XII. Now all the rest of the Grecian cities immediately sent deputations to Sulla and invited him to enter; but against Athens, which was compelled by the tyrant Aristion[209] to be on the king's side, he directed all his energies; he also hemmed in and blockaded the Peiraeus,[210] employing every variety of engine and every mode of attack. If he had waited a short time, he might have taken the Upper City without danger, for through want of provisions it was reduced by famine to extreme necessity; but anxious to return to Rome, and fearing a new revolution there, at great risk fighting many battles and at great cost he urged on the war, wherein, besides the rest of the expenditure, the labour about the military engines required ten thousand pair of mules to be daily employed on this service. As wood began to fail, owing to many of the works being destroyed by their own weight, and burnt by the incessant fires thrown by the enemy, Sulla laid his hands on the several groves and levelled the trees in the Academia,[211] which was the best wooded of the suburbs, and those in the Lycaeum. And as he wanted money also for the war, he violated the sacred depositaries of Greece, sending for the finest and most costly of the offerings dedicated in Epidaurus[212] and Olympia. He wrote also to the Amphiktyons[213] to Delphi, saying that it would be better for the treasures of the god to be brought to him, for he would either have them in safer keeping, or, if he used them, he would replace them; and he sent one of his friends, Kaphis, a Phokian, to receive all the things after they were first weighed. Kaphis went to Delphi, but he was afraid to touch the sacred things, and in the presence of the Amphiktyons he deeply lamented the task that was imposed on him. Upon some of them saying that they heard the lute in the shrine send forth a sound, Kaphis either believing what they said or wishing to inspire Sulla with some religious fear, sent him this information. But Sulla replied in a scoffing tone, he wondered Kaphis did not understand that such music was a sign of pleasure and not of anger, and he bade him take courage and seize the property, as the deity was quite willing, and in fact offered it. Now all the things were secretly sent off unobserved by most of the Greeks; but the silver jar, one of the royal presents which still remained, could not be carried away by the beasts of burden owing to its weight and size, and the Amphiktyons were accordingly obliged to cut it in pieces; and this led them to reflect that Titus Flamininus,[214] and Manius Acilius, and also AEmilius Paulus—Acilius, who drove Antiochus out of Greece; and the two others, who totally defeated the kings of Macedonia—not only refrained from touching the Greek temples, but even gave them presents and showed them great honour and respect. These generals, however, were legally appointed to command troops consisting of well-disciplined soldiers, who had been taught to obey their leaders without a murmur: and the commanders themselves were men of kingly souls, and moderate in their living and satisfied with a small fixed expenditure, and they thought it baser to attempt to win the soldiers' favour than to fear their enemies. But the generals at this time, as they acquired their rank by violence and not by merit, and had more occasion to employ arms against one another than against the enemies of Rome, were compelled to act the demagogue while they were in command; and by purchasing the services of the soldiers by the money which they expended to gratify them, they made the Roman state a thing for bargain and sale, and themselves the slaves of the vilest wretches in order that they might domineer over honest men. This is what drove Marius into exile, and then brought him back to oppose Sulla; this made Cinna the murderer of Octavius,[215] and Fimbria[216] the murderer of Flaccus. And Sulla mainly laid the foundation of all this by his profusion and expenditure upon his own soldiers, the object of which was to corrupt and gain over to his side the soldiers of other commanders; so that his attempts to seduce the troops of others and the extravagance by which his own soldiers were corrupted, made money always necessary to him; and most particularly during the siege of Athens.

XIII. Now Sulla was seized with a violent and irresistible desire to take Athens, whether it was that he was ambitious to contend against a city which retained only the shadow of its former glory, or that he was moved by passion to revenge the scoffs and jeers with which the tyrant Aristion irritated him and his wife Metella, by continually taunting them from the wall and insulting them. This Aristion was a compound of lewdness and cruelty, who combined in himself all the worst of the vices and passions of Mithridates, and now had brought as it were a mortal disease in its last extremities upon a city which had come safe out of so many wars and escaped from so many tyrannies and civil commotions. For now when a medimnus[217] of wheat was selling for a thousand drachmae in the Upper City, and men were obliged to eat the parthenium[218] that grew about the Acropolis, and shoes and oil-flasks, he was drinking all day long and amusing himself with revels and pyrrhic dances, and making jokes at the enemy: he let the sacred light of the goddess go out for want of oil; when the hierophant sent to ask for the twelfth part of a medimnus of wheat, he sent her as much pepper; and when the members of the Senate and the priests entreated him to have pity on the city and come to terms with Sulla, he dispersed them by ordering the archers to fire on them. At last being persuaded with great difficulty, he sent two or three of his boon companions to treat of peace; but instead of making any reasonable proposals, the men began to make a pompous harangue about Theseus and Eumolpus, and the Persian wars, on which Sulla said, "Be gone, my good fellows, with your fine talk. I was not sent to Athens by the Romans to learn a lesson, but to compel rebels to submit."

XIV. In the mean time, as the story goes, some soldiers in the Keramicus[219] overheard certain old men talking to one another, and abusing the tyrant for not guarding the approach to the wall about the Heptachalkum, which was the only part, they said, where it was practicable and easy for the enemy to get over; and the soldiers reported to Sulla what they heard. Sulla did not neglect the intelligence, but he went to the spot by night, and seeing that it was practicable, he set about the thing forthwith. He says in his Memoirs that the first man who mounted the wall was Marcus Teius,[220] who, finding a soldier in his way, struck him a violent blow on the helmet, which broke his sword; still Marcus did not retreat, but kept his ground. The city then was taken from this quarter, as the old Athenians said it might be. Sulla having destroyed and levelled that part of the wall which lies between the Peiraeic and the Sacred[221] Gate, about midnight entered the city, striking terror with the sound of trumpets and horns, and the shouts and cries of the soldiers, who had his full licence to plunder and kill, and made their way through the streets with naked swords. The slain were not counted, but the number is even now measured by the space over which the blood flowed. For besides those who were slaughtered in the other parts of the city, the blood of those who fell about the Agora[222] covered all the Keramicus within Dipylum: many say that it even flowed through the gates and deluged the suburbs. But though the number of those who perished by the sword was so great, as many killed themselves for sorrow and regret at the overthrow of their native city. For all the most honest citizens were driven to despair, expecting in Sulla neither humanity nor moderation. But, however, when Meidias and Kalliphon, who were exiles, fell down at his knees with entreaties, and the Senators who were in his army urged him to save the city, being now sated with vengeance and passing some encomiums upon the ancient Athenians, he said he would pardon the many for the sake of the few, and the living for the sake of the dead. Sulla states in his Memoirs, that he took Athens on the Calends of March,[223] which day nearly coincides with the new moon of Anthesterion, in which month it happens that the Athenians perform many ceremonies in commemoration of the great damage and loss occasioned by the heavy rain, for they suppose that the deluge happened pretty nearly about that time. When the city was taken the tyrant retreated to the Acropolis, where he was besieged by Curio, who was commissioned for this purpose: after he had held out for some time, Aristion was compelled to surrender for want of water; his surrender was immediately followed by a token from the deity, for on the very day and hour on which Curio took the tyrant from the Acropolis, the clouds gathered in the clear sky, and a violent shower descended which filled the Acropolis with water. Sulla soon took the Peiraeus also, and burnt the greater part of it, including the arsenal of Philo,[224] which was a wonderful work.

XV. In the mean time Taxiles, the general of Mithridates, coming down from Thrace and Macedonia with one hundred thousand foot, ten thousand horse, and ninety scythe-bearing four-horse chariots, summoned Archelaus, who was still lying with his ships near Munychia,[225] and was neither inclined to give up the sea nor ready to engage with the Romans: his plan was to protract the war and to cut off the supplies of the enemy. But Sulla was as quick as Archelaus, and moved into Boeotia from a niggardly region, which even in time of peace could not have maintained his troops. Most people thought that he had made a false calculation in leaving Attica, which is a rough country and ill adapted for the movements of cavalry, to throw himself into the champaign and open tracts of Boeotia, when he knew that the strength of the barbarians lay in their chariots and cavalry. But in his flight from famine and scarcity, as I have already observed, he was compelled to seek the hazard of a battle. Besides, he was alarmed for Hortensius,[226] a skilful general and a man ambitious of distinction, who was conducting a force from Thessaly to Sulla, and had to pass through the straits where the enemy was waiting for him. For all these reasons Sulla moved into Boeotia. But Kaphis, who was from my town, evading the barbarians by taking a different route from what they expected, led Hortensius over Parnassus, close by Tithora, which was not at that time so large a city as it is now, but only a fort on a steep rock scarped all round, to which place in time of old the Phokians who fled from Xerxes escaped with their property and were there in safety. Hortensius having encamped there during the day repelled the attacks of the enemy, and at night descending to Patronis, through a difficult path joined Sulla, who met him with his forces.

