of auxiliaries, which will render his army formidable. Our Greeks, when they are to march against Egypt, or Orontes and the other barbarians, serve willingly under the Persians; but none of them, I dare affirm, not a single man of them, will ever resolve to bear arms against Greece. This discourse had its full effect. The refined and delicate address of the orator, in advising the imposition of a tax to be deferred, and artfully giving reason to suppose at the same time that it would fall only upon the rich, whose zeal he commended, was well calculated to render abortive an affair which had no other foundation than in the overheated imaginations of some orators, who were perhaps interested in the war they advised. A. M. 3651. Two years after,* an enterprise of the LacedæmoAnt. J. C. 353. nians against Megalopolis, a city of Arcadia, gave Demosthenes another opportunity of signalizing his zeal and displaying his eloquence. That city, which had been lately established by the Arcadians, who had settled a numerous colony there from different cities, and which might serve as a fortress and bulwark against Sparta, gave the Lacedæmonians great uneasiness, and alarmed them extremely. They resolved, therefore, to attack and make themselves masters of it. The Megalopolitans, who probably had renounced their alliance with Thebes, had recourse to Athens, and implored its protection. The other states concerned sent also their deputies thither, and the affair was debated before the people. Demosthenes first assigns, as the basis of his discourse, this principle; that it was of the utmost importance to prevent either Sparta or Thebes from growing too powerful, and from being in a condition to give law to the rest of Greece. For this purpose it was requisite to balance their power, and maintain always an exact equilibrium between them. Now it is evident, that if we abandon Megalopolis to the Lacedæmonians, they will soon make themselves masters of Messene also, two strong neighbouring cities, which are a check upon Sparta, and keep it within due bounds. The alliance we shall make with the Arcadians, in declaring for Megalopolis, is therefore the most certain means to preserve so necessary a balance between Sparta and Thebes; because whatever happens, neither the one nor the other will be able to hurt us, whilst the Arcadians are our allies, whose forces, in conjunction with ours, will always be superior to those of either of the two other states. A weighty objection to this advice of Demosthenes was the alliance actually subsisting between Athens and Sparta. For, in fine, said the orators who opposed Demosthenes, what idea will the world have of Athens, if we change thus with the times? or is it consistent with justice to pay no regard to the faith of treaties? We ought, replied Demosthenes, whose very words I shall repeat in this place, we ought indeed always to have justice in view, and to make it * Diod. l. xv. p. 401. † Demost. Orat. pro. Megalop. the rule of our conduct;* but, at the same time, our conformity to it should be connected with the public good and the interest of the state. It has been a perpetual maxim with us to assist the oppressed. He cites the Lacedæmonians themselves, the Thebans, and Eubeans, as examples. We have never varied from this principle. The reproach of changing, therefore, ought not to fall upon us, but upon those whose injustice and usurpation oblige us to declare against them. I admire the language of politicians. To hear them talk, it is always reason and the strictest justice that determine them: but to see them act, makes it evident that interest and ambition are the sole rule and guide of their conduct. This language is an effect and remnant of that regard for justice which nature has implanted in the minds of all men, and which they cannot entirely shake off. There are few who venture to declare against that internal principle in their expressions, or to contradict it openly. But there are also few, who observe it with fidelity and constancy in their actions. Greece never was known to have more treaties of alliance than at the time we are now speaking of, nor were they ever less regarded. This contempt of the religion of oaths in states is a proof of their decline, and often denotes and occasions their approaching ruin. The Athenians, moved by the eloquent discourse of Demosthenes, sent 3000 foot and 300 horse to the aid of the Megalopolitans, under the command of Pammenes.