joint and common expense, which they placed in his temple at Olympia. a The names of the several nations of Greece, that were present in the engagement, were engraven on the right side of the pedestal of the statue, the Lacedæmonians first, the Athenians next, and all the rest in order. 66 One of the principal citizens of gina came and addressed himself to Pausanias, desiring him to avenge the indignity that Mardonius and Xerxes had shown to Leonidas, whose dead body had been hung upon a gallows by their order, and urging him to use Mardonius's body in the same manner. As a further motive for doing so he added, that by thus satisfying the manes of those that were killed at Thermopyla, he would be sure to immortalize his own name throughout all Greece, and make his memory precious to the latest posterity. Carry thy base counsel elsewhere," replied Pausanias. "Thou must have a very wrong notion "of true glory, to imagine, that the way for me to acquire "it is by resembling the Barbarians. If the esteem of the people of gina is not to be purchased but by such a proceeding, I shall be content with preserving that of the "Lacedæmonians alone, amongst whom the base and ungenerous pleasure of revenge is never put in competition "with that of showing clemency and moderation to their "enemies, and especially after their death. As for the souls "of my departed countrymen, they are sufficiently avenged by the death of the many thousand Persians slain upon the 46 spot in the last engagement." 46 с A dispute, which arose between the Athenians and Lacedæmonians, about determining which of the two nations should have the prize of valour adjudged to them, as also which of them should have the privilege of erecting a trophy, had like to have sullied all the glory, and embittered the joy of their late victory. They were just on the point of carrying things to the last extremity, and would certainly have decided the dispute with their swords, had not Aristides prevailed upon them, by the wisdom of his counsel and reasonings, to refer the determination of the matter to the judgment of the Grecians in general. This proposition being accepted by both parties, and the Greeks being assembled upon the spot to decide the contest, Theogiton of Megara, speaking upon the question, gave it as his opinion, that the prize of valour ought to be adjudged neither to Athens nor to Sparta but to some other city; unless they desired to kindle a civil war, of more fatal consequences than that to which they had just put an end. After he had finished his a Pausan. I v. p. 532. 6 Herod. 1. ix. c. 77, 78. speech, Cleocritus of Corinth rose up to speak his sentiments of the matter and when he began, nobody doubted but he was going to claim that honour for the city of which he was a member and a native; for Corinth was the chief city of of Greece in power and dignity after those of Athens and Sparta. But every body was agreeably deceived when they found, that all his discourse tended to the praise of the Platæans, and that the conclusion he made from the whole was, that in order to extinguish so dangerous a contention, they ought to adjudge the prize to them only against whom neither of the contending parties could have any grounds of anger or jealousy. This discourse and proposal were received with a general applause by the whole assembly. Aristides immediately assented to it on the part of the Athenians, and Pausanians on the part of the Lacedæmonians. a All parties being thus agreed, before they began to divide the spoil of the enemy, they put 80 talents aside for the Plateans, who laid them out in building a temple to Minerva, in erecting a statute to her honour, and in adorning the temple with curious and valuable paintings, which were still in being in Plutarch's time, that is to say, above 600 years afterwards, and which were then as fresh as if they had lately come out of the hands of the painters. As for the trophy, which had been another article of the dispute, the Lacedæmonians erected one for themselves in particular, and the Athenians another. The spoil was immense: in Mardonius's camp they found prodigious sums of money in gold and silver, besides cups, vessels, beds, tables, necklaces, and bracelets of gold and silver, not to be valued or numbered. It is observed by a certain historian, that these spoils proved fatal to Greece, by becoming the instruments of introducing avarice and luxury among her inhabitants. According to the religious custom of the Grecians, before they divided the treasure they appropriated the tythe or tenth part of the whole to the use of the gods. The rest was distributed equally among the cities and nations that had furnished troops; and the chief officers who had distinguished themselves in the field of battle were likewise distinguished in this distribution. They sent a present of a golden tripod to Delphos, in the inscription upon which Pausanias caused these words to be inserted; That he had defeated the Barbarians at Platea, and "that in acknowledgment of that victory he had made this "present to Apollo." a Herod. l. ix. c_79, 80. b 80.000 crown, French, about 18,000). sterling. e Victo Mardonio, castra referta regalis opulentiæ capta, unde primum Gr cos, diviso inter se auro Persico, divitiarum luxurta cœpit, Justin, 1. ii. c.14: 4 Cor. Nep. in Pausan, c. i, This arrogant inscription, wherein he ascribed the honour both of the victory and the offering to himself only, offended the Lacedæmonian people, who, in order to punish his pride in the very point in which he thought to exalt himself, as also to do justice to their confederates, caused his name to be razed out, and that of the cities which had contributed to the victory to be put in the stead of it. Too ardent a thirst after glory on this occasion did not give him leave to consider, that a man loses nothing by a discreet modesty, which forbears the setting too high a value upon one's own services, and which, by screening a man from envy a serves really to enhance his reputation. Pausanias gave a more advantageous specimen of the Spartan temper and disposition, in two entertainments which he ordered to be prepared a few days after the engagement; one of which was costly and magnificent, in which was displayed all the variety of delicacies and dainties that used to be served at Mardonius's table; and the other was plain and frugal, after the manner of the Spartans. Then comparing the two entertainments together, and causing his officers, whom he had invited on purpose, to observe the difference of them; "What madness," says he, "was it in Mardonius, "who was accustomed to such a luxurious diet, to come and "attack a people like us, that know how to live without all "dainties and superfluities, and want nothing