ARTES
1817
LIBRARY
VERITAS
SCIENTIA
OF THE
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
TVEBOR
QUÆRIS-PENINSULAM AHINAM”
CIRCU
PICL
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2
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ALEXAN
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THE
HISTORY
O F
ATHENS.
素
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THE
HISTORY
OF
ATHENS
POLITICALLY AND PHILOSOPHICALLY CONSIDERED,
WITH THE VIEW TO AN INVESTIGATION
OF THE
Immediate Cauſes of ELEVATION, and of DECLINE,
OPERATIVE IN A FREE AND COMMERCIAL STATE.
BY WILLIAM YOUN G, Eſq.
Θεώρει τὰ γιγνομένα καὶ τὰ συμπιπτοντα καὶ τοῖς ἰδιώταις καὶ τοῖς τυράννοις,
ἐὰν γὰρ τὰ παρεληλυθότα μνημονεύης ἄμεινον καὶ περί των μελλόντων βελευσης.
Ifocrat. Orat.-ad Nicoclem,
LONDON:
PRINTED FOR J. ROBSON, NEW-BOND-STREET.
M.DCC.LXXXVI.
E
Res
The
1C
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30
46257
1.2
PREFACE.
MULTUM legendum eſſe non multa, is an adage
of antiquity, replete with a deep and excellent
fenſe; it means that much reading implies not much
knowledge; and that ſtudy leadeth not neceffarily to
wiſdom: :-It teaches that to profit from our applica-
cation, whilft we read one book, we fhould in
thought frame another; and inſtead of being Libro-
rum Helluones, afford the mind exerciſe and time
wherewith to digeſt a moderate and wholeſome fare:
-It inculcates, that to perufe the works of many
authors, may to the language of pedantry gain the
title of learning; but that attentively to penetrate
the ſenſe of a few, is the way to ſcience.
All men however, have not equal acutenefs to
develope, equal affiduity to purſue, or equal memory
to retain, the ſubject-matter of a book: fays Mon-
taigne,. "I have read an hundred things in Titns
"Livius, that have eſcaped the obfervations of
"others, and Plutarch has read an hundred more
"there,
IO
vi
PREFACE.
CC
"there, befides what I was able to diſcover :".
So far I agree with this fenfible writer; but when
he adds,
and more perhaps than Livy ever in-
"ferted in his book,"-either I do not underſtand,
or I must reject, or I muft refine upon the fenfe of
the text; for though an antiquary or chronologiſt
may take advantage of fome word, conftruction, or
circumſtance, artfully or fancifully to affume the au-
thenticity of an epoch, or of a relique, in favour to
his own prejudices, or to fome ſyſtem, or to ſome
authority to which he is partial; yet to him who
reads hiſtory, not as the hiftory of dates and pagods,
but of men,-it hath recondite in it, all the leffons
of ethics and policy, which he can make himſelf
maſter of from the perufal. Every annaliſt muſt be
under the predicament of teaching more than him-
felf knows, to thoſe who come after him; and who
of courſe connecting his particular link of the chain
as well with a fucceeding as with a foregoing feries,
may juftly and logically deduce, what the author
could never have furmiſed to have been deducible
from his work: a ruftic makes a lever to raife, ano-
ther employs it to aſcertain the weight; nor is this
uſe the lefs inherent in the inftrument, whatever in
ſuch reſpect may have been the ignorance of its firſt
artificer. So far I premiſe, in order to obviate the
objections,
PREFACE.
vii
objections, which I forefee may be made to the
following treatiſe, as too fancifully inveftigating its
fubject; and as extracting often from the text of hiſ-
tory, documents of philofophy and politics,-when
no fuch deductions fhould be made, and no fuch lef-
fons (to uſe a word of Montaigne's Tranflator) were
ever inferted in my originals.
Ariſtotle in his ninth chapter of Poetics, difcri-
minating hiſtory and poetry, confiders not the dif-
tinction as ariſing from the meaſure and harmony of
verfe: "the hiftories of Herodotus (fays he) though
"delivered in metre, would not conftitute a poem;
hiſtory teaches what has been,-poetry what may
"be; wherefore poetry is of a more philofophical
“and didactic ſpirit than hiſtory :”—this opinion of
Ariſtotle, that the epic mufe was a better and more
comprehenfive teacher than the hiftoric, I cannot
readily adopt;—I cannot but imagine that this deep
thinking philofopher has in one inftance decided too
haftily, or too lightly. That the poet might in an
Æneas combine the mental excellencies of many, as
well as the painter delineate the various beauties of
many in one piece of art,—I can well conceive; and
that hiftory, when it portraited an individual, was
confined to a narrower ground than the canvas ſpread
to the laviſh hand of fancy, I freely allow;-but
hiftory
viii
PREFACE.
hiſtory furely confifts not in the detail of any one
man's life and actions; it is perverted when em-
ployed in the ſervice of Cæfar, and not of Rome.
National characteristic, as much, or more than pri-
vate character, fhould be clearly deducible from this
kind of work; and if treated with fuch view, (and
with fuch view it fhould be treated) hiſtory may
teem with as much philofophic theory as poetry: in
the annals of an united people, we find matter for
general pofitions, and the particular examples inter-
ſperſed aſſiſt us in the analyfis or compofition of our
fyftem; they form a ſet of rudiments to the ovvlàžis
which poetry can never have fo complete; for many
a pregnant circumftance may be exploded, as not
being coincident with the rules of the art,-" primo
afpectu levia (fays Tacitus) fed ex queis magnarum
fæpe rerum motus oriuntur :"-Poetry indeed, as
obferves the Stagyrite, tells us, "what may be;".
but as a tutorefs of morals and of wifdom, fhe can
only tell, “what may be," by collecting, combining,
and modifying "what has been ;"-and this, as the
following effay may ſerve to elucidate, is equally the
province of hiſtory. Poetry may perhaps ſhow the
fcene to a dim eye, in larger quarries, and in ftronger
colours ;—to gain this advantage likewiſe over to hiſ-
tory, and to paint a forcible and expreffive picture of
<c
CC
my
PREFACE.
ix
my ſubject,—I have changed the attitudes of fome
figures, I have tranſpoſed others, and have approxi-
mated them to a ſtronger contraft, or to a more glar-
ing light. Some few Anachroniſms are the reſult of
this free mode of treating hiftory;-I truft they are
but few, and that they do not in any degree vitiate
the defign of this work, either as to accuracy of facts
or propriety of deduction.
The defign of the following treatiſe, is from the
annals of men and things, to extract the ſpirit of
character and event, with the narrative to interweave
the moral, and thus in the hiſtory enfolding its com-
ment, to render each political leffon explicit and
applicable.
The choice of fubject-matter hath been ſuggeſted
by the analogy it affords in various points of view to
one moſt intereſting to a Britiſh reader.-The ftrug-
gles and intrigues of parties, and of popular leaders;
-the alternate wifdom, and caprice of the people;
—their ardent love of liberty, and high pretenfions
to command occafionally drooping in fubferviency,-
and then again roufing from torpid acquiefcence, to
new jealoufies, new claims, and to the moſt vigilant
and active exertion of rights and of powers;—the
temporary vigour of a patriot adminiſtration, and the
fucceffive debility of government from fluctuation of
councils ;
b
X
PREFACE.
councils; the tendencies of the ftate to acceffion
of empire, and the obftacles to a continuance of
foreign influence, and of diſtant dominion;-the
hafty increaſe of wealth and of marine power from
ſources of trade, and thereon trade introducing a ſpi-
rit of diffipation and ſelf-intereſt to diffolve the very
ftrength and profperity it gave birth to;-theſe, and
many other circumſtances attendant on, or compli-
cated with, the political career of a free government
and maritime country, are no where more forcibly ex-
emplified, than in the Hiftory of the Republic of Athens.
The excellent comment of Machiavel on the firft
Decad of Livy, feems to have been particularly fuited
to the inftructing thofe of the age and country in
which he lived,-diſturbed by petty wars, by intef
tine factions, and by contefts for liberty and power:
The treatife of Montefquicu "On the greatneſs and
"decline of the Roman Empire," was founded on a
fubject, which might have fupplied a forcible leffon, to
the kingdom, and at the time, in which he wrote. That
great author, in another work, remarking a paffage of
Xenophon relative to the naval power of the Athenians,
fays, *“One would imagine almoft, that Xenophon was
* Ενος δέ ἐνδέεις εἰσιν, ἐν γὰρ νήσον οικονες θαλασσοκράτορες ἦσαν Xenoph.
Pol. Ath. Cap. 2. « Vous diriez que Xenophon à voulu parler de
l'Angleterre.” L'Eſprit des Loix, Liv. 21. Ch. 7.
2
" Speaking.
PREFACE.
xi
(C
Speaking in allufion to England:"-I feem therefore
but to purſue the idea of Montefquieu, when further
adverting to the hiſtory of the great Grecian Republic,
I venture to affume, that
to affume, that" its arts, its ſciences,
"its liberty, its commerce, its colonies, and its em-
pire of the feas, render the ſubject—peculiarly
CC our own.”
Under theſe impreffions, I refume grounds of
political fpeculation, which in a more confined, or
rather in another, point of view, engaged my attention
very early in life;—and I confeſs am the more parti-
cularly induced to the prefent undertaking from a
wiſh to obliterate what was erroneous, as well as to
ſupply what was deficient in a former publication,
by ſubſtituting a work, the reſult of a more confide-
rate and mature enquiry.
To this effect, I have employed much time and
thought in the endeavouring to render the following
hiſtorical treatiſe deferving of the public notice and
approbation: whether my leifure hath been well or
ill employed, will in a great meafure depend on the
judgment of others ;-but every author whofe "love
of letters” tranſcends his vanity, or defire of literary
reputation, hath an advantage beyond the reach of
public opinion:-as the fources of confolation and
amufement
''
b 2
xii
PREFACE.
amuſement which at once fmooth, and enliven his
retired path of life, his ftudies are his own; and if
his ftudies are of a moral bent and purpoſe,—the con-
fequent inſtruction and felf-improvement too are his
own. In the publiſhing the refult of his enquiries
and fpeculations, he expoſes himſelf indeed to criti-
ciſm, and ſeems to place the eſtimation of his know-
ledge, and good ſenſe at an unneceffary hazard:-but,
on the other hand, his lucubrations have thereby a
direct scope and object, which excite new ſpirit in
each purſuit, and give it an intereft and importance
obviating the laffitude and diſguſt, which attend fe-
dentary employments that have no fixed deſtination,
--no defign,—no views, beyond the fingle hour, they
indolently engage.
Having ftated fuch inducement to publication, I
venture not to urge a further plea, of regard to pub-
lic utility, and to public amuſement: of pretenfions
to fuch motives, as well as of the means employed,
and of the accompliſhment attained, a literary judg-
ment will be founded on other premiſes, than the
mere affertions of a writer, however plaufible or
earneft:-before the tribunal of public opinion, it
becomes not an author to plead for his book,—but his
·book for itſelf.
6
CON-
[ xiii ]
CONTENTS.
BOOK THE FIRST.
CHA P. I. Page 1.
Introductory, on Ancient Hiftory.
CHA P. II. Page 10.
Of the Population of Attica-of the Progress of Society.
CHA P. III. Page 17.
Off the Colonies acceding to the original Settlement-of the Advan-
tages thence accruing to the Community-of the Heroic age.
CHA P. IV. Page 23.
Of the Kings, and of the first Archons of Athens.
CHA P. V. Page 29.
Of the Legiſlation of Solon.
CHA P. VI. Page 43.
Of Pififtratus.
CHAP.
xiv
CONTENTS.
CHA P. VII. Page 48.
Of Hipparchus-of Ariftogeiton and Harmodius-of the Lover and
the Beloved.
CHA P. VIII.
Page 56.
Of the final Expulfion of the Pififtratida-of popular Governments
-of the Oftracifm.
CHA P. IX. Page 68.
Of Governments-of the Energy of a newly formed Republic-of
the Progress of Athens.
CHA P. X. Page 73.
Of Liberty-of Colonies of the further Progress of Athens.
CHA P. XI. Page 80.
Of the first Perfian War-Condemnation of Miltiades-further
Thoughts concerning the Oftracifm.
CHA P. XII. Page 89.
Of the Second Perfian War.
CHA P. XIII. Page 101.
Of great Men-Athens rebuilt-Confequences of the Perfian War
-Supremacy of Athens.
CHA P. XIV. Page 112.
Of the Principles of Happiness, national and private-of Conqueft-
of the Acquifitions and Power of Athens.
CHA P. XV. Page 123.
Of the Manners of the People, and of the State of the Republic at
the Clofe of the Perfian Wars.
CHA P.
CONTENTS.
XY
CHA P. XVI. Page 137.
Of Arts.
BOOK THE SECOND..
CHA P. I. Page 149.
Of the Adminiftration of Pericles-of the Dominion of Athens-of
the Peloponnefian War to the Argive Alliance.
CHA P. II. Page 168.
Of Navigation and Commerce-of the Sicilian Expedition.
CHA P. III. Page 178.
Of the Character of Alcibiades-Continuation of the Peloponnefian
War-Revolutions at Athens-Conclufion of the War-Subver-
fion of the Commonwealth, and Establishment of the Oligarchy.
CHA P. IV. Page 193.
Of Philofophy of Socrates.
CHA P. V. Page 200.
Of the Expedition of the Ten Thousand-Parallel of the Commenta
ries of Xenophon, and of thofe of Cæfar..
CHA P. VI. Page 211.
Refloration of the Commonwealth and its Dominion of its Cor-
ruption enſuing this Success.
СНАР.
1
xvi
CONTENT S.
CHA P. VII. Page 225.
Eftimate of Manners in the Decline of the Empire, and of the Con-
ftitution of the Republic of Athens.
CHA P. VIII. Page 241.
Of the Treatment of Dependancies of Empire-of the focial War-
of the Independancy in confequence thereof, attained by Chios, Cos,
Rhodes, and other Tributaries.
CHA P. IX.. Page 250.
Of Philip of Macedon-remifs Conduct of the Athenians in obviat-
ing the Enterprizes of that king-Temper of the Times deduced
from the Orations of Demofthenes.
CHA P. X. Page 261.
Of certain Duties of a Citizen-of the Holy War-of the temporizing
Conduct of the Athenians-Refult thereof-the Battle of Cha-
ronea-and Supremacy of Philip of Macedon.
CHA P. XI. Page 272.
Of Demagogues-of Demofthenes-Parallel of the Eloquence of
Demofthenes, and of Cicero.
CHA P. XII. Page 288.
Confequences of the Battle of Charonea-Finally, the furrender of
the Commonwealth to Antipater-and Subverfion of the Republic
of Athens.
ΤΗΕ
THE
HISTORY OF ATHENS, &c. &c.
BOOK THE FIRST.
С Н А
CHA P. I.
INTRODUCTORY, ON ANCIENT HISTORY.
T
HE wildeſt narratives of remote antiquity, however c H A P.
little to be depended on for veracity, are not wholly to
be regarded as the fports of roving fantaſtic genius;
or as uſeful, merely in the light of fables, bearing a deep and
beautiful moral; they are ftill more ſtriking as types of the
fpirit and purſuits of the age they relate to. The mind of
man untutored in philofophical truths, recurs naturally to the
marvellous; blind to the inherent wonders of every, the mi-
nuteſt part of the creation, he himſelf imagines new miracles
for the deity of his foul; each god, each demi-god, each
hero is thus aggrandized by the fertile enthuſiaſm of his adhe-
rents, who unwilling to allow the confeffed ſuperiority to a
Being no way effentially differing from themſelves, inveft him
with fuch powers, and attribute to him fuch actions, as their
B
wanton
I.
THE HISTORY OF ATHENS.
I.
CHAP. wanton zeal may fuggeft, or wild credulity patronize.-Still,
however, the virtues held up to admiration, are the virtues of
the age that admires; the prejudices and purſuits of the fabu-
lift enter into [1] the delineation of the creature of his fancy,
however perfect he may defign him; and, as the poet, or other
writer, is a member of, and writes but for his community,
we may pronounce that his embelliſhments, though but an
airy fuperftructure, are yet raifed on a known and good foun-
dation, and that his recital is at leaſt confonant to the amuſe-
ment and taſte of his cotemporaries.
THUS the memoirs of chivalry, or ftories of more ancient
heroiſm, inform, as well as delight; the
age of gallant knight-
hood is perhaps better underſtood from the poetical effufions of
the Troubadours, than from the accurate hiftory of Mezeray;
Woden and his fucceffors are better known from a runic fong,
than from a monkish hiftorian; and in the tales of Hercules and
the Argonauts, the ſpirit of thoſe remote times is better traced,
than it could be in the dry narrative of facts. We thus
We thus get ac-
quainted with the prior ages through fables, as with fucceeding
ages from records; nor is the ftudy thereof to be flighted, as
long as the improveability of man is thought worthy to hold a
place in his fpeculations; and the progreſs and various ſteps
and changes of the human mind, are deemed proper objects of
its enquiry. In fuch philofophical purſuit, the reading of fa-
bulous hiſtory has its peculiar ufe, but further is not to be
Locke's Effay expected from it; the infancy of human nature can no more
ſerve as example to man in an improved ftate, than the caprices
of a child to one in years, in whofe deepeſt thoughts and ftudies
they may yet profitably find a place.
on Human Un-
derstanding.
Emile de
Rouffeau,
tom,1, &c.&c..
By many, and indeed by moft, of the learned, it has been con-
fidered as difficult, to draw the line in ancient hiſtory between
the
BOOK THE
3
FIRST.
I.
the fabulous and the authentic; but here the word fabulous bears CHAP.
not its ordinary and derivative ſenſe, and the oppofition of terms
inay be fimply conſtrued into true and falfe: the ten firſt books
of Livy have been ftigmatized with the term fabulous,-mean-
ing folely, that the facts therein reprefented, are fingular, doubt-
ful, and, in many cafes, ftated as fuch by the very author; but
yet are they not to be claffed with the tales of poetry; their
leffon is deep, and they bear a ſtrong and pointed character;
whether after the life or not, the picture hath a phyfiognomy
moſt intereſting, and fo well elucidated by the maſterly touches
of the painter, that equal inftruction and pleaſure reſult from
the perufal.-Let the antiquary bring his medals, or the book-
learned his books, to the controverfy; the pedant would cleanſe
the root, and filth is his portion; whilft the Florentine bee,
pitched on the lively flower, is diſtilling the ſweeteſt honey from
each petal.
LITTLE doth it matter, I think, where the record is of ſo
old a date, and affects not any right or property, and gives no
authority to any ſyſtem, and brings no weight of favour or of
oppofition to the opinions of the day; little doth it matter, whe-
ther the hiſtory is correctly authentic, fo long as it bears the
characteriſtics of truth and of nature: the Venus of Zeuxis
furely might be pronounced equally eftimable, whether the ſtory
of the five beauties of Agrigentum was true or falſe,
Diſcorſi ful
primo decade
di Tito Livio.
Plin. His.Nat.
L. 35. Cap. 9.
Eflay on Hift.
LORD BOLINGBROKE looking over the general profpect of
hiſtory, ancient and modern, and confidering its tendency merely
as to diffuſing the knowledge of men and manners, fays, "He Bolingbroke's
"would chearfully exchange the books of Livy we have for Lett. 5.
"thoſe we have not ;" he enumerates the advantages Livy had in
his latter books, of delineating characters of men whom he
knew, and thofe too of the greateſt; of deſcribing events he
B 2
was
4
THE HISTORY OF ATHENS.
CHAP.
I.
Epift. fam.
L. 6. Ep. 7.
Tac. Hift. I.
was concerned in, facts he had from the immediate actors,-
quæque ipfe miferrima vidit.
BUT furely a cotemporary hiftorian of fuch turbulent times
might be too apt to exaggerate through adulation, or to conceal
through fear; to inftil the precepts, not of the philofopher,
but partizan; and colour facts into harmony with his own
ſyſtem of patriotifm or friendſhip. Cæcina, in his letter to
Cicero fays*, " Much [2] have I been neceffitated to refrain,
many things I have been obliged to paſs over lightly, many
"to curtail, and very many abfolutely to omit; thus cir-
"cumfcribed, reftricted, and broken as it is, what pleaſure
"or what uſeful information can be expected from the re-
"cital ?"
68
So wrote the hiftorian Cæcina, and fo probably did Livy
write; whatever tribute of praiſe he might pay to the Tyranni-
cides, whether he merited his title of "Pompeianus," or whether
his genius might be comprized with thofe, whom Tacitus
mentions" as [3] fo candidly, as well as ably defcribing the
"times of Auguftus, till adulation crept in, and wore down and
Smoothed away their force and fpirit;" whether a republican
zealot, or a time-ferving hiftoriographer, he were equally to be
Tac.Annal.4. diftrufted; Cremutius Cordus, who was profecuted for calling
Caffius the laſt of the Romans, was perhaps a writer more dan-
gerous to truth than the poet Lucan, when, thanking the gods
$.34.
* I have thought proper to infert a tranflation rather than the original of fuch paf
fages of ancient authors, as it fuited my purpoſe to introduce into the body of this
work, unleſs when the force of expreffion merely hath led me to adopt the quotation :
for the fatisfaction of the learned, I have cited each original paffage in the appendix
of notes, premifing, that in point of expreffion it hath been my object to retain rather
the ſpirit than the letter of the originals, in all caſes, when the idiom of our language
did not readily fupply me with both.
for
BOOK THE FIRST.
นก
5
for the bounteous prefent to the Roman Empire of a Nero, he CHAP.
fays,
66
fcelera ipfa nefafque
"Hâc mercede placent."
THE fulfome ftile of praife readily difgufts the reader, but
the rancorous poignancy of malevolence occafions no fuch aver-
fion; for, as Tacitus emphatically explains it, [4] Flattery
bears the mien of fervitude, but malignity deceives in the
fpecious ſhape of freedom."-But I recur from fuppofition to
""
I.
Lucan. Pharí.
I
in Vit. Maxi-
fact: Julius Capitolinus declares that Herodian, cotemporary Jul. Capitolin.
with Alexander Severus, was partial to the hiſtory of the brutal min.
Maximin, who murdered him, from private enmity to Severus;
and Lucian tells us, that Ctefias invented tales for his Perfian Lucian. Quæ,
hiſtory, to flatter the taſte of Artaxerxes, whoſe phyſician he
was, as well as hiftoriographer. Such are cotemporary hifto-
rians, fuch their hiftories!
As to the queſtion which the opinion of Bolingbroke has
ſuggeſted, even theſe confiderations apart, have we not ſuth-
cient pages blotted with the follies and vices of great men ?
men?
Have we no annals to refer to for the confequences of luxury,
the progreſs of venality and corruption, and liberty undermin-
ed? or are we yet to learn, that one and the fame is the downfall
of virtue and of freedom; and that with equal pace individuals
become vicious, and a community enfiaved? Writings enough
exift, tracing the progreffive depravity and fervitude of great
nations, loft to every fenfe of thofe virtues, and of that free
ſpirit, which had made them great. The period of antiquity,
characterised by a wild and impetuous generofity, by an enthu-
fiaftic patriotiſm, and daring love of freedom-that age wherein
the virtues were indebted to the paffions for more, than, ever
fince, the boaſted aid of reafon could afford them, has been deli-
neated
Hift.
6
THE HISTORY OF ATHENS.
I.
CHAP. neated but by few great mafters, and for the honour of huma-
nity not a line thereof fhould be effaced; I would not barter
one page of the early accounts of the republics of Athens or of
Rome, for the most accurate acquaintance with all that Au-
guftus ever did, or thought.
SURELY in every mind there is an emulation of virtuous ſu-
periority, which, however for a time fortune or the meaner
paffions may hebetate its powers, ftill, at every example of fuc-
cefs in the particular objects of its predilection, glows into a
momentary [5] flame, which from frequent refufcitation may
acquire an energy fufficient to push it to the attainment of that,
which was at firſt regarded ſolely as matter of admiration: the
idea of imitation, which has thus enraptured the fancy, may in
times of perilous crifis fomewhat elevate the mind, and influence
the conduct; and if ſuch effect may proceed from ſtudying the
examples of ancient patriotifm and virtue, what other lecture.
can balance the utility of that, which thus animates the man,
and urges him to noble and difintereſted ſervices in a good, great,
and public cauſe?
THE hiftory of intellect may be typified by the Ægyptian
Nile, which long pours on, and hurries all away in one collected
channel; as it advances it divides into various branches, and at
length breaks in many and widely diftant ftreams towards the
great gulph; into which, according to their respective force,
they for a time continue their way, till finally all are loft and
confuſed in the abyſs. In the age of golden fimplicity and igno-
rance, the objects and purfuits of mankind were but little varied;
their thoughts were directed to their common neceffities; their
paffions moſtly concentered in fome common local prejudice
or predilection; and whether fhepherds or hunters, they purſued
6
together
BOOK THE FIRST.
7
together one fimple courfe, wherein the natural affections, and a
fenſe of ſelf-ſuſtenance, and of felf-preſervation, united, directed,
and urged them on.
As the genius became elevated, and the judgment tutored by
fucceffive experience, and by the influence of general acquifi-
tions of arts and of knowledge, the human mind proved its
ſureſt diſtinction from instinct, by the varieties of its tendency,
its force, and its conclufions, in its progress to the fuperior ob-
jects of reaſon, the great truths natural, moral, and political :-
at length refined, and pushed to the extremity, each reſearch
clofes in error and in darkneſs.
nious;
In this hiftory of intellect and manners, there feems to have
been an epoch, when mankind had a character happily com-
bining the uniform and the various; viewing that period of
antiquity, we ſeem to defcry a landſcape of a bold and maffive
taſte of compoſition, contrafted with ſtrong light and ſhade, and
of a brilliant touch of colour, yet the whole fimple and harmo-
whilſt in the modern age we behold a ſcene flittered into
a multiplicity of luminous fpots, and gaudy without effect,
perhaps it is too near the eye; perhaps it may be ſaid, that the
favourite ſcene of ancient hiſtory merely appears the more beau-
tiful, as a picture mellowed by age, as a rude but diſtant prof-
pect harmonized by the intervening medium, and lofing all its
abrupt breaks and deformities in the diftance; whilſt modern
hiſtory, as it were, a foreground, appears fpotted with weeds
and reptiles, which belong equally to the further fcene, but are
there lefs confpicuous to the eye: yet furely in the old times I
allude to, there was fomething effentially diftinguiſhing the cha-
racters of mankind, and abfolutely giving them a form and com-
plexion differing from thoſe of to-day!
CHAP.
I.
MEN.
S
THE HISTORY OF ATHENS.
CHAP.
the
be
MEN, when firft called from the mere fociety of family and
propinquity to more extenfive duties, and a new fort of combi-
nation, were fond of the novelty, and the compact was regarded
with a peculiar and almoſt fuperftitious veneration: then in-
dividuals formed a community; now, more properly it may
faid, that a community confifts of individuals: then the intereſt
of the whole was deemed that of each; now the inverfe is
adopted, and each would operate on the whole the genius of
patriotiſm, which animated every breaſt, no longer exifts; nay,
very inftances of its exiftence are queftioned; we wonder
at paft tranfactions and ancient ſtories; we doubt that the Greek
Codrus, or Roman Decii devoted themſelves; and that the elder
Brutus fhould facrifice the deareft ties of nature, to a fentiment
we fo little know the force of, now feems fingular, if not im-
poffible yet Galileo cried "
:
et tamen movet," and would
have died for a mere ſyſtem, and millions of religious zealots
have daringly periſhed in defence of opinions, themſelves un-
derſtood not; and ſhall we pay fo little refpect to our nature, to
ourſelves, as to fuppofe men capable of fuch efforts in favour of
vanity or of ignorance, and not equally brave in fupport of the
liberal and benevolent fentiments, the focial and fpirited princi-
ples, on which thoſe famed eſtabliſhments were fecured, their
united labours had formed, their reafon approved, and their ha-
bits and their happineſs required?
To diſplay and to enforce fuch focial and spirited principles,
and, fearching out the finer fprings which originate thefe emo-
tions of the mind, to account for, and thus to further authen-
ticate the inſtances which hiftory lays before us, will conſtitute
in part the ſubject of the first chapters of this work: nor is the
fubject uſeleſs or uninterefting; if in theſe times of diffipation,
and of perverfion or difregard of all that belongs to public or
to private virtue,-if in this age of profligate manners and of
licentious
BOOK THE FIRST.
9
I.
licentious policy, any example, or any leffons of morals and of CHA P.
patriotiſm, may excite attention, and may even have an effect,
which ambition or vanity, in default of purer motives, ſhall give
an opening to. Such feems the beſt uſe to which the earlier hif
tory of Athens can be applied. As the republic becomes pow-
erful, and as the people become enlightened, as the conftitu-
tion of government becomes first perfect and then corrupt, and
as the arts of government become complicate and refined, the
hiſtory [6] will in its due courfe furnish maxims of policy, and Book II,
leffons of ſtate: fuch as I have prefumed more explicitly to fug-
geft, are few in compariſon of thoſe which the fubject may afford
to a learned and enlightened reader; I have merely awakened
his attention to this, or to that point of view; thrown out, as it
were, looſe hints of fpeculation; and thinking only fo much for
him, as to induce him to think further for himſelf, offered the
text of this book as a thefis for the more abftrufe workings of
his own mind.
C
CHAP.
10
THE HISTORY OF ATHENS.
CHAP.
II.
Ariftot. Pol.
1. 7. C. 7.
Xenoph. #g
προσόδων.
Thucyd. L. 1.
Ibid.
Diod. Sic.
L. I.
CHA P. II [7].
OF THE POPULATION OF ATTICA OF THE progress of SOCIETY.
GR
REECE [8] was fituated under a benign latitude, and
whilſt its inhabitants were but few, its fpontaneous fer-
tility eaſily ſatisfied its paftoral poffeffors, who with their herds
roved peaceably from ſpot to ſpot, as its beauties or conveni-
ences invited; and left it as fatiety or its harraffed foil fug-
gefted the feeking a new and more fertile fituation.
UNDER fuch circumftances of peace and fecured felicity, no
wonder that population encreaſed; and the bands of propinquity
then from their too great extent being rent and broken, the de-
tached parties became more in number, and the face of the
country gradually was covered with a diverſity of people, who
retained but little fenfe of common family, and much of private
intereft.
THE wandering herd now often found the richeſt paſturage
pre-occupied, and a ſyſtem of ſuch appropriation being little
underſtood by favages, who heretofore deemed the earth, as hea-
vens, common to all; a claim to participate, brought on con-
tention, and the victorious took poffeffion of the lands, till fuch
time as other intruders, with better pretenfions of ſtrength, ex-
pelled the first conquerors, and fucceeded to an equally hoftile
and precarious fettlement.
THE tribes broken, feparated, and defpoiled of their flocks,
Aled to the mountains, till emboldened by hunger, and urged by
3
revenge,
BOOK THE FIRST.
I
I -
II.
revenge, they ventured from their lurking-places in fmall but CHAP.
defperate bands, to procure a fuftenance, and fatiate their rage
by depredation on their former invaders. The fhepherds foon
learnt to dread, and to defend themſelves against, theſe new ene-
mies: fmall bodies ſtrengthened themſelves by coalition, and all
parties feemed ftudious of the means to repel or to annoy an
enemy arms were in every hand; habit inured to danger; and
the glory of conqueſt too began to enforce its plea.
THE moſt verdant mead, the moſt flouriſhing grove, the
ſweeteſt ſpring, fucceffively bleft the ſtrongeſt; and all the
goods man could then know, depended on his courage to attempt,
or prowess to maintain them. The richeſt plains of Greece
thus became fcenes of continual war; and all the evils which Thucyd.L.1.
the untutored barbarity of favages ordinarily annexes to con-
queſt, conjoined to make the weaker entirely forego that bounty
of nature, they could enjoy for fo little a time, and with fo
much danger; other fields were they to feek, the poverty of
which might enfure them from defolation, and rude and rocky
furface yet afford a cave hofpitable to the wretched; a poffef-
fion unmoleſted as unenvied by their more potent, neigh-
bours.
Strab. L. &;
ATTICA, a large tract of country, barren, and with few of
thofe natural advantages which were, and might again be, the Ibid.
fubjects of contention, ſeemed a proper place of fettlement for
theſe wanderers. Thus as Rome owed its population to crimes,
fo did Athens to mifery; and by a fingular fatality, the two
moſt virtuous and moſt powerful republics of the ancient world,
were founded by the wicked and by the weak.
No longer could the people fubfift from the fpontaneous
bounties of the earth; nature was to be courted for fuftenance;
C 2
the
1 2
II.
THE HISTORY OF ATHENS.
CHAP. the golden
the golden age of indolence was paft, and man was to live but
from the fweat of his brow. Every one fubfifting from toil,
induſtry foon put in a new and an allowed claim to property;
he that had fown the grain, reaped the harveft; and prefcription
gradually cemented this corner-ftone of political inſtitution. If
it was not a fettled ftate, it was a fraternity ftrengthened by
regulation; and its union and progreffive arts gave this new
people a decifive fuperiority over the brutal ſtrength of
any, who
might dare to attack them in their place of retreat, and ravage
the fields endeared by their labours.
As felf-love is the parent of ſocial, ſo are private affections of
public; attachment, as it were, from our little home in the
center, irradiates to the very periphery, and touches each point
of the great circle of the commonwealth: herein behold the
groundwork of patriotiſm! Faſtened as men were, by the habits
of
peace and competence, to the fame grounds when old, which
their infancy had ſported in, reciprocal obligation had time to
take root, and the fruits were a grateful and diffufive benevolence;
the intereft, not of families only, but of men, feemed united,
and whoever ſhould attempt to fever thoſe bands, was by all
conſidered as having no claim to that ſociety he infulted: peace
was to all, but to him who invaded it.
IT is in the barren foil that genius and induftry take the ear-
lieſt root; the ſterility of nature proves a ſpur to art, and inven-
tion is awakened by the clamours of neceffity: foon the human
mind is indebted to its activity for ftill further force, and purfu-
ing the paths which want or appetite point to, is captivated with
the profpects opening on either fide, and at length boldly de-
viates into the wilds of knowledge and pleafure.
THUS
BOOK THE FIRST.
13
II.
THUS Our Community quickly outstripped its once more happy c HAP.
and formidable neighbours, in the career of enjoyments, and of
power; whilſt eaſe and plenty were fucceffively the refult [9] of
induſtrious arts, and mental improvements and focial combina-
tion were more than a match for robuft but divided favages.
Ifocrat, Pancg.
L. · 9.
THE rough diamonds from the mine but little vary; it is Plat. Pol.
when poliſhed that we diftinguish the beauties or dullness of the
water, the flaw, or pure, or tinted brilliant; fo civilization dif-
covers the ſuſceptibility and value of each mind, and in the in-
fancy of policy, where no preſcription hath ſway, inequality of
intellect effects a correfpondent degree of command and ſub-
ferviency.
L. 1. Cap. 20.
ARISTOTLE [10] has fet out in his Theory of Politics, with Ariftot. Pol.
much ſtudy and pains, and much fpeculation on, and many rea-
fonings for, this hypothefis; but furely every ox that draws the
plough is fufficient juftification of the theory: from man to
man ftill greater is the fubjection, whilft admiration locks, or
gratitude gilds, the chains himſelf from confcious inferiority
hath impoſed.
V.1090, & feq.
MARK the picture of fociety which now prefents itſelf to Lucret. L. s.
view :-Genius working not on luxuries or refinements, but
confined to an inveſtigation of the common arts and neceffaries
of life; and weakneſs courting it for a participation of its com-
forts, and paying the debt of gratitude, or earneſt of expectancy,
with menial fervice and affiſtance.
In an earlier period, the cave was a refuge common to all,
the acorn was to be plucked by every hand, and in the calm of
general ignorance, fpirit or activity for the courfe lay dormant,
and their claims were not known, not understood, or not al-
lowed:
14
THE HISTORY OF ATHENS.
..
CHAP.
II.
Diod. Sic.
I.. I.
| e
Apuleius de
Deo Socrat.
Diod. Sic.
L. I.
lowed but now the man of reafon culled new bleffings from
the earth, and where nature feemed deficient, found reſources of
happineſs and cafe in his own inventive faculties; nor is it won-
derful, that thofe whofe powers were inadequate to their wants,
fhould purchaſe ſhelter in his hut, warmth from his fire, or fuf-
tenance from his roots, with obfequious attention to ferve and
venerate the benefactor.
WITH deference to fome over-learned men, who have made
of late fo many important and accurate deductions from my-
thology [11], we will venture to fuppofe, that whoever firſt
planted a twig, or fowed a grain, or ftruck fire from a flint,
thenceforward became a character divine, and that every Spot had
its race of deities, its Ceres, its Bacchus, and its Vulcan.
THE advantages accruing from the union of the wife and
ftrong, were too obvious, to cease with the firſt projector; his
name was reverenced and invoked by his adherents, and his tem-
poral power and rule were delegated to the man, whom fuperior
acuteneſs diſtinguiſhed, or preſumption [12] introduced; in the
firſt inſtant of demife, thofe fpeciouſly advancing in the ſpirit of
enterpriſe, were admitted to a competition with the wife and the
expert; but as in thofe times the only title to rule was the con-
ferring of benefits, of which every ſubject was individually to
partake, and capable too of ftriking the balance between fervices
paid, and good received; theſe intruders were ſpeedily difgraced,
and perhaps in the fhock of public commotion, were detached
from the general body, and with a few others whom ſympathy
or refentment connected with them, were left to rely on that
ftrength which paffion and ſelf-confidence rendered at once unfit
for rule, and impatient of ſubjection.
THEY
BOOK THE FIRST.
15
THEY retired to their old manfions of refuge among
among the
woods and rocks; but the cavern was become damp and gloomy,
and the winds had learnt to chill, and the fun to fcorch, and
late habits of life had ſhown, that fuch evils might be avoid-
ed, but prefent inexpertnefs precluded the means of avoiding
them.
As in the progrefs of the individual from infancy to maturity,
fo in the hiſtory of the fpecies, we find that the paffions [13]
have borne fruit, when the bloffoms of reafon but peeped from
the bud : happily in the firſt inftance, the earlier violences of
the youth may at once be calmed and tutored, and even their
effects medicated, by the interpofition of thoſe, who have at once
fuperior reaſon to urge, and ftrength to reftrain: but who is to
coerce the favage, whoſe life fills up an impetuous moment of
puberty, in the long progreffive hiſtory of his kind; who hath
awakened at once to wifhes, and to impotence; to the paffions
of man, and ſcarcely to the inftinct of a brute? Envy without
emulation [14], gloomy difcontent, and the rage of unfated ap-
petites (the feeble ray of reafon directing to the object, without
throwing fufficient light to develope its moral and proper uſe,
duties, and conſequences) what a dreadful animal muſt they
form!-And fuch was man, when, in the cafe above-mentioned,
he recurred to folitude, with the full harveſt of wants and paf-
fions, he had known, and only known how to reap in the fields
of fociety.
CH a p.
II.
In theſe times every diſtrict had its Cacus, and as attack ne- Thucyd. L. I.
ceffarily enforces defence, every tribe had its Hercules.
L. 6.
In the courſe of a few years, the imitative faculty of man Polyb. Hiit,
muſt have made fuch progrefs, and the connexions within the
pale of ſociety have become fo much more complicated, and the
dangers
16
THE HISTORY OF ATHENS.
II.
CHA P. dangers from without fo much more frequent and important,
that the brave and the judicious might be fuppofed to fuperfede
the pretenfions of the projector or artificer, with whom too
progreffively fo many claimed in common.
Ariftot. Pol,
L. 3. Cap. 11.
THE patriarch ruler gave out fimple laws [15], or rather
maxims, to his people, decided their differences, repelled their
enemies, and facrificed to their gods [16]; he was their judge,
their hero, and their priest; he was the only flave in the do-
main [17], for the black fpirit of defpotifm was as yet confined
within the magic circle of its duties, which when it tranfgreffed,
the charm of authority and pre-eminence was inftantaneouſly
diffolved.
!
CHA P.
BOOK THE FIRST.
17
CHA P. III.
OF THE COLONIES ACCEDING TO THE ORIGINAL SETTLEMENT OF THE
ADVANTAGES THENCE ACCRUING TO THE COMMUNITY OF THE
HEROIC AGE.
CHAP.
III.
WE
L. 1.
E have traced the firſt population of Attica, we have
marked the progreffive culture of people and of foil; and
from a mere ſociety of nature feen men gradually accumulate on
the experience of their forefathers, and lay the groundwork of
art and of policy, of the comforts of life, and of the means to
enſure them: but the eſtabliſhment had now attained that point
in progreſs, that no longer urged by the fame neceffities, it was Diod. Sic.
not to be expected they fhould continue the fame ſpeed in the
career of improvement. Society was now in fome meaſure
formed and regulated, and each individual born to fome fixed
relation in it, cramped by the purfuits and authority of a parent,
and reſtrained by the peace and love of order that prevailed
throughout, could no longer innovate with applaufe or even
fafety. The ſhort ſeaſon of autumn may fuffice to the vintage,
but whole years are required to mellow and perfect the produc-
tion if fome extraordinary cafualty happened not, the future
progress of this people was to be the flow and imperceptible
work of ages: happily fuch caſualty was not wanting.
Ir muſt be allowed, that foil and climate operate much on the L'Esprit des
conſtitution and temperament of the body; and the fubtilty of Loix, L. 17.
the nervous fluid, the craffitude or tenuity of the blood and other
juices, the relaxation or tenfion of muſcle, (in a word) the tex-
ture of the whole frame, being thus dependant on, and varying
D
with
18
THE HISTORY OF ATHENS.
CHAP.
III.
with exterior caufes; far as their influence acts, the animal man
muſt differ in his ftrength, paffions, and acutenefs, and be ac-
cordingly fit or unfit for divers purfuits or modifications of the
excellencies of his kind.
It is true, that varieties of a very forcible defcription actuate
individuals even of the fame nation, and under like predicament
of ſpot; acutenefs directs application; imagination affords mat-
ter for the deeper fpeculatift; the politician reins and guides
the impetuofity of the valiant; and every different force and
temper of mind incompetent in itſelf, ſeems to ſtrike fire by col-
lifion with the proper ſubſtance: thus arts flouriſh; thus ſcience
civilizes; and thus men, from a very diſcord of character, form
the harmony of the focial fyftem.
SOCIETY will doubtlessly thus perfect itſelf in proportion to
the diverfities of its component parts, which by their various
combinations and reciprocities, may enlarge the materia medica
of human weakneſs, and ſerve the wants and luxuries, the hopes
and vanities, the curioſity and activity of man. Though an ifo-
lated nation may from the refources of various character, and of
force of genius within itſelf, make much progreſs; may excel
in many arts, and puſh its enquiries far in knowledge; yet can-
not it cope with others of more general commerce and hetero-
geneous mixture: let China bear teftimony to the pofition; Has
that vaſt but fequeftered empire made a progrefs in human arts
and knowledge proportionate to its duration? Do not the infant
colonies of the weſt, the very republics of yeſterday, outſtrip her
in the great career, and boaſt of theories and inventions fhe knows
not, or if the hath known long, yet knows but imperfectly?
It is the general commerce and intercourfe with each other, that
hath given the people of Europe this fudden fuperiority; a va-
riety of national character hath forced new combinations on that
12
of
BOOK THE FIRST.
19
III.
of individuals; and Italian fancy, French wit, English pene- CHA P.
tration, and German affiduity, have from divers and diftant ha-
bitations, met and united their common labours, and connected
and modified their feveral qualities and powers, for the further-
ance of every art of utility or entertainment.
Strab. L. 9.
ATTICA, in the remoteft antiquity, boafted fimilar advan- Thucyd. L. t.
tages; ſcarcely had ſhe attained the firſt rudiments of art and po-
licy, when various colonies acceded to the country, and holding
forth a new horn of plenty, enriched her native ftores with
exotic germs of knowledge and civilization.
Diod. Sie.
Pauían. Boot.
L. 1, & 4.
Plat. Time,
THE religions and the fciences from the north and from the
fouth, hailed each other in this central fpot; Orpheus brought
in the deities of Thrace; and the Saitæ met him, fraught with
all the ſuperſtitions, wiſdom, and policy of old Ægypt: the
priſtine inhabitants received this colony as a gift of the gods ;
cheriſhed it; adopted its cuſtoms; not fatisfied with merely
affording an hofpitable refuge, tendered honour and dominion,
and finally feated the chieftain of theſe exiles on the country's
throne: the myfteries of religion they incorporated with their Procl. Com.
own, and Neïtha and Minerva became one; and their own he- Diod. Sic.
reditary manners and diftinctions they gave up, and anew claffed L. 1. Sect. 28.
themſelves, according to the arrangement of duties and honours
they were taught by theſe foreign fettlers: as in Ægypt, the
nation was now triply divided into the diftinct claffes of the li-
terary noble [18], the countryman, and the artizan: ſo ſudden
was the ſtep from irregular policy, to a fyftem of good order,
and good government.
in Time.
THE Carians too (a nation whom Herodotus [19] terms the Herodot. Clio.
moſt acute and enlightened of their age) at length forfook their Strabo. L. 3,
piracy, and fixed themſelves on the cost of Attica, long the
D 2
object
20
THE HISTORY OF ATHENS.
III.
CHAP. object of their depredations; they foon reconciled themſelves to
the previous fettlers, and at the port Phaleron, laid the founda-
tion of that naval power, which ſubſequently raiſed the Athe-
nians to wealth, to conqueft, and to empire.
Herodot.
Terpfich.
Strab. L. 9.
Paufan, Co-
rinth.
Herodot. Clio.
Thucyd. L. I.
NOR was it to thefe exotics only that Attica paid the grateful
debt of exact and anxious cultivation; in this
age of fimplicity,
the human mind, not refined into depravity, acknowledged vir-
tue and rewarded it in the fucceffion of rulers, we find Me-
lanthus called from Meffene to the Athenian throne, on account
of his valour and wifdom; and with him many wanderers from
various parts of Greece came to partake his government, and
cede fomewhat of their native ruftic liberty to a ſyſtem of ge-
neral comfort and fecurity.
THE chieftains within the petty diftricts of the Peloponnefe
had now fome time handled the helm of government, but with a
rude and unſkilful force: conftant wars harraffed them from
without, and perpetual diffention at home; and from imbecility
or diſguſt many yet forfook their native hearth, and went in
fearch of an habitation more favourable to their peace, or to their
pretenfions; and Attica was the fcope of each adventure.
THOUGH in the courſe of human acquirements, the nurſeries
of theſe men were behind-hand with Attica; yet minds rectified
from error, or refined by misfortune, proved no uſeleſs leffon or
unprofitable connexion: fympathy and fimilitude of lot, foon
mutually attached theſe various exiles; the diverfity of origin,
and habitual ſentiment and prejudice thence proceeding, natu-
rally induced diſcourſe on their prior ſtate, and reciprocal objec-
tions; paft failings and mifery fweetened the intercourfe with
diffidence and complacency; and as the rougher points and irre-
gularities of two furfaces are employed to fmooth and perfect
each
1
BOOK THE
21
FIRST.
1.
each other; fo gradually did this commerce deftroy the crudities.
of each national character, and form one compact body of rea-
fonable men and poliſhed citizens.
A LONG continuance of plenty and fecurity is too apt to elate
the mind, and carry it beyond the nice boundaries of prudence
and contented virtue: when a ſtate is from low degrees become
thus full of rich and reftive blood, better is it that the humour
expend itſelf in ebullition, than recoil and ferment within, to the
detriment of the internal commonweal, and perhaps to its very
diffolution and ruin.
CHAP.
III.
com. Helen.
Diod. Sic.
Thucyd. L. 1.
L. 4.
Plut. in Thef.
V.
&c.
Ar a time when the habits of converfe and thought had Ifocrat. en-
quickened the paſſions and apprehenfion; at a time when the
minds of men were growing too active for reft, and too turbu-
lent for controul; when the wife and the valiant anew felt and
claimed diftinctions over their fellows; when the ambition of Hom. Il. &c.
fome, and the envy of others, was fucceeding to the virtuous and
peaceable emulation of all; the danger of relapfing into anar-
chy was imminent and great: but fortunately, the ſhade of
chivalry aroſe, and beckoning each active genius [20] into her
circle, preferved the internal ftate from that annoyance the
wanton ſpirit of the age might feem to portend. Damfels
raviſhed, and damfels refcued, make up the hiftory of this pe-
riod; not even in the feudal lower age, was enterprize more
the delight or admiration of all: the wreath of honour was
then firſt ſnatched, and ſeparately and diſtinctly worn from the
crown of virtue; whilft the dangers, and not the motives, of the
atchievement were confidered. Throughout all Greece, fays
Thucydides, "Arms were in every hand, till Athens renewed Thucyd. L. 1.
"the example of civilization, and her citizens firſt laid afide
"the fword: fo many wanderers then poured into Attica, as
"the only and peculiar feat of permanent and happy councils,
8
(continues
22
THE HISTORY OF ATHENS.
CHAP.
III.
""
(continues the fame author) that the too in her turn was
"forced to colonize, and fend forth her fupernumeraries to till
"the fields of Ionia."
Mark the progrefs.-Common fecurity was the firſt band of
union; indigence inftructed, intereft cemented, and foreign
population enriched and enlarged the fociety: from long peace
and ſecurity ſprang new diftinctions among men; influence in
private life extended to afcendancy in the ftate; individuals grew
impatient of reft and of equality; and ambition, like a famiſhed
tyger, was recurring to its own litter for fuftenance and prey,
when a providential cafualty directed its activity to external
objects. In the mean time, the commonwealth had peace,
and leiſure to find theories for practice, and draw practice from
theory; to widen the foundation of the ſtate-ſyſtem, and cement
it fo as to withſtand whatever fhock, till time and progreſſive
reaſon ſhould finish the building;-the glory and bulwark of
Greece!
CHA P.
BOOK THE FIRS T.'
23
CHA P. IV.
OF THE KINGS-AND OF THE FIRST ARCHONS OF ATHENS.
CHAP.
IV.
TH
HE natural rights and liberties of mankind were foon
felt, though late underſtood; and when, in this ftate
compofed of divers nations and people, the varieties of each had
opened the minds of all; when reafon and paffion had ſhown a
difpofition to make ftronger and earlier fhoots in this heteroge-
neous foil; the love and fear of power were of the fame
birth.
L. 4.
FROM the earlieſt period of political authority, whether Diod. Sic
patriarchic or elect, the people were ever encroaching on its fu-
premacy; and many of their kings, raiſed from a low degree to
the throne, thought much too of their own duties, and their
country's claims, and of their own juft fubferviency to the in-
tereſts of the multitude, whoſe ſovereignty was merely delegated
to their care and fidelity.
com. Helen.
FROM the dynaſty of Cecrops to the monarchy of Thefeus, Ifocrat. en-
little is there in the narrative worthy the ſpeculations of the po-
litician or philofopher: the monarchy of Thefeus is particu-
larly deſerving remark; it was a new fyftem of government,
admitting an intermediate deſcription of men, between the king
and the maſs of the people, to a fhare of power: the heads of
families were by Thefeus called to a feat in his councils, and
veſted with certain dignities, privileges, and immunities, which
placed them in a kind of middle ftate, and conſtituted them at
once depofitaries of the rights of the fovereign, and of the people.
THE
24
THE HISTORY OF ATHENS.
CHAP.
IV.
Plut. Vit.
Thef.
Strab. L. 9.
Diod. Sic.
L. 4.
Ifocrat. en
com. Hel.
THE youth of Thefeus was employed in acts of heroic chi-
valry; we are told, that Scyron, Pityocamptes, and many other
notorious leaders of banditti, felt the prowefs of his arms;
and on the death of his father Ægeus, that he afcended the
throne of Athens under the auspicious favour of popular attach-
ment to the brave deliverer of his country. Previous to the
reign of Thefeus, the people of Attica were moſtly ſcattered
Thucyd. L.1. Over the inland parts of the country in diverſe ſmall villages; to
obviate all diſregard of the commonweal, which might ſpring
from folitary manners, and from the growth of various dialects
and cuſtoms, a coalition of thefe villages or families was the
immediate and favourite object of Thefeus; and calling them
to a common ſettlement in Athens, he ftrengthened the capitol
of fovereignty, he awakened the nation to a fenfe of public in-
tereft, and he opened the minds and hearts of all by a more en-
livening and diffufive intercourfe. Thenceforward he was ho-
noured as the father of his people; and, fays Ifocrates, in his
Encomion Helena (which more properly might be ftiled the
Encomion Theſei) it was a ſtruggle between Thefeus and
"his ſubjects, which ſhould give moſt, the king of freedom,
"or the people of power." Having eſtabliſhed, as he fuppofed,
on a firm footing ſuch civil and religious inftitutions as feemed
for the benefit of his people, his old occupations of chivalry
again allured him [21] into the field of enterprize, and he left
his government to delegated authority. During his abfence,
that authority was fo far encroached upon and diminiſhed by the
increaſing intereft and influence of the nobles he had created,
and of the commonalty he had enfranchiſed, that on his return
to refume the fceptre, he found it under a controul to which
his active ſpirit was repugnant; yet loving his people too well
to wreſt from them that degree of freedom which gradually had
been founded on the bafis of his own principles of equal laws,
and temperate adminiftration, Thefeus retired from the conteft,
Plut. Vit.
Thef.
and
BOOK THE
25
FIRS T.
and went a voluntary exile to Scyros. From the epoch of this
reign we are not to wonder then, that whilft other countries
boaſt a long and fucceffive train of heroes, we find in the lift
of Athenian kings but very few marked in characters of renown:
the ſpirit of the people was ever in vigilant oppoſition to that of
defpotifm, and fplendid ambition found not means of eluding
the caution of the public, and of wading into the fields of glory
through bloodſhed and oppreffion: thus the fervants, and not
maſters of the community, their pre-eminence of character was
in general confined to virtues which were the portion of many,
and undiſtinguiſhed as each individual ſtar in the galaxy, though
ftill making part of its beauty and its luftre: if any one king
attained a brighter and more glorious name than others, it was
by fome act of danger to himſelf, or of benefit to the ſtate, and
which would equally have ennobled its meaneſt conſtituent; but
from Thefeus to Codrus we find few diftinguished by any ec-
centric exploit.
CHA P.
IV.
L. 2. C. 7.
CODRUS paid the debt of nature to his country; and under Juft. Hift.
pretence of deference to the memory of this their heroic king,
the Athenians permitted none thereafter to bear the fame title.
HITHERTO the Libido Regum had full fway and authority;
no written laws, or definite regulations as yet circumfcribed the
abuſe of power; whatever reſtrictions might curb its exceſs,
were founded on the comparative fears of the prince, the pre-
tenfions of the eminent, and the impetuofity of the multitude:
but the time was now come when inftitution was to correct the
ſyſtem of command and fubmiffion, and to aſcertain the adequate
degree of each.
SOME authors have idly claffed the firft Archons with the Meurf. de
Athenian kings, obferving that a change took place in little Stanyan, Rol-
Reg. Att.
E
lin, &c.
more
26
THE HISTORY OF ATHENS.
CHAP.
fen.
IV.
more than in the title of the mafter were this the fact, ftill
was the alteration of moment; even in the moſt enlightened
ages what preſcriptive devotion hath been paid to mere words!
how much honour and authority have attended a title, even when
ufurped through the worst of crimes and meaneſt of frauds!
Are there none, even in a land of freedom and of fcience, whofe
hearts yet acknowledge the hereditary and flaviſh prejudices of
their forefathers, and who would cancel their very bond of in-
dependancy, and crouch for their all to fome idol name?
.-*
THE word king had in Attica, as elſewhere, a traditionary af-
cendant over many who knew not the purport of the title, or
the individual who bore it; with the name, much of this blind
veneration ceaſed; and refpect, that great barrier againſt public
liberty, being broken down, the paths to an independant com-
monwealth were not lefs open than alluring.
"
66
In truth, the change of title was not the only change that
took place on the death of the patriot Codrus: "The Medon-
Paufan. Mef- tidæ," (fays Paufanias) "received the fovereignty [22] much
abridged of its former power, and ultimately made accountable
"to the people, for a juſt and due exerciſe of the truft repoſed:"
what theſe reſtrictions or qualifications of power were, we are not
told; but they must have been manifold and ftrong, to have
rendered the laſt regulation of any effect; for who ſhall dare to
meet the lion in his foreft? Can defpotifm be called to account?
The hardy challenger, if ſuch is to be found, muſt prepare for
death, or the ſtate for a revolution! But perhaps the proofs are
more than prefumptive, that on the eſtabliſhment of the Ar-
chons, their ſway was confined to much narrower limits than
that of their predeceffors; and that an accufation was neither
uncommon in itſelf, nor dangerous to the appellant. The
Ariftot. Pol. ufurper Pififtratus, pleading as a delinquent before the court of
L. 5. C. 12.
10
Areopagus,
BOOK THE FIRS T.
27
CHAP.
IV.
L. 1. C. 8.
I.
Areopagus, feems to have had retrofpect to fome fimilar cuftom
of the Archons, and to feek favour from his citizens by this
deference to their prior inftitutions: other facts might be ad-
duced; but I think the future hiftory of the commonwealth is
fufficient proof of what is afferted: on the death of Alcmæon Velf. Patere.
did any commotion fucceed, when the government was made
decennial? Did not the citizens, fearleſs of any evafion of this
their new determination, confide the temporary fceptre to the
fame family which had borne it in perpetuity? Was not this de-
cennial government in force for ſeventy years? and had any one
of theſe Archons the hardineſs or authority to extend the dura-
tion of their command? Yet I find not that Charops' office
differed from that of his brother Alcmæon, excepting in limi-
tation of time.
A TEN years command ſtill ſeemed to preclude too many can-
didates; and to the reſtleſs competition of the Ploutocracy [23]
Athens was indebted for a further step into the regions of
freedom: the Archonſhip was made annual; and the power was
divided among nine, invefted with different branches of office,
and with various duties and authority.
Ibid
L. 11. C. 13.
THIS Oligarchy feverally acting with a vague and indefinite Aul. Gell.
exerciſe of jurifprudence, and as differing as partial in their de-
crees, foon gave rife to faction, to party, and to difcontent. The
commonalty demanded fome fecurity for their perſons and pro-
perty; the nobles wiſhed to ſtrengthen their order by unanimity;
and the alien deprecated the judgment, which unrestricted
might echo to the call of native affections, and of domeftic
intereſts thus all united to require written and irrefragable
rules of juriſdiction.
E 2
DRACO,
28
THE HISTORY OF ATHENS.
!
CHAP.
IV.
Aul. Gell.
L. 2. C. 10.
DRACO [24] was fummoned by the general voice of his
countrymen to be their legiſlator; and his Thefmoi (though
the few remaining, I think, by no means ſpeak him equal to
the fublime truft he was honoured with) for a time gave quiet
and harmony to the republic.
a
;
}
CHAP.
BOOK THE FIRST.
29
CHAP. V.
OF THE LEGISLATION OF SOLON.
THE
HE fophift deep in midnight lucubration exults over the
folution of his problem, and looks down on the purſuits
of others with derifion and contempt; refpect indeed feems due
to the operations of intellect, in preference to the more me-
chanical labours of the body; but if (as we ought to do) we
meaſure the value of every occupation by its comparative ufe-
fulneſs to ſociety, the reclufe ftudies of many will appear to be
but a more fpecious way of trifling; and honeft induftry will
bear the palm over ſuch idle ſpeculations, however fanciful and
penetrating. Mental reſearches, when directed to proper objects,
have the juſteſt claim to our veneration; but let us proportion
it to the benefits thence accruing to mankind, nor hallow thoſe
ingenious extravagancies, the praiſe of which has already allured
too many adepts in fcience beyond its juft and ufeful limits,
into fome wild and unprofitable ſearch, after a truth without
confequence, or ſyſtem without foundation.
Of all employments of the mind, furely that is the worthieft,
and, as it were, divine, which tends to eſtabliſh order in fociety;
to humanize the great Leviathan; to adapt the various parts of
the vaſt machine of focial government, and nicely fit each ſpring
where it can beft act, each wheel where it can beft move, to the
intent and good purpoſes of the general combination; to duly
weigh and obviate the friction that might impede, or material
which might fwerve to the detriment of the diverfe parts, till
the whole proceed in juft and invariable concert!
THE
CHAP.
V.
30
THE HISTORY OF ATHENS.
CHAP.
V.
Plut. Vit.
Solon.
Ibid.
Diog Laert.
Vit. Solon.
THE legiſlator must be experienced, to know mankind; and
wife, for he is to direct them; he must be virtuous, for pre-
cepts are to be recommended by example; and brave, for inno-
vation is to be enforced with courage; and, after all, fays the
younger Pliny, Neque cuiquam tam clarum ftatim ingenium eft,
ut poffit emergere, nifi illi materia, occafio, fautor etiam com-
mendatorque contingat :" to few as fuperiority of genius is
allotted, to fewer is allowed the opportunity of exerting it.
66
66
;.
It was foon found, that the regulations of Draco were ina-
dequate to the great purpoſe of harmonizing the diſcordant in-
tereſts of the citizens of Athens: the rich and the poor ftill
combated with the reſpective force of authority and numbers
and thoſe who were in a middle ſtate of competency, difreliſhed
a fituation which was to include them in the conqueſts of either
party, the flaves of a defpotic faction, or the prey of a lawleſs
multitude.
ARTS of every kind had made a quick progrefs; the pirates
from Caria had introduced the knowledge of navigation; and
the parentage of its citizens in foreign countries, had given
Athens early notions of profiting by a connexion with diverſe
Ifocrat.Paneg. and diftant parts: trade foon gave birth to inequalities of opu-
lence and power; and now in this general mart, this feat of
rivalſhip and commerce, the encreaſing love and examples of
luxury demanded the readieſt and quickeſt road to wealth: pro-
ject might enhance on the profits of trade, and a well-concerted
fcheme fuddenly place the loweſt citizen on a level with the
moſt wealthy; thus many, of a voluptuous or ambitious fpirit,
ſtrained their every faculty in fome novel and viſionary purſuit.
Plut. Vit. So-
lon.
THE rich favoured this deftructive fpirit of enterprize, by
advancing neceffaries for theſe undertakings; the returns of
which
BOOK
THE
31
FIRST.
CHAP.
V.
which being found moſt precarious, the intereſt for loans was
encreaſed, till, in fine, even a ſmall debt became the groundwork
of an infolvency; and under fevere laws of credit, thought ne-
ceffary in a commercial commonwealth, very many were at the
mercy of their fellow-citizens. It was a law, that the debtor,
whoſe pecuniary means were infufficient, was to repay the loan
by corporal fervice; but as the intereft of the debt was out of
all proportion to the principal, well were it, if a diſcharge of
that, and by the fevereft fervitude, could appeaſe the taſkmaſter,
and prevent other wanton, and yet legal, exerciſe of his refent-
ment. Under fuch circumſtances [25], fome even of the moſt
wealthy, but who had avoided all ufurious practices, dreaded
the croud of inftruments of ambition, which others of their
order had under their controul, and which, by a conditional or
a favourable treatment, might be engaged or conciliated to abet
any treacherous ſchemes of ufurpation on the part of their af- Plut. Vit. So
piring mafters. Joining with thofe of the middle ftate, they
fought to anticipate a criſis by a new regulation of the common-
wealth they united their efforts to influence the body of the
people; the virtues and wiſdom of Solon had rendered him
eminently confpicuous, and, not as ufual by ballot, but by
general fuffrage, he was declared Archon and lawgiver.
lon.
Ælian. Var.
C..
Hift. L. 8.
Vit. Solon.
SOLON being asked, "How injury or injuftice might be for- Diog. Laert.
"bidden a place in human fociety;" anfwered, " By teaching
"all to feel the injuries done to each."-To fix fuch focial in-
tereſt, ſuch philanthropy on inftitution; to direct equally the
hopes and fears, equally the reafon and paffions of all, to the
fame object, to the fecurity of all; in a word, wifely to profit
of the connexion of felf-love and focial, and by making each
man a citizen, to make each citizen a patriot, feems to have
been the great object in view throughout the legiſlation of Solon.
To this effect, this great lawgiver reforted not, in poverty of
political
:
32
THE HISTORY OF ATHENS.
V.
CHAP. political reſource, to the fimple fabric of an unqualified demo-
cracy; but imagined and reduced to ſyſtem a commonwealth,
wherein virtue, wherein property, and every ſubſtantial diſcri-
mination from character or poffeffion, was acknowledged and pre-
ſerved; and the beſt principles of ariftocratic and popular go-
vernment were combined by inftitutions equally favourable to
fubordination and to liberty, to civil gradations, and to the rights
of mankind.
