God but if he was beaten he would spread him a noble Table and procure withal a fair Lady to lye with him Upon these terms reckoning first the Chances that were thrown for the God and then for himself he found plainly he had lost nevertheless being willing Matters should be adjusted and thinking it honest to stick to the Proposals he made himself he both provided the Deity a good Supper and feeing Laurentia who was a fine Creature tho' not as yet a fam'd Beauty treated her in the Temple where he had also laid a Bed and after Supper lock'd her in as if the God were really to enjoy her and indeed it is said the Deity did truly bed the Lady and commanded her in the Morning to walk the Streets and whatever Man she met first him to salute and make her Friend The Man she met was by Name Tarrutius far stricken in years but of a competent subsistence without Children and had always liv'd a single Life This Man knew Laurentia and lov'd her well and at his death left her sole Heir of all his large and fair Possessions most of which she in her last Will and Testament bequeath'd to the People It was reported of her being now a celebrated Beauty and esteem'd the Mistress of a God that she suddenly disappear'd near the Place where the first Laurentia lay buried the Place is at this day call'd Velabrum because the River frequently overflowing they went over in Ferry-boats much about this Place to the Market which manner of Waftage the Latines call Velatura others derive the Name from Velum a Veil because the Exhibiters of publick Shews generally making their Procession from the Market-place to the Circus maximus or common Shew-place did always veil that space between Upon these accounts is the second Laurentia so highly honour'd at Rome The Children all this while Faustulus Amulius's Neat-herd educated privately from the knowledge of all Men but as some say and with the greatest likelihood too Numitor was conscious all along to the thing and made Allowances under-hand to their Tutors for it is said they were at Gabii well instructed in Letters and all other Accomplishments befitting their Birth and Quality The reason of their Names Romulus and Remus was as you find it in Story because they were seen sucking of the Wolf In their very Infancy the noble structure of their Bodies presently discover'd the natural greatness of their Minds and Thoughts and when they grew up they both prov'd of great Bravery and Manhood attempting all Enterprizes that seem'd hazardous and shewing still a Courage altogether undaunted But Romulus seem'd rather to excel in Wisdom and to have an Understanding more adapted to politick Affairs in his Life and Conversation amongst his Neighbours both in feeding his Flock and managing his Dogs for Hunting raising a great opinion in all that he was born rather to rule and govern than be a Subject To their Comrades nay Inferiors they were affable and courteous but the King's Servants his Bayliffs and Overseers as being in nothing better Men than themselves they despis'd and slighted nor were the least concernd at their commands and menaces They us'd honest Pastimes and liberal Studies esteeming Sloth and Idleness not to be commendable but rather Exercises as Hunting and Running catching of Robbers taking of Thieves and delivering the wrong'd and oppressed from injury Upon this account they became famous Now there happening a Quarrel betwixt Numitor's and Amulius's Neatherds the latter not enduring the driving away of their Cattel by the others fell foul upon them and put 'em to flight and rescued withal the greatest part of the prey At which Numitor being highly incens'd they little regarded it but reunited their Forces and picking up a great many needy Fellows and Servants began a seditious and mutinous Riot and Romulus employing himself then at a Sacrifice for he was a lover of holy Ceremonies and Prophecies Numitor's Neat-herds meeting with Remus upon a small Journey he was making fell upon him and some few Blows and Wounds passing between them took Remus Prisoner who being carried before Numitor and there accus'd of Misdemeanors he would not punish him himself fearing his Brother might be angry but went to him and desir'd Justice might be done him as he was his Brother and was affronted by his Servants The Men of Alba likewise resenting the thing ill and thinking the Man dishonourably us'd Amulius was induced to deliver Remus up into Numitor's hands to use him as he thought fit He therefore took and carried him home and being struck with admiration of the Youth's Person in proportion and strength of Body exceeding all Men and perceiving in his very Countenance the courage and presence of his Mind which stood undaunted and unshaken in his present Calamities and hearing farther all the Enterprises and Actions of his Life were answerable to what he saw of him but chiefly as it seem'd God influencing and directing the Instruments of great Works he having a desire and opportunity to enquire into the truth of him in gentle terms and with a kind aspect raising a confidence and hope in him ask'd him Who he was and whence he was deriv'd He taking heart spoke thus I will Sir hide nothing from you for you seem to be of a more Princely temper than Amulius in that you give a hearing and examine fairly before you punish but he condemns before the Cause is heard First then We for we are Twins thought our selves the Sons of Faustulus and Laurentia the King's Servants but since we have been accus'd and aspers'd with Calumnies and brought in peril of our Lives here before you we hear great things of our selves the truth whereof will appear from the issue of this danger we are in Our Birth is said to have been miraculous our fostering and nurture in our Infancy still more strange by Birds and Beasts to whom we were cast out by them were we fed that is by