a profound +politician. Accordingly, he consulted him on every occasion, +and always took his advice even when he was at the head of +his army; concerting in private with Polybius all the operations +of the campaign, all the movements of the forces, all +enterprises against the enemy, and the several measures proper +for rendering them successful. +</p> + +<p> +In a word, it was the common report,<note place='foot'>Pausan. +<hi rend='italic'>in Arcad.</hi> l. xiii. p. 505.</note> that our illustrious +Roman did not perform any great or good action without +being under some obligation to Polybius; nor even commit an +error, except when he acted without consulting him. +</p> + +<p> +I request the reader to excuse this long digression, which +may be thought foreign to my subject, as I am not writing the +Roman history. However, it appeared to me so well adapted +to the general design I propose to myself, in this work, <hi rend='italic'>viz.</hi> +<pb n='300'/><anchor id='Pg300'/> +the cultivating and improving the minds of youth, that I could +not forbear introducing it here, though I was sensible this is +not directly its proper place. And indeed, these examples +show, how important it is that young people should receive a +liberal and virtuous education; and the great benefit they +reap, by frequenting and corresponding early with persons of +merit; for these were the foundations whereon were built the +fame and glory which have rendered Scipio immortal. But +above all, how noble a model for our age (in which the most +inconsiderable and even trifling concerns often create feuds +and animosities between brothers and sisters, and disturb the +peace of families,) is the generous disinterestedness of Scipio; +who, whenever he had an opportunity of serving his relations, +thought lightly of bestowing the largest sums upon them! +This excellent passage of Polybius had escaped me, by its not +being inserted in the folio edition of his works. It belongs +indeed naturally to that book, where, treating of the taste for +solid glory, I mentioned the contempt in which the ancients +held riches, and the excellent use they made of them. I therefore +thought myself indispensably obliged to restore, on this +occasion, to young students, what I could not but blame +myself for omitting elsewhere. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>The History of the Family and Posterity of Masinissa.</hi>—I +promised, after finishing what related to the republic of Carthage, +to return to the family and posterity of Masinissa. This +piece of history forms a considerable part of that of Africa, +and therefore is not quite foreign to my subject. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>A.M. 3857. A. Rom. 601.</note> +From the time that Masinissa had declared for the Romans +under the first Scipio, he had always adhered to that +honourable alliance, with an almost unparalleled zeal +and fidelity.<note place='foot'>Appian, p. 65. Val. Max. l. +v. c. 2.</note> Finding his end approaching, he wrote +to the proconsul of Africa, under whose standards the younger +Scipio then fought, to desire that Roman might be sent to +him; adding, that he should die with satisfaction, if he could +but expire in his arms, after having made him executor to his +will. But believing that he should be dead, before it could be +possible for him to receive this consolation, he sent for his +wife and children, and spoke to them as follows: <q>I know no +<pb n='301'/><anchor id='Pg301'/> +other nation but the Romans, and, among this nation, no +other family but that of the Scipios. I now, in my expiring +moments, empower Scipio Æmilianus to dispose, in an absolute +manner, of all my possessions, and to divide my kingdom +among my children. I require, that whatever Scipio may +decree, shall be executed as punctually as if I myself had +appointed it by my will.</q> After saying these words, he +breathed his last, being upwards of ninety years of age. +</p> + +<p> +This prince, during his youth, had met with strange reverses +of fortune, having been dispossessed of his kingdom, +obliged to fly from province to province, and a thousand times +in danger of his life.<note place='foot'>Appian, p. +65.</note> Being supported, says the historian, by +the divine protection, he was afterwards favoured, till his +death, with a perpetual series of prosperity, unruffled by any +sinister accident: for he not only recovered his own kingdom, +but added to it that of Syphax his enemy; and extending his +dominions from Mauritania, as far as Cyrene, he became the +most powerful prince of all Africa. He was blessed, till he +left the world, with the greatest health and vigour, which +doubtless was owing to his extreme temperance, and the care +he had taken to inure himself to fatigue. Though ninety +years of age, he performed all the exercises used by young +men,<note place='foot'>Cicero introduces Cato, +speaking as follows of Masinissa's vigorous constitution: +Arbitror te audire, Scipio, hospes tuus Masinissa quæ faciat hodie nonaginta annos +natus; cùm ingressus iter pedibus sit, in equum omnino non ascendere; cùm equo, +ex equo non descendere; nullo imbre, nullo frigore adduci, ut capite operto sit; +summam esse in eo corporis siccitatem. Itaque exequi omnia regis officia et munera. +<hi rend='italic'>De Senectute.</hi>—Trans.</note> +and always rode without a saddle; and Polybius observes, +(a circumstance preserved by Plutarch,<note place='foot'>An +seni gerenda sit Resp. p. 791.</note>) that the day after a +great victory over the Carthaginians, Masinissa was seen, +sitting at the door of his tent, eating a piece of brown bread. +</p> + +<p> +He left fifty-four sons, of whom three only were legitimate, +<hi rend='italic'>viz.</hi> Micipsa, Gulussa, and +Mastanabal.<note place='foot'>Appian ibid. Val. Max. l. v. c. +2.</note> Scipio divided the +kingdom between these three, and gave considerable possessions +to the rest: but the two last dying soon after, Micipsa +became sole possessor of these extensive dominions. He had +two sons, Adherbal and Hiempsal, and with them he educated +in his palace Jugurtha his nephew, Mastanabal's son, and took +<pb n='302'/><anchor id='Pg302'/> +as much care of him as he did of his own children.<note place='foot'>All +this history of Jugurtha is extracted from Sallust.—Trans.</note> This +last-mentioned prince possessed several eminent qualities, +which gained him universal esteem. Jugurtha, who was finely +shaped, and very handsome, of the most delicate wit, and the +most solid judgment, did not devote himself, as young men +commonly do, to a life of luxury and pleasure. He used to +exercise himself with persons of his own age, in running, +riding, and throwing the javelin; and though he surpassed all +his companions, there was not one of them but loved him. +The chase was his only delight; but it was that of lions and +other savage beasts. To finish his character, he excelled in +all things, and spoke very little of himself: <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Plurimum +facere, et mininum ipse de se loqui</foreign>. +</p> + +<p> +Merit so conspicuous, and so generally acknowledged, began +to excite some anxiety in Micipsa. He saw himself in the +decline of life, and his children very young. He knew the +prodigious lengths which ambition is capable of going, when a +crown is in view: and that a man, with talents much inferior +to those of Jugurtha, might be dazzled by so glittering a temptation, +especially when united with such favourable circumstances.<note place='foot'>Terrebat +eum natura mortalium avida imperii, et præceps ad explendam animi +cupidinem: præterea opportunitas suæ liberorumque ætatis, quæ etiam mediocres +viros spe prædæ transversos agit. <hi rend='italic'>Sallust.</hi>—Trans.</note> +In order therefore to remove a competitor so dangerous +with regard to his children, he gave Jugurtha the +command of the forces which he sent to the assistance of the +Romans, who, at that time, were besieging Numantia, under +the conduct of Scipio. Knowing Jugurtha was actuated by +the most heroic bravery, he flattered himself, that he probably +would rush upon danger, and lose his life. However, he was +mistaken. This young prince joined to an undaunted courage, +the utmost presence of mind; and, a circumstance very rarely +found in persons of his age, he preserved a just medium +between a timorous foresight and an impetuous rashness.<note place='foot'>Ac sanè, +quod difficillimum imprimis est, et prælio strenuus erat, et bonus +consilio: quorum alterum ex providentiâ timorem, alterum ex audacià temeritatem +adferre plerumque solet.—Trans.</note> +In this campaign, he won the esteem and friendship of the +whole army. Scipio sent him back to his uncle with letters +of recommendation, and the most advantageous testimonials +<pb n='303'/><anchor id='Pg303'/> +of his conduct, after having given him very prudent advice +with regard to the course which he ought to pursue; for +knowing mankind so well, he, in all probability, had discovered +certain sparks of ambition in that prince, which he feared +would one day break out into a flame. +</p> + +<p> +Micipsa, pleased with the high character that was sent him +of his nephew, changed his behaviour towards him, and resolved, +if possible, to win his affection by kindness. Accordingly +he adopted him; and by his will, made him joint-heir +with his two sons. When he found his end approaching, he +sent for all three, and bid them draw near his bed, where, in +presence of the whole court he put Jugurtha in mind of all his +kindness to him; conjuring him, in the name of the gods, to +defend and protect, on all occasions, his children; who, being +before related to him by the ties of blood, were now become +his brethren, by his (Micipsa's) bounty. He told him,<note place='foot'>Non exercitus, +neque thesauri, præsidia regni sunt, verùm amici: Quos neque +armis cogere, neque auro parare queas; officio et fide pariuntur. Quis autem +amicior quàm frater fratri? aut quem alienum fidum invenies, si tuis hostis +fueris?—Trans.</note> that +neither arms nor treasure constitute the strength of a kingdom, +but friends, who are not won by arms nor gold, but by real +services and inviolable fidelity. Now where (says he) can we +find better friends than our brothers? And how can that +man, who becomes an enemy to his relations, repose any confidence +in, or depend on, strangers? He exhorted his sons +to pay the highest reverence to Jugurtha; and to dispute no +otherwise with him, than by their endeavour to equal, and, +if possible, to surpass his exalted merit. He concluded with +entreating them to observe for ever an inviolable attachment +towards the Romans; and to consider them as their benefactor, +their patron, and master. A few days after this, Micipsa +expired. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>A.M. 3887. A. Rom. 631.</note> +Jugurtha soon threw off the mask, and began by ridding +himself of Hiempsal, who had expressed himself to +him with great freedom, and therefore he caused +him to be murdered. This bloody action proved but +too evidently to Adherbal what he himself might naturally +fear.<note place='margin'>A.M. 3888. A. Rom. 632.</note> +Numidia is now divided, and sides severally +with the two brothers. Mighty armies are raised by +each party. Adherbal, after losing the greatest part +<pb n='304'/><anchor id='Pg304'/> +of his fortresses, is vanquished in battle, and forced to make +Rome his asylum. However, this gave Jugurtha no very +great uneasiness, as he knew that money was all-powerful in +that city. He therefore sent deputies thither, with orders for +them to bribe the chief senators. In the first audience to +which they were introduced, Adherbal represented the unhappy +condition to which he was reduced, the injustice and barbarity +of Jugurtha, the murder of his brother, the loss of almost all +his fortresses; but the circumstance on which he laid the +greatest stress was, the commands of his dying father, <hi rend='italic'>viz.</hi> to +put his whole confidence in the Romans; declaring, that the +friendship of this people would be a stronger support both to +himself and his kingdom, than all the troops and treasures in +the universe. His speech was of a great length, and extremely +pathetic. Jugurtha's deputies made only the following +answer: that Hiempsal had been killed by the Numidians, +because of his great cruelty; that Adherbal was the aggressor, +and yet, after having been vanquished, was come to make +complaints, because he had not committed all the excesses he +desired; that their sovereign entreated the senate to form a +judgment of his behaviour and conduct in Africa, from that he +had shown at Numantia; and to lay a greater stress on his +actions, than on the accusations of his enemies. But these +ambassadors had secretly employed an eloquence much more +prevalent than that of words, which had not proved ineffectual. +The whole assembly was for Jugurtha, a few senators excepted, +who were not so void of honour as to be corrupted by money. +The senate came to this resolution, that commissioners should +be sent from Rome, to divide the provinces equally upon the +spot between the two brothers. The reader will naturally +suppose, that Jugurtha was not sparing of his treasure on this +occasion; the division was made to his advantage; and yet a +specious appearance of equity was preserved. +</p> + +<p> +This first success of Jugurtha augmented his courage, and +increased his boldness. Accordingly, he attacked his brother +by open force; and whilst the latter loses his time in sending +deputations to the Romans, he storms several fortresses, carries +on his conquests; and, after defeating Adherbal, besieges him +in Cirtha, the capital of his kingdom. During this interval +<pb n='305'/><anchor id='Pg305'/> +ambassadors arrived from Rome, with orders, in the name of +the senate and people, to the two kings, to lay down their +arms, and cease all hostilities. Jugurtha, after protesting that +he would obey, with the most profound reverence and submission, +the commands of the Roman people, added, that he did +not believe it was their intention to hinder him from defending +his own life against the treacherous snares which his brother +had laid for it. He concluded with saying, that he would +send ambassadors forthwith to Rome, to inform the senate +of his conduct. By this vague answer he eluded their +orders, and would not even permit the deputies to wait upon +Adherbal. +</p> + +<p> +Though the latter was so closely blocked up in his capital, +he yet<note place='foot'>He chose two of the +nimblest of those who had followed him into Cirtha; and +these, induced by the great rewards he promised them, and pitying his unhappy +circumstances, undertook to pass through the enemy's camp, in the night, to the +neighbouring shore, and from thence to Rome. Ex iis qui unâ Cirtam profugerant, +duos maximè impigros delegit: eos, multa pollicendo, ac miserando casum suum, +confirmat, ubi per hostium munitiones noctu ad proximum mare, dein Romam +pergerent. Sallust.—Trans.</note> found means to send +to Rome, to implore the assistance +of the Romans against his brother, who had besieged him +five months, and intended to take away his life. Some senators +were of opinion, that war ought to be proclaimed immediately +against Jugurtha; but still his influence prevailed, and the +Romans only ordered an embassy to be sent, composed of +senators of the highest distinction, among whom was Æmilius +Scaurus, a factious man, who had a great ascendant over the +nobility, and concealed the blackest vices under the specious +appearance of virtue. Jugurtha was terrified at first; but he +again found an opportunity to elude their demands, and accordingly +sent them back without coming to any conclusion. Upon +this, Adherbal, who had lost all hopes, surrendered upon +condition of having his life spared; nevertheless, he was +immediately murdered with a great number of Numidians. +</p> + +<p> +But though the greatest part of the people at Rome were +struck with horror at this news, Jugurtha's money again +obtained him defenders in the senate. However, C. Memmius, +the tribune of the people, an active man, and one who hated +the nobility, prevailed with the people not to suffer so horrid +<pb n='306'/><anchor id='Pg306'/> +<note place='margin'>A.M. 3894. A. Rom. 683. Ant. J.C. 110.</note> +a crime to go unpunished; and, accordingly, war being proclaimed +against Jugurtha, Calpurnius Bestia, the consul, was +appointed to carry it on.<note place='foot'>Multæ bonæque artes +animi et corporis erant, quas omnes avaritia +præpediebat.—Trans.</note> He was endued with +excellent qualities, but they were all depraved and +rendered useless by his avarice. Scaurus set out +with him. They at first took several towns; but +Jugurtha's bribes checked the progress of these conquests; +and Scaurus<note place='foot'>Magnitudine pecuniæ à +bono honestoque in pravum abstractus est.—Trans.</note> +himself, who till now had expressed the strongest +animosity against this prince, could not resist so powerful an +attack. A treaty was therefore concluded; Jugurtha feigned +to submit to the Romans, and thirty elephants, some horses, +with a very inconsiderable sum of money, were delivered to +the quæstor. +</p> + +<p> +But now the indignation of the people in general at Rome +displayed itself in the strongest manner. Memmius the tribune +inflamed them by his speeches. He caused Cassius, who was +prætor, to be appointed to attend Jugurtha; and to engage +him to come to Rome, under the guarantee of the Romans, in +order that an inquiry might be made in his presence, who those +persons were that had taken bribes. Accordingly, Jugurtha +was forced to come to Rome. The sight of him raised the +anger of the people still higher; but a tribune having been +bribed, he prolonged the session, and at last dissolved it. A +Numidian prince, grandson of Masinissa, called Massiva, being +at that time in the city, was advised to solicit for Jugurtha's +kingdom; which coming to the ears of the latter, he caused +him to be assassinated in the midst of Rome. The murderer +was seized, and delivered up to the civil magistrate, and +Jugurtha was commanded to depart Italy. Upon leaving the +city, he cast back his eyes several times towards it, and said, +<q>Rome would sell itself could it meet with a purchaser; and +were one to be found, it were inevitably ruined.</q><note place='foot'>Postquam +Româ egressus est, fertur sæpe tacitus eò respiciens, postremò dixisse. +Urbem venalem et maturè perituram, si emptorem invenerit.—Trans.</note> +</p> + +<p> +And now the war broke out anew. At first the indolence, +or perhaps connivance, of Albinus the consul, made it go on +very slowly; but afterwards, when he returned to Rome to hold +<pb n='307'/><anchor id='Pg307'/> +the public assemblies,<note place='foot'>For electing +magistrates. Sal.—Trans.</note> the Roman army, by the unskilfulness +of his brother Aulus, having marched into a defile from whence +there was no getting out, surrendered ignominiously to the +enemy, who forced the Romans to submit to the ceremony of +passing under the yoke, and made them engage to leave +Numidia in ten days. +</p> + +<p> +The reader will naturally imagine in what light so shameful +a peace, concluded without the authority of the people, was +considered at Rome. They could not flatter themselves with +the hope of being successful in this war, till the conduct of it +was given to L. Metellus the consul.<note place='foot'>In Numidiam +proficiscitur, magmâ spe civium, cùm propter artes bonas, tum +maximè quòd adversùm divitias invictum animum gerebat.—Trans.</note> +To all the rest of the +virtues which constitute the great captain, he added a perfect +disregard of wealth; a quality most essentially requisite against +such an enemy as Jugurtha, who hitherto had always been +victorious, rather by money than his sword. But the African +monarch found Metellus as invincible in this, as in all other +respects. He therefore was forced to venture his life, and +exert his utmost bravery, through the defect of an expedient +which now began to fail him. Accordingly, he signalized +himself in a surprising manner; and showed in this campaign, +all that could be expected from the courage, abilities, and +attention of an illustrious general, to whom despair adds new +vigour, and suggests new lights: he was, however, unsuccessful, +because opposed by a consul, who did not suffer the most +inconsiderable error to escape him, nor ever let slip an opportunity +of taking advantage of the enemy. +</p> + +<p> +Jugurtha's greatest concern was, how to secure himself from +traitors. From the time he had been told that Bomilcar, in +whom he reposed the utmost confidence, had a design upon +his life, he enjoyed no peace. He did not believe himself safe +any where; but all things, by day as well as by night, the +citizen as well as the foreigner, were suspected by him; and +the blackest terrors sat for ever brooding over his mind. He +never got a wink of sleep, except by stealth; and often changed +his bed in a manner unbecoming his rank. Starting sometimes +<pb n='308'/><anchor id='Pg308'/> +from his slumbers, he would snatch his sword, and utter loud +cries; so strongly was he haunted by fear, which almost drove +him to frenzy. +</p> + +<p> +Marius was Metellus's lieutenant. His boundless ambition +induced him to endeavour to lessen his general's character +secretly in the minds of his soldiers; and becoming soon his +professed enemy and slanderer, he at last, by the most grovelling +and perfidious arts, prevailed so far as to supplant Metellus, +and get himself nominated in his room, to carry on the war +against Jugurtha.<note place='foot'>Quibus rebus supra +bonum atque honestum perculsus, neque lacrymas tenere, +neque moderari linguam: vir egregius in aliis artibus, nimis molliter +ægritudinem pati.—Trans.</note> With what strength of mind soever +Metellus might be endued on other occasions, he was totally +dejected by this unforeseen blow, which even forced tears from +his eyes, and compelled him to utter such expressions as were +altogether unworthy so great a man. There was something +very dark and vile in Marius's conduct, that displays ambition +in its native and genuine colours, and shows that it extinguishes, +in those who abandon themselves to it, all sense of honour and +integrity.<note place='margin'>A.M. 3898. A. Rom. 642.</note> +Metellus, having anxiously endeavoured to avoid a +man whose sight he could not bear, arrived in Rome, +and was received there with universal acclamations. +A triumph was decreed him, and the surname of +Numidicus conferred upon him. +</p> + +<p> +I thought it would be proper to reserve for the Roman +history, a particular account of the events that happened in +Africa, under Metellus and Marius, all which are very circumstantially +described by Sallust, in his admirable history of +Jugurtha. I therefore hasten to the conclusion of this war. +</p> + +<p> +Jugurtha being greatly distressed in his affairs, had recourse +to Bocchus king of Mauritania, whose daughter he had +married. This country extends from Numidia, as far as +beyond the shores of the Mediterranean opposite to Spain.<note place='foot'>Now +comprehending Fez, Morocco, &c.—Trans.