and pursuing the Enemy into their Camp and so Appius return'd Victorious into Messina loaded with the Spoils of the Enemy And Hieron who perceiv'd he had made a wrong Judgment touching the Issue of the War march'd away immediately towards Syracuse Claudius receiving next Morning Intelligence of his Retreat and being now full of assurance by his late Success resolv'd to lose no time but forthwith to Attack likewise the Carthaginians Pursuant to which Resolution he order'd his Army to take their repast betimes and to be under their Arms earlier than ordinary and sallying out by break of Day he surpriz'd the Enemy and routed them with great Slaughter those who escap'd being broken and scatter'd securing themselves in the Neighbouring Towns Having obtain'd these Victories and rais'd the Siege from before Messina he began now to make Inroads here and there upon the Neighbouring Country and proceeded without impediment to plunder as far as the Territory of the Syracusians and their Confederates whither at length-he march'd with his Army and sate down before Syracusa Thus have I related the Motives and given the History of the Romans first Expidition out of Italy And for as much as we have judg'd and chosen this Conjuncture as the most proper and sure Basis whereon to superstruct our whole Design we have therefore concluded that we cannot better prepare the Mind of the Reader for what follows than by setting out from hence Tho' we have look'd yet a little farther back the better to open and explain the Reasons of Things to the end there may not remain the least doubt For in my Judgment whosoever would attain a right Knowledge of the present Greatness of the Roman State should first be inform'd when and how Fortune began to Espouse their Cause for they had once lost their Country and farther to be well instructed in the Means by which and the time when they had intirely reduc'd Italy under their Dominion they began to form Designs of their remoter Conquests It will not therefore be thought strange if when we are to Treat of Great States and Mighty People we should labour to unfold the remotest Accounts of Antiquity and draw our Supplies from as near the Spring-head as may be which is the course we have taken that we might be sure to build on sound and unshaken Principles so that whatsoever People shall be the Subject of our Story we shall endeavour to shew how and when they began and the Steps that conducted them to that degree of Power and Greatness wherein we shall behold them And this is the Method we have been already pursuing touching the Affairs of the Romans But we will forbear farther Digressions and proceed to our History after we have lightly touch'd on some Preliminary Matters and what falls in order principally to be noted is the Transactions between the Romans and the Carthaginians during their Contention about Sicily next will be the War in Africk To which is annex'd the War the Carthaginians wag'd in Spain mannag'd first by Hamilcar and after him by Asdrubal about which time the Romans invaded Illiria and other remote Countries of Europe then shall be handled the War they made on the Gauls inhabiting Italy and in course we shall mention that in Greece call'd the Cleomenick War which gives a period to our Second Book Of these in order with some necessary Remarks for better light into our History for we have not conceived it necessary or in any manner profitable to be over particular in those things it not being our purpose to write their History but so to touch them as may suffice the better to guide the Reader into what we purpose to relate In a word it will be easily perceiv'd by the Thread of our Discourse how necessary it was to make some recital of what others have said before so as to let in the Mind of the inquisitive by an easier passage to subsequent Occurrences But above all it behoves us to be punctual in setting down the Revolutions in Sicily during the War there between the Romans and Carthaginians than which for duration there is hardly any Example of the like in History nor of the Provisions that were made to Prosecute it nor for the Greatness of Action or importance and hazard of Enterprises number of Battels and extraordinary Adventures For in short those two States had liv'd hitherto under an exact observance of their Laws their Diicipline was pure and unshaken their Wealth not burthensome and their Strength equal Whosoever therefore shall carefully consider the Form and Power of those two States respectively will be better able to collect Matter whereby to make a juster Comparison by this War only than by any subsequent Transactions whatsoever between them And now we have but one weighty Impediment to stay the Course of our History which is that Philinus and Fabius the Historians who have the repute of excelling all others in their Exactness and Fidelity in delivering this Story have not nevertheless been so just in their Relations as became them And yet when I consider their manner of Life I cannot well tell-how to charge them with design'd Falshood I am therefore inclin'd to think it hath happen'd to them as it often does to Lovers Philinus's Affection for the Carthaginians hath brib'd his Belief in favour of their great Conduct Wisdom and Generosity in all their Actions and Deliberations and perverted his Judgment on the other hand touching the Romans As to Fabius he acts the same part for his Country-men nor would it be blam'd in the other Deportments of his Private Life it being but just that a Man of Honour should bear Affection towards his Country and his Friends and that he shew Aversion to their Enemies and Love to their Friends But when once a Man hath taken upon him the Character of an Historian his Affections are no more his own and he is to divest himself of every Passion For how often falls it out to bâ— the Duty of a Writer to applaud the Merits of an Enemy and blame the Conduct of a Friend when their Faults and Follies so require For as a Horse that is become blind is render'd almost useless so History if Truth be once wanting ceaseth to be of any use or instruction We are therefore to make no difficulty to detect the Errors of a Friend and to do right to the Vertues of an Enemy Nor must we scruple sometimes to blame those who but now had as just a Title to our Applause It being impossible that such who have the Authority and Administration of Publick Affairs should not sometimes miscarry or that those who often err should not be now and then in the right We are not therefore to weigh the Rank or Fortune of those who are in Authority but to be careful that our Writings speak the Truth of their Actions And that this is a just Observation will appear by what follows Philinus in the beginning of his Second
Epitome which was begun to be made by Marcus Brutus but never finish'd nor of those Embassies which are collected and compil'd by the command of Constantine the Great Because neither of them are translated in this Work And whether or no they will be added in another Impression I am not certain The Translator of these Five Books having carried his Work no farther than it was Perfect He I suppose will acquaint you with his own Purpose in the Preface which I hear he intends to prefix before Polybius Let us now hear Polybius himself describing an accomplished Historian wherein we shall see his own Picture as in a Glass reflected to him and given us afterwards to behold in the Writing of this History Plato said of old That it would be happy for Mankind if either Philosophers administred the Government or that Governours applied themselves to the study of Philosophy I may also say That it would be happy for History if those who undertake to Write it were Men conversant in Political Affairs who applied themselves seriously to their Undertaking not negligently but as such who were fully perswaded that they undertook a Work of the greatest Moment of the greatest Excellency and the most necessary for Mankind Establishing this as the Foundation whereon they are to Build that they can never be capable of performing their Duty as they ought unless they have form'd themselves before-hand to their Undertaking by Prudence and long Experience of Affairs without which Endowments and Advantages if they attempt to Write a History they will fall into a various and endless Labyrinth of Errors When we hear this Author Speaking we are ready to think our selves engag'd in a Conversation with Cato the Censor with Lelius with Massinissa and with the two Scipio's that is with the greatest Heroes and most prudent Men of the greatest Age in the Roman Common-wealth This sets me so on Fire when I am Reading either here or in any ancient Author their Lives and Actions that I cannot hold from breaking out with Montaign into this Expression 'T is just says he for every honest Man to be Content with the Government and Laws of his Native Country without endeavouring to alter or subvert them But if I were to choose where I would have been Born it shou'd have been in a Commonwealth He indeed names Venice which for many Reasons shou'd not be my Wish But rather Rome in such an Age if it were possible as that wherein Polybius liv'd or that of Sparta whose Constitution for a Republick is by our Author compar'd with Rome to which he justly gives the Preference I will not undertake to compare Polybius and Tacitus tho' if I shou'd attempt it upon the whole Merits of the Cause I must allow to Polybius the greater Comprehension and the larger Soul to Tacitus the greater Eloquence and the more close Connection of his Thoughts The Manner of Tacitus in Writing is more like the Force and Gravity of Demosthenes that of Polybius more like the Copiousness and diffusive Character of Cicero Amongst Historians Tacitus imitated Thucidydes and Polybius Herodotus Polybius foresaw the Ruin of the Roman Commonwealth by Luxury Lust and Cruelty Tacitus foresaw in the Causes those Events which shou'd Destroy the Monarchy They are both of them without dispute the best Historians in their several kinds In this they are alike that both of them suffer'd under the Iniquity of the Times in which they liv'd both their Histories are dismember'd the greatest part of them lost and they are interpolated in many places Had their Works been perfect we might have had longer Histories but not better Casaubon according to his usual Partiality condemns Tacitus that he may raise Polybius who needs not any sinister Artifice to make him appear equal to the best Tacitus describ'd the Times of Tyranny but he always Writes with some kind of Indignation against them 'T is not his fault that Tiberius Caligula Nero and Domitian were bad Princes He is accus'd of Malevolence and of taking Actions in the worst Sence but we are still to remember that those were the Actions of Tyrants Had the rest of his History remain'd to us we had certainly found a better Account of Vespasian Titus Nerva and Trajan who were vertuous Emperors and he wou'd have given the Principles of their Actions a contrary turn But it is not my Business to defend Tacitus neither dare I deeide the Preserence betwixt him and our Polybius They are equally profitable and instructive to the Reader but Tacitus more useful to those who are Born under a Monarchy Polybius to those who live in a Republick What may farther be added concerning the History of this Author I leave to be perform'd by the Elegant Translator of his Work John Dryden THE PREFACE OF THE TRANSLATOR MY Attempt to render this Excellent Author into English puts me under a necessity of making my Excuse to the World for ingageing in so nice and difficult a Work And I frankly first confess That I had no Warrant from my Depth of Learning whereof to make Ostentation and wherein indeed he who most abounds ever finds least cause of boasting This I own to prevent the Criticks who for the most part while they amuse and busie themselves about the Interpretation of Words shew but little Insight in the Matter whereof their Authors treat which is the solid and useful part of Knowledge Nor was it a Desire to be seen in Print it being never my Purpose to appear in Publick For who of but tolerable Sence would take pleasure to be found among a Crowd of Fools who in these our Days so much pester the Press My Motive then in a word was principally to comply with the Injunctions of a Great Man and a Friend whose Commands to me while he liv'd were Sacred as his Memory must be now he is remov'd from among us To this Gentleman interpreting now and then some Select Passages out of Polybius to entertain his Retirement he grew so far in love with our Author and so charm'd with the Force and Perfection of the Roman Discipline that no Excuse I could make of my Insufficiency avail'd but I must render him into English This Command I say which could not be decently excus'd begat the Attempt which by new Importunity is permitted to visit the World when he for whose sake it was done has left it to enjoy that Repose in a better which his Enemies jealous of his Vertue maliciously refus'd him And he who would have gloried to Die in the Service of his Country who was the best Friend and every way one of the best Men of the Age had the mortification to be a Sacrifice to Slander and the restless Persecution of those who thought and perhaps justly that they could not shine till he shou'd be extinguish'd My diffidence then to do right to my Author being vanquish'd by the Importunity of my Friend I took assurance to think that my Defects on the
