FOOTNOTES:
[1] Plut. in Vit. Solon. ἄτιμον.
[2] A. Gellii Noct. Attic. lib. 2. c. 12.
[3] Epist. ad Attic. lib. 10. epist. 1.
[4] Μὴ συναλγεῖν, μηδὲ συννοσεῖν.
[5] Dion. Halicarn. p. 248. edit. Rob. Steph. 1546.
[6] Plutarch relates this affair greatly to the honour of Lycurgus in the beginning of his life.
Ἄγιδος γοῦν τοῦ βασιλέως
ἐζημίωσαν αὐτόν.
Plut. vita Lycur. pag. 46. lit. c. Edit. Xiglandri.
[8] Lycurgus was the first who collected the entire works of Homer; which he brought into Greece out of Asia-Minor.
[9] Plutarch has taken no notice of them. But Xenophon has fully explained them in his treatise on the Spartan republick, p. 542, and seq.
[10] Plut. Vit. Lycurg. ad finem.
[11] Plut. ibid. p. 58. A. Ἡ γὰρ τῶν Ἐφόρων κατάστασις, &c.
[12] De Rebuspubl. cap. 11. p. 154. vol. 2. Edit Basil. 1550.
[13] Οὐ δῆτα φάναι παραδίδωμι γὰρ πολυχρονιωτέραν.
[14] Arist. de. Rebuspubl. lib. 2. c. 7. p. 122. lit. 1. vol. 2.
[15] Polyb. lib. 6. p. 685. vol. 1. edit. Isaac Gronov. 1670.
[16] Plut. in Vit. Lysand. p. 442. lit. E.
[17] Plut. it Vit. Agesi. p. 617. lit. C.
[18] In Vit. Agid. p. 796. lit. C.
[19] Ibid. p. 797. lit. C.
[20] In Vit Agid. p. 797. lit. A.
[21] Ibid. lit. E.
[22] Vita Agid. p. 797. lit. B.
[23] Ibid. lit. C.
[24] Ibid. p. 798. lit. B.
[25] Something seems plainly to be wanting in this passage, which is strangely obscure and intricate. It is evident that Agis employed his uncle Agesilaus to persuade his mother, who was Agesilaus’s sister, τὴν μητέρα πείθειν, ἀδελφὴν οὖσαν τοῦ Ἀγησιλάου. The king himself entreats his mother to assist him, &c. αὐτὸς δὲ ὁ βασιλεὺς ἐδεῖτο τῆς μητρός. And after he has enumerated the advantages which would result from his scheme, Plutarch abruptly adds οὕτω μετέπεσον ταῖς γνώμαις αἱ γυναῖκες &c. in the plural number, though he had just before mentioned Agis's mother only, as the woman applied to on this occasion. It is evident therefore that his grandmother and all their female friends and relations must have been present that time, though not mentioned, and that they were the only Spartan ladies who came heartily into his scheme. For when Agis afterwards offers his whole fortune to the publick, he assures the people that his mother and grandmother, τὰς μητέρας, and his friends and relations, who were the richest families in Sparta, were ready to do the same. As Agis certainly includes the wives of his friends and relations, and mentions no other women, I have taken that speech for my guide in giving the sense of this whole passage, in which I could get no assistance from any of the commentators.
[26] In Vit. Agid. p. 798. lit. D.
[27] Vit. Agid. p. 800. lit. A.
[28] Ibid. 799. lit. A.
[29] This is an oracle mentioned by Plutarch, about which the learned are not agreed: however, it seems to have given its responses in dreams.
[30] The reader may be glad perhaps to find here the ceremony made use of upon this occasion. Vit. Agid. p. 800. lit. B. δι’ ἐτῶν ἐννέα λαβόντες οἱ Ἔφοροι, &c. Every ninth year the ephori taking the opportunity of a clear and still night, when the moon did not appear, sat silently and observed the sky with great attention, and if they saw a star shoot, they judged the kings had offended the gods; and removed them from government, until an oracle came from Delphos which was favourable to them.
[31] Plut. Vit. Agid. p. 798. lit. A.
[32] Ibid. p. 801. lit. B.
[33] Vit. Agid. p. 803. lit. A.
[34] Plut. Vit. Cleom. p. 805. lit. B.
[35] Plut. Vit. Cleom. p. 809. lit. A.
[36] Plut. Vit. Cleom. p. 807. lit. B.
[37] Vit. Cleom. p. 808. lit. A.
[38] Vit. Cleom. p. 809. lit. A.
[39] Parallel. inter Agid. et Cleom. et T. et C. Gracch. p. 844. lit. D.
[40] Vit. Cleom. p. 811. lit. C.
[41] Plut. Vit. Cleom. p. 822. lit. E.
[42] Polyb. lib. 4. p. 479.
[43] Plut. Vit. Philopœm. p. 365. lit. E.
[44] To bring back their shields, implied victory; to be brought home upon them, a glorious death in defence of their country; because the Spartans, if possible, brought back and buried all who fell in battle in their native country.
[45] Aristot. de Rebuspubl. lib. 2. cap. 7. fol. 122. lit. Θ.
[46] Ἡ πόλις ἀπώλετο διὰ τὴν ὀλιγανθρωπίαν. Aristot. ibid.
[47] Ὥστε θειοτέραν τὴν ἐπινοίαν ἢ κατ’ ἄνθρωπον αὐτὸν νομίζειν. Polyb. lib. 6. p. 683.
[48] Vita Solon, p. 85. lit. D.
[49] The time of the first institution of this court (so denominated from Ἄρειος πάγος, i. e. Hill of Mars, an eminence where they always assembled) is quite uncertain; nor are the historians at all agreed about the number of the members of which it was composed. However this was the supreme court, which had cognizance of wilful murders, and all matters which were of the greatest consequence to the republick. Suidas. They had also cognizance of all matters of religion, as we find by the instance of St. Paul.
[50] Plut. 85. lit. A.
[51] Plut. in Vit. Solon, p. 86. lit. C.
[52] Plut. in Vit. Solon, p. 81. lit. B.
[53] Plut. in Vit. Solon, p. 88. lit. D.
[54] The new Senate, which he had instituted.
[55] Which he had revived. Vide note p. 76.
[56] Ibid. p. 87. lit. E.
[57] Ibid. p. 81. lit. A.
[58] Ibid. p. 81.
[59] Solon in his letter to Epimenides, says 400, which seems most probable. Diog. Laert.
[60] Thucyd.
[61] Thucid. lib. 6. p. 415. sect. 60.
[62] Xenoph. de Republ. Athen. p. 55. Edit. Luvenel. Bas. 1572.
[63] Miltiades, Themistocles, Aristides, Cimon, Thucydides the historian, &c.
[64] Socrates, Phocion, &c.
[65] Thucyd. edit. Duker. lib. 1. p. 58. sect. 88.
[66] Thucyd. lib. 1. p. 82. sect. 127, 128.
[67] Thucyd. lib. 2. p. 98. sect. 2, 3, 4, et sequent.
[68] Thucyd. lib. 2. p. 101, &c. sect. 6.
