IX
At another time, as I am aware, he had heard a remark made by Crito (1)
that life at Athens was no easy matter for a man who wished to mind his
own affairs.
(1) Crito. See above, I. ii. 48; Cobet, "P. X."; cf. Plat. "Rep."
viii. 549 C.
As, for instance, at this moment (Crito proceeded) there are a set
of fellows threatening me with lawsuits, not because they have any
misdemeanour to allege against me, but simply under the conviction that
I will sooner pay a sum of money than be troubled further.
To which Socrates replied: Tell me, Crito, you keep dogs, do you not, to
ward off wolves from your flocks?
Cr. Certainly; it pays to do so.
Soc. Then why do you not keep a watchman willing and competent to ward
off this pack of people who seek to injure you?
I should not at all mind (he answered), if I were not afraid he might
turn again and rend his keeper.
What! (rejoined Socrates), do you not see that to gratify a man like
yourself is far pleasanter as a matter of self-interest than to quarrel
with you? You may be sure there are plenty of people here who will take
the greatest pride in making you their friend.
Accordingly, they sought out Archedemus, (2) a practical man with a
clever tongue in his head (3) but poor; the fact being, he was not the
sort to make gain by hook or by crook, but a lover of honesty and of
too good a nature himself to make his living as a pettifogger. (4) Crito
would then take the opportunity of times of harvesting and put aside
small presents for Achedemus of corn and oil, or wine, or wool, or any
other of the farm produce forming the staple commodities of life, or he
would invite him to a sacrificial feast, and otherwise pay him marked
attention. Archedemus, feeling that he had in Crito's house a harbour
of refuge, could not make too much of his patron, and ere long he
had hunted up a long list of iniquities which could be lodged against
Crito's pettifogging persecutors themselves, and not only their numerous
crimes but their numerous enemies; and presently he prosecuted one of
them in a public suit, where sentence would be given against him "what
to suffer or what to pay." (5) The accused, conscious as he was of
many rascally deeds, did all he could to be quit of Archedemus, but
Archedemus was not to be got rid of. He held on until he had made the
informer not only loose his hold of Crito but pay himself a sum of
money; and now that Archedemus had achieved this and other similar
victories, it is easy to guess what followed. (6) It was just as when
some shepherd has got a very good dog, all the other shepherds wish
to lodge their flocks in his neighbourhood that they too may reap the
benefit of him. So a number of Crito's friends came begging him to allow
Archedemus to be their guardian also, and Archedemus was overjoyed to
do something to gratify Crito, and so it came about that not only Crito
abode in peace, but his friends likewise. If any of those people with
whom Archedemus was not on the best of terms were disposed to throw
it in his teeth that he accepted his patron's benefits and paid in
flatteries, he had a ready retort: "Answer me this question--which is
the more scandalous, to accept kindnesses from honest folk and to repay
them, with the result that I make such people my friends but quarrel
with knaves, or to make enemies of honourable gentlemen (7) by attempts
to do them wrong, with the off-chance indeed of winning the friendship
of some scamps in return for my co-operation, but the certainty of
losing in the tone of my acquaintances?" (8)
(2) Archedemus, possibly the demagogue, "Hell." I. vii. 2. So Cobet,
"P. X.," but see Grote, "H. G." viii. 245.
(3) Lit. "very capable of speech and action"--the writer's favourite
formula for the well-trained Athenian who can speak fluently and
reason clearly, and act energetically and opportunely.
(4) Reading {kai euphuesteros on} (or {e os})... {apo sukophanton}
(or {sukophantion}), after Cobet, "P. X." s.v. Archedemus. The
MSS. give {kai ephe raston einai}--"nothing is easier," he said,
"than recovering from sycophants."
(5) For this formula cf. "Econ." vi. 24. Cf. Plat. "Statesm." 299 A.
(6) {ede tote}. Cf. Plat. "Laws," vi. 778 C.
(7) Lit. the {kaloi kagathoi}, which like {khrestous} and {ponerous}
has a political as well as an ethical meaning.
