all wounded in the fore part of their bodies, distilling blood mingled
with sweat, and they lean upon the bending spoils of their enemies. If
you enquire who they are, they answer, We are of the Fabricii, Camilli,
and Lucii, and Cincinnati, and Fabii Maximi, and Claudii Marcelli,
and the Scipios. I perceive also in the train of Virtue Caius Marius
angry with Fortune, and Mucius Scaevola holding out his burning hand
and crying with a loud voice, Will ye attribute this to Fortune also?
And Marcus Horatius, who behaved himself gallantly at the river Tiber,
when he cut the bridge and swam over, being loaded with Tyrrhenian
darts, showing his wounded thigh, thus expostulates from out of the
deep whirlpit of the river, Was I also thus maimed by mere chance? Such
is the company of Virtue, when she comes to the dispute; “a company
powerful in arms, terrible to their foes.”
4. But as to Fortune, her gait is hasty, her looks bold, her hope
arrogant; and leaving Virtue far behind her, she enters the lists, not,
as she is described, with light wings, balancing herself in the air,
or lightly tripping with her tiptoes upon the convexity of the globe,
as if she were presently to vanish away out of sight. No, she does not
appear here in any such doubtful and uncertain posture; but as the
Spartans say that Venus, when she passed over the Eurotas, put off her
gewgaws and female ornaments, and armed herself with spear and shield
for the sake of Lycurgus; so Fortune, having deserted the Persians and
Assyrians, did swiftly fly over Macedonia, and quickly threw off her
favorite Alexander the Great, and after that, having passed through the
countries of Egypt and Syria, and oftentimes by turns supported the
Carthaginians, she did at last fly over Tiber to the Palatine Mount,
and there she put off her wings, her Mercurial shoes, and left her
slippery and deceitful globe. Thus she entered Rome, as one that was to
be resident there, and thus she comes to the bar in this controversy.
She is no more uncertain, as Pindar describes her; she does not
henceforth guide a double helm, but continues constant to the Romans,
and therefore may be called the sister of Eunomia and Persuasion, and
the daughter of Providence, as Alcman describes her pedigree. This is
certain in the opinion of all men, that she holds in her hand the Horn
of Plenty, not that which is filled with verdant fruits, but that which
pours forth abundance of all things which the earth or the sea, the
rivers or the metals, or the harbors afford. Several illustrious and
famous men are seen to accompany her, Numa Pompilius from the Sabines,
and Priscus from Tarquinii, whom, being foreigners and strangers,
Fortune seated on the throne of Romulus. Aemilius Paulus also, bringing
back his army from Perseus and the Macedonians, and triumphing in an
unbloody and entire victory, does greatly magnify and extol Fortune.
The same does Caecilius Metellus, that brave old gentleman surnamed
Macedonicus, whose corpse was carried forth to its funeral by his four
sons, Quintus Balearicus, Lucius Diadematus, Marcus Metellus, and Caius
Caprarius, and his two sons-in-law,—who were all six honorable men, and
of consular dignity,—and also by his two grandsons, who were famous for
the good offices they did to the commonwealth, both abroad by their
heroical actions and at home by the administration of justice. Aemilius
Scaurus, from a mean estate and a meaner family, was raised by Fortune
to that height of dignity that he was chosen Prince of the Senate. It
was Fortune that took Cornelius Sylla out of the bosom of Nicopolis the
whore, and exalted him above the Cimbrian triumphs of Marius and the
dignity of his seven consulships, giving him at once the powers of a
monarch and a dictator; upon which account he adopted himself and all
his memorable actions to Fortune, crying out with Oedipus in Sophocles,
I think myself the son of Fortune.[56] In the Roman tongue he was
called Felix, the happy; but he writ himself to the Greeks Lucius
Cornelius Sylla Venustus, i.e. Beloved of Venus,—which is also the
inscription on all his trophies, both those at Chaeronea with us, and
those in honor of his victories over Mithridates; and that not without
reason, since it is not the Night, as Menander thought, but Fortune,
that enjoys the greatest part of Venus.
