THE 



ENGLISH CYCLOPEDIA 



BIOGRAPHY. 



The names of those living at the time of the continuous publication of the ' English Cyclopaedia of Biography,' are preceded by an asterisk. 



THIRTY TYRANTS (OF ATHENS). 



THIRTY TYRANTS (OF ROME). 



THIRTY TYRANTS (of Athens). lu the year B.C. 404, when, 

 after the Peloponnesian war, Athens had fallen into the hands of 

 Sparta, through the treacherous designs of the oligarchical party, the 

 Spartans themselves did not interfere in any direct way with the 

 political constitution of Athens (Diodorus, xiv. 4), but ,their negocia- 

 tions with Theramenes and others of the same party had convinced 

 them that even without their interference the democracy would soon 

 be abolished. In this expectation they were not disappointed, as this 

 was really the object of the oligarchical party. But as this party did 

 not sufficiently trust its own power, Lysander, who had already sailed 

 to Samos, was invited to attend the Assembly at Athens, in which the 

 question of reforming the constitution was to be considered. The 

 presence of Lysander and other Spartan generals with their armies, 

 and the threats that were uttered, silenced all opposition on the side 

 of the popular party, and on the proposition of Theramenes a decree 

 was passed that thirty men should be elected to draw up a new con- 

 stitution. (Xenophon, ' Hellen.,' ii. 3, 2.) Lysias (' in Eratosth.,' p. 

 126, ed. Steph.) gives a more satisfactory account of the proceedings 

 on that memorable day than Xeuophon. These thirty individuals 

 were invested with the sovereign power of the republic. Theramenes 

 himself nominated ten, the Athenian ephors ten others, and the 

 election of the remaining ten was left to the people. The names of 

 the Thirty are preserved in Xenophon (' Hellen.,' ii. 3, 2). Their 

 government, a real reiga of terror, which fortunately did not last 

 more than one year, was called in Athenian history the year of anarchy, 

 or the reign of the Thirty Tyrants. From the moment that they had 

 thus acquired an apparently legal power, they filled the vacancies in 

 the senate and the magistracies with their own friends and creatures. 

 The new code of laws which they were to draw up was never made, 

 that they might not put any restraints upon themselves, and might 

 always be at liberty to act as they pleased. A similar board, consist- 

 ing of ten men, perhaps appointed by Lysander himself, was intrusted 

 with the government of Piraeus. The object of the tyrants was to 

 reduce Athens to the condition of an unimportant town, and to make 

 the people forget the greatness to which it had been raised by Themis- 

 tocles and Pericles. The splendid arsenal of Athens was sold and 

 pulled down, and several of the fortresses of Attica were destroyed. 



To establish their tyranny the Thirty found it necessary to get rid 

 of a number of persons obnoxious to them. The first that were put 

 to death were the sycophants, who during the time of the democracy 

 had contributed most towards its overthrow by their shameful prac- 

 tices ; and the senate, as well as every well-meaning citizen, was glad 

 to see the republic delivered of such a pestilence. The senate acted 

 in these trials as the supreme court of justice, and the Thirty pre- 

 sided in it. All the votes of the senators however were given openl/, 

 that the tyrants might be able to see which way each senator voted. 

 This mode of proceeding, though it was at first only directed against 

 individuals equally obnoxious to all parties, became alarming when all 

 the distinguished men, who had been imprisoned before the day on 

 which the new constitution was established, in order that they might 

 not frustrate the plans of the oligarchs by their opposition, were in like 

 manner sentenced to death. The apprehensions of the people were 

 but too well founded, and Critias, the most cruel among the Thirty, 

 gave sufficient indications that the Tyrants did not mean to go on 

 with the same moderation. That they might always have at hand an 

 armed force to support them, they sent an embassy to Sparta to ask 

 for a garrison to occupy the Acropolis. This was granted, and came 



BIOG. DIV. VOL. \'i. 



under the commanl of Callibius as harmostes. His arrival rendered 

 the .Thirty secure. They courted the Spartan harmostes in the most 

 obsequious manner, and he in return placed his troops at their dis- 

 posal for whatever purpose they might wish to employ them in estab- 

 lishing their dominion more firmly. The assistance to the senate in 

 the trials for political offences began to be dispensed with, and the 

 number of the unhappy victims increased at a fearful rate. Not only 

 persons who opposed or showed any dissatisfaction with the rule of 

 the Tyrants, but all who by their merits had gained favour with the 

 people, were regarded as dangerous persons, who, if they could choose, 

 would prefer a popular government, and were condemned to death in 

 a very summary manner. The reign of the Thirty now began to 

 display all its horrors, and no one could feel safe. To be possessed 

 of wealth, especially in the case of aliens, was sufficient to bring a man 

 to ruin, for the tyrants, independent of all political considerations, 

 began to murder for no other purpose than that of enriching them- 

 selves by the confiscation of the property of their victims. The 

 remonstrances of Theramenes against this reckless system of blood- 

 shed were not followed by any other consequences than that the 

 Thirty selected 3000 Athenians who were to enjoy a kind of franchise, 

 and who could not be put to death without a trial before the senate. 

 The rest of the citizens were compelled to give up their arms, and 

 were treated as outlaws. By this expedient the Thirty hoped to 

 strengthen themselves, and to become more independent of the Spartan 

 garrison. The opposition of Theramenes to this arrangement involved 

 his own destruction. [THERAMENES.] The horrors which were now 

 perpetrated became every day more numerous and fearful, and 

 numbers of Athenians fled from their native country to seek refuge at 

 Argos, Megara, Thebes, and other places, where they met with an 

 hospitable and kind reception. The tyrants soon began to be uneasy 

 at the crowds of exiles who thus gathered round the frontiers of 

 Attica, and applied to Sparta to interfere. The Spartans issued a 

 proclamation empowering the Thirty to arrest the exiles in any part 

 of Greece, and forbidding any Greek state to interfere on their behalf. 

 This command was entirely disregarded by the Greeks, especially the 

 Thebans, who even declared that the Athenian fugitives should be 

 received and protected in all the towns of Bceotia. Thebes, whose 

 mode of action was not dictated by a generous and humane feeling 

 towards the unhappy Athenians, but rather arose from jealousy of 

 Sparta, thus became the rallying point for a great number of exiles, 

 among whom Thrasybulus was the most enterprising. In what 

 manner the rule of the Thirty Tyrants was at last overthrown, and 

 the democratical constitution was restored at Athens, is related in tho 

 article THRASYBULUS. 



(Xenophon, Hellen., ii. 3 ; Diodorus, xiv. 3, &c. ; Thirlwall ; Grote.) 

 THIRTY TYRANTS (under the Roman Empire). _ This name has 

 been given to a set of usurpers who sprung up in various parts of the 

 Roman empire in the reigns of Valerian (A. D. 253-60) and Gallienus 

 (261-68). This appellation of the Thirty Tyrants, in imitation of tho 

 Thirty Tyrants of Athens, is highly improper, and bears no analogy to 

 the Thirty of Athens. They rose in different parts, assuming the title 

 of emperor, in irregular succession, and were put down one after 

 another. Their number moreover does not amount to thirty, unless 

 women and children, who were honoured with the imperial title, are 

 included. Trebellius Pollio, who, in his work on the ' Triginta 

 Tyranni,' describes the adventures of each of them, has taken great 

 pains to make out that their number was thirty : there were however 



