Body and wrapping it in her own Vestment committed it to the Flames the same Fire that had in vain been kindl'd for his Destruction when alive being now converted to the kinder uses of a Funeral Pile Thus dy'd Alcibiades about the Fortieth year of his Age a person of whom we find but a scurvy character given by the generality of Writers yet has he obtain'd the highest commendations from three very grave and authentic Historians Thucydides his Cotemporary Theopompus a somewhat more modern Author and Timaeus The two latter of which were persons of the most censorious humour and observ'd by I know not what strange Fate to have concurr'd in the Praises of no other man but Alcibiades For even by them are the same advantageous particulars deliver'd concerning him which are already related by us and to which may moreover be added from the same Writers That being born in Athens a City for State and Grandeur Second to none he outwent the Noblest of his Fellow-Citizens in Splendour and Magnificence of Life And yet when driven from hence he arriv'd at Thebes he so far comply'd with the Genius of that People the Baeotians in general employing their time in acquiring a Robust Habit of Body and not in improving the Faculties of the Mind that he excell'd them all as well in strength and firmness of Limbs as in chearfully undergoing the most toilsom Labour When he came among the Lacedaemonians who account it the highest pitch of Vertue to endure such kind of hardship he so readily accommodated himself to their penurious way of Living that in a little time he had not his Equal for Abstinence and Parsimony either in Garb or Diet. After this dwelling among the Thracians a People generally addicted to the Enjoyments of Love and Wine even here had he also the Precedence allow'd him beyond Competition And coming at length into Persia where Labour and Industry in Hunting and Luxury and Excess in Feeding are of greatest Reputation he acquitted himself to the admiration of all men So that wheresoever he came he got the general Love and Respect of the People being presently accounted the most Accomplish'd Person for such Qualifications as were in every Country of highest Estimation But enough of this Man let us now proceed to give an account of others THE LIFE OF THRASYBVLVS Done into English by Mr. Gilman M. A. of Magdalen Coll. Oxon. THRASYBULUS the Son of Lycus and by Birth an Athenian was a Person whom I should not stick to place in the front of all the Grecian Worthies if his Fortune had been any way answerable to his Deserts Without doubt he out-shone them all in Fidelity Resolution Greatness of Soul and an inviolable Affection for his Country And altho many boasted themselves born of more Ancient Families yet none outstripp'd him in any other Accomplishment of a Great Man Whoever Rescues his Native Country from the Oppression of one Tyrant does so Brave an Action that many Men have Attempted but few have had the Honour of Atchieving yet was it this Man 's good Fortune to Free His groaning under the intolerable Burthen of Thirty at once His Valour was first fledg'd in the Peloponnesian War where being in a Joint-Commission he did many great Exploits without Alcibiades tho Alcibiades did nothing without Him all his Actions expressing an ardent desire to promote the Good of the Commonwealth But in pitch'd Battels the Strength and Number of Forces is as much to be rely'd on as the most excellent Conduct and the private Soldier justly claims a share in the Glory of the Action with the Commander Besides Fortune sometimes lets them know that Success depends neither upon one nor the other but is solely at her disposal Wherefore the most Glorious of all Actions Thrasybulus may justly claim to be properly his own For when Athens was miserably harass'd and torn by the Arbitrary Proceedings of those Thirty Burgomasters set up as it were a Council of State by the Lacedaemonians during whose uncontrolable sway many of the Eminent Citizens were kill'd some preserv'd by Fate from the danger of the War were banish'd and many others had their Estates confiscated and divided amongst the Usurpers He only not as a General but singly Proclaim'd open War against them and when he fled to Phyle the strongest and best fortified Castle in Attica he had scarce Thirty Confederates So weak were the Foundations of the Design by which the Liberty of that Illustrious City was asserted He was not despicable for his Person or Parts but was contemn'd for his inconsiderable Party which at last prov'd of great consequence to him as the accomplishing his Design for the Relief of his Country and the utter and final Ruin of it's Enemies For they lull'd in their own security neglected a speedy and vigorous prosecution and consequently gave him a longer time to make himself more considerable both for Men and Money Whence is evinc'd the truth of that common Axiom In War no Advantage is to be slipt and it is not without reason said The Mother of a Coward need never Fear Yet all this while Thrasybulus's Supplies and Assistances bore no proportion to his Expectations For even in those days men were more lavish of their Words then Actions and more hotly disputed their Liberty with their Tongues then their Swords From Phyle he march'd to Pyraeum and fortifies Munichia which place his Enemies twice attempting to take by Storm in two general Assaults were as often beat back with considerable Damage and at last forc'd to retire into Athens with the loss of all their Arms and Baggage Thrasybulus in the mean time manages his Affair with as great Wisdom as Courage and commands that Quarter should be given to all those who would accept it saying it was but reasonable that Fellow-Citizens should spare one another Neither indeed was there any person hurt afterwards but those who continued in a posture of Hostility He suffer'd none to be stript of their Clothes nor touch'd any part of the Plunder only Arms for which he had urgent occasion and Victuals In this second Conflict fell Critias the primier Burgomaster after he had fought valiantly Critias being slain Pausanias King of the Lacedaemonians comes to the Assistance of the Athenians and at length concludes a Peace between both Parties on these Terms First That no Citizen except the Thirty Tyrants and the Ten Pretors who exactly Copied those Originals of Cruelty in their Actions should suffer Banishment Secondly That no Person 's Estate should be Sequester'd And Thirdly That Democracy should be Reestablish'd and the Soveraign Power remain in the hands of the People One more remarkably great Action of his we must by no means forget When Peace was settled and he bore a great sway in the City he Enacted a Law That no man should be accus'd or any way punish'd for any thing that was past This was afterwards call'd An Act of Oblivion But not satisfied with the bare
