Plutarch's Lives Volume II Part 14

[Footnote 120: This act is sufficient to stamp Marius with infamy; and it is not the only time that he did it. Octavius, an honest man, refused to arm the slave against his master. (Marius, c. 42). The last British governor of Virginia closed his inglorious career by the same unsuccessful act of cowardice. (November, 1775). "In November Lord Dunmore proclaimed martial law in the colony, and executed his long-threatened plan of giving freedom to all slaves who could bear arms and would flock to his standard. But these measures, though partially annoying, had the effect of irritating and rousing the people rather than breaking their spirit." (Tucker's _Life of Jefferson_, vol. i. p. 78). Before the middle of the next year Dunmore made his escape from Virginia, after setting fire to the town of Norfolk.]

[Footnote 121: The site of this place is unknown. Cramer (_Ancient Italy_, ii. 31) says that the place is only mentioned by Dionysius (ii. 37).]

[Footnote 122: Appian calls this Marius the adopted son of Caius Marius.]

[Footnote 123: The port of Rome at the mouth of the Tiber.]

[Footnote 124: Circeii is a promontory which contains a solitary elevation, now Monte Circello. Terracina or Anxur is about twelve miles east of it, and the Pomptine marshes lie between. This tract is now very thinly inhabited, being used for pasturage, and it was apparently in the same state in the time of Marius. Yet this desolate tract where a house is now rarely seen was once full of Latin towns, in the earlier period of Rome.]

[Footnote 125: This is the older Greek poet of the name. It is unknown when he lived, but he belongs to a period earlier than that of authentic history. Aristotle (_Hist. of Animals_, vi. 5) quotes this line, and in Bekker's edition the last word is [Greek: alegizei]

??e???e?, which I have translated. Sintenis reads [Greek: alubazei]

?????e?, and Kaltwa.s.ser says that [Greek: alegizei] ??e???e? cannot have the meaning which I and others have given to it.]

[Footnote 126: Minturnae is near the mouth of the Liris, now the Garigliano, and in a swampy district. The lower course of the Garigliano is through a flat, marshy, unhealthy region. If Marius landed near Circeii he could not well have pa.s.sed Teracina without being seen. It in probable therefore that he landed south of Terracina.]

[Footnote 127: aenaria, now Ischia, is forty miles south of the mouth of the Liris.]

[Footnote 128: Marius and his adherents had been declared enemies to the State; and in the declaration it was not forgotten that Marius had attempted to excite the slaves to rebellion. The head of Sulpicius was already stuck up in the Forum (Appian, _Civil Wars_, i. 60; Velleius, ii. 19).]

[Footnote 129: A divorce at Rome was effected by the husband or wife giving a written notice. In the time of Cicero, at least, either party might effect the divorce. If the divorce was owing to the adultery of the wife, the husband was ent.i.tled to retain a part of the marriage-portion; a sixth, according to Ulpian (_Frag._ vi.). The marriage-portion or Dos (which Plutarch translates by the Greek word [Greek: pherne] f????) was that property which on the occasion of a woman's marriage was transferred to the husband by the woman or by another, for the purpose of enabling the husband to bear the additional burden of a wife and family. All the woman's property which did not become dos, remained her own, except in one of the forms of marriage (conventio in manum), when, pursuant to the nature of the union by which the wife came into her husband's power and a.s.sumed towards him the relation of a daughter, all her property became her husband's; as is distinctly a.s.serted by Cicero (_Topica_, 4; compare Ulpian, _Frag_. xix. 18). As the dos was given to the husband for a particular purpose, it was consistent that it should be returned when the marriage was dissolved. The means of recovering the dos was by action. The liability to restore the dos would be one check on the husband lightly separating from his wife. When Cicero's brother Quintus divorced his wife Pomponia, he had a good deal of trouble in finding means to return her portion. (Cicero, _Ad Attic._ xiv. 13).

The law of dos comprised a great number of rules, and is a difficult subject. Rein (Das _Romische Privatrecht_, p. 204) has given a sketch of the Roman Law of Divorce that is useful to scholars; and he has in another place (p. 193, &c.) treated of the Law of Dos. It is difficult to avoid, error in stating anything briefly on the subject of Divorce and Dos.]