(8) Lit. "must associate with these (the {ponerois}) instead of those
(the {kalois te kagathois}).
The net result of the whole proceedings was that Archedemus was now
Crito's right hand, (9) and by the rest of Crito's friends he was held
in honour.
(9) He was No. 1--{eis}.
X
Again I may cite, as known to myself, (1) the following discussion; the
arguments were addressed to Diodorus, one of his companions. The master
said:
(1) Or, "for which I can personally vouch."
Tell me, Diodorus, if one of your slaves runs away, are you at pains to
recover him?
More than that (Diodorus answered), I summon others to my aid and I have
a reward cried for his recovery.
Soc. Well, if one of your domestics is sick, do you tend him and call in
the doctors to save his life?
Diod. Decidedly I do.
Soc. And if an intimate acquaintance who is far more precious to you
than any of your household slaves is about to perish of want, you would
think it incumbent on you to take pains to save his life? Well! now you
know without my telling you that Hermogenes (2) is not made of wood or
stone. If you helped him he would be ashamed not to pay you in kind.
And yet--the opportunity of possessing a willing, kindly, and trusty
assistant well fitted to do your bidding, and not merely that, but
capable of originating useful ideas himself, with a certain forecast
of mind and judgment--I say such a man is worth dozens of slaves. Good
economists tell us that when a precious article may be got at a low
price we ought to buy. And nowadays when times are so bad it is possible
to get good friends exceedingly cheap.
(2) Hermogenes, presumably the son of Hipponicus. See I. ii. 48.
Diodorus answered: You are quite right, Socrates; bid Hermogenes come to
me.
Soc. Bid Hermogenes come to you!--not I indeed! since for aught I can
understand you are no better entitled to summon him that to go to him
yourself, nor is the advantage more on his side than your own.
Thus Diodorus went off in a trice to seek Hermogenes, and at no great
outlay won to himself a friend--a friend whose one concern it now was to
discover how, by word or deed, he might help and gladden Diodorus.
BOOK III
I
Aspirants to honour and distinction (1) derived similar help from
Socrates, who in each case stimulated in them a persevering assiduity
towards their several aims, as the following narratives tend to show. He
had heard on one occasion of the arrival in Athens of Dionysodorus, (2)
who professed to teach the whole duty of a general. (3) Accordingly he
remarked to one of those who were with him--a young man whose anxiety to
obtain the office of Strategos (4) was no secret to him:
(1) {ton kalon} = everything which the {kalos te kagathos} should aim
at, but especially the honourable offices of state such as the
Archonship, Strategia, Hipparchia, etc. See Plat. "Laches."
(2) Dionysodorus of Chios, presumably. See Plat. "Euthyd." 271 C foll.
(3) A professor of the science and art of strategy.
(4) Lit. "that honour," sc. the Strategia.
Soc. It would be monstrous on the part of any one who sought to become
a general (5) to throw away the slightest opportunity of learning the
duties of the office. Such a person, I should say, would deserve to be
fined and punished by the state far more than the charlatan who without
having learnt the art of a sculptor undertakes a contract to carve a
statue. Considering that the whole fortunes of the state are entrusted
to the general during a war, with all its incidental peril, it is only
reasonable to anticipate that great blessings or great misfortunes
will result in proportion to the success or bungling of that officer. I
appeal to you, young sir, do you not agree that a candidate who, while
taking pains to be elected neglects to learn the duties of the office,
would richly deserve to be fined?
(5) i.e. "head of the war department, and commander-in-chief," etc.
With arguments like these he persuaded the young man to go and take
lessons. After he had gone through the course he came back, and Socrates
proceeded playfully to banter him.
Soc. Behold our young friend, sirs, as Homer says of Agamemnon, of mein
majestical, (6) so he; does he not seem to move more majestically, like
one who has studied to be a general? Of course, just as a man who
has learned to play the harp is a harper, even if he never touch the
instrument, or as one who has studied medicine is a physician, though he
does not practise, so our friend here from this time forward is now and
ever shall be a general, even though he does not receive a vote at the
elections. But the dunce who has not the science is neither general
nor doctor, no, not even if the whole world appointed him. But (he
proceeded, turning to the youth), in case any of us should ever find
ourselves captain or colonel (7) under you, to give us some smattering
of the science of war, what did the professor take as the starting-point
of his instruction in generalship? Please inform us.
