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Chap. xx:  TREATS OF A TRIFLING PROMENADE FROM THE BLACK FOREST TO MOSCOW
IN RUSSIA

    The same autumn there drew near to us French, Swedish, and Hessian
troops to refresh themselves among us and to keep the Free City in the
neighbourhood (which was built by an English king1, and called after his
name) blockaded, for which cause every man gathered together his cattle
and the best of his goods and fled into the woods among the mountains.  I
too did as my neighbours did and left my house pretty well empty, wherein
a Swedish colonel on half-pay was lodged.  The same found still remaining
in my cabinet certain books, for in my haste I could not bring all away;
and among others certain mathematical and geometrical essays, and also
some on fortification, wherewith our engineers be principally busied, and
therefore at once concluded that his quarters could belong to no common
peasant, and so began to inquire of my character and to court my
acquaintance, till by courteous offers and threats intermingled he
wrought me to it that I should visit him at mine own farm, where he
treated me very civilly and restrained his people, that they should do my
goods no unnecessary damage or hurt.  And by such friendly treatment he
brought it about that I told him of all my business, and in especial of
my family and descent.  Thereat he wondered that I in the midst of war
could so dwell among peasants, and look on while another tied his horse
to my manger, whereas I with more honour could tie mine own horse to
another’s:  I should, said he, gird on the sword again and not allow my
gift which God had bestowed on me to perish by the fireside, and behind
the plough; for he knew, if I would enter the Swedish service, my
capacity and my knowledge of war would soon raise me to high rank.  This
I treated but coldly, and told him advancement was ever far off if a man
had no friends to take him by the hand:  whereto he replied that my good
qualities would soon procure me both friends and advancement; nay, more: 
he doubted not that I should find kinsmen at the Swedish headquarters,
and those of some account, for there there [sic] were many Scottish
noblemen and men of rank.  Further, said he, a regiment had been promised
to him himself by Torstensohn; which promise if it were kept (of which he
doubted not) then would he at once make me his lieutenant-colonel.  With
such and the like words he made my mouth to water, and inasmuch as there
were now but scanty hopes of peace, and for me to suffer further
billeting of troops did but mean utter ruin, therefore I resolved to
serve again, and promised the colonel to go with him if only he would
keep his word and give me the post of lieutenant-colonel in the regiment
he was to have.

    And so the die was cast; and I sent for my dad or foster-father,
which was still with my cattle at Bairischbrunn2;  and to him and his
wife I devised my farm as their own property; yet on condition that after
his death my bastard Simplicissimus that had been laid at my door should
inherit it with all appurtenances, since there were no heirs born in
wedlock.  Thereafter I fetched my horse and all the gold and trinkets I
still had, and having settled all my affairs and taken order for the
education of my said by-blow of a son, on a sudden the blockade I spoke
of was raised, so that before we looked for it we must decamp and join
the main army.

    Under the colonel I served as a steward, and maintained him with his
servants and horses and all his household by theft and robbery, which is
called in soldiers’ language foraging.  But as to the promises of
Torstensohn, of which he had talked so big at my farm, they were not so
great by a good deal as he had given out, but as it seemed to me he was
rather looked at askance.  “Aha,” says he to me, “some malicious dog hath
slandered me at headquarters.  Yet I shall not need to wait long”:  but
when he suspected that I should not endure to tarry longer with him he
forged letters as if he had to raise a fresh regiment in Livonia3 where
his home was, and persuaded me to embark with him at Wismar and to sail
thither.  And there too we found naught, for not only had he no regiment
to raise, but was besides a nobleman as poor as a church mouse:  and what
he had came from his wife.  Yet though I had now been twice deceived and
had suffered myself to be enticed so far afield, yet I took the bait the
third time; for he shewed me writings he had received from Moscow, in
which, as he professed, high commands in the army were offered him, for
so he interpreted the said letters to me and boasted loudly of good and
punctual pay:  and seeing that he started off with wife and child, I
thought, surely he is on no wild-goose chase.

    And so with high hopes I took the road with him, for otherwise I saw
no means or opportunity to get back to Germany.  But as soon as we came
over the Russian frontier, and sundry discharged German soldiers met us,
I began to be alarmed and said to my colonel, “What the devil do we here?
 We leave the country where war is, and where there is peace and soldiers
be of no account and disbanded, thither we come.”  Yet still he gave me
fair words and said I should leave it to him; he knew better what he was
about than these fellows that were of no account.

