part I.

PITT AC V S.
97
» In Retiarh.
‘ Herod, con- demolifhed) * thefe oppojed their claim ■s^ alledgr twues. }jad no more right to this Ilian
Count )j than themjelves cr any other of the Greeks, who ajjijied Menelaus in the recovery of Hellen ^Strab.Laert. ^ The Athenians lent thither as General, Phry- no, a tall robuft Perlbn, who had been Viftor in all the Olympick Exercifes ; perhaps the lame whom Eufebius names in the thirty lixth t Strab, Laert. Olympiad, s Pittacus having been fever al times worjied in Battle,^ at la ji challenfd^hiYno to /in¬ gle Combat and met him,, being armed with the Weapons of a Pifherman,, hiding a Net under his Shield^ wherewith catchingPhiyno fuddenly, he flew him with hk Trident and Dagger,, and by his Death recovered the Yield, From this ftra- tagemof Pittacus^ was derived the like kind of Fighting among the Roman Gladiators, called Retiarii fdelcribed by ’’ Dipfus ) as is exprelly obferved by Polyocnm and > Fefus. k But this War ended not lb ; until at ‘laft k Sfrab. Laert. both Parties referred themfelves unto Periander,,
* Herod. 5.95. ‘ chufing him Umpire; he awarded that each fide Ihould. keep what they were in polTeffion of^ whereby Sigeum fell to . the Athenians. Demetrius argues Timseus of falfhood,, for af firming Periander built Achilleum {a fmallTown, where was the Tomb of Achilles) in oppofition to the Athenians, have aided Pittacus: but neither was it buiit ofjuch Stones (faith Strabo) nor was Periander the foun¬ der : how could he be chofe Arbitrator,, whofe AUionshad declared him an Enemy ?
” Hereupon Pittacus was highly honoured *Arift^oltt. 3. by the Mitelenaans, who " being infejled by ba- 14* nifhed Perfons, under the leading of Antimenides,
■ M At Alcaeus the Poet) p either in obligation to p . Qj. confidence in his Equity, by their
q C though AIcgeus deny it J inflated the Tyranny;* with many Acclamations of Praife, and a great concourfe of People ( as is manilell from Alcaus, who for that reaibn re- t Piiutj, wa.pi^sbends them.j ’ They alfo with general ^ero^/.L4^confent offered him great Gifts, and bad him
becaulc their. Uiand abounded in Wine. His ufual exercile, evenwhilft he was King, fas Clearchus zf^isms) was to grind Corn, efteem- ing It a healthful Exercile, much commending a Mill, that in lb little room, it afforded exer¬ cile to many. There was a Song z called fbr 2 p „ that reaibn of which Thales ^ affirms * pint!%m,
he heard a She-llave in Lesbos fing the beginning i>o/. /?;>/. fap. as the ground, which was thus.
‘ Grind, grind my Mill amain,
‘ PoiPittacus th2Lt Lesbian King ‘ To grind doth not dildain.
Being well in years, he was conflrained to take upon himfelf the leading of an Army, whereupon he laid^ If is hard to be good . which t Simonides mentions, laying, * t Hence cor-
rc&Siddaswho
Hard to be truly honefl, this I'aith Simon,
‘ The Pittaceian Sentence is.
m
Strab,
Laert.
ert.Suid. take that Field which he recovered from the Citizens as much as he would. He darting his Spear, demanded only fo much as that had paf fed over; which he dedicated 10 Apollo, called reven to the time of Plutarch, and Laertius )the
* Laert. Pittacatan Yeld. * Soficrates^ avers, he took
part of it for himlelf,. faying , The half was aTaJJHax,6.$.]jiQj-Q the whole, a he diverted hk Mind from the Gift, conceiving knot fitting to di- minifh the glory of the Vertue, by the greatnefs of the Reward.
Val. Max. 4. i. ‘ Being pofTeffed of this Power, he Ihewed the
‘ moderation wherewith his Breall was furnilh’d, * towards Alcaeus the Poet, who had behaved ‘ himlelf pertinacioufly againft him, with bitter ‘ hate and Icurrilous wit (whereof lee many in- ‘ ftances in Laertius, ) Pittacus only inform’d ‘him how able he was toopprefs him.
During his Government, he made many
* DeLegib'.x, Laws , one whereof is mentioned by ^ Cicero,
forbidding Any Man to go to the funeral of fuch , 2 tnas not King to. Another by * Arijiotle,
’ * * that whofoever being drunkfhould jirike any Man,
fhould Pay double as much as if he had been fober ; or as Laertius delivers \t,wi)ofoever offended, be¬ ing drunk, fhould pay a double forfeit-, which he did to reftr^ the Mitelenaeans from drukennefs.
