an Athenian was expected to be a man of many powers, and not, because he excelled in one thing, therefore to fail in every other: rather, to be excellent was with them to excel in all things to which a free and cultivated man might turn his hand. This point it is which makes Æschylus, as soldier-poet, so remarkable an object for our consideration.
Haste and pressure of business make division of labour necessary among ourselves, and each man must cultivate a specialty; so that if a man should appear who was well qualified for all posts, we should not believe in him; and more than that, we should not find him out. So soon as he showed excellence in one matter, he would be ticketed with that and tied down to it: any attempts in any other subject would be regarded as graceful by-works, but not as likely to lead to high success. Now in Athens there was not so much pressure, there was not so much tyranny of public opinion, and the state was smaller.
Yet, even in that small state, it is matter for our admiration that excellence should have succeeded so uniformly as it did in attracting attention and reward. Æschylus, though holding no high command, was selected, with his two brothers, for the prize of pre-eminent bravery at Marathon, and his brother again won the highest honour in the battle of Salamis. Posterity may well admire the judgment of his contemporaries. No doubt all the Athenians fought well at those two battles, and it must have been hard to assign pre-eminence to any; but we, looking at the writings and history of Æschylus, can be sure that