[Footnote 130: Plutarch does not say what the copper coins were; nor is it important. The penalty was merely nominal, but it was accompanied by what the Romans called Infamia. Fannia showed on this occasion that she was a better woman than Marius took her to be.

Tinnius is perhaps not a Roman name. There are many errors in proper names in Plutarch's text. Perhaps the true reading is t.i.tinius. (See the note of Sintenis).]

[Footnote 131: All or nearly all of the Italian cities had a munic.i.p.al const.i.tution. The chief magistrates were generally two, and called Duumviri. The Council was called the Decuriones or Senate.]

[Footnote 132: This is the island of Gerba in the regency of Tunis, close to the sh.o.r.e and to the town of Gabs or Cabes. It is now a large and populous island inhabited by an industrious manufacturing population. It is about 200 miles south of Tunis, which is near the site of Carthage. Cercina is a group of smaller islands above 50 miles north of Meninx, now called the Karkenna islands. These distances show that Marius must have been rambling about for some time this coast.

(_Penny Cyclopaedia_, art. "Tunis.")]

[Footnote 133: Cn. Octavius Nepos and L. Cornelius Cinna were consuls B.C. 87. Cinna had sworn to maintain the interests of the Senate (Sulla, c. 10), but when Sulla had left Italy for the Mithridatic war, Cinna declared himself in favour of the new citizens, and attempted to carry the measure for incorporating them with the old tribes. It is said that he received a considerable sum of money for undertaking this. The parties of Cinna and Octavius armed for the contest which was expected to take place when this measure was proposed. Octavius drove his opponents out of the Forum with great slaughter, and Cinna left the city. He was joined by great numbers of the new citizens and then formed an army. The Senate pa.s.sed a decree that Cinna was neither consul nor a citizen, inasmuch as he had deserted the city, and offered freedom to the slaves if they would join him. L. Cornelius Merula, who was elected consul in place of Cinna, was flamen dialis, or Priest of Jupiter. He put himself to death by opening his veins, after Marius and Cinna entered Rome. (Appian, _Civil Wars_, i. 74).]

[Footnote 134: Now Talamone, on the coast of Tuscany near Orbitello.]

[Footnote 135: Rome had long before this derived supplies of corn from Sicily and other parts out of Italy. Perhaps this may prove that the cultivation in the Campagna of Rome and the countries south of Terracina had not improved with the increase of Rome. But other countries are better suited for grain than the low lands of this side of Italy, and so far as concerns the cost of transport, grain might be brought from Sardinia and Sicily as cheaply as from many parts of Italy, and cheaper than from the plains of Apulia, which is a good corn country.]

[Footnote 136: Metellus Pius was now carrying on the war against the Samnites, who were still in arms. He came to Rome at the invitation of the Senate. (Appian, _Civil Wars_, i. 68.)]

[Footnote 137: The Roman writers often mention the Chaldaeans. They were adventurers from Asia who made their living in the great superst.i.tion market of Rome by foretelling future events. Whether they were really Chaldaeans does not appear. The death of Octavius is told somewhat differently by Appian (_Civil Wars_, i. 71). His head was cut off and placed on the Rostra, and many other heads also. He was the first consul whose head was exposed on the Rostra. Other atrocities are mentioned by Appian, c. 72, &c. It was the fas.h.i.+on in England less than a hundred years back to place traitors' heads on Temple Bar, London. "I have been this morning at the Tower, and pa.s.sed under the new heads at Temple Bar; where people make a trade of letting spy-gla.s.ses at a halfpenny a look" (Horace Walpole, Letter to George Montague, Aug. 16, 1746).]

[Footnote 138: Marcus Antonius, sometimes called the Orator, was the grandfather of Marcus Antonius the Triumvir. His head was fixed on the Rostra. Cicero, who has left on record a testimony to his great talents, and deplored his fate (_De Oratore_, iii. 3), had the same ill-luck from the hands of Antonius the Triumvir. M. Antonius the orator filled many high posts, and was consul B.C. 99. But his t.i.tle to remembrance is his great oratorical skill. Cicero says that Antonius and his contemporary Lucius Licinius Cra.s.sus were the first Romans who equalled the great orators of Greece. The judicious remarks of Antonius on the conduct of a cause are preserved by Cicero (_De Oratore_, ii. 72). Antonius left no writings. (See "Antonius, Marcus,"

in _Biog. Dict._ of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge.)]

