himself One of which died four daies before his Fathers Triumph The other alive in the Triumphal Chariot expir'd the third day after Thus he that was so liberal in bestowing Children upon others was himself left childless in a short time Which Misfortune that you may know how magnanimously he brook'd it he made plainly apparent in an Oration which he made to the People concerning the Actions which he had done for them by adding this little clause When in the highest success of my felicity I was afraid most noble Romans that Fortune would do me some mischief or other I prayed to Jupiter Juno and Minerva that if any thing of Calamity threatned the Roman Government they would exhaust it all upon my Family And therefore 't is very well for according to my wishes they have so ordered it that you should rather compassionate my private than I bewail your publick losses 3. I will only adde one Domestic Example more and then permit my Story to wander Q. Marcius Rex the Elder Colleague with Cato in the Consulship lost a Son of eminent hopes and piety and which added to his calamity his onely Child Yet when he saw his Family ruin'd and ended by his death he so suppress'd his grief by the depth of his prudence that immediately he went from his Sons grave to the Senate-house and as it was his duty that day immediately summon'd all the Senators together So that had he not generously sustain'd his sorrow he could not have equally divided the light of one day between a sad and mournful Father and a stout Consul not having omitted the good offices of either FORREIGNERS 1. Pericles Prince of the Athenians in four days having lost two most incomparable Youths the very same time without any alteration in his Countenance or discomposure in his Speech made a publick Oration to the People Nay according to Custome he went with his Coronet upon his Head that he might not omit any thing of the antient Ceremony for the wound of his Family Therefore was it not without cause that a person of his magnanimous spirit obtain'd the Sirname of Olympian 2. Xenophon the next to Plato in the happy degree of Eloquence when he was performing a solemn Sacrifice receivâ—d news that the eldest of his Sons named Gryllus was slain in the Battle of Mantinea However he would not forbear the appointed worship of the Gods but only was contented to lay aside his Garland which yet he put on again upon his head when he understood that he sell couragiously fighting calling the Gods to which he sacrificed to witness that he more rejoyced at the noble manner of his Death than sorrow'd for his loss Another person would have remov'd the Sacrifice would have thrown away the Ornaments of the Altars and cast away the Incense all bedabl'd with tears But Xenophon's body stood immoveable to Religion and his minde remain'd fix'd in the advice of prudence For he thought it a thing far more sad to submit to grief than to think of the loss which he had suistain'd 3. Neither was Anaxagoras to be suppress'd For hearing the news of his bons death Thou tellest me said he nothing new or unexpected For I knew that as be was begot by me be was mortal These expressions were the voice of Vertue season'd with most wholesome Precepts which whosoever rightly understands will consider that Children are so to be begot as that we may remember that the Law of Nature has prescrib'd them a Law of receiving and yielding up their breath both at the same moment And that as no man ever died that did not live so no man ever lived that must not dye LIB VI. CHAP. I. Of Chastity ROMANS 1. Lucretia 2. L. Virginius 3. Pontius Aufidianus Roman Knight 4. P. Maenius 5. Q. Fabius Maximus Servilianus 6. P. Attilius Philiscus 7. Claudius Marcellus 8. Q. Metellus Celer 9. T. Veturius 10. C. Pescentius 11. Cominius 12. C. Marius 13. Certain private persons that vindicated private Adulteries FORRAIGNERS 1. Hippo a Grecian 2. Chiomara wife of Orgiaguns 3. The Teutons wives WHence shall I summon thee forth fair Chastity the chief support of Men and Women For thou inhabitest the Hearths consecrated to Vesta by the antient Religion Thou broodest upon the Cushions of Jupiter Capitoline Thou the pillar of the Palatium renderest famous the most illustrious Houshold-Gods and the most sacred Genial Bed of Julia by thy fixed habitation there Thy Guardianship defends the honour of young Youth And out of respect to thy Deity riper age continues incontaminate Under thy protection the Matrons Stole or long Garment is reverenc'd Come hither then and know what thou thy self wouldst have others do 1. Lucretia the first Example of Roman Chastity whose manlike Soul was by the mistake of Fortune enclosed in a female Body being constrain'd to suffer herself to be ravish'd by Sextus Tarquinius the son of him firnamed the Proud when she had before an assembly of her Kindred and Friends lamented in most passionate expressions the Injury which she had received stabb'd herself with a Dagger which she had conceal'd under her Garment Whose magnanimous Death gave the people an occasion to alter the Kingly Government into Consular 2. Neither would Virginius brook an injury of this nature though a person of a very Vulgar extraction but of a Patrician spirit for lest his Family should be dishonour'd he spared not his own flesh and blood For when Appius Claudius the Decemvir confiding in his power violently prosecuted the defiling of his Daughter he brought her forth publickly into the Market-place and slew her choosing rather to be the Murtherer of a chast than the Father of a contaminated Daughter 3. Nor was Pontius Aufidianus endued with less Courage of Minde being a Roman Knight who finding the Virginity of his Daughter prostituted by a Pedagogue to Fannius Saturninus not content to have put the wicked Servant to death he kill'd his Daughter And that she might not celebrate dishonourable Nuptials he married her to a bitter Funeral 4. What shall I say of Pub. Maenius What a strict Guardian of Chastity was he For he punished a Freeman of his for whom he had a great kindness only because he had kiss'd his Daughter being of womans estate though it might seem not to have bin done so much out of Lust as by a mistake of breeding or long acquaintance But he thought fit to imprint the Discipline of Chastity into the apprehension of the tender Maid by the severity of his servants punishment and taught her by so severe an Example that she was not only to preserve her Virginity but her Lips uncontaminated for her Husband 5. But Quintus Fabius Maximus Servilianus after he had born many great Offices with renown coming to the Censorship question'd his only Son for the doubtful loss of his Chastity and he underwent the punishment by banishing himself out of the reach of his Father 6. I should have said the
who assembled the Judges preparing to plead he sent to tell him that he died not condemned but guilty and that his estate could not be confiscated and haying so said stopping his Mouth and Nostrils with his Handkerchief and holding his Breath he prevented his punishment by Death Which being known Cicero forbore to pronounce Sentence Thus an Illustrious person freed himself from an unusual sort of Death from the shame of Condemnation and his Family from Want 8. This a stout Death the next ridiculous For Cornelius Gallus and â— Haterius a Roman Knight expir'd at their Venery But what imports it to reprehend the Fate of those whom not their Lust but the condition of humane frailty brought to an end For the end of Life being â—xpos'd to various and occult Causes sometimes certain accidents gain the title of Supreme Fate when they rather happen at the time of Death than any way hasten it FORREIGNERS 1. The Deaths of Strangers are also very remarkable as that of Coma the Brother of Clean the greatest Captain of Thieves in his time For he being brought to Rupilius the Consul after the taking of Enna which the Thieves kept being examined touching the force and designes of the Fugitives resuming time to collect himself he covered his Head with his Knees bent and holding his Breath he expir'd in the hands of his Keepers and in the sight of the supreme Command Let the miserable torment themselves to whom it is more profitable to dye than live with timorous and dubious counsel how to end their Lives Let them sharpen their Knives temper Poysons take Halters view Precipices as if it required some preparation or exact method to separate the strict society of Soul and Body Coma made use of none of these but his Soul being shut up in his breast sound its own way 2. The Death of Aescbylus though not voluntary may be however related for the novelty For walking out of the â—â—wâ— where he liv'd in Sicily he sate down in a conveâ—â—â—â— place upon whom an Eagle bearing a Tortoise deceived by the baldness of his head let fall the Tortoise to break it that he might come at the flesh And by that blow the beginning of a higher Tragedy was stifled in the birth 3. Nor was the cause of Homer's Death vulgar Who is said to have died for grief because he could not answer a question which the Fishers put to him 4. More sadâ— was the destiny of Euripides For returning to the house where he lay in Macedonia from supping with King Archelaus he was torn to pieces by Dogs A fate too severe for so great a Wit 5. Sophocles being very old and having rehears'd a Tragedy at the publick place for triâ—l of Wit after a long dispute remaining at length Victor by one voice died for joy that he had won 6. Philemon was carried off by immoderate laughter For an Ass eating certain Figs that were prepared for him and set before him he call'd the boy to drive him away who not coming till the Ass had eaten them all up Because then comest so late said he prethee give the Ass some Wine too and prosecuting his Jeast with an intemperancy of Laughter stopp'd up the passages of the Spirits 7. But Pindarus laying his head in the School on a Boy 's lap who was his only delight and composing himself for rest was not known to be dead till the Master of the Exercising-place where he lay going to shut the doors sought in vain to wake him Certainly the same favour of the Gods granted him his Poetic Eloquence and such an easie Death 8. As happen'd also to Anacreon though he had outlived the age of man whom cherishing his old age with the juice of Raisins the more thick moisture of one Grape sticking in his Throat carried off 9. I will adde those whose Exit and Intent were alike Milo the Crotoniate as he was travelling seeing an Oak clest with Wedges trusting to his strength went to the Oak and thought with his hands to pull one from the other But the Wedges falling out the Oak closed again and there kept him till with all the Palms and Victories he had won the wild beasts came and devoured him 10. Polydamas also the Wrastler being forced by stress of weather to shelter himself in a Cave which being weakned and ready to fall while his Companions ran away he only stood still thinking to have upheld the weight with his Shoulders But being opprest with a weight more powerful than humane strength the shelter which he sought from the shower became the Sepulcher of his own mad fate These Examples may teach us that Vigour of Minde and vast Strength of Body are not always companions Nature not affording two such great Benefits together that the same person should at once be the most strong and the most wise CHAP. XIII Of Desire of Life ROMANS 1. Mu. Aquilius Consular Legate 2. Cn. Carbo thrice Consul 3. D. Junius Brutus Proconsul FORRAIGNERS 1. Xerxes King of Persia 2. Massinissa King of the Numidians 3. Alexander King of the Phereans 4. Dionysius the Tyrant NOw because we have touch'd upon some casual some couragious some rash terminations of Life we may now adde some that are low-spirited and effeminate That by the comparison it may appear how Death may be sometimes not only more stoutly but more prudently desired 1. Mu. Aquilius when he might have bravely died chose rather to be an ignominious slave to Mithridates Whether shall we say he best deserved the Pontic punisshment or the Roman Empire Since he permitted private Ignominy to be the publick Shame 2. Cn. Carbo is a great blot to the Latine Annals who in his third Consulship being sent to be put to death in Sicily by Pompey humbly and with tears in his eyes begg'd of the Souldiers that he might have time to ease himself before he suffered that he might enjoy that miserable moment of a pitiful Life and so long he delayed till his head was sordidly cut off as he sate The words relating so much Pusillanimity are at variance among themselves neither friendly to silence because they deserve not to be conceal'd nor familiar to rehearsal when the subject nauâ—eates 2. Brutus with how much shame did he buy an unhappy and small moment of Life For being taken by Furius whom Antonius had sent to apprehend him not only withdrew his Neck from the Sword but being admonish'd to hold still he swore in these words As I live I will hold it sorth O contemptible delay of fate O stolid and silly Oath But these are thy deliriums out of an immoderate desire of the sweets of Life expelâ—â—ng that measure of Reason which teaches to love Life yet not to fear Death FORREIGNERS 1. Thou the same sweetness of Life didst compel Xerxes to shed tears for the armed Youth of all Asia of which there would be none remaining in less than an hundred years Who thereby seem'd to me while he
