Such of them as
were dispersed and could not get in were pursued and
put to the sword.
were dispersed and could not get in were pursued and
put to the sword.
Plutarch - Lives - v7
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depth from one end to the other: besides, being dis-
continuous, it did not appear to be the effect of one
incision, but to have been made at different times, pro-
bably as he was best able to endure the pain. At the
same time there were some who deposed, that having
seen Sosis running naked and wounded, and being in-
formed by him that he was flying from the pursuit of
Dion's foreign soldiers, who had just then wounded
him, they hasted to take the pursuers; that, however,
they could meet with no such persons, but found a
razor lying under a hollow stone, near the place from
whence they had observed him come. All these cir-
cumstances made strongly against him: but when his
own servants gave evidence, that he went out of his
house alone before daylight, with a razor in his hand,
Dion's accusers withdrew. The people, by a general
vote, condemned Sosis to die, and were once more re-
conciled to Dion.
Nevertheless, their jealousy of his soldiers remained;
and as the war was now principally carried on by sea,
Philistus being come to the support of Dionysius, with
a considerable fleet from Japygia, they did not see the
necessity of retaining in their service those Greeks
who were no seamen, and must depend for protection
on the naval force. Their confidence in their own
strength was likewise greatly increased by an advan-
tage they had gained at sea against Philistus, whom
they used in a very barbarous manner. Ephorus
relates that, after his ship was taken, he slew him-
self. But Timonides, who attended Dion from the
beginning of the war, writing to Speusippus the philo-
sopher, gives the story thus: Philistus' galley having
run aground, he was taken prisoner alive; and after
being disarmed and stripped, was exposed naked, though
an old man, to every kind of insult. They afterwards
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? DIoN.
121
cut off his head, and ordered their children to drag
his body through the Acradina, and throw it into the
quarry. Timsus represents the indignity offered his
remains to he still greater. 'The boys,' he says, 'tied
a rope about his lame leg, and so dragged him through
the city; the Syracusans, in the mean while, insulting
over his carcass, when they saw him tied by the leg who
had said, 'It would ill become Dionysius to fly from
his throne by the swiftness of his horse, which he ought
never to quit till he was dragged from it by the heels. "
Philistus, however, tells us that this was not said to
Dionysius by himself, but by another. It is plain, at
the same time, that Timaeus takes every occasion, from
Philistus' known adherence to arbitrary power, to
load him with the keenest reproaches. Those whom
he injured are in some degree excusable, if, in their
resentment, they treated him with indignities after
death. But wherefore should his biographers, whom
he never injured, and who have had the benefit of his
works; wherefore should they exhibit him, with all
the exaggerations of scurrility, in those scenes of dis-
tress to which fortune sometimes reduces the best of
men? On the other hand, Ephorus is no less extrava-
gant in his encomiums on Philistus. He knows well
how to throw into shades the foibles of the human cha-
racter, and to give an air of plausibility to the most
indefensible conduct; but, with all his eloquence, with
all his art, he cannot rescue Philistus from the impu-
tation of being the most strenuous assertor of arbitrary
power, of being the fondest follower and admirer of
the luxury, the magnificence, the alliance of tyrants.
On the whole, he who neither defends the principles of
Philistus, nor insults over his misfortunes, will best
discharge the duty of the historian.
After the death of Philistus, Dionysius offered to
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PLUTARCH.
surrender the citadel to Dion, together with the arms,
provisions, and soldiers, and an advance of five months'
pay, on condition that he might be permitted to retire
into Italy, and there enjoy the revenues of Gyata, a
fruitful tract of country in the territory of Syracuse,
reaching from the sea to the middle of the country.
Dion refusing to negotiate on his own account, re-
ferred the ambassadors to the Syracusans; and, as
they expected that Dionysius would shortly come alive
into their hands, they were dismissed without audieuce.
On this the tyrant, leaving his eldest son Apollocrates
to defend the citadel, embarked with his most valuable
treasures and a few select friends, and, sailing with a
fair wind, escaped Heraclides the admiral.
The tyrant's escape greatly exasperated the people
against Heraclides; and, in order to appease them, he
proposed by Hippo, one of the orators, that there
should be an equal division of lands; alleging, that
equality was the first foundation of civil liberty, and
that poverty and slavery were synonymous terms. At
the same time that he supported Hippo in the promo-
tion of this scheme, he encouraged the faction against
Dion, who opposed it. At length he prevailed with
the people not only to pass this law, but to make a
decree that the pay of the foreign soldiers should be
stopped, and new commanders chosen, that they might
no longer be subject to the severe discipline of Dion.
Thus, like the patient who, after a lingering sickness,
makes too rash a use of the first returns of health, and
rejects the sober and gradual regimen of his physician,
the citizens, who had long labored under the yoke of
slavery, took too precipitate steps to freedom, and re-
fused the salutary counsels and conduct of their deli-
verer.
It was about the midst of summer when the assembly
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123
was summoned for the election of new officers; and,
for the space of fifteen days, there were the most
dreadful thunders, and the most alarming prodigies.
The religious fears that these prodigies excited made
these people decline the choosing of officers. When
the weather grew more serene the orators again ex-
horted them to proceed to the business; but no sooner
had they begun than a draught-ox, which had neither
received any provocation from the driver, nor could be
terrified by the crowds and noise to which he had been
accustomed, suddenly broke from his yoke, and run-
ning furiously into the assembly, drove the people in
great disorder before him: from thence, throwing down
all that stood in his way, he ran over that part of the
city which afterwards fell into the enemy's hands.
The Syracusans, however, regardless of these things,
elected five-and-twenty officers, among whom was He-
raclides. At the same time they privately endeavored
to draw off Dion's men; promising, if they would de-
sert him, to make them citizens of Syracuse. But the
soldiers were faithful to their general, and, placing
him in the middle of a battalion, marched out of the
city. They did not, on this occasion, offer any vio-
lence to the inhabitants, but they severely reproached
them for their baseness and ingratitude. The small-
ness of their number, and their declining to act offen-
sively, put the citizens on the view of cutting them off
before they escaped out of the city; and with this de-
sign they fell on their rear. Dion was here in a great
dilemma: he was under the necessity either of fighting
against his countrymen, or of suffering himself and his
faithful soldiers to be cut in pieces. He therefore in-
treated the Syracusans to desist: he stretched forth
his hands to them, and pointed to the citadel full of
soldiers, who were happy in being spectators of these
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? PLUTARCH.
dissensions amongst their enemies. But the torrent of
the populace, agitated and driven forward by the se-
ditious breath of the orators, was not to be stopped by
persuasion. He therefore commanded his men to ad-
vance with shouts and clashing of arms, but not to
attack them. The Syracusans, on this, fled immedi-
ately through the streets, though no one pursued them;
for Dion retreated with his men into the territories of
the Leontines.
The very women laughed at the new officers for this
cowardly flight; and the latter, to recover their repu-
tation, ordered the citizens to arms, pursued Dion,
and came up with him as he was passing a river. A
skirmish began between the cavalry; but when they
found Dion no longer disposed to bear these indigni-
ties with his usual paternal patience; when they ob-
served him drawing up his men for battle, with all the
eagerness of strong resentment, they once more turned
their backs, and with the loss of some few men, fled to
the city in a more disgraceful and more cowardly man-
ner than before.
The Leontines received Dion in a very honorable
manner, gave money to his soldiers, and made them
free of their city. They also sent messengers to Syra-
cuse with requisitions that his men might have justice
done them, and receive their pay. The Syracusans,
in return, sent other messengers, with impeachments
against Dion: but when the matter was debated at
Leontium, in full assembly of the allies, they evidently
appeared to be in fault. They refused, nevertheless,
to stand to the award of this assembly; for the recent
recovery of their liberties had made them insolent, and
the popular power was without control; their very
commanders being no more than servile dependents on
the multitude.