that they would not chuse him General but supply'd that Trust with a very unskilful Commander whose imprudence led their Forces into such Streights that they were enclos'd by their Enemies and now near Ruin they began to reflect upon and wish for the good Conduct of Epaminondas who was at this time a Common Soldier in the Army To him they apply themselves for Assistance who taking no notice of their Ingratitude rais'd the Enemy's Leaguer and secur'd a safe Retreat to the Army Such Actions as these he often perform'd but that which bears a greater lustre then any of the rest is his brave deportment when he led the Army into Peloponnesus against the Lacedaemonians in which Expedition he had two Collegues one of which was Pelopidas a very valiant Man who falling under the Envy of some Crimes that were fasten'd upon him by his adversaries all their Commands were taken from them and new Pretors appointed to succeed Epaminondas refus'd to obey this Act of State and perswaded his Collegues to do the like and so they proceeded in the management of that War The reason upon which Epominandas acted was this He foresaw if he comply'd the Ignorance and Folly of the design'd Commanders would ruin the Army The Law was That it should be Death for any man to retain his Command longer than was limited by his Commission This Epaminondas well understood and the danger of it but did not think fit That the Law which was made for the Preservation of the Commonwealth should be turn'd to its Ruine therefore he durst continue his Command four months longer then the the People had Enacted After their return home his Collegues being impeach'd upon this Crime he permitted them to cast the whole guilt upon him and to plead that it was wholly thro his means they had not obey'd the Orders of the State Which Plea brought them clearly off but none could believe Epaminondas would make any Reply because the Crime being plain they could not fancy what Defence could be made in the Case He makes his Appearance pleads Guilty to his Inditement and confesses all that his Colleagues had laid to his Charge and tells them that he was very ready to undergo the punishment the Law appointed but now being a Dying Man desir'd this one favour of them that this Inscription might be wrote on his Tomb Epaminondas was put to Death by the Thebans because at Leuctra he forc'd them to overcome the Lacedaemonians whom before he was General not a Man of the whole Country of Boeotia had the Courage to look upon in the Field and that in one Battel he not only rais'd Thebes from out of its Ruins but restor'd all Greece its Liberty and so far chang'd the Scene of Affairs that the Thebans besieg'd Sparta and the Lacedaemonian Pride was brought so low as to be contented not to be Slaves Neither tho commanded would he lay down his Arms 'till he had Fortify'd Messena and by that means lay'd a perpetual Bridle upon the proud City of Sparta This Speech rais'd Admiration Laughter and Applause in the whole Assembly so that not one of the Judges durst give their Verdict And thus he came off this Trial for his Life with great Reputation The last time he was General was at Mantinea where pressing too boldly amongst the Enemies they soon apprehended the advantage and knowing his Death would be the safety of their Country turn'd their whole Force upon him encompass'd him and would not leave the pursuit 'till after a great Slaughter on both sides and a brave resistance made by Epaminondas they saw him wounded with a Dart fall to the ground This sad accident did at first somewhat discourage the Boeotians but recollecting themselves Revenge succeeded Grief and they gave not over till they had utterly routed the Enemy Epaminondas finding himself mortally wounded and knowing that should the Shaft be pull'd out of his Head he must immediately dye kept it in so long 'till 't was told him his Army had got the Victory Then says he I have liv'd long enough for I shall dye unconquer'd So the Iron being drawn out he immediately expir'd He was never Marry'd for which Pelopidas who had a very Debauch'd Son thus reproving him that he took but little Care of the Commonwealth who would not leave Children behind him to support it after his Death He replies Consider whether you do not perform worse Offices to it in leaving so leud an Heir who may help to destroy but cannot maintain a Commonwealth But as for me I cannot want Issue the Leuctrian Victory is my Offspring which will not only survive me but will immortalize my Name At the time that the Exiles under the Conduct of Pelopidas surpriz'd Thebes and drove the Lacedaemonian Garrison out of the Castle Epaminondas so long as his own Citizens were engag'd in the Fight kept himself at home and forbore all Action The reason of which proceeding was that he could not in Honour join with these Betrayers of their Country nor would he appear in Arms against them because he would not stain himself with the Blood of his Country-men for he well knew That Victory in a Civil War was at best but an unfortunate Prize But this same Man as soon as the Battel