Plutarch's Lives Volume III Part 5

Mithridates is mentioned by some authorities as the immediate successor of his father under the t.i.tle of Arsakes XIII. Mithridates III. Mithridates was besieged in Babylon by Hyrodes; and Mithridates, after surrendering to his brother, was put to death. (Dion Ca.s.sius, 39. c. 56; Appian, _On the Affairs of Syria_, c. 51; Justinus, xlii.

4.)]

[Footnote 70: This river is probably the same as the Bilecha, now the Belejik, a small stream which joins the Euphrates on the left bank at Racca, the old Nikephorium. This river is mentioned by Isidorus of Charax and by Ammia.n.u.s Marcellinus (xxiii. c. 3), who calls it Belias.]

[Footnote 71: Plutarch seems to mean something like drums furnished with bells or rattles; but his description is not very clear, and the pa.s.sage may be rendered somewhat differently from what I have rendered it: "but they have instruments to beat upon ([Greek: rhoptra] ??pt?a), made of skin, and hollow, which they stretch round bra.s.s sounders"

([Greek: echeiois] ??e????, whatever the word may mean here). The word [Greek: rhoptron] ??pt??? properly means a thing to strike with; but it seems to have another meaning here. (See Pa.s.sow's _Greek Lexicon_.) The context seems to show that a drum is meant.]

[Footnote 72: Margiana was a country east of the Caspian, the position of which seems to be determined by the Murg-aub river, the ancient Margus. Hyrcania joined it on the west. Strabo (p. 516) describes Margiana as a fertile plain surrounded by deserts. He says nothing of its iron. Plinius (_Hist. Nat._ vi. 16) says that Orodes carried off the Romans who were captured at the time of the defeat of Cra.s.sus, to Antiochia, in Margiana.]

[Footnote 73: So Xenophon (_Cyropaedia_, i. 3. 2) represents King Astyages. The king also wore a wig or false locks.]

[Footnote 74: The peculiarity of the Parthian warfare made a lasting impression on the Romans; and it is often alluded to by the Latin writers:--

Fidentemque fuga Parthum versisque sagittis.

Virgil, _Georgic_ iii. 31.

[Footnote 75: In reading the chapter, it must be remembered that Publius is young Cra.s.sus. If there is any apparent confusion between the father and son, it will be removed by reading carefully. I have chosen to translate Plutarch, not to mend him.]

[Footnote 76: The reading of this pa.s.sage in Appian (_Parthica_, c.

29) is [Greek: telmasin entuchontes] t??as?? ??t????te?, which Sintenis has adopted. The common reading is [Greek: suntagmasin entuchontes] s??t??as?? ??t????te?, which various critics variously explain.]

[Footnote 77: In the old Latin translation of Guarini, the name Cn.

Plancus occurs in place of Megabacchus. Kaltwa.s.ser conjectures that Megabacchus was a Greek, but the context implies that he was a Roman.

Orelli (_Onomastic._ C. Megaboccus) takes him to be the person mentioned by Cicero (_Ad Attic._ ii. 7), which Gronovius had already observed, and again by Cicero, _Pro Scauro_, c. 2.]

[Footnote 78: Censorinus was a cognomen of the Marcia Gens, and several of the name are mentioned in the history of Rome; but this Censorinus does not appear to be otherwise known.]

[Footnote 79: Carrhae was a Mesopotamian town, south of Orfa or Edessa, and about 37 N. lat. It is supposed to be the Haran of Genesis (xi.

31).]

[Footnote 80: Ichnae was a town on the Bilecha, south of Carrhae. Dion Ca.s.sias (40. c. 12) calls it Ichniae, and adds that Cra.s.sus before taking Nikephorium had been defeated by Talymenus Eilakes. Eilakes is probably a blunder in the copies of Dion; and it is conjectured that he is the Sillakes mentioned by Plutarch (c. 21), Appian, and Orosius (vi. 3).]

[Footnote 81: The death of young Cra.s.sus, and the subsequent misfortunes of the Romans, are described by Dion Ca.s.sius, 40. c. 21, &c.]

[Footnote 82: Or Egnatius. He is called Gnatius by Appian.]

[Footnote 83: Ca.s.sius escaped to Syria, which he successfully defended against the invading Parthians, who lost their commander, Osakes.

(Dion Ca.s.sius. 40. c. 28, 29; Cicero, _Ad Attic._ v. 20; Orosius, vi.

13.)

Cicero was proconsul of Cilicia during the Parthian invasion of Syria B.C. 51.]

[Footnote 84: Sinnaca is mentioned by Strabo p. 747, but he says nothing which enables us to fix its position. If Plutarch's narrative is correct; it was not far from Carrhae; and Carrhae was considered by the Romans to be the scene of the death of Cra.s.sus, probably because it was the nearest known place to the spot where he fell.]

[Footnote 85: 'The river' is the Euphrates.]

[Footnote 86: The stories about the death of Cra.s.sus varied, as we might suppose. Dion Ca.s.sius (40. c. 27) remarks that, according to one version of the story, Cra.s.sus was badly wounded, and was killed by one of his own people to prevent him from being taken alive. He adds that the chief part of the army of Cra.s.sus made their escape.]

[Footnote 87: The story of molten gold being poured into the mouth of the head of Cra.s.sus is given by Dion Ca.s.sius as a report. Floras (iii.