the Milk of a Wolf and the small morsels of a Woodpecker as we lay in a little Trough by the side of a River the Trough is now in being and is preserv'd with brass plates round it and an Inscription in old obscure Characters on it which may prove hereafter but very insignificant tokens to our Parents when we are dead and gone Numitor upon these words and recollecting the time too according to the young Man's Looks slighted not the hope that flatter'd him but took care how to come at his Daughter privately for she was still kept under restraint to talk with her concerning these Matters Faustulus hearing Remus was taken and deliver'd up begg'd Romulus to assist in his rescue informing him then plainly of the Particulars of his Birth not but he had before given him some hints of it and told him as much as an attentive Man might make no small Conclusions from it he himself full of Concern and fear of not coming in
and had the first impressions of his Image what Creatures cou'd be made They were of kin to Eternity it self and wanting only that accession to be Deities Their fall was therefore more opprobrious than that of Man because they had no clay for their excuse Though I hope and wish the latter part of the Allegory may not hold and that repentance may be yet allow'd them But I delight not to dwell on so sad an object Let this part of the Landschape be cast into shadows that the heightnings of the other may appear more beautiful For as Contraries the nearer they are plac'd are brighter and the Venus is illustrated by the Neighbourhood of the Lazar so the unblemish'd Loyalty of your Grace will shine more clearly when set in competition with their stains When the Malady which had seiz'd the Nobler parts of Britain threw it self out into the limbs and the first sores of it appear'd in Scotland yet no effects of it reach'd your Province Ireland stood untainted with that pest The care of the Physician prevented the disease and preserv'd the Country from infection When that Ulcer was rather stop'd than cur'd for the causes of it still remain'd and that dangerous Symptoms appear'd in England when the Royal Authority was here trodden under foot when one Plot was prosecuted openly and another secretly fomented yet even then was Ireland free from our contagion And if some venemous Creatures were produc'd in that Nation yet it appear'd they could not live there They shed their poyson without effect They despair'd of being successfully wicked in their own Country and transported their Evidence to another where they knew 't was vendible Where accusation was a Trade where forgeries were countenanc'd where perjuries were rewarded where swearing went for proof and where the Merchandize of Death was gainful That their Testimony was at last discredited proceeded not from its incoherence For they were known by their own party when they first appear'd but their folly was then manag'd by the cunning of their Tutors they had still been believ'd had they still follow'd their Instructors But when their witness fell foul upon their friends then they were proclaim'd Villains discarded and disown'd by those who sent for them they seem'd then first to be discover'd for what they had been known too well before they were decry'd as inventours of what only they betray'd Nay their very wit was magnified lest being taken for fools they might be thought too simple to forge an accusation Some of them still continue here detested by both sides believ'd by neither for even their betters are at last uncas'd and some of them have receiv'd their hire in their own Country For perjury which is malice to Mankind is always accompanied with other Crimes and tho not punishable by our Laws with death yet draws a train of vices after it The Robber the Murderer and the Sodomite have often hung up the forsworn villain And what one sin took on trust another sin has pay'd These travelling Locusts are at length swallow'd up in their own Red-Sea Ireland as well as England is deliver'd from that flying Plague for the Sword of Justice in your Graces hand like the Rod of Moses is stretcht out against them And the third part of his Majesties Dominions is owing for its peace to your Loyalty and vigilance But what Plutarch can this age produce to immortallize a life so Noble May some excellent Historian at length be found some Writer not unworthy of his Subject but may his employment be long deferr'd May many happy years continue you to this Nation and your own may your praises be celebrated late that we may enjoy you living rather than adore you dead And since yet there is not risen up amongst us any Historian who is equal to so great an undertaking let us hope that Providence has not assign'd the workman because his employment is to be long delay'd because it has reserv'd your Grace for farther proofs of your unwearyed duty and a farther enjoyment of your fortune In which tho no Man has been less envy'd because no other has more Nobly us'd it yet some droppings of the Ages venom have been shed upon you The Supporters of the Crown are plac'd too near it to be exempted from the storm which was breaking over it 'T is true you stood involv'd in your own Vertue and the Malice of your Libellers cou'd not sink through all those folds to reach you Your Innocence has defended you from their attacks and your pen has so Nobly vindicated that Innocence that it stands in need of no other second The difference is as plainly seen betwixt Sophistry and truth as it is betwixt the stile of a Gentleman and the clumsy stifness of a Pedant Of all Historians God deliver us from Bigots and of all Bigots from our Sectaries Truth is never to be expected from Authors whose understandings are warp'd with Enthusiasm For they judge all actions and their causes by their own perverse principles and a crooked line can never be the