I. The treasury of the Akanthians at Delphi has upon it the following
inscription: "The spoils which Brasidas and the Akanthians took from
the Athenians." For this reason many suppose that the stone statue
which stands inside the treasure-chamber, just by the door, is that of
Brasidas; but it is really a copy of a statue of Lysander, wearing his
hair and beard long, in the ancient fashion. For it is not true, as
some say, that when the Argives after their great defeat shaved their
hair in sign of mourning, the Spartans on the other hand, in pride at
their victory let their hair grow long; nor was it because the
Bacchiadæ, when they fled from Corinth to Sparta had their hair cut
short, and looked mean and despicable that made the Spartans,
themselves eager to let their hair grow long; but the fashion was
enjoined by Lykurgus. It is recorded that he said of this mode of
wearing the hair, that it made handsome men look handsomer, and made
ugly men look more ferocious.
II. Aristokleitus, the father of Lysander, is said to have been a
descendant of Herakles, though not a member of the royal family.
Lysander was brought up in poverty, and, like other Spartans, proved
himself obedient to discipline and of a manly spirit, despising all
pleasures except that which results from the honour paid to those who
are successful in some great action. This was the only enjoyment
permitted to young men in Sparta; for they wish their children, from
their very birth, to dread reproach and to be eager for praise, and he
who is not stirred by these passions is regarded with contempt as a
pluggish fellow without ambition.
Lysander retained throughout life the emulous desire for fame which
had been instilled into him by his early training; but, though never
wanting in ambition, yet he fell short of the Spartan ideal, in his
habit of paying court to the great, and easily enduring the insolence
of the powerful, whenever his own interests were concerned. Aristotle,
when he observes that the temperaments of great men are prone to
melancholy, instances Sokrates, Plato, and Herakles, and observes also
that Lysander, when advanced in life, became inclined to melancholy.
What is especially to be noted in his character is, that while he
himself lived in honourable poverty, and never received a bribe from
any one, that he nevertheless brought wealth and the desire for wealth
into his native country, and took away from it its old boast of being
superior to money; for after the war with Athens he filled the city
with gold and silver, although he did not keep a drachma of it for
himself. When the despot Dionysius sent him some rich Sicilian dresses
for his daughters, he refused them, saying that he feared they would
make the girls look uglier than before. However, being shortly
afterwards sent as ambassador to this same despot, when he again
offered him two dresses, bidding him take whichever he chose for his
daughter, he took them both away with him, saying that she would be
better able to choose for herself.
III. Towards the end of the Peloponnesian war, the Athenians, after
their great disaster in Sicily, seemed likely to lose the command of
the sea, and even to be compelled to sue for peace from sheer
exhaustion. But Alkibiades, after his return from exile, effected a
great change in the position of Athens, and raised the Athenian navy
to such a pitch that it was able to meet that of the Lacedæmonians on
equal terms. At this the Lacedæmonians again began to fear for the
result of the war. They determined to prosecute it with greater
earnestness than before, and as they required a skilful general, as
well as a large force, they gave Lysander the command of their fleet.
When he came to Ephesus, he found the city friendly to him, and
willing enough to support the Lacedæmonian cause; but it was in a weak
and ill-managed condition, and in danger of falling into the Persian
manners and losing its Greek nationality, because it was close to
Lydia, and the Persian generals generally made it their headquarters.
But Lysander formed a camp there, ordered all transports to be
directed to sail thither, and established a dockyard for the
construction of ships of war. By this means he filled the harbour with
trading vessels, and the market with merchandise, and brought money
and business into every house and workshop; so that, thanks to him,
the city then first began to entertain hopes of arriving at that pitch
of greatness and splendour which it has since attained.
IV. When he heard that Cyrus, the son of the king of Persia, had
arrived at Sardis, he went thither to confer with him, and to complain
of the conduct of Tissaphernes, who, although he received orders to
assist the Lacedæmonians, and to drive the Athenians from the sea, yet
by means of the influence of Alkibiades appeared to be very much
wanting in zeal for the Lacedæmonian cause, and to be ruining their
fleet by his parsimony. Cyrus gladly listened to anything to the
discredit of Tissaphernes, who was a worthless man and also a personal
enemy of his own. After this Lysander gained considerable influence
with the young prince, and induced him to carry on the war with
greater spirit. When Lysander was about to leave the court, Cyrus
invited him to a banquet, and begged him not to refuse his courtesies,
but to demand whatever boon he pleased, as he would be refused
nothing. Lysander replied, "Since, Cyrus, you are so very kind to me,
I ask you to add an obolus to the pay of the sailors, so that they may
receive four obols a day instead of three." Cyrus, pleased with his
warlike spirit, presented him with ten thousand darics,[146] with
which money he paid the extra obolus to the sailors, and so improved
the equipment of his fleet, that in a short time he all but emptied
the enemy's ships; for their sailors deserted in crowds to the best
paymaster, and those who remained behind were so disheartened and
mutinous, that they gave their officers continual trouble. Yet even
after he had thus weakened his enemy's forces Lysander dared not
venture on a battle, knowing Alkibiades to be a brilliant general, and
that his fleet was still the more numerous, while his many victories
by sea and land made him feared at this period as invincible.
V. When, however, Alkibiades sailed from Samos to Phokæa he left his
pilot Antiochus in command of the fleet. This man, wishing in a
foolhardy spirit to insult Lysander, sailed into the harbour of
Ephesus with two triremes, and arrogantly passed along the beach where
the Lacedæmonian fleet lay drawn up, with loud laughter and noise.
Lysander, enraged at this, at first only launched a few triremes to
pursue him, but when he saw the Athenians coming to his assistance he
manned his whole fleet, and brought on a general action. Lysander was
victorious, took fifteen triremes, and erected a trophy. Upon this the
Athenian people were greatly incensed against Alkibiades, and removed
him from his command; and he, being insulted and ill-treated by the
soldiery at Samos, withdrew from the Athenian camp to the Chersonesus.
This battle, though not in itself remarkable, yet became so because of
the misfortunes which it brought upon Alkibiades.
Lysander now invited to Ephesus all the bravest and most distinguished
Greeks from the cities on the Ionic coast, and thus laid the
foundation of all those oligarchies and revolutionary governments
which were afterwards established there, by encouraging them to form
political clubs, and devote themselves energetically to carrying on
the war, because in the event of success they would not only conquer
the Athenians, but also would be able to put down all democratic
government, and establish themselves as absolute rulers in their
respective cities. He proved the truth of his professions to these
people by his acts, as he promoted those whom he personally knew, and
those with whom he was connected by the ties of hospitality, to
important posts and commands, aiding and abetting their most
unscrupulous and unjust acts, so that all men began to look up to him
and to be eager to win his favour, imagining that if he remained in
power, their most extravagant wishes would be gratified. For this
reason they were dissatisfied with Kallikratidas, when he took command
of the fleet as Lysander's successor, and even after he had proved
himself to be as brave and honest as a man could be, they still
disliked his truthful, straightforward, Dorian manners. Yet they could
not but admire his virtue, as men admire some antique heroic statue,
although they regretted Lysander's ready zeal for the interest of his
friends so much that some of them actually wept when he sailed away.
