THE DOWNFALL OF ATHENS
I. RIVALRY BETWEEN ATHENS AND SPARTA AND THE
BEGINNING OF THE PELOPONNESIAN WAR
Athens in the middle of the fifth century B.C. was in very truth as
Pericles had said, the "school of Hellas." For half a century after
the Barbarian had been driven out of Greece, Athens went forward on
the wings of youth and hope and aspiration towards the fulfilment of
her great ideal, that of the perfect citizen in the perfect state.
Everything that was worth while in human life lay in that direction:
Freedom, Order and Progress; Truth and Beauty; Knowledge, Virtue and
Religion; and in the Greek world it was Athens who was the leader in
all these things.[1]
And Athens realized this. The ideals set forth by Pericles in the
Funeral Speech placed her in the position of a chosen people in the
midst of a barbarian world, and it was to be her mission to save
civilization for the world. Athens was a democracy, and her freedom,
her thought and her art were not the special possession of a small
privileged {288} group but of the whole body of citizens. Yet there
was a flaw in the Athenian ideal of democracy; it was built upon
slavery. The result of this was that in some things the Athenians
were able to reach a point of perfection from which they could make
no further advance. Their greatest sculpture and architecture were
flawless in their simplicity and beauty. They have been copied and
imitated, but never surpassed. The Greek stage set certain
limitations to the drama, but within these limitations the dramas of
the great Athenian dramatists were well-nigh perfect. Other small
nations in the history of the world have fought for their freedom
just as passionately and with as much self-control, unbroken will and
self-sacrifice, and have obtained it, but it was Athens who first
showed the world that right is stronger than might and will
ultimately prevail. In their search for truth, the Athenian
philosophers went as far as it was possible for them to go, but the
very fact that they accepted the institution of slavery as a normal
condition of life, made any further advance in political thinking
impossible. The history of the world shows that progress in
political thought has always come from the struggle of an
unprivileged class to obtain its just rights, and this could not take
place in Athens, for the unprivileged were slaves, and slaves were
slaves and slaves they must always remain.
Athens fell, but her fall did not only or even chiefly come about
because her democracy was founded upon slavery. In her great days
Athens had been the Liberator of all the enslaved Greeks. Sparta
{289} had never been interested in the fate of the Greeks who were
still under the Persian yoke, and it was Athens who had created the
Delian League, and who had delivered the Ionians from their foreign
rulers. But from being their Liberator, Athens gradually became
their Mistress, and little by little she used her position in the
League as a means to increase her own power. That which in the
beginning had been organized by the statesman who was called by his
fellow-citizens the Just, that which had symbolized the Athenian
ideal of freedom, became the instrument by which Athens became not
only an Empire, but a Tyrant. And Pericles permitted it to be so.
Pericles had many opponents in Athens. Some disapproved of his
imperial policy, and others accused him of extravagance in spending
so much of the public money on temples. The most serious accusation
brought against him was that in beautifying Athens he was spending
not only money from the Athenian treasury, but also using that which
belonged to the Delian League. This latter accusation was true, and
the people called for an ostracism. But it resulted in the support
of Pericles by the majority of the Athenians, and in the banishment
of his opponent.
Pericles knew what he was doing when he used the money from the
treasury of the Delian League. To Athens had been committed the
trust of defending the allied islands and cities from Persian
aggression and it was the money contributed by the allies for the
cost of this defence that was kept in the {290} treasury of the
League. Pericles maintained that the beautifying of Athens was a
symbol of her might and power, that the great buildings employed
labour and encouraged commerce, both of which added to her
prosperity, and that these outward signs of her wealth and might
added to her ability to protect her allies. He had won for Athens
the foremost position in Greece, and he was determined that she
should keep it. To this end he argued that Athens was justified in
using the money of the League, because the way in which it was being
spent added not only to the glory but also to the security of all.
Pericles was also a great lover of all that was beautiful, and he was
honestly desirous that the youth of Athens should grow up in a city
that should be a joy for ever, that would make them good and useful
citizens, and inspire them with an abiding love for and pride in her.
But there is a flaw in the character of a man who holds that the end,
even if it is a great and glorious one, justifies any means.
Now Attica was very small, and in the days of her prosperity the
population of Athens had increased so much that the state could no
longer produce enough food to support the people. The far-seeing
policy of Themistocles had made Athens stronger on sea than on land,
and by the time of Pericles, the salvation of Athens lay in her navy.
She was increasing her sea-power in all directions and establishing
herself as mistress all over the Aegean and on the shores of the
Euxine. This policy was not only dictated by the greed of power, but
by the {291} absolute necessity that if Athens were to live, she
should control all the trade routes by which corn reached Greece.
Without the corn from the shores of the Euxine, Athens would starve.
Sparta was a great land power, and at first this increasing sea-power
of Athens did not touch her very closely, but it did affect Corinth,
the next sea-power in Greece after Athens. As long as Athens
confined her interests to the Aegean and the East, Corinth was not
alarmed, but when the Athenians turned to the West and showed their
intention of establishing their power there, the Corinthians became
seriously alarmed, for this threatened their interests in Sicily and
the South of Italy. Corinth had always been hostile to Athens, and
she now appealed to Sparta, asking for help to crush Athens.
Corinthian envoys went to Sparta, and in a powerful speech one of
them set forth the grievances of the Greek world against Athens,
representing her power, and entreating the Spartans to lay aside
their policy of inaction and to join with them in crushing the Tyrant
state.
