with glory, and laden them with riches, have the folly to leave their common enemy at repose, to embroil themselves with each other upon trivial points of honour, and interests of little importance, and to exhaust the forces ineffectually against themselves, which ought to have been employed solely against the barbarians, who could not have resisted them: for it is remarkable, that the Persians never had any advantage over the Athenians or Lacedemonians whilst they were united with each other, and that it was their own divisions only, which supplied them with the means to conquer both alternately, and always the one by the other. These divisions induced them to take such measures, as neither Sparta nor Athens would ever have otherwise been capable of. We see both the one and the other dishonour themselves by their mean and ab ject flatteries, not only of the king of Persia, but even of his satraps; pay their court to them, earnestly solicit their favour, cringe to them, and even suffer their ill humour; and all this to obtain some aid of troops or money, forgetting that the Persians, haughty and insolent to such as seemed afraid of them, became timorous, and little to those who had the courage to despise them. But in fine, what did they gain by all these mean condescensions? The treaty which gave occasion for these reflections, and will for ever be the reproach of Sparta and Athens. SECTION VI. WAR OF ARTAXERXES AGAINST EVAGORAS. WHAT I have said upon the facility with which the Greeks might have rendered themselves formidable to their enemies, will be more evident if we consider, on one side, the diversity of people, and extent of country, which composed the vast empire of the Persians, and on the other, the weakness of the government, incapable of animating so great a mass, and of supporting the weight of so much business and application. At the court every thing was determined by the intrigues of women, and the cabals of favourites, whose whole merit often consisted in flattering their prince, and soothing his passions. It was upon their credit officers were chosen, and the first dignities disposed of; by their opinion the services of the generals of armies were judged, and their rewards decided. The sequel will show, that from the same source arose the insurrection of provinces, the distrust of the greatest part of the governors, the discontent and consequential revolt of the best officers, and the ill success of almost all the enterprises that were formed. Artaxerxes, having got rid of the care and perplexity which the war with the Greeks had occasioned, applied himself to the terminating that of Cyprus, which had lasted several years, but had been carried on with little vigor, and turned the greatest part of his forces that way. 1 * Evagoras reigned at that time in Salamin, the capital city of the isle of Cyprus. He was descended from Teucer of Salamin, who at his return from Troy built this city, and gave it the name of his country. His descendants had reigned there from that time; but a stranger of Phenicia, having dispossessed the lawful king, had taken his place, and to maintain himself in the usurpation, had filled the city with barbarians, and subjected the whole island to the king of Persia. Under this tyrant Evagoras was born, of whose education great care was taken. He was distinguished among the youth by the beauty of his aspect, the vigor of his body, and more by the modesty and innocence of his manners, which are the greatest ornaments of that age. As he advanced in years, the greatest virtues, valor, wisdom, and justice, were observed to brighten in him. He afterwards carried these virtues to so conspicuous a height, as to give jealousy to those that governed; who perceived justly that so shining a merit could not continue in the obscurity of a private condition; but his modesty, probity, and integrity, reassured them, and they reposed an entire confidence in him, to which he always answered by an inviolable fidelity, without ever meditating their expulsion from the throne by violence or treachery. A more justifiable means conducted him to it; divine Providence, as Isocrates says, preparing the way for him. One of the principal citizens murdered the • Isocrat. in Evag. p. 380. A little island near Athens, celebrated for the famous battle under Xerxes. * Et qui ornat ætatem, pudor. Cic. gave person upon the throne, and had contrived to seize Evagoras, and to rid himself of him, in order to secure the crown to himself; but that prince escaping his pursuit, retired to Solos, a city of Cilicia. His banishment was so far from abating his courage, that it him new vigor. Attended only with fifty followers, determined like himself to conquer or die, he returned to Salamin, and expelled the usurper, though supported by the credit and protection of the king of Persia. Having reestablished himself in Salamin, he soon rendered his little kingdom most flourishing, by his application to the relief of his subjects, and by protecting them in all things; by governing them with justice and benevolence; by making them active and labori. ous; by inspiring them with a taste for the cultivation of lands, the breeding of cattle, commerce and navigation. He formed them also for war, and made them excellent soldiers. He was already very powerful, and had acquired great reputation, when Conon, the Athenian general, after his defeat at Egospotamos, took refuge with him; d not thinking it possible to find a safer asylum for himself, nor a more powerful support of his country. The resemblance of their manners and sentiments soon made them contract a strict amity with each other, which continued ever after, and proved equally advantageous to both. Conon was in great credit at the king of Persia's court, which he employed with that prince, by the means of Ctesias, the physician, to d A. M. 3599. Ant. J. C. 405. Isocrat. in Evag. p. 393–395. accommodate his differences with his host Evagoras, and happily effected it. Evagoras and Conon, with the great design of subverting, or at least of reducing, the great power of Sparta, which had rendered itself formidable to all Greece, concerted together the means for the attainment of that end. They were both citizens of Athens; the latter by birth, and the other by right of adoption, which his great services and zeal for that republic had deserved. The satraps of Asia saw with pain their country ravaged by the Lacedemonians, and found themselves in great difficulties, from not being in a condition to make head against them. Evagoras remonstrated to them, that it was necessary to attack the enemy as well by sea as land; and he did not contribute a little, by his credit with the king of Persia, to Conon's being appointed general of his fleet. The celebrated victory over the Lacedemonians at Cnidos, was the consequence, and gave the mortal wound to that republic. The Athenians, in acknowledgment of the important services Evagoras and Conon had rendered them with Artaxerxes, erected statues in honour of them. Evagoras, on his side, extending his conquests from city to city, endeavoured to make himself master of the whole island. The Cypriots had recourse to the king of Persia. That prince, alarmed by the rapid progress of Evagoras, of which he apprehended the fA M 3606. Ant. J. C. 398. 1 A. M 3610. Ant. J. C. 394. Pausan. 1. i. p. 5. Diod. 1. xiv. p. 311. |