</note> +The Roman name was scarce known in it, and the people were +absolutely unknown to the Romans. Jugurtha insinuated to +his father-in-law, that should he suffer Numidia to be conquered, +his kingdom would doubtless be involved in its ruin; +especially as the Romans, who were sworn enemies to monarchy, +<pb n='309'/><anchor id='Pg309'/> +seemed to have vowed the destruction of all the thrones +in the universe. He, therefore, prevailed with Bocchus to +enter into a league with him; and accordingly received, on different +occasions, very considerable succours from that king. +</p> + +<p> +This confederacy, which was cemented on either side by no +other tie than that of interest, had never been strong; and a +last defeat which Jugurtha met with, broke at once all the +bands of it. Bocchus now meditated the dark design of delivering +up his son-in-law to the Romans. For this purpose he +had desired Marius to send him a trusty person. Sylla, who +was an officer of uncommon merit, and served under him +as quæstor, was thought every way qualified for this negotiation. +He was not afraid to put himself into the hands of the +barbarian king; and accordingly set out for his court. Being +arrived, Bocchus, who, like the rest of his countrymen, did not +pride himself on sincerity, and was for ever projecting new +designs, debated within himself, whether it would not be his +interest to deliver up Sylla to Jugurtha. He was a long time +fluctuating in this uncertainty, and conflicting with a contrariety +of sentiments: and the sudden changes which displayed +themselves in his countenance, in his air, and in his whole +person, showed evidently how strongly his mind was affected. +At length, returning to his first design, he made his terms with +Sylla, and delivered up Jugurtha into his hands, who was sent +immediately to Marius. +</p> + +<p> +Sylla, says Plutarch,<note place='foot'>Plut. <hi rend='italic'>in vit. +Marii.</hi></note><note place='foot'>Οἶα νέος φιλότιμος, ἄρτι δόξης +γεγευμένος, οὐκ ἤνεγκε μετρίως τό εὐτύχημα. Plut. +<hi rend='italic'>Præcept. reip. gerend.</hi> p. 806.—Trans.</note> +acted, on this occasion, like a young +man fired with a strong thirst of glory, the sweets of which he +had just begun to taste. Instead of ascribing to the general +under whom he fought all the honour of this event, as his +duty required, and which ought to be an inviolable maxim, he +reserved the greatest part of it to himself, and had a ring made, +which he always wore, wherein he was represented receiving +Jugurtha from the hands of Bocchus; and this ring he used +ever after as his signet. But Marius was so highly exasperated +at this kind of insult, that he could never forgive him; and +this circumstance gave rise to the implacable hatred between +<pb n='310'/><anchor id='Pg4310'/> +these two Romans, which afterwards broke out with so much +fury, and cost the republic so much blood. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>A.M. 3901. A. Rom. 615. Ant. J.C. 103.</note> +Marius entered Rome in triumph,<note place='foot'>Plut. <hi rend='italic'>in +vit. Marii.</hi></note> exhibiting such a spectacle +to the Romans, as they could scarce believe +they saw, when it passed before their eyes; I mean, +Jugurtha in chains; that so formidable an enemy, +during whose life they had not dared to flatter themselves +with the hopes of being able to put an end to this war; +so well was his courage sustained by stratagem and artifice, and +his genius so fruitful in finding new expedients, even when his +affairs were most desperate. We are told, that Jugurtha ran +distracted, as he was walking in the triumph; that after the +ceremony was ended, he was thrown into prison; and that the +lictors were so eager to seize his robe, that they rent it in +several pieces, and tore away the tips of his ears, to get the +rich jewels with which they were adorned. In this condition +he was cast, quite naked, and in the utmost terrors, into a deep +dungeon, where he spent six days in struggling with hunger +and the fear of death, retaining a strong desire of life to his +last gasp; an end, continues Plutarch, worthy of his wicked +deeds, Jugurtha having been always of opinion, that the greatest +crimes might be committed to satiate his ambition; ingratitude, +perfidy, black treachery, and inhuman barbarity. +</p> + +<p> +Juba, king of Mauritania, reflected so much honour on +polite literature and the sciences, that I could not, without +impropriety, omit him in the history of the family of Masinissa, +to whom his father, who also was named Juba, was great grandson, +and grandson of Gulussa. The elder Juba signalized +himself in the war between Cæsar and Pompey, by his inviolable +attachment to the party of the latter.<note place='margin'>A.M. 3959. A. Rom. 703.</note> +He slew himself after the battle of Thapsus, in which +his forces and those of Scipio were entirely defeated. +Juba, his son, then a child, was delivered up to the conqueror, +and was one of the most conspicuous ornaments of his +triumph. It appears from history, that a noble education was +bestowed upon Juba in Rome, where he imbibed such a variety +of knowledge, as afterwards equalled him to the most learned +<pb n='311'/><anchor id='Pg311'/> +among<note place='margin'>A.M. 3974. A. Rom. 719. Ant. J.C. 30.</note> +the Grecians. He did not leave that city till he went +to take possession of his father's dominions. Augustus +restored them to him, when, by the death of Mark +Antony, the provinces of the empire were absolutely +at his disposal. Juba, by the lenity of his government, +gained the hearts of all his subjects; who, out of a +grateful sense of the felicity they had enjoyed during his reign, +ranked him in the number of their gods. Pausanias speaks of +a statue which the Athenians erected in his honour. It was, +indeed just, that a city, which had been consecrated in all ages +to the Muses, should give public testimonies of its esteem for +a king who made so bright a figure among the learned. +Suidas ascribes<note place='foot'>In voce Ἰόβας.—Trans.</note> +several works to this prince, of which only +the fragments are now extant. He had written the history of +Arabia; the antiquities of Assyria, and those of the Romans; +the history of theatres, of painting and painters; of the nature +and properties of different animals, of grammar, and similar +subjects; a catalogue of all which is given in Abbé Sevin's +short dissertation on the life and works of the younger Juba,<note place='foot'>Vol. +IV of the <hi rend='italic'>Memoirs of the Academy of Belles +Lettres</hi>, p. 457.—Trans.</note> +whence I have extracted these few particulars. +</p> + +</div> + +</div> + +</div> + +<pb n='312'/><anchor id='Pg312'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Book the Third. The History of the Assyrians.</head> + +<div> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Chapter I. The First Empire of the Assyrians.</head> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Sect. I. Duration of that Empire.</hi>—The +Assyrian empire was undoubtedly one of the most +powerful in the world. With respect to its duration, two +opinions have chiefly prevailed. Some authors, as Ctesias, +whose opinion is followed by Justin, give it a duration of +thirteen hundred years: others reduce it to five hundred and +twenty, of which number is Herodotus. The diminution, or +probably the interruption of power, which happened in this +vast empire, might possibly give occasion to this difference of +opinions, and may perhaps serve in some measure to reconcile +them. +</p> + +<p> +The history of those early times is so obscure, the monuments +which convey it down to us so contrary to each other, +and the systems of the moderns<note place='foot'>They that +are curious to make deeper researches into this matter, may read the +dissertations of Abbé Banier and M. Freret upon the Assyrian empire, in the +<hi rend='italic'>Memoirs of the Academy of Belles Lettres</hi>; for +the first, see tome 3, and for the other, tome 5; as also what Father +Tournemine has written upon this subject in his edition of +Menochius.—Trans.</note> upon that matter so different, +<pb n='313'/><anchor id='Pg313'/> +that it is difficult to lay down any opinion about it, as certain +and incontestable. But where certainty is not to be had, I +suppose a reasonable person will be satisfied with probability; +and, in my opinion, a man can hardly be deceived, if he makes +the Assyrian empire equal in antiquity with the city of Babylon, +its capital. Now we learn from the holy Scripture, that this +was built by Nimrod, who certainly was a great conqueror, and +in all probability the first and most ancient of all those who +have ever aspired after that denomination. +</p> + +<p> +The Babylonians, as Callisthenes, a philosopher in +Alexander's retinue, wrote to Aristotle,<note place='foot'>Porphyr. +apud Simplic. in l. ii. <hi rend='italic'>de cœlo</hi>.</note> reckoned themselves +to be at least of 1903 years' standing, when that prince entered +triumphant into Babylon; which makes their origin reach back +to the year of the world 1771, that is to say, 115 years after +the deluge. This computation comes within a few years of +the time in which we suppose Nimrod to have founded that +city. Indeed, this testimony of Callisthenes, as it does not +agree with any other accounts of that empire, is not esteemed +authentic by the learned; but the conformity we find between +it and the holy Scriptures should make us regard it. +</p> + +<p> +Upon these grounds, I think we may allow Nimrod to have +been the founder of the first Assyrian empire, which subsisted +with more or less extent and glory upwards of 1450 years,<note place='foot'>Here +I depart from the opinion of Archbishop Usher, my ordinary guide, with +respect to the duration of the Assyrian empire, which he supposes, with Herodotus, +to have lasted but 520 years; but the time when Nimrod lived and Sardanapalus +died I take from him.—Trans.</note> +from the time of Nimrod to that of Sardanapalus, the last +king, that is to say, from the year of the world 1800 to the +year 3257. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Nimrod. A.M. 1800. Ant. J.C. 2204.</note> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Nimrod</hi>. He is the same with Belus,<note place='foot'>Belus +or Baal signifies Lord.—Trans.</note> who +was afterwards worshipped as a god under that +appellation. +</p> + +<p> +He was the son of Chus, grandson of Ham, and great grandson +of Noah. He was, says the Scripture, <q>a mighty hunter +before the Lord.</q><note place='foot'>Gen. x. 9.</note> +In applying himself to this laborious and +dangerous exercise, he had two things in view; the first was, +to gain the people's affection by delivering them from the fury +<pb n='314'/><anchor id='Pg314'/> +and dread of wild beasts; the next was, to train up numbers of +young people by this exercise of hunting to endure labour and +hardship, to form them to the use of arms, to inure them to a +kind of discipline and obedience, that at a proper time, after +they had been accustomed to his orders and seasoned in arms, +he might make use of them for other purposes more serious +than hunting. +</p> + +<p> +In ancient history we find some footsteps remaining of this +artifice of Nimrod, whom the writers have confounded with +Ninus, his son: for Diodorus has these words:<note place='foot'>Lib. +ii. p. 90.</note> <q>Ninus, the +most ancient of the Assyrian kings mentioned in history, performed +great actions. Being naturally of a warlike disposition, +and ambitious of the glory that results from valour, he armed +a considerable number of young men, that were brave and +vigorous like himself; trained them up a long time in laborious +exercises and hardships, and by that means accustomed +them to bear the fatigues of war patiently, and to face dangers +with courage and intrepidity.</q> +</p> + +<p> +What the same author adds,<note place='foot'>Ibid.</note> that Ninus entered into an +alliance with the king of the Arabs, and joined forces with +him, is a piece of ancient tradition, which informs us, that the +sons of Chus, and by consequence, the brothers of Nimrod, all +settled themselves in Arabia, along the Persian gulf, from +Havilah to the Ocean; and lived near enough to their brother +to lend him succours, or to receive them from him. And what +the same historian further says of Ninus, that he was the first +king of the Assyrians, agrees exactly with what the Scripture +says of Nimrod, <q>that he began to be mighty upon the earth;</q> +that is, he procured himself settlements, built cities, subdued +his neighbours, united different people under one and the same +authority, by the band of the same polity and the same laws, +and formed them into one state; which, for those early times, +was of a considerable extent, though bounded by the rivers +Euphrates and Tigris; and which, in succeeding ages, made +new acquisitions by degrees, and at length extended its conquests +very far. +</p> + +<p> +<q>The capital city of his kingdom,</q> says the Scripture,<note place='foot'>Gen. +x. 10.</note> <q>was Babylon.</q> Most of the profane historians ascribe the +<pb n='315'/><anchor id='Pg315'/> +founding of Babylon to Semiramis,<note place='foot'>Semiramis eam +condiderat, vel, ut plerique tradidere, Belus, enjus regia ostenditar. +Q. Curt. l. v. c. 1.—Trans.</note> others to Belus. It is +evident, that both the one and the other are mistaken, if they +speak of the first founder of that city; for it owes its beginning +neither to Semiramis nor to Nimrod, but to the foolish +vanity of those persons mentioned in Scripture,<note place='foot'>Gen. +xi. 4.</note> who desired +to build a tower and a city, that should render their memory +immortal. +</p> + +<p> +Josephus relates,<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Hist. +Jud.</hi> l. i. c. 4.</note> upon the testimony of a Sibyl, (who must +have been very ancient, and whose fictions cannot be imputed +to the indiscreet zeal of any Christians,) that the gods threw +down the tower by an impetuous wind, or a violent hurricane. +Had this been the case, Nimrod's temerity must have been still +greater, to rebuild a city and a tower which God himself had +overthrown with such marks of his displeasure. But the Scripture +says no such thing; and it is very probable, the building +remained in the condition it was, when God put an end to the +work by the confusion of languages; and that the tower consecrated +to Belus, which is described by Herodotus,<note place='foot'>Lib. +i. c. 181.</note> was this very tower, which the sons of men pretended to raise to the +clouds. +</p> + +<p> +It is further probable, that this ridiculous design having been +defeated by such an astonishing prodigy, as none could be the +author of but God himself, every body abandoned the place, +which had given Him offence; and that Nimrod was the first +who encompassed it afterwards with walls, settled therein his +friends and confederates, and subdued those that lived round +about it, beginning his empire in that place, but not confining +it to so narrow a compass: <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Fuit principium regni ejus +Babylon</foreign>. The other cities, which the Scripture speaks of in the +same place, were in the land of Shinar, which was certainly the +province of which Babylon became the metropolis. +</p> + +<p> +From this country he went into that which has the name of +Assyria, and there built Nineveh: <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>De terrâ illâ +egressus est Assur, et ædificavit Nineven</foreign>.<note place='foot'>Gen. x. +11.</note> This is the sense in which many +learned men understand the word Assur, looking upon it as +the name of a province, and not of the first man who possessed +<pb n='316'/><anchor id='Pg316'/> +it, as if it were, <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>egressus +est in Assur, in Assyriam</foreign>. And this +seems to be the most natural construction, for many reasons +not necessary to be recited in this place. The country of +Assyria is described, in one of the prophets,<note place='foot'>Mic. +v. 6.</note> by the particular character of being the land of Nimrod: +<foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Et pascent terram +Assur in gladio, et terram, Nimrod in lanceis ejus; et liberabit +ab Assur, cùm venerit in terram nostram</foreign>. It derived its +name from Assur the son of Shem, who, without doubt, had +settled himself and family there, and was probably driven out, +or brought under subjection, by the usurper Nimrod. +</p> + +<p> +This conqueror having possessed himself of the provinces of +Assur,<note place='foot'>Gen. x. 11, 12.</note> did +not ravage them like a tyrant, but filled them with +cities, and made himself as much beloved by his new subjects +as he was by his old ones; so that the historians,<note place='foot'>Diod. +l. ii. p. 90.</note> who have +not examined into the bottom of this affair, have thought that +he made use of the Assyrians to conquer the Babylonians. +Among other cities, he built one more large and magnificent +than the rest, which he called Nineveh, from the name of his +son Ninus, in order to immortalize his memory. The son, in +his turn, out of veneration for his father, was willing that they +who had served him as their king should adore him as their +god, and induce other nations to render him the same worship. +For it appears evident, that Nimrod is the famous Belus of the +Babylonians, the first king whom the people deified for his +great actions, and who showed others the way to that sort of +immortality which human acquirements are supposed capable +of bestowing. +</p> + +<p> +I intend to speak of the mighty strength and greatness of +the cities of Babylon and Nineveh, under the kings to whom +their building is ascribed by profane authors, because the Scripture +says little or nothing on that subject. This silence of +Scripture, so little satisfactory to our curiosity, may become +an instructive lesson to our piety. The holy penman has +placed Nimrod and Abraham, as it were, in one view before us; +and seems to have put them so near together on purpose, that +we should see an example in the former of what is admired +and coveted by men, and in the latter of what is acceptable and +<pb n='317'/><anchor id='Pg317'/> +well-pleasing to God. These two persons,<note place='foot'>Fecerunt +civitates duas amores duo: terrenam scilicet amor sui usque ad contemptum +Dei; cœlestem verò amor Dei usque ad contemptum sui. S. Aug. <hi rend='italic'>de Civ. +Dei</hi>, l. xiv. c. 28.—Trans.</note> so unlike one +another, are the first two and chief citizens of two different +cities, built on different motives, and with different principles; +the one, self-love, and a desire of temporal advantages, carried +even to the contemning of the Deity; the other, the love of +God, even to the contemning of one's self. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Ninus.</note> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Ninus</hi>. +I have already observed, that most of the profane +authors look upon him as the first founder of the Assyrian +empire, and for that reason ascribe to him a great +part of his father Nimrod's or Belus's actions. +</p> + +<p> +Having a design to enlarge his conquests, the first thing he +did was to prepare troops and officers capable of promoting his +designs.<note place='foot'>Diod. l. ii. p. 90-95.</note> +And having received powerful succours from the +Arabians his neighbours, he took the field, and in the space of +seventeen years conquered a vast extent of country, from +Egypt as far as India and Bactriana, which he did not then +venture to attack. +</p> + +<p> +At his return, before he entered upon any new conquests, +he conceived the design of immortalizing his name by the +building of a city answerable to the greatness of his power; he +called it Nineveh, and built it on the eastern banks of the +Tigris.<note place='foot'>Diodorus says it was on the bank +of the Euphrates, and speaks of it as if it was +so, in many places; but he is mistaken.—Trans.</note> +Possibly he did no more than finish the work his +father had begun. His design, says Diodorus, was to make +Nineveh the largest and noblest city in the world, and to put it +out of the power of those that came after him ever to build or +hope to build such another. Nor was he deceived in his view; +for never did any city come up to the greatness and magnificence +of this: it was one hundred and fifty stadia (or eighteen +miles three quarters) in length, and ninety stadia (or eleven +miles and one quarter) in breadth; and consequently was an +oblong square. Its circumference was four hundred and +eighty stadia, or sixty miles. For this reason we find it said +in the prophet Jonah, <q>That Nineveh was an exceeding great +city, of three days' journey;</q><note place='foot'>Jon. iii. +3.</note> which is to be understood of the +<pb n='318'/><anchor id='Pg318'/> +whole circuit, or compass of the city.<note place='foot'>It is +hard to believe that Diodorus does not speak of the extent of Nineveh with +some exaggeration; therefore some learned men have reduced the stadium to little +more than one half, and reckon fifteen of them to the Roman mile instead of eight, +the usual computation.—Trans.</note> The walls of it were a +hundred feet high, and of so considerable a thickness, that +three chariots might go abreast upon them with ease. They +were fortified, and adorned with fifteen hundred towers two +hundred feet high. +</p> + +<p> +After he had finished this prodigious work, he resumed his +expedition against the Bactrians. His army, according to the +relation of Ctesias, consisted of seventeen hundred thousand foot, +two hundred thousand horse, and about sixteen thousand chariots +armed with scythes. Diodorus adds, that this ought not to +appear incredible, since, not to mention the innumerable armies +of Darius and Xerxes, the city of Syracuse alone, in the time of +Dionysius the Tyrant, furnished one hundred and twenty thousand +foot and twelve thousand horse, besides four hundred +vessels well equipped and provided. And a little before Hannibal's +time, Italy, including the citizens and allies, was able to send +into the field near a million of men. Ninus made himself master +of a great number of cities, and at last laid siege to Bactria, +the capital of the country. Here he would probably have seen +all his attempts miscarry, had it not been for the diligence and +assistance of Semiramis, wife to one of his chief officers, a +woman of an uncommon courage, and peculiarly exempt from +the weakness of her sex. She was born at Ascalon, a city of +Syria. I think it needless to recite the account Diodorus gives +of her birth, and of the miraculous manner of her being nursed +and brought up by pigeons, since that historian himself looks +upon it only as a fabulous story. It was Semiramis that +directed Ninus how to attack the citadel, and by her means he +took it, and thus became master of the city, in which he found +an immense treasure. The husband of Semiramis having +killed himself, to prevent the effects of the king's threats and +indignation, who had conceived a violent passion for his wife, +Ninus married her. +</p> + +<p> +After his return to Nineveh, he had a son by her, whom he +called Ninyas. Not long after this he died, and left the queen +the government of the kingdom. She, in honour of his +<pb n='319'/><anchor id='Pg319'/> +memory, erected a magnificent monument, which remained a +long time after the ruin of Nineveh. +</p> + +<p> +I find no appearance of truth in what some authors relate +concerning the manner of Semiramis's coming to the throne.<note place='foot'>Plut. +<hi rend='italic'>in Mor.</hi> p. 753.</note> +According to them, having secured the chief men of the state, +and attached them to her interest by her benefactions and promises, +she solicited the king with great importunity to put the +sovereign power into her hands for the space of five days. He +yielded to her entreaties, and all the provinces of the empire +were commanded to obey Semiramis. These orders were +executed but too exactly for the unfortunate Ninus, who was +put to death, either immediately or after some years' imprisonment. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Semiramis.</note> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Semiramis</hi>. +This princess applied all her thoughts to immortalize +her name, and to cover the meanness of her +extraction by the greatness of her enterprises.<note place='foot'>Diod. +l. ii. p. 95.