into columns, there were about eighty companies of heavy-armed men, and
each company consisted of about eighty men. The peltasts and archers
they divided into three bodies, each about six hundred men, one of which
they placed beyond the left wing, another beyond the right, and the
third in the centre. The generals then desired the soldiers to make
their vows to the gods; and having made them, and sung the paean, they
moved forward. Chirisophus and Xenophon, and the peltasts that they had
with them, who were beyond the enemy's flanks, pushed on; and the enemy,
observing their motions, and hurrying forward to receive them, was drawn
off, some to the right and others to the left, and left a great void in
the centre of the line; when the peltasts in the Arcadian division, whom
Aeschines the Acarnanian commanded, seeing the Colchians separate, ran
forward in all haste, thinking that they were taking to flight; and
these were the first that reached the summit. The Arcadian heavy-armed
troop, of which Clearnor the Orchomenian was captain, followed them. But
the enemy, when once the Greeks began to run, no longer stood its
ground, but went off in flight, some one way and some another.
Having passed the summit, the Greeks encamped in a number of villages
containing abundance of provisions. As to other things here, there was
nothing at which they were surprised; but the number of bee-hives was
extraordinary, and all the soldiers that ate of the combs lost their
senses, vomited, and were affected with purging, and not any of them was
able to stand upright; such as had eaten a little were like men greatly
intoxicated, and such as had eaten much were like madmen, and some like
persons at the point of death. They lay upon the ground, in consequence,
in great numbers, as if there had been a defeat; and there was general
dejection. The next day no one of them was found dead; and they
recovered their senses about the same hour that they had lost them on
the preceding day; and on the third and fourth days they got up as if
after having taken physic.[37]
[Footnote 37: That there was honey in these parts, with intoxicating
qualities, was well known to antiquity. Pliny mentions two sorts of it,
one produced at Heraclea in Pontus, and the other among the Sanni or
Macrones. The peculiarities of the honey arose from the herbs to which
the bees resorted; the first came from the flower of a plant called
_oegolethron_, or goatsbane; the other from a species of rhododendron.
Tournefort, when he was in that country, saw honey of this description.
Ainsworth found that the intoxicating honey had a bitter taste. This
honey is also mentioned by Dioscorides.]
From hence they proceeded two days' march, seven parasangs, and arrived
at Trebizond, a Greek city, of large population, on the Euxine Sea; a
colony of Sinope, but lying in the territory of the Colchians. Here they
stayed about thirty days, encamping in the villages of the Colchians,
whence they made excursions and plundered the country of Colchis. The
people of Trebizond provided a market for the Greeks in the camp, and
entertained them in the city; and made them presents of oxen,
barley-meal, and wine. They negotiated with them also on behalf of the
neighboring Colchians, those especially who dwelt in the plain, and from
them too were brought presents of oxen.
Soon after, they prepared to perform the sacrifice which they had vowed.
Oxen enough had been brought them to offer to Jupiter the Preserver, and
to Hercules, for their safe conduct, and whatever they had vowed to the
other gods. They also celebrated gymnastic games upon the hill where
they were encamped, and chose Dracontius, a Spartan--who had become an
exile from his country when quite a boy, for having involuntarily killed
a child by striking him with a dagger--to prepare the course and preside
at the contests. When the sacrifice was ended, they gave the hides[38]
to Dracontius, and desired him to conduct them to the place where he had
made the course. Dracontius, pointing to the place where they were
standing, said, "This hill is an excellent place for running, in
whatever direction the men may wish."
[Footnote 38: Lion and Kuehner have a notion that these skins were to be
given as prizes to the victors, referring to Herodotus, who says that
the Egyptians, in certain games which they celebrate in honor of
Perseus, offer as prizes cattle, cloaks, and hides. Krueger doubts
whether they were intended for prizes, or were given as a present to
Dracontius.]
"But how will they be able," said they, "to wrestle on ground so rough
and bushy?"
"He that falls," said he, "will suffer the more." Boys, most of them
from among the prisoners, contended in the short course, and in the long
course above sixty Cretans ran; while others were matched in wrestling,
boxing, and the _pancratium_. It was a fine sight; for many entered the
lists, and as their friends were spectators, there was great emulation.
