The phantom seemed to be a woman of enormous stature, who, in her attire, air, and haggard looks, resembled a fury sweeping his house with violence.* His son's death who for some unknown grief had thrown himself from the roof of a house, passed for the accomplishment of that ominous apparition, and was the prelude to his misfortunes. Callippus gave the last hand to them. He was an Athenian, with whom Dion had contracted an intimate friendship, while he lodged at his house at Athens, and with whom he lived ever after with entire freedom and unbounded confidence. Callippus having given himself up to his ambitious views, and entertained thoughts of making himself master of Syra cuse, threw off all regard for the sacred ties of friendship and hospitality, and contrived to get rid of Dion, who was the sole obstacle to his designs. Notwithstanding his care to conceal them, they were discovered, and came to the ears of Dion's sister and wife, who lost no time, and spared no pains, to learn the truth by a very strict inquiry. To prevent its effects, he went to them with tears in his eyes, and the appearance of being inconsolable that any person should suspect him of such a crime, or think him capable of so black a design. They insisted upon his taking the great oath, as it was called. The person who swore it, was wrapped in the purple mantle of the goddess Proserpine, and holding a lighted torch in his hand, pronounced in the temple the most dreadful execrations against himself which it is possible to imagine.

The oath cost him nothing; but did not convince the princesses. They daily received new intimation of his guilt from several hands, as did Dion himself, whose friends in general persuaded him to prevent the crime of Callippus by a just and sudden punishment. But he never resolved upon it. The death of Heraclides, which he looked upon as a horrible blot on his reputation_and virtue, was perpetually present to his troubled imagination, and renewed by continual terrors his grief and repentance. Tormented night and day by that cruel remembrance, he professed, that he had rather die a thousand deaths, and present his throat himself to any one that would kill him, than to live under the necessity of continual precautions, not only against his enemies, but the best of his friends.

Callippus ill deserved that name. He hastened the execution of his crime, and caused Dion to be assassinated in his own house by the Zacynthian soldiers, who were entirely devoted to his interest. The sister and wife of that prince, were put into prison, where the latter was delivered of a son, which she resolved to nurse there herself.

After this murder, Callippus was sometime in a splendid condition, having made himself master of Syracuse by means of the troops, who were entirely devoted to his service, on account of the gifts which he bestowed upon them. The pagans believed, that the divinity ought to punish great crimes in a sudden and extraordinary manner in this life; and Plutarch observes, that the success of Callippus occasioned very great complaints against the gods, for suffering, calmly and without indignation, the vilest of men to raise himself to so exalted a fortune by so detestable and impious a means. But Providence was not long without justifying itself; for Callippus soon suffered the punishment of his guilt. Having marched with his troops to take Catana, Syracuse revolted against him, and threw off so shameful a subjection. He afterwards attacked Messina, where he lost a great many men, and particularly the Zacynthian soldiers, who had murdered Dion. No city of Sicily would receive him; but all detesting him as the most execrable of wretches, he retired to Rhe gium, where, after having led for some time a miserable life, he was killed by Leptinus and Polyperchon, and, it was said, with the same dagger with which Dion had been assassinated.t

History has few examples of so distinct an attention of Providence to punish great crimes, such as murder, perfidy, treason, either in the authors of those crimes themselves, who commanded or executed them, or in the accomplices

• Plut.

P. 981-989. Diod. P. 432.

A. M. 3646 Ant. J. C. 358

any way concerned in them. Divine justice manifests itself from time to time in this manner, to prove that it is not unconcerned and inattentive; and to prevent the inundation of crimes, which an entire impunity would occasion, but it does not always distinguish itself by remarkable chastisements in this world, to intimate to mankind, that greater punishments are reserved for guilt in the next.

As for Aristomache and Arete, as soon as they came out of prison, Icetas of Syracuse, one of Dion's friends, received them into his house, and treated them at first with an attention, fidelity, and generosity of the most exemplary kind but, complying at last with Dion's enemies, he provided a bark for them, and having put them on board, under the pretence of sending them to Peloponne sus, he gave orders to those who were to carry them, to kill them on the pas sage and throw them into the sea. He was not long without receiving the chastisement due to his black treachery; for being taken by Timoleon, he was put to death. The Syracusans, fully to avenge Dion, killed also the two sons of that traitor.

