Deipnosophistae

Athenaeus of Naucratis

Athenaeus. The Deipnosophists or Banquet Of The Learned Of Athenaeus. Yonge, Charles Duke, translator. London: Henry G. Bohn, 1854.

But concerning the ship built by Hiero, the tyrant of Syracuse, which also Archimedes the geometrician superintended, I do not think it right to be silent, since a certain man named Moschion has given a description of it, which I read over with great care very lately.

Moschion, then, writes as follows:—"Diocles, a citizen of Abdera, speaks with great admiration of the engine called Helepolis, which was brought by Demetrius against the city of the Rhodians, and applied to their walls. And Timæus extols highly the funeral pile made for Dionysius the tyrant of Sicily. And Hieronymus lavishes his admiration on the building and adorning of the chariot in which the body of Alexander was borne to the tomb. And Polycletus speaks in high terms of the candlestick which was made for the king of

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Persia. But Hiero, the king of the Syracusans, who was in every respect a friend to the Romans, was very attentive to the furnishing of temples and gymnasia; and was also very earnest in ship-building, having built a great number of vessels to carry corn; the construction of one of which I will describe. For the wood, he caused such a number of trees to be cut down on Mount Aetna as would have been sufficient for sixty triremes, and when this was done he prepared nails, and planks for the sides and for the inside, and wood for every other purpose that could be required, some from Italy and some from Sicily. And for ropes he provided cordage from Spain, and hemp, and pitch from the river Rhone; and he collected great quantities of useful things from all quarters. And he collected also shipwrights and other artisans. And having appointed Archias the Corinthian the superintendent of them all, and the principal architect, he bade them labour at the construction with zeal and earnestness, he himself also devoting his days to watching its progress. And in this way he finished half the ship in six months; and every part of the vessel as soon as it was finished was immediately covered over with plates of lead. And there were three hundred workmen employed in working up the timber, besides the subord nate journeymen whom they had to assist them. And it was arranged to draw this portion that was done so far down to the sea, that it might receive the last finishing strokes there. And when there was a great inquiry as to the best method of launching it into the sea, Archimedes the mechanician launched it by himself with the aid of a few persons. Eor having prepared a helix he drew this vessel, enormous as it was, down into the sea. And Archimedes was the first person who ever invented this helix. But after the remainder of the ship had also been completed in six months more, and it had been surrounded all round with brazen nails, the greater part of which weighed ten minæ, and the rest were half as big again—(and they were driven in through holes made beforehand by gimlets, so as to hold the planks firm; and they were fastened to the wood with leaden plugs; pieces of cloth being put under, impregnated with pitch)—after, I say, Hiero had completed the external figure of the vessel, he laboured at the interior.

"And the vessel was constructed with twenty banks of

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oars, and three entrances, having the lowest entrance leading to the hold, to which the descent was by two ladders of many steps each: and the next was contrived for those who wished to go down to the eating-rooms: and the third was for the armed men. And on each side of the middle entrance were apartments for the men, each with four couches in them, thirty in number. And the supper-room for the sailors was capable of holding fifteen couches, and it had within it three chambers, each containing three couches; and the kitchen was towards the stern of the ship. And all these rooms had floors composed of mosaic work, of all kinds of stones tesselated. And on this mosaic the whole story of the Iliad was depicted in a marvellous manner. And in all the furniture and the ceilings and the doors everything was executed and finished in the same admirable manner. And along the uppermost passage was a gymnasium and walks, having their appointments in all respects corresponding to the size of the vessel. And in them were gardens of all sorts of most wonderful beauty, enriched with all sorts of plants, and shaded by roofs of lead or tiles. And besides this there were tents roofed with boughs of white ivy and of the vine, the roots of which derived their moisture from casks full of earth, and were watered in the same manner as the gardens. And the tents themselves helped to shadow the walks. And next to these things was a temple devoted to Venus, containing three couches, with a floor of agate and other most beautiful stones, of every sort which the island afforded. And its walls and its roof were made of cypress-wood, and its doors of ivory and citron-wood. And it was furnished in the most exquisite manner with pictures and statues, and with goblets and vases of every form and shape imaginable.