XVI. Having united their forces, Sulla and Hortensius occupied an elevation rising out of the midst of the plains of Elateia,[227] which was fertile and extensive, and had water at its base: it is called Philoboeotus, and its natural qualities and position are most highly commended by Sulla. When they were encamped, the weakness of the Roman force was apparent to the enemy; for the cavalry did not exceed fifteen hundred, and the infantry was below fifteen thousand. Accordingly the rest of the generals, against the wish of Archelaus, drew out their forces in order of battle, and filled the plain with horses, chariots, shields, and bucklers; and the heavens could not contain the shouts and cries of so many nations putting themselves in battle array. At the same time the pomp and costly splendour of the troops were not without effect nor their use in causing alarm; but the glittering of the arms, which were curiously ornamented with gold and silver, and the colour of the Median and Scythian dresses mingled with the brightness of the brass and steel, produced a firelike and formidable appearance as the masses moved like waves and changed their places, so that the Romans hid themselves behind their ramparts, and Sulla, being unable by any words to remove their fear, and not choosing to urge men to a battle who were disposed to run away, kept quiet and had to endure the insulting boasts and ridicule of the barbarians. But this turned out most favourable to the Romans; for the enemy despising them, neglected to preserve discipline, and indeed, owing to the number of commanders, the army was not generally inclined to obey orders; a few kept to their post within their ramparts, but the greater part, tempted by the hope of booty and plunder, were dispersed many days' journey from the camp. It is said that they destroyed the city of Panopeus, and plundered Lebadeia, and robbed the oracular shrine without any order from a general. Sulla, who could not endure to see the cities destroyed before his eyes and was greatly irritated, no longer allowed his soldiers to be inactive, but leading them to the Kephisus, he compelled them to divert the stream from its course and to dig ditches, allowing no man any cessation and punishing most severely all who gave in, his object being to tire his soldiers with labour and to induce them to seek danger as a release from it. And it happened as he wished. For on the third day of this labour, as Sulla was passing by, they entreated him with loud shouts to lead them against the enemy. He replied, that they said this not because they wished to fight, but because they disliked labour; but if they really were disposed to fight, he bade them move forthwith with their arms to yonder place, pointing out to them what was formerly the Acropolis of the Parapotamii,[228] but the city was then destroyed and there remained only a rocky precipitous hill, separated from Mount Hedylium by the space occupied by the river Assus, which falling into the Kephisus at the base of the Hedylium and thus becoming a more rapid stream, makes the Acropolis a safe place for encampment. Sulla also wished to seize the height, as he saw the Chalkaspides[229] of the enemy pressing on towards it, and as his soldiers exerted themselves vigorously, he succeeded in occupying the place. Archelaus, being repelled from this point, advanced towards Chaeroneia, upon which the men of Chaeroneia who were in Sulla's army entreating him not to let their city fall into the hands of the enemy, he sent Gabinius[230] a tribune, with one legion, and permitted the men of Chaeroneia to go also, who, though they had the best intention, could not reach the place before Gabinius: so brave a man he was, and more active in bringing aid than even those who prayed for it. Juba[231] says it was not Gabinius who was sent, but Ericius. However this may be, our city[232] had a narrow escape.

XVII. From Lebadeia[233] and the oracle of Trophonius favourable omens and predictions of victory were sent to the Romans, about which the people of the country have a good deal to say. But Sulla, in the tenth book of his Memoirs, writes, that Quintus Titius, a man of some note among those who had mercantile affairs in Greece, came to him immediately after the victory in Chaeroneia, to report that Trophonius foretold a second battle and victory there in a short time. After Titius, a soldier in his army, named Salvenius, brought an answer from the god, as to what would be the result of affairs in Italy. Both reported the same as to the vision[234] of the god: they said, that in beauty and stature he was like the Olympian Jupiter. After crossing the Assus and advancing to the foot of Hedylium, Sulla encamped near Archelaus, who had thrown up a strong intrenchment between Mounts Akontium and Hedylium, at a place called the Assia. The spot on which he encamped is called Archelaus from his name up to the present day. After the interval of one day Sulla left Murena[235] with one legion and two cohorts, to annoy the enemy if he should attempt to form in order of battle; he himself sacrificed on the banks of the Kephisus, and the victims being favourable, he advanced towards Chaeroneia with the object of again effecting a junction with the forces there, and examining the place called Thurium, which was occupied by the enemy. This is a rough summit and a conical-shaped hill, named Orthopagus; and under it is the stream of the Morius and a temple of the Thurian Apollo. The deity has this name from Thuro, the mother of Chaeron, who is said to have been the founder of Chaeroneia. Some say that the cow which was given by the Pythian Apollo as a guide to Kadmus[236] appeared there, and that the place was so called from her; for the Phoenicians call the cow Thor. As Sulla was approaching Chaeroneia, the tribune who was stationed in the city led out the soldiers under arms, and met him with a chaplet of bay. No sooner had Sulla received the chaplet, and after saluting the soldiers, encouraged them to the approaching battle, than two Chaeroneians (Homoloichus and Anaxidamos) presented themselves to him and undertook to drive the enemy from Thurium if he would give them a few soldiers. They said there was a path unknown to the barbarians, leading from the place called Petrachus by the Museum[237] to the highest point of Thurium, and that by taking this direction they could, without difficulty, fall on the enemy and either roll stones down upon them from above or drive them into the plain. As Gabinius bore testimony to the courage and fidelity of the men, Sulla bade them make the attempt; and in the mean time he formed his line and distributed his cavalry on each flank, himself taking the right and giving Murena the command on the left. The legati Galba[238] and Hortensius, with some reserved cohorts in the rear, occupied the neighbouring heights, to prevent the army from being attacked on the flank, for it was observed that the enemy were placing a strong body of cavalry and light infantry on their wings, with the view of adapting that part of their battle to ready and easy manoeuvres, their design being to extend their line and to surround the Romans.

XVIII. In the mean time the Chaeroneians, whom Sulla had placed under the command of Ericius, went round Thurium without being perceived, and all at once showed themselves to the enemy, who immediately falling into great confusion, took to flight and sustained considerable loss, but chiefly from themselves; for as they did not stand their ground, but ran down the hill, they got entangled among their own spears and shoved one another down the rocks, while the Chaeroneians pressing upon them from above, wounded them in the parts which were unprotected; and there fell of the enemy to the number of three thousand. Part of those who got safe to the foot of the hill, being met by Murena, whose troops were already in order of battle, had their retreat cut off and were destroyed: the rest forced their way to the army of Archelaus, and, falling upon the line in disorder, caused a general alarm and confusion, and some loss of time to the generals; and this did them no small harm, for Sulla promptly led his forces against the enemy while they were still in disorder, and by quickly traversing the interval between the two lines, deprived the scythe-bearing chariots[239] of all opportunity of being effective. The efficacy of the chariots depends mainly on the space they traverse, by which they acquire velocity and momentum; but when the space is small their attack is ineffectual and feeble, just like missiles that have not been propelled with due force. Now this happened to the barbarians. The first chariots were driven on without any vigour, and came feebly against the ranks of the Romans, who easily pushed them aside, and, clapping their hands and laughing, called for more, as the people do in the horse-races of the Circus.[240] Upon this the infantry joined battle; the barbarians pushed forward their long spears and endeavoured by locking their shields to maintain their ranks in line: the Romans hurled their javelins, and then drawing their swords, endeavoured to beat aside the spears, that they might forthwith close with the enemy; for they were irritated at seeing drawn up in front of the enemy fifteen thousand slaves, whom the king's generals had invited from the cities by a proclamation of freedom, and enrolled among the hoplitae.[241] A Roman centurion is said to have remarked, that slaves had only freedom of speech at the Saturnalia,[242] so far as he knew. Now, owing to the depth of the ranks of these slaves and their close order, it was some time before they could be made to give way before the heavy-armed Roman soldiers, and they also fought with more courage than one expects from a slave; but the missiles from the slings and the light javelins which were showered upon them unsparingly by the Romans in the rear, at last made them turn and put them into complete confusion.

XIX. While Archelaus was extending his right wing, in order to surround the Romans, Hortensius made his cohorts advance at a run, with the intention of taking the enemy in the flank; but as Archelaus suddenly wheeled round with his two thousand horsemen, Hortensius was overpowered by numbers and retreated towards the mountain region, being gradually separated from the main body of the army and in danger of being completely hemmed in by the barbarians. Sulla, who was on the right wing, which was not yet engaged in the action, hearing of the danger of Hortensius, hastened to relieve him. Archelaus conjecturing from the dust raised by Sulla's troops how the matter was, left Hortensius, and wheeling round moved towards the position which Sulla had quitted (the right), expecting to find the soldiers there without their general, and to defeat them. At the same time Taxiles led the Chalkaspides against Murena; and now the shouts being raised from both armies and re-echoed by the mountains, Sulla halted and hesitated to which quarter he should move. Having determined to maintain his own original position, he sent Hortensius with four cohorts to support Murena, and ordering the fifth to follow him, he hurried to the right wing, which unaided was bravely resisting Archelaus; but as soon as Sulla appeared, the Romans completely broke the line of Archelaus, and pursued the barbarians in disorderly flight to the river and Mount Akontium. However, Sulla did not leave Murena alone in his dangerous position, but hastened to help him. Seeing, however, that the Romans were victorious here also, he joined in the pursuit. Now many of the barbarians were cut down in the plain, but the greatest number were destroyed in the attempt to regain their entrenchments, and only ten thousand out of so large a host made their escape to Chalkis.[243] Sulla says in his Memoirs, that he missed only fourteen of his own soldiers, and that ten of them showed themselves in the evening; in commemoration of which he inscribed on the trophies, Mars and Victory, and Venus, to signify that he had gained the victory no less through good fortune than skill and courage. One of these trophies, which commemorates the victory in the plain, stands where the soldiers of Archelaus first gave ground in the flight to the Molus:[244] the other is placed on the summit of Thurium, to commemorate the surprise of the barbarians, with a Greek inscription in honour of the courage of Homoloichus and Anaxidamus. Sulla celebrated the festival for the victory in Thebes at the fountain of Oedipus, where he erected a stage. The judges were Greeks invited from the other cities of Greece; for Sulla could not be reconciled to the Thebans; and he took from them half of their lands, which he dedicated to the Pythian Apollo and Olympian Jupiter; and from the revenue of these lands he ordered the sums of money which he had taken from them to be repaid to the deities.

