chang'd from what they were that both in Cloths and Countenance they appear'd more like Savages than Soldiers Wherefore his first and chief care was to restore Health and Strength to their Bodies and Vigour to their Minds and to recruit and strengthen his Horse When his Army was refresh'd his next business was to endeavour an Alliance with the Taurinians who inhabit at the foot of the Alpes and who at that time had War with the Insubrians but they would not be drawn to trust the Carthaginians Wherefore after having long sollicited them to Friendship in vain he sat down before their Capital Town which in three Days he took and all that made resistance he put to the Sword which struck the neighbouring Barbarians with such terror that they came all afterwards in to him as one Man giving themselves up to his discretion These indeed were constrain'd but the other Gauls who possess'd the Country about the Po chearfully took part with Hannibal as was lately observ'd But in regard now that the Roman Army was advanc'd so near they adventur'd not presently to show their Good-will but some of them were constrain'd to take part with them Whereupon Hannibal thought it the wisest way not to deferr longer but to take his March into their Country to the end that by some notable Action he might establish the Courage and renew the Hopes of those who were dispos'd to engage with him During these Motions he receives Intelligence That the Consul had pass'd the Po with all the Legions and was not now far off But this News he did not presently believe inasmuch as he knew he had left Scipio about the Rhosne and that the Passage by Sea from Marseilles to Tuscany was tedious and difficult Furthermore he was inform'd that the March from Tuscany to the Alpes was not only long but hardly to be surmounted by an Army But in the end fresh Advices coming daily to him of the truth thereof he became greatly surpriz'd at the Diligence of the Roman General who was no less astonish'd at the Expedition of the Carthaginian For he was of Opinion That Hannibal would not have attempted to adventure over the Alpes at the head of an Army compos'd of so many divers Nations or that if he was so hardy he must have miserably perish'd by the way But when he became assur'd that they were got over those Difficulties and were now in Italy and farther that they had already besieg'd and taken Towns he admir'd the intrepid Boldness of their Leader whose Attempt had exceeded the Power of Imagination it self This News was likewise heard at Rome with terror enough where after they had been inform'd of the taking of Saguntum by the Carthaginians and while they were as it were deliberating to send one of their Consuls into Africk to attack Carthage and the other into Spain to make War on Hannibal they receiv'd notice that Hannibal himself was in Italy besieging of Towns This was so surprizing to the Romans that the dread thereof made them send an express to Tiberius now at Lilybaeum to acquaint him with the arrival of the Enemy and to enjoin him to postpone all other Affairs whatsoever and repair with all the expedition he could to the rescue of his Country Whereupon Tiberius assembles his Maritime Forces and embarks forthwith for Rome leaving his Orders with the respective Tribunes to draw together what Troops they could out of their several Garrisons and set them a Day to rendezvous at Rimini a Town standing on the Coast of the Adriatick on the edge of the Plains that are water'd by the River Po towards the South So that great trouble and tumult was spread all over the Country which being alarm'd on all Quarters with evil Tidings the Romans were in great suspence about the issue of the War And now Hannibal and Scipio drew near each other and mutually animating their Soldiers spake to them in such terms as the time and the occasion requir'd Hannibal incited his Troops after this or the like manner He caus'd to be brought to the head of the Army which he had assembled for that purpose certain young Men who were Prisoners of the number of those that had been taken vexing and plundering the Army in their march over the Alpes whom he had therefore kept in very hard durance In short they appear'd loaden with Irons starv'd almost to death bearing on their naked Bodies the marks of the ill treatment they had suffer'd In this state these Wretches were presented to the view of the Army where Arms were brought and laid before them such as were us'd among the Gauls and not unlike those the Princes of that Nation make use of in their single Combats Besides these there were produc'd Horses and rich Habits and Furniture Then it was demanded If any among them were willing to engage and fight one with the other to the death on condition the Vanquisher should have the Prize and the Reward there propos'd while the Vanquish'd thereby put an end to his Misfortunes by laying down his Life on the place Which Proposition they all unanimously cry'd out they were most willing to accept Whereupon Hannibal order'd a certain number to be chosen by lot to enter the Lists two and two each imploring Fortune's favour Those to whom the Lots â—ell manifested great joy while the others on the contrary exceeding Grief So they fought it out while the rest of the Prisoners look'd on the Vanquish'd as hardly less fortunate than the Victors having by their death put a period to the Miseries they endur'd Nor had the Carthaginians themselves other Sentiments who comparing the Life of those that surviv'd with the Circumstances of those they saw slain their Pity seem'd to encline to the Survivers conceiving the Dead to be of the two the least unfortunate After Hannibal had entertain'd his Army with this Spectacle he told them That his purpose in so treating those Prisoners was to instruct them by an Example of the Calamities of others in the Contingences of Human Life and to the end to mind them of the State and Circumstances wherein they now were for that in a word Fortune had now put them under the very same choice and held out the same Prize and Rewards That they were ty'd up to the same necessity of vanquishing dying or being made Captives to their Enemies That if they obtain'd Victory not fine Horses only magnificently furnish'd wou'd be their Lot but by subduing the Romans they would be the richest and happiest of all that ever had born Arms That if they chanc'd to die doing their Duty bravely such a Death was a Dignity full of Glory and Renown a Death without pain or fear and purchas'd in pursuit of the greatest Good that can happen to Mankind But should they chance to be vanquish'd and that the fear of Death or Danger should betray them to a base Flight or if they had entertain'd any Thought otherwise to be safe
