Chapter 9

173Thus Demades termed the gratuities given to the people out of the publick money, the glue or cement of the different parts of the republick. Plut. Quæst. Platon. p. 1011.

174Fable of the bees.

175Ἀλλὰ μὴν τούτοις ἐσμὲν ἡμεῖς εὐδαίμονες καὶ μακάριοι τοῖς περιττοῖς, ἀλλ’ οὐκ ἐκείνοις τοῖς ἀναγκαίοις. Plut. de Cupidit. p. 527.

176Demades, according to Plutarch, by the dissoluteness of his life, and conduct in the administration, shipwrecked the Athenian republick. Plut. in Vit. Phocion, p. 741.

177Plut. Apotheg. p. 188.

178Plut. in Vit. Aristid. p. 320.

179Plut. in Vit. Demet. p. 893 ... 94 ... 900.

180Pausan, Grec. Descript. lib. 9. c. 5 p. 718. Edit. Ketchnii.

181Οὐ γάρ τι ἠδυνάμην ἐς αὐτοὺς παρευρεῖν, ἕπομαι τῷ μύθῳ. Id. Ibid.

182Ibid. p. 723

183Thebes was the capital of Bœotia.

184Bœotum in crasso jurares aere natum. Hor. epis. 1. lib. 2. lin. 244.

185Plut. in Vit. Pelopid. p. 287.

186Diodor. Sicul. lib. 15. p. 470.

187Plut. in Vit. Pelop. p. 284. et sequent.

188Plut. in Vit. Pelop. p. 285.

189Id. p. 286, 287.

190Διὸ καὶ συναναγκαθεὶς ὀλίγοις πολιτικοῖς, &c. Diodor. Sicul. lib. 15. p. 477. Edit. Henr. Stephani.

191Polyb. Comparat. Epaminond. et Hannib. lib. 9. p. 762.

192Id. lib. 6. p. 678....79.

193Justin. lib. 6. p. 74.

194Plutarch, Justin, Corn. Nepos.

195When Aristides had acquired the surname of Just he became the object of the Athenian envy, and the Ostracism was demanded against him. Whilst the people were preparing their shells, a country voter, who could neither read nor write, brought his shell to Aristides, and desired him to write the name of Aristides upon it. Aristides, not a little surprised at his request, asked him what injury that Aristides had done him. Me! none, replied the fellow, for I do not so much as know the man by sight, but it galls me to the soul to hear him every where called the Just.... Plut. in Vit. Aristid. p. 322, 323.

196They kept the field and attacked Sparta, when the time of their office was near expired, by which means they were in office more than the regular time.

197Arist. de Republ. lib. 2. cap. 9. lit. 4.

198Polyb. lib. 6. p. 692.

199Id. ibid.

200Ibid.

201Polyb. lib 6. p. 681.

202Excerpt. ex Polyb. de virtutibus et vitiis, p. 1426.

203Perses, &c.

204Varro.

205Excudent alii spirantia mollius æra:Credo equidem, vivos ducent de marmore vultus.Virg. Æneid. lib. 6.Tu regere imperio populos, Romane, memento(Hæ tibi erunt artes) pacique imponere moremParcere subjectis, &c. Ibid.

Excudent alii spirantia mollius æra:Credo equidem, vivos ducent de marmore vultus.Virg. Æneid. lib. 6.Tu regere imperio populos, Romane, memento(Hæ tibi erunt artes) pacique imponere moremParcere subjectis, &c. Ibid.

Excudent alii spirantia mollius æra:

Credo equidem, vivos ducent de marmore vultus.

Virg. Æneid. lib. 6.

Tu regere imperio populos, Romane, memento

(Hæ tibi erunt artes) pacique imponere morem

Parcere subjectis, &c. Ibid.

206Polyb. lib. 1. p. 92...3.

207Polyb. p. 98...9.

208Diodor. Sicul. lib. 20. p. 735...36.

209Livy. lib. 28. p. 58...9.

210Appian, de Bell. Punick. p. 36.

211Polyb. lib. 1. p. 104....5.

212Polyb. lib. 1. p. 115.

213Ibid. lib. 1. p. 115.

214Polyb. lib. 1. p. 115.

215Idem. ibid. 117.

216Polyb. Ἀγαθὸς πεττευτὴς ibid. p. 119.

217Id. ibid. Πολιτικοὺς ἱππεῖς καὶ πεζοὺς. p. 120.

218Polyb. lib. 1. p. 119.

219Polyb. lib. 1. p. 119.

220Polyb. Id. ibid. p. 121.

221Polyb. lib. 1. p. 122.

222Τοὺς ὑπολοίπους τῶν ἐν ταῖς ἡλικίαις καθοπλίσαντες (οἷον ἐσχάτην τρέχοντες ταύτην) ἐξαπέστελλον πρὸς τὸν Βάρκαν. Polyb. lib. 1. p. 122.

223Polyb. lib. 2. p. 172.

224Μιᾷ γνώμῃ. Polyb. lib. 3. p. 234.

225This will be explained in another place.

226Lib. 3. p. 236.

227Id. ibid. p. 237.

228Polyb. lib. 3. 243....44.

229Polyb. id. ibid.

230Polyb. lib. 3. p. 259.

231Livy, lib. 21. p. 132.

232Ib. p. 135.

233Liv. lib. 21. p. 135. 36.

234Id. ibid.

235Liv. lib. 3. p. 142....43.

236Polyb. lib. 11. p. 888....89.

237Appian. de Bell. Annib. 323. Edit. Hen. Steph.

238Lib. 23 p. 265....66.

239Liv. lib. 30. p. 135.

240Lib. 22, p. 240.

241Appian. de Bell. Hannib. p. 328.

242Iberic. p. 259.

243Appian. id. ibid.

244Dionys. Halicarn. cap. 2. p. 137. Edit. Wechel.

245About three hundred pounds.

246Liv. lib. 4. p. 276.

247Romulus had divided the whole people into thirty curiæ, ten of which composed a tribe. At their comitia or general assemblies, the people divided into their respective curiæ and gave their votes man by man. The majority of votes in each curia passed for the voice of the whole curia, and the majority of the curiæ for the general determination of the whole people.Tullius on the contrary took their votes only by centuries, the whole number of which amounted to one hundred and ninety-three, into which he had subdivided the six classes. But as the first class alone, which was composed wholly of the rich, contained ninety-eight of these centuries, if the centuries of the first class were unanimous, which, as Dionysius informs us, was generally the case, they carried every point by a sure majority of three.... If they disagreed, Tullius called the centuries of the second class, and so on until ninety-seven centuries agreed in one opinion, which made a majority of one. If the numbers continued equal, that is ninety-six on each side of the question, after the five first classes had voted; Tullius called up the sixth class which was composed wholly of the poorest people, and contained but one century, and the vote of this century determined the question.... But this case, as Dionysius observes, happened so very rarely; that even the votes of the fourth class were seldom called for, and thus the votes of the fifth and sixth were generally useless. Consequently when the people voted by their curiæ, where the vote of every individual was taken, the poor who were much the most numerous, might always be secure of a great majority.... But when the votes were taken by centuries, according to the new method instituted by Tullius, that numerous body of the poor, which composed the single century of the sixth class, and consequently had but one vote, became wholly insignificant.

Tullius on the contrary took their votes only by centuries, the whole number of which amounted to one hundred and ninety-three, into which he had subdivided the six classes. But as the first class alone, which was composed wholly of the rich, contained ninety-eight of these centuries, if the centuries of the first class were unanimous, which, as Dionysius informs us, was generally the case, they carried every point by a sure majority of three.... If they disagreed, Tullius called the centuries of the second class, and so on until ninety-seven centuries agreed in one opinion, which made a majority of one. If the numbers continued equal, that is ninety-six on each side of the question, after the five first classes had voted; Tullius called up the sixth class which was composed wholly of the poorest people, and contained but one century, and the vote of this century determined the question.... But this case, as Dionysius observes, happened so very rarely; that even the votes of the fourth class were seldom called for, and thus the votes of the fifth and sixth were generally useless. Consequently when the people voted by their curiæ, where the vote of every individual was taken, the poor who were much the most numerous, might always be secure of a great majority.... But when the votes were taken by centuries, according to the new method instituted by Tullius, that numerous body of the poor, which composed the single century of the sixth class, and consequently had but one vote, became wholly insignificant.

248Dionys. Halicarn. lib. 4. p. 182. edit. 1546.

249Dionys. Halicarn. id. ibid.

250Dionys. Halicarn. lib. 5. p. 205.

251Dionys. Halicarn. lib. 5. p. 247.

252Dionys. Halicarn. lib. 6. p. 255.

253Dionys. Halicarn. lib. 6. p. 266.

254I have chiefly followed Livy in his beautiful relation of this affair, as the description he gives of this unhappy object, is not only much more striking than that of Dionysius, but one of the most pathetick I ever met with in history. Liv. lib. 2. p. 92.

255Dionys. Halicarn. lib. 61. p. 268.

256Dionys. Halicarn. lib. 6. p. 270.

257Dionys. Halicarn. lib. 6. p. 276...77.

258It is remarkable that Appius terms the aristocracy, which at that very time was hardly seventeen years standing, the form of government which they had inherited from their ancestors.

259Liv. lib. 2. p. 91.

260Sallust. Fragment. apud Augustin. de civitate Dei. lib. 2. cap. 18. edit. Froben. 1569.

261In the comitia tributa or assemblies by tribes the people voted in the same manner, as in the comitia curiata or assemblies by curiæ. The majority of single votes in every tribe constituted the voice of that tribe, and the majority of the tribes decided the question. But the Patricians conscious of their superiority in the comitia centuriata or assemblies by centuries, constantly refused to obey the plebiscita or decrees made by the people in their assemblies by tribes, which they insisted were binding to the Plebeians only. After the abolition of the decemvirate the people obtained a law: ... “that all laws passed in their assemblies by tribes should have equal force with those made in the assemblies by centuries, and should be equally obligatory to all the Romans without distinction.

262The place of election.

263Proscriptiones innoxiorum ob divitias, cruciatus virorum illustrium, vastam urbem fuga et cædibus, bona civium miserorum quasi Cimbricam prædum, venum aut dono datam. Sall. Frag. p. 142.

264Ante Carthaginem deletam ... metus hostilis in bonis artibus civitatem retinebat. Sall. Bell. Jug. p. 80.

265Postquam remoto metu Punico mores non paulatim ut antea, sed torrentis modo præcipitati. Sall. Frag. p. 139.... Rapere, consumere, sua parvi pendere, aliena cupere, pudorem, pudicitiam, divina humana promiscua, nihil pensi, neque moderati habere. De Bell. Cat. pag. 8.

265Postquam remoto metu Punico mores non paulatim ut antea, sed torrentis modo præcipitati. Sall. Frag. p. 139.

... Rapere, consumere, sua parvi pendere, aliena cupere, pudorem, pudicitiam, divina humana promiscua, nihil pensi, neque moderati habere. De Bell. Cat. pag. 8.

266Cæpere nobilitas dignitatem, populus libertatem in lubidinem vertere. Bell. Jug. p. 80.

267Postquam divitiæ honori esse cœperunt, et eas gloria, imperium, potentia sequebatur hebescere virtus, paupertas probro haberi, innocentia pro malevolentia duci cæpit. Bell. Cat. p. 8.

268Ita cum potentia avaritia sine modo, modestiaque invadere, polluere, et vastare omnia, nihil pensi neque sancti habere. p. 81.Sibi quisque ducere, trahere rapere. De Bell. Jug. p. 81.

268Ita cum potentia avaritia sine modo, modestiaque invadere, polluere, et vastare omnia, nihil pensi neque sancti habere. p. 81.

Sibi quisque ducere, trahere rapere. De Bell. Jug. p. 81.

269Eos paulatim expulsos agris, inertia atque inopia incertas domos habere subegit: cæpere alienas opes petere, libertatem suam cum Republica venalem habere. Sall. Orat. 2. ad Cæsarem de Repub. Ordinand. p. 197.

270Ita omnia in duas partes abstracta sunt: respublica, quæ media fuerat, dilacerata. De Bell. Jug. p. 80.

271Pecuniæ cupido fidem, probitatem ceterasque bonas artes subvertit; pro his superbiam, crudelitatem deos negligere, omnia venalia habere edocuit. De Bell. Cat. p. 7.

272Cupido Imperii, id. p. 7.

273Primo pecuniæ, dein imperii cupido crevit, ea quasi materies omnium malorum fuere.... Post ubi contagio, quasi pestilentia, invasit, civitas immutata, imperium ex justissimo atque optumo, crudele intolerandumque factum. De Bell. Cat. p. 7.

274Aliud clausum in pectore, aliud promptum in lingua habere, amicitias, inimicitiasq; vultum, quam ingenium bonum habere. Ibid.

275Malitia præmiis exercetur; ubi ea demseris, nemo omnium gratuito malus est. p. 200.

276Nam, ubi malos præmia sequuntur, haud facile quisquam gratuito bonus est. Sall. Orat. Philip. contra Lapid. p. 145.

277Pauci potentes, quorum in gratia plerique concesserant, sub honesto patrum, aut plebis nomine dominationes affectabant, bonique et mali cives appellati, non ob merita in rempublicam (omnibus pariter corruptis) sed uti quisque locupletissimus et injuria validior, quia præsentia defendebat, pro bono ducebatur. Frag. p. 139.

278Iidem illi factiosi regunt, dant, adimunt quæ lubet; innocentes circumveniunt: suos ad honorem extollunt. Non facinus, non probrum, aut flagitium obstat, quo minus magistratus expetant: quod commodum est, trahunt, rapiunt: postremo tamquam urbe capta, lubidine ac licentia sua pro legibus utuntur. Sall. Or. 2. ad Cæsar. p. 196.

279Divitiis, quas honeste habere licebat, per turpitudinem abuti properabant. Lubido strupri, ganeæ, cæterique cultus non minor incesserat.... Vescendi causa, terra mariq; omnia exquirere; dormire priusquam somni cupido esset: non famam, aut sitim, neq; frigus, neq; lassitudinem operiri; sed ea omnia luxu ante capere. Hæc juventutem, ubi familiares opes defecerant, ad facinora incedebant. Animus imbutus malis artibus haud facile lubidinibus carebat: eo profusius omnibus modis quæstui atque sumtui deditus erat. Sall. de Bell. Cat. p. 9.

280Ubi divitiæ claræ habentur, ibi omnia bona vilia sunt, fides, probitas, pudor, pudicitia. Sall. Orat. 2. ad Cæs. p. 199.

281Itaque omnes concessere jam in paucorum dominationem, qui per militare nomen, ærarium, exercitum, regnum, provincias occupavere, et arcem habent ex spoliis vestris: cum interim more pecudum vos multitudo singulis habendos, fruendosque præbetis, exsuti omnibus, quæ majores reliquere: nisi quia vosmet ipsi per suffragia, uti præsides olim, nunc dominos destinatis. Salt. Frag. Orat. Lepid. ad Pleb. p. 160.

282Διαφθειρομένου δὲ τοῦ δήμου ταῖς δωροδοκίαις ὑπὸ τῶν φιλαρχούντων, καὶ χρωμένων τῷ δεκάζεσθαι καθάπερ ἐργασίᾳ συνήθει τῶν πολλῶν, βουλόμενος ἐκκόψαι παντάπασι τὸ νόσημα τοῦτο τῆς πόλεως, ἔπεισε δόγμα θέσθαι τὴν σύγκλητον, ὅπως οἱ κατασταθέντες ἄρχοντες, εἰ μηδένα κατήγορον ἔχοιεν, αὐτοὶ παριόντες ἐξ ἀνάγκης εἰς ἔνορκον δικαστήριον εὐθύνας διδῶσιν. Plut. in Vit. Cat. p. 126.

283Ἕωθεν οὖν ἐπὶ τὸ βῆμα τοῦ Κάτωνος, προελθόντος, ἀθρόοι προσπεσόντες ἐβόων, ἐβλασφήμουν, ἔβαλλον. Plut. ibid.

284Hinc rapti fasces pretio: sectorque favorisIpse sui populus: lethalisque ambitus urbiAnnua venali referens certamina campo.Lucan. Pharsal. lib. 1. Edit. 1506.

Hinc rapti fasces pretio: sectorque favorisIpse sui populus: lethalisque ambitus urbiAnnua venali referens certamina campo.Lucan. Pharsal. lib. 1. Edit. 1506.

Hinc rapti fasces pretio: sectorque favoris

Ipse sui populus: lethalisque ambitus urbi

Annua venali referens certamina campo.

Lucan. Pharsal. lib. 1. Edit. 1506.

285Mala sua, quod malorum ultimum est, amant ... et definit esse remedio locus, ubi quæ fuerant vitia, mores sunt. Senec. Ep. 39. p. 100.

286In tanta tamque corrupta civitate, Catilina omnium flagitiosorum, atque facino osorum circum se, tamquam stipatorum catervas habebat. Sall. de Bell. Cat. p. 9.

287Καίσαρος——τὰ νοσοῦντα καὶ διεφθαρμένα τῆς πολιτείας μέρη ταράττοντος καὶ συνάγοντος πρὸς αὑτὸν. Plut. in Vit. Cat. Min. p. 241.

288Peculatus ærarii, et per vim sociis ereptæ pecuniæ, quæ quamquam gravia sunt, tamen consuetudine jam pro nihilo habentur. Sall. de Bell. Jug. p. 73.

289Adeo juventus luxu atque avaritia corrupta est, uti merito dicatur, genitos esse, qui neque ipsi habere possent res familiares, neque alios pati. Sall. Frag. pag. 139.

290Popilius to Antiochus Epiph. Livy. lib. 45. p. 672.

291Juv. Sat. 4.

292... Ex quo suffragia nulliVendimus, effugit Curas. Nam qui dabat olimImperium, fasces, legiones, omnia, nunc seContinet, atque duas tantum res anxius optatPanem et Circenses.Juv. Sat. 10. lin. 77.Otium cum servitio.Sall. Frag. p. 341.

... Ex quo suffragia nulliVendimus, effugit Curas. Nam qui dabat olimImperium, fasces, legiones, omnia, nunc seContinet, atque duas tantum res anxius optatPanem et Circenses.Juv. Sat. 10. lin. 77.Otium cum servitio.Sall. Frag. p. 341.

... Ex quo suffragia nulli

Vendimus, effugit Curas. Nam qui dabat olim

Imperium, fasces, legiones, omnia, nunc se

Continet, atque duas tantum res anxius optat

Panem et Circenses.

Juv. Sat. 10. lin. 77.

Otium cum servitio.

Sall. Frag. p. 341.

293Ludi Scenici.

294Histriones.

295Etenim cum artifex ejusmodi sit; ut solus dignus videatur esse, qui in scena spectetur: tum vir ejusmodi est, ut solus dignus videatur, qui eo non accedat. Orat. pro Rosc. Edit. Glasg. p. 43.

296Divus Augustus immunes verberum histriones quondam responderat. Tacit. c. 14. p. 42. Edit. Glasg.Coercitionem in histriones magistratibus in omni tempore et loco lege vetere permissam ademit. Suet. in Vit. Aug. p. 163.

296Divus Augustus immunes verberum histriones quondam responderat. Tacit. c. 14. p. 42. Edit. Glasg.

Coercitionem in histriones magistratibus in omni tempore et loco lege vetere permissam ademit. Suet. in Vit. Aug. p. 163.

297Histrionum licentiam adeo compescuit, ut Stephanionem Togatorium, cui in puerilem habitum circumtonsam matronam ministrasse compererat, per tria theatra virgis cœsum relegaverit. Hylam pantomimum querente prætore, in atrio domus suæ, nemine excluso, flagellis verberaverit: et Hyladem urbe atque Italia submoverit, quod spectatorem a quo exsibilabatur, demonstrasset digito, conspicuumque fecisset. Ibid.

298Ostendam nobilissimos juvenes mancipia pantomimorum. Senec. Epist. 47. p. 118.

299Variis dehinc et sæpius irritis prætorum questibus, postremo Cæsar de immodestia histrionum retulit; multa ab iis in publicum seditiose, fœda per domos tentari ... eo flagitiorum et virium venisse, ut auctoritate patrum coercendum sit. Pulsi tum histriones Italia. Tacit. Annal. 4. p. 134.

300Cæde in theatro per discordiam admissa, capita factionum et histriones propter quos dissidebatur, relegavit: nec ut revocaret unquam ullis populi precibus potuit evinci. Suet. in Tib. c. 37.

301Συμφέρει σοὶ, Καῖσαρ, περὶ ἡμᾶς τὸν δῆμον ἀποδιατρίβεσθαι. Dion. Cass. lib. 54. p. 533.

302Verum equitis quoque jam migravit ab aure voluptasOmnis, ad incertos oculos, et gaudia vana.Hor. epist. 1. lib. 2. lin. 187.Tanto cum strepitu ludi spectantur, et artes,Divitiæque peregrinæ: quibus oblitus actorQuum stetit in scena, concurrit dextera lævæ:Dixit adhuc aliquid? nil sane. Quid placet ergo?Lana Tarentino violas imitata veneno.Ibid. lin. 203.

Verum equitis quoque jam migravit ab aure voluptasOmnis, ad incertos oculos, et gaudia vana.Hor. epist. 1. lib. 2. lin. 187.Tanto cum strepitu ludi spectantur, et artes,Divitiæque peregrinæ: quibus oblitus actorQuum stetit in scena, concurrit dextera lævæ:Dixit adhuc aliquid? nil sane. Quid placet ergo?Lana Tarentino violas imitata veneno.Ibid. lin. 203.

Verum equitis quoque jam migravit ab aure voluptas

Omnis, ad incertos oculos, et gaudia vana.

Hor. epist. 1. lib. 2. lin. 187.

Tanto cum strepitu ludi spectantur, et artes,

Divitiæque peregrinæ: quibus oblitus actor

Quum stetit in scena, concurrit dextera lævæ:

Dixit adhuc aliquid? nil sane. Quid placet ergo?

Lana Tarentino violas imitata veneno.

Ibid. lin. 203.

303Dionys. Halicarn. lib. 2. 65.

304Mores majorum non paulatim ut antea, sed torrentis modo precipitati. Sallust. Fragment. p. 139.

305Nulla umquam res publica sanctior, nec bonis exemplis dititor fuit. Liv. in Præfat.

306Dionys. Halicarn. Lib. 2. p. 61, 62.

307—Tamen nec numero Hispanos, nec rebore Gallos, nec calliditate Pœnos, nec artibus Græcos.

308Sed pietate ac religione, atque hac una sapientia, quod deorum immortalium numine omnia regi gubernarique perspeximus, omnes gentes nationesque superavimus. Cic. de. Harus resp. p. 189.

309Quis est qui—-cum deos esse intellexerit, non intelligat eorum numine hoc tantum imperium esse natum, et auctum et retentum. Ibid. p. 188.

310Cari sunt parentes, cari liberi, propinqui et familiares: sed omnes omnium caritates patria una complexa est. Cic. de Offic.

311Pro qua patria, mori, et cui nos totos dedere, et in qua nostra omnia ponere, et quasi consecrare debemus. Cic. de Leg.

312That the fundamental principles of the stoicks tended to atheism I readily grant: but as the real philosophers of that sect inculcated a thorough contempt for what are called the good things of this life, and were extremely austere in their morals; their doctrines seem to have had a very different influence upon the manners of the people wherever they were received, from those of the Epicureans.—Brutus and Cato the inflexible champions of liberty, and almost the only virtuous characters in that corrupt period, were rigid stoicks.—Julius Cæsar who subverted the constitution of his country, was a thorough Epicurean, both in principle and practice. His principles we plainly see in his sophistical speech in Sallust, where he urges the total extinction of our being at death, as an argument for sparing the lives of Cataline’s accomplices. For he audaciously affirms to the senate:—“that death as a punishment was so far from being an evil; that it released us from all our sorrows, when labouring under distress and misery: that it put a final period to all the evils of this life, beyond which there was no longer room either for grief or joy.” Thus as the learned Dr. Warburton justly remarks, “he took occasion, with a licentiousness until then unknown to that august assembly, to explain and enforce the avowed principles of Epicurus (of whose sect he was) concerningthe mortality of the soul.” Divine legation part 2d. pages, 111, 112, last edition. That his manners were notoriously infamous we may learn from the history of his life in Suetonius, where he is termedthe husband of every woman, and the wife of every man. Omnium mulierum virum, et omnium virorum mulierem. Sueton. in vit. Jul. Cæsar, c. 52. ad finem.

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