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and the Sicilians, their partisans, should be confined to the quarries; and that the generals should be put to death." As the Syracusans accepted the bill, Hermocrates rose up and said, "It was a more glorious thing to make a good use of a victory, than to gain one." But this motion raised a great ferment in the assembly. Gylippus, expressing his desire to have the Athenian generals, that he might carry them prisoners to Lacedæmon, the Syracusans, now grown insolent with their good fortune, loaded him with reproaches. Indeed, they could not well bear his severity, and Lacedæmonian rigour in command, while the war lasted. Besides, as Timæus observes, they had discovered in him an avarice and meanness, which was a disease he inherited from his father Cleandrides, who was banished for taking of bribes. The son, out of the thousand talents which Lysander sent by him to Sparta, purloined thirty, and hid them under the tiles of his house. Being detected in it, he fled his country with the utmost disgrace; as we have already related, more at large, in the life of Lysander. Timæus does not agree with Philistus and Thucydides, that Demosthenes and Nicias were stoned to death by the Syracusans. Instead of that, he tells us, that Hermocrates sent one of his people, to acquaint those two generals with what was passing in the assembly; and the messenger being admitted by the guards before the court was dismissed, the unhappy men despatched themselves. Their bodies were thrown without the gates, and lay there exposed to the view of all those who wanted to enjoy the spectacle. I am informed that a shield, said to be that of Nicias, is shown to this day, in one of the temples at Syracuse; the exterior texture of which is gold and purple, and executed with surprising art.

As to the other Athenians, the greatest part perished in the quarries to which they were confined, by diseases and bad diet; for they were allowed only a pint of barley a day, and half a pint of water. Many of those who were concealed by the soldiers, or escaped by passing as servants, were sold for slaves, and stigmatized with the figure of a horse upon their foreheads. Several of these, however, submitted to their fate with patience; and the modesty and decency with which they behaved were such, that they were either soon released, or treated in their servitude with great respect by their masters. Some there were who owed their preservation to Euripides. Of all the Grecians, his was the muse whom the Sicilians were most in love with. From every stranger that landed in their island, they gleaned every small specimen or portion of his works, and communicated it with pleasure to each other. is said that, on this occasion, a number of Athenians, upon their return home, went to Euripides, and thanked him in the most respectful manner for their obligations to his pen; some

having been enfranchised for teaching their masters what they remembered of his poems, and others having got refreshments when they were wandering about, after the battle, for singing a few of his verses. Nor is this to be wondered at, since they tell us, that when a ship from Caunus, which happened to be pursued by pirates, was going to take shelter in one of their ports, the Sicilians at first refused to admit her; upon asking the crew whether they knew any of the verses of Euripides, and being answered in the affirmative, they received both them and their vessel.

The Athenians, we are told, did not give credit to the first news of this misfortune, the person who brought it not appearing to deserve their notice. It seems, a stranger who landed in the Piræus, as he sat to be shaved in a barber's shop, spoke of it as an event already known to the Athenians. The barber no sooner heard it, but before the stranger could communicate it to any person, he ran into the city; and applying to the magistrates, informed them of the news in open court. Trouble and dismay seized all that heard it. The magistrates immediately summoned an assembly, and introduced the informant. There he was interrogated of whom he had the intelligence; and as he could give no clear and pertinent answer, he was considered as a forger of false news and a public incendiary. In this light he was fastened to the wheel, where he bore the torture for some time, till at length some credible persons arrived, who gave a distinct account of the whole disaster. With so much difficulty did the misfortunes of Nicias find credit among the Athenians, though he had often forewarned them that they would certainly happen.

Casauban would infer from hence, that the Athenians had a law for punishing the forgers of false news. But this person was punished, not so much as a forger of false news, but as a public incendiary, who, by exciting groundless terrors in the people, aided and abetted their enemies.

THE

LIFE OF MARCUS CRASSUS.

MARCUS CRASSUs, whose father had borne the office of censor, and been honoured with a triumph, was brought up in a small house with his two brothers. These married while their parents were living, and they all ate at the same table. This, we may suppose, contributed not a little to render him sober and moderate in his diet. Upon the death of one of his brothers, he took the widow and children into his house. With respect to women, there was not a man in Rome more regular in his conduct; though, when somewhat advanced in years, he was suspected of a criminal commerce with one of the vestal virgins named Licinia. Licinia was impeached by one Plotinus, but acquitted upon trial. It seems the vestal had a beautiful country-house, which Crassus wanting to have at an under price, paid his court to the lady with great assiduity, and thence fell under that suspicion. His judges, knowing that avarice was at the botton of all, acquitted him of the charge of corrupting the vestal; and he never let her rest till she had sold him her house.