was drawn off as far as the Cadmea and the Lacedaemonians only concern'd thrust himself into the formost Rank I think I shall have said enough of the Virtues and Actions of this great Man if I add but this one thing which none can deny That before Epaminondas's Birth and after his Death Thebes was constantly subject to a Foreign Power but on the contrary while he Presided in that Commonwealth it became the Leading State of Greece Whence we may draw this conclusion That the Bravery of one Great Man does more advance a State than the whole Mass of People THE LIFE OF PELOPIDAS Done into English by Mr. Creech PELOPID AS the Theban is more famous in History then common Talk of whose Vertues I cannot tell in what manner I shall treat for should I give a full descriptionof of his Actions 't is justly to be fear'd that I should rather seem to write a History than his Life and if I should only touch upon the heads that then I should cloud his Reputation and those who are unacquainted with the Greek Histories would not perceive how great a Man he was Therefore to the best of my power to prevent both I shall provide against the satiety as well as ignorance of my Readers Phaebidas the Spartan as he led his Army thro Thebes towards Olynthus at the instigation of some few Thebans who that they might the more easily check the contrary Faction sided with the Spartan interest surpriz'd the Citadel Cadmea and this he did not by any order from the State but upon his own head for which the Lacedaemonians took away his Commission and set a Fine upon him but refus'd to surrender the Castle to
Insolent Conceits of his own Atcheivments that with a noble Compassion he deplored the unhappy State of Greece which through its own divisions should lose the Lives of so many brave Men whose Valour if it had been plac'd on a right level and directed accordingly would inevitably have prov'd the Ruin of Persia After this having pent up the Enemy within the Walls of Corinth he was advis'd to lay close Siege to that place but Generously reply'd That it was beneath the Prudence of his Conduct so to do for altho he knew very well how to reduce a Criminal to a sense of his Duty yet he did not think the Cities of Greece proper objects of his Valour for whilst Greece fought against Greece and destroy'd its own Members whose concern against the Common Enemy the Barbarian was one and the same every Member which by this means was Rent and Torn off was lost to the whole Body whose Strength was thereby impair'd and it Incapacitated to Resist the Attempts of the Enemy who would improve the Advantage of their Divisions to their Confusion In the mean time happen'd that unfortunate Battel at Leuctra fatal to the Lacedaemonians whither Agesilaus as if he had been Conscious of the Event could not by any Art be perswaded to go but afterwards when Epaminondas had Invested the City Sparta it being at that time naked and not defended with any Wall Agesilaus behav'd himself with so much Gallantry and Resolution that in all Mens opinion if Sparta had wanted her Agesilaus she had not long been Sparta One remarkable instance there was wherein his expedite and seasonable Counsel discover'd it self to the advantage of all For when some rash young Men terrified with the report of the Thebans approach had taken up a Resolution to pass over to them and in order thereto had possess'd themselves of a Post without the City Agesilaus foreseeing the ill consequence and example of it if any of his Men should be known to go over to the Enemy He cunningly joyns himself with them commends their choice of that place where they were Posted and tells them that he himself had design'd the same before and therefore that he would be their Leader and the Companion of their Fortunes They caught with this Stratagem presently return'd to their Allegiance and having some of Agesilaus his Followers joyn'd with them lay aside all thoughts of Surrendring the place for their numbers being augmented with Men of good Experience and Conduct they durst not embrace any Treacherous design and desisted the more willingly because they thought that their Treason was not yet discover'd After the Battel of Leuctra Sparta could never recover it self or regain its pristine Majesty and Power yet Agesilaus bravely bore up under all Fortunes and never wanted a helping hand to Sublevate the sinking State Particularly when the Lacedaemonians were one time in great want for Money he by Protecting those who had been defective in their Duty and had incurr'd the censure of the Laws obtein'd great sums of Money from them all which he frankly bestow'd upon the Public And this was more signally remarkable in him that of all the Rich Presents which were given him by Kings Noble Persons or Cities which he had oblig'd he never converted any to his own private use neither did he ever deviate from the laudable Frugality and Thrift of the Spartans his Diet was homely his Apparel plain his Lodging not adorn'd with the novel Bravery of the Times but the same with that of Eurysthenes the Founder of his Family into which if you should enter you would find no provision for Lust none for Luxury but Patience was the Ornament of it Abstinence its best Furniture with these it abounded but in other things it was not distinguished from the House of a poor Man or private Person But Nature was not more indulgent to this Great Person in bestowing upon him so many Excellent Qualities of Mind then She was niggardly in dispensing the Graces of his Body for he was low of Stature and lame of one Foot which latter defect made him appear something deform'd and Strangers that beheld his face and the outward frame of his Body slighted and contemned him but those that were acquainted with the inward Accomplishments of his Mind could never admire him enough According to his former custom when he was eighty years old and was come into Egypt as Auxiliary to Thacus he lay down to sleep upon the shore amongst his