The relations and friends of Dion, soon after his death, had written to Plato, to consult him upon the manner in which they should behave in the present troubled and fluctuating condition of Syracuse, and to know what sort of government i was proper to establish there. Plato, who knew that the Syracusans were equally incapable of entire liberty or absolute servitude, exhorted them strenuously to pacify all things as soon as possible, and for that purpose to change the tyranny, the very name of which was odious, into a lawful sovereignty, which would make subjection easy and agreeable. He advised them, and according to him it had been Dion's opinion, to create three kings; one to be Hipparinus, Dion's son; another Hipparinus, brother of Dionysius the younger, who seemed to be well inclined towards the people; and Dionysius himself, if he would comply with such conditions as should be prescribed him; their authority to be not unlike that of the kings of Sparta. At the same time thirty-five magistrates were to be appointed, to take care that the laws should be duly observed, to have great authority both in times of war and peace, and to serve as a balance between the power of the kings, the senate, and the people.* It does not appear that this advice was ever followed, which indeed had its great inconveniences. It is only known, that Hipparinus the brother of Dionysius, having landed at Syracuse with a fleet, and considerable forces, expelled Callippus, and exercised the sovereign power two years.†

The history of Sicily, as related thus far, includes about fifty years, beginning with Dionysius the elder, who reigned thirty-eight, and continuing to the death of Dion. I shall return in the sequel to the affairs of Sicily, and shall relate the end of Dionysius the younger, and the re-establishment of the Syracusan liberty by Timoleon.

SECTION IV.-CHARACTER OF dion.

IT is not easy to find so many excellent qualities in one person as were united in Dion. I do not consider in this place, his wonderful taste for the sciences, his art of associating them with the greatest employments of war and peace, of extracting from them rules of conduct, and maxims of government, and of making them an equally useful and honourable entertainment of his leisure. I confine myself to the statesman and patriot; and in this view, how admirable does he appear! greatness of soul, elevation of sentiments, generosity in bestowing his wealth, heroic valour in battle, attended with a coolness of temper, and a prudence scarcely to be paralleled; a miud vast, and capable of the highest views, a constancy not to be shaken by the greatest dangers, or the most unexpected revolution of fortune, the love of country and of the public good carried almost to excess; these are part of Dion's virtues. The design he formed of delivering his country from the yoke of the tyranny,

Plat. Epist. viii.

↑ Diod. L xvi. p. 436.

4:2

and his boldness and wisdom in the execution of it, show what he was capa ble of.

But what I conceive the greatest beauty in Dion's character, the most worthy of admiration, and if I may say so, the most above human nature, is the greatness of soul, and unexampled patience, with which he suffered the ingratitude of his country. He had abandoned and sacrificed every thing to come to their relief; he had reduced the tyranny to extremities, and was upon the point of re-establishing them in the full possession of their liberty: in return for such great services, they shamefully expelled him from the city, accompanied with a handful of foreign soldiers, whose fidelity they had not been able to corrupt; they loaded him with injuries, and added to their base perfidy the most cruel outrages and indignity. To punish those ungrateful traitors, he had only a signal to give, and to leave the rest to the indignation of his soldiers: master of theirs, as well as of his own temper, he checked their impetuosity, and without disarming their hands, restrained their just rage, suffering them, in the very height and ardour of an attack, only to terrify, and not kill, his enemies, because he could not forget that they were his fellow-citizens and brethren.

There seems to be only one defect that can be objected to Dion, which is, his having something rigid and austere in his humour, that made him less accessible and sociable than he should have been, and kept even persons of worth and his best friends at a kind of distance. Plato, and those who had his glory sincerely at heart, had often animadverted upon this turn of mind in him but notwithstanding the reproaches which were made upon his too austere gravity, and the inflexible severity with which he treated the people, he still prided himself upon abating nothing of them: whether his genius was entirely averse to the arts of insinuation and persuasion, or that, from the view of correcting and reforming the Syracusans, vitiated and corrupted by the flattering and complaisant discourses of their orators, he chose that rough and manly manner of behaviour to them.

