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He
comes, to whom we owe
Our
liberty, the noblest good below.
All
the Greeks cast their eyes upon Philopœmen,(213) and with clapping
of
hands
and acclamations of joy expressed their veneration for the hero.
In
the same manner at Rome, during the banishment of Cicero,(214)
when
some
verses of Accius,(215) which reproached the Greeks with their
ingratitude
in suffering the banishment of Telamon, were repeated by Æsop,
the
best actor of his time, they drew tears from the eyes of the
whole
assembly.
Upon
another, though very different, occasion, the Roman people applied
to
Pompey
the Great some verses to this effect:
’Tis
our unhappiness has made thee great;(216)
and
then addressing the people;
The
time shall come when you shall late deplore
So
great a power confided to such hands;
the
spectators obliged the actor to repeat these verses several
times.
Fondness
for Theatrical Representations one of the principal Causes of the
Decline,
Degeneracy, and Corruption of the Athenian State.
When
we compare the happy times of Greece, in which Europe and Asia
resounded
with nothing but the fame of the Athenian victories, with the
later
ages, when the power of Philip and Alexander the Great had in a
manner
reduced it to slavery, we shall be surprised at the strange
alteration
in that republic. But what is most material, is the
investigation
of the causes and progress of this declension; and these M.
de
Tourreil has discussed in an admirable manner in the elegant preface
to
his
translation of Demosthenes’s orations.
There
were no longer, he observes, at Athens any traces of that manly
and
vigorous
policy, equally capable of planning good and retrieving bad
success.
Instead of that, there remained only an inconsistent loftiness,
apt
to evaporate in pompous decrees. They were no more those
Athenians,
who,
when menaced by a deluge of barbarians, demolished their houses
to
build
ships with the timber, and whose women stoned the abject wretch
to
death
that proposed to appease the great king by tribute or homage. The
love
of ease and pleasure had almost entirely extinguished that of
glory,
liberty,
and independence.
Pericles,
that great man, so absolute, that those who envied him treated
him
as a second Pisistratus, was the first author of this degeneracy
and
corruption.
With the design of conciliating the favour of the people, he
ordained
that upon such days as games or sacrifices were celebrated, a
certain
number of oboli should be distributed amongst them; and that in
the
assemblies in which affairs of state were to be discussed, every
individual
should receive a certain pecuniary gratification in right of
being
present. Thus the members of the republic were seen for the first
time
to sell their care in the administration of the government, and
to
rank
amongst servile employments the most noble functions of the
sovereign
power.
It
was not difficult to foresee where so excessive an abuse would end:
and
to
remedy it, it was proposed to establish a fund for the support of
the
war,
and to make it a capital crime to advise, upon any account
whatsoever,
the application of it to other uses: but, notwithstanding, the
abuse
always subsisted. At first it seemed tolerable, whilst the
citizen,
who
was supported at the public expense, endeavoured to deserve it by
doing
his duty in the field for nine months together. Every one was to
serve
in his turn, and whoever failed was treated as a deserter without
distinction:
but at length the number of the transgressors carried it
against
the law; and impunity, as it commonly happens, multiplied their
number.
People accustomed to the delightful abode of a city, where feasts
and
games were perpetually taking place, conceived an invincible
repugnance
for labour and fatigue, which they looked upon as unworthy of
free-born
men.
It
was therefore necessary to find amusement for this indolent people,
to
fill
up the great void of an unactive, useless life. Hence arose
principally
their fondness, or rather frenzy, for public shows. The death
of
Epaminondas, which seemed to promise them the greatest advantage,
gave
the
final stroke to their ruin and destruction. “Their courage,” says
Justin,(217)
“did not survive that illustrious Theban. Freed from a rival,
who
kept their emulation alive, they sunk into a lethargic sloth and
effeminacy.
The funds for armaments by land and sea were soon lavished
upon
games and feasts. The seaman’s and soldier’s pay was distributed
to
the
idle citizen. An indolent and luxurious mode of life enervated
every
breast.
The representations of the theatre were preferred to the
exercises
of
the camp. Valour and military knowledge were entirely
disregarded.
Great
captains were in no estimation; whilst good poets and excellent
comedians
engrossed the universal applause.”
Extravagance
of this kind makes it easy to comprehend in what multitudes
the
people thronged to the dramatic performances. As no expense was
spared
in
embellishing them, exorbitant sums were sunk in the service of
the
theatre.