Followers without any Roof above him but that of Heaven or Bed under him but the Earth which he cover'd with Straw a Beasts Skin being his Coverlet In the same manner lay all his Companions round him in mean and very contemptible Habit and which was so far from signifying the Person of a King to be amongst them that it rather gave cause to suspect him to be some despicable mean Person When the noise of his coming was bruited abroad and had reach'd the Ears of the Persian Messengers with Presents were instantly sent to him tho when they came and enquir'd which was Agesilaus they could scarce be induc'd to beleive that he was one of those that lay down in that neglected manner But when after their Complements made they had tender'd their Presents to him he only made choice of some Veal-flesh and other Victuals for present use and had distributed amongst his Servants the sweet Oyntments the Coronets with the more curious fare and reserved nothing for himself but sent back all the rest again the Barbarians then look'd upon him with greater contempt then before imputing it to his ignorance that he made choice of those less valuable things Afterwards when he left Egypt he was Presented by King Nectanabes with 220 Talents all which he liberally distributed amongst his Followers the Lacedaemonians Coming from thence into a Haven betwixt Cyrene and Egypt commonly known by the name of Menelaus his Haven he unhappily fell sick of a fatal Disease of which he dy'd His Friends in order to convey his dead Body in defect of Honey anointed it with Wax and carryed it home to Sparta THE LIFE OF EVMENES Done into English by Mr. Ch. Allestree M. A. of Ch. Ch. Coll. Oxon. EUMENES was a Native of Cardia and so eminent for Personal Courage that had his Fortune or Success been in any degree equal to it he had not 't is true been really Greater then he was because we measure the Greatness of an Hero by his inward Virtue and not by any outward circumstances of Fortune but still he had been more Honourable and Illustrious and Fame had render'd him more considerable in the Eye of of the World It was his unhappiness to be born in an Age wherein the Macedonians flourish'd and were at that heighth of Renown as to eclipse his Merit neither was it any small matter of Reproach and Detraction to him who liv'd constantly amongst them to be ignominiously upbraided with
the Athenians durst not maintain their station because they fear'd that if part of the Enemy's Fleet should get beyond Eubaea they would engage them on both sides Upon which account they were forc'd to leave Artemisium and sail to Salamis which is over against Athens But Xerxes having gain'd Thermopylae immediately marched to Athens where meeting with no opposition he kill'd the Priests which he found in the Tower and fir'd the City At the news of which the Sea-men were much terrified and when they durst not stand to their Colours and 't was the advice of most of them that every one should go home to their own Houses and defend themselves as well as they could within their Walls Themistocles alone stood undaunted telling them That so long as they held together in one Body they might equal the Enemy but protesting if once dispers'd they must necessarily perish And that that would be their fate he affirm'd to Eurybiades a King of the Lacedaemonians who then was Admiral Whom when he found not to be concern'd so much as he could have wish'd he sent one of his Servants in whom he could most confide to Xerxes by night to tell him That his Enemies were upon their flight and that if they should now escape he must expect a long and difficult War for then he would be forc'd to pursue them singly but if he would now Engage them he might in a short time destroy them all This stratagem so far prevail'd that his own Soldiers were compell'd to fight tho against their wills Whereupon Xerxes not in the least suspecting the trick which was put upon him fell upon them the next day in so narrow a Sea that his whole Fleet could not engage a place very disadvantageous to himself but on the contrary mighty advantageous to his Enemy So that he was Conquer'd rather by the Policy of Themistooles then by the Arms of Greece Altho Xerxes manag'd this Action extremely ill yet after all he had so great Reserves that even with them he might have beaten the Athenians but for the present he was forc'd to retreat For Themistocles fearing least he should go on with the War sent him word that the breaking down of the Bridge which he had built over the Hellespont was then in agitation to exclude his passage into Asia and made him believe it For that Journey which cost him six months travel when he came for Greece he perform'd the very same way in less then thirty days at his return looking upon himself not as conquer'd by Themistocles but preserv'd Thus by the Policy of one man Greece was restor'd to its liberty and Asia made subject to Europe This other Victory was not at all inferior to that at Marathon For here also at Salamis after the same manner a few Ships defeated the greatest Fleet that has been in the memory of man Great was Themistocles in this War and as great in Peace For when the Athenians had only the Phaleric a small and inconvenient Port by his advice they built a triple Haven at Pyraea and encompass'd it with such Walls that it equall'd the City in glory and excell'd it in usefulness He also rebuilt the Athenian Walls at his own hazard For the Lacedemonians having got a plausible reason viz. the Incursions of the Barbarians deny'd that any City ought to be built but at Peloponnesus lest there should be any Fortifications which might harbour their Enemies and therefore they endeavour'd to put a stop to their Buildings But their designs were quite contrary to their pretences For those two Victories that at Marathon and the other at Salamis made the Athenians so considerable all the World over that the Lacedaemonians were afraid they would have contended with them for