Lake it comes to pass that when it swells by the Tribute of so many Waters it enlargeth and emptieth it self by the Streight into the Pontus and the Pontus is deliver'd by the Propontis The Mouth or Streight of Palus-Maeotis is call'd Bosphorus Cimmerius which is in Length about threescore Furlongs in Breadth about thirty the Extremities whereof are every-where full of Flats and Shelves The Outlet of the Pontus is call'd the Bosphorus of Thrace being in Length about one hundred and twenty Furlongs but the Breadth is unequal for at the entrance of the Narrow between Chalcedon and Byzantium it is about fourteen Furlongs over but further out about Hieron a Place so call'd on the Coast of Asia it is not above twelve Furlongs broad it is reporred that Jason first sacrific'd here to the twelve gods In a word there are two causes to which is attributed the perpetual Current one way that is observ'd to run in these two Streights The one plain and intelligible to every one For while their Waters are incessantly replenish'd by the Income of so many great Rivers there is no other way but by these Streights to discharge them for being bounded and confin'd every-where by the Coast the surplus of Water necessarily and naturally flows out by these passages The other cause is this namely that the Rivers swelling with the great rains their Streams become thereby so rapid that mighty quantities of Sand and Soil are by the Torrent convey'd down which lodging at the bottom occasion the Water to swell so much the higher and consequently augments the Stream we are speaking of These are the true Causes then of this constant Current and we are not to hearken to the Reports of Sea-faring People in these cases but to have recourse to the Evidence of solid Reason by which alone the natural Causes of Things are understood But since it is our chance to fall on this Discourse it will concern us to endeavour that nothing may be left unsaid that may serve to inform the Understanding touching the nature of the Subject we are treating Wherefore we shall labour to lay things down as plainly as possibly we may to the end no Doubt may remain on the meanest Capacity And in truth there lies an Obligation on us who live in the present Age to examine things with our utmost care and circumspection For as there is nothing remains in these our Days undiscover'd of Earth or Seas it would be a reproach to fly to Fiction with the Poets and others who have paid us with Fables to give us Notions of what themselves knew nothing Nor will it become us to tread in the steps of Historians who have gone before us who as Heraclitus observes by their weak reasoning leave doubtful things more in the dark Our business therefore must be to win the Faith of the Reader by the force and evidence of Reason We conceive then that the Pontus and Palus Maeotis have been ever receiving and do at this Day continue to receive and fill up with the Sand and Rubbish that is brought down by the Rivers we mention'd and will at last be totally fill'd up and levell'd taking it for granted that the Countries continue their situation and the Causes hold their force For since Time is without limits and the Space subject to the Accidents we have noted every-where bounded and enclos'd what wonder is it to conceive That tho' the matter convey'd thither be never so inconsiderable that in process of Time that little will amount to fill a great space And in short 't is a Rule in Nature That such things as are subject to increase and diminish have their period some time or other let the steps of Progression be never so slow or invisible But forasmuch as the quantity of Matter brought into these Seas or Lakes is not a little but without question great beyond all computation there remainâ— no dispute but the Effect we prognosticate will be soon seen and is indeed now visible For the Palus-Maeotis is almost already fill'd up where in some places there is not now above fifteen or twenty Foot depth of Water insomuch as there is no more adventuring to navigate with Ships of Burthen without a Pilot who is acquainted with the difficulties Furthermore whereas this Sea as our Forefathers have observ'd was heretofore replenish'd with salt Water as the Pontus at this day is 't is observable that it is now a fresh-Water Lake the surface of the salt Water being surmounted by the accession of so much Matter as is accumulated and brought thither by the means we mention The like must in time fall out in the Pontus and is in some measure already come to pass But this cannot be yet so easily remark'd by reason of the very great depth of Water in the Channel Howbeit those who carefully examine the Matter may be satisfy'd of the truth thereof Hence the Danube discharging his Waters out of Europe by several Outlets hath begotten a List or Bank of Earth at least forty Leagues long swelling above the surface distant a Day 's Sail from the Shore Which Bank is observ'd to encrease daily by the addition of new Matter constantly brought thither insomuch as whensoever Vessels happen to light upon any of these places which Sea-faring Men call Shelves or Banks they are for the most part broken and suffer Shipwreck Take then my Opinion how it comes to pass that these Mounds or Banks of Earth grow at that distance from the Continent and not nearer to the Shore The Soil and Rubbish then which by the force of the Torrent is convey'd down is by the prevalence of the Current transported still forward into the Sea as long as there remains any strength in the Stream that keeps it in motion but as that declines which happens by the depth and spreading of the Waters which at length are lost in the wide Sea the Matter which was before by the Torrent press'd on sinks and settles to the bottom And in proportion to the greater or less rapidity of the Rivers these Banks or Bars are at a greater or less distance from the Shore tho' the depth be great between that and the Continent This is seen plainly in the gentlest and smallest Streams whose Bars are nearer the Shoar which yet in great Floods their Current being quicken'd transport and remove this Bar at a further distance than ordinary into the Sea in proportion to the swiftness of the Flood and the quantity of the Soil it brings down Hence it will not appear strange that such a mass of Matter as we have noted should grow to so great a dimension as that which is found at the mouth of the Danube nor that such quantities of Sand only but that Rocks and Trees should be unrooted and rent from their Seats It will not then be hard I say to credit what we have deliver'd but obstinacy rather to disbelieve it since we behold the smallest Brooks to
not its beginning from a Lye Truth is the foundation of all Knowledge and the cement of all Societies And this is one of the most shining Qualities in our Author I was so strongly perswaded of this myself in the perusual of the present History that I confess amongst all the Ancients I never found any who had the Air of it so much and amongst the Moderns none but Philip de Commines They had this common to them that they both chang'd their Masters But Polybius chang'd not his side as Philip did He was not bought off to another Party but pursu'd the true Interest of his Country even when he serv'd the Romans Yet since Truth as one of the Philosophers has told me lies in the bottom of a Well so 't is hard to draw it up much Pains much Diligence much Judgment is necessary to hand it to us even Cost is oftentimes requir'd and Polybius was wanting in none of these We find but few Historians of all Ages who have been diligent enough in their search for Truth 't is their common method to take on trust what they distribute to the Publick by which means a Falshood once receiv'd from a fam'd Writer becomes traditional to Posterity But Polybius weigh'd the Authors from whom he was forc'd to borrow the History of the Times immediately preceding his and oftentimes corrected them either by comparing them each with other or by the Lights which he had receiv'd from ancient Men of known Integrity amongst the Romans who had been conversant in those Affairs which were then manag'd and were yet living to Instruct him He also learn'd the Roman Tongue and attain'd to that knowledge of their Laws their Rights their Customs and Antiquities that few of their own Citizens understood them better having gain'd permission from the Senate to search the Capitol he made himself familiar with their Records and afterwards translated them into his Mother-tongue So that he taught the Noblemen of Rome their own Municipal Laws and was accounted more skilful in them than Fabius Pictor a Man of the Senatorian Order who wrote the Transactions of the Punick Wars He who neglected none of the Laws of History was so careful of Truth which is the principal that he made it his whole Business to deliver nothing to Posterity which might deceive them and by that Diligence and Exactness may easily be known to be studious of Truth and a lover of it What therefore Brutus thought worthy to Transcribe with his own Hand out of him I need not be asham'd to Copy after him I believe says Polybius That Nature herself has constituted Truth as the supream Deity which is to be ador'd by Mankind and that she has given it greater Force than any of the rest For being oppos'd as she is on all sides and appearances of Truth so often passing for the thing itself in behalf of plausible Falshoods yet by her wonderful Operation she insinuates herself into the Minds of Men sometimes exerting her Strength immediately and sometimes lying hid in Darkness for length of time but at last she struggles through it and appears Triumphant over Falshood This sincerity Polybius preferr'd to all his Friends and even to his Father In all other Offices of Life says he I praise a lover of his Friends and of his Native Country but in writing History I am oblig'd to divest myself of all other Obligations and sacrifice them all to Truth Aratus the Sicyonian in the Childhood of our Author was chief of the Achaian Common-wealth a Man in principal Esteem both in his own Country and all the Provinces of Greece admir'd universally for his Probity his Wisdom his just Administration and his Conduct In remembrance of all which his grateful Country-men after his Decease ordain'd him those Honours which are only due to Heroes Him our