Nor was Venus wholly unconcern'd in the matter upon the loss of her Votary Aspasia Darius therefore resign'd himself up to the dictates of Tiribazus and many now conspiring with them an Eunuch detected their Plot to the King and the way how it was to be managed being very well informed that the Traitors had resolved to break into his Bed-Chamber by night and there to kill him as he lay After Artaxerxes had been thus advertised he did not think fit by disregarding the discovery to despise so great a danger nor to believe it when there was little or no proof of it Thus then he did He charged the Eunuchs constantly to be amongst and accompany the Conspirators wherever they were In the mean while he broke down the Wall of the Chamber behind his Bed and when he had made a door he hid it with Tapestry So the hour approaching and the Eunuch having told him the very nick of time in which the Traytors design'd to assassinate him he waited for them in his Bed and rose not up till he had seen the faces of his aggressors and accurately discern'd every man of them But as soon as he saw them with their Swords drawn and coming up to him throwing up the hanging he made his retreat into an inner Chamber and bolting to the door he alarm'd the Court. Thus when the Ruffians had been seen by him and had attempted him in vain they with speed went back through the same doors they came enjoyning Tiribazus especially and those near him to retire because clearly discovered They therefore made their escape different ways but Tiribazus as they were laying hold on him slew many of the Kings Guards and at length being struck through with a Dart at a distance he fell And as for Darius who was brought to the Bar with his Children the King appointed Princely Judges to sit over him who because he was not himself at the Trial but accus'd Darius for Proxy commanded his Notaries to write down the opinion of every one of the Judges and shew it to him In short after they had resolv'd all as one man and sentenc'd Darius to death the Officers seiz'd on him and hurryed him to a prison not far off To which place the Executioner when summoned came with a razour in his hand with which men of his employment cut off the heads of high offenders But when he saw that Darius was the person thus to be punished he was appall'd and started back offering to go out as one that had neither power nor courage enough to behead him who a little before had been proclaim'd King yet at the threats and commands of the Judges who stood at the Prison-door he return'd and grasping the hair of his head and binding his face to the ground with one hand he cut off his neck with the Razour he had in the other Some affirms that sentence was pass'd in the presence of Artaxerxes that Darius after he had been convicted by clear evidence falling prostrate before him did humbly beg his pardon that instead of giving it he rising up in rage and drawing his Scymeter smote him till he had kill'd him that then leading them to his Palace he did Worship the Sun and said Be gone in Triumph O ye Persians and declare to your fellow Snbjects how the mighty Oramazes hath dealt out vengeance to the contrivers of unjust and unlawfull things Such then was the issue of this Conspiracy And now Ochus was big with expectation being puff'd up with the interest he had in Atossa but yet was afraid of Ariaspes the only Male surviving beside himself of the Legitimate off-spring of his Father and of Arsames one of his natural Sons For indeed Ariaspes was already declar'd Prince by the wishes of the Persians not because he was the elder Brother but because he excell'd Ochus in gentleness plain dealing and good nature whereas Arsames appear'd by his Wisdom accomplish'd for the Throne and that he was most dear to his Eather Ochus very well knew So he laid Snares for them both and being no less treacherous than bloody he made use of the Cruelty of his nature against Arsames and of his craft his willingness against Ariaspes For he suborn'd the Kings Eunuchs and Favourites to convey to him menacing and harsh expressions from his Father as though he had decreed to put him to a cruel and ignominious death When they seem'd daily to communicate these things as secrets and said one while that the King would do this to him ere long at another within a few moments they so astonish'd the good Prince they struck such a terrour into him and cast such a confusion and anxiety upon his thoughts that having prepared some fatal drugs he drank them that he might be deliver'd from his hated Life The King knowing what kind of death he died heartily lamented him and gave a shrewd guess at the impulsive cause of it But being disabled by his age to search into and prove it he was after the loss of his Son more indulgent to Arsames did manifestly place his greatest confidence in him and made him privy to all his designs Whereupon Ochus had no longer patience to defer the execution of his purpose but having procured Arsaces Tiribazus's Son for the undertaking he