BOOK IV. (continued 2)

And that even men of reputation and captains fought in single combat, and did so in accordance with premeditated challenges, we have already said in other parts of this discussion. And Diyllus the Athenian says, in the ninth book [250]of his Histories, that Cassander, when returning from Bœotia, after he had buried the king and queen at Ægæ, and with them Cynna the mother of Eurydice, and had paid them all the other honours to which they were entitled, celebrated also a show of single combats, and four of the soldiers entered the arena on that occasion.

43. But Demetrius the Scepsian, in the twelfth book of Trojan Array, says, "that at the court of Antiochus the king, who was surnamed the Great, not only did the friends of the king dance in arms at his entertainments, but even the king himself did so. And when the turn to dance came to Hegesianax the Alexandrian from the Troas, who wrote the Histories, he rose up and said—'Do you wish, O king, to see me dance badly, or would you prefer hearing me recite my own poems very well?' Accordingly, being ordered rather to recite his poems, he sang the praises of the king in such a manner, that he was thought worthy of payment, and of being ranked as one of the king's friends for the time to come. But Duris the Samian, in the seventeenth book of his Histories, says that Polysperchon, though a very old man, danced whenever he was drunk,—a man who was inferior to no one of the Macedonians, either as a commander or in respect of his general reputation: but still that he put on a saffron robe and Sicyonian sandals, and kept on dancing a long time." But Agatharchides the Cnidian, in the eighth book of his History of Asia, relates that the friends of Alexander the son of Philip once gave an entertainment to the king, and gilded all the sweetmeats which were to be served up in the second course. And when they wanted to eat any of them, they took off the gold and threw that away with all the rest which was not good to eat, in order that their friends might be spectators of their sumptuousness, and their servants might become masters of the gold. But they forget that, as Duris also relates, Philip the father of Alexander, when he had a golden cup which was fifty drachmas in weight, always took it to bed with him, and always slept with it at his head. And Seleucus says, "that some of the Thracians at their drinking parties play the game of hanging; and fix a round noose to some high place, exactly beneath which they place a stone which is easily turned round when any one stands upon it; and then they cast lots, and he who [251]draws the lot, holding a sickle in his hand, stands upon the stone, and puts his neck into the halter; and then another person comes and raises the stone, and the man who is suspended, when the stone moves from under him, if he is not quick enough in cutting the rope with his sickle, is killed; and the rest laugh, thinking his death good sport."

43. This is what I had to say, my friends and messmates, O men far the first of all the Greeks, being what I know concerning the banquets of the ancients. But Plato the philosopher, in the first book of his treatise on the Laws of Banquets, speaks in this manner, describing the whole matter with the greatest accuracy—"And you would never see any where in the country or in the cities which are under the dominion of Lacedæmon, any drinking parties, nor any of their accompaniments, which are calculated to excite as much pleasure as possible. Nor is there any one who would not at once impose as heavy a fine as possible on any one whom he met carrying his revely to the degree of drunkenness; and he would not even excuse him if he had the pretext of the Dionysiac festival of Bacchus. As I have known to be the case among you, in the case of men carried in carriages, and at Tarentum among our own colonists, where I have seen the whole city drunk at the time of the Dionysiac festival. But at Lacedæmon nothing of the sort ever takes place."

44. And Cynulcus said on this,—I only wish that you had played at that Thracian game and been hanged yourself. For you have kept us in suspense till we are almost famished, as if we were waiting for the rising star, till which arises, those who have invented this beautiful philosophy say that it is unlawful to taste of any food at all. But I, wretched man that I am, according to the words of Diphilus the comic poet—

And you yourselves also have forgotten those admirable verses of the poet, who said—

And the admirable Aristophanes has said in his Cocalus—

[252] But for me it would be much better to sup as the men are represented as supping in the banquet given by Parmeniscus the Cynic, than to come hither and see everything carried round us as if we all had fevers. And when we laughed at this, one of us said,—But my most excellent fellow, do not grudge giving us the account of that Parmeniscean banquet. And he, raising himself up, said—

according to the words of the sweet Antiphanes, who, in the Woman given in Marriage, said—

45. But Parmeniscus began in this manner—"Parmeniscus to Molpis, greeting,—As I have often in my conversations with you talked about illustrious invitations and entertainments, I am afraid lest you should labour under such a plethora as to blame me; on which account I wish to make you a partaker in the feast which was given by Cebes of Cyzicus. Therefore, having first taken a drink of hyssop, come at the proper hour to the feast. For at the time when the festival of Bacchus was being celebrated at Athens, I went to sup with him; and I found six Cynics sitting at table, and one dog-leader, Carneus the Megarian. But, as the supper was delayed, a discussion arose, what water is the sweetest. And while some were praising the water of Lerna, and some that of Pirene, Carneus, imitating Philoxenus, said—That is the best water which is poured over our hands. So then when the tables were laid we went to supper,

Then again lentils were brought on the table steeped in vinegar; and that child of Jupiter laid his hands on them and said—

And then some one else immediately cried out—

[253] But to me may there be, according to the words of the comic poet Diphilus, which he uses in his Peliades—

A. A flowery supper very sumptuous, A bowl quite full of pulse for every man.

B. That first part is not flowery.

A. After that Let a saperdes dance into the middle, A little strong to smell.

B. That is a flower Which soon will drive the thrushes all away.

And as a great laugh arose, immediately that spoon of the theatre Melissa came in, and that dogfly Nicium, each of them being a courtesan of no small renown: and so they, looking on what was set upon the table and admiring it, laughed. And Nicium said,—Is not there one of all you men so proud of your beards that eats fish? Is it because your ancestor Meleager the Gadarean, in his poem entitled the Graces, said that Homer, being a Syrian by birth, represented the ancients as abstaining from fish in accordance with the custom of his own country, although there was a great abundance of them in the Hellespont? Or have you ever read that one treatise of his which embraces a comparison between peas and lentils? for I see that you have made a great preparation of lentils. And when I see it, I should advise you, according to the rules of Antisthenes the pupil of Socrates, to relieve yourselves of life if you stick to such food as this. And Carneus replied to her—Euxitheus the Pythagorean, O Nicium, as Clearchus the Peripatetic tells us, in the second book of his Lives, said that the souls of all men were bound in the body, and in the life which is on earth, for the sake of punishment; and that God has issued an edict that if they do not remain there until he voluntarily releases them himself, they shall fall into more numerous and more important calamities. On which account all men, being afraid of those threatenings of the gods, fear to depart from life by their own act, but only gladly welcome death when he comes in old age, trusting that that deliverance of the soul then takes place with the full consent of those who have the power to sanction it. And this doctrine we ourselves believe. But I have no objection, replied she, to your selecting one of three evils, if you please. For do you not know, O wretched men, that these heavy kinds of food shut in the dominant [254] principle of the soul, and do not allow wisdom to exist unimpaired in it?