“If,” says Plutarch,(218) “an accurate calculation were to be
made
what each representation of the dramatic pieces cost the
Athenians,
it
would appear, that their expenses in playing the _Bacchanalians_,
the
_Phœnicians_,
_Œdipus_, _Antigone_, _Medea_, and _Electra_, (tragedies
written
either by Sophocles or Euripides,) were greater than those which
had
been employed against the Barbarians, in defence of the liberty
and
for
the preservation of Greece.” This gave a Spartan just reason to
exclaim,
on seeing an estimate of the enormous sums laid out in these
contests
of the tragic poets, and the extraordinary pains taken by the
magistrates
who presided in them,(219) “that a people must be void of
sense
to apply themselves in so warm and serious a manner to things so
frivolous.
For,” added he, “games should be only games; and nothing is
more
unreasonable than to purchase a short and trivial amusement at so
great
a price. Pleasures of this kind agree only with public rejoicings
and
seasons of festivity, and were designed to divert people at their
leisure
hours; but should by no means interfere with the affairs of the
public,
nor the necessary expenses of the government.”
After
all, says Plutarch, in the passage which I have already cited, of
what
utility have these tragedies been to Athens, though so much
boasted
by
the people, and admired by the rest of the world? I find that the
prudence
of Themistocles enclosed the city with strong walls; that the
fine
taste and magnificence of Pericles improved and adorned it; that
the
noble
fortitude of Miltiades preserved its liberty; and that the
moderate
conduct
of Cimon acquired it the empire and government of all Greece. If
the
wise and learned poetry of Euripides, the sublime diction of
Sophocles,
the lofty buskin of Æschylus, have obtained equal advantages
for
the city of Athens, by delivering it from impending calamities, or
by
adding
to its glory, I am willing (he goes on) that dramatic pieces
should
be
placed in competition with trophies of victory, the poetic theatre
with
the
field of battle, and the compositions of the poets with the great
exploits
of the generals. But what a comparison would this be? On the one
side
would be seen a few writers, crowned with wreaths of ivy, and
dragging
a goat or an ox after them, the rewards and victims assigned them
for
excelling in tragic poetry: on the other, a train of illustrious
captains,
surrounded by the colonies which they founded, the cities which
they
captured, and the nations which they subjected. It is not to
perpetuate
the victories of Æschylus and Sophocles, but in remembrance of
the
glorious battles of Marathon, Salamis, Eurymedon, and many
others,
that
so many feasts are celebrated every month with such pomp by the
Grecians.
The
inference which Plutarch draws from hence, in which we ought to
agree
with
him, is,(220) that it was the highest imprudence in the Athenians
thus
to prefer pleasure to duty, fondness for the theatre to the love
of
their
country, trivial shows to application to public business, and to
consume,
in useless expenses and dramatic entertainments, the funds
intended
for the support of fleets and armies. Macedon, till then obscure
and
inconsiderable, well knew how to take advantage of the Athenian
indolence
and effeminacy;(221) and Philip, instructed by the Greeks
themselves,
amongst whom he had for several years applied himself
successfully
to the art of war, was not long before he gave Greece a
master,
and subjected it to the yoke, as we shall see in the sequel.
I
am now to open an entirely new scene to the reader’s view, not
unworthy
his
curiosity and attention. We have seen two states of no great
consideration,
Media and Persia, extend themselves far and wide, under the
conduct
of Cyrus, like a torrent or a conflagration; and, with amazing
rapidity,
conquer and subdue many provinces and kingdoms. We shall see now
that
vast empire setting the nations under its dominion in motion, the
Persians,
Medes, Phœnicians, Egyptians, Babylonians, Indians, and many
others;
and falling, with all the forces of Asia and the East upon a
little
country, of very small extent, and destitute of all foreign
assistance;
I mean Greece. When, on the one hand, we behold so many
nations
united together, such preparations of war made for several years
with
so much diligence; innumerable armies by sea and land, and such
fleets
as the sea could hardly contain; and, on the other hand, two weak
cities,
Athens and Lacedæmon, abandoned by all their allies, and left
almost
entirely to themselves; have we not reason to believe, that these
two
little cities are going to be utterly destroyed and swallowed up by
so
formidable
an enemy; and that no footsteps of them will be left remaining?