the Soveraignty wherefore they used all means to keep them as low as possibly they could For after they heard that the Walls were begun they sent Ambassadors to Athens to forbid their proceedings Whilst they were there they desisted and told them that they would send Ambassadors to treat with them about that affair This Embassy Themistocles undertook and went first himself ordering the rest of the Ambassadors not to follow till they thought the Walls were high enough In the mean time all the City of what condition soever whether Bond or Free assisted in the work neither did they spare any place whether sacred or prophane public or private but took from all parts what materials would most conduce to the Fortifications So that their Walls were built with the Ruins of their Temples and Monuments Themistocles when he came to Lacedaemon did not immediately desire Audience of the Magistrates but spun out the time as long as he could making this his excuse that he expected his Collegues But whilst the Lacedaemonians complain that the Works nevertheless went on and that Themistocles endeavour'd to deceive them in the interim the rest of the Ambassadors arrive by whom when he was given to understand that the Fortifications were almost finish'd he address'd himself to the Ephori the chief Magistrates among the Lacedaemonians and told them That what they heard concerning their Fortifications was false wherefore he thought it but reasonable that they should send some persons of Trust and Quality to whom credit might be given to enquire into that affair and in the mean time they might keep him as their Pledge They granted his request and accordingly three Ambassadors are sent Men of great Honour and Repute on whom Themistocles order'd his Collegues to attend forewarning them not to suffer the Lacedaemonian Ambassadors to return till he himself was sent back When he thought they were arriv'd at Athens he waited upon the Senate and Magistracy and told them very frankly That by his Advice the Athenians had Wall'd in their Publick their Tutelar and Houshold Gods that they might with the more ease defend them from their Enemies which thing was justifiable by the Common Law of Nations neither did they do this with a design to incommode Greece for their City was as 't were a Bulwark against the Barbarians having twice routed the Persian Armada He told them That they did not act like just and honest men who rather regarded what conduc'd most to their own Greatness then what might be profitable to all Greece wherefore if they thought ever to have those Ambassadors return whom they had sent to Athens they must release him otherwise they must never expect to receive them again into their own Country Yet after all this he could not evade the envy of his Fellow-Citizens For even the same jealousie which condemn'd Miltiades banish'd Themistocles After which he went to Argos where living in much splendor upon the account of his great Endowments the Lacedaemonians sent Ambassadors to Athens with this Accusation against him That he had made a League with the King of Persia to destroy Greece For which Crime tho absent he was condemn'd of Treason Which thing so soon as he heard
A. of Corpus-Christi Coll. Oxon. LYSANDER of Lacedaemon has left a great Name behind him which he rather acquir'd by the Kindness of Fortune then by any Valiant Enterprize It is clear indeed that he gave the Athenians a signal Defeat in the twenty-sixth year of their War with the Peloponesian State but then we are not ignorant how He gain'd that Victory for it was never procur'd by the prowess of his own-Army but by the unruly behaviour of his Enemies who thro their disobedience to their Commanders Orders and by leaving their Ships unmann'd and being disorderly scatter'd up and down the Fields came at length into the power of Lysander's Forces Thus the Athenians yeilded themselves Vassals to the Lacedaemonian Yoke Lysander tho always Seditious before and a stout Stickler in Factions yet being pufft up with this late Success he now took so much upon him that by his means the Lacedoemonians were render'd extremely odious to Greece For whereas they had given it out that the only motive of their War was to take down the too powerful Dominion of Athens Lysander after having made himself Master of the Athenian Fleet which rode on the River Egos made it his whole business to keep every City under his own Jurisdiction all the while pretending he did it purely by the incitement of the Lacedaemonians For they who had favour'd the Athenian proceedings being turn'd out of Office every where he selected Ten out of every City who were to be entrusted with the Soveraign sway and power of all things none being received into the number of these but who would either enter himself a Member of his Family or else would take this Test That he would be wholly Lysander 's Creature Thus the Decemvirate being establish'd in every City all things were carried on as he pleas'd For an example of whose Cruelty and Treachery it is enough to produce a single instance that we may not tire the Reader 's patience by reckoning up more of his base Actions When he return'd Conqueror out of Asia and had visited Thasus by the way he greatly desir'd to demolish that City only for its surpassing fidelity to the Athenians as if the Thasians would now prove their firmest Friends and Allies who heretofore had been their never-failing Enemies But he foresaw if he had discover'd his intention herein that the Revolt of the Thasians would necessarily have ensu'd and that they would have stood upon their own guard in defence of their Lives and Fortunes Therefore that Decemviral Power which he himself had erected only for his own ends the contrary party pull'd down whereat being grievously vex'd and enrag'd he contriv'd and plotted how to depose the Lacedaemonian Kings But he found he could never compass this design without the Assistance of the Gods for the Lacedaemonians had