A T H 



Valour had given them reputation ; reputation f!;ave them 

 an afcendaiit; and that afcendant produced a fccurity, which 

 kft their minus at cafe, and gave them leilure to cuhivate 

 every thing liber;'.! or elegant. It was then that Pericles 

 adorned tiie city with temples, theatres, and other beau- 

 tiful public buildings. Phidias, the great fculptor, was em- 

 ployed as his architect, who, when he had ertCted ediiices, 

 adorned lliem hinifelf, and added llatues and bafTo-relicvos, 

 the admiration of every beholder. It was then th:'.t Polyg- 

 notus and iVIyro painted ; that Sopl'.ocl^s and Euripides 

 wrote ; and not long after that they faw the " divine" 

 Socrates. And though their military ftrength and political 

 fovercignty were impaired by the Lacedxmonians, humiliat- 

 ed by the Tliebans under lipaminoudas, and wholly crulhed 

 by Philip the Macedonian ; yet, happily for manivind, 

 iheir love of literature and arts did not link along with it. 

 full at the cloi'c of their golden days of empire, flouriflied 

 Xenophon :'.nd Plato, the difeiples of Socrates, and from 

 Plato defcended that race of philofophers called the " Old 

 Academy," which was fucceeded bv the " New Academy." 

 (See Academy.) With the fludy of philofophy was united 

 that of rhetoric, upon which treatifes were written by the 

 ablcft Greek philofophers. To this objetl they were in- 

 cited by the inti'infic beauty of their language, as it was 

 then fpoken among the learned and polite. The fame love 

 of elegance which made them attend to their ftyle, made 

 them attend even to the places where their pliilofophy 

 ■was taught. Such was the academy of Plato ; the Lycsum 

 of Ariuotle; the portico or colonnade of Zcno, the walls 

 of which were decorated by various paintings of Polyg- 

 notus and Myro ; and the gardens of Epicurus. Thefe 

 public inililutions were called among the Greeks by the 

 name of Gymnafia, in which were taught all thofe exer- 

 eifes, and all thofe arts, which tended to cultivate not only 

 the body but the mind. Dr. Gillies, in his " Hiftory of 

 Greece," has dwelt with a degree of enthufiafm on the 

 advantages, both natural and moral, rcfnlting from the 

 gymnaftic exercifes and public games; but IvI. dc Pauw 

 (ubi fupra), dilTers in opinion, afierting thnt nothing could 

 be more pernicious, or tend more to enervate the human 

 race, than thefe exercifes. As to the moral advantages 

 of thefe public games, it is not very eafy to decide ; but 

 their phytiological effeft is much lefs qnellionable, and 

 cannot be jullly difputed. 



Athens, Popuhn'ton of. From comparing the fcveral 

 accounts of the population of Attica in the time of Pericles, 

 of Demollhenes, and of Demetrius Phalcreus, Ivl. de Pauw 

 , (ubi fupra) conjeftures, that the number of citizens was 

 preferved nearly at the fame level, in confequence of the 

 adoption of ftrangers, to repair the extraordinary devafta- 

 tions of war and difcafe, and of emigrations, when the 

 number exceeded that which the rules of policy had efta- 

 blidied ; this was 2o,coo men ; and he fuppofcs that there 

 was an equal number of women. In the time of Deme- 

 trius Phalereus, the ftrangers fettled in Attica amounted to 

 10,000, and the flaves to 400,000 ; fo that the whole 

 number may be eftimated at 450,000 to about eighty-fix 

 fquare leagues of territor)', or above 5000 on an average to 

 each fquare league. This, he obferves, is a much gieater 

 population than that of France, which, according to M. 

 Necker's calculations, contains not more than 900 inhabi- 

 tants to a fquare league. 



The people of Athens were comprehended under the 

 clalTes of freemen or citizens, ^v.fei ; fojourners, or Msloixoi ; 

 and flaves, or AiAoi. Cecrops diftributed them into four (fuAa, 

 or tribes, each tribe being fubdivid A into three parts, and 

 each of thefe into thirty families. The names of the tribes 



A T H 



were different at different asras ; and their number was 

 increafed by Cliftlienes to ten ; and they were afterwards 

 augmented to twelve. Thefe tribes had pubhc feafts, at 

 which they met to promote friendfliip and good neighbour- 

 hood. To each tribe belonged fcveral little boroughs in 

 Attica, called Ar,^.ioi ; of thefe there were 1 74, befides other 

 boroughs that belonged to no particular tribes. It was 

 enaftcd, that all llr;inkjcrs who intended to live at Athens, 

 fliould be compelled, after a fhort rcfidence, to enroll their 

 names among the free citizens, and that none but perlor.s 

 of eminent m'tritorious charafter ihould be citizens. This 

 privilege was conferred by tb.e popular allembly. It was 

 alfo enadled, that none (liould rdidc as free citizens at 

 Athens, except thofe who were banhhed from their own 

 country, or who voluntarily fettled there with thtlr whole 

 families. They were admitted to their rights by certain 

 ceremonies, and enrolled in a certain tribe. Solon de- 

 creed, that none fliould be accounted frev' but fuch as were 

 Athenians both by father and mother : this regulation was 

 revived, after ditufe, by Pericles, and at his motion re- 

 pealed ; and after the expulfion of the 'thirty tyrants, 

 Solon's law was rellored. In the Cynofarges there was a 

 court of judicature, to which caufes of illegitimacy belonged ; 

 and great care was taken that none (hould be enrolled as 

 citizens, whofe title was not examined and approved. 



The MsToiicoi, or fojourners, were thofe who came from a fo- 

 reign country and ieltled in Attica, being admitted by the 

 couHcil of Areopagus, and publicly regillcrcd. Of thefe, 

 fcveral fervices were required ; and both men and women 

 paid an annual tax. Thofe who failed to pay it were feized 

 and expcifed to fale by the officers of the public revenue-: 

 fuch, according to Diogenes, was the fate of Xcuocrates 

 the philofopher; but thofe who rendered any fervice to 

 the public, were exempted from the payment of all impofts, 

 except fuch as were demanded of free citizens. Such 

 perfons as did not conllantly refide at Athens, were called 

 Isvoi, or ftrangers. 



The flaves were of two forts ; fuch as became fo from 

 poverty, the chance of war, or^the perfidv of thofe who 

 trafllck.d in them, and who were at liberty to change their 

 maftcrs, and to releafe tiiemfelvcs from fervitude ; and fuch 

 as were at the abfolufe dilpofal of their mafters. Slaves 

 were not allowed to imitate freemen in their drefs and man- 

 ners. They were foi bidden to wear long hair, and what 

 is more aftonifliing, Solon prohibited them to love boys, as 

 if this pratlice were honourable : they were not permitted 

 to plead for themfclves, or to be witnefles in any cajife ; 

 confe.Tioa was extoited from them by torture ; nor were they 

 allo^ved to worihip certain deities, to be called by honour- 

 able nam.es, and to bear arms. They were reduced to obe- 

 dience, and puniflied by corporal feverities ; they were 

 fometimes m.arkcd on tb.e forehead, or ftigmatized in any 

 other part of the body. Neverthelcfs they were allowed 

 at Athens to take re.fu^e in the temple of Thcfeus, when 

 they were opprelTcd, and it was facrilcge to force tbcm from 

 it. They were allowed to bring an aflion againft their 

 mafters for ill treatment, and .igainft thofe who injincd 

 them ; and in various refpecls their condition was prefeU'Llc 

 to that of flaves in otlier places, as they might purchafc 

 their freedom, and were fometimes advanced to the dignity 

 of citizens. In the firll day of every month, tlie merchr.nts, 

 called aj'J^aTT'.Joy.aTwAoi, expofed them for fale in the flavc 

 mai-ket. In. the time of Adrian, mafters were prohibited 

 from puttiiig their fl.ives to death. 



Athens, Magflrates and C o;oernme;it of. By the law of 

 Solon, no man who had not a good eftate, could bear the 

 office of a magiilrate ; but by the law of Ariftid-js, every 



jnau 



