by Plutarch
36. During his year in office, Aratus was defeated by Cleomenes in a battle near the Lycaeum171 and took to flight. Because he was separated from the others during the night, everyone believed that he had been killed, and once again a report of his death circulated widely among the Greeks, but in fact he was safe. And instead of being satisfied with escaping alive, he rallied his troops and seized this opportunity, when no one was expecting it or even giving any thought to its possibility, for a sudden assault on Mantinea, a city that was allied to Cleomenes. He captured the city, installed a garrison and made all its resident aliens into full citizens.172 All on his own, then, Aratus gained for the defeated Achaeans what they could not easily have acquired had they been victorious.173
The Lacedaemonians then undertook a new expedition, this time against Megalopolis. Aratus went to the city’s aid, but was hesitant about giving Cleomenes an opportunity of using skirmishers to draw the Achaeans into a pitched battle, and for this reason resisted the Megalopolitans in their demands for action. Aratus had never been naturally well disposed to fighting pitched battles, and on this occasion his army was inferior in numbers. And he was up against a man who was daring and young, whereas his own courage was past its prime and his ambition had dimmed. He also thought that the reputation Cleomenes did not yet possess, but was trying to gain by his daring, he had already and must preserve by way of his caution.
37. Nevertheless, his light-armed troops did make a sally against the Spartans and drove them back as far as their camp, where Aratus’ men became dispersed among the tents. Even then Aratus would not advance his infantry. Instead, he stationed them before a ravine separating the two forces and ordered them not to cross it. This inaction outraged Lydiades, who hurled abuse at Aratus and then summoned the cavalry, bidding them go to the help of the pursuers and not let victory slip away. He furthermore pleaded with them not to forsake him as he went into combat for the sake of his native city. He was soon joined by many brave men, and taking courage in their numbers he attacked the enemy’s right wing, which he routed and put to flight. His ardour and his desire for glory, however, combined to make him reckless, and he let himself be drawn into terrain that was very complex, heavily planted with trees and lined with broad ditches. Here he was ambushed by Cleomenes and fell,174 after fighting brilliantly and nobly before the gates of his native city. The rest of the cavalry fled back to the main line of the infantry, throwing the soldiers into confusion and thus spreading their experience of defeat over the whole of the army. Aratus was severely blamed for this, because he appeared to have abandoned Lydiades. The Achaeans left the field in anger and Aratus was compelled to follow them to Aegium.175 There an assembly was held which voted to deny him funds and to stop providing him with mercenaries: if he wished to continue this war, he must provide his own means for doing so.176
38. Indignant at this treatment, Aratus resolved at once to surrender the public seal and resign his office, but, after giving the matter some thought, he continued as general for the rest of his term. Leading the Achaeans to Orchomenus,177 he fought a battle with Megistonous,178 Cleomenes’ stepfather, in which he gained a victory,179 killing 300 of the enemy and capturing Megistonous alive. Now, it had become customary for Aratus to be general every other year, but when next his turn came round, although he was nominated, he refused to accept the office, and Timoxenus was elected general.180 The excuse that is usually given for his refusal is that he was angry with the Achaean public, but this is unconvincing. His actual reason was the state of affairs in which the Achaean League found itself.
For no longer did the power of Cleomenes advance quietly and gradually, nor were his designs any longer hindered by civic authorities. Indeed, after he had murdered the ephors,181 redistributed the land and made many resident aliens into full citizens, he possessed complete control of Sparta.182 At once he began to menace the Achaeans and demand that he be granted hegemony over the league.183 Indeed, this is why Aratus is regarded by many as blameworthy, because, at a time when affairs of state were beset by surge and storm, he was like a ship’s pilot who deserts his post and leaves the rudder to someone else184 – when the right thing for him to do was to take command of the Achaean League, whether or not it was willing, and save it.