Polybius had in Veneration and form'd himself by imitation of his Vertues and is never wanting in his Commendations through the course of his History Yet even this Man when the cause of Truth requir'd it is many times reprov'd by him for his slowness in Counsel his tardiness in the beginning of his Enterprises his tedious and more than Spanish Deliberations and his heavy and cowardly Proceedings are as freely blam'd by our Polybius as they were afterwards by Plutarch who questionless drew his Character from this History In plain Terms that wise General scarce ever perform'd any great Action but by Night The glittering of a Sword before his Face was offensive to his Eyes Our Author therefore boldly accuses him of his Faint-heartedness attributes the Defeat at Caphiae wholly to him and is not sparing to affirm That all Peloponnesus was fill'd with Trophies which were set up as the Monuments of his Losses He sometimes Praises and at other times Condemns the Proceedings of Philip King of Macedon the Son of Demetrius according to the Occasions which he gave him by the variety and inequality of his Conduct and this most exquisite on either side He more than once Arraigns him for the inconstancy of his Judgment And chapters even his own Aratus on the same Head shewing by many Examples produc'd from their Actions how many Miseries they had both occasion'd to the Grecians And attributing it to the weakness of humane Nature which can make nothing perfect But some Men are brave in Battel who are weak in Counsel which daily Experience sets before our Eyes others deliberate wisely but are weak in the performing part and even no Man is the same to Day which he was Yesterday or may be to Morrow On this account says our Author a good Man is sometimes liable to Blame and a bad Man though not often may possibly deserve to be Commended And for this very reason he severely taxes Timaeus a malicious Historian who will allow no kind of Vertue to Agathocles the Tyrant of Sicily but detracts from all his Actions even the most Glorious because in general he was a vicious Man Is it to be thought says Casaubon that Polybius loved the Memory of Agathocles the Tyrant or hated that of the Vertuous Aratus But 't is one thing to commend a Tyrant and another thing to overpass in silence those laudable Actions which are perform'd by him Because it argues an Author of the same Falshood to pretermit what has actually been done as to feign those Actions which have never been It will not be unprofitable in this place to give another famous Instance of the Candour and Integrity of our Historian There had been an ancient League betwixt the Republick of Achaia and the Kings of Egypt which was entertain'd by both Parties sometimes on the same Conditions and sometimes also the Confederacy was renew'd on other Terms It happen'd in the 148th Olympiad that Ptolomy Epiphanes on this Occasion sent one Demetrius his Ambassadour to the Common-wealth of Achaia That Republick was then ruinously divided into two Factions whereof the Heads on one side were Philopoemen and Lycortas
things I say it will be necessary first to explain to the end we may avoid all danger of Obscurity in the pursuit of our History and preserve the Coherence and Gradation of Causes and Things unbroken It is likewise further necessary that we should take our beginning from some certain and limited Period of Time known and remarkable to all And this will be found so very useful that Matters will almost explain themselves when there should be occasion to look back to renew in the Mind the Notices of what is past For where Accounts are not founded on plain and uncontroverted Testimony we read without Faith and determine of nothing whereas when the Understanding is once set right and established on the Evidence of clear and unblemish'd Grounds we Study and Digest what we Read with Pleasure and Assurance and yield a ready Consent to the Candour and Authority of the Writer Nineteen Years after the Naval Battel that 〈◊〉 â—ought on the River Aegos and sixteen 〈◊〉 before the Field of Leuctra about the 〈◊〉 that the Lacedaemonians made Peace with the Persian King by the procurement of Antalcidas Dionysius the Elder having vanquish'd the Greeks who inhabited Italy near the River Elleporas laid Siege to the City of Rhegium The Gauls were at that time Masters of Rome which they had taken all but the Capitol and the Romans having compounded with the Enemy under such Capitulations as the Gauls themselves thought fit to impose were rescu'd as it were by Miracle and restor'd to their Country beyond all Expectation And having now laid in some Materials towards the Foundation of their growing Power they began to wage War on the neighbouring States And after they had well-nigh subdu'd the Latins partly by their Courage and partly by the Address they had acquir'd by their long Exercise in Arms they advanc'd against the Tuscans and had to do almost at the same time with the Gauls and then warr'd on the Samnites who were the Northern and Eastern Borderers upon the Latins Soon after and about a Year before the Gauls invaded Greece and the Remainder of that People who had rifled Delphos and were almost all cut off pass'd into Asia Pyrrhus King of the Epirots arriv'd in Italy invited thither by the Tarentines who began to apprehend the Consequences of their having violated the Roman Ambassadors The Romans having subdu'd the Tuscans and Samnites and often vanquish'd the Celtae began to prosecute their Success against the rest of Italy not so much to invade the Property of their Neighbours as to ascertain and secure what they now reckoned their own having by their long and frequent Wars with the Samnites and Gauls greatly improv'd their Discipline and Experience so as to conduct their Armies with better prospect of Success The Romans having then greatly to their Reputation sustain'd the shock of so many hazardous Enterprises and expelled all Foreign Invaders and even Pyrrhus himself out of Italy they now proceed to shew their Resentment against those who had taken part with that Prince whom after they had subdu'd and brought under their Power together with what remain'd unconquer'd of Italy the Gauls only excepted they made an Expedition against Rhegium then possessed by certain of their own mutinous Subjects One and the same Adventure befel two principal Places situate in the Streight of that Sea namely Rhegium and Messina In short some time before those things happen'd which we have been relating a Party of Campanian Mercenaries who had serv'd under Agathocles in Sicily tempted with the Beauty and Riches of Messina form'd a Conspiracy to surprise it and keep the possession which they did by Treachery being receiv'd into the Town and entertain'd as Friends When they became Masters of the place some of the Inhabitants they expell'd and others they murther'd retaining to their own use the Wives and Children of that unfortunate People as they chanc'd to fall into their hands during the dispute Thus having without much hazard or trouble obtain'd a remarkable Victory and become possess'd of an opulent City they divided the Riches and Territory amongst themselves This Action gave Example to another of the like barbarous Treachery During Pyrrhus's Devastations in Italy those of Rhegium apprehensive of the danger of this new and formidable Enemy and being on the other hand in dread of the Carthaginians who were in those days Masters of the Sea besought the Romans to lend them Succours and furnish them with a Garrison Accordingly they supply'd them with four thousand Men giving the Command to one Decius a Campanian who for some time kept good Garrison and demean'd themselves as they ought But at length in Imitation of the Mamertines who supply'd them with Forces to effect their Treachery they violated their Faith by the like villainous Act tempted thereunto by the commodious Situation of the Place and the Wealth of the Inhabitants of whom having possess'd the Town some they expell'd and some they cut off transcribing the Treachery of that People exactly The Romans had a just Sence of this wicked Act but having at that time too much Business on their hands by the Wars we but now related were not in a Condition to express their Indignation in the Punishment of the Authors but as soon as their Affairs permitted they march'd against Rhegium where they straitly besieg'd the Traitors and in the end subdu'd them who fought obstinately as being desperate of Pardon not above three hundred of them being taken alive who being sent to Rome were by the Command of the Praetor dragg'd to the common place of Execution where as the manner is they were first scourg'd with Rods and then beheaded The Romans over and above the Equity were not without Foresight that the Consequences of this Act wou'd be to conciliate in their Neighbours the Opinion of their Justice and Honour which had been much blemished mished by this piece of Treachery so the Rhegians were forthwith restor'd to their Town and their Possessions As to the Mamertines for that Appellation those Campanians assum'd who had so wrongfully possess'd Messina they enjoy'd without any Molestation both the Town and Territory so long as they cou'd derive Succours from the Romans their Friends in Rhegium and liv'd not only secure and fearless of any danger but were often the Aggressors on their Neighbours the Carthaginians and those of Syracuse and gave them work enough to defend the adjacent Country putting many Towns and Villages under Contribution But they were no sooner depriv'd of the Aids of Rhegium which now could not defend itself when the face of their Fortune chang'd being attack'd by the Syracusians and driven within their own Walls that People having declar'd War against them for Reasons we shall briefly deliver Sometime before this while the Army of the Syracusians encamped near Mergania there happened a Dissention between the Souldiers and Citizens of Syracuse the Souldiers thereupon made choice of new Leaders namely Artemidorus and Hieron who was
arriv'd at the Universal Dominion and their Affairs in a more prosperous state than ever that if their should be occasion they would not be able to provide and fit out such Fleets nor make such Naval Preparations as in those days To which I answer That as it is true so the Reason is very plain which shall be made appear when we come to treat about the Form of the Roman Commonwealth But to the end the Reader may be throughly enlighten'd we will not decide here as it were by the by so important a Point Let us lend our Attention then to the present Subject for what we shall now farther deliver will appear worth our while tho' we had not yet related any thing to the purpose For as some Authors have heard nothing of the Adventures of the Romans so others have handled their History with so much Obscurity that no profit can arise thereby We may observe then that in this War which we have been relating the Forces and Courage of the two Contending States seem'd to be equal almost in every thing and principally in their obstinate Emulation for Dominion and Empire As for their Armies I believe we may safely grant in the general that the Roman Souldiers were the better Militia But as to their great Officers Hamilcar Surnam'd Barcas Father to the famous Hannibal who afterward made War upon the Romans may be justly reckon'd both for Courage and Wisdom the ablest Commander of that Age. The Peace was no sooner ratify'd between those two States when they happen'd about the same time to fall as it were into one and the same Misfortune The Romans had a kind of Civil War by a Rebellion of the Faliscans but it was soon ended by the Suppression of that People and the taking their City And the Carthaginians suffer'd by a War with the Numidians and Africans their Neighbours who join'd in an Insurrection with their own Mercenary Souldiers but the Carthaginians had not the like Success