CHAPTER XXX.
CORINTH.
The news that met the travellers when they arrived at Athens was as badas their worst fears had anticipated. The whole city was in mourning.One of her sister states--after herself the most splendid, and wealthybeyond anything to which she could pretend--had perished, and Athens,more generous than her rival had been in former days, grievedunfeignedly for her fate.[60] It was a lamentable story of rashness,incapacity, and cowardice that Polybius and Cleanor had to listen to,and they heard it in full detail from a young soldier who had himselftaken part in the campaign. At first the young man could hardly bepersuaded to speak, so heartily ashamed was he of the conduct of hiscountrymen. At last, assured of the sympathetic temper of his hearers,he related a narrative, of which it will be sufficient for me to give anoutline.
"I was one of the _aides-de-camp_ to the general of the year, Critolaüs.Did you know him?"
"Yes," said Polybius, "only too well; a more incompetent fool neverruined the affairs of a state."
"Well," said the young soldier, "he has paid for his folly. Early inthis year we marched out of our winter-quarters near Corinth to attackHeraclea in Thessaly, which had declared itself out of the League.[61]We had just sat down before the town when news came that the Roman armywas approaching. Immediately there was a scuttle. The general did notwait to hear what was the force of the enemy, but was off at once. Someof his officers begged him to make a stand at Thermopylæ. We were notall of us such curs as he. There really was a chance of holding the passtill we could get any help that might be forthcoming. Anyhow, it was aplace where a Greek might fight with the best hope, and die with themost honour. But the general had no wish to fight, much less to die. Hehurried through Thermopylæ, thinking to get back to the intrenched campat Corinth in which we had wintered; but Metellus--he was in command ofthe Romans--was too quick for us. He overtook us when we had got abouttwenty miles from Thermopylæ, and there was a battle,--if you may callit a battle, when one side charges and the other runs away. The Thebans,it is true, held their ground. They may call the Thebans stupid, butthey are wonderfully good soldiers. Yet what was the good of one corpsstanding firm when there was no one to back it up? As for Critolaüs, noone knows what became of him. He galloped off as soon as the Romantroops came in sight, and he has never been seen from that day to this.
"Well, nothing was left of the army but a few scattered troops andcompanies, and many of these were cut up, or taken prisoners one by one.I am bound to say that the Romans behaved very well. They offeredquarter to anyone who would lay down his arms, and safety to every statethat would submit. It was more than could be expected, for really theycould have imposed any terms that they pleased. But our chiefs, led byDiæus, who had succeeded Critolaüs, were bent on securing their ownlives. They were afraid that on some pretext they would be excepted inany amnesty that might be offered, and so they went on fighting. Diæusmade a levy _en masse_ of the whole population, and, besides, armedtwelve thousand slaves, if you may call it arming a man to give him ablunt sword and a spear with a cracked shaft. Money he raised in any wayhe could; first he confiscated the property of all who belonged to thepeace party, and made up what was wanting--and a good deal waswanting--by robbing his own friends. He took up his position on theIsthmus, close to what is left of the wall built in the Persiantime.[62] Everything went badly from the first. Our vanguard was nearMegara, and, of course, we expected that it would make a stand, so asto give us a little time. It had a strong position which it might haveheld for at least three or four days. Well, it fled without so much asstriking a blow.
"After this Metellus, who really behaved in the most moderate way, gaveDiæus a chance. He sent envoys to offer terms, really liberal terms,too, which it would have been no dishonour for people much better offthan we were to accept. To make them more acceptable, as he thought,these envoys were Greeks, men of the highest character. But our generalwould not listen to them. Not only that, but he charged them in thepublic assembly with being traitors, and they were all but killed in theriot that followed. Then we had yet another chance. Philo theThessalian, than whom there is no man more honoured in Greece, came withconditions for an arrangement. Some of the general's own party wereconvinced. Old Stratius, who has never been a friend to Rome, as youknow, actually grovelled on the ground, and caught Diæus by the knees,entreating him to give way. But it was all of no use. Philo had to goaway without accomplishing anything. In fact, all this seemed only tomake the man more furious. He had some of his own officers broughtbefore a court-martial on the charge of being in communication with theenemy. Their real fault was that they had been imprudent enough to showthat they were in favour of peace. One of them was found guilty and putto the torture. He bore it, I was told, without saying a word. Twoothers escaped with their lives, but only by paying a bribe--one atalent, the other forty minæ, for the man was as greedy as he was cruel,and he went on robbing and murdering with the sword within a foot of hisown neck.