[69] Thucyd. Πάντων δ’ αὐτῶν αἴτιον ἡ ἀρχὴ διὰ πλεονεξίαν καὶ φιλοτιμίαν. lib. 3. p. 218. sect. 82.
[70] Τὰ δὲ μέσα τῶν πολιτῶν ὑπ’ ἀμφοτέρων, ἢ ὅτι οὐ ξυνηγωνίζοντο, ἢ φθόνῳ τοῦ περιεῖναι διεφθείροντο. Thucyd. p. 219.
[71] Thucyd. lib. 1 p. 91. sect. 140.
[72] Thucyd. lib. 2. p. 127. sect. 47. et seq.
[73] Plut. in Vit. Pericl. p. 171. lit. E.
[74] Plut. in Vit. Nic. p. 524. lit. B.
[75] Hence, as Plutarch informs us, it was termed the Nician peace, lib. 5.
[76] Plut. in Vit. Alcib. p. 203. lit. B.
[77] Plut. Vit. Alcib. p. 197. lit. C.
[78] Thucyd. lib. 5. p. 339. sect. 35, 42.
[79] Thucyd. lib. 5. p. 350. sect. 52.
[80] Thucyd. lib. 6. p. 383. sect. 8.
[81] Thucyd. lib. 6. p. 381. sect. 6.
[82] Plut. in Vita Alcibid. Item. Thucyd. in orat. Alcib. ad Lacedæm. lib. 6. p. 436. sect. 90.
[83] Thucyd. lib. 6. 395, 396. sect. 28, 29.
[84] Thucyd. The terms were statues of Mercury, placed at the doors of their houses, made of square stones of a cubical form.
[85] A similar measure was taken in the latter end of queen Anne’s reign.
[86] Plut. in Vit. Alcib. p. 200. lit. D.
[87] Thucyd. lib. 6. 395. sect. 28.
[88] Thucyd. ibid.
[89] Thucyd. ibid. sect. 29. passim.
[90] Thucyd. lib. 6. 395. sect. 23. ad finem.
[91] Thucyd. lib. 6. p. 396. sect. 31.
[92] Thucyd. lib. 6. p. 408. sect. 47, 48, 49.
[93] Thucyd. lib. 6. p. 411. sect. 53.
[94] Ibid. p. 415. sect. 60.
[95] Plut. in Vit. Alcib. p. 202.
[96] Thucyd. p. 416. sect. 60.
[97] Plut. in Vit. Alcib. p. 201. lit. C.
[98] Thucyd. lib. 6. p. 416. sect. 61.
[99] Thucyd. lib. 6. p. 416. sect. 61.
[100] Ibid.
[101] This vessel may properly be termed the Athenian State-packet-boat, and was never sent out but upon very extraordinary occasions. Plut.
[102] Thucyd. lib. 6. p. 417. sect. 61.
[103] Thucyd. ibid.
[104] Plut. in Vit. Alcib. p. 202.
[105] Thucyd. lib. 7. p. 505. ad finem.
[106] Thucyd. lib. 8. p. 506. &c.
[107] Thucyd. ibid. p. 507.
[108] Thucyd. ibid. p. 508. sect. 2.
[109] Thucyd. lib. sect. 2....3.
[110] Thucyd. ibid. sect. 4.
[111] Plut. in Vit. Alcib. p. 203.
[112] Thucyd. lib. 8. p. 531. sect. 45.
[113] Thucyd. ibid. sect. 46.
[114] Thucyd. lib. 8. p. 531. sect. 45.
[115] Thucyd. ibid. sect. 47.
[116] Thucyd. lib. sect. 48.
[117] Thucyd. ibid. sect. 49.
[118] Thucyd. lib. sect. 53.
[119] Thucyd. ibid. sect. 54.
[120] Thucyd. ibid. sect. 56.
[121] Thucyd. ibid. 66.
[122] Thucyd. ibid. 67.
[123] Thucyd. ibid. 68.
[124] Thucyd. ibid. 69.
[125] Solon’s new senate of four hundred.
[126] Thucyd. ibid. 70.
[127] Thucyd. lib. 8. p. 543, sect. 65.
[128] Thucyd. lib. 8. p. 551. sect. 76.
[129] Thucyd. ibid. p. 553. sect. 81.
[130] Thucyd. ibid. p. 567. sect. 97.
[131] Plut. in Vit. Alcib. p. 206.
[132] Plut. ibid. p. 207, 208.
[133] Plut. ibid. p. 209.
[134] Ibid. p. 211.
[135] The son of Thrason; the other of that name is called by Thucydides, the son of Lycus. Thucyd. lib. 8. p. 549. sect. 75.
[136] A city in Thrace.
[137] Thucyd. lib. 6. p. 387. sect. 15.
[138] Plut. in Vit. Alcib. p. 211-212.
[139] Plut. in Vit. Lysand. p. 441.
[140] Τριάκοντα πλήους ἀπεκτόνασιν Ἀθηναίων ἐν ὀκτὼ μησὶν, ἢ πάντες Πελοπόννησιοι δέκα ἔτη πολεμοῦντες. Xenoph. Hellenic, lib. 2. p. 370. Edit. Lewencl. Basil.
[141] Most probably the son of Lycus, mentioned by Thucydides, who had so great a share in deposing the Four Hundred, and restoring the ancient constitution.
[142] Xenoph. ibid. p. 367.
[143] Xenoph. ibid. p. 368.
[144] Xenoph. ibid. 370.
[145] Xenoph. ibid. 371.
[146] Xenoph. ibid. 372.-373.
[147] Xenoph. ibid. p. 375.
[148] Xenoph. lib. 3. p. 392.
[149] Xenoph. lib. 4. p. 404.
[150] Ibid. p. 420.
[151] Ibid.
[152] Ibid. 421.
[153] Justin. in Vit. Conon.
[154] Persius, sat. 1.
[155] Lucian, p. 328. Edit. Bourdel. 1615.
[156] Dionysius the tyrant of Syracuse.
Diodor. Sicul. lib. 14. p. 318, 319.
[157] Plut. in Vit. Cim. p. 483.
[158] Justin. p. 67. Edit. Elziv.
[159] Plut. de Glor. Athen. p. 349. Vol. 2.
[160] Plut. Symposiac. p. 710.
[161] Ἐν πότῳ καὶ ἀνέσει.
[162] Plut. in Vit. Pericl. p. 156.
[163] Plut. in Vit. Phocion, p. 744. Item Demos Olynth. 2. p. 25. Edit. Wolf. 1604.
[164] Demost. Orat. in Philip. 3. p. 86, 92.
[165] Demost. ibid.
[166] Plut. in Vit. Phocion, p. 747.
[167] Diodor. Sicul. lib. 16. p. 450.
[168] Diodor. Sicul. lib. 16. p. 476.
[169] Plut. in Vit. Demost. p. 854.
[170] Polyæn. Stratagem, lib. 4. c. 3. p. 311.
[171] Polyænus calls this general Stratocles.
[172] Hic dies universæ Greciæ et gloriam dominationis, et vetustissimam liberatem finivit. Justin. lib. 9. p. 79. Edit Elziv.