</note> She +proposed to herself to surpass all her predecessors in magnificence, +and to that end she undertook the building of the mighty +Babylon,<note place='foot'>We are not to wonder, if we find +the founding of a city ascribed to different persons. It is common, +even among the profane writers, to say, Such a prince +built such a city, whether he was the person that first founded it, +or that only embellished or enlarged it.—Trans.</note> +in which work she employed two millions of men, +which were collected out of all the provinces of her vast empire. +Some of her successors endeavoured to adorn that city with new +works and embellishments. I shall here speak of them all +together, in order to give the reader a more clear and distinct +idea of that stupendous city. +</p> + +<p> +The principal works which rendered Babylon so famous, are +the walls of the city; the quays and the bridge; the lake, +banks, and canals, made for the draining of the river; the +palaces, hanging gardens, and the temple of Belus; works of +such a surprising magnificence, as is scarce to be comprehended. +Dr. Prideaux having treated this subject with great +extent and learning, I have only to copy, or rather abridge +him. +</p> + +<p> +I. <hi rend='italic'>The Walls.</hi>—Babylon stood on a large plain, in a very +fat and rich soil.<note place='foot'>Herod. l. i. c. 178, 180. Diod. +l. ii. p. 95, 96. Q. Curt. l. v. c. 1.</note> The Avails were every way prodigious. They +<pb n='320'/><anchor id='Pg320'/> +were in thickness eighty-seven feet, in height three hundred +and fifty, and in compass four hundred and eighty furlongs, +which make sixty of our miles. These walls were drawn round +the city in the form of an exact square, each side of which was +one hundred and twenty furlongs,<note place='foot'>I relate things +as I find them in the ancient authors, which Dean Prideaux has +also done; but I cannot help believing that great abatements are to be made in what +they say as to the immense extent of Babylon and Nineveh.—Trans.</note> +or fifteen miles, in length, +and all built of large bricks cemented together with bitumen, a +glutinous slime arising out of the earth in that country, which +binds much stronger and firmer than mortar, and soon grows +much harder than the bricks or stones themselves which it +cements together. +</p> + +<p> +These walls were surrounded on the outside with a vast ditch, +full of water, and lined with bricks on both sides. The earth +that was dug out of it made the bricks wherewith the walls +were built; and therefore, from the vast height and breadth of +the walls may be inferred the greatness of the ditch. +</p> + +<p> +In every side of this great square were twenty-five gates, +that is, a hundred in all, which were all made of solid brass; +and hence it is, that when God promises to Cyrus the conquest +of Babylon, he tells him,<note place='foot'>Isa. xlv. +2.</note> that he would break in pieces before +him the gates of brass. Between every two of these gates were +three towers, and four more at the four corners of this great +square, and three between each of these corners and the next +gate on either side; every one of these towers was ten feet +higher than the walls. But this is to be understood only of +those parts of the wall where there was need of towers. +</p> + +<p> +From the twenty-five gates in each side of this great square +went twenty-five streets, in straight lines to the gates, which +were directly over-against them, in the opposite side; so that +the whole number of the streets was fifty, each fifteen miles +long, whereof twenty-five went one way, and twenty-five the +other, directly crossing each other at right angles. And besides +these, there were also four half streets, which had houses only +on one side, and the wall on the other; these went round the +four sides of the city next the walls, and were each of them +two hundred feet broad; the rest were about a hundred and +fifty. By these streets thus crossing each other, the whole +<pb n='321'/><anchor id='Pg321'/> +city was cut out into six hundred and seventy-six squares, each +of which was four furlongs and a half on every side, that is, +two miles and a quarter in circumference. Round these +squares, on every side towards the street, stood the houses +(which were not contiguous, but had void spaces between +them,) all built three or four stories high, and beautified with +all manner of ornaments towards the streets.<note place='foot'>Quint. +Curt. l. v. c. 1.</note> The space +within in the middle of each square, was likewise all void +ground, employed for yards, gardens, and other such uses; so +that Babylon was greater in appearance than reality, near one +half of the city being taken up in gardens and other cultivated +lands, as we are told by Q. Curtius. +</p> + +<p> +II. <hi rend='italic'>The Quays and Bridge.</hi>—A branch of the river +Euphrates ran quite cross the city, from the north to the south +side;<note place='foot'>Herod. l. i. c. 180 and 186. +Diod. l. ii. p. 96.</note> on each side of the river was a quay, and a high wall +built of brick and bitumen, of the same thickness as the walls +that went round the city. In these walls, over-against every +street that led to the river, were gates of brass, and from them +descents by steps to the river, for the conveniency of the +inhabitants, who used to pass over from one side to the other +in boats, having no other way of crossing the river before the +building of the bridge. The brazen gates were always open in +the daytime, and shut in the night. +</p> + +<p> +The bridge was not inferior to any of the other buildings, +either in beauty or magnificence; it was a furlong in length,<note place='foot'>Diodorus +says, this bridge was five furlongs in length, which can hardly be true, +since the Euphrates was but one furlong broad. Strab. l. xvi. p 738.—Trans.</note> +and thirty feet in breadth, built with wonderful art, to supply +the defect of a foundation in the bottom of the river, which was +all sandy. The arches were made of huge stones, fastened +together with chains of iron and melted lead. Before they +began to build the bridge, they turned the course of the river, +and laid its channel dry, having another view in so doing, +besides that of laying the foundations more commodiously, as +I shall explain hereafter. And as every thing was prepared +beforehand, both the bridge and the quays, which I have already +described, were built in that interval. +</p> + +<p> +III. <hi rend='italic'>The Lake, Ditches, and Canals, made for the draining +<pb n='322'/><anchor id='Pg322'/> +of the River.</hi>—These works, objects of admiration for the +skilful in all ages, were still more useful than magnificent.<note place='foot'>Strab. +l. xvi. p. 740. Plin. l. v. c. 26.</note> +In the beginning of the summer, on the sun's melting the +snow on the mountains of Armenia, there arises a vast increase +of waters, which, running into the Euphrates in the months of +June, July, and August, makes it overflow its banks, and +occasion such another inundation as the Nile does in Egypt. +To prevent the damage which both the city and country +received from these inundations, at a very considerable distance +above the town two artificial canals were cut, which turned the +course of these waters into the Tigris, before they reached +Babylon.<note place='foot'>Abyd. ap Eus. <hi rend='italic'>Prœp. +Evang.</hi> l. ix.</note> And to secure the country yet more from the +danger of inundations, and to keep the river within its channel, +they raised prodigious banks on both sides the river, built with +brick cemented with bitumen, which began at the head of the +artificial canals, and extended below the city.<note place='foot'>Abyd. +ib. Herod. l. i. c. 185.</note> +</p> + +<p> +To facilitate the making of these works, it was necessary to +turn the course of the river, for which purpose, to the west of +Babylon, was dug a prodigious artificial lake, forty miles +square,<note place='foot'>The author follows Herodotus, +who makes it four hundred and twenty furlongs, or fifty-two miles +square; but I choose to follow Dean Prideaux, who prefers the account +of Megasthenes.—Trans.</note> one hundred and sixty in +compass, and thirty-five feet +deep, according to Herodotus, and seventy-five, according to +Megasthenes. Into this lake was the whole river turned, by +an artificial canal cut from the west side of it, till the whole +work was finished, when it was made to flow in its former +channel. But that the Euphrates, in the time of its increase, +might not overflow the city, through the gates on its sides, this +lake, with the canal from the river, was still preserved. The +water received into the lake at the time of these overflowings +was kept there all the year, as in a common reservoir, for the +benefit of the country, to be let out by sluices, at convenient +times for the watering of the lands below it. The lake, therefore, +was equally useful in defending the country from inundations, +and making it fertile. I relate the wonders of Babylon +as they are delivered down to us by the ancients; but there +<pb n='323'/><anchor id='Pg323'/> +are some of them which are scarce to be comprehended or +believed, of which number is the vast extent of the lake which +I have just described. +</p> + +<p> +Berosus, Megasthenes, and Abydenus, quoted by Josephus +and Eusebius, make Nebuchadnezzar the author of most of +these works; but Herodotus ascribes the bridge, the two quays +of the river, and the lake, to Nitocris, the daughter-in-law of +that monarch. Perhaps Nitocris might finish what her father +left imperfect at his death, on which account that historian +might give her the honour of the whole undertaking. +</p> + +<p> +IV. <hi rend='italic'>The Palaces, and Hanging Gardens.<note place='foot'>Diod. +l. ii. p. 96, 97.</note></hi>—At the two ends +of the bridge were two palaces, which had a communication +with each other by a vault, built under the channel of the river, +at the time of its being dry. The old palace, which stood on +the east side of the river, was thirty furlongs (or three miles +and three quarters) in compass; near which stood the temple +of Belus, of which we shall soon speak. The new palace, +which stood on the west side of the river, opposite to the other, +was sixty furlongs (or seven miles and a half) in compass. It +was surrounded with three walls, one within another, with +considerable spaces between them. These walls, as also those +of the other palace, were embellished with an infinite variety +of sculptures, representing all kinds of animals, to the life. +Amongst the rest was a curious hunting-piece, in which Semiramis +on horseback was throwing her javelin at a leopard, and +her husband Ninus piercing a lion. +</p> + +<p> +In this last palace, were the hanging gardens, so celebrated +among the Greeks.<note place='foot'>Ibid. p. 98, 99. Strab. +l. xvi. p. 738. Quint. Curt. l. v. c. 1.</note> They contained a square of four hundred +feet on every side, and were carried up in the manner of several +large terraces, one above another, till the height equalled that +of the walls of the city. The ascent was from terrace to +terrace, by stairs ten feet wide. The whole pile was sustained +by vast arches, raised upon other arches, one above another, +and strengthened by a wall, surrounding it on every side, of +twenty-two feet in thickness. On the top of the arches were +first laid large flat stones, sixteen feet long, and four broad; +over these was a layer of reeds, mixed with a great quantity of +<pb n='324'/><anchor id='Pg324'/> +bitumen, upon which were two rows of bricks, closely cemented +together with plaster. The whole was covered with thick +sheets of lead, upon which lay the mould of the garden. And +all this floorage was contrived to keep the moisture of the +mould from running away through the arches. The earth laid +hereon was so deep, that the greatest trees might take root in +it; and with such the terraces were covered, as well as with +all other plants and flowers, that were proper to adorn a +pleasure-garden. In the upper terrace there was an engine, +or kind of pump, by which water was drawn up out of the +river, and from thence the whole garden was watered. In the +spaces between the several arches, upon which this whole +structure rested, were large and magnificent apartments, that +were very light, and had the advantage of a beautiful prospect. +</p> + +<p> +Amytis, the wife of Nebuchadnezzar, having been bred in +Media, (for she was the daughter of Astyages, the king of that +country,) had been much delighted with the mountains and +woody parts of that country.<note place='foot'>Beros. ap. +Jos. <hi rend='italic'>cont. App.</hi> l. i. c. 6.</note> And as she desired to have +something like it in Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar, to gratify her, +caused this prodigious edifice to be erected: Diodoras gives +much the same account of the matter, but without naming +the persons. +</p> + +<p> +V. <hi rend='italic'>The Temple of Belus.<note place='foot'>Herod. +l. i. c. 181. Diod. l. ii. p. 98. Strab. l. xvi. p. 738.</note></hi>—Another +of the great works at Babylon was the temple of Belus, which stood, as I have +mentioned already, near the old palace. It was most remarkable +for a prodigious tower, that stood in the middle of it. At +the foundation, according to Herodotus, it was a square of a +furlong on each side, that is, half a mile in the whole compass, +and (according to Strabo) it was also a furlong in height. It +consisted of eight towers, built one above the other, decreasing +regularly to the top, for which reason Strabo calls the whole a +pyramid. It is not only asserted, but proved, that this tower +much exceeded the greatest of the pyramids of Egypt in height. +Therefore we have good reason to believe, as Bochart +asserts,<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Phal</hi> part. 1 l. i. c. 9.</note> +that this is the very same tower which was built there at the +confusion of languages; and the rather, because it is attested +<pb n='325'/><anchor id='Pg325'/> +by several profane authors, that this tower was all built of +bricks and bitumen, as the Scriptures tell us the tower of +Babel was. The ascent to the top was by stairs on the outside +round it; that is, perhaps, there was an easy sloping ascent in +the side of the outer wall, which, turning by very slow degrees +in a spiral line eight times round the tower from the bottom to +the top, had the same appearance as if there had been eight +towers placed upon one another. In these different stories +were many large rooms, with arched roofs supported by pillars. +Over the whole, on the top of the tower, was an observatory, +by the benefit of which the Babylonians became more expert +in astronomy than all other nations, and made, in a short +time, the great progress in it ascribed to them in history. +</p> + +<p> +But the chief use to which this tower was designed, was the +worship of the god Belus or Baal, as also that of several other +deities; for which reason there was a multitude of chapels in +different parts of the tower. The riches of this temple in +statues, tables, censers, cups, and other sacred vessels, all of +massy gold, were immense. Among other images, there was +one forty feet high, which weighed a thousand Babylonish +talents. The Babylonish talent, according to Pollux in his +<hi rend='italic'>Onomasticon</hi>, contained seven thousand Attic drachmas, and +consequently was a sixth part more than the Attic talent, +which contains but six thousand drachmas. +</p> + +<p> +According to the calculation which Diodorus makes of the +riches contained in this temple, the sum total amounts to six +thousand three hundred Babylonish talents of gold. +</p> + +<p> +The sixth part of six thousand three hundred is one thousand +and fifty; consequently six thousand three hundred Babylonish +talents of gold are equivalent to seven thousand three hundred +and fifty Attic talents of gold. +</p> + +<p> +Now seven thousand three hundred and fifty Attic talents of +silver are worth upwards of two millions and one hundred +thousand pounds sterling. The proportion between gold and +silver among the ancients we reckon as ten to one; therefore +seven thousand three hundred and fifty Attic talents of gold +amount to above one and twenty millions sterling. +</p> + +<p> +This temple stood till the time of Xerxes;<note place='foot'>Herod. +l. i. c. 183. Strab. l. xvi. p. 738. Arrian, l. vii. p. 480.</note> but he, on his +<pb n='326'/><anchor id='Pg326'/> +return from his Grecian expedition, demolished it entirely, after +having first plundered it of all its immense riches. Alexander, +on his return to Babylon from his Indian expedition, purposed +to have rebuilt it; and in order thereto, set ten thousand men +to work, to rid the place of its rubbish; but, after they had +laboured herein two months, Alexander died, and that put an +end to the undertaking. +</p> + +<p> +Such were the chief works which rendered Babylon so +famous; the greater part of them are ascribed by profane +authors to Semiramis, to whose history it is now time to return. +</p> + +<p> +When she had finished all these great undertakings, she +thought fit to make a progress through the several parts of her +empire;<note place='foot'>Diod. l. ii. p. 100-108.</note> +and, wherever she came, left monuments of her magnificence +by many noble structures which she erected, either +for the conveniency or ornament of her cities; she was particularly +careful to have water brought by aqueducts to such +places as wanted it, and to make the highways easy, by cutting +through mountains, and filling up valleys. In the time of +Diodorus, there were still monuments to be seen in many +places, with her name inscribed upon them. +</p> + +<p> +The authority this queen had over her people seems very +extraordinary, since we find her presence alone capable of +appeasing a sedition.<note place='foot'>Val. Max. l. ix. c. +3.</note> One day, as she was dressing herself, +word was brought her of a tumult in the city. Whereupon +she went out immediately, with her head half dressed, and did +not return till the disturbance was entirely appeased. A statue +was erected in remembrance of this action, representing her in +that very attitude and undress, which had not hindered her +from flying to her duty. +</p> + +<p> +Not satisfied with the vast extent of dominions left her by +her husband, she enlarged them by the conquest of a great +part of Æthiopia. Whilst she was in that country, she had +the curiosity to visit the temple of Jupiter Ammon, to inquire +of the oracle how long she had to live. According to Diodorus, +the answer she received was, that she should not die till her +son Ninyas conspired against her, and that after her death one +part of Asia would pay her divine honours. +</p> + +<p> +Her greatest and last expedition was against India; on this +<pb n='327'/><anchor id='Pg327'/> +occasion she raised an innumerable army out of all the provinces +of her empire, and appointed Bactra for the rendezvous. +As the strength of the Indians consisted chiefly in their great +number of elephants, she caused a multitude of camels to be +accoutred in the form of elephants, in hopes of deceiving the +enemy. It is said that Perseus long after used the same stratagem +against the Romans; but neither of them succeeded in +this artifice. The Indian king having notice of her approach, +sent ambassadors to ask her who she was, and with what right, +having never received any injury from him, she came out of +wantonness to attack his dominions; adding, that her boldness +should soon meet with the punishment it deserved. Tell your +master (replied the queen) that in a little time I myself will +let him know who I am. She advanced immediately towards +the river<note place='foot'>Indus.—Trans.</note> +from which the country takes its name; and having +prepared a sufficient number of boats, she attempted to pass it +with her army. Their passage was a long time disputed, but +after a bloody battle she put her enemies to flight. Above a +thousand of their boats were sunk, and above a hundred thousand +of their men taken prisoners. Encouraged by this success, +she advanced directly into the country, leaving sixty thousand +men behind to guard the bridge of boats, which she had built +over the river. This was just what the king desired, who fled +on purpose to bring her to an engagement in the heart of his +country. As soon as he thought her far enough advanced, he +faced about, and a second engagement ensued, more bloody +than the first. The counterfeit elephants could not long sustain +the shock of the real ones: these routed her army, crushing +whatever came in their way. Semiramis did all that lay in +her power to rally and encourage her troops, but in vain. The +king, perceiving her engaged in the fight, advanced towards +her, and wounded her in two places, but not mortally. The +swiftness of her horse soon carried her beyond the reach of her +enemies. As her men crowded to the bridge, to repass the +river, great numbers of them perished, through the disorder +and confusion unavoidable on such occasions. When those +that could save themselves were safely over, she destroyed the +<pb n='328'/><anchor id='Pg328'/> +bridge, and by that means stopt the enemy; and the king +likewise, in obedience to an oracle, had given orders to his +troops not to pass the river, nor pursue Semiramis any farther. +The queen, having made an exchange of prisoners at Bactra, +returned to her own dominions with scarce one-third of her +army, which (according to Ctesias) consisted of three million +foot, and five hundred thousand horse, besides the camels and +chariots armed for war, of which she had a very considerable +number. I have no doubt that this account is highly exaggerated, +or that there is some mistake in the numeral characters. +She, and Alexander after her, were the only persons +that ever ventured to carry the war beyond the river Indus. +</p> + +<p> +I must own, I am somewhat puzzled with a difficulty which +may be raised against the extraordinary things related of Ninus +and Semiramis, as they do not seem to agree with the times +so near the deluge: I mean, such vast armies, such a numerous +cavalry, so many chariots armed with scythes, and such +immense treasures of gold and silver; all which seem to be of +a later date. The same thing may likewise be said of the +magnificence of the buildings, ascribed to them. It is probable, +the Greek historians, who came so many ages afterwards, +deceived by the similarity of names, by their ignorance in +chronology, and the resemblance of one event with another, +may have ascribed such things to more ancient princes, as +belonged to those of a later date; or may have attributed a +number of exploits and enterprises to one, which ought to be +divided amongst a series of them, succeeding one another. +</p> + +<p> +Semiramis, some time after her return, discovered that her +son was plotting against her, and one of her principal officers +had offered him his assistance. She then called to mind the +oracle of Jupiter Ammon; and believing that her end approached, +without inflicting any punishment on the officer, who +was taken into custody, she voluntarily abdicated the throne, +put the government into the hands of her son, and withdrew +from the sight of men, hoping speedily to have divine honours +paid to her according to the promise of the oracle. And +indeed we are told, she was worshipped by the Assyrians, under +the form of a dove. She lived sixty-two years, of which she +reigned forty-two. +</p> + +<pb n='329'/><anchor id='Pg329'/> + +<p> +There are in the <hi rend='italic'>Memoirs of the Academy of Belles +Lettres</hi><note place='foot'>Vol. iii. p. 343, +&c.</note> two learned dissertations upon the Assyrian empire, +and particularly on the reign and actions of Semiramis. +</p> + +<p> +What Justin<note place='foot'>Lib. i. c. +2.