The philosophie, commonlie called, the morals vvritten by the learned philosopher Plutarch of Chæronea. Translated out of Greeke into English, and conferred with the Latine translations and the French, by Philemon Holland of Coventrie, Doctor in Physicke. VVhereunto are annexed the summaries necessary to be read before every treatise

MICCA and MEGISTO.

ARistotimus having usurped tyranny and violent dominion over the Elians, bare himselfe much upon the favor and countenance of king Antigonus, established the same; but so cruelly and excessively he abused this power and authoritie under him, that in nothing he was tolerable; for over and besides that, he was a man by nature given to violence (by reason that he stood in some servile feare, and was glad to please the guard that he had about him of mixt Bar∣barians, whom he had gotten together from divers parts, for the defence of his state and person) he suffered them also to commit many insolent parts and cruell outrages upon his subjects; and [ 40] among the rest, that unhappie indignitie which befell to Philodemnus, who had a faire damosell to his daughter, named Micca, unto whom one of the captaines of the said tyrant, named Luci∣us, seemed to make court, not for any true love and heartie affection that he bare unto her, but upon a wanton lust to abuse and dishonour her bodie: so he sent for this maiden to come and speake with him: her parents seeing, that whether they would or no, constrained they should be to let her goe, gave her leave; but the damosell her selfe of a generous spirit and magnani∣mous heart, clasped them about and hung upon them, fell downe at their feet, and humbly be∣sought them, all that ever she could, rather to kill her out of hand, than to suffer her thus shame∣fully to be betraied, and villanously to be despoiled of her maidenhead: but for that she staied longer than was to the good liking of the foresaid Lucius, (who burned all this whiles in lust, and [ 50] had withall taken his wine liberally) he rose from the table in great choler, and went himselfe to∣ward her: when he came to the house, he found Micca with her head upon her fathers knees, and her he commanded to follow him; which she refused to do; whereupon he rent her clothes from her bodie, and whipped her starke naked; and she, without giving one word againe, endu∣red for her part with patience and silence all the smart and paine: but her father and mother, see∣ing, that with all their piteous praiers and tender teares, they could not prevaile nor boot anie thing with this wretch, turned to call and implore the helpe both of God and man, crying with a

loud voice: Out upon such injurious indignity and intolerable villany: whereupon, this barba∣rous villaine (growen now to be furious and enraged, partly with choler, and in part with drun∣kennesse) killed this silly poore girle, even as she couched her face in the very lap and bosome of her father: howbeit, for all this and such like wicked pranks plaied, the tyrant was nothing at all moved to pitie and compassion, but many citizens he murdered, and more he banished and caused to leave their countrey; in such sort, that (as the speech went) no fewer than eight hun∣dred fled to the Aetolians, craving at their hands to make meanes unto the tyrant, that they might have away their wives and little children also. Not long after, the tyrant of his owne ac∣cord caused proclamation to be made by sound of trumpet; that as many women as were willing to go unto their husbands, should make them ready and depart, yea, and cary with them as much [ 10] of their goods as they would: now when he understood, that they all with great joy of this pro∣clamation thus published, and that they were assembled together with much contentment of minde, to the number of sixe hundred, he commanded that they should depart, and put them∣selves in their journey all together on a certeine day by him prefixed, making semblant against that time, to provide a good convoy for their better security: when the time appointed was come, they flocked thicke to the gates of the city, having brought with them their trusses and fardles of such goods as they meant to have away with them, carying some of their little babes in their armes, taking order for others for to be brought in waggons; and so they staied there, & attended one anothers comming: but suddenly, many of the souldiers and those of the tyrants guard, came running toward them, and crying aloud afarre off: Stay, stay: now when they ap∣proched [ 20] nere, all the women they commanded to go backe againe, but the waines and waggons they turned together with the horses full upon them, and drave them amaine thorow the mids of the troupe and throng of the women, not suffering them either to follow, or to stay or succor their poore little infants, whom they saw to die before their faces: for some of them perished with falling out of the chariots to the ground, others were destroied and trampled under the horse feet; and all this while, these pensioners of the guard, with loud out-cries and with whip∣ping, drave the women before them, like as they had bene so many sheepe, and thronged them so hard, that one tumbled upon another; and thus they chased them, untill such time as they had cast them all into prison: but all their bag and baggage was seized upon, and brought unto Ari∣stotimus. Now when the men of Elis were were heerewith mightily offended; the religious wo∣men [ 30] consecrated to the service of Bacchus, whom they call the Sixteene (carrying in their hands boughs of olive trees, like suppliants, and chaplets of vine branches about their heads, which they tooke from the god whom they served) went to meet with Aristotimus about the market∣place of the citie: his squires and pensioners about him for the guard of his bodie, made a lane for them, and seemed (upon some reverence) to give them way that they might come nere: and the women at first kept silence, doing nought els but in most humble and deuout maner tender unto him their branches, like suppliants: but after that the tyrant understood that it was for the Eliens wives that they came thus to make supplication, and namely, that hee would take some commiseration of them; being wroth & displeased with his guard, he cried out upon them for suffering the said women to approch so neere unto his person; and thereupon commanded [ 40] them to drive some and to beat others, untill they were all chased out of the market-place; and more than all this, he condemned these religious votaries in a fine of two talents a piece. Du∣ring these occurrences, there was within the citie, one of the burgesses named Hellanicus, a man very farre stept in age, who was the authour of a conspiracie and insurrection against the tyrant; one that of all others he least distrusted, and whom he never thought likely to practise against him, both for that he was very aged, and also because but a little before he had buried two of his children: and it fortuned at the very same time, that frō Aetolia the exiles before named, passed into the territorie of Elis, and seized upon a fort called Amymom, situate in a very commodious place for to mainteine warre; where they received and enterteined many other inhabitants of the citie, who immediatly resorted thither, and ran apace: upon these tydings, the tyrant Ari∣stotimus [ 50] much fearing the sequel hereof, went unto their wives in prison; and thinking to com∣passe his desseignes better by feare, than favor and love, he commanded them to send unto their husbands, & to write unto them, for to abandon their holde and depart out of the countrey, me∣nacing the poore women, that if they did not so, he would cause their children first to be man∣gled with whips, and so killed before their face, and then put themselves also to death: all of them were silent a good while, & notwithstanding he importuned them a long time, and urged them to speake at once whether they would doe it or no? they looked one upon another without say∣ing

