by Plutarch
26. For although he had Antigonus as his ally and maintained a large bodyguard for his personal security, and had left not a single one of his enemies alive in the city, nonetheless Aristippus ordered his soldiers and guards to stand in formation in the peristyle outside his residence. As for his slaves, as soon as he had taken his meal, he dismissed them at once, locking himself inside an interior room. He would then retreat with his concubine into a small upstairs bedroom, which was closed by a trapdoor on which he placed his bed. There he slept as a man in his state might be expected to sleep: troubledly and anxiously. The ladder to this room was removed by his concubine’s mother, who then locked it away in another room. In the morning she would put it back in its place and call out to this awe-inspiring tyrant, who would then crawl down from his lair like a serpent.115
Aratus, by contrast, came to possess perpetual authority, not violently by force of arms but in accordance with the law and owing to his virtue. He dressed simply, in an ordinary tunic and cloak, declared himself the common enemy of all tyrants everywhere and left behind a posterity whose glory continues among the Greeks to this present day.116 As for these men who seize citadels, surround themselves with bodyguards and resort to weapons and gates and trapdoors for their personal safety, only a few, like hares, have escaped a violent death. And not one of them has left behind a house or a family or a tomb to honour his memory.
27. Aratus, then, made many attempts against Aristippus, sometimes covertly and sometimes openly, as he endeavoured to take Argos. Once he deployed ladders and managed, with a few men and at great peril, to climb the city wall, where he cut down the guards who rushed to its defence. When day came, the tyrant attacked him from all sides, while the Argives, as if this combat were not for the sake of their freedom but merely a contest in the Nemean Games117 which they were judging, sat as impartial and unprejudiced spectators, keeping absolutely still. Aratus fought stoutly, but was struck by a spear that pierced his thigh. Still, he held his ground and, although hard pressed by his enemies, could not be dislodged until nightfall.118 And if he had kept up his struggle through the night as well, he would not have failed, for the tyrant was already making preparations for flight and had sent a great part of his property down to the sea. But no one informed Aratus of this. Meanwhile, he was running out of water and his strength was failing him on account of his wound. Consequently, he led his soldiers away.
28. When he decided to abandon this approach, he openly invaded Argive territory at the head of his army and began to ravage the countryside. Along the River Chares119 a fierce battle against Aristippus ensued, after which Aratus was reproached for deserting the contest and tossing away victory. For it happened that the rest of his forces unquestionably got the advantage and advanced a long way in pursuit of the enemy, whereas he, without being driven from his position by the adversary but simply because his nerve failed him and he was gripped by fear, made a disorderly retreat to the camp. When the other soldiers returned from the chase, they were angry because, although they had routed the enemy and slain far more of them than had been lost on their side, nonetheless they had allowed the vanquished to erect a trophy in victory over themselves. In his shame, Aratus decided to fight a second battle over the trophy, and so, after waiting a day, he again arrayed his army for battle. But when he saw how much more numerous than before the tyrant’s forces had grown, and when he perceived how much more boldly they readied themselves for battle, his daring forsook him and he departed, satisfying himself with a truce that allowed him to collect his dead.
Nevertheless, owing to his experience in diplomacy and political affairs, and on account of his personal influence, Aratus was able to retrieve this failure by bringing Cleonae120 into the Achaean League – and by celebrating the Nemean Games in Cleonae, which he justified on the grounds that this city had a superior ancestral claim to host the games. But the Argives also celebrated the games, and it was then for the very first time that the asylum and safe passage granted to contestants in the games was violated, for the Achaeans regarded anyone who competed in the games at Argos as enemies, and, if they caught them passing through their territories, sold them into slavery – so extreme and so implacable was Aratus in his hatred of tyrants!
