Part I.

SOLON.
* Laert, ^ He ordered the Verles of Homer to be re- 1 cited fucceffively, that where the firft ended the next ftiould begin *, whence Diuchides faith, ! he illuftrated Homer mote than ?ijiftratus (by whom the Bhapfodies were firft colleQed ) the principal Verles were.
They who inhabit Athens^ & e. fAthen. itip. t He firft tolerated common Curtelans, and with the Mony they paid to the State erefted a Temple to Ventfs.,
* Se^.Etnpirh, He firft taught Soldiers to march by the . Ibund of Fifes and Harps, obferving a kind of
wcm. 6. meafure in their pace.
CHAP. VIII.
How he entertained Anacharfis ; his Travels to
^gypt, Cyprus, Miletus, Delphi, Corinth, Greet.
TN the forty leventh Olympiad ( according r i to * Softer ates ) Anacharfis came to Athens •,
^ Laert* Eucrates being Archon, *■ he went immediately to the Houle of Solon,, and knocking at the door, faid he was a Stranger delirous of his Friendftlip and Hofpitality .* Solon anfwered, It is better to contraS friendjhip at home ; then you that are at home, ( replys Anacharfis ) make me your Friend and Guefi. Solon admiring his acutenels, entertained him kindly, and kept him lome time with him, whilft he was im- ployed about publick affairs, and ordering his Laws , which Anacharfis underftanding, Imil- ed, that he undertook to curb the injuftice and covetoufnefs of Citizens ty written Ordinan ces, nothing differing from Cobwebs, holding fall the weak and poor, whilft the powerful and rich break through them , whereto Solon anlwered. That Men fland faji to thofe Cove¬ nants which it is not convenient for either party to break : He gave the Citizens fuch Laws, as it was evident to all, that to keep were better than to tranlgrelsj but the event agreed more with the conjecture of Anacharfis^ than the ex¬ pectation of Solon.
* Pita. * Afte^his Laws were promulgated, feme or
other coming daily to him, either to praile, or dilpraile them, or to advife to put in or out whatfoever came into their minds, the greater part to have the meaning explained, queftion- ing how every thing was to be underftood, and intreating him to unfould the lenle ^ he ( con- fidering, that not to fatisfie them, would argue pride, to latisfie them would make him lyable to cenfure ) determined to avoid ambiguities, importunities and occalions of blame -, ( for, as he faid.
In things that are not fmall.
TCis hard to fing to all. )
Colouring his travail with being Mafter of a Ship, and having obtained leave of the Athe¬ nians to be ablent ten years, he put to Sea, hoping in that time his Laws would become femiliar to them.
* Phft, The firft place of his arrival was JFigypt,
where he dwelt, as himfelf faith,
At Nilus mouth, near the Canobian Shoar.
He ftudied Philofophy awhile with Pfeno- phis, of Heliopolis, and Sonches of' Sais, the moft learned of thole Priefts, by whom, Plato affirms, he was taught the Atlantick Language, which he afterward began to explain in Verfej When he queftioned them in Antiquities the el¬ der laid to him, 0 Solon, Solon, you Greeks are always Children, there is not one Greek an old Man.
' Thence he went to Cyprus, where he was • Fluh much favoured by Phiiocyprus, one of the Kings of that Country, who had a little Town built by Demopheon, Son oIThefe us, upon the River - Clarius, in a ftrong place, but rugged and bar¬ ren .* Solon perfw' ading him, their lying a plea- lant Plain underneath it, to transfer the Town thither, making it more Ipacious and delight¬ ful : Solon being prefent at the doiiig hereol^ took care it might be Peopled, and affifted the •
King to contrive it , as well for Health as Strength -, whereupon many came in to Phih- cyprus, whom other Kings emulated ^ for this reafon he alcribed the honour thereof unto Sd- Ion, naming the City ( which before was called JEpea ) from him Soli. This Foundation he mentions in his Elegies, addrefling his fpeech. to Philocyprus, '
Mayji thou in Cyprus long as King abide.
And or’ e this People and this Town prefide ^ in a fleet Vejjel from this Haven mey Cythera Crown’d with Violets me convey.
Her kind afpeQ chid happinefs may fhe Grant to this Town, ajafe return to me.
He vifited Thales alfo at Miletus, whofe im- pofture towards him ( related already in Plu- tarch'’s words) receive iiomTzetzes.
Solon’s JriendThAoi led a fingle lifei,
By Solon often mov’d to take a Wife ^
Thefe a Milefian (Thales fo contriv’d)
Meeting, pretends from Athens late arriv'd,
Solon asks curioujly what news was there -,
One thaPs abroad, faith he, hath loji his Heir,
The City waited ori his obfequies.