XX. After the battle Sulla received intelligence that Flaccus,[245] who belonged to the opposite faction, was chosen consul, and was crossing the Ionian[246] sea with a force which was said to be designed against Mithridates, but was in fact directed against himself; and accordingly he advanced towards Thessalia to meet Flaccus. He had advanced to the neighbourhood of Meliteia,[247] when reports from all sides reached him that the country in his rear was ravaged by another army of Mithridates as numerous as that which he had dispersed. Dorylaus had landed at Chalkis with a large navy, on board of which he brought eighty thousand men of the best trained and disciplined troops of Mithridates, and he immediately advanced into Boeotia and occupied the country, being eager to draw Sulla to an engagement, and paying no regard to Archelaus, who dissuaded him from fighting: he even said publicly that so many thousands could never have been destroyed if there had not been treachery. However, Sulla, who quickly returned to Boeotia, showed Dorylaus that Archelaus was a prudent man and had formed a very just estimate of the courage of the Romans; for after a slight skirmish with Sulla near Tilphossium,[248] Dorylaus was himself the first among those who were not for deciding the matter by a battle, but thought it best to prolong the war till the Romans should be exhausted by want of supplies. However, Archelaus was somewhat encouraged by the position of their encampment near Orchomenus, which was very favourable for battle to an army which had the superiority in cavalry; for of all the plains in Boeotia noted for their beauty and extent, this, which commences at the city of Orchomenus, is the only one which spreads without interruption and without any trees, and it reaches to the marshes in which the river Melas[249] is lost. The Melas rises close to Orchomenus, and is the only river of Greece that is a copious and navigable stream at its source; it also increases like the Nile about the summer solstice, and the same plants grow on its banks; but they produce no fruit and do not attain any large size. Its course however is short, for the larger part of the water is soon lost in obscure marshes overgrown with shrubs: a small part joins the Kephisus somewhere about the point where the lake is said to produce the reed that is adapted for making musical pipes.

XXI. The two armies being encamped near one another, Archelaus kept quiet, but Sulla began to dig trenches on both sides with the view, if possible, of cutting off the enemy from the hard ground and those parts which were favourable to cavalry and driving them into the marshes. However, the barbarians would not endure this, and as soon as their generals allowed them to attack the Romans, they rushed forward with so much vigour and force, that not only were the men dispersed who were working at the trenches, but the greater part of the Roman troops that were drawn up for their protection were involved in the fight. Upon this Sulla leapt down from his horse, and snatching up a standard, made his way through the fugitives towards the enemy, crying out, "For my part, Romans, it is fit I should die here; as for you, when you are asked where you deserted your Imperator, remember to say it was in Orchomenus." These words made the soldiers rally, and two cohorts came to their support from the right wing, which Sulla led against the enemy and put them to flight. He then led his soldiers back a short distance, and after allowing them to take some food, he began again to work at the trenches which were designed to enclose the enemy's camp. The barbarians made another attack in better order than before; in which Diogenes, the son of the wife of Archelaus, fell fighting bravely on the right wing; and the bowmen being hard pressed by the Romans and having no means of retreat, took their arrows altogether in their hands, and using them like swords, struck at the Romans, but, at last they were driven back to their camp, where they spent a wretched night owing to their wounds and great losses. As soon as day dawned Sulla again led his soldiers up to the enemy's encampment and again commenced working at the ditches. The enemy came out in a great force, but Sulla put them to flight, and as no one stood his ground after they were thrown into disorder, Sulla stormed the camp. The swamps and the lake were filled with the blood and bodies of those who fell, and even to the present day many barbarian bows, helmets, and pieces of iron cuirasses and swords are found buried in the marshes, though it is near two hundred[250] years since the battle. Such, according to the historians, was the battle about Chaeroneia and near Orchomenus.

XXII. Cinna and Carbo[251] were now conducting themselves towards the chief men at Rome in an illegal and violent manner, and many flying from their tyranny resorted to the camp of Sulla as a harbour of refuge, so that in a short time a kind of Senate was formed about him. Metella also, who had with difficulty escaped with her children, came and reported that his house and farms were burnt by his enemies, and she entreated him to go to the assistance of his friends at Rome. Sulla was perplexed what to do: he could not endure the thoughts of neglecting his country in her present oppressed condition, nor did he see how he could leave so great an undertaking as the Mithridatic war imperfect. In the meantime there came to him a merchant of Delos,[252] named Archelaus, who secretly brought from Archelaus, the king's general, hopes of peace and certain proposals. Sulla was so well pleased that he was eager for an interview with Archelaus, and they met at Delium on the sea-coast, where the temple of Apollo is. Archelaus, who began the conference, urged Sulla to give up Asia and the Pontus, and to sail to Rome to prosecute the war against his enemies, and he offered him money, ships, and troops on behalf of the king. Sulla in reply advised Archelaus not to trouble himself any further about Mithridates, but to assume the kingly title himself and to become an ally of Rome, and to give up the ships of Mithridates. As Archelaus professed his detestation of such treachery, Sulla said, "You then, Archelaus, who are a Cappadocian, and the slave of a barbarian king, or, if you please, his friend—you refuse to do a base deed for so splendid a reward, and yet venture to talk about treachery to me who am a Roman general, and am Sulla, as if you were not that Archelaus who fled from Chaeroneia with a few men out of your one hundred and twenty thousand, and were hid for two days in the marshes[253] of Orchomenus, and left Boeotia with all the roads made impassable by the heaps of dead?" Upon this Archelaus changed his tone, and humbling himself, entreated Sulla to give up the war and to come to terms with Mithridates. Sulla accepted the proposal, and peace was made on the following terms:—Mithridates was to give up Asia[254] and Paphlagonia, and to surrender Bithynia to Nikomedes, and Cappadocia to Ariobarzanes, to pay down to the Romans two thousand talents, and to give them seventy ships fitted with brass and completely equipped; Sulla was to confirm Mithridates in the rest of his possessions and to recognise him as an ally of the Romans.

XXIII. These terms being settled, Sulla retraced his steps and marched through Thessaly and Macedonia to the Hellespont in company with Archelaus, whom he treated with great respect. Archelaus fell dangerously ill at Larissa, on which Sulla stopped his march and paid as much attention to him as if he had been one of his own officers and fellow-generals. This gave rise to some suspicion that the battle of Chaeroneia was not fairly fought, which was strengthened by the fact that Sulla restored all the friends of Mithridates whom he had taken prisoners, except Aristion[255] the tyrant, who was an enemy of Archelaus, and whom he caused to be poisoned: but the most convincing proof of all was Sulla's giving the Cappadocian ten thousand plethra of land in Euboea, and the title of friend and ally of the Romans. However, Sulla makes his apology about these matters in his Memoirs. Ambassadors from Mithridates now arrived, and were ready to accede to all the terms agreed on, except that the king would not consent to give up Paphlagonia, and as to the ships he dissented altogether; on which Sulla in a passion exclaimed, "What say ye? Mithridates claims to keep Paphlagonia, and refuses to abide by the agreement about the ships; I thought he would have been thankful if I left him his right hand, which has destroyed so many Romans. However, he will soon speak another language when I have crossed over to Asia. At present let him stay in Pergamum and there direct the conduct of a campaign which he has not seen." The ambassadors were so much alarmed that they said nothing, but Archelaus implored Sulla and tried to soften his anger, clinging to his hands with tears in his eyes. At last he prevailed on Sulla to let him go to Mithridates, and he promised to effect a peace on Sulla's own terms, or to kill himself. Sulla accordingly sent Archelaus to Mithridates, and in the mean time he invaded Maedike,[256] and having ravaged the greater part of it, returned to Macedonia and found Archelaus at Philippi,[257] who reported that all was favourable, but that Mithridates much wished to have an interview with him. Mithridates was minly induced to this by the circumstance that Fimbria, after murdering the consul Flaccus, who belonged to the opposite faction, and defeating the generals of Mithridates, was advancing against the king himself. It was fear of Fimbria that made Mithridates more inclined to make a friend of Sulla.

XXIV. Accordingly they met at Dardanus[258] in the Troad: Mithridates had there two hundred rowing-ships, twenty thousand heavy-armed soldiers, six thousand horsemen, and many of his scythe-bearing chariots: Sulla had four cohorts and two hundred horsemen. Mithridates advanced to meet Sulla and held out his hand, on which Sulla asked him if he would put an end to the war on the terms agreed to by Archelaus. As the king made no reply, Sulla said, "Well, those who sue must speak first; conquerors may remain silent." Mithridates began an apology, in which he partly imputed the origin of the war to the deities, and partly threw the blame on the Romans; but Sulla cut him short by saying, that he had long ago been told, and now he knew by his own experience, that Mithridates was a most skilful speaker, inasmuch as he had no difficulty in finding words to justify acts which were so base and so contrary to all right. Sulla went on to recapitulate all that Mithridates had done, reproaching him in bitter terms, and he then asked him again, if he would abide by the agreement of Archelaus. Mithridates said that he would; on which Sulla embraced him, threw his arms round him and kissed him; he then brought forward the kings Ariobarzanes and Nikomedes, and reconciled Mithridates to them. After surrendering to Sulla seventy ships and five hundred bowmen, Mithridates sailed off to the Pontus. Sulla perceived that his soldiers were dissatisfied at the settlement of the war: they thought it a shame that the greatest enemy of the Romans, who had contrived the massacre of one hundred and fifty thousand Romans in Asia in one day, should be seen sailing off with the wealth and the spoils of Asia, which he had been plundering and levying contributions on for four years; Sulla apologised to the soldiers by saying that he should not be able to oppose both Fimbria and Mithridates, if they were united against him.

XXV. From Dardanus Sulla marched against Fimbria, who was encamped near Thyateira,[259] and halting there, began to throw up his intrenchments. Fimbria's men coming out of their camp in their jackets embraced the soldiers of Sulla, and began to assist them zealously in their works. Fimbria seeing that his soldiers had deserted him, and fearing Sulla's unforgiving temper, committed suicide in the camp. Sulla now levied a contribution on Asia to the amount of twenty thousand talents: and he reduced individuals to beggary by the violence and exactions which he permitted to the soldiers who were quartered in their houses. He issued an order that the master of a house should daily supply the soldier who was quartered on him with four tetradrachmae, and with dinner for himself and as many of his friends as he chose to invite; a centurion was to receive fifty drachmae daily, and to be supplied with two garments, one to wear in the house and the other when he went abroad.