all those that ran out of any Gâ—rrison of the Romans and were taken That the sight of their maimed Limbs might bâ—eed in oâ—hers a fear of râ—volting For those rebellions Hâ—â—ds cut â—rom â—heir Bodâ—es and scatter'd upon the bâ—oody Earth â—aught others to beware how thâ—y commiâ—ted the â—â—ke Trâ—asons 12. Nothing could be mâ—â—e milde than the Elder Africanus yet for the establishm nt â—f Military Discipline he thought it convâ—niâ—nâ— to bâ—râ—ow somâ—thing of Severity from his own natural Lenity For having taken Carthage and gotten â—â—â—o his power all thoâ—â— that had fled from the Romans to the Carthaginians he more severely punisht the Roman than the Latin Fugitives For the first as Deserters of their Countrey he nail'd to the Cross the other as perfidious Allies he only bâ—headâ—d I shall not urge this act any farther both because it was Scipio's and for that it is not fitting that a sâ—rvile Punishment should insult over Roman bloâ—d though deservâ—d yâ—â—hâ—d espâ—cially when we may pass to otheâ— relations not dipt in domestick Gore 13. For the laâ—ter Asricanus the Carthaginian Power being dâ—stroy'd made the Fugitives of other Nations to figâ—t with Beasts in the publick Shews which he madâ— for the people 14. Lu. Emilius Paulus after he had vanquished Perseus câ—us'd â—â—l those that he had taken that were guilâ—y of the same Crime to be â—hrown to the Elephants that by thâ—m thâ—y might be trod to death A most profitable Example if we may be permitted modestly to judge of the actions of the greatest men without out reproof For Military Discipline requires a severe and quick way of punishment For force consists of Arms which when they grow disobedient will soon oppress others unless they be brought low themselves 15. But it is now time to make mention not of what has been acted by particular men but what order the whole Senate took to preserve and defend their Military Discipline Lucius Marcius Tribune of the People having with wonderful courage got together the remains of the two Armies of P. and Cn. Scipio's which the victorious Carthaginians had almost ruin'd and being by them unanimously made General writing to the Senate a relation of his transactions he thus begin L. Marcius Propretor Which usurp'd Title the Senate would not permit him to take knowing that it was the Custome for the People not the Armies to choose the General Which being a time that the Common-wealth was in great danger and had sustain'd great Lossâ—s one would have thought they should have rather flatâ—er'd the Tribune who they saw so fairly acting for the restauration of their former Honour But no Overthrow no Merit could sway the Senate more than their Military Discipline And we may remember what a couragious Severity their Ancestors us'd in the Tarentine War Wherein the Forces of the Common-wealth being very much weakned and broken when they had receiv'd a great number of their Captive Fellow-Citizens which Pyrrhus had sent them of his own accord they decreed that they who had serv'd on Horseback should serve among the Foot and they who had served as Foot should be listed among the Slingers Moreover that none of um should come within the Camp nor be permitted to forâ—ifie the place assign'd them without the Camp nor that any of um should make use of a Tent made of Skins But they propoundâ—d the Ancient Custome of Military Discipline to all those that took Double Spoils from the Enemy These Punishments made them that were late the deformed Gifts of Pyrrhus to be his most eager and fierce Enemies The same rigour did the Senate use toward them that deserted the Common-wealth at Cannae For when by the strictness of their Dâ—cree thâ—y had reduced them to a worse condition than thâ—y who are dead and at the same time had receivâ—d Letâ—ers from Marcellus that they would send um to him to assist him in the storm of Syracuse the Senate wrote baâ—k that thâ—y were not worthy to be admitted into his Camp But thâ—y would send um to him provided he would do with um as befitted the honour of the Common-wealth That they should never receive any Military Reward nor be permitted to return into Italy while there were any Enemies therein Thus has Virtue alwaies despis'd pusillanimous minds How hainously was the Senate offendâ—d that the Souldiers suffâ—r'd Q. Petellius the Consul most couragiously fighting against the Ligurians to be slain For they would nâ—ither let the Stipend of the Legion go on nor pay them any Arrears for that they had not offer'd their Bodies to the Darts of their Enemies for the safety of their Emperour And that Decree of so noble an Order remains a glorious and eternal Monument of Petellius fame under which his Ashes rest renowned in the Fiâ—ld by his Death in the Senate by their Revenge With the same Courage when Hannibal sent them the liberty to redeem Six Thousand Romans which he had taken and which were Prisoners in his Camp they scorn'd his Kindness well knowing that if Six Thousand Young-men had resolv'd to die bravely they could not have been taken basely So that it was hard to say which redounded most to their Ignominy that their Countrey had so little esteem and â—aâ—e of thâ—m or that their Enemies shewed so little fear of them But if at any time the Senate shew'd themselves severe in the maintenance of Military Discipline certainly then they did it in a high measure when they imprison'd the Souldiers that had rebeliously possâ—ss'd thâ—mselves of Rhegium and Jubellius their Captain being dead had of their own heads chosen M Caesius his Secretary for their Leadâ—r and notwithstanding that M. Fulvius Flaccus tribune of the People declar'd that they proceeded contrary to the Custome of their Ancestors yet persisted in their resolution However that they might act with less envy they order Five Hundred after they had been whipt for sâ—veral successive daies to be beheaded ordering their Bodies to be buried and forbidding any Lamentation or Mourning to be made for them FORRAIGN Examples 1. This Conscript Fathers was gentle and full of mildness if we consider the violence of the Carthaginian Senate in ordâ—ring then Warlike Affairs whose Captains imprudently managing a War though it proved successâ—ul were neverthâ—lâ—ss nayl'd to the Cross Imputing what thâ—y did well to the assisting Favour of the Gods what they did amiss to their own Miscarriage 2. Clearchus Captain of the Lacedeamonians preserv'd his Military Discipline by a â—amous and notable Saying continually pealing into the ears of his Souldiers that they ought to fear their General far more than the Enemy Openly declaring that they must expect to suffer the same pains flying which they were fearful to râ—ceive in fight Nor did they admire to be thus threatned by their Captain when they call'd to mind their Mothers language who when they went to Battle were wont to admonish um that they should either return alive with their Arms or else be brought back dead with
their Ornaments and their strange kinde of boldness But who could imagine but that the Gauls now Victors would soon have turn'd their admiration into Laughter and into all manner of Contumely Therefore Caius Attilius would not stay to expect that injury for he fiercely laid his Stick cross the pate of a Gaul that too familiarly stroaked his Beard offering his body freely to the Souldier that out of madness came rushing to kill him Thus Vertue knows not how to be taken and Patience knows no disgrace To yield to Fortune it accompts sadder than any death and it invents new and generous kinds of perishing if he may be said to perish that comes to such an end 8. We are now to give due honour and glory to the Roman Youth who when C. Sempronius Attarinus Consul had sought with ill success at the battel of Verrugo against the Volsci lest our Battel just upon the point of flying should receive a Rout diâ—mounting from their Horses immediately rallied into Foot-companies and broke the Enemies Ranks who being thus forced to retire the Roman Youth possessâ—d themselves of the next Hills and so ordered it that the Volsci turning all their Force upon them were the cause that our Legions got in the mean time a very great refreshment to confirm their Courage And thus while they thought of obtaining the Trophies the night separated born Armies uncertain whether they parted Victors or vanquish'd 9. A noble Flower of the Order of Knighthood was he also by whose wonderful Fortitude Fabius Maximus Rullianus Master of the Horse was acquitted of a Crime which he was like to have fallen into of loosing a Battel to the Samnites For Papyrius Cursor being gone to the City to renew the inspection of Entrails he was left chief Commander in his absence And although he were doubtful of leading the Army out to battel yet at length joyning battel with the Enemy he sought not so unsuccâ—ssfully as rashly For without question he had the worst At which the Young Nobility pulling the bridles off their horses spurr'd them with all their might against the very faces of the Enemy by an obstinate Gallantry restoring a Victory wrung out of the hands of the Enemy and the hope of Rullianus which his Country now conceived of his being the greatest of our Citizens 10. But of what a prodigious strength were those Souldiers who wading the slippery Sea as they had been on firm Land hal'd back the Punick Fleet by main strength to the shore though endeavouring to fly with the labour of all their Oars 11. About the same time and of the same repute was that Souldier who at the Battel of Cannae where Hannibal rather brake the power than the courage of the Romans when his wounded hands were unable to hoâ—d his Arms graspimg a Numidian about the neck that come to srrip him he bit off his Ears and his Nose expiring in the midst of that revenge An odde kinde of Event in fight where the party killed is stronger than he that kills him For the Carthaginian liable to revenge rejoyc'd the dying person and the Roman was his Revenger at the very conclusion of his life 12. Publius Crassus making War in Asia with Aristonicus bâ—ing set upon by the Thracians of which he had a great number for his assistance between Smyrnae and