VI. Lysander made this class of persons yet more irritated against
Kallikratidas by sending back to Sardis the balance of the money which
he had received from Cyrus for the fleet, bidding the sailors ask
Kallikratidas for pay, and see how he would manage to maintain the
men. And when he finally left Ephesus, he endeavoured to force
Kallikratidas to admit that he had handed over to him a fleet which
was mistress of the seas. Kallikratidas, however, wishing to expose
his vainglorious boasts, answered: "If so, sail from hence, passing
Samos on your left, and hand over the fleet to me at Miletus; for we
need not fear the Athenians at Samos, if our fleet is mistress of the
seas." To this Lysander answered that it was not he, but Kallikratidas
who was in command, and at once sailed away to Peloponnesus, leaving
Kallikratidas in great perplexity; for he had brought no money with
him from his own country, and he could not endure to wring money out
of the distressed Greek cities on the coast. There remained only one
course open to him: to go to the satraps of the king of Persia, and
ask them for money, as Lysander had done. Kallikratidas was the worst
man in the world for such a task, being high-spirited and generous,
and thinking it less dishonourable for Greeks to be defeated by other
Greeks than for them to court and flatter barbarians who had nothing
to recommend them but their riches. Forced by want of money, however,
he made a journey into Lydia, and at once went to the house of Cyrus,
where he ordered the servants to say that the admiral Kallikratidas
was come, and wished to confer with him. They answered, "Stranger,
Cyrus is not at leisure; he is drinking." To this Kallikratidas with
the greatest coolness replied: "Very well; I will wait until he has
finished his draught." At this answer the Persians took him for a
boor, and laughed at him, so that he went away; and, after presenting
himself a second time and being again denied admittance, returned to
Ephesus in a rage, invoking curses upon those who had first been
corrupted by the barbarians, and who had taught them to behave so
insolently because of their riches, and vowing in the presence of his
friends that as soon as he reached Sparta, he would do all in his
power to make peace between the Greek states, in order that they might
be feared by the barbarians, and might no longer be obliged to beg the
Persians to help them to destroy one another.
VII. But Kallikratidas, whose ideas were so noble and worthy of a
Spartan, being as brave, honourable, and just a man as ever lived,
perished shortly afterwards in the sea-fight at Arginusæ. Upon this,
as the Lacedæmonian cause was going to ruin, the allied cities sent an
embassy to Sparta, begging for Lysander to be again given the chief
command, and promising that they would carry on the war with much
greater vigour if he were their leader. Cyrus also sent letters to the
same effect. Now as the Spartan law forbids the same man being twice
appointed admiral, the Lacedæmonians, wishing to please their allies,
gave the chief command nominally to one Arakus, but sent Lysander with
him, with the title of secretary, but really with full power and
authority. He was very welcome to the chief men in the various cities,
who imagined that by his means they would be able to obtain much
greater power, and to put down democracy throughout Asia; but those
who loved plain and honourable dealing in a general thought that
Lysander, when compared with Kallikratidas, appeared to be a crafty,
deceitful man, conducting the war chiefly by subtilty and stratagem,
using honourable means when it was his interest to do so, at other
times acting simply on the rules of expediency, and not holding truth
to be in itself superior to falsehood, but measuring the value of the
one and the other by the profit which was to be obtained from them. He
indeed laughed at those who said that the race of Herakles ought not
to make wars by stratagem, saying, "Where the lion's skin will not
protect us, we must sew the fox's skin to it."
VIII. All this is borne out by what he is said to have done at
Miletus. Here his friends and connections, to whom he had promised
that he would put down the democratic constitution and drive their
enemies out of the city, changed their minds, and made up their
quarrel with their political opponents. At this reconciliation
Lysander publicly expressed great satisfaction and even seemed anxious
to promote a good understanding, but in private he railed at them and
urged them to attack the popular party. But as soon as he heard of an
outbreak having taken place, he at once marched into the city,
addressed the insurgents roughly, and sent them away in custody,
harshly treated, as if he meant to inflict some signal punishment upon
them, while he bade those of the popular faction take courage, and not
to expect any ill-treatment while he was present. By this artifice he
prevailed upon the chief men of the democratic party not to leave the
city, but to remain and perish in it; as indeed they did, for every
one who trusted to his word was put to death. Moreover, Androkleides
relates a story which shows Lysander's extreme laxity with regard to
oaths. He is said to have remarked, that "We cheat boys with dice, and
men with oaths!" In this he imitated Polykrates, the despot of
Samos--an unworthy model for a Spartan general. Nor was it like a
Spartan to treat the gods as badly as he treated his enemies, or even
worse--for the man who overreaches his enemy by breaking his oath
admits that he fears his enemy, but despises his god.
IX. Cyrus now sent for Lysander to Sardis, and gave him a supply of
money, with promise of more. Nay, he was so zealous to show his
attachment to Lysander that he declared, if his father would not
furnish him with funds, that he would expend all his own property, and
if other resources failed, that he would break up the gold and silver
throne on which he was sitting. Finally, when he went away to Media to
see his father, he empowered Lysander to receive the tribute from the
subject cities, and placed the whole of his government in his hands.
He embraced Lysander, begged him not to fight the Athenians by sea
until he returned from court, promised that he would return with many
ships from Phœnicia and Cilicia, and so departed.
Lysander was not able to fight the Athenians on equal terms, but yet
he could not remain quiet with so large a number of ships. He
accordingly put out to sea, induced several of the islands to revolt
from Athens, and overran Ægina and Salamis. At length he landed in
Attica, where he met Agis, who came down from Dekeleia to see him, and
showed the land army what his naval force was, boasting that he could
sail whither he pleased, and was master of the seas. However, when he
discovered that the Athenians were in pursuit he fled precipitately
back to Asia Minor. Finding the Hellespont unguarded, he attacked the
city of Lampsakus by sea, while Thorax, who had arrived at the same
place with the land forces, attacked it on that side. He took the city
by storm, and, gave it up to his soldiers to plunder. Meanwhile, the
Athenian fleet of a hundred and eighty triremes had just touched at
Elaius in the Chersonese, but, hearing that Lampsakus was lost,
proceeded to Sestos. Having taken in provisions at that place, they
sailed to the "Goat's Rivers," opposite to Lampsakus, where the
enemy's fleet still lay. One of the Athenian generals on this occasion
was that Philokles who once induced the people to pass a decree that
all prisoners of war should have their right thumbs cut off, so that
they might not be able to hold a spear, but yet might work at the oar.