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? DIoN.
About this time Dionysius sent a fleet tinder Nyp-
sius, the Neapolitan, with provisions and pay for the
garrison in the citadel. The Syracusans overcame him,
and took four of his ships; but they made an ill use
of their success. Destitute of all discipline, they cele-
brated the victory with the most riotous extravagance;
and at a time when they thought themselves secure of
taking the citadel, they lost the city. Nypsius ob-
serving their disorder, their night revels and debauches,
in which their commanders, either from inclination, or
through fear of offending them, were as deeply engaged
as themselves, took advantage of this opportunity, broke
through their walls, and exposed the city to the violence
and depredation of his soldiers.
The Syracusans at once perceived their folly and
their misfortune: but the latter, in their present con-
fusion, was not easy to be redressed. The soldiers
made dreadful havoc in the city: they demolished the
fortifications, put the men to the sword, and dragged
the women and children shrieking to the citadel. The
Syracusan officers being unable to separate the citizens
from the enemy, or to draw them up in any order, gave
up all for lost. In this situation, while the Acradina
itself was in danger of being taken, they naturally
turned their thoughts on Dion; but none had the
courage to mention a man whom all had injured. In
this emergency a voice was heard from the cavalry of
the allies, crying, 'send for Dion and his Peloponne-
sians from Leontium. ' His name was no sooner men-
tioned than the people shouted for joy. With tears
they implored that he might once more be at their
head: they remembered his intrepidity in the most
trying dangers: they remembered the courage that he
showed himself, and the confidence with which he in-
spired them when he led them against the enemy.
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PLUTARCH.
Archonides and Telesidea from the auxiliaries, and Hel-
lanicus, with four more from the cavalry, were imme-
diately despatched to Leontium, where, making the
best of their way, they arrived in the close of the
evening. They instantly threw themselves at the feet
of Dion, and related, with tears, the deplorable con-
dition of the Syracusans. The Leontines and Pelopon-
nesians soon gathered about them, conjecturing from
their haste, and the manner of their address, that their
business had something extraordinary in it.
Dion immediately summoned an assembly, and the
people being soon collected, Archonides and Hellanicus
briefly related the distress of the Syracusans, intreated
the foreign soldiers to forget the injuries they had done
them, and once more to assist that unfortunate people,
who had already suffered more for their ingratitude
than even they whom they had injured would have in-
flicted on them. When they had thus spoken, a pro-
found silence ensued; on which Dion arose, and at-
tempted to speak, but was prevented by his tears. His
soldiers, who were greatly affected with their general's
sorrow, intreated him to moderate his grief, and pro-
ceed. After he had recovered himself a little, he spoke
to the following purpose: ' Peloponnesians and con-
federates, I have called you together, that you may
consult on your respective affairs. My measures are
taken: I cannot hesitate what to do when Syracuse is
perishing. If I cannot save it, I will, at least, hasten
thither, and fall beneath the ruins of my country: for
you, if you can yet persuade yourselves to assist the
most unfortunate and inconsiderate of men, it may be
in your power to save from destruction a city which
was the work of your own hands. But if your pity
for the Syracusans be sacrificed to your resentment,
may the gods reward your fidelity, your kindness to
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? DIoN.
Dion! And remember, that as he would not desert
you, when you were injured, so neither could he aban-
don his falling country! '
He had hardly , ended when the soldiers signified
their readiness for the service by loud acclamations,
and called on him to march directly to the relief of
Syracuse. The messengers embraced them, and in-
treated the gods to shower their blessings on Dion and
the Peloponnesians. When the noise subsided Dion
gave orders that the men should repair to their quarters,
and, after the necessary refreshments, assemble in the
same place completely armed; for he intended to march
that very night.
The soldiers of Dionysius, after ravaging the city
during the whole day, retired at night, with the loss of
a few men, into the citadel. This small respite once
more encouraged the demagogues of the city, who, pre-
suming that the enemy would not repeat their hostili-
ties, dissuaded the people from admitting Dion and his
foreign soldiers. They advised them not to give up the
honor of saving the city to strangers, but to defend their
liberty themselves. On this the generals sent other
messengers to Dion to countermand his march; while,
on the other hand, the cavalry, and many of the prin-
cipal citizens, sent their requests that he would hasten
it. Thus invited by one party, and rejected by another,
he came forward but slowly; and, at night, the faction
that opposed him set a guard on the gates to prevent
his entering.
Nypsius now made a fresh sally from the citadel,
with still greater numbers, and greater fury than be-
fore. After totally demolishing the remaining part of
the fortification, he fell to ravaging the city. The
slaughter was dreadful; men, women, and children,
fell indiscriminately by the sword: for the object of
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PLUTARCH.
the enemy was not so much plunder as destruction.
Dionysius despaired of regaining his lost empire, and,
in his mortal hatred of the Syracusans, he determined
to hury it in the ruins of their city. It was resolved
therefore that, before Dion's succors could arrive, they
should destroy it the quickest way, by laying it in
ashes. Accordingly they set fire to those parts that
were at hand by brands and torches, and to the re-
moter parts by shooting flaming arrows. The citizens,
in the utmost consternation, fled every where before
them. Those who, to avoid the fire, had fled from
their houses, were put to the sword in the streets;
and they who sought for refuge in their houses were
again driven out by the flames: many were burnt to
death, and many perished beneath the ruins of the
houses.
This terrible distress, by universal consent, opened
the gates for Dion. After being informed that the
enemy had retreated into the citadel, he had made no
great haste: but early in the morning some horsemen
carried him the news of a fresh assault. These were
followed by some, even of those who had recently op-
posed his coming, but who now implored him to fly to
their relief. As the conflagration and destruction in-
creased, Heraclides despatched his brother, and after
him his uncle Theodotes, to intreat the assistance of
Dion; for they were now no longer in a capacity of op-
posing the enemy: he was wounded himself, and great
part of the city was laid in ashes.
When Dion received this news he was about sixty
furlongs from the city. After he had acquainted his
soldiers with the dreadful exigency, and exhorted them
to behave with resolution, they no longer marched, but
ran ; and in their way they were met by numbers, who
intreated them, if possible, to go still faster. By the
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? DIoN.
eager and vigorous speed of the soldiers, Dion quickly-
arrived at the city; and, entering by the part called
Hecatompedon, he ordered his light troops immediately
to charge the enemy, that the Syracusans might take
courage at the sight of them. In the mean while he
drew up his heavy-armed men, with such of the citi-
zens as had joined him, and divided them into several
small bodies, of greater depth than breadth, that he
might intimidate the enemy, by attacking them in seve-
ral quarters at once. He advanced to the engagement
at the head of his men, amidst a confused noise of shouts,
plaudits, prayers, and vows, which the Syracusans of-
fered up for their deliverer, their tutelary deity; for
so they termed him now; and his foreign soldiers they
called their brethren and fellow-citizens. At this time,
perhaps, there was not one wretch so selfishly fond of
life, that he did not hold Dion's safety dearer than his
own, or that of all his fellow-citizens, while they saw
him advancing first in the front of danger, through
blood and fire, and over heaps of the slain.
There was, indeed, something terrible in the appear-
ance of the enemy, who, animated by rage and despair,
had posted themselves in the ruins of the ramparts, so
that it was extremely dangerous and difficult to ap-
proach them. But the apprehensions of fire discouraged
Dion's men the most, and distressed them in their
march. They were surrounded by flames that raged
on every side; and while they walked over burning
ruins, through clouds of ashes and smoke, they were
every moment in danger of being burned beneath the
fall of half consumed buildings. In all these diffi-
culties they took infinite pains to keep close together,
and maintain their ranks. When they came up to the
enemy, a few only could engage at a time, on account
of the narrowness and inequality of the ground. They
. ^LUT. VoL. VII. I
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PLUTARCH.
fought, however, with great bravery, and, encouraged
by the acclamations of the citizens, at length they
routed Nypsius, and most of his men escaped into the
citadel, which was near at hand.