</note> says of Semiramis, namely, that after her +husband's decease, not daring either to commit the government +to her son, who was then too young, or openly to take it +upon herself, she governed under the name and habit of Ninyas, +and that, after having reigned in that manner above forty +years, falling passionately in love with her own son, she +endeavoured to induce him to comply with her criminal desires, +and was slain by him: all this, I say, is so void of all appearance +of truth, that to go about to confute it would be but +losing time. It must however be owned, that almost all the +authors who have spoken of Semiramis, give us but a disadvantageous +idea of her chastity. +</p> + +<p> +I do not know but that the glorious reign of this queen +might partly induce Plato to maintain, in his Commonwealth,<note place='foot'>Lib. +v. <hi rend='italic'>de Rep.</hi> 451-457.</note> +that women as well as men ought to be admitted into the +management of public affairs, the conducting of armies, and +the government of states; and, by necessary consequence, +ought to be trained up in the same exercises as men, as well +for the forming of the body as the mind. Nor does he so much +as except those exercises, wherein it was customary to fight +stark naked, alleging<note place='foot'>Ἐπείτερ ἀρετὴν ἀντὶ +ἱματίων ἁμφιέσονται.</note> that the virtue of the sex would be a +sufficient covering for them. +</p> + +<p> +It is just matter of surprise to find a philosopher so judicious +in other respects, openly combating the most common and +most natural maxims of modesty and decency, virtues which +are the principal ornament of the female sex, and insisting so +strongly upon a principle, sufficiently confuted by the constant +practice of all ages, and of almost all nations in the world. +</p> + +<p> +Aristotle, wiser in this than his master Plato, without doing +the least injustice to the real merit and essential qualities of +the sex, has with great judgment marked<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>De +cura rei fam.</hi> l. i. c. 3.</note> out the different +ends to which man and woman are ordained, from the different +qualities of body and mind, wherewith they are endowed by the +Author of nature, who has given the one strength of body and +<pb n='330'/><anchor id='Pg330'/> +intrepidity of mind to enable him to undergo the greatest +hardships, and face the most imminent dangers; whilst the +other, on the contrary, is of a weak and delicate constitution, +accompanied with a natural softness and modest timidity, +which render her more fit for a sedentary life, and dispose her +to keep within the precincts of the house, and to employ herself +in the concerns of prudent and industrious economy. +</p> + +<p> +Xenophon is of the same opinion with Aristotle;<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>De +administr. dom.</hi> p. 839.</note> and in +order to set off the occupation of the wife, who confines herself +within her house, agreeably compares her to the mother-bee, +commonly called the queen-bee, who alone governs and +has the superintendence of the whole hive, who distributes all +their employments, encourages their industry, presides over +the building of their little cells, takes care of the nourishment +and subsistence of her numerous family; regulates the quantity +of honey appointed for that purpose, and at fixed and +proper seasons sends abroad the new swarms in colonies, to +ease and disburthen the hive of its superfluous inhabitants. +He remarks, with Aristotle, the difference of constitution and +inclinations, designedly made by the Author of nature between +man and woman, to point out to each of them their proper +and peculiar offices and functions. +</p> + +<p> +This allotment, far from degrading or lessening the woman, +is really for her advantage and honour, in confiding to her a +kind of domestic empire and government, administered only +by gentleness, reason, equity, and good nature; and in giving +her frequent occasions of concealing the most valuable and +excellent qualities under the inestimable veil of modesty and +submission. For it must ingenuously be owned, that at all +times, and in all conditions, there have been women, who by +a real and solid merit have distinguished themselves above +their sex; as there have been innumerable instances of men, +who by their defects have dishonoured theirs. But these are +only particular cases, which form no rule, and which ought +not to prevail against an establishment founded in nature, and +prescribed by the Creator himself. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Ninyas.</note> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Ninyas.</hi><note place='foot'>Diod. +l. ii. p. 108.</note> This prince was in no respect like those from +whom he received his birth, and to whose throne he +<pb n='331'/><anchor id='Pg331'/> +succeeded. Wholly intent upon his pleasures, he kept himself +shut up in his palace, and seldom showed himself to his people. +To keep them in their duty, he had always at Nineveh a certain +number of regular troops, furnished every year from the +several provinces of his empire, at the expiration of which +term they were succeeded by the like number of other troops +on the same conditions; the king putting a commander at the +head of them, on whose fidelity he could depend. He made +use of this method, that the officers might not have time to +gain the affections of the soldiers, and so form any conspiracies +against him. +</p> + +<p> +His successors for thirty generations followed his example +and even surpassed him in indolence. Their history is absolutely +unknown, there remaining no footsteps of it. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>A.M. 2092. Ant. J.C. 1912.</note> +In Abraham's time the Scripture speaks of Amraphael, king +of Shinar, the country where Babylon was situated, +who with two other princes followed Chedorlaomer, +king of the Elamites, whose tributary he probably +was, in the war carried on by the latter against five kings of +the land of Canaan. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>A.M. 2513. Ant. J.C. 1491.</note> +It was under the government of these inactive princes, that +Sesostris, king of Egypt, extended his conquests so +far in the East. But as his power was of a short +duration, and not supported by his successors, the +Assyrian empire soon returned to its former state. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>A.M. 2820. Ant. J.C. 1184.</note> +Plato, a curious observer of antiquities, makes the kingdom +of Troy, in the time of Priam, dependent on +the Assyrian empire.<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>De +Leg.</hi> l. iii. p 685.</note> And Ctesias says, that Teutamus, +the twentieth king after Ninyas, sent a considerable +body of troops to the assistance of the Trojans, under the +conduct of Memnon, the son of Tithonus, at a time when the +Assyrian empire had subsisted above a thousand years; which +agrees exactly with the time, wherein I have placed the foundation +of that empire. But the silence of Homer concerning +so mighty a people, and one which must needs have been well +known, renders this fact exceeding doubtful. And it must be +owned, that whatever relates to the times of the ancient +<pb n='332'/><anchor id='Pg332'/> +history of the Assyrians, is attended with great difficulties, +into which my plan does not permit me to enter. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Pul. A.M. 3233. Ant. J.C. 771.</note> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Pul.</hi> +The Scripture informs us, that Pul, king of Assyria, +being come into the land of Israel, had a thousand +talents of silver given him by Menahem, king of the +ten tribes, to engage him to lend him assistance, and +secure him on his throne.<note place='foot'>2 Kings xv. 19.</note> +</p> + +<p> +This Pul is supposed to be the king of Nineveh, who repented, +with all his people, at the preaching of Jonah. +</p> + +<p> +He is also thought to be the father of Sardanapalus, the +last king of the Assyrians, called, according to the custom of +the eastern nations, Sardanpul, that is to say, Sardan, the son +of Pul. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Sardanapalus.</note> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Sardanapalus.</hi> +This prince surpassed all his predecessors +in effeminacy, luxury, and cowardice.<note place='foot'>Diod. l. ii. p. 109-115. +Athen. l. xii. p. 529, 530. Just. l. i. c. 3.</note> He never went +out of his palace, but spent all his time amongst a company +of women, dressed and painted like them, and employed +like them at the distaff. He placed all his happiness and +glory in the possession of immense treasures, in feasting and +rioting, and indulging himself in all the most infamous and +criminal pleasures. He ordered two verses to be put upon his +tomb, which imported, that he carried away with him all that +he had eaten, and all the pleasures he had enjoyed, but left +all the rest behind him. +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l>Hæc habeo quæ edi, quæque exaturata libido</l> +<l>Hausit: at illa jacent multa et præclara relicta.<note place='foot'><p>Κεῖν᾽ +ἔχω ὅσσ᾽ ἔφαγον, καὶ ἐφύβρισα, καὶ μετ᾽ ἔρωτος<lb/> +Τέρπν᾽ ἔπαθον; τὰ δὲ πολλὰ καὶ ὄλβια πάντα λέλειπται. +</p> +<p> +Quid aliud, inquit Aristoteles, in bovis, non in regis sepulchro, inscriberes? Hæc +habere se mortuum dicit, quæ ne vivus quidem diutiùs habebat, quàm fruebatur. +Cic. <hi rend='italic'>Tusc. Quæst.</hi> l. v. n. 101.—Trans.</p></note></l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +An epitaph, says Aristotle, fit for a hog. +</p> + +<p> +Arbaces, governor of Media, having found means to get +into the palace, and having with his own eyes seen Sardanapalus +in the midst of his infamous seraglio; enraged at such a +spectacle, and not able to endure that so many brave men +should be subject to a prince more soft and effeminate than +the women themselves, immediately formed a conspiracy +<pb n='333'/><anchor id='Pg333'/> +against him. Belesis, governor of Babylon, and several others, +entered into it. On the first rumour of this revolt, the king +hid himself in the inmost part of his palace. Being obliged +afterwards to take the field with some forces which he had +assembled, he at first gained three successive victories over +the enemy, but was afterwards overcome, and pursued to the +gates of Nineveh; wherein he shut himself, in hopes the +rebels would never be able to take a city so well fortified, and +stored with provisions for a considerable time: the siege +proved indeed of very great length. It had been declared by +an ancient oracle, that Nineveh could never be taken, unless +the river became an enemy to the city. These words buoyed +up Sardanapalus, because he looked upon the thing as impossible. +But when he saw that the Tigris, by a violent inundation, +had thrown down twenty stadia<note place='foot'>Two miles +and a half.—Trans.</note> of the city wall, and by +that means opened a passage to the enemy, he understood the +meaning of the oracle, and thought himself lost.<note place='margin'>A.M. 3257. +Ant. J.C. 747.</note> He +resolved, however, to die in such a manner, as, according +to his opinion, should cover the infamy of +his scandalous and effeminate life. He ordered a pile of wood +to be made in his palace, and setting fire to it, burnt himself, +his eunuchs, his women, and his treasures. Athenæus makes +these treasures amount to a thousand myriads of talents of +gold,<note place='foot'>About fourteen hundred millions +sterling.—Trans.</note> and ten times as many talents of silver, which, without +reckoning any thing else, is a sum that exceeds all credibility. +A myriad contains ten thousand; and one single myriad of +talents of silver is worth thirty millions of French money, or +about one million four hundred thousand pounds sterling. A +man is lost, if he attempts to sum up the whole value; which +induces me to believe, that Athenæus must have very much +exaggerated in his computation; however, we may be assured, +from his account, that the treasures were immensely great. +</p> + +<p> +Plutarch, in his second treatise,<note place='foot'>Pag. +335, 336.</note> dedicated to the praise of +Alexander the Great, wherein he examines in what the true +greatness of princes consists, after having shown that it can +arise from nothing but their own personal merit, confirms it +by two very different examples, taken from the history of the +Assyrians, in which we are now engaged. Semiramis and +<pb n='334'/><anchor id='Pg334'/> +Sardanapalus (says he) both governed the same kingdom; +both had the same people, the same extent of country, the +same revenues, the same forces and number of troops; but +they had not the same dispositions, nor the same views. +Semiramis, raising herself above her sex, built magnificent +cities, equipped fleets, armed legions, subdued neighbouring +nations, penetrated into Arabia and Ethiopia, and carried her +victorious arms to the extremities of Asia, spreading consternation +and terror everywhere. Whereas Sardanapalus, as if +he had entirely renounced his sex, spent all his time in the +heart of his palace, perpetually surrounded with a company of +women, whose dress and even manners he had adopted, applying +himself with them to the spindle and the distaff, neither +understanding nor doing any other thing than spinning, eating +and drinking, and wallowing in all manner of infamous pleasure. +Accordingly, a statue was erected to him, after his +death, which represented him in the posture of a dancer, with +an inscription upon it, in which he addressed himself to the +spectator in these words: <hi rend='italic'>Eat, drink, and be merry; every +thing else is nothing</hi>: an inscription very suitable to the +epitaph he himself had ordered to be put upon his monument.<note place='foot'>Ἔσθις, +πῖνε, ἀφροδισίαζε; τ᾽ ἄλλα δὲ ἐδέν.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Plutarch in this place judges of Semiramis, as almost all the +profane historians do of the glory of conquerors. But, if we +would make a true judgment of things, was the unbounded +ambition of that queen much less blamable, than the dissolute +effeminacy of Sardanapalus? Which of the two vices did +most mischief to mankind? +</p> + +<p> +We are not to wonder that the Assyrian empire should fall +under such a prince; but undoubtedly it was not till after +having passed through various augmentations, diminutions, +and revolutions, common to all states, even to the greatest, +during the course of several ages. This empire had subsisted +above 1450 years. +</p> + +<p> +Of the ruins of this vast empire were formed three considerable +kingdoms; that of the Medes, which Arbaces, the principal +head of the conspiracy, restored to its liberty; that of +the Assyrians of Babylon, which was given to Belesis, governor +of that city; and that of the Assyrians of Nineveh, the first +king whereof took the name of Ninus the younger. +</p> + +<pb n='335'/><anchor id='Pg335'/> + +<p> +In order to understand the history of the second Assyrian +empire, which is very obscure, and of which little is said by +historians, it is proper, and even absolutely necessary, to compare +what is said of it by profane authors with what we are +informed concerning it by holy Scripture; that by the help of +that double light we may have the clearer idea of the two +empires of Nineveh and Babylon, which for some time were +separate and distinct, and afterwards united and confounded +together. I shall first treat of this second Assyrian empire, +and then return to the kingdom of the Medes. +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Chapter II. The Second Assyrian Empire, both +of Nineveh and Babylon.</head> + +<p> +This second Assyrian empire continued two hundred and ten +years, reckoning to the year in which Cyrus, who was become +absolute master of the East by the death of his father Cambyses +and his father-in-law Cyaxares, published the famous +edict, whereby the Jews were permitted to return into their +own country, after a seventy years' captivity at Babylon. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Belesis. A.M. 3257. Ant. J.C. 747.</note> +<hi rend='italic'>Kings of Babylon.<note place='foot'>2 Kings xx. +12.</note></hi>—<hi rend='smallcaps'>Belesis</hi>. He is the same as +Nabonassar, from whose reign began the famous +astronomical epocha at Babylon, called from his +name the <hi rend='italic'>Æra of Nabonassar</hi>. In the holy Scriptures +he is called Baladan. He reigned but twelve +years, and was succeeded by his son: +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Merodach-Baladan.</note> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Merodach-Baladan.</hi> +This is the prince who sent +ambassadors to king Hezekiah, to congratulate him +on the recovery of his health, of which we shall speak +hereafter.<note place='foot'>Ibid. </note> After +him there reigned several other kings of +Babylon,<note place='foot'>Can. Ptol.</note> +with whose story we are entirely unacquainted. I +shall therefore proceed to the kings of Nineveh. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Tiglath-Pileser. A.M. 3257. Ant. J.C. 747.</note> +<hi rend='italic'>Kings of Nineveh</hi>.—<hi rend='smallcaps'>Tiglath-Pileser</hi>. +This is the name given by the holy Scripture to the king, who is supposed +to be the first that reigned at Nineveh, after +the destruction of the ancient Assyrian empire. He +is called Thilgamus, by Ælian.<note place='foot'>Lib. xii. +<hi rend='italic'>hist. anim.</hi> c. 21. Castor apud Euseb. +<hi rend='italic'>Chron.</hi> p. 49.</note> He is said to have +taken the name of Ninus the younger, in order to honour and +<pb n='336'/><anchor id='Pg336'/> +distinguish his reign by the name of so ancient and illustrious +a prince. +</p> + +<p> +Ahaz, king of Judah,<note place='foot'>2 Kings xvi. 7, +&c.</note> whose incorrigible impiety could not +be reclaimed, either by the divine favours or chastisements, +finding himself attacked at the same time by the kings of +Syria and Israel, robbed the temple of part of its gold and +silver, and sent it to Tiglath-Pileser, to purchase his assistance; +promising him besides to become his vassal, and to pay him +tribute. The king of Assyria finding so favourable an +opportunity of adding Syria and Palestine to his empire, +readily accepted the proposal. Advancing that way with a +numerous army, he beat Rezin, took Damascus, and put an +end to the kingdom erected there by the Syrians, as God had +foretold by his prophets Isaiah and Amos<note place='foot'>Is. viii. 4. +Am. i. 5.</note>. From thence he +marched against Pekah, and took all that belonged to the +kingdom of Israel beyond Jordan, as well as all Galilee. But +he made Ahaz pay very dear for his protection, still exacting +of him such exorbitant sums of money, that for the payment +of them he was obliged not only to exhaust his own treasures, +but to take all the gold and silver of the temple. Thus this +alliance served only to drain the kingdom of Judah, and to +bring into its neighbourhood the powerful kings of Nineveh; +who afterwards became so many instruments in the hand of +God for the chastisement of his people. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Shalmanezer. A.M. 3276. Ant. J.C. 728.</note> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Shalmanezer</hi>. Sabacus, the Ethiopian, whom the +Scripture calls So, having made himself master of +Egypt, Hoshea, king of Samaria, entered into an +alliance with him, hoping by that means to shake off +the Assyrian yoke.<note place='foot'>2 Kings xvii.</note> To this end he withdrew from +his dependence upon Shalmanezer, refusing to pay him any +further tribute, or make him the usual presents. +</p> + +<p> +Shalmanezer, to punish him for his presumption, marched +against him with a powerful army; and after having subdued +all the plain country, shut him up in Samaria, where he kept +him closely besieged for three years; at the end of which he +took the city, loaded Hoshea with chains, and threw him into +prison for the rest of his days; carried away the people +<pb n='337'/><anchor id='Pg337'/> +captive, and planted them in Halah and Habor, cities of the +Medes. And thus was the kingdom of Israel, or of the ten +tribes, destroyed, as God had often threatened by his prophets. +This kingdom, from the time of its separation from that of +Judah, lasted about two hundred and fifty years. +</p> + +<p> +It was at this time that Tobit, with Anna his wife, and his +son Tobias, was carried captive into Assyria, where he became +one of the principal officers of king Shalmanezer.<note place='foot'>Tob. 1.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Shalmanezer died, after having reigned fourteen years, and +was succeeded by his son: +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Sennacherib. A.M. 3287. Ant. J.C. 717.</note> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Sennacherib</hi>. He is also called Sargon in +Scripture.<note place='foot'>Is. xx. 1. 2 Kings xviii. and xix.</note> +</p> + +<p> +As soon as this prince was settled on the throne, +he renewed the demand of the tribute exacted by his +father from Hezekiah. Upon his refusal he declared +war against him, and entered into Judea with a mighty army. +Hezekiah, grieved to see his kingdom pillaged, sent ambassadors +to him, to desire peace upon any terms he would prescribe. +Sennacherib, seemingly mollified, entered into treaty with +him, and demanded a very great sum of gold and silver. The holy +king exhausted both the treasures of the temple, and his own +coffers, to pay it. The Assyrian, regarding neither the sanction +of oaths nor treaties, still continued the war, and pushed on +his conquests more vigorously than ever. Nothing was able to +withstand his power, and of all the strong places of Judah, +none remained untaken but Jerusalem, which was likewise +reduced to the utmost extremity. At this very juncture,<note place='foot'>2 +Kings xix. 9.</note> Sennacherib was informed, that Tirhakah, king of Ethiopia, +who had joined his forces with those of the king of Egypt, +was coming up to succour the besieged city. Now it was +contrary to the express command of God, as well as the +remonstrances of Isaiah and Hezekiah, that the chief men at +Jerusalem had required any foreign assistance. The Assyrian +prince marched immediately to meet the approaching enemy, +after having written a letter to Hezekiah, full of blasphemy +against the God of Israel, whom he insolently boasted he would +speedily vanquish, as he had done all the gods of the other +nations round about him. In short, he discomfited the Ægyptians, +<pb n='338'/><anchor id='Pg338'/> +and pursued them even into their own country, which +he ravaged, and returned laden with spoil. +</p> + +<p> +It was probably during Sennacherib's absence, which was +pretty long, or at least some little time before, that Hezekiah +fell sick, and was cured in a miraculous manner;<note place='foot'>2 +Kings xx. 2 Chron. xxxii. 24-31</note> and that (as +a sign of God's fulfilling the promise he had made him of +curing him so perfectly, that within three days he should be +able to go to the temple,) the shadow of the sun went ten +degrees backwards upon the dial of the palace. Merodach-Baladan, +king of Babylon, being informed of the miraculous +cure of king Hezekiah, sent ambassadors to him with letters +and presents, to congratulate him upon that occasion, and to +acquaint themselves with the miracle that had happened in the +land at this juncture, with respect to the sun's retrogradation +ten degrees. Hezekiah was extremely sensible of the honour +done him by that prince, and very forward to show his ambassadors +the riches and treasures he possessed, and to let them +see the whole magnificence of his palace. Humanly speaking, +there was nothing in this proceeding but what was allowable +and commendable; but in the eyes of the supreme Judge, +which are infinitely more piercing and delicate than ours, this +action discovered a lurking pride, and secret vanity, with which +his righteousness was offended. Accordingly, he instantly +informed the king by his prophet Isaiah, that the riches and +treasures which he had been showing to those ambassadors +with so much ostentation, should one day be transported to +Babylon; and that his children should be carried thither, to +become servants in the palace of that monarch. This was +then utterly improbable; for Babylon, at the time we are +speaking of, was in friendship and alliance with Jerusalem, +as appears by her having sent ambassadors thither: nor did +Jerusalem then seem to have any thing to fear, but from +Nineveh; whose power was at that time formidable, and who +had entirely declared against her. But the fortune of those +two cities was to change, and the word of God was literally +accomplished. +</p> + +<p> +But to return to Sennacherib.