CHAPTER VIII. FROM THE PEACE WITH PERSIA TO THE PEACE OF NICIAS. SECTION II. 1. THE war between Greece and Persia had checked without destroying the mutual jealousies between the leading states, and when the power of their adversaries had been crushed at the decisive battles of Mycale and the Eurym'edon; Sparta, Argos, and Thebes began to look with envy on the glory that Athens had obtained by these immortal victories. The Spartans in particular were enraged with themselves for having withdrawn so early from a war so productive of fame and profit to their rivals; they were still more indignant, because the maritime states, disgusted with the pride and tyranny of Pausa'nias, had withdrawn themselves from the protection of Lacedæmon, and chosen Athens as their guardian and their head. Twenty years before the peace with Persia the Spartans had determined to make war on the Athenians, but unexpected calamities engaged their attention at home, and brought their state to the very brink of destruction. 2. Laco'nia was laid waste by one of the most SB.C. dreadful earthquakes recorded in history; the city 469. of Sparta was tumbled into ruins, and twenty thousand of the inhabitants were destroyed. The descendants of the Messenians thought this a favourable opportunity to recover their independence; the Helots believed that the moment for recovering their liberty was arrived; both united in raising the standard of rebellion; and, seizing on the strong fortress of Itho'me, they spread terror through all Laconia. 3. This revolt, which is usually called the third Messenian war, compelled the Spartans, much against their will, to solicit the assistance of the Athenians, who were considered the most skilful of all the Greeks in conducting sieges. Their request was granted; but the strength of Itho'me baffled their united efforts, and the auxiliaries were sent home. This war continued ten years, and must have greatly exhausted the Spartan state, since at its conclusion very favourable terms were granted to the insurgents. 4. It B.C. was stipulated, that they should be allowed to depart 489. with their wives, children, and property, unmolested, from the Peloponnesus. 5. The Athenians received the exiles with great kindness, and bestowed on them the city of Naupac'tus, a sea-port on the Crissean gulf, which they had a short time before taken from the Lo'cri Oz'olæ. The fugitives repaid the generosity of Athens by the most devoted attachment; nor had that city a more faithful ally than Naupactus during the subsequent wars. 6. It has been already mentioned, that Argos had not assisted in the defence of Greece against the Persians, and that Thebes had actually assisted the invaders; the subordinate states of Argolis and Boeotia threw off their allegiance to these capitals, and refused to submit any longer to states disgraced by cowardice and treachery. The Argives, after some vain struggles, could only succeed in subduing the little city of Myce'næ, which they razed to the ground; the other communities, being supported by the Spartans, succeeded in maintaining their independence. But though it was the interest of the Lacedæmonians to maintain the freedom of the Argive states, it seemed equally advantageous to support the supremacy of Thebes over the Boo'tian states, and raise up a rival to Athens in Hellas. 7. A body c Spartan auxiliaries was sent to the assistance of the Thebans; and the Athenians at the same time vigorously maintained the cause of the minor states. A body of fifteen thousand men, under the command of the Athenian general Myron'ides, totally defeated the combined forces of the Thebans and Spartans at Tanag'ra, and thus established the independence of Bœo'tia. 8. The war was however continued for some time longer: the Athenian fleet ravaged the coasts of the Peloponnesus, and made the Spartans lament that they had so rashly provoked the resentment of that republic. But in the midst of these triumphs, a rash attempt of the Athenian general, Tol'midas, to surprise Thebes, having terminated in his death, and the capture of his army, B.C.both parties became anxious for an accommodation. 445. A truce was concluded for thirty years; for the pretensions and jealousies of the rival states prevented them from agreeing to a regular treaty. 9. Ci'mon during his life used every exertion to restore and preserve peace between Athens and Sparta: he was at the head of the nobility, whose assistance, added to his own military glory, made him at first the most influential man in the state. But he soon met with a formidable rival in Per'icles, the greatest statesman of antiquity. Though descended from an illustrious family, he placed himself at the head of the popular party, and by his superior eloquence “wielded at will that fierce democracy." Though his military fame. did not equal that of Cimon, he was second only to that illustrious general in the art of war: but in political skill Pericles was unequalled, and even had sufficient influence to procure the temporary banishment of his rival. The Baotian war had been undertaken and prosecuted under his direction, and he concluded the truce only to obtain leisure for the completion of still greater designs. 10. The island and colonies had, as we have already seen, imposed a tax on themselves for the support of the war against Persia, which the Athenians had converted into a regular tribute. The states soon became weary of such an usurpation, and attempted to throw off the yoke; but not acting in concert, they were successively subdued and treated with great severity. They were obliged to surrender their ships, to demolish their walls, to receive an Athenian garrison into their citadels, to deliver up the authors of the revolt, and send hostages to Athens as pledges of their future fidelity. Sa'mos, the capital of the island of that name, was the last that held out. After a siege of nine months, B.C. it was taken by Pericles, and the inhabitants reduced 440. to slavery. 