Leonidas: a poem.

THE PREFACE.

TO illustrate the following poem, to vin|dicate the subject from the censure of improbability, and to shew by the concurring evidence of the best historians, that such disinterested public virtue did once exist, I have thought, it would not be improper to prefix the subsequent narration.

WHILE Darius, the father of Xerxes, was yet on the throne of Persia, Cleomenes and Demaratus were kings in Lacedaemon, both descended from Hercules. Demaratus was un|fortunately expos'd by an uncertain rumour, which render'd his legitimacy suspected, to the

malice and treachery of his colleague, who had conceiv'd a personal resentment against him; for Cleomenes taking advantage of this report, persuaded the Spartans to examine into the birth of Demaratus, and refer the difficulty to the oracle of Delphi; and was assisted in his perfidious designs by a near relation of Dema|ratus, nam'd Leotychides, who aspir'd to suc|ceed him in his dignity. Cleomenes found means to corrupt the priestess of Delphi, who declar'd Demaratus not legitimate. Thus by the base practices of his colleague Cleomenes, and his kinsman Leotychides, Demaratus was expell'd from his office of king in the commonwealth, after having frequently signaliz'd his valour in its service. He went into voluntary banish|ment, and retiring to Asia was there protected by Darius; while Leotychides succeeded to the regal authority in Sparta. Upon the death of Cleomenes Leonidas was made king, who rul'd in conjunction with this Leotychides, when Xerxes, the son of Darius, invaded Greece. The

number of land and naval forces, which accom|panied that monarch, together with the servants, women, and other usual attendants on the army of an eastern prince, amounted to upwards of five millions, as reported by Herodotus, who wrote within a few years after the event, and pub|licly recited his history at the Olympic games. In this general assembly not only from Greece itself, but from every part of the world, where|ever a colony of Grecians was planted, had he greatly exceeded the truth, he must certainly have been detected, and censur'd by some a|mong so great a multitude, and such a vo|luntary falshood must have entirely destroy'd that merit and authority, which have procur'd to Herodotus the veneration of all posterity, with the appellation of the father of history. On the first news of this attempt upon their li|berty a convention was immediately held at the Isthmus of Corinth, compos'd of deputies from the several states of Greece, to consult on proper measures for the public safety. The Spartans

also sent messengers to enquire of the oracle at Delphi into the event of the war, who return'd with an answer from the priestess of Apollo, that either a king descended from Hercules must die, or Lacedaemon would be entirely de|stroy'd. Leonidas immediately offer'd to sa|crifice his life for the safety of Lacedaemon, and marching to Thermopylae possess'd himself of that important pass with three hundred of his countrymen; who with the forces of some o|ther cities in the Peloponnesus, together with the Thebans, Thespians, and the troops of those states, which adjoin'd to Thermopylae, compos'd an army of near eight thousand men.

XERXES was now advanc'd as far, as Thessalia; when hearing, that a small body of Grecians was assembled at Thermopylae, with some Lacedaemonians at their head, and among the rest Leonidas, a descendant of Hercules, he dispatch'd a single horseman before to ob|serve

their numbers, and discover their designs. When this horseman approach'd, he could not take a view of the whole camp, which lay con|ceal'd behind a rampart formerly rais'd by the Phocians at the entrance of Thermopylae; so that his whole attention was employ'd on those, who were on guard before the wall, and who at that instant chanc'd to be the Lacedaemo|nians. Their manner and gestures greatly as|tonish'd the Persian; some were amusing them|selves in gymnastic exercises; others were comb|ing their hair; and all discover'd a total disregard of him, whom they suffer'd to depart without molestation, and report to Xerxes, what he had seen: which appearing to that prince quite ri|diculous, he sent for Demaratus, who was with him in the camp, and requir'd him to ex|plain this strange behaviour of his countrymen. Demaratus inform'd him, that it was a custom among the Spartans to comb down and ad|just their hair, when they were determin'd to fight till the last extremity. Xerxes notwith|standing

in the confidence of his power sent am|bassadors to the Grecians to demand their arms, to bid them disperse, and become his friends and allies; which proposals being receiv'd with dis|dain, he commanded the Medes and Saces to seize on the Grecians, and bring them alive into his presence. These nations immediately at|tack'd the Grecians, and were soon repuls'd with great slaughter; fresh troops still succeed|ed, but with no better fortune than the first, being oppos'd to an enemy not only superiour in valour and resolution, but who had the ad|vantage of discipline, and were furnish'd with better arms both offensive and defensive.