<note place='foot'>2 Kings +xix. 35-57.</note> After he had ravaged +<pb n='339'/><anchor id='Pg339'/> +Egypt, and taken a vast number of prisoners, he came back +with his victorious army, encamped before Jerusalem, and +besieged it anew. The city seemed to be inevitably lost: it +was without resource, and without hope from the hands of +men; but had a powerful protector in Heaven, whose jealous +ears had heard the impious blasphemies uttered by the king of +Nineveh against His sacred name. In one single night a +hundred and eighty-five thousand men of his army perished by +the sword of the destroying angel. After so terrible a blow +this pretended king of kings, (for so he called himself,) this +triumpher over nations, and conqueror even of gods, was obliged +to return to his own country with the miserable remnant of his +army, covered with shame and confusion: nor did he survive +his defeat more than a few months, only to make a kind of +open confession of his crime to God, whose supreme majesty +he had presumed to insult, and who now, to use the Scripture +terms, having <q>put a ring into his nose, and a bridle into his +mouth,</q> as a wild beast, made him return in that humbled, +afflicted condition, through those very countries, which a little +before had beheld him so haughty and imperious. +</p> + +<p> +Upon his return to Nineveh, being enraged at his disgrace, +he treated his subjects in the most cruel and tyrannical manner. +The effects of his fury fell more heavily upon the Jews and +Israelites, of whom he caused great numbers to be massacred +every day, ordering their bodies to be left exposed in the streets, +and suffering no man to give them burial.<note place='foot'>Tobit +i. 18-24</note> Tobit, to avoid his +cruelty, was obliged to conceal himself for some time, and +suffer all his effects to be confiscated. In short, the king's +savage temper rendered him so insupportable to his own +family, that his two eldest sons conspired against him, and +killed him in the temple,<note place='foot'>2 Kings xix. +37.</note> in the presence of his god Nisroch, +as he lay prostrate before him. But these two princes, being +obliged after this parricide to fly into Armenia, left the kingdom +to Esarhaddon, their youngest brother. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Esarhaddon. A.M. 3294. Ant. J.C. 710.</note> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Esarhaddon</hi>. We have already observed, that after +Merodach-Baladan there was a succession of kings +at Babylon, of whom history has transmitted nothing +but the names.<note place='foot'>Can. Ptol.</note> The royal family becoming extinct, +<pb n='340'/><anchor id='Pg340'/> +there was an eight years' interregnum, full of troubles and +commotions. Esarhaddon, taking advantage of this juncture, +made himself master of Babylon, and annexing it to his +former dominions, reigned over the two united empires thirteen +years. +</p> + +<p> +After having reunited to the Assyrian empire Syria and +Palestine, which had been rent from it in the preceding reign, +he entered the land of Israel, where he took captive as many +as were left there, and carried them into Assyria, except an +inconsiderable number that escaped his pursuit. But that the +country might not become a desert, he sent colonies of idolatrous +people, taken out of the countries beyond the Euphrates, to +dwell in the cities of Samaria. The prediction of Isaiah was +then fulfilled;<note place='foot'>Is. vii. 8.</note> +<hi rend='italic'>within threescore and five years shall Ephraim be +broken, that it be no more a people</hi>. This was exactly the space +of time which elapsed between the prediction and the event: +and the people of Israel did then truly cease to be a visible +nation, what was left of them being altogether mixed and +confounded with other nations. +</p> + +<p> +This prince, having possessed himself of the land of Israel, +sent some of his generals with part of his army into Judea, to +reduce that country likewise under his subjection.<note place='foot'>2 +Chron. xxxiii. 11, 13.</note> These +generals defeated Manasseh, and having taken him prisoner, +brought him to Esarhaddon, who put him in chains, and +carried him with him to Babylon. But Manasseh, having +afterwards appeased the wrath of God by a sincere and lively +repentance, obtained his liberty, and returned to Jerusalem. +</p> + +<p> +Meantime the colonies, that had been sent into Samaria, +in the room of its ancient inhabitants, were grievously infested +with lions.<note place='foot'>2 Kings xvii. +25-41.</note> The king of Babylon being told that the cause of +this calamity was their not worshipping the God of the country, +ordered an Israelitish priest to be sent to them, from among +the captives brought from that country, to teach them the +worship of the God of Israel. But these idolaters did no +more than admit the true God amongst their ancient divinities, +and worshipped him jointly with their false deities. This +corrupt worship continued afterwards, and was the primary +<pb n='341'/><anchor id='Pg341'/> +source of the aversion entertained by the Jews against the +Samaritans. +</p> + +<p> +Esarhaddon, after a prosperous reign of thirty-nine years +over the Assyrians, and thirteen over the Babylonians, was +succeeded by his son: +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Saosduchinus. A.M. 3335. Ant. J.C. 669.</note> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Saosduchinus</hi>. This prince is called in Scripture Nabuchodonosor, +which name was common to the kings +of Babylon. To distinguish this from the others, +he is called Nabuchodonosor the First. +</p> + +<p> +Tobit was still alive at this time, and dwelt among other +captives at Nineveh.<note place='foot'>Tobit xiv. +5-13.</note> Perceiving his end approaching, he +foretold to his children the sudden destruction of that city; of +which at that time there was not the least appearance. He +advised them to quit the city, before its ruin came on, and to +depart as soon as they had buried him and his wife. +</p> + +<p> +<q>The ruin of Nineveh is at hand,</q> says the good old man, +<q>abide no longer here, for I perceive the wickedness of the +city will occasion its destruction.</q> These last words are +very remarkable, <q>the wickedness of the city will occasion its +destruction.</q> Men will be apt to impute the ruin of Nineveh +to any other reason, but we are taught by the Holy Ghost, +that her unrighteousness was the true cause of it, as it will be +with other states that imitate her crimes. +</p> + +<p> +Nabuchodonosor defeated the king of the Medes in a +pitched battle,<note place='foot'>Judith i. 5, +6.</note> fought the twelfth year of his reign, upon the +plain of Ragau, took Ecbatana, the capital of his kingdom, +and returned triumphant to Nineveh. When we come to treat +of the history of the Medes, we shall give a more particular +account of this victory. +</p> + +<p> +It was immediately after this expedition, that Bethulia was +besieged by Holofernes, one of Nabuchodonosor's generals; +and that the famous enterprise of Judith was accomplished. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Saracus. A.M. 3356. Ant. J.C. 648.</note> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Saracus</hi>, otherwise called +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Chynaladanus</hi>. This prince +succeeded Saosduchinus;<note place='foot'>Alex. Polyhist.</note> +and having rendered himself contemptible to his subjects, by his effeminacy, +and the little care he took of his dominions, Nabopolassar, +a Babylonian by birth, and general of his army, usurped +<pb n='342'/><anchor id='Pg342'/> +that part of the Assyrian empire, and reigned over it one and +twenty years. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Nabopolassar. A.M. 3378. Ant. J.C. 626.</note> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Nabopolassar</hi>. This prince, the better to maintain his +usurped sovereignty, made an alliance with Cyaxares, +king of the Medes. With their joint forces they +besieged and took Nineveh, killed Saracus, and +utterly destroyed that great city. We shall speak more largely +of this great event, when we come to the history of the Medes. +From this time forwards the city of Babylon became the only +capital of the Assyrian empire. +</p> + +<p> +The Babylonians and the Medes, having destroyed Nineveh, +became so formidable, that they drew upon themselves the +jealousy of all their neighbours. Necho, king of Egypt, was so +alarmed at their power, that to stop their progress he marched +towards the Euphrates at the head of a powerful army, and +made several considerable conquests. See the history of the +Egyptians<note place='foot'>Pag. <ref target="Pg070">70</ref>.</note> +for what relates to this expedition, and the consequences +that attended it. +</p> + +<p> +Nabopolassar finding,<note place='foot'>Beros. apud Joseph. +<hi rend='italic'>Antiq.</hi> l. x. c. 11. & +<hi rend='italic'>con. Ap.</hi> l. i.</note> that after the taking of Carchemish +by Necho, all Syria and Palestine had revolted from him, and +neither his age nor infirmities permitting him to go in person +to recover them, he made his son Nabuchodonosor partner +with him in the empire, and sent him with an army to reduce +those countries to their former subjection. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>A.M. 3398. Ant. J.C. 606.</note> +From this time the Jews begin to reckon the years of Nabuchodonosor, +<hi rend='italic'>viz.</hi> from the end of the third year of +Jehoiakim, king of Judah, or rather from the beginning +of the fourth. But the Babylonians compute +the reign of this prince only from the death of his father, which +happened two years later. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Nabuchodonosor II.</note> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Nabuchodonosor II.</hi> +This prince defeated Necho's army, near the Euphrates, and +retook Carchemish.<note place='foot'>Jer. xlvi. 2. 2 Kings xxiv. 7.</note> From +thence he marched towards Syria and Palestine, and +reunited those provinces to his dominions. +</p> + +<p> +He likewise entered Judea, besieged Jerusalem, and took +it:<note place='foot'>Dan. i. 1-7. 2 Chron. xxxvi. +6, 7.</note> he caused Jehoiakim to be put in chains, with a design to +have him carried to Babylon; but being moved with his repentance +<pb n='343'/><anchor id='Pg343'/> +and affliction, he restored him to the throne. Great +numbers of the Jews, and, among the rest, some children of +the royal family, were carried captive to Babylon, whither all +the treasures of the king's palace, and a part of the sacred +vessels of the temple, were likewise transported. Thus was the +judgment which God had denounced by the prophet Isaiah to +king Hezekiah accomplished. From this famous epocha, +which was the fourth year of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, we +are to date the captivity of the Jews at Babylon, so often foretold +by Jeremiah. Daniel, then but twelve years old,<note place='foot'>Some imagine +him to have been eighteen years of age at this time.—Trans.</note> was +carried captive among the rest; and Ezekiel some time afterwards. +</p> + +<p> +Towards the end of the fifth year of Jehoiakim died +Nabopolassar, king of Babylon, after having reigned one and +twenty years.<note place='foot'>Can. Ptol. Beros. apud Joseph. +<hi rend='italic'>Antiq.</hi> l. x. c. 11. & +<hi rend='italic'>con. Ap.</hi> l. x.</note> As soon as his son Nabuchodonosor had news +of his death, he set out with all expedition for Babylon, taking +the nearest way through the desert, attended only with a small +retinue, leaving the bulk of his army with his generals, to be +conducted to Babylon with the captives and spoils. On his +arrival, he received the government from the hands of those +that had carefully preserved it for him, and so succeeded to all +the dominions of his father, which comprehended Chaldea, +Assyria, Arabia, Syria, and Palestine, over which, according to +Ptolemy, he reigned forty-three years. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>A.M. 3401. Ant. J.C. 603.</note> +In the fourth year of his reign he had a dream,<note place='foot'>Dan. ii.</note> at which +he was greatly terrified, though he could not call it +again to mind. He thereupon consulted the wise +men and soothsayers of his kingdom, requiring of +them to make known to him the substance of his dream. +They all answered, that it was beyond the reach of their art to +discover it; and that the utmost they could do, was to give +the interpretation of his dream, when he had made it known to +them. As absolute princes are not accustomed to meet with +opposition, but will be obeyed in all things, Nabuchodonosor, +imagining they dealt insincerely with him, fell into a violent +rage, and condemned them all to die. Now Daniel and his +three companions were included in the sentence, as being +<pb n='344'/><anchor id='Pg344'/> +ranked among the wise men. But Daniel, having first invoked +his God, desired to be introduced to the king, to whom he +revealed the whole substance of his dream. <q>The thing thou +sawest,</q> says he to him, <q>was an image of an enormous size, +and a terrible countenance. The head thereof was of gold, the +breast and arms of silver, the belly and thighs of brass, and +the feet part of iron and part of clay. And as the king was +attentively looking upon that vision, behold a stone was cut out +of a mountain without hands, and the stone smote the image +upon his feet, and brake them to pieces; the whole image was +ground as small as dust, and the stone became a great mountain, +and filled the whole earth.</q> When Daniel had related +the dream, he gave the king likewise the interpretation thereof, +showing him how it signified the three great empires, which +were to succeed that of the Assyrians, namely, the Persian, +the Grecian, and the Roman, or (according to some,) that of +the successors of Alexander the Great. <q>After these kingdoms +(continued Daniel) shall the God of heaven set up a +kingdom, which shall never be destroyed; and this kingdom +shall not be left to other people, but shall break in pieces and +consume all these kingdoms, and shall stand for ever.</q> By +which Daniel plainly foretold the kingdom of Jesus Christ. +The king, ravished with admiration and astonishment, after +having acknowledged and loudly declared, that the God of the +Israelites was truly the God of gods, advanced Daniel to the +highest offices in the kingdom, made him chief of the governors +over all the wise men, ruler of the whole province of +Babylon, and one of the principal lords of the council, that +always attended the court. His three friends were also +promoted to honours and dignities. +</p> + +<p> +At this time Jehoiakim revolted from the king of Babylon, +whose generals, that were still in Judea, marched against him, +and committed all kinds of hostilities upon this country.<note place='foot'>2 +Kings xxiv. 1, 2.</note> <q>He +slept with his fathers,</q> is all the Scripture says of his death. +Jeremiah had prophesied, that he should neither be regretted +nor lamented; but should <q>be buried with the burial of an ass, +drawn and cast forth beyond the gates of Jerusalem:</q> this was +no doubt fulfilled, though it is not known in what manner. +</p> + +<pb n='345'/><anchor id='Pg345'/> + +<p> +Jechonias<note place='foot'>Al. Jehoiakim. 2 Kings xxiv. +6-18.—Trans.</note> succeeded both to the throne and iniquity of his +father. Nabuchodonosor's lieutenants continuing the blockade +of Jerusalem, in three months' time he himself came at the +head of his army, and made himself master of the city. He +plundered both the temple and the king's palace of all their +treasures, and sent them away to Babylon, together with all +the golden vessels remaining, which Solomon had made for the +use of the temple: he carried away likewise a vast number of +captives, amongst whom was king Jechonias, his mother, his +wives, with all the chief officers and great men of his kingdom. +In the room of Jechonias, he set upon the throne his uncle +Mattaniah, who was otherwise called Zedekiah. +</p> + +<p> +This prince had as little religion and prosperity as his forefathers.<note place='foot'>2 +Kings xxiv. 17-20. and xxv. 1-10.</note> +Having made an alliance with Pharaoh, king of +Egypt, he broke the oath of fidelity he had taken to the king of +Babylon. The latter soon chastised him for it, and immediately +laid siege to Jerusalem. The king of Egypt's arrival at +the head of an army gave the besieged a gleam of hope; but +their joy was very short-lived; the Egyptians were defeated, +and the conqueror returned against Jerusalem, and renewed +the siege, which lasted near a twelvemonth.<note place='margin'>A.M. 3415. Ant. J.C. +589.</note> At last +the city was taken by storm, and a terrible slaughter +ensued. Zedekiah's two sons were, by Nabuchodonosor's +orders, killed before their father's face, with all the +nobles and principal men of Judah. Zedekiah himself had +both his eyes put out, was loaded with fetters, and carried to +Babylon, where he was confined in prison as long as he lived. +The city and temple were pillaged and burnt, and all their +fortifications demolished. +</p> + +<p> +Upon Nabuchodonosor's return to Babylon, after his successful +war against Judea, he ordered a golden statue to be +made,<note place='foot'>Dan. iii.</note> sixty<note place='foot'>Ninety +feet.—Trans.</note> cubits high, assembled all the great men of the +kingdom to celebrate the dedication of it, and commanded all +his subjects to worship it, threatening to cast those that should +refuse into the midst of a burning fiery furnace. Upon this +occasion it was that the three young Hebrews, Ananias, Misael, +<pb n='346'/><anchor id='Pg346'/> +and Azarias, who with an invincible courage refused to comply +with the king's impious ordinance, were preserved after a +miraculous manner in the midst of the flames. The king, +himself a witness of this astonishing miracle, published an +edict, whereby all persons whatsoever were forbidden, upon +pain of death, to speak any thing amiss against the God of +Ananias, Misael, and Azarias. He likewise promoted these +three young men to the highest honours and employments. +</p> + +<p> +Nabuchodonosor, in the twenty-first year of his reign, and +the fourth after the destruction of Jerusalem, marched again +into Syria, and besieged Tyre, at the time when Ithobal was +king thereof. Tyre was a strong and opulent city, which had +never been subject to any foreign power, and was then in great +repute for its commerce: by which many of its citizens were +become like so many princes in wealth and magnificence.<note place='foot'>Ezek. +xxvi. and xxvii. Is. xxiii. 8. Just. l. xviii. c. 3.</note> It +had been built by the Sidonians two hundred and forty years +before the temple of Jerusalem. For Sidon being taken by +the Philistines of Ascalon, many of its inhabitants made their +escape in ships, and founded the city of Tyre. And for this +reason we find it called in Isaiah <q>the daughter of Sidon.</q><note place='foot'>Is. +xxiii. 12.</note> But the daughter soon surpassed the mother in grandeur, +riches, and power. Accordingly, at the time we are speaking +of, she was in a condition to resist, thirteen years together, a +monarch, to whose yoke all the rest of the East had submitted. +</p> + +<p> +It was not till after so long an interval, that Nabuchodonosor +made himself master of Tyre.<note place='foot'>Jos. <hi rend='italic'>Ant.</hi> +l. x. c. 11 & <hi rend='italic'>con. Ap.</hi> l. i.</note> His troops suffered +incredible hardships before it; so that, according to the prophet's +expression, <q>every head was made bald, and every +shoulder was peeled.</q><note place='foot'>Ezek. xxix. 18, +19.</note> Before the city was reduced to the last +extremity, its inhabitants retired, with the greatest part of their +effects, into a neighbouring isle, half a mile from the shore, +where they built a new city; the name and glory whereof +extinguished the remembrance of the old one, which from +thenceforward became a mere village, retaining the name of +ancient Tyre. +</p> + +<p> +Nabuchodonosor and his army having undergone the utmost +fatigues during so long and difficult a siege,<note place='foot'>Ibid. +18-20.</note> and having found +<pb n='347'/><anchor id='Pg347'/> +nothing in the place to requite them for the service they had +rendered Almighty God (it is the expression of the prophet) in +executing his vengeance upon that city, to make them amends, +God was pleased to promise by the mouth of Ezekiel, that he +would give them the spoils of Egypt. And indeed they soon +after conquered that country, as I have more fully related in +the history of the Egyptians.<note place='foot'>Page <ref target="Pg084">84</ref>.</note> +</p> + +<p> +When this prince had happily finished all his wars, and was +in a state of perfect peace and tranquillity, he employed himself +in putting the last hand to the building, or rather to the embellishing +of Babylon. The reader may see in +Josephus<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Antiq.</hi> l. x. 11.</note> an +account of the magnificent structures ascribed to this monarch +by several writers. I have mentioned a great part of them in +the description already given of that stately city. +</p> + +<p> +Whilst nothing seemed wanting to complete this prince's +happiness, a frightful dream disturbed his repose, and filled +him with great anxiety.<note place='foot'>Dan. iv.</note> +<q>He saw a tree in the midst of the +earth, whose height was great: the tree grew, and was strong, +and the height of it reached unto heaven, and the sight thereof +to the end of the earth. The leaves were fair, and the fruit +much; and in it was meat for all: the beasts of the field had +shadow under it, and the fowls of the heaven dwelt in the +boughs thereof; and all flesh was fed of it. Then a watcher +and a holy one came down from heaven, and cried; Hew +down the tree, and cut off his branches, shake off his leaves, +and scatter his fruit; let the beasts get away from under it, +and the fowls from his branches. Nevertheless leave the stump +of his roots in the earth, even with a band of iron and brass, in +the tender grass of the field; and let it be wet with the dew of +heaven, and let his portion be with the beasts in the grass of +the earth. Let his heart be changed from man's; and let a +beast's heart be given unto him; and let seven times pass over +him. This matter is by the decree of the watchers, and the +demand by the word of the holy ones; to the intent that the +living may know that the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of +men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will, and setteth up over +it the basest of men.</q> +</p> + +<p> +The king, justly terrified at this dreadful dream, consulted +<pb n='348'/><anchor id='Pg348'/> +all his wise men and magicians, but to no purpose. He was +obliged to have recourse to Daniel, who expounded the dream, +and applied it to the king himself, plainly declaring to him, +<q>That he should be driven from the company of men for seven +years, should be reduced to the condition and fellowship of the +beasts of the field, and feed upon grass like an ox; that his +kingdom nevertheless should be preserved for him, and he +should repossess his throne, when he should have learnt to +know and acknowledge, that all power is from above, and +cometh from Heaven. After this he exhorted him to break off +his sins by righteousness, and his iniquities by showing mercy +to the poor.