Was it not Solon’x Son, Solon repfys ?
To this the Stranger ( as fuborrid) ajfents :
He with torn hair in cries his pajfion vents Whom Thales, ( tenderly embracing ) Leave This grief, faith he, 1 did thee but deceive ;
Tis for thefe reafons Marriage I decline.
Which can dejeU fo great a Soul as thinci
Whether it belong to this deceit, or to a real lofs ^ Diof corides, and * Stobaus report, that , weeping for the death of hjs Son, one told g 5^^* 121. him. But this helps nothing, he anfwered, And therefore I weep.
•> At Delphi he met with the reft of the wile h lacrt^ Men, and the year following at Corinth, by Periander’s invitation, which was as Plutarch implies, long before Pififiratus came to Reign ; nor doth ‘ Dion Chryfofiom intend the contrary, j though fo interpreted by ** a learned Perfon, k j. Meitrjkt his words importing only this ; Solon .fled not the Tyranny of Periander, though he did that of Piliftratus-
E rm
SOLON.
26
Part P
That he'went alfo to Cr^et ( perhaps to vifit ‘ M Pkereqd. Eptntemdes ') is evident fronv an ' Epiftle oi
'I 'hdles..'. ■ V, ' '
'iV i , ■ ■T'. 7; . ’ 1.
— - - ^ * I — . - - -
^ .isa A's^i ■ ■
. ^ ^ C H A P.. IX.
The- dttrikiite of Wife conferred on hm : Hie " • * ^ . moral Sentences.
* Lao-t. Damajius (the lecond was) At-
VV :chon, ( in the year of , the 4p Olim- . piad) all . the- feven received the attribute t orat. 4. •' Solon.;a^on whom ( t The-
miftius faith, it was conferr’d as an honourable *Vit.Sol. title full of- -dignity: ^Plutarch avers that all of them ( except Thales ) were fo called from t 7^;e/«;y?. their skill in civil affairs. And again, ‘■fin ‘iPhilofophy Solon chiefly afFe£fed ( as did like- * ‘ wife moft of the wife Men ) that part of mo- ‘ rality which concerns Politicks j aik Ipeaking ‘ of Menefiphilus.^ ‘ he was not ( faith he ) an ‘ Orator of thofe Philofophers who are called ‘ Natural, but embraced that Wifdom which ‘ teacheth government of a State, and prudence fin publick Aflions, which he retained as a ‘ Se£f delivered by fuccelfionfrom Whence ^ Soim. Scip. c if. jWacrobws., inftanceth Solon.^ as skilful in ‘ that kind of learning which draweth Philolb- ‘ phy deeper, and eftablifheth a State.
Hereto may be added his moral Learning, for which ( though Socrates reduced it firft to a Science, . and was thereupon honoured as the in¬ venter thereof) the feven were fo famous, that fbme affirm the Title of WTfe was given them only for excelling others in a laudable courfe of life, and comprehending fome moral Rules in fhort Sentences j of thefe they had three forts, Apothegms, Precepts, and
Of his Apothegms Laertius recites thefe , ‘ Speech is the Image of Aftion ^ he is a King, ‘ who hath poiver. Laws are like Cobwebs ‘ which intangle the leffer fort, the greater break ‘ through.: Thofe who are in favour with Prin- *■ ces relemble Counters ufed in calling accounts, ‘ which fometimes ftand for a great number, ‘ fometimes for a leffer •, fo thofe are fometimes ‘ honoured, fometimes call down. Being de- ‘ manded how Men might be brought to do no ‘ wrong, ifi laid he, they who have received ‘none, and thofe who are wronged be alike ‘ concern’d : Satiety comes of Riches, contume- ‘ ly of Satiety.
* Vit. Sol. * Plutarch and others, thefe j ‘ He conceived
‘ that City to be bed govern’d, where the Peo- ^ ‘pie as eagerly profecute wrongs done to o-
Sapi' thers, as to themfelves. Being demanded , ‘ how a City might be bed ordered, he anfwer-
‘ ed if the Citizens obey’d the Magidrates,
‘ the Magidrates the Laws he affirmed that ‘ King and Tyrant fliould become mod glorious, ‘who would convert his Monarchy to Demo- cracy. He edeemed that Family bed , wherein wealth is gotten not unjudly, kept ... . : ‘ not unfaithfully, expended not with repen- ' ^ ' ^..tance. . . *
* Arijh Ethic.^ '' He defined ‘ the happy, thofe who are com- £. 8. 'Spetently fiirnifhed with outward things, a£l
‘ honedly, and live temperately ^ which defini.