    But when we came in safety to the city of Moscow, I saw at once the
game was up.  ‘Tis true my colonel conferred daily with great men, but
far more with bishops than boyars, which seemed to me not so much grand
as far too monkish, and aroused in me all manner of fancies and
reflections, though I could not conceive what he aimed at:  but in the
end he revealed to me that war was over and that his conscience urged him
on to embrace the Greek religion; and that his sincere advice to me was,
inasmuch as otherwise he could help me no more as he had promised, to
follow his example:  for his Majesty the Czar had already good accounts
of my person and my great capabilities:  and would be graciously pleased,
if I would agree to the conditions, to endow me as a knight with a fine
estate and many serfs; which most gracious offer was not to be rejected,
since for any man it was better to have in so great a monarch rather a
gracious lord than an offended prince.  At this I was much confounded,
and knew not what to answer, for had I had the colonel in another place I
would have answered him rather by deeds than words:  but now I must play
my cards otherwise, and consider the place where I was, and where I was
like to a prisoner; and therefore was silent a long time before I could
resolve upon an answer.  At length I said to him I had indeed come with
the purpose to serve the Czar’s Majesty as a soldier, to which he, the
colonel, had persuaded me; and if my services in war were not needed I
could not help it; far less could I lay it to the charge of the Czar that
I had for his sake undertaken so long a journey in vain, for he had not
written to me to come.  But that his royal favour to me would be a thing
for me rather to boast of before all the world than most humbly to accept
it and to earn it, since I could not just now determine to alter my
religion, and only wished I were dwelling again in my farm in the Black
Forest and so causing no man concern or inconveniency.  To which he
replied, “Your honour may do as he pleases:  only I had conceived that if
God and good luck favoured him, he would do well to be thankful to both;
but if he will accept no help and refuses to live like a prince, at least
I hope he will believe that I have spared no pains to help him to the
best of my ability.”  Thereupon he made me a deep reverence, went his
way, and left me in the lurch, not allowing me even to give him my
company to the door.

    So as I sat there all perplexed and reviewed my present condition I
heard two Russian carriages before our lodging, and looking out of the
window saw my good master colonel with his sons enter the one and his
wife with her daughters the other.  Which were the Czar’s carriages and
his livery, and divers priests there also which waited upon this
honourable family and shewed them all kindness and good will.
 

Chap.  xxi.:  HOW SIMPLICISSIMUS FURTHER FARED IN MOSCOW

     From this time I was watched, not openly indeed, but secretly, by
certain soldiers of the Strelitz guard, and that without my knowledge;
and my colonel and his family never once came in my sight, so that I knew
not what was become of him:  and all this, as may easily be thought,
brought in my head strange conceits and many grey hairs also.  There I
made the acquaintance of the Germans that dwell in Moscow, some as
traders, some as mechanics, and to them lamented my plight and how I had
been deceived by guile; who gave me comfort and direction how I, with a
fair opportunity, might return to Germany.  But so soon as they got wind
of it that the Czar had determined to keep me in the land and would force
me to it, they all became dumb towards me, yea, avoided my company, an
‘twas hard for me even to find a shelter for my head.  For I had already
devoured my horse, saddle and trappings and all, and was now doling out
one to-day and to-morrow another of the ducats which I had wisely sewn
into my clothes.  At last I began to turn into money my rings and
trinkets, in the hope to keep myself so until I could find a fair
occasion to get back to Germany.  Meanwhile a quarter of a year was gone,
after which the said colonel, with all his household, was baptized again
and provided with a fine nobleman’s estate and many serfs.

     At that time there went out a decree that both among natives and
foreigners no idlers should be allowed (and that with heavy penalties) as
those that took the bread out of the mouth of the workers, and all
strangers that would not work must quit the country in a month and the
town in four-and-twenty hours.  With that some fifty of us joined
together with intent to make our way, with God’s help, through Podolia to
Germany; yet were we not two hours gone from the town when we were caught
up by certain Russian troopers, on the pretence that his Majesty was
greatly displeased that we had impudently dared to band together in such
great numbers, and to traverse his land at pleasure without passports,
saying further that his Majesty would not be going beyond his rights in
sending us all to Siberia for our insolent conduct.  On the way back I
learned how my business stood:  for the commander of the troop told me
plainly, the Czar would not let me forth of the country:  and his sincere
advice was that I should obey his Majesty’s most gracious will and join
their religion, and (as the colonel had done) not despise a fine estate;
assuring me also that if I refused this and would not live among them as
a lord I must needs stay as a servant against my will:  nor must his
Majesty be blamed that he would not allow to depart from his country a
man so skilful as the before-mentioned colonel had reported me to be. 
Then did I disparage mine own worth, and said the honourable colonel must
surely have ascribed to me more arts, virtues, and knowledge than I
possessed:  ‘twas true indeed I had come into the land to serve his
Majesty the Czar and the worshipful Russian people, even at the risk of
my life, against their enemies:  but to change my religion, to that I
could not resolve me:  yet so far as I could in any wise serve his
Majesty without burdening my conscience, I would not fail to do my utmost
endeavour.