as the Romans for they were often reduc'd to the last Extremity and fought many Battles not only for the Safety of the Government in general but for their own private Stakes their Families and Fortunes In short the account of the Occurrences of that War for many Reasons might have been deferr'd howbeit we shall in few words as it was our Purpose give an account thereof here for it will be thereby made manifest by what then came to pass what the nature of that War is which the Greeks have call'd Inexpiable Furthermore we may be instructed by that which happen'd to the Carthaginians what Foresight is to be practis'd and Caution ought to be us'd by those who will compose their Armies of Mercenary and Forreign Troops We shall likewise be taught the difference in Manners between a barbarous People and those who have been bred and educated under the Laws of good Discipline In a word it will appear by the Sequel of those Transactions what gave rise to that War between the Romans and Carthaginians that was prosecuted by Hannibal And in regard not only Historians but the Managers themselves of the War are to this day in dispute about the Causes thereof it will not be an unprofitable Work to set the World right therein As soon as Hamilcar had finish'd the Treaty and led the Troops that were in Erix to Lilybaeum he resign'd his Commission and Gesco who was Governour of that place had the charge of transporting the Army into Africk who foreseeing what might happen did not Embark them all at once but prudently dispatch'd them by Divisions and Parties allotting so much time between their Embarking as might suffice for his purpose which was that those who were first sent might be paid and discharg'd and sent to their Country before the others should arrive But the Carthaginians had another Project for their Treasure being greatly exhausted by the War they determin'd to defer their Payment till they had them all together and then to propose to satisfie them with part only of what was due to them so they remain'd in the Port and were receiv'd and detain'd in Carthage as they arriv'd But the City at length growing weary of the Neighbourhood of those Strangers who daily molested them by insupportable Injuries and Insolence they wrought with their Officers to accept of Quarters elsewhere at a Town call'd Sicca whither they march'd them receiving a certain Sum for their present Subsistance till their Pretentions should be adjusted and the whole Army transported but upon their resolving to leave their Families and their Equipage as they had done heretofore behind them in the City in expectation speedily to return to receive their Pay the Carthaginians fearing that after so long an absence it would be hard to keep some from remaining behind and others from returning back out of love to their Relations by which means the Relief they design'd to the City by their departure would be without effect they therefore prevail'd with them to march with Bag and Baggage And now when the whole Army was got into Sicca and began to relish the Pleasure of Repose whereof for a long time they had not tasted Idleness soon begat Liberty and Neglect of Discipline Evils commonly incident to Soldiers without Imployment and in short the cause for the most part of all Mutinies and Disorders They therefore began to be very clamorous for their Pay exalting their Merits much above their due and altho' their Claim was unreasonable yet they determin'd among themselves to abate nothing of their Demands Furthermore calling to mind the many Promises their Officers had made them of Largesses and Rewards for the well-performance of their Duty in the many perillous Conflicts wherein they had been engag'd they rais'd their Expectations yet higher and with a covetous Impatience attended the Issue of their Pretensions When the Army as we said was arriv'd and all receiv'd into Sicca Hanno who at that time was chief Magistrate in Carthage was dispatch'd to them who not only did not answer their Demands but came even short in his Propositions of what they had already promis'd remonstrating to them the Poverty of the State and the heavy Tributes the Country was already under and therefore labour'd to perswade them to be satisfy'd with and take for good Payment a part only of what appear'd due to them which Proposition was not only rejected but answer'd with a present Insurrection of the Soldiers sometimes the several Nations mutining a-part sometimes joining in a general Sedition all running to their Arms and in regard they were of different Countries and Languages not understood by one another the Disorder was thereby greatly increas'd and nothing but Trouble and Tumult was seen in the Camp In short the Carthaginians whose Militia is for the most part compos'd of Mercenary Troops have their Policy of forming them out of divers Nations believing it hard to conceive a general Conspiracy or Sedition in an Army where the
the Dominion of the Carthaginians return'd to their Obedience Vtica and Hippona only excepted which continu'd in their Obstinacy who being indeed without hopes of Favour had no ground to demand it for from the first of their Defection they acted against the Carthaginians so as to cut off all prospect of Pardon which may serve for Instruction how necessary it proves even in those sort of Crimes whereof we have been treating to leave some place for Moderation and not to act beyond the power of Reparation In short Hamilcar setting down before those two Towns reduc'd them at length to Mercy And so ended the War of Africk which had brought the Carthaginian State in so much Danger And now they saw their Dominion restor'd and the Authors of the Rebellion punish'd Matho and those taken with him after they were carry'd in Triumph about the City and treated with all kind of Ignominy and us'd in the cruellest manner that could be invented were at length tormented to Death This War lasted three Years and near four Months and contain'd more Acts of Cruelty and Inhumanity than are to be found any where else in Story About the same time the Romans being sollicited by the Mercenaries who were beaten out of Sardinia and were fled to them determin'd to attempt the Possession of that great Island but the Carthaginians having the Right of first Possession would not endure the Injury and in regard they were now preparing an Army to go over and punish the Infidelity of those Islanders the Romans interpreting those Preparations to be against them took thence Occasion to declare a new War on them But the Carthaginians who had but just laid down their Arms and knew themselves to be much too weak and no ways in a condition to wage War with them found it their best course to submit and did not only yield up their Right to Sardinia to the Romans but bought their Peace at the price of Twelve Hundred Talents The End of the First Book POLYBIUS's General History OF THE TRANSACTIONS OF THE WORLD VOL. I. BOOK II. WE have shown in our former Book at what Time it was that the Romans first adventur'd on Forreign Expeditions after they had compos'd their Affairs in Italy We have related the Motives and Manner of their Transporting their Arms into Sicily and upon what Grounds they made War on the Carthaginians and contended with them for the Dominion of that Island We have also noted the Time when the Romans first ingag'd on Naval Action and what occur'd during the Progress of the War till the Carthaginians totally relinquish'd their Pretensions to Sicily and their Enemies became Masters of it all but what was reserv'd to King Hiero. Then we came to relate the Transactions of the War made by the Carthaginian Mercinaries on their Masters which was call'd the War of Africk We have likewise in that Account given Examples of the utmost Degrees of the Barbarity of Human Nature and told what was the Issue of so many Savage Actions pursuing the Story to the end of that War wherein the Carthaginians remain'd with Victory Now we shall proceed according to our first Purpose to set down subsequent Occurrences For the Carthaginians had no sooner compos'd their African Troubles when they rais'd a new Army the Command when which was given to Hamilcar Barcas with Direction to transport it into Spain who taking his Son Hannibal with him not then above nine Years old cross'd the Sea somewhere near the Strait of Hercules's Pillars and began to lay the Foundation of the Carthaginian Greatness in Spain Where after he had commanded for the Space of almost nine Years and brought many Nations to yield Obedience to that Government subduing some by Force and wining others by Address he at length ended his Days in a manner worthy of the Greatness of his Name being slain in Battel bravely Fighting at the head of his Troops against a formidable Enemy that oppos'd him Upon whose Death the Carthaginians gave his Command to Asdrubal his Kinsman at that time General of their Gallies About the same time the Romans transported an Army and made their first Expedition into Illyria and the Parts adjacent So that whosoever would curiously Search into the History of the Growth of the Roman Greatness is to have special Regard to that Part of their Story The Causes moving to this Expedition seem to be these Agro at that time King of Illyria Son of Pleuratus surpass'd by much all his Predecessors in Power and Greatness both by Sea and Land He had promis'd Demetrius Father of Philip King of Macedon who had gain'd him with a Sum of Mony to send Succours to the Mydionians whom the Aetolians at that time had besieg'd mov'd it seems thereunto for that they refus'd to joyn with them to live under the same Laws whom they therefore had determin'd to Reduce by Arms. And having levy'd an Army from among that People they declar'd War against those of Mydionia whose City they greatly distress'd attacking it with Machins and Engines of all sorts During this Siege the time drew near wherein the Aetolians were oblig'd to chuse a new Praetor but forasmuch as the Besieg'd were now brought to Extremity and that there were hopes they wou'd soon Capitulate the present Praetor who then commanded the Army remonstrated to the Aetolians that in regard he had born the Toyl and Hazzard of the Siege it seem'd but just that he might be permitted to enjoy the Benefit of Disposing of the Booty and the Honour of Taking the Place But this Proposition found Opposers especially among those who were Candidates in the new Election who perswaded the People by no means to consent to any Innovation in their Customs but to manage their Affairs according to the Prescription of their Laws and leave the Issue to Fortune Whereupon the Aetolians resolved to proceed to the Election allotting however the Profit and Honour that was to be won to be divided between him that now commanded and the other who should be chosen Three Days after this Determination was to be the Election when the new Officer was immediately to enter on his Charge according to Custom but in the interim there arrives a Fleet of a hundred small Vessels with a Re-inforcement of five Thousand Illyrians who at break of Day landed secretly near the Town and immediately put themselves in Order of Battel according to their manner and being form'd in several Divisions they advanc'd towards the Aetolians Camp who were much surpriz'd at the Hardiness of this sudden Attempt nevertheless they lost nothing of their usual Assurance and the Pride that is become habitual to that Nation for they rely'd on their Courage and presum'd their Army was not to be beaten They having many Troops heavy arm'd and abounding in Horse these they commanded to March out and imbattel'd them in plain ground before their Camp They likewise order'd their light arm'd Troops and some Horse to take