"Time after time we have warned you of the mischief which the
Athenians would do to us, but instead of taking our words to
heart, you chose to suspect that we only spoke from interested
motives. If the crimes which the Athenians are committing
against Hellas were being done in a corner, then you might be
ignorant, and we should have to inform you of them: but now, what
need of many words? Some of us, as you see, have been already
enslaved; they are at this moment intriguing against others,
notably against allies of ours; {292} and long ago they had made
all their preparations in expectation of war.... And you have
never considered what manner of men are these Athenians with whom
you will have to fight, and how utterly unlike yourselves. They
are revolutionary, equally quick in the conception and in the
execution of every new plan; while you are conservative, careful
only to keep what you have, originating nothing, and not acting
even when action is most necessary. They are bold beyond their
strength; they run risks which prudence would condemn; and in the
midst of misfortune they are full of hope. Whereas it is your
nature, though strong, to act feebly; when your plans are most
prudent, to distrust them; and when calamities come upon you, to
think that you will never be delivered from them. They are
impetuous, and you are dilatory; they are always abroad, and you
are always at home. For they hope to gain something by leaving
their homes; but you are afraid that any new enterprise may
imperil what you have already. When conquerors, they pursue
their victory to the utmost; when defeated, they fall back the
least. Their bodies they devote to their country as though they
belonged to other men; their true self is their mind, which is
most truly their own when employed in her service. When they do
not carry out an intention which they have formed, they seem to
have sustained a personal bereavement; when an enterprise
succeeds, they have gained a mere instalment of what is to come;
but if they fail, they at once conceive new hopes and so fill up
the void. With them alone to hope is to have, for they lose not
a moment in the execution of an idea. This is the life-long
task, full of danger and toil, which they are always imposing
upon themselves. None enjoy their good things less, because they
are always seeking for more. To do their duty is their only
{293} holiday, and they deem the quiet of inaction to be as
disagreeable as the most tiresome business. If a man should say
of them, in a word, that they were born neither to have peace
themselves nor to allow peace to other men, he would simply speak
the truth.
"In the face of such an enemy, Lacedaemonians, you persist in
doing nothing. But let your procrastination end. Do not allow
friends and kindred to fall into the hands of their worst
enemies; or drive us in despair to seek the alliance of others;
in taking such a course we should be doing nothing wrong either
before the Gods who are the witnesses of our oaths, or before men
whose eyes are upon us. For the true breakers of treaties are
not those who, when forsaken, turn to others, but those who
forsake allies whom they have sworn to defend. We will remain
your friends if you choose to bestir yourselves; for we should be
guilty of an impiety if we deserted you without cause; and we
shall not easily find allies equally congenial to us. Take heed
then; you have inherited from your fathers the leadership of
Peloponnesus; see that her greatness suffers no diminution at
your hands."
Thus spake the Corinthians. Now there happened to be staying at
Lacedaemon an Athenian embassy which had come on other business,
and when the envoys had heard what the Corinthians had said, they
felt bound to go before the Lacedaemonian assembly, not with the
view of answering the accusations brought against them by the
cities, but they wanted to put before the Lacedaemonians the
whole question, and make them understand that they should take
time to deliberate and not be rash. They also desired to set
forth the greatness of their city, reminding the elder men of
what they knew, and informing the younger of what lay beyond
their experience. They thought that their words would sway {294}
the Lacedaemonians in the direction of peace. So they came and
said that, if they might be allowed, they too would like to
address the people.[2]
The Athenians were invited to speak, and they reminded the Spartans
of how Athens had done more than any other State to save Greece from
the Persian invader, and that Sparta herself owed her liberty to the
undismayed courage of Athens.
We maintain, [they said], that we rendered you a service at least
as great as you rendered us. The cities from which you came to
help us were still inhabited and you might hope to return to
them; your concern was for yourselves and not for us; at any rate
you remained at a distance while we had anything to lose. But we
went forth from a city which was no more, and fought for one of
which there was small hope; and yet we saved ourselves, and bore
our part in saving you. If, in order to preserve our land, like
other states, we had gone over to the Persians at first, or
afterwards had not ventured to embark because our ruin was
already complete, it would have been useless for you with your
weak navy to fight at sea, but everything would have gone quietly
just as the Persian desired.[3]
The Athenians then attempted to justify their imperial policy and to
point out that, had the situation been reversed, and had it been the
Lacedaemonians who had acquired an empire, they would have found it
just as necessary as had Athens to rule with a strong hand, and that
they would have {295} been even worse hated than was Athens. They
concluded with a passionate appeal for peace:
Do not then be hasty in deciding a question which is serious; and
do not, by listening to the misrepresentations and complaints of
others, bring trouble upon yourselves. Realize, while yet there
is time, the inscrutable nature of war; and how when protracted
it generally ends in becoming a mere matter of chance, over which
neither of us can have any control, the event being equally
unknown and equally hazardous to both. The misfortune is that in
their hurry to go to war, men begin with blows, and when a
reverse comes upon them, then have recourse to words. But
neither you, nor we, have as yet committed this mistake; and
therefore while both of us can still choose the prudent part, we
tell you not to break the peace or violate your oaths. Let our
differences be determined by arbitration according to the treaty.