[173] Thus Demades termed the gratuities given to the people out of the publick money, the glue or cement of the different parts of the republick. Plut. Quæst. Platon. p. 1011.
[174] Fable of the bees.
[175] Ἀλλὰ μὴν τούτοις ἐσμὲν ἡμεῖς εὐδαίμονες καὶ μακάριοι τοῖς περιττοῖς, ἀλλ’ οὐκ ἐκείνοις τοῖς ἀναγκαίοις. Plut. de Cupidit. p. 527.
[176] Demades, according to Plutarch, by the dissoluteness of his life, and conduct in the administration, shipwrecked the Athenian republick. Plut. in Vit. Phocion, p. 741.
[177] Plut. Apotheg. p. 188.
[178] Plut. in Vit. Aristid. p. 320.
[179] Plut. in Vit. Demet. p. 893 ... 94 ... 900.
[180] Pausan, Grec. Descript. lib. 9. c. 5 p. 718. Edit. Ketchnii.
[181] Οὐ γάρ τι ἠδυνάμην ἐς αὐτοὺς παρευρεῖν, ἕπομαι τῷ μύθῳ. Id. Ibid.
[182] Ibid. p. 723
[183] Thebes was the capital of Bœotia.
[184] Bœotum in crasso jurares aere natum. Hor. epis. 1. lib. 2. lin. 244.
[185] Plut. in Vit. Pelopid. p. 287.
[186] Diodor. Sicul. lib. 15. p. 470.
[187] Plut. in Vit. Pelop. p. 284. et sequent.
[188] Plut. in Vit. Pelop. p. 285.
[189] Id. p. 286, 287.
[190] Διὸ καὶ συναναγκαθεὶς ὀλίγοις πολιτικοῖς, &c. Diodor. Sicul. lib. 15. p. 477. Edit. Henr. Stephani.
[191] Polyb. Comparat. Epaminond. et Hannib. lib. 9. p. 762.
[192] Id. lib. 6. p. 678....79.
[193] Justin. lib. 6. p. 74.
[194] Plutarch, Justin, Corn. Nepos.
[195] When Aristides had acquired the surname of Just he became the object of the Athenian envy, and the Ostracism was demanded against him. Whilst the people were preparing their shells, a country voter, who could neither read nor write, brought his shell to Aristides, and desired him to write the name of Aristides upon it. Aristides, not a little surprised at his request, asked him what injury that Aristides had done him. Me! none, replied the fellow, for I do not so much as know the man by sight, but it galls me to the soul to hear him every where called the Just.... Plut. in Vit. Aristid. p. 322, 323.
[196] They kept the field and attacked Sparta, when the time of their office was near expired, by which means they were in office more than the regular time.
[197] Arist. de Republ. lib. 2. cap. 9. lit. 4.
[198] Polyb. lib. 6. p. 692.
[199] Id. ibid.
[200] Ibid.
[201] Polyb. lib 6. p. 681.
[202] Excerpt. ex Polyb. de virtutibus et vitiis, p. 1426.
[203] Perses, &c.
[204] Varro.
Excudent alii spirantia mollius æra:
Credo equidem, vivos ducent de marmore vultus.
Virg. Æneid. lib. 6.
Tu regere imperio populos, Romane, memento
(Hæ tibi erunt artes) pacique imponere morem
Parcere subjectis, &c. Ibid.
[206] Polyb. lib. 1. p. 92...3.
[207] Polyb. p. 98...9.
[208] Diodor. Sicul. lib. 20. p. 735...36.
[209] Livy. lib. 28. p. 58...9.
[210] Appian, de Bell. Punick. p. 36.
[211] Polyb. lib. 1. p. 104....5.
[212] Polyb. lib. 1. p. 115.
[213] Ibid. lib. 1. p. 115.
[214] Polyb. lib. 1. p. 115.
[215] Idem. ibid. 117.
[216] Polyb. Ἀγαθὸς πεττευτὴς ibid. p. 119.
[217] Id. ibid. Πολιτικοὺς ἱππεῖς καὶ πεζοὺς. p. 120.
[218] Polyb. lib. 1. p. 119.
[219] Polyb. lib. 1. p. 119.
[220] Polyb. Id. ibid. p. 121.
[221] Polyb. lib. 1. p. 122.
[222] Τοὺς ὑπολοίπους τῶν ἐν ταῖς ἡλικίαις καθοπλίσαντες (οἷον ἐσχάτην τρέχοντες ταύτην) ἐξαπέστελλον πρὸς τὸν Βάρκαν. Polyb. lib. 1. p. 122.
[223] Polyb. lib. 2. p. 172.
[224] Μιᾷ γνώμῃ. Polyb. lib. 3. p. 234.
[225] This will be explained in another place.
[226] Lib. 3. p. 236.
[227] Id. ibid. p. 237.
[228] Polyb. lib. 3. 243....44.
[229] Polyb. id. ibid.
[230] Polyb. lib. 3. p. 259.
[231] Livy, lib. 21. p. 132.
[232] Ib. p. 135.
[233] Liv. lib. 21. p. 135. 36.
[234] Id. ibid.
[235] Liv. lib. 3. p. 142....43.
[236] Polyb. lib. 11. p. 888....89.
[237] Appian. de Bell. Annib. 323. Edit. Hen. Steph.
[238] Lib. 23 p. 265....66.
[239] Liv. lib. 30. p. 135.
[240] Lib. 22, p. 240.
[241] Appian. de Bell. Hannib. p. 328.
[242] Iberic. p. 259.
[243] Appian. id. ibid.
[244] Dionys. Halicarn. cap. 2. p. 137. Edit. Wechel.
[245] About three hundred pounds.
[246] Liv. lib. 4. p. 276.
[247] Romulus had divided the whole people into thirty curiæ, ten of which composed a tribe. At their comitia or general assemblies, the people divided into their respective curiæ and gave their votes man by man. The majority of votes in each curia passed for the voice of the whole curia, and the majority of the curiæ for the general determination of the whole people.
Tullius on the contrary took their votes only by centuries, the whole number of which amounted to one hundred and ninety-three, into which he had subdivided the six classes. But as the first class alone, which was composed wholly of the rich, contained ninety-eight of these centuries, if the centuries of the first class were unanimous, which, as Dionysius informs us, was generally the case, they carried every point by a sure majority of three.... If they disagreed, Tullius called the centuries of the second class, and so on until ninety-seven centuries agreed in one opinion, which made a majority of one. If the numbers continued equal, that is ninety-six on each side of the question, after the five first classes had voted; Tullius called up the sixth class which was composed wholly of the poorest people, and contained but one century, and the vote of this century determined the question.... But this case, as Dionysius observes, happened so very rarely; that even the votes of the fourth class were seldom called for, and thus the votes of the fifth and sixth were generally useless. Consequently when the people voted by their curiæ, where the vote of every individual was taken, the poor who were much the most numerous, might always be secure of a great majority.... But when the votes were taken by centuries, according to the new method instituted by Tullius, that numerous body of the poor, which composed the single century of the sixth class, and consequently had but one vote, became wholly insignificant.
[248] Dionys. Halicarn. lib. 4. p. 182. edit. 1546.
