s; some
crows, which were flying over the racecourse at that moment, fell down
among the people. The reason of this is that the air is broken and cut
asunder by the vehemence and strength of the voices, so as not to have
its natural power to support the birds, which, fell down just as if
they were flying through a place where there was no air at all; unless
indeed it was the violence of the cry that struck the birds like a
shot, and so caused them to fall down dead. It may be also that the
air is driven round in whirlpools by such shouts, as we observe
happens in violent disturbances of the sea.

XI. As for Titus, unless he had escaped betimes when the assembly
broke up and rushed towards him, it is thought that he could not have
survived the pressure of so great a multitude. The crowd surrounded
his tent, shouting and applauding until nightfall, when they
dispersed: but as they went, if they met any of their kin, their
friends, or fellow-citizens, they kissed and embraced them for joy,
and then supped and made merry together. We may well think that they
had no other talk at the table but of the great and terrible wars
which Greece had fought for her liberty, and that nevertheless she
never had obtained so perfect and delightful a state of freedom as
that which had been won for her by other men's labours, almost without
any blood of her own being spilt. It is indeed rare to find bravery
and wisdom combined in any man, but it is even rarer to find a
perfectly just man. Agesilaus and Lysander, Nikias and Alkibiades
knew well how to wage war and win battles both by land and by sea, but
they never could make their victories yield any honourable benefit to
others, or true glory to themselves. Indeed with the exception of
Marathon and Salamis, Plataea and Thermopylae, and the campaigns of
Kimon on the Eurymedon and in Cyprus, all the other battles of Greece
have been fought against herself, to bring about her slavery, and
every trophy has been a misfortune, and a monument of shame rather
than glory, arising chiefly from the rivalry between the leading
cities. Yet a strange nation, from which it was inconceivable that
Greece should receive any benefit, with scarcely any glimmering
embers, as it were, of a common origin, had nevertheless, with great
risk and hard fighting, rescued Greece from her harsh tyrants and
oppressors.

XII. These were the thoughts which occupied men's minds: and the
events which took place were all i