(6) "Il." iii. 169, 170.
(7) Or, "brigadier or captain," lit. taxiarch or lochagos.
Then the young man: He began where he ended; he taught me tactics
(8)--tactics and nothing else.
(8) Cf. "Cyrop." I. vi. 12 foll.; VIII. v. 15.
Yet surely (replied Socrates) that is only an infinitesimal part of
generalship. A general (9) must be ready in furnishing the material of
war: in providing the commissariat for his troops; quick in devices, he
must be full of practical resource; nothing must escape his eye or tax
his endurance; he must be shrewd, and ready of wit, a combination at
once of clemency and fierceness, of simplicity and of insidious
craft; he must play the part of watchman, of robber; now prodigal as
a spendthrift, and again close-fisted as a miser, the bounty of his
munificence must be equalled by the narrowness of his greed; impregnable
in defence, a very dare-devil in attack--these and many other qualities
must he possess who is to make a good general and minister of war; they
must come to him by gift of nature or through science. No doubt it is a
grand thing also to be a tactician, since there is all the difference in
the world between an army properly handled in the field and the same
in disorder; just as stones and bricks, woodwork and tiles, tumbled
together in a heap are of no use at all, but arrange them in a certain
order--at bottom and atop materials which will not crumble or rot,
such as stones and earthen tiles, and in the middle between the two put
bricks and woodwork, with an eye to architectural principle, (10) and
finally you get a valuable possession--to wit, a dwelling-place.
(9) A strategos. For the duties and spheres of action of this officer,
see Gow, op. cit. xiv. 58.
(10) "As in the building of a house." See Vitrivius, ii. 3; Plin. xxv.
14.
The simile is very apt, Socrates (11) (replied the youth), for in
battle, too, the rule is to draw up the best men in front and rear,
with those of inferior quality between, where they may be led on by the
former and pushed on by the hinder.
(11) Cf. "Il." iv. 297 foll.; "Cyrop." VI. iii. 25; Polyb. x. 22.
Soc. Very good, no doubt, if the professor taught you to distinguish
good and bad; but if not, where is the use of your learning? It would
scarcely help you, would it, to be told to arrange coins in piles, the
best coins at top and bottom and the worst in the middle, unless you
were first taught to distinguish real from counterfeit.
The Youth. Well no, upon my word, he did not teach us that, so that the
task of distinguishing between good and bad must devolve on ourselves.
Soc. Well, shall we see, then, how we may best avoid making blunders
between them?
I am ready (replied the youth).
Soc. Well then! Let us suppose we are marauders, and the task imposed
upon us is to carry off some bullion; it will be a right disposition of
our forces if we place in the vanguard those who are the greediest of
gain? (12)
(12) "Whose fingers itch for gold."
The Youth. I should think so.
Soc. Then what if there is danger to be faced? Shall the vanguard
consist of men who are greediest of honour?
The Youth. It is these, at any rate, who will face danger for the sake
of praise and glory. (13) Fortunately such people are not hid away in
a corner; they shine forth conspicuous everywhere, and are easy to be
discovered.
(13) Cf. Shakesp. "seeking the bubble reputation even in the cannon's
mouth."
Soc. But tell me, did he teach you how to draw up troops in general,
or specifically where and how to apply each particular kind of tactical
arrangement?
The Youth. Nothing of the sort.
Soc. And yet there are and must be innumerable circumstances in which
the same ordering of march or battle will be out of place.
The Youth. I assure you he did not draw any of these fine distinctions.
He did not, did not he? (he answered). Bless me! Go back to him again,
then, and ply him with questions; if he really has the science, and is
not lost to all sense of shame, he will blush to have taken your money
and then to have sent you away empty.
II
At another time he fell in with a man who had been chosen general and
minister of war, and thus accosted him.
