A SMALLER HISTORY OF GREECE from the earliest times to the Roman conquest. by WILLIAM SMITH, D. C. L. , LL. D. Note: In this Etext, printed text in italics has been written in capitalletters. Many words in the printed text have accents, etc. Which have beenomitted. Dipthongs have been expanded into two letters. CONTENTS. CHAPTER I . . Geography of Greece. CHAPTER II . . Origin of the Greeks, and the Heroic Age. CHAPTER III . . General Survey of the Greek People. National Institutions. CHAPTER IV . . Early History of Peloponnesus and Sparta to the end of the Messenian Wars, B. C. 668. CHAPTER V . . Early History of Athens down to the Establishment of Democracy by Clisthenes, B. C. 510. CHAPTER VI . . The Greek Colonies. CHAPTER VII . . The Persian Wars. --From the Ionic Revolt to the Battle of Marathon, B. C. 500-490. CHAPTER VIII . . The Persian Wars. --The Battles of Thermopylae Salamis, and Plataea, B. C. 480-479. CHAPTER IX . . From the end of the Persian Wars to the beginning of the Peloponnesian War, B. C. 479-431. CHAPTER X . . Athens in the time of Pericles. CHAPTER XI . . The Peloponnesian War. --First Period, from the commencement of the War to the Peace of Nicias, B. C. 431-421. CHAPTER XII . . The Peloponnesian War. --Second Period, from the Peace of Nicias to the Defeat of the Athenians in Sicily, B. C. 421-413. CHAPTER XIII . . The Peloponnesian War. --Third Period, from the Sicilian Expedition to the end of the War, B. C. 413-404. CHAPTER XIV . . The Thiry Tyrants, and the death of Socrates, B. C. 404-399. CHAPTER XV . . The Expedition of the Greeks under Cyrus, and Retreat of the Ten Thousand, B. C. 401-400. CHAPTER XVI . . The Supremacy of Sparta, B. C. 404-371. CHAPTER XVII . . The Supremacy of Thebes, B. C. 371-361. CHAPTER XVIII . . History of the Sicilian Greeks from the Destruction of the Athenian Armament to the Death of Timoleon. CHAPTER XIX . . Phillip of Macedon, B. C. 359-336. CHAPTER XX . . Alexander the Great, B. C. 336-323. CHAPTER XXI . . From the Death of Alexander the Great to the Conquest of Greece by the Romans, B. C. 323-146. CHAPTER XXII . . Sketch of the History of Greek Literature from the Earliest Times to the Reign of Alexander the Great. CHAPTER I. GEOGRAPHY OF GREECE. Greece is the southern portion of a great peninsula of Europe, washedon three sides by the Mediterranean Sea. It is bounded on the north bythe Cambunian mountains, which separate it from Macedonia. It extendsfrom the fortieth degree of latitude to the thirty-sixth, its greatestlength being not more than 250 English miles, and its greatest breadthonly 180. Its surface is considerably less than that of Portugal. This small area was divided among a number of independent states, manyof them containing a territory of only a few square miles, and none ofthem larger than an English county. But the heroism and genius of theGreeks have given an interest to the insignificant spot of earthbearing their name, which the vastest empires have never equalled. The name of Greece was not used by the inhabitants of the country. They called their land HELLAS, and themselves HELLENES. At first theword HELLAS signified only a small district in Thessaly, from which theHellenes gradually spread over the whole country. The names of GREECEand GREEKS come to us from the Romans, who gave the name of GRAECIA tothe country and of GRAECI to the inhabitants. The two northerly provinces of Greece are THESSALY and EPIRUS, separated from each other by Mount Pindus. Thessaly is a fertile plainenclosed by lofty mountains, and drained by the river Peneus, whichfinds its way into the sea through the celebrated Vale of Tempe. Epirus is covered by rugged ranges of mountains running from north tosouth, through which the Achelous the largest river of Greece, flowstowards the Corinthian gulf. In entering central Greece from Thessaly the road runs along the coastthrough the narrow pass of Thermopylae, between the sea and a loftyrange of mountains. The district along the coast was inhabited by theEASTERN LOCRIANS, while to their west were DORIS and PHOCIS, thegreater part of the latter being occupied by Mount Parnassus, the abodeof the Muses, upon the slopes of which lay the town of Delphi with itscelebrated oracle of Apollo. South of Phocis is Boeotia, which is alarge hollow basin, enclosed on every side by mountains, which preventthe waters from flowing into the sea. Hence the atmosphere was dampand thick, to which circumstance the witty Athenians attributed thedullness of the inhabitants. Thebes was the chief city of Boeotia. South of Boeotia lies ATTICA, which is in the form of a triangle, having two of its sides washed by the sea and its base united to theland. Its soil is light and dry and is better adapted for the growthof fruit than of corn. It was particularly celebrated for its olives, which were regarded as the gift of Athena (Minerva), and were alwaysunder the care of that goddess. Athens was on the western coast, between four and five miles from its port, Piraeus. West of Attica, towards the isthmus, is the small district of MEGARIS. The western half of central Greece consists of WESTERN LOCRIS, AETOLIAand ACARNANIA. These districts were less civilised than the othercountries of Greece, and were the haunts of rude robber tribes even aslate as the Peloponnesian war. Central Greece is connected with the southern peninsula by a narrowisthmus, on which stood the city of Corinth. So narrow is this isthmusthat the ancients regarded the peninsula as an island, and gave to itthe name of PELOPONNESUS, or the island of Pelops, from the mythicalhero of this name. Its modern name, the MOREA, was bestowed upon itfrom its resemblance to the leaf of the mulberry. The mountains of Peloponnesus have their roots in the centre of thecountry, from which they branch out towards the sea. This centralregion, called ARCADIA, is the Switzerland of the peninsula. It issurrounded by a ring of mountains, forming a kind of natural wall, which separates it from the remaining Peloponnesian states. The otherchief divisions of Peloponnesus were Achaia, Argolis, Laconia, Messenia, and Elis. ACHAIA is a narrow slip of country lying betweenthe northern barrier of Arcadia and the Corinthian gulf. ARGOLIS, onthe east, contained several independent states, of which the mostimportant was Argos. LACONIA and MESSENIA occupied the whole of thesouth of the peninsula from sea to sea: these two countries wereseparated by the lofty range of Taygetus, running from north to south, and terminating in the promontory of Taenarum (now Cape Matapan), thesouthernmost point of Greece and Europe. Sparta, the chief town ofLaconia, stood in the valley of the Eurotas, which opens out into aplain of considerable extent towards the Laconian gulf. Messenia, inlike manner, was drained by the Pamisus, whose plain is still moreextensive and fertile than that of the Eurotas. ELIS, on the west ofArcadia, contains the memorable plain of Olympia, through which theAlpheus flows, and in which the city of Pisa stood. Of the numerous islands which line the Grecian shores, the mostimportant was Euboea, stretching along the coasts of Boeotia andAttica. South of Euboea was the group of islands called the CYCLADES, lying around Delos as a centre; and east of these were the SPORADES, near the Asiatic coast. South of these groups are the large islands ofCRETE and RHODES. The physical features of the country exercised an important influenceupon the political destinies of the people. Greece is one of the mostmountainous countries of Europe. Its surface is occupied by a numberof small plains, either entirely surrounded by limestone mountains oropen only to the sea. Each of the principal Grecian cities was foundedin one of these small plains; and, as the mountains which separated itfrom its neighbours were lofty and rugged, each city grew up insolitary independence. But at the same time it had ready and easyaccess to the sea, and Arcadia was almost the only political divisionthat did not possess some territory upon the coast. Thus shut out fromtheir neighbours by mountains, the Greeks were naturally attracted tothe sea, and became a maritime people. Hence they possessed the loveof freedom and the spirit of adventure, which have alwayscharacterised, more or less the inhabitants of maritime districts. CHAPTER II. ORIGIN OF THE GREEKS AND THE HEROIC AGE. No nation possesses a history till events are recorded in writtendocuments; and it was not till the epoch known by the name of the FirstOlympiad, corresponding to the year 776 B. C. , that the Greeks began toemploy writing as a means for perpetuating the memory of any historicalfacts. Before that period everything is vague and uncertain; and theexploits of the heroes related by the poets must not be regarded ashistorical facts. The PELASGIANS are universally represented as the most ancientinhabitants of Greece. They were spread over the Italian as well asthe Grecian peninsula; and the Pelasgic language thus formed the basisof the Latin as well as of the Greek. They were divided into severaltribes, of which the Hellenes were probably one: at any rate, thispeople, who originally dwelt in the south of Thessaly, gradually spreadover the rest of Greece. The Pelasgians disappeared before them, orwere incorporated with them, and their dialect became the language ofGreece. The Hellenes considered themselves the descendants of onecommon ancestor, Hellen, the son of Deucalion and Pyrrha. To Hellenwere ascribed three sons, Dorus, Xuthus, and AEolus. Of these Dorusand AEolus gave their names to the DORIANS and AEOLIANS; and Xuthus;through his two sons Ion and Achaeus, became the forefather of theIONIANS and ACHAEANS. Thus the Greeks accounted for the origin of thefour great divisions of their race. The descent of the Hellenes from acommon ancestor, Hellen, was a fundamental article in the popularfaith. It was a general practice in antiquity to invent fictitiouspersons for the purpose of explaining names of which the origin wasburied in obscurity. It was in this way that Hellen and his sons cameinto being; but though they never had any real existence, the talesabout them may be regarded as the traditional history of the races towhom they gave their names. The civilization of the Greeks and the development of their languagebear all the marks of home growth, and probably were little affected byforeign influence. The traditions, however, of the Greeks would pointto a contrary conclusion. It was a general belief among them that thePelasgians were reclaimed from barbarism by Oriental strangers, whosettled in the country and introduced among the rude inhabitants thefirst elements of civilization. Attica is said to have been indebtedfor the arts of civilized life to Cecrops, a native of Sais in Egypt. To him is ascribed the foundation of the city of Athens, theinstitution of marriage, and the introduction of religious rites andceremonies. Argos, in like manner, is said to have been founded by theEgyptian Danaus, who fled to Greece with his fifty daughters, to escapefrom the persecution of their suitors, the fifty sons of his brotherAEgyptus. The Egyptian stranger was elected king by the natives, andfrom him the tribe of the Danai derived their name, which Homerfrequently uses as a general appellation for the Greeks. Anothercolony was the one led from Asia by Pelops, from whom the southernpeninsula of Greece derived its name of Peloponnesus. Pelops isrepresented as a Phrygian, and the son of the wealthy king Tantalus. He became king of Mycenae, and the founder of a powerful dynasty, oneof the most renowned in the Heroic age of Greece. From him wasdescended Agamemnon, who led the Grecian host against Troy. The tale of the Phoenician colony, conducted by Cadmus, and whichfounded Thebes in Boeotia, rests upon a different basis. Whether therewas such a person as the Phoenician Cadmus, and whether he built thetown called Cadmea, which afterwards became the citadel of Thebes, asthe ancient legends relate, cannot be determined; but it is certainthat the Greeks were indebted to the Phoenicians for the art ofwriting; for both the names and the forms of the letters in the Greekalphabet are evidently derived from the Phoenician. With thisexception the Oriental strangers left no permanent traces of theirsettlements in Greece; and the population of the country continued tobe essentially Grecian, uncontaminated by any foreign elements. The age of the heroes, from the first appearance of the Hellenes inThessaly to the return of the Greeks from Troy, was supposed to be aperiod of about two hundred years. These heroes were believed to be anoble race of beings, possessing a superhuman though not a divinenature, and superior to ordinary men in strength of body and greatnessof soul. Among the heroes three stand conspicuously forth: Hercules, thenational hero of Greece; Theseus, the hero of Attica; and Minos, kingof Crete, the principal founder of Grecian law and civilization. Hercules was the son of Zeus (Jupiter) and Alcmena; but the jealousanger of Hera (Juno) raised up against him an opponent and a master inthe person of Eurystheus at whose bidding the greatest of all heroeswas to achieve those wonderful labours which filled the whole worldwith his fame. In these are realized, on a magnificent scale, the twogreat objects of ancient heroism, the destruction of physical and moralevil, and the acquisition of wealth and power. Such, for instance, arethe labours in which he destroys the terrible Nemean lion and Lerneanhydra, carries off the girdle of Ares from Hippolyte, queen of theAmazons, and seizes the golden apples of the Hesperides, guarded by ahundred-headed dragon. Theseus was a son of AEgeus, king of Athens, and of AEthra, daughter ofPittheus, king of Troezen. Among his many memorable achievements themost famous was his deliverance of Athens from the frightful tributeimposed upon it by Minos for the murder of his son. This consisted ofseven youths and seven maidens whom the Athenians were compelled tosend every nine years to Crete, there to be devoured by the Minotaur, amonster with a human body and a bull's head, which Minos kept concealedin an inextricable labyrinth. The third ship was already on the pointof sailing with its cargo of innocent victims, when Theseus offered togo with them, hoping to put an end for ever to the horrible tribute. Ariadne, the daughter of Minos, became enamoured of the hero, andhaving supplied him with a clue to trace the windings of the labyrinth, Theseus succeeded in killing the monster, and in tracking his way outof the mazy lair. Theseus, on his return, became king of Attica, andproceeded to lay the foundations of the future greatness of thecountry. He united into one political body the twelve independentstates into which Cecrops had divided Attica, and made Athens thecapital of the new kingdom. He then divided the citizens into threeclasses, namely, EUPATRIDAE, or nobles; GEOMORI, or husbandmen; andDEMIURGI, or artisans. Minos, king of Crete, whose history is connected with that of Theseus, appears, like him, the representative of an historical and civil stateof life. Minos is said to have received the laws of Crete immediatelyfrom Zeus; and traditions uniformly present him as king of the sea. Possessing a numerous fleet, he reduced the surrounding islands, especially the Cyclades, under his dominion, and cleared the sea ofpirates. The voyage of the Argonauts and the Trojan war were the most memorableenterprises undertaken by collective bodies of heroes. The Argonauts derived their name from the Argo, a ship built For theadventurers by Jason, under the superintendence of Athena (Minerva). They embarked in the harbour of Iolcus in Thessaly for the purpose ofobtaining the golden fleece which was preserved in AEa in Colchis, onthe eastern shores of the Black Sea, under the guardianship of asleepless dragon. The most renowned heroes of the age took part in theexpedition. Among them were Hercules and Theseus, as well as theprincipal leaders in the Trojan war; but Jason is the central figureand the real hero of the enterprise. Upon arriving at AEa, after manyadventures, king AEtes promised to deliver to Jason the golden fleece, provided he yoked two fire-breathing oxen with brazen feet, andperformed other wonderful deeds. Here, also, as in the legend ofTheseus, love played a prominent part. Medea, the daughter of AEtes, who was skilled in magic and supernatural arts, furnished Jason withthe means of accomplishing the labours imposed upon him; and as herfather still delayed to surrender the fleece, she cast the dragonasleep during the night, seized the fleece, and sailed away in the Argowith her beloved Jason. The Trojan war was the greatest of all the heroic achievements. Itformed the subject of innumerable epic poems, and has been immortalisedby the genius of Homer. Paris, son of Priam, king of Troy, abused thehospitality of Menelaus, king of Sparta, by carrying off his wifeHelen, the most beautiful woman of the age. All the Grecian princeslooked upon the outrage as one committed against themselves. Responding to the call of Menelaus, they assembled in arms, elected hisbrother Agamemnon, king of Mycenae, leader of the expedition, andsailed across the AEgean in nearly 1200 ships to recover the faithlessfair one. Several of the confederate heroes excelled Agamemnon infame. Among them Achilles, chief of the Thessalian Myrmidons, stoodpre-eminent in strength, beauty, and valour; whilst Ulysses, king ofIthaca; surpassed all the rest in the mental qualities of counsel andeloquence. Among the Trojans, Hector, one of the sons of Priam, wasmost distinguished for heroic qualities and formed a striking contrastto his handsome but effeminate brother Paris. Next to Hector in valourstood AEneas, son of Anchises and Aphrodite (Venus). Even the godstook part in the contest, encouraging their favourite heroes, andsometimes fighting by their side or in their stead. It was not till the tenth year of the war that Troy yielded to theinevitable decree of fate; and it is this year which forms the subjectof the Iliad. Achilles, offended by Agamemnon, abstains from the war;and in his absence the Greeks are no match for Hector. The Trojansdrive them back into their camp, and are already setting fire to theirships, when Achilles gives his armour to his friend Patroclus, andallows him to charge at the head of the Myrmidons. Patroclus repulsesthe Trojans from the ships, but the god Apollo is against him, and hefalls under the spear of Hector. Desire to avenge the death of hisfriend proves more powerful in the breast of Achilles than angeragainst Agamemnon. He appears again in the field in new and gorgeousarmour, forged for him by the god Hephrastus (Vulcan) at the prayer ofThetis. The Trojans fly before him, and, although Achilles is awarethat his own death must speedily follow that of the Trojan hero, heslays Hector in single combat. The Iliad closes with the burial of Hector. The death of Achilles andthe capture of Troy were related in later poems. The hero of so manyachievements perishes by an arrow shot by the unwarlike Paris, butdirected by the hand of Apollo. The noblest combatants had now fallenon either side, and force of arms had proved unable to accomplish whatstratagem at length effects. It is Ulysses who now steps into theforeground and becomes the real conqueror of Troy. By his advice awooden horse is built, in whose inside he and other heroes concealthemselves. The infatuated Trojans admit the horse within their walls. In the dead of night the Greeks rush out and open the gates to theircomrades. Troy is delivered over to the sword, and its glory sinks inashes. The fall of Troy is placed in the year 1184 B. C. The return of the Grecian leaders from Troy forms another series ofpoetical legends. Several meet with tragical ends. Agamemnon ismurdered on his arrival at Mycenae, by his wife Clytaemnestra and herparamour AEgisthus. But of these wanderings the most celebrated andinteresting are those of Ulysses, which form the subject of theOdyssey. After twenty years' absence he arrives at length in Ithaca, where he slays the numerous suitors who devoured his substance andcontended for the hand of his wife Penelope. The Homeric poems must not be regarded as a record of historicalpersons and events, but, at the same time, they present a valuablepicture of the institutions and manners of the earliest known state ofGrecian society. In the Heroic age Greece was already divided into a number ofindependent states, each governed by its own king. The authority ofthe king was not limited by any laws; his power resembled that of thepatriarchs in the Old Testament; and for the exercise of it he wasresponsible only to Zeus, and not to his people. But though the kingwas not restrained in the exercise of his power by any positive laws, his authority was practically limited by the BOULE; or council ofchiefs, and the Agora, or general assembly of freemen. These twobodies, of little account in the Heroic age, became in the Republicanage the sole depositories of political power. The Greeks in the Heroic age were divided into the three classes ofnobles, common freemen, and slaves. The nobles were raised far abovethe rest of the community in honour, power, and wealth. They weredistinguished by their warlike prowess, their large estates, and theirnumerous slaves. The condition of the general mass of freemen israrely mentioned. They possessed portions of land as their ownproperty, which they cultivated themselves; but there was another classof poor freemen, called Thetes, who had no land of their own, and whoworked for hire on the estates of others. Slavery was not so prevalentin the Heroic age as at a later time, and appears in a less odiousaspect. The nobles alone possessed slaves, and they treated them witha degree of kindness which frequently secured for the masters theiraffectionate attachment. Society was marked by simplicity of manners. The kings and nobles didnot consider it derogatory to their dignity to acquire skill in themanual arts. Ulysses is represented as building his own bed-chamberand constructing his own raft, and he boasts of being an excellentmower and ploughman. Like Esau, who made savoury meat for his fatherIsaac, the Heroic chiefs prepared their own meals and prided themselveson their skill in cookery. Kings and private persons partook of thesame food, which was of the simplest kind. Beef, mutton, and goat'sflesh were the ordinary meats, and cheese, flour, and sometimes fruits, also formed part of the banquet; wine was drunk diluted with water, andthe entertainments were never disgraced by intemperance, like those ofour northern ancestors. The enjoyment of the banquet was heightened bythe song and the dance, and the chiefs took more delight in the lays ofthe minstrel than in the exciting influence of the wine. The wives and daughters of the chiefs, in like manner, did not deem itbeneath them to discharge various duties which were afterwards regardedas menial. Not only do we find them constantly employed in weaving, spinning and embroidery, but like the daughters of the patriarchs theyfetch water from the well and assist their slaves in washing garmentsin the river. Even at this early age the Greeks had made considerable advances incivilization. They were collected in fortified towns, which weresurrounded by walls and adorned with palaces and temples. The massiveruins of Mycenae and the sculptured lions on the gate of this citybelong to the Heroic age, and still excite the wonder of the beholder. Commerce, however, was little cultivated, and was not much esteemed. It was deemed more honourable for a man to enrich himself by robberyand piracy than by the arts of peace. Coined money is not mentioned inthe poems of Homer. Whether the Greeks were acquainted at this earlyperiod with the art of writing is a question which has given rise tomuch dispute, and must remain undetermined; but poetry was cultivatedwith success, though yet confined to epic strains, or the narration ofthe exploits and adventures of the Heroic chiefs. The bard sung hisown song, and was always received with welcome and honour in thepalaces of the nobles. In the battle, as depicted by Homer, the chiefs are the only importantcombatants, while the people are an almost useless mass, frequently putto rout by the prowess of a single hero. The chief is mounted in a warchariot, and stands by the side of his charioteer, who is frequently afriend. CHAPTER III. GENERAL SURVEY OF THE GREEK PEOPLE--NATIONAL INSTITUTIONS. The Greeks, as we have already seen, were divided into many independentcommunities, but several causes bound them together as one people. Ofthese the most important were community of blood andlanguage--community of religious rites and festivals--and community ofmanners and character. All the Greeks were descended from the same ancestor and spoke the samelanguage. They all described men and cities which were not Grecian bythe term BARBARIAN. This word has passed into our own language, butwith a very different idea; for the Greeks applied it indiscriminatelyto every foreigner, to the civilized inhabitants of Egypt and Persia, as well as to the rude tribes of Scythia and Gaul. The second bond of union was a community of religious rites andfestivals. From the earliest times the Greeks appear to haveworshipped the same gods; but originally there were no religiousmeetings common to the whole nation. Such meetings were of gradualgrowth, being formed by a number of neighbouring towns, which enteredinto an association for the periodical celebration of certain religiousrites. Of these the most celebrated was the AMPHICTYONIC COUNCIL. Itacquired its superiority over other similar associations by the wealthand grandeur of the Delphian temple, of which it was the appointedguardian. It held two meetings every year, one in the spring at thetemple of Apollo at Delphi, and the other in the autumn at the templeof Demeter (Ceres) at Thermopylae. Its members, who were called theAmphictyons, consisted of sacred deputies sent from twelve tribes, eachof which contained several independent cities or states. But theCouncil was never considered as a national congress, whose duty it wasto protect and defend the common interests of Greece; and it was onlywhen the rights of the Delphian god had been violated that it invokedthe aid of the various members of the league. The Olympic Games were of greater efficacy than the amphictyoniccouncil in promoting a spirit of union among the various branches ofthe Greek race, and in keeping alive a feeling of their common origin. They were open to all persons who could prove their Hellenic blood, andwere frequented by spectators from all parts of the Grecian world. They were celebrated at Olympia, on the banks of the Alpheus, in theterritory of Elis. The origin of the festival is lost in obscurity;but it is said to have been revived by Iphitus, king of Elis, andLycurgus the Spartan legislator, in the year 776 B. C. ; and, accordingly, when the Greeks at a later time began to use the Olympiccontest as a chronological era, this year was regarded as the firstOlympiad. It was celebrated at the end of every four years, and theinterval which elapsed between each celebration was called an Olympiad. The whole festival was under the management of the Eleans, whoappointed some of their own number to preside as judges, under the nameof the Hellanodicae. During the month in which it was celebrated allhostilities were suspended throughout Greece. At first the festivalwas confined to a single day, and consisted of nothing more than amatch of runners in the stadium; but in course of time so many othercontests were introduced, that the games occupied five days. Theycomprised various trials of strength and skill, such as wrestlingboxing, the Pancratium (boxing and wrestling combined), and thecomplicated Pentathlum (including jumping, running, the quoit, thejavelin, and wrestling), but no combats with any kind of weapons. There were also horse-races and chariot-races; and the chariot-race, with four full-grown horses, became one of the most popular andcelebrated of all the matches. The only prize given to the conqueror was a garland of wild olive; butthis was valued as one of the dearest distinctions in life. To havehis name proclaimed as victor before assembled Hellas was an object ofambition with the noblest and the wealthiest of the Greeks. Such aperson was considered to have conferred everlasting glory upon hisfamily and his country, and was rewarded by his fellow-citizens withdistinguished honours. During the sixth century before the Christian era three other nationalfestivals--the Pythian, Nemean, and Isthmian games--which were at firstonly local became open to the whole nation. The Pythian games werecelebrated in every third Olympic year, on the Cirrhaean plain inPhocis, under the superintendence of the Amphictyons. The gamesconsisted not only of matches in gymnastics and of horse and chariotraces, but also of contests in music and poetry. They soon acquiredcelebrity, and became second only to the great Olympic festival. TheNemean and Isthmian games occurred more frequently than the Olympic andPythian. They were celebrated once in two years--the Nemean in thevalley of Nemea between Phlius and Cleonae--and the Isthmian by theCorinthians, on their isthmus, in honour of Poseidon (Neptune). As inthe Pythian festival, contests in music and in poetry, as well asgymnastics and chariot-races, formed part of these games. Although thefour great festivals of which we have been speaking had no influence inpromoting the political union of Greece, they nevertheless were ofgreat importance in making the various sections of the race feel thatthey were all members of one family, and in cementing them together bycommon sympathies and the enjoyment of common pleasures. The frequentoccurrence of these festivals, for one was celebrated every gear, tended to the same result. The Greeks were thus annually reminded of their common origin, and ofthe great distinction which existed between them and barbarians. Normust we forget the incidental advantages which attended them. Theconcourse of so large a number of persons from every part of theGrecian world afforded to the merchant opportunities for traffic, andto the artist and the literary man the best means of making their worksknown. During the time of the games a busy commerce was carried on;and in a spacious hall appropriated for the purpose, the poets, philosophers, and historians were accustomed to read their most recentworks. The habit of consulting the same oracles in order to ascertain the willof the gods was another bond of union. It was the universal practiceof the Greeks to undertake no matter of importance without first askingthe advice of the gods; and there were many sacred spots in which thegods were always ready to give an answer to pious worshippers. Theoracle of Apollo at Delphi surpassed all the rest in importance, andwas regarded with veneration in every part of the Grecian world. Inthe centre of the temple of Delphi there was a small opening in theground, from which it was said that a certain gas or vapour ascended. Whenever the oracle was to be consulted, a virgin priestess calledPYTHIA took her seat upon a tripod which was placed over the chasm. The ascending vapour affected her brain, and the words which sheuttered in this excited condition were believed to be the answer ofApollo to his worshippers. They were always in hexameter verse, andwere reverently taken down by the attendant priests. Most of theanswers were equivocal or obscure; but the credit of the oraclecontinued unimpaired long after the downfall of Grecian independence. A further element of union among the Greeks was the similarity ofmanners and character. It is true the difference in this respectbetween the polished inhabitants of Athens and the rude mountaineers ofAcarnania was marked and striking; but if we compare the two withforeign contemporaries, the contrast between them and the latter isstill more striking. Absolute despotism human sacrifices, polygamy, deliberate mutilation of the person as a punishment, and selling ofchildren into slavery, existed in some part or other of the barbarianworld, but are not found in any city of Greece in the historical times. The elements of union of which we have been speaking only bound theGreeks together in common feelings and sentiments: they never producedany political union. The independent sovereignty of each city was afundamental notion in the Greek mind. This strongly rooted feelingdeserves particular notice. Careless readers of history are tempted tosuppose that the territory of Greece was divided among comparativelysmall number of independent states, such as Attica, Arcadia, Boeotia, Phocis, Locris, and the like; but this is a most serious mistake, andleads to a total misapprehension of Greek history. Every separate citywas usually an independent state, and consequently each of theterritories described under the general names of Arcadia, Boeotia, Phocis, and Locris, contained numerous political communitiesindependent of one another. Attica, it is true, formed a single state, and its different towns recognised Athens as their capital and thesource of supreme power; but this is an exception to the general rule. CHAPTER IV. EARLY HISTORY OF PELOPONNESUS AND SPARTA, DOWN TO THE END OF THEMESSENIAN WARS, B. C. 668. In the heroic age Peloponnesus was occupied by tribes of Dorianconquerors. They had no share in the glories of the Heroic age; theirname does not occur in the Iliad, and they are only once mentioned inthe Odyssey; but they were destined to form in historical times one ofthe most important elements of the Greek nation. Issuing from theirmountain district between Thessaly, Locris and Phocis, they overran thegreater part of Peloponnesus, destroyed the ancient Achaean monarchiesand expelled or reduced to subjection the original inhabitants of theland, of which they became the undisputed masters. This briefstatement contains all that we know for certain respecting thiscelebrated event, which the ancient writers placed eighty years afterthe Trojan war (B. C. 1104). The legendary account of the conquest ofPeloponnesus ran as follows:--The Dorians were led by the Heraclidae, or descendants of the mighty hero Hercules. Hence this migration iscalled the Return of the Heraclidae. The children of Hercules had longbeen fugitives upon the face of the earth. They had made many attemptsto regain possession of the dominions in the Peloponnesus, of whichtheir great sire had been deprived by Eurystheus, but hitherto withoutsuccess. In their last attempt Hyllus, the son of Hercules, hadperished in single combat with Echemus of Tegea; and the Heraclidae hadbecome bound by a solemn compact to renounce their enterprise for ahundred years. This period had now expired; and the great-grandsons ofHyllus--Temenus, Cresphontes, and Aristodemus--resolved to make a freshattempt to recover their birthright. They were assisted in theenterprise by the Dorians. This people espoused their cause inconsequence of the aid which Hercules himself had rendered to theDorian king, AEgimius, when the latter was hard pressed in a contestwith the Lapithae. The invaders were warned by an oracle not to enterPeloponnesus by the Isthmus of Corinth, but across the mouth of theCorinthian gulf. The inhabitants of the northern coast of the gulfwere favourable to their enterprise. Oxylus, king of the AEtolians, became their guide; and from Naupactus they crossed over toPeloponnesus. A single battle decided the contest. Tisamenus, the sonof Orestes, was defeated and retired with a portion of his Achaeansubjects to the northern coast of Peloponnesus, then occupied by theIonians. He expelled the Ionians, and took possession of the country, which continued henceforth to be inhabited by the Achaeans, and to becalled after them. The Ionians withdrew to Attica, and the greaterpart of them afterwards emigrated to Asia Minor. The Heraclidae and the Dorians now divided between them the dominionsof Tisamenus and of the other Achaean princes. The kingdom of Elis wasgiven to Oxylus as a recompense for his services as their guide; and itwas agreed that Temenus, Cresphontes, and Eurysthenes and Procles, theinfant sons of Aristodemus (who had died at Naupactus), should drawlots for Argos, Sparta, and Messenia. Argos fell to Temenus, Sparta toEurysthenes and Procles, and Messenia to Cresphontes. Such are the main features of the legend of the Return of theHeraclidae. In order to make the story more striking and impressive, it compresses into a single epoch events which probably occupiedseveral generations. It is in itself improbable that the braveAchaeans quietly submitted to the Dorian invaders after a momentarystruggle. We have, moreover, many indications that such was not thefact, and that it was only gradually and after a long protractedcontest that the Dorians became undisputed masters of the greater partof Peloponnesus. Argos was originally the chief Dorian state in Peloponnesus, but at thetime of the first Olympiad its power had been supplanted by that ofSparta. The progress of Sparta from the second to the first placeamong the states in the peninsula was mainly owing to the militarydiscipline and rigorous training of its citizens. The singularconstitution of Sparta was unanimously ascribed by the ancients to thelegislator Lycurgus, but there were different stories respecting hisdate, birth, travels, legislation, and death. His most probable datehowever is B. C. 776, in which year he is said to have assisted Iphitusin restoring the Olympic games. He was the son of Eunomus, one of thetwo kings who reigned together in Sparta. On the death of his father, his elder brother, Polydectes, succeeded to the crown, but died soonafterwards, leaving his queen with child. The ambitious woman offeredto destroy the child, if Lycurgus would share the throne with her. Lycurgus pretended to consent; but as soon as she had given birth to ason, he presented him in the market-place as the future king of Sparta. The young king's mother took revenge upon Lycurgus by accusing him ofentertaining designs against his nephew's life. Hereupon he resolvedto withdraw from his native country and to visit foreign lands. He wasabsent many years, and is said to have employed his time in studyingthe institutions of other nations, in order to devise a system of lawsand regulations which might deliver Sparta from the evils under whichit had long been suffering. During his absence the young king hadgrown up, and assumed the reins of government; but the disorders of thestate had meantime become worse than ever, and all parties longed for atermination to their present sufferings. Accordingly the return ofLycurgus was hailed with delight, and he found the people both readyand willing to submit to an entire change in their government andinstitutions. He now set himself to work to carry his long projectedreforms into effect; but before he commenced his arduous task heconsulted the Delphian oracle, from which he received strong assurancesof divine support. Thus encouraged by the god, he suddenly presentedhimself in the market-place, surrounded by thirty of the mostdistinguished Spartans in arms. His reforms were not carried intoeffect without violent opposition, and in one of the tumults which theyexcited, his eye is said to have been struck out by a passionate youth. But he finally triumphed over all obstacles, and succeeded in obtainingthe submission of all classes in the community to his new constitution. His last act was to sacrifice himself for the welfare of his country. Having obtained from the people a solemn oath to make no alterations inhis laws before his return, he quitted Sparta for ever. He set out ona journey to Delphi, where he obtained an oracle from the god, approving of all he had done, and promising prosperity to the Spartansas long as they preserved his laws. Whither he went afterwards, andhow and where he died, nobody could tell. He vanished from earth likea god, leaving no traces behind him but his spirit: and his gratefulcountrymen honoured him with a temple, and worshipped him with annualsacrifices down to the latest times. The population of Laconia was divided into the three classes ofSpartans, Perioeci and Helots. I. The SPARTANS were the descendants of the leading Dorianconquerors. They formed the sovereign power of the state, and theyalone were eligible to honours and public offices. They lived inSparta itself and were all subject to the discipline of Lycurgus. Theywere divided into three tribes, --the HYLLEIS, the PAMPHILI, and theDYMANES, --which were not, however, peculiar to Sparta, but existed inall the Dorian states. II. The PERIOECI were personally free, but politically subjectto the Spartans. [This word signifies literally DWELLERS AROUND THECITY, and was generally used to indicate the inhabitants in the countrydistricts, who possessed inferior political privileges to the citizenswho lived in the city. ] They possessed no share in the government, andwere bound to obey the commands of the Spartan magistrates. Theyappear to have been the descendants of the old Achaean population ofthe country, and they were distributed into a hundred townships, whichwere spread through the whole of Laconia. III. The HELOTS were serfs bound to the soil, which they tilledfor the benefit of the Spartan proprietors. Their condition was verydifferent from that of the ordinary slaves in antiquity, and moresimilar to the villanage of the middle ages. They lived in the ruralvillages, as the Perioeci did in the towns, cultivating the lands andpaying over the rent to their masters in Sparta, but enjoying theirhomes, wives, and families, apart from their master's personalsuperintendence. They appear to have been never sold, and theyaccompanied the Spartans to the field as light armed troops. But whiletheir condition was in these respects superior to that of the ordinaryslaves in other parts of Greece, it was embittered by the fact thatthey were not strangers like the latter, but were of the same race andspoke the same language as their masters, being probably thedescendants of the old inhabitants, who had offered the most obstinateresistance to the Dorians, and had therefore been reduced to slavery. As their numbers increased, they became objects of suspicion to theirmasters, and were subjected to the most wanton and oppressive cruelty. The functions of the Spartan government were distributed among twokings, a senate of thirty members, a popular assembly, and an executivedirectory of five men called the Ephors. At the head of the state were the two hereditary kings. The existenceof a pair of kings was peculiar to Sparta, and is said to have arisenfrom the accidental circumstance of Aristodemus having left twin sons, Eurysthenes and Procles. This division of the royal power naturallytended to weaken its influence and to produce jealousies anddissensions between the two kings. The royal power was on the declineduring the whole historical period, and the authority of the kings wasgradually usurped by the Ephors, who at length obtained the entirecontrol of the government, and reduced the kings to a state ofhumiliation and dependence. The Senate, called GERUSIA, or the COUNCIL OF ELDERS, consisted ofthirty members, among whom the two kings were included. They wereobliged to be upwards of sixty years of age, and they held their officefor life. They possessed considerable power and were the only realcheck upon the authority of the Ephors. They discussed and preparedall measures which were to be brought before the popular assembly, andthey had some share in the general administration of the state. Butthe most important of their functions was, that they were judges in allcriminal cases affecting the life of a Spartan citizen. The Popular Assembly was of little importance, and appears to have beenusually summoned only as a matter of form for the election of certainmagistrates, for passing laws, and for determining upon peace and war. It would appear that open discussion was not allowed and that theassembly rarely came to a division. The Ephors were of later origin, and did not exist in the originalconstitution of Lycurgus. They may be regarded as the representativesof the popular assembly. They were elected annually from the generalbody of Spartan citizens, and seem to have been originally appointed toprotect the interests and liberties of the people against theencroachments of the kings and the senate. They correspond in manyrespects to the tribunes of the people at Rome. Their functions wereat first limited and of small importance; but in the end the wholepolitical power became centred in their hands. The Spartan government was in reality a close oligarchy, in which thekings and the senate, as well as the people, were alike subject to theirresponsible authority of the five Ephors. The most important part of the legislation of Lycurgus did not relateto the political constitution of Sparta, but to the discipline andeducation of the citizens. It was these which gave Sparta her peculiarcharacter, and distinguished her in so striking a manner from all theother states of Greece. The position of the Spartans, surrounded bynumerous enemies, whom they held in subjection by the sword alone, compelled them to be a nation of soldiers. Lycurgus determined thatthey should be nothing else; and the great object of his whole systemwas to cultivate a martial spirit, and to give them a training whichwould make them invincible in battle. To accomplish this the educationof a Spartan was placed under the control of the state from hisearliest boyhood. Every child after birth was exhibited to publicview, and, if deemed deformed and weakly, was exposed to perish onMount Taygetus. At the age of seven he was taken from his mother'scare, and handed over to the public classes. He was not only taughtgymnastic games and military exercises but he was also subjected tosevere bodily discipline, and was compelled to submit to hardships andsuffering without repining or complaint. One of the tests to which hewas subjected was a cruel scourging at the altar of Artemis (Diana), until his blood gushed forth and covered the altar of the goddess. Itwas inflicted publicly before the eyes of his parents and in thepresence of the whole city; and many Spartan youths were known to havedied under the lash without uttering a complaining murmur. No meanswere neglected to prepare them for the hardships and stratagems of war. They were obliged to wear the same garment winter and summer, and toendure hunger and thirst, heat and cold. They were purposely allowedan insufficient quantity of food, but were permitted to make up thedeficiency by hunting in the woods and mountains of Laconia. They wereeven encouraged to steal whatever they could; but if they were caughtin the fact, they were severely punished for their want of dexterity. Plutarch tells us of a boy, who, having stolen a fox, and hid it underhis garment, chose rather to let it tear out his very bowels than bedetected in the theft. The literary education of a Spartan youth was of a most restrictedkind. He was taught to despise literature as unworthy of a warrior, while the study of eloquence and philosophy, which were cultivated atAthens with such extraordinary success, was regarded at Sparta withcontempt. Long speeches were a Spartan's abhorrence, and he wastrained to express himself with sententious brevity. A Spartan was not considered to have reached the full age of manhoodtill he had completed his thirtieth year. He was then allowed tomarry, to take part in the public assembly, and was eligible to theoffices of the state. But he still continued under the publicdiscipline, and was not permitted even to reside and take his mealswith his wife. It was not till he had reached his sixtieth year thathe was released from the public discipline and from military service. The public mess--called SYSSITIA--is said to have been instituted byLycurgus to prevent all indulgence of the appetite. Public tables wereprovided, at which every male citizen was obliged to take his meals. Each table accommodated fifteen persons, who formed a separate mess, into which no new member was admitted, except by the unanimous consentof the whole company. Each sent monthly to the common stock aspecified quantity of barley-meal, wine, cheese, and figs and a littlemoney to buy flesh and fish. No distinction of any kind was allowed atthese frugal meals. Meat was only eaten occasionally; and one of theprincipal dishes was black broth. Of what it consisted we do not know. The tyrant Dionysius found it very unpalatable; but, as the cook toldhim, the broth was nothing without the seasoning of fatigue and hunger. The Spartan women in their earlier years were subjected to a course oftraining almost as rigorous as that of the men, and contended with eachother in running, wrestling and boxing. At the age of twenty a Spartanwoman usually married, and she was no longer subjected to the publicdiscipline. Although she enjoyed little of her husband's society, shewas treated by him with deep respect, and was allowed a greater degreeof liberty than was tolerated in other Grecian states. Hence she tooka lively interest in the welfare and glory of her native land, and wasanimated by an earnest and lofty spirit of patriotism. The Spartanmother had reason to be proud of herself and of her children. When awoman of another country said to Gorgo, the wife of Leonidas, "TheSpartan women alone rule the men, " she replied, "The Spartan womenalone bring forth men. " Their husbands and their sons were fired bytheir sympathy to deeds of heroism. "Return either with your shield, or upon it, " was their exhortation to their sons when going to battle. Lycurgus is said to have divided the land belonging to the Spartansinto 9000 equal lots and the remainder of Laconia into 30, 000 equallots, and to have assigned to each Spartan citizen one of the former ofthese lots, and to each Perioecus one of the latter. Neither gold nor silver money was allowed in Sparta, and nothing butbars of iron passed in exchange for every commodity. As the Spartanswere not permitted to engage in commerce, and all luxury and display indress, furniture, and food was forbidden, they had very little occasionfor a circulating medium, and iron money was found sufficient for theirfew wants. But this prohibition of the precious metals only made theSpartans more anxious to obtain them; and even in the times of theirgreatest glory the Spartans were the most venal of the Greeks, andcould rarely resist the temptation of a bribe. The legislation of Lycurgus was followed by important results. It madethe Spartans a body of professional soldiers, all trained and welldisciplined, at a time when military training and discipline werelittle known, and almost unpractised in the other states of Greece. The consequence was the rapid growth of the political power of Sparta, and the subjugation of the neighbouring states. At the time ofLycurgus the Spartans held only a small portion of Laconia: they weremerely a garrison in the heart of an enemy's country. Their firstobject was to make themselves masters of Laconia, in which they finallysucceeded after a severe struggle. They next turned their arms againstthe Messenians, Arcadians, and Argives. Of these wars the two wagedagainst Messenia were the most celebrated and the most important. Theywere both long protracted and obstinately contested. They both endedin the victory of Sparta, and in the subjugation of Messenia. Thesefacts are beyond dispute; but of the details we have no trustworthynarrative. The FIRST MESSENIAN WAR lasted from B. C. 743 to 724. During the firstfour years the Lacedaemonians made little progress; but in the fifth agreat battle was fought, and although its result was indecisive, theMessenians did not venture to risk another engagement, and retired tothe strongly fortified mountain of Ithome. In their distress they sentto consult the oracle at Delphi, and received the appalling answer thatthe salvation of Messenia required the sacrifice of a virgin of theroyal house to the gods of the lower world. Aristodemus, who is theMessenian hero of the first war, slew his own daughter, which sodisheartened the Spartans, that they abstained from attacking theMessenians for some years. In the thirteenth year of the war theSpartan king marched against Ithome, and a second great battle wasfought, but the result was again indecisive. The Messenian king fellin the action; and Aristodemus, who was chosen king in his place, prosecuted the war with vigour. In the fifth year of his reign a thirdgreat battle was fought. This time the Messenians gained a decisivevictory, and the Lacedaemonians were driven back into their ownterritory. They now sent to ask advice of the Delphian oracle, andwere promised success upon using stratagem. They therefore hadrecourse to fraud: and at the same time various prodigies dismayed thebold spirit of Aristodemus. His daughter too appeared to him in adream, showed him her wounds, and beckoned him away. Seeing that hiscountry was doomed to destruction, Aristodemus slew himself on hisdaughter's tomb. Shortly afterwards, in the twentieth year of the war, the Messenians abandoned Ithome, which the Lacedaemonians razed to theground, and the whole country became subject to Sparta. Many of theinhabitants fled into other countries; but those who remained werereduced to the condition of Helots, and were compelled to pay to theirmasters half of the produce of their lands. For thirty-nine years the Messenians endured this degrading yoke. Atthe end of this time they took up arms against their oppressors. TheSECOND MESSENIAN WAR lasted from B. C. 685 to 668. Its hero isAristomenes, whose wonderful exploits form the great subject of thiswar. It would appear that most of the states in Peloponnesus took partin the struggle. The first battle was fought before the arrival of theallies on either side, and, though it was indecisive, the valour ofAristomenes struck fear into the hearts of the Spartans. To frightenthe enemy still more, the hero crossed the frontier, entered Sparta bynight, and affixed a shield to the temple of Athena (Minerva), with theinscription, "Dedicated by Aristomenes to the goddess from the Spartanspoils. " The Spartans in alarm sent to Delphi for advice. The godbade them apply to Athens for a leader. Fearing to disobey the oracle, but with the view of rendering no real assistance, the Athenians sentTyrtaeus, a lame man and a schoolmaster. The Spartans received theirnew leader with due honour; and he was not long in justifying thecredit of the oracle. His martial songs roused their fainting courage;and so efficacious were his poems that to them is mainly ascribed thefinal success of the Spartan arms. Encouraged by the strains of Tyrtaeus, the Spartans again marchedagainst the Messenians. But they were not at first successful. A greatbattle was fought at the Boar's Grave in the plain of Stenyclerus, inwhich they were defeated with great loss. In the third year of the waranother great battle was fought, in which the Messenians suffered asignal defeat. So greet was their loss, that Aristomenes no longerventured to meet the Spartans in the open field. Following the exampleof the Messenian leaders in the former war, he retired to the mountainfortress of Ira. The Spartans encamped at the foot of the mountain; butAristomenes frequently sallied from the fortress, and ravaged the landsof Laconia with fire and sword. It is unnecessary to relate all thewonderful exploits of this hero in his various incursions. Thrice washe taken prisoner; on two occasions he burst his bonds, but on thethird he was carried to Sparta, and thrown with his fifty companionsinto a deep pit, called Ceadas. His comrades were all killed by thefall; but Aristomenes reached the bottom unhurt. He saw, however, nomeans of escape, and had resigned himself to death; but on the thirdday perceiving a fox creeping among the bodies, he grasped its tail, and, following the animal as it struggled to escape, discovered anopening in the rock, and on the next day was at Ira to the surprisealike of friends and foes. But his single prowess was not sufficientto avert the ruin of his country. One night the Spartans surprisedIra, while Aristomenes was disabled by a wound; but he collected thebravest of his followers, and forced his way through the enemy. Manyof the Messenians went to Rhegium, in Italy, under the sons ofAristomenes, but the hero himself finished his days in Rhodes. The second Messenian war was terminated by the complete subjugation ofthe Messenians, who again became the serfs of their conquerors. Inthis condition they remained till the restoration of their independenceby Epaminondas in the year 369 B. C. During the whole of the interveningperiod the Messenians disappear from history. The country calledMessenia in the map became a portion of Laconia, which thus extendedacross the south of Pelponnesus from the eastern to the western sea. CHAPTER V. THE EARLY HISTORY OF ATHENS, DOWN TO THE ESTABLISHMENT OF DEMOCRACY BYCLISTHENES, B. C. 510. Sparta was the only state in Greece which continued to retain thekingly form of government during the brilliant period of Grecianhistory. In all other parts of Greece royalty had been abolished at asearly age, and various forms of republican government established inits stead. The abolition of royalty was first followed by an Oligarchyor the government of the Few. Democracy, or the government of the Many, was of later growth. It was not from the people that the oligarchiesreceived their first and greatest blow. They were generally overthrownby the usurpers, to whom the Greeks gave the name of TYRANTS. [TheGreek word Tyrant does not correspond in meaning to the same word inthe English language. It signifies simply an irresponsible ruler, andmay, therefore, be more correctly rendered by the term Despot. ] The rise of the Tyrants seems to have taken place about the same timein a large number of the Greek cities. In most cases they belonged tothe nobles, and they generally became masters of the state by espousingthe cause of the commonalty, and using the strength of the people toput down the oligarchy by force. At first they were popular with thegeneral body of the citizens, who were glad to see the humiliation oftheir former masters. But discontent soon began to arise; the tyranthad recourse to violence to quell disaffection; and the governmentbecame in reality a tyranny in the modern sense of the word. Many of the tyrants in Greece were put down by the Lacedaemonians. TheSpartan government was essentially an oligarchy, and the Spartans werealways ready to lend their powerful aid in favour of the government ofthe Few. Hence they took an active part in the overthrow of thedespots, with the intention of establishing the ancient oligarchy intheir place. But this rarely happened; and they found it impossible inmost cases to reinstate the former body of nobles in their ancientprivileges. The latter, it is true, attempted to regain them and weresupported in their attempts by Sparta. Hence arose a new struggle. The first contest after the abolition of royalty was between oligarchyand the despot, the next was between oligarchy and democracy. The history of Athens affords the most striking illustration of thedifferent revolutions of which we have been speaking. Little is known of Athens before the age of Solon. Its legendary talesare few, its historical facts still fewer. Cecrops, the first ruler ofAttica, is said to have divided the country into twelve districts, which are represented as independent communities, each governed by aseparate king. They were afterwards united into a single state, havingAthens as its capital and the seat of government. At what time thisimportant union was effected cannot be determined; but it is ascribedto Theseus, as the national hero of the Athenian people. A few generations after Theseus, the Dorians are said to have invadedAttica. An oracle declared that they would be victorious if theyspared the life of the Athenian King; whereupon Codrus, who thenreigned at Athens, resolved to sacrifice himself for the welfare of hiscountry. Accordingly he went into the invaders' camp in disguise, provoked a quarrel with one of the Dorian soldiers and was killed bythe latter. Upon learning the death of the Athenian king, the Doriansretired from Attica without striking a blow: and the Athenians, fromrespect to the memory of Codrus, abolished the title of king, andsubstituted for it that of Archon or Ruler. The office, however, washeld for life, and was confined to the family of Codrus. His son Medonwas the first archon, and he was followed in the dignity by elevenmembers of the family in succession. But soon after the accessionAlcmaeon, the thirteenth in descent from Medon, another change wasintroduced, and the duration of the archonship was limited to ten years(B. C. 752). The dignity was still confined to the descendants ofMedon; but in the time of Hippomenes (B. C. 714) this restriction wasremoved, and the office was thrown open to all the nobles in the state. In B. C. 683 a still more important change took place. The archonshipwas now made annual, and its duties were distributed among ninepersons, all of whom bore the title. The last of the decennial archonswas Eryxias, the first of the nine annual archons Creon. Such is the legendary account of the change of government at Athens, from royalty to an oligarchy. It appears to have taken place peaceablyand gradually, as in most other Greek states. The whole political powerwas vested in the nobles; from them the nine annual archons were taken, and to them alone these magistrates were responsible. The people, orgeneral body of freemen, had no share in the government. The Athenian nobles were called EUPATRIDAE, the two other classes inthe state being the GEOMORI or husbandmen, and DEMIURGI or artisans. This arrangement is ascribed to Theseus; but there was another divisionof the people of still greater antiquity. As the Dorians were dividedinto three tribes, so the Ionians were usually distributed into fourtribes. The latter division also existed among the Athenians, who wereIonians, and it continued in full vigour down to the great revolutionof Clisthenes (B. C. 509). These tribes were distinguished by the namesof GELEONTES (or TELEONTES) "cultivators, " HOPLETES "warriors, "AEGICORES "goat-herds, " and ARGADES "artisans. " Each tribe containedthree Phratriae, each Phratry thirty Gentes, and each Gens thirty headsof families. The first date in Athenian history on which certain reliance can beplaced is the institution of annual archons, in the year 683 B. C. Theduties of the government were distributed among the nine archons in thefollowing manner. The first was called THE ARCHON by way ofpre-eminence, and sometimes the Archon Eponymus, because the year wasdistinguished by his name. The second archon was called THE BASILEUSor THE KING, because he represented the king in his capacity ashigh-priest of the nation. The third archon bore the title of THEPOLEMARCH, or Commander-in-chief and was, down to the time ofClisthenes, the commander of the troops. The remaining six had thecommon title of THESMOTHETAE, or Legislators. Their duties seem tohave been almost exclusively judicial. The government of the Eupatrids was oppressive; and the discontent ofthe people at length became so serious, that Draco was appointed in 624B. C. To draw up a written code of laws. They were marked by extremeseverity. He affixed the penalty of death to all crimes alike; topetty thefts, for instance, as well as to sacrilege and murder. Hencethey were said to have been written not in ink but in blood; and we aretold that he justified this extreme harshness by saying that smalloffences deserved death, and that he knew no severer punishment forgreat ones. The legislation of Draco failed to calm the prevailing discontent. Thepeople gained nothing by the written code, except a more perfectknowledge of its severity; and civil dissensions prevailed asextensively as before. The general dissatisfaction with the governmentwas favourable to revolutionary projects; and accordingly, twelve yearsafter Draco's legislation (B. C. 612), Cylon, one of the nobles, conceived the design of depriving his brother Eupatrids of their power, and making himself tyrant of Athens. Having collected a considerableforce, he seized the Acropolis; but he did not meet with support fromthe great mass of the people, and he soon found himself closelyblockaded by the forces of the Eupatrids. Cylon and his brother madetheir escape, but the remainder of his associates, hard pressed byhunger, abandoned the defence of the walls, and took refuge at thealtar of Athena (Minerva). They were induced by the archon Megacles, one of the illustrious family of the Alcmaeonidae, to quit the altar onthe promise that their lives should be spared; but directly they hadleft the temple they were put to death, and some of them were murderedeven at the altar of the Eumenides or Furies. The conspiracy thus failed; but its suppression was attended with along train of melancholy consequences. The whole family of theAlcmaeonidae was believed to have become tainted by the daring act ofsacrilege committed by Megacles; and the friends and partisans of themurdered conspirators were not slow in demanding vengeance upon theaccursed race. Thus a new element of discord was introduced into thestate, In the midst of these dissensions there was one man who enjoyeda distinguished reputation at Athens, and to whom his fellow citizenslooked up as the only person in the state who could deliver them fromtheir political and social dissensions, and secure them from suchmisfortunes for the future. This man was Solon, the son ofExecestides, and a descendant of Codrus. He had travelled through manyparts of Greece and Asia, and had formed acquaintance with many of themost eminent men of his time. On his return to his native country hedistinguished himself by recovering the island of Salamis, which hadrevolted to Megara (B. C. 600). Three years afterwards he persuaded theAlcmaeonidae to submit their case to the judgment of three hundredEupatridae, by whom they were adjudged guilty of sacrilege, and wereexpelled from Attica. The banishment of the guilty race did not, however, deliver the Athenians from their religious fears. Apestilential disease with which they were visited was regarded as anunerring sign of the divine wrath. Upon the advice of the Delphicoracle, they invited the celebrated Cretan prophet and sage, Epimenides, to visit Athens, and purify their city from pollution andsacrilege. By performing certain sacrifices and expiatory acts, Epimenides succeeded in staying the plague. The civil dissensions however still continued. The population ofAttica was now divided into three hostile factions, consisting of thePEDIEIS or wealthy Eupatrid inhabitants of the plains; of the DIACRII, or poor inhabitants of the hilly districts in the north and east ofAttica; and of the PARALI, or mercantile inhabitants of the coasts, whoheld an intermediate position between the other two. Their disputeswere aggravated by the miserable condition of the poorer population. The latter were in a state of abject poverty, They had borrowed moneyfrom the wealthy at exorbitant rates of interest upon the security oftheir property and their persons. If the principal and interest of thedebt were not paid, the creditor had the power of seizing the person aswell as the land of his debtor, and of using him as a slave. Many hadthus been torn from their homes and sold to barbarian masters, whileothers were cultivating as slaves the lands of their wealthy creditorsin Attica. Matters had at length reached a crisis; the existing lawscould no longer be enforced; and the poor were ready to rise in openinsurrection against the rich. In these alarming circumstances the ruling oligarchy were obliged tohave recourse to Solon; and they therefore chose him Archon in B. C. 594, investing him under that title with unlimited powers to effect anychanges he might consider beneficial to the state. His appointment washailed with satisfaction by the poor; and all parties were willing toaccept his mediation and reforms. Solon commenced his undertaking by relieving the poorer class ofdebtors