32 



A T H E N S. 



JHttt* clamorous ; and a gloomy and reluctant consent was 

 at length extorted. On the 16th of May, A. C. 40*, 

 in the '/7th war after the commencement of the Pc- 

 loponncsian war, the Lacedemonians entered Athens. 

 Even the victors could scarcely refrain from tears, 

 when they beheld this final humiliation of a city, for- 

 merly so great in arms, which had once been the de- 

 liverer, and had so long reigned the arbitress, of 

 Greece. 



Sparta, according to the usual system of Grecian 

 policy, did not reduce Athens to absolute subjection : 

 She merely established in power the party in whose 

 friendship she could confide. Thus the government 

 remained in the hands of Athenians, though the La- 

 cedemonians took the precaution of placing a garrison 

 in the citadel. It was moulded, however, into a sys- 

 tem of the most complete oligarchy. The authority 

 was exclusively vested in 30 persons, who, from the 

 violence of their proceedings, and the eternal hatred 

 of Athens to such a government, soon acquired the ap- 

 pellation of the Thirty Tyrants. At the head of them 

 was Theramenes, already mentioned, and Critias, who 

 was still more violent. They were inspired with the 

 usual antipathy of Greeks to the opposite faction, 

 and exasperated by the remembrance of what they 

 had suffered from them. At the same time, the extra- 

 ordinary strength of the popular spirit in Athens ex- 

 cited continual apprehensions, which could be quieted 

 only by acts of severity. Their first proceedings were 

 directed against the most obnoxious of the opposite 

 party, whose punishment gave satisfaction to the peo- 

 ple in general. Emboldened by this success, and ur- 

 ged on by avarice and fear, they proceeded to exer- 

 cise a general proscription against the innocent and 

 guilty. Every form of justice was by degrees tramp- 

 led upon ; all the citizens, except 3000 devoted ad- 

 herents, were deprived of their arms ; while Thera- 

 menes, who attempted too late to stem this torrent 

 of violence, was accused and put to death. 



A. C. 403. Amid every precaution which cruelty could devise, 

 tho tyrants still did not feel themselves secure. They 

 dreaded the talents and address of Alcibiades ; and 

 Lysander, by his interest at the Persian court, pro- 

 cured him to be put to death. The storm, however, 

 came from a quarter which they least expected. 

 Thrasybulus, who had already distinguished himself 

 as a successful commander, was exiled, with many 

 other citizens of distinction. This person, having col- 

 lected a few hundreds of other exiles, who had taken 

 refuge at Thebes and its neighbourhood, seized upon 

 Phyla, a small fortress on the confines of Attica and 

 Bceotia. The tyrants were baffled in their first at- 

 tempt to expel him ; this success attracted numbers 

 to his standard ; and he soon found himself sufficient- 

 ly in force to form the bold design of seizing on the 

 Pineus. In this attempt he succeeded : the tyrants, 

 in endeavouring to dislodge him, were defeated with 

 great slaughter, and took shelter in the citadel, while 

 part fled even to Eleusis. 



The Lacedemonians seem, on this occasion, to have 

 displayed more than their usual tardiness. They did . 

 not rouse themselves till some weeks after the expul- 

 sion of their adherents from the Piraeus. Then, how- 

 ever, Lysander marched with a formidable force, 

 which Athens could not long have resisted, had not 



1 



Recovered 

 by Thrasy 

 bolus. 



A.C. 401. 



divisions arisen among the Spartan chiefs. All par- Athens, 

 ties in Sparta had become jealous of the overgrown 

 power and influence of Lysander ; and Pausanias, one 

 of the kings, having been joined with him in the com- 

 mand, thwarted all his measures. Through the in- 

 fluence of this monarch, a negotiation was set on foot, 

 which terminated in the removal of the Lacedemo- 

 nian garrison, and the complete re-establishment of 

 the independence of Athens. The tyrants vainly en- 

 deavoured to defend themselves in Eleusis ; they were 

 speedily reduced ; several suffered, and the rest were 

 spared by the clemency of Thrasybulus. 



The Athenians were not long of making an ill use 

 of their liberty, by the condemnation and death of 

 Socrates, the best and wisest of their citizens. For 

 the particulars of this event, we must refer to the life 

 of that great man. 



Athens had often astonished Greece by the rapi- Succesesof 

 dity with which she rose from her ashes ; but never ^ onon - 

 was this elastic power more conspicuous than on the 

 present occasion. Conon, of whom mention has al- 

 ready been made, was the chief artificer of her new 

 greatness. Having formed an alliance with Evagoras 

 of Cyprus, and with the Persian court, he was enabled 

 to collect a formidable navy. With this he attacked 

 the Lacedemonian fleet at C nidus, under the command 

 of Pisander, totally defeated it, and took 50 gallies. A. C. 394. 

 The maritime superiority of Athens was now restored, 

 and the fine settlements on the coast of the Lesser 

 Asia, accessible only by sea, were soon reduced again 

 under her dominion. 



Conon now returned to Athens, and with the aid 

 of Persian treasure, actively employed himself in re- 

 building the walls, without which she could never 

 have enjoyed any lasting security. This measure, 

 joined to the successes of the Athenians, struck Spar- 

 ta with alarm. She now endeavoured to reconcile 

 herself with Persia, against whom she had for some 

 time been waging a successful was. Her intrigues 

 were forwarded by the conduct of Conon, who, as 

 was too common among the Grecian states, preferring 

 patriotism to justice, employed the Persian fleet al- 

 most wholly in forwarding Athenian objects. Through 

 the skilful mediation of Antalcidas, Lacedemon con- -^* C 387. 

 eluded that treaty which goes by his name. By it 

 she ignominiously abandoned to Persia the colonies of 

 the Lesser Asia, which had now become, in her eyes, 

 a secondary object. With regard to Greece, she sti- 

 pulated for the freedom of the smaller cities ; but by 

 never executing this article herself, and only insisting 

 on its being executed by others, she made it the 

 means of rendering her authority paramount in Greece. 

 Athens, however, being allowed also to retain her 

 possessions, made no movement. 



Sparta now proceeded under the guidance of Age- 

 silaus, to extend her usurpations over the states of 

 Greece. Mantinea and Thebes, the two most power- 

 ful states next to Athens, were subdued, the one 

 by force, the other by stratagem. Thebes, however, 

 under the auspices or Pelopidas, soon re-asserted her 

 independence, and began a career of success, which 

 set bounds to Spartan encroachment. Athens, how- 

 ever, did not interfere, till one Sphodrias, a Spartan 

 officer, secretly instigated by the Theban chiefs, made 

 an attempt to surprise the Piraeus. His project was 