29. Not long after this,121 when Aratus learned that Aristippus was looking for an opportunity to attack Cleonae but was restrained by his fear of the forces installed in Corinth, he issued a proclamation for the army to assemble. He ordered his soldiers to take along provisions for several days and then marched to Cenchreae, hoping thereby to incite Aristippus to move against Cleonae, if he believed Aratus was no longer at hand. And this is exactly what happened: Aristippus immediately left Argos at the head of his forces. When it was dark, however, Aratus returned to Corinth, posted guards along the road and led the Achaeans to Cleonae. His men followed him in such good order and with such speed and enthusiasm that not only did they escape discovery on the march but they also managed to enter Cleonae on that same night and put themselves in battle array without Aristippus ever becoming aware of their presence. At daybreak, the gates were thrown open and the trumpet sounded. Uttering war cries, Aratus rushed against the enemy and routed them instantly, carrying on his pursuit in the direction he believed Aristippus was most likely to flee, for the terrain offered many routes of escape. He chased him as far as Mycenae,122 where, as Deinias123 informs us, the tyrant was overtaken and slaughtered by a certain Cretan named Tragiscus. Although more than 1,500 of the enemy fell in battle and although Aratus had gained such a glorious success, in which he did not lose even a single soldier, he nonetheless failed to capture or liberate Argos, because Agias124 and the younger Aristomachus125 entered the city with the king’s troops and seized control of its affairs.
This event did much to silence the calumnies, the mockery and the vulgar jests made at Aratus’ expense by those who, hoping to flatter and win favour with tyrants, told stories about how the general of the Achaeans, just before battle, would have troubles with his bowels, or how drowsiness and vertigo126 would grip him as soon as it was time for the trumpet to sound, or how, after he had arrayed his forces for battle and given the watchword, he would ask his officers and commanders whether his further presence was required – inasmuch as the die was already cast – and would proceed to await the outcome far from the actual combat. Indeed, remarks like these were so prevalent that even philosophers, in their lectures, when they are investigating whether palpitations of the heart and alterations in colour and runny bowels in the presence of danger are signs of cowardice or are instead indications of a faulty physical constitution and a frigid temperament, always cite Aratus as an example of a brave general who nonetheless always suffered these maladies before combat.
30. After Aratus had destroyed Aristippus, he began immediately to plot against Lydiades127 of Megalopolis, who was tyrant in his native city. Now this man possessed a noble nature, which expressed itself in his strong desire to win honour. Unlike most autocrats, then, he had not usurped power because he was dissolute or greedy but rather because, fired in his youth by a desire for glory, he had naively applied to his grand aspirations the false and empty claims made for tyranny, how it is something felicitous and wonderful. Now that he had established himself as tyrant, however, he found himself burdened by the weight of absolute power. Jealous of Aratus’ successes, and fearful of his schemes, Lydiades experienced a change of heart which led him to devise the most noble design, first, to liberate himself from hatred and fear and from soldiers and bodyguards, and, second, to become his city’s benefactor. Consequently, he sent for Aratus, surrendered his office and enrolled his city in the Achaean League.128 For this reason, the Achaeans honoured him greatly and elected him general.129
Urged on by his ambitious nature, Lydiades at once endeavoured to surpass Aratus in glory, and this led him to decree many needless undertakings, including an expedition against the Lacedaemonians.130 When Aratus opposed him, he was viewed by others as acting out of envy, and so Lyd
iades was elected general for a second time,131 even though Aratus was openly hostile to his candidature and worked hard to secure the office for someone else. Now Aratus, as I mentioned before, was general every other year. Lydiades, too, enjoyed popular favour and held the office every other year in alternation with Aratus – until he was elected for the third time.132 It was then that he declared before the Achaeans his open enmity with Aratus and made many accusations against him, after which he found himself rejected and disregarded by a public who believed Lydiades was contending against a man of authentic and unalloyed virtue, whereas his own character was artificial.133 For just as in the fable of Aesop, when the cuckoo asks the little birds why they flee from him, they tell him it is because one day he will be a hawk,134 so in the case of Lydiades, because he had once been a tyrant, he was always stalked by the suspicion that his repudiation of tyranny had been insincere.
