of Lechæum, where he seized a fleet of five-and-twenty ships belonging
to King Antigonus, and sold five hundred horses and four hundred Syrians
whom he found there. The Achæans now garrisoned the citadel of Corinth
with a force of four hundred heavy-armed soldiers, and with a pack of
fifty hounds and as many huntsmen, who were all kept in the
citadel.[593]
The Romans in their admiration of Philopoemen used to call him the last
of the Greeks, as though no great actions were performed in Greece after
his time: but I should be inclined to say that this was both the last
and the most remarkable of all the great achievements of the Greeks, for
both in the daring with which it was accomplished, and the good fortune
with which it was attended, it will bear comparison with the noblest of
deeds, as was at once proved by its results. Megara revolted from
Antigonus and joined Aratus, Troezene and Epidaurus became members of
the Achæan league, and Aratus made his first campaign by an expedition
into Attica, in the course of which he crossed into Salamis and laid it
waste, being able to make what use he pleased of the power of the Achæan
league, now that it was no longer, as it were, locked up in
Peloponnesus. He sent back all the freemen whom he captured to Athens
without ransom, hoping to rouse them to revolt against the Macedonians.
He also brought Ptolemy into alliance with the Achæan league, and
constituted him commander-in-chief of their forces by land and by sea.
His influence with the Achæans was so great, that, since it was illegal
to elect him as their chief every year, they elected him every other
year, while practically they followed his advice in all their
transactions; for they saw that he preferred neither wealth, nor fame,
nor the friendship of kings, nor the advantage of his own native country
to the furtherance of the prosperity of the Achæans. He conceived that
cities which by themselves were weak might obtain safety by means of one
another, bound together by their common interest, and that just as the
various parts of the human body live and move when connected with one
another, but waste away and perish when cut asunder, so cities are
ruined by isolation, and prosper by confederation, when they form parts
of one great body, and adopt a common line of policy.
XXV. Observing that the most famous of the neighbouring cities were
independent, he became grieved that the Argives lived under the rule of
a despot, and began to plot the destruction of Aristomachus, their
ruler; wishing also to bestow its freedom upon the city to which he owed
his education, and to gain it over to the Achæan league. Men were found
who dared to make the attempt, chief among whom were Æschylus and
Charimenes the soothsayer, but they had no swords, because the despot
had prohibited the possession of arms to the citizens under severe
penalties. However, Aratus prepared at Corinth a number of small
daggers, which he caused to be sewn up in pack-saddles. He then placed
the saddles on pack-horses and sent them to Argos, laden with ordinary
merchandise.
But Charimenes the soothsayer took another person into the plot, which
so enraged Æschylus and his party that they determined to act alone, and
would have nothing more to do with Charimenes. In anger at this
treatment he betrayed his comrades just as they were on the point of
attacking the despot, yet most of them had time to make their way out of
the market-place and escape to Corinth. Shortly afterwards Aristomachus
was assassinated by his own servants, and was immediately succeeded by
Aristippus, a more cruel tyrant than himself. Aratus upon hearing of
this at once made a hurried march to Argos at the head of as many
Achæans as he could collect, hoping to find the city ready to join him.
As, however, most of the Argives were now accustomed to the loss of
their liberty, and no one answered his appeal, he retired, having done
no more than expose the Achæans to the charge of making a warlike
invasion in time of peace. For this they were tried before the
Mantineans as judges, and, as Aratus did not appear, Aristippus, who was
prosecutor, won his cause and got a fine of thirty minæ laid upon the
Achæans. As he both hated and feared Aratus himself, he now, with the
connivance of King Antigonus, endeavoured to have him assassinated; and
they soon had their emissaries everywhere, watching their opportunity.
There is, however, no such certain safeguard for a ruler as the love of
his people; for when both the masses and the leading men have learned
not to fear their chief, but to fear for him, he sees with many eyes,
hears with many ears, and soon gains intelligence of any conspiracies.
And in this place I wish to stop my narrative for a moment, and describe
the mode of life which Aristippus was compelled to lead in consequence
of being a despot, and possessing that position of absolute ruler which
men are wont so greatly to admire and envy.