Horses also ran; and they had to gallop down the steep, and, turning
round in the sea, to come up again to the altar. In the descent, many
rolled down; but in the ascent, against the exceedingly steep ground,
the horses could scarcely get up at a walking pace. There was
consequently great shouting and laughter and cheering from the people.
CONDEMNATION AND DEATH OF SOCRATES
B.C. 399
PLATO
(The death of Socrates was brought about under the restored democracy by
three of his enemies--Lycon, Meletus, and Anytus, the last a man of high
rank and reputation in the state. Socrates was accused by them of
despising the ancient gods of the state, introducing new divinities and
corrupting the youth of Athens. He was charged with having taught his
followers, young men of the first Athenian families, to despise the
established government, to be turbulent and seditious, and his accusors
pointed to Alcibiades and Critias, notorious for their lawlessness, as
examples of the fruits of his teaching.
It is quite certain that Socrates disliked the Athenian government and
considered democracy as tyrannical as despotism. But there was no law at
Athens by which he could be put to death for his words and actions, and
the vague charge could never have been made unless the whole trial of
the philosopher had been a party movement, headed by men like Lycon and
Anytus, whose support of the unjust measure made the condemnation of
Socrates a foregone conclusion. Xenophon, the pupil and admirer of the
philosopher, expresses in his _Memorabilia of Socrates_ his surprise
that the Athenians should have condemned to death a man of such exalted
character and transparent innocence. But the influence of the teacher
with his pupils, most of them sons of the wealthiest citizens, might
well have been dreaded by those in office and engaged in the conduct of
public business. By them, the common politicians of the day, Socrates,
with his keen and witty criticism of political corruption and
demagogism, must have been considered a formidable adversary.
Accordingly, by the decision of the Athenian court, the philosopher was
sentenced to death by drinking a cup of hemlock. Although it was usual
for criminals to be executed the day following their condemnation, he
enjoyed a respite of thirty days, during which time his friends had
access to his prison cell. It was the time when the ceremonial galley
was crowned and sent on her pilgrimage to the holy Isle of Delos, and no
criminal could be executed until her return. Socrates exhibited heroic
constancy and cheerfulness during this interval, and repudiated the
offers of his friends to aid in his escape, though they had chartered a
ship to carry him to Thessaly. With calm composure he reasoned on the
immortality of the soul, and cheered his visitors with words of hope.
The literary portraits of Socrates furnished by himself, and the
writings of Plato, are among the most precious monuments of antiquity,
and the life and death of such a man form a memorable era in the moral
and intellectual history of mankind.
Plato, in his _Phædo, or the Immortality of the Soul_, gives the
following dialogue between Echecrates and Phædo--two friends and
disciples of the late philosopher--evidently with no other purpose in
view than to lend to the account of the great teacher's last hours, and
the last words his followers were to hear from his lips, the additional
force and dramatic value of a personal narrative in the mouth of a
loving pupil and an actual eyewitness of his death.)
Echecrates. Were you personally present, Phaedo, with Socrates on that
day when he drank the poison in prison? or did you hear an account of it
from someone else?
_Phæd._ I was there myself, Echecrates.
_Ech._ What then did he say before his death? and how did he die? for I
should be glad to hear; for scarcely any citizen of Phlius[39] ever
visits Athens now, nor has any stranger for a long time come from
thence, who was able to give us a clear account of the particulars,
except that he died from drinking poison; but he was unable to tell us
anything more.
[Footnote 39: Phlius, to which Echecrates belonged, was a town of
Sicyonia in Peloponnesus.]
_Phæd._ And did you not hear about the trial how it went off?
_Ech._ Yes; some one told me this; and I wondered, that as it took place
so long ago, he appears to have died long afterward. What was the reason
of this, Phaedo?
_Phæd._ An accidental circumstance happened in his favor, Echecrates:
for the poop of the ship which the Athenians send to Delos, chanced to
be crowned on the day before the trial.
_Ech._ But what is this ship?
