unless they were excluded To this Agis reply'd 'T is no wonder that Leonidas who has married and has Children by a Wife taken out of a Persian Court shou'd know little of Lycurgus or his Laws Lycurgus took away both Debts and Usury by taking away Money and excluded Strangers such as wou'd not conform to the Laws of his Commonwealth not for any Ill-will to them but lest they shou'd infect the City with their Covetousness for otherwise 't is well known that he himself gladly kept Terpander Thales and Phericides tho' they were Strangers because he perceiv'd they were of the same Mind with him And you that use to praise Ecprepes who being Ephore cut off two Strings from the Instrument of Phrynis the Musician and to commend those who did afterwards imitate him with what face can you blame me for designing to cut off Superfluity and Luxury from the Common-wealth Do you think those men were so concern'd only about a Fiddle-string or intended any thing else than by checking the voluptuousness of Musick to keep out a way of living which might destroy the harmony of the City From this time forward as the common People follow'd Agis so the rich Men adhered to Leonidas who joyning his Authority with their Interest things were so manag'd in the Senate whose chief Power consisted in preparing all Laws before they were propos'd to the People that with much ado the designed Rhetra of Agis was rejected tho' but by one only Vote whereupon Lysander who as we said was Ephore and of Agis his Party resolving to be reveng'd on Leonidas drew up an Information against him grounded on two old Laws The one forbids any of the Race of Hercules to marry a Stranger and the other makes it capital for a Lacedoemonian to travel into foreign Countreys Whilest he set others on to manage this Accusation he with his Collegues went to observe the Stars which was a Custom they had and perform'd in this manner Every ninth year the Ephori choosing a Star-light Night when there was neither Cloud nor Moon sate down together in quiet and silence and if they chanc'd to spy the shooting of a Star they presently pronounc'd their King guilty of some great Crime against the Gods and thereupon he was immediately secluded from all Exercise of Regal Power till he cou'd be reliev'd by an Oracle from Delphos or Olympus Lysander therefore assur'd the People he had seen a Star shoot and at the same time Leonidas was cited to answer for himself Witnesses were produc'd to testifie he had married an Asian Woman bestow'd on him by one of King Seleucus his Lieutenants that he had two Children by her but there happening some difference betwixt them she did so mortally hate him that flying from her he was in a manner forc'd to return to Sparta where his Predecessor dying without Issue he took upon him the Government Lysander not content with this perswades also Cleombrotus to lay claim to the Kingdom he was of the Royal Family and son-in-Son-in-law to Leonidas who fearing now the event of this Process was fled to the Temple of Juno call'd Calcideos together with his Daughter the Wife of Cleombrotus for she in this occasion resolv'd to leave her Husband and to follow her Father Leonidas being again cited and not appearing they pronounc'd a Sentence of Deposition against him and made Cleombrotus King in his place Soon after this Revolution Lysander his year expiring went out of Office and new Ephori were chosen of the contrary Faction who immediately conspiring to restore Leonidas cited Lysander and Mandroclidas to answer for having contrary to Law cancell'd Debts and design'd a new division of Lands They seeing themselves in danger had recourse to the two Kings and represented to them how necessary it was for their Interest and Safety resolutely to unite thereby to prevent the Designs of the Ephori and put a stop to their Encroachments The Power of the Ephori they said was only grounded on the Dissention of Kings the Law having in that Case made them a kind of Arbitrators but when the two Kings were unanimous none ought or durst resist their Authority Agis and Cleombrotus thus perswaded went together into the Senate-house where raising the Ephori from their Seats they plac'd others in their room of which Agesilaus was one then arming a Company of young Men and releasing many out of Prison their Enemies began to be in great fear of their Lives but there was no Bloud spilt Agis on the contrary having notice that Agesilaus had order'd a Company of Souldiers to lie in wait for Leonidas to kill him as he fled to Tegea immediately sent some of his Followers to defend him and to convoy him safely into that City Thus far all things proceeded prosperously none daring to oppose but by the sordid Avarice of one Man these promising Beginnings were blasted Agesilaus as we said was much in Debt yet had a fair Estate in Land and tho' he gladly joyn'd in this Design to be quit of his Debts he was not at all willing to part with his Land therefore he perswaded Agis that if both these things shou'd be put in execution at the same time so great and so sudden an Alteration might cause some dangerous Commotion but if Debts were in the first place cancell'd the rich Men wou'd afterwards more easily be prevail'd with to part with their Land Lysander also was of the same opinion being deceiv'd in like manner by the Craft of Agesilaus so that all Men were presently commanded to bring in their Bonds or Deeds of Obligation by the Lacedaemonians call'd Claria which being laid together in a Heap they set Fire to it The Usurers and other Creditors come one may easily imagine beheld it with a heavy heart but Agesilaus told them scoffingly His Eyes had never seen so bright and so glorious a Flame And now the People press'd earnestly for a division of Lands the Kings also had order'd it shou'd be done but Agesilaus sometimes pretending one Difficulty and sometimes another delay'd the Execution till an occasion happen'd to call Agis to the Wars The Achaeans in virtue of a League defensive sent to demand Succours for they expected every day when the Aetolians wou'd attempt to enter Peloponnesus by the Confines of Maegara they had made Aratus their General and sent him with an Army to hinder this Incursion Aratus writ to the Ephori who immediately gave order Agis shou'd hasten to their Assistance with the Lacedaemonian Auxiliaries Agis was extreamly well pleas'd to see the forwardness of the young Men to this Expedition for tho' they were very poor yet freed from Debts and in hope of being Masters of Land at their Return they follow'd chearfully and in good Equipage The Cities through which they pass'd were in admiration to see how they march'd from one end of Peloponnesus to the other without the least Disorder and in a manner without making any Noise it gave