kill'd Arsames by his hand Artaxerxes at that time had but a little while to live by reason of his very old age So when he heard of the Fate of Arsames he could not at all bear it but straight sinking under the load of his grief expired after he had enjoyed life ninety four years and an Empire sixty two And then he seem'd a moderate and gracious Governour especially if compar'd to his Son Ochus who outdid all his Predecessors in blood and Cruelty THE LIFE OF DION English'd from the Greek by Robert Vvedale L L D. DIO M Burg. sculp Now we may draw a Parallel of the Lives of these two great Men from their Fortunes wherein Chance not Design made them much alike for they were both cut off by an untimely death not being able to accomplish those ends which through many risques ond difficulties they aimed at But above all this is most wonderful that by Divine Permission both of them had notice given of their approaching death by a frightful and ominous Daemon which visibly appear'd to them Altho' there are a sort of men who utterly deny any such thing and say that no man in his right wits ever saw a Phantom or apparition but that Children only and silly Women or Men craz'd by some Distemper of their Mind or Disease of their Body entertain such idle and absurd Fancies overfondly conceiting themselves haunted with Sprites and Goblins Yet if Dion and Brutus men of great Courage and Learning not easily deluded by Fancy or discompos'd by any sudden apprehension were so disturbed at these Visions that they forthwith declar'd to their Friends what they had seen I know not how we can
Crown that against Aristocrates that for the Immunities and the Philippicks in all which he perswades his Citizens to pursue not that which seems most pleasant easie or profitable but declares that in many cases they ought in the first place to preferr that which is just and honourable before their own safety and preservation So that if he had kept his hands clean from Bribery if his courage for the Wars had been answerable to the Generosity of his Principles and the Excellency of his Orations he might deservedly have his Name placed in the highest Rank with Cimon Thucydides and Pericles and not in the Number of such Orators as Myrocles Polyeuctus and Hyperides Therefore amongst those who succeeded him Phocion though he appeared on that side in the Commonwealth which was not so well esteem'd of and seem'd to favour the Macedonians yet for his Valour and Justice he was thought a Person no way inferior to Ephialtus Aristeides and Cimon But Demosthenes being neither fit to be at all relied on for his Courage in Arms as Demetrius says nor on every side well fortified against Bribery for how invincible soever he was against the gists of Philip and the Macedonians yet lying open to assaults and being over-power'd by the Gold which came down from Susa and Ecbatana it appeared that he was much better able to recommend than to imitate the Vertues of our Ancestors And yet excepting only Phocion even in his Life and Manners he far surpassed the other Orators of his time None of them discoursed to the People with so great freedom and boldness He would not spare their faults but opposed himself against the unreasonable desires of the Multitude as may be gathered from his Orations And Theopompus writes that the Athenians having by Name appointed Demosthenes and calling upon him to accuse a certain Person he refus'd to do it Upon which the Assembly being all in an uproar he rose up and said Your Counsellor whether you will or no O ye Men of Athens you shall always have me but a Sycophant or false Accuser though you would have me I shall never be His carriage in the Case of Antipho was plainly Aristocratical whom after he had been acquitted in the Assembly he took and brought before the Court of Areiopagus and setting at naught the displeasure of the People convicted him of having promised Philip to burn the Arsenal whereupon the Man was condemned by that Court and suffered for it He accused also Theoris the Priestess amongst many other misdemeanors for having instructed and taught the Slaves to deceive and cheat their Masters for which the Sentence of Death pass'd upon her and she was executed The Oration which Apollodorus made use of and by it carried the Cause against Timotheus the Praetor in an Action of Debt 't is said was written for him by Demost henes As also those others against Phormio and Stephanus but this practice of his was thought dishonourable and justly enough for the Speech which Phormio spake against Apollodorus was also of his making by which means he did as it were furnish two Adversaries out of the same Shop with Weapons to wound one another Of his Orations which were made in publick to the People that against Androtion and the other against Timocrates and Aristocratus was written for others before he dealt himself in Affairs of the Common-wealth for these it seems were published by him when he was yet but Seven or Eight and Twenty years old That against Aristogeiton