CHAPTER X.

FROM THE DEMOLITION OF THE ATHENIAN POWER TO THE DEATH OF SOCRATES.

THOUGH the Lacedæmonians would not consent to the entire destruction of Athens, as they would not be guilty, they said, of putting out one of the eyes of Greece, yet they not only reduced it to the lowest condition in point of political consequence, but even altered the form of its government; for they compelled the people to abolish the democracy, and submit to the government of thirty men, who were commonly known by the name of the Thirty Tyrants. The Greeks, indeed, were sufficiently disposed to give that name to men of virtuous characters; but these rulers of Athens, who were the mere creatures of Lysander, appear to have deserved, in every respect, the most opprobrious appellation. Instead of compiling and publishing a more perfect body of laws, which was the pretence for their being chosen, they began to exercise their power of life and death; and though they appointed a senate, and other magistrates, they made no farther use of them than to confirm their own authority, and see their commands executed. At first, it is true, they proceeded with some caution, and condemned only the most profligate sort of citizens, viz. such as lived by informing and giving evidence against their neighbours; but this was only to blind the eyes of the popuJace; their real design was to make themselves absolute and as they well knew, that this could not be done without a foreign power, they next contrived to have a guard sent them from Sparta. This guard was commanded by one Callibius, whom they soon won over to their designs; and from this time forward they proceeded to act without control, filling the city with the blood of those, who, on account of their riches, interests, or good qualities, were most likely to oppose them.

One of their first acts of cruelty was to procure the death of Alcibiades, who had taken refuge in the dominions of Persia. This man, though driven from his

country, did not cease to interest himself in its welfare, and the tyrants dreading, that, by his popularity at Athens, where he was still much beloved, he would thwart all their schemes, entreated the Lacedæmonians to rid them of so formidable an opponent. This request the Lacedæmonians had the meanness to comply with; and accordingly wrote to Pharnabasus, the Persian governor for that purpose; and he, in his turn, was no less base and unprincipled, for, without having received any personal injury from Alcibiades, he readily promised to take him out of the way. The manner of this great man's death did not disgrace the high character for courage he had maintained during life. The assas sins sent against him were afraid to attack him openly. They, therefore, surrounded the house in which he was, and set it on fire. Alcibiades forced his way through the flames, sword in hand, and drove the barbarians before him, not one of whom had the courage to oppose him; but all of them discharging their darts and javelins upon him from a distance, he at last fell covered with wounds, and instantly expired. Timandra, his mistress, took up his body, and having covered and adorned it with the finest robes she had, she made as magnificent a funeral for it as her present circumstances would allow. To what we have already said of Alcibiades, it may not be improper to add, that his great popularity, wherever he resided, was principally owing to the extreme versatility of his genius, and the surprising facility with which he accommodated himself to the manners and customs of different people; for in this respect no man ever exceeded, or perhaps even equalled him. Plutarch says, that at Sparta he was hardy, frugal, and reserved; in Ionia, luxurious, indolent and gay; and when transacting affairs with the king of Persia's lieutenants, he surpassed even these men themselves in pomp and magnificence.

The tyrants, though eased of their apprehensions from this quarter, began to dread an opposition from another, that is, from the general body of the people, whom they well knew to be dissatisfied with their conduct; and they therefore invested three thousand

citizens with some part of their power, and by their assistance kept the rest in awe. Encouraged now by such an accession of strength, they soon proceeded to still greater extremities than any they had hitherto ventured on; they agreed to single out every one his man, to put him to death, and seize their estates for the maintenance of their guard. Theramenes, one of their number, was the only man that was struck with horror at their proceedings: Critias, therefore, the principal author of this detestable resolution, thought it necessary to take him out of the way, and he accordingly accused him to the senate of endeavouring to subvert the government. Sentence of death was immediately passed upon him, and he was obliged to drink the juice of hemlock, the usual mode of execution at that time in Athens. Socrates, whose disciple he had been, was the only person of the senate who ventured to appear in his defence; he made an attempt to rescue him out of the hands of the officer of justice, and, after his execution, went about as it were in defiance of the thirty, exhorting and animating the senators and citizens against them.