in regard they were not likely to receive of Gesco any other Satisfaction than their Arrears of Pay what was due for their Horses and Bread being respited to another time they therefore took thence occasion of fresh Disorders and assembled in the publick Meeting-place in a mutinous manner To Spendius and Matho they lent a willing Ear who rail'd both against Gesco and the Carthaginians and if any one presum'd to offer them temperate Counsel he was forthwith ston'd to Death even before it could be understood what the Purport of his Discourse was whether for or against Spendius and now great slaughter was made both of People of publick and private Condition and nothing was heard during the Tumult but Kill kill and what greatly augmented the Rage of those People was the excess of Wine they had drunk having newly risen from their Repast So that the word Kill resounding suddenly throughout the Camp there was no escaping for any one against whom they conceiv'd any distrust or distaste In a Word there being now none who presum'd to open his Mouth to divert their Determinations they chose Spendius and Matho for their Leaders and Commanders in Chief Gesco was not without a due Sence of the Danger he was in among these People but he let that Consideration give place to the Duty he ow'd his Country he fore-saw that if this Mutiny once came to a head the Commonwealth would be driven to great straits to prevent which he was willing to be expos'd to any hazard He therefore with great Constancy of Mind pursu'd his Purpose of reducing them to their Duty by all means possible Sometimes he treated with their Officers sometimes with the sundry Nations apart but now being in present want of Bread in the Camp they impatiently demanded it of Gesco he as it chanc'd in a sort of Contempt to reprove their Insolence bad them go to Matho their Captain this put all in a Flame so that without any further delay or respect they seize on the Money that was brought and lay ready told in order to their Payment and arrested Gesco and all the Carthaginians who accompany'd him And now Matho and Spendius conceiving the only way to put matters past Accommodation and to come to open Hostility was to ingage the Soldiers in some such violent Action as should be a manifest breach of their Duty and a violation of the Treaty they were upon Wherefore they fomented with all their Art and Industry this Audacious Proceeding of the Multitude who now had not only seiz'd on the Carthaginians Money and their Baggage but laying violent hands on Gesco and his Followers committed them to Prison loading them with Irons and then most impiously conspir'd and against the Law of Nations declar'd War against the Carthaginians This then was the Beginning and the Cause of the War with the Mercenaries which was call'd the African War After this Matho dispatch'd Deputies to the Cities round about exhorting them to think on their Liberty to send him Succours and to enter into a Confederacy with him And now the several Heads of the Faction finding the Africans dispos'd to Revolt and to shake off the Carthaginians Yoak and that Supplies both of Men and Provisions were dispatch'd to them from alâ— Parts they divided their Army into Two One they sent against Vtica and the other towards Hippona which two Places had refus'd to join with them in their Defection from the Carthaginians The Custom of the Carthaginians had ever been to Sustain themselves out of the Fruits and Growth of the Country and the greatest part of their Treasure and Income wherewith they defray'd their Wars and made their Military Preparations arose out of their Revenues in Africa But their Armies in all their Expeditions were ever compos'd of Strangers by which means it will appear and by what we have related that all things conspir'd at once to their Damage and what had been their Support converted to their Disadvantage so that from Consternation they fell to Despair for so great was their Surprize that nothing could possibly have befaln them so remote from their Expectation For after the War of Sicily which had consum'd their Treasure being now assur'd of Peace they promis'd themselves a breathing Space of Tranquility and took for granted their Condition would be at least Supportable But those Hopes soon vanish'd and were chang'd into the sad Prospect of a War more cruel and dangerous Their Contest with the Romans was for the Dominion of Sicily only now they were to Fight for their own proper Safety and the Preservation of the Commonwealth and all this without any Stores of War Armies or Fleets or any Provision towards it after so many Unfortunate Conflicts wherein they had been engag'd Furthermore they were without either Money or hopes of Friends to whom they might have recourse for Succour And here they came to perceive the difference betwixt a Foreign and remote War beyond the Seas and Civil Dissension at their own Doors In short this People were of themselves the Authors of their own Calamities for during the first War with what grievous Tiranny did they oppress the poor Africans thinking they savour'd them by exacting from them but the one half of their Income continuing the same Levies upon their Towns and Cities in time of Peace as were drawn from them to carry on the War and this was extorted with that rigour that the poorest Subject was not exempted And whensoever they were to elect new Magistrates for the Provinces the Choice never fell on those who were likely to Govern the People with Lenity and Moderation but on such whose Rigour promis'd them the greatest Fruits of their Oppression by draining them of their Money to furnish out their Fleets and their Armies and in a word to Minister to the Ambition of the Republick among whom Hanno was a principal Minister All this consider'd the Africans were not likely to be backward to Rebel to whom the bare Report only of what was transacting was sufficient to engage them The Women themselves who had so often seen their Fathers and Husbands dragg'd to Prison by the Tax-gatherers were in every Town active in promoting the Revolt combining among themselves to refuse nothing that could be compass'd to carry on the War sparing neither their Ornaments nor precious Moveables to raise Pay for the Armies Insomuch that Matho and Spendius were so plentifully supply'd with Mony that they had not only sufficient to Pay the Arrears that were due which they had assur'd them of the better to ingage them to their Purpose but were inabled to sustain the Expence and growing Charge of the Army For Wise Officers extend their Prospect beyond the present Occasion And now notwithstanding the Carthaginians were heavily oppress'd by these Misfortunes they ommitted not however to provide the best Means for their Defence The Conduct of the War they gave to Hanno of whose Service they had heretofore made use in the
nothing and to apply themselves to their respective Business and Callings and that no manner of hardship should be offer'd them while they continu'd Members of the Achaian Republick Whereupon those of Mantinoea who could not have hop'd such gentle Treatment on so sudden a Change soon alter'd their Sentiments and they who but now were Enemies to the Achaians and fighting against them had lost many Friends and Fellow-citizens receiv'd now the same Achaians as Inmates into their Houses and as they would their nearest Friends performing mutually all Offices of Friendship and Courtesie one to another Nor was it indeed other than Justice for I believe it may be with Truth averr'd that there are but few Examples of such Lenity in an Enemy and that scarce any People ever had so light a Feeling of a Misfortune accounted among the greatest that befal us as the Mantinoeans did through the Humanity of the Achaians and Aratus Afterwards by their own Importunity press'd by the seditious Practices of some of their Citizens who kept Intelligence with the Aetolians and Lacedemonians Ambssadours were sent to the Achaians to demand a Garrison for their better safety Whereupon the Achaians appointed three Hundred of their Citizens to be chosen by Lot for that Service and those whose chance it was to go left their Fortunes and their Country to take up their abode in Mantinoea to assert and defend the Liberties of the Inhabitants These were accompanied with two Hundred Mercenaries who joyntly contributed to the Conservation of the Establish'd Form of Government But not long after instigated by the seditious Practices of the Disaffected they call'd in the Lacedemonians to whom they gave up themselves and their Town and put all the Achaians to the Sword who had been sent thither to succour and defend them