If you refuse, we call to witness the Gods, by whom you have
sworn, that you are the authors of the war; and we will do our
best to strike in return.[4]
The Spartans did not heed the plea for peace, and in 431 B.C. the
long dreary war, known in history as the Peloponnesian War, began and
dragged itself out for nearly thirty years. Compared to modern
warfare the actual fighting was not on a very large scale, and we
seem to be reading of battles between what were, after all, only
rather small states. But though the states were small, the statesmen
who guided their policies and the men who fought for them were men of
human passions like ours; and {296} though the method of warfare has
changed, the effect of war on the minds and lives of men and women
living at the time has changed very little. The future is hidden
from the eyes of each generation of men, but the past lies open
before them; and to those who read the past with understanding comes
enlightenment when similar difficulties surround them, for the past
shows not only the beginning and the middle, but also the end of the
story.
When the Peloponnesian War broke out, almost fifty years had gone by
since the Persian had been driven out of Greece, and the heroes of
Marathon, of Thermopylae and of Salamis had already passed into
history. That war had been between the Greek and the Barbarian, this
war was between Greek and Greek, and it rapidly spread over almost
the whole Greek world. The real cause was the rivalry between Athens
and Sparta, and it was fought to determine which should be supreme in
Greece. Athens was a great sea-power, Sparta a great land-power;
Athens was a freedom-loving democracy, Sparta was still governed by
an oligarchy; Athens was dependent for her life on the corn that came
from afar, Sparta was practically self-sufficing. When the war
began, each side was confident and sure of victory. How was it to
end?
II. ATHENS DURING THE WAR
During the first part of the war Athens was supreme at sea; and she
strengthened her hold on all the trade routes. But she did not dare
meet Sparta {297} in a great open pitched battle on land, for the
military power of the latter was no legend, but a most formidable
fact.
Everything, however, did not go well with Athens during those first
few years. Every year the Spartans had invaded Attica and burnt and
plundered the land surrounding Athens. This had driven all the
country people into the city, where conditions became very congested
and intolerable. And then it was that a scourge fell upon Athens
from which she never recovered. For two long summers and two long
winters the Angel of Death stood over the city and darkened it with
his wings and smote the inhabitants, so that one out of every four
died. It was the Plague. The whole dreadful story can be read in
the pages of Thucydides: how it began in the Peiraeus and then spread
to Athens; of the sufferings of those who were seized with it, the
rapidity with which it spread and the impossibility of caring for the
sick or burying the dead; of the lawlessness in the disorganized
terror-stricken city; and of all the misery which came from seeing
the inhabitants of the city dying in such numbers and from knowing
that without the walls the country was being ravaged.
When the horror had passed and Athens once more lifted up her head,
she was no longer the Athens of old. Her spirit was not only broken
but changed. The war and the plague together lay heavy upon the
Athenians, and they blamed Pericles because he had persuaded them to
go to war, declaring that he was the author of all their troubles.
Once again he {298} made a great speech to them, reminding them that
Athens had never yet yielded to misfortune, and that the greatest
states and the greatest men are those who, when misfortunes come, are
the least depressed in spirit and the most resolute in action. But
Pericles did not live to guide Athens through the troubled waters
which lay ahead of her. He had experienced the same misfortunes as
his fellow-citizens. His sister, his sons, and the friends who were
nearest to him had died of the plague, and he himself was ill. As he
lay dying, some of his friends who were still alive were sitting near
him, and they spoke together of his greatness, his power and the
number of his victories. They did not think he was conscious, but he
heard all that they said, and when they had finished, asked them why
they did not speak or make mention of that which was the most
excellent and greatest thing of all. "For," said he, "no Athenian,
through my means, ever wore mourning."[5]
Pericles had been a good general; he had added to the power of Athens
both at home and abroad; and he had made her defences more secure by
completing the Long Walls which had been begun by Themistocles. As a
statesman, Pericles was an imperialist, and he believed that the
Athenian Empire, which had grown naturally out of the position of
Athens as Liberator of the Ionian Greeks, embodied the right
relationship between Athens and her allies. Like Themistocles, he
had a deep distrust of Sparta, and believing that sooner or later
{299} war with her was inevitable, he did all that lay in his power
to make Athens ready when that day should come.
Though of noble birth, Pericles had always been on the side of the
people in Athens, and during his rule the powers of the people were
very much extended. Every office in the state was filled by popular
election each year, so that there was constant change amongst those
in authority and Athens could never be sure of any settled policy in
her affairs either at home or abroad. The supreme and final
authority lay in the Assembly, but like all popular assemblies, it
could be swayed and, at several critical moments in the history of
Athens, was swayed, by sudden bursts of passion, or by the fiery
eloquence of an unwise or an ambitious and self-seeking speaker. But
as long as Pericles lived, the dangers of the democracy he had
developed were not very apparent, for he was trusted absolutely, and
he kept a wise, firm and restraining hand on the passions of the
people.
Pericles died in the year 429 B.C., and in the years following his
death the results of a long war began to be felt. Food became scarce
and prices were high; it was difficult to get servants, for in the
general disorganization of life that had come with the plague, slaves
had escaped in large numbers; the young men of Athens were no longer
to be seen in the Agora and other public places, for all men capable
of bearing arms were with the army.
Four years after the death of Pericles, Sparta made {300} offers of
peace, but feeling ran very high in Athens and it was believed that a
peace then would not be lasting, so the offer was rejected and it was
determined to carry on the war to the bitter end.