Leotychides s Bastardy as a Bar to his Pretensions Many of the Citizens soon betook themselves to Agesilaus his Party being thereto induced by the Opinion they had of his Gallantry of which they themselves had been Spectators in the time that he had been bred up among them Yet was not his way so smooth as to be free from Rubs one he met with very considerable from a Fortune-teller named Diopithes who was of great Esteem among them for his Skill in Divination he alledged That it was unlawful to make a lame Man King of Lacedaemon citing to that purpose the following Oracle Great is thy Empire Sparta yet beware Lest thy Strength bend under an halting Heir Then Ills untry'd shall thy old Honour stain And Wars destructive Rage thro' thy whole Country reign But Lysander was not wanting of an Evasion alledging That if the Spartans made any conscience of the Oracle they must have a care of Leotychides for it was not the limping Foot of a King that the Gods were offended at but the bastardizing of the Herculean Family into whose Rights if a spurious Issue were admitted it would make the Kingdom to Halt indeed Agesilaus made Neptune also a Witness of the Bastardy of Leotychides proving that Agis was thrown out of Bed from his Wife by a violent Earthquake after which time he did not Cohabit with her yet Leotychides was born above ten Months after it Agesilaus was upon these Allegations declared King and soon possessed himself of the private Estate of Agis as well as his Throne Leotychides being wholly rejected as a Bastard Which being done he cast his Eye on the Kinred of Agis by the Mother's side whom he considered as Persons of good Worth and Vertue but very poor he gave them half his Brother's Estate and by this popular Act gained the good will not of them only but of the Spartans in general and stifled that Envy that was growing against him upon the account of his Success But whereas Xenophon saith of him That by complying with and as it were being ruled by his Country he grew into so great Power with them that he could do what he pleased This was by the Power he got with the Ephori and Senate these were of great Authority in the State the former were Officers annually chosen the Senators held their Places during Life both instituted as Bridles to restrain the Licentiousness of the Kings as it is already more fully discoursed in the Life of Lycurgus Hence it was that there was alway a Feud and Contention between them and the Kings But Agesilaus took another course instead of contending with them he courted them he alway acted by their Advice was alway ready to go nay almost to run when they called him If he were upon his Throne hearing of Causes and the Ephori came in he arose to them whenever any Man was elected into the Senate he did alway present him with a Gown and an Ox. Thus whilst he craftily made shew of Reverence to them and a Deference to their Power he secretly advanced his own Wealth and enlarged the Prerogatives of the Crown by several Liberties which their Friendship to his Person did grant him or at least did wink at To other Citizens he so behaved himself as to be less blameable in his Enmities than in his Friendships for towards his Enemy he behaved himself generously scorning to take any unjust Advantage against him but to his Friends he was partial even in things manifestly unjust If an Enemy had done any thing praise-worthy he scorned to retract any thing from his due Praises but his Friends he knew not how to reprove when they did ill nay he glory'd in bringing them off when they were obnoxious He thought all Offices of Friendship commendable let the Matter wherein they were employ'd be what it will Again when any of his Adversaries was overtaken in a Fault he would pity them and be soon entreated to Pardon them and shew them Kindness by which means he allured the hearts of all Men insomuch that his Popularity grew at last suspected by the Ephori who fined him as a Monopolizer of the Citizens who ought to be the common Goods of the Republick For as it is the Opinion of Philosophers that if you take away Strife and Opposition out of the Universe all the Bodies of it will stand still Generation and Motion will cease by reason of the mutual Consent and Agreement of all things So the Spartan Legislator did seem to have mingled Ambition and Emulation among the Ingredients of his Commonwealth as the Incentives of Vertue as thinking that mutual Compliance in winking at one another in Cases that deserved Rebuke was but a false sort of Concord no way useful to the Publick but rather a Corruption of it This some Men think Homer to have had an eye to when he introduceth Agamemnon well pleased with the Jars of Ulysses and Achilles and with the hard Words that passed between them which he would never have done unless he had thought that Dissentions and Factions of great Men had been of use to the State Yet this Maxim is not simply to be granted him without restriction for if the Heats grow too big they are very dangerous to Cities and of most pernicious consequence When Agesilaus was newly entred upon the Government there came News from Asia that the Persian King was making great Naval Preparations resolving with an high Hand to dispossess the Spartans of their Maritime Greatness Lysander was glad of this Occasion of Succouring his Friends in Asia whom he had there left Governours and Lords of Cities who for their Male-administration and Tyrannical Behaviour had been deposed and many of them put to death He therefore perswaded Agesilaus to undertake the Expedition and by translating the War from Greece to the Barbarous Country to prevent all the Designs of the Persian He also wrote to his Friends in Asia that by a Solemn Embassy they should demand Agesilaus for their Captain Agesilaus thereupon coming into the Publick Assembly offered his Service upon condition that he might have thirty eminent Captains adjoyned to him as Counsellors that he might also have 2000 of the newly Enfranchized Helots and of other Allies to the number of 6000. Lysander's Authority and Assistance soon obtained his Request so that he was sent away with thirty Spartan Captains of which Lysander was the Chief not only in Power and Reputation but also in Friendship with Agesilaus who esteemed his procuring him this Charge a greater Obligation than that of preferring him to the Kingdom Whilst the Army was drawing to the Rendezvous at Gerastus Agesilaus went with some of his Friends to Aulis where in a Dream he saw a Man approach him and speak to him after this manner O King of the Lacedaemonians you cannot but know that before yourself there hath been but one General Captain of the Greeks viz. Agamemnon now that you