Elea for fear he should come into their power he avoided the shame by resolving to die For he thurst his Riding-rod into the eye of one of the Barbarians who enraged with the pain thereof thrust Crassus into the side with his Cutlace and while he revenges himself freed the Roman Emperour from the shame of having lost his Honour Crassus shewed Fortune that she intended to have punished a person altogether unworthy of so great an Indignity as being one that not onely prudently but couragiously broke the snares which she had laid to entrap his Liberty and restored his own Dignity to himself although now given to Aristonicus 13. The same resolution Scipio made use of who having unsuccessfully endeavour'd to defend the cause of Pompey his Son-in-Law in Africa endeavour'd to fly into Spain but understanding that the Ship wherein he was was taken by the Enemy he ran himself through and so falling down upon the Poop when Caesar's Souldiers asked for their Commander he made answer The Commander is well having power only to speak so much as to testifie to his eternal praise the Greatness of his Minde 14. Not less the Moniment of Vtica were thy last breachings mighty Cato out of whose Wounds flowed more Glory than Blood For with a fierce Constancy lying upon the Sword thou wert a most noble Example of Instruction That to all good Men Dignity and Honour without Life is far better than Liâ—e without Honour 15. Whose Daughter had no Womanish Spirit who knowing the resolution that her Husband Brutus had taken to kill Caesar the night before the day wherein that most horrid act was committed assoon as Brutus was gone out of the Chamber she call'd for a Razor pretending to pare her Nails and as if she had let it tall by chance gave her self a Wound therewith Upon the cry of the Maids Brutus coming in began to chide her that she had took the Barber's trade out of his hands To whom she privately whisper'd This is no rash action of mine but as things now stand a most certain proof of my Love towards thee For I was resolv'd to try if thy purpose should not succeed according to thy desire how bravely and patiently I could kill my self 16 More happy in his Offspring was the Elder Cato out of whose Loins sprang the Family of Porcius Who being in battle forely press'd upon by his Enemy his Sword fell out of the Scabbard which though he saw encompass'd with such numbers of his Enemies yet such was his obstinacy to recover it that he would not give over till he had done it so that at length he seem'd not to have wrung it out of the hands of dangâ—r but to take it up in security Which sight so terrified his Enemies that the next day they came to him to bâ—g â—â—r Peace 17. The Fortitude of the Gown may be mixt with Warlike Actions deserving the same honour in Courts of Justice as in the Camp When T. Gracchus having got the favour of the People by his profuseness endeavour'd to oppress the Common-wealth and openly declar'd that the Senate being put to death all things ought to be transacted by the People The Senate being summon'd into the Temple of Faith by Mucius Scaevola Consul began to consult what at such a time to do and all being of opinion that the Consul ought to govern the Common-wealth by force of Arms Scaevola denied that he would do any thing by force Then replyed Scipio Nasica Because saith he the Consul while he follows the course of Law doth that which will bring both the Law and all the Roman Empire in jeopardy I as a
of the familiars of Sardanapalus Orestes is better known by his friend Pylades than by Agamemnon his Father For the Friendship of the one consum'd away in the participation of Luxury and Delight but the mutual Society of the other in a sad and hard condition grew famous by the trial of their Miseries But why do I mention Forreigners having first to do with our own Countrymen 1. T. Gracchus was esteem'd to have been an Enemy to his Countrey and not undeservedly because he preferr'd his own Authority before the Welfare thereof Yet in this evil designe of his how faithful a Friend he had of C. Blosius of Cumae will be worth our while to relate An adjudged Enemy suffering the highest Punishment not permitted the honour of Burial wanted not however his kindness For when the Senate commanded Rupilius and Laenax the Consuls to proceed againâ—â— all those that had been partakers with Gracchus and that Blosius presented himself before Laelius to beg pardon for himself urging his familiarity with Gracchus for an excuse when Laelius demanded of him whether if Gracchus had commanded him to set fire on the Temple of Jupiter would be have done it That said he Gracchus had never commanded He had done enough and more for he ventur'd to defend those Customes which the Senate condemn'd But that which follows was much more confident and more dangerous for being still prest by Laelius to make an answer to his question he resolutely persisted affirming that if Gracchus had commanded him to burn the Temple he would have done it Who could have thought he had been so wicked had he held his peace Who would not have accounted him wise had he been less free in his speech considering the necessity of the time But Blosius neither with an honest Silence nor with a prudent Answer cared to preserve himself lest he should be thought to have silenced the memory of his unhappy Friendship 2. In the same Family equally prevalent Examples of Friendship arise For when all the Designes and Counsels of Gracchus were utterly defeated and all his Conspiracy brought to light being deserted of all assistance only his two friends Pomponius and Laetorius by interposing their own bodies covered him from the Darts that fell round about him And of these two Pomponius that he might more easily escape withstood a whole body of Souldiers that eagerly pursued him at the thrice-double Gate nor could he be moved while he lived till at length having received many Wounds he fell and though I am apt to believe unwillingly was forced to permit them passage over his dead Carcass Laetorius made a stand upon the Subâ—ician Bridge and till Gracchus was pass'd over maâ—â—tain'd it with the heat of his Courage till at length overpowr'd with the multitude turning his sword upon himself he made a nimble jump into Tiber and so perisht shewing that kindness to the friendship of one person by his voluntary death which Horatius Cocles in the same place had shewn to his whole Country What renowned Souldiers might the Gracchi have had would they have followed the courses which their Fathers or Mothers Father had done With what a couragious fury might Blosius Pomponius and Laetorius have assisted them in the gaining Trophies and Triumphs the stout Associates of such furious enterprizes and taking part with an inauspicious friendship but by how much the more miserable by so much are they the more certain examples of a generous fidelity 3. But L. Rheginus if you examine him as to his sincerity due to the publick was much to be blam'd by Posterity If you look upon the faithful pledg of his fidelity we are to leave him in the safe harbour of an applauded Conscience Who when Caepio Tribune of the people was thrown into Prison by reason that through his fault our Army was defeated by the Cimbrians and Teutons remembring the ancient friendship between them set him at liberty and not content to have shewn himself so much a friend accompanied him also in his flight O great and most invincible Numen friendship when the Common-wealth had seiz'd with one hand to pull him out of the other with thy own arm and when she requires thee to be real thou confin'st thy self to banishment So gentle is thy Dominion to make men prefer punishment before honour 4. Wonderful was this thy work but more praise-worthy that which follows For call to mind how thou hast celebrated the constant love of T. Volumnius to his friend without any dammage to the Common-wealth who being by descent of the order of Knighthood and having an entire kindness for M. Luculâ—us whom M. Antony slew for taking part with Brutus and Cassius having full Liberty to fly he stuck close to his dead friend giving himself so much over to tears and Lamentations that by his extream Dâ—votion to his friend he was the cause of his own death For by reason of his continued and constant sorrow he was carried before Antony and standing before him Command me said he O Emperour to be carried back to the body of Lucullus and there slain For he being dead I ought not to stay behind being my self the Author of his unhappy going to war What more faithful than so much love He sought to ease his sorrow for his friâ—nds death by the hatred of his Enemy to render him more miserable making himself more envy'd Nor were Antonies Ears shut for being led where he desired having kiss'd the dead body of Lucullus and â—mbrac'd his sever'd head being lifted up to his breast he laid down his own neck to receive the Victors blow Let Greece now boast of Theseus yielding to the unlawful love of Pirithous and for his sake entring into the Dominions of Father Dis. They are vain that relate it fools that believe it To see the mingled blood of friends wounds sticking upon wounds and death sticking upon death these are the true signs of Roman friendship those the stories of a people accustâ—med to fain ridiculous wonders 5. L. Petronius also claims to be a parâ—aker in this praise He by the favour of Caelius being of a very mean Extraction came to be advanc'd into the order of Knights and had very considerable military imployments beside For which because he could not pay his thanks when Caelius was in prosperity he shew'd himself nobly grateful to him in his adversity Caelius was made Governour of Placentia by Octavius tâ—e Consul Who after the Town was taken by Cinna's Army being old and sickly and fearing to fall into the hands of the Enemy resolved to dye by Petronius's hand who finding that he could by no perswasions change his resolution according to his desire kill'd him first and thâ—n joyned his own death to his that he might not supâ—rvive him by whom he had attained to all his Honour So that Magnanimity occasioned the Death of the one Piety the â—all of the other 6. We are to joyn Ser. Terentius with Petronius though it fell out
