to give his opinion. He was twenty-eight years of age. (I shall speak more extensively of him shortly.) Upon the present occasion, more wise than those precipitate orators, and having undoubtedly in view the procuring to the republic the aid of the Persians against Philip, he dared not indeed oppose in a direct manner the proposals that had been made, lest he should render himself suspected; but admitting as a principle from the first, that it was necessary to consider the king of Persia as the eternal enemy of Greece, he represented that it was not consistent with prudence, in an affair of such great consequence, to precipitate any thing; that it was very improper, by a resolution taken upon light and uncertain reports, and by a premature declaration of war, to furnish so powerful a prince with a just reason to turn his arms against Greece; that all which was necessary at present, was to fit out a fleet of 300 sail (and he entered into a copious detail of the means by which this was to be effected,) and to hold the troops in readiness, to enable them to make an effectual and vigorous defence in case of being attacked; that by so doing, all the people of Greece, without farther invitation, would be sufficiently warned by the common danger to join them; and that the report alone of such an armament would be enough to induce the king of Persia to change his measures, admitting that he should have formed any designs against Greece. For the rest, he was not of opinion that it was necessary to levy any immediate tax upon the estates of private persons, in order to provide for the expense of this war, which would not amount to a great sum, nor suffice for the occasion. "It is better," said he, "to rely upon the zeal and generosity of the citizens. Our city may be said to be alone almost as rich as all the other cities of Greece together. (He had before observed, that the estimate of the lands of Attica amounted to 6000 talents, about 850,000l. sterling.) When we shall see the danger to be real and imminent, every body will be ready to contribute cheerfully to the expenses of the war; as none can be so void of reason, as to prefer the hazard of losing their whole estate with their liberty, to sacrificing a small part of it in order to preserve themselves and their country. 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 grow. ing 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 Lacedæ monians, 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 op posed 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 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 Eubœans, 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 evi"And we ought not to fear, as some people would dent that interest and ambition are the sole rule and insinuate, that the great riches of the king of Persia guide of their conduct. This language is an effect enable him to raise a great body of auxiliaries, which and remnant of that regard for justice which nature will render his army formidable. Our Greeks, when has implanted in the minds of all men, and which they they are to march against Egypt, or Orontes and the cannot entirely shake off. There are few who venture other barbarians, serve willingly under the Persians; to declare against that internal principle in their exbut none of them, I dare affirm, not a single man of pressions, or to contradict it openly. But there are them, will ever resolve to bear arms against Greece." also few, who observe it with fidelity and constancy in This discourse had its full effect. The refined and their actions. Greece never was known to have more delicate address of the orator, in advising the imposi- treaties of alliance than at the time we are now speaktion of a tax to be deferred, and artfully giving reasoning of, nor were they ever less regarded. This con 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. tempt of the religion of oaths in states is a proof of their decline, and often denotes and occasions their approaching ruin. The Athenians,5 moved by the eloquent discourse of Demosthenes, sent 3000 foot and 300 horse to the aid of the Megalopolitans, under the command of Two years after, an enterprise of Pammenes. Megalopolis was reinstated in its forA. M. 3651. the Lacedæmonians against Mega-mer condition, and its inhabitants, who had retired into Ant. J.C. 353. lopolis, a city of Arcadia, gave De- their own countries, were obliged to return. mosthenes 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 11 reserve this scheme for the seventh section, as it is rather curious, and very proper to explain in what manner the Athenians fitted out, and maintained their fleets. Diod, 1. xv. p. 401. 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, be enslaved the people, and made them suffer exceedingly. Demost. Orat. pro Megalop. 