and hence they were called the city band, as citadels of old were usually called cities. Others say that it was composed of young men attached to each other by personal affection, and a pleasant saying of Pammenes is current, that Homer's Nestor was not well skilled in ordering an army, when he advised the Greeks to rank tribe and tribe, and family and family together, that"So tribe might tribe, and kinsmen kinsmen aid,"but that he should have joined lovers and their beloved. For men of the same tribe or family little value one another when dangers press; but a band cemented by friendship grounded upon love, is never to be broken, and invincible; since all, ashamed to be base in sight of their beloved, willingly rush into danger for the relief of one another. Nor can that be wondered at; since they have more regard for their absent loving friends than for others present; as in the instance of the man who, when his enemy was going to kill him, earnestly requested him to run him through the breast, that his lover might not blush to see him wounded in the back. it is a tradition likewise, that Iolaus, who assisted Hercules in his labors and fought at his side, was beloved of him;and Aristotle observes, that even in his time, lovers plighted their faith at Iolaus' tomb. It is likely, therefore, that this band was called sacred on this account; as Plato calls a lover a divine friend. It is stated that it was never beaten till the battle at Chaeronea: and when Philip, after the fight, took a view of the slain, and came to the place where the three hundred that fought his phalanx lay dead together, he was filled with wonder, and understanding that it was the band of lovers, he shed tears and said, "Perish any man who suspects that these men either did or suffered any thing that was base."From the Life of Titus Flamininus, The Conqueror of PhilipAmong the songs written after the battle of Cynos Cephalas (the Dog-heads), was the following epigram, composed by Alcaeus in mockery of Philip, exaggerating the number of the slain:
Naked and tombless see, O passer-by The thirty thousand men of Thessaly, Slain by the Aetolians and the Latin band, That came with Titus from Italia's land:
Alas for mighty Macedon! that day, Swift as a roe, king Philip fled away.
Titus himself thought more highly of his liberation of Greece than of any other of his actions, as appears by the inscription upon some silver targets, dedicated together with his own shield, to Apollo at Delphi:
Ye Spartan Tyndarids, twin sons of Jove, Who in swift horsemanship have placed your love, Titus, of great Aeneas' race, leaves this In honor of the liberty of Greece.
And a golden crown, also offered to Apollo, bore this inscription:
This golden crown upon thy locks divine, O blest Latona's son, was set to shine By the great captain of the Aenean name O Phoebus, grant the noble Titus fame!
When the ambassadors of Antiochus were recounting to those of Achaea, the various multitudes composing their royal master's forces, and ran over a long catalogue of hard names, "I supped once," said Titus, "with a friend, and could not forbear expostulating with him at the number of dishes he had provided, and said I wondered where he had furnished himself with such a variety; 'Sir,' replied he, 'to confess the truth, it is all hog's flesh differently cooked.' And so, men of Achaea, when you are told of Antiochus' lancers, and pikemen, and foot-guards, I advise you not to be surprised; since in fact they are all Syrians differently armed."The Chalcidians, who owed their lives to Titus, dedicated to him all the best and most magnificent of their sacred buildings, inscriptions upon which, like the following, may be seen to this day: THE PEOPLE DEDICATE THIS GYMNASIUM TO TITUS AND TO HERCULES;so again: THE PEOPLE CONSECRATE THE DELPHINIUM TO TITUS AND TOHERCULES; and what is yet more remarkable, even in our time, a priest of Titus was formally elected and declared; and after sacrifice and libation, they sang a set song, of which these are the closing verses:--The Roman Faith, whose aid of yore, Our vows were offered to implore, We worship now and evermore.
To Rome, to Titus, and to Jove, O maidens, in the dances move.
Dances and Io-Paeans too Unto the Roman Faith are due O Savior Titus, and to you.
ALEXANDER the GreatIt must be borne in mind that my design has been not to write histories, but lives. And the most glorious exploits do not always furnish us with the clearest discoveries of virtue or vice in men;sometimes a matter of less moment, an expression or a jest, informs us better of their characters and inclinations, than the most famous sieges, the greatest armaments, or the bloodiest battles whatsoever. Therefore as portrait-painters are more exact in the lines and features of the face, in which the character is seen, than in the other parts of the body, so I must be allowed to give my more particular attention to the marks and indications of the souls of men, in my portrayal of their lives.
It is agreed on by all hands, that on the father's side, Alexander descended from Hercules by Caranus, and from Aeacus by Neoptolemus on the mother's side. His father Philip, being in Samothrace, when he was quite young, fell in love there with Olympias, in company with whom he was initiated in the religious ceremonies of the country, and her father and mother being both dead, soon after, with the consent of her brother Arymbas, he married her.