[249] Dionys. Halicarn. id. ibid.
[250] Dionys. Halicarn. lib. 5. p. 205.
[251] Dionys. Halicarn. lib. 5. p. 247.
[252] Dionys. Halicarn. lib. 6. p. 255.
[253] Dionys. Halicarn. lib. 6. p. 266.
[254] I have chiefly followed Livy in his beautiful relation of this affair, as the description he gives of this unhappy object, is not only much more striking than that of Dionysius, but one of the most pathetick I ever met with in history. Liv. lib. 2. p. 92.
[255] Dionys. Halicarn. lib. 61. p. 268.
[256] Dionys. Halicarn. lib. 6. p. 270.
[257] Dionys. Halicarn. lib. 6. p. 276...77.
[258] It is remarkable that Appius terms the aristocracy, which at that very time was hardly seventeen years standing, the form of government which they had inherited from their ancestors.
[259] Liv. lib. 2. p. 91.
[260] Sallust. Fragment. apud Augustin. de civitate Dei. lib. 2. cap. 18. edit. Froben. 1569.
[261] In the comitia tributa or assemblies by tribes the people voted in the same manner, as in the comitia curiata or assemblies by curiæ. The majority of single votes in every tribe constituted the voice of that tribe, and the majority of the tribes decided the question. But the Patricians conscious of their superiority in the comitia centuriata or assemblies by centuries, constantly refused to obey the plebiscita or decrees made by the people in their assemblies by tribes, which they insisted were binding to the Plebeians only. After the abolition of the decemvirate the people obtained a law: ... “that all laws passed in their assemblies by tribes should have equal force with those made in the assemblies by centuries, and should be equally obligatory to all the Romans without distinction.
[262] The place of election.
[263] Proscriptiones innoxiorum ob divitias, cruciatus virorum illustrium, vastam urbem fuga et cædibus, bona civium miserorum quasi Cimbricam prædum, venum aut dono datam. Sall. Frag. p. 142.
[264] Ante Carthaginem deletam ... metus hostilis in bonis artibus civitatem retinebat. Sall. Bell. Jug. p. 80.
[265] Postquam remoto metu Punico mores non paulatim ut antea, sed torrentis modo præcipitati. Sall. Frag. p. 139.
... Rapere, consumere, sua parvi pendere, aliena cupere, pudorem, pudicitiam, divina humana promiscua, nihil pensi, neque moderati habere. De Bell. Cat. pag. 8.
[266] Cæpere nobilitas dignitatem, populus libertatem in lubidinem vertere. Bell. Jug. p. 80.
[267] Postquam divitiæ honori esse cœperunt, et eas gloria, imperium, potentia sequebatur hebescere virtus, paupertas probro haberi, innocentia pro malevolentia duci cæpit. Bell. Cat. p. 8.
[268] Ita cum potentia avaritia sine modo, modestiaque invadere, polluere, et vastare omnia, nihil pensi neque sancti habere. p. 81.
Sibi quisque ducere, trahere rapere. De Bell. Jug. p. 81.
[269] Eos paulatim expulsos agris, inertia atque inopia incertas domos habere subegit: cæpere alienas opes petere, libertatem suam cum Republica venalem habere. Sall. Orat. 2. ad Cæsarem de Repub. Ordinand. p. 197.
[270] Ita omnia in duas partes abstracta sunt: respublica, quæ media fuerat, dilacerata. De Bell. Jug. p. 80.
[271] Pecuniæ cupido fidem, probitatem ceterasque bonas artes subvertit; pro his superbiam, crudelitatem deos negligere, omnia venalia habere edocuit. De Bell. Cat. p. 7.
[272] Cupido Imperii, id. p. 7.
[273] Primo pecuniæ, dein imperii cupido crevit, ea quasi materies omnium malorum fuere.... Post ubi contagio, quasi pestilentia, invasit, civitas immutata, imperium ex justissimo atque optumo, crudele intolerandumque factum. De Bell. Cat. p. 7.
[274] Aliud clausum in pectore, aliud promptum in lingua habere, amicitias, inimicitiasq; vultum, quam ingenium bonum habere. Ibid.
[275] Malitia præmiis exercetur; ubi ea demseris, nemo omnium gratuito malus est. p. 200.
[276] Nam, ubi malos præmia sequuntur, haud facile quisquam gratuito bonus est. Sall. Orat. Philip. contra Lapid. p. 145.
[277] Pauci potentes, quorum in gratia plerique concesserant, sub honesto patrum, aut plebis nomine dominationes affectabant, bonique et mali cives appellati, non ob merita in rempublicam (omnibus pariter corruptis) sed uti quisque locupletissimus et injuria validior, quia præsentia defendebat, pro bono ducebatur. Frag. p. 139.
[278] Iidem illi factiosi regunt, dant, adimunt quæ lubet; innocentes circumveniunt: suos ad honorem extollunt. Non facinus, non probrum, aut flagitium obstat, quo minus magistratus expetant: quod commodum est, trahunt, rapiunt: postremo tamquam urbe capta, lubidine ac licentia sua pro legibus utuntur. Sall. Or. 2. ad Cæsar. p. 196.
[279] Divitiis, quas honeste habere licebat, per turpitudinem abuti properabant. Lubido strupri, ganeæ, cæterique cultus non minor incesserat.... Vescendi causa, terra mariq; omnia exquirere; dormire priusquam somni cupido esset: non famam, aut sitim, neq; frigus, neq; lassitudinem operiri; sed ea omnia luxu ante capere. Hæc juventutem, ubi familiares opes defecerant, ad facinora incedebant. Animus imbutus malis artibus haud facile lubidinibus carebat: eo profusius omnibus modis quæstui atque sumtui deditus erat. Sall. de Bell. Cat. p. 9.
[280] Ubi divitiæ claræ habentur, ibi omnia bona vilia sunt, fides, probitas, pudor, pudicitia. Sall. Orat. 2. ad Cæs. p. 199.
[281] Itaque omnes concessere jam in paucorum dominationem, qui per militare nomen, ærarium, exercitum, regnum, provincias occupavere, et arcem habent ex spoliis vestris: cum interim more pecudum vos multitudo singulis habendos, fruendosque præbetis, exsuti omnibus, quæ majores reliquere: nisi quia vosmet ipsi per suffragia, uti præsides olim, nunc dominos destinatis. Salt. Frag. Orat. Lepid. ad Pleb. p. 160.
[282] Διαφθειρομένου δὲ τοῦ δήμου ταῖς δωροδοκίαις ὑπὸ τῶν φιλαρχούντων, καὶ χρωμένων τῷ δεκάζεσθαι καθάπερ ἐργασίᾳ συνήθει τῶν πολλῶν, βουλόμενος ἐκκόψαι παντάπασι τὸ νόσημα τοῦτο τῆς πόλεως, ἔπεισε δόγμα θέσθαι τὴν σύγκλητον, ὅπως οἱ κατασταθέντες ἄρχοντες, εἰ μηδένα κατήγορον ἔχοιεν, αὐτοὶ παριόντες ἐξ ἀνάγκης εἰς ἔνορκον δικαστήριον εὐθύνας διδῶσιν. Plut. in Vit. Cat. p. 126.