measure of a streight one Mr. Hobbs was us'd to say that a Man was alwaies against reason when reason wasagainst a Man So these Authors are for obscuring truth because truth would discover them They are not Historians of an Action but Lawyers of a party They are retain'd by their principles and brid'd by their interests Their narrations are an opening of their cause and in the front of their Histories there ought to be written the Prologue of a pleading I am for the Plaintiff or I am for the Defendant We have already seen large Volumes of State Collections and Church Legends stuffd with detected forgeries in some parts and gaping with omissions of truth in others Not penn'd I suppose with so vain a hope as to cheat Posterity but to advance some design in the present Age For these Legerdemain Authors are for telling stories to keep their trick undiscover'd and to make their conveyance the more clean What calumny your Grace may expect from such Writers is already evident But it will fare with them as it does with ill Painters a Picture so unlike in all its features and proportions reflects not on the original but on the Artist For malice will make a piece more unresembling than ignorance And he who studies the life yet bungles may draw some faint imitation of it But he who purposely avoids nature must fall into grotesque and make no likeness For my own part I am of the former sort And therefore presume not to offer my unskillfulness for so excellent a design as is your illustrious life To pray for its prosperity and continuance is my duty as it is my Ambition to appear on all occasions Tour Graces most obedient and devoted Servant JOHN DRYDEN THE Publisher to the Reader YOV have here the first Volume of Plutarchs Lives turn'd from the Greek into English And give me leave to say the first attempt of doing it from
would preserve he answer'd Plutarch and probably might give this reason that in saving him he should secure the best Collection of them all The Epigram of Agathias deserves also to be remember'd This Author flourish'd about the year five hundred in the Reign of the Emperour Justinian The Verses are extant in the Anthologia and with the Translation of them I will conclude the praises of our Author having first admonish'd you that they are suppos'd to be written on a Statue erected by the Romans to his memory 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Cheronean Plutarch to thy deathless praise Does Martial Rome this grateful Statue raise Because both Greece and she thy fame have shar'd Their Heroes written and their Lives compar'd But thou thy self cou'dst never write thy own Their Lives have Parallels but thine has none FINIS THESEUS M Burghers delin et scâ—… THE LIFE OF THESEUS English'd from the Greek By R. Duke Trin. Coll. Cant. Soc. Volume I. AS Historians in their geographical descriptions of Countries croud into the farthest parts of their Maps those places that escape their knowledge with some such Remarks in the Margin as these All beyond is nothing but drie and desart Sands or unpassable Bogs or Scythian Cold or a frozen Sea so in this Work of mine wherein I have compared the Lives of the greatest Men with one another having run through that time whereunto probable reason could reach and through which the truth of History could pass I may very well say of those that are farther off All beyond is nothing but monstrous and tragical Fictions there the Poets and there the Inventers of Fables dwell nor is there any further to be expected ought deserving of Credit or that carries any appearance of Truth Yet having published an Account of Lycurgus the Law-giver and Numa the King methought I might not without reason ascend as high as to Romulus being brought by my History so near to his time Considering therefore with my self Whom with so great a man shall I compare Or whom oppose who can the tryal bear as Aeschylus expresses it I found none so fit as him that peopled the most celebrated City of Athens to be set in opposition with the Father of the invincible and renowned City of Rome And here it were to be wish't that this Account cou'd be so purg'd by right reason from the fabulous part as to obey the Laws and receive the character of an exact History But whereever it shall chance too boldly to contemn the bounds of credibility and will endure no mixture of what is probable we shall beg that we may meet with can did Readers and such as will favourably receive what can be related concerning things of so great Antiquity Now Theseus seems to resemble Romulus in many particulars Both of 'em born out of Wedlock and of uncertain Parentage had the repute of being sprung from the Gods Both Warriours that by all the world 's allow'd Both of them had joyn'd with strength of Body an equal vigour of Mind and of the two most famous Cities of the World the one built Rome and the other made Athens be inhabited Both were famous for the Rape of Women neither of them cou'd avoid domestick misfortunes nor the envy of their Country-men but both are said to have died by the hands of their own offended Citizens if we will believe there is any truth in relations that are delivered with the least appearance of strange or Poetical Fictions The Lineage of Theseus by his Father's side ascends as high as to Erectheus and the first inhabitants of Attica By his Mother's side he was descended of Pelops For Pelops was the most powerfull of all the Kings of Peloponnesus not so much for the greatness of his Riches as the multitude of his Children having match't many Daughters to persons of the greatest Quality and made many Sons Governours of Provinces round about him One whereof nam'd Pittheus Grandfather to Theseus was founder of the small City of the Troezenians and had the repute of a man of the greatest knowledge and wisedom in his time Which then it seems