46. Accordingly Theopompus, in the fifth book of his History of the Actions of Philip, says—"For to eat much, and to eat meat, takes away the reasoning powers, and makes the intellect slower, and fills a man with anger, and harshness, and all sorts of folly." And the admirable Xenophon says, that it is sweet to a hungry man to eat barley-cakes and cardamums, and sweet to a thirsty man to draw water out of the river and drink it. But Socrates was often caught walking in the depth of evening up and down before his house; and to those who asked him what he was doing there, he used to reply that he was getting a relish for supper. But we shall be satisfied with whatever portion we receive from you, and we are not angry as if we received less than we ought, like the Hercules in Anticlides. For he says, in the second book of his Returns—"After Hercules had accomplished his labours, when Eurystheus was solemnizing some sacrificial feast, he also was invited. And when the sons of Eurystheus were setting before each one of the company his proper portion, but placing a meaner one before Hercules, Hercules, thinking that he was being treated with indignity, slew three of the sons, Perimedes, Eurybius, and Eurypylus." But we are not so irascible, even though in all other points we are imitators of Hercules.

47.

said Archagathus . . . . to have written; which also

as Sophilus the comic writer says. But it is a Stoic doctrine, that the wise man will do everything well, and will be able to cook even lentils cleverly. On which account Timon the Phliasian said—

As if a lentil could not be boiled in any other way except according to the precepts of Zeno, who said—

And Crates the Theban said—

[255] And Chrysippus, in his treatise on the Beautiful, quoting some apophthegms to us, says—

And the witty Aristophanes said, in his Gerytades—

And, in his Amphiaraus—

And Epicharmus says, in his Dionysi—

And Antiphanes says, in his Women like one another—

And I know that a sister of Ulysses, the most prudent and wisest of men, was called Φακῆ (lentil), the same whom some other writers call Callisto, as Mnaseas of Patra relates, in the third book of his History of the Affairs of Europe, and as Lysimachus also tells us, in the third book of his Returns.

48. And when Plutarch had burst into a violent fit of laughter at this, the Cynic, who could not endure to have his extensive learning on the subject of lentils disregarded, said—"But all you fine gentlemen from Alexandria, O Plutarch, are fed from your childhood on lentils; and your whole city is full of things made of lentils: which are mentioned by Sopater the lentil parodist, in his drama entitled Bacchis, where he speaks as follows:—

For, what is there of which mortals have need, (according to your own idol, Euripides, O you most learned of men,) except two things only,

And in another place that dramatic philosopher says—

[256] And Socrates said that he differed from other men in this, that they lived that they might eat, but he ate that he might live. And Diogenes said to those who accused him of scratching himself,—I wish I could scratch my stomach, so as to rub all poverty and want out of it. And Euripides, in his Suppliant Women, says of Capaneus—

49. Capaneus was not, as it seems, such as the honest Chrysippus describes, in his treatise On those things which are not eligible for their own sakes. For he speaks in this manner:—"Some men apply themselves with such eagerness to the pursuit of money, that it is even related, that a man once, when near his end, swallowed a number of pieces of gold, and so died. Another person sewed a quantity of money into a tunic, and put it on, and then ordered his servants to bury him in that dress, neither burning his body, nor stripping it and laying it out." For these men and all like them may almost be said, as they die, to cry out—

Such great thirst for money was there among the men of that time, concerning which Anacharsis, when some one asked him what the Greeks used money for? said, To count with. But Diogenes, in his treatise on Polity, proposed to establish a law that bits of bone should be taken as coins; and well too has Euripides said—

And Chrysippus, in his elementary work, which is entitled, A Treatise on Good and Evil Things, says that "a certain young man from Ionia came to sojourn at Athens, clothed in a purple robe having golden fringes; and when some one [257]asked of him what countryman he was, he replied that he was rich. And, perhaps, it may be the very same person whom Alexis mentions in his Thebans, where he says—

A. But from what country does this person come?

B. From Richland; and by general consent The natives of that land are counted noble; Nor can one find a noble beggar anywhere.

50. When Cynulcus had said this, and when no one applauded him, he got out of temper; and said,—But since these men, O you master of the feast, are made so uncomfortable by a diarrhœa of words as to feel no hunger; or perhaps, it may be that they laugh at what is said about lentils, (having in their mind what is said by Pherecrates, in his Coriander—

A. Come now, I'll sit me down; and bring me here, O slave, a table, and a cup of wine, That I may eat to flavour what I drink.

B. Here is a cup, a table, and some lentils.

A. No lentils bring to me, I like them not: For if one eats them, they do taint the breath.)—

Since then, on this account, these wise men guard against the lentils, at all events cause some bread to be given to us, with a little plain food; no expensive dishes, but any of those vulgar lentils, if you have them, or what is called lentil soup. And when every one laughed, especially at the idea of the lentil soup, he said, You are very ignorant men, you feasters, never having read any books, which are the only things to instruct those who desire what is good. I mean the books of the Silli of Timon the Pyrrhonian. For he it is who speaks of lentil soup, in the second book of his Silli, writing as follows:—

For though the barley-cakes of Teos are preeminently good, (as also are those from Eretria, as Sopater says, in his Suitors of Bacchis, where he says—

and also, the Lydian sauces; still Timon prefers the lentil soup to both of them put together.

51. To this our admirable entertainer, Laurentius himself, replied, saying,—O you men who drive the dogs, according to [258]the Jocasta of Strattis, the comic poet, who in the play entitled The Phœnician Women, is represented as saying—

And Sopater, too, whom you were mentioning just now, in his Descent to Hell, speaks in these terms:—

And Clearchus the Peripatetic philosopher, in his treatise on Proverbs, gives the saying, "Perfume thrown on lentils;" as a proverb which my grandfather Varro also mentions, he, I mean, who was nicknamed Menippius. And many of the Roman grammarians, who have not had much intercourse with many Greek poets or historians, do not know where it is that Varro got his Iambic from. But you seem to me, O Cynulcus, (for you delight in that name, not using the name by which your mother has called you from your birth,) according to your friend Timon, to be a noble and great man, not knowing that the lentil soup obtained mention from the former Epicharmus, in his Festival, and in his Islands, and also from Antiphanes the comic poet; who, using the diminutive form, has spoken of it in his Wedding, under the following form of expression—

And Magnus immediately taking up the conversation, said,—The most universally excellent Laurentius has well and cleverly met this hungry dog on the subject of the lentil soup. But I, like to the Galatians of the Paphian Sopater, among whom it is a custom whenever they have met with any eminent success in war to sacrifice their prisoners to the gods,—

52. For I will speak freely to them. If you are so fond of [259]contentment, O philosopher, why do you not admire those disciples of Pythagoras, concerning whom Antiphanes says, in his Monuments—

And in the play which is especially entitled the Wallet, he says—

And Alexis says, in his Tarentines—

And proceeding a little farther, he says—

A. Shreds of Pythagoras and subtleties And well-fill'd thoughts are their sufficient food. Their daily meals are these—a simple loaf To every man, and a pure cup of water. And this is all.

