Page:Plutarch's Lives (Clough, v.5, 1865).djvu/422

 •414 ARATUS. few days he brought over the whole island to his obe- dience, and his expedition against the ^tolians, so won- derfully successful, bi'ought Philip reputation for hearken- ing to good advice, and to Aratus for giving it ; for which things the king's followers envying him more than ever, and finding they could not prevail against him by their secret practices, began openly to abuse and affront him at the banquets and over their wine, with every kind of petulance and impudence ; so that once they threw stones at him as he was going back from supper to his tent. At which Philijj being much offended, immediately fined them twenty talents ; and finding afterwards that they still went on disturbing matters and doing mischief in his affairs, he put them to death. But with his run of good success, prosperity began to puflf him up, and various extravagant desires began to spring and show themselves in his mind ; and his natural bad inclinations, breaking through the artificial restraints he had put upon them, in a little time laid open and dis- covered his true and proper character. And in the first place, he privately injured the younger Aratus in his wife, which was not known of a good while, because he was lodged and entertamed at their house ; then he began to be more rough and untractable in the domestic politics of Greece, and showed plainly that he was wishing to shake himself loose of Aratus. This the Messenian affairs first gave occasion to suspect. . For they falling into sedi- tion, and Aratus being just too 'late with his succors, Philip, who got into the city one day before him, at once blew up the flame of contention amongst them, asking privately, on the one hand, the Messenian generals, if they had not laws whereby to suppress the insolence of the common people, and on the other, the leaders of the people, whether they had not hands to help themselves against their oppressors. Upon which gathering courage,