of Cyrus since Xenophon as being himself no eye-witness of it toucheth upon it but lightly and in few words it may not be amiss perhaps to run over on the one hand what Dinon and on the other what Ctesias has said of it Dinon then affirms that the death of Artagerses Cyrus having violently attack'd the Vanguard of Artaxerxes wounded his horse and so was he dismounted and when Tiribazus had soon lifted him up upon another and said to him my Liege remember this day which ought not to be forgotten that Cyrus again spurring up his horse struck down Artaxerxes But at the third assault the King being enrag'd and saying to those near him that death was more eligible than such insolence he made up to Cyrus who madly and blindly rush'd upon the Spears of the Enemy So the King struck him with his javelin as likewise did all those that were round about him And thus Cyrus falls as some say by the hand of the King as others by the Dart of a Carian whom Artaxerxes for a reward of that his atchievment did the honour to set him ever after bear a Golden Cock upon his Spear before the first rank of his Army For the Persians call those of Caria Cocks by reason of the Crests with which they adorn their Helmets But the account of Ctesias that I may draw in little what he has branch'd out at large is thus as follows Cyrus after the slaughter of Artagerses rode up fiercely against the King as he did against him not either exchanged a word with the other But Arieus Cyrus's confident darted first at the King yet wounded him not Then the King let fly a Dart at his Brother but miss'd him though he both hit and slew Tisaphernes a man truly generous and devoted to the interest of Cyrus who having directed his Lance with a surer hand against the King pierced his breast with it quite through his Armour two inches deep so that he tumbled with this stroke upon the Earth At which those that attended him being put to flight and disorder he rising with a few among whom was Ctesias and recovering a little Hill not far off rested himself But Cyrus's horse being high-mettled carry'd him a great way into the midst of his Enemies the approaching night making it hard for them to know him or his followers to find him However being made fierce with conquest being withal naturally bold and violent he pass'd thro' them crying out and that more than once in the Persian Language submit your selves poor men submit which they indeed did throwing themselves down at his feet Then his Tiara which kind of Hat none but Princes of the blood or Generals wore dropt off his head and a lusty young Persian by name Mythridates rnnning by and not knowing who he was with a Dart pierced one of his Temples near his Eye out of which wound much blood gush'd so that Cyrus swooning and senseless fell off his horse which stragling ran away from him But Mithridates's Mate gather'd up the Caparison of his horse and his Cap that had slipt off all dyed with Gore Then some few Eunuchs that were with him being by reason of that stroak scarcely and with much difficulty come to himself endeavour'd to mount him upon another horse and so to convey him safe away Now because he was not able to ride nor to walk without great toil by himself they led and supported him being indeed in body vertiginous and reeling but heal'd in his mind by the comfortable thoughts of his Victory whilest he hears the vanquistt salute the King and shew to their Lord and Master Cyrus for Grace and Mercy In the mean time some wretched and indigent Caunians who upon the account of some vile employments follow'd the Royal standard were by chance joyn'd with those attendants of Cyrus supposing them to be of their own party But as soon as they discover'd their red coats when all the Loyal Subjects wore white ones they knew that they were Enemies One therefore of them not dreaming that it was Cyrus ventur'd to strike him behind with his Spear So Cyrus being ham-string'd and falling he did at the same time dash his wounded Temple against a Stone and dy'd Thus runs Ctesias account wherein methinks he as it were with a dull knife saws him to death and has much ado to shut up the Tragedy As he now lay dead Artosyras his Majesties Intelligencer it seems passed by on horse-back and having observ'd the Eunuchs of Cyrus dolefully deploring his Fate he ask't Pariscas the most trusty of them saying whom dost thou sit by here Lamenting He reply'd do not you see O! Artosyras that it is my master Cyrus Then Artosyras wondring bid the Eunuch be of good Chear and keep the dead Body safe So going in all haste to Artaxerxes who now dispaired of the success of his affairs and was highly indispos'd both by his drowth and wound he with much joy assur'd him that he had seen Cyrus dead Thereupon he presently desir'd in person to go to the place and commanded Artosyras to conduct him where he lay Yet seeing there was a great noise made about the Grecians and that they were become formidable as being said to be in Chace of their Enemies and to conquer and carry all before them he thought fit