X. Hereupon both parties rested, expecting a sea-fight on the morrow.
Lysander, however, had other intentions, but notwithstanding ordered
the sailors to man their ships at daybreak, as if he intended to
fight, and to remain quietly at their posts waiting for orders; and
the land force was similarly drawn up by the sea-side. When the sun
rose, the Athenian fleet rowed straight up to the Lacedæmonians, and
offered battle, but Lysander, although his ships were fully manned,
and had their prows pointing towards the enemy, would not let them
engage, but sent small boats to the first line of his ships with
orders not to move, but remain quietly in their places without any
noise or attempt to attack. Though the Athenians retired towards
evening, he would not let his men land before two or three triremes
which he had sent to reconnoitre, returned with the intelligence that
the enemy had disembarked. The same manœuvres took place on the next
day, and also on the third and fourth days, so that the Athenians
began to be very bold, and to despise their enemy, who seemed not to
dare to attack them. At this time Alkibiades, who was living in his
own forts in the Chersonese, rode over to the Athenian camp and blamed
the generals for having in the first place encamped in a bad position,
on an exposed sea-beach without any harbour, and pointed out their
mistake in having to fetch all their provisions from Sestos, which was
so far off, whereas they ought to have proceeded to the harbour and
city of Sestos, where they would also be farther away from a watchful
enemy, commanded by one general only, and so well disciplined as to be
able to carry out his orders with great rapidity. These
representations of Alkibiades were not listened to by the Athenian
generals, one of whom, Tydeus, insolently replied that it was they,
not he, who were in command.
XI. As besides this Alkibiades had some suspicions of treachery among
them, he rode away. On the fifth day however, when the Athenians,
after their customary offer of battle, had returned as usual, in a
careless and negligent manner, Lysander sent out some ships to
reconnoitre, with orders to row back again with all speed as soon as
they saw the Athenians disembark, and when they reached the middle of
the straits to hoist a brazen shield over their bows as a signal for
advance. He himself sailed from ship to ship, addressing the steersmen
and captains of each, urging them to be in their place with their full
complement both of rowers and fighting-men on deck, and at the signal
to row strongly and cheerfully against the enemy.
When the shield was raised, and the signal given by trumpet from the
flag-ship, the fleet put to sea, while the land force marched rapidly
along the shore towards the promontory. The straits here are only
fifteen furlongs wide, a distance which was soon passed by the zeal of
the Lacedæmonian rowers. Konon was the first of the Athenian generals
who perceived the fleet approaching. He at once called out to the men
to embark, and in his agony of distress at the disaster, ordered,
implored, and forced them into their ships. But all his zeal was
useless, scattered as the crews were; for as soon as they disembarked
they at once, not expecting any attack, began some to purchase food in
the market, some to stroll about, while some went to sleep in their
tents, and some began to cook, without the least mistrust of that
which befel them, through the ignorance and inexperience of their
leaders. As by this time the enemy were close upon them, with loud
cries and noise of oars, Konon with eight ships made his way safely
through the enemy, and escaped to the court of Evagoras, king of
Cyprus. As to the rest of the ships, the Peloponnesians took some of
them empty, and sank the others as the sailors endeavoured to get on
board of them. Of these men, many perished near their ships, as they
ran to them in disorderly crowds, without arms, while others who fled
away on land were killed by the enemy, who landed and went in pursuit
of them. Besides these, three thousand men, including the generals,
were taken prisoners. Lysander also captured the entire fleet, with
the exception of the sacred trireme called the Paralus, and the eight
ships which escaped with Konon. After plundering the camp, and taking
all the captured ships in tow, he sailed back to Lampsakus with
triumphal music of flutes and pæans of victory, having won a great
victory with little labour, and in a short time brought to a close the
longest and most uncertain war ever known in his times. There had been
innumerable battles, and frequent changes of fortune, in which more
generals had perished than in all the previous wars in Greece, and yet
all was brought to a close by the wisdom and conduct of one man: which
thing caused some to attribute this victory to the interposition of
the gods.
XII. Some affirmed, that when Lysander's ship sailed out of the
harbour of Lampsakus to attack the enemy, they saw the Dioskuri, like
two stars, shining over the rudders[147]. Some also say that the fall
of the great stone was an omen of this disaster: for the common belief
is that a vast stone fell down from Heaven into the Goat's Rivers,
which stone is even now to be seen, and is worshipped by the people of
the Chersonese. We are told that Anaxagoras foretold that in case of
any slip or disturbance of the bodies which are fixed in the heavens,
they would all fall down. The stars also, he said, are not in their
original position, but being heavy bodies formed of stone, they shine
by the resistance and friction of the atmosphere, while they are
driven along by the violence of the circular motion by which they were
originally prevented from falling, when cold and heavy bodies were
separated from the general universe. There is a more credible theory
on this subject, that shooting-stars are not a rush of ærial fire
which is put out as soon as it is kindled, nor yet a blaze caused by a
quantity of air being suddenly allowed to rush upwards, but that they
are heavenly bodies, which from some failure in their rotatory power,
fall from their orbit and descend, not often into inhabited portions
of the earth, but for the most part into the sea, whereby they escape
notice. This theory of Anaxagoras is confirmed by Daimachus in his
treatise on Piety, where he states that for seventy-five days before
the stone fell a fiery body of great size like a burning cloud, was
observed in the heavens. It did not remain at rest, but moved in
various directions by short jerks, so that by its violent swaying
about many fiery particles were broken off, and flashed like
shooting-stars. When, however, it sank to the earth, the inhabitants,
after their first feeling of terror and astonishment were passed,
collected together, and found no traces of fire, but merely a stone
lying on the ground, which although a large one, bore no comparison to
that fiery mass. It is evident that this tale of Daimachus can only
find credit with indulgent readers: but if it be true, it signally
confutes those who argue that the stone was wrenched by the force of a
whirlwind from some high cliff, carried up high into the air, and then
let fall whenever the violence of the tempest abated. Unless, indeed,
that which was seen for so many days was really fire, which, when
quenched, produced such a violent rushing and motion in the air as
tore the stone from its place. A more exact enquiry into these
matters, however, belongs to another subject.
XIII. Now Lysander, after the three thousand Athenians whom he had
taken prisoners had been condemned to death by the council, called
for Philokles their general, and asked him what punishment he thought
that he deserved for having advised his fellow-countrymen to treat
Greeks in such a cruel manner.[148] Philokles, not in the least cast
down by his misfortunes, bade him not to raise questions which no one
could decide, but, since he was victor, to do what he would himself
have suffered if vanquished. He then bathed, put on a splendid dress,
and led his countrymen to execution, according to the account given by
Theophrastus. After this Lysander sailed to the various cities in the
neighbourhood, and compelled all the Athenians whom he met to betake
themselves to Athens, giving out that he would spare no one, but put
to death all whom he found without the city. His object in acting thus
was to produce famine in Athens as speedily as possible, that the city
might not give him the trouble of a long siege. He now destroyed the
democratic and popular constitutions in all the Greek cities which had
been subject to Athens, placing a Lacedæmonian in each as harmost or
governor, with a council of ten archons under him, composed of men
selected from the political clubs which he had established. He
proceeded leisurely along, effecting these changes alike in the cities
which had been hostile to him and in those which had fought on his
side, as though he were preparing for himself a Greece in which he
would take the first place. He did not choose his archons by their
birth, or their wealth, but favoured his own friends and political
adherents, to whom he gave irresponsible power; while by being present
at several executions, and driving the opponents of his friends into
exile, he gave the Greeks a very unpleasant idea of what they were to
expect from the empire of Lacedæmon. The comic poet Theopompus
therefore appears to talk at random when he compares the Lacedæmonians
to tavern-keepers, because they at first poured out for the Greeks a
most sweet draught of liberty and afterwards made it bitter; whereas
in truth the taste of their rule was bitter from the beginning, as
Lysander would not allow the people to have any voice in the
government, and placed all the power in each city in the hands of the
most daring and ambitious men of the oligarchical party.
