Had the Roman soldiers been free thinkers,
Drusus, the son of Tiberius, had not been so fortunate as to quell a
desperate mutiny among the legions of Pannonia, who utterly refused to
obey his commands; but an eclipse, which critically intervened, broke
their refractory spirits to such a degree, that Drusus, who managed
their panic fear with great dexterity and address, did what he liked
with them.
An eclipse of the moon put the army of Alexander the Great into such a
consternation, some days before the battle of Arbela, that the soldiers,
under the impression that heaven was against them, were very reluctant
to advance; and their devotion turning to downright disobedience,
Alexander commanded the Egyptian astrologers, who were the deepest
versed in the mystery of the stars, to give their opinions of this
eclipse in the presence of all the officers of his army. Without giving
themselves much trouble to explain the physical cause which it was their
interest to conceal from the people, the wise men declared that the sun
was on the side of the Grecians, and the moon for the Persians; and that
this planet was never in an eclipse, but it threatened them with some
mighty disaster: of this they quoted several ancient examples among the
kings of Persia, who, after an eclipse, had always found their gods
unpropitious in the day of battle.
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