‡ Megalopolis was reinstated in its former condition, and its inhabitants, who had retired into their own countries, were obliged to return. The peace, which had put an end to the war of the allies, did not procure for all of them the tranquillity they had reason to expect from it. The people of Rhodes and Cos, who had been declared free by that treaty, only changed their master. Mausolus, king of Caria, who had assisted them in throwing off the Athenian yoke, imposed his own upon them. Having publicly declared himself for the rich and powerful, he enslaved the people, and made them suffer A. M. 3650. exceedingly. He died the second year after the treaty Ant. J. C. 354. of peace, having reigned twenty-four years. Artemisia his wife succeeded him; and as she was supported with all the influence of the king of Persia, she retained her power in the isles lately subjected. In speaking here of Artemisia, it is proper to observe, that she must not be confounded with another Artemisia, who lived above 130 years before, in the time of Xerxes, and who distinguished herself so much by her resolution and prudence in the naval battle of Salamis. Several celebrated writers have fallen into this error through inadvertency. This princess immortalized herself by the honours which she paid * Δεῖ σκοπεῖν μὲν ἀεὶ καὶ τράττειν τὰ δίκαια· συμπαρατηρεῖν δὲ, ὅπως ἅμα καὶ συμφέροντα ἔσται ταῦτα. † Diod. 1. xv. p. 402. This is not the Pammenes of Thebes, of whom mention has been made before. Diod. 1. xvi. p. 435. to the memory of Mausolus her husband. She caused a magnificent monument to be erected for him in Halicarnassus, which was called the Mausoleum, and for its beauty was esteemed one of the seven wonders of the world, and has caused the name of Mausolæum to be given to all great and magnificent structures of the same kind. She endeavoured also to eternize the name of Mausolus by other monuments, which she believed more durable than those of brass or marble, but which are often no better proof against the injuries of time;-I mean the productions of the mind. She caused excellent panegyrics to be made in honour of her husband, and proposed a prize of great value for the person whose performance should be the best. Amongst many others, the celebrated Isocrates, and Theopompus his disciple, were competitors for it. Theopompus carried it from them all, and had the weakness and vanity to boast in public of having gained the prize against his master; preferring, as is too common, the reputation of fine parts to that of a good heart. He had represented Mausolus in his history as a prince most sordidly avaricious, who thought all means of amassing treasure legitimate. He painted him, without doubt, in very different colours in his panegyric, or else he would never have pleased the princess. That illustrious widow prepared a different tomb for Mausolus, from that I have been speaking of. Having gathered his ashes, and caused the bones to be beaten in a mortar, she mingled some of the powder every day in her drink, till she had drunk it all off; desiring by that means to make her own body the sepulchre of her husband. She survived him only two years, and her grief did not end but with her life. Instead of the tears in which most writers plunge Artemisia during her widowhood, there are some who say she made very considerable conquests. It appears by one of Demosthenes's orations, that she was not considered at Athens as a forlorn relict, who neglected the affairs of her kingdom. But we have something more decisive upon this head. Vitruvius tells us, that after the death of Mausolus, the Rhodians, indignant that a woman should reign in Caria, undertook to dethrone her. They left Rhodes for that purpose with their fleet, and entered the great port of Halicarnassus. The queen being irformed of their design, had given the inhabitants orders to appear upon the walls, and when the enemy should arrive, to express by shouts and clapping of hands their readiness to surrender the city to them. The Rhodians quitted their ships, and went in all haste to the place, leaving their fleet without any to guard it. In the mean time, Artemisia came out with her galleys from the little port, through a small canal which she had caused to be cut on purpose, entered the great port, seized the enemy's fleet, which was * Plin. l. xxxvi c. 5. † Aul. Gel. 1. x. c. 18. Plut. in Isocrat. p. 838. Cic. Tusc. Quæst. 1. ni. n. 75. Val. Max. 1. iv. c. 6. Demost. de Libertat. Rhod. p. 145. Vitruv. de Architect. l. ii. e. 8. incapable of making any resistance, and having put her soldiers and mariners on board of it, she set sail. The Rhodians, having no means of escaping, were all put to the sword. The queen in the meantime advanced towards Rhodes. When the inhabitants saw their vessels approach, adorned with wreaths of laurel, they raised great shouts, and received, with extraordinary marks of joy, their victorious and triumphant fleet. It was so in fact, but in another sense than they imagined. Artemisia, having met with no resistance, took possession of the city, and put the principal inhabitants to death. She caused a trophy of her victory to be erected in it, and set up two statues of brass; one of which represented the city of Rhodes, and the other Artemisia branding it with a hot iron. Vitruvius adds, that the Rhodians dared never demolish