XXVI. Aristippus had Antigonus for his ally, kept a large force on foot
for his own protection, and left none of his enemies alive in the city
of Argos. He used to make his bodyguard and household troops encamp in
the porticoes outside his palace, and always, after supper, sent all his
servants out of the room, locked the door himself, and betook himself
with his mistress to a little upper chamber which was reached by a
trapdoor, upon which he placed his bed and slept, as one may expect, a
disturbed and frightened sleep. His mistress's mother used to take away
the ladder by which they mounted, and lock it up in another room. At
daybreak she used to bring it back again, and call down this glorious
monarch, who came out like a snake out of his den.
Aratus, who dressed in the plainest of clothes, and was the declared
enemy of despots wherever they were to be found, gained for himself a
lasting command, not by force of arms, but by legal means by his own
courage, and has left a posterity which even at the present day enjoys
the greatest honour in Greece; whereas of all those men who seized
strongholds, kept bodyguards, and protected their lives with arms and
gates and trapdoors, few escaped being knocked on the head like hares,
and no one has left either a palace, or a family, or a monument to do
honour to his memory.
XXVII. Aratus made many attempts, both by intrigues and open violence,
to overthrow Aristippus, and take Argos. Once he succeeded in placing
scaling-ladders against the walls, ascended them recklessly with a few
followers, and killed the soldiers who came from within the city to
oppose him. Afterwards, when day was breaking and the troops of the
despot were attacking him on all sides, the people of Argos, just as if
they were sitting as judges at the Nemean games, and the battle was not
being fought on behalf of their liberty, sat by with the utmost
calmness, like impartial spectators. Aratus fought bravely, and though
wounded in the thigh by a spear, yet succeeded in effecting a lodgement
in the city and in spite of the attacks of the enemy held his ground
until nightfall. If he could have found strength to remain and fight
during the night also, he would not have failed in his attempt; for the
despot was already making preparations for flight and had sent on much
of his property to the sea-coast: but as no one brought news of this to
Aratus, and water failed him, while his wound incapacitated him for any
personal exertions, he drew off his forces.
XXVIII. He now gave up this method of attack, and openly invaded the
Argive country with an army and laid it waste. At the river Chares he
fought a desperate battle with Aristippus, and was thought to have given
up the contest too soon, and lost the victory; for when the other part
of his army had decidedly won the day and forced their way a long
distance forward, he himself, not so much overpowered by the forces
opposed to him as hopeless of success and fearing disaster, lost his
presence of mind, and led his men back into their camp. When the others
returned from their victorious charge, and complained bitterly that,
after having routed the enemy, and slain many more men than they
themselves had lost, Aratus had allowed the vanquished to erect a
trophy, he was stung to the quick, decided to fight rather than to allow
the trophy to be erected, and after an interval of one day again led out
his forces. When, however, he learned that the troops of the despot had
been largely reinforced, and were full of confidence, he did not venture
to risk a battle, but made a truce for the recovery of the dead, and
retired. Yet he continued to repair this fault by his diplomatic skill
and persuasive powers, for he won over the city of Kleonæ to the Achæan
league, and held the Nemean festival at Kleonæ, declaring it to be the
privilege of its citizens to do so by right of descent. The Argives also
celebrated the festival, and on this occasion for the first time the
right of safe-conduct of the competitors was violated, for the Achæans
seized and sold for slaves all who passed through their territory on
their return from the games at Argos. So stern and inexorable was Aratus
in his hatred of despots.
XXIX. Shortly after this, hearing that Aristippus was meditating an
attack upon Kleonæ, but feared him, because he was living at Corinth, he
ordered an army to be mustered. Bidding his men collect provisions for
several days, he marched as far as Kenchreæ, hoping to draw out
Aristippus to attack Kleonæ during his absence, as indeed happened.