</q> +</p> + +<p> +All these things came to pass upon Nabuchodonosor, as the +prophet had foretold. At the end of twelve months, as he was +walking in his palace, and admiring the beauty and magnificence +of his buildings, he said: <q>Is not this great Babylon, +which I have built for the house of the kingdom, by the might +of my power, and for the honour of my majesty?</q> Would a +secret impulse of complacency and vanity in a prince, at the +sight of such noble structures erected by himself, appear to us +so very criminal? And yet, hardly were the words out of his +mouth, when a voice came down from Heaven, and pronounced +his sentence: <q>In the same hour his understanding went from +him; he was driven from men, and did eat grass like oxen, and +his body was wet with the dew of Heaven, till his hairs were +grown like eagles' feathers, and his nails like birds' claws.</q> +</p> + +<p> +After the expiration of the appointed time, he recovered his +senses, and the use of his understanding: <q>He lifted up his +eyes unto Heaven (says the Scripture) and blessed the Most +High; he praised and honoured him that liveth for ever, whose +dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom is from +generation to generation:</q> Confessing, <q>That all the inhabitants +of the earth are as nothing before him, and that he doeth +according to his will, in the army of heaven, and among the +inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand, or say +unto him, What doest thou?</q> Now he recovered his former +countenance and form. His courtiers went out to seek him; he +was restored to his throne, and became greater and more powerful +than ever. Penetrated with the heartiest gratitude, he +<pb n='349'/><anchor id='Pg349'/> +caused, by a solemn edict, to be published through the whole +extent of his dominions, what astonishing and miraculous things +God had wrought in his person. +</p> + +<p> +One year after this he died, having reigned forty-three years, +reckoning from the death of his father. He was one of the +greatest monarchs that ever reigned in the East. He was +succeeded by his son: +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Evil-Merodach. A.M. 3441. Ant. J.C. 563.</note> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Evil-Merodach</hi>. +As soon as he was settled in the throne, +he released Jechonias, king of Judah, out of prison, +where he had been confined near seven and thirty +years.<note place='foot'>2 Kings xxv. 27-30.</note> +</p> + +<p> +In the reign of this Evil-Merodach, which lasted but two +years, the learned place Daniel's detection of the fraud practised +by the priests of Bel; the innocent artifice by which he +contrived to destroy the dragon, which was worshipped as a +god; and the miraculous deliverance of the same prophet out +of the den of lions, where he had victuals brought him by the +prophet Habakkuk. +</p> + +<p> +Evil-Merodach rendered himself so odious by his debauchery +and other extravagancies, that his own relations conspired +against him, and put him to death.<note place='foot'>Beros. Megasthen.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Neriglissor. A.M. 3444. Ant. J.C. 560.</note> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Neriglissor</hi>, his sister's husband, and one of the chief +conspirators, reigned in his stead. +</p> + +<p> +Immediately on his accession to the crown, he +made great preparations for war against the Medes,<note place='foot'>Cyrop. +l. i.</note> which made Cyaxares send for Cyrus out of Persia, to his +assistance. This story will be more particularly related by and +by, where we shall find that this prince was slain in battle in +the fourth year of his reign. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Laborosoarchod. A.M. 3448. Ant. J.C. 556.</note> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Laborosoarchod</hi>, his son, succeeded to the throne. +This was a very wicked prince. Being born with the +most vicious inclinations, he indulged them without +restraint when he came to the crown; as if he had +been invested with sovereign power, only to have the +privilege of committing with impunity the most infamous and +barbarous actions. He reigned but nine months; his own +subjects conspiring against him, put him to death. His successor +was: +</p> + +<pb n='350'/><anchor id='Pg350'/> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Labynitus, or Nabonidus. A.M. 3449. Ant. J.C. 555.</note> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Labynitus, or Nabonidus.</hi> This prince had likewise other +names, and in Scripture that of Belshazzar. It is +on good grounds supposed that he was the son of +Evil-Merodach, by his wife Nitocris, and consequently +grandson to Nabuchodonosor, to whom, +according to Jeremiah's prophecy, the nations of the East +were to be subject, as also to his son, and his grandson after +him: <q>All nations shall serve him, and his son, and his son's +son, until the very time of his land shall come.</q><note place='foot'>Jer. +xxvii. 7.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Nitocris is that queen who raised so many noble edifices in +Babylon.<note place='foot'>Herod. l. i. c. 185, +&c.</note> She caused her own monument to be placed over +one of the most remarkable gates of the city, with an inscription, +dissuading her successors from touching the treasures laid +up in it, without the most urgent and indispensable necessity. +The tomb remained closed till the reign of Darius, who, upon +his breaking it open, instead of those immense treasures he had +flattered himself with discovering, found nothing but the +following inscription: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>if thou hadst not an insatiable thirst after money, +and a most sordid, avaricious soul, thou wouldst never +have broken open the monuments of the dead.</hi> +</quote> + +<p> +In the first year of Belshazzar's reign, Daniel had the +vision of the four beasts, which represented the four great +monarchies, and the kingdom of the Messiah, which was to +succeed them.<note place='foot'>Dan. vii.</note> +In the third year of the same reign he had +the vision of the ram and the he-goat, which prefigured the +destruction of the Persian empire by Alexander the Great, and +the persecution which Antiochus Epiphanes, king of Syria, +should bring upon the Jews.<note place='foot'>Ibid. viii.</note> +I shall hereafter make some +reflections upon these prophecies, and give a larger account of +them. +</p> + +<p> +Belshazzar, whilst his enemies were besieging Babylon, +gave a great entertainment to his whole court, upon a certain +festival, which was annually celebrated with great rejoicing.<note place='foot'>Ibid. +v.</note> The joy of this feast was greatly disturbed by a vision, and still +more so by the explication which Daniel gave of it to the +king. The sentence written upon the wall imported, that his +<pb n='351'/><anchor id='Pg351'/> +kingdom was taken from him, and given to the Medes and +Persians. That very night the city was taken, and Belshazzar +killed. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>A.M. 3468. Ant. J.C. 536.</note> +Thus ended the Babylonian empire, after having +subsisted two hundred and ten years from the destruction +of the great Assyrian empire. +</p> + +<p> +The particular circumstances of the siege, and the taking of +Babylon, shall be related in the history of Cyrus. +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Chapter III. The History of the Kingdom of the Medes.</head> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>A.M. 3257. Ant. J.C. 747.</note> +I took notice, in speaking of the destruction of the ancient +Assyrian empire, that Arbaces, general of the Median +army, was one of the chief authors of the conspiracy +against Sardanapalus: and several writers believe, +that he then immediately became sovereign master of Media +and many other provinces, and assumed the title of king. +Herodotus is not of this opinion. I shall relate what that +celebrated historian says upon the subject. +</p> + +<p> +The Assyrians, who had for many ages held the empire of +Asia, began to decline in their power by the revolt of several +nations.<note place='foot'>Herod. l. i. c. 95.</note> +The Medes first threw off their yoke, and maintained +for some time the liberty they had acquired by their valour: +but that liberty degenerating into licentiousness, and their +government not being well established, they fell into a kind of +anarchy, worse than their former subjection. Injustice, violence, +and rapine, prevailed everywhere, because there was +nobody that had either power enough to restrain them, or +sufficient authority to punish the offenders. But all these +disorders at length induced the people to settle a form of +government, which rendered the state more flourishing than +ever it was before. +</p> + +<p> +The nation of the Medes was then divided into six tribes. +Almost all the people dwelt in villages, when Dejoces, the son +of Phraortes, a Mede by birth, erected the state into a monarchy. +This person, seeing the great disorders that prevailed +throughout all Media, resolved to take advantage of those +troubles, and make them serve to exalt him to the royal dignity. +<pb n='352'/><anchor id='Pg352'/> +He had a great reputation in his own country, and passed for +a man, not only regular in his own conduct, but possessed of +all the prudence and equity necessary to govern others. +</p> + +<p> +As soon as he had formed the design of obtaining the throne, +he laboured to make the good qualities that had been observed +in him more conspicuous than ever: he succeeded so well, +that the inhabitants of the village where he lived made him +their judge. In this office he acquitted himself with great +prudence; and his cares had all the success that had been +expected from them; for he brought the people of that village +to a sober and regular life. The inhabitants of other villages, +whom perpetual disorders suffered not to live in quiet, observing +the good order Dejoces had introduced in the place where he +presided as judge, began to apply to him, and make him arbitrator +of their differences. The fame of his equity daily +increasing, all such as had any affair of consequence, brought +it before him, expecting to find that equity in Dejoces, which +they could meet with nowhere else. +</p> + +<p> +When he found himself thus far advanced in his designs, he +judged it a proper time to set his last engines to work for the +compassing his point. He, therefore, retired from business, +pretending to be over-fatigued with the multitude of people +that resorted to him from all quarters; and would not exercise +the office of judge any longer, notwithstanding all the importunity +of such as wished well to the public tranquillity. Whenever +any persons addressed themselves to him, he told them, that +his own domestic affairs would not allow him to attend to those +of other people. +</p> + +<p> +The licentiousness which had been for some time restrained +by the judicious management of Dejoces, began to prevail more +than ever, as soon as he had withdrawn himself from the administration +of affairs; and the evil increased to such a degree, +that the Medes were obliged to assemble, and deliberate upon +the means of putting a stop to the public disorder. +</p> + +<p> +There are different sorts of ambition: some violent and +impetuous, carrying every thing as it were by storm, hesitating +at no kind of cruelty or murder: another sort, more gentle, +like that we are speaking of, puts on an appearance of moderation +and justice, working under ground, (if I may use that +<pb n='353'/><anchor id='Pg353'/> +expression,) and yet arrives at her point as surely as the +other. +</p> + +<p> +Dejoces, who saw things succeeding according to his wish, +sent his emissaries to the assembly, after having instructed +them in the part they were to act. When expedients for +stopping the course of the public evils came to be proposed, +these emissaries, speaking in their turn, represented, that unless +the face of the republic was entirely changed, their country +would become uninhabitable; that the only means to remedy +the present disorders was to elect a king, who should have +authority to restrain violence, and make laws for the government +of the nation. Then every man could prosecute his own +affairs in peace and safety; whereas the injustice that now +reigned in all parts, would quickly force the people to abandon +the country. This opinion was generally approved; and the +whole company was convinced, that no expedient could be +devised more effectual for curing the present evil, than that of +converting the state into a monarchy. The only thing then to +be done, was to choose a king; and about this their deliberations +were not long. They all agreed there was not a man +in Media so capable of governing as Dejoces; so that he was +immediately with common consent elected king. +</p> + +<p> +If we reflect in the least on the first establishment of kingdoms, +in any age or country whatsoever, we shall find, that the +maintenance of order, and the care of the public good, was the +original design of monarchy. Indeed there would be no possibility +of establishing order and peace, if all men were resolved +to be independent, and would not submit to an authority which +takes from them a part of their liberty, in order to preserve the +rest. Mankind must be perpetually at war, if they will always +be striving for dominion over others, or refuse to submit to the +strongest. For the sake of their own peace and safety, they +must have a master, and must consent to obey him. This is +the human origin of government. And the Scripture teacheth +us, that the Divine Providence has not only allowed of the +project, and the execution of it, but consecrated it likewise by +an immediate communication of his own power.<note place='foot'>Rom. +xiii. 1, 2.</note> +</p> + +<pb n='354'/><anchor id='Pg354'/> + +<p> +There is nothing certainly nobler or greater than to see a +private person, eminent for his merit and virtue, and fitted by +his excellent talents for the highest employments, and yet +through inclination and modesty preferring a life of obscurity +and retirement: than to see such a man sincerely refuse the +offer made to him, of reigning over a whole nation, and at last +consent to undergo the toil of government, from no other +motive than that of being serviceable to his fellow-citizens. +His first disposition, by which he declares that he is acquainted +with the duties, and consequently with the dangers annexed to +a sovereign power, shows him to have a soul more elevated and +great than greatness itself; or, to speak more justly, a soul +superior to all ambition: nothing can show him so perfectly +worthy of that important charge, as the opinion he has of his +not being so, and his fears of being unequal to it. But when +he generously sacrifices his own quiet and satisfaction to the +welfare and tranquillity of the public, it is plain he understands +what that sovereign power has in it really good, or truly valuable; +which is, that it puts a man in a condition of becoming the +defender of his country, of procuring it many advantages, and +of redressing various evils; of causing law and justice to +flourish, of bringing virtue and probity into reputation, and of +establishing peace and plenty: and he comforts himself for the +cares and troubles to which he is exposed, by the prospect of +the many benefits resulting from them to the public. Such a +governor was Numa, at Rome; and such have been some +other emperors, whom the people found it necessary to compel +to accept the supreme power. +</p> + +<p> +It must be owned (I cannot help repeating it) that there is +nothing nobler or greater than such a disposition. But to put +on the mask of modesty and virtue, in order to satisfy one's +ambition, as Dejoces did; to affect to appear outwardly what +a man is not inwardly; to refuse for a time, and then accept +with a seeming repugnancy, what a man earnestly desires, and +what he has been labouring by secret, underhand practices to +obtain; this double-dealing has so much meanness in it, that +it necessarily lessens our opinion of the person, and extremely +sullies the lustre of those good qualities, which in other +respects, he possesses. +</p> + +<pb n='355'/><anchor id='Pg355'/> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Dejoces. A.M. 3294. Ant. J.C. 710.</note> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Dejoces</hi> reigned fifty-three years.<note place='foot'>Herod. +l. i. c. 96-101.</note> When he had ascended +the throne, he endeavoured to convince the people, +that they were not mistaken in the choice they had +made of him, for restoring of order. At first he +resolved to have his dignity of king attended with all +the marks that could inspire an awe and respect for his person. +He obliged his subjects to build him a magnificent palace in +the place he appointed. This palace he strongly fortified, and +chose out from among his people such persons as he judged +fittest to be his guards, from their attachment to his interests, +and his reliance on their fidelity. +</p> + +<p> +After having thus provided for his own security, he applied +himself to polish and civilize his subjects, who, having been +accustomed to live in the country and in villages, almost +without laws and without polity, had contracted the disposition +and manners of savages. To this end he commanded them +to build a city, marking out himself the place and circumference +of the walls. This city was compassed about with seven +distinct walls, all disposed in such a manner, that the outermost +did not hinder the parapet of the second from being seen, +nor the second that of the third, and so of all the rest. The +situation of the place was extremely favourable for such a +design, for it was a regular hill, whose ascent was equal on +every side. Within the last and smallest enclosure stood the +king's palace, with all his treasures: in the sixth, which was +next to that, there were several apartments for lodging the +officers of his household; and the intermediate spaces, +between the other walls, were appointed for the habitation of +the people: the first and largest enclosure was about the +bigness of Athens. The name of this city was Ecbatana. +</p> + +<p> +The prospect of it was magnificent and beautiful; for, +besides the disposition of the walls, which formed a kind of +amphitheatre, the different colours wherewith the several +parapets were painted formed a delightful variety. +</p> + +<p> +After the city was finished, and Dejoces had obliged part of +the Medes to settle in it, he turned all his thoughts to composing +of laws for the good of the state. But being persuaded, +that the majesty of kings is most respected afar +off<note place='foot'><foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>major ex +<pb n='356'/><anchor id='Pg356'/> +longinquo reverentia</foreign>, Tacit.</note> he began to keep himself at a +distance from his people; was almost inaccessible, and, as it +were, invisible to his subjects, not suffering them to speak, or +communicate their affairs to him, but only by petitions, and +the interposition of his officers. And even those that had the +privilege of approaching him, might neither laugh nor spit in +his presence. +</p> + +<p> +This able statesman acted in this manner, in order the +better to secure to himself the possession of the crown. For, +having to deal with men yet uncivilized, and no very good +judges of true merit, he was afraid, that too great a familiarity +with him might induce contempt, and occasion plots and +conspiracies against a growing power, which is generally +looked upon with invidious and discontented eyes. But by +keeping himself thus concealed from the eyes of the people, +and making himself known only by the wise laws he made, +and the strict justice he took care to administer to every one, +he acquired the respect and esteem of all his subjects. +</p> + +<p> +It is said, that from the innermost part of his palace he saw +every thing that was done in his dominions, by means of his +emissaries, who brought him accounts, and informed him of +all transactions. By this means no crime escaped either the +knowledge of the prince, or the rigour of the law; and the +punishment treading upon the heels of the offence, kept +the wicked in awe, and stopped the course of violence and +injustice. +</p> + +<p> +Things might possibly pass in this manner to a certain +degree during his administration: but there is nothing more +obvious than the great inconveniencies necessarily resulting +from the custom introduced by Dejoces, and wherein he has +been imitated by the rest of the Eastern potentates; the +custom, I mean, of living concealed in his palace, of governing +by spies dispersed throughout his kingdom, of relying solely +upon their sincerity for the truth of facts; of not suffering +truth, the complaints of the oppressed, and the just reasons of +innocent persons, to be conveyed to him any other way, than +through foreign channels, that is, by men liable to be prejudiced +or corrupted; men that stopped up all avenues to +remonstrances, or the reparation of injuries, and that were +<pb n='357'/><anchor id='Pg357'/> +capable of doing the greatest injustice themselves, with so +much the more ease and assurance, as their iniquity remained +undiscovered, and consequently unpunished. But besides all +this, methinks, that very affectation in princes of making themselves +invisible, shows them to be conscious of their slender +merit, which shuns the light, and dares not stand the test of a +near examination. +</p> + +<p> +Dejoces was so wholly taken up in humanizing and softening +the manners, and in making laws for the good government +of his people, that he never engaged in any enterprise against +his neighbours, though his reign was very long, for he did not +die till after having reigned fifty-three years. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Pharaortes. A.M. 3347. Ant. J.C. 657.</note> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Phraortes</hi> reigned twenty-two years.<note place='foot'>Herod. c. +102.</note> After the death of Dejoces, his son Phraortes, called otherwise +Aphraartes,<note place='foot'>He is called so by Eusebius, +<hi rend='italic'>Chron. Græc</hi> and by Geor. Syncel.—Trans.</note> +succeeded. The affinity between these two names would alone make one believe that this is +the king called in Scripture Arphaxad: but that +opinion has many other substantial reasons to support it, as +may be seen in father Montfaucon's learned dissertation, of +which I have here made great use. The passage in Judith, +<hi rend='italic'>That Arphaxad built a very strong city, and called it +Ecbatana,</hi><note place='foot'>Judith, i. 1.</note> +has deceived most authors, and made them believe, +that Arphaxad must be Dejoces, who was certainly the founder +of that city. But the Greek text of Judith, which the Vulgate +translation renders <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>ædificavit</foreign>, +says only, <hi rend='italic'>That Arphaxad +added new buildings to Ecbatana</hi>.<note place='foot'>Ἐπωκοδόμησε ἐπὶ Ἐκβατάνοις. +Judith, text Gr.</note> And what can be more +natural, than that, the father not having entirely perfected so +considerable a work, the son should put the last hand to it, +and make such additions as were wanting? +</p> + +<p> +Phraortes, being of a very warlike temper, and not contented +with the kingdom of Media, left him by his father, attacked +the Persians;<note place='foot'>Herod. l. i. c. 102.