usurping all the dignities and wealth of the state; the other, obscure, despised, and trod under foot, bearing the yoke of a shameful servitude, and rather slaves than citizens. He concluded with saying, that the only remedy for so many evils was to elect persons from among the people, de voted to their interests, and who, not being capable of rendering themselves formidable by their riches and authority, would be solely employed for the public good, and apply themselves in earnest to the re-establishment of the liberty of Saracuse. This discourse was listened to with infinite pleasure, as all speeches are which flatter the natural propensity of inferiors to complain of the government, and was followed with the universal applause of the people, who always give themselves up blindly to those who know how to deceive them under the specious pretext of serving their interest. All the magistrates were deposed upon the spot, and others, at the head of whom was Dionysius, were substituted in their stead. This was only the first step to the tyranny, at which he did not stop. The success of his undertaking inspired him with new courage and confidence. He had also in view the displacing of the generals of the army, and to have their power transferred to himself. The design was bold and dangerous, and he applied himself to it with address. Before he attacked them openly, he planted his batteries against them at a distance; calumniating them by his emissaries to the people, and sparing no pains to render them suspected. He caused it to be whispered among the populace, that those commanders held secret intelligence with the enemy; that disguised couriers were frequently seen passing and re-passing; and that it was not to be doubted but some conspiracy was on foot. He affected on his side not to see those leaders, nor to open himself to them at all upon the affairs of the public. He communicated none of his designs to them; as if he was apprehensive of rendering himself suspected by having any intercourse or correspondence with them. Persons of sense and discernment were not at a loss to discover the tendency of these undermining arts; nor were they silent upon the occasion: but the common people, prejudiced in his favour, incessantly applauded and admired his zeal, and looked upon him as the sole protector and asserter of their rights and liberties. Another scheme, which he set at work with his usual address, was of very great service to him, and greatly promoted his designs. There was a great number of banished persons dispersed throughout Sicily, whom the faction of the nobility of Syracuse had expelled from the city at different times, and upon different pretences. He knew what an addition of strength so numerous a body of citizens would be to him, whom gratitude to a benefactor, and resentment against those who had occasioned their banishment, the hope of retrieving their affairs, and of enriching themselves out of the spoils of his enemies, rendered most proper for the execution of his designs, and attached firmly to his person and interest. He endeavoured therefore to obtain their recall. It was given out, that it was necessary to raise a numerous body of troops to oppose the progress of the Carthaginians; and the people were in great trouble on account of the expense to which the new levies would amount. Dionysius took advantage of this favourable conjuncture, and the disposition of the public. He represented, that it was ridiculous to bring foreign troops at a great expense from Italy and Peloponnesus, while they might supply themselves with excellent soldiers, without being at any charge at all: that there were numbers of Syracusans in every part of Sicily, who, notwithstanding the ill treatment they had received, had always retained the hearts of citizens under the name and condition of exiles; that they preserved a tender affection and inviolable fidelity for their country, and had chose to wander about Sicily without support or settlement, rather than take part with the armies of the enemy, notwithstanding the advantageous offers to induce them to do so. This discourse of Dionysius had all the effect upon the people he could have wished. His colleagues, who had perceived plainly what he had in view, were afraid to contradict aim; rightly judging, that their opposition would not only prove in effectual, but incense the people against them, and even augment the reputa tion of Dionysius, to whom it would leave the honour of recalling the exiles. Their return was therefore decreed and they accordingly all came to Syracuse without losing time. A deputation from Gela, a city dependent on Syracuse, arrived about the same tiine, to demand that the garrison should be reinforced. Dionysius im mediately marched thither with two thousand foot, and four hundred horse He found the city in great commotion, and divided into two factions; one com. posed of the people, and the other of the rich and powerful. The latter having been tried in form, were condemned by the assembly to die, and to have their estates confiscated for the use of the public. This confiscation was applied to pay off the arrears, which had long been due to the former garrisons, commanded by Dexippus the Lacedæmonian; and Dionysius promised the troops which he brought with him to Syracuse, to double the pay