FOOTNOTES:

FOOTNOTES:[162]Many distinguished families belonged to the Cornelii, as the Scipiones, Lentuli, Dolabellæ, and others. The Patricians were the old Roman noble families, whom Plutarch compares with the Athenian Eupatridæ, 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, Prætor 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 Numariæ; Eckhel,Doctrina Num. Vet.v. 189.) L. Cornelius Sulla was the son of L. Cornelius Sulla, and born B.C. 138.[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 Libræ by the Greek Litræ.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 These Apparel Statutes were repealed by the 1st of James I.[164]This word does not convey the exact notion, but it is sufficient. The original is Gephyrists (γεφυρισταί). 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.[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.[166]This passage is apparently corrupt. But the general meaning is tolerably clear. (See Sulla, c. 36.)[167]See Marius, c. 10.[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.[169]The Tectosages were a Celtic people who lived at the foot of the Pyrenees west of Narbo (Narbonne).[170]Mannert (Geographie der Griechen und Römer, 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.[171]The passage is in thePhœnissæof Euripides, v. 531 &c.:Why seek the most pernicious of all dæmons,Ambition, O my son? Not so; unjust the goddess,And houses many, many prosperous statesShe enters and she quits, but ruins all.[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 prætor 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 Vitæ, 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 prætorship after his return to Rome. The dates show that at least several years elapsed before he succeeded.[173]Probably Sextus Julius Cæsar, consul B.C. 91, and the uncle of the Dictator, C. Julius Cæsar.[174]Ariobarzanes I. called Philoromæus, 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.[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. (SeePenny Cyclopædia, "Mithridates VI.")[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 Arsacidæ. 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 Arsacidæ, see "Arsaces," inBiograph. Dictionaryof 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.[177]The MSS. have "a native of Chalkis" (Χαλκιδεύς), a manifest blunder, which has long since been corrected.[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.[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 Eubœa, where he died B.C. 354. (Penny Cyclopædia, art. "Timotheus.") This story of the painting is told by Ælianus,Var. Hist.xiii. 43.[180]The original has "the dæmon" (δαιμόνιον), 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 dæmon, 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 dæmon (τὸ θεῖον) is envious;" and so it was, for Polykrates died a wretched death. Timotheus, according to Plutarch, provoked Fortune by his arrogance.[181]This word (δαίμων) often occurs in Plutarch. In order to understand it, we must first banish from our minds the modern notions attached to the word Dæmon. A little further, Sulla speaks of what the dæmon (το δαιμόνιον) 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 æra and was consequently nearly a contemporary of Plutarch, has explained this doctrine of dæmons in his treatiseOn 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 dæmons, 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 dæmons, as Plato says in theBanquet, 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 dæmons."—T. Taylor's Translation: he adds, "For a copious account of dæmons, 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" (ὁ θεός), which often occurs in Greek writers, Taylor observes (notea.) "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 dæmon 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 dæmons, 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 dæmons, Plato asserts that a peculiar dæmon 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 dæmon 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 dæmon 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 dæmon 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 dæmon conscience;" on which subject he has some further remarks. This doctrine of the sameness of conscience and the internal dæmon seems to be that of the Emperor Marcus Antoninus (ii. 13): "It is sufficient to attend only to the dæmon 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 dæmon 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 hisSermons): "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 dæmons are mentioned by Plutarch, but to all cases where he speaks of dæmons, divination, dreams, and other signs.[182]Quintus Cæcilius Metellus Pius, the son of Metellus Numidicus, was consul with Sulla in his second consulship B.C. 80.[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 (1Ep.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 phænomenon 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.[184]Apparently Aulus Postumius Albinus, who was consul with Marcus Antonius B.C. 99. Valerius Maximus tells the story (ix. 8, 3).[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.)[186]Cæcilia 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.[187]Drumann (Geschichte Roms, Cæcilii) has shown that Plutarch is mistaken in supposing Cæcilia 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.)[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.[189]This word occurs three times in this chapter. In the first instance, the word isthe dæmonium; in the second it isthe god(ὁ θεός); in the third, it isthe dæmoniumagain.[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.[191]See Marius, c. 35.[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.)[193]See the note on the Sumptuary Laws, c. 1.[194]Plutarch here uses the same word (ἀπράξιαι) which I have elsewhere translated by the Roman word Justitium. (Marius, c. 35.)[195]Appian (Civil Wars, i. 57) says that all Sulla's officers left him, when he was going to march to Rome, except one quæstor. They would not serve against their country.[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.)[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 Pictæ has been suggested. (Strabo, p. 237.)[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.)[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.[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."[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.[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.[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 Yenikalé, which unites the Black Sea and the Mæotis or Sea of Azoff. Bosporus was also a name of Pantikapæum, 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 æra, the Athenians imported annually a large quantity of corn from the Bosporus. This was the country that now belonged to Mithridates. (Penny Cyclopædia, article "Bosporus.")[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.[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.)