raised great shouts, and began the fight. Callicratidas, who from the answer of the augurs, expected to fall in the battle, lid amazing actions of valour. He attacked the enemy with ncredible courage and boldness, sunk some of their ships, lisabled others, by breaking their oars, and piercing their sides with the prow or beak of his galley. At length heatacked that of Pericles, and made a thousand holes in it; but he latter having hooked him fast with a grappling iron, he ound it impossible to disengage himself, and was surrounded n 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 han vanquished. The right wing, which he commanded, having lost its admiral, das put to flight. The left, compo sed of Boeotians and Eubeans, 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 tro phy in the Arginuse. They lost 25 galleys in this battle, and the enemy more than 70, of which number were nine of the ten furnished by the Lacedæmonians. * Plutarch equals Callieratidas, the Lacedæmonian gene ral, 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 Arginuse, and observes, that to avoid the re proach of having retired out of fear, he had, through a mis taken sense of honour, failed in the essential duty of his func tion. For, says Plutarch, if, to use the comparison of ‡ Iphi crates, the light-armed infantry resemble the hands, the horse the feet, the main body the breast, and the general the head; the general, who abandons himself rashly to the im petuosity 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 who obeyed his orders were collected Plut. in Lysand. p. 436. + Plut. in Pelop. p. 278. He was a famousgeneral of the Athenians. I 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 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 who 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 Arginuse. The Athenian generals ordered Theramenes, Thrasybulus, and some other officers, to return with about 50 galleys to take up the wrecks and dead bodies, in order to their interment, whilst they rowed on with the rest against Eteonicus, who kept Co. non besieged before Mitylene. But a rude tempest came on suddenly and prevented the execution of this order. Eteoni. cus having received news of the defeat, and fearing it might occasion alarm and terror amongst the troops, sent back those who brought it, with orders to return with wreaths of flowers upon their heads, and to give out that Callicratidas had gain ed the victory, and destroyed the whole Athenian fleet. Up. on their return he offered sacrifices of thanksgiving, and ha ving made his troops take some refreshment, he sent the gal leys away directly, the wind being fair, and marched off the land army to Methymna, after having burned the camp. Co. non being delivered in this manner from the blockade, joined the victorious fleet, which returned forthwith to Samos. How ever, when it was known at Athens, that the dead bodies had been left without interment, the people were highly enraged, and laid the whole weight of their resentment upon those they believed guilty of that crime. The ancients held it a great one not to provide sepulture for their dead; and we may observe, that after all their battles, the first care of the conquered, notwithstanding the sense of their misfortune, and the * Inventi multi sunt, qui non modo pecuniam, sed vitam etiam, profundere pro patria parati essent, idem gloriæ jacturam ne minim am quidem facere vellent, ne republica quidem postulante; ut Callicratidas, qui, cum Lacedæmonio um dux fuisset Peloponnesiaco bello, multaque fecisset egregie, vert t ad extremum omnia, cum con silio non paruit eorum qui classem ab Arginusis removendam, nee cum Atheniensibus dimicandum putabant. Quibus ille respondit, Lacedæmonios, classe illa aniss, aliam parare posse; se fugere sine suo dedecore non posse, Offic. 1. i. n. 48. great affliction for a bloody defeat, was to demand a suspen sion of arms from the victor, in order to pay their last duties to those who had fallen in battle, upon which they believed heir happiness in another life depended. They had little or 10 idea of the resurrection of the body; but however the Pagans, in the soul's concern for the body after death, the reigious regard paid to it, and the passion with which they rentered solemn honours to the dead, seem to argue, that they aad some confused notions of a resurrection, which subsisted amongst all nations, and descended from the most ancient tralition, though they could not distinguish clearly upon it. Hence arose the fury, of the people of Athens. They immediately nominated new generals, retaining only Conon of the old ones, to whom they gave Adimantes and Philockes for colleagues, eight days after which two of them withdrew themselves, and only six returned to Athens. Theramenes, the tenth general, who returned before the rest of the fleet,›› accused the other chiefs before the people, making them responsible for not bringing off the dead after the battle, and, to clear himself, read the letter they had written to the senate and people, wherein they excused themselves, from the violence of the storm, without charging any body. That calumny was detestably vile, as done in abuse of their reserve in not mentioning him in their letter, and in not laying a fault to his charge, of which he might have appeared the most guilty. The generals, at their return, not being able to prevail for the time necessary for making their defence, contented themselves with representing in few words the state of the affair, and appealed for the truth of what they said to the pilots, and all present, when it happened. The people seemed to receive their excuse favourably, and several persons offered themselves for their