that trophy, their religion forbidding it; but they surrounded it with a building which entirely prevented it from being seen. All this, as Bayle observes in his Dictionary, does not indicate a forlorn and inconsolable widow, that passed her whole time in grief and lamentation; which makes it reasonable to suspect, that all the marvellous reports of the sorrow of Artemisia, may have no other foundation than being advanced at a venture by some writer, and afterwards copied by all the rest. I should be better pleased, for the honour of Artemisia, if it had been said, as there is nothing incredible in it, that by a fortitude and greatness of mind, of which her sex affords many examples, she knew how to unite the severe affliction of the widow with the active courage of the queen, and made the affairs of her government serve her instead of consolation. *Negotia pro solatiis accipiens. A. M. 3653. The Rhodians being treated by Artemisia in the Ant. J. C. 351. manner we have related,† and unable to support any longer so severe and shameful a servitude, had recourse to the Athenians, and implored their protection. Though they had rendered themselves entirely unworthy of it by their revolt, Demosthenes not withstanding took upon him to speak to the people in their behalf. He began with setting forth their crime in its full light; he aggravated their injustice and perfidy: he seemed to enter into the people's just sentiments of resentment and indignation, and it might have been thought he was going to declare in the strongest terms against the Rhodians but all this was only an artifice of the orator, to insinuate himself into his auditors' good opinion, and to excite in them quite contrary sentiments of mildness and compassion for a people, who acknowledged their fault, who confessed their unworthiness, and who nevertheless were come to implore the republic's protection. He sets before them the grand maxims, which in all ages had constituted the glory of Athens; of the forgiving of injuries, the pardoning of rebels, and the taking upon them the defence of the unfortunate. To the motives of glory, he annexes those of interest : in showing the importance of declaring for a city that favoured the democratic form of government, and of not abandoning an island so powerful as that of Rhodes. This is the substance of Demosthenes's discourse, entitled, For the liberty of the Rhodians. The death of Artemisia,* which happened the same year, it is very likely, re-established the Rhodians in their liberty. She was succeeded by her brother Idriæus, who espoused his own sister Ada, as Mausolus had Artemisia. It was the custom in Caria for the kings to marry their sisters in this manner, and for the widows to succeed their husbands in the throne in preference to the brothers, and even the children of the defunct. SECTION IV. Successful expedition of Ochus against Phoenicia and Cyprus, and afterwards against A. M. 3653. Egypt. Ochus meditated in earnest the reduction of Egypt to Ant J.C.351. its allegiance, which had long pretended to maintain itself in independence. Whilst he was making great preparations for this important expedition, he received advice of the revolt of Phoenicia. That people,t oppressed by the Persian governors, resolved to throw off so heavy a yoke, and made a league with Nectanebus king of Egypt, against whom Persia was marching its armies. As there was no other passage for that invasion but through Phœnicia, this revolt was very seasonable for Nectanebus, who therefore sent Mentor the Rhodian to support the rebels, with 4000 Grecian troops. He intended by that means to make Phoenicia his barrier, and to stop the Persians there. The Phoenicians took the field with that reinforcement, beat the governors of Syria and Cilicia that had been sent against them, and drove the Persians entirely out of Phoenicia. The Cypriots, who were not better treated than the Phoenicians, seeing the good success which had attended this revolt, followed their example, and joined in their league with Egypt. Ochus sent orders to Idriæus, king of Caria, to make war against them; who immediately fitted out a fleet, and sent 8000 Greeks along with it, under the command of Phocion the Athenian, and Evagoras, who is believed to be the son of Nicocles. It is probable that he had been expelled by his uncle Protagoras, and that he had embraced with pleasure this opportunity of reascending the throne. His knowledge of the country, and the party he still had there, might make the king of Persia choose him very judiciously to command in this expedition. They made a descent in the island, where their army increased to double its number by the reinforcements which came from Syria and Cilicia. The hopes of enriching themselves by the spoils of this island, that was very rich, drew thither abundance of troops, Ibid. p. 440, 441. Strab. 1. xiv. p. 656. † Diod. 1. xvi. p. 439. |