[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.[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. Cæsar, 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 theGallic War(viii. 44).[208]See the Life of Lucullus.[209]He is called Athenion by Athenæus. 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 Athenæus (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.[210]The Peiræus, one of the chief ports of Athens, is often used to express the maritime city generally and the lower city, as opposed to Athens, which was called the Upper City. The two cities were united by the Long Walls, about four miles in length.[211]The Academia, one of the suburbs of Athens, was planted with trees, among others with the olive. It was on the north-west side of the city. In the Academia there was a Gymnasium, or exercise place, and here also Plato delivered his lectures; whence the name Academy passed into use as a term for a University (in the sense of a place of learning) in the Middle Ages, and has now other significations. The Lycæum was another similar place on the east side of Athens.[212]This was Epidaurus on the east coast of Argolis in the Peloponnesus, which contained a temple of Æsculapius, the god of healing. Olympia on the Alpheius, in Elis, contained the great temple of Jupiter and immense wealth, which was accumulated by the offerings of many ages. This and other temples were also used as places of deposit for the preservation of valuable property. Pausanias (v. 21, vi. 19, and in other passages) has spoken at great length of the treasures of Olympia. These rich deposits were a tempting booty to those who were in want of money and were strong enough to seize it. At the commencement of the Peloponnesian war (B.C. 431) it was proposed that the Peloponnesian allies should raise a fleet by borrowing money from the deposits at Olympia and Delphi (Thucydides, i. 121), a scheme which the Athenians, their enemies, appear to have looked upon as a mode of borrowing of which repayment would form no part. (i. 143.είτε καὶ κινήσαντες, &c.). Many of the rich churches in Italy were plundered by the French during their occupation of Italy in the Revolutionary wars; their search after valuables extended to very minute matters. The rich stores of the Holy House of the Virgin at Loreto were nearly exhausted by Pope Pius VI. in 1796 to satisfy the demands of the French. It is said that there is a new store got together for the next invader.[213]The history of this ancient body cannot be given with any accuracy except in detail. (See the article "Amphictyons,"Penny Cyclopædia.) The "royal presents" were the gifts of Crœsus, king of Lydia (in the sixth century B.C.) the most munificent of all the donors to the temple. Among his other presents Herodotus (i. 51) mentions four of these silver casks or jars, and he uses the same word that Plutarch does. The other three had probably been taken by some previous plunderer. In the Sacred war (B.C. 357) the Phokians under Philomelus took a large part of the valuable things at Delphi for the purpose of paying their troops. (Diodorus, xvi. 30.)[214]Flamininus, whose life Plutarch has written under the name of Flaminius, defeated Philip V. king of Macedonia B.C. 197. Manius Acilius Glabrio, who was consul B.C. 191, defeated in that year Antiochus III. king of Syria, commonly called the Great, at Thermopylæ in Greece. Antiochus afterwards withdrew into Asia. Æmilius Paulus defeated Perseus, the last king of Macedonia, at Pydna B.C. 168, upon which Macedonia was reduced into the form of a Roman Province (Livius, 45, c. 18.). Plutarch has written the Life of Paulus Æmilius.[215]See the Life of Marius, c. 42.[216]See c. 20, 21. C. Flavius Fimbria was the legatus of the consul L. Valerius Flaccus. Cicero (Brutus, 66) calls him a madman.[217]The Medimnus was a dry measure, reckoned at 11 gallons 7.1456 pints English. It was equivalent to six Roman modii. (Smith'sDictionary of Antiquities.)[218]This plant may have had its name from the virgin (parthenos) goddess Athene, whom the Romans call Minerva. Plinius (N.H. 22, c. 20) has described it. It is identified with the modern feverfew by Smith in Rees'Cyclopædia,—a plant of the chamomile kind; rather unpleasant for food, as one might conjecture. The oil-flasks were of coarse leather. In Herodotus (ix. 118) we read of a besieged people eating their bedcords, which we may assume to have been strips of hides, or leather at least.[219]For all matters relating to the topography of Rome and Athens, the reader must consult a plan: nothing else can explain the text. The gate called Dipylum or Double-Gate was the passage from the Keramicus within the walls to the Keramicus outside of the walls on the north-west side of Athens.[220]Teius is not a Roman name. It is conjectured that it should be Ateius.[221]The road from Athens to Eleusis was called the Sacred (Pausanius, i. 36): it led to the sacred city of Eleusis. The space between the Peiræic gate and the Sacred is that part of the wall which lay between the roads from Athens to the Piræus and Eleusis respectively.[222]A Greek Agora corresponds to a Roman Forum.[223]The description of the capture of Athens is given by Appian. (Mithridatic War, c. 30.) Plutarch here alludes to the deluge in the time of Deucalion, which is often mentioned by the Greek and Roman writers. In the time of Pausanias (i. 18), in the second century of our æra, they still showed at Athens the hole through which the waters of the deluge ran off. A map of the Topography of Athens has been published by the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge. Leake'sTopography of Athens, K.O. Müller, in Ersch und Gruber,Encyclop.art. "Attika," p. 223, and P.W. Forchhammer,Topographie von Athen, 1841, should be consulted.[224]See Strabo, p. 395.[225]One of the ports of the maritime town of Athens. The events mentioned in this chapter should be compared with Appian (Mithridat. War, c. 41).[226]His name was Lucius, and he was probably a brother of the great Hortensius. L. Hortensius had to pass through a difficult country to reach Bœotia. His route lay through the straits of Thermopylæ; but he probably took some other line, and he was conducted by Kaphis over the heights of the great mountain mass of Parnassus. Kaphis appears to be the person of the same name who has been mentioned before (c. 12), though he is there called a Phokian. In this chapter Plutarch calls him a Chæroneian. Tithora or Tithorea was in the time of Herodotus (viii. 32) the name of that summit of Parnassus to which the Phokians of the neighbouring town of Neon fled from the soldiers of Xerxes B.C. 480. Pausanias (x. 32) remarks that the city Neon must have taken the name of Tithorea after the time of Herodotus. But Plutarch means to say that the Tithora of which he speaks was the place to which the Phokians fled; and therefore Neon, the place from which they fled, cannot be Tithora, according to Plutarch; and the description of Tithorea by Herodotus, though very brief, agrees with the description of Plutarch. Pausanias places Tithorea eighty stadia from Delphi.