XXVI. Sulla set sail from Ephesus with all his ships, and on the third day anchored in the Peiraeus. After being initiated into the Eleusinian[260] mysteries, he appropriated to himself the library of Apellikon[261] of Teos, which contained most of the writings of Aristotle and Theophrastus. The works of these two philosophers were not then well known to people in general. It is said that when the library was brought to Rome, Tyrannio the grammarian arranged most of the books, and that Andronikus of Rhodes having procured copies from Tyrannio, published them, and made the tables which are now in use. It appears that the older Peripatetics were indeed well-instructed men, and devoted to letters, but they did not possess many of the writings of Aristotle and Theophrastus, nor yet correct copies, owing to the circumstances that the books came into the hands of the heirs of Neleus of Skepsis, to whom Theophrastus bequeathed them, and that they were ignorant persons, who never troubled themselves about such matters. While Sulla was staying at Athens, he was seized with a numbness in his feet, accompanied with a feeling of heaviness, which Strabo[262] calls "a stammering of gout." Accordingly he crossed the sea to AEdepsus[263]; where he used the warm springs, at the same time indulging in relaxation and spending all his time in the company of actors. As he was walking about on the seashore, some fishermen presented him with some very fine fish; Sulla was much pleased with the present, but on hearing that the men belonged to Halaeae,[264] he said, What, is there an Halaean still alive? For it happened, that while pursuing his enemies after the victory at Orchomenus, he destroyed at once three Boeotian cities, Anthedon, Larymna, and Halaeae. The men were struck speechless with fear, but Sulla with a smile bade them go away in good heart, for the intercessors they had brought were no mean ones, and not to be despised. Upon this the Halaeans say they took courage and again occupied their city.

XXVlI. Sulla went through Thessaly and Macedonia to the sea-coast, where he made preparations to cross from Dyrrachium[265] to Brundisium with twelve hundred ships. Near to Dyrrachium is Apollonia, and near to Apollonia is the Nymphaeum,[266] a sacred spot, where perpetual streams of fire rise in various places out of a green grassy valley. It is said that a sleeping satyr was caught there, such a one as sculptors and painters represent, and was brought to Sulla and questioned by many interpreters as to who he was; but he spoke with difficulty, and what he did utter was unintelligible, and something like a compound of the neighing of a horse and the bleating of a goat; upon which Sulla, who was startled at the monster, ordered him to be removed. Sulla was now about to take his soldiers over the sea, but he feared that when they landed in Italy they would disperse to their several cities; however, the soldiers voluntarily took an oath to abide by him, and not to do any damage in Italy from set design; seeing also that he required much money, they all contributed something from what they had, each according to his means. However, Sulla would not receive the contribution, but after commending their zeal and encouraging them he proceeded to cross the sea, as he expresses it in his Memoirs, to oppose fifteen hostile commanders at the head of four hundred and fifty cohorts.[267] The deity gave him sure prognostics of success; for upon his sacrificing immediately on landing in Italy near Tarentum, the liver of the animal was found to have on it the figure of a crown[268] of bay with two ribands attached to it. A short time also before he crossed the sea, two large he-goats were seen in Campania near Mount Hephaeus, in the daytime, fighting, and in all respects acting like men engaged in a contest. But it was only a vision, and it gradually rose up from the ground and dispersed in the air in various directions like dark phantoms, and finally disappeared. No long time after, in this very spot, when the younger Marius and the consul Norbanus[269] came upon him at the head of a large force, Sulla, without having time to form his battle or to dispose his companies, but merely availing himself of the spirit that animated all his men, and their impetuous courage, put to flight his opponents, and shut Norbanus up in Capua with the loss of seven thousand of his soldiers. It was this success, as some say, which prevented his soldiers from dispersing to their several cities, and encouraged them to stay with Sulla and to despise their opponents, though many times more numerous than themselves. At Silvium,[270] as Sulla says, a slave of one Pontius, moved by a divine impulse, met him and declared that he brought from Bellona assurance of superiority in war and victory, but that if he did not make haste the Capitol would be burnt; and this is said to have happened on the very day which the man foretold, being the day before the Nones of Quintilis, which we now call July. Further, Marcus Lucullus, one of Sulla's commanders, was opposed at Fidentia[271] with sixteen cohorts to fifty of the enemy, and though he had confidence in the spirit of his men, he was discouraged because a greater part of them were unarmed. While he was considering and hesitating what to do, a gentle breeze blowing from the adjoining plain, which was covered with grass, carried many of the flowers to the army of Lucullus, and spontaneously strewed them about, so that they rested and fell on the men's shields and helmets, which seemed to their opponents to be crowned with chaplets. Thus encouraged, the soldiers of Lucullus engaged, and gained a victory, with the loss to the opposite party of eighteen thousand men and their camp. This Lucullus was the brother of the Lucullus who afterwards defeated Mithridates and Tigranes.

XXVIII. Sulla, perceiving that he was still surrounded by many hostile camps and large forces, treacherously invited Scipio[272] one of the consuls, to come to terms. Scipio accepted the proposal, which was followed by many meetings and conferences, but Sulla continually threw impediments and pretexts in the way of a final agreement, and in the mean time he corrupted Scipio's soldiers by means of his own men, who were as practised in all kinds of deceit and fraud as their commander. Going within the intrenchments of Scipio and mingling with his soldiers, they gained over some by giving them, money, others by promises, and the rest by flattery and persuasion. At last Sulla with twenty cohorts approached the camp of Scipio, and his soldiers saluted those of Scipio, who returned the salute and came over to them. Scipio, thus deserted, was taken prisoner in his tent, but set at liberty; and Sulla with the twenty cohorts, like so many tame birds, having entrapped forty of the enemy, led them all back to his camp. On this occasion, it is said, Carbo observed that he had to contend in Sulla both with a lion and a fox, but the fox gave him most trouble. After this, in the neighbourhood of Signia,[273] Marius at the head of eighty-four cohorts challenged Sulla to battle; and Sulla was very ready for the contest on that day, for he happened to have had a vision in his sleep of this sort:—He dreamed that the elder Marius, who had long been dead, was advising his son to beware of the following day, as it would bring him heavy misfortune. This was the reason that Sulla was eager to fight, and he sent for Dolabella,[274] who was encamped at some distance. But as the enemy occupied the roads and cut off the communications, the soldiers of Sulla were wearied with fighting and working at the roads at the same time; and it happened that much rain also fell, and added to the fatigue of their labour. Upon this, the centurions coming up to Sulla, begged him to defer the battle, and pointed out to him that the soldiers were exhausted by fatigue and were lying on the ground with their shields under them. Sulla consented unwillingly, and gave orders for the army to halt there; but while they were beginning to throw up their rampart and dig their trenches, Marius advanced against them confidently at the head of his troops, expecting to disperse them in their state of disorder and confusion. Now the daemon made good the words that Sulla heard in his dream; for his soldiers, transported with indignation and stopping their work, fixed their spears in the ground close to the trenches, and drawing their swords with a loud shout, were forthwith at close quarters with the enemy. The soldiers of Marius did not stand their ground long, and there was a great slaughter of them in their flight. Marius, who fled to Praeneste,[275] found the gates closed, but a rope being let down from the walls, he fastened himself to it, and was drawn up into the city. Some historians say, and Fenestella[276] among them, that Marius saw nothing of the battle, but that being exhausted by want of sleep and fatigue he lay down on the ground in the shade, and as soon as the signal was given for battle, fell asleep, and that he was roused with difficulty when the flight began. Sulla says that he lost only twenty-three men in this battle, and that he killed of the enemy twenty thousand, and took eight thousand alive. He was equally successful everywhere else through his generals Pompeius,[277] Crassus, Metellus, Servilius; for without sustaining any but the most trifling loss, they destroyed the great armies of their opponents, and at last Carbo,[278] who was the main support of the opposite party, stole away from his troops by night and sailed to Libya.

XXIX. In the last struggle, however, like a fresh combatant attacking an exhausted athlete, Telesinus the Samnite was very near tripping up Sulla and laying him prostrate at the gates of Rome. Telesinus was hastening with Lamponius the Lucanian and a strong force to Praeneste, in order to rescue Marius, who was besieged; but finding that Sulla in his front and Pompeius in his rear were coming against him, and that he could neither advance nor retreat, like a brave and experienced man he broke up his encampment by night and marched with all his force against Rome. And indeed he was very near surprising the city, which was unguarded; however, halting about ten stadia from the Colline gate, he passed the night there, full of confidence and elated with hope, as he had got the advantage over so many great generals. At daybreak the most distinguished young men came out on horseback to oppose him, but many of them fell, and among them Claudius Appius,[279] a man of noble rank and good character. This naturally caused confusion in the city, and there were women shrieking and people hurrying in all directions, in expectation that the city was going to be stormed, when Balbus appeared first, coming at full speed from Sulla with seven hundred horsemen. Balbus just halted long enough to allow his men to dry the sweat from their horses: then bridling them again, they advanced quickly and engaged with the enemy. In the mean time Sulla also appeared, and ordering the advanced ranks to take some refreshment, he began to put them in order of battle. Dolabella and Torquatus earnestly entreated him to pause, and not to put all to the hazard with his exhausted soldiers; they said, the contest was not with Carbo and Marius, but with Samnites and Lucanians, the most deadly and warlike enemies of Rome: but Sulla, without paying any regard to them, ordered the trumpets to sound the charge, though it was now about the tenth hour. The battle began, and was fiercer than any that was fought in this campaign. The right wing, where Crassus commanded, was completely successful; but the left was hard pressed, and in a dangerous plight, when Sulla came to its support mounted on a very spirited and fleet white horse, by which he was easily distinguished from the rest, and two of the enemy's soldiers, fixing their javelins, prepared to aim at him, Sulla did not see them, but his groom whipped the horse, which just carried his rider so far out of the reach of the spears that they passed close to the horse's tail, and stuck in the ground. It is said that Sulla always carried about with him in his bosom, in battle, a small golden figure of Apollo, which he got from Delphi, and that he then kissed it, and said, "O Pythian Apollo, after raising the fortunate Sulla Cornelius in so many contests to glory and renown, wilt thou throw him prostrate here, at the gates of his native city, and so bring him to perish most ignobly with his fellow-citizens?" After this address to the god it is said that Sulla entreated some, and threatened and laid hold of others; but at last, the left wing being completely broken, he was mingled with the fugitives and made his escape to the camp with the loss of many of his friends and men of note. Not a few of the citizens also, who had come to see the fight, were killed and trampled down, so that it was thought all was over with the city, and the blockade of Marius was all but raised, for many of the fugitives made their way to Praeneste, and urged Ofella Lucretius,[280] who had been appointed to conduct the siege, to break up his quarters with speed, as Sulla was killed, and Rome in the possession of the enemy.