'T was himself who had wrought upon and engaged his Friends by Perswasions and his Enemies by Force whereupon Pompey being much taken with the frank Speech and Boldness of the Man first forgave him his Crime and then pardoned all the rest of the Himeraeans Pompey likewise hearing That his Soldiers were very disorderly in their March doing Violence upon the Roads he ordered their Swords to be sealed up in their Scabbards and whosoever kept them not so were severely punished Whilst Pompey was thus busie in the Affairs and Government of Sicilly he received a Decree of the Senate and a Commission from Sylla commanding him forthwith to sail into Africa and make War upon Domitius with all his Forces For Domitius had rallied up a far greater Army than Marius had not long since when he sailed out of Africa into Sicily and extremely distressed the Affairs of the Romans being himself of a fugitive Outlaw become a Tyrant Pompey therefore having prepared all things of a sudden and left Memmius his Sisters Husband Governor of Sicily imbarked and set Sail with 120 Galleys and 800 other Vessels laden with Provisions Money Ammunition Engines of Battery and all other Necessaries In this Equipage he arrived with his Fleet part at the Port of Utica part at Carthage and no sooner was he landed there but that 7000 of the Enemy revolted and came over to him which besides his own Forces that he brought with him consisting of 6 entire Legions made up an Army of 43000 Fighting-men Here they tell us of a pleasant Passage that happened to him at his first Arrival for that some of his Soldiers having by accident stumbled upon a Treasure whereby they got a good Mass of Money The rest of the Army hearing this began to fancy that the Field was full of Gold and Silver which had been hid there of old by the Carthaginians in the time of their Calamities and thereupon fell to work so that the Army was useless to Pompey for many days being totally engaged in the Silver-Mines he himself all the while walking up and down only and laughing to see so many Thousands together digging and turning up the Earth in a fruitless Harvest But at last growing weary and hopeless they came to themselves and returned to their General begging him to lead them where he pleased for that they had already reaped the just Reward of their Folly By this time Domitius had prepared himself and drawn out his Army in Battel-array against Pompey but there happened to be a rapid Torrent in the Valley betwixt them craggy and difficult to pass over which together with the great Storm of Wind and Rain pouring down even from break of Day seemed to shew but little possibility of their coming together Insomuch that Domitius not expecting any Engagement that day commanded his Forces to draw off and retire to the Camp Now Pompey who was watchful upon every Occasion taking this time to be appointed by Fortune as his own ordered a March forthwith and having passed over the Torrent they fell in immediately upon their Quarters The Enemy was in a great Disorder and Tumult and in that Confusion attempted a Resistance but they neither were all there nor yet together besides the Wind having veered about lay beating the Rain full in their Faces Neither indeed was the Storm less troublesom to the Romans for that they could not clearly discern one another insomuch that even Pompey himself being unknown escaped but narrowly for when one of his Soldiers demanded of him the Word of Battel it happened that he was somewhat slow in his Answer which might have cost him his Life The Enemy being thus routed with a great Slaughter for 't is said that of 20000 there escaped but 3000 the Army saluted Pompey by the Name of Emperor but he declined it telling them That he could not by any means accept of that Title as long as he saw any of the Forts or Garisons of the Enemy standing but if they designed to make him worthy of the Honour they must first demolish the Camp wherein they lay intrenched The Soldiers hearing this went presently and made an Assault upon the Works and Trenches and there Pompey Fought without his Helmet in memory of his former Danger and to avoid it the Camp being thus taken by Storm they were put to the Sword and among the rest Domitius was slain upon the Place After that Overthrow the Cities of the Country thereabout were all taken in some by Surrender and others by Storm King Jarbas likewise a Confederate and Auxiliary of Domitius was taken Prisoner and his Kingdom was given to Hiempsal Pompey could not rest here but being ambitious to follow the good Fortune and Valour of his Army he fell into Numidia and marching forward many days Journies up into the Country he Conquered all where e'er he came resolving That by his Hand the Name and Power of the Roman Empire which was now almost obliterated among the barbarous Nations should be revived again and appear as formidable as ever he said likewise That the wild Beasts of Africa ought not to be left without some experience of the Courage and Success of the Romans and therefore he bestowed some few days in hunting of Lyons and Elephants Now 't is said That 't was not above the space of 40 days at the utmost in which he gave a total Overthrow to the Enemy reduced Africa and established the Affairs of the Kings and Kingdoms of all that Country being then but 24 years of Age. When Pompey returned back to the City of Utica there were presented to him Letters and Orders from Sylla commanding him to disband the rest of his Army and himself with one Legion only to wait there the coming of another General that should succeed him in the Government of that Province this grated inwardly and was extremely grievous to Pompey though he made no shew of it but the Army resented it openly and therefore when Pompey besought them to depart home before him they began to revile Sylla and gave out broad Speeches That they were resolved not to forsake him neither did they think it safe for him to trust the Tyrant Notwithstanding this Pompey endeavoured to appease and pacifie them by fair Speeches but when he saw that all his Perswasions were vain he left the Bench and retired to his Tent with Tears in his Eyes but the Soldiers followed him and seizing upon him by force brought him again and placed him in his Chair of State where great part of that day was spent in Dispute they on their part perswading him to stay and Command them he on the other side pressing upon them Obedience and the danger of Mutinies but at last when they grew more importunate and clamorous He swore that he would kill himself if they attempted to force him and yet even this would scarce appease them However this gave occasion and rise to some malicious Reports
