VII. Thus the spies were thrown off their guard; but Aratus, immediately after supper, sallied forth, met his men at the tower of Polygnotus, and led them to Nemea where he explained, to most of them for the first time, what he was about to attempt. After promising them rewards in case of success, and addressing to them a few words of encouragement, he gave Propitious Apollo as the watchword, and proceeded towards the city, regulating his march according to the moon, so that he was able to make use of its light to march by, and when it was setting arrived at the garden outside the walls. Here Kaphisias met him, with the news that he had not been able to secure the dogs, which had run away, but that he had locked up the gardener in his house. On hearing this most of the conspirators became disheartened, and demanded to be led back again; but Aratus pacified them by promising that, if the dogs attacked them and gave the alarm, he would give up the attempt. He now sent forward a party with the scaling-ladders, under the command of Ekdelus and Mnesitheus, and himself proceeded at a leisurely pace. The dogs at once set upon the party under Ekdelus, and kept up a continuous barking; nevertheless they reached the wall and placed the ladders against it undisturbed. While the foremost were mounting, the officer who was being relieved by the morning guard passed that way carrying a bell, and there was a great flashing of lights and trampling of marching soldiers. The conspirators remained where they were, crouching upon their ladders, and without difficulty escaped the notice of this patrol, but they were terribly near being discovered by a second body of guards marching in the opposite direction. As soon as this also had passed by without noticing them, the leaders, Mnesitheus and Ekdelus, at once mounted upon the walls, secured the passage along the walls both on the right and on the left, and despatched Technon to Aratus, bidding him hasten to the spot.
VIII. At no great distance from the garden there stood a tower upon the walls, in which a great hound was kept for a watch. This hound had not noticed the approach of the escalading party, either because he was dull of hearing, or because he was tired with exercise the day before. When, however, the gardener’s little dogs roused him by their clamour at the foot of the wall, he at first set up a low growling, and then, as the party drew nearer, began to bark furiously. He made so much noise that the sentry on the next tower called out in a loud voice to the huntsman in charge of the dog, asking him at what the hound was barking so savagely, and whether anything was wrong. The huntsman replied from his tower that all was well, only that the hound had been disturbed by the lights of the patrol and the sound of their bell. This gave great encouragement to Aratus’s party, who imagined that the huntsman spoke thus because he had seen them and wished to screen them from observation and assist their plot, and that many others in the city might be willing to do the same. Yet, the scaling of the walls was a long and dangerous operation, as the ladders were too weak to bear the weight of more than one man mounting slowly at a time, yet time pressed, for the cocks had already begun to crow, and soon the country people might be expected to arrive, bringing their wares to market. So, now, Aratus, himself hastily mounted, after forty of his men had reached the top, and while the remainder were still mounting, he marched straight to the despot’s house, and the guard-room in which his mercenary troops passed the night. By a sudden assault he took them all prisoners without killing one of them, and at once sent messengers to summon his own friends from their houses. Day was breaking while they assembled, and soon the theatre was filled with an excited crowd without any distinct idea of what was happening, until a herald came forward and announced to the people that Aratus, the son of Kleinias, invited his fellow-citizens to regain their liberty.
IX. The people now, at last, believed that their long-looked-for deliverers had indeed come, and rushed in a body to set fire to the despot’s house. The burning house made such a prodigious blaze that it was seen as far as Corinth, where the citizens were so much astonished, that they were within a little of setting out to rescue Sikyon from the flames. Nikokles himself escaped by a subterranean passage, and got clear away from the city, and his soldiers, with the assistance of the citizens, put out the fire and plundered his house. Aratus did not attempt to stop this proceeding, and distributed the remainder of the despot’s treasure among the citizens. No one was killed or wounded, either of the attacking or defending party, but by good fortune this great exploit was accomplished without spilling a drop of blood. Aratus now restored the citizens whom Nikokles had banished, who were eighty in number, and also those who had been driven into exile by his predecessors, who amounted to no less than five hundred. These latter had been forced to wander from place to place for a period of nearly fifty years. They now returned, very poor for the most part, and at once laid claim to the property which had once been theirs. Their attempts to gain possession of their houses and lands caused the greatest disquietude to Aratus, who saw the city plotted against from without, and viewed with dislike by Antigonus on account of its free constitution, while within it was full of faction and disturbance. Under these circumstances he did what he thought was best, by making the city a member of the Achæan league: and the people of Sikyon, Dorians as they were, willingly adopted the name and entered into the confederacy of the Achæans, who at that time were neither famous nor powerful. Most of them dwelt in small towns, and their territory was both confined and unproductive, while the sea-shore, near which they lived, was without harbours, and for the most part exposed to a terrible surf. Yet these men, more than any others, proved that Greeks are invincible wherever they are collected into regularly organised communities, and with a capable general to lead them. They were but an insignificant fraction of the mighty Greece of former times, and had not altogether the strength of one single considerable city; yet, by wise counsel and agreement among themselves, and by following and obeying their greatest man, instead of being jealous of his power, they not only preserved their own liberties, although surrounded by so many powerful cities and despots, but were constantly able to assist the rest of the Greeks in recovering and defending their freedom.