a word, giving him thereby to understand, that they stood in no feare, and were not astonied for all his threats: at the last, one of them, named Megisto, wife to Timoleon, and a woman whom the rest regarded and held as their captainesse, aswell in respect of her husbands honour, as her owne vertue, deigned not to rise up from her seat herselfe, nor suffered any of the rest to stand up; but sitting still in her place, thus said: If thou wert a wise man, thou wouldest not deale thus as thou doest, betweene women and their husbands, but rather send unto them, as to those who have the power and authoritie over their wives, and to deliver unto them better speeches than such, whereby thou hast deceived us; now if (being past hope to perswade them) thou thin∣kest to circumvent and delude them by the meanes of us, never looke that thou shalt abuse us any more, nor thinke that they will be so ill advised or so base minded, as that for to spare their [ 10] wives and little children, they will abandon and lose the libertie of their countrey: for surely the losse of us will not be to them so much, considering that they now enjoy us not, as the gaine and benefit, in delivering their countrey and fellow-citizens from such outrageous crueltie. Whiles Megisto enterteined Aristotimus with these speeches, he could no longer endure, but commanded her little sonne to be brought before him, for to murder him before her eies; and when the pensioners about the tyrant searched for him among other little boies that were play∣ing & wrestling together, his mother called unto him by name, saying: Come hither to me my boy, that thou maiest be delivered from the crueltie of this tyrant, before thou hast any sense or understanding to know what tyranny is: for a greater griefe it would be unto me another day to see thee for to serve like a slave vnworthily, than to die here presently: hereat Aristotimus through [ 20] impatience of furious anger, drew his sword upon the woman herselfe, meaning to run her tho∣row; but one of his familiar friends, named Cylon (who made semblant to be true & faithful unto him but hated him secretly in his hart, & indeed was of the complices in that conspiracy of Hel∣lanicus) stepped before him, and by his effectuall praiers turned his hand, making remonstrance unto him, that it was no generous and manly deed, but a womanish act: neither savoured it of a prince or such a personage as knew how to manage great affaires of State, to deale in that sort, which he forced and pressed so instantly that hardly and with much ado though it were; Aristo∣tinus was of a better minde, bethought himselfe and went his way. Now there befell unto him a strange accident, which presaged what mischiefe was toward him; for about high noone it was, when being in his bed-chamber, & reposing himself with his wife, whiles his dinner was now rea∣die [ 30] to be served up, those of his houshold might perceive an eagle soaring round over his house; and she let fal a bigge stone directly upon the very place of the roofe of the said chamber where he lay, as if upon deliberate purpose she had aimed and leveled as it were so to doe, himselfe hearing the noise and rap that the stone gave upon the house top over his head, and withall, the outcry beneath of those who beheld the foule, was mightily affrighted, and demanded what the matter might be? when he understood what it was; hee sent presently for the wizard or sooth∣saier, whom he was wont to use in such cases, and all troubled and perplexed in spirit, asked him what this signe might presage? the soothsaier cōforted him, & willed him to be of good cheere, saying unto himselfe: That it was Jupiter who wakened him, & shewed how willing he was to as∣sist and succour him; but unto other citizens whom he might trust, he expounded it otherwise, [ 40] and assured them that it was the vengeance of God, which speedily would light upon the tyrants head: whereupon Hellanicus and his adherents were resolved to deferre the execution of their desseignes no longer, but to set upon the enterprise the next morrow: in the night that came be∣tweene, Hellanicus as he slept, dreamed, and in that vision he thought, that one of his sons late deceased stood before him & said: Father, what meane you to lie a sleepe, considering that once to morrow you must be captaine general and sovereigne governor of this citie: Hellanicus won∣derfully encouraged by this vision, started up, and went to sollicit the rest of his complices and companions in the said conspiracie. By this time was Aristotimus advertised that Craterus was comming to aide him with a puissant armie, and lay encamped neere to Olympia; in the as∣surance and confidence whereof, he presently tooke Cylon with him, and went foorth with∣out [ 50] any guard about his person: Hellanicus seeing the opportunitie now offred, and taking the vantage thereof, gave not the signal and watchword which was agreed upon, with those who first were to set to the execution of their entended enterprise; but stretching foorth both his hands with a loud voice cried out: Now, now, my masters and valiant men, what staie you for? can you desire a fairer theater to shew your valour in, than to fight for the defence of your liber∣tie, in the very heart of your native countrey? At which words, Cylon drew his sword first, and smot one of them that followed and accompanied Aristotimus; but Thrasibulus and Lampis