[Footnote 139: Marius was elected Consul for the seventh time B.C. 86.

His colleague was Cinna. On the death of Marius, Valerius Flaccus was elected in his place, and sent to Asia. On the death of Flaccus, Carbo was elected in his place.]

[Footnote 140: One MS. has Licinius, which is the right name. Licinius was a Senator. (Livius, _Epit_. lib. 80: Dion, _Frag_. 120.)]

[Footnote 141: The same person who is mentioned above (c. 1). He was of Rhodes and a Stoic. Poseidonius was one of Cicero's teachers, and survived Cicero's consuls.h.i.+p, as we see from a letter of Cicero (_Ad Attic_. ii. 1), which also shows that he knew how to flatter his old pupil's vanity. Cicero (_De Natura Deorum_, ii. 38) speaks of a Sphere of Poseidonius which represented certain phenomena of the sun's and moon's motions and those of the five stars (planets). Nothing is known about this emba.s.sy.]

[Footnote 142: It is not known who is meant. (See Krause, _Fragment.

Historicorum Romanorun_, p. 139.)]

[Footnote 143: See the note, Sulla (c. 6).]

[Footnote 144: He was a Stoic and the master of Panaetius. His age is determined approximatively by the facts mentioned in the Life of Tiberius Gracchus (c. 5). (See "Antipater of Tarsus," in _Biog. Dict._ of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge.)]

[Footnote 145: See Life of Sulla (c. 28-32). Marius was consul with Cn. Papirius Carbo, B.C. 82. Appian (_Civil Wars_, i. 87) says that this Marius was the nephew of the distinguished Marius. There seems to be some confusion about this younger Marius. (See c. 35.)]

LIFE OF LYSANDER

I. The treasury of the Akanthians at Delphi has upon it the following inscription: "The spoils which Brasidas and the Akanthians took from the Athenians." For this reason many suppose that the stone statue which stands inside the treasure-chamber, just by the door, is that of Brasidas; but it is really a copy of a statue of Lysander, wearing his hair and beard long, in the ancient fas.h.i.+on. For it is not true, as some say, that when the Argives after their great defeat shaved their hair in sign of mourning, the Spartans on the other hand, in pride at their victory let their hair grow long; nor was it because the Bacchiadae, when they fled from Corinth to Sparta had their hair cut short, and looked mean and despicable that made the Spartans, themselves eager to let their hair grow long; but the fas.h.i.+on was enjoined by Lykurgus. It is recorded that he said of this mode of wearing the hair, that it made handsome men look handsomer, and made ugly men look more ferocious.

II. Aristokleitus, the father of Lysander, is said to have been a descendant of Herakles, though not a member of the royal family.

Lysander was brought up in poverty, and, like other Spartans, proved himself obedient to discipline and of a manly spirit, despising all pleasures except that which results from the honour paid to those who are successful in some great action. This was the only enjoyment permitted to young men in Sparta; for they wish their children, from their very birth, to dread reproach and to be eager for praise, and he who is not stirred by these pa.s.sions is regarded with contempt as a pluggish fellow without ambition.

Lysander retained throughout life the emulous desire for fame which had been instilled into him by his early training; but, though never wanting in ambition, yet he fell short of the Spartan ideal, in his habit of paying court to the great, and easily enduring the insolence of the powerful, whenever his own interests were concerned. Aristotle, when he observes that the temperaments of great men are p.r.o.ne to melancholy, instances Sokrates, Plato, and Herakles, and observes also that Lysander, when advanced in life, became inclined to melancholy.

What is especially to be noted in his character is, that while he himself lived in honourable poverty, and never received a bribe from any one, that he nevertheless brought wealth and the desire for wealth into his native country, and took away from it its old boast of being superior to money; for after the war with Athens he filled the city with gold and silver, although he did not keep a drachma of it for himself. When the despot Dionysius sent him some rich Sicilian dresses for his daughters, he refused them, saying that he feared they would make the girls look uglier than before. However, being shortly afterwards sent as amba.s.sador to this same despot, when he again offered him two dresses, bidding him take whichever he chose for his daughter, he took them both away with him, saying that she would be better able to choose for herself.

