328 



ATTICA ATTICUS. 



UK lit, which had continued 487 years from the time of 

 Cecrops, was abolished. An archon, chosen for life, 

 possessed the regal power. After 316 years, the 

 i. rin of office of the archons was limited to ten years, 

 mid, seventy years later, te one year, and their num- 

 l -r was increased to nine. A regular code of laws 

 was now needed. The archon Draco was commis- 

 sioned to draw one up ; Inn his severity di-^usted the 

 minds of the people, and, H. ( . ;~j<> I, Solon introduced 

 a milder code and a better constitution. He provided 

 that the form of government should continue donn> 

 cratic, and that a senate of 400 members, chosen from 

 the people, should administer the government. He 

 divided the people into four classes, according to their 

 wealth. The offices of government were to be filled 

 from the tliree first, but the fourth were to bo admitted 

 (o the assemblies of the people, and to have an equal 

 sliare, by their vote, in legislation. But this coiiMi- 

 tulion was too artificial to be permanent. Pisistratns, 

 a man of talents, boldness, and ambition, put himself 

 at the head of the poorer classes, and made himself 

 master of the supreme power in Athens. His govern- 

 ment was splendid and beneficent, but his two sons 

 could not maintain it. Hipparchus was murdered, 

 and Hippias banished. Clisthenes, a friend of the 

 people exerted himself to prevent future abuses by 

 some changes in the laws of Solon. He divided the 

 people into ten classes, and made the senate consist of 

 500 persons. A. was already highly cultivated ; the 

 vintage and harvest, like all the labours of this gay 

 people, were celebrated with dance and song, with 

 feasts, and sacrifices. The wool of A. was famous, 

 on account of the care bestowed upon the sheep, and 

 the skill with which it was dyed of the most beauti- 

 ful colours. Mount Hymettus (q. v.) yielded the 

 finest honey, and mount Laurium contained rich silver 

 mines, the products of which were appropriated to the 

 support of the fleet. Then came the splendid era of 

 the Persian war, which elevated Athens to the sum- 

 mit of fame. Miltiades at Marathon, and Themis- 

 tocles, at Salamis, conquered the Persians by land and 

 by sea. The freedom of Greece escaped the dangers 

 which had threatened it ; the rights of the people 

 were enlarged; the archons and other magistrates 

 were chosen from all classes without distinction. The 

 period from the Persian war to the time of Alexander 

 (B. C. 500 to 336) was most remarkable for the de- 

 velopement of the Athenian constitution. According 

 to Bockh's excellent work, Die Staatshaushaltung 

 der Athener (2 vols., Berlin, 1817), A. contained, 

 together with the islands of Salamis and Helena, a 

 territory of 847 square miles, with 500,000 inhabitants, 

 365,000 of whom were slaves. Bockh estimates the 

 inhabitants of the city and harbours at 180,000 ; those 

 of the mines at 20,000. Cimon and Pericles (B. C. 

 444) introduced the highest elegance into Athens, but 

 the latter laid the foundation for the future corruption 

 of manners, and for the gradual overthrow of the 

 state. Under him began the Peloponnesian war, 

 which ended with the conquest of Athens by the La- 

 cedemonians. The vanquished were obliged to re- 

 ceive the most mortifying conditions from the victors. 

 Thirty supreme magistrates were placed over the city, 

 who, under the protection of the Lacedemonian gar- 

 rison, were arbitrary and cruel. After eight dreadful 

 months, Thrasybulus overthrew this tyranny, and re- 

 -tored freedom and the old constitution, with some 

 improvements. Athens began to elevate herself 

 again among the states of Greece, and was fortunate 

 iii her alliance with Thebes against Sparta. But this 

 new period of power did not long continue. A more 

 dangerous enemy rose in the North Philip of Mace- 

 don. The Athenians had opposed him in the Pho- 

 rian war, and Philip, therefore, took possession of 

 some of thtir colonies. The Greeks took up arms, 



but the battle of Cherona?a (B. C. 338) was the grave 

 of their liberty. Athens, together with the oilier 

 states of Greece, was now dependent on the Mace- 

 donians. In vain, after the death of Alexander, did 

 the Athenians attempt to regain their freedom : they 

 were obliged to receive a Macedonian garrison in the 

 harbour of Munychia. Antipater ordered that only 

 those citizens who possessed an estate of more than 

 2000 drachnue should take part in the administration 

 of the government. Soon after, Athens was taken 

 by Cassander, because it had joined his enemies, con- 

 trary to the advice of Pl.ocion. Ca>sander restored 

 the oligarchy, and named Demetrius Phalereus 

 governor of the state, who quietly enjoyed the office 

 lor ten years. But the Athenians, who hated him 

 because he was not chosen by them, called Demetrius 

 Poliorcetes to their assistance, who took the city, re- 

 stored the ancient constitution, and was loaded with 

 the most extravagant marks of honour by the Atheni- 

 ans ; yet, when he went to war, lie lost the a flection 

 of the unstable multitude, who, on his return, ex- 

 cluded him from the city. But he conquered Athens, 

 forgave the citizens, and permitted them to enjoy 

 their liberty, merely placing a garrison in the havens 

 of Munychia and the Pirzeus. This garrison was 

 afterwards driven out by the Athenians, who, for a 

 long time, maintained their freedom. Antigonu-. 

 Gonatus again conquered them, and in this situation 

 they remained until they separated themselves from 

 the Macedonians, and joined the Achaean league. 

 They afterwards united with the Romans against 

 Philip, and their new allies confirmed their fretdom. 

 When they suffered themselves to be mish d to sup- 

 port Mithridates against the Romans, they drew 

 upon themselves the vengeance of Rome. Sylla 

 captured the city, and left it only an appear- 

 ance of liberty, which it retained until the time of 

 Vespasian. This emperor formally changed it into 

 a Roman province. After the division of the Roman 

 empire, A. belonged to the empire of the East. 

 A. D. 396, it was conquered by Alaric the Goth, and 

 the country devastated. The latest and most beauti- 

 ful engravings of the antiquities of this country are, 

 " The Unedited Antiquities of Attica, comprising the 

 Architectural Remains of Eleusis, Rhamnus, Sunium, 

 and Thoricus, by the Society of Dilettanti ;" London, 

 pub. by Longman and Murray, 1817, folio. See 

 Athens. 



ATTICUS, Herodes. See Herodes Atticus. 



ATTICUS, Titus Pomponius ; a Roman, belonging 

 to the rank of ci/uites, who, in the most agitated 

 times, preserved the esteem of all parties. The 

 Pomponian family, from which he originated, was 

 one of the most distinguished of the eguites, and de- 

 rived its origin from Numa Pompilius. He lived in 

 the latter period of the republic, and acquired great 

 celebrity from the splendour of his private character. 

 He inherited from his father and from his uncle, Q. 

 Csecilius. great wealth. When he attained maturity, 

 the republic was disturbed by the factions of Cinna 

 and Sylla. His brother Sulpicius, the tribune of the 

 people, being killed, he thought himself not safe in 

 Rome, for which reason he removed, with his for- 

 tune, to Athens, where he devoted himself to science. 

 His benefits to the city were so great, that he gained 

 the affections of the people in the highest degree. 

 He acquired so thorough a knowledge of Greek, that 

 he could not be distinguished from a native Athenian. 

 When Rome had recovered some degree of quiet, he 

 returned, and inherited from his uncle ten millions of 

 sesterces. His sister married the brother of Cicero. 

 With this orator, as well as with Hortensius, he lived 

 on terms of intimate friendship. It was his principle 

 never to mix in politics, and he lived undisturbed 

 amid all the successive factions which reignid in 