[283] Ἕωθεν οὖν ἐπὶ τὸ βῆμα τοῦ Κάτωνος, προελθόντος, ἀθρόοι προσπεσόντες ἐβόων, ἐβλασφήμουν, ἔβαλλον. Plut. ibid.
Hinc rapti fasces pretio: sectorque favoris
Ipse sui populus: lethalisque ambitus urbi
Annua venali referens certamina campo.
Lucan. Pharsal. lib. 1. Edit. 1506.
[285] Mala sua, quod malorum ultimum est, amant ... et definit esse remedio locus, ubi quæ fuerant vitia, mores sunt. Senec. Ep. 39. p. 100.
[286] In tanta tamque corrupta civitate, Catilina omnium flagitiosorum, atque facino osorum circum se, tamquam stipatorum catervas habebat. Sall. de Bell. Cat. p. 9.
[287] Καίσαρος——τὰ νοσοῦντα καὶ διεφθαρμένα τῆς πολιτείας μέρη ταράττοντος καὶ συνάγοντος πρὸς αὑτὸν. Plut. in Vit. Cat. Min. p. 241.
[288] Peculatus ærarii, et per vim sociis ereptæ pecuniæ, quæ quamquam gravia sunt, tamen consuetudine jam pro nihilo habentur. Sall. de Bell. Jug. p. 73.
[289] Adeo juventus luxu atque avaritia corrupta est, uti merito dicatur, genitos esse, qui neque ipsi habere possent res familiares, neque alios pati. Sall. Frag. pag. 139.
[290] Popilius to Antiochus Epiph. Livy. lib. 45. p. 672.
[291] Juv. Sat. 4.
... Ex quo suffragia nulli
Vendimus, effugit Curas. Nam qui dabat olim
Imperium, fasces, legiones, omnia, nunc se
Continet, atque duas tantum res anxius optat
Panem et Circenses.
Juv. Sat. 10. lin. 77.
Otium cum servitio.
Sall. Frag. p. 341.
[293] Ludi Scenici.
[294] Histriones.
[295] Etenim cum artifex ejusmodi sit; ut solus dignus videatur esse, qui in scena spectetur: tum vir ejusmodi est, ut solus dignus videatur, qui eo non accedat. Orat. pro Rosc. Edit. Glasg. p. 43.
[296] Divus Augustus immunes verberum histriones quondam responderat. Tacit. c. 14. p. 42. Edit. Glasg.
Coercitionem in histriones magistratibus in omni tempore et loco lege vetere permissam ademit. Suet. in Vit. Aug. p. 163.
[297] Histrionum licentiam adeo compescuit, ut Stephanionem Togatorium, cui in puerilem habitum circumtonsam matronam ministrasse compererat, per tria theatra virgis cœsum relegaverit. Hylam pantomimum querente prætore, in atrio domus suæ, nemine excluso, flagellis verberaverit: et Hyladem urbe atque Italia submoverit, quod spectatorem a quo exsibilabatur, demonstrasset digito, conspicuumque fecisset. Ibid.
[298] Ostendam nobilissimos juvenes mancipia pantomimorum. Senec. Epist. 47. p. 118.
[299] Variis dehinc et sæpius irritis prætorum questibus, postremo Cæsar de immodestia histrionum retulit; multa ab iis in publicum seditiose, fœda per domos tentari ... eo flagitiorum et virium venisse, ut auctoritate patrum coercendum sit. Pulsi tum histriones Italia. Tacit. Annal. 4. p. 134.
[300] Cæde in theatro per discordiam admissa, capita factionum et histriones propter quos dissidebatur, relegavit: nec ut revocaret unquam ullis populi precibus potuit evinci. Suet. in Tib. c. 37.
[301] Συμφέρει σοὶ, Καῖσαρ, περὶ ἡμᾶς τὸν δῆμον ἀποδιατρίβεσθαι. Dion. Cass. lib. 54. p. 533.
Verum equitis quoque jam migravit ab aure voluptas
Omnis, ad incertos oculos, et gaudia vana.
Hor. epist. 1. lib. 2. lin. 187.
Tanto cum strepitu ludi spectantur, et artes,
Divitiæque peregrinæ: quibus oblitus actor
Quum stetit in scena, concurrit dextera lævæ:
Dixit adhuc aliquid? nil sane. Quid placet ergo?
Lana Tarentino violas imitata veneno.
Ibid. lin. 203.
[303] Dionys. Halicarn. lib. 2. 65.
[304] Mores majorum non paulatim ut antea, sed torrentis modo precipitati. Sallust. Fragment. p. 139.
[305] Nulla umquam res publica sanctior, nec bonis exemplis dititor fuit. Liv. in Præfat.
[306] Dionys. Halicarn. Lib. 2. p. 61, 62.
[307] —Tamen nec numero Hispanos, nec rebore Gallos, nec calliditate Pœnos, nec artibus Græcos.
[308] Sed pietate ac religione, atque hac una sapientia, quod deorum immortalium numine omnia regi gubernarique perspeximus, omnes gentes nationesque superavimus. Cic. de. Harus resp. p. 189.
[309] Quis est qui—-cum deos esse intellexerit, non intelligat eorum numine hoc tantum imperium esse natum, et auctum et retentum. Ibid. p. 188.
[310] Cari sunt parentes, cari liberi, propinqui et familiares: sed omnes omnium caritates patria una complexa est. Cic. de Offic.
[311] Pro qua patria, mori, et cui nos totos dedere, et in qua nostra omnia ponere, et quasi consecrare debemus. Cic. de Leg.
[312] That the fundamental principles of the stoicks tended to atheism I readily grant: but as the real philosophers of that sect inculcated a thorough contempt for what are called the good things of this life, and were extremely austere in their morals; their doctrines seem to have had a very different influence upon the manners of the people wherever they were received, from those of the Epicureans.—Brutus and Cato the inflexible champions of liberty, and almost the only virtuous characters in that corrupt period, were rigid stoicks.—Julius Cæsar who subverted the constitution of his country, was a thorough Epicurean, both in principle and practice. His principles we plainly see in his sophistical speech in Sallust, where he urges the total extinction of our being at death, as an argument for sparing the lives of Cataline’s accomplices. For he audaciously affirms to the senate:—“that death as a punishment was so far from being an evil; that it released us from all our sorrows, when labouring under distress and misery: that it put a final period to all the evils of this life, beyond which there was no longer room either for grief or joy.” Thus as the learned Dr. Warburton justly remarks, “he took occasion, with a licentiousness until then unknown to that august assembly, to explain and enforce the avowed principles of Epicurus (of whose sect he was) concerning the mortality of the soul.” Divine legation part 2d. pages, 111, 112, last edition. That his manners were notoriously infamous we may learn from the history of his life in Suetonius, where he is termed the husband of every woman, and the wife of every man. Omnium mulierum virum, et omnium virorum mulierem. Sueton. in vit. Jul. Cæsar, c. 52. ad finem.