    Then was I set apart from the rest and lodged with a merchant, where
I was openly watched, yet daily provisioned from the court with rich food
and costly liquors, and also daily had visitors that talked with me and
now and again would invite me as a guest.  In especial there was one to
whose charge I had without doubt been chiefly commended, a crafty man,
that entertained me daily with friendly talk; for now could I speak
Russian pretty well.  So he discoursed with me oftentimes of all manner
of mechanic arts, as well as of engines of war and others, and of
fortification and artillery practice.  At last, after much beating about
the bush to find out whether I would give in to his master’s wishes, when
he found there was no hope of my changing even in the least point, he
begged that I would for the honour of the great Czar impart and
communicate to their nation somewhat of my science:  for his Majesty
would requite my complaisance with high and royal favours.  To which I
answered, my desires had ever been to that end, most dutifully to serve
the Czar, seeing that for this purpose I had come into his country,
albeit I perceived that I was kept like a prisoner.  But he replied,
“Nay, nay, sir, ye be no prisoner, but his Majesty doth hold ye so dear
that he cannot resolve to part with your person.”  So says I, “Wherefore
then am I guarded?”  “Because,” he answered, “his Majesty feareth lest
any harm should happen to ye.”

    So now understanding my proposals, he said the Czar was graciously
pleased to consider of digging for saltpetre in his own country and
making of powder there; but because there was no one in the land that
could deal with the matter, I should do him an acceptable service if I
would undertake the work:  to that end I should be provided with men and
means enough ready to hand, and he in his own person would most sincerely
beg of me not to reject such a gracious proposal, seeing that they were
already well assured that I had a full knowledge of such matters.  To
which I answered, “Sir, I say as I said before:  if I can serve his
Majesty in anything, provided only he will be graciously content to leave
me undisturbed in my religion, I will not fail to do my best.”  Whereat
the Russian, which was one of their chief magnates, was heartily glad and
pledged me in drink deeper than ever a German.

    Next day there came from the Czar two great nobles with an
interpreter to make a final agreement with me, and presented me on behalf
of the Czar with a costly Russian robe:  and a few days after I began to
seek for saltpetre and to instruct the Russians that had been assigned to
me how to separate it from the earth and refine it; and at the same time
I drew up a plan of a powder-mill, and taught others to burn charcoal, so
that in brief space we had ready a goodly amount both of musquet and
ordinance powder; for I had people enough, besides mine own servants that
were to wait on me, or, to speak more truly, to keep watch and ward over
me.