always accustom'd themselves to bring every thing to their Oracles determination His first Attempt was to seduce that of Delphi but failing there he ventur'd next upon the Oracle of Dodona and meeting with a repulse here then he nois'd it abroad that he was under an Obligation of paying some Vows to Jupiter Ammon thinking to tamper with the Africans at an easier rate After his arrival into Africa being buoyed up with these alluring hopes he found his Expectations mightily frustrated by Jupiter's Priests For to wheedle 'em into the acceptance of a Bribe was not only a thing unfeasible but it also made 'em dispatch away their Deputies to Lacedaemon to accuse Lysander of Subornation Being impeach'd of this Misdemeanour he was acquitted by his Judges and afterward being sent to relieve the Orchomenians he was slain at Heliartus by the hands of the Thebans How true a Judgment had been past upon him that Speech discovers to us which was found in his House after his death in which he endeavours to perswade the Lacedaemonians that after they had null'd the Power of their Kings they would single him out for their General to carry on the War Now this was penn'd with so much Art that its whole frame and composure seem'd to sute and humor the Oracular way of expression and delivery the procurement of which he never question'd relying upon the strength of his Purse Cleon of Hallicarnassus is the reputed Author of this Copy And here we must not pass by the cunning contrivance of Pharnabazus a Persian Lieutenant of a Royal Extraction For when Lysander Admiral of the Navy had been guilty of many cruel and covetous miscarrages in the War and was suspitious that his Fellow-Citizens had notice of 'em already he made his request to Pharnabazus that he would bear him witness before the Ephori with what Sincerity he had manag'd the War and treated the Allies and because his Authority and Patronage would be very serviceable to him herein he farther requested an accurate description of his Integrity in writing Pharnabazus after his large promises fill'd a great Book with many high expressions in his Commendation which after Lysander had perus'd and approv'd in the very nick of its Sealing Pharnabazus slily puts down another ready Seal'd in its place of a size so uniform and so equal to the other that no eye could perceive the difference in which was drawn up a very full Impeachment of Lysander's Avarice and Perfidiousness After his return home and after his Harangue before the Chief Magistrate as much as he thought fit upon his own Exploits at last he produc'd Pharnabazus's Book and Gift as an Authentick Evidence of his unblemish'd Carriage and Deportment Lysander being order'd to withdraw the Ephori employ'd the interval of his absence in the perusal of this Manuscript and after full cognizance of its design and purport they redelivered it him to read So this inconsiderate man at the same time read his own Indictment and prov'd it THE LIFE OF ALCIBIADES Done into English by Mr. Peers M. A. of Christ-Church Coll. Oxon. and Superior Beadle of Physick and Arts. ALCIBIADES was the Son of Clinias an Athenian Nature seems in the production of this Man to have exerted the utmost Abilities of her Skill and Power all Authors who have written concerning him agreeing in this That such a mixture of the most eminent Virtues and Vices was never found in any other person as in Alcibiades The Greatness and Splendour both of his City and Parentage Ennobl'd his Birth And as for the Gifts of Nature and Personal Qualifications he not only excell'd all his Cotemporaries in Beauty and Comliness of Body but had likewise a Mind so richly and variously endow'd that he apply'd himself to all matters whether of Business or Pleasure with unparallel'd dexterity Accordingly we find that he acquitted himself as an excellent Commander both by Sea and Land and was likewise so thorowly accomplish'd in the whole Art of Oratory that he gain'd the precedence of all others as well for a powerful Eloquence as a graceful Elocution Altho he was exceeding wealthy yet could he when
prevail and be victorious Yet did not these their Successes so much encrease their Love as awaken their Fears and alienate their Affections from him for considering him to be a person of the acutest parts and most experienc'd prudence in all manner of affairs and fearing withall lest prevail'd upon by the dictates of an inbred tenderness for his Native Soil he should one time or other desert their Service and purchase a Reconciliation with his offended Country they judg'd it expedient e're this should happen to have him privately assasinated This design could not long be conceal'd from Alcibiades he being a person of so wonderful a sagacity that it was impossible for any thing to escape his knowledge especially when the least surmise or suspition had rais'd his jealousie and quicken'd his observation Withdrawing therefore privately from Lacedaemon he fled to Tissaphernes one of King Darius's Liâ—utenants with whom altho he was e're long admitted into the strictest Bonds of Friendship yet being much troubled at the rising Greatness of the Lacedaemonians and the languishing condition into which the Athenian Affairs were fall'n by their Losses in Sicily he contriv'd by special Messengers to treat with his Fellow-Citizen Pisander Praetor or Commander in Chief over the Army at Samos concerning his Pardon and Readmission into his Country Pisander's concurring with him in an aversion for the Commonalty and an equal favour for the Nobless encouraging him thereunto And altho he quickly found himself disappointed in his expectations from this man yet was he sometime after receiv'd by Thrasybulus the Son of Lycus into the Athenian Army which lay at Samos and made a principal Officer in the same nor was it long e're assisted by the influencing suffrage of Theramenes he obtain'd a publick Act of Restitution and Indemnity and was join'd in equal Commission with him and