4 Δεῖ σκοπεῖν μὲν ἀεὶ καὶ πράττειν τὰ δίκαια συμπαρατηρεῖτ δή, ὅτως ἅμα καὶ συμφέροντα ἔσται ταῦτα. Diod. l. xv. p. 402, This is not the Pammenes of Thebes, of whom me tion has been made before. A. M. 3650. Ant. J.C. 554. He died the second year after the treaty 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 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.4 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,5 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 informed 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 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 to wards 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.7 A. M. 3653. Ant. J. C. 351. The Rhodians being treated by Artemisia in the 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, Demusthenes notwithstanding 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 auditor's 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 EGYPT. OCHUS meditated in earnest the A. M. 3653. reduction of Egypt to its allegiance, which had long pretended to main- Ant. J. C. 351. tain itself in independence. Whilst he was making great preparations for this important expedition, he received advice of the revolt of Phoni- | emulation; to extinguish in them their passion for cia. That people,1 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 Phonicia, 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 re-ascending 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, and they formed the siege of Salamis by sea and land. The island of Cyprus had at that time nine cities, so considerable as to have each of them a petty king. But all those kings were, however, subjects of Persia. They had upon this occasion united together to throw off that yoke, and to render themselves independent. Ochus, having observed that the Egyptian wars had always been unsuccessful from the ill conduct of the generals sent thither, resolved to take the command in person. But before he set out, he signified his desire to the states of Greece, that they would put an end to their divisions, and cease to make war upon one another. It is a just matter of surprise that the court of Persia should insist so earnestly and so often, that the people of Greece should live in tranquillity with each other, and observe inviolably the articles of the treaty of Antalcidas, the principal end of which was the establishment of a lasting union amongst them. It had formerly employed a quite different policy. Ever since the miscarriage of the enterprise against Greece under Xerxes, judging gold and silver a more proper means for subjecting it than that of the sword, the Persians did not attack it with open force, but by the method of secret intrigues. They conveyed considerable sums into it privately, to corrupt those who had most influence and authority in the great cities, and were perpetually watching occasions to arm them against each other, and to deprive them of the leisure and means of invading themselves. They were particularly careful to declare sometimes for one, sometimes for another, in order to support a kind of balance amongst them, which put it out of the power of any of those republies to aggrandize itself too much, and by that means to become formidable to Persia. That nation employed a quite different conduct at this time, in prohibiting all wars to the people of Greece, and commanding them to observe a universal peace, upon pain of incurring their displeasure and arms, against such as should disobey. Persia, without doubt, did not take that resolution at a venture, and had its reasons for behaving in such a manner towards Greece. Its design might be to soften their spirit by degrees, by disarming their hands; to blunt the edge of that valour which spurred them on perpetually by noble 2 lbid. p. 440, 441. Diod. 1, xvi. p. 439. glory and victory; to render languid, by long inaction, and forced ease, the activity natural to them; and, in fine, to bring them into the number of those nations, whom a quiet and effeminate life enervates, and who lose in sloth and peace that martial ardour which combats and even dangers are apt to inspire. The king of Persia who then reigned had a personal interest, as well as his predecessor, in imposing these terms upon the Greeks. Egypt had long thrown off the yoke, and given the empire just cause of inquietude. Ochus had resolved to go in person to reduce the rebels. He had the expedition extremely at heart, and neglected nothing that could promote its success. The famous retreat of the 10,000, without enumerating many other actions of a like nature, had left a great idea in Persia of the Grecian valour. That prince relied more upon a small body of Greeks in his pay, than upon the whole army of the Persians, numerous as it was; and he well knew, that the intestine divisions of Greece would render the cities incapable of supplying the number of soldiers he had occasion for. In fine, as a good politician, he could not enter upon action in Egypt, till he had pacified all behind him, Ionia especially, and the neighbouring provinces. Now, the most certain means to hold them in obedience, was to deprive them of all hope of aid from the Greeks, to whom they had always recourse in times of revolt, and without whom they were in no condition to form any great enterprises.3 When Ochus had taken all his measures, and made the necessary preparations, he repaired to the frontiers of Phoenicia, where he found an army of 300,000 foot and 30,000 horse, and put himself at the head of it. Mentor was at Sidon with the Grecian troops. The approach of so great an army staggered him, and be sent secretly to Ochus to make him offers not only of surrendering Sidon to him, but to serve him in Egypt, where he was well acquainted with the country, and might be very useful to him. Ochus agreed entirely to the proposals, upon which he engaged Tennes king of Sidon in the same treason, and they in concert surrendered the place to Ochus. The Sidonians had set fire to their ships upon the approach