Xenoph. Pol.
Ath.
Ariftot. Pol.
L. 2. C. 10.
In the affembly of the citizens at large, Solon veſted the laſt
reſort of juſtice, and of policy, and of election; for the interefts
of the whole were concerned in the fentence, or decifion, or
choice: within the higher order or ranks of men, he diſtributed
the great trufts of executive power; for a liberal education and
independance he deemed requifte to office, and the diſtinctions
of birth and character might give authority to the diſcharge of
Plut. Vit. So it. He divided the people into four claffes [26], regulated
by a cenfus of property: the Archonſhip, with other offices of
expence as well as dignity, were limited to the first class; the
leffer magiftracies, and municipal and military offices, were open
to thoſe of the fecond and third; thofe of the laſt, termed
"Thetes," were incapacitated from holding places of public
truft; but from their voice in the affembly they had, with their
fellow-citizens, a common intereft, importance, and fecurity.
lon.
Ibidem.
To the Eupatridai or nobles he confined the great council
and judiciary court called Areopagus, and beſtowed on it every
honour and dignity: to equiponderate the balance, he on the
other fide conftituted a fenate annually to be chofen from the
feveral tribes; and in this were refident the greater political
Xenoph. Ho. power and authority: all matters, whether of revenue, or legif-
lation, or war, or peace, previous to a reference to the people,
were herein propofed, argued, and explained; and rejected, or
Αθηναίων,
Cap. 3. § 2.
Plut. Vit. So-
Jon.
dreft
7
BOOK THE FIRST.
33
•
dreſt out for debate in the affembly, as ſhould feem moft fitting
and falutary: this fenate, moreover, not only debated on the
expediency of fuch laws, as it might ſeem from time to time
neceffary to introduce into the conftitutional code, ere they
were propoſed in the affembly; but occafionally enacted laws,
which laws were to be in force for a year, during which period
of probation, their good or evil tendency became obvious to the
people, who accordingly annulled, or confirmed them.
CHAP.
lon.
V.
L. 2. C. 12.
Æfchin. Orat.
Demofth. in
Timocrat.
Leptin. & in
As the Areopagus was compofed only of the moſt eminent Plut. Vit. So-
of the Patricians, of fuch as had gone through the Archonship
with credit and applaufe; fo the fenate was a compound of the Arift. Pol.
beſt men of the whole community; the candidates lives were
ftrictly examined into, by the guardians of their refpective tribes; in Timocrat.
and again, previous to the ballot, they were to be approved of
by the Archons; nay, fo pure were thoſe ſtanding for ſenatorial
or other official departments expected to appear, that if any, with-
out other crime than that of infolvency to their creditors, fur-
reptitiouſly evaded the fcrutiny, and thus gained a public place
of truft, death was the penalty of their prefumption. Even
ebriety in an Archon was a capital offence; but, on the other
hand, his good fame as well as perfon were protected by laws
adjudging to death the man who ſhould calumniate or infult
him. Under fuch precautions, the reader will obferve, that
the ballot, far from being a ridiculous mode of forming a ma-
giftrature, preferved impartiality in the ftate, gave difcontent Crefiph.
the colour of irreligion, and to every virtuous and fenfible ci-
tizen, and to only fuch, opened a claim to office and a proba-
bility of fucceſs.
15
Plut. Vit. So-
lon.
Ulpian. in
Midiam.Dem.
Demofth. O-
rat. de falfâ
Legat.
Æfchin. cont.
It was the Prætorſhip and other offices and powers which in Hit, ſparſim.
aftertimes were beſtowed by fuffrage, and not thoſe drawn by
lot, that proved ruinous to the republic.
F
As
蒴
​34
THE HISTORY OF ATHENS.
CHAP.
V.
Plut. Vit. So-
lon.
Ariftot. Pol.
L. 2.
Xenoph. Pol.
Ath.
As the voice of the fenate might be fuppofed for the moſt
part to have fufficient weight with the people to influence and
direct their refolutions, each meaner denizen might ſeem too
little intereſted in, and, as it were, eftranged from the com-
monwealth; in order therein to give him a further ſelf-conſe-
quence from public occupation, a judicial capacity [27] was
affigned to all whofe irreproachable morals and conduct per-
mitted the claim; and their names were drawn by lot for the
ſeveral juries in the different courts of judicature.
It was ftrongly inculcated, that office was not to be courted
as giving power and aſcendancy; its powers originated in, and
belonged only to, the conftitution; and its duties, and duties
only, were confidered as properly belonging to the magiftrate, or
miniſter confided in the more forcibly to inftil this idea, and
to wipe the blot of injuſtice too from this diſtinction, each man
Xenoph. Pol. in office, from the Archon to the juryman, received a daily fſti-
pend [28] for his fervices and attendance; and thus too the
poorer but good citizen, faw not his family diftreffed from the
facrifice of his private vocation to public duties.
Ath. C. 2.
Plut. Vit. So-
lon.
VARIOUS were the laws framed, more particularly to incul-
cate, that the ſtate belonged to every man, and every man to the
ſtate the debtor's effects might be ſeized, but his perfon was
facred; for his goods and chattels were private property, but
himſelf belonged to the republic: exception was made in the
diftrein to implements of huſbandry and art; for idleneſs was at
Athens a crime, and to admit crimes of neceffity were to fofter
the moſt abfurd paradox. In order further to encourage in-
duſtry, it was enacted, that no fon ſhould be obliged to ſupport
a father in his old age, who had not taught that fon a trade; by
which law all were induced to cultivate trade, and thereby ulti-
mately
BOOK THE FIRST.
35
mately promote the interefts of ſtate, a free ftate dependant on
commerce for its encreafing wealth and population.
CHAP.
Coron.
V.
In all civil, and other cafes of trial, the parties concerned Demofth, pro
might chooſe their refpective advocates; but the advocate was
to receive no emolument from his client; every citizen was his
brother, and he was to expect thanks and retribution from their
general parent, the commonwealth that parent too provided
L. 2. C. 6.
for and foſtered the children of thoſe flain in its battles, and Ariftot. Pol.
fighting for their country.
Ir has been obferved, that he reſtricted the higher offices of
truſt to the Patrician. To fix the ftate on the felf-confequence
therein of each individual, he made the executive branch in all
caſes reſponſible [29] to the whole body of the people for a due
exerciſe of the truſt repoſed; the very mover of a reſolution in
the affembly was liable to be afterwards called to account for
the confequences of his mere propofition; and thence the art-
ful and intereſted ſpeaker feared to avail himſelf of an unguarded
moment of paffion or prejudice, to influence the populace to
decrees of partial tendency, or inconducive to the common wel-
fare an entrance moreover into the higher order, was by no
means precluded to thoſe of the lower clafs, for the qualifica-
tion was a particular and fixed rental; and therein hope, ever
of more active influence than poffeffion, found new caufe of at-
tachment to the republic, and commerce rejoiced in new incen-
tives to induſtry.
Ariftot. Pol.
L. 3. C. 7.
L. 2. C. 10,
&
chin. Orat.
cont. Ctef.
L. 2. C. 5.
དུ
THE happineſs and rights of men were Solon's objects, and Ariftot. Poi,
having provided for them by a wife and impartial legiſlation, he
adopted other regulations neceffary to the giving vigour and
perpetuity to his fyftem. With a view of precluding an inordi-
nate encreaſe of landed eftate, on which unconftitutional influ-
F 2
ence
36
THE HISTORY OF ATHENS.
CHAP. ence might be ſuppoſed to build, as on its proper bafis; he
made a new diſtribution of the lands of Attica, and by agrarian
inftitutions obviated any future infringement on that diftribution.
V.
Athens. De-
ipnof. L. 5.
To prevent confpiracies [30] of the difcontented and factious,
or at leaſt to 'prevent large and feclufive meetings unknown to
the ſtate, the numbers of gueſts at feaſts and entertainments were
limited; and every where, and at all times, there was free acceſs
to the public cenfors: if any civil commotion occurred, neu-
L. 2. C. 12. trality was fubject to fuch fevere and heavy penalties, that ac-
tion ſeemed eligible even to the timid; and thus all being made
parties, any particular combination might more readily be
cruſhed.
Aul. Gell.
It belongs not to this comment to particulariſe the private
laws of Solon; every author of note bears witneſs to the vẹne-
ration they were held in by antiquity: Cicero is a very enthuſiaſt
Liv. Hift. L... when he ſpeaks of this great legiſlator; Livy tells us, that when
Pofthumius, and others, were fent into Greece by the Decemvirs,
De Oratore &
in Bruto.
C
they were ordered " Inclytas leges Solonis defcribere, aliarum
Græciæ civitatum inftituta, mores, juraque nofcere:" and Ta-
Tacit. Annal. citus having enumerated other great lawgivers, proceeds in cli-
max to "Quæfitiores, Leges Solonis."
3. $26.
THE opinions of the great ancient writers, on the more public
part of Solon's inftitutions, merit a particular attention; as I
think the bent and ſcope of his legiſlation hath been often
miſtaken; and, as to underſtand the future revolutions within
the ſtate of Athens, it is neceffary that the grounds we ſet out
from ſhould be accurately and diſtinctly marked out.
*
ACCORDING to the opinion of Ariftotle, the commonwealth
of Solon was a compound of three feveral forms of govern-
ment;
BOOK THE FIRST.
37
ment [31]; fays he, "Solon happily combined the ſtates of CHA P.
"his republic, in the council of Areopagus having conſtituted
66
V.
Ariftot. Pol.
an oligarchy; in regulations of election to executive powers,
"an aristocracy; and in the laft refort of justice, a democracy:" L. 2. C. 10.
thus this ſtate was by no means fimply that which we under-
ſtand by the word "Democracy;" which (under the acceptation
deducible from its etymology) never was a conftitution of go-
vernment, but the perverfion of a conftitution of government.
Says the fame author, "the eccentricities or perverfions of po-
"litical conſtitution, are, tyranny of monarchy, oligarchy of Ariftot. Pol.
aristocracy, and democracy of a republic; neither of which
66
L. 3. C. 5.
"tends to public good." He terms the commonwealth of Solon
Politeia or Republic ; "and fuch," fays he, "ever tends to the
public good" or inverfely, as himſelf hath ſtated it," when Ibid.
"the community is governed by inftitutions tending to the
"welfare of all, the name common to every ſuch ſtate is a re-
""
public." Ariftotle, in his ftrictures on the Legiſlation of
Solon, further obferves," that he ſeems not to have much in-
66
"novated on the old conftitution of fenate and magiftracies, but Ariftot. Pol.
fimply to have enfranchiſed the people, and to have touched L.2. Cap. 10.
"the ancient inftitutions only fo far, as feemed neceffary to pro-
"mote and fecure that enfranchiſement. Plato places the
commonwealth of Solon, yet wider of democracy: he fays, in
his funeral oration [32], "the conſtitution of ſtate by which here- Plat. Menex-
"tofore we were governed, and in moft refpects are, and ever
"have been, is an Aristocracy; fome may call it a Democracy,
66
or what they will, but in truth it is an Ariftocracy founded on
public eſtimation:" the nervous expreffion of Plato is pecu-
liarly happy and applicable; for the regulations requiring a
competency of character and property in thoſe pretending to the
executive government, rendered it truly ariftocratic; whereas it
yet was dependant, in the firſt inftance of its formation, on the
choice
en.
38
THE HISTORY OF ATHENS.
+
CHAP.
V.
Plat. Polit. 8.
Plat. Polit.
Polyb. Hift.
L. 6.
choice of the people, and in the ſecond inſtance, of its demife, on
their retrospective approbation and judgment.
PLATO, in his treatife of an imaginary commonwealth, enu-
merating five different forms of government, the Ariftocratia,
Timarchia, Oligarchia, Democratia, and Tyrannis, expatiates on
the characteriſtics of each; and then, giving fcope to his fancy,
places in appofition to each reſpective inftitution, the character
of an individual; with the Ariftocratia, the man of virtue and
wifdom; with the Oligarchia, the man fraught with envy, ava-
rice, and pride; with the Timarchia, the man of ambition and
honour; with the Democratia, the turbulent, looſe, and licen-
tious man; and with the Tyrannis, the man of imperious and
vindictive temper. The Timarchia, or government of honours
and nobility, Plato lays as a medium betwixt the aristocracy and
oligarchy, and the aristocracy he prefers to all but Plato's
Ariftocracy is a free republic, wherein virtue has the only pre-
eminence; and his Timarchia is the aristocracy of other politi-
cians; whereas his Democracy is no conſtitution of government
at all, and ſcarcely even implies a community; the philofopher
fuppofing each constituent to act ſeverally and individually, with-
out attention or regard to what is doing by the reft of the fo-
ciety, even on the effential points of peace and war; " Nor do
they beed laws [33] written or unwritten, to effect that no
""
66
one may have a controul over another :" fuch ftate is a mere
anarchy, and, as the great writer juftly obſerves, muſt probably
end in a tyranny, as foon as any one man may attempt it, whoſe
qualities and character are fuited to the extending aſcendancy
with the people to uſurpation of fupreme power.
POLYBIUS makes a juſt diſtinction, when he mentions the
Oclocracy, or " mob-government," as a corruption of the Demo-
9
cracy,
1
BOOK THE FIRST.
39
V.
cracy, when taken in the acceptation of fome writers." The CHAP.
Democracy, as it has been called, of Solon, when eftablished by
Clifthenes, was of the beſt kinds of republic; and the evils that
enfued, in the courſe of Athenian hiſtory, from the flux of mo-
rals, and the concomitant innovations on the original polity, are
not to be placed to the account of the firſt inſtitution. To recall
the republic to its ancient manners and ancient laws, was all that
even the good old reformer Ifocrates defired. Says he [34],
"I foreſee but one refource capable of averting the misfortunes Ifocrat. Arch.
impending over us, and of remedying the preſent evils we
"labour under; let us recur to that pure democracy as infti-
"tuted by Solon, the friend of freedom and of his country, and
"as eſtabliſhed by Clifthenes, when he expelled the tyrants, and
"united the people of Athens."
<<
Orat.
Whatever term Ifocrates, and whatever term even Solon (if his
letter to Cræfus be genuine) may have chofen to adopt, as Plato Ep. Solon. ap.
expreffes it; from the great authorities above cited, it appears to Diog. Laert.
have been both his and their meaning, that the commonwealth
of Athens was originally a mixed republic: that it had a ten-
dency, however, to become, in proceſs of time, a more popular
and democratic ftate, will appear from a fummary review of the
powers veſted in the people by their great legislator. To the
public affembly of the citizens were affigned public delibera-
tion on queſtions of the commonweal; a negative in legiſlation
on the edicts, or propofitions of the fenate; debate and ultimate
decifion on fubjects of general policy; the affeffment and difpo-
fition of revenue; direction of its application, and reviſion of its
management; the laft refort of juſtice in caſes of public delin-
quency; and the election to military command, and to fome
civil offices, in caſes wherein the inftitution preferred the courſe
of fuffrage; and (what was the moſt important in its confe-
quences) the election in all cafes when a general fenfe of pecu-
liar
40
THE HISTORY OF ATHENS.
J
CHAP.
V.
liar exigency and peculiar merit called for a fuperceffion of the
ordinary mode by ballot; yet with attention to regulations of
cenfus and legal difqualifications, which could not be diſpenſed
with from any fentiment of danger or predilection which a par-
Plut.Vit. Ari- ticular occafion or character might fuggeft. Draco was called
to the archonſhip by popular fuffrage, fo was Solon, and fo was
Ariftides afterwards.
Lid.
To fuch extenfive powers, and lodged in fuch hands, it might
be obferved, that no diftinctions arifing from property, from
birth, or from character, could form a proper balance; that every
regulation to the prejudice of popular interefts, or popular will,
was merely matter of fufferance; and that the fcales of a mixed
and qualified conftitution of government were no ways equi-
poiſed: I will add, that, as the ſteelyard funk ever fo little, the
weight muſt ſlide down the beam, and give yet greater mo-
mentum to the power which had the undue influence. Thus
monarchies become tyrannies, and ariftocracies become oligar-
chic when this influence is the influence of the people, it is
more certain in its effect, and more dangerous to any conſtitution
of government, than the aristocratic or monarchic, or any other
branch thereof whatever; for the obvious reafon, that the
greater numbers of the people to the political, add a natural force
and confequence in themſelves, which a prince, or a faction of no-
bles, muſt depend for upon others. All governments in which there
is admitted a legal and direct power of the people by themſelves
or repreſentatives, hence have been, and, I think, ever muſt be
diffolved, by that power exceeding its original and legal limits,
or by its extending, through its own authority, thoſe legal limits,
which is the fame thing; and which we fhall find was the caſe
at Athens, where, to uſe the force of Ariſtotle's expreffion, the
Politeia was perverted into a democracy; a looſe and licentious
ftate, wherein the paffions of the high and mean fpirited are ever
at
BOOK THE
4.I
FIRS T.
V.
at variance; wherein all the varieties of the human compofition CHA P.
act, and are acted upon; and wherein the diffenfions of the rich,
the needy, and of a thouſand intermediate defcriptions of men,
give an opening to, or rather neceffitate, factions, intrigue, and
corruption till fome artful and enterprifing man, through great
qualities and actions, or through deceit and peculation, or joint-
ly by honourable and by indirect means, acquires a credit and
aſcendancy with one party of the people, which empowers him
to direct, to lead, to command, and, perhaps, to enslave the peo-
ple in general, and his partizans with the reſt.
THE examples to the theory contained in thefe obfervations
are frequent and forcible. In the immediate courſe of this
work-like to the fix verfes prefixed to a canto of Spenfer or of
Ariofto-the ftory of Pifiſtratus ſtands forth an epitome to the
comprehenſive hiſtory of the republic.
How blind is man! how dark feem the paths through which
a beneficent Providence often conducts him to fuccefs! Whilft
we peruſe the innumerable examples upon record of flight mif-
fortune conducing to much profperity; of the miferies which
in the lives of many have proved agents to their fuperior happi-
nefs; of ſtates elevated through the improbable means of depref-
fion; we ought not, in the apparently evil fituation of ourſelves
or country, to cheriſh our defpondency by fpecious calculation or
prefumptuous forefight; but rather look up to the divine will
in thankfulneſs,-
Quod liceat Sperare timenti !
Ir was fcarcely poffible that the habitudes of fubferviency
and command ſhould fuddenly be eradicated; and private dif-
content was more likely to find freſh plea for faction in, than
to be quieted by, new arrangements. When Solon pruned the
privileges
G
Lucan. Phar-
fal. 3.
42
THE HISTORY OF ATHENS.
V.
CHAP. privileges and power of the oligarchy, the reſentment muſt have
been great; when he beſtowed new liberties on the people, the
gratitude might have been little. It was in the temper and
frame of human nature, for the few to remember the lofs, and
for the number to be careless of the gift. In fine, it was not
probable that order and freedom ſhould be fuddenly eſtabliſhed
amongst a people accustomed to the alternatives of turbulence
or fubmiffion; the more perfect the fyftem, the leſs conſtant
adherence thereto was to be expected from the wavering quali-
ties of indolence, avarice, fervility, and ambition. It was the
ufurpation of Pififtratus that prepared a strong and adequate founda-
tion for the commonwealth of Solon.
Diog. Laert.
Vit. Solon.
PISISTRATUS proved the beſt of kings; and by his authority
Herodot. Clio, enforcing due obfervance of the private, and of fome too of the
public inſtitutions of Solon, he taught that great lawgiver's
name gradually to be revered; till arrived at a proper maturity,
the ſtate availed itſelf of an opportunity to firmly eſtabliſh the
whole body of laws, and the conftitution fo wifely calculated
to make them an happy and free people.
CHAP.
BOOK THE FIRST.
43
CHAP.
VI.
OF PISI STRATU s.
CHAP.
VI.
Τι
HE ready acquiefcence of the Ploutocracy in the legif-
lation of Solon, could not proceed but from the impoffi-
bility of immediate refiftance to a meaſure they did not expect,
and therefore were not prepared to oppofe. His Agrarian laws;
his Seithathia [35], or remiffion of debts; their previous life
of cruelty and injuſtice, which no act of amnesty could cancel
in the book of confcience, however it might preclude public
puniſhment, or private infult ;-thefe, and many other circum-
ſtances gave birth to conflicting paflions of various bent and
force; but all pushing to the fubverfion of a government fo ob-
noxious to the prior habits of vice and tyranny.
Plut. Vit. Sol.
Vit. ejufd.
Dicg. Laert.
Justin. Hift.
THE difaffected to this new commonwealth formed a coali-
tion; and, had it not been for the more foaring ambition of
fome of the party, again had the ftate recoiled into all the evils
of its tyrannous aristocracy: Lycurgus and Megacles, two of Herodot. Clio.
the moſt powerful and opulent of the rank of nobles, headed L. 2. C. 9.
each their reſpective forces, in contention for the fupreme
power; and the maritime and inland inhabitants of Attica
formed two diſtinct parties, adhering ſeverally to the one and
other of theſe great men, when Pififtratus raiſed a third party
from the refuſe of the mariners and populace, and bore down
the whole weight of landed intereft together. The hatred of
the poor to the rich is the cauſe to which Ariſtotle attributes Arift.Pol.L.5.
his fo readily gaining the multitude in his favour; but it may
be placed to the account of a general caufe, ever operating in
G 2
like
C. 6.
44
THE HISTORY OF ATHENS.
CHAP.
VI.
Arift. Pol.
L. 5. C. z.
like manner under like circumftances. About the fame time
that Pififtratus became tyrant at Athens, Panætius ufurped at
Leontium, Cypfelus at Corinth, and Dionyfius at Syracufe;
and all from having been demagogues and affertors of popular
freedom. Of all the paths to ufurpation, the moft ready is
through the favour of the poorer clafs; their numbers are at
once greater, and no individual intereft therein is of fufficient
moment to break the combination; their intellect being con-
fined to narrower limits, its feat and bent is more eaſily diſcovered
by the artful orator; and, of nearly equal force and tenor through-
out the lift of individuals, he is not at the pains of fearching
for and combining the varieties of reafoning fuited to different
tempers and minds; and thus is his tafk lefs difficult; and as
his art is lefs neceffary, his fallacy is lefs obvious. The paf-
fions, too, of the multitude are eafily awakened, and, undirected
by penetration to diſtant objects, are contented to fympathize
with thoſe before them, and thus readily are worked
the well-acted part of an ambitious demagogue.
upon by
To theſe obſervations, it may be added, on the particular
fubject of the ufurpation of Pififtratus,-that whoever, and
however great may be the first inciters of commotion, it is in
the maſs of the people that then lays the ultimate refolve; the
ties of government being loofened, the multitude feel and exert
too their own ftrength; and to direct and take the lead in their
caufe (as they may be taught to confider almost any caufe), they
ever prefer ſome bold and infidious pretender to patriotiſm,
whom, as the creature of their own making, in the figurative
Plat. Pol.L.8. language of Plato," they fuftain, pamper up, and make important
and great; and when a defpot is given birth to, it is from fuch
flock that bis honours and power bud forth [36]."
"
QUINCTILIAN
BOOK THE FIRST.
45
VI.
In Bruto.
Ap.Diog. La
ert. in Vit. Sol.
Plut. Vit. Sol,
Athenæ Deip.
L. I.
QUINCTILIAN feems defirous, in his delineation of a perfect CHAP.
orator, of entering into competition with the wife man of the
Stoics, by crouding into the catalogue of accompliſhments, every
virtue and every talent. Perhaps Pififtratus approximated the
exalted character nearer than any of antiquity. Cicero calls him
the prince of Grecian eloquence [37]. His epiftles breathe the
fpirit of virtue and philanthropy: his bravery had been proved
in a war with Megara, as well as in the enterprize that placed
him on the throne: his wiſdom was eſteemed fuch, that his
name was added to the lift of fages of Greece: he was the firft Aul.Gell.L.6,
who inſtituted a public library; and the friends to learning and
the liberal arts remember that it was, perhaps, to the erudition
and care of Pififtratus that we owe the prefent exiſtence of the
Iliad as a man, and as a citizen, we have the great lawgiver's Cicero in Ora-
expreſs affent to his poffeffing the virtues of either in fo eminent Ep.Sol. ap.Di-
a degree, as to leave no room for cenfure, excepting of his am-
bition to be fupreme; and when vefted with the ſupreme power,
each acrimonious reproof of Solon ftill clofes with the con-
feffion," that he was the beſt of kings."
C. 17.
tore.
og. Laert.
Diog. Laert.
SOLON was much indebted to him for every mark of private Pint. Ep. ap.
regard and friendſhip; and his character as a legiſlator owed not
lefs to him on the fcore of public honour and veneration; for
Pififtratus not only adopted and enforced his laws, but recom-
mended them too by the moſt condefcending example, elevating
the dignity of the Areopagus by his own public homage and Ariftot. Pol
fubmiffion to its authority.
L. 5. C. 12.
PISISTRATUS [38] was well apprized that habits of power Herodot. Clio.
are not readily foregone, and he accordingly banished the chief
of the aristocracy from the city. He well knew that the idle lian. Hift.
would be meddling and tumultuous, and therefore neceffitated
every denizen to purfue fome trade or occupation; but, as he
5
likewife
Var. L. 9.C.25.
76
HISTORY OF ATHENS.
THE
VI.
CHA P. likewife forefaw, that commerce was not to be foftered but by
a fpirit of equality, and national freedom incompatible with his
views of government, he directed the attention and induſtry of
his fubjects to, as yet much neglected, agriculture. Perhaps,
too, he had the penetration to judge the career of the Athe-
nians to have been hitherto too hafty; and remanded them to
their primitive occupation, as not being yet fufficiently mature
for the habitation of a great city,-to grace injuftice with policy,
to adorn corruption with elegance, and to clothe, as it were, the
nakednefs of vice.
Herodot. Clio.
C. 12.
PISISTRATUS underwent many reverfes [39] of fortune.
I have but little regret that materials are wanting for a deſcrip-
tion of the petty wars and details of government during the
ſeventy years of the decennial archonship, or the times imme-
diately fucceeding; but I lament that the viciffitudes of the life
of Pififtratus have not been fufficiently particularifed to afford
"the Spirit of character and event.”
WERE We acquainted with a minute detail relative to Mega-
cles connecting himſelf with his competitor Lycurgus to expel
their common enemy; his recal of that enemy to worſt his
Arift.Pol.L.5. prior opponent; the fecond expulfion of Pififtratus, from mo-
tives of family refentment and domeftic intrigue; and, again, his
reſtoration to the regal feat ;-had we, I fay, a juft and particu-
lar account of each fact and agent of this wondrous little hiſtory,
fo much political theory might be found to concenter in it, as
to merit not a chapter, but a volume.
As much virtue and as much wifdom have often been em-
ployed to effect a purpoſe in common life, as to manage a mi-
niſterial buſineſs; and the memoirs of one, whofe hours are
checquered with the functions and difficulties of at once a pub-
7
lic
BOOK THE
47
FIR S T.
lic and private ſtation, moſt juſtly engage the avidity of the
reader how much, then, would his attention be fixed to the
intereſting leffon of a commonwealth repeatedly wavering to
domeſtic incidents, and public and private interefts, reciprocally
influencing, and depending on, the one, the other?
CHA P.
VI.
CHAP.
*
"
THE HISTORY OF ATHENS.
}
CHAP.
VII.
Heredot. Clio.
OF HIPPARCHUS
So firmly
CHA P. VII.
-OF ARISTOGEITON AND HARMODIUS
OF THE LOVER AND THE BELOVED.
O firmly had Pififtratus eſtabliſhed his power, that on his
deceaſe, it defcended peaceably and without commotion to
Plat. in Hip- his children; and we are told, "they were not lefs heirs to
"their father's virtue and wiſdom than to his throne."
parch.
Ibid.
Suid. in Hip-
parch.
Elian. L. 8.
C. 2.
Paufan. A-
chaic.
WHATEVER might be the participation in government be-
queathed to the other brothers, ftill fuperiority of merit, as well
as the rights of elderhood, placed the chief authority in Hip-
parchus [40]; who having, under ſuch a preceptor as Piſiſtratus,
imbibed an early tafte for the polite arts, purſued them through
every branch of the mechanic to the more liberal, and to the
moſt exalted: he planted and walled in the Academia for the uſe
and difquifitions of the philoſopher; he enlarged and amended
the compilation of Homer's Rhapſodies, undertaken by his fa-
Plat. in Hip- ther; and, to awaken new emulation among the Mufes, his pa-
tronage was held forth to every ſervant of Parnaffus; and Simo-
nides and Anacreon were his friends. The city was a great part
rebuilt, and every where adorned under his inſpection; and as
the progreſs of art diſplayed itſelf in the beauteous appearance
of Athens, fo equally did fcience fhow its influence in the po-
parch.
liſhed demeanor of the Athenians.
THE profpects of temperate government and national tran-
quillity, which the growth of the fine arts and of urbanity fo
readily and fo fpeedily adorned, were foon however clouded ;
and happily ere the minds and manners of men were thereby fof-
tened
BOOK THE
49
FIRST.
VII.
tened and rendered pliant to the evils that threatened them. CHAP.
The king became a tyrant; his ſubjects were oppreſſed; refiſt-
ance begat further oppreffion; till the enormities of defpotic
cruelty exceeded the fufferance of a people who had once been
free, and yet remembered their ſtate of freedom; and the firſt
refentment of wanton tyranny, from a generous and daring ſpirit,
armed,” as the hiſtorian expreffes it [41], "with the prin- Diod. Sic. ex-
ciples and leſſon of the inftitutions of Solon," afforded an A.
example which roufed the dormant fenſe of the powers, of the
rights, and of the liberties which thoſe inſtitutions held out to
the citizens at large; and they bravely and fucceſsfully afferted
their claim to the poffeffion of the commonwealth of Solon.
66
cerpt. Eol
CAN we fuppofe, when from the catalogue of emperors and
kings fo many are to be felected who began their reign with
juſtice and cloſed it in tyranny-can we fuppofe, that for years
they ſeverally concealed a depravity of mind, and from the firſt,
internally acknowledged the immoral tendencies which covered
their future days with fhame and ruin? Rather am I inclined to
believe, that the plenitude of power hath been the firſt cauſe of
corruption; that the moſt virtuous of defpots have, at fome
finiſter hour, unwarily admitted adulation, thence affumed arro-
gance, and thence (whilst they no longer duly poiſed the ſcale of
relative duties and merits) have unfeelingly regarded the wrongs
or miſeries of thofe imploring their juftice or beneficence.
"The beſt of men," fays Herodotus [42]," may be corrupted Herodot. Tha
by power, may lofe their virtue, and even their habits of
"virtue."
<c
TACITUS, in his Auguftan hiſtory and annals, hath placed the
change of manners in the ſeveral emperors of Rome, to the ac-
count of diffimulation covering for a time the natural humour
and turn of mind, which, when occafion permitted, refumed its
H
original
lia.
50
THE HISTORY OF ATHENS.
Quæ
CHAP. original bent and force; the fentence "Qua reconderet, au&taque
VII.
Tacit. Ann. I.
promeret," is freſh in every reader's mind, from the quotation
of an elegant writer of the prefent age. I cannot agree with
Tacitus, and to refute him I revert to the details of character he
has given us: if I could accept of any authority, I am fure it
is that of Tacitus, but-to borrow a ſentence of Machiavel, and
I apply it not more particularly to this fubject, than to every
Mach. Difc. fubject, and to this entire book-" I neither do think [43], nor
ever will think it a fault to fupport any opinion with reafon-
ing, without authorities on my own part, and without con-
"ftraint on others."-" Nero, when he first came to the throne,
L. 6, C. 58.
Ann. 15.
Ann. 13.
66
""
was the darling of his people [44]," ſaid the tribune Julius
Flavius ; nor was any of your foldiers more faithfully at-
"tached, whilst you was deferving of our affection ;" and furely
Nero deferved that affection," when he confidered how to effect
a general relief from all impoſts and taxes, and gratify man-
"kind with ſo noble and extenſive a bounty."
<<
BUT the "vividus animus" of Nero was not proof againſt the
corruptive habits of defpotifm. Whatever Tacitus, in his re-
finements of penetration, may have imagined of the fimulation
and of the diffimulation of Tiberius; I cannot ſuppoſe but that
he meant to reign well, when on his outfet he declared to an
Tacit. Ann. 3. old enemy, wrongs done me when in a private character, I
" will never revenge in the character of prince :" and when he
refuſed all adulatory honours and undue authority, adviſing the
fervile fenate" not lightly to change what had been framed in
Ibidem.
66
66
wiſdom, and ſanctioned by experience; that their emperor
"had burthens fufficient and fufficient power; that law was
"ever weakened, when authority interpofed; nor ſhould ever
"the executive power be recurred to, in cafes for which the
"laws had made adequate proviſion.”,
How
BOOK THE FIRST.
51
66
CHAP.
VII.
Calig.
Vit. Carac.
How greatly the mind of Tiberius degenerated, from the æra
of this ſpeech to that of his debaucheries in the iſland of Ca-
pri, I ſhould likewife place to the account of feductive power:
fo too the depravity of Caligula, who at firft was the favourite
of the people, not more on account of his birth, or of his mi-
litary education, whence he received his firname, than from that Sueton. Vit.
of his ingratiating manners: nay, the youth of even the bloody
Caracalla was as amiable as his maturity detefted; fays Spartia- Ælian. Spart.
nus, "his youth was gentle, ingenuous, complacent to his
parents, affable to their friends, ingratiating with the people,
agreeable to the fenate." Not to enumerate further exam-
ples, and from hiſtory I could enumerate many, I will cloſe this
ſubject with a fact cited by Paufanius relative to the defpots,
whoſe hiſtory is now before us; fays he, "Pififtratus, and
❝ likewiſe his fon Hippias, were diſtinguiſhed for philanthropy, Paufan. At.
" and their moderate uſe of power, till, on the death of Hip-
parchus, the mind of Hippias became enflamed and refent-
"ful" Hipparchus himſelf was of the number of thoſe whofe
virtues ceded to the baneful influence of unbounded power;
from a vain attempt to corrupt the morals of Harmodius, he
directed his attack to the chastity of the young man's fifter
the youth enflamed with rage at the repeated infult, told his
ſtory, and intimated his defire of revenge to his preceptor Arif-
togeiton; Ariſtogeiton fympathifed in his pupil's juſt reſent-
ments, and with ardour joined in a confpiracy to affaflinate Hip-
parchus.
""
Thucyd. L.6.
Arift. Pol.
L. 5. C. 10.
Juftin. Hift.
L. 3. C. 9.
Terplich
We are informed that Hipparchus, three days previous to his Herodot.
death, faw a vifion, which foretold him the confequences of his
vices and injuftice; Is it to be wondered at, that remorfe found
a ſpectre for a tyrant? or that an evil conſcience ſhould ſtart at
a fhadow, and lend its fears the fpirit of prophecy? Verane hæc Plin. Epift.
affirmare non aufim, intereft tamen exempli ut vera videantur!”
66
H 2
HARMODIUS
52
THE HISTORY OF ATHENS.
CHAP.
VII.
Juftin. L. 2.
C. 9.
Plut. Vit.
Lycurgo.
Ælian. L. 3•
Cap. 10.
Ibid. L. 3.
C. 12.
L. I.
Efchin. Orat.
in Timarch.
Diog. Laert.
Vit. Solon.
Plat. Alcib.
HARMODIUS accomplished his purpoſe of revenge, but fell
in the conflict; Ariftogeiton was feized and referved for the
fentence of Hippias, brother and fucceffor to the deceaſed king:
to every queſtion, even when on the rack, he anſwered with the
moft determined fortitude; and being asked by the incenfed
monarch the names of his accomplices in the confpiracy, he di-
rected his revenge to the moſt faithful adherents of the tyrant,
and by firmly and invariably recording his deareſt inmates in the
accufation [45], blackened every future hour with horror and
fufpicion.
THE Connection of Ariftogeiton and Harmodius, of the old
man and of the young, or (as the Greeks termed them) of the
lover [46] and the beloved, is fo well known, and-yet-has been
fo often, and ſo much mifconftrued, that a fhort digreffion on
the fubject may not improperly be introduced into this effay.
That ſuch connections were univerfally in practice we have the
authority of all antiquity to prove; in many of the moſt yir-
tuous republics, and particularly in Sparta, it was infamous for
a youth not to be the object of affection to fome one of maturer
age; and yet Ælian tells us, that "if ſuch intercourſe were
polluted, exile and even death were the penalties of the of-
"fence:" nor was the ſenſe of criminality confined to Sparta ;
the general abhorrence thereof is expreffed in the ſtrongeſt terms
66
に
​Plato de Leg. by the divine Plato, in his firſt book of laws; and Solon in the
Athenian code adjudged the convict to death without alterna-
tive. But had we not theſe and many other authorities for the
purity of thefe attachments; were we not told of the chaſte
pre-
dilection of Solon for Pififtratus, of Socrates for Alcibiades, of
Dion for Plato, and of many other great men for fome young
pupil or follower ; could we yet fuppofe (and fome have ſup-
Elian. L. 4. pofed) that theſe friendſhips were ever fullied with immorality,
and that mere cuſtom, in a word, could give the moſt horrid and
ejufd. Sympof.
Corn. Nep.
Vit. Alcib.
Xenoph.
Symp. C. 8.
C. 21.
6
difguftful
BOOK THE FIRST.
53
difguftful vice a preference over the deareſt and moſt neceffary CHA P.
inftinct of nature?
Erot.
VII.
Id. in Vit.
I AM perfuaded that the prohibition of the connection of Plutarch. Diſſ.
flaves with boys, merely alluded to the particular but pure amity
above deſcribed, and was ſuggeſted from the idea of advantages Lycurg.
enfuing fuch correfpondence, advantages of inftruction and libe-
ral document, which the young domeftics could not generally
imbibe, but to the prejudice of that humility fo neceffary to fer-
vitude, in a ftate wherein the flaves fo much out-numbered the
citizens. This affumption of principle is warranted from ana-
logy; Plato, in his Sympofion, wherein the fubject of theſe at-
tachments is beautifully and morally difcuffed, mentions that
the connections alluded to, were ftrictly forbidden within the
provinces of the Perfian king; not that the purity of Afiatic
manners was ſhocked at the apprehenfion of a vicious inter-
courſe, but, in the words of Plato [47], "It is on account of Platon. Syn-
"the defpotic fyftem of government, that a communion of phi-
lofophy and gymnaſtic exerciſe is degraded or proſcribed in
"theſe countries; whilft it is deemed inexpedient to the go-
"verning power, that the governed fhould become endowed
"with elevated fentiments, or acquire the force which might
"reſult from virtuous union and attachment." What happy
prefages might each Grecian patriot entertain of the advancement
of ſtrength, of wisdom, and of virtue within his republic, whilft
each younger denizen was inftructed by the conduct and coun-
fels of fome adopted father, who was to inftil into him the love
of virtue, and of his country, then blefs his work, and exult-
ingly live over again in the public and moral merits of his
pupil !
pos.
It was by direction of their legislator, that in the gymnafia of Elian. L. 3.
Sparta, the older men attended to the progrefs of the youth in
the
C. 10.
Plut. Vit. Ly-
curg.
54
THE HISTORY OF ATHENS.
CHAP.
VII.
the different ſtages of education, inftructed them in martial ex-
erciſes, and ſharpened their wits by fubtile queſtion, till the la-
conic reply became as proverbial as Spartan difcipline: that each
veteran ſhould fix his predilection on fome meritorious young
man, as fit object of his exclufive care and tuition, was no ex-
traordinary effect of the inftitution; and the maxims of ftate
wifely authorized and directed too the partiality; for favour too
generally diffuſed lofes that energy of affection, which might
give greater zeal to each elevated mind, when forming the mind
of another confentaneous to itſelf, and thence expectant too
equally of gratitude and glory. From the fchool of Lycurgus,
without the letter of inftitution, much of its ſpirit diffuſed it-
ſelf throughout Greece, and the band of lovers under Pelo-
pidas, was not the only band which diſplayed a reciprocative re-
gard and emulation, on occafions wherein the cauſe of liberty
and their country were benefited by their friendly union and
exertions. The young man would bravely fall ere difgrace the
leffons of his martial tutor; the old man would die rather than
diſplay [48] an example inferior to his documents: the attach-
ment concentered the ftrength of two in one; to defert, were
to betray another felf! Nor, warfare apart, was the connection
of indifferent ufe to fociety within the pale of the common-
wealth nothing more conduces to vice than the too general
commerce of the young with the young; reaſon in ſuch ſo-
ciety is deafened by clamour, loft in impetuofity, or fubdued by
paffion, nor doth it refift the ufurpation, whilft in example it
finds a ready palliative to the ſufferance: but the intercourſe of
thoſe of different ages in life, meliorates the characters of either,
tempering the morofeneſs of age and petulance of youth.
Ar a ſubſequent æra, when with the growth of public domi-
nion and wealth, individual power and opulence keeping pace
became unduly prevalent, and when the force of the laws be-
12
came
BOOK THE
55
FIRST.
VII.
came weakened in proportion to the enormities that called for CHAP.
their stricter execution, I cannot but allow that this inftitution
was in ſome inſtances perverted; but it ever ſhould be held dif-
tinct from practices which were repugnant to every inftitution,
and to every code of legiſlation, notwithſtanding their frequency, Dial: Diff.
as intimated by the ancient philofophers, orators, and poets.
Xenoph.
Sympof
Platon. Alcib.
Plut.
Erot.
Æfchin. Orat.
cont.Timarch.
Theocrit, &c.
CHA P.
56
THE HISTORY OF ATHENS.
f
CHAP.
VIII.
CHA P. VIII.
OF THE FINAL EXPULSION OF THE
PISISTRATIDE-OF
POPULAR GOVERNMENTS OF THE OSTRACISM.
Herodot,
Terplich.
Paufan. Att.
Herodot.
Terplich.
$
S the conduct of the two former kings had ferved to pro-
mote a love of order, and a habit of poliſhed demeanor,
calculated to obviate all danger of licentioufnefs or anarchy,
ſhould a ſtate of liberty enfue; fo did the odious tyranny of
their fucceffor make that liberty the darling wifh of every Athe-
nian.
As the can love a
INCENSED at the affaffination of his brother, and alarmed by
the informations of Ariftogeiton, Hippias fhowed vengeance the
bloodieſt paths of cruelty; and as fufpicion found him objects,
remorſe envenomed, and practice hardened his mind to a fami-
liarity with the horrideft fcenes of maffacre and oppreffion. His
fubjects were vexed with new and accumulating impofts, and
every citizen's competency was drained, and his neceffities poft-
poned to the luxuries and exceſs of a vicious court whilft
each noble, eminent for wealth or merit, hourly was in danger
of falling a victim to the fears of the defpot, or to the avarice
of his adherents: many, under thefe circumftances, voluntarily
left their native country, and many were driven into baniſh-
ment, to pamper the creatures of the palace with confifcations.
;
EVERY paffion united to urge thefe exiles to a recovery of
their loft fortunes and country; and a connection of one of the
families profcribed, with the Pythian prieſteſs, happily ſuggeſted
the means of fuccefs: this minifter of the oracle, at their infti-
gation, intereſted the Lacedæmonians in the enfranchiſement of
their
BOOK THE
57
FIRST.
·
L
VIII.
their city; conftantly replying to each queftion of religion or CHA P.
ſtate, with a previous injunction to deliver Athens from tyranny.
Whether from the ambitious defire of fome pretence to get foot-
ing on the other fide the ifthmus, or from other political, or
perhaps from really religious motives, the Spartans promiſed the
affiftance required, and accordingly fent an army, but of fmall
force, which was worsted by Hippias and his auxiliaries.
Lacon.
No longer was the enterprize directed by the meek efforts of
generous piety; national pride was concerned; the Spartans felt Paufan. is
the indignity of the repulſe, and to efface all memory of the de-
feat, repeated the attack with redoubled force, and ſent their
king Cleomenes to lead and enſure ſucceſs to the expedition:
fortunately his troops intercepted the children and family of Herodot.
Hippias attempting to evade the dangers of the fiege, nor would
they deliver up thefe precious hoftages to the king, but on the
condition of his immediately ſurrendering the citadel, and abdi-
cating the fovereignty. Thus was Athens freed from the ufurp-
ing family of Pifiſtratus.
Terpfick.
CLISTHENES, who was a chief agent in the revolution, Ibid.
gained great credit thereby with his countrymen; and on his
return, riveting the affections of his fellow-citizens, and parti-
cularly of the lower claffes, by a ſpecious diſplay of moderation
and ability, he fought yet to ftrengthen his authority, by intro-
ducing new political regulations, which encreafing at the fame
time the power of the people and his popularity, might give him
force wherewith to crush the factions of other great men, and
particularly of his rival Ifagoras: thus he inſtituted the judi-
cature of the Oftraciſm, which rendered the pretenfions of every Ælian. L. 13.
diſtinguiſhed character nugatory and felf-dangerous, who had
not (as himſelf then had) the ear of the people to that people
too he gave further weight and influence in the government, by
encreafing
I
C. 24..
58
THE HISTORY OF ATHENS.
VIII.
CHA P. encreafing the number of tribes from four to ten; and the ſenate
from four to five hundred, fifty being thenceforward to be elect-
ed from each tribe, inftead of the one hundred fenators from
each of the ancient four. Herodotus exprefsly mentions [49]
the additional power refulting from theſe regulations to the ci-
tizens at large; but hath left us to furmife,
"of what nature,
Herodot, ed.
Gronov.
P. 309.
Ariftot. Pol.
L. 3. C. 1.
and in what degree was its effect:" the enlarging the number
of tribes muſt have rendered more numerous the Phylarchs, and
other public offices, and thus have extended the patronage of
the commonalty, and the diſtinctions and emolument of place;
further, the tribes being more numerous, in all public buſineſs
tranfacted by tribes, opulence and private connection might have
leſs ſway, and particularly as among the Thetes, or laſt claſs of
citizens in each tribe, Clifthenes had procured the enrollment
of many aliens, foreigners, and even flaves: thus the arifto-
cracy were borne down by numbers, and the favourite of the
people had alone authority in the commonwealth. Clifthenes
now had the multitude at his diſpoſal, and, dazzled with the
opening profpect of power, fought to abuſe the afcendancy thus
acquired with the people, and to make them the inftruments of
ufurpation, as Pififtratus had done before him. On ſtretching
his hand out to the fceptre, it however met a competitor for the
grafp: Ifagoras revived the oppofition to the family of Mega-
cles, of which Clifthenes was a lineal defcendant; and on the
Herod. Terp- faith of foreign affiftance, he too put in a claim to the throne:
during the prior expedition, the Spartan leader had been his
gueſt, and in ancient times ſuch hoſpitality was ever after a plea
for favour or affiftance, ftrong as the feelings of a long and ap-
proved friendſhip. Cleomenes gave a ready ear to the entreaties
of his hoft, and immediately turning his arms towards Athens,
expelled Clifthenes and his party; and having purſued them
beyond the boundaries of the country, returned to mafter the
city, and model its conftitution and ſtate to the will and pleaſure
fich.
Paufan. La-
con.
of
BOOK THE FIRST.
59
of Ifagoras; but the Athenians had favoured the momentary
taſte of liberty, and were already become too high-minded to
tamely yield their necks to the yoke they had fo lately fhaken
off; indignant at the renewed attack, they united to reprefs the
Spartan invaſion, and to puniſh the few unworthy citizens who
had joined in the attempt on the public liberties and welfare ſo
hardily and ſo happily recovered.
CHA P.
VIII.
Terplich
CLEOMENES and his forces quickly gave way to the impe- Herodot.
tuous fpirit of men who had newly regained their freedom:
forced into the citadel, he for a while relied on the ftrength of
the place; but finally the determined valour and affiduity of the
befiegers enforced a capitulation. The Lacedemonians were
diſmiſſed in ſafety; but the Athenian delinquents were to a
man put to death, a propitious facrifice to the afcendant day-
ftar of liberty! The example was efficacious: Clifthenes
returning from his exile, coincided with the ſpirit and views of
his countrymen, and all with emulative ardour abetted the re-
eſtabliſhment of the commonwealth of Solon; admitting therein
the Oftraciſtic judicature; and the encreaſed number of tribes,
and in fenate, as before mentioned.
ERE I enter upon the career of glory and aggrandifement that
diſtinguiſhed the hiftory of Athens, I must once more refume
the ſubject of their conftitution of government, as far as it
feemed replete with cauſes tending to fo great an effect. Thoſe
who object to the great powers thereby vefted in the affemblies
of the people, would probably fay, "Who ought to command,
"and to confer the powers of command, but the chofen few,
"whoſe rank and opulence have afforded the means of educa-
tion, whoſe powers of intelligence and difcrimination are im-
proved and free, and whofe capacity, exerciſed in varieties of
private affairs and of felf-conduct, feems fo fuited to regulate
દુઃ
66
1 2
"the
60
THE HISTORY OF ATHENS.
CHAP.
VIII.
"the conduct of others? Shall we indifcriminately truft our
"fortunes to the indigent, our honours to the mean, or our
private happineſs and the public weal to an ignorant multi-
"tude, whofe ears lead but to their paffions, affording a ready
"road to the rhetorical agent of domeftic treafons, or of foreign
interefts?" To fuch I anfwer,-" You have built truly your
fairy caſtle, and would now brutify each inhabitant of the do-
main with all the whimsical feverity of a magician in a ro-
mance! The intellects of mankind are originally of a much
nearer equality than you are willing to fuppofe: the diverfities
whence you are about to deduce the argument of this fpecious
declamation proceed from the caſualties around you;—to ſud-
denly form a democratic body of the heterogeneous mafs you
have in view, were abfurd indeed; but the abfurdity is the
creature of your own brain.
brain. When you again examine the
merits of this form of government, candidly reject ſuch miſlead-
ing premiſes; confider the democratic branch of government,
as well modified by cautionary combinations, duly curbed by
law, accurately bounded by inftitutions, and well framed on the
beſt principles, and well eſtabliſhed on the happieſt practice.
With equality of power, as far as policy fhould concede, ſuppoſe
equality of mind as far as nature will admit, unaffifted by other
adfcititious advantages, than fuch as are open to a whole people;
every argument refpecting their infufficiency will in fuch cafe
fall to the ground, for theſe advantages are not lefs great
than general. May not a conftant attention to public af-
fairs form the minds of many, as of one, to a verfatility and
penetration fitted to all the varieties and difficulties of bufinefs?
or, without being ſtatefinen or generals, may not very many
learn well to judge of ftatefmen and generals ?-and this is all
that is neceffary; whilft merit will have thus the means of forcing
its way to office, through public notice and eftimation;
fuch ought its fole claim to reft. But you intimate the fub-
and on
ferviency
BOOK THE FIRST.
61
ferviency of a popular audience to every fallacy of an artful ora-
tor! And do you really then think, that an affembly daily
accuſtomed to all the artifice and force of harangue, is to be
claffed with a modern croud, opening wide their eyes, and mouths
too, to the declaimer, as if ignorant from which fenfe to receive
the novel taſte of eloquence? "But may not the plea lay to
"the paffions?" Yes, to thoſe of fame and public fpirit;
to emotions of glory and patriotiſm;-theſe in a learned and
free ſtate (and a free ftate will be a learned one), are the only
paffions open to the orator: if he hath a hold on more partial
interefts and feelings, the people are no longer virtuous, and can-
not long be free:-our preſent confideration is of a people vir-
tuous, as free.
I WILL not further dwell on fuperficial or wanton objections
to the rights, to the judgment, to the voice of the people; ob-
jections founded in mere exceptions to the good ſenſe of man-
kind.
CHAP.
VIII.
Areopag.
ISOCRATES juftly places the vigour [50] and renown of the Ifocrat. Orat.
Spartan government to the account of ſuch of its inftitutions as
were popular or democratic. There is ever a national ſpirit [51]
fpringing from the broad latitude of competition which a free
commonwealth allows of, that is fuited to engage in, and to
fuftain, either a firm or an active part, as there fhall be occafion
of refiftance or of enterprize. Much might be urged on this
general topic; but I particularly infift on the great advantages
accruing from the election to offices of ſtate, and to command
of the armies, laying within the immediate fuffrage and choice of
the people whilft virtuous, fuch was the fource of the eleva-
tion; though when corrupt and vicious, fuch was the ſource of
the ruin of the Athenian republic. Says Xenophon [52], as Xenoph. περι
"are the leaders, fo is the republic :" the inverfe is equally true,
I
that
προσοδων. C. I.
62
THE HISTORY OF ATHENS.
1
CHAP.
VIII.
L'Elprit des
Loix, L.2.C.2.
"that as is the republic, pure or corrupt, fo will be its
"leaders.'
Ir a general [53] is to be chofen, the people well know whe-
ther any one among them has often ferved in war, whether he
has filled the gradations of command, and whether he has been
brave, judicious, enterprizing, and fuccefsful: if a judge is to be
elected, the people know whether another has been an able and
difintereſted advocate, has been candid when on the wrong fide,
and has been firm when on that of truth and juftice: is a
quæftor, or officer of revenue to be appointed? Integrity, atten-
tion, and method, extend the character of another man from the
fmaller circle of his friends, to the converfations and to the
confidence of the community at large. Having theſe inlets to
a juſt eſtimation of characters, which no palace, I think, ever
had, or ever can have, in equal degree; it remains to conſider
the probable account to which they may be turned by popular
affemblies; ſtill under the affumption, that they are incorrupt
as free. Confidering the fubject in this point of view, when I
anticipate its extent, and the diffuſive argument which might
fwell into a compendious treatiſe,-on the paffions and force of
reafon in men; on their individual interefts; on thoſe intereſts
being compriſed in a focial fyftem, and on the ſentiment there-
of becoming prevalent, where the individual interefts, being too
numerous to exift feparately, become therefore more united; on
the ſenſe of ſafety, and on the opinion of protection; on the
hopes of eſtimation, and thence on the favour to juſt objects of
eſteem; and on various other fprings and motives to choice,
which to properly elucidate, demand a laborious reſearch into
the deepeſt receſſes of ethics and of policy: when I confider this,
I am rather inclined to refort to examples and authorities, and
briefly obferve, what a glorious, what an immaculate feries of
L. 1. C. 58. fplendid characters graced the Roman confulſhip from popular
Ibid.
Mach. Difc.
3
fuffrage!
J
BOOK THE
63
FIRST.
VIII.
fuffrage! Under fimilar mode of choice, what tranfcendant ex- CHAP.
amples of wiſdom, probity, and valour iffued forth from Car-
thage; nay, from every petty commonwealth in Sicilia and
Apulia, from Drepanon to Metapontum ! what characters fig-
nalized the elections throughout Greece! and, finally, what
great, virtuous, and able men ftept fucceffively into the field of
renown, during nearly a century, fent forth by the aſſemblies of
Athens !
PERHAPS too the very exertions and confequent fuccefs of
theſe generals and admirals of the people are to be placed to the
like account of the conftitution of government: Their power
and command were the refult of public eftimation, and its du-
ration depended thereon: they had thus the people to fatisfy
and to conciliate, and often their period of office allowed but
a fhort time to conciliate them; to gain the favour of their
fellow-citizens, they thence preffed on each moment of their
employ for new occafions of fignalizing themſelves, urged en-
terprize on enterprize, and the final refult was conqueft and
dominion for their fovereigns, the republic.
HAVING thus curforily pointed out the tendency of the
commonwealth to encreaſe of empire and glory, I venture fur-
ther; and (a warm advocate for the liberties of mankind, liber-
ties which political inftitution ought not wantonly to corrode or
amputate, but medicate with the tendereft hand) I affert, that
the free ſtate of Athens, in the high perfection of its eſtabliſh-
ment, was the ſtate the beſt calculated for general happineſs,
and that any true and good objection to it is founded, not on
the immediate vices of fuch conftitution of government, but in
the prefumptive [54] brevity of its career.
Grand. & De-
cad. des Rom.
par Montef
quieu.
$
IN
64
THE HISTORY OF ATHENS.
CHAP.
VIII.
;
IN ſuch ſtate, the primary authority is refident in the many;
but of force, the executive power muſt be delegated to the few
the first is in the hands of the people, whoſe will being once de-
termined and promulgated, neceffity from day to day more rarely
calls for their interpofition; the fecond, entruſted to their agents,
requires unremitted exertion; as the one power becomes dor-
mant, the latter encreaſes in vigilance; till at length the im-
portance of the ſtate yields to the confequence of private men,
and the fervant of the public directs the legiſlation he ſhould
obey; whilſt the individual, acquiring influence from the ma-
giftracy, reciprocally communicates that afcendancy to his
office: thus gradually the conftitutional balance is loft; and the
commonwealth, whatever of its laws or exterior forms it may
for a while retain, hath deviated from the ſpirit of its ſyſtem,
and which conſtituted at once its vigour and confiftency; which
at once gave to the ftate moderation and force, at once enfured
to the community peace and virtue at home, and conſequence
and victory abroad.
MACHIAVEL obferves [55], in the firſt chapter of the third
book of his Diſcourſes," that the moſt perfect political ar-
"rangement is that which hath fomething in its effence fitted
"to obviate the diffolution of the ftate, by occafionally recal-
ling it to the first principles of its inftitution.” Of this
advantage a popular conftitution of government feems incapable.
When once fuch ftate is affected, the difeafe is not in the head
that plans, or heart that wills, or hand that executes; the whole
maſs is generally difordered, nor is there a found part through
which the blood may return in a purer ſtate to medicate the
more corrupted; the peftilence fpreads through the whole body
at once, and with that progreffive and fure venom pervades to
the very vitals of the conftitution, that to attempt a cure were
vain to ward off the infection, or to obviate antidotes to the
firft
BOOK THE FIRST.
65
first poiſon of it, may not be fo forlorn a hope. In a mixed
ſtate, or limited monarchy, it is from the vitiated morals of its
conſtituents, that government becomes infected: in a republic
of which the democracy forms a leading power, the diforder
originates in government; for the people muſt become idle, to
become vicious; and must firſt loſe attention to the common-
wealth, to have leifure for diffolutenefs and ruin in their private
capacities the depravity then re-operates, and the ftate-fyftem
once relaxed is broken or diffolved by the evils which its firſt
lofs of energy occafioned,-at the era when the fpirit of policy
and legiſlation became lulled and torpid, perhaps during times
of long and uninterrupted peace; or when, under the preffure
of general calamity, it yielded up the fenfe of public duties to
a confidence in, or to the influence of certain refplendent cha-
racters, too much, too long, and too highly elevated in the exe-
cutive trufts of government..
CHA P.
VIII.
KNOWING then to what evil, and to what part the preventa-
tive ſhould be directed, is there a panacea of ſufficient efficacy to
enfure fuccefs? Surely not! perhaps the moſt promiſing was the
fpecies of exile adopted in various republics of yore ;-the Pe- Diod. Sic.
taliſm of Argos and Syracufe; the Oftracifm [56] of Athens.
WHAT ingratitude, to profcribe the virtue that hath long
laboured for the public weal! What folly, to baniſh the man
whoſe abilities might be, as they have been the fupport of the
ſtate! What ill policy, to fend to foreign climes at once ſo uſeful
a friend, and ſo dangerous an enemy !-Such are objections which
occur on the immediate and firft view of the ſubject; but they
muſt as quickly yield to the ftronger reafons in favour of the
inftitution.
L. II.
Ariftot. Pol.
Lib. 3. Cap. 9.
K
IT
3
66
THE HISTORY OF ATHENS.
1,
CHAP.
VIII.
IT from time to time fnatched a dangerous prop from their
affairs, and bade the people awaken to their own fupport and
welfare; it made men wary of pre-eminence, and often taking
ſomewhat from the ever-growing matter of the executive ſcale,
anew balanced the commonwealth..
PUBLIC protection implies particular fubmiffion, and he who
ſubſcribes to fixed ordinances or laws, by feeking fecurity under
their ſhelter, hath no right to deprecate their penalties or pre-
cautions.
No character, in a free and equal community, can be of fuffi-
cient eminence to fuperfede the intereſts of ſtate, without dan-
ger that at fome finifter period, thoſe intereſts may be facrificed
to fome partial or felf-confideration: inaſmuch as the whole
outweighs the part, it is proper therefore to have the maxim
ever in view, that individual concerns fhould cede to general
"welfare, and that a citizen pays but a juſt debt to his country,
"were even life the demand.'
BUT is not the feceffion of the old ſtateſman or experienced
veteran, fraught with politics and diſcipline, a loſs to his coun-
try? and if a refentful exile, may he not prove an acceffion to
its enemies [57]?
WITH refpect to the pretended ability and knowledge, the
fuperiority is more dangerous than uſeful; in a wholeſome re-
public (and we are not now difcuffing the fubject of one cor-
rupted) a found and plain underſtanding is the moſt faithful,
and ſurely an adequate, guide in the ſtraight road of virtuous ad-
miniſtration; and whoever talks of the neceffarily difficult and
crooked paths of government, is to be fufpected of meaning
treachery on the way, and is to be guarded againſt, as one defi-
rous
BOOK THE
67
FIRST.
:
rous of bewildering thoſe he is hired to direct, that his infuf-
ficiency may be leſs apparent, or treaſons more fecure.
THAT the Oftracifm might appear to fome, and might ſome-
times be an unmerited perfecution; and that, in the bitterneſs
of refentment and difguft, an alienation of good-will might at-
tend a good man on his departure from the commonwealth, was
to be apprehended: every circumftance was ftudied therefore to
mitigate the evil; property was preferved and remitted during
the banishment; its time was limited; and the very exile was
honour.
CHAP.
VIII.
CHA P.
K 2
:
68
THE HISTORY OF ATHENS.
CHAP.
IX.
OF GOVERNMENTS
CHA P. IX.
OF THE ENERGY OF A NEWLY-FORMED
REPUBLIC OF THE PROGRESS OF ATHENS.
TH
HE diftinctions or authorities on which man founds his
claim to dominion over other creatures were of little
moment, had he not the means of enforcing fubjection and obe-
dience for this power he relies not on the firm texture of bone
or of finew; his ftrength depends not on the frame of his body,
but on the etherial ſpirit which animates it, on free volition
exercising intellect, and reciprocally [58] intellect tutoring
choice, till from the joint activity refult force of thought, in-
genuity, forefight, and courage; which latter is no other than
felf-confidence, deduced from the prior acquifitions.
THE more the mind is practiſed in this internal, or home-
education, the more varieties are left to its deliberation and to
its choice, the more elevated and perfect will it become; and
the greater fuperiority [59] will it give over all other animals,
whoſe faculties being confined to fixed and particular limits, are
not able to cope with thoſe who can indefinitely encreaſe their
own, or command extraneous forces, to mafter in contention, or
to affert in fovereignty.
THE fame circumftances which diftinguish man, and make
all other creatures abject flaves to his appetite and pleaſures, oc-
cafion too a difference in the fame fpecies; and relatively exalt
an individual, and even a whole people, in proportion as mental
advantages fhall have been their reſpective lot.
IN
BOOK THE FIRST.
69
In a defpotic government, fuppofing even the adminiſtration
to be juſt and wife, ftill muſt an inferiority in the point alluded
to, be unavoidable; whilft the higher clafs grow enervate in
over-abundance, and the poorer multitude are depreſſed to a mere
communion with the glebe; the minds of ſuch ſociety cannot
improve by the wholeſome education of general exigency work-
ing with general liberty; and long as the fuccefs of the number
refts on the quality of its conftituents, the Tartar will dethrone
the Chineſe, the favage will conquer the peafant, the free man
the flave.
CHAP.
IX.
As the genius and ſpirit of men become torpid, or loſt as it
were, under the uncontroulable command of one, it is natural
to ſuppoſe that an oppoſite arrangement will be of uſe to them,
and that they will become fuperior by affociating in fuch man-
ner, as leaſt to coerce the freedom of will, or hebetate by dif-
uſe the powers of mind in each individual; and a republic will
moſt effectually anſwer this important purpoſe, the conftitution
of which favours the equality and independance of each, as far
as may be compatible with the ſafety and union of all; of this
let the Athenians be my example: they (fays Herodotus) [60] Herodot.
"when under the controul of their kings, were of no account
"in Greece, but immediately on the fubverfion of the dynafty,
they became great, and by far greater, than the people which
"had hitherto held them in fo little eftimation."
""
IT may perhaps be obferved that this change appears too
ſudden, to agree with the previous theory; that the Athenians
feem rather infpired than taught; rather elevated by fome in-
ſtantaneous than chronical advantage; for they appear to have
anticipated all the progreffive wifdom of council on the firſt
emergency, and all the energy of action in their first enterprize.