and that for the Immunities he spake himself at the request as he says of Cresippus the Son of Chabtias but as some say out of Courtship to the young Man's Mother though he never married her For his Wife was a Woman of Samos as Demetrius the Magnesian writes in his Book de Synonymis It is not certain whether his Oration against the Embassie of Aeschines was ever spoken although Idomeneus says that Aeschines wanted only Thirty Voices to acquit him but this seems not to be true at least so far as may be conjectured from both their Orations writ concerning the Crown For neither of them hath mention'd any thing clearly or directly of it as a Cause that ever came to Trial. But let others decide this Controversie Now it was evident even in times of Peace what course Demosthenes would stear in the Commonwealth For whatever was done by the Macedonian he could not forbear finding fault with it but upon all occasions was stirring up the People of Athens and inflaming them against him Therefore in the Court of Philip no Man was so much talk'd of or of so great account as he And when he came thither one of the Ten Embassadors who were sent into Macedonia though all had Audience given them yet his Speech was answered with most care and exactness But in other respects Philip entertain'd him not so honourably as the rest neither did he shew him the same kindness and civility with which he applied himself to the party of Aeschines and Philocrates So that when the others commended Philip as an able Speaker a beautiful Person nay and as a good Companion that could drink stoutly Demosthenes could not contain himself from Railery and Scoffing at the Praises they gave him The first he said was a quality which might well enough become a Rhetorician the second a Woman and the last was only the property of a Spunge but none of them any away suitable to the Character or Commendation of a Prince When things look'd towards a War Philip on the one side being not able to live in peace and the Athenians on the other side being stirr'd up by Demosthenes the first Action he put them upon was the reducing of Eubaea which by the Treachery of the Governors was brought under subjection to Philip. To this purpose he having procured a Decree they cross'd over thither and chased the Macedonians out of the Island The next was the Relief of the Byzantines and Perinthians with whom the Macedonians at that time made War He perswaded the People to lay aside their enmity against those Nations to forget the offences committed by them in the Wars with their Confederates and to send them such Succours as saved and secured them Not long after he undertook an Embasie to the Grecians whom he solicited and so for incens'd against Philip that a few only excepted he wrought them all into a general insurrection so that besides the Forces to be raised by the Cities there was an Army consisting of 15000 Foot and 2000 Horse and the Money to pay these Strangers was levied and brought in with great chearfulness but when the Allies desired that their contributions for the War might be ascertain'd and stated Crobylus the Orator as Theophrastus says told them plainly That War could not be kept to any set diet Now was all Greece up in Arms and in great expectation what would be the event of these things The
unworthy of himself But Ismenias being commanded to do obeisance to the King dropt his Ring before him upon the ground and so stooping to take it up he seem'd to pay him homage For some secret intelligence that pleas'd him he bestowed upon Timagoras the Athenian ten thousand Darius's by the hand of his Secretary Beluris and fourscore Milch Kine were driven after him standing in need of Milk from the Cow by reason of his indisposition Moreover he sent him a Bed Furniture and Valets the Grecians having not skill enough to make it as also Chair-men to carry him being infirm in Body quite to the Sea side Not to mention the Treat made for him at Court which was princely and splendid Insomuch that Osthanes the Kings Brother thus spoke to him Be mindfull of this Table which is not put before you thus spread for nothing Which was rather a reflection upon his Treason than to remind him of his Brothers bounty The Athenians therefore condemned Timagoras to death for taking Bribes But Artaxerxes gratify'd the Grecians in one thing in lieu of the many wherewith he plagu'd them and that was by taking off Tisaphernes their most hated and malious Enemy whom he put to death Parysatis adding her charge to those accusations that were already drawn up against him For the King persisted not long in wrath with his Mother but was reconciled to her and sent for her being assur'd that she had Wisdom and Courage fit for an Empire and there being now no cause discernable but that they might converse together without suspicion or offence And from thence forward humouring the King in all things according to his hearts desire and by brooking nothing ill which he did she got a mighty influence upon him and prevail'd in