Such of them as
were dispersed and could not get in were pursued and
put to the sword. The present deplorable state of the
city afforded neither time nor propriety for that joy
and thpse congratulations which usually follow victory.
All were busy in saving the remains of the conflagra-
tions; and though they labored hard during the whole
night, it was with great difficulty the fire was ex-
tinguished.
Not one orator of the popular faction durst any
longer remain in the city. By their flight they at once
confessed their guilt, and avoided punishment. Hera-
clides, however, and Theodotes, surrendered them-
selves to Dion. They acknowleged their error, and
intreated that he would not imitate them in the cruel
treatment they had shown him. They forgot not to
add how much it would be for his honor, who was un-
equalled in other virtues, to restrain his resentments;
and, by forgiving the ungrateful, to testify that supe-
riority of spirit for which they had contended with
him. His friends, however, advised him by no means
to pardon these factious and invidious men, but to
give them up to his soldiers, and to rid the common-
wealth of the ambition of demagogues, no less destruc-
tive than that of tyrants. Dion, on the other hand,
endeavored to mitigate their resentments. --' Other
generals,' said he, ' employ themselves chiefly in mili-
tary studies; but, by being long conversant in the
academy, I have learned to subdue my passions, and
to restrain the impulses of enmity and anger. To prove
that I have really gained such a victory over myself,
it is not sufficient merely to be kind to men of virtue,
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131
but to be indulgent and reconcileable to the injurious.
If I have excelled Heraclides in military and political
abilities, I am resolved not to be inferior to him in
justice and clemency; since to have the advantage in
those is the first degree of excellence. The honors of
conquest are never wholly our own; for though the
conqueror may stand unrivalled, Fortune will claim
her share in his success. Heraclides may be treacher-
ous, invidious, and malicious; but must Dion therefore
sully his glories by the indulgence of resentment? The
laws, indeed, allow the revenge of an injury to be
more justifiable than the commission of it; but both
proceed originally from the infirmity of human na-
ture. Besides, there is hardly any malignity so in-
veterate, that it may not be overcome by kindness,
and softened by repeated favors. ' Agreeably to these
sentiments, Dion pardoned Heraclides and dismissed
him.
His first object was to repair the wall which he had
formerly erected around the citadel; and, for this pur-
pose, he ordered each of the citizens to furnish a pali-
sade, and bring it to the works. When they had done
this he sent them to their repose, and employed his
own men the whole night in drawing a line of circum-
vallation around the citadel, which both the enemy
and the citizens were astonished to find completed in
the morning.
After the dead were buried, and the prisoners, to
the amount of two thousand, ransomed, he summoned
an assembly. Heraclides moved that Dion should be
declared commander-in-chief, both at sea and land.
This motion was approved by the nobility, and the
commons were desired to confirm it; but the sailors
and artificers opposed it in a tumultuous manner.
They were unwilling that Heraclides should lose his
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? PLUTARCH.
command at sea; for though they had no good opinion
of his principles, they knew that he would be more in-
dulgent than Dion, and more ready to gratify their in-
clinations. Dion therefore gave up his point, and
agreed that Heraclides should continue admiral. But
when the equal distribution of lands was moved for,
he opposed it, and repealed all the decrees which had
formerly passed on that measure, by which means he
once more incurred the displeasure of the people.
Heraclides again made his advantage of this, and
harangued the soldiers and sailors at Messana, ac-
cusing Dion of a design to make himself absolute. At
the same time he privately corresponded with Diony-
sius, by means of Pharax, a Spartan. When the no-
bility got intelligence of this, there was a sedition in
the army, and the city was greatly distressed by want
of provisions. Dion was novv at a loss what measures
to pursue; and all his friends condemned him for
strengthening the hands of so perverse and invidious a
wretch as Heraclides.
Pharax was encamped at Neopolis, in the territory
of Agrigentum; and Dion drew out the Syracusans,
but not with an intent to engage him, till he found a
convenient opportunity. This gave Heraclides and his
seamen an occasion of exclaiming that he delayed
fighting only that he might the longer continue in com-
mand. He was forced to action, therefore, contrary to
his inclinations, and was beaten. His loss indeed was
small, and his defeat was owing more to a misunder-
standing in his own army, than to the superior courage
of the enemy: he therefore resolved to renew the en-
gagement, and, after animating and encouraging his
men to redeem their lost credit, he drew them up in
form of battle. In the evening, however, he received
intelligence that Heraclides was sailing for Syracuse,
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? DIoN.
with an intent to possess himself of the city, and to
shut him out. On this he made a draught of the
bravest and most active of the cavalry, and rode with
such expedition, that he reached the city by nine in
the morning, after a march of seven hundred furlongs.
Heraclides, though he made all the sail he could, was
too late, and he therefore tacked about, and stood out to
sea. While he was undetermined what course to steer,
he met Gaesilus the Spartan, who informed him that
he was sent to command in chief in Sicily, as Gylippus
had done before. Heraclides immediately accepted
him, and boasted to his allies that he had found in this
Spartan an antidote to the power of Dion. At the
same time he sent a herald to Syracuse, ordering the
citizens to receive Gaesilus for their general. Dion
answered, that the Syracusans had already a sufficient
number of generals; and that, if it were necessary
for them to have a Spartan, he was himself a citizen
of Sparta.
Gaesilus having now no hopes of the command,
waited on Dion, and, by his mediation, reconciled him
to Heraclides. This reconciliation was confirmed by
the most solemn oaths, and Gaesilus himself was gua-
rantee of the treaty, and undertook to punish Hera-
clides, in case of any future breach of faith. The
Syracusans on this discharged their navy, as they
found no advantages from it, equal to the expense of
keeping it on foot, and to those inconveniences it
brought on them, by being a continual source of sedi-
tions. At the same time they continued the siege, and
invested the city with another wall. As the besieged
were cut off from farther supplies, when provisions
failed, the soldiers began to mutiny, so that Apollo-
crates found himself under a necessity of coming to
terms with Dion, and offered to deliver up the citadel
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? PLUTARCH.
to him, with all the arms and stores, on condition that
he might have five galleys, and be permitted to retire
in safety with his mother and sisters. Dion granted
his request, and with these he sailed to Dionysius.
He was no sooner under sail than the whole city of
Syracuse assembled to behold the joyful sight. Their
hearts were so full of this interesting event, that they
even expressed their anger against those who were ab-
sent, and could not be witnesses with what glory the
sun that day rose on Syracuse, delivered at last from
the chains of slavery. As this flight of Dionysius was
one of the most memorable vicissitudes of fortune that
is recorded in history, and as no tyranny was ever
more effectually established than his, how great must
their joy and their self-complacency have been, after
they had destroyed it by such inconsiderable means!
When Apollocrates was gone, and Dion went to take
possession of the citadel, the women could not wait
till he entered, but ran to meet him at the gate. Aris-
tomache came first, leading Dion's son, and Arete fol-
lowed her in tears, fearful and apprehensive of meet-
ing her husband, after she had been so long in the
possession of another. Dion first embraced his sister,
then his son : after which Aristomache presented Arete
to him, with this address: 'Your banishment, Dion,
made us all equally miserable. Your return, and
your success, have made us all happy, except her whom
I had the misfortune to see, by cruel compulsion,
given to another, while you were yet alive. We are
now intirely in your disposal; but how will you de-
termine concerning this unhappy woman? And how
must she salute you? as her uncle, or as her husband? '
Dion was affected by this tender intercession, and wept.
He embraced Arete with great affection, put his son
into her hands, and desired her to retire to his own
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? DIoN.
135
bouse, where he purposed to reside; for the city he
immediately delivered up to the Syracusans.