</note> +and defeating them in a decisive battle, brought +them under subjection to his empire. Then strengthened by +the accession of their troops, he attacked other neighbouring +nations, one after another, till he made himself master of +almost all the Upper Asia, which comprehends all that lies +north of mount Taurus, from Media as far as the river Halys. +<pb n='358'/><anchor id='Pg358'/> +Elate with this good success, he ventured to turn his arms +against the Assyrians, at that time indeed weakened through +the revolt of several nations, but yet very powerful in themselves. +Nabuchodonosor, their king, otherwise called Saosduchinus, +raised a great army in his own country, and sent +ambassadors to several other nations of the East,<note place='foot'>The +Greek text places these embassies before the battle.—Trans.</note> to require +their assistance. They all refused him with contempt, and +ignominiously treated his ambassadors, letting him see, that +they no longer dreaded that empire, which had formerly kept +the greatest part of them in a slavish subjection. +</p> + +<p> +The king, highly enraged at such insolent treatment, swore +by his throne and his reign, that he would be revenged of all +those nations, and put them every one to the sword. He then +prepared for battle, with what forces he had, in the plain of +Ragau. A great battle ensued there, which proved fatal to +Phraortes. He was defeated, his cavalry fled, his chariots +were overturned and put into disorder, and Nabuchodonosor +gained a complete victory. Then taking advantage of the +defeat and confusion of the Medes, he entered their country, +took their cities, pushed on his conquests even to Ecbatana, +forced the towers and the walls by storm, and gave the city to +be pillaged by his soldiers, who plundered it, and stripped it of +all its ornaments. +</p> + +<p> +The unfortunate Phraortes, who had escaped into the +mountains of Ragau, fell at last into the hands of Nabuchodonosor, +who cruelly caused him to be shot to death with darts. +After that, he returned to Nineveh with all his army, which +was still very numerous, and for four months together did +nothing but feast and divert himself with those that had +accompanied him in this expedition. +</p> + +<p> +In Judith, we read that the king of Assyria sent Holophernes +with a powerful army, to revenge himself of those that had +refused him succours; the progress and cruelty of that commander, +the general consternation of all the people, the +courageous resolution of the Israelites to withstand him, in +assurance that their God would defend them, the extremity +to which Bethulia and the whole nation was reduced, the +miraculous deliverance of that city by the courage and conduct +<pb n='359'/><anchor id='Pg359'/> +of the brave Judith, and the complete overthrow of the +Assyrian army, are all related in the same book. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Cyaxares I. A.M. 3869. Ant. J.C. 635.</note> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Cyaxares I.</hi> reigned forty years.<note place='foot'>Herod. +l. i. c. 103-106.</note> This prince succeeded +to the throne immediately after his father's death. He +was a very brave, enterprising prince, and knew how +to make his advantage of the late overthrow of the +Assyrian army. He first settled himself well in his +kingdom of Media, and then conquered all Upper Asia. +But what he had most at heart was, to go and attack Nineveh, +to revenge the death of his father by the destruction of that +great city. +</p> + +<p> +The Assyrians came out to meet him, having only the +remains of that great army, which was destroyed before Bethulia. +A battle ensued, wherein the Assyrians were defeated, +and driven back to Nineveh. Cyaxares, pursuing his victory, +laid siege to the city, which was upon the point of falling +inevitably into his hands, but the time was not yet come when +God designed to punish that city for her crimes, and for the +calamities she had brought upon his people, as well as other +nations. It was delivered from its present danger in the +following manner. +</p> + +<p> +A formidable army of Scythians, from the neighbourhood of +the Palus Mæotis, had driven the Cimmerians out of Europe, +and was still marching under the conduct of king Madyes in +pursuit of them. The Cimmerians had found means to escape +from the Scythians, who had advanced as far as Media. +Cyaxares, hearing of this irruption, raised the siege from +before Nineveh, and marched with all his forces against that +mighty army, which, like an impetuous torrent, was going to +overrun all Asia. The two armies engaged, and the Medes +were vanquished. The Barbarians, finding no other obstacle +in their way, overspread not only Media, but almost all Asia. +After that, they marched towards Egypt, from whence Psammiticus +diverted their course by presents. They then returned +into Palestine, where some of them plundered the temple of +Venus at Ascalon, the most ancient of the temples dedicated +to that goddess. Some of the Scythians settled at Bethshan, +<pb n='360'/><anchor id='Pg360'/> +a city in the tribe of Manasseh, on this side Jordan, which +from them was afterwards called Scythopolis. +</p> + +<p> +The Scythians for the space of twenty-eight years were +masters of the Upper Asia, namely, the two Armenias, Cappadocia, +Pontus, Colchis, and Iberia; during which time they +spread desolation wherever they came. The Medes had no +way of getting rid of them, but by a dangerous stratagem. +Under pretence of cultivating and strengthening the alliance +they had made together, they invited the greatest part of them +to a general feast, which was made in every family. Each +master of the feast made his guests drunk, and in that condition +were the Scythians massacred. The Medes then repossessed +themselves of the provinces they had lost, and once +more extended their empire to the banks of the Halys, which +was their ancient boundary westward. +</p> + +<p> +The remaining Scythians, who were not at this feast, +having heard of the massacre of their countrymen, fled into +Lydia to king Halyattes, who received them with great humanity.<note place='foot'>Herod. +l. i. c. 74.</note> This occasioned a war between the two princes. +Cyaxares immediately led his troops to the frontiers of Lydia. +Many battles were fought during the space of five years, with +almost equal advantage on both sides. But the battle fought +in the sixth year was very remarkable on account of an eclipse +of the sun, which happened during the engagement, when on +a sudden the day was turned into a dark night. Thales, the +Milesian, had foretold this eclipse. The Medes and Lydians, +who were then in the heat of the battle, equally terrified with +this unforeseen event, which they looked upon as a sign of the +anger of the gods, immediately retreated on both sides, and +made peace. Syennesis, king of Cilicia, and Nabuchodonosor,<note place='foot'>In +Herodotus he is called Labynetus.—Trans.</note> +king of Babylon, were the mediators. To render it +more firm and inviolable, the two princes were willing to +strengthen it by the tie of marriage, and agreed, that Halyattes +should give his daughter Aryenis to Astyages, eldest son of +Cyaxares. +</p> + +<p> +The manner these people had of contracting an alliance +<pb n='361'/><anchor id='Pg361'/> +with one another, is very remarkable. Besides other ceremonies, +which they had in common with the Greeks, they had +this in particular; the two contracting parties made incisions +in their own arms, and licked one another's blood. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>A.M. 3378. Ant. J.C. 626.</note> +Cyaxares's first care, as soon as he found himself again +in peace, was to resume the siege of Nineveh, which +the irruption of the Scythians had obliged him to +raise.<note place='foot'>Herod. l. i. c. +106.</note> Nabopolassar, king of Babylon, with whom +he had lately contracted a particular alliance, joined with him +in a league against the Assyrians. Having therefore united +their forces, they besieged Nineveh, took it, killed Saracus +the king, and utterly destroyed that mighty city. +</p> + +<p> +God had foretold by his prophets above a hundred years +before, that he would bring vengeance upon that impious city +for the blood of his servants, wherewith the kings thereof had +gorged themselves, like ravenous lions; that he himself would +march at the head of the troops that should come to besiege it; +that he would cause consternation and terror to go before +them; that he would deliver the old men, the mothers, and +their children, into the merciless hands of the soldiers; that all +the treasures of the city should fall into the hands of rapacious +and insatiable plunderers; and that the city itself should be so +totally and utterly destroyed, that not so much as a vestige of +it should be left; and that the people should ask hereafter, +Where did the proud city of Nineveh stand? +</p> + +<p> +But let us hear the language of the prophets themselves: +Woe unto the bloody city, (cries Nahum,) it is all full of lies +and robbery:<note place='foot'>Nahum iii. 1.</note> +he that dasheth in pieces is come up before +thy face.<note place='foot'>ii. 1, 2.</note> +The Lord cometh to avenge the cruelties done to +Jacob and to Israel. I hear already the noise of the whip, +and the noise of the rattling of the wheels, and of the prancing +horses, and of the bounding chariots.<note place='foot'>iii. +2, 3.</note> The horseman lifteth +up both the bright sword, and the glittering spear. The +shield of his mighty men is made red; the valiant men are in +scarlet.<note place='foot'>ii. 3, 4.</note> +They shall seem like torches, they shall run like the +lightning. God is jealous; the Lord revengeth, and is +furious.<note place='foot'>i. 2, 5, 6.</note> +The mountains quake at him, and the hills melt, +<pb n='362'/><anchor id='Pg362'/> +and the earth is burnt at his presence: who can stand before +his indignation? and who can abide in the fierceness of his +anger? Behold, I am against thee, saith the Lord of hosts: +I will strip thee of all thy ornaments.<note place='foot'>Nahum, +iii. 5.</note> Take ye the spoil of +silver, take the spoil of gold; for there is no end of the store +and glory out of all the pleasant furniture.<note place='foot'>ii. +9, 10.</note> She is empty, and +void, and waste. Nineveh is destroyed; she is overthrown; +she is desolate. The gates of the rivers shall be opened, and +the palace<note place='foot'>The author in this place renders it, +Her temple is destroyed to the foundations. But I have chosen to +follow our English Bible, though in the Latin it is +<foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>camplum</foreign>.—Trans.</note> +shall be dissolved.<note place='foot'>ii. 6.</note> And Huzzab shall be led +away captive; she shall be brought up, and her maids shall +lead her as with the voice of doves tabring upon their breasts. +I see a multitude of slain, and a great number of carcasses; +and there is no end of their corpses; they stumble upon their +corpses.<note place='foot'>iii. 3.</note> Where is the dwelling of the lions, and the +feeding places of the young lions, where the lion, even the old +lion, walked, and the lion's whelp, and none made them afraid: +where the lion did tear in pieces enough for his whelps, and +strangled for his lionesses, and filled his holes with prey, and +his dens with rapine:<note place='foot'>ii. 11, 12.</note><note place='foot'>This +is a noble image of the cruel avarice of the Assyrian kings, who pillaged +and plundered all their neighbouring nations, especially Judea, and carried away the +spoils of them to Nineveh.—Trans.</note> The Lord shall destroy +Assur.<note place='foot'>Zephan. ii. 13-15.</note> He +shall depopulate that city, which was so beautiful, and turn it +into a land where no man cometh, and into a desert. It shall +be a dwelling place for wild beasts, and the birds of night shall +lurk therein. Behold, shall it be said, see that proud city, +which was so stately, and so exalted; which said in her heart, +I am the only city, and besides me there is no other. All they +that pass by her shall scoff at her, and shall insult her with +hissings and contemptuous gestures. +</p> + +<p> +The two armies enriched themselves with the spoils of +Nineveh; and Cyaxares, prosecuting his victories, made himself +master of all the cities of the kingdom of Assyria, except +Babylon and Chaldea, which belonged to Nabopolassar. +</p> + +<p> +After this expedition Cyaxares died, and left his dominions +to his son Astyages. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Astyages</hi> reigned thirty-five years. This prince is called in +<pb n='363'/><anchor id='Pg363'/> +<note place='margin'>Astyages. A.M. 3409. Ant. J.C. 595.</note> +Scripture Ahasuerus. Though his reign was very +long, no less than thirty-five years, yet have we no +particulars recorded of it in history. He had two +children, whose names are famous, namely, Cyaxares, by his +wife Aryenis, and Mandane, by a former marriage. In his +father's lifetime he married Mandane to Cambyses, the son of +Achemenes, king of Persia: from this marriage sprung Cyrus, +who was born but one year after the birth of his uncle +Cyaxares. The latter succeeded his father in the kingdom of +the Medes. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Cyaxares II.</hi> This is the prince whom the Scripture calls +Darius the Mede. +</p> + +<p> +Cyrus, having taken Babylon, in conjunction with his uncle +Cyaxares, left it under his government. After the death of his +uncle, and his father Cambyses, he united the kingdom of the +Medes and the Persians into one: in the sequel, therefore, +they will be considered only as one empire. I shall begin the +history of that empire with the reign of Cyrus; which will +include also what is known of the reigns of his two predecessors, +Cyaxares and Astyages. But I shall previously give some +account of the kingdom of Lydia, because Crœsus, its king, +has a considerable share in the events of which I am to speak. +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Chapter IV. The History of the Lydians.</head> + +<p> +The kings who first reigned over the Lydians, are by +Herodotus called Atyadæ, that is, descendants from Atys.<note place='foot'>Herod. +l. i. c. 7-13.</note> These, he tells us, derived their origin from Lydus, the son of +Atys; and Lydus gave the name of Lydians to that people, +who before this time were called Mœonians. +</p> + +<p> +These Atyadæ were succeeded by the Heraclidæ, or descendants +of Hercules, who possessed this kingdom for the space of +five hundred and five years. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>A.M. 2781. Ant. J.C. 1223.</note> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Argo</hi>, great grandson of Alcæus, son of Hercules, +was the first of the Heraclidæ who reigned in Lydia. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Candaules.</note> +The last was <hi rend='smallcaps'>Candaules.</hi> This prince was married to a lady +of exquisite beauty; and, being infatuated by his +passion for her, was perpetually boasting of her charms +<pb n='364'/><anchor id='Pg364'/> +to others. Nothing would serve him, but that Gyges, one of his +chief officers, should see, and judge of them by his own eyes; +as if the husband's own knowledge of them was not sufficient +for his happiness, or the beauty of his wife would have been +impaired by his silence.<note place='foot'>Non contentus +voluptatum suarum tacitâ conscientiâ—proisus quasi silentium +damnum pulchritudinis esset. Justin, l. i. c. 7.—Trans.</note> +The king to this end placed Gyges +secretly in a convenient place; but notwithstanding that precaution, +the queen perceived him when he retired, yet took no +manner of notice of it. Judging, as the historian represents it, +that the most valuable treasure of a woman is her modesty, +she studied a signal revenge for the injury she had received; +and, to punish the fault of her husband, committed a still +greater crime. Possibly, a secret passion for Gyges had as +great a share in that action, as her resentment for the dishonour +done her. Be that as it will, she sent for Gyges, and +obliged him to expiate his crime, either by his own death, or +the king's, at his own option. After some remonstrances to +no purpose, he resolved upon the latter, and by the murder of +Candaules became master of his queen and his +throne.<note place='margin'>A.M. 3286. Ant. J.C. 718.</note> +By this means the kingdom passed from the +family of the Heraclidæ into that of the Mermnadæ. +</p> + +<p> +Archilochus, the poet, lived at this time, and, as Herodotus +informs us, spoke of this adventure of Gyges in his poems. +</p> + +<p> +I cannot forbear mentioning in this place what is related by +Herodotus, that amongst the Lydians, and almost all other +Barbarians, it was reckoned shameful and infamous even for a +man to appear naked. These footsteps of modesty, which are +met with amongst pagans, ought to be reckoned valuable.<note place='foot'><p>Nostro +quidem more cum parentibus puberes filii, cum soceris generi, non +lavantur. Retinenda est igitur hujus generis verecundia, præsertim naturâ ipsâ +magistrâ et duce. Cic. l. i. <hi rend='italic'>de offic.</hi> n. 129. +</p> +<p> +Nadare se nefas esse credebatur. Val. Max. l. ii. c. 1.—Trans.</p></note> +We are assured, that among the Romans, a son, who was come +to the age of maturity, never went into the baths with his +father, nor even a son-in-law with his father-in-law; and this +modesty and decency were looked upon by them as enjoined +by the law of nature, the violation whereof was criminal. It is +astonishing, that amongst us our magistrates take no care to +prevent this disorder, which, in the midst of Paris, at the season +<pb n='365'/><anchor id='Pg365'/> +of bathing, is openly committed with impunity; a disorder so +visibly contrary to the rules of common decency, so dangerous +to young persons of both sexes, and so severely condemned by +paganism itself. +</p> + +<p> +Plato relates the story of Gyges in a different manner from +Herodotus.<note place='foot'>Plato <hi rend='italic'>de +Rep.</hi> l. ii. p. 359.</note> He tells us that Gyges wore a ring, the stone of +which, when turned towards him, rendered him invisible; so +that he had the advantage of seeing others, without being seen +himself; and that by means of this ring, with the concurrence +of the queen, he deprived Candaules of his life and throne. +This probably signifies, that in order to compass his criminal +design, he used all the tricks and stratagems, which the world +calls subtle and refined policy, which penetrates into the most +secret purposes of others, without making the least discovery +of its own. The story, thus explained, carries in it a greater +appearance of truth, than what we read in Herodotus. +</p> + +<p> +Cicero, after having related this fable of Gyges's famous ring, +adds, that if a wise man had such a ring, he would not use +it to any wicked purpose; because virtue considers what is +honourable and just, and has no occasion for darkness.<note place='foot'>Hunc +ipsum annulum si habeat sapiens, nihilo plus sibi licere putet peccare, +quàm si non haberet. Honesta enim bonis viris, non occulta quæruntur. Lib. iii, +<hi rend='italic'>de offic.</hi> n. 38.—Trans.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Gyges. A.M. 3286. Ant. J.C. 718.</note> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Gyges</hi> reigned thirty-eight years.<note place='foot'>Herod. +l. i. c. 13, 14.</note> The murder of Candaules +raised a sedition among the Lydians. The two +parties, instead of coming to blows, agreed to refer +the matter to the decision of the Delphic oracle, +which declared in favour of Gyges. The king made large +presents to the temple of Delphi, which undoubtedly preceded, +and had no little influence upon, the oracle's answer. Among +other things of value, Herodotus mentions six golden cups, +weighing thirty talents, amounting to near a million of French +money, which is about forty-eight thousand pounds sterling. +</p> + +<p> +As soon as he was in peaceable possession of the throne, he +made war against Miletus, Smyrna, and Colophon, three +powerful cities belonging to the neighbouring states. +</p> + +<p> +After he had reigned thirty-eight years, he died, and was +succeeded by his son +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Ardys,</hi> who reigned forty-nine years.<note place='foot'>Ibid. +l. i. c. 15.</note> It was in the reign +<pb n='366'/><anchor id='Pg366'/> +of<note place='margin'>Ardys. A.M. 3334. Ant. J.C. 680.</note> +this prince, that the Cimmerians, driven out of +their country by the Scythæ Nomades, went into +Asia, and took the city of Sardis, with the exception +of the citadel. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Sadyattes. A.M. 3373. Ant. J.C. 631.</note> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Sadyattes</hi> reigned twelve years.<note place='foot'>Herod. +l. i. c. 16, 22.</note> This prince declared +war against the Milesians, and laid siege to their city. +In those days the sieges, which were generally +nothing more than blockades, were carried on very +slowly, and lasted many years. This king died before he had +finished that of Miletus, and was succeeded by his son. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Halyattes. A.M. 3385. Ant. J.C. 619.</note> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Halyattes</hi> reigned fifty-seven years.<note place='foot'>Ibid. +c. 21, 22.</note> This is the prince +who made war against Cyaxares, king of Media. He +likewise drove the Cimmerians out of Asia. He +attacked and took the cities of Smyrna and Clazomenæ. +He vigorously prosecuted the war against the Milesians, +begun by his father; and continued the siege of their city, +which had lasted six years under his father, and continued as +many under him. It ended at length in the following manner: +Halyattes, upon an answer he received from the Delphic oracle, +had sent an ambassador into the city, to propose a truce +for some months. Thrasybulus, Tyrant of Miletus, having +notice of his coming, ordered all the corn, and other provisions, +assembled by him and his subjects for their support, to be +brought into the public market; and commanded the citizens, +at the sight of a signal that should be given, to be all in +a general humour of feasting and jollity. The thing was executed +according to his orders. The Lydian ambassador at his +arrival was in the utmost surprise to see such plenty in the +market, and such cheerfulness in the city. His master, to +whom he gave an account of what he had seen, concluding that +his project of reducing the place by famine would never succeed, +preferred peace to so apparently fruitless a war, and +immediately raised the siege. +</p> + +<p> +<note place='margin'>Crœsus. A.M. 3442. Ant. J.C. 562.</note> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Crœsus.</hi> His very name, which is become a proverb, conveys +an idea of immense riches. The wealth of this +prince, to judge of it only by the presents he made +to the temple of Delphi, must have been excessively +great. Most of those presents were still to be seen in the time +<pb n='367'/><anchor id='Pg367'/> +of Herodotus, and were worth several millions. We may +partly account for the treasures of this prince, from certain +mines that he had, situate, according to Strabo, between Pergamus +and Atarna;<note place='foot'>Strab. l. xiii. p. 625. +& l. xiv. p. 680.</note> as also from the little river Pactolus, the +sand of which was gold. But in Strabo's time this river had no +longer the same advantage. +</p> + +<p> +What is very extraordinary, this affluence did not enervate +or soften the courage of Crœsus.<note place='foot'>Herod. +l. i. c. 26-28.