came afront, and ran upon the tyrant himselfe, who preventing the venue of their stroake, fled for refuge and sanctuarie into the temple of Jupiter, where they slew him out-right, and drew his dead corps into the market place; and then assembled all the citizens thither, for to recover their freedome: but many of the people could not prevent the women; for they ranne out with the first in great alacritie, weeping and crying out for very joy, and environing their husbands round about, crowned them, and set chaplets of flowers upon their heads: then the multitude of the common people set upon the tyrants house, and assaulted it; his wife having shut her-selfe within her chamber, there hung herselfe, and whereas she had two daughters, virgins as yet, but in the prime and flower of their yeeres, ready for marriage; those they tooke, and by force haled them out of the house, with full intent to kill them; in the end after they had abused their bo∣dies [ 10] first, and then perpetrated all the villanie & shame they could devise unto them; which no doubt they would have put in execution, but that Megisto with other honest matrons of the citie, opposed themselves and came betweene, who cried aloud unto them; that in so dooing they should commit an indignitie unbeseeming them, if considering, that now being in the ve∣rie traine and high way of recovering their libertie, for to live from hencefoorth in a popular government, they should perpetrate as violent outrages, as the most bloudy and cruell tyrants are used to commit: the people in good respect and reverence to the honour and authoritie of this vertuous and honest dame, who spake her minde so frankely unto them with teares gushing out of her eies, were reclaimed and advised to offer no abuse nor vilanie unto their persons; but to put unto their choise what death they would die? and when they had brought them both back [ 20] againe into the house, and intimated unto them, that there was no other remedie but die they must, and that presently; the elder of the twaine named Myro, untied her girdle from about her waste, and with a running noose did it about her owne necke in maner of an halter; then kissing and embracing her yoonger sister, she praied her to marke what she did, and according to her example to doe thereafter: To the end (quoth she) that we may not die basely, unwoorthy the place from whence we are come and descended: but the yoonger desired againe, that she might die first, caught hold of the girdle and snatched it from her; then the elder: Well sister (quoth she) I never yet refused to do any thing that you desired at my hands; & even now content I am to doe so much for you as to endure and suffer that, which will be more greevous unto me than death it selfe, namely, to see my most deere and best beloved sister to die before me; which said, [ 30] she her selfe taught her how to fit the said girdle to her necke, and to knit it for the purpose, and when she perceived once that the life was out of her bodie, she tooke her downe and covered her breathlesse corps; then addressing her speech unto dame Megisto her selfe, she besought her, that she would not suffer her bodie after she was dead, to lie shamefully above the ground, and not interred: the sight heereof and the words withall were so patheticall, that there was not one present so hard hearted, or so spightfully and malicously bent against the tyrant, but deplo∣red their wofull estate, and pitied the generositie and magnanimitie of these two yoong ladies. Now albeit there be infinit presidents of noble deeds, that in old time, women have done in companies together; yet me thinkes these few examples which I have already delivered, may suffice: from hencefoorth therefore I will rehearse the particular vertuous acts of severall wo∣men [ 40] by themselves, as they come scattering into my remembrance: for I suppose that such nar∣rations and histories as these, doe not require of necessitie the precise order and consequence of the times.