to send out no less than thirty men with Torches in their hands to inquire more fully into the truth of the matter In the interim there being in appearance but a few steps between him and death by reason of his thirst his Enunch Satibarzanes ran about seeking out drink for him For the place had no water in it and he was then at a good distance from his Camp After a long search he at last luckily met with one of those poor Caunian Slaves who had in a nasty leathern Bottle about four pints of base stinking water which he took and bare and gave it to the King which when he had drunk all off Satibarzanes ask't him if he did not altogether loath that nauseous draught but he swore by all he thought Sacred that he never drank wine with such a gust nor water though out of the swiftest or purest Stream And therefore says he if after a hearty desire to reward him who gave thee this I shall not have opportunity to do it I humbly beg of Heaven to make him rich and prosperous No sooner had he said this but his thirty Scouts arriv'd with joy and triumph in their looks bringing him the tidings of his unexpected fortune And now he was encouraged by the great number and confluence of his Soldiers that flockt to him and he descended into the plain with many lights and flambeaus round about him As soon as he came near the dead Traitour and according to a certain law of the Persians his right hand and head were lopt off from his body he gave a strict charge that the latter should be brought to him and
Admiration of his Generosity desiring Cilles to oblige him with carrying this Message to Ptolomy That he made him that small present in return of the Favours he had received from him at Gaza This defeat was so closely followed by Demetrius that in a little time he obliged Ptolomy to abandon Syria and having resettled the affairs of that Province he hasted to return into the Arms of his Father who then kept his Residence at Celene So soon as Antigonus was advertised of his approach he had not the patience to attend the short delay of his coming but with a noble Train he immediately left the City and went to meet the Prince and with what caresses and indearments such an indulgent Father entertained a Son so hopeful and promising is difficult to imagine but impossible to express but he conducted him home in great triumph amidst a thousand acclamations and other signs of joy which seemed to be owing rather to his safe return than the prosperous success of his Arms. But it was not long before Antigonus was forced to lose the satisfaction of his Conversation being obliged to send him to reduce the Nabathean Arabians to their Obedience and in this Expedition Demetrius ran one of the greatest hazards of his whole Life for the Wild Arabs decoyed him into those parched Desarts which afforded no manner of subsistence nor so much as a drop of water to refresh his Army and having reduced him to this extremity they drew up their forces to give him Battel But when those barbarous people observed the courage and resolution of the Prince and that he was so far from being in the least daunted at their approach that he rather seemed to flie like a hungry Lion upon the prey as if he had resolved to quench the thirst of his Soldiers with the blood of his Enemies they were so astonished that consulting their fear they thought it fitter to commit their safety to their heels than hands and therefore with great precipitation and disorder they quitted the field leaving Demetrius not only possessed of the Victory but of a very considerable Booty among the rest 700. Camels with all their Lading of Water and other provisions with which he refreshed his Army and safely retreated out of that scorched Country more barbarous than its wild Inhabitants Not long after Seleucus whom Antigonus had formerly chased out of Babylon having raised all the forces he was able with his Army invested that mighty City and without much resistance made himself Master of it and elevated with this success he pushed on his good Fortune and marched against the Countries next adjacent to Mount Caucasus and the neighbouring Indies hoping to subdue those Regions and range them under his Dominion and Obedience Demetrius being advertised of this Expedition of Seleucus and conjecturing that he had left Mesopotamia but flenderly guarded in his absence he passed the Euphrates with his Army with such secrecy and expedition that with his whole power he had invested Babylon before they had heard of the march of his Troops He immediately command an attacque to be made upon one of the Cittadels which Seleucus had raised for the security of that important place which was performed with that vigor and resolution that he carried the Fort but finding himself not in a Condition to master the City he left 7000 Men in Garrison in the Fortress and with the gross of his army retreated homewards but in his return he gave his Soldiers the liberty to live at descretion who in their march took from the Inhabitants of those Countries through which they passed