5. And thus, having made a seasonable beginning in defence of Fortune,
we may now call in, for witnesses in this cause, the Romans themselves,
who attributed more to Fortune than to Virtue. For the temple of Virtue
was but lately built by Scipio Numantinus, a long time after the
building of the city. And after that, Marcellus dedicated a temple to
Virtue and Honor; and Aemilius Scaurus, who lived in the time of the
Cimbrian war, founded another to the Mind, when now, by the subtilties
of sophisters and encomiastics of orators, these things began to be
mightily extolled. And to this very day there is no temple built to
Wisdom, nor to Temperance, Patience, Magnanimity, or Continence. On the
contrary, the temples dedicated to Fortune are splendid and ancient,
almost as old as the first foundations of Rome itself. The first that
built her a temple was Ancus Marcius, born of the sister of Numa, being
the third king from Romulus; and he seems to have made Fortune surname
to Fortitude, to which she contributes very much for obtaining victory.
The Romans built the temple of Feminine Fortune before the time of
Camillus, when by the help of the women they turned back Marcius
Coriolanus, leading up the Volsci against the city of Rome; for the
women being sent ambassadors to him, together with his mother and wife,
prevailed with the man to spare the city at that time and to draw off
the army of the barbarians. It is said that this statue of Fortune,
when it was consecrated, uttered these words: It was piously done, O
ye city matrons, to dedicate me by the law of your state. But (which
is more remarkable) Furius Camillus, having quenched the flame of the
Gallic war, and rescued Rome from the balance and scales in which her
price was weighed to them in gold, did not upon this occasion found
a temple to Prudence and Fortitude, but to Fame and Presage; which
he built hard by the New Way, in that very place where (it is said)
Marcus Caedicius walking in the night-time heard a prophetical voice,
commanding him shortly to expect a war from the Gauls. And the Fortune
whose temple is near the river they call Fortis (that is, _stout_,
or _valiant_, or _manly_), as having the power of conquering all
things.[57] And her temple is built in those very gardens which were
left by Caesar as a legacy to the people, because they thought that he
also was raised to the height of power by the favor of Fortune.
6. And so Caesar himself testified, otherwise I should be ashamed
to say such a thing of so great a person. For when he loosed from
Brundisium, and embarked in pursuit of Pompey, on the fourth day of
January, though it was then the latter end of winter, he passed over
the sea in safety by the good conduct of Fortune, which was stronger
than the rigor of the season. And when he found Pompey powerful by
sea and land, with all his forces lying together, and himself with
his small party altogether unable to give him battle, while the army
of Antonius and Sabinus lagged behind, he ventured to set forth again
in a little bark, unknown either to the master of the vessel or the
pilot, who took him for some servant. But when he saw the pilot began
to change his purpose of putting out to sea, because of the violence of
the waves, which hindered the sailing out at the mouth of the river,
he presently plucked off the disguise from his head and showed himself,
encouraging the pilot in these words: Put on, brave fellow, and fear
nothing, but commit the sails to Fortune, and expose all boldly to the
winds; for thou carriest Caesar and Caesar’s fortune. So resolute was
Caesar upon this assurance, that Fortune did favor him in his voyages
and journeys, his armies and battles; and that it was her province
to give calmness to the sea and warmth to a winter season, to give
swiftness to the slowest, and vigor to the most sluggish creatures; and
(which is more incredible than all this) he believed that Fortune put
Pompey to flight, and gave Ptolemy the opportunity of murdering his
guest, so that Pompey should fall and Caesar be innocent.
7. What shall I say of his son, the first that had the honor to be
surnamed Augustus, who was emperor four and fifty years? Did not he
pray the Gods for his grandson, when he sent him forth to battle, to
grant him the courage of Scipio, and the wisdom of Pompey, but his own
Fortune, as counting her the chief artificer of his wonderful self? It
was she that imposed him upon Cicero, Lepidus, Pansa, Hirtius, and Mark
Antony, and by their victories and famous exploits, by their navies,
battles, and armies, raised him to the greatest height of power and
honor, degrading them by whose means he was thus advanced. For it was
for him that Cicero governed the state, Lepidus conducted the armies,
and Pansa gained the victories. It was for him that Hirtius fell, and
Mark Antony committed licentious outrages. Nay, even Cleopatra herself
is to be reckoned as part of his good fortune; for on her, as on a
dangerous rock, Antony was shipwrecked, although he was so mighty a
commander, that Augustus alone might wear the title of Caesar. It is
reported of Antony and Augustus, when they lived familiarly together
in daily conversation, that Antony was always beaten by Caesar at ball
or dice, and in quail or cock fighting. Whereupon a certain friend, who
pretended to the art of divination, did freely admonish Antony, and
say: “What have you to do, my friend, with this young man? Why don’t
you avoid his company? You excel him in glory and largeness of empire,
you exceed him in age and experience, having signalized your valor in
the wars. But your Genius is afraid of his; your Fortune, which is
great by itself, does fawn upon his, and will undoubtedly pass over to
him, unless you remove yourself to a great distance.”