Let it be remembered, that this people had been meliorated by
viciffitude,
Terpfich.
70
THE HISTORY OF ATHENS.
!
IX.
CHAP. viciffitude, and the falutary leffon of tranfient evil, rather than
benumbed by the oppreffion of a long tyranny; that ſome were
even fufficiently aged to remember [61] the prior times of li-
berty, and joyfully acknowledge the ftar, which brightened the
evening of their day, to have been the fame which gave glory
to its birth; many had paffed in exile the interval of uſurpation;
and all had fome particle of the fpirit of their forefathers yet
left-fome tale to tell of the miſeries of flavery, and of the blef-
fings of freedom-fome hereditary reafoning on private rights
and public duties. To this, be it added, that the first outfet of
a republic is ever marked with peculiar force and vigour: as
the limbs newly unfhackled, fo the mind liberated from the
weight of imperious coercion fprings with freſh elaſticity and
ardour to every object of activity: the people look up to their
new compact; the fentiment [62] precedes the principles of
freemen, and they firft fupport, they know not why, what they
afterwards find every reafon to fupport: the fpark of patriotiſm
firſt catches, or rather electrically pervades the whole band; nor
prematurely fails, but retains its light and heat till progreffive
virtue, wiſdom, and felicity give it fubftance to feed on and ex-
tend itſelf.
Herodot.
Terplich.
THE Spartans, when they liftened to the advice of the oracle,
and freed Athens from the defpotifm of the family of Pififtra-
tus, perhaps were actuated by religion; or perhaps, and more
probably, were influenced by ſome political motive: that ſelfiſh
ſtate (for ſelfiſh we ſhall find it throughout the whole courſe of
Grecian hiſtory, and the character may be deduced from its in-
ftitutions) was never moved by principles of philanthropy, or
fatisfied with the fentiment of difintereſted protection.
Ir is to be prefumed that fome error in policy occafioned their
ready compliance with the injunctions of the Pythian prieſteſs;
3
for
i..
BOOK THE FIRST.
71
IX.
for foon as they faw the tendency of the exploit, foon as they CHA P.
found that freedom was a gift incompatible with retribution,
that this fingular prefent placed the obliged at a diſtance from
the donor, and admitted not of the ordinary forms of fubmiffive
acknowledgment; they feem to have repented of their hafty
interpofition, and of having adopted a meaſure, which they too
late perceived, inſtead of rendering the Athenian people fubor-
dinate from gratitude to them-or weak from divifions among
themſelves-had raiſed a ſpirit of union and felf-confidence which
portended rivalſhip of character and dominion: and be it re-
marked, that when Cleomenes again unfheathed the fword, no
reverence of the will of heaven with-held his hand from an-
noying the people he had been ordered to fuccour and fave.
THE refult of the late attempt on the liberties of Athens, in
favour of the pretenfions of Ifagoras, ferved but to irritate the
haughty ſpirit of the Lacedæmonians; and the difmiffion of the
priſoners, inſtead of allaying their refentment, ſharpened it with
the ſenſe of ſhame: fuch obligation admits no medium of
gratitude; if it enfures not friendship, it enflames enmity.
Cleomenes was now gathering together a mighty force; and
other more neighbouring powers too fought to take advantage of
the new and unfettled ftate of the republic, and, looking upon
its wealth and territories as an eaſy prey, to join in the invaſion
and to participate the pillage.
Terplich.
THE Athenians faw, and prepared for the impending ſtorm;
every where they fought affiftance, and even fent to the Perfian
to proffer their friendſhip and alliance, and aſk an honourable Herodot.
and free fupport in this their diſtreſs: the great king queſtioned
with furprize the minifters of this new people; and finally ob-
ſerved, that it became them better to talk of homage, than of
equal amity before the lord of Afia; that he might be induced
to
72
THE HISTORY OF ATHENS.
CHAP.
IX.
Valer. Max.
L. 6. C. 3.
Herodot.
Terplich.
to protect them as vaffals, but could not deign to ferve them as
allies the ambaffadors unwarily condefcended to promife the
offering of "earth and water," the abject acknowledgment re-
quired on their return to Athens their conduct was cenfured,
and the terms of affiftance unanimously rejected.
THE Baotians had now penetrated into Attica on one fide;
the Chalcidenſes were depopulating the coaſts; and the Spartan
army, compofed of the chief youth of the ſtate, and infpirited by
the preſence of their two kings, had paſſed the iſthmus.
THE Athenians, contemning a merely defenfive part, marched
from their city, and prepared to affault the enemy with vigour :
the numbers, diſcipline, and valour of the Spartans demanded
their first attention, and to them they directed their firft onſet.
The Spartans awaited not the attack; their kings Cleomenes
and Demaratus differing with reſpect to the invafion, or to the
conduct of it, the diffention fo infected the whole army, that it
was not thought expedient, in fuch divided ſtate, to truſt a battle,
and they and their allies precipitately withdrew to their reſpec-
tive homes; and left the Athenians at liberty to repel the Boo-
tians, and to attack Chalcis; both of which expeditions were
crowned with fuccefs, and Athens grew up in renown and con-
fequence.
CHAP.
BOOK THE FIRST.
73
CHA P. X.
OF LIBERTY. -OF COLONIES OF THE FURTHER PROGRESS
OF ATHENS.
C¹
IVIL liberty [63] confifts in the fecure poffeffion of par-
ticular rights, ſtation, and property, not to be affected but
by the act of the individual who poffeffes them, or on the other
hand without infringement of fome political inftitution, tending
to a diffolution of the ſtate which afcertains and enfures them.
When a form of government circumfcribes the latitude of concef-
fion to its fubjects of equal rights and participation, civil liberty
is confined; when its policy and laws are inadequate to regular ad.
miniſtration, civil liberty is infecure. The pretenfions of a juft and
wife legiſlation are, ſo to measure out its proportions of benefit
and fecurity, and fo to temper public force with individual hap-
pineſs and eaſe, as to leave as little controul for the free-fpirited,
and as little licentioufnefs for the man of a quiet and homely
turn to make the ſubject of anxiety, as are compatible with each
other, and as abfolute neceflity requires.
MEN of an improved genius and capacity will yet ſometimes
push their idea of polity to a refinement, calculated to diſguſt
them with any inftitution they may be born fubject to; and men
too, in the extremities of an hot and active, or of a peaceable and
domeftic fpirit, will find wherewithal to colour their fituation
with diſcontent, and deprecate the coercion or freedom of a po-
litical conftitution, refpectively as they are fuited to enterprize
or quiet, to the forum of Rome, or farm at Tibur.
IT is certain that no diffatisfaction with the laws and govern-
ment of his country, whilft adminiſtered according to the ſpi-
L
rit
CHAP.
X.
74
THE HISTORY OF ATHENS.
X.
CHAP. rit of the inftitution, can authoriſe an individual to plot inno-
vations, ever pregnant with danger to the whole community;
and that the neceffity must be very obvious and preffing, and the:
authority of very many muft affent, to make any plea for commo-
tion expedient or juſt.
BUT happineſs, it will be faid, is the great end of all poli-
tical [64] ordonnance or arrangement; that ſtates may not be of
the beſt inſtitution, or that even thoſe of the beſt may have de-
viated from their firft principle: and furely it is equally hard for
a poliſhed and wife man to be aggrieved by the errors of a favage
anceftor; or to ftand with his head under a ruin, becauſe in a
better ſtate it had been a comfortable habitation to his fore-
fathers. This reafoning will have weight in every country
which permits not a free egrefs from its dominion; where fuch
emigration is reſtricted [65] (I fpeak generally and allowing for
exceptions), the canon is unjust, and agrees not with the great
axiom "Lex eft fumma ratio," for reafon favours the contentment
and good of each, when it interferes not with that of
any.
THAT a body of men may leave their native country, and
that fo doing they withdraw themſelves from the parent ſtate,
its protection and its powers, I think queſtions ſo inſeparable, that,
had not a contrary mode of reafoning been much and often en-
forced, I ſhould ſuppoſe the argument too obvious to render a
detail neceffary. Affuredly, thoſe who depart on a conditional
expedition, as they are benefited, ſo are they obligated by the
conditions thereof; but the voluntary exile, who ſeeks refuge in
the ſtorms of the ocean, and trufts his body to foreign climes
and exotic diet; who foregoes the delights of habit, and fweets
of long connection; who flies from ſo many attachments to ſo
much danger; flies not from diflike to his paternal glebe, or
habitual fociety; it is from want, or it is from diftreffes which
affect
BOOK THE FIRST.
75
X.
affect the mind more than want; or it is from fuppofed or real CHAP.
grievance of ſubjection that he eſcapes; and if the imperious
fway is to purſue him to his retreat, with all its diftreins on
property, and controul of perfon, the permiffion to quit the
ſhore is at beſt trivial and infulting.
THE Colony embarking for a region of fixed and regulated
ſociety, of courſe muſt acquieſce in the previous compact; but
landing on a yet unappropriated ſpot, have furely as juſt a right
to adopt the ſyſtem of aſſociation their prejudices or wiſdom
may ſuggeſt.
THIS was the reaſoning of old, and was fupported by the
demeanor of the ancient republics towards the various fettle-
ments formed in diftant parts, by their difgufted or neceffitous
citizens; for neceffity, or from over-population, or from other
cafualties incident to fociety, might often, and perhaps moft
frequently, occafion many to feek other fortunes, and another
country. Yet was not the ancient connection wholly loſt fight
of: the ſentiment of affinity, fimilarity of language, of
religion, and, in great degree, of political inſtitutions, muſt ever
in ſuch caſe lead nations to an intercourſe, to ſupport which,
commerce and alliance ftep in as coadjutors; and in all times of
exigency and danger affecting the mother country or colony, a
reciprocative plea for ſupport and affiftance exifts on ftronger, or
at leaſt on better grounds than thoſe of mere fovereignty and
ſubjection; grounds framed and cemented by the united feelings
and intereſts of mankind.
IT was from fuch fources, and from fuch fenfe of national
attachment, that originated the Perſian wars.
L 2
IT
76
THE HISTORY OF ATHENS.
CHAP.
X.
Chap. 3.
Strabo, L. 8.
IT hath been obſerved in a former chapter, that Athens had
early become fo populous, as to neceffitate the departure of its
fupernumerary citizens for other countries. Ionia was a name
common to Attica; the emigrants firft feized and gave that
appellation to the diſtrict of Aigialeia, where having long ſtood
the brunt of war for a fettlement, finally they were routed and
driven back to their native country by the Eoles and Achæi;
thence again they iffued forth, and fettled on the coafts of Caria
and its vicinities, where they built twelve cities, and eſtabliſhed
as many independant commonwealths. The early hiftory of
theſe republics is loft, poffibly with the fixth book of Diodorus,
or probably was not particularized by any author we now poffefs,
Herodot. Clio, as the first mention thereof by Herodotus curforily touches on
the conqueft of them by Crafus, and their being by him an-
nexed to the kingdom of Lydia: with Lydia they fell into the
hands of the Perfian: ftill, however, they were mindful of their
origin, and the commonwealths of their parent Greece, newly
liberated from their feveral dynaſties, inftilled a ſentiment of
emulation and indignant fhame, which at a favourable crifis
might have given birth to a revolution.
Corn. Nep. Vit.
Miltiad.
pom.
MILTIADES of Athens, who had newly thence led a colony
to, the Cherfonefe, judged that crifis to be arrived: Darius, with
all the chiefs and beft youth of Afia, were employed in the con-
Herodot. Mel- queft of Scythia; to facilitate the expedition, with
great labour
and art a bridge had been effected over the Danube, and thither
the army was now directing its retreat from the fnows and fa-
mine of the North. The pafs was guarded but by a ſmall de-
Ctefias in Perf. tachment, and Miltiades propoſed to the chiefs of the Greek
fettlements to mafter the guard, and then, breaking down the
bridge, to leave Darius and his troops to perish in the colds and
dearth of Scythia; and thus deſtroying at once the tyrant and
the inftruments of his tyranny, at leifure to form fuch political
eſtabliſhments
5
BOOK THE
77
FIRST.
eſtabliſhments as were confonant to their ideas of juſtice, or CHAP.
claims to liberty.
pom.
X.
THE aristocracies and petty tyrants of each province felt their Herodot.Mel-
private intereſts claſh with this hardy propofal; and Hiftiæus
of Miletus particularly remarking to his fellow defpots, " that
"his and their authority exifted but in fubordination to the
"Perfian; and that nullifying the lieutenancy of his power,
"they gave up their own;" the fcheme of Miltiades met
with general diſapprobation; and perceiving himſelf to be no Terplich
longer of fervice to his own, or any other colony, he returned
to a private fituation in his native Athens.
ejufd.
He had, however, awakened the fpirit of the Afiatic Greeks, Ibid.
and left them prone to revolt, whenever the opinion of their
leading men ſhould cede to the voice of the people; and foon
they did cede, from factious and ſelfiſh paffions, what they had
denied to more generous and public views; and when the happy
opportunity was paft, engaged in a conteft, as difhonourable
from motive, as ruinous in confequence.
ARISTAGORAS the Milefian, counteracted in his views to the Ibid.
conqueft of Naxos by Artabatus the Perfian general, and thus urged
by refentment to difaffection, was the prime inſtigator of the
rebellion; in conjunction with his kinfman Hiftiæus, he affifted
each city in the expulfion of their Perfian governors, and joining
the cry of liberty and independency, fheltered his private enmity
and weakneſs in the public caufe of all the Grecian fettlements
on the coafts of Afia. Ariftagoras, not even with theſe adhe-
rents feeling himfelf equal to a conteft with the great king, re-
curred to Greece for affiftance, as from the colonies to the mo-
ther country he firft applied to Sparta; but his declamation
was ill-fuited to the iron affembly of Lacedæmon; an appeal to
philanthropy,
78
THE HISTORY OF ATHENS.
X.
Herodot.
Terpfich.
Justin, L. 2,
C
€ 5.
CHAP. philanthropy, and the fentimental claims of diftant affinity, a
tale of diſtreſs, and the confciouſneſs of a noble kindneſs, and
difintereſted protection, were topics better fuited to an audience
that reſpected the fofter paffions of humanity. To Athens he
next applied, and there was received with all honour and hofpi-
tality; fuccour was unanimoufly voted, and quickly an arma-
ment of twenty fail was ready to join the confederate forces of
Ionia: this exertion was the more glorious on the part of Athens,
as fhe was at that very period in expectation of a powerful at-
tack on her own people and country.
Herodot,
Terplich.
CLEOMENES nurtured a rooted enmity, nor yet forewent the
idea of fubverting the republic, the fpirited exertions of which
had ſo often worſted and diſgraced him: in hopes that ſome
partizans of Hippias might yet be found in Attica to give a
treacherous welcome to his invafion, he purpofed making that
tyrant the inſtrument of his vengeance; and inviting him to
the Peloponnefe, promifed to reinftate him in the power he had
been the means of depriving him of. The Achæans, and other
allies of Sparta, were, however, previously to be confulted; a con-
greſs was called; and the refult of the debate unexpectedly proving
inimical to their defigns, overwhelmed the king and his pro-
tected fugitive with confufion and diſappointment. Soficles of
Corinth particularly inveighed againſt the horrors and injuſtice
of tyranny; reproved the rancour of Cleomenes, and chid the
Lacedæmonians for favouring a fyftem of oppreffion in other
countries, the eſtabliſhment of which they fo well knew the
evils of, and fo well guarded againſt, within the precincts of
their own government; and in fine peremptorily told them,
they were not to expect that Corinth (whofe delegate he was)
"would further abet a ſcheme of defpotiſm, which, in their
"own ſtate, too fatal experience had fully evinced was replete
"with danger and iniquity."
66
4
THE
BOOK THE FIRST.
79
THE other deputies coincided with the opinion of Soficles, CH a p.
and deaf to all menace or interceffion, returned peaceably to their
reſpective countries.
X.
Juftin. L. 2.
C. 9.
HIPPIAS, fruftrated in his views of fuccour from the Pelo-
ponnefe, withdrew to Afia, and availing himſelf of the reſent-
ment borne to the Athenians, from their ſupport given to the
revolted provinces, perfuaded the king to countenance his pre-
tenfions to the fovereignty of Attica: It was at this time that
the armament of the colonies attacked and burnt the city of
Sardis; and Darius, exafperated thereby, vowed vengeance againſt
the Athenians for their interpofition, and gave a readier ear to Elian.Fragm.
the proffers and entreaties of Hippias.
ap. Suid.
CHAP.
80
THE HISTORY OF ATHENS.
CHAP.
XI.
CHA P. XI.
OF THE FIRST PERSIAN WAR--CONDEMNATION OF MILTIADES
FURTHER THOUGHTS CONCERNING THE OSTRACISM.
Bacon's Ef
Lays.
7
UN
NDER certain points of view, and in a certain degree, it
is a juft axiom of lord Verulam's, That man is, but what
he knows the extent then of his knowledge, is that of his ex-
cellence, to the attainment of which opportunities muſt coin-
cide with the capacity thereof; and it is not alone the primary
circumſtances of birth, the peculiar rareneſs of the ſpirits, or
quality of their channels, or what elſe to be acted upon by cli-
mate, or other natural contingency, that can fingly elevate the
human character; but a further and more refined combination of
influences is requifite; of influences originating not from the
material, but mental world, not from the temperature of foil
or air, or even temperament of parents; but from the pre-eſta-
bliſhed order of fociety, the prefcriptive objects of its ingenuity,
ſtudy, emulation, and eſteem.
THE advantages of country in a phyfical fenfe, it will readily
be granted, are not alone equivalent to thoſe of country under
the political purport of the word: it yet remains for confidera-
tion, how far thefe may agree? whether the vertical funs,
which, according to many ancient and modern fophifts, are fo
favourable to a finer texture of the brain, are not oppreffive to
its further ftrength and energy? whether quickneſs is not in-
compatible with ftability? and, as man is not fo much excellent
from the gift of poffeffing, as from the faculty of acquiring, whe-
ther the retentive and progreffive powers incident to thoſe born
under lefs brilliant fkies, give not, in the courfe of time and
things,
BOOK THE FIRST.
81
XI.
things, a national fuperiority, made and ſtrengthened by gradual CHAP.
and improved accumulation, which the more vivacious children
of the fun muſt ever look up to in defpair? the moſt etherial
genius born to the community, finding no previous common
ſtock of method for its direction, or of knowledge for its baſis,
no previous grounds of acquirement whereon to build or im-
prove ſyſtems for the ufe of, and to further again the progreſs of
poſterity? Avoiding a too long and digreffive train of reaſoning,
I leave it to the reader's ingenuity to ſeek, and ſupply theſe que-
ries with, the proper folution; to deduce levity from fancy,
and ignorance from inaction; to mark the paffions born of indo-
lence ftifling reaſon in its birth; and then, to account-why
Eaſtern genius hath gleamed in metaphor, rather than fhone in
poem ;-why fancied, rather than thought in fcience ;-why ori-
ginated, and not perfected menial trades, and even the finer arts;
-grafting the firſt ſhoots of knowledge, why left it to others to
mature the fruit;-and (touching home to the fubject) to deve-
lope why the people of Afia, dreading the recondite theories and
active practice of republicanifm, have ever fought, and do ftill
feek ſhelter from the diſtreſs of employ, and pain of thought,
under torpid fubmiffion to a deſpot.
MONTESQUIEU hath entered into a difquifition concerning L'Esprit des
phyſical effects on the conftitution of men and ſtates: through- Loix, L. 17.
out the annals of mankind, I know not a period more fully de-
monſtrative of his theories, and of the influence of government
on men, and of climate on both, than the times of conteſt be-
twixt Greece and Perfia.
If hiſtory is philofophy teaching by example, never did it
teach in a more nervous ſtrain, the leffon of contempt for ty-
ranny, and of love and admiration for a ſtate of freedom.
M
DARIUS
82
THE HISTORY OF ATHENS.
CHAP.
XI.
Herodot,
Terplich.
Ejuld. Erato.
Herodot. Era-
to.
Erato.
Paufan, in Co-
rinth.
Elian. L. 12.
C.10.
Plut. in The
mift. Vit.
Strabo. L. 8.
DARIUS needed not the flave's admonition, who was ordered
every morning and evening to remind him of Athens; Hippias
was too vigilant an incendiary to omit any occafion of making
the king's refentment fubfervient to his own interefts and defigns.
As foon as the rebellion in Ionia was quelled, and the Perfian,
freed from inteftine commotions, could fafely lead his forces
abroad, the affiduity of Hippias prevailed, and Darius ſent his
miniſters to demand homage of the diverſe ſtates of Greece, and
particularly to deliver his mandate to Athens, to ſubmit at dif-
cretion to his power, and to receive Hippias as his delegate:
the Athenians, not fatisfied with treating this embaffy with
contempt, ftrove in other parts to procure it a fimilar recep-
tion; and if any city yielded tokens of fubmiffion from motives
of lucre or fear, they plainly declared that neutrality was not
admiffible, and that all who entered not into the common cauſe
with the ardour of friends, were to be regarded as enemies.
The Æginetans were among thoſe who liſtened to the proffers
or menaces of the Perfian; or, as Herodotus intimates, from
enmity to the Athenians, their ancient rivals on the feas, and
now become too powerful for them to cope with, unleſs aided
by fuch ftrong alliance as at this period offered itſelf.
ÆGINA was an iſland [66], which of a flat and ſtoney foil, had
from the very firft neceffitated its inhabitants to feek ſuſtenance
from the feas; the bark was foon improved into the veffel, the
troop of fishermen became a nation of merchants, and its naval
experience and power, during the ufurpations at Athens, had ar-
rogated the dominion of the feas.
ATHENS, when liberated from the Pififtratida, with her
freedom refumed her commerce and naval fpirit; hence dif-
7
1
putes,
BOOK THE FIRST.
83
XI.
putes, hence bloody contentions, fucceffively aroſe between thefe CHA P.
too neighbouring rivals; for Ægina was within fight of Attica,
and emphatically termed the "eyefore of the Piraeus." Peri- Plut. Vit. Pe-
cles and Demades diſpute the apothegm.
ricl.
Athenæus.
L. 3.
Terplich.
HOSTILITIES had lately enfued between theſe naval powers, Herodot.
on the ſubject of certain images made of the facred olive, given
by Athens to Epidaurus, and by force carried off from Epidau-
rus by the Æginetans: the interference of the Delphic oracle
had terminated this " holy war," at the moment when the
iſlanders were finking under fuperior force: the Athenians had
fubmitted to the oracular injunction of a thirty years truce, dur-
ing which they were to build a fane to Æacus: the fane was
built; and this condition being complied with, national enmity
compromiſed with fuperftition, and nought but a pretext for in-
fringement of the truce was wanting to expedite an attack on
the fleets and territories of Ægina.
to.
THE prefent conduct of the Æginetans in tendering "earth Herodot. Era-
"and water" to the Perfian, opened an occafion of commencing
hoftilities too fpecious and too honourable to be paffed over :
this iſland being however under fome engagements of ſubordi-
nate alliance with the Spartan, it was first thought proper to
demand chaſtiſement at the hands of the fovereign state, of
that people, who had acted in a manner derogatory to the ho-
nour of Greece, had fpurned the compact of its affociated ci-
ties, and had entered into the views of its common enemy.
The Spartans gave ear to the remonftrance, and taking ten of the
chief citizens from Ægina, fent them hoftages to Athens, in
fecurity for the fidelity of their countrymen: theſe again quickly
made repriſals on the coafts of Attica, and after various alterca-
tion, a naval war broke out between Ægina and Athens, and was
M 2
Herodot. Po-
lvmn.
fome Thucyd. L. 1.
$ 14.
84
THE HISTORY OF ATHENS.
CHAP.
XI.
Corn. Nep.
Vit. Themift.
Corn. Nep.
Vit. Miltiad.
Herodot. Era-
to.
Ibid.
fic.
fome time carried on with various fuccefs, but with uniform ani-
mofity and exertion.
THESE Conteſts with Ægina merit our attention, as they mark
the progrefs of, and have their ſhare in accounting for the Athe-
nian greatneſs at fea, for thofe "wooden walls" [67] which fo
ſuddenly roſe up, the fafeguard and bulwark of Greece. The
expedition to the coast of Ionia, and fiege of Sardis, had
awakened the fpirit, and improved the means of naval arma-
ments; and the Æginetan wars had further taught the ſhip-
builder and engineer the advantages of their art, and had given
the mariner the courage and dexterity of habit.
THE forces of Darius, to the amount of two hundred thou-
fand foot, and ten thouſand horfe, were now muftered in Cilicia,
and ready for embarkation: fix hundred veffels of war were al-
ready hovering on the coafts, and this formidable armament tak-
ing on board the troops, immediately pointed its courſe to Eu-
bæa: the city of Eretria in that iſland, had likewiſe given fome
ſupport to the infurgents of Ionia; and Datis, the Perfian ge-
neral, was ordered by his king to bring the whole of that and
the Athenian people in chains to the foot of his throne.
THIS haughty mandate, and the mighty force deſtined to its
Ctefias in Per- accompliſhment, intimidated the independant republics, and
turned the attention of all from inteftine broils to the means of
common fafety in vain however the iſlands boaſted the parade
of oppofition to fo numerous an enemy; they were quickly
over-run and defpoiled; even Eretria made but a ſhort reſiſt-
ance; and Datis, having thus in part effected his commiffion,
ſent a multitude of every age and fex to await the fentence of
Darius. Four thouſand men, whom Athens had generouſly af-
forded
BOOK
85
THE
THE FIRST.
forded in fuccour, were as generouſly difmiffed by the Eretrians,
previous to the moment of defpair, that furrendered up their li-
berties; and they opportunely returned to join in the defence
of their native country.
"6
CHA P.
XI.
Miltiad.
Herodot. Era.
to.
"THE Perſian camp is pitched on the plains of Marathon, Corn. Nep. Vit,
"let us (faid Miltiades) let us meet them with ardour in the
field; vain is the idea of fafety within theſe walls; impa-
"tience of confinement, and the feelings of hardship, of ap-
prehenfion, or of intereft, ever have, and ever will beget
treachery; and ſhould not this be the cafe, ftill the firft emo-
"tion of courage deadens, unleſs animated by the heat of enter-
prize; the ſpirit of men lofes force in a divifion of poſts;
"embody your citizens, lead them undauntedly forth, and emu-
"lation and patriotifm will effect wonders."
• C
<<
C. 9.
to.
THE advice of Miltiades was adopted; and how juft was the
reaſoning, and how provident of events, every after circumftance Juftin, L. 2.
will evince. During the conflict at Marathon (the particulars Herodot. Era-
of which I think it inconfequential to recite) a ſhield was by
fome traitor-hand held up at Athens, as a fignal to the Perſian
fleet that the walls were vacate; but the citizens returned in
time from the completion of their victory, to fruftrate the treach-
ery and repel the invaders.
THE Commonwealth began now to feel and to glory in the
effects of its happy eſtabliſhment; the first means of its liberty
were recalled to mind, the first moment was fanctified, the firft
authors venerated: the deed of Ariftogeiton and Harmodius was Paufan.in Att.
again held up to public view; decree enfued decree in honour of
the Tyrannicides; no flave was ever after to bear thofe names;
their martyrdom was a ſubject configned to the chorus at the
Panathenæan
86
THE HISTORY OF ATHENS.
CHAP.
XI.
Plin. Hift. Nat.
L. 34. C. 4,
& 8.
Miltiad.
Panathenæan feftival [68], and their ftatues were anew raiſed in
brafs, and worked by the hand of Praxiteles.
THE wiſdom and valour of Miltiades were crowned [69] too
Corn. Nep.Vit. with marks of public favour and renown; his portrait was paint-
ed at the head of the ten generals, who led forth the ten thou-
fand brave citizens of Athens to the conqueft of twenty times
their number; and the hero was contented with his reward.
Paufan. in
Mellen.
Corn. Nep.Vit.
Miltiad.
Herodot, Era-
to.
WHEN pecuniary, or other recompence [70] of worldly value
is beſtowed on a great or good deed, and the gift to virtue is the
fame with the hire of vice, the diftinction is much impaired ;
and the purity of the motive no longer being afcertained, the
action is no longer in the fame manner ennobled by the reward:
the high-minded difdaining to receive in common with thoſe of
fordid views, the incentive of glory lofes ground, and the hopes
of payment enlarge their influence, till in fine, the unworthy
alone puſh forward to notice and retribution, through means
corrupting and deftructive to the commonwealth. Public virtue
is then loft, and with it the republic.
THE Perfian forces were effectually repulfed, and now retired
homeward in difmay: feventy veffels were fitted out from Athens
to fcour the feas, and to levy fines on fuch of the islands, as by
apoftacy to the common cauſe, or by a neutral policy, had avoided
the danger, and were now to enjoy the fruits of victory. A
contribution from thefe ftates was deemed a juft demand, and
Miltiades was fent at the head of the fleet to command and en-
force the impoft his firft deftination was to Paros, where being
diſappointed in his purpoſe, and feverely wounded too in the at-
tempt, he returned fuccefslefs and difpirited to Athens. The
people were aſtoniſhed at the repulfe! an Athenian armament,
and
BOOK THE FIRST.
87
XI.
and under the conduct too of Miltiades was to be irrefiftable! CHAP.
the leader furely muſt have betrayed the duties of his command,
and have tampered with the Perfian, or very iſlands he was fent
to tax or puniſh! Difcontent often gives birth to general rumour,
and rumour to particular fufpicion: the conduct of Miltiades
was arraigned and condemned, and a heavy fine impofed, from
the weight of which, and of his country's difpleaſure, he was
freed by a fudden death, the confequence of the wound received Paufan.inA.
in its fervice.
INGRATITUDE [71] is a topic on which the declaimer rivets
the attention of his audience: it touches home to the felfifh-
nefs of benevolence; it excites an irkfome fenfe of the intereſt
generofity takes in expected retribution; and anger, from diffa-
tisfaction of the confcience thus awakened to itſelf, irritates and
vexes the mind with the object that occafioned it: the fources
of fuch emotion we are not willing to fift to the bottom, but
haftily attribute it to an antipathy of thofe void of liberality,
and of the fentiment thereof: but the worst men entertain a
fenſe of conferring, if not of receiving an obligation; they too
ſtart with horror at the fame tale of benefit ill repaid; the
quality of their mite of goodneſs is equally dear, and the proof
of the alloy equally diftrefsful. It must be the facility hence of
awakening the paffions, and interefting the perfons addreffed, or
felf-deception, or mifapplication of the term, that hath betrayed
fo many writers, and fpeakers too, into the abfurdity of ha-
ranguing on the ingratitude of a collective ſtate towards a fub-
ject thereof; as if in any vicious fenfe (and in any other fenfe I
think the word hath no meaning) a republic could be ungrateful
to a conſtituent thereof!
It is a mark of general depravity, when felf-adulation exalts
the mere duties of life: a juft idea of what we owe to our
L'Esprit des
C. 5. &L.5.
Loix, L. 4.
C, 3.
country,
88
THE HISTORY OF ATHENS.
XI.
Mach. Difc.
L. I. C. 58.
.66
CHAP. Country, precludes all works of fuperorogation in the pure faith
of patriotiſm as in that of religion; when we have done all
we can, we have done but what we ought in the leffer, as in
the more general ſyſtem, we ſhould with refignation often con-
fider a private evil as a public benefit; and reverence the "vox
populi [72],” if not as that of God, yet as worthy to be held in
fecondary regard. Each citizen who affembled for the Oftra-
cifin, or other mode of júdicature, met to confider of the fafety
and weal of the republic; from the moment that he was in his
public capacity, no other than public views were to influence
his vote; the queftion was not, whether the man proceeded
againſt had hitherto been of fervice, but whether in future he
might be of differvice, to the ſtate; he was to confider himſelf
as an advocate retained on the part of his country; that its
fafety and well-being then and thenceforward depended on his
voice, and that it was not juftifiable to reject the mereſt furmiſe
of danger to many, in favour to one; no luftre of private cha-
racter was to dazzle and draw his attention from the common
weal; if a thought of the man intruded, it was derogatory to
Corn.Nep.Vit. the duty of the citizen :-" Miltiades behaved justly in the
"Cherfonefe;"" True, but he there affumed the enfigns and
Miltiad.
Suid. ad Verb.
Miltiad.
Vit. Miltiad.
honours of royalty;"-" His manners are plaufible, his eloquence
popular, his valour approved;"-" It was the very character of
Pififtratus;"-"Remember the victory at Marathon ;"-"Doth
"not himself remember it too much ?"-" His enmity with the
"Perfian king muſt ſurely be irreconcileable, for could Darius
forget the hardy propofal made on the banks of the Danube?"
Aye! but when Tiffaphernes fent ftores to Attica, it was on the
interceffion, and to the faith of Miltiades alone, that he would
confign them.”—Says Nepos," Hac populus refpiciens maluit
"eum innoxium plecti, quam fe diutiùs eſſe in timore [73].”
66
66
CHAP.
BOOK THE FIRST.
89
T
CHAP.
XII.
OF THE SECOND PERSIAN WAR.
CHAP.
XII.
D
ARIUS, irritated by the defeat, was gathering together Herodot. Po-
from Bath fores,
the fugitives from Marathon, levying anew forces, build-
ing fhips, and every way preparing a vaſt armament to cruſh and
extirpate the very name of Athens, when death ftept in between,
and
put a fudden ſtop to his career of vanity, rage, and folly.
lymn.
L. 3.
lymn.
A YOUNG and ignorant youth upon the throne; a minifter Ibid.
facrificing truth, honour, and the welfare of a whole people to Plat. de Leg.
his private purpofe; that purpoſe fought with the meaneft adu-
lation; and that adulation oppoſed in vain, and with danger too,
to the honeft diffentient;-a fcene now become common-place
on the great theatre of the world, was then played in the coun-
cil chamber of Perfia: Xerxes opens the debate with much ig-
norance, and much arrogance; Mardonius avails himſelf of the
one, and flatters the other; the ſpeech of Artabanus I cannot ſo
lightly paſs over: "Give ſome attention [74] (faid he) O king, Herodot. Po-
"to adverſe counſels; the value of the previous opinion will
"then have ſome teft; the found quality of advice is to be af-
"certained by oppofition alone. Where is this prowefs, that the
"Greeks are to find ſo irrefiftable? Failed it not in Scythia?
"failed it not in Attica? how few intrepid men there braved
"the affault of myriads! how fully did they evince that cou-
66 rage and unanimity could conquer in defpight of multitude!
"And this bridge over the Hellefpont! is it fo foon then for-
gotten, how nearly Darius, and all the flower of Perfia were
betrayed, and left victims to the colds and dearth of Scythia? I
"fhudder
66
દહ
N
90
THE HISTORY OF ATHENS.
CHAP.
XII.
Herodot. Po-
lymn.
Ibid.
Diod. Sic.
L. 11.
Plut. Vit.The-
mift.
Herodot. Po-
lymn.
<<
66
ſhudder at the thought, that the fate of our king, our all, were
dependant on a fingle voice, and that too of Hiftiæus, the
“ traitor !—But fuppofing this armament, this mighty fleet,
"theſe numerous troops to be invincible, can they fubdue too
"the elements? Your bridge, and your ſhips, may they not be
"fhattered by ftorms? or is armour proof againſt peftilence or
"famine? It is not the force of myriads that can oppoſe the
"will of heaven; as its thunders fpare the lowly object, and
"beat down the oak or palace, fo God delights in abafing the
65
arrogance of human defigns, and depreffes the mightier, and
"elevates the weaker power! for know, O king, that God,
66
jealous of the fentiment of felf-greatness, permitteth it but
"to himself alone!" This fpeech, which I have taken from
Herodotus, was received with contempt, and anfwered with
paffion; the ſpeaker was called coward and dotard, and the ex-
pedition intended by Darius was adopted and refolved upon the
debate then clofed, the curtain dropt, and, according to the
known inverfion of the political theatre, the farce being ended,.
the tragedy was to begin.
LET us pafs over the mufters and march of the army; and,
having viewed twelve hundred ſhips fail in an artificial channel
cut through mount Athos, and having viewed a million [75] of
foldiers with an innumerable train of women, flaves, and other
followers, paſs the ftupendous bridge over the Hellefpont, let
us haften and follow Xerxes, and thefe multitudes, to their camp
near Tempe in Theffaly.
THE ftorm rumbled from afar, and Greece awakened to the
found! a general council was called, every private pretenfion
and conteſt was waved, levies were ordered, taxes impoſed, al-
liances fuggeſted, and every means of defence explored, argued,
and expedited. Synætus the Spartan, and Themistocles frora
Athens,
F
BOOK THE FIRST.
gr
;
CHAP.
XII.
Athens, were immediately fent forward with ten thouſand men
to meet the Perfian, to folicit adherence to the common caufe,
to fix the wavering, to attach the diffentient; and, every where
collecting what troops they could, to harraſs the invaders, and,
cutting off their provifions and forage, to retard their progrefs;
and afford the Grecian council time to think and order beft for the
common fecurity. Theſe generals were in many parts unfuc-
cefsful ſome ſtates were alienated by difguft, the generous
wiſhes of ſome were repreffed by inability or fear, and others,
whofe patriotiſm had yielded to motives of lucre, deigned not
even to plead prefent eaſe or danger, but openly abetted the de-
figns of the public enemy.
The emiffaries diſpatched in queſt
of fuccour from Apulia and Sicily, met not with a more fa-
vourable reception; they enlifted but one fmall detachment from
Crotone under Phayllus: the Carthaginians intimidated by the Herod. Uran.
vicinity of Ægypt (then a province of the Perfian empire) had
entered into alliance with Xerxes, and the part affigned them, Diod. Sic.
was to keep the Greek fettlements in Italy, and in Sicily, too
fully employed, to anyways afford affiftance to the mother-
country. Under theſe accumulated diftreffes and diſappoint-
ments, it was judged expedient to ftudy every means of pro-
tracting the war; and heaven [76] in default of other allies, Plat. de Leg.
might perhaps abet ſo juſt a caufe, and with difeafe, tempeft, or
famine, vex and diminiſh their enemies. Leonidas and the Spar-
tans undertook to retard for fome time the Perfian inroad into
Greece; at the paſs of Thermopyla bravely and defperately Herodot. Po-
they effected their purpofe; refifted for many days the whole lymn.
Perfian army under the advantage of fituation, nor quitted it Lacon.
but with their lives.
L. II. S. 10.
L. 3.
Paufan. in]
Front, in
Stratag. L. 2.
C. 3.
to.
In the war with Darius, we faw the Athenians firmly difpute Herodot. Era-
the field of battle, we ſaw the unanimity of patriots ſubſtitute
to the difcipline of foldiers, produce as combined and as irre-
N 2
fiftable
92
THE HISTORY OF ATHENS.
XII.
CHAP. fiftable a force; we are now to view them in a different ſcene of
action, to behold them driven vagabond to the feas, and in this
their diſtreſs opening another fluice, and ruſhing in a new chan-
nel to honour and dominion.
Diod. Sic.
L. II.
Ifocrat. Pa-
nath.
Herodot.
Uran.
Plut. Vit.
Themift.
Diod. Sic.
L. II.
Ifocrat. Pa.
neg.
THE Confederate fleet was ſtationed near Artemifium [77] in
Eubea; the Perfian admiral fent round three hundred veffels to
block up this armament in the narrow ftreight, which divides
that iſland from the continent, and intercept them if attempting
to eſcape. This haughty indication of fuperiority awakened
the indignation of the Greeks; and that, and deſpair of flight,
urged them to await the conflict with the fullen refolution of
thoſe who foreſee and are prepared for the worſt.
THOUGH the Athenians, from regard to the common union,
waved all pretenfions to the fupreme command, yet Eurybiades,
the Spartan leader, in every cafe of difficulty recurred to the
genius of Themiftocles this Athenian was endowed with a
larger portion of etherial ſpirit than in the munificence of na-
ture is often allotted to one man; daring in enterprize, cool in
action, of a forefight like prophecy, a comprehenfion intuitive,
and a memory (as himſelf declared) retentive even to a pain, was
this extraordinary character; and it quickly gained an aſcendancy
which no political arrangements could preclude. Was the com-
mander of Sparta, of Tegeæa, or Ægina, or aught other ftate,
ftill to Themistocles every mind looked up for ſcheme, every
eye for example: he perceived that the ſpirit of his countrymen
deadened in inaction, he well knew that defence was of a flug-
gifh caft, that attack anticipated the air of triumph; and he ac-
cordingly uſed every art to perfuade them to provoke the com-
bat, and go forth and affail the Perfian detachment: he fuc-
ceeded, and the conflict, though not decifive, gave the allied
Greeks better hopes of victory; it fhowed that valour had its
fuperiority
BOOK THE FIRST.
93
*
fuperiority as well as multitude, and taught them for the future CHAP.
to regard diſparity of force as diftinct from that of numbers.
66
<<
your
XERXES and his army were now advanced towards Attica; the
country was depopulated, the city defencelefs; "Shall we then
forfake our fhips? the wooden walls which the oracle def-
"tined for our bulwark? No (faid Themistocles) rather let us
recur to them for the ſafety of our wives, our children, our
"all that is dear to us: grieve not at the battering of
ramparts, or conflagration of your town; the republic lives
not in its edifices, but in its men; not the city, but the citi-
"zens make the ſtate; ſave them, and Athens is ftill great, and
may yet be happy."
be happy." This defperate [78] reſource was adopt-
ed; and thoſe whom fex, decrepitude, or infancy rendered unfit
for ſervice, were depoſited in Salamis, Ægina, and other neigh-
bouring iſlands, to await better times for their reſtoration to their
native gods and country.
CC
<c
In the chain of affection patriotism appears a neceffary link
intermediate to focial love and general philanthropy: the man
who loves not his country can be no very warm friend to man-
kind: thus we find the Athenians ſhowed more ardour for, and
more benevolence to, the common caufe, than any other of the
Greeks; the Spartans indeed were equally attached to their
Sparta, but not equally to the common welfare; to account for
this exception we must obferve, that inftitution with them im-
proved not nature, but fupplaced nature with habit; that habit
tranfcends not its practice, and that their devotion was thus
bounded by the maxims and exerciſe of duty preſcribed to the
narrow circle of their own ftate.
XII.
Corn.Nep. Vit.
Themift.
Frontin. Strat.
L. 1. C. 3.
Herodot.
Uran.
Ctefias in Perf
MUCH as Athens had fuffered, and conftant as fhe was in her Ifocrat. Pa-
fufferings, the allies were little willing to rifque any thing for
neg.
9
her
94
THE HISTORY OF ATHENS.
XII.
Corn. Nep.
Vit Themift.
Diod. Sic.
L. 11.
Herodot.
Uran.
chid. Orat.
ઃઃ
CHA P. her fupport or confolation: a ſelfiſh ſyſtem of conduct was
adopted; the fortification of the iſthmus, and the ſtation of the
fleet on the coafts of the Peloponnefe, were determined on by
the confederates, whofe territories lay in thofe parts: Themifto-
cles forefaw the dangers of this narrow policy,—that the different
detachments quitting the general rendezvous were likely to quit
the common caufe; fome would retire to their native harbours,
fome fell their freedom, and fome feek it on a diftant and unmo-
leſted ſhore: And were the Athenian wives and daughters to be
left defenceless, and devoted to all the outrage of captivity?
were the people to be forfaken, who had forfaken their all, to
Ifocrat. Ar- preferve their faith, and take ſo hardy a part in the perils too of
others? Some of the Greeks went fo far as to object to the
Athenian voice in council, to cavil at their very exiſtence as a
ſtate, and to baſely twit them with the lofs of that country, which
they had given up from fuch public-fpirited and noble motives :
incenſed at the infult, the Athenians declared, " they ſtill had,
"and ſhould foon diſplay their confequence; that they would
depart for Siris in Italy, the propitious ſpot of fettlement
pointed out to them by the oracle; and the Peloponnefians
"would then feel how much force they had loft, and ſeverely
rue the infolence of their prefent deportment." This me-
nace occafioned at leaſt fome hefitation
; and Themiftocles
availed himſelf of the moment of delay to fruſtrate the ſcheme
of retreat, and force an engagement: he found means of in-
forming Xerxes of the intended departure, and with fpecious
argument, and under the maſk of treaſonable friendſhip, per-
fuaded him to intercept the pafs, and attack the Grecians when
in the diforder and difmay of flight: the ftratagem fucceeded,
the Perfian fleet blocked up the road; and Themistocles then
apprizing the confederates of the impracticability of eſcape, ne-
ceffity held the place of virtue, and they prepared for the
combat.
Herodot.
Uran.
Justin. L. 2.
C. 13.
Front. Stra-
tag. L. 2.
C. I.
6.6
66
7
ON
BOOK THE FIRST.
95
ON one fide behold the naval force of half the known world,
and, amidſt a croud of uncouth names and barbarous novelties,
obferve too the moſt experienced and renowned of maritime na-
tions, the veteran failors of the ifles, of the Euxine fea, and of
Ægypt; remark too three hundred veffels from Sidonia and Sy-
ria, and manned by thoſe Phoenicians whoſe prowess and practice
are the favourite themes of antiquity!
a
CHA P.
XII.
Diod. Sic.
L. 11.
Herodot. Po..
lymn. & Ura
Æfchyl. Perf.
Trag.
On the other part view the armament of the Greeks; a fmall Ibid.
but defperate band, not equalling in numbers of their fleet
fourth part [79] of the enemy's, but ftill placing a forlorn hope Ctefias in Perf.
of victory in the reſolution to die for it.
C. 10.
•
Juftin. L. 2.
Frontin. Stra-
tag. L. 2. C.3,
THEMISTOCLES ftudied every means to leffen or baffle the fu-
periority of the enemy: he tampered with the Afiatic Greeks,
and making them, or making them feem inclinable to defert,
rendered them ſuſpicious to the king, and they were not per-
mitted to mingle in the combat: he artfully contrived to draw
the Perfians into the narrow feas, where the previous orders and
arrangements of fo crouded a fleet were impeded and broken,
and in the moment of embarraſſment he gave the ſignal of attack;
the Greeks ruſhed with impetuofity into the midst of the enemy,
funk fome veffels, difordered the whole body, forced many on
thore, and many finding their very efforts to engage fruitlefs,
withdrew from the ſcene of action. In this battle, the Athe-
nians were ſtationed oppofite to the Phoenician fquadron, and
thus bore the hotteſt brunt of the engagement, till their expe-
rienced adverſaries, together with the whole Perfian fleet, were Ctefias in Perf.
nearly deſtroyed,-five hundred of their ſhips being funk or taken :
thus glorious and decifive was the victory of the Greeks.
Though many ſhips were funk, and many ſtranded, yet it was
to be ſuppoſed, that of ſo vaſt a fleet ſufficient might remain to
be ſtill formidable, and to bring the fuperiority at fea again to
hoftile
Herodot.
Uran.
96
THE HISTORY OF ATHENS.
CHAP.
XII.
Juftin. L. 2.
C. 12.
Frontin. Stra-
hoſtile difcuffion: Juftin clears up this difficulty with obferv-
ing, that thoſe who had eſcaped or avoided the conflict, dreading
the reſentment and cruelty of the king, as much, or more than
even the bravery of the foe, flunk off in fecrecy to their native
ports and cities.
XERXES fled precipitately towards the Hellefpont; far from
tag. L. 2. C.6. impeding, Themistocles wifely opened a way [80] to his retreat;
timidity probably accelerated his flight, for arrogance and mean-
neſs of ſpirit belong to dirt of the fame mold; but good and
ſubſtantial reaſons were urged for his withdrawing haftily to
Afia;-ere the rumour of his defeat might reach that country,
and excite the commotion of all, the feditious fpirit of many,
and treaſons of fome; which ever originate in public calamity,
which exaggerate it from fears or from defign, and might, under
the contingencies of his abfence, fhake the very feat of empire.
He left however Mardonius to carry on the war, and with a view
too (as I think Diodorus of Sicily hints) of covering his retreat,
for the army under Mardonius withdrew northward from the
fcene of action.
Juftin. L. 2.
C. 13.
Diod. Sic.
L. II.
Ibid.
Herodot.
Uran,
THE threat of feceffion from the league, dropt by the Athe-
nians previous to the battle, was not readily forgotten; what-
ever provocation called forth the menace, the menace was alone
remembered, and with all the bitterneſs of diſguſt;-for hatred
often finds new fubject in its very injuſtice.
WHEN Eurybiades was to beſtow the palm of virtue, he paſſed
by the Athenians, and allowed to their rivals the Æginetans the
firſt place of defert: the Spartans however feared the abilities of
Themistocles, and whilſt they infulted the people, to conciliate
their general, loaded him with preſents and applaufe: the Athe-
nians were too high-minded to ſtoop to reproach or complaint;
but
BOOK THE FIR S T.
97
XII.
but their indignation vented itſelf on Themistocles, who had CHAP.
held his hand forth for the gift, and from a mercenary confide-
ration, had waved a juft fenfe of the many indignities offered to
his country: he was immediately degraded, and the command
given to Xantippus. Attica was now vacated by the Perfian;
and affection for the natal foil,-that endearment, which the re-
collection of tender or happy incidents gives to the ſcene of paft
enjoyment (deemed enjoyment perhaps becauſe paſt!) and a fu-
perſtitious veneration for fome ſpots, and the attachment uſe
gives to all,-urged the Athenians to immediately return to the
fite of their native city, repair its ruins, rebuild its walls, and
propitiate its gods with new facrifices and temples.
Themift.
THE reſtleſs ambition of Themistocles ill-brooked the dif- Plut. Vit.
grace he was under with his fellow-citizens; and to recover
their favour, his genius agitated every plan of private artifice,
or of public fervice: convening the affembly, in a bold and art-
ful harangue, he hinted at a ſcheme of the utmost importance
to the ſtate, but which notoriety would fruftrate the execution
of; he therefore demanded the affiftance of fuch good and wife
citizens as could be relied on by the community: fingly, Ariſ-
tides was judged to be of wifdom and integrity adequate to the
truft, and he was commanded to attend to and report his opi-
ħion of the project in view: Ariſtides, on a future day, ſtept forth
in the affembly, and without preamble of approbation or diſlike,
merely declared that the ſcheme was equally replete with benefit
to themſelves, and with injuftice to others; and without further
enquiry it was unanimously rejected.
THE Very
very
effence of a popular government (fays Montefquieu)
is virtue [81]; it is indeed the foul of a republic, and diffolu-
tion attends its exit: dynaſties may long ſtand on a baſis of va-
rious fubſtance, of force of inftitution, or of mere preſcription;
O
but
Loix. L. 3.
L'Esprit des
C. 3.
98
THE HISTORY OF ATHENS.
1
E
CHAP. but a democracy requires the precious cement of probity, fifted
XII. from every particle of vicious or felfish inclination; the ſtate
cannot long exiſt but of good citizens, and the good citizen
hath its foundation in the good man; patriotifm may be termed
an alchemy elaborated from all private virtues obferve well,
that had the affembly of Athens paid the lighteſt attention to
the policy of Themistocles, it muſt have been from ſelfiſh views;
and
every citizen who had given a voice even for the debate, muſt
have been actuated by motives that marked him as a member
dangerous to the future commonweal.
Herodot.
Uran.
Diod. Sic.
L. 11,
Tacit. Ann.
75.
Diodor. Sic.
Lib. II.
Justin. L. 2.
C. 14.
THE Athenians were of all others moft the object of dread to
the common enemy; Marathon echoed the hiſtory of their va-
lour, Salamis of their naval proweſs and policy; and the force
accruing to the Greek confederacy from their peculiar vigour
and reſources, were obvious on repeated trial: Mardonius pon-
dered how to detach this people from the alliance; their patri-
monies were plundered, and themſelves and families doomed to
a long and laborious penury; mifery might at length perhaps
have broken the firmneſs of their ſpirit, and have alienated their
minds from ſo diſtreſsful a cauſe to uſe the elegant words of
Tacitus," Certamen virtutis et ambitio gloriæ, felicium bominum.
funt affectus."
66
MINISTERS were dispatched to Athens with every threat
that could influence, and every proffer that might feduce;
would they pay a titular homage, and be merely nominal tri-
butaries to Xerxes, the faireft fpot of Greece, or of the known
world was at their choice; or their city fhould be rebuilt, and
their public edifices erected and endowed with ſplendour and with
opulence; nor fhould a law be touched, or privilege be invaded:
the Spartans fent emiffaries in hafte and terror to meet and op-
poſe this embaffy; they were confcious of the ill-treatment
9
which
1
BOOK THE FIRST.
99
XII.
which Athens might plead in vindication of infidelity to the CHAP.
Grecian league, and they came ready fraught with argument,
entreaty, and reproach.
L. II.
Plutarch, Vit.
Ariftid.
On this occafion there was a dignity in the conduct of the Diod. Sic.
Athenian ſenate, which can never be fufficiently admired: the
propoſals of Mardonius were received with a contemptuous
filence; -the ambaffadors fimply were defired to immediately quit
the city; for the fenate revered the facred character, and were
unwilling that it ſhould meet with the infult, any delay within
their walls might expoſe it to :-to the Spartans they replied in
the haughty tone of offended defert, and bade them for the fu-
ture judge better of their virtue, and their fervices.
liop.
Ctefas in Perf.
MARDONIUS, exaſperated at the repulfe, again poured his my- Herodot. Cal-
riads into Attica; and again the aged and the weak were wafted
to the neighbouring coafts, and the city deſtroyed, and its very
foundations erafed. As if their country was endeared by ad-
verfity, the people this time lingered to the laſt moment within
their town, nor quitted it till their fupplications for reinforce-
ment had been rejected by Sparta, and every other city of the
League. It foon appeared that an engagement, though procraſ-
tinated, could not be avoided; Mardonius advanced, raging
with fire and fword, from territory to territory; and then at
length the cogency of their own affairs induced the Peloponne-
fians to take the field; and the confederate army, as foon as col-
lected, advanced to meet the enemy then defolating the plains of
Platea. Paufanias, the Spartan king, commanded the allied
forces, confifting of an hundred thouſand combatants, a number
by far greater than the Grecians had ever heretofore muftered in
one field of battle: let us not dwell on inconfequent particu-
lars; the victory at Platea, though more fharply contefted, was
again decifive in favour of the Greeks; the Perfian generals [82]
0 2
were
100
THE HISTORY OF ATHENS.
1
Į
CHAP.
XII.
were killed, the whole army routed; and the carnage purfued
with fuch rage and animofity, that fortunate was the Perfian wh
Herodot. Po- eſcaped to tell his king, "how prophetic were the tears he ſhed
"when numbering his millions at Sardis !"
བཅོད བང པ
Jymn.
Id. in Calliop.
Diod. Sic.
L. 11.
Juftin. L. 2.
C. 14.
Ctefias in Perf.
Juftin. L. 3.
C. J.
Diod. Sic.
L. II.
LEUTYCHIDES and Xantippus, ftill purſuing and harraffing
the remains of the fleet worfted at Salamis, at length forced it
from the feas; the mariners, no longer daring to face the naval
power of the Greeks, drew their veffels on ſhore, and by a
fortification and entrenchment, fought to fecure them from the
enemy;
but nothing could ftop the ardour of conqueft; the
Grecians fallied from their fhips; impediment and numbers
were flighted; and the very day that crowned the Greeks with
victory at Platæa, gave them the laurel too at Mycale.
THE mighty armament employed on this expedition, was the
united effort of the vaſt empire of Perfia, and its forces having
been thus fucceffively vanquished, and its fleets deftroyed, Xerxes
was no longer in a capacity of carrying hoftilities abroad, but,
embittered by diſappointed vanity, was left to vent its cruelty on
his fubjects, or to blunt its poignancy in diffipation, till vice
and tyranny exceeded even the bounds of Afiatic ſufferance, and
he fell a victim to the public refentment.
CHA P.
BOOK THE FIRST.
CHA P. XIII.
OF GREAT MEN ATHENS REBUILT-CONSEQUENCES OF
THE PERSIAN WAR-SUPREMACY OF ATHENS.
CHAP.
XIII.
O
FTENTIMES a rational enquiry proves introductory
to the emotions of the heart, and gives birth to a pleaſure
the more ſtrong, as proceeding from the united impulſe of ar-
gument and paffion. Whilft we trace the viciffitudes of human
lot; whilſt we ſtudy to obviate our own or others frailties;
whilft we glean knowledge and happineſs from the fields of er-
ror and misfortune, we become intereſted in the characters of
our leffon; a generous fympathy mixes itſelf with our fpecula-
tions, and as reafon approves or condemns, every nerve vibrates
in harmony to the fentiment: we become cenfors with Cato,
and patriots with Brutus, and for a moment enter into the ha-
bitudes of fociety, artfully introduced to us by the writer, as
ftrongly as thoſe of our daily and domeftic intercourfe. The
facility of forming particular applications, and the intereft
therein taken by the generality of readers, have induced many
hiſtorians to make public events fecondary to private characters;
and inſtead of attempting to abforb the attention in the weal and
fortunes of a collective ſtate, to take the eaſier taſk of painting
a fingle figure in life, and attaching the ftudent by the refined
flattery of raifing in him afcititious feelings, and then placing
them in proud felf-compariſon with the picture. Even thoſe
who give the moſt idle perufal to a work, are yet from daily
practice habituated to a confideration of the virtues and vices
of an individual; but when the actions of a combined fociety
are in view, the lengthened chain requires the moſt affiduous
fpirit to unravel it, much penetration to diſcover the minute
links,
·
102
THE HISTORY OF ATHENS.
CHAP. links, and much acuteneſs to difcriminate their multiplicate re-
lations and dependancies.
XIII.
Tacit. An-
nal. zi
MORE are capable of feeling than of fpeculating; perhaps
moſt men are fonder of fentiment than of thought; and when
I prefume to blame thofe who have turned hiſtory into adven-
ture, and who have emulated the portrait painter, whofe Coloffal
hero ſtalks in front of a battle or a town fcarcely the dimenfion
of his shoe ; when I propofe every where to elevate the battle
and the town, to take virtue as much as may be in the aggregate,
nor depreſs the characteriſtic of a people by an unnatural and
degrading contraft with the character of one man; perhaps I
may afford leſs entertainment than thoſe I am bold to cenſure :
but to rouſe public principles and public virtue, whilſt I trace
the hiſtory of a great and free people, and to excite political
caution, whilſt I conjoin cauſes and effects, and note each pro-
greffive ſtep to elevation, and towards decline, form the fcope
of this treatiſe, nor can I relinquiſh it in favour to a particular
ſubject, and to a particular claſs of readers.
GREAT men I am to look upon as factitious beings; the fur-
ther the analyſis is purſued, the more rational the "nil admirari"
of the old Numicus will appear; the more we ſhall be led to
think that they are much indebted to cafualties for their eleva-
tion ; and remarking the extravagancies on which their preten-
fions to fuperiority are often founded, perhaps imagine that me-
rit as well as opulence is in the hands of fortune, whilft by her
good favour crimes are aggrandized into heroiſm; and vice,
which in a meaner ftate was turned from in abhorrence, be-
comes refpected in its excefs. Even the real virtue which fome
few times hath found its way to pre-eminence, perhaps was
not of a more ſublimate or etherial temper, than that of myriads
depreffed in oblivion; as the ftatue [83] of Memnon in Ægypt,
which
BOOK THE
103
FIRST.
XIII.
Ep. 23.
which ſpoke when the rifing fun beamed upon its head, fo many CHAP.
a ſeeming block in private life might vivify, were a timely ray
of fortune directed to its recefs of fpirit. Perhaps thofe minds
endowed with the moſt tranfcendant qualities, have through
every age paſſed with little notice, and without general eſteem :
the foldier who afked Miltiades "wherefore he wore the laurel
"his country had won;" if he spoke not from envy, was of
more intrinfic worth than Miltiades: fome alloy is neceffary to
make a character current: the younger Pliny well obferves, Plin. Ep. L.6.
"That genius cannot alone ftruggle into day; it muſt be drawn
"forth by ſeaſon and circumſtance; nor will theſe fuffice, un-
"leſs too it be abetted by the patronage of ſocial favour and
"introduction." Is there a man fo vifionary, and fo little prac-
ticed in life, as not to know that the price of public notice is
the abaſement of many parts effential to the theory of exalted
virtue? The candidate must often proſtitute his opinion, if not
his morals; it is the only key to the barrier of vanity; and if
he diſdain that path to the good graces of mankind, he had better
forego all hopes of attainment: and after all, and even the moſt
brilliant exertion of ability, the fimple reaſon of preference will
often prevail againſt him, which raiſed Poppæus Sabinus to the
favour of the emperor Tiberius; "Nullam ob eximiam artem, Tacit. Ann.,
"fed quòd par negotiis, neque fupra erat;" a policy in choice
well deferving attention!
THE fubtilty of intellect, or ſpirit of enterprize, or what elſe
may enter into the compofition of thoſe we vulgarly term " great
men," are particularly to be guarded againſt in popular go-
vernments: aſcendancy [84] of private character may difcom-
poſe the union, or corrupt the virtue of the people; favour to
particular men may beget factions in the ftate, and focial love
recoil from the extent of patriotifm to the narrow circle of a
party; then is it retreated midway to domeftics and to felf-
intereft;
104
THE HISTORY OF ATHENS.
XIII.
§ 138.
mist.
Corn. Nep.
Vit. ejufd.
Diod, Sic.
L. 11.
CHAP. intereft; felf-intereſt in its turn will quickly fway, and the
commonwealth be diſtracted with various and private influences.
Even a virtuous man too much diftinguiſhed and exalted above
his peers, may open this fluice to the ruin of his country: let
us draw a character more dangerous, as more fitted for ſelf-ele-
vation; let us delineate the hero of Salamis: his mind was of
Thucyd. L. 1. a fublimate and active fpirit, that pervaded in a momentary
Plut.Vit. The courſe, the paft, the preſent, and the future; and had a command
of experience, fubtilty, and forefight, for the exigencies of the
hour, or for the protractions of policy; quick in thought and
tardy to execute; or dilatory in purpoſe, and immediate and
bold in perpetration, as juncture neceffitated, or as feafon re-
quired no fcheme was too deep for his capacity; no enter-
prize too hardy for his courage; he had not the winning foft-
nefs, but he had the force of eloquence; his tongue was not
perfuafive but commanding; its art was the fimplicity of truth:
when he ſpoke, it was not a plauſibility of addreſs, it was not a
fpecious fhow of argument, or an appeal to the pathetic that
drew the favour of the affembly; but a fomething comprehen-
five, intuitive, prophetic, a fomething of genius that rivetted
the attention, and on the felf-diffidence of the hearer raiſed an
uncontroulable command; the minds of the audience were
amazed and daunted into acquiefcence, even when not argued
into conviction; and the artful rhetor forgot his act, and the
opinionative were abaſhed before him! fuch and like pre-emi-
nence of character was fatal to the commonwealth of Athens:
Miltiades prepared the way for Themistocles; Themistocles
for Pericles crouching to the fucceffive afcendancy of their
great men, the people were habitually brought to confider their
popular ſtate as dependant; and rather to confide their public
weal to the abilities of a ſtateſman, than to the wiſdom of the
conſtitution they infenfibly deviated from the found and fim-
ple principle of conduct adopted by their forefathers, and to a
free
3
$
BOOK THE FIRST.
105
Free progrefs in the ftrait road of virtue, preferred a leading
ſtring in the maze of politics: they were then often led to in-
juſtice, often bewildered in ruinous practices, often betrayed to
bloody and uſeleſs expeditions; at length inured to fubferviency,
they were at times the means of glory and power to the ambi-
tious, tools to the crafty, wealth to the avaricious, dangerous to
good men, and a fubterfuge to the criminal. We fhall find
other cauſes co-operate, but much of theſe evils is imputable to
the afcendancy of great men: let not the oftracifm be repro-
bated, for were it not for that weapon with which the leaders
of the people buffetted and depreffed each other, the republic of
Athens had not long withſtood the meaneft pretender to ufur-
pation.
CHA P.
XIII.
L. II.
Juftin. L. 2.
Vit. Themift.
THE people of Athens returning once more to their native ſoil,
planned their new city on a larger and improved ſcale; the old
port Phaleron feemed of too fmall extent, and the foundations Diod. Sic.
of a more commodious receptacle for their fhipping were now
laid at the Piraeus [85]; an arfenal and fpacious mercantile quay C. 15.
were defigned; and the city was to be furrounded with walls of Thucyd. L. t.