_Phæd._ It is the ship, as the Athenians say, in which Theseus formerly
conveyed the fourteen boys and girls to Crete and saved both them and
himself. They, therefore, made a vow to Apollo on that occasion, as it
is said, that if they were saved they would every year despatch a solemn
embassy to Delos; which, from that time to the present, they send yearly
to the god. When they begin the preparations for this solemn embassy,
they have a law that the city shall be purified during this period, and
that no public execution shall take place until the ship has reached
Delos, and returned to Athens: and this occasionally takes a long time,
when the winds happen to impede their passage. The commencement of the
embassy is when the priest of Apollo has crowned the poop of the ship.
And this was done, as I said, on the day before the trial: on this
account Socrates had a long interval in prison between the trial and his
death.
_Ech._ And what, Phædo, were the circumstances of his death? what was
said and done? and who of his friends were with him? or would not the
magistrates allow them to be present, but did he die destitute of
friends?
_Phæd._ By no means; but some, indeed several, were present.
_Ech._ Take the trouble, then, to relate to me all the particulars as
clearly as you can, unless you have any pressing business.
_Phæd._ I am at leisure, and will endeavor to give you a full account:
for to call Socrates to mind, whether speaking myself or listening to
some one else, is always most delightful to me.
_Ech._ And indeed, Phaedo, you have others to listen to you who are of
the same mind. However, endeavor to relate everything as accurately as
you can.
_Phæd._ I was indeed wonderfully affected by being present, for I was
not impressed with a feeling of pity, like one present at the death of a
friend; for the man appeared to me to be happy, Echecrates, both from
his manner and discourse, so fearlessly and nobly did he meet his death:
so much so that it occurred to me that in going to Hades he was not
going without a divine destiny, but that when he arrived there he would
be happy, if anyone ever was. For this reason I was entirely
uninfluenced by any feeling of pity, as would seem likely to be the case
with one present on so mournful an occasion; nor was I affected by
pleasure from being engaged in philosophical discussions, as was our
custom; for our conversation was of that kind. But an altogether
unaccountable feeling possessed me, a kind of unusual mixture compounded
of pleasure and pain together, when I considered that he was immediately
about to die. And all of us who were present were affected in much the
same manner, at one time laughing, at another weeping one of us
especially, Apollodorus, for you know the man and his manner.
_Ech._ How should I not?
_Phæd._ He, then, was entirely overcome by these emotions; and I too was
troubled, as well as the others.
_Ech._ But who were present, Phaedo?
_Phæd._ Of his fellow-countrymen, this Apollodorus was present, and
Critobulus, and his father Crito, moreover Hermogenes, Epigenes,
Æschines, and Antisthenes; Ctesippus the Pæanian, Menexenus, and some
other of his countrymen were also there: Plato I think was sick.
_Ech._ Were any strangers present?
_Phæd._ Yes: Simmias the Theban, Cebes, and Phaedondes: and from Megara,
Euclides and Terpsion.
_Ech._ But what! were not Aristippus and Cleombrotus present?
_Phæd._ No: for they were said to be at Ægina.
_Ech._ Was anyone else there?
_Phæd._ I think that these were nearly all who were present.
_Ech._ Well, now, what do you say was the subject of conversation?
_Phæd._ I will endeavor to relate the whole to you from the beginning.
On the preceding days I and the others were constantly in the habit of
visiting Socrates, meeting early in the morning at the court-house where
the trial took place, for it was near the prison. Here then we waited
every day till the prison was opened, conversing with each other; for it
was not opened very early, but, as soon as it was opened we went in to
Socrates, and usually spent the day with him. On that occasion, however,
we met earlier than usual; for on the preceding day, when we left the
prison in the evening, we heard that the ship had arrived from Delos. We
therefore urged each other to come as early as possible to the
accustomed place; accordingly we came, and the porter, who used to admit
us, coming out, told us to wait, and not enter until he called us.
"For," he said, "the Eleven are now freeing Socrates from his bonds, and
announcing to him that he must die to-day." But in no long time he
returned, and bade us enter.
When we entered, we found Socrates just freed from his bonds, and
Xantippe (you know her), holding his little boy and sitting by him. As
soon as Xantippe saw us, she wept aloud and said such things as women
usually do on such occasions, as, "Socrates, your friends will now
converse with you for the last time, and you with them." But Socrates,
looking toward Crito, said, "Crito, let some one take her home." Upon
which some of Crito's attendants led her away, wailing and beating
herself.