Aristippus at once came from Argos with his entire force; but Aratus
meanwhile returned by night to Corinth from Kenchreæ, and, having placed
guards upon all the roads, led the Achæans by so swift, well-managed,
and orderly a march, that while it was still dark he not only reached
Kleonæ, but drew up his men in order of battle before Aristippus
discovered their presence. At daybreak the city gates were thrown open,
and charging with loud shouts to the sound of the trumpet, he at once
routed the enemy, and pursued in the direction in which he thought
Aristippus most probably was fleeing, the country being full of ways to
escape pursuit. The chase was kept up as far as Mykenae, where the
despot was overtaken and slain by a Cretan named Tragiskus, according to
the historian Deinias. With him fell more than fifteen hundred of his
men. Yet, Aratus, after gaining such a brilliant success without losing
one of his own soldiers, did not take Argos or restore it to liberty, as
Agias and Aristomachus the younger marched into the town with some
Macedonian troops and seized the government.
However, by this action, Aratus pretty well silenced the ill-natured
joke, which had been made about himself, and the stories, invented by
the courtiers of despots; for they described the general of the Achæans
as being subject to violent internal disorders during a battle, and said
that as soon as the trumpeter appeared he became faint and dizzy, and
that, after having arrayed his forces, given the word, and inquired of
his lieutenants and officers whether they had any further need of his
presence, when the die was finally cast, he used to retire and await the
result at a distance. These stories had such an extensive currency, that
even philosophers in their studies when discussing whether violent
beating of the heart, changing of colour, and the like in time of danger
be a mark of cowardice or of distemperature and of a cold habit of body,
always mention Aratus as being a good general, but always being affected
in this manner when in battle.
XXX. When he had slain Aristippus, he at once began to plot against
Lydiades of Megalopolis, who had made himself despot of his native city.
Lydiades was naturally of a noble and ambitious nature, and had not,
like so many despots, been led to commit the crime of enslaving his
fellow-citizens by any selfish desire of money or of pleasure; but when
a young man he had become inflamed with a desire of distinguishing
himself, and listening to all the vain and untrue talk about despotic
power being so fine and happy a thing, he, like a high-spirited youth,
made himself despot, and soon became overwhelmed with the cares of
state. As he now both envied the happiness of Aratus and feared the
results of his plots, he adopted a new and most glorious course, which
was first to set himself free from hatred and terror and soldiers and
life-guards, and next to become the benefactor of his country. He sent
for Aratus, gave up his rule, and united the city to the Achæan league.
The Achæans admired his conduct in this matter so much that they elected
him general. He now at once began to strive to outdo Aratus in glory,
and engaged in many unnecessary enterprises, one of which was a campaign
against the Lacedæmonians. Aratus opposed him, and was therefore thought
to be jealous of him; yet Lydiades was a second time elected general, in
spite of the open opposition of Aratus, who used all his influence on
behalf of another candidate. Aratus himself, as has been said, was
general every other year. Lydiades continued in the full tide of success
and was elected general alternately with Aratus up to his third year of
office; but as he made no secret of his hatred for Aratus, and often
attacked him in the public assembly of the Achæans, they cast him off
and would not listen to him, thinking that his good qualities were but
counterfeit when compared with the genuine virtues of Aratus. Just as
Æsop tells us in his fables that when the cuckoo asked the little birds
why they fled from him, they answered that some day he would be a hawk,
so it seems that, even after he had given up his despotism, some
blighting suspicion always clung to the character of Lydiades.
XXXI. Aratus gained great glory also in the Ætolian war, because when
the Achæans were eager to join battle with the Ætolians on the Megarian
frontier, and Agis the King of Lacedæmon had arrived with a large force
and urged the Achæans to fight, he opposed it, and in spite of being
reproached, abused, and jeered at as a coward, refused to be led astray
by any high-flown ideas of honour from the course which he had decided
upon as the best, made way for the enemy, and without striking a blow
permitted them to cross Geranea and pass into Peloponnesus. When,
however, they marched by him and suddenly seized Pellene, he was no
longer the same man. He would not wait until his entire force was
assembled, but with what troops he had with him at once marched against
the enemy, who, after their victory, were easily conquered on account of
their want of discipline and licentiousness. As soon as they made their
way into the city of Pellene, the soldiers dispersed themselves among
the various houses, driving each other out of them and fighting one
another for the plunder, while the chiefs and generals were occupied in
carrying off the wives and daughters of the citizens. They took off
their own helmets and placed them on the heads of these women, in order
that no one else might take them, but that the owner of each one might
be known by the helmet which she wore. While they were thus engaged the
news suddenly came that Aratus was about to attack. A panic took place,
as one might readily expect, with such want of discipline, and before
all of them heard of the danger, the foremost, meeting the Achæans near
the gates and suburbs of the city, lost heart and fled away at once, and
in their frantic haste threw into disorder those who were forming to
come to their support.