consisted chiefly in such grave Sentences as the Poet Hesiod got his great esteem by in his Book of Works and Days And even among them is one that they ascribe to Pittheus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Let a friend's services meet full reward Which also Aristotle witnesses and Euripides when he calls Hippolytus Scholar of the sacred Pittheus shews the opinion that the world had of that great man About this time Aegeus being desirous of Children and consulting the Oracle of Delphos receiv'd that so celebrated answer which forbad him the use of any woman before his return to Athens But the Oracle being so obscure as not to satisfie him that he was clearly forbid this he went to Troezene and communicated to Pittheus the voice of the God which was in this manner 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I warn thee Warriour not to broach Thy Goatskin full of generous Juice Nor footlong Spigot to produce Till thou to Athens shalt approach Pittheus therefore taking advantage from the obscurity of the Oracle prevail'd upon him it is uncertain whether by perswasion or deceit to lie with his Daughter Aethra Aegeus afterwards knowing her whom he had lain with to be Pittheus's Daughter and suspecting her to be with Child by him he left a Sword and a pair of Shoes hiding them under a great Stone that had a hollowness exactly fitting them making her onely privy to it and commanding her that if she brought forth a Son who when he came to man's estate shou'd be able to lift up the Stone and take away what he had left there she shou'd send him away to him with those things with all secrecy enjoyning him as much as possible to conceal his Journey from all men For he fear'd extremely the Pallantidae who were continually mutinying against him and despis'd him for his want of Children they themselves being fifty Brothers all of the Sons of Pallas When Aethra was deliver'd of a Son some report that he was immediately nam'd Theseus from the Tokens which his Father had put under the Stone But others say that he receiv'd his name afterwards at Athens when Aegeus acknowledg'd him for his Son He was brought up under his Grandfather Pittheus and had by him a Governour and Tutour set over him nam'd Connidas to whom the Athenians even to this time the day before the Feast that is dedicated to Theseus sacrifice a Ram giving this honour to his memory upon a much juster account than that which they gave to Silanio and Parrhasius for having onely made Pictures and Statues of Theseus There being then a custom for the Grecian Youth upon their first coming to man's estate to go to Delphos and
passionately concerned for the King revealed this to him that he might hasten towards the Asiatick Seas and pass over into his own Dominions and in the the mean he would cause delays and hinder the Confederates from pursuing him Xerxes no sooner heard this but being very much terrified retreated out of Greece with all speed The prudent conduct of Themistocles and Aristides and the advantageous management of this affair was afterwards more fully understood at the Battel of Plataea where Mardonius with a very small portion of the Forces of Xerxes put the Greeks in danger of losing all Herodotus writes that of all the Cities of Greece Aegina performed the best service in the War in which also all men yielded to Themistocles though some out of envy did it unwillingly and when they returned to the entrance of Peloponnesus where the Souldiers delivered their Suffrages by laying a Stone upon the Altar to determine who was most worthy every one gave the first Vote for himself and the second for Themistocles The Lacedemonians carried him with them to Sparta where giving the rewards of Valour to Eurybiades and of Wisedom and Conduct to Themistocles they crowned him with Olive gave him precedency presented him with the richest Coach in the City and sent three hundred young men to accompany him to the confines of their Country and at the next Olympian Games when Themistocles entred the place where those Exercises were performed the Spectatours took no further notice of those who strove for Mastery but spent the whole day in looking upon him shewing him to the Strangers admiring him and applauding him by clapping their hands and all other expressions of joy which so delighted him that he confessed to his Friends that he then reaped the fruit of all his labours for the Greeks he was in his own nature a great lover of honour as is evident from those things which are recorded of him When he was chosen Admiral by the Athenians he ended no business fully publick nor private but deferred all till the day they were to set sail that dispatching much business together and having to doe with all sorts of men he might appear great and able to perform all things Viewing the dead Bodies cast up by the Sea he perceived Collars and Chains of Gold about them yet passed on onely shewing them to a Friend that followed him saying Take you these things for you are not Themistocles He said to Antiphates a young Nobleman who had formerly behaved himself haughtily towards him but now in his glory obsequiously waited upon him young man we are in the right and now we doe both as we should doe He said that the Athenians did not honour him or admire him but when they were in danger they sheltred themselves under him as they do in stormy foul weather under a Plane-tree and when they have fair weather again they pull off its Leaves and Fruit and cut down its fairest Branches A Seriphian telling him that he had not obtained this honour by himself but by the greatness and splendour of his City he replied You speak truth for I should never have been esteemed if I had been of Seriphus nor would you have come to any thing though you had been of Athens A Commander of the Army who thought he had performed