the foresaid Thrasybulus Under the Command and Conduct of these three Generals the face of Affairs in a little time appear'd wonderfully alter'd nay it was not long e're the Lacedaemonians whose Arms had hitherto been every where triumphant found themselves oblig'd to become humble Supplicants for Peace and that not without good reason having been beaten in five Land-Fights and two Engagements at Sea in which Engagements their Enemies are recorded to have taken no fewer then two hundred of their Trireme-Gallies Add to these Successes of the Athenians the Recovery of Ionia and the Hellespont with many Grecian Towns seated upon the Coast of Asia In the number of those Cities that were forceably subdu'd was Byzantium there being divers others which were won over to an Alliance by the politic Clemency with which all places were treated by them as they happen'd to be successively Conquer'd After these great Atchievements the three Generals return'd to Athens bringing back an Enrich'd and Victorious Army the same being equally Laden with Spoil and Glory But as soon as they were enter'd into the Harbour of the Piraeeum the City being in a manner deserted by its Inhabitants so great was the confluence about Alcibiades's Gally that the sight and reception of him alone seem'd to have drawn forth the gazing and transported Multitude who at this time firmly believ'd that the present happy and late calamitous condition of their Affairs were both entirely owing to him yet blaming themselves for the loss of Sicily and the victorious Exploits of the Lacedaemonians since the same were wholly to be imputed to the Expulsion of so brave a Man out of their Commonwealth Nor indeed was this an ill-grounded opinion seeing that from the very time of his Readmission into Command their Enemies could never prove an equal Match for them either by Sea or Land No sooner was he come on shore bat without the least notice taken of Theramenes and Thrasibulus who landed at the same time and had a joint interest with him in the late Atchievments the whole Body of the People crowded up towards Alcibiades many of them presenting him according to their different abilities with Coronets of Gold or Brass an Honour never done before but to such as were Victors in the Olympic Games Calling to mind his forepast Sufferings he could not abstain from Tears as he receiv'd these kind Testimonies of Reconciliation from his Fellow-Citizens and as soon as he came into the City a solemn Assembly being held he made so passionate a Speech to them that he forc'd the natural expressions of Sorrow in equal abundance from the Eyes of all that heard him those even of the most unrelenting temper among them lamenting his hard usage and declaring themselves utter Enemies to such as had procur'd his Banishment So that any man who had been a stranger to their Affairs would certainly have concluded that some other People and not the very same Persons by whom he was now surrounded had pass'd the former severe Sentence and condemn'd him of Sacrilege Hereupon his Estate which had been Confiscated was Restor'd to him by public Edict the Priests Eumolpidae being also commanded to take off his Excommunication and the Pillarson which the same had been engraven to be thrown into the Sea These obliging Smiles of kindest Fortune were of no considerable duration to Alcibiades for when the highest Honours had by solemn Decree been conferr'd upon him the Conduct and Management of all Affairs both Civil and Military being put into his hands and Thrasybulus and Adimantus at his request assign'd him for Collegues passing over with a Fleet into Asia and Fighting unsuccessfully at Cuma he fell again into the Displeasure of the Populace The reason hereof was that they universally believ'd him able to accomplish whatsoever he took in hand so that every ill Success was imputed to his Negligence or Treachery to the later of which they attributed the unprosperous Attempt made upon Cuma none of them doubting but that he could have taken the place had he not been corrupted to the betraying of his Trust by the Persian King Indeed the principal cause of the several Calamities that befell him seems to have been the extravagant opinion that all men had conceiv'd of his Valour and Prudence from whence sprung the two different Passions of Love and Fear and from whence at length it came to be generally dreaded lest pufft up with his great Successes and supported by as great Riches he should grasp at the Soveraignty and endeavour the Enslaving of their Free State These were the Considerations that induc'd them to pass a Vote for depriving him tho absent of his high Office and substituting another in his place the news whereof being brought to Alcibiades he judg'd it not expedient to return home and therefore passing over to Perinthus he compleatly fortified the three strong Holds of Bornos Bisanthe and Macronteichos and from thence marching with a sufficient Body of Men he seems to have been the first Grecian that made an Inrode into the Countries of Thrace and this he did as being unwilling to infest any part