All things had now succeeded to his wish: but he
by no means sought to reap the first advantages of his
good fortune. His first object was to gratify his
friends, to reward his allies, and to give his fellow-
citizens and foreign soldiers proper marks of his fa-
vor, in which his munificence even exceeded his abili-
ties. As to himself, he lived in a plain and frugal
manner, which, on this occasion in particular, was
universally admired: for while the fame of his actions,
and the reputation of his valor was spread through
Sicily and Greece, he seemed rather to live with Plato
in the sparing simplicity of the academic life, than
among soldiers, who look on every species of luxury
as a compensation for the toils and dangers of war.
Though Plato himself wrote to him, that the eyes of
the whole world were on him, he seems not to have
carried his attentions beyond one particular part of one
city, the academy. His judges in that society, he
knew, would not so much regard the greatness of his
performances, his courage, or his victories, as that
temper of mind with which he bore prosperity, and
that moderation with which he sustained his happier
fortunes. He did not in the least relax the severity
of his manners; he kept the same reserve to the peo-
ple, though condescension was, at this time, politically
necessary; and though Plato, as we have already ob-
served, had expostulated with him on this account, and
told him that austerity was the companion of solitude.
He had certainly a natural antipathy to complaisance;
and he had moreover a design, by his own example, to
reform the manners of the Syracusans, which were be-
come vain, dissolute, and immodest. Heraclides once
more began to oppose him. Dion sent for him to at-
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PLUTARCH.
tend at the council; and he made answer, that he
would not attend in any other capacity than as a private
citizen at a public assembly. Soon after this he im-
peached Dion of declining to demolish the citadel, and
of preventing the people from opening the tomb of
Dionysius, and dragging out the body. He accused
him likewise of sending for counsellors and ministers
to Corinth, in contempt of his fellow-citizens. And it
is true that he had engaged some Corinthians to assist
him in settling his plan of government. His intention
was to restrain the unlimited power of the popular ad-
ministration, (which cannot properly be called a go-
vernment, but, as Plato terms it, a warehouse of go-
vernments,) and to establish the constitution on the La-
cedaemonian and Cretan plan. This was a mixture of
the regal and popular governments, or rather an aristo-
cracy. Dion knew that the Corinthians were governed
chiefly by the nobility, and that the influence of the
people rather interfered. He foresaw that Heraclides
would be no inconsiderable impediment to his scheme.
He knew him to be factious, turbulent, and inconstant;
and he therefore gave him up to those who advised to
kill him, though he had before saved him out of their
hands. Accordingly they broke into his house, and
murdered him. His death was, at first, resented by the
citizens; but when Dion gave him a magnificent fu-
neral, attended the dead body with his soldiers, and
pronounced an oration to the" people, their resentment
went off. Indeed they were sensible that the city
would never be at peace whilst the competitions of
Dion and Heraclides subsisted.
Dion had a friend named Calippus, an Athenian,
with whom he first became acquainted, not on account
of his literary merit, but, according to Plato, because
he happened to be introduced by him to some religious
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137
mysteries. He had always attended him in the army,
and was in great esteem. He was the first of his
friends who marched along with him into Syracuse,
with a garland on his head, and he had distinguished
himself in every action. This man finding that Dion's
chief friends had fallen in the war; that, since the
death of Heraclides, the popular party was without a
leader, and that he himself stood in great favor with
the army, formed an execrable design against the life
of his benefactor. His object was certainly the su-
preme command in Sicily, though some say he was
bribed to it with twenty talents: for this purpose he
drew several of the soldiers into a conspiracy against
Dion, and his plot was conducted in a most artful
manner. He constantly informed Dion of what he
heard, or pretended to hear said against him in the
army. By this means he obtained such confidence,
that he was allowed to converse privately with whom
he thought proper, and to speak with the utmost free-
dom against Dion, that he might discover his secret
enemies. Thus, in a short time, he drew about him
all the seditious and discontented citizens; and if any
one of different principles informed Dion that his in-
tegrity had been tried, he gave himself no concern
about it, as that point had already been settled with
Calippus.
While this conspiracy was on foot Dion had a mon-
strous and dreadful apparition. As he was meditating
one evening alone in the portico before his house, he
heard a sudden noise, and, turning about, perceived
(for it was not yet dark) a woman of gigantic size at
the end of the portico, in the form of one of the furies,
as they are represented in the theatre, sweeping the
floor with a broom. In his terror and amazement he
sent for some of his friends, and, informing them of
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PLUTARCH.
this prodigy, desired they would stay with him during
the night. His mind was in the utmost disorder, and
he was apprehensive that, if they left him, the spectre
would appear again; but he saw it no more. Soon
after this his only son, who was now almost grown up
to manhood, on some childish displeasure, or frivolous
affront, threw himself from the top of the house, and
was killed on the spot.
While Dion was in this distress Calippus was ripen-
ing the conspiracy; and, for this purpose, he propa-
gated a report in Syracuse, that Dion, being now child-
less, had determined to adopt Apollocrates, the son of
Dionysius, who was nephew to his wife, and grandson
to bis sister. The plot however was now suspected
both by Dion, his wife, and sister. Dion, who had
stained his honor, and tarnished his glories, by the
murder of Heraclides, had, as we may suppose, his
anxieties on that account; and he would frequently
declare, that rather than live, not only in fear of his
enemies, but in suspicion of his friends, he would die
a thousand deaths, and freely open his bosom to the
assassin.
When Calippus found the women inquisitive and
suspicious, he was afraid of the consequence, and as-
serted, with tears, his own integrity, offering to give
them any pledge of his fidelity they might desire.
They required that he would take the great oath; the
form of which is as follows: the person who takes it
goes down into the temple of the Thesmophori, where,
after the performance of some religious ceremonies,
he puts on the purple robe of Proserpine, and, holding
a flaming torch in his hand, proceeds on the oath. All
this Calippus did without hesitation; and, to show
with what contempt he held the goddess, he appointed
the execution of his conspiracy on the day of her fes-
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? DIoN.
139
trad. Indeed, he could hardly think that even this
would enhance his guilt, or render him more obnoxious
to the goddess, when he was the very person who had
before initiated Dion in her sacred mysteries.
The conspiracy was now supported by numbers; and
as Dion was surrounded by his friends, in the apart-
ment where he usually entertained them, the conspira-
tors invested the house, some securing the doors, and
others the windows. The assassins, who were Zacyn-
thians, came in unarmed, in their ordinary dress.
Those who remained without made fast the doors.
The Zacynthians then fell on Dion, and endeavored to
strangle him; but not succeeding in this, they called
for a sword. No one, however, durst open the door;
for Dion had many friends about him: yet they had,
in effect, nothing to fear from these; for each con-
cluded that, by giving up Dion, he should consult his
own safety. When they had waited some time, Ly-
con, a Syracusan, put a short sword through the win-
dow into the hands of a Zacynthian, who fell on Dion,
already stunned and senseless, and cut his throat like
a victim at the altar. His sister, and his wife, who
was pregnant, they imprisoned. In this unhappy situ-
ation she fell in labor, and was delivered of a son,
whom they ventured to preserve; for Calippus was
too much embroiled by his own affairs to attend to
them, and the keepers of the prison were prevailed on
to connive at it.
After Dion was cut off, and Calippus had the whole
government of Syracuse in his hands, he had the pre-
sumption to write to the Athenians, whom, after the
gods, he ought of all others to have dreaded, polluted
as he was with the murder of his benefactor. But it
has been observed, with great truth, of that state, that
its good men are the best, and its bad men the worst,
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? 140 PLUTARCH.
in the world; as the soil of Attica produces the finest
honey, and the most fatal poisons. The success of
Calippus did not long reproach the indulgence of the
gods. He soon received the punishment he deserved;
for, in attempting to take Catana, he lost Syracuse; on
which occasion he said that he had lost a city, and got
a cheese-grater.