‘ tion Arijfotle approves.
‘’He.faid, ‘A Common-wealth confifts of oker. Epij}.
‘ two things. Reward and Punnifhment. . ' • *5- adBrue.
‘ ‘ Seeing one of his Friends much grieved,!' ^al. Mrx^
‘ he carried him to the Tower , and defired.7* 2.
‘ him to view all the buildings below, which’'
‘ obferving the other to have done, now faith ‘ he, think with your felf, how many forrows ‘ have heretofore and do at prefent dwell ‘ under thofe Roofs, and fhall in future Ages;
‘ and forbear to be troubled at the inconveni- ‘ ences of Mortality as if they were only yours.
‘ He laid alfb, that if Men fhould bring their ‘ misfortunes together in one place, every one ‘ would carry his own home again, rather than ' " '
‘ take an equal fhare out of the common ‘ flock.
f ‘Being in drinking; demanded by Peri-^ stob. serm.
‘ ander, whether he were filent through want 34- ‘ of Difeourfe, or through Folly, anfweredj ‘ no Foolcanvbe filent amidft his Cups. eHe e ‘faid, that City was beft ordered, where- 41.
‘ in the good were rewarded , the bad pun- ‘ ifhed.
He faid, a Man ought to fear nothing, •- sa.' ‘ but that his end exceed not Philofophy. list, pplya. i.
• Demofthenes recitgs a Difeourfe which he 14- ufed to the Judges, in accufing one who had‘^1*'"^^' moved a pernicious Law, to this effeO: ; ‘ It is ‘ a Law generally received in all Cities, that ‘ he who makes falfe Mony fhould be put to ‘ Death. Then he demanded of the Judes,
‘ whether that Law feemed to them juft and ‘ commendable, whereunto they aflenting, he ‘ added, that he conceived Mony to be uM ‘ amongft Citizens, in relpeft of private con- ‘ trads ; but that Laws were the Mony of the ‘ Common-wealth : therefore Judes ought to ‘ punifh thofe , who embafed the Mony of ‘ the Common wealth much more feverely ,
c fens : and that they might better underftand ‘ it to be a far greater offence to corrupt '
‘ Laws, than adulterate Coyn ; he added, that ‘ many Cities ufe Money of Silver allay’d with ‘ Brafs or Lead , without any prejudice to ‘ tliemfelves ; but whofoever fhould ufe Laws ‘ fo adulterated, could not efcape ruine and ‘ death.
k Mimnermus writing thus, Laa-t.
From trouble and difeafes free.^
At threefcore years let Death take me.
He reproved him, faying.
By my advice., that voifh extend^
Nor for his counfel flight thy Friend.
Alter thy Song., and let it be.
At four/ core years let Death take me.
His moral Precepts are thus delivered by ,
' Demetrius Phalereus, fome whereof are cited by Laertiits. ‘ Nothing too much. Sit not as - ‘ Judge ; if thou dofl, the condemned will e- ‘ fteem thee an Enemy. Fly pleafures:, for it ‘ brings forth forrow. Obferve honefly in thy ‘ Converfation more flridly -than an Oatli.
‘ Seal Words with filence, filence with op- ‘portunity. Lie not,- but- fpeak the truth.
‘ Confider on ferious things,- Say not' Ought
‘ IS
‘ isjijCkr than thy Parents. Procure not Friends ‘ in hafte, nor procur’d, part with in halle. ‘ By learning to obey, you fhall know how to ‘coiumand. What ibrfeiture you impofe on others, undergo your felf. Advile not Citi- ‘ zens what is pleafant, but what is beft. Be ‘ not arrogant. Converfe not with wicked per- *■ Pons. Confult the Gods. Cherifh thy Friend. ‘ Reverence thy Parents, Make Reafon thy Guide. What thou feeft fpeak not. What ‘ thou knoweft conceal. Be mild to thofe that ‘ belong to thee. Conjedlure hidden things from ‘ apparent.
“ Oem. Alex. His particular lentence acording to Dydi-
Strom. w/i^rand 'Laertius was, J\othmg too much ac¬ cording to Aufonius^Knovo thy Jelf^'who al'eribes thefe alfo to hirn.
’ Him I dare happy call whofe end I fee.
Match vcilh thy like, un equals not agree.
By fortune guided, none to honour raife j A friend in private chide, in publick pra'ife j Honours atchiev'd created far exceed'.
If fates be fure, zchat hdlps it to take heed ? And if unfure, there is of fear lefs need.
Of his A
Of every Man be carejul, lejl he bear A Sword edneeaPd within his breafl, a clear AJpeQ, and double tongue, a tnind fever e.