"And next to that was a drawing-room capable of containing five couches, with its walls and doors made of boxwood, having a book-case in it, and along the roof a clock, imitated from the dial at Achradina. And there was also a bath-room, capable of containing three couches, having three brazen vessels for holding hot water, and a bath containing five measures of water, beautifully variegated with Tauromenian marble. And many rooms were also prepared for the marines, and for those who looked to the pumps. And besides all this there were ten stalls for horses on each side of the

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walls; and by them the fodder for the horses was kept, and the arms and furniture of the horsemen and of the boys. There was also a cistern near the head of the ship, carefully shut, and containing two thousand measures of water, made of beams closely compacted with pitch and canvass. And next to the cistern there was a large Water-tight well for fish, made so with beams of wood and lead. And it was kept full of sea-water, and great numbers of fish were kept in it. And on each side of the walls there were also projecting beams, placed at well-proportioned intervals; and to these were attached stores of wood, and ovens, and baking places, and mills, and many other useful offices. And all round the outside of the ship ran atlases six cubits high, which supported the weight which was placed above them, and the triglyph, all being placed at convenient distances from one another. And the whole ship was adorned with suitable pictures.

"And in the vessel were eight towers of a size proportioned to the burden of the ship, two at the stern, and as many at the head, and the rest in the middle of the ship. And to each of these were fastened two large beams, or yards, from which port-holes were fixed, through which stones were let down upon any enemy who might come against the ship. And on each of the towers stood four young men fully armed, and two archers. And the whole of the interior of the towers was full of stones and darts. And a wall, having buttresses and decks, ran all through the ship, supported on trestles; and on these decks was placed a catapult, which hurled a stone weighing three talents, and an arrow twelve cubits long. And this engine was devised and made by Archimedes; and it could throw every arrow a furlong. And besides all this, there were mats composed of stout ropes[*](I have adopted here Casaubon's conjectural emendation, and his interpretation of it. The text of the MSS. seems undoubtedly corrupt.) suspended by brazen chains; and as there were three masts, from each of them were suspended two large yard bearing stones, from which hooks and leaden weights were let down upon any enemy which might attack the vessel. And there was also a palisade all round the ship, made of iron, as a defence against those who might attempt to board it; and iron ravens, as they were called, all round the ship, which, being shot forth by engines, seized on the vessels of the enemy, and brought

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them round so as to expose them to blows. And on each of the sides of the ship stood sixty young men clad in complete armour; and an equal number stood on the masts, and on the yards which carried the stones; and they were also on the masts, up at the mast-head, which was made of brass. On the first there were three men, and on the second two, and on the third one. And they had stones brought up to them in wicker baskets by means of pulleys, and arrows were supplied to them by boys, within the defended parts of the mast-heads. And the vessel had four wooden anchors and eight iron ones. And of the masts, the second and third were easily found; but the first was procured with difficulty among the mountains of the Bruttii, and was discovered by a swineherd. And Phileas, a mechanic of Tauromenium, brought it down to the seaside. And the hold, although of a most enormous depth, was pumped out by one man, by means of a pulley, by an engine which was the contrivance of Archimedes. And the name of the ship was 'The Syracusan;' but when Hiero sent it to sea, he altered its name and called it 'The Alexandrian.'

"And it had some small launches attached to it, the first of which was one of the light galleys called cercurus, able to hold a weight of three thousand talents; and it was wholly moved by oars. And after that came many galleys and skiffs of about fifteen hundred talents burthen. And the crew also was proportionably numerous; for besides the men who have been already mentioned, there were six hundred more, whose post was at the head of the ship, always watching for the orders of the captain. And there was a tribunal instituted to judge of all offences which might be committed on board the ship, consisting of the captain and the pilot, and the officer of the watch; and they decided in every case according to the laws of the Syracusans.

And they put on board the ship sixty thousand measures of corn, and ten thousand jars of Sicilian salt-fish, and twenty thousand talents weight of wool, and of other cargo twenty thousand talents weight also. And besides all this, there were the provisions necessary for the crew. And Hiero, when he had understood that there was no harbour in Sicily large enough to admit this ship, and, moreover, that some of the harbours were dangerous for any vessel, determined to
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send it as a present to Alexandria to Ptolemy the king of Egypt. For there was a great dearth of corn in Egypt. And he did so; and the ship came to Alexandria, where it was put in port. And Hiero honoured Archimelus, also, the epigrammatic poet, who wrote an epigram on the ship, with a thousand bushels of wheat, which he also sent at his own expense to the Piræus; and the epigram runs thus—
  1. Who placed this monstrous mass upon the earth;
  2. What master led it with untiring cables,
  3. How was the deck nail'd to the mighty beams,
  4. And with what axe did men the vessel form?
  5. Surely it equals Aetna in its height,
  6. Or any isle which rises from the sea
  7. Where the Egean wave entwined foams
  8. Amid the Cyclades; on either side
  9. Its breadth is equal, and its walls alike.
  10. Sure 'twas the giants' work, who hoped to reach
  11. By such vast ladder to the heights of heaven.
  12. Its topmast reaches to the stars; and hides
  13. Its mighty bulwarks 'mid the endless clouds.
  14. It holds its anchors with untiring cables,
  15. Like those with which proud Xerxes bound the strait
  16. Which between Sestos and Abydos foams.
  17. A deftly carved inscription on the side
  18. Shows what strong hand has launch'd it on the deep;
  19. It says that Hiero, Hierocles' son,
  20. The king of Sicily, pride of Dorian race,
  21. Sends it a wealthy messenger of gifts
  22. To the Aegean islands; and the God
  23. Who rules the sea, great Neptune, convoys it
  24. Safe o'er the blue and foaming waves to Greece.
And I intentionally pass over the sacred trireme built by Antigonus, which defeated the commanders of Ptolemy off Leucolla, a city under the dominion of Cos; and after that, Antigonus consecrated it to Apollo; but it was not one-third, or perhaps not even one-fourth part of the size of the Syracusan or Alexandrian vessel.