§ 90, & feq.
an extraordinary height, and of a thickneſs that would admit two Corn. Nep.
chariots to paſs on the fummit, and the ſtones were to be rivetted Plut. Vit.
with iron, and cemented with molten lead. The Spartans view- ejuid.
ed with jealoufy and apprehenfion the progreſs of theſe mighty
works; they remonſtrated againſt the policy of ſuch fortifica-
tion, might it not prove a place of arms for the Perfian ?"
againſt the injuftice of it; "why diftruft their friends and
"allies?" The Athenians anſwered not with their old faſhioned
noble fincerity; they truſted not to a fair parley, or to a brave
defiance; they worked on under the cover of falſehoods and in-
fidious negotiation; they were perfuaded " by their great man
to trick, to evade, to trifle, to ſay and to unfay, and to prefer a
low craftyhood to an honeſt appeal to the juſtice of the allies, or
Р
to
106
THE HISTORY OF ATHENS.
CHAP.
XIII
Athenæ. L.12.
Corn. Nep.
Vit. Cimon.
Plut. Vit.
ejufd.
Plut. Vit, Ci-
mon.
to a reliance on their own force: Themiftocles, in the finifter
means he took of rebuilding and ftrengthening Athens, more
effectually ferved the dominion of Sparta, by corrupting the
people, than he annoyed it, by fortifying the city: this was the
first blow given to public virtue; the commonwealth ſhook to
its very foundation, and a crevice was ever after open to matter
of corrofive fap, or of ſudden exploſion.
THE expedition of Xerxes, though fuccefslefs to the invader,
was not the lefs fatal to Greece: the profufion of gold and
filver found in the Perfian camp after the battle of Platæa, and
the inundation of wealth poured into the country from the fe-
veral other victories, accelerated greatly the progrefs of particu-
lar accumulation, and of general luxury; private citizens be-
came diſtinguiſhed, and foon diſtinguiſhable alone by their ſu-
perior opulence: Cimon, whofe patrimony we are told was in-
fufficient to diſcharge his father's debt to the public, fuddenly
became poffeffed of fo great wealth, that feafting the commo-
nalty of Athens was to him an ordinary expence.
THE redemption of the captives too returned a prodigious fum
to the conquerors; and the multitude who were not ranfomed,
taking the menial trades and ſervices from the citizens, taught
them a fatal leffon of indolence, pride, and overbearance. Other
flaves were ſent to the filver mines in Attica, which although,
Xenoph. according to Xenophon, worked from time immemorial, had
hitherto been productive of a ſcanty revenue; but were now
likely to be laboured with a toilſome affiduity that promiſed the
moſt abundant returns. So many fprings of corruption at once
burſt the ſod! the fluices they tore up, the ſtoppages they bore
away, and channels they purſued, fhall be delineated in their
proper chart.
προσόδων.
SUCCESSFUL
BOOK THE FIRST.
107
11.
XIII.
SUCCESSFUL in her defence, Greece in her turn brandiſhed CHA P.
the hoſtile ſword, and in the arrogance of triumph meditated
new victories in the very heart of Afia. Many of the Greek
Colonies had come over during the conteft; all were lukewarm to
the Perfian caufe, and had proved rather an encumbrance than
fupport to the armaments they had been enliſted into; to pro-
tect theſe provinces, and fave them from the vengeance of
Xerxes, was the oftenfible and indeed a juft reaſon for ſtill pro-
tracting the war; but the avidity of glory, as of wealth, encreaſes
with acquifition, and motives of ambition and avarice probably
lurked beneath the femblance of difinterefted bravery and be-
neficence: artful policy characteriſed the immediate conduct of Diod. Síc. L.
the Athenians towards thefe people, and warrants the remark.
Leotychides and Xantippus had perfuaded the Afiatic colonies to
quit for ever the coaſts of Caria and refort to Greece, where they
tendered them fuch fettlements, as the territories confifcated from
the Greek ſtates who had fided with the Perfian, might open to
their difpofal; but the Athenians difavowed the proffer of their
generals, and diffuaded the Ionians from indulging any ideas of
ſuch return to their original country: it ſeems not to have ſuited
with ſchemes of conqueſt, to ſubſtitute in the neighbouring
diſtricts a meritorious people whom it were bafe to attack, and
from their common alliance impracticable to fubdue, for na-
tions, the objects of general ſtigma and perfecution, and whom
under plea of the public cauſe, the Athenians might proceed
againſt without interruption, and difpoffefs of their wealth and
independancy in favour of their own views of accumulation and
dominion. The leading ftates which had abetted the Perfian
invafion, were the Theffalians, Thebans, and Argives; to pro- Plut. Vit.
fcribe and expel thefe people their reſpective ſeats in the Am-
phyctionic, or great council of Greece, was a propoſal of the
Spartans; on this queſtion the Athenian repreſentative oppoſed
the expulfion; this apparent duplicity was the refult of the fame
fyftem:
P 2
Themift.
108
THE HISTORY OF ATHENS.
XIII.
CHAP. fyftem: it was neceffary to obviate the too great influence of
Sparta, which might accrue from the weights in the counter-
acting fcale being thus diminished; and in default of advantages
from preſent war, and at a due crifis,-the voices of the people,
whoſe rights were thus preferved, might be gained over to thofe
who had been inftrumental in preſerving them. Miniſterial ma-
nagement thus early diſplayed even its refinements in the offices
of Themiftocles, and other Athenian demagogues.
Thucyd. L. 1.
S. 95.
Ariftot. Polit.
L. 2. C. 7. &
L. 7. C. 14.
Flut. Vit. Ly-
curg.
Xenoph. Lac.
Pol.
Diod. Sic
L. 11.
THE Spartans had hitherto kept the lead in the confederacy,
Paufanias their king was ftill vefted with the fupreme command,
and ſtill the allies collectively fubmitted to a military juriſdic-
tion; but now thefe powers were to pass over to Athens.
THE education of the Lacedæmonian youth pretended lefs to
teach them than to confine them to the beſt road; to fix them
in a fingular walk of virtue guarded by dæmons and bugbears,
wherein they were goaded on by fhame and pride, and frightened
with whips and maſks on the minuteſt tendency to linger or to
deviate, till in fine, habit hardened or conciliated their minds
to the rugged way [86]. This inftitution however fo much
outraged nature, and fo much infringed her original claims to
various temperature of paffion and of mind, that the legiflator
forefaw ſhe muſt ever be on the watch to affert her rights, and
invalidate his ſyſtem; it was his policy therefore to leave as little
inroad to her as poffible, and to cut off all connexion with thoſe,
whofe examples might too amiably enforce her interefts and caufe:
Lycurgus permitted no ftrangers to fojourn in his city, nor his
citizens to travel into ftrange countries; even war was forbidden
to be often waged with the fame people, as from a too familiar
view of foreign manners, being a corruptive intercourfe; the
apprehenfion of teaching the enemy, I think, miſtakenly attri-
buted as his motive, for the Spartans knew lefs of the arts of
war
BOOK THE FIRST.
109
war than any of the Greeks: at the inveſtment of the Helots
in Ithomæ the Spartans avowedly called in the Athenians to affift,
not being themſelves expert in the conduct of a fiege. Indeed,
in bounty to mankind, Lycurgus, having adopted ſuch a ſcheme
of government, could not do leſs than ftudy its immaculate
continuance; for having treated men as wild beaſts, he had made
them fo; his plan was to chain, and not to humanize; and the
loofening of the fetter might be equally fatal to his people,
and to their neighbours.
CHA P.
XIII.
THE duration and commerce of the Perfian war had ferved Thucyd. L. 1ệ
much to relax the Spartan ſeverity, and having tranfgreffed the
ſtrict letter of their difcipline, they had no juft theory of ethics
whence to redreſs the evil; and they ruſhed headlong into every
kind of barbarous infolence, and unpolished debauchery.
Cimon.
THE allies beheld the conduct of Paufanias and his followers Plut. Vit.
with indignation, and one by one they withdrew from his com-
mand, and ſubmitted themſelves to the generalſhip of Cimon
and Ariftides. The Ephori faw their inſtitution in danger, and Ifocrat, Pa-
for the preſent waving all other confiderations, fullenly acquiefced
in the fupremacy of Athens.
nath.
C. 6.
A FIXED eſtabliſhment of proportional fubfidies was deemed a Juftin. L. 3.
neceffary meaſure previous to any new expedition, and the Athe- Thucyd. L. 1.
nians were permitted to commence their adminiftration, with af
fuming the very important authority of fixing, collecting, and ma-
naging the quota of each membercity of the confederacy: this
truſt we are told was executed by Ariftides with a ſtrict faith and
impartiality, which gave new afcendancy to him and to his coun-
try; but the courſe of ſuch power was corruptive and ruinous,
and the diveſtment thereof difficult, as the continuance dangerous.
II
THE
Corn. Nep.
Vit. Ariſtid.
Plut. Vit.ejusd.
110
THE HISTORY OF ATHENS.
CHAP.
XIII.
THE ill-policy indeed of confiding the fole conduct of the
levies to any fingle ftate feems fo very obvious, that a curious
Thucyd. L. 1. reader might requeſt a nicer fearch into this fingular matter: it
will be obſerved (as it indeed proved) that a power thus repofed,
indefinite in extent as in duration, was virtually perpetual and
defpotic; for, could the period of its authority be queſtioned
whilſt that authority was in full force? or its force be fafely
excepted to, when its expiration was not at hand? fubmiffion to
fuch power was in time likely to become fervitude, and diffen-
fion at all times to bear the mien of hoſtility: it was probable
that the party repofed in, progreffively would admit the fole
alternative of conftant fervice, or of virulent enmity. Confider-
ing the facility of obviating fo fatal confequences, by the
fimple eſtabliſhment of a council or committee of the feveral
ftates, it is difficult to account for their coinciding in fo de-
ſtructive a meaſure:-perhaps, dazzled by a fucceffive and rapid
courfe of conqueft, they gave not leifure to political confidera-
tion; but blindly adopted what ſeemed readieſt for the preſent
purpoſe, and made choice of a fole and uncontroulable command
as beſt ſuited to war, little provident that its conſequences might
extend to times of peace.
FROM this period the conduct of the Athenians at home and
abroad wore a new afpect, was founded on new principles of
government, and modelled to a new fyftem of politics of theſe
I ſhall treat apart.
1
THE Completion of the war with Perfia was hereafter involved
with a ſeries of local interefts and inteftine commotions; fo far,
however, it may be proper to anticipate events and clear our
way, as to note the conclufion of hoftilities with the common
Plat. Vit. Ci- enemy: this thread of hiſtory indeed runs but lightly through
Thucyd. L. 1. the web, which fimply fpotted with the victories over the Per-
mon.
3
fian
BOOK THE FIRS T.
FII
XIII.
Front. Stratag.
fian at Eurymedon and Cyprus, is every where interwoven with CHA p.
the varieties of national party, ufurpation, and quarrel: the vic-
tories at Cyprus and Eurymedon clofed the conteſt with Xerxes;
and the Perfian fent a fubmiffive embaffy to Athens, imploring L. 4. C. 7.
peace: The terms concluded were as glorious and beneficial to
Athens and its allies, as humiliating to the common aggreffor:
"The Greek colonies in Caria and other parts were declared free Diod. Sic.
"and independant ſtates; no fatrap was to fet foot within three Ifocrat. Orat.
Areopag.
days journey of the ſea on the Afiatic coaft, or within the river
Halys (according to Ifocrates) and no Perfian veffel of force
"was to appear on the feas from Phafelis to Cyanea, nor was
"there a reciprocative condition on the part of the Greeks, but
"that they were to defift from hoftility with Perfia.”
<<
"6
L. 12.
СНАР.
112
THE HISTORY OF ATHENS.
CHAP.
XIV.
CHA P. XIV.
OF THE PRINCIPLES OF HAPPINESS NATIONAL AND PRIVATE
-OF CONQUEST OF THE ACQUISITIONS AND POWER OF
ATHENS.
W
HERE is happineſs to be found? the man of power
who ſhines the fun of his little fphere, whofe every
nod is obeyed, and every folly flattered, ftill reftlefs and ill-con-
tented, puſhes forward to new ſchemes of happineſs, and riſques
his all in purſuit of fome untafted acquifition: the wealthy,
whoſe every wiſh is anticipated by gratification, ſeems not more
bleſt in his peculiar lot, but peevishly complains of fatiety, and
liftens with attention to the vifionary talker of woods and rocks,
and the felicity of a rural folitude: aſk the hermit "if retire-
"ment can afford the promiſed bliſs?" from pride he will per.
haps affirm fo; but in
but in terms of mifanthropy and difcontent,
which furely evince the folly of the affertion!
Happiness is no where to be found, but every where to be fought
for. The huntſman lays his account of pleaſure, not in the
capture, but in the chace of the game; fo the greater objects of
human attachment intereft in the purſuit, and foon give difreliſh
in the tranquillity of poffeffion. The elaſtic ether which vi-
brates, or which flows in the channels of the nerves, and inſpi-
rits the mafs of the brain, requires motion and expenditure, not
to ſtagnate in torpid compreffure, load the blood, and thicken
the humours, till the habit is replete with horrors and with me-
lancholy.
DIVINELY
BOOK THE FIRST.
1г3
DIVINELY is it thus inftituted, that the activity of our facul-
ties ſhould conftitute our happineſs, whilft what bleffes the in-
dividual, enriches the fpecies; and the purfuit, which gives
pleaſure to each, tends to fome acquifition productive of further
diftinctions to humanity, and elevating it more and more in the
ſyſtem of which it makes it a part.
FROM motion comes enjoyment; hence, the rich man would
be richer, the great man greater; and all would add to, or change
ſomething to-morrow, of what they poffefs to-day: hence the
defpot would ſtill fubject one province more; the tear of Alex-
ander, that there were no more worlds to conquer, belongs to
every human eye in the private circle of difficulties furmounted
or fubdued; the final conqueft is pleaſureable only in expecta-
tion; to the harraffed veteran it may indeed be optionable ;-but
to provoke reſt in the brightneſs of the day, is to expofe the
impatient mind to uneafy fleeps and painful dreams.
SYLLA enjoyed the energy of contention, but found the object
thereof not worth retaining; and Cæfar, long harraffed by foreign
wars, and newly efcaped from civil broils, perceived eaſe to be
incompatible with his happineſs, and at the hour of his death
was meditating on the extremes of Parthia as new fcenes of
conqueft, and a new means of felicity to refult from the ardour
of his fpirit. Why are we tenacious of liberty, but becauſe it
gives an open field to that exertion of our minds and bodies,
whence alone pleaſure can proceed? Whether they are employed
in tracking a wild beaſt, or in exploring a ſyſtem, the pleaſure
is derivative from the fame fource, and reſtriction to the man
who has once taſted it, is furely worſe than death!
THE difcontented ſpirit of mankind, fo often and fo much re-
probated by every trifler in metaphyfics, is then found to be
confiftent
е
CHAP.
XIV.
114
THE HISTORY OF ATHEN S.
CHAP. confiftent with their happineſs, and neceffary to their improve-
ment; nor is the mental inquietude of all, or particular anbi-
tion of the great, fit fubject of contempt to the fage, or of his
wonder or commiferation.
XIV.
SUCH is the recondite principle of that ardour for acquifition
which impels an individual to gain, and a ſtate to conquer; and
particularly fuch ſtates as admit, from their conſtitution of go-
vernment, of individuals poffeffing in greater numbers a more
direct and more powerful political influence; and it may be
ſhown, that the effect of ſuch influence, in its brighteſt career of
victories and glory, is fubverfive of a free commonwealth, and
co-operating, with other feeds of diffolution, to a change of go-
vernment, and ruin of the country.
THE reſtleſs ſpirit, above deſcribed, urging each to that exer-
tion which his bent of mind moſt readily applies to, will, under
a monarchic, or the controul of other reſtrictive government, of
neceffity expend itſelf in art or ſcience, or in fomething, which
without moleſtation of any, may turn to the account of all; but
in a free ſtate, each individual, having ſome ſhare in the political
concern, is likely to prefer that peculiar field of exerciſe to his
mind, and in proportion to its fpirit and vigour, may progref-
fively in his active courſe overleap the bounds of prefcriptive
order and ſafe adminiſtration. In a monarchy every fituation is
open but one: the vifionary may purfue honours with as little
detriment to the community, as the merchant his trade, or man
of learning ſcience, or man of genius art: but in a common-
wealth a particular fite is allotted to each on one level; and the
general arrangement is endangered when any would deviate from
their fixed place in queſt of undue confideration or aſcendancy.
It is only in times of commotion, or by commotion, that at any
rate the defire of extraordinary elevation can effect its purpoſe;
and
BOOK THE FIRST.
115
""
XIV.
and hence, in the great book of experience we find the hiftories CHAP.
of a republican people more frequently and more ftrongly marked
by epochs of inteftine tumult, and of foreign wars; the latter
ſeem the happier fide of the alternative; yet from the moment
conqueft is the object of its policy, the existence of the com-
monwealth is coeval only with the courſe of its victories.
Grant that it conquer without lofs of people or diminution of
funds; ſuppoſe the leaders to be actuated by none but public
ambition, and that they return to their private occupation and
rank without murmur and without party; fuppofe every favour-
able circumſtance, even to a paradox :- the fuccefsful war
has added fome city or fome province; and will not fuch
acceffion be the ruin of the capitol? I will yet wave the courſe
of luxurious pride concomitant to national felicity; I will con-
fine my reaſoning to the peculiarities of a republican fovereignty:
this city, this province, how is it to be governed? fays Tacitus,
quid aliud exitio Athenienfibus fuit, quanquam armis pollerent, Tacit.ann.11.
"nifi quod fubjectos pro alienigenis arcerent ?" but the contrary
policy, were it not equally dangerous? allow the conquered
people the rights of denizons; let them in their reſpective cities
partake the free conftitution of the fuperiour ſtate: if not par-
taken in an equal degree, the refult of what has been granted, is
in the courſe of things a requifition of what has not been grant-
ed; if in an equal degree, but with a referve of fupremacy in
points of war, of peace, of revenue, and of regulations of do-
minion, with the form of government, will they not imbibe
the high ſpirit and force which diſtinguiſh the donors? will they
not, as they favour liberty, difreliſh command? the tree by na-
tural growth raiſed above the ſhrub that ſheltered its tender and
firſt ſhoots, will it not crush it with the exuberance of its
branches, exhauft its fources, and poifon its head? The wary po-
litician would in anſwer obſerve, that a contrary demeanour were
of equally deftructive tendency: a coercive and abfolute command
Q2
over
116
THE HISTORY OF ATHENS.
!
CHAP.
XIV.
Machiav.Difc.
L. 2. (
C. 4.
Juftin. L. 3.
C. 6.
over a province annexed to the dominion of a free ſtate, muſt
form a contraft productive of difcontent, and every ill confe-
quence hinted at in the words of the hiftorian; what was gained
by force must be retained by fimilar means, and in times of trouble
will be found not an acceffion to, but encumbrance on the repub-
lic it may be added, that the armies and garrifons neceffary to
conſtrain fuch province, are dangerous to the virtue and li-
berty of their employers; and that citizens of the fuperiour ftate,
[87] entrusted with a command foreign to the ſpirit of their own
conftitution, will grow tainted by the examples of fubferviency
and habitudes of power, and return to corrupt the principles of
their countrymen, and to innovate on the commonwealth.
Thucyd. L. 1.
$95. & feq.
We must conclude then that extenfive conquefts are deſtruc-
tive to the people whofe form of government approaches to the
free or democratic; and that among the principles of their de-
cline is that inſtinctive activity, puſhing on to acquifitions dan-
gerous to, and corruptive of the poffeffors.
ON a review of the particular fituation of Athens, from the
cafualties of the Perſian war, and from the ill policy of the allies;
it is yet not to be wondered at, that the leaders were influenced,
or people miſlead, to a deſtructive ſyſtem of infatiable con-
queft opportunity courted them with an ever prefent and affi-
duous fmile; the advantages ſeemed great as they were preſent
and obvious; the dangers were out of fight, or ſeemed viſionary,
as they were diftant and obfcure.
THE annual fubfidy entrusted to the adminiftration of the
Athenians amounted to four hundred and fixty talents, and from
that, and other refources, ten thouſand talents had gradually been
amaffed; Delos indeed was the place appointed for the depofit,
but the treaſurer was chofen and refident at Athens, and his dif-
pofal
BOOK
117
THE
FIRST.
CHAP.
XIV.
Plut. Vit. Ci-
pofal of theſe funds was unaccounted for to the other ſtates of
the league. Not lefs firm was the fovereignty over the perfons,
than over the fortunes of the allies, whilft the military authority
of Cimon was ſtrengthened by the affection and gratitude of the
Afiatic and other Greeks whom he freed, whom he refcued, or L. II.
whom he pardoned.
mon.
Diod. Sic.
Themift.
THE city rebuilt on a new plan, and the fortifications erected Ibid.
on an improved and larger fcale, gave an eafe and fecurity to the
inhabitants, wherein ingenuity found leifure for new acts of hof-
tility and defence; whilft the Piraeus was crowded with artifi-
cers, whom experience as feamen had taught juſtly to eſtimate
their work as ſhipbuilders, and to add to, or alter their mechaniſm
from circumftantial recollection of deficiency or inconvenience. Plut. Vit.
To their complement of fleet, twenty fhips were added by The-
mistocles, and daily it was encreafing: gold and filver abounded
in the city the captives were numerous, and the rich feared not
to trust the menial arts, and their domeftic concerns, to the hands
of flaves; whilft the citizens, whofe fortunes were yet to make,
gave up the hammer for the fword, or the plough for the oar :
eafy was it to infpirit theſe greedy adventurers, and eager were
the demagogues to ufe their influence, embarked in the fame
purſuit of wealth, and urged by fuperior queft of glory.
AMBITION is but a prouder fpecies of avarice; gain equally
produces defire; poffeffion is equally wide of content; for
as the object is, nor in the one, nor in the other cafe, en-
joyed, it cannot fatiate having received much, the Athenians
foon learnt to demand more; and the crifis co-operating with
their wishes, from an irregular and capricious exaction, they
progreffively adopted a fixed ſcheme of conqueft, and a concerted
ſyſtem of command. No longer infecure in their domeftic
concerns, many of the petty ftates grew tired of diſtant cam-
8
paigns,
Thucyd. L. 1.
§ 99. & feq.
Diod. Sic.
L. II. & 17.
118
THE HISTORY OF ATHENS.
XIV.
CHAP. paigns, and were defirous of repairing the ravages of war by
affiduous attention to the arts of peace; to fuch the Athenians
permitted the wiſhed-for retirement, provided that for the defi-
ciency of men, they proportionally added to the pecuniary
and naval fubfidies; the fhips they manned with their own
citizens, and the monies they applied to the ornament of
their city, or referved it for future exigencies; and thus
the nation became warlike, and the ftate wealthy. Others,
equally ill-ſatisfied with the continuance of hoftilities, but more
acute in penetrating the policy, and more bold in preventing the
defigns of the Athenians, harangued in the haughty tone of op-
pofition, and feceded from their command; but the prior at-
tachment of many, and the conceffions of other cities had ren-
dered fuch attempt nugatory, and at this crifis more fatal to the
liberties of Greece than even acquiefcence; for each refractory
ſtate, ſubdued under the pretext of delegated authority, became
an acceffion to the particular dominion of Athens, and was itſelf
the means of a more abfolute exerciſe, and of a wider extent of
power: thus the fuperiority at ſea was ftrengthened by the con-
quefts of Ægina and Eubæa, and thus the contumacy of the Tha-
fians afforded pretence for the feizure of their gold mines, and but
ſerved to encreaſe the funds of the already too powerfulre public.
Plut. Vit. Pe-
riclis. ejufd.
Vit. Cimonis.
Thucyd. L. 1
Diodor. Sic.
L. 11. & 12.
VOLUNTARY fubfidies to the general depofit foon became
the grounds of imperious exaction, nor was the controul long
confined merely to ſubjects of common revenue; thence aroſe
the neceffity of regulation; and, on the grounds of regulation,
thence iffued from Athenian generals, and from Athenian af-
ſemblies, military orders and popular decrees, affecting the inde-
pendancy of each inferior ſtate in alliance; till finally, on prece-
dent and on habit, the fovereignty of Athens became fo ftrongly
entrenched, that many of the petty republics deemed it expe-
dient to negotiate terms of furrender, and their compromiſe le-
gitimated
鶯
​BOOK THE FIRST.
119
CHAP.
XIV.
L. 12.
Thucyd. § 1.
gitimated the poffeffion. Nor did the Athenians reft fatisfied with
the flux of dominion which the nature of their command drew
within its own proper channel, and then directed in a courſe
fubordinate to their commonwealth: but they fought every occa-
fion of diſpute as means of acquifition; and when diſcontent
could not even coin a pretext for hoftility, by holding forth a
treacherous protection to each free city, they found in its in-
teſtine commotions new means of ufurpation, and in its foreign
quarrels new fubject of conqueft: the Megarenfes applied for the Diodor. Sic.
aid of the Athenians againſt Corinth, and the confequence was Thucyd. L. 1.
the ſtationing of an Athenian guard in the citadel of Megara; Plut. Vit. Pe-
the Milefians required affiftance againſt Samos, and the refult of rilis.
the alliance with Miletus was the poffeffion of Samos. When-
ever fome ill-judging city thus called in their aid, gratitude at
leaſt demanded an acquiefcence in the Athenian policy of fending
their own fupernumeraries, to inhabit part of the conquered or
ceded territory; and too late fuch colony was found to be an
ever-encroaching neighbour, and in times of trouble an autho-
ritative garrison. This mode of colonization was a favourite L. 12.
policy of Athenian adminiftration, and not reftricted to coun-
tries they were in treaty or at variance with, but by a cautious
forefight was extended to every remote fpot, whereto the courſe
of victory might direct their interefts or defigns: Pericles ex-
pedited a number of emigrants who feized the country of the
Sybarites, and under the appellation of Thurii, even in Italy,
eſtabliſhed a ſettlement mindful of the Athenian authority and
name: theſe, if not effective of ſubordination in the adjacent
parts through power, might at leaſt conciliate their neighbours
by attention and favour; and thus every way ſome force accrued
to the original republic from the meaſure; for, to attack power-
ful allies, was another mafter point in the Athenian councils :
with this view the pretenfions of Inarus to the Ægyptian dynaſty, Thucyd. L. 1.
were, during fix years, fupported against the Perfian; and with
this
Ifocrat. Paneg.
Diod. Sic.
Ctehas in
Perfic.
$111.
12
120
THE HISTORY OF ATHENS.
CHAP. this view an attempt was made to reinftate Oreftes in the throne
of Theffaly.
XIV.
Plut. Vit.
Periclis.
Diodor. Sic.
L. 11.
THE ftill keeping up the claim to arbitrary taxation, under
pretence that the Perfian was meditating a renewal of hoftilities;
the encreaſe of the affeffment from four hundred and fifty to fix
hundred talents; the removal of the public bank from Delos to
Athens; and the various fteps above cited tending to uncontrol-
able power, might well be fuppofed to roufe the attention of
Sparta, and the other great republics of Greece. The firft im-
Thucyd. L. 1. portant ſtate that coped with the Athenian arms was the Bœotian;
but in vain it would oppoſe their progrefs; Myronides over-ran
and fubdued the whole country to the very walls of Thebes.
Corinth, and many other great cities, entered at difadvantage into
the conflict, whilft Athens, holding forth an infidious welcome to
every factious tributary of any other ftate, divefted it gradually
of its ſtrength, and contraſted freſh vigour with its decline. The
Lacedæmonians would willingly have interpofed, but the de-
ſtruction of their city by an earthquake, and the defolation of
their country by the rebellious Helots, kept them too fully em-
ployed to give any effectual rebuff to the career of their rivals;
nay, they were even reduced to folicit their affiftance to forward
Plut. Vit. Ci- the fiege of Ithomæe, where the infurgents had taken refuge;
no fooner was the reinforcement arrived, but from fome fufpi-
Thucyd. L. 1. cion it was refuſed and ſent back, and Athens, diſguſted at the
infult, publicly difclaimed all future friendſhip with Sparta. Ar-
mies then came from Sparta, with intent to fuccour the oppreffed,
and circumfcribe the encroachinents of this growing power;
but of a force truly rather calculated to irritate than to quell the
enterprizing ſpirit of the Athenians; nor did they act as principals
in any war, but affifted occaſionally an ally, then made a truce,
and then affifted another.
non,
Paufan. in
Att.
§
188.
IN
BOOK THE FIRST.
121
XIV.
Diod. Sic.
$188.
L. 11.
In the various conteſts for power, it is not to be underſtood CHA P.
that there were no viciffitudes of victory: after fix years em-
ployed to ſupport the pretenfions of Inarus in Ægypt, the fleet
of Athens on that fervice was wholly deſtroyed;-joining the §.
Phocians in their war with the Dorians fupported by Sparta,
the Athenians loft many brave citizens at the bloody but inde-
cifive battle of Tanagra ;-at Oenophyra they beat the Corin-
thians;-in the conteft for the care of the oracular temple, Thucyd. L. 1.
or holy war, when Sparta, fiding with the Delphians, had vefted Diodor. Sic.
them with the facred truft, the Athenians oufted again the Del-
phians and reſtored that honour to the Phocians;-finally at
Coronea they fuffered an entire defeat from the forces of Bœotia,
and, in ranſom for the prifoners then taken, were obliged to
emancipate every city tributary to them within that diftrict, or
reſtore them to the juriſdiction of Thebes. This was the moſt
important check given to the career of Athenian greatneſs; yet
was it not of moment; for the power of Athens was never
doomed to grow great and ſpread on inland fovereignty: it was
fuited rather to diffuſe itſelf on coafts and on islands. Some cities
indeed had been taken, and fome territories colonized by the
Athenians in Thrace, in Theffaly and Upper Greece; but their
empire ſpread more ſurely and more firmly on the maritime coun-
tries of the Cherfoneſe, of the Hellefpont, and of Afia Minor;
and over-ran the islands of Ægina, Eubæa, Lemnos, Samos,
Zacynthus, and others. The ifles of the Ægean were indeed
generally ſubordinate to the power which had the greater force at
fea; and each having its portion of marine ſtores and armament,
thus fed and encreaſed the naval power, which was fo dangerous
to the liberties of a country fo maritime as Greece: the force
of this remark appears when adverting to the expeditions of Tol-
mides and of Pericles, who, fucceffively, during theſe contefts, and
in retaliation of the Spartan interpofition, failed round the Pelo-
R
ponnefe,
Juftin. L. 8.
Strab. lib. 8.
C. 2.
& 9.
Did. Sic.
L. 11. & 12.
Plot. Vit. Pe-
riclis.
122
THE HISTORY OF ATHENS.
CHAP. ponnefe, and at various defcents burnt its cities and defolated
the country.
XIV.
Diod. Sic.
L. 11.
MUTUAL neceffities at length compaffed a general ceffation of
hoftility; the Thebans and Boeotians had fully accompliſhed
the purpoſe of a defenfive war, preſerving entire their territory
and independance, and moreover their rights, as ftates of Greece, to
a voice in the Amphy&tionic council: the Spartans required fome
reſpite from the fatigues of war with the Meffenians, with the
Helots, and with Athens and Athens required leiſure to me-
thodize the wide extended rule fhe, from good fortune, valour
and policy, had acquired. The new and complicated intereſts of
thefe and other ftates, feem, however, to have thrown too many
Thucyd. L. 1. difficulties in the way of ſpecific terms of peace; and to avoid
the detail of, perhaps impracticable, conditions, the minifters,
Chares for Athens, and Charondas for the allies, figned a truce for
thirty years but as Juftin obferves, "tam longum, otium inimici-
Justin. L. 3.
0.7•
tiæ non tulerunt.
IN mentioning the reduction of Samos I have by fix years anti-
cipated the event, in order to bring the acquifitions and power of
Athens into one point of view: nine years further enfued ere the
hoftilities commenced, which have afforded matter for the pen
of Thucydides; and during theſe periods, manners, genius, com-
merce, policy, and liberal arts, made fuch ſpeedy and excellent
attainments, as lead me with ardour and delight to a confideration
of thoſe intereſting ſubjects.
CHAP.
BOOK THE FIRST.
123
CHA P.
XV.
OF THE MANNERS OF THE PEOPLE, AND OF THE STATE OF
THE REPUBLIC AT THE CLOSE OF THE PERSIAN WARS.
W
E are now arrived at the period of hiſtory when the re-
public of Athens had reached its fummit of power and
dominion, and at the fame time had attained the means of go-
vernment, adequate to its extent and neceffities: the ſtate was
become moſt wealthy; its people were become numerous and
inured to war, and from the habits of a naval war were become
bold and expert on the feas, and fuited to the purpoſes and en-
terprize of trade: its citizens were become verſed in public bu-
fineſs, whether touching exterior policy or domeſtic manage-
ment;-its ſtateſmen and military leaders were experienced in
each department; and its vigour was yet hitherto unimpaired
by corruption, and its conſtitution unbroken by popular frenzy,
or by the intrigues which individuals, diſtinguiſhed by riches or
ability, might be fuppofed to create. The inſtitutions which
provided againſt the dangers to be apprehended from fuch de-
ſcription of men, had been cautiously enforced; and Themifto-
cles, Cimon, and Ariftides, had been baniſhed by the Oftracifm.
The exile of Ariftides the juft, hath fuggefted fubject of fympa-
thetic declamation and ill-timed reproach on this jurifdiction
to Plutarch and others ;-but Ariftides was a man moft dange-
rous to the commonwealth; others had their ambition, their
plot, and their party; but he fought to make a party of the peo-
ple againſt their conftitution: it was he who moved decrees
repeatedly extending their power and privileges, breaking in
upon the wife and diftinctive regulations of Solon, levelling the
R 2
degrees
CHAP.
XV.
124
THE HISTORY OF ATHENS.
XV.
CHAP. degrees of Cenfus, and opening even the archonship to the citi-
zens at large his banishment was a proof of their virtue; that
of the profufe Cimon, of their moderation; that of Themifto-
cles, of their wisdom.
AT this height or acmè of the republic, it affords an object
which, in the defign of this treatiſe, ſhould fix our particular at-
tention, ere we proceed to the further inveftigation of its hif-
tory in the future courſe of that hiſtory each confequence will
thus more obviouſly, and forcibly appear as connected with its
fpecial caufe; and effects diftinguishing this epoch, being at the
fame time affigned back to the circumftances whence they ori-
ginated, we ſhall feem here to feize a vantage-ground, whence
we may, through the joint medium of experience and fpeculation,
view the whole courfe of the republic.
On the emancipation of Athens from the power of the Pifif-
tratidæ, the energy which that ſtate immediately diſplayed, is to
be placed much to the account of the ſpirit of the conftitution
it then adopted; infufing, with the felf-confidence which each
citizen derived from his fhare in a free commonwealth, the pa-
triotiſm which moderates, affimilates, and unites the paffions,
the reaſon, and the force of a whole people. Hence the deter-
mined ſpirit which fruftrated every infidious and every open at-
tack! hence the fucceſsful refiftance to the hoftile jealouſy of
the Peloponnefe! and hence, in the field of Marathon, that
firmness, the effect of an union of minds and interefts, which no
numbers could fubdue! Reaſons deduced from the nature of
its government, confidered excluſively, are applicable only to the
defenfive force of Athens; the extenfion of its acquirements and
views in point of fovereignty, is to be fought in the further con-
fideration of natural as well as political advantages, which com-
bined to elevate the republic to the height which it progreffively
attained
BOOK THE FIRST.
125
attained in the ſhort ſpace of thirty-five years, from the flight of CHA P.
Xerxes, to the truce with Sparta.
"" was
66
XV.
προσόδων.
C. 3. § 2.
Tigh
Xen.Pol.Ath.
C. 2. § 2.
neg.
XENOPHON, in his treatiſe on revenue, enumerates, amongſt
the natural advantages of Attica, its filver mines, its quarries of
marble, its temperate climate, and its extraordinary fertility;
but its central fituation in reſpect to Greece, to the iſlands of the
Ægean, and to Afia, to the Hellefpont, and to Egypt, and its
commodious havens open to every wind from every quarter, were Ifocrat. Pa-
advantages which tranſcended thoſe of produce and local wealth nath.
in the ſcale of nations. Hence Athens was the general refort of
the traders of every country, and the common emporium of the xenoph, magt
known world;-where alone the barter was not in kind, but mo-
ney the certain medium of traffic, and where all " that was deli-
"cious in Sicily, Italy, Cyprus, Egypt, Lydia, or in Pontus,
was in
in greater excellence and with more certainty to be
purchaſed than in the refpective countries;" fays Ifocrates,
"what in each is most difficult to be attained, is here to be found Ifocrat. Pa-
"in common with other rarities expofed at open market." To
this trade, in its generality exclufive, Xenophon adds the mono- Xen. Pol. Ath.
poly of naval ſtores, folely and in itſelf the fource of every other,
and of power as well as of wealth. From the commercial ha-
bits of the Athenians arofe that turn to navigation, and expe-
rience in marine concerns, which under Themistocles gave them
the lead, and oppoſed them to the Phoenicians in the great con- Herodot.
flict of Salamis; and afterwards, from the confidence which their
conduct in naval affairs had juſtly inſpired, veſted in them the Ifocrat. Pa-
empire of the feas, by the general and free [88] fuffrage of their
countrymen. The uſe they made of this delegated power was the
obvious-refult of a command fo unbounded, and fo new to them-
felves, as well as to thofe who fubmitted to them; and aroſe.
naturally from the ordinary paffions of men, and from the cir-
cumſtances of the times: the means of acquiring wealth and.
power.
C. 2. § 11. &
12.
Uran.
neg.
126
THE HISTORY OF ATHENS.
XV.
Thucyd. L. 1.
CHAP. power being put into their hands, the Athenians availed them-
felves of thofe means; having been made quæftors of Greece,
they continued quæftors on their own account; having been
conftituted admirals of Greece, the tendency of fuch authority
was to perpetuate itſelf into a ſovereignty over all the maritime
ftates; and each progrefs in its career, whether it were the cap-
ture of a fhip or of an iſland, diffufed and ftrengthened at once
the inclination and the powers, to convert a temporary rule into
an eſtabliſhed dominion. When Xenophon ſays, that "of all
ftates, [89] Athens flourished moft in times of peace;" it is
in a general and commercial view that he regards the fubject, for
his inftance was an exception.
Xenoph. eg
προσόδων.
C. 4 § 2
Diod. Sic.
L. 14.
<<
CIMON added to the navy and trade of Athens three hundred
and forty veffels, and the twenty thouſand flaves, and the wealth,
himſelf and others brought into the city, ferved to freight and
equip theſe fhips, and extend the views of the merchant, as well
as the naval force of the ſtate; whilft the fubfidies becoming a
mere tribute ſwelled the ordinary revenues of the republic. The
refources too, which it acquired by extending its dominion and
interefts, through the colonizing thofe territories ravaged and
depopulated during the war, with its poorer citizens, and with
the adventurers who had fought Athens as the feat of enterprize,
and with thoſe who had fought it as the refuge from tyranny,
and aſylum of the oppreffed or unfortunate, are to be placed to
the fimilar account of its navy; which facilitated diſtant expe-
ditions, the conveyance to a fettlement, and the protection of
the colony. Ifocrates, in his famous oration de pace, has ex-
patiated on the mifchiefs and ruin attending a dominion of the
feas, its corruptive courfe [90], its fhort-lived career, and the
private vices and political evils that enſue, and deſtroy the ſtate
Ifocrat. Orat. which has poffeffed it: yet he allows, and it forms part of the
example which he has adduced, that ſuch power quickly raifes
περί ειρήνης.
and
BOOK THE FIRST.
127
CHA P.
XV.
and extends, though finally it depraves a ſtate, and then fubverts
itſelf for our prefent purpoſe the prior inference is fufficient;
it aggrandized the republic of Athens, and at the clofe of the
Perſian wars, and contefts between the Greeks which imme-
diately followed, raiſed it to fuch a height, as warranted the
Corinthian delegate to affert in the face of Greece, "that the Thucyd. L.1.
power of Athens was equal to that of them all."
THUCYDIDES, in his first book, laments that in his time there Ibid.
was no writer but Hellanicus, who filled up, and that but cur-
forily, the period of hiſtory from the Perſian war to the times
he undertook to perpetuate: this period of fifty years himſelf as
curforily fills up, and Plutarch and Diodorus feem to have pof-
feffed few materials more than what Thucydides afforded them;
for I place to little political account, the anecdotes and apo-
thegms of the former: yet in regard to external intercourfe, and
to the immediate events which led to the aggrandifement of
Athens, the data of hiſtory may fuffice to the purpoſe of our en-
quiry-but here I could have wished to reft, and to have fol-
lowed our republic ſtep by ſtep, in its career of civil conduct, as
well as of foreign enterprize; for it is to the characteriſtics of
thefe times, it is to this ſtationary point to which confideration
muſt revert,-in fearch for the immediate caufes which accelerate
the decline of the Athenian, and every other free ſtate, when
lapfed beyond that pinnacle of fplendid elevation, whence the
deſcent is rapid in proportion to the height of freedom and force
previouſly attained. This as a landmark in hiſtory ſhould be ren-
dered clear and confpicuous, as at once the eminence whence po-
litical fpeculation may fet forth with advantage, and the ſcope to
which it may recur, when tracing back the courſe of republican
diffolution from the vale of depravity and fervitude.-On theſe
accounts the most accurate and circumftantial inveſtigation is
now deſirable; but whatever regards domeftic manners and in-
ternal
12
128
THE HISTORY OF ATHENS.
XV.
CHA P. ternal adminiſtration in theſe diſtant times, is elucidated by too
curſory or too doubtful authorities: the vague allufions of Plato
and Ariſtotle, the brief remarks of the antiquarian Paufanias
and geographer Strabo, and the hyperboles of the orators, and
particularly of Ifocrates and the funeral encomiafts (whoſe bufi-
neſs it was to laud the paſt and difpraiſe the preſent) afford data
of enquiry fo imperfect, or fo little to be confided in, that in efti-
mating the effect of progreffive wealth and dominion on the
conſtitution of the commonwealth, and on the morals of the
people of Athens, much is left to ſpeculation ;-much is to be
deduced from fuch trivial grounds of matter, or from fuch
collateral matter as time hath left us; and all that becomes us,
is to be wary ;—and adapting general conclufions to the partial re-
cital of an imperfect feries, that we connect each link of the chain,
with the ſtricteſt regard to political analogy and experience.
Ifocrat. orat.
Areopag.
THE Conftitution of the commonwealth and morals of the
people I complicate together; in no ſtate can they be ſeparated;
fo true is the axiom of Ifocrates, that not decrees, [91] but man-
ners, fpeak the conftitution of government; or in other words,
not laws, but the obedience which is payed to them.
CONSIDERING the commonwealth as inftituted by Solon,
and as re-eſtabliſhed by Cliftthenes, it hath been obferved that
whatever general denomination may have been given to its form
of government, undoubtedly the larger mafs of the people had
but little influence and authority, though they were in poffeffion
of general freedom and privileges: opulence, however regulated
by agrarian and fumptuary laws, and pretenfions of family, however
obliterated by general and equal claims under the fpirit of the
conftitution, feparated the noble and wealthy few from the many,
who neceffitated to feek fubfiftence from the menial arts, were
contented to forego public occupation and confequence; and
from
BOOK THE FIR s t.
129
།
XV.
from the bent and habits of life coincided with the intentions CHA P.
of their legiflator to entruſt the great functions of ftate exclu-
fively to thofe, from whom the exacted qualification of property
warranted a more perfect fenfe of refponfibility: nor did this
forbearance imply a diſregard of the commonwealth, whilſt that
reſponſibility was to the people at large.
AT the period we are now arrived at, fuch moderation could
no longer be ſuppoſed to diſtinguiſh the commonalty, whom the
circumſtances of the times had approximated to the higher
claffes, (or rather had mingled all claffes together,) whilft the
Perfian wars ſtamped with honour every name inſcribed on the
trophy of Marathon; and whilſt the ſpoils of Salamis and Pla- Diod. Sic.
tæa devolved hereditary opulence on the family of almoſt every
combatant in thoſe memorable conflicts.
THE riches of the conquerors flowed from the triple ſource of
military prize, of territory, and of captives; and the latter em-
ployed in the meaner handicrafts and trades, allowed leifure and
difengagement, as well as competence to each citizen; who,
buoyed up with national pride, and the elevation of his coun-
try, chofe to mingle in her councils, with the ſelf-confequence
of having fought her battles and conduced to thofe victories,
which encreaſing her empire, encreaſed the ſubjects of public
bufinefs, and importance of employ.
L. 12. § 1.
Ariftid.
THE work-ſhop being given up for the affembly, more citi- Plut. Vit.
zens crouded into action, more individuals became public men,
and the ſtate of Athens became more democratic.
THE growing taſte of the people, for political interference, was
flattered and promoted by thofe leaders, who fought to purchaſe
their favour and applaufe; the obftacles to popular ambition were
removed
S
130
THE HISTORY OF ATHENS.
XV.
CHA P. removed by fucceffive decrees, annulling ancient diſtinctions,
founded in the old fyftem of landed intereft, and in the policy of
Solon, who fought to temperate the democracy with inſtitutions
fuggefted by more partial governments. To thefe caufes of change
in the conftitution of the republic, Plutarch adds that of the long
Plut. Vit. Ci- walls built by Cimon to connect the upper city with the Piraeus,
before feparate and fortified apart: "thefe walls (fays he) tak-
mon.
riclis.
66
66
66
ing within the common circuit of the city, the refidence of the
"commercial and feafaring populace, they thenceforward more
readily mingled in the public affemblies; ever joined, and often
originated, the clamour of the day, and abetted alternately the
deſigns of a favourite, or furious reſentments of the common-
alty." The dangers hence to be apprehended were the greater,
as whilſt Ariftides opened the higheſt offices of ftate to the
claims of the pooreft citizen, Ephialtes degraded the dignity of
the Areopagus by introducing the cuſtom of frequent appeals
from that juriſdiction to the affemblies; and thus enlarged at
Plut. Vit. Pe- once their fphere of ambition, of policy, of favour, and of
juftice. The evil effects of laying fo many new powers, and
of bringing ſo much new matter before the commonalty, were
not inftantaneous, nor enter into the ſcene of government now
before us. New powers are ever at the outſet adminiſtered with
virtue and moderation; a Plebeian conful at Rome, and a Ple-
beian archon at Athens, on the firſt admiffion of the refpective
pretenfions, were in either ftate uncommon inftances of the
peoples' availing themſelves of the rights they had been moft
earneſt to attain; nor doth it appear that the ultimate refort of
juſtice was conducted otherwiſe than with modeſty and with
rectitude. It is an obſervation [92] of Ifocrates, that in theſe
times, "it was as difficult to make office acceptable to any, as
"in his time to find a man who did not folicit it." If we may
credit the reference of the Greek fophifts and orators to this happy
period,-what liberty had gained, good government had not loft:
Ifocrat. orat.
Areopag.
3
1
its
BOOK THE FIRST.
131
its adminiſtration was yet firm and confiftent, the decrees of the CHAP.
ſtate wife, their execution prompt, and obedience to them fo im-
XV.
plicit, that it warranted Plato to affert, "that [93] the people Plat. de Leg.
"were at once mafters of, and flaves to the laws;" and this L. 3.
ſpirit of fubordination he places to account of the dangers which
menaced them from the ftupendous invafion of the Perfians,
which inſtilled a ſenſe of union among themſelves, of adherencd
to their inſtitutions, and of acquiefcence in their regulations,
and in the command of thoſe they entruſted and empowered,
as their fole reſource of ftrength adequate to fo great occafion.
The pride and love of glory, refulting from the confequences of
thoſe wars, for a time ſuſtained that ſpirit which had been the
means of fuccefs, and made the citizens juft and difintereſted in
the exerciſe of their republican power, as they had been bold
and zealous in afferting their pretenfions to it; and in defending
it, as well againſt ufurpers within their ſtate, as againſt foreign
invafion.
THE effect of public habits on the domeſtic demeanour of the
Athenians would alone afford fome grounds of enquiry; but fur-
ther, the genuine fources of information, reſpecting the ſubjects
of manners and of morals, lay in the fimple theories of the
human mind and paffions; in the inveſtigation of facts which
may be prefumed to have an uniform connection therewith, and,
finally, in a ſpeculative combination of men and things: or, re-
verting from confequences to their caufes, they are to be fearch-
ed out in the affumption of tafte from the objects of predi-
lection; and in the affumption of focial conduct from the ef-
fects which we are acquainted with, and which can be preſumed
to have originated from no other fource, than the actual man-
ners of the
age. Can we read the fublime tragedies of
Æfchylus, and particularly that of the Perfai, nor fuppofe them
penned in conformity to an enthuſiaſtic ſpirit of virtue, patriotiſm,
S 2
and
132
THE HISTORY OF ATHENS.
XV.
Paufan.in Att.
CHAP. and renown; which dignifying the audience, incited the poet to
touch fuch paffions, as being moft general and interefting, as
awakening attention, and as enſuring applauſe? When we read
thofe of Sophocles, who quickly followed the father of the drama,
and who flouriſhed too in theſe times, can we entertain a doubt,
that the people who generally attended and were enamoured
with fuch repreſentations, and who bestowed fucceffive gratui-
ties and honours on fuch writers, were of no frivolous character,
but impregnate equally with the taſte of poetry, and with the ſenſe
of glory; which never accompany mean habits of ſelfiſhneſs, low
debauchery, and idle gratification? The pomp of their feſtivals,
Xen. Pol. A befpeak equally the magnificent fpirit of the people; and if, from
their attention to ſuch ſubjects beyond other nations, ought elſe
is to be deduced, it is a fuperftition that drew at leaſt the at-
tention of the citizens ftill further from diffolute vices and de-
grading purſuits: nor was this fuperftition intolerant; but,
whilſt in its ſplendour it drew to itſelf and circulated the ar-
ticles of commerce, it bore with all the nations and ſects
which commerce attracted to its emporium of Athens. We
are warranted in affixing to this æra of manners, national
pride connected with philanthropy; and in painting the ſtrict.
republican character, as endowed with the complacent vir-
tues of hofpitable intercourfe, when we advert to the re-
ception of ftrangers, and even to the treatment of flaves. The
dominion of the feas, and the connections of trade, muſt have.
habituated many citizens to foreign excurfions; many too,.
from other countries, became their guests in return; national
prejudices were thus broken in upon; the minds of men be-
came more knowing and enlarged; and the people were taught
to comprize others, as well as Greeks, within the circle of their
benevolence: their very flaves partook of that benevolence;.
they bore no badge of fervitude, but were cloathed as citizens;
Ifocrat. Paneg.
Xenoph. p
προσοδωνο
绳
​the
BOOK THE FIRST.
133
XV.
the laws protected them equally from infults and from blows, CHAP.
and their ſeveral merits and accomplitsents raifed them pro-
portionally to a certain rank in fociety, though never in the
ftate.
Xen.Pol. Ath..
C. 1. § 9. 19.-
II.
Laur. vall. de
THIS Complacency of manners, originating from other fources
than the long habits of diffufive intercourſe, implies no de-
praved or luxurious cuſtoms of life: an Athenian feaſt was pro- Athena.L.co.
verbial with furrounding nations for an homely entertainment; Ibid. L. 8.
nor can the propriety of the application be doubted, when we conviv. Vete
read of Pericles, and of others, the firft men in Athens, meeting
at a friend's houfe, followed feverally by a flave bearing a ſmall
portion of provifions for the maſter's diet: I muſt obviate any
reference on theſe topics to the convivial difcourfes of the Greek
fophifts, and particularly to the curious fympofion of Xeno-
phon, by reminding the reader, that they were written long after
theſe virtuous times, and that the pictures therein are drawn
from fubfequent habits of life. In this age there ſeems to have
been little private luxury, or even private oftentation employed
in any degree or object: when we are told, that the houſes of Demoft. Orat.
περί συντάξεις.
Themistocles, of Cimon, and of Ariftides, and of other great $46.
men, were no ways diſtinguiſhable from thofe of their pooreft
neighbours; when we confider this exterior equality, and the in-
trinfic one too of rights and of freedom; and when we obferve
that the fole afcendancy in theſe times was of ability and of vir-
tue, and that on ſuch jointed bafis alone the elevation of thoſe
men was founded, and yet when it roſe too high, was beaten
down and deſtroyed;-we might almoſt be led to confider the
Athenian ſtate, in its interior policy and management, as tran-
fcending the perfections of united fyftems, which reclufe poli-.
ticians have imagined in their vifionary models of government: Diod. Sic..
—but that wealready deſcry burſting from the fod thoſe ſeeds of
corruption and ruin, which the wealth of Perfia ſo widely dif-
feminated..
L. 12. § 3.
134
THE HISTORY OF ATHENS.
CHAP. feminated. The accumulated riches of the ftate, and of its ci-
XV. tizens too individually, however lay not hidden in coffers:-
Ifocrat. Pa-
math.
-pri-
vate temperance as yet rejected their abuſe; but private thrift
threw the fuperfluities from œconomical management into funds.
for aggrandifement of the ſtate, or fplendor of the city.
DOMESTIC parcrimony is no ways incompatible with public
magnificence: the citizens of Athens had yet the feelings of
patriotiſm, were yet capable of ſympathizing with the glory of
the commonwealth, and of facrificing thereto ſome portion of
more private interefts, and more ſelfiſh concerns: their fore-
fathers loved their country, they were proud of it; and pride for
a time proped up that fabric which virtue had raiſed. The firft
ſuitors of the fair miſtreſs, Athens, were fentimentally attached to
the foul (as Ifocrates emphatically terms the ſpiritual tenor of
the political inſtitution;) their fucceffors too were yet conftant to
the fair; but it was a groffer paffion for the fenfible object, and
was no longer diſplayed by a brave and knight-like affiduity of
ſervice, and a fubferviency of morals to the pure and correct
pattern of the republic, but was ſhown in a prodigality of orna-
ment and a profuſion of wealth, corruptive of, [94] and ruinous
to, the very patriot-love that laviſhed it: for an attachment to
fenfible objects paffes almoſt with the novelty, and further the
mind degenerates into a vicious levity.
WHEN the Athenians began to view, with rapture and pride,
the beauties of their city, the fplendid array of their fleets, and
to glory in their grandeur and opulence; they gloried indeed in
what was external and quickly periſhable, and they gloried too
in what was diſtinct from the pure fources of exultation in a free
commonwealth;-the fentiment of union, of virtue, and of liber-
ty, and the honeſt heartfelt pride of having repaid the benefits
of government by fervice and fupport yet ftill fomething in
common
BOOK THE FIRST.
135
XV.
common was at heart; nay, the very cement of the public CHAP.
weal for the moment feemed more binding and ftrong, as if
locked up by a froft, but to periſh with the diffolution of the
ſeaſon. In a former period, men gave up their very fuftenance,
their very lives, for the well-being, for the life of the republic;
they now made the fmaller facrifice of private to public luxury,
and lived thriftily at home, to add to the pomp of the feſtival,
to the apparel of the theatre, or to the decoration of the city.
Self-love, indeed, by a penetrating eye, might be diſcovered in its
paffage homewards; it ſeemed to have withdrawn from the ex-
treme periphery of the focial fyftem, and might be fuppofed
ſhortly to plot within a contracted circle, and confuſe and break
the compact with jarring interefts and defigns. A licentiouſneſs
refulting from the extenfion of democratic liberty, an avarice
proceeding from the habitual application to encreaſing com-
merce, an avidity of power growing with the enlargement of
empire, an ambition rifing and ſpreading with the occafions of
fignalizing military genius and civil capacity, and even the fine
arts foftening the minds of men, and preparing them for new in-
dulgencies and new luxuries, might be anticipated from the points
of view this æra affords, and add force to the fpeculation.
Ere I puſh forward into theſe profpects which open before us,
a fubject, which, perhaps I should apologize for, as digreffive
in a treatiſe profeffedly of political tendency, pleads for intro-
duction.
A DISTINGUISHED confequence accrued from the ſpirit of
public magnificence, preceding the turn for domeſtic fplendor:
it was hence that Grecian art fo fuddenly attained an excellence
which in no other country, and in no other age, hath been fur-
paffed; and furely in the article of fculpture hath remained un-
rivalled even to theſe times of modern refinement.
Public mag-
nificence is ever moſt favourable to the progrefs of the arts; ho-
nours,
136
THE HISTORY OF ATHENS.
XV.
CHA P. nours, religion, inſcriptive fame, all confpire to inftigate genius
of the first magnitude; whereas mere retribution, flowing from
opulent individuals, excites avarice and voluptuoufnefs; paffions
of a meaner temper, but which, of ſtronger force, bear down
thofe of glory and diftinction: the mercenary and luxurious,
preferring money and pleaſures to their art, facrifice their genius
and its predilections to whatever may be the taſte, and however
mean it may be, of the patronage they court.
CHA P.
!
BOOK THE FIRST.
137
D...
CHA P. XVI.
OF ART S.
CHAP.
XVI.
HE man whom exerciſe hath trained to run eafily with
TH
ers;
ſpeed, will run with grace: the mind too not only be-
comes vigorous, but elegant, from the frequent uſe of its pow-
what it hath begun it will have the fagacity to finish; and
what completed the ſpirit to refine no longer ſatisfied with a
trite road of practice, it will at length deviate into new paths,
wherein to exercife its activity or ftrength; as it is allured by
fairer profpects of pleaſure, or expelled its wonted career by a
fenſe of obſtacle or annoyance.
WHEN a free ſtate is in that point of its progreffion, that
finiſhed law and method have rendered frequent interpofition
unneceſſary but to the immediate agents of the commonwealth,
the active mind, difgufted with the fameneſs and facility of public
practice, will recur to private life; and bufily add convenience
to neceffaries, and luxury to convenience: each fenfe is then
plied with enjoyment, till each object palls upon the tafte; and
fucceffively the powers of art are called upon for new and more
accompliſhed excellence, to charm the ear, to fix the eye, or to
enrapture the fancy.
ART hath thus in fome countries attained maturity, but its
decline hath ever been rapid; for to reft contented with a ſtile of
fculpture or of literature, were to forego purfuit; and this being
incompatible with mental inquietude, true fcience, as well as
every thing elſe, has had its viciffitudes, and yielded to that
fondnefs
T
1
138
THE HISTORY OF ATHENS.
CHA P.
XVI.
fondnefs for novelties which is the fpring of all human under-
takings: painting hath deviated [95] into extravagance or little-
nefs; architecture hath loft its effect in finical ornament; poetry
been buried in the quaintnefs of conceit; and even hiſtory in
ſearch of novel excellence hath wandered into the familiar, the
marvellous, or the obfcure. - When, from the abfolute per-
verfion of government, politics are become dangerous, and a man
no longer with fafety can mingle in public adminiſtration, or
fecurely even buſy himſelf in private concerns; - the intellect,
uneafy in floth, will recur to a proper object, and veiling the pro-
ſcribed activity in platonic fpeculation, or obviating its confe-
quences with ftoic firmness, will feek new life and motion from
philofophy: Socrates, the first great moral preceptor, fell amidſt
the ruins of the Athenian republic, and the fectaries of Zeno
chiefly flouriſhed under the tyranny of the Cæfars.
WITH an eye to the gradation of government, it is probable
that art will fore-run philofophy; and that the growing wealth,
the pride of family, and love of diftinction, may launch into the
virtues of beneficence or vanities of patronage, previous to the
diffipated luxury productive finally of thofe revolutions, when the
mind muſt, under the neceffity of the times, ſeek fome allevia-
tion from filent fyftem, or ſteel itſelf againſt actual evils by
Tacit. Ann.3. apathy, or blunt their force by anticipation: fays Tacitus
[96], poftquam cædibus fævitum, et magnitudo Fame exitio
erat, cæteri ad fapientiora convertére:-as the plenitude of power
corrupts the defpot, fo the impotence of refiftance forms
the fage, nor under the cafualty of their reſpective fortunes be-
longs it to ought but to the divine eye to penetrate the recefs,
and ſcan the merits of each character:-the tyrants may have
been the better compofition !-O man of virtue, pity the cri-
minal and be humble!
PERHAPS
BOOK THE FIRST.
139
PERHAPS too, art may have the prior place [97] from its more
immediate connection with the wants of mankind; the wooden
bowl is poliſhed to the hand and delights the touch; it is en-
graved and pleaſes the eye; the trunk in its elevation naturally
puſhes forth new branches, and fucceffively ramifies on each
fhoot, till loft in the minuteſt tendril!
PERHAPS too, philofophy may come laft in fucceffion, as be-
ing of that high and etherial caft, as to require every previous
experience and exerciſe, to ſtrengthen and enlarge the mind, and
render it at once capacious for its theories, and firm for its
practice !
PERHAPS too, when want is provided for, every defire ferved,
even fancy fatiated, and we can go no further; to obliterate dif-
appointment we find out that we ought not; and pretending to
adopt from choice what we are driven to by force, become fages
of neceffity!
FREE ftates (it hath by many been obferved) are the beſt nur-
fery-bed of the arts; and other ftates (it will be obſerved) have
ran a career fomewhat fimilar to that of Athens; and have
known a period when emulation, fickening in the ſtagnation of
public fervices and duties, might be fuppofed to invigorate in
others ſcenes of employment; and wherefore then (it may be
afked) "Is the Athenian name fo fingularly pre-eminent in the
"annals of polite taſte and ingenious workmanſhip?" and even
in exception to the general reaſoning above ſtated, as theſe peo-
ple ſeem to have anticipated the æra of political decline alluded
to, and to have blended theſe accomplishments with their
brighteſt courſe of republican vigour, and national energy?
+
T 2
THE
CHAP.
XVI.
140
THE HISTORY OF ATHENS.
CHAP.
XVI.
&
Plin. L. 34.
Cap. 7.
Plin. Hift.
Nat. L. 36.
C. S.
Plut. Vit.
Periclis.
THE reader will remember that foon after the city was re-
built, the people of Athens became principals in the Perfian
war; that the new intereft was to be eſtabliſhed by fome ex-
traordinary exertion; and that the gifts of fortune and of fame.
called forth every Athenian to the field, who had at heart his
own honour and confequence in the republic, or thofe of the
republic in relation to Greece: from the elated temper of the
young and active citizens, many of the menial trades fell to the
numerous captives that thronged fucceffively from each victory:
the warriors returning with all the pride of triumph, diſdained
for the moſt part to practice the mechanical profeffions in com-
mon with their fervants; to find them other employment wherein
none but freemen could be competitors, a decree paffed forbidding
any flave the exerciſe of ſculpture or painting; and the liberal
arts were thus for ever dignified at Athens. The moſt exalted
fpirit, from that period, difdained not the chifel or the pallat; the
labour as well as the defign equally ennobled genius; the boldeſt
theory thence was combined with the moft delicate execution;
nor was the time expended on the work, any confideration to the
artiſt, whilſt renown was his object; or if avaricious, no price
was eſteemed too high for a beautiful and finiſhed performance.
Pliny tells us that the Laocoon [98] took up the lives of a fa-
ther and of his two fons; a work, from which the moft elaborate
mechanic might learn to finiſh, the moſt correct draftſman might
ftudy precifion, and the moft fublime poet invention and idea!
ANOTHER Circumftance, which conduced particularly to the
early refinement and progrefs of the arts at Athens, was the
timely adminiſtration of one, who from nature and education had
every requifite of judicious tafte, and poffeffed at once the moſt
unbounded power and moſt liberal ſpirit that ever ennobled pub-
lic patronage: Pericles, the fon of the Xantippus renowned for
the
BOOK THE FIRST.
141
CHAP.
XVI.
Diog. Laert.
Platon. Men-
Vit. Anaxag.
cxen. Dialog.
the defeat of the Perfians at Mycale, comes not at prefent to our
view in the character of minifter but of Patron; his mind opened
by the fubtilties of his preceptor [99] Anaxagoras, and polished
by his intercourſe with the accompliſhed Afpafia; exerciſed by
the ingenious fophiftry of the fage, and refined by the erudite de-
licacy and elegance of his no lefs philofophical miſtreſs,-it grew Menag. Mul.
flexible and capacious, it became open and luxurious: luxurious Philof. Hift.
in thoſe objects which through the fenfe awaken the fancy, and
enrapture the foul with the contemplation of fymmetric beauty:
to feel this divine, this harmonic fentiment, the mind muſt be in
unifon with, or beautiful (if I may fo exprefs it) as its object;
it muſt have all the pliable variety, all the enthufiaftic wander-
ings, and that accurate, and that diſcriminating, fpirit which a
learned, as well as fpeculative tutor could exerciſe it to; and all
the yielding temper, the refined judgment, the fqueamish nicety
of tafte, (in a word) the melody of finiſhed character which may
refult, and can refult only, from the converfe of a lovely and be-
loved woman !
riclis.