sureties; but it was thought proper to adjourn the assembly, because of the night; and it being the people's custom to give their suffrages by lifting up of hands, their resolution could not be known; besides which the council were first to give their opinion upon the question to be proposed to the people. The feast of Apaturia unexpectedly coming on, in which itwas the custom to assemble by families, the relations of The ramenes posted several persons in mourning habits, and sha ved in proper places, who said they were the kindred of those who had been slain in the battle, and obliged Callixenes to accuse the generals in the senate. It was decreed in consequence, that as the accusation and defence had been heard in the last assembly, the people by their respective tribes should give their voices, and if the accused were found guilty, they should be punished with death, their estates confiscated, and the tenth part consecrated to the goddess. Some senators opposed this decree as unjust, and contrary to the laws: but as the people, at the instigation of Callixenes, threatened to include the opposers in the same cause and crime with the generals, they were so mean as to desist from their opposition, and to sacrifice the innocent generals to their own safety, by consenting to the decree. Socrates, the celebrated philoso pher, was the only one of the senators, who stood firm, and persisted obstinately in opposing a decree, so notoriously unjust, and so contrary to all laws. The orator, who mounted the tribunal, in defence of the generals, showed, "That they "had failed in nothing of their duty, as they had given or "ders that the dead bodies should be taken up: That if any "one were guilty, it was he, who being charged with these "orders, had neglected to put them in execution: but that "he accused nobody; and that the tempest, which came of "unexpectedly at the very instant, was an unanswerable a "pology, and entirely discharged the accused from all guilt. "He demanded that a whole day should be allowed them to "make their defence, a favour not denied to the most crimi ❝nal, and that they should be tried separately. He repre "sented that they were not in the least obliged to precipitate ❝a sentence, wherein the lives of the most illustrious of the "citizens were concerned; that it was in some measure at "tacking the gods to make + men responsible for the winds "and weather; that they could not, without the most flagrant "-ingratitude and injustice, put the conquerors to death, "whom they ought to decree crowns and honours, or give "the defenders of their country to the rage of those who "vied them; that if they did so, their unjust judgment "be followed with a sudden, but vain repentance, "would leave behind it the sharpest remorse, and cover the "with eternal shame and infamy." The people seemed first to be moved with these reasons; but animated by the cusers, they pronounced sentence of death against eight their generals; and six of them, who were present seized, in order to their being carried to execution. One them, Diomedon, a person of great reputation for valour and probity, demanded to be heard. "Athenia Minerva + Quem adeo iniquum, ut sceleri assignet, quod vents et fe deliquerint? Tacit. Annal. 1. xiv. c. 3. would which were aid he, "I wish the sentence you have passed upon us may not prove the misfortune of the republic; but I have one favour to ask of you in behalf of my colleagues and myself, which is, to acquit us before the gods of the vows we made to them for you and ourselves, as we are not in a condition to discharge them; for it is to their protection, invoked before the battle, we acknowledge that we are indebted for the victory gained by us over the enemy." There was ot one good citizen that did not melt into tears at this disurse, so full of goodness and religion, and admire with surise the moderation of a person, who seeing himself unjustly ondemned, did not however vent the least resentment, or en complaint, against his judges, but was solely intent in vour of an ungrateful country, which had doomed them to erish, upon what it owed the gods in common with them for e victory they had lately obtained. The six generals were hardly executed, when the people ened their eyes, and perceived all the horror of that sennce; but their repentance could not restore the dead to life. allixenes, the orator, was put in prison, and refused to be card. Having found means to make his escape, he fled to ecelia to the enemy, from whence he returned some time ter to Athens, where he died of hunger, universally detested d abhorred by all the world, as all false accusers and slanerers ought to be. Diodorus remarks, that the people themlves were justly punished for their crime by the gods, who andoned them soon after, not to a single master, but to 30 rants, who treated them with the utmost rigour and cruelty." * The disposition of a people is very naturally imaged in is account; and Plato, upon the same event, draws in few ords their character with much spirit and resemblance. The mmonaltyf, says he, is an inconstant, ungrateful, cruel, spicious animal, incapable of submitting to the government reason; which is no wonder, adds he, as it is commonly mposed of the dregs of a city, and is a monstrous assemage, without form or order, of all that is worst in it. The same relation shows what effect fear can have upon the nds of men, even upon those who pass for the wisest; and w few there are who are capable of supporting inflexibly the ew of present danger and disgrace. Though the justness of e generals' cause was perfectly known in the senate, at least Plut. in Axioch. p. 368, 369. * Δήμος αψίκορον, αχάρισον, ὡμόν, βάσκανος, ἀπαίδευτος. VOL. III. D4 |