Soc. Why did Homer, think you, designate Agamemnon "shepherd of the
peoples"? (1) Was it possibly to show that, even as a shepherd must care
for his sheep and see that they are safe and have all things needful,
and that the objects of their rearing be secured, so also must a general
take care that his soldiers are safe and have their supplies, and attain
the objects of their soldiering? Which last is that they may get the
mastery of their enemies, and so add to their own good fortune and
happiness; or tell me, what made him praise Agamemnon, saying--
He is both a good king and a warrior bold? (2)
Did he mean, perhaps, to imply that he would be a 'warrior bold,' not
merely in standing alone and bravely battling against the foe, but as
inspiring the whole of his host with like prowess; and by a 'good king,'
not merely one who should stand forth gallantly to protect his own life,
but who should be the source of happiness to all over whom he reigns?
Since a man is not chosen king in order to take heed to himself, albeit
nobly, but that those who chose him may attain to happiness through him.
And why do men go soldiering except to ameliorate existence? (3) and to
this end they choose their generals that they may find in them guides to
the goal in question. He, then, who undertakes that office is bound to
procure for those who choose him the thing they seek for. And indeed it
were not easy to find any nobler ambition than this, or aught ignobler
than its opposite.
(1) "Il." ii. 243. "The People's Paster," Chapman.
(2) "Il." iii. 179; cf. "Symp." iv. 6. A favourite line of Alexander
the Great's, it is said.
(3) Of, "that life may reach some flower of happiness."
After such sort he handled the question, what is the virtue of a good
leader? and by shredding off all superficial qualities, laid bare as
the kernel of the matter that it is the function of every leader to make
those happy whom he may be called upon to lead. (4)
(4) Cf. Plat. "Rep." 342.
III
The following conversation with a youth who had just been elected
hipparch (1) (or commandant of cavalry), I can also vouch for. (2)
(1) Cf. "Hipparch."
(2) Lit. "I know he once held."
Soc. Can you tell us what set you wishing to be a general of cavalry,
young sir? What was your object? I suppose it was not simply to ride at
the head of the "knights," an honour not denied to the mounted archers,
(3) who ride even in front of the generals themselves?
(3) Lit. "Hippotoxotai." See Boeckh, "P. E. A." II. xxi. p. 264 (Eng.
tr.)
Hipp. You are right.
Soc. No more was it for the sake merely of public notoriety, since a
madman might boast of that fatal distinction. (4)
(4) Or, "as we all know, 'Tom Fool' can boast," etc.
Hipp. You are right again.
Soc. Is this possibly the explanation? you think to improve the
cavalry--your aim would be to hand it over to the state in better
condition than you find it; and, if the cavalry chanced to be called
out, you at their head would be the cause of some good thing to Athens?
Hipp. Most certainly.
Soc. Well, and a noble ambition too, upon my word--if you can achieve
your object. The command to which you are appointed concerns horses and
riders, does it not?
Hipp. It does, no doubt.
Soc. Come then, will you explain to us first how you propose to improve
the horses.
Hipp. Ah, that will scarcely form part of my business, I fancy. Each
trooper is personally responsible for the condition of his horse.
Soc. But suppose, when they present themselves and their horses, (5) you
find that some have brought beasts with bad feet or legs or otherwise
infirm, and others such ill-fed jades that they cannot keep up on the
march; others, again, brutes so ill broken and unmanageable that they
will not keep their place in the ranks, and others such desperate
plungers that they cannot be got to any place in the ranks at all. What
becomes of your cavalry force then? How will you charge at the head of
such a troop, and win glory for the state?
(5) For this phrase, see Schneider and Kuhner ad loc.
Hipp. You are right. I will try to look after the horses to my utmost.
Soc. Well, and will you not lay your hand to improve the men themselves?
Hipp. I will.
Soc. The first thing will be to make them expert in mounting their
chargers?
Hipp. That certainly, for if any of them were dismounted he would then
have a better chance of saving himself.