And
yet we shall find that they will prove victorious; and by their
invincible
courage, and the several battles they gain, both by sea and
land,
will make the Persian empire lay aside all thoughts of ever again
turning
their arms against Greece.
The
history of the war between the Persians and the Greeks will
illustrate
the
truth of this maxim, that it is not the number, but the valour of
the
troops,
and the conduct of the generals, on which depends the success of
military
expeditions. The reader will admire the surprising courage and
intrepidity
of the great men at the head of the Grecian affairs, whom
neither
all the world in motion against them could deject, nor the
greatest
misfortunes disconcert; who undertook, with an handful of men, to
make
head against innumerable armies; who, notwithstanding such a
prodigious
inequality of forces, dared to hope for success; who even
compelled
victory to declare on the side of merit and virtue; and taught
all
succeeding generations what infinite resources are to be found in
prudence,
valour, and experience; in a zeal for liberty and our country;
in
the love of our duty; and in all the sentiments of noble and
generous
souls.
This
war of the Persians against the Grecians will be followed by
another
amongst
the Greeks themselves, but of a very different kind from the
former.
In the latter, there will scarce be any actions, but what in
appearance
are of little consequence, and seemingly unworthy of a reader’s
curiosity
who is fond of great events; in this he will meet with little
besides
private quarrels between certain cities, or some small
commonwealths;
some inconsiderable sieges, (excepting that of Syracuse,
one
of the most important related in ancient history,) though several
of
these
sieges were of no short duration; some battles between armies,
where
the
numbers were small, and but little blood shed. What is it, then,
that
has
rendered these wars so famous in history? Sallust informs us in
these
words:
“The actions of the Athenians doubtless were great; and yet I
believe
they were somewhat less than fame will have us conceive of them.
But
because Athens abounded in noble writers, the acts of that
republic
are
celebrated throughout the whole world as most glorious; and the
gallantry
of those heroes who performed them, has had the good fortune to
be
thought as transcendent as the eloquence of those who have
described
them.”(222)
Sallust,
though jealous enough of the glory the Romans had acquired by a
series
of distinguished actions, with which their history abounds, yet
does
justice in this passage to the Grecians, by acknowledging, that
their
exploits
were truly great and illustrious, though somewhat inferior, in
his
opinion, to their fame. What is then this foreign and borrowed
lustre,
which
the Athenian actions have derived from the eloquence of their
historians?
It is, that the whole universe agrees in looking upon them as
the
greatest and most glorious that ever were performed: _Per
terrarum
orbem
Atheniensium facta_ PRO MAXIMIS CELEBRANTUR. All nations, seduced
and
enchanted as it were with the beauties of the Greek authors,
think
that
people’s exploits superior to any thing that was ever done by any
other
nation. This, according to Sallust, is the service which the
Greek
authors
have done the Athenians, by their excellent manner of describing
their
actions; and very unhappy it is for us, that our history, for
want
of
similar assistance, has left a thousand brilliant actions and
fine
sayings
unrecorded, which would have been put in the strongest light by
the
writers of antiquity, and have done great honour to our country.
But,
be this as it may, it must be confessed, that we are not always
to
judge
of the value of an action, or the merit of the persons who shared
in
it,
by the importance of the event. It is rather in such sieges and
engagements
as we find recorded in the history of the Peloponnesian war,
that
the conduct and abilities of a general are truly conspicuous.
Accordingly,
it is observed, that it was chiefly at the head of small
armies,
and in countries of no great extent, that our best generals of
the
last
age displayed their great capacity, and showed themselves not
inferior
to the most celebrated captains of antiquity. In actions of this
sort
chance has no share, and does not cover any oversights that are
committed.
Every thing is conducted and carried on by the prudence of the
general.
He is truly the soul of the forces, which neither act nor move
but
by his direction. He sees every thing, and is present every
where.
Nothing
escapes his vigilance and attention. Orders are seasonably given,
and
seasonably executed. Contrivances, stratagems, false marches, real
or
feigned
attacks, encampments, decampments; in a word, every thing depends
upon
him alone.
On
this account, the reading of the Greek historians, such as
Thucydides,
Xenophon,
and Polybius, is of infinite service to young officers; because
those
historians, who were also excellent commanders, enter into all
the
particulars
of the events which they relate, and lead the readers, as it
were
by the hand, through all the sieges and battles they describe;
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