of some and conducted and principally advis'd in the performance of others They were those Commotions I mention'd that obliged the Romans to make War on the Vaccoeans and Celtiberians which mov'd the Carthaginians in Africk to take Arms against Massanissa and Attalus and Prusias to declare War with each other in Asia At the same time Ariarathes King of Cappadocia who had been expell'd his Kingdom by Orofernes was by the assistance of Demetrius and his sole Forces restor'd to his Government and then it was that Seleucus Son of Demetrius having reign'd twelve Years in Syria lost his Kingdom and his Life by a Conspiracy of the neighbouring Princes The Greeks who stood accus'd of having been Authors of the Persian War were about the same time absolv'd of that Blemish with liberty granted them by the Romans to return from Banishment to their Country Shortly after these Adventures the Romans attempted to compel the Carthaginians first to remove and change their Habitations and afterwards totally to ruine and exterminate them But we shall report in its proper place the motives of that Enterprize About the same time likewise the Macedonians departing from their Confederacy with the Romans and the Lacedaemonians from theirs with the Achaians will present us in one prospect with the beginning and end of the common Calamities of Greece where will occurr ample matter for the Historian's Skill to describe and it behoves us to implore the favour of Fortune to lend us life to conduct us through so difficult and important a Task Nevertheless tho' Death should chance to prevent us we should not however depart without some assurance that our Design will survive us and that there will not want some excellent Hand who charm'd with the Beauty of so incomparable a Subject will successfully finish what we have begun And now that we have prefac'd the most remarkable things which we thought necessary towards the improvement of the Reader 's Understanding of our History both in the parts and the whole it is high time we proceed to our Discourse Whereas those Authors for the most part who have writ the Acts of Hannibal have undertaken to give us an account of the Causes which begat the War that broke out between the Romans and Carthaginians whereof mention hath been already made and have render'd the Siege of Saguntum to have been the first occasion and the second to be the Carthaginians passing the River Eber contrary to the Articles of Agreement For my own part I do frankly agree with them That these were the beginnings of the War but can never accord with those who reckon them for the Causes no more than it can be conceiv'd that Alexander's transporting his Army into Asia was the cause of the Persian War or that the Voyage of Antiochus to Demetrias with his Army was likewise cause of the War with that Prince For who can be drawn easily to conceive that that was Alexander's motive for the mighty Preparations he made and of those things which Philip in his life-Life-time put in execution before him in order to the Persian War Furthermore who will take the beginning of the War which the Aetolians made upon the Romans before the arrival of Antiochus to have been the cause Those who reason at this rate seem not to distinguish of the difference between the Beginnings the Causes and the Pretexts The Causes always precede the Beginnings which are ever subsequent and as it were a Consequence I hold therefore the Beginnings to be the first efforts or effects of Deliberation namely of what hath been with mature Reason debated and decreed to be put in execution but this will be more evident by what I am about to say whereby it will plainly appear what the Causes were which produc'd the Persian War and where it took beginning The principal Cause was the retreat the Greeks made by the Conduct of Xenophon through so many divers Nations of the Vpper Asia where none of all those barbarous People who were all Enemies had the Courage to oppose his passage in his march through so vast a Continent Another cause was the Voyage of Agesilaus King of the Lacedaemonians into Asia where he found no Enemy so hardy as to withstand his Enterprizes from whence he was recall'd by reason of some Commotions that happen'd in his absence among the Greeks Hence Philip took his measures of the Persian weakness and being not ignorant that both himself and his People were Masters in the Art of War was incited by the glory and magnificence of the Reward to ingage in that Enterprize so that after he had acquir'd the general Good-will and Concurrence of the Greeks he proceeded to form his Design for the Invasion of Persia publishing his Motives to be no other than to revenge the Injuries done to the Greeks by those of that Nation and accordingly proceeded to make provision of all things necessary to sustain and carry on that vast Undertaking So that we are thus to reckon that the Causes of the Persian-War were no others than those we first mention'd the Pretexts what we have recited and the Beginning to be Alexander's transporting his Troops into Asia It is likewise past dispute that the distaste the Aetolians had conceiv'd against the Romans was the cause of the War that broke out betwixt Antiochus and Them For the Aetolians towards the end of the War with Philip beginning to perceive themselves slighted by the Romans did not only invite over Antiochus as we have noted but determin'd to do and suffer any thing to compass their Revenge The Pretext for that War was the Liberty of Greece to the defence whereof the Aetolians drew the Greeks from all parts to joyn with Antiochus and the arrival of that Prince at the head of an Army to Demetrias was the beginning of the War I have rested the longer on this subject of showing the difference between these three Points not only to detect the Errors of some Historians but to the end the studious may be instructed and set right in case they should be mislead by their false Lights For to what end is the Physician call'd to the sick Patient if he should be ignorant of the Causes of our Diseases In like manner it would be in vain to call such to the administration of Publick Affairs who want Judgment to distinguish of the Causes and Reasons and Events of things And there can be no dispute but both the Physician and Minister of State will miscarry while the one is to seek for the Causes of our Infirmities and the other not duly instructed in those necessary Points we have noted There is nothing then that calls for more of our care and study to acquire than a right knowledge of the Springs and Causes of Events for very often it fortunes that the greatest things are bred out of slight beginnings and Remedies may be found with case for Evils in their infancy and first approaches Fabius the Historian
Watch or the Art of making Love being Rules for Courtship for every Hour in the Day The Ladies Lookinglass to dress themselves by or the whole Art of charming Mankind The lucky Mistake Memoirs of the Court of the King of Bantam The Nun or the perjured Beauty The Adventures of the Black Lady These three never before published with the Life and Memoirs of Mrs. Bohn written by one of the fair Sex with Love-letters written between her and Myn heir Van Brain a Dutch Merchant Next Week will be published the second and last Volume of Mrs. Brâ—â—'s Histories and Novels which make her Works Compleat The whole Works of that excellent practical Physitian Dr. Tho. Sydenham wherein not only the History and Cures of acute Diseases are treated of after a new and safest way of curing most chronical Diseases the second Edition corrected from the Original Latin By John Pechey of the Colledge of Physitians Reflections on antient and modern Learning by William Wotton Chaplain to the Right Honourable the Earl of Nottingham the second Edition enlarged to which is added A Dissertation on the Epistles of Phalaris Themistocles Socrates c. By Dr. Bentley Printed for Richard Wellington at the Lute in St. Paul's Church-yard where you may be furnished with most Plays THE HISTORY OF POLYBIUS The MEGALOPOLITAN CONTAINING A General Account OF THE TRANSACTIONS OF THE WORLD And Principally of the ROMAN PEOPLE During the First and Second Punick Wars c. Translated by Sir H. S. VOL. II. III. The Second Edition LONDON Printed for Samuel Briscoe at the Corner of Charles-Street in Covent-Garden MDCXCVIII The Mapp of Antient GREECE Expressing especially the Places mentioned in Polybious by Sr H. S. Vol II. POLYBIUS'S General History OF THE TRANSACTIONS OF THE WORLD VOL. II. BOOK IV. IN our foregoing Book we have related the Causes of the Second War that fell out between the Romans and Carthaginians We have deliver'd the Particulars of Hannibal's March and Invasion of Italy and have recounted the Adventures of the two Armies to the time of the Battel that was sought on the Banks of the River Anfidus near Cannae Now the Occurrences of Greece during the same Period of time shall be the Subject of our Pains But we have thought it necessary to remind the Reader briefly First Of what hath been already observ'd of the Greeks in our Second Book and principally of the Achaians Inasmuch as it hath so come to pass that in the short space of ours and our Fathers Days that Republick hath grown to a marvellous Greatness For being founded by Tisamenes one of the Sons of Orestes we have observ'd that the Achaians were first govern'd by Kings who sprang from him in a continu'd Line of Succession to the Reign of Ogyges From whose time the Supreme Power being translated to the People became establish'd in an excellent form of Government Which was afterward first broken and dissolv'd by the Kings of Macedon when the Cities and Towns thereof became independent each governing according to their own Rules without any common Subjection to a Supreme General Tribunal to which they might have recourse After this Revolution we shew'd how they came to Unite and Incorporate into one Body at what time it was that they came to this Resolution and who they were that gave the Occasion In short we have related by what Means and Counsels the Towns being drawn to Unite the whole People of Peloponnesus grew to have one common Appellation and to be under one and the same Form of Common-wealth After having treated in general of that Enterprize and said something in particular touching the Actions of the Achaians we pursu'd the Story down to the time that Cleomenes King of the Lacedaemonians was despoil'd of his Government Then we gave a brief Recapitulation of general Occurrences to the Death of Antigonus Seleucus and Ptolemy who all dy'd about the same time having promis'd to begin our History at that Period which gave an end to those Matters we have now last recited In conclusion I determin'd that I could not any where better begin than from thence First In regard that there Aratus finisheth his Commentaries so that by continuing the Thread of his Discourse we shall thereby make the relation of the Greek Affairs as far as we propose to touch them all of a piece and then it will come to pass that the time succeeding and that which shall compose our History will be so united to the foregoing Period that in part what shall be related of our own and the Transactions of our Fathers Days will be compriz'd in one Body For as I have been a Witness to a good part of what shall be deliver'd and compos'd the rest from the Relations of such as could yield me the like certain Testimony so I have shun'd the delivering of remoter Occurrences through the doubts to which they are subjected And have thought nothing worthy of an Historian's Pen beyond that Period Nor indeed can Truth farther fairly be shewn nor Men consequently safely judge of any thing they hear otherwise deliver'd A farther particular Motive we had for taking our beginning from thence was that Fortune seem'd at that time to have made an universal Revolution and given a new Face to the Affairs of the World Tho' Philip Son of Demetrius were yet a Child nevertheless he soon came to sway the Scepter of Macedon Achaeus who govern'd the Countries of Asia on this side Mount Taurus did not only bear the Port of a Prince but was in effect vested with Sovereign Authority Antiochus sirnam'd the Great a little before succeeded his Brother in the Kingdom of Syria being then but very young And Ariarathes took possession at the same time of the Kingdom of Cappadocia which was deliver'd into his hands About the same time Ptolemy Philopater reduc'd Egypt to his Obedience And a little after Lycurgus became establish'd King of the Lacedaemonians The Carthaginians on that side had newly made Hannibal their General in order to those Attempts we have already recounted So that the Government as one may say of the World being put into new hands it could not by the Law of Nature but beget new Counsels and produce new Things The Romans then enter'd upon the War we have related Antiochus and Ptolemy were soon in Hostility one against the other for the Dominion of the Lower Syria And the Achaians and Philip joyn'd in a War against the Lacedaemonians and those of Aetolia The reasons of which War we shall now deliver The Aetolians had been long weary of Peace which oblig'd them to live Honestly at their own Expence who had been us'd heretofore to subsist on Spoil and Rapine And whosoever hath lead that sort of Life without prospect of other Profit than what ariseth by the Damage of another after the manner of Savage Beasts are without any sence of Friendship or Alliance reckon all their Enemies they can prey on and believe they have a right
