PART I. bassadors; for his colleagues were by this time arrived, and had assured him, that the wall of Athens was now fit for defence. But he was afraid the Lacedæmonians, when they discovered the true state of the works, would put him and the other ambassadors under arrest'. From this danger, however, he was happily freed. The Athenians not only attended to his instructions, but the Spartan delegates behaved with such insolence, as to be justifiably thrown into prison13. Without being informed of this event, Themistocles had the boldness, when joined by his colleagues, and furnished with the intelligence they brought, to demand an audience, and declare to the senate of Sparta, that Athens was now so strongly walled, as to be fit for the defence of its citizens; that, therefore, in future, when the Lacedæmonians, or their confederates, should send ambassadors thither, they must address themselves to a people, who perfectly understood their own interest, and the interest of Greece; observing, that it would not be possible, with strength inferior to that of a rival power, equally to preserve, and evenly to balance the public welfare of the Grecian body. The Lacedæmonians, though inwardly enraged at this declaration, politically suppressed all appearance of resentment against the Athenians. The ambassadors of each state, therefore, returned home, without coming to an open rupture2o. Thus, adds Thucydides, the Athenians, in a short time, fortified their city: and the very outside of the structure shews that it was built in haste; the foundation being laid with stones of every kind, not hewn in some places 16. Thucydid. ubi sup. 18. Diod. Sicul. lib. xi. p. 31, vol. ii. 19. Thucydid. lib. i. cap. xci. 20. Id. lib. i. cap. xcii. 17. Id. ibid. 21. Bell. Peloponnes. lib. i. cap. xciii. XIV. as properly to fit, but piled on at random. Many pillars LETTER also from sepulchral monuments were blended in the work; for the circuit of the wall was every where enlarged beyond the former compass of the city. Hence, collecting the materials, not only from the ruins of the old rampart, but from every place without distinction, the labour was forwarded with speed22; men, boys, and even women bearing part in it23. The next measure of Themistocles, though not so essential to the present security of Athens, was yet more calculated for the future aggrandizement of his country. He persuaded the Athenians to finish the fortifications of port Peiræus, begun during the year he was archon. This haven was most commodious for shipping, it being formed by nature into three basons or harbours25. And as the Athenians, elated with the success of their fleet, during the Persian war, were become more than ever intent on the augmentation of their marine, he foresaw that the fortification of the Peiræus would contribute greatly to the exaltation of their naval power, and the consequent dominion of the sea, at which he had encouraged them to grasp. The wall of the Peiræus, or principal sea-port of Athens, was much stronger than that of the city. It was of such thickness, that two carts, carrying materials, could pass along it, by one another?. The interior part of it was neither filled with mortar nor mud; but the whole structure was one pile of large stones hewn square, so as to close their angles 22. Id. ibid. 23. Diod. Sicul. lib. xi. p. 51, vol. ii. 24. Thucydid. lib. i. cap. xciii. ward the beginning. Ant. Chr. 477. Olympiad lxxv. 3, 4. PARTI. exactly, and grappled firmly together, on the outside, with iron cramps, fastened with lead28. This wall, however, was not carried up above half the height that Themistocles intended29. He planned it, both in heighth and breadth, for an impregnable rampart against hostile attacks. And he frequently counselled the Athenians, that, if ever they were hard pressed by land, they ought to retire into the Peiræus, and thence with their naval force make head against all opponents3. But there might still have been danger in making such retreat: for the walls of Athens were not yet joined to those of Phaleron and Peiræus; the building of the walls of communication, called the long walls, which connected the Athenian capital with its two havens, being only begun under the administration of Pericles 32. The Lacedæmonians, according to the reports of later writers, menaced Attica with an invasion, while the walls of the Peiræus were building33; and all the political talents of Themistocles are said to be again called forth, in order to avert the threatening danger34. But of such hostile purpose Thucydides takes no notice. He informs us, however, that the same summer the farther fortification of the Peiræus was begun, Pausanias, the Lacedæmonian admiral, formerly the Grecian commander in chief by land, and now at sea, sailed from Peloponnesus with twenty triremes or ships of the line, and was joined by an Athenian fleet of thirty sail, and by a number of armed ships furnished by their allies35. 28. Id. ibid. 29. Thucydid. lib. i. cap. xciii. Yet was it sixty feet high. Potter, Archælog. Græc. book i. chap. viii. 31. Thucydid. ubi sup. 30. Id. ibid. 32. Id. Bell. Peloponnes. lib. i. cap. cvii. et Plut. Vit. Pericles. 33. Diod. Sicul. Biblioth. lib. xi. p. 32, 33, vol. ii. and most sub sequent historians, both ancient and modern. 34. Id. ibid. 35. Thucydid. lib. i. cap. xciv. That XIV. That combined fleet steered for Cyprus, and re- LETTER duced most of the Grecian towns in the island, which were then subject to the great king36. Thence it proceeded for Byzantium, still held by a Persian garrison, and invested and took the city37. But Pausanias, who seems to have conducted this naval enterprise with that superiority of courage and conduct, which had acquired him immortal renown at Platæa, became so arrogant in the exercise of his authority, as commander in chief, that all the Greeks, except the Lacedæmonians and their Peloponnesian confederates, were strongly disgusted with his behaviour; but especially the Ionians, and all who had been lately emancipated from the royal yoke 8. The Athenian fleet, on that occasion, was commanded by the wise and moderate Aristides, assisted by Cimon the son of Miltiades39; a man of a mild disposition and engaging manners, who inherited the warlike genius of his father, and united the political talents of Themistocles with the probity of Aristides. To these commanders the Ionians, both of the islands and the Asiatic continent, addressed themselves; entreating the Athenian admirals, by the common tie of consanguinity, to undertake their protection, and rescue them from the insults of Pausanias. This request was favourably heard by Aristides and Cimon, who expressed their willingness to put a stop to such grievances, and to accommodate matters to the best of their power. But before any new arrangement had been made, in consequence of these remonstrances, Pausanias was recalled by the senate PART I. Ant. Chr. 476. Olympiad lxxvi. 2. Ant. Chr. 475. Olympiad lxxvi. 2. of Lacedæmon; many of the Greeks having carried accusations to Sparta against him, for the abuse of his power; his behaviour resembling more that of tyrant, than of a commander in chief43. Pausanius was recalled at the very time the confederate Greeks, the Lacedæmonians and their Peloponnesian associates excepted, had ranged themselves under the command of the Athenian admirals++. On his arrival at Sparta, Pausanias was convicted of malversation in his conduct to the commanders of some states; but of the heaviest part of the charge he was acquitted, an attachment to the Persian interest45. Yet that was thought too clear to stand in need of proof. I should here, my lord, investigate the causes of the charge against Pausanias: but, for the sake of perspicuity, I shall not enter upon the subject, until I can connect those causes with their consequences; and open up the whole scene of baseness and ambitious folly, that led to the fatal catastrophe of the strangely chequered character of the conqueror at Platæa, and the captor of Byzantium. After Pausanias had been recalled, and convicted of misdemeanor in the exercise of the chief command at sea, the senate of Lacedæmon divested him of his rank; and appointed, in his stead, Dorcis with some colleagues, to the conduct of their naval force. But the confederated Greeks would not submit to these leaders48; they, therefore, returned home49. And the Lacedæmonians being at that time well 43. Thucydid. Bell. Peloponnes. lib. i. cap. xcv. 44. Id. ibid. 46. Id. ibid. 47. Thucydid. Bell. Peloponnes. lib. i. cap. xcv. 48. Id. ibid. affected |