of the king's troops, in order to lay the people under the necessity of making a good defence, by removing all other hope of security. When they saw themselves betrayed, that the enemy were masters of the city, and that there was no possibility of escaping either by sea or land, in despair they shut themselves up in their houses, and set them on fire. Forty thousand men, without reckoning women and children, perished in this manner. The fate of Tennes their king was no better. Ochus, seeing himself master of Sidon, and having no further occasion for him, caused him to be put to death; a just reward of his treason, and an evident proof that Ochus did not yield to him in perfidy. At the time this misfortune happened, Sidon was immensely rich. The fire having melted the gold and silver, Ochus sold the cinders for a considerable sum of money. The dreadful ruin of this city spread so great terror over the rest of Phoenicia, that it submitted, and obtained conditions reasonable enough from the king. Ochus made no great difficulty in complying with their demands, because he was unwilling to lose the time there which he had so much occasion for in the execution of his projects against Egypt. Before he began his march to enter that country, he was joined by a body of 10,000 Greeks. From the beginning of this expedition he had demanded troops from Greece. The Athenians and Lacedæmoniar had excused themselves from furnishing him at that time; as it was impossible for them to do it, however desirous they might be, as they said, to maintain good correspondence with the king. The Thebans Diod. L xvi. p. 441-445. sent him 1000 men under the command of Lachares; | Greece, with all that belonged to them, and without the Argives 3000 under Nicostratus. The rest came suffering any injury in their persons or effects. from the cities of Asia. All these troops joined him immediately after the taking of Sidon. The Jews must have had some share in this war of the Phoenicians against Persia.1 For Sidon was no sooner taken, than Ochus entered Judæa, and besieged the city of Jericho, which he took. Besides which it appears that he carried a great number of Jewish captives into Egypt, and sent many others into Hyrcania, where he settled them along the coast of the Caspian sea. Ochus also put an end to the war with Cyprus at the same time. That of Egypt so entirely engrossed his attention, that in order to have nothing to divert him from it, he was satisfied to come to an accommodation with the nine kings of Cyprus, who submitted to him upon certain conditions, and were all continued in their little states. Evagoras demanded to be reinstated in the kingdom of Salamis. It was evidently proved, that he had committed the most flagrant acts of injustice during his reign, and that he had not been unjustly dethroned. Protagoras was therefore confirmed in the kingdom of Salamis, and the king gave Evagoras a government in another quarter. He behaved no better in that, and was again expelled. He afterwards returned to Salamis, and was seized, and put to death. How surprising a difference between Nicocles and his son Evagoras! After the reduction of the isle of Cyprus and the province of Phoenicia,3 Ochus advanced at length towards Egypt. Upon his arrival, he encamped before Pelusium, from whence he detached three bodies of his troops, each of them commanded by a Greek and a Persian with equal authority. The first was under Lachares the Theban, and Rosaces governor of Lydia and Ionia. The second was given to Nicostratus the Argive, and Aristaxanes one of the great officers of the crown. The third had Mentor the Rhodian, and Bagoas one of Ochus's eunuchs, at the head of it. Each detachment had its peculiar orders. The king remained with the main body of the army in the camp which he had made choice of at first, to wait the event, and to be ready to support those troops, in case of ill success, or to improve the advantages they might gain. Nectanebus had long expected this invasion, the preparations for which had made so much noise. He had 100,000 men on foot, 20,000 of whom were Greeks, 20,000 Libyans, and the rest Egyptian troops. Part of them he disposed in the places upon the frontiers, and posted himself with the rest in the passes, to dispute the enemy's entrance into Egypt. Ochus's first detachment was sent against Pelusium, where there was a garrison of 5000 Greeks. Lachares besieged the place. That under Nicostratus, going on board a squadron of fourscore ships of the Persian fleet, entered one of the mouths of the Nile at the same time, and sailed into the heart of Egypt, where they landed, and fortified themselves well in a camp which was very advantageously situated. All the Egyptian troops in these parts were immediately drawn together under Clinias, a Greek of the isle of Čos, and prepared to repel the enemy. A very warm action, ensued, in which Clinias with 5000 of his troops were killed, and the rest entirely broken and dispersed. Mentor, who commanded the third detachment, finding the passes clear and unguarded, entered the country, and made himself master of it without any opposition. For, after having caused a report to be spread throughout his camp, that Ochus had given orders that all those who would submit should be treated with favour, and that such as made resistance, should be destroyed, as the Sidonians had been; he let all his prisoners escape, that they might carry the