OR THE ANTIQUITIES OF GREECE. BOOK III. CHAP. I. Of the Wars, Valour, Military Glory, &c. of the ancient Grecians. THE ancient Grecians were a rude and unpolished sort of mortals, wholly unacquainted with the modern, and more refined arts of war, and peace. Persons of the highest birth and quality, and whom they fancied to be descended from the race of the immortal gods, had little other business to employ their hours, beside tilling the earth, or feeding their flocks and herds; and the rapine of these, or some other petty concerns, which was looked on as a generous and heroical exploit, occasioned most of the wars so famous in their story. Achilles, in Homer, tells Agamemnon, that it was purely to oblige him he had engaged himself in so long and dangerous a war against the Trojans, from whom he had never received any just cause of quarrel, having never been despoiled of his oxen or horses, or had the fruits of his ground destroyed by them a. Οὐ γὰρ ἐγὼ Τρώων ἕνεκ ̓ ἤλυθον αἰχμητάων Δεῦρο μαχησόμενος, ἐπεὶ οὔτι μοι αἴτιοί εἰσιν. Καρπὸν ἐδηλήσαντ', ἐπειὴ μάλα πολλά μεταξύ ̓Αλλά σοι, ὦ μέγ' ἀναιδές, ἅμ ̓ ἑσπόμεθ', ὄφρα σὺ χαίρης. What cause have I to war at thy decree? The distant Trojans never injur'd me : To Phthia's realms no hostile troops they led, Far hence remov'd the hoarse resounding main, VOL. II. a Iliad. a. v. 152. A POPE. And the simplicity of their conduct may be sufficiently evinced, as from several other instances, so by those especially where Achilles, Hector, or Ajax, are introduced opposing themselves to vast numbers, and, by the force of their own valour, putting to flight whole squadrons of their enemies. Nor is the poet to be thought blameworthy, or to have transgressed the rules of probability in such relations which, though perhaps strange and incredible in our days, were, no doubt, accommodated to the manners of the times of which he wrote. For even in the sacred story, we find it recorded, that a single Goliah defied all the armies of Israel", and with a big look, and a few arrogant words, struck so great a terror into them, that they fled before him. Notwithstanding this, in the revolution of a few ages, Greece became the celebrated mother of the bravest and most experienced soldiers in the world. For being cantoned into a great number of little independent states, all which, though bordering upon one another, were governed by different laws, and prosecuted contrary interests, it became the seat of continual wars; every hamlet being ambitious of enlarging its territory, by encroaching upon its neighbour-village, and contending for the addition of a few lands, with no less heat aud fury than if whole kingdoms had been the prize. The consequence whereof was, that the Grecians, being from their childhood inured to martial affairs, and having to their native bravery added long and constant experience, were rendered, as well in good order and discipline, as true courage and valour, superior to most other nations. They became a terror to all the countries round about them, and with small numbers often put to flight vast multitudes of the barbarians: the Persians frequently experienced the sad effects of it in the loss of numerous armies, and at length of the greatest empire in the world. And (to enumerate no more instances in a thing so well known) the Carthaginians, though men of great courage, and excellently skilled in the art of war, being worsted in Sicily by Timoleon the Corinthian, in several encounters, and by unequal numbers of men, were driven into an admiration of the Grecian valour, and forced to confess, that they were the most pugnacious and insupportable of mankind, and forthwith made it their business to entertain as many of them as they could procure, in their service. But though almost all the Grecians had their share in military glory, yet were the rest far inferior to the Lacedæmonians, who, 1 Sam. xvii. 11. 24. e Plutarchus Timoleonte. by the laws of their country, were under an obligation to make war their profession; they never applied themselves to any art or employment, or the exercise of trades, which they accounted unworthy of generous and free-born souls; but committing all such cares to the Helots, who were a genteeler sort of slaves, spent their time in manly exercises, to render their bodies strong and active. They were also accustomed by hard diet, by stripes, and other severities, patiently to undergo hardships, to endure wounds, to encounter dangers, and, if the honour of their country so required, to throw themselves into the arms of death without fear or regret. Yet were they not so imprudent or fool-hardy, as to court dangers or death; but were taught from their childhood to be always prepared either to live or die, and equally willing to do either: as appears from those verses cited by Plutarch to this purpose; Οἱ δὲ θάνον, & ζῆν θέμενοι καλὸν, ἐδὲ τὸ θνήσκειν, They died, but not as lavish of their blood, Nor was this indifferency to life or death only discoursed of amongst them as a point of mere speculation, but carefully and seriously instilled in their tender years, and always embraced as one of the first principles of their actions; which begot in them such an undaunted courage, and so firm and unmoveable a resolution, that scarce any other nation was able to stand before them. This extraordinary and unparalleled bravery, being adorned and strengthened by the wisest conduct, and the most perfect skill in all the stratagems of war those times were capable of, has rendered them famous in story, and examples of military virtue to all succeeding ages: For (these are Plutarch's words) the Lacedæmonians were most expert and cunning in the art of war, being trained up and accustomed to nothing more than to keep themselves from confusion, when their order should be broken; to follow any leader, or right-hand man, so rallying themselves into order, and to fight on what part soever dangers press.' It is therefore by no means to be wondered at, that foreign and vastly remote nations should be desirous to entertain the Lacedæmonians in their service; that Cyrus the Younger should think it the readiest and most effectual method to advance himself to the empire of Persia; that Croesus, the wealthy king of Lydia, and several of the Egyptian monarchs, through surrounded with numerous forces of their own, should never esteem themselves secure without assistance from Sparta; or that the Sicilians, Thracians, Carthaginians, with the Cyreneaus, and many others, were beholden to it for protection, and deliverance from powerful enemies, And for the Grecians themselves, whenever any of their little states were in danger of being swallowed up by their more powerful neighbours, we find them having recourse for aid to the Spartans, who were a common refuge to the oppressed, and restrained the ambitious invaders of other men's rights. Hence, likewise, it came to pass, that in all confederacies they were looked on as the principal associates; and in all wars carried on by public contributions, they challenged the chief command as their right and peculiar. Nor could any exigency prevail with them to depart from that claim, or resign it to the greatest of princes. Gelon, king of Sicily, though promising to furnish them with large supplies against the barbarians, on condition he might be declared captain-general of the Grecian forces, was rejected f., Yet we find, that after the victory over Mardonius at Platæa, Pausanias, the Lacedæmonian general, having, by his excessive severity, and tyrannical behaviour to the rest of the soldiers, rendered the Spartans very odious, in the end they revolted to the Athenians, the gentle and courteous carriage of whose commanders, Aristides and Cimon, had endeared them to all the rest of the Grecians and here the magnanimity of the Lacedæmonians was wonderful; for when they perceived that their generals were corrupted, and their minds too much elevated and puffed up by the greatness of their authority, they left off sending any more of them to the wars, choosing rather to have citizens of moderation, and that persevered in their ancient manners and customs, thau to be honoured with the superiority of all Greece 8. But this misfortune did not put an end to the Lacedæmonian greatness; for we find them in a little time re-assuming their ancient spirits, and disdaining even Alexander himself (though submitted to by the rest of the Grecians, and declared their general against Persia) for their superior. Which is the reason, that in the monuments erected after the Persian victories, and bearing the names of Alexander and the Grecians, the Lacedæmonians were excepted by name, as having no share in that honour h f Herodotus, lib. vii. Plutarchus Aristide. h Plutarchus Alexandro, Arrianus de gestis Alexandri, lib. i. |