whatsoever they thought fit by which ill treatment of those People though he did extreamly enrich his Army yet he impoverished his own Reputation and lost the affections of those Countries who ever after by the ill usage they received from Demetrius were the more firmly devoted to the Obedience of Seleucus to whom he seemed to yield the Title of their Sovereign by treating them like Enemies and not his own Subjects In his return having received Information that Ptolomy laid close Siege to the City of Halicarnassus he marched directly thither and obliging him in some disorder to decamp and retire from before it he delivered that City from an imminent danger and by his Expedition and success in that Action brought a great Addition to the Reputation and Glory of his Arms. And now Demetrius burning with the ardent desire of Glory had fixed his Designs upon an enterprize which was suitable both to his own and the Inclinations of his Father Antigonus and that was to break the Yoke of slavery which Cassander and Ptolomy had laid upon the neck of the little Grecian Commonwealths and to render those Countries Masters of their ancient Laws of Freedom and certainly never any Princes undertook a War more generous and brave since the only motive that induced them to it was the glory to restore their Freedom to the miserable Grecians and that they undertook it wholly at their own charges and with the treasure which they had recovered from barbarous Nations they attempted the assistance of the most civilized and learned tho' most oppressed People of the World To effect this great Design it was resolved at a Council of War that the first attempt should be made upon the City of Athens upon the debate of which point when one of the great Captains gave his opinion that if they could make themselves Masters of that City they ought to keep it in their own possession for that it would serve them as a Bridge over which they might at descretion pass into the rest of Greece Antigonns most generously as well as prudently replied that the surest Bridge to pass over upon such an Enterprize was the Hearts and Inclinations of the People which would most assuredly be lost if that City were kept and that Athens being one of the most celebrated Academies of the World one ought to offer nothing prejudicial to that Repository of Arts and Learning if at least they consult their own future reputation which must in time to come be measured by those accounts which from thence would be delivered to Posterity Demetrius who had raised a Fond of five Thousand Talents to defray the charges of this War having with great applications rigged and equipped a Fleet of two hundred and fifty Gallies he weighed Anchor and the Wind standing fair he steered a direct course to the City of Athens where at that time Demetrius Phalereus who commanded as Deputy Governor under Cassander had his residence and had placed a strong Garrison in the Fortress of Munychea Upon the twenty fifth of May the Wind freshing up into a brisque Gale and Demetrius who was resolved to improve the Favour which Fortune seemed to lend him by the addition of Artifice hanging out Ptolomy's Flag bore directly in for the Pyraeeum or Port of the City The Centinels who discryed the Fleet at some distance made no doubt but
it he followed and surprized her there In this Distress the innocent Damoclea taking counsel from Despair and resolving to secure her Honour though with the loss of her Life hastily throwing off the Cover of the Cauldron she leap'd into the boiling Vessel and by that untimely Fate becoming a Martyr to her Vertue purchased an Immortality of Fame and Glory Some time after Demetrius had left Athens Cleonetus the Son of Cleomedon made application to him by his intercession to procure that the Fine of fifty Talents in which his Father had been condemned by the People of Athens might be remitted Demetrius gave him Letters to that effect which when he had produced at a common Counsel it did not only diminish his Reputation but strangely shock'd the Citizens who though in compliance with the Letters they remitted the Fine yet they made an Edict prohibiting any Citizen for the future to endeavour the obtaining of Letters of the like Tenor from Demetrius but being informed that Demetrius to whom an Account of it was carried resented it as an high Indignity and Affront and that he gave out some passionate and menacing Words about it these trembling Flatterers did not only rescind and vacate the former Order but inhumanely put some of the Proposers and Advisers of it to death and banished others and to make up the Matter it was in a full Assembly enacted and decreed That whatsoever King Demetrius should in time to come Ordain should be esteemed sacred and inviolable to the Gods and to Men Upon which when some of the best of the Citizens had said That certainly Stratocles must be stark mad and out of his wits to make such a horrid and impious Decree Demochares the Laconian replied That if Stratocles had not been so mad all the World must