Nothus. of government, and makes the application of them Darius to the two generals, of whom we speak. The one, says he, * zealous lovers of truth, and declared enemies of all fraud, piqued themselves upon their simplicity and candour, and do not believe, that it can ever consist with honour to lay snares, or use artifice. The others, prepared to do or suffer every thing, are not ashamed of the meanest actions and prostitutions, provided from those unworthy means they have reason to expect the success of their designs. Cicero places Callicratidas amongst the former, and Lysander amongst the latter, to whom he gives two epithets not much to his honour, and hardly consistent with the Spartan character, when he calls him very artful, and very patient, or rather very complaisant. Callicratidas however, forced by necessity, went to Lydia, and repaired immediately to the palace of Cyrus, where he desired that prince might be told, that the admiral of the Grecian fleet was come to speak with him. He was answered, that Cyrus was then at table, engaged in a party of pleasure; to which he replied with a modest tone and air, that he was in no haste, and would wait till the prince came forth. The guards set up a laugh, wondering at the honest stranger's simplicity, which had so little the air of the world in it; and he was obliged to retire. He came thither the second time, and was again denied admittance. Upon which he returned to Ephcsus, loading those with curses and imprecations, who had first made their court to Barbarians, and by their flattery and submissions had taught them to make *Sunt his alii multum dispares, simplices et aperti; qui nihil ex occulto, nihil ex insidiis agendum putant; veritatis cultores, fraudis inimici: itemque alii, qui quidvis perpetiantur, cuivis deserviant, dum, quod velint, consequantur. Quo in genere versutissimum et patientissimum. Lacedæmonium Lysandrum accepimus, contraque Callicratidem. Offic. 1 i. n. 109. The Greek says literally that he was drinking, wive. The Persians valued themselves upon drinking a great deal, as an instance of their merit, as we shall see in Cyrus's letter to the Lacedæmoniaus. Darius their riches a title and pretence for insulting the rest Nothus. of mankind. Addressing himself at the same time to those about him, he swore, that as soon as he returned to Sparta, he would use his utmost endea vours to reconcile the Greeks amongst themselves, that for the future they might become formidable to the Barbarians, and have no further occasion for their aid to invade and ruin each other. But that generous Spartan, whose thoughts were so noble, and so worthy the Lacedæmonian name, and whose justice, magnanimity, and valour, might rank him with all that Greece had ever produced of the most excellent and most consummate, had not the good fortune to return to his country, nor to apply himself to a work so great, and so worthy of him. SECT. V. Callicratidas is defeated by the Athenians near the Arginusa. The Athenians pass sentence of death upon several of their generals for not having brought off the bodies of those who had been slain in battle. Socrates alone has the courage to oppose se unjust a sentence. 2 CALLICRATIDAS, after having gained several victories over the Athenians, had at last pursued Conon, one of their generals, into the port of Mitylene, where he kept him blocked up. This was in the twenty-sixth year of the Peloponnesian war. Conon seeing himself besieged by sea and land, without hope of aid, and in want of provisions, found means to apprize Athens of the extreme danger he was in. Extraordinary efforts were made to relieve him, and in less than a month's time a fleet of an hundred and ten sail were fitted out, on board of which were embarked all that were capable of bearing arms, as well slaves as freemen, with some horse. At Samos they were joined by the allies with forty a Xenoph. Hellen. 1. i. p. 444–452. Diod. 1. xiii. p. 198, & 201. 217-222. gallies, and steered for the Arginusæ, islands situate Darius between Cuma and Mitylene. Callicratidas, being Nothus. informed of their course, left Eteonicus to continue the siege with fifty ships, and put to sea with an hundred and twenty sail, with design to face the enemy, and prevent their relieving Conon. The right wing of the Athenians was commanded by Protomachus and Thrasylus, who had each fifteen gallies. They were supported by a second line with a like number of ships, commanded by Lysias and Aristogenes. The left wing, like the other, drawn up in two lines, was under Aristocrates and Diomedon, supported by Erasinides and Pericles*. The main body, consisting of near thirty gallies, amongst which were the three Athenian admirals, was disposed in one line. They had strengthened each of their wings with a second line; because their gallies were neither so swift, nor so easy to manage, as those of the enemy; so that there was reason to fear their getting between two, and being charged on both sides at the same time. The Lacedæmonians and