considerable service for the Athenians boasting and comparing his actions with those of Themistocles he told him that the day after the Festival reproached the Festival that upon her day those who were laborious and industrious refreshed themselves but upon the Festival the sluggard and luxurious enjoyed all things to which the Festival replyed it is true yet if I had not been before you you had not been at all so if Themistocles had not been before you where had you been now Laughing at his own Son who was somewhat too bold through the indulgence and fondness of his Mother he told him that he had the most power of any one in Greece for the Athenians command the rest of Greece I command the Athenians your Mother commands me and you command your Mother Loving to be singular in all things when he had Land to sell he ordered the Cryer to give notice that there were good neighbours near it Of two who made love to his Daughter he preferred the Vertuous before the Rich saying he desired a Man without Riches rather than Riches without a Man with many such expressions After these things he began to build and wall the City of Athens having with Money corrupted the Lacedemonian Ephori and perswaded them not to be against it as Theopompus reports but as most relate it by over-reaching and deceiving them for being chosen by the Governours of Athens he went to Sparta where the Lacedemonians accusing him for rebuilding the Walls of the City of Athens and Poliarchus being sent on purpose from Aegina to plead against him he denied the fact bidding them to send to Athens to see whether it were so or no by which delay he got time for the building of the Wall and ordering the Athenians to seize upon those who were sent and keep them as Hostages for him when the Lacedemonians knew the truth they did him no hurt but hiding their anger for the present sent him away After this considering the great advantage of good Ports he fortified the Haven of Piraea and joyned the whole City to the Sea ordering the publick affairs contrary to the judgment of the old Kings of Athens who endeavouring to withdraw their Subjects from the Sea and sailing about and to accustom them to live by planting and tilling the Earth published the Discourse between Minerva and Neptune and how they contended for the patronage of the Athenians when Minerva by shewing to the Judges an Olive Tree was declared to be their tutelary Goddess but Themistocles did not onely joyn the Haven of Piraea to the City as the Poet Aristophanes observes but he joyned the City to the Haven and the Land to the Sea which encreased the power of the People against the Nobility the Authority coming into the hands of Watermen Mariners and Masters of Ships and ordered that the Pulpit built in the Market-place for publick Orations should be placed towards the Sea which the thirty Tyrants afterwards turned towards the Land supposing that great power by Sea would give life and encouragement to a popular Government but that Labourers and Husbandmen would be less offended at the greatness of the Nobility but Themistocles had a higher opinion of Sea forces After the departure of Xerxes when the Grecian Fleet was arrived at Pagasa where they wintered Themistocles in a publick Oration to the people of Athens telling them that he had a design to perform something that would be very beneficial and advantageous to the Athenians but that it was of such a nature that it could not be made publick or communicated to the people in general The Athenians ordered him to
with And why should one wonder at what such Fellows say who play the Satyrists upon other mens Lives and daily upon all occasions with their reproaches and evil speeches sacrifice the reputations of their Superiours the Great and the Good to the envy and spite of the Rabble as to some evil Genius or wicked Spirit when as Stesimbrotus the Thasian hath dared to broach a dismal and incredible Villany against Pericles as if he had committed Incest with his own Son's Wife By this means it comes about that it is a very difficult matter to trace and find out the Truth of any thing by History when on one hand those who undertake to write it living so long after the things were done cannot arrive at the certain knowledge of such transactions as past in the times before them and on the other hand that History which is contemporary and of the same standing with those Actions and Lives which it reporteth doth partly through envy and ill-will partly through favour and flattery disguise and pervert the truth Now when the Oratours who sided with Thucydides and were of his party were at one time bawling as their custom was against Pericles as one who squander'd away the publick Stock in idle expences and made havock of the State-revenues he starting up in the open Assembly put the question to the People Whether they thought that what he had laid out was too much and they saying Too too much of all conscience Well then said he since 't is so let not the cost and charge go upon your account but upon mine and accordingly I will make the Inscription upon the Temples and other publick Buildings in mine own name When therefore they heard him say thus whether it were out of a surprise to see the greatness of his Spirit or out of emulation that they envied him the glory of the Works and resolv'd to go shares with him they cried aloud bidding him to spend on and lay out o' God's name what he thought fit out of the publick Purse and to spare no cost till all were finished At length being brought to push of pike with Thucydides upon a trial of skill whether should shell the other out of the Country and having not without some hazard got the better he threw his Antagonist out and sent him packing for ten years and then routed and broke to pieces all the opposite party which had stood against him So