A T H 



in an application To very agreeable to the difpofitlons of 

 tlioL- whofe co-operation tticy deiired, and a general con- 

 fcdcracv was formed, conliiUng of all the feven republics of 

 the Pelopo""':''"^ (B.C. 431), except Argos and Achaia; 

 the firlt of which from ambition, and the fccond perhaps 

 from moderation, preferved, in the beginning of the vvar, 

 a fufplclous neutrality. Of the nine northern republics, 

 Acarnania alone declined joining the allies, its coall being 

 particularly expofed to theravages of the Corcyren.i fleets. 

 The cities of Naupadus and Platxa, for rcafons that will 

 loon appear, were totally devoted to their Athenian pro- 

 tedors; whofe caufe was likeulfe embraced by feveral petty 

 princes of TiiefTaly. But all the other Hates beyond the 

 illhmus longed to follow the lUndard of .Sparta, and to 

 humble the afpirlng ambition of their too powerful neigh- 

 bour. While they were preparing for this concert, the 

 Peloponnefians fent hollile enibafiies ar.d manlfelloes to the 

 Athenians, requiring them to gra'.U independence to the 

 colon-.ts, and annonncing the force by whicli the requHitiou 

 would be fupported. Alarmed by this menacing combina- 

 tion, the Athenian popuUice were tilled with rage agalnll 

 Pericles, whom they accuftd of having caufcd vMs con- 

 federacy by his general conduft, and efpceially by a decree 

 which he procured againft the inhabitants of Megara, which 

 had revolted from the authority of Athens, and miputed his 

 enmity to that city to the private pique of his favourite 

 miftrefs Afpafia; and with the petty fufplcion of a vulgar 

 mob, conceived him to have appropriated to his own life 

 great portions of the national treafure. Though the tranf- 

 cendant virtues of Pericles were not unalloyed, yet his were 

 not the vices of common minds ; avarice made no part of hi^ 

 compofitlon : he proved that his private expences were 

 juftly proportioned to the meafure of his patrimony; many 

 inftnnces were brought of hi.- generous contempt of wealth 

 in the fervice of his country; and it appeared, after the 

 ftriclell examination, that his fortune had not increafed 

 fmce he was entrufted with the exchequer. He contended 

 that the fituatlon of the republic did not jullify defpon- 

 dence or fubmlffion to the dictates of an imperious rival. 

 Their financial refources, military and political ftrength, 

 and above all the fpiiit of the people, enabled them to refill 

 with effed the efforts of their banded enemies, and by a de- 

 tail of the various conftltuents of Athenian greatnefs con- 

 trafted with thofe of their rivals, illuilrated his propofition. 

 He therefore propofed that the anfwer to their demands 

 ftould difclalm their right to interfere, difavow every inten- 

 tion of commencing hollilitles, but declare the readinefs and 

 ability of the Athenian republic to repel force by force. 

 Such' an anfwer, in the relative difpofitlon of the parties, 

 was deemed tantamount to a declaration of war. 



The war which now enfned, is celebrated in Grecian hlf- 

 tory by the name of the Peloponnefian war. It lalled for 

 twenty-feven years; twenty-one of which are the fubjcft 

 of the hiftory of Thucydldes; but death having prevented 

 that illuftrious author from purfulng it to its termination, 

 its continuation and conclulion was referved for Xenophon. 

 Hoftllltles were begun by the Thebans, who attacked 

 Platia, a city of BtEOtla, in alliance, as we have juft 

 mentioned, with Athens. All Greece was Immediately 

 in motion. The Laceda;monians march towards the ifth- 

 Tnusof Corinth, a narrow neck of land abc -.t fix miles 

 broad, which joins the Peloponnefe to the country pro- 

 perly called Greece. Archidamus, one of the Spartan 

 kings, before advancing farther, difpatches an ambafiador 

 to the Athenians, to require of them to relinquKh their 

 pretenfions. But the Athenians command the meffenger 

 to retire, without deigning even to give him an audience. 



