PART I. Roused at this attack upon the freedom of their constitution, the Athenians flew to arms; obliged Isagoras and Cleomenes to take refuge in the acropolis, which was immediately invested; and on the third day of the siege, compelled them to surrender on conditions; the Lacedæmonian king agreeing to evacuate the territory of Attica, and the Athenians to permit him to withdraw his troops without molestation 142. They also permitted Isagoras to accompany him; but all the other Athenian citizens, who had joined in the conspiracy against the liberties of their country, were instantly put to death'43. The Athenians no sooner found themselves in quiet possession of their capital, then they recalled Clisthenes, and the seven hundred familes that had been driven into exile by Cleomenes 44. And whatever might have been the views of Clisthenes before his banishment, he seems henceforth to have respected, and restored the constitution of his country, as modelled by Solon; with the exception of the division of the tribes into ten, the augmentation of the council of four to five hundred, and the ostracism, which he himself had established '45. ter. 142. Id. ibid. 143. Herodot. ubi sup. 144. Id. lib. v. cap. lxxiii. But 145. Various have been the opinions of historians, and philosophical politicians, both ancient and modern, concerning the ostracism. Like all human institutions, it was certainly liable to abuse. But that abuse could only be occasioned by the mistaken sense of the majority of the Athenian people, in regard to some great public characSuch mistake could seldom continue long; and when the people became sensible of the error they had committed, they could revoke their decree, and repair the injustice before the expiration of ten years, the term ordained by law. That they did so, we are assured by Plutarch (Vit. Aristid.). In being thus banished, there was no dishonour; and it was certainly better, that worthy individuals should suffer a temporary hardship, than that the state should be convulsed with jealousy, and distracted with apprehensions of tyranny. XI. But the Athenians, though now in full possession LETTER of those liberties that contributed to their aggrandizement, and which, with the relaxation of public virtue, brought on their declension, found themselves in a perilous situation. They had reason to apprehend the resentment of the Lacedæmonians; and the Lacedæmonians, who still maintained the chief sway, not only in Peloponnesus, but over all Greece, every where attempted to establish an aristocratical form of government, in subordination to their own authority 46. The heads of the Athenian republic, therefore, in this alarming crisis, after looking about in vain for a Grecian ally, able to protect them from the usurping power of Sparta, sent ambassadors to Artaphernes, governor of Sardis, prefering an alliance with the Persian court147. The haughty satrap asked who the Athenians were, that they presumed to treat, on a footing, with the great king?-Being informed that they were a free people, struggling for independency with ambitious neighbours, and with the Lacedæmonians, who aspired at the dominion of Greece, he replied, that they must present the Persian monarch with earth and water, in testimony of submission, before they could hope he would interest himself in their affairs 48. The Athenian ambassadors deliberated together on the humiliating proposal; and more zealous for the safety, than the honour of their country, they agreed tyranny. The Ostracism has accordingly received the approbation of Aristotle (Polit. lib. iii. cap. ix.), and of Montesquieu (L'Esprit des Loix, liv. xxix. chap. vii.), while it has been reprobated by a herd of declaimers, and decried by all the advocates for despotism. No Athenian citizen could be banished by the ostracism, I here repeat, unless the shells against him amounted to six thousand. Plut. Vit. Aristid. 146. Herodot. et Thucydid. passim. 147. Herodot. lib. v. cap. lxxiii. 