CHAP. X.
How he oppojed Pififlratus, and reprehended Thelpis.
• Vht. ■^T^Uring the ablenCe of Solon, the former JL^ dilTention broke forth again in the Ci¬ ty : Lycurgus was head of the Countrymen, Megacles of the Maritim.es, Pifjiratus of the Townfmen, who were moft violent againft the rich ^ Solon’s Laws were ftill obferved in the City, but the People aimed at novelty and change, not as thinking it moft juft, but in hopes to be Mafters of other Men’s goods and to fupprefs the adverle party. Solon whilft things ftood thus, return’d to Athens, where he was much reverenced and honoured by all, but could not fpeak. or afl in publick, through the weaknefs of his Body and Spirits, yet pri¬ vately taking every one of the Commanders apart, he endeavoured to reconcile their diffe¬ rences, wherein Pififlratus feemed the moft ready to be perfwaded, with whom he had a very ancient friendfhip, grounded as well upon their kindred, as upon the good qualities of Pifjiratus, than whom ( as Solon ufed to fay) there could not be a Perlon of more worth, if he were cured of his ambition.
fP.V. t About this time (according to Plutarch')
which was in the fiftieth Olympiad, Thefpts began to pfefent Tragedies ( which Suidas er- loneoufly accounts ten Olympiads later, as is obferved by Aleurfus ) the People were much taken with the novelty of the thing, for as yet there were no contentions therein. Solon naturally defirous to hear and learn, and by reafon of his age indulging more to eaii and
pleafure, feafting and mufick, went to lee L'hef himfelt aQ:, as was then the manner^ the Play ended, he went to Thejpis,tin(l asked him, it he were not afhamed to fpeak lb many lies before lo great an Auditory ? I hefpis anlivered, it was no fhafrie to abf or fay luch things in jefi Solon ftriking the ground hard with his Saff, replyed, but in a ftiort time we who ap¬ prove this kind of Jeff fhall ufe it in earnelf, in our contrabfs and tranfanbfions. In fine be abfolutely forbad him to teach or aUTragedtes con. * * ceiving ihe'ir jalfity unprofitable, whereto he llijfi. militated the deceit Pififlratus, whofoon after t having wounded himfelf, came into the Porum in a Chariot, pretending to have been fo ufed^^'"^’ by his Enemies in the behalf of the Common¬ wealth, and inflamed the People with much rage. Solon coming near to him, Son oPHippo- crates ( faith he ) you aH Homer’s VlyJJes ill in ufing the fame means to deceive the Citizens, wherewith he ( whipping himfelf ) deluded the Enemy. Immediately the People flocked in to defend Pifjiratus : Arijlo mov’d he might be allowed a ftanding guard of fifty Men ; Solon rofe up to oppofe it, ufing fpeeches, the effebl. whereof, he afterwards thus expreft in Verfe.
•
If evil your impieties befal,
Gods not the Author of thoje mifehiefs call, Tourfelves the caufes, have given power to thofe.
Who in requital, Jervitude impofe.
Lion whomtljepotJlepsofthePoxpurfue, '
Whofe Souls deceit and vanity endue.
The man’s fmooth tongue andfpeechyou only heed.
But never penetrate into the deed.
He alfo foretold them the aims of Piffira* tus, in an Elegy to this effed.
Vapours condens’d ingender Hail and Snow,
And Thunder doth from radiant lightning flow.
The Sea is troubled by the raging Wind,
When not d'ljlurb’d by that, nothing more kind.
A City by great Perfons is orethrown.
And taught beneath a Monarchy to groan.
But feeing the poorer fort much addided to Pifjiratus, and tumultuous, the richer afraid, confulting their fafety by flight, he retired, faying, Athenians, I am wifer than fome, vali- anter than others, wifer than thofe who under- ftand not the deceit of Pifjiratus, valianter than thofe who underftand it, yet hold their peace, through fear. The Senate being of the fame fadion with Pifjiratus, faid he was mad, where¬ to he anfwered,
A little time will to the people clear
Aly madnefs, when’th’ midjl truth fhall appear. ^
The People having granted Pifjiratus his re- queft concerning a guard, queltion’d not the number of them , but conniv’d lb long at his prefling and maintaining as many Soul- diers as he pleafed , that at laft he poflelt himfelf of the Tower-, whereupon the City being in a tumult, Megacles, with the reft of the Alcmxonidx fled. Solon now very old , and deftitute* of thofe that might back him, ' W'ent into the Porum, ^ armed with a Spear,' •
£ 2 and
7
SOLO N.