2?; 



ARANTIU3, JULIUS CJLSAU. 



ARATUS. 



firmness, and perseverance which no obstacle could daunt, he under- 

 took the reform of abuses in every branch of the administration, and 

 the adoption of those improvements of which his country stood so 

 much in need. He diminished the asylums, confining their number 

 to two churches in the capital of every province, and he reformed the 

 municipal system by the establishment of the ' diputados del com- 

 mun,' or deputies of the commons. Among other important reforms 

 may be mentioned the abolition of the order of the Jesuits, and the 

 establishment of new houses of education. The thickets of the 

 Sierra Morena, until then the abode of wolves and desperate banditti, 

 were colonised with an industrious population of Germans, Swiss, and 

 French, through the efforts of the philanthropic Olavide. Aranda 

 also endeavoured to check the papal power in Spain by reforming the 

 tribunal called the ' nunciatura,' which he composed of six native 

 ecclesiastics proposed by the king, and confirmed by the pope, instead 

 of a body of Komau jurists appointed by the pope alone, of which it 

 formerly consisted ; and by establishing a law that no papal decree 

 should be valid in Spain without having first received the sanction of 

 the council of Castile. The ' pasos de semana sauta,' or holy week 

 dramatic processions, the ' rosarios,' and other pious or rather impious 

 exhibitions, were also abolished by him, and the power of the inqui- 

 sition was greatly diminished by the establishment of a political censor- 

 ship. These measures and an imprudent publication of a confidential 

 communication to Voltaire, D'Alcmbert, and others as to his inten- 

 tions with regard to the Inquisition, raised such a ferment again-t 

 Aranda, that foreseeing his ruin unavoidable, he obtained the appoint- 

 ment of ambassador to France, and retired from the administration in 

 1773. 



During his ministry Aranda had been the constant antagonist of 

 England, with which be regarded Spain as able to cope on terms of 

 equality ; and he was in favour of the war on account of the Falkland 

 Islands in 1770, when the dismissal of Choiseul, and the declaration of 

 Louis XV. for peace, finally compelled the Spanish cabinet to give 

 way. As ambassador to Paris during the American war, he had 

 ample opportunities of evincing his opposition to England, and, 

 among other things, said to Mr. Fitzberbert, afterwards Lord St. 

 Helen's, when at Paris to negociate for peace, " The king, my master, 

 from personal as well as political motives, is determined never to put 

 a period to the present war till he shall have acquired Gibraltar either 

 by treaty or by arms." This demand was not altogether rejected by 

 the British government, .but after a series of negociations, which 

 threatened to end in a fresh rupture, De Vergennes, the French 

 minister, summoned Aranda to an interview, in which he informed 

 him that the British ultimatum wag received, and that they offered 

 him the choice of Gibraltar or the two Floridas. Arauda, in profound 

 meditation, stood fur half an hour without speaking, his head resting 

 on his hands and his elbows on the chimney-piece, and at last he 

 exclaimed, " There are moments in which a man must offer his head 

 to his country. I accept the two Floridas in place of Gibraltar, 

 though it is contrary to my instructions ; and I sign the peace." This 

 anecdote is related by Flassan. The count, though always a bitter 

 enemy to England, had nevertheless been throughout oppo-ed to the 

 part which Spain took in this war, on account of the dangerous 

 example which it set to her own colonies. Immediately after signing 

 the peace he addressed a secret memoir to the king, in which he 

 declared it impossible that Spain could much longer hold America on 

 the existing terms, and proposed the establishment of three inde- 

 pendent monarchies of Mexico, Peru, and Tierra Firma, the kings to 

 be selected from the royal family of Spain. 



Aranda returned from Paris in November, 1787, but still remained 

 in disgrace, with the honorary title of counsellor of state. After the 

 accession of Charles IV. in 1788, Aranda superseded count Florida 

 Blanca in the office of prime minister (1792) ; but he was not long 

 after dismissed through the intrigues of Godoy. He died, according 

 to some authorities, in 1794 ; according to others, which appear more 

 to be depended on, in 1799, leaving behind him a widow, without any 

 children. 



AKA'NTIUS, JU'LIUS CAESAR, ARANZIO, or ARANZI DEI' 

 MAGGI, was born at Bologna about the year 1530. He studied 

 anatomy from an early age under his uncle Bartolomeus Margins, and 

 afterwards under Vesalius. He received the degree of Doctor of 

 Philosophy and Surgery in the university of Bologna, in which, in 

 1556, he was appointed professor of anatomy and medicine. He held 

 the office till near the time of his death in 1589. Arantius, who is 

 said to have been a man of remarkable energy in the study of 

 anatomy, was among the most successful and eminent of the pupils 

 of Vesalius ; and his works, though small, possess considerable 

 interest. A minute professional account of them is given in the 

 ' lUo^raphical Dictionary of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful 

 Knowledge.' 



