BOOK VII. xxi. 85-\\iv. 88 



used to make such small ivory models of ants and 

 other creatwres that to anybody else their parts were 

 invisible. A cerlain Myrmecides won fame in the 

 same department by maldng; a four-horse chariot of 

 the same material that a fly's wings would cover, 

 and a ship that a tiny bee could conceal with its ^\ings. 



XXII. There is one marvellous instance of the Exceptionai 

 transmission of a spoken message : the battle « that of"our!df'"' 

 resulted in the destruction of Sybaris was heard of 



at Olympia on the day on which it was fought. For 

 the messengers who brought news of the victory *" 

 over the Cimbri and the brothers Castor '^ who 

 reported the victory «^ over Perseus to the Romans 

 on the very day on which it happened were visions 

 and warnings sent by the divine powers. 



XXIII. Bodily cndurance, so fertile of disasters is ExcepUonai 

 fate, has produced countless examples, the most '^"'■'"^- 

 famous in the case of women being that of the harlot 

 Leaena who on the rack refused to betray the 

 tyrannicides Harmodius and Aristogiton,^ and among 



men that of Anaxarchus/ who when being tortured 

 for a similar reason bit off his tongue and spat the 

 only hope of betrayal in the tyrant's face. 



XXIV. As to memor}'. the boon most necessary for Exceptional 

 life, it is not easy to say who most excelled in it, so "'^""^- 

 many men having gained renown for it. King Cyrus 



could give their names to all the soldiers in his 

 army, Lucius Scipio knew the names of the whole 

 Iloman people, King Pyrrhus's envoy Cineas knew 

 those of the senate and knighthood at Ilome the day 

 after his arrival.? Mithridates who was king of 



f A philosopher in the court of Alexander, put to death by 

 Nicocreon Kang of Salamis for his freedom of speech. 

 » 280 B.c. 



563 