148. Id. ibid. to PART I. to the ignominious condition'49. But, on their return, they were severely blamed by their fellowcitizens, for their compliance150; and the transaction was disavowed by the state'51. Meanwhile Cleomenes, king of Lacedæmon, ashamed of his disgraceful retreat from Athens, and desirous of humbling that rival republic, had collected forces from all parts of Peloponnesus; but without making known his purpose'52. And having formed an alliance with the Baotians, and also with the Chalcideans of Eubea, who engaged to co-operate with him, he marched toward the territory of Attica at the head of a formidable army, in conjunction with his colleague, Demaratus, and accompanied by Isagoras, whom he meant to invest with the supreme power, or at least make the leader of the aristocratical party at Athens. He accordingly entered the district of Eleusis; while the Baotians, as had been concerted, took Oenoe and Hysia, on the northern frontier of Attica: and the Chalcideans ravaged other parts of the country153. The Athenians, though astonished at the number of their invaders, and distracted by the different directions in which they appeared, were not dismayed. After some deliberation, they boldly resolved to direct their whole strength against the army under the joint kings of Lacedæmon. With this view, they put their troops in motion. But before they reached the hostile camp, a dissention had arisen among the Peloponnesian confederates. And the Corinthians, convinced that the cause, in which they had ignorantly engaged, was unjust, drew off their forces, 149. Herodot. ubi sup. 150. Id. ibid. 151. Valer. Max. lib. vi. cap. iii. 152. Herodot. lib. v. cap. lxxiv. 153. Id. Historiar. lib. v. cap. lxxv. when XI. when the two armies were ready to engage. Dema- LETTER ratus followed their example; and the other Peloponnesian confederates, seeing the Spartan kings divided in opinion, also led off their forces154. This defection obliged Cleomenes to desist from his ambitious and vindictive enterprise. Elated at the dissolution of the Peloponnesian army, and the inglorious retreat of the Lacedæmonians, the Athenians resolved to chastise, with exemplary severity, the other invaders of their country. In this spirit, they marched first against the Chalcideans. But finding, when they reached the Euripus, or channel that divides the island of Eubœa from the continent, that the Baotians were come to the support of their confederates, they gave battle to the succouring army; killed great numbers of the Boeotians, and took seven hundred prisoners; then passing over to Eubea, they defeated the Chalcideans the same day155. And so complete was their victory over the latter, that they settled a colony of four thousand Athenians, in the lands that had belonged to the more wealthy Chalcide, ans156 The prisoners, both Chalcidean and Eubean, were ransomed at two minæ, or about six guineas a head 57; no small sum, considering the value of money in those days. But the fetters, with which the captives had been chained, were carried to Athens in triumph, and hung up in the acropolis; where also was placed a chariot, drawn by four horses, formed of brass, with an inscription to the following purport: "Fir'd with just rage, the martial youths "Of Athens, broke, by their subduing arm, 154. Id. ibid. 156. Id. ibid. 155. Herodotus, lib. v. cap. lxxvii. "The PART. I "The firm Chalcidean and Baotian bands, "And bound their foes in fetters; hence to thee, The ascending star of liberty at Athens was now high, and shone with distinguished brightness; but storms were fast gathering, which threatened to obscure its lustre. The Baotians, mortified at their late discomfiture, were desirous of taking vengeance upon the Athenians. Finding themselves, however, too weak for that purpose, they had recourse to the assistance of the Æginetes, the rivals of the Athenians in commerce158. 160 The island of Ægina is situated in the Saronic gulf, and lies off the coast of Attica, nearly opposite the city of Athens, within sight of the land 159, and at no great distance from Peloponnesus Favoured by their maritime position, the Æginetes had early applied themselves to trade and piracy11, and were at this time equal in naval force to almost any people in European Greece. Become jealous of the rising greatness of the Athenians, against whom they had an old cause of enmity, and afraid of being crushed by the growing navy of the republic, they readily entered into a league with the Bootians, and invaded Attica 162. The Athenians met their combined enemies, and defeated them with great slaughter 63. But while the Athenian forces were employed in expelling the Bootians, the Æginetes made a second descent, in the 158. Id. lib. v. cap. lxxx. 159. Hence Ægina was emphatically termed " the eye-sore of the Piraeus" (Plut. Vit. Pericl.), the principal sea-port of Athens. 160. Strabo, lib. viii. 162. Herodot. lib. v. cap. lxxxi. 163. Id. ibid. 161. Id. ibid. neighbourhood |