XIV. After spending a short time in arranging these matters and having
sent messengers to Laconia to announce that he was coming thither with
a fleet of two hundred ships, he joined the Spartan kings, Agis and
Pausanias, in Attica, and expected that the city of Athens would soon
fall into his hands. Finding, however, that the Athenians made an
obstinate defence, he crossed over to Asia again with the fleet. Here
he overthrew the existing constitutions and established governments of
ten in all the cities alike, putting many citizens to death, and
driving many into exile. He drove out all the inhabitants from the
island of Samos in a body, and handed over the cities in that island
to those who had previously been banished. He also took Sestos from
the Athenians, and would not allow the people of Sestos to live there,
but gave the city and territory over to those who had acted as
steersmen and masters on board of his ships. This indeed was the first
of his acts which was cancelled by the Lacedæmonians, who restored
Sestos to its inhabitants. Yet his proceedings were viewed with
satisfaction by the Greeks, when he restored the Æginetans, who had
for a long time been banished from their island, and also refounded
Melos and Skione, the Athenians being driven away and forced to give
up the cities.
By this time he learned that the people of Athens were nearly starved
out, and consequently sailed to Peiræus and received the submission of
the city, which was obliged to accept whatever terms of capitulation
he chose to offer. I have indeed heard Lacedæmonians say that Lysander
wrote to the Ephors, saying "Athens is taken;" and that they wrote to
Lysander in answer, "To have taken it is enough." But this tale is
merely invented for effect. The real decree of the Ephors ran as
follows:--"This is the decision of the Lacedæmonian government. Throw
down the walls of Peiræus and the Long Walls. Withdraw from all other
cities and occupy your own land, and then you may have peace, if you
wish for it, allowing likewise your exiles to return. With regard to
the number of the ships, whatever be judged necessary by those on the
spot, that do."
The Athenians accepted these terms, by the advice of Theramenes the
son of Hagnon: and on this occasion it is said that when he was asked
by Kleomenes, one of the younger orators, how he dared to act and
speak against what Themistokles had done, by giving up to the
Lacedæmonians those walls which Themistokles had built in spite of
them, he answered, "My boy, I am doing nothing contrary to
Themistokles; for these same walls he built up to save his countrymen,
and we will throw them down to save them. Indeed, if walls made a city
prosperous, then ought Sparta, which has none, to be the most
miserable of all."
XV. Now Lysander, after taking all the fleet of the Athenians except
twelve ships, and having taken possession of their walls, began to
take measures for the subversion of their political constitution, on
the sixteenth day of the month Munychion, the same day on which they
had defeated the Persians in the sea-fight at Salamis. As they were
greatly grieved at this, and were loth to obey him, he sent word to
the people that the city had broken the terms of its capitulation,
because their walls were standing although the time within which they
ought to have been destroyed had elapsed. He therefore would make an
entirely new decision about their fate, because they had broken the
treaty. Some writers say that he actually consulted the allies about
the advisability of selling the whole population for slaves, in which
debate the Theban Erianthus proposed to destroy the city and make the
site of it a sheep walk. Afterwards, however, when the generals were
drinking together a Phokian sang the first song in the Elektra of
Euripides, which begins with the words--
"Elektra, Agamemnon's child,
I reach thy habitation wild."
At this their hearts were touched, and it appeared to them to be a
shameful deed to destroy so famous a city, and one which had produced
such great men. After this, as the Athenians agreed to everything that
Lysander proposed, he sent for a number of flute-players out of the
city, collected all those in his camp, and destroyed the walls and
burned the ships to the sound of music, while the allies crowned
themselves with flowers and danced around, as though on that day their
freedom began. Lysander now at once subverted the constitution,
establishing thirty archons in the city, and ten in Peiræus, placing
also a garrison in the Acropolis under the command of Kallibius, who
acted as harmost, or governor. This man once was about to strike
Autolykus the athlete, in whose house Xenophon has laid the scene of
his "Symposium," with his staff, when Autolykus tripped him and threw
him down. Lysander did not sympathise with his fall, but even
reproached him, saying that he did not know how to govern free men.
However, the Thirty, to please Kallibius, shortly afterwards put
Autolykus to death.
XVI. After these transactions Lysander set sail for Thrace, but sent
home to Sparta all the money for which he had no immediate occasion,
and all the presents and crowns[149] which he had received, in charge
of Gylippus, who had held a command in Sicily during the war there.
His wealth was very great, as many naturally had bestowed rich
presents on one who had such great power as to be in some sort
dictator of Greece. Gylippus is said to have cut open the seam at the
bottom of each bag of money, taken a great deal of it out, and then to
have sewn it up again, not knowing that there was a written note in
each bag stating the amount which it contained. When he reached Sparta
he hid the money which he had stolen under the tiles of his roof, and
handed the bags over to the Ephors with the seals unbroken. When the
bags were opened and the money counted, the amount was found not to
agree with the written notes, and the Ephors were much perplexed at
this until a servant of Gylippus explained the cause of it in a
riddle, telling them that under his tiles roosted many owls. For, it
seems, most of the money current at that period bore the Athenian
device of the owl, in consequence of the extent of the Athenian
empire.
Gylippus, having sullied the glory of his great achievements by this
mean and sordid action, left Sparta in disgrace. Yet the wisest
Spartans, fearing the power of the money for this very reason, that it
was the chief men in the state who would be tempted by it, reproached
Lysander for bringing it, and implored the Ephors to convey solemnly
all the gold and silver coin away out of the country, as being so much
"imported ruin." On this the Ephors invited discussion upon the
subject. Theopompus tells us that it was Skiraphidas, but Ephorus says
that it was Phlogidas who advised the Spartans not to receive the gold
and silver coinage into their country, but to continue to use that
which their fathers had used. This was iron money, which had first
been dipped in vinegar when red hot, so that it could not be worked,
as its being quenched in this manner rendered it brittle and useless,
while it was also heavy, difficult to transport from place to place,
and a great quantity of it represented but a small value. It appears
probable that all money was originally of this kind, and that men used
instead of coin small spits[150] of iron or copper. For this reason we
still call small coins obols, and we call six obols a drachma, meaning
that this is the number of them which can be grasped by the hand.