There is nothing that so well describes conditions in Athens during
these war years as the comedies of Aristophanes. They carry us back
to those exciting days and it is amazing to see how much freedom of
speech was allowed. The _Knights_, the _Clouds_, and the _Wasps_
were all written in these years, and they are full of the excitement
of the time, and often of outspoken criticism of those responsible
for the carrying on of the war. But the war brought a lowering of
ideals, and even where there was victory, there was also sorrow and
loss and the ruin of homes. Euripides, one of the great dramatists
of the time, in the _Trojan Women_, a play written during the war,
stripped war of all its glamour and showed the misery that comes to
the conquered:
And they whom Ares took,
Had never seen their children: no wife came
With gentle arms to shroud the limbs of them
For burial, in a strange and angry earth
Laid dead. And there, at home, the same long dearth
Women that lonely died, and aged men
Waiting for sons that ne'er should turn again,
Nor know their graves, nor pour drink-offerings,
To still the unslaked dust. These be the things
The conquering Greek hath won!
* * * * * * *
{301}
Would ye be wise, ye Cities, fly from war!
Yet if war come, there is a crown in death
For her that striveth well and perisheth
Unstained: to die in evil were the stain![6]
Pericles was dead, and Cleon who had succeeded him as leader of the
people had no power to inspire the Athenians to be true to their
highest ideals, and as conditions grew more and more difficult,
Athens was forced at length to give herself up to a fight for her
life. Anger, suspicion and hatred took the place of the old ideals,
and it seemed as if her strength had turned to weakness and despair.
And then Athens sealed her own doom, for to save her own citizens
from heavy taxation in order to carry on the war, without asking
their consent she doubled the amount of the tribute paid to her by
her allies every year, and so she broke the Charter once made in good
faith between them.
But the end had not yet come. For a time success lay with the
Athenians, and they forced a Spartan garrison to surrender to them at
Sphacteria on the west coast of the Peloponnesus, a victory which
greatly encouraged them. But the years dragged on and the war
continued and there seemed no end in sight. Then it was that
Brasidas, a Spartan general, marched North from the Peloponnesus
through Boeotia and Thessaly until he reached Amphipolis, an Athenian
colony on the borders of Thrace and Macedonia, which he besieged.
Cleon had gone to Amphipolis to help the Athenians and he was
expecting assistance from an Athenian general who {302} was marching
to the relief of the city. But he did not arrive in time, and
Amphipolis was taken by the Spartans. Both Cleon and Brasidas were
killed, and Athens exiled the general who had failed to arrive in
time. He devoted the period of his exile to gathering materials for
a history of the war, and though he may have been unsuccessful as a
general, he became one of the greatest historians, not only of
Greece, but of the world. His name was Thucydides.[7]
The surrender of Amphipolis brought a lull in the war, and owing to
the efforts of the Athenian general, Nicias, in 421 B.C. a peace was
made, which was to last for fifty years.
III. ALCIBIADES
The Peace of Nicias did not last very long, however. Athens and
Sparta were both too jealous of each other to be really reconciled,
and neither kept to the terms of peace. There was a party in Athens
which favoured peace, but it was not so powerful nor so popular as
the war party, and its leader, Nicias, did not possess the qualities
of leadership which characterized the leader of the other side. This
leader was Alcibiades, a young man who had recently risen to power
and who was very popular. He was of noble birth, rich, very
good-looking and of great personal charm. He lisped when he spoke,
but it was said that this "became him well and gave a grace and
persuasiveness to his rapid speech." {303} When he began to study, he
obeyed all his other masters fairly well, but refused to learn to
play the flute, because he said it disfigured the face, and also
because it was not possible to speak or sing whilst playing it.
Alcibiades was a leader of fashion amongst the Athenian youths and as
soon as it became known that he despised the flute, playing on it
went out of fashion and became generally neglected.
Alcibiades was sought out by many people who liked to be in his
company chiefly because of his great personal beauty, but it is
evident that at this time he must have shown many noble qualities and
a good disposition, for Socrates, the great philosopher, showed much
affection for him. Socrates saw that his wealth and position caused
him to be flattered and made so much of by all kinds of people that
he feared he would be corrupted by it, and he resolved, if possible,
that his good qualities should be preserved. On his side, Alcibiades
recognized the great worth of Socrates and listened willingly to his
teaching.
Both Socrates and Alcibiades took part in one of the early campaigns
of the Peloponnesian War. They shared the same tent and stood next
to each other in battle, and in one sharp fight both behaved with
special bravery. This was the occasion on which Alcibiades was
wounded, but Socrates threw himself before him and protected him and
beyond any question saved his life.
Alcibiades had great advantages for entering public life; his noble
birth, his riches, the personal {304} courage he had shown in many
battles and the multitude of his friends and dependents threw open
the doors for him. His popularity had also increased because of his
success at the Olympic games. He had spent great sums of money on
horses and chariots, and never did anyone else send so many as seven
chariots to the Games. And they were so well equipped that in one
race he carried off the first, second and fourth prizes, which far
outdid any distinction that ever was known or thought of in that
kind.[8]
But Alcibiades did not follow the wise teaching of Socrates, and he
grew luxurious, dissipated and lawless in his way of living; he wore
long purple robes like a woman, which dragged after him as he went
through the market place; and he had a soft and luxurious bed
prepared for him on his galley. All this made him disliked by a
great number of Athenians and gradually raised up enemies for him;
yet such was his personal charm, his eloquence, his courage and his
beauty that the Athenians made excuses for his excesses, indulged him
in many things and gave soft names to his faults, attributing them to
his youth and good nature.[9]
Such was the man, unstable, ambitious and unscrupulous to whom was
entrusted the guidance of affairs at Athens at this most critical
hour of her fortunes.
