Attius Tullius

And exalted his army with the feeling that it was irresistible and invincible under his command.

People of the humbler and poorer sort, he so captivated by his leadership that they were filled with an amazing passion to have him for their tyrant, and some proposed it, and actually came to him in solicitation of it.

He was to rise superior to envy, abolish decrees and laws, and stop the mouths of the babblers who were so fatal to the life of the city, that he might bear an absolute sway and act without fear of the public informer.

What thoughts he himself had about a tyranny is uncertain.

Moreover, by actual benefits he gave them all a confidence in this future, promoting those who were already his friends and allies to large enterprises and honours and commands, and taking a share himself in their injustice and wickedness in order to gratify their rapacity.

Therefore all attached themselves to him, courted his favour, and fixed their hearts upon him, expecting to attain all their highest ambitions if only he remained in power.

Therefore they neither looked kindly upon Callicratidas at the first when he came to succeed Lysander in the admiralty, nor afterwards, when he had shown by manifest proofs that he was the justest and noblest of men, were they pleased with the manner of his leadership, which had a certain Doric simplicity and sincerity.

They did, indeed, admire his virtue, as they would the beauty of a hero's statue; but they yearned for the zealous support of Lysander, and missed the interest which he took in the welfare of his partisans, so that when he sailed away they were dejected and shed tears.

The Vultures are in arms.

They have a leader, Tullus Ophidius, that will put you to it.

I sin in envying his nobility, and were I anything but what I am, I would wish me only he.

You have fought together.

Scene 2.

Corioli, the Senate House.

Enter Tullus Ophidius and certain senators.

So your opinion is, Ophidius, that they of Rome are entered in our councils, and know how we proceed?

The Vultures are in arms.

They have a leader, Tullus Ophidius, that will put you to it.

I sin in envying his nobility, and were I anything but what I am, I would wish me only he.

You have fought together.

More than his singularity, he goes upon this present action.

Let's along.

Exeunt Scene 2 Corioli, the Senate House Enter Tullus Ophidius and certain senators.

So your opinion is, Ophidius, that they of Rome are entered in our councils, and know how we proceed?

Socrates therefore wishing to increase his pupil's honourable ambitions led all the rest in bearing witness to his bravery and in begging that the crown and the suit of armour be given to him.

On another occasion in the rout of the Athenians which followed the battle of Delium, Alcibiades on horseback saw Socrates retreating on foot with a small company, and would not pass by, but rode by his side and defended him though the enemy were pressing them hard and slaying many This however was a later incident He once gave Hipponicus a blow with his fist—Hipponicus, the father of Callias, a man of great reputation and influence owing to his wealth and family,—not that he had any quarrel with him or was a prey to anger, but simply for the joke of the thing, on a wager with some companions.

The wanton deed was soon noised about the city, and everybody was indignant as was natural Early the next morning Alcibiades went to the house of Hipponicus, knocked at his door, and on being shown into his presence laid off the cloak he wore and bade Hipponicus scourge and chastise him as he would But Hipponicus put away his wrath and forgave him; and afterwards gave him his daughter Hipparete to wife Some say however that it was not Hipponicus but Callias his son who gave Hipparete to Alcibiades with a dowry of ten talents And that afterwards when she became a mother Alcibiades extracted other ten talents besides, on the plea that this was the agreement should children be born And Callias was so afraid of the scheming of Alcibiades to get his wealth That he made public proffer to the people Of his property and house In case it should befall him To die without lineal heirs Hipparete was a decorous and affectionate wife; but being distressed because her husband would consort with courtesans native and foreign She left his house and went to live with her brother Alcibiades did not mind this But continued his wanton ways And so she had to put in her plea For divorce to the magistrate And that not by proxy but in her own person On her appearing publicly to do this As the law required Alcibiades came up and seized her And carried her off home with him Through the marketplace No man daring to oppose him Or take her from him She lived with him moreover until her death But she died shortly after this When Alcibiades was on a voyage to Ephesus Such violence as this Was not thought lawless or cruel at all Indeed the law prescribes That the wife who would separate From her husband Shall go to court in person To this very end It would seem That the husband may have a chance To meet and gain possession of her Possessing a dog of wonderful size and beauty Which had cost him seventy minas He had its tail cut off And a beautiful tail it was too His comrades chid him for this And declared that everybody Was furious about the dog And abusive of its owner But Alcibiades burst out laughing And said 'That's just what I want.' I want Athens to talk about this That it may say nothing worse about me His first entrance into public life They say Was connected with a contribution of money To the state And was not of design He was passing by when the Athenians Were applauding in their assembly And asked the reason for the applause On being told that a contribution of money To the state was going on He went forward to the bema And made a contribution himself The crowd clapped their hands and shouted for joy So much so that Alcibiades forgot All about a quail which he was carrying In his cloak And the bird flew away in affright Thereupon the Athenians Shouted all the more And many of them sprang To help him hunt the bird The one who caught it and gave it back to him was Antiochus, the sea captain, who became in consequence a great favorite with Alcibiades.