XXX. It was now far on in the night when men came to Sulla's camp from Crassus to get something to eat for him and his soldiers, for after putting the enemy to flight they had pursued them to Antemnae,[281] and there encamped. Upon this intelligence, and that most of the enemy were killed, Sulla came to Antemnae at daybreak. Here three thousand soldiers sent to him to propose to surrender, and Sulla promised them their lives if they would punish the rest of his enemies before they joined him. Trusting to his promise, these men attacked their comrades, and a great number on both sides were cut to pieces. However, Sulla got together the soldiers who had offered to surrender and those who had survived the massacre, to the number of six thousand, in the Circus,[282] and at the same time he summoned the Senate to the temple of Bellona. As soon as he began to speak, the men who were appointed to do the work began to cut down the six thousand men. A cry naturally arose from so many men being butchered in a narrow space, and the Senators were startled; but Sulla preserving the same unmoved expression of countenance, bade them attend to what he was saying, and not trouble themselves about what was going on outside; it was only some villains who were being punished by his orders. This made even the dullest Roman see that there was merely an exchange of tyrants, not a total change. Now Marius was always cruel, and he grew more so, and the possession of power did not change his disposition. But Sulla at first used his fortune with moderation and like a citizen of a free state, and he got the reputation of being a leader who, though attached to the aristocratical party, still regarded the interests of the people; besides this, he was from his youth fond of mirth, and so soft to pity as to be easily moved to tears. It was not without reason, then, that his subsequent conduct fixed on the possession of great power the imputation that it does not let men's tempers abide by their original habits, but makes them violent, vain, and inhuman. Now whether fortune really produces an alteration and change in a man's natural disposition, or whether, when he gets to power, his bad qualities hitherto concealed are merely unveiled, is a matter that belongs to another subject than the present.

XXXI. Sulla now began to make blood flow, and he filled the city with deaths without number or limit; many persons were murdered on grounds of private enmity, who had never had anything to do with Sulla, but he consented to their death to please his adherents. At last a young man, Caius Metellus, had the boldness to ask Sulla in the Senate-house, when there would be an end to these miseries, and how far he would proceed before they could hope to see them stop. "We are not deprecating," he said, "your vengeance against those whom you have determined to put out of the way, but we entreat you to relieve from uncertainty those whom you have determined to spare." Sulla replied, that he had not yet determined whom he would spare. "Tell us then," said Metellus, "whom you intend to punish." Sulla said that he would. Some say that it was not Metellus, but Afidius,[283] one of Sulla's flatterers, who made use of the last expression. Sulla immediately proscribed eighty persons without communicating with any magistrate. As this caused a general murmur, he let one day pass, and then proscribed two hundred and twenty more, and again on the third day as many. In an harangue to the people, he said, with reference to these measures, that he had proscribed all he could think of, and as to those who now escaped his memory, he would proscribe them at some future time. It was part of the proscription[284] that every man who received and protected a proscribed person should be put to death for his humanity; and there was no exception for brothers, children, or parents. The reward for killing a proscribed person was two talents, whether it was a slave who killed his master or a son who killed his father. But what was considered most unjust of all, he affixed infamy on the sons and grandsons of the proscribed and confiscated their property. The proscriptions were not confined to Rome; they extended to every city of Italy: neither temple nor hospitable hearth nor father's house was free from murder, but husbands were butchered in the arms of their wives, and children in the embrace of their mothers. The number of those who were massacred through revenge and hatred was nothing compared with those who were murdered for their property. It occurred even to the assassins to observe that the ruin of such a one was due to his large house, another man owed his death to his orchard, and another again to his warm baths. Quintus Aurelius, a man who never meddled with public affairs, and though he was no further concerned about all these calamities except so far as he sympathised with the sufferings of others, happened to come to the Forum and there he read the names of the proscribed. Finding his own name among them, he exclaimed, Alas! wretch that I am; 'tis my farm at Alba that is my persecutor. He had not gone far before he was murdered by some one who was in search of him.

XXXII. In the mean time Marius killed himself to avoid being taken. Sulla now went to Praeneste,[285] and he began by examining the case of each individual before he punished him; but having no time for this inquiry, he had all the people brought to one spot, to the number of twelve thousand, and ordered them to be massacred, with the exception of one man, an old friend of his, whom he offered to pardon. But the man nobly declared he would never owe his safety to the destroyer of his country, and mingling with the rest of the citizens he was cut down together with them. The affair of Lucius Catilina[286] was perhaps the most monstrous of all. Lucius had murdered his brother before the termination of the war, and he asked Sulla to proscribe him among the rest as if he were still alive; which was done. To show his gratitude, Catilina killed one Marcus Marius,[287] who belonged to the opposite faction, and after bringing his head to Sulla, who was then sitting in the Forum, he went to the temple of Apollo, which was close by, and washed his hands in the sacred font.[288]

XXXIII. Besides the massacres, there were other things to cause dissatisfaction. Sulla had himself proclaimed Dictator,[289] and thus revived this office after an interval of one hundred and twenty years. An act of indemnity was also passed for all that he had done; for the future it was enacted that he should have power of life and death, and should confiscate property, distribute lands, found colonies, destroy them, take away kingdoms and give them to whom he pleased. The sales of confiscated property were conducted by him from his tribunal in such an arrogant and tyrannical manner, that his mode of dealing with the produce of the sales was more intolerable than the seizure of the property: he gave away to handsome women, players on the lyre, mimi and worthless libertini, the lands of whole nations and the revenues of cities; to some men he gave wives, who were compelled to marry against their will. Wishing to form an alliance with Pompeius Magnus, he made him put away his wife; and he took AEmilia, who was the daughter of Scaurus and of his own wife Metella, from her husband Manius Glabrio.[290] though she was then with child, and married her to Pompeius. AEmilia died in the house of Pompeius in childbirth. Lucretius Ofella,[291] who had taken Praeneste, became a candidate for the consulship, and canvassed for it. Sulla at first attempted to stop him; but on Lucretius entering the Forum supported by a large party, Sulla sent one of his centurions to kill Lucretius, himself the while sitting on his tribunal in the temple of Castor and Pollux, and looking down upon the murder. The bystanders seized the centurion and brought him before the tribunal; but Sulla bidding them stop their noise, declared that he had ordered the centurion to kill Lucretius, and they must let him go.

XXXIV. The triumph[292] of Sulla was magnificent for the splendour and rarity of the regal spoils; but the exiles formed a greater ornament to it and a noble spectacle. The most illustrious and wealthy of the citizens followed in the procession with chaplets on their heads, calling Sulla their saviour and father, inasmuch as through him they were restored to their country, their children, and their wives. When the triumph was over, Sulla before the assembled people gave an account of all the events of his life, mentioning with equal particularity his good fortune and his great deeds, and in conclusion he bade them salute him by the name of Eutyches,[293] for this is the nearest word to express the Latin Felix: and when he wrote to Greeks or had any business to transact with them, he called himself Epaphroditus. In our country also, on the trophies of Sulla, there is the inscription: Lucius Cornelius Sulla Epaphroditus. As Metella bore him twins, Sulla named the male Faustus, and the female Fausta: for the Romans apply the name Faustus to what is fortunate and gladsome. Sulla indeed trusted so far to his good fortune rather than to his acts, that, though he had put many persons to death, and had made so many innovations and changes in the state, he laid down the dictatorship,[294] and allowed the people to have the full control of the consular elections, without going near them, and all the while walking about in the Forum, and exposing himself to any one who might choose to call him to account, just like a private person. Contrary to Sulla's wish, a bold man, and an enemy of his, was likely to be elected consul, Marcus Lepidus,[295] not for his own merits, but because the people wished to please Pompeius, who was earnest in his support and canvassed for him. Sulla seeing Pompeius going home well pleased with his victory, called him to him and said: "What a fine piece of policy is this of yours, young man, for Lepidus to be proclaimed consul before Catulus, the most violent in preference to the most honourable of men! It is, however, time for you not to be asleep, as you have strengthened your rival against yourself." Sulla said this in a kind of prophetic tone, for Lepidus soon broke out in great excesses, and was at war with Pompeius.

XXXV. Sulla made an offering of the tenth part of his substance to Hercules, and feasted the people magnificently: so much greater indeed was the preparation than what was required, that a great quantity of provisions was daily thrown into the river, and wine was drunk forty years old, and even older. In the midst of the entertainment, which lasted several days, Metella died. As the priests would not allow Sulla to go to her, or his house to be polluted by a dead body, Sulla sent Metella a writing of divorce, and ordered her, while still alive, to be removed from his house to another. So far he observed the custom strictly through superstition; but the law which limited the cost of funerals, though he had proposed it himself, he violated by sparing no expense. He also violated his own laws for diminishing the cost of entertainments, endeavouring to forget his grief in extravagant drinking and feasting, and in the company of buffoons. A few months after his wife's death there was a show of gladiators. As there was yet no distinction of places,[296] but men and women sat promiscuously in the theatre, it chanced that a woman seated herself near Sulla who was very handsome and of good family; she was a daughter of Messala, and sister of the orator Hortensius: her name was Valeria,[297] and she had lately separated from her husband. This woman, going behind Sulla, placed her hand upon him, and pulling a thread out of his dress, returned to her place. As Sulla looked on her with some surprise, she said, No mischief, Imperator;[298] I also wish to have a bit of your good fortune. Sulla was not displeased at her words, and it was soon plain that he had conceived a passion for the woman; for he privately sent to ask her name, and made himself acquainted with her family and her mode of life. After this there were interchanges of glances, and frequent side-looks, and giving and returning of smiles, and, finally, treaties and arrangements about marriage, all which on her part perhaps deserved no censure; but as to Sulla, however chaste and reputable the woman might be that he married, it was no reputable or decent matter that induced him to it, for he was caught like a young man by mere looks and wanton airs, the nature of which is to excite the most depraved and impure feelings.

