Page:Plutarch's Lives (Clough, v.5, 1865).djvu/400

 392 ARATUS. door, upon which he placed his bed, and there slept after such a fashion, as one in his condition can be supposed to sleep, that is, interruptedly and in fear. The ladder was taken away by the woman's mother, and locked up in another room ; in the morning she brought it again, and putting it to, called up this brave and wonderful tyrant, who came crawling out like some creeping thing out of its hole. Whereas Aratus, not by force of arms, but lawfully and by his virtue, lived in possession of a firmly settled command, wearing the ordinary coat and cloak, being the common and declared enemy of all tyrants, and has left behind him a noble race of descend- ants surviving among the Grecians to this day ; while those occupiers of citadels and maintainers of body- guards, who made all this use of arms and gates and bolts to protect their lives, in some few cases perhaps escaped, hke the hare from the hunters; but in no instance have we either house or family, or so much as a tomb to which any respect is shown, remaining to pre- serve the memory of any one of them. Against this Aristippus, therefore, Aratus made many open and many secret attempts, whilst he endeavored to take Argos, though without success; once, particularly, clap- ping scaling ladders in the night to the wall, he desperate- ly got up upon it with a few of his soldiers, and killed the guards that opposed him. But the day appearing, the tyrant set upon him on all hands, whilst the Argives, as if it had not been their liberty that was contended for, but some Nemean game going on for which it was their privilege to assign the prize, like fair and impartial judges, sat looking on in great quietness. Aratus, fighting bravely, was run through the thigh with a lance, yet lie main- tained his ground against the enemy till night, and, had ho been able to go on and hold out that night also, he had gained his point ; for the tyrant thought of nothing