</note> He thought it unworthy +of a prince to spend his time in idleness and pleasure. For his +part, he was perpetually in arms, made several conquests, and +enlarged his dominions by the addition of all the contiguous +provinces, as Phrygia, Mysia, Paphlagonia, Bithynia, Pamphylia, +and all the country of the Carians, Ionians, Dorians, and +Æolians. Herodotus observes, that he was the first conqueror +of the Greeks, who till then had never been subject to a foreign +power. Doubtless he must mean the Greeks settled in Asia +Minor. +</p> + +<p> +But what is still more extraordinary in this prince, though he +was so immensely rich, and so great a warrior, yet his chief +delight was in literature and the sciences. His court was the +ordinary residence of those famous learned men, so revered by +antiquity, and distinguished by the name of the Seven Wise +Men of Greece. +</p> + +<p> +Solon, one of the most celebrated amongst them, after +having established new laws at Athens, thought he might +absent himself for some years, and improve that time by +travelling.<note place='foot'>Ibid. l. i. c. 29-33. Plut. +<hi rend='italic'>in Sol.</hi> p. 93, 94.</note> +He went to Sardis, where he was received in a manner +suitable to the reputation of so great a man. The king, +attended with a numerous court, appeared in all his regal +pomp and splendour, dressed in the most magnificent apparel, +which was all over enriched with gold, and glittered with diamonds. +Notwithstanding the novelty of this spectacle to Solon, +it did not appear that he was the least moved at it, nor did he +utter a word which discovered the least surprise or admiration; +on the contrary, people of sense might sufficiently discern from +his behaviour, that he looked upon all this outward pomp, as +an indication of a little mind, which knows not in what true +<pb n='368'/><anchor id='Pg368'/> +greatness and dignity consist. This coldness and indifference +in Solon's first approach, gave the king no favourable opinion +of his new guest. +</p> + +<p> +He afterwards ordered that all his treasures, his magnificent +apartments, and costly furniture, should be showed him; as if +he expected, by the multitude of his fine vessels, jewels, statues, +and paintings, to conquer the philosopher's indifference. +But these things were not the king; and it was the king that +Solon was come to visit, and not the walls and chambers of his +palace. He had no notion of making a judgment of the king, +or an estimate of his worth, by these outward appendages, but +by himself and his own personal qualities. Were we to judge +at present by the same rule, we should find many of our great +men wretchedly naked and desolate. +</p> + +<p> +When Solon had seen all, he was brought back to the king. +Crœsus then asked him, which of mankind in all his travels he +had found the most truly happy? <q>One Tellus,</q> replied Solon, +<q>a citizen of Athens, a very honest and good man, who, after +having lived all his days without indigence, having always seen +his country in a flourishing condition, has left children that +are universally esteemed, has had the satisfaction of seeing +those children's children, and at last died gloriously in fighting +for his country.</q> +</p> + +<p> +Such an answer as this, in which gold and silver were +accounted as nothing, seemed to Crœsus to denote a strange +ignorance and stupidity. However, as he flattered himself that +he should be ranked at least in the second degree of happiness, +he asked him, <q>Who, of all those he had seen, was the next in +felicity to Tellus?</q> Solon answered, <q>Cleobis and Biton, of +Argos, two brothers,<note place='foot'>Φιλαδελφοὺς καὶ φιλομήτορας +διαφερόντως ἄνδρας.—Trans.</note> who had left behind them a perfect pattern +of fraternal affection, and of the respect due from children +to their parents. Upon a solemn festival, when their mother, +a priestess of Juno, was to go to the temple, the oxen that +were to draw her not being ready, the two sons put themselves +to the yoke, and drew their mother's chariot thither, which +was above five miles distant. All the mothers of the place, +ravished with admiration, congratulated the priestess on being +the mother of such sons. She, in the transports of her joy +<pb n='369'/><anchor id='Pg369'/> +and thankfulness, earnestly entreated the goddess to reward +her children with the best thing that heaven can give to man. +Her prayers were heard. When the sacrifice was over, her +two sons fell asleep in the very temple, and there died<note place='foot'>The +fatigue of drawing the chariot might be the cause of it.—Trans.</note> in a +soft and peaceful slumber. In honour of their piety, the +people of Argos consecrated statues to them in the temple of +Delphi.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q>What then,</q> says Crœsus, in a tone that showed his discontent, +<q>you do not reckon me in the number of the happy?</q> +Solon, who was not willing either to flatter or exasperate him +any further, replied calmly: <q>King of Lydia, besides many +other advantages, the gods have given us Grecians a spirit of +moderation and reserve, which has produced amongst us a plain, +popular kind of philosophy, accompanied with a certain generous +freedom, void of pride or ostentation, and therefore not +well suited to the courts of kings: this philosophy, considering +what an infinite number of vicissitudes and accidents the life of +man is liable to, does not allow us either to glory in any prosperity +we enjoy ourselves, or to admire happiness in others, +which perhaps may prove only transient, or superficial.</q> From +hence he took occasion to represent to him further, <q>That the +life of man seldom exceeds seventy years, which make up in all +six thousand two hundred and fifty days, of which no two are +exactly alike; so that the time to come is nothing but a series +of various accidents, which cannot be foreseen. Therefore, in +our opinion,</q> continued he, <q>no man can be esteemed happy, +but he whose happiness God continues to the end of his life: +as for others, who are perpetually exposed to a thousand dangers, +we account their happiness as uncertain as the crown is +to a person that is still engaged in battle, and has not yet +obtained the victory.</q> Solon retired, when he had spoken +these words,<note place='foot'>Λυπήσας μὲν, οὐ νουθετήσας δὲ τὸν +Κροίσον.—Trans.</note> which served only to mortify Crœsus, but not +to reform him. +</p> + +<p> +Æsop, the author of the Fables, was then at the court of +this prince, by whom he was very kindly entertained. He was +concerned at the unhandsome treatment Solon received, and +<pb n='370'/><anchor id='Pg370'/> +said to him by way of advice: <q>Solon, we must either not +come near princes at all, or speak things that are agreeable to +them.</q> <q>Say rather,</q> replied Solon, <q>that we should either +never come near them at all, or else speak such things as may +be for their good.</q><note place='foot'>Ὦ Σόλων (ἔφη) τοῖς +βασιλεῦσι δεῖ ὡς ἥκιστα ἤ ὡς ἥδιστα ὁμιλεῖν. +Καὶ ό Σόλων, Μὴ Δί (εἶπεν) ἀλλ᾽ ὡς ἥκιστα ἥ ὡς ἄριστα. +The jingle of the words ὡς ἥκιστα ἥ ὡς ἄριστα, +which is a beauty in the original, because it is founded in the sense, cannot be +rendered into any other language.—Trans.</note> +</p> + +<p> +In Plutarch's time some of the learned were of opinion, that +this interview between Solon and Crœsus did not agree with +the dates of chronology. But as those dates are very uncertain, +that judicious author did not think this objection ought to +prevail against the authority of several credible writers, by +whom this story is attested. +</p> + +<p> +What we have now related of Crœsus is a very natural +picture of the behaviour of kings and great men, who for the +most part are seduced by flattery; and shows us at the same +time the two sources from whence that blindness generally +proceeds. The one is, a secret inclination which all men have, +but especially the great, of receiving praise without any +precaution, and of judging favourably of all that admire them, +and show an unlimited submission and complaisance to their +humours. The other is, the great resemblance there is between +flattery and a sincere affection, or a reasonable respect; which +is sometimes counterfeited so exactly, that the wisest may be +deceived, if they are not very much upon their guard. +</p> + +<p> +Crœsus, if we judge of him by the character he bears in +history, was a very good prince, and worthy of esteem in many +respects. He had a great deal of good-nature, affability, and +humanity. His palace was a receptacle for men of wit and +learning, which shows that he himself was a person of learning, +and had a taste for the sciences. His weakness was, that he +laid too great stress upon riches and magnificence, thought +himself great and happy in proportion to his possessions, +mistook regal pomp and splendour for true and solid greatness, +and fed his vanity with the excessive submissions of those that +stood in a kind of adoration before him. +</p> + +<p> +Those learned men, those wits and other courtiers, that +surrounded this prince, ate at his table, partook of his pleasures, +<pb n='371'/><anchor id='Pg371'/> +shared his confidence, and enriched themselves by his bounty +and liberality, took care not to thwart the prince's taste, and +never thought of undeceiving him with respect to his errors or +false ideas. On the contrary, they made it their business to +cherish and fortify them in him, extolling him perpetually as +the most opulent prince of his age, and never speaking of his +wealth, or the magnificence of his palace, but in terms of +admiration and rapture; because they knew this was the sure +way to please him, and to secure his favour. For flattery is +nothing else but a commerce of falsehood and lying, founded +upon interest on one side, and vanity on the other. The +flatterer desirous to advance himself, and make his fortune; +the prince to be praised and admired, because he is his own +first flatterer, and carries within himself a more subtile and +better prepared poison than any adulation gives him. +</p> + +<p> +That maxim of Æsop, who had formerly been a slave, and +still retained somewhat of the spirit and character of slavery, +though he had varnished it over with the address of an artful +courtier; that maxim of his, I say, which recommended to +Solon, <q>That we should either not come near kings, or say +what is agreeable to them,</q> shows us with what kind of men +Crœsus had filled his court, and by what means he had banished +all sincerity, integrity, and duty, from his presence. In consequence +of which, we see he could not bear that noble and +generous freedom in the philosopher, upon which he ought to +have set an infinite value; as he would have done, had he but +understood the worth of a friend, who, attaching himself to the +person, and not to the fortune of a prince, has the courage to +tell him disagreeable truths; truths unpalatable, and bitter to +self-love at the present, but that may prove very salutary and +serviceable for the future. <foreign lang='la' rend='italic'>Dic illis, non quod volunt +audire, sed quod audisse semper volent.</foreign> These are Seneca's own +words, where he is endeavouring to show of what great use a +faithful and sincere friend may be to a prince; and what he +adds further seems to be written on purpose for Crœsus: +<q>Give him,</q><note place='foot'>Plenas aures adulationibus aliquando vera vox intret: +da consilium utile. Quæris, quid felici præstare possis? Effice, ne felicitati suæ +credat. Parum in illum contuleris, si illi semel stultam fiduciam permansuræ semper +potentiæ excusseris, docuerisque mobilia esse quæ dedit casus; ac sæpe inter fortunam +maximam et ultimam nihil interesse. Sen. <hi rend='italic'>de benef.</hi> l. vi. c. +33.—Trans.</note> says he, <q>wholesome advice. Let a word of +<pb n='372'/><anchor id='Pg372'/> +truth once reach those ears, which are perpetually fed and +entertained with flattery. You will ask me, what service can +be done to a person arrived at the highest pitch of felicity? +That of teaching him not to trust in his prosperity; of removing +that vain confidence he has in his power and greatness, as +if they were to endure for ever; of making him understand, +that every thing which belongs to and depends upon fortune, is +as unstable as herself; and that there is often but the space of +a moment between the highest elevation and the most unhappy +downfall.</q> +</p> + +<p> +It was not long before Crœsus experienced the truth of +what Solon had told him.<note place='foot'>Herod. l. +i. c. 34-45.</note> He had two sons, one of which, +being dumb, was a perpetual subject of affliction to him; the +other, named Atys, was distinguished by every good quality, +and his great consolation and delight. The father one night +had a dream, which made a great impression upon his mind, +that this beloved son of his was to perish by iron. This +became a new source of anxiety and trouble, and care is taken +to remove out of the young prince's way every thing made of +iron, as partisans, lances, javelins, &c. No mention is made +of armies, wars, or sieges, before him. But one day there was +to be an extraordinary hunting-match, for the killing of a wild +boar, which had committed great ravage in the neighbourhood. +All the young lords of the court were to be at this hunting. +Atys very earnestly importuned his father that he would give +him leave to be present, at least as a spectator. The king +could not refuse him that request, but intrusted him to the +care of a discreet young prince, who had taken refuge in his +court, and was named Adrastus. And this very Adrastus, as +he was aiming his javelin at the boar, unfortunately killed +Atys. It is impossible to express either the affliction of the +father, when he heard of this fatal accident, or of the unhappy +prince, the innocent author of the murder, who expiated his +fault with his blood, stabbing himself in the breast with his +own sword, upon the funeral pile of the unfortunate Atys. +</p> + +<p> +Two years were spent on this occasion in deep mourning,<note place='foot'>Ibid. +46-50.</note> +<pb n='373'/><anchor id='Pg373'/> +the afflicted father's thoughts being wholly taken up with the +loss he had sustained. But the growing reputation, and great +qualities of Cyrus, who began to make himself known, roused +him out of his lethargy. He thought it behoved him to put +a stop to the power of the Persians, which was enlarging itself +every day. As he was very religious in his way, he would +never enter upon any enterprise without consulting the gods. +But, that he might not act blindly, and in order to be able to +form a certain judgment on the answers he should receive, he +was willing to assure himself beforehand of the truth of the +oracles. For which purpose, he sent messengers to all the +most celebrated oracles both of Greece and Africa, with orders +to inquire, every one at his respective oracle, what Crœsus was +doing on such a day, and such an hour, before agreed on. His +orders were punctually observed; and of all the oracles none +gave a true answer but that of Delphi. The answer was given +in Greek hexameter verses, and was in substance as follows: +<q>I know the number of the grains of sand on the sea-shore, and +the measure of the ocean's vast extent. I can hear the dumb, +and him that has not yet learnt to speak. A strong smell of +a tortoise boiled in brass, together with sheep's flesh, has reached +my nostrils, brass beneath, brass above.</q> And indeed the king, +thinking to invent something that could not possibly be guessed +at, had employed himself on the day and hour set down, in +boiling a tortoise and a lamb in a brass pot, which had a brass +cover. St. Austin observes in several places, that God, to +punish the blindness of the Pagans, sometimes permitted the +devils to give answers conformable to the truth. +</p> + +<p> +Crœsus, thus assured of the veracity of the god whom he +designed to consult, offered three thousand victims to his +honour, and ordered an infinite number of vessels, tripods, and +golden tables, to be melted down, and converted into ingots of +gold, to the number of a hundred and seventeen, to augment +the treasures of the temple of Delphi. Each of these ingots +weighed at least two talents; besides which, he made several +other presents: amongst others Herodotus mentions a golden +lion, weighing ten talents, and two vessels of an extraordinary +size, one of gold, which weighed eight talents and a half and +twelve minæ; the other of silver, which contained six hundred +<pb n='374'/><anchor id='Pg374'/> +of the measures called amphoræ. All these presents, and +many more, which for brevity's sake I omit, were to be seen in +the time of Herodotus. +</p> + +<p> +The messengers were ordered to consult the god upon two +points: first, whether Crœsus should undertake a war against +the Persians; secondly, if he did, whether he should require +the succour of any auxiliary troops. The oracle answered, +upon the first article, that if he carried his arms against the +Persians, he would subvert a great empire; upon the second, +that he would do well to make alliances with the most powerful +states of Greece. He consulted the oracle again, to know how +long the duration of his empire would be. The answer was, +that it should subsist till a mule came to possess the throne of +Media; which he considered as an assurance of the perpetual +duration of his kingdom. +</p> + +<p> +Pursuant to the direction of the oracle, Crœsus entered into +alliance with the Athenians, who at that time had Pisistratus +at their head, and with the Lacedæmonians, who were indisputably +the two most powerful states of Greece. +</p> + +<p> +A certain Lydian, much esteemed for his prudence, gave +Crœsus, on this occasion, very judicious advice.<note place='foot'>Herod. +l. i. c. 71.</note> <q>O prince, +(says he to him,) why do you think of turning your arms +against such a people as the Persians, who, being born in a +wild, rugged country, are inured from their infancy to every +kind of hardship and fatigue, who, being coarsely clad, and +coarsely fed, can content themselves with bread and water; +who are absolute strangers to all the delicacies and conveniencies +of life; who, in a word, have nothing to lose if you +conquer them, and every thing to gain if they conquer you; +and whom it would be difficult to drive out of our country, if +they should once come to taste the sweets and advantages of +it? So far therefore from thinking of beginning a war against +them, it is my opinion we ought to thank the gods that they +have never put it into the heads of the Persians to come and +attack the Lydians.</q> But Crœsus had taken his resolution +and would not be diverted from it. +</p> + +<p> +What remains of the history of Crœsus will be found in that +of Cyrus, which I am now going to begin. +</p> + +</div> + +</div> + +<div> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Maps.</head> + +<p rend='text-align: center'> + <figure url='images/plate-i-a.png' rend='width: 100%'> + <head rend='text-align: center'>Plate I, part A.</head> + <figDesc>Map: The World.</figDesc> + </figure> +</p> +<p rend='text-align: center'> + <figure url='images/plate-i-b.png' rend='width: 100%'> + <head rend='text-align: center'>Plate I, part B.</head> + <figDesc>Map: The World.</figDesc> + </figure> +</p> +<p rend='text-align: center'> + <figure url='images/plate-ii-a.png' rend='width: 100%'> + <head rend='text-align: center'>Plate II, part A.</head> + <figDesc>Map: Egypt with Lybia.</figDesc> + </figure> +</p> +<p rend='text-align: center'> + <figure url='images/plate-ii-b.png' rend='width: 100%'> + <head rend='text-align: center'>Plate II, part B.</head> + <figDesc>Map: Egypt with Lybia.</figDesc> + </figure> +</p> +<p rend='text-align: center'> + <figure url='images/plate-iii-a.png' rend='width: 100%'> + <head rend='text-align: center'>Plate III, part A.</head> + <figDesc>Map: The Carthaginian Empire in Africa.</figDesc> + </figure> +</p> +<p rend='text-align: center'> + <figure url='images/plate-iii-b.png' rend='width: 100%'> + <head rend='text-align: center'>Plate III, part B.</head> + <figDesc>Map: The Carthaginian Empire in Africa.</figDesc> + </figure> +</p> +<p rend='text-align: center'> + <figure url='images/plate-iii-c.png' rend='width: 100%'> + <head rend='text-align: center'>Plate III, part C.</head> + <figDesc>Map: The Carthaginian Empire in Africa.</figDesc> + </figure> +</p> +<p rend='text-align: center'> + <figure url='images/plate-iv-a.png' rend='width: 100%'> + <head rend='text-align: center'>Plate IV, part A.</head> + <figDesc>Map: The Expedition of Hannibal.</figDesc> + </figure> +</p> +<p rend='text-align: center'> + <figure url='images/plate-iv-b.png' rend='width: 100%'> + <head rend='text-align: center'>Plate IV, part B.</head> + <figDesc>Map: The Expedition of Hannibal.</figDesc> + </figure> +</p> +<p rend='text-align: center'> + <figure url='images/plate-iv-b.png' rend='width: 100%'> + <head rend='text-align: center'>Plate IV, part B.</head> + <figDesc>Map: The Expedition of Hannibal.</figDesc> + </figure> +</p> +<p rend='text-align: center'> + <figure url='images/plate-v-a.png' rend='width: 100%'> + <head rend='text-align: center'>Plate V, part A.</head> + <figDesc>Map: The Assyrians, Babylonians, Medes and Persians.</figDesc> + </figure> +</p> +<p rend='text-align: center'> + <figure url='images/plate-v-b.png' rend='width: 100%'> + <head rend='text-align: center'>Plate V, part B.</head> + <figDesc>Map: The Assyrians, Babylonians, Medes and Persians.</figDesc> + </figure> +</p> + +</div> +</body> +<back rend="page-break-before: right"> + <div id="footnotes"> + <index index="toc" /> + <index index="pdf" /> + <head>Footnotes</head> + <divGen type="footnotes"/> + </div> + <div rend="page-break-before: right"> + <divGen type="pgfooter" /> + </div> +</back> +</text> +</TEI.2> diff --git a/28558-tei/images/frontispiece.png b/28558-tei/images/frontispiece.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..ec2df87 --- /dev/null +++ b/28558-tei/images/frontispiece.png diff --git a/28558-tei/images/plate-i-a.png b/28558-tei/images/plate-i-a.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..d772adf --- /dev/null +++ b/28558-tei/images/plate-i-a.png diff --git a/28558-tei/images/plate-i-b.png b/28558-tei/images/plate-i-b.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..9e4a365 --- /dev/null +++ b/28558-tei/images/plate-i-b.png diff --git a/28558-tei/images/plate-ii-a.png b/28558-tei/images/plate-ii-a.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..777d099 --- /dev/null +++ b/28558-tei/images/plate-ii-a.png diff --git a/28558-tei/images/plate-ii-b.png b/28558-tei/images/plate-ii-b.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..0798522 --- /dev/null +++ b/28558-tei/images/plate-ii-b.png diff --git a/28558-tei/images/plate-iii-a.png b/28558-tei/images/plate-iii-a.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..d1d530e --- /dev/null +++ b/28558-tei/images/plate-iii-a.png diff --git a/28558-tei/images/plate-iii-b.png b/28558-tei/images/plate-iii-b.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..20e2f93 --- /dev/null +++ b/28558-tei/images/plate-iii-b.png diff --git a/28558-tei/images/plate-iii-c.png b/28558-tei/images/plate-iii-c.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..2d4fcb9 --- /dev/null +++ b/28558-tei/images/plate-iii-c.png diff --git a/28558-tei/images/plate-iv-a.png b/28558-tei/images/plate-iv-a.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..c519084 --- /dev/null +++ b/28558-tei/images/plate-iv-a.png diff --git a/28558-tei/images/plate-iv-b.png b/28558-tei/images/plate-iv-b.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..e1e08e5 --- /dev/null +++ b/28558-tei/images/plate-iv-b.png diff --git a/28558-tei/images/plate-iv-c.png b/28558-tei/images/plate-iv-c.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..fdff35f --- /dev/null +++ b/28558-tei/images/plate-iv-c.png diff --git a/28558-tei/images/plate-v-a.png b/28558-tei/images/plate-v-a.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..a63fda6 --- /dev/null +++ b/28558-tei/images/plate-v-a.png diff --git a/28558-tei/images/plate-v-b.png b/28558-tei/images/plate-v-b.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..07cdb29 --- /dev/null +++ b/28558-tei/images/plate-v-b.png |