Soc. Well, but when it comes to the hazard of engagement, what will
you do then? Give orders to draw the enemy down to the sandy ground (6)
where you are accustomed to manouvre, or endeavour beforehand to put
your men through their practice on ground resembling a real battlefield?
(6) e.g. the hippodrome at Phaleron.
Hipp. That would be better, no doubt.
Soc. Well, shall you regard it as a part of your duty to see that as
many of your men as possible can take aim and shoot on horseback? (7)
(7) Cf. "Hipparch," i. 21.
Hipp. It will be better, certainly.
Soc. And have you thought how to whet the courage of your troopers? to
kindle in them rage to meet the enemy?--which things are but stimulants
to make stout hearts stouter?
Hipp. If I have not done so hitherto, I will try to make up for lost
time now.
Soc. And have you troubled your head at all to consider how you are to
secure the obedience of your men? for without that not one particle
of good will you get, for all your horses and troopers so brave and so
stout.
Hipp. That is a true saying; but how, Socrates, should a man best bring
them to this virtue? (8)
(8) {protrepsasthai}. See above, I. ii. 64; below, IV. v. 1.
Soc. I presume you know that in any business whatever, people are more
apt to follow the lead of those whom they look upon as adepts; thus in
case of sickness they are readiest to obey him whom they regard as
the cleverest physician; and so on a voyage the most skilful pilot; in
matters agricultural the best farmer, and so forth.
Hipp. Yes, certainly.
Soc. Then in this matter of cavalry also we may reasonably suppose that
he who is looked upon as knowing his business best will command the
readiest obedience.
Hipp. If, then, I can prove to my troopers that I am better than all of
them, will that suffice to win their obedience?
Soc. Yes, if along with that you can teach them that obedience to you
brings greater glory and surer safety to themselves.
Hipp. How am I to teach them that?
Soc. Upon my word! How are you to teach them that? Far more easily, I
take it, than if you had to teach them that bad things are better than
good, and more advantageous to boot.
Hipp. I suppose you mean that, besides his other qualifications a
commandant of cavalry must have command of speech and argument? (9)
(9) Or, "practise the art of oratory"; "express himself clearly and
rationally." See Grote, "H. G." VIII. lxvii. p. 463 note;
"Hipparch," i. 24; viii. 22.
Soc. Were you under the impression that the commandant was not to open
his mouth? Did it never occur to you that all the noblest things
which custom (10) compels us to learn, and to which indeed we owe our
knowledge of life, have all been learned by means of speech (11) and
reason; and if there be any other noble learning which a man may learn,
it is this same reason whereby he learns it; and the best teachers are
those who have the freest command of thought and language, and those
that have the best knowledge of the most serious things are the most
brilliant masters of disputation. Again, have you not observed that
whenever this city of ours fits out one of her choruses--such as that,
for instance, which is sent to Delos (12)--there is nothing elsewhere
from any quarter of the world which can compete with it; nor will you
find in any other state collected so fair a flower of manhood as in
Athens? (13)
(10) Cf Arist. "Rhet." ii. 12, {oi neoi pepaideuntai upo tou nomou
monon}.
(11) {dia logou}.
(12) See Thuc. iii. 104; and below, IV. viii. 2.
(13) See references ap. Schneider and Kuhner; "Symp." iv. 17.
Hipp. You say truly.
Soc. But for all that, it is not in sweetness of voice that the
Athenians differ from the rest of the world so much, nor in stature of
body or strength of limb, but in ambition and that love of honour (14)
which most of all gives a keen edge to the spirit in the pursuit of
things lovely and of high esteem.
(14) See below, v. 3; Dem. "de Cor." 28 foll.
Hipp. That, too, is a true saying.
Soc. Do you not think, then, that if a man devoted himself to our
cavalry also, here in Athens, we should far outstrip the rest of the
world, whether in the furnishing of arms and horses, or in orderliness
of battle-array, or in eager hazardous encounter with the foe, if only
we could persuade ourselves that by so doing we should obtain honour and
distinction?
Hipp. It is reasonable to think so.
Soc. Have no hesitation, therefore, but try to guide your men into this
path, (15) whence you yourself, and through you your fellow-citizens,
will reap advantage.