conclude him out of his Wits thereby intimating what an advantageous Trade he made of this impious and servile Flattery But Demochares paid dearly for his Wit for being accused for it before the Criminal Judges the People who as it must needs be where they govern were not able to endure any thing less frantick than themselves they adjudged this honest Man to perpetual Exile for being in his Senses and making an unseasonable use of his Wit and Reason This was the natural Result of their new regained Liberty and the true Character of the Temper of a Popular State which is only a Liberty for all Persons to be Slaves to the wild arbitrary and extravagant humors of a giddy rash and inconstant multitude of Fools managed by a Set of more cunning Knaves After this Demetrius marched with his Forces into Peloponnesus where the Terrour of his Victories had so benummed the Hearts and Hands of his Enemies that not one of them had the courage to oppose the Torrent of his Arms but before his approach abandoned all the Towns and Garrisons which they were possessed of so that he reduced all Arcadia under his Obedience except the Cities of Mantinea and Argos he also by composition had Sicyon and Corinth surrendred unto him paying to the respective Garrisons an hundred Talents About this time it happened that the solemn Festivals of Juno were to be celebrated with the accustomed Sports at Argos and Demetrius who was resolved by assisting at them to render the Solemnity more splendid and magnificent at his being there fell in love with and married the fair Deidamia the daughter of Eacus King of the Molossians and Sister to Pyrrhus which Nuptials did not a little contribute to the heightning of those Solemnities and Entertainments dedicated to Juno the Goddess of Marriages At the same time also he prevailed with the Sicyonians to change the Situation of their City to a place far more pleasant and commodious where they built a new one and complemented him with giving it the Name of Demetriada and in conclusion his Affairs being conducted to this prosperous Issue he summoned a general Assembly of the Grecians to meet him at the Isthmus in Peloponnesus where by an extraordinary concourse of People he was with an unanimous consent proclaimed Captain General of the Greeks as before him Philip and Alexander the Great had been And being blown up with the fresh Gales of his prosperous Fortune he had the vanity to fansie himself not only equal but superiour to those two famous and renowned Kings In this indeed he out-did great Alexander himself who would never take upon him the Title of King of Kings as did Demetrius though many Kings paid Homage to him nor did he ever go about to lessen or divest any of them who were his Tributaries of the Stile of Kings whereas Demetrius used to ridicule all those who gave the Title of Kings to any of the Successors of Alexander except his Father and himself and in his Entertainments it was a common diversion with him after his own and Father's had passed round by the Name of Kings to drink the Healths of Seleucus with the Title of great Master of the Elephants of Ptolomy by the Name of Lord High Admiral of Lysimachus with the Addition of Lord Treasurer and of Agathocles by the Name of Governour of Sicily and the Islands This vain Humour being reported to these Princes gave none of them any other emotion than that of deriding the insolent Extravagances of Demetrius only Lysimachus resented it with deep indignation it being in effect to reproach him as being an Eunuch such being usually then deputed to the Office of Treasurers which made Lysimachus who mortally hated him for this Indignity and Affront reproach him with his Amours to Lamia of whom he said That she was indeed a pretty Stage-Queen and acted her Part very admirably Which when it was told Demetrius the Reflection touching him in a tender place Well! said he I would have Lysimachus know that my Miss is every whit as honest and vertuous as his Penelope But to proceed Demetrius being about to return to Athens signified by his Letters to the City that he had a desire to be enrolled in the Fraternity of the Priests of Ceres and his Request was That without attending the time commonly allotted from the Initials to the confirmation of those admitted into that Order he might at once be admitted to the usual Ceremonies and Mysteries which were to be performed upon that occasion Now this was an Innovation absolutely contrary to the Rules of the Foundation and a thing which had never been allowed before for from immemorial Antiquity the lesser Mysteries were celebrated in the Month of November and the great Solemnity in August following so that consequently none of the Novices were admitted to the latter till they had at least spent an entire year in the state of Probationer Yet all this notwithstanding when in the publick Assembly these Letters of Demetrius were produced and read there was not one single Person who had the courage to oppose them except Pythodorus the Priest who was Torch-bearer in those Solemnities but it