whatever she requested of him She perceiv'd he was desperately in love with Atossa one of his own Daughters and that he conceal'd and checkt his passion chiefly for fear of her self tho' if we may believe some Writers he had privately enjoy'd the young Princess already Now as soon as Parysatis suspected the intrigue she was more fond of her Grand-daughter than before and extoll'd both her vertue and beauty to him as being truly Imperial and Majestick In fine she persuaded him to marry the Maiden and to declare her to be his lawfull Wife in spight of the opinions and determinations of the Greek Sages forasmuch as she said he was designed by Providence for a Law to the Persians and to be the great Arbitrator of good and evil Some Historians further affirm in which number is Heraclides the Cumean that Artaxerxes married not only this one but his second Daughter Amestris also of whom we shall speak by and by But he so intirely lov'd Atossa when she became his Consort that tho' Leprosie had run through her whole body he was not in the least offended at it but putting up his prayers to Juno for her he ador'd her alone among the Deities being prostrate upon the earth His Nobles also and Favourites made such Offerings to that Goddess by his direction that all a long for about two miles betwixt the Court and her Temple the road was choaked up with Gold and Silver with purple and Horses devoted to her He wag'd War out of his own Kingdom with the Aegyptians under the Conduct of Pharnabazus and Iphicrates but was defeated by reason of their dissensions So in his expedition against the Cadusians he went himself in person with three hundred Thousand Footmen and ten Thousand Horse And making an incursion into their Country which was scarce through its roughness passable and withal very misty having neither Seed-time nor Harvest but with Pears Apples and other Tree-fruits breeding up Warlike and valiant men he unawares fell into great distresses and dangers For there was nothing to be got fit for his men to eat of the growth of that place nor to be imported from any other He would only have beasts for burthen slaughter'd insomuch that the head of an Ass was sold for near forty shillings In short the King himself was at a loss for provision and there were but few horses left the rest they had spent for food Then Tiribazus a man for his Valour often in great favour with his Prince and as often for his buffoonery quite out of it particularly at that time being low and despicable did yet preserve the King and his Army There being two Kings amongst the Cadusians and both of them encamping separately after he had made his application to Artaxerxes and imparted his design to him he went to one of the Princes and sent away his Son privately to the other So each of them deceived his man assuring him that the other Prince had deputed an Embassador to Artaxerxes suing for friendship and alliance with him alone and therefore if he were wise he told him he must apply himself to his Master before he had decreed any thing and that he would lend him his assistance in all things Both of them gave credit to these Words and because they suppos'd there was a mutual grudge betwixt them the one dispatcht away Envoys along with Tiribazus the other with his Son But Tiribazus staying somewhat long the surmises and accusations of his Enemies made an impression upon Artaxerxes Who was very Melancholick and being sorry that he had confided in Tiribazus gave ear to his Rivals who impeacht him But at last he came and so did his Son both of them bringing the Cadusian Agents along with them and so there was a League and Peace sign'd with both the Princes And now Tiribazus being great and splendid return'd with the Persian Monarch who plainly prov'd that cowardice and effeminacy are the effects of a base degenerous Nature guided by erroneous notions and not of niceness and superfluous excesses as most men suppose For notwithstanding his Jewels of Gold his Robe of State and the rest of his costly attire worth no less than twelve thousand Talents with which he was constantly clad his labours and toils were no less than those of the meanest persons in his Army Nay turning up his Horse with his Quiver by his side and his Shield on his Arm he led them through craggy and steep ways insomuch that the other Souldiers observing his cheerfulness and unwearied strength took wing and went the more swiftly along with him Whose daily march was above two hundred furlongs After he had arriv'd at one of his own Mansions which had lovely Parks nobly kept in order though situated in a Region naked and without Trees the weather being very cold he gave full Commission to his Soldiers to provide themselves with wood by cutting down any without exception even the Pine and Cypress When they were at a stand and for sparing them being large and goodly Trees he taking up an Ax himself fell the greatest and fairest of them After which his men us'd their hatchets and piling up many Fires past away the Night with
