Part IX T T T H A G 0 R A S.

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famb.ciTp.$,(. (for theleallb are iU4iftia-
^4) Deead, 4. Iib.ulc.
( 6 ) Lib. 13.
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CcJ Excerpt, VaUsf p. 341. CdJ Strom.
belt and moft ftudiousPerfons, for his fake, re- forted to Sami/s^ defiring to participate of his Inftitutions.
C M A P. X.
Uis Voyage to Italy.
BU T Pythagoras being engaged by his Coun¬ try-men in all Erabaffies, and conftrained to be interefted in their pnblick Negotiations, and perceiving that if he fhould comply with the Laws of his Country, and continue there, it Would be hard for him to ftudy Philofophy • for which Reafon, all former Philofophers ended their Uves in foreign Gauntries. Weighing all thefe conliderations, and to avoid civil Employ¬ ments \ or, as others fay, declining the negli, gence of Learning , which at that time pof- ftfs’d the Samians^ departed into Italy ^ prefer¬ ring that place before his Country, which con¬ tained moft Perfons, fervently defirous of Learn- ing. . .
But before we fpeak of his Actions in Italy^ it will be requifite,as well to fettle the time of his coming, as the State of that Country, as it was at that time. It was a received Opinion amongft the more Ancient, but lefs Learned, Romatts, That Pythagoras was Contemporary with King Numa. The occafion of that Tradition might perhaps arife from thofe Books, which were round in the Sepulcher of Numa, Soy years after his Death, as Antius Valerius^ cited by {a)l,ivy\ ^rACaJJius Hemina^ hj Q}) Pliny ^ re¬ late ^ and fuppofed to contain Pythagorical Phi- lofbphy; But that Opinion is long fince refuted, by the more Learned Romans and Grecians^ Ci¬ cero^ Titus LiviuSy Dionysus Halicarnajfaus^ Flutareby and others.
^ They who have looked more ftriflly into the time of PytbagoraSy feem to follow two different Accounts. Jamhlichus faith. That he lived in Fgypt 22 years. That he was canned from thence ^ Cambyfesy That he lived in Babylon 1 2 years. That froiia' thence he returned to Samusy being 516'years ojd j That from he went into
Ptaly in the d2d Olympiad,' BryxidaSy h Chalet de- QHy being Vi9;or at the Olympick Games : From whence’ it follows, that he went into Egypt about thethirdyear bf the y 3d Olympiad^ and that he Wu^^orh,fhefeco'nd',yearof the 48'th Olym¬ piad V ^nd' 'that it was' the 5 2d Olympiad, when, he,' in;the 18th yeah of Itrs Age, heard Tha-^ hSy Pb^eeft^es and Anax^aindeA This account ■ feertis td w foHoWed; by Porphyrit^y
Themijiitt^y Suida^ . 'y 'f from- ' Laertius ) ' and others, ’ Who h-ffinb, he ^ Wtmt from Samus intg ; what time was Tyrant of 5’^-; '
‘cmtt^eiyi'ng itunfirfqr h P^dbfop^ to. live
Clem. Strom,!.
piad, ' T&mrtVheing Alxhoh' y by (d) Clemens Alexandn/fUsy about the' Olympiad j under and in thedeedndyear of the' 54tli Otyrtipr|d; Polyerates w^^ 'betrayed and put to Death by Thfs^A.^C0dnt Antilochus al- IbTeentstp'fpIIdw, who' f^Qkorts from the time o^PytlRi^o'ra^^thojyz?itit ^Epicurus I
Epicurus' dkAhi the feCoM ^ear of the" i2fth‘
Olympiad ; the 3 1 2th year upwards,is the firft of the 49th Olympiad, Neither is Livy much dif¬ ferent from this Computation, who makes him to come into Italyy Servio TuUio regnantey who died about a year or two before. And this Ac¬ count might be the occafion of making him live to 90 years, as Laertius faith many do ; and to 104 years, as the namelefs Author of his Life in PhotiuSy the year of his Death being accord¬ ing to Eufebiusy the fourth of the 70th Olym¬ piad.