from their existing distress. He cancelled all contracts bywhich the land or person of a debtor had been given as security; and heforbad for the future all loans in which the person of the debtor waspledged. He next proceeded to draw up a new constitution and a newcode of laws. As a preliminary step he repealed all the laws of Draco, except those relating to murder. He then made a new classification ofthe citizens, distributing them into four classes according to theamount of their property, thus making wealth and not birth the title tothe honours and offices of the state. The first class consisted ofthose whose annual income was equal to 500 medimni of corn and upwards, and were called PENTACOSIOMEDIMNI. [The medimnus was one bushel and ahalf. ] The second class consisted of those whose incomes rangedbetween 300 and 500 medimni and were called KNIGHTS, from their beingable to furnish a war-horse. The third class consisted of those whoreceived between 200 and 300 medimni, and were called ZEUGITAE fromtheir being able to keep a yoke of oxen for the plough. The fourthclass, called THETES, included all whose property fell short of 200medimni. The first class were alone eligible to the archonship and thehigher offices of the state. The second and third classes filledinferior posts, and were liable to military service, the former ashorsemen, and the latter as heavy-armed soldiers on foot. The fourthclass were excluded from all public offices, and served in the armyonly as light-armed troops. Solon, however, allowed them to veto inthe public assembly, where they must have constituted by far thelargest number. He gave the assembly the right of electing the archonsand the other officers of the state; and he also made the archonsaccountable to the assembly at the expiration of their year of office. This extension of the duties of the public assembly led to theinstitution of a new body. Solon created the Senate, or Council ofFour Hundred with the special object of preparing all matters for thediscussion of the public assembly, of presiding at its meetings, and ofcarrying its resolutions into effect. No subject could be introducedbefore the people, except by a previous resolution of the Senate. Themembers of the Senate were elected by the public assembly, one hundredfrom each of the four ancient tribes, which were left untouched bySolon. They held their office for a year, and were accountable at itsexpiration to the public assembly for the manner in which they haddischarged their duties. The Senate of the Areopagus [It received its name from its place ofmeeting, which was a rocky eminence opposite the Acropolis, called thehill of Ares (Mars Hill)], is said by some writers to have beeninstituted by Solon; but it existed long before his time, and may beregarded as the representative of the Council of Chiefs in the Heroicage. Solon enlarged its powers, and intrusted it with the generalsupervision of the institutions and laws of the state, and imposed uponit the duty of inspecting the lives and occupations of the citizens. All archons became members of it at the expiration of their year ofoffice. Solon laid only the foundation of the Athenian democracy by giving thepoorer classes a vote in the popular assembly, and by enlarging thepower of the latter; but he left the government exclusively in thehands of the wealthy. For many years after his time the governmentcontinued to be an oligarchy, but was exercised with more moderationand justice than formerly. Solon enacted numerous laws, containing regulations on almost allsubjects connected with the public and private life of the citizens. He encouraged trade and manufactures, and invited foreigners to settlein Athens by the promise of protection and by valuable privileges. Todiscourage idleness a son was not obliged to support his father in oldage, if the latter had neglected to teach him some trade or occupation. Solon punished theft by compelling the guilty party to restore doublethe value of the property stolen. He forbade speaking evil either ofthe dead or of the living. Solon is said to have been aware that he had left many imperfections inhis laws. He described them not as the best laws which he coulddevise, but as the best which the Athenians could receive. Havingbound the government and people of Athens by a solemn oath to observehis institutions for at least ten years, he left Athens and travelledin foreign lands. During his absence the old dissensions between thePlain, the Shore, and the Mountain broke out afresh with more violencethan ever. The first was headed by Lycurgus, the second by Megacles, an Alcmaeonid, and the third by Pisistratus, the cousin of Solon. Ofthese leaders, Pisistratus was the ablest and the most dangerous. Hehad espoused the cause of the poorest of the three classes, in order togain popularity, and to make himself master of Athens. Solon on hisreturn to Athens detected the ambitious designs of his kinsman, andattempted to disuade him from them. Finding his remonstrancesfruitless, he next denounced his projects in verses addressed to thepeople. Few, however, gave any heed to his warnings: and Pisistratus, at length finding his schemes ripe for action, had recourse to amemorable strategem to secure his object. One day he appeared in themarket-place in a chariot, his mules and his own person bleeding withwounds inflicted with his own hands. These he exhibited to the people, telling them that he had been nearly murdered in consequence ofdefending their rights. The popular indignation was excited; and aguard of fifty clubmen was granted him for his future security. Hegradually increased the number of his guard and soon found himselfstrong enough to throw off the mask and seize the Acropolis (B. C. 560). Megacles and the Alcmaeonidae left the city. Solon alone had thecourage to oppose the usurpation, and upbraided the people with theircowardice and their treachery. "You might, " said he, "with ease havecrushed the tyrant in the bud; but nothing now remains but to pluck himup by the roots. " But no one responded to his appeal. He refused tofly; and when his friends asked him on what he relied for protection, "On my old age, " was his reply. It is creditable to Pisistratus thathe left his aged relative unmolested, and even asked his advice in theadministration of the government. Solon did not long survive theoverthrow of the constitution. He died a year or two afterwards at theadvanced age of eighty. His ashes are said to have been scattered byhis own direction round the island of Salamis, which he had won for theAthenian people. Pisistratus however did not retain his power long. The leaders of thefactions of the Shore and the Plain combined and drove the usurper intoexile. But the Shore and the Plain having quarrelled, Pisistratus wasrecalled and again became master of Athens. Another revolution shortlyafterwards drove him into exile a second time, and he remained abroadten years. At length, with the assistance of mercenaries from otherGrecian states and with the aid of his partisans in Athens, he becamemaster of Athens for the third time, and henceforth continued inpossession of the supreme power till the day of his death. As soon ashe was firmly established in the government, his administration wasmarked by mildness and equity. He maintained the institutions ofSolon, taking care, however, that the highest offices should always beheld by some members of his own family. He not only enforced strictobedience to the laws, but himself set the example of submitting tothem. Being accused of murder, he disdained to take advantage of hisauthority, and went in person to plead his cause before the Areopagus, where his accuser did not venture to appear. He courted popularity bylargesses to the citizens and by throwing open his gardens to the poor. He adorned Athens with many public buildings. He commenced on astupendous scale a temple to the Olympian Zeus, which remainedunfinished for centuries, and was at length completed by the emperorHadrian. He was a patron of literature, as well as of the arts. He issaid to have been the first person in Greece who collected a library, which he threw open to the public; and to him posterity is indebted forthe collection of the Homeric poems. On the whole it cannot be deniedthat he made a wise and noble use of his power. Pisistratus died at an advanced age in 527 B. C. , thirty-three yearsafter his first usurpation. He transmitted the sovereign power to hissons, Hippias and Hipparchus, who conducted the government on the sameprinciples as their father. Hipparchus inherited his father's literarytastes. He invited several distinguished poets, such as Anacreon andSimonides, to his court. The people appear to have been contented withtheir rule; and it was only an accidental circumstance which led totheir overthrow and to a change in the government. Their fall was occasioned by the conspiracy of Harmodius andAristogiton, who were attached to each other by a most intimatefriendship. Harmodius having given offence to Hippias, the despotrevenged himself by putting a public affront upon his sister. Thisindignity excited the resentment of the two friends, and they nowresolved to slay the despots at the festival of the Great Panathenaea, when all the citizens were required to attend in arms. Havingcommunicated their design to a few associates, the conspiratorsappeared armed at the appointed time like the rest of the citizens, butcarrying concealed daggers besides. Harmodius and Aristogiton hadplanned to kill Hippias first as he was arranging the order of theprocession outside the city, but, upon approaching the spot where hewas standing, they were thunderstruck at beholding one of theconspirators in close conversation with the despot. Believing thatthey were betrayed, they rushed back into the city with their daggershid in the myrtle boughs which they were to have carried in theprocession, and killed Hipparchus. Harmodius was immediately cut downby the guards. Aristogiton died under the tortures to which he wassubjected in order to compel him to disclose his accomplices. Hipparchus was assassinated in B. C. 514, the fourteenth year after thedeath of Pisistratus. From this time the character of the governmentbecame entirely changed. His brother's murder converted Hippias into acruel and suspicious tyrant. He put to death numbers of the citizens, and raised large sums of money by extraordinary taxes. The Alcmaeonidae, who had lived in exile ever since the third and finalrestoration of Pisistratus to Athens, now began to form schemes toexpel the tyrant. Clisthenes, the son of Megacles, who was the head ofthe family, secured the Delphian oracle by pecuniary presents to thePythia, or priestess, henceforth, whenever the Spartans came to consultthe oracle, the answer of the priestess was always the same, "Athensmust be liberated. " This order was so often repeated, that the Spartansat last resolved to obey. Cleomenes, king of Sparta, defeated theThessalian allies of Hippias; and the tyrant, unable to meet hisenemies in the field, took refuge in the Acropolis. Here he might havemaintained himself in safety, had not his children been made prisonersas they were being secretly carried out of the country. To procuretheir restoration, he consented to quit Attics in the space of fivedays. He sailed to Asia, and took up his residence at Sigeum in theTroad, which his father had wrested from the Mytilenaeans in war. Hippias was expelled in B. C. 510, four years after the assassination ofHipparchus. These four years had been a time of suffering andoppression for the Athenians, and had effaced from their minds allrecollection of the former mild rule of Pisistratus and his sons. Hence the expulsion of the family was hailed with delight. The memoryof Harmodius and Aristogiton was cherished with the fondest reverence;and the Athenians of a later age, overlooking the four years which hadelapsed from their death to the overthrow of the despotism, representedthem as the liberators of their country and the first martyrs for itsliberty. Their statues were erected in the market-place soon after theexpulsion of Hippias; their descendants enjoyed immunity from all taxesand public burdens; and their deed of vengeance formed the favouritesubject of drinking songs. The Lacedaemonians quitted Athens soon after Hippias had sailed away, leaving the Athenians to settle their own affairs. Clisthenes, to whomAthens was mainly indebted for its liberation from the despotism, aspired to be the political leader of the state but he was opposed byIsagoras, the leader of the party of the nobles. By the Solonianconstitution, the whole political power was vested in the hands of thenobles; and Clisthenes soon found that it was hopeless to contendagainst his rival under the existing order of things. For this reasonhe resolved to introduce an important change in the constitution, andto give to the people an equal share in the government. The reforms of Clisthenes gave birth to the Athenian democracy, whichcan hardly be said to have existed before this time. His first andmost important measure was a redistribution of the whole population ofAttica into ten new tribes. He abolished the four ancient Ionictribes, and enrolled in the ten new tribes all the free inhabitants ofAttica, including both resident aliens and even emancipated slaves. Hedivided the tribes into a certain number of cantons or townships, called DEMI, which at a later time were 174 in number. Every Atheniancitizen was obliged to be enrolled in a demus, each of which, like aparish in England, administered its own affairs. It had its publicmeetings it levied rates, and was under the superintendence of anofficer called DEMARCHUS. The establishment of the ten new tribes led to a change in the numberof the Senate. It had previously consisted of 400 members, but it wasnow enlarged to 500, fifty being selected from each of the ten newtribes. The Ecclesia, or formal assembly of the citizens, was nowsummoned at certain fixed periods; and Clisthenes transferred thegovernment of the state, which had hitherto been in the hands of thearchons, to the senate and the ecclesia. He also increased thejudicial as well as the political power of the people; and enacted thatall public crimes should be tried by the whole body of citizens abovethirty years of age, specially convoked and sworn for the purpose. Theassembly thus convened was called HELIAEA and its members HELIASTS. Clisthenes also introduced the OSTRACISM, by which an Athenian citizenmight be banished without special accusation, trial, or defence for tenyears, which term was subsequently reduced to five. It must berecollected that the force which a Greek government had at its disposalwas very small; and that it was comparatively easy for an ambitiouscitizen, supported by a numerous body of partisans, to overthrow theconstitution and make himself despot. The Ostracism was the meansdevised by Clisthenes for removing quietly from the state a powerfulparty leader before he could carry into execution any violent schemesfor the subversion of the government. Every precaution was taken toguard this institution from abuse. The senate and the ecclesia hadfirst to determine by a special vote whether the safety of the staterequired such a step to be taken. If they decided in the affirmative, a day was fixed for the voting, and each citizen wrote upon a tile oroyster-shell [OSTRACON, whence the name OSTRACISM] the name of theperson whom he wished to banish. The votes were then collected, And ifit was found that 6000 had been recorded against any one person, he wasobliged to withdraw from the city within ten days: if the number ofvotes did not amount to 6000, nothing was done. The aristocratical party, enraged at these reforms called in theassistance of Cleomenes, king of the Lacedaemonians. Athens wasmenaced by foreign enemies and distracted by party struggles. Clisthenes was at first compelled to retire from Athens; but the peoplerose in arms against Cleomenes, expelled the Lacedaemonians, who hadtaken possession of the city, and recalled Clisthenes. ThereuponCleomenes collected a Peloponnesian army in order to establish Isagorasas a tyrant over the Athenians, and at the same time he concertedmeasures with the Thebans and the Chalcidians of Euboea for asimultaneous attack upon Attica. The Peloponnesian army, commanded bythe two kings, Cleomenes and Demaratus, entered Attica, and advanced asfar as Eleusis; but when the allies became aware of the object forwhich they had been summoned, they refused to march farther, andstrongly protested against the attempt to establish a tyranny atAthens. Their remonstrances being seconded by Demaratus, Cleomenesfound it necessary to abandon the expedition and return home. At alater period (B. C. 491) Cleomenes took revenge upon Demaratus bypersuading the Spartans to depose him upon the ground of illegitimacy. The exiled king took refuge at the Persian court. The unexpected retreat of the Peloponnesian army delivered theAthenians from their most formidable enemy, and they lost no time inturning their arms against their other foes. Marching into Boeotia, they defeated the Thebans and then crossed over into Euboea, where theygained a decisive victory over the Chalcidians. In order to securetheir dominion in Euboea, and at the same time to provide for theirpoorer citizens, the Athenians distributed the estates of the wealthyChalcidian landowners among 4000 of their citizens, who settled in thecountry under the name of CLERUCI. The successes of Athens excited the jealousy of the Spartans, and theynow resolved to make a third attempt to overthrow the Atheniandemocracy. They had meantime discovered the deception which had beenpractised upon them by the Delphic oracle; And they invited Hippias tocome from Sigeum to Sparta, in order to restore him to Athens. Theexperience of the last campaign had taught them that they could notcalculate upon the co-operation of their allies without first obtainingtheir approval of the project; and they therefore summoned deputiesfrom all their allies to meet at Sparta, in order to determinerespecting the restoration of Hippias. But the proposal was receivedwith universal repugnance; and the Spartans found it necessary toabandon their project. Hippias returned to Sigeum, and afterwardsproceeded to the court of Darius. Athens had now entered upon her glorious career. The institutions ofClisthenes had given her citizens a personal interest in the welfareand the grandeur of their country. A spirit of the warmest patriotismrapidly sprang up among them; and the history of the Persian wars, which followed almost immediately, exhibits a striking proof of theheroic sacrifices which they were prepared to make for the liberty andindependence of their state. CHAPTER VI. THE GREEK COLONIES. The vast number of the Greek colonies, their wide-spread diffusion overall parts of the Mediterranean, which thus became a kind of Grecianlake, and their rapid growth in wealth, power, and intelligence, affordthe most striking proofs of the greatness of this wonderful people. Civil dissensions and a redundant population were the chief causes ofthe origin of most of the Greek colonies. They were usually undertakenwith the approbation of the cities from which they issued, and underthe management of leaders appointed by them. But a Greek colony wasalways considered politically independent of the mother-city andemancipated from its control. The only connexion between them was oneof filial affection and of common religious ties. Almost everycolonial Greek city was built upon the sea-coast, and the site usuallyselected contained a hill sufficiently lofty to form an acropolis. The Grecian colonies may be arranged in four groups: 1. Those foundedin Asia Minor and the adjoining islands; 2. Those in the western partsof the Mediterranean, in Italy, Sicily, Gaul, and Spain; 3. Those inAfrica; 4. Those in Epirus, Macedonia, and Thrace. 1. The earliest Greek colonies were those founded on the western shoresof Asia Minor. They were divided into three great masses, each bearingthe name of that section of the Greek race with which they claimedaffinity. The AEolic cities covered the northern part of this coast, together with the islands of Lesbos and Tenedos; the Ionians occupiedthe centre, with the islands of Chios and Samos; and the Dorians thesouthern portion, with the islands of Rhodes and Cos. Most of thesecolonies were founded in consequence of the changes in the populationof Greece which attended the conquest of Peloponnesus by the Dorians. The Ionic cities were early distinguished by a spirit of commercialenterprise, and soon rose superior in wealth and in power to theirAEolian and Dorian neighbours. Among the Ionic cities themselvesMiletus and Ephesus were the most flourishing, Grecian literature tookits rise in the AEolic and Ionic cities of Asia Minor. Homer wasprobably a native of Smyrna. Lyric poetry flourished in the island ofLesbos, where Sappho and Alcaeus were born. The Ionic cities were alsothe seats of the earliest schools of Grecian philosophy. Thales, whofounded the Ionic school of philosophy, was a native of Miletus. Halicarnassus was one of the most important of the Doric cities, ofwhich Herodotus was a native, though he wrote in the Ionic dialect. 2. The earliest Grecian settlement in Italy was Cumae in Campania, situated near Cape Misenum, on the Tyrrhenian sea. It is said to havebeen a joint colony from the AEolic Cyme in Asia and from Chalcis inEuboea, and to have been founded, according to the common chronology, in B. C. 1050. Cumae was for a long time the most flourishing city inCampania; and it was not till its decline in the fifth century beforethe Christian era that Capua rose into importance. The earliest Grecian settlement in Sicily was founded in B. C. 735. Theextraordinary fertility of the land soon attracted numerous colonistsfrom various parts of Greece, and there arose on the coasts of Sicily asuccession of flourishing cities. Of these, Syracuse and Agrigentum, both Dorian colonies, became the most powerful. The former was foundedby the Corinthians in B. C. 734, and at the time of its greatestprosperity contained a population of 500, 000 souls, and was surroundedby walls twenty-two miles in circuit. Its greatness, however, belongsto a later period of Grecian history. The Grecian colonies in southern Italy began to be planted at nearlythe same time as in Sicily. They eventually lined the whole southerncoast, as far as Cumae on the one sea and Tarentum on the other. Theyeven surpassed those in Sicily in number and importance; and sonumerous and flourishing did they become, that the south of Italyreceived the name of Magna Graecia. Of these, two of the earliest andmost prosperous were Sybaris and Croton, both situated upon the gulf ofTarentum, and both of Achaean origin. Sybaris was planted in B. C. 720and Croton in B. C. 710. For two centuries they seem to have lived inharmony, and we know scarcely anything of their history till theirfatal contest in B. C. 510, which ended in the ruin of Sybaris. Duringthe whole of this period they were two of the most flourishing citiesin all Hellas. Sybaris in particular attained to an extraordinarydegree of wealth, and its inhabitants were so notorious for theirluxury, effeminacy, and debauchery, that their name has becomeproverbial for a voluptuary in ancient and modern times. Croton wasthe chief seat of the Pythagorean philosophy. Pythagroras was a nativeof Samos, but emigrated to Croton, where he met with the most wonderfulsuccess in the propagation of his views. He established a kind ofreligious brotherhood, closely united by a sacred vow. They believedin the transmigration of souls, and their whole training was designedto make them temperate and self-denying. The doctrines of Pythagorasspread through many of the other cities of Magna Graecia. Of the numerous other Greek settlements in the south of Italy, those ofLocri, Rhegium, and Tarentum were the meet important. Locri was foundedby the Locrians from the mother-country in B. C. 683. The laws of thiscity were drawn up by one of its citizens, named Zaleucus, and soaverse were the Locrians to any change in them, that whoever proposed anew law had to appear in the public assembly with a rope round hisneck, which was immediately tightened if he failed to convince hisfellow-citizens of the necessity of the alteration. Rhegium, situatedon the straits of Messina, opposite Sicily, was colonised by theChalcidians, but received a large body of Messenians, who settled hereat the close of the Messenian war. Anaxilas, tyrant of Rhegium aboutB. C. 500, was of Messenian descent. He seized the Sicilian Zancle onthe opposite coast, and changed its name into Messana, which it stillbears. Tarentum was a colony from Sparta and was founded about B. C. 708. After the destruction of Sybaris it was the most powerful andflourishing city in Magna Graecia, and continued to enjoy greatprosperity till its subjugation by the Romans. Although of Spartanorigin, it did not maintain Spartan habits, and its citizens were notedat a later time for their love of luxury and pleasure. The Grecian settlements in the distant countries of Gaul and Spain werenot numerous. The most celebrated was Massalia, the modern Marseilles, founded by the Ionic Phocaeans in B. C. 600. 3. The northern coast of Africa, between the territories of Carthageand Egypt, was also occupied by Greek colonists. The city of Cyrenewas founded about B. C. 630. It was a colony from the island of Therain the AEgean, which was itself a colony from Sparta. The situation ofCyrene was well chosen. It stood on the edge of a range of hills, atthe distance of ten miles from the Mediterranean, of which it commandeda fine view. These hills descended by a succession of terraces to theport of the town, called Apollonia. The climate was most salubrious, and the soil was distinguished by extraordinary fertility. With theseadvantages Cyrene rapidly grew in wealth and power; and its greatnessis attested by the immense remains which still mark its desolate site. Cyrene planted several colonies in the adjoining district, of whichBarca, founded about B. C. 560, was the most important. 4. There were several Grecian colonies situated on the eastern side ofthe Ionian sea, in Epirus and its immediate neighbourhood. Of thesethe island of Corcyra, now called Corfu, was the most wealthy andpowerful. It was founded by the Corinthians about B. C. 700, and inconsequence of its commercial activity it soon became a formidablerival to the mother-city. Hence a war broke out between these twostates at an early period; and the most ancient naval battle on recordwas the one fought between their fleets in B. C. 664. The dissensionsbetween the mother-city and her colony are frequently mentioned inGrecian history, and were one of the immediate causes of thePeloponnesian war. Notwithstanding their quarrels they joined inplanting four Grecian colonies upon the same line of coast--Leucas, Anactorium, Apollonia, and Epidamnus. The colonies in Macedonia and Thrace were very numerous, and extendedall along the coast of the AEgean, of the Hellespont, of the Propontis, and of the Euxine, from the borders of Thessaly to the mouth of theDanube. Of these we can only glance at the most important. Thecolonies on the coast of Macedonia were chiefly founded by Chalcis andEretria in Euboea; and the peninsula of Chalcidice, with its threeprojecting headlands, was covered with their settlements, and derivedits name from the former city. The Corinthians likewise planted a fewcolonies on this coast, of which Potidaea, on the narrow isthmus ofPallene, most deserves mention. Of the colonies in Thrace, the most flourishing were Selymbria andByzantium, both founded by the Megarians, who appear as an enterprisingmaritime people at an early period. CHAPTER VII. THE PERSIAN WARS. --FROM THE IONIC REVOLT TO THE BATTLE OF MARATHON, B. C. 500-490. The Grecian cities on the coast of Asia Minor were the neighbours of anAsiatic power which finally reduced them to subjection. This was thekingdom of Lydia, of which Sardis was the capital. Croesus, the lastand most powerful of the Lydian kings, who ascended the throne B. C. 560, conquered in succession all the Grecian cities on the coast. Hisrule, however, was not oppressive, and he permitted the cities toregulate their own affairs. He spoke the Greek language, welcomedGreek guests, and reverenced the Greek oracles, which he enriched withthe most munificent offerings. He extended his dominions in Asia Minoras far as the river Halys, and he formed a close alliance withAstyages, king of the Medes, who were then the ruling race in Asia. Everything seemed to betoken uninterrupted prosperity, when a peoplehitherto almost unknown suddenly became masters of the whole of westernAsia. The Persians were of the same race as the Medes and spoke a dialect ofthe same language. They inhabited the mountainous region south ofMedia, which slopes gradually down to the low grounds on the coast ofthe Persian gulf. While the Medes became enervated by the corruptinginfluences to which they were exposed, the Persians preserved in theirnative mountains their simple and warlike habits. They were a braveand hardy nation, clothed in skins, drinking only water, and ignorantof the commonest luxuries of life. Cyrus led these fierce warriorsfrom their mountain fastnesses, defeated the Medes in battle, tookAstyages prisoner, and deprived him of his throne. The other nationsincluded in the Median empire submitted to the conqueror, and thesovereignty of Upper Asia thus passed from the Medes to the Persians. The accession of Cyrus to the empire is placed in B. C. 559. A fewyears afterwards Cyrus turned his arms against the Lydians, tookSardis, and deprived Croesus of his throne (B. C. 546). The fall ofCroesus was followed by the subjection of the Greek cities in Asia tothe Persian yoke. They offered a brave but ineffectual resistance, andwere taken one after the other by Harpagus the Persian general. Eventhe islands of Lesbos and Chios sent in their submission to Harpagus, although the Persians then possessed no fleet to force them toobedience. Samos, on the other hand, maintained its independence, andappears soon afterwards one of the most powerful of the Grecian states. During the reign of Cambyses (B. C. 529-521), the son and successor ofCyrus, the Greek cities of Asia remained obedient to their Persiangovernors. It was during this reign that Polycrates, tyrant of Samos, became the master of the Grecian seas. The ambition and good fortuneof this enterprising tyrant were alike remarkable. He possessed ahundred ships of war, with which he conquered several of the islands;and he aspired to nothing less than the dominion of Ionia, as well asof the islands in the AEgean. The Lacedaemonians, who had invaded theisland at the invitation of the Samian exiles, for the purpose ofoverthrowing his government, were obliged to retire, after besieginghis city in vain for forty days. Everything which he undertook seemedto prosper; but his uninterrupted good fortune at length excited thealarm of his ally Amasis, the king of Egypt. According to the talerelated by Herodotus, the Egyptian king, convinced that such amazinggood fortune would sooner or later incur the envy of the gods, wrote toPolycrates, advising him to throw away one of his most valuablepossessions and thus inflict some injury upon himself. Thinking theadvice to be good, Polycrates threw into the sea a favourite ring ofmatchless price and beauty; but unfortunately it was found a few daysafterwards in the belly of a fine fish which a fisherman had sent himas a present. Amasis now foresaw that the ruin of Polycrates wasinevitable, and sent a herald to Samos to renounce his alliance. Thegloomy anticipations of the Egyptian monarch proved well founded. Inthe midst of all his prosperity Polycrates fell by a most ignominiousfate. Oroetes, the satrap of Sardis, had for some unknown causeconceived a deadly hatred against the Samian despot. By a cunningstratagem the satrap allured him to the mainland, where he wasimmediately arrested and hanged upon a cross (B. C. 522). The reign of Darius, the third king of Persia. (B. C. 521-485), ismemorable in Grecian history. In his invasion of Scythia, his fleet, which was furnished by the Asiatic Greeks, was ordered to sail up theDanube and throw a bridge of boats across the river. The King himself, with his land forces, marched through Thrace; and, crossing the bridge, placed it under the care of the Greeks, telling them that, if he didnot return within sixty days, they might break it down, and sail home. He then left them, and penetrated into the Scythian territory. Thesixty days had already passed away, and there was yet no sign of thePersian army; but shortly afterwards the Greeks were astonished by theappearance of a body of Scythians, who informed them that Darius was infull retreat, pursued by the whole Scythian nation, and that his onlyhope of safety depended upon that bridge. They urged the Greeks toseize this opportunity of destroying the Persian army, and ofrecovering their own liberty, by breaking down the bridge. Theirexhortations were warmly seconded by the Athenian Miltiades, the tyrantof the Thracian Chersonesus, and the future conqueror of Marathon. Theother rulers of the Ionian cities were at first disposed to follow hissuggestion; but as soon as Histiaeus of Miletus reminded them thattheir sovereignty depended upon the support of the Persian king, andthat his ruin would involve their own, they changed their minds andresolved to await the Persians. After enduring great privations andsufferings Darius and his army at length reached the Danube and crossedthe bridge in safety. Thus the selfishness of these Grecian despotsthrew away the most favourable opportunity that ever presented itselfof delivering their native cities from the Persian yoke. To reward theservices of Histiaeus, Darius gave him the town of Myrainus, near theStrymon. Darius, on his return to Asia, left Megabazus in Europe withan army of 80, 000 men to complete the subjugation of Thrace and of theGreek cities upon the Hellespont. Megabazus not only subdued theThracians, but crossed the Strymon, conquered the Paeonians, andpenetrated as far as the frontiers of Macedonia. He then sent heraldsinto the latter country to demand earth and water, the customarysymbols of submission. These were immediately granted by Amyntas, thereigning monarch (B. C. 510); and thus the Persian dominions wereextended to the borders of Thessaly. Megabazus, on his return toSardis, where Darius awaited him, informed the Persian monarch thatHistiaeus was collecting the elements of a power which might hereafterprove formidable to the Persian sovereignty, since Myrcinus commandedthe navigation of the Strymon, and consequently the commerce with theinterior of Thrace. Darius, perceiving that the apprehensions of hisgeneral were not without foundation, summoned Histiaeus to hispresence, and, under the pretext that he could not bear to be deprivedof the company of his friend, carried him with the rest of the court toSusa. This apparently trivial circumstance was attended with importantconsequences to the Persian empire and to the whole Grecian race. For the next few years everything remained quiet in the Greek cities ofAsia; but about B. C. 502 a revolution in Naxos, one of the islands inthe AEgean Sea, first disturbed the general repose, and occasioned thewar between Greece and Asia. The aristocratical exiles, who had beendriven out of Naxos by a rising of the people, applied for aid toAristagoras, the tyrant of Miletus and the son-in-law of Histiaeus. Aristagoras readily promised his assistance, knowing that, if they wererestored by his means, he should become master of the island. Heobtained the co-operation of Artaphernes, the satrap of western Asia byholding out to him the prospect of annexing not only Naxos, but all theislands of the AEgean sea, to the Persian empire. He offered at thesame time to defray the expense of the armament. Artaphernes placed athis disposal a fleet of 200 ships under the command of Megabates, aPersian of high rank; but Aristagoras having affronted the Persianadmiral, the latter revenged himself by privately informing the Naxiansof the object of the expedition, which had hitherto been kept a secret. When the Persian fleet reached Naxos they experienced a vigorousresistance; and at the end of four months they were compelled toabandon the enterprise and return to Miletus. Aristagoras was nowthreatened with utter ruin. Having deceived Artaphernes, and incurredthe enmity of Megabates, he could expect no favour from the Persiangovernment, and might be called upon at any moment to defray theexpenses of the armament. In these difficulties he began to think ofexciting a revolt of his countrymen; and while revolving the project hereceived a message from his father-in-law, Histiaeus, urging him tothis very step. Afraid of trusting any one with so dangerous amessage, Histiaeus had shaved the head of a trusty slave, branded uponit the necessary words, and as soon as the hair had grown again senthim off to Miletus. His only motive for urging the Ionians to revoltwas the desire of escaping from captivity at Susa, thinking that Dariuswould set him at liberty in order to put down an insurrection of hiscountrymen. The message from Histiaeus fixed the wavering resolutionof Aristagoras. He forthwith called together the leading citizens ofMiletus, laid before them the project of revolt, and asked them foradvice. They all approved of the scheme, with the exception ofHecataeus, one of the earliest Greek historians. Aristagoras laid downthe supreme power in Miletus, and nominally resigned to the people themanagement of their own affairs. A democratical form of government wasestablished in the other Greek cities of Asia, which thereupon openlyrevolted from Persia (B. C. 500). Aristagoras now resolved to cross over to Greece, in order to solicitassistance. The Spartans, to whom he first applied, refused to takeany part in the war; but at Athens he met with a very differentreception. The Athenians sympathised with the Ionians as their kinsmenand colonists, and were incensed against the satrap Artaphernes, whohad recently commanded them to recall Hippias. Accordingly they votedto send a squadron of twenty ships to the assistance of the Ionians;and in the following year (B. C. 499) this fleet, accompanied by fiveships from Eretria in Euboea, crossed the AEgean. The troops landed atEphesus, and, being reinforced by a strong body, of Ionians, marchedupon Sardis. Artaphernes was taken unprepared; and not havingsufficient troops to man the walls, he retired into the citadel, leaving the town a prey to the invaders. Accordingly they entered itunopposed; and while engaged in pillage, one of the soldiers set fireto a house. As most of the houses were built of wickerwork andthatched with straw, the flames rapidly spread, and in a short time thewhole city was in flames. The Greeks, on their return to the coast, were overtaken by a large Persian force and defeated with greatslaughter. The Athenians hastened on board their ships and sailed home. When Darius heard of the burning of Sardis, he burst into a paroxysm ofrage. It was against the obscure strangers who had dared to burn oneof his capitals that his wrath was chiefly directed. "The Athenians!"he exclaimed, "who are they?" Upon being informed he took his bow, shot an arrow high into the air, saying, "Grant me, Jove, to takevengeance upon the Athenians!" And he charged one of his attendants toremind him thrice every day at dinner "Sire, remember the Athenians. "Meantime the insurrection spread to the Greek cities in Cyprus, as wellas to those on the Hellespont and the Propontis, and seemed to promisepermanent independence to the Asiatic Greeks; but they were no matchfor the whole power of the Persian empire, which was soon broughtagainst them. Cyprus was subdued, and siege laid to the cities uponthe coast of Asia. Aristagoras now began to despair, and baselydeserted his countrymen, whom he had led into peril. Collecting a largebody of Milesians, he set sail for the Thracian coast, where he wasslain under the walls of a town to which he had laid siege. Soon afterhis departure, his father-in-law, Histiaeus came down to the coast. The artful Greek not only succeeded in removing the suspicions whichDarius first entertained respecting him, but he persuaded the king tosend him into Ionia, in order to assist the Persian generals insuppressing the rebellion. Artaphernes, however, was not so easilydeceived as his master, and plainly accused Histiaeus of treachery whenthe latter arrived at Sardis. "I will tell you how the facts stand"said Artaphernes to Histiaeus; "it was you who made the shoe, andAristagoras has put it on. " Finding himself unsafe at Sardis, heescaped to the island of Chios; but he was regarded with suspicion byall parties. At length he obtained eight galleys from Lesbos, withwhich he sailed towards Byzantium, and carried on piracies as wellagainst the Grecian as the barbarian vessels. This unprincipledadventurer met with a traitor's death. Having landed on the coast ofMysia, he was surprised by a Persian force and made prisoner. Beingcarried to Sardis, Artaphernes at once caused him to be crucified, andsent his head to Darius, who ordered it to be honourably buried, condemning the ignominious execution of the man who had once saved thelife of the Great King. In the sixth year of the revolt (B. C. 495), when several Grecian citieshad already been taken by the Persians, Artaphernes laid siege toMiletus by sea and by land. A naval engagement took place at Lade asmall island off Miletus, which decided the fate of the war. TheSamians deserted at the commencement of the battle, and the Ionianfleet was completely defeated. Miletus was soon afterwards taken, andwas treated with signal severity. Most of the males were slain; and thefew who escaped the sword were carried with the women and children intocaptivity (B. C. 494). The other Greek cities in Asia and theneighbouring islands were treated with the same cruelty. The islandsof Chios, Lesbos, and Tenedos were swept of their inhabitants; and thePersian fleet sailed up to the Hellespont and Propontis, carrying withit fire and sword. The Athenian Miltiades only escaped falling intothe power of the Persians by a rapid flight to Athens. The subjugation of Ionia was now complete. This was the third timethat the Asiatic Greeks had been conquered by a foreign power: firstby the Lydian Croesus; secondly by the generals of Cyrus; and lastly bythose of Darius. It was from the last that they suffered most, andthey never fully recovered their former prosperity. Darius was now at liberty to take vengeance upon the Athenians. Heappointed Mardonius to succeed Artaphernes as satrap in western Asia, and he placed under his command a large armament, with injunctions tobring to Susa those Athenians and Eretrians who had insulted theauthority of the Great King. Mardonius, after crossing the Hellespont, commenced his march through Thrace and Macedonia, subduing, as he wentalong, the tribes which had not yet submitted to the Persian power. Heordered the fleet to double the promontory of Mount Athos, and join theland forces at the head of the gulf of Therma; but one of thehurricanes which frequently blow off this dangerous coast overtook thePersian fleet, destroyed 300 vessels and drowned or dashed upon therocks 20, 000 men. Meantime the land forces of Mardonius had sufferedso much from an attack made upon them by a Thracian tribe, that hecould not proceed farther. He led his army back across the Hellespont, and returned to the Persian court covered with shame and grief (B. C. 492). The failure of this expedition did not shake the resolution of Darius. He began to make preparations for another attempt on a still largerscale, and meantime sent heralds to most of the Grecian states todemand from each earth and water as the symbol of submission. Suchterror had the Persians inspired by their recent conquest of Ionia, that a large number of the Grecian cities at once complied with thedemand; but the Athenians cast the herald into a deep pit, and theSpartans threw him into a well bidding him take earth and water fromthence. In the spring of B. C. 490 a large army and fleet were assembled inCilicia, and the command was given to Datis, a Median, and Artaphernes, son of the satrap of Sardis of that name. Warned by the recentdisaster of Mardonius in doubling the promontory of Mount Athos, theyresolved to sail straight across the AEgean to Euboea, subduing ontheir way the Cyclades. These islands yielded a ready submission; andit was not till Datis and Artaphernes reached Euboea that theyencountered any resistance. Eretria defended itself gallantly for sixdays, and repulsed the Persians with loss; but on the seventh the gateswere opened to the besiegers by the treachery of two of its leadingcitizens. The city was razed to the ground, and the inhabitants wereput in chains. From Eretria the Persians crossed over to Attica, andlanded on the ever memorable plain of Marathon, a spot which had beenpointed out to them by the despot Hippias, who accompanied the army. As soon as the news of the fall of Eretria reached Athens, a courierhad been sent to Sparta to solicit assistance. This was promised; butthe superstition of the Spartans prevented them from setting outimmediately, since it wanted a few days to the full moon, and it wascontrary to their religious customs to commence a march during thisinterval. Meantime the Athenians had marched to Marathon, and wereencamped upon the mountains which surrounded the plain. They werecommanded, according to the regular custom, by ten generals, one foreach tribe, and by the Polemarch, or third Archon, who down to thistime continued to be a colleague of the generals. Among these the mostdistinguished was Miltiades, who, though but lately a tyrant in theChersonesus, had shown such energy and ability, that the Athenians hadelected him one of their commanders upon the approach of the Persianfleet. Upon learning the answer which the courier brought from Sparta, the ten generals were divided in opinion. Five of them were opposed toan immediate engagement with the overwhelming number of Persians, andurged the importance of waiting for the arrival of the Lacedaemoniansuccours. Miltiades and the remaining four contended that not a momentshould be lost in fighting the Persians, not only in order to availthemselves of the present enthusiasm of the people, but still more toprevent treachery from spreading among their ranks. Callimachus, thePolemarch, yielded to the arguments of Miltiades, and gave his vote forthe battle. The ten generals commanded their army in rotation, eachfor one day; but they now agreed to surrender to Miltiades their daysof command, in order to invest the whole power in a single person. While the Athenians were preparing for battle, they received unexpectedassistance from the little town or Plataea, in Boeotia. Grateful tothe Athenians for the assistance which they had rendered them againstthe Thebans, the whole force of Plataea, amounting to 1000 heavy-armedmen, marched to the assistance of their allies and joined them atMarathon. The Athenian army numbered only 10, 000 hoplites, orheavy-armed soldiers: there were no archers or cavalry, and only someslaves as light-armed attendants. Of the number of the Persian army wehave no trustworthy account, but the lowest estimate makes it consistof 110, 000 men. The plain of Marathon lies on the eastern coast of Attica, at thedistance of twenty-two miles from Athens by the shortest road. It is inthe form of a crescent, the horns of which consist of two promontoriesrunning into the sea, and forming a semicircular bay. This plain isabout six miles in length, and in its widest or central part about twoin breadth. On the day of battle the Persian army was drawn up alongthe plain about a mile from the sea, and their fleet was ranged behindthem on the beach. The Athenians occupied the rising ground above theplain, and extended from one side of the plain to the other. Thisarrangement was necessary in order to protect their flanks by themountains on each side, and to prevent the cavalry from passing roundto attack them in rear. But so large a breadth of ground could not beoccupied with a small a number of men without weakening some portion ofthe line. Miltiades, therefore, drew up the troops in the centre inshallow files, and resolved to rely for success upon the stronger anddeeper masses of his wings. The right wing, which was the post ofhonour in a Grecian army, was commanded by the Polemarch Callimachus;the hoplites were arranged in the order of their tribes, so that themembers of the same tribe fought by each other's side; and at theextreme left stood the Plataeans. Miltiades, anxious to come to close quarters as speedily as possible, ordered his soldiers to advance at a running step over the mile ofground which separated them from the foe. Both the Athenian wings weresuccessful, and drove the enemy before them towards the shore and themarshes. But the Athenian centre was broken by the Persians, andcompelled to take to flight. Miltiades thereupon recalled his wingsfrom pursuit, and charged the Persian centre. The latter could notwithstand this combined attack. The rout now became general along thewhole Persian line; and they fled to their ships, pursued by theAthenians. The Persians lost 6400 men in this memorable engagement: of theAthenians only 192 fell. The aged tyrant Hippias is said to haveperished in the battle, and the brave Polemarch Callimachus was alsoone of the slain. The Persians embarked and sailed away to Asia. Their departure was hailed at Athens with one unanimous burst ofheartfelt joy. Marathon became a magic word at Athens. The Athenianpeople in succeeding ages always looked back upon this day as the mostglorious in their annals, and never tired of hearing its praisessounded by their orators and poets. And they had reason to be proud ofit. It was the first time that the Greeks had ever defeated thePersians in the field. It was the exploit of the Athenians alone. Ithad saved not only Athens but all Greece. If the Persians hadconquered at Marathon, Greece must, in all likelihood, have become aPersian province; the destinies of the world would have been changed;and oriental despotism might still have brooded over the fairestcountries of Europe. The one hundred and ninety-two Athenians who had perished in the battlewere buried on the field, and over their remains a tumulus or mound waserected, which may still be seen about half a mile from the sea. Shortly after the battle Miltiades requested of the Athenians a fleetof seventy ships, without telling them the object of his expedition, but only promising to enrich the state. Such unbounded confidence didthe Athenians repose in the hero of Marathon, that they at oncecomplied with his demand. This confidence Miltiades abused. In orderto gratify a private animosity against one of the leading citizens ofParos, he sailed to this island and laid siege to the town. Thecitizens repelled all his attacks; and having received a dangerousinjury on his thigh, he was compelled to raise the siege and return toAthens. Loud was the indignation against Miltiades on his return. Hewas accused by Xanthippus, the father of Pericles, of having deceivedthe people, and was brought to trial. His wound had already begun toshow symptoms of gangrene. He was carried into court on a couch, andthere lay before the assembled judges, while his friends pleaded on hisbehalf. They could offer no excuse for his recent conduct, but theyreminded the Athenians of the services he had rendered, and, beggedthem to spare the victor of Marathon. The judges were not insensibleto this appeal; and instead of condemning him to death as the accuserhad demanded, they commuted the penalty to a fine of fifty talents. Miltiades was unable immediately to raise this sum and died soonafterwards of his wound. The fine was subsequently paid by his sonCimon. The melancholy end of Miltiades must not blind us to hisoffence. He had grossly abused the public confidence, and deserved hispunishment. The Athenians did not forget his services at Marathon, andit was their gratitude towards him which alone saved him from death. Soon after the battle of Marathon a war broke out between Athens andAEgina. This war is of great importance in Grecian history, since toit the Athenians were indebted for their navy, which enabled them tosave Greece at Salamis as they had already done at Marathon. AEginawas one of the chief maritime powers in Greece; and accordinglyThemistocles urged the Athenians to build and equip a large andpowerful fleet, without which it was impossible for them to humbletheir rival. There was at this time a large surplus in the publictreasury, arising from the produce of the silver-mines at Laurium. Ithad been recently proposed to distribute this surplus among theAthenian citizens; but Themistocles persuaded them to sacrifice theirprivate advantage to the public good, and to appropriate the money tobuilding a fleet of 200 ships. The two leading citizens of Athens at this period were Themistocles andAristides. These two eminent men formed a striking contrast to eachother. Themistocles possessed abilities of the most extraordinarykind; but they were marred by a want of honesty. Aristides wasinferior to Themistocles in ability, but was incomparably superior tohim in honesty and integrity. His uprightness and justice were souniversally acknowledged that he received the surname of the "Just. "Themistocles was the leader of the democratical, and Aristides of theconservative party at Athens. After three or four years of bitterrivalry, the two chiefs appealed to the ostracism, and Aristides wasbanished (B. C. 483). We are told that an unlettered countryman gavehis vote against Aristides at the ostracism, because he was tired ofhearing him always called the Just. CHAPTER VIII. THE PERSIAN WARS. --THE BATTLES OF THERMOPYLAE, SALAMIS, AND PLATAEA, B. C. 480-479. The defeat of the Persians at Marathon served only to increase theresentment of Darius. He now resolved to collect the whole forces ofhis empire, and to lead them in person against Athens. For three yearsbusy preparations were made throughout his vast dominions. In thefourth year his attention was distracted by a revolt of the Egyptians;and before he could reduce them to subjection he was surprised bydeath, after a reign of 37 years (B. C. 485). Xerxes, the son andsuccessor of Darius, had received the education of an eastern despot, and been surrounded with slaves from his cradle. In person he was thetallest and handsomest man amidst the vast hosts which he led againstGreece; but there was nothing in his mind to correspond to this fairexterior. His character was marked by faint-hearted timidity andchildish vanity. Xerxes had not inherited his father's animosityagainst Greece; but he was surrounded by men who urged him to continuethe enterprise. Foremost among these was Mardonius, who was eager toretrieve his reputation, and to obtain the conquered country as asatrapy for himself after subduing Egypt (B. C. 484), Xerxes began tomake preparations for the invasion of Greece. For four years the din ofpreparation sounded throughout Asia. Troops were collected from everyquarter of the Persian empire, and were ordered to assemble inCappadocia. As many as forty-six different nations composed theland-force, of various complexions, languages, dresses, and arms. Meantime Xerxes ordered a bridge to be thrown across the Hellespont, that his army might march from Asia into Europe: and he likewise gavedirections that a canal should be cut through the isthmus of MountAthos, in order to avoid the necessity of doubling this dangerouspromontory, where the fleet of Mardonius had suffered shipwreck. Themaking of this canal, which was about a mile and a half long employed anumber of men for three years. In the spring of B. C. 480 Xerxes set out from Sardis with his vasthost. Upon reaching Abydos on the Hellespont the army crossed over toEurope by the bridge of boats. Xerxes surveyed the scene from a marblethrone. His heart swelled within him at the sight of such a vastassemblage of human beings; but his feelings of pride and pleasure soongave way to sadness, and he burst into tears at the reflection that ina hundred years not one of them would be alive. Xerxes continued hismarch through Europe along the coast of Thrace. Upon arriving at thespacious plain of Doriscus, which is traversed by the river Hebrus, heresolved to number his forces. He found that the whole armament, bothmilitary and naval, consisted of 2, 317, 610 men. In his march fromDoriscus to Thermopylae he received a still further accession ofstrength; and accordingly when he reached Thermopylae the land and seaforces amounted to 2, 641, 610 fighting men. The attendants are said tohave been more in number than the fighting men; but if they were onlyequal, the number of persons who accompanied Xerxes to Thermopylaereaches the astounding figure of 5, 283, 220! The number is quiteincredible; but though the exact number of the invading army cannot bedetermined, we may safely conclude, from all the circumstances of thecase, that it was the largest ever assembled at any period of history. From Doriscus Xerxes his march along the coast through Thrace andMacedonia. The principal cities through which he passed had to furnisha day's meal for the immense host, and for this purpose had madepreparations many months before-hand. The cost of feeding such amultitude brought many cities to the brink of ruin. At Acanthus hisfleet sailed through the isthmus of Athos and after doubling thepromontories of Sithonia and Pallene joined him at the city of Therma, better known by its later name of Thessalonica. Thence he continuedhis march through the southern part of Macedonia and Thessaly, meetingwith no opposition till he reached the celebrated pass of Thermopylae. The mighty preparations of Xerxes had been no secret in Greece; andduring the preceding winter a congress of the Grecian states had beensummoned by the Spartans and Athenians to meet at the isthmus ofCorinth. But so great was the terror inspired by the countless hostsof Xerxes that many of the Grecian states at once tendered theirsubmission to him, and others refused to take any part in the congress. The only people, north of the isthmus of Corinth, who remained faithfulto the cause of Grecian liberty, were the Athenians and Phocians, andthe inhabitants of the small Boeotian towns of Plataea and Thespiae. The other people in northern Greece were either partisans of thePersians, like the Thebans, or were unwilling to make any greatsacrifices for the preservation of their independence. InPeloponnesus, the powerful city of Argos and the Achaeans stood aloof. From the more distant members of the Hellenic race no assistance wasobtained. Gelon, the ruler of Syracuse, offered to send a powerfularmament, provided the command of the allied forces was intrusted tohim; but the envoys did not venture to accept a proposal which wouldhave placed both Sparta and Athens under the control of a Siciliantyrant. The desertion of the cause of Grecian independence by so many of theGreeks did not shake the resolution of Sparta and of Athens. TheAthenians, especially, set a noble example of an enlarged patriotism. They became reconciled to the AEginetans, and thus gained for thecommon cause the powerful navy of their rival. They readily granted tothe Spartans the supreme command of the forces by sea as well as byland, although they furnished two-thirds of the vessels of the entirefleet. Their illustrious citizen Themistocles was the soul of thecongress. He sought to enkindle in the other Greeks some portion ofthe ardour and energy which he had succeeded in breathing into theAthenians. The Greeks determined to make a stand at the pass of Thermopylae, whichforms the entrance from northern into southern Greece. This pass liesbetween Mount OEta and the sea. It is about a mile in length. At eachof its extremities the mountains approach so near the sea as to leavebarely room for the passage of a single carriage. The northern, or, tospeak more properly, the western Gate, was close to the town ofAnthela, where the Amphictyonic council held its autumnal meetings;while the southern, or the eastern Gate, was near the Locrian town ofAlpeni. These narrow entrances were called Pylae, or the Gates. Thespace between the gates was wider and more open, and was distinguishedby its hot springs, from which the pass derived the name ofThermopylae, or the "Hot-Gates. " The island of Euboea is hereseparated from the mainland by a narrow strait, which in one part isonly two miles and a half in breadth; and accordingly it is easy, bydefending this part of the sea with a fleet, to prevent an enemy fromlanding troops at the southern end of the pass. The Grecian fleet, under the command of the Spartan Eurybiades, took upits station off that portion of the northern coast of Euboea whichfaces Magnesia and the entrance to the Thessalian gulf and which wascalled Artemisium, from a neighbouring temple of Artemis (Diana). Itwas, however, only a small land-force that was sent to the defence ofThermopylae. When the arrival of Xerxes at Therma became known, theGreeks were upon the point of celebrating the Olympic games, and thefestival of the Carnean Apollo, which was observed with great solemnityat Sparta and in other Doric states. The Peloponnesians therefore sentforward only 300 Spartans and 3000 hoplites from other Peloponnesianstates, under the command of the Spartan king Leonidas, a force whichthey thought would be sufficient to maintain the pass till thefestivals were over. In his march northwards Leonidas receivedadditions from the Thespians, Phocians, and Locrians, so that he hadunder his command at Thermopylae about 7000 men. Meanwhile Xerxes had arrived within sight of Thermopylae. He had heardthat a handful of desperate men, commanded by a Spartan, had determinedto dispute his passage, but he refused to believe the news. He wasstill more astonished when a horseman, whom he had sent to reconnoitre, brought back word that he had seen several Spartans outside the wall infront of the pass, some amusing themselves with gymnastic exercises, and others combing their long hair. In great perplexity, he sent forthe exiled Spartan king Demaratus, who had accompanied him from Persia, and asked him the meaning of such madness. Demaratus replied, that theSpartans would defend the pass to the death, and that it was theirpractice to dress their heads with peculiar care when they were goingto battle. Later writers relate that Xerxes sent to them to deliver uptheir arms. Leonidas desired him "to come and take them. " One of theSpartans being told that "the Persian host was so prodigious that theirarrows would conceal the sun:"--"So much the better" (he replied), "weshall then fight in the shade. " At length, upon the fifth day, Xerxes ordered a chosen body of Medes toadvance against the presumptuous foes and bring them into his presence. But their superior numbers were of no avail in such a narrow space, andthey were kept at bay by the long spears and steady ranks of theGreeks. After the combat had lasted a long time with heavy loss to theMedes, Xerxes ordered his ten thousand "Immortals, " the flower of thePersian army, to advance. But they were as unsuccessful as the Medes. Xerxes beheld the repulse of his troops from a lofty throne which hadbeen provided for him, and was seen to leap thrice from his seat in anagony of fear or rage. On the following day the attack was renewed, but with no bettersuccess: and Xerxes was beginning to despair of forcing his waythrough the pass, when a Malian, of the name of Ephialtes, betrayed tothe Persian king that there was an unfrequented path across Mount OEta, ascending on the northern side of the mountain and descending on thesouthern side near the termination of the pass. Overjoyed at thisdiscovery, a strong detachment of Persians was ordered to follow thetraitor. Meantime Leonidas and his troops had received ample notice ofthe impending danger. During the night deserters from the enemy hadbrought him the news; and their intelligence was confirmed by his ownscouts on the hills. His resolution was at once taken. As a Spartanhe was bound to conquer or to die in the post assigned to him; and hewas the more ready to sacrifice his life, since an oracle had declaredthat either Sparta itself or a Spartan king must perish by the Persianarms. His three hundred comrades were fully equal to the same heroismwhich actuated their King; and the seven hundred Thespians resolved toshare the fate of this gallant band. He allowed the rest of the alliesto retire, with the exception of four hundred Boeotians, whom heretained as hostages. Xerxes delayed his attack till the middle of theday, when it was expected that the detachment sent across the mountainwould arrive at the rear of the pass. But Leonidas and his comrades, only anxious to sell their lives as dearly as possible, did not wait toreceive the attack of the Persians, but advanced into the open space infront of the pass, and charged the enemy with desperate valour. Numbers of the Persians were slain; many were driven into theneighbouring sea; and others again were trampled to death by the vasthosts behind them. As long as the Greeks could maintain their ranksthey repelled every attack; but when their spears were broken, and theyhad only their swords left, the enemy began to press in between them. Leonidas was one of the first that fell, and around his body the battleraged fiercer than ever. The Persians made the greatest efforts toobtain possession of it; but four times they were driven back by theGreeks with great slaughter. At length, thinned in numbers, andexhausted by fatigue and wounds, this noble band retired within thepass, and seated themselves on a hillock. Meanwhile the Persiandetachment, which had been sent across the mountains, began to enterthe pass from the south. The Spartan heroes were now surrounded onevery side, overwhelmed with a shower of missiles, and killed to a man. On the hillock, where the Greeks made their last stand, a marble lionwas set up in honour of Leonidas. Another monument, erected near thespot, contained the memorable inscription:-- "Go, tell the Spartans, thou that passest by, That here obedient to their laws we lie. " While Leonidas had been fighting at Thermopylae, the Greek fleet hadalso been engaged with the Persians at Artemisium. The Persian fleetset sail from the gulf of Therma, and arrived in one day at almost thesouthern corner of Magnesia. In this position they were overtaken by asudden hurricane, which blew upon the shore with irresistible fury. For three days and three nights the tempest raged without intermission;and when calm at length returned, the shore was seen strewed for manymiles with wrecks and corpses. At least four hundred ships of war weredestroyed, together with a countless number of transports, stores, andtreasures. The Greek fleet had been seized with a panic terror at theapproach of the Persians, and retreated to Chalcis in the narrowestpart of the Euboean straits; but upon hearing of the disaster of thePersian fleet, they took courage, and sailed back with the utmost speedto their former station at Artemisium. Being now encouraged to attackthe enemy, they gained some success. On the following night anotherterrific storm burst upon the Persians. All night long it blew uponthe Thessalian coast at Aphetae, where the Persian ships werestationed, thus causing little inconvenience to the Greeks upon theopposite shore. Notwithstanding these losses, the Persian fleet stillhad a vast superiority of numbers, and determined to offer battle tothe Greeks. Quitting the Thessalian coast, they sailed towardsArtemisium in the form of a crescent. The Greeks kept near the shore, to prevent the Persians from bringing their whole fleet into action. The battle raged furiously the whole day, and each side fought withdetermined valour. Both parties suffered severely; and though thePersians lost a greater number of ships and men, yet so many of theGreek vessels were disabled that they found it would be