they were to receive from the city. This was attaching so many new creatures to himself. The inhabitants of Gela treated him with the highest marks of honour, and sent deputies to Syracuse, to return their thanks for the important service that city had done them in sending Dionysius thither. Having endeavoured in vain to bring Dexippus into his measures, he returned with his troops to Syracuse, after having promised the inhabitants of Gela, who used all means in their power to keep him among them, that he would soon return with more considerable aid. He arrived at Syracuse just as the people were coming out of the theatre, who ran in throngs about him, inquiring with earnestness what he had heard of the Carthaginians. He answered with a sad and dejected air, that the city nourished far more dangerous and formidable enemies in her bosom ; that while Carthage was making extraordinary preparations for the invasion of Syracuse, those who were in command, instead of rousing the zeal and attention of the citizens, and setting every thing at work against the approach of so potent an enemy, lulled them with trivial amusements and idle shows, and suffered the troops to want necessaries; converting their pay to their private uses in a fraudu lent manner, destructive to the public affairs; that he had always sufficiently comprehended the cause of such conduct; that, however, it was not now upon mere conjecture, but upon too evident proof, his complaints were founded that Imilcar, the general of the Carthaginians, had sent an officer to him, under the pretext of treating about the ransom of prisoners, but in reality to prevail on him not to be too strict in examining into the conduct of his colleagues; and that if he would not enter into the measures of Carthage, he at least would not oppose them; that for his part, he came to resign his command, and to abdicate his dignity, that he might leave no room for injurious suspicions of his acting in concert, and holding intelligence with traitors who sold the commonwealth. This discourse being rumoured among the troops, and about the city, occasioned great disquietude and alarm. The next day the assembly was summoned, and Dionysius renewed his complaints against the generals, which were received with universal applause. Some of the assembly cried out, that it was necessary to appoint him generalissimo, with unlimited power: and that it would be too late for so salutary a recourse, when the enemy was at the gates of Syracuse; that the importance of the war which threatened them, required such a leader; that it was in the same manner that Gelon was formerly elected generalissimo, and defeated the Carthaginian army at Himera, which consisted of three hundred thousand men; that as for the accusation alleged against the traitors, it might be deferred to another day; but that the present affair would admit no delay. Nor was it in fact deferred; for the people, who, when once prejudiced, run headlong after their opinion without examining any thing, immediately elected Dionysius generalissimo with unlimited power. In the same assembly he caused it to be decreed, that the soldiers' pay should be doubled; insinuating that the state would be amply reimbursed by the conquests consequent to that advance. This being done, and the assembly dismissed, the Syra cusans, upon cool reflection on what had passed, began to be in some consternation, as if it had not been the effect of their own choice; and comprehended, though too late, that from the desire of preserving their liberty, they had given themselves up to a master. Dionysius rightly judged the importance of taking his measures before the people repented what they had done. There remained but one step more to the tyranny, which was, to have a body of guards assigned him; and that he accomplished in a most artful and politic manner. He proposed, that all the citizens under forty years of age, and capable of bearing arms, should march with provisions for thirty days to the city of Leontium. The Syracusans were at that time in possession of the place, and had a garrison in it. It was full of fugitives and foreign soldiers, who were very fit persons for the execution of his designs. He justly suspected, that the greatest part of the Syracusans would not follow him. He set out, however, and encamped in the night upon the plains near the city. It was not long before a great noise was heard throughout the camp. This tumult was raised by persons stationed for that purpose by Dionysius. He pretended, that ambuscades had been laid with design to assassinate him, and in great trouble and alarm retired for refuge into the citadel of Leontium, where he passed the rest of the night, after having caused a great number of fires to be lighted, and had drawn off such of the troops as he most confided in. At break of day the people assembled in a body, to whom, still expressing great apprehension, he explained the danger he had been in, and demanded permission to choose himself a guard of six hundred men for the security of his person. Pisistratus had set him the example long before, and had used the same stratagem when he made himself tyrant of Athens. His demand seemed very reasonable, and was accordingly complied with. He chose a thousand men for his guard upon the spot, armed them completely, equipped them