All this, then, we have said about the catalogue of the ships, not beginning with the Bœotians,[*](This is an allusion to the first line of Homer's Catalogue— βοιωτῶν μὲν πηνέλεως καὶ λήϊτος ἦρχον. ) but with the shows and processions exhibited at public assemblies. And since I know that my excellent friend Ulpian will attack s again, and ask what that thing is which Callixenus calls ἐγγυθήκη, we tell him that there is a speech which is attributed to

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Lysias the orator, written about the ἐγγυθήκη, which begins with these words—
If, O judges, Lysimanes had said anything reasonable or moderate.
And going on a little, he proceeds to say—
I should not have been eager to plead in an action about this chest (ἐγγυθήκη), which is not worth thirty drachmæ.
And presently he tells us that the chest was a brazen one—
But when I wished last year to repair it I gave it to a brazier; for it is well put together, and has the faces of Satyrs and large heads of oxen carved upon it. There is also another coffer of the same size; for the same workman made many such articles of the same size, and alike in many particulars.
In these words Lysias, having said that the chest was made of brass, shows plainly enough, as Callixenus also said, that they were things that might be used as stands for kettles. For so Polemo Periegetes said, in the third of those books of his which are addressed to Adæus and Antigonus, where he explains the subject of the picture which is at Phlius, in the portico of the polemarchs, painted by Sillax the Rhegian, who is mentioned by Epicharmus and Simonides. And his words are—
ʼἐγγυθήκη, and a large goblet on it.
And Hegesander the Delphian, in his book entitled a Commentary on Statues and Images, says that the pedestal dedicated by Glaucus the Chian at Delphi is like an iron ἐγγυθήκη, the gift of Alyattes. And that is mentioned by Herodotus, who calls it ὑποκρητηρίδιον (a stand for a goblet). And Hegesander uses the same expression. And we ourselves have seen that lying at Delphi, a thing really worth looking at, on account of the figures of animals which are carved upon it, and of other insects, and living things, and plants. . . . . . . . can be put upon it, and goblets, and other furniture.

But the thing which is called by the Alexandrians ἀγγοθήκη is a triangular vessel, hollow in the middle, capable of receiving an earthen wine-jar inside of it. And poor men have this made of wood, but rich men have it of brass or of silver.

Having said this much about the ἐγγυθήκη, let us now go on to speak of those kings who are and have been fond of good cheer. For the king, who is the namesake of the abovementioned Antiochus, and the son of Demetrius, according to the account of Posidonius, used to entertain a great crowd of people every day, and in addition to what they ate on the

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spot, he would give every one of the guests large heaps, consisting of entire joints of meat of beasts, and birds, and fishes, undivided and ready dressed, enough to fill a wagon. And besides all this, he gave them heaps of hone-cakes, and of garlands, of myrrh, and frankincense, with large fillets and bandages of golden embroidery as long as a man. And another king, Antiochus, when celebrating the games at Daphne, himself also made very sumptuous entertainments, as Posidonius himself relates; and he was the first person who ever made a distribution among the guests of whole joints of meat; and also of geese, and hares, and antelopes alive. And golden chaplets were also given to the guests, and a great quantity of silver plate, and of slaves, and horses, and camels. And each man was bound to get on the camel and drink a draught of wine, and then to accept of the camel and of the boy who stood by it.
And,
says he,
all the natives and inhabitants of Syria, on account of the fertility of the land, are accustomed to make frequent feasts after their necessary labours, in order that they may rejoice together, using their gymnasia as baths, and anointing themselves with expensive oil and perfumes; and at their grammatea (for that is the name which they give to their public entertainments) living as if in their own houses, and gratifying their stomachs the greater part of the day with wine and meat, and also carrying away a quantity of the same to their own homes, they thus spend the day, listening also to the music of the loud lyre made of the tortoise shell, so that whole cities resound with noises of this kind

And I, my friends, praise very much the entertainment which was given by Alexander the king of Syria. And this Alexander was a supposititious son of Antiochus Epiphanes, substituted on account of the hatred which all men bore to Demetrius, concerning whom our companion Athenæus has spoken in his treatise on the Kings who have reigned in Syria. Now that entertainment was conducted as nearly as may be in this fashion.