8. By these testimonies of men the cause of Fortune is supported;
after which I proceed now to other arguments taken from the things
themselves, beginning from the first foundations of the city of
Rome. And first of all, it cannot be denied that, by the birth and
preservation of Romulus, by his education and growth, the foundations
of Rome were first laid by Fortune; but then withal it must be
acknowledged that Virtue finished the building. As to their origin
and birth who first founded and built the city, it looked like a
wonderful good Fortune. For it is said that their mother conceived
by a God; and as Hercules is said to have been sown in a long night,
the natural day being preternaturally prolonged by the sun’s standing
still; so it is reported concerning the begetting of Romulus, that
the sun was eclipsed at the time, being in conjunction with the moon,
as the immortal God Mars was with the mortal Sylvia. The same is said
to have happened about the time of his death. For on the seventh of
July, called Nonae Capratinae, which is a feast observed to this day
with great solemnity, while the sun was under an eclipse, he suddenly
vanished out of the sight of men. After their nativity, when the tyrant
would have murdered the new-born babes, by the conduct of Fortune, who
was concerned for the preservation of their lives, Romulus and Remus
fell into the hands of a servant no ways barbarous and cruel, but
pitiful and tender-hearted, who laid them on the pleasant green bank
of a river, in a place shaded with lowly shrubs, near to that wild
fig-tree, to which the name of Ruminalis was afterwards given. There it
was that a she-wolf, having lost her young whelps, by chance lighted on
them, and being burdened with her swollen dugs, inflamed for want of
evacuation, she gladly let out her overheated milk, as if it had been
a second birth, and suckled the young children. The woodpecker also, a
bird sacred to Mars, came often unto them, and supporting herself upon
one claw, she did by turns open both their mouths with the other, and
distribute unto each of them convenient gobbets of her own food. This
fig-tree was therefore called Ruminalis, from Ruma, _the dug_, which
the wolf lying down there gave to the infants. And from a veneration of
this strange chance of Romulus and of every thing resembling it, the
inhabitants thereabout would not expose any of their offspring; but
they carefully reared and fostered all new births.
Above all things, the hidden craft of Fortune appeared in their
education at the city Gabii; for there they were secretly nursed and
brought up, and the people knew nothing of their pedigree, that they
were the sons of Sylvia and the grandchildren of king Numitor; which
seems to be so ordered on purpose to prevent that untimely death which
the knowledge of their royal race would occasion, and to give them
opportunity of showing themselves hereafter by their famous exploits,
and discovering the nobility of their extraction by their heroical
actions. And this brings to my mind the saying of that great and wise
commander Themistocles to some of the Athenian captains, who, having
followed him in the wars with good success, were grown ambitious to
be preferred above him. There was an eager contest, said he, between
the festival day and the day following, for precedency. Thou, says
the following day, art full of tumult and business, but I give men the
peaceful opportunity of enjoying themselves. Ay, says the festival,
that’s true; but then, I pray you, tell me, if I had not been, where
had you been? So, says Themistocles, if I had not preserved my country
in the war with the Medes, what use would there be of you now? And
after this manner Fortune seems to accost the virtue of Romulus: it
is true indeed, your actions are great and famous, by which you have
clearly shown that you are descended of the race of the Gods. But see
now how far you come behind me. For if I had not relieved the infants
in their distress by my bounty and humanity, if I had deserted and
betrayed them when they lay naked and exposed, how could you have
appeared with such lustre and splendor as now you do? If a she-wolf had
not then lighted upon them, inflamed with the abundance and pressure
of her milk, which wanted one to give food unto more than any food
for herself; if some wild beast had happened to come in her stead,
hungry and ravaging for meat; then there had been no such beautiful
and stately palaces, temples, theatres, walks, courts, and forum, as
now you justly glory of; then your followers had still been shepherds,
and your buildings cottages or stables, and they had still lived in
subjection to the Albanian, Tyrrhenian, or Latin lords. Certainly the
first beginning of all things is of greatest importance, and more
especially in building of a city. But it was Fortune that first gave a
beginning to Rome, by preserving the founder of it in so many dangers
to which he was exposed. For as Virtue made Romulus great, so Fortune
preserved him till his virtue did appear.