of the Day for that he knew he must at any other time as impiously offend her whensoever he who introduc'd him into her Religion should be the Murderer of her Devoto There were a great many in the Conspiracy and as Dion was at home with several of his Friends in his Entertaining-Room some of the Conspirators beset the House round others secur'd the Doors and Windows The Assassines were Zacinthians who went in to him in their ordinary Habit unarm'd The Guard without shut the Doors upon them and kept them fast The Murderers fell upon him endeavouring to stifle and dispatch him but not being able they call'd for a Sword but none durst open the Door There were a great many within with Dion but every one was for securing himself supposing that by letting him lose his Life he should save his own and therefore no man ventur'd to assist him When they had waited a good while at length Lycon the Syracusian reach'd a short Sword in at the Window to one of the Zacinthians and stunn'd and almost senseless as he was like a Sacrifice at the Altar they cut Dion's Throat his Sister and Wife big with Child they hurried to Prison who poor Lady in her unfortunate condition was there brought to Bed of a Son which by the consent of the Keepers they intended to bring up the rather because Calippus began already to be embroyl'd in Troubles After the Murther of Dion he was the only man that was look'd upon had the sole Government of Syracuse in his Hands and to that effect writ to Athens a place which next the Immortal Gods being guilty of such an abominable Crime he ought to have reverenc'd and fear'd But true it is what is said of that City That the good Men she breeds are the most Excellent and the bad the most notorious as their Country Attica produces the most delicious Honey and the most deadly Poyson Calippus did not long continue to scandalize Fortune and upbraid the Gods with his Prosperity who seem'd to wink at and bear with that wretched man while he purchas'd Riches and Power by the most heinous and enormous Impieties but he quickly receiv'd the Punishment he deserv'd for going to take Catana he lost Syracuse whereupon they report he said He had lost a City and got a Bauble Then attempting Messene he had most of his Men cut off and among the rest Dion's Murtherers When no City in Sicily would admit him but all hated and abhorred him he went into Italy and took Regium there being necessitous and not able to maintain his Soldiers he was kill'd by Leptimns and Polyperchon and as Fortune would have it with the same Sword that Dion was Murther'd which was known by the size being but short as the Spartan Swords and the Workman-ship of it very curious and Artificial Thus Calippus receiv'd the Reward of his Villanies When Aristomache and Arete were releas'd out of Prison Icetes one of Dion's Friends took them to his House and for a while entertain'd them well and like a faithful Friend afterwards being perswaded by Dion's Enemies he provided a Ship and pretended to send them into Peloponnesus but commanded the Sailors when they came out to Sea to kill them and throw them over board Others say that they and the little Boy were thrown alive into the Sea This Man also escaped not the due recompence of his wickedness for he was taken by Timoleon and put to Death and the Syracusians to revenge Dion slew his two Daughters of which I have Discours'd more particularly in the Life of Timoleon THE LIFE OF MARCUS BRUTUS Translated by Mr. Duke BRUTUS M Burghers sculp Cato the Philosopher was Brother to Servilia the Mother of Brutus and he it was whom of all the Romans his Nephew most admir'd and study'd to imitate and afterwards marry'd his Daughter Porcia But of all the Sects of the Greek Philosophers tho' there was none of which he had not been a Hearer and in which he had not made some proficiency yet he chiefly esteem'd the Platonists and not at all approving of the modern and the middle Academy as it was call'd apply'd himself wholly to the study of the Ancient He was all his Life-time a great Admirer of Antiochus of the City of Ascalon and took his Brother Ariston into his own House for his Friend and Companion a Man for his Learniug inferior indeed to many of the Philosophers but for the evenness of his Temper and sweetness of Conversation equal to the best As for Empylus of whom he himself and his Friends made often mention in their Epistles as of one that constantly liv'd with Brutus he was an Orator and has left behind him a short but well penn'd History of the Death of Caesar entitled Brutus In Latin he was a good Speaker and had by constant exercise attain'd a sufficient Excellency in making publick Orations and pleading Causes But in Greek he was remarkable for affecting the sententious and short Laconick way of Speaking In his Epistles especially as when in the beginning of the War he writ thus to the Pergamenians I hear ye have given Dolabella Money if you gave it willingly ye must own ye have injur'd me if unwillingly shew it by giving willingly