Or if he despaired of Achaean affairs and the might of the Achaean League, it was better that he should yield to Cleomenes than reduce the Peloponnese to a condition of barbarism by allowing Macedonian garrisons to be installed185 and by filling the Acrocorinth with troops of Illyrians and Gauls.186 Nor, in the case of men he had overcome militarily and politically – and whom he constantly abuses in the pages of his Memoirs – should he have turned them into despots in their own cities while diplomatically describing them as allies. For if Cleomenes was lawless and tyrannical – and it must be conceded that he was – he was nevertheless descended from the Heracleidae187 and a native of Sparta, and even the most obscure citizen of that city was more worthy than the greatest of the Macedonians to be made their leader by men who have even the least regard for the noble character of Greek birth. Furthermore, Cleomenes, when he sought this office from the Achaeans, promised the cities many good things in exchange for the honour and title they were bestowing,188 whereas Antigonus,189 although he was proclaimed their leader with absolute authority on land and at sea, would not accept the office until the Achaeans agreed to offer him the Acrocorinth as payment190 for his leadership. In this he copied the hunter in Aesop’s fable, for he would not mount the Achaeans, however much they begged him to do so and submitted themselves through their embassies and decrees, until they accepted garrisons and offered him hostages, just as if they were consenting to wear bridles.191
And yet Aratus employs all his eloquence in justifying his decision as one dictated by necessity. Polybius, however, says that Aratus had long been suspicious of Cleomenes’ boldness, and, well before there was any necessity of doing so, had begun secret negotiations with Antigonus.192 He also induced the Megalopolitans to ask the Achaeans to make an appeal to Antigonus,193 for these were the people suffering the most in this war, since Cleomenes was constantly invading and plundering their territory. Phylarchus194 gives a similar account of these events, although one would be loath to accord him complete credence without Polybius’ corroboration, for he is so fond of Cleomenes that, whenever he mentions him, he is carried away by his enthusiasm for the man, and he writes his History as if he were making a case in court, always accusing Aratus and defending Cleomenes.
39. The Achaeans, then, lost Mantinea when Cleomenes recaptured it,195 and, after they were defeated by him in a pitched battle near Hecatombaeum,196 became so panic-stricken that they immediately invited Cleomenes to come to Argos and there accept leadership of the league.197 However, when Aratus learned that Cleomenes was on his way and had reached Lerna198 with his army, he became frightened and sent representatives to ask Cleomenes to come with 300 men only, inasmuch as he was joining friends and allies: if, however, he did not trust the Achaeans, he could accept hostages. Cleomenes responded that he was insulted and mocked by these demands, and so departed. First, however, he wrote a letter to the Achaeans filled with accusations and invective directed against Aratus. Aratus responded with letters denouncing Cleomenes. They went so far in abusing and defaming one another that they even maligned each other’s marriages and wives.
After this, Cleomenes sent a herald to the Achaeans to declare war. He came very close, with the help of traitors, to capturing the city of Sicyon,199 then turned aside to assault Pellene, which he took after the Achaean commander200 fled. Shortly thereafter he captured Pheneus and Penteleium.201 Then Argos went over to his side, and Phlius accepted a Spartan garrison. In short, not one of the cities that had recently been added to the Achaean League remained safe or reliable. Indeed, Aratus found himself surrounded by great turmoil, for he saw how agitation was spreading throughout the Peloponnese as all its cities were being disrupted by revolutionaries.202
40. Indeed, no place remai
ned undisturbed, nor was anyone satisfied with the current condition of political affairs, but even at Sicyon and Corinth there were many who were known to be in negotiations with Cleomenes, men who, owing to their passion for personal power, had long held the Achaean League in secret disaffection. In order to check these parties, Aratus was invested with absolute power.203 In Sicyon he executed any who were disloyal, but in Corinth, when he tried to discover and punish traitors there, he angered the multitude, who, in their simmering hostility against the government of the Achaean League, had begun to feel oppressed by it.204 Therefore the Corinthians hastily assembled in the temple of Apollo and summoned Aratus, having resolved either to kill or arrest him, after which they would rise up against the league. He came, leading his horse behind him, like a man without any distrust or suspicion, when suddenly many in the assembly leapt to their feet, hurling abuse and accusations. Aratus, however, kept his composure, and with a mild voice asked them to sit down and not to stand all at once, shouting in an unruly fashion, but instead to allow inside those who were waiting at the door. As he was saying these things, Aratus gradually retired, as if he were intending to hand over his horse to someone, and in this way he slipped out. As he made his way through the city, he spoke calmly with any Corinthians he met and advised them to go to the temple of Apollo, and he carried on like this without attracting attention until he had reached the citadel. There he leapt on his horse and ordered Cleopater, the commander of the garrison, to guard the place closely. He then rode to Sicyon, followed by only thirty of his soldiers, for the rest had deserted him and dispersed. The Corinthians soon learned of his escape, and, although they pursued him, failed to capture him. They then summoned Cleomenes and handed their city over to him. For his part, the king believed that what he received from the Corinthians was less than what he had lost when they let Aratus get away. When all the inhabitants of the region known as Acte205 came over to Cleomenes and put their cities under his control, he began to build a wall and a palisade around the Acrocorinth.