X. Aratus was by nature a politician, and was of a magnanimous disposition, more careful of the interests of the state than of his own. He regarded all despots with a peculiarly rancorous hatred, but in respect to other persons, made his personal likes and dislikes subordinate to the good of his country. For this reason his zeal for his friends does not appear to have been so remarkable as his mild and forgiving treatment of his enemies; for he regulated his private feelings entirely by considerations of public expediency. He loved to form alliances between states, to connect cities into confederations, and to teach the leaders and the people alike to act together with unanimity. Singularly timid and faint-hearted in open war and in battles fought by daylight, he nevertheless was most dexterous at planning surprises, winning cities, and overthrowing despots. For this reason he often succeeded in his rashest enterprises, and often, through excessive caution, failed when success would have been comparatively easy. Some wild animals see best in the dark, and are nearly blind during the daytime, because the moist nature of their eyes cannot endure the dry and searching rays of the sun; and so, too, it appears that some men lose their courage and are easily disconcerted when they are fighting openly in broad daylight, but yet recover all their bravery as soon as they engage in secret stratagems and midnight surprises. These anomalies must be attributed to a want of philosophic reflection in noble minds, which effect great things naturally, and without acting by rule or method, just as we see good fruit produced by wild and uncultivated trees. I will now proceed to prove this by examples.
XI. Aratus, after he had joined himself and his native city to the Achæan league, served in the cavalry force, and made himself generally beloved by the ready obedience which he showed to his commanders; for he, although he had rendered the league such important services in putting his own illustrious name and the power of the city of Sikyon at its disposal, yet, as if he were a mere private man, obeyed whoever might be in command, even though he were a citizen of Dyme, or of Tritæa, or even some more insignificant city. Aratus was now presented with the sum of five-and-twenty talents by the king.[588] This he received, but spent it all on relieving his destitute fellow-countrymen, and in ransoming them from slavery.
XII. As the returned exiles could not be withheld from attacking those whom they found in possession of their property, and by doing so seemed likely to bring the state to ruin, Aratus, thinking that nothing but the kindness of Ptolemy could save his country, started upon a voyage to Egypt, to beg the king to furnish him with a sum of money, by means of which he might persuade the contending parties to come to an amicable agreement. He started from the port of Mothone, and sailed beyond Cape Millea, meaning to cross directly over the sea to Egypt. However, the sea was very rough, and the wind contrary, which, caused the captain of the ship to bear up, and run along the coast until, with great difficulty, he reached Adria,[589] which was an enemy’s country, for it was in the possession of Antigonus, who had placed a Macedonian garrison in it. Aratus contrived to keep out of the way of the garrison, and, leaving the ship, proceeded a long way inland, accompanied by one single friend, named Timanthes. They concealed themselves in a thick wood, and passed the night as best they could. Shortly afterwards the Macedonian officer in charge appeared, and endeavoured to find Aratus, but was put off the scent by the slaves of Aratus, who had been instructed to say that their master, as soon as he left them, had sailed in another vessel bound to Eubœa. However, the Macedonian declared the cargo, the vessel, and the slaves to be a lawful prize, as being enemy’s property, and detained them as such. A few days after this, when Aratus was almost at his wit’s end, by good fortune a Roman ship touched at the place where he was spending his time in looking out for means of escape by sea, and in trying to conceal himself from his enemies on land. The ship was bound for Syria, but Aratus would not sail in it until he had persuaded the captain to land him in Karia. On his voyage thither he again encountered great dangers: but at length he succeeded in obtaining a passage from Karia to Egypt, where he was warmly received by the king, who had always had a favourable opinion of him, and who had lately received from him many drawings and paintings by Greek artists. Aratus, who had considerable taste in these matters, constantly purchased and collected the works of the most skilful and famous painters, especially those of Pamphilus and Melanthus, and used to send them as presents to King Ptolemy.
XIII. At that time the Sikyonian school of painting was still celebrated throughout Greece, and was thought more than any other to have preserved the purity of the ancient style. Even the great Apelles, when already famous, had come to Sikyon and paid a talent for some lessons from the masters there, although by doing so he hoped to increase his reputation rather than to improve his art. When Aratus set the city free, he at once destroyed all the portraits[590] of the despots, except that of Aristratus, who flourished in the time of Philip,[591] about which he hesitated for a long time; for the picture in which Aristratus was represented standing beside the chariot which won him a prize in the games, was the joint work of all the pupils of Melanthus, and we are told by Polemon the geographer, that some parts of it were painted by Apelles himself. The execution was so admirable that Aratus for a moment relented, but soon afterwards his fierce hatred of all the despots made him order it to be destroyed. However, Nealkes the painter, who was a friend of Aratus, interceded for the picture with tears, and as he could not move Aratus, at last said, “We ought to make war against despots themselves, but not against their surroundings. Let us leave the chariot and the figure of Victory, and I will deliver up Aristratus to you, by wiping him out of the picture.” Aratus allowed Nealkes to do this, and he effaced the figure of Aristratus, and painted a palm tree in its place, without venturing to add anything else. It is said that after destroying the figure of Aristratus, the painter forgot his feet, and that they were still to be seen under the chariot. By presents of such paintings as these Aratus had already disposed Ptolemy to regard him with favour; and when they met, Aratus so charmed the king by his conversation that he received from him a present of one hundred and fifty talents for the use of his native city. Aratus carried forty talents home with him at once to Peloponnesus, and afterwards received the rest of the sum in instalments from the king.
XIV. It was a truly great action for Aratus to bestow so much money upon his fellow-countrymen, especially at a time when for much smaller sums the kings were usually able to bribe the other chiefs and popular leaders to betray their native cities and sacrifice their constitutional liberties; but it was even more admirable that by means of this money he reconciled the rich and the poor, and saved the state from all the danger of revolution, while his own conduct was marked by the greatest moderation in spite of his enormous power. When he was appointed as sole arbitrator with unlimited authority, to decide upon the claims of the exiled families to their inheritances, he refused to act alone, and associated fifteen of the other citizens with himself, with whose help, after much labour and difficulty, he restored peace and union amongst his countrymen. For these services the state bestowed upon him fitting honours, but in addition to these the exiles gave him a special mark of their regard by erecting a brazen statue, upon which was inscribed the following verses:—
“For wisdom, valour, and great deeds in war
Thy fame, Aratus, has been noised afar.