WITH a taſte for the liberal ſciences and arts, Pericles (how Plut. Vit, Pe
illicitly I will not at preſent urge) enjoyed the moſt ample means
of recompenfing defert, and of foftering genius: the bank of the
general contributions had been removed from Delos, and no im-
mediate exigency demanding the application of theſe monies to
the common cauſe, he converted them to the purpoſes of em-
belliſhing the city, and with an affiduity that foon rendered
Athens the ornament, as it had been, the bulwark of Greece:
nor did Pericles find it difficult to gain the affent of his coun-
trymen to this miſuſe of the public funds; Athens was a miſtreſs
endeared by lofs, and whofe value was enhanced by the difficul-
ties of redemption; and no citizen grudged to diffipate his own,
or even to trefpafs on the public patrimony, to deck out her
beauties, and give new luftre to her name.
THE
142
THE HISTORY OF ATHENS.
CHAP.
XVI.
Plut. Vit. Pe-
riclis.
Thucyd. L. 2.
Plut. Vit. Per.
Xenoph. Tig
προσόδων. § 4.
Strabo, L. 9.
Plin. Hift.
THE immortal ftatuary Phidias was made fuperintendant of
the public works, and by his fame drew together the firft
artiſts of Greece, and without envy gave due encouragement to
all; for " envy (as Pericles nobly obſerves in his funeral oration)
comes [100] not but from fomewhat inferiour to its object."
PUBLIC edifices, of the richeft and grandeft ftructure, were
every where raiſed: what the magnificence of thefe buildings
was, may be furmifed from the fum of a thouſand talents, or an
hundred and eighty thouſand pounds fterling, expended folely on
the temple of Minerva, and that at a time when from the mul-
titude of flaves, labour was almoſt gratuitous, and the fineſt mar-
bles were the produce of the country. In this temple, called the
Parthenion, and built by the architect Setinus, ſtood a ſtatue of
the tutelary goddefs, wrought in ivory by the hand of Phidias,
Nat. 36. C. 5. and profufely decorated with gold: if this figure is taken as the
criterion of the arts at this æra of the Athenian republic, the
idea of general excellence of taſte and workmanſhip, tranſcends
all that every other country and every other
age can boaſt: pre-
cious as were the materials, Phidias formed this ftatue fix and
twenty cubits high, and from the defcription of Pliny, it yet.
appears to have been in every part elaborately touched as the
moſt exquifite miniature: the reliefs were chofen from great and
complex fubjects, and were ſeverally a work that required the firſt
artiſt, his exertion of genius, and his utmoft care in execution:
on the area of the ſhield was ſculptured the battle of the Ama-
zons within its concave the conflict of the gods and giants;
on the pedeſtal was reprefented the birth of Pandora and the
deities; and even the fandals were ornamented with a graving
Epictet. Ad- of the Lapitha and Centaurs; and a victory (weighing forty
talents of gold) was held forth in its hand. This ſtatue, of
which the total effect riveted the attention in amazement and
rapture, was in each detail fo finiſhed and perfect, that (fays
Pliny) the moſt intelligent eye could with pleaſure contemplate
Paufan. in
Att.
Te16. L 2. C.8.
;
8
even
A
BOOK THE FIRST.
143
mour.
СНАР,
XVI.
imag.
Plin. L. 34.
even the ferpent, the ſphinx, and other ornaments of the ar-
Yet admirable as was this figure of Minerva, it was
not the moſt admired of the works of Phidias; Lucian prefers
the ſtatue of Lemnia (or termed Lemnia) on which the artist Lucian. de
affixed his name; and his ftatue of Olympian Jupiter, we are
told, was unrivalled: the ancients ſpeak of this latter perform-
ance with rapture; even Strabo, on this fubject, feems infpired
by the god, with an elevation of fentiment fuitable to a deſcrip-
tion of this auguſt repreſentation of divinity; he ſpeaks of this
Coloffus " as touching [101] the roof of the temple as it fat, Strab. L. 8.
"and in that attitude ftriking the fpectator, as if each moment
""
going to rife, and burſt the dome of the hallowed edifice
"which encloſed it." It is faid, that Phidias took his idea of
this ſtatue from the following lines of Homer:
Jove gave the nod, with knit and awful brow
His heav'nly hair were ruffled; 'twas the ftrength
Of God that mov'd, and all Olympus fhook!
HAVING Confined the inftances of fculpture to Phidias, I
ſhall briefly obſerve, that Polygnotus too, and others at this
period, began to excell in painting; but this art feemed yet in
its infancy, whilſt the works of Phidias have ſtood unrivalled by
fubfequent ages. The general queftion of antecedency, I doubt
not to decide in favour of ſtatuary: the ingenious Mr. Webb,
in his treatiſe on painting, has advanced a contrary tenet; but I
fide with the learned Winckelman [102], and on a favourite
fubject will hazard a digreffion in fupport of his argument.
To talk of the perfect knowledge of drawing as previouſly ne-
ceffary to the formation of a figure, which on every bearing, and
in every light, was to have the juſt outline of nature, implies a
very partial comprehenfion of the poffible beginnings of the art;
rather ſhould I fuppofe (and the reliques of the higheſt anti-
quity aid my ſuppofition) that the first models of the human
figure
C. 8.
Iliad. L. 1.
v. 528.
Plin. Hift.
Nat. L. 35.
c. 9.
Hiftoire de
& C. 4.
l'Art. C. I.
1.
§ 1.
1
144
HISTORY OF ATHENS.
THE
XVI.
Diod. Sic.
L. I.
Ibid. L. 4.
CHA P. figure depended for their correctness on the momentary idea, and
precife vifion of the artiſt, and that he plaiſtered on his clay, or
pared its prominencies, till his eye was fatisfied with the fimili-
tude. There were indeed fuch ftatues as the Ægyptian hewn
out on diagram rather than defign, with acute angles, no grace
of limb, no motion, no compofition, but an exact and fcrupu-
lous length of bone, and conformity of proportions: Dæda-
lus [103] the Athenian, on theſe granite mummies, I can ima-
gine to have firft worked, and to have improved them without
the ſtudy of drawing, or the affiftance of ought other original
than nature; to have ſeparated the limbs from their rigid unity
with the trunk, to have enlarged fome, and to have diminished
other parts, till the nice gradations of muſcle, and their modu-
lation to attitude, were founded on uniform experience and more
exact obfervation. The portraits of Semiramis and her huſband
on the walls of Babylon will be quoted from Diodorus; and the
lovers fhadow penciled round by his miſtreſs, will be cited from
Pliny, and many other tales, and much reafoning may be ad-
duced to prove the antiquity of painting; and if I will not al-
low art to originate from that quarter, the conceffion will be ex-
pected of me at least, that ſculpture and painting may be nearly
coeval; but not even this can I agree to nor was the palace of
Alcinous, nor other kingly hall decked by the lavish fong of
Homer, therein decorated with pictures; but
Ibid. L. 2.
Plin. L. 35.
C. 12.
Odyff. 7.
(Pope)
Two [104] rows of ftately dogs on either hand,
In fculptur'd gold and labour'd filver ſtand;
Theſe Vulcan form'd with art divine, to wait
Immortal guardians of Alcinous' gate;
Alive each animated frame appears.
Nor was the temple or houſe of Solomon adorned with pic-
tures in all the eaſtern metaphors of the earlier holy writ, I
remember not one exemplification from painting: but, ſays the
divine
BOOK THE FIRST.
145
XVI.
divine canon," Thou shalt not make to thyfelf any graven image." CHA P.
From the figure of man, to form a fimilar figure, was furely
more obvious than to deceive the fenfe, by that complicated art
which gives a juft fwell and relative depreffure to a plane furface.
The ſtatue had a fimple and obvious original; the man who firſt
ftripped the bark from the tree, and fmoothed the knotty
trunk [105], was in his way to that art, which afterwards ftretch-
ed to the formation of an Apollo.
C. 10.
Ar the time when fculpture was at the higheſt pitch, then
painting began to emulate its excellence; much it was to ſeek
without the pale of imitation, but much too it was to borrow
from the prior art; colour, and its contingencies of light and
fhade, it was to feek for in nature, but the precife outline it could
more readily copy from the correct, and unvarying models of a
Phidias or Alcamenes: from attention to fuch finiſhed perform-
ances defign [106] foon attained a degree of perfection, which no
modern work can be ſuppoſed to give a juſt idea of: when Pliny
ſays, that, “ Ambire debet fe extremitas, et fic definere, ut pro- Plin. L. 35.
"mittat alia poft fe, oftendatque quæ occultat;" I confefs my eye
is but ill fatisfied even with the Seftine chapel [107]. Whilft
we allow the fuperiority of defign to the ancient painters, let
us not extravagantly deal them out every accompliſhment of the
profeffion from the old poets, and from the antiquarians Elian
and Paufanias, and from Lucian and others, I think it may be
gathered that the ancient painters delighted much in fingle
figures [108], and that their fingle figures had all the animation
which colour and defign could produce; but their more crouded
pictures ſeem to have been of a frigid, or of an extravagant turn
of compoſition; they knew not the technical propriety and dif-
pofition of planes; nor do they appear to have been well ac-
quainted with the beauties of effect modulated on the varieties
of the aerial medium: in the picture of the battle of Marathon,
befides
U
146
THE HISTORY OF ATHENS.
CHAP.
XVI.
Paufan.in Att.
befides a very particular delineation of all that paffed in that me-
morable field, the Perfian fleet too was defcried from afar, and
Cinagyrus [109] retaining the veffel with his teeth. Their cha-
racters must generally, I think, have been better in the detail,
than in the group, and each figure, rather than the picture, have
been the object of admiration. Though a paſſage is cited from
Vitruv. Præf. Vitruvius, mentioning a ſcene as old as the times of Æfchylus,
drawn apparently on juft principles of optics, and on which
Anaxagoras wrote a treatiſe; and though Eupompus (we are
Plin. L. 35. exprefsly told) was of opinion, that a knowledge of geometry
was neceffary to an exact delineation of the objects in nature; yet
cannot I coincide in the idea, that the ancients were maſters of a
regular and ſyſtematic perſpective [110]. Particular inftances
belong rather to the fide of exception than of rule; when we
are told of one particular fcene, I fhould imagine it to have been
fingularity which recommended it to notice; when we are told,
that one Eupompus was of fuch or fuch an opinion; it im-
plies, I think, that the generality were not of that opinion.
C. 10.
Ciceron.
Quæft. Acad.
1.
NICETAS, as we learn from Cicero's academics; and others,
as we learn from the first book of Lucretius [111], had a juſt
Lucret. L. 1. idea of the figure of the earth; but ſuch ſyſtem not being the
adoption of the age, it is not to be placed to the account of its
erudition: it thus little furthered natural philofophy; and as
little might the opinion of one individual artist prove the ad-
vancement of art.
WITHOUT mathematical knowledge, much may be done; a
building may be tolerably drawn, a flying line well conducted
from mere obſervation, and without any artificial point of fight,
or diagram from rule and compaſs; an acute and ſteady eye may
learn to well diſtinguiſh the pofition, fituation, and diſtance of
objects, by showing their proper planes in their proper forms,
IQ
and.
BOOK
147
THE
FIRST.
:
XVI.
and marking the regular and juſt diminution: but the perfpec- CHAP.
tive part of deſign is then dependant for its accuracy rather on
the artiſt [112], than on the art; and is liable to gain or loſe,
as his delicacy of vifion corrects, or dullneſs or inattention
per-
verts it; whilft, if founded on known and invariable princi-
ples, a very mechanic can fcarcely err. That the ancients had no
ſuch juſt theory, is fufficiently apparent, I think, from the pic-
tures diſcovered in the theatre of Herculaneum, and town of
Pompeii; nor will it avail, to ſay that theſe were done when
painting was in its decline; the more noble branches of the art,
it may not be candid therefore to queſtion from the examples
before us; but the more mechanical parts of the profeffion
might be fuppofed to have gained ground, as the fublimer fell
into decay: had perſpective ever been reduced to juſt principles
it would have been perfected on the ruins of the art it was
founded on; its difficulties would have been explored, novel
fingularities have exerciſed its truths, and the beauties of defign
would have been fucceeded by profeffional fubtilty and trick:
nor will it avail to affert that thefe works were of fome infe-
rior, fome provincial hand; even their great merits apart, the
frequent refidence of the emperors and Roman nobility on this
coaſt might ſuggeſt a contrary idea; but it is unneceffary to fur-
ther enforce it, as the previous remark is wholly inconfequent,
whilſt even in this country (a country by no means diftinguiſhed
in the chapter of art) ſcarcely a fignpoft can be produced where-
on are depicted the upper and under ſurface of the fame foliḍ; a
circumſtance not uncommon in the otherwife neatly and finely
executed reliques of ancient painting.
THE
U 2
[ 149 ]
THE
HISTORY OF ATHENS, &c. &c.
BOOK THE SECOND.
CHA P. I.
OF THE ADMINISTRATION OF PERICLES OF THE DOMINION
OF ATHENS OF THE PELOPONNESIAN WAR TO THE AR-
GIVE ALLIANCE.
T
HE point of perfection is but that of a moment, foon
as attained it is paffed; and leaft of all, the excellence
of political conſtitutions of fociety, dependant on fo
many paſſions of men, and fo many contingencies of event, is
calculated for any degree of permanency, either as to virtue or
profperity. The delineation of manners and eftimate of political
œconomy as ftated in a preceding chapter, refers to, nor extends
beyond, the precife æra of the peace which cloſed the conteſts of
Athens with Greece, enfuing the contefts of Athens and Greece
with the powers of Perfia. The fifteen years which have elapfed'
from the epoch of the truce, fuited the ordinary and obvious in-
tereſts
CHA P.
I.
150
THE HISTORY OF ATHENS.
I.
CHA P. terefts of a commercial ftate as was Athens, and facilitating and
extending its mercantile connections thereby added to its wealth,
its numbers, and its navy: but this feafon, nutrient to its poli-
tical reſources, at the fame time foſtered and raiſed up thoſe ſeeds
of internal corruption, which were ſcattered by the high for-
tune of the republic in her wanton career of ſucceſs: the fruits
thereof were calculated to infufe a temporary glow of extraordi-
nary beauty and vigour to the ftate that fed thereon, but fecretly
they fapped the vitals of its conftitution, and ultimately de-
ftroyed the ſpirit and force which they feemed for a while to
nourish and extend. When wealth began to diſtinguiſh the
fortunate from war or trade; and when art had fuggefted enjoy-
ments, which the paffions of men are ever ready to meet half-
way, and which wealth alone could procure; progreſſively gain
became the fubftitute for each worthier motive of action, and
foon the ſenſe of public duties yielded to pleaſures and to ſelf-
intereft. Some citizens, relinquiſhing to certain demagogues all
general concerns of ſtate, were abſorbed in voluptuous habits of
life; others in the lucrative courſe of trade; and fome folicited
a participation of riches from the patronage, and others from the
apprehenfions of able, opulent, and enterprizing men, who were
beneficent from ambition, or from the ſenſe of reſponſibility;
who wiſhed to poffefs, or who had poffeffed the executive offices
of government.
The lower claffes, needy in the individual ca-
pacity, were yet collectively powerful in the affembly of the
commonwealth; the corrupt means to footh and to court them
having been effayed by high delinquents; the practice too foon
reliſhed when once admitted, began to vitiate each popular de-
cree: to footh and to court, then became neceffary to thoſe who
had ought to afk, as well as to thoſe who had ought to fear
whilſt the people learnt to confer each boon in their public
calling with views to remuneration, or generally or in their fe-
veral private fituations. Hence new immunities were fuccef-
;
fively
BOOK THE SE CON D.
151
CHAP.
I.
Periclis.
fively propoſed to ingratiate the propofer with the commonalty;
hence bounties, feafts, and fhows, the fruits of military depre-
dation, were by each General given to conciliate the populace; Plut. Vit.
and in default of private wealth, hence Pericles advanced to
power, eſtabliſhed himſelf in the adminiſtration by largeffes from
the very funds of the ſtate to its turbulent and mercenary citi-
zens the ſtruggle of this ſtateſman, to attain as well as to pre- Dialog.
ſerve miniſterial power, had perhaps more immediately rendered
the people turbulent and mercenary.
Platon. Gorg.
Paufan.in Att.
Plut. Vit. Pe-
riclis.
Dial.
PERICLES was ennobled by defcent from the Xantippus who bide
commanded the fleet at Mycale; this, and his own perfonal ac-
compliſhments, and more particularly an affability towards the
ordinary claffes of citizens contrafted with a haughty referve to-
wards the higher ranks, and a natural readineſs of fpeech by
study improved into the moft refined and elevated eloquence, Plat. Menex,
made him an early favourite with the people; but by the more
fagacious citizens remarked as a tranfcendant character, which
might ſometimes bear the commonwealth from its proper bias,
and the admirable qualities of which were to be regarded as the
more dangerous, in proportion to the public favour and notice
they attracted. His perfon too was faid to reſemble that of Piſiſ-
tratus, and light as this circumftance fhould feem, it was the
weight that fet peoples minds agoing in fearch of other fimili-
tudes, which never exiſted or never would have been remarked,
but for the first ground-work on which fancy wrought, of a Valer. Max.
femblance of voice and phyfiognomy. Pericles finding himſelf
thus the object of fufpicion; and his manners and even gait, a
text on which each cautious republican was to roufe the atten-
tion and free ſpirit of the people, he determined to elude the
effects of the public apprehenfion, by withdrawing for a time
from the affemblies wherein he was regarded with fo jealous and
wary attention: he left the city for the camp, and ftrived to fub- Plut. Vit. Per.
L. 6. C. 9.
titute
152
THE HISTORY OF ATHENS.
¡
CHAP.
Plut. Reip.
Ejufd. Vit.
Pericles.
ſtitute the name of an expert and hardy foldier, for that of a dan-
gerous and plotting citizen: his fervices defervedly acquired the
eſtimation he fought, but rendered the citizen yet more dangerous.
To fimulate and diffimulate had fome time been his neceffary ſtudy,
and fo well did he profit of the theory, that on his return he
managed to ingratiate himſelf with, and ſecure a party, before his
opponents were even aware that from their remiffneſs or miſtake,
he had taken a ſtrong hold in the affections of the people, and
which their united powers and policy were infufficient to force,
or entice him from. In the party formed by his able and conci-
Ger. præcept. liatory genius, he had his fubordinate miniſters ſuited to each
office of intrigue, of harangue, of enterprize, and of munifi-
cence; his Charinus, his Ephialtes, his Demonides, and his
Menippus ; nor whilft prieftcraft influences an age of fuper-
ſtition, can we ſuppoſe his friend the foothfayer Lampo, to have
been without employ: in vain the laviſh ſpirit of Cimon, with
monis & Peri- feafts and fhews attempted to rival him in the good favour of the
commonalty; Pericles oppofed prodigality to prodigality, and
the fole refult of the conteft was further licentioufneſs in the
ſtate in vain the honeſt ſenſe and valour of Thucydides were
patroniſed by the nobles, and fet up to cope with the pretenfions
of this rifing genius-" When I throw him (faid Thucydides)
he fays,
"he is not down, and they believe him even when on
"the ground:" with his eloquence he carried all before him, and
embittered by the repeated attacks of the higher clafs, he turned its
whole current to fap the bulwark of the ariftocracy; licentiouf-
nefs then poured in with eddies and whirlpools, with ftreams and
with counter-ftreams, wherein himſelf indeed was found (but
alone found) an adequate pilot to the commonwealth, from
whom none could take the helm, and with whom the veffel was
wholly to perish.
Ejufd. Vit. Ci-
clis.
WHEN
BOOK THE
153
SECOND.
I.
WHEN manners were incorrupt; when juſtice ruled at home, CHAP.
and equity abroad; when in the purity of the inftitution, all were
confidered by each, and each by none; when the individual ſtate
leaned to philanthropy, as the individual to the ſtate, and moral
fitnefs was extended to national interefts, and was made the rule
of national conduct, adminiſtration required no refinement :
even as men deviated from (if ever they were bleft by) fuch
virtuous ſyſtem, ſtill a found intellect and a firm fpirit were for
a while equal to the miniſtry of public affairs.-But now to har-
monize all the jarring and diſcordant elements which fociety
was broken into,—to keep together and direct together this he-
terogeneous and uncemented mafs without change and without
lofs, required an art unknown in former times, an art referved
for the genius of Pericles. To corrupt [113], and to rule by
corruption; to extract unanimity from difcordant paffions; to
prop fuccumbing valour with pride; to deduce the patriot vir-
tues from the animofities of party; to build a fyftem of depen-
dance on vanity, and for fubordination to ſubſtitute dependance; to
draw plenty from diffipation, and make the comforts and com-
petence of the many proceed from the extravagance of the few;
in foreign marts to balance commodity by manufacture, and the
utility of manufacture by novelty or elegance; to purchaſe ar-
mies with wealth, and recover wealth with armies, or make ne-
gotiations ſupply the deficiences of both ;-theſe were the arts of
this great man; great may he be faid, for the greateſt in theſe
reſpects have thought him a fit object of their emulation :-well
were it, if they confidered too the other qualities and merits
which raiſed this character to the high preheminence it holds!
Pericles was truly what Cato faid of Pompey,-
falvá [114]
Libertate, potens; et folus, plebe paratâ,
Privatus, parere fibi.
Lucan. Phar
fal. Lib. 9.
X
· His
154
THE HISTORY OF ATHENS.
CHAP
I.
Thucyd. L. 2.
$65.
Ifocrat. orat.
de pace.
Plut. Vit. Pe-
riclis.
His biographer and encomiaſt Plutarch tells us that it was Pe-
ricles who first applied fecret-fervice money to corrupt the ene-
mies of his country; and Plato in his dialogue of Gorgias, fays,
it was Pericles who first corrupted his country;-but he encroach-
ed not on the liberties of the republic, nor though he diffipated
the funds of the ftate, did he raife a fortune on its diſburſe-
ments; and its treaſury was rich on his demife. As he uſed it to
conciliate, fo at times did he employ his eloquence to chasten the
turbulenc of the populace; as from ambition he banished, fo
from virtue he recalled his competitor Cimon: as rivalſhip loſt
ground, he honoured his rivals; and finally fought to restore the
patrician influence and anew balance the commonwealth. To
gain the lead in public affairs, he had much perplexed, but no
one knew better how to unravel them; he had ever fome re-
fource for the diftreffes, fome fafeguard in the dangers, fome
honourable means of colouring over the difcredit of the republic.
Arts and ſcience flouriſhed under his patronage, public ſpirit
was countenanced, and the general welfare and ſafety, (as far as
was compatible with the general corruption) were attended to
with a happy inſight and refolute practice: as the force of Athens
fickened from the depravity of her citizens, he medicated the
weakneſs and ſubftituting art for ſtrength taught her to act
with a ſkill and vigilance, more than equal to manly prowess: the
warriour who trembled under the fhield, might firmly direct his
javelin from the rampart; unfteady in the field he might yet be
dextrous on the feas; and hence as to foreign dominion and foreign
Thucyd. L.2. Wars, his ſyſtem of reliance was not on the force of garrifons in
the one cafe, or of armies in the other, but on the walls and fleets
of Athens. The fubordinate ſtates being moftly or iflanders, or
maritime, thereby were more eafily to be controuled, and an
enemy under the like predicament more eafily annoyed; and if
defolation was ſpread through the territory of Attica, the fortreſs
$65.
Xenoph. Pol.
Ath. cap. 2.
§ 2. & feq.
of
1
}
BOOK THE SECOND.
155
of the city was a fure refuge to the people, and meanwhile its
fleets with fudden and unprepared for invafion might make a
deſcent on the enemies coafts, and the balance of conqueft and
depredation for a time be equally held ;-for a time, I fay,-for
arts may be acquired by thoſe who have them not, but virtue
rarely be recovered by thoſe who have loft it.
CHAP.
I.
Diod. Sic.
Com. Acharn.
Ir is faid that Pericles, or to ſcreen fome paft malverfation, Plut. Vit. Per.
or to make his abilities neceffary for the future, or even from meaner L. 12.
motives [115], engaged his country in a war: that peace was not fo Ariftoph.
likely to befriend his power is certain; that he was the imme-
diate or fole caufe of the rupture between Athens and Sparta,
and, as it is termed, of the Peloponnefian war, is much, and
with much reaſon to be doubted: Thucydides exprefsly tells us, Thucyd. L. r
"that the dominion of Athens was become too abfolute and
"extenfive to be any longer regarded with paffive envy by the
great rival ſtates; they thought even their own liberties en-
dangered, and if they found not, were ready to coin fome
pretext for hoftility, and league together to pluck the eagle's
wing ere fhe gained a pitch above the flight of vengeance."
The oftenfible hiſtory is as follows.
<<
66
66
8230
§ 24. & feq.
EPIDAMNUS owed its fettlement to united colonies from Ibid.
Corinth and from Corcyra; diffention had thus an original
germ in this little ftate which finally burſt forth, and in the
commotion many of the moſt noted and moft wealthy of the
citizens were compelled to fly the fury of the populace, and
take ſhelter in the neighbouring but barbarous diftrict of the
Taulantii: theſe people they perfuaded to aid their defign of
forcibly reinftating themſelves in their country, when the townf-
men inveterately bent againſt their return fent to Corcyra for
fuccour wherewith to repel the attack, and drive the affailants
back to the woods: Corcyra refufing affiftance, they then ap-
plied
X 2
156
THE HISTORY OF ATHENS.
I.
§ 35. & feq.
CHAP. plied to Corinth as being the joint parent ſtate, where their plea
was admitted, and forthwith a fubfidy voted to back their pre-
tenfions and party: Corcyra alarmed at this interpofition of Co-
rinth, and fearful left the Colony of Epidamnus ſhould now to-
tally recur from its protection to that of its rival, thought fit to
take a part in its affairs, and diſpatch a fleet in ſupport of the
exiles; this and the Corinthian armaments met, and the latter
being worſted, the flame had caught which afterwards burst in
conflagration over Greece. Epidamnus was now loft fight of;
Corinth fought to revenge itſelf on Corcyra, and Corcyra deem-
ing itſelf alone unequal to the conteft, applied to the alliance of
Athens. The Corinthian emiffaries met them fraught with argu-
ments evincive of the juſtice of their caufe; but the Corcyreans
made a better plea to the ambition of their auditors: they were
Thucyd. L. 1. iflanders; their navy was powerful; they were fituated conveni-
ently for the invafion of the nether coafts of the Peloponnefe,
or of Italy, or of Sicily, or thence of the whole borders of the
mediterranean: fuch an opportunity might not again occur, and
was not now therefore to be paffed over; the Athenians however
had ſome reſpect for appearances, and not to feem in the eye
of
Greece the firſt abettors of freſh hoftility, they concluded a
merely defenfive treaty with the Corcyreans; but to enter into
a defenfive treaty with a people already in arms, was furely equi-
valent to a declaration of war. The Corinthians unable to con-
tend alone with theſe united powers, addreffed the Spartans, and
roufed them from their lethargy with a tale of this new accef-
fion to the force of their rivals, the dangerous avidity of further
poffeffion thence difcoverable in the Athenian ftate, and their
own lofs of that power and eftimation in Greece, which had
been fo gloriously bequeathed them by their forefathers at
Platea.
SPARTA
BOOK THE
157
SECOND.
I.
SPARTA now fent to Athens, and Athens fent back to Sparta, CHAP.
and fucceffive negotiation was agitated, but in fuch a manner as
proved either to be in fearch only of fome colouring for their
animofity, and fome means of involving others too in the con-
teſt, and of making the rupture general.
·
Ibid.
§ 84. & feq.
THE requifitions on the part of Sparta were evidently mere Ibid.
pretexts, and had little reference, or to their own concerns and 126. & feq.
interefts, or to the queftions in difpute.-Firſt they took the
part of religion, and infifted on the expiatory banishment of thoſe
families deſcended from the murderers of Cylon when at fanc-
tuary, with a view to the exile of Pericles who was of ſuch de-
fcent: the Athenians bade the Lacedæmonians firſt expiate at
home the breach of fanctuary in the temple of Neptune at Tæ-
narum, where the Helots were flain, and in the fane of Pallas
where Paufanias was murdered :—then the Spartans required that
Ægina fhould be enfranchiſed; then, that the Athenians fhould
open their ports and harbours at that time ſhut againſt the veſſels
of the people of Megara, who had lately fhaken off the Athenian
yoke, and to whom the Athenians further objected the admitting
and concealing their run-away flaves; other demands followed
on theſe Pericles at length plainly told his countrymen, Ibid.
"that to cede the minuteſt point in debate, was to give up na-
"tional honour without providing for national ſecurity; that
"their pufillanimity apparent on a trivial conceffion would
merely draw.on further and more important requifitions; and
that, as well as more becoming, it was more advantageous to
reject in the firft inftance, and fhew a fpirit, that at leaſt would
"enfure the confidence of their allies, and fubmiffion of their tri- Thucyd. L. 2.
“butaries:”—He diſplayed to them their wealth; above fix thou-
fand talents [116] were then in the treaſury; fix hundred they re-
ceived annually in tribute; the temples were rich in ornaments
of gold; and the maffive ſpoils of the Perfian camp were ready in
66
66
:
exigency
158
THE HISTORY OF ATHENS.
4
I.
mon & Peri-
clis.
Diod. Sic.
L. 11. & 12.
Paufan. Spar-
11m.
Strabo. L.8.9.
CHAP. exigency to be melted down. He made known to them their force;
their army was numerous and well appointed; they had thirteen
thouſand heavy armed troops for the field, fixteen thousand more in
garrifons, two thouſand light armed archers, and twelve hundred
horfe and their navy amounting to three hundred fail was all
equipped and ready for embarkation, whilſt their great arfenal,
Plut Vit. Ci- the work of Philon, was crowded with ftores. He ſhowed them
the extent and advantages of their dominion [117]; from Corcyra
and Zacynthus on one fide, and from Ægina and Eubea on the
other, they feemed to embrace the whole Grecian feas; they
Thucyd. L.1. poffeffed the great cluſter of the Cyclades, and to theſe and other
islands of the Ægean, had lately added the capital acquifition of
Samos: many of the infular and maritime ftates which were not
actually fubordinate to the government of Athens, could not but
fide with that naval power, or from commercial habits or from
fears; thus Chios and Lefbos and various others were ready to
fend their fleets to the rendezvous of the great republic. On the
continent their poffeffions were fo happily fcattered, that well
might they be imagined chofen garrifons of Greece: they had
Platea on the borders of the Baotian, and Naupactos [118] and
parts of Acarnania on the confines of the Ætolian territory;
Northward, Eion, Amphipolis and many cities of Theffaly and
Thrace belonged to them; thence eastward, the entire Cherfo-
neſe and Byzantium and Seftos, and other towns on the Helle-
fpont ſubmitted to their jurifdiction; many likewiſe of Ionia,
Caria, Lycia, and Pamphylia were fubordinate to their fove-
reignty; their influence too was in many quarters extended or
ſtrengthened by colonies;-the lands confifcated from the common
enemy, and from the allies too when refractory towards the cloſe
of the Perfian war, had latterly been diftributed, and chiefly by
Pericles, among the poorer Athenians:-a thouſand Athenians
carried the interefts and feelings of their country to a fettlement
in the Cherfonéſe, a thouſand more to the diſtrict of the Bifaltæ
1 I'
LA
BOOK THE
159
SECOND.
in Thrace, a thoufand to that of the Hiftiæi in Eubea, five hun-
dred to Naxos, as many to the ifles of Andros and Scyros, a
thouſand to Samos, an equal number to Amphipolis, and others
to the countries of the Haliartii, of the Chalcidenfes, and even
to parts more diftant. Looking round to this wide extended fo-
vereignty, and to the ſtations of the enemy, Athens feemed to be
fituated in the very center of the field of war, ready to diſ-
patch fuccour and annoyance to each point of the circle :—with
theſe reſources and with this empire Athens could not brook
conceffion; a defiance enfued, and war was prepared for on all
fides.
CHAP.
I.
&
HOSTILITIES commenced with an attempt to furprize Pla- Thucyd. L. .
taa; the town was taken, and was recovered; many of the ag-
greffors were flain, and many remained captive within the walls.
The Theban army then defolating the fields around, approached
the city to fupport the enterprize of their countrymen; whoſe
failure and captivity being made acquainted with, they entered
into treaty for their lives, and engaged to defift from further de-
vaftation, on condition that their citizens were fent back in
ſafety, on the army's retreat from the country. Theſe terms were
agreed to, and the Thebans withdrew; but no fooner were they
withdrawn, but the Platæans [119] put to death their prifon-
ers; and this atrocious act of wanton perfidy, portentive of all
its horrors and cruelty, opened the Peloponnefian war.
Ath.
THE fubordinate ſtates of Athens were ftrictly under its Xen. Pol.
command; they paid their tribute and fervice; they had no dif-
fentient voice, and their fleets and armies were headed by Athe-
nians; thus they were fubmiffive, but they were faithlefs.
THE Spartans were at the head of a confederacy embarked in Thucyd. L. 1.
one common caufe, but with various and independent intereſts;
thus
{
160
THE HISTORY OF ATHENS.
CHAP.
I.
Arift. Pol.
5. C. 7.
L.
Ibid. &
Ifocrat. paneg.
Thucyd.
fparfin.
L. 2.
Fibd.
thus though ſteady to the general purpofe, often on particulars
they were divided.
THE Spartans in the feveral cities under their fovereignty
conftituted an oligarchy, and the form of government feemed
to fecure a quiet and eaſy adminiſtration; but the people were
not in their intereſts, and in a criſis of danger co-operated not
with ardour and fpirit.
THE Athenians foftered their own fyftem of democracy in each
little diftrict of their dominion, but with fo many restrictions
and refervations in favour of their own fupremacy, that whilft
the aristocratics were diſguſted at the licentiouſneſs, the popular
advocates were equally irritated by the controul of government,
and merely the ubiquity of the fleet, and often not even that
could enfure the faithful adherence of their tributaries. The
diſtinctions of opulence and family, and the ſtrength of num-
bers had at various times occafioned the moft bloody commo-
tions in every town of Greece: Such contention was now re-
newed, and with greater animofity from a ſenſe of reſpective
patronage and ſupport, held out to them by the two great rival
ftates; and as the demagogues or patrician influence got the
better, the parties feverally opened their gates to the Athenian,
or to the confederate forces.
THE Peloponnefians were numerous and warlike, but not
wealthy, and thus were bold and powerful in fudden inva-
fion; but not being provided for a long campaign, their force
quickly wafted, and the excurfion though impetuous, not be-
ing fuftained, was indecifive.
PERICLES was aware of the force and of the weakneſs of the
enemy, and not attempting to oppoſe the frequent inroads into At-
tica, left the country open to devaſtation, and fought to repair the
lofs
BOOK THE
161
SECOn d.
I.
lofs through reprifals made by his fleets. The peninfula could CHAP.
double the muſter of Athens, but Athens had refources which
equalled the leffer to the greater number; ſhe excelled in arts
offenfive and defenfive; her great wealth fupplied neceffaries, and
her expeditions were marked by vigour and perfeverance; her
ſhipping wafted her troops where they were not expected, and of
courſe were not to be refifted: nor prowess, nor thoufands could
balance theſe advantages. It was not till after receiving fub-
fidies from the Perfian treafury, and a leffon of naval affairs
dearly purchaſed by repeated and bloody defeat, that Sparta
gained the final fuperiority in this long contention. Indeed the
enmity of theſe rival republics had fo far gotten the better of Thucyd. L. §.
any ſenſe of the glory of Greece, or even of general good
policy,-if not tending to the immediate views and interefts of
this fatal war, that Athens as well as Sparta applied early and
fucceffively to the Perfian king for affiftance, who for awhile
liftened warily to their feveral proffers and pretenfions: it was
his intereft (and he purſued that intereſt) to leave the contend-
ing ſtates to waſte the very marrow of their ſtrength ere he
granted any fuccour; and then, by ſupporting the one or the
other, as their weakness required his aid to raiſe them again
for the fight, he might finally opprefs together both the com-
batants.
:
Paufan. Eliac.
I.
Justin. L. 5.
c. 1. & 3.
Xenoph.
H. 1.
§650
Plut. Vit. Pe
THE Confederate army each year of the war invaded Attica: Thucyd. L. z.
on the first incurfion the farmer loft much of his harveft and his
ſtock, and the people of courſe murmured,-but it was the de- riclis.
molition of the fine villas and the loffes of the rich that excited
the ſtrength of faction. With whatever arts, with whatever abi-
lities, or with whatever integrity, the adminiſtration of public
affairs may be conducted in a corrupt and licentious ftate, and
amidst the burthens and viciffitudes of war, individual griev-
ances are ever pleaded as public grievances, and the intrigues of
party
Y
162
THE HISTORY OF ATHENS.
I,
CHAP. party adopt and give a colouring of language to every reproach
and complaint: hence its meaſures however juſt muſt be often
checked, and even its permanency be at the hazard from popular
diffatisfactions worked upon by the tools of envy or compe-
tition. Pericles had invidious rumours and conftructions and
affertions, taken up, emended, and brought forward by fac-
tious opponents, to combat with from day to day in theſe times
of calamity, which foured the minds of men, and directed each
floating accufation towards him and his friends, as the moſt
obvious fcope: fucceffively his old preceptor Anaxagoras, and
his friend Afpafia had been arraigned for impiety, or rather
herefy; his fuperintendant Phidias had been accuſed of em-
bezzlement, and finally himſelf of peculation; and Anaxagoras
was baniſhed, and himſelf depofed and fined: but he had too
long habituated the people to his government, had fhewn him-
felf too able, and had made himſelf too neceffary from the exi-
gency of affairs, to be permitted to remain in a private fitua-
tion; the bungling of others made way for his return to office,
and the voice of the people called upon him to refume his
miniſtry. Notwithſtanding the late leffon of odium refulting
from fuch meaſure, he ftill adhered to the policy of depending
folely on the navy of the republic, and on the walls of Athens,
as the arſenal of its ſtores, and refuge of its people; and again left
the country around open to the ravages of the Spartan army.
Diodor. Sic.
L. 12.
$ 65.
giclis.
THE herdsmen flying their defenceless villages, thronged to
Thucyd. L... the fortified towns, and there ferved to mingle in the tumult
Plut. Vit. Pe- and feed the appetite of carnage :-to be idle is to be vicious,
and habits of vice and idlenefs are not readily foregone, and
thus was honeft induſtry in a great meaſure loft, and Greece no
longer to be the rich and laboured country, which of yore
nurtured fo many beauteous commonwealths !-theſe multitudes
of men crouding all together within walls,their tempera-
ment
BOOK THE SECOND.
163
1
I.
ment of body as well as of mind was vitiated, and defperation CHAP.
found new ſubject for its horrors and extravagance, in peſti-
lence and famine.-Who hath not read of the memorable plague
[120] at Athens ? then Pericles too died: perhaps it had been
well for the republic, had he never been born! but his death
was equally fatal to it, as his life: none other knew how to
redreſs the evils he had occafioned: he had uſed the people to
the voice of a demagogue; his indeed, as it ever eſpouſed ſome
beneficial plan, fo was it a charm, that like Aaron's rod fwal-
lowed up all others, and with a fuperiour magic, kept the aſ- Ifocra. orat.
femblies confiftent to his purpoſe ! On his death a thouſand de pace.
pretenders aroſe, and with rival arts and equal weakneſs per-
plexed the public councils, difunited the people, and led them
to ruin and deſtruction.
DURING thefe difputes at home for the miniftry, the war Thucyd. L. 3ì
continued to rage with various fortunes, but with uniform
deſperation and violence. Animofity was in theſe times carried
to the moſt horrid exceſs; party in each little ſtate abetted the
carnage of the great civil broil; when any town capitulated,
private enmity and political diffenfion demanded the murder of
thoſe whom national hoſtility had ſpared; well were it if only
ſome of the more zealous republicans, or moſt eſteemed and
diſtinguiſhed nobles were the victims; often a whole people were
maſſacred; the Plateans, the Melians, and many others were after
conqueſt deliberately put to the fword: nay! a long and much de-
bated edict paffed at Athens," to extirpate without regard to
"fex or age, every citizen of the noble and populous Mity-
“lene!”—“Mens minds (fays Thucydides) at length became
"totally depraved, and habituated, or to fraud from the neceffities
"or cruelty from the examples of the times; treachery was fore-
fight, temerity was valour, maffacre retaliation, and retaliation
"juſtice; every vice took the name of fome virtue, and every
"virtue
<<
Y 2
Diod. Sic.
L. 12.
lian. Hift.
var. L. 2. C.9.
Thucyd. L. 3.
$82.
164
THE HISTORY OF ATHENS.
CHA P.
I.
Paufan. in
Meffen.
Diodor. Sic.
L. 12.
"virtue was degraded by fome appellation that brought danger or
contempt on its adherents: when any party got the better, the
"first flaughter was fo horrid, that on a reverſe of fortune the
"fecond fhould feem but juftice, was not the fecond encreafed to
fuch a pitch of cruelty as to make the first, comparatively
"innocent !"
THUS hoftile, as was the temper of the times, yet loffes
could not but be felt, and at fome hours the bleffings of peace
could not but be deplored: the more deſperate the terms of en-
gagement, it is in human nature, the more earneſtly to look
to occafions, though difdaining the means of compromiſe; and
pride, vain glory, and the vindictive paffions fo repugnant to
every overture of accommodation, will yet retreat in favour of
opportunites which feem rather the work of fortune, than of the
parties themſelves. On the barren rock of Sphacteria, four hun-
dred and twenty of the firſt warriors of Sparta were furrounded
by the Athenian fleet; many of them were killed, and the re-
Thucyd. L.4. mainder after a fharp conteſt furrendered at difcretion: Sparta
humiliated by fo great a lofs of her prime citizens fued to Athens
for peace; Athens for awhile haughtily rejected the propoſal,
but Brafidas, with the fpecious proclamation of general liberty,
having gained over many of the towns of Thrace and Theffaly;
and with fuccefsful arms, or more fucceſsful clemency daily
bringing over others from the Athenian dominion or alliance;
they at length ceded to the requifition, and agreed to a truce of
one year, wherein they might have leiſure to concert a treaty ; the
ground work of which was to be an exchange of the prifoners
taken at Sphacteria for the cities which Brafidas had gained pof-
feffion of, whether by conqueft, or from defection.
This truce
was quickly infringed, Brafidas ftill purfuing his victories in
pretended ignorance of the ceffation of arms: at length the
Athenians fent an army to oppoſe his progreſs under the com-
mand
BOOK THE SECO N d.
165
mand of one Cleon, a braggart, who had talked himſelf into
office by depreciating real merit, and by lauding his own, and
that of the people: the cowardice and ignorance of this Cleon
brought deftruction on the army committed to his care, though
fuperior in appointment and numbers to the enemy: the Athe-
nian forces were cut to pieces, but on the other fide, the death
of Brafidas ſeemed almoſt a balance to the victory; for though
others might be found to lead the Spartan army, not one could.
pretend to that perſonal intereſt he had acquired throughout the
country, by a perfeverance in the virtues (fo uncommon to
thoſe times) of candour, ftrict faith, mercy, and beneficence.
CHA P.
I.
Thucyd. L. 5.
C. 13.
BOTH parties now again recurred to negotiation, and in the Ibid. § 23.
eleventh year of the war, a peace was finally concluded between Juftin. L. 3.
Athens and Sparta: theſe fovereign ſtates too haſtily put their
fignatures to a treaty [121] fufficiently explicit indeed with re- Diod. Sic.
fpect to themſelves, but too little provident of their acceffaries
in the war, whofe welfare and even fafety were no part of the
conditions.
MOST of the fubordinate cities during the courſe of hoftili-
ties, had at fome time wavered in their faith; fome had been
marked by the moft bloody perfidy, fedition had raged in all,
and the rancour of party fuppreffed, but not fubdued, was ready
to take the lead anew, as invited by opportunities of power:
how should the confederate cities thus ftained with the crimes
of treachery and cruelty, return without ftipulated terms of ob-
livion and forgiveneſs to their former, and now offended, maſ-
ters? Democracies had become oligarchies, and ariftocratic go-
vernments popular: were theſe ftates to be lightly bartered, for
the Athenian to deprefs the nobles of the one, and the Spartans
to raiſe thoſe of the other, whilſt private revenge of the aggrieved
but now powerful party on either fide, finiſhed the work of de-
population,
L. 12.
166
THE HISTORY OF ATHENS.
I.
Thucyd. L. 5.
$23.
CHAP. population, which war had fo fucceſsfully began? the diffen-
tient cities implored, and met with difregard; they remon-
ſtrated, and met with evafions; they threatened, and Athens and
Sparta determined to obviate any difpute on theſe points between
themſelves, entered into an offenfive and defenfive alliance, the
very name of which they deemed fufficient to filence every mur-
mur of the malecontents, and neceffitate an implicit acquiefcence
in their fupreme will.
Ibid. § 31.
& feq.
ARGOS and Corinth however taking the lead, formed a con-
federacy wherewith to oppofe the united powers, and enforce
fome conceffion in their own favour. A fecond war was now likely
to break out more bloody than the first: Athens was become
Spartan, and Sparta, Athenian; the fubordinates of either had
broken their engagements, and embarked in a new cauſe; all
had changed fides; hoftilities now leaned ftill nearer to civil
difcord; the deluge again threatened the fields, but from a yet
more envenomed fource; well doth the poet ſay,
"Alta fedent
Lucan. Phar- civilis vulnera dextræ!
ial. I.
Thucyd. L. 5.
§ 41. & feq.
Plut. Vit. Al.
cibiad.
PERHAPS happily for the generality of Greece, though fatally
for our republic, the ambition of an individual broke in upon
theſe new compacts, and quickly roufed again the old hereditary
flame between Lacedæmon and Athens: fome trivial difficulties
had occurred on the exchange of places and priſoners, and ſome
diffatisfaction on dismantling the fortrefs of Panactum by the
Spartans, ere they furrendered it; and their ambaffadors were
now at Athens, with the view of accommodating thefe differ-
"They are not to be trufted (exclaimed Alcibiades) [122]
"liften not to them, they have broken through the peace, this,
"this is the time to humble your old, your haughty rivals; go
"head the Argive league, and foon you will be at the head of
"Greece:" his eloquence abetted by falfehoods, and every art
ences: "
2
and
}
BOOK THES É CÓN D.
167
I.
and intrigue the orator's policy could fuggeft, at length prevailed CHA P.
with the affembly; the minifters of Sparta were difmiffed; and
the alliance with Argos was concluded: not long afterwards Ar-
gos was entered ſword in hand by the Spartans; but on their
retreat, the oligarchy they had placed there was depofed by po-
pular inſurrection, and the eſtabliſhment of a democratic govern-
ment cemented its union with Athens, who to other advantages
accruing from this mighty acceffion of ſtrength, might at length
be faid to have a footing in the Peloponnefe.
СНАР.
168
THE HISTORY OF ATHENS.
CHAP.
II.
CHA P. II.
OF NAVIGATION AND COMMERCE -OF THE SICILIAN
EXPEDITION.
Herodot. Clio.
Strabo. L. 9.
Thucyd. L. 1.
OF
F the various adventurers who originally fettled in Attica,
many (as was obſerved) had failed from diftant coaſts;
and the feceffion from their native clime, originating from a ſpi-
rit of enterprize, and not being enforced by hoftility, a return
was by no means precluded; and the various motives of domeſ-
tic attachment, and of love for the natal fpot, and of wants and
of neceffities incident to a colony newly fixed in an uncultivated
domain, conduced to render the commerce between the new and
mother countries frequent and continued: a knowledge of navi-
gation was thus early introduced into Attica, and the influence
it had through every channel, every vein, every the minuteſt duc
of the political body was powerful and big with confequence.
THE practice of navigation fo much facilitated the intercourſe
of diftant people, fo much therein ſeemed a public benefit, whilſt
it conduced to private intereft, fo much ferved the enjoyments
of the wealthy and the hopes of all; that in quick process it
was improved, extended, and became a general concern.
THE pirate and merchant were long fynonimous characters,
but good fortune or ability having elevated fome traders to a ſu-
perior eminence in the profeffion, they joined their example to
diſcountenance, and power to quell the violences and depreda-
tions of their fellows it was then, that on the baſis of more
general intelligence, of growing wealth, and of concomitant au-
thority,
BOOK THE
169
SECOND.
thority, the merchant's occupation became reſpected, and the ob-
ject of political inftitution; the ftate reaping fubfidy and popu-
lation from its practices, modelled itſelf into a fyftem of patro-
nage to its purſuits, and gradually the whole commonwealth
became dependant on the fuccefs of its trade, and the prowess of
its navy.
CHAP.
II.
THE minds of the Athenians opened by commercial inter- Xen. Pol.Ath.
courſe, re-operated on that commerce, and aided it with fuch re-
gulation as experience might authorize, or forefight fuggeft;
negotiation was to be fostered but by equality, the influence of
the citizen over his neighbour, might extend to the tranſactions
of the merchant, and diffidence corrode the very root of credit
and fair dealing;-thus feemed it neceffary that the ftate fhould
lean to the democratic [123] fide, in fubferviency to the intereſts
of thoſe who gave it grandeur and opulence.
THAT a ſtate ſhould by degrees mould to the ſpirit of its con-
ftituents; that an humane and impartial legiſlation, tending to
favour the occupation of the citizen, ſhould attract the foreigner;
that the public polity fhould profit of the concourſe, and en-
creaſe in funds and population; that induſtry ſhould lead to
riches, and riches to authority; that each citizen ſhould ſeek
that channel through which his pride, his pleaſures, his am-
bition, his every paffion was to be gratified; that, in a word,
from the advantages of trade and navigation, a commonwealth
fhould become powerful, and its conftituents poliſhed and opu-
lent,—are ſubjcts too well underſtood to need further detail! but
this over-nutritious ftimulative to greatnefs, bears it not fome-
what poiſonous and deftructive in its confequences?—runs not
ſuch a ſtate the career of a midnight revel, progreffive through
the various ſteps of civility, wit, and fpirit, to the conjoined
weakneſs and hot paffion of ebriety; till grown drivelling and
Z.
torpid,
mist.
Plut. Vit. The
Ifocrat. Pa-
neg.
Xen.Pol.Ath.
§ 3.
Id.deVectigah
170
THE HISTORY OF ATHENS.
II.
CHAP. torpid, it is oppreffed without refiftance and removed at plea-
fure? In the moral [124], as in the phyfical world, the point
of maturity is but that of a moment, whilft encreaſe and decreaſe
have their periods, and in general of reciprocal duration; with
Xen Pol.Ath. the fame hafte a commercial nation accedes to empire, it ſpeeds
to diffolution, and the very circumstances which firſt opened the
profpect of fuccefs, prove the caufe of its downfall.
C. 1. 2.
Platon. Pol.
L. &.
APPLICATION and frugality, the firft promoters of trade,
finally become victims to the very fuccefs of the enterprize;
the importation of luxuries. gradually enervates the induſtry
that is in purſuit of them; the influx of money at once en-
hances the value of the manufacture, and renders the artificer
indolent; other nations not yet emerged from competency,
underfell the articles of life; fſome ſubterfuge, or reſource muſt
be found to evade the rivalfhip,-the liberal arts have perhaps
followed commerce to her elevation; their affiftance is now re-
quired, invention is racked, and workmanſhip ſtudied of the moſt
exquifite kind, to allure the fenfe, and put the compariſon of
price at a diſtance; then too the mere underling artificer grows
idle and monied, and puts in his claim with the reſt to be diffo-
lute and luxurious :-thus the whole community becomes cor-
rupt [125], and begins to weigh light in the fcale of nations.
The laft refource from immediate ruin is the reftriction of what
it actually poffeffes to domeftic circulation, nor can this preferve
it long; a marine armament is its only defence, and fuch navy
is not to be fupported but on the bafis of a commercial one.
WEALTH, though the leaſt certain mark of happineſs, is the
ſureſt object of envy; avarice and impatience of inferiority be-
get envy and diſcontent in the neighbouring ftates; the pride of
riches knows not how to concede; a private argument becomes a
public quarrel; war is declared; the fleets are found on the
decline,
BOOK THE SECON D.
171.
II.
decline, the number of artifans is multiplied tenfold, of failors CHA P.
decreaſed; no longer invincible at fea, the commonwealth muſt
have forces too by land; but whence are they to be drafted? the
ſelfiſh citizen pleads occupation, the countrymen are but few;
mercenaries muft of force be collected; ftill the republic is
wealthy, and under hireling banners, it opens a campaign at leaſt
with fplendor; but thefe troops fight not their own caufe, they
are quickly difpirited by lofs, they are mutinous in fuccefs, they
are unfupportable to the country, they are exhaufting to the
ftate, and whether victorious or not, the war concludes in
ruinous debt and impoverished refources.
SUCH is the obvious career of every ftate fubfifting on its
commerce and depending on its navy, without enumerat-
ing the intermediate caſualties to which it is more eſpecially
and in its very nature expofed; of thefe fome, and the moſt
fatal too, may originate in its very force and opulence;
fuch is the facility its navy affords of great and diftant enter-
prize, too often ſuggeſted by a vain people, and adopted by a cor-
rupt adminiſtration; little confiderate that the wealth and power
of the nation are then on a fingle venture, and as what is idly un-
dertaken, is feldom wifely purſued, are generally on the worst of
ventures. To the general tendency towards decline, and to the
phrenzy of expedition, let us add fortuitous loffes and a de-
fective government, and we then have in view the evils which
co-operated to haften on the republic of Athens in its ruinous
courfe, and which accelerated the hour of diffolution. The Thucyd. L. 5.
town thronged with flaves, merchants, allies, and foreigners, of
all forts, expofed not to immediate view the ravages which
peftilence and war had made in the numbers of the citizens;
fourteen thousand and forty were numbered in the cenfus of
Pericles at the commencement of hoftilities, but five thoufand
were the moft that ever from this time affembled on the moſt
Z 2
general
& 6.
1
172
THE HISTORY OF ATHENS.
II.
CHAP. general and important concern; yet the ftreets wore the ap-
pearance of plenty and population, the commonalty were de-
lighted with the view, and maddened with that elation which
each demagogue for private purpoſes had artfully wrought up,
and now coloured afresh with the Argive treaty, they gave ear
to every flattery, and filled with the admiration of the ſpeaker,
and of themſelves, harmonized their vanity with his ambition,
and accorded to the most extravagant projects of new and ex-
tenfive conqueft.
Thucyd. L. 2.
Diod. Sic.
I. 130
DURING the previous conteft with the Peloponneſe, the
Athenians had from time to time meddled in the diſputes of
Sicily, and relishing the fweets of pillage, which that opulent
country afforded, they had become fo enamoured with this
little fecondary war, in which, without hazard, they had acted
the profitable part of pirates, rather than the dangerous one
of fair combatants; that on conclufion of the peace at Ca-
marina they teſtified their diſapprobation of the treaty, by baniſh-
ing or fining every officer of theirs who had acceded to it: ano-
Thucyd. L.6. ther opportunity now offered for recommencing hoftilities there;
when difregarding even appearances, to interpofe between the
petty ſtates of Selinunté and Egefté, they voted an armament of
fuch mighty force, as could be deftined for no other than the
reduction of the whole iſland; and they made their purpoſe the
more evident by commiffioning their leaders at any rate to purſue
the war, and on failure of other pretext, to rip up the old quar-
rel of Lentini and Syracufe, and make that a pretence for forth-
with attacking the capitol of Sicily.
Juftin. L. 4.
C. 4.
Diod. Sic.
WEAKLY as this expedition was determined on, yet more
weak was the appointment of the three leaders of the arma-
ment [126]: Nicias, a very dilatory, and very old man, Lama-
chus, the Lepidus of the triumvirate, and Alcibiades the Antony,-
Vit. Alcibid. equally voluptuous, equally brave, artful, and unprincipled: this
L. 13.
'Thucyd. L. 6.
Plut. Vit.
Niciæ. ejufd.
laft
BOOK THE SECO N D.
173
laſt man was yet a more improper object of choice on other ac-
counts; previous to the embarkment he was charged with a
crime [127] that was even capital;-without pardon, without
trial, or even a determined period of trial, the caufe on which
his life was to depend was left undecided, and he was permitted
to depart, diſtruſted by, and diftrufting the citizens; and at the
head of a foldiery that to a man adored him.
CHAP.
SCARCELY landed on the Sicilian fhore, Alcibiades was fum- Ibid.
moned to return and appear before the affembly, when all who
might abet or fupport him were abfent from the judicature; but
he was aware of the policy of his adverfaries, efcaped his con-
ductors, and fled to Sparta: thus did the Athenians truft this
man with power, enter into all his views, and with a vaſt and
expenfive force give action to his defigns, and then ill-ufed
and turned him looſe in the bitterneſs of difguft and diſappoint-
ment to betray their policy, to counteract their ſchemes, and in-
ftruct the enemy of what was meant, and what meant to accom-
pliſh it; what was ftrong, what weak, and where and how his
country might be annoyed, and all its projects oppofed and
baffled. He fhewed the Spartans, that the Sicilians, if conquered,
muſt be conquered from want of experience and unanimity; that
they had men fufficient, but that to make thefe men foldiers
and bring them properly to the field, they wanted ſome truſty
veteran officer to inftruct and lead them on :-He told the Spar-
tans that their own troops might be more profitably employed
in Greece; that their frequent invafions of Attica had not hi-
therto been fo effective as they could wish, but that the reaſon
was obviouſly their omitting, their ſtrangely omitting to fortify
and ſecure ſome ftrong hold in a province, when they were
maſters of it, and whence they might at leiſure harrafs the
country, intercept parties, and keep the capitol itself in conſtant
alarm.
THE
II.
174
THE HISTORY OF ATHENS.
CHAP.
IJ.
THE Spartans on their next excurfion, ftopped to strengthen
and garrifon the fortress of Decelea, only twelve miles diftant
Frontin. Stra- from Athens; and immediately they diſpatched Gylippus with
tag. L.1.C.3. a fmall force to infpirit and difcipline the Syracufan armies.
Diod. Sic.
L. 13.
Plut. Vit. Ni-
ciæ.
Juftin. L. 4.
C. 4.
Thucyd. L. 6.
Plut. Vit, Pe-
riclis.
Diod. Sic.
L. 13. § 3•
THE Athenian armament, of which Nicias now was the fole
General (for Lamachus on the firft onfet was killed) was com-
pletely, and even richly fitted out; its equipment of arms and
ftores, and its complement of troops feemed adequate to the great
buſineſs it was fent on; but at fuch diftance from home, no-
thing but conftant fuccefs could find this army fupport; and
even victory, if fharply contefted, was fatal, whilft each death
was irreparable from the difficulties of recruiting, and the army
was fubject to gradually diminiſh and waſte away: Nicias in-
deed fent for fuccour to Hetruria, and even Carthage, but little
had his emiffaries to plead in favour of their requifition, and they
met every where with flight or with reproof.
PLUTARCH tells us, that in the arrogance of fucceffive tri-
umphs during the adminiftration of Pericles, the Athenian ora-
tors had in the affemblies, mentioned Hetruria, Carthage, and
Sicily, as fubjects of future conqueſt.-When Lamachus, Al-
cibiades, and Nicias, were chofen to command, ere a fhip was
under fail, or a foldier on board, they convened the fenate, in
order to arrange the future government of Sicily; and to thoſe
little converfant in political abſurdities, I ſhould hardly venture
to ſtate on leſs authority than that of Diodorus, the wife reſult
of their debates; namely, a decree, that the Selinuntians and
Syracufans fhould be fold to captivity, and the other republics
of that iſland be permitted to enjoy their preſent ſtate, paying
tribute and acknowledging their due allegiance to Athens. Such
arrogance of conduct and language is ever felt, and at due time
refented; Carthage too was a naval power, and every example
of
BOOK THE SECOND.
17.5
СНАР,
II.
of hiſtory teaches us, that the ſpirit of fuch force and views is
ever intolerant of a fimilarity of pretenfions; in its courſe ever
leads to competition, and from its very nature, is pregnant with
feeds of diffention, tending to embitter the emulation it excites.
There is ever a jealouſy in the friendships, and a phrenzy in the
hoftilities of nations feverally dependant on their commerce and
marine: the conteft for riches is complicated with the conteſt
for power, and the individual paffions join iffue with national
reſentments on each point of litigation; the private ardour of
gain is ever finding fubjects for ambition to work upon; the
field of acquifition is ever fought by the moſt enterprizing ſpi-
rits; the accumulation and the lofs of fortunes thereon, whe-
ther of the merchant, or of the commonwealth, are more exten-
five and more ſudden; thus defperation on the one ſide, and ex-
ultation on the other, are ever at variance; and laſtly, the fources
of diſcontent and of hoftility ebb from every haven to which a
common commerce is directed. Hence, and from the vicinity
too of Sicily, it might be fuppofed that Carthage would rather
counteract than affift the invaſion of the Athenians :-yet in their
firſt onſet they were irrefiftable; they ſpeedily over-ran a large
tract of country, feized on Catana, and invefted Syracufe: the
citizens often fallied forth, and were as often beaten; the ene-
mies fleet rode triumphantly in the very harbour, and a circum-
vallation nearly ſurrounded that vaft city. At this moment of
diſtreſs Gylippus arrived, but with fo fmall a force, that even
the wary fuperftitious old Nicias treated the reinforcement with Phot. Vit. Nie.
derifion, and no ways laboured to prevent the disembarkment: Thucyd. L.'6.
foon however its importance appeared; Gylippus took the lead
of the Syracufans, animated them with fpeeches; recovered fome
ſmall forts, elated them with their prowess; difciplined, form-
ed, and directed them; and finally fhowed that art and expe-
rience could finish the work nature had begun, and that not ſhe,,
I2
but
176
THE HISTORY OF ATHENS.
CHAP. but the military tutor is in fault, if every man is not to be made
a foldier.
II.
Diod. Sic.
L. 13.
Thucyd. L. 7.
Diod. Sic.
L. 13.
Ælian. L. 5.
Cap. 10.
Ifocrat. Orat.
wigi lignums.
THE Syracufans now often beat the Athenians on equal terms,
and the force of the invaders, from the fucceffive fkirmishes was
ſo waſted, that not even a ftrong reinforcement fent from Athens
under Demofthenes, could enable it long to make head againſt
the more numerous, and now as warlike Sicilians. Demofthenes
and Nicias were foon obliged to act on the defenfive; at length
even a retreat was cut off by the blockade of their fleet within
the harbour; they attempted to force a paffage, they were re-
pulſed, the ſhipping deſtroyed, and their condition almoſt hope-
lefs. The forlorn alternative was then in agitation, of attempting
a retreat by land, and ſeeking fome city, which the Athenian
name might yet induce to relieve, and fupply them with the
means of returning home: the Syracufans apprized of their de-
fign, awaited to attack them on their march; they harraffed,
they ſurrounded them, and at length forced them to a difcretio-
nary furrender: Nicias and Demofthenes were put to death,
fome were thrown into dungeons, fome made flaves of, and fome
few difmiffed [128].
THUS ended this fatal expedition, on which ten thousand ta-
lents had been expended, and in which Ælian fays, the Athe-
nians loft forty thouſand of their beſt troops, and a fleet of two
hundred and forty fail, fhips of war, tranfports and others.
In the courſe of this important war, no fubject fuggefts greater
matter of political fpeculation than the expedition to Sicily;
probably it had long been in agitation, and when Pericles fo
earneſtly preffed the alliance with Corcyra, his views might
have been directed to this object, as the refult of the footing he
thereby
I
BOOK THE SECOND.
177
CHA P.
II.
Plut. Vit. Al-
$69.
thereby gained in the Italian feas: Alcibiades was his favourite
ſcholar in the minifterial cabinet, and might be preſumed to have
been well acquainted with his ftate principles and defigns; and
perhaps in this undertaking did but adopt and purſue the ſchemes cib, and Per.