(15) Or, "to conduct which will not certainly fail of profit to
yourself or through you to..."
Yes, in good sooth, I will try (he answered).
IV
At another time, seeing Nicomachides on his way back from the
elections (of magistrates), (1) he asked him: Who are elected generals,
Nicomachides?
(1) Cf. "Pol. Ath." i. 3; Aristot. "Ath. Pol." 44. 4; and Dr. Sandys'
note ad loc. p. 165 of his edition.
And he: Is it not just like them, these citizens of Athens--just like
them, I say--to go and elect, not me, who ever since my name first
appeared on the muster-roll have literally worn myself out with military
service--now as a captain, now as a colonel--and have received all these
wounds from the enemy, look you! (at the same time, and suiting the
action to the word, he bared his arms and proceeded to show the scars
of ancient wounds)--they elect not me (he went on), but, if you please,
Antisthenes! who never served as a hoplite (2) in his life nor in the
cavalry ever made a brilliant stroke, that I ever heard tell of; no! in
fact, he has got no science at all, I take it, except to amass stores of
wealth.
(2) Cf. Lys. xiv. 10.
But still (returned Socrates), surely that is one point in his
favour--he ought to be able to provide the troops with supplies.
Nic. Well, for the matter of that, merchants are good hands at
collecting stores; but it does not follow that a merchant or trader will
be able to command an army.
But (rejoined Socrates) Antisthenes is a man of great pertinacity, who
insists on winning, and that is a very necessary quality in a general.
(3) Do not you see how each time he has been choragos (4) he has been
successful with one chorus after another?
(3) See Grote, "Plato," i. 465 foll.
(4) Choir-master, or Director of the Chorus. It was his duty to
provide and preside over a chorus to sing, dance, or play at any
of the public festivals, defraying the cost as a state service of
{leitourgia}. See "Pol. Ath." iii. 4; "Hiero," ix. 4; Aristot.
"Pol. Ath." 28. 3.
Nic. Bless me! yes; but there is a wide difference between standing at
the head of a band of singers and dancers and a troop of soldiers.
Soc. Still, without any practical skill in singing or in the training
of a chorus, Antisthenes somehow had the art to select the greatest
proficients in both.
Nic. Yes, and by the same reasoning we are to infer that on a campaign
he will find proficients, some to marshal the troops for him and others
to fight his battles?
Soc. Just so. If in matters military he only exhibits the same skill in
selecting the best hands as he has shown in matters of the chorus, it is
highly probable he will here also bear away the palm of victory; and we
may presume that if he expended so much to win a choric victory with a
single tribe, (5) he will be ready to expend more to secure a victory in
war with the whole state to back him.
(5) See Dem. "against Lept." 496. 26. Each tribe nominated such of its
members as were qualified to undertake the burden.
Nic. Do you really mean, Socrates, that it is the function of the same
man to provide efficient choruses and to act as commander-in-chief?
Soc. I mean this, that, given a man knows what he needs to provide,
and has the skill to do so, no matter what the department of things may
be--house or city or army--you will find him a good chief and director
(6) of the same.
(6) Or, "representative."
Then Nicomachides: Upon my word, Socrates, I should never have expected
to hear you say that a good housekeeper (7) and steward of an estate
would make a good general.
(7) Or, "economist"; cf. "Cyrop." I. vi. 12.
Soc. Come then, suppose we examine their respective duties, and so
determine (8) whether they are the same or different.
(8) Lit. "get to know."
Nic. Let us do so.
Soc. Well then, is it not a common duty of both to procure the ready
obedience of those under them to their orders?
Nic. Certainly.
Soc. And also to assign to those best qualified to perform them their
distinctive tasks?
That, too, belongs to both alike (he answered).
Soc. Again, to chastise the bad and reward the good belongs to both
alike, methinks?
Nic. Decidedly.
Soc. And to win the kindly feeling of their subordinates must surely be
the noble ambition of both?
That too (he answered).
