He degrades philosophy by foisting into it a
theory which is untrue, and which leads to unbounded superstition;
whereas we, by our familiarity with history, and habit of writing it, so
train ourselves by constantly receiving into our minds the memorials of
the great and good, that should anything base or vicious be placed in
our way by the society into which we are necessarily thrown, we reject
it and expel it from our thoughts, by fixing them calmly and severely on
some of these great examples. Of these, I have chosen for you in this
present instance, the life of Timoleon the Corinthian, and that of
Aemilius Paulus, men who both laid their plans with skill, and carried
them out with good fortune, so as to raise a question whether it was
more by good luck or by good sense that they succeeded in their most
important achievements.
I. The state of affairs at Syracuse, before the mission of Timoleon to
Sicily, was this. Dion had driven out the despot[A] Dionysius, but was
immediately afterwards slain by treachery, and those who, under Dion,
had freed the Syracusans, quarrelled amongst themselves. The city, which
received a constant succession of despots, was almost forsaken because
of its many troubles. Of the rest of Sicily, one part was rendered quite
ruined and uninhabited by the wars, and most of the cities were held by
barbarians of various nations, and soldiers who were under no paymaster.
Pages:
580
581
582
583
584
585
586
587
588
589
590
591
592
593
594
595
596
597
598
599
600
601
602
603
604