III. Towards the end of the Peloponnesian war, the Athenians, after their great disaster in Sicily, seemed likely to lose the command of the sea, and even to be compelled to sue for peace from sheer exhaustion. But Alkibiades, after his return from exile, effected a great change in the position of Athens, and raised the Athenian navy to such a pitch that it was able to meet that of the Lacedaemonians on equal terms. At this the Lacedaemonians again began to fear for the result of the war. They determined to prosecute it with greater earnestness than before, and as they required a skilful general, as well as a large force, they gave Lysander the command of their fleet.

When he came to Ephesus, he found the city friendly to him, and willing enough to support the Lacedaemonian cause; but it was in a weak and ill-managed condition, and in danger of falling into the Persian manners and losing its Greek nationality, because it was close to Lydia, and the Persian generals generally made it their headquarters.

But Lysander formed a camp there, ordered all transports to be directed to sail thither, and established a dockyard for the construction of s.h.i.+ps of war. By this means he filled the harbour with trading vessels, and the market with merchandise, and brought money and business into every house and workshop; so that, thanks to him, the city then first began to entertain hopes of arriving at that pitch of greatness and splendour which it has since attained.

IV. When he heard that Cyrus, the son of the king of Persia, had arrived at Sardis, he went thither to confer with him, and to complain of the conduct of Tissaphernes, who, although he received orders to a.s.sist the Lacedaemonians, and to drive the Athenians from the sea, yet by means of the influence of Alkibiades appeared to be very much wanting in zeal for the Lacedaemonian cause, and to be ruining their fleet by his parsimony. Cyrus gladly listened to anything to the discredit of Tissaphernes, who was a worthless man and also a personal enemy of his own. After this Lysander gained considerable influence with the young prince, and induced him to carry on the war with greater spirit. When Lysander was about to leave the court, Cyrus invited him to a banquet, and begged him not to refuse his courtesies, but to demand whatever boon he pleased, as he would be refused nothing. Lysander replied, "Since, Cyrus, you are so very kind to me, I ask you to add an obolus to the pay of the sailors, so that they may receive four obols a day instead of three." Cyrus, pleased with his warlike spirit, presented him with ten thousand darics,[146] with which money he paid the extra obolus to the sailors, and so improved the equipment of his fleet, that in a short time he all but emptied the enemy's s.h.i.+ps; for their sailors deserted in crowds to the best paymaster, and those who remained behind were so disheartened and mutinous, that they gave their officers continual trouble. Yet even after he had thus weakened his enemy's forces Lysander dared not venture on a battle, knowing Alkibiades to be a brilliant general, and that his fleet was still the more numerous, while his many victories by sea and land made him feared at this period as invincible.

V. When, however, Alkibiades sailed from Samos to Phokaea he left his pilot Antiochus in command of the fleet. This man, wis.h.i.+ng in a foolhardy spirit to insult Lysander, sailed into the harbour of Ephesus with two triremes, and arrogantly pa.s.sed along the beach where the Lacedaemonian fleet lay drawn up, with loud laughter and noise.

Lysander, enraged at this, at first only launched a few triremes to pursue him, but when he saw the Athenians coming to his a.s.sistance he manned his whole fleet, and brought on a general action. Lysander was victorious, took fifteen triremes, and erected a trophy. Upon this the Athenian people were greatly incensed against Alkibiades, and removed him from his command; and he, being insulted and ill-treated by the soldiery at Samos, withdrew from the Athenian camp to the Chersonesus.

This battle, though not in itself remarkable, yet became so because of the misfortunes which it brought upon Alkibiades.

Lysander now invited to Ephesus all the bravest and most distinguished Greeks from the cities on the Ionic coast, and thus laid the foundation of all those oligarchies and revolutionary governments which were afterwards established there, by encouraging them to form political clubs, and devote themselves energetically to carrying on the war, because in the event of success they would not only conquer the Athenians, but also would be able to put down all democratic government, and establish themselves as absolute rulers in their respective cities. He proved the truth of his professions to these people by his acts, as he promoted those whom he personally knew, and those with whom he was connected by the ties of hospitality, to important posts and commands, aiding and abetting their most unscrupulous and unjust acts, so that all men began to look up to him and to be eager to win his favour, imagining that if he remained in power, their most extravagant wishes would be gratified. For this reason they were dissatisfied with Kallikratidas, when he took command of the fleet as Lysander's successor, and even after he had proved himself to be as brave and honest as a man could be, they still disliked his truthful, straightforward, Dorian manners. Yet they could not but admire his virtue, as men admire some antique heroic statue, although they regretted Lysander's ready zeal for the interest of his friends so much that some of them actually wept when he sailed away.