gain'd the Hills and the Horse in the Plains bringing up and sustaining the Rear and who now drew near an Eminence call'd Propus They sent out their Horse after them to whom they joyn'd their light-arm'd Troops under the leading of Epistratus the Acarnanian these had order to fall on their Rear-guard to make some proof of the mettle of the Enemy Now if it were reasonable to come to a Battel they could not have made a worse choice than to attack the Enemy in the Rear for their Gross had already pass'd the Plains but to have done as they ought would have been to have ingag'd their Van as soon as they had enter'd on the Champaign Ground In which case they had had the benefit of fighting with the Advantage both in the nature of their Arms and the strength of their Order wherein in plain Ground they were in both superior to the Enemy who could not possibly have then fought without great odds against them But while they committed this over-sight and attack'd not the Aetolians till they had gain'd the Advantage of Ground it was no wonder that the Success fell out accordingly For the light-arm'd Troops no sooner came to the Charge when the Aetolian Horse had gain'd the Mountain firm and in good order keeping a good round march whereby to come up and Joyn their Foot Aratus who could not very well discover how the Affair went and not rightly judging of the Danger to which he was going to expose himself imagining the Enemies hasty Motion to be no other than Flight detach'd his Curiassiers from the Wings and commanded them to advance to the Charge to reinforce and sustain the light-arm'd Soldiers In the mean time drawing up the rest of his Troops into one Battalion he march'd himself at the Head of them and hastily advanc'd towards the Enemy doing every thing with precipitation But the Aetolian Horse had no sooner pass'd the Plain and joyn'd the Foot who had the Rear-guard and had now gain'd the Mountain when they immediately made a halt and ordering their Foot on the Flanks incourag'd one another to fear nothing And now facing about the Shouts they made caus'd those who were at a distance to return and hasten to their assistance so that their number increasing in confidence of their superiour Strength and the benefit of charging from higher Ground they boldly attack'd the Enemies Horse and their light-arm'd Troops and after a long and obstinate Dispute the Achaians were worsted Who flying so terrify'd those who were coming in no very good order to their Relief that they likewise retreated as fast as they came partly out of ignorance of the state of the Battel partly by meeting those of their Party who were flying for Safety from the Enemy This was the reason why it came to pass that this Party only of five Hundred of their Men was beaten and above two Thousand betook themselves to flight without ingaging And now the Aetolians who took Counsel of the present posture of the Field follow'd them hard in the Rear with great Shouts and Acclamations In short while the Achaian Troops were retreating back to the Gross as they thought of the Army which they hop'd would afford them a safe reception their Retreat was Soldier-like in good and safe order but as soon as they perceiv'd them to have quitted the advantageous Post they had taken that their Order was broken and confus'd marching in a Defileé then they sell into Confusion likewise and scattering and dispersing themselves here and there some got into neighbouring Towns others meeting a Battalion of their own Troops that advanc'd to their Succour so terrify'd each other tho' no Enemy were near that they both broke and dispers'd Of those that shifted for themselves as we observ'd some got into the Towns round about and a good Party escap'd to Orchomenus and Caphya which were not far off For had they not had those safe Retreats at hand they had been intirely ruin'd Thus have we related the Story of this Battel which was fought near Caphya As soon as the Megalopolitans came to understand that the Aetolians were encamp'd in the Territory of Methydrium they drew their whole Forces together and march'd to the Assistance of the Achaians but they arriv'd not till the Day after the Battel and their coming prov'd of no other use than to take care of burying the dead Bodies of those with whom they expected to have joyn'd and hop'd to have reliev'd So that digging a great Ditch in the Territory of the Caphyans they there bury'd the dead performing the Obsequies of those unfortunate Men with great Honour and Solemnity And now the Aetolians having obtain'd a Victory so contrary to their Hopes by the single service of their Horse and light-arm'd Soldiers took their march thereupon without fear or danger quite cross the Country of Peloponnesus And after making an attempt on Pellene and harrassing the Territory of Sicyon they took their way by the Isthmus These matters then which we have now related were the cause of the Confederate War and the Decree that was conceiv'd thereupon and confirm'd in a general Assembly of the Allies at Corinth where King Philip who procur'd the same and was present was the beginning of the said War In the mean time the Achaians soon after this Defeat call an Assembly where Aratus was severely prosecuted with Complaints on all hands As having been manifestly the occasion of the loss and dishonour they had sustain'd And by how much his Enemies press'd him with Accusations and with strong Reasons laid open his mismanagement by so much did the Hatred and Indignation of the People increase against him First there was no dispute but that Aratus had greatly err'd in having as one may say usurp'd the Magistracy by taking it upon him before he was regularly elected into his Charge And he could not deny but that what he had enterpriz'd thereupon had very ill succeeded Furthermore they blam'd him for that seeing the Aetolians yet in the heart of Peloponnesus he had been prevail'd with to dismiss the Achaian Troops notwithstanding he had been before well assur'd that Scopas and Dorimachus were sirmly determin'd to embroil their Affairs and to do all they could to ingage them in a War The third Article against him was His adventuring to ingage with so few Troops when he might with ease have made a good Retreat to the neighbouring Towns where he might at leisure have reinforc'd his Army and then given the Enemy Battel if he had seen cause The last and heaviest Charge against him was That after he had resolv'd to give the Enemy Battel he did not make one Soldier-like step in the whole Conduct of the Action For it had been in his choice to have sought on plain Ground which would have been much to his advantage for there the heavy-arm'd Troops could have ingag'd from whose service he could hardly have sail'd of Success While on the contrary he
Equality in their State In these Disputes there were two of their Ephori of whom it could not be discover'd to which Party they were inclin'd while the other three openly manifested their being of the Aetolian Faction Considering King Philip as not yet of Age ripe enough to Rule the Affairs of Peloponnesus But when contrary to their Opinion and more speedily than they expected the Aetolians were retir'd and Philip arriv'd out of Macedon sooner than was believ'd the three Ephori began to fall into suspicion of Adimantus one of the other two for they well knew he was privy to their Designs and testify'd his disapproval of their Counsels wherefore they apprehended lest he when Philip should approach nearer might reveal to him all that had pass'd Wherefore imparting their purpose to certain young Men of their Party they proclaim'd by sound of Trumpet that all who were of Age to go to War should assemble with their Arms at a certain place of Rendezvous near the Temple of Minerva Chalciaece to make head against the Macedonians who were approaching their Borders Hereupon the People assembled terrify'd at this surprizing News but Adimantus disapproving the proceeding hast'ned to those who were so drawn together and spake to them after this manner It would be wholsome Counsel to conceive such Edicts and make such Proclamations upon notice that the Aetolians our Enemies were on our Borders but not at this time when the Macedonians our Friends from whose Bounty we have receiv'd so many good Offices are approaching us having their King in Person with them He had no sooner ended these words when those who were of Intelligence with the other Ephori fell upon him stabbing him to death with their Poinyards and together with him Sthenelaus Alcamenes Thyestes Bionidias and many other Principal Citizens Polyphontes and some others who foresaw the Danger escap'd to King Philip. But the Ephori becoming by this Action formidable in Sparta sent forthwith to the King laying the cause of what had happen'd to the charge of those who had been slain praying him to deferr his coming to Sparta till their Tumults should be over and their Affairs in a more quiet posture In the mean time they give him solemn assurance of fair Dealing and that they would perform the Capitulations punctually Their Ambassadors found the King near the Mountain of Parthenia where they perform'd their Commission After he had given them Audience he told them they should return back to Sparta and let the Ephori understand that he intended to proceed on his way to Tegaea where he desired they would dispatch to him proper Persons with whom to confer touching the present posture of Affairs So they commissionated ten of the Principal Citizens of Lacedaemon for that Negotiation appointing Onias chief of the Embassy Upon their arrival at Tegaea they were introduc'd to the King in Council where they renew'd their Accusation against Adimantus making him the Author of all those Disorders that had happen'd among them And in short they made the King plausible Promises to act in every thing the part of faithful Confederates and to proceed in such manner as to make it manifest that they surpast in Zeal and Affection those whom he held for his faithfullest Friends After this Discourse and more to the like effect the Ambassadors withdrew Those who were present in the Council were divided in their Opinions and being well assur'd that Adimantus and those who had been assassinated were sacrific'd for their Fidelity to King Philip and that the Lacedaemonians prevaricated and were dispos'd to enter into Alliance with the Aetolians counselled the King to make them an Example and treat them as Alexander