But this Account may, with good Reafon, be queftion’d ; for if it be granted, (as by Jamhli^ c/;^himfelf, and other good Authorities it is affirmed) that Pythagoras was in Egypt when Cambyfes fubdu’d it, and that he was carriesl a- way Captive by him into Babylony the time of his going into Italy mufb of neceffity be much later ; for Cambyfes invaded Egypt in the fifth year of his Reign, which is the third year of the 63d Olympiad, and the 223d year of Nobonaf- fary of which there is no quellion in Chronolo¬ gy. For that the feVenth year of Cambyfes- is known to be the 225:th year of Nobonajfar-y bc- caufe in his {e) Almegifi relates an Aftro-
nomical Obfervation, of a Lunar Eclipfe at Ba¬ bylony on the 17 th day of the Month Pharenothy according to the EgyptianSy which is with us the i6th of jufyy one hour before Midnight. From whence now it follows, that if he lived 22 yCars in Egypt y that then he went thither in the third year of the 58th Olympiad, and that if he Raid in Babylon twelve years, he went into Italy about the end of the 66th Olympiad-, and that if he were then 55 years old, he was not Bom before the firft year of the 53d Olympiad. And ac¬ cording to this Account, they who make him to live but 70 or 86 years^ do not much differ in the time of his Death from them, vvho, according to the other Account, make him live fo much longer - for they who give him moft years, do not make him to dye later, tilt to be Born fooner.
This Account they I5em to follow, who affirm,
(f) hd went from Samtfs to Italyy for that he (/) t)hL in
could not brook Sylofon Brother of vales,
cratesy on whom (being a private Perfon, after
his Brother’s Death) Daritss Hyjiajpis afterward beftow’d the Tyranny of Samus y in requital -of a Garment which Sylofon had given him, before he came to the Empire. And thus perhaps is
(g) Strabo to be underftood, who faith, Pytha-C^) N* goras, as they reportedy in the time of Polycrates, feeing the Tyranny begun, forfook the City, and.
went from thence to Egypt and Babylon, out_ of Love to Learning andreturning'homey and fee¬ ing that the Tyranny continued fUll, he went into Italy, where he ended hk days. By this Conti¬ nuation of the Tyranny, feems to be meant die Reign of Sylofon, who Ruled fo Cruelly, that thld* many Perfops forfook the Gityj infomuch that it became a Proverb, '
A Region vaft ■ ’
By Sylofon /aid wajle.^
With both theft Accounts agree what (h) Ci- (b) Tufc.qusjl. cero and (i) Agellius zEAcm, concerning his com- ing into Italy, that.it was in the Reign of Tarqui- y[* nius Superbus but to-neither can that of (/^) Pliny pi^j Lik a.
Z 2 be cap. 8.
PTTHAG ORA S.
Tuf. qujij}. Iib
(1) Selin,
fmj Eufeb. CnJ Eufeb.
Cp) Eufeb. CqJ Strab.
be accommodated, who faith. That Yphagor^ objerved the Nature of the Star Venus about the 42a Olympiad, which toot of the City of Rome the \ ±2^ year. There mnfl; therefore be either an trror in both the Numbers •, or, which I rather believe, in ?liny himfelf, occafion’d, perhaps by miltaking Tarquinius '?rifcui (under whom they both fall) fovTarqui/iiue Superbus, under whom Pythagorsf liourilhed.