magnificently, and made them great promises for their encouragement. He also attached the foreign soldiers to his interest in a peculiar manner, by speaking to them with great freedom and affability. He made many removals and alterations in the troops, to secure the officers in his interest, and dismissed Dexippus to Sparta, in whom he could not confide. At the same time be ordered a great part of the garrison, which he had sent to Gela, to join him, and assembled from all parts, fugitives, exiles, debtors, and criminals; a train worthy of a tyrant. With this escort he returned to Syracuse, which trembled at his approach. The people were no longer in a condition to oppose his undertakings, or to dispute his authority. The city was full of foreign soldiers, and saw itself upon the point of being attacked by the Carthaginians. To strengthen himself the more in tyranny, he espoused the daughter of Hermocrates, the most powerful citizen of Syracuse, and who contributed the most to the defeat of the Athenians. He also gave his sister in marriage to Polyxenus, brother-in-law of Hermocrates. He afterwards summoned an assembly, in which be rid himself of Daphneus and Demarchus, who had been the most active in opposing his usurpation. In this manner Dionysius, from a simple notary, and a citizen of the lowest class, made himself absolute lord and tyrant of the greatest and most opulent city of Sicily. SECTION II.-COMMOTIONS IN SICILY AND AT SYRACUSE AGAINST DIONYSIUS HE FINDS MEANS TO DISPEL THEM. DIONYSIUS experienced a violent opposition in the beginning of his usurpation. The Carthaginians having besieged Gela, he marched to its relief; and after some unsuccessful endeavours against the enemy, threw himself into the place. He acted there with little vigour; and the only service he did the inhabitants was, to cover their flight in person, when they abandoned their city, in the night. He was suspected of acting in concert with the enemy, especially as they did not pursue him, and he lost very few of his foreign soldiers. A the inhabitants who remained at Gela were butchered. Those of Cama rina, to avoid the same fate, followed their example, and withdrew with all the effects they could carry away. The moving sight of aged persons, matrons, young virgins, and tender infants, hurried on beyond their strength, excited compassion in the troops of Dionysius, and incensed them against the tyrant. Those he had raised in Italy withdrew to their own country; but the Syracusan cavalry, after having made a vain attempt to kill him upon the march, from his being surrounded with his foreigners, pushed forward, and having entered Syracuse, went directly to his palace, which they plundered, treating his wife at the same time with so much violence and ill usage, that she died of it soon after. Dionysius, who had foreseen their design, pursued them closely, with only one hundred horse and four hundred foot; and having marched almost twenty leagues with the utmost expedition, he arrived at midnight at one of the gates, which he found shut against him. He set fire to it, and opened himself a passage in that manner. The richest of the citizens ran thither to dispute his entrance, but were surrounded by the soldiers, and almost all of them killed. Dionysius having entered the city, put all to the sword that came in his way, plundered the houses of his enemies, of whom he killed a great number, and forced the rest to leave Syracuse. The next morning, the whole body of his troops arrived.* The unhappy fugitives of Gela and Camarina, terrified by the conduct of the tyrant, retired to the Leontines. Imilcar having sent a herald to Syracuse, a treaty was concluded, as mentioned in the history of the Carthaginians. By one of the articles it was stipulated, that Syracuse should continue under the government of Dionysius; which confirmed all the suspicions which had been conceived of him. The death of Darius Nothus happened in the same year.‡ It was then he sacrificed every thing that gave umbrage to his repose and security. He knew, that after having deprived the Syracusans of all that was dear to them, he could not fail of incurring their extreme abhorrence; and the fear of the miseries he had to expect in consequence, increased in the usurper in proportion to their hatred of him. He looked upon all his new subjects as so many enemies, and believed that he could only avoid the dangers which surrounded him on all sides, and threatened him in all places, by cutting off one part of the people to intimidate the other. He did not consider, that in adding the cruelty of executions to the oppression of the public, be only multiplied his enemies, and induced them, after the loss of their liberty, to preserve at least their lives by attempting to deprive him of his. Dionysius, who foresaw that the Syracusans would not fail to take advantage of the repose in which the treaty lately concluded with the Carthaginians had left them to attempt the re-establishment of their liberty, neglected nothing on his side in support of his power. He fortified the part of the city called the Isle, which was before very strong, from the nature of its situation, and might be defended by a moderate garrison. He surrounded it with good walls, flanked at due distances with high towers, and separated in that manner from the rest of the city. To these works he added a strong citadel, to serve him for a retreat and refuge in case of accident, and caused a great number of shops and piazzas to be erected, capable of containing a considerable multitude of inhabitants.