hand committed so many mistakes as to put it out of the power of
fortune to aid him, so that one wonders not so much that his folly was
overcome by the Parthians as that it could overcome the good fortune
of the Romans. Now as the one never disregarded religious observances
and omens, the other despised them all, and yet both alike perished,
it is hard to say what inference we ought to draw, as to which acted
most wisely, yet we must incline rather to the side of him who
followed the established rule in such matters rather than that of him
who insolently discarded all such observances. In his death Crassus is
more to be commended, because he yielded himself against his will in
consequence of the entreaties of his friends, and was most
treacherously deceived by the enemy, while Nikias delivered himself up
to his enemies through a base and cowardly desire to save his life,
and thus made his end more infamous.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 100: I cannot find that Nikias took any part in the massacre
of the people of Melos in 416 B.C.]




LIFE OF SERTORIUS.


I. It is perhaps not a matter of surprise, if in the lapse of time,
which is unlimited, while fortune[101] is continually changing her
course, spontaneity should often result in the same incidents; for, if
the number of elemental things is not limited, fortune has in the