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PLUTARCH.
depth from one end to the other: besides, being dis-
continuous, it did not appear to be the effect of one
incision, but to have been made at different times, pro-
bably as he was best able to endure the pain. At the
same time there were some who deposed, that having
seen Sosis running naked and wounded, and being in-
formed by him that he was flying from the pursuit of
Dion's foreign soldiers, who had just then wounded
him, they hasted to take the pursuers; that, however,
they could meet with no such persons, but found a
razor lying under a hollow stone, near the place from
whence they had observed him come. All these cir-
cumstances made strongly against him: but when his
own servants gave evidence, that he went out of his
house alone before daylight, with a razor in his hand,
Dion's accusers withdrew. The people, by a general
vote, condemned Sosis to die, and were once more re-
conciled to Dion.
Nevertheless, their jealousy of his soldiers remained;
and as the war was now principally carried on by sea,
Philistus being come to the support of Dionysius, with
a considerable fleet from Japygia, they did not see the
necessity of retaining in their service those Greeks
who were no seamen, and must depend for protection
on the naval force. Their confidence in their own
strength was likewise greatly increased by an advan-
tage they had gained at sea against Philistus, whom
they used in a very barbarous manner. Ephorus
relates that, after his ship was taken, he slew him-
self. But Timonides, who attended Dion from the
beginning of the war, writing to Speusippus the philo-
sopher, gives the story thus: Philistus' galley having
run aground, he was taken prisoner alive; and after
being disarmed and stripped, was exposed naked, though
an old man, to every kind of insult. They afterwards
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? DIoN.
121
cut off his head, and ordered their children to drag
his body through the Acradina, and throw it into the
quarry. Timsus represents the indignity offered his
remains to he still greater. 'The boys,' he says, 'tied
a rope about his lame leg, and so dragged him through
the city; the Syracusans, in the mean while, insulting
over his carcass, when they saw him tied by the leg who
had said, 'It would ill become Dionysius to fly from
his throne by the swiftness of his horse, which he ought
never to quit till he was dragged from it by the heels. "
Philistus, however, tells us that this was not said to
Dionysius by himself, but by another. It is plain, at
the same time, that Timaeus takes every occasion, from
Philistus' known adherence to arbitrary power, to
load him with the keenest reproaches. Those whom
he injured are in some degree excusable, if, in their
resentment, they treated him with indignities after
death. But wherefore should his biographers, whom
he never injured, and who have had the benefit of his
works; wherefore should they exhibit him, with all
the exaggerations of scurrility, in those scenes of dis-
tress to which fortune sometimes reduces the best of
men? On the other hand, Ephorus is no less extrava-
gant in his encomiums on Philistus. He knows well
how to throw into shades the foibles of the human cha-
racter, and to give an air of plausibility to the most
indefensible conduct; but, with all his eloquence, with
all his art, he cannot rescue Philistus from the impu-
tation of being the most strenuous assertor of arbitrary
power, of being the fondest follower and admirer of
the luxury, the magnificence, the alliance of tyrants.
On the whole, he who neither defends the principles of
Philistus, nor insults over his misfortunes, will best
discharge the duty of the historian.
After the death of Philistus, Dionysius offered to
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PLUTARCH.
surrender the citadel to Dion, together with the arms,
provisions, and soldiers, and an advance of five months'
pay, on condition that he might be permitted to retire
into Italy, and there enjoy the revenues of Gyata, a
fruitful tract of country in the territory of Syracuse,
reaching from the sea to the middle of the country.
Dion refusing to negotiate on his own account, re-
ferred the ambassadors to the Syracusans; and, as
they expected that Dionysius would shortly come alive
into their hands, they were dismissed without audieuce.
On this the tyrant, leaving his eldest son Apollocrates
to defend the citadel, embarked with his most valuable
treasures and a few select friends, and, sailing with a
fair wind, escaped Heraclides the admiral.
The tyrant's escape greatly exasperated the people
against Heraclides; and, in order to appease them, he
proposed by Hippo, one of the orators, that there
should be an equal division of lands; alleging, that
equality was the first foundation of civil liberty, and
that poverty and slavery were synonymous terms. At
the same time that he supported Hippo in the promo-
tion of this scheme, he encouraged the faction against
Dion, who opposed it. At length he prevailed with
the people not only to pass this law, but to make a
decree that the pay of the foreign soldiers should be
stopped, and new commanders chosen, that they might
no longer be subject to the severe discipline of Dion.
Thus, like the patient who, after a lingering sickness,
makes too rash a use of the first returns of health, and
rejects the sober and gradual regimen of his physician,
the citizens, who had long labored under the yoke of
slavery, took too precipitate steps to freedom, and re-
fused the salutary counsels and conduct of their deli-
verer.
It was about the midst of summer when the assembly
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? DIoN.
123
was summoned for the election of new officers; and,
for the space of fifteen days, there were the most
dreadful thunders, and the most alarming prodigies.
The religious fears that these prodigies excited made
these people decline the choosing of officers. When
the weather grew more serene the orators again ex-
horted them to proceed to the business; but no sooner
had they begun than a draught-ox, which had neither
received any provocation from the driver, nor could be
terrified by the crowds and noise to which he had been
accustomed, suddenly broke from his yoke, and run-
ning furiously into the assembly, drove the people in
great disorder before him: from thence, throwing down
all that stood in his way, he ran over that part of the
city which afterwards fell into the enemy's hands.
The Syracusans, however, regardless of these things,
elected five-and-twenty officers, among whom was He-
raclides. At the same time they privately endeavored
to draw off Dion's men; promising, if they would de-
sert him, to make them citizens of Syracuse. But the
soldiers were faithful to their general, and, placing
him in the middle of a battalion, marched out of the
city. They did not, on this occasion, offer any vio-
lence to the inhabitants, but they severely reproached
them for their baseness and ingratitude. The small-
ness of their number, and their declining to act offen-
sively, put the citizens on the view of cutting them off
before they escaped out of the city; and with this de-
sign they fell on their rear. Dion was here in a great
dilemma: he was under the necessity either of fighting
against his countrymen, or of suffering himself and his
faithful soldiers to be cut in pieces. He therefore in-
treated the Syracusans to desist: he stretched forth
his hands to them, and pointed to the citadel full of
soldiers, who were happy in being spectators of these
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? PLUTARCH.
dissensions amongst their enemies. But the torrent of
the populace, agitated and driven forward by the se-
ditious breath of the orators, was not to be stopped by
persuasion. He therefore commanded his men to ad-
vance with shouts and clashing of arms, but not to
attack them. The Syracusans, on this, fled immedi-
ately through the streets, though no one pursued them;
for Dion retreated with his men into the territories of
the Leontines.
The very women laughed at the new officers for this
cowardly flight; and the latter, to recover their repu-
tation, ordered the citizens to arms, pursued Dion,
and came up with him as he was passing a river. A
skirmish began between the cavalry; but when they
found Dion no longer disposed to bear these indigni-
ties with his usual paternal patience; when they ob-
served him drawing up his men for battle, with all the
eagerness of strong resentment, they once more turned
their backs, and with the loss of some few men, fled to
the city in a more disgraceful and more cowardly man-
ner than before.
The Leontines received Dion in a very honorable
manner, gave money to his soldiers, and made them
free of their city. They also sent messengers to Syra-
cuse with requisitions that his men might have justice
done them, and receive their pay. The Syracusans,
in return, sent other messengers, with impeachments
against Dion: but when the matter was debated at
Leontium, in full assembly of the allies, they evidently
appeared to be in fault. They refused, nevertheless,
to stand to the award of this assembly; for the recent
recovery of their liberties had made them insolent, and
the popular power was without control; their very
commanders being no more than servile dependents on
the multitude.
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? DIoN.