Diogenes the Epicurean, having a very tolerable acquaintance with the doctrines of the sect which he professed, was by birth a native of Seleucia, in the district of Babylon. And he was kindly received by the king, although the monarch rather inclined to the doctrines of the Stoic school.

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Accordingly, Alexander treated him with great distinction, although a man of anything but a reputable course of life, and so given to calumny and envy, that if he could raise a laugh by it, he could not abstain from even the king himself. And when he preferred to the king a request that had no great connexion with philosophy—namely, that he might be allowed to wear a purple robe and a golden crown, having a face of Virtue in the centre of it, as he claimed to be addressed as the priest of Virtue, he agreed to it all, and besides that, made him a present of the crown. And these ornaments Diogenes, being in love with a woman who was one of the Bacchanalian singers, gave to her. But Alexander, hearing of this, collected a banqueting party of philosophers and eminent men, and among them he invited Diogenes. And when he arrived he begged him to take his seat with his crown and his purple robe on. And when he replied that that would be unseemly, the king nodded to his servants to introduce the musicians, among whom this singing woman appeared, crowned with the crown of Virtue, and clothed also in the purple robe. So when every one burst into laughter at this, the philosopher kept quiet, and never stopped praising the singing woman.

But Antiochus, who succeeded Alexander in the kingdom, could not tolerate the abusive language of this Diogenes, and accordingly ordered him to be put to death. But Alexander was at all times, and in all circumstances, of a gentle disposition, and affable to every one in conversation, and not at all like Athenion the Peripatetic philosopher, who had a philosophical school at Athens, and at Messene, and also at Larissa in Thessaly, and who subsequently became tyrant of Athens; concerning whom Posidonius of Apamea gives a very particular account, which I, even though it is rather long, will quote, in order that we may come to a thorough understanding and appreciation of those men who profess to be philosophers, and that we may not be taken in by their ragged cloaks and unshaven chins. For, as Agatho says—

  1. If I do tell the truth I shall not please you;
  2. And if I please you, I shall speak no truth.
But
let truth,
as the saying is,
be one's friend.
At all events, I will quote the account given of the man.

"In the school of Erymneus the Peripatetic there was a certain man of the name of Athenion, who applied himself

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very perseveringly to philosophical discussions. He, having bought an Egyptian female slave, made her his mistress. And when she became a mother, either by him or by some one else, the child was bred up by Athenion, and received the same name as his master. And having been taught literature, he became accustomed to lead his master about when he became an old man, in company with his mother; and when he died he succeeded him as his heir, and became a citizen of Athens, being enrolled under the name of Athenion. And having married a very beautiful girl, after that he betook himself to the profession of a sophist, hunting out for boys to come to his school. And having pursued his profession of sophist at Messene and at Larissa in Thessaly, and having amassed a considerable fortune, he returned to Athens. And having been appointed an ambassador by the Athenian people, when the chief power in all that district was lodged in the hands of Mithridates, he insinuated himself into the good graces of the king, and became one of his friends, being held by him in the greatest honour; in consequence of which he wrote letters to the Athenians to raise their spirits, as one who had the greatest influence with the king of Cappadocia, leading them to hope that they should be discharged of all their existing debts, and live in peace and concord with him; and also that they should recover their democratic constitution, and receive great presents both publicly and privately. And the Athenians boasted of all these promises which were made to them, feeling sure that the supremacy of the Romans would be put an end to.

"Now when all Asia had revolted to the King, Athenio set out to return to Athens; and being tossed about by a storm he was driven to Carystus. And when the Cecropidæ heard this, they sent some ships of war to conduct him back, and a litter with silver feet. And now he is entering the city; and almost the whole of the citizens has poured out to meet him; and many other spectators came together, marvelling at this preposterous freak of fortune, that this intrusive citizen, Athenion, foisted into Athens in such a manner, should be conducted into the city on a litter with silver feet, and lying on purple clothes, a man who had never before seen even purple patch on his ragged cloak; when no one, not even of the Romans, had ever exhibited such pomp and insulting show