XXXVI. Though Sulla married Valeria he still associated with actresses and female lute-players and dancers, spending his time with them on beds, and drinking from an early hour of the day. These were the names of the persons who at this time enjoyed most of his favour:—Roscius[299] the comedian, Sorix the chief mimus, and Metrobius who played women's parts[300] in men's dress, and to whom, though Metrobius was now growing old, Sulla all along continued strongly attached, and never attempted to conceal it. By this mode of life he aggravated his disease, which was slight in its origin, and for some time he was not aware that all his viscera were full of diseased matter. The flesh, being corrupted by the disease, was changed into vermin,[301] and though many persons were engaged day and night in taking the vermin away, what was got rid of was nothing compared with what came, for all his clothes, and the bath and the water, and his food, were filled with the matter that flowed from him, and with the vermin; such was the violence of the disorder. Though he went into the water several times a day and drenched his body and cleansed it from filth, it was of no avail, for the disease went on too quickly, and the quantity of vermin defied all attempts to clear it away. Among those in very remote times who are said to have died of the lousy disease was Akastus the son of Pelias; and in more recent times, Alkman the lyric poet, Pherekydes the theologian, Kallisthenes of Olynthus, while he was in prison, and Mucius the lawyer. And if one may mention those who have got a name, not for any good that they did, but in other ways, Eunus the runaway slave, who began the Servile war in Sicily, is said to have died of this disease, after he was captured and carried to Rome.

XXXVII. Sulla foresaw his end, and even in a manner wrote about it, for he finished the twenty-second book of his Memoirs only two days before his death. He there says, that the Chaldaeans foretold him that it was his fate to die, after a happy life, at the very height of his prosperity; he says also that his son, who had died a short time before Metella, appeared to him in a dream, in a mean dress, and standing by him, entreated his father to rest from his troubles and to go with him to join his mother Metella, and live with her in ease and quiet. Yet he did not give up attending to public matters. Ten days before his death he restored tranquillity among the people of Dicaearchia,[302] who were in a state of civil commotion, and he drew up for them a constitution; and only one day before his death, hearing that the chief magistrate Granius was a public defaulter and refused to pay the debt, waiting for Sulla's death, Sulla sent for the man to his chamber, and surrounding him with his slaves ordered him to be strangled; but with his shouting and efforts he burst an imposthume and vomited a quantity of blood. Upon this his strength failed him and he got through the night with difficulty. He left two infant children by Metella; Valeria, after his death, brought forth a daughter, whom they called Postuma,[303] for this is the name that the Romans give to children who are born after their father's death.

XXXVIII. Now many flocked to Lepidus and combined with him to prevent the body of Sulla from receiving the usual interment. But Pompeius, though he had ground of complaint against Sulla, for he was the only friend whom Sulla had passed over in his will,[304] turning some from their purpose by his influence and entreaties, and others by threats, had the body conveyed to Rome, and secured it a safe and honourable interment. It is said that the women contributed so great a quantity of aromatics for Sulla's funeral,[305] that without including what was conveyed in two hundred and ten litters, there was enough to make a large figure of Sulla, and also to make a lictor out of costly frankincense and cinnamon. The day was cloudy in the morning, and as rain was expected they did not bring the body out till the ninth hour. However, a strong wind came down on the funeral pile and raised a great flame, and they had just time to collect the ashes as the pile was sinking and the fire going out, when a heavy rain poured down and lasted till night; so Sulla's good fortune seemed to follow him to his funeral, and to stay with him to the last. His monument is in the Campus Martius. The inscription, which they say he wrote and left behind him, says in substance, that none of his friends ever did him a kindness, and none of his enemies ever did him a wrong, without being fully repaid.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 162: Many distinguished families belonged to the Cornelii, as the Scipiones, Lentuli, Dolabellae, and others. The Patricians were the old Roman noble families, whom Plutarch compares with the Athenian Eupatridae, or men of noble family, who formed in the older periods of Athenian history the first class in the State.

The origin of the word Sulla is uncertain. This Sulla was not the first who bore it. P. Cornelius Rufinus, Praetor B.C. 212, the grandfather of this Sulla, also bore the name. The various conjectures on the origin of the name Sulla are given by Drumann, Geschichte Roms, ii. p. 426. The name should be written Sulla, not Sylla. The coins have always Sulla or Sula. (Rasche, Lex Rei Numariae; Eckhel, Doctrina Num. Vet. v. 189.) L. Cornelius Sulla was the son of L. Cornelius Sulla, and born B.C. 138.]

[Footnote 163: P. Cornelius Rufinus was consul B.C. 290. He was also Dictator, but in what year is uncertain. He was ejected from the Senate by the Censor C. Fabricius B.C. 275 for violating one of the sumptuary laws of Rome, or those which limited expense. The story is mentioned by Gellius (iv. 8; xvii. 21). Plutarch has translated the Latin word Librae by the Greek Litrae.

The Romans made many enactments for limiting expense in dress, entertainments, funerals (Sulla, c. 35), amount of debt to be incurred, and so forth, all of which were unavailing. The notion of regulating private expenditure was not peculiar to the Romans among the states of antiquity; and our own legislation, which in its absurd as well as its best parts has generally some parallel in that of the Romans, contains many instances of sumptuary laws, which prescribed what kind of dress, and of what quality, should be worn by particular classes, and so forth. The English Sumptuary Statutes relating to Apparel commenced with the 37th of Edward III. This statute, after declaring that the outrageous and excessive apparel of divers people against their estate and degree is the destruction and impoverishment of the land, prescribes the apparel of the various classes into which it distributes the people; but it goes no higher than knights. The clothing of the women and children is also regulated. The next statute, 3rd of Edward IV., is very minute. This kind of statute-making went on at intervals to the 1st of Philip & Mary, when an Act was passed for the Reformation of Excessive Apparel. These Apparel Statutes were repealed by the 1st of James I.]

[Footnote 164: This word does not convey the exact notion, but it is sufficient. The original is Gephyrists ([Greek: gephyristai]). There was, they say, a bridge (Gephyra) on the road between Athens and Eleusis, from which, during the sacred processions to Eleusis, the people (or, as some authorities say, the women) were allowed the liberty of joking and saying what they pleased; and hence the name of such free speakers, Bridgers, Bridge-folk. (See Casaubon's note on Strabo, p. 400.) Hence the word came to signify generally abusive people. Sulla did not forget these insults when he took Athens (c. 13). Plutarch alludes to this also in his Treatise on Garrulity, c. 7.]

[Footnote 165: Mimus is a name given by the Romans both to an actor and to a kind of dramatic performance, which probably resembled a coarse farce, and was often represented in private houses. Its distinguishing character was a want of decency. The word Mimus is of Greek origin, and probably derived its name from the amount of gestures and action used in these performances. The Greeks also had their Mimi.]

[Footnote 166: This passage is apparently corrupt. But the general meaning is tolerably clear. (See Sulla, c. 36.)]

[Footnote 167: See Marius, c. 10.]

[Footnote 168: Tribunus Militum, a military tribune. Plutarch translates the term by Chiliarchus, a commander of a thousand. At this time there were six tribunes to a Roman legion.]

[Footnote 169: The Tectosages were a Celtic people who lived at the foot of the Pyrenees west of Narbo (Narbonne).]

[Footnote 170: Mannert (Geographie der Griechen und Roemer, Pt. iii. p. 216) wishes to establish that these Marsi were a German nation, who lived on both sides of the Lippe and extended to the Rhine, and not the warlike nation of the Marsi who inhabited the central Apennines south-east of Rome. This is the remark of Mannert as quoted by Kaltwasser; but I do not find it in the second edition of Mannert (Pt. iii. 168), where he is treating of the German Marsi.]

[Footnote 171: The passage is in the Phoenissae of Euripides, v. 531 &c.:

Why seek the most pernicious of all daemons, Ambition, O my son? Not so; unjust the goddess, And houses many, many prosperous states She enters and she quits, but ruins all.

]

[Footnote 172: The exhibition of wild animals in the Roman games was now become a fashion. In the latter part of the Republic it was carried to an enormous extent: the elephant, the rhinocerous, the lion, and other wild animals, were brought from Africa to Rome for these occasions. When Sulla was praetor B.C. 93, he exhibited one hundred lions in the Circus, which were let loose and shot with arrows by archers whom King Bocchus sent for the purpose. (Plinius, N.H. viii. 16, Seneca, De Brevitate Vitae, c. 13.) There was an old decree of the Senate which prohibited the importation of African wild beasts, but it was repealed by a measure proposed by the tribune Cn. Aufidius so far as to render the importation legal for the games of the Circus.

Plutarch speaks of Sulla as immediately canvassing for the praetorship after his return to Rome. The dates show that at least several years elapsed before he succeeded.]

[Footnote 173: Probably Sextus Julius Caesar, consul B.C. 91, and the uncle of the Dictator, C. Julius Caesar.]

[Footnote 174: Ariobarzanes I. called Philoromaeus, or a lover of the Romans, was elected king of Cappadocia B.C. 93, but he was soon expelled by Tigranes, king of Armenia, the son-in-law of Mithridates. Ariobarzanes applied for help to the Romans, and he was restored by Sulla B.C. 92. He was driven out several times after, and again restored by the Romans.]