[129] of Pericles: but this he did too haftily and inconfide-
rately, ere the plan was ripe; ere the occafion was fpecious and
means fuitable, or the ſeaſon of the times was fufficiently tem- Thucyd. L. 2.
perate to warrant the attempt to graft fo large a branch of power
on the old ftock: he hurried into the Sicilian war all at once,
and precipitated the Athenian ſtate into a meaſure which required
all its ſtrength, at a time when that ſtrength was ſomewhat ex-
hauſted, and what remained was weakened by a diviſion of poſts
and armament neceffary from the variety of its enemies ;-and
weakened too by domeftic diffentions, by the intrigues and by
the treaſons of leading men, and by the fluctuation of popular
affemblies. Even had the fuperiority of Athens been abroad
decifive, and its interiour adminiſtration able and firm, great
were the dangers and difficulties to be obviated in ſuch diſtant
enterprize; the invidious appearance of aggrefforſhip, the alie-
nation of general good-will ever attending it, the defperate re-
fiſtance of thoſe who fight for property and liberty, the languor
of troops fo far removed from their own country, the difficulties
of recruiting, the cafualty of ftores, the hazard of fhipping, and
laftly, the advantages which may be taken by rival ſtates of each
diſaſter, or even of the occafions, which fo great expenditure, and
the abſence of ſo much national force may too frequently afford:
in the courſe of this war each of thefe had its influence, and they
combined together to cruſh the power of Athens, and to leave
an awful leffon to future ftatefmen, and to maritime powers!
A a
CHAP.
178
THE HISTORY OF ATHENS.
CHAP.
1.
CHA P. III.
OF THE CHARACTER OF ALCIBIADES
-CONTINUATION OF
THE PELOPONNESIAN WAR-REVOLUTIONS AT ATHENS-
CONCLUSION OF THE WAR SUBVERSION OF THE COMMON-
WEALTH, AND ESTABLISHMENT OF THE OLIGARCHY.
CH
HARITY covers not more fins in religion, than affability
A in worldly intercourfe; an attentive complacency is a re-
fined fort of flattery that none can refift; nor is it wonderful that
every man ſhould be in good humour with a talent, which puts
every man in good humour with himſelf. There is no one who
practiſes affiduoufly the art of raifing the felf-importance of
thoſe he may accoft, but reaps a good profit in proportion to the
dexterity of his addrefs; but extra-advantages have belonged to
many, both ancient and modern profeffors of this diffufive and
delicate ſpecies of practical adulation, advantages for which they
were indebted to the bounties of nature or of fortune, and which
mere addrefs can never hope to emulate: the man of learning,
who liftens refpectfully to a quotation; the man of fcience, to
a ſyſtem; the man of wit, to an opinion; and the man of wealth
and power who liftens refpectfully to any thing, will thereby
give a felf-confequence to the fpeaker, who will heartily repay
the donor with a degree of gratitude proportionate to his own
unworthiness which unworthineſs, as few have in any exten-
five fenfe, learning, fcience, wit, wealth, or power, must be
the lot of the multitude, and of courſe the favour attending the
complaifance of the wife, and particularly of the great, be much,
and almost univerfal.
;
FROM
BOOK THE
179
SECOND.
FROM theſe reflections I have often been induced to take much
from the ſtock of virtues, allowed in great conciliatory characters,
and to return them whence they originated,-on the bounty of
mankind; which, for every point of lordly dignity given up,
is ready to laviſh all its powers of eulogy, and elevate to the ſkies
every king who condefcends to walk the earth, however lamely
he may walk it, with his fellow-creatures.
CHA P.
III.
Vit. Thraiybe
Dial.
Corn. Nep.
WE hence can eafily refolve the wonder of Cornelius Nepos, Corn. Nep.
that Alcibiades exceeded Thrafybulus fo much in renown, whilſt
Thrafybulus was his companion in, and acceffary to each glo-
rious exploit, and had befides engaged in ſo noble and excentric
a one, in which Alcibiades bore no part: Alcibiades of noble Platon. Alcib.
defcent, of great wealth, a fine perfon, quick parts, fome learn-
ing, and much military fpirit, was perhaps one of thoſe heroes, Vit. Alcib.
who have enjoyed many of their more extraordinary qualities from
the generous retribution of their cotemporaries; who ever will
admire the man, whoſe admiration is creditable, and ſeems con-
ferred on them.
Plut. Vit,
Ejuſd.
IMITATION of manners, is perhaps the moft fuperiour fort of 1d.
this fuperiour flattery; had Alcibiades eat but one meſs of black
broath, his aufterity would have been noted and enlarged upon at
Sparta; had he uttered only two metaphors, and drank two quarts
in Perfia, his abilities therein, from this ſmall ſtock, might have
ſwelled to a fame that ſhould rival the hyperboles of the magi,
or the fepulchral inſcription of the ſfot Artaxerxes [130]. I think Athenæ.L,1:
therefore the verſatility [131] of this genius ſo ſtrongly and ſo
much infiſted on, may have been nothing wonderful, but that
merely he had the art not fo common in thoſe days, of polite
and affiduous infincerity.
P. 533.
A a 2
ALCIBIADES
180
THE HISTORY OF ATHENS.
CHAP.
III.
Athenæ.L.12.
Justin. L. 5.
C. 2.
Thucyd. L. 8.
1bid. § 2.
lbid. § 14.
ALCIBIADES ill repaid the hofpitality of Agis, by adultery
with his queen Timæa; and this and other circumftances obliged
him to quit Sparta: at the conclufion of the Sicilian war, he
had taken refuge with Tiffaphernes, and was now ingratiating
himſelf by profeffing the interefts of the Perfian, and giving in-
formation and advice ruinous to the liberties of his country:
his arguments finally influenced the Satrap to take part in the
diſturbances of Greece, and to make a treaty with the Spartans,
by which they gained a confiderable acceffion of what they fo
much wanted, and what perhaps alone they had hitherto been
deficient in, money and ſhipping: Syracufe too, grateful to her
deliverers, lifted under their banner, and affifted with her fleets
to humble thoſe who had fo wantonly been her aggreffors.
HAD the Athenians proved ſucceſsful in Sicily, it was gene-
rally underſtood that the refult of ſuch conqueft, might prove
the fubverfion of the entire liberties of Greece; hence many
ftates which had hitherto remained neuter, now declared againſt
Athens; and Alcibiades bufied himſelf in perfuading its old tri-
butaries to quit fo defperate, as well as unjuſt a cauſe, nor com-
plicate their fate with that of the republic: Chios, Clazomené,
and the Erythræi, fat the example of defection.
THE fovereignty of Athens oppreffive in peace, and harsh and
even cruel in times of war, was ill fuited to retain its influence,
when its force was gone: moderation, juftice, and clemency
alone enfure the adherence of fubordinate provinces and allies,
at times when their fervice is moſt wanted; theſe conſtitute the
true ſtrength of a ſtate ;-defpotifm is but the gigantic phantom
of power, good-will and the fenfe of national welfare, intereft,
and protection give it genuine ſubſtance: when during the ca-
lamities of the fecond Punic war, the Pontiani, the Pæftani, and
8
many
воок THE SECOND.
181
many of the ſouthern ſtates of Italy ſtood firm to Rome; it was, CHA P.
fays Livy, “ Quia jufto et moderato regebantur imperio,-quod unum
" vinculum fidei eft, melioribus parêre.
C. II.
III.
Thucyd. L. 8.
THE total lofs of the army in Sicily, the vaft preparations
making againſt them, and the fucceffive falling off of their al-
lies and tributaries, filled the minds of the Athenians with con- Macrob.Sat.I
ſternation; every other reſource ſeemed exhauſted, and for a laſt
and defpondent exertion, they voted the employment of the $15.
thouſand talents fet apart for the immediate defence of Athens,
and a fleet equipped with its laft fad relicts of opulence and au-
thority again took the feas.
THIS republic that fo little while agone had menaced the united
powers of the Peloponnefe and Sicily, was now reduced to œco- Ibid. § 4-
nomical reſtriction, and the narrow policy of defence, to the
withdrawing its garrifons from diftant parts, to the convoying
daily fubfiftence for the city, and to the covering the intercourſe
with fortifications at Sunium and in lieu of glorious and ex-
:
L. 13.
Xen. Hift. 1¿
tenfive enterprize, its final exertion of naval power was neceffi-
tated to ſecondary expeditions, in fupport of fome little town, Diod. Sic.
or in recovery of ſome ſmall iſland, during which another, and
another went over to the enemy, and in deſpight of perfeverance,
its empire was mutilated, and its force diminiſhed.
<<
$44.
Xen. Hift. E.
THE revolt of Rhodes was announced, that of Eubæa hourly Thucyd. L. 8-
expected :—what hopes, what reſource in this diftrefs?" Per-
haps (it was faid) Alcibiades might be perfuaded to return;
"Alcibiades is in habits of amity with Tiffaphernes, and his in-
"tereft might bring over the Perfian to our affiftance :"-the
idea was with eagernefs embraced, and the temper and inclina-
tions of his countrymen were immediately hinted to the exiled
chief; but now aware of the fluctuating favour of a corrupted
populace,
182
THE HISTORY OF ATHENS.
III.
CHAP. populace, Alcibiades would not truft to this momentary good-
will; he would return, and boaſted he would bring with him all
the force of Perfia, but it ſhould be on condition that the De-
mocracy was aboliſhed, and the government veſted in a few,
amongſt whom he was to be, and probably to be the chief.
Justin. L. 5.
C. 3.
Thucyd. L. 8.
Ifocrat. orat.
de Bigif.
Diod. Sic.
On the promulgation of theſe propofals, the Athenian af-
fembly broke into a variety of factions, each adopting fuch
fentiments, party, or plan, as fuited with his temper and cir-
cumſtances; each thinking for himſelf, and none for the com-
monwealth. In every other ſtate the inteftine commotions be-
ing fuftained by only two parties, by thoſe who favoured the
nobles, and by thofe who fupported the pretenfions of the peo-
ple, fubfided quickly on the fuperiority attained by one or the
other fide, and the bloodshed of a few principals washed away
the dregs of fedition: but the anarchy of the Athenian affembly
admitted not of ſo eaſy a fettlement: every citizen almoſt was
a party; one man preferred one, and another, another form of
government; fome fet up for themſelves, and fome abetted the
pretenfions of any one whom they had a little known, or much
heard of; many yet ftickled for the commonwealth, and a few
remembering the old-fashioned conduct of their anceſtors, faid,
"that the duty of a freeman was to bequeath the fame free-
"dom to his fon", and talked of dying for their liberties and
country but the worst, and not the leaſt numerous fet of men,
were thoſe who without principle or ſcheme, merely fought to
keep up or encreaſe commotion, with a view of bettering them-
felves, as the incendiary who first lights, then to pillage from,
the fire.
A COALITION of four hundred of the most powerful citizens,
Thucyd. L. 8. at length with the murder of the few virtuous advocates of the old
republic bore down the other factions, and by a vote diffolving.
L. 13.
the
BOOK THE
183
SECOND.
III.
the former compact of government, exiſted a ſelf-created fenate, CHAP.
arbitrary and fupreme, over every other department whether civil
or military to filence the clamours of the diſcontented, they
decreed the adjunction of five thousand more to their number;
but this conciliatory decree was never carried into execution,
and the powers of the ſtate were folely and actually vefted in the
four hundred who had at first arrogated authority.
AT leaſt a moiety of the Athenian denizens were during thefe Ibid.
domeſtic troubles aboard the fleet at Samos; thofe who in the
extreme exigency of the republic, had enlifted in its armies and
navy,
the fervice of which from the diftreffes and diminution of
the ſtate, was become daily more frequent and more dangerous,
could not be deemed the worst of its citizens; at any rate mili-
tary diſcipline muſt have given them habits far wide of that licen-
tiouſneſs, which the turbulency of the affemblies, the arts of a
demagogue and examples of vice, and inftances of impunity
produced at home;-their diffention from the innovations at
Athens was thus to be expected; and indeed, without recurring
to more extraordinary reaſons than the one fo common, and fo
well known, that they had no part in the tranfaction, and that
men are not generally apt to acquiefce in the work of others,
and implicitly approve, what they think themſelves much con-
cerned, and little confulted in.
THE fleets and army ſtationed at Samos difpatched a meffenger
to Alcibiades, and putting him at their head fet up for reformers
of the commonwealth, in oppofition to the faction at home who
had diffolved it: this altercation of army and fenate ended in the
fubmiffion of the latter; their decrees were annulled, and the
prior conſtitution in fome meaſure reſtored: Alcibiades, recalled Thucyd. L. 8:
and fupported by the republican party, could not at this time Plut. Vit. Al-
openly propofe his favourite oligarchy, but yet apprehenfive of cibiad,
2
that
§ 53. & feq.
184
THE HISTORY OF ATHENS.
CHAP.
III.
that fickleneſs of diſpoſition in the people, he had fo often ex-
perienced, and once had fo nearly fallen a victim to,-he was
determined to effect ſuch alteration [132], at leaſt in the govern-
ment, as ſhould enfure it to the hands of thoſe, who, from
wealth, good fenfe, or other foundation of felf-confequence,
might not be expoſed to waver to the breath of every noiſy de-
claimer, and compliment his oratory with a facrifice of whom-
ever he ſhould demand from private envy, diſlike, or rivalſhip:
Alcibiades had the addrefs to gain his point, by ftill preſerving
the forms of the ancient conftitution, but confining the number
of legal citizens to five thouſand, which, from his intereſt in the
choice of the majority of, he thought to make a party of rather
than a ſtate; and to mould and direct at pleaſure.
!
COURAGE is generally fuppofed to be conftitutional, or a
quality primarily inherent in the connected foul and body : but
like all other faculties or virtues beſtowed upon us, it is not fo
remarkable in the firſt inſtance, as in the powers we have of
increafing or adding to it: as the ftrongest natural underſtand-
ing will yield to one of leſs acuteness well taught and well
methodized; or as the beſt natural memory will not retain fo
well as that of the practiſed actor; fo the fierceft fpirit from
birth, will not act with the intrepidity of a veteran, whom dif-
cipline, or habit, or a particular cauſe, or a particular General,
or other cafualties, will at times induce to face the moſt immi-
nent peril with more than natural courage. Valour is founded
in felf-confidence ;-that confidence as it flies from inſtinct to
opinion, not only more eafily finds fupport, but from the con-
flux of paffions flowing into its aid, that ſupport too is ſtronger;
again it is more uncertain, whilft the cement of theſe afcititious
emotions is extra-dependant on ſeaſon and circumſtance; and it
readily vaniflies or returns, as it is urged or repreffed by the
mind
!
BOOK THE SECOND.
185
mind in fluctuation from fuggeftions of hope, to ſuggeſtions of c H A p.
fear.
III.
cibiad.
NOTHING inftills a more undaunted fpirit into the breaft of
foldiers, than, an often moft capricious notion of, and favour for,
ſome particular leader :-With what courage did the name of
Charles infpire the Swedes? what foldier could fhrink, when
backed with the clamour of " Cæfar and his fortune ?"-As
ſtrong an inſtance now occurs of military ſpirit towering to the
very heavens from a fimiliar bafis, and fo idly built, that the
fabric was fitted to no other foundation : the name of Alcibiades Plut. Vit. Al-
had caught with the foldiery, and the ardour awakened by the
magic of this mere name, infpirited the whole army to that de-
gree, that from their ftate of abafement and humiliation, the
Athenians once again affumed the airs of victory; they won the
day at Cynoceme, at Byzantium, at Cyzicum; they talked of
nought but conqueſt ;—and providing for the next defeat of the Thucyd. L. 8.
Spartans, they arrogantly paffed a previous vote to cut off the Xen. Hiſt. 1.
right-hand of every prifoner they ſhould take.
Diod. Sic.
L. 13.
C..4.
AT the battle of Cyzicum, the Spartan admiral was killed, Ibid.
and his fleet fo completely deftroyed, that his lieutenant Har-
pocrates wrote to the Ephori, "that all was loft." Juftin fays,
"that Sparta humbled by theſe repeated fucceffes of the verfatile
“Athenian, actually fued for peace, and that the overture was Juftin. L. 5.
rejected through the ſelfiſh views of thoſe who had the lead
"and influence in the affemblies of the people :" Confidering
how much Athens had loft, that her venture lay on the laſt ſtake
of funds and military force, and that the crifis was ſo peculiarly
favourable for negotiation of terms, the haftily rejecting ſuch
proffer of peace may feem unaccountable to thoſe whofe politi-
cal experience or fpeculations do not extend to the knowledge
of how much the private views of a few able and ambitious
B b
men
186
THE HISTORY OF ATHENS.
CHAP.
III.
!
Plut. Vit. Al-
cibiad.
Xen. Hift. 1,
men operate in the concerns of a great and free nation which is
become ſo depraved, as generally to bend to the calls of vanity
and avarice. The fair outfide of corruption, the ruddy and rich
fuperficies which ever covers the diſeaſes of a commercial ſtate,
was miſtaken perhaps by fome ignorant and innocent men for the
fymptom of wholeſome vigour; but the majority of the Athe-
nian affembly were influenced (it may be ſuppoſed) by the aſ-
cendancy of riches and honours, which a continuance of the war
promifed, to the vain who thought themſelves able, to the buſy
who courted employ, or to the mercenary who looked for emo-
lument from office, contract, or command. This refufal of
terms, a refuſal abfolutely originating in the weakneſs, and not
in the real force of the republic, was the cauſe of new ſtrength
accruing to the enemy; and the confederates gained alliances and
fuccour from the deteftation of Athenian pride, which they could
have gained by no conciliatory or authoritative means of their
own: this occafion once loft, a ſpeedy reverſe of fortune fhowed
its importance, and ſhowed too, that the regret of the multitude
leads not in the confequence to contrition and amendment, but
to private diffention and crimination, and to general tumult and
anarchy.
ALCIBIADES, after his fucceffive victories, returned in tri-
umph to Athens, where he was received with the moſt wanton
exceſs of favour and applaufe; all the decrees that had paffed to
his prejudice were cancelled, every mark of public confidence
was beſtowed: yet many in the affemblies could not regard that
man without diftruft, who had originated, and who had defeated,
the ſcheme of conqueft in Sicily, who had connected the wealth
of Afia with the arms of Sparta, who had quitted the Spartan-
from perfonal apprehenfions, whofe connection with Tiffaphernes
was unprincipled, and whoſe regard to his country, to its con-
ftitution, and interefts, was recently proved to be a mere pre-
2
tence,
BOOK THE
187
SECON D.
III.
tence, covering his private neceffity, if not defigns. The hafty CHAP.
and violent attachment of the commonalty however bore down
every other confideration: Alcibiades was veſted with the ſu-
preme command by fea and land, and immediately went to join
the fleet near Ephefus: with the intention of concerting mea-
fures with Thrafybulus then at Phocæa, he foon after left his
command to Antiochus; Antiochus in difobedience of his or-
ders, took occafion during his abfence to ſeek exclufive honours
in a battle with Lyfander, in which he was beaten, and many
of his ſhips taken and deſtroyed: the diſcontented ſpirit which
lurked in the minds of fome penetrating and ſome envious men,
on this occafion began to work openly in Athens to the preju-
dice of Alcibiades: fo many arguments as were to be urged from
his paſt conduct, it was not difficult to even mould the event of
his abfence during the battle into treachery; extreme popular
partialities were fucceeded by as extreme diffatisfaction and an-
ger; and this famous leader, whofe verfatile endowments and
various viciffitudes, ftamped him at once the favourite, and the
fport of nature and of fortune, was fuperfeded in his command,
and ten officers fent out to fupplace him, invefted with equal
powers and authority. The Athenians from the above defeat
weakened and difpirited fled before Callicratidas to Mitylene;
but the exertions of the new commanders quickly reinforced the
fleet, and at Arginufæ they again faced and fought the Spartans,
and took or deſtroyed fixty-nine of their ſhips: a fingular fata-
lity however precluded the fervice or ufe which might at other
periods have reſulted from fo great a victory. Whilſt the laſt re-
fources of the ſtate, both as to men and funds were thus in ac-
tion, a general fenfe of danger, complicated with general depra-
vity, took a hardened and defperate courfe in the minds of this
people, habituated during twenty-eight years to the unremitting
horrors of war, and to the fenſe of fo many evils they had cauf-
ed, and had reciprocally ſuſtained: fears and incertitude of this
Bb 2
fort
188
THE HISTORY OF ATHENS.
CHAP.
III.
fort ever characteriſed by fufpicion and cruelty, operated on each
occafion, and inftigated a frequency of wanton accuſation and
unjuft fentence :-The democracy was thus become tyrant! Nor
was an object at any time wanting whereon to wreak the phrenzy
excited by the bitter feelings and fears, which a confcioufnefs of
venal, cruel, and impolitic conduct, brought collectively home
to the minds of the citizens; for the long career of viciffitudes
had divided the people into diffentious bands of party, feverally
under a demagogue diffatisfied with one commander, or partial
to another; and each conqueft and each lofs was the mere food
of faction, and every event of war regarded more from the
op-
portunity of individual elevation or ruin, as favour or enmity
might prevail, than from views to national welfare and refource.
The confequences of the fea-fight of Arginufæ ftrongly mark
Xen. Hift. 1. this fpirit of the times: whether wrecked in the conflict, or
merely by tempeftuous weather, twelve of the Athenian veffels
had foundered in the courſe of this battle, and the council of
war ordered two captains, Theramenes and Thrafybulus, with a
detachment of forty-feven fail to fuccour, and take up the crews
of the veffels that were loft; from the fwell of the fea, or from
other caufes, this fervice was not performed, and Theramenes
obnoxious to accufation (as appears from a fpeech of Critias on
another occafion) anticipated the attack and criminated his com-
manders, as not having given due and timely affiſtance to the
ſhips in diſtreſs, wrefting to his purpoſe an old law by which
thoſe "who acted to the detriment of the republic;" and an-
other, by which " thoſe who betrayed the intereſts of the ſtate,'
were to be thrown over the precipice, a tenth of their goods to
be confecrated to the gods, and the remainder to be confifcated
to public ufes the matter was firſt agitated in the fenate, and
their decree referred to a decifion of the affembly, both as to
fact, and the merits of the cafe; Callixenus (a partizan of The-
ramenes) recited or expounded the fenatus-confultum, as adjudg-
Ibid. L. 2.
ing
BOOK THE SECO N D.
189
ز
ing together the eight admirals to death, in cafe the fimple fact CHAP.
was aſcertained and declared by the votes of the ſeveral tribes III.
the fenate difavowed the terms, or the interpretation of the edict,
and forbade the fuffrage on fuch ſtatement of the queftion: the
party of Theramenes then clamoured for the rights of the peo-
ple, urged on the difpute between fenate and affembly, and com-
plicated their caufe with the prejudices and pretenfions of the
citizens, who were taught to fuppofe that the alteration of a de-
cree once propounded to them by the Prytanes, was an infringe-
ment of the conftitution; and without enquiry into the truth of
either, admitting both the fact and the deduction, they entered
into the views of the accufer with fuch heat and violence, that
finally they intimidated the fenate into a furrender of their dig-
nity and juſtice: under fuch circumftances, and in fuch fhape
the buſineſs was fubmitted to a decifion of the people. Euryp-
tolemus was the only one who ventured in the affembly to plead
the cauſe of the admirals; " he urged, that the accufer was the
"he
"fole delinquent, if there was any; he ſhowed the folly too
of a general and fweeping fentence, when the opinions and
"conduct of thoſe before them might have been fo various ;
"that in fact Diomedon had voted in the council of war for the
"whole fleet affifting the crews of the foundered fhips, that
Thrafylus had given his voice for a large detachment being
"fent on that fervice; that another of the admirals, now on
"trial, was himſelf faved from a wreck ;" and he clofed his.
ſpeech with moving, "that the parties be heard feverally in
"defence." This oration, apparently genuine, and cited at
length in the hiftories of Xenophon, had a temporary effect;
the votes of the affembly coincided with the opinion of Euryp-
tolemus: one Menecles then rofe, and pleaded to an informa-
lity in the proceedings, the debate was protracted to-night, and
then adjourned. On the morrow Theramenes led to the forum
all the friends of thofe loft at Arginufæ cloathed in mourning,
and
190
THE HISTORY OF ATHENS.
III.
CHAP. and every other artifice was uſed to inflame the minds of the
people; in the moment of heat and paffion the urns were ten-
dered, and a majority dropt their bean into that vaſe, which bore
the fentence of condemnation to death againſt the eight admirals
without reſerve or exception.
fand.
I HAVE entered more particularly into this detail, not only as
it characteriſes the ſtate of Athens at this period, but as it ac-
celerated the public ruin: what after this could be expected in
the city but virulence of reproach and animofity? what firmneſs
or wisdom could be expected in the adminiftration of affairs?
what fpirit in the fleets and armies of the republic, but that of
fedition? what in their leaders but diffidence or treachery, none
daring to act in concert, and all in fubferviency to, or in appre-
henfion of, thofe under their command? Every action fubfe-
quent to this prepofterous judgment was diſaſtrous, and ſeemed
Plut. Vit. Ly to refer to its fatality [133]. To every attentive reader of
hiſtory, there will appear to have been at ſome period, in that
of every nation, a ſeries of fortunate caſualties tending to its
elevation; and at another period, a courſe of evils accelerating
its decline;fome tiffue of arbitrary events fo forcibly urged, fo
intricately connected, and fo efficaciouſly purſued, that Provi-
dence ſhould ſeem therein a direct and fpecial agent working to
ſome great and neceffary end, and giving thereto the moſt un-
equal chances of policy and enterprize a uniform contingency,
evading all conclufions from human calculation and fore-
fight! Such fatality ſeemed now preffing upon the ſtate and
fortunes of Athens! Near Egofpotamos, the failors and fol-
diers looſe from difcipline, were feafting or wandering afhore,
when Lyfander attacked the ſhipping; the Athenians hur-
ried on board in difmay and confufion; their admiral Conon
on the firſt onfet, mindful of the recent example, fled rather
from his troops, and from the judicature of the affembly, than
from
BOOK THE SECOND.
191
III.
from the enemy, and took refuge in Cyprus; thus the victory CHAP.
of Lyfander became eafy and decifive: in this laft battle of
Ægofpotamos, the Athenian navy was totally deftroyed, a mul-
titude flain, and three thouſand Athenians who were taken, were
adjudged to death; the plea for this feverity was the cruel defign
adopted of mutilating the Spartan captives, had their enemy been
victorious; thus horrid as this maffacre feems, it carried the air
of justice the claffic reader will obferve, that fuch enormities.
were not peculiar to Greece; the clement Cæfar practiced a fimi- Cæfar. B. G..
lar but more atrocious cruelty on the capture of Uxellodunum,
when (as himſelf tells us) he cut off the right-hand of every
Gaul who had been guilty of the love of liberty and his country.
L. 8. C. 44.
THIS laft overthrow was decifive, and clofed the long conteſt
of twenty-eight years and fix months, during which Juftin em-
phatically obſerves, that the Athenians feem, plus fortunæ varie- Juftin. L. 5.
tate debellati, quàm vi victi.
7
ATHENS was now befieged by the forces of Lyfander, and
prepared for fubmiffion: the Lacedæmonian General purpofely
fpun out the negotiation refpecting the terms of capitulation,
till famine and confequent diftrefs within the town became fo
great, that the people finally opened their gates on fuch terms as
feemed equivalent to a ſurrender at diſcretion : the ſhipping [134]
was to be given up or deftroyed; the treaſury to be at the dif-
pofal of the conquerors; the walls of this noble city to be le-
velled with the ground; and laftly, its commonwealth to be
fubverted, and the oligarchy impofed, that oligarchy which the
Athenians fo detefted, and had ſpent ſo much blood and treaſure
to overturn in every other town of Greece! Sparta detached a
guard to protect the new governors, who moreover bribed to their
intereſt three thouſand of the refuſe of the people, the more fe-
curely to fport with the lives and property of the reſt.
UNDER
C. 1.
fand.
Plut. Vit. Ly-
Diod. Sic.
L. 13.
Xen. Hift. 2,
192
THE HISTORY OF ATHENS.
*
CHAP.
III.
UNDER the tyranny of thirty of the moſt rapacious and mer-
cileſs men, that ancient or modern annals have deigned to name,
we now behold this once free and flouriſhing people! It were
eafy in fancy to give a lively colouring to a picture of defpotic
oppreffion ;-let the reader's imagination take up the pencil; un-
leſs he be of opinion, that the poliſh and lenity of the modern
age have rendered ſuch ſubject unneceffary and unintereſting.
CHA P.
BOOK THE SECOND.
193
CHA P. IV.
OF PHILOSOPHY.
OF SOCRATES:
OWEVER inſtructive may be the detail of events that
H a
lead to the oppreffion of a free people, and fubverſion of
their once flouriſhing and happy ſtate, a general account of their
miferies under the tyranny they are thus ſubjected to, can form
no leffon either to enlighten the mind, or to improve the heart ;—
though particular inftances may engage the feelings, and per-
haps fome inſtances inculcate no uſeleſs doctrine, whilſt a good
man ſtruggling with diſtreſs, termed "a fight moſt acceptable
"before God," is fhewn to have been "most excellent in peace
"of mind, as well as in eftimation before men."—I have there-
fore avoided a general account of the defpotic exertions in emu-
lative barbarity practiſed by the tyrants of Athens; and I will
therefore introduce a particular inftance of that barbarity exerted
againſt "one moſt wife and good."-Are the epithets any ways
ſeparable ?—alas modern practice, if not modern doctrine ſo aſ-
fert-But is goodneſs no part of wiſdom, that whilſt we ſeek
to be wiſer, we neglect to be better?-Is it well that the ſtudy of
virtue is profcribed the ſchools of philofophy; and philoſophy
reſtricted to the experimenter of phyfics, to the vifionary ſyſtema-
tic, or to the idle hoarder of fhells and prodigies ?—were it not
right whilft we inftruct the intellect, to meliorate the mind; and
as we elevate the human understanding, and fit it for ferious and
deep difquifition, would it not be uſeful to direct the ſpirit of
reſearch to objects that belong to focial humanity, to the love
of the neighbour, the refpect of law, and the adoration of God?—
to teach the man the duties of each relative fituation, and make
him know more, but to the purpoſe of his more duly fulfilling
the
Cc
CHAP.
IV.
194
THE HISTORY OF ATHENS.
!
CHAP.
IV.
the end of his being here on earth!-Is the academic difcourfe
of no uſe but to give food to vanity,-to afford the difciple
means of becoming arrogant in learning, and from the very per-
fection of his accomplishments, fecluded from that philan-
thropy humanity preſcribes, too proud for that deference ſociety
demands, and diſqualified for that humility his religion incul-
cates?
As the ſpirit of the enquiriſts into nature hath foared to the
heavens, and left the terreftrial globe lefs accurately explored; fo
do we give up the ftudy of ourſelves, for that of the things of the
world; and become knowing in what is known with little uſe,
and furely with much detriment, whilst the hour hath been lightly
paffed, in which the conftitution of reaſon and paffion ſhould
have been given its proper habits; and the mind have been, when
enlarged, at the fame time formed to a moral fitneſs, under every
cafualty of feafon and circumftance.
ARE we not afhamed, when poffeffed of the aggregate experi-
ence of fo many ages, to be lefs happy in ourſelves, and lefs
beneficial to our fellow-creatures, than many of leſs enlightened
times?—are we not doubly aſhamed, when with the advantages
of a fuperiour moral, and of more authentic rules of conduct,
we demean ourſelves with leſs virtue here, and lefs fortitude on
our paffage to hereafter,-leſs virtue in life, and lefs fortitude in
death? for who of this degenerate age hath lived, or ſhall die as
Socrates! [135].
THE fages of the higher antiquity had been attentive to na-
ture, and ſome had been vifionary, and fome fubtle; fome had
been inquifitive, and difcovered fomething, and all had been
arrogant, and boaſted much they pretended to intuition in the
firſt inſtance, reaſoning in the ſecond: they ſtated an affertion,
preſumed an hypotheſis, argued thereon a ſyſtem, then delivered a
2
:
moral
BOOK THE
195.
SECO N d.
IV.
moral apothegm, and were fanctified to pofterity:-but it was not CHAP.
extravagance of fancy, or hardihood of enquiry, or quaintnefs of
pofition that ſeemed laudable in the judgment of Socrates;-
"Wander not,” (ſaid he) "into what is foreign to thy be-
Socrat,
ing, but learn to know thyself, and to deſerve well of thoſe Xenoph.mem,
"with whom you live, and of Him, by whom you were placed
"here on earth.”
Dial.
THE memoirs written by Xenophon are perhaps the moſt
valuable and ſterling little work which antiquity hath bequeath-
ed us it appears to be a tiffue of notes taken and corrected from
actual converſation.-The pointed particularity of the dialogue,
the fentiment, the confiftency throughout, all concur to au-
thenticate the relation ;-and therein, what a portraiture of So-
crates! we find him not indeed, as in Plato, employed in an
inveſtigation of abſtract beauty, or other vifionary ſpeculation,
but we behold him attending to the duties of a good man. Even
in the Phædon we have not the character of Socrates rendered Platon. Phæd.
amiable and captivating ;-the manner in which his wife Xan-
tippe is diſmiſſed the priſon, and the churliſh reproof to Cebes
on his preſuming to object to a pofition of his maſter, fhew him
in the light of a furly cynic, rather than in that of a philan-
thropist, modeſt in his affertions, though confident in his hopes.
Xenophon hath given us a picture of the gentle and virtuous Xenoph. mem.
friend to mankind; he hath fhewn him not only eſtabliſhing
a proper ſenſe of religion and morality, and laying down
principles of what is juſt and what is good, and what our
duty under each known and each cafual relation; but his little
offices of humanity too are particularized, and the narrative au-
thenticated by the very names of thoſe, whoſe diſtreſs was al-
leviated, or vices eradicated by his leffons of prudence and vir-
tue: Lamprocles is gently reproved for his want of filial piety,
and induced to afk forgiveneſs of his mother;-Chærecrates is
Cc 2
prevailed
Socrat.
196
THE HISTORY OF ATHENS.
IV.
CHA P. prevailed on to cherish his brother's virtues, forget his frail-
ties, and bury all unkindneſs in the tender recollection of the
paſt joys of fraternal amity ;-the good old Eutherus is adviſed
and ſupported by him; the rich Crito is perfuaded to take
the poor but honeſt Archidemus, and prefer him in his fer-
vice; and Diodorus is engaged to honour with his friendſhip
and ſupport the good, but penurious Hermogenes: vice he
chaftifes, and folly he derides; he fatirizes the fop, and he
even condefcends to reclaim the floven Epigenes every dif-
ciple comes from the intercourſe a wifer, or a better man.
Xenoph. Hift.
B. Zo
Diog. Laert.
Vit. Socrat.
:
THAT fuch a man fhould be obnoxious to fuch a government
as now ruled in Athens, is no matter of furprize when the fate
of the eight admirals was by the fenate configned to the judge-
ment of a furious populace, Socrates was the only fenator who
declared against the conceffion, as a degradation of their order,
and as a dereliction of every principle of equity and of their
conſtitution. Ever confiftent in thought and action, he was now
adverſe to the adminiftration of the thirty, and boldly expoſed
their vices, their cruelties, and their peculation; and he inſtilled
into the minds of the youth who attended to his documents, a
love of virtue, and a deteſtation of the enormities which diſ-
graced the government: hence arofe the virulent refentment of
the oligarchy; whilſt oppreffion raged in every quarter, So-
Seneca de tran- crates tamen in medio erat, et lugentes patres confolabatur, et
defperantes de republicâ hortabatur,-this was the cauſe, though
not the reafon affigned for profecuting him; yet fuch was the
purity, and general eftimation too, of his character, that the
accufation required the moſt artful preparation and manage-
It hath been obferved that the Athenians were the
moſt fuperftitious of the Greeks; and to diveft Socrates of the
love of the commonalty, he was charged with impiety, and the
feduction of others to his heretical opinions, and the rhetorician
quil. anim.
Paufan. in Atto
& fupra. C.
35. L. 1.
ment.
Lycon
BOOK THE SECON D.
197
IV.
lian. var.
Hift. L. 2.
C. 13.
vide mem.
Platon. Phæd.
Lycon and others were fuborned to calumniate his principles: CHAP.
having attacked his reputation of virtue, that of his wifdom
was next the object of depreciation, and Ariftophanes was hired
by Melitus to write his comedy of the clouds in ridicule of his
tenets, and mode of argument. The method of reaſoning uſed by
Socrates, was of the moft forcible and yet of the moſt concilia-
tory kind; for whilft by a train of queſtions he progreffively led
his ſcholar to a felf-conception and acknowledgement of the
doctrine he meant to inculcate, he fo artfully managed his in-
terrogatories, that the truth irrefiftably came from the mouth of Xenoph.
the pupil he was inftructing; and knowledge was inftilled whilft fparfim. &
the diſciple had the ſelf-ſatisfaction and pride of having difco- Dial. &c.
vered, what in fact was fuggefted to him: this captivating logic
and the purpoſes it was uſed to, were the objects of apprehen-
fion to his enemies, and were thence given as a ſubject for the
fatyrical muſe of Ariſtophanes. In the "clouds" of that poet,
Socrates is made the mafter of perfuafion to impiety towards the
gods of his country, to the diſregard of all law and juſtice, and
to undutiful behaviour from the child to the parent; and his
language is repreſented as confifting of the meanest quibble and
fophiftry the clouds in this comedy are fuppofed to be the di-
vinities of Socrates, and he is introduced fufpended in a baſket, Ariftoph.com.
and in converfation with one Strepfiades ruined by vice and debt,
who is become his ſcholar, in order to learn how to puzzle his
creditors and evade juſtice; Strepfiades utters the coarfeſt jefts
on the leffons he receives; and Phidippides his fon, to prove
his proficiency in the philofopher's fchool, in the fifth act beats
his father, who then renounces his tutor and fets fire to the
houſe ;-Socrates and Cherephon his follower bawl out in dif-
treſs, and Strepfiades clofes the play with the following lines,
as being meant to be particularly impreffed on the minds of the
Attic audience:
Why
Nubes.
198
THE HISTORY OF ATHENS.
CHAP.
LV.
Vit. Socrat.
Ifocrat. En-
com.Bufiridis.
Why learn injuriouſly t' addreſs the gods [136],
And yet behold the moon's bright feat above !-
Follow-ſtrike home-for many charges brought,-
But moft for this" that he's blafphem'd the gods."
Diog. Laert. Such were the arts uſed to depreciate him, whom the oracle had
announced to be the wifeſt of men! yet after all, it was found
neceffary to employ the firft, and moſt able orators to plead againſt
him; and the fophift Polycrates was engaged by Anytus. So-
crates refuſed to plead in defence,-but what defence could avail,
when virtue was the crime! Pofterity hath done juſtice to the
innocence which fupported him in the hour of death.-When
the accufation of Melitus was impending over Socrates, and yet
he prepared not any written or ftudied refutation: "Wherefore
(faid Hermogenes) do you trifle away the precious hour in
defultory difcourfe, and not think of fome anſwer to the ar-
gument of your accufer, or fome plea to the favour of your
judges ?"
"That anſwer (replied Socrates) hath been the
"buſineſs of my whole life, of a long life, throughout ſtrictly
"conformable to truth and juſtice :"-to this idea he firmly ad-
hered, confided in his virtue, and fubmitted to the event with a
refignation, which could arife from nought, but a found faith
in the being and goodneſs of a great and ever ſuper-intendant
God !
Xen. Mem.
Socrat.
Platon. Dial.
Crito.
Phædon.
66
66
cc
THOUGH the dialogue with Crito [137] probably never paffed,
Ejufd. Dial. yet the offer of Crito to affift Socrates in eſcape from priſon,
was probably made; though the long detail of Phædon to Eche-
crates, can ſcarcely be prefumed authentic as to the argumenta-
tive part, for, nor was Plato prefent, nor could even Plato, if
preſent, have claffed and related at ſecond-hand ſo prolix and
ſubtle a courſe of reafoning; yet is the dialogue, independent of
its very important fubject of difquifition, in many parts curious
from
BOOK THE SECO N D.
199
IV.
from the anecdotes interfperfed, and through the notoriety of CHAP.
which, Plato thought to give a genuine ftamp to the philofo-
phical parts of the treatiſe: among theſe may be remarked,
"the obſervation of Socrates with reſpect to pleaſure and pain,
"when his fetters were knocked off "his verfification of the
"fable of Æfop," "the facrifice to Æfculapius," and many other
circumſtances; among which ought not to be forgotten, the com-
placent ſmile and bleffing beſtowed on his executioner, whoſe
lowering eye could not refrain a tear, when he held forth the
deadly cup to fo good and wife a man.
Socrat.
"To me (exclaims Xenophon) his death itſelf feems a de- Xen. Apolog.
"monftration of how much he was beloved of the gods, who
"cut off the few remaining burthenfome hours of life, and on
"the eve of decrepitude granted him the eaſieſt of deaths !"-
"Such was the wisdom, and fuch the magnanimity of this man,
"that I ever must remember, and remembering, ever regret and
"refpect him; and if in future times, any who are friends to
"virtue and to the virtuous, fhall boaft acquaintance with a
"better, and with a more useful member of fociety, than was
"Socrates;-I hefitate not to pronounce that man,-the firſt
" and moſt bleft of mortals.",
CHAP.
200
THE HISTORY OF ATHENS.
CHAP.
V.
CHA P. V.
OF THE EXPEDITION OF THE TEN THOUSAND
PARALLEL OF
THE COMMENTARIES OF XENOPHON AND OF CÆSAR.
HAY
AVING arrived at that period of hiftory of which the
Anabyfis of Xenophon forms fo intereſting an epiſode, I
am induced to digreſs ſomewhat on that ſubject, if digreffion it
can be called, to follow the Greeks [138] to Perfia, and to mark
their' conduct and courage in that country, whence in former
times, invaſion came upon them in fo ftupendous and formid-
able a fhape;-to think of the glorious refiftance made to fo tre-
mendous an attack by fo fmall a number, and then to confider
the fortitude and perfeverance of as ſmall a number of the fame
country, and exerted with ſucceſs in the very center of that em-
pire which had been the original aggreffor.
WHEN a Spartan army is led forth by a veteran king, fluſhed
with conqueft, and actuated by refentment, it may be conceived,
that fuccefs will attend the enterprize, even when directed againſt
the moſt numerous tribes of the populous, but enervate Perſia :
Xen. Encom. I can read of, and yet not wonder at, the victories of Age-
filaus.
Agefilai.
Ifocrat.Paneg.
BUT that a number of men, collected from diſtant parts, driven
by misfortune or crime from their paternal hearth, much alie-
nated from patriot fentiments, and long difufed to their natio-
nal virtues, ſhould under the predicament of cafual connection,
recall to mind the focial ſpirit and unanimity, which diſtin-
guiſhed their once-loved homes, and form a brotherhood in their
diftrefs, faithful in its internal conftitution, and brave and united
in
BOOK THE
201
SECON d.
V.
in its exterior efforts; that all fhould fo fuddenly lofe fight of CHA P.
mercenary views and of foreign habits; and in a moment re-
cover the ſpirit of old Greece, and affume the deportment of its
independent foldiery of yore; all this furely proves, how deeply
was rooted, and of how pure a nature was the germ of martial
virtue fostered by republican principles and practice, which no
ſeaſon could corrupt, no difficulties appall, and no time obli-
viate.
cerpt. H.Steph.
ad finem.
CYRUS rebelling againſt his brother Artaxerxes, muftered his Ctefice. Ex-
army at Sardis, and collecting together the Greeks thereof, gave Xenophont.
the command to Clearchus the Spartan: in mere fportive evo- Anabylufq.
lution this body of men (fays Xenophon) diſplayed a firmneſs
and impetuofity that terrified the ſpectators, and even army to
which they were auxiliary; thence Cyrus entertained a happy
prefage of fuccefs, and from that moment ſhowed the utmoſt
deference to every foldier of fortune, who could plead the me-
rits of Grecian birth: this favourite band was during the whole
tedious march from the coafts of the Ægean to Affyria, enticed,
flattered, promifed; its wantonnefs, its wildeft pretenfions
heard, and its moſt extravagant demands acquiefced in; even
when traverſing the vaſt and defolate plains of Afia, its provi-
fion was well fupplied and of good quality; and the famished
Perſian eyed the Greek foldier vigorous from plenty, and even
ruddy with excefs: theſe circumſtances ſhould be remembered
when we come to view them forfaken by proſperity, and yet re-
taining the elation of ſpirit, the pride of worth, the contempt
of arrogant authority, and all the haughtiness eaſe and power
could give, and preferving theſe qualities of the happy when
oppreffed by the leaden hand of adverſe fortune.
THE hoftile brothers, Cyrus and Artaxerxes, at length met
to enter into decifive conflict for the crown: the Greeks per-
Dd
formed
202
THE HISTORY OF ATHENS.
V.
CHA P. formed the part affigned to them with conduct and courage;
they charged with a difcipline and fury which nothing could
refift, they broke through fucceffive bodies of the Afiatics, and
inftilling on every fide a panic at their approach, were victors on
the firſt onſet, with only one man wounded by a random arrow ;
nor through the whole day of battle did they ſuffer any reverſe
of fortune, but retired from the field without any lofs of confe-
quence, to damp the joys of conqueft with one tear of regret.
The oppofite army conſiſting of twelve hundred thouſand com-
batants, covered a vaſt extent of ground, and victory on the right
implied no certitude of the general fortune of the day; the
Greeks remained under arms the whole night without refreſh-
ment, and anxious for the fate of Cyrus ;-on the next morning
arrived an account of his death, and of the rout and overthrow
of all his forces, excepting their own fingly unbroken band:
without heſitation the Greeks then fent to the Satrap Ariæus,
who was lieutenant to Cyrus, and who had rallied the fugitives,
and recovered fome remnant of his army, and they offered to
fupport any claim he might make to the Perfian diadem but
Ariæus deemed it madneſs to think of dethroning an hereditary
king at the head of more than a million of foldiers animated
with conqueft.
ARTAXERXES fent to them to deliver up their arms :—“ We
"want them (faid Clearchus) whether as friends, or as enemies,
"whether to ſerve him, or to defend ourſelves:" They after-
wards replied in a haughtier ftrain, and refuſed even to treat,
unleſs previouſly fupplied with provifions, and every other ne-
ceffary. The mighty Perfian army feared the neceffity of coping
with the deſperation of theſe few brave men; the refreſhment
was granted; it was deemed adviſeable to ſubſtitute treachery
for force, and to circumvent, and not combat with them nearly
were they victims to this mean policy of the Perfian, Clearchus
and
BOOK THE
203
SECO n d.
y.
and their ſeveral other captains being on fome amicable pretext, CHAP.
allured to the tent of Tiffaphernes, and there perfidiouſly put to
the fword.
•
It was now that the virtue and perfeverance of the Greeks
were put to a hardy trial. Thoſe were flain whom habit had
taught them to liſten to and obey; there were none, whoſe long
pre-eminence in council or in action might warrant attention in
thofe around; Xenophon himſelf was little known among the
troops: -" I have heard (faid Cherifophus) that one Xenophon
an Athenian was with the army, but to the hour of this necef-
"fitous debate, I knew not of his particular fortitude and wif-
"dom." The tale of the maffacre was unfolded; the warmth of
reſentment fluſhed each private foldier, and with unanimity all
breathed the voice of defiance to the cruel and infidious Perfian.
The loft captains were immediately replaced with thoſe the moſt
experienced, and confided in by the troops; and the firmneſs of
fpirit, and national attachment of the foldiery was fo great, that
diſtreſſed and endangered as was this little army of ten thouſand
men, but three hundred Thracians under Miltocythes, and
twenty others under one Nicarchus, were found baſe enough to
defert their fellow-fufferers, and go over to Artaxerxes.
In all times of public difficulty and peril, virtue ability and
courage will take the lead, and in fome degree fuperfede all other
authorities of political ufage or convention; the influence of
Xenophon was founded merely in fuch pretenfions and circum-
ftances; his advice was liftened to with deference, his conduct
regarded with confidence, his example followed with emulation.
It was not Xenophon, it was Cleanor, who was vefted with the
title at leaſt of fuperior command: Cleanor fummoned a general
council, and the reſult of the debate was a determination to force
a retreat towards their native country; nor was it in ignorance
D d 2
of
204
THE HISTORY OF ATHENS.
!
V.
CHAP. of its difficulties that they reſolved on this expedition; to in-
duce them to a furrender at difcretion, the rapid rivers, and the
mountains and deferts they were to paſs, the exceffes of climate
and famine they were to bear up againft, and ferocious nations
they were every where, and conftantly to cope with, repeatedly
had been urged to them; and the account blackened with every
horror the extravagance of Eaftern eloquence could beſtow.
SCARCELY had the Greeks ftruck their tents, when a large
detachment under Tiffaphernes appeared hovering on their rear:
when they began to march, the Perſian horſe infeſted them on all
fides, they were galled with their darts and javelins, and being with-
out cavalry, ſtood in paffive torment, the ſport of an enemy wan-
tonly brave in the ſecurity of his ſpeed: to repel theſe incurfions
they gave up their baggage, mounted a choice number of foldiers
on the horſes, and the next onfet fallying impetuouſly from with-
in the hollow fquare, they chaced back the Perfian cavalry with
confuſion from the field. The Perfians truly kept them in con-
ftant watchfulneſs, harraffed them with flings and darts, cut off
their provender, and intercepted their road; but it was an ene-
my they had been ſo uſed to conquer, that each foldier was in-
vincible in the confidence built on paſt experiment: but nature
threatened their refolution with a feverer trial; they faw the
Tigris pouring a vaſt and rapid torrent intercepting their journey
to the weſt; and northward, whither the only remaining path
conducted, appeared the towering mountains of the Carduchi, a
bold and untamed nation, favage in its courage, and of a ſtrength
and agility ſuited to the rugged country it was to defend : Seven
whole days were the Greeks in their paffage through this inhof-
pitable diftrict, ftruggling with every obftacle, which, from the
face of the country aud belligerant difpofition of its inhabitants,
might juſtly be apprehended : rocks were rolled inceffantly down
the precipices, and arrows were fhot from each covert, of ſuch
length
BOOK THE SECON D.
205
V.
length and firmneſs as to ferve the Greeks inſtead of javelins, and CHAP.
they were fent from the bow with a force that broke the ftrongeſt
fhield:-fuch was the foe they were to combat with, to diflodge from
heights, to break through in paffes, and every where to fight at odds.
DESCENDING from thefe mountains, at the foot flowed the
river Centrites, on the oppofite bank was a mighty army, and
with it a body of the warlike Chaldæi under the Satrap Orontes,
and ſtill on their rear poured the arrows of the Carduchi:
but the rich plains of Armenia courted the foldier's eye ; he was
told that the paffing of this ftream was his laft and only dif-
ficulty, and that he was to revel in the delightful fields before
him, and repay himſelf for every paft trouble with unrefifted
pillage of the effeminate poffeffors. Enured to danger, and en-
flamed with hope, the Greeks paffed a rapid and dangerous
ftream in the face of a numerous enemy, and followed by an-
other, whoſe ſavage force and intrepidity were a match for fu-
perior numbers, or for any thing,-ſave the habitual cool valour
of difcipline, and high ſpirit of national honour, which made
this ſmall body of Greeks fo boldly undertake, and fo fuccefs-
fully purſue their ftupendous defign. Having repelled the moun-
taineers, having croffed the river, having routed the adverſe army,
having reached the fountain of the Tygris, other and new dan-
gers, awaited them ;-Teribazus entered into treaty with, merely
to betray them; but they diſcovered the treacherous defign pre-
vious to the ambuſcade, and revenged themſelves with a bloody
animofity the perfidy might warrant.
NOR bold, nor infidious hoftility, nor the natural difficulties
accruing from a defert or broken country, had apalled the
Greek valour and perfeverance; but from the heavens a fiercer
foe came on, and to whom nearly they had yielded; winter,
with all the feverities incident to the feafon in a vaft conti-
nental
206
THE HISTORY OF ATHENS.
CHAP.
V.
nental tract, threatened them with cold and famine; continued
fnows obftructed their march; the conftant white glare de-
prived many of their fight; during the night their bodies were
covered with fleaks, ificles hung from their very fleſh, their fandals
were frozen to their feet, and their toes and fingers mortified;
many loft the uſe of their limbs, fome had their very fenfes
buried in a general numbness and torpidity, and were only by
force of torment brought back to life; many too died; dearth
and cold kept pace together, there was no refreſhment to elate the
ſpirits, and fortify the blood againſt the bite of the froſt :-de-
ſpondency caſt a gloom around, and melancholy revibrated from
face to face, and from mind to mind till all was horror and de-
fpair!-a body of the enemy at this moment approached,
" If
we are to die (faid Xenophon) let us die fword in hand!"
Few could be perfuaded to follow him; thofe few, however,
were victorious, and animated with fuccefs, returned to rouſe
and encourage their deſpairing brethren; they exhorted, or com-
pelled them to march, and fortunately foon arriving at ſome rich
villages, the army was preſerved: the troops being refreſhed,
with their ſtrength recovered their wonted fortitude; the ſmall
towns to which they were indebted for a few days plentiful fup-
port, not being of extent to ſuſtain them for a longer period,
they were neceffitated to proceed. Other rivers, other fandy
plains, other mountainous paffes remained, and other barbarous
warriors to defend them: the Chalybes, the Taochi, the Pha-
fiani were fucceffively routed, and the whole country, as it were,
fought through with unremitting bravery, till about nine thou-
fand of thirteen thousand Greeks who enlifted under Cyrus, ar-
rived on the fummit of mount Theches, whence difcovering
the Euxine fea, they rended the air with acclamations of joy!
Here they pauſed to raiſe trophies, to facrifice to their gods, to
recapitulate their paft troubles, blefs the divine favour, and
fomewhat too exult in the courage and conduct, which had ex-
tricated
2
BOOK THE SECOND.
207
tricated them from each difficulty. If ever the fun fhone on
any multitude happy without alloy, it was when its ray gilded
the armour of theſe Greeks, contending in the ring, the race,
and other ſportive games, rejoicing in the unwonted celebra-
tion, and reminding each other of the appendant uſages in their
native Greece, and what was fhewy, and what neceſſary, and
what might be omitted, and what was forgotten; whilſt the
view of the ſea gladdened each eye that cafually turned from
the ſports, and the anticipation of an eafy, and no longer toil-
fome paffage homeward warranted their mirth, and enhanced the
felicity of the ſcene.
HERE the retreat may not improperly be clofed, for here
its particular hardſhips were at an end: other dangers and dif-
ficulties hereafter indeed attended them, but moſtly they were
the conſequences of their own ill-conduct: inſtead of Greeks
awakened to fraternal fentiments by the rude call of adverfity,
we are to behold men fecure and infolent from fuccefs: prof-
perity quickly tranfmuted the patriot-foldier into the mutinous
mercenary :-they divided, they rejoined, they ſeparated in ſearch
of pillage, and whole detachments were cut off;-they depoſed,
ordained, and again depofed their leaders; they entered into
alliance with the Mofynæci, and into ſervice with Seuthes..
PRIVATE Worth may be tutored into excellence by a leffon
of mifery and hardſhips, but it too hath other refting place
in the natural difpofition, and in reaſon, and in habit: public
virtue is the child of, and exifts but in, adverfity; the flock
croud together beneath the ftorm; and when the day brightens,
-feparate, and quarrel for a weed!
CHAP.
V.
QUINCTILIAN [139] hath lightly ſketched a compariſon be- Quintil.
tween the Greek and Roman hiſtorians: he mentions Herodotus
L. 10. C. 1.
and
208
THE HISTORY OF ATHENS.
V.
CHAP. and Livy as having equal pretenfions; but furely the tales in the
firſt book of Herodotus are not of a merit, to conteft the prize
of hiſtory with thoſe books of Livy which afforded a text for
the famous comment of Machiavel; nor do I think that the
Greeks account of the Perfian wars, is equal to the famous de-
cad of the punic invaſion: Polybius would in my opinion afford
a more appoſite parallel; his having written on Roman ſubjects
no ways vitiates the propriety of comparing them, and in do-
ing fo, thoſe who are not led away by the quaint phraſe of
'Lactea ubertas' applied to Livy, will admit his pretenfions
to energy as well as eloquence: their ftile is undoubtedly dif-
ferent, and in this the Latin hath the better of the compariſon;
in other reſpects to uſe a phraſe of Quinctilian, they are ' pares
• magis quam fimiles.' Quinctilian doubts not to oppoſe the merits
of Salluft, to thofe of Thucydides; on this head I have my
doubts; independent of his emphatic ftile and air of accuracy
throughout, the introductory book of Thucydides is a maſter-
piece of recapitulation, and may be placed in parallel with the
firſt book of Machiavel's Hiſtory of Florence, the beſt epitome
(I think) of the kind; but the preambles of Salluft though elo-
quent and ingenious, are fomewhat forced and inapplicable.
The hiftories of Xenophon I read with pleaſure, but cannot ad-
mit them to vie with the above authors, either of his own
country or the Romans: I am rather inclined to allow to the
latter the general palm of hiſtory. What doubts I may have,
the annals and hiftories, and particularly the detached pieces of
Tacitus are calculated to remove ;-if language and fentiment
ſuitable to each action, and concifely explanatory of motive
Bell. Catalin, and event, if in the words of Salluft, factis dicta exæquanda,'
conſtitute the merit in this branch of literature, who is the
writer, that hath given policy, facts, and character more force,
and in fewer, and in better words, than Tacitus? to a pro-
per and able reader, Tacitus explains, whilft he appears fimply
Salluft.
to
BOOK THE SECOND.
209
to relate a myſtery; and developes the receffes of policy and cha- CHAP.
racter, whilſt he profeffes to recite merely effects and conduct.
THE military memoirs of Cæfar and of Xenophon may be
confidered as a diſtinct and new branch of literature, and may
afford freſh ſubject for conteft and criticiſm: the pretenfions of
the Roman and Greek are reſpectively ſtrong, and their different
merits may afford ſcope to the advocate of either language or
writer.
I MEAN not to enter into a minute enquiry, but rather as a
key to fuch difquifition, obferve, that in the Latin work, we
have the commentaries of a General, vefted with a legitimate
command; in the Greek, the journal of an officer in fubor-
dinate authority though of high eſtimation: the fpeeches of
the one, are replete with imperatorial dignity; of the other,
delivered with the conciliatory arts of argument and condefcen-
fion: the oratory put into the mouth of others, is by either
author happily introduced, and fuited to party and to circum-
ftance ; with exception, however, to a ſpeech of Cyrus in the
memoirs of Xenophon, who, though in queſt of the defpotic
crown of Perfia, is made to harangue for Greece and liberty.
Accounts of the face of the country, of the characters of the in-
habitants, and even of very families, were collected and tranf-
mitted to the great leader in chief; and thence from Cæfar we
have a curious and well authenticated detail relative to the Gauls,
the Britons, and every other enemy: Xenophon is fuperficial
with respect to any peculiarities of the nations he paffed through,
his mind was abforbed in the care of thoſe under his command;
but thence we are better acquainted with the Greek army, than
with that of Cæfar's: Cæfar's attention was ever directed to thofe
he was to attack, to counteract, or to oppofe; Xenophon's, to
thoſe he was to conduct: Cæfar is often circumftantial, but
E e
never
V.
210
THE HISTORY OF ATHENS.
CHAP.
V.
never diffuſe; Xenophon, were he lefs eloquent, I ſhould call
prolix, without being particular. Cæfar gives the characters of
men in a difplay of their actions and of their fpeeches; it be-
came not the dignity of the great Roman General to minutely
diſcriminate the private merits and demerits of an individual;-
but Xenophon might properly defcant thereon, with the nice
obfervation of a by-ftander, following the bent of philofophic
enquiry the character of Cyrus was indeed worthy the pen of
Cæfar, but a detail of the virtues of Proxenus and vices of Me-
non, were a more proper ſubject for the more private writer :
in his portraiture of theſe men, and of that of Clearchus, Xe-
nophon hath diſplayed the moſt nervous and pointed eloquence;
the energy of which is a fine contraft to the eaſy rhetoric of the
ſpeeches, and elegant fimplicity of diction in the narrative, which
fo fingularly characteriſe theſe moſt beautiful memoirs. It may
be obferved, that Xenophon hath in this work artfully inter-
fperfed every circumftance which might conduce to the giving
a favourable idea of his own character ;-one Phalinus is intro-
duced, deriding him for his virtue and philofophy; his happy
temper and moderation are hinted at in the obfervation," that
"he never had a difpute with any other captain but once, and
"that a trivial one, with Cherifophus ;" the general idea of
his bravery, his religion, and his eloquence, is ftrongly marked
throughout; every ſpeech himſelf makes (if I rightly remem-
ber) is evincive and effectual: the certain Athenian called Xeno-
phon, is thus in fucceffion vefted with every accompliſhment,
and through the well-wrought veil of modeſt phraſe, is at length
diſcoverable the arrogance of a brave and virtuous, but vain
man.
CHAP.
BOOK THE SECOND.
211
CH A P. VI.
RESTORATION OF THE COMMONWEALTH-AND OF ITS DO-
MINION OF ITS CORRUPTION ENSUING THIS SUCCESS.
N difcourfing of the prior times of the republic, I cautiouſly
refrained from the stories in history, and rejected the
I apo-
IN
thegms and anecdotes of diſtinguiſhed individuals, as ill-fuited
to the purpoſe of this work; nay, I teftified my diſapprobation
of the writer who ſhould degrade a community by a felected in-
ftance, and drawing the attention of his reader from the charac-
teriſtics of a great nation to the character of a great man, feem
to bid him remark tranſcendant virtue as an exception, and not
a rule the ſpirit of thofe times warranted the remark;-the
whole people of Athens, during the Perfian wars, feemed fo
united in their purfuit of what was good, and what was great,
that to praiſe one, feemed injuſtice to all; but this galaxy of
bright and excellent qualities, wherein to diſtinguiſh and fix on,
any one more bright and more excellent than the reft, was fo
difficult for the eye, gradually loſt its indiſcriminate luſtre, and
became a conſtellation of leſſer and of greater ſtars, which in
proportion to the dimnefs of the whole, have fhone out confpi-
cuous to the view, and have attracted our attention to their fu-
perior brilliancy and magnitude; thus my regard hath of late
unwarily been drawn from a confideration of the whole to its
more particular and luminous fpots: looking back on my com-
ment, I find it from time to time, attending more and more to
individual names and to characters; the further I proceed, the
more I foreſee I fhall thus deviate from the principle I at firſt
E e 2
laid
CHAP.
VI.
212
THE HISTORY OF ATHENS.
CHA P. laid down; but this deviation, originates it not in the progref-
five, and inevitably [140] changeable courſe of my fubject?
VI.
Xen. Hift. 2. WE left Athens to rue its paft crimes and follies under the
tyranny of the oligarchy: cruelty and oppreffion had foon pro-
ſcribed or driven into exile the beſt of the citizens; and fcattered
through the neighbouring ftates, they were idly bewailing the
lofs of their country: "In thefe [141] times," fays Nepos (and I
think he might have faid it of all times) "good men were more
Vit. Thrafyb. inclinable to harangue, than to fight for liberty."-Such con-
verfation is not, however, without its confequence; the mind is
thereby moved from its paffive ftate, and may thenceforward be
more eafily directed to a particular action, if there is any one to
urge and lead it on.
Corn. Nep.
Ibid.
C. 9.
Juftin. L. 5.
Xen, Hift. 2.
Ibid.
66
THRASYBULUS, a captain of ſome renown in the latter period
of the Peloponnefian war, was among thoſe who had taken refuge
in Thebes; for Thebes, and every other ſtate of importance,
was willing to receive and cheriſh the Athenian fugitives: the
extirpation of a people who had ſo long balanced the empire of
Greece, feemed a prelude to the uncontroulable dominion of the
oppofite party; the apprehenfion of any further encroachments
of Sparta fecured a favourable reception to thofe, who alone had
feemed equal to oppofing her pretenfions ;-thus others befides
its baniſhed citizens, wiſhed, and fome were ready to abet the re-
ftoration of the republic, and once again fet it up in hoftile ri-
valſhip to the Peloponnefe.
THE temper of men was in that ftate, that nothing but a first
mover ſeemed wanting: Thrafybulus had the dexterity to engage,
and courage to lead forth, ſeventy [142] followers on a ſudden
and defperate expedition; and the firft wheel being thus touch-
ed, the whole machine was quickly in motion: this ſmall party
iffuing
BOOK
THE SECOND.
213
CHAP.