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in Attica before. So there ran to this spectacle men, women, children, all expecting some glorious honours from Mithridates. While Athenio, that ancient beggar, who gave lectures for trifling sums of money, was now making a procession through the country and through the city, relying on the king's favour, and treating every one with great insolence. There met him also the artisans of the spectacles of Bacchus, calling him a messenger of the young Bacchus, and inviting him to the common altar, and to the prayers and libations which were to be offered at it; and he, who had formerly come out of a hired house, into the * * * * * was conducted into a mansion adorned with couches, and pictures, and statues, and a display of silver plate. And from it he issued forth, dragging on the ground a bright cloak, and with a golden ring on his finger, having on it a carved portrait of Mithridates. And numbers of attendants went before him and followed him in procession. And in the plot of ground belonging to the artisans, sacrifices were performed in honour of the return of Athenio, and libations made with formal proclamation by a herald. And the next day many people came to his house and awaited his appearance; and the whole Ceramicus was full of citizens and foreigners, and there was a voluntary thronging of the whole population of the city to the assembly. And at last he came forth, being attended by all who wished to stand well with the people, as if they had been his bodyguards, every one hastening even to touch his garment.

He then having ascended the tribunal which had been erected for the Roman generals in front of the portico of Attalus, standing on it, and looking round on all the people in a circle, and then looking up, said, 'O men of Athens, the state of affairs and the interests of my country compel me to relate to you what I know. But the greatness of the affairs that must be mentioned, owing to the unexpected character which circumstances have assumed, hinders me from doing so.' And when all the bystanders called out to him with one accord to be of good cheer, and to tell them,
I tell you, then,' said he, ' of things which have never been hoped for, nor even imagined by any one in a dream. The king Mithridates is master of Bithynia, and of Upper Cappadocia; and he is master of the whole of Asia, without any break, as far as Pamphylia and Cilicia: and the kings of the Armenians
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and Persians are only his guards; and he is lord of all the nations which dwell around the Palus Mæotis, and the whole of Pontus, so that his dominions are upwards of thirty thousand furlongs in circumference. And the Roman commander in Pamphylia, Quintus Oppius, has been surrendered to him, and is following him as a prisoner, but Manius Aquillius, a man of consular rank, who has celebrated a triumph for his victory over the Sicilians, is fastened by a long chain to Bastarna, a man of gigantic stature, and is dragged byhim on foot at the tail of his horse. And of the other Roman citizens in Asia some have fallen down at the images of the gods, and the rest have put on square cloaks and acknowledge again the claims of their original country. And every city honouring him with more than human honours, galls the king a god; and oracles everywhere promise him the dominion over the whole world, on which account he is now sending large armies against Thrace and Macedonia, and every part of Europe is coming over bodily to his side. For ambassadors are coming to him, not only from the Italian tribes, but also from the Carthaginians, begging him to enter into alliance with them for the destruction of the Romans.'

"Having stopped a little after saying this, and having given time for the multitude to converse together about the news thus unexpectedly announced to them, he wiped his face, and went on, 'What then do I advise?—Not to bear this state of anarchy any longer, which the Roman senate makes continue, while it is deciding what constitution you are to enjoy for the future. And do not let us be indifferent to our temples being closed, to our gymnasia being left in the dirt, to our theatre being always empty, and our courts of justice mute, and the Pnyx, consecrated by the oracles of the gods, being taken from the people. Let us not, O Athenians, be indifferent to the sacred voice of Bacchus being reduced to silence, to the holy temple of Castor and Pollux being closed, and to the schools of the philosophers being silence as they are.' And when this slave had said all this and a good deal more, the multitude conversing with one another and running together to the theatre elected Athenio general over the entire army. And then, the Peripatetic coming into the orchestra, walking like Pythocles, thanked the Athenians, and said, 'Now you yourselves are your own generals; and I am

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the commander-in-chief: and if you exert all your strength to co-operate with me I shall be able to do as much as all of you put together.' And he, having said this, appointed others to be his colleagues in the command, proposing whatever names he thought desirable.