that he did not dye for his friend as was his desire For a noble Inâ—â—ntion is not to be valued by the issuelâ—ss Event For he was slain as much as in him lay and Brutus escaped the danger who flying from Mutina and receiving intelligence of certain Souldiers sent by Antonius to â—ill him endeavoured in a certain place by the benefit of the Night to steal that Life of his which deserv d just Punishment There Terentius assayling to break through with a faithful Lye favoured by Darkness it self feigned himself to be Brutus oâ—fâ—ring his Body to the fury of the Souldiers But being known by Furius whose charge it was to execute the office of revenge he could not hinder the punishment of his friend by his own death So that against his will he was compâ—ll'd by fortune to live 7. From this dreadful and horrid face of Friendship let us dâ—gress to the more sâ—rene and placid countenance of Affection And having brought it forth where all things are full of Tears Lamentation and Slaughter let us place it in the Palace of Prosperity shining with Beauty Honour and abounding Wealth Come forth therefore from those Seats that are believed to be consecrated to the Shades of the Blessed here Decimus Lelius there M. Agrippa having wisely and prosperously chosen the one the greatest Friend of the Gods the other of Men and bring along with thee the whole Society which under your Conduct laden with Praises and Rewards receive the venerable Stipends of sincere Fidelity For succeeding Ages beholding your constant Minds your stout Enterprises your inexpugnable Taciturnity your diligent and watchful care for the dignity and safety of your Friends the publick testimonies of your mutual Love and lastly the most plentiful fruits thereof the more willingly the more religiously shall be busied in exercising and admiring the Laws of Friendship FORRAIGNERS 1. My desire is to continue still in the Examples of my Native Countrey but the candor of the Roman City admonishes me to relate the Gallantry of other Nations Damon and Pythias instructed in the sacred Secrets of Pythagorean Prudence had contracted such a faithful Friendship between themselves that when Dionysius of Syracuse would have put one of them to Death and that he that was to suffer had got leave to go home to his house to settle his affairs the other was not afraid to be Surety to the Tyrant for his return So that now he was free from the peril of Death that had his Neck but now under the Axe and he is now in danger that was free before And therefore all people waited the event of an accident so new and rare The day prefix'd being come and the party not returning and therefore every one condemning him of folly that had so rashly undertaken for the other though he remain'd certain of the Fidelity of his Friend At the very Hour and Moment which Dionysius prefixed the other appeared The Tyrant admiring the Courage of both gave a full pardon to so much Fidelity farther desiring them to receive him into the Society of their Friendship promising a most strict observance thereof Such is the power of Friendship to beget contempt of Death take away the sweet desire of Life tame Cruelty turn Hatred into Love and to reward Punishment with Kindness to which there is almost as much worship due as to the Ceremonies of the Gods For they are the Links of publick this of private Safety And as the Temples of the Gods are sacred Houses so the faithful Breasts of men are Temples fill'd with a certain holy Spirit 2. Which King Alexander certainly believed to be a truth Who being possess'd of the Camp of Darius where all his Relations and Kindred were he came with Ephestion most of all belov'd by him covering his side to speak to them At whose approach the Mother of Darius taking heart lifting up her Head as she lay prostrate upon the ground saluted Ephestion flattering after the manner of the Persians mistaking him for Alexander because he was more amiable for his Stature and Beauty But being made sensible of her errour in great fear she sought for words to excuse it There is no reason replyed Alexander to be troubled for this for this is another Alexander also Whom shall we congratulate him that said it or him that heard it While the King endued with a great Soul having already grasp'd the whole World either by his Victories or in his thoughts in so few words made so equal a division of it to his Companion O the Gift of a Royal Tongue as fair to the Receiver as to the Giver Which I reverence as a private man having had the experience of the Bounty of a most wise and renowned person toward my self And I do not doubt but it may become me to think my Pompey to be like Alexander while he will have his Ephestion to be another Alexander And therefore I should be lyable to a very great errour to pass over the Example of constant and kind Friendship without any mention of him in whose minde as in the breast of most loving Parents my prosperous condition of Life hath flourish'd my Misfortunes have remain'd contented From whom I have received all increase of profit freely offer'd by whom I have stood more firmly against mishap who by his own prosperous Conduct and good Omens hath render'd our Studies more pleasant and delightful And therefore I fed the envy of some with the loss of my best friend dividing my kindness such as it was to some that knew not how to make use of it But there is no Prosperity so modest that can escape the teeth of Envy But in what retirement are some to be avoided with what allurements of kindness canst thou restrain their inveteracy There is no remedy but they will rejoyce and be tickled at the misfortunes of others as well as at their own good They are rich in the Losses wealthy in the Calamities immortal in the Death of other men But while they insult over the miseries of others unexperienced in their own let them have a care of the best revenger of their Insolency the Variety of Human Condition CHAP. VIII Of Liberality 1. Q. Fabius Maximus 2. Paula Busa of Canusium 3. Q. Considius a Roman Knight 4. The People of Rome to King Attalus 5. The People of Rome to the Greek FORRAIGN 1. Hiero King of Sicily to the Romans 2. Gillias of Agrigentum to his fellow-Citizens LEt us recal our work that had straid in a pious Digression in exposing our own discontents to its former course and now take Liberality into consideration which hath two probable Fountains true Judgment and honest Benevolence For when it springs from thesâ— then only is it duely founded A Gift being acceptable for its greatness but somewhat more efficacious when it is reasonable 1. Beyond the price of the thing we find a most inestimable moment of an opportunity which with the expence of a small
the highest Authority in the City inflamed with Anger and Malice So that the Father rode in Triumph to the Capitol the Daughter to the Temple of Vesta Nor could it be righty decided to which most praise was due whether to him whom Victory or her whom Piety attended 7. Pardon me most antient Hearths pardon me eternal Fires if the context of our work lead us from your most sacred Temple to the more necessary rather than magnificent part of the City For no Misfortune no Poverty cheapens the price of Piety Rather the trial of it is the more certain by how much the more miserable The Pretor had delivered to the Triumvir a noble Woman to be put to death in Prison being condemned for some hainous Crime But the Keeper compassionating her case did not strangle her presently All the while he gave her Daughter liberty to come to her after he had diligently search'd that she carried her no food believing that in a little time she might be starv'd to death But seeing her live many days without any alteration he began to consider with himself by what means she kept herself alive thereupon more diligently watching her Daughter he observ'd her giving her Breast to her Mother and pacifying the rage of her hunger with her Nipples The novelty of which wonderful sight being by him related to the Triumvir by the Triumvir to the Pretor by the Pretor to the Council of the Judges they granted the Woman her pardon What will nor Piety invent that for the preservation of a Parent in prison found out so strange a means as this For what more unusual what more unheard-of than that a Mother should be nourished by the Breasts of a Child One would think this were against the course of Nature but that Nature commands us in the first place to love our Parents FORRAIGN Examples 1. The same is to be said of Pero's Piety who preserved her Father Cimon fallen into the same misfortune and in Prison nourishing him like an Infant in his decrepit Age with the Milk of her Breasts Mens eyes are fix'd and in an amaze when they behold this piece of Piety represented in painting 2. Nor can I forget thee Cimon that didst not fear to purchase the Burial of thy Father with a voluntary surrendring thy own person to imprisonment For though afterwards it hapned that thou wert both a famous Citizen and a renowned Captain yet didst thou get more honour in the prison than in the Council-Chamber For other Vertues deserve admiration but Piety merits Love 3. Nor must I forget the two Brothers whose Courage was more noâ—â—e than their Birth Who being born of â—ow Pâ—â—entage in Spain grew famous by their Dâ—â—ths laying down their Lives for the support of their Family For they having agreed with the Paciaeci for twelve thousand Pieces of Money to be paid to their Parents after their Death upon condition that they should kill Epastus Tyrant of that Countrey not only performed the exploit but bravely fell in performing it With the same hands revenging their Countrymen punishing Epastus providing a maintenance for their antient Parâ—â—â—s and purchasing renown to themselves Therefore now they live in their Tombs because they chose rather to support their Fathers in their old Age than to preserve their own 4. A more known pair of Brothers were Biton and Cleobis Amphinomus and Anapus The first because they drew their Mothers Chariot to the Temple of Juno to perform the Ceremonies there The other because they carried their Father and their Mother upon their Shoulders through the midst of Aetna's flames but neither of them lost their Lives 5. Nor do I go about to detract from the honour of the Argives or to cloud the glory of the Sicilians But I hold the light of knowledg to the ignorance of a more obscure Piety which makes me renew the memory of a piece of Scythian Piety For Darius invading their Territories with a mighty Army they retreated before him to the very utmost Solitudes of all Asia Thereupon being by his Embassadours questioned when they would make an end of flying or when they would begin to fight they made answer That they had neither till'd Lands nor any Cities which were worth fighting for but when they came to the Monuments of their Ancestors then he should know how the Scythians were wont to fight By which pious answer that fierce and barbarous Nation redeem'd themselves from the scandal of Savageness Therefore is Nature the first and best Mistress of Piety which neither wanting the help of Speech nor the use of Letters through her own silent and proper Power infuses Charity into the breasts of Children What is then the profit of Learning That their Wits should be more polite but not more honest For true Vertue is rather born than acquired 6. For who taught such People as wander up and down in Carts that shelter their naked Bodies in the Woods and live by destroying Cattle like Dogs to give Darius such an Answer She that taught Croesus's Son that was born dumb to speak for the preservation of his Father For the City of Sardis being taken by Cyrus when one of the Persians not knowing who the person was furiously was going about to have kill'd his Father call'd back the Sword that was just at his Throat by crying out aloud to the Souldier that he should not kill King Croesus So that he who till that time was mute recovered his Speech for the safety of his Father The same Charity arm'd a Youngman of Pinna sirnamed Pulto in the Italian War with the same strength of Body and Mind Who being Governour of the City when it was besieged when the Roman General caused his Father to be brought forth and threatned to put him to death before his face unless he would deliver up the Town made a Sally and recovered his Father out of the Enemies hands Doubly famous â—or that he preserved his Father and yet did not betray his Countrey CHAP. V. Of Fraternal Benevolence 1. P. Africanus the Great 2. M. Fabius Vibulanus Cs. 3. T. Caesar Augustus 4. A certain Souldier NExt to this kind of Piety follows Fraternal Benevolence For as it may be accompted the first Bond of Friendship to have received many and great Benefits the next tye is that we have received them together For how abundantly pleasant is the remembrance of those things Before I was born I liv'd in the same House My Infancy lay in the same Cradle The same Persons were Parents to both The same Vows were made for both and we enjoy the same honour by our extraction A Wife is dear to a Husband Children dear to a Parent Friends are acceptable and Acquaintance are delightful but when you have read what follows there is no Benevolence that exceeds Brotherly Loving Kindness 1. And this I speak by the testimony of Scipio Africanus who though he had contracted a most strict Friendship with Laelius yet he