9. It is confessed by all, that the reign of Numa, which lasted
longest, was conducted by a wonderful good fortune. For as to the
story of the wise goddess Egeria, one of the Dryades,—that she being
in love conversed familiarly with him, and assisted him in laying
the platform and cementing the frame of the commonwealth,—it appears
to be rather fabulous than true, since there were others that had
Goddesses for their wives and are said to have been loved by them,
such as Peleus, Anchises, Orion, and Emathion, who, for all that,
did not live so pleasantly and free from trouble. But Numa seems to
have had good fortune for his domestic companion and colleague in the
government, which, receiving the city of Rome into her protection,
at such time as she was tossed like a troublesome sea by the wars of
neighboring states, and inflamed with intestine feuds, did quickly heal
those breaches and allay those storms that threatened her ruin. And as
the sea is said to receive the halcyon brood in a tempest, which it
preserves and nourishes; so the people of Rome being lately gathered
together, after various commotions and tossings, were by Fortune
delivered from all wars, diseases, dangers, and terrors, and settled in
such a lasting peace, that they had time and leisure to take root in
their new soil and grow up securely into a well-compacted city. For as
a great ship or galley is not made without many blows, and much force
from hammers, nails, wedges, saws, and axes, and being once built,
it must rest for some time upon the stocks, until the bands of its
structure grow strong and tenacious, and the nails be well fastened
which hold its parts together, lest, being launched while it is loose
and unsettled, the hulk should be shattered by the concussion of the
waves and let in the water,—so the first artificer of Rome, having
built the city of rustical men and shepherds, as on strong foundations,
was forced to endure hard labor and maintain dangerous wars against
those who opposed its first origination and institution; but after it
was once framed and compacted by this force, the second artificer, by
the benignity of Fortune, gave it so long rest and peace, till all its
parts were consolidated and settled in a firm and lasting posture.
But if at that time, when the city was newly built, some Porsena had
advanced the Etruscan camp and army to the walls, being yet moist and
trembling, or some warlike revolter of the Marsian grandees, or some
envious and contentious Lucanian, such as in latter times were Mutius
or the bold Silo, or the last plague of Sylla’s faction, Telesinus,
who with one alarm armed all Italy,—if any of these, I say, had
encompassed the philosopher Numa with the sound of trumpets, while he
was sacrificing and praying to the Gods, the city being yet unsettled
and unfinished, he could never have resisted so great a torrent and
tempest, nor increased unto so great numbers of stout and valiant men.
That long time of peace therefore in Numa’s reign did prepare and
fortify the Romans against all the wars which happened afterwards; for
by its continuance, during the space of forty-three years, the body of
the people was confirmed in that athletic habit which they acquired
in the war under Romulus, and which generally prevailed henceforward
against all their enemies. For in these years they say Rome was not
afflicted with famine or pestilence, with barrenness of the earth, or
any notable calamity by winter or summer; all which must be attributed,
not to human prudence, but to the good conduct of divine Fortune
governing for that time. Then the double gate of Janus was shut, which
they call the gate of war, because it is always opened in time of war
and shut in time of peace. After Numa’s death, it was opened again when
the war with the Albans commenced, which was followed with other wars
without number in a continued series of time; but after four hundred
and eighty years, it was shut again when peace was concluded at the end
of the first Punic war, in the consulship of Caius Atilius and Titus
Manlius. The next year it was opened again, and the wars lasted until
the victory which Augustus obtained at Actium. Then the Roman arms
rested but a little while; for the tumults from Cantabria and the wars
with the Gauls and Germans breaking in upon them quickly disturbed the
peace. These things I have added to explain this argument of the good
fortune of Numa.