news into the country round about. Those poor people reported in their towns and villages what they had heard in the enemy's camp. The brutality of Ochus seemed to confirm it; and the terror was so great, that the garrisons, as well Greeks as Egyptians, strove which should be the foremost in making their submission. Nectanebus, having lost all hope of being able to defend himself, es- A. M. 3654. caped with his treasures and most Ant. J. C. 350. valuable effects into Ethiopia, from whence he never returned. He was the last king of Egypt of the Egyptian race, since whom it has always continued under a foreign yoke, according to the prediction of Ezekiel.4 Ochus, having entirely conquered Egypt in this manner, dismantled the cities, pillaged the temples, and returned in triumph to Babylon, laden with spoils, and especially with gold and silver, of which he carried away immense sums. He left the government of it to Pherendates, a Persian of the first quality. Here Manetho finishes his commentaries,5 or history of Egypt. He was a priest of Heliopolis in that country, and had written the history of its different dynasties from the commencement of the nation to the times we now treat of. His work is often cited by Josephus, Eusebius, Plutarch, Porphyry, and several others. This historian lived in the reign of Ptolemy Philadelphus, king of Egypt, to whom he dedicates his work, of which Syncelluss has preserved us the abridgment. Nectanebus lost the crown by his too good opinion of himself. He had been placed upon the throne by Agesilaus, and afterwards supported in it by the valour and prudence of Diophantes the Athenian and Lamius the Lacedæmonian, who, whilst they had the command of his troops and the direction of the war, had rendered his armies victorious over the Persians in all the enterprises they had formed against him. It is a pity we have no detailed account of them, and that Diodorus is silent upon this head. That prince, vain from so many successes, imagined, in consequence, that he was become sufficiently capable of conducting his own affairs by himself, and dismissed those persons to whom he was indebted for all those advantages. He had time enough to repent his error, and to discover that the rank does not confer the qualifications of a king. A. M. 3655. Ochus rewarded very liberally the service which Mentor the Rhodian had rendered him in the reduction of Ant. J. C. 349. Phoenicia and the conquest of Egypt. Before he left that kingdom, he dismissed the other Greeks laden with presents. As for Mentor, to whom the whole success of the expedition was principally This action decided the success of the war. Nec- owing; he not only made him a present of 100 talents tanebus, apprehending that Nicostratus after this vic-in money, besides many jewels of great value, but tory would embark again upon the Nile, and take Memphis the capital of the kingdom, made all the haste he could to defend it, and abandoned the passes, which it was of the last importance to secure, to prevent the entrance of the enemy. When the Greeks that defended Pelusium were apprised of this precipitate retreat, they believed all was lost, and capitulated with Lachares, upon condition of being sent back into gave him the government of all the coast of Asia, with the direction of the war against some provinces which had revolted in the beginning of his reign, and declared him generalissimo of all his armies on that side. Mentor made use of his interest to reconcile the Ezek. xxix. 14, 15. Syncel. p. 256. Voss, de Hist. Græc. 1, i. c. 14. George, a monk of Constantinople, so called from his being Syncellus, or vicar to the patriarch Tarasus, towards the end of the ninth century. "One hundred thousand crowns king with his brother Memnon, and Artabazus, who | had married their sister. Both of them had been in arms against Ochus. We have already related the revolt of Artabazus, and the victories he had obtained over the king's troops. He was, however, overpowered at last, and reduced to take refuge with Philip king of Macedon; and Memnon, who had borne a part in his wars, had also a share in his banishment. After this reconciliation, they rendered Ochus and his successors signal services; especially Memnon, who was one of the most valiant men of his time, and of the greatest skill in the art of war. Neither did Mentor belie the high opinion entertained of him, nor deceive the king in the confidence he had reposed in him. For he had scarce taken possession of his government, when he re-established every where the king's authority, and reduced those who had revolted in his neighbourhood to return to their obedience; some he brought over by his address and stratagems, and others by force of arms. In a word, he knew so well how to improve his advantages, that at length he subjected them all to the yoke, and reinstated the king's affairs in all those provinces. A. M. 3656. In the first year of the 108th OlymAnt. J. C. 348. piad, died Plato, the famous Athenian philosopher. SECTION V.