The tyrants thus freed from the opposition of a colleague, whose presence alone was a continual reproach to them, set no longer any bounds to their cruelty and rapacity. Nothing was now heard of but imprisonments, confiscations, and murders; every one trembled for himself or his friends; and amidst the general consternation which had seized the citizens on account of their personal danger, all hope seems to have been lost of recovering public liberty.

The Lacedæmonians, not content with supporting the Thirty Tyrants in the exercise of their cruelty, were unwilling to let any of the Athenians escape from their hands. They published an edict to prohibit the cities of Greece from giving them refuge, decreed that such of them as fled should be delivered up to the thirty, and condemned all those who contravened this edict to pay a fine of five talents. Two cities only, Megara and Thebes, rejected with disdain so unjust an ordinance. The latter went still farther, and published a decree,

that every house and city of Boeotia should be open and free for any Athenian that desired protection; and that whoever did not assist a fugitive Athenian who was seized, should be fined a talent. Thrasybulus, a man of an admirable character, who had long deplored the miseries of his country, was now the first to relieve it. At Thebes he held a consultation with his fellow citizens, and the result was, that some attempt, with whatever danger it might be attended, should certainly be made for restoring the public liberty. Accordingly, with a party of thirty men only, as Nepos says, but as Xenophon more probably relates, of near seventy, he seized upon Phyle, a strong castle on the frontiers of Attica. This enterprise alarmed the tyrants, who immediately marched out of Athens with their three thousand followers, and their Spartan guard, and attempted the recovery of the place, but were repulsed with loss. Finding they could not carry it by a sudden assault, they resolved upon a siege; but not being sufficiently provided for that purpose, and a great snow falling in the night, they were forced to retire the next day into the city, leaving only part of their guard to prevent any farther incursions into the country.

Encouraged by this success, Thrasybulus no longer kept upon the defensive, but marching out of Phyle by night at the head of a thousand men, made himself master of Pyræus. The thirty flew thither with their troops, and a battle sufficiently warm ensued; but as the soldiers, on one side, fought with spirit and ardour for their liberty, and, on the other, with indolence and neglect for the power of their oppressors, the victory was not long doubtful, but followed the better cause; the tyrants were overthrown; Critias was killed upon the spot; and, as the rest of the army were taking to flight, Thrasybulus cried out, "Wherefore do you fly from me as from a victor, rather thau assist me as the avenger of your liberty? We are not enemies but fellow citizens; neither have we declared war against the city, but against the Thirty Tyrants." He entreated them to remember, that they had the same origin, country, laws, and religion; he exhorted them to pity their

exiled brethren, to restore to them their country, and resume their liberty themselves. This discourse had the desired effect. The army, upon their return to Athens, expelled the thirty, and substituted ten persons to govern in their room, but whose conduct proved no better than that of their predecessors.

Though the 'government was thus altered, and the thirty deprived of their power, they still had hopes of being reinstated in their former authority, and sent deputies to Sparta to demand aid. Lysander was for granting it to them; but Pausanias, who then reigned in Sparta, moved with compassion at the deplorable condition of the Athenians, favoured them in private, and obtained a peace for them: it was sealed with the blood of the tyrants, who having taken arms to restore themselves to power, were put to the sword, and Athens left in full possession of its liberty. Thrasybulus then proposed an amnesty, by which the citizens engaged upon oath that all past actions should be buried in oblivion. The government was reestablished upon its ancient footing, the laws recovered their former vigour, the magistrates were elected with the usual ceremonies, and democracy was once more restored to this unfortunate people. Xenophon says, that this intestine commotion consumed as many in eight months, as the Peloponnesian war had done in ten years.

From Europe we must now pass over into Asia, which was the scene of the next great action in which the Greeks were concerned. This was no other than the famous expedition of Cyrus, the younger son of Darius Nothus, late king of Persia, who had long entertained hopes of being one day able to dethrone his elder brother, Artaxerxes. He had, indeed, made several attempts for this purpose already, and had as often been pardoned by his brother, at the earnest entreaty of their mother Parysatis. Artaxerxes carried his generosity to a still greater, and even to an imprudent length; for he bestowed upon Cyrus the absolute command of all those provinces that had been left him by the will of his father. Cyrus no sooner found himself in this exalted situation, than he began to use every art for the