Plato allb remembers it in his Protagoras (where Simonides reproves Pittacus for laying, it is hard to continue good, which he affirms to be ealie, but to become good, hard ; wherein he diflers from Laertius's e'rprelhon of it.
t He continued in the Government of thej Kingdom ten Years ; ^ Valerius Alaximus laith,”^ only as long as the War with the Athenians con¬ cerning Sigeum lajied, but afterwards as foon as Peace was obtained by Villory (fmmg in this time fettled the affairs of the Common-wealth) he laid it down:, notwithji'anding the Mitelenatans cried out to the contrary, left he fhould continue Lord of the Citizens longer than thenecefjities of the Kingdom required, and lived ten years after a private Perlbn.
He went to Sardk,2X what timef as Ibme lay, Hmd. i ‘ though others apply it to Bias) Crafus having ' made the Grecians, in Afia tributary, had given ‘ order fbr the building of a Navy to invade the ‘ Iflanders : as Ibon as he came thither, Crafus ‘ asked him what News from Greece > He by his ‘anfwer, diverted the King from going forward ‘ with his building Ships : the Iflanders, faith he,
^ have bought a world of Horfes, intending an ‘ Expedition againft Sardk ; and Crafus think- ‘ ing he had Ipoken truth, anlwered, I wilh the ‘ Gods would put it in their minds to come againft ‘ the Lydians on Horfe-back; he replied,It is not ‘ without reaibn, great King, that you wifh and fhope to catch the Iflanders on Horle-back in the ‘Continent; and what think you the Iflanders wilh ‘more,than ('hearing your preparation to fet out a ‘Navy againft them) that they may catch the Ly- ‘ dians upon the5Sea,and revenge the caule of thole ‘ inland Grecians whom you have reduced toler- ‘ vitude.Cr^^j much delighted with this Speech,
‘ and diffwaded ffor it feemed to him he Ipoke ‘ very ingenioufly) from building a navy,ga\^ it 0- ‘ ver,and contraffed amity with the Ionian Illands.
CHAP. 11
Hk moral Sentences Precepts, and Verfes.
OF his Apothegms, Laertius recites thefe.
‘ The Gods themfelves cannot refill necef- ‘ lity. Power Ihews the Man. Being on a time ‘ demanded what is beft,he anfwered. To do the ‘ prefent well. To Crafus, who asked; which was ‘the greateft Government? That of various Woodri^thhe) meanhig the Law ('carved..^ in , wooden
^7-
O
fap.
‘ wooden Tables.To a Phoca,’an,-who faid, I muft . ‘ Who makes a Law muft: not that Law tranfgrefs: ‘ feek an honeft Man : though you feek much,| ‘ Purchafe all Friends thou canft in happinefs.
‘ (faith he)you,(hall not find hirn. To fome who ‘ And to the feweft truft dn thy diftrek
t Of his theft vt^ere moft celebrious.
TVho hath a ^iver and a Bovo^
Againjl a voicked Man Jhould go^
IVhofe doubtful Tongue never exj?reJ}^
The. fahhlejs meaning of hts Breajl.
His particular Sentence wzs^Know Opportunity,
CHAP. III.
‘ demanded what was mofl: pleafing,heaiifwer’d, ' Time. He laid it was the part of wift Men to ‘ forfte inconveniences , and prevent them be- ‘ fore they came ; of valiant Men, to order them t SymM. fepu ‘ 'yell when they come,
Athen. deipn, lib. lo.
f Laert,
Trom. 'vwS-
* Stoh. 28.
Add theft from iYlutarchf That Prince is hap- ‘ py,who can make his SubjeH afraid not of him, ‘ but for him.That Common-wealth is beft order- ‘ ed, where the wicked have no Command, and ‘ the good have.That Houle is beft ordered,which ‘ needs nothing either of ornament or neceflity.
^ He counfelled Beriander to Ihun drunken- nefs and excels in feafting, left he Ihould be known to be what he w as, not what he ftemed.
:|: To a young Man asking his advice con¬ cerning Marriage, what direftions .he gave, is thus expreft by Callimachus.
‘ An Acarndtan Stranger Fittacus.
‘ Uyrrhadius Son of Lefbos queftion’d thus *,
‘ Father, a double March is offered me ^
‘ The birth and means of one with mine agree *, ‘ The other far exceeds me, which is beft ?
' By your Advice my aim lhall be addreft.
‘ Lifting his Staff, (his Ages foie defence)
‘ He pointing faid,go fetch advice from thence-, ^
‘ (There he elpi’d Ibme boys by chance at play,
‘ As they were whipping Tops along the way)
' Follow their fteps faith he. When nigh he drew, ‘ He heard them fay, an equal take to you j ‘ By which direflion guided, he forfook ‘ The richer Fortune, and the equal took ‘ Be you cas he) by this wife Counfel led,
‘ And take an equal to your Marriage-Bed.
Whither JEJchyhts ( as is obftrv’d by his Scholiaft) alluded faying.
‘ Wift, truly wift was he ‘ Who firft Sententioufly ‘ His Judgment thus expreft,
‘ An equal Match is beft.
His moral Precepts are thus colleffed by ^ Temeiriifs Fhaleretts., Know opportunity j ‘ what thou intendeft, fpeak not before thou ‘ doft it, for being ffuftrate of thy hope, thou ‘ wilt be derided. Ule thy Friends. What ‘ thou tak’ft ill in thy Neighbour, do not thy ‘ felf. Reproach not the unhappy , for the ‘Hand of God is on them. Reftore what is ‘ committed to thy Truft. Bear with thy Neigh- ‘bour. Love thy Neighbour. Reproach nor ‘ thy Friend, though he recede from thee a ‘ little -, nor wilh well to thy Enemy ; it is a- ‘ gainft Reafon. It is hard to forefee the fu- ‘ tuie, what is paft is certain, what is to come ‘ obfcute. The Earth is faithful", the Sea faith ‘ left i Gain infatiable. Acquire Honefty ; feek ‘ Obftquioufneft-, love Dilcipline, Temperance,
‘ Prudence, Truth, Faith, Experience, Dexterity,
‘ Society, Diligence, Oeconomy, and Piety.
His Deaths Brother., Son^ Writings.
^TJE lived to a full Age, above Seventy^
Jn Years, or ( following the account of Guidos for his Birth ) Eighty, f Lucian exceeds, , who reckons him amongft thoft who lived one ‘ Hundred years-, for he t died when Artjiome-. nes was Archon, in the third Year of the fifty ‘ ftcond Olympiad : Upon his Monument this Epitaph,
Weep Citizens .,as f acred Lesbos weeps
For Pittacus j this Tomb his AJJoes keeps.
_ He had a Brother, who dying without IfTue, his Eftate devolved to Yittacus 5 whereupon, re- fufing the Wealth Crafus offered him, he laid, he had* more by half than he delired.
He Married a Wife of Birth higher thanhim- ftlf. Sifter to Son of Fenthilus ; (he be¬ haved her felfimperioufly towards him j where¬ of * Ylutarch gives this Inftance, Having invited* I”''”" fome Friends., fie came in and overthrew the'Ta-^’^^^”^'^^ ble j he feeing his Guefis troubled.,faid., ‘ Each of ^ you hath fo?ne Misfortune fe Is happiefi who hath ‘ no more than this. Laertius faith. The Advice he gave concerning equal Marriage {Chap 2.) was out of reftntment of hi^ own Troubles.
^ He had a Son named Tyrrheus, who at Cu- V03l fitting in a BarbeTs Shop (as was ufed a- mongft the Ancients, by fuch as loved to dif- cqurft of News) was cafually killed by a Br after with a Blow of a Hatchet • the Cumeans took the Offender and fent him to Pittacus ; he being informed of the Accident, fet him at liberty, fay¬ ing, Fardon Is bettor than Fenitence.
Of his Writings Laertius mentions, already cited.
Elegies amounting to 600 Verfts.
Of Laws in Proft j direfted to hls own
Countrymen. .
Lmti
Aufonius cites theft as his ;
‘ None know to fpeak who know not to refrain, ‘ One good Man’s praife ’fore many ill mens gain. ‘ He’s mad who envies in the happy, pride -,
‘ Or grief in the unhappy doth deride.
Epiftles of which this is preftrved j Yittdcus to Crcefus.
‘ You command me to come to Lydia to be- ‘ hold your Wealth ; without fight whereof ‘T can eafily believe the Son of Alyattes, to ‘ be the richeft of Kings, and therefore need not in that refped go to Sardis- for I want ‘ not Gold, but have enough even for my Friends ‘ alfo ; yet I will come to you to enjoy your ‘ Converlation as a Gueft.
^ There was another Fittacus, called the Lef a Law giver j mentioned by Fhavorinus’^ laett.
ftr
and Demetrius,
BIAS.
59
P A a T I.
bias.

Bias.
Chap. i.
■ .JT
fLaerp*
Bias his Lifei
^ was of Wiene^ Son of Tutamis;
U fome affirm he was rich, others that he nadnoEftate, but lived as an Inmate. Satyrus ranked him firftof the feven wife Men ; the occafion whereby that Title was conferred on hui^ vvas tWs 5 he redeemed feme Captive ^/^JJeman Virgins , brought them up as his Daughters, gave them Portions, and lo fent them back to their Parents: A Tripod being
afterwards found at Athens (as was related in the Life^ of Thales.^ the Place only different) v?ith this Inlcription in Gold , To the Wife. Thefe Virgins (as Satyrus affirms) or (as ?ha- nodicus) their Father came into the Congre¬ gation, and pronounced Bias Wife., decla¬ ring what he had done for them : Hereupon the Tripod was fent to him, which Bias be¬ holding , averred Apollo to be the moft wife,
and
40
BIAS.