10. Even those kings which followed him have admired Fortune as the
governess and nurse of Rome, and the city supporter, as Pindar saith.
For proof of this, we may consider that the temple of Virtue at Rome
was but lately built, many years after the beginning of the city, by
that Marcellus who took Syracuse.[58] There is also a temple dedicated
to the Mind, or rather to good counsel, called Mens, by Scaurus
Aemilius, who lived in the time of the Cimbrian war, when the arms
of rhetoric and the sophistry of logic had crept into the city. And
even to this day, there are no temples built to Wisdom, Temperance,
Patience, and Magnanimity; but the temples of Fortune are very ancient
and splendid, adorned with all sorts of honors, and divided amongst the
most famous parts and places of Rome. The temple of Manly Fortune was
built by Ancus Marcius, the fourth king; which name was therefore given
it, because Fortune does contribute very much to valor in obtaining
victory. The temple of Feminine Fortune was consecrated by the matrons,
when they drove away Marcius Coriolanus at the head of an army marching
against Rome, as everybody knows. Moreover, Servius Tullius, who above
all the kings did most enlarge the power of the people and adorn the
commonwealth, who first established a good order for the giving of
suffrages and for the good discipline of the militia, who was the first
censor and overseer of men’s lives and sobriety, and is esteemed a most
wise and valiant man,—even he threw himself upon Fortune, and owned his
kingdom to be derived from her. So great was her kindness to him, that
she is thought to have descended into his house by a gateway (which is
now called Fenestella) and there to have conversed familiarly with him.
Upon which account he built two temples to Fortune, one to that which
is called Primogenia in the Capitol, _i.e._ the first born, as one
may expound it; another to that which is called Obsequens, which some
interpret as being obsequious to his desires, and others as mild and
gentle. I will henceforth leave the Roman names, and endeavor to reckon
up and interpret in Greek the meaning of these temples. There is the
temple of Private Fortune on the Mount Palatine, and that of Viscous
Fortune; which name, though it seems ridiculous, does by a metaphor
explain to us the nature of Fortune, that she attracts things at a
distance, and retains them when they are brought to contact. At the
fountain which is called Mossy the temple of Virgin Fortune is still to
be seen; and that of Regardful Fortune in Abescymae. There is an altar
also to Fortune of Good Hope in the long narrow street; and near to
the altar of Venus Epitalaria (Foot-winged) there is a chapel to Male
Fortune.
Infinite are the honors and titles of Fortune, the greater part
of which were instituted by Servius, who knew that “Fortune is of
great weight—nay, is every thing—in all human affairs,”[59] and more
especially had found by experience that by her favor he was preferred
from a captive and hostile nation to be king of the Romans. For when
Corniculum was taken by the Romans, the virgin Ocresia being taken at
the same time, she for her illustrious beauty and virtue (which the
meanness of her fortune could not hide or obscure) was presented to
Tanaquil, the consort of King Tarquinius, with whom she served till
she was married to one of the retainers whom the Romans call clients;
and of them was born Servius. Others tell the story after this manner:
that the virgin Ocresia using often to receive the first-fruits and
libations from the royal table, which were to be offered in sacrifice,
it happened on a time that when, according to the custom, she had
thrown them into the fire, upon the sudden expiration of the flame,
there appeared to come out of it the genital member of a man. The
virgin, being frighted with so strange a sight, told the whole matter
to Queen Tanaquil; who, being a wise and understanding woman, judged
the vision to be divine, and therefore dressed up the virgin in all her
bridal ornaments and attire, and then shut her up in a room together
with this apparition. Some attribute this amour to Lar the household
God, and others to Vulcan; but whichsoever it was, Ocresia was with
child, and gave birth to Servius. And while he was yet an infant, his
head was seen to send forth a wonderful brightness, like lightning
darted from the skies. But Antias tells this story after a different
manner: that when Servius’s wife Getania was dead, he fell into a sleep
through grief and dejection of mind, in the presence of his mother,
and then his head was seen by the woman encompassed by fire; which, as
it was a certain token that he was born of fire, so was a good omen of
that unexpected kingdom which he obtained after the death of Tarquin,
by the means of Tanaquil. This is so much the more to be wondered at,
because he of all kings seems to have been least fitted by Nature and
most averse by inclination to monarchical government; since he would
have resigned his kingdom and divested himself of regal authority,
if he had not been hindered by the oath which it appears he made to
Tanaquil when she was dying, that he should continue during his life
in kingly power, and never change that form of government which he had
received from his ancestors. Thus the reign of Servius was wholly owing
to Fortune, because he both received it beside his expectation, and
retained it against his will.