B. You speak of prison fare.

A. This is the way that all the wise men live. These are the hardships that they all endure.

B. Where do they live in such a way?

A. Yet they procure Dainties after their sort for one another; Know you not Melanippides and Phaon, Phyromachus and Phanus are companions? And they together sup on each fifth day On one full cotyla of wheaten meal.

And, in his Female Pythagorean, he says—

A. The banquet shall be figs and grapes and cheese, For these the victims are which the strict law Allows Pythagoras' sect to sacrifice.

B. By Jove, as fine a sacrifice as possible.

And a few lines afterwards, he says—

53. But you, my philosophical friends, practise none of these things. But what is far worse than any of them, you talk [260]about what you do not in the least understand; and, as if you were eating in an orderly manner, you take in mouthfuls like the man in that sweet poet Antiphanes; for he says, in his Runaway Slave-catcher—

And in the same way you eat a great deal and eat very fast; when it is in your power, according to the words of the same poet which he uses in the Thombycius, "to buy for a single drachma food well suited to you, such as garlic, cheese, onions, and capers; for all these only cost a drachma." And Aristophanes says, in his Pythagoreans—

And it is not foreign to the present discussion to mention an epigram which was made with reference to you, which Hegesander the Delphian has quoted, in the sixth book of his Commentaries—

54. But Archestratus of Gela, in his treatise on Gastronomy, (which is the only poetical composition which you wise men admire; following Pythagoras in this doctrine alone, namely silence, and doing this only because of your want of words; and besides that, you profess to think well of the Art of Love of Sphodrias the Cynic, and the Amatory Conversation of Protagorides, and the Convivial Dialogues of that beautiful [261]philosopher Persæus, compiled out of the Commentaries of Stilpon and Zeno, in which he inquires, How one may guard against guests at a banquet going to sleep; and, How one ought to use drinking of healths; and, When one ought to introduce beautiful boys and girls into a banquet; and when one ought to treat them well as if they were admired, and when one ought to send them away as disregarding them; and also, concerning various kinds of cookery, and concerning loaves, and other things; and all the over-subtle discussions in which the son of Sophroniscus has indulged concerning kissing. A philosopher who was continually exercising his intellect on such investigations as these, being entrusted, as Hermippus relates, with the citadel of Corinth by Antigonus, got drunk and lost even Corinth itself, being outwitted and defeated by Aratus the Sicyonian; who formerly had argued in his Dialogues against Zeno the philosopher, contending that a wise man would in every respect be a good general; and this excellent pupil of Zeno proved this especial point admirably by his own achievements. For it was a witty saying of Bion the Borysthenite, when he saw a brazen statue of his, on which was the inscription, Persæus of Citium, the Pupil of Zeno, that the man who engraved the inscription had made a blunder, for that it ought to have been, Persæus the servant (οἰκιτίεα not κιτίεα) of Zeno; for he had been born a slave of Zeno, as Nicias of Nicæa relates, in his History of Philosophers; and this is confirmed by Sotion the Alexandrian, in his Successions. And I have met with two books of that admirable work of Persæus, which have this title, "Convivial Dialogues."

55. But Ctesibius the Chalcidian, the friend of Menedemus, as Antigonus the Carystian relates in his Lives, being asked by somebody, What he had ever got by philosophy? replied, The power of getting a supper without contributing to it himself. On which account Timon somewhere or other said to him—

And Ctesibius was a man who made very good guesses, and was a very witty man, and a sayer of amusing things; on which account every one used to invite him to their parties; he was not a man like you, you Cynic, who never sacrificed to the Graces, nor even to the Muses. And therefore Virtue [262]avoiding you, and all like you, sits by Pleasure, as Mnasalces, the Sicyonian says, in his Epigrams—

And Baton the comic writer says in his Homicide—

56. However, Archestratus, as I was saying before this long digression, whom you praise as equal to Homer, because of his praises of the stomach—though your friend Timon says of the stomach,

when speaking of the Sea-dog, writes as follows:—

But this Diodorus was by birth an Aspendian; but desiring to be thought a Pythagorean, he lived after the fashion of you Cynics, letting his hair grow, being dirty, and going barefoot. On which account some people fancied that it was an article of the Pythagorean creed to let the hair grow, which was in reality a fashion introduced by Diodorus, as [263] Hermippus asserts. But Timæus of Tauromenium, in the ninth book of his Histories, writes thus concerning him—"Diodorus, who was by birth an Aspendian, introduced a novel fashion of dress, and pretended to resemble the Pythagoreans. Stratonicus wrote and sent a messenger to him, desiring him who carried the message to seek out a disciple of Pythagoras who kept the portico crowded by his insane vagaries about dress, and his insolence. And Sosicrates, in the third book of the Succession of Philosophers, relates that Diodorus used to wear a long beard, and a worn-out cloak, and to keep his hair long, indulging in these fashions out of a vain ostentation. For that the Pythagoreans before him wore very handsome clothes, and used baths, and perfumes, and hair of the ordinary length.

57. And if you in reality, O philosopher, do admire contentment and moderation in your feasts, why is it that you have come hither without being invited? Did you come as to a house of intemperance, in order to learn to make a catalogue of a cook's instruments? or in order to spout some verses of Cepholion the Athenian? For according to the Cedalion of Sophocles, you are

And he says that you philosophers always have your minds set upon banquets; and that you think it constantly necessary to ask for something to eat or to devour some Cynic food. For there is no need for our picking our phrases. And all this is plain from what Alexis relates in his book which is entitled Linus: and in that he supposes Hercules to have been educated by Linus, and to have been ordered by him to select any one out of a number of books that were at hand to read. And he having taken a cookery-book in his hand, retained it with great eagerness. And Linus then speaks to him in the following terms—

Lin. Come here, and take whatever book you please, And read it carefully, when you have scann'd The titles, and the subject well consider'd. There's Orpheus here, and Hesiod, and plays, Chœrilus, Homer, Epicharmus too, All sorts of works. For thus your choice will show me Your nature, and your favourite pursuit.

Her. I will take this.

Lin. First show me what it is.

Her. A cookery book, as says the title-page.

