him to give them a song. Meton prepared to do so; and when, after much
difficulty, silence was at length obtained, Meton came forward into
the space that had been made for him, and, throwing off his disguise,
he called out aloud,

"Men of Tarentum! You do well in calling for a song, and in enjoying
the pleasures of mirth and merriment while you may; for I warn you
that you will see very little like mirth or merriment in Tarentum
after Pyrrhus comes."

The astonishment which this sudden turn in the affair occasioned, was
succeeded for a moment by a murmur of assent, which seemed to pass
through the assembly; the good sense of many of the spectators being
surprised, as it were, into an admission that the sentiment which
Meton had so surreptitiously found means to express to them was true.
This pause was, however, but momentary. A scene of violent excitement
and confusion ensued, and Meton and the woman were expelled from the
meeting without any ceremony.

The resolution of sending for Pyrrhus was confirmed, and embassadors
were soon afterward dispatched to Epirus. The message which they
communicated to Pyrrhus on their arrival was, that the Tarentines,
being engaged in a war with the Romans, invited Pyrrhus to come and
take command of their armies. They had _troops_ enough, they said, and
all necessary provisions and munitions of war. All that they now
required was an able and efficient general; and if Pyrrhus would come
over to them and assume the command, they would at once put him at the
head of an army of twenty thousand horse and three hundred and fifty
thousand foot soldiers.

It seems incredible that a state should have attained to such a degree
of prosperity and power as to be able to bring such a force as this
into the field, while under the government of men who, when convened
for the consideration of questions of public policy in a most
momentous crisis, were capable of having their attention drawn off
entirely from the business before them by the coming in of a party of
strolling mountebanks and players. Yet such is the account recorded by
one of the greatest historians of ancient times.

Pyrrhus was, of course, very much elated at receiving this
communication. The tidings, too, produced great excitement among all
the people of Epirus. Great numbers immediately began to offer
themselves as volunteers to accompany the expedition. Pyrrhus
determined at once to embark in the enterprise, and he commenced
m