11. The riches that Pericles obtained in these expeditions were faithfully laid out in increasing the navy and ornamenting the city of Athens. The Par'thenon* and Propylæ'a, the most magnificent structures of ancient times, were erected and ornamented with the noblest specimens of sculpture and painting; the excellent harbour of Pei'ræus, which Themis'tocles had commenced, was completed, and joined to the city by a line of fortifications called the long walls. In short, Athens had reached the summit of her greatness, and was indisputably the most powerful, the most glorious, but at the same time the most envied of the Grecian states. 12. While a general and growing jealousy against Athens was becoming daily more apparent, a dispute arose between * See Introduction, chap. II. Co'rinth and one of its colonies, which eventually involved all Greece in a general war. The island of Corey'ra, now called Corfu, was celebrated for its riches and fertility, even in the days of Homer.* It had received a colony from Co'rinth, but was always treated by that state more as an ally than as a dependeney. As their riches and power increased, the Corcyreans gradually threw off their allegiance to the parent state, and even disputed the place of honour with the Corinthians at the Olympic games. They also sent out colonies of their own, and had several establishments on the shores of the Adriatic sea. Of these, the most flourishing was Epidam'nus, (called Dyracchium in Roman History,) a city which they founded in Illyria. The barbarous tribes in the vicinity of Epidam'nus had made inroads into its territory, and the citizens being unable to repel the invaders, applied for assistance to the parent state; but their entreaties being neglected, they applied to the Corinthians, who forthwith sent out a large expedition, and B. C. took military possession of the colony. 13. The 453. Corcy'reans were inflamed with fury when they learned that the Corinthians had interfered in the affairs of their colony. They immediately sent a fleet of forty sail against Epidam'nus, and closely blockaded the city. The Corinthians, on the other hand, prepared a powerful armament for its protection; but their navy was defeated in a fierce engagement near Ac'tium,t in the Ambra'cian gulf, and Epidam'nus, being left to its own resources, was forced to surrender. 14. The Coreyreans, inflamed with success, continued for two years to make repeated incursions into the territories of Co'rinth and the southern states, with which that city was in alliance, until at length most of the Peloponne'sian states entered into a league for their chastisement. As Athens was then the most formidable naval power in Greece, both parties endeavoured to procure her assistance; and after some deliberation, the Athenians, by the advice of icles, entered into a defensive treaty with the Corcyreans. By the timely interference of the Athe'nian fleet, the Corcyrean navy was saved from total destruction, Safter having been severely defeated by the Corin'thiIt is called Phoacia by Homer. Four hundred years after this engagement, a still more celebrated fought near the same place, between the fleets of Antony and ans; and the victors were forced to return home with their prisoners, enraged at the power which had prevented them from reaping the fruits of their triumph. The Corcyrean prisoners were treated at Co'rinth more like brothers than rebels; we shall hereafter see how fatal were the consequences of this generosity to their native country. 16. The Corin'thians, who dreaded the vengeance of the Athe'nians for the part that they had taken in the war, were not long in finding other employment for the forces of the rival republic. On referring to the map, the reader will see a wide-necked peninsula on the east coast of Macedonia, between the Strymon'ic and Therm'aic gulfs; this had been at a very early period occupied by several Grecian colonies, all of whom Athens had forced to become her tributary confederates. Among these was Potidea, which had been originally a Corin'thian colony; its citizens became weary of the Athe'nian yoke, and waited only for assistance from the parent state, to assert their independence. A body of forces being sent from Co'rinth under the command of Aristeus, the Potideans were emboldened to declare themselves free, and to set the power of Athens at defiance. 17. The Athe'nians immediately blocked up Pot'idæa by sea and land, while the Corin'thians sent ambassadors to all the Peloponne'sian states, and especially to Sparta, urging the formation of a confederacy, to check a power whose increasing strength and pretensions threatened the independence of all the Grecian communities. 18. The deputies of another state, complaining of Athe'nian injustice, had previously arrived in Sparta. We have already seen the circumstances under which the Dor'ic state of Megaris had been formed on the borders of Attica; their Ionic neighbours had always regarded them with jealousy, and Per'icles even went so far as to propose and carry a law, excluding all the natives of Mega'ra from the ports and markets of Attica. To the Spartans, as the head of the Dor'ic race, the Megareans made their complaint, and dwelt strongly on this as a proof of the inveterate hostility which all members of their branch of the Hellenic race should expect from the Ionians. 19. The Spartans, after some hesitation, declared that the Athe'nians had violated their duty, and ought to be reduced to reason; but wishing to preserve the appearance of moderation, they sent overtures for an accommodation to Athens, which they well knew would be indignantly rejected. |