[Footnote 175: The name is written Mithradates on the Greek coins. The word Mithradates occurs in various shapes in the Greek writers; and it was a common name among the Medes and Persians. The first part of the name (Mithra) is probably the Persian name Mitra or Mithra, the Sun. This Mithridates is Mithradates the Sixth, king of Pontus in Asia, who succeeded his father Mithridates V. B.C. 120, when he was about eleven years of age. He was a man of ability, well instructed in the learning of the Greeks, and a great linguist: it is said that he could speak twenty-two languages. He had already got possession of Colchis on the Black Sea, and placed one of his sons on the throne of Cappadocia. He had also strengthened himself by marrying his daughter to Tigranes king of Armenia. Other events in his life are noticed in various parts of the Lives of Sulla, Lucullus, and Pompeius. (See Penny Cyclopaedia, "Mithridates VI.")]

[Footnote 176: This name was common to a series of Armenian, and to a series of Parthian kings. One Arsaces is considered to be the founder of the dynasty of the Parthian kings, which dynasty the Greeks and Romans call that of the Arsacidae. This Arsaces is reckoned the ninth in the series, and was the son and successor of Arsaces the Eighth. He is placed in the series of Parthian kings as Arsaces IX. Mithridates II. (On the series of Parthian Arsacidae, see "Arsaces," in Biograph. Dictionary of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge.) From the time of this interview of Sulla to a late period under the Roman Empire, the Romans and Parthians were sometimes friends, oftener enemies. No name occurs so frequently among the Roman writers of the Augustan period as that of the Parthians, the most formidable enemy that the Romans encountered in Asia, and who stopped their victorious progress in the East.]

[Footnote 177: The MSS. have "a native of Chalkis" ([Greek: Chalkideus]), a manifest blunder, which has long since been corrected.]

[Footnote 178: Censorinus was a family name of the Marcii. This appears to be C. Censorinus, whom Cicero (Brutus, c. 67) speaks of as moderately versed in Greek Literature. He lost his life in the wars of Sulla B.C. 81.]

[Footnote 179: Timotheus distinguished himself during the period of the decline of the power of Athens. In the year B.C. 357 he and Iphicrates were sent with a fleet to reduce to obedience the Athenian subject states and especially the island of Samos. The expedition was unsuccessful, and Timotheus and other generals were brought to trial on their return home. Timotheus was convicted, and sentenced to pay a heavy fine, but as he was unable to pay it, he withdrew to Chalkis in Euboea, where he died B.C. 354. (Penny Cyclopaedia, art. "Timotheus.") This story of the painting is told by AElianus, Var. Hist. xiii. 43.]

[Footnote 180: The original has "the daemon" ([Greek: daimonion]), which is Fortune, as the context shows. It is not very easy to unravel all the ancient notions about Fortune, Nemesis, and the like personifications. The opinion that the deity, or the daemon, looks with an envious eye on a man's prosperity and in the end pays him off with some equivalent loss, is very common in the Greek writers. One instance of it occurs in the letter of Amasis, the cunning King of Egypt, to Polykrates the tyrant of Samos. (Herodotus, iii. 40.) The Egyptian King tells Polykrates plainly that his great good luck would certainly draw upon him some heavy calamity, for "the daemon ([Greek: to theion]) is envious;" and so it was, for Polykrates died a wretched death. Timotheus, according to Plutarch, provoked Fortune by his arrogance.]

[Footnote 181: This word ([Greek: daimon]) often occurs in Plutarch. In order to understand it, we must first banish from our minds the modern notions attached to the word Daemon. A little further, Sulla speaks of what the daemon ([Greek: to daimonion]) enjoins during the night. People in ancient times attached great importance to dreams, because they were considered as a medium by which the gods communicated with men. There is great difficulty in translating an ancient writer on account of the terms used in speaking of superhuman powers.

Apuleius, who lived in the second century of our aera and was consequently nearly a contemporary of Plutarch, has explained this doctrine of daemons in his treatise On the God of Sokrates. "Moreover there are certain divine middle powers, situated in this interval between the highest ether and earth, which is in the lowest place, through whom our desires and deserts pass to the gods. These are called by a Greek name daemons, who being placed between the terrestrial and celestial inhabitants, transmit prayers from the one and gifts from the other. They likewise carry supplications from the one and auxiliaries from the other as certain interpreters and saluters of both. Through these same daemons, as Plato says in the Banquet, all denunciations, the various miracles of enchanters, and all the species of presages, are directed. Prefects, from among the number of these, providentially attend to everything, according to the province assigned to each; either by the formation of dreams, or causing the fissures in entrails, or governing the flight of some birds, and instructing the song of others, or by inspiring prophets, or hurling thunder, or producing the coruscations of lightning in the clouds, or causing other things to take place from which we obtain a knowledge of future events. And it is requisite to think that all these particulars are effected by the will, the power, and authority of the celestial gods, but by the compliance, operations, and ministrant offices of daemons."—T. Taylor's Translation: he adds, "For a copious account of daemons, their nature, and different orders, see the notes on the First Alkibiades in vol. i. of my Plato, and also my translation of Iamblichus on the Mysteries." A little further on Apuleius says: "It is not fit that the supernal gods should descend to things of this kind. This is the province of the intermediate gods, who dwell in the regions of the air, which border on the earth, and yet are no less conversant with the confines of the heavens; just as in every part of the world there are animals adapted to the several parts, the volant being in the air and the gradient on the earth."

As to the expression "the god" ([Greek: ho theos]), which often occurs in Greek writers, Taylor observes (note a.) "According to Plato one thing is a god simply, another on account of union, another through participation, another through contact, and another through similitude. For of super-essential natures, each is primarily a god; of intellectual natures, each is a god according to union; and of divine souls, each is a god according to contact with the gods; and the souls of men are allotted this appellation through similitude." He therefore concludes that Apuleius was justified in calling the daemon of Sokrates a god; and that this was the opinion of Sokrates appears, as he says, from the First Alkibiades, where Sokrates says, "I have long been of opinion that the god did not as yet direct me to hold any conversation with you."

Apuleius further says, "There is another species of daemons, more sublime and venerable, not less numerous, but far superior in dignity, who, being always liberated from the bonds and conjunction of the body, preside over certain powers. In the number of these are Sleep and Love, who possess powers of a different nature; Love, of exciting to wakefulness, but Sleep of lulling to rest. From this more sublime order of daemons, Plato asserts that a peculiar daemon is allotted to every man who is a witness and a guardian of his conduct in life, who, without being visible to any one, is always present, and who is an arbitrator not only of his deeds, but also of his thoughts. But when, life being finished, the soul returns [to the judges of its conduct], then the daemon who presided over it, immediately seizes and leads it as his charge to judgment, and is there present with it while it pleads its cause. There, this daemon reprehends it, if it has acted on any false pretence; solemnly confirms what it says, if it asserts anything that is true; and conformably to its testimony passes sentence. All you therefore who hear this divine opinion of Plato, as interpreted by me, so form your minds to whatever you may do, or to whatever may be the subject of your meditation, that you may know there is nothing concealed from those guardians either within the mind or external to it; but that the daemon who presides over you inquisitively participates of all that concerns you, sees all things, understands all things, and in the place of conscience dwells in the most profound recesses of the mind. For he of whom I speak is a perfect guardian, a singular prefect, a domestic speculator, a proper curator, an intimate inspector, an assiduous observer, an inseparable arbiter, a reprobator of what is evil, an approver of what is good; and if he is legitimately attended to, sedulously known, and religiously worshipped, in the way in which he was reverenced by Sokrates with justice and innocence, will be a predicter of things uncertain, a premonitor in things dubious, a defender in things dangerous, and an assistant in want. He will also be able, by dreams, by tokens, and perhaps also manifestly, when the occasion demands it, to avert from you evil, increase your good, raise your depressed, support your falling, illuminate your obscure, govern your prosperous, and correct your adverse circumstances. It is not therefore wonderful, if Sokrates, who was a man exceedingly perfect, and also wise by the testimony of Apollo, should know and worship this his god; and that hence, this his keeper, and nearly, as I may say, his equal, his associate and domestic, should repel from him everything which ought to be repelled, foresee what ought to be noticed, and pre-admonish him of what ought to be foreknown by him, in those cases in which, human wisdom being no longer of any use, he was in want not of counsel but of presage, in order that when he was vacillating through doubt, he might be rendered firm through divination. For there are many things, concerning the development of which even wise men betake themselves to diviners and oracles." I have adopted Taylor's translation of this eloquent passage, because he was well acquainted with the theological systems of antiquity. The whole passage is a useful comment on this chapter of Plutarch and many other passages in him, and may help to rectify some erroneous notions which people maintain of the philosophical systems of antiquity, people who, as Bishop Butler expresses it, "take for granted that they are acquainted with everything." The passage about conscience contains, as Taylor observes, a dogma which is only to be found implicitly maintained in the Scholia of Olympiodorus on the First Alkibiades of Plato. Olympiodorus says that we shall not err if we call "the allotted daemon conscience;" on which subject he has some further remarks. This doctrine of the sameness of conscience and the internal daemon seems to be that of the Emperor Marcus Antoninus (ii. 13): "It is sufficient to attend only to the daemon within us and to reverence it duly," and he goes on to explain wherein this reverence consists. In another passage (ii. 17) he says that philosophy consists "in keeping the daemon within us free from violence and harm, superior to pleasures and pains, doing nothing without a purpose, and yet without any falsehood or simulation, without caring whether another is doing so or not; further, taking what happens and what is our lot as coming from the same origin from which itself came; and finally, waiting for death with a tranquil mind, as nothing else than the separation of the elements of which every living being is composed. And if there is nothing to fear in the elemental parts constantly changing one into another, why should a man have any apprehension about the change and dissolution of the whole? for it is according to Nature, and nothing is bad that is according to Nature." Bishop Butler remarks (Preface to his Sermons): "The practical reason of insisting so much upon the natural authority of the principle of reflection or conscience is, that it seems in a great measure overlooked by many who are by no means the worst sort of men. It is thought sufficient to abstain from gross wickedness, and to be humane and kind to such as happen to come in their way. Whereas, in reality, the very constitution of our nature requires, that we bring our whole conduct before this superior faculty; wait its determination; enforce upon ourselves its authority; and make it the business of our lives, as it is absolutely the whole business of a moral agent, to conform ourselves to it. This is the true meaning of that ancient precept, reverence thyself."