VI. Lysander made this cla.s.s of persons yet more irritated against Kallikratidas by sending back to Sardis the balance of the money which he had received from Cyrus for the fleet, bidding the sailors ask Kallikratidas for pay, and see how he would manage to maintain the men. And when he finally left Ephesus, he endeavoured to force Kallikratidas to admit that he had handed over to him a fleet which was mistress of the seas. Kallikratidas, however, wis.h.i.+ng to expose his vainglorious boasts, answered: "If so, sail from hence, pa.s.sing Samos on your left, and hand over the fleet to me at Miletus; for we need not fear the Athenians at Samos, if our fleet is mistress of the seas." To this Lysander answered that it was not he, but Kallikratidas who was in command, and at once sailed away to Peloponnesus, leaving Kallikratidas in great perplexity; for he had brought no money with him from his own country, and he could not endure to wring money out of the distressed Greek cities on the coast. There remained only one course open to him: to go to the satraps of the king of Persia, and ask them for money, as Lysander had done. Kallikratidas was the worst man in the world for such a task, being high-spirited and generous, and thinking it less dishonourable for Greeks to be defeated by other Greeks than for them to court and flatter barbarians who had nothing to recommend them but their riches. Forced by want of money, however, he made a journey into Lydia, and at once went to the house of Cyrus, where he ordered the servants to say that the admiral Kallikratidas was come, and wished to confer with him. They answered, "Stranger, Cyrus is not at leisure; he is drinking." To this Kallikratidas with the greatest coolness replied: "Very well; I will wait until he has finished his draught." At this answer the Persians took him for a boor, and laughed at him, so that he went away; and, after presenting himself a second time and being again denied admittance, returned to Ephesus in a rage, invoking curses upon those who had first been corrupted by the barbarians, and who had taught them to behave so insolently because of their riches, and vowing in the presence of his friends that as soon as he reached Sparta, he would do all in his power to make peace between the Greek states, in order that they might be feared by the barbarians, and might no longer be obliged to beg the Persians to help them to destroy one another.

VII. But Kallikratidas, whose ideas were so n.o.ble and worthy of a Spartan, being as brave, honourable, and just a man as ever lived, perished shortly afterwards in the sea-fight at Arginusae. Upon this, as the Lacedaemonian cause was going to ruin, the allied cities sent an emba.s.sy to Sparta, begging for Lysander to be again given the chief command, and promising that they would carry on the war with much greater vigour if he were their leader. Cyrus also sent letters to the same effect. Now as the Spartan law forbids the same man being twice appointed admiral, the Lacedaemonians, wis.h.i.+ng to please their allies, gave the chief command nominally to one Arakus, but sent Lysander with him, with the t.i.tle of secretary, but really with full power and authority. He was very welcome to the chief men in the various cities, who imagined that by his means they would be able to obtain much greater power, and to put down democracy throughout Asia; but those who loved plain and honourable dealing in a general thought that Lysander, when compared with Kallikratidas, appeared to be a crafty, deceitful man, conducting the war chiefly by subtilty and stratagem, using honourable means when it was his interest to do so, at other times acting simply on the rules of expediency, and not holding truth to be in itself superior to falsehood, but measuring the value of the one and the other by the profit which was to be obtained from them. He indeed laughed at those who said that the race of Herakles ought not to make wars by stratagem, saying, "Where the lion's skin will not protect us, we must sew the fox's skin to it."