noble Ambition of Alexander answer'd him That those Treatises which were his Metaphysicks were indeed publish'd but not plainly expos'd to every bodies Capacity For to say truth they are written in such a style that they are only an useful and instructive System to those who have been already long conversant in that sort of Learing Doubtless it was to Aristole's Precepts that he owed the inclination he had not barely to the Theory but likewise to the Practice of Physick For when any of his Friends were sick he would often prescribe them their course of Diet and Medicines proper to their Disease as we may find in his Epistles He was naturally a great lover of all kind of Learning and mightily addicted to Reading and Onesicritus informs us That he constantly laid Homer's Illiads Corrected by Aristotle with his Dagger under his Pillow declaring that he esteemed them an exact Institution and perfect Store-house of all Military Vertue and Knowledge When he was in the higher Provinces of Asia being destitute of other Books he order'd Harpalus to send him some who furnish'd him with Philestus his History a great many of Euripides Sophocles and Aeschylus his Tragedies and some Dithyrambick Hymns composed by Telestes and Philaxenus For a while he lov'd and cherished Aristotle no less as he was wont to say himself than if he had been his Father giving this Reason for it that as he receiv'd his Being from the one so the other had taught him to live well But afterwards having some mistrust of him yet not so far as to do him any Prejudice his Familiarity and friendly Kindness to him abated so much as to make it evident he was very indifferent to him However his violent Thirst after and Respect for Learning which were born and still grew up with him never decay'd as appears by his veneration of Anaxarchus by the Present of 50 Talents which he sent to Xenocrates and his particular Care and Esteem of Dandamis and Calanus While Philip made War against the Byvantines he left Alexander then 16 years old his Lieutenant in Macedonia committing the charge of his Great Seal to him who not to sit idle reduc'd the rebellious Medan and having taken their chief Town by Storm drave out the barbarous Inhabitants and planting a Colony of several Nations in their room call'd the Place after his own Name Alexandropolis At the Battel of Chaeronaea which his Father fought against the Grecians he is said to have been the first Man that charg'd the Thebans sacred Band. And even in my remembrance there stood an old Oak near the River Cephisus which the Country People call'd Alexander's Oak because his Tent was pitch'd under it And not far off are to be seen the Graves of the Macedonians who fell in that Battel This early Bravery made Philip so fond of him that nothing pleas'd him more than to hear his Subjects call Alexander their King while they allow'd himself no other Title than that of their General But the Disorders of his Family chiefly caused by his new Marriages and extravavagant Loves the whole Kingdom being soon in a manner imbroil'd by the Women rais'd many Quarrels and great Breaches between them which the ill Nature of Olympias a Woman of a jealous and implacable Temper still made wider by exasperating Alexander against his Father Among the rest this Accident contributed most to their falling out At the Wedding of Cleopatra whom Philip in his Dotage had Married she being much too young for him her Uncle Attalus in his Drink desir'd the Macedonians would implore the Gods to give them a lawful Successor to the Kingdom by his Neece This nettled Alexander so that throwing one of the Cups at his Head You Villain said he what am I then a Bastard Then Philip taking Attalus his part rose up and would have ran his Son through but by good Fortune for them both either his over-hasty Rage or the Wine he had drank made his Foot slip so that he fell down on the Floor At which Alexander most reproachfully insulted over him See there said he how low he lyes not able to remove from one Seat to another who was making such Preparations to pass out of Europe into Asia After this insolent Debauch he and his Mother Olympias went from Court and when he had plac'd her in Epirus he himself retir'd into Illyria About this time Demaratus the Corinthian an old Friend of the Family who had the freedom to say any thing among them without offence coming to visit Philip after the first Compliments and Embraces were over Philip asked him Whether the Grecians liv'd in Amity with one another It ill becomes you replied Demaratus to enquire after the State of Greece who have involv'd your own House in so many Dissentions and Calamities He was so convinc'd by this seasonable Reproach that he immediately sent for his Son home and at last by Demaratus his Mediation prevail'd with him to return But this Reconciliation lasted not long for when Pexodorus Viceroy of Caria sent Aristocritus to treat a Match between his eldest Daughter and Philip's Son Aridaeus seeking thereby to enter into a League offensive and defensive with him Alexander's Mother and some who pretended to be his Friends fill'd his Head with Tales and Calumnies as if Philip by this splendid Alliance and considerable Negotiation intended to settle the Kingdom upon Aridaeus To prevent this he dispatches one Thessalus a Player into Caria to dispose Pexodorus to slight Aridaeus both as illegitimate and a Fool and rather to accept of himself for his Son-in-law This Proposition was much more agreeable to Pexodorus then the former But Philip as soon as ever he was made acquainted with this Transaction went directly to his Son's Apartment accompanied only by Philotas one of his most intimate Friends the Son of Parmenio and there reprov'd him severely and reproach'd him bitterly that he should be so degenerate and unworthy of the Crown he was to leave him as to desire the Alliance of a mean Carian who was at best but the Vassal of a barbarous Prince Nor did this satisfie his Resentment for he wrote to the Corinthians to send Thessalus to him in Chains and banish'd Harpalus Nearchus Phrygius and Ptolomy his Sons Confidents and Favorites whom Alexander afterwards recall'd and rais'd to great Honour and Preferment Not long after this a Youth nam'd Pausanias being forcibly abused not without the knowledge and consent of Attalus and Cleopatra When he found he could get no Reparation for his Disgrace at Philip's hands watch'd his opportunity and Murther'd him The guilt of which Fact fell partly upon Olympias who is said to have encourag'd and exasperated the enrag'd Youth to Revenge and partly upon Alexander himself wâ—â— when Pausanias came and complain'd to him of the Injury he had receiv'd repeated these Verses to him out of Euripides his Medea where in her Fury she says She 'll see