PLUTARCH in his Laconic apothegms re|ports, that the Persian king offer'd to invest Leonidas with the sovereignty of all Greece, provided he would join his arms to those of Per|sia. This offer was too considerable a conde|scension to have been made before a tryal of their force, and must therefore have been propos'd by

Xerxes, after such a series of ill success, as might probably have depress'd the insolence of his temper; and it may be easily suppos'd, that the virtue of Leonidas was proof against any temptations of that nature. Whether this be a fact, or not, thus much is certain, that Xerxes was reduc'd to extreme difficulties by this reso|lute defence of Thermopylae; till he was extri|cated from his distress by a Malian nam'd Epi|altes, who conducted twenty thousand of the Persian army into Greece through a pass, which lay higher up the country among the mountains of Oeta: whereas the passage at Thermopylae was situated on the sea-shore between the end of those mountains and the Malian bay. The de|fence of the upper pass had been committed to a thousand Phocians, who upon the first sight of the enemy inconsiderately abandon'd their station, and put themselves in array upon a neighbouring eminence; but the Persians wisely avoided an engagement, and with the utmost expedition march'd to Thermopylae. Leonidas

no sooner receiv'd information, that the Barba|rians had pass'd the mountains, but he command|ed the allies to retreat, reserving the three hundred Spartans, and four hundred Thebans, whom, as they follow'd him with reluctance at first, he now compell'd to stay. But the Thespians, whose number amounted to seven hundred, would not be persuaded by Leonidas to forsake him. Their commander was Demophilus, and the most eminent amongst them for his va|lour was Dithyrambus. Among the Spartans the most conspicuous next to Leonidas was Di|eneces, who being told, that the multitude of Persian arrows would obscure the sun, replied, the battle would then be in the shade. Two bro|thers named Alpheus and Maron are also record|ed for their valour, and were Lacedaemonians. Megistias a priest, by birth an Acarnanian, re|fus'd to desert Leonidas, though intreated by him to consult his safety, and retire; but sent away his only son, and remain'd himself be|hind to die with the Lacedaemonians. Among

the three hundred Spartans were two call'd Eurytus and Aristodemus, who being almost blind were dismiss'd by Leonidas. Of these Aristodemus return'd home; but Eurytus wait|ed, till the Persians descended from the hills, and then commanding his slave to lead him a|mong the combatants was slain with the rest of his countrymen.

HERODOTUS relates, that Leonidas drew up his men in the broadest part of Thermopy|lae; where, being surrounded by the Persians, they fell with great numbers of their ene|mies: but Plutarch, Diodorus Siculus, and o|thers affirm, that the Grecians attack'd the ve|ry camp of Xerxes in the night. The action is thus describ'd by Diodorus.

"The Grecians having now rejected all thoughts of safety, preferring glory to life, unanimously call'd on their general to lead them against the Per|sians, before they could be appris'd, that their friends had pass'd round the mountains.

Leonidas embrac'd the occasion, which the ready zeal of his soldiers afforded, and com|manded them forthwith to dine, as men, who were to sup in Elysium. Himself in conse|quence of this command took a repast, as the means to furnish strength for a long continuance, and to give perseverance in danger. After a short refreshment the Gre|cians were now prepar'd, and receiv'd orders to assail the enemies camp, to put all, they met, to the sword, and force a passage to the royal pavilion; when, form'd into one compact body with Leonidas himself at their head, they march'd against the Persians, and enter'd their camp at the dead of night. The Barbarians wholly unprepar'd, and blindly conjecturing, that their friends were defeat|ed, and themselves attack'd by the united power of Greece, hurry together from their tents with the utmost disorder and consterna|tion. Many were slain by Leonidas and his party, but much greater multitudes by their