to me And another time to the Samians Your Councils are careless your Actions slow what think ye will be the end And of the Patareans thus The Xanthians suspecting my Kindness have made their Countrey a Grave of Despair The Patareans trusting themselves to me have lost nothing of their former Liberty It is in your Power to choose the Judgment of the Patareans or the Fortune of the Xanthians And this is the Style wherein his most remarkable Letters were usually writ When he was but a very young Man he accompanied his Uncle Cato to Cyprus who was sent with an Army against Ptolomy King of Aegypt But as soon as Ptolomy had kill'd himself Cato being by some necessary Business detain'd in the Isle of Rhodes sent one of his Friends nam'd Caninius to take into his care and keeping the Treasure of the King but afterwards suspecting his Fidelity he writ to Brutus to sail immediately to Cyprus out of Pamphylia where he then stay'd to refresh himself being but newly recover'd of a Fit of Sickness He obey'd his Orders but with a great deal of unwillingness as well out of Respect to Caninius that was thrown out of this Employment by Cato with so much Disgrace as also because he esteem'd such a Commission too mean for a Gentleman and not at all becoming him that was in the prime of his Youth and given to Books and Learning Nevertheless applying himself to this Business he behav'd himself so well in it that he was highly commended by Cato and having turn'd all the Goods of Ptolomy into ready Money brought the greatest part of it in his own Ship to Rome Upon the Division of the Empire into two Factions when Pompey
and Caesar taking up Arms against one another the whole Government was turn'd into Confusion it was generally believ'd that he would have taken Caesar's side for his Father not long before had been put to Death by Pompey But he thinking it his duty to prefer the Interest of the Publick before his own private Resentments and judging Pompey's to be the better Cause took part with him tho' formerly he us'd not so much as to salute or take any notice of Pompey if he happen'd to meet him esteeming it a great crime to have the least Conversation with the Murtherer of his Father But now looking upon him as the General of his Countrey he listed himself under his Command and set Sail for Sicily in quality of Lieutenant to Sestius who had the Government of that Island But finding no opportunity there of shewing himself in any great Action and hearing that Pompey and Caesar were encamp'd near one another and were preparing to begin the Battle upon which the whole Empire depended he came of his own accord to Macedonia to partake in the Danger At his coming it is said that Pompey was so surpriz'd and so pleas'd that rising from his Chair in the sight of all his Guards he saluted and embrac'd him as one of the chiefest of his Party All the time that he was in the Camp expecting that which he spent in Pompey's Company he employ'd in Reading and in Study which he did not neglect even the day before the great Battle of Pharsalia It was the middle of Summer and the Heat was very great and the Camp sustain'd many inconveniencies by being lodged in a marshy Ground and they that carry'd Brutus his Tent had stay'd a long while before they came Yet tho' upon all these Accounts he was extremely harass'd and out of order having at last in the middle of the day scarcely anointed himself and eaten very sparingly whilst most others were either laid to sleep or were wholly taken up with the thoughts and apprehensions of what would be the issue of the Fight he spent his whole time till the evening in writing an Epitome of Polybius It is said that Caesar had so great a regard for him that he order'd his Commanders by no means to kill Brutus in the Battle but to spare him if possible and bring him safe to him if he would willingly surrender himself but if he made any Resistance to suffer him to escape rather than do him any Violence And this he is believ'd to have done out of a Tenderness to Servilia the Mother of Brutus for Caesar had it seems in his Youth being very intimate with her and she passionately in Love with him And considering that Brutus was born about that time in which their Loves were at the highest Caesar had some Reason to believe that he was begot by him There goes a Report too that when some great and weighty Matters concerning the Conspiracy of Catiline which had like to have been the Destruction of the Commonwealth were debated in the Senate Cato and Caesar tho' differing in their Opinions were placed near to one another In the middle of the Debate a little Note was deliver'd to Caesar from without which he took and read silently to himself Upon this Cato cry'd out aloud and accus'd Caesar for holding Correspondence and receiving Letters from the Enemies of the Common-wealth Many of the Senators being much concern'd and the House in an Uproar Caesar deliver'd the Note as he had receiv'd it to Cato who reading it found it to be a lewd Letter from his