than which could there be a more perfidious Act For in a word since they had determined to change their Party and to forget the good Offices they had receiv'd from the Achaians and the Friendship that had been cultivated between them they might one would think have spar'd the Lives of these poor People and dismiss'd them at least in safety to their Country as not being liable to any Conditions which might arise by any new Treaty for according to the Right of Nations that Favour is afforded to Enemies in the like adventures But the Mantinoeans of their own meer Motion acted that criminal Part and violated an Universal Law to give an Earnest to Cleomenes and the Lacedemonians of their Readiness to Engage in any thing they should require of them In this manner then having with their own Hands slain those who had restor'd them their Town and their Liberty after they had taken it by force and who were then actually guarding them what degree of Indignation seems due to such Treachery Or rather let me say what degree of Punishment can be conceiv'd equivalent to their Crime Perhaps it may be urg'd That upon reducing the Town themselves their Wives and Children ought to be fold into Captivity To which I answer That by the Rules of War that is no worse Treatment than is practis'd towards those who have no Crime for which to account They merited therefore certainly the most rigorous Punishment that could be thought on But if their Usage was no other than Phylarchus reports it it would have seem'd just not only that the Greeks should have abstain'd from the Compassion he mentions but rather that they should proclaim the Praises of those who could not endure to punish so vile and criminal a Proceeding with the Rigour it deserv'd And now albeit the Mantinoeans smarted no more for their Misdeeds than the Pillage of their Goods and the selling all of free Condition this excellent Historian refines beyond the Rules of Truth and labours to render every Passage strange and extraordinary superadding such Falshoods as want even the least resemblance of Probability and such was the blindness of his Folly that he could not see to set down what was done under his Eye for the Achaians at the same time taking Tegea by force proceeded in no wise with the Tegeans as they had done with the Mantinoeans Now if it had been out of the native Cruelty of the Achaians that the Mantinoeans were so hardly dealt with how comes it to pass the Tegeans escap'd so easily who fell into their Hands about the same time If the Mantinoeans were then the only People that suffer'd such Severity at the Hands of the Achaians it may be fairly inferr'd that they had merited by their extaordinary Crimes that extraordinary Punishment Our Historian further says That when Aristomachus of Argos who had been Tyrant there and whose Ancestors had been Tyrants fell into the Hands of Antigonus and the Aachains they carry'd him to Cenchrea where they put him to so cruel a Death that there is scarce an Example of so great Inhumanity Furthermore he feigns according to his Custom that his Cries amidst his Torments were heard into the Streets insomuch that the People press'd into the Prison where they were affrighted at the Barbarity of his Usage which they could not behold without Horrour and Detestation But let us not dwell too long on this Pomp of Tragedy whereof we have spoken sufficiently For my own particular I take for granted that tho' Aristomachus had never injur'd the Achaians there could have been no Death too severe for his manner of Life and the Crimes he had committed against his Country But our Author to exalt the Glory of Aristomachus and excite greater Compassion for what befel him says That he was not only a Tyrant but descended of Tyrant Ancestors Now I pray what more detested or infamous Character could he have given him For most sure I am that the Name only of Tyrant contains the height of all Impiety and comprehends all that Man's Imagination can compass or conceive of criminal outragious Wickedness But as to Aristomachus if he should have suffer'd greater Torments than are set forth by our Historian they would have been found short of his Due for one only merciless Act of his on the occasion of Aratus's secretly getting into Argos at the head of a Party of Achaians where being expos'd to manifest Danger fighting for the Liberty of the Argians he was at length compell'd to retire for that through the terrour People were under of the Tyrant none had Resolution to succour or side with him in the Attempt Upon this Adventure Aristomachus forms a Design to gratifie his Cruelty pretending there were Conspirators in the City who held Intelligence with the Achaians whereupon in cold Blood and in the presence of his Friends he causes no less then fourscore innocent Persons of the principal Citizens at once to lose their Heads I forbear to make mention of the Vileness and Inhumanities of his Life and of his Ancestors which would ingage me in too long a Discourse But what I have said may suffice to witness that it
was no Injustice to award him the same Measure he had dealt to others we rather ought to conclude it would have been Injustice if his Death should have happen'd without some sence of Torment after he had acted so many criminal Parts It will not therefore be found a just Imputation of Cruelty in Antigonus or Aratus if being taken in the heat of War Aristomachus was condemn'd to die by Torments if in times of Peace he deserv'd no less and that those who should have compass'd his Death would have merited Applause and Rewards from every honest Man But over and above what we have observ'd having violated his Faith and broken his Trust with the Achaians what Punishment could they think too great In short Aristomachus a little before the Death of Demetrius being in great Danger and reduc'd to the utmost Extremity forlorn and despoil'd of his Dominion found an Asylum among the Achaians who receiv'd him with all possible Gentleness They not only forgot and forgave the Crimes and Outrages of his Tyranny but admitted him to a Share of the Administration of the State and conferr'd on him the Trust of Commanding and Conducting their Army and did him other great Honours while he notwithstanding all this upon the first Shadow of Advantage tender'd him by Cleomenes forgot all these Obligations and Deserting the Achaians at a time of their greatest Distress joyn'd with their Enemies So that falling at last into their Hands what hard Measure would it have been to carry him to Cenchrea and there to put him privately to Death and in the Night as our Author reports when in Justice he should have been led through all the Country of Peloponnesus and after he had been made a Spectacle to the World he ought to have been publickly tormented to Death to rendeâ— him the greater Example Tho' in a word the severest Treatment that befel this vile Man was no other than to be cast into the Sea for certain Barbarities committed by him at Cenchrea Furthermore Philarchus exaggerates with Passion the Calamities of the Mantinoeans as if he thought it the Business of an Historian to pick out and enlarge most on the Subject of our Vices but is silent when he should have Recorded the Memorable and Glorious Behaviour of the Megalopolitans which occurr'd at the same time falsely conceiving that to Register the Flaws and Frailties of Human Nature were more Eligible than to Publish the Merit of Noble and Generous Actions while who knows not that the Fame and Glory of Noble Deeds doth more urge us to Vertue and reform our Manners better than the Recital of Criminal Adventures Our Author indeed labouring to set forth the Courage of Cleomenes and his Gentleness to