[264]Lin. You're a philosopher, that's very plain, Who passing over all these useful books, Choose out the art of Simus.

Her. Who is Simus?

Lin. A very clever man; now he has turn'd To tragic studies; and of all the actors Is the most skilful cook, as those who eat His dishes do declare. And of all cooks By far the cleverest actor.

Her. He's a man Of noble appetite; say what you wish; For be of this assured, that I am hungry.

58. When Magnus had run through these quotations, Cynulcus, looking at the philosophers who were present, said—

as Cratinus says, in his Archilochi. For he, forgetting before what a tribunal he was making an exhibition of his fine iambics, read his colabri with his natural greediness, and at the same time with his usual elegance of expression, and

and after all this fine ignorant stupidity, he goes round to people's houses, seeking out where any handsome banquet is prepared, carrying his conduct to a length even beyond the Athenian Chærephon, of whom Alexis says in his Fugitive—

But this man has no hesitation, like the excellent Magnus, even to make excursions quite beyond the boundaries for the sake of his stomach, as Alexis said in his Men who Died together—

[265] And Theopompus, in his Ulysses, says—

59. And when all laughed at this, Ulpian said, Whence do the voluptuaries who talk so loosely get all their elegance of expression? And Cynulcus replied, But, O you well-seasoned little pig, Phrynichus the Cynic poet, in his Ephialtes, mentions "the elegant speaker" in these terms:—

And the word χαριτογλωσσεῖν (to speak so as to please) is used by Æschylus in the Prometheus Vinctus—

And when Ulpian said again, But what, my friends, is meant by cooks' instruments? for these things were mentioned, and were thought worthy of being enumerated in the Arcadian banquets: and also where is the word ἀσώτιον (abode of luxury) to be found? For I know that the adjective ἄσωτος is common enough. And Alexis speaks of a luxurious extravagant man in his Cnidia, saying—

And again, in the Phædrus, he says—

60. And Ctesippus the son of Chabrias carried his extravagance and intemperance to such a height, that he sold even the stones of his father's tomb, on which the Athenians had spent a thousand drachmæ, to furnish means for his luxury. And accordingly Diphilus says in his Men offering Sacrifices to the Dead—

And Timocles, in his Demosatyri, says—

And Menander, in his "Anger," says this of him—

And perhaps it was on account of this extravagant luxury and debauchery that Demosthenes has handed down his name in his treatise on Immunities. But those who have devoured their patrimony ought to be punished in such a way as this, like the Nauclerus of Menander. For Menander says—

61. And Axionicus speaks of a certain Pythodelus as a very intemperate man, in his Etrurian, saying—

And Anaxandrides attacks Polyeuctus, turning him into ridicule in the comedy called Tereus—

A. You shall be call'd a bird.

B. Why so, by Vesta? Is it because I ate my patrimony [267] Like that most fashionable Polyeuctus?

A. No, but because you, though you were a man, Were torn in pieces by the women so.

And Theopompus, in the tenth book of his account of the Exploits of Philip, (a book from which some separate the conclusion, in which there is the mention made of the demagogues at Athens,) says that Eubulus the demagogue was an intemperate man. And he uses the following expressions—"And he so far exceeded the whole nation of the Tarentines in luxury and extravagance, that this latter is only immoderate in its indulgence in feasts; but he spent on his luxury even the revenues of the Athenian people. But Callistratus," he continues, "the son of Callicrates, who was himself also a demagogue, was very intemperate in his pleasures, but still he was very attentive to the business of the state." And speaking of the Tarentines, in the fifty-second book of his Histories, he writes as follows—"The city of the Tarentines sacrifices oxen nearly every month, and celebrates public festivals; and the chief body of private individuals is always occupied in banquets and drinking parties. And the Tarentines hold some such language as this: That other men, because they are fond of personal exertion, and because they devote themselves to actual labour, prepare their subsistence in this way for the future: but that they, by means of their banquets and pleasures, are not about to live, but are living already."

62. But concerning the intemperance and general habits and life of Philip and his companions, Theopompus gives the following account, in the forty-ninth book of his Histories—"When Philip became master of great treasures, he did not spend them quickly, but he threw them away and squandered them; being of all the men that ever lived, not only the worst manager himself, but all those who were about him were so too. For absolutely not one of them had any idea of living properly, or of managing his household with moderation. And of that he himself was the cause, being a most insatiable and extravagant man, doing everything in an offhand manner, whether he was acquiring property or giving it away. For though he was a soldier, he was unable, out of pure laziness, to count what he had coming in and what he spent. And then his companions were men collected together [268]from all quarters; for some of them came from his own country, and some from Thessaly, and some from other parts of Greece, not being selected with any care; but if among either Greeks or barbarians there was any lascivious, or impure, or avaricious man, he had almost every one of the same character assembled in Macedonia, and they were all called friends of Philip. And even if any one came who was not entirely of that disposition, still under the influence of the life and manners of the Macedonians, he very soon became like the rest. For their wars, and military expeditions, and other great expenses, encouraged them to be audacious, and to live, not in an orderly manner, but after a prodigal fashion and like robbers."

63. But Duris, in the seventh book of his History of the Affairs of Macedonia, speaking of Pasicyprus the king of Cyprus, and of his intemperate habits, writes as follows—"Alexander, after the siege of Tyre, dismissed Pnytagoras, and gave him many presents, and among them he gave him the fortified place which he asked for. And that very place Pasicyprus the king had previously sold, in a luxurious freak, for fifty talents, to Pymatus the Cittiæan, selling him both the fortress itself and his own royal authority over it. And when he had received the money he grew old in Amathus." Such also was Æthiops the Corinthian, as Demetrius the Scepsian relates, of whom mention is made by Archilochus; "for he, out of his love of pleasure and intemperance, sailing with Archias to Sicily when he was about to found Syracuse, sold to his messmate for a cake of honey the lot which he had just drawn, and was about to take possession of in Syracuse."

64. But Demetrius carried his extravagance to such a height, he, I mean, who was the descendant of Demetrius Phalereus, according to the account of Hegesander, that he had Aristagora the Corinthian for a mistress, and lived in a most expensive manner. And when the Areopagitæ summoned him before them, and ordered him to live more decorously—"But even now," said he, "I live like a gentleman, for I have a most beautiful mistress, and I do no wrong to any one, and I drink Chian wine, and I have a sufficiency of everything, as my own revenues suffice for all these expenses. And I do not live as some of you do, corrupted by bribes myself, [269]and intriguing with other men's wives." And hereupon he enumerated some who acted in this manner by name. And Antigonus the king, having heard this, made him a thesmothete. And he, being an hipparch at the Panathenæa, erected a seat close to the statues of Mercury for Aristagora, higher than the Mercuries themselves. And when the mysteries were celebrated at Eleusis, he placed a seat for her close to the temple, saying that those who endeavoured to hinder him should repent it.