which Affliction he bore with so much Patience that he was never heard to complain of it nor was yet less useful in private concerns or publick Affairs For he came to the Theatre when the People met there in Counsel drawn by a pair of Mules by reason of his infirmities and so from the Coach deliver'd his opinion concerning the matter in debate which no Body look'd upon as a piece of pride in him for never did any thing like Insolence or vain Glory come out of his mouth If at any time he had heard himself magnify'd he would only reply that he did signally bless the Gods and was bound upon that particular account to be always thankful for that when the Gods were graciously pleas'd to raise Syracuse they made choice of him as their unworthy Instrument For he thought that no humane actions were brought to perfection without an over-ruling Providence And therefore he Erected a private Chappel in his house to Fortune where he with much constancy and zeal paid his Devotions Besides this most excellent temper of his several remarkable Accidents concurr'd to render him famous For all his most memorable Battels happen'd to be fought upon the day on which he was born so that it fell out that all Sicily made their Anniversary Feasts on his Birth-day When one Laphystius an inconsiderable sawcy and ungrateful Fellow requir'd stipulation of him for an appearance under colour of an Action that he had against him and the Multitude flocking together endeavour'd forcibly to curb the pretenders insolence Timoleon beseech'd 'em to desist Alledging that he had gone through great hardships and extream dangers chiefly upon the account that Laphystius and others might enjoy their Liberty For the true nature of Freedome is that any one may try out whatever Cause he has by due Course of Law When another Fellow much like Laphystius Demaenetus by name in a Harangue before all the People Assembled in Counsel had detracted from the Glory of Timoleon's Actions and had sharply inveigh'd against him he made no other answer but that he now found that his Prayers were heard For he had ever made it his humble Request to the Gods that the Syracusians might enjoy such a Liberty whereby every one might be free to speak his Sentiments of whom he pleas'd When he dy'd he was interr'd at the publick charge of the Syracusians in an Academy which had its denomination from him all finely attending his Funerals THE LIFE OF HAMILCAR Done into English by Mr. Brideoke M. A. of Trin. Coll. Oxon. HAMILCAR a Carthaginian Sirnam'd Barcas the Son of Hannibal at the later end of the first Punic War tho then very young was Constituted Generalissimo of the Forces in Sicily In which Employment he behav'd himself so well that tho before his time the Carthaginian Army was always worsted both by Sea and Land he still kept his Ground and was so vigilant that his Enemies could never find him unprovided but on the contrary when opportunity serv'd would fall upon them and always made himself Master of the Field Moreover when the Carthaginians by their ill success had very near lost all footing in Sicily he so prudently defended the City Eryx as not to leave the least sign of a War behind him But in the interim C. Lutatius the then Roman Consul having beaten the Carthaginian Fleet at the Islands Aegates the Carthaginians resolv'd to Conclude the War and to that end made Hamilcar their Plenipotentiary Who tho naturally more inclin'd to War than Peace yet in that Juncture of Affairs He prefer'd Peace because his Country being then poor could no longer endure the hardships and expences of War yet he reserv'd this to himself that as soon as the Carthaginians were a little refreshed again to renew the War and by Arms oppose the Romans until Fortune had determin'd the Conquest With this resolution he concluded the Peace in the setling whereof He was so stout that when Catulus refus'd to sign the Articles unless He with the whole Garrison of the City Eryx would depart Sicily without their Arms He bravely and sharply replyed that tho his Country being poor could yeild him no assistance yet he would rather dye than return to his home with such Ignominy and Reproach For it would not consist with his Valour tamely to deliver up to his Enemies those Weapons which were committed to his Trust for the defence of his Country Upon this his resolution Catulus comply'd But Hamilcar so soon as he arriv'd at Carthage found the Commonwealth in a condition worse than he expected For by the long continuance of the Forreign War Intestine discords were so much heightn'd that Carthage was never in the like dangerous condition unless when it was quite raz'd and demolish'd For the Mercenary Soldiers who were twenty thousand strong and who had formerly fought against the Romans Revolting drew all Africa to their Party and likewise besieged Carthage By which great misfortune the Carthaginians were so Terrify'd that they sought for Aid and Protection from their greatest Enemies the Romans and obtain'd their Request But in fine when they were almost reduc'd to the utmost extremities of misery and despair they voted Hamilcar their General Who not only made those Rebels who were above twenty thousand to raise their siege from before Carthage but also forc'd them to that extremity that shutting them up in places where they were void of all relief more perish'd by Famine than were kill'd by the Sword He brought back again the revolted Towns to their former Duty and Obedience and amongst the rest Utica and Hippo the two wealthiest Cities of all Africa Neither was He satisfied with this but he also enlarg'd the Empire and all Africk was so settled that none could imagine that there had been any War there for many years before These things being finish'd by him so successfully out of a couragious and an exasperated mind against the Romans and that He might more handsomely pick a Quarrel with them he contriv'd that he himself should go Commander with an Army into Spain taking along with him his young Son Hannibal then but nine years old With him marcht Hasdrubal that Beautiful and brave Youth whom some think to have been belov'd too much by Hamilcar in a manner not allowed to his Sex For great Men seldom escape ill Men's malicious Tongues And upon this account the Youth Hasdrubal was forbid by the Censor to attend the General But Hamilcar giving his Daughter in Marriage to Hasdrubal found out that way as the best expedient of enjoying the Youth's company for their Laws did not forbid the Son-in-law to converse with his Father I thought this passage worthy of my notice because when Hamilcar was kill'd he Commanded the Army and was Successful in many remarkable Exploits and during his Command by large Gifts he so corrupted the ancient manners of the Carthaginians that after his Death Hannibal receiv'd his Power from the Army Hamilcar