his Enemies tells us how he took Megalopolis and preserv'd it from Destruction till he had sent to Messene whither the Inhabitants were retir'd to invite them back to their Habitations and take part with him nor doth he omit to tell us that the Megalopolitans had hardly the Patience to hear his Letters read after they knew the Subject and that they were with difficulty restrain'd from stoneing the Messengers to Death But he totally neglects to publish what in Justice and according to the Rules of History should not have been omitted namely to Celebrate the Praises of their Vertue and the generous Resolution they had taken which he might fairly have done For if we reckon those Men of Honour and Vertue who Succour and Defend their Friends and Confederates in Distress both in Word and Deed and if we think it not only Praise-worthy but the Subject of great Rewards and Concessions of remarkable Priviledges to those who suffer on that Score to yield to be spoil'd in their Fortunes to abide the Calamities of Sieges and endure all the wastful Effects of Hostility what may be then said to be due to the Megalopolitans Shall we not reckon them Men of Honour Can we praise them too much First they indur'd with unspeakable Constancy to behold Cleomenes Burning and Ravaging all their Territory abroad then they chose to abandon their Native City and Soil rather than their Friendship and the Tyes of Honour they were under to the Achaians In a word tho' contrary to their Hopes Overtures were made them to return to their Possessions they could better brook to be depriv'd of their Fortunes their Sepulchres their Temples their Country their whole Sudstance and in short to lose all that was valuable and dear to them than to Violate their Faith to their Confederates Could any Man do more or is it in the Power of any Mortal at any time to acquire a more Glorious and Illustrious Character When if not here could an Historian hope to find a Theme fit to Charm the Attention of the Reader And what more noble Example could be inculcated to Mankind to excite them to Constancy and Fidelity to their Treaties and Alliances with their Neighbouring States Nevertheless Philarchus has committed all this to Oblivion and therefore I think one may safely accuse him of Stupidity and want of Judgment in the Choice of such Matter as became the Dignity of History since he could neglect the Recording Occurrences of that importance that lay so plainly in his View We are farther told by our Author That the Lacedemonians took in Booty from the Megalopolitans to the value of six thousand Talents whereof two thousand according to ancient Custom fell to the share of Cleomenes Now who doth not perceive the remarkable Ignorance of this Man touching the Strength and Possessions of the Greek Towns which is a matter wherein of all things an Historian ought to be most punctually instructed while I will be bold to aver without Exaggeration That it would have been impossible to find the amount of that Sum in all Peloponnesus setting the Slaves only aside nor do I assert it from the Poverty of the Country that had been rob'd and ruin'd by the Macedonian Kings and more by the mighty Devastations of their own Civil Dissentions but I am bold to descend to the Times wherein we now behold it flourishing in Union and rais'd to the greatest height of Prosperity In a word it may be calculated by what I am about to say whether what I undertake to prove be without-book or no. There is scarce any Man so ignorant that doth not know that when the Achaians and Thebans join'd in War against the Lacedemonians and form'd a Land-army of ten thousand Men and a Naval one of one hundred Vessels they came to a Resolution each one to contribute to the Charge of the War in proportion to his Riches and Possessions and that thereupon an Estimate and Valuation was made of all that was appraisable throughout the Attick Territory comprehending Lands Buildings Goods Treasure c. and upon that Calculation the whole Value amounted to two hundred and fifty Talents short of six Thousand from whence it may be inferr'd whether we have reason or no to say what
Judgment is that there is no Course or Counsel so wholsome for the Messenians and Megalopolitans to preserve them in a safe and lasting Possession of their Country as the contracting a firm and sincere Union one with another in every thing according to the Advice of Epaminondas and to preserve their Friendship inviolate In conclusion this Counsel may be confirm'd from ancient Story For the Messenians not to mention other matters erected a Column in the Reign of Aristomenes in the Temple of Jupiter Lycaeus where according to the report of Callisthenes this Inscription was engraven Fate will not always favour Tyrants rule Messenian Jove their ruin hath decreed Whatever Ills are done no Ills are hid From the Divinity 's all-seeing Eye Grant then O Jupiter whom all adore Arcadia may be still in thy protection It is not improbable but that when they were driven from their Country they then erected this Column with the Inscription to implore as it were the Favour of the Gods to conserve to them their second abode Nor was it indeed without good reason for the Arcadians did not only receive them into their City upon their being compell'd to abandon their Country during the War of Aristomenes but admitted them to a Fellowship of Privileges with their Citizens and consented to their mixing with them in Marriage Furthermore upon discovery of the evil Purposes of King Aristocrates they put him to death and exterminated his whole Race with him But to look no further into ancient Story what hath come to pass since Megalopolis and Messena were restor'd makes proof enough of the truth of what we have been observing For after the Battel the Greeks fought near Mantinaea where the Victory became undetermin'd through the loss of Epaminondas the Lacedaemonians in hopes of getting Messina into their Hands would have excluded them from the Treaty of Confederacy while the Megalopolitans and the rest of the Arcadian Party obstinately oppos'd it and so far prevail'd in favour of the Messeninas that they came at length to exclude the Lacedaemonians themselves from the Treaty Now if Posterity can but reflect with attention on these things we shall not be censur'd for having thus inlarg'd on the Points we have been treating And it will be perceiv'd that what hath been deliver'd is in service of the Messenians and Arcadians to the end that bearing in mind the Injuries they have receiv'd from the Lacedaemonians they may be incited to a closer Union in their Alliances And that whensoever they would deliberate rightly about the security of eithers Estate it may grow into an establish'd Principle among them to admit no breach in their Confederacy either through fear of War or love of Peace As to the Lacedaemonians they according to their manner dismiss'd in the end the Ambassadors of the Allies without any reply so much had their Folly and Pride prevail'd on their Judgment which verifies a good old Saying That great Presumption is but another name for Vanity and Weakness of Mind Afterward on creation of their new Ephori those who had been the Troublers of the State and were guilty of all that Bloodshed we have noted dispatch'd advice to the Aetolians counselling them to send Ambassadors to Sparta which they presently perform'd and Machatas soon arriv'd on the part of the Aetolians whereupon he applies to the Ephori demanding that Machatas might be heard in the Publick Assembly then he propos'd the coming to a creation of their Kings according to ancient custom and that it was not to be suffer'd and against the tenure of their Laws that the Dominion