Legions for the space of five years Tho' Cato still cry'd out they were placing a Tyrant in their Citadel Publius Clodius who illegally of a Patrician became a Plebeian was declared Tribune of the People And he had promised to do all things according to their pleasure on condition he might banish Cicero For Consuls they set up Calpurnius Piso the Father of Coesar's Wife and Aulus Gabinius a Man wholly at Pompey's Devotion as they Write who best knew his Life and Manners Yet when they had thus firmly established all things having mastered one part of the City by Favour and the other by Fear they themselves were still afraid of Cato For they well considered with how much pains and difficulty they had oppressed him and what disgrace they suffered when they did violence to him This made Clodius despair of driving Cicero out of Italy while Cato stay'd at home Therefore having first laid his Design as soon as he came into his Office he sent for Cato and told him That he look'd upon him as the most uncorrupt Man of all the Romans and was ready by deeds to make good the truth of his words For whereas said he many have sought to command the Expedition to Cyprus and have much sollicited to be sent thither I think you only deserve it and therefore to you I will freely give that Command Cato presently cry'd out This was a design upon him and no Favour but an Injury Then Clodius proudly and fiercely answered If you will not take it as a Kindness yet you shall go tho' never so unwillingly and immediately going into the Assembly of the People he made them pass a Decree that Cato should be sent to Cyprus But they ordered him neither Ships nor Souldiers nor any Officers only two Secretaries one of which was a very Rascal and the other a Retainer to Clodius Besides as if the gaining of Cyprus and conquering Ptolemy were not Work sufficient he was ordered also to restore the Fugitives of Byzantium For Clodius was resolved to keep him far enough off whilst himself continued Tribune Cato being in this necessity of going away advised Cicero who was next to be set upon to make no Resistance lest he should throw the State into Civil War and Confusion but to give way to the Times And thus he might become once more the Preserver of his Countrey Cato sent Canidius one of his Friends to Cyprus to perswade Ptolemy to yield without being forc'd which if he did he should want neither Riches nor Honour For the Romans would give him the Priesthood of Venus in the Isle of Paphos He himself stay'd at Rhodes making some Preparations and expecting an Answer from Cyprus In the mean time Ptolemy King of Aegypt who had left Alexandria upon some quarrel between him and his Subjects was sailing for Rome in hopes that Pompey and Coesar would by their Power restore him again to his Kingdom in his way he desired to see Cato to whom he sent supposing he would come to him Cato was about his necessary Affairs when the Messenger came to whom he made Answer That Ptolemy might come to him if he thought fit When he came Cato neither went forward to meet him nor so much as rose up to him but saluting him as an ordinary Person bid him sit down This at first amazed Ptolemy who admired to see such Greatness and stately Carriage in a Man of common Birth and mean Appearance But afterward when he began to talk about his affairs Ptolemy no less wonder'd at the Wisdom and freedom of his Discourse for Cato blamed his Design and shew'd him the Honour and Happiness he had fallen from the Disgrace and Troubles he would run himself into told him what great Gifts and Presents he must bestow on the leading Men at Rome whom all Aegypt turn'd into Silver would scarcely satisfie he therefore advised him to return home and be reconciled to his Subjects offering to go along with him and assist him in composing the Differences Upon this Discourse Ptolemy came to himself as one recovered from a Fit of Madness and acknowledging the Wisdom and Sincerity of Cato was resolved to follow his Advice But he was again over-perswaded by his Friends to the contrary and so according to his first Design went to Rome When he came there and was forced to wait at the Gate of one of the Magistrates he began to repent of his folly in having rejected the Counsel of so good a Man or rather the Oracle of a God In the mean time the other Ptolemy that was in Cyprus very luckily for Cato poyson'd himself It was reported he had left great Riches therefore Cato designing to go first to Byzantium sent his Nephew Brutus to Cyprus for he would not wholly trust Canidius Then having reconciled the Fugitives and the People of Byzantium he left the City in peace and quietness and thence sail'd to Cyprus where he found a Royal Treasure in Plate Tables precious Stones and purple all which was to be turn'd into ready Money Cato resolved to examine all very exactly and to raise the price of every thing to the utmost to which end he was always present at selling the things and took the Accounts himself Nor would he trust to the usual Customs of the Market but suspected all the Officers Cryers Prizers and even his own Friends therefore he himself talk'd with the Buyers and urged them to bid up so that most of the things were sold at great Rates This Mistrustfulness of Cato's offended most of his Friends but especially Munatius the most intimate of them all became almost irreconcilable And this afforded Caesar a plentiful Subject for Railing in his Book against Cato Yet Munatius himself relates that this falling out was not so much occasioned by Cato's mistrust as by his neglect of him and by his own jealousie of Canidius for Munatius writ a Book concerning Cato which is chiefly follow'd by Thraseas Now Munatius says That coming last to Cyprus and having a very ill Lodging provided for him he thereupon went to Cato's House but was not admitted because he was in private with Canidius of which he afterward very mildly complain'd to Cato but received a very harsh Answer for he told him That too much Love according to Theophrastus often causes Hatred and you said he because you bear me much Love think you receive too little Honour and presently grow angry but as to Canidius I will imploy him both for hîs Industry and his Fidelity â—e has been always with me and I have always found him free from corruption These things were said in private between them two but Cato afterward told Canidius what had passed which Munatius understanding would no more go to sup with him and when he was called to Council refused to come Then Cato threatned to seize his Goods as was the custom to deal with those who were disobedient but Munatius not regarding his Threats returned to Rome and continued