that now the difference and quarrel being wholly resolved and at an end and the City being as it were levelled into an even temper and made of one piece he in a trice brought about all Athens to his own devotion and got the disposal of all affairs that belong'd to the Athenians into his own hands their Customs and their Armies and their Gallies and their Islands and the Sea and that great power and strength which accrued to them partly by means of the other Grecians and partly also upon the account of the Barbarians in a word such a seigniory and dominion as was mounded and fortified with several Nations that were subject to it and with the friendships and amities of several Kings and with the alliances of confederate Potentates and great Lords After this he was now no longer the same Man he had been before nor at the same rate as formerly tame and gentle and familiar with the populace so as readily to yield himself up to their pleasure and to comply with the desires of the Rabble as a Steersman tacks about with the winds through all the points of the Compass But on the other hand from that loose remiss and in some cases debosh'd way of wheedling the people he wound and skrew'd them up to an Aristocratical and Regal form of State and Government and shewing himself upright and unblameable in his noble and sincere aim at the best things he did by these means generally lead the people along with their own wills and consents by perswading and shewing them what was to be done and sometimes too ruffling them and forcing them full sore against their will he made them whether they would or no to close with what he proposed for the publick advantage Wherein to say the truth he did but like a skilfull Physician who in a complicated and chronical Disease as he sees occasion one while allows his Patient the moderate use of such things as please him another while he applies corrosives and sharp things that put him to pain and administers such medicines as may work the cure For there arising and growing up as is likely all manner of distempers among a people which had so vast a command and dominion he alone as a great Master knowing how with care to handle and deal with them all severally and in an especial manner making that use of Hopes and Fears as his two chief Rudders as with the one to check and stop the career of their high-flown confidence at any time so with the other to raise them up and comfort them when they lay under any discouragement he plainly shewed by this that Rhetorick or the Art of speaking is in Plato's sense and language the Government of the Souls of men the wire-drawing of the Soul and that her chiefest business and design is her method and artifice of managing the affections and passions which are as it were the pegs the stops and keys of the Soul which require a very skilfull and carefull touch and stroke to be plaid upon as they should be Now the reason of this that made Pericles so prevailing was not altogether barely the power and force of his expression and language but as Thucydides assures us the high opinion which the people had of the man and the reputation and integrity of his life he being one who was clearly free from all corruption or bribery and above all considerations of money Who notwithstanding that he had made the City Athens which was great of it self as great and rich as can be imagined and though he were himself also grown in power and interest to be more than equal to many Kings and absolute Lords who some of them also bequested by Will their Estates to their Children he for his part did not improve the patrimony his Father left him or make it more than it was by one Groat or Dram. How beit Thucydides doth indeed give a plain narrative of that great power and interest of his and the Comick Poets do spitefully enough as their manner is more than hint at it by covert expressions calling his Companions and Friends about him by the name of Pisistratus his new Courtiers and demanding of him to abjure the setting up for a single person or exercising an arbitrary power as one whose grandeur and eminence were unproportionable to and incompatible with a Democracy or popular Government and grown to be a grievance not to be indured in a free State Further Teleclides saith
these marks or brands upon the Samians foreheads they say that that passage in Aristophanes hath a secret allusion where he saith The Samian people fy for shame For store of Letters have great fame Pericles as soon as news was brought him of the disaster that had befaln his Army made all the haste he could to come in to their relief and having got the better of Melissus who bore up against him and having put the Enemies to flight he presently hemm'd them in with a Wall resolving to master them and take the Town rather with some cost and time than with the wounds and hazards of his Citizens But inasmuch as it was a hard matter to keep in or hold back the Athenians who were vexed at the delay and were eagerly bent to fight he dividing the whole multitude into eight parts or bodies of men ordered the business by lot so that that part which had the white Bean should have leave to feast and take their ease while the other seven were busie a fighting For which reason they say also that people when at any time they have been merry and enjoy'd themselves call such a day a white day in allusion to this white Bean. Ephorus the Historian tells us besides that Pericles made use of Engins of Battery in this Siege being much taken with the strangeness of the invention and that he plaid them in presence of Artemo himself the Engineer who being lame was used to be carried about in a Litter or Sedan upon occasion of business where his attendance was required and for that reason was called Periphoretus But Heraclides Ponticus disproves this out of Anacreon's Poems where