of the Heraclidae should be discontinu'd None of the Propositions pleas'd the Ephori but wanting strength to stem the Current of the opposite Faction and fearing violence from the hot-headed young Men they reply'd That as to what concern'd the Kings they would take it into deliberation In the mean time they were forc'd to assemble the People to give audience to Machatas And being met he there appear'd and spake many things to dispose them to an Alliance with the Aetolians impudently and unjustly calumniating the Macedonians and extolling and foolishly exaggerating the Praises of the Aetolians When he had left the Assembly great and warm Debates arose touching the Propositions he had made one Party holding with the Aetolians and another violently opposing them But at length after certain of the gravest Senators had reminded the People on the one hand of the fruit they had reap'd by the good Offices of Antigonus and the Macedonians and on the other the Outrages of Charixenus and Timaeus when the Aetolians broke in upon the Lands of the Lacedaemonians and putting all to Fire and Sword carry'd a multitude of the neighbouring People away captive and did their best to surprize and ruine Sparta it self aided therein by those who were under the Sentence of Banishment whom they took with them The People thereupon were wrought to change their mind and resolve to continue firm to their Alliance with King Philip and the Macedonians So Machatas return'd home without any fruit of his Negotiation And now the Authors of the late Sedition dissatisfy'd with these Proceedings and resolving not to acquiesce to the present Methods of Administration corrupted certain Persons to engage with them in a most detestable Enterprize It is the Custom of their young Men to asstmble once a Year in Arms to celebrate a Sacrifice in the Temple of Minerva Chalciaeca in the performance of which Ceremony the Ephori are oblig'd principally to be present and direct all things relating to the said Sacrifice At this Solemnity then a Party of those who were in Arms to celebrate the Feast with greater Pomp fell on the Ephori while they were ministring killing them in the very Temple tho' it were a Sanctuary even to those who were under Sentence of Death And forgetting what was due to that sacred Place murder'd those of their Party at the Table and before the Altar of the Goddess Afterwards to compleat what they had projected they caus'd Gyridas and many other Senators to be put to death and banishing the rest of the anti-Aetolian Faction came to an Election of new Ephori of their own Stamp and proceeded to enter into Confederacy with the Aetolians So great was their Hatred to the Achaians and Macedonians But the whole World was witness that all their other Counsels were conducted by the same Steps of Imprudence and Temerity being indeed dispos'd to that manner of Government through their Inclination to Cleomenes whose escape from the Aegyptians and return to Sparta they wish'd and daily expected Such Impressions of Love doth the Gentleness of Princes leave in Men's Minds that whether present or absent iâ— kindles such Sparks of Gratitude and Good-will as are not presently extinguish'd And tho' it were now three Years since Cleomenes's flight and the City had been govern'd according to their ancient Institutions there had not been so much as one motion made in
Sea whence it comes to pass that the Byzantines are in perpetual Hostility with that People And by how much these Barbarians are a very numerous Nation and govern'd by many Princes by so much is the Task more difficult to reduce them nor have the Byzantines any prospect of being able with all the Provision they can make ever to deliver themselves from the Molestations of that War For when at any time they chance to obtain any signal Victory over any one of these Princes they are sure to have three or four combine with much greater Power to revenge and ingage in the Quarrel And in case they should be dispos'd for Peace sake to yield to pay the least Acknowledgment to any one of these their Neighbours they were to expect by gaining one Friend to purchase five Enemies Whence it falls out that in this Warfare there can be no end and there is nothing more irksome than the Neighbourhood of so brutal a Race of Men or more terrible than Hostility with a barbarous Enemy Furthermore over and above all these Evils to which they stand expos'd to the Landward they are condemn'd to one kind of suffering not unlike that to which the Poets have sentenc'd Tantalus For possessing a rich and fruitful Territory which they take care to Cultivate their Harvest is no sooner ripe when these Thieves visit them and rob them for the most part of the Fruit of their Labour which misfortune they lament in vain Thus then the Byzantines become familiar with the Calamities they suffer and by the force of Custom endure the Hardships of incessant Hostilities persisting to preserve their ancient Alliances with the Greeks inviolate But after the Gauls to fill the Measure of their Adversity came to be their Neighbours under the leading of Comontorius their Condition became then most deplorable These Gauls were a part of those who swarm'd out of their Country with Brennus who after the execution done on them at Delphos did not presently pass into Asia on their arrival at the Hellespont but invited by the Fertility of the Country about Byzantium resolv'd there to six their Abode Afterwards subduing the Thracians they establish'd a Regal Seat in Tula and grew quickly to be Formidable to the Byzantines whom they drove to great Streights being oblig'd on Comontorius his invading and spoiling their Frontiers to buy off that Burden by an Annual Present sometimes of three Thousand Aurei sometimes of five Thousand and some Years it amounted to no less than ten Thousand whereby to redeem their Country from the Rapine of these Barbarians Till at length they became driven to be plain Tributaries to the yearly summ of fourscore Talents which lasted to the Reign of Clyarus In whom the Gallic Dominion expired the whole Nation being utterly exterminated by the Thracians It was at this time that the Byzantines sinking under the weight of their Adversity sent their Ambassadors to sollicit Succours from the Greeks and seek Relief from the many Hardships they endur'd And in a word press'd by their Wants they came at length to a Resolution of exacting a Toll from all who navigated into the Pontic Sea for but few of the Greeks it seems laid their Sufferings to Heart But they no sooner began to levy this Duty when the Innovation was resented on all Hands and the Rhodians above the rest were censur'd who being at that time Masters of the Sea submitted to so undue an Imposition And this in a word produc'd the War which we are about to relate The Rhodians then provok'd as well by their own seeling of this new Tax as through the Instigation of others dispatch'd their Ambassadors jointly with those of their Allies to the Byzantines to persuade them to abolish it But the Byzantines could not be brought to accord to the Proposition in confidence of the Equity of the Motives they had for what they did and they were the more confirm'd in their refusal by the Authority of Hecatoâ—dorus and Olympiodorus who being at thaâ— time first in the Magistracy of the City oppos'd it with all their Power Whereupon the Ambassadors return'd home with a Negative Reply from the Byzantines and the Rhodianâ— thereupon declar'd War against them and 〈◊〉 the same time sent to sollicit King Prusias to joyn and take part with them being well assur'd that Prince did not abound in good Will towards that People The Byzantines by the Example of the