ATHENS. 



17 



Athens. Having completed his system, Solon adopted a 



' v ~ ' policy which seems to have been general at that time, 



and was also employed by Lycurgus. He left 

 Athens, to which he did not return for the space of 

 ten years. The experiment, however, was not fortu- 

 nate ; the tranquillity which he had established, seems 

 to have been the fruit rather of his personal influence, 

 than of the authority of his laws. On his departure, 

 factions broke out, with all their former violence. 

 Lycurgus was at the head of the country, or aristo- 

 cratical party ;_Megacles, the chief of the Alcmeo- 

 nids, supported the party of the principal inhabitants 

 of the city, who were for a mixed government ; Pi- 

 sistratus was the leader of the purely democratical 

 party, which consisted of the highlanders, and of the 

 lower orders in the city. He courted popularity by 

 every method with which a large fortune and enga- 

 ging manners could furnish him. He lavished money 

 Pisistratus. on the necessitous, and conversed familiarly with all. 

 Thus he silently made his advances to the sovereignty. 

 At length, when his plans appeared ripe, he one day 

 made his entry into the market-place, wounded, and 

 flying, as it were, from pursuing enemies. The people 

 being immediately assembled, one of his friends mo- 

 ved, that a guard should be appointed to attend him. 

 With this he contrived to make himself master of the 

 citadel ; and it is also said, that, by a stratagem, he de- 

 prived the people of the arms which they were ac- 

 A. C. 559. customed to wear. He ruled however mildly, obser- 

 ving all the outward forms of liberty, and enforcing 

 the execution of Solon's laws. Solon was his inti- 

 mate friend, and fully admitted his merits, but oppo- 

 sed, to the utmost, the establishment of his tyranny. 

 This last account, however, though conformable to 

 the general voice of antiquity, is not considered by 

 Mr Mitford as resting on any very solid evidence. 

 It would appear, indeed, that Pisistratus ruled at 

 first more by opinion than by force ; for the heads of 

 the two opposite parties, Lycurgus and Megacles, 

 having coalesced against him, he was obliged to leave 

 the city. The victorious factions, however, could 

 not agree among themselves, and Megacles called in 

 the aid of Pisistratus, in order to expel his rival. 

 The manner in which they accomplished their pur- 

 pose, however singular it may appear to us, was not 

 ill suited to the ideas of the age. A woman of a 

 majestic figure was dressed in the manner of the god- 

 dess Minerva ; and the report was spread, that this 

 deity was reconducting Pisistratus to Athens. The 

 people, who probably regretted his absence, readily 

 acknowledged the pretended goddess, and restored 

 him to all his former authority. 



Pisistratus, in consideration of this service, had 

 promised to marry the daughter of Megacles, which 

 promise he performed ; but conceiving himself now 

 independent of that leader, he ceased to court his fa- 

 vour, and treated his wife in so contemptuous a man- 

 ner, as irritated her brother in the highest degree. 

 Megacles accordingly again connected himself with 

 the exiled party, and was thus enabled to expel Pisis- 

 tratus a second time. The latter, however, now de- 

 termined to assert his claims by force. Possessing, it 

 would appear, considerable interest in Greece, he 

 contrived to raise an army, at the head of which he 

 returned, beat his adversaries, and again assumed the 



VOJL. III. I-AKT I. 



Athens. 



government of the state. He used his victory, how- 

 ever, with the utmost moderation : He inflicted no '" v 

 punishment on those who submitted : He still main- 

 tained the laws and government on their ancient 

 foundation. So strictly observant was he of the forms 

 of the republic, that, on one occasion, he allowed 

 himself to be tried for his life before the court of 

 Areopagus. He seems to have done much to polish 

 the character of the Athenians, and to introduce 

 that ardent cultivation of the arts and sciences, which 

 afterwards rendered their name so celebrated. He 

 collected the poems of Homer, which before were 

 merely repeated in scattered rhapsodies. He distin- 

 guished himself by military exploits, of which, how- 

 ever, no detailed account has been transmitted to us. 

 In short, he appears to have merited the character of 

 Solon, that, had it not been for his ambition, he 

 would have been the best citizen of Athens. From 

 the time of his first assuming the government till his 

 death, thirty-three years had elapsed ; but, reckon- 

 ing from his ultimate and forcible seizure of the sove- 

 reignty, he reigned only seventeen. 



His sons, Hippias and Hipparchus, succeeded him. A. C. 52G, 

 It is not ascertained which was the eldest, but it ap- 

 pears that they reigned jointly. They seem to have "'PPL a . 5 

 been persons of singular accomplishments. They in- Dal . cnU j 

 herited all their father's love for the arts and sciences. 

 Hipparchus is particularly celebrated for the excel- 

 lence of his character. Simonides, Anacreon, and 

 other poets, were his intimate friends, and constant- 

 ly near his person. But the Athenians were now be- 

 come weary of servitude, however mild, and were 

 ready to grasp at any opportunity of regaining their 

 independence. Such an opportunity soon occurred. 

 Two friends, Harmodius and Aristogiton, concei- 

 ved an enmity against Hipparchus, not originating 

 in very honourable motives on either side. They 

 took the opportunity of the approaching festival of 

 the Panathcnea to assassinate him, expecting that the 

 people, who were then allowed to appear armed, 

 would espouse their cause. This hope was disap- 

 pointed : Harmodius was dispatched on the spot, and 

 Aristogiton seized. The action of these two persons 

 seems to have been prompted by private, and not the 

 most honourable motives ; yet such was the passion 

 of the Athenians for liberty, that their names have 

 been, as it were, canonized, and transmitted to poste- 

 rity as the most perfect models of friendship and pa- 

 triotism. 



Aristogiton, on being apprehended, was imme- 

 diately put to the torture. His conduct on this oc- 

 casion is remarkable : Instead of betraying his real 

 -accomplices, he named the best friends of Hippias. 

 It is said, that, after going over several, and being 

 asked if there were any more, he replied, " I know 

 of yourself only now, that deserves to suffer death." 



Hippias, from this moment, became really a tyrant. 

 The dread of sharing the fate of his brother tor- 

 mented him with continual suspicion. Many of the 

 principal men were put to death, and the Athenians, 

 to whom the tyranny before had begun to be bur- 

 densome, beheld it now with the utmost detestation. 

 Meanwhile the Alcmeonids, who, with their leader 

 Megacles, had been expelled at the last usurpation of 

 Pisistratus, were straining every nerve to effect a re- 

 C 