41. A majority of the Achaeans joined Aratus at Sicyon, and, at an assembly convened there, he was elected general with absolute authority. He then surrounded himself with a bodyguard recruited entirely from his fellow-citizens. For thirty-three years206 he had directed the political affairs of the Achaeans and had been of all the Greeks pre-eminent both in power and reputation. But now he found himself isolated and helpless, like a man adrift in the shipwreck of his native city, amid great surge and peril. For the Aetolians, when he sought their aid, refused him,207 and although the Athenians were grateful and well disposed to him, they were prevented from helping him by Eurycleides and Micion.208
Now, Aratus possessed a house and property in Corinth, which Cleomenes did not touch, nor would he allow anyone else to do so. Instead, summoning Aratus’ friends and stewards, he instructed them to manage and protect everything as if they were to render an account to Aratus himself. Privately, the king sent Tripylus209 to Aratus, as well as, later, Megistonous, Cleomenes’ stepfather, with promises of many things, including an annual pension of 12 talents, which would double the pension sent by Ptolemy, who each year paid Aratus 6 talents.210 In exchange, Cleomenes demanded that he be declared the leader of the Achaeans and enjoy an equal share with them in safeguarding the Acrocorinth. Aratus responded that he was not the master of state affairs but was instead mastered by them. Cleomenes decided that Aratus was mocking him and at once invaded the territory of Sicyon, ravaging and plundering it. For three months he encamped before the city, but Aratus held out steadfastly. During this time, he pondered whether he should accept Antigonus as an ally on the condition of handing over the Acrocorinth to him, for the king was unwilling to help on any other terms.
42. The Achaeans then held an assembly at Aegium and summoned Aratus to attend.211 But it was dangerous for him to travel, since Cleomenes was encamped before the city. Furthermore, his fellow-citizens wanted to keep him in Sicyon and begged him not to expose himself to harm while the enemy were near, and even the women and children clung to him, weeping and crowding round him as if he were their common father and saviour. Nevertheless, after reassuring and comforting them, he rode out of the city and down to the sea in the company of ten friends and his son, who was now a young man.212 There they found ships lying at anchor, and, embarking on these, were conveyed to the assembly in Aegium. At this assembly the Achaeans resolved to summon Antigonus and hand over the Acrocorinth to him. Aratus even sent his son to the king, along with the other hostages. Angered by these actions, the Corinthians plundered Aratus’ property and made a present of his house to Cleomenes.
43. As Antigonus drew near with his army – he led a force of 20,000 Macedonian infantrymen and 1,300 cavalrymen – Aratus, along with the federal magistrates213 of the Achaean League, travelled by sea to meet him at Pegae.214 He had to elude Cleomenes to get there, and yet, at the same time, he was dubious about Antigonus and absolutely distrusted the Macedonians. This was because he knew how his own rise to eminence had been predicated on the harm he had done Macedonian interests and that the first and most important of his political principles had been his hatred of the previous Antigonus. Nevertheless, because he recognized that he had been brought to this juncture by the inexorable force of his circumstances, to which even those who appear masters are really slaves, he did not flinch from this dreadful encounter. As for Antigonus, when he was informed that Aratus was coming to meet him, whereas he greeted the other Achaeans politely but with due restraint, Aratus he at once welcomed with exceptional honour. And because in all his subsequent dealings with Aratus the king found him to be a man of courage and intelligence, he drew him into his inner circle.