[162]Many distinguished families belonged to the Cornelii, as the Scipiones, Lentuli, Dolabellæ, and others. The Patricians were the old Roman noble families, whom Plutarch compares with the Athenian Eupatridæ, 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, Prætor 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 Numariæ; Eckhel,Doctrina Num. Vet.v. 189.) L. Cornelius Sulla was the son of L. Cornelius Sulla, and born B.C. 138.

The origin of the word Sulla is uncertain. This Sulla was not the first who bore it. P. Cornelius Rufinus, Prætor 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 Numariæ; Eckhel,Doctrina Num. Vet.v. 189.) L. Cornelius Sulla was the son of L. Cornelius Sulla, and born B.C. 138.

[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 Libræ by the Greek Litræ.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.

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.

[164]This word does not convey the exact notion, but it is sufficient. The original is Gephyrists (γεφυρισταί). 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.

[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.

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

[167]See Marius, c. 10.

[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.

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

[170]Mannert (Geographie der Griechen und Römer, 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.

[171]The passage is in thePhœnissæof Euripides, v. 531 &c.:Why seek the most pernicious of all dæmons,Ambition, O my son? Not so; unjust the goddess,And houses many, many prosperous statesShe enters and she quits, but ruins all.

[171]The passage is in thePhœnissæof Euripides, v. 531 &c.:

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

[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 prætor 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 Vitæ, 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 prætorship after his return to Rome. The dates show that at least several years elapsed before he succeeded.

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

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

[174]Ariobarzanes I. called Philoromæus, 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.

[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. (SeePenny Cyclopædia, "Mithridates VI.")

[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 Arsacidæ. 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 Arsacidæ, see "Arsaces," inBiograph. Dictionaryof 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.

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

[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.

[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 Eubœa, where he died B.C. 354. (Penny Cyclopædia, art. "Timotheus.") This story of the painting is told by Ælianus,Var. Hist.xiii. 43.

[180]The original has "the dæmon" (δαιμόνιον), 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 dæmon, 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 dæmon (τὸ θεῖον) is envious;" and so it was, for Polykrates died a wretched death. Timotheus, according to Plutarch, provoked Fortune by his arrogance.