65. But Phanodemus, and also Philochorus, have related that in former times the judges of the Areopagus used to summon before them and to punish profligate and extravagant men, and those who had no ostensible means of living: and many others have told the same story. At all events, those judges sent for Menedemus and Asclepiades the philosophers when they were young men and poor, and asked them how they managed to look so sleek and comfortable when they spent the whole day idling with philosophers, and had no property. And they replied that some one of the men about the mill had better be sent for. And when he came and said that they came every night to the mill and threshed and ground the corn, and each earned two drachmæ, the judges of the Areopagus marvelled, and presented them with two hundred drachmæ as a reward.

And the citizens of Abdera brought Democritus to trial, on the ground that he had wasted the estate which he had inherited from his father. And when he had read to them his Great World, and his treatise concerning the Things in the Shades below, and had said that he had spent it on these works, he was discharged.

66. But those men who are not so luxurious, as Amphis says—

And according to Diphilus—

Being enemies to their own estate, as Satyrus in his treatise on Characters said, running through their land, tearing to pieces and plundering their own houses, selling their own property as if it were the spoils of the enemy, considering not what has been spent, but what will be spent, and not [270]what will remain afterwards, but what will not remain, having spent beforehand in their youth the money which ought to have carried them safely through old age, rejoicing in companionship, not in companions, and in their wine, and not in those who drink it with them. But Agatharchides the Corinthian, in the twenty-eighth book of his Commentary on the Affairs of Europe, says "that Gnosippus, who was a very luxurious and extravagant man in Sparta, was forbidden by the Ephori to hold intercourse with the young men." And among the Romans, it is related, according to the statement of Posidonius, in the forty-ninth book of his Histories, that there was a man named Apicius who went beyond all other men in intemperance. This is that Apicius who was the cause of banishment to Rutilius, who wrote the history of the Romans in the Greek language. But concerning Apicius, the man, I mean, who is so notorious for his extravagant luxury, we have already spoken in our first book.

67. But Diogenes the Babylonian, in his treatise on Nobility of Birth, says "that the son of Phocion, whose name was Phocus, was such a man that there was not one Athenian who did not hate him. And whenever any one met him they said to him, 'O you man who are a disgrace to your family!' For he had expended all his patrimony on intemperance; and after this he became a flatterer of the prefect of Munychia; on which account he was again attacked and reproached by every one. And once, when a voluntary contribution was being made, he came forward and said, before the whole assembly, 'I, too, contribute my share.' And the Athenians all with one accord cried out, 'Yes, to profligacy.' And Phocus was a man very fond of drinking hard; and accordingly, when he had conquered with horses at the Panathenæa, and when Sopater entertained his companions at a banquet, the preparation was very splendid, and foot-tubs full of wine and spices were set before all who came in. And his father, seeing this, called Phocus, and said, 'Will you not stop your companion from polluting your victory in this fashion?'"

And I know too of many other intemperate and extravagant, men, whom I leave you to find out, with the exception of Callias the son of Hipponicus, whom even the tutors of little children have heard of. But concerning the others whom I have been a little hasty in mentioning, if you have [271]anything to say, I have the doors of my ears open. So speak; for I want to know something.

Besides Magnus used the words ἐπεσθίειν and ἐπιφαγεῖν. And Æmilianus said, you have the word ἀσώτιον used by Strattis, in his Chrysippus, where he says—

68. But the instruments used by a cook are enumerated by Anaxippus, in his Harp-player, as follows:—

But Aristophanes calls the dish which we commonly call χύτρα, a κακκάβη, in his play of the Women occupying the Tents; saying—

And, in his Daitaleis, he says—

And Antiphanes, in his Friend to the Thebans, says—

But Antiphanes calls a dish βατάνιον, in his Euthydicus—

And Alexis, in his Asclepioclides, says—

But Antiphanes spells the word with a π; writing it πατάνιον, in his Wedding—

And Philetærus says, in his Œnopion—

[272] And, in a subsequent passage, he says—

And Antiphanes, in his Parasite, said this—

A. Another bulky man, large as a table, And nobly born, will come besides this man.

B. Whom do you mean?

A. A new Carystian, Born of the earth and warm.

B. Tell me his name, Or else begone.

A. I mean a κάκκαβος, But you, perhaps, would call it merely dish.

B. What do I care what name you give to it? Whether men like to call it κάκκαβος Or σίττυβος, I know the thing you mean.

But Eubulus, in his Ionian, uses both forms, both βατάνιον and πατάνιον, where he says—

69. But Alexis made a catalogue of seasonings, in his play called the Caldron, saying—

A. Let me have no excuses, no "I have not."

B. But tell me what you want—I will take all.

A. Quite right. Go first of all and take some sesame.

B. There's some within.

A. Take some grapes dried and cut, Some fennel, anise, assafœtida, Mustard and cabbage, some dry coriander, Sumach and cummin, capers, marjoram, Leeks, garlic, thyme, sage, seseli, Some new-made wine boil'd down, some rue and spinach.

And, in his Woman working all Night, or the Spinners, he introduces a cook as saying—

[273] And, in his Wicked Woman, he says—

And Teleclides used the word ἐπεσθίειν, in his Prytanes, in this manner:—

And Eupolis used the word ἐπιφαγεῖν in his Taxiarchs—

And Aristophanes, in his Plutus, says—

70. But there was another class of men somewhat different from the cooks, called τραπεζοποιοὶ, setters out of tables. But what their office was is plainly stated by Antiphanes, in his Sojourner—

And it is worth inquiring whether the τραπεζοκόμος is the same person as the τραπεζοποιός. For king Juba, in his treatise on Similitudes, says that the τραπεζοκόμος is the same person who is called by the Romans structor, quoting from the play of Alexander, which is entitled Potation—

But they called him τραπεζοποιὸς who took care of the tables, and of everything else which required order and good management. Philemon says, in his "The Uninvited Guest"—

They also used the word ἐπιτραπεζώματα, meaning by this the food which was placed upon the table. Plato says, in the Menelaus—

[274] They also called the man who bought the meat, the Ἀγοραστὴς, but now they call him ὀψωνάτωρ, an officer whom Xenophon mentions, in the second[274:1] book of the Memorabilia, speaking thus:—"Could we expect to get a steward and buyer of such a character for nothing?" But the same word is used in a more general sense by Menander, in his Phanius—

And Aristophanes calls him ὀψώνης, in his Tagenistæ, saying—

Cratinus, too, uses the verb παροψωνέω, in his Cleobulinæ, where he says

And Alexis uses the verb παραγοράζω, in the same sense, (to buy dainty side-dishes,) in his Dropidas.