mention is made of this Artemo Periphoretus several Ages before the Samian War or any of those passages And he says that Artemo being a man who lov'd his Belly and his ease and had a tender apprehension of danger so as to be struck down with fear at the very thoughts of it did for the most part keep close within door having two of his Servants to hold a brazen Shield over his Head that nothing might fall upon him from above and if he were at any time forced upon necessity to go abroad that he was carried about in a Pallankeen or little hanging Bed close to the very ground almost and that for this reason he was called Periphoretus In the ninth month the Samians surrendring themselves and delivering up the Town Pericles pull'd down their Walls and seis'd their Shipping and set a Fine of a great sum of money upon them part of which they paid down upon the nail and the rest they agreed to bring in by a certain time and gave Hostages for security Now Duris the Samian makes a Tragical outcry of this Story charging the Athenians and Pericles with a great deal of cruelty which neither Thucydides nor Ephorus nor Aristotle hath given any relation of but it is likely enough that that Authour had little regard to truth in his so doing as how that he brought the Captains of the Galleys and the Sea-men into the Market-place at Miletum and there having bound them fast to Boards for ten days he then gave order to have them poor Wretches who were already as good as half dead to be kill'd by beating out their Brains with Clubs and their dead Bodies to be flung out into the open Streets and Fields unburied But as for Duris he being one who even where he hath no private concern of his own is not wont to keep his historical accounts he gives within the compass of truth it is the more likely that upon this occasion he hath aggravated the calamities which befell his Country on purpose to draw an odium upon the Athenians Pericles after the overthrow of Samos as soon as he returned back to Athens he took care that those who died in the War should be honourably buried and made such a Funeral Harangue as the custom is in their commendation at their Graves and Monuments that he was highly admired and esteemed for it As he came down from the Pulpit or place where they delivered their Speeches the rest of the Ladies came and complemented him taking him by the hand and crowning him with Garlands and Rubans as they used to do with Gamesters that won the publick Prizes onely Elpinice coming near to him saith she These are brave things Pericles that you have done and such as deserve our Chaplets who have lost us a many brave worthy Citizens not in a War with Phoenicians or Medes Enemies and Foreigners as my Brother Cimon wont to doe but for the overthrow of a City that was in alliance and of the same Country and Kindred with us As Elpinice spoke these words he gently smiling as 't is said returned her this Verse of Archilochus for answer Old Woman as you are You should not powder Hair Nor as you walk perfume the Air Leave these things to the Young and Fair. Now Ion saith of him that upon this exploit of his conquering the Samians he entertain'd a strange and high conceit of himself in that whereas Agamemnon was ten years a taking a barbarous City he had in nine months time vanquished and taken the chiefest and the most powerfull people among all the Ionians And indeed it was not without reason that he assumed this glory to himself for to say the truth there was much uncertainty and great hazard in this War if so be as Thucydides tells us the Samian State were come to that pitch that they were within a very little of wresting the whole power and dominion of the Sea out of the Athenians hands After this was over a War from Peloponnesus being already breaking out in full tide he advised the people to send help and assistance to the Corcyraeans the people of the Island now called Corfu who were invaded and set upon by the Corinthians and to take into their protection and alliance an Island so strengthened as that was with naval power seeing that the Peloponnesians were already more than ever made Enemies against them The Commons readily consenting to the motion and voting an aid and succour for them he dispatch'd away Lacedaemonius Cimon's Son having onely ten Ships along with him as it were out of a design to affront and abuse him For there was a great kindness and friendship betwixt Cimon's Family and the Lacedemonians wherefore that Lacedaemonius might lie the more open to a charge or suspicion at least of favouring the Lacedemonians and playing booty with them if he performed no considerable or handsome exploit in this conduct and service he allowed him such a small number of Ships and sent him out against his will and indeed he did wholly by all means he could make it his business to hinder Cimon's Sons from rising in the State pretending that by their very names they were not to be
several of the Buildings The Long Wall The Cdéum or Musick-Theatre Musick Games instituted The Acropolis or Cittadel A strange accident Minerva 's Statue Several slanders and abuses put upon Pericles Why hard to find out Truth in History Pericles his brave reply when accused for wasting publick Moneys He foils Thucydides and rules all alone He alters his Policy He plays the State-physician The force of Rhetorick His reputation and integrity Some Authours censure of his great power The long time of his Government His thrifty management of his own Estate His House-keeping His Steward Anaxagoras slighted the world The difference betwixt a Philosopher and a Statesman in the manner of their living Anaxagoras in great want A notable saying of his A great project of Pericles for a Convention of all Greece Commissioners dispatch'd to summon them The Project fails His military Conduct A rash attempt of