those Deities which they dread esteeming it hurtful but thinking their Polity is chiefly kept up by Law and therefore the Ephori Aristotle is my Author when they enter upon their Government make Proclamation to the People That they should shave their Whiskers and be obedient to the Laws that they might not be forc'd to be severe using this trivial Particular in my opinion to accustom their Youth to Obedience even in the smallest Matters And the Ancients I think did not imagine Fortitude to be plain Fearlessness but a cautious Fear of Infamy and Disgrace for those that show most Fear towards the Laws are most bold against their Enemies and those are least afraid of any Danger who are most afraid of a just Reproach Therefore he said well A Reverence still attends on Fear And Homer Fear'd you shall be dear Vncle and rever'd And again In silence fearing those that bore the sway For 't is very commonly seen that Men reverence those whom they fear and therefore the Lacedoemonians plac'd the Temple of Fear by the Sussitium of the Ephori having rais'd their Power to almost absolute Monarchy The next day Cleomenes proscrib'd 80 of the Citizens whom he thought necessary to banish and remov'd all the Seats of the Ephori except one in which he himself design'd to sit and hear Causes and calling the Citizens together he made an Apology for his Proceedings saying That by Lycurgus the Senate was joyn'd to the Kings and that that model of Government had continued a long time and needed no other sort of Magistrates to give it perfection But afterward in the long War with the Messenians when the Kings being to command the Army had no time to attend civil Causes they chose some of their Friends and left them to determine the Suits of the Citizens in their stead These were call'd Ephori and at first behav'd themselves as Servants to the Kings but afterward by degrees they appropriated the Power to themselves and erected a distinct sort of Magistracy An evidence of the Truth of this may be taken from the usual Behaviour of the Kings who upon the first and second Message of the Ephori refuse to go but upon the third readily attend them And Asteropus the first that rais'd the Ephori to that height of Power liv'd a great many years after their Institution therefore whilst they modestly contain'd themselves within their own proper Sphere 't was better to bear with them than to make a disturbance But that an upstart introduc'd Power should so far destroy the old model of Government as to banish some Kings murder others without hearing their defence and threaten those who desir'd to see the best and most divine Constitution restor'd in Sparta was unsufferable Therefore if it had been possible for him without Bloodshed to have freed Lacedaemon from those foreign Plagues Luxury Vanity Debts and Usury and from those more ancient Evils Poverty and Riches he should have thought himself the happiest King in the World having like an expert Physician cur'd the Diseases of his Countrey without pain But now in this necessity Lycurgus's Example favour'd his Proceedings who being neither King nor Magistrate but a private Man and aiming at the Kingdom came arm'd into the Market-place and for fear of the King Carileus fled to the Altar but he being a good Man and a lover of his Countrey readily consented to Lycurgus's Project and admitted an Alteration in the State Thus by his own Actions Lycurgus show'd That it was difficult to correct the Government without Force and Fear in using which he said he would be so moderate as never to desire their Assistance but either to terrifie or ruine the Enemies of Sparta's Happiness and Safety He commanded that all the Land should be left in common and private Claims laid aside That Debtors should be discharged of their Debts and a strict search made who were Foreigners and who not That the true Spartans recovering their Courage might defend the City by their Arms and that we may no longer see Laconia for want of a sufficient number to secure it wasted by the Aetolians and Illyrians Then he himself first with his Father-in-law Megistones and his Friends brought all their Wealth into one publick Stock and all the other Citizens follow'd the example the Land was divided and every one that he had banish'd had a share assign'd him for he promis'd to restore all as soon as things were settled and in quiet and compleating the common number of Citizens out of the best and most agreeable of the neighbouring Inhabitants he rais'd a Body of 4000 Men and instead of a Spear taught them to use a Sarissa a long Pike with both hands and to carry their Shields by a String fastned round their Arms and not by a Handle as before After this he began to consult about the exercising and breeding of the Youth many Particulars of which Sphoerus being then at Sparta directed and in a short time the Schools of Exercise and their Syssitia common eating Places recover'd their ancient Decency and Order a few out of necessity but the most voluntarily applying themselves to that generous and Laconick way of Living besides that the Name of Monarch might give them no jealousie he made Eucleidas his Brother Partner in the Throne and that was the only time that Sparta had two Kings of the same Family Then understanding that the Achoeans and Aratus imagin'd that this Change had disturb'd and shaken his Affairs and that he would not venture out of Sparta and leave the City now unsettled by so great an Alteration he thought it great and serviceable to his Designs to convince his Enemies that he was eagerly desirous of a War And therefore making an Incursion into the Territories of Megalopolis he wasted the Countrey very much and got a considerable Booty And at last taking those that us'd to act in the publick Solemnities travelling from Messena and building a Theater in the Enemies Countrey and setting a Prize of 40 l. value he sate Spectator a whole day not that he either desir'd or needed such a Divertisement but as it were insulting o'er his Enemies and that by thus manifestly despising them he might show that he had more than conquer'd the Achaeans for that alone of all the Greek or Kings Armies had no Stage-players no Jugglers no dancing or singing Women attending it but was free from all sorts of Loosness Wantonness and Foppery the young Men being for the most part upon Duty and the old Men teaching them at leisure-time to apply themselves to their usual Drollery and to rally one another facetiously after the Laconick fashion the Advantages of which I have discover'd in the Life of Lycurgus He himself instructed all by his Example he was a living Pattern of Temperance before every bodies eyes and his course of Living was neither more stately nor more expensive than any of the Commons And this was a considerable Advantage