31. Aratus won fame for his dealings with the Aetolians at a time when the Achaeans were keen to do battle with them at the edge of Megarian territory135 and Agis,136 the king of the Lacedaemonians, had come with his army and was urging the Achaeans to fight.137 Aratus was opposed to this, and for that reason was widely vilified and greatly mocked and jeered at for effeminacy and cowardice, but he would not abandon what he deemed an advantageous policy138 for fear of appearing dishonourable. Consequently, he allowed the enemy uncontested passage across the Geranian mountains139 and into the Peloponnese. When, however, the Aetolians, during the progress of their march, suddenly captured Pellene,140 Aratus became an altogether different man, nor did he waste time gathering and assembling an army from the whole of Achaea. Instead, he set at once to attack the enemy with the forces at his disposal.
As it was, the Aetolians, flush from their success, had become undisciplined and sure of themselves, and this rendered them vulnerable. For no sooner had they entered the city than the soldiers were dispersed throughout the private houses, where they jostled one another and brawled over the plunder, while their officers and commanders went around seizing the wives and daughters of the Pellenians. Taking off their helmets, they set them on the heads of the women they grabbed, so that no one else would take them, inasmuch as it would be clear from the helmet who was each woman’s master. Now the Aetolians had given themselves up entirely to these activities, when suddenly they learned that Aratus was attacking them. They were stricken with panic – as one would expect of soldiers in such a state of disorder – and even before all of them had become aware of the danger, those Aetolians who were the first to engage the Achaeans, at the city gates and in the suburbs, had already been defeated and put to flight. The very sight of these men fleeing in retreat disheartened the others who were rallying to come to their aid.
32. In the midst of this tumult, the following incident occurred. One of the prisoners was a daughter of Epigethes, a distinguished man, and she was a magnificent woman, beautiful and statuesque. Now she happened to be sitting in the sanctuary of Artemis, because a captain of one of the elite corps had left her there, having seized her and put his triple-crested helmet on her head. All of a sudden, she rushed out to view the uproar taking place in the streets, and as she stood in front of the gates of the sanctuary and gazed down upon the combatants below, still wearing the triple-crested helmet, the citizens saw in her a prodigy of superhuman majesty, whereas the enemy, believing they beheld a divine apparition, were so overcome with terror and astonishment that not a single man continued to defend himself.
The Pellenians themselves, however, tell a different story. According to them, the wooden image of the goddess is ordinarily stored away and left untouched, and on those occasions when the priestess removes it and carries it outside, no one looks directly at it but instead everyone turns away, for the sight of it is terrifying and dangerous for human beings and even trees, if this image is carried past them, become sterile and abort their fruit. During this conflict, they claim, the priestess carried the image out of the sanctuary and by constantly turning it in the faces of the Aetolians, deprived them of their senses and their reason.141
In his Memoirs, however, Aratus mentions nothing like any of this.142 He reports only that he routed the Aetolians, chasing them first into the city but finally driving them out by force, killing 700 of them. This exploit has been celebrated as one of the greatest ever, and the painter Timanthes143 depicted the battle in a painting of the most vivid composition.
33. Even after this victory, however, because so many nations and dynasts were joined by their common hostility against the Achaeans, Aratus immediately endeavoured to create bonds of friendship with the Aetolians, and in this matter he enjoyed the support of Pantaleon,144 their most influential figure. He succeeded not only in making peace but also in establishing an alliance between the two leagues.145
In his zeal to liberate Athens,146 Aratus came in for severe criticism on the part of the Achaeans and suffered damage to his reputation. This was because, although they had concluded a truce with the Macedonians and suspended hostilities, Aratus nonetheless made an attempt to capture the Piraeus.147 He denies this in the Memoirs that he left behind, instead blaming Erginus, his collaborator in the attack on the Acrocorinth.148 He maintains that Erginus attacked the Piraeus on his own initiative, and, when his ladder broke and he was being pursued, kept crying out for Aratus by name, as if Aratus were actually present, and by doing this tricked the enemy and effected his escape. But this defence is unconvincing. For it is unlikely that Erginus, who was merely a private individual and a Syrian, would have conceived of an undertaking this bold unless Aratus were in charge, and unless Aratus had supplied him with the soldiers and the opportunity to make his attack. Aratus’ own actions prove this point, for he attempted to seize the Piraeus not twice or even three times but multiple times, nor, in spite of his failures, did he let it go, but each time, like an unrequited lover, regained his confidence – because he always came so close to success even when his hopes were dashed. Once he actually wrenched his leg as he was fleeing across the Thriasian plain,149 and his treatment for this injury150 required numerous incisions. Consequently, for a long time he conducted his campaigns while being carried in a litter.