But Socrates, sitting up in bed, drew up his leg and rubbed it with his
hand, and as he rubbed it said: "What an unaccountable thing, my
friends, that seems to be which men call pleasure; and how wonderfully
is it related toward that which appears to be its contrary, pain; in
that they will not both be present to a man at the same time, yet, if
anyone pursues and attains the one, he is almost always compelled to
receive the other, as if they were both united together from one head.
"And it seems to me," he said, "that if Æsop had observed this he would
have made a fable from it, how the Deity, wishing to reconcile these
warring principles, when he could not do so, united their heads
together, and from hence whomsoever the one visits the other attends
immediately after; as appears to be the case with me, since I suffered
pain in my leg before from the chain, but now pleasure seems to have
succeeded."
Hereupon Cebes, interrupting him, said: "By Jupiter, Socrates, you have
done well in reminding me. With respect to the poems which you made, by
putting into metre those Fables of Æsop and the hymn to Apollo, several
other persons asked me, and especially Evenus recently, with what design
you made them after you came here, whereas before, you had never made
any. If, therefore, you care at all that I should be able to answer
Evenus when he asks me again--for I am sure he will do so--tell me what
I must say to him."
"Tell him the truth then, Cebes," he replied, "that I did not make them
from a wish to compete with him, or his poems, for I knew that this
would be no easy matter; but that I might discover the meaning of
certain dreams, and discharge my conscience, if this should happen to be
the music which they have often ordered me to apply myself to. For they
were to the following purport: often in my past life the same dream
visited me, appearing at different times in different forms, yet always
saying the same thing. 'Socrates,' it said, 'apply yourself to and
practise music.' And I formerly supposed that it exhorted and encouraged
me to continue the pursuit I was engaged in, as those who cheer on
racers, so that the dream encouraged me to continue the pursuit I was
engaged in, namely, to apply myself to music, since philosophy is the
highest music, and I was devoted to it. But now since my trial took
place, and the festival of the god retarded my death, it appeared to me
that, if by chance the dream so frequently enjoined me to apply myself
to popular music, I ought not to disobey it but do so, for that it would
be safer for me not to depart hence before I had discharged my
conscience by making some poems in obedience to the dream. Thus, then, I
first of all composed a hymn to the god whose festival was present, and
after the god, considering that a poet, if he means to be a poet, ought
to make fables and not discourses, and knowing that I was not skilled in
making fables, I therefore put into verse those fables of Æsop, which
were at hand, and were known to me, and which first occurred to me.
"Tell this then to Evenus, Cebes, and bid him farewell, and, if he is
wise, to follow me as soon as he can. But I depart, as it seems, to-day;
for so the Athenians order."
To this Simmias said: "What is this, Socrates, which you exhort Evenus
to do? for I often meet with him; and from what I know of him, I am
pretty certain that he will not at all be willing to comply with your
advice."
"What then," said he, "is not Evenus a philosopher?"
"To me he seems to be so," said Simmias.
"Then he will be willing," rejoined Socrates, "and so will everyone who
worthily engages in this study; perhaps indeed he will not commit
violence on himself, for that they say is not allowable." And as he said
this he let down his leg from the bed on the ground, and in this posture
continued during the remainder of the discussion.
Cebes then asked him: "What do you mean, Socrates, by saying that it is
not lawful to commit violence on one's self, but that a philosopher
should be willing to follow one who is dying?"
"What, Cebes, have not you and Simmias, who have conversed familiarly
with Philolaus[40] on this subject, heard?"
[Footnote 40: A Pythagorean of Crotona.]
"Nothing very clearly, Socrates."
"I however speak only from hearsay; what then I have heard I have no
scruple in telling. And perhaps it is most becoming for one who is about
to travel there, to inquire and speculate about the journey thither,
what kind we think it is. What else can one do in the interval before
sunset?"
"Why, then, Socrates, do they say that it is not allowable to kill one's
self? for I, as you asked just now, have heard both Philolaus, when he
lived with us, and several others say that it was not right to do this;
but I never heard anything clear upon the subject from anyone."