If therefore he came into Italy in the Reign of Tarquinius Superbus yhe opinion of Cicero is to be received,that he was there when Tucius Brutus freed his Country ^ and upon the expuUIpn of Tarquinius Superbus, he and hucius CoUatinus were made the firlt Confuls, at whith time the Dominion of the Romans extended not any way above lix Miles from their City ^ and the Sou¬ thern parts of Italy were chiefly inhabited by the Grecians, who at feveral times had there planted divers Colonies, wereof we fhall only mention thofe which were more .particularly concerned In the Aftions of Pythagoras. ,
The molt Ancient of thefe is Metapontum, feated in the BayolTarentum, betwixt Heraclea and Tarentum, built by Nejior and the (1) Pyli- ans, a People of Peloponnefus. Long after were founded •,
Cat an a, a City on the Ealt-fide of Sicily, be¬ twixt Mejfena and Syracufe, Built by a Colony oiChalci deans, in the {m) i ith Olympiad.
Tarentuminitaly, in the (») 1 8th Olympiad,^ Built (p) by the Parthenians, who were Children of the Lacedemonian Women, Born in the ab- fence of their Husbands, at the Mejfanian Wars ; and therefore called Parthenians in reproach j which not brooking, they confpired againft the Lacedemonian People, but being betrayed and banilhed, came hither,
Crotona, a City in the Bay of Tarentum, Built in the Yp) 19th Olympiad, (q)hq n Colony of Acheans, under the Condudt of Mifcellus , by whom named Crotona, at the Command oi Her¬ cules, in memory of Croto, his Hoft, whom ha¬ ving unwittingly Slain, he Buried there; This City, for being Built by the command ofHercu^ les, engraved his Figure in their Coins.
P A R T IX.
Sybark, a City dillant from Crstoyia 200 Fur¬ longs, according to Strabo's Account ; but, as others conceive, more than twice fo much •, built at the fame time (r ) by a Colony of Troezenians, pr J Solin, under the Condutt of Ifelicetfs, betwixt the two Rivers Crathk and Sybark.
{s) Locri in Italy, built the 24th Olympiad, CO by the Locrians, a People of Achata.
(t) Agrigentum, an Ionian Colony, built by the CO Strah.U, Ge loans {u) 108 years after their own Founda- (") tion. (x) Gela was built in the 43; th- year after Syracufa •, (y) Syracufa in the nth Olympiad : CjJ Agrigentum therefore in the 49th.
To thefe add, of lefs certain time, Rhegium in Calabria, built by the Chalcedeans. Mmera and Tauromenium in Sicily, Colonies of the Zan- cleans. Indeed fo generally was the Pythagorical Doflrine received in thefe parts, that {z) Jamhli- (t) Cap. 29; cus affirms, All Italy was filled with Philofophical ferfons and whereas before it was obfeure, af¬ terwards by Reafon ^Pythagoras, it was named Miydr.ti ’EAArtV, Magna Graccia.
CHAP. XI.
Hk Arrival at Crotona, and upon what Occafion he firfl became Eminent there.
He came atfirll to Cr^/(7;7a,the State of which
City in particular was this ^ {a) at the be- ( ginning, the Crotonians joyning with the Syha- rites and the Metapontines, determined to expel the reft of the Grecians out of Italy. They firlt took the City and taking it ill that at their
befieging the affifted the adverfe
Party, raifed a War againft them, related thus '
0) fuflin: ‘ The Locrians being terrify’d,(0 LiR- ao;
‘ rccurr to the Spartans for Refuge,and beg their ‘ aid. They oppreft with a long War, bad them ‘ feek help of Ca^or and Pollux. Neither did the ‘ Amballadors flight the Advice of the Aflbcia^
‘City, but going into the next Temple, they ‘ facrific’d, and implor’d the help of the Gods ;
‘ having offered Viftims, and obtained, as they ‘ thought, what they requefted, no left joyful,
‘ than as if they were to carry the Gods them- ‘felves along with them, they made Couches ‘ for them in the Ship, and by a Fortunate Voy- ‘ age, bring Comfort, inftead of Relief, to their ‘Country-men. This known, the Cmoniant ‘ alfo fend Amballadors to the Oracle at Delpbt\
‘ praying for ViHory, and a happy Succefs of the ‘ War. Anfwer is made, that Enemies mull be ‘overcome in Vowsfirft, before in Arras. They^
‘ vow’d to Apollo the Tents of the Spoil. The ‘ Locrians underftanding the Vow of their Ene- ‘ mies, and the Anfwer of the god, Vpvv’d the ' Ninths, and kept it fecret, left they mi|ht be ‘ out-done in Vowing. Being drawn forth into ‘ the Field, the Crotonidn Army confiftihg jof ‘ 1 20000 Soldiers ; the Locrians beholding ho vr •fmall a Number they were, (for they had but ij,
‘ 150Q0) gave over all hope of ViHory , and ‘tmanimoufly rcfolved to die -, and fa. gmt ‘ Courage did every Man take from Defparati- ‘on, that they conceived they Ihbui^ be Con- ‘querors, iftheydidnot die unwillingly. But ^ > -
‘whilft they fought to die hoijoufaibly, they ‘ overcame more fortunately 9 neither was there
0
gART IX.
