Now when winter had set in, Thrasybulus and the exiles occupied Phyle,
and the force which the Thirty led out to attack them met with a
reverse. Thereupon the Thirty decided to disarm the bulk of the
population and to get rid of Theramenes; which they did in the
following way. They introduced two laws into the Council, which they
commanded it to pass; the first of them gave the Thirty absolute power
to put to death any citizen who was not included in the list of the
Three Thousand, while the second disqualified all persons from
participation in the franchise who should have assisted in the
demolition of the fort of Eetioneia, or have acted in any way against
the Four Hundred who had organized the previous oligarchy. Theramenes
had done both, and accordingly, when these laws were ratified, he
became excluded from the franchise and the Thirty had full power to put
him to death. Theramenes having been thus removed, they disarmed all
the people except the Three Thousand, and in every respect showed a
great advance in cruelty and crime. They also sent ambassadors to
Lacedaemonian to blacken the character of Theramenes and to ask for
help; and the Lacedaemonians, in answer to their appeal, sent Callibius
as military governor with about seven hundred troops, who came and
occupied the Acropolis.