XXXII. During this tumult one of the captive women, the daughter of an
eminent citizen named Epigethus, who herself was remarkably tall and
handsome, happened to be sitting in the temple of Artemis, where she had
been stationed by the commander of a picked company of soldiers, who had
placed upon her head his own helmet with its triple plume. She, hearing
the disturbance, suddenly ran out, and as she stood at the door of the
temple, looking down upon the combatants, with the triple-plumed helmet
upon her head, she appeared even to her own countrymen to be something
more glorious than a mere mortal, while the enemy, who imagined that
they beheld an apparition, were struck with terror and affright, so that
none of them attempted to offer any resistance. The people of Pellene
themselves say that the wooden statue of the goddess is never touched
except when it is carried out by the priestess, and that then no one
dares to look upon it, but all turn their faces away; for the sight of
it is not only fearful and terrible for mankind, but it even makes the
trees barren and blights the crops through which it is carried. This it
was, they say, which the priestess carried out of the temple on this
occasion, and by continually turning the face of the figure towards the
Ætolians, made them frantic and took away their reason. Aratus, however,
in his memoirs makes no mention of anything of the kind, but says that
he routed the Ætolians, broke into the city together with the fugitives,
and killed seven hundred of them. The exploit became celebrated as one
of his most glorious actions, and the artist Timanthes has painted an
admirable picture of the battle.
XXXIII. However, as many nations and princes were combining together
against the Achæans, Aratus at once made peace with the Ætolians, and
with the assistance of Pantaleon, the most powerful man in Ætolia, even
made an alliance between that country and the Achæans. He was anxious to
set free the Athenians, and was severely reproached by the Achæans
because, during a cessation of arms, when they had made a truce with the
Macedonians, he attempted to seize Peiræus. In the memoirs which he has
left Aratus denies this, and throws the blame of it upon Erginus, with
whose aid he seized the citadel of Corinth. This man, he says, attacked
Peiræus on his own responsibility, and when the scaling-ladder broke and
he was forced to fly, frequently called on Aratus by name as though he
were present, and by this artifice deceived the enemy and escaped. This
justification does not, however, seem a very credible one. There was no
probability that Erginus, a private man and a Syrian, should have ever
thought of such an enterprise, if he had not been urged to it by Aratus,
who must have supplied him with the necessary forces and pointed out the
proper opportunity for the attack. And Aratus himself proves this to be
true by having not merely twice or thrice, but frequently, like a
rejected lover, made attempts upon Peiræus, and not being disconcerted
by his failures, but ever gathering fresh hopes by observing how nearly
he had succeeded. On one of these occasions he sprained his leg in a
hasty retreat across the Thriasian plain. Several incisions had to be
made to cure it, and he was obliged for a long time to be carried in a
litter when conducting his campaigns.
