30 



ATHENS. 



Athens, ciple of superstition, to which he was miserably ad- 

 < "' dieted, conceived it necessary to delay their departure 

 for twenty-seven days. This was a fatal delay to 

 Athens. 



The Syracusans, encouraged by their increased 

 numbers, and by the evident irresolution and timi- 

 dity of their enemies, determined to attack, them on 

 their own element. A naval engagement took place, 

 and continued for three days with various SUG 

 The valour and skill of the Athenians at first pre- 

 vailed ; but the Syracusans, continually pouring in 

 fresh numbers, at length gained a considerable ad- 

 vantage. 



No choice now remained to the Athenians but of 

 immediate retreat. By the time, however, that they 

 had brought their fleet to the mouth of the harbour, 

 they found that the Syracusans, without losing a mo- 

 ment, had thrown a chain across it. Another battle 

 was therefore necessary before they could escape. On 

 this battle hung the fate of the whole Athenian ar- 

 mament. It was fought long, and with dreadful ob- 

 stinacy. The armies surrounding the harbour, beheld 

 it as from a theatre, and raised cries of alternate exul- 

 Total de- tation and despair, according to the varying fortunes 

 feat of the of the day. Victory at length decided against the 

 Athenians. Athenians; all their vessels fled, and were driven on 

 shore. Nothing could then exceed their calamity. 

 Their only hope was to escape by land to some of the 

 allied cities ; but the route was to be made in the face 

 of a victorious enemy, through a country every where 

 hostile. As in a city taken by storm, they were to 

 fly, having lost their all. They were forced to aban- 

 don their dead unburied, a thing never before done 

 by an Athenian army ; they were forced even to aban- 

 don their wounded, exclaiming in vain to gods and 

 men against this inhuman desertion. The character of 

 Nicias rose in misfortune. By every motive of hope, 

 of interest, of national honour, he endeavoured to rouse 

 his countrymen from despair, and to inspire them with 

 that firmness which alone could save them. Yet, the 

 usual tardiness of his character remaining, he wast- 

 ed two days in preparation, of which period the Sy- 

 racusans availed themselves to seize on the passe6. 

 Tha Athenian army, however, for some time forced 

 their way, though slowly, through crowds of surround- 

 ing enemies. At length, the rear guard under De- 

 mosthenes was separated from the van, and forced to 

 surrender, stipulating only for their lives. The catas- 

 trophe of Nicias was still more fatal. Having reach- 

 ed the banks of the river Asinarius, he made a des- 

 perate attempt to cross it, conceiving that his retreat 

 would then be secure. The enemy, however, had 

 possessed themselves of its steep banks, and had filled 

 them with armed men. The Athenians, raging with 

 thirst, plunged into the stream, and eagerly drank it, 

 mixed as it was with the blood of their countrymen. 

 The crowds pressing on confusedly, encumbered and 

 crushed each other ; their attempts to advance were 

 vain ; while showers of darts were incessantly poured 

 down upon them from the surrounding heights. In 

 this dreadful condition, Nicias, seeing all was lost, 

 agreed to surrender on the mere condition of the car- 

 jiage being stopped. The prisoners' were conducted 

 to Syracuse, aid were treated with the utmost barbari- 

 ty. Nicias and Demosthenes were put to death. 



Vigour of 

 the At he. 



A. C 409. 



Change of 

 govern- 

 ment. 



We may more easily conceive than describe the con- Athem. 

 sternation of the Athenians, when these fatal tidings 

 arrived; when, instead of their vain and towering 

 hopes of universal conquest, they saw themselves ex- 

 posed, almost defenceless, to the fury of their enemies. 

 The flower of their warriors had perished ; and their 

 subject-allies, whom fear alone had retained in sub- 

 mission, began to manifest symptoms of revolt. In 

 tkia extremity, the energy of popular government, 

 tempered by misfortune, fully displayed itself. The 

 most able and prudent persons were set at the head 

 of affairs ; a new fleet was equipped witli incredible 

 dispatch ; armaments, sent to Chios, Samos, and 

 Ionia, secured the allegiance of those states ; and 

 Athens appeared, to astonished Greece, as formida- 

 ble almost as she had been in her most prosperous 

 days. 



The characteristic slowness of the Lacedemonians 

 had prevented them from availing themselves of the 

 first consternation of Athens, and seeing her rise 

 so rapidly to htr former greatness, they began to 

 be discouraged from the farther prosecution of the 

 war. Alcibiades, however, urged them to proceed, 

 and endeavoured to strengthen them by the alliance 

 of the Persians. Finding, however, that his levity and 

 dissoluteness had ruined his influence at Sparta, he 

 went over entirely to the latter ; and finally hoping 

 to regain his footing in Athens, offered to secure for 

 it the Persian alliance, provided an aristocracy were 

 established, and placed under his authority. The 

 Athenians, feeling the urgency of their affairs, and 

 disgusted with the party which had impelled them in- 

 to such precipitate measures, suffered their consent to 

 be extorted to a change so repugnant to all their 

 former habits. A singular manoeuvre now took place. 

 Pisander, Antiphon, and other old aristocrats, deter- 

 mined, that since this change was to take place, it 

 should be for the benefit of themselves, rather than of 

 one so odious to them as Alcibiades. In his absence, 

 therefore, they procured the consent of the Athe- 

 nians to adopt a new system of government, in the 

 room of that which they had so long idolized. The 

 popular assembly was reduced to 5000, by excluding 

 the lowest of the people ; while the chief power was 

 vested in a council of 400 ; and, these being all cho- 

 sen ultimately by five prytanes, the whole authority 

 centered in the latter. 



This government subsisted for some time without 

 opposition. The people, however, soon grew im- 

 patient of restraints to which they were so little ac- 

 customed ; and the new rulers, by abusing their power, 

 aggravated the discontent. In foreign states, toil, 

 the aristocratical party, on finding themselves, to their 

 extreme surprise, placed in power by the Athenians, 

 chose rather to trust to the long-tried friendship of 

 Sparta, than to this sudden favour of their inveterate 

 enemies. Several important cities were thus lost to 

 Athens. Meanwhile the army, with Thrasybulusand 

 Thrasyllus at their head, loudly protested against the 

 subversion of Athenian liberty. They recalled Alci- R cca ] f 

 biades, who, with characteristic inconstancy,, now Alcibiades. 

 embraced the cause of democracy. By his eloquence 

 he charmed all hearts, and soon acquired an absolute 

 ascendant over the troops. He gained over Tissa- 

 phernes to the side of Athens ; and under his own 