ARATUS, son of Cleinias, was born at Sicyon n.c. 271. His 

 native city, distinguished in the history of Greece as a school of art 

 more than for its political importance, had long been harassed by the 

 conflicting pretensions of various persons, who in succession became, 

 to use the language of Greece, its tyrants or princes. Cleinioa held 

 that precarious dignity for a short time ; but he was killed by Aban- 

 tidaa, who assumed his power, and, suffering a like fate, gave way to 

 Fawu, who was succeeded by Nicocles. Aratus was but seven years 



old at his father's death. He fled in the tumult, aud, falling into 

 humane aud honourable keeping, was concealed for a time and then 

 conveyed to Argos. There he grew up to manhood, distinguished for 

 his bodily powers, a frequenter of the ' palaestra,' or place of exercises, 

 and a frequent victor in the rougli games which the youth of Greece 

 loved to practise aud were proud to excel in. Meditating the bold 

 enterprise of restoring himself to his native country, he endeavoured 

 to associate in his views the numerous exiles who had been banished 

 from Sicyon in its successive changes of masters. When his plans 

 were ripe, he made a night march from Argoa to Sicyon, with a small 

 number of followers, whom his own resources and those of his friends 

 enabled him to arm aud retain. In this spirited enterprise he scaled 

 the walls, forced his way to the tyrant's residence, and mastered his 

 guard. Nicocles escaped by secret passages. Aratus immediately 

 sent round the city to summon his friends, and at break of day the 

 population assembled in the theatre, where proclamation was made 

 that Aratus, son of Cleinias, invited the citizens to resume their 

 liberties. This striking revolution was effected (B.C. 251) without the 

 loss of a single life, either in the heat of contest or as a measure of 

 policy or revenge. 



To secure the continuance of the new order of affairs, Aratus 

 procured the enrolment of Sicyon as a member of the Achaean con- 

 federacy. Aratus had cultivated the friendship of Ptolemaeus Euer- 

 getes, king of Egypt, by sending presents of the most valuable 

 productions of Grecian art; and he now undertook a voyage to 

 K^-ypt, and gained so much upon the king's esteem that he presented 

 him with a large sum of money (150 talents), part of which Aratus 

 employed on his return to Greece in satisfying the indigent exiles and 

 re-establishing concord. The restored exiles erected a brazen statue 

 of him, with a laudatory inscription, in testimony of their gratitude. 



Aratus was soon appointed captain-general (' strategus ') of the 

 Achaean league, which under his prudent counsels grew up from a 

 C9nfederacy of a few insignificant cities for mutual defence into a 

 formidable body exercising a powerful influence in Greece. He held 

 this office for the first time B.C. 245, in which year he invaded Locris 

 and Calydonia, on the northern side of the Corinthian Gulf. Being 

 re-elected in B.C. 243, after the necessary interval of a year, he con- 

 ceived the project of wiestiug Corinth from Autigoims. The bold 

 attempt proved successful, though not without much difficulty, and 

 the advantage gaiued was secured by the arrival of a larger body of 

 Achaean troops, to whom the Corinthians gladly gave admittance. 

 Early in the morning the citizens assembled in the theatre, and 

 Aratus, appearing on the stage in his armour, was received with the 

 warmest demonstrations of joy and gratitude. He restored to them 

 the keys of the city, which since the reign of Philip of Macedon they 

 had not had iu keeping, aud invited them to join the Achaean league. 

 They acceded to the proposal ; and the Acrocorinthus was thence- 

 forward occupied by an Achaean garrison. Aratus also gained 

 possession of Lechseum, one of the ports of Corinth, and before the 

 end of his year of office prevailed on the state of Megaris to join the 

 league. Troezen and Epidaurus soon followed the example, aud the 

 confederacy was further strengthened by the friendship and support 

 of the king of Egypt. 



The powerful city of Argos had long been held by a succession of 

 tyrants. In the year B.c. 227, Aristomachus, being tyrant for the 

 time, was induced by the counsels of Aratus to resign his power, and 

 bring over Argos to the Achaean league. Cleonae, au aucient city of 

 the Argian territory, had become a member of it some time before. 

 Phlius was admitted to it at the same time. The resignation of 

 Aristomachus was probably prompted by the example of Lysiadas, 

 tyrant of Megalopolis, who, emulating the virtues aud the reputation 

 of Aratus (if 1'lutarch rightly represents his motives), had retired 

 into private life, and induced his city to join the league, B.C. 232. 

 Lysiadas was rewarded by the popular favour, and was three times 

 chosen strategus, alternately with Aratus. In prosecution of his 

 favour'te policy, Aratus made several attempts to drive the Mace- 

 donians from Athens. That which he could not obtain by arms he 

 effected by money, soon after Antigonus, surnamed Doson, began to 

 reign (B.C. 237), when Diogenes, the Macedonian governor, delivered 

 up the fortresses which he held, together with the isle of Salamis, for 

 a bribe of 150 talents, of which Aratus contribute 1 20 from his private 

 fortune. At the same time -iKgiua, Hermione, and a considerable 

 part of Arcadia joined the Achaiau league. 



Thus during a period of about twenty years, iu which the affairs of 

 the Achaean league had been chiefly managed by Arjtus, that body 

 had grown up from the union of a few weak cities for mutual defence 

 into a powerful confederation, including the whole northern coast of 

 Peloponnesus from the promontory of Araxus to Scyllaeum, with the 

 1 mds of Corinth and Megara, and the greater part of Arcadia. This 

 change was wrought in a great measure by the probity and high per- 

 sonal character of Aratus, who, as we are told by Plutarch, even 

 during those years when the forms of the constitution prevented his 

 having the name of strategus, still had the authority of the office, 

 " because the people saw that he sot neither glory, nor wealth, nor the 

 friendship of kings, nor the good of his own country, nor any other 

 thing, before the general advantage of the Achicau league." Accord- 

 ingly, he was elected general ofteuer, it should seem, than the law 

 strictly allowed ; for iu a period of thirty years from his first 