§ He selected the best of the lands which he bestowed upon his creatures, and the officers appointed by him, and distributed the rest in equal proportion among the citizens and strangers, including the slaves, who had been made free among the first. He divided the houses in the same manner, reserving those in the Isle for such of the citizens as he could most confide in, and for his strangers. After having taken these precautions for his security, he began to think of subjecting several free states of Sicily, which had aided the Carthaginians. He began with the seige of Herbesses. The Syracusans in his anny, finding * Diod. 1. xiii. p. 227, 281 A. M. 3600. Ant. J C. 404. † Vol. I. themselves with arms in their hands, thought it their duty to use them for the re-establishment of their liberty. On one occasion when they had assembled to concert measures, one of the officers, who took upon him to reprove them on that account, was killed upon the spot, and his death served as a signal for their revolt. They sent immediately to Etna for the horse, who had retired thither at the beginning of the revolution. Dionysius, alarmed at this motion, raised the seige, and marched directly to Syracuse, to keep it in obedience. The revolters pursued him closely, and having seized upon the suburb Epipolis, cut off all communication with the country. They received aid from their allies both by sea and land, and setting a price upon the tyrant's head, promised the freedom of their city to such of the strangers as should abandon him. A great number came over to them, whom they treated with the utmost favour and humanity. They advanced with their machines and battered the walls of the Isle vigorously, without giving Dionysius the least respite. The tyrant, finding himself reduced to extremities, abandoned by the greatest part of the strangers, and shut up on the side of the country, assembled his friends to consult with them, rather by what kind of death he should put a glorious period to his career than upon the means of saving himself. They endeavoured to inspire him with new courage, and were divided in their opinions; but at last the advice of Philistus prevailed, which was, tnat he should by no means renounce the tyranny. Dionysius, to gain time, sent deputies to the revolters, and demanded permission to quit the place with his adherents, which was granted, together with five ships to transport his people and effects He had however, sent despatches secretly to the Campanians, who garrisoned the places in the possession of the Carthaginians, with offers of considerable reward, if they would come to his relief. The Syracusans, who after the treaty, believed their business done, and the tyrant entirely defeated, had disarmed part of their troops, and the rest acted with great indolence and little discipline. The arrival of the Campanians, to the number of twelve hundred horse, infinitely surprised and alarmed the city. After having beat such as disputed their passage, they opened themselves a way to Dionysius. At the same time, three hundred soldiers more arrived to his assistance: the face of things was then entirely altered, and terror and dejection changed parties. Dionysius, in a sally, drove them vigorously as far as that part of the city Neapolis. The slaughter was not very considerable, because he had given orders to spare those who fled. He caused the dead to be interred, and gave those who had retired to Ætna to understand, that they might return with entire security. Many came to Syracuse; but others did not think it advisable to confide in the faith of a tyrant. The Campanians were rewarded to their satisfaction, and dismissed. The Lacedæmonians at this time took such measures in regard to Syracuse, as were most unworthy of the Spartan name. They had lately subverted the liberty of Athens, and declared publicly against popular government, in all the cities dependent on them. They deputed one of their citizens to Syracuse, to express in appearance the part they took in the misfortunes of that city, and to offer their aid; but in reality he was sent to confirm Dionysius in supporting himself in the tyranny; expecting, that from the increase of his power he would prove of great advantage and support to their own. Dionysius saw, from what had so lately happened at Syracuse, what he was to expect from the people for the future. While the inhabitants were employed abroad in the harvest, he entered their houses, and seized upon all the arms he could find. He afterwards enclosed the citadel with an additional wall, fitted out many ships, armed great numbers of strangers, and took all possible measures to secure himself against the disaffection of the Syracusans. After having made this provision for his safety at home, he prepared to extend his conquests abroad; from whence he did not only propose the increase of his dominions and revenues, but the additional advantage of diverting his subjects from the sense of their lost liberty, by turning their attention upon their ancient and always abhoried enemy, and by employing them in lofty pro |