CHAPTER X. From the Demolition of the Athenian Power to the Peace of Autalcidas. SECTION I. The Thirty Tyrants. But by the tyrant's heart let fear be known, 1. THOUGH the Lacedæmo'nians would not consent to the entire destruction of Athens, as they would not be guilty, they said, of putting out one of the eyes of Greece, yet they not only reduced it to the lowest condition in point of political consequence, but even altered the form of its government; for they compelled the people to abolish the democracy, and submit to the government of thirty men, who were commonly known by the name of the thirty tyrants. 2. Instead of compiling and publishing a more perfect body of laws, which was the pretence for their being chosen, they began to exercise a power of life and death; and though they appointed a senate, and other magistrates, they made no farther use of them than to confirm their own authority, and see their commands executed. At first, it is true, they proceeded with some caution, and condemned only the most profligate sort of citizens, viz. such as lived by informing and giving evidence against their neighbours. But this was only to blind the eyes of the populace; their real design was to make themselves absolute; and, as they well knew that this could not be done without a foreign power, they next contrived to have a guard sent from Sparta. This guard was commanded by one Callib'ius, whom they soon won over to their designs; and from this time forward they proceeded to act without control, filling the city with the blood of those who, on account of their riches, interests, or good qualities, were most likely to oppose them. 3. One of their first acts of cruelty was to procure the death of Alcibiades, who had taken refuge in the dominions of Persia. This man, though driven from his country, did not cease to interest himself in its welfare; and the tyrants dreading that, by his popularity at Athens, where he was still much beloved, he would thwart all their schemes, entreated the Lacedæmo'nians to rid them of so formidable an opponent. This request the Lacedæmo'nians had the meanness to comply with, and accordingly wrote to Pharnaba'zus, the Persian governor, for that purpose. 4. The Satrap had always envied the illustrious Athenian, and was now particularly anxious for his destruction, as Alcibiades had penetrated the secret of the rebellion designed by the Persian prince Cy'rus against his brother, and had revealed it to Pharnaba'zus, who was anxious to possess the undivided merit of the discovery at the court of Artaxerxes. 5. The manner of this great man's death did not disgrace the high character for courage he had maintained during life. The assassins sent against him were afraid to attack him openly they, therefore, surrounded the house in which he was, and set it on fire. Alcibiades forced his way through the flames, sword in hand, and drove the barbarians before him, not one of whom had the courage to oppose him; but all of them discharging their darts and javelins upon him from a distance, he at last fell covered with wounds and expired. Timan'dra, his mistress, took up his body, and having covered and adorned it with the finest robes she had, she made as magnificent a funeral for it as her present circumstances would allow. 6. The tyrants, though eased of their apprehensions from this quarter, began to dread an opposition from another, that is, from the general body of the people, whom they well knew to be dissatisfied with their conduct: they, therefore, invested three thousand citizens with some part of their power, and by their assistance kept the rest in awe. Encouraged by such an accession of strength, they, soon proceeded to still greater extremities than any they had hitherto ventured on; they agreed to single out every one his man to put him to death, and seize his estate for the maintenance of their guard. 7. Therame'nes, one of their number, was struck with horror at their proceedings; Crit'ias, therefore, the principal author of this detestable resolution, thought it necessary to take him out of the way, and he accordingly accused him to the senate of endeavouring to subvert the government. 8. The eloquent defence of the accused produced a great effect on the assembly, and would have led to his acquittal. had not Crit'ias surrounded the place of trial with armed men, who significantly exhibited the points of their daggers, and thus terrified the senate into a verdict of guilty. Sentence of death was immediately passed upon him, and he was obliged to drink the juice of hemlock, the usual mode of execution at that time in Athens. 9. His fate would have deserved greater commiseration, had he not been himself the foremost in procuring the judicial murder of the admirals who had gained the battle of Arginu'sæ. Soc'rates, whose disciple he had been, was the only person of the senate who ventured to appear in his defence; he made an attempt to rescue him out of the hands of the officer of justice, and after his execution, went about as it were in defiance of the thirty, exhorting and animating the senators and citizens against them. 10. The tyrants, thus freed from the opposition of a colleague, whose presence was a continual reproach to them, set no longer any bounds to their cruelty and rapacity. Nothing was now heard of but imprisonments, confiscations, and murders; every one trembled for himself or his friends, and amidst the general consternation which had seized the citizens on account of their personal danger, all hope seems to have been lost of recovering public liberty. 11. The Lacedæmo'nians, not content with supporting the thirty tyrants in the exercise of their cruelty, were unwilling to let any of the Athe'nians escape from their hands. They published an edict to prohibit the cities of Greece from giving them refuge, decreed that such of them as fled should be delivered up to the thirty, and condemned all those who contravened this edict to pay a fine of five talents. 12. Two cities only, Mega'ra' and Thebes, though ancient enemies of Athens, rejected with disdain so unjust an ordinance. The latter went still further, and published a decree, that every house and city in Boo'tia should be open and free for any Athe'nian that desired protection, and that whoever did not assist a fugitive Athenian who was seized, should be fined a talent. 13. Thrasyb'ulus, a man of an amiable character, who had long deplored the miseries of his country, was now the first to relieve it. At Thebes he held a consultation with his fellow-citizens, and the result was, that some attempt, with whatever danger it might be attended The capital of Megaris. 2 The capital of Boeotia. should certainly be made for restoring the public liberty. Accordingly, with a party of thirty men only, as Ne'pos says, but as Xeno'phon more probably relates of nearly seventy, he seized upon Phy'le, a strong castle on the frontier of Attica. 14. This enterprise alarmed the tyrants, who immediately marched out of Athens with their three thousand followers, and their Spartan guard, and attempted the recovery of the place, but were repulsed with loss. Finding they could not carry it by a sudden assault, they resolved upon a siege; but not being sufficiently provided for that purpose, and a great snow falling in the night, they were forced to retire the next day into the city, leaving only part of their guard to prevent any further incursions into the country. 15. Encouraged by this success, Thrasyb'ulus no longer kept upon the defensive, but marching out of Phy'le, by night, at the head of a thousand men, made himself master of Peira'eus. The thirty flew thither with their troops, and a battle ensued; but as the soldiers on one side fought with spirit and ardour for their liberty, and on the other with indolence and neglect for the power of their oppressors, the victory was not long doubtful, but followed the better cause the tyrants were overthrown; Crit'ias was killed upon the spot; and as the rest of the army were taking to flight, Thrasyb'ulus cried out, "Wherefore do you fly from me as a victor, rather than assist me as the avenger of your liberty? We are not enemies but fellowcitizens neither have we declared war against the city, but against the thirty tyrants." He entreated them to remember, that they had the same origin, country, laws, and religion; he exhorted them to pity their exiled brethren, to restore them to their country, and resume their liberty themselves. This discourse had the desired effect. The army, upon their return to Athens, expelled the thirty, and substituted ten persons to govern in their room, whose M 6 |