Rhodians dispatch'd likewise their Ambassadors to Attalus and Achaeus to sollicit Aid from them They found Attalus dispos'd to assist them but he was not in a present Condition to yield them any great effects of his Friendship inasmuch as he had been lately compell'd by the Power of Achoeus to retire and confine himself to the ancient Limits of his Father's Kingdom As to Achaeus who now held the Dominion of the whole Territory in Asia on this side Mount Taurus and had lately assum'd the Title of King he fairly promis'd the Byzantines and frankly embracing their part put them in mighty hopes and thereby gave matter of apprehension both to Prusias and the Rhodians Achoeus was of Kin to Antiochus who succeeded to the Kingdom of Syria and became possess'd of the Power he held by the means we shall now relate After the Death of Seleucus Father of Antiochus and that Seleucus his Eldest Son had taken possession of the Kingdom Achaeus accompany'd him in his March and Passage over Mount Taurus about two Years before those Matters were transacted whereof we shall by and by make relation Seleucus had no sooner taken possession of the Kingdom when he receiv'd Intelligence that Attalus had already seiz'd and brought under his Dominion all that part of Asia lying on this side Mount Taurus whereupon he forthwith fell prudently to deliberate about the Affairs of his Government But he had no sooner pass'd Mount Taurus at the Head of a powerful Army when by the treasonable Practices of Nicanor and Villainy of one Apaturius a Gaul he was Murder'd But Achoeus soon compass'd a just Revenge on the Traytors for the Death of the King his Kinsman and taking upon him the Conduct of the Army and the Government manag'd all things with great Prudence and manifested in all his Deportments a singular sufficiency and vivacity of Mind And albeit the Soveraign Authority became now left to his Election and the People freely courted him with Tenders of the Diadem he nevertheless rejected the Offer and determining to reserve the Succession to Antiochus Brother of the dead King led the Army from place to place and manag'd the War so prosperously that he soon recover'd all that had been lost on this side the Mountains But vanquish'd at length by the Temptations of his Felicity and after having beaten and confin'd Attalus to his own City of Pergamus and reduc'd all those places that had been forceably possess'd he renounc'd all those noble and generous Purposes he had taken and invading the Dominion
consented to be call'd King and became the most active and formidable Prince of all on this side Mount Taurus insomuch as barely on the prospect of his Friendship and Assistance the Byzantines took assurance to wage War against the joint Forces of King Prusias and the Rhodians Prusias had an old grudge against the Byzantines who either out of inadvertency or in contempt had omitted to dedicate certain Statues which they had once decreed to erect to him He had a further motive of Indignation against them for that they had interpos'd their utmost good Offices to give a period to the War that had fallen out betwixt Attlus and Achaeus judging rightly that their Reconcilement would not turn to his account on many Considerations Furthermore he was displeas'd with the Byzantines in that they had sent their Ambassadors to Attalus on the occasion of his celebrating the Feast of Minerva but sent none to him when he solemniz'd the Soterian Festival Thus having hoarded in his Mind so many various motives of Displeasure it was no wonder he embrac'd with joy the occasion the Rhodians gave him to discharge his Spleen so they resolv'd by their Ambassadors that the Rhodians should attack them by Sea and he would prosecute them no less vigorously by Land These then were the Causes and the beginning of the War which the Rhodians declar'd against the Byzantines And in a word the Byzantines engag'd therein with Courage enough while their Hopes of the Friendship of Achaeus lasted And in prospect of Tibites coming to their assistance from Macedon they took assurance to conclude that Prusias whom they most apprehended would then share with them the danger of the War Prusias pursuing the Dictates of his Anger had already fallen on the Byzantines taking Hieron a Town they had bought some Years before at the price of a great Summ of Money in consideration of the commodious situation of the Place both with respect to the security of their Commerce and Navigation into the Pontic Sea and the greater safety of their Slaves and other Profits arising by their Trade on that Coast He likewise seiz'd on all they possess'd in Mysia a Territory in Asia whereof they had been long Masters while the Rhodians furnish'd out six Men of War on their part to which the Allies adding four more with this Squadron of ten Sail they stood towards the Hellespont the Command being given to Xenophon Of these nine remain'd about Sestos to obstruct all Commerce with the Pontic Sea while the Commander in Chief with one Vessel only shap'd his course towards Byzantium as well to observe their Motions there as to see whether these Preparations for the War had not wrought a change in their Resolution But finding them firm and determin'd to abide the War he return'd to the rest and without any Action sail'd with the whole Squadron back to Rhodes At the same time the Byzantines dispatch'd Ambassadors anew to Achaeus to solicite speedy Succours from him they likewise sent to Tibites to persuade him to come in Person from Macedon For it was the general Opinion that he had a more rightful Claim to the Kingdom of Bithynia than Prusias who was his Nephew In a word the Rhodians observing this firmness and diligence in the Byzantines were as careful on their part to prosecute their purpose They observ'd That this Obstinacy which appear'd in the Byzantines to sustain the War was grounded principally on their prospect of Aids from Achaeus and knowing that Andromachus Father of that Prince was at that time under restraint in Alexandria and that he labour'd by all means possible to obtain his Enlargement they therefore resolv'd to send Ambassadors to Ptolomy to prevail with him to put Andromachus into their hands This Matter had been under Treaty heretofore but not so solemnly but at this time it was solicited earnestly to the end they might be thereby enabled to transact their Affairs with Achaeus with better effect In short Ptolomy giving Audience to the Ambassadors did not readily yield to their Demands for Andromachus being both Father to Achaeus and Brother to Laodice the Wife of Seleucus he propos'd to make a better Bargain of him for himself For the Matters that had been in dispute between him and Antiochus were not yet compos'd And Achaeus having now lately taken the Title of King was become very powerful extending his Dominions far and wide Nevertheless he was at length prevail'd with to gratifie the Rhodians who at that time could do any thing with him So he deliver'd up Andromachus to be by them restor'd to his Son By which grateful Office of theirs with other Honours publickly decreed to Achaeus they won him from the Byzantine Party in whom lay their greatest hope of Succours Another Misfortune besel them of almost equal prejudice to their Affairs For Tihites whom they had perswaded to leave Macedon to come to their assistance dy'd in his Journey whose Death so perplex'd their Counsels that they began to sink in their Resolution while Prusias animated by their Afflictions rais'd his Hopes and press'd the War with greater vigour levying Forces in Thrace whereby he so streightned the Byzantines that on the side of Europe they durst not look abroad So that in a word being thus