This note does not apply to any particular case, when daemons are mentioned by Plutarch, but to all cases where he speaks of daemons, divination, dreams, and other signs.]

[Footnote 182: Quintus Caecilius Metellus Pius, the son of Metellus Numidicus, was consul with Sulla in his second consulship B.C. 80.]

[Footnote 183: The place is unknown, unless it be the place near the altar of Laverna, the goddess of thieves, which was near the Porta Lavernalis, as Varro says (Ling. Lat. v. 163). Horatius (1 Ep. xvi. 60) represents the rogue as putting up a prayer "to the Fair Laverna," that he may appear to be what he is not, an honest man, and that night and darkness may kindly cover his sins. The phaenomenon which Sulla describes appears to have been of a volcanic character; and if so, it is the most recent on record within the volcanic region of the Seven Hills.]

[Footnote 184: Apparently Aulus Postumius Albinus, who was consul with Marcus Antonius B.C. 99. Valerius Maximus tells the story (ix. 8, 3).]

[Footnote 185: This was Sulla'a first consulship, B.C. 88. If he was now fifty, he was born B.C. 138. His colleague was Quintus Pompeius Rufus, who was killed in this same year at the instigation or at least with the approbation of Cn. Pompeius Strabo, the father of Pompeius Magnus. (Appian, Civil Wars, i. 63.)]

[Footnote 186: Caecilia Metella was the fourth wife of Sulla. The other three are mentioned in this chapter. Ilia is perhaps a mistake for Julia. Sulla's fifth and last wife was Valeria, c. 35.]

[Footnote 187: Drumann (Geschichte Roms, Caecilii) has shown that Plutarch is mistaken in supposing Caecilia to be the daughter of Metellus Pius, who was consul with Sulla B.C. 80. She was the daughter of L. Metellus Dalmaticus, who was the brother of Metellus Numidicus and the uncle of Metellus Pius. Her first husband was M. Scaurus, consul B.C. 115, by whom she had several children, and among them the Scaurus whom Cicero defended. Metella had children by Sulla also. (See c. 36, notes.)]

[Footnote 188: The historian of Rome. These events belonged to the seventy-seventh book of Livius, which is lost. The Epitome shows what this book contained.]

[Footnote 189: This word occurs three times in this chapter. In the first instance, the word is the daemonium; in the second it is the god ([Greek: ho theos]); in the third, it is the daemonium again.]

[Footnote 190: The Senate often met in the temple of Duellona or Bellona, the goddess of War. Duellona and Bellona are the same. Compare the Bacchanalian Inscription, and Livius (28, c. 9, &c.).

The last sentence of this chapter is corrupt, and the precise meaning is uncertain.]

[Footnote 191: See Marius, c. 35.]

[Footnote 192: A man might be manumitted so as either to have the complete citizenship or not. If Plutarch's account is true, the citizenship was sold to those libertini who were of the class Dediticii or Latini. (Gaius, i. 12, &c.)]

[Footnote 193: See the note on the Sumptuary Laws, c. 1.]

[Footnote 194: Plutarch here uses the same word ([Greek: apraxiai]) which I have elsewhere translated by the Roman word Justitium. (Marius, c. 35.)]

[Footnote 195: Appian (Civil Wars, i. 57) says that all Sulla's officers left him, when he was going to march to Rome, except one quaestor. They would not serve against their country.]

[Footnote 196: That is Moon, Athena (Minerva), and Enyo (Bellona). It is difficult to conjecture what Cappadocian goddess Plutarch means, if it be not the Great Mother. (Marius, c. 17.)]

[Footnote 197: The place is unknown. There are some discrepancies between the narrative of these transactions in Plutarch and Appian. Appian's is probably the better (i. 58, &c.). The reading Pictae has been suggested. (Strabo, p. 237.)]

[Footnote 198: The Roman word is Tellus. (Livius, 2, c. 41.) The temple was built on the ground occupied by the house of Spurius Cassius, which was pulled down after his condemnation. (Livius, 2, c. 41.)]

[Footnote 199: Appian (Civil Wars, i. 60) mentions the names of twelve persons who were proscribed. The attempt to rouse the slaves to rebellion was one of the grounds of this condemnation, and a valid ground.]

[Footnote 200: L. Cornelius Cinna and Cn. Octavius were consuls B.C. 87. the year in which Sulla left Italy to fight with Mithridates. Apuleius (On the God of Sokrates) thus alludes to the kind of oath which Cinna took—"Shall I swear by Jupiter, holding a stone in my hand, after the most ancient manner of the Romans? But if the opinion of Plato is true, that God never mingles himself with man, a stone will hear me more easily than Jupiter. This however is not true: for Plato will answer for his opinion by my voice. I do not, says he, assert that the gods are separated and alienated from us, so as to think that not even our prayers reach them; for I do not remove them from an attention to, but only from a contact with human affairs."]

[Footnote 201: Appian (Civil Wars, i. 63, 64) gives another reason. Sulla was alarmed at the assassination of his colleague Quintus Pompeius Rufus, and left Rome by night for Capua, whence he set out for Greece.]

[Footnote 202: This was the country on the west coast of Asia Minor, of which the Romans had formed the province of Asia. Mithridates took advantage of the Romans being busied at home with domestic troubles to advance his interests in Asia, where he was well received by the people, who were disgusted with the conduct of the Roman governors. He had defeated the Roman generals L. Cassius, Manius Aquilius, and Q. Oppius. (Appian, Mithridatic War, c. 17, &c.) He also ordered all the Romans and Italians who were in Asia, with their wives and children, to be murdered on one day; which was done.]

[Footnote 203: The kingdom of Bosporus was a long narrow slip on the south-east coast of the peninsula now called the Crimea or Taurida. The name Bosporus was properly applied to the long narrow channel, now called the Straits of Kaffa or Yenikale, which unites the Black Sea and the Maeotis or Sea of Azoff. Bosporus was also a name of Pantikapaeum, one of the chief towns of the Bosporus. There was a series of Greek kings of the Bosporus, extending from B.C. 430 to B.C. 304, whose names are known; and there may have been others. In the time of Demosthenes, in the fourth century before the Christian aera, the Athenians imported annually a large quantity of corn from the Bosporus. This was the country that now belonged to Mithridates. (Penny Cyclopaedia, article "Bosporus.")]

[Footnote 204: Kaltwasser conjectures that the son who is first mentioned was Mithridates, and he remarks that Appian (Mithridatic War, c. 64) calls him also Mithridates. But in place of the name Ariarathes, he reads Aciarathes, whom he makes to be the same as the Arcathias of Appian (c. 35). Ariarathes however was a son of Mithridates (Mithridatic War, 15); and according to Appian, it was a son Mithridates who held Pontus and the Bosporus. Ariarathes and Arcathias assisted their father in the war in Asia.]

[Footnote 205: This Archelaus was a native of Cappadocia, and probably of Greek stock. His name often occurs afterwards. (See "Archelaus," Biograph. Dict. of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge.)]

[Footnote 206: The promontory of Malea, now Cape St. Angelo, is the most south-eastern point of the Peloponnesus. The expression of Plutarch is, "all the islands situated within Malea," by which he means all the islands of the Archipelago which are east of Malea, including the Cyclades, or the group which lies in somewhat of a circular form round the small rocky island of Delos.]

[Footnote 207: His name is Brettius in the MSS. of Plutarch. His Roman name is Bruttius, as Appian (Mithridat. War, i. 29) writes it. He took the island of Skiathus, where the enemy deposited their plunder; he hanged the slaves that he found there, and cut off the hands of the freemen. Caesar, when he was in Gaul, cut off the hands of all the persons who had assisted in the defence of Uxellodunum against the Romans, according to the author of the eighth book of the Gallic War (viii. 44).]

[Footnote 208: See the Life of Lucullus.]

[Footnote 209: He is called Athenion by Athenaeus. His father was an Athenian citizen; his mother was an Egyptian woman. His political career began with his being sent by the Athenians on an embassy to Mithridates, and he ultimately persuaded the Athenians to join the king. This is the account of Posidonius as quoted by Athenaeus (v. 211, &c. ed. Casaub.) Appian (Mithridatic War, 28, &c.) gives an account of his making himself a tyrant in Athens, which is somewhat different. He appears to have established himself in B.C. 88; and his power only lasted till B.C. 86. This Aristion was a philosopher, which gives occasion to some curious remarks by Appian (Mithridatic War, c. 28), who says, speaking of his enormities: "and all this he did though he was a follower of the Epicurean philosophy. But it was not Aristion only at Athens, nor yet Kritias before him, and all who were philosophers with Kritias and tyrants at the same time; but in Italy also, those who were Pythagoreans, and in Greece the Seven Sages as they are called, as many of them as engaged in public affairs,—all were chiefs and tyrants more cruel than tyrants who were not philosophers. So that one may doubt as to other philosophers, and have some suspicion, whether it was for virtue's sake, or merely to console them for their poverty and having nothing to do with political matters, that they adopted philosophy. There are now many philosophers in a private station and poor who consequently wrap themselves up in philosophy out of necessity, and bitterly abuse those who are rich or in power; and thereby do not so much get a reputation for despising wealth and power as being envious of them. But those whom they abuse act much more wisely in despising them." There was at least one exception to these philosophers, Marcus Antoninus, who was the head of the Roman State, and required in his exalted station all the comfort that philosophy could give.]