"And a few days afterwards, the philosopher having thus appointed himself tyrant, and having proved how much weight is to be attached to the doctrine of the Pythagoreans about plots against others, and what was the practical effect of the philosophy which the admirable Pythagoras laid down, as Theopompus has related in the eighth book of his Philippics, and Hermippus, the Callimachean, has corroborated the account, he immediately removed all the citizens who were right-thinking and of a good disposition (contrary to the sentiments of, and rules laid down by, Aristotle and Theophrastus; showing how true is the proverb which says, Do not put a sword into the hand of a child); and he placed sentinels at the gates, so that many of the Athenians, fearing what he might be going to do, let themselves down over the walls by night, and so fled away. And Athenio sending some horsemen to pursue them slew some of them, and brought back some in chains, having a number of bodyguards about his person of the kind called phractici. And often he convened assemblies, pretending great attachment to the side of the Romans; and bringing accusations against many as having kept up communications with the exiles, and aiming at a revolution, he put them to death. And he placed thirty guards at each gate, and would not allow any one to go either in or out. And he seized on the property of many of the people, and collected such a quantity of money as to fill several wells; and he also sent all over the country people to lie in wait, as it were, for every one who was travelling, and they brought them to him; and he put them to death without any trial, torturing and racking them into the bargain. And he also instituted prosecutions for treason against several people, saying that they were co-operating with the exiles to effect their return. And some of the parties prosecuted fled out of fear before the trials came on, and some were condemned before the tribunals, he himself giving his own vote and collecting those of the others. And he brought about in the city a scarcity of the things necessary for life,

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stinting the citizens of their proper quantity of barley and wheat. He also sent out heavy-armed soldiers over the country, to hunt out any of those who had fled and who could be found within the borders of the land, or any of the Athenians who were escaping beyond the borders. And whoever was detected he beat to death; and some of them he exhausted beforehand with tortures; and he caused proclamation to be made, that all must be in their houses by sunset, and that no one should presume to walk abroad with a lantern-bearer.

"And he not only plundered the property of the citizens, but that of foreigners also, laying his hands even on the property of the god which was laid up at Delos; sending Apellicon into the island, who was a Scian by birth, but who had become a citizen of Athens, and who lived a most whimsical and ever-changing course of life. For at one time he was a philosopher, and collected all the treatises of the Peripatetics, and the whole library of Aristotle, and many others; for he was a very rich man; and he had also stolen a great many autograph decrees of the ancients out of the temple of the Mighty Mother, and whatever else there was ancient and taken care of in other cities; and being detected in these practices at Athens he would have been in great danger if he had not made his escape; and a short time afterwards he returned again, having paid his court to many people, and he then joined himself to Athenion, as being a man of the same sect as he was. And Athenion, having embraced the doctrines of the Peripatetics, measured out a chœnix of barley, as four days' allowance for the ignorant Athenians, giving them what was barely food enough for fowl, and not the proper nutriment for men. And Apellicon, coming in great force to Delos, and living there more like a man exhibiting a spectacle than a general with soldiers, and placing guards in a very careless manner on the side of Delos, and leaving all the back of the island unguarded, and not even putting down a palisade in front of his camp, went to rest. And Orobius, the Roman general, hearing of this, who was at that time in command at Delos, watching for a moonless night, led out his troops, and falling on Apellicon and his soldiers, who were all asleep and drunk, he cut the Athenians and all those who were in the army with them to pieces, like so many sheep, to the number of six hundred, and he took

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four hundred alive. And that fine general, Apellicon, fled away without being perceived, and came to Delos; and Orobius seeing that many of those who fled with him had escaped to the farmhouses round about, burnt them in the houses, houses and all; and he destroyed by fire also all the engines for besieging cities, together with the Helepolis which Apellicon had made when he came to Delos. And Orobius having erected in that place a trophy and an altar, wrote this inscription on it—
  1. This tomb contains the foreigners here slain,
  2. Who fought near Delos, and who fell at sea,
  3. When the Athenians spoil'd the holy isle,
  4. Aiding in war the Cappadocian king."

There was also at Tarsus an Epicurean philosopher who had become the tyrant of that city, Lysias by name; who having been created by his countrymen Stephanephoros, that is to say, the priest of Hercules, did not lay down his command, but seized on the tyranny.[*](The Greek here is ἐξ ἱματίου τύραννος ἦν, the meaning of which is very much disputed. Casaubon thinks it means that there was a great resemblance between the priestly and royal robes. Schweighauser thinks it means, after having worn the robe of a philosopher he became a tyrant.) He put on a purple tunic with a white centre, and over that he wore a very superb and costly cloak, and he put on white Lacedæmonian sandals, and assumed also a crown of golden daphne leaves. And he distributed the property of the rich among the poor, and put many to death who did not surrender their property willingly.