Orator Dromoclides proposed a Decree that the Port of Pyneum and the strong Cittadel of Munychia might be put into the power of Demetrius to use them at his own discretion which was no sooner offered than passed by unanimous suffrage of the People and Demetrius having put strong Garrisons into those two places by his own Authority placed another in the Museum to the end that those People who had shewed so much levity in their dispositions might be kept in subjection and not by their future perfidies be able to divert him from the prosecution of his other enterprizes He had not been long Master of Athens before he had formed a Design against the Lacedaemonians of which Archidamus their King being advertised he to prevent it drew out an Army and marched against Demetrius but in this wise Method of carrying War out of his own Territories he had not Fortune answerable to his Courage for he was overthrown in a Battel near the City Mantinea and Demetrius following his blow entred the Laconian Confines and in a second Battel defeated him almost within view of the City of Sparta wherein two hundred Lacedaemonians were slain and five hundred taken Prisoners and now it was esteemed almost impossible for the Virgin City of Sparta which hitherto had never submitted to a Conqueror to escape being ravished by his victorious Arms. But certainly there never was any Prince upon whom Fortune made such short turns mounting him to the Pinacles of Hope and Glory from thence to precipitate him into the utmost despair and misery To day he would be great and potent to morrow weak and broken even almost beyond the relief of Hopes or Miracles which made him sometimes in the low Ebb of his adverse condition reproach that inconstant Goddess with these verses of the Poet Aeschilus Fortune of all the Deities most vain Does lift me up to throw me down again Nor was there any period of his life in which she appeared more capricious than in this rancountre for when all things seemed so gloriously to conspire not only to the re-establishing but inlargement of his Greatness and Empire an express arrived which brought him the dismal account that Lysimachus with a mighty Army had taken all the Cities of which he was possessed in Asia Nor was this a single misfortune for at the same time he was informed that Ptolomy had subdued the whole Island of Cyprus except the City of Salamine where his Mother and Children were closely besieged and in extreme danger by which surprizing Intelligence the City of Sparta was delivered from that imminent fear and danger But yet Fortune seemed to flatter him with hopes upon another occasion treating him like the Woman in the Play of Archilocus Who Water in one cheating hand did show Whilst in the other dreadful fire did glow For Cassander King of Macedon dying and his eldest Son who succeeded him not long surviving his Father the two younger Brothers fell at variance concerning the Succession and Antipater having barbarously murthered his own Mother Thessalonice Alexander the younger Brother fearing his savage and outragious inclinations called in to his assistance Pyrrhus King of Epirus and Demetrius who was then in Peloponnesus Pyrrhus made all imaginable expedition to his succor and did it effectually but for a recompence he held a great part of the Country which he had taken from Antipater which begot a suspicion in Alexander that he had brought upon himself a dangerous Neighbour and that he might not run a greater hazard from Demetrius whose Ambition Power and Reputation among the Macedonians was such as might well create a jealousie of him this young Prince therefore posted away to the City of Deinon where he understood Demetrius was come with his Army in compliance with the request he had made him by his Letters when he arrived there he applied himself with great respects to Demetrius and returned him high acknowledgments for his readiness to assist him but withal gave him to understand that now his affairs were in so good posture that he had no occasion to give him any further trouble and thereupon invited him to an entertainment which he had provided for him in some measure to shew how sensible he was of his Favours But as Demetrius was about to go to the place of Assignation one came and whispered in his Ear that there was a train laid that in the midst of the Jollity Demetrius was to be taken off Demetrius who before began to suspect the treachery of Alexander seemed not much concerned but making only a little less haste he sent to the principal Officers of his Army commanding to draw out the Soldiers and make them stand to their Arms and ordered those of his Retinue to attend him into the very Room of the entertainment and not to stir from thence till they saw him rise from the Table In this equipage he came to Alexander and his Servants who were to have performed the Execution finding themselves overpowered had not courage to attempt any thing upon him and indeed Demetrius gave them no opportunity for he made a very short visit and