impossible torenew the combat. Under these circumstances the Greek commanders sawthat it would be necessary to retreat; and their determination washastened by the news which they now received, that Leonidas and hiscompanions had fallen, and that Xerxes was master of the pass ofThermopylae. Having sailed through the Euboean strait, the fleetdoubled the promontory of Sunium, and did not stop till it reached theisland of Salamis. Meanwhile the Peloponnesians had abandoned Attica and the adjoiningstates to their fate, whilst they strained every nerve to securethemselves by fortifying the isthmus of Corinth. The Athenians, relying upon the march of a Peloponnesian army into Boeotia, had takenno measures for the security of their families and property, and beheldwith terror and dismay the barbarian host in full march towards theircity. In six days it was calculated Xerxes would be at Athens--a shortspace to remove the population of a whole city: but fear and necessitywork wonders. Before the six days had elapsed, all who were willing toabandon their homes had been safely transported, some to AEgina, andothers to Troezen in Peloponnesus; but many could not be induced toproceed farther than Salamis. It was necessary for Themistocles to useall his art and all his eloquence on this occasion. The oracle atDelphi had told the Athenians that "the divine Salamis would make womenchildless, "--yet, "when all was lost, a wooden wall should stillshelter the Athenians. " Themistocles told his countrymen that thesewords clearly indicated a fleet and a naval victory as the only meansof safety. Some however gave to the words another meaning; and a few, especially among the aged and the poor, resolved to shut themselves upin the Acropolis, and to fortify its accessible or western front withbarricades of timber. On his march towards Athens, Xerxes sent a detachment of his army totake and plunder Delphi. But this attempt proved unsuccessful. Thegod of the most renowned oracle of the Grecian world vindicated at oncethe majesty of his sanctuary and the truth of his predictions. As thePersians climbed the rugged path at the foot of Mount Parnassus, leading up to the shrine, thunder was heard to roll, and two crags, suddenly detaching themselves from the mountain, rolled down upon thePersians, and spread dismay and destruction in their ranks, Seized witha sudden panic, they turned and fled, pursued, as they said, by twowarriors of superhuman size and prowess, who had assisted the Delphiansin defending their temple. On arriving before Athens, Xerxes found the Acropolis occupied by ahandful of desperate citizens, who made a brave resistance; but theywere overpowered and put to the sword. The temples and houses on theAcropolis were pillaged and burnt; and Xerxes thus became undisputedmaster of Athens. About the same time the Persian fleet arrived in the bay of Phalerum. Its strength is not accurately known, but it must have exceeded 1000vessels. The combined Grecian fleet at Salamis consisted of 366 ships, of which 200 were Athenian. At this critical juncture dissension reigned in the Grecian fleet. Inthe council of war which had been summoned by Eurybiades the Spartancommander, Themistocles urged the assembled chiefs to remain atSalamis, and give battle to the Persians in the narrow straits, wherethe superior numbers of the Persians would be of less consequence. ThePeloponnesian commanders, on the other hand, were anxious that thefleet should be removed to the isthmus of Corinth, and thus be put incommunication with their land-forces. The council came to a vote infavour of retreat; but Themistocles prevailed upon Eurybiades toconvene another assembly upon the following day. When the council met, the Peloponnesian commanders loudly expressed their dissatisfaction atseeing a debate re-opened which they had deemed concluded. Adimantus, the Corinthian admiral broke out into open rebukes and menaces. "Themistocles, " he exclaimed, "those who rise at the public gamesbefore the signal are whipped. " "True, " replied Themistocles; "butthey who lag behind it never win a crown. " Another incident in thisdiscussion has been immortalized by Plutarch. Eurybiades, incensed bythe language of Themistocles, lifted up his stick to strike him, whereupon the Athenian exclaimed, "Strike, but hear me!" Themistoclesrepeated his arguments and entreaties; and at length threatened that heand the Athenians would sail away to Italy and there found a new city, if the Peloponnesians still determined to retreat. Eurybiades now gaveway and issued orders for the fleet to remain and fight at Salamis; butthe Peloponnesians obeyed the order with reluctance. A third councilwas summoned and Themistocles, perceiving that the decision of theassembly would be against him, determined to effect his object bystratagem. He secretly despatched a trusty slave with a message toXerxes, representing the dissensions which prevailed in the Grecianfleet, and how easy a matter it would be to surround and vanquish anarmament both small and disunited. Xerxes readily adopted thesuggestion, and ordered his captains to close up the straits of Salamisat both ends during the night. On the council assembling in themorning, Aristides arrived with the news that the Grecian fleet wascompletely surrounded by that of the Persians, and that retreat was nolonger possible. As the veil of night rolled gradually away, thePersian fleet was discovered stretching as far as the eye could reachalong the coast of Attica. The Grecian fleet, being concentrated inthe harbour of Salamis, was thus surrounded by the Persians. Xerxeshad caused a lofty throne to be erected upon one of the projectingdeclivities of Mount AEgaleos, opposite the harbour of Salamis, whencehe could survey the combat, and stimulate by his presence the courageof his men. As a battle was now inevitable the Grecian commanders lost no time inmaking preparations for the encounter. The Greek seamen embarked withalacrity, encouraging one another to deliver their country, theirwives, and children, and the temples of their gods, from the grasp ofthe barbarians. History has preserved to us but few details of theengagement. The Persian fleet, with the exception of some of the Ioniccontingents, fought with courage. But the very numbers on which theyso confidently relied, proved one of the chief causes of their defeat. Too crowded either to advance or to retreat, their oars broken orimpeded by collision with one another, their fleet lay like an inertand lifeless mass upon the water, and fell an easy prey to the Greeks. A single incident will illustrate the terror and confusion whichreigned among the Persians. Artemisia, queen of Halicarnassus inCaria, distinguished herself in it by deeds of daring bravery. Atlength she turned and fled, pursued by an Athenian galley. Full in hercourse lay the vessel of a Carian prince. Instead of avoiding, shestruck and sunk it, sending her countryman and all his crew to thebottom. The captain of the Athenian galley, believing from this actthat she was a deserter from the Persian cause, suffered her to escape. Xerxes, who from his lofty throne beheld the feat of the Halicarnassianqueen, but who imagined that the sunken ship belonged to the Greeks, was filled with admiration at her courage, and exclaimed--"My men arebecome women, my women men!" Two hundred of the Persian ships were destroyed and sunk when night putan end to the engagement. But notwithstanding this loss the fleet wasstill formidable by its numbers. The Greeks themselves did not regardthe victory as decisive, and prepared to renew the combat. But thepusillanimity of Xerxes relieved them from all further anxiety. Hebecame alarmed for his own personal safety; and his whole care was nowcentred on securing his retreat by land. The best troops weredisembarked from the ships, and marched towards the Hellespont, inorder to secure the bridge, whilst the fleet itself was ordered to makefor Asia. These dispositions of Xerxes were prompted by Mardonius. Herepresented to his master that the defeat, after all, was but slight;that having attained one of the great objects of the expedition by thecapture of Athens, he might now retire with honour, and even withglory; and that for the rest he (Mardonius) would undertake to completethe conquest of Greece with 300, 000 men. While the Persian fleetsailed towards Asia, Xerxes set out on his homeward march. In ThessalyMardonius selected the 300, 000 men with whom he proposed to concludethe war; but as autumn was now approaching, he resolved to postpone allfurther operations till the spring. After forty-five days' march from Attica, Xerxes again reached theshores of the Hellespont, with a force greatly diminished by famine andpestilence. On the Hellespont he found his fleet, but the bridge hadbeen washed away by storms. Landed on the shores of Asia, the Persianarmy at length obtained abundance of provisions, and contracted newmaladies by the sudden change from privation to excess. Thusterminated this mighty but unsuccessful expedition. Greece owed its salvation to one man--Themistocles, This was virtuallyadmitted by the leaders of the other Grecian states, when theyassembled to assign the prizes of wisdom and conduct. Upon the altar ofPoseidon, at the isthmus of Corinth, each chief deposited a ticketinscribed with two names, of those whom he considered entitled to thefirst and second prizes. But in this adjudication vanity and self-lovedefeated their own objects. Each commander had put down his own namefor the first prize; for the second, a great majority preponderated infavour of Themistocles. From the Spartans, also, Themistocles receivedthe honours due to his merit. A crown of olive was conferred upon him, together with one of the most splendid chariots which the city couldproduce. On the very same day on which the Persians were defeated at Salamis theSicilian Greeks also obtained a victory over the Carthaginians. Thereis reason to believe that the invasion of Sicily by the Carthaginianswas concerted with Xerxes, and that the simultaneous attach on twodistinct Grecian peoples, by two immense armaments, was not merely theresult of chance. Gelon, the powerful ruler of Syracuse, defeatedHamilcar, the Carthaginian general, with the loss it is said of 150, 000men. In the spring of B. C. 479 Mardonius prepared to open the campaign. Hewas not without hopes of inducing the Athenians to join the Persianalliance, and he despatched Alexander, king of Macedon, to conciliatethe Athenians, now partially re-established in their dilapidated city. His offers on the part of the Persians were of the most seductive kind;but the Athenians dismissed him with a positive refusal, whilst to theLacedaemonians they protested that no temptations, however great, should ever induce them to desert the common cause of Greece andfreedom. In return for this disinterested conduct all they asked wasthat a Peloponnesian army should be sent into Boeotia for the defenceof the Attic frontier: a request which the Spartan envoys promised tofulfil. No sooner, however, had they returned into their own countrythan this promise was completely forgotten. When Mardonius was informed that the Athenians had rejected hisproposal, he immediately marched against Athens, accompanied by all hisGrecian allies; and in May or June, B. C. 479, about ten months afterthe retreat of Xerxes, the Persians again occupied that city. Withfeelings of bitter indignation against their faithless allies, theAthenians saw themselves once more compelled to remove to Salamis. Mardonius took advantage of his situation to endeavour once more to winthem to his alliance. Through a Hellespontine Greek, the samefavourable conditions were again offered to them, but were againrefused. One voice alone, that of the senator Lycidas, broke theunanimity of the assembly. But his opposition cost him his life. Heand his family were stoned to death by the excited populace. In thisdesperate condition the Athenians sent ambassadors to the Spartans toremonstrate against their breach of faith, and to intimate thatnecessity might at length compel them to listen to the proposals of theenemy. The Spartans became alarmed. That very night 5000 citizens, each attended by seven Helots, were despatched to the frontiers; andthese were shortly followed by 5000 Lacedaemonian Perioeci, eachattended by one light-armed Helot. Never before had the Spartans sentso large a force into the field. Their example was followed by otherPeloponnesian cities; and the Athenian envoys returned to Salamis withthe joyful news that a large army was preparing to march against theenemy, under the command of Pausanias, who acted as regent for theinfant son of Leonidas. Mardonius, on learning the approach of the Lacedaemonians, abandonedAttica and crossed into Boeotia. He finally took up a position on theleft bank of the Asopus, and not far from the town of Plataea. Here hecaused a camp to be constructed of ten furlongs square, and fortifiedwith barricades and towers. Meanwhile the Grecian army continued toreceive reinforcements from the different states, and by the time itreached Boeotia, it formed a grand total of about 110, 000 men. Afterseveral days' manoeuvring a general battle took place near Plataea. The light-armed undisciplined Persians, whose bodies were unprotectedby armour, maintained a very unequal combat against the serried ranks, the long spears, and the mailed bodies of the Spartan phalanx. Mardonius, at the head of his body-guard of 1000 picked men, andconspicuous by his white charger, was among the foremost in the fight, till struck down by the hand of a Spartan. The fall of their generalwas the signal for flight to the Persians, already wearied anddisheartened by the fruitless contest; nor did they once stop till theylad again crossed the Asopus and reached their fortified camp. Theglory of having defeated the Persians at Plataea rests with theLacedaemonians, since the Athenians were engaged in another part of thefield with the Thebans. After repulsing the Thebans, the Atheniansjoined the Lacedaemonians, who had pursued the Persians as far as theirfortified camp. Upon the arrival of the Athenians the barricades werestormed and carried, after a gallant resistance on the part of thePersians. The camp became a scene of the most horrible carnage. ThePersian loss was immense, while that of the Greeks seems not to haveexceeded 1300 or 1400 men. It remained to bury the dead and divide the booty, and so great was thetask that ten days were consumed in it. The booty was ample andmagnificent. Gold and silver coined, as well as in plate and trinkets, rich vests and carpets, ornamented arms, horses, camels--in a word, allthe magnificence of Eastern luxury. The failure of the Persianexpedition was completed by the destruction of their naval armament. Laotychides, the Spartan admiral, having sailed across the AEgean, found the Persian fleet at Mycale a promontory of Asia Minor nearMiletus. Their former reverses seem completely to have discouraged thePersians from hazarding another naval engagement. The ships werehauled ashore and surrounded with a rampart, whilst an army of 60, 000Persians lined the coast for their defence. The Greeks landed on thevery day on which the battle of Plataea was fought. A supernaturalpresentiment of that decisive victory, conveyed by a herald's staffwhich floated over the AEgean from the shores of Greece, is said tohave pervaded the Grecian ranks at Mycale as they marched to theattack. The Persians did not long resist: they turned their backs andfled to their fortifications, pursued by the Greeks, who entered themalmost simultaneously. A large number of the Persians perished; andthe victory was rendered still more decisive by the burning of thefleet. The Grecian fleet now sailed towards the Hellespont with the view ofdestroying the bridge; but hearing that it no longer existed, Leotychides departed homewards with the Peloponnesian vessels. Xanthippus however, the Athenian commander, seized the opportunity torecover from the Persians the Thracian Chersonese, which had long beenan Athenian possession; and proceeded to blockade Sestos, the key ofthe strait. This city surrendered in the autumn, after a protractedsiege, whereupon the Athenians returned home, carrying with them thecables of the bridge across the Hellespont, which were afterwardspreserved in the Acropolis as a trophy. CHAPTER IX. FROM THE END OF THE PERSIAN WARS TO THE BEGINNING OF THE PELOPONNESIANWAR, B. C. 479-431. The Athenians, on their return to Attica, after the defeat of thePersians, found their city ruined and their country desolate. Theybegan to rebuild their city on a larger scale than before, and tofortify it with a wall. Those allies to whom the increasing maritimepower of Athens was an object of suspicion, and especially theAEginetans, to whom it was more particularly formidable, beheld herrising fortifications with dismay. They endeavoured to inspire theLacedaemonians with their fears, and urged them to arrest the work. But though Sparta shared the jealousy of the allies, she could not withany decency interfere by force to prevent a friendly city fromexercising a right inherent in all independent states. She assumedtherefore the hypocritical garb of an adviser and counsellor. Concealing her jealousy under the pretence of zeal for the commoninterests of Greece, she represented to the Athenians that, in theevent of another Persian invasion, fortified towns would serve theenemy for camps and strongholds, as Thebes had done in the last war;and proposed that the Athenians should not only desist from completingtheir own fortifications, but help to demolish those which alreadyexisted in other towns. The object of the proposal was too transparent to deceive so acute astatesman as Themistocles. Athens was not yet, however, in a conditionto incur the danger of openly rejecting it; and he therefore advisedthe Athenians to dismiss the Spartan envoys with the assurance thatthey would send ambassadors to Sparta to explain their views. He thencaused himself to be appointed one of these ambassadors; and settingoff straightway for Sparta, directed his colleagues to linger behind aslong as possible. At Sparta, the absence of his colleagues, at whichhe affected to be surprised, afforded him an excuse for not demandingan audience of the ephors. During the interval thus gained, the wholepopulation of Athens, of both sexes and every age, worked day and nightat the walls, which, when the other ambassadors at length arrived atSparta, had attained a height sufficient to afford a tolerable defence. Meanwhile the suspicions of the Spartans had been more than oncearoused by messages from the AEginetans respecting the progress of thewalls. Themistocles, however, positively denied their statements; andurged the Spartans to send messengers of their own to Athens in orderto learn the true state of affairs, at the same time instructing theAthenians to detain them as hostages for the safety of himself andcolleagues. When there was no longer any motive for concealment, Themistocles openly avowed the progress of the works, and his intentionof securing the independence of Athens, and enabling her to act forherself. The walls being now too far advanced to be easily taken, theSpartans found themselves compelled to acquiesce, and the works werecompleted without further hindrance. Having thus secured the city from all danger of an immediate attack, Themistocles pursued his favourite project of rendering Athens thegreatest maritime and commercial power of Greece. He erected a townround the harbour of Piraeus, distant between four and five miles fromAthens, and enclosed it with a wall as large in extent as the cityitself, but of vastly greater height and thickness. Meanwhile an eventoccurred which secured more firmly than ever the maritime supremacy ofAthens, by transferring to her the command of the allied fleet. In the year after the battle of Plataea a fleet had been fitted out andplaced under the command of the Spartan regent, Pausanias, in order tocarry on the war against the Persians. After delivering most of theGrecian towns in Cyprus from the Persians, this armament sailed up theBosporus and laid siege to Byzantium, which was garrisoned by a largePersian force. The town surrendered after a protracted siege; but itwas during this expedition that the conduct of the Spartan commanderstruck a fatal blow at the interests of his country. The immense booty, as well as the renown, which Pausanias had acquiredat Plataea, had filled him with pride and ambition. After the captureof Byzantium he despatched a letter to Xerxes, offering to marry theking's daughter, and to bring Sparta and the rest of Greece under hisdominion. Xerxes was highly delighted with this letter, and sent areply in which he urged Pausanias to pursue his project night and day, and promised to supply him with all the money and troops that might beneedful for its execution. But the childish vanity of Pausaniasbetrayed his plot before it was ripe for execution. Elated by theconfidence of Xerxes, and by the money with which he was lavishlysupplied, he acted as if he had already married the Great King'sdaughter. He assumed the Persian dress; he made a progress throughThrace, attended by Persian and Egyptian guards; and copied, in theluxury of his table and the dissoluteness of his manners, the exampleof his adopted country. Above all, he offended the allies by hishaughty reserve and imperiousness. His designs were now too manifest toescape attention. His proceedings reached the ears of the Spartans, who sent out Dorcis to supersede him. Disgusted by the insolence ofPausanias, the Ionians serving in the combined Grecian fleet addressedthemselves to Aristides, whose manners formed a striking contrast tothose of the Spartan leader, and begged him to assume the command. This request was made precisely at the time when Pausanias wasrecalled; and accordingly, when Dorcis arrived, he found Aristides incommand of the combined fleet (B. C. 478). This event was not a mere empty question about a point of honour. Itwas a real revolution, terminated by a solemn league, of which Athenswas to be the head. Aristides took the lead in the matter, for whichhis proverbial justice and probity eminently qualified him. The leagueobtained the name of "the Confederacy of Delos, " from its beingarranged that deputies of the allies belonging to it should meetperiodically for deliberation in the temple of Apollo and Artemis(Diana) in that island. Each state was assessed in a certaincontribution, either of money or ships, as proposed by the Atheniansand ratified by the synod. The assessment was intrusted to Aristides, whose impartiality was universally applauded. Of the details, however, we only know that the first assessment amounted to 460 talents (about106, 000L sterling), that certain officers called Hellenotamiae wereappointed by the Athenians to collect and administer the contributions, and that Delos was the treasury. Such was the origin of the Confederacy of Delos. Soon after itsformation Aristides was succeeded in the command of the combined fleetby Cimon, the son of Miltiades. Pausanias, on his return to Sparta, seems to have been acquitted of anydefinite charges; but he continued his correspondence with Persia, andan accident at length afforded convincing proofs of his guilt. Afavourite slave, to whom he had intrusted a letter to the Persiansatrap at Sardis, observed with dismay that none of the messengersemployed in this service had ever returned. Moved by these fears, hebroke the seal and read the letter, and finding his suspicions of thefate that awaited him confirmed, he carried the document to the ephors. But in ancient states the testimony of a slave was always regarded withsuspicion. The ephors refused to believe the evidence offered to themunless confirmed by their own ears. For this purpose they directed himto plant himself as a suppliant in a sacred grove near Cape Taenarus, in a hut behind which two of their body might conceal themselves. Pausanias, as they had expected, anxious at the step taken by hisslave, hastened to the spot to question him about it. The conversationwhich ensued, and which was overheard by the ephors, rendered the guiltof Pausanias no longer doubtful. They now determined to arrest him onhis return to Sparta. They met him in the street near the temple ofAthena Chalcioecus (of the Brazen House), when Pausanias, eitheralarmed by his guilty conscience, or put on his guard by a secretsignal from one of the ephors, turned and fled to the temple, where hetook refuge in a small chamber belonging to the building. From thissanctuary it was unlawful to drag him; but the ephors caused the doorsto be built up and the roof to be removed, and his own mother is saidto have placed the first stone at the doors. When at the point ofdeath from starvation, he was carried from the sanctuary before hepolluted it with his corpse. Such was the end of the victor ofPlataea. After his death proofs were discovered among his papers thatThemistocles was implicated in his guilt. But in order to follow thefortunes of the Athenian statesman, it is necessary to take a glance atthe internal history of Athens. The ancient rivalry between Themistocles and Aristides had been in agood degree extinguished by the danger which threatened their commoncountry during the Persian wars. Aristides had since abandoned hisformer prejudices, and was willing to conform to many of thedemocratical innovations of his rival. The effect of this was toproduce, soon after their return to Attica, a still furthermodification of the constitution of Clisthenes. The Thetes the lowestof the four classes of Athenian citizens, were declared eligible forthe magistracy, from which they had been excluded by the laws of Solon. Thus not only the archonship, but consequently the Council ofAreopagus, was thrown open to them; and, strange to say, this reformwas proposed by Aristides himself. Nevertheless party spirit still ran high at Athens. Cimon and Alcmaeonwere violent opponents of Themistocles, and of their party Aristideswas still the head. The popularity of Aristides was never greater thanat the present time, owing not only to the more liberal spirit which heexhibited, but also to his great services in establishing theConfederacy of Delos. Themistocles had offended the Athenians by hisostentation and vanity. He was continually boasting of his services tothe state; but worse than all this, his conduct was stained withpositive guilt. Whilst, at the head of an Athenian squadron, he wassailing among the Greek islands for the ostensible purpose of executingjustice, there is little room to doubt that he corrupted its verysource by accepting large sums of money from the cities which hevisited. Party spirit at length reached such a height that it wasfound necessary to resort to ostracism, and Themistocles was condemnedto a temporary banishment (B. C. 471). He retired to Argos, where hewas residing when the Spartans called upon the Athenians to prosecutetheir great statesman before a synod of the allies assembled at Sparta, on the ground of treasonable correspondence with Persia. Accordinglyjoint envoys were sent from Athens and Sparta to arrest him (B. C. 466). Themistocles avoided the impending danger by flying from Argos toCorcyra. The Corcyraeans, however, not daring to shelter him, he passedover to the continent; where, being still pursued, he was forced toseek refuge at the court of Admetus, king of the Molossians, though thelatter was his personal enemy. Fortunately, Admetus happened to befrom home. The forlorn condition of Themistocles excited thecompassion of the wife of the Molossian king, who placed her child inhis arms, and bade him seat himself on the hearth as a suppliant. Assoon as the king arrived, Themistocles explained his peril, and adjuredhim by the sacred laws of hospitality not to take vengeance upon afallen foe. Admetus accepted his appeal, and raised him from thehearth; he refused to deliver him up to his pursuers, and at last onlydismissed him on his own expressed desire to proceed to Persia. Aftermany perils, Themistocles succeeded in reaching in safety the coast ofAsia. Artaxerxes, the son of Xerxes, was now upon the throne ofPersia, and to him Themistocles hastened to announce himself. The kingwas delighted at his arrival, and treated him with the greatestdistinction. In a year's time, Themistocles, having acquired asufficient knowledge of the Persian language to be able to converse init, entertained Artaxerxes with magnificent schemes for the subjugationof Greece. Artaxerxes loaded him with presents, gave him a Persianwife, and appointed Magnesia, a town not far from the Ionian coast, ashis place of residence. After living there some time he was carried offby disease at the age of sixty-five, without having realised, orapparently attempted, any of those plans with which he had dazzled thePersian monarch. Rumour ascribed his death to poison, which he took ofhis own accord, from a consciousness of his inability to perform hispromises; but this report, which was current in the time of Thucydides, is rejected by that historian. Aristides died about four years after the banishment of Themistocles. The common accounts of his poverty are probably exaggerated, and seemto have been founded on the circumstances of a public funeral, and ofhandsome donations made to his three children by the state. Butwhatever his property may have been, it is at least certain that he didnot acquire or increase it by unlawful means; and not even calumny hasventured to assail his well-earned title of THE JUST. On the death of Aristides, Cimon became the undisputed leader of theconservative party at Athens. Cimon was generous, affable, magnificent; and, notwithstanding his political views, of exceedinglypopular manners. He had inherited the military genius of his father, and was undoubtedly the greatest commander of his time. He employedthe vast wealth acquired in his expeditions in adorning Athens andgratifying his fellow-citizens. It has been already mentioned that hesucceeded Aristides in the command of the allied fleet. His firstexploits were the capture of Eion on the Strymon, and the reduction ofthe island of Scyros (B. C. 476). A few years afterwards we find thefirst symptoms of discontent among the members of the Confederacy ofDelos. Naxos, one of the confederate islands, and the largest of theCyclades, revolted in B. C. 466, probably from a feeling of the growingoppressiveness of the Athenian headship. It was immediately investedby the confederate fleet, reduced, and made tributary to Athens. Thiswas another step towards dominion gained by the Athenians, whosepretensions were assisted by the imprudence of the allies. Many of thesmaller states belonging to the confederacy, wearied with perpetualhostilities, commuted for a money payment the ships which they werebound to supply; and thus, by depriving themselves of a navy, lost theonly means by which they could assert their independence. The same year was marked by a memorable action against the Persians. Cimon at the head of 200 Athenian triremes, and 100 furnished by theallies, proceeded to the coast of Asia Minor. The Persians hadassembled a large fleet and army at the mouth of the river Eurymedon inPamphylia. After speedily defeating the fleet, Cimon landed his menand marched against the Persian army which was drawn up on the shore toprotect the fleet. The land-force fought with bravery, but was atlength put to the rout. The island of Thasos was the next member of the confederacy againstwhich the Athenians directed their arms. After a siege of more thantwo years that island surrendered, when its fortifications were razed, and it was condemned to pay tribute (B. C. 463). The expedition to Thasos was attended with a circumstance which firstgives token of the coming hostilities between Sparta and Athens. At anearly period of the blockade the Thasians secretly applied to theLacedaemonians to make a diversion in their favour by invading Attica:and though the Lacedaemonians were still ostensibly allied with Athens, they were base enough to comply with this request. Their treachery, however, was prevented by a terrible calamity which befel themselves. In the year B. C. 461 their capital was visited by an earthquake whichlaid it in ruins and killed 20, 000 of the citizens. But this was onlypart of the calamity. The earthquake was immediately followed by arevolt of the Helots, who were always ready to avail themselves of theweakness of their tyrants. Being joined by the Messenians, theyfortified themselves in Mount Ithome in Messenia. Hence this revolt issometimes called the Third Messenian War (B. C. 464). After two or threeyears spent in a vain attempt to dislodge them from this position, theLacedaemonians found themselves obliged to call in the assistance oftheir allies, and, among the rest, of the Athenians. It was with greatdifficulty that Cimon persuaded the Athenians to comply with thisrequest; but he was at length despatched to Laconia with a force of4000 hoplites. The aid of the Athenians had been requested by theLacedaemonians on account of their acknowledged superiority in the artof attacking fortified places. As, however, Cimon did not succeed indislodging the Helots from Ithome the Lacedaemonians, probably from aconsciousness of their own treachery in the affair of Thasos, suspectedthat the Athenians were playing them false, and abruptly dismissedthem, saying that they had no longer any occasion for their services. This rude dismissal gave great offence at Athens, and annihilated for atime the political influence of Cimon. The democratical party had fromthe first opposed the expedition; and it afforded them a great triumphto be able to point to Cimon returning not only unsuccessful butinsulted. That party was now led by Pericles. A sort of hereditaryfeud existed between Pericles and Cimon; for it was Xanthippus, thefather of Pericles, who had impeached Miltiades, the father of Cimon. The character of Pericles was almost the reverse of Cimon's. Althoughthe leader of the popular party, his manners were reserved. Heappeared but little in society, and only in public upon greatoccasions. His mind had received the highest polish which that periodwas capable of giving. He constantly conversed with Anaxagoras, Protagoras, Zeno, and other eminent philosophers. To oratory inparticular he had devoted much attention, as an indispensableinstrument for swaying the public assemblies of Athens. Pericles seized the occasion presented by the ill success of Cimon, both to ruin that leader and to strike a fatal blow at thearistocratical party. He deprived the Areopagus of its chieffunctions, and left it a mere shadow of its former influence and power. He rendered the election to magistracies dependent simply upon lot, sothat every citizen however poor, had an equal chance of obtaining thehonours of the state. Other changes which accompanied thisrevolution--for such it must be called--were the institution of paidDICASTERIES or jury-courts, and the almost entire abrogation of thejudicial power of the Senate of Five Hundred. It cannot be supposedthat such fundamental changes were effected without violent partystrife. The poet AEschylus, in the tragedy of the EUMENIDIES, in vainexerted all the powers of his genius in support of the aristocraticalparty and of the tottering Areopagus; his exertions on this occasionresulted only in his own flight from Athens. The same fate attendedCimon himself; and he was condemned by ostracism (B. C. 461) to a tenyears' banishment. Nay, party violence even went the length ofassassination. Ephialtes, who had taken the lead in the attacks uponthe Areopagus, fell beneath the dagger of a Boeotian, hired by theconservative party to dispatch him. It was from this period (B. C. 461) that the long administration ofPericles may be said to have commenced. The effects of his accessionto power soon became visible in the foreign relations of Athens. Pericles had succeeded to the political principles of Themistocles, andhis aim was to render Athens the leading power of Greece. TheConfederacy of Delos had already secured her maritime ascendency;Pericles directed his policy to the extension of her influence incontinental Greece. She formed an alliance with the Thessalians, Argos, and Megara. The possession of Megara was of great importance, as it enabled the Athenians to arrest the progress of an invading armyfrom Peloponnesus, AEgina, so long the maritime rival of Athens, wassubdued and made tributary. The Athenians marched with rapid steps tothe dominion of Greece. Shortly afterwards the battle of OEnophyta(B. C. 456), in which the Athenians defeated the Boeotians, gave Athensthe command of Thebes, and of all the other Boeotian towns. From thegulf of Corinth to the straits of Thermopylae Athenian influence wasnow predominant. During these events the Athenians had continued toprosecute the war against Persia. In the year B. C. 460 they sent apowerful fleet to Egypt to assist Inarus, who had revolted againstPersia; but this expedition proved a complete failure, for at the endof six years the revolt was put down by the Persians, and the Athenianfleet destroyed (B. C. 455). At a later period (B. C. 449) Cimon, whohad been recalled from exile, sailed to Cyprus with a fleet of 200ships. He undertook the siege of Citium in that island; but died duringthe progress of it, either from disease or from the effects of a wound. Shortly afterwards a pacification was concluded with Persia, which issometimes, but erroneously, called "the peace of Cimon. " It is statedthat by this compact the Persian monarch agreed not to tax or molestthe Greek colonies on the coast of Asia Minor, nor to send any vesselsof war westward of Phaselis in Lycia, or within the Cyanean rocks atthe junction of the Euxine with the Thracian Bosporus; the Athenians ontheir side undertaking to leave the Persians in undisturbed possessionof Cyprus and Egypt. During the progress of these events, the stateswhich formed the Confederacy of Delos, with the exception of Chios, Lesbos, and Samos, had gradually become, instead of the active alliesof Athens, her disarmed and passive tributaries. Even the custody ofthe fund had been transferred from Delos to Athens. The purpose forwhich the confederacy had been originally organised disappeared withthe Persian peace; yet what may now be called Imperial Athenscontinued, for her own ends, to exercise her prerogatives as head ofthe league. Her alliances, as we have seen, had likewise been extendedin continental Greece, where they embraced Megara, Boeotia, Phocis, Locris, together with Troezen and Achaia in Peloponnesus. Such was theposition of Athens in the year 448 B. C. , the period of her greatestpower and prosperity. From this time her empire began to decline;whilst Sparta, and other watchful and jealous enemies, stood ever readyto strike a blow. In the following year (B. C. 447) a revolution in Boeotia deprivedAthens of her ascendency in that country. With an overweening contemptof their enemies, a small band of 1000 Athenian hoplites, chieflycomposed of youthful volunteers belonging to the best Athenianfamilies, together with a few auxiliaries, marched under the command ofTolmides to put down the revolt, in direct opposition to the advice ofPericles, who adjured them to wait and collect a more numerous force. The enterprise proved disastrous in the extreme. Tolmides was defeatedand slain near Chaeronea, a large number of the hoplites also fell inthe engagement, while a still larger number were taken prisoners. Thislast circumstance proved fatal to the interests of Athens in Boeotia. In order to recover these prisoners, she agreed to evacuate Boeotia, and to permit the re-establishment of the aristocracies which she hadformerly overthrown. But the Athenian reverses did not end here. Theexpulsion of the partisans of Athens from the government of Phocis andLocris, and the revolt of Euboea and Megara, were announced in quicksuccession. The youthful Pleistoanax, king of Sparta, actuallypenetrated, with an army of Lacedaemonians and Peloponnesian allies, asfar as the neighbourhood of Eleusis; and the capital itself, it issaid, was saved only by Pericles having bribed the Spartan monarch. Pericles reconquered Euboea; but this was the only possession which theAthenians succeeded in recovering. Their empire on land had vanishedmore, speedily than it had been acquired; and they were thereforeinduced to conclude, at the beginning of B. C. 445, a THIRTY YEARS'TRUCE with Sparta and her allies, by which they consented to abandonall the acquisitions which they had made in Peloponnesus, and to leaveMegara to be included among the Peloponnesian allies of Sparta. From the Thirty Years' Truce to the commencement of the Peloponnesianwar, few political events of any importance occurred. During thesefourteen years (B. C. 445-431) Pericles continued to enjoy the soledirection of affairs. His views were of the most lofty kind. Athenswas to become the capital of Greece, and the centre of art andrefinement. In her external appearance the city was to be renderedworthy of the high position to which she aspired, by the beauty andsplendour of her public buildings, by her works of art in sculpture, architecture, and painting, and by the pomp and magnificence of herreligious festivals. All these objects Athens was enabled to attain inan incredibly short space of time, through the genius and energy of hercitizens and the vast resources at her command. No state has everexhibited so much intellectual activity and so great a progress in artas was displayed by Athens in the period which elapsed between theThirty Years' Truce and the breaking out of the Peloponnesian war. Shewas the seat and centre of Grecian literature. The three great tragicpoets of Greece were natives of Attica. AEschylus, the earliest of thethree, had recently died in Sicily; but Sophocles was now at the fullheight of his reputation, and Euripides was rapidly rising into notice. Aristophanes, the greatest of the Grecian comic poets, was also born inAttica, and exhibited plays soon after the beginning of thePeloponnesian war. Herodotus, the Father of History, though a nativeof Halicarnassus in Asia Minor, resided some time at Athens, andaccompanied a colony which the Athenians sent to Thurii in Italy. Thucydides, the greatest of Greek historians, was an Athenian, and wasa young man at this period. Colonization, for which the genius and inclination of the Athenians hadalways been suited, was another method adopted by Pericles forextending the influence and empire of Athens. The settlements madeunder his auspices were of two kinds CLERUCHIES, and regular colonies. The former mode was exclusively Athenian. It consisted in the allotmentof land in conquered or subject countries to certain bodies ofAthenians who continued to retain all their original rights ofcitizenship. This circumstance, as well as the convenience of enteringupon land already in a state of cultivation instead of having toreclaim it from the rude condition of nature, seems to have renderedsuch a mode of settlement much preferred by the Athenians. Theearliest instance which we find of it is in the year B. C. 506, whenfour thousand Athenians entered upon the domains of the Chalcidianknights (see Ch. 5). But it was under Pericles that this system wasmost extensively adopted. During his administration 1000 Atheniancitizens were settled in the Thracian Chersonese, 500 in Naxos, and 250in Andros. The islands of Lemnos, Imbros, and Scyros, as well as alarge tract in the north of Euboea, were also completely occupied byAthenian proprietors. The most important colonies settled by Pericles were those of Thuriiand Amphipolis. Since the destruction of Sybaris by the Crotoniates, in B. C. 509, the former inhabitants had lived dispersed in theadjoining territory along the gulf of Tarentum, In B. C. 443 Periclessent out a colony to found Thurii, near the site of the ancientSybaris. The colony of Amphipolis was founded some years later (B. C. 437), under the conduct of Agnon. But Pericles, notwithstanding his influence and power, had still manybitter and active enemies, who assailed him through his privateconnections, and even endeavoured to wound his honour by a charge ofpeculation. Pericles, after divorcing a wife with whom he had livedunhappily, took his mistress Aspasia to his house, and dwelt with hertill his death on terms of the greatest affection. She wasdistinguished not only for her beauty, but also for her learning andaccomplishments. Her intimacy with Anaxagoras, the celebrated Ionicphilosopher, was made a handle for wounding Pericles in his tenderestrelations. Paganism, notwithstanding its licence, was capable ofproducing bigots: and even at Athens the man who ventured to disputethe existence of a hundred gods with morals and passions somewhat worsethan those of ordinary human nature, did so at the risk of his life. Anaxagoras was indicted for impiety. Aspasia was included in the samecharge, and dragged before the courts of justice. Anaxagoras prudentlyfled from Athens, and thus probably avoided a fate which in consequenceof a similar accusation afterwards overtook Socrates. Pericles himselfpleaded the cause of Aspasia. He was indeed indirectly implicated inthe indictment; but he felt no concern except for his beloved Aspasia, and on this occasion the cold and somewhat haughty statesman, whom themost violent storms of the assembly could not deprive of hisself-possession, was for once seen to weep. His appeal to the jury wassuccessful, but another trial still awaited him. An indictment waspreferred against his friend, the great sculptor Phidias, forembezzlement of the gold intended to adorn the celebrated ivory statueof Athena; and according to some, Pericles himself was included in thecharge of peculation. Whether Pericles was ever actually tried on thisaccusation is uncertain; but at all events, if he was, there can be nodoubt that he was honourably acquitted. The gold employed in thestatue had been fixed in such a manner that it could be detached andweighed, and Pericles challenged his accusers to the proof. But Phidiasdid not escape so fortunately. There were other circumstances whichrendered him unpopular, and amongst them the fact that he hadintroduced portraits both of himself and Pericles in the sculptureswhich adorned the frieze of the Parthenon. Phidias died in prisonbefore the day of trial. The Athenian empire, since the conclusion of the Thirty Years' Truce, had again become exclusively maritime. Yet even among the subjects andallies united with Athens by the Confederacy of Delos, her sway wasborne with growing discontent. One of the chief causes of thisdissatisfaction was the amount of the tribute exacted by the Athenians, as well as their misapplication of the proceeds. In the time ofAristides and Cimon, when an active war was carrying on against thePersians, the sum annually collected amounted to 460 talents. In thetime of Pericles, although that war had been brought to a close, thetribute had nevertheless increased to the annual sum of 600 talents. Another grievance was the transference to Athens of all lawsuits, atleast of all public suits; for on this subject we are unable to drawthe line distinctly. In criminal cases, at all events, the allies seemto have been deprived of the power to inflict capital punishment. Besides all these causes of complaint, the allies had often to endurethe oppressions and exactions of Athenian officers, both military andnaval, as well us of the rich and powerful Athenian citizens settledamong them. In B. C. 440 Samos, one of the free independent allies alreadymentioned, revolted from Athens; but even this island was no match forthe Athenian power. Pericles, who sailed against the Samians inperson, defeated their fleet in several engagements, and forced thecity to capitulate. The Samians were compelled to raze theirfortifications, to surrender their fleet, to give hostages for theirfuture conduct, and to pay the expenses of the war. The triumphs and the power of Athens were regarded with fear andjealousy by her rivals; and the quarrel between Corinth and Corcyralighted the spark which was to produce the conflagration. On the coastof Illyria near the site of the modern Durazzo, the Corcyraeans hadfounded the city of Epidamnus. Corcyra (now Corfu) was itself a colonyof Corinth; and though long at enmity with its mother country, wasforced, according to the time-hallowed custom of the Greeks in suchmatters, to select the founder of Epidamnus from the Corinthians. Accordingly Corinth became the metropolis of Epidamnus as well as ofCorcyra. At the time of which we speak, the Epidamnians, being hardpressed by the Illyrians, led by some oligarchical exiles of their owncity, applied to Corcyra for assistance, which the Corcyraeans, beingconnected with the Epidamnian oligarchy, refused. The Epidamnians thensought help from the Corinthians, who undertook to assist them. TheCorcyraeans, highly resenting this interference, attacked theCorinthian fleet off Cape Actium, and gained a signal victory (B. C. 435). Deeply humbled by this defeat, the Corinthians spent the two followingyears in active preparations for retrieving it. The Corcyraeans, whohad not enrolled themselves either in the Lacedaemonian or Athenianalliance, and therefore stood alone, were greatly alarmed at thesepreparations. They now resolved to remedy this deficiency; and asCorinth belonged to the Lacedaemonian alliance, the Corcyraeans had nooption, and were obliged to apply to Athens. The majority of theAthenians were ready to comply with their request; but in order toavoid an open infringement of the Thirty Years' Truce, it was resolvedto conclude only a defensive alliance with Corcyra: that is, to defendthe Corcyraeans in case their territories were actually invaded by theCorinthians, but beyond that not to lend them any active assistance. Asmall Athenian squadron of only 10 triremes was despatched to theassistance of the Corcyraeans. Soon after their arrival a battleensued off the coast of Epirus, between the Corinthian and Corcyraeanfleets. After a hard-fought day, victory finally declared in favour ofthe Corinthians. The Athenians now abandoned their neutrality, and didall in their power to save the dying Corcyraeans from their pursuers. This action took place early in the morning; and the Corinthiansprepared to renew the attack in the afternoon, when they saw in thedistance 20 Athenian vessels, which they believed to be the advancedguard of a still larger fleet. They accordingly sailed away to thecoast of Epirus; but finding that the Athenians did not mean toundertake offensive operations against them, they departed homewardswith their whole fleet. These events took place in the year B. C. 432. The Corinthians were naturally incensed at the conduct of Athens; andit is not surprising that they should have watched for an opportunityof revenge. This was soon afforded them by the enmity of theMacedonian prince Perdiccas towards the Athenians. He incited hertributaries upon the coast of Macedonia to revolt, including Potidaea, a town seated on the isthmus of Pallene. Potidaea, though now atributary of Athens, was originally a colony of the Corinthians, andreceived from them certain annual magistrates. Being urged as well bythe Corinthians as by Perdiccas, the Potidaeans openly raised thestandard of revolt (B. C. 432). A powerful Athenian armament wasdespatched to the coast of Macedonia and laid siege to Potidaea. Meanwhile the Lacedaemonians, urged on all sides by the complaints oftheir allies against Athens, summoned a general meeting of thePeloponnesian confederacy at Sparta. The Corinthians took the mostprominent part in the debate; but other members of the confederacy hadalso heavy grievances to allege against Athens. Foremost among thesewere the Megarians, who complained that their commerce had been ruinedby a recent decree of the Athenians which excluded them from every portwithin the Athenian jurisdiction. It was generally felt that the timehad now arrived for checking the power of Athens. Influenced by thesefeelings, the Lacedaemonians decided upon war; and the congress passeda resolution to the same effect, thus binding the whole Peloponnesianconfederacy to the same policy. This important resolution was adoptedtowards the close of B. C. 432, or early in the following year. Beforeany actual declaration of war, hostilities were begun in the spring ofB. C. 431 by a treacherous attack of the Thebans upon Plataea. ThoughBoeotians by descent, the Plataeans did not belong to the Boeotianleague, but had long been in close alliance with the Athenians. Hencethey were regarded with hatred and jealousy by the Thebans, whichsentiments were also shared by a small oligarchical faction in Plataeaitself. The Plataean oligarchs secretly admitted a body of 300 Thebansinto the town at night; but the attempt proved a failure; the citizensflew to arms, and in the morning all the Thebans were either slain ortaken prisoner. CHAPTER X. ATHENS IN THE TIME OF PERICLES. [Note: The figures referred to in a few places in this chapter have hadto be omitted from the etext. ] At the commencement of the Peloponnesian war Athens was at the heightof its glory under the brilliant administration of Pericles. We maytherefore here pause to take a brief survey of the city and of its mostimportant buildings. Athens is situated about three miles from thesea-coast, in the central plain of Attica. In this plain rise severaleminences. Of these the most prominent is a lofty insulated mountain, with a conical peaked summit, now called the Hill of St. George, andwhich bore in ancient times the name of LYCABETTUS. This mountain, which was not included within the ancient walls, lies to the north-eastof Athens, and forms the most striking feature in the environs of thecity. It is to Athens what Vesuvius is to Naples, or Arthur's Seat toEdinburgh. South-west of Lycabettus there are four hills of moderateheight, all of which formed part of the city. Of these the nearest toLycabettus and at the distance of a mile from the latter, was theACROPOLIS, or citadel of Athens, a square craggy rock rising abruptlyabout 150 feet, with a flat summit of about 1000 feet long from east towest, by 500 feet broad from north to south. Immediately west of theAcropolis is a second hill of irregular form, the AREOPAGUS. To thesouth-west there rises a third hill, the PNYX, on which the assembliesof the citizens were held; and to the south of the latter is a fourthhill, known as the MUSEUM. On the eastern and western sides of thecity there run two small streams, which are nearly exhausted beforethey reach the sea, by the heats of summer and by the channels forartificial irrigation. That on the east is the Ilissus, which flowedthrough the southern quarter of the city: that on the west is theCephissus. South of the city was seen the Saronic gulf, with theharbours of Athens. Athens is said to have derived its name from the prominence given tothe worship of Athena by its king Erechtheus. The inhabitants werepreviously called Cranai and Cecropidae, from Cecrops, who according totradition, was the original founder of the city. This at first occupiedonly the hill or rock which afterwards became the ACROPOLIS; butgradually the buildings began to spread over the ground at the southernfoot of this hill. It was not till the time of Pisistratus and hissons (B. C. 560-514) that the city began to assume any degree ofsplendour. The most remarkable building of these despots was thegigantic temple of the Olympian Zeus, which, however, was not finishedtill many centuries later. In B. C. 500 the theatre of Dionysus wascommenced on the south-eastern slope of the Acropolis, but was notcompleted till B. C. 340; though it must have been used for therepresentation of plays long before that period. Xerxes reduced the ancient city almost to a heap of ashes. After thedeparture of the Persians, its reconstruction on a much larger scalewas commenced under the superintendence of Themistocles, whose firstcare was to provide for its safety by the erection of walls. TheAcropolis now formed the centre of the city, round which the new wallsdescribed an irregular circle of about 60 stadia or 7 1/2 miles incircumference. The space thus enclosed formed the ASTY, or city, properly so called. But the views of Themistocles were not confined tothe mere defence of Athens: he contemplated making her a great navalpower, and for this purpose adequate docks and arsenals were required. Previously the Athenians had used as their only harbour the openroadstead of PHALERUM on the eastern side of the Phaleric bay, wherethe sea-shore is nearest to Athens. But Themistocles transferred thenaval station of the Athenians to the peninsula of Piraeus, which isdistant about 4 1/2 miles from Athens, and contains three naturalharbours, --a large one on the western side, called simply Piraeus orThe Harbour, and two smaller ones an the eastern side, calledrespectively ZEA and MUNYCHIA, the latter being nearest to the city. It was not till the administration of Pericles that the walls werebuilt which connected Athens with her ports. These were at first theouter or northern Long Wall, which ran from Athens to Piraeus, and thePhaleric wall connecting the city with Phalerum. These were commencedin B. C. 457, and finished in the following year. It was soon found, however, that the space thus enclosed was too vast to be easilydefended; and as the port of Phalerum was small and insignificant incomparison with the Piraeus, and soon ceased to be used by the Athenianships of war, its wall was abandoned and probably allowed to fall intodecay. Its place was supplied by another Long wall, which was builtparallel to the first at a distance of only 550 feet, thus renderingboth capable of being defended by the same body of men. Their heightin all probability was not less than 60 feet. In process of time thespace between the two Long Walls was occupied on each side by houses. It will be seen from the preceding description that Athens, in itslarger acceptation, and including its port, consisted of two circularcities, the Asty and Piraeus, each of about 7 1/2 miles incircumference, and joined together by a broad street of between fourand five miles long. Such was the outward and material form of that city, which during theperiod between the Persian and Peloponnesian wars reached the highestpitch of military, artistic, and literary glory. The latter portion ofthis period, or that comprised under the ascendency of Pericles, exhibits Athenian art in its highest state of perfection, and istherefore by way of excellence commonly designated as the age ofPericles. The great sculptor of this period--perhaps the greatest theworld has ever seen--was Phidias, to whom Pericles intrusted thesuperintendence of all the works executed in his administration. The first public monuments that arose after the Persian wars wereerected under the auspices of Cimon, who was, like Pericles, a loverand patron of the arts. The principal of these were the small Ionictemple of Nike Apteros (Wingless Victory), and the Theseum, or templeof Theseus. The temple of Nike Apteros was only 27 feet in length by18 in breadth, and was erected on the Acropolis in commemoration ofCimon's victory at the Eurymedon. A view of it is given at thebeginning of this chapter, and its position on the Acropolis, on oneside of the Propylaea, is seen in the drawings on p. 91, as well as onthe Frontispiece of the work. The Theseum is situated on a height to the north of the Areopagus, andwas built to receive the bones of Theseus, which Cimon brought fromScyros in B. C. 469. It was probably finished about 465, and is thebest preserved of all the monuments of ancient Athens. It was at oncea tomb and temple, and possessed the privileges of an asylum. It is ofthe Doric order, 164 feet in length by 45 feet broad, and surroundedwith columns. But it was the Acropolis which was the chief centre of thearchitectural splendour of Athens. After the Persian wars theAcropolis had ceased to be inhabited, and was appropriated to theworship of Athena and to the other guardian deities of the city. It wascovered with the temples of gods and heroes; and thus its platformpresented not only a sanctuary, but a museum, containing the finestproductions of the architect and the sculptor, in which the whitenessof the marble was relieved by brilliant colours, and rendered stillmore dazzling by the transparent clearness of the Athenian atmosphere. It was surrounded with walls, and the surface seems to have beendivided into terraces communicating with one another by steps. Theonly approach to it was from the Agora on its western side at the topof a magnificent flight of marble steps, 70 feet broad, stood thePropylaea, constructed under the auspices of Pericles, and which servedas a suitable entrance to the exquisite works within. The Propylaeawere themselves one of the masterpieces of Athenian art. They wereentirely of Pentelic marble, and covered the whole of the western endof the Acropolis, having a breadth of 168 feet. The central portion ofthem consisted of two porticoes, of which the western one faced thecity, and the eastern one the interior of the Acropolis, eachconsisting of a front of six fluted Doric columns. This central partof the building was 58 feet in breadth, but the remaining breadth ofthe rock at this point was covered by two wings, which projected 26feet in front of the western portico. Each of these wings was in theform of a Doric temple. The northern one, or that on the left of aperson ascending the Acropolis, was called the PINACOTHECA, from itswalls being covered with paintings. The southern wing consisted onlyof a porch or open gallery. Immediately before its western front stoodthe little temple of Nike Apteros already mentioned. On passing through the Propylaea all the glories of the Acropolisbecame visible. The chief building was the Parthenon (I. E. House ofthe Virgin), the most perfect production of Grecian architecture. Itderived its name from its being the temple of Athena Parthenos, orAthena the Virgin, the invincible goddess of war. It was also calledHECATOMPEDON, from its breadth of 100 feet. It was built under theadministration of Pericles, and was completed in B. C. 438. TheParthenon stood on the highest part of the Acropolis near its centre, and probably occupied the site of an earlier temple destroyed by thePersians. It was entirely of Pentelic marble, on a rustic basement ofordinary limestone, and its architecture, which was of the Doric order, was of the purest kind. Its dimensions were about 228 feet in length, 101 feet in breadth, and 66 feet in height to the top of the pediment. It consisted of a cella, surrounded by a peristyle. The cella wasdivided into two chambers of unequal size, the eastern one of which wasabout 98 feet long, and the western one about 43 feet. The ceiling ofboth these chambers was supported by rows of columns. The wholebuilding was adorned with the most exquisite sculptures, executed byvarious artists under the direction of Phidias. These consisted of, 1. The sculptures in the tympana of the pediments (I. E. The innerportion of the triangular gable ends of the roof above the twoporticoes), each of which was filled with about 24 colossal figures. The group in the eastern or principal front represented the birth ofAthena from the head of Zeus, and the western the contest betweenAthena and Poseidon (Neptune) for the land of Attica. 2. The metopesbetween the triglyphs in the frieze of the entablature (I. E. The upperof the two portions into which the space between the columns and theroof is divided) were filled with sculptures in high relief, representing a variety of subjects relating to Athena herself, or tothe indigenous heroes of Attica. Each tablet was 4 feet 3 inchessquare. Those on the south side related to the battle of the Athenianswith the Centaurs. One of the metopes is figured below. 3. Thefrieze which ran along outside the wall of the cella, and within theexternal columns which surround the building, at the same height andparallel with the metopes, was sculptured with a representation of thePanathenaic festival in very low relief. This frieze was 3 feet 4inches in height, and 520 feet in length. A small portion of thefrieze is also figured below. A large number of the slabs of thefrieze, together with sixteen metopes from the south side, and severalof the statues of the pediments, were brought to England by Lord Elgin, of whom they were purchased by the nation and deposited in the BritishMuseum. But the chief wonder of the Parthenon was the colossal statue of theVirgin Goddess executed by Phidias himself, which stood in the easternor principal chamber of the cella. It was of the sort calledCHRYSELEPHANTINE, a kind of work said to have been invented by Phidiasin which ivory was substituted for marble in those parts which wereuncovered, while the place of the real drapery was supplied with robesand other ornaments of solid gold. Its height, including the base, wasnearly 40 feet. It represented the goddess standing, clothed with atunic reaching to the ankles, with a spear in her left hand, and animage of Victory in her right. The Acropolis was adorned with another colossal figure of Athena, inbronze, also the work of Phidias. It stood in the open air, nearlyopposite the Propylaea, and was one of the first objects seen afterpassing through the gates of the latter. With its pedestal it musthave stood about 70 feet high, and consequently towered above the roofof the Parthenon, so that the point of its spear and the crest of itshelmet were visible off the promontory of Sunium to ships approachingAthens. It was called the "Athena Promachus, " because it representedthe goddess armed, and in the very attitude of battle. The only other monument on the summit of the Acropolis which it isnecessary to describe is the Erechtheum, or temple of Erechtheus. Thetraditions respecting Erechtheus vary, but according to one set of themhe was identical with the god Poseidon. He was worshipped in histemple under the name of Poseidon Erechtheus, and from the earliesttimes was associated with Athena as one of the two protecting deitiesof Athens. The original Erechtheum was burnt by the Persians, but thenew temple was erected on the ancient site. This could not have beenotherwise; for on this spot was the sacred olive-tree which Athenaevoked from the earth in her contest with Poseidon, and also the wellof salt-water which Poseidon produced by a stroke of his trident, theimpression of which was seen upon the rock. The building was alsocalled the temple of Athena Polias, because it contained a separatesanctuary of the goddess, as well as her most ancient statue. Thebuilding of the new Erechtheum was not commenced till the Parthenon andPropylaea were finished, and probably not before the year preceding thebreaking out of the Peloponnesian war. Its progress was no doubtdelayed by that event, and it was probably not completed before 393B. C. When finished it presented one of the finest models of the Ionicorder, as the Parthenon was of the Doric, It stood to the north of thelatter building and close to the northern wall of the Acropolis. Theform of the Erechtheum differed from every known example of a Greciantemple. Usually a Grecian temple was an oblong figure with a porticoat each extremity. The Erechtheum, on the contrary, though oblong inshape and having a portico at the eastern or principal front, had noneat its western end, where, however, a portico projected north and southfrom either side, thus forming a kind of transept. This irregularityseems to have been chiefly owing to the necessity of preserving thedifferent sanctuaries and religious objects belonging to the ancienttemple. A view of it is given opposite. The roof of the southernportico, as shown in the view, was supported by six Caryatides. Such were the principal objects which adorned the Acropolis at the timeof which we are now speaking. Their general appearance will be bestgathered from the engraving on the Frontispiece. Before quitting the city of Athens, there are two or three otherobjects of interest which must be briefly described. First, theDionysiac theatre, which occupied the slope at the south-easternextremity of the Acropolis. The middle of it was excavated out of therock, and the rows of seats ascended in curves one above another, thediameter increasing with the height. It was no doubt sufficientlylarge to accommodate the whole body of Athenian citizens, as well asthe strangers who flocked to Athens during the Dionysiac festival, butits dimensions cannot now be accurately ascertained. It had no roof, but the spectators were probably protected from the sun by an awning, and from their elevated seats they had a distinct view of the sea, andof the peaked hills of Salamis in the horizon. Above them rose theParthenon and the other buildings of the Acropolis, so that they satunder the shadow of the ancestral gods of the country. The Areopagus, or Hill of Ares (Mars), was a rocky height opposite thewestern end of the Acropolis, from which it was separated only by somehollow ground. It derived its name from the tradition that Ares (Mars)was brought to trial here before the assembled gods, by Poseidon(Neptune), for murdering Halirrhothius the son of the latter. It washere that the Council of Areopagus met, frequently called the UpperCouncil, to distinguish it from the Council of Five Hundred, whichassembled in the valley below. The Areopagites sat as judges in theopen air, and two blocks of stone are still to be seen, probably thosewhich were occupied respectively by the accuser and the accused. TheAreopagus was the spot where the Apostle Paul preached to the men ofAthens. The Pnyx, or place for holding the public assemblies of the Athenians, stood on the side of a low rocky hill, at the distance of about aquarter of a mile from the Areopagus. Projecting from the hill andhewn out of it, still stands a solid rectangular block, called the Bemaor pulpit, from whence the orators addressed the multitude in the areabefore them. The position of the Bema commanded a view of thePropylaea and the other magnificent edifices of the Acropolis, whilebeneath it was the city itself studded with monuments of Athenianglory. The Athenian orators frequently roused the national feelings oftheir audience by pointing to the Propylaea and to the other splendidbuildings before them. Between the Pnyx on the west, the Areopagus onthe north, and the Acropolis on the east, and closely adjoining thebase of these hills, stood the Agora (or market-place). In a directionfrom north-west to south-east a street called the Ceramicus randiagonally through the Agora, entering it through the valley betweenthe Pnyx and the Areopagus. The street was named after a district ofthe city, which was divided into two parts, the Inner and OuterCeramicus. The former lay within the city walls, and included theAgora. The Outer Ceramicus, which formed a handsome suburb on thenorth-west of the city, was the burial-place of all persons honouredwith a public funeral. Through it ran the road to the gymnasium andgardens of the Academy which were situated about a mile from the walls. The Academy was the place where Plato and his disciples taught. Oneach side of this road were monuments to illustrious Athenians, especially those who had fallen in battle. East of the city, and outside the walls, was the Lyceum, a gymnasiumdedicated to Apollo Lyceus, and celebrated as the place in whichAristotle taught. CHAPTER XI. THE PELOPONNESIAN WAR. --FIRST PERIOD, FROM THE COMMENCEMENT OF THE WARTO THE PEACE OF NICIAS, B. C. 431-421. War was now fairly kindled. All Greece looked on in suspense as itstwo leading cities were about to engage in a strife of which no mancould forsee the end; but the youth, with which both Athens andPeloponnesus then abounded, having had no experience of the bittercalamities of war, rushed into it with ardour. It was a war ofprinciples and races. Athens was a champion of democracy, Sparta ofaristocracy; Athens represented the Ionic tribes, Sparta the Dorian;the former were fond of novelty, the latter were conservative andstationary; Athens had the command of the sea, Sparta was stronger uponland. On the side of Sparta was ranged the whole of Peloponnesus, except Argos and Achaia, together with the Megarians, Boeotians, Phocians, Opuntian Locrians, Ambraciots, Leucadians, and Anactorians. The allies of Athens, with the exception of the Thessalians, Acarnanians, Messenians at Naupactus, and Plataeans, were all insular, and consisted of the Chians, Lesbians, Corcyraeans, and Zacynthians, and shortly afterwards of the Cephallenians, To these must be added hertributary towns on the coast of Thrace and Asia Minor, together withall the islands north of Crete, except Melos and Thera. The Peloponnesians commenced the war by an invasion of Attica, with alarge army, under the command of the Spartan King Archidamus (B. C. 431). Pericles had instructed the inhabitants of Attica to securethemselves and their property within the walls of Athens. They obeyedhis injunctions with reluctance, for the Attic population had from theearliest times been strongly attached to a rural life. But thecircumstances admitted of no alternative. Archidamus advanced as faras Acharnae, a flourishing Attic borough situated only about sevenmiles from Athens. Here he encamped on a rising ground within sight ofthe metropolis, and began to lay waste the country around, expectingprobably by that means to provoke the Athenians to battle. But in thishe was disappointed. Notwithstanding the murmurs and clamours of thecitizens Pericles remained firm, and steadily refused to venture anengagement in the open held. The Peloponnesians retired from Atticaafter still further ravaging the country; and the Athenians retaliatedby making descents upon various parts of the coasts of Peloponnesus, and ravaging the territory of Megara. Such were the results of the first campaign. From the method in whichthe war was conducted it had become pretty evident that it would proveof long duration; and the Athenians now proceeded to provide for thiscontingency. It was agreed that a reserve fund of 1000 talents shouldbe set apart, which was not to be touched in any other case than anattack upon Athens by sea. Any citizen who proposed to make adifferent use of the fund incurred thereby the punishment of death. With the same view it was resolved to reserve every year 100 of theirbest triremes, fully manned and equipped. Towards the winter Pericles delivered, from a lofty platform erected inthe Ceramicus, the funeral oration of those who had fallen in the war. This speech, or at all events the substance of it, has been preservedby Thucydides, who may possibly have heard it pronounced. It is avaluable monument of eloquence and patriotism, and particularlyinteresting for the sketch which it contains of Athenian manners aswell as of the Athenian constitution. In the following year (B. C. 430) the Peloponnesians, under Archidamus, renewed their invasion of Attica. At the same time the Athenians wereattacked by a more insidious and a more formidable enemy. The plaguebroke out in the crowded city. This terrible disorder, which wassupposed to have originated in AEthiopia, had already desolated Asiaand many of the countries around the Mediterranean. A great proportionof those who were seized perished in from seven to nine days. Itfrequently attacked the mental faculties, and left even those whorecovered from it so entirely deprived of memory that they couldrecognise neither themselves nor others. The disorder being new, thephysicians could find no remedy in the resources of their art. Despairnow began to take possession of the Athenians. Some suspected that thePeloponnesians had poisoned the wells; others attributed the pestilenceto the anger of Apollo. A dreadful state of moral dissolutionfollowed. The sick were seized with unconquerable despondency; whilsta great part of the population who had hitherto escaped the disorder, expecting soon to be attacked in turn, abandoned themselves to allmanner of excess, debauchery, and crime. The numbers carried off bythe pestilence can hardly be estimated at less than a fourth of thewhole population. Oppressed at once by war and pestilence, their lands desolated, theirhomes filled with mourning, it is not surprising that the Athenianswere seized with rage and despair, or that they vented their anger onPericles, whom they deemed the author of their misfortunes. But thatstatesman still adhered to his plans with unshaken firmness. Thoughthe Lacedaemonians were in Attica, though the plague had already seizedon Athens, he was vigorously pushing his schemes of offensiveoperations. A foreign expedition might not only divert the popularmind but would prove beneficial by relieving the crowded city of partof its population; and accordingly a fleet was fitted out, of whichPericles himself took the command, and which committed devastationsupon various parts of the Peloponnesian coast. But, upon returningfrom this expedition, Pericles found the public feeling moreexasperated than before. Envoys had even been despatched to Sparta tosue for peace, but had been dismissed without a hearing; adisappointment which had rendered the populace still more furious. Pericles now found it necessary to call a public assembly in order tovindicate his conduct, and to encourage the desponding citizens topersevere. But though he succeeded in persuading them to prosecute thewar with vigour; they still continued to nourish their feelings ofhatred against the great statesman. His political enemies, of whomCleon was the chief, took advantage of this state of the public mind tobring against him a charge of peculation. The main object of thisaccusation was to incapacitate him for the office of Strategus, orgeneral. [The Strategi, or Generals, were ten in number, electedannually, and were intrusted not only with the command on militaryexpeditions, but with the superintendence of all warlike preparations, and with the regulation of all matters in any way connected with thewar department of the state. ] He was brought before the dicastery onthis charge, and sentenced to pay a considerable fine; but eventually astrong reaction occurred in his favour. He was re-elected general, andapparently regained all the influence he had ever possessed. But he was not destined long to enjoy this return of popularity. Hislife was now closing in, and its end was clouded by a long train ofdomestic misfortunes. The epidemic deprived him not only of manypersonal and political friends, but also of several near relations, amongst whom were his sister and his two legitimate sons Xanthippus andParalus. The death of the latter was a severe blow to him. During thefuneral ceremonies, as he placed a garland on the body of this hisfavourite son, he was completely overpowered by his feelings and weptaloud. His ancient house was now left without an heir. By Aspasia, however, he had an illegitimate son who bore his own name, and whom theAthenians now legitimised and thus alleviated, as far as lay in theirpower, the misfortunes of their great leader. After this period it was with difficulty that Pericles was persuaded byhis friends to take any active part in public affairs; nor did hesurvive more than a twelvemonth. An attack of the prevailing epidemicwas succeeded by a low and lingering fever, which undermined both hisstrength of body and vigour of intellect. As Pericles lay apparentlyunconscious on his death-bed, the friends who stood around it wereengaged in recalling his exploits. The dying man interrupted them byremarking: "What you praise in me is partly the result of good fortune, and at all events common to me with many other commanders. What Ichiefly pride myself upon you have not noticed--no Athenian ever woremourning through me. " The enormous influence which Pericles exercised for so long a periodover an ingenious but fickle people like the Athenians, is anunquestionable proof of his intellectual superiority. This hold on thepublic affection is to be attributed to a great extent to hisextraordinary eloquence. Cicero regards him as the first example of analmost perfect orator, at once delighting the Athenians with hiscopiousness and grace, and overawing them by the force and cogency ofhis diction and arguments. He seems, indeed, to have singularlycombined the power of persuasion with that more rapid and abrupt styleof oratory which takes an audience by storm and defies all resistance. As the accomplished man of genius and the liberal patron of literatureand art, Pericles is worthy of the highest admiration. By thesequalities he has justly given name to the most brilliant intellectualepoch that the world has ever seen. But on this point we have alreadytouched, and shall have occasion to refer hereafter in the sketch ofGrecian literature. In the third year of the war (B. C. 429) Archidamus directed his wholeforce against the ill-fated town of Plataea. The siege that ensued isone of the most memorable in the annals of Grecian warfare. Plataeawas but a small city, and its garrison consisted of only 400 citizensand 80 Athenians, together with 110 women to manage their householdaffairs. Yet this small force set at defiance the whole army of thePeloponnesians. The latter, being repulsed in all their attempts totake the place by storm, resolved to turn the siege into a blockade, and reduce the city by famine. The Plataeans endured a blockade of twoyears, during which the Athenians attempted nothing for their relief. In the second year, however, about half the garrison effected theirescape; but the rest were obliged to surrender shortly afterwards (B. C. 427). The whole garrison, consisting of 200 Plataeans and 25Athenians, were now arraigned before five judges sent from Sparta. Their indictment was framed in a way which precluded the possibility ofescape. They were simply asked "Whether, during the present war, theyhad rendered any assistance to the Lacedaemonians and their allies?"Each man was called up separately before the judgment-seat, and thesame question having been put to him and of course answered in thenegative, he was immediately led away to execution. The town ofPlataea was transferred to the Thebans, who a few months afterwardslevelled all the private buildings to the ground. Thus was Plataeablotted out from the map of Greece (B. C. 427). In recording the fall ofPlataea we have anticipated the order of chronology. The most important event in the fourth year of the war (B. C. 428) wasthe revolt of Mytilene; the capital of Lesbos, and of the greater partof that island. The Athenians sent out a fleet which blockadedMytilene both by sea and land, The Peloponnesians promised theirassistance; but from various causes their fleet was unable to reach theplace. Meanwhile the provisions of the town were exhausted, and it wastherefore resolved, as a last desperate expedient, to make a sally, andendeavour to raise the blockade. With this view even the men of thelower classes were armed with the full armour of the hoplites. Butthis step produced a very different result from what had been expectedor intended. The great mass of the Mytileneans regarded their ownoligarchical government with suspicion and now threatened that, unlesstheir demands were complied with, they would surrender the city to theAthenians. In this desperate emergency the Mytilenean governmentperceived that their only chance of safety lay in anticipating thepeople in this step. They accordingly opened a negotiation withPaches, the Athenian commander, and a capitulation was agreed upon bywhich the city was to be surrendered and the fate of its inhabitants tobe decided by the Athenian Assembly. At Athens the disposal of the prisoners caused great debate. It was onthis occasion that the leather-seller Cleon first comes prominentlyforward in Athenian affairs. If we may trust the picture drawn by thecomic poet Aristophanes, Cleon was a perfect model of a low-borndemagogue; a noisy brawler, insolent in his gestures, corrupt and venalin his principles. Much allowance must no doubt be made for comiclicence and exaggeration in this portrait, but even a caricature musthave some grounds of truth for its basis. It was this man who took thelead in the debate respecting the disposal of the Mytileneans, and madethe savage and horrible proposal to put to death the whole malepopulation of Mytilene of military age, and to sell the women andchildren into slavery. This motion he succeeded in carrying and atrireme was immediately despatched to Mytilene, conveying orders toPaches to carry the bloody decree into execution. This barbarousdecree made no discrimination between the innocent and the guilty; andon the morrow so general a feeling prevailed of the horrible injusticethat had been committed, that the magistrates acceded to the prayer ofthe Mytilenean envoys and called a fresh assembly. Notwithstanding theviolent opposition of Creon, the majority of the assembly reversedtheir former decree and resolved that the Mytileneans already incustody should be put upon their trial, but that the remainder of thepopulation should be spared. A second trireme was immediatelydespatched to Mytilene, with orders to Paches to arrest the execution. The utmost diligence was needful. The former trireme had a start offour-and-twenty hours, and nothing but exertions almost superhumanwould enable the second to reach Mytilene early enough to avert thetragical catastrophe, The oarsmen were allowed by turns only shortintervals of rest, and took their food, consisting of barley-mealsteeped in wine and oil, as they sat at the oar. Happily the weatherproved favourable; and the crew, who had been promised large rewards incase they arrived in time, exerted themselves to deliver the reprieve, whilst the crew of the preceding vessel had conveyed the order forexecution with slowness and reluctance. Yet even so the countermandcame only just in time. The mandate was already in the hands ofPaches, who was taking measures for its execution. The fortificationsof Mytilene were razed, and her fleet delivered up to the Athenians. The fate of the Plataeans and Mytileneans affords a fearfulillustration of the manners of the age; but these horrors soon found aparallel in Corcyra. A fearful struggle took place in this islandbetween the aristocratical and democratical parties. The people atlength obtained the mastery, and the vengeance which they took on theiropponents was fearful. The most sacred sanctuaries afforded noprotection; the nearest ties of blood and kindred were sacrificed tocivil hatred. In one case a father slew even his own son. Thesescenes of horror lasted for seven days, during which death in everyconceivable form was busily at work. The seventh year of the war (B. C. 425) was marked by an importantevent. An Athenian fleet was detained by bad weather at Pylus inMessenia, on the modern bay of Navarino. Demosthenes, an activeAthenian officer, who was on board the fleet, thought it an eligiblespot on which to establish some of the Messenians from Naupactus, sinceit was a strong position, from which they might annoy theLacedaemonians, and excite revolt among their Helot kinsmen. As thebad weather continued for some time, the soldiers on board amusedthemselves, under the directions of Demosthenes, in constructing a sortof rude fortification. The nature of the ground was favourable for thework, and in five or six days a wall was throws up sufficient for thepurposes of defence. Demosthenes undertook to garrison the place; andfive ships and 200 hoplites were left behind with him. This insult to the Lacedaemonian territory caused great alarm andindignation at Sparta. The Peloponnesian fleet was ordered to Pylus;and the Lacedaemonian commander, on arriving with the fleet, immediately occupied the small uninhabited and densely wooded island ofSphacteria, which, with the exception of two narrow channels on thenorth and south, almost blocked up the entrance of the bay. Betweenthe island and the mainland was a spacious basin, in which the fleettook up its station. The Lacedaemonians lost no time in attacking thefortress; but notwithstanding their repeated attempts they were unableto effect a landing. Whilst they were preparing for another assault, they were surprised bythe appearance of the Athenian fleet. They had strangely neglected tosecure the entrances into the bay: and, when the Athenian ships camesailing through both the undefended channels, many of their triremeswere still moored, and part of their crews ashore. The battle whichensued was desperate. Both sides fought with extraordinary valour; butvictory at length declared for the Athenians. Five Peloponnesian shipswere captured; the rest were saved only by running them ashore, wherethey were protected by the Lacedaemonian army. The Athenians, thus masters of the sea, were enabled to blockade theisland of Sphacteria, in which the flower of the Lacedaemonian army wasshut up, many of them native Spartans of the highest families. In sograve an emergency messengers were sent to Sparta for advice. TheEphors themselves immediately repaired to the spot; and so despondingwas their view of the matter, that they saw no issue from it but apeace. They therefore proposed and obtained an armistice for thepurpose of opening negotiations at Athens. But the Athenians, at theinstigation of Cleon, insisted upon the most extravagant demands, andhostilities were accordingly resumed. They were not however attendedwith any decisive result. The blockade of Sphacteria began to growtedious and harassing. The force upon it continually received suppliesof provisions either from swimmers, who towed skins filled with linseedand poppy-seed mixed with honey, or from Helots, who, induced by thepromise of large rewards, eluded the blockading squadron during darkand stormy nights, and landed cargoes on the back of the island. Thesummer, moreover, was fast wearing away, and the storms of winter mightprobably necessitate the raising of the blockade altogether. Underthese circumstances, Demosthenes began to contemplate a descent uponthe island; with which view he sent a message to Athens to explain theunfavourable state of the blockade, and to request further assistance. These tidings were very distasteful to the Athenians, who had lookedupon Sphacteria as their certain prey. They began to regret having letslip the favourable opportunity for making a peace, and to vent theirdispleasure upon Cleon, the director of their conduct on that occasion. But Cleon put on a face of brass. He abused the Strategi. Hispolitical opponent, Nicias, was then one of those officers, a man ofquiet disposition and moderate abilities, but thoroughly honest andincorruptible. Him Cleon now singled out for his vituperation, and, pointing at him with his finger, exclaimed--"It would be easy enough totake the island if our generals were MEN. If I were General, I woulddo it at once!" This burst of the tanner made the assembly laugh. Hewas saluted with cries of "Why don't you go, then?" and Nicias, thinking probably to catch his opponent in his own trap, seconded thevoice of the assembly by offering to place at his disposal whateverforce he might deem necessary for the enterprise. Cleon at firstendeavoured to avoid the dangerous honour thus thrust upon him. Butthe more he drew back the louder were the assembly in calling upon himto accept the office; and as Nicias seriously repeated his proposition, he adopted with a good grace what there was no longer any possibilityof evading, and asserted that he would take Sphacteria within twentydays, and either kill all the Lacedaemonians upon it, or bring themprisoners to Athens. Never did general set out upon an enterprise under circumstances moresingular; but, what was still more extraordinary, fortune enabled himto make his promise good. In fact, as we have seen, Demosthenes hadalready resolved on attacking the island; and when Cleon arrived atPylus he found everything prepared for the assault. Accident favouredthe enterprise. A fire kindled by some Athenian sailors, who hadlanded for the purpose of cooking their dinner, caught and destroyedthe woods with which the island was overgrown, and thus deprived theLacedaemonians of one of their principal defences. Nevertheless suchwas the awe inspired by the reputation of the Spartan army thatDemosthenes considered it necessary to land about 10, 000 soldiers ofdifferent descriptions, although the Lacedaemonian force consisted ofonly about 420 men. But this small force for a long while kept theirassailants at bay; till some Messenians, stealing round by thesea-shore, over crags and cliffs which the Lacedaemonians had deemedimpracticable, suddenly appeared on the high ground which overhungtheir rear. They now began to give way, and would soon have been allslain; but Cleon and Demosthenes, being anxious to carry them prisonersto Athens, sent a herald to summon them to surrender. The latter, intoken of compliance, dropped their shields, and waved their hands abovetheir heads. They requested, however, permission to communicate withtheir countrymen on the mainland; who, after two or threecommunications, sent them a final message--"to take counsel forthemselves, but to do nothing disgraceful. " The survivors thensurrendered. They were 292 in number, 120 of whom were native Spartansbelonging to the first families. By this surrender the prestige of theSpartan arms was in a great degree destroyed. The Spartans were not, indeed, deemed invincible; but their previous feats, especially atThermopylae, had inspired the notion that they would rather die thanyield; an opinion which could now no longer be entertained. Cleon had thus performed his promise. On the day after the victory heand Demosthenes started with the prisoners for Athens, where theyarrived within 20 days from the time of Cleon's departure. Altogether, this affair was one of the most favourable for the Athenians that hadoccurred during the war. The prisoners would serve not only for aguarantee against future invasions, which might be averted bythreatening to put them to death, but also as a means for extortingadvantageous conditions whenever a peace should be concluded. Nay, thevictory itself was of considerable importance, since it enabled theAthenians to place Pylus in a better posture of defence, and, bygarrisoning it with Messenians from Naupactus, to create a strongholdwhence Laconia might be overrun and ravaged at pleasure. TheLacedaemonians themselves were so sensible of these things, that theysent repeated messages to Athens to propose a peace, but which theAthenians altogether disregarded. The eighth year of the war (B. C. 424) opened with brilliant prospectsfor the Athenians. Elate with their continued good fortune, they aimedat nothing less than the recovery of all the possessions which they hadheld before the Thirty Years' Truce. For this purpose they planned anexpedition against Boeotia. But their good fortune had now reached itsculminatiug point. They were defeated by the Boeotians with great lossat the battle of Delium, which was the greatest and most decisiveengagement fought during the first period of the war an interestingfeature of the battle is that both Socrates and his pupil Alcibiadeswere engaged in it, the former among the hoplites, the latter in thecavalry. Socrates distinguished himself by his bravery, and was one ofthose who, instead of throwing down their arms, kept together in acompact body, and repulsed the attacks of the pursuing horse. Hisretreat was also protected by Alcibiades. This disastrous battle was speedily followed by the overthrow of theAthenian empire in Thrace. At the request of Perdiccas, King ofMacedonia, and of the Chalcidian towns, who had sued for help againstthe Athenians, Brasidas was sent by the Lacedaemonian government intoMacedonia, at the head of a small body of troops. On his arrival inMacedonia he proclaimed that he was come to deliver the Grecian citiesfrom the tyrannous yoke of Athens. His bravery, his kind andconciliating demeanour, his probity, moderation, and good faith, soongained him the respect and love of the allies of Athens in thatquarter. Acanthus and Stagirus hastened to open their gates to him;and early in the ensuing winter, by means of forced marches, hesuddenly and unexpectedly appeared before the important Athenian colonyof Amphipolis on the Strymon. In that town the Athenian party sent amessage for assistance to Thucydides, the historian, who was thengeneral in those parts. Thucydides hastened with seven ships fromThasos, and succeeded in securing Eion at the mouth of the Strymon; butAmphipolis, which lay a little higher up the river, allured by thefavourable terms offered, had already surrendered to Brasidas. For hiswant of vigilance on this occasion, Thucydides was, on the motion ofCleon, sentenced to banishment, and spent the following twenty years ofhis life in exile. Torone, Scione, and other towns also revolted fromAthens. In the following year (B. C. 422) Cleon was sent to Macedonia to recoverthe Athenian dependencies, and especially Amphipolis. He encamped on arising ground on the eastern side of the town. Having deserted thepeaceful art of dressing hides for the more hazardous trade of war, inwhich he was almost totally inexperienced, and having now noDemosthenes to direct his movements, Cleon was thrown completely offhis guard by a very ordinary stratagem on the part of Brasidas, whocontrived to give the town quite a deserted and peaceful appearance. Cleon suffered his troops to fall into disorder, till he was suddenlysurprised by the astounding news that Brasidas was preparing for asally. Cleon at once resolved to retreat. But his skill was equal tohis valour. He conducted his retreat in the most disorderly manner. His left wing had already filed off and his centre with stragglingranks was in the act of following, when Brasidas ordered the gates ofthe town to be flung open, and, rushing out at the head of only 150chosen soldiers, charged the retreating columns in flank. They wereimmediately routed; but Brasidas received a mortal wound and wascarried off the field. Though his men were forming on the hill, Cleonfled as fast as he could on the approach of the enemy, but was pursuedand slain by a Thracian peltast. In spite, however, of the disgracefulflight of their general, the right wing maintained their ground for aconsiderable time, till some cavalry and peltasts issuing fromAmphipolis attacked them in flank and rear, and compelled them to fly. On assembling again at Eion it was found that half the Athenianhoplites had been slain. Brasidas was carried into Amphipolis, andlived long enough to receive the tidings of his victory. He wasinterred within the walls with great military pomp in the centre ofwhat thenceforth became the chief agora; he was proclaimed oecist, orfounder of the town; and was worshipped as a hero with annual games andsacrifices. By the death of Brasidas and Cleon the two chief obstacles to a peacewere removed; for the former loved war for the sake of its glory, thelatter for the handle which it afforded for agitation and for attackinghis political opponents. The Athenian Nicias, and the Spartan kingPleistoanax, zealously forwarded the negotiations, and in the spring ofthe year B. C. 421 a peace for 50 years, commonly called the PEACE OFNICIAS, was concluded on the basis of a mutual restitution of prisonersand places captured during the war. CHAPTER XII. THE PELOPONNESIAN WAR. --SECOND PERIOD, FROM THE PEACE OF NICIAS TO THEDEFEAT OF THE ATHENIANS IN SICILY, B. C. 421-413. Several of the allies of Sparta were dissatisfied with the peace whichshe had concluded; and soon afterwards some of them determined torevive the ancient pretensions of Argos, and to make her the head of anew confederacy, which should include all Greece, with the exception ofSparta and Athens. The movement was begun by the Corinthians, and theleague was soon joined by the Eleans, the Mantineans, and theChalcidians. Between Sparta and Athens themselves matters were far from being on asatisfactory footing. Sparta confessed her inability to compel theBoeotians and Corinthians to accede to the peace, or even to restorethe town of Amphipolis. Athens consequently refused to evacuate Pylus, though she removed the Helots and Messenians from it. In thenegotiations which ensued respecting the surrender of Pylus, Alcibiadestook a prominent part. This extraordinary man had already obtainedimmense influence at Athens. Young, rich, handsome, profligate, andclever, Alcibiades was the very model of an Athenian man of fashion. In lineage he was a striking contrast to the plebeian orators of theday. He traced his paternal descent from Ajax, whilst on his mother'sside he claimed relationship with the Alcmaeonidae and consequentlywith Pericles. On the death of his father Clinias Pericles had becomehis guardian. From early youth the conduct of Alcibiades was marked byviolence, recklessness, and vanity. He delighted in astonishing themore sober portion of the citizens by his capricious and extravagantfeats. He was utterly destitute of morality, whether public orprivate. But his vices were partly redeemed by some brilliantqualities. He possessed both boldness of design and vigour of action;and, though scarcely more than thirty at the time of which we are nowspeaking, he had already on several occasions distinguished himself byhis bravery. His more serious studies were made subservient to thepurposes of his ambition, for which some skill as an orator wasnecessary. In order to attain it he frequented the schools of thesophists, and exercised himself in the dialectics of Prodicus, Protagoras, and above all of Socrates. Such was the man who now opposed the application of the Lacedaemonianambassadors. Their reception had been so favourable, that Alcibiadesalarmed at the prospect of their success, resorted to a trick in orderto defeat it. He called upon the Lacedaemonian envoys, one of whomhappened to be his personal friend; and he advised them not to tell theAssembly that they were furnished with full powers, as in that case thepeople would bully them into extravagant concessions, but rather to saythat they were merely come to discuss and report. He promised, if theydid so, to speak in their favour, and induce the Assembly to grant therestitution of Pylus, to which he himself had hitherto been the chiefobstacle. Accordingly on the next day, when the ambassadors wereintroduced into the Assembly, Alcibiades, assuming his blandest toneand most winning smile, asked them on what footing they came and whatwere their powers. In reply to these questions, the ambassadors, whoonly a day or two before had told Nicias and the Senate that they werecome as plenipotentiaries, now publicly declared, in the face of theAssembly, that they were not authorized to conclude, but only tonegotiate and discuss. At this announcement, those who had heard theirprevious declaration could scarcely believe their ears. A universalburst of indignation broke forth at this exhibition of Spartanduplicity; whilst, to wind up the scene, Alcibiades, affecting to bemore surprised than any, distinguished himself by being the loudest andbitterest in his invectives against the perfidy of the Lacedaemonians. Shortly afterwards Alcibiades procured the completion of a treaty ofalliance for 100 years with Argos, Elis, and Mantinea (B. C. 420). Thuswere the Grecian states involved in a complicity of separate and oftenapparently opposite alliances. It was evident that allies soheterogeneous could not long hold together; nevertheless, nominally atleast, peace was at first observed. In the July which followed the treaty with Argos, the Olympic games, which recurred every fourth year, were to be celebrated. The Athenianshad been shut out by the war from the two previous celebrations; andcuriosity was excited throughout Greece to see what figure Athens wouldmake at this great Pan-Hellenic festival. War, it was surmised, musthave exhausted her resources, and would thus prevent her from appearingwith becoming splendour. But from this reproach she was rescued by thewealth and vanity, if not by the patriotism, of Alcibiades. By hiscare, the Athenian deputies exhibited the richest display of goldenewers, censers, and other plate to be used in the public sacrifice andprocession; whilst for the games he entered in his own name no fewerthan the unheard-of number of seven four-horsed chariots, of which onegained the first, and another the second prize. Alcibiades wasconsequently twice crowned with the olive, and twice proclaimed victorby the herald. The growing ambition and success of Alcibiades prompted him to carryhis schemes against Sparta into the very heart of Peloponnesus, without, however, openly violating the peace. The Lacedaemonians now found it necessary to act with more vigour; andaccordingly in B. C. 418 they assembled a very large army, under thecommand of the Spartan king, Agis. A decisive battle was fought nearMantinea, in which Agis gained a brilliant victory over the Argives andtheir allies. This battle and that of Delium were the two mostimportant engagements that had yet been fought in the Peloponnesianwar. Although the Athenians had fought on the side of the Argives atMantinea, the peace between Sparta and Athens continued to be nominallyobserved. In B. C. 416 the Athenians attacked and conquered Melos, which islandand Thera were the only islands in the AEgean not subject to theAthenian supremacy. The Melians having rejected all the Athenianovertures for a voluntary submission, their capital was blockaded bysea and land, and after a siege of some months surrendered. On theproposal, as it appears, of Alcibiades, all the adult males were put todeath, the women and children sold into slavery, and the islandcolonized afresh by 500 Athenians. This horrible proceeding was themore indefensible, as the Athenians, having attacked the Melians infull peace, could not pretend that they were justified by the custom ofwar in slaying the prisoners. It was the crowning act of insolence andcruelty displayed during their empire, which from this period beganrapidly to decline. The event destined to produce that catastrophe--the intervention of theAthenians in the affairs of Sicily--was already in progress. A quarrelhad broken out between Egesta and Selinus, both which cities wereseated near the western extremity of Sicily; and Selinus, havingobtained the aid of Syracuse, was pressing very hard upon theEgestaeans. The latter appealed to the interests of the Atheniansrather than to their sympathies. They represented how great a blow itwould be to Athens if the Dorians became predominant in Sicily, andjoined the Peloponnesian confederacy; and they undertook, if theAthenians would send an armament to their assistance, to provide thenecessary funds for the prosecution of the war. Their most powerfuladvocate was Alcibiades, whose ambitious views are said to haveextended even to the conquest of Carthage. The quieter and moreprudent Nicias and his party threw their weight into the oppositescale. But the Athenian assembly, dazzled by the idea of so splendidan enterprise, decided on despatching a large fleet under Nicias, Alcibiades, and Lamachus, with the design of assisting Egesta, and ofestablishing the influence of Athens throughout Sicily, by whatevermeans might be found practicable. For the next three months the preparations for the undertaking werepressed on with the greatest ardour. Young and old, rich and poor, allvied with one another to obtain a share in the expedition. Five yearsof comparative peace had accumulated a fresh supply both of men andmoney; and the merchants of Athens embarked in the enterprise as in atrading expedition. It was only a few of the wisest heads that escapedthe general fever of excitement, The expedition was on the point ofsailing, when a sudden and mysterious event converted all theseexulting feelings into gloomy foreboding. At every door in Athens, at the corners of streets, in the marketplace, before temples, gymnasia, and other public places, stood Hermae, or statues of the god Hermes, consisting of a bust of that deitysurmounting a quadrangular pillar of marble about the height of thehuman figure. When the Athenians rose one morning towards the end ofMay, 415 B. C. , it was found that all these figures had been mutilatedduring the night, and reduced by unknown hands to a shapeless mass. The act inspired political, as well as religious, alarm. It seemed toindicate a widespread conspiracy, for so sudden and general amutilation must have been the work of many hands. The sacrilege mightonly be a preliminary attempt of some powerful citizen to seize thedespotisn, and suspicion pointed its finger at Alcibiades. Activemeasures were taken and large rewards offered for the discovery of theperpetrators. A public board was appointed to examine witnesses, whichdid not, indeed, succeed in eliciting any facts bearing on the actualsubject of inquiry, but which obtained evidence respecting similar actsof impiety committed at previous times in drunken frolics. In theseAlcibiades himself was implicated; and though the fleet was on the veryeve of departure, a citizen rose in the assembly and accused Alcibiadesof having profaned the Eleusinian mysteries by giving a representationof them in a private house, producing in evidence the testimony of aslave. Alcibiades denied the accusation, and implored the people tohave it investigated at once. His enemies, however, had sufficientinfluence to get the inquiry postponed till his return; thus keepingthe charge hanging over his head, and gaining time to poison the publicmind against him. The Athenian fleet, consisting of 100 triremes, and having on board1500 chosen Athenian hoplites, as well as auxiliaries, at length setsail, and proceeded to Corcyra, where it was joined by the other alliesin the month of July, 415 B. C. Upon arriving at Rhegium the generalsreceived the discouraging news that Egesta was unable to contributemore than thirty talents. A council of war was now held; and it wasfinally resolved to gain as many allies as they could among the Greekcities in Sicily, and, having thus ascertained what assistance theycould rely upon, to attack Syracuse and Selinus. Naxos joined the Athenians, and shortly afterwards they obtainedpossession by surprise of the important city of Catana, which was nowmade the head-quarters of the armament. Here an unwelcome messagegreeted Alcibiades. After his departure from Athens, Thessalus, theson of Cimon, preferred an indictment against him in consequence of hisprofanation of the Eleusinian mysteries. The Salaminian, or state, trireme was despatched to Sicily, carrying the decree of the assemblyfor Alcibiades to come home and take his trial. The commander of theSalaminia was, however, instructed not to seize his person, but toallow him to sail in his own trireme. Alcibiades availed himself ofthis privilege to effect his escape. When the ships arrived at Thuriiin Italy, he absconded, and contrived to elude the search that was madeafter him, Nevertheless, though absent, he was arraigned at Athens, andcondemned to death; his property was confiscated; and the Eumolpidae, who presided ever the celebration of the Eleusinian mysteries, pronounced upon him the curses of the gods. On hearing of his sentenceAlcibiades is said to have exclaimed, "I will show them that I am stillalive. " Three months had now been frittered away in Sicily, during which theAthenians had done little or nothing, if we except the acquisition ofNaxos and Catana. Nicias now resolved to make an attempt uponSyracuse. By a false message that the Catanaeans were ready to assistin expelling the Athenians, he induced the Syracusans to proceedthither in great force, and he availed himself of their absence to sailwith his whole fleet into the Great Harbour of Syracuse, where helanded near the mouth of the Anapus. The Syracusans, when they foundthat they had been deceived at Catana, marched back and offered Niciasbattle in his new position. The latter accepted it, and gained thevictory; after which he retired to Catana, and subsequently to Naxosinto winter quarters. The Syracusans employed the winter in preparations for defence. Theyalso despatched envoys to Corinth and Sparta to solicit assistance, inthe latter of which towns they found an unexpected advocate. Alcibiades, having crossed from Thurii to Cyllene in Peloponnesus, received a special invitation to proceed to Sparta. Here he revealedall the plans of Athens, and exhorted the Lacedaemonians to frustratethem. For this purpose he advised them to send an army into Sicily, under the command of a Spartan general, and, by way of causing adiversion, to establish a fortified post at Decelea in the Atticterritory. The Spartans fell in with these views, and resolved to senda force to the assistance of Syracuse in the spring, under the commandof Gylippus. Nicias, having received reinforcements from Athens, recommencedhostilities as soon as the season allowed of it, and resolved onbesieging Syracuse. That town consisted of two parts--the inner andthe outer city. The former of these--the original settlement wascomprised in the island of Ortygia; the latter afterwards known by thename of Achradina, covered the high ground of the peninsula north ofOrtygia, and was completely separate from the inner city. The islandof Ortygia, to which the modern city is now confined, is of an oblongshape, about two miles in circumference, lying between the GreatHarbour on the west, and the Little Harbour on the east, and separatedfrom the mainland by a narrow channel. The Great Harbour is a splendidbay, about five miles in circumference, and the Little Harbour wasspacious enough to receive a large fleet of ships of war. The outercity was surrounded on the north and east by the sea and by sea-wallswhich rendered an assault on that side almost impracticable. On theland side it was defended by a wall, and partly also by the nature ofthe ground, which in some part was very steep. West and north-west ofthe wall of the outer city stood two unfortified suburbs, which were ata later time included within the walls of Syracuse under the names ofTyche and Neapolis. Between these two suburbs the ground rose in agentle acclivity to the summit of the ranges of hills called Epipolae. It was from the high ground of Epipolae that Syracuse was most exposedto attack. Nicias landed at Leon, a place upon the bay of Thapsus, atthe distance of only six or seven stadia from Epipolae, took possessionof Epipolae, and erected on the summit a fort called Labdalum. Thencoming farther down the hill towards Syracuse, he built another fort ofa circular form and of considerable size at a place called Syke. Fromthe latter point he commenced his line of circumvallation, one wallextending southwards from Syke to the Great Harbour, and the other wallrunning northwards to the outer sea. The Athenians succeeded incompleting the circumvallation towards the south, but in one of theirmany engagements with the Syracusans they lost the gallant Lamachus. At the same time, the Athenian fleet entered the Great Harbour, whereit was henceforth permanently established. The northern wall was nevercompleted, and through the passage thus left open the besiegedcontinued to obtain provisions. Nicias, who, by the death of Lamachus, had become sole commander, seemed now on the point of succeeding. TheSyracusans were so sensible of their inferiority in the field that theyno longer ventured to show themselves outside the walls. They began tocontemplate surrender, and even sent messages to Nicias to treat of theterms. This caused the Athenian commander to indulge in a falseconfidence of success, and consequent apathy; and the army having lostthe active and energetic Lamachus, operations were no longer carried onwith the requisite activity. It was in this state of affairs that the Spartan commander, Gylippus, passed over into Italy with a little squadron of four ships, with theview merely of preserving the Greek cities in that country, supposingthat Syracuse, and, with her, the other Greek cities in Sicily, wereirretrievably lost. At Tarentum he learned to his great surprise andsatisfaction that the Athenian wall of circumvallation at Syracuse hadnot yet been completed on the northern side. He now sailed through thestraits of Messana, which were left completely unguarded, and arrivedsafely at Himera on the north coast of Sicily. Here he announcedhimself as the forerunner of larger succours, and began to levy an armywhich the magic of the Spartan name soon enabled him to effect; and ina few days he was in a condition to march towards Syracuse with about3000 men. The Syracusans now dismissed all thoughts of surrender, andwent out boldly to meet Gylippus, who marched into Syracuse over theheights of Epipolae, which the supineness of Nicias had left unguarded. Upon arriving in the city, Gylippus sent a message to the Atheniansallowing them a five days' truce to collect their effects and evacuatethe island. Nicias returned no answer to this insulting proposal; butthe operations of Gylippus soon showed that the tide of affairs wasreally turned. His first exploit was to capture the Athenian fort atLabdalum, which made him master of Epipolae. He next commencedconstructing a counter-wall to intersect the Athenian lines on thenorthern side. This turn of affairs induced those Sicilian citieswhich had hitherto hesitated to embrace the side of Syracuse. Gylippuswas also reinforced by the arrival of thirty triremes from Corinth, Leucas, and Ambracia. Nicias now felt that the attempt to blockadeSyracuse with his present force was hopeless. He therefore resolved tooccupy the headland of Plemmyrium, the southernmost point of theentrance to the Great Harbour, which would be a convenient station forwatching the enemy, as well as for facilitating the introduction ofsupplies. Here he accordingly erected three forts and formed a navalstation. Some slight affairs occurred in which the balance ofadvantage was in favour of the Syracusans. By their change of stationthe Athenians were now a besieged rather than a besieging force. Theirtriremes were becoming leaky, and their soldiers and sailors wereconstantly deserting. Nicias himself had fallen into a bad state ofhealth; and in this discouraging posture of affairs he wrote to Athensrequesting to be recalled, and insisting strongly on the necessity ofsending reinforcements. The Athenians refused to recall Nicias, but they determined on sendinga large reinforcement to Sicily, under the joint command of Demosthenesand Eurymedon. The news of these fresh and extensive preparationsincited the Lacedaemonians to more vigorous action. The peace, if suchit can be called, was now openly broken; and in the spring of 413 B. C. The Lacedaemonians, under King Agis, invaded Attica itself, and, following the advice of Alcibiades, established themselves permanentlyat Decelia, a place situated on the ridge of Mount Parnes about 14miles north of Athens, and commanding the Athenian plain. The city wasthus placed in a state of siege. Scarcity began to be felt within thewalls; the revenues were falling off, whilst on the other hand expenseswere increasing. Meanwhile in Sicily the Syracusans had gained such confidence that theyeven ventured on a naval engagement with the Athenians. In the firstbattle the Athenians were victorious, but the second battle, whichlasted two days, ended in their defeat. They were now obliged to haulup their ships in the innermost part of the Great Harbour, under thelines of their fortified camp. A still more serious disaster than theloss of the battle was the loss of their naval reputation. It wasevident that the Athenians had ceased to be invincible on the sea; andthe Syracusans no longer despaired of overcoming them on their ownelement. Such was the state of affairs when, to the astonishment of theSyracusans, a fresh Athenian fleet of 75 triremes, under Demosthenesand Eurymedon, entered the Great Harbour with all the pomp andcircumstance of war. It had on board a force of 5000 hoplites, of whomabout a quarter were Athenians, and a great number of light-armedtroops. The active and enterprising character of Demosthenes led himto adopt more vigorous measures than those which had been hithertopursued. He saw at once that whilst Epipolae remained in thepossession of the Syracusans there was no hope of taking their city, and he therefore directed all his efforts to the recapture of thatposition. But his attempts were unavailing. He was defeated not onlyin an open assault upon the Syracusan wall, but in a nocturnal attemptto carry it by surprise. These reverses were aggravated by thebreaking out of sickness among the troops. Demosthenes now proposed toreturn home and assist in expelling the Lacedaemonians from Attica, instead of pursuing an enterprise which seemed to be hopeless. ButNicias, who feared to return to Athens with the stigma of failure, refused to give his consent to this step. Demosthenes then urgedNicias at least to sail immediately out of the Great Harbour, and takeup their position either at Thapsus or Catana, where they could obtainabundant supplies of provisions, and would have an open sea for themanoeuvres of their fleet. But even to this proposal Nicias would notconsent; and the army and navy remained in their former position. Soonafterwards, however, Gylippus received such large reinforcements, thatNicias found it necessary to adopt the advice of his colleague. Preparations were secretly made for their departure, the enemy appearto have had no suspicion of their intention and they were on the pointof quitting their ill-fated quarters on the following morning, when onthe very night before (27 Aug. 413 B. C. ) an eclipse of the moon tookplace. The soothsayers who were consulted said that the army must waitthrice nine days, a full circle of the moon, before it could quit itspresent position; and the devout and superstitious Nicias forthwithresolved to abide by this decision. Meanwhile the intention of the Athenians became known to theSyracusans, who determined to strike a blow before their enemy escaped. They accordingly attacked the Athenian station both by sea and land. On land the attack of Gylippus was repulsed; but at sea the Athenianfleet was completely defeated, and Eurymedon, who commanded the rightdivision, was slain The spirits of the Symcusans rose with theirvictories; and though they would formerly have been content with themere retreat of the Athenians, they now resolved on effecting theirutter destruction. With this view they blocked up the entrance of theGreat Harbour with a line of vessels moored across it. All hope seemednow to be cut off from the Athenians, unless they could succeed inforcing this line and thus effecting their escape. The Athenian fleetstill numbered 110 triremes, which Nicias furnished withgrappling-irons, in order to bring the enemy to close quarters, andthen caused a large proportion of his land-force to embark. Never perhaps was a battle fought under circumstances of such intenseinterest, or witnessed by so many spectators vitally concerned in theresult. The basin of the Great Harbour, about 5 miles incircumference, in which nearly 200 ships, each with crews of more than200 men, were about to engage, was lined with spectators. TheSyracusan fleet was the first to leave the shore. A considerableportion was detached to guard the barrier at the mouth of the harbour. Hither the first and most impetuous attack of the Athenians wasdirected, who sought to break through the narrow opening which had beenleft for the passage of merchant vessels. Their onset was repulsed, and the battle then became general. The shouts of the combatants, andthe crash of the iron heads of the vessels as they were driventogether, resounded over the water, and were answered on shore by thecheers or wailings of the spectators as their friends were victoriousor vanquished. For a long time the battle was maintained with heroiccourage and dubious result. At length, as the Athenian vessels beganto yield and make back towards the shore, a universal shriek of horrorand despair arose from the Athenian army, whilst shouts of joy andvictory were raised from the pursuing vessels, and were echoed backfrom the Syracusans on land. As the Athenian vessels neared the shoretheir crews leaped out, and made for the camp, whilst the boldest ofthe land army rushed forward to protect the ships from being seized bythe enemy. The Athenians succeeded in saving only 60 ships, or abouthalf their fleet. The Syracusan fleet, however, had been reduced to 50ships; and on the same afternoon, Nicias and Demosthenes, as a lasthope of escape, exhorted their men to make another attempt to break theenemy's line, and force their way out of the harbour. But the courageof the crews was so completely damped that they positively refused tore-embark. The Athenian army still numbered 40, 000 men; and as all chance ofescape by sea was now hopeless, it was resolved to retreat by land tosome friendly city, and there defend themselves against the attacks ofthe Syracusans. As the soldiers turned to quit that fatal encampment, the sense of their own woes was for a moment suspended by the sight oftheir unburied comrades, who seemed to reproach them with the neglectof a sacred duty; but still more by the wailings and entreaties of thewounded, who clung around their knees, and implored not to be abandonedto certain destruction. Amid this scene of universal woe anddejection, a fresh and unwonted spirit of energy and heroism seemed tobe infused into Nicias. Though suffering under an incurable complaint, he was everywhere seen marshalling his troops and encouraging them byhis exhortations. The march was directed towards the territory of theSicels in the interior of the island. The army was formed into ahollow square with the baggage in the middle; Nicias leading the van, and Demosthenes bringing up the rear. The road ascended by a sort ofravine over a steep hill called the Acraean cliff on which theSyracusans had fortified themselves. After spending two days in vainattempts to force this position, Nicias and Demosthenes resolved duringthe night to strike off to the left towards the sea. But they wereovertaken, surrounded by superior forces, and compelled to surrender atdiscretion. Out of the 40, 000 who started from the camp only 10, 000 atthe utmost were left at the end of the sixth day's march, the rest hadeither deserted or been slain. The prisoners were sent to work in thestone-quarries of Achradina and Epipolae. Here they were crowdedtogether without any shelter, and with scarcely provisions enough tosustain life. The numerous bodies of those who died were left toputrify where they had fallen, till at length the place became such anintolerable centre of stench and infection that, at the end of seventydays, the Syracusans, for their own comfort and safety, were obliged toremove the survivors, who were sold as slaves. Nicias and Demostheneswere condemned to death in spite of all the efforts of Gylippus andHermocrates to save them. Such was the end of two of the largest and best appointed armamentsthat had ever gone forth from Athens. Nicias, as we have seen, wasfrom the first opposed to the expedition in which they were employed, as pregnant with the most dangerous consequences to Athens; and, thoughit must be admitted that in this respect his views were sound, itcannot at the same time be concealed that his own want of energy, andhis incompetence as a general, were the chief causes of the failure ofthe undertaking. His mistakes involved the fall of Demosthenes, anofficer of far greater resolution and ability than himself, and who, had his counsels been followed, would in all probability have conductedthe enterprise to a safe termination, though there was no longer roomto hope for success. CHAPTER XIII. THE PELOPONNESIAN WAR. --THIRD PERIOD, FROM THE SICILIAN EXPEDITION TOTHE END OF THE WAR, B. C. 413-404. The destruction of the Sicilian armament was a fatal blow to the powerof Athens. It is astonishing that she was able to protract the war solong with diminished strength and resources. Her situation inspiredher enemies with new vigour; states hitherto neutral declared againsther; her subject-allies prepared to throw off the yoke; even thePersian satraps and the court of Susa bestirred themselves against her. The first blow to her empire was struck by the wealthy and populousisland of Chios. This again was the work of Alcibiades, the implacableenemy of his native land, at whose advice a Lacedaemonian fleet wassent to the assistance of the Chians. Their example was followed byall the other Athenian allies in Asia, with the exception of Samos, inwhich the democratical party gained the upper hand. In the midst ofthis general defection the Athenians did not give way to despair. Pericles had set apart a reserve of 1000 talents to meet thecontingency of an actual invasion. This still remained untouched, andnow by an unanimous vote the penalty of death, which forbad itsappropriation to any other purpose, was abolished, and the fund appliedin fitting out a fleet against Chios. Samos became the head-quartersof the fleet, and the base of their operations during the remainder ofthe war. After a time the tide of success began to turn in favour of theAthenians. They recovered Lesbos and Clazomenae, defeated the Chians, and laid waste their territory. They also gained a victory over thePeloponnesians at Miletus; while the Peloponnesian fleet had lost theassistance of Tissaphernes, the Persian satrap, through the intriguesof Alcibiades. In the course of a few months Alcibiades had completelyforfeited the confidence of the Lacedaemonians. The Spartan king Agis, whose wife he had seduced, was his personal enemy; and after the defeatof the Peloponnesians at Miletus, Agis denounced him as a traitor, andpersuaded the new Ephors to send out instructions to put him to death. Of this, however, he was informed time enough to make his escape toTissaphernes at Magnesia. Here he ingratiated himself into theconfidence of the satrap, and persuaded him that it was not for theinterest of Persia that either of the Grecian parties should besuccessful, but rather that they should wear each other out in theirmutual struggles, when Persia would in the end succeed in expellingboth. This advice was adopted by the satrap; and in order to carry itinto execution, steps were taken to secure the inactivity of thePeloponnesian armament, which, if vigorously employed, was powerfulenough to put a speedy end to the war. In order to secure his returnto Athens, Alcibiades now endeavoured to persuade Tissaphernes that itwas more for the Persian interest to conclude a league with Athens thanwith Sparta; but the only part of his advice which the satrap seems tohave sincerely adopted was that of playing off one party against theother. About this, however, Alcibiades did not at all concern himself. It was enough for his views, which had merely the selfish aim of hisown restoration to Athens, if he could make it appear that he possessedsufficient influence with Tissaphernes to procure his assistance forthe Athenians. He therefore began to communicate with the Atheniangenerals at Samos, and held out the hope of a Persian alliance as theprice of his restoration to his country. But as he both hated andfeared the Athenian democracy, he coupled his offer with the conditionthat a revolution should be effected at Athens, and an oligarchyestablished. The Athenian generals greedily caught at the proposal;and though the great mass of the soldiery were violently opposed to it, they were silenced, if not satisfied, when told that Athens could besaved only by means of Persia. The oligarchical conspirators formedthemselves into a confederacy, and Pisander was sent to Athens to laythe proposal before the Athenian assembly. It met, as it might besupposed, with the most determined opposition. The single butunanswerable reply of Pisander was, the necessities of the republic;and at length a reluctant vote for a change of constitution wasextorted from the people. Pisander and ten others were despatched totreat with Alcibiades and Tissaphernes. Upon their arrival in Ionia they informed Alcibiades that measures hadbeen taken for establishing an oligarchical form of government atAthens, and required him to fulfil his part of the engagement byprocuring the aid and alliance of Persia. But Alcibiades knew that hehad undertaken what he could not perform, and he now resolved to escapefrom the dilemma by one of his habitual artifices. He received theAthenian deputation in the presence of Tissaphernes himself, and madesuch extravagant demands on behalf of the satrap that Pisander and hiscolleagues indignantly broke off the conference. Notwithstanding the conduct of Alcibiades the oligarchical conspiratorsproceeded with the revolution at Athens, in which they had gone too farto recede. Pisander, with five of the envoys, returned to Athens tocomplete the work they had begun. Pisander proposed in the assembly, and carried a resolution, that acommittee of ten should be appointed to prepare a new constitution, which was to be submitted to the approbation of the people. But whenthe day appointed for that purpose arrived, the assembly was notconvened in the Pnyx, but in the temple of Poseidon at Colonus, avillage upwards of a mile from Athens. Here the conspirators couldplant their own partisans, and were less liable to be overawed bysuperior numbers. Pisander obtained the assent of the meeting to thefollowing revolutionary changes:--1. The abolition of all the existingmagistracies; 2. The cessation of all payments for the discharge ofcivil functions; 3. The appointment of a committee of five persons, who were to name ninety-five more; each of the hundred thus constitutedto choose three persons; the body of Four Hundred thus formed to be anirresponsible government, holding its sittings in the senate house. The four hundred were to convene a select body of five thousandcitizens whenever they thought proper. Nobody knew who these fivethousand were, but they answered two purposes, namely, to give an airof greater popularity to the government, as well as to overawe thepeople by an exaggerated notion of its strength. Thus perished the Athenian democracy, after an existence of nearly acentury since its establishment by Clisthenes The revolution was begunfrom despair of the foreign relations of Athens, and from the hope ofassistance from Persia; but it was carried out through the machinationsof the conspirators after that delusion had ceased. At Samos the Athenian army refused to recognise the new government. Atthe instance of Thrasybulus and Thrasyllus a meeting was called inwhich the soldiers pledged themselves to maintain the democracy, tocontinue the war against Peloponnesus, and to put down the usurpers atAthens. The soldiers, laying aside for a while their militarycharacter, constituted themselves into an assembly of the people, deposed several of their officers, and appointed others whom they couldbetter trust. Thrasybulus proposed the recall of Alcibiades, notwithstanding his connection with the oligarchical conspiracy, because it was believed that he was now able and willing to aid thedemocratic cause with the gold and forces of Persia. Afterconsiderable opposition the proposal was agreed to; Alcibiades wasbrought to Samos and introduced to the assembly, where by hismagnificent promises, and extravagant boasts respecting his influencewith Tissaphernes, he once more succeeded in deceiving the Athenians. The accomplished traitor was elected one of the generals, and, inpursuance of his artful policy, began to pass backwards and forwardsbetween Samos and Magnesia, with the view of inspiring both the satrapand the Athenians with a reciprocal idea of his influence with either, and of instilling distrust of Tissaphernes into the minds of thePeloponnesians. At the first news of the re-establishment of democracy at Samos, distrust and discord had broken out among the Four Hundred. Antiphonand Phrynichus, at the head of the extreme section of the oligarchicalparty, were for admitting a Lacedaemonian garrison. But others, discontented with their share of power, began to affect more popularsentiments, among whom were Theramenes and Aristocrates. MeantimeEuboea, supported by the Lacedaemonians and Boeotians, revolted fromAthens. The loss of this island seemed a death-blow. TheLacedaemonians might now easily blockade the ports of Athens and starveher into surrender; whilst the partisans of the Four Hundred woulddoubtless co-operate with the enemy. But from this fate they weresaved by the characteristic slowness of the Lacedaemonians, whoconfined themselves to securing the conquest of Euboea. Thus leftunmolested, the Athenians convened an assembly in the Pnyx. Votes werepassed for deposing the Four Hundred, and placing the government in thehands of the 5000, of whom every citizen who could furnish a panoplymight be a member. In short, the old constitution was restored, exceptthat the franchise was restricted to 5000 citizens, and payment for thedischarge of civil functions abolished. In subsequent assemblies, theArchons, the Senate, and other institutions were revived; and a votewas passed to recall Alcibiades and some of his friends. The number ofthe 5000 was never exactly observed, and was soon enlarged intouniversal citizenship. Thus the Four Hundred were overthrown after areign of four months, B. C. 411. While these things were going on at Athens, the war was prosecuted withvigour on the coast of Asia Minor. Mindarus, who now commanded thePeloponnesian fleet, disgusted at length by the often-broken promisesof Tissaphernes, and the scanty and irregular pay which he furnished, set sail from Miletus and proceeded to the Hellespont, with theintention of assisting the satrap Pharnabazus, and of effecting, ifpossible, the revolt of the Athenian dependencies in that quarter. Hither he was pursued by the Athenian fleet under Thrasyllus. In a fewdays an engagement ensued (in August, 411 B. C. ), in the famous straitsbetween Sestos and Abydos, in which the Athenians, though with asmaller force, gained the victory and erected a trophy on thepromontory of Cynossema, near the tomb and chapel of the Trojan queenHecuba. The Athenians followed up their victory by the reduction ofCyzicus, which had revolted from them. A month or two afterwardsanother obstinate engagement took place between the Peloponnesian andAthenian fleets ness Abydos, which lasted a whole day, and was atlength decided in favour of the Athenians by the arrival of Alcibiadeswith his squadron of eighteen ships from Samos. Shortly after the battle Tissaphernes arrived at the Hellespont withthe view of conciliating the offended Peloponnesians. He was not onlyjealous of the assistance which the latter were now rendering toPharnabarzus, but it is also evident that his temporizing policy haddispleased the Persian court. This appears from his conduct on thepresent occasion, as well as from the subsequent appointment of Cyrusto the supreme command on the Asiatic coast as we shall presently haveto relate. When Alcibiades, who imagined that Tissaphernes was stillfavourable to the Athenian cause waited on him with the customarypresents, he was arrested by order of the satrap, and sent in custodyto Sardis. At the end of a month, however, he contrived to escape toClazomenae, and again joined the Athenian fleet early in the spring of410 B. C. Mindaras, with the assistance of Pharnabazas on the land side, was now engaged in the siege of Cyzicus, which the Athenian admiralsdetermined to relieve. Here a battle ensued, in which Mindarus wasslain, the Lacedaemonians and Persians routed, and almost the wholePeloponnesian fleet captured. The severity of this blow was picturedin the laconic epistle in which Hippocrates, the second in command, [Called Epistoteus or "Secretary" in the Lacedaemonian fleet. Thecommander of the fleet had the title of NAVARCHUS. ] announced it tothe Ephors: "Our good luck is gone; Mindarus is slain; the men arestarving; we know not what to do. " The results of this victory were most important. Perinthus andSelymbria, as well as Cyzicus, were recovered; and the Athenians, oncemore masters of the Propontis, fortified the town of Chrysopolis, overagainst Byzantium, at the entrance of the Bosporus; re-establishedtheir toll of ten per cent, on all vessels passing from the Euxine; andleft a squadron to guard the strait and collect the dues. So great wasthe discouragement of the Lacedaemonians at the loss of their fleetthat the Ephor Endius proceeded to Athens to treat for peace on thebasis of both parties standing just as they were. The Athenianassembly was at this time led by the demagogue Cleophon, a lamp-maker, known to us by the later comedies of Aristophanes. Cleophon appears tohave been a man of considerable ability; but the late victories hadinspired him with too sanguine hopes and he advised the Athenians toreject the terms proposed by Endius. Athens thus throw away the goldenopportunity of recruiting her shattered forces of which she stood somuch in need; and to this unfortunate advice must be ascribed thecalamities which subsequently overtook her. The possession of the Bosporus reopened to the Athenians the trade ofthe Euxine. From his lofty fortress at Decelea the Spartan king Agriscould descry the corn-ships from the Euxine sailing into the Harbour ofthe Piraeus, and felt how fruitless it was to occupy the fields ofAttica whilst such abundant supplies of provisions were continuallyfinding their way to the city. In B. C. 408 the important towns of Chalcedon, Selymbria, and Byzantiumfell into the hands of the Athenians, thus leaving them undisputedmasters of the Propontis. These great achievements of Alcibiades naturally paved the way for hisreturn to Athens. In the spring of 407 B. C. He proceeded with thefleet to Samos, and from thence sailed to Piraeus. His reception wasfar more favourable than he had ventured to anticipate. The wholepopulation of Athens flocked down to Piraeus to welcome him, andescorted him to the city. He seemed to be in the present juncture theonly man capable of restoring the grandeur and the empire of Athens:he was accordingly named general with unlimited powers, and a force of100 triremes, 1500 hoplites, and 150 cavalry placed at his disposal. Before his departure he took an opportunity to atone for the impiety ofwhich he had been suspected. Although his armament was in perfectreadiness, he delayed its sailing till after the celebration of theEleusinian mysteries at the beginning of September. For seven yearsthe customary procession across the Thriasian plain had been suspended, owing to the occupation of Decelea by the enemy, which compelled thesacred troop to proceed by sea. Alcibiades now escorted them on theirprogress and return with his forces, and thus succeeded in reconcilinghimself with the offended goddesses and with their holy priests, theEumolpidae. Meanwhile a great change had been going on in the state of affairs inthe East. We have already seen that the Great King was displeased withthe vacillating policy of Tissaphernes, and had determined to adoptmore energetic measures against the Athenians. During the absence ofAlcibiades, Cyrus, the younger son of Darius, a prince of a bold andenterprising spirit, and animated with a lively hatred of Athens, hadarrived at the coast for the purpose of carrying out the altered policyof the Persian court; and with that view he had been invested with thesatrapies of Lydia, the Greater Phrygia, and Cappadocia. The arrivalof Cyrus opens the last phase of the Peloponnesian war. Another event, in the highest degree unfavourable to the Athenian cause, was theaccession of Lysander, as NAVARCHUS, to the command of thePeloponnesian fleet. Lysander was the third of the remarkable men whomSparta produced during the war. In ability, energy, and success he maybe compared with Brasidas and Gylippus, though immeasurably inferior tothe former in every moral quality. He was born of poor parents, andwas by descent one of those Lacedaemonians who could never enjoy thefull rights of Spartan citizenship. His ambition was boundless, and hewas wholly unscrupulous about the means which he employed to gratifyit. In pursuit of his objects he hesitated at neither deceit, norperjury, nor cruelty, and he is reported to have laid it down as one ofhis maxims in life to avail himself of the fox's skin where the lion'sfailed. Lysander had taken up his station at Ephesus, with the Lacedaemonianfleet of 70 triremes; and when Cyrus arrived at Sardis, in the springof 407 B. C. , he hastened to pay his court to the young prince, and wasreceived with every mark of favour. A vigorous line of action wasresolved on. Cyrus at once offered 500 talents, and affirmed that, ifmore were needed, he was prepared even to coin into money the verythrone of gold and silver on which he sat. In a banquet which ensuedCyrus drank to the health of Lysander, and desired him to name any wishwhich he could gratify. Lysander immediately requested an addition ofan obolus to the daily pay of the seamen. Cyrus was surprised at sodisinterested a demand, and from that day conceived a high degree ofrespect and confidence for the Spartan commander. Lysander on hisreturn to Ephesus employed himself in refitting his fleet, and inorganising clubs in the Spartan interest in the cities of Asia. Alcibiades set sail from Athens in September. Being ill provided withfunds for carrying on the war, he was driven to make predatoryexcursions for the purpose of raising money. During his absence heintrusted the bulk of the fleet at Samos to his pilot, Antiochus, withstrict injunctions not to venture on an action. Notwithstanding theseorders, however, Antiochus sailed out and brought the Peloponnesianfleet to an engagement off Notium, in which the Athenians were defeatedwith the loss of 15 ships, and Antiochus himself was slain. Among theAthenian armament itself great dissatisfaction was growing up againstAlcibiades. Though at the head of a splendid force, he had in threemonths time accomplished literally nothing. His debaucheries anddissolute conduct on shore were charged against him, as well as hisselecting for confidential posts not the men best fitted for them, butthose who, like Antiochus were the boon companions and the chosenassociates of his revels. These accusations forwarded to Athens, andfomented by his secret enemies, soon produced an entire revulsion inthe public feeling towards Alcibiades. The Athenians voted that heshould be dismissed from his command, and they appointed in his placeten new generals, with Conon at their head. The year of Lysander's command expired about the same time as theappointment of Conon to the Athenian fleet. Through the intrigues ofLysander, his successor Callicratidas was received with dissatisfactionboth by the Lacedaemonian seamen and by Cyrus. Loud complaints wereraised of the impolicy of an annual change of commanders. Lysanderthrew all sorts of difficulties into the way of his successor, to whomhe handed over an empty chest, having first repaid to Cyrus all themoney in his possession under the pretence that it was a private loan. The straightforward conduct of Callicratidas, however, who summoned theLacedaemonian commanders, and after a dignified remonstrance, plainlyput the question whether he should return home or remain, silenced allopposition. But he was sorely embarrassed for funds. Cyrus treatedhim with haughtiness; and when he waited on that prince at Sardis, hewas dismissed not only without money, but even without an audience. Callicratidas, however, had too much energy to be daunted by suchobstacles. Sailing with his fleet from Ephesus to Miletus, he laidbefore the assembly of that city, in a spirited address, all the illthey had suffered at the hands of the Persians, and exhorted them tobestir themselves and dispense with the Persian alliance. He succeededin persuading the Milesians to make him a large grant of money, whilstthe leading men even came forward with private subscriptions. By meansof this assistance he was enabled to add 50 triremes to the 90delivered to him by Lysander; and the Chians further provided him withten days' pay for the seamen. The fleet of Callicratidas was now double that of Conon. The latterwas compelled to run before the superior force of Callicratidas. Bothfleets entered the harbour of Mytilene at the same time, where a battleensued in which Conon lost 30 ships, but he saved the remaining 40 byhauling them ashore under the walls of the town. Callicratidas thenblockaded Mytilene both by sea and land; but Conon contrived todespatch a trireme to Athens with the news of his desperate position. As soon as the Athenians received intelligence of the blockade ofMytilene; vast efforts were made for its relief; and we learn withsurprise that in thirty days a fleet of 110 triremes was equipped anddespatched from Piraeus. The armament assembled at Samos, where it wasreinforced by scattered Athenian ships, and by contingents from theallies, to the extent of 40 vessels. The whole fleet of 150 sail thenproceeded to the small islands of Arginusae, near the coast of Asia, and facing Malea, the south-eastern cape of Lesbos. Callicratidas, whowent out to meet them, took up his station at the latter point, leavinga squadron of 50 ships to maintain the blockade of Mytilene. He hadthus only 120 ships to oppose to the 150 of the Athenians, and hispilot advised him to retire before the superior force of the enemy. But Callicratidas replied that he would not disgrace himself by flight, and that if he should perish Sparta would not feel his loss. Thebattle was long and obstinate. All order was speedily lost, and theships fought singly with one another, In one of these contests, Callicratidas, who stood on the prow of his vessel ready to board theenemy, was thrown overboard by the shock of the vessels as they met, and perished. At length victory began to declare for the Athenians. The Lacedaemonians, after losing 77 vessels, retreated with theremainder to Chios and Phocaea. The loss of the Athenians was 25vessels. The battle of Arginusae led to a deplorable event, which has for eversullied the pages of Athenian history. At least a dozen Athenianvessels were left floating about in a disabled condition after thebattle; but, owing to a violent storm that ensued, no attempt was madeto rescue the survivors, or to collect the bodies of the dead forburial. Eight of the ten generals were summoned home to answer forthis conduct; Conon, by his situation at Mytilene, was of courseexculpated, and Archestratus had died. Six of the generals obeyed thesummons, and were denounced in the Assembly by Theramenes, formerly oneof the Four Hundred, for neglect of duty. The generals replied thatthey had commissioned Theramenes himself and Thrasybulus, each of whomcommanded a trireme in the engagement, to undertake the duty, and hadassigned 48 ships to them for that purpose. This, however, was deniedby Theramenes. There are discrepancies in the evidence, and we have nomaterials for deciding positively which statement was true; butprobability inclines to the side of the generals. Public feeling, however, ran very strongly against them, and was increased by anincident which occurred during their trial. After a day's debate thequestion was adjourned; and in the interval the festival of theAPATURIA was celebrated, in which, according to annual custom, thecitizens met together according to their families and phratries. Thosewho had perished at Arginusae were naturally missed on such anoccasion; and the usually cheerful character of the festival wasdeformed and rendered melancholy by the relatives of the deceasedappearing in black clothes and with shaven heads. The passions of thepeople were violently roused. At the next meeting of the Assembly, Callixenus, a senator, proposed that the people should at once proceedto pass its verdict on the generals, though they had been onlypartially heard in their defence; and, moreover, that they should allbe included in one sentence, though it was contrary to a rule of Atticlaw, known as the psephisma of Canonus, to indict citizens otherwisethan individually. The Prytanes, or senators of the presiding tribe, at first refused to put the question to the Assembly in this illegalway; but their opposition was at length overawed by clamour andviolence. There was, however, one honourable exception. Thephilosopher Socrates, who was one of the Prytanes, refused to withdrawhis protest. But his opposition was disregarded, and the proposal ofCallixenus was carried, The generals were condemned, delivered over tothe Eleven for execution, and compelled to drink the fatal hemlock. Among them was Pericles, the son of the celebrated statesman. In the following year (B. C. 405), through the influence of Cyrus andthe other allies of Sparta, Lysander again obtained the command of thePeloponnesian fleet, though nominally under Aracus as admiral; since itwas contrary to Spartan usage that the same man should be twiceNAVARCHUS. His return to power was marked by more vigorous measures. He sailed to the Hellespont, and laid siege to Lampsacus. The Athenianfleet arrived too late to save the town, but they proceeded up thestrait and took post at AEgospotami, or the "Goat's River;" a placewhich had nothing to recommend it, except its vicinity to Lampsacus, from which it was separated by a channel somewhat less than two milesbroad. It was a mere desolate beach, without houses or inhabitants, sothat all the supplies had to be fetched from Sestos, or from thesurrounding country, and the seamen were compelled to leave their shipsin order to obtain their meals. Under these circumstances theAthenians were very desirous of bringing Lysander to an engagement. But the Spartan commander, who was in a strong position, and abundantlyfurnished with provisions, was in no hurry to run any risks. In vaindid the Athenians sail over several days in succession to offer himbattle; they always found his ships ready manned, and drawn up in toostrong a position to warrant an attack; nor could they by all theirmanoeuvres succeed in enticing him out to combat. This cowardice, asthey deemed it, on the part of the Lacedaemonians, begat acorresponding negligence on theirs; discipline was neglected and themen allowed to straggle almost at will. It was in vain thatAlcibiades, who since his dismissal resided in a fortress in thatneighbourhood, remonstrated with the Athenian generals on the exposednature of the station they had chosen, and advised them to proceed toSestos. His counsels were received with taunts and insults. Atlength, on the fifth day, Lysander, having watched an opportunity whenthe Athenian seamen had gone on shore and were dispersed over thecountry, rowed swiftly across the strait with all his ships. He foundthe Athenian fleet, with the exception of 10 or 12 vessels, totallyunprepared, and he captured nearly the whole of it, without havingoccasion to strike a single blow. Of the 180 ships which composed thefleet, only the trireme of Conon himself, the Paralus, and 8 or 10other vessels succeeded in escaping. Conon was afraid to return toAthens after so signal a disaster, and took refuge with Evagoras, prince of Salamis in Cyprus. By this momentous victory (September, B. C. 405) the Peloponnesian warwas virtually brought to an end. Lysander, secure of an easy triumph, was in no haste to gather it by force. The command of the Euxineenabled him to control the supplies of Athens; and sooner or later, afew weeks of famine must decide her fall. He now sailed forth to takepossession of the Athenian towns, which fell one after another into hispower as soon as he appeared before them. About November he arrived atAEgina, with an overwhelming fleet of 150 triremes, and proceeded todevastate Salamis and blockade Piraeus. At the same time the wholePeloponnesian army was marched into Attica and encamped in theprecincts of the Academus, at the very gates of Athens. Famine soonbegan to be felt within the walls, and at the end of three months itbecame so dreadful, that the Athenians saw themselves compelled tosubmit to the terms of the conqueror. These terms were: That the longwalls and the fortifications of Piraeus should be demolished; that theAthenians should give up all their foreign possessions, and confinethemselves to their own territory; that they should surrender all theirships of war; that they should readmit all their exiles; and that theyshould become allies of Sparta. It was about the middle or end of March, B. C. 404, that Lysander sailedinto Piraeus, and took formal possession of Athens; the war, insingular conformity with the prophecies current at the beginning of it, having lasted for a period of thrice nine, or 27 years. The insolenceof the victors added another blow to the feelings of the conquered. The work of destruction, at which Lysander presided, was converted intoa sort of festival. Female flute-players and wreathed dancersinaugurated the demolition of the strong and proud bulwarks of Athens;and as the massive walls fell piece by piece exclamations arose fromthe ranks of the Peloponnesians that freedom had at length begun todawn upon Greece. CHAPTER XIV THE THIRTY TYRANTS, AND THE DEATH OF SOCRATES, B. C. 404-399. The fall of Athens brought back a host of exiles, all of them theenemies of her democratical constitution. Of these these mostdistinguished was Critias, a man of wealth and family, the uncle ofPlato, and once the intimate friend of Socrates, distinguished both forhis literary and political talents, but of unmeasured ambition andunscrupulous conscience. Critias and his companions soon found a partywith which they could co-operate; and supported by Lysander theyproposed in the assembly that a committee of thirty should be named todraw up laws for the future government of the city, and to undertakeits temporary administration. Among the most prominent of the thirtynames were those of Critias and Theramenes. The proposal was of coursecarried. Lysander himself addressed the Assembly, and contemptuouslytold them that they had better take thought for their personal safety, which now lay at his mercy, than for their political constitution. Thecommittee thus appointed soon obtained the title of the Thirty Tyrants, the name by which they have become known in all subsequent time. Afternaming an entirely new Senate, and appointing fresh magistrates, theyproceeded to exterminate their most obnoxious opponents. But Critias, and the more violent party among them, still called for more blood; andwith the view of obtaining it, procured a Spartan garrison, under theharmost Callibius, to be installed in the Acropolis. Besides thisforce, they had an organized band of assassins at their disposal. Blood now flowed on all sides. Many of the leading men of Athens fell, others took to flight. Thus the reign of terror was completely established. In the bosom ofthe Thirty, however, there was a party, headed by Theramenes, whodisapproved of these proceedings. But his moderation cost him hislife. One day as he entered the Senate-house, Critias rose anddenounced him as a public enemy, and ordered him to be carried off toinstant death. Upon hearing these words Theramenes sprang for refugeto the altar in the Senate-house; but he was dragged away by Satyrus, the cruel and unscrupulous head of the "Eleven, " a body of officers whocarried into execution the penal sentence of the law. Being conveyedto prison, he was compelled to drink the fatal hemlock. The constancyof his end might have adorned a better life after swallowing thedraught, he jerked on the floor a drop which remained in the cup, according to the custom of the game called COTTABOS, exclaiming, "Thisto the health of the GENTLE Critias!" Alcibiades had been included by the Thirty in the list of exiles; butthe fate which now overtook him seems to have sprung from the fears ofthe Lacedaemonians, or perhaps from the personal hatred of Agis. Afterthe battle of AEgospotami, Pharnabazus permitted the Athenian exile tolive in Phrygia, and assigned him a revenue for his maintenance. But adespatch came out from Sparta, to Lysander, directing that Alcibiadesshould be put to death. Lysander communicated the order to Pharnabazus, who arranged for carrying it into execution. The house of Alcibiadeswas surrounded with a band of assassins, and set on fire. He rushedout with drawn sword upon his assailants, who shrank from the attack, but who slew him from a distance with their javelins and arrows. Timandra, a female with whom he lived, performed towards his body thelast offices of duty and affection. Thus perished miserably, in thevigour of his age, one of the most remarkable, but not one of thegreatest, characters in Grecian history. With qualities which, properly applied, might have rendered him the greatest benefactor ofAthens, he contrived to attain the infamous distinction of being thatcitizen who had inflicted upon her the most signal amount of damage. Meantime an altered state of feeling was springing up in Greece. Athenshad ceased to be an object of fear or jealousy, and those feelingsbegan now to be directed towards Sparta. Lysander had risen to aheight of unparalleled power. He was in a manner idolized. Poetsshowered their praises on him, and even altars were raised in hishonour by the Asiatic Greeks. In the name of Sparta he exercisedalmost uncontrolled authority in the cities he had reduced, includingAthens itself. But it was soon discovered that, instead of the freedompromised by the Spartans, only another empire had been established, whilst Lysander was even meditating to extort from the subject cities ayearly tribute of one thousand talents. And all these oppressions wererendered still more intolerable by the overweening pride and harshnessof Lysander's demeanour. Even in Sparta itself the conduct of Lysander was beginning to inspiredisgust and jealousy. Pausanias, son of Plistoanax, who was now kingwith Agis, as well as the new Ephors appointed in September, B. C. 404, disapproved of his proceedings. The Thebans and Corinthians themselveswere beginning to sympathise with Athens, and to regard the Thirty asmere instruments for supporting the Spartan dominion; whilst Sparta inher turn looked upon them as the tools of Lysander's ambition. Many ofthe Athenian exiles had found refuge in Boeotia: and one of themThrasybulus, with the aid of Ismenias and other Theban citizens, starting from Thebes at the head of a small band of exiles, seized thefortress of Phyle in the passes of Mount Parnes and on the direct roadto Athens. The Thirty marched out to attack Thrasybulus, at the headof the Lacedaemonian garrison and a strong Athenian force. But theirattack was repulsed with considerable loss. Shortly afterwards Thrasybulus marched from Phyle to Piraeus which wasnow an open town, and seized upon it without opposition. When thewhole force of the Thirty, including the Lacedaemonians, marched on thefollowing day to attack him, he retired to the hill of Munychia, thecitadel of Piraeus, the only approach to which was by a steep ascent. Here he drew up his hoplites in files of ten deep, posting behind themhis slingers and dartmen. He exhorted his men to stand patiently tillthe enemy came within reach of the missiles. At the first dischargethe assailing column seemed to waver; and Thrasybulus, taking advantageof their confusion, charged down the hill, and completely routed them, killing seventy, among whom was Critias himself. The loss of theirleader had thrown the majority into the hands of the party formerly ledby Theramenes, who resolved to depose the Thirty and constitute a newoligarchy of Ten. Some of the Thirty were re-elected into this body;but the more violent colleagues of Critias were deposed and retired forsafety to Eleusis. The new government of the Ten sent to Sparta tosolicit further aid; and a similar application was made at the sametime from the section of the Thirty at Eleusis. Their request wascomplied with; and Lysander once more entered Athens at the head of aLacedaemonian force. Fortunately, however, the jealousy of theLacedaemonians towards Lysander led them at this critical juncture tosupersede him in the command. King Pausanias was appointed to conductan army into Attica, and when he encamped in the Academus he was joinedby Lysander and his forces. It was known at Athens that the views ofPausanias were unfavourable to the proceedings of Lysander; and thepresence of the Spartan king elicited a vehement reaction against theoligarchy, which fear had hitherto suppressed. All parties sent envoysto Sparta. The Ephors and the Lacedaemonian Assembly referred thequestion to a committee of fifteen, of whom Pausanias was one. Thedecision of this board was: That the exiles in Piraeus should bereadmitted to Athens, and that there should be an amnesty for all thathad passed, except as regarded the Thirty and the Ten. When these terms were settled and sworn to, the Peloponnesians quittedAttica; and Thrasybulus and the exiles, marching in solemn processionfrom Piraeus to Athens, ascended to the Acropolis and offered up asolemn sacrifice and thanksgiving. An assembly of the people was thenheld, and after Thrasybulus had addressed an animated reproof to theoligarchical party, the democracy was unanimously restored. Thisimportant counter-revolution took place in the spring of 403 B. C. Thearchons, the senate of 500, the public assembly, and the dicasteriesseem to have been reconstituted in the same form as before the captureof the city. Thus was terminated, after a sway of eight months, the despotism of theThirty. The year which contained their rule was not named after thearchon, but was termed "the year of anarchy. " The first archon drawnafter their fall was Euclides, who gave his name to a year everafterwards memorable among the Athenians. For the next few years the only memorable event in the history ofAthens is the death of Socrates. This celebrated philosopher was bornin the year 468 B. C. , in the immediate neighbourhood of Athens. Hisfather, Sophroniscus, was a sculptor, and Socrates was brought up to, and for some time practised, the same profession. He was married toXanthippe, by whom he had three sons; but her bad temper has renderedher name proverbial for a conjugal scold. His physical constitutionwas healthy, robust, and wonderfully enduring. Indifferent alike toheat and cold the same scanty and homely clothing sufficed him both insummer and winter; and even in the campaign of Potidaea, amidst thesnows of a Thracian winter, he went barefooted. But though thus giftedwith strength of body and of mind, he was far from being endowed withpersonal beauty. His thick lips, flat nose, and prominent eyes, gavehim the appearance of a Silenus, or satyr. He served with credit as anhoplite at Potidaea (B. C. 432), Delium (B. C. 424), and Amphipolis (B. C. 422); but it was not till late in life, in the year 406 B. C. , that hefilled any political office. He was one of the Prytanes when, after thebattle of Arginusae, Callixenus submitted his proposition respectingthe six generals to the public Assembly, and his refusal on thatoccasion to put an unconstitutional question to the vote has beenalready recorded. He had a strong persuasion that he was intrustedwith a divine mission, and he believed himself to be attended by adaemon, or genius, whose admonitions he frequently heard, not, however, in the way of excitement, but of restraint. He never WROTE anything, but he made oral instruction the great business of his life. Early inthe morning he frequented the public walks, the gymnasia, and theschools; whence he adjourned to the market-place at its most crowdedhours, and thus spent the whole day in conversing with young and old, rich and poor, --with all in short who felt any desire for hisinstructions. That a reformer and destroyer, like Socrates, of ancient prejudices andfallacies which passed current under the name of wisdom should haveraised up a host of enemies is only what might be expected; but in hiscase this feeling was increased by the manner in which he fulfilled hismission. The oracle of Delphi, in response to a question put by hisfriend Chaerephon, had affirmed that no man was wiser than Socrates. No one was more perplexed at this declaration than Socrates himself, since he was conscious of possessing no wisdom at all. However, hedetermined to test the accuracy of the priestess, for, though he hadlittle wisdom, others might have still less. He therefore selected aneminent politician who enjoyed a high reputation for wisdom, and soonelicited by his scrutinising method of cross-examination, that thisstatesman's reputed wisdom was no wisdom at all. But of this he couldnot convince the subject of his examination; whence Socrates concludedthat he was wiser than this politician, inasmuch as he was conscious ofhis own ignorance, and therefore exempt from the error of believinghimself wise when in reality he was not so. The same experiment wastried with the same result on various classes of men; on poets, mechanics, and especially on the rhetors and sophists, the chief of allthe pretenders to wisdom. The first indication of the unpopularity which he had incurred is theattack made upon him by Aristophanes in the 'Clouds' in the year 423B. C. That attack, however, seems to have evaporated with the laugh, and for many years Socrates continued his teaching without molestation. It was not till B. C. 399 that the indictment was preferred against himwhich cost him his life. In that year, Meletus, a leather-seller, seconded by Anytus, a poet, and Lycon, a rhetor, accused him of impietyin not worshipping the gods of the city, and in introducing newdeities, and also of being a corrupter of youth. With respect to thelatter charge, his former intimacy with Alcibiades and Critias mayhave, weighed against him. Socrates made no preparations for hisdefence, and seems, indeed, not to have desired an acquittal. Butalthough he addressed the dicasts in a bold uncompromising tone, he wascondemned only by a small majority of five or six in a court composedof between five and six hundred dicasts. After the verdict waspronounced, he was entitled, according to the practice of the Atheniancourts, to make some counter-proposition in place of the penalty ofdeath, which the accusers had demanded, and if he had done so with anyshow of submission it is probable that the sentence would have beenmitigated. But his tone after the verdict was higher than before. Instead of a fine, he asserted that he ought to be maintained in thePrytaneum at the public expense, as a public benefactor. This seems tohave enraged the dicasts and he was condemned to death. It happened that the vessel which proceeded to Delos on the annualdeputation to the festival had sailed the day before his condemnation;and during its absence it was unlawful to put any one to death. Socrates was thus kept in prison during thirty days, till the return ofthe vessel. He spent the interval in philosophical conversations withhis friends. Crito, one of these, arranged a scheme for his escape bybribing the gaoler; but Socrates, as might be expected from the tone ofhis defence, resolutely refused to save his life by a breach of thelaw. His last discourse, on the day of his death, turned on theimmortality of the soul. With a firm and cheerful countenance he drankthe cup of hemlock amidst his sorrowing and weeping friends. His lastwords were addressed to Crito:--"Crito, we owe a cock to AEsculapius;discharge the debt, and by no means omit it. " Thus perished the greatest and most original of the Grecianphilosophers, whose uninspired wisdom made the nearest approach to thedivine morality of the Gospel. His teaching forms an epoch in thehistory of philosophy. From his school sprang Plato, the founder ofthe Academic philosophy; Euclides, the founder of the Megaric school;Aristippus, the founder of the Cyrenaic school; and many otherphilosophers of eminence. CHAPTER XV. THE EXPEDITION OF THE GREEKS UNDER CYRUS, AND RETREAT OF THE TENTHOUSAND, B. C. 401-400. The assistance which Cyrus had rendered to the Lacedaemonians in thePeloponnesian war led to a remarkable episode in Grecian history. Thiswas the celebrated expedition of Cyrus against his brother Artaxerxes, in which the superiority of Grecian to Asiatic soldiers was sostrikingly shown. The death of Darius Nothus, king of Persia, took place B. C. 404, shortly before the battle of AEgospotami. Cyrus, who was present athis father's death, was charged by Tissaphernes with plotting againsthis elder brother Artaxerxes, who succeeded to the throne. Theaccusation was believed by Artaxerxes, who seized his brother, andwould have put him to death, but for the intercession of their mother, Parysatis, who persuaded him not only to spare Cyrus but to confirm himin his former government. Cyrus returned to Sardis burning withrevenge, and fully resolved to make an effort to dethrone his brother. From his intercourse with the Greeks Cyrus had become aware of theirsuperiority to the Asiatics, and of their usefulness in such anenterprise as he now contemplated. The peace which followed thecapture of Athens seemed favourable to his projects. Many Greeks, bredup in the practice of war during the long struggle between that cityand Sparta, were now deprived of their employment, whilst many more hadbeen driven into exile by the establishment of the Spartan oligarchiesin the various conquered cities. Under the pretence of a private warwith the satrap, Tissaphernes, Cyrus enlisted large numbers of them inhis service. The Greek in whom he placed most confidence wasClearchus, a Lacedaemonian, and formerly harmost of Byzantium, who hadbeen condemned to death by the Spartan authorities for disobedience totheir orders. It was not, however, till the beginning of the year B. C. 401 that theenterprise of Cyrus was ripe for execution. The Greek levies were thenwithdrawn from the various towns in which they were distributed, andconcentrated in Sardis, to the number of about 8000; and in March orApril of this year Cyrus marched from Sardis with them, and with anarmy of 100, 000 Asiatics. The object of the expedition was proclaimedto be an attack upon the mountain-freebooters of Pisidia; its realdestination was a secret to every one except Cyrus himself andClearchus. Among the Greek soldiers was Xenophon, an Athenian knight, to whom we owe a narrative of the expedition. He went as a volunteer, at the invitation of his friend Proxenus, a Boeotian, and one of thegenerals of Cyrus. The march of Cyrus was directed through Lydia and Phrygia. Afterpassing Colossae he arrived at Colaenae, where he was joined by moreGreek troops, the number of whom now amounted to 11, 000 hoplites and2000 peltasts. The line of march, which had been hitherto straightupon Pisidia, was now directed northwards. Cyrus passed in successionthe Phrygian towns of Peltae, Ceramon Agora, the Plain of Cayster, Thymbrium, Tyriaeum, and Iconium, the last city in Phrygia. Thence heproceeded through Lycaonia to Dana, and across Mount Taurus intoCilicia. On arriving at Tarsus, a city on the coast of Cilicia, the Greeksplainly saw that they had been deceived, and that the expedition wasdesigned against the Persian king. Seized with alarm at the prospectof so long a march, they sent a deputation to Cyrus to ask him what hisreal intentions were. Cyrus replied that his design was to marchagainst his enemy, Abrocomas, satrap of Syria, who was encamped on thebanks of the Euphrates. The Greeks, though they still suspected adelusion, contented themselves with this answer in the face of theirpresent difficulties, especially as Cyrus promised to raise their payfrom one Daric to one Daric and a half a month. The whole army thenmarched forwards to Issus, the last town in Cilicia, seated on the gulfof the same name. Here they met the fleet, which brought them areinforcement of 1100 Greek soldiers, thus raising the Grecian force toabout 14, 000 men. Abrocomas, who commanded for the Great King in Syria and Phoenicia, alarmed at the rapid progress of Cyrus, fled before him with all hisarmy, reported as 300, 000 strong; abandoning the impregnable passsituated one day's march from Issus, and known as the Gates of Ciliciaand Syria. Marching in safety through this pass, the army next reachedMyriandrus, a seaport of Phoenicia. From this place Cyrus struck offinto the interior, over Mount Amanus. Twelve days' march brought himto Thapsacus on the Euphrates, where for the first time he formallynotified to the army that he was marching to Babylon against hisbrother Artaxerxes, The water happened to be very low, scarcelyreaching to the breast; and Abrocomas made no attempt to dispute thepassage. The army now entered upon the desert, where the Greeks werestruck with the novel sights which met their view, and at once amusedand exhausted themselves in the chase of the wild ass and the antelope, or in the vain pursuit of the scudding ostrich. After several days oftoilsome march the army at length reached Pylae, the entrance into thecultivated plains of Babylonia, where they halted a few days to refreshthemselves. Soon after leaving that place symptoms became perceptible of a vasthostile force moving in their front. The exaggerated reports ofdeserters stated it at 1, 200, 000 men; its real strength was about900, 000. In a characteristic address Cyrus exhorted the Greeks to takeno heed of the multitude of their enemies; they would find in them, heaffirmed nothing but numbers and noise, and, if they could bringthemselves to despise these, they would soon find of what worthlessstuff the natives were composed. The army then marched cautiouslyforwards, in order of battle, along the left bank of the Euphrates. They soon came upon a huge trench, 30 feet broad and 18 deep, whichArtaxerxes had caused to be dug across the plain for a length of about42 English miles, reaching from the Euphrates to the wall of Media. Between it and the river was left only a narrow passage about 20 feetbroad; yet Cyrus and his army found with surprise that this pass wasleft entirely undefended. This circumstance inspired them with acontempt of the enemy, and induced them to proceed in careless array;but on the next day but one after passing the trench, on arriving at aplace called Cunaxa, they were surprised with the intelligence thatArtaxerxes was approaching with all his forces. Cyrus immediately drewup his army in order of battle. The Greeks were posted on the right, whilst Cyrus himself, surrounded by a picked body-guard of 600 Persiancuirassiers, took up his station in the centre. When the enemy wereabout half a mile distant, the Greeks engaged them with the usualwar-shout. The Persians did not await their onset, but turned andfled. Tissaphernes and his cavalry alone offered any resistance; theremainder of the Persian left was routed without a blow. As Cyrus wascontemplating the easy victory of the Greeks, his followers surroundedhim, and already saluted him with the title of king. But the centreand right of Artaxerxes still remained unbroken; and that monarch, unaware of the defeat of his left wing, ordered the right to wheel andencompass the army of Cyrus. No sooner did Cyrus perceive thismovement than with his body-guard he impetuously charged the enemy'scentre, where Artaxerxes himself stood, surrounded with 6000 horse. The latter were routed and dispersed, and were followed so eagerly bythe guards of Cyrus, that he was left almost alone with the select fewcalled his "Table Companions. " In this situation he caught sight ofhis brother Artaxerxes, whose person was revealed by the flight of histroops, when, maddened at once by rage and ambition, he shouted out, "Isee the man!" and rushed at him with his handful of companions. Hurling his javelin at his brother, he wounded him in the breast, butwas himself speedily overborne by superior numbers and slain on thespot. Meanwhile Clearchus had pursued the flying enemy upwards of threemiles; but hearing that the king's troops were victorious on the leftand centre, he retraced his steps, again routing the Persians whoendeavoured to intercept him. When the Greeks regained their camp theyfound that it had been completely plundered, and were consequentlyobliged to go supperless to rest. It was not till the following daythat they learned the death of Cyrus; tidings which converted theirtriumph into sorrow and dismay. They were desirous that Ariaeus whonow commanded the army of Cyrus, should lay claim to the Persian crown, and offered to support his pretensions; but Ariaeus answered that thePersian grandees would not tolerate such a claim; that he intendedimmediately to retreat; and that, if the Greeks wished to accompanyhim, they must join him during the following night. This wasaccordingly done; when oaths of reciprocal fidelity were interchangedbetween the Grecian generals and Ariaeus, and sanctified by a solemnsacrifice. On the following day a message arrived from the Persian King, with aproposal to treat for peace on equal terms. Clearchus affected totreat the offer with great indifference, and made it an opportunity forprocuring provisions. "Tell your king, " said he to the envoys, "thatwe must first fight; for we have had no breakfast, nor will any manpresume to talk to the Greeks about a truce without first providing forthem a breakfast. " This was agreed to, and guides were sent to conductthe Greeks to some villages where they might obtain food. Here theyreceived a visit from Tissaphernes, who pretended much friendshiptowards them, and said that ha had come from the Great King to inquirethe reason of their expedition. Clearchus replied--what was indeedtrue of the greater part of the army--that they had not come hitherwith any design to attack the king, but had been enticed forwards byCyrus under false pretences; that their only desire at present was toreturn home; but that, if any obstacle was offered, they were preparedto repel hostilities. In a day or two Tissaphernes returned and withsome parade stated that he had with great difficulty obtainedpermission to SAVE the Greek army; that he was ready to conduct them inperson into Greece; and to supply them with provisions, for which, however, they were to pay. An agreement was accordingly entered intoto this effect; and after many days delay they commenced the homewardmarch. After marching three days they passed through the wall ofMedia, which was 100 feet high and 20 feet broad. Two days morebrought them to the Tigris, which they crossed on the following morningby a bridge of boats. They then marched northward, arriving in fourdays at the river Physcus and a large city called Opis. Six days'further march through a deserted part of Media brought them to somevillages belonging to queen Parysatis, which, out of enmity to her asthe patron of Cyrus, Tissaphernes abandoned to be plundered by theGreeks. From thence they proceeded in five days to the river Zabatus, or Greater Zab, having previously crossed the Lesser Zab, whichXenophon neglects to mention. In the first of these five days they sawon the opposite side of the Tigris a large city called Caenae, theinhabitants of which brought over provisions to them. At the GreaterZab they halted three days. Mistrust, and even slight hostilities, hadbeen already manifested between the Greeks and Persians, but they nowbecame so serious that Clearchus demanded an interview withTissaphernes. The latter protested the greatest fidelity andfriendship towards the Greeks, and promised to deliver to the Greekgenerals, on the following day, the calumniators who had set the twoarmies at variance. But when Clearchus, with four other generals, accompanied by some lochages or captains, and 200 soldiers, entered thePersian camp, according to appointment; the captains and soldiers wereimmediately cut down; whilst the five generals were seized, put intoirons, and sent to the Persian court. After a short imprisonment, fourof them were beheaded; the fifth, Menon, who pretended that he hadbetrayed his colleagues into the hands of Tissaphernes, was at firstspared; but after a year's detention was put to death with tortures. Apprehension and dismay reigned among the Greeks. Their situation was, indeed, appalling. They were considerably more than a thousand milesfrom home, in a hostile and unknown country, hemmed in on all sides byimpassable rivers and mountains, without generals, without guides, without provisions. Xenophon was the first to rouse the captains to thenecessity for taking immediate precautions. Though young, he possessedas an Athenian citizen some claim to distinction; and his animatedaddress showed him fitted for command. He was saluted general on thespot; and in a subsequent assembly was, with four others, formallyelected to that office. The Greeks, having first destroyed their superfluous baggage, crossedthe Greater Zab, and pursued their march on the other bank. Theypassed by the ruined cities of Larissa and Mespila on the Tigris, inthe neighbourhood of the ancient Nineveh. The march from Mespila tothe mountainous country of the Carduchi occupied several days in whichthe Greeks suffered much from the attacks of the enemy. Their future route was now a matter of serious perplexity. On theirleft lay the Tigris, so deep that they could not fathom it with theirspears; while in their front rose the steep and lofty mountains of theCarduchi, which came so near the river as hardly to leave a passage forits waters. As all other roads seemed barred, they formed theresolution of striking into these mountains, on the farther side ofwhich lay Armenia, where both the Tigris and the Euphrates might beforded near their sources. After a difficult and dangerous march ofseven days, during which their sufferings were far greater than anythey had experienced from the Persians the army at length emerged intoArmenia. It was now the month of December, and Armenia was cold andexposed, being a table-land raised high above the level of the sea. Whilst halting near some well-supplied villages, the Greeks wereovertaken by two deep falls of snow, which almost buried them in theiropen bivouacs. Hence a five days' march brought them to the easternbranch of the Euphrates. Crossing the river, they proceeded on theother side of it over plains covered with a deep snow, and in the faceof a biting north wind. Here many of the slaves and beasts of burthen, and even a few of the soldiers, fell victims to the cold. Some hadtheir feet frost-bitten; some were blinded by the snow; whilst others, exhausted with cold and hunger, sunk down and died. On the eighth daythey proceeded on their way, ascending the banks of the Phasis, not thecelebrated river of that name, but probably the one usually calledAraxes. From thence they fought their way through the country of the Taochi andChalybes. They next reached the country of the Scythini, in whoseterritory they found abundance in a large and populous city calledGymnias. The chief of this place having engaged to conduct them withinsight of the Euxine, they proceeded for five days under his guidance;when, after ascending a mountain, the sea suddenly burst on the view ofthe vanguard. The men proclaimed their joy by loud shouts of "The sea!the sea!" The rest of the army hurried to the summit, and gave vent totheir joy and exultation in tears and mutual embraces. A few days'march through the country of the Macrones and Colchians at lengthbrought them to the objects for which they had so often pined, andwhich many at one time had never hoped to see again--a Grecian city andthe sea. By the inhabitants of Trapezus or Trebizond, on the Euxine, where they had now arrived, they were hospitably received, and, beingcantoned in some Colchian villages near the town, refreshed themselvesafter the hardships they had undergone by a repose of thirty days. The most difficult part of the return of the Ten Thousand was nowaccomplished, and it is unnecessary to trace the remainder of theirroute. After many adventures they succeeded in reaching Byzantium, andthey subsequently engaged to serve the Lacedaemonians in a war whichSparta had just declared against the satraps Tissaphernes andPharnabazus. In the spring of B. C. 399, Thimbron, the Lacedaemonian commander, arrived at Pergamus, and the remainder of the Ten Thousand Greeksbecame incorporated with his army. Xenophon now returned to Athens, where he must have arrived shortly after the execution of his masterSocrates. Disgusted probably by that event, he rejoined his oldcomrades in Asia, and subsequently returned to Greece along withAgesilaus. CHAPTER XVI. THE SUPREMACY OF SPARTA, B. C. 404-371. After the fall of Athens, Sparta stood without a rival in Greece. Inthe various cities which had belonged to the Athenian empire Lysanderestablished an oligarchical Council of Ten, called a DECARCHY orDecemvirate, subject to the control of a Spartan HARMOST or governor. The Decarchies, however, remained only a short time in power, since theSpartan government regarded them with jealousy as the partisans ofLysander; but harmosts continued to be placed in every state subject totheir empire. The government of the harmosts was corrupt andoppressive; no justice could be obtained against them by an appeal tothe Spartan authorities at home; and the Grecian cities soon had causeto regret the milder and more equitable sway of Athens. On the death of Agis in B. C. 398, his half-brother Agesilaus wasappointed King, to the exclusion of Leotychides, the son of Agis. Thiswas mainly effected by the powerful influence of Lysander, whoerroneously considered Agesilaus to be of a yielding and manageabledisposition and hoped by a skilful use of those qualities to extend hisown influence, and under the name of another to be in reality kinghimself. Agesilaus was now forty years of age, and esteemed a model of thosevirtues more peculiarly deemed Spartan. He was obedient to theconstituted authorities, emulous to excel, courageous, energetic, capable of bearing all sorts of hardship and fatigue, simple and frugalin his mode of life. To these severer qualities he added the popularattractions of an agreeable countenance and pleasing address. Hispersonal defects at first stood in the way of his promotion. He wasnot only low in stature, but also lame of one leg; and there was anancient oracle which warned the Spartans to beware of "a lame reign. "The ingenuity of Lysander, assisted probably by the popular qualitiesof Agesilaus, contrived to overcome this objection by interpreting alame reign to mean not any bodily defect in the king, but the reign ofone who was not a genuine descendant of Hercules. Once possessed ofpower, Agesilaus supplied any defect in his title by the prudence andpolicy of his conduct; and, by the marked deference which he paid bothto the Ephors and the senators, he succeeded in gaining for himselfmore real power than had been enjoyed by any of his predecessors. The affairs of Asia Minor soon began to draw the attention of Agesilausto that quarter. The assistance lent to Cyrus by the Spartans was nosecret at the Persian court; and Tissaphernes, who had been rewardedfor his fidelity with the satrapy of Cyrus in addition to his own, nosooner returned to his government than he attacked the Ionian cities, then under the protection of Sparta. A considerable Lacedaemonianforce under Thimbron was despatched to their assistance, and which, asrelated in the preceding chapter, was joined by the remnant of theGreeks who had served under Cyrus. Thimbron, however, proved soinefficient a commander, that he was superseded at the end of 399 orbeginning of 398 B. C. , and Dercyllidas appointed in his place. Butthough at first successful against Pharnabazus in AEolis, Dercyllidaswas subsequently surprised in Caria in such an unfavourable positionthat he would have suffered severely but for the timidity ofTissaphernes, who was afraid to venture upon an action. Under thesecircumstances an armistice was agreed to for the purpose of treatingfor a peace (397 B. C. ). Pharnabazus availed himself of this armistice to make activepreparations for a renewal of the war. He obtained largereinforcements of Persian troops, and began to organize a fleet inPhoenicia and Cilicia. This was intrusted to the Athenian admiralConon, of whom we now first hear again after a lapse of seven yearssince his defeat at AEgospotami. After that disastrous battle Cononfled with nine triremes to Cyprus, where he was now living under theprotection of Evagoras, prince of Salamis. It was the news of these extensive preparations that induced Agesilaus, on the suggestion of Lysander, to volunteer his services against thePersians. He proposed to take with him only 30 full Spartan citizens, or peers, to act as a sort of council, together with 2000 Neodamodes, or enfranchised Helots, and 6000 hoplites of the allies. Lysanderintended to be the leader of the 30 Spartans, and expected through themto be the virtual commander of the expedition of which Agesilaus wasnominally the head. Since the time of Agamemnon no Grecian king had led an army into Asia;and Agesilaus studiously availed himself of the prestige of thatprecedent in order to attract recruits to his standard. The Spartankings claimed to inherit the sceptre of Agamemnon; and to render theparallel more complete, Agesilaus proceeded with a division of hisfleet to Aulis, intending there to imitate the memorable sacrifice ofthe Homeric hero. But as he had neglected to ask the permission of theThebans, and conducted the sacrifice and solemnities by means of hisown prophets and ministers, and in a manner at variance with the usualrites of the temple, the Thebans were offended, and expelled him byarmed force:--an insult which he never forgave. It was in 396 B. C. That Agesilaus arrived at Ephesus and took thecommand in Asia. He demanded of the Persians the complete independenceof the Greek cities in Asia; and in order that there might be time tocommunicate with the Persian court, the armistice was renewed for threemonths. During this interval of repose, Lysander, by his arrogance andpretensions, offended both Agesilaus and the Thirty Spartans. Agesilaus, determined to uphold his dignity, subjected Lysander to somany humiliations that he was at last fain to request his dismissalfrom Ephesus, and was accordingly sent to the Hellespont, where he didgood service to the Spartan interests. Meanwhile Tissaphernes, having received large reinforcements, sent amessage to Agesilaus before the armistice had expired, ordering him toquit Asia. Agesilaus immediately made preparations as if he wouldattack Tissaphernes in Caria; but having thus put the enemy on a falsescent, he suddenly turned northwards into Phrygia, the satrapy ofPharnabazus, and marched without opposition to the neighbourhood ofDascylium, the residence of the satrap himself. Here, however, he wasrepulsed by the Persian cavalry. He now proceeded into winter quartersat Ephesus, where he employed himself in organizing a body of cavalryto compete with the Persians. During the winter the army was broughtinto excellent condition; and Agesilaus gave out early in the spring of395 B. C. That he should march direct upon Sardis. Tissaphernessuspecting another feint, now dispersed his cavalry in the plain of theMaeander. But this time Agesilaus marched as he had announced, and inthree days arrived unopposed on the banks of the Pactolus, before thePersian cavalry could be recalled. When they at last came up, thenewly raised Grecian horse, assisted by the peltasts, and some of theyounger and more active hoplites, soon succeeded in putting them toflight. Many of the Persians were drowned in the Pactolus, and theircamp, containing much booty and several camels, was taken. Agesilaus now pushed his ravages up to the very gates of Sardis, theresidence of Tissaphernes. But the career of that timid andtreacherous satrap was drawing to a close. The queen-mother, Parysatis, who had succeeded in regaining her influence overArtaxerxes, caused an order to be sent down from Susa for hisexecution; in pursuance of which he was seized in a bath at Colossae, and beheaded. Tithraustes, who had been intrusted with the executionof this order, succeeded Tissaphernes in the satrapy, and immediatelyreopened negotiations with Agesilaus. An armistice of six months wasconcluded; and meanwhile Tithraustes, by a subsidy of 30 talents, induced Agesilaus to move out of his satrapy into that of Pharnabazus. During this march into Phrygia Agesilaus received a new commission fromhome, appointing him the head of the naval as well as of the landforce--two commands never before united in a single Spartan. He namedhis brother-in-law, Pisander, commander of the fleet. But in thefollowing year (B. C. 394), whilst he was preparing an expedition on agrand scale into the interior of Asia Minor, he was suddenly recalledhome to avert the dangers which threatened his native country. The jealousy and ill-will with which the newly acquired empire of theSpartans was regarded by the other Grecian states had not escaped thenotice of the Persians; and when Tithraustes succeeded to the satrapyof Tissaphernes he resolved to avail himself of this feeling byexciting a war against Sparta in the heart of Greece itself. With thisview he despatched one Timocrates, a Rhodian, to the leading Greciancities which appeared hostile to Sparta, carrying with him a sum of 50talents to be distributed among the chief men in each for the purposeof bringing them over to the views of Persia. Timocrates wassuccessful in Thebes, Corinth, and Argos but he appears not to havevisited Athens. Hostilities were at first confined to Sparta and Thebes. A quarrelhaving arisen between the Opuntian Locrians and the Phocians respectinga strip of border land, the former people appealed to the Thebans, whoinvaded Phocis. The Phocians on their side invoked the aid of theLacedaemonians, who, elated with the prosperous state of their affairsin Asia, and moreover desirous of avenging the affronts they hadreceived from the Thebans, readily listened to the appeal. Lysander, who took an active part in promoting the war, was directed to attackthe town of Haliartus; and it was arranged that King Pausanias shouldjoin him on a fixed day under the walls of that town, with the mainbody of the Lacedaemonians and their Peloponnesian allies. Nothing could more strikingly denote the altered state of feeling inGreece than the request for assistance which the Thebans, thus menaced, made to their ancient enemies and rivals the Athenians. Nor were theAthenians backward in responding to the appeal. Lysander arrived atHaliartus before Pausanias. Here, in a sally made by the citizens, opportunely supported by the unexpected arrival of a body of Thebans, the army of Lysander was routed, and himself slain. His troopsdisbanded and dispersed themselves in the night time. Thus, whenPausanias at last came up, he found no army to unite with; and as animposing Athenian force had arrived, he now, with the advice of hiscouncil took the humiliating step--always deemed a confession ofinferiority--of requesting a truce in order to bury the dead who hadfallen in the preceding battle. Even this, however, the Thebans wouldnot grant except on the condition that the Lacedaemonians shouldimmediately quit their territory. With these terms Pausanias wasforced to comply; and after duly interring the bodies of Lysander andhis fallen comrades, the Lacedaemonians dejectedly pursued theirhomeward march. Pausanias, afraid to face the public indignation ofthe Spartans took refuge in the temple of Athena Alea at Tegea; andbeing condemned to death in his absence, only escaped that fate byremaining in the sanctuary. He was succeeded by his son Agesipolis. The enemies of Sparta took fresh courage from this disaster to herarms. Athens, Corinth, and Argos now formed with Thebes a solemnalliance against her. The league was soon joined by the Euboeans, theAcarnanians, and other Grecian states. In the spring of 394 B. C. Theallies assembled at Corinth, and the war, which had been hithertoregarded as merely Boeotian, was now called the CORINTHIAN, by whichname it is known in history. This threatening aspect of affairsdetermined the Ephors to recall Agesilaus, as already related. The allies were soon in a condition to take the field with a force of24, 000 hoplites, of whom one-fourth were Athenians, together with aconsiderable body of light troops and cavalry. The Lacedaemonians hadalso made the most active preparations. In the neighbourhood of Corintha battle was fought, in which the Lacedaemonians gained the victory, though their allied troops were put to the rout. This battle, calledthe battle of Corinth, was fought in July 394 B. C. Agesilaus, who had relinquished with a heavy heart his projectedexpedition into Asia, was now on his homeward march. By the promise ofrewards he had persuaded the bravest and most efficient soldiers in hisarmy to accompany him, amongst whom were many of the Ten Thousand, withXenophon at their head. The route of Agesilaus was much the same asthe one formerly traversed by Xerxes, and the camels which accompaniedthe army gave it somewhat of an oriental aspect. At Amphipolis hereceived the news of the victory at Corinth; but his heart was so fullof schemes against Persia, that the feeling which it awakened in hisbosom was rather one of regret that so many Greeks had fallen, whoseunited efforts might have emancipated Asia Minor, than of joy at thesuccess of his countrymen. Having forced his way through a desultoryopposition offered by the Thessalian cavalry, he crossed Mount Othrys, and marched unopposed the rest of the way through the straits ofThermopylae to the frontiers of Phocis and Boeotia. Here the eviltidings reached him of the defeat and death of his brother-in-law, Pisander, in a great sea-fight off Cnidus in Caria (August 394 B. C. )Conon, with the assistance of Pharnabazus, had succeeded in raising apowerful fleet, partly Phoenician and partly Grecian, with which heeither destroyed or captured more than half of the Lacedaemonian fleet. Agesilaus, fearing the impression which such sad news might produceupon his men, gave out that the Lacedaemonian fleet had gained avictory; and, having offered sacrifice as if for a victory, he orderedan advance. Agesilaus soon came up with the confederate army, which had prepared tooppose him in the plain of Coronea. The Thebans succeeded in drivingin the Orchomenians, who formed the left wing of the army of Agesilaus, and penetrated as far as the baggage in the rear. But on the remainderof the line Agesilaus was victorious, and the Thebans now sawthemselves cut off from their companions, who had retreated and takenup a position on Mount Helicon. Facing about and forming in deep andcompact order, the Thebans sought to rejoin the main body, but theywere opposed by Agesilaus and his troops. The shock of the conflictingmasses which ensued was one of the most terrible recorded in the annalsof Grecian warfare. The shields of the foremost ranks were shattered, and their spears broken, so that daggers became the only available arm. Agesilaus, who was in the front ranks, unequal by his size and strengthto sustain so furious an onset, was flung down, trodden on, and coveredwith wounds; but the devoted courage of the 50 Spartans forming hisbody-guard rescued him from death. The Thebans finally forced theirmay through, but not without severe loss. The victory of Agesilaus wasnot very decisive; but the Thebans tacitly acknowledged their defeat bysoliciting the customary truce for the burial of their dead. Agesilaus, on his arrival at Sparta, was received with the most livelydemonstrations of gratitude and esteem, and became hence-forward thesole director of Spartan policy. Thus in less than two months the Lacedaemonians had fought two battleson land, and one at sea; namely, those of Corinth, Coronea, and Cnidus. But, though they had been victorious in the land engagements, they wereso little decisive as to lead to no important result; whilst theirdefeat at Cnidus produced the most disastrous consequences. It wasfollowed by the loss of nearly all their maritime empire, even fasterthan they had acquired it after the battle of AEgospotami. For asConon and Pharnabazus sailed with their victorious fleet from island toisland, and from port to port, their approach was everywhere the signalfor the flight or expulsion of the Spartan harmosts. In the spring of the following year (B. C. 393) Conon and Pharnabazussailed to the isthmus of Corinth, then occupied as a central post bythe allies. The appearance of a Persian fleet in the Saronic gulf wasa strange sight to Grecian eyes, and one which might have served as asevere comment on the effect of their suicidal wars. Conon dexterouslyavailed himself of the hatred of Pharnabazus towards Sparta to procurea boon for his native city. As the satrap was on the point ofproceeding homewards, Conon obtained leave to employ the seamen inrebuilding the fortifications of Piraeus and the long walls of Athens. Pharnabazus also granted a large sum for the same purpose; and Cononhad thus the glory of appearing, like a second Themistocles, thedeliverer and restorer of his country. Before the end of autumn thewalls were rebuilt. Having thus, as it were, founded Athens a secondtime, Conon sailed to the islands to lay again the foundations of anAthenian maritime empire. During the remainder of this and the whole of the following year (B. C. 392) the war was carried on in the Corinthian territory. One of the most important events at this time was the destruction of awhole Lacedaemonian MORA, or battalion, by the light-armed mercenariesof the Athenian Iphicrates. For the preceding two years Iphicrates hadcommanded a body of mercenaries, consisting of peltasts, [So calledfrom the pelta, or kind of shield which they carried. ] who had beenfirst organised by Conon after rebuilding the walls of Athens. Forthis force Iphicrates introduced those improved arms and tactics whichform an epoch in the Grecian art of war. His object was to combine asfar as possible the peculiar advantages of the hoplites and light-armedtroops. He substituted a linen corslet for the coat of mail worn bythe hoplites, and lessened the shield, while he rendered the lightjavelin and short sword of the peltasts more effective by lengtheningthem both one-half These troops soon proved very effective. Aftergaining several victories he ventured to make a sally from Corinth, andattacked a Lacedaemonian mora in flank and rear. So many fell underthe darts and arrows of the peltasts that the Lacedaemonian captaincalled a halt, and ordered the youngest and most active of his hoplitesto rush forward and drive off the assailants. But their heavy armsrendered them quite unequal to such a mode of fighting; nor did theLacedaemonian cavalry, which now came up, but which acted with verylittle vigour and courage, produce any better effect. At length theLacedaemonians succeeded in reaching an eminence, where theyendeavoured to make a stand; but at this moment Callias arrived withsome Athenian hoplites from Corinth, whereupon the already disheartenedLacedaemonians broke and fled in confusion, pursued by the peltasts, who committed such havoc, chasing and killing some of them even in thesea, that but very few of the whole body succeeded in effecting theirescape. The maritime war was prosecuted with vigour. Thrasybulus, and afterhis death Iphicrates, were successful upon the coast of Asia Minor, andmade the Athenians again masters of the Hellespont. Under thesecircumstances the Lacedaemonians resolved to spare no efforts to regainthe good will of the Persians. Antalcidas, the Lacedaemonian commanderon the Asiatic coast, entered into negotiations with Tiribazus, who hadsucceeded Tithraustes in the satrapy of Ionia, in order to bring abouta general peace under the mediation of Persia. Conducted by Tiribazus, Antalcidas repaired to the Persian court, and prevailed an the Persianmonarch both to adopt the peace, and to declare war against those whoshould reject it. Antalcidas and Tiribazus returned to the coasts ofAsia Minor, not only armed with these powers, but provided with anample force to carry them into execution. In addition to the entirefleet of Persia, Dionysius of Syracuse had placed 20 triremes at theservice of the Lacedaemonians; and Antalcidas now sailed with a largefleet to the Hellespont, where Iphicrates and the Athenians were stillpredominant. The overwhelming force of Antalcidas, the largest thathad been seen in the Hellespont since the battle of AEgospotami, rendered all resistance hopeless. The supplies of corn from the Euxineno longer found their way to Athens: and the Athenians, depressed atonce both by what they felt and by what they anticipated, began to longfor peace. As without the assistance of Athens it seemed hopeless forthe other allies to struggle against Sparta, all Greece was inclined tolisten to an accommodation. Under these circumstances deputies from the Grecian states weresummoned to meet Tiribazus; who, after exhibiting to them the royalseal of Persia, read to them the following terms of a peace: "KingArtaxerxes thinks it just that the cities in Asia and the islands ofClazomenae and Cyprus should belong to him. He also thinks it just toleave all the other Grecian cities, both small and great, independent--except Lemnos, Imbros, and Scyros, which are to belong toAthens, as of old. Should any parties refuse to accept this peace, Iwill make war upon them, along with those who are of the same mind, both by land and sea, with ships and with money. " All the Grecianstates accepted these terms. This disgraceful peace, called the PEACE OF ANTALCIDAS, was concludedin the year B. C. 387. By it Greece seemed prostrated at the feet ofthe barbarians; for its very terms, engraven on stone and set up in thesanctuaries of Greece, recognised the Persian king as the arbiter ofher destinies. Although Athens cannot be entirely exonerated from theblame of this transaction, the chief guilt rests upon Sparta, whosedesigns were far deeper and more hypocritical than they appeared. Under the specious pretext of securing the independence of the Greciancities, her only object was to break up the confederacies under Athensand Thebes, and, with the assistance of Persia, to pave the way for herown absolute dominion in Greece. No sooner was the peace of Antalcidas concluded than Sparta, directedby Agesilaus, the ever-active enemy of Thebes, exerted all her power toweaken that city. She began by proclaiming the independence of thevarious Boeotian cities, and by organizing in each a local oligarchy, adverse to Thebes and favourable to herself. Lacedaemonian garrisonswere placed in Orchomenus and Thespiae, and Plataea was restored inorder to annoy and weaken Thebes. Shortly afterwards theLacedaemonians obtained possession of Thebes itself by an act ofshameful treachery. They had declared war against Olynthus, a townsituated at the head of the Toronaic gulf, in the peninsula of theMacedonian Chalcidice, the head of a powerful confederation whichincluded several of the adjacent Grecian cities. The Thebans hadentered into an alliance with Olynthus, and had forbidden any of theircitizens to join the Lacedaemonian army destined to act against it; butthey were not strong enough to prevent its marching through theirterritory. Phoebidas, who was conducting a Lacedaemonian force againstOlynthus, halted on his way through Boeotia not far from Thebes; wherehe was visited by Leontiades, one of the polemarchs of the city, andtwo or three other leaders of the Lacedaemonian party in Thebes. Ithappened that the festival of the Thesmophoria was on the point ofbeing celebrated, during which the Cadmea, or Theban Acropolis, wasgiven up for the exclusive use of the women. The opportunity seemedfavourable for a surprise; and Leontiades and Phoebidas concerted aplot to seize it. Whilst the festival was celebrating, Phoebidaspretended to resume his march, but only made a circuit round the citywalls; whilst Leontiades, stealing out of the senate, mounted hishorse, and, joining the Lacedaemonian troops, conducted them towardsthe Cadmea. It was a sultry summer's afternoon, so that the verystreets were deserted; and Phoebidas, without encountering anyopposition, seized the citadel and all the women in it, to serve ashostages for the quiet submission of the Thebans (B. C. 382). Thistreacherous act during a period of profound peace awakened theliveliest indignation throughout Greece. Sparta herself could notventure to justify it openly, and Phoebidas was made the scape-goat ofher affected displeasure. As a sort of atonement to the violatedfeeling of Greece, he was censured, fined, and dismissed. But thatthis was a mere farce is evident from the fact, of his subsequentrestoration to command; and, however indignant the Lacedaemoniansaffected to appear at the act of Phoebidas, they took care to reap thefruits of it by retaining their garrison in the Cadmea. The once haughty Thebes was now enrolled a member of the Lacedaemonianalliance, and furnished her contingent--the grateful offering of thenew Theban government--for the war which Sparta was prosecuting withredoubled vigour against Olynthus. This city was taken by theLacedaemonians in B. C. 379; the Olynthian confederacy was dissolved;the Grecian cities belonging to it were compelled to join theLacedaemonian alliance; whilst the maritime towns of Macedonia werereduced under the dominion of Amyntas, the king of Macedon. The power of Sparta on land had now attained its greatest height. Herunpopularity in Greece was commensurate with the extent of her harshlyadministered dominion. She was leagued on all slides with the enemiesof Grecian freedom--with the Persians, with Amyntas of Macedon, andwith Dionysius of Syracuse. But she had now reached the turning-pointof her fortunes, and her successes, which had been earned withoutscruple, were soon to be followed by misfortunes and disgrace. Thefirst blow came from Thebes, where she had perpetrated her most signalinjustice. That city had been for three years in the hands of Leontiades and theSpartan party. During this time great discontent had grown up amongthe resident citizens; and there was also the party of exasperatedexiles, who had taken refuge at Athens. Among these exiles wasPelopidas, a young man of birth and fortune, who had alreadydistinguished himself by his disinterested patriotism and ardentcharacter. He now took the lead in the plans formed the the liberationof his country, and was the heart and soul of the enterprise. His warmand generous heart was irresistibly attracted by everything great andnoble; and hence he was led to form a close and intimate friendshipwith Epaminondas, who was several years older than himself and of astill loftier character. Their friendship is said to have originatedin a campaign in which they served together, when, Pelopidas havingfallen in battle apparently dead, Epaminondas protected his body at theimminent risk of his own life. Pelopidas afterwards endeavoured topersuade Epaminondas to share his riches with him; and when he did notsucceed, he resolved to live on the same frugal fare as his greatfriend. A secret correspondence was opened with his friends at Thebes, the chief of whom were Phyllidas, secretary to the polemarchs, andCharon. The dominant faction, besides the advantage of the actualpossession of power, was supported by a garrison of 1500Lacedaemonians. The enterprise, therefore, was one of considerabledifficulty and danger. In the execution of it Phyllidas took a leadingpart. It was arranged that he should give a supper to Archias andPhilippus, the two polemarchs, and after they had partaken freely ofwine the conspirators were to be introduced, disguised as women, and tocomplete their work by the assassination of the polemarchs. On the daybefore the banquet, Pelopidas, with six other exiles, arrived at Thebesfrom Athens, and, straggling through the gates towards dusk in thedisguise of rustics and huntsmen, arrived safely at the house ofCharon, where they remained concealed till the appointed hour. Whilethe polemarchs were at table a messenger arrived from Athens with aletter for Archias, in which the whole plot was accurately detailed. The messenger, in accordance with his instructions, informed Archiasthat the letter related to matters of serious importance. But thepolemarch, completely engrossed by the pleasures of the table, thrustthe letter under the pillow of his couch, exclaiming, "Serious mattersto-morrow. " The hour of their fate was now ripe. The conspirators, disguised withveils, and in the ample folds of female attire, were ushered into theroom. For men in the state of the revelers the deception was complete;but when they attempted to lift the veils from the women, their passionwas rewarded by the mortal thrust of a dagger. After thus slaying thetwo polemarchs, the conspirators went to the house of Leontiades whomthey also despatched. The news of the revolution soon spread abroad. Proclamations wereissued announcing that Thebes was free, and calling upon all citizenswho valued their liberty to muster in the market-place. As soon as daydawned, and the citizens became aware that they were summoned tovindicate their liberty, their joy and enthusiasm were unbounded. Forthe first time since the seizure of their citadel they met in publicassembly; the conspirators, being introduced, were crowned by thepriests with wreaths, and thanked in the name of their country's gods;whilst the assembly, with grateful acclamation, unanimously nominatedPelopidas, Charon, and Mellon as the first restored Boeotarchs. Meanwhile the remainder of the Theban exiles, accompanied by a body ofAthenian volunteers, assembled on the frontiers of Boeotia; and, at thefirst news of the success of the conspiracy, hastened to Thebes tocomplete the revolution. The Thebans, under their new Boeotarchs, werealready mounting to the assault of the Cadmea, when the Lacedaemonianscapitulated, and were allowed to march out with the honours of war. The Athenians formed an alliance with the Thebans, and declared waragainst Sparta. From this time must be dated the era of a new political combination inGreece. Athens strained every nerve to organize a fresh confederacy. Thebes did not scruple to enrol herself as one of its earliest members. The basis on which the confederacy was formed closely resembled that ofDelos. The cities composing it were to be independent, and to senddeputies to a congress at Athens, for the purpose of raising a commonfund for the support of a naval force. Care was taken to banish allrecollections connected with the former unpopularity of the Athenianempire. The name of the tribute was no longer PHOROS, but SYNTAXIS, or"contribution. " The confederacy, which ultimately numbered 70 cities, was chiefly organised through the exertions of Chabrias, and ofTimotheus the son of Conon. Nor were the Thebans less zealous, amongstwhom the Spartan government had left a lively feeling of antipathy. The military force was put in the best training, and the famous "SacredBand" was now for the first time instituted. This band was a regimentof 300 hoplites. It was supported at the public expense and keptconstantly under arms. It was composed of young and chosen citizens ofthe best families, and organized in such a manner that each man had athis side a dear and intimate friend. Its special duty was the defenceof the Cadmea. The Thebans had always been excellent soldiers; but their good fortunenow gave them the greatest general that Greece had hitherto seen. Epaminondas, who now appears conspicuously in public life, deserves thereputation not merely of a Theban but of a Grecian hero. Sprung from apoor but ancient family, Epaminondas possessed all the best qualitiesof his nation without that heaviness, either of body or of mind, whichcharacterized and deteriorated the Theban people. By the study ofphilosophy and by other intellectual pursuits his mind was enlargedbeyond the sphere of vulgar superstition, and emancipated from thattimorous interpretation of nature which caused even some of the leadingmen of those days to behold a portent in the most ordinary phenomenon. A still rarer accomplishment for a Theban was that of eloquence, whichhe possessed in no ordinary degree. These intellectual qualities werematched with moral virtues worthy to consort with them. Thougheloquent, he was discreet; though poor, he was neither avaricious norcorrupt; though naturally firm and courageous, he was averse tocruelty, violence, and bloodshed; though a patriot, he was a strangerto personal ambition, and scorned the little arts by which popularityis too often courted. Pelopidas, as we have already said, was hisbosom friend. It was natural therefore, that, when Pelopidas was namedBoeotarch, Epaminondas should be prominently employed in organizing themeans of war; but it was not till some years later that his militarygenius shone forth in its full lustre. The Spartans were resolved to avenge the repulse they had received; andin the summer of B. C. 378 Agesilaus marched with a large army intoBoeotia. He was unable, however, to effect any thing decisive, andsubsequent invasions were attended with the like result. The Athenianscreated a diversion in their favour by a maritime war, and thus for twoyears Boeotia was free from Spartan invasion, Thebes employed this timein extending her dominion over the neighbouring cities. One of hermost important successes during this period was the victory gained byPelopidas over a Lacedaemonian force near Tegyra, a village dependentupon Orchomenus (B. C. 375). Pelopidas had with him only the SacredBand and a small body of cavalry when he fell in with theLacedaemonians, who were nearly twice as numerous. He did not, however, shrink from the conflict on this account; and when one of hismen, running up to him, exclaimed, "We are fallen into the midst of theenemy, " he replied, "Why so, more than they into the midst of us?" Inthe battle which ensued the two Spartan commanders fell at the firstcharge, and their men were put to the rout. So signal a victoryinspired the Thebans with new confidence and vigour, as it showed thatSparta was not invincible even in a pitched battle, and with theadvantage of numbers on her side. By the year 374 B. C. The Thebans hadsucceeded in expelling the Lacedaemonians from Boeotia, and revived theBoeotian confederacy. They also destroyed the restored city ofPlataea, and obliged its inhabitants once more to seek refuge at Athens. The successes of the Thebans revived the jealousy and distrust ofAthens. Prompted by these feelings, the Athenians opened negotiationsfor a peace with Sparta; a resolution which was also adopted by themajority of the allies. A congress was accordingly opened in Sparta in the spring of 371 B. C. The Athenians were represented by Callias and two other envoys; theThebans by Epaminondas, then one of the polemarchs. The terms of apeace were agreed upon, by which the independence of the variousGrecian cities was to be recognised; and the Spartan harmosts andgarrisons everywhere dismissed. Sparta ratified the treaty for herselfand her allies; but Athens took the oaths only for herself, and wasfollowed separately by her allies. As Epaminondas refused to signexcept in the name of the Boeotian confederation, Agesilaus directedthe name of the Thebans to be struck out of the treaty, and proclaimedthem excluded from it. The peace concluded between Sparta, Athens, and their respectiveallies, was called the PEACE OF CALLIAS. The result with regard toThebes and Sparta will appear in the following chapter. CHAPTER XVII. THE SUPREMACY OF THEBES, B. C. 371-361. In pursuance of the treaty, the Lacedaemonians withdrew their harmostsand garrisons, whilst the Athenians recalled their fleet from theIonian sea. Only one feeling prevailed at Sparta--a desire to crushThebes. This city was regarded as doomed to destruction; and it wasnot for a moment imagined that, single-handed, she would be able toresist the might of Sparta. At the time when the peace was concludedCleombrotus happened to be in Phocis at the head of a Lacedaemonianarmy; and he now received orders to invade Boeotia without delay. TheThebans on their side, were equally determined on resistance. The twoarmies met on the memorable plain of Leuctra, near Thespiae. Theforces on each side are not accurately known, but it seems probablethat the Thebans were outnumbered by the Lacedaemonians. The militarygenius of Epaminondas, however, compensated any inferiority of numbersby novelty of tactics. Up to this time Grecian battles had beenuniformly conducted by a general attack in line. Epaminondas now firstadopted the manoeuvre, used with such success by Napoleon in moderntimes, of concentrating heavy masses on a given point of the enemy'sarray. Having formed his left wing into a dense column of 50 deep, sothat its depth was greater than its front, he directed it against theLacedaemonian right, containing the best troops in their army, drawn up12 deep, and led by Cleombrotus in person. The shock was terrible. Cleombrotus himself was mortally wounded in the onset, and withdifficulty carried off by his comrades. Numbers of his officers, aswell as of his men, were slain, and the whole wing was broken anddriven back to their camp. The loss of the Thebans was small comparedwith that of the Lacedaemonians. Out of 700 Spartans in the army ofthe latter, 400 had fallen; and their king also had been slain, anevent which had not occurred since the fatal day of Thermopylae. The victory of Leuctra was gained within three weeks after theexclusion of the Thebans from the peace of Callias. The effect of itthroughout Greece was electrical. It was everywhere felt that a newmilitary power had arisen--that the prestige of the old Spartandiscipline and tactics had departed. Yet at Sparta itself though thereverse was the greatest that her arms had ever sustained, the news ofit was received with an assumption of indifference characteristic ofthe people. The Ephors forbade the chorus of men, who were celebratingin the theatre the festival of the Gymnopaedia, to be interrupted. They contented themselves with directing the names of the slain to becommunicated to their relatives, and with issuing an order forbiddingthe women to wail and mourn. Those whose friends had fallen appearedabroad on the morrow with joyful countenances, whilst the relatives ofthe survivors seemed overwhelmed with grief and shame. Immediately after the battle the Thebans had sent to Jason of Pherae inThessaly to solicit his aid against the Lacedaemonians. This despot wasone of the most remarkable men of the period. He was Tagus, orGeneralissimo, of all Thessaly; and Macedonia was partially dependenton him. He was a man of boundless ambition, and meditated nothing lessthan extending his dominion over the whole of Greece, for which hiscentral situation seemed to offer many facilities. Upon receiving theinvitation of the Thebans, Jason immediately resolved to join them. When he arrived the Thebans were anxious that he should unite with themin an attack upon the Lacedaemonian camp; but Jason dissuaded them fromthe enterprise, advising them not to drive the Lacedaemonians todespair, and offering his mediation. He accordingly succeeded ineffecting a truce, by which the Lacedaemonians were allowed to departfrom Boeotia unmolested. According to Spartan custom, the survivors of a defeat were looked uponas degraded men, and subjected to the penalties of civil infamy. Noallowance was made for circumstances. But those who had fled atLeuctra were three hundred in number; all attempt to enforce againstthem the usual penalties might prove not only inconvenient, but evendangerous; and on the proposal of Agesilaus, they were, for thisoccasion only, suspended. The loss of material power which Spartasustained by the defeat was great. The ascendency she had hithertoenjoyed in parts north of the Corinthian gulf fell from her at once, and was divided between Jason of Pherae and the Thebans. Jason wasshortly afterwards assassinated. His death was felt as a relief byGreece, and especially by Thebes. He was succeeded by his twobrothers, Polyphron and Polydorus; but they possessed neither hisability nor his power. The Athenians stood aloof from the contending parties. They had notreceived the news of the battle of Leuctra with any pleasure, for theynow dreaded Thebes more than Sparta. But instead of helping thelatter, they endeavoured to prevent either from obtaining the supremacyin Greece, and for this purpose called upon the other states to form anew alliance upon the terms of the peace of Antalcidas. Most of thePeloponnesian states joined this new league. Thus even thePeloponnesian cities became independent of Sparta. But this was notall. Never did any state fall with greater rapidity. She not onlylost the dominion over states which she had exercised for centuries;but two new political powers sprang up in the peninsula, whichthreatened her own independence. In the following year (B. C. 370) Epaminondas marched into Laconia, andthreatened Sparta itself. The city, which was wholly unfortified, wasfilled with confusion and alarm. The women, who had never yet seen theface of an enemy, gave vent to their fears in wailing and lamentation. Agesilaus, however, was undismayed, and saved the state by hisvigilance and energy. He repulsed the cavalry of Epaminondas as theyadvanced towards Sparta; and so vigorous were his measures of defence, that the Theban general abandoned all further attempt upon the city, and proceeded southwards as far as Helos and Gythium on the coast, thelatter the port and arsenal of Sparta after laying waste with fire andsword the valley of the Eurotas, he retraced his steps to the frontiersof Arcadia. Epaminondas now proceeded to carry out the two objects for which hismarch had been undertaken; namely, the consolidation of the Arcadianconfederation, and the establishment of the Messenians as anindependent community. In the prosecution of the former of thesedesigns the mutual jealousy of the various Arcadian cities rendered itnecessary that a new one should be founded, which should be regarded asthe capital of the confederation. Consequently, a new city was built onthe banks of the Helisson, called Megalopolis, and peopled by theinhabitants of forty distinct Arcadian townships. Here a synod ofdeputies from the towns composing the confederation, called "The TenThousand" was to meet periodically for the despatch of business. Epaminondas next proceeded to re-establish the Messenian state. TheMessenians had formerly lived under a dynasty of their own kings; butfor the last three centuries their land had been in the possession ofthe Lacedaemonians, and they had been fugitives upon the face of theearth. The restoration of these exiles, dispersed in various Helleniccolonies, to their former rights, would plant a bitterly hostileneighbour on the very borders of Laconia. Epaminondas accordinglyopened communications with them, and numbers of them flocked to hisstandard during his march into Peloponnesus. He now founded the townof Messene. Its citadel was placed on the summit of Mount Ithome, whichhad three centuries before been so bravely defended by the Messeniansagainst the Spartans. The strength of its fortifications was longafterwards a subject of admiration. The territory attached to the newcity extended southwards to the Messenian gulf, and northwards to theborders of Arcadia, comprising some of the most fertile land inPeloponnesus. So low had Sparta sunk, that she was fain to send envoys to beg theassistance of the Athenians. This request was acceded to; and shortlyafterwards an alliance was formed between the two states, in whichSparta waived all her claims to superiority and headship. During thenext two years the Thebans continued steadily to increase their powerand influence in Greece, though no great battle was fought. In B. C. 368 Pelopidas conducted a Theban force into Thessaly and Macedonia. InThessaly he compelled Alexander, who, by the murder of his twobrothers, had become despot of Pherae and Tagus of Thessaly, torelinquish his designs against the independence of Larissa and otherThessalian cities, and to solicit peace. In Macedonia he formed analliance with the regent Ptolemy: and amongst the hostages given forthe observance of this treaty was the youthful Philip, son of Amyntas, afterwards the celebrated king of Macedon, who remained for some yearsat Thebes. In the following year Pelopidas and Ismenias proceeded on an embassy toPersia. Ever since the peace of Antalcidas the Great King had becomethe recognised mediator between the states of Greece; and his fiatseemed indispensable to stamp the claims of that city which pretendedto the headship. The recent achievements of Thebes might entitle herto aspire to that position: and at all events the alterations whichshe had produced in the internal state, of Greece, by the establishmentof Megalopolis and Messene, seemed to require for their stability thesanction of a Persian rescript. This was obtained without difficulty, as Thebes was now the strongest state in Greece; and it was evidentlyeasier to exercise Persian ascendency there by her means, than througha weaker power. The Persian rescript pronounced the independence ofMessene and Amphipolis; the Athenians were directed to lay up theirships of war in ordinary; and Thebes was declared the head of Greece. It was, in all probability, during a mission undertaken by Pelopidasand Ismonias, for the purpose of procuring the acknowledgment of therescript in Thessaly and the northern parts of Greece, that they wereseized and imprisoned by Alexander of Pherae. The Thebans immediatelydespatched an army of 8000 hoplites and 600 cavalry to recover oravenge their favourite citizen. Unfortunately, however, they were nolonger commanded by Epaminondas. Their present commanders were utterlyincompetent. They were beaten and forced to retreat, and the army wasin such danger from the active pursuit of the Thessalians andAthenians, that its destruction seemed inevitable. Luckily, however, Epaminondas was serving as a hoplite in the ranks. By the unanimousvoice of the troops he was now called to the command, and succeeded inconducting the army safely back to Thebes. Here the unsuccessfulBoeotarchs were disgraced; Epaminondas was restored to the command, andplaced at the head of a second Theban army destined to attempt therelease of Pelopidas. Directed by his superior skill the enterpriseproved successful, and Pelopidas (B. C. 367) returned in safety toThebes. In B. C. 364 Pelopidas again marched into Thessaly against Alexander ofPherae. Strong complaints of the tyranny of that despot arrived atThebes, and Pelopidas, who probably also burned to avenge his privatewrongs, prevailed upon the Thebans to send him into Thessaly to punishthe tyrant. The battle was fought on the hills of Cynoscephalae; thetroops of Alexander were routed: and Pelopidas, observing his hatedenemy endeavouring to rally them, was seized with such a transport ofrage that, regardless of his duties as a general, he rushed impetuouslyforwards and challenged him to single combat. Alexander shrunk backwithin the ranks of his guards, followed impetuously by Pelopidas, whowas soon slain, fighting with desperate bravery. Although the army ofAlexander was defeated with severe loss, the news of the death ofPelopidas deprived the Thebans and their Thessalian allies of all thejoy which they would otherwise have felt at their victory. Meantime a war had been carried on between Elis and Arcadia which hadled to disunion among the Arcadians themselves. The Mantineanssupported the Eleans, who were also assisted by the Spartans; whilstthe rest of the Arcadians, and especially the Tegeans, favoured Thebes. In B. C. 362 Epaminondas marched into Peloponnesus to support the Thebanparty in Arcadia, The Spartans sent a powerful force to the assistanceof the Mantineans in whose territory the hostile armies met. In thebattle which ensued Epaminondas formed his Boeotian troops into acolumn of extraordinary depth, with which he bore down all before them. The Mantineans and Lacedaemonians turned and fled, and the restfollowed their example. The day was won; but Epaminondas, who foughtin the foremost ranks, fell pierced with a mortal wound. His falloccasioned such consternation among his troops, that, although theenemy were in full flight, they did not know how to use theiradvantage, and remained rooted to the spot. Epaminondas was carried offthe field with the spear-head still fixed in his breast. Havingsatisfied himself that his shield was safe, and that the victory wasgained, he inquired for Iolaidas and Daiphantus, whom he intended tosucceed him in the command. Being informed that both were slain:"Then" he observed "you must make peace. " After this he ordered thespear-head to be withdrawn; when the gush of blood which followed soonterminated his life. Thus died this truly great man; and never wasthere one whose title to that epithet has been less disputed. Antiquityis unanimous in his praise, and some of the first men of Greecesubsequently took him for their model. With him the commandinginfluence of Thebes began and ended. His last advice was adopted, andpeace was concluded probably before the Theban army quittedPeloponnesus. Its basis was a recognition of the STATUS QUO--to leaveeverything as it was, to acknowledge the Arcadian constitution and theindependence of Messene. Sparta alone refused to join it on account ofthe last article, but she was not supported by her allies. Agesilaus had lived to see the empire of Sparta extinguished by herhated rival. Thus curiously had the prophecy been fulfilled whichwarned Sparta of the evils awaiting her under a "lame sovereignty. "But Agesilaus had not yet abandoned all hope; and he now directed hisviews towards the east as the quarter from which Spartan power mightstill be resuscitated. At the age of 80 the indomitable old manproceeded with a force of 1000 hoplites to assist Tachos, king ofEgypt, in his revolt against Persia. He died at Cyrene on his returnto Greece. His body was embalmed in wax and splendidly buried inSparta. CHAPTER XVIII. HISTORY OF THE SICILIAN GREEKS FROM THE DESTRUCTION OF THE ATHENIANARMAMENT TO THE DEATH OF TIMOLEON. The affairs of the Sicilian Greeks, an important branch of the Hellenicrace, deserve a passing notice. A few years after the destruction ofthe Athenian armament, Dionysius made himself master of Syracuse, andopenly seized upon the supreme power (B. C. 405). His reign as tyrantor despot was long and prosperous. After conquering the Carthaginians, who more than once invaded Sicily, he extended his dominion over agreat part of the island, and over a considerable portion of MagnaGraecia. He raised Syracuse to be one of the chief Grecian states, second in influence, if indeed second, to Sparta alone. Under his swaySyracuse was strengthened and embellished with new fortifications, docks, arsenals, and other public buildings, and became superior evento Athens in extent and population. Dionysius was a warm patron of literature, and was anxious to gaindistinction by his literary compositions. In the midst of hispolitical and military cares he devoted himself assiduously to poetry, and not only caused his poems to be publicly recited at the Olympicgames, but repeatedly contended for the prize of tragedy at Athens. Inaccordance with the same spirit we find him seeking the society of mendistinguished in literature and philosophy. Plato, who visited Sicilyabout the year 389 from a curiosity to see Mount AEtna, was introducedto Dionysius by Dion. The high moral tone of Plato's conversation didnot however prove so attractive to Dionysius as it had done to Dion;and the philosopher was not only dismissed with aversion and dislike, but even, it seems through the machinations of Dionysius, seized, bound, and sold for a slave in the island of AEgina. He was, however, repurchased by Anniceris of Cyrene, and sent back to Athens. Dionysius died in B. C. 367, and was succeeded by his eldest son, commonly called the younger Dionysius, who was about 25 years of age atthe time of his father's death. At first he listened to the counselsof Dion, who had always enjoyed the respect and confidence of hisfather. At the advice of Dion he invited Plato to Syracuse, where thephilosopher was received with the greatest honour. His illustriouspupil immediately began to take lessons in geometry; superfluous dishesdisappeared from the royal table; and Dionysius even betrayed somesymptoms of a wish to mitigate the former rigours of the despotism. But now the old courtiers took the alarm. It was whispered toDionysius that the whole was a deep-laid scheme on the part of Dion forthe purpose of effecting a revolution and placing his own nephews onthe throne. [The elder Dionysius had married two wives at the sametime: one of these was a Locrian woman named Doris; the other, Aristomache, was a Syracusan, and the sister of Dion. The youngerDionysius was his elder son by Doris; but he also had children byAristomache. ] These accusations had the desired effect on the mind ofDionysius, who shortly afterwards expelled Dion from Sicily. Platowith difficulty obtained permission to return to Greece (B. C. 366). Dionysius now gave way to his vices without restraint, and became anobject of contempt to the Syracusans. Dion saw that the time had comefor avenging his own wrongs as well as those of his country. Collecting a small force, he sailed to Sicily, and suddenly appearedbefore the gates of Syracuse during the absence of Dionysius on anexpedition to the coasts of Italy. The inhabitants, filled with joy, welcomed Dion as their deliverer: and Dionysius on his return fromItaly found himself compelled to quit Syracuse (B. C. 356), leaving Dionundisputed master of the city. The latter was now in a condition tocarry out all those exalted notions of political life which he hadsought to instil into the mind of Dionysius. He seems to havecontemplated some political changes; but his immediate and practicalacts were tyrannical, and were rendered still more unpopular by hisoverbearing manners. His unpopularity continued to increase, till atlength one of his bosom friends--the Athenian Callippus--seized theopportunity to mount to power by his murder, and caused him to beassassinated in his own house. This event took place in 353, aboutthree years after the expulsion of the Dionysian dynasty. Callippuscontrived to retain the sovereign power only a twelvemonth. A periodof anarchy followed, during which Dionysius made himself master of thecity by treachery, about B. C. 346. Dionysius, however, was not able tore-establish himself firmly in his former power. Most of the othercities of Sicily had shaken off the yoke of Syracuse, and were governedby petty despots. Meantime the Carthaginians prepared to takeadvantage of the distracted condition of Sicily. In the extremity oftheir sufferings, several of the Syracusan exiles appealed for aid toCorinth, their mother-city. The application was granted, and Timoleonwas appointed to command an expedition destined for the relief ofSyracuse. Timoleon was distinguished for gentleness as well as for courage, buttowards traitors and despots his hatred was intense. He had once savedthe life of his elder brother Timophanes in battle at the imminentperil of his own; but when Timophanes, availing himself of hissituation as commander of the garrison in the Acrocorinthus, endeavoured to enslave his country, Timoleon did not hesitate toconsent to his death. Twice before had Timoleon pleaded with hisbrother, beseeching him not to destroy the liberties of his country;but when Timophanes turned a deaf ear to those appeals, Timoleonconnived at the action of his friends, who put him to death, whilst hehimself, bathed in a flood of tears, stood a little way aloof. Thegreat body of the citizens regarded the conduct of Timoleon with loveand admiration. In the mind of Timoleon, however, their approvingverdict was far more than outweighed by the reproaches and execrationsof his mother. For many years nothing could prevail upon him to returnto public life. He buried, himself in the country far from the hauntsof men, till a chance voice in the Corinthian assembly nominated him asthe leader of the expedition against Dionysius. Roused by the nature of the cause, and the exhortations of his friends, Timoleon accepted the post thus offered to him. His success exceededhis hopes. As soon as he appeared before Syracuse, Dionysius, whoappears to have abandoned all hope of ultimate success, surrendered thecitadel into his hands, on condition of being allowed to depart insafety to Corinth (B. C. 343). Dionysius passed the remainder of hislife at Corinth, where he is said to have displayed some remnants ofhis former luxury by the fastidious taste which he showed in the choiceof his viands, unguents, dress, and furniture; whilst his literaryinclinations manifested themselves in teaching the public singers andactors, and in opening a school for boys. Timoleon also expelled the other tyrants from the Sicilian cities, andgained a great victory over the Carthaginians at the river Crimesus (orCrimissus). He restored a republican constitution to Syracuse; and hisfirst public act was to destroy the impregnable fortifications of thecitadel of Ortygia, the stronghold of the elder and the youngerDionysius. All the rewards which Timoleon received for his greatservices were a house in Syracuse, and some landed property in theneighbourhood of the city. He now sent for his family from Corinth, and became a Syracusan citizen. He continued, however, to retain, though in a private station, the greatest influence in the state. During the latter part of his life, though he was totally deprived ofsight, yet, when important affairs were discussed in the assembly, itwas customary to send for Timoleon, who was drawn in a car into themiddle of the theatre amid the shouts and affectionate greetings of theassembled citizens. When the tumult of his reception had subsided helistened patiently to the debate. The opinion which he pronounced wasusually ratified by the vote of the assembly; and he then left thetheatre amidst the same cheers which had greeted his arrival. In thishappy and honoured condition he breathed his last in B. C. 336, a fewyears after the battle of Crimesus. He was splendidly interred at thepublic cost, whilst the tears of the whole Syracusan populationfollowed him to the grave. CHAPTER XIX. PHILIP OF MACEDON, B. C. 359-336. The internal dissensions of Greece produced their natural fruits; andwe shall have now to relate the downfall of her independence and hersubjugation by a foreign power. This power was Macedonia, an obscurestate to the north of Thessaly, hitherto overlooked and despised, andconsidered as altogether barbarous, and without the pale of Greciancivilization. But though the Macedonians were not Greeks, theirsovereigns claimed to be descended from an Hellenic race, namely, thatof Temenus of Argos; and it is said that Alexander I. Proved his Argivedescent previously to contending at the Olympic games. Perdiccas iscommonly regarded as the founder of the monarchy; of the history ofwhich, however, little is known till the reign of Amyntas I. , his fifthsuccessor, who was contemporary with the Pisistratidae at Athens. Under Amyntas, who submitted to the satrap Megabyzus, Macedonia becamesubject to Persia, and remained so till after the battle of Plataea. The reigns of the succeeding sovereigns present little that isremarkable, with the exception of that of Archelaus (B. C. 413). Thismonarch transferred his residence from AEgae to Pella, which thusbecame the capital. He entertained many literary men at his court, such as Euripides, who ended his days at Pella. Archelaus wasassassinated in B. C. 399, and the crown devolved upon Amyntas II. , arepresentative of the ancient line. Amyntas left three sons, theyoungest being the celebrated Philip, of whom we have now to speak. It has been already mentioned that the youthful Philip was one of thehostages delivered to the Thebans as security for the peace effected byPelopidas. His residence at Thebes gave him some tincture of Grecianphilosophy and literature; but the most important lesson which helearned at that city was the art of war, with all the improved tacticsintroduced by Epaminondas. Philip succeeded to the throne at the age of23 (B. C. 359), and displayed at the beginning of his reign hisextraordinary energy and abilities. After defeating the Illyrians heestablished a standing army, in which discipline was preserved by theseverest punishments. He introduced the far-famed Macedonian phalanx, which was 16 men deep, armed with long projecting spears. Philip's views were first turned towards the eastern frontiers of hisdominions, where his interests clashed with those of the Athenians. Afew years before the Athenians had made various unavailing attempts toobtain possession of Amphipolis, once the jewel of their empire, butwhich they had never recovered since its capture by Brasidas in theeighth year of the Peloponnesian war. Its situation at the mouth ofthe Strymon rendered it also valuable to Macedonia, not only as acommercial port, but as opening a passage into Thrace. The Olynthianswere likewise anxious to enrol Amphipolis as a member of theirconfederacy, and accordingly proposed to the Athenians to form analliance for the purpose of defending Amphipolis against their mutualenemy. An alliance between these two powerful states would have provedan insurmountable obstacle to Philip's views: and it was thereforeabsolutely necessary to prevent this coalition. Here we have the firstinstance of Philip's skill and duplicity in negotiation. By secretlypromising the Athenians that he would put Amphipolis into their handsif they would give him possession of Pydna, he induced them to rejectthe overtures of the Olynthians; and by ceding to the latter the townof Anthemus, he bought off their opposition. He now laid siege toAmphipolis, which, being thus left unaided, fell into his hands (B. C. 358). He then forthwith marched against Pydna, which surrendered tohim; but on the ground that it was not the Athenians who had put him inpossession of this town, he refused to give up Amphipolis to them. Philip had now just reason to dread the enmity of the Athenians, andaccordingly it was his policy to court the favour of the Olynthians, and to prevent them from renewing their negotiations with theAthenians. In order to separate them more effectually, he assisted theOlynthians in recovering Potidaea, which had formerly belonged to theirconfederacy, but was now in the hands of the Athenians. On the captureof the town he handed it over to the Olynthians. Plutarch relates thatthe capture of Potidaea was accompanied with three other fortunateevents in the life of Philip, namely, the prize gained by his chariotat the Olympic games, a victory of his general Parmenio over theIllyrians, and the birth of his son Alexander. These events happenedin B. C. 356. Philip now crossed the Strymon, on the left bank of which lay Pangaeus, a range of mountains abounding in gold-mines. He conquered thedistrict, and founded there a new town called Philippi, on the site ofthe ancient Thracian town of Crenides. By improved methods of workingthe mines he made them yield an annual revenue of 1000 talents, nearly250, 000l. Meanwhile Athens was engaged in a war with her allies, which has beencalled the SOCIAL WAR; and which was, perhaps, the reason why she wasobliged to look quietly on whilst Philip was thus aggrandizing himselfat her expense. This war broke out in B. C. 357. The chief causes ofit seem to have been the contributions levied upon the allies by theAthenian generals. The war lasted three years; and as Artaxerxes, thePersian king, threatened to support the allies with a fleet of 300ships, the Athenians were obliged to consent to a disadvantageouspeace, which secured the independence of the more important allies(B. C. 355). Another war, which had been raging during the same time, tended stillfurther to exhaust the Grecian states, and thus pave the way forPhilip's progress to the supremacy. This was the SACRED WAR, whichbroke out between Thebes and Phocis in the same year as the Social War(B. C. 357). An ill-feeling had long subsisted between those twocountries. The Thebans now availed themselves of the influence whichthey possessed in the Amphictyonic council to take vengeance upon thePhocians and accordingly induced this body to impose a heavy fine uponthe latter people, because they had cultivated a portion of theCirrhaean plain, which had been consecrated to the Delphian god, andwas to lie waste for ever. The Phocians pleaded that the payment of thefine would ruin them; but instead of listening to their remonstrances, the Amphictyons doubled the amount, and threatened, in case of theircontinued refusal to reduce them to the condition of serfs. Thusdriven to desperation, the Phocians resolved to complete the sacrilegewith which they had been branded, by seizing the very temple of Delphiitself. The leader and counsellor of this enterprise was Philomelus, who, with a force of no more than 2000 men, surprised and took Delphi. At first, however, he carefully abstained from touching the sacredtreasure; but being hard pressed by the Thebans and their allies, hethrew off the scruples which he had hitherto assumed, and announcedthat the sacred treasures should be converted into a fund for thepayment of mercenaries. On the death of Philomelus, who fell inbattle, the command was assumed by his brother Onomarchus, who carriedon the war with vigour and success. But he was checked in his careerby Philip, who had previously been extending his dominion overThessaly, and who now assumed the character of a champion of theDelphic god, and made his soldiers wear wreaths of laurel plucked inthe groves of Tempe. He penetrated into Thessaly, and encountered thePhocians near the gulf of Pagassae. In the battle which ensued, Onomarchus was slain, and his army totally defeated (B. C. 352). Thisvictory made Philip master of Thessaly. He now directed his marchsouthwards with the view of subduing the Phocians; but upon reachingThermopylae he found the pass guarded by a strong Athenian force, andwas compelled, or considered it more prudent, to retreat. After his return from Thessaly Philip's views were directed towardsThrace and the Chersonese. It was at this juncture that Demosthenesstepped forwards as the proclaimed opponent of Philip, and deliveredthe first of those celebrated orations which from their subject havebeen called "the Philippics. " This most famous of all the Grecianorators was born in B. C. 382-381. Having lost his father at the earlyage of seven, his guardians abused their trust, and defrauded him ofthe greater part of his paternal inheritance. This misfortune, however, proved one of the causes which tended to make him an orator. Demosthenes, as he advanced towards manhood, perceived with indignationthe conduct of his guardians, for which he resolved to make themanswerable when the proper opportunity should arrive, by accusing themhimself. His first attempt to speak in public proved a failure, and heretired from the bema amidst the hootings and laughter of the citizens. The more judicious and candid among his auditors perceived, however, marks of genius in his speech, and rightly attributed his failure totimidity and want of due preparation. Eunomus, an aged citizen, whomet him wandering about the Piraeus in a state of dejection at his illsuccess, bade him take courage and persevere. Demosthenes now withdrewawhile from public life, and devoted himself perseveringly to remedyhis defects. They were such as might be lessened, if not removed, bypractice, and consisted chiefly of a weak voice, imperfectarticulation, and ungraceful and inappropriate action. He derived muchassistance from Satyrus the actor, who exercised him in recitingpassages from Sophocles and Euripides. He studied the best rhetoricaltreatises and orations, and is said to have copied the work ofThucydides with his own hand no fewer than eight times. He shuthimself up for two or three months together in a subterranean chamberin order to practise composition and declamation. His perseverance wascrowned with success; and he who on the first attempt had descendedfrom the bema amid the ridicule of the crowd, became at last the mostperfect orator the world has ever seen. Demosthenes had established himself as a public speaker before theperiod which we have now reached; but it is chiefly in connexion withPhilip that we are to view him as a statesman as well as an orator. Philip had shown his ambition by the conquest of Thessaly, and by thepart he had taken in the Sacred War; and Demosthenes now began toregard him as the enemy of the liberties of Athens and of Greece. Inhis first "Philippic" Demosthenes tried to rouse his countrymen toenergetic measures against this formidable enemy; but his warnings andexhortations produced little effect, for the Athenians were no longerdistinguished by the same spirit of enterprise which had characterizedthem in the days of their supremacy. No important step was taken tocurb the growing power of Philip; and it was the danger of Olynthuswhich first induced the Athenians to prosecute the war with a littlemore energy. In 350 B. C. , Philip having captured a town in Chalcidice, Olynthus began to tremble for her own safety, and sent envoys to Athensto crave assistance. Olynthus was still at the head of thirty-twoGreek towns, and the confederacy was a sort of counterpoise to thepower of Philip. It was on this occasion that Demosthenes deliveredhis three Olynthaic orations, in which he warmly advocated an alliancewith Olynthus. Demosthenes was opposed by a strong party, with which Phocion commonlyacted. Phocion is one of the most singular and original characters inGrecian history. He viewed the multitude and their affairs with ascorn which he was at no pains to disguise; receiving their anger withindifference, and their praises with contempt. His known probity alsogave him weight with the assembly. He was the only statesman of whomDemosthenes stood in awe; who was accustomed to say, when Phocion rose, "Here comes the pruner of my periods. " But Phocion's desponding views, and his mistrust of the Athenian people, made him an ill statesman at aperiod which demanded the most active patriotism. He doubtless injuredhis country by contributing to check the more enlarged and patrioticviews of Demosthenes; and though his own conduct was pure anddisinterested, he unintentionally threw his weight on the side of thosewho, like Demades and others, were actuated by the basest motives. This division of opinion rendered the operations of the Athenians forthe aid of the Olynthians languid and desultory. Town after town ofthe confederacy fell before Philip; and in 347 Olynthus itself wastaken. The whole of the Chalcidian peninsula thus became a Macedonianprovince. The prospects of Athens now became alarming, her possessions in theChersonese were threatened, as well as the freedom of the Greek townsupon the Hellespont. The Athenians had supported the Phocians in theSacred War, and were thus at war with Thebes. In order to resistPhilip the attention of the Athenians was now directed towards areconciliation with Thebes, especially since the treasures of Delphiwere nearly exhausted, and on the other hand the war was becoming everyyear more and more burthensome to the Thebans. Nor did it seemimprobable that a peace might be concluded not only between those twocities, but among the Grecian states generally. It seems to have beenthis aspect of affairs that induced Philip to make several indirectovertures to the Athenians in the summer of B. C. 347. In spite ofsubsidies from Delphi the war had been very onerous to them, and theyreceived these advances with joy, and eventually agreed to the terms ofa peace. Having thus gained over the Athenians, Philip marched throughThermopylae, and entered Phocis, which surrendered unconditionally athis approach. He then occupied Delphi, where he assembled theAmphictyons to pronounce sentence upon those who bad been concerned inthe sacrilege committed there. The council decreed that all the citiesof Phocia, except Abae, should be destroyed, and their inhabitantsscattered into villages containing not more than fifty houses each. Sparta was deprived of her share in the Amphictyonic privileges; thetwo votes in the council possessed by the Phocians were transferred tothe kings of Macedonia; and Philip was to share with the Thebans andThessalians the honour of presiding at the Pythian games (B. C. 346). The result of the Sacred War rendered Macedon the leading state inGreece. Philip at once acquired by it military glory, a reputation forpiety, and an accession of power. His ambitious designs were now tooplain to be mistaken. The eyes of the blindest among the Athenianswere at last opened; the promoters of the peace which had beenconcluded with Philip incurred the hatred and suspicion of the people;whilst on the other hand Demosthenes rose higher than ever in publicfavour. Philip was now busy with preparations for the vast projects which hecontemplated, and which embraced an attack upon the Athenian colonies, as well as upon the Persian empire. For this purpose he had organizeda considerable naval force as well as an army; and in the spring of 342B. C. He set out on an expedition against Thrace. His progress soonappeared to menace the Chersonese and the Athenian possessions in thatquarter; and at length the Athenian troops under Diopithes came intoactual collision with the Macedonians. In the following year Philipbegan to attack the Greek cities north of the Hellespont. He firstbesieged and captured Selymbria on the Propontis, and then turned hisarms against Perinthus and Byzantium. This roused the Athenians tomore vigorous action. War was formally declared against Philip, and afleet equipped for the immediate relief of Byzantium. Philip was forcedto raise the siege not only of that town but of Perinthus also, andfinally to evacuate the Chersonesus altogether. For these acceptableservices the grateful Byzantians erected a colossal statue in honour ofAthens. After this check Philip undertook an expedition against the Thracians;but meantime his partisans procured for him an opportunity of marchingagain into the very heart of Greece. Amphissa, a Locrian town, having been declared by the Amphictyoniccouncil guilty of sacrilege, Philip was appointed by the council astheir general to inflict punishment on the inhabitants of the guiltytown. Accordingly he marched southwards early in B. C. 338; but insteadof proceeding in the direction of Amphissa, he suddenly seized Elatea, the chief town in the eastern part of Phocis, thus showing clearlyenough that his real design was against Boeotia and Attica. Intelligence of this event reached Athens at night, and causedextraordinary alarm, In the following morning Demosthenes pressed uponthe assembly the necessity for making the most vigorous preparationsfor defence, and especially recommended them to send an embassy toThebes, in order to persuade the Thebans to unite with them against thecommon enemy. The details of the war that followed are exceedingly obscure. Philipappears to have again opened negotiations with the Thebans, whichfailed; and we then find the combined Theban and Athenian armiesmarching out to meet the Macedonians. The decisive battle was foughton the 7th of August, in the plain of Chaeronea in Boeotia, near thefrontier of Phocis (B. C. 338). In the Macedonian army was Philip'sson, the youthful Alexander, who was intrusted with the command of oneof the wings; and it was a charge made by him on the Theban sacred bandthat decided the fortune of the day. The sacred band was cut topieces, without flinching from the ground which it occupied, and theremainder of the combined army was completely routed. Demosthenes, whowas serving as a foot-soldier in the Athenian ranks, has been absurdlyreproached with cowardice because he participated in the general flight. The battle of Chaeronea crushed the liberties of Greece, and made it inreality a province of the Macedonian monarchy. To Athens herself theblow was almost as fatal as that of AEgospotami. But the manner inwhich Philip used his victory excited universal surprise. He dismissedthe Athenian prisoners without ransom, and voluntarily offered a peaceon terms more advantageous than the Athenians themselves would haveventured to propose. Philip, indeed, seems to have regarded Athenswith a sort of love and respect, as the centre of art and refinement, for his treatment of the Thebans was very different, and marked bygreat harshness and severity. They were compelled to recall theirexiles, in whose hands the government was placed, whilst a Macedoniangarrison was established in the Cadmea. A congress of the Grecian states was now summoned at Corinth, in whichwar was declared against Persia, and Philip was appointed generalissimoof the expedition. In the spring of B. C. 336 Philip sent some forces into Asia, under thecommand of Attalus, Parmenio, and Amyntas, which were designed toengage the Greek cities of Asia in the expedition. But before quittingMacedonia, Philip determined to provide for the safety of his dominionsby celebrating the marriage of his daughter with Alexander of Epirus. It was solemnized at AEgae, the ancient capital of Macedonia, with muchpomp, including banquets, and musical and theatrical entertainments. The day after the nuptials was dedicated to theatrical entertainments. The festival was opened with a procession of the images of the twelveOlympian deities, with which was associated that of Philip himself. The monarch took part in the procession, dressed in white robes, andcrowned with a chaplet. Whilst thus proceeding through the city, ayouth suddenly rushed out of the crowd, and, drawing a long sword whichhe had concealed under his clothes, plunged it into Philip's side, whofell dead upon the spot. The assassin was pursued by some of the royalguards, and, having stumbled in his flight, was despatched before hecould reach the place where horses had been provided for his escape. His name was Pausanias. He was a youth of noble birth, and we are toldthat his motive for taking Philip's life was that the king had refusedto punish an outrage which Attalus had committed against him. Thus fell Philip of Macedon in the twenty-fourth year of his reign andforty-seventh of his age (B. C. 336). When we reflect upon hisachievements, and how, partly by policy and partly by arms, heconverted his originally poor and distracted kingdom into the mistressof Greece, we must acknowledge him to have been an extraordinary, ifnot a great man, in the better sense of that term. His views and hisambition were certainly as large as those of his son Alexander, but hewas prevented by a premature death from carrying them out; nor wouldAlexander himself have been able to perform his great achievements hadnot Philip handed down to him all the means and instruments which theyrequired. CHAPTER XX. ALEXANDER THE GREAT, B. C. 336-323. Alexander, at the time of his father's death, was in his twentiethyear, having been born in B. C. 356. His early education was entrustedto Leonidas, a kinsman of his mother, a man of severe and parsimoniouscharacter, who trained him with Spartan simplicity and hardihood;whilst Lysimachus, a sort of under-governor, early inspired the youngprince with ambitious notions, by teaching him to love and emulate theheroes of the Iliad. According to the traditions of his family, theblood of Achilles actually ran in the veins of Alexander; [His motherOlympias was the daughter of Neoptolemus, king of Epirus who claimeddescent from Pyrrhus, the son of Achilles. ] and Lysimachus nourishedthe feeling which that circumstance was calculated to awaken by givinghim the name of that hero, whilst he called Philip Peleus, and himselfPhoenix. But the most striking feature in Alexander's education was, that he had Aristotle for his teacher, and that thus the greatestconqueror of the material world received the instructions of him whohas exercised the most extensive empire over the human intellect. Itwas probably at about the age of thirteen that he first received thelessons of Aristotle, and they can hardly have continued more thanthree years, for Alexander soon left the schools for the employments ofactive life. At the age of sixteen we find him regent of Macedoniaduring Philip's absence; and at eighteen we have seen him filling aprominent military post at the battle of Chaeronea. On succeeding to the throne Alexander announced his intention ofprosecuting his father's expedition into Asia; but it was firstnecessary for him to settle the affairs of Greece, where the news ofPhilip's assassination, and the accession of so young a prince, hadexcited in several states a hope of shaking off the Macedonian yoke. Athens was the centre of these movements. Demosthenes, although inmourning for the recent loss of an only daughter, now came abroaddressed in white, and crowned with a chaplet, in which attire he wasseen sacrificing at one of the public altars. He also moved a decreethat Philip's death should be celebrated by a public thanksgiving, andthat religious honours should be paid to the memory of Pausanias. Atthe same time he made vigorous preparations for action. He despatchedenvoys to the principal Grecian states for the purpose of inciting themagainst Macedon. Sparta, and the whole Peloponnesus, with theexception of Megalopolis and Messenia, seemed inclined to shake offtheir compulsory alliance. Even the Thebans rose against the dominantoligarchy, although the Cadmea was in the hands of the Macedonians. The activity of Alexander disconcerted all these movements. Havingmarched through Thessaly, he assembled the Amphictyonic council atThermopylae, who conferred upon him the command with which they hadinvested his father during the Sacred War. He then advanced rapidlyupon Thebes, and thus prevented the meditated revolution, The Athenianssent ambassadors to deprecate his wrath, who were graciously accepted. He then convened a general congress at Corinth, where he was appointedgeneralissimo for the Persian war in place of his father. Most of thephilosophers and persons of note near Corinth came to congratulate himon this occasion; but Diognes of Sinope who was then living in one ofthe suburbs of Corinth, did not make his appearance. Alexandertherefore resolved to pay a visit to the eccentric cynic, whom he foundbasking in the sun. On the approach of Alexander with a numerousretinue, Diogenes raised himself up a little, and the monarch affablyinquired how he could serve him? "By standing out of my sunshine, "replied the churlish philosopher. Alexander was stung with surprise ata behaviour to which he was so little accustomed; but whilst hiscourtiers were ridiculing the manners of the cynic, he turned to themand said, "Were I not Alexander, I should like to be Diogenes. " The result of the Congress might be considered a settlement of theaffairs of Greece. Alexander then returned to Macedonia in the hope ofbeing able to begin his Persian expedition in the spring of B. C. 335;but reports of disturbances among the Thracians and Triballiansdiverted his attention to that quarter. He therefore crossed MountHaemus (the Balkan) and marched into the territory of the Triballians, defeated their forces, and pursued them to the Danube, which hecrossed. After acquiring a large booty he regained the banks of theDanube, and thence marched against the Illyrians and Taulantians, whomhe speedily reduced to obedience. During Alexander's absence on these expeditions no tidings were heardof him for a considerable time, and a report of his death wasindustriously spread in Southern Greece. The Thebans rose and besiegedthe Macedonian garrison in the Cadmea, at the same time inviting otherstates to declare their independence. Demosthenes was active in aidingthe movement. He persuaded the Athenians to furnish the Thebans withsubsidies and to assure them of their support and alliance. But therapidity of Alexander again crushed the insurrection in the bud. Before the Thebans discovered that the report of his death was false hehad already arrived at Onchestus in Boeotia. Alexander was willing toafford them an opportunity for repentance, and marched slowly to thefoot of the Cadmea. But the leaders of the insurrection, believingthemselves irretrievably compromised, replied with taunts toAlexander's proposals for peace, and excited the people to the mostdesperate resistance. An engagement was prematurely brought on by oneof the generals of Alexander, in which some of the Macedonian troopswere put to the rout; but Alexander, coming up with the phalanx, whilstthe Thebans were in the disorder of pursuit, drove them back in turnand entered the gates along with them, when a fearful massacre ensuedcommitted principally by the Thracians in Alexander's service. Sixthousand Thebans are said to have been slain, and thirty thousand weremade prisoners. The doom of the conquered city was referred to theallies, who decreed her destruction. The grounds of the verdict bearthe impress of a tyrannical hypocrisy. They rested on the conduct ofthe Thebans during the Persian war, on their treatment of Plataea, andon their enmity to Athens. The inhabitants were sold as slaves, andall the houses, except that of Pindar, were levelled with the ground. The Cadmea was preserved to be occupied by a Macedonian garrison. Thebes seems to have been thus harshly treated as an example to therest of Greece, for towards the other states, which were now eager tomake their excuses and submission, Alexander showed much forbearanceand lenity. The conduct of the Athenians exhibits them deeply sunk indegradation. When they heard of the chastisement indicted upon Thebes, they immediately voted, on the motion of Demosthenes, that ambassadorsshould be sent to congratulate Alexander on his safe return from hisnorthern expeditions, and on his recent success. Alexander in replywrote a letter, demanding that eight or ten of the leading Athenianorators should be delivered up to him. At the head of the list wasDemosthenes. In this dilemma, Phocion, who did not wish to speak uponsuch a question, was loudly called upon by the people for his opinion;when he rose and said that the persons whom Alexander demanded hadbrought the state into such a miserable plight that they deserved to besurrendered, and that for his own part he should be very happy to diefor the commonwealth. At the same time he advised them to try theeffect of intercession with Alexander; and it was at last only by hisown personal application to that monarch with whom he was a greatfavourite, that the orators were spared. According to another account, however, the wrath of Alexander was appeased by the orator Demades, whoreceived from the Athenians a reward of five talents for his services. It was at this time that Alexander is said to have sent a present of100 talents to Phocion. But Phocion asked the persons who brought themoney--"Why he should be selected for such a bounty?" "Because, " theyreplied, "Alexander considers you the only just and honest man. ""Then, " said Phocion, "let him suffer me to be what I seem, and toretain that character. " And when the envoys went to his house andbeheld the frugality with which he lived, they perceived that the manwho refused such a gift was wealthier than he who offered it. Having thus put the affairs of Greece on a satisfactory footing, Alexander marched for the Hellespont in the spring of B. C. 334, leavingAntipater regent of Macedonia in his absence, with a force of 12, 000foot and 1500 horse. Alexander's own army consisted of only about50, 000 foot and 5000 horse. Of the infantry about 12, 000 wereMacedonians, and these composed the pith of the celebrated Macedonianphalanx. Such was the force with which he proposed to attack theimmense but ill-cemented empire of Persia, which, like the empires ofTurkey or Austria in modern times, consisted of various nations andraces with different religions and manners, and speaking differentlanguages; the only bond of union being the dominant military power ofthe ruling nation, which itself formed only a small numerical portionof the empire. The remote provinces, like those of Asia Minor, wereadministered by satraps and military governors who enjoyed an almostindependent authority. Before Alexander departed he distributed mostof the crown property among his friends, and when Perdiccas asked himwhat he had reserved for himself he replied, "My hopes. " A march of sixteen days brought Alexander to Sestos, where a largefleet and a number of transports had been collected for the embarkationof his army. He steered with his own hand the vessel in which hesailed towards the very spot where the Achaeans were said to havelanded when proceeding to the Trojan war. He was, as we have said, agreat admirer of Homer, a copy of whose works he always carried withhim; and on landing on the Asiatic coast he made it his first businessto visit the plain of Troy. He then proceeded to Sigeum, where hecrowned with a garland the pillar said to mark the tumulus of hismythical ancestor Achilles, and, according to custom, ran round itnaked with his friends. Alexander then marched northwards along the coast of the Propontis. The satraps of Lydia and Ionia, together with other Persian generals, were encamped on the river Granicus, with a force of 20, 000 Greekmercenaries, and about an equal number of native cavalry, with whichthey prepared to dispute the passage of the river. A Rhodian, namedMemnon, had the chief command. The veteran general Parmenio advisedAlexander to delay the attack till the following morning; to which hereplied, that it would be a bad omen at the beginning of hisexpedition, if, after passing the Hellespont, he should be stopped by apaltry stream. Thereupon he directed his cavalry to cross the river, and followed himself at the head of the phalanx. The passage, however, was by no means easy. The stream was in many parts so deep as to behardly fordable, and the opposite bank was steep and rugged. Thecavalry had great difficulty in maintaining their ground till Alexandercame up to their relief. He immediately charged into the thickest ofthe fray, and exposed himself so much that his life was often inimminent danger, and on one occasion was saved only by theinterposition of his friend Clitus. Having routed the Persians, henext attacked the Greek mercenaries, 2000 of whom were made prisoners, and the rest nearly all cut to pieces, In this engagement he killed twoPersian officers with his own hand. Alexander now marched southwards towards Sardis, which surrenderedbefore he came within sight of its walls. Having left a garrison inthat city, he arrived after a four days' march before Ephesus, whichlikewise capitulated on his approach. Magnesia, Tralles, and Miletusnext fell into his hands, the last after a short siege. Halicarnassusmade more resistance. It was obliged to be regularly approached; butat length Memnon, finding it no longer tenable, set fire to it in thenight, and crossed over to Cos. Alexander caused it to be razed to theground, and pursued his march along the southern coast of Asia Minor, with the view of seizing those towns which might afford shelter to aPersian fleet. The winter was now approaching, and Alexander sent aconsiderable part of his army under Parmenio into winter-quarters atSardis. He also sent back to Macedonia such officers and soldiers ashad been recently married, on condition that they should return in thespring with what reinforcements they could raise; and with the sameview he despatched an officer to recruit in the Peloponnesus. Meanwhile he himself with a chosen body proceeded along the coasts ofLycia and Pamphylia, having instructed Parmenio to rejoin him inPhrygia in the spring, with the main body. After he had crossed theXanthus most of the Lycian towns tendered their submission. On theborders of Lycia and Pamphylia, Mount Climax, a branch of the Taurusrange, runs abruptly into the sea, leaving only a narrow passage at itsfoot, which is frequently overflowed. This was the case at the time ofAlexander's approach. He therefore sent his main body by a long anddifficult road across the mountains to Perge; but he himself who loveddanger for its own sake, proceeded with a chosen band along the shore, wading through water that was breast-high for nearly a whole day. Thenforcing his way northwards through the barbarous tribes which inhabitedthe mountains of Pisidia, he encamped in the neighbourhood of Gordiumin Phrygia. Here he was rejoined by Parmenio and by the new leviesfrom Greece. Gordium had been the capital of the early Phrygian kings, and in it was preserved with superstitious veneration the chariot orwaggon in which the celebrated Midas, the son of Gordius, together withhis parents, had entered the town, and in conformity with an oracle hadbeen elevated to the monarchy. An ancient prophecy promised thesovereignty of Asia to him who should untie the knot of bark whichfastened the yoke of the waggon to the pole. Alexander repaired to theAcropolis, where the waggon was preserved, to attempt this adventure. Whether he undid the knot by drawing out a peg, or cut it through withhis sword, is a matter of doubt; but that he had fulfilled theprediction was placed beyond dispute that very night by a great stormof thunder and lightning. In the spring of 333 Alexander pursued his march eastwards, and onarriving at Ancyra received the submission of the Paphlagonians. Hethen advanced through Cappadocia without resistance; and forcing hisway through the passes of Mount Taurus (the PYLAE CILICIAE), hedescended into the plains of Cilicia. Hence he pushed on rapidly toTarsus, which he found abandoned by the enemy. Whilst still heatedwith the march Alexander plunged into the clear but cold stream of theCydnus, which runs by the town. The result was a fever, which soonbecame so violent as to threaten his life. An Acarnanian physician, named Philip, who accompanied him, prescribed a remedy; but at the sametime Alexander received a letter informing him that Philip had beenbribed by Darius, the Persian king, to poison him. He had however, toomuch confidence in the trusty Philip to believe the accusation andhanded him the letter whilst he drank the draught. Either themedicine, or Alexander's youthful constitution, at length triumphedover the disorder. After remaining some time at Tarsus, he continuedhis march along the coast to Mallus, where he first received certaintidings of the great Persian army, commanded by Darius in person. Itis said to have consisted of 600, 000 fighting men, besides all thattrain of attendants which usually accompanied the march of a Persianmonarch. Alexander found Darius encamped near Issus on the right bankof the little river Pinarus. The Persian king could hardly have beencaught in a more unfavourable position, since the narrow and ruggedplain between Mount Amanus and the sea afforded no scope for theevolutions of large bodies, and thus entirely deprived him of theadvantage of his numerical superiority. Alexander occupied the passbetween Syria and Cilicia at midnight, and at daybreak began to descendinto the plain of the Pinarus, ordering his troops to deploy into lineas the ground expanded and thus to arrive in battle-array before thePersians. Darius had thrown 30, 000 cavalry and 20, 000 infantry acrossthe river, to check the advance of the Macedonians; whilst on the rightbank were drawn up his choicest Persian troops to the number of 60, 000, together with 30, 000 Greek mercenaries, who formed the centre, and onwhom he chiefly relied. These, it appears, were all that the breadthof the plain allowed to be drawn up in line. The remainder of the vasthost were posted in separate bodies in the farther parts of the plain, and were unable to take any share in the combat. Darius placed himselfin the centre of the line in a magnificent state chariot. The banks ofthe Pinarus were in many parts steep, and where they were level Dariushad caused them to be intrenched. As Alexander advanced, the Persiancavalry which had been thrown across the river were recalled; but the20, 000 infantry had been driven into the mountains, where Alexanderheld them in check with a small body of horse. The left wing of theMacedonians, under the command of Parmenio, was ordered to keep nearthe sea, to prevent being outflanked. The right wing was led byAlexander in person, who rushed impetuously into the water, and wassoon engaged in close combat with the Persians. The latter wereimmediately routed; but what chiefly decided the fortune of the day wasthe timidity of Darius himself, who, on beholding the defeat of hisleft wing, immediately took to flight. His example was followed by hiswhole army. One hundred thousand Persians are said to have been leftupon the field. On reaching the hills Darius threw aside his royalrobes his bow and shield, and, mounting a fleet courser, was soon outof reach of pursuit. The Persian camp became the spoil of theMacedonians; but the tent of Darius, together with his chariot, robes, and arms, was reserved for Alexander himself. It was now that theMacedonian king first had ocular proof of the nature of Easternroyalty. One compartment of the tent of Darius had been fitted up as abath, which steamed with the richest odours; whilst another presented amagnificent pavilion, containing a table richly spread for the banquetof Darius. But from an adjoining tent issued the wail of femalevoices, where Sisygambis the mother, and Statira the wife of Darius, were lamenting the supposed death of the Persian monarch. Alexandersent to assure them of his safety, and ordered them to be treated withthe most delicate and respectful attention. Such was the memorable battle of Issus, fought in November, B. C. 333. A large treasure which Parmenio was sent forward with a detachment toseize, fell into the hands of the Macedonians at Damascus. Anotherfavourable result of the victory was that it suppressed some attemptsat revolt from the Macedonian power, which with the support of Persia, had been manifested in Greece. But, in order to put a complete stop toall such intrigues, which chiefly depended on the assistance of aPersian fleet, Alexander resolved to seize Phoenicia and Egypt, andthus to strike at the root of the Persian maritime power. Meanwhile, Darius, attended by a body of only 4000 fugitives, hadcrossed the Euphrates at Thapsacus. Before he had set out from Babylonthe whole forces of the empire had been summoned; but he had notthought it worth while to wait for what he deemed a merely uselessencumbrance; and the more distant levies, which comprised some of thebest troops of the empire, were still hastening towards Babylon. In ashort time, therefore, he would be at the head of a still more numeroushost than that which had fought at Issus; yet he thought it safer toopen negotiations with Alexander than to trust to the chance of arms. With this view he sent a letter to Alexander, who was now at Marathusin Phoenicia, proposing to become his friend and ally; but Alexanderrejected all his overtures, and told him that he must in future beaddressed not in the language of an equal, but of a subject. As Alexander advanced southwards, all the towns of Phoenicia hastenedto open their gates; the inhabitants of Sidon even hailed him as theirdeliverer. Tyre, also, sent to tender her submission; but coupled withreservations by no means acceptable to a youthful conqueror in the fulltide of success. Alexander affected to receive their offer as anunconditional surrender, and told them that he would visit their cityand offer sacrifices to Melcart, a Tyrian deity, who was considered asidentical with the Grecian Hercules. This brought the matter to anissue. The Tyrians now informed him that they could not admit anyforeigners within their walls, and that, if he wished to sacrifice toMelcart, he would find another and more ancient shrine in Old Tyre, onthe mainland. Alexander indignantly dismissed the Tyrian ambassadors, and announced his intention of laying siege to their city. The Tyriansprobably deemed it impregnable. It was by nature a place of greatstrength, and had been rendered still stronger by art. The island onwhich it stood was half a mile distant from the mainland; and thoughthe channel was shallow near the coast, it deepened to three fathomsnear the island. The shores of the island were rocky and precipitous, and the walls rose from the cliffs to the height of 150 feet in solidmasonry. As Alexander possessed no ships, the only method by which hecould approach the town was by constructing a causeway, the materialsfor which were collected from the forests of Libanus and the ruins ofOld Tyre. After overcoming many difficulties the mole was at lengthpushed to the foot of the walls; and as soon as Alexander had effecteda practicable breach, he ordered a general assault both by land andsea. The breach was stormed under the immediate inspection ofAlexander himself; and though the Tyrians made a desperate resistance, they were at length overpowered, when the city became one wide scene ofindiscriminate carnage and plunder. The siege had lasted seven months, and the Macedonians were so exasperated by the difficulties and dangersthey had undergone that they granted no quarter. Eight thousand of thecitizens are said to have been massacred; and the remainder, with theexception of the king and some of the principal men, who had takenrefuge in the temple of Melcart, were sold into slavery to the numberof 30, 000. Tyre was taken in the month of July in 332. Whilst Alexander was engaged in the siege of Tyre, Darius made himfurther and more advantageous proposals. He now offered 10, 000 talentsas the ransom of his family, together with all the Provinces west ofthe Euphrates, and his daughter Barsine in marriage, as the conditionsof a peace. When these offers were submitted to the council Parmeniowas not unnaturally struck with their magnificence, and observed, thatwere he Alexander he would accept them. "And so would I, " replied theking, "were I Parmenio. " Darius, therefore, prepared himself for adesperate resistance. After the fall of Tyre, Alexander marched with his army towards Egypt, whilst his fleet proceeded along the coast. Gaza, a strong fortress onthe sea-shore, obstinately held out, and delayed his progress three orfour months. After the capture of this city Alexander met his fleet atPelusium, and ordered it to sail up the Nile as far as Memphis, whitherhe himself marched with his army across the desert. He conciliated theaffection of the Egyptians by the respect with which he treated theirnational superstitions, whilst the Persians by an opposite line ofconduct had incurred their deadliest hatred. He then sailed down thewestern branch of the Nile, and at its mouth traced the plan of the newcity of Alexandria, which for many centuries continued to be not onlythe grand emporium of Europe, Africa, and India, but also the principalcentre of intellectual life. Being now on the confines of Libya, Alexander resolved to visit the celebrated oracle of Zeus (Jupiter)Ammon, which lay in the bosom of the Libyan wilderness. The conquerorwas received by the priests with all the honours of sacred pomp. Heconsulted the oracle in secret, and is said never to have disclosed theanswer which he received; though that it was an answer that contentedhim appeared from the magnificence of the offerings which he made tothe god. Some say that Ammon saluted him as the son of Zeus. Alexander returned to Phoenicia in the spring of 331. He then directedhis march through Samaria, and arrived at Thapsacus on the Euphratesabout the end of August. After crossing the river he struck to thenorth-east through a fertile and well-supplied country. On his marchhe was told that Darius was posted with an immense force on the leftbank of the Tigris; but on arriving at that river he found nobody todispute his passage. He then proceeded southwards along its banks, andafter four days' march fell in with a few squadrons of the enemy'scavalry. From some of these who were made prisoners Alexander learnedthat Darius was encamped with his host on one of the extensive plainsbetween the Tigris and the mountains of Kurdistan, near a villagecalled Gaugamela (the Camel's House). The town of Arbela, after whichthe battle that ensued is commonly named, lay at about twenty milesdistance, and there Darius had deposited his baggage and treasure. That monarch had been easily persuaded that his former defeat was owingsolely to the nature of the ground; and, therefore, he now selected awide plain for an engagement, where there was abundant room for hismultitudinous infantry, and for the evolutions of his horsemen andcharioteers. Alexander, after giving his army a few days' rest, setout to meet the enemy soon after midnight, in order that he might comeup with them about daybreak. On ascending some sand-hills the wholearray of the Persians suddenly burst upon the view of the Macedonians, at the distance of three or four miles. Darius, as usual, occupied thecentre, surrounded by his body-guard and chosen troops. In front ofthe royal position were ranged the war-chariots and elephants, and oneither side the Greek mercenaries, to the number, it is said, of50, 000. Alexander spent the first day in surveying the ground andpreparing for the attack; he also addressed his troops, pointing out tothem that the prize of victory would not be a mere province, but thedominion of all Asia. Yet so great was the tranquillity with which hecontemplated the result, that at daybreak on the following morning, when the officers came to receive his final instructions, they foundhim in a deep slumber. His army, which consisted only of 40, 000 footand 7000 horse, was drawn up in the order which he usually observed, namely, with the phalanx in the centre in six divisions, and theMacedonian cavalry on the right, where Alexander himself took hisstation. The Persians, fearful of being surprised, had stood under armsthe whole night, so that the morning found them exhausted anddispirited. Some of them, however, fought with considerable bravery;but when Alexander had succeeded in breaking their line by an impetuouscharge, Darius mounted a fleet horse and took to flight, as at Issus, though the fortune of the day was yet far from having been decided. Atlength, however, the rout became general. Whilst daylight lastedAlexander pursued the flying enemy as far as the banks of the Lycus, orGreater Zab, where thousands of the Persians perished in the attempt topass the river. After resting his men a few hours Alexander continuedthe pursuit at midnight in the hope of overtaking Darius at Arbela. ThePersian monarch, however, had continued his flight without stopping;but the whole of the royal baggage and treasure was captured. Finding any further pursuit of Darius hopeless, Alexander now directedhis march towards Babylon. At a little distance from the city thegreater part of the population came out to meet him, headed by theirpriests and magistrates, tendering their submission and bearing withthem magnificent presents. Alexander then made his triumphant entryinto Babylon, riding in a chariot at the head of his army. The streetswere strewed with flowers, incense smoked on either hand on silveraltars, and the priests celebrated his entry with hymns. Nor was thisa mere display of a compulsory obedience. Under the Persian sway theChaldaean religion had been oppressed and persecuted; the temple ofBelus had been destroyed and still lay in ruins; and both priests andpeople consequently rejoiced at the downfall of a dynasty from whichthey had suffered so much wrong. Alexander observed here the samepolitic conduct which he had adopted in Egypt. He caused the ruinedtemples to be restored, and proposed to offer personally, but under thedirection of the priests, a sacrifice to Belus. Alexander contemplatedmaking Babylon the capital of his future empire. His army was rewardedwith a large donative from the Persian treasury; and after beingallowed to indulge for some time in the luxury of Babylon, was againput in motion, towards the middle of November, for Susa. It was therethat the Persian treasures were chiefly accumulated, and Alexander haddespatched one of his generals to take possession of the cityimmediately after the battle of Arbela. It was surrendered without ablow by the satrap Abulites. The treasure found there amounted to40, 000 talents in gold and silver bullion, and 9000 in gold Darics. But among all these riches the interest of the Greeks must have beenexcited in a lively manner by the discovery of the spoils carried offfrom Greece by Xerxes. Among them were the bronze statues of Harmodiusand Aristogiton, which Alexander now sent back to Athens, and whichwere long afterwards preserved in the Ceramicus. At Susa Alexander received reinforcements of about 15, 000 men fromGreece. He then directed his march south-eastwards towards Persepolis. His road lay through the mountainous territory of the Uxians, whorefused him a passage unless he paid the usual tribute which they werein the habit of extorting even from the Persian kings. But Alexanderrouted them with great slaughter. He then advanced rapidly toPersepolis, whose magnificent ruins still attest its ancient splendour. It was the real capital of the Persian kings, though they generallyresided at Susa during the winter, and at Ecbatana in summer. Thetreasure found there exceeded that both of Babylon and Susa, and issaid to have amounted to 120, 000 talents or nearly 30, 000, 000l. Sterling. It was here that Alexander is related to have committed anact of senseless folly, by firing with his own hand the ancient andmagnificent palace of the Persian kings; of which the most charitableversion is that he committed the act when heated with wine at theinstigation of Thais, an Athenian courtezan. By some writers, however, the story is altogether disbelieved, and the real destruction ofPersepolis referred to the Mahommedan epoch. Whilst at Persepolis, Alexander visited the tomb of Cyrus, the founder of the Persianmonarchy, which was situated at a little distance, at a city calledPasargadae. Thus in between three and four years after crossing the HellespontAlexander had established himself on the Persian throne. But Dariuswas not yet in his power. After the battle of Arbela that monarch hadfled to Ecbatana. It was not till about four months after the battleof Arbela, and consequently early in 330, that Alexander quittedPersepolis to resume the pursuit of Darius. On approaching Ecbatana helearned that the Persian monarch had already fled with the little armywhich still adhered to him. Alexander, with his main body, thenpursued Darius through Media by forced marches and reached Rhagae, adistance of three hundred miles from Ecbatana, in eleven days. Such wasthe rapidity of the march that many men and horses died of fatigue. AtRhagae he heard that Darius had already passed the defile called the"Caspian Gates, " leading into the Bactrian provinces; and, as that passwas fifty miles distant, urgent pursuit was evidently useless. Hetherefore allowed his troops five days' rest, and then resumed hismarch. Soon after passing the Gates he learned that Darius had beenseized and loaded with chains by his own satrap Bessus, who entertainedthe design of establishing himself in Bactria as an independentsovereign. This intelligence stimulated Alexander to make still furtherhaste with part of his cavalry and a chosen body of foot. On thefourth day he succeeded in overtaking the fugitives with his cavalry, having been obliged to leave the infantry behind, with directions tofollow more at leisure. The enemy, who did not know his real strength, were struck with consternation at his appearance, and fledprecipitately. Bessus and his adherents now endeavoured to persuadeDarius to fly with them, and provided a fleet horse for that purpose. But the Persian monarch, who had already experienced the generosity ofAlexander in the treatment of his captive family, preferred to fallinto his hands, whereupon the conspirators mortally wounded him in thechariot in which they kept him confined, and then took to flight. Darius expired before Alexander could come up, who threw his own cloakover the body. He then ordered him to be magnificently buried in thetomb of his ancestors, and provided for the fitting education of hischildren. The next three years were employed by Alexander in subduing Hyrcania, Drangiana, Bactria, and Sogdiana, and the other northern provinces ofthe Persian empire. In these distant regions he founded severalcities, one of which in Aria, called after him (Alexandria Ariorum), isstill, under the name of HERAT, one of the chief cities in centralAsia. Alexander's stay in Prophthasia, the capital of Drangiana, wassignalized by a supposed conspiracy against his life, formed byPhilotas, the son of Parmenio. Alexander had long entertainedsuspicions of Philotas. But the immediate subject of accusationagainst him was that he had not revealed a conspiracy which wasreported to be forming against Alexander's life, and which he haddeemed too contemptible to notice. He was consequently suspected ofbeing implicated in it; and on being put to the torture he not onlyconfessed his own guilt in his agonies, but also implicated his father. Philotas was executed, and an order was sent to Ecbatana, whereParmenio then was, directing that veteran general to be put to death. A letter, purporting to be from his son, was handed to him; and whilstthe old man was engaged in reading it, Polydamus, his intimate friend, together with some others of Alexander's principal officers, fell uponand slew him. His head was carried to Alexander. Meantime Bessus had assumed the royal dignity in Bactria; but uponAlexander's approach he fled across the Oxus into Sogdiana. Early inthe summer of 329 Alexander followed him across the Oxus; and shortlyafterwards Bessus was betrayed by two of his own officers into thehands of Alexander. Bessus was carried to Zariaspa, the capital ofBactria, where he was brought before a Persian court, and put to deathin a cruel and barbarous manner. Alexander even crossed the river Jaxartes (SIR), and defeated theScythians. Sogdiana alone of the northern provinces offered anyserious resistance to his arms. Accordingly in 328 he again crossedthe Oxus. He divided his army into five bodies, ordering them to scourthe country in different directions. With the troops under his owncommand he marched against the fortress called the Sogdian Rock, seatedon an isolated hill, so precipitous as to be deemed inaccessible, andso well supplied with provisions as to defy a blockade. The summons tosurrender was treated with derision by the commander, who inquiredwhether the Macedonians had wings? But a small body of Macedonianshaving succeeded in scaling some heights which overhung the fortress, the garrison became so alarmed that they immediately surrendered. Tothis place a Bactrian named Oxyartes, an adherent of Bessus, had senthis daughters for safety. One of them, named Roxana, was of surpassingbeauty, and Alexander made her the partner of his throne (B. C. 328). At Maracanda (now SAMARCAND) he appointed his friend Clitus satrap ofBactria. On the eve of the parting of the two friends Alexandercelebrated a festival in honour of the Dioscuri (Castor and Pollux), though the day was sacred to Dionysus (Bacchus). The banquet wasattended by several parasites and literary flatterers, who magnifiedthe praises of Alexander with extravagant and nauseous flattery. Clitus, whom wine had released from all prudent reserve, sternlyrebuked their fulsome adulation; and, as the conversation turned on thecomparative merits of the exploits of Alexander and his father Philip, he did not hesitate to prefer the exploits of the latter. He remindedAlexander of his former services, and, stretching forth his hand, exclaimed, "It was this hand Alexander, which saved your life at thebattle of the Granicus!" The king, who was also flushed with wine, wasso enraged by these remarks, that he rushed at Clitus with theintention of killing him on the spot, but he was held back by hisfriends, whilst Clitus was at the same time hurried out of the room. Alexander, however, was no sooner released than, snatching a spear, hesprang to the door, and meeting Clitus, who was returning in equal furyto brave his anger, ran him through the body. But when the deed wasdone he was seized with repentance and remorse. He flung himself onhis couch and remained for three whole days in an agony of grief, refusing all sustenance, and calling on the names of Clitus and of hissister Lanice who had been his nurse. It was not till his bodilystrength began to fail through protracted abstinence that he at lastbecame more composed, and consented to listen to the consolations ofhis friends, and the words of the soothsayers, who ascribed the murderof Clitus to a temporary frenzy with which Dionysus had visited him asa punishment for neglecting the celebration of his festival. After reducing Sogdiana, Alexander returned into Bactria in 327, andbegan to prepare far his projected expedition into India. While he wasthus employed a plot was formed against his life by the royal pages, incited by Hermolaus, one of their number, who had been punished withstripes for anticipating the king during a hunting party in slaying awild boar. Hermolaus and his associates, among whom was Callisthenes, a pupil of Aristotle, were first tortured, and then put to death. Itseems certain that a conspiracy existed; but no less certain that thegrowing pride and haughtiness of Alexander were gradually alienatingfrom him the hearts of his followers. Alexander did not leave Bactria till late in the spring. He crossedthe Indus by a bridge of boats near Taxila, the present ATTOCK, wherethe river is about 1000 feet broad, and very deep. He now found himselfin the district at present called the PENJ-AB (or the FIVE RIVERS). Taxiles, the sovereign of the district, at once surrendered Taxila, hiscapital and joined the Macedonian force with 5000 men. Hence Alexanderproceeded with little resistance to the river Haydaspes (BEHUT orJELUM). On the opposite bank, Porus, a powerful Indian king, preparedto dispute his progress with a numerous and well-appointed force. Alexander, however, by a skilful stratagem conveyed his army safelyacross the river. An obstinate battle then ensued. In the army ofPorus were many elephants, the sight and smell of which frightened thehorses of Alexander's cavalry. But these unwieldy animals ultimatelyproved as dangerous to the Indians as to the Greeks; for when driveninto a narrow space they became unmanageable, and created greatconfusion in the ranks of Porus. By a few vigorous charges the Indianswere completely routed, with the loss of 12, 000 slain and 9000prisoners. Among the latter was Porus himself, who was conducted intothe presence of Alexander. The courage which he had displayed in thebattle had excited the admiration of the Macedonian king. Mounted onan enormous elephant, he retreated leisurely when the day was lost, andlong rejected every summons to surrender; till at length, overcome bythirst and fatigue, he permitted himself to be taken. Even in thissituation Porus still retained his majestic bearing, the effect ofwhich was increased by the extraordinary height of his stature. OnAlexander's inquiring how he wished to be treated, he replied, "Like aking. " "And have you no other request?" asked Alexander. "No, "answered Porus; "everything is comprehended in the word king. " Struckby his magnanimity, Alexander not only restored him to his dominions, but also considerably enlarged them; seeking by these means to retainhim as an obedient and faithful vassal. Alexander rested a month on the banks of the Hydaspes, where hecelebrated his victory by games and sacrifices, and founded two townsone of which he named Nicaea, and the other Bucephala, in honour of hisgallant charger Bucephalus, which is said to have died there. He thenoverran the whole of the PENJ-AB, as far as the Hyphasis (GHARRA), itssouthern boundary. Upon reaching this river, the army, worn out byfatigues and dangers, positively refused to proceed any farther;although Alexander passionately desired to attack a monarch still morepowerful than Porus, whose dominions lay beyond the Hyphasis. All hisattempts to induce his soldiers to proceed proving ineffectual, hereturned to the Hydaspes, when he ordered part of his army to descendthe river on its opposite banks; whilst he himself at the head of 8000men, embarked on board a fleet of about 2000 vessels, which he hadordered to be prepared with the view of sailing down the Indus to itsmouth. The army began to move in November 327. The navigation lasted severalmonths, but was accomplished without any serious opposition, exceptfrom the tribe of the Malli, who are conjectured to have occupied thesite of the present MOOLTAN. At the storming of their town the life ofAlexander was exposed to imminent danger. He was the first to scalethe walls of the citadel, and was followed by four officers; but beforea fifth man could mount, the ladder broke, and Alexander was leftexposed on the wall to the missiles of the enemy. Leaping down intothe citadel among the enemy, he placed his back to the wall, where hesucceeded in keeping the enemy at bay, and slew two of their chiefs whohad ventured within reach of his sword. But an arrow which pierced hiscorslet brought him to the ground, fainting with loss of blood. Two ofhis followers, who had jumped down after him, now stood over anddefended him; till at length, more soldiers having scaled the walls andopened one of the gates, sufficient numbers poured in not only torescue their monarch, but to capture the citadel; when every livingbeing within the place was put to the sword. Upon arriving at themouth of the Indus, Nearchus with the fleet was directed to explore theIndian Ocean, the Persian Gulf, and the mouths of the Tigris andEuphrates, with the view of establishing a maritime communicationbetween India and Persia. Alexander himself proceeded with his army, in the autumn of 326, through the burning deserts of Gedrosia towardsPersepolis; marching himself on foot, and sharing the privations andfatigues of the meanest soldier. In these regions the very atmosphereseems to be composed of a fine dust which, on the slightest wind, penetrates into the mouth and nose, whilst the soil affords no firmfooting to the traveller. The march through this inhospitable regionlasted 60 days, during which numbers of the soldiers perished fromfatigue or disease. At length they emerged into the fertile province ofCarmania. Whilst in this country Alexander was rejoined by Nearchus, who had arrived with his fleet at Harmozia (ORMUZ); but whosubsequently prosecuted his voyage to the head of the Persian Gulf. Upon reaching Susa (B. C. 325) Alexander allowed his soldiers to reposefrom their fatigues, and amused them with a series of brilliantfestivities. It was here that he adopted various measures with theview of consolidating his empire. One of the most important was toform the Greeks and Persians into one people by means ofintermarriages. He himself celebrated his nuptials with Statira theeldest daughter of Darius, and bestowed the hand of her sister, Drypetis, on Hephaestion. Other marriages were made betweenAlexander's officers and Asiatic women, to the number, it is said, ofabout a hundred; whilst no fewer than 10, 000 of the common soldiersfollowed their example and took native wives. As another means ofamalgamating the Europeans and Asiatics, he caused numbers of thelatter to be admitted into the army, and to be armed and trained in theMacedonian fashion. But these innovations were regarded with a jealouseye by most of the Macedonian veterans; and this feeling was increasedby the conduct of Alexander himself, who assumed every day more andmore of the state and manners of an eastern despot. Their long-stifleddissatisfaction broke out into open mutiny and rebellion at a reviewwhich took place at Opis on the Tigris. But the mutiny was quelled bythe decisive conduct of Alexander. He immediately ordered thirteen ofthe ringleaders to be seized and executed, and then, addressing theremainder, pointed out to them how, by his own and his father'sexertions, they had been raised from the condition of scatteredherdsmen to be the masters of Greece and the lords of Asia; and that, whilst he had abandoned to them the richest and most valuable fruits ofhis conquest, he had reserved nothing but the diadem for himself, asthe mark of his superior labours and more imminent perils. He thensecluded himself for two whole days, during which his Macedonian guardwas exchanged for a Persian one, whilst nobles of the same nation wereappointed to the most confidential posts about his person. Overcome bythese marks of alienation on the part of their sovereign, theMacedonians now supplicated with tears to be restored to favour. Asolemn reconciliation was effected, and 10, 000 veterans were dismissedto their homes under the conduct of Craterus. That general was alsoappointed to the government of Macedonia in place of Antipater, who wasordered to repair to Asia with fresh reinforcements. Soon after these occurrences Alexander proceeded to Ecbatana, whereduring the autumn he solemnised the festival of Dionysus withextraordinary splendour. But his enjoyment was suddenly converted intobitterness by the death of his friend Hephaestion, who was carried offby a fever. This event threw Alexander into a deep melancholy, fromwhich he never entirely recovered. The memory of Hephaestion washonoured by extravagant marks of public mourning, and his body wasconveyed to Babylon, to be there interred with the utmost magnificence. Alexander entered Babylon in the spring of 324, notwithstanding thewarnings of the priests of Belus, who predicted some serious evil tohim if he entered the city at that time. Babylon was now to witnessthe consummation of his triumphs and of his life. Ambassadors from allparts of Greece, from Libya, Italy, and probably from still moredistant regions, were waiting to salute him, and to do homage to him asthe conqueror of Asia; the fleet under Nearchus had arrived after itslong and enterprising voyage; whilst for the reception of this navy, which seemed to turn the inland capital of his empire into a port, amagnificent harbour was in process of construction. The mind ofAlexander was still occupied with plans of conquest and ambition; hisnext design was the subjugation of Arabia; which, however, was to beonly the stepping-stone to the conquest of the whole known world. Hedespatched three expeditions to survey the coast of Arabia; ordered afleet to be built to explore the Caspian sea; and engaged himself insurveying the course of the Euphrates, and in devising improvements ofits navigation. The period for commencing the Arabian campaign hadalready arrived; solemn sacrifices were offered up for its success, andgrand banquets were given previous to departure. At these carousalsAlexander drank deep; and at the termination of the one given by hisfavourite, Medius, he was seized with unequivocal symptoms of fever. For some days, however, he neglected the disorder, and continued tooccupy himself with the necessary preparations for the march. But ineleven days the malady had gained a fatal strength, and terminated hislife on the 28th of June, B. C. 323, at the early age of 32. Whilst helay speechless on his deathbed his favourite troops were admitted tosee him; but he could offer them no other token of recognition than bystretching out his hand. Few of the great characters of history have been so differently judgedas Alexander. Of the magnitude of his exploits, indeed, and of thejustice with which, according to the usual sentiments of mankind, theyconfer upon him the title of "Great, " there can be but one opinion. His military renown, however, consists more in the seeminglyextravagant boldness of his enterprises than in the real power of thefoes whom he overcame. The resistance he met with was not greater thanthat which a European army experiences in the present day from onecomposed of Asiatics; and the empire of the East was decided by the twobattles of Issus and Arbela. His chief difficulties were thegeographical difficulties of distance, climate, and the nature of theground traversed. But this is no proof that he was incompetent to meeta foe more worthy of his military skill; and his proceedings in Greecebefore his departure show the reverse. His motive, it must be allowed, seem rather to have sprung from the love of personal glory and theexcitement of conquest, than from any wish to benefit his subjects. Yet on the whole his achievements, though they undoubtedly occasionedgreat partial misery, must be regarded as beneficial to the human race. By his conquests the two continents were put into closer communicationwith one another; and both, but particularly Asia, were the gainers. The language, the arts, and the literature of Greece were introducedinto the East; and after the death of Alexander, Greek kingdoms wereformed in the western parts of Asia, which continued to exist for manygenerations. CHAPTER XXI. FROM THE DEATH OF ALEXANDER THE GREAT TO THE CONQUEST OF GREECE BY THEROMANS, B. C. 323-146. The vast empire of Alexander the Great was divided, at his death, amonghis generals; but, before relating their history, it is necessary totake a brief retrospective glance at the affairs of Greece. Threeyears after Alexander had quitted Europe the Spartans made a vigorouseffort to throw off the Macedonian yoke. They were joined by most ofthe Peloponnesian states; but though they met with some success atfirst, they were finally defeated with great slaughter by Antipaternear Megalopolis. Agis fell in the battle, and the chains of Greecewere riveted more firmly than ever. This victory, and the successes ofAlexander in the East, encouraged the Macedonian party in Athens totake active measures against Demosthenes; and AEschines revived an oldcharge against him which had lain dormant for several years. Soonafter the battle of Chaeronea, Ctesiphon had proposed that Demosthenesshould be presented with a golden crown in the theatre during the greatDionysiac festival, on account of the services he had conferred uponhis country. For proposing this decree AEschines indicted Ctesiphon;but though the latter was the nominal defendant, it was Demosthenes whowas really put upon his trial. The case was decided in 330 B. C. , andhas been immortalised by the memorable and still extant speeches ofAEschines 'Against Ctesiphon' and of Demosthenes 'On the Crown. 'AEschines, who did not obtain a fifth part of the votes, andconsequently became himself liable to a penalty, was so chagrined athis defeat that he retired to Rhodes. In B. C. 325 Harpalus arrived in Athens. He had been left by Alexanderat Ecbatana in charge of the royal treasures, and appears also to haveheld the important satrapy of Babylon. During the absence of Alexanderin India he gave himself up to the most extravagant luxury andprofusion, squandering the treasures intrusted to him, at the same timethat he alienated the people subject to his rule by his lustfulexcesses and extortions. He had probably thought that Alexander wouldnever return from the remote regions of the East into which he hadpenetrated; but when he at length learnt that the king was on his marchback to Susa, and had visited with unsparing rigour those of hisofficers who had been guilty of any excesses during his absence, he atonce saw that his only resource was in flight. Collecting together allthe treasures which he could, and assembling a body of 6000mercenaries, he hastened to the coast of Asia, and from thence crossedover to Attica, At first the Athenians refused to receive him; butbribes administered to some of the principal orators induced them toalter their determination. Such a step was tantamount to an act ofhostility against Macedonia itself; and accordingly Antipater calledupon the Athenians to deliver up Harpalus, and to bring to trial thosewho had accepted his bribes. The Athenians did not venture to disobeythese demands. Harpalus was put into confinement, but succeeded inmaking his escape from prison. Demosthenes was among the orators whowere brought to trial for corruption. He was declared to be guilty, and was condemned to pay a fine of 50 talents. Not being able to raisethat sum, he was thrown into prison; but he contrived to make hisescape, and went into exile. There are, however, good grounds fordoubting his guilt; and it is more probable that he fell a victim tothe implacable hatred of the Macedonian party. Upon quitting AthensDemosthenes resided chiefly at AEgina or Troezen, in sight of hisnative land, and whenever he looked towards her shores it was observedthat he shed tears. When the news of Alexander's death reached Athens, the anti-Macedonianparty, which, since the exile of Demosthenes, was led by Hyperides, carried all before it. The people in a decree declared theirdetermination to support the liberty of Greece. Envoys were despatchedto all the Grecian states to announce the determination of Athens, andto exhort them to struggle with her for their independence. This callwas responded to in the Peloponnesus only by the smaller states, whilstSparta, Arcadia, and Achaia kept aloof. In northern Greece theconfederacy was joined by most of the states except the Boaotians; andLeosthenes was appointed commander-in-chief of the allied forces. The allied army assembled in the neighbourhood of Thermopylae. Antipater now advanced from the north, and offered battle in the valeof the Spercheus; but being deserted by his Thessalian cavalry, whowent over to his opponents during the heat of the engagement, he wasobliged to retreat and threw himself into Lamia, a strong fortress onthe Malian gulf. Leosthenes, desirous to finish the war at a blow, pressed the siege with the utmost vigour; but his assaults wererepulsed, and he was compelled to resort to the slower method of ablockade. From this town the contest between Antipater and the alliedGreeks has been called the Lamian War. The novelty of a victory over the Macedonian arms was received withboundless exultation at Athens, and this feeling was raised to a stillhigher pitch by the arrival of an embassy from Antipater to sue forpeace. But the Athenians were so elated with their good fortune, thatthey would listen to no terms but the unconditional surrender ofAntipater. Meantime Demosthenes, though still an exile, exertedhimself in various parts of the Peloponnesus in counteracting theenvoys of Antipater, and in endeavouring to gain adherents to the causeof Athens and the allies. The Athenians in return invited Demosthenesback to his native country, and a ship was sent to convey him toPiraeus, where he was received with extraordinary honours. Meanwhile Leonnatus, governor of the Hellespontine Phrygia, hadappeared on the theatre of war with an army of 20, 000 foot and 2500horse. Leosthenes had been slain at Lamia in a sally of the besieged;and Antiphilus, on whom the command of the allied army devolved, hastened to offer battle to Leonnatus before he could arrive at Lamia. The hostile armies met in one of the plains of Thessaly, whereLeonnatus was killed and his troops defeated. Antipater, as soon as theblockade of Lamia was raised, had pursued Antiphilus, and on the dayafter the battle he effected a junction with the beaten army ofLeonnatus. Shortly afterwards Antipater was still further reinforced by thearrival of Craterus with a considerable force from Asia; and being nowat the head of an army which outnumbered the forces of the allies, hemarched against them and gained a decisive victory over them nearCrannon in Thessaly, on the 7th of August, B. C. 322. The allies werenow compelled to sue for peace; but Antipater refused to treat withthem except as separate states, foreseeing that by this means manywould be detached from the confederacy. The result answered hisexpectations. One by one the various states submitted, till at lengthall had laid down their arms. Athens, the original instigator of theinsurrection, now lay at the mercy of the conqueror. As Antipateradvanced, Phocion used all the influence which he possessed with theMacedonians in favour of his countrymen; but he could obtain no otherterms than an unconditional surrender. On a second mission Phocionreceived the final demands of Antipater; which were, that the Atheniansshould deliver up a certain number of their orators, among whom wereDemosthenes and Hyperides; that their political franchise should belimited by a property qualification; that they should receive aMacedonian garrison in Munychia; and that they should defray theexpenses of the war. Such was the result of the Lamian war, whichriveted the Macedonian fetters more firmly than ever. After the return of the envoys bringing the ultimatum of Antipater, thesycophant Demades procured a decree for the death of the denouncedorators. Demosthenes, and the other persons compromised, made theirescape from Athens before the Macedonian garrison arrived. AEgina wastheir first place of refuge, but they soon parted in differentdirections. Hyperides fled to the temple of Demeter (Ceres) atHermione in Peloponnesus, whilst Demosthenes took refuge in that ofPoseidon (Neptune) in the isle of Calaurea, near Troezen. But thesatellites of Antipater, under the guidance of a Thurian named Archiaswho had formerly been an actor, tore them from their sanctuaries. Hyperides was carried to Athens, and it is said that Antipater took thebrutal and cowardly revenge of ordering his tongue to be cut out, andhis remains to be thrown to the dogs. Demosthenes contrived at leastto escape the insults of the tyrannical conqueror. Archias at firstendeavoured to entice him from his sanctuary by the blandest promises, But Demosthenes, forewarned, it is said, by a dream, fixing his eyesintently on him, exclaimed, "Your acting, Archias, never touched meformerly, nor do your promises now. " And when Archias began to employthreats, "Good, " said Demosthenes; "now you speak as from theMacedonian tripod; before you were only playing a part. But waitawhile, and let me write my last directions to my family. " So takinghis writing materials, he put the reed into his mouth, and bit it forsome time, as was his custom when composing; after which he covered hishead with his garment and reclined against a pillar. The guards whoaccompanied Archias, imagining this to be a mere trick, laughed andcalled him coward, whilst Archias began to renew his false persuasions. Demosthenes, feeling the poison work--for such it was that he hadconcealed in the reed now bade him lead on. "You may now, " said he, "enact the part of Creon, and cast me out unburied; but at least, Ogracious Poseidon, I have not polluted thy temple by my death whichAntipater and his Macedonians would not have scrupled at. " But whilsthe was endeavouring to walk out, he fell down by the altar and expired. The history of Alexander's successors is marked from first to last bydissension, crimes, and unscrupulous ambition. It is only necessaryfor the purpose of the present work to mention very briefly the mostimportant events. Alexander on his death-bed is said to have given his signet-ring toPerdiccas, but he had left no legitimate heir to his throne, though hiswife Roxana was pregnant. On the day after Alexander's death amilitary council was assembled, in which Perdiccas assumed a leadingpart; and in which, after much debate, an arrangement was at lengtheffected on the following basis: That Philip Arrhidaeus, a young manof weak intellect, the half-brother of Alexander (being the son ofPhilip by a Thessalian woman named Philinna), should be declared king, reserving however to the child of Roxana if a son should be born, ashare in the sovereignty: that the government of Macedonia and Greeceshould be divided between Antipater and Craterus: that Ptolemy shouldpreside over Egypt and the adjacent countries: that Antigonus shouldhave Phrygia Proper, Lycia, and Pamphylia: that the HellespontinePhrygia should be assigned to Leonnatus: that Eumenes should have thesatrapy of Paphlagonia and Cappadocia, which countries, however, stillremained to be subdued: and that Thrace should be committed toLysimachus. Perdiccas reserved for himself the command of thehorse-guards, the post before held by Hephaestion, in virtue of whichhe became the guardian of Philip Arrhidaeus, the nominal sovereign. Itwas not for some time after these arrangements had been completed thatthe last rites were paid to Alexander's remains. They were conveyed toAlexandria, and deposited in a cemetery which afterwards became theburial-place of the Ptolemies. Nothing could exceed the magnificenceof the funeral car, which was adorned with ornaments of massive gold, and was so heavy, that it was more than a year in being conveyed fromBabylon to Syria, though drawn by 84 mules. In due time Roxana wasdelivered of a son, to whom the name of Alexander was given, and whowas declared the partner of Arrhidaeus in the empire. Roxana hadpreviously inveigled Statira and her sister Drypetis to Babylon, whereshe caused them to be secretly assassinated. Perdiccas possessed more power than any of Alexander's generals, and henow aspired to the Macedonian throne. His designs, however, were notunknown to Antigonus and Ptolemy; and when he attempted to bringAntigonus to trial for some offence in the government of his satrapy, that general made his escape to Macedonia, where he revealed toAntipater the full extent of the ambitious schemes of Perdiccas, andthus at once induced Antipater and Craterus to unite in a league withhim and Ptolemy, and openly declare war against the regent. Thusassailed on all sides, Perdiccas resolved to direct his arms in thefirst instance against Ptolemy. In the spring of B. C. 321 heaccordingly set out on his march against Egypt, at the head of aformidable army, and accompanied by Philip Arrhidaeus, and Roxana andher infant son. He advanced without opposition as far as Pelusium, buthe found the banks of the Nile strongly fortified and guarded byPtolemy, and was repulsed in repeated attempts to force the passage ofthe river; in the last of which, near Memphis, he lost great numbers ofmen by the depth and rapidity of the current. Perdiccas had never beenpopular with the soldiery, and these disasters completely alienatedtheir affections. A conspiracy was formed against him, and some of hischief officers murdered him in his tent. The death of Perdiccas was followed by a fresh distribution of theprovinces of the empire. At a meeting of the generals held atTriparadisus in Syria, towards the end of the year 321 B. C. , Antipaterwas declared regent, retaining the government of Macedonia and Greece;Ptolemy was continued in the government of Egypt; Seleucus received thesatrapy of Babylon; whilst Antigonus not only retained his oldprovince, but was rewarded with that of Susiana. Antipater did not long survive these events. He died in the year 318, at the advanced age of 80, leaving Polysperchon, one of Alexander'soldest generals, regent; much to the surprise and mortification of hisson Cassander, who received only the secondary dignity of Chiliarch, orcommander of the cavalry. Cassander was now bent on obtaining theregency; but seeing no hope of success in Macedonia, he went over toAsia to solicit the assistance of Antigonus. Polysperchon, on his side, sought to conciliate the friendship of theGrecian states, by proclaiming them all free and independent, and byabolishing the oligarchies which had been set up by Antipater. Inorder to enforce these measures, Polysperchon prepared to march intoGreece, whilst his son Alexander was despatched beforehand with an armytowards Athens to compel the Macedonian garrison under the command ofNicanor to evacuate Munychia. Nicanor, however, refused to movewithout orders from Cassander, whose general he declared himself to be. Phocion was suspected of intriguing in favour of Nicanor, and beingaccused of treason, fled to Alexander, now encamped before the walls ofAthens. Alexander sent Phocion to his father, who sent him back toAthens in chains, to be tried by the Athenian people. The theatre, where his trial was to take place, was soon full to overflowing. Phocion was assailed on every side by the clamours of his enemies, which prevented his defence; from being heard, and he was condemned todeath by a show of hands. To the last Phocion maintained his calm anddignified, but somewhat contemptuous bearing. When some wretched manspat upon him as he passed to the prison, "Will no one, " said he, "check this fellow's indecency?" To one who asked him whether he hadany message to leave for his son Phocus, he answered, "Only that hebear no grudge against the Athenians. " And when the hemlock which hadbeen prepared was found insufficient for all the condemned, and thejailer would not furnish more unless he was paid for it, "Give the manhis money, " said Phocion to one of his friends, "since at Athens onecannot even die for nothing. " He died in B. C. 317, at the age of 85. The Athenians afterwards repented of their conduct towards Phocion. His bones, which had been cast out on the frontiers of Megara, werebrought back to Athens, and a bronze statue was erected to his memory. Whilst Alexander was negotiating with Nicanor about the surrender ofMunychia, Cassander arrived in the Piraeus with a considerable army, with which Antigonus had supplied him. Polysperchon was obliged toretire from Athens, and Cassander established an oligarchicalgovernment in the city under the presidency of Demetrius of Phalerus. Although Polysperchon was supported by Olympias, the mother ofAlexander the Great, he proved no match for Cassander, who becamemaster of Macedonia after the fall of Pydna in B. C. 316. In this cityOlympias had taken refuge together with Roxana and her son; but after ablockade of some months it was obliged to surrender. Olympias hadstipulated that her life should be spared, but Cassander soonafterwards caused her to be murdered, and kept Roxana and her son incustody in the citadel of Amphipolis. Shortly afterwards Cassanderbegan the restoration of Thebes (B. C. 315), in the twentieth year afterits destruction by Alexander, a measure highly popular with the Greeks. A new war now broke out in the East. Antigonus had become the mostpowerful of Alexander's successors. He had conquered Eumenes, who hadlong defied his arms, and he now began to dispose of the provinces ashe thought fit. His increasing power and ambitious projects led to ageneral coalition against him, consisting of Ptolemy, Seleucus, Cassander, and Lysimachus, the governor of Thrace. The war began inthe year 315, and was carried on with great vehemence and alternatesuccess in Syria, Phoenicia, Asia Minor, and Greece. After four yearsall parties became exhausted with the struggle, and peace wasaccordingly concluded in 311, on condition that the Greek cities shouldbe free, that Cassander should retain his authority in Europe tillAlexander came of age, that Ptolemy and Lysimachus should keeppossession of Egypt and Thrace respectively, and that Antigonus shouldhave the government of all Asia. This hollow peace, which had beenmerely patched up for the convenience of the parties concerned, was notof long duration. It seems to have been the immediate cause of anotherof those crimes which disgrace the history of Alexander's successors. His son, Alexander, who had now attained the age of sixteen, was stillshut up with his mother Roxana in Amphipolis; and his partisans, withinjudicious zeal, loudly expressed their wish that he should bereleased and placed upon the throne. In order to avert this eventCassander contrived the secret murder both of the mother and the son. This abominable act, however, does not appear to have caused a breachof the peace. Ptolemy was the first to break it (B. C. 310), under thepretext that Antigonus, by keeping his garrisons in the Greek cities ofAsia and the islands, had not respected that article of the treatywhich guaranteed Grecian freedom. After the war had lasted three yearsAntigonus resolved to make a vigorous effort to wrest Greece from thehands of Cassander and Ptolemy, who held all the principal towns in it. Accordingly, in the summer of 307 B. C. He despatched his son Demetriusfrom Ephesus to Athens, with a fleet of 250 sail, and 5000 talents inmoney. Demetrius, who afterwards obtained the surname of"Poliorcetes, " or "Besieger of Cities, " was a young man of ardenttemperament and great abilities. Upon arriving at the Piraeus heimmediately proclaimed the object of his expedition to be theliberation of Athens and the expulsion of the Macedonian garrison. Supported by the Macedonians, Demetrius the Phalerean had now ruledAthens for a period of more than ten years. Of mean birth, Demetriusthe Phalerean owed his elevation entirely to his talents andperseverance. His skill as an orator raised him to distinction amonghis countrymen; and his politics, which led him to embrace the party ofPhocion, recommended him to Cassander and the Macedonians. Hecultivated many branches of literature, and was at once an historian, aphilosopher, and a poet; but none of his works have come down to us. The Athenians heard with pleasure the proclamations of the son ofAntigonus his namesake, the Phalerean was obliged to surrender the cityto him, and to close his political career by retiring to Thebes. TheMacedonian garrison in Munychia offered a slight resistance, which wassoon overcome, Demetrius Poliorcetes then formally announced to theAthenian assembly the restoration of their ancient constitution, andpromised them a large donative of corn and ship-timber. Thismunificence was repaid by the Athenians with the basest and most abjectflattery. Both Demetrius and his father were deified, and two newtribes, those of Antigonias and Demetrias, were added to the existingten which derived their names from the ancient heroes of Attica. Demetrius Poliorcetes did not, however, remain long at Athens. Early in306 B. C. He was recalled by his father, and, sailing to Cyprus, undertook the siege of Salamis. Ptolemy hastened to its relief with140 vessels and 10, 000 troops. The battle that ensued was one of themost memorable in the annals of ancient naval warfare, moreparticularly on account of the vast size of the vessels engaged. Ptolemy was completely defeated; and so important was the victorydeemed by Antigonus, that on the strength of it he assumed the title ofking, which he also conferred upon his son. This example was followedby Ptolemy, Seleucus, and Lysimachus. Demetrius now undertook an expedition against Rhodes, which had refusedits aid in the attack upon Ptolemy. It was from the memorable siege ofRhodes that Demetrius obtained his name of "Poliorcetes. " After invain attempting to take the town from the sea-side, by means offloating batteries, from which stones of enormous weight were hurledfrom engines with incredible force against the walls, he determined toalter his plan and invest it on the land-side. With the assistance ofEpimachus, an Athenian engineer, he constructed a machine which, inanticipation of its effect, was called Helepolis, or "the city-taker. "This was a square wooden tower, 150 feet high, and divided into ninestories, filled with armed men, who discharged missiles throughapertures in the sides. When armed and prepared for attack, itrequired the strength of 2300 men to set this enormous machine inmotion. But though it was assisted by the operation of twobattering-rams, each 150 feet long and propelled by the labour of 1000men, the Rhodians were so active in repairing the breaches made intheir walls, that, after a year spent in the vain attempt to take thetown, Demetrius was forced to retire and grant the Rhodians peace. In 301 B. C. , the struggle between Antigonus and his rivals was broughtto a close by the battle of Ipsus in Phrygia, in which Antigonus waskilled, and his army completely defeated. He had attained the age of81 at the time of his death. A third partition of the empire ofAlexander was now made. Seleucus and Lysimachus shared between themthe possessions of Antigonus. Lysimachus seems to have had the greaterpart of Asia Minor, whilst the whole country from the coast of Syria tothe Euphrates, as well as a part of Phrygia and Cappadocia, fell to theshare of Seleucus. The latter founded on the Orontes a new capital ofhis empire, which he named Antioch, after his father Antiochus, andwhich long continued to be one of the most important Greek cities inAsia. The fall of Antigonus secured Cassander in the possession ofGreece. Demetrius was now a fugitive, but in the following year he wasagreeably surprised by receiving an embassy from Seleucus, by whichthat monarch solicited his daughter Stratonice in marriage. Demetriusgladly granted the request, and found himself so much strengthened bythis alliance, that in the spring of the year 296 he was in a conditionto attack Athens, which he captured after a long siege, and drove outthe bloodthirsty tyrant Lachares, who had been established there byCassander. Meanwhile Cassander had died shortly before the siege of Athens, andwas succeeded on the throne of Macedon by his eldest son, Philip IV. [Philip Arrhidaeus is called Philip III. ] But that young prince died in295, and the succession was disputed between his two brothers, Antipater and Alexander. Demetrius availed himself of the distractedstate of Macedonia to make himself master of that country (B. C. 294). He reigned over Macedonia, and the greater part of Greece, about sevenyears. He aimed at recovering the whole of his father's dominions inAsia; but before he was ready to take the field, his adversaries, alarmed at his preparations, determined to forestall him. In thespring of B. C. 287 Ptolemy sent a powerful fleet against Greece, whilePyrrhus on the one side and Lysimachus on the other simultaneouslyinvaded Macedonia. Demetrius had completely alienated his own subjectsby his proud and haughty bearing, and by his lavish expenditure on hisown luxuries; while Pyrrhus by his generosity, affability, and daringcourage, had become the hero of the Macedonians, who looked upon him asa second Alexander. The appearance of Pyrrhus was the signal forrevolt: the Macedonian troops flocked to his standard and Demetrius wascompelled to fly. Pyrrhus now ascended the throne of Macedonia; buthis reign was of brief duration; and at the end of seven months he wasin turn driven out by Lysimachus. Demetrius made several attempts toregain his power in Greece, and then set sail for Asia, where hesuccessively endeavoured to establish himself in the territories ofLysimachus, and of his son-in-law Seleucus. Falling at length into thehands of the latter, he was kept in a kind of magnificent captivity ina royal residence in Syria; where, in 283, at the early age of 55, hischequered career was brought to a close, partly by chagrin, and partlyby the sensual indulgences with which he endeavoured to divert it. Lysimachus, Seleucus, and Ptolemy now divided the empire of Alexanderbetween them. In Egypt the aged Ptolemy had abdicated in 285 in favourof his son by Berenice afterwards known as Ptolemy Philadelphus, and tothe exclusion of his eldest son, Ptolemy Ceraunus, by his wifeEurydice. Ptolemy Ceraunus quitted Egypt in disgust, and fled to thecourt of Lysimachus; and Arsinoe, the wife of Lysimachus, jealous ofher stepson Agathocles, the heir apparent to the throne, and desirousof securing the succession for her own children, conspired with PtolemyCeraunus against the life of Agathocles. She even procured the consentof Lysimachus to his murder; and after some vain attempts to make awaywith him by poison, he was flung into prison, where Ptolemy Ceraunusdespatched him with his own hand. Lysandra, the mother of Agathocles, fled with the rest of her family to Seleucus, to demand from himprotection and vengeance; and Seleucus, induced by the hopes ofsuccess, inspired by the discontent and dissensions which so foul anact had excited among the subjects of Lysimachus, espoused her cause. The hostilities which ensued between him and Lysimachus were brought toa termination by the battle of Corupedion, fought near Sardis in 281, in which Lysimachus was defeated and slain. By this victory, Macedonia, and the whole of Alexander's empire, with the exception ofEgypt, southern Syria, Cyprus, and part of Phoenicia, fell under thesceptre of Seleucus. That monarch, who had not beheld his native land since he first joinedthe expedition of Alexander, now crossed the Hellespont to takepossession of Macedonia. Ptolemy Ceraunus, who after the battle ofCorupedion had thrown himself on the mercy of Seleucus, and had beenreceived with forgiveness and favour, accompanied him on this journey. The murder of Agathocles had not been committed by Ptolemy merely tooblige Arsinoe. He had even then designs upon the supreme power, whichhe now completed by another crime. As Seleucus stopped to sacrifice ata celebrated altar near Lysimachia in Thrace, Ptolemy treacherouslyassassinated him by stabbing him in the back (280). After this baseand cowardly act, Ptolemy Ceraunus, who gave himself out as the avengerof Lysimachus, was, by one of those movements wholly inexplicable toour modern notions, saluted king by the army; but the Asiatic dominionsof Seleucus fell to his son Antiochus, surnamed Soter. The crime ofPtolemy, however, was speedily overtaken by a just punishment. In thevery same year his kingdom of Macedonia and Thrace was invaded by animmense host of Celts, and Ptolemy fell at the head of the forces whichhe led against them. A second invasion of the same barbarianscompelled the Greeks to raise a force for their defence, which wasintrusted to the command of the Athenian Callippus (B. C. 279). On thisoccasion the Celts attracted by the report of treasures which were nowperhaps little more than an empty name, penetrated as far southwards asDelphi, with the view of plundering the temple. The god, it is said, vindicated his sanctuary on this occasion in the same supernaturalmanner as when it was attacked by the Persians: it is at all eventscertain that the Celts were repulsed with great loss, including that oftheir leader Brennus. Nevertheless some of their tribes succeeded inestablishing themselves near the Danube; others settled on thesea-coast of Thrace whilst a third portion passed over into Asia, andgave their name to the country called Galatia. After the death of Ptolemy Ceraunus, Macedonia fell for some time intoa state of anarchy and confusion, and the crown was disputed by severalpretenders. At length, in 278, Antigonus Gonatas, son of DemetriusPoliorcetes, succeeded in establishing himself on the throne ofMacedonia; and, with the exception of two or three years (274-272)during which he was temporarily expelled by Pyrrhus, he continued toretain possession of it till his death in 239. The struggle betweenAntigonus and Pyrrhus was brought to a close at Argos in 272. Pyrrhushad marched into the Peloponnesus with a large force in order to makewar upon Sparta, but with the collateral design of reducing the placeswhich still held out for Antigonus. Pyrrhus having failed in anattempt to take Sparta, marched against Argos, where Antigonus alsoarrived with his forces. Both armies entered the city by oppositegates; and in a battle which ensued in the streets Pyrrhus was struckfrom his horse by a tile hurled by a woman from a house-top, and wasthen despatched by some soldiers of Antigonus. Such was the ingloriousend of one of the bravest and most warlike monarchs of antiquity; whosecharacter for moral virtue, though it would not stand the test ofmodern scrutiny, shone out conspicuously in comparison with that ofcontemporary sovereigns. Antigonus Gonatas now made himself master of the greater part ofPeloponnesus, which he governed by means of tyrants whom he establishedin various cities. While all Greece, with the exception of Sparta, seemed hopelesslyprostrate at the feet of Macedonia, a new political power, which shedsa lustre on the declining period of Grecian history, arose in a smallprovince in Peloponnesus, of which the very name has been hithertorarely mentioned since the heroic age. In Achaia, a narrow slip ofcountry upon the shores of the Corinthian gulf, a league, chiefly forreligious purposes, had existed from a very early period among thetwelve chief cities of the province. The league, however, had neverpossessed much political importance, and it had been suppressed by theMacedonians. At the time of which we are speaking Antigonus Gonataswas in possession of all the cities formerly belonging to the league, either by means of his garrisons or of the tyrants who were subservientto him. It was, however, this very oppression that led to a revival ofthe league. The Achaean towns, now only ten in number, as two had beendestroyed by earthquakes, began gradually to coalesce again; but Aratusof Sicyon, one of the most remarkable characters of this period ofGrecian history, was the man who, about the year 251 B. C. , first calledthe new league into active political existence. He had long lived inexile at Argos, whilst his native city groaned under the dominion of asuccession of tyrants. Having collected a band of exiles, he surprisedSicyon in the night time, and drove out the last and most unpopular ofthese tyrants. Instead of seizing the tyranny for himself, as he mighteasily have done, Aratus consulted only the advantage of his country, and with this view united Sicyon with the Achaean league. Theaccession of so important a town does not appear to have altered theconstitution of the confederacy. The league was governed by aSTRATEGUS, or general, whose functions were both military and civil; aGRAMMATEUS, or secretary; and a council of ten DEMIURGI. Thesovereignty, however, resided in the general assembly, which met twicea year in a sacred grove near AEgium. It was composed of every Achaeanwho had attained the age of thirty, and possessed the right of electingthe officers of the league, and of deciding all questions of war, peace, foreign alliances, and the like. In the year 245 B. C. Aratuswas elected STRATEGUS of the league, and again in 243. In the latterof these years he succeeded in wresting Corinth from the Macedonians byanother nocturnal surprise, and uniting it to the league. Theconfederacy now spread with wonderful rapidity. It was soon joined byTroezen, Epidaurus, Hermione and other cities; and ultimately embracedAthens, Megara, AEgina, Salamis, and the whole Peloponnesus, with theexception of Sparta, Elis, and some of the Arcadian towns. Sparta, it is true, still continued to retain her independence, butwithout a shadow of her former greatness and power. The primitivesimplicity of Spartan manners had been completely destroyed by thecollection of wealth into a few hands, and by the consequent progressof luxury. The number of Spartan citizens had been reduced to 700; buteven of these there were not above a hundred who possessed a sufficientquantity of land to maintain themselves in independence. The youngking, Agis IV. , who succeeded to the crown in 244, attempted to revivethe ancient Spartan virtue, by restoring the institutions of Lycurgus, by cancelling all debts, and by making a new distribution of lands; andwith this view he relinquished all his own property, as well as that ofhis family, for the public good. But Agis perished in this attempt, andwas put to death as a traitor to his order. A few years afterwards, however, Cleomenes, the son of Leonidas, succeeded in effecting thereforms which had been contemplated by Agis, as well as several otherswhich regarded military discipline. The effect of these new measuressoon became visible in the increased success of the Spartan arms. Aratus was so hard pressed that he was compelled to solicit theassistance of the Macedonians. Both Antigonus Gonatas and his sonDemetrius II. --who had reigned in Macedonia from 239 to 229 B. C. Werenow dead, and the government was administered by Antigonus Doson, asguardian of Philip, the youthful son of Demetrius II. Antigonus Dosonwas the grandson of Demetrius Poliorcetes, and the nephew of AntigonusGonatas. The Macedonians compelled him to accept the crown; but heremained faithful to his trust as guardian of Philip, whose mother hemarried; and though he had children of his own by her, yet Philipsucceeded him on his death. It was to Antigonus Doson that Aratusapplied for assistance; and though Cleomenes maintained his ground forsome time, he was finally defeated by Antigonus Doson in the fatalbattle of Sellasia in Laconia (B. C. 221). The army of Cleomenes wasalmost totally annihilated; he himself was obliged to fly to Egypt; andSparta, which for many centuries bad remained unconquered, fell intothe hands of the victor. The succession of Macedonian kings from Alexander the Great to theextinction of the monarchy will be seen from the following table:-- B. C. Philip III. Arrhidaeus . . . . . . . . 323-316 Cassander . . . . . . . . 316-296 Philip IV. . . . . . . . . 296-295 Demetrius I. Poliorcetes . . . . . . . . 294-287 Pyrrhus . . . . . . . . 287-286 Lysimachus . . . . . . . . 286-280 Ptolemy Ceraunus and others . . . . . . . . 280-277 Antigonus Gonatas . . . . . . . . 277-239 Demetrius II . . . . . . . . 239-229 Antigonus Doson . . . . . . . . 229-220 Philip V . . . . . . . . 220-178 Perseus . . . . . . . . 178-167 In the following year Antigonus was succeeded by Philip V. , the son ofDemetrius II. , who was then about sixteen or seventeen years of age. His youth encouraged the AEtolians to make predatory incursions intothe Peloponnesus. That people were a species of freebooters, and theterror of their neighbours; yet they were united, like the Achaeans, ina confederacy or league. The Aetolian League was a confederation oftribes instead of cities, like the Achaean. The diet or council of theleague, called the Panaetolicum, assembled every autumn, generally atThermon, to elect the strategus and other officers; but the details ofits affairs were conducted by a committee called APOCLETI, who seem tohave formed a sort of permanent council, The AEtolians had availedthemselves of the disorganised state of Greece consequent upon thedeath of Alexander to extend their power, and had gradually madethemselves masters of Locris, Phocis, Boeotia, together with portionsof Acarnania, Thessaly, and Epirus. Thus both the Amphictyonic Counciland the oracle of Delphi were in their power. They had early wrestedNaupactus from the Achaeans, and had subsequently acquired severalPeloponnesian cities. Such was the condition of the AEtolians at the time of Philip'saccession. Soon after that event we find them, under the leadership ofDorimachus, engaged in a series of freebooting expeditions in Messenia, and other parts of Peloponnesus. Aratus marched to the assistance ofthe Messenians at the head of the Achaean forces, but was totallydefeated in a battle near Caphyae. The Achaeans now saw no hope ofsafety except through the assistance of Philip. That young monarch wasambitious and enterprising possessing considerable military ability andmuch political sagacity. He readily listened to the application of theAchaeans, and in 220 entered into an alliance with them. The war whichensued between the AEtolians on the one side, and the Achaeans, assisted by Philip, on the other, and which lasted about three years, has been called the Social War. Philip gained several victories overthe AEtolians, but he concluded a treaty of peace with them in 217, because he was anxious to turn his arms against another and moreformidable power. The great struggle now going on between Rome and Carthage attracted theattention of the whole civilized world. If was evident that Greece, distracted by intestine quarrels, must be soon swallowed up bywhichever of those great states might prove successful; and of the two, the ambition of the Romans, who had already gained a footing on theeastern shores of the Adriatic was by far the more formidable toGreece. After the conclusion of the peace with the AEtolians Philipprepared a large fleet, which he employed to watch the movements of theRomans, and in the following year (216) he concluded a treaty withHannibal, which, among other clauses, provided that the Romans shouldnot be allowed to retain their conquests on the eastern side of theAdriatic. He even meditated an invasion of Italy, and with that viewendeavoured to make himself master of Apollonia and Oricum. But thoughhe succeeded in taking the latter city, the Romans surprised his campwhilst he was besieging Apollonia, and compelled him to burn his shipsand retire. Meanwhile Philip had acted in a most arbitrary manner inthe affairs of Greece; and when Aratus remonstrated with him respectinghis proceedings, he got rid of his former friend and counsellor bymeans of a slow and secret poison (B. C. 213). In B. C. , 209 the Achaeans, being hard pressed by the AEtolians, wereagain induced to call in the aid of Philip. The spirit of the Achaeanswas at this time revived by Philopoemen, one of the few noblecharacters of the period, and who has been styled by Plutarch "the lastof the Greeks. " He was a native of Megalopolis in Arcadia, and in 208was elected Strategus of the league. In both these posts Philopoemenmade great alterations and improvements in the arms and discipline ofthe Achaean forces, which he assimilated to those of the Macedonianphalanx. These reforms, as well as the public spirit with which he hadinspired the Achaeans were attended with the most beneficial results. In 207 Philopoemen gained at Mantinea a signal victory over theLacedaemonians, who had joined the Roman alliance; 4000 of them wereleft upon the field, and among them Machanidas who had made himselftyrant of Sparta. This decisive battle, combined with the withdrawalof the Romans, who, being desirous of turning their undivided attentiontowards Carthage, had made peace with Philip (205), secured for a fewyears the tranquillity of Greece. It also raised the fame ofPhilopoemen to its highest point; and in the next Nemean festival, being a second time general of the league, he was hailed by theassembled Greeks as the liberator of their country. Upon the conclusion of the second Punic war the Romans renewed theirenterprises in Greece, and declared war against Philip (B. C. 200). Forsome time the war lingered on without any decided success on eitherside; but in 198 the consul T. Quinctius Flamininus succeeded ingaining over the Achaean league to the Roman alliance; and as theAEtolians had previously deserted Philip, both those powers fought fora short time on the same side. In 197 the struggle was brought to atermination by the battle of Cynoscephalae, near Scotussa, in Thessaly, which decided the fate of the Macedonian monarchy. Philip was obligedto sue for peace, and in the following year (196) a treaty was ratifiedby which the Macedonians were compelled to renounce their supremacy, towithdraw their garrisons from the Grecian towns, to surrender theirfleet, and to pay 1000 talents for the expenses of the war. At theensuing Isthmian games Flamininus solemnly proclaimed the freedom ofthe Greeks, and was received by them with overwhelming joy andgratitude. The AEtolians, dissatisfied with these arrangements, persuadedAntiochus III. , king of Syria, to enter into a league against theRomans. He passed over into Greece with a wholly inadequate force, andwas defeated by the Romans at Thermopylae (B. C. 191). The AEtolianswere now compelled to make head against the Romans by themselves. After some ineffectual attempts at resistance they were reduced to suefor peace, which they at length obtained, but on the most humiliatingconditions (B. C. 189). They were required to acknowledge the supremacyof Rome, to renounce all the conquests they had recently made, to payan indemnity of 500 talents and to engage in future to aid the Romansin their wars. The power of the AEtolian league was thus for evercrushed, though it seems to have existed, in name at least, till a muchlater period. The Achaean league still subsisted but was destined before long toexperience the same fate as its rival. At first, indeed, it enjoyedthe protection of the Romans, and even acquired an extension of membersthrough their influence, but this protectorate involved a state ofalmost absolute dependence. Philopoemen also had succeeded, in the year192, in adding Sparta to the league, which now embraced the whole ofPeloponnesus. But Sparta having displayed symptoms of insubordination, Philopoemen marched against it in 188, and captured the city; when heput to death eighty of the leading men, razed the walls andfortifications, abolished the institutions of Lycurgus, and compelledthe citizens to adopt the democratic constitution of the Achaeans. Meanwhile the Romans regarded with satisfaction the internaldissensions of Greece, which they foresaw would only render her aneasier prey, and neglected to answer the appeals of the Spartans forprotection. In 183 the Messenians, under the leadership of Dinocrates, having revolted from the league, Philopoemen, who had now attained theage of 70, led an expedition against them; but having fallen from hishorse in a skirmish of cavalry, he was captured, and conveyed with manycircumstances of ignominy to Messene, where, after a sort of mocktrial, he was executed. His fate was avenged by Lycortas, thecommander of the Achaean cavalry, the father of the historian Polybius. In B. C. 179 Philip died, and was succeeded by his son Perseus, the lastmonarch of Macedonia. The latter years of the reign of Philip had beenspent in preparations for a renewal of the war, which he foresaw to beinevitable; yet a period of seven years elapsed after the accession ofPerseus before the mutual enmity of the two powers broke out into openhostilities. The war was protracted three years without any decisiveresult; but was brought to a conclusion in 168 by the consul L. AEmilius Paulus, who defeated Perseus with great loss near Pydna. Perseus was carried to Rome to adorn the triumph of Paulus (167), andwas permitted to spend the remainder of his life in a sort ofhonourable captivity at Alba. Such was the end of the Macedonianempire, which was now divided into four districts, each under thejurisdiction of an oligarchical council. The Roman commissioners deputed to arrange the affairs of Macedonia didnot confine their attention to that province, but evinced their designof bringing all Greece under the Roman sway. In these views they wereassisted by various despots and traitors in different Grecian cities, and especially by Callicrates, a man of great influence among theAchaeans, and who for many years lent himself as the base tool of theRomans to effect the enslavement of his country. After the fall ofMacedonia, Callicrates denounced more than a thousand leading Achaeanswho had favoured the cause of Perseus. These, among whom was Polybiusthe historian, were apprehended and sent to Rome for trial. A stillharder fate was experienced by AEtolia, Boeotia, Acarnania, and Epirus. In the last-named country, especially, no fewer than seventy of theprincipal towns were abandoned by Paulus to his soldiers for pillage, and 150, 000 persons are said to have been sold into slavery. A quarrel between the Achaeans and Sparta afforded the Romans apretence for crushing the small remains of Grecian independence by thedestruction of the Achaean league. The Spartans, feeling themselves incompetent to resist the Achaeans, appealed to the Romans for assistance; and in 147 two Romancommissioners were sent to Greece to settle the disputes between thetwo states. These commissioners decided that not only Sparta, butCorinth, and all the other cities, except those of Achaia, should berestored to their independence. This decision occasioned serious riotsat Corinth, the most important city of the league. All the Spartans inthe town were seized, and even the Roman commissioners narrowly escapedviolence. On their return to Rome a fresh embassy was despatched todemand satisfaction for these outrages. But the violent and impoliticconduct of Critolaus, then Strategus of the league, rendered allattempts at accommodation fruitless, and after the return of theambassadors the Senate declared war against the league. The cowardiceand incompetence of Critolaus as a general were only equalled by hisprevious insolence. On the approach of the Romans under Metellus fromMacedonia he did not even venture to make a stand at Thermopylae; andbeing overtaken by them near Scarphea in Locris, he was totallydefeated, and never again heard of. Diaeus, who succeeded him asStrategus, displayed rather more energy and courage. But a fresh Romanforce under Mummius having landed on the isthmus, Diaeus was overthrownin a battle near Corinth; and that city was immediately evacuated notonly by the troops of the league, but also by the greater part of theinhabitants. On entering it Mummius put the few males who remained tothe sword; sold the women and children as slaves and having carriedaway all its treasures, consigned it to the flames (B. C. 146). Corinthwas filled with masterpieces of ancient art; but Mummius was soinsensible to their surpassing excellence as to stipulate with thosewho contracted to convey them to Italy, that, if any were lost in thepassage, they should be replaced by others of equal value! Mummiusthen employed himself in chastising and regulating the whole of Greece;and ten commissioners were sent from Rome to settle its futurecondition. The whole country, to the borders of Macedonia and Epirus, was formed into a Roman province, under the name of ACHAIA, derivedfrom that confederacy which had made the last struggle for itspolitical existence. CHAPTER XXII. SKETCH OF THE HISTORY OF GREEK LITERATURE FROM THE EARLIEST TIMES TOTHE REIGN OF ALEXANDER THE GREAT. The Greeks possessed two large collections of epic poetry. The onecomprised poems relating to the great events and enterprises of theHeroic age, and characterised by a certain poetical unity; the otherincluded works tamer in character and more desultory in their mode oftreatment, containing the genealogies of men and gods, narratives ofthe exploits of separate heroes, and descriptions of the ordinarypursuits of life. The poems of the former class passed under the nameof Homer; while those of the latter were in the same general wayascribed to Hesiod. The former were the productions of the Ionic andAEolic minstrels in Asia Minor, among whom Homer stood pre-eminent andeclipsed the brightness of the rest: the latter were the compositionsof a school of bards in the neighbourhood of Mount Helicon in Boeotia, among whom in like manner Hesiod enjoyed the greatest celebrity. Thepoems of both schools were composed in the hexameter metre and in asimilar dialect; but they differed widely in almost every other feature. Of the Homeric poems the Iliad and the Odyssey were the mostdistinguished and have alone come down to us. The subject of the Iliadwas the exploits of Achilles and of the other Grecian heroes beforeIlium or Troy; that of the Odyssey was the wanderings and adventures ofOdysseus or Ulysses after the capture of Troy on his return to hisnative island. Throughout the flourishing period of Greek literaturethese unrivalled works were universally regarded as the productions ofa single mind; but there was very little agreement respecting the placeof the poet's birth the details of his life, or the time in which helived. Seven cities laid claim to Homer's birth, and most of them hadlegends to tell respecting his romantic parentage, his allegedblindness, and his life of an itinerant bard acquainted with povertyand sorrow. It cannot be disputed that he was an Asiatic Greek; butthis is the only fact in his life which can be regarded as certain. Several of the best writers of antiquity supposed him to have been anative of the island of Chios; but most modern scholars believe Smyrnato have been his birthplace. His most probable date is about B. C. 850. The mode in which these poems were preserved has occasioned greatcontroversy in modern times. Even if they were committed to writing bythe poet himself, and were handed down to posterity in this manner, itis certain that they were rarely read. We must endeavour to realisethe difference between ancient Greece and our own times. During themost flourishing period of Athenian literature manuscripts wereindifferently written, without division into parts, and without marksof punctuation. They were scarce and costly, could be obtained only bythe wealthy, and read only by those who had had considerable literarytraining. Under these circumstances the Greeks could never become areading people; and thus the great mass even of the Athenians becameacquainted with the productions of the leading poets of Greece only byhearing them recited at their solemn festivals and on other publicoccasions. This was more strikingly the case at an earlier period. The Iliad and the Odyssey were not read by individuals in private, butwere sung or recited at festivals or to assembled companies. The bardoriginally sung his own lays to the accompaniment of his lyre. He wassucceeded by a body of professional reciters, called Rhapsodists, whorehearsed the poems of others, and who appear at early times to havehad exclusive possession of the Homeric poems. But in the seventhcentury before the Christian era literary culture began to prevailamong the Greeks; and men of education and wealth were naturallydesirous of obtaining copies of the great poet of the nation. Fromthis cause copies came to be circulated among the Greeks; but most ofthem contained only separate portions of the poems, or singlerhapsodes, as they were called. Pisistratus, the tyrant or despot ofAthens, is said to have been the first person who collected andarranged the poems in their present form, in order that they might berecited at the great Panathenaic festival at Athens. Three works have come down to us bearing the name of Hesiod--the 'Worksand Days, ' the 'Theogony, ' and a description of the 'Shield ofHercules. ' Many ancient critics believed the 'Works and Days' to be theonly genuine work of Hesiod, and their opinion has been adopted by mostmodern scholars. We learn from this work that Hesiod was a native ofAscra, a village at the foot of Mount Helicon, to which his father hadmigrated from the AEolian Cyme in Asia Minor. He further tells us thathe gained the prize at Chalcis in a poetical contest; and that he wasrobbed of a fair share of his heritage by the unrighteous decision ofjudges who had been bribed by his brother Perses. The latter becameafterwards reduced in circumstances, and applied to his brother forrelief; and it is to him that Hesiod addresses his didactic poem of the'Works and Days, ' in which he lays down various moral and social maximsfor the regulation of his conduct and his life. It contains aninteresting representation of the feelings, habits, and superstitionsof the rural population of Greece in the earlier ages. Respecting thedate of Hesiod nothing certain can be affirmed. Modern writers usuallysuppose him to have flourished two or three generations later thanHomer. The commencement of Greek lyric poetry as a cultivated species ofcomposition dates from the middle of the seventh century before theChristian era. No important event either in the public or private lifeof a Greek could dispense with this accompaniment; and the lyric songwas equally needed to solemnize the worship of the gods, to cheer themarch to battle, or to enliven the festive board. The lyric poetry, with the exception of that of Pindar, has almost entirely perished, andall that we possess of it; consists of a few songs and isolatedfragments. The great satirist ARCHILOCHUS was one of the earliest and mostcelebrated of all the lyric poets. He was a native of the island ofParos, and flourished about the year 700 B. C. His fame rests chieflyon his terrible satires, composed in the Iambic metre, in which he gavevent to the bitterness of a disappointed man. TYRTAEUS and ALCMAN were the two great lyric poets of Sparta, thoughneither of them was a native of Lacedaemon. The personal history ofTyrtaeus, and his warlike songs which roused the fainting courage ofthe Spartans during the second Messenian war, have already beenmentioned. Alcman was originally a Lydian slave in a Spartan family, and was emancipated by his master. He lived shortly after the secondMessenian war. His poems partake of the character of this period, which was one of repose and enjoyment after the fatigues and perils ofwar. Many of his songs celebrate the pleasures of good eating anddrinking; but the more important were intended to be sung by a chorusat the public festivals of Sparta. ARION was a native of Methymna in Lesbos, and lived some time at thecourt of Periander, tyrant of Corinth, who began to reign B. C. 625. Nothing is known of his life beyond the beautiful story of his escapefrom the sailors with whom he sailed from Sicily to Corinth. On oneoccasion, thus runs the story, Arion went to Sicily to take part in amusical contest. He won the prize, and, laden with presents, heembarked in a Corinthian ship to return to his friend Periander. Therude sailors coveted his treasures, and meditated his murder. Afterimploring them in vain to spare his life, he obtained permission toplay for the last time on his beloved lyre. In festal attire he placedhimself on the prow of the vessel, invoked the gods in inspiredstrains, and then threw himself into the sea. But many song-lovingdolphins had assembled round the vessel, and one of them now took thebard on its back, and carried him to Taenarum, from whence he returnedto Corinth in safety, and related his adventure to Periander. Upon thearrival of the Corinthian vessel, Periander inquired of the sailorsafter Arion, who replied that he had remained behind at Tarentum; butwhen Arion, at the bidding of Periander, came forward, the sailorsowned their guilt, and were punished according to their desert. Thegreat improvement in lyric poetry ascribed to Arion is the invention ofthe Dithyramb. This was a choral song and dance in honour of the godDionysus, and is of great interest in the history of poetry, since itwas the germ from which sprung at a later time the magnificentproductions of the tragic Muse at Athens. ALCAEUS and SAPPHO were both natives of Mytilene in the island ofLesbos, and flourished about B. C. 610-580. Their songs were composedfor a single voice, and not for the chorus, and they were each theinventor of a new metre, which bears their name, and is familiar to usby the well-known odes of Horace. Their poetry was the warm outpouringof the writers' inmost feelings, and present the lyric poetry of theAEolians at its highest point. Alcaeus took an active part in the civil dissensions of his nativestate, and warmly espoused the cause of the aristocratical party, towhich he belonged by birth. When the nobles were driven into exile, heendeavoured to cheer their spirits by a number of most animated odes, full of invectives against the popular party and its leaders. Of the events of Sappho's life we have scarcely any information; andthe common story that, being in love with Phaon and finding her loveunrequited, she leaped down from the Leucadian rock, seems to have beenan invention of later times. ANACREON was a native of the Ionian city of Teos. He spent part of hislife at Samos, under the patronage of Polycrates; and after the deathof this despot he went to Athens at the invitation of Hipparchus. Theuniversal tradition of antiquity represents Anacreon as a consummatevoluptuary; and his poems prove the truth of the tradition. His deathwas worthy of his life, if we may believe the account that he waschoked by a grape-stone. SIMONIDES, of the island of Ceos, was born B. C. 556, and reached agreat age. He lived many years at Athens, both at the court ofHipparchus, together with Anacreon, and subsequently under thedemocracy during the Persian wars. The struggles of Greece for herindependence furnished him with a noble subject for his muse. Hecarried away the prize from AEschylus with an elegy upon the warriorswho had fallen at the battle of Marathon. Subsequently we find himcelebrating the heroes of Thermopylae, Artemisium, Salamis, andPlataea. He was upwards of 80 when his long poetical career at Athenswas closed with the victory which he gained with the dithyrambic chorusin B. C. 477, making the 56th prize that he had carried off. Shortlyafter this event he repaired to Syracuse at the invitation of Hiero. Here he spent the remaining ten years of his life, not onlyentertaining Hiero with his poetry, but instructing him by his wisdom;for Simonides was a philosopher as well as a poet, and is reckonedamongst the sophists. PINDAR, though the contemporary of Simonides, was considerably hisjunior: He was born either at, or in the neighbourhood of, Thebes inBoeotia, about the year 522 B. C. Later writers tell us that his futureglory as a poet was miraculously foreshadowed by a swarm of bees whichrested upon his lips while he was asleep, and that this miracle firstled him to compose poetry. He commenced his professional career at anearly age, and soon acquired so great a reputation, that he wasemployed by various states and princes of the Hellenic race to composechoral songs. He was courted especially by Alexander, king ofMacedonia, and by Hiero, despot of Syracuse. The praises which hebestowed upon Alexander are said to have been the chief reason whichled his descendant, Alexander the Great, to spare the house of the poetwhen he destroyed the rest of Thebes. The estimation in which Pindarwas held is also shown by the honours conferred upon him by the freestates of Greece. Although a Theban, he was always a great favouritewith the Athenians, whom he frequently praised in his poems, and whotestified their gratitude by making him their public guest, and bygiving him 10, 000 drachmas. The only poems of Pindar which have comedown to us entire are his Epinicia or triumphal odes, composed incommemoration of victories gained in the great public games. But thesewere only a small portion of his works. He also wrote hymns, paeans, dithyrambs, odes for processions, songs of maidens, mimic dancingsongs, drinking songs, dirges and encomia, or panegyrics on princes. The Greeks had arrived at a high pitch of civilization before they canbe said to have possessed a HISTORY. The first essays in literaryprose cannot be placed earlier than the sixth century before theChristian aera; but the first writer who deserves the name of anhistorian is HERODOTUS, hence called the Father of History. Herodotuswas born in the Dorian colony of Halicarnassus in Caria, in the year484 B. C. , and accordingly about the time of the Persian expeditionsinto Greece. He resided some years in Samos, and also undertookextensive travels, of which he speaks in his work. There was scarcelya town in Greece or on the coasts of Asia Minor with which he was notacquainted; he had explored Thrace and the coasts of the Black Sea; inEgypt he had penetrated as far south as Elephantine; and in Asia he hadvisited the cities of Babylon, Ecbatana, and Susa. The latter part ofhis life was spent at Thurii, a colony founded by the Athenians inItaly in B. C. 443. According to a well-known story in Lucian, Herodotus, when he had completed his work, recited it publicly at thegreat Olympic festival, as the best means of procuring for it thatcelebrity to which he felt that it was entitled. The effect isdescribed as immediate and complete. The delighted audience at onceassigned the names of the nine Muses to the nine books into which it isdivided. A still later author (Suidas) adds, that Thucydides, then aboy, was present at the festival with his father Olorus, and was soaffected by the recital as to shed tears; upon which Herodotuscongratulated Olorus on having a son who possessed so early such a zealfor knowledge. But there are many objections to the probability ofthese tales. Herodotus interwove into his history all the varied and extensiveknowledge acquired in his travels, and by big own personal researches. But the real subject of the work is the conflict between the Greekrace, in the widest sense of the term, and including the Greeks of AsiaMinor, with the Asiatics. Thus the historian had a vast epic subjectpresented to him, which was brought to a natural and glorioustermination by the defeat of the Persians in their attempts uponGreece. The work concludes with the reduction of Sestos by theAthenians, B. C. 478. Herodotus wrote in the Ionic dialect, and hisstyle is marked by an ease and simplicity which lend it anindescribable charm. THUCYDIDES, the greatest of the Greek historians, was an Athenian, andwas born in the year 471 B. C. His family was connected with that ofMiltiades and Cimon. He possessed gold-mines in Thrace, and enjoyedgreat influence in that country. He commanded an Athenian squadron ofseven ships at Thasos, in 424 B. C. , at the time when Brasidas wasbesieging Amphipolis; and having failed to relieve that city in time, he went into a voluntary exile, in order probably to avoid thepunishment of death. He appears to have spent 20 years in banishment, principally in the Peloponnesus, or in places under the dominion orinfluence of Sparta. He perhaps returned to Athens in B. C. 403, thedate of its liberation by Thrasybulus. According to the unanimoustestimony of antiquity he met with a violent end, and it seems probablethat he was assassinated at Athens, since it cannot be doubted that histomb existed there. From the beginning of the Peloponnesian war he haddesigned to write its history, and he employed himself in collectingmaterials for that purpose during its continuance; but it is mostlikely that the work was not actually composed till after theconclusion of the war, and that he was engaged upon it at the time ofhis death. The first book of his History is introductory, and containsa rapid sketch of Grecian history from the remotest times to thebreaking out of the war. The remaining seven books are filled with thedetails of the war, related according to the division into summers andwinters, into which all campaigns naturally fall; and the work breaksoff abruptly in the middle of the 21st year of the war (B. C. 411). Thematerials of Thucydides were collected with the most scrupulous care;the events are related with the strictest impartiality; and the workprobably offers a more exact account of a long and eventful period thanany other contemporary history, whether ancient or modern, of anequally long and important aera. The style of Thucydides is brief andsententious, and whether in moral or political reasoning, or indescription, gains wonderful force from its condensation. But thischaracteristic is sometimes carried to a faulty extent, so as to renderhis style harsh, and his meaning obscure. XENOPHON, the son of Gryllus, was also an Athenian, and was probablyborn about B. C. 444. He was a pupil of Socrates, who saved his life atthe battle of Delium (B. C. 424). His accompanying Cyrus the younger inhis expedition against his brother Artaxerxes, king of Persia, formed astriking episode in his life, and has been recorded by himself in hisANABASIS. He seems to have been still in Asia at the time of the deathof Socrates in 399 B. C. , and was probably banished from Athens soonafter that period, in consequence of his close connexion with theLacedaemonians. He accompanied Agesilaus, the Spartan king, on thereturn of the latter from Asia to Greece; and he fought along with theLacedaemonians against his own countrymen at the battle of Coronea in394 B. C. After this battle he went with Agesilaus to Sparta, and soonafterwards settled at Scillus in Elis, near Olympia. He is said tohave lived to more than 90 years of age, and he mentions an event whichoccurred as late as 357 B. C. Probably all the works of Xenophon are still extant. The ANABASIS isthe work on which his fame as an historian chiefly rests. It iswritten in a simple and agreeable style, and conveys much curious andstriking information. The HELLENICA is a continuation of the historyof Thucydides, and comprehends in seven books a space of about 48years; namely, from the time when Thucydides breaks off, B. C. 411, tothe battle of Mantinea in 362. The subject is treated in a very dryand uninteresting style; and his evident partiality to Sparta, anddislike of Athens, have frequently warped his judgment, and must causehis statements to be received with some suspicion. The CYROPAEDIA, oneof the most pleasing and popular of his works, professes to be ahistory of Cyrus, the founder of the Persian monarchy, but is inreality a kind of political romance, and possesses no authoritywhatever as an historical work. The design of the author seems to havebeen to draw a picture of a perfect state; and though the scene is laidin Persia, the materials of the work are derived from his ownphilosophical notions and the usages of Sparta engrafted on thepopularly current stories respecting Cyrus. Xenophon displays in thiswork his dislike of democratic institutions like those of Athens, andhis preference for an aristocracy, or even a monarchy. Xenophon wasalso the author of several minor works; but the only other treatisewhich we need mention is the MEMORABILIA of Socrates, in four books, intended as a defence of his master against the charges whichoccasioned his death, and which undoubtedly contains a genuine pictureof Socrates and his philosophy. The genius of Xenophon was not of thehighest order; it was practical rather than speculative; but he isdistinguished for his good sense, his moderate views, his humanetemper, and his earnest piety. The DRAMA pre-eminently distinguished Athenian literature. Thedemocracy demanded a literature of a popular kind, the vivacity of thepeople a literature that made a lively impression; and both theseconditions were fulfilled by the drama. But though brought toperfection among the Athenians, tragedy and comedy, in their rude andearly origin, were Dorian inventions. Both arose out of the worship ofDionysus. There was at first but little distinction between these twospecies of the drama, except that comedy belonged more to the ruralcelebration of the Dionysiac festivals, and tragedy to that in cities. The name of TRAGEDY was far from signifying any thing mournful, beingderived from the goat-like appearance of those who, disguised asSatyrs, performed the old Dionysiac songs and dances. In like manner, COMEDY was called after the song of the band of revellers whocelebrated the vintage festivals of Dionysus, and vented the rudemerriment inspired by the occasion in jibes and extempore witticismslevelled at the spectators. Tragedy, in its more perfect form, was theoffspring of the dithyrambic odes with which that worship wascelebrated. These were not always of a joyous cast. Some of themexpressed the sufferings of Dionysus; and it was from this moremournful species of dithyramb that tragedy, properly so called, arose. The dithyrambic odes formed a kind of lyrical tragedy, and were sung bya chorus of fifty men, dancing round the altar of Dionysus. Theimprovements in the dithyramb were introduced by Arion at Corinth; andit was chiefly among the Dorian states of the Peloponnesus that thesechoral dithyrambic songs prevailed. Hence, even in attic tragedy, thechorus, which was the foundation of the drama, was written in the Doricdialect, thus clearly betraying the source from which the Atheniansderived it. In Attica an important alteration was made in the old tragedy in thetime of Pisistratus, in consequence of which it obtained a new anddramatic character. This innovation is ascribed to THESPIS, a nativeof the Attic village of Icaria, B. C. 535. It consisted in theintroduction of an actor for the purpose of giving rest to the chorus. Thespis was succeeded by Choerilus and Phrynichus, the latter of whomgained his first prize in the dramatic contests in 511 B. C. The DorianPratinas, a native of Philius, but who exhibited his tragedies atAthens, introduced an improvement in tragedy by separating the Satyricfrom the tragic drama. As neither the popular taste nor the ancientreligious associations connected with the festivals of Dionysus wouldhave permitted the chorus of Satyrs to be entirely banished from thetragic representations, Pratinas avoided this by the invention of whatis called the Satyric drama; that is, a species of play in which theordinary subjects of tragedy were treated in a lively and farcicalmanner, and in which the chorus consisted of a band of Satyrs inappropriate dresses and masks. After this period it became customaryto exhibit dramas in TETRALOGIES, or sets of four; namely, a tragictrilogy, or series of three tragedies, followed by a Satyric play. These were often on connected subjects; and the Satyric drama at theend served like a merry after-piece to relieve the minds of thespectators. The subjects of Greek tragedy were taken, with few exceptions, from thenational mythology. Hence the plot and story were of necessity knownto the spectators, a circumstance which strongly distinguished theancient tragedy from the modern. It must also be recollected that therepresentation of tragedies did not take place every day, but only, after certain fixed intervals, at the festivals of Dionysus, of whichthey formed one of the greatest attractions. During the whole day theAthenian public sat in the theatre witnessing tragedy after tragedy;and a prize was awarded by judges appointed for the purpose to the poetwho produced the best set of dramas. Such was Attic tragedy when it came into the hands of AESCHYLUS, who, from the great improvements which he introduced, was regarded by theAthenians as its father or founder, just as Homer was of Epic poetry, and Herodotus of History. AEschylus was born at Eleusis in Attica inB. C. 525, and was thus contemporary with Simonides and Pindar. Hefought with his brother Cynaegirus at the battle of Marathon, and alsoat those of Artemisium, Salamis, and Plataea. In B. C. 484 he gainedhis first tragic prize. In 468 he was defeated in a tragic contest byhis younger rival Sophocles; shortly afterwards he retired to the courtof king Hiero, at Syracuse, He died at Gela, in Sicily, in 456, in the69th year of his age. It is unanimously related that an eagle, mistaking the poet's bald head for a stone, let a tortoise fall upon itin order to break the shell, thus fulfilling an oracle predicting thathe was to die by a blow from heaven. The improvements introduced intotragedy by AEschylus concerned both its form and composition, and itsmanner of representation. In the former his principal innovation wasthe introduction of a second actor; whence arose the dialogue, properlyso called, and the limitation of the choral parts, which now becamesubsidiary. His improvements in the manner of representing tragedyconsisted in the introduction of painted scenes, drawn according to therules of perspective. He furnished the actors with more appropriateand more magnificent dresses, invented for them more various andexpressive masks, and raised their stature to the heroic size byproviding them with thick-soled cothurni or buskins. AEschylus excelsin representing the superhuman, in depicting demigods and heroes, andin tracing the irresistible march of fate. His style resembles theideas which it clothes: it is bold, sublime, and full of gorgeousimagery, but sometimes borders on the turgid. SOPHOCLES, the younger rival and immediate successor of Aeschylus inthe tragic art, was born at Colonus, a village about a mile fromAthens, in B. C. 495. We have already adverted to his wresting thetragic prize from AEschylus in 468, from which time he seems to haveretained the almost undisputed possession of the Athenian stage, untila young but formidable rival arose in the person of Euripides. Theclose of his life was troubled with family dissensions. Iophon, hisson by an Athenian wife, and therefore his legitimate heir, was jealousof the affection manifested by his father for his grandson Sophocles, the offspring of another son, Ariston, whom he had had by a Sicyonianwoman. Fearing lest his father should bestow a great part of hisproperty upon his favourite, Iophon summoned him before the Phratores, or tribesmen, on the ground that his mind was affected. The old man'sonly reply was--"If I am Sophocles I am not beside myself; and if I ambeside myself I am not Sophocles. " Then taking up his OEDIPUS ATCOLONUS, which he had lately written, but had not yet brought out, heread from it a beautiful passage, with which the judges were so struckthat they at once dismissed the case. He died shortly afterwards, inB. C. 406, in his 90th year. As a poet Sophocles is universally allowedto have brought the drama to the greatest perfection of which it issusceptible. His plays stand in the just medium between the sublimebut unregulated flights of AEschylus, and the too familiar scenes andrhetorical declamations of Euripides. His plots are worked up withmore skill and care than the plots of either of his great rivals. Sophocles added the last improvement to the form of the drama by theintroduction of a third actor; a change which greatly enlarged thescope of the action. The improvement was so obvious that it wasadopted by AEschylus in his later plays; but the number of three actorsseems to have been seldom or never exceeded. EURIPIDES was born in the island of Salamis, in B. C. 480 his parentshaving been among those who fled thither at the time of the invasion ofAttics by Xerxes. He studied rhetoric under Prodicus, and physicsunder Anaxagoras and he also lived on intimate terms with Socrates. In441 he gained his first prize, and he continued to exhibit plays until408, the date of his Orestes. Soon after this he repaired to the courtof Macedonia, at the invitation of king Archelaus, where he died twoyears afterwards at the age of 74 (B. C. 406). Common report relatesthat he was torn to pieces by the king's dogs, which, according to someaccounts, were set upon him by two rival poets out of envy. Intreating his characters and subjects Euripides often arbitrarilydeparted from the received legends, and diminished the dignity oftragedy by depriving it of its ideal character, and by bringing it downto the level of every-day life. His dialogue was garrulous andcolloquial, wanting in heroic dignity, and frequently frigid throughmisplaced philosophical disquisitions. Yet in spite of all thesefaults Euripides has many beauties, and is particularly remarkable forpathos, so that Aristotle calls him "the most tragic of poets. " Comedy received its full development at Athens from Cratinus, who livedin the age of Pericles. Cratinus, and his younger contemporariesEupolis and Aristophanes, were the three great poets of what is calledthe Old Attic Comedy. The comedies of Cratinus and Eupolis are lost;but of Aristophanes, who was the greatest of the three, we have elevendramas extant. ARISTOPHANES was born about 444 B. C. Of his privatelife we know positively nothing. He exhibited his first comedy in 427, and from that time till near his death, which probably happened about380, he was a frequent contributor to the Attic stage. The OLD ATTICCOMEDY was a powerful vehicle for the expression of opinion; and mostof the comedies of Aristophanes turned either upon politicaloccurrences, or upon some subject which excited the interest of theAthenian public. Their chief object was to excite laughter by theboldest and most ludicrous caricature; and provided that end wasattained the poet seems to have cared but little about the justice ofthe picture. Towards the end of the career of Aristophanes theunrestricted licence and libellous personality of comedy begangradually to disappear. The chorus was first curtailed and thenentirely suppressed, and thus made way for what is called the MiddleComedy, which had no chorus at all. The latter still continued to bein some degree political; but persons were no longer introduced uponthe stage under their real names, and the office of the chorus was verymuch curtailed. It was, in fact, the connecting link between the OldComedy and the New, or the Comedy of Manners. The NEW COMEDY aroseafter Athens had become subject to the Macedonians. Politics were nowexcluded from the stage, and the materials of the dramatic poet werederived entirely from the fictitious adventures of persons in privatelife. The two most distinguished writers of this school were PHILEMONand MENANDER. Philemon was probably born about the year 360 B. C. , andwas either a Cilician or Syracusan, but came at an early age to Athens. He is considered as the founder of the New Comedy, which was soonafterwards brought to perfection by his younger contemporary Menander. The latter was an Athenian, and was born in B. C. 312. He was drownedat the age of 52, whilst swimming in the harbour of Piraeus. He wroteupwards of 100 comedies, of which only fragments remain; and theunanimous praise of posterity awakens our regret for the loss of one ofthe most elegant writers of antiquity. The comedies, indeed, ofPlautus and Terence may give us a general notion of the New Comedy ofthe Greeks, from which they were confessedly drawn; but there is goodreason to suppose that the works even of the latter Roman writer fellfar short of the wit and elegance of Menander. The latter days of literary Athens were chiefly distinguished by thegenius of her ORATORS and PHILOSOPHERS. There were ten Attic orators, whose works were collected by the Greek grammarians, and many of whoseorations have come down to us. Their names are Antiphon, Andocides, Lysias, Isocrates, Isaeus, AEschines, Lycurgus, Demosthenes, Hyperidesand Dinarchus. ANTIPHON, the earliest of the ten was born B. C. 480. He opened a school of rhetoric, and numbered among his pupils thehistorian Thucydides. Antiphon was put to death in 411 B. C. For thepart which he took in establishing the oligarchy of the Four Hundred. ANDOCIDES, who was concerned with Alcibiades in the affair of theHermae, was born at Athens in B. C. 467, tend died probably about 391. LYSIAS, also born at Athens in 458, was much superior to Andocides asan orator, but being a METIC or resident alien, he was not allowed tospeak in the assemblies or courts of justice, and therefore wroteorations for others to deliver. ISOCRATES was born in 436. After receiving the instructions of some ofthe most celebrated sophists of the day, he became himself aspeech-writer and professor of rhetoric; his weakly constitution andnatural timidity preventing him from taking a part in public life. Hemade away with himself in 338, after the fatal battle of Chaeronea, indespair, it is said, of his country's fate. He took great pains withhis compositions, and is reported to have spent ten, or, according toothers, fifteen years over his Panegyric oration. ISAEUS flourished between the end of the Peloponnesian war and theaccession of Philip of Macedon. He opened a school of rhetoric atAthens, and is said to have numbered Demosthenes among his pupils. Theorations of Isaeus were exclusively judicial, and the whole of theeleven which have come down to us turn on the subject of inheritances. AESCHINES was born in the year 389, and he was at first a violentanti-Macedonian; but after his embassy along with Demosthenes andothers to Philip's court, he was the constant advocate of peace, Demosthenes and AEschines now became the leading speakers on theirrespective sides, and the heat of political animosity soon degeneratedinto personal hatred. In 343 Demosthenes charged AEschines with havingreceived bribes from Philip during a second embassy; and the speech inwhich he brought forward this accusation was answered in another byAEschines. The result of this charge is unknown, but it seems to havedetracted from the popularity of AEschines. We have already advertedto his impeachment of Ctesiphon, and the celebrated reply ofDemosthenes in his speech DE CORONA. After the banishment of AEschineson this occasion (B. C. 330), he employed himself in teaching rhetoricat Rhodes. He died in Samos in 314. As an orator he was second onlyto Demosthenes. Of the life of his great rival, DEMOSTHENES, we have already given someaccount. The verdict of his contemporaries, ratified by posterity, haspronounced Demosthenes the greatest; orator that ever lived. Theprincipal element of his success must be traced in his purity ofpurpose, which gave to his arguments all the force of conscientiousconviction. The effect of his speeches was still further heightened bya wonderful and almost magic force of diction. The grace and vivacityof his delivery are attested by the well-known anecdote of AEschines, when he read at Rhodes his speech against Ctesiphon. His audiencehaving expressed their surprise that he should have been defeated aftersuch an oration "You would cease to wonder, " he remarked, "if you hadheard Demosthenes. " The remaining three Attic orators, viz. LYCURGUS, HYPERIDES, andDINARCHUS, were contemporaries of Demosthenes. Lycurgus and Hyperidesboth belonged to the anti-Macedonian party, and were warm supporters ofthe policy of Demosthenes. Dinarchus, who is the least important ofthe Attic orators, survived Demosthenes, and was a friend of DemetriusPhalereus. The history of Greek PHILOSOPHY, like that of Greek poetry and history, began in Asia Minor. The earliest philosopher of distinction wasTHALES of Miletus, who was born about B. C. 640, and died in 554 at theage of 90. He was the founder of the IONIC school of philosophy, andto him were traced the first beginnings of geometry and astronomy. Themain doctrine of his philosophical system was, that water, or fluidsubstance was the single original element from which everything cameand into which everything returned. ANAXIMANDER, the successor ofThales in the Ionic school, lived from B. C. 610 to 547. He wasdistinguished for his knowledge of astronomy and geography, and is saidto have been the first to introduce the use of the sun-dial intoGreece. ANAXIMENES, the third in the series of the Ionian philosophers, lived a little later than Anaximander. He endeavoured, like Thales, toderive the origin of all material things from a single element; and, according to his theory, air was the source of life. A new path was struck out by ANAXAGORAS Of Clazomenae, the mostillustrious of the Ionic philosophers. He came to Athens in 480 B. C. , where he continued to teach for thirty years, numbering among hishearers Pericles, Socrates, and Euripides. He abandoned the system ofhis predecessors, and, instead of regarding some elementary form ofmatter as the origin of all things, he conceived a supreme mind orintelligence, distinct from the visible world, to have imparted formand order to the chaos of nature. These innovations afforded theAthenians a pretext for indicting Anaxagoras of impiety, though it isprobable that his connexion with Pericles was the real cause of thatproceeding (see Ch. IX). It was only through the influence andeloquence of Pericles that he was not put to death; but he wassentenced to pay a fine of five talents and quit Athens. Thephilosopher retired to Lampsacus, where he died at the age of 72. The second school of Greek philosophy was the ELEATIC which derived itsname from Elea or Velia, a Greek colony on the western coast ofSouthern Italy. It was founded by XENOPHANES of Colophon, who fled toElea on the conquest of his native land by the Persians. He conceivedthe whole of nature to be God. The third school of philosophy was the PYTHAGOREAN, founded byPYTHAGORAS. He was a native of Samos and was born about B. C. 580. Hisfather was an opulent merchant, and Pythagoras himself travelledextensively in the East. He believed in the transmigration of souls;and later writers relate that Pythagoras asserted that his own soul hadformerly dwelt in the body of the Trojan Euphorbus, the son ofPanthous, who was slain by Menelaus, and that in proof of his assertionhe took down, at first sight, the shield of Euphorbus from the templeof Hera (Juno) at Argos, where it had been dedicated by Menelaus. Pythagoras was distinguished by his knowledge of geometry andarithmetic; and it was probably from his teaching that the Pythagoreanswere led to regard numbers in some mysterious manner as the basis andessence of all things. He was however more of the religious teacherthan of the philosopher; and he looked upon himself as a being destinedby the gods to reveal to his disciples a new and a purer mode of life. He founded at Croton in Italy a kind of religious brotherhood, themembers of which were bound together by peculiar rites and observances. Everything done and taught in the fraternity was kept a profound secretfrom all without its pale. It appears that the members had some privatesigns, like Freemasons, by which they could recognise each other, evenif they had never met before. His doctrines spread rapidly over MagnaGraecia, and clubs of a similar character were established at Sybaris, Metapontum, Tarentum, and other cities. At Athens a new direction was given to the study of philosophy bySocrates, of whom an account has been already given. To his teachingeither directly of indirectly may be traced the origin of the fourprincipal Grecian schools: the ACADEMICIANS, established by Plato; thePERIPATETICS, founded by his pupil Aristotle; the EPICUREANS, so namedfrom their master Epicurus; and the STOICS, founded by Zeno. PLATO was born at Athens in 429 B. C. , the year in which Pericles died. His first literary attempts were in poetry; but his attention was soonturned to philosophy by the teaching of Socrates, whose lectures hebegan to frequent at about the age of twenty. From that time till thedeath of Socrates he appears to have lived in the closest intimacy withthat philosopher. After that event Plato withdrew to Megara, andsubsequently undertook some extensive travels, in the course of whichhe visited Cyrene, Egypt, Sicily, and Magna Graecia. His intercoursewith the elder and the younger Dionysius at Syracuse has been alreadyrelated His absence from Athens lasted about twelve years; on hisreturn, being then upwards of forty, he began to teach in the gymnasiumof the Academy. His doctrines were too recondite for the popular ear, and his lectures were not very numerously attended. But he had anarrower circle of devoted admirers and disciples, consisting of abouttwenty-eight persons, who met in his private house; over the vestibuleof which was inscribed--"Let no one enter who is ignorant of geometry. "The most distinguished of this little band of auditors were Speusippus, his nephew and successor, and Aristotle. He died in 347, at the age of81 or 82, and bequeathed his garden to his school. ARISTOTLE was born in 381 B. C. , at Stagira, a seaport town ofChalcidice, whence he is frequently called THE STAGIRITE. At the ageof 17, Aristotle, who had then lost both father and mother, repaired toAthens. Plato considered him his best scholar, and called him "theintellect of his school. " Aristotle spent twenty years at Athens, during the last ten of which he established a school of his own. In342 he accepted the invitation of Philip of Macedon to undertake theinstruction of his son Alexander. In 335, after Alexander had ascendedthe throne, Aristotle quitted Macedonia, to which he never returned. He again took up his abode at Athens, where the Athenians assigned himthe gymnasium called the Lyceum; and from his habit of delivering hislectures whilst walking up and down in the shady walks of this place, his school was called the PERIPATETIC. In the morning he lectured onlyto a select class of pupils, called ESOTERIC. His afternoon lectureswere delivered to a wider circle, and were therefore called EXOTERIC. It was during the thirteen years in which he presided over the Lyceumthat he composed the greater part of his works, and prosecuted hisresearches in natural history, in which he was most liberally assistedby the munificence of Alexander. The latter portion of Aristotle's lifewas unfortunate. He appears to have lost from some unknown cause thefriendship of Alexander; and, after the death of that monarch, thedisturbances which ensued in Greece proved unfavourable to his peaceand security. Being threatened with a prosecution for impiety, heescaped from Athens and retired to Chalcis; but he was condemned todeath in his absence, and deprived of all the rights and honours whichhe had previously enjoyed. He died at Chalcis in 322, in the 63rd yearof his age. Of all the philosophical systems of antiquity, that of Aristotle wasbest adapted to the practical wants of mankind. It was founded on aclose and accurate observation of human nature and of the externalworld; but whilst it sought the practical and useful, it did notneglect the beautiful and noble. His works consisted of treatises onnatural, moral and political philosophy, history, rhetoric, criticism, &c. ; indeed there is scarcely a branch of knowledge which his vast andcomprehensive genius did not embrace. EPICURUS was born at Samos in 342, and settled at Athens at about theage of 35. Here he purchased a garden, where he established hisphilosophical school. He taught that pleasure is the highest good; atenet, however, which he explained and dignified by showing that it wasmental pleasure that he intended. The ideas of atheism and sensualdegradation with which the name of Epicurus has been so frequentlycoupled are founded on ignorance of his real teaching. But as hedenied the immortality of the soul, and the interference of the gods inhuman affairs, --though he held their existence, --his tenets were veryliable to be abused by those who had not sufficient elevation of mindto love virtue for its own sake. ZENO was a native of Citium in the island of Cyprus, and settled atAthens about B. C. 299. Here he opened a school in the Poecile Stoa, orpainted porch, whence the name of his sect. He inculcated temperanceand self-denial, and his practice was in accordance with his precept.