[181]This word (δαίμων) often occurs in Plutarch. In order to understand it, we must first banish from our minds the modern notions attached to the word Dæmon. A little further, Sulla speaks of what the dæmon (το δαιμόνιον) 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 æra and was consequently nearly a contemporary of Plutarch, has explained this doctrine of dæmons in his treatiseOn 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 dæmons, 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 dæmons, as Plato says in theBanquet, 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 dæmons."—T. Taylor's Translation: he adds, "For a copious account of dæmons, 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" (ὁ θεός), which often occurs in Greek writers, Taylor observes (notea.) "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 dæmon 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 dæmons, 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 dæmons, Plato asserts that a peculiar dæmon 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 dæmon 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 dæmon 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 dæmon 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 dæmon conscience;" on which subject he has some further remarks. This doctrine of the sameness of conscience and the internal dæmon seems to be that of the Emperor Marcus Antoninus (ii. 13): "It is sufficient to attend only to the dæmon 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 dæmon 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 hisSermons): "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 dæmons are mentioned by Plutarch, but to all cases where he speaks of dæmons, divination, dreams, and other signs.

Apuleius, who lived in the second century of our æra and was consequently nearly a contemporary of Plutarch, has explained this doctrine of dæmons in his treatiseOn 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 dæmons, 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 dæmons, as Plato says in theBanquet, 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 dæmons."—T. Taylor's Translation: he adds, "For a copious account of dæmons, 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" (ὁ θεός), which often occurs in Greek writers, Taylor observes (notea.) "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 dæmon 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 dæmons, 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 dæmons, Plato asserts that a peculiar dæmon 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 dæmon 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 dæmon 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 dæmon 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 dæmon conscience;" on which subject he has some further remarks. This doctrine of the sameness of conscience and the internal dæmon seems to be that of the Emperor Marcus Antoninus (ii. 13): "It is sufficient to attend only to the dæmon 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 dæmon 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 hisSermons): "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 dæmons are mentioned by Plutarch, but to all cases where he speaks of dæmons, divination, dreams, and other signs.

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

[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 (1Ep.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 phænomenon 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.

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

[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.)

[186]Cæcilia 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.

[187]Drumann (Geschichte Roms, Cæcilii) has shown that Plutarch is mistaken in supposing Cæcilia 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.)

[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.

[189]This word occurs three times in this chapter. In the first instance, the word isthe dæmonium; in the second it isthe god(ὁ θεός); in the third, it isthe dæmoniumagain.

[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.

[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.

[191]See Marius, c. 35.

[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.)

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

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

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

[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.)

[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 Pictæ has been suggested. (Strabo, p. 237.)

[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.)

[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.

[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."

[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.

[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.

[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 Yenikalé, which unites the Black Sea and the Mæotis or Sea of Azoff. Bosporus was also a name of Pantikapæum, 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 æra, the Athenians imported annually a large quantity of corn from the Bosporus. This was the country that now belonged to Mithridates. (Penny Cyclopædia, article "Bosporus.")

[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.

[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.)

[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.

[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. Cæsar, 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 theGallic War(viii. 44).

[208]See the Life of Lucullus.

[209]He is called Athenion by Athenæus. 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 Athenæus (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.

[210]The Peiræus, one of the chief ports of Athens, is often used to express the maritime city generally and the lower city, as opposed to Athens, which was called the Upper City. The two cities were united by the Long Walls, about four miles in length.

[211]The Academia, one of the suburbs of Athens, was planted with trees, among others with the olive. It was on the north-west side of the city. In the Academia there was a Gymnasium, or exercise place, and here also Plato delivered his lectures; whence the name Academy passed into use as a term for a University (in the sense of a place of learning) in the Middle Ages, and has now other significations. The Lycæum was another similar place on the east side of Athens.

[212]This was Epidaurus on the east coast of Argolis in the Peloponnesus, which contained a temple of Æsculapius, the god of healing. Olympia on the Alpheius, in Elis, contained the great temple of Jupiter and immense wealth, which was accumulated by the offerings of many ages. This and other temples were also used as places of deposit for the preservation of valuable property. Pausanias (v. 21, vi. 19, and in other passages) has spoken at great length of the treasures of Olympia. These rich deposits were a tempting booty to those who were in want of money and were strong enough to seize it. At the commencement of the Peloponnesian war (B.C. 431) it was proposed that the Peloponnesian allies should raise a fleet by borrowing money from the deposits at Olympia and Delphi (Thucydides, i. 121), a scheme which the Athenians, their enemies, appear to have looked upon as a mode of borrowing of which repayment would form no part. (i. 143.είτε καὶ κινήσαντες, &c.). Many of the rich churches in Italy were plundered by the French during their occupation of Italy in the Revolutionary wars; their search after valuables extended to very minute matters. The rich stores of the Holy House of the Virgin at Loreto were nearly exhausted by Pope Pius VI. in 1796 to satisfy the demands of the French. It is said that there is a new store got together for the next invader.

[213]The history of this ancient body cannot be given with any accuracy except in detail. (See the article "Amphictyons,"Penny Cyclopædia.) The "royal presents" were the gifts of Crœsus, king of Lydia (in the sixth century B.C.) the most munificent of all the donors to the temple. Among his other presents Herodotus (i. 51) mentions four of these silver casks or jars, and he uses the same word that Plutarch does. The other three had probably been taken by some previous plunderer. In the Sacred war (B.C. 357) the Phokians under Philomelus took a large part of the valuable things at Delphi for the purpose of paying their troops. (Diodorus, xvi. 30.)

[214]Flamininus, whose life Plutarch has written under the name of Flaminius, defeated Philip V. king of Macedonia B.C. 197. Manius Acilius Glabrio, who was consul B.C. 191, defeated in that year Antiochus III. king of Syria, commonly called the Great, at Thermopylæ in Greece. Antiochus afterwards withdrew into Asia. Æmilius Paulus defeated Perseus, the last king of Macedonia, at Pydna B.C. 168, upon which Macedonia was reduced into the form of a Roman Province (Livius, 45, c. 18.). Plutarch has written the Life of Paulus Æmilius.

[215]See the Life of Marius, c. 42.

[216]See c. 20, 21. C. Flavius Fimbria was the legatus of the consul L. Valerius Flaccus. Cicero (Brutus, 66) calls him a madman.

[217]The Medimnus was a dry measure, reckoned at 11 gallons 7.1456 pints English. It was equivalent to six Roman modii. (Smith'sDictionary of Antiquities.)

[218]This plant may have had its name from the virgin (parthenos) goddess Athene, whom the Romans call Minerva. Plinius (N.H. 22, c. 20) has described it. It is identified with the modern feverfew by Smith in Rees'Cyclopædia,—a plant of the chamomile kind; rather unpleasant for food, as one might conjecture. The oil-flasks were of coarse leather. In Herodotus (ix. 118) we read of a besieged people eating their bedcords, which we may assume to have been strips of hides, or leather at least.

[219]For all matters relating to the topography of Rome and Athens, the reader must consult a plan: nothing else can explain the text. The gate called Dipylum or Double-Gate was the passage from the Keramicus within the walls to the Keramicus outside of the walls on the north-west side of Athens.

[220]Teius is not a Roman name. It is conjectured that it should be Ateius.

[221]The road from Athens to Eleusis was called the Sacred (Pausanius, i. 36): it led to the sacred city of Eleusis. The space between the Peiræic gate and the Sacred is that part of the wall which lay between the roads from Athens to the Piræus and Eleusis respectively.

[222]A Greek Agora corresponds to a Roman Forum.

[223]The description of the capture of Athens is given by Appian. (Mithridatic War, c. 30.) Plutarch here alludes to the deluge in the time of Deucalion, which is often mentioned by the Greek and Roman writers. In the time of Pausanias (i. 18), in the second century of our æra, they still showed at Athens the hole through which the waters of the deluge ran off. A map of the Topography of Athens has been published by the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge. Leake'sTopography of Athens, K.O. Müller, in Ersch und Gruber,Encyclop.art. "Attika," p. 223, and P.W. Forchhammer,Topographie von Athen, 1841, should be consulted.

[224]See Strabo, p. 395.

[225]One of the ports of the maritime town of Athens. The events mentioned in this chapter should be compared with Appian (Mithridat. War, c. 41).

[226]His name was Lucius, and he was probably a brother of the great Hortensius. L. Hortensius had to pass through a difficult country to reach Bœotia. His route lay through the straits of Thermopylæ; but he probably took some other line, and he was conducted by Kaphis over the heights of the great mountain mass of Parnassus. Kaphis appears to be the person of the same name who has been mentioned before (c. 12), though he is there called a Phokian. In this chapter Plutarch calls him a Chæroneian. Tithora or Tithorea was in the time of Herodotus (viii. 32) the name of that summit of Parnassus to which the Phokians of the neighbouring town of Neon fled from the soldiers of Xerxes B.C. 480. Pausanias (x. 32) remarks that the city Neon must have taken the name of Tithorea after the time of Herodotus. But Plutarch means to say that the Tithora of which he speaks was the place to which the Phokians fled; and therefore Neon, the place from which they fled, cannot be Tithora, according to Plutarch; and the description of Tithorea by Herodotus, though very brief, agrees with the description of Plutarch. Pausanias places Tithorea eighty stadia from Delphi.

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