About this time Dionysius sent a fleet tinder Nyp-
sius, the Neapolitan, with provisions and pay for the
garrison in the citadel. The Syracusans overcame him,
and took four of his ships; but they made an ill use
of their success. Destitute of all discipline, they cele-
brated the victory with the most riotous extravagance;
and at a time when they thought themselves secure of
taking the citadel, they lost the city. Nypsius ob-
serving their disorder, their night revels and debauches,
in which their commanders, either from inclination, or
through fear of offending them, were as deeply engaged
as themselves, took advantage of this opportunity, broke
through their walls, and exposed the city to the violence
and depredation of his soldiers.
The Syracusans at once perceived their folly and
their misfortune: but the latter, in their present con-
fusion, was not easy to be redressed. The soldiers
made dreadful havoc in the city: they demolished the
fortifications, put the men to the sword, and dragged
the women and children shrieking to the citadel. The
Syracusan officers being unable to separate the citizens
from the enemy, or to draw them up in any order, gave
up all for lost. In this situation, while the Acradina
itself was in danger of being taken, they naturally
turned their thoughts on Dion; but none had the
courage to mention a man whom all had injured. In
this emergency a voice was heard from the cavalry of
the allies, crying, 'send for Dion and his Peloponne-
sians from Leontium. ' His name was no sooner men-
tioned than the people shouted for joy. With tears
they implored that he might once more be at their
head: they remembered his intrepidity in the most
trying dangers: they remembered the courage that he
showed himself, and the confidence with which he in-
spired them when he led them against the enemy.
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PLUTARCH.
Archonides and Telesidea from the auxiliaries, and Hel-
lanicus, with four more from the cavalry, were imme-
diately despatched to Leontium, where, making the
best of their way, they arrived in the close of the
evening. They instantly threw themselves at the feet
of Dion, and related, with tears, the deplorable con-
dition of the Syracusans. The Leontines and Pelopon-
nesians soon gathered about them, conjecturing from
their haste, and the manner of their address, that their
business had something extraordinary in it.
Dion immediately summoned an assembly, and the
people being soon collected, Archonides and Hellanicus
briefly related the distress of the Syracusans, intreated
the foreign soldiers to forget the injuries they had done
them, and once more to assist that unfortunate people,
who had already suffered more for their ingratitude
than even they whom they had injured would have in-
flicted on them. When they had thus spoken, a pro-
found silence ensued; on which Dion arose, and at-
tempted to speak, but was prevented by his tears. His
soldiers, who were greatly affected with their general's
sorrow, intreated him to moderate his grief, and pro-
ceed. After he had recovered himself a little, he spoke
to the following purpose: ' Peloponnesians and con-
federates, I have called you together, that you may
consult on your respective affairs. My measures are
taken: I cannot hesitate what to do when Syracuse is
perishing. If I cannot save it, I will, at least, hasten
thither, and fall beneath the ruins of my country: for
you, if you can yet persuade yourselves to assist the
most unfortunate and inconsiderate of men, it may be
in your power to save from destruction a city which
was the work of your own hands. But if your pity
for the Syracusans be sacrificed to your resentment,
may the gods reward your fidelity, your kindness to
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? DIoN.
Dion! And remember, that as he would not desert
you, when you were injured, so neither could he aban-
don his falling country! '
He had hardly , ended when the soldiers signified
their readiness for the service by loud acclamations,
and called on him to march directly to the relief of
Syracuse. The messengers embraced them, and in-
treated the gods to shower their blessings on Dion and
the Peloponnesians. When the noise subsided Dion
gave orders that the men should repair to their quarters,
and, after the necessary refreshments, assemble in the
same place completely armed; for he intended to march
that very night.
The soldiers of Dionysius, after ravaging the city
during the whole day, retired at night, with the loss of
a few men, into the citadel. This small respite once
more encouraged the demagogues of the city, who, pre-
suming that the enemy would not repeat their hostili-
ties, dissuaded the people from admitting Dion and his
foreign soldiers. They advised them not to give up the
honor of saving the city to strangers, but to defend their
liberty themselves. On this the generals sent other
messengers to Dion to countermand his march; while,
on the other hand, the cavalry, and many of the prin-
cipal citizens, sent their requests that he would hasten
it. Thus invited by one party, and rejected by another,
he came forward but slowly; and, at night, the faction
that opposed him set a guard on the gates to prevent
his entering.
Nypsius now made a fresh sally from the citadel,
with still greater numbers, and greater fury than be-
fore. After totally demolishing the remaining part of
the fortification, he fell to ravaging the city. The
slaughter was dreadful; men, women, and children,
fell indiscriminately by the sword: for the object of
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? 128
PLUTARCH.
the enemy was not so much plunder as destruction.
Dionysius despaired of regaining his lost empire, and,
in his mortal hatred of the Syracusans, he determined
to hury it in the ruins of their city. It was resolved
therefore that, before Dion's succors could arrive, they
should destroy it the quickest way, by laying it in
ashes. Accordingly they set fire to those parts that
were at hand by brands and torches, and to the re-
moter parts by shooting flaming arrows. The citizens,
in the utmost consternation, fled every where before
them. Those who, to avoid the fire, had fled from
their houses, were put to the sword in the streets;
and they who sought for refuge in their houses were
again driven out by the flames: many were burnt to
death, and many perished beneath the ruins of the
houses.
This terrible distress, by universal consent, opened
the gates for Dion. After being informed that the
enemy had retreated into the citadel, he had made no
great haste: but early in the morning some horsemen
carried him the news of a fresh assault. These were
followed by some, even of those who had recently op-
posed his coming, but who now implored him to fly to
their relief. As the conflagration and destruction in-
creased, Heraclides despatched his brother, and after
him his uncle Theodotes, to intreat the assistance of
Dion; for they were now no longer in a capacity of op-
posing the enemy: he was wounded himself, and great
part of the city was laid in ashes.
When Dion received this news he was about sixty
furlongs from the city. After he had acquainted his
soldiers with the dreadful exigency, and exhorted them
to behave with resolution, they no longer marched, but
ran ; and in their way they were met by numbers, who
intreated them, if possible, to go still faster. By the
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? DIoN.
eager and vigorous speed of the soldiers, Dion quickly-
arrived at the city; and, entering by the part called
Hecatompedon, he ordered his light troops immediately
to charge the enemy, that the Syracusans might take
courage at the sight of them. In the mean while he
drew up his heavy-armed men, with such of the citi-
zens as had joined him, and divided them into several
small bodies, of greater depth than breadth, that he
might intimidate the enemy, by attacking them in seve-
ral quarters at once. He advanced to the engagement
at the head of his men, amidst a confused noise of shouts,
plaudits, prayers, and vows, which the Syracusans of-
fered up for their deliverer, their tutelary deity; for
so they termed him now; and his foreign soldiers they
called their brethren and fellow-citizens. At this time,
perhaps, there was not one wretch so selfishly fond of
life, that he did not hold Dion's safety dearer than his
own, or that of all his fellow-citizens, while they saw
him advancing first in the front of danger, through
blood and fire, and over heaps of the slain.
There was, indeed, something terrible in the appear-
ance of the enemy, who, animated by rage and despair,
had posted themselves in the ruins of the ramparts, so
that it was extremely dangerous and difficult to ap-
proach them. But the apprehensions of fire discouraged
Dion's men the most, and distressed them in their
march. They were surrounded by flames that raged
on every side; and while they walked over burning
ruins, through clouds of ashes and smoke, they were
every moment in danger of being burned beneath the
fall of half consumed buildings. In all these diffi-
culties they took infinite pains to keep close together,
and maintain their ranks. When they came up to the
enemy, a few only could engage at a time, on account
of the narrowness and inequality of the ground. They
. ^LUT. VoL. VII. I
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? 130
PLUTARCH.
fought, however, with great bravery, and, encouraged
by the acclamations of the citizens, at length they
routed Nypsius, and most of his men escaped into the
citadel, which was near at hand.