Soc. And do you consider it to the interest of both alike to win the
adherence of supporters and allies? (9)
(9) In reference to the necessity of building up a family connection
or political alliances cf. Arist. "Pol." iii. 9, 13.
Nic. Without a doubt.
Soc. And does it not closely concern them both to be good guardians of
their respective charges?
Nic. Very much so.
Soc. Then it equally concerns them both to be painstaking and prodigal
of toil in all their doings?
Nic. Yes, all these duties belong to both alike, but the parallel ends
when you come to actual fighting.
Soc. Yet they are both sure to meet with enemies?
Nic. There is no doubt about that.
Soc. Then is it not to the interest of both to get the upper hand of
these?
Nic. Certainly; but you omit to tell us what service organisation and
the art of management will render when it comes to actual fighting.
Soc. Why, it is just then, I presume, it will be of most service, for
the good economist knows that nothing is so advantageous or so lucrative
as victory in battle, or to put it negatively, nothing so disastrous
and expensive as defeat. He will enthusiastically seek out and provide
everything conducive to victory, he will painstakingly discover and
guard against all that tends to defeat, and when satisfied that all is
ready and ripe for victory he will deliver battle energetically, and
what is equally important, until the hour of final preparation has
arrived, (10) he will be cautious to deliver battle. Do not despise men
of economic genius, Nicomachides; the difference between the devotion
requisite to private affairs and to affairs of state is merely one of
quantity. For the rest the parallel holds strictly, and in this respect
pre-eminently, that both are concerned with human instruments: which
human beings, moreover, are of one type and temperament, whether we
speak of devotion to public affairs or of the administration of private
property. To fare well in either case is given to those who know the
secret of dealing with humanity, whereas the absence of that knowledge
will as certainly imply in either case a fatal note of discord. (11)
(10) Lit. "as long as he is unprepared."
(11) L. Dindorf, "Index Graec." Ox. ed.; cf. Hor. "Ep." II. ii. 144,
"sed verae numerosque modosque ediscere vitae," "the harmony of
life," Conington.
V
A conversation held with Pericles the son of the great statesman may
here be introduced. (1) Socrates began:
(1) Or, "On one occasion Pericles was the person addressed in
conversation." For Pericles see "Hell." I. v. 16; vii. 15; Plut.
"Pericl." 37 (Clough, i. 368).
I am looking forward, I must tell you, Pericles, to a great improvement
in our military affairs when you are minister of war. (2) The prestige
of Athens, I hope, will rise; we shall gain the mastery over our
enemies.
(2) "Strategos."
Pericles replied: I devoutly wish your words might be fulfilled, but how
this happy result is to be obtained, I am at a loss to discover.
Shall we (Socrates continued), shall we balance the arguments for and
against, and consider to what extent the possibility does exist?
Pray let us do so (he answered).
Soc. Well then, you know that in point of numbers the Athenians are not
inferior to the Boeotians?
Per. Yes, I am aware of that.
Soc. And do you think the Boeotians could furnish a better pick of fine
healthy men than the Athenians?
Per. I think we should very well hold our own in that respect.
Soc. And which of the two would you take to be the more united
people--the friendlier among themselves?
Per. The Athenians, I should say, for so many sections of the Boeotians,
resenting the selfish policy (3) of Thebes, are ill disposed to that
power, but at Athens I see nothing of the sort.
(3) "The self-aggrandisement."
Soc. But perhaps you will say that there is no people more jealous of
honour or haughtier in spirit. (4) And these feelings are no weak
spurs to quicken even a dull spirit to hazard all for glory's sake and
fatherland.
(4) Reading {megalophronestatoi}, after Cobet. See "Hipparch," vii. 3;
or if as vulg. {philophronestatoi}, transl. "more affable."
Per. Nor is there much fault to find with Athenians in these respects.
Soc. And if we turn to consider the fair deeds of ancestry, (5) to
no people besides ourselves belongs so rich a heritage of stimulating
memories, whereby so many of us are stirred to pursue virtue with
devotion and to show ourselves in our turn also men of valour like our
sires.
