So long, however, as Pericles was leader of the people, things went
tolerably well with the state; but when he was dead there was a great
change for the worse. Then for the first time did the people choose a
leader who was of no reputation among men of good standing, whereas up
to this time such men had always been found as leaders of the
democracy. The first leader of the people, in the very beginning of
things, was Solon, and the second was Pisistratus, both of them men of
birth and position. After the overthrow of the tyrants there was
Cleisthenes, a member of the house of the Alcmeonidae; and he had no
rival opposed to him after the expulsion of the party of Isagoras.
After this Xanthippus was the leader of the people, and Miltiades of
the upper class. Then came Themistocles and Aristides, and after them
Ephialtes as leader of the people, and Cimon son of Miltiades of the
wealthier class. Pericles followed as leader of the people, and
Thucydides, who was connected by marriage with Cimon, of the
opposition. After the death of Pericles, Nicias, who subsequently fell
in Sicily, appeared as leader of the aristocracy, and Cleon son of
Cleaenetus of the people. The latter seems, more than any one else, to
have been the cause of the corruption of the democracy by his wild
undertakings; and he was the first to use unseemly shouting and coarse
abuse on the Bema, and to harangue the people with his cloak girt up
short about him, whereas all his predecessors had spoken decently and
in order. These were succeeded by Theramenes son of Hagnon as leader of
the one party, and the lyre-maker Cleophon of the people. It was
Cleophon who first granted the two-obol donation for the theatrical
performances, and for some time it continued to be given; but then
Callicrates of Paeania ousted him by promising to add a third obol to
the sum. Both of these persons were subsequently condemned to death;
for the people, even if they are deceived for a time, in the end
generally come to detest those who have beguiled them into any unworthy
action. After Cleophon the popular leadership was occupied successively
by the men who chose to talk the biggest and pander the most to the
tastes of the majority, with their eyes fixed only on the interests of
the moment. The best statesmen at Athens, after those of early times,
seem to have been Nicias, Thucydides, and Theramenes. As to Nicias and
Thucydides, nearly every one agrees that they were not merely men of
birth and character, but also statesmen, and that they ruled the state
with paternal care. On the merits of Theramenes opinion is divided,
because it so happened that in his time public affairs were in a very
stormy state. But those who give their opinion deliberately find him,
not, as his critics falsely assert, overthrowing every kind of
constitution, but supporting every kind so long as it did not
transgress laws; thus showing that he was able, as every good citizen
should be, to live under any form of constitution, while he refused to
countenance illegality and was its constant enemy.