Though great doors to public service were opened to him by his birth, his wealth, and his personal bravery in battle, and though he had many friends and followers, he thought that nothing should give him more influence with the people than the charm of his discourse.

To begin with, he saw that the Argives hated and feared the Spartans and sought to be rid of them So he secretly held out hopes to them of an alliance with Athens, and encouraged them by conferences with the chief men of their popular party not to fear nor yield to the Lacedaemonians; but to look to Athens and await her action, since she was now all but repentant, and desirous of abandoning the peace which she had made with Sparta.

And again when the Lacedaemonians made a separate alliance with the Boeotians, and delivered up Panacton to the Athenians-not intact as they were bound to do by the treaty, but dismantled —he took advantage of the Athenians' wrath at this to embitter them yet more.

He raised a tumult in the assembly against Nicias, and slandered him with accusations all too plausible: "Nicias himself," he said, "when he was general, had refused to capture the enemy's men who were cut off on the island of Sphacteria; and when others had captured them, he had released and given them back to the Lacedaemonians, whose favour he sought.

And then he did not persuade those same Lacedaemonians—tried friend of theirs as he was—not to make a separate alliance with the Boeotians or even with the Corinthians; and yet whenever any Hellenes wished to be friends and allies of Athens, he tried to prevent it unless it were the good pleasure of the Lacedaemonians." Nicias was reduced to great straits by all this; but just then, by rare good fortune as it were, an embassy came from Sparta with reasonable proposals to begin on, and with assurances that they came with full powers to adopt any additional terms that were conciliatory and just.

But the death of Coriolanus is a shock to us.

We are not surprised that Shakespeare scamped it and by making Aufidius repent it on the instant turned it into an accident.

To put the matter irreverently, Coriolanus is a big schoolboy.

Molière might have disposed of him better than Shakespeare.

To give it a spiritual significance, Shakespeare needed to employ another Iago to arrange the toils into which the instinctive man must fall.

But there was no Iago in the story.

It is true he might have made Aufidius into one.

At the beginning, indeed, he seems to have intended to.

Accordingly, he set out to make trial of the Volscians first, knowing that they were still abundantly supplied with men and money, and thinking that they had been not so much crippled in power by their recent defeats as filled with contentious wrath against the Romans.

Now there was a certain man of Antium, Tullus Aufidius by name, who by reason of his wealth and bravery and conspicuous lineage had the standing of a king among all the Volscians.

By this man Marcius knew himself to be hated as no other Roman was, for they had often exchanged threats and challenges in the battles which they had fought.

And such emulous boastings as the ambitious ardor of youthful warriors prompts had given rise to a mutual hatred of their own, in addition to that of their peoples.

Read by Delamar H. Dolbier.

Tullus Aufidius.

Read by Arielle Lipshaw.

Valeria.

Martius, 'tis true that you have lately told us.

The Volsces are in arms.

They have a leader, Tullus Aufidius, that will put you to 't.

I sin in envying his nobility.

The Vultures are in arms.

They have a leader, Tullus Ophidius, that will put you to it.

I sin in envying his nobility, and were I anything but what I am, I would wish me only he.

You have fought together.

More than his singularity, he goes upon this present action.

Let's along.

Exeunt Scene 2 Corioli, the Senate House Enter Tullus Ophidius and certain senators.

So your opinion is, Ophidius, that they of Rome are entered in our councils, and know how we proceed?