had done the Thebans upon his coming to the Crown But others of the graver sort were for more moderate Counsels remonstrating that such a Punishment was too great for their Fault and that it would be enough to punish the Promoters and Heads of the Sedition by removing them from the Magistracy and placing the Authority in such Hands as were firm to the Interest of the King After they had all spoken their Minds the King deliver'd his Opinion if it were true that what he said in that occasion was his own For in truth it is hardly probable that a young Prince of seventeen Years of Age could be able to determine with such Sagacity in an Affair of so much moment But as it is good manners in Historians to attribute to the Princes themselves the Resolutions that are taken in their Cabinets so the Readers of History ought to conclude that such wholsome determinations flow rather from the riper Conceptions of their faithful Servants and such as are admitted to the Prince's Privacy And there is all the reason in the World to do Aratus the justice of believing him to be the Author of what the King deliver'd on that occasion Who said That if the Confederates had any difference among themselves what was fitting to be done in such case was to admonish them by Word or Letter and let them know that their Proceedings were observ'd That whatsoever was done in violation of the general Alliance ought to be punish'd by the joint Sentence of the Confederates But that since it did not appear that the Lacedaemonians had been guilty of any Infraction of the Union but on the contrary had given the Macedonians such Assurances of their sincerity as they did there was no reason to deal severely with them That in a word it would not be just in him to animadvert on them for light Offences whom his Father had pardon'd while they were Enemies and he a Conqueror This Opinion then of the King prevailing That it would be better to connive at what had happen'd he dispatch'd Petraeus one of his favourite Servants in company of Onias to exhort the Lacedaemonians to continue firm to the Treaty and to ratifie it by a new Oath while himself march'd with his Army to Corinth having given the Confederates an admirable instance of his Prudence and Magnanimity in this his behaviour towards the Lacedaemonians The Ambassadors of the Confederates were already met at Corinth where upon the King's Arrival they fell to deliberate with him about their common Affairs and what resolution to take touching the Aetolians The Boeotians accus'd them of having in time of Peace plunder'd and violated the Temple of Minerva Itonia The Phocians for attacking in Hostile manner the Towns of Ambrysus and Daulius The Epirots charg'd them with making Inroads and Plund'ring their Country The Acarnanians for their attempt on Thyreum and after it had been made evident to the Assembly in what manner they had possess'd themselves of the Fortress of Clarium in the Dominion of the Megalopolitans That they had ruin'd the Country of Pharus and Patrae in their march destroy'd Cynaetha with Fire and Sword prophan'd the Temple of Diana at Lussi besieg'd Clytoria made War by Sea at Pylus and Landed in hostile manner on the Territory of
Megalopolis In short when all these Outrages of the Aetolians had been prov'd and canvass'd in the Assembly they accorded unanimously to declare War against them So after they had prefac'd their Decree with enumerating the Causes and Provocations of the War it was concluded That all those who had been sufferers by the Aetolians since the Death of Demetrius Father of Philip should be receiv'd into the Confederacy and that if any by the violence of the Times had been aw'd into Obedience or Alliance with the Aetolians and pay'd them Tribute that they should be forthwith set at liberty the security of their respective Governments committed to their own hands and no Garrisons impos'd upon them but that they should be permitted to return to their ancient Laws and Customs free from any Tribute or Impositions whatsoever That Aid should be given the Amphictyons in order to their re-establishment in their Privileges and the restitution of their Right to the administration of the Temple which the Aetolians had violently wrested from them to make themselves Masters of that sacred Place and all the Revenues thereof This Decree being ordain'd in the First Year of the Hundred and fortieth Olymphiad the War of the Allies thereupon ensu'd which was begotten by the violent and general unjust proceedings of the Aetolians And now Ambassadors were sent from the Assembly of the States to all the Confederate Towns to the end the Decree being every-where receiv'd and ratifi'd by the Suffrages of the People they migh jointly and separately in their distinct States publish the War against the Aetolians whom King Philip likewise advertis'd by his Letters letting them understand That if it were so that they had just argument or motive whereby to indemnifie themselves and could fairly wipe off the Imputations that lay against them that they would do well to apply themselves to the general Assembly and endeavour to put a period to so solemn a Process by a Conference That they did but make Ostentation of their Weakness by thinking they might with impunity spoil and pillage as they did every-where without any declar'd War or apparent cause for such violence and that those who underwent these Outrages would rest unreveng'd or that it would be believ'd the Sufferers would be reckon'd the Aggressors and Authors of the War while they only apply'd themselves to such Remedies as their case made necessary The Aetolians on the receipt of these Intimations from King Philip were at first persuaded he would not appear and therefore prefix'd a Day for their assembling at Rhium afterwards when they heard of his arrival they sent to let him know that they had not Power to determine any thing in their Publick Affairs till the Convention of the General States of the Aetolians In the mean while the Achaians assembling at the usual time ratify'd the Decree by a general Vote of the Assembly and afterwards declar'd War against the Aetolians And now the King coming the Aegium where the Diet was held he there explain'd himself in many Point and proceeded in such manner as greatly pleas'd and oblig'd the Assembly where they renew'd with him the several Treaties that had been heretofore made between his Ancestors and the Achaians About the same time the Aetolians assembled in their General Council where they elected Scopas for their Praetor he who had been the Author of all those Violencese we have related By what name then shall we be able to distinguish such a Determination For to spoil and treat their Neighbours in hostile manner without any Declaration of War and not only not to punish the Authors of such Outrages but to conferr on the Ring-leaders the prime Authority in the Government seems to me the extremity of all Dishonesty For what gentler Terms will so vile an Action bear But our sense thereof will be better known by what follows When Phaebidas surpriz'd Cadmaea by Fraud and Perfidy the Lacedaemonians tho' they would not quit their possession yet they punish'd the Authors of the Action believing they had done enough to expiate for the Wrong in the chastisement of the Offenders In short they might have proceeded with less severity and it would have been more beneficial to the Thebans Afterward during the Peace of Antalâ—idas they publish'd a Decree That Liberty should be restor'd every where to the Greeks who should enjoy their ancient Laws and Customs nevertheless they withdrew not the Governors they had plac'd over the several Towns When they dissolv'd the Government and ruin'd the Town of Mantinoea they colour'd the Action by asserting they had done them on Injury in transplanting them from one Town to a great many But 't is the summ total of Folly and Depravity to think because our Eyes are shut that all the World is blind Thus both the one and the other of these People by pursuing these pernicious Maxims in the administration of the States drew on themselves many and grievous Calamities Wherefore as well in Private Affairs as Publick Negotiations such Counsels are never to be follow'd by any who would consult their own Good and Tranquility King Philip having now come to a Resolution with the Achaians touching their common Affairs return'd home with his Army to make preparations for the War having gain'd not only among the Confederates but the Greeks in general a mighty Opinion of his Goodness and Magnanimity by the publication of the Decree we have mention'd All these Matters were transacted about the time that Hannibal the Carthaginian General was deliberating about laying Siege to Saguntum after he had subdu'd all that part of Spain that lies on the other side of the River Eber. Since the Enterprizes of Hannibal then take beginning and bear data with these Affairs of Greece there seems to be a necessity that we should treat of them alternately according to the Method of our preceding Book to the end having punctual regard to the Time we may confront as one may say the Affairs of both these People of Spain and Greece But forasmuch as those of Italy Greece and Asia were produc'd from different Causes tho' they had one and the same event we have therefore thought fit to handle them distinctly and a-part till such time as we shall arrive at that Period when the Matters whereof we have made mention come to mingle and grow to conspire towards one and the same end By which means the beginnings and steps of each one respectively will be made the more intelligible and the interweaving them afterwards be less subject to confusion when the time of the respective Occurrences shall be adjusted and the Means and Causes of things duly set down In conclusion they will together compose bu one intire History and in short these Affairs became thus mingled toward the end of that War which was finish'd in the third Year of the Hundred and Fortieth Olympiad Wherefore there will be all the reason in the World to treat succeeding Matters conjointly as those that go
Magazines together with all the Timber Marble Brick Tyle and all whatsoever Materials had been carry'd away For Prusias apprehending the approach of Tibites had caused to be dismantled all such places as might be of use to the Enemy and in a word oblig'd himself to cause restitution to be made to the Mysians who were under the Dominion of the Byzantines of all that had been taken from them by any of the Bithynians Thus was the War enter'd upon and determin'd that sell out between King Prusias and the Byzantines At the same time the Cnossians sent Ambassadors to the Rhodians to demand the Ships that Polemocles had Commanded together with four Brigantines which they had lent them towards the War This being effected and the Vessels arriving in Candia the Eleuthernaeans believing themselves to have been outrag'd by Polemocles who to oblige the Cnossians had caus'd Timarchus a Citizen of theirs to be slain having first publickly proclaim'd their Right to demand reparation of this Violence of the Rhodians declar'd War against them There happen'd likewise some time before this a strange Adventure to the Lyttians or rather an incurable Calamity To set down therefore in few words a State of the Affairs in Candia in those Days take them a little more or less as follows The Cnossians and Gortinians being in league had by combining their Forces subdu'd the whole Island of Candia the City of Lyttia only excepted which standing singly out against them and refusing to submit to their Domination they agreed to make War upon them resolving totally to destroy them to the greater terror of those who should meditate the like Designs Whereupon the rest of the Candiots in general fell on the Lyttians But it was not long before a slight occasion as is the custom of that People set them at variance amongst