of that kind." All the Grecians sent to Delphos to consult the oracle, concerning the sacrifice it was proper to offer. The answer they received from the god was, that they should erect an altar to Jupiter Liberator; but that they should take care not to offer any sacrifice upon it, before they had extinguished all the fire in the country, because it had been polluted and profaned by the Barbarians, and that they should come as far as Delphos to fetch pure fire, which they were to take from the altar, called the common altar. This answer being brought to the Grecians from the oracle, the generals immediately dispersed themselves throughout the whole country, and caused all the fires to be extinguished: and Euchidas, a citizen of Platea, having taken upon himself to go and fetch the sacred fire with all possible expedition, made the best of his way to Delphos. On his arrival he purified himself, sprinkled his body with consecrated water, put on a crown of laurel, and then approached the altar, from whence, with great reverence, he took the holy fire, and carried it with him to Platea, where he arrived before the setting of the sun, having travelled 1000 stadia Ipsa dissimulatione famæ famam auxit. Tacit. & Plut. in Arist. p. 331, 332, 1 (which make 125 miles English) in one day. As soon as he came back, he saluted his fellow-citizens, delivered the fire to them, fell down at their feet, and died in a moment after⚫wards. His countrymen carried away his body and buried it in the temple of Diana, surnamed Eucleia, which signifies of good renown, and put the following epitaph upon his tomb in the compass of one verse: Here lies Euchidus, who went from hence to Delphos, and returned back the same day. In the next general assembly of Greece, which was held not long after this occurrence, Aristides proposed the following decree: That all the cities of Greece should every year send their respective deputies to Platea, to offer sacrifices to Jupiter Liberator, and to the gods of the city; (this assembly was still regularly held in the time of Plutarch:) that every five years there should be games celebrated there which, should be called the games of liberty; that the several states of Greece together should raise a body of troops consisting of 10,000 foot, and 1000 horse, and should equip a fleet of 100 ships, which should be constantly maintained for making war against the Barbarians; and that the inhabitants of Plataa, entirely devoted to the service of the gods, should be looked upon as sacred and inviolable, and be concerned in no other function than that of offering prayers and sacrifices for the general preservation and prosperity of Greece. All these articles being approved of and passed into a law, the citizens of Platea took upon them to solemnize every year the anniversary festival in honour of those persons that were slain in the battle. The order and manner of performing this sacrifice was as follows: a The sixteenth day of the month Maimacterion, which answers to our month of December, at day-break, they walked in a solemn procession which was preceded by a trumpet that sounded to battle. Next to the trumpet marched several chariots, filled with crowns and branches of myrtle. After these chariots was led a black bull, behind which marched a company of young persons, carrying pitchers in their hands full of wine and milk, the ordinary libations offered to the dead, and vials of oil and essence. All these young persons were freemen; for no slave was allowed to have any part in this ceremony, which was instituted for men who had lost their lives for liberty. In the rear of this procession followed the Archon, or chief magistrate of the Plateans, for whom it was unlawful at any other time even so much as to touch iron, or to wear any other garment than a white one. But a Three months after the battle of Platea was fought. Probably these funeral rites were not at first performed, till after the enemies were entirely gone and the country was free. VOL. IN: upon this occasion being clad in a purple raiment, having a sword by his side, and holding an urn in his hands, which he took from the place where they kept their public records, he marched through the city to the place where the tombs of his countrymen were erected. As soon as he came there, he drew water with his urn from the fountain, washed with his own hands the little columns that belonged to the tombs, rubbed them afterwards with essence, and then killed the bull upon a pile of wood prepared for that purpose. After having offered up prayers to the terrestrial a Jupiter and Mercury, he invited those valiant souls deceased to come to their feast, and to partake of their funeral libations; then taking a cup in his hand, and having filled it with wine, he poured it out on the ground, and said with a loud voice; "I present this cup to those valiant men who died for the 'liberty of the Grecians." These ceremonies were annually performed even in the time of Plutarch. 66 Diodorus adds, that the Athenians in particular embellished the monuments of their citizens, who died in the war with the Persians, with magnificent ornaments, instituted funeral games to their honour, and appointed a solemn panegyric to be pronounced over them, which in all probability was repeated every year. The reader will be sensible, without my observing it, how much these solemn testimonies and perpetual demonstrations of honour, esteem, and gratitude for soldiers, who had sacrificed their lives in the defence of liberty, conduced to enhance the merit of valour, and of the services they rendered their country, and to inspire the spectators with emulation and courage: and how exceedingly well calculated all this was to cultivate and perpetuate a spirit of bravery in the people, and to make their troops victorious and invincible. The reader, no doubt, will be as much struck, at seeing how wonderfully careful and exact these people were to acquit themselves on every occasion of the duties of religion. The great event, which I have just been relating, viz. the battle of Platea, affords us very remarkable proofs of this particular, in the annual and perpetual sacrifice they instituted to Jupiter Liberator, which was still continued in the time of Plutarch; in the care they took to consecrate the tenth part of all their spoil to the gods; and in the decree proposed by Aristides to establish a solemn festival for ever, as an anniversary commemoration of that success. It is a delightful thing, methinks, to see pagan and idolatrous na a The terrestrial Jupiter is no other than Pluto; and the same epithet of terrestrial was also given to Mercury; because it was believed to be his office to Conduct departed souls to the infernal regions. Lib. xi. p. 26, |