Tolmides The judgment of Pericles upon it The event made it good His Expedition to the Chersonese in Thrace Another round the Morea Another to Pontus He curbs the peoples extravagant designs of making War abroad He reserves their Forces against the Lacedemonians A passage in the Holy War New troubles arise Those of Euboea revolt The Lacedemonians make an inroad They are bought out Cleandrides sentenced for his treachery Gylippus his Son taken in the like practice Pericles his Accounts past He keeps Pensioners at Lacedemon He chastiseth the Euboean revolters The War against Samos The story of Aspasia Thargelia such another A shrewd Woman and much frequented Pericles his former Wife He marries Aspasia The Poets Lampoon her Another so called Concubine to Cyrus An account of the Samian War The ground of it Pericles changes their Government He takes Hostages of them They proffer money He refuseth it They revolt They are beaten in a Fight at Sea They are block'd up in Town Pericles goes off with 60 Gallies The Samians take the advantage and get a victory They mark the Athenian prisoners with an Owl As the Athenians had done them with a Samaena Pericles relieves the Army Beats the Samians Incloseth them with a Wall He orders a Lottery by a white Bean. Engines of Battery Artemo why called Periphoretus Another account of him Pericles takes the Town Duris gives a tragical account of it And is cenfured for it Pericles takes care for the burial of his dead The Ladies complement him Elpinice privately quips him He answers her pleasantly He is said to have been conceited of this Victory As he had reason The occasion of the Peloponnesian War Pericles sends aid to Corcyra by Lacedaemonius His spite to Cimon 's Family He sends more help but too late Several complaints from the other Greeks against the Athenians The business of Megara the main occasion of the War Ambassadours sent from Lacedaemon about it Polyarces his device to re concile the quarrel The ground of the Athenians quarrel against the Megarians The quarrel improv'd by the Herald's death who was sent to them The Megarians reflexion upon the Herald's death Pericles hindred the rasing of the Decree against the Megarians and why The likeliest reason why Pericles hindred it Phidias a favourite of Pericles accused by Menon His main crime the rarity of his Work He is sentenced to Prison and there dies Menon 's reward Aspasia impeached Pericles order'd to bring in his Accounts This order put into general terms Aspasia begg'd off by Pericles He sends away Anaxagoras He promotes the War A message from the Lacedemonians to the Athenians It doth not succeed Pericles prevents suspicion of compliance The Lacedemonians come in with a great Army Pericles is not for giving them battel He minds the publick business without consulting the publick or taking notice of peoples discontents Cleon a Ringleader of the Malecontents * A notorious Coward Pericles sends out a Fleet to the Enemies Country He divides Moneys and Lands among the people The Enemies sufferings equal to theirs A great Plague breaks out The cause of it imputed to Pericles He goes out with a great Fleet. An Eclipse of the Sun happens His device to cure the Pilot of his fear He besiegeth Epidaurus but miscarries He cajoles the people in vain He is turn'd out of Office and fined His domestick misfortunes His eldest Son's quarrel to him He abuseth his Father with stories A Law case about the death of a Horse Pericles his loss of friends by death His unconcernedness His younger Son's death troubles him He is invited again to the Government He undertakes it The Law of Bastardy An Instance of its inconvenience Pericles his proposal to repeal it His Bastard Son legitimated Pericles is sick of the Plague Wears an Amulet about his Neck As his Friends were discoursing of him He overhears them and makes a worthy Reply An Encomium of him His good qualities made him deserve the title of Olympius The Poets mistake who ascribe passions to the Gods Pericles is mist after his death His seeming Arbitrariness excused and commended Fabius by generous purposes aspires to renown Hannibal 's first prodigious march into Italy Fabius 's deliberate advice ineffectual to move Flaminius He dies courageously Fabius by general consent chosen Dictatour His zeal for the performance of religious duties He prudently manages the War with Hannibal Hannibal politickly provokes the Romans to engage Through unskilfulness in the Language he commits a great errour His Stratageme to regain the Passes Fabius upon divers accounts evil spoken of Minutius in Fabius 's absence attacks the Carthaginians Fabius oppos'd by the Tribune Metellus He divides the Army with Minutius The dangerous consequence of Minutius 's rash separating from Fabius Fabius succours Minutius Minutius sensible of his errour submits to Fabius The indiscreet behaviour of Terentius Varro the Consul Fabius 's weighty instructions to Paulus Aemilius Varro 's fatal ingagement with the Carthaginians at Cannas Aemilius the Consul dismounted He dies valiantly Capua revolts to Hannibal Fabius of an even temper in the greatest consternation An Instance of a generous disposition in the Romans Marcellus chosen joint-Commander with Fabius He is circumvented and slain by Hannibal The winning behaviour of Fabius towards his fickle Allies A pleasant fetch of his to reduce a common Souldier His Policy in regaining Tarentum Hannibal diverted by a subtilty of Fabius The inhumane cruelty of Fabius at the sacking of Tarentum Hannibal in vain attempts to relieve it Fabius 's jocular reply to Marcus Livius The transcendent dignity of a Magistrate Scipio thwarted in his designs by Fabius Crassus no promoter of martial exploits The deserved renown of Scipio in Africk He is envy'd by Fabius Pericles 's numerous Victories eclipsed by one of Fabius ' s.