XVII. The motion for sending away the money was opposed by Lysander's
friends, who were eager to keep it in the state; so that it was at
last decided that for public purposes this money might be used, but
that if any private person were found in possession of it, he should
be put to death: as if Lykurgus had been afraid of money itself, and
not of the covetousness produced by it, which they did not repress by
forbidding private men to own money so much as they encouraged it by
permitting the state to own it, conferring thereby a certain dignity
upon it over and above its real value. It was not possible for men who
saw that the state valued silver and gold to despise it as useless, or
to think that what was thus prized by the whole body of the citizens
could be of no concern to individuals. On the contrary, it is plain
that national customs much sooner impress themselves on the lives and
manners of individuals, than do the faults and vices of individuals
affect the national character. When the whole becomes corrupt the
parts necessarily become corrupt with it; but the corruption of some
of the parts does not necessarily extend to the whole, being checked
and overpowered by those parts which remain healthy. Thus the Spartans
made the law and the fear of death guard the houses of their citizens
so that money could not enter them, but they did not guard their minds
against the seductions of money, nay, even encouraged them to admire
it, by proclaiming that it was a great and important matter that the
commonwealth should be rich. However, I have discussed the conduct of
the Lacedæmonians in this respect in another book.
XVIII. From the proceeds of the plunder which he had taken Lysander
set up a brazen statue of himself and of each of the admirals[151] at
Delphi, and also offered up golden stars to the Dioskuri, which stars
disappeared just before the battle of Leuktra. Besides this, in the
treasury of Brasidas and the Akanthians there used to be a trireme
made of gold and ivory, two cubits long, which was sent to him by
Cyrus as a present on the occasion of his victory. Anaxandrides of
Delphi also tells us that Lysander deposited there a talent of silver,
fifty-two minæ, and eleven of the coins called staters, which does not
agree with the accounts given by other writers of his poverty.
At this time Lysander was more powerful than any Greek had ever been
before, and displayed an amount of pride and arrogance beyond even
what his power warranted. He was the first Greek, we are told by
Douris in his history, to whom cities erected altars and offered
sacrifice as though he were a god, and he was the first in whose
honour pæans were sung, one of which is recorded as having begun as
follows:
"The praise of our fair Græcia's king
That comes from Sparta, let us sing,
Io pæan."
Nay, the Samians decreed that their festival, called Heræa in honour
of Hera, should be called Lysandreia. He always kept the poet Chœrilus
in his train, that he might celebrate his actions in verse, and when
Antilochus wrote some stanzas in his praise he was so pleased that he
filled his hat with silver and gave it to him. Antimachus of Kolophon
and one Nikeratus of Heraklea each wrote a poem on his deeds, and
competed before him for a prize, at the Lysandreia. He gave the crown
of victory to Nikeratus, which so enraged Antimachus that he
suppressed his poem. Plato, who was a young man at that time, and
admired the poetry of Antimachus, consoled him for his defeat by
pointing out to him that the illiterate are as much to be pitied for
their ignorance as the blind are for their loss of sight. When,
however, the harper Aristonous, who had six times won the victory at
the Pythian games, to show his regard to Lysander, told him that if he
won the prize again he intended to have his name proclaimed by the
herald as Lysander's servant, Lysander said, "Does he mean to proclaim
himself my slave?"
XIX. This ambition of Lysander was only a burden to the great, and to
those of equal rank with himself. But as none dared to thwart him, his
pride and insolence of temper became intolerable. He proceeded to
extravagant lengths both when he rewarded and when he punished,
bestowing absolute government over important cities upon his friends,
while he was satisfied with nothing short of the death of an enemy,
and regarded banishment as too mild a sentence. Indeed, when
subsequently to this he feared lest the chiefs of the popular party at
Miletus might escape, and also wished to tempt those who had concealed
themselves to leave their hiding-place, he swore that he would not
harm them; and when they, trusting to his word, came forward and gave
themselves up, he delivered them over to the aristocratical party to
be put to death, to the number of not less than eight hundred men. In
all the other cities, too, an indiscriminate massacre of the popular
party took place, as Lysander not only put to death his own personal
enemies, but also those persons against whom any of his friends in
each city might happen to have a grudge. Wherefore Æteokles the
Lacedæmonian was thought to have spoken well, when he said that
"Greece could not have borne two Lysanders." We are told by
Theophrastus that Archestratus made the same remark about Alkibiades:
although in his case it was insolence, luxury and self-will which gave
so much offence, whereas Lysander's harsh, merciless disposition was
what made his power so hateful and terrible.
At first the Lacedæmonians paid no attention to complaints brought
against him; but when Pharnabazus, who had been wronged by Lysander's
depredations on his country, sent an embassy to Sparta to demand
justice, the Ephors were much enraged. They put to death Thorax, one
of his friends, whom they found in possession of silver coin, and they
sent a skytale to him bidding him appear before them. I will now
explain what a skytale was. When the Ephors sent out any one as
general or admiral of their forces, they used to prepare two round
sticks of wood of exactly the same length and thickness, corresponding
with one another at the ends. One of these they kept themselves, and
the other they gave to the person sent out. These sticks they call
skytales. Now when they desire to transmit some secret of importance
to him, they wrap a long narrow strip of paper[152] like a strap round
the skytale which is in their possession, leaving no intervals, but
completely covering the stick along its whole length with the paper.
When this has been done they write upon the paper while it is upon the
stick, and after writing they unwind the paper and send it to the
general without the stick. When he receives it, it is entirely
illegible, as the letters have no connection, but he winds it round
the stick in his possession so that the folds correspond to one
another, and then the whole message can be read. The paper is called
skytale as well as the stick, as a thing measured is called by the
name of the measure.
XX. Lysander, when this skytale reached him at the Hellespont, was
much troubled, and as he especially feared the accusations of
Pharnabazus, he hastened to confer with him, with a view to settling
their dispute. When they met, Lysander begged him to write a second
letter to the Spartan government, stating that he had not received any
wrong, and that he had no charge to bring against him. It was,
however, a case of "diamond cut diamond," as the proverb has it, for
Pharnabazus, while he ostensibly promised to do everything that
Lysander wished, and to send publicly a letter dictated by him, had by
him another privately-written despatch, and when the seals were about
to be affixed, as the two letters looked exactly alike, he substituted
the privately-written one for that which Lysander had seen. When then
Lysander reached Lacedæmon, and proceeded, as it customary, to the
senate-house, he handed over to the Ephors this letter of Pharnabazus,
with the conviction that thereby he was quashing the most important of
all the charges against himself; for Pharnabazus was much loved by the
Lacedæmonians, because he had taken their part in the war more
zealously than any other Persian satrap. When, however, the Ephors
showed him the letter, and he perceived that "Others besides
Odysseus[153] can contrive," he retired in great confusion, and a few
days afterwards, on meeting with the Ephors, informed them that he
must go and pay a sacrifice to Ammon[154]; which he had vowed before
winning his victories. Some historians tell us that this was true, and
that when he was besieging Aphytæ, a city in Thrace, the god Ammon
appeared to him in a dream; in consequence of which he raised the
siege, imagining this to be the will of the god, ordered the
inhabitants to sacrifice to Ammon, and himself made preparations for
proceeding at once to Libya to propitiate the god. Most persons,
however, imagined that this was a mere pretence, but that really he
feared the Ephors, and was unable to endure the harsh discipline of
life at Sparta, and therefore wished to travel abroad, just as a horse
longs for liberty when he has been brought back out of wide pastures
to his stable and his accustomed work. As to the cause which Ephorus
gives for these travels of his, I will mention that presently.
