of great distinction are admitted; and which are covered merely to display a vain magnificence or elegance of taste. That of Cimon was plain, but abundant; and all the poor citizens were received at it without distinction. In thus banishing from his entertainments, whatever had the least air of ostentation and luxury, he reserved to himself an inexhaustible fund, not only for the expenses of his house, but for the wants of his friends, his domestics, and a very great number of citizens; demonstrating, by this conduct, that he knew much better than most rich men the true use and value of riches.

He was always followed by some servants, who were ordered to slip privately a piece of money into the hands of such poor as they met, and to give clothes to those who were in want of them. He often buried such persons as had not left money enough behind them to defray the expenses of their funeral; and what is worthy of admiration, and which Plutarch does not fail to observe, he did not act in this manner to gain credit among the people, nor to purchase their voices; since we find him, on all occasions, declaring for the contrary faction, that is, in favour of such citizens as were most considerable for their wealth or authority.

a Although he saw all the rest of the governors of his time enrich themselves by the plunder and oppression of the public, he was always incorruptible, and his hands were never stained with extortion, or the smallest present; and he continued, during his whole life, not only to speak, but to act spontaneously, and without the least view of interest, whatever he thought might be of advantage to the commonwealth.

To a great number of other excellent qualities Cimon united sound sense, extraordinary prudence, and a profound knowledge of the genius and characters of men. The allies, besides the sums of money in which each of them was taxed, were to furnish a certain number of men and ships. Several among them, who, since the retreat of Xerxes, were studious of nothing but their ease, and applied themselves entirely to the cultivation of their lands, in order to free themselves from the toils and dangers of war, chose to furnish their quota in money rather than in men, and left the Athenians the care of manning with soldiers and rowers the ships they were obliged to furnish. The other generals who had no forecast and penetration for the future, gave such of the allies as acted in this manner some uneasiness at first, and were for obliging them to observe the treaty literally. But Cimon, when in power, acted in a quite different manner,

a Plut. in Cim. p. 485.

and suffered them to enjoy the tranquillity they chose ; plainly perceiving that the allies, instead of being, as formerly, warlike in the field, would insensibly lose their martial spirit, and be fit for nothing but husbandry and trade; whilst the Athenians, by exercising the oar, and having arms in their hands perpetually, would be more and more inured to the fatigues of war, and daily increase in power. What Cimon had foreseen happened; these very people purchased themselves masters at their own expense; so that they who before had been companions and allies, became in some measure the subjects and tributaries of the Athenians.

No Grecian general ever gave so great a blow to the pride and haughtiness of the Persian monarch as Cimon. After the Barbarians had been driven out of Greece, he did not give them time to take breath; but sailed immediately after them with a fleet of upwards of 200 ships, took their. strongest cities, and brought over all their allies; so that the king of Persia had not one soldier left in Asia, from Ionia to Pamphylia. Still pursuing his point, he had the boldness to attack the enemy's fleet, though much stronger than his own. It lay near the mouth of the river Eurymedon, and consisted of 350 sail of ships, supported by the land army on the coast. It was soon put to flight; and more than 200 sail were taken, besides those that were sunk. A great number of the Persians had left their ships, and leapt into the sea, in order to join their land army, which lay on the shore. It was very hazardous to attempt a descent in sight of the enemy; and to lead on troops, which were already fatigued by their late battle, against fresh forces much superior in num'ber. However Cimon, finding that the whole army was eager to engage the Barbarians, thought proper to take advantage of the ardour of the soldiers, who were greatly animated with their first success. Accordingly he landed, and marched them directly against the Barbarians, who waited resolutely for their coming up, and sustained the first onset with prodigious valour; however, being at last obliged to give way, they broke and fled. A great slaughter ensued, and an infinite number of prisoners, and immensely rich spoils, were taken. Cimon having, in one day, gained two victories which almost equalled those of Salamis and Platea, to crown all, sailed out to meet a reinforcement of 84 Phoenician ships, which were coming from Cyprus, to join the Persian fleet, and knew nothing of what had passed. They were all either taken or sunk, and most of the soldiers were killed or drowned.

a Plat. in Cim. p. 485-487. Thucyd. 1. i. p. 66. Diod. 1. xi p_45—17. We don't find that the ancients made use of long boats in making a landing the reason of which perhaps was, that as their gallies were flat-bottomed. they ran in to shore without any difficulty.

Cimon after these glorious exploits, returned in triumph to Athens; and employed part of the spoils in fortifying the harbour, and in beautifying the city. The riches which a general amasses in the field, are applied to the noblest uses when they are disposed of in this manner; and reflect infinitely greater honour upon him, than if he expended them in building magnificent palaces for himself, which must one time or other devolve to strangers; whereas works, built for public use, are his property in some measure for ever, and transmit his name to the latest posterity. It is well known that such embellishments in a city give infinite pleasure to the people, who are always struck with works of this kind; and this, as Plutarch observes in the life of Cimon, is one of the surest, and at the same time, the most lawful methods of acquring their friendship and esteem.