[313] I here mean the tenets of the Epicurean atheists as they are termed by the very learned Mr. Baxter in his treatise of the immortality of the soul; where he has confuted them at large in the first volume of that admirable work.
Inquiry into the nature of the human soul. Vol. 1. p. 355.
[314] It has been remarked; that the disciples of the ancient Greek philosophers have blended so many of their own opinions with the doctrine of their masters, that it is often difficult to distinguish the genuine tenets of the latter, from the spurious ones which have been interpolated by their followers.... Thus Epicurus taught that the summum bonum or supreme good consisted in pleasure. His defenders insist: that he placed it in that refined pleasure which is inseparable from the practice of virtue. His enemies affirm; that he meant the grosser pleasure which arises wholly from the sensual passions.... His friends reply; that this notion was first broached by the dissolute part of his disciples, who most injuriously fathered it upon Epicurus, and then alleged his authority as a plea for their debaucheries; ... they add, that the true Epicureans, who adhered rigidly to the genuine tenets of their master, always treated these spurious disciples as sophists and impostors. But even allowing this to be a true state of the case; yet that the materiality and dissolution of the human soul at death was a genuine tenet of Epicurus, is a truth which the most sanguine of his admirers are not able to deny. As this pernicious tenet therefore was equally held, and publickly taught by both these kinds of Epicureans, a very small knowledge of human nature will enable us to decide, which of the two opposite notions of pleasure was most likely to prevail, and gain the greatest number of proselytes amongst a luxurious and corrupt people.
The dissolute manners of the Romans in the last period of their republick, prove evidently, in my opinion, that the sensual doctrines of the later Epicureans were almost universally received. And if the evidence of Horace in his humourous description of the manners of those philosophers is to be depended upon, they seem to have engrossed the name of the sect wholly to themselves.
Me pinguem et Nitidum, bene curata cute, vises.
Cum ridere voles, Epicuri de Grege porcum.
Hor. Epist. 4. lib. 1.
Omnis, ut est igitur per se natura duabus
Consistit rebus; nam corpora sunt et inane.
Ergo præter inane et corpora tertia per se.
Nulla potest rerum in numero natura relinqui
Nec quæ sub sensus cadat ullo tempore nostros
Nec ratione animi quam quisquam possit apisci.
Et nebula ac fumus quoniam discedit in auras;
Crede animam quoque diffundi, multoque perire
Ocius, et citius dissolvi corpora prima,
Cum semel omnibus e membris ablata recessit.
Et si jam nostro sentit de corpore, postquam
Distracta est animi natura, animæque potestas:
Nil tamen hoc ad nos; qui cætu conjugioque
Corporis atque animæ consistimus uniter apti.
Nil igitur mors est, ad nos neque pertinet hilum,
Quandoquidem natura animi mortalis habetur:
—Ubi non erimus: cum corporis atque animai
Discidium fuerit, quibus e sumus uniter apti,
Scilicet haud nobis quicquam, qui non erimus tum,
Accidere omnino poterit, sensumque movere.
[319] Epicurus vero ex animis hominum extraxit radiaitus religionem, quum Diis immortalibus et opem et gratiam sustulit. Cit. de Nat. Deor. p. 76 and 77.
[320] At etiam liber est Epicuri de sanctitate. Ludimur ab homine non tam faceto, quam ad scribendi licentiam libero. Quæ enim potest esse sanctitas, si Dii humana non curant? Cic. de Nat. Deor. p. 78.
[321] The principles of the new academy, that doubting sect, which Cicero had espoused, led so directly to scepticism, that he keeps us in a state of perpetual doubt and uncertainty as to his opinions. Mr. Baxter in his Inquiry into the nature of the Human Soul, vol. 2. p. 70. complaining of Cicero’s inconsistencies and self-contradictions, observes, that—“as philosophers he teaches men to be scepticks, or to maintain that truth is not to be perceived.” And afterwards adds—“But it is long since it hath been observed of this great man, that his academical writings are at variance with his other works; and that he may be confuted out of himself, and in his own words.”
Dr. Warburton expatiates largely upon the great difficulties there are in getting to Cicero’s real sentiments. I shall mention only two of them and in his own words. “A fourth difficulty arises from Tully’s purpose in writing his works of philosophy; which was, not to deliver his own opinion on any point of ethicks or metaphysicks; but to explain to his countrymen in the most intelligible manner, whatsoever the Greeks had taught concerning them. In the execution of which design, no sect could so well serve his turn as the new academy, whose principle it was, not to interfere with their own opinions, &c. But the principal difficulty proceeds from the several and various characters he sustained in his life and writings; which habituated him to feign and dissemble his opinions. Here (though he acted neither a weak nor an unfair part) he becomes perfectly inscrutable. He may be considered as an orator, a statesman, and a philosopher; characters all equally personated, and no one more the real man than the other; but each of them taken up and laid down, for the occasion. This appears from the numerous inconsistencies we find in him throughout the course of his sustaining them, &c.” And afterwards, p. 171, the Dr. adds—“We meet with numbers of the like contradictions delivered in his own person, and under his philosophical character,” of which he gives us several instances. In the note upon the word personated, p. 169. the Dr. observes, “that as a philosopher, his end and design in writing was not to deliver his own opinion; but to explain the Grecian philosophy; on which account he blames those as too curious, who were for having his own sentiments. In pursuance of his design, he brings in Stoicks, Epicureans, Platonists, Academicks, new and old, in order to instruct the Romans in their various opinions, and several ways of reasoning. But whether it be himself or others that are brought upon the stage, it is the academick not Cicero; it is the Stoick, the Epicurean, not Balbus, nor Velleius, who deliver their opinions.” See Warburton’s Divine Legation, part 2. book 3. last edition, where the character of Cicero, as drawn by that very learned and able writer, p. 165, &c. is the best clew I know of to guide us through his philosophical works. See also, Critical Inquiry into the opinions and practice of the ancient philosophers, passim.
[322] Verius est igitur nimirum illud quod familiaris omnium nostrum Posidonius disseruit in libro quinto de natura deorum, nullos esse deos Epicuro videri: quæque is de Diis immortalibus dixerit, invidiæ detestandæ gratia dixisse, p. 78.
[323] Οἱ τὰ κοινὰ χειρίζοντες παρὰ μὲν τοῖς Ἕλλησιν, ἐὰν τάλαντον μόνον πιστευθῶσιν ἀντιγραφεῖς ἔχοντες δέκα, καὶ σφραγῖδας τοσαύτας, καὶ μάρτυρας διπλασίους, οὐ δύνανται τηρεῖν τὴν πίστιν. παρὰ δὲ Ῥωμαίοις, κατά τε τὰς ἀρχὰς καὶ πρεσβείας πολύ τι πλῆθος χρημάτων χειρίζοντες δι’ αὐτῆς τῆς κατὰ τὸν ὅρκον πίστεως, τηροῦσι τὸ καθῆκον. Polyb. lib. 6. p. 693.
I have called ἀντιγραφεῖς, notary publick, because that office answers the idea much better, in my opinion, than contralotulator, from which may possibly be derived our comptroller, which, I think, is by no means what is here meant.