XXI. After having with great difficulty obtained permission from the
Ephors, he set sail. Now as soon as he left the country, the two
kings, perceiving that by means of his device of governing the cities
of Greece by aristocratic clubs devoted to his interest he was
virtually master of the whole country, determined to restore the
popular party to power and to turn out Lysander's friends. When
however this movement was set on foot, and when first of all the
Athenians starting from Phyle attacked the Thirty and overpowered
them, Lysander returned in haste, and prevailed upon the Lacedæmonians
to assist the cause of oligarchy and put down these popular risings.
They decided that the first government which they would aid should be
that of the Thirty, at Athens; and they proposed to send them a
hundred talents for the expenses of the war, and Lysander himself as
their general. But the two kings, envying his power, and fearing that
he would take Athens a second time, determined that one of themselves
should proceed thither in his stead. Pausanias accordingly went to
Athens, nominally to assist the Thirty against the people, but really
to put an end to the war, for fear that Lysander by means of his
friends might a second time become master of Athens. This he easily
effected; and by reconciling all classes of Athenians to one another
and putting an end to the revolution, he made it impossible for
Lysander to win fresh laurels. But when shortly afterwards the
Athenians again revolted he was much blamed for having allowed the
popular party to gather strength and break out of bounds, after it had
once been securely bridled by an oligarchy, while Lysander on the
contrary gained the credit of having, in every city, arranged matters
not with a view to theatrical effect, but to the solid advantage of
Sparta.
XXII. He was bold in his speech, and overbearing to those who opposed
him. When the Argives had a dispute with the Lacedæmonians about their
frontier, and seemed to have justice on their side, Lysander drew his
sword, saying, "He that is master of this is in possession of the best
argument about frontier lines." When some Megarian in a public
meeting used considerable freedom of speech towards him, he answered,
"My friend, your words require a city[155] to back them." He asked the
Bœotians, who wished to remain neutral, whether he should pass through
their country with spears held upright or levelled. On the occasion of
the revolt of Corinth, when he brought up the Lacedæmonians to assault
their walls, he observed that they seemed unwilling to attack. At this
moment a hare was seen to leap across the ditch, upon which he said,
"Are you not ashamed to fear such enemies as these, who are so lazy as
to allow hares to sleep upon their walls?" When king Agis died,
leaving a brother, Agesilaus, and a son Leotychides who was supposed
to be his, Lysander, who was attached to Agesilaus, prevailed upon him
to lay claim to the crown as being a genuine descendant of Herakles.
For Leotychides laboured under the imputation of being the son of
Alkibiades, who carried on an intrigue with Timæa the wife of Agis,
when he was living in Sparta as an exile. It is said that Agis, after
making a calculation about the time of his wife's pregnancy treated
Leotychides with neglect and openly denied that he was his father.
When however he was brought to Heræa during his last illness, and was
at the point of death, he was induced by the entreaties of the youth
and his friends to declare in the presence of many witnesses that
Leotychides was his legitimate son, and died begging them to testify
this fact to the Lacedæmonians. They did indeed so testify in favour
of Leotychides; and although Agesilaus was a man of great distinction,
and had the powerful assistance of Lysander, yet his claims to the
crown were seriously damaged by one Diopeithes, a man deep read in
oracular lore, who quoted the following prophecy in reference to the
lameness of Agesilaus:
"Proud Sparta, resting on two equal feet,
Beware lest lameness on thy kings alight;
Lest wars unnumbered toss thee to and fro,
And thou thyself be ruined in the fight."
But when many were persuaded by this oracle and looked to Leotychides
as the true heir, Lysander said that they did not rightly understand
it; for what it meant was, he argued, not that the god forbade a lame
man to reign, but that the kingdom would be lame of one foot if
base-born men should share the crown with those who were of the true
race of Herakles. By this argument and his own great personal
influence he prevailed, and Agesilaus became king of Sparta.
XXIII. Lysander now at once began to urge him to make a campaign in
Asia, holding out to him hopes of conquering the Persians and making
himself the greatest man in the world. He also wrote to his friends in
Asia, bidding them ask the Lacedæmonians to send them Agesilaus to act
as their commander in chief in the war with the Persians. They obeyed,
and sent an embassy to demand him: which was as great an honour to
Agesilaus as his being made king, and which, like the other, he owed
to Lysander alone. However, ambitious natures, though in other
respects fit for great commands, often fail in important enterprises
through jealousy of their rivals; for they make those men their
opponents who would otherwise have been their assistants in obtaining
success. On this occasion Agesilaus took Lysander with him, as the
chief of his board of thirty counsellors, and treated him as his
greatest friend; but when they reached Asia, the people there would
not pay their court to Agesilaus, whom they did not know, while all
Lysander's friends flocked round him to renew their former intimacy,
and all those who feared him assiduously courted his favour. Thus, as
in a play we often see that a messenger or servant engrosses all the
interest of the spectators and really acts the leading part, while he
who wears the crown and bears the sceptre is hardly heard to speak, so
now it was the counsellor who obtained all the honours due to a
commander in chief, while the king had merely the title without any
influence whatever. It was necessary, no doubt, that this excessive
power of Lysander should be curtailed, and he himself forced to take
the second place: but yet to disgrace and ruin a friend and one from
whom he had received great benefits, would have been unworthy of
Agesilaus. Consequently at first he did not entrust him with the
conduct of matters of importance, and did not give him any separate
command. In the next place, he invariably disobliged, and refused the
applications, of any persons on whose behalf he understood Lysander to
be interested, and thus gradually undermined his power. When however
after many failures Lysander perceived that his interest on his
friends' behalf was a drawback rather than an advantage to them, he
ceased from urging their claims, and moreover begged them not to pay
their court to him, but to attach themselves to the king, and to those
who were able to promote and reward their followers. Most of them on
hearing this no longer troubled him on matters of business, but
continued on the most friendly terms with him, and angered Agesilaus
more than ever by the manner in which they flocked round him in public
places and walks, showing thereby their dislike to the king. Agesilaus
now bestowed the government of cities and the conduct of important
expeditions upon various obscure soldiers, but appointed Lysander his
carver, and then in an insulting manner told the Ionians to go and pay
their court to his carver. At this Lysander determined to have an
interview with him, and there took place a short and truly Laconian
dialogue between them. Lysander said, "You know well, Agesilaus, how
to humble your friends." "Yes," answered he, "if they desire to be
greater than I am: but those who increase my power have a right to
share it." "Perhaps," said Lysander, "you have spoken better than I
have acted; however, if it be only on account of the multitude whose
eyes are upon us, I beg you to appoint me to some post in which I may
be of more use to you, and cause you less annoyance than at present."