pretending to Alexander that he was not at present disposed to be a good Companion in regard that he had just now received advices which obliged him by the necessity of his affairs to march away with his Army the next day he therefore desired his excuse for the present assuring him that he would do himself the honour to wait upon him when his affairs would permit him better leisure Alexander was extremely overjoyed not only at this resolution of his departure but that it appeared voluntary and without any sort of disgust for he did not know that his Plot was discovered and therefore in a Complement he would by all means accompany Demetrius unto the Confines of his Dominions when they were arrived at Larissa a City of Thessaly new Invitations passed between them which were the outward appearances of respect and civility but secretly intended for each others distructions and this young Prince who thought to avoid a second miscarriage in his design against the Life of Demetrius drew the misfortune upon himself for going to an Invitation which Demetrius had made him that he might bring him into a like security and confidence by his example he dismissed his ordinary Guards and went slenderly attended with some of his most particular Friends when they had sitten a little time Demetrius hastily arising from the Table the surprized young Prince rose also and followed him just to the door where Demetrius as he passed through only said to the Guards Kill him that follows me Which being Alexander they immediately dispatched him and such of his Friends as endeavoured to come to his Rescue one of which before he died said You have prevented us 〈…〉 t by one day It is very easie to apprehend that this action made this night pass over with great fears and disorders among the Macedonians who followed Alexander
blotted out Aristratus and instead thereof painted a Palm-tree not daring to add any thing else of his own invention the feet of the defaced figure of Aristratus are said to be hid under the Chariot By the means therefore of Pictures Aratus was in favour with the King who after he was more fully acquainted with him loved him so much the more and gave him for the relief of his City one hundred and fifty Talents fourty whereof he immediately carry'd away with him when he sailed to Peloponnesus but the rest the King divided into several gifts and sent them to him afterwards by parcels Now a great thing it was to procure so much riches for his fellow Citizens whereof other Captains and Demagogues receiving but a small proportion from the Kings grew unsufferable and becoming their Slaves betray'd to them the liberty of their Countries But a much greater that by means of those sums he effected a reconciliation and good understanding between the rich and poor and created quiet and security to the whole People Admirable was his moderation amidst so great power for being declared sole Arbitrator and Plenipotentiary for composing the differences of the Exiles he would not accept that Commission alone but associating fifteen of the Citizens with great pains and trouble adjusted matters and setled peace and friendship in the City for which good service not only all the Citizens in general bestow'd extraordinary honours upon him but the Exiles apart by themselves erecting his Statue in Brass inscribed thereon this Elegy Thy well known vigour counsels feats of War Ingrav'd on Hercules's Pillars are But we Aratus this thy Statue place Freed by thy help from Exile and Disgrace In memory of thy Vertue may it stand And of thy Justice by the Gods command Because thou to thy Country did'st restore The Laws and Liberty she had before Aratus acting in this manner got above the envy of the Citizens by the good offices he did but King Antigonus being troubled in his mind about him and designing either wholly to bring him over to his party or else to make him suspected by Ptolomy besides other marks of his favour show'd to him who had no mind to receive them he added this that Sacrificing to the Gods in Corinth he sent portions to Aratus at Sicyon and at the Feast where were many guess he said openly I thought this Sicyonian Youth had been only by natural instinct a lover of Liberty and his Fellow-Citizens but now I look upon him as a good Judge of the manners and actions of Kings For formerly he despised us and having his hopes further off admired the Egyptian Riches hearing so much of their Elephants Fleets Palaces c. But viewing all these at a nearer distance and perceiving them to be but meerShow and Pageantry he is now come over to us And for my part I willingly receive him and resolving to make great use of him my self command you to look upon him as a friend These words were soon taken hold of by those that envyed and malign'd him who strove which of them should in their Letters to Ptolomy charge him with the most and heaviest calumnies so that he sent to expostulate the matter with him So much Envy and Ill will did there always attend the so much contended for ardent and almost love-sick