Up to this time the relations of Athens with the Greeks beyond the
sea had been chiefly confined to those in Ionia, but there were rich
lands dwelt in by {305} Greeks to the West, especially in Sicily and
the South of Italy. Even in the life-time of Pericles the Athenians
had cast a longing eye upon Sicily, but they did not attempt anything
there till after his death. An opportunity for interference in
Sicilian affairs was given them in 415 B.C. when the Peace of Nicias
had brought a period of truce in the war with Sparta. The Greeks in
one of the cities in Sicily appealed to Athens for help against
Syracuse which was oppressing them, and Alcibiades seized upon this
as the first step in an Athenian conquest of Sicily. This was but
the beginning of his ambitious plan, for he dreamed not only of the
mastery of Sicily, but of nothing less than the conquest of Carthage
and of Athenian rule over the whole Mediterranean world.
Alcibiades roused Athens to enthusiasm for an expedition to Sicily
and the young men, in particular, shared his hopes and ambitions and
listened to him when he talked of the wonders of the countries to
which they were going, so that great numbers of them might be seen
sitting in the wrestling grounds and public places, drawing on the
ground maps of Sicily and the situation of Carthage. Nicias,
conservative, experienced and loyal, saw that it was not the welfare
of Athens but his own personal ambition and love of glory that was
moving Alcibiades, and did everything in his power to dissuade the
people from following such a rash and ambitious policy. He told them
that even if they conquered Sicily they could not hope to keep it,
and that the course they were in favour of pursuing would only {306}
add to the hatred already felt for them by Sparta, and could only end
in disaster.
But the Athenians were deaf to the pleas of Nicias, and it was voted
that the expedition should take place.
Then the preparations began. Lists for service were made up at
home and orders given to the allies. The city had newly
recovered from the plague and from the constant pressure of war;
a new population had grown up; there had been time for the
accumulation of money during the peace; so that there was
abundance of everything at command.
While they were in the midst of their preparations, the Hermae or
square stone figures carved after the ancient Athenian fashion,
and standing everywhere at the doorways both of temples and
private houses, in one night had nearly all of them throughout
the city their faces mutilated. The offenders were not known,
but great rewards were publicly offered for their detection, and
a decree was passed that anyone, whether citizen, stranger, or
slave, might without fear of punishment disclose this or any
other profanation of which he was cognizant. The Athenians took
the matter greatly to heart; it seemed to them ominous of the
fate of the expedition; and they ascribed it to conspirators who
wanted to effect a revolution and to overthrow the democracy.
Certain metics and servants gave information, not indeed about
the Hermae, but about the mutilation of other statues which had
shortly before been perpetrated by some young men in a drunken
frolic; and of this impiety they accused, among others,
Alcibiades. A party who were jealous of his influence over the
people {307} took up and exaggerated the charges against him,
clamorously insisting that he was at the bottom of the whole
affair. In proof they alleged the excesses of his ordinary life,
which were unbecoming in the citizen of a free state.
He strove then and there to clear himself of the charges, and
also offered to be tried before he sailed (for all was now
ready), in order that, if he were guilty, he might be punished,
and if acquitted, might retain his command. But his enemies
feared that if the trial took place at once he would have the
support of the army, and that the people would be lenient. They
therefore exerted themselves to postpone the trial. To this end
they proposed that he should sail now and not delay the
expedition, but should return and stand his trial within a
certain number of days. Their intention was that he should be
recalled and tried when they had stirred up a stronger feeling
against him, which they could better do in his absence. So it
was decided that Alcibiades should sail.
About the middle of summer the expedition started for Sicily.
Early in the morning of the day appointed for their departure,
the Athenians and such of their allies as had already joined them
went down to the Peiraeus and began to man the ships. The entire
population of Athens accompanied them, citizens and strangers
alike. The citizens came to take farewell, one of an
acquaintance, another of a kinsman, another of a son; the crowd
as they passed along were full of hope and full of tears; hope of
conquering Sicily, tears because they doubted whether they would
ever see their friends again, when they thought of the long
voyage on which they were sending them. At the moment of parting
the danger was nearer; and terrors which had never occurred to
them when they were voting the {308} expedition now entered into
their souls. Nevertheless their spirits revived at the sight of
the armament in all its strength and of the abundant provisions
which they had made. The strangers and the rest of the multitude
came out of curiosity, desiring to witness an enterprise of which
the greatness exceeded belief.
No armament so magnificent or costly had ever been sent out by
any single Hellenic power. Never had a greater expedition been
sent to a foreign land; never was there an enterprise in which
the hope of future success seemed to be better justified by
actual power.
When the ships were manned and everything required for the voyage
had been placed on board, silence was proclaimed by the sound of
the trumpet, and all with one voice before setting sail offered
up the customary prayers; these were recited, not in each ship,
but by a single herald, the whole fleet accompanying him. On
every deck both officers and men, mingling wine in bowls, made
libations from vessels of gold and silver. The multitude of
citizens and other well-wishers who were looking on from the land
joined in the prayer. The crews raised the Paean, and when the
libations were completed, put to sea.[10]
In due time they reached Sicily, where the generals in command held a
conference as to the best way of beginning the attack.
In the meantime the enemies of Alcibiades in Athens took up the
charges of impiety which had been made against him and did not rest
until an order had been sent to Sicily ordering his return that he
might be brought to trial.