There are people called εἰλέατροι; they are those, according to Pamphilus, who invite people to the king's table, having their name derived from ἐλεός (a kitchen table). But Artemidorus calls them δειπνοκλήτορες.

71. They also used to call the tasters (according to the statement of the same Pamphilus) ἐδέατροι, because they ate of dishes before the king with a view to his safety. But now, the person called ἐδέατρος is the superintendent of the whole management of the feast; and that office is very eminent and honourable. Accordingly, Chares, in the third book of his Histories, says that Ptolemy surnamed Soter, was originally appointed as the taster (ἐδέατρος) of Alexander. And it appears that the person whom the Romans now call the taster was at that time called by the Greeks προτένθης. As Aristophanes, in the earlier of his plays, called the Clouds, says—

A. Why then do not the magistrates receive The prytanea on the new-moon's day, But on the day before?

B. They seem to me To act like tasters (πρότενθαι) who in hopes to take The prytanea with all possible speed, Taste them on this account all on one day.

And Pherecrates mentions them, in his Countrymen—

[275] And Philyllus says, in his Hercules—

And I find also a decree passed, while Cephisodorus was archer at Athens, in which the tasters are mentioned as a regular guild or college; just like the men who are called parasites. For the decree runs thus:—"Phocus proposed that, in order that the council might celebrate the Apaturia with the rest of the Athenians, in accordance with the national customs, that it should be decreed by the council, that the councillors should be released for the day, as also the other councils have been dismissed, for a holiday of five days from the day which the tasters (ὁι πρότενθαι) celebrate." And that the ancients had people who were called "tasters" Xenophon tells us in his treatise which is entitled Hiero or the Tyrant, where he says, "The tyrant lives, never trusting either meat or drink, but they order those who minister to them to taste them first, in the place of offering libations to the gods; because they feel a distrust lest they should eat or drink something pernicious." And Anaxilas, in his Calypso, says—

72. And the ancients used to call those who made sweetmeats and cheesecakes δημιουργοί. Menander, in his False Hercules, blaming the cooks as attempting what they ought not, says—

[276] But that all these different duties were formerly separated, when the demiurgi, as they called them, attended to the sweetmeats, and the cooks to the regular cookery, Antiphanes shows us plainly enough, in his Chrysis, where he says—

And Menander, in his Demiurgus, says—

A. What now is this, my boy, for you, by Jove, Have come in a most business-like set fashion.

B. Yes, for we are inventing fine inventions, And all the night long we've been hard at work, And even now we have much left unfinish'd.

But Seleucus says that Panyasis is the earliest author who speaks of sweetmeats, in the book in which he speaks of the human sacrifices practised by the Egyptians, saying that many sorts of pastry and sweetmeats are put on the table, and many kinds of young birds. And before his time Stesichorus, or Ibycus, in the poem entitled the Contest, wrote as follows:—

But that this poem is the work of Stesichorus, Simonides the poet is a most undeniable witness; who, when speaking of Meleager, says—

For Stesichorus had sung so in the previously quoted poem, namely, the Contests—

73. But I am not ignorant of what Apollodorus the Athenian has said of the Delians, that they supplied all who came to their sacred ceremonies with the assistance of cooks and table-setters; and from their actions they were named Magis and Gongylis;—since, says Aristophanes, they furnished them at these banquets with round barley-cakes, (γόγγυλαι μάζαι,) as if they had been women. And even to this very day some of them are called Chœraci, and Amni, and Artysilai, and [277] Sesami, and Artusitragi, and Neocori, and Icthyboli. And of the women, some are called Cuminanthæ. But all are called by one common name Eleodytæ, because they attend on the kitchen tables, and minister at the festivals. For ἔλεος means a kitchen or cook's table. Homer says—

On which account, also, Polycraton the son of Crithon, a Rhenæan, when instituting a prosecution against them, did not call them Delians, but inscribed his action "against the whole body of the Eleodytæ." And the law of the Amphictyons commands the Eleodytæ to provide water; meaning by Eleodytæ the table-setters, and all attendants of that sort. But Criton the comic poet, in his Busy-body, calls the Delians the parasites of the god, in these lines—

74. But Achæus the Eretrian, in his Alcmæon, a satyric drama, calls the Delphians makers of sauces, in these words:—

Inasmuch, forsooth, as they cut up the victims, it is plain that they cooked and seasoned them; and, having a regard to these facts, Aristophanes also said—

And, in the lines immediately following the former passage, Achæus says—

For the Satyrs ridicule the Delphians, as devoting all their time and attention to festivals and sacrifices. And Semus says, in the fourth book of his Deliad, "The Delians used to provide the Delphians who came to Delos with salt, and vinegar, and oil, and wood, and counterpanes." And Aristotle, or [278]Theophrastus, in his Commentaries, speaking of the Magnesians who dwell on the banks of the river Mæander, as colonists of the Delphians, represents them as showing the same attentions to all foreigners who came to them; speaking as follows:—"The Magnesians who dwell on the banks of the river Mæander, being sacred to the god, and colonists of the Delphians, give shelter to all who come among them, and salt, and oil, and vinegar, and lights, and beds, and coverlets, and tables."

But Demetrius the Scepsian, in the sixteenth book of his Trojan Array, says that in Laconia, on the road which is called the Hyacinthine road, statues of the heroes Daiton and Ceraon were erected by those who made barley-cakes at the Phiditia, and by the attendants who mixed the wine. And the same writer reports also, in the twenty-fourth book of the same work, that Daitas the hero is worshipped among the Trojans, who is also mentioned by Mimnermus. And Hegesander the Delphian says that Jupiter is worshipped in Cyprus, under the names of Eilapinastes or the Feaster, and of Splanchnotomus or the Carver of Entrails.