The Romans say, Crassus had only that one vice of avarice, which cast a shade upon his many virtues. He appeared, indeed, to have but one bad quality, because it was so much stronger and more powerful than the rest, that it quite obscured them. His love of money is very evident from the size of his estate, and his manner of raising it. At first it did not exceed three hundred talents. But, during his public employments, after he had consecrated the tenth of his substance to Hercules, given an entertainment to the people, and a supply of breadcorn to each citizen for three months, he found, upon an exact computation, that he was master of seven thousand one hundred talents. The greatest part of this fortune, if we may declare the truth, to his extreme disgrace, was gleaned from war and from fires; for he made a traffic of the public calamities. When Sylla had taken Rome, and sold the estates of those whom he had put to death, which he both reputed and called the spoils of his enemies, he was desirous to involve all per

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sons of consequence in his crime, and he found in Crassus a man who refused no kind of gift or purchase.

Crassus observed, also, how liable the city was to fires, and how frequently houses fell down; which misfortunes were owing to the weight of the buildings, and their standing so close together.* In consequence of this, he provided himself with slaves who were carpenters and masons, and went on collecting them till he had upwards of five hundred. Then he made it his business to buy houses that were on fire, and others that joined upon them; and he commonly had them at a low price, by reason of the fear and distress the owners were in about the event. Hence, in time he became master of great part of Rome. But though he had so many workmen, he built no more for himself than one house, in which he lived. For he used to say,-"That those who love building will soon ruin themselves, and need no other enemies."

Though he had several silver mines, and lands of great value, as well as labourers who turned them to the best advantage, yet it may be truly asserted, that the revenue he drew from these was nothing in comparison of that produced by his slaves. Such a number had he of them, and all useful in life, readers, amanuenses, book-keepers, stewards, and cook. He used to attend to their education, and often gave them lessons himself; esteeming it a principal part of the business of a master to inspect and take care of his servants, whom he considered as the living instruments of economy. In this he was certainly right, if he thought, as he often said, that other matters should be managed by servants, but the servants by the master. Indeed, economics, so far as they regard only inanimate things, serve only the low purposes of gain; but where they regard human beings, they rise higher, and form a considerable branch of politics. He was wrong, however, in saying, that no man ought to be esteemed rich, who could not with his own revenue maintain an army. For, as Archidamus observes, it never can be calculated what such a monster as war will devour. Nor consequently can it be determined what fortune is sufficient for its demands. Very different in this respect were the sentiments of Crassus from those of Marius. When the latter had made a distribution of lands among his soldiers at the rate of fourteen acres a man, and found that they wanted more, he said, "I hope no Roman will ever think that portion of land too little, which is sufficient to maintain him."

It must be acknowledged that Crassus behaved in a generous manner to strangers; his house was always open to them. To

The streets were narrow and crooked, and the houses chiefly of wood, after the Gauls had burnt the city.

which we may add, that he used to lend money to his friends without interest. Nevertheless, his rigour in demanding his money the very day it was due, often made his appearing favour a greater inconvenience than the paying of interest would have been. As to his invitations, they were most of them to the commonalty; and though there was a simplicity in the provision, yet at the same time there was a neatness and unceremonious welcome, which made it more agreeable than more expensive tables.

As to his studies, he cultivated oratory, most particularly that of the bar, which had its superior utility. And though he might be reckoned equal, upon the whole, to the first-rate speakers, yet by his care and application he exceeded those whom nature had favoured more. For there was not a cause, however unimportant, to which he did not come prepared. Besides, when Pompey, and Cæsar, and Cicero, refused to speak, he often rose, and finished the argument in favour of the defendant. This attention of his to assist any unfortunate citizen, was a very popular thing. And his obliging manner in his common address had an equal charm. There was not a Roman, however mean and insignificant, whom he did not salute, or whose salutation he did not return, by name.

His knowledge of history is also said to have been extensive, and he was not without a taste of Aristotle's philosophy. In the latter branch he was assisted by a philosopher named Alexander; a man who gave the most glorious proofs of his disinterested and mild disposition, during his acquaintance with Crassus. For it is not easy to say, whether his poverty was greater when he entered or when he left his house. He was the only friend that Crassus would take with him into the country; on which occasions he would lend him a cloke for the journey, but demand it again when he returned to Rome. The patience of that man is truly admirable, particularly if we consider that the philosophy he professed did not look upon poverty as a thing indifferent. But this was a later circumstance in the life of Crassus.

When the faction of Cinna and Marius prevailed, it soon. appeared that they were not returning for any benefit to their country, but for the ruin and destruction of the nobility. Part of them they had already caught and put to death; among whom were the father and brother of Crassus. Crassus him

self, who was then a very young man, escaped the present danger. But, as he saw the tyrants had their hunters beating

Xylander conjectures this might be Alexander the Milesian, who is also called Polyhistor and Cornelius; and who is said to have flourished in the times of Sylla.

† Aristotle's, as well as Plato's philosophy, reckoned riches among real blessings, and looked upon them as conducive to virtue.

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