XXIV. Upon this he was sent on a special mission to the Hellespont,
where although he was at enmity with Agesilaus, he did not neglect his
duty, but, finding that the Persian Spithridates, a man of noble birth
and commanding a considerable force, was on bad terms with
Pharnabazus, he induced him to revolt, and brought him back with him
to Agesilaus. After this Lysander was given no further share in the
conduct of the war, and after some time sailed back to Sparta in
disgrace, full of rage against Agesilaus, and hating the whole
Spartan constitution more than ever. He now determined without any
further delay to put in practice the revolutionary plans which he had
so long meditated. These were as follows:--When the descendants of
Herakles, after associating with the Dorians, returned to
Peloponnesus, their race grew and flourished at Sparta. Yet it was not
every family of the descendants of Herakles, but only the children of
Eurypon and Agis who had a right to the throne, while the others
gained no advantage from their noble birth, as all honours in the
state were given according to merit. Now Lysander, being a descendant
of Herakles, after he had gained great glory by his achievements and
obtained many friends and immense influence, could not endure that the
state should reap such great advantages from his success, and yet
continue to be ruled by men of no better family than himself. He
meditated, therefore, the abolition of the exclusive right to the
throne possessed by these two families, and throwing it open to all
the descendants of Herakles, or even, according to some historians, to
all Spartans alike, in order that the crown might not belong to the
descendants of Herakles, but to those who were judged to be like
Herakles in glory, which had raised Herakles himself to a place among
the gods themselves. If the throne were disposed of in this manner he
imagined that no Spartan would be chosen king before himself.
XXV. First then he proposed to endeavour to win over his countrymen to
his views by his own powers of persuasion, and with this object
studied an oration written for him by Kleon of Halikarnassus. Soon,
however, he perceived that so new and important a scheme of reform
would require more violent means to carry it into effect, and, just as
in plays supernatural machinery is resorted to where ordinary human
means would fail to produce the wished-for termination, even so did
Lysander invent oracular responses and prophecies and bring them to
bear on the minds of his countrymen, feeling that he would gain but
little by pronouncing Kleon's oration, unless the Spartans had
previously, by superstition and religious terrors, been brought into a
state of feeling suitable for its reception. Ephorus relates in his
history that Lysander endeavoured by means of one Pherekles to bribe
the priestess at Delphi, and afterwards those of Dodona; and that, as
this attempt failed, he himself went to the oracle of Ammon and had an
interview with the priests there, to whom he offered a large sum of
money. They also indignantly refused to aid his schemes, and sent an
embassy to Sparta to charge him with having attempted to corrupt them.
He was tried and acquitted, upon which the Libyans, as they were
leaving the country, said:--"We at any rate, O Spartans, will give
more righteous judgments when you come to dwell amongst us"--for there
is an ancient oracle which says that the Lacedæmonians shall some day
settle in Libya. Now as to the whole framework of Lysander's plot,
which was of no ordinary kind, and did not take its rise from
accidental circumstances, but consisted, like a mathematical
demonstration, of many complicated intrigues all tending to one fixed
point, I will give a short abstract of it extracted from the works of
Ephorus, who was both an historian and a philosopher.
XXVI. There was a woman in Pontus who gave out that she was pregnant
by Apollo. As might be expected, many disbelieved in her pretensions,
but many more believed in them, so that when a male child was born of
her, it was cared for and educated at the charge of many eminent
persons. The child, for some reason or other, was given the name of
Silenus. Lysander, starting with these materials, constructed the rest
of the story out of his own imagination. He was assisted in his scheme
by many persons of the highest respectability, who unsuspiciously
propagated the fable about the birth of the child: and who also
procured another mysterious story from Delphi, which they carefully
spread abroad at Sparta, to the effect that some oracles of vast
antiquity are guarded by the priests at Delphi, in writings which it
is not lawful to read; nor may any one examine them or look upon them,
until in the fulness of time one born of Apollo shall come, and after
clearly proving his birth to the guardians of these writings, shall
take the tablets which contain them. This having been previously
arranged, Silenus's part was to go and demand the oracles as Apollo's
child, while those of the priests who were in the plot were to make
inquiries and examine carefully into his birth, and at length were to
appear convinced of the truth of the story, and show the writings to
him, as being really the child of Apollo. He was to read aloud in the
presence of many persons all the oracles contained in the tablets,
especially one which said that it would be better for the Spartans to
choose their kings from the best of the citizens. Silenus was nearly
grown up, and the time to make the attempt had almost arrived, when
the whole plot was ruined by the cowardice of one of the principal
conspirators, whose heart failed him when the moment for action
arrived. None of these particulars, however, were discovered till
after Lysander's death.
XXVII. Before Agesilaus returned from Asia Lysander perished in a
Bœotian war in which he had become involved, or rather had involved
Greece; for various accounts are given of it, some laying the blame
upon him, some upon the Thebans, and some upon both. It was urged
against the Thebans that they overturned the altar at Aulis and
scattered the sacrifice,[156] and also that Androkleides and
Amphitheus, having been bribed by Persia to induce all the Greek
states to attack the Lacedæmonians, had invaded the Phokian territory
and laid it waste. On the other hand Lysander is said to have been
angry that the Thebans alone should claim their right to a tenth part
of the plunder obtained in the war, though the other allies made no
such demand, and that they should have expressed indignation at
Lysander's sending such large sums of money to Sparta. He was
especially wroth with them for having afforded the Athenians the means
of freeing themselves from the domination of the Thirty, which he had
himself established, and which the Lacedæmonians had endeavoured to
support by decreeing that all exiled Athenians of the popular party
might be brought back to Athens from whatever place they might be
found in, and that those who protected them against being forcibly
brought back should be treated as outlaws. In answer to this the
Thebans passed a decree worthy of themselves, and deserving of
comparison with the great acts of Herakles and Dionysus, the
benefactors of mankind. Its provisions were, that every city and every
house in Bœotia should be open to those Athenians who required
shelter, that whoever did not assist an Athenian exile against any one
who tried to force him away should be fined a talent, and that if any
marched under arms through Bœotia to attack the despots at Athens, no
Theban should either see or hear them. Not only did they make this
kindly and truly Hellenic decree, but they also acted up to the spirit
of it; for when Thrasybulus and his party seized Phyle, they started
from Thebes, supplied with arms and necessaries by the Thebans, who
also assisted them to keep their enterprise secret and to begin it
successfully. These were the charges brought against the Thebans by
Lysander.