I have not learn'd to Swim and then was hardly disswaded from endeavouring to pass it upon his Shield Here after the Aslault was over the Ambassadors who from several Towns which he had block'd up came to submit to him and make their Peace were surpriz'd to find him rough and arm'd at all Points without any Pomp or ceremony about him and when his Attendants brought him a Cushion he made the eldest of them nam'd Acuphis take it and sit down upon it The old Man charm d with his Magnanimity and Courtesie ask'd him What his Countreymen should do to merit his Friendship I would have them said Alexander choose you to govern them and send 100 of the most considerable and most worthy men among them to remain with me as Hostages I shall govern them with more ease Sir replied Acuphis smiling if I send you so many of the worst rather than the best of my Subjects The Extent of King Taxiles his Dominions in India was thought to be as large as Aegypt abounding in good Pastures and above all in excellent Fruits The King himself had the reputation of a wise Man and at his first Interview with Alexander he spoke to him in these terms To what purpose said he should we make War upon one another if the design of your coming into these Parts be not to râ—b us of our Water or our necessary Food which are the only things that wise men are indispensably oblig'd to fight for As for other Riches and Possessions as they are accounted in the eye of the World if I am better provided of them than you I am ready to let you share with inâ— but if Fortune has been more liberal to you than me I will not decline your Favours but accept them with all the grateful Acknowledgements that are due to a Benefactor This Discourse pleas'd Alexander so much that embracing him Do you think said he to him your fair Speeches and affable Behaviour will bring you off in this Interview without fighting No you shall not escape so for as to matter of Benefits I will contend with you so far that how obliging soever you are you shall not have the better of me Then receiving some Presents from him he return'd him others of greater value and to compleat his Bounty gave him in Money ready coin'd 1000 Talents at which his old Friends were exceedingly displeas'd but it gain'd him the hearts of many of the Barbarians The valiantest of the Indians now taking Pay of several Cities undertook to defend them and did it so bravely that they put Alexander to a great deal of Trouble and Fatigue till having made an agreement with him upon the surrender of a Place he fell upon them as they were marching away and put them all to the Sword This one breach of his word was a perpetual Blemish to him tho on all other occasions he had manag'd his Wars with that Justice and Honour that became a King Nor was he less incommoded by the Indian Philosophers who inveigh'd bitterly against those Princes who were of his Party and solicited the free Cities â—â— oppose him therefore he took several of them and caus'd them to be hang'd 〈…〉 〈…〉 in his own Letters has given us â—â— account of his War with Porus He says The 〈…〉 Aâ—mies were seperated by the River Hydaspes on whose opposite Bank Porus continually kept his Elephants in order of Batâ—â—l with their Heads towards their Enemies to guard the Passage That he was forc'd every day to make great noises in his Camp and give his Men constant Alarms to accâ—stoâ— them by degrees not to be afraid of the Barbarians That one cold dark Night he pass'd the River above the Place where the Enemy lay into a little Island with part of his Foot and the best of his Horse Here there fell so violent a Shower of Rain accompanied with Lightning and fier'y Whirlwinds that seeing some of his Men burnt and destroy'd by the Lightning he quiâ—ted the Island and made over to the other side The Hydaspes now after the Storm was so swolo and grown so rapid as to make a Breach in the Bank at which part of the River ran out so that when he came to land he found very ill standing for his Men the place being extream slippery and undermin'd and ready to be blown up by the Currents on both sides In this Distâ—ess Onâ—â—â—critâ—â— tells us He was heard to say Oh ye Athenians to what incredible Dangers do I my self to merit your Praises But to proceed Alexander says here they left their little Boats and pass'd the Bteach in their Armour up to the Breast in Water and then he advanc'd with his Horse about 20 Furlongs before his Foot concluding that if the Enemy charg'd him with their Cavalry he should be too strong for them ' if with their Foot his own would come up time enough to his Assistance Nor did he judge amiss for being charg'd by 1000 Horse and 60 arm'd Chariots which advanc'd before their main Body he took all the Chariots and kill'd 400 Horse upon the Place Porus by this smart Execution guessing that Alexander himself was gotten over came on with his whoie Army except a Party which he left behind to hold the rest of the Macedonians in Play if they should attempt to pass the River But Alexander apprehending the multitude of the Enemie and to avoid the shock of their Elephants would not joyn Battel with them in Front but dividing his Forces attack'd their left Wing himself and commanded Coenus to fall uppon the right which was perform'd with good Success For by this means both Wings being broken they retir'd when they found themselves press'd close to their Elephants and then rallying renew'd the Fight so obstinately that it was three hours after Noon before they were entirely defeated This description of the Battel the Conqueror has left us in his own Epistles Almost all Writers agree That Porus was four Cubits and an half high and that when he was upon his Elephant which was of the largest size his Stature and Bulk were so answerable that he appear'd to be but proportionably mounted This Elephant during the whole Battel gave many proofs of wonderful Understanding and a particular Care of the King whom as long as he was strong and in condition to Fight he defended with great Courage repelling those who set upon him and as soon as he perceiv'd him ready to faint by reason of his many Wounds and multitude of Darts that were thrown at him to prevent his falling off he softly kneel'd down then with his Probosois gently drew every Dart out of his Body When Porus was taken Prisoner and Alexander ask'd him How he expected to be us'd he answer'd As a King ought to be for that expression he said when the same Question was put to him a second time comprehended every thing And Alexander indeed dealt very