frustrate of their sairest Hopes and hardly streighten'd and in danger from all Quarters they fell at length to deliberate how they might fairly deliver themselves Cavarus King of the Gauls happen'd to be at that time in Byzantium who greatly coveting to be a means of composing these Hostilities most readily and with great Affection offer'd his Mediation between Prusius and the Byzantines whereupon they agreed to commit their Differences to his Arbitrement When the Rhodians came to understand this Negotiation of Cavarus and that Prusias had yielded to a Treaty tho' they would much rather have prosecuted their first purpose they dispatch'd however Aridices their Ambassador to Byzantium but at the same time order'd Polemocles with three Triremes to make the best of his way thither to offer to them first as 't was said their choice of Peace or War Upon the Arrival of the Ambassadors a Peace in short was concluded Hieromnemon Cothon the Son of Calligiton being present The Terms of the Treaty with the Rhodians were viz. That the Byzantines should exact no Toll from any Ships that Traded into the Pontic Sea On which consideration the Rhodians and their Allies oblig'd themselves to preserve Peace with the Byzantines As to King Prusias the Articles of the Treaty with him were That there should be perpetual Peace between Prusias and the Byzantines That the Byzantines should never lead any Army against King Prusias nor Prusias against the Byzantines That Prusias should make restitution of the Lands Towns People and Prisoners that had been taken during the War Ransom-free Furthermore that he should restore such Vessels as had been taken at the beginning of the War all the Arms that were seiz'd in their
the Presence an Officer who had receiv'd Orders to that effect with held him telling him that he must wait for that the King was busie This was a sore rebuke to Apelles who stood astonish'd without any Reply and after he had attended a while retir'd to his Lodgings accompany'd only with his own Domesticks all the rest having already deserted him Behold the uncertain state of mortal Greatness where in one and the same Moment Men are rais'd to highest Promotions and sunk to the lowest ebb of Fortune and this principally in the Courts of Princes where like Counters their Value rises and falls according to the place they are set in for those who follow the Court are Great and Little at the Pleasure of their Master who holds their Fortune in his keeping As soon as Megaleas contrary to his hopes came to understand there was no prospect of safety by the Mediation of Apelles he began to see his danger nearer and bethought him of seeking security by flight For in short tho' it may be said that after this Apelles was suffer'd at Court and appear'd in ordinary Deliberations yet he was never after admitted to the King's Cabinet where Matters of weight were principally handled Some time after the King came to resolve to Embark at Lechoeum to pursue his Phocian Design whereof he had so long meditated taking Apelles with him but that Affair not succeeding he steer'd another course and came to Elatea Megaleas then without any consideration of Leontius who was his Surety in the summ of Twenty Talents made his Escape and got into Athens but the Government of that Place not permitting his stay there he went from thence to Thebes In the mean time the King with the Court departing from Cirrha sail'd to Sicyon where the Magistrates came out to receive him and invited him to a Palace prepar'd to entertain him which he thankfully excus'd making choice of the House of Aratus with whom he spent whole Days in Deliberations about his Affairs During his abode there he dispatch'd Apelles to Corinth and as soon as he came to know of the flight of Megaleas he sent Taurion to Triphalia at the head of his Buckler-men whose chief Officer was Leontius seeming to have some extraordinary occasion of their Service who were no sooner departed when he caus'd Leontius to be secur'd for the payment of the Twenty Talents wherein he stood bound But the Buckler-men coming to hear thereof by a Messenger which Leontius had dispatch'd sent their request to the King praying him that if Leontius Commitment was on any other account than that of his Surety-ship that he would be pleas'd not to determine any thing against him during their absence and that they should interpret any Sentence in his prejudice as an Injury done to them and should accordingly so resent it it having been a Custom among the Macedonians to use that liberty with their Kings that in case Leontius was imprison'd to secure the payment of the Money due on account of Megaleas they would readily contribute towards satisfying that Debt But this their Affection shown to Leontius prov'd unseasonable and was so ill taken by the King that it became the occasion of his Death sooner than he intended While these Matters were under agitation the Ambassadors from Rhodes and Chios return'd from Aetolia bringing with them Propositions for a Cessation of Arms for thirty Days reporting that the Aetolians were very inclinable to a Treaty and that they had appointed a Day for their assembling at Rhium where they pray'd the King to give them a meeting promising all the Advances possible on their part towards a Pacification After the King had ratify'd the Treaty of Truce he sent his Dispatches to the Confederates requiring them to send their respective Deputies to Patroe there to treat about the Peace with the Aetolians then setting sail from Lechoeum he came the next Day to Patroe About the same time Letters were sent him out of Phocia that had been writ by Megaleas to the Aetolians whereby he incited them vigorously to prosecute the War for that King Philip through want of Provisions and Stores of War was at the point of Despair Furthermore the said Letters contain'd very reproachful and injurious Reflections on the King which plainly evidenc'd the Man's Hatred to him Upon reading these Letters the King became firmly assur'd that Apelles was at the bottom and Author of all these Evils wherefore he order'd him to be taken into Custody and forthwith brought to Corinth together with his Son and a Youth his Favourite He also dispatch'd Alexander to Thebes in pursuit of Megaleas ordering that he should be conven'd before the Magistrates in order to the payment of the Debt for which security had been given This Commission Alexander executed with diligence But Megaleas prevented him by killing himself not being willing to adventure a Tryal At the same time Apelles was put to death together with his Son and Favourite Thus perish'd the Conspirators whose end was no other than what was due to their manner of Life past and principally their practices against Aratus As to the Aetolians they were sincerely dispos'd to Peace being grown weary of the War all their Projects having succeeded quite otherwise than they had propos'd for they expected to have to do with a Prince raw and unfit to govern King Philip being not arriv'd at an Age as they thought of Conduct and Experience while in the mean time they sound him a ripe and enterprizing Leader able and qualify'd both for Counsel and Execution and the weak and unwise Part seem'd to be turn'd on themselves as well with respect to the Administration of their particular Affairs as the Conduct of the War in general But when they came to hear of the Mutiny of the Buckler-men and the Death of Leontius and Apelles hoping these Troubles would beget Distractions at Court they therefore respited their meeting at Rhium which they did from time to time while King Philip who had a hopeful prospect of the issue of the War and was indeed come to give all the impediment he could to the Treaty of Peace was glad of the occasion they gave him Wherefore after he had exhorted and animated the Confederates to the prosecution of the War he weigh'd Anchor again and sail'd back to Corinth Then sending his Macedonians to their Winter Quarters in their own Country they took their march home through Thessaly while he himself after his departure from Cenchrea coasting it along the Attic Shoar came by the Euripus to Demetrias where Ptolomy the only remaining Conspirator in the Treason of Apelles was sentenc'd by the Macedonians and accordingly put to death It was about this time that Hannibal having gain'd his Passage into Italy was encamp'd on the Banks of the Po in view of the Roman Army that Antiochus having reduc'd to his Dominion a great part of Syria had put his Army into Garrisons and that Lycurgus fearing ill-dealing
