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exclusive of their formidable opposition as an enemy, 

 were reduced to the greatest straits. The opera- 

 tions of agriculture, and the exercise of the mechanic 

 arU, were suspended ; and application was made for 

 succour to all the neighbouring states. By the rein- 

 forcement* thus procured, the rebellion was so far re- 

 duced, that the remaining insurgents were blocked up 

 in Ithome ; but the extraordinary strength of the place, 

 and the desperate resistance of its possessors, rendered 

 even' assault unavailing ; and it was found necessary 

 to solicit the aid of the Athenians, who were esteemed 

 the most skilful of the Greeks in the conduct of sieges. 

 Their united attacks still proving unsuccessful, recourse 

 was again had to the old method of blockade ; and it 

 was during the leisure of this tedious plan of proceed- 

 ing, that the assuming vivacity of the Athenians on the 

 one hand, and the unyielding pride of the Lacedaemo- 

 nians on the other, occasioned those mutual animosi- 

 ties, which led directly, though not immediately, to the 

 fatal Peloponnesian war. So far did the suspicions of 

 the LaceilaTnonians arise, that they declined a continu- 

 ance of the Athenian assistance ; and these last, on their 

 part, were to exasperated by their dismissal, that they 

 forthwith renounced the confederacy with the Lacedte- 

 monians, and formed an alliance with Argos, the inve- 

 terate enemy of Sparta. The reduction of the Helots 

 was at length effected ; but nothing that they had ever 

 suffered from their relentless oppressors, can be com- 

 pared with a measure which was subsequently adopted, 

 while the Lacedemonians were hard pressed during the 

 first period of the Peloponnesian war, and which is per- 

 haps the most disgraceful that has been recorded in the 

 annals of any nation. Desirous to carry the war to a 

 distance, but dreading the renewal of insurrection among 

 the slaves, should the troops be removed from home, 

 they invited, by proclamation, such of the Helots as 

 were willing to merit the gift of freedom, and the dig- 

 nity of citizens, by deeds in arms, to present themselves 

 to the magistrates for the honourable trial. Having 

 thus discovered the more enterprising individuals, who 

 might have been most ready for insurrection, about 

 2000 were selected, marched in solemn procession 

 around the temple, under pretence of being admitted as 

 freemen to the participation of religious rites, and then 

 privately massacred by their unfeeling tyrant*. 



Towards the conclusion of the Peloponnesian war, 

 considerable changes took place in the spirit and admi- 

 nistration of the Spartan government. Its kings, al- 

 ways more exalted in war than in peace, became inte- 

 rested in holding commands on distant stations, but 

 found a constant check upon their scheme* in the po- 

 verty of the state Agis, while commanding at Der- 

 ceUia, a port which the Lacedsnnonians had occupied 

 in Attica, availed himself of a concurrence of favourable 

 circumstance*, to accomplish the establishment of a pub- 

 lic revenue in Sparta; and, for the better support of 

 this powerful arm of war, the Lacedaemonians, depart- 

 ing still farther from the system of Lycurgus, were per- 

 suaded, first by Alcibiadcs, and finally by Lysander, to 

 solicit pecuniary aid from Persia, and to allow the intro- 

 duction of cold and silver coin into the republic. This 

 Stream of foreign wealth, speedily sapped the rigid in- 

 tegrity which had hitherto distinguished the .Spartan 

 character, and smoothed the way for those alliances 

 with the Persian court, which were too often construct- 

 ed on principles hostile to the general liberties of 

 Greece. 



After the conclusion of the Peloponnesian war, the 

 power of Sprt* reigned paramount in Greece ; and its 



leaders acted a distinguished part in the assistance Laced*. 

 rendered to Cyrus in the expedition against his brother mon - 

 Artaxerxes. By the exploits of the ten thousand on V "" -P Y"'"' 

 that occasion, they had both learned to despise the Per- 

 sian armies, and had exposed themselves to the ven- 

 geance of the Persian monarch. The Asiatic Greeks, 

 who were more immediately obnoxious to the appre- 

 hended retaliation, and who had formerly paid alle- 

 giance to the Athenian state, now solicited the more 

 powerful protection of Lacedcemon ; and a war with 

 Persia, famed for wealth more than for warlike spirit, 

 found a ready support among the needy states of Pelo- 

 ponnesus. The allied forces were conducted by the War with 

 Spartan general Dereyllidas, who, without the splen- Persia, 

 dour of any memorable victory, and therefore with less 

 renown than his talents appear to have merited, accom- 

 plished the emancipation of the Ionian Greeks from the 

 Persian dominion. 



That modesty in command, united with dignity of Spartan 

 manners, that contempt for wealth, and superiority in c ^"^" ct 

 military and political knowledge, to which the institu- d begins ~ 

 tions of Lycurgus had formed his countrymen, had, in to dcgene- - 

 former times, raised so high the character of the Spar- rate, 

 tans, that the Grecian republics readily acknowledged 

 them as their head, yielded a willing obedience to their 

 generals in united warfare ; regarded an individual of 

 their nation at the public games with more curiosity 

 and admiration than even the victors in the contests ; 

 and manifested a respect for their character, as was 

 never perhaps paid to that of any other people. But in 

 the long course of the Peloponnesian wars, and the ex- 

 tensive communication with strangers to which it led, 

 and the necessity of raising a larger public revenue 

 which it imposed, the Spartan man was become altered 

 and corrupted, and their high fortune gave rise to a 

 haughty tyranny in their conduct, which gradually 

 alienated the most ancient and attached of their Pelopon- 

 nesian allies. Their implacable punishment of F.lis 

 (to whom a kind of religious supremacy was admitted 

 among the Grecian states, but whose decrees against 

 Sparta were avenged by the terror of the sword,) pro- 

 duced a strong sensation against them among the Gre- 

 cian people- A very considerable alteration had taken 

 place also in their own civil arrangements ; though lit- 

 tle information exists of the particular steps, and regular 

 progress by which these encroachments were produced. 

 But, contrary to the system of Lycurgus, (which allow- 

 ed no distinction of rank or privileges except what arose and old 

 from age and merit,) the families in the capital, pecu- 1* infrin- 

 liarly named Spartans, had engrossed the whole power 6 e "- 

 of the commonwealth ; and the rest of the people, un- 

 der the general designation of Lacedemonians or Lace- 

 nisns, was excluded from the higher offices. Those 

 Spartan families who appropriated to themselves the 

 superior dignities of the state, were distinguished by 

 the name of Peers, though now greatly reduced in num- 

 ber, began to widen the distinction between themselves 

 and other classes, and to exercise their authority with 

 less reserve and discretion. This overbearing conduct 

 produced a dangerous plot, a short time after the acces- 

 sion of Agesilaus to the throne, for effecting a complete 

 change of government, by assassinating kings, ephori, 

 and senate ; but its leader Cinadon and his accomplices Plot of Ci- 

 being discovered and executed, the spirit of sedition na(lon< 

 was checked, and the exclusive privileges of the peers 

 preserved. The unanimity and 'stability of the state 

 were at the same time more confirmed, than had been 

 the case for a long period, by the talents and manners 

 of king Agesilaus, who possessed much of the genuine 