VI.
iffuing out in the depth of winter, furprized the fortrefs of Phylé in
the vicinity of Athens, from the ſeverity of the ſeaſon, not ſtrictly
guarded or attended to; the fame of ſucceſs encreaſed their num-
ber; they marched on to the Pyræeus, then feized and entrench-
ed themſelves on the cove of the Munychia ; whence fallying,
they met and defeated the mercenary forces of the oligarchy,
flew two of their chiefs, and clofely laid fiege to the re-
mainder, who had retired within the citadel. Though there
might be fome hyperbole in the allegation of Cleocritus,
"that Xen. Hift. 2.-
"the oligarchy had put to death more Athenians in the eight
months of its power, than the Peloponnefians had done in the
"ten laft years of war;" yet many of theſe deſpots, and many of
the three thouſand they had hired and involved in their crimes,
felt too conſcious of the juſt reſentments they had incurred, and
too apprehenſive of a vindictive retaliation to admit a thought of
compromife, and they prepared for the moft defperate refif-
tance others, lefs guilty, fought to avoid complicating their
fituation with that of thoſe moſt amenable to the juſtice of their
fellow-citizens, and they had their feparate meetings and refo-
lutions the very divifion alarmed the thirty, and fearful of the
refult of fecret debates, and apprehenfive of being given up to the
rage of thoſe whom they had plundered and exiled, they privately
withdrew to Eleufiné. The heads of the faction remaining
within the citadel, then conſtituted a military government of
ten, and by the fhew and pofture of defence fought to attain
terms, or in default thereof, to hold out till fuch time as affif-
tance might come from Lacedæmon; and ſhortly Lyfander came
with an army of mercenaries, with intent to diflodge Thrafy-
bulus from the Munychia, and to replace the inftruments of
oppreffion, in a firmer and more defpotic fovereignty. Paufanias, Plut. Vit. Ly.
the king of Sparta [143], envied the renown and feared the
growing authority of Lyfander, and going forth, as he pre-
tended, to reinforce and affift the prior detachment, he took C. 10..
the lead in the expedition, and from defire of counteracting Xen. Hift. »
A
and
fandri.
Paufan, in-
Lacon.
Justin. L. 5m
214
THE HISTORY OF ATHENS.
CHAP.
VI.
Ifocrat. orat.
de pace.
and vexing his rival, withheld the fword, treated with the exiles,
and permitted a reſtoration of the commonwealth: nor did the
Ephori heſitate to ratify the conditions; Lyfander was become too
great a ſubject in the limited monarchy (or duarchy) of Sparta,
and the envy of its king was abetted by the fober apprehenfions
of theſe guardians of the conftitution of ftate, who preferred the
occafion of abafing the pride and power of an ambitious citi-
zen, to that of reinſtating a delegated fovereignty in a city ſo de-
populated, fo impoverished, and fo defenceleſs as was Athens: it
was deemed fufficient for the honour of Sparta to prefcribe terms
by which thoſe who were moſt obnoxious, ſhould be permit-
ted to retire to Eleufiné, and that a general act of amneſty ſhould
preclude future profecutions, and reconcile the remainder of the
citizens. The commonwealth was thus reſtored, the old laws
and the old magiftracies were revived, and the procedure fancti-
fied in the temple of Minerva by the plight of mutual faith, and a
folemn adjuration to the ancient conftitution of the government;
unleſs ſome little alteration may be prefumed, from what Iſo-
crates mentions of the effect of the late defpotic cruelties
on the renovation of the republic: fays he, "from an abhor-
rence [144] of tyranny, we ran into a greater extreme of de-
mocracy."
<s
THE republic was now, like a convalefcent, purged indeed of
many grofs and noxious humours, but as yet of a weak and tre-
mulous frame; adverfity, that beſt preceptor had beſtowed no
unprofitable leffon; penury had broken the habits of diffipation,
and dangers and the heavy hand of oppreffion, had enured the
courage and humbled the arrogance of the citizens: they ſet
out anew without partialities for any demagogue to lead
them aftray, and without wealth to corrupt them; but then
their former empire was mutilated, or rather gone; their walls,
their very ſhipping were deftroyed, and they had nought to
truft to, for their elevation, but the never failing and energetic
fpirit
5
воок тНЕ
THE SECOND.
215
ſpirit of their government ;-the Genius of the democracy! This
however could not be the work of a moment: the firſt we hear of
the Athenians, after the expulfion of the oligarchy, is that they
received and obeyed an order from Sparta to reinforce Thimbro
with three hundred horſe in his expedition to Ionia, and after-
wards that they followed, an humble and dependant ally to the
Elean [145] war.
CHAP.
VI.
Plut. Vit.
Diodor. Sic.
Agefilai.
L. 14.
Xen. Hift. 3-
Xenoph. cn.
com. Agefilai,
LEOTYCHIDES the fon of the queen Timea was ſuſpected to be
the fruit of her intimacy with Alcibiades, and with the help of a
few oracles newly vamped up and well explained, was illegitimated
in favour of his uncle Agefilaus; who confcious of the doubtful
right by which he held the crown, fought by an animated conduct
to draw the attention of men from his title to his merits, and
make not why, but how he wielded the fceptre of Sparta, the ſcope
of obſervation : Lyfander had anticipated the crop of laurels from
Greece; but Afia ſeemed to open a freſh and inexhauftible field
of renown; and thither he directed the war. The fatraps in the
maritime governments of Perfia defirous of diverting the ftorm,
fent forth emiffaries to intrigue with every Grecian city of im-
portance, and to incite them to hoftilities with Sparta: it was a
favourable crifis for fhaking off the dominion of that haughty
ftate; a rupture was pleaded for with all the force of oratory,
and that oratory backed with more perfuafive gold; Thebes and
many other ſtates received the advice and money of Perfia with
approbation: Athens had at this period re-adopted fome notions Xen. Hift. 3.
of the patriot-virtues of her anceſtry, and admitted not the mi-
niſter of bribery within her walls; but the opportunity of raiſing
herſelf, with all Afia as it were, to help her, and in her turn to
fet her foot on the neck of thoſe who had treated her fo
harthly in her moment of diſtreſs, flattered too much her ambi-
tious hopes and ardour for revenge, for her to refift the invita-
tion: an honourable pretext for intermeddling was eafily found;
Thebes had opened her gates to the Athenians in exile, and the
Athenians
:
216
THE HISTORY OF ATHENS.
CHA P. Athenians from gratitude voted an offenfive, and defenfive alli-
ance with Thebes, who was connected offenfively and defenfively
with the Perfians.
VI.
Polyb. Hift.
1.2.
Xenoph. περί
προσόδων.
POLYBIUS mentions a fact which proves at once the force and
the poverty of the Athenians on this occafion: their city was
again become populous from the return of the exiles, and their
commercial habits and ancient experience, quickly became the
baſis of a new and rifing navy; thus they furniſhed the Thebans
with above fix thouſand [146] heavy armed troops, and with
a confiderable reinforcement of ſhipping, and yet retained a re-
ferve of either force fufficient for home defence: but when at
this eve of a rupture with Sparta, a general cenfus or eſtimation
of property was inftituted in order to afcertain the refources of
ftate, and the quota of tax to be levied from each individual, the
collective property of the Athenians real and perfonal, amounted
only to five thouſand ſeven hundred and fifty talents, being a
leſs fum than at the demife of Pericles was amaffed in the trea-
fury alone. That Attica was untilled, and the farms unſtocked,
the city ftrewed with ruins, the flaves emancipated, and the
money and plate carried off in pillage, were the obvious conſe-
quences of the long Peloponnefian war; of the fiege, and of the
capture by Lyfander; and of the avarice and oppreffion of the
oligarchy to theſe very evils perhaps the commonwealth owed
its ſudden reſtoration to empire, as well as to freedom; the Athe-
nians too poor and too weak to be feared, were permitted to re-
eſtabliſh their democracy; and too neceffitous and too enter-
prizing to await the recovery of their fortunes by the flow
ſteps of agriculture and economy, they were again, forced as
it were, on the feas; their old fuccefs in the traffic of freight-
age induced them to build fhips before houſes, and this event.
of neceffity, was a step to greatnefs: fays Procles the Phliafian
in a ſpeech to the Athenian affembly [147]
"Moſt of ye gain
*
your
BOOK THE SECOND.
217
""
CHA P.
VI.
Xen. Hift. 6,
<< your livelihood from the feas, and thus the care of your in-
"dividual ſuſtenance and wealth begets a preparation and ex-
pertnefs, which fit ye for marine armament and contefts." At
the time Athens entered into alliance with Thebes, ſhe had al-
ready an hundred veffels of war equipped and manned: the con-
federacy againſt Sparta began to fpread from the grounds of this
compact; all who feared or envied its power were bribed or per-
fuaded into a conjunction of force, till the focial league became Juftin. L. 6.
of fo great extent, that Sparta to oppofe its progrefs, was ne-
ceffitated to recal its troops from Afia. Agefilaus with regret
obeyed the fummons; he had done [148] enough to irritate the
king of Perfia, and had not done enough to benefit his country;- Xen. encom.
he had merely made, and left, an enemy; and his expedition had
the effect of a miniftry to conciliate the fatraps with Athens,
rather than that of an armament to humble them to Sparta.
C. 4.
Agefil.
Corn. Nep.
Ifocrat. Orat.
Juftin. L. 6.
xenoph. Hift.
Vit. Conon.
CONON profited of the juncture to connect himſelf with
Pharnabazus; he had not feen his country fince the reſtoration of
the commonwealth; his behaviour in the laſt ſea fight with
Lyfander had rendered his integrity or courage ſuſpected, and
under theſe circumftances he thought proper to delay his re-
turn, till a favourable opportunity fhould occur, of recovering
the good opinion of his fellow citizens, and of reviſiting his
natal ſpot with advantage and glory: he had fo far ingratiated
himſelf with Pharnabazus, that he entruſted him with the com-
mand of the Ionian and other provincial detachments of the
Perfian fleet, and even the Phoenician fquadron was added to his
ftrength by Artaxerxes, who liftened to the interceffions in Co-
non's favour made by his friend Evagoras, then ruling the dynafty
of Cyprus: off the city Cnidus, a city of the Carian Doris, nearly
oppoſite to Rhodes, lay the united naval force of the Spartans;
Conon came up with, attacked, defeated, deſtroyed, or difabled
the beſt of their fhipping [149]: Honour once again took poft by
F f
the
ad Philipp.
C. 3.
L. 4.
218
THE HISTORY OF ATHENS.
CHAP. the Athenian flag, and fame again trumpeted from the prow
the ftories of Mycalé and Salamis.
VI.
Xen. Hift.
Diod. Sic.
L. 15.
5.
Corn. Nep.
Vit. Iphicrat.
Ejufd. Vit.
Chabriæ.
Xen. Hift.
ON land too the republic was once more taught to vaunt the
prowess of its foldiery, under the generalfhip of Iphicrates:
eight and twenty long years of almoft continued civil war had
ſhown that mere Herculean force might be counteracted by dex-
terity, that in a word there were "arts of war ;" and this inge-
nious people ſeem to be the first who turned this, as well as every
other art, to its proper account: Iphicrates had fo diſciplined,
fo armed, and fo enured every foldier of his army, that the man
who had once feen fervice under his command, was valued there-
on, and thereafter received an advanced pay under the title of an
Iphicratenfis: Chabrias too was another great maſter of evo-
lution, and every other military fcience, and once in this war by
a fimple, new, and unexpected manœuvre, put a stop to the ca-
reer of Agefilaus at the head of the whole Spartan army, elated
with victory and in the heat of purſuit.
:
THE Athenians under thefe Generals were daily gaining
ground when in fmall detachments joined with their allies.
they had indeed been beaten by Agefilaus, and by Dercyllidas;
but their ſeparate armies under their own ſkilful leaders had every
where met with fuccefs: they had been victorious in the coun-
tries of Arcadia, and of the Phliafii, and had ſurprized and put
to the fword a large body of Spartans at Lychæum. The de-
tail of theſe wars comprizes little matter of importance confi-
dered in a political view, however the greater outline of action
and general refult are deferving obfervation :-I fhall not there-
fore particularize the enterprizes of each military partizan, and
follow the petty armies of each diſtrict in their excurfions and
in their retreats. Worn out with the fatigues of inceffant war-
fare, the Grecians entered not again with that ſpirit of animo-
fity
BOOK THE SECOND.
219
VI.
fity into the field of civil conteſt; nor were the parties on either CHAP.
fide willing to hazard the confequences of a decifive battle, whilſt
in the late fubverfion of the Athenian commonwealth, memory
gave a general defeat fo fatal and tremendous an aſpect: ſkir-
miſhes of ſmall detachments, ſchemeful expeditions of active
officers, and eloquent harangues of Generals and negociators fill
up this
page in the hiftories of Xenophon.
66
Xen. Hift. 4.
Diod. Sic.
Jukin. L. 6.
L. 14.
C. 5.
Ifocrat. Orat.
Areopag.
By fea, Conon, under the auspices of Perſian patronage, and
after him Thrafybulus, conciliated or fubdued many of the in-
fular and other appendages of the ancient empire of Athens:
fays Ifocrates [150], "our dominion was re-eſtabliſhed in ten
years, a leſs time than it had coft united Greece and Perfia to
"abaſe and ſubdue us :" this obfervation was in fome meaſure
true; from the date of Conon's victories Xenophon fays, that Xen. Hiſt. 5.
"the Athenians failed over the feas [151] fecurely as in times
of peace;" and it hath before been obferved, that the iſlands of
the Ægean were fo numerous, and the coafts of Greece fo exten-
five, in proportion to the face of the country, that a marine
power had ever the greater ſhare of controul. The fovereignty
of Athens however was never again extenfive or fupreme as be-
fore; it owed too much of its elevation to Perfia, and feemed in
future to feel a dependancy that checked its progreſs; and the
provinces and iſlands it refumed the dominion of, felt too that
its power was ſcarcely its own, that they might refift it, and that
they might find fupport. In truth, the king of Perfia was the
arbitrator of Greece; having fupplied Conon with money and
materials to rebuild the walls of Athens, and repair the Piraeus,
on the completion thereof even Sparta became intimidated, and
fought his mediation: the imperious edict of the great king fu-
perfeded all negotiation as to terms of peace, and at once cloſed
theſe conteſts; his declaration to the Grecian ambaffadors clearly
manifefts his fuperiority, and how well he had profited of the
Ff2
advice
220
HISTORY OF ATHENS.
THE
VI.
Xen. Hift. 5.
""
66
""
CHAP. advice and policy of Alcibiades, when Greece was fo weakened
by inteſtine wars, as implicitly to acquieſce in the very letter of
the following mandate:-" Artaxerxes [152] the king deems its
just, that the cities in Afia be his, and likewife that the iſlands
of Clazomené and Cyprus do belong to him: for other Grecian
States both great and ſmall, that they be feverally enfranchifed and
independant, with exception to Lemnos, Imbrus, and Scyros,
"which as of old fhall be fubject to the Athenians; and whatever
ftate accepts not these terms, I will go to war with it, and its
"adberents, by fea and land, with power and with wealth :" the
Thebans, and fome others, murmured at the emancipation of the
cities under their jurifdiction; to oppofe however was vain; and
a general peace called that of Antalcidas took place, to which
ſeverally were parties, the Perfians, the Spartans, the Athenians
and their allies.
Xen. Hill. 5.
66
THE weight of the fierce, and almoft continued civil broil in
Greece, had fallen moft heavily on Sparta and Athens, and on
ſuch petty cities as were not of fufficient confequence to be
treated with deference and regard by the great mafter republics :
another, an intervening rank of ſtates, whofe adherence was fuf-
ficiently important to exact confideration, and whofe ftrength
was ſuch as to enfure fafe and honourable terms, or from friend
or from foe;-fuch fattened on the war; and as the
and as the expence of
wealth and men gradually weakened and impoverished the con-
tending and principal parties, thefe fecondary republics fuccef-
fively ſtarted up, and each awhile figured on the theatre of hif-
tory in fome chief and leading part.
OLYNTHUS in Thrace was among thofe which had grown fo
heavy of late in the balance of fovereignty; all the cities of the
vicinity were within its juriſdiction; and Amyntas complained
to Greece that half his Macedonia, and even its capitol Pel-
la,
BOOK THE SECOND.
221
:
VI.
la [153], had yielded to the forces or intrigues of this encroach- CHAP.
ing neighbour a confiderable army was fent from Sparta under
the conduct of Eudamidas, to equipoize the ſcale of power in
thoſe parts;
this he effected; but ſcarcely was this new excref-
cence lopt, when from the very blow another hydra-head fhot
forth, and breathed defiance, and even menaced deſtruction to
the affailant! Phæbidas in march to reinforce Eudamidas in
Thrace, forewent the immediate views of his deſtination, to
take advantage of a commotion in Thebes, and affift in eſtabliſh-
ing the oligarchic party, and he left a detachment to protect
the ufurpation: the enterprize of Pelopidas, who furprized and Flut. Vit. Pe-
maffacred the Spartan guard, recovered the citadel, and reftored Corn. Nep.
the commonwealth, embroiled his country with the lordly con-
querors of Athens; unexpectedly it proved equal to the conteſt,
and Sparta in her turn was to tremble for her dominion, for her
very ſafety, and even exiſtence.
lopidæ.
Vit. ejufd.
THE Athenians were made parties in the difpute by a curious xen. Hiſt. 5.
devife of the Thebans; they bribed Sphodrias, the Spartan go-
vernor of Thefpiæ, to make an hoftile attempt to burn the ar-
ſenal of the Piraeus and thips in harbour; his enterprize failed ;
the Spartan ambaſſadors then in Athens difavowed the tranſac-
tion, and affured the people of redreſs: a ſpecial complaint was
forwarded to Sparta, and the Ephori immediately put Sphodrias
on his trial; when without evidence in his favour, and without
even appearing to the fummons, Sphodrias was acquitted; "be-
caufe," faid Agefilaus," he has otherwife been a good citi-
zen, and it is a pity to condemn him :" Athens juftly irritated
by the enterprize of Sphodrias, and further difgufted by the
apparent duplicity of his countrymen, and the mockery of re-
drefs and juftice difplayed on the occafion, forthwith entered into
alliance with Thebes, and joined heartily in the war.
""
;
Now
222
THE HISTORY OF ATHENS.
1
CHAP.
VI.
Corn. Nep.
Vit.
Timoth. &
Chabria.
Xen. Hit. 6.
Ibid.
Diod. Sic.
L. 15.
Paufan. in Att.
Juſtin, L. 6.
C. 4
Plut. Vit.
Epam.
Xen. Hift. 6.
Now once again a fleet was equipped from the Piraeus, and
was in all parts fuccefsful; Chabrias beat the enemy from the
feas, Iphicrates fubdued Corcyra, and Timotheus recovered Sa-
mos, and coaſting the Peloponneſe at various deſcents, defpoiled
its cities, and laid waste the country.
THE Theban reaping the greater advantages of the war, and
throwing more than the proportional weight thereof on the al-
lies, Athens in difguft foon appeared inclinable to treat; and
giving up a conteft which ſhe had entered into but from a hafty
refentment, recur to a tranquil purſuit of population, of arts, and
of the recovery of that commerce, which had once rendered her
fo rich and powerful: Iphicrates was recalled from Acarnania,
where he was daily acquiring credit and advantage,—and perhaps
a diſcovery of how deeply the Thebans themſelves were engaged
in the original plot on the Piraeus, accelerated the treaty between
Athens and Sparta, who fpeedily concluded a feparate peace.
THEBES left alone to profecute the war, was for a time diſ-
pirited, till in the field of Leuctra, that great (and more than
great) that good citizen Epaminondas, by a fage and valiant con-
duct routed and compleatly vanquished the Spartans, with an
army lefs numerous [154] than their own: elated with fo noble a
victory over a people uſed to defpife all odds, and afk, "not how
66
many, but where their enemy were ?"-crowned with ſo bright
conqueft, the Theban proclaimed it with exultation throughout
Greece; and invited each city to partake in the humiliation of
the haughty diſciples of Lycurgus, and join in the abafement of
thoſe who had ſo long and fo tyrannically played the lord and maſ-
ter: Athens gave the herald of fucceſs but a cool reception; it
was matter of debate, not whether Sparta fhould be attacked,
but Thebes oppofed; the difmemberment of Sparta and accef-
fion of its territories to Thebes, fo much encreafing its power,
might
BOOK THE
223
SECON D.
VI.
might fwell the current already full to its bank till it burst in CHAP.
inundation over the vicinities, and lay all around under the flood;
it ſeemed time to draw off the ſtream, or at leaſt to place a dam
to its further encroachment: Athens had already beheld the
power of Sparta ſpread over her countries, and over the face of
Greece; and not even with the deftruction of Sparta would ſhe
hazard from another quarter fuch another defolation of the liber-
ties, of the arts, of the free intercourſe, and of every other bleſ-
fing of fociety! in a full affembly it was concluded neceffary to
obviate the growing power of Thebes; and now when no other
city was willing to engage in ſo diſtreſsful an alliance, Athens
voluntarily proffered friendſhip and fuccour to the Lacedæmo-
nians, and Iphicrates accordingly was fent forth with an army to
their affiftance.
Juftin. L. 6.
Boot.
Not long after, in the famous battle of Mantinea [155], with Xen. Hift. 7.
the heroe Epaminondas, fell the greatneſs of his newly afpiring
countrymen: the Thebans, by the advice of their dying general Paufan. in
forewent the hopes of empire for a well-timed and honourable Plut. Vit.
peace, which generally was come into, and with a particular Epam.
readineſs by Athens, as the equal power and freedom the fought
for, ſeemed virtually fecured by the very armistice. Every great
and leading ftate of Greece had, in its turn, known the viciffi-
tude from power to humiliation; each had dearly rued a fhort-
lived triumph with the lofs of its treaſure, and of the flower of
its citizens; every ſpeech abhorrent of war, was echoed by the
groans of the widow or of the orphan; the peace might now
therefore be prefumed permanent, whilft the public ruin and
private misfortunes gave every argument for it, its full weight,
and a moſt favourable hearing. Peace however, like a feaſt long
untaſted, and then gluttoned on to.exceſs, brought on grofs cor-
ruption [156], and a whole train of diforders: men, becauſe
diſguſted with war, feemed to think that their fervice in war
ΙΟ
was
224
THE HISTORY OF ATHENS.
CHAP.
VI.
Demofth.
Olynth. I.
Corn. Nep.
was never again to be required; they gave
they gave themſelves up to habits
that incapacitated them for future exertion; the fund fet apart
to answer any unforeſeen exigencies of the public, was voted for
public diffipation; and their late brave and fucceſsful generals,
difregarded by the people, and carped at by the demagogues,
fled from envy and difgrace, and fettled in diftant parts.
Vit. Chabria. Little was it confidered that a warlike mien, and an attentive
and firm policy were the beſt fureties for the continuance of
that ſtate of tranquillity fo much, and fo ill, enjoyed : the
reſt of Greece feemed too much enraptured with the fame in-
dolence, or too much exhauſted, to attend and profit of the weak-
nefs which fupineness and luxury fhould produce among others ;
Juftin. L. 6. and it was not pre-conceived that a petty Northern prince might,
as he did, break through the obſtacles that oppoſed him, and
proceed with a force irrefiftable to the enervate Greeks, till in
fine, he ſhould attain that fovereignty, which had been ſo long
and ſo ſharply conteſted among themſelves. Athens in particu-
Athena.L.12. lar was lulled into the moſt ſupine ſecurity; attack was fo little
thought of, that every provifion for even defence was diverted
into fome other channel; their army was neglected, their arſenal
and thipping left to wreck and ruin, and the funds applicable to
their fupport, waſted on ſcenery and actors.
€. 9.
Plut. Vit.
Phocion.
Demofth.
Olynth. 1.
Diod. Sic.
L. 14.
fandri.
;
NOR were other great cities leſs votaries of corruptive eaſe
Plut. Vit. Ly- nor even was Sparta [157] without infection; Lyfander had
brought home the gold of Perfia and ſpoils of Athens; Antal-
cidas the Spartan ambaffador to Perfia on the late peace, received
as a prefent from the great king a chaplet ſteeped in perfumes,
and to divert the donor, danced a faraband, in which he buffoon-
ed the heroifm of Leonidas. Shall we wonder at the fucceffes of
1
Athenæ. L. 2.
Philip
CHA P.
BOOK THE SECOND.
225
CHAP. VII.
ESTIMATE OF MANNERS IN THE DECLINE OF THE EMPIRE
AND OF THE CONSTITUTION OF THE REPUBLIC OF ATHENS.
CHAP.
VII.
N
ATIONAL character and particularities are rarely diſ-
tinguiſhable in great and polished cities, which feem to
have an uniform and general character of their own, reſulting
from the analogy of human paffions acting on, and actuated by,
the diffuſive intercourfe of a fociety matured and refined. The
rich croud together within a capitol, ever with the fame views of
enjoyment, and the poorer claffes ever with the views to fufte-
nance from adminiſtering to the wants, and to the pleaſures of
the rich the intermediate ranks of life are filled by thoſe whom
diſſipation hath ſomewhat depreffed, or whom induſtry hath
fomewhat elevated: thus every degree is interlinked and com-
plicated; and the gradations of character in the great and in the
mean are further melted, as it were, together, through a vicious
emulation, which incites each to trefpafs on the ſtation above
him, rather than to act as a fair competitor within his own pro-
per clafs.
Vanity and vice have then a reciprocative growth
with the taſte of refinement, and with the fenfe of enjoyment;
and the meaſure thereof is to be eſtimated only by the means of
attainment, ever fluctuating in the great mass of the people at
large;-from the fortunes of commerce and menial ingenuity,―or
from the pre-eminence of genius, invention, and mental acquire-
ment,—or laftly, from affiduity in the mean practices, of adulatory
dependance, and of preying on the vices and neceffities of others.
Societies fo conftituted in confequence of the progrefs of arts,
G g
of
226
THE HISTORY OF ATHENS.
?
CHAP.
VII.
of ſciences, and of the refinements which fatiety urges the in-
genuity in queſt of, bear a ſtrong and mutual likeneſs from the
occurrence of fimilar fituations operating on the common paf-
fions and underſtandings of men, through the general medium
of poliſhed manners and depraved morals, which have been
generated in the progrefs of fenfual gratification, and of the
arts to fupply it.
MOREOVER, as the conftituents of a ftate become faftidious
and corrupt, the government ordinarily approaches nearer to an
oligarchy or to defpotiſm, and thus further affimilates the cha-
racters of men in the capitol of empire. Thus under analogous
circumſtances of poliſhed intercourfe, the practices and purfuits
of every people difplay fomething, which belongs fo much to
all great cities, as well as to one great city, that marks of national
prejudice and particularity are worn away or fſcarcely percep-
tible; as in thoſe pictures placed in a full fun, the diſtinguiſhing
lines and colours are loft in the glare, which at once brightens
and confounds each part and object.
THE above fpeculations are not only just when examining
them by the teſt of cotemporary examples, but even when ſtated
with allufion to cities which have flourished in wealth and
elegance at the moft diftant periods: the characteristics of Theo-
phraftus are almoſt as applicable in any other city as in a Gre-
cian, and as well at this day, as in the times he wrote them.
HAVING premifed fuch general reflections, which have their
ſhare in an eſtimate of the manners of this great city, becauſe
they belong to the eſtimate of every great city; the purpoſe of
this chapter is to remark fome peculiarities, and more eſpecially
the exceptions that diſtinguiſhed Athens, from its free com-
monwealth having furvived its virtue; and from its democracy
having become a tyrant, to which even pride and opulence bowed
in
воок THE SECOND.
227
in obedience; to which arts and literature offered their incenfe,
and to the caprices of which are to be attributed the extraordi-
nary connections of groffnefs and elegance, of courteouſneſs and
oppreſſion, of philanthropy and injuſtice, which are to be traced
in the authorities on which the preſent inveſtigation is founded.
66
CHA P.
VII.
IT hath been ſtated, that the legiſlator had placed the election
to military office, and to many executive trufts within the ſtate, in
the fuffrages of the affembly; the qualification for all offices was
fcrutinized within the reſpective tribes, and occafionally all of-
fices were filled by the immediate interpofition of the people,
when at a critical juncture they thought proper to fuperfede the
mode of ballot or rotation. The ultimate refort too of policy and
of juſtice were veſted in the people by the inftitutions of Solon
and of Clifthenes, who invented the oftraciſm; the uſage of
provoco ad populum" from the courts of judicature in general, Hift. fupra.
and even from the Areopagitæ, was afterwards introduced by
Ephialtes, at the inſtigation of Pericles; the rendering account
to the affembly of the conduct of each magiftracy was part of the
original inſtitution; the rendering account of difburfements of Thucyd. L. 1.
the public monies was thereon grafted, when the empire of the
feas, the dominion acquired in confequence, and the tributes
thereon impofed, gave rife to the office of quæftor of Greece,
who foon was quæftor only for Athens. Whilft the necef-
fities and fears of the people drew their regard to the pre-
ferving and ſtrengthening the republican compact, as the reſource
in danger, and afterwards as the fource of acquifition, thefe
powers were afferted with difcretion, and generally were exercifed
under impreffions of common intereft in legiſlation, in good po-
licy, and in relative juftice. As the courfe of conquefts begat
the afcendancies of wealth and command, and extended too the
circle of political functions; and as riches thereby began to be
valued, and office to be folicited; and as thofe who were
folicited,
Gg 2
228
THE HISTORY OF ATHENS.
VII.
CHA P. folicited began to entertain an equal fenfe of the value of the one,
and of the favour conferred in beftowing the other; opulence
became the chief means of power, and remuneration entered into
the fyftem of executive government, and the people received
largeffes from the ambitious, and from the refponfible. Theſe
evils had been felt early in the Peloponnefian war; and Pericles
when firmly feated in the adminiſtration, (perhaps with intent of
obviating the intrigues and fubornation which might be employed
to difpoffefs him of his authority, no longer in itſelf dependant
on theſe original means of elevation, procured the paffing a law,
adjudging to death thofe convicted of bribery in canvaffing, or
during any queſtion pending before the affembly: but Ifocrates
Ifocrat. Orat. tells us exprefsly, that in defpight thereof [158], bribery at
elections was general in his days, and this law wholly difre-
garded as obfolete; and fays the great Grecian orator, "the gifts
"of corruption are now reſpectable, the bribery if even confeſſed,
"is treated as a jeft, is treated as venial if adjudged, and the odium
lays only on the accufer." Popular practice having introduced
the venal ſyſtem, it found its way into the courts of juſtice; the
adjuration to the Prytanes in a comedy of Ariftophanes, is a
curious proof of the notoriety of ſuch peculation; ſays Mne-
filochus-
de pace.
Demofth.
Orat. φιλιππο
$43.
Aristoph. Co-
mæd.
Thefmopho-
riazufæ.
Ath. C. 3-$3.
-By that right-hand, which oft [159] with open palm
You tend with pleaſure, if one brings you gold,
Hear me, O Prætor!
Xenoph. Pol. Even the great cauſes of a public nature, and brought by appeal
from the colonies, before the affembly, were to be expedited by
bribery, (according to Xenophon) though he fays not abfolutely
that the merits of the cauſe were adjudged under fuch influence.
THE idea of a popular affembly thus fupreme, and at the fame
time corrupt and venal, fuggefts a confequent demeanor of the
Eupatridai,
I I
BOOK THE
229
SECOND.
Eupatridai, or noble and rich, which compleats the fcene of this CHA P.
flagitious age of Athens.
pro-
Vil.
Alcibiad.
THE Agrarian inftitutions circumfcribed the landed property
of each individual; Alcibiades, though otherwiſe moſt wealthy, Platon. Dial.
poffeffed but three hundred acres in Attica; no one poffeffed more;
and the cenfus of qualification being yet eftimated on landed
perty (for the levelling principle and laws of Ariftides feem
rarely to have been recognized by the affembly) a man of high
blood and ancient eftate, but yet poor in compariſon of others
enriched from commerce and depredation, when he ftood candi-
date for a military command or place of truft, moved,
66
"That
Ath. C. 2.
Olynth. 1.
public baths be built; that public gardens be opened; that new Xenoph. Pol.
"feafts, facrifices, and theatrical fhows be exhibited; and even § 10.
"that the tributes of the provinces and iflands be portioned out
"individually to the citizens, or applied aggregately to their
"amuſement and gratification." Others from the funds of their Demofth.
private accumulation gave general feaſts, as well as preſents ſe-
verally to each citizen; till the commonalty became fo accuf-
tomed to donation, that they rather confidered it in the light of
a due than of a bounty, received it with indifference, and left
private malice and envy to operate againſt thoſe eminent for wealth
and ability; deeming it fufficient gratitude to with-hold the
cenforial or judiciary decree, till no more was given, or till oc-
cafion of reſentment offered. Chabrias having long corrupted
the affembly, was neceffitated to abfcond from Athens from ap-
prehenfions of the envy which his exceſs of luxury had ſub-
jected him to, and from having exhauſted the means of obviating
popular diſpleaſure and Chares (according to Athenæus, who Athenæ. L. 1a,
cites the authorities of Duris and Theopompus) kept his ground
with the people fometime longer ere he feceded to Sigæum,
merely from having mifapplied a greater proportion of the funds
for military levies, and thus having fufficient to pay his harlots
and
230
THE HISTORY OF ATHENS.
CHAP. and fidlers, and yet wherewithal to conciliate the magiftrates,
demagogues, and even a majority in the tribes.
VII.
Demofth.
Olynth. 3.
§ 40.
FROM war, peculation, or trade, ſo many families had acquired
inordinate wealth, that private houfes were built with a magni-
ficence which outvied the public buildings; and the luxury
within being conform to the ſplendor without, the poffeffors, if
not the favourites of popular caprice, became the objects of in-
vidious regard, and in fuch light were obnoxious to idle accufa-
tions and vexatious demands :-thus to retain clients and parti-
zans not only was neceffary to thoſe, who took an active part in
public affairs, but to thofe noted for opulence, and who being
Ifocrat. Orat. thence liable to the impofition of fuch offices and burthens, or
Περι Αντιδο-
σεως
to fuch wanton crimination, as the envy or avidity of the com-
monalty might fuggeft, were to buy their quiet and fecurity by
the fame conciliatory means, as the ambitious their power, and
the amenable their indemnity. Corruption and bribery were
thus neceffary to all who had ought to give, as well as to thoſe
who had ought to afk under the head of avarice in Theophraf-
tus, even the mifer gives his treat, though fordid and ſuitable to
the character.
NOTWITHSTANDING this general venality, under particular
circumſtances, good and great men found their way to the helm
of government: when a fenfe of public calamity, or apprehen-
fion of danger fuperfeded the feeling of more partial intereſts,
Plut. Vit. Pho- an Iphicrates, or a Phocion were called forth, and when the oc-
cafion was paft, an Iphicrates was fined, and a Phocion con-
demned.
cion.
Arifto. Pol.
1.4. C. 8.
"NOBILITY," fays Ariſtotle, "is the offspring of ancient
"wealth and virtue;" it thus muft find its way into every con-
ftitution of ſtate; whatever popular and levelling principles may
oppofe
BOOK THE SECON D.
231
CHAP.
VII.
oppofe its pretenfions, popular partialities will ever countenance.
the diſtinction, and pay a deference to the genius of great men,
and to the name of ancestry: fays the Demus, or perfonified
character of the people to the pudding-feller who fets up as a
ſtateſman againſt Cleon, "but are you friend of the blood of Har- Ariftoph.
" modius ?"
Equites. Corn.
v. 786.
MANY young nobles were at times patronized and called
into action by the citizens; but intrigue and ambition had too
many knowing and vigilant profeffors, not to obviate their pro-
motion with difficulties and dangers. Thofe of eloquence and abi-
lity fuited to maintain the conteft, became demagogues, and em-
broiled the ſtate with new parties: clamours for one, and cla-
mours againſt another were heard on all fides, and favouritifm
and faction divided the buſineſs of each day: public meaſures
then were adminiftered with views to felf-intereft, and approved
or condemned with views to party: virtue and wiſdom were no
longer the motives of election, and thence could not be expected
in the miniſtry of thoſe chofen: either from idle partialities, or
from venal influence, the power of the people was thus exerted
in delegating and in refuming it, whilft a fenfe of collective dig-
nity and of the principles of their conftitution, was loft in ob-
fequiouſneſs to, and in admiration of, the great man, whom them-
felves had made great;-till caprice or corruption ſuggeſted the
promotion of a rival; or till the feelings of public calamity were
vented in the diſgrace and perfecution of the quondam favourite; Xenoph. Pol.
for on fuch tenure each partook in turn of popular favour, and
a temporary elevation. The old compact and union of the de-
mocracy was thus broken into pretenfions and pleas of indivi-
duals, and of their partizans; the people no longer held a col-
lective felf-regard; power, glory, and wealth, were no longer
the boaſt and object to each as a citizen for the commonwealth,
but to each as a ſelfiſh man for felf: I read with feeling the
words
Ath. C. z.
$ 17.
232
THE HISTORY OF ATHENS.
VII.
Demofth.
περι
Orat. Teg
συνταξεως.
§
34.
Areopag.
Plut. Vit.
Phocion.
<c
<<
:
CHAP. words of Demofthenes, when he obferves, "that in the good
"old times [160] of the republic, it was not faid that Miltiades
"had conquered at Marathon, but the Athenians; nor that The-
miftocles had been victorious at Salamis, but the Athenians
now the language is, "that Iphicrates has cut off a detachment,
"that Timotheus has taken Corcyra, and that Chabrias beat the
enemy at Naxos." The prevalency of perfonal attachments
induced fome to enter the lifts, but obferving the viciffitudes of
popular favour, many nobles kept aloof from the dangers of the
affembly the moft active fpirits ferved in the wars; others
lived in the ſchools of the philofophers ;-but in this luxurious
Ifocrat. Orat. and polifhed capitol, we may believe Ifocrates (I think) when he
fays, "the greater part fpent their days at dice, and their nights
with harlots:" nor was their luxury of an ordinary ſtamp, if an
inference is to be drawn from the feaft of Phocus, where the
guests bathed their feet in wines impregnate with fpices. In the
Symposion of Xenophon, we have the moſt curious defcription
extant of a convivial meeting of the firft men at Athens, written
about this period, and probably with a view to reſemblance of
the elegant fociety, that ſtateſman, warrior and philofopher was
habituated to. The Sympofia of the Greek fophifts in general
repreſent a fictitious meeting, during which the diſcourfe, nar-
Platon. & Plu- ratory or argumentative, is engaged on fome ſerious topic, ſome
queſtion in literature or phyfiology, or abſtract fpeculation :-in
this we have a brilliant picture of ufages and manners. The
Xen. Sympof. gueſts fet down to a fumptuous entertainment, and put brifkly
round their bottle of Thafian wine, whilft fucceffively a con-
juror, a dancing girl, and Syracufan fingers enter to amuſe the
guefts, and fuggeft fund of obfervation: Philippus, a wit and
buffoon of diſtinction (every great city hath at leaſt one ſuch cha-
racter) during the entertainment taps at the door, and being told
to come in, enters, and places himſelf at table with the reft, ob-
ferving,
"that he is a comical fellow, and being particularly
tarch. Sympoſ
prepared
BOOK THE
233
SECOND.
66
at
"prepared to dine out from being very hungry, and having no
"dinner at home, he thinks it moſt comical to get a good din-
ner where he is not expected:" there is fome ferioufnefs on
the intrufion, and the wit is almoft out of countenance;
length he makes his party good; humour and feftivity go round;
fmaller glaffes are demanded, that the circulation of bumpers
may pafs more ſpeedily, and with lefs inconvenience; the con-
verſation is defultory, and a mixture of the ſerious and jocoſe, in
which each ſpeaker has his ſhare, and in which Socrates, I think,
ſhines as much in the character of wit as of philofopher; his
diſpute with Critobulus for the palm of beauty, and his de-
ſcription of his own face and its pretenfions, are replete with
humour and Attic falt: at length wine prevails, all talk toge◄
ther, and to compofe the tumult, Socrates ftrikes up a ſong.—
This convivial effay would alone corroborate the reflections in-
troduced at the opening of this chapter; it affords a picture,
which with a few occafional touches might repreſent a ſociety of
London or Paris, as well as of Athens.
THOUGH I have expatiated on this treatife of Xenophon, and
regarded it as authentic grounds of inference, from the affump-
tion that in delineating the focial habits of his friends, the writer
could not imagine more, nor would ſtate lefs, elegance and refine-
ment, than actually characteriſed the times ;-yet I muft caution
the reader againſt too readily adopting the general remarks and
reflections on the people of Athens, in the effays of that writer
on the conſtitution and revenues of the republic: Xenophon
[161] was habituated to foreign manners, and prejudiced in fa-
vour of Afiatic fubferviency, or of Spartan difcipline; he loved
not the people, and he carped at their freedom under cover of
cenfures on their abuſe of it; he was of an ariftocratic turn of
mind, and regarded not a popular ſtate with due impartiality, and
fair confideration.
CHAP.
VII.
A
Xenoph. Pol
Vectigalia.
ejufd. encom.
Agefilai, &
Ath. & ejuid.
Cyropædia.
aliter fparfim.
Hh
AN
234
THE HISTORY OF ATHENS.
}
J
СНАР,
VII.
Ifocrat, Pa.
math.
Plut. Vit. Pe-
riclis.
AN eſtimate of national manners founded on mere anecdote or
cotemporary allegations and opinions is ever liable to miſtake,
or rather muſt be erroneous; for anecdotes irrelatively cited, are
of the most doubtful tendency, and cotemporary opinions even
if not perverted by prejudice or partiality, are obfcured by the
mift, which fimilarity of life and manners throw over at once the
object which is regarded, and him who regards it; or, what is
yet more dangerous to truth, the approximation of the broad and
capacious fcene narrows the view of the beholder to the moſt
glaring, diſtorted, and gigantic parts, and thus the moſt ſtrik-
ing excentricities of individual humour, are falfely, but with
good faith, ftated as the characteriſtics of an age; and thus the
ſtrongeſt exceptions are ſet forth as the general rule. Of what
character and temper the people of Athens collectively, were at
this period, may better perhaps be deduced from fact, analogy,
and fpeculation, than from the looſe afperfion or mere remark
of
any writer whatever.
THE habitual exercife of power, the number, diverfity, and
importance of the queſtions that came under daily cognizance,
the eloquent harangues, and laboured arguments of the orators,
all conduced to render the commonalty acute and informed; the
public recitals of the fophifts in the Lyceum from Hefiod, from
Homer, and the beſt writers in profe and verſe rendered the
people generally erudite; whilft their tafte in the fine arts became
enlightened and juſt from the fubminiftration of painting and
fculpture to their ſhows and feſtivals, and to the ornamenting
their porticos and public walks; from the mufical conteſts in the
odeum, and from the exhibitions [162] of the theatre. The theatre
they most delighted in, and thence the ſcenic productions were
more particularly molded to their habits of language and wit :
a preſumption of the licentiouſneſs thereof occurs from that of
their great comic writer, who affuredly wrote in conformity to
the
BOOK
SECOND.
THE
235
CHAP.
VII.
Ecclefiazufe
Lyftrata, &
toph.
Comced. Aril-
Ranæ. ejufd.
the taſte of his audience; but it ſhould be remembered that the
prevalency of that audience, which directed all, and which com-
manded the poet, lay in the numerous and lordly populace; who,
though enlightened and instructed beyond the commonalty of
every other ſtate, had yet the proneness to coarſe allufions and
low humour, which ever characteriſes a commercial, feafaring,
and free nation: when to this we add that the women were not
appreciated at Athens, as in a more courtly capitol, and that
thus an influence was loft, which ever infufes a delicacy of fen-
timent, and refinements in behaviour and converfation, we ſhall
not wonder that comedy became grofs and libertine: hence we
are to account for the obſcenity of the plot and language of the
Lyfiftrata, as well as for its indecent fatire on the female fex;
hence we are to account for the dirty jefts of Xanthias in another
comedy, and for the free treatment of Bacchus and the deities,
analogous to the monkiſh interludes of a devil and a faint, which
diverted our pious anceſtors. The political as well as the vi-
cious temper of the ſtate, is to be deduced from the plays of
Ariftophanes; in the “ clouds," the ""
knights,” and acharnenfes," Nubes & equi-
we find the roafting a prætor, a philofopher, or a demagogue,
was a favourite diverfion: indeed we are told that the voice of
the people often pointed out the object of fatire for the ſtage,
and that it was fafe to indulge in the groffeft perfonalities, fo
that the afperfion or jeft touched not on themſelves in their ag-
gregate capacity: this remark of Xenophon is particularly cor-
roborated by the earneftneſs of the poet in precluding fuch ap-
plications;
66
Many [163] there are - I do not mean the state-
"Remark again - I do not mean the ftate !"
fcen. 1.
tes Comped. &
aliæ. Arift.
Xenoph. Pol.
$18.
Ath. L. 2.
Acharnenfes
Com.ver. $15.
Diog. Laert.
Vit. Demet.
Terent. He-
Thus was the comic fcene in occafional fubferviency to vulgar
humour and to popular topics; yet if we look for a picture of pri-
vate life we ſhould rather recur to the felf-tormentor of Menander Athenæus. p.
Hh 2
(though
autontimor.
6510
236
THE HISTORY OF ATHENS.
VII.
CHAP. (though probably written after the fubverfion of the republic) which
is preſerved in the tranſlation of Terence; wherein the character of
Softrata marks particularly the fubordination of the matrons,
whilft a fingular compound of philanthropy and cruelty occurs
in that of Chremes-qui nihil humani a fe alienum putat, and
who yet orders his wife when pregnant to put the child to death,
if it fhould prove a female. Perhaps the middle comedy, of
which I think the Plutus of Ariftophanes is an example, was
written for, and ſuited to the taste of the higher ranks of citizen;
whilſt the licentioufnefs and perfonal fatire of Ariſtophanes, in
his other productions, with all his wit, his merriment, and his
poetical effufions that decorate even his freeft comedies, were ob-
jects of diſguſt as well as dread. His libertiniſm was, indirectly
at leaft, reprobated by the rhetoricians and philofophers: fays
Ariftotle [164], "the legislature fhould provide againſt the in-
"troduction of indecent terms and language; licentiouſneſs of
ſpeech leads to that of action, and thence youth fhould be as
"little accuſtomed to hear, as to ſpeak it.'
Ariftot. Poi.
L. 7. C. 17.
Plut. Vit. Pe-
riclis.
66
ور
PLUTARCH obferves that there ever was in the ftate, a fort of
equivocal junction, like a flaw in a bar of iron which held to-
gether the popular and the aristocratic party, and that in the
time of Pericles, it broke, and the clafs of nobility was after-
wards entirely feparated: the Eupatridai at this period ſeem to
have cultivated diftinct ſciences, a diſtinct literature, and a diſtinct
religion: we read ſcarcely of any man of note who was not a dif-
ciple [165] of fome particular fophift, from whom he adopted
fome new and myſterious tenet: hence arofe the charges of
impiety and herefy againſt fo many great men, - their fecret
faith exciting fucceffively curiofity, fufpicion, and malice.
In conjunction with other reaſons arifing from the nature of
government, perhaps it was from the exclufive care religionis
philofo-
BOOK THE
237
SECON D.
VII.
gibus. L. 10.
philofophorum as diftinct à religione vulgi ;-perhaps it was from CHA P.
the care of fome holy fecret of a more rational religion, that the
referve of the better fort concurred with the practice of the com-
monalty in excluding the women from mixed fociety: general
diſcourſe might touch on ſubjects fatal to the pious prejudices
of the people; the female mind, warm and fuited to the fuf- Plato de Le-
tainment of neceffary fuperftitions, might be warped from its
due courſe, or overheated run into the extremes of herefy; or in
zeal for the eſtabliſhed ſyſtem of adoration, betray the profeffors
of a more ſpiritual tenet, to the fury and enthuſiaſm of the af-
fembly. Policy too in a popular government might wifely ob-
viate the interference which was to be apprehended from a pro-
mifcuous intercourfe, and the afcendancy of the female charms
and mind, if generally eſtimated and refpected. Perhaps a fur-
ther reafon (and the true one) may yet remain to account for the
little deference paid to the female character in Athens: I allude
to the refult of extenfive commerce and marine: trade and naval
employment promote habits of exclufive fociety among the men;
and I think the deficiency of polite affiduity towards the other
fex within every nation, may in fome degree be meaſured by its
degree of commerce and marine, together with that of political
importance, which the conftitution of government allows gene-
rally to its conftituents.
FROM theſe, and perhaps other caufes, feclufion, and in fome
fort, degradation, put the fair fex at a distance from the other;
yet is not the inference to be admitted, of more moderation,
chaſtity, or other female virtues in Athens than grace other cities
and later periods: from the comic writers it may be shown,
that the women had their fashions, their luxuries, their lovers,
their dram-cloſets, their trinkets, and their paint; but thefe va-
nities were reftricted to ufe within the domeftic circle, or to ex-
traordinary occafions of celebration and festival. To controul
and
Aisgata &
εκκλησιάζεσαι
Kau. ver. 24.
&c.
et al. Ariftoph.
C. 18. L. 1.
Hift. ed.
vid, et fcholia
Ælian. var.
Khunit.
238
THE HISTORY OF ATHENS.
CHAP.
VII.
γυναικονόμοι
&
γυναικοκοσμος.
Potter. Ant.
Græc.
Platon. Me-
nexen. Dial.
Athenæ. De-
ipnof. L. 13.
and obferve the manners of the women of Athens, was not left
merely to the kind difcretion of their inmates, but was ordained
by inſtitution, and an office for the purpoſe appointed. Thus re-
gulated and confined by public cenfors, or by cuſtoms, or by the
harſhneſs and vigilance of their husbands and friends, in propor-
tion to the temper and affections of thoſe they lived with, the
matrons partook but little of the refinements of the age; and fe-
male accompliſhment and elegance were the exceptions of thoſe
whom the laws and ufages of the ftate regarded as aliens, and left
indifferently to a freer courfe of conduct, and therewith to ac-
quirement of the arts and beauties, which render the fex more
excellent and captivating.
If the matrons of Athens were inferior, the courtezans of
Athens were fuch as elevated that character above its juft and
proper level of diftinction, in any ftate, wherein a fenfe of mo-
rals hath its due influence: at the time when the famous Af-
pafia taught rhetoric and philofophy in Athens, there were an
hundred and thirty other miftreffes of note, who by their attrac-
tions of accompliſhment and converſation, allured the firſt citi-
zens to their houſes, as the receptacles of knowledge and the li-
beral arts, as well as of voluptuous gratification: they were cele-
brated for their learning and wit as much as for their beauty;
the apothegms of Gnathana were preſerved with the fame care
as the ſtatue of Phryné; they became refpected as well as ad-
mired, and their admirers arrogated a fort of honour and dif-
tinction from the merits of their predilection: to have the name
inſcribed in the lift of lovers on the baſis of Phrynés ſtatue, was
canvaffed, as an object of ambition; and it was placed at Del-
phos between thoſe of Archidamus of Sparta, and Philip of
Macedon :-nay, temples and altars were raiſed to many of the
fuperior courtezans;-fays the poet,
હર
Many's
BOOK THE SECOND.
239
Many's the fane, to many a miſtreſs [166] raiſed,
"But none in Greece are raiſed to married dames.”
CHAP.
VII.
Philetarus.
Athenæ.L.13.
Theſe diſtinctions were the confequence of the liberal ftudies, Poet. ap.
by which this clafs of women prepared [167] and ſuited them-
felves, to the converfations and entertainment of the ableft and
moſt diſtinguiſhed characters. When harlots dogmatized, phi-
loſophy muſt needs be in vogue, and philofophers of every de-
gree reſpected: many of theſe, the moſt eminent, were flaves;
nor was their fervitude a prejudice to their eftimation or ho-
nours-Such was Epicurus, and fuch was Phædon, the friend Macrob.Sat.1.
of Plato.
C. II.
L. 35. C. 10.
VIEWING the fociety of Athens in fome lights, virtue, wiſ-
dom, and learning, feem to conftitute the only diſtinctions;
viewing it in others, avarice and vice bear unqualified fway;
complicating the general fcene, we behold the picture of Parrha-
fius, who, in framing his perfonification of the Athenian affem-
bly,—" voluit varium, iracundum, injurium, inconftantem, eundem Plin. Hift. Nat.
"exorabilem, clementem, mifericordem, excelfum, gloriofum, humilem,
fugacem, et omnia pariter oftendere."-Such particularities as
ſeemed neceffary to elucidate this picture, and, in ſome inſtances,
to extend its fubject, and heighten its colour, I have curforily
adduced; a further detail of mifcellaneous cuftoms would be
more prolix and digreffive, than fuits the tenor of this treatiſe.
46
HAVING in a previous chapter, on the fubject of manners,
ſeized ſuch ſtation of enquiry, as ſuited to the anticipating fcenes
of conqueft and glory; I have taken this ftation, as opening to
the profpect of ruin and decline.
FROM the grounds of feparation between the nobles and com-
monalty, are to be traced jealoufies, diffentions, and tumult: from
8
the
240
THE HISTORY OF ATHENS.
VII.
CHAP. the grounds of their political connection, are to be viewed intrigues,
faction, and fervility on the one fide; and on the other turbulency,
rapaciouſneſs, and caprice, tending often to elevate the worſt men,
through the worst means :-from the grounds of democratic li-
centiouſneſs and venality, are to be obſerved the further reſult of
the ſeveral parties and of their influence, clofing in a corrupt and
unſtable adminiſtration of government: from the general regard
to wealth as the fource of voluptuous gratification, are to be
deſcried at once avidity and indolence, oppreffive in fovereignty,
and neglectful of the means to fecure and to confirm it: and
from the looſe, wanton, and ſelfiſh application of the reſources
of the ſtate, are to be anticipated,-alienation of the depen-
dancies of the republic, its impoverishment, its imbecility, and
its furrender of internal liberty with foreign dominion.-Laftly,
(and it is the brighteſt ſcene before us!) from the arts and know-
ledge of this depraved, but enlightened and illuftrious people,
the fuggeftion occurs, that their glories were to outlive their
empire, and even their republic; and Athens long famed for li-
berty, commerce, and the empire of the feas,-be thereafter not
lefs famous as a school to all nations for the liberal arts, eloquence,
and philofophy!
CHAP.
BOOK THE SECOND.
241
CHAP.
VIII.
OF THE TREATMENT OF DEPENDANCIES OF EMPIRE OF THE
SOCIAL WAR OF THE INDEPENDANCY IN CONSEQUENCE
THEREOF ATTAINED BY CHIOS, COS, RHODES, AND OTHER
TRIBUTARIES.
CHAP.
VIII.
T
HE people of Athens, from the inactivity of the neigh-
bouring ſtates, drew a falfe conclufion, favourable at once
to their love of eaſe, and to their exerciſe of power: as the mo-
ment of ebriety gives a tranfitory force, and even to the man worn
out by vicious gratifications, affords a fenfation of vigour not
much diffimilar to that of a robuſt and heathful conftitution, or
if difcriminate, yet differing only in a ſhow of ſuperior heat and
impetuofity; fo the Athenians inflated with luxurious and un-
moleſted enjoyment, affumed the haughty deportment of high
and invincible authority; and no longer curbed by apprehen-
ſions of a foreign foe, they grew wanton in tyranny, and treated
their dependant iſlands and provinces with fuch indignity and
oppreffion, as drove them to a defiance, and to a trial of that force
which had ſo harshly been exerciſed to their prejudice whilſt in
paffive fubmiffion: under fuch circumftances of difaffection, an
occafion is feldom wanting to the more open avowal of wrongs,
of the right to redreſs, and of the means to enforce.
AMPHIPOLIs was one of thofe cities which had taken advan-
tage, firſt of the victories of Lyfander, and then of the edict of
the Perfian king, to withdraw from its dependancy on the Athe-
nians: the recovery of their fovereignty over this city was a
prime object of their ambition, and the enterprize when under- Plut. Vit.
I i
Phocion.
taken,
1
242
THE HISTORY OF ATHEN S.
VIII.
Diodor. Sic.
CHAP. taken, involved the republic in a general war with its other an-
cient dependancies; who took this opportunity of affociating with
Amphipolis, in order to attain by force of arms, fome ſhare of
commerce and enfranchiſement; which the unfocial pride and
monopolizing ſpirit of the Athenians fo unjuſtly, and with ſuch
ill policy too, withheld from thofe who were the immediate
agents of their own opulence and power;-treating their repeated
petitions with contempt, anſwering their remonstrances with
L. 16.
περί ειρήνης.
menace.
1
THE detail of grievances, urged by the difaffected members of
the ſtate was the refult, partly of the vitiated government of the
fovereign republic, and partly originated in the ſyſtem of admi-
niſtration, which almoſt every commercial and naval power has
adopted in regard to the dependancies of its dominion, or from
Ifoerat. Orat. conqueft, or from colonization. Ifocrates, on the occafion of
theſe rebellions, wrote his famous oration, in which he adviſed
his countrymen not only to a furrender of the matter in conteft
with the iſlands; but to forego in future all views to the empire
of the feas, as expofing them to frequent wars and dangers, and
not lefs as expofing them to a courſe of corruption [168], affect-
ing the principles of their conftitution and government: this
part of his argument Ariftides wrote in anſwer to; and, as Ifo-
crates allowed the fource of corruption to have been the fource
of power and wealth, he fupplied Ariftides, and what was of
more importance, he fupplied the people with an argument,
which no fpeculative reaſoning was calculated to controvert and
overturn: nor could the topic of emancipation be palatable, but
from the neceffity of the times; that of a more conciliatory treat-
ment in reſpect to fubordinate iſlands and provinces, is well:
worthy attention; as the good fenfe and found policy of the ad-
vice, equally with its philanthropy, are urged in terms applicable
to every ſtate under like predicament of fupremacy.
THE
BOOK THE SECO N D.
243
VIII.
THE Athenians in common with other heads of dominion, CHAP.
fought to ſuſtain their power, by adminiſtering the government,
by retaining the ultimate cognizance of civil cauſes, and by con-
trouling the trade, and by garrifoning the fortreffes in the feveral
diſtricts of their empire: they fought to make that power profit-
able from a monopoly of commerce, from exactions of internal
revenue, and from fupplies of ſhipping, and from levies for
their marine and armies.-Such are general ſubjects of diſcontent,
and often have occafioned inteftine commotion, and bloody wars
within the circle of every extenfive kingdom: but when a per-
verfion, or extraordinary enlargement of the powers of exaction
and controul hath taken root in the foil of corruption and ty-
and therefrom nouriſhed itſelf to fuch vicious magnitude
ranny;
of head, shedding around the poiſons gathered from its over-
heated ſtock, that private property, public rights, and every juſt
claim of the man and of the citizen deaden beneath its covert;
—that in ſuch caſe, all ſhould lay the axe to its root, and its fub-
verfion be urged at every hazard, is a certain confequence: and
particularly in application to a free ſtate, wherein the liberty and
fecurity of the ſubject diſplay a contraft, which the ordinary feel-
ings of men will not long permit them to ſuffer, merely becauſe
born without the pale of the fupreme and privileged diſtrict:
they will naturally then feek to conftitute a like diſtrict for
themfelves.
In the detail of oppreffions which marked Athenian govern-
ment, I ſhall cloſely adhere to the facts cited, or implied by ob-
ſervation, of the Grecian hiftorians and orators; and this I pre-
mife, that every application may have its full force, as arifing
from the grounds of hiſtory, nor be ſcouted as the fuggeftion of
fancy fubfervient to forced allufion; - I ſeek it not, and I wiſh
that circumftances had never occurred to render it obvious!
Ii 2
IN
244
THE HISTORY OF ATHENS.
CHAP.
VIII.
Ifocrat Paneg.
Ariftot. Pot.
L.
5.
C. 7.
Av. C. 1.
§ 16. & 17.
Xenoph. περι
§ 3. & C. 1.
I.
περι ειρηνης.
Demoft. Orat.
In the adminiftration of the dependancies of Athens, a popu
lar or democratic conftitution was adopted, fimilar in appearance
to that of the fovereign ftate, but it had only the form and fhow
of fuch conftitution: Athens eftimated the funds, and appor-
tioned the tribute of each province, and further impoſed a tax
of one per cent. on its exports; and as it called each queſtion
Xenoph. Ho and cauſe of importance before its own affembly, the legiſlation
muſt neceffarily have followed and been modelled to its own:
further, the province was controuled by a garrifon, and that of
the worſt fort, namely, of mercenaries from Lydia, Phrygia,
TeoGodwv. C.2. and Syria, who, as mere foldiers of fortune, were probably little
confiderate of how much they vexed, pillaged, and alienated the
Ifocrat. Orat. affections of the people; and that very people was to pay thoſe
who robbed and infulted them. The Athenian officers and ma-
giftrates who were delegated to command, joined in the wanton
exerciſe of authority and depredation; on which, obferves Demoft-
Tulaws. henes, "the gain was their own, the odium [169], was the republic's."
Nor was the reſponſibility an object of dread, whilft the Athe-
nians in difregard of the merits of each plea, ever ſided with
thoſe who pushed their power to its extremeft verge: in this their
partiality was not confined to their own citizens; the men of
diſtinction from family and opulence in each iſland, looked to
fuccefs in each private caufe, proportionally as they were noted
for a dereliction of the interefts of their countrymen, and for
fubferviency to the rapacioufnefs of the fovereign people; who
collectively were guilty of fucceffive exorbitancy. and mifappli-
cation in exacting new imports, and in diftributing the monies
individually within their own body, under the name of fees for
Ibid. & § 16, attendance on public affairs, or on private cauſes. Thence too oc-
curred a frequency of litigation, and a delay of juſtice; every
Ejufd. C. 3. difpute was fent home from the prætors in each province, and
the proceſs of every difpute was fpun out (often during a whole.
year) to the diſtreſs and ruin of the parties: juftice was only to
P. 97. ed. Be-
nenat,
Xen. Πολ.
Aŷn. C. I.
§ 14.
Xen. Πολ.
Aday. C. r.
§ 15.
& 17.
$ 1.
be
BOOK THE
245
SECOND.
VIII.
be expedited by bribes; as if it were in compenſation for the lofs CHAP.
in detail, arising from the premature clofing of the judicial pro-
ceedings.
Ejuf. C. 3. §3,
περι συνάξεις.
P. 97.
SUCH were the grievances from which the tributaries of Athens
fought redreſs: the great ſtateſman Demofthenes and the good old
rhetor Ifocrates equally pleaded for pacific meaſures, and the
rectifying theſe abufes without recurrence to the force of arms:
ſays the former, "it is by a communion of benefits, and not by Demoft. Orat.
garriſons that dependancies of empire are preferved and turned
"to account :" the other further infifts that from a concilia-
tory demeanor, "one advantage [170] above all will accrue, we
"ſhall have the alliance of all not enforced but voluntary: but **********
the thefis of Xenophon feems the ground-work of all obfervations
on this head; nothing is wanted," he obferves, "to the ren-
dering a commercial ſtate peaceful and flouriſhing but a ſyſtem
"of legiſlation adopted and purſued on principles of equality,
66
""
philanthropy and general protection." Indeed diftant depen-
dancies can never effentially ſerve a mother-country or ſovereign
ftate, unlefs good-will, as well individual as national, founded
in the ſenſe of mutual intereſts and reciprocal benefit is the ce-
ment of the union; Les forces particulieres ne peuvent fe reunir,
fans que toutes les volontés fe reuniffent... Without fuch incentives
to intercourſe as arife from equal advantage, equal participation
of rights, and from a confidence in the fovereign ſtate, as ex-
tending equally its care to the profperity as well as fecurity of
all, the dependancies will never enrich the parent-country in
times of peace, by the genuine and falutary tribute of a free and
zealous commerce; nor in times of war and diſtreſs, add to its
force by the vigorous affiftance of free fubfidy and voluntary
levies :—the members of empire will, in the one caſe, be the
vexatious fource of fcanty and unprofitable revenue, and in the
ather cafe an oppreffive weight of oftenfible defence or annoy-
}
ance
Ifocrat. orat.
Xenoph Пe.
A9ny. c. I.
'Efprit des
C. 3.
Loix. L. 1.
246
THE HISTORY OF ATHENS.
CHA P.
VIII.
ance which will diſtreſs, rather than affift the fovereignty;-as the
warrior who bears twenty weapons which he cannot wield, is
weakened by the weight and incumbrance, and yet cannot yield
them up, left he arm his enemy; and thus his apparent force is
his real weakness.
In every age the confiderate ſtateſman feems to have admitted
the force of the above obfervations, but they rarely have been
admitted in practice, at the crifis when their expediency might
have had effect. The paffions of domination, of avarice, and of
pride, have too often given up the ear of a people to the voice
of an intereſted miniſter; and the means of office, which foreign
controul, and above all, which the afferting that controu put
in his hands, fuffice to the procuring him greedy partizans
and agents, who become zealous abettors of his views,-views
which avarice, ambition, and the fecuring his power, firft by
exciting and then by feeding the prejudices of the people, and
from the patronage of oppreffive government, and laſtly from
the patronage of war, have ſuggeſted to him. Chares (whoſe
manners and conduct have been alluded to in a previous chapter)
and who was an orator as well as officer, had prefent influence in
the Athenian affembly: moderation and temper were thence
ſcouted, and all ideas of conceffion to the iſlands treated as pu-
fillanimous, inexpedient, and unneceffary. The arrogance and
intractability of one party engaged Athens in this unprofitable
perhaps the fpeeches of Ifocrates and Demofthenes
Demoft. Orat. might have ferved to inſpirit the colonies, fow divifions at home,
and render the caufe defperate.
