ATT 
the dread and the fcotirge of his own country, and of the 
other dates of Greece ; and experinced, through the whole 
courfe of his life, the mod extraordinary revolutions and 
caprices of fortune. It is, on the whole, difficult to de¬ 
termine whether his bed apparent difpolitions deferve the 
names of virtues. For his conduct difcovers more art and 
addrefs than honour and integrity; more vanity and am¬ 
bition than real patriotifm; lus condant aim being to live 
in a didinguidied fphere. It was from private motives of 
ambition that he perfuaded his countrymen to engage in 
the Sicilian expedition, of which the miferable conclufion 
is julHy regarded as the commencement of their ruin. 
The Athenian tyrants no longer kept any meafures. 
Every day was marked with murders and imprifonments; 
and an univerfal dejection prevailed. The mod confide- 
rable citizens of Athens, to avoid the cruelty and oppref- 
lton of thole wicked men, abandoned their native city, and 
fettled in great numbers in different parts of Greece. It 
will bardly be believed, that the Lacedemonians, whofe 
refentment might have been fully gratified by the miferies 
already brought upon the Athenians, prohibited, on this 
occafion, the other Greek cities from giving refuge to thole 
unfortunate exiles. This mean, this cruel, jealoufy of the 
Lacedemonians ibocks.us; and, indead of difcovering any 
trace of the ancient Spartan magnanimity, throws an in¬ 
delible dain on the character of their nation. Such is the 
power of conqued and ambition, to corrupt the mod vir¬ 
tuous hearts. Two cities only, Megara and Thebes, dif- 
regarded this ungenerous and inhuman injunction, and 
granted an afylum to fuch of the Athenians as implored 
th.eir protection. 
We at prefent contemplate the Athenians almod over¬ 
whelmed by their numberlefs ('offerings ; but we diall pre- 
fently fee them riling again above their misfortunes, and 
in a manner returning to new life. Thrafybulus will at¬ 
tract all the attention of the reader; being dedined to re- 
dore Athens to her former fplendour, and to difplay in the 
fight of Greece how much even one man of magnani¬ 
mity is able to perform. In a meeting of many of his fel¬ 
low-citizens, affembled by Thrafybulus at Thebes, it was 
unanimoufiy refolved, to make one great effort to affert 
the liberty of their native country. Lyfias, the celebrated 
orator, who had been banidied by the tyrants, levied 500 
foldiers at his own expence. With this fiender force Thra- 
fybulus boldly matched into Attica, and leized Phile, a 
ftrong fortrefs in the neighbourhood of Athens. The ty¬ 
rants hadened to oppofe him at the head of 3000 men, and 
gave him battle; but their troops, unable to iudain the 
impetuofity of Thrafybuius’s little army, were repulfed. 
Thrafybulus, having received a reinforcement of 700 men, 
fell Upon the Spartan guard poded before Phile by the ty¬ 
rants, and cut off the greated part of them. The tyrants, 
alarmed, gave orders to maffacre all the fufpeCted Athe¬ 
nians who were able to bear arms, and made propofnls of 
accommodation to Thrafybuhts. Thefe he rejected; and, 
having at lad mudered up an army of about 1000 men, 
he advanced to Pyreus, engaged the tyrants who had march¬ 
ed againd him, and obtained the victory. I11 this battle 
fell the wicked Critias. Thrafybulus called aloud to the 
vanquidied Athenians who were flying, that it was againd 
the tyrants he was fighting, and not againd his fellow-ci¬ 
tizens ; and mildly upbraided them for oppofmg thofe who 
were come to redore them to their former liberty and in¬ 
dependence. They were fo much affeCted by this ha¬ 
rangue, that, entering the city, they immediately depofed 
the tyrants, and conferred the adminillration on ten of the 
principal citizens. But this decemvirate proved no better 
than their former maders; and, confidering themfelves as 
unfecure while Thrafybulus held poffedionof the Pyreus, 
they fent to Sparta to.crave frefh adidance. Lyfander was 
difpatched to their relief, who advanced towards the Py¬ 
reus with an army of Peloponnefians, and blocked up the 
harbour. Thrafybulus was foon reduced to great extre¬ 
mity for want of provifions. But Paufanias, enraged at 
the long profperity of his rival Lyfander, arrived with a 
I C A. 527 
fredi body of troop's, intending rather to favour tlie Athe¬ 
nians than to reinforce Lyfander. 
The Athenians, on being again upbraided by Thrafy¬ 
bulus, once more re-eftablifhed the popular government. 
The remains of the faCtion of the tyrants then withdrew 
to Eletifis; and attempted to renew the public didurbance. 
The tyrants endeavoured in vain to recover their authority. 
Being decoyed to an interview, they were all facrificed to 
the public refentment; and Athens began again to enjoy 
peace and tranquillity. But in this civil war, raifed and 
fomented by the wicked policy of Lyfander, more Athe¬ 
nian citizens lod their lives than in any ten years of the 
Peloponneiian war. The government of" Athens, how¬ 
ever, was rebored to its former footing; the ordinary ma- 
gidrates were created ; and Thrafybulus, dill more effectu¬ 
ally to edablidt the quiet of his country, engaged the citi¬ 
zens folemnly to bind themfelves by oath to bury all pad 
injuries in oblivion. This was an aCtion of the higheft 
prudence ; for, as every citizen was entitled by law to pro- 
fecute thofe who had occafioned the daughter of his rela¬ 
tions in the late bloody diffentions, the feeds of difeord 
and hatred mud have fublided without end. This mu¬ 
tual amnedy, therefore, brought about by Thrafybulus, 
was the bed and readied method of edablilhing the pub¬ 
lic tranquillity. 
It happened about this time, 401 B. C. that the young¬ 
er Cyrus profecuted the enterprife he had formed of de¬ 
priving his brother Artaxerxes, king of Perfia, of his 
crown and life. A remarkable example of the power of 
ambition over the human heart! This unnatural attempt 
had for a long while employed the eminent abilities re¬ 
ceived by Cyrus from nature. He gave a mod welcome 
reception to all thofe who came from his brother’s court, 
and put in practice every art to detach them from his in- 
tereh. But, his chief dependence being on the valour of 
the Greeks, with whom the maritime lituation of his pro¬ 
vinces rendered him more particularly connected, he fpared 
no pains to gain their affection. He recruited his garri- 
fons with the bed foldiers of the Peloponnefe, and levied 
an army of no fewer than 10,300 Greeks. In this lie was 
much abided by the celebrated Athenian Xenophon, and 
by, Clearchus, an exiled Spartan, to whom lie had granted 
an afylum at his court. 
Befides the 10,300 Greeks, Cyrus had already levied 
among the barbarians an army of 100,000 men. Clear¬ 
chus commanded the Grecian forces ; and a beet, confid¬ 
ing of fixty veffels, was ordered to fail along the coad, and 
to attend the army. With thefe forces Cyrus quitted Sar¬ 
dis, and advanced by haffy marches towards the upper 
provinces of Afia. Tilfaphernes, acquainted with the real 
dedination of Cyrus’s expedition, polled to the court of 
Artaxerxes, and informed him of the danger wherewith 
he was threatened. In confequence of this intelligence, 
that monarch quickly affembled a numerous army. Cy¬ 
rus, in the mean time, ran a great hazard of being bop¬ 
ped at the pafs of Cilicia; out of which, however, he was 
extricated by a fingular piece of good fortune. The Greek 
troops, upon their arrival at Tarfus, not knowing for what 1 
purpofe they had been affembled, and, beginning to fuf- 
pedt that they were to be led againd the Perfian monarch,- 
refufed to advance any farther; and it was with great dif¬ 
ficulty, and by means of an augmentation of their pay, 
that Clearchus appealed them, and. prevailed with them 
to proceed. Here likewife Cyrus explained to his other 
troops the real dedination of his expedition. Cyrus, hav¬ 
ing entered the province of Babylon, affembled the Greek 
officers, and told them, that it was not want of other troops 
that had induced him to employ them, but a cohfcioufnefs 
of their fuperior merit, which rendered a fmall number of 
them of much greater importance than a multitude of bar¬ 
barians. He exhorted them therefore to approve them¬ 
felves worthy the high opinion entertained of their con¬ 
duit and bravery. 
Artaxerxes, in the mean time, advanced at the head of 
an immenfe army, amounting as is alleged to 1,200,000 
man, 