PTTHAGORAS.
‘ any other caufe of that Vi£lory, than that they ! ‘defpairedofit. Whilft they were in fight, an
‘ Eagle never left the Locrian Army, but dew . T , o. ‘about it all the while, until they had gain’d ‘ the Viftory. In the Wings of the Army alfo,
■ _ ‘ two young men, armed after a fafhion different
. ‘ from all the reft, of extraordinary bighnefs,
1 i " • ‘on white Horfes, in crimfon mantles, were ! r ■- ‘feen to fights and, after the fight, were feen ' '‘no more. This wonder was incj-eafed by the ‘ incredible fwiftnefs of fame-, for the very fame ‘day that this fight hapned in the Vi£tory
‘ was reported at Corinth^ Athens^ and Lace die- \ ‘ mon. After this, the Crotonians ufed no mili-
‘ tary exercife, nor minded Arms ^ for they hated ‘ what they had taken up unfuccefsfully , and ‘ would have changed their life into luxury, had ‘ it not been for Pythagorcu the Philofopher. Hi¬ therto Ju^ine,
1 vir. « As foon as he arriv’d in Italy^ and came to ' f;?H.pag. ‘ ing of a perfon, who was a great traveller, and I ‘ excellent, and through a peculiar advantage of
‘ nature, profperoufly guided by fortune, (for ‘ he was of a free prefence, tall, graceful in his ‘fpeeeh and gefture, and in all things elfe) the ‘ Qtizens of Crotona were fo taken with him,
‘ that having won the affeffions of the old men,
‘ who were the Magiftrates of the City, and ‘made an excellent and large difcourfe to the ‘ ' '* young men he did the fecond time, by com-
' ‘ mand from the Magiftrates, make an exhorta-
‘ tion to the young men, and afterwards to the ‘ boys, who came flocking out of the School to ‘ hear him •, and laftly, to the Women, affembled ‘to that purpofe. The Occalion and manner mentioned by Plutarch and * Porphyria, re- * Pag; latedthus by t Jamblichus.
J cip.*. c. At this time, walking from to Cr^7/•^7-
upon the Sea-fide, he lighted upon fome ‘ fifiier-men and whilft their Net was yet at the ‘ ber of the'filhes that they ftioulddraw up. And ‘ the men undertaking to do whatfoever he ^ fhould command them, if it fell out according- ‘ly* he required them to turn back again the ‘fillies alive, after they had exafkly numbred ‘them*, and which is more wonderful, not one ‘ bf all the number, at that time, of the Fifties,
‘ wbilft they were out of the water, died -, he ‘being prefent, and giving the Fiftiermen the ‘price of the Eifli, he departed to Crotona. But ^ they divulged what was done, and, learning his ^name of the Boys, declared it to every one ; ‘which thdy hearing, defired to fee the ftranger,
‘ whith was opportune to him j for he was of ‘fich an Afpeft, thatwhofoever faw him could ‘not but admire him, and conceive him to be ‘ the perfon that he really was.