These are the commanders who became such from having been philosophers; concerning whom Demochares said,—

Just as no one could make a spear out of a bulrush, so no one could make a faultless general out of Socrates.
For Plato says that Socrates served in three military expeditions, one to Potidæa, and another to Amphipolis, and another against the Bœotians, in which last it was that the battle of Delium took place. And though no one has mentioned this circumstance, he himself says that he gained the prize of the most eminent valour, since all the other Athenians fled, and many were slain. But all this is an erroneous statement. For the expedition against Amphipolis took place in the archonship of Alcæus, when Cleon was the general; and it
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was composed entirely of picked men, as Thucydides relates. Socrates then, a man who had nothing but his ragged cloak and his stick, must have been one of these picked men. But what historian or poet has mentioned this fact? Or where has Thucydides made the slightest mention of Socrates, this soldier of Plato's? And what is there in common between a shield and a philosopher's staff? And when was it that Socrates bore a part in the expedition against Potidoea, as Plato has said in his Charmides, where he states that he then yielded the prize of preeminent valour to Alcibiades? though Thucydides has not mentioned it, nor has Isocrates in his Oration on the Pair-horse Chariot. And what battle ever took place when Socrates gained the prize of preeminent valour? And what eminent and notorious exploit did he perform; for indeed there was actually no battle at all at that time, as Thucydides tells us.

But Plato not being content with all these strange stories, introduces the valour which was displayed, or rather which was invented by him at Delium. For if Socrates had even taken Delium, as Herodicus the Cratetian has reported in his Treatise to Philosocrates, he would have fled disgracefully as all the rest did, when Pagondas sent two squadrons of cavalry unperceived round the hill. For then some of the Athenians fled to Delium, and some fled to the sea, and some to Oropus, and some to Mount Parnes. And the Bœotians, especially with their cavalry, pursued them and slew them; and the Locrian cavalry joined in the pursuit and slaughter. When then this disorder and alarm had seized upon the Athenians, did Socrates alone, looking proud and casting his eyes around, stand firm, turning aside the onset of the Bœotian and Locrian cavalry? And yet does Thucydides make no mention of this valour of his, nor even any poet either. And how was it that he yielded to Alcibiades the prize of preeminent valour, who had absolutely never joined in this expedition at all? But in the Crito, Plato, that favourite of Memory, says that Socrates had never once gone out of Attica, except when he, once went to the Isthmian games. And Antisthenes, the Socratic philosopher, tells the same tale as Plato about the Aristeia; but the story is not true. For this Dog flatters Socrates in many particulars, on which account we must not believe either of them, keeping Thucydides for our guide. For Antisthenes

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even exaggerates this false story, saying,—
'But we hear that you also received the prize of preeminent valour in the battle which took place against the Bœotians.' 'Be quiet, my friend, the prize belongs to Alcibiades, not to me.' 'Yes, but you gave it to him as we are told.'
But Plato's Socrates says that he was present at Potidæa, and that he yielded the prize of preeminent valour to Alcibiades on that occasion. But by the universal consent of all historians the expedition against Potidæa, in which Phormio commanded, was previous to the one against Delium.

In every respect then the philosophers tell lies; and they are not aware that they commit numbers of anachronisms in the accounts which they give. And even the admirable Xenophon is not free from this error. For he in his Banquet introduces Callias, the son of Hipponicus, as the lover of Autolycus, the son of Lycon, and making an entertainment in his honour when he gained the victory in the Pancratium. And he represents himself as being present with the rest of the guests, when he perhaps was either not born, or at all events not out of childhood. And this is the time when Aristion was archon. For it was in his archonship that Eupolis exhibited the comedy Autolycus, in which, in the character of Demostratus, he ridicules the victory of Autolycus. And again Xenophon makes Socrates say at this Banquet—

And Pausanias, indeed, the lover of Agathon the poet, when speaking in excuse of those who allow themselves to indulge in intemperance, said that a most valiant army might be composed of boys and their lovers; for that of all the men in the world they would be the most ashamed to desert one another. Saying a very strange thing,—if men who are accustomed utterly to disregard all blame, and to behave with utter shamelessness to one another, would be the men above all others ashamed to do anything disgraceful.
But that Pausanias never said anything of the sort we may see from the Banquet of Plato. For I know of no book at all which is written by Pausanias. Nor is he introduced by any one else as speaking of lovers and boys, but only by Plato. But whether Xenophon has absolutely invented this story, or whether he fell in with any edition of Plato's Banquet which reports what happened in a different manner, is of no importance; still we must take notice of the blunder as far as the
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time is concerned. Aristion, in whose time this banquet is represented as having taken place, was archon four years before Euphemus, in whose archonship Plato places the banquet given in honour of the victory of Agathon, at which banquet Pausanias said these things about lovers. So that it is a marvellous and incredible thing that Socrates w hen supping with Callias should find fault with things as having been said erroneously, which had not yet been said at all, and which were not said till four years afterwards at the banquet of Agathon.