11) has the same story; and he says that it was the right hand of Cra.s.sus which was sent to the king, as we might conjecture it would be, if only one was sent.]

[Footnote 88: Kaltwa.s.ser asks, "Was this perchance intended as an allusion to the avarice of Cra.s.sus, as the female dress was intended to refer to his cowardice?" The probable answer is Yes.]

[Footnote 89: As this was a Greek town, it had a Greek const.i.tution, and was governed by a body which the Romans called a Senate. The Senate of Seleukeia is mentioned by Tacitus (_Annal._ vi. 42): "Trecenti opibus, aut sapientia delecti, ut Senatus: sua populo vis; et quoties concordes agunt, spernitur Parthus."]

[Footnote 90: This Aristeides wrote lewd stories called Milesiaca, of which there were several books. They were translated into Latin by the historian L. Cornelius Sisenna, a contemporary of Sulla. It is not said whether the original or the translation formed a part of the camp furniture of this unworthy Roman soldier. The work of Aristeides was known to Ovidius (_Tristia,_ ii. 413, 443), who attempts to defend his own amatory poetry by the example of Sisenna, who translated an obscene book.]

[Footnote 91: Probably there is an error in the name: Roscius has been proposed as the probable reading.]

[Footnote 92: Plutarch is alluding to the fable of the two wallets, which every man carries, one in front with his neighbours' faults in it, and the other behind containing his own. Phaedrus (iv. 10, ed.

Orelli) has pithily told the apologue:--

Peras imposuit Iuppiter n.o.bis duas: Propriis repletam vitiis post tergum dedit, Alienis ante pectus suspendit gravem.

Hac re videre nostra mala non possumus: Alii simul delinquunt, censores sumus.

Two wallets Juppiter has placed upon us: Our own faults fill the bag we bear behind, Our neighbour's heavy wallet hangs in front.

And so we cannot see our own ill deeds; But if another trips, forthwith we censure.

[Footnote 93: This word means a thick stick; and a snake of like form.]

[Footnote 94: Greek adventurers were always making their way to the courts of these barbarous Asiatic kings to serve in the capacity of physicians, mountebanks, or impostors of some kind. Several instances are mentioned by Herodotus. Tralles was a considerable town near the west coast of Asia Minor, from which this actor came.]

[Footnote 95: Pentheus, king of Thebes, son of Agave; would not recognise the divinity of Bacchus, whereupon Bacchus infuriated the women, and among them Agave, who killed her own son. She is introduced in the Bacchae with his head in her hand, exulting over the slaughter of the supposed wild beast.

The pa.s.sage which is cited is from the Bacchae of Euripides, v. 1168, ed. Elmsley. The exact meaning of the word [Greek: helika] ????a in the pa.s.sage is uncertain. See Elmsley's note.]

[Footnote 96: The word is Exodium ([Greek: exodion] ???d???), a kind of entertainment common among the Romans, though it is a Greek word.

Plutarch means that this exhibition before the kings was like the farce which is acted after a tragedy. It seems as if Jason was first playing the part of Agave, and was then going to play that of Pentheus; but on seeing the head he put aside the mask and dress of Pentheus, and recited the words of the frantic mother. Plutarch sometimes leaves things in a kind of mist: he gives his reader opportunity for conjecture.]

[Footnote 97: Pacorus was completely defeated B.C. 38 near the Euphrates by P. Ventidius Ba.s.sus, who was the legatus of M. Antonius.

Pacorus lost his life in the battle (Dion Ca.s.sius, 49. c. 20; Plutarch, _Life of Antonius_, c. 34). It is said that Pacorus fell on the same day on which Cra.s.sus lost his life fifteen years before, the 9th of June (Dion Ca.s.sius, 49. c. 21, and the note of Reimarus).]

[Footnote 98: He began his reign under the name of Arsakes XV.

Phraates IV., according to some authorities, B.C. 37. He was not satisfied with murdering his father: he murdered his brothers, and many distinguished Parthians. His name occurs again in Plutarch's Life of Antonius. Phraates delivered up to Augustus, B.C. 20, the Roman soldiers, eagles, and standards which had been taken by Cra.s.sus; an event which is commemorated by extant medals, and was recorded by Augustus among his other exploits in the Monumentum Ancyranum.]

[Footnote 99: This is the Greek word ([Greek: akoniton] ?????t??): the same name is now given to Monkshood or Wolfsbane, a genus of Ranunculaceae. Aconite is now used as a medicine; "The best forms are either an alcoholic extract of the leaves, or an alcoholic tincture of the root made by displacement." It is a poisonous plant, and death has followed from the careless use of it ("Aconite," _Penny Cyclopaedia_ and _Supplement_ to the _P. Cyc._).

With this farce, as Plutarch remarks, the history of Cra.s.sus terminates. If Plutarch designed to make Cra.s.sus contemptible, he has certainly succeeded. And there is nothing in other authorities to induce us to think that he has done Cra.s.sus injustice. With some good qualities and his moderate abilities, he might have been a respectable man in a private station. But insatiable avarice, and that curse of many men, ambition without the ability that can ensure success and command respect, made Cra.s.sus a fool in his old age, and brought him to an ignominious end.]

COMPARISON OF NIKIAS AND CRa.s.sUS.