-DEATH OF OCHUS. ARSES SUCCEEDS HIM, AND IS SUCCEEDED BY DARIUS CODOMANUS. OCHUS, after the conquest of Egypt, and the reduction of the revolted provinces of his empire, abandoned himself to pleasure and luxurious ease during the rest of his life, and left the care of affairs entirely to his ministers. The two principal of them were the eunuch Bagoas, and Mentor the Rhodian, who divided all power between them; so that the first had all the provinces of the upper, and the latter all those of the lower Asia under him. After having reigned twenty-three A. M. 3666. years, Ochus died of poison given Ant. J. C.338. him by Bagoas. That eunuch, who was by birth an Egyptian, had always retained a love for his country, and a zeal for its religion. When his master conquered it, he flattered himself that it would be in his power to soften the destiny of the one, and protect the other from insult. But he could not restrain the brutality of his prince, who acted a thousand things in regard to both, which the eunuch saw with extreme sorrow, and always violently resented in his heart. Ochus, not contented with having dismantled the cities and pillaged the houses and temples, as has been said, had besides taken away all the archives of the kingdom, which were deposited and kept with religious care in the temples of the Egyptians; and in derision of their worship,2 he had caused the god Apis to be killed, that is, the sacred bull which they adored under that name. What gave occasion for this last action was, that Ochus being as lazy and heavy as he was cruel, the Egyptians, from the first of those qualities, had given him the insulting surname of the stupid animal whom they found he resembled. Violently enraged at this affront, Ochus said that he would make them sensible that he was not an ass but a lion, and that the ass, which they despised so much, should eat their ox. Accordingly, he ordered Apis to be dragged out of his temple, and sacrificed to an ass. After which he made his cooks dress, and serve him up to the officers of his household. This piece of wit incensed Bagoas. As for the archives he redeemed them afterwards, and sent them back to the places where it was the custom to keep them; but the affront which had been done to his religion was irreparable; and that, it is believed, was the real occasion of his master's death. His revenge did not stop there: he caused another body to be interred instead of the king's; and to revenge his having made the officers of the household eat the god Apis, he made cats eat his dead body, which he gave them cut in small pieces: and as for his bones, those he turned into handles for knives and swords, the natural symbols of his cruelty. It is very probable that some new cause had awakened in the heart of this monster his ancient resentment; without which it is not to be conceived that he could carry his barbarity so far towards his master and benefactor. After the death of Ochus, Bagoas, in whose hands all power was at that time, placed Arses upon the throne, the youngest of all the late king's sons, and put the rest to death, in order to possess with better security, and without a rival, the authority he had usurped. He gave Arses only the name of king, whilst he reserved to himself the whole power of the sovereignty. But perceiving that the young prince began to discover his wickedness, and was taking measures to punish it, he prevented him by having him assassinated, and destroyed his whole family with him. Arses had reigned about two years. Bagoas, after having rendered the throne vacant by the murder of Arses, placed Darius upon it, the third Ant. J. C.336. of that name who reigned in Persia. His true name was Codomanus: of him much will be said hereafter. A. M. 3668. We see here clearly the sad effect of the pernicious policy of the king's of Persia, who, to ease themselves of the weight of public business, abandoned their whole authority to a eunuch. Bagoas might have more address and understanding than the rest, and thereby merit some distinction. It is the duty of a wise prince to distinguish merit; but it is equally his duty to continue always the entire master, judge, and arb ter of his affairs. A prince like Ochus, that had made the greatest crimes serve as steps for ascending the throne, and who had supported himself in it by the same measures, deserved to have such a minister as Bagoas, who vied with his master in perfidy and cruelty. Ochus experienced their first effects. Had he desired to have nothing to fear from him, he should not have been so imprudent as to render him formidable, by giving him an unlimited power. SECTION VI.-ABRIDGMENT OF THE LIFE OF DE MOSTHENES, TILL THE TIME OF HIS APPEARANCE WITH HONOUR AND APPLAUSE IN THE PUBLIC ASSEMBLIES AGAINST PHILIP OF MACEDON. in the history of Philip and Alexander, it is necessary As Demosthenes will perform a conspicuous part to give the reader some previous idea of him, and to let him know by what means he cultivated, and to what a degree of perfection he carried his talent of eloquence; which made him more formidable to Philip services to his country, than the highest military valour and Alexander, and enabled him to render greater could have done. A. M. 3623. Ant. J.C. 381. That orator,5 born two years after Philip, and 280 before Cicero, was not the son of a dirty smoky blacksmith, as Juvenal would seem to intimate, but of a man moderately rich, who made contraction could derogate in the least from the reputation siderable profit by forges. Not that the meanest exof Demosthenes; his works are a higher title of nobi lity than the most splendid the world affords. Demosthenes tells us himself,s that his father employed thirty slaves at his forges, each of them valued at three minæ, or fifty crowns; two excepted, who were without doubt the most expert in the business, and |