"Then you should consider it attentively," said Socrates, "for perhaps
you may hear: probably, however, it will appear wonderful to you, if
this alone of all other things is an universal truth,[41] and it never
happens to a man, as is the case in all other things, that at some times
and to some persons only it is better to die than to live; yet that
these men for whom it is better to die--this probably will appear
wonderful to you--may not, without impiety, do this good to themselves,
but must await another benefactor."
[Footnote 41: Namely, "that it is better to die than live."]
Then Cebes, gently smiling, said, speaking in his own dialect, "Jove be
witness."
"And indeed," said Socrates, "it would appear to be unreasonable, yet
still perhaps it has some reason on its side. The maxim indeed given on
this subject in the mystical doctrines,[42] that we men are in a kind of
prison, and that we ought not to free ourselves from it and escape,
appears to me difficult to be understood, and not easy to penetrate.
This however appears to me, Cebes, to be well said, that the gods take
care of us, and that we men are one of their possessions. Does it not
seem so to you?"
[Footnote 42: Of Pythagoras.]
"It does," replied Cebes.
"Therefore," said he, "if one of your slaves were to kill himself,
without your having intimated that you wished him to die, should you not
be angry with him, and should you not punish him if you could?"
"Certainly," he replied.
"Perhaps then, in this point of view, it is not unreasonable to assert,
that a man ought not to kill himself before the deity lays him under a
necessity of doing so, such as that now laid on me."
"This, indeed," said Cebes, "appears to be probable. But what you said
just now, Socrates, that philosophers should be very willing to die,
appears to be an absurdity, if what we said just now is agreeable to
reason, that it is God who takes care of us, and that we are his
property. For that the wisest men should not be grieved at leaving that
service in which they govern them who are the best of all masters,
namely, the gods, is not consistent with reason. For surely he cannot
think that he will take better care of himself when he has become free:
but a foolish man might perhaps think thus, that he should fly from his
master, and would not reflect that he ought not to fly from a good one,
but should cling to him as much as possible, therefore he would fly
against all reason; but a man of sense would desire to be constantly
with one better than himself. Thus, Socrates, the contrary of what you
just now said is likely to be the case; for it becomes the wise to be
grieved at dying, but the foolish to rejoice."
Socrates, on hearing this, appeared to me to be pleased with the
pertinacity of Cebes, and looking toward us said: "Cebes, you see,
always searches out arguments, and is not at all willing to admit at
once anything one has said."
Whereupon Simmias replied: "But indeed, Socrates, Cebes appears to me,
now, to say something to the purpose; for with what design should men
really wise fly from masters who are better than themselves, and so
readily leave them? And Cebes appears to me to direct his argument
against you, because you so easily endure to abandon both us and those
good rulers--as you yourself confess--the gods."
"You speak justly," said Socrates, "for I think you mean that I ought to
make my defence to this charge, as if I were in a court of justice."
"Certainly," replied Simmias.
"Come then," said he, "I will endeavor to defend myself more
successfully before you than before the judges. For," he proceeded,
"Simmias and Cebes, if I did not think that I should go first of all
among other deities who are both wise and good, and next among men who
have departed this life better than any here, I should be wrong in not
grieving at death: but now be assured, I hope to go among good men,
though I would not positively assert it; that, however, I shall go among
gods who are perfectly good masters, be assured I can positively assert
this, if I can anything of the kind. So that, on this account, I am not
so much troubled, but I entertain a good hope that something awaits
those who die, and that, as was said long since, it will be far better
for the good than the evil."
"What then, Socrates," said Simmias, "would you go away keeping this
persuasion to yourself, or would you impart it to us? For this good
appears to me to be also common to us; and at the same time it will be
an apology for you, if you can persuade us to believe what you say."
"I will endeavor to do so," he said. "But first let us attend to Crito
here, and see what it is he seems to have for some time wished to say."
"What else, Socrates," said Crito, "but what he who is to give you the
poison told me some time ago, that I should tell you to speak as little
as possible? For he says that men become too much heated by speaking,
and that nothing of this kind ought to interfere with the poison, and
that, otherwise, those who did so were sometimes compelled to drink two
or three times."
To which Socrates replied: "Let him alone, and let him attend to his own
business, and prepare to give it me twice, or, if occasion requires,
even thrice."
"I was almost certain what you would say," answered Crito, "but he has
been some time pestering me."
"Never mind him," he rejoined.