own troops, to whom in the midst of this blind confusion they were not distinguishable from enemies: for as night took away the power of discerning truely, and the tumult was spread universally over the camp, a pro|digious slaughter must naturally ensue. The want of command, of a watch-word, and of confidence in themselves reduc'd the Persians to such a state of confusion, that they de|stroy'd each other without distinction. Had Xerxes continu'd in the royal pavilion, the Grecians without difficulty might have brought the war to a speedy conclusion by his death; but he at the beginning of the tumult betook himself to flight with the ut|most precipitation; when the Grecians rush|ing into the tent, put to the sword most of those, who were left behind: then, while night lasted, they rang'd through the whole camp in diligent search of the tyrant. When morning appear'd, the Persians perceiving the true state of things, held the inconsiderable

number of their enemies in contempt; yet were so terrified at their valour, that they avoided a near engagement; but inclosing the Grecians on every side shower'd their darts and arrows upon them at a distance, and in the end destroy'd their whole body. Such was the pe|riod of their lives, who under the conduct of Leonidas defended the pass of Thermopy|lae. Who can refrain from admiring the virtue of these men, who with one consent maintaining the post allotted by their country chearfully renounc'd their lives for the com|mon safety of Greece, and esteem'd a glori|ous death more eligible than to live with dis|honour? Nor is the consternation of the Persians incredible. Who among those Bar|barians could have conjectur'd such an event? who could have expected, that five hundred men would have dar'd to attack a million? Wherefore shall not all posterity from that day reflect on the virtue of these men as the object of imitation, who, though the loss of

their lives was the necessary consequence of their undertaking, were yet unconquer'd in their spirit; and among all the great names deliver'd down to remembrance are the only heroes, who obtain'd more glory in their fall than others from the brightest victories? With justice may they be deem'd the pre|servers of the Grecian liberty, even prefer|ably to those, who were conquerors in the battles fought afterwards with Xerxes; for the memory of their valour, who fell at Thermopylae, for ever dejected the Barbarians, while the Greeks were fir'd with emulation to equal such a pitch of magnanimity. Upon the whole there never were any before these, who attain'd to immortality through the meer excess of virtue; whence the praise of their fortitude has not been recorded by hi|storians only, but has been celebrated by numbers of poets, among others by Simoni|des the lyric."

PAUSANIAS in his Laconics considers the defence of Thermopylae, as an action superior to any atchiev'd by their cotemporaries, and to all the exploits of preceding ages.

"Never (says he) had Xerxes beheld Greece, or laid in ashes the city of Athens, had not his forces under Hydarnes been conducted through a path over Oeta, and by that means incom|passing the Greeks overcome and slain Leo|nidas."

Nor is it improbable, that Leonidas should have maintain'd his post in so narrow a pass, till the whole army of Xerxes had pe|rish'd by famine. At the same time the Per|sian navy had been miserably shatter'd by a storm, and worsted in an engagement with the Athenians at Artemisium.

To conclude, the fall of Leonidas and his brave companions, so meritorious to their coun|try, and so glorious to themselves, has obtain'd such an high degree of veneration and applause

from past ages, that few among the antient compilers of history have been silent on this amazing instance of magnanimity and zeal for liberty; and many are the epigrams and in|scriptions now extant, some on the whole body, others on particulars, who died at Thermopy|lae, still preserving their memory in every na|tion conversant with learning, and at this dis|tance of time still rendring their virtue the ob|ject of admiration and praise.

I SHALL now detain the reader no longer, than to take this public occasion of expressing my sincere regard for the LORD VISCOUNT COBHAM, and the sense of my obligations for the early honour of his friendship. To him I inscribe the following poem; and herein might I be justified, independent of all personal motives, from his Lordship's public conduct so highly distinguish'd by his disinterested zeal, and unsha|ken fidelity to his country, not less in civil life

than in the field: and to whom a poem found|ed on a character eminent for military glory, and love of liberty is due from the nature of the subject.

R. GLOVER.