A T H 



The Lacedsmohians thereupon advanced with z'^ army of 

 60,000 men, while that of the Athenians amounted to no 

 more than iS,ooo; bnt, to make up the odds, the latter 

 had a fleet of 300 gallics. On the approach of the I>aee- 

 dxmonian army, the inhabitants of the country abandoned 

 their habitations, and carrying away every thing they could, 

 took refuge in Athens', The plan of operations purfued 

 by the Athenians, on the fuggeltion of Pericles, was to 

 weary out the enemy by protrading th? war. The Lace- 

 demonians e:>teriag Attica, hiid fiege to Enoe, but being 

 obliged after a few fruitlefs afiaults,' to rellnquifli that at- 

 tempt, they advanced ftill nearer to Athens, and encamped 

 within half a league or the city. Unwillhig while fo much 

 inferior in point of num.bers, to hazard the fate of the re- 

 public in a general battle, Pericles found it dlflicult to pre- 

 vent the Athenians, exafperated at the fight of the ravages 

 committed on their (;ountry, from fallying forth upon the 

 enemy. But by means of his admirable art in managing 

 the multitude, lie kept both the fenate and the people from 

 aflembling to deliberate, though at the expeiiee of iiumber- 

 lefs infults from his enemies ; In fpite of which he perfilled 

 in his plan, unmoved either by threats or entreaties. In 

 the mean time he difpatehed a fleet of one hundred fliips to 

 ravage the coalls of the Peloponnefe ; which being joined 

 by tliat of the allies, made a dcfcent upon Laconiii, and 

 laid walle the territories of Sparta. The Lacedemonians find- 

 ing all their endeavours to draw the Athenians out of their 

 city iift-fledual, and receiving intelligence of the ravages 

 committed in Laconla by the Athenian fleet, found them- 

 felves under the neceflity of withdrawing from Attica.. 

 On the fetting out of the expedition again (I the coaft of 

 Laconia, an extraordinary eclipfe of the fun happened juft 

 as Pericles was going on board of his galky. Pericles 

 perceiving the Athenians to be terrified at this phenomenon, 

 which they confidered as an unlucky prefage, threw his 

 cloak over the face of the pilot, and aficed him if he faw ? 

 the pilot having anfwered In the negative, Pericles explained 

 to the by-ftanders, that the body of the moon, being in 

 like manner interpofed at that inftant between their fight 

 and the fun, prevented them from feeing his light. When 

 the Laceda:monians retired out of Attica, fhe Athenians 

 appropriated a hundred talents of money, and a hundred of 

 their bell flilps, for the more immediate def^-nce of their 

 country, in'cafe of a frelh invafion, prohibiting any ptrfon, 

 under pain of death, from propofing a difTerent application 

 of thofe refources. They then expelled from the illand 

 of Egina its prefent Inhabitants, whom they regarded as 

 the principal caufe of the war ; and they divided that 

 ifland by h)t among the citizens of Athens. They made 

 an alliance with the kings of Macedon and Thrace ; fub- 

 dued the Ifland of Ceplialonia ; laid walte the territory of 

 Megara ; and took the harbour of Nlfeum ; this eonoluded 

 the fird campaign. The Athenians next celebrated funeral 

 rites to the memory of thofe who had fallen fince the 

 beginning of the war. For this purpofe, a large tent was 

 conilruded, wherein they expofed the bones of the flaln, 

 which were covered wit!» flowers and perfumes. Then the 

 bones were carried with much pomp and folemnity to a 

 fuburb of the city called Ceramicus, where they were de- 

 pofited in a monument dellined to be the tomb of thofe 

 who fell in war, and lallly, one of tiie citizens pronounced 

 a funeral oration in their pralfe ; a charge which on this 

 occafion was undertaken by Pericles himfelf. Though 

 always fuperhitlvcly eloquent, he at this time feemed to out- 

 do himfelf; and in pronouncing the eulogium on thole who 

 were no more, he omitted no argument that might inflame 

 the courage of the furvivors. Thucydides has preferved 



this.. 



