"I never submitted the whole system of my opinions to the creed of any party of men whatever, in religion, in philosophy, in politics, or in anything else, where I was capable of thinking for myself. Such an addiction is the last degradation of a free and moral agent. If I could not go to heaven bu with a party, I would not go there at all." --Thomas Jefferson to Francis Hopkinson, 1789.
Monday, December 7, 2015
Thomas Jefferson on Political Parties
Stoic Courage in a Spartan Queen: Cratesicleia
I have posted previously about the mission to Sparta of Zeno's disciple, Sphaerus. He had a great influence on Spartan king Cleomenes III, who was destined to be a great reformer and to attempt to return the soul of Sparta that was formed during the days of Lycurgus.
Not everything went well for Cleomenes militarily. At first he had unprecedented military success and conquered almost all of the Peloponnese, shocking the rest of Greece with his exploits. However, due to political maneuvering and intrigue by his enemies, everything that he gained quickly collapsed and he was abandoned by his allies. He was hemmed into Laconia.
At this point, the Egyptian king Ptolemy offered to help Cleomenes, but demanded that Cleomenes send his mother and children to Egypt as collateral. This request very much upset Cleomenes, which eventually drew the suspicions of his mother, Cratesicleia. She demanded to know what was going on, and he told her. She laughed.
"Was it this which you frequently meant to tell me, but lacked the courage? Why ever don't you hurry to put me on board ship and send me off wherever you think this body of mine will be of the greatest service to Sparta, before old age disposes of it as it just sits here?"
So Cleomenes set off with her to put her on the ship to Egypt. He was visibly shaken as the moment neared, so Cratesicleia pulled him into the temple of Poseidon.
She embraced and kissed her son and then said: "Come now, king of the Spartans. When we emerge we want no one to see us in tears nor doing anything unworthy of Sparta. This is all that lies in our power; but our fortunes must be as heaven ordains."
And thus she boarded the ship for Egypt and ordered the sailors to make haste.
*Reference: Plutarch's On Sparta
Not everything went well for Cleomenes militarily. At first he had unprecedented military success and conquered almost all of the Peloponnese, shocking the rest of Greece with his exploits. However, due to political maneuvering and intrigue by his enemies, everything that he gained quickly collapsed and he was abandoned by his allies. He was hemmed into Laconia.
At this point, the Egyptian king Ptolemy offered to help Cleomenes, but demanded that Cleomenes send his mother and children to Egypt as collateral. This request very much upset Cleomenes, which eventually drew the suspicions of his mother, Cratesicleia. She demanded to know what was going on, and he told her. She laughed.
"Was it this which you frequently meant to tell me, but lacked the courage? Why ever don't you hurry to put me on board ship and send me off wherever you think this body of mine will be of the greatest service to Sparta, before old age disposes of it as it just sits here?"
So Cleomenes set off with her to put her on the ship to Egypt. He was visibly shaken as the moment neared, so Cratesicleia pulled him into the temple of Poseidon.
She embraced and kissed her son and then said: "Come now, king of the Spartans. When we emerge we want no one to see us in tears nor doing anything unworthy of Sparta. This is all that lies in our power; but our fortunes must be as heaven ordains."
And thus she boarded the ship for Egypt and ordered the sailors to make haste.
*Reference: Plutarch's On Sparta
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