75. And while much such conversation as this was proceeding, on a sudden a noise was heard from some one of the neighbouring places, as from an hydraulic organ, very pleasant and agreeable, so that we all turned round towards it, being charmed by the melody; and Ulpian looking towards the musical Alcides said, Do you hear, O you most musical of men, this beautiful harmony which has made us turn round, being enchanted by the music? And is it not the case, as it is said to be among you Alexandrians, that constant music of an unaccompanied flute causes pain rather than any musical pleasure to those who hear it? And Alcides said,—But this engine, the hydraulic organ, whether you choose to class it among stringed instruments or among wind instruments, is the invention of a fellow-countryman of ours, an Alexandrian, a barber by trade; and his name is Ctesibius. And Aristocles reports this, in his book on Choruses, saying—"The question is asked, whether the hydraulic organ is a stringed instrument or a wind instrument." Now Aristoxenus did not feel sure on this point; but it is said, that Plato showed a sort of notion of the invention, making a nightly clock like the hydraulic organ; being very like an enormous hour-glass. And, indeed, the hydraulic organ does seem to be [279]a kind of hour-glass. It cannot, therefore, be considered a stringed instrument, and one to be played by touching. But perhaps it may be called a wind instrument, because the organ is inflated by the water; for the pipes are plunged down into the water, and when the water is agitated by a youth, as the axles penetrate through the whole organ, the pipes are inflated, and emit a gentle and agreeable sound. And this organ is like a round altar; and they say that it was invented by Ctesibius the barber, who dwelt at that time in the territory of Aspendor, in the reign of the second Ptolemy surnamed Euergetes; and they say that he was a very eminent man; they say also, that he learnt a good deal from his wife Thais. But Trypho, in the third book of his treatise on Names, (and it is a dissertation on Flutes and Organs,) says Ctesibius the mechanic wrote a book about the hydraulis; but I am not sure that he is not mistaken as to the name. At all events, Aristoxenus prefers stringed instruments which are played upon by the touch to wind instruments; saying that wind instruments are very easy; for that many people, without having been taught, can play on the flute and pipe, as for instance, shepherds.

76. And this is what I have got to say to you about the hydraulic organ, O Ulpian. For the Phœnicians used a kind of flute called the gingras, according to the account of Xenophon, about a span in length, and of a very shrill and mournful tone. And the same instrument is used also by the Carians in their wailings, unless, indeed, when he says Phœnicia he means Caria; and indeed you may find the name used so in Corinna and in Bacchylides. And these flutes are called gingri by the Phœnicians from the lamentations for Adonis; for you Phœnicians called Adonis Gingres, as Democlides tells us. And Antiphanes mentions the gingri flutes, in his Physician; and Menander does so too, in his Carina; and Amphis, in his Dithyrambus, saying—

A. And I have got that admirable gingras.

B. What is the gingras?

A. 'Tis a new invention Of our countryman, which never yet Has been exhibited in any theatre, But is a luxury of Athenian banquets.

B. Why then not introduce it to this people?

A. Because I think that I shall draw by lot Some most ambitious tribe; for well I know They would disturb all things with their applause.

[280] And Axionicus says, in his Phileuripides—

77. But how much better, O most sagacious Ulpian, is this hydraulic organ, than the instrument which is called nabla; which Sopater the parodist, in his drama entitled Pylæ, says is also an invention of the Phœnicians, using the following expressions—

And in the Slave of Mystacus we find—

And Philemon says, in his Adulterer—

A. There should, O Parmeno, be here among us A nablas or a female flute-player.

B. What is a nablas?

A. Don't you know? you idiot!

B. Indeed I don't.

A. What, do not know a nablas? You know no good; perhaps a sambucistria You ne'er have heard of either?

There is also an instrument called the triangle, which Juba mentions in the fourth book of his Theatrical History, and says it is an invention of the Syrians; as is also the sambuca, which is called λυροφοίνιξ. But this instrument Neanthes the Cyzicene, in the first book of his Seasons, says is an invention of Ibycus the Rhegian poet; as also the lyre called barbitos was of Anacreon. But since you are running all us Alexandrians down as unmusical, and keep mentioning the monaulos as our only national instrument, listen now to what I can tell you offhand about that.

78. For Juba, in the before-mentioned treatise, says that the Egyptians call the monaulos an invention of Osiris, just as they say that kind of plagiaulos is, which is called photinx, and that, too, I will presently show you is mentioned by a very illustrious author; for the photinx is the same as the flute, which is a national instrument. But Sophocles, in his Thamyras, speaks of the monaulos, saying—

And Araros, in his Birth of Pan, says—

And Anaxandrides, in his Treasure, says—

And in his Bottle-bearer he says—

A. What have you done, you Syrian, with your monaulos?

B. What monaulos?

A. The reed.

And Sopater, in his Bacchis, says—

But Protagorides of Cyzicus, in the second book of his treatise on the Assemblies in Honour of Daphne, says, "He touched every kind of instrument, one after another, castanets, the weak-sounding pandurus, but he drew the sweetest harmony from the sweet monaulos. And Posidonius the Stoic philosopher, in the third book of his Histories, speaking of the war of the Apameans against the Larissæans, writes as follows—"Having taken short daggers sticking in their waists, and small lances covered with rust and dirt, and having put veils and curtains over their heads which produce a shade but do not hinder the wind from getting to their necks, dragging on asses laden with wine and every sort of meat, by the side of which were packed little photinges and little monauli, instruments of revelry, not of war." But I am not ignorant that Amerias the Macedonian, in his Dialects, says, that the monaulos is called tityrinus. So here you have, O excellent Ulpian, a man who mentions the photinx. But that the monaulos was the same instrument which is now called calamaules, or reedfife, is clearly shown by Hedylus, in his Epigrams, where he says—

As, therefore, they now call those who play on a pipe of reeds (κάλαμοι) calamaules, so also they call them now rapaules, according to the statement of Amerias the Macedonian, in his dialects.

79. But I wish you to know, my most excellent Ulpian, that a more musical and accomplished people than the Alexandrians is not mentioned. And I do not speak only of playing on the harp, with which even the poorest people among us, and those who do not make a profession of it, and who are utterly ignorant of every other kind of learning, are so familiarized that they can in a moment detect any error which has been made in striking the strings,—but especially are they skilful with the flute; and not only in those which are called girls' flutes and boys' flutes, but also in men's flutes, which are called perfect and superperfect; and also in those which are called harp-flutes and finger-flutes. For the flutes called elymi, which Sophocles mentions in his Niobe and in his Drummers, we do not understand to be anything but the common Phrygian flute. And these, too, the Alexandrians are very skilful in. They are acquainted also with the flute with two holes, and also with the intermediate flute, and with those which are called hypotreti, or bored underneath. And Callias also speaks of the flute called elymi, in his Pedetæ. But Juba says that they are an invention of the Phrygians, and that they were also called scytaliæ, from their resemblance in thickness to the scytale. And Cratinus the younger says that the Cyprians also use them, in his Theramenes. We know, too, of some which are called half-bored, of which Anacreon says—

And these flutes are smaller than the perfect flutes. At all events, Æschylus says, speaking metaphorically, in his Ixion—

And these half-bored flutes are the same as those which are called boys' flutes, which they use at banquets, not being fit [283]for the games and public shows; on which account Anacreon called them tender.