{309}
From every quarter suspicion had gathered around Alcibiades, and
the Athenian people were determined to have him tried and
executed; so they sent a summons to him and to others against
whom information had been given. He was ordered to follow the
officers home and defend himself, but the latter were told not to
arrest him; for the Athenians, having regard to their interests
in Sicily, were anxious not to cause excitement in their own
camp, or to attract the attention of the enemy.[11]
So Alcibiades and those who were accused with him left Sicily. They
sailed in their own ship, but were escorted by the Athenian galley
sent for them. Before reaching Greece, both ships put in at a port
in Italy, and here Alcibiades and his companions left their ship and
disappeared, "fearing to return and stand their trial when the
prejudice against them was so violent. They were sought for, but the
crew of the galley could not find them and so they gave up the search
and returned home."[12]
Before making plans for a further escape, Alcibiades lay concealed
for a short time in Italy. It seemed strange to one who was with him
that he had not enough faith in Athenian justice to return home and
face a trial, but when asked if he did not trust his own native
country, Alcibiades replied: "In everything else, yes; but in a
matter that touches my life, I would not trust even my own mother,
lest she might by mistake throw in the black ball instead of the
white."[13] As Alcibiades did not appear in Athens to answer the
charges against him, {310} the Assembly convicted him and his
companions of impiety, confiscated their property, sentenced them to
death, and pronounced a solemn curse on their names. When this news
reached him, all he said was: "I will make them feel that I am alive."
Alcibiades kept his word. He crossed to the Peloponnesus and went
first to Argos. When he found there was no hope of his returning to
Athens, he sent a message to Sparta, asking for a safe-conduct to
that city, and assuring the Spartans that he would make them amends
by his future services for all the mischief he had done them while he
was their enemy. The Spartans gave him the security for which he
asked, and he went to them eagerly, and was well received. In return
for this, he betrayed the weak points of his native city to her
enemies and gave them valuable advice as to the best means of
conquering Athens.
Now one characteristic of Alcibiades was the extraordinary ease with
which he could adapt himself to his surroundings. Whenever he saw
that it was to his own interest to adopt the habits and ways of those
with whom he came in contact, he did so with no hesitation. At
Sparta, he gave himself up to athletic exercises, he cut his hair
short, bathed in cold water and dined on black broth; in Ionia, he
was luxurious, gay and indolent; in Thrace, always drinking; in
Thessaly, ever on horseback; and when later he lived with the Persian
satrap, he exceeded the Persians themselves in magnificence and
pomp.[14]
But though in Sparta Alcibiades lived as a {311} Spartan and appeared
devoted to their interests, he was, nevertheless, an Athenian, and
the Spartans did not trust him. The Greeks never wholly trusted each
other, and lack of sincerity in their political relations was one of
the weak points in their character. When Alcibiades found that he
was looked upon with suspicion in Sparta and that his life was
actually in danger, he fled to Ionia and took refuge with the Persian
satrap with whom he soon became a great favourite. And, indeed, the
charm of daily intercourse with this extraordinarily fascinating and
dangerous man was more than any one could resist. Even those who
feared and envied him could not but take delight, and feel a
friendliness towards him, when they saw him and were in his company.
It was only in his absence that his real character was recognized.
And now followed a period of disloyal intrigue with the Persians.
Alcibiades advised them to interfere in the war between Athens and
Sparta, and sometimes to help one side and sometimes the other, until
both should be so exhausted that the Persian King could easily
overcome them. Thus, not content with betraying Greek to Greek,
Alcibiades descended to the shameful depths of betraying Greece to
the Barbarian.
IV. THE DOWNFALL OF ATHENS AND THE SUPREMACY OF SPARTA
Alcibiades had been summoned back to Athens at the very beginning of
the expedition to Sicily. {312} It was in the summer of 415 B.C.
that the Athenian fleet had set out with such magnificence and with
such high hopes. Two years later, news was brought to Athens which
at first the Athenians would not believe, so appalling was it. There
had been a fearful battle in the harbour at Syracuse, the Athenians
had been utterly vanquished, and great numbers had been imprisoned in
the quarries which were deep and narrow.
The sun by day was still scorching and suffocating, for they had
no roof over their heads, while the autumn nights were cold.
They were only allowed about half a pint of water and a pint of
food a day. Every kind of misery which could befall man in such
a place befell them. The Athenians had been utterly and at all
points defeated. Fleet and army had perished from the face of
the earth; nothing was saved, and of the many who went forth, few
returned home.[15]
The Athenians were at first in utter despair.
Whichever way they looked there was trouble; they were
overwhelmed by their calamity, and they were in fear and
consternation unutterable. The citizens mourned and the city
mourned; they had lost the flower of their youth, and there were
none to replace them. And when they saw an insufficient number
of ships in their docks, and no crews to man them, nor money in
the treasury, they despaired of deliverance.
During the following winter all Hellas was stirred by the great
overthrow of the Athenians in Sicily. The states which had been
neutral determined that the {313} time had come when, invited or
not, they could no longer stand aloof from the war; they must of
their own accord attack the Athenians. They considered, one and
all, that if the Sicilian expedition had succeeded, they would
sooner or later have been attacked by them. The war would not
last long, and they might as well share in the glory of it. The
Lacedaemonian allies, animated by a common feeling, were more
eager than ever to make a speedy end of their protracted
hardships. But none showed greater alacrity than the subjects of
the Athenians, who were everywhere willing even beyond their
power to revolt; for they judged by their excited feelings, and
would not admit a possibility that the Athenians could survive
another summer.[16]
Athens was hated because from being the great deliverer of Greece,
she had become a tyrant and an oppressor, and the small states who
had been ruled by her were more than ready to transfer their
allegiance to Sparta who held out promises of freedom from oppression
if they would join her. Yet Sparta was at this very time bargaining
with the Persian King and promising that she would recognize his
right to rule over all that the Great Kings had formerly ruled, even
the Greeks who lived in Asia Minor, in return for money with which
Sparta could pay her sailors. Never had Athens sunk so low as that.