Consulship into his own Family seeing the Romans ready to fly and almost overthrown in the Latin War vowed his own Life for the safety of the Army and presently putting Spurs to his Horse he flew into the midst of his Enemies seeking his own Death and the Safety of the Commonwealth and having made a great slaughter at length orewhelm'd with the multitude of Piles and Darts the Victime fell And from his Blood and Wounds sprang an unlookt for Victory 6. There might have been but one example of such a General had he not begot a Son answerable to him in courage For he in his fourth Consulship with the same devotion and stoutness in fight with the same event of fortune sustain'd the weak and sinking force of our City And therefore it was a difficult thing to understand whether it were more profitable for the Roman City to have the Decii Commanders or to loose them For living they kept her from being vanquished but by their death it overcame 7. The Elder Scipio did not loose his Life for the Commonwealth but he carefully provided against the destruction of the Commonwealth For when our City after the Battle of Cannae expected nothing else but to be the Victor Hannibal's prey and that therefore by advice of L. Metellus the reliques of the broken Army were consulting to forsake Italy He being a young Tribune and drawing his Sword threatned death to every man that would not take an Oath never to forsake his Countrey And not only shew'd an example of Piety himself but recall'd it back when it was just forsaking the breasts of others 8. To come from particulars to generals How was the City equally divided in their flames and equally inflamed with the Love of their Countrey For the Treasury being emptied in the Second Punic War that there was not enough for the performance of their divine Ceremonies the Publicans going to the Censors promised to let out their Money in the same abundance as if Money had abounded in the City and not require a Farthing profit till the War was ended The Masters also of the Slaves whom Sempronius Gracchus had made free for fighting so stoutly at Beneventum forbore to ask any Money for their Service In the Camp it self there was not a Knight not a Centurion that desir'd any Pay The Men and Women also brought what Gold and Silver they had nay the Children also brought their Purple Coats and Golden Hearts that hung about their Necks which were the ensignes of their Ingenuities Nor would any one take advantage of the benefit of the Senates Decree whereby such and such were freed from Taxes For they were not ignorant when Veia was taken when the Gold which Camillus had vowed as the Tenth of their Spoil should have been sent to the Oracle of Apollo but could not be purchased that the Matrons brought in all their Golden Ornaments into the Capitol They had also heard that the Thousand Pound of Gold which was to be paid to the Gauls when they besieged the Capitol was made up by their Liberality And therefore out of their own Goodness and admonished by the Example of Antiquity they thought they were not to be out-done FORREIGN Examples 1. But I will touch upon some few Forreign Examples to the same purpose The King of the Athenians Codrus when he saw his Territories wasted and invaded by vast numbers of his Enemies despairing of humane assistance sent to the Oracle of Apollo and by his Embassadors desired to know which way he might avoid that terrible War The God returned for answer that it would be ended when he fell by his Enemies hand Which was not only spread about among his own People but in the Camp of the Enemy who thereupon commanded that not a man should touch the body of Codrus Which when the King understood he threw off his Royal Robes and in a servile Habit threw himself into the midst of a Squadron of the Enemy that were out a forraging and wounding one of them with a scythe provoked the souldier to kill him by whose Death Athens escaped ruine 2. From the same Fountain of Piety flowed the soul of Thrasybulus For he being desirous to free his Countrey from the oppression of the Thirty Tyrants and was going about the enterprize with a small number of Men one of his Company said to him How much will Athens be indebted to thee if they regain their Liberty by thy means The Gods grant answered he that I may have then paid them what I owe them With which Wish he heap'd a greater honour upon his renowned work of destroying the Tyranny 3. But Themistocles whose Vertue made him Conquerour his Countries injury the General of the Persians that he might not be forced to invade it having instituted a sacrifice he drank up a full Beaker of Bulls Blood and fell before the Altar a renowned Victime of Piety 4. There follows an Example of the same nature When Carthage and Cyrene contended most obstinately for a spot of ground at length it was agreed to send certain Young-men from such a distance and where ever they met that place to be the bound of both their Territories But in this Agreement two Carthaginian Brothers call'd Philaeni were too hard for the other setting out sooner and making more haste which when the Young-men of Cyrene understood they for a long time complain'd of their fallacy but at length they resolv'd to recompence the injury by proposing a severe condition For they proposed to the Carthaginians that that place should be the bounds agreed upon provided the Philaeni would suffer themselves to be buried there But the event disappointed their expectation for they without any delay delivered their bodies to be buried Who because they rather desired large bounds to their Countrey than large limits of Life lye entombed in honour the Punic Empire being extended by the resignation of their bones Where are now the proud Walls of Carthage Where is the Maritime Glory of that Port Where is their Navy so terrible upon every shore Where are all their Armies Where their numerous Squadrons of Horse Where those Souls that were not satisfied with the vast tract of Africa All these things Fortune divided between two Scipio's But the destruction of their Countrey did not abolish the memory of that noble Act perform'd by the Philaeni So that mortal courage or strength can purchase nothing immortal but Vertue alone 5. This Piety was inflamed with youthful Zâ—al But Aristotle hardly able to maintain the reliques of old Age in his wrinkled Members so strongly laboured for the safety of his Countrey that he snatch'd it out of the hands of the Macedonians almost levell'd with the ground and in their possession as he lay in his little Bed in Athens So that Stagira was no less famous for being subverted by Alexander as for being restor'd by Aristotle Hence it is apparent how kinde nay how profuse in their piety in their Countrey
Censor had been too rigid but that P. Attilius Philiscus who suffered his body to be made use of by his Master for gain prov'd so severe a Father afterwards For he slew his Daughter because she play'd the whore How sacred then ought we to think Chastity was in our City where the Procurers of Lust did so cruelly chastise it 7. The Example of a most excellent person and a memorable act follows M. Claudius Marcellus one of the Aedils that rode in the moving Chair of State accus'd Scantinius a Tribune and summon'd him to answer before the People because he had given out that his Son had been abus'd in his Body But he averring that he could not be compell'd to appear because he was priviledg'd and calling the Tribunal power to his assistance the whole Colledge of Tribunes denied to intercede in a cause where Chastity was call'd in question Scantinius therefore being cited was condemn'd by that very witness who was accus'd by himself For it is said that the Young-man being produc'd before the Judgment-seat with his eyes fixed upon the ground observ'd a most resolute silence by which modest silence he most of all prevail'd in his revenge 8. Metellus Celer also was a most severe chastiser of Libidinous Intent summoning Cn. Sergius Silus to answer before the People for only proffering a sum of Money to the Mistriss of the Family and condemning him for that single Crime For then not the deed alone but the very intention was brought into question and it was more harm to have willed an errour than it was profitable not to offend 9. Thus far the Juridical Gravity here follows the extrajudicial T. Veturius son of that Veturius who was delivered bound to the Samnites for making a dishonourable Truce with them when by reason of the ruine of his Estate and the great Debts of his family he was forc'd to yield himself in his youth bound to Plotius and was by him severely whipp'd because he would not permit him to make use of his Body complain'd thereof to the Consuls Who acquainting the Senate with the matter sent Plotius to prison For they endeavour'd to preserve the Chastity of the Roman blood safe in what state or condition soever 10. And what wonder if all the Conscript-Fathers made this decree C. Pescennius in Capital matters Triumvir loaded with the publick chains Cornelius a most noted souldier and one that had been four times advanc'd to be a Centurion of the Triarii or old Souldiers because he had had private familiarity with a Youth born of free Parents From whence appealing to the Tribunes when he spoke nothing of the Fact but only said That he was ready to put in ball and to make it out that the Boy bad made a publick prostitution of his body for Money they absolutely refused to take any cognizance of the matter Insomuch that Cornelius died in prison For the Tribunes thought it too mean a thing for our Commonwealth to make bargains with men how stout soever and to sell Domestick pleasure at the price of Forraign danger 11. After the punishment of a lustful Centurion the severe usage of Mar. Laetorius Mergus a Military Tribune and his ignominious Death is next to be related who was cited before the People by Cominius one of their Tribunes being accus'd by his Muster-master for a force upon his body Nor would Laetorius abide the Tryal but first of all privately fled before Judgement and then slew himself Yet though he had satisfied Natures debt by his Death yet was he by the People condemn'd for the crime of Unchastity the severe Discipline of the Camp which was the most certain Guardian of the consecrated Eagle and of the Roman Empire prosecuting him even to his Tomb. Because he had committed a force upon the body of him whose Master and Commander he was 12. This mov'd Caius Marius then when he pronounced C. Luscius his Sisters son and a Tribune of the People to be legally slain by C. Plotius a common Souldier because he durst impeach him before the people upon an accusation of abusing his Body 13. But to give a slight account of those who have made use of their own instead of the publick Law in the vindication of their Chastity Sempronius Musca caus'd C. Gallius to be whipp'd for being taken in the act C. Memmius also caus'd L. Octavius to be handled after the same manner for the same fact Carbo Accienus was gelt by Vibienus Pontius by P. Cernius being both taken in the Act. A certain person also took Cn. Furius Brochus in the fact and deliver'd him over to be abus'd by the whole Family who counted it no detriment to indulge their own Anger FORRAIGNERS 1. And that I may adde Forraign to Domestick Examples a Grecian woman named Hippo bring taken by the Enemies Fleet flung herself into the Sea that she might preserve her Chastity whose body wasting to the Erechtean shore was buried by the Sea-side and lies cover'd with a little hillock to this day But Greece having committed to eternal memory the honour of her Sanctity makes her every day more famous 2. A more vehement this that which follows a more considerate Example of Chastity The Army of the Gallo-Graeci being all defeated and taken by Cn. Manlius upon the Mountain Olympus the wife of Orgiagon a woman of extraordinary Beauty was taken likewise and forc'd by the Centurion to whose custody she was committed When she came to that place where by the Consuls command the Centurion had sent to the friends of the Woman to bring her Ransome while the Centurion was weighing the Gold with his eyes fix'd upon the quantity the Gallo-Grecian in her own language commanded those of her own Nation to kill him and then with the Head cut off in her hand she went to her Husband and casting it at her feet she related the injury done her and her own revenge What part of this Woman can any one say was in the power of the Enemy but her Body for neither could her Minde be vanquished nor her Chastity taken 3. But the Wives of the Teutons besought Marius their Conquerour that they might be sent by him as a Present to the Vestal Virgins affirming that they would abstain from the company of men as sacredly as they should But that request not being granted them the next night they all hang'd themselves 'T was well the Gods did not infuse the same Courage into their Husbands in the field For had they imitated the Vertue of their Wives they had question'd the Triumphs of the Teutonic Victory CHAP. II. What things were freely said or done Among the Romans 1. The Embassadors of the Privernates 2. Lucius Marcius Philippus Cos 3. Scipio Aemilianus 4. Cn. Calpurnius Piso 5. M. Cato of Utica 6. Cn. Lentulus Marcellinus 7. M. Favonius 8. Helvius Mancia Fermianus 9. Delphilus the Tragedian 10. Marcus Castricius the Placentine 11. Servius Sulpitius Galba 12. A. Casellius the Lawyer Forraigners