Plut. Vit.
Phocion.
Ifocrat. orat.
περί ειρήνης.
περί συνάξεως.
Diodor. Sic.
L. 16.
war ;
CHIOS, COS, Rhodes, and fucceffively Byzantium and other
cities confpired to humble the arrogance and preſcribe ſome
limits to the jurifdiction of the fovereign republic: Chares
went forth at the head of an army to immediately cruſh this
rebellion
BOOK THE
247
SECON D.
rebellion, and punish the authors of revolt: but fuch wars
are not ſo immediately concluded, wherein the ſubject ſucceſ-
fively exaſperates, wherein the minds of men are fo wholly en-
gaged, wherein the attack is often careleſs, becauſe prefump-
tuous, wherein defence is ever obftinate, becauſe reſentment of
the paſt and dread of the future, are equally preclufive of ſub-
miffion, and wherein the haughty fpirit of the aggreffors is
equally preclufive of terms. An Athenian fleet fent out under
Chabrias was beaten off Chios, and Chabrias killed: the con-
federates then purſued an active courſe of hoftilities, interrupted
the Athenian commerce at fea, and laid wafte the islands of
Imbros, Lemnos, and Samos. It was now found that this fo-
cial war was of ferious moment, and reinforcements were fuc-
ceffively diſpatched to the Athenian fleets and armies; old
generals and admirals were called into ſervice; in the lift of com-
manders on the Hellefpont, we read the names of Iphicrates and
Timotheus. The Athenian fleet on that ſtation confifted of an
hundred and twenty fail, that of the confederates of an hundred
fail; they were within view, when a ftorm arofe, and from
the advice of Iphicrates and Timotheus, the order for engage-
ment being thence deferred, the fleets feparated in the night,
and met no more. Chares accuſed thereon his comrades in
command," from whofe timidity (he faid) the occafion was
"loft of cloſing the war at a fingle blow:"-the affumption
of victory cost but little; Iphicrates and Timotheus were fined
and baniſhed, becauſe the war was not clofed at this fortunate
opportunity of deftroying a fleet of nearly equal force, and on
equal terms of engagement in the fury of a tempeft !-Iphicrates
might have faid, and perhaps did fay," that not only the fo-
vereignty of the republic, but its very power, its refources,
CHAP.
VIII.
Corn. Nep.
Vit. Chabrie.
Diodor. Sic.
L. 16.
* its exiſtence, were at ftake with its whole naval force, and
"that no friend to his country was warranted in the choice
of ſo deep a game." Chares having thus difengaged himſelf at L. 18.
Diodor. S.
7
once
248
THE HISTORY OF ATHENS.
CHAP.
VIII.
Plut. Vit.
Phocion
once from the competition, and from the obfervance of his rivals,
meditated fome enterprize fuited to ingratiate him with the af-
fembly; and an occafion offered in the revolt of the rich fatrap
Artabazus from the king of Perfia, to whom Chares tendered
the affiftance of his fleet, on condition of receiving a very large
fum of money: this he in part remitted to Athens; Chares knew
the temper of his countrymen; the Athenians received the prize
with joy and approbation, and fanctioned the conduct of Chares
with a vote of thanks. Soon however the confequences of the
conduct of Chares, and of the rapacious concurrence of the
people brought with them regret and diſpleaſure, and the vote
of thanks was erased, and Chares fled to Sigæum. The Perfian
king irritated by the fupport given to Artabazus, was faid to be
preparing a fleet of three hundred fail to inveft the Piraeus:
the menace of invading Attica became doubly formidable, from
its being at variance with the better, namely, with the naval
part of its common tributaries: the affociates too would have an
ally in the great king; the fentiment that to give much, was
better than to hazard all prevailed with the affembly thus
frightened rather than perfuaded into conceffions of enfranchiſe-
ment and other advantages to the colonies and iflands.-Thus
ended the focial war after three years fruitlefs bloodshed and ex-
pence its effect was not merely the acquirement cf unprece-
dented rights and privileges on the part of thoſe who inſtituted,
or who entered into the conteft; the fupremacy of Athens was
weakened in every quarter by the example; but now on any
terms, it became neceffary to pacify the power [171] of Perfia,
by a ratification of the famous treaty of Antalcidas, an article in
which (it may be remembered) guaranteed the emancipation of
the Greek cities and iflands from the controul of the greater re-
publics. Perhaps the further price of this peace, was the detach-
ment fent under Phocion to affift the arms of Perfia in Cyprus.
Ir
BOOK THE SECON D.
249
VIII.
Demoft. Orat.
eg Eigns.
EXEUD. THE
περί Ειρήνης.
Ejufd. Orat.
ελευθ.
Ροδίων.
Ir is a misfortune ever attending political conteſts of the fort cHAP,
abovementioned, that thoſe who begin well, end ill; they forego
the reaſonable grounds they fat out upon, and enlarge on their
plan till it becomes too extenfive for their management and
means, or they continue building on a narrow foundation, till
they are overwhelmed in the ruins of an over weighty fuper-
ftructure: had Chios, Cos, and Rhodes adhered to the ſpirit of
their firſt requifition for the redrefs of grievances, they might
long have continued the free appendages of a free ftate: not con-
tented with freedom, they fought and eſtabliſhed their indepen-
dency on the diftreffes of the fovereign republic; they then were
fometime torn and diſtracted with factions of oligarchy and de-
mocracy, in framing new and fpeculative conftitutions of
govern-
ment; and ſhortly after were ſwallowed up in the dominion of
their great ally, and fubmitted to the defpotifm of a Perfian fatrap.
The Rhodians then applied to Athens to deliver them from the
oppreffive government of Maufolus: Athens might have pro-
tected and preſerved their liberty, but could not recover it for
them: Demofthenes adviſed his countrymen to an undertaking
evidently above their ftrength.
Ejufd. orat.
σερ: Είρηνης.
fub. fin.
Kk
CHA P.
250
THE HISTORY OF ATHENS.
CHAP.
IX.
CHA P. IX.
Y OF PHILIP OF MACEDON REMISS CONDUCT OF THE ATHE-
NIANS IN OBVIATING THE ENTERPRIZES OF THAT KING
-TEMPER OF THE TIMES DEDUCED FROM THE ORATIONS
OF DEMOSTHENES.
Demofth.
Orat.
Olynth. et
Philippic.
fparfim et
ejufd. πες:
παραπρεσ
Boras.
Diodor. Sic.
L. 17. ſub.
fin.
TH
HE Athenians concluded the focial war on terms fo un-
qualified with any circumftance of advantage, retribution,
or even of quiet to themſelves, that the motives to fo hafty and
general conceffions muſt have been many and forcible: they had
apprehenfions of what the Perfian might do; they had yet
greater apprehenfions of what the Macedonian was doing. The
Athenians were a free and popular ſtate, and they fuddenly per-
ceived that they had to act with, or to counteract an enterpriz-
ing and defpotic king, and him too in their vicinity: a deſpotic
king in the neighbourhood of the territories of a republic is
ever an object of dread; and fuch a king as Philip of Macedon,
had he not his virtues, had he only the vices which Demof-
thenes objects to him, was more an object of dread than any
other king allowing a full force to the moft outrageous and
fatirical allegations in that orator's Philippics and other ha-
rangues, or taking the fatire only; it appears,
it appears, "that Philip was
"bountiful to profuſeneſs; that he loved company, and was ever
66
conciliating in company; that he could adapt his converfation
"to every ſociety,-to the ſtateſman, the wit, the philoſopher,
"the buffoon; that he ſcanned each character, and that his own
"was yet to be unfolded; that none knew his fecrets, and that
"he knew the fecrets of every one; that he was cautious in
defign, and bold and fudden in enterprize; that he was ever
"deceiving,
11
BOOK THE SECO N D.
251
IX.
"deceiving, and yet had the art to enſure confidence; that he cHA P.
bought whom he could, and forced whom he could not buy ;
"that in a word he was a politician and a general."
THE defigns of Philip were for fome time conducted with the
moft wary policy, and covered with every art of intrigue and
negotiation; but they were now fufficiently opening to view, for
even the blindeft to have ſome glimmering of the fcope to which
they directed, and fome apprehenfion of the ruin that muft en-
fue to the general authority, and even liberties of the great Gre-
cian republics. Athens more particularly had reaſon to take
alarm;
fome of the few relicts of her once powerful empire
were ſcattered on the confines of Macedon, and its king's firſt
object was the ſeizure of theſe ſeveral frontiers of his dominion, Demofik.
to ſecure as well as to enlarge his own territories, previous to an
avowal of his more ambitious purpoſes: unfortunately it might L. 16.
have turned out for him that fo many of theſe barrier towns
were appendant to the fovereignty of Athens; unfortunately,
"
56
Φίλιππ. δ
Diod. Sic.
Ολυνθο στο
(ſays Demofthenes) for had that degenerate ſtate, inſtead of Demost. Orat.
ſeeking arguments for its lafcivious indolence, been maturely
"watchful over the motions of Philip; awakened by his at-
"tack on their own particular rights had it interpofed, and
given a timely ſupport to its cities; or at first had it accepted
"the proffered alliance of Olynthus, this plotting monarch
"checked on his onfet, had not thenceforward prefumed to
"meditate his extenfive fchemes of conqueſt and command.'
The Athenians amuſed and lulled into a fond ſecurity by Philip,
and foothed by his proteftations at the very time he was muti-
lating their empire, and undermining their deareſt intereſts, are a
curious inftance of, in how fhort a time, a vicious luxury can
debaſe the underſtanding, as well as ſpirit of a brave and enlight-
ened people!
Kk 2
IT
1
THE HISTORY OF ATHENS.
252
CHAP.
IX.
Demofth.
Ολυνθ. β.
Diodor. Sic.
L. 16,
IT hath been previouſly obſerved, that Amphipolis [172] was
one of thoſe cities which fince the Peloponnefian war had re-
fuſed to recognize the power of the Athenians, and that in af-
ferting their pretenfions to it, they had incurred the focial war and
all its fatal confequences: with the idea of repoffeffing this great
city, Philip now foothed and cajoled the people of Athens; he
promiſed to conquer, and exchange it with them for Pydna, and
they rejected the alliance of the Olynthians; himſelf then en-
tered into compact with the Olynthians, and promiſed to them
too, Pydna and Potidea; he inveſted, and took thofe towns, gave
up Pydna to the Olynthians, and retained Potidea for himſelf :
the latter city had an Athenian garrifon, which Philip difmiffed
with all the honours of war, and fome how (for it appears not
how) found means yet to reconcile the people of Athens to his
conduct :—finally, he inveſted Amphipolis, and had the addreſs
to perfuade the people, or rather they had the ſtupidity to be per-
fuaded, that the expences and dangers of this fiege, were incurred
merely on their account, and that the fruits of its fuccefs were
to be theirs his fuccefs was almoſt immediate; he garriſoned
Amphipolis with Macedonians, and yet again found means to
conciliate the affembly of Athens; perhaps thoſe means were the
gold mines of Crenida, which about the fame time fell into his
hands, and which ever after yielded him annually a thouſand ta-
lents. His attack at length on the Cherfonefe admitted not of
prevarication; and Chares with a ſmall force was fent to oppoſe
his progreſs in thoſe parts; Cerfobleptes, the rightful fovereign,
AT.Y. De- had given up his pretenfions thereto in favour of Athens; but
Cardia, its capitol, hoiſted on its citadel the enfigns of Philip,
who having worsted Argæus, his competitor for the throne of
Macedon, and having been victorious in Illyria, in Theffaly, and
in Thrace, doubted not with this footing-place in the Cherfonefe
of foon mastering too the reft of that peninfula.
Ibid.
Φιλιππ.γ.
moft. Orat.
αστερι των εν
χερρονήσω.
Diodorus ut
fuprà,
METHONE
BOOK THE SECOND,
253
METHONE was befieged by this enterprizing and politic war-
riour; Athens debated, and voted affiftance; the time spent in
debate ſhould have been the hour of action; the affiſtance came,
but it came too late.
PAGASA was inveſted; again Athens voted fuccour; and again
from its dilatory progreſs, that fuccour was fruitleſs.
CHAP.
IX.
Ibid. et
Ολύνθ. β.
An account arrived that Heræum, the key to the city of By-
zantium, whence their commercial riches, whence their very ne- Demoft. Orat.
ceffaries and provifions flowed, was attacked and reduced to the
laft extremity; the Athenians in the utmoft alarm, voted ſub-
fidy, ordered levies, and-on the news of Philip's falling fick,
countermanded thofe fubfidies and thofe levies, and fell back.
into their priftine lethargy.
Όλυνθο στο
HOWEVER flattering the munificence of Philip had been to the
Olynthians, that people could not without apprehenfion, behold
this growing power, ſtep by ſtep encircling their whole terri-
tory; their immunities feemed dependant on his generofity; Dimost.
their very city exifting but from mere fufferance: it was deemed
fitting in time to ſecure ſome potent and intereſted ally to obviate
the danger, which the now confpicuous ambition of their en-
croaching neighbour feemed to warn them of the approach of:
Philip apprized of their policy anticipated the attack by a declara-
tion, that he would have Olynthus, or lofe Macedon :"-to Ejufd.
Athens this people then a fecond time ſent an embaſſy to proffer ..
their friendſhip, to plead their common interefts, and roufe the
people to a juſt ſenſe of their own loffes and future danger:
"well (faid Demofthenes) there is no further excufe for pro- Paris ed. 15734
craftinating the public weal; long, long have ye murmured,
"Oh that the Olynthians were but detached from Philip! the
very event hath occurred; nay, even exceeded your warmeft
46
"" wiſhes
3.
Oaurâ.
9.
254
THE HISTORY OF ATHENS.
CHAP.
IX.
07.010. α.
§35-
:
Ejufd. § 18.19.
Juftin. L. 8.
C. 3.
Diodor. Sic.
L. 16.
Plut. Vit.
Phocion.
66
"wiſhes; for had they taken up arms at our inftigation, they
"would have been (they themselves know it) they would have
"been but wavering allies; but fince it is inveteracy rooted in
"their own diffatisfactions which engages them in this war,
"the compact with us will be the more firm, as ftrengthened
by their own private fufferings or apprehenfions.-If he ſhall
"meet with uninterrupted fuccefs, what is to prevent his lead-
ing his forces into Greece? the Thebans! pardon the feve-
rity of the thought, they will rather affift him: but the
"Phocians! a nation, which for its fecurity, its very existence,
"is dependant on your friendship and protection. Some other
"alliance! or perhaps he will not make the attempt! Oh moſt
"abfurd, that the intention, which even in incertitude he ma-
nifeſts, in power he ſhould not execute !"
66
cc
To alarm the Athenians into an early and expeditious vigilance,
with what force doth the orator follow the velocity of their en-
mies career?" confider, O Athenians, from what an humble
"and infignificant ſtate Philip hath ariſen to this pitch of
greatnefs! it was firſt ſeizing Amphipolis, afterwards Potidea
"and Methoné; then turning to Theffaly he over-ran the dif
“tricts of Phera, of Pagafæ and Magneſia; thence ruſhing into
"Thrace, he fubverted fome, he exalted other ftates; he fell
fick; fcarcely convalefcent, he left not his ſword a moment
"to ruft in cloth, but wielded it againſt the Olynthians: I have
"not mentioned his expeditions against the Illyrians, the
"Pæonians and Arymbæ; aud indeed, where hath he not
effayed !"
44
THIS fpeech had weight with the aſſembly, and they imme-
diately determined on furniſhing aid to the Olynthians; which,
according to the ufual fate of their decrees, was fent too late for
its purpoſe, and Philip got poffeffion of the town and levelled
its
BOOK THE SECOND.
255
its walls with the ground: the military levies, however, were not
without their uſe; they ſerved to keep up a balance in Eubæa,
whither Philip's intrigues had already penetrated; and they re-
tarded the Macedonians entrance into Greece, giving him a
timely repulfe at the ftreights of Thermopyla: as Demofthenes
was the only ſtateſman, Phocion feems to have been the only
general, who in theſe times had the virtue and the ability to ren-
der his country real fervice; the eloquence of the one raiſed ar-
mies for the other; and to their joint account may be laid the
prefervation of Eubea, as well as the relief of Perinthus and By-
zantium, and the few checks which Philip received on the
Hellefpont.
I MEAN not in the quotations which I may adduce from the
orations of Demofthenes, to give a juſt idea of the ſpirit and
energy of his eloquence, or of the art and cautious fkill, with
which he curbs or directs its feemingly wild and impetuous.
courſe; like an Alexander making docile his fiery Bucephalus :
the rhetoric of Demofthenes, no more than the poetry of Pindar,
is to be known from modern tranflation; but the preſent temper
of the people, whofe genius and hiſtory I inveſtigate, are no
where ſo ſtrongly marked, as in the fpeeches of this orator,
and to a further elucidation of this fubject, I employ the fubfe-
quent extracts.
cHA P.
IX.
§ 53°
8,
THE rich and poorer men of the ftate may be fuppofed com-
bating with all the virulence of arrogance and envy;
"I think,"
fays Demoftthenes,
• it
may be of ſome ſervice to the commu- gr. ♪
"nity, to plead the caufe of the wealthier againſt the obloquy
"of the meaner denizons, and reciprocally that of the poorer
"againſt the rich, and explain away theſe idle enmities:" we
find the opulent citizens avariciouſly withholding the dues of
the commonwealth: "at a time when the annual tributes of the Ejufd. § s
• ſtate
256
THE HISTORY OF ATHENS.
CHAP.
IX.
h---mn
vid. & Orat.
Ifocrat.
αντιδόσεως.
66
66
66
66
"ſtate amounted but to one hundred and thirty talents, no one
"whofe income was adequate to the charge, declined the ex-
pence of trierarch [173]; the veffels were properly fitted out;
"the monies paid in; every office diſcharged: enriched as is
now the republic, fhall we fit blaming and bickering at one
another, and in our very quarrels feek and plead excufe for
procrastinating our payments and neglecting our duty?" we
then behold the populace rapacious, and enflamed againſt the
Ibid. Demoft. rich; "the ballance of the commonwealth," continues the
orator, "is to be justly and equally held; as the wealthier
part of the people contribute much and hazard moſt, in the
exigencies of the ſtate, ſo are they entitled under its ſhelter to
"unmoleſted poffeffion of their refidue; and as what juſtly may
"be demanded by the community, they have no right to re-
"tain; fo on their remaining property none have a right to
treſpaſs."
Orat. περι-
συνάξεινο
§36.
Ολυνθ. γι
§ 40. 1. 2.
66
•
66
66
:
How evident is the degradation of the commonweath! when we
hear that, "neither to Menon the Pharfalian, who had given a
voluntary fubfidy to the ſtate of twelve talents, and had joined
"their army with two hundred horſemen; nor even to Perdiccas
"the king of Macedon who aided to deſtroy the Perfians at
Platæa, in reward for fuch generous fervice did our anceſtors
"decree the full rights of citizenship; but deemed them fuffi-
ciently honoured, when admitted to a mere freedom of their
city the name of their then virtuous and enobled country,
"they thought a gift tranſcending the moſt exalted merits or fer-
"vices! but now, O Athenians, we make citizens of the moſt
66
66
abject and profligate, of very flaves born in fervitude, of all
"who can buy our franchiſement, put up to fale, like a mere and
"common vendible:" and in another oration," from the very
"meanest ſtocks have fuddenly arifen men who eclipſe our moſt
"renowned and ancient families; they have their houſes that tower
6
" above
BOOK THE
257
SECON D.
66
<<
6.6
66
Ολυνθο
above our public edifices, and the more ruinous the condi- CHAP.
❝tion of the republic, the more flouriſhing ſeems theirs! IX.
"Whence comes all this? whence the difference between thefe Oxurt. 7.
❝times and thoſe of yore? When the citizens in perfon boldly $40. 1. 2.
went forth to war, they had a confequence which rendered
"them lords over their own magiſtracies; what properly ſhould
"be, was under their controul, and the candidates received all
office, emolument, and honours at their hand and option:
now the magiftrates, independant mafters of your wealth and
power, tranfact all buſineſs as their own; and ye an enervate
people-crouch to them like fervants for your pay, and thank
"them, if they allow ye (what is your own) a paltry ftipend,
"wherewith to baſk it in the theatre!" How pathetically doth
the ſpeaker then remark a declenfion of the grandeur of Athens
concomitant with the degradation its citizens!" a noble harbour, Orat. egy-
RE+ ==
Tateur, § 46.
temples, edifices, every ornament that could ennoble this city
"we have, bequeathed to us by our anceſtors, and of a magni-
"ficence which pofterity hath by no means rivalled: look
"yonder at that naval key, that portico, and the ſtructures a-
"round ye! but then the private houſes of the moſt illuftrious
"citizens correſponded with the principle of equality which is
"the boaſt of our conftitution; let any one find out the houſe of
Themistocles, of Cimon, of Ariftides, or of Miltiades ;-it is
"not a better one than his neighbour's: now, we think it enough
"to mend a road, direct a water ſpout, incruft a wall, or to ef-
"fect ſome equally trivial work ;-but from the public pillage,
many have built them houfes which overtop our nobleſt
temples."
6 C
THE reader will naturally fuppofe, that a luxurious people
may be proud, though indolent; and talk highly, though act
meanly "Whenever (fays Demosthenes) your debates com-
prize thoſe particulars wherein Philip hath infringed his en-
66
:-
L 1
""
gagements,
258
THE HISTORY OF ATHENS.
CHAP.
"C
IX.
66
φιλιππ.β. δ ι.
Фильтръс ово
$ 55.
Ejufd. Orat.
§ 16.
περί των εν
Χερρονήσῳ.
$26.
CC
gagements, I obſerve every oration to appear candid and equit-
able, every fpeaker to feem fagacious and pertinent, in pro-
portion to his allegations and rancour againſt Philip; yet no
conſequent action, no efficacy marking the propriety of fuch
"difcourfe." [174]
66
THE few fpirited decrees of the affembly, how tardy in
execution (fays our orator) "if you hear Philip is in the
Cherfonefe, you confider, and fend a reinforcement to the
"Cherfonefe;-is he at Pyla? why then the army is to be
"fent to Pylæ; or any where elſe? this way, or that way ye are
"after him, following him as if ye were his mercenaries rather
"than his enemy."
Philip is fallen fick ! or Philip is dead!',
"It would fignify not, your prefent idleness and vices would
"foon raiſe another Philip; for it is not from his own intrinfic
ftrength and means, but from your fupineneſs that this man
" is become fo great."
66
THOSE Who act not when they ought, will of courſe envy the
fuccefs and cry down the merit of thoſe whofe vigourous and
timely exertion brings fhame on their indolence: this obferva-
tion is verified by the implications contained in the oration de-
fending Diopithes, who had not only protected the Cherfoneſe,.
but retaliated on the countries belonging to Philip in Thrace,.
and bordering the Hellefpont: "We neither contribute to the
public exigencies, nor enter on military fervice, nor even ab
"ftain from diverting to improper ufes the funds of the re-
public; but we can abstain from affording due fubfidies to
"Diopithes, from the praiſe which his diligence hath merited;
"we can cavil at his exploits and enviously blame his paft, or
idly fpeculate on his future conduct,"
44
•
LIKE
}
BOOK THE
SECOND.
259
CHA P.
IX.
.
фольппо до
&c. fparfin,
LIKE an over-heated drunkard, the ſtate was vainglorious and
conceited, and to humiliate and bring the people to a proper
ſenſe of their perilous fituation, we obferve this fage counſellor
in various paffages, and particularly in the firft Olynthiac above
cited, raiſing their fears and abafing their arrogance; but the
vitiated temper of the people was, as might be pre-conceived,
fubject to viciffitudes of terror and defpondency; we find the
orator in his ſecond Olynthiac, flattering and confoling them,
depreciating every refource of Macedon, and every great quality
of its king of all paft virtues, their repreſentative pride was the one. a.
only relict to which he could make an effectual appeal; his
fpeeches thence teem with references to the exploits of their an-
ceſtry, and with remembrance of their former empire and ſpirit :
Philip (fays he) will never be fatisfied with fubduing, he muſt
deſtroy, he muſt ſubvert the very foundations of this city;
"for he knows that ye would not endure a ſtate of ſervitude; or
" if
ye would, that ye could not; for ye have ever been accuf-
tomed to command." The ſhame too which the Athenians
will incur throughout Greece by a dereliction of the general
intereſts together with their own, is painted in the moſt ani-
mated colours: nor this, nor every other argument, nor the re- Ejufd. Orat.
monftrances he made use of, nor even a recapitulation of the
juftice of his paſt reafoning and predictions, could recover the Eg
affembly from its blindneſs, its indolence, its avarice, and its
general depravity.
"6
66
THE above tranflations from Demofthenes I have adduced to
further prepare the reader,
the reader, for the fubverfion of all that has ren-
dered the hiſtory of this republic fo interefting to our notice; its
extenfive power and internal conftitution: from the reproofs of
their fage and good adviſer, difcovering the ruinous habits and
temper of this great corrupted nation; with pride to deprecate
fhame, and without virtue to avoid it; often elated without rea-
L12
fon,
TWY EX
81.
Χερρονησίο
§ 62.
§ 5. et leg.
26,0
THE HISTORY OF ATHENS.
IX.
CHAP. fon, and defpondent with as little caufe; luxurious and magni-
ficent in their private, and mean in their public capacity; at
variance for trifles with one another, and paſſively ſubmitting to
every foreign tranfgreffion; bold in their decrees, and dilatory
in action; vainly glorious of the fame of their anceſtry, and
neglectful of their own; and envious even of the virtue that
ferved them, as affording too ſtriking a contraft with their own
demerits.
*
CHA P.
i
BOOK THE SECOND.
261
CHA P. X.
OF CERTAIN DUTIES OF A CITIZEN-OF THE HOLY WAR
OF THE TEMPORIZING CONDUCT OF THE ATHENIANS
-RESULT THEREOF THE BATTLE OF CHERONEA, AND
SUPREMACY OF PHILIP OF MACEDON.
CHAP.
I..
IN
Na private fituation, an ignorance, in fome meafure, of the
ſchemes and machinations employed by men to gratify their
appetites at the expence of their fellow-creatures, is affuredly
preferable to an over-accurate inveſtigation of human morals ;
a too near acquaintance with which, can ferve but to cloud the
feafon of fociety, and alloy the chearfulneſs of hoſpitality with
mental reſervation in the narrow circle, deceit may have too
little opportunity or too little effect, for the evil confequences
thereof to balance the evil confequences of continually prepar-
ing against them, the lofs of internal peace of mind, and of
good-will towards man. As far then as relates to the more
partial intercourfe of fociety, it is not only allowable but praife-
worthy, for an individual not to embitter his mind by a too nice
reſearch into the motives of human words and actions; which,.
as it convinces him of the depravity of others, is likely to ren-
der him too fomewhat depraved; or, at beft, to depreciate, with.
the merits of his affociates, the happineſs of his life.
THUS as a moral being he may be permitted, I think, in a
certain degree, to forego enquiry into the craftyhood and wiles
around him; but as a being, making part of a ſtate or civil ſo-
ciety, he ſhould be well apprized of the fnares that lay in wait
for
262
THE HISTORY OF ATHENS,
CHAP.
X.
for him as fuch: his own independant welfare and peace, which
in the prior cafe bore fome weight of argument, become of lit-
tle confideration: and he is under indifpenfable obligation, to
acquire all fuch knowledge as may be within his reach, and as
may be neceffary to the making him a good and ferviceable citi-
zen: The characters of public men it is his duty to ſcan freely,
and with all ſuch helps as thought, experience, and the difcri-
minating ſenſe of others too, may furnish him with, to obviate
the general evils, which a ſhare of blindneſs or error on his part
might conduce to the admiffion of. At all times, and particu-
larly at times, when his property is fecure, and his perſon ſafe,
he ſhould be taught to guard againſt thoſe who diffeminate ab-
ſtract notions, the adoption of which cannot make his property
more ſecure, or his perfon more fafe and free; and if his rights
and immunities as a citizen, appear from plain fact, and to plain
underſtanding invaded or infringed, ftill let him not follow
thoſe who ſeek unknown remedies in the contingencies of revo-
lution, but let him join with thofe of moderate temper, and of
definite purpoſe, and whofe paft demeanor is confiftent with
the part of public virtue they affume: when the pretenfions of
regard to national freedom and rights tranfcend the character of
him who pretends to it, and even paſs the natural feelings of
men,-let him heſitate, ere he lifts under one who thus overacts
his part; in the affertor of freedom, let him fift out the mini-
fter of faction; let him read and think of how many tyrants
have gained a firſt footing on the necks of the people by bellow-
ing for liberty! how many have clamoured for freedom, and
overturned the freeft of conftitutions! how often patriotifm
hath been but a name! When religion is the plea, greater cau-
tion even is required on the part of each conftituent of the ftate,
whilst the deluded fanatic is an equally dangerous abettor of inno-
vation, with the wily hypocrite; their connection is the moſt
dangerous! let the good citizen learn to know and to avoid fuch
7
party;
BOOK THE
263
SECOND.
X.
party; and diſcriminating the follies which excite, and the arti- CHAP,
fices which occafionally follow, or take the lead,-let him in the
fpirit of conciliation and tolerance join to controul the enthu-
fiaft, and let him with vigilance and firmnefs refift the com-
bining holy prejudices with worldly policy, to form a jointed
bafis for commotion; let him obviate it as circumſtances, and
his ability ſhall permit, confidering what ravages have been com-
mitted in the fury, and under the maſk too of piety; and ob-
ferving from the annals of mankind, that zealotifm is no fign
but of madneſs, proteftation no proof of holy fervour, and gri-
mace no part of religion; and having often in view the maſſacres
which fuperftition hath occafioned, and the deſolation which
ambition hath perpetrated under the cloak of fanctity! So far
the study of mankind is the duty of each member of the ftate,
who for the fecurity, and many other bleffings he enjoys under
the ſhelter of government, owes his mite towards the obviating
every evil which may tend to the fubverfion or annoyance of the
focial eſtabliſhment which protects him.
RETURNING to the hiftory of Greece as complicated with
that of Athens, we are now to have in view a holy war made ac-
ceffary to the ſchemes of ambition; from zeal and fuperftition in
the fubordinate parties, made horridly deftructive to private per-
fons and property; from a crafty fimulation of piety in the prin-
cipal party, turned to a ſelfiſh account, and made ruinous to the
rights and liberties of a whole country.
THE fuccefs of arms gave to each ftate, with acceffion of ter-
ritory, new confequence and afcendancy in the common affem-
bly of Greece, called the Amphyctionic council; and that fu-
perior intereſt therein (as well may be imagined of a people de-
generate from the juftice and patriot-virtues of their anceſtors)
was
264
THE HISTORY OF ATHENS.
CHAP.
X.
Diod. Sic.
L. 16.
C. 1.
was often employed to ſelfiſh ends; to ſerve the purpoſes of am-
bition, or heats of national animofity.
THE Thebans from their late courfe of conqueft under Pelo-
Juftin. L. 8. pidas and Epaminondas, had acquired a weight fufficient to in-
fluence the majority of votes, and in the ſpirit of revenge they
turned the tide of power on their ancient foes, the Spartans and
the Phocians: they managed on a frivolous pretence, to procure
the paffing of a decree, which impoſed fo heavy a fine, that the
refpective funds of thofe ftates were inadequate to the diſcharge
of it, and thereby they were driven to the odious neceffity of
warring with the preſcriptive fupremacy of the great Grecian
council. Phocis, from fituation lay readieſt for attack, and
from national weakneſs was hopeleſs of defence; its General,
Philomelus, conſcious of the poor refources, whether of men or
Strabo. L. 9. of monies that his country poffeffed, to fupply the deficiency
called in an army of mercenaries, and to have wherewithal to pay
and ſupport them, defperately laid hands on the treaſures of the
Delphic temple, the care and priesthood of which were entruſted
to the Phocians. The nature of the conteft was now changed,
and the name of rebellion (hateful enough in itſelf) was branded
with the epithets of facrilegious and profane.
Paufan, in
Phocic.
HUMAN nature under a fimilarity of circumftances, hath been
every where and in every age the fame; the horrors of the facred
war in Greece may be depicted with the like colouring, as the
vehement and bloody contefts, with which the holy madneſs of
zeal, and vanities of herefy, have from time to time ftained the
æra of the moft merciful of religions.
THE mind deeply employed on what it never can attain, and
deeply interested in what it never can be affured of, recurs for
affiftance
3
BOOK THE SECON D.
265
:
L
X..
affiſtance to the univerſality of opinion, which, in proportion to CHAP.
its extent gives comfort and hope to thoſe who unwilling to
doubt, and unable to believe, reft their fecurity on the belief of
others when any portion of this univerfality is withdrawn, it
muſt affect each party to the communion, on the totality of which
refts the ſtrength of good faith, whence each individual mind
draws its confolatory peace: in itſelf the mind hath found no
certitude, in general acquiefcence it hath prefumed one; and a
privation of that proof (vifionary as it is) of what it hath been
taught to wiſh, and thence to imagine, threatens it with a ſtate
of doubt, horror, and defpondency; which to avoid, it fancies
itſelf into enthuſiaſm, or deviates into idle fuperftitions, and at
any rate rages againſt all, who ſubtracting their authority, have
diminiſhed its original refources, and have driven it to phrenzy
and diſcontent. This religious fury once awakened, deprives the
foul of all happineſs, but in its madnefs; to think, were to difpel
that particular prophetic dream of life, which habit and hope
have made ſo neceffary; and to this the zealot prefers his deli-
rium, fights blindfold, and tilts at all, who, the bandage from
their eyes, are victims to the rage they vainly feek to calm, in-
ftead of to oppofe. Religious fury, as it is cruel, fo is it im-
placable; whilſt it knows not remorse, or miſtaking the work-
ings of conſcience, blindly feeks peace in the reiterated perpetra-
tion of the very crimes, which imperceptibly have been the ruin
of it!
THE very numerous examples of the inveteracy attending re-
ligious diffentions, have been many too recent, and all, much too
frequent to render a detail of its ſpirit of maffacre and perfecu-
tion any longer neceffary: what Demofthenes fays of the coun-
try of Phocis is an account fince recapitulated again and again
under other names; fays he, "going to Delphos our eyes are
"truck on every fide with ruins of buildings, and marks of de-
M m
folation,
266.
THE HISTORY OF ATHENS.
CHAP.
X.
Demoft. Orat.
wees waga-
πρεσβειας.
Diodor. Sic,
L. 16.
folation, a country depopulated, no young men to be ſeen,
"but a few women and boys, and fome few aged and mifer-
"able fathers." Thus difmifling particular and odious charac-
teriſtics of every conteſt in which fuperftition bears a part, I
proceed to the general hiſtory and public confequences of the
Phocian holy war.
THE Athenians ever jealous of each ſtate which arrogated that
fupremacy in Greece, which they had fome time born and ftill
pretended to, were diffentient on the great question in the Am-
phyctionic council carried by Thebes againſt Phocis and Sparta :
at firſt they affifted the Phocians fecretly; but the Thebans be-
ing worsted in almoſt every engagement, by the great armies of
mercenaries, which the pillage of the Delphic temple brought
together, they ventured to take a more decifive part, and fent
five thousand heavy armed foot and four hundred horſe to join
the Phocians. The affairs of Thebes now feemed deſperate, and
but for a particular fortune of war, fuccefs might have quickly
conftrued rapine and facrilege into neceffity, have traced the ef-
ficient cauſe to the Amphyctionic decree, that decree to the in-
terference of Thebes, and thus the odium have recoiled from thoſe
immediately guilty, on the heads of thoſe who afforded occafion
of the guilt; for in conteſts of this nature the rights of perfe-
cution ever ſhift their ground from the conquered to the con-
querors. The Thebans applied to Philip; thrice, fays Juftin, the
Athenians had bought off the interference of that prince, but
now an event occurring which obviated their application in
common with the Phocians, they left the Phocians in the lurch,
and negociated a feparate peace for themfelves. Such at Athens
was the dread of this aſpiring monarch that this treaty was ſpun
Demoſt. Orat. out; and whilft their allies were purſued with fire and ſword,
the Athenian affembly re-echoed with commiferation of the Pho-
cians, and with invectives againſt Philp, but the Athenian armies
remained
Juftin. L. 8.
C. 4.
περί Ειρήνης.
BOOK THE SECON D.
267
remained idle, and fucceffive embaffies went to Pella and to the CHA P.
Macedonian camp.
X.
Diodor, ubi
THE ambitious Philip (as to every other territory in his neigh- Juftin. et
bourhood) had made pretenfions to Theffaly; but Lycophron fuprà.
ſtill diſputed thoſe pretenfions, and having acquaintance with the
Phocian Onomarchus who had fucceeded Philomelus in com-
mand, he proffered him a reinforcement of Theffalian horfe,
provided that he would in return aid him with his mercenaries,
if attacked by the Macedonian. The enterprizing activity of Phi-
lip foon brought on the expected exigency, and Onomarchus fuc-
ceſsfully ſupported the cauſe of Lycophron, and drove his rival
from the field: Philip, with a quick eye, faw the advantage that
might be taken of this defeat; hitherto the nature of his quarrel
with Lycophron had born the aſpect of ufurpation, but his ene-
my connected with the Phocians, was now ftained with fome
tincture of their cauſe, and might juftly be purſued with all the
rancour of piety: taking the part of the Amphyctions he was at
the fame time conquering his rival, gaining an eſtabliſhment in
Greece, and a fuperior intereſt in its determinations and councils. Paufan. in
With alacrity therefore he prepared to change the feat of war,
forwarded new levies to the field, and attacked the Phocian
army, his foldiers hymning the name, and wearing each a laurel
fprig in honour, of the Delphic Apollo: Philip gaining an eafy
victory, fent to Thebes to demand the pleaſure of that ftate re-
lative to the treatment of his prifoners, the puniſhment of
whom he left to Them, as avengers of the profane and facrilegious
depredations on the most holy of temples: the Thebans flattered
by this condefcenfion, and elated with the hopes of further ad-
vantage from the alliance of fo powerful a prince, blindly en-
tered into his views by an impolitic folicitation of his fuftain-
ing the cauſe he had fo gloriously undertaken.
M m 2
IT
Phocicis.
!
-268
THE HISTORY OF ATHENS.
CHAP.
X.
et etiam ichi-
mis, περί πα-
ραπρεσβείας.
cion.
It was at this time, and during theſe tranſactions, that the af-
fembly of Athens was haranguing fo haughtily, and deciding fo
remifsly on the feveral enterprizes of Philip: in truth, befides
the indolent and lafcivious temper of the times, much concurred
to flatter or to argue the Athenians into an idleneſs of oppofition,
that bore almoft the mien of neutrality.
ARISTODEMUS and Neoptolemus fent to pry into the real de-
figns of Philip, were received with the moſt generous affability, and
returned to plead the cauſe of their benefactor: thefe men belonged
to the theatre, but the reader must not fuppofe, that this their
profeffion any ways affected the dignity of their miffion, or au-
thority of their report; Livy ſpeaking of the public merits of the
Demoft. Orat. actor Arifto, fays "nec ars, quia nihil tale apud Græcos pu-
"dori eft, ea deformabat:" two likewiſe of the moſt noble of the
citizens, Phrynon, and Ctesiphon, having visited the court of
Pella on their own private concerns, came from Macedon with
much proof of the munificence, and of courfe with many tales of
Plut.Vit. Pho- the juſtice and goodneſs of the king; and Phocion at the head of
the moſt virtuous and independant party of the ſtate, deemed it
in this degenerate age moft expedient to temporize, and not to ex-
pofe his country to a conteft, which the corruption and vices of
its conſtituents rendered it moft inadequate to. When we are told
Athenæ Deip- that fixty of the prime [175] citizens (like Boccacio's mirthful
feceffion from the plague of Florence) had totally withdrawn
from the affembly of the commonwealth, and had formed a fo-
ciety of wit and merriment, the chief rule of which was never to
think of what concerned the ftate ;-when we are told that fuch
an affociation was,-was known, and was permitted, we must agree.
with Phocion and other good and free citizens, that to be fo by
fufferance was their beft, and indeed only hope they uſed the
fame addrefs to conciliate Philip, as Philip to deceive them; in
this very momentous crifis they ftill had an eye to the confirma-
noſoph. L. 14.
P. 614.
Elian. var.
Hift. L. 1.
C. 25.
Plut. Vit. Pho-
sion.
tion
BOOK THE
269
SECON D.
C
X.
L. 2. Ep. 1.
Diodor. Sic.
tion of peace, and when the more fpirited, or lefs confiderate CHA P.
patriots were bellowing for war, they pleaded for temporizing
meaſures; they reprobated theſe too great ſticklers for old virtues,
and old manners perhaps with reafon; Cicero was right when
he faid of Cato "nocet interdum reipublicæ, dicens, tanquam in Pla- Ep. ad attic.
tonis Tomteix, non tanquam in Romuli fæce, fententiam." This mo-
derate party once again prevailed with the affembly to poftpone L. 16.
all hoftile preparations, and to depute a more refpectable embaffy
of ten of the principal men of the ſtate, to demand a categorical
anfwer from Philip, and to get a clear view into his deſigns, and
into the ſtrength of his kingdom: what is wiſhed, is readily be-
lieved; and Philip defirous of not embroiling himſelf too pre-
maturely with a republic, yet moft populous and wealthy, took
advantage of their defires of [176] peace, to deceive the people
into a ſecurity of it, by the moſt ſpecious language and moſt in-
gratiating behaviour to their ambaſſadors: theſe ten men were
of the beſt families, or otherwife of the firft repute in Athens,
all of much afcendancy, and all of different characters ;-for the
courteous, he had affability; for the proud, honourable atten- Orationes
tion; money for the avaricious, and liberality for all ;—another,
and another embaffy fucceeded, from which the delegates re-
turned, or deceived themfelves, or to deceive their countrymen,
and to accuſe and bicker with one another.
Demofth.
et Æfchinis,
wifi Façα-
#¿ibeix;.
C. 4.
THESE miniftries, during which fomething like a peace was Juftin. L. 8.
botched up, ſerved but to give Philip time to proceed on his
great defign, and to feed the flames of diffention and animofity
which long had wafted the ftrength of Athens: however the pro-
tracted negociation diverted, or the final compact reftricted the
meaſures of the republic, they were no bar to the progrefs of its
infidious enemy having liftened to the folicitation of the The-
bans, having joined forces with them on the confines of Phocis,
obliged its inhabitants to a diſcretionary furrender, maflacred or
enflaved
Diodor. Sic.
L. 16. § 3.
Paufan, in
Phocic.
270
THE HISTORY OF ATHENS.
CHAP.
X.
enflaved the people, burnt or diſmantled the towns, and having
in reward for thefe fervices under the Amphy&tionic banner
gained a feat in its councils, Philip was preparing to turn all
thefe events to account, and on this footing-place to fix the ma-
Ifocrat. ep. ad chine that was to fhake the univerfe, to mafter Greece, and with
Philipp.
Greece to conquer Afia!
Orat. πέξι
Eigning •
Demoft. Orat.
υπερ ντεσι
фото
etiam Æf
chinis.
υπερ κτίσιο
porl.
:
DEMOSTHENES now once again attempted to awaken his fel-
low-citizens to an apprehenfion of the fchemes of Philip; and
Athens fent forth her army of mercenaries, and fent forth her
minifters too to the different ftates of Greece; but the Locrians
now falling under fimilar imputation as heretofore the Phocians,
the Greeks, as if rivals for fervitude, with the fame heat they had
been emulous of empire, engaged Philip to fet forth at the head
of the Amphyctionic army to chaftife the delinquents thus
thefe exertions of Athens as late were fruitlefs, for Philip now
Strabo. L. 9. by invitation marched into Greece, and with great fhow of ve-
neration and piety accepted the command, whilſt favouring ora-
Demoft. Orat. cles daily proceeded from the venal tripod, as texts for each
traiterous demagogue to defcant on, and blind the eafy fuperfti-
tious citizens too foon and moft fatally they were undeceived,
when Philip at the head of a mighty army, inſtead of employing
it to the religious purpofe for which he had been permitted,
without oppoſition, to penetrate thus far, fuddenly turned, fur-
prized, fortified, and garriſoned Elatea, a city lying between,
and commanding, the territories, on one fide of Thebes, on the
other of Athens. Neceffity now held the place of virtue; the
people were for a moment frightened out of their vices and in-
dolence, and haftily paffed a decree, that teemed with the ſpirit
of their ancient vigour and conſtitution: a manifefto was ex-
pedited to the chief ſtates of Greece; and a chofen embaffy, in
which Demofthenes took a part, was fent to plead their common
caufe with Thebes; in vain Philip employed every artifice to
prevent
Diod. Sic.
L. 16.
Plut. Vit.
Demoft.
6
BOOK THE
SECOND.
271
prevent the union of theſe ſtates; the allied armies of the The-
bans and the Athenians joined to defend the liberties of their
common country.
CHAP.
C. 3.
X.
THE battle of Charonea [177] quickly decided the conteft; Paufan.in Atti
and Greece, whofe age of heroifm hath been the favourite of Juſtin. L. g.
poetry, whofe mature and patriotic vigour exerted againſt the
Perſian was the ornament of eloquence, whofe ftruggles in, and
convalefcence from, inteftine commotion, have been the pride
of hiſtory,-lofing its fpirit, its freedom, and its policy, was
funk beneath the arms or intrigues of an ambitious king, and
left indebted for its every privilege to his good-will and ſuf-
ferance.
CHAP.
272
THE HISTORY OF ATHENS.
A
CHAP.
XI.
CHA P. XI.
OF DEMAGOGUES OF DEMOSTHENES-PARALLEL OF THE
ELOQUENCE OF DEMOSTHENES AND OF CICERO.
IT
T may generally be faid [178] of every ſtate, that its decline
from liberty and power, is the immediate conſequence of a
change of that conduct which eſtabliſhed its freedom, and which
raiſed it to dominion.
THE vigour of a patriotic government, fucceeded by the tem-
porizing policy of a ſelfiſh adminiſtration; the ſpirit of a vir-
tuous and united people, yielding to the purſuit of partial and
divided intereſts; good laws exchanged for bad; a difregard of
all laws fubftituted for univerfal obedience, and (in a word) pri-
vate views ſubſtituted for public views, account readily for a
reverſe of fortunes, in a degree proportionate to each revolution
of morals and of inftitution.
To mark out the progreſs of corruption as to manners, and as
to the conduct of public affairs, and to note the concomitant
fymptoms of decline affecting the conſtitution of the common-
wealth, and its force and its empire, hath been the ſcope of this
work; yet it hath moreover ſuited the purpoſe of political en-
quiry, at particular and important epochs, from theſe general
topics, to fift out the detail that more immediately applies to the
event in hand, to forego awhile the broader maſs of ſubject, and
call the attention exclufively to fuch part, as feems more efpe-
cially in contact with fome point in queftion.
THE
BOOK THE SECOND.
273
THE fubject of demagogues is no inapplicable appendix to
the fucceffes of Philip; nor is it partial, or uninterefting: how
many free ſtates befides that of Athens, how many glorying in
the ſtrength of opulence, of people, of navy, and of empire, have
been betrayed by popular leaders, and have loft the benefit of
each reſource, diffipated in peculation, divided through faction,
loft through prefumption, and furrendered through treafons !-
How many free ſtates ſhall be added to the example, and evince
the incompetency of political leffons, to obviate the evils arif-
ing from an influence which nature hath implanted and made
fupreme, the influence of stronger minds over weaker minds!
Happy is the age and country, when fuch pre-eminence is un-
der the ſelf-controul which virtue and moderation can alone
impoſe!
66
CHAP.
XI.
L. 5. C. 5.
SAYS Ariſtotle, " moſt [179] of the ancient deſpots or kings Ariftot. Pol.
"became fuch from demagogues; the cauſe that this occurred
"fo often then, and fo rarely now, is, that of old the popular
"and the military leader were one, and depended not on oratory
"but arms; now oratory being in vogue, mere orators are our
demagogues, and from incapacity for war attempt not open
ufurpation.”—Many gradations in the character of dema-
gogue fill up the interval from that diftant æra, when fimple at-
tack and defence conftituted the whole ſyſtem of external po-
licy, and when accordingly the people's deference was paid alone
to thofe poffeffed of acutenefs and valour in the field of battle,
down to the age of ſtate-intrigue and of eloquence which Ariſ-
totle alludes to.
(6
THE love of patronage.and of pre-heminence ever have in-
cited, and ever will incite men to feek political confequence and
authority; and both the means of acquiring, and the mode of
exercising power, are ever adapted to the proportion of virtue and
N n
underſtand-
274
THE HISTORY OF ATHENS.
XI.
CHA P. underſtanding in thoſe who are to beſtow or to confirm it: the
qualities of a governor mold eafily to the fyftem of government,
and to the temper of the governed; and thefe prototypes generally
may be eſtimated by the practices and conduct they have given riſe
to, in the different times, and in the different claffes of popular
favourites and minifters: it is a misfortune to humanity, that the
exceptions to this analogy of qualities in the elect and in the elect-
ed, are little favourable to the fide of public virtue; a good man
elevated by a vicious people, at periods when a ſenſe of exigency
or diſtreſs hath fuperfeded ordinary partialities, hath rarely re-
tained his power for any time, befet as he is on all fides, by the
artifice and calumnies of thoſe, who better know how to awaken
and attach the prejudices of a depraved nation: but a bad man,
having gained the place of authority through deceptions practifed
on good and eafy men, may long remain in office through the
fame arts as placed him there; and what is worft, in the per-
manency of power, may attain that ſecurity by corrupting the
people, which he hath forfeited by diſhonouring the govern-
"ment:" his work is thus doubly nefarious, whilft he poifons
the remedy to the very ills and afflictions he has been the oc-
cafion of; and it remains a doubtful pofition, if the means of
fupporting the worfe man, or of depreffing the better character,
are the more ruinous to a free country.
vid. Dedica-
tion of the
Effay on Par-
ties.
66
:
Co
A SHORT review of popular favouritifm in Athens will give
force to theſe reflections, and will properly too attach with the
previous obfervation of Ariſtotle.
On the demise of the Pififtratidæ, and eſtabliſhment of the
commonwealth of Solon, the equality as likewife the pretenfions
of men were too general to admit of much deference towards any
individual citizen from the ſtate at large: the conduct of Clif-
thenes at home, and of Miltiades in the Cherfonefe and in Ionia,
as
BOOK THE SECON D.
275
XI.
as well as at Marathon, feem adapted to conciliate a people ena- CHAP.
moured of liberties newly recovered from domeftic ufurpation,
and bravely ſuſtained againſt a foreign enemy: yet Clifthenes was
baniſhed by the popular judicature himſelf had eſtabliſhed, and
Miltiades was condemned to a fine, and both rather from ap-
prehenfions of undue afcendancy, than from the idea of guilt:
under fimilar impreffions, the people were niggard of honours
and reward CC
; fays Æfchines [180], let Demofthenes fhow if
any decree is extant by which fuch men as Miltiades and
"Themistocles were honoured with a chaplet; he cannot; were chin. Orat.
"the people then ungrateful to merit? no: but they were too
"elate with the general fentiment of confcious virtue, to admit
"of ſuch diſtinctions to that of
any one."
THE genuine fimplicity of republican virtue, and of the con-
ſtitution of the commonwealth, gave way to the demagogues who
followed.
THE people from the courfe of the ſecond Perfian war had de-
rived or affumed pretenfions to greater equality within the ſtate;
their rivalſhip with Sparta had broken out from the emulation,
and from the enmities which occurred from a claſhing of the ge-
neral, and of the feparate interefts in the common caufe; and
the views of conqueft followed quickly on the command with
which the confederate Greeks had vefted the Athenian General
foon after the battle of Platea: the fuitors for public favour
coincided with the humour of the day, they availed themſelves
of each circumſtance to conciliate the affembly, and molded
their practice to the contingency of affairs, and to the views
of the people:-Cimon extended their empire of the feas; The-
mistocles fortified their city in defpight of Sparta; and Arif-
tides moved the decree for new rights and privileges to the com-
monalty thus ambitious and artful policy as to foreign powers,
Nn 2
-
and
contra Clefi-
phont.
276
THE HISTORY OF ATHENS.
į
CHA P.
XI.
and the turbulency of democratic freedom within the pale of the
republic, originated in, or were ſtrengthened by the coincidence
of qualities and of enterprize on the part of particular men, with
the temper of the times, and with the revolution of ſtate.
YET hitherto, if I may fo expreſs it, the people belonged not
to the demagogues, but the demagogues to the people: they
were fervants chofen with nice difcrimination of merit, but when
prefuming too far on that merit, were difmiffed the fervice from
a fenſe of the dangers of influence, a fenfe of union fuperiour to
to all diftinctions, and a feeling for the public weal above all pri-
vate confiderations.
THE effect of conquefts was the foon introducing private con-
fiderations founded in the diſtinctions of poverty and wealth,
reſulting from the various fortunes of war; the effect of admit-
ting the people to a greater ſhare in the government, at the fame
crifis militated the influence of this wealth; the poverty and
power of the people for a time refifted, at leaſt the grafting
thereon political diſtinctions, and the ſtate was divided, into a
party for the commonwealth, and partizans of the noble and
opulent the commonwealth's men gained the victory; the cauſe
of the aristocracy was loft in the banishment of Thucydides,
and the people feated their demagogue Pericles at the helm of go-
vernment. Apprehenfive of the machinations of thoſe in oppo-
fition to him, Pericles inftituted the retaining popular partizans,
and had his Ephialtes and other fubordinate demagogues to fuf-
tain the cry of liberty and independancy, till through the vices,
and corruption fown during his long adminiſtration, the fubject
fell into disrepute, and he no longer found it neceffary to ha-
rangue, on patriotiſm and public rights; or even to convene an
affembly of the people, but ruled without them. Another Pe-
ricles would have been a fucceffor, immediately fatal to the con-
ftitution
BOOK THE SECON D.
277
XI.
ſtitution of Athens: the effect of his miniftry was the fitting out CHAP.
new candidates for power, introducing new means of acquiring
it, and preparing the people for admitting it. The manage-
ment and eloquence of Pericles begat an hundred intriguers and
an hundred orators, who tutored by him in the fchool of poli-
tical altercation, (for the powers of attack ever produce thofe of
defence) ſtarted up on his demife to plead for influence in the
ſtate, and practice on their own account the policy and lan-
guage, they had heretofore uſed in ſubſerviency to, or in oppo-
fition of, the power of Pericles: the vulgar Cleon and the ac-
compliſhed Alcibiades had fucceffively the ear of the affembly,
broken into an hundred parties by its hundred orators ;-and from
this growth and prevalence of oratory we may date the fluctua-
tion of power and meaſures, which weakened the government,
and facilitated the conquefts of Lyfander.
Arillid.
FROM the intrigues of thofe who fucceeded to Pericles a cir-
cumftance accrued, which not only had an immediate effect on the
adminiſtration of thofe times, but which feemed calculated to per-
petuate the evils of diffention, of undue influence, and all others
which political altercation and the ambition of individuals might
(if not reſtrained) be fuppofed to create, in a popular government,
fuch as was that of Athens. Nicias and Alcibiades however dif-
fentient in other refpects, joined their interefts and parties to Plut. Vit,
preclude the oftraciſm falling, as might happen, on either; and
further to divert the popular diffatisfactions arifing from the ca-
lamities of the times, employed their reſpective partizans to pro-
cure that honourable exile to be adjudged to one Hyperbolus;
a man of the loweſt extraction and of manners and character fo
conformable, that his name was even proverbial for meannefs and
infamy: the influence of theſe great men effected their purpofe;
but the oftraciſm thenceforward was confidered as difgraced and
polluted; and the people, in diſguſt at having been induced to
employ
Ælian. L. 12.
C. 43.
Schol. ad
Athenæum.
L. 12. p. 538.
Arift. Comoed.
Ranæ, et al.
278
THE HISTORY OF ATHENS.
>
XI.
CHA P. employ it to fuch purpoſe, for ever rejected its further ufe; Plu-
tarch fays," abolished it;"-but had fuch decree ever paffed, it
was too effential an alteration in the conftitution, not to have
been noticed by the orators, and hiftorians too: thus was this
admirable inſtitution loft; thus was the great reſtraint on am-
bition, on intrigue, on faction, for ever gone; and thus were
future demagogues to be in the full right and poffeffion of every
means of competition, however dangerous to the conftitution of
ftate; thus were diffention and altercation to have no termina-
tion, 'till that of the very liberties of the republic; and thus
were the demagogues under the influence of Philip empowered
fearleſsly to undermine thofe liberties!
Demoft. Orat.
περί των εν
Χερρονήσω.
fub. fin.
Plut. Vit.
Phocion.
On the reſtoration of the commonwealth, military men were
chiefly looked to, by a people who had their empire to recover,
as well as their liberties to maintain: Thrafy bulus, Conon, Ti-
motheus, Chabrias, and Iphicrates were mere generals, unleſs
from a paffage of Demofthenes, Timotheus may be preſumed to
have been an orator; that Chares was an orator as well as general,
we have the authority of Plutarch for, and in the ſocial war,
it has been obſerved that Chares had the influence to diſgrace
both Timotheus and Iphicrates. Thus quickly, when the fears
of men fubfided, eloquence regained its afcendancy that it
ſhould do ſo, is eaſy to account for; to argue with men, flatters
their underſtandings; to footh, beſpeaks their power; to explain
and to account for things, intimates a reſponſibility to them
and the choice of fubject lays a thouſand more roads open to
the vanities and to the ſelf-gratifications of the audience: to
this, it should be added that the fpeaker is ordinarily of fupe-
rior abilities, and that in debating to the judgment of a popular
affembly, the moſt captivating adulation hath effect, that of
placing the abilities of the hearers in competition with, or
even above, thoſe of the admired ſpeaker: it was hence that Livy
had
5
BOOK THE SECOND.
279
XI.
T. Livii. Hift,
Li 31.
had occafion to fay, nec unquàm ibi defunt linguæ promptæ ad CHAP.
plebem concitandam, quod genus in omnibus liberis civitatibus tum
præcipuè Athenis, ubi oratio plurimùm pollet, favore multitudinis
alitur. Whether the mifchiefs or the benefits arifing from po-
pular harangues have been the most frequent, complicate the
queſtion of uſe and abuſe of eloquence with the circumftances,
and with the characteriſtics of the people it is addreſſed too;
and confidering it in this general view, I venture to affert,
that centuple evils, for a fingle public advantage, have enfued
declamations addreffed to a popular audience.
In times of private and of public virtue (which I think no
ways feparable) plain language is ſuited to plain truths, and to
propofe and elucidate a fair and open plan of adminiftration, re-
quires few words to make it acceptable to thoſe, who have no
views but to the common welfare: how far in times of general
corruption, the eloquence of a good man may fucceed in recom-
mending juſt and honourable meaſures to a vicious people needs
little inveſtigation; Cato (as appears from a letter of Cicero}
was wont to ſpeak a whole day, and to little purpoſe; and
even the Philippics of Cicero effected as little in face Ro-
muli, as thoſe of Demofthenes in face Solonis. The great Roman
allows antequàm delectata eft Athenienfium civitas hac laude di- Cicer. in
cendi, multa jam memorabilia, et in domefticis et in bellicis rebus ef-
fecerat: I will add to the obfervation, that after the charms of
oratory had their full force, the Athenians effected nothing great
or praife-worthy, within their own republic, or in refpect to
foreign powers.
It remains to explain that popular eloquence is the fource of
the greateſt evils: it is in itſelf an art that never hath reached
perfection, but when other elegant arts, with their luxuries and
with their vices, have paved the way for a tafte adapted to its
refinements;
Bruto.
280
THE HISTORY OF ATHENS.
CHAP.
XI.
refinements; it is then the proper fervant of intrigue and of cor-
ruption, for it is fuited to varnish over crimes, to obfcure or to
pervert the conduct of virtuous opponents, to fſubſtitute per-
fuafion for conviction, and gloffing over private views with a
falfe colour of public interefts, to make men lofe fight of the
way back from their ſtate of depravity and ruin.
BOLINGBROKE in his letter on patriotifm hath obferved, that
Demofthenes was a ſtateſman, and that an orator must neceffarily
be fo: I ſhould ſcarcely have thought it neceffary to enforce the
poſition, had not the elegant and learned writer of the life of
Philip ſtept forward to controvert the allegation: I think Boling-
broke had read very little of Demofthenes, and ſtudied as little the
hiſtory of thoſe times, when he adduced the inftance of his The-
ban embaffy; he thereby gave an advantage of criticiſm to his
learned opponent: but as to fact, in a ſtate ſo converfant with
public bufinefs as that of Athens (the authority of Photius, and
the action, and action, and action of Demofthenes apart) the ora-
tor muſt have had matter as well as manner; he muſt have had
political knowledge as well as words; but it were puerile to
dwell on the refutation of a contrary tenet, whilſt the orations of
Demofthenes are before us!-is there a fact in the hiftory of thoſe
times that eſcapes him, or, that hath not fupplied authorities for
the life of Philip? Is there a deduction from thoſe facts that
doth not denote his knowledge of bufinefs, and political acute-
nefs? doth not each ſpeech teem with reference to the laws of
his country, to public letters, to embaffies, and other docu-
ments of ftate? doth not every oration ftand in example (as Bo-
lingbroke adduced it) againſt the frivolous pretenfions of thoſe,
who seek to be public speakers, without the knowledge of public
bufiness?
THE
BOOK THE SECOND.
28x
THE opponents of Demofthenes had not the full powers of his
eloquence, but they blended their Eloquence with the proper
coadjutors, intrigue and corruption, and with theſe affiftants
traverſed his patriotic defigns.
CHA P.
XI.
As eloquence is ſuited to the covering or protecting crimes,
fo is it friendly to a connection with them; ſophiſtry may ex-
plain away too nice diftinctions of virtue and vice, or may with
ſucceſs turn to ridicule cynic morality, or, in an age and country
wherein wealth and vanity have any concern, may furely, at leaſt,
make bribery palatable by liberal expreffions, and by the mode of
giving, and by the words with which the gift is accompanied:
he is a poor maſter of fubornation in a public caufe, who knows
not how to find largeffes for the virtuous even, who are vain, as
well as for the minions of avarice :-Philip during a converfa- Diodor. Sic.
tion at table gave Satyrus two female flaves, whom that Athe- L. 16.
nian had mentioned in terms of commiferation, as expoſed from
their beauty to the brutality of a maſter, and to the loſs of vir-
tue and liberal fentiments their education had implanted; Sa-
tyrus received the prefent, honourably endowed the virgins in
marriage, and was ever after a friend to Philip.
"Diodor. Sic.
Lib. 16.
Ibid.
GOLD indeed was the ordinary medium of the king's folicita-
tions :—on the height of the walls of Amphipolis being remarked,
[181] "Gold (faid he) I think might be thrown over them;
and with gold he ſupplied his Athenian opponents to Demof- § 54.
thenes, "yet (fays Diodorus) never degrading thoſe who re-
"ceived his pay, but ever terming them his dear friends and
"intimates, thus affixing honour to corruption, and obliterat-
ing all diſtinctions among men :" Æfchines, Philocrates, and
others doubtlessly made good uſe of the means, which Philip
fupplied them with, and taught others to Philippize as well as
the oracle; but even independant of theſe means, perhaps their
"C
:
O o
very
282
THE HISTORY OF ATHENS.
འ
XI.
CHAP. very inferiority to Demofthenes in fome refpects was an addi-
tional caufe of their fuccefs with the people: the expanfive and
intuitive genius of the great heaven-born ftatefman is only in
difficult times, and not often in any times, permitted to exert its
pretenfions to rule and influence: his capacity is more commonly
the object of admiration than of confidence; and his want of
attention to the little concerns which engage ordinary minds, is
not readily excuſed by the generality who would give conſequence
to the objects of their own pride and occupation on the other
hand, temporizing politicians fuit a popular affembly become
felfish, fickle, and indolent, and on each confideration of ftate
buſineſs weighing immediate eaſe and gratification, againſt pub-
lic interefts, and the dangers of enterprize: thefe men pleaſe
them by not feeