Plutarch

“ Agesilaus and Lysander, Nikias and Alkibiades knew well how to wage war and win battles both by land and by sea, but they never could make their victories yield any honourable benefit to others, or true glory to themselves. Indeed with the exception of Marathon and Salamis, Platæa and Thermopylæ, and the campaigns of Kimon on the Eurymedon and in Cyprus, all the other battles of Greece have been fought against herself, to bring about her slavery, and every trophy has been a misfortune, and a monument of shame rather than glory, arising chiefly from the rivalry between the leading cities. ”

“ Yet Hannibal did not fall so low as Caius Marius. The former was to the last the friend of a king, and spent his time in sailing in ships, riding on horseback, and in the study of how to keep a military force efficient; whereas the Romans, who had laughed Marius to scorn as he wandered a beggar in Africa, soon licked the dust before him while he flogged and slaughtered them in Rome. Thus no one of our present circumstances can be said to be either important or trifling, great or small, in comparison with what is to come, but we only cease to change when we cease to exist. ”

“ The slaughter was now great, and Cinna's appetite was dulled and he was satisfied with blood; but Marius daily went on with his passion at the highest pitch and thirsting for vengeance, through the whole list of those whom suspected in any degree. And every road and every city was filled with the pursuers, hunting out those who attempted to escape and conceal themselves, and the ties of hospitality and friendship were proved to be no security in misfortune, for they were very few who did not betray those who sought refuge with them. ”

“ I would willingly put this question to Cato: "If we ought to enjoy our wealth, why do you make a virtue of simplicity of living when you are a rich man? If, on the other hand, it is a noble thing, as no doubt it is, to eat common bread, to drink the same wine as our servants and farm labourers do, and not to want fine clothes or comfortable houses, then Aristeides and Epameinondus, Manius Curius and Caius Fabricius were to be applauded for their neglect of the wealth, whose use they rejected." ”

“ What has become of that boast which we were so fond of making before all mankind, that if Alexander the Great had invaded Italy, and had met us when we were young, and our fathers when they were in the prime of life, he would not have been reputed invincible, but would either have fled or perhaps even have fallen, and added to the glory of Rome? ”

“ We may well think that they had no other talk at the table but of the great and terrible wars which Greece had fought for her liberty, and that nevertheless she never had obtained so perfect and delightful a state of freedom as that which had been won for her by other men's labours, almost without any blood of her own being spilt. It is indeed rare to find bravery and wisdom combined in any man, but it is even rarer to find a perfectly just man. ”

“ IV. Some, indeed, may dispute this; for it is true that poverty is no disgrace in itself, but only when it is a proof of indolence, extravagance, or folly. The poverty of a laborious, upright, temperate statesman combines well with his other virtues, and shows true greatness of mind: for a man whose attention is given to little things, can never succeed in doing great ones; nor can a man help others if he is in need of help himself. A statesman requires, not wealth, but contentment, in order that his attention may not be diverted from public affairs by his own cravings for useless luxuries. ”

“ Gentlemen, you all know Aristeides the son of Lysimachus, whose name is renowned throughout Greece. How think you that man fares at home, when you see him appearing in public with such a worn-out cloak? May we not suppose when we see him shivering out of doors, that he has but little to eat at home, and is in want of common necessaries? Yet Kallias, the richest man in Athens, allows this man, who is his own cousin, to be in want, he and his wife and children, though he has often benefited by him and profited by his influence with you. ”

“ He roused his men from their former timid and disheartened condition, making them eager to distinguish themselves in battle, and, what is more, never to yield the victory without a determined struggle. And all this, as far as any single man could, was effected by Marcellus; for whereas his troops had been accustomed to be well satisfied if they escaped with their lives from Hannibal, he taught them to be ashamed of surviving defeat, to blush to give way ever so little, and to grieve if they were not victorious. ”

“ Allies, we beg of you a favour which will prove to be an honour and a comfort to us in this our great misfortune. We Thessalians shall never again escort Pelopidas, nor render him the honours which he deserved; but if we may have his body to touch, and ourselves adorn it and bury it, we shall then be able to show you that we Thessalians truly feel this misfortune more than even you Thebans. For you have only lost a good general, while we have lost that, and our liberty too, since how can we ever have the heart to ask you for another general, after not giving you your Pelopidas back. ”

“ The horsemen rode off in anger, and the sailors again changing their minds, came to land, and casting anchor at the mouth of the Liris, which spreads out like a lake, they advised Marius to disembark and take some food on land and to rest himself from his fatigues till a wind should rise: they added, that it was the usual time for the sea-breeze to decline, and for a fresh breeze to spring up from the marshes. Marius did as they advised, and the sailors carried him out of the vessel and laid him on the grass, little expecting what was to follow. ”