11. But lest we should seem to shun the light of bright and evident
arguments, and retreat to ancient stories, as to a place of darkness
and obscurity, let us now pass over the time of the kings, and go on in
our discourse to the most noted actions and famous wars of following
times. And first of all it must be confessed that the boldness and
courage which are necessary for war do aid and improve military virtue,
as Timotheus says; and yet it is manifest to him that will reason
aright, that the abundance of success which advanced the Roman Empire
to such vast power and greatness is not to be attributed to human
strength and counsels, but to a certain divine impulse and a full
gale of running Fortune, which carried all before it that hindered
the rising glory of the Romans. For now trophies were erected upon
trophies, and triumphs hastened to meet one another; before the blood
was cold upon their arms, it was washed off with the fresh blood of
their falling enemies. Henceforth the victories were not reckoned by
the numbers of the slain or the greatness of the spoils, but by the
kingdoms that were taken, by the nations that were conquered, by the
isles and continents which were added to the vastness of their empire.
At one battle Philip was forced to quit all Macedonia, by one stroke
Antiochus was beaten out of Asia, by one victory the Carthaginians
lost Libya; but which is yet more wonderful, Armenia, the Euxine sea,
Syria, Arabia, the Albanians, Iberians, with all the regions as far as
Caucasus and the Hyrcanians, were by one man and the success of one
expedition reduced under the power of the Roman Empire. The Ocean,
which environs the whole earth, beheld him thrice victorious; for he
subdued the Numidians in Africa, as far as the southern shores; he
conquered Spain, which joined in the madness of Sertorius, as far as
the Atlantic Ocean; and he pursued the Albanian kings as far as the
Caspian sea. Pompeius Magnus, one and the same man, achieved all those
great and stupendous things, by the assistance of that public Fortune
which waited upon the Roman arms with success; and after all this, he
sank under the weight of his own fatal greatness.
The great Genius of the Romans was not propitious for a day only, or
for a little time, like that of the Macedonians; it was not powerful
by land only, like that of the Laconians, or by sea only, like that of
the Athenians. It was not too slowly sensible of injuries, as that of
the Persians; nor too easily pacified, like that of the Colophonians;
but from the beginning growing up with the city, the more it increased,
the more it enlarged the empire, and constantly aided the Romans with
its auspicious influence by sea and land, in peace and war, against
all their enemies, whether Greeks or barbarians. It was this Genius
which dissipated Hannibal the Carthaginian, when he broke in upon
Italy like a torrent, and the people could give no assistance, being
torn in pieces by intestine jars. It was this Genius that separated
the two armies of the Cimbri and Teutones, that they should not meet
at the same time and place; by which means Marius the Roman general
encountered each army by itself, and overcame them; which, if they had
been joined together, would have overflowed all Italy like a deluge,
with three hundred thousand valiant men, invincible in arms. It was the
same Genius that hindered Antiochus by other occasions from assisting
Philip while he was engaged in war with the Romans; so that Philip
was first vanquished while Antiochus was still in danger. It was by
the conduct of the same Genius that Mithridates was taken up with the
Sarmatic and Bastarnic wars while the Marsians attacked Rome; that
jealousy and envy divided Tigranes from Mithridates while the latter
was flushed with success; but both of them were joined together in the
defeat, that they might perish in the same common ruin.
12. What shall I say more? Has not Fortune relieved the city, when
it was reduced to the greatest extremity of danger? When the Gauls
encamped about the Capitol and besieged the castle,