VIII. All this is borne out by what he is said to have done at Miletus. Here his friends and connections, to whom he had promised that he would put down the democratic const.i.tution and drive their enemies out of the city, changed their minds, and made up their quarrel with their political opponents. At this reconciliation Lysander publicly expressed great satisfaction and even seemed anxious to promote a good understanding, but in private he railed at them and urged them to attack the popular party. But as soon as he heard of an outbreak having taken place, he at once marched into the city, addressed the insurgents roughly, and sent them away in custody, harshly treated, as if he meant to inflict some signal punishment upon them, while he bade those of the popular faction take courage, and not to expect any ill-treatment while he was present. By this artifice he prevailed upon the chief men of the democratic party not to leave the city, but to remain and perish in it; as indeed they did, for every one who trusted to his word was put to death. Moreover, Androkleides relates a story which shows Lysander's extreme laxity with regard to oaths. He is said to have remarked, that "We cheat boys with dice, and men with oaths!" In this he imitated Polykrates, the despot of Samos--an unworthy model for a Spartan general. Nor was it like a Spartan to treat the G.o.ds as badly as he treated his enemies, or even worse--for the man who overreaches his enemy by breaking his oath admits that he fears his enemy, but despises his G.o.d.

IX. Cyrus now sent for Lysander to Sardis, and gave him a supply of money, with promise of more. Nay, he was so zealous to show his attachment to Lysander that he declared, if his father would not furnish him with funds, that he would expend all his own property, and if other resources failed, that he would break up the gold and silver throne on which he was sitting. Finally, when he went away to Media to see his father, he empowered Lysander to receive the tribute from the subject cities, and placed the whole of his government in his hands.

He embraced Lysander, begged him not to fight the Athenians by sea until he returned from court, promised that he would return with many s.h.i.+ps from Phnicia and Cilicia, and so departed.

Lysander was not able to fight the Athenians on equal terms, but yet he could not remain quiet with so large a number of s.h.i.+ps. He accordingly put out to sea, induced several of the islands to revolt from Athens, and overran aegina and Salamis. At length he landed in Attica, where he met Agis, who came down from Dekeleia to see him, and showed the land army what his naval force was, boasting that he could sail whither he pleased, and was master of the seas. However, when he discovered that the Athenians were in pursuit he fled precipitately back to Asia Minor. Finding the h.e.l.lespont unguarded, he attacked the city of Lampsakus by sea, while Thorax, who had arrived at the same place with the land forces, attacked it on that side. He took the city by storm, and, gave it up to his soldiers to plunder. Meanwhile, the Athenian fleet of a hundred and eighty triremes had just touched at Elaius in the Chersonese, but, hearing that Lampsakus was lost, proceeded to Sestos. Having taken in provisions at that place, they sailed to the "Goat's Rivers," opposite to Lampsakus, where the enemy's fleet still lay. One of the Athenian generals on this occasion was that Philokles who once induced the people to pa.s.s a decree that all prisoners of war should have their right thumbs cut off, so that they might not be able to hold a spear, but yet might work at the oar.

X. Hereupon both parties rested, expecting a sea-fight on the morrow.

Lysander, however, had other intentions, but notwithstanding ordered the sailors to man their s.h.i.+ps at daybreak, as if he intended to fight, and to remain quietly at their posts waiting for orders; and the land force was similarly drawn up by the sea-side. When the sun rose, the Athenian fleet rowed straight up to the Lacedaemonians, and offered battle, but Lysander, although his s.h.i.+ps were fully manned, and had their prows pointing towards the enemy, would not let them engage, but sent small boats to the first line of his s.h.i.+ps with orders not to move, but remain quietly in their places without any noise or attempt to attack. Though the Athenians retired towards evening, he would not let his men land before two or three triremes which he had sent to reconnoitre, returned with the intelligence that the enemy had disembarked. The same manuvres took place on the next day, and also on the third and fourth days, so that the Athenians began to be very bold, and to despise their enemy, who seemed not to dare to attack them. At this time Alkibiades, who was living in his own forts in the Chersonese, rode over to the Athenian camp and blamed the generals for having in the first place encamped in a bad position, on an exposed sea-beach without any harbour, and pointed out their mistake in having to fetch all their provisions from Sestos, which was so far off, whereas they ought to have proceeded to the harbour and city of Sestos, where they would also be farther away from a watchful enemy, commanded by one general only, and so well disciplined as to be able to carry out his orders with great rapidity. These representations of Alkibiades were not listened to by the Athenian generals, one of whom, Tydeus, insolently replied that it was they, not he, who were in command.