[364] See the difficult fragment of Alkæus (Fr. 24, ed. Schneidewin), preserved in Strabo, xiii, p. 600; Herodot. v, 94, 95; Archilochus, Eleg. Fr. i, 5, ed. Schneidewin; Horat. Carm. ii, 7, 9; perhaps also Anakreon, but not certainly (see Fr. 81, ed. Schneidewin), is to be regarded as having thrown away his shield. [365] Aristot. Rhetoric. i, 16, 2, where ~ἔναγχος~ marks the date. Though Pittakus and Alkæus were both found in the same line of hoplites against the Athenians at Sigeium, yet in the domestic politics of their native city, their bearing was that of bitter enemies. Alkæus and Antimenidas his brother were worsted in this party-feud, and banished: but even as exiles they were strong enough seriously to alarm and afflict their fellow-citizens, while their party at home, and the general dissension within the walls, reduced Mitylênê to despair. In this calamitous condition, the Mityleneans had recourse to Pittakus, who with his great rank in the state (his wife belonged to the old gens of the Penthilids), courage in the field, and reputation for wisdom, inspired greater confidence than any other citizen of his time. He was by universal consent named Æsymnete or dictator for ten years, with unlimited powers:[366] and the appointment proved eminently successful. How effectually he repelled the exiles, and maintained domestic tranquillity, is best shown by the angry effusions of Alkæus, whose songs (unfortunately lost) gave vent to the political hostility of the time, in the same manner as the speeches of the Athenian orators two centuries afterwards, and who in his vigorous invectives against Pittakus did not spare even the coarsest nicknames, founded on alleged personal deformities.[367] Respecting the proceedings of this eminent dictator, the contemporary and reported friend of Solon, we know only in a general way, that he succeeded in reëstablishing security and peace, and that at the end of his term he voluntarily laid down his authority,[368]—an evidence not only of probity superior to the lures of ambition, but also of that conscious moderation during the period of his dictatorship which left him without fear as a private citizen afterwards. He enacted various laws for Mitylênê, one of which was sufficiently curious to cause it to be preserved and commented on,—for it prescribed double penalties against offences committed by men in a state of intoxication.[369] But he did not (like Solon at Athens) introduce any constitutional changes, nor provide any new formal securities for public liberty and good government:[370] which illustrates the remark previously made, that Solon in doing this was beyond his age, and struck out new lights for his successors,—since on the score of personal disinterestedness Pittakus and he are equally unimpeachable. What was the condition of Mitylênê afterwards, we have no authorities to tell us. Pittakus is said, if the chronological computers of a later age can be trusted, to have died