own Sister Servilia and threw it back again in Rage to Caesar with these words Keep it to your self you Sot And the Senate that had been interrupted fell afresh to the Business that was before them so publick and notorious was Servilia's Love to Caesar After the great Overthrow at Pharsalia Pompey himself having made his Escape to the Sea and Caesar's Army storming the Camp Brutus stole privately out of one of the Gates to a marshy Place full of Water and cover'd with Reeds from whence ventring out in the Night he got safe to Larissa From Larissa he writ to Caesar who express'd a great deal of Joy to hear that he was safe and having sent for him not only forgave him freely but honour'd and esteem'd him equal at least to his chiefest Friends Now when no-body could give any certain Account which way Pompey had fled Caesar took a little Journey alone with Brutus to try what was his Opinion herein and believing by some Discourses which pass'd between them that he could give a good guess which way Pompey had taken in his Flight laying aside all other thoughts he fell directly to pursue him towards Aegypt But Pompey having reach'd Aegypt as Brutus guess'd his Design was to do was there barbarously murder'd Brutus had so much power with Caesar that he pacify'd and reconcil'd him to his Friend Cassius nay when he pleaded in defence of the King of the Lybyans tho' he was overwhelm'd with the greatness of the Crimes alledg'd against him yet by his Entreaties and Applications to Caesar in his behalf he preserv'd to him agreat part of his Kingdom It is reported that Caesar when he first heard Brutus speak in publick said to his Friends I know not what this young man intends but whatever he intends he intends vehemently For his natural firmness of Mind not easily yielding or complying in favour of every one that entreated him when it was set on work by the Motives of right Reason and the Principles of Honesty which way soever it turn'd it self mov'd with great Vigour and Impetuosity and generally effected its Designs No Flattery could ever prevail with him to listen to unjust Petitions and reckon'd that to be overcome by the Impotunities of shameless and fawning Flatteries tho' some complement it with the Name of Modesty and Bashfulness was the foulest disgrace a great Man could suffer And he us'd to say That he shrewdly suspected that they who could deny nothing had not very honestly employ'd the flower of their Youth Caesar being about to take an Expedition into Africa against Cato and Scipio committed to Brutus the Government of Gallia Cisalpina to the great Happiness and Advantage of that Province For while those of other Provinces labour'd under the Violence and Avarice of their Governors and suffer'd as much Oppression as if they had been Slaves and Captives of War Brutus put an end to all such Insolencies here and by his easie Government made them amends for all their former Calamities and reconcil'd and fix'd all their Affections to Caesar insomuch that it was a most welcom and pleasant Spectacle to Caesar when in his Return he pass'd through Italy to see the Cities that were under Brutus his Command and Brutus himself increasing his Train and Honour and most obligingly attending him in his Progress Now several Praetorships being void it was all mens opinion that that of the
was got into great Power And having now thrown his Competitor out of Italy began himself to be very formidable Suing for the Consulship contrary to Law and maintaining a great Army of which the Common-wealth had no manner of need At length perceiving that the Senate dissatisfied with his Proceedings began to cast their Eyes abroad upon Brutus and decreed and confirm'd the Government of several Provinces to him he was in some apprehension of danger Therefore dispatching Messengers to Antony he desir'd that there might be a Reconciliation and a strict Friendship between them Then drawing all his Forces about the City he made himself be chosen Consul tho' he was but very young being scarce Twenty years old as he himself writes in his Commentaries At his first entry upon the Consulship he immediately order'd a Judicial Process to be issu'd out against Brutus and his Accomplices for having Murther'd the greatest Man and the highest Magistrate of Rome without being heard or condemn'd and appointed L. Cornificius to accuse Brutus and M. Agrippa to accuse Cassius None appearing to Plead their Cause the Judges were forc'd to pass Sentence and condemn them both It is reported that when the Cryer as the custom was with a loud voice cited Brutus to appear the People could not keep in their sighs and those of the best quality hung down their Heads for Grief Publius Silicius was seen to burst out into Tears which was the cause that not long after he was put down in the List of those that were Proscrib'd Now the Triumviri Caesar Antony and Lepidus being perfectly reconcil'd shar'd the Provinces among themselves and made up the Catalogue of Proscription wherein were set down those