Page:History of Greece Vol XI.djvu/73

 CHARACTER OF DIONYSIUS. 47 memorable degree, daring with sagacity. 1 This criticism, corning from an excellent judge, is borne out by the biography of both, so far as it comes to our knowledge. No other Greek can be pointed out, who, starting from a position humble and unpromising, raised himself to so lofty a pinnacle of dominion at home, achieved such striking military exploits abroad, and preserved his grandeur un- impaired throughout the whole of a long life. Dionysius boasted that he bequeathed to his son an empire fastened by adamantine chains ; 2 so powerful was his mercenary force so firm his posi- tion in Ortygia so completely had the Syracusans been broken into subjection. There cannot be a better test of vigor and abili- ty than the unexampled success with which Dionysius and Aga~ thokles played the game of the despot, and to a certain extent that of the conqueror. Of the two, Dionysius was the most fa- vored by fortune. Both indeed profited by one auxiliary accident, which distinguished Syracuse from other Grecian cities ; the local speciality of Ortygia. That islet seemed expressly made to be garrisoned as a separate fortress, apart from, as well as against, the rest of Syracuse, having full command of the harbor, docks, naval force, and naval approach. But Dionysius had, besides, se- veral peculiar interventions of the gods in his favor, sometimes at the most critical moments : such was the interpretation put by his enemies (and doubtless by his friends also) upon those repeated pestilences which smote the Carthaginian armies with a force far more deadly than the spear of the Syracusan hoplite. On foui or five distinct occasions, during the life of Dionysius, we read of this unseen foe as destroying the Carthaginians both in Sicily and in Africa, but leaving the Syracusans untouched. Twice did it arrest the progress of Imilkon, when in the full career of victory ; once, after the capture of Gela and Kamarina a second time, when, after his great naval victory off Ivatana, he had brought his numerous host under the walls of Syracuse, and was actually master of the open suburb of Achradina. On both these occa- sions the pestilence made a complete revolution in the fce of the 1 Polyb. xv. 35. Aid /cat HonvUov ^Knriuvu facri, rbv Trpunv Ka TiSfif/aavTa Kap^doviovf, EpuTTidsvTa, rivaq vKO%ap8ai'?i Trpa ih'Spaf yeyovevai KOI avv vij rofy^porarotf, elirtiv, r:i>f Kepi ' KOi AlOVVfflOV TOV SlKfTltUTdf. 3 riutarch, Dion, c. 7.