XXVIII. His naturally harsh temper was now soured by age, and he urged
on the Ephors into declaring war against the Thebans, and appointing
him their general to carry it on. Subsequently, however, they sent the
king, Pausanias, with an army, to co-operate with him. Pausanias
marched in a circuitous course over Mount Kithæron, meaning to invade
Bœotia on that side, while Lysander with a large force came to meet
him through Phokis. He took the city of Orchomenus, which voluntarily
came over to his side, and he took Lebadeia by storm and plundered it.
He now sent a letter to Pausanias bidding him march through the
territory of Platæa and join him at Haliartus, promising that at
daybreak he would be before the walls of Haliartus. The messenger who
carried this letter fell into the hands of the enemy, and the letter
was taken to Thebes. Hereupon the Thebans entrusted their city to the
care of the Athenians, who had come to their aid, and themselves
started early in the evening, reached Haliartus a little before
Lysander, and threw a body of troops into the town. Lysander, on
discovering this, at first determined to halt his army on a hill in
the neighbourhood and await the arrival of Pausanias: but as the day
went on he could remain quiet no longer, but got his men under arms,
harangued the allied troops, and led them in a close column down the
road directly towards the city. Upon this those of the Thebans who had
remained outside the walls, leaving the city on their left hand,
marched to attack the extreme rear of the Lacedæmonians, near the
fountain which is called Kissousa,[157] in which there is a legend
that Dionysus was washed by his nurses after his birth; for the water
is wine-coloured and clear, and very sweet-tasted. Round the fountain
is a grove of the Cretan Storax-trees,[158] which the people of
Haliartus point to as a proof of Rhadamanthus having lived there. They
also show his tomb, which they call Alea. The sepulchre of Alkmena too
is close by: for the story goes that she married Rhadamanthus here
after the death of Amphitryon. Meanwhile the Thebans in the city,
together with the citizens of Haliartus themselves, remained quiet
until Lysander and the first ranks of the enemy came close to the
walls, and then suddenly opening the gates they charged and slew him
together with his soothsayer and some few more: for most of them fled
quickly back to the main body. However as the Thebans did not desist
but pressed on, the whole mass took to flight, and escaped to the
neighbouring hills with a loss of about one thousand men. Three
hundred of the Thebans also fell in an attack which they made on the
enemy in rough and difficult ground. These men had been accused of
favouring the Lacedæmonians, and it was to wipe out this unjust
imputation before the eyes of their fellow citizens that they showed
themselves so reckless of their lives.
XXIX. When Pausanias heard of this disaster, he was marching from
Platæa towards Thespiæ. He at once put his troops in array and
proceeded to Haliartus. Here likewise arrived Thrasybulus from Thebes,
with an Athenian force. On his arrival, Pausanias proposed to apply
for permission to carry away the dead. This proposal greatly shocked
the older Spartans, who could not refrain from going to the king and
imploring him not to receive back Lysander's corpse by a truce[159]
which was in itself a confession of defeat, but to let them fight for
his body and either bury it as victors, or else to share their
general's fate as became them. However, in spite of these
representations, Pausanias, perceiving that it would be no easy task
to overcome the Thebans, flushed as they were with the victory of the
day before, and that, as Lysander's body lay close under the walls of
the town, it would be almost impossible, even if they were victorious,
to recover it otherwise than by treaty, sent a herald, obtained the
necessary truce, and led away his forces. As soon as the Spartans
crossed the Bœotian frontier they buried the body of Lysander in the
territory of the friendly and allied city of Panope, in Phokis, where
at the present day his monument stands by the side of the road from
Chæronea to Delphi.[160] It is said that while the army was encamped
there one of the Phokians, while describing the battle to another who
had not been present, said that the enemy fell upon them just after
Lysander had crossed the Hoplites.[161] A Spartan who was present was
surprised at this word, and enquired of Lysander's friend, what he
meant by the Hoplites, for he did not understand it. "It was where,"
answered he, "the enemy overthrew our front ranks; for they call the
stream which runs past the city the Hoplites." On hearing these words
the Spartan burst into tears, and exclaimed, "How impossible is it for
a man to escape his fate:"--for it seems Lysander had received an
oracular warning in these words:
"I warn thee, shun Hoplites roaring track.
And th' earth-born snake that stings behind thy back."
Some say that the Hoplites does not run by Haliartus, but that it is
the name of a torrent which joins the river Philarus near Koronea,
which used to be called the Hoplias, and is now called Isomantus. The
man who killed Lysander was a citizen of Haliartus named Neochorus,
who bore a snake as the device upon his shield, which it is supposed
was alluded to by the oracle.
We are also told that during the Peloponnesian war the Thebans
received an oracle from Apollo Ismenius, referring immediately to the
battle of Delium, and also to this battle at Haliartus, which took
place thirty years afterwards. It ran as follows:
"Beware the boundary, when you hunt
The wolf with spears;
And shun the Orchalian hill, the fox's haunt,
For endless years."
The boundary alludes to the country near Delium, which is on the
borders of Attica and Bœotia, and the Orchalian hill, which is now
called Fox-hill, lies in the territory of Haliartus, on the side
nearest Mount Helikon.
XXX. The death of Lysander, as related above, grieved the Spartans so
much that they impeached their king on a capital charge, and he,
fearing the result of the trial, fled to Tegea, where he spent the
remainder of his life in the sanctuary of Athena as a suppliant of the
goddess. Moreover the poverty of Lysandor, which was discovered after
his death, made his virtue more splendid, for although he had handled
great sums of money, and possessed immense power; though his favour
had been courted by wealthy cities, and even by the great king of
Persia himself, yet Theopompus tells us that he did not in the least
degree improve his family estate: an account which we may the more
readily believe, as it is told us by a historian who is more prone to
censure than to admiration. In later times we learn from the historian
Ephorus that some dispute arose between the allied cities which
rendered it necessary to examine Lysander's papers, and that Agesilaus
went to his house for this purpose. Here he found the scroll upon
which was written the speech about altering the constitution; advising
the Spartans to abolish the hereditary right to the throne enjoyed by
the old royal families of Eurypon and Agis, and to throw it open to
the best of the citizens without restriction. Agesilaus was eager to
publish this speech abroad, and show his fellow-countrymen what sort
of a man Lysander had really been; but Lakratides, a wise man, who was
at that time chief of the board of Ephors, restrained him, pointing
out that it would be wrong to disturb Lysander in his grave, and that
it would be better that so clever and insidious a composition should
be buried with him. Among other honours which were paid to Lysander
after death, the Spartans fined the suitors of his daughters, because
when after his death his poverty was discovered, they refused to marry
them, thus showing that they had paid their court to him when they
believed him to be rich, and neglected him when his poverty proved him
to have been just and honourable. It appears that in Sparta there were
actions at law against men who did not marry, or who married too late
in life or unbecomingly: under which last head came those who tried to
marry into rich families, instead of marrying persons of good birth
and their own friends. This is what we have found to tell about the
life of Lysander.