(5) See Wesley's anthem, Eccles. xliv. 1, "Let us now praise famous
men and our fathers that begat us."
Per. All that you say, Socrates, is most true, but do you observe that
ever since the disaster of the thousand under Tolmides at Lebadeia,
coupled with that under Hippocrates at Delium, (6) the prestige of
Athens by comparison with the Boeotians has been lowered, whilst the
spirit of Thebes as against Athens had been correspondingly exalted, so
that those Boeotians who in old days did not venture to give battle
to the Athenians even in their own territory unless they had the
Lacedaemonians and the rest of the Peloponnesians to help them, do
nowadays threaten to make an incursion into Attica single-handed; and
the Athenians, who formerly, if they had to deal with the Boeotians (7)
only, made havoc of their territory, are now afraid the Boeotians may
some day harry Attica.
(6) Lebadeia, 447 B.C.; Delium, 424 B.C. For Tolmides and Hippocrates
see Thuc. i. 113; iv. 100 foll.; Grote, "H. G." v. 471; vi. 533.
(7) Reading {ote B. monoi}, al. {ou monoi}, "when the Boeotians were
not unaided."
To which Socrates: Yes, I perceive that this is so, but it seems to me
that the state was never more tractably disposed, never so ripe for
a really good leader, as to-day. For if boldness be the parent of
carelessness, laxity, and insubordination, it is the part of fear to
make people more disposed to application, obedience, and good order.
A proof of which you may discover in the behaviour of people on
ship-board. It is in seasons of calm weather when there is nothing
to fear that disorder may be said to reign, but as soon as there is
apprehension of a storm, or an enemy in sight, the scene changes; not
only is each word of command obeyed, but there is a hush of silent
expectation; the mariners wait to catch the next signal like an
orchestra with eyes upon the leader.
Per. But indeed, given that now is the opportunity to take obedience
at the flood, it is high time also to explain by what means we are
to rekindle in the hearts of our countrymen (8) the old fires--the
passionate longing for antique valour, for the glory and the wellbeing
of the days of old.
(8) Reading {anerasthenai}, Schneider's emendation of the vulg.
{aneristhenai}.
Well (proceeded Socrates), supposing we wished them to lay claim
to certain material wealth now held by others, we could not better
stimulate them to lay hands on the objects coveted than by showing them
that these were ancestral possessions (9) to which they had a natural
right. But since our object is that they should set their hearts on
virtuous pre-eminence, we must prove to them that such headship combined
with virtue is an old time-honoured heritage which pertains to them
beyond all others, and that if they strive earnestly after it they will
soon out-top the world.
(9) Cf. Solon in the matter of Salamis, Plut. "Sol." 8; Bergk. "Poet.
Lyr. Gr. Solon," SALAMIS, i. 2, 3.
Por. How are we to inculcate this lesson?
Soc. I think by reminding them of a fact already registered in their
minds, (10) that the oldest of our ancestors whose names are known to us
were also the bravest of heroes.
(10) Or, "to which their ears are already opened."
Per. I suppose you refer to that judgment of the gods which, for their
virtue's sake, Cecrops and his followers were called on to decide? (11)
(11) See Apollodorus, iii. 14.
Soc. Yes, I refer to that and to the birth and rearing of Erectheus,
(12) and also to the war (13) which in his days was waged to stay the
tide of invasion from the whole adjoining continent; and that other war
in the days of the Heraclidae (14) against the men of Peloponnese; and
that series of battles fought in the days of Theseus (15)--in all which
the virtuous pre-eminence of our ancestry above the men of their own
times was made manifest. Or, if you please, we may come down to things
of a later date, which their descendants and the heroes of days not so
long anterior to our own wrought in the struggle with the lords of Asia,
(16) nay of Europe also, as far as Macedonia: a people possessing a
power and means of attack far exceeding any who had gone before--who,
moreover, had accomplished the doughtiest deeds. These things the men of
Athens wrought partly single-handed, (17) and partly as sharers with
the Peloponnesians in laurels won by land and sea. Heroes were these men
also, far outshining, as tradition tells us, the peoples of their time. |
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