But altogether Plato's Banquet is mere nonsense. For when Agathon got the victory Plato was fourteen years old. For the former was crowned at the Lenæa in the archonship of Euphemus. But Plato was born in the year of the archonship of Apollodorus, who succeeded Euthydemus. And when he was eighty-two years old he died in the archonship of Theophilus, who succeeded Callimachus; for he is the eighty-second archon after Apollodorus. But from the archonship of Apollodorus and the birth of Plato, Euphemus is the fourteenth archon; and it is in his archonship that the banquet was given in honour of the victory of Agathon. And Plato himself shows that this entertainment had taken place a long time before, saying in the Banquet . . . .

'Do you think then that this entertainment has taken place but lately, so that I could have been present at it?' 'Indeed I do,' said he. 'How could that be,' said I, 'O Glaucon? Do you not know that Agathon has not been in the city for many years?'
And then a little while after he says—
' But tell me, when did this entertainment take place?' And I replied, 'When we were still children, when Agathon gained the prize in tragedy.
' But that Plato makes many blunders in his chronology is plain from many circumstance. For as the poet said—
The man has a tongue which pays no regard to seasons;
so he writes without sufficient discernment. For he never spoke at random, but always with great consideration.

As for instance, writing in the Gorgias, he says—

'Archelaus, then, according to your definition, is a miserable man.' 'Yes, my friend, if, at least, he is an unjust one.'
And then, after expressly stating that Archelaus was possessed of the kingdom of the Macedonians, he goes on to say,
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that Pericles also was lately dead
But if Pericles had only lately died, Archelaus was not yet in the enjoyment of his dominions at all; and if Archelaus was king at the time, then Pericles had been dead a long time. Now Perdiccas was king before Archelaus, according to the statement of Nicomedes of Acanthus; and he reigned forty-one years. But Theopompus says he reigned thirty-five years; Anaximenes, forty; Hieronymus, twenty-eight. But Marsyas and Philochorus say that he reigned only twenty-three years. Now, as these all vary so much in their accounts, we will take the smallest number, and say twenty-three. But Pericles died in the third year of the Peloponnesian war, in the archonship of Epameinon, in which year also Alexander died, and Perdiccas succeeded him in the kingdom. And he reigned till the archonship of Callias, in whose year Perdiccas died, and Archelaus succeeded to the kingdom. How, then, can Pericles have died lately, as Plato phrases it? And in the same Gorgias Plato represents Socrates as saying—
And last year, when I drew the lot to be one of the council, when my tribe was the presiding tribe, and I had to put the question to the vote, I caused the people to laugh, as I did not know how to put the question to the vote.
Now Socrates did not fall into this error out of ignorance, but out of his firm principles of virtue; for he did not choose to violate the laws of the democracy. And Xenophon shows this plainly in the first book of his Hellenics, where he gives the following account:—
But when some of the prytanes said that they would not put the question contrary to the laws, Callixenus again mounts the tribunal and inveighs against them; and they cried out that he should impeach those who refused. And the prytanes being alarmed, all agreed to put the question except Socrates the son of Sophroniscus; and he said that he would not, but that he would do everything according to the laws.

This was the question which was put to the vote against the generals, Erasinides and his colleagues, because they did not pick up the men who were lost in the naval battle at Arginusæ. And this battle took place in the archonship of Callias, twenty-four years after the death of Pericles.

But the dialogue in the Protagoras, which took place after the death of Hipponicus, when Callias had entered upon

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his patrimonial inheritance, says that Protagoras had arrived in Athens for the second time not many days previously. But Hipponicus, in the archonship of Euthydenmus, was a colleague of Nicias in the generalship against the Tanagreans and against those Bœotians who acted as their allies; and he defeated them in a battle. And he died before Eupolis exhibited the Flatterers, which took place in the archonship of Alcæus, but probably not any long time before. For the play proves that the succession of Callias to his patrimonial inheritance was still quite recent. Now in this play Eupolis introduces Protagoras as living at Athens. And Ameipsias, in his Connus, which was exhibited two years before, does not enumerate him among the band of sophists. So it is plain that this happened in the interval between those two periods. But Plato represents Hippias the Elian also, in the Protagoras, as present with some of his own fellow-citizens, men who it is not likely could have remained long in Athens with safety, before the truce for a year was made in the archonship of Isarchus, in the month Elaphebolion. But he represents this dialogue as having taken place, not about the time when the truce had recently been made, but a long time after that; at all events he says—
For if they were savage men, such as Pherecrates the poet exhibited last year at the Lenæan festival.
But the play of The Savage Men was exhibited in the archonship of Aristion, who was succeeded as archon by Astyphilus, (being the fifth after Isarchus,) in whose archonship the truce was made; for Isarchus came first, then Ameinias, then Aristion, then Astyphilus: so that it is contrary to history that Plato in his dialogue brings to Athens Hippias and his companions, who were enemies at the time, when this truce had not yet any existence.