vastness of Crassus Wealth give him the Sirname of Rich Yet Poverty afterwards laid upon him the shameful title of a Bankrupt his Goods being sold by his Creditors because he could not pay the principal beside the bitter Sarcasme wherewith every one that met him saluted him calling him still Rich Crassus 13. Q. Caepio excels Crassus in severity of Fortunes inconstancy For he having obtain'd the splendour of the Praetoâ—ship the renown of a Triumph the dignity of a Consulship the glory of the High-Priesthood insomuch that he was call'd The Patron of the Senate yet died in Jâ—yl and his Body tortur'd and dilacerated by the cruel hand of the Hangman became a spectacle of horror to the Roman People in the publick place of Execution 14. The Life of Marius was a strange contest with Fortune for he withstood all her opposition with a stoutness of mind and body Being thought unworthy the low honours of an Arpinate for whom it was not lawful to aspire high he ventur'd to stand for the Questorship at Rome And by his patience in bearing repulses he rather broke by force than was admitted into the Senate He had the same repulses when he stood for the Tribuneship and Aedileship in the Field of Mars Standing for the Praetorship he carried the lowest degree which notwithstanding he obtain'd with great difficulty for being accus'd for bribing Voicâ—s he was hardly acquitted by the judges Yet from that Marius so meanly born at Arpinum so despised at Rome and so abhorr'd a Candidate sprung that Marius who subdu'd Africa drove King Jugurth before his Chariot in Triumph who utterly subdued the Armies of the Teutons and Cimbrians whose two Triumphs were beheld in the City and whose seaven Consulships were register'd in the Annal-Books who had the luck to be created Consul returning from Banishment and to proscribe his Proscriber What mere mutable or inconstant than his condition Who among the miserable was most miserable yet among the fortunate shall be found most fortunate 15. But Julius Caesar whose Vertues gave him admission into Heaven at the beginning of his youth going into Asia being taken by Sea-Rovers was forced to redeem himself for fifty Talents For so small a sum as that would Fortune have the brightest Constellation in the world sold in the Pyrats Market Why then should we complain of her when she spares not the associates of her Divinity But the celestial Numen reveng'd his own injury For presently after pursuing the slaves and taking them he crucified them every man FORRAIGNERS 1. We have been intent in relating our own let us be more succinct in the repetition of Forreign Examples Polemo a young Athenian Gentleman but infinitely debauch'd and one that gloried in his shame rising from a Banquet not after Sun-set but after Sun-rising as he went home saw Xenocrates the Philosopher's door standing wide open Drunk as he was richly perfum'd gayly clad and with his Garland upon his Head he enter'd the School that was full of Grave and Learned Men and nothing asham'd of the manner of his entry he sate down to throw his drunken Jests upon the noble Disputes and wholesom Precepts that were then utter'd The company being offended Xenocrates kept his temper and began to dispute of Modesty and Temperance The Gravity of whose Speech causing Polemo to repent he first threw his Garland to the ground presently after he withdrew his arms a token of Modesty among the Athenians under his Cloak shortly after he left his feasting Mirth and lastly laid aside all his Debauchery and being cur'd with the wholesome Medicine of one Oration of an infamous Glutton became a famous Philosopher For his minde was only a Pilgrim in wickedness not an Inhabitant 2. It troubles me to remember Themistocles in his Youth whether I consider his Father that disinherited him or his Mother that hang'd herself to see the wicked course of life her Son led when he himself afterwards became the most famous person that ever Greece brought forth and was the pledge either of hope or despair between Asia and Europe For the one had him the Patron of her Safety the other entertain'd him as the Surety of Victory 3. Cimon in his youth was look'd upon as a fool but the Athenians found the benefit of his foolish commands Compelling them to condemn themselves of stupidity who had accus'd him of Folly 4. Two distinct Fortunes shar'd Alcibiades between them The one that assign'd him a splendid Nobility vast Wealth Beauty incomparable strength of Body a most piercing Wit and the passionate love of his Countrey-men The other that inflicted upon him Condemnaton Banishment Sale of his Estate Poverty the hatred of his Countrey and a violent Death Neither the one nor the other altogether but by intermission like the ebbing and flowing of the Sea 5. Polycrates the Tyrant of Samos lived in such a prodigality of Fortunes favours that he was admir'd even to Envy not without cause his endeavors all prosper'd his hopes reap'd the fruit of what they desired his wishes were no sooner nam'd than granted To desire and be able to perform was the same thing Once only Fortune chang'd her coutenance when he threw a Ring which he highly esteem'd into the Sea that he might not be said to have undergone no misfortune which however he presently recover'd the fish being taken that had swallowed it But he could not always hold this prosperous course of felicity that swell'd his full sails For Orontes one of Darius's Commanders having taken him caus'd him to be crucified upon the highest top of the Mycalensian Mountain From whence the City of Samos long oppressed by his severe Tyranny with the joyful eyes of freemen beheld his stinking Arteries his members besmear'd with Blood and that left hand to whom Neptune had restor'd the Ring by the hand of the Fisherman the sad spectacle of Misfortune 6. Dionysius also when he had enter'd upon the Tyranny of Sicily by his Fathers Will the Lord of a vast Wealth a Captain of Armies an Admiral of a Navy potent in Horse yet was forced to teach School at Corinth for his livelihood And at the same time of a Tyrant being now become a School-master he warn'd his Elders by such a change how little they were to trust to Fortune 7. Next to him follows Syphax the King who underwent the same severity of Fortune to whom however at the same time Rome by Scipio Carthage by Asdrubal made their addresses for his Friendship But while he stood thus courted that he seem'd to be an Arbiter of Victory between the greatest and most potent People in the world In a short time after he was brought chain'd by Laelius to Scipio and now lyes prostrate at the feet of him whom he thought it favour enough before as he fate upon his Throne to take by the hand Thus meerly vain and fragil and like the baubles Children play with are those great things which we call Human Power and Wealth
Caecilus 6. T. Marius 7. Valerius Heptachordus 8. T. Barrulus 9. M. Polilius HAving contented our selves with these Examples of cancell'd Wills let us give a hint upon those that have remain'd confirm'd when there was cause enough for them to have bin cancell'd 1. How publickly and scandalously was Tuditanus noâ—ed for a madman being one that threw his Money among the People and trayl'd his Cloak after him in the Forum as if it had bin the garment of a Tragedian so that he was the laughter of all that beheld him besides many other pranks of the same nature which they beheld He made his Son Heir by his Will which T. Longus by the Judgment of the Centumviri in vain endeavour'd to have disannull'd as being next of kin For the Centumviri thought it more proper to consider what was written in the Will than who had wrote it 2. The conversation of Tuditanus was Frantick but Aebucia who was the wife of L. Menenius Agrippa made a Will that was Madness it self For having two Daughters of equal vertue Plaetoria and Afrania through the inclination of her own minde rather than for any offence or miscarriage she only made Plaetoria her Heir and to the Children of Afrania out of her vast Patrimony she left only twenty thousand pieces of Money However Afrania would not contend by Oath with her Sister rather choosing patiently to honour her Mothers Will than to violate it in Court shewing her self thereby so much the more unworthy the Injury done her by how much the more patiently she bore it 3. Q. Metellus committed a womanish errour less to be admir'd For he though there were several eminent and famous young men of the same name living in our City at the same time and that the Family of the Claudii to whom he was most nearly related were then very numerous left Carinates onely his Heir neither did any one attempt to question his Will 4. Pompeius also Rheginus a Tramontane being by his Brother left out of his Will and that to prove his Injustice he had in a full Assembly of both Orders recited two former Wills made and testified in the publick place of Elections by which this Brother was made Heir of the greatest part only there was premis'd to him the summ of an hundred and fifty Sesterces after he had long complain'd to his Friends that sooth'd his indignation took a resolution not to trouble the ashes of his Brother in a Court of Judicature Yet they whom he had made his Heirs were so far from being so near a kin by the Fathers side that they were not the next to him but strangers and poor So that the Silence seem'd to be wicked and the Pride contumelious 5. Happy in their Impunity but whether these Wills were not worse in offending is the Question Quintus Caecilius by the diligâ—nt endeavour and great Liberalitie of L. Lucullus having attain'd to a handsome degree of Dignity and an ample Patrimony when he had fully resolv'd that he alone should be his Heir and on his Death-bed had given him his Rings from off his Fingers yet by his Will adopted Pomponius Atticus and made him Heir to all his Estate But the Roman People tying a Halter about the neck of the Carcass of that deceiâ—ful and fallacious person dragg'd him along the High-way Thus the wicked wretch had a Son a Heir such as he desir'd but a Funeral and