80. I am acquainted, too, with other kinds of flutes, the tragic flute, and the lysiodic[283:1] flute, and the harplike flute; all which are mentioned by Ephorus, in his Inventions, and by Euphranor the Pythagorean, in his treatise on Flutes, and also by Alexon, who wrote another treatise on Flutes. But the flute made of reeds is called tityrinus among the Dorians in Italy, as Artemidorus the Aristophanian tells us, in the second book of his History of Doris. And the flute which is called magadis, which is also named palæo-magadis, sends forth a sharp and a deep note at the same time, as Anaxandrides says in his Armed Fighter—

And the flutes called lotus flutes are the same which are called photinges by the Alexandrians; and they are made of the plant called the lotus; and this is a wood which grows in Libya. But Juba says that the flute which is made out of the leg bones of the kid is an invention of the Thebans; and Tryphon says that those flutes also which are called elephantine flutes were first bored among the Phœnicians. I know, too, that the magadis is a stringed instrument, as is the harp, the lyre, and the barbitos. But Euphorion the epic poet says in his book on the Isthmian Games—"Those men who are now called players on the nablas, and on the pandurus, and on the sambuca, do not use any new instrument, for the baromus and the barbitos (both of which are mentioned by Sappho and Anacreon), and the magadis, and the triangle, and the sambuca are all ancient instruments. At all events, a statue of one of the Muses was erected in Mitylene by Lesbothemis, holding a sambuca in her hand." But Aristoxenus calls the following foreign instruments—phœnices, and pectides, and magadides, and sambucæ, and triangles, and clepsiambi, and scindapsi, and the instrument called the enneachord or nine-stringed instrument. But Plato, in the third book of his Polity, states—"'We shall not, then,' said I, 'have much need of many strings or of much harmony in our songs and melodies.' 'I think not,' said he. 'But we [284]shall have triangles, and pectides, and all sorts of instruments which have many strings and are very harmonious.'"

81. But the scindapsus is an instrument of four strings, as Matron the parodist says in the following lines—

And Theopompus the Colophonian likewise mentions it, the Epic poet, I mean, in his poem entitled the Chariot—

Anaxilas, too, in his Lyre Maker, says—

But Sopater the parodist, in his poem entitled "The Initiated," says that the pectis is an instrument with two strings, saying—

The instrument called pariambis is mentioned by Epicharmus, in his Periallus, in this way—

Now it was Alexander of Cythera, according to the account given by Juba, who completed the psaltery with its full number of strings. And he, when he had grown old in the city of the Ephesians, suspended this instrument in the temple of Diana, as being the most skilful invention he had made with reference to his art. Juba mentions also the lyrophœnix and the Epigonius, which, though now it is transformed into the upright psaltery, still preserves the name of the man who was the first to use it. But Epigonius was by birth an Ambraciot, but he was subsequently made a citizen of Sicyon. And he was a man of great skill in music, so that he played the lyre with his bare hand without a plectrum. For the Alexandrians have great experience and skill in all the above-named instruments and kinds of flutes. And whichever of them you wish me to try, I will exhibit my own skill before you, though there are many others in my country more musical and skilful than I am.

[285] 82. But Alexander, my fellow-citizen, and he has only lately died; having given a public exhibition of his skill on the instrument called the triangle, made all the Romans so music-mad that even now most people recollect the way in which he used to play. And Sophocles speaks of this triangle in his Mysians, saying—

And in his Thamyras he also mentions it. But Aristophanes, in his Daitaleis, and Theopompus, in his Penelope, likewise speak of it. And Eupolis, in his Baptæ, says—

And the instrument called the pandurus is mentioned, as has been said before, by Euphorion, and by Protagorides, in the second book of his treatise on the Assemblies in honour of Daphne. But Pythagoras, who wrote a book on the Red Sea, says that the Troglodytæ make the panduri out of the daphne which grows on the seashore.

But horns and trumpets are the invention of the Etrurians. But Metrodorus the Chian, in his history of the Affairs of Troy, says that Marsyas invented the pipe and flute at Celænæ, when all his predecessors had played on a single reed. But Euphorion the epic poet, in his treatise on the Modulation of Songs, says that Mercury invented the pipe which consists of one single reed; but that some say that Seuthes and Ronaces the Medes did so; and that Sileuus invented the pipe which is made of many reeds, and that Marsyas invented that one which is joined together with wax.

83. This then, O my word-hunting Ulpian, is what you may learn from us Alexandrians, who are very fond of the music of the monaulos. For you do not know that Menecles the Barcæan compiler, and also that Andron, in his Chronicles, him of Alexandria I mean, assert that it is the Alexandrians who instructed all the Greeks and the barbarians, when the former encyclic mode of education began to fail, on account of the incessant commotions which took place in the times of the successors of Alexander. There was subsequently a regeneration of all sorts of learning in the time of Ptolemy the seventh king of Egypt, the one who was properly called by the [286]Alexandrians Cacergetes; for he having murdered many of the Alexandrians, and banished no small number of those who had grown up to manhood with his brother, filled all the islands and cities with men learned in grammar, and philosophy, and geometry, with musicians, and painters, and schoolmasters, and physicians, and men of all kinds of trades and professions; who, being driven by poverty to teach what they knew, produced a great number of celebrated pupils.

84. But music was a favourite amusement of all the Greeks of old time; on which account also skill in playing the flute was much aimed at. Accordingly, Chamæleon of Heraclia, in his book entitled Protrepticus, says that the Lacedæmonians and Thebans all learned to play on the flute, and the inhabitants of Heraclea in Pontus devoted themselves to the same study down to his own time. And that so did the most illustrious of the Athenians, Callias the son of Hipponicus, and Critias the son of Callæschrus. But Duris, in his treatise on Euripides and Sophocles, says that Alcibiades learnt music, not of any ordinary master, but of Pronomus, who had the very highest reputation in that line. And Aristoxenus says that Epaminondas the Theban learnt to play the flute of Olympiodorus and Orthagoras. And likewise, many of the Pythagoreans practised the art of flute-playing, as Euphranor, and Archytas, and Philolaus, and many others. But Euphranor has also left behind an essay on Flutes, and so too has Archytas. And Aristophanes shows us, in his Daitaleis, the great eagerness with which men applied themselves to this study, when he says—

And Phrynichus, in his Ephialtes, says—

And Epicharmus, in his Muses, says that Minerva played a martial strain to the Dioscuri. And Ion, in his Phœnician, or Cæneus, calls the flute a cock, speaking thus:—

And also, in his Garrison, he calls the pipe the Idæan cock, using the following expression:—

[287] And, in the Second Phœnix, the same Ion writes—

Where he means Phrygian rhythm; and he calls the Phrygian flute deep-toned. For it is deep; on which account they also add a horn to it, having a similarity to the bell mouth of trumpets.

So now this book may be ended, my friend Timocrates; as it is quite long enough.

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