    I being thus well started, there comes to me the before-mentioned
colonel in Russian clothes and nobly escorted by many servants; without
doubt by such a show of glory to persuade me to go over to that religion.
 But I knew well that the clothes came from the Czar his wardrobe, and
were but lent him to make my mouth water:  for ‘tis the commonest of
customs at the Russian court:  and that the reader may understand how
‘tis managed, I will give him an instance of mine own self.  For once was
I busied with taking order at the powder-mills (which I caused to be
built on the river outside Moscow) as to what task one and the other of
the people assigned to me should perform that day and the next, when of a
sudden there was an alarm that the Tartars4, 100,000 horse strong, were
but four miles away plundering the country and advancing continually:  so
must I and my people needs betake ourselves to the palace, to be equipped
out of the Czar’s armoury and stables.  And I for my part, in place of a
cuirass, was clad in a quilted silk breastplate that would stop any
arrow, but could not keep out any bullet:  moreover boots and spurs and a
princely head-dress with a heron plume, and a sabre that would split a
hair, mounted with pure gold and studded with precious stones, were given
to me, and of the Czar’s horses such an one was put between my legs as I
had never seen the like of in my life, far less ridden; so I and my
horses blazed with gold, silver, pearls and precious stones.  I had a
steel mace hanging by me that shone like a mirror, and was so well made
and heavy that I had easily beaten to death any that I dealt a blow with
it, so that the Czar himself could not ride into battle better equipped: 
and there followed me a white standard with a double eagle to which the
people flocked from all sides and corners, so that before two hours were
over we were forty thousand strong and after four hours nigh sixty
thousand, with whom we marched against the Tartars; and every quarter of
an hour I had my orders from the Czar; which yet were but this, that I
should this day approve myself a soldier, having given myself out for
one, that his Majesty might as such esteem and recognise me.  So every
moment our troop was increased with great and small soldiers and
officers; yet in all this haste could I discover none that should command
the whole body, or array the battle.  It needs not that I should tell
all, for my story is not much concerned with this encounter.  I will but
say this only, that we came suddenly upon the Tartars in a valley or deep
dip in the land, encumbered with tired horses and much booty, and least
of all expecting us; whom we attacked on all sides with such fury that at
the very onset we scattered them.  There at the first attack I called to
my followers in the Russian speech, “Come now, let each do as I do!” and
that they all shouted to one another, while I with a loose rein charged
at the enemy, and of the first I met, which was a Mirza or prince’s son,
I cleft the head in twain, so that his brains were left hanging on my
steel mace.  This heroical example did the Russians follow, so that the
Tartars might not withstand their attack, but turned to a general flight,
while I dealt like a madman, or rather like one that from desperation
seeketh death and cannot find it, for I smote down all that came before
me, Tartar and Russian alike; and they that were commanded by the Czar to
watch me followed me so hard that I had ever my back guarded.  There was
the air so full of arrows as it had been swarms of bees, of which my
share was one in the arm; for I had turned back my sleeve that so with
less hindrance I might use my sword and came to cleave and batter; and
until I received the wound my heart did laugh within me at such
bloodshed; but when I saw mine own blood flow, that laughter was turned
into a mad fury.

    So when these savage foes had been put to flight, it was commanded me
by divers nobles in the name of the Czar that I should carry to their
emperor the news how the Tartars had been defeated:  and at their bidding
I rode back with some hundred horsemen at my heels, with whom I rode
through the town to the Czar’s palace, and was by all men received with
triumph and gratulation; but so soon as I had made my report of the
battle (albeit the Czar had already news of all that happened) I must
again doff my princely apparel, which was again stored away in the Czar
his wardrobe, though both it and the horse trappings were bespattered and
befouled all over with blood and so almost entirely ruinated; whereas I
had thought, since I had borne myself so knightly in the encounter, the
clothes should at least have been left me, together with the horse, for a
reward.  But from this I could well judge how ‘twas managed with the
Russian robe of state of which my colonel made use; for ‘tis all but lent
finery which, like all else in Russia, pertaineth to the Czar alone.
 

Chap.  xxii:  BY WHAT A SHORT AND MERRY ROAD HE CAME HOME TO HIS DAD

    Now as long as my wound was a-healing ‘tis true I was treated like a
prince; for I walked abroad at all times clad in a furred gown of cloth
of gold lined with sables, though the wound was neither mortal nor
dangerous, and in all the days of my life I have never tasted such rich
foods as then; but this was all the reward I had for my labours, save the
praise which the Czar favoured me with, and this too was spoiled for me
by the envy of certain nobles.  So now, being completely sound again was
I sent down the Volga in a ship to Astrachan5,  to set up a powder-mill
there as in Moscow, for ‘twas not possible for the Czar to furnish these
frontier fortresses from Moscow with fresh and good powder, which must
needs be carried by water and that with great risk.  And this service I
willingly undertook, for I had promises that the Czar, after the
accomplishment of such business, would send me back to Holland, and that
with a good reward in money proportionable to my services.  But alas!
when we think we stand safest and most certain in the hopes and conceits
we have formed, there comes a wind unawares, and in a wink blows away all
the flimsy stuff whereon we had founded our hopes so long.