Friendships of Princes and Great men But Aratus being now for the first time chosen General by the Achaeans plundred the Country of Locris which lies just over against them and also Calydonia Then he went to assist the Baeotians with ten thousand Soldiers but came not up to them till after the Battle near Chaeronea where they were beaten by the Aetolians with the loss of Abaeocritus the Baeotarch or Governour of Baeotia and a thousand men besides The year following being again elected General he resolved to attempt the taking of the fortress called Acro-Corinthus Not so much for the advantage of the Sicyonians or Achaeans as considering that by driving thence the Macedonian Garrison he should take off the yoak from the neck of all Greece Chares the Athenian having the good fortune to get the better in a certain battle of the Kings Generals wrote to the people of Athens that this Victory was Sister to that at Marathon and so may this Action be very well termed Sister to that of Pelopidas the Theban and Thrasibulus the Athenian when they slew the Tyrants except perhaps it exceed them upon this account that it was not against natural Grecians but against a forreign and stranger Domination now the Isthmus insinuating between the two Seas does there unite the Continents of Greece and Acro-Corinthus being a high mountain arising out of the very middle of the Country whensoever it is kept with a Garrison cuts off all Peloponnesus from commerce free passage of men and armes and all traffique by Sea and Land and makes him Lord of all that is master of it wherefore the younger Philip did not jeast but said very true when he called the City Corinth the Fetters of Greece so that this post was always much contended for especially by the Kings and Tyrants and so vehemently was it longed for by Antigonus that his passion for it came little short of that of frantick love being continually taken up with devising how to take it by surprize from those that were then masters of it since he despaired to doe it by open force Therefore Alexander Lord of the place being dead poisoned by him as is reported and his Wife Nicaea succeeding in the Government and the possession of Acro-Corinthus he immediately sent his Son Demetrius to her and giving her pleasing hopes of a match with the Prince it being no unwelcome thing to an Elderly Lady to have the conversation and injoyment of a brisk Youth with his Lure he brought her to hand but for all this she would not deliver up the place but held it with a very strong Garrison which he seeming to take no notice of celebrated the Wedding in Corinth entertaining them with shows and great treats every day as one that had nothing else in his mind but pleasure and mirth Now as soon as Amaehaeus began to sing in the Theater he waited himself upon Nicaea to the Play she being carry'd in a stately Chair extreamly pleas'd with her new honour not dreaming of what was intended As soon therefore as they were come to a turning of the street that led up towards the Cittadel he desired her to go on before him to the Theater but for himself bidding farewel to the Musick farewel to the wedding he went on faster than one would have thought his age would have admitted to the Acro-Corinthus and finding the gate shut knocked with his Staff commanding them to open which they within being amazed did and having thus made himself Master of the place he could not contain himself for joy but that though an old man and one that
the Kings Followers envying him more than ever and finding they could not prevail against him by their secret practices they begun openly to abuse and affront him in their debauches with extraordinary Petulancy and Impudence so that once they threw Stones at him as he retired from Supper to his Tent. At which Philip being extremely offended immediately fined them twenty Talents and finding afterwards that they still troubled and disturb'd his affairs he put them to death But not long after being puffed up with the prosperity of his affairs many and great Vices began to spring forth in him and his natural bad inclination breaking through the thin Vail cast over them in a short time discover'd his Native humour And in the first place he privately injur'd Aratus the Younger in his Wife which was not known of a good while because he was lodg'd and entertain'd at their house then he began to be more rough and untractible in publick affairs and shew'd plainly that he would cast off Aratus Which the Messenian affairs first gave occasion to suspect For they falling into sedition and Aratus delaying to help them Philip came thither a day before him and threw a bone as it were amongst them asking privately on the one hand the Messenian Officers if they had not Laws whereby to suppress the insolence of the common People and on the other the Ringleaders of the People whether they had not hands to help themselves against their Oppressors Upon which gathering courage the Magistrates attempted to lay hands on the heads of the Faction and they on the other side