[324] Te neque hominum neque deorum pudet, quos perfidia et perjurio violasti. Sall. Fragm. Orat. L. Phil. Cont. Lep. p. 146.
[325] Μεγίστην δέ μοι δοκεῖ διαφορὰν ἔχειν τὸ Ῥωμαίων πολίτευμα πρὸς τὸ βέλτιον ἐν τῇ περὶ θεῶν διαλήψει. καί μοι δοκεῖ τὸ παρὰ τοῖς ἄλλοις ἀνθρώποις ὀνειδιζόμενον, τοῦτο συνέχειν τὰ Ῥωμαίων πράγματα· λέγω δὲ τὴν δεισιδαιμονίαν. Polyb. lib. 6. p. 692.
[326] There is indeed little occasion for an apology for this translation. The judicious critick will easily see, that in this passage there is a plain contrast drawn between the manners of the Grecians and the Romans in the time of Polybius. The cause of that difference this able writer justly ascribes to that δεισιδαιμονία, or awful fear of the gods, so strongly inculcated amongst the Romans, and so much despised and ridiculed amongst the Grecians, who were at that time greatly tinctured with the atheism of Epicurus. The instance he selects in proof, drawn from the very different effect of an oath upon the manners of those two people, must convince us beyond a doubt, that by the words τοῖς ἄλλοις ἀνθρώποις ὀνειδιζόμενον, he plainly characterizes his own countrymen. As by “οἱ νῦν εἰκῇ καὶ ἀλόγως ἐκβάλλειν αὐτὰ,” they who now (that is, in his time) inconsiderately and absurdly reject those great sanctions of religion, he evidently points at such of the leading men amongst the Romans, as in his time had embraced the pernicious tenets of Epicurus. For though he had stigmatized the Carthaginians immediately before their avarice and lust of gain, yet no man knew better than Polybius, that the Carthaginians rather exceeded the Romans in superstition. That they were sincere too in their belief, is evident from that most horrible method, by which they expressed their δεισιδαιμονία, which was their frequent sacrifices of great numbers of their own children (those of the very first families not excepted) to their god Moloch, who, by the Greeks and Romans, was termed Chronos and Saturn.
I thought this remark might not be unuseful, because as none of the commentators have taken any notice of it, so neither Casaubon, nor any translator I have yet met with, seems to have given us the true spirit and meaning of this remarkable passage.
[327] Ἐπὶ τοσοῦτον γὰρ ἐκτετραγῴδηται καὶ παρεισῆκται τοῦτο τὸ μέρος παρ’ αὐτοῖς εἴς τε τοὺς κατ’ ἰδίαν βίους, καὶ τὰ κοινὰ τῆς πόλεως, ὥστε μὴ καταλιπεῖν ὑπερβολήν. Ibid.
[328] Διόπερ οἱ παλαιοὶ δοκοῦσί μοι εἰκῇ καὶ ὡς ἔτυχεν εἰς τὰ πλήθη παρεισαγαγεῖν, πολὺ δὲ μᾶλλον οἱ νῦν εἰκῇ καὶ ἀλόγως ἐκβάλλειν αὐτὰ. Lib. 6. p. 693.
[329] But as soon as Epicurus and his followers began to weaken the foundation and principles of religion, by calling them in question, all manner of immorality came rolling in like a mighty torrent, and threw down the banks of law and sobriety. Lawrence, M. A.
[330] Justin. lib. 18. c. 5.
[331] Termed consuls by the Romans, susetes by the Carthaginians.
[332] Οὐ γὰρ μόνον ἀριστίνδην, ἀλλὰ καὶ πλουτίνδην οἴονται δεῖν αἱρεῖσθαι τοὺς ἄρχοντας. Arist. de Repub. lib. 2. p. 234. c. 11.
[333] Αἱροῦνται γὰρ εἰς δύο ταῦτα βλέποντες (τὸν πλοῦτον, scil. καὶ τὴν ἀρετὴν) καὶ μάλιστα τὰς μεγίστας, τούς τε Βασιλεῖς καὶ τοὺς στρατηγοὺς. Ibid. p. 335.
[334] Ἔχει δὲ πολιτεία τῶν Καρχηδονίων παραπλήσια τῇ Λακωνικῇ πολιτείᾳ τὰ μὲν συσσίτια τῶν ἑταιριῶν τοῖς φιδιτίοις· τὴν δὲ τῶν ἑκατὸν καὶ τεττάρων ἀρχὴν, τοῖς Ἐφόροις, πλὴν οὐ χεῖρον. Οἱ μὲν γὰρ, ἐκ τῶν τυχόντων εἰσὶ. Ταύτην δ’ αἱροῦνται τὴν ἀρχὴν ἀριστίνδην. Ibid. p. 334.
[335] —Τὸ δ’ ἀμίσθους καὶ μὴ κληρωτὰς ἀριστοκρατικὸν θετέον, καὶ εἴτε τοιοῦτον ἕτερον. Ibid.
[336] —Τὸ δὲ τὰς πενταρχίας κυρίας οὔσας πολλῶν καὶ μεγάλων, ὑφ’ αὑτῶν αἱρετὰς εἶναι, καὶ τὴν τῶν ἑκατὸν ταύτας αἱρεῖσθαι τὴν μεγίστην ἀρχήν. ἔτι δὲ ταύτας πλείονα ἄρχειν χρόνον τῶν ἄλλων (καὶ γὰρ ἐξεληλυθότες ἄρχουσι, καὶ μέλλοντες) ὀλιγαρχικὸν. Ibid.
[337] —Σημεῖον δὲ πολιτείας συντεταγμένης, τὸ τὸν δῆμον ἔχουσαν, διαμένειν ἐν τῇ τάξει τῆς πολιτεῖας, καὶ μήτε στάσιν, ὅτι γὰρ ἄξιον εἰπεῖν, γεγενῆσθαι, μήτε Τύραννον. Ibid.
[338] Τὸ μὲν προσάγειν, τὸ δὲ μὴ προσάγειν πρὸς τὸν δῆμον, οἱ Βασιλεῖς κύριοι μετὰ τῶν γερόντων, ἂν ὁμογνωμονῶσι πάντες. εἰ δὲ μή, καὶ τούτων ὁ δῆμος. Ἃ δὲ ἂν εἰσφέρωσιν οὗτοι οὐ διακοῦσαι μόνον ἀποδιδόασι τῷ δήμῳ τὰ δόξαντα τοῖς ἄρχουσιν, ἀλλὰ κύριοι κρίνειν εἰσὶ· καὶ τῷ βουλομένῳ τοῖς εἰσφερομένοις ἀντειπεῖν ἔξεστιν. Ὅπερ ἐν ταῖς ἑτέραις πολιτείαις οὐκ ἔστι. Ibid. pag. 334.
[339] The idol to whom the Carthaginians sacrificed their children was the Molock of the Canaanites, from whom they were lineally descended. This idol was the Chronos of the Greeks, and Saturn of the Latins.
[340] Plut. de Superstit. p. 171.
[341] Diodor. Sicul. lib. 20. p. 739.
[342] Id. ibid.
[343] This institution has been adopted since, by the Greek and Latin churches. The only difference in the punishment is, that the ancient vestals were buried alive, the modern vestals are immured between four walls.