their allies, who perceived they were inferior in number to the enemy, contented themselves with drawing up in one line, in order to equal their front, and for the greater facility of running between the Athenian gallies, and turning nimbly round them. Callicratidas's pilot, daunted at the inequality, advised him not to hazard the battle, and to retire: But he replied, that he could not fly without shame, and that his death was of small importance to the republick. Sparta, said he, does not depend upon one man. He commanded the right wing, and Thrason das the Theban the left. It was terrible to behold the sea covered with three hundred gallies ready to engage. Never had more numerous naval armies of the Greeks joined battle before. The ability, experience, and valour of the generals who commanded, left nothing to desire; so that there was reason to believe this battle * He was the son of the great Peric'es. Darius would decide the fate of both people, and put an end to a war that had endured so long. When the sig nals were given, the two armies raised great shouts, and began the fight. Callicratidas, who from the answer of the augurs expected to fall in the battle, did amazing actions of valour. He attacked the enemy with incredible courage and boldness, sunk some of their ships, disabled others by breaking their oars and piercing their sides with the prow or beak of his galley. At length he attacked that of Pericles, and made a thousand holes in it; but the latter having hooked him fast with a grappling iron, he found it impossible to disengage himself, and was surrounded in an instant by several of the Athenian vessels. His own was immediately filled with the enemy, and after a dreadful slaughter, he fell dead, rather overwhelmed by their numbers than vanquished. The right wing which he commanded, having lost its admiral, was put to flight. The left, composed of Boeotians and Eu, boans, still made a long and vigorous resistance, from the important concern they were in, lest they should fall into the hands of the Athenians, against whom they had revolted; but they were at length obliged to give way, and retire in disorder. The Athenians erected a trophy in the Arginusæ. They lost twenty-five gallies in this battle, and the enemy more than seventy, of which number were nine of the ten furnished by the Lacedæmonians. Plutarch equals Callicratidas, the Lacedæmonian general, for his justice, valour, and magnanimity, with all who had ever rendered themselves most worthy of admiration amongst the Greeks. He blames him however exceedingly for hazarding the battle at the Arginusæ, and observes, that to avoid the reproach of having retired out of fear, he had, through a mistaken sense of honour, failed in the essential duty of his function. For, says Plutarch, if (to use the comparison of Plut. in Lysand. p. 436. Plut. in Pelop. p. 278. * Iphicrates) the light armed infantry resemble the Darius hands, the horse the feet, the main body the breast, Nothus. and the general the head; the general, who abandons himself rashly to the impetuosity of his valour, does not so much neglect or expose his own life, as the lives of those, whose safety depends upon his. Our Lacedæmonian chief was therefore in the wrong. continues Plutarch, to answer the pilot, who advised him to retire, Sparta does not depend upon one man. For though it be true, that Callicratidas, fighting under the orders of another by sea or land, was no more than one man, yet, commanding an army, all that obeyed his orders were collected in his person; and he, in whom so many thousands might be lost, was no longer one man. † Cicero had passed the same judgment upon him before Plutarch. After having said, that there were many persons to be found, who were ready to sacrifice their fortunes, and even lives, for their country, but who out of a false delicacy in point of glory would not hazard their reputation for it in the least; he cites the example of Callicratidas, who answered those that advised him to retreat from the Arginusæ, That Sparta could fit out another fleet if this were lost; but for himself, he could not fly before the enemy without shame and infamy. I return to the sequel of the battle near the Arginusæ. The Athenian generals ordered Theramenes, Thrasybulus, and some other officers, to return with about fifty gallies to take up the wrecks and dead bodies, in order to their interment, whilst * He was a famous general of the Athenians. + Inventi multi sunt, qui non modo pecuniam; sed vitam etiam, profundere pro patria parati essent, idem gloriæ jacturam ne mininam quidem facere vellent, ne republica quidem postulante: ut Callicratidas, qui, cum Lacedæmoniorum dur fuisset Peloponnesiaco bello, multaque fecisset, gregiè, vertit ad extremum omnia, cum consilio non paruit eorum, qui classem ab Arginusis removendam, nec cum Atheniensibus dimicandum putabant. Quibus ille respondit, Lacedæmonios, classe illa amissa, aliam parare posse, se fugere sine suo dedecore non posse. Offic. 1. i. n. 48. |