XXXIV. When Antigonus died and Demetrius[594] succeeded to the throne,
Aratus was more eager than ever to gain over Athens, and began to treat
the Macedonians with contempt. When he was defeated in a battle which he
fought against Bithys, a general of Demetrius, and many rumours were
current that he had been taken prisoner or had been slain, Diogenes,
the commander of the garrison of Peiræus, sent a letter to Corinth
bidding the Achæans leave that city now that Aratus was dead. When this
letter arrived Aratus himself was present in Corinth, and the messengers
of Diogenes had to return after having afforded him much amusement. The
King of Macedonia also sent a ship, on board of which Aratus was to be
brought back to him in chains. But the Athenians, outdoing themselves in
levity and servility to the Macedonians, crowned themselves with
garlands when they heard the news of his death. Enraged at this Aratus
at once invaded their country, and marched as far as the Academy, but
there he suffered his anger to be appeased, and did no damage. The
Athenians did, nevertheless, appreciate his courage, for when on the
death of Demetrius, they attempted to regain their freedom, they invited
him to assist them. Although Aratus was not at that time general of the
Achæans, and was confined to his bed with a long illness, yet he
responded to this appeal by proceeding to Athens in a litter, and
prevailed upon Diogenes, the chief of the garrison, to surrender
Peiræus, Munychia, Salamis, and Sunium to the Athenians for the sum of
one hundred and fifty talents, twenty of which he himself contributed.
The states of Ægina, and Hermione now joined the Achæan league, and the
greater part of Arcadia contributed to it; for the Macedonians were
engaged in wars with their neighbours, and the Achæans, with the help of
their allies, the Ætolians, now gained a large accession of force.
XXXV. Aratus was still true to his original principles, and, grieving at
the spectacle of a despotism established in the neighbouring state of
Argos, sent to Aristomachus, and endeavoured to persuade him to give up
his authority, bring the city over to the Achæan league, and imitate
Lydiades by becoming the glorious and respected general of so great a
people rather than remain exposed to constant danger as the hated despot
of one city. Aristomachus acceded to these proposals of Aratus, but
asked him for the sum of fifty talents, for the payment of the
mercenaries whom he was to disband. While the money was being procured,
Lydiades, who was still in office as general, and wished to gain the
credit of this negotiation for himself, told Aristomachus that Aratus
was really the bitter and implacable foe of all despots, persuaded him
to intrust the management of the affair to himself, and introduced
Aristomachus to the Achæan assembly. On this occasion the Achæan
representatives gave Aratus a notable proof of their love and confidence
in him; for when he indignantly opposed the proposition they drove away
Aristomachus; and yet, when Aratus had become his friend and again
brought forward the matter, they readily accepted his proposal, admitted
the cities of Argos and Phlius into the league, and the following year
elected Aristomachus general. Aristomachus, finding himself cordially
received by the Achæans, and wishing to invade Laconia, sent for Aratus
from Athens. Aratus replied by a letter in which he dissuaded him from
making this campaign, being unwilling to involve the Achæans in
hostilities with Kleomenes, who was a bold general and had already
gained surprising successes. As, however, Aristomachus was determined to
begin the war, Aratus returned, and made the campaign with him. When
near Pallantium they met Kleomenes, and Aratus was reproached by
Lydiades for restraining Aristomachus from joining battle. The year
after, Lydiades stood against Aratus as a candidate for the office of
general, when Aratus was chosen general for the twelfth time.
XXXVI. During this term of office Aratus was defeated by Kleomenes near
Mount Lykaeum, and took to flight. He lost his way during the night, and
was supposed to have fallen. The same rumours now again ran through
Greece about him; but he got safely away, and having rallied his men was
not satisfied with retiring home unmolested, but making an admirable use
of his opportunity, as no one expected an attack, he suddenly fell upon
the Mantineans, who were the allies of Kleomenes. He took the city,
placed a garrison in it, and insisted on the resident foreigners being
admitted to the franchise, thus alone gaining for the Achæans after a
defeat, a success which they could hardly have obtained by a victory.
When the Lacedæmonians marched against Megalopolis, Aratus came to the
assistance of that city. He would not fight with Kleomenes, though the
latter endeavoured to entice him into a battle, but he kept back the
men of Megalopolis who were eager to fight; for he was at no time
well-fitted for the direction of pitched battles, and on this occasion
was inferior in numbers, besides being opposed to a young and daring
antagonist, while he himself was past the prime of life, and inclined to
fail in spirit. He thought, too, that while it was right for Kleomenes
to gain glory by daring, it was best for him to be careful to keep the
glory which he had already obtained.