Dion was mistaken in the most essential points of governing. From the throne to the lowest office in the state, whoever is charged with the care of ruling and conducting others, ought particularly to study the art of managing men's tempers, and of giving them that bent and turn of mind that may best suit his measures; which cannot be done by assuming the severe master, by commanding haughtily, and contenting one's self with laying down the rule and the duty with inflexible rigour. There is in the right itself, in virtue and the exercise of all functions, an exactitude and steadiness, or rather a kind of stiffness, which frequently degenerates into a vice when carried to extremes. I know it is never allowable to break through rules; but it is always laudable, and often necessary, to soften, and make them more convertible, which is best effected by a kindness of manners, and an insinuating behaviour; not always exacting the discharge of a duty in its utmost rigour; overlooking abundance of small faults, that do not merit much notice, and observing upon those which are more considerable, with favour and goodness; in a word, in endeavouring by all possible means to acquire people's affection, and to render virtue and duty amiable.

Dion's permission to kill Heraclides, which was obtained with difficulty, or rather forced from him, contrary to his natural disposition, as well as principles, cost him dear, and brought the trouble and arguish upon him, that lasted till the day of his death, and of which they were the principal cause.

SECTION V.-DIONYSIUS THE YOUNGER REASCENDS THE THRone.

CALLIPPUS, who had caused Dion to be murdered, and had substituted himselt in his place, did not possess his power long. Thirteen months after, Hip pa-nius, brother of Dionysius, arriving unexpectedly at Syracuse with a nu

Which art an ancient poet called flexanima, atque omnium regina rerum oratio."—Cic. l.i. de Di

. n. 80.

therous fleet, expelled him from the city, and recovered his paternal sovereignty, which he held during two years.

Syracuse and all Sicily, being harassed by different factions and intestine war, were in a miserable condition. Dionysius, taking the advantage of inese troubles, ten years after he had been obliged to quit the throne, had assembled some foreign troops, and having overcome Nypsius, who had made himself master of Syracuse, he reinstated himself in the possession of his dominions.† It was perhaps to thank the gods for his re-establishment, and to express his gratitude to them, that he sent statues of gold and ivory to Olympia and Delphos, of very great value. The galleys which carried them were taken by Iphicrates, who was at that time near Corcyra, (now Corfu,) with a fleet. He wrote to Athens to know in what manner he should dispose of his sacred booty, and was answered, not to examine scrupulously for what it was designed, but to make use of it for the subsistence of his troops. Dionysius complained excessively of such treatment to the Athenians, in a letter which he wrote them, wherein he reproached with great warmth and justice their avarice and sacrilegious impiety.t

A commander of pirates had acted much more nobly and more religiously in regard to the Romans about fifty years before. After the taking of Veil, which had been ten years besieged, they sent a golden cup to Delphos. The deputies who carried that present were taken by the pirates of Lipara, and carried to that island. It was the custom to divide all prizes they took as a common stock. The island at that time was under the government of a magistrate, more like the Romans in his manners than those he governed. He was called Timasitneus;§ and his behaviour agreed well with the signification of his name. Full of regard for the envoys, the sacred gift they carried, the motive of their offering, and more for the majesty of the god for whom it was designed, be inspired the multitude, that generally follow the example of those who rule them, with the same sentiments of respect and religion. The envoys were received, therefore, with all the marks of distinction, and their expenses borne by the public. Timasitheus convoyed them with a good squadron to Delphos, and brought them back in the same manner to Rome. It is easy to judge how sensibly the Romans were affected with so noble a proceeding. By a decree of the senate, they rewarded Timasitheus with great presents, and granted him the right of hospitality. And fifty years after, when the Romans took Lipara from the Carthaginians, with the same gratitude as if the action had been but lately done, they thought themselves obliged to do farther honour to the family of their benefactor, and resolved that all his descendants should be forever exempted from the tribute imposed upon the inhabitants of that island. T This was certainly great and noble on both sides; but the contrast does no honour to the Athenians.

To return to Dionysius. Though he expressed some regard for the gods, his actions argued no humanity for his subjects. His past misfortunes, instead of correcting and softening his disposition, had only served to inflame it, and to render him more savage and brutal than before.

The most worthy and considerable of the citizens, not being able to support so cruel a servitude, had recourse to Icetas, king of the Leontines, and abandoning themselves to his conduct, elected him their general; not that they believed he differed in any thing from the most declared tyrants, but because they had no other resource.

