A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology. By various writers. Ed. by William Smith. Illustrated by numerous engravings on wood.

ARATUS.
--Troezen, Epidaurus, Argos, Hermione, Pellene,
Caphyae, Phlius, Pheneus, and Corinth, in which
the Achaean garrison kept only the citadel.It was now necessary to call on Antigonus for
the promised aid. Permission to pass through
Aetolia having been refused, he embarked his
army in transports, and, sailing by Euboea, landed his army near the isthmus, while Cleomenes
was occupied with the siege of Sicyon. (Polyb.
ii. 52.) The latter immediately raised the siege,
and hastened to defend Corinth; but no sooner
was he engaged there, than Aratus, by a masterstroke of policy, gained the assistance of a party in
Argos to place the Lacedaemonian garrison in a
state of siege. Cleomenes hastened thither, leaving
Corinth in the hands of Antigonus; but arriving too
late to take effectual measures against Aratus,
while Antigonus was in his rear, he retreated to
Mantineia and thence home. Antigonus meanwhile was by Aratus'. influence elected general of
the league, and made Corinth and Sicyon his
winter quarters. What hope was there now left
that the great design of Aratus' life could be accomplished,-to unite all the Greek governments
into one Greek nation? Henceforward the caprice
of the Macedonian monarch was to regulate the
relations of the powers of Greece. The career of
Antigonus, in which Aratus seems henceforward
to have been no further engaged than as his
adviser and guide, ended in the great battle of
Sellasia (B. c. 222), in which the Spartan power
was for ever put down. Philip succeeded Antigonus in the throne of Macedon (B. c. 221), and it
was his policy during the next two years (from
221 to 219 B. c.) to make the Achaeans feel how
dependent they were on him. This period is ac"mordingly taken up with incursions of the Aetolians,;he unsuccessful opposition of Aratus, and the trial
rhich followed. The Aetolians seized Clarium,
t fortress near Megalopolis (Polyb. iv. 6.), and
hence made their plundering excursions, till
'imoxenus, general of the league, took the place.nd drove out the garrison. As the time for the exiration of Aratus' office arrived, the Aetolian geneals Dorimachus and Scopas made an attack on
'harae and Patrae, and carried on their ravages up
o the borders of Messene, in the hope that
o active measures would be taken against them
ill the commander for the following year was
hosen. To remedy this, Aratus anticipated
is command five days, and ordered the troops of
ie league to assemble at Megalopolis. The Aetoans, finding his force superior, prepared to quit
re country, when Aratus, thinking his object
ifficiently accomplished, disbanded the chief part
his army, and marched with about 4000 to
atrae. The Aetolians turned round in pursuit,
id encamped at Methydrium, upon which Aratus
tanged his position to Caphyae, and in a battle,
hich began in a skirmish of cavalry to gain some
gh ground advantageous to both positions, was
tirely defeated and his army nearly destroyed.
re Aetolians marched home in triumph, and
catus was recalled to take his trial on several
arges,--assuming the command before his legal
ae, disbanding his troops, unskilful conduct in
aosing the time and place of action, and carelessss in the action itself. He was acquitted, not
the ground that the charges were untrue, but
consideration of his past services. For some time
er this the Aetolians continued their invasions,

ARATUS. 255
and Aratus was unable effectually to check them,
till at last Philip took the field as commander of
the allied army. The six remaining years of Aratus'
life are a mere history of intrigues, by which at different times his influence was more or less shaken
with the king. At first he was entirely set aside;
and this cannot be wondered at, when his object
was to unite Greece as an independent nation,
while Philip wished to unite it as subject to himself. In B. c. 218, it appears that Aratus regained his influence by an exposure of the treachery
of his opponents; and the effects of his presence
were shewn in a victory gained over the combined
forces of the Aetolians, Eleans, and Lacedaemonians. In B. c. 217 Aratus was the 17th time chosen
general, and every thing, so far as the security of
the leagued states was concerned, prospered; but
the feelings and objects of the two men were so
different, that no unity was to be looked for, so soon
as the immediate object of subduing certain states
was effected. The story told by Plutarch, of his
advice to Philip about the garrisoning of Ithome,
would probably represent well the general tendency
of the feeling of these two men. In B. c. 213 ha
died, as Plutarch and Polybius both say (Polyb.
viii. 14; Plut. Arat. 52), from the effect of poison
administered by the king's order. Divine honours
were paid to him by his countrymen, and annual
solemnities established. (Dict. of Ant. s. v. 'ApdeMsa.) Aratus wrote Commentaries, being a history of his own times down to B. c. 220 (Polyb.
iv. 2), which Polybius characterises as clearly
written and faithful records. (ii. 40.) The greatness of Aratus lay in the steadiness with which
he pursued a noble purpose, - of uniting the
Greeks as one nation; the consummate ability
with which he guided the elements of the
storm which raged about him; and the zeal
which kept him true to his object to the end,
when a different conduct would have secured to
him the greatest personal advantage. As a general, he was unsuccessful in the open field; but for
success in stratagem, which required calculation
and dexterity of the first order, unrivalled. The
leading object of his life was noble in its conception, and, considering the state of Macedon and of
Egypt, and more especially the existence of a contemporary with the virtues and abilities of Cleomenes, ably conducted. Had he been supported in
his attempt to raise Greece by vigour and purity,
such as that of Cleomenes in the cause of Sparta,
his fate might have been different. As it was, he
left his country surrounded by difficulty and danger to the guiding hand of Philopoemen and Lycortas. (Plut. Aratus and Agis; Polyb. ii. iv. vii.
viii.) [C. T. A.]
ARA'TUS ('Aparos), author of two Greek
astronomical poems. The date of his birth is not
known; but it seems that he lived about B. c.
270; it is probable, therefore, that the death of
Euclid and the birth of Apollonius Pergaeus happened during his life, and that he was contemporary with Aristarchus of Samos, and Theocritus,
who mentions him. (Idyll. vi. and vii.)
There are several accounts of his life by anonymous Greek writers: three of them are printed in
the 2nd vol. of Buhle's Aratus, and one of the
same in the Uranologium of Petavius. Suidas and
Eudocia also mention him. From these it appears
that he was a native of Soli (afterwards Pompeiopolls) in Cilicia, or (according to one authority) of