that were design'd for Slaughter amounting to two hundred Men to which number Cicero was slain This news being brought to Brutus in Macedonia he was forc'd to send orders in Hortensius that he should kill Caius Antonius in revenge of the Death of Cicero his Friend and Decius Brutus his near Kinsman who also was proscrib'd and slain Upon this account it was that Antony having afterwards taken Hortensius in the Battle of Philippi Slew him upon his Brothers Tomb. But Brutus express'd himself more asham'd for the cause of Cicero's death than griev'd for the misfortune of it and could not help accusing his friends at Rome that they were Slaves more through their own Fault than those that Lorded over them That could see and be present and yet suffer those things which even to hear related ought to them to have been insufferable Now Brutus having made his Army that was already very considerable pass into Asia order'd a Fleet to be made ready in Bythinia and Cyzicum for them to imbark in But himself going the way by Land took care to settle and confirm to himself all the Cities and gave Audience to the Princes of the Parts through which he past and sent orders to Cassius into Syria to come to him and leave his intended Journey into Aegypt letting him understand that it was not to gain an Empire for themselves but to free their Country that they went thus wandring about and had got an Army together whose business it was to destroy Tyrants That therefore if they remembred and resolv'd to persevere in their first intentions they ought not to be too far from Italy but to make what hast they could thither and endeavour to relieve their fellow-Citizens from Oppression Cassius obey'd his Summons and return'd and Brutus went to meet him And at Smyrna they both met which was the first time they had seen one another since they parted at the Piraeum in Athens one for Syria and the other for Macedonia They were both over-joy'd and rais'd to the highest degree of Confidence of their Success from the Forces that each of them had got together Since they who had fled from Italy like the most despicable Exiles without Money without Arms without a Ship or a Soldier or a City to rely on in a little time after had met together so well furnish'd with Shipping and Money and an Army both of Horse and Foot that they were in a condition to contend for the Empire of Rome Cassius was desirous to shew as much Respect and Honour to Brutus as Brutus did to him But Brutus still prevented him for the most part coming to him both because he was the elder Man and of a more weak Constitution than himself Men generally reckon'd Cassius a very expert Soldier but of a harsh and angry Nature and one that desir'd to Command rather by fear than love though on the other side among his Familiar Acquaintance he was given to scurrillous Jesting and lov'd to play the Buffoon But Brutus for the sake of his Vertue was esteem'd by the People belov'd by his Friends admir'd by the best Men and hated by none no not his Enemies themselves For he was a Man of an extraordinary mild Nature of a great Spirit insensible of the Passions of Anger or Pleasure or Covetousness steady and inflexible in his Opinion and zealous for what ever he thought right and honest And that which gain'd him the greatest Credit and Reputation among the People was their belief that his designs in this whole Undertaking were honourable and just For they could not hope that even Pompey the Great himself if he had overcome Caesar would have submitted his Power to the Laws but would have ever managed the Publick Affairs himself only soothing the People with the specious name of Consul or Dictator or some other milder Title than King But they thought that Cassius being a Man govern'd by Anger and Passion and carried often by his covetous Humour beyond the bounds of Justice endur'd all these hardships of War and Travel and Danger rather to obtain Dominion to himself than Liberty to the People And as for the former disturbers of the Peace of Rome whether a Cinna a Marius or a Carbo it is manifest that they having set their Country as a stake for him that should win did almost own in express terms that they sought for Empire But even the Enemies of Brutus can't lay this accusation to his charge Nay many have heard Antony himself say That Brutus was the only Man that Conspir'd against Caesar out of a sence of the Glory and Justice of the Action but that all the rest rose up against the MAN and not the TYRANT from private Envy and Malice of their own And it is plain that Brutus by what he writes himself did not so much rely upon his Forces as upon his own Vertue For thus he speaks in his Epistle to Atticus immediately before he was to engage with the Enemy That his Affairs were in the best state of Fortune that he could wish for that either he should overcome and restore Liberty to the People of Rome or die and be himself free from Slavery That other things being agreed upon and settled one thing was yet in doubt whether they should