    Yet the Governor of Astrachan treated me like the Czar himself, and
in brief space I had all on a good footing; his old ammunition which was
quite spoiled and ruined and could do no harm to any, I refounded (as a
tinker makes new tin spoons out of old ones), which was then a thing
unheard of among the Russians; by reason of which and other arts of mine
some held me to be a sorcerer, others a new saint or prophet, and others,
again, for a second Empedocles6 or Gorgias Leontinus7.  But being hard at
work and busied at night in a powder-mill outside the fortifications, I
was in thievish wise captured and carried off by a horde of Tartars,
which took me with others so far into their country that I not only could
see the herb Borametz or sheep-plant growing but did even eat thereof: 
which is a most strange vegetable; for it is like a sheep to look upon,
its wool can be spun and woven like natural sheep’s wool, and its flesh
is so like to mutton that even the wolves do love to eat thereof.  But
they that had captivated me did barter me away for certain wares of China
to the Tartars of Nuichi, which again presented me as a rare gift to King
of Corea, with whom they had but then made a truce.  And there was I
highly valued, for there could none be found like me in the handling of
sword and rapier; and there I taught the king how, with his piece over
his shoulder and his back turned to the target, he could yet hit the
bull’s-eye; in reward for which at my humble petition he gave me my
liberty again, and let me go by way of Japonia to the Portuguese of
Macao, which made but small count of me.  So I went about among them like
a sheep that has strayed from the flock, till at last in marvellous
fashion I was captured by Turkish corsairs, and by them, after they had
dragged me about with them for a full year among strange foreign nations
that do inhabit the isles of the East Indies, sold to certain merchants
of Alexandria in Egypt.  These carried me with their wares to
Constantinople, and because the Turkish emperor was just then fitting out
galleys against the Venetians and needed rowers, therefore must many
Turkish merchants part with their Christian slaves (yet for ready
payment), among whom I was one, as being a strong young fellow.  And now
must I learn to row; which heavy task nevertheless endured not more than
two months:  for our galley was in the Levant right valiantly overcome by
the Venetians, and I with all my companions freed from the power of the
Turks:  and the said galley being brought to Venice with rich booty and
divers Turkish prisoners of high degree, I was set at liberty, as wishing
to go to Rome and on pilgrimage to Loretto, to view those places and to
thank God for my deliverance.  To which end I easily obtained a passport,
and moreover from several honourable persons, especially Germans,
reasonable help in money, so that now I could provide me with a pilgrim’s
staff and enter on my journey.

    So I betook me by the nearest way to Rome, where I fared right well,
for both from great and small I got me much alms; and tarrying there nigh
six weeks, I took my way with other pilgrims, of whom some Germans, and
especially certain Switzers, to Loretto:  from whence I came over the
Saint Gotthard Pass back through Switzerland to my dad, which had kept my
farm for me; and nothing remarkable did I bring home save a beard which I
had grown in foreign parts.

    Now had I been absent three years and some months, during which time
I had fared over the most distant seas and seen all manner of peoples,
but had commonly received from them more evil than good; of which a whole
book might be writ.  And in the meanwhile the Westphalian treaty had been
concluded, so that I could now live with my dad in peace and quiet:  and
him I left to manage and to keep house, but for myself I sat down to my
books, which were now both my work and my delight.

Chap.  xxiii:  IS VERY SHORT AND CONCERNETH SIMPLICISSIMUS ALONE

    Once did I read how the oracle of Apollo gave as answer to the Roman
deputies, when they asked what they must do to rule their subjects in
peace, this only, “Nosce teipsum,” which signifieth, “Let each man know
himself.”  This caused me to reflect upon the past and demand of myself
an account of the life I had led, for I had naught else to do.  So said I
to myself:  “Thy life hath been no life but a death, thy days a toilsome
shadow, thy years a troublous dream, thy pleasures grievous sins, thy
youth a fantasy, and thy happiness an alchemist’s treasure that is gone
by the chimney and vanished ere thou canst perceive it.  Through many
dangers thou hast followed the wars, and in the same encountered much
good and ill luck:  hast been now high, now low:  now great, now small: 
now rich, now poor:  now merry, now sorry:  now loved, now hated:  now
honoured, now despised:  but now, poor soul, what hast thou gained from
thy long pilgrimage?  This hast thou gained:  I am poor in goods, my
heart is burdened with cares, for all good purposes I am idle, lazy, and
spoilt; and, worst of all, my conscience is heavy and vexed:  but thou,
my soul, art overwhelmed with sin and grievously defiled; the body is
weary, the understanding bemused; thine innocence is gone, the best years
of youth are past, the precious time lost:  naught is there that gives me
pleasure, and withal I am an enemy to myself.  But when I came, after my
sainted father’s death, into the great world, then was I simple-minded
and pure, upright and honest, truthful, humble, modest, temperate,
chaste, shame-faced, pious and religious, but soon became malicious,
false, treacherous, proud, restless, and above all altogether godless,
all which vices I did learn without a teacher.  Mine honour have I
guarded not for its own sake, but for mine own exaltation.  I took note
of time not to employ it well for mine own soul’s welfare, but for the
profit of my body.  My life have I often put in jeopardy, and yet I have
never busied myself to better it that I might die blest and comforted;
for I looked only to the present and to my temporal profit, and never
once thought on the future, much less remembered that I must some time
give an account before the face of God Almighty.”