It was not only that Aratus was valuable in important affairs. More than anyone else, he was a charming companion when the king was at leisure. Therefore, although Antigonus was still young,215 as soon as he observed how Aratus was by nature exceptionally well suited to be a king’s friend, he consistently preferred his intimacy to anyone else’s, either of the Achaeans or of the Macedonians who had accompanied him. In this way an omen which a god had revealed to Aratus through a sacrificial victim came to be proved true. For we are told that, not long before these events took place, Aratus was offering a sacrifice in which two gall-bladders were found wrapped within a single layer of fat inside the victim’s liver, which the seer interpreted as meaning that very soon Aratus would enter into an intimate friendship with what he most hated and opposed. At the time Aratus put little stock in this prediction, since it was his habit to distrust sacrificial signs or oracles and to prefer relying on his own calculations. Later, however, at a time when the war was going well, Antigonus gave a feast at Corinth to which he invited many guests. One of them was Aratus, whom the king allowed to recline near himself in a position of honour. It was not long before the king demanded that a cover be brought and asked Aratus whether it seemed cold to him as well. When Aratus answered that he was indeed shivering from the chill, the king directed him to draw nearer so that the slaves could cover both of them with the blanket they brought. At that moment Aratus remembered the sacrifice and burst out laughing. He then told the king about the omen and the prediction it inspired. But this happened at a later time.
44. After Antigonus and the Achaeans had exchanged oaths at Pegae, they turned directly to their campaign against the enemy. But inasmuch as Cleomenes had fortified Corinth, and its citizens defended themselves energetically, their struggle to take the city was a difficult one.216 In the meantime, Aristotle of Argos,217 a friend of Aratus, contacted him in secret, promising the defection of his city from Cleomenes if Aratus would bring forces there. After consulting with Antigonus, Aratus took 1,500 soldiers218 and boarded ships that sailed swiftly from the Isthmus to Epidaurus. But the Argives staged their revolt before Aratus arrived, falling upon Cleomenes’ men and locking them up in the citadel. When Cleomenes learned of this, he was afraid that, if his enemies seized control of Argos, they could cut him off from returning
safely to Sparta. Consequently, he abandoned the Acrocorinth during the night and rushed to the aid of his forces in Argos.219 He reached the city ahead of Aratus and once there quashed the Argive insurrection. Not long after this Aratus drew near, and when Antigonus, too, came into view with his army, Cleomenes withdrew to Mantinea.220
On account of this, all the cities that had defected again joined the Achaeans, and Antigonus took possession of the Acrocorinth. Aratus was elected general by the Argives,221 and he persuaded them to make a present to Antigonus of all the properties of the tyrant222 and those who had betrayed the city to Cleomenes. As for Aristomachus, he was tortured and drowned in the sea at Cenchreae. This episode did great damage to Aratus’ reputation, since a man who was by no means wicked, who had often cooperated with Aratus and who on his advice had surrendered his power and brought his city into the Achaean League, was nonetheless put to death in so lawless a fashion.223
45. By this time, Aratus was held to blame for other matters of Achaean policy as well. For instance, it was deemed his fault that they had made a present to Antigonus of the city of Corinth, as if it were simply some small village; that they had permitted him to sack Orchomenus224 and install a Macedonian garrison there; that they had decreed that they would neither write nor send an embassy to any other king without Antigonus’ permission;225 that they were obliged to furnish supplies and salaries for Macedonian soldiers;226 and that there were sacrifices, processions and games in Antigonus’ honour, which were initiated by Aratus’ fellow-citizens, who welcomed Antigonus into their city,227 where he lived in Aratus’ house as his guest. But his critics were unaware that, since he had given the reins to Antigonus, he was being dragged along in the train of the king’s authority and was no longer master of anything except his own voice, and even then it was dangerous for him to speak freely. For many of the king’s actions clearly upset Aratus, especially his treatment of statues. The statues of the tyrants in Argos, which had been removed from view,228 Antigonus restored, yet at the same time he removed the statues of the men who had captured the Acrocorinth,229 with the exception of Aratus’. Aratus made numerous appeals to the king regarding these matters, but could not persuade him.