"Then we had another reprieve. There was a change of generals in theRoman army. Mummius, who had crossed from Italy, took over the commandfrom Metellus. While new arrangements were being made the Romans satstill, and Diæus took the notion into his head that they were beginningto be afraid of us. Then there happened some small affair of outposts inwhich our cavalry got the best of it. It was but a trifle, not more thanhalf a dozen men killed or wounded on either side, but it elated ourchief beyond all measure. First he sent envoys to offer terms to theRomans. They were to evacuate Greece, and give hostages as guaranteethat they would not return. If they did this, Diæus would allow them todepart in safety. It was the act of a madman, and, of course, Mummiusdid not even condescend to send back an answer.
"But it was a good thing for me. I, you see, was one of the envoys, andI did not go back with them. It was quite enough for me to go throughthe Roman camp, and see the admirable order and discipline, not to speakof the number of the men, to feel sure that we had not the shadow of achance. I frankly told the Roman general, who seems a kind-hearted man,though somewhat of a boor, how I was situated. I was really servingunder compulsion, a sort of hostage for my father, who is a leader ofthe peace party, and as he was out of danger now, living as he did inNorthern Greece, and so not within reach of the League, I felt free toleave, without having to feel myself a deserter. The general was verykind, and advised me to leave the seat of war, where, indeed, it wouldhave been painful for me to stay, whatever might happen. Accordingly Icame to Athens; that is why I have the pleasure of seeing you to-day."
"And what has happened since?" asked Polybius.
"A despatch came in yesterday. Everything has gone as I expected. TheLeague generals were as rash at the end as they were timorous at thebeginning. They offered battle to the Romans though these were twice asstrong in actual numbers, not to speak of being vastly superior indiscipline and quality generally. The cavalry turned and fled withoutwaiting to cross swords with the enemy. The infantry, who were mostlyThebans, behaved better, but the number of the enemy told against them.They were outflanked and broken. After that, of course, all was over.The general wrote that he held back his troops from the pursuit."
"And Diæus, what of him?" asked Polybius. "I hope the villain has hadhis deserts. How has Greece sinned against the gods that she should becursed with having such fellows put in authority over her?"
"Nothing was known of what happened to him. But his body was not foundamong the dead."
Polybius and his companion were kept for three days longer in Athens,the Roman commissioner refusing them a permit to pass to the front.Mummius was still before the city. Till he had entered it the presenceof strangers in the camp was considered to be inconvenient. Late in theevening of the third day a despatch arrived from him, dated from thecitadel of Corinth. He explained that no resistance had been offered bythe Greek army; but that, finding it difficult to believe that so stronga place could be given up without some attempt at defence, he had waitedtill he could be sure that no stratagem w
as intended. The city, headded, was perfectly quiet; all the leaders of the hostile army hadeither fallen in battle or were prisoners in his hands. Diæus wasreported to have fled into Arcadia, and to have there committed suicidealong with his wife, but the report was not at present confirmed.
The Roman commissioner immediately on receiving this news sent thedesired permission to Polybius, and the two friends, who had everythingin readiness for their journey, started at once. Travelling all nightthey reached Corinth, which was not more than thirty miles from Athens,shortly after dawn. The city presented a most lamentable appearance.The great market-place, and all the other squares and open spaces, werethronged with a helpless and miserable crowd of men, women, andchildren, of all ages and all ranks, doomed to the cruellest lot thathumanity can endure. The Senate and People of Rome, provoked, it must beallowed, to the utmost by the insolence and folly of the Corinthians,had passed the savage decree that the whole population of the cityshould be sent to the slave-market.