34. When Antigonus died151 and was succeeded as king by Demetrius, Aratus’ struggle for Athens increased in intensity, and he regarded the Macedonians with total contempt. And so, after he was defeated in battle at Phylacia by Bithys,152 a general of Demetrius – and there were many stories abroad that claimed he had been captured, and others alleging that he had died – Diogenes,153 who was the commander of the garrison in the Piraeus, sent a letter to Corinth ordering the Achaeans to withdraw from the city, since Aratus was dead. It so happened, however, that when the letter arrived Aratus was actually in Corinth, and Diogenes’ emissaries, after furnishing a good deal of entertainment and laughter, went away. Furthermore, the king himself sent a ship from Macedon: its mission was to bring Aratus to him in chains. And the Athenians leapt beyond the limits of frivolity in their flattery of the Macedonians when they put on garlands at the first report of Aratus’ death. At this Aratus was furious and at once marched out against them, advancing as far as the Academy.154 There he was persuaded to do them no harm.
Thereafter the Athenians recognized his virtue, and when, after the death of Demetrius,155 they decided it was time to win back their freedom, they appealed to Aratus for help. Although at the time another man156 was acting as the general of the Achaeans, while Aratus remained bedridden with a long illness, he nevertheless had himself carried to the city in a litter so he could be of service, and succeeded in persuading Diogenes, the commander of the garrison, to give the Piraeus, Munychia, Salamis and Sunium157 to the Athenians in exchange for 150 talents, to which sum Aratus himself contributed 20 talents. Aegina and Hermione158 then immediately joined the Achaean League, as did the greater part of Arcadia, and because at this time the Macedonians were busied with struggles along their frontiers against neighbouring enemies,159 whereas the Aetolians were Achae
an allies, the power of the Achaean League was greatly magnified.
35. Now Aratus returned to his long-standing pursuit,160 for he could no longer bear the presence of tyranny in nearby Argos, and so he sent representatives to Aristomachus in an attempt to persuade him to lay down his power and attach his city to the Achaean League, indeed, to emulate Lydiades161 by preferring to become the distinguished and honoured general of a great nation instead of remaining hated and in constant danger as the tyrant of a single city. Aristomachus consented, and instructed Aratus to send him 50 talents so that he could settle with the soldiers who served him and dismiss them. This sum was furnished.
At this time,162 however, it was Lydiades who was general, and his ambition led him to try to make it appear to the Achaeans that this agreement was his own achievement. Consequently, he disparaged Aratus to Aristomachus, pointing out that he was a man who was unrelenting in his hatred for tyrants. And when Lydiades had persuaded Aristomachus to entrust the whole matter to himself, it was he who introduced Aristomachus to the Achaeans. But on this occasion the Achaean assembly made absolutely clear its goodwill towards Aratus and its confidence in him, for when he angrily opposed the proposals regarding Aristomachus, the assembly rejected them. Later, when Aratus was persuaded to adopt his previous position and appeared in person before the assembly to argue in support of these proposals, the assembly quickly and enthusiastically ratified them. Argos and Phlius163 were admitted into the league, and in the following year Aristomachus was elected general.164
Aristomachus enjoyed high prestige among the Achaeans, and, wanting to invade Laconia,165 he summoned Aratus to come to him from Athens.166 Aratus instead wrote him a letter in which he discouraged this expedition, for he did not want the Achaeans to find themselves in a struggle against Cleomenes,167 a bold figure who was growing increasingly, and dangerously, powerful. But when Aristomachus set out anyway, Aratus obeyed unconditionally and joined the campaign in person. Still, it was during this invasion that, when Cleomenes came upon them at Pallantium,168 Aratus prevented Aristomachus from engaging him in battle.169 For this he was denounced by Lydiades, when the two of them were contending for the office of general, but the vote was favourable to Aratus and for the twelfth time170 he was elected general.