' CHAP. xii.
Uk Oration to the. young Men,
Jambl. conti- days after, he went into the publick
1 nueth. O Scool, and the young men flocking to him, li The begin- jj, that he made difpouffes to thcni, where- bi 11 he exhorted them to refpea their. Elders, de- Laertm alfo. daring, ‘That in the World, and in Life, and
^ in Cities, and in Nature, that which is precedent ^in time is more honourable than that which is ^ fubfequent ; as , the Eaft than the Weft, the ‘ Morning than the Evening, the Beginning than ^ the End, Generation than Corruption j more¬ over, Natives than Strangers. . In like manner,
‘in Colonies, the Leader and Planter of Cities,
‘ and general! yatlie Gods than Demons, Daemons ‘ than Semi-gods, Heroes than Men : And of thefe ‘ ( men ) the caufes of Generation , than the ‘ younger. This he faid by way of indudfion,
‘ to make them have a greater efteem of their ‘ Parents, to whom, he faid, they had as much obligation, as a dead man might owe to him that Ihould raife him again to life. Moreover,
‘ that it was juft to Ipve above all, and never to ‘afflift the firft, and thofe who have done us ‘ greateft benefits ; But Parents only, by the be- ‘nefit of Generation, are the firft, and Prede- ‘ celfors are the caufes of all things that fucceed ‘ rightly to their SuccefTors^ fhewing, that they ‘ are nothing lefs beneficial to us than the gods,
‘againft whom it is not poffible to offend in fo ‘ doing ^ and the gods themfelves cannot but in ‘ juftice pardon thofe, who reverence their Pa- ‘ rents equal to them • for it is from them that ‘ we learn to worfliip the Deity • whence Homer ‘ gives the King of the gods the fiine ftile, .al- ‘ ing' him, Lather of gods and mortals. Ana nia- ‘ny other Fabulous Writers have delivered, that ‘the chiefeft of the gods were ambitious to ‘make up the divided love of children, by a ‘new Conjunflion of Parents ^ and for this end,
‘ making a new fuppofition of Father and Mother,
‘ /z/!p;/£’rbrpught forth Minerva funo.^ Vulcan.^
‘ of a contrary fex to their own, that they might ‘ participate of that love which was more re*
‘ mote.
‘ Now all perfons granting the judgment of ‘ the gods to be ftrongeft, he demonftrated this ‘particularly to the People of Gro/i?, becaufethat ‘ Hercules was of affinity with them, therefore ‘they ought willingly to obey the injundions of ‘ their Parents, fince they underftood, that this ‘ god, in Obedience to another elder than him- ‘ felf, underwent his labours, and prefented to his father, astheEpinicium of his Aflions, the ‘ Olympick Games.
‘ He declared likewife, that in their converfa- This alfo is ia ‘ tion to one another they fliould fo behave them- Laertm. ‘felves, that they might hereafter never become ‘ enemies to their friends, but might Toon be- ‘come friends to their enemies f~as to their ‘ friends they flioulffneyer become enemies, but ‘ to their enemies quickly become their friends.
‘ And that they fhoufd ttudy in their behaviour ‘ towards their elders, their reverence towards ‘ their parents, and in their love to one another,
‘ their community towards their brethren,
‘ Furthermore he difeourfed concerning Tem- ‘perance, faying. That young men ftould make ‘tryal of their nature at that time, in which they ‘ have their denres vigorous. Then he advifed ‘ them, that it was worth their obfervation, that ‘ this only virtue was convenient both for Chil- ■‘dren, and Maids, and Women, and old Men,
‘ but efpecially for young 'Men. Further, this i‘ Virtue only declares, that they underftand the !‘ goods of the Body and the Soul,, feeing it pre- ‘ferves health, and a defire of the heft Studies.
Zz 2 ‘This
P TT H AG OKAS.