The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-02-14
Diogenes' Tub a Myth-The Hannibal
FabIc-Lies About Cleopatra.
From Pearson's Weekly.

From Pearson's Weekly.
The same year that Alexander died at
Babylon Diogenes died at Coriuth, 1923 b.
c., but not, we may be sure, in a tub. be-
cause he never made such fool of him
self as to live in one. The story that he
did so had no better origin than a COM
ment by his biographer, Seneca, who was
not born till more than 800 years after the
cynics death. "A man so grabbed ought
to have lived in a tub like a dog
In PIG b. c., Hannibal. with about $4,000
men, nearly annhilated the Roman army
OF about 10000 at Cannae, in Apulia, Italy,
but il is all a fable to say that he sent
three bushels of gold rings plucked from
the hands of dead Roman knights back to
Carthage as evidence of his victory. The
messenger who carried the news back to
the Carthagenan Senate on concluding
his report "opened his robe and threw out
number Of gold rings gathered on the
field of battle"
-Four years later the Romans, under
Marcellus, attacked and captured SYRIA
cuse, belonging to Greece, because of its
the invading ships approached, Archime-
deS is said to have set some of them en-
fire with immense burning glasses. How
ever, modern science mas so well watCred
this story that 1t only remains to add that
even at this day the feat would be inpos-
sible.
Thirty years b. c., Cleopatra killed her
self to avoid being exhibited at Rome in
the triumph of OctaVious, who had made
war upon her and Antony, because the
latter had divorced his (OctaviousD sis
ter on the queens account. But did she
die from a snakes bite? 1t is better to
think not. If her death had been caused
by any serpent the small viper would
rather have been chosen than the large
asp; but the story is disproved by het
having decked herself in the royal orna.
ments,' and being found dead without
any marks of suspicion Of poison on her
body
Death from serpent's bite could moi
have been mistaken. and her vanity would
not have allowed her to choose one which
would have dishgured her in so frightful
a manner.
Other poisons were well understood and
easy Of access, and no boy would have
ventured to carry an asp in a basket OF
figs, some of which he even offered 10
the guards, as he passed, and even Plu-
tarch shows that the story of the asp
was doubted Nor is the statue carried in
Augustus triumph, which had an asp
upon it, any proof of his belief In 1t,
since the snake was the emblem of Egyp-
tan royalty. (the statue or the CROWN of
Cleopatra could not have been without
one, and this was probably the origin of
the whole story.
Here one may naturally ask: Who has
not heard of Cleopatra's wondrous pearls,
one of which, at banquet given in An
tony's honor, she dissolved in vinegar?
Either this story also is fictitious or vine
gar was evidently different in those days
from the present-day kind, which will not
melt pearls.
1t was nearly one hundred years later
that the Emperor Nero also killed him
self, 6S A. d. Stabbing was the choice this
time. though, and of this we make no
question. What we wish to say about him
is that he was not so bad a monster as
usually imagined. His mother, Agrippina,
was not put TO death by his order, nor did
he play upon his harp and sing The Burn
ing of Troy while Rome was on fire
our knowledge of him is gained mostly
from Tacitus, who hated him, and from
Petronus Arbiter, who was put to death
for conspiracy against him. Even In
Rome itself the common people strewed
flowers ON the grave of Nero"