    With such thoughts I tormented myself daily; and just then there came
into my hands certain writings of the Franciscan friar Quevara, of which
I must here set down some; for they were of such power as full to disgust
me with the world.
 

Edited by Adam Mason
 
 


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1Offa.  Offenburg.  (Goodrick’s note)
2Baiersbronn.  (Goodrick’s note)
3Livonia is located on the eastern coast of the Baltic, to the north of
Lithuania.  The land of Livonia has switched hands many times.  After the
Livonian Wars (1558-1583), the land was separated with parts taken by
Poland and Sweden.  In 1621, a war between Poland and Sweden was waged
over this land.  In the year 1656 alone, Livonia was the location of the
Russo-Polish, Polish-Swedish, and Russo-Swedish wars.  The Treaty of
Kardis in 1661 saw Russia bowing out of its Livonian area.  From: Paxton,
John  “Livonia” Encyclopedia of Russian History:  From the
Christianization of Kiev to the Break-Up of the U.S.S.R.  (Santa Barbara:
 ABC-CLIO, 1993), p.242
4The Tartars are known by several names; “Mongols”, “the Golden Horde”,
“Tatars.”  They played large roles in several eras of Russian history. 
The term “Tartars” is derived from the Greek “Tartarus” with the
insinuation being that the Tartars were so fierce during invasion that it
could be likened to hell on earth.  The people described in this section
are thought to be descended of those warriors that invaded Russia under
Genghis Khan and many used it to describe any “wandering or non-civilized
Mongol or Turkic group.”  After “the Golden Horde” ceased to exist as a
cohesive unit, groups of Tatars broke off with the wealthiest being the
Ural and Middle Volga Tatars, named for the areas they inhabited.  
“TATARS,” The Modern Encyclopedia of Russian and Soviet History (Gulf
Breeze:  Academic International, 1984), vol. 38, p. 185-86.  From the
research I performed, I found it difficult to find the Tartar raids that
are referred to in Simplicissimus in historical sources.  It seems that
because their involvement as the Golden Horde was such a huge part of
Russian history, the periodic raids are not mentioned very often.  I did
find a source which attested to the fact that the Tartar khans of Crimea,
after basically becoming subordinates of the Ottoman Empire, the Crimean
Tartars kept harassing the Ukraine and Poland and began to extract
tribute from the czars of Russia. From:   “Tatars”  The Columbia
Encyclopedia  sixth edition, ed. Paul Lagasse (New York:  Columbia
University, 2000), p.  2794.
5Also spelled Astrakhan, the city lies at the end of the Volga River
close to the Caspian Sea in lower Russia.  It is the principal Russian
port for the Caspian Sea.  At the Volga Rivers southern delta, it had a
prominent trade with Persia , Khiva, and Bukhara up to 1917.  Until 1556
when it was conquered by Ivan the Terrible, Astrakhan was the capital of
khanate of Astrakhan for the Tatars.  From:  “Astrakhan”  The Columbia
Encyclopedia  sixth edition, ed. Paul Lagasse (New York:  Columbia
University, 2000), p.  177.
6Empedocles was one of the great pre-Socratic thinkers and one of the
best evidenced.  Empedocles’ life is difficult to reconstruct, as the
only evidence we have is in “romanticizing biographies” and extracted
from his poetry.  In the fragments we have of his writing, Empedocles
presents an incredible range of topics including “his biology, his theory
of knowledge and perception, his basic physics.”  Though what he actually
wrote is disputable, Empedocles can be generally praised for his
incredible attempts to address the origins and evolution of the universe.
 From:  Inwood, Brad, The Poem of Empedocles (Toronto:  University of
Toronto, 1992) pp. 1,8-9, 19, 72.
7Gorgias Leontinus (Leontini) was a pioneer in the use of rhetoric
speech.  At a basic level he is supposed to have revolutionized both
“structure and ornamentation.”  Although it is disputed, some believe
Gorgias to have been the student of the philosopher Empedocles, and that
he expanded Empedocles’ ideas of rhetoric into what later developed as
sophism.  Though his writing styles is of controversy as it is wrought
with “aural effects” and figurative language, Gorgias is generally
regarded as the father of the sophist thinkers.  From:  Wardy, Robert 
The Birth of Rhetoric:  Gorgias, Plato and their successors (New York: 
Routledge, 1996)  pp. 6-9
 