generously with him for he not only suffer'd him to govern his own Kingdom as his Lieutenant but added to it a large Province of some free People whom he had newly subdued which consisted of 15 several Nations and contain'd 5000 considerable Towns besides abundance of Villages Another Government three times as large as this he bestow'd on Philip one of his Friends Some time after the Battel with Porus most Authors agree that Bucephalus died under cure of his Wounds or as Onesicritus says of Fatigue and Age being 30 years old Alexander was no less concern'd at his Death than if he had lost an old Companion or an intimate Friend and built a City which he nam'd Bucephalia in memory of him on the Bank of the River Hydaspes and another in remembrance of his beloved favorite Dog Peritas as Sotion assures us he was inform'd by Potamon of Lesbos But this last Combat with Porus took off the edge of the Macedonians Courage and hindred their farther progress in India For having with much ado defeated him who brought but 20000 Foot and 2000 Horse into the Field they thought they had Reason to oppose Alexander's Design of obliging them to pass the Ganges too which they were told was Four Miles over and an hundred fathom deep and the Banks on the farther side cover'd with multitudes of Enemies For they had intelligence that the Kings of the Gandaritans and Persians expected them there with 80000 Horse 200000 Foot 8000 arm'd Chariots and 6000 fighting Elephants Nor was this a false vain Report spread on purpose to discourage them for Androcottus who not long after reign'd in those Parts made a Present of 500 Elephants at once to Seleucus and with an Army of 600000 Men subdued all India Alexander at first was so griev'd and enrag'd at his Mens Reluctancy that he shut himself up in his Tent and in a desponding manner threw himself upon the Ground declaring if they would not pass the Ganges he ow'd them no thanks for any thing they had hitherto done and that to retreat now was plainly to confess himself vanquish'd But at last the prudent Remonstrances and Perswasions of his Friends who inform'd him truly how the Case stood and the Tears and Lamentations of his Soldiers who in a suppliant manner crowded about the entrance of his Tent prevail'd with him to think of returning Yet before he decamp'd he would needs impose upon Posterity by leaving behind some fictitious Monuments of his Glory such as Arms of an extraordinary bigness and Mangers for Horses with Bits of Bridles above the usual size which he set up and distributed in several Places He erected Altars also to the Gods which the Kings of the Persians even in our Time highly reverence and often pass the River to sacrifice upon them after the Graecian manner Androcottus then a Youth saw Alexander there and has often afterwards been heard to say That he miss'd but little of making himself Master of those Countries their King who then reign'd was so hated and despis'd for the viciousness of his Life and the meanness of his Extraction Alexander decamping from hence had a mind to see the Ocean to which purpose he caus'd a great many Vessels with Oars and small Boats to be built in which he fell gently down the Rivers making Merry as he went and order'd it so that his Navigation was neither unprofitable nor unactive for by making several Descents he took in the Fortifi'd Towns and consequently the Country on both sides But at the Siege of a City of the Mallians who are the valiantest People of India he ran great danger of his Life for having beaten off the Defendants with showers of Arrows he was the first Man that mounted the Wall by a scaling Ladder which as soon as he was up broke and left him almost alone exposed to the Darts which the Barbarians threw at him in great numbers from below In this Distress turning himself as well as he could he leaped down in the midst of his Enemies and had the good Fortune to light upon his Feet The brightness and clattering of his Armour when he came to the Ground made the Barbarians think they saw Rays of Light or some Phantom playing before his Body which frighted them so at first that they ran away and dispers'd themselves till seeing him seconded but by two of his Guards they fell upon him Hand to Hand and though he defended himself very bravely wounded him through his Armour with their Swords and Spears One who stood farther off drew a Bow with such just Strength that the Arrow finding its way through his Cuirass stuck in his Ribs under the Breast This stroke was so violent that it made him give back and set one Knee to the Ground which as soon as he that Shot him perceiv'd he came up to him with his drawn Scimitar thinking to dispatch him and had done it if Peucestes and Limnaeus had not interpos'd who were both wounded Limnaeus mortally but Peucestes stood his Ground while Alexander kill'd the Barbarian But this did not free him from danger for besides many other Wounds at last he receiv'd so weighty a stroke of a Club upon his Neck that he was forc'd to lean his Body against the Wall yet still look'd undauntedly upon the Enemy When he was reduc'd to this Extremity the Macedonians breaking in to his Assistance very opportunely took him up just as he was fainting away having lost all sense of what was done near him and convey'd him to his Tent upon which it was presently reported all over the Camp that he was dead But when they had with great difficulty and pains saw'd out the Shaft of the Arrow which was of Wood and so with much ado got off his Cuirass they came to cut the Head of it which was three fingers broad and four long and stuck fast in the Bone During the Operation he was taken with almost mortal Swoonings but when it was out he came to himself again Yet though all Danger was past he continued very weak and confin'd himself a great while to a regular Diet and the method of his Cure till one day hearing the Macedonians were so desirous to see him that they were ready to mutiny he put on his Robe and when he had shew'd himself to them and sacrific'd to the Gods without more delay he went on Board again and as he coasted along subdued a great deal of the Country on both sides and took in several considerable Cities In this Voyage he took 10 of the Indian Philosophers Prisoners who had been most active in perswading Sabbas to Rebel and besides that had done the Macedonians abundance of Mischief These Men because they go stark naked are call'd Gymnosophists and are reputed to be extremely sharp and succinct in their Answers to whatsoever is propounded to them which he made tryal of by putting difficult Questions to them withal