The year following, this general sailed towards the Hellespont. and having driven the Persians out of the Thracian Chersonesus, of which they had made themselves masters, he conquered it in the name of the Athenians, though he himself had more right to it, as Miltiades his father had been its Sovereign. He afterwards attacked the people of the island of Thasus, who had revolted from the Athenians, and defeated their fleet. They maintained their revolt with an almost unparalleled obstinacy and fury. As if they had been in arms against the most cruel and barbarous enemies, from whom they had the worst of evils to fear, they made a law, that the first man who should only mention the concluding a treaty with the Athenians, should be put to death. The siege was carried on three years, during which the inhabitants suffered all the calamities of war with the same obstinacy. The women were no less inflexible than the men; for when the besieged wanted ropes for their military engines, all the women cut off their hair with the greatest readiness, and applied it to that purpose. The city being reduced to the utmost distress by famine, which daily swept away a great number of the inhabitants, Hegetorides a Thasian, deeply afflicted with seeing such multitudes of his fellow citizens perish, resolutely determined to sacrifice his life for the preservation of his country. Accordingly he put a halter round his neck, and presenting himself to the assembly, “Countrymen," says he, "do with me as you please, and do not spare me if you judge proper; but let my death save the rest of the people, and prevail with you to abolish the cruel law you "have enacted, so contrary to your welfare." The Thasians, struck with these words, abolished the law, but would,

a Plut. de gerend. rep. p_818

Plut in Cim p 487.

e Polyæn. Str. 1. ii.

Thucyd. 1. i p. 66, 67. Diod. . xi. p. 53.
d Polyæn. l. viii.

not suffer it to cost so generous a citizen his life. They surrendered themselves to the Athenians, who spared their lives, and only dismantled their city.

After Cimon had landed his troops on the shore opposite to Thrace, he seized on all the gold mines in that quarter, and subdued every part of that country as far as Macedonia. He might have attempted the conquest of that kingdom; and, in all probability, could have easily possessed himself of part of it, had he thought fit to improve the occasion. And indeed for his neglect in this point, on his return to Athens, he was prosecuted, as having been bribed by the money of the Macedonians and of Alexander their king. But Cimon had a soul superior to all temptations of that kind, and proved his innocence in the clearest light.

• The conquests of Cimon and the power of the Athenians, which increased every day, gave Artaxerxes great uneasiness. To prevent the consequences, he resolved to send Themistocles into Attica, with a great army, and accordingly proposed it to him.

Themistocles was in great perplexity on this occasion. On one side, the remembrance of the favours which the king had heaped upon him; the positive assurances he had given that monarch, to serve him with the utmost zeal on all occasions; the urgency of the king, who claimed his promise; all these considerations would not permit him to refuse the commission. On the other side, the love of his country, which the injustice and ill treatment of his fellow citizens could not banish from his mind; his strong reluctance to sully the glory of his former laurels and mighty achievements by so ignominious a step; perhaps too, the fear of being unsuccessful in a war, in which he should be opposed by excellent generals, and particularly by Cimon, who seemed to be as successful as valiant; these different reflections would not suffer him to declare against his country, in an enterprise, which, whether successful or not, would reflect shame on himself.

b

To rid himself at once of all these inward struggles, he resolved to put an end to his life, as the only method he could devise not to be wanting in the duty which he owed his country, nor to the promises he had made the prince. He therefore prepared a solemn sacrifice, to which he invited all his friends; when, after embracing them all, and taking a last farewel of them, he drank bull's blood, or, according to others, swallowed a dose of poison, and died in this manner at Magnesia, aged threescore and five years, the greatest part of which he had spent either in the government of the

a A. M. 3538 Ant. J. C. 466. Thucyd. 1. i. p. 92. Plut. in Themist. p 127. The wisest heathens did not think that a man was allowed to lay violent Mands on himself.

republic, or the command of the armies. a When the king was told the cause and manner of his death, he esteemned and admired him still more, and continued his favour to his friends and domestics. But the unexpected death of Themistocles proved an obstacle to the design that he meditated, of attacking the Greeks. The Magnesians erected a splendid monument to the memory of that general in the public square, and granted peculiar privileges and honours to his descendants. They continued to enjoy them in Plutarch's time, that is, near six hundred years after, and his tomb was still standing.

Atticus, in the beautiful dialogue of Cicero, entitled Brutus, refutes, in an agreeable and ingenious manner, the tragical end which some writers ascribe to Themistocles, as related above; pretending that the whole is a fiction, invented by rhetoricians, who, on the bare rumour that this great man had poisoned himself, had of themselves added all the other particulars to embellish the story, which otherwise would have been very dry and uninteresting. He appeals for this to Thucydides, that judicious historian, who was an Athenian, and almost contemporary with Themistocles. This author indeed owns, that a report had prevailed, that this general had poisoned himself; however, his opinion was, that he died a natural death, and that his friends conveyed his bones secretly to Athens, where, in Pausanias's time, his mausoleum was standing near the great harbour. This account seems much more probable than the other.

Themistocles was certainly one of the greatest men that Greece ever produced. He had a great soul, and invincible courage, which was even inflamed by danger; was fired with an incredible thirst for glory, which sometimes his patriotism would temper and allay, but which sometimes carried him too far; his presence of mind was such, that it immediately suggested whatever course it was most neces-. sary to pursue: In fine, he had a sagacity and penetration that revealed to him, in the clearest light, the most secret designs of his enemies; and causing him to adopt long beforehand the several measures which were requisite to disconcert them, and inspired him with great, noble, bold, extensive views with regard to the honour of his country. The most essential qualities of the mind were however wanting in him, I mean probity, sincerity, equity, and good faith: Nor was he altogether free from suspicions of avarice, which is a great blemish in the character of a statesman.

a Cic de Senec. n 72

b Brut. n 42, 43.

Nevertheless, a noble sentiment as well as action are rec Lib p J. De instantiisus, ut ait Thucydides verissime judicabat, et de futuris callidissime conjiciebat. Corn. Nep. in Themist. c. i. Plut. in Themist. p. 121.