The end was not far off, but Athens, having recovered from her first
overwhelming despair, regained some of her old courage. She
economized in every way, so that new ships could be built, and {314}
she kept on the alert, lest she should be taken unawares by some
surprise attack.
It was at this moment that Alcibiades began to intrigue and plot for
a return to Athens. Gradually his friends gained the upper hand, the
government of Athens had not been successful and it was overthrown.
It had been said that the feeling of the Athenians towards Alcibiades
was that "they love, they hate, but cannot do without him," and they
proved the truth of the saying by recalling him. As of old, when
once they came under the charm of his personality, the Athenians
yielded to their enthusiasm for him.
As soon as he was landed, the multitude who came out to meet him
scarcely seemed so much as to see any of the other captains, but
came in throngs about Alcibiades, and saluted him with loud
acclamations, and followed him; those who could press near him
crowned him with garlands, and they who could not come up so
close yet stayed to behold him afar off, and the old men pointed
him out, and showed him to the young ones.[17]
Yet there was bitterness mixed with this rejoicing, for the Athenians
remembered that it was by following the advice of this man that some
of their greatest disasters had fallen upon them.
The story of all that followed may be read in the pages of Thucydides
and Xenophon. For a time Athens seemed to regain her old power and
she won so great a victory over the Spartans that these proposed a
peace, but it was to be a peace as between {315} equals, and Athens
would hear of no peace, unless she herself should dictate it. So the
war continued, until the ill-success of some ships in an engagement
with the Spartans caused the people to turn once more against
Alcibiades, and again he was exiled. After that the end came
quickly. In 405 B.C. one last great battle was fought in which the
Athenians were utterly defeated. The news of this disaster was taken
to Athens, and it was night when the messenger arrived. When the
tale was told
a bitter wail of woe broke forth. From Piraeus, following the
line of the Long Walls up to the heart of the city, it swept and
swelled, as each man to his neighbour passed on the news. On
that night no man slept. There was mourning and sorrow for those
that were lost, but the lamentation was merged in even greater
sorrow for themselves, as they pictured the evils they were about
to suffer. On the following day the public assembly met, and,
after debate, it was resolved to block up all the harbours save
one, to put the walls in a state of defence, to post guards at
various points, and to make all other necessary preparations for
a siege.[18]
The Spartans came and closed in upon Athens. A hundred and fifty
ships were moored off the Peiraeus, and a strict blockade was
established against all merchant ships entering the harbour.
The Athenians, finding themselves besieged by land and sea, were
in sore perplexity what to do. Without ships, without allies,
without provisions, the belief gained {316} hold upon them that
there was no way of escape. They must now, in their turn, suffer
what they had themselves inflicted upon others.[19]
At last, starved into submission, they surrendered, and terms were
made with Sparta. They were bitter and humiliating terms:
That the Long Walls and fortifications of Peiraeus should be
destroyed; that the Athenian fleet, with the exception of twelve
vessels, should be surrendered; that the exiles should be
restored; and lastly, that the Athenians should acknowledge the
headship of Sparta in peace and war, leaving to her the choice of
friends and foes, and following her lead by land and sea.[20]
The Athenians themselves were made to help in the destruction of the
walls, and as they did so, their enemies rejoiced to the music of the
flute, believing that with the fall of Athens would dawn a day of
liberty for Greece.
For over thirty years Sparta ruled in Greece. At the beginning of
the Peloponnesian War, she had demanded of Athens that she should
restore the liberties of all the Greeks who were her allies. Athens
had refused, and now the Greek world waited anxiously to see what use
Sparta would make of her great victory.
It soon became evident that the rule of Sparta was not to be a light
one. Military governors were placed in every city of the old Delian
League, and the citizens were forced to pay a heavy tribute to {317}
Sparta. Thirty men were set to rule in Athens, and for the eight
months that these Thirty were in power, Athens endured cruelty,
tyranny and lawlessness. The Spartan domination soon became so
unendurable that one by one a number of Athenians fled from the city
and took refuge in Thebes: in Thebes, who had hitherto been one of
the bitterest enemies of Athens, but who now realized that freedom
and justice were not to be found in the Spartan ideal of empire, for
it was nothing less than empire at which Sparta was aiming. At last
a sufficient number of exiles had gathered at Thebes for them to make
an attempt to drive out the Thirty from Athens. They were
successful, and the old Athenian form of government was restored.
But there was no real peace, and for a few years fighting went on in
different places. Sometimes Sparta was successful, sometimes Athens,
but nothing decisive happened. At last Sparta began to intrigue with
Persia, and in 386 B.C., Artaxerxes the King interfered in the
affairs of Greece, and proposed terms of peace, known as the King's
Peace, which were accepted. The Greek cities in Asia Minor were to
belong once more to the Persians, and all the other Greek city-states
were to be independent, and the treaty concluded with the words:
"Should any refuse to accept this peace, I, Artaxerxes, will make war
upon them, with the help of those who are of my mind, both by land
and sea, with ships and with money."
It was a betrayal of Greece to the ancient foe. The Greek states had
never been able to unite for {318} long at a time. Had they been
able to hold together, and especially had Athens and Sparta done so,
they could have prevailed against the Persian in Asia Minor and
maintained the independence of their kinsmen in Ionia. But their
jealous fears of anything that might limit their freedom as
independent states made any permanent alliance impossible, and the
long years of the Peloponnesian War, of all wars in history one of
the most humiliating, because so unnecessary and unjustifiable, had
bred hatreds and suspicion, greed and jealousy, from which Greece
never recovered. But though politically her power was gone, her work
for the world was not finished.