themselves so that Factions were form'd and Seditions grew between them The Polyrrhenaeans the Creetaeans the Lampaeans Oryans and Arcadians left the Cnossians and by common Consent took part with the Lyttians In Gortinea the grave and experienc'd Inhabitants favour'd the Cnossians but the younger sort taking part with the Lyttians begat great Disorders in the City The Cnossians terrify'd at these Commotions among their Allies procur'd an Aid of a Thousand Men from the Aetolians whereupon the Party that sided with them getting the Cittadel gave it into the possession of the Cnossians and the Aetolians and after having slain some that oppos'd them and pursu'd some and terrify'd the rest they gave them up the Town likewise The Lyttians in the mean time led their Troops into the Enemy's Country while the Cnossians getting notice of their Expedition march'd and surpriz'd their Town which they had left with little or no Guard The Women and Children they sent to Cnossus but the Town they burnt and totally destroy'd exercising all the Spight and Cruelty practis'd in the most raging War and so return'd home in Triumph When the Lyttians came from their Expedition and beheld the Desolation of their City they were struck with that horror that not one of them adventur'd to set his Foot within the Walls but marching in a Body round the Ruines celebrated as it were by their Cries and Lamentations the Obsequies of their Native Place and then march'd away to the Lampaeans who receiv'd them with all hospitality So that in the space of only one Day they were banish'd their Country which they had utterly lost and receiv'd as free Citizens into another with whom they incorporated and prosecuted the War against the Cnossians Thus Lyttia a Colony of the Lacedaemonians the most ancient City of Creet the Mother of a People surpassing all the rest of that Island in Courage and Virtue was destroy'd and disappear'd as one may say in a moment The Polyrrhenaeans and Lampaeans and in short all the rest of the Confederates seeing the Cnossians have recourse to the Aetolians for Succours whom they knew to be Enemies to King Philip and the Achaians dispatch'd their Ambassadors to these to sollicite Aid and make Alliance with them with whom entering into Confederacy they sent them four Hundred Illâ—rians under the Command of Plator two Hundred Achaians and an Hundred Phocians The arrival of these Recruits wrought a great Change for the better in their Affairs for they soon prevail'd with the Elenthernaeans Cydoniates and Apteraeans whom they had confin'd within the Walls of their Towns to enter into the League and abandon the Interest of the Cnossians In a word the Confederates following the Advice of the Polyrrhenaeans sent to King Philip and the Achaians a supply of five Hundred Candiots the Cnossians having some time before sent a Thousand of their People to the Aetolians Thus they interchang'd Supplies one with another to continue the War At the same time the Gortineans who were in Banishment getting possession of the Port or Haven and surprizing that of the Phaestians from thence they insested and wag'd War with those of their own City In this posture at that time stood the Affairs of the Island of Candia At the same time Mithridates declar'd War against those of Sinope which became in effect the occasion of all those Calamities that afterward befel that City Upon the Sinopeans demanding Succours of the Aetolians to sustain the Waâ— the Aetolians made choice of three Persons for that Service to whom they distributed the Summ of about one Hundred and forty Thousand Drachma's wherewith to purchase Supplies of all things needful for the defence of the place With this the said Agents made provision of ten Thousand Vessels of Wine three Hundred and Sixty Pound weight of Hair-Cordage an Hundred and Twenty Pound of Nerve-Cordage a Thousand Suits of Arms giving their Ambassadors in Money about Three Thousand Pieces of Coin'd Gold They likewise furnish'd them with four Machines for casting of Stones with Men skilful in the use and management of them whereupon having receiv'd this Supply the Agents return'd home Those of Sinope apprehending lest Mithridates should Besiege them by Land and Sea that Fear gave occasion for the extraordinary Preparations they made Sinope is situated on the right Hand as we Sail toward Phasis in the Pontic Sea it stands in a Peninsula which stretches a good distance out into the Sea The Town fills the whole breadth of the Peninsula which is join'd to the Continent of Asia by a neck of Land not half a Mile broad The rest of the Peninsula advances I say far into the Sea and being every-where Low-Land the Town lies expos'd to be attack'd from that side The extremities of the Seaward are with difficulty approach'd where scarce a single Vessel can with safety adventure to the Shoar and there are but few commodious Places there for Landing Those of Sinope then fearing Attempts of Mithridates both by Land with Machines and to the Seaward by landing and possessing the level and lower Grounds which lie near the City they therefore resolv'd to fortify the whole
which he thus manag'd Amphidamus chief of the Eleans who had been taken Prisoner at Thalamé whither he was retir'd as hath been told being brought among others to Olympia so wrought by the mediation of Friends that he was admitted to a Conference with the King in which Audience he persuaded him That it would be no difficult matter to procure him the Friendship of the Eleans and that he well knew by what means to effect it and make that People covet his Alliance The King being wrought to believe him forthwith discharg'd him without Ransom impow'ring him to assure the Eleans That on condition of their ent'ring into League with him all their Prisoners should be enlarg'd Ransom-free That he would protect their Country from Plunder and all the wasteful effects of War and confirm and preserve their rightful Liberties so as they should live in the entire enjoyment of all their Privileges and be exempt both from Garrisons and Tribute And now albeit these Overtures contain'd so much favour and might be thought sufficient to engage them nevertheless the Eleans would not be drawn to listen to them but remain'd immovable This incidence arm'd Apelles with Calumnies against the Aratuses who charg'd them with Insincerity to the King and that they did not as they ought serve the Interest of the League in which they were engag'd with the Macedonians telling the King if the Eleans had shewn any aversion to his Friendship it was wholly due to the Artifices of the Aratuses That in short upon Amphidomus's departure from Olympia towards Elis they took an occasion to have Conference with him and so prevail'd that he became of another Mind and chang'd his Purpose being by them persuaded That it would be in no wise for the Interest of the Peloponnesians that King Philip should acquire any Power over the Eleans and that this was the cause why the Eleans receiv'd the King's Proposals so coldly and persisted in their Confederacy with the Aetolians and endur'd so patiently the Mischiefs they suffer'd from the Macedonians As soon as Philip had heard these things he order'd the two Aratuses to be sent for to the end he might confront them with their Accuser who should be oblig'd to charge them to their Faces with these Matters whereof they had been accus'd to him in private Whereupon they came and heard what Apelles had to say who charg'd them roundly and with great assurance and a Countenance full of Menaces adding in the King's Presence who had not yet spoken That since the King had discover'd their Ingratitude to him and that they had render'd themselves so unworthy of his good Offices he had therefore deliberated on calling an Assembly of the Achaians to whom he would impart the Cause and then return with his Army into Macedon Whereupon the elder Aratus reply'd praying the King not over-hastily to give credit to what he heard and that whensoever he should stand accus'd of any Matters to him by any Friend or Ally he would vouchsafe to fift◠and examine every thing with Caution before he came to believe a Calumnious Impeachment against him That furthermore as it became the Justice of a Prince so to do so the thing in it self was advantageous to him That in the mean time it would be but fair-dealing in Apelles to cause those Persons to be produc'd who were Witnesses to the Conference whereof he had been accus'd and the Person likewise himself who had given Apelles the Information That in short nothing ought to be omitted whereby the King might arrive at the certain Truth of the Matter before he should determine to discover any thing thereof in the Assembly of the Achaians The King became of Aratus's Mind and reply'd That he would not in any wise resolve hastily but would carefully first inform himself in every particular of the Matter and thereupon dismiss'd the Company Not long after this Controversie over and above that Apelles never produc'd any Proof of the Accusation a chance happen'd which greatly favour'd the Cause of Aratus Amphidamus falling under suspicion of the Eleans about the Time Philip was wasting their Country they had therefore form'd a Design to secure his Person and sending him Prisoner to the Aetolians But he having some suspicion of their Purpose withdrew himself and escap'd first to Olympia afterwards being inform'd that the King intended to remain some Days at Dymas where he divided the Booty he departed from thence and came thither to him Aratus was well pleas'd with the Escape and Arrival of Amphidamus he therefore with the assurance of an innocent Man pray'd the King to order him to be brought to his Presence who without Controversie would be best able of all others rightly to inform him he being a principal Person to whom the Secret was said to be imparted adding That there could be no doubt of his Sincerity in the Relation he should give considering he had been compell'd now to abandon his Country on the score of the King and had no other recourse but to him This Request of Aratus was thought but reasonable wherefore Amphidamus was brought to the King by whom the untruth of the Accusation was made to appear This prov'd the occasion that the Good will of King Philip grew now more and more towards Aratus whom he held in very great consideration and on the contrary of his change towards Apelles whom he came by degrees to dislike Howbeit he dissembled that and many other things all he could through the long possession of Power he had acquir'd with him In the mean time Apelles neglects not to pursue his Design prevailing to have Taurion who was Governour for the King in Peloponnesus to be remov'd from that Trust not by any Accusation he preferr'd against him but more artfully by praising his Abilities and that it was for the King 's better Service to have him present with him in his Wars and Expeditions when his meaning was to have it in his Power to provide a Governour of his own stamp in Peloponnesus Thus by this new way are Praises converted into Calumnies and Men are undone by Recommendation A malicious refin'd Artifice forg'd and put in practice by those who live in the Courts of Princes the effects of Jealousie and Ambition Furthermore Apelles took all occasions to diminish the Credit of Alexander with the King who had the Command of his Guards to the end he might have it in his Power likewise to dispose of that Place and to conclude all in a word bent his utmost Endeavours to introduce a total Change in the establish'd Order of Government which had been left by Antigonus tho' that Prince while he liv'd rul'd the Kingdom and the young King with great Wisdom and at his Death provided as wisely for every thing For in his Will he left his Reasons to the Macedonians of the whole Method of his Conduct and laid down Rules and Prescriptions for their future Government appointing to whom the administration