[344] Polybius informs us, that when the Romans took a city by storm, they not only put all the men to the sword, but even quartered the dogs, and hewed off the limbs of every other living creature they found in the place.
Πολλάκις ἰδεῖν ἐστιν ἐν ταῖς τῶν Ῥωμαίων καταλήψεσι τῶν πόλεων, οὐ μόνους τοὺς ἀνθρώπους πεφονευμένους, ἀλλὰ τοὺς κύνας δεδιχοτομένους, καὶ τῶν ἄλλων ζώων μέλη παρακεκομμένα. Polyb. lib. 10. p. 820.
[345] Sallust. de Bell. Jugurth. p. 126....27.
[346] Grandeur des Romains, p. 68, &c.
[347] In fidem populi Romani sese dedere. Vide Polyb. Exerpt. Legat. p. 1114, 15.
[348] Ibid. p. 1349, 50.
[349] Appian. de Bell. Pun. p. 82.
[350] Grandeur des Romains, p. 34.
[351] When the Roman ambassadours, soon after the loss of Saguntum, solicited an alliance with the Volsicani, a people of Spain, that people seemed astonished at the effrontery of the Romans, and bid them go and seek for allies amongst those nations who had never heard of the destruction of Saguntum, which, as they assured them, would be a melancholy and striking warning to the Spaniards how they ever placed any confidence in the good faith and friendship of the Romans. Liv. lib. 21. c. 19. p. 144.
[352] Polyb. lib. 3. p. 270. et seq.
[353] It has been asked—for what reason? I answer, Livy will inform us in the 22d book of his history.—“The studied delay of Fabius (who industriously avoided fighting) which according to that historian, gave such just cause of uneasiness to Hannibal, was treated at Rome with the utmost contempt by the citizens of every rank both military and civil; particularly after the general of the horse Minucius had gained some slight advantage over Hannibal during his absence.”—He adds, “that two unlucky incidents concurred to augment the displeasure of the citizens against the dictator. One was the artful behaviour of Hannibal; who wasted all the country around with fire and sword, the estate of Fabius alone excepted, which he carefully preserved, in hopes that such a different treatment might be thought the effect of some clandestine correspondence between the two commanders.”—The other was—his settling an exchange of prisoners with Hannibal by his own proper authority, and by the same cartel which had subsisted between the Roman and Carthaginian generals in the first Punick war. By that it was agreed: that if any prisoners should remain on either side, after the exchange of man for man was finished, such prisoners should be redeemed at the rate of two pounds and a half of silver for each soldier. When the exchange was made, two hundred and forty-seven Roman prisoners remained to be ransomed.—But as the senate hesitated greatly at passing a decree for the payment of the stipulated sum, because the dictator had not consulted them upon the occasion; he sold those very lands which Hannibal had left untouched, and discharged the debt due from the publick out of his own private fortune.—Whether these were the only reasons or not; yet, they had evidently such an effect upon the Romans, that Fabius seems to have been at that time the object of their resentment, which they never failed to give proofs of upon every occasion.—Thus when Fabius opened the campaign, his cautious conduct was so disagreeable to the officers as well as soldiers, who listened wholly to the idle boasts of Minucius; that if the choice of their commander had depended upon the voices of the military men, Minucius, as Livy affirms, would undoubtedly have been preferred to Fabius. The same historian tells us; that when Fabius returned to Rome to preside as dictator at their religious ceremonies the tribunes of the people inveighed so bitterly against him in their publick harangues, that he refrained from coming to their assemblies.—Even what he spoke in the senate met with a very indifferent reception, especially when he extolled the conduct and abilities of Hannibal, and enumerated the repeated defeats they had received for the two last years through the rashness and incapacity of their own commanders.—When Fabius returned to the camp he received a much more mortifying proof of their displeasure. For they raised Minucius to an equality with him in the command, an act for which there had been no precedent since the first erection of the dictatorial office.—Nor did their enmity to Fabius subside until after the fatal defeat at Cannæ. For the worthless Varro obtained not only the consulship, but what is still more extraordinary, even the confidence of the greater part of the senate, and almost the whole army by railing at Fabius and Fabian measures, and out boasting Minucius. I have showed above from Polybius what trust the majority of the senate reposed in Varro. But I cannot omit a remarkable instance, which Livy gives us, of the absurd and fatal partiality of the military men to Varro, in opposition to Æmilius, who avowedly followed the advice of Fabius.—In a council of war, says that historian, held a little before the battle of Cannæ, when each consul persisted firmly in his former opinion; Æmilius adhering to Fabius’s plan for avoiding fighting; Varro to his resolution of engaging the enemy immediately; Servilius one of the consuls of the former year was the only one who joined Æmilius, the rest declared for Varro.
[354] Above eighty thousand, according to Dionysius of Halicarnassus.
[355] Polyb. lib. 3. p. 370.
[356] Liv. lib. 22. p. 242.
[357] Polyb. lib. 6. p. 688.
[358] Our method of trying delinquents, either in the land or sea service, by a court-martial composed of their respective officers, has been judged liable to many objections, and has occasioned no little discontent in the nation. For as their inquiry is restricted to a particular set of articles in each service, I don't see how a commanding officer, vested with a discretionary power of acting, can strictly or properly come under their cognizance, or be ever liable to their censure, unless he is proved guilty of a direct breach of any one of those articles. But as a commander in chief may easily avoid an offence of that nature, and yet, upon the whole of his conduct in any expedition, be highly culpable; a court-martial, thus circumscribed in their power of inquiry, can never be competent judges in a cause where they are denied a proper power of examining into the real demerits of the supposed offender. Much has been said about trying offences of this nature, like other criminal cases, by juries: a scheme which, at the very first sight, must appear absurd and impracticable to the rational and unprejudiced.
As therefore instruction is the true end and use of all history, I shall take the liberty of offering a scheme, drawn from that wise and salutary institution of the Carthaginians, which is,—“that a select standing committee be appointed, to be composed of an equal number of members of both houses, chosen annually by balloting, with a full power of inquiring into the conduct of all commanders in chief, without any restraint of articles of war; and that, after a proper examination, the committee shall refer the case, with their opinion upon it, to the decision of his majesty.”
This scheme seems to me the least liable to objections of any I have yet met with. For if the numbers are chosen by balloting, they will be less liable to the influence of party. If they are chosen annually, and refer the case to the decision of the crown, which is the fountain of justice as well as mercy, they will neither encroach upon the royal prerogative, nor be liable to that signal defect in the Carthaginian committee, which sat for life, and whose sentence was final without appeal.
[359] Diodor. Sicul. lib. 20. p. 739.
[360] Polyb. Hist. lib. 6. p. 628.
[361] Id. ibid. p. 638-9.
[362] Polyb. lib. 3. p. 223.
[363] Δημοκρατία θηριώδης. Polyb. p. 638.
[364] Πολιτειῶν ἀνακύκλωσις. Polyb. p. 637.
[365] Xenophon, de Republ. Athen.
[366] Esprit des loix, vol. 2. p. 3.
[367] The king of Prussia.