coming upon the Magistrates with the Rabble kill'd them and very near two hundred persons with them Philip having committed this fact and set the Messenians by the ears together more than before Aratus arrived there and both shew'd plainly that he took it ill himself and also that he suffer'd his Son bitterly to reproach and revile him It should seem that the young Man was in love with Philip which made him at that time tell him that he no longer appear'd to him the handsomest but the most deformed of all men after so foul an Action To all which Philip gave him no answer though he appear'd much nettled and mutter'd often to himself whilest he was speaking but for the Elder Aratus seeming to take all that he said in good part being also by Nature crafty and having a good Command of himself he gave him his hand and led him out of the Theater and carry'd him with him to Ithome to Sacrifice there to Jupiter and take a view of the place for it is a post as fortifyable as the Acro-Corinth and with a Garrison is as strong and does as much command the neighbouring Country Philip therefore went up into this Castle and having offer'd Sacrifice there receiving the Entrails with both his hands from the Priest he shew'd them to Aratus and Demetrius Pharius presenting them sometimes to the one and sometimes to the other asking them what they judg'd by the tokens in the Sacrifice it were best for him to do with the fort whether to keep it for himself or restore it to the Messenians Demetrius smiling answer'd him if you have in you the Soul of a Priest you will restore it but if of a Prince you will hold the Ox by both the horns By which Aenigma he made him understand that Peloponnesus would be wholly submiss and at his devotion if he added Ithomata to the Acro-Corinth Aratus said not a word of a good while but Philip entreating him to declare his opinion he spoke thus Many and great Hills are there in Crete and many Rocks in Baeotia and Phocis and many inexpugnable places are there both near the Sea and in the mid-land in Acarnania and yet all these People obey your Orders though you have not possessed your self of any one of these Places Thieves nest themselves in Rocks and Precipices but the strongest Fort a King can have is fidelity and affection These have open'd to you the Cretian Sea these made you Master of Peloponnesus and by the help of these young as you are are you become Captain of the one and Lord of the other As he was thus speaking Philip return'd the entrails to the Priest and pulling him along with him by the hand come on then said he let us follow this course as if he thought himself forced by him and deprived of the Town From this time Aratus began to withdraw from Court and retir'd by degrees from Philips Company for when he was preparing to march into Epirus and desir'd him that he would accompany him thither he excus'd himself and stay'd at home apprehending that he should get nothing but discredit by his Actions But when afterwards having shamefully lost his Fleet against the Romans and miscarry'd in all his designs he return'd into Peloponnesus where indeavouring first to win the Messenians by his artifices and failing therein he fell openly to spoil and wast their Country then Aratus fell out with him downright and utterly renounced his Friendship For he began then to smell out the injuries done to his Son in his Wife and though they vexed him to the heart yet he concealed them from him for he could onely let him know he had been abused but could not help him to the means to revenge himself for strange and unexpected was the change made in Philip who of a mild King and modest and chast Youth became a lascivious man and most cruel Tyrant though in reality this was not a change of his nature but a bold unmasking of his ill inclinations being no longer in awe of any man which by reason of his fear he had a long time dissembled For that the respect he from the beginning bore to Aratus had a great allay of fear and awe appears evidently from what he did to him at last For being desirous to put him to death not thinking himself whilest he was alive to be at liberty either as King or Tyrant he durst not attempt to do it by open force but commanded Taurion one of his Captains and Familiars to make him away secretly and that by poison in his absence Taurion therefore contracted a friendship with Aratus and gave him a dose not of your strong and violent poisons but such as cause gentle hectical heats and a hollow Cough and so by degrees bring on certain death Aratus perceiv'd what was done to him but knowing that it was in vain to make any words of it bore it patiently and with silence as if it had been some common and usual distemper Only once a Friend of his being with him in his Chamber he spit some Bloud which his Friend observing and wondring at These O Cephalon said he are the rewards of a Kings Love Thus died he in Aegium in his seventeenth Generalship The Achaeans were very desirous that he should be buried there with a Funeral and Monument suitable