“ The reward for killing a proscribed person was two talents, whether it was a slave who killed his master or a son who killed his father. But what was considered most unjust of all, he affixed infamy on the sons and grandsons of the proscribed and confiscated their property. The proscriptions were not confined to Rome; they extended to every city of Italy: neither temple nor hospitable hearth nor father's house was free from murder, but husbands were butchered in the arms of their wives, and children in the embrace of their mothers. ”

“ After his death, Pelopidas was buried by his allies, fighting for whom he died; but Marcellus was buried by the enemy at whose hands he fell. The first was an enviable end, but the other is greater, as the spectacle of an enemy honouring the valour by which he has suffered is greater than that of a friend showing gratitude to a friend. In the one case it is the man's glory alone that is respected, in the other, his usefulness and value are as much thought of as his courage. ”

“ Soldiers do not so much admire a general who shares with them the honour and the spoil, as one who participates in their toils and dangers; and they love a general who will take a part in their labours more than one who indulges their licence. By such conduct as this, and by gaining the affection of the soldiers, Marius soon filled Libya and Rome with his fame and his glory, for the soldiers wrote to their friends at home and told them there would be no end to the war with the barbarian, no deliverance from it, if they did not elect Marius consul. ”

“ When Fabius Maximus took the city of Tarentum, Cato, who was a very young lad at the time, was serving in his army. He became intimate there with one Nearchus, a philosopher of the Pythagorean school, and listened with much interest to his discourses. Hearing this man, like Plato, describe pleasure as the greatest temptation to evil, and the body as the chief hindrance to the soul, which can only free and purify itself by such a course of reasoning as removes it from and sets it above all bodily passions and feelings, he was yet more encouraged in his love of simplicity and frugality. ”

“ Learning from this man that all the rest of the army was with King Antiochus himself, guarding the pass of Thermopylæ, and that only a body of six hundred picked Ætolians were watching the path over the mountains, Cato despising so small and contemptible a force, at once drew his sword, and led on his troops with shouts and trumpets sounding the charge. The Ætolians, as soon as they saw the Romans descending from the hills, fled to the main body, and filled it with confusion and terror. ”

“ But Marcellus, without any necessity, without the excitement which sometimes in perilous circumstances overpowers men's reason, pushed heedlessly into danger, and died the death of a spy rather than a general, risking his five consulships, his three triumphs, his spoils and trophies won from kings against the worthless lives of Iberian and Numidian mercenaries. They themselves must have felt ashamed at their success, that the bravest, most powerful, and most celebrated of the Romans should have fallen among a reconnoitring party of Fregellans. ”

“ XXIII. But that power which permits no great good fortune to give a pleasure untempered and pure, and diversifies human life with a mixture of evil and of good—be it Fortune [91] or Nemesis, or the necessary nature of things—in a few days brought to Marius intelligence about his companion in command, Catulus, involving Rome again in alarm and tempest, like a cloud which overcasts a clear and serene sky. ”

“ Moreover, Titus had at his disposal the resources of Rome, then in the zenith of her strength, while Philopœmen had the glory of performing his greatest exploits at a time when Greece was in her decadence, so that his work was all his own, while the glory of the Roman must be shared with his countrymen. The one was the leader of good soldiers, but the other by his leadership made good soldiers. That his conflicts were all against Greeks was unfortunate, but gives a strong proof of his powers; for among men who are alike in other respects, victory must be won by sheer courage. ”

“ 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. ”

“ A peaceful retirement, and a life of literary leisure, is no doubt a great comfort to a man who has withdrawn himself from taking any active part in politics; but to perform notable exploits with no object in view except to obtain the means of enjoyment, and to pass from the command of armies and the conduct of great wars to a life of voluptuous indolence and luxury seems unworthy of a philosopher of the Academy, or of any who profess to follow the doctrine of Xenokrates, and to be rather fit for a disciple of Epikurus. ”

“ For neither is avoidance of death blameable, if a man does not cling to his life from dishonourable motives; nor is exposure to peril honourable, if it springs from carelessness of life. For this reason Homer always brings the most daring and warlike heroes into battle well and beautifully armed, and the Greek lawgivers punish the man who throws away his shield, but not him who throws away his sword or spear, showing that it is each man's duty to take more care that he does not receive hurt himself, than to hurt the enemy, especially if he be the chief of an army or city. ”