most difficult Enterprizes by Words and Discourse but few there are who rightly weigh the Difficulty of the execution The one is common and familiar the other rare and next to impossible and whosoever he may be that hath compass'd it it must have been at the cost of mighty Pains and the product of many Years of Life Thus much I have thought fit to say in reproof of such as over boastingly magnifie their Works and vain-gloriously exâ—â— their own Merit But now let us proceed to our Business Ptolomy King of Egypt surnam'd Philopater took on him the Government of that Kingdom on the death of his Father and the murder of Megas his Brother and his Adherents by which means and some other Acts of Caution he reckon'd himself secure against any Attempts from those of his own House and concluded Fortune Herself had cover'd him from all Dangers abroad Furthermore Antigonus and Seleucus being now dead and Antiochus and Philip succeeding them who were yet but young and hardly out of their Childhood Ptolomy I say for these Reasons beholding himself shelter'd on all sides from Danger govern'd his Kingdom as if his Pleasure and Ease had been now his only Business and resign'd up to a voluptuous Life forgot the Duties of his Dignity and grew to neglect every body and every thing all access to him became difficult as well to those of his own Court as others who had charge of Publick Affairs both within and without the Kingdom albeit the Kings his Predecessors had been no less solicitous for the one than the other and as jealous of their Authority abroad as at home For the Lieutenants of their Provinces in Caelo-Syria and Cyprus were wont to wage War with the neighbouring Princes of Syria by Land and Sea and those who had the Government of their principal Towns on the Sea-coast from Pamphylia to the Hellespont and who had the Command of the Country bordering on Lysimachia kept a watchful Eye on the Actions of the Princes of Asia and of the Islands while those that rul'd in Aenus Maronea and the Towns beyond them were as careful to observe the Macedonians and the Occurrences of Thrace Insomuch that the Aegyptian Kings embracing so wide a Dominion were cover'd as one may say with a Buckler against all those Princes and never took thought for Egypt it self while the Avenues were so carefully kept But forasmuch as the King we are speaking of now left all things at random while himself dissolv'd in Love and Wine took care for nothing it was not strange that he should soon find Enemies who would conspire against both his Life and Kingdom The first of these was Cleomenes of Sparta who attempted nothing during the Life of Ptolomy Euergetes with whom he was in great Friendship and by whose Favour and Assistance he had hopes of recovering his Kingdom But after his Death and his own Affairs inviting him to try his Fortune Antigonus being also now dead and the Achaians diverted by War and what Cleomenes had ever ardently labour'd to effect being come to pass namely that the Aetolians confederating with the Lacedaemonians who equally hated the Achaians and Macedonians should jointly enter into a War against these two States These things I say falling out were a motive to press by all means possible his departure from Alexandria And first he mov'd the King therein demanding Succours both of Men and Stores of War Afterwards perceiving him to lend no very willing Ear to his suit he besought him at least for permission for himself and Followers to depart for that be could not hope for a more favourable Conjuncture than that which now offer'd for the recovery of his Kingdom But Ptolomy amus'd neither with future nor present things giving himself up to his Pleasures and Debauches came to no Resolution touching the Request of Cleomenes Furthermore Sosibius who at that time was first Minister of State and govern'd the Affairs of Egypt coming to consult with his Friends thereupon it was concluded among them that it was not safe not only to supply Cleomenes with what he demanded but even to let him depart the Kingdom For after the death of Antigonus they came to neglect their Frontier Provinces taking for granted that the expence of those Affairs was now needless They furthermore consider'd that Cleomenes having now no Rival in Greece that could withstand him became jealous lest coming to recover the Dominion of that Country he might not become a formidable Enemy to them knowing as he so well did the Frailties of their King and the general State of the Egyptian Affairs and that their Provinces were remote and disjointed which he might greatly improve to their damage For at Samos they had a numerous Fleet and at Ephesus a great Body of Troops Wherefore I say they resolv'd that it would not be Wisdom to permit not only that Cleomenes should go with an Army but not safe to permit him to quit the Country at all considering the Greatness of his Character and how he had been disoblig'd which he would consequently study to revenge It remain'd then that they must determine to detain him by force and yet they wanted Resolution to conclude thereon looking on it as a dangerous Attempt to imprison a Lion among a Flock of Sheep and Sosibius himself became of that mind for the Reasons we shall now deliver At what time they were deliberating about putting Magas and Berenice to death fearing lest their Design might miscarry through the great Power and Resolution of Berenice The Conspirators therefore were oblig'd to flatter and treat with better usage than ordinary some Persons about the Court and to give them Assurances of great Advantages in case their Design succeeded Wherefore Sosibius well knowing of what importance it was to Cleomenes to acquire the Good-will of the King whose Assistance he needed and that he was an able and well experienc'd Person came to reveal the Conspiracy to him adding many fair Promises and Assurances of his good Offices in his Service whereupon Cleomenes taking hotice of the Disturbance he was under and that they very much apprehended Danger from their Mercenaries told him he might be ought of pain in that particular for that those People should give them no molestation but on the contrary if need were should lend them their assistance This was a surprizing Saying to Sosibius while Cleomenes proceeded adding that there were few less than three thousand Peloponnesians in the Army of Mercenaries and at least a thousand Candiots who upon his least beck would be at his Command and from the Troops of Syria and Caria there was no danger to be fear'd In short this Discourse at that time greatly pleas'd Sosibius and animated him to the murder of Berenice But afterwards as often as he ruminated on the Folly and Weakness of the King and the hardy and enterprizing Qualities of Cleomenes and the Affection the mercenary Soldiers bore him he could not contain his