a Grave such as he deserv'd 6. Neither was T. Marius Vrbinas worthy of any other who by the favour of the divine Augustus the Emperour being rais'd from the lowest condition of a common Souldier to the highest commands in the Camp and being by them enrich'd not onely at other times declar'd that he would leave his fortunes to him that had bestow'd them on him and but the day before he died protested the same thing to Augustus himself when as he had not so much as mention'd his name in his Will 7. Lucius Valerius whose sirname was Heptachordus having experienc'd the enmity of Cornelius Balbus in Court as being plagued by his advice and management with several private Suits and at length by a suborned witness being by him accus'd of a Capital Crime leaving out his Advocates and Patrons lest him sole Heir cow'd by such a dread as turn'd his resolutions topsie turvie For he lov'd his Ignominie lov'd the dangers and seem'd to wish he had â—in condemn'd being so kind to the authour of those mischiefs and hating his defenders 8. T. Barrulus upon his Death-bed deliver'd his Rings to Lentulus Spinther whose kindness and friendship he had felt as to his only Heir yet left him nothing at all How strangely at that very moment of time if it be of that force which we believe it to be did Conscience punish that abominable creature For between the very thoughts of his Ingratitude and Fallacy he yielded up his last breath as if some Tormenter had crucified his soul within him For he knew that his passage from life to death was hateful to the Gods and would be detested by the Infernal Spirits 9. Marcus Popilius upon his death-bed beheld Oppius Gallus a Senator with whom he had been familiar from his youth as the Laws of antient friendship requir'd and gave him the most loving words imaginable For he thought him only worthy of all that stood by him of his last embrace and kiss moreover he deliver'd him his Rings to ensure him of that Inheritance which he was never likely to enjoy Which Rings laid up in his Purse and assigned to him by those that were present Oppius a diligent man but a mere mock of his dying friend disinherits himself and returns them diligently to his Heirs What could be more dishonest or more unseasonable at this time and place That a Senator of the Roman people just ready to die not only as a man to the world but also as a publick person to the Senate-house should have such a trick put upon him against all the sacred Laws of friendship when his eyes were set in his head and he drawing his last breath LIB VIII CHAP. I. Of signal Publick Judgments Absolv'd 1. M. Horatius Tergeminus 2. Ser. Sulpitius Galba 3. A. Gabinius 4. P. Claudius Pulcher. 5. Tuccia the Vestal 6. L. Calpurnius Piso 7. Q. Flavius the Augur 8. Cosconius Callidianus 9. Atilius Calatinus 10. M. Aemilius Scaurus jun. 11. Aurelius Cotta 12. Callidius of Bononia 13. The two Cloelii of Tarracinum Condemn'd 1. L. Scipio Asiatick 2. C. Decianus 3. Sex Titius 4. Claudia the daughter of App. the blind 5. M. Mulvius C. Lollius L. Sextilius Triumvirs 6. P. Villius the Triumvir 7. M. Aemilius Porcina 8. A certain Father of a Family Two Burnt 1. A Matricide 2. A Mistress of a Family ABSOLVED NOw that the doubtful motions of Judgments may more easily be endured let us relate for what causes they that laboured under Envy were either acquited or condemned 1. M. Horatius being condemned by
to be made of four thousand seven hundred murder'd upon the dire decree of Proscription Nor content to rage against them who had born Armes against him he added also to the number of the proscribed several peaceable Citizens whose names he collected by the Nomenclator He also drew his Sword against the Women not satisfi'd with the slaughter of the men That was also a signe of incredible Insatiety that he caused the Heads of the miserable creatures newly cut off and as yet retaining their Physiognomies and Breath to be brought into his presence that what he could not devour with his teeth he might with his eyes How cruelly did he carry himself toward M. Marius the Praetor who being dragg'd in the sight of the people to the Sepulcher of the Lutatian Family he would not put him to death till he had digg'd out his eyes and broken the several members of that unfortunate person Methinks I hardly seem to relate Truths And yet because M. Plaetorius fell into a Swoon upon the Execution of Marius he presently flew him A new Punisher of Pitie with whom to behold wickedness with an averse minde was to commit a Crime But sure he spar'd the shades of the Dead No. For digging up the ashes of C. Marius whose Quaestor once he was though afterwards his Enemy he scatter'd them upon the river Anio Behold by what acts he thought to obtain the name of Happy 2. Of which Cruelty however C. Marius mitigates the envy For he out of an eager desire of prosecuting his Enemies wickedly unsheath'd his Anger with an ignoble Severity dismembring the honoured Body of L. Caesar of the Consular and Censor's Dignity and at the Sepulcher of a most abject and seditious person For that mischief was wanting to the miserable Republique That Caesar should fall a Victime to Varius Hardly were his Victories of equal value which when he forgot he became more criminal at home than praise-worthy for his Victories abroad The same person when the Head of M. Anthony cut off was brought him betray'd much insolence both of thought and words as he held it in his joyful hands in the midst of a Banquet suffering the Sacred's of the Table to be contaminated with the Blood of a most famous Commonwealths man and Orator More than that he received P. Annius that brought it reaking with the fresh blood into his Bosome 3. Damasippus had no praise and therefore his memory may be the more severely prosecuted by whose commands the Heads of the principal Men of the City were mingled with the heads of the Sacrifices and the headless Body of Carbo Arvina carried about nail'd to the Gallows So that the Pretorship of a most licentious man could do much or the Authority of the Commonwealth nothing 4. Munatius Flaccus a more stiff than approved defender of Pompey's party when he was besieged by Caesar in Spain within the walls of Attegua he exercis'd his savage Cruelty after a most truculent manner For after he had kill'd all the Citizens which he thought well affected to Caesar he threw them headlong from the Walls He also murder'd the Women calling their Husbands first that were in Caesar's Camp to the walls to the end they might behold the slaughter of their Wives Nor did he spare the Children laid upon their Mothers laps suffering the render Infants to be some dash'd against the stones others to be thrown up and to fall upon the stakes Which things intolerable to be heard were executed by Lusitanians at the command of a Roman by whose assistance Flaccus well fortified withstood the divine Labours of Caesar with a doting obstinacy STRANGERS 1. Let us pass to those for which though there be the same grief yet there is not the same reason for our City to blush The Carthaginians put Attilius Regulus to death after a doleful manner For having cut off his Eye-brows and shut him up in a little wooden case wherein there was nothing but sharp nails they suffer'd him to linger with continual watching and in a long series of pain A kind of Torment not worthy him that suffer'd but becoming the Authors of it The same Cruelty they used toward our Souldiers whom being taken in a Sea-fight they fasten'd under the bottom of their Ships that being crush'd to death by the weight of the Keel they might satiate their barbarous ferity by an unusual kinde of death 2. Their Captain Hannibal whose chiefest Vertue consisted in Cruelty made a Bridge over the River Vergellus with the bodies of the Romans and so led over his Army that the Earth might experiment the wickedness of the Carthaginian Land-forces as the Sea had beheld the barbarity of their Mariners Those whom he had taken prisoners picking out the nearest of Kin that he could he compell'd to fight by pairs till he made them destroy one another Those that were tir'd he left upon the Road with the lower part of their Feet cut off Deservedly therefore though too slow the punishment were the Senate forced him when a Suppliant to King Prusias to a voluntary Death 3. As truely had they reason to abominate Mithrictates who with one Epistle slew fourscore thousand Roman Citizens dispers'd over Asia as Merchants defiling the hospitable Gods of so large a Province with blood unjustly shed though not unrevenged For which intolerable torment at length he compell'd that Vital Spirit to submit that contended with the poyson Thereby attaining those torments which he had made his own friends to suffer at the beck of Gaurus his Eunuch to whom his obedient Lust could deny nothing 4. Numulizinthis Diogiris the King of Thrace's Daughters Cruelty though not so much to be admir'd considering the Barbarity of the Nation yet the horridness will not let it be pass'd in silence who held it not unlawful to cut living men in two in the middle or for Parents to feed upon the bodies of their Children 5. Again Ptolomey Physcon comes upon the stage a little before a most dreadful Example of lustful Madness now of Cruelty For what more horrid than this He caus'd his own Son Menephites whom he had got upon Cleopatra his Sister and Wife a lovely and hopeful Youth to be kill'd in his presence and sent the Head Feet and Hands cut off and put into a Chest cover'd over with the Child's Garment as a Birth-day Gift to the Mother As it altogether ignorant of the mischief he had done and never the more unfortunate for having render'd Cleopatra miserable in the loss of Children common to both and himself odious to all With so blinde a fury doth the height of Cruelty rage when she thinks to strengthen herself by her own acts For when he understood how he was hated by his people he sought a remedy for his fear in wickedness and that he might raign more safely when the people were murder'd he surrounded the Gymnasium full of young people with fire and sword and slew partly by the flame and partly by sword
every individual person of the whole multitude 6. But Ochus who was afterwards call'd Darius bound to the Persians by a most bloody Oath that he should not put to Death either by Sword Poyson Starving or any other manner of violence any of those that had conspir'd with him against the Seven Magi found out a way of Death by which means he might rid himself of those persons that were burthensome to him and yet save his Oath For he fill'd a place made up with high walls full of Ashes and putting a leaning rafter underneath he placed them in it after he had highly feasted them so that when sleep should seize them they might fall into that insidiary heap 7. More open but more horrid was the Cruelty of Ochus Artaxerxes who buried his Sister and Mother-in-Law Ocha alive and stab'd his Uncle to Death with Darts after he had deprived him of an hundred Sons and Nephews for not the least injury done him but because they had the highest applause among the Persians for Probity and Fortitude 8. Guided by the same wicked Suspition the Citizens of Athens by a Decree unworthy their Honour cut off the Thumbs of the Aeginensian Youth that a People potent in Shipping might not be able to contend with them at Sea I cannot pardon the Athenians borrowing a remedy for their fear from Cruelty 9. Cruel also was that Inventor of the Brazen Bull wherein when poor Creatures were lock'd and fire put under it they seem'd in the midst of their long and tedious torments to low like the beast that their lamentations and howlings express'd in Humane Sounds might not reach the ears of Phalaris the Tyrant to move his compassion Which because he would be wanting to the miserable the first Authour deservedly experimented the torment of his own Invention 10. Nor were the Hetrurians a little cruel in the Invention of Punishment who tying the bodies of the living back to back and face to face together so that part might answer part suffer'd them to lye till they were putrified to Death Most bitter Tormenters of Life and Death at once 11. Like those Barbarians who are reported to set men in heaps of the Bowels and Entrails of kill'd beasts and these to feed and keep them alive till being putrified within they might be eaten up by the Vermine that breed in putrified bodies Can we complain of Nature for having made us lyable to many and dire inconveniencies of Sickness or take it ill that Celestial Strength should be denied to humane condition when Mortality hath invented so many Torments to ruine it self by the impulse of Cruelty CHAP. III. Of Anger and Hatred 1. M. Livius Salinator 2. C. Marcius Figulus a Lawyer 3. Patricians 4. Roman Youth 5. Roman Army 6. Roman People 7. Q. Metellus Proconsul of Macedon 8. L. Cor. Sylla FORRAIGNERS 1. Alexander the Great 2. Amilcar Son of Barchas the Carthaginian 3. Annibal Son of Barchas the Carthaginian 4. Semiramis Queen of Assyria ANger and Hatred stir up great Commotions in he breasts of Men. This swifter in its motion the other more obstinate in the desire of Mischief Both affections full of Constermation and never without the violent torment of themselves For it suffers pain to inflict misery anxious with a bitter care lest revenge should happen to miss But there are most certain images of their propriety which the gods would have conspicuous in great men by some more than ordinary Act or Saying 1. When Livius Salinator waging war with Asdrubal was about to leave the City being admonish'd by Fabius Maximus that he should not fight before he understood the courage and force of the Enemy made answer that He would not refuse the first opportunity of fighting And being ask'd by the same person why he would needs be so hasty That assoon as may be said he I may either win honour by the overthrow of the Enemy or rejoyce in the ruine of my Fellow-Citizens Anger and Vertue divided his speech between them The one remembring an unjust rebuke the other intent upon the honour of Triumph But I cannot tell whether it were the same thing to say this and to overcome in the same manner 2. Thus far Passion carried a man of a fierce Soul and accustom'd to War But C. Figulus a most milde man famous for his learning in the Civil Law was thereby render'd forgetful both of Pâ—udence and Moderation For being provok'd by being repuls'd from the Consulship so much the rather because it had been twice given his Fathers when many came to him the next day for counsel turn'd ' â—m all out a doors Are ye ready at asking Counsel said he and know not how to make a Consul Smartly and deservedly spoken Yet it had been better not spoken For what wise man could be angry with the People of Rome 3. Nor are they to be approved though protected by the splendour of their Nobility who being offended because that Cn. Flavius a man of mean extract was made Praetor took off their Gold Rings and Trappings from their Horses and threw them away shewing the impotency not the strife of vexation 4. These were the motions of Anger in single or but few persons agaist a Commonwealth There are also the same in the Multitude against the Princes and Captains Manlius Torquatus returning after a most renowned and compleat Victory over the Latines and Campanians when all the Old-people went forth to meet him the Youth never stirr'd because he had put his Son to death for fighting successfully against the Enemy His equals compassionated his too severe punishment Nor do I defend the Act but onely shew the force of Anger that could divide the Ages and Affections of a whole City 5. So much could it prevail that it detain'd and kept back all the foot of the Roman People sent by Fabius the Consul to pursue the Enemy when they might easiâ—y have ruin'd and cut them off when they call'd to minde that he had put a stop to the Agrarian Law The same passion rendring the Army offended with Appius their Captain useless whose Father standing for the Nobility oppos'd the conveniences of the Commonalty by a voluntary flight they turn'd their back to the Enemy because they would not suffer their Captain to triumph How often the vanquisher of Victory despising its congratulation in Torquatus in Fabius omitting the greatest part in Appius preferring shameful flight before it 6. How violently it carried it self in the breast of the Roman People at that time when the Dedication of the Temple of Mercury was granted to M. Plaetorius a Centurion by their Suffrages The Consuls being also terrified Claudius because he withstood the relief of his Debts and Servilius because he had but weakly defended their cause which he undertook Can Anger be denied to be of force when it sets the Souldier above the General 7. It hath not only pull'd down Authority but commanded as disorderly For when Q. Metellus first as
through Thus fell that unhappy man more miserable in the author of his Death then in his Death it self 6. Which was the bitter Lot of L. Villius Annlis Who coming into the Field to the choice of his Son for Quâ—â—â— and knowing himself to be proscrib'd flew to his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ion But the wickedness of the Youngman was thâ— cause that he was not safe in his Protection For he deliver'd him up to the Souldiers that followed his steps to be slain in his presence Twice a Parricide by Counsel and beholding the slaughter 7. Vettius Sallassus proscrib'd had an end no less bitter whom being hidden what shall I say whether his Wife delivered him to be slain or slew him her self For how can we think the Crime less where the hand is only absent FORRAIGNERS 1. But this fact because Forraign shall be more calmly deliver'd Scipio Africanus celebrating the Memory of his Father and his Uncle at New Carthage with a Gladiatory gift two Kings Sons their Father being dead enter'd upon the Sand promising there to fight for the Kingdom that their Combat might make the spectacle mere famous Them when Scipio admonish'd rather to contend in words than blows who should reign and that the elder submitted to his advice the younger trusting to his strength persissed in his Madness But the issue of the Combat was that the more obstinate Impiety was punished with Death 2. Mithridates much move wickedly who not only made war with his Brother but with his own Father himself for the Kingdom Wherein how he got assistants to help him or durst invoke the gods is to me a wonder 3. But why should we wonder at a thing as not usual with those people When Sariaster so conspir'd with his friends against Tigranes his Father King of Armenia that all of them let themselves blood in their right hands and drank it up Hardly were such a bloody Conspiracy to be endur'd for the safety of a Parent 4. But why do I slay upon these Examples when I see all Villanies exceeded by the thought of one Parricide And therefore I am transported to dilacerate it with a pious rather than strong affection For who the saith of Friendship being extinct can finde words enough to send to the Abyss of due execration the person that endeavoured the subversion of all Mankinde Couldst thou more cruel than the Cruelty of Barâ—arism it self have rul'd the reins of the Roman Empire which our Prince and Parent governs with his protecting Arm Or while thou wert so mad could the world have remained steady Thy purpose was to have represented the mad intentions of thy fury and to have outdone the City taken by the Gauls the slaughter of the three hundred Noblemen the Battle of Allia the Scipio's ruined in Spain Thrasymene Cannae and Aemathia reaking with Civil Blood But the Eyes of the Gods were awake the Stars were also watchful the Altars Beds and Temples were full of the present Numen There was nothing permitted to grow drowsie that was to watch over the head and safety of Augustus And in the first place the Author and Defender of our safety by his divine wisdome provided lest his famous works should have been buried in the ruine of the whole world Therefore Peace remains the Laws are in force and the order of publick and private Duty stands fast For he that endeavoured to subvert all these by violating the bonds of Friendship trod under foot with all his Family by the Roman People hath now his punishment in Hell if he deserve to be there CHAP. XII Of Deaths not Vulgar ROMANS 1. Tullus Hostilius King 2. The two Mothers 3. Mu. Juventius Thalna 4. Q. Lutelius Catulus 5. L. Cornelius Merula 6. Herennius Siculus 7. Licinius Macer 8. Cornelius Gallus and T. Haterius FORRAIGNERS 1. Coma the Brother of Cleon Captain of the Fugitives 2. Aeâ—chylus the Poet. 3. Homer 4. Euripides 5. Sophocles 6. Philemon 7. Pindarus 8. Anacrcon 9. Milo the Crotoniate 10. Polydamas of Syracuse THe first and last day contain the condition of humane Life for it is of great concern with what lucky Omens it begins and how it ends And therefore we accompt him happy that begins his Life with prosperity and ends it with quietness The middle course of time is sometimes rugged sometimes calm always deceiving hope while we wish it long and yet idly consume it For by using it well a short time becomes long exceeding the multitude of years in the number of famous actions But not to wander farther let us mention those that have died no Vulgar Deaths Tullus Hostilius the King was struck with Thunder and burnt together with his whole Palace A singular Lot of Fate by which it happen'd that the Pillar of the City taken away in the City it self was reduced into that condition by the flame of Heaven that the Citizens might not have the honour of bestowing the last Funeral Rites upon it the Palace being both Funeral-Pile and Sepulcher 2. 'T is a strange thing that Joy should do the same as Thunder and yet it did For news being brought of the slaughter at Thrasymene One Mother meeting her Son safe in the Gate expir'd in his arms another upon the false news of her Sons death sitting melancholy at home at the first sight of him when he return'd fell down dead An unusual accident that they whom Grief could not Joy should kill 3. But I wonder the less because they were Women Juventius Thalna Colleague with T. Graccbus the Consul sacrificing in Corsica which he had newly subdued and receiving Letters that Supplications were decreed by the Senate as he was intently reading them a mist rose before his eyes and he fell down dead before the hearth What can we think but that too much Joy was the cause of his Death What if Numantia or Carthage had been deliver'd to him 4. C. Catulus a Captain of a greater Spirit and Partaker with Marius in the Cimbrian Triumph by order of the Senate had an end more violent For by the same Marius afterwards commanded to death covered himself up in his Bed heated vehemently hot and daub'd with new Lime and so stifled himself 5. At which time also L. Cornelius Merula of Consular Dignity and Priest of Jupiter that he might not be a scorn to the Insolency of the Victors opening his Veins in the Temple of Jove avoided the denunciation of his Death 6. A sharp and stout end was that of Herennius the Sicilian who was both a Friend and Southsayer to C. Gracchus For being for that reason carried to Prison at the very threshold of Ignominy he knock'd out his own Brains against the post of the door and there died One degree more swift than Publick Justice or the hand of the Executioner 7. As violent was the. End of C. Licinius Macer a Praetorian the Father of Calvus being guilty of Bribery while the Suffrages were separating went into the place of Judgment and seeing M. Cicero