V. THE MARCH OF THE TEN THOUSAND[21]
Artaxerxes, the King of Persia, had a younger brother, Cyrus, who was
accused to him of plotting against his life. He had Cyrus seized and
would have put him to death, but his mother made intercession for him
and so his life was spared. This set Cyrus to thinking, not only how
he might avoid ever again being in his brother's power, but how, if
possible, he might become King in his stead. Now Cyrus was a man who
was much beloved. He was honourable, upright and chivalrous, and
marvellously skilled in horsemanship. He understood, not only how to
make friends, but also how to keep them, and any man who did him
willing service was sure to win his reward. For this reason, Cyrus
was always able to command men who were willing to follow {319} him
in any undertaking, no matter how dangerous it might be.
In order to possess himself of the throne of his brother, it was
necessary for Cyrus to raise an army, and he sent trusted agents to
various places to collect as many men as would be willing to follow
him on a hazardous expedition. Amongst other men who joined his army
were a great many Greeks. Though the King's Peace was not made for
some years after this, the great battles of the Peloponnesian War
were over, and there were large numbers of men, who had spent so many
years in fighting that they were restless and unwilling to return to
their old settled life. About ten thousand Greeks joined the army of
Cyrus, and in 401 B.C. they set out. These Greeks had not been told
the real object of the expedition; they thought they were to fight
against some hill-tribes in Asia Minor, and they joined the rest of
the army in Sardis, not knowing the long march they were about to
begin.
At first all seemed to be going well, but when they had gone for some
distance, the Greeks began to suspect that they were going further
than they had expected, and some of them wanted to turn back. But
Cyrus promised to give them more pay, and they continued their march.
On they went, until they reached the Euphrates. They crossed the
river, and for some days they continued their march along the
opposite bank until they reached Cunaxa, not far from Babylon. Here
at length Cyrus met the Persian army, which came against him under
the King, his brother. A fierce battle followed, in which {320} the
Greeks were victorious, but Cyrus was killed, and so the victory
availed them nothing. The Persians entrapped the Greek generals and
murdered them, and there was nothing left for the Greeks to do, but
in some way or other to return to Greece. But Greece was more than a
thousand miles off, and they did not know the way; they had no
leaders, they were in a strange land and surrounded by enemies, and
they had no means of procuring supplies by the way. Nevertheless,
they decided in spite of all these difficulties, to choose new
generals and to start.
Chief of the new generals was a young Athenian called Xenophon, and
he advised the Greeks, there were ten thousand of them, to burn all
the baggage that they did not need and to set out and find their way
back as best they could to Greece. They followed his advice, and
Xenophon himself has given us the account of that March of the Ten
Thousand back to Greece. He called his story the _Anabasis_ or the
_March Up Country_ and he tells us how they went through strange and
unknown lands, and how they suffered from enemies, from the cold and
from hunger. They followed the Tigris for a time and passed the
ruins of Nineveh, but so complete had been the destruction of that
proud city that the retreating Greeks did not know that they were
treading her beneath their feet.
Winter came on, and the cold was terrible. In one place they marched
through deep snow, with the north wind blowing in their teeth,
benumbing the men. They suffered from snow-blindness and {321}
frostbite, and some of them in despair refused to go on. But in
spite of all these hardships, the greater number went on, until at
length they reached a city where they were given a friendly
reception. The governor of the city gave them a guide, who promised
that within five days he would lead them to a place from which they
would see the sea, "and," he added, "if I fail of my word, you are
free to take my life." He kept his promise, and on the fifth day
they reached a mountain which the men in front immediately climbed.
From the top they caught sight of the sea, a symbol to the Greeks of
home and safety. A great cry arose and the shout grew louder and
louder, so that Xenophon feared that something extraordinary had
happened and he mounted his horse and galloped to the rescue. But as
he drew nearer, he heard the soldiers shouting and passing on to each
other the joyful cry: "Thalatta! Thalatta!" "The Sea! The Sea!"
When all had reached the summit, they fell to embracing one another,
generals and officers and all, and the tears flowed down their cheeks.
The Sea was the Euxine, and without very great difficulty the Greeks
found ships which took them home. But before they left the spot from
whence they had first seen the sea, they erected a great pile of
stones, on which they laid all that was left to them of their scanty
possessions, some skins, and wicker shields and staves, and these
they dedicated to the Gods of Greece for having granted them so great
a deliverance.
[1] See A. E. Zimmern: _The Greek Commonwealth_.
[2] Thucydides, I.
[3] Ibid.
[4] Thucydides, I.
[5] Plutarch: _Life of Pericles_.
[6] Euripides: _The Trojan Women_, translated by Gilbert Murray.
[7] See p. 386.
[8] From Plutarch: _Life of Alcibiades_.
[9] Ibid.
[10] _Thucydides_, VI.
[11] Thucydides, VI.
[12] Ibid.
[13] Plutarch: _Life of Alcibiades_.
[14] From Plutarch: _Life of Alcibiades_.
[15] Thucydides, VII.
[16] Thucydides, VIII.
[17] Plutarch: _Life of Alcibiades_.
[18] Xenophon: Hellenica, II.
[19] Xenophon: Hellenica II.
[20] Ibid.
[21] Based on Xenophon: _The Anabasis_.
{322}