Such of them as
were dispersed and could not get in were pursued and
put to the sword. The present deplorable state of the
city afforded neither time nor propriety for that joy
and thpse congratulations which usually follow victory.
All were busy in saving the remains of the conflagra-
tions; and though they labored hard during the whole
night, it was with great difficulty the fire was ex-
tinguished.
Not one orator of the popular faction durst any
longer remain in the city. By their flight they at once
confessed their guilt, and avoided punishment. Hera-
clides, however, and Theodotes, surrendered them-
selves to Dion. They acknowleged their error, and
intreated that he would not imitate them in the cruel
treatment they had shown him. They forgot not to
add how much it would be for his honor, who was un-
equalled in other virtues, to restrain his resentments;
and, by forgiving the ungrateful, to testify that supe-
riority of spirit for which they had contended with
him. His friends, however, advised him by no means
to pardon these factious and invidious men, but to
give them up to his soldiers, and to rid the common-
wealth of the ambition of demagogues, no less destruc-
tive than that of tyrants. Dion, on the other hand,
endeavored to mitigate their resentments. --' Other
generals,' said he, ' employ themselves chiefly in mili-
tary studies; but, by being long conversant in the
academy, I have learned to subdue my passions, and
to restrain the impulses of enmity and anger. To prove
that I have really gained such a victory over myself,
it is not sufficient merely to be kind to men of virtue,
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? DIoN.
131
but to be indulgent and reconcileable to the injurious.
If I have excelled Heraclides in military and political
abilities, I am resolved not to be inferior to him in
justice and clemency; since to have the advantage in
those is the first degree of excellence. The honors of
conquest are never wholly our own; for though the
conqueror may stand unrivalled, Fortune will claim
her share in his success. Heraclides may be treacher-
ous, invidious, and malicious; but must Dion therefore
sully his glories by the indulgence of resentment? The
laws, indeed, allow the revenge of an injury to be
more justifiable than the commission of it; but both
proceed originally from the infirmity of human na-
ture. Besides, there is hardly any malignity so in-
veterate, that it may not be overcome by kindness,
and softened by repeated favors. ' Agreeably to these
sentiments, Dion pardoned Heraclides and dismissed
him.
His first object was to repair the wall which he had
formerly erected around the citadel; and, for this pur-
pose, he ordered each of the citizens to furnish a pali-
sade, and bring it to the works. When they had done
this he sent them to their repose, and employed his
own men the whole night in drawing a line of circum-
vallation around the citadel, which both the enemy
and the citizens were astonished to find completed in
the morning.
After the dead were buried, and the prisoners, to
the amount of two thousand, ransomed, he summoned
an assembly. Heraclides moved that Dion should be
declared commander-in-chief, both at sea and land.
This motion was approved by the nobility, and the
commons were desired to confirm it; but the sailors
and artificers opposed it in a tumultuous manner.
They were unwilling that Heraclides should lose his
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? PLUTARCH.
command at sea; for though they had no good opinion
of his principles, they knew that he would be more in-
dulgent than Dion, and more ready to gratify their in-
clinations. Dion therefore gave up his point, and
agreed that Heraclides should continue admiral. But
when the equal distribution of lands was moved for,
he opposed it, and repealed all the decrees which had
formerly passed on that measure, by which means he
once more incurred the displeasure of the people.
Heraclides again made his advantage of this, and
harangued the soldiers and sailors at Messana, ac-
cusing Dion of a design to make himself absolute. At
the same time he privately corresponded with Diony-
sius, by means of Pharax, a Spartan. When the no-
bility got intelligence of this, there was a sedition in
the army, and the city was greatly distressed by want
of provisions. Dion was novv at a loss what measures
to pursue; and all his friends condemned him for
strengthening the hands of so perverse and invidious a
wretch as Heraclides.
Pharax was encamped at Neopolis, in the territory
of Agrigentum; and Dion drew out the Syracusans,
but not with an intent to engage him, till he found a
convenient opportunity. This gave Heraclides and his
seamen an occasion of exclaiming that he delayed
fighting only that he might the longer continue in com-
mand. He was forced to action, therefore, contrary to
his inclinations, and was beaten. His loss indeed was
small, and his defeat was owing more to a misunder-
standing in his own army, than to the superior courage
of the enemy: he therefore resolved to renew the en-
gagement, and, after animating and encouraging his
men to redeem their lost credit, he drew them up in
form of battle. In the evening, however, he received
intelligence that Heraclides was sailing for Syracuse,
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? DIoN.
with an intent to possess himself of the city, and to
shut him out. On this he made a draught of the
bravest and most active of the cavalry, and rode with
such expedition, that he reached the city by nine in
the morning, after a march of seven hundred furlongs.
Heraclides, though he made all the sail he could, was
too late, and he therefore tacked about, and stood out to
sea. While he was undetermined what course to steer,
he met Gaesilus the Spartan, who informed him that
he was sent to command in chief in Sicily, as Gylippus
had done before. Heraclides immediately accepted
him, and boasted to his allies that he had found in this
Spartan an antidote to the power of Dion. At the
same time he sent a herald to Syracuse, ordering the
citizens to receive Gaesilus for their general. Dion
answered, that the Syracusans had already a sufficient
number of generals; and that, if it were necessary
for them to have a Spartan, he was himself a citizen
of Sparta.
Gaesilus having now no hopes of the command,
waited on Dion, and, by his mediation, reconciled him
to Heraclides. This reconciliation was confirmed by
the most solemn oaths, and Gaesilus himself was gua-
rantee of the treaty, and undertook to punish Hera-
clides, in case of any future breach of faith. The
Syracusans on this discharged their navy, as they
found no advantages from it, equal to the expense of
keeping it on foot, and to those inconveniences it
brought on them, by being a continual source of sedi-
tions. At the same time they continued the siege, and
invested the city with another wall. As the besieged
were cut off from farther supplies, when provisions
failed, the soldiers began to mutiny, so that Apollo-
crates found himself under a necessity of coming to
terms with Dion, and offered to deliver up the citadel
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? PLUTARCH.
to him, with all the arms and stores, on condition that
he might have five galleys, and be permitted to retire
in safety with his mother and sisters. Dion granted
his request, and with these he sailed to Dionysius.
He was no sooner under sail than the whole city of
Syracuse assembled to behold the joyful sight. Their
hearts were so full of this interesting event, that they
even expressed their anger against those who were ab-
sent, and could not be witnesses with what glory the
sun that day rose on Syracuse, delivered at last from
the chains of slavery. As this flight of Dionysius was
one of the most memorable vicissitudes of fortune that
is recorded in history, and as no tyranny was ever
more effectually established than his, how great must
their joy and their self-complacency have been, after
they had destroyed it by such inconsiderable means!
When Apollocrates was gone, and Dion went to take
possession of the citadel, the women could not wait
till he entered, but ran to meet him at the gate. Aris-
tomache came first, leading Dion's son, and Arete fol-
lowed her in tears, fearful and apprehensive of meet-
ing her husband, after she had been so long in the
possession of another. Dion first embraced his sister,
then his son : after which Aristomache presented Arete
to him, with this address: 'Your banishment, Dion,
made us all equally miserable. Your return, and
your success, have made us all happy, except her whom
I had the misfortune to see, by cruel compulsion,
given to another, while you were yet alive. We are
now intirely in your disposal; but how will you de-
termine concerning this unhappy woman? And how
must she salute you? as her uncle, or as her husband? '
Dion was affected by this tender intercession, and wept.
He embraced Arete with great affection, put his son
into her hands, and desired her to retire to his own
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? DIoN.
135
bouse, where he purposed to reside; for the city he
immediately delivered up to the Syracusans.
All things had now succeeded to his wish: but he
by no means sought to reap the first advantages of his
good fortune. His first object was to gratify his
friends, to reward his allies, and to give his fellow-
citizens and foreign soldiers proper marks of his fa-
vor, in which his munificence even exceeded his abili-
ties. As to himself, he lived in a plain and frugal
manner, which, on this occasion in particular, was
universally admired: for while the fame of his actions,
and the reputation of his valor was spread through
Sicily and Greece, he seemed rather to live with Plato
in the sparing simplicity of the academic life, than
among soldiers, who look on every species of luxury
as a compensation for the toils and dangers of war.
Though Plato himself wrote to him, that the eyes of
the whole world were on him, he seems not to have
carried his attentions beyond one particular part of one
city, the academy. His judges in that society, he
knew, would not so much regard the greatness of his
performances, his courage, or his victories, as that
temper of mind with which he bore prosperity, and
that moderation with which he sustained his happier
fortunes. He did not in the least relax the severity
of his manners; he kept the same reserve to the peo-
ple, though condescension was, at this time, politically
necessary; and though Plato, as we have already ob-
served, had expostulated with him on this account, and
told him that austerity was the companion of solitude.
He had certainly a natural antipathy to complaisance;
and he had moreover a design, by his own example, to
reform the manners of the Syracusans, which were be-
come vain, dissolute, and immodest. Heraclides once
more began to oppose him. Dion sent for him to at-
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? 136
PLUTARCH.
tend at the council; and he made answer, that he
would not attend in any other capacity than as a private
citizen at a public assembly. Soon after this he im-
peached Dion of declining to demolish the citadel, and
of preventing the people from opening the tomb of
Dionysius, and dragging out the body. He accused
him likewise of sending for counsellors and ministers
to Corinth, in contempt of his fellow-citizens. And it
is true that he had engaged some Corinthians to assist
him in settling his plan of government. His intention
was to restrain the unlimited power of the popular ad-
ministration, (which cannot properly be called a go-
vernment, but, as Plato terms it, a warehouse of go-
vernments,) and to establish the constitution on the La-
cedaemonian and Cretan plan. This was a mixture of
the regal and popular governments, or rather an aristo-
cracy. Dion knew that the Corinthians were governed
chiefly by the nobility, and that the influence of the
people rather interfered. He foresaw that Heraclides
would be no inconsiderable impediment to his scheme.
He knew him to be factious, turbulent, and inconstant;
and he therefore gave him up to those who advised to
kill him, though he had before saved him out of their
hands. Accordingly they broke into his house, and
murdered him. His death was, at first, resented by the
citizens; but when Dion gave him a magnificent fu-
neral, attended the dead body with his soldiers, and
pronounced an oration to the" people, their resentment
went off. Indeed they were sensible that the city
would never be at peace whilst the competitions of
Dion and Heraclides subsisted.
Dion had a friend named Calippus, an Athenian,
with whom he first became acquainted, not on account
of his literary merit, but, according to Plato, because
he happened to be introduced by him to some religious
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? DIoN.
137
mysteries. He had always attended him in the army,
and was in great esteem. He was the first of his
friends who marched along with him into Syracuse,
with a garland on his head, and he had distinguished
himself in every action. This man finding that Dion's
chief friends had fallen in the war; that, since the
death of Heraclides, the popular party was without a
leader, and that he himself stood in great favor with
the army, formed an execrable design against the life
of his benefactor. His object was certainly the su-
preme command in Sicily, though some say he was
bribed to it with twenty talents: for this purpose he
drew several of the soldiers into a conspiracy against
Dion, and his plot was conducted in a most artful
manner. He constantly informed Dion of what he
heard, or pretended to hear said against him in the
army. By this means he obtained such confidence,
that he was allowed to converse privately with whom
he thought proper, and to speak with the utmost free-
dom against Dion, that he might discover his secret
enemies. Thus, in a short time, he drew about him
all the seditious and discontented citizens; and if any
one of different principles informed Dion that his in-
tegrity had been tried, he gave himself no concern
about it, as that point had already been settled with
Calippus.
While this conspiracy was on foot Dion had a mon-
strous and dreadful apparition. As he was meditating
one evening alone in the portico before his house, he
heard a sudden noise, and, turning about, perceived
(for it was not yet dark) a woman of gigantic size at
the end of the portico, in the form of one of the furies,
as they are represented in the theatre, sweeping the
floor with a broom. In his terror and amazement he
sent for some of his friends, and, informing them of
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? 138
PLUTARCH.
this prodigy, desired they would stay with him during
the night. His mind was in the utmost disorder, and
he was apprehensive that, if they left him, the spectre
would appear again; but he saw it no more. Soon
after this his only son, who was now almost grown up
to manhood, on some childish displeasure, or frivolous
affront, threw himself from the top of the house, and
was killed on the spot.
While Dion was in this distress Calippus was ripen-
ing the conspiracy; and, for this purpose, he propa-
gated a report in Syracuse, that Dion, being now child-
less, had determined to adopt Apollocrates, the son of
Dionysius, who was nephew to his wife, and grandson
to bis sister. The plot however was now suspected
both by Dion, his wife, and sister. Dion, who had
stained his honor, and tarnished his glories, by the
murder of Heraclides, had, as we may suppose, his
anxieties on that account; and he would frequently
declare, that rather than live, not only in fear of his
enemies, but in suspicion of his friends, he would die
a thousand deaths, and freely open his bosom to the
assassin.
When Calippus found the women inquisitive and
suspicious, he was afraid of the consequence, and as-
serted, with tears, his own integrity, offering to give
them any pledge of his fidelity they might desire.
They required that he would take the great oath; the
form of which is as follows: the person who takes it
goes down into the temple of the Thesmophori, where,
after the performance of some religious ceremonies,
he puts on the purple robe of Proserpine, and, holding
a flaming torch in his hand, proceeds on the oath. All
this Calippus did without hesitation; and, to show
with what contempt he held the goddess, he appointed
the execution of his conspiracy on the day of her fes-
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? DIoN.
139
trad. Indeed, he could hardly think that even this
would enhance his guilt, or render him more obnoxious
to the goddess, when he was the very person who had
before initiated Dion in her sacred mysteries.
The conspiracy was now supported by numbers; and
as Dion was surrounded by his friends, in the apart-
ment where he usually entertained them, the conspira-
tors invested the house, some securing the doors, and
others the windows. The assassins, who were Zacyn-
thians, came in unarmed, in their ordinary dress.
Those who remained without made fast the doors.
The Zacynthians then fell on Dion, and endeavored to
strangle him; but not succeeding in this, they called
for a sword. No one, however, durst open the door;
for Dion had many friends about him: yet they had,
in effect, nothing to fear from these; for each con-
cluded that, by giving up Dion, he should consult his
own safety. When they had waited some time, Ly-
con, a Syracusan, put a short sword through the win-
dow into the hands of a Zacynthian, who fell on Dion,
already stunned and senseless, and cut his throat like
a victim at the altar. His sister, and his wife, who
was pregnant, they imprisoned. In this unhappy situ-
ation she fell in labor, and was delivered of a son,
whom they ventured to preserve; for Calippus was
too much embroiled by his own affairs to attend to
them, and the keepers of the prison were prevailed on
to connive at it.
After Dion was cut off, and Calippus had the whole
government of Syracuse in his hands, he had the pre-
sumption to write to the Athenians, whom, after the
gods, he ought of all others to have dreaded, polluted
as he was with the murder of his benefactor. But it
has been observed, with great truth, of that state, that
its good men are the best, and its bad men the worst,
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? 140 PLUTARCH.
in the world; as the soil of Attica produces the finest
honey, and the most fatal poisons. The success of
Calippus did not long reproach the indulgence of the
gods. He soon received the punishment he deserved;
for, in attempting to take Catana, he lost Syracuse; on
which occasion he said that he had lost a city, and got
a cheese-grater.