**

* A. M. 3647. Ant. J. C. 357. Diod. I. xvi. p. 432, 436.

↑ A. M. 3654. Ant. J. C. 350).

Timasitheus signifies one who honours the gods.

Diod. 1. xvi. p. 453.

Mors erat civitatis, velut publico latrocinio, partam prædam dividere. Forte eo anno in summo magistratu erat Timasitheus quidam, Romanis vir similior quam suis: qui legatorum nomen, donumque, et deum cui mitteretur, et doni causam veritus ipse, multitudinem quoque, quæ semper ferme regenti est simi lis, religionis justæ implevit; adductosque in publicum hospitium legatos, cum præsidio etiam navium Delphos prosecutos, Romam inde sospites restituit. Hospitium cum eo senatus consu!to est factum, dona que publice data.-Tit. Liv. ¶ Tit Liv. Decad. i. I. v. c. 28. Died. l. xiv. p. 30%. ** Dion. l. xvi. p. 459, et 464. Plut. in Timol. p. 236, et 243.

During these transactions, the Carthaginians, who were almost always at wat with the Syracusans, arrived in Sicily with a large fleet; and having made great progress there, the Sicilians, and the people of Syracuse resolved to send an embassy into Greece, to demand aid of the Corinthians, from whom the Sy. racusans were descended, and who had always openly declared against tyrants and in favour of liberty. Icetas, who proposed no other end from his command than to make himself master of Syracuse, and had no thoughts of setting it free, treated secretly with the Carthaginians, though in public he affected to praise the wise measures of the Syracusans, and even sent his deputies along with theirs.

Corinth received the ambassadors kindly, and immediately appointed Timoleon their general. He had led a retired life for twenty years, without interfering in public affairs, a id was far from believing, that, at his age, and in the circumstances he then was, he should be thought of upon such an cccasion.* He was descended from one of the noblest families in Corinth, loved his country passionately, and discovered upon all occasions a singular humanity of temper, except against tyrants and bad men. He was an excellent captain; and as in his youth he had all the maturity of age, in age he had all the fire and courage of the most ardent youth.

He had an elder brother, called Tim.ophanes, whom he tenderly loved, as he had demonstrated in a battle, in which he covered him with his body, and saved his life at the great danger of his own; but his country was still dearer to him. That brother having made himself tyrant of it, so black a crime gave bim the deepest affliction. He made use of all possible means to bring him back to his duty; kindness, friendship, affection, remonstrances, and even meПaces. But finding all his endeavors ineffectual, and that nothing could prevail upon a heart abandoned to ambition, he caused his brother to be assassinated in his presence by two of his friends and intimates, and thought, that upon such an occasion the laws of nature ought to give place to those of his country. That action was admired and applauded by the principal citizens of Corinth, and by most of the philosophers, who looked upon it as the most noble effort of human virtue; and Plutarch seems to pass the same judgment upon it. All the world were not of that opinion; and some people reproached him as an abominable fratricide, who could not fail of drawing down the vengeance of the gods upon him. His mother, especially in the excess of her grief, uttered the most dreadful curses and imprecations against him; and when he came to console her, not being able to bear the sight of her son's murderer, she thrust him away with indignation, and shut her doors against him.

He was then struck with all the horror of the most guilty; and giving himself up to the most bitter remorse, considered Timophanes no longer as a tyrant, but as a brother, and resolved to put an end to his life, by abstaining from all nourishment. It was with great difficulty his friends dissuaded him trom that fatal resolution. Overcome by their prayers and entreaties, he was at length prevailed upon to live, but he condemned himself to pass the rest of his days in solitude. From that moment he renounced all public affairs, and for several years, never came to the city, but wandered about in the most solitary and desert places, abandoned to excess of grief and melancholy so true it is, that neither the praise of flatterers, nor the false reasonings of politicians, can suppress the cries of conscience, which is at once the witness, judge, and executioner of those who presume to violate the most sacred rights and ties of nature. He passed twenty years in this condition. He did indeed return to Corinth at the latter part of that time; but lived there always private and retired, with out concerning himself with the administration of the government. It was not without great reluctance that he accepted the employment of general: but he did not think it allowable to refuse the service of his country; and his duty evailed against his inclination.

A. M. 3655.