The horrible business had already begun. The wretched victims had beendivided into lots according to sex and age. The quæstor's clerks--thequæstor, it may be explained, was the officer who had charge offinance--were busy noting down particulars, and the loathsome crew ofslave-dealers and their assistants, foul creatures that always followedclose on the track of a Roman army, were appraising the goods which weresoon to be offered for competition. Nobles of ancient houses, merchants,who but a month before could have matched their riches with thewealthiest capitalists of Rome, the golden youth of the most luxuriouscity of the world, and, saddest of all, delicate women, whose beauty hadbeen jealously guarded even from sun and wind, stood helplessly exposedto the brutal gaze and yet more brutal handling of Egyptian and Syrianslave-dealers, barbarians to whom, in the haughty pride of theirHellenism, they would scarcely have conceded the title of man.
A CORINTHIAN NOBLEMAN BEING SOLD AS A SLAVE IN THEMARKET-PLACE.]
Cleanor recognized among the victims several whose acquaintance he hadmade during his brief sojourn in Corinth during the previous year. Thecontrast between their present degradation and the almost insolent prideof their prosperous days touched him to the heart. The emotion ofPolybius was even more profound. Some of these men were lifelongfriends. He had sat by their side at the council; he had been a guest attheir hospitable tables. Some of them bore names associated with thegreatest glories of Greece. To see them exposed for sale like so manysheep or oxen was a thing more strange and more horrible than he couldhave conceived to be possible.
Not less strange, if less harrowing, was the spectacle which presenteditself to the two friends when they reached that quarter of the city inwhich the Roman soldiery had bivouacked. One of the first things thatthey saw was a group of soldiers off duty busy with a game of hazard.For the convenience of having a level surface on which to throw the dicethey had stretched a canvas on the ground. Polybius, whose eye wascaught by what looked like a figure on this improvised dice-table,approached and looked over the shoulder of one of the players to examineit more closely. He started back in amazement and horror.
"Great Zeus!" he cried, "what do you think it is, Cleanor, that thesefellows have laid there to throw their dice upon? Why, it is one of thefinest pictures in the world! It is the 'Dionysus' of Aristides! Thecity, I have been told, gave twenty talents for it to the artist, and,to my certain knowledge, might have sold it over and over again fortwice as much if not more. Look at it. Did you ever see anything finer?See how the god is flinging himself from his car! See with what surpriseAriadne is turning to look at him! And the throng of nymphs and satyrs,did you ever behold such variety, such energy, such grace? And thesebarbarians are using it for a dice-table!"
"Hush!" said Cleanor warningly. "They may be barbarians, but they areour masters, and it is prudent to be civil."
Close by was another group which was amusing itself in precisely thesame way. The picture was not, it is true, so famous a master-piece asthe "Dionysus"--it was the "Hercules" of Polygnotus, but it was a workof art which meant a modest fortune to anyone who had had the luck topossess himself of it. As for the purpose which it was then serving, atable of gold would not have been so inappropriately costly. Anomaliesof the same kind could be seen everywhere. Coverlets of the richestTyrian purple, tapestries worked with figures as graceful and delicateas the most skilful brush of the painter could make them, embroideredrobes that Pallas might have worked or Aphrodite worn, the treasuresbrought from the harems of Eastern kings, lay about to be trampled underthe feet of Apulian herdsmen, Sabine ploughmen, and Campanianvine-dressers. To these sturdy peasants, ignorant of all arts but thesoldiers, they were but gaudy-coloured cloths which might be put, indefault of something more convenient, to the meanest purposes.
"Great Zeus!" cried Polybius, as he looked on the scene, "what a waste!It is better that anyone should have these treasures than that theyshould be wasted in this fashion. Let us see Mummius and give him anidea of what is going on."
FOOTNOTES:
60: In 404 B.C., when the Spartans and their allies had captured Athens, Corinth voted for the total destruction of the city.
61: The Achæan League.
62: It was the favourite plan of the Peloponnesian states in the Persian war to fortify the Isthmus and leave all Northern Greece at the mercy of the Persians; but this plan was abandoned owing to the declaration of the Athenians that, if it was persisted in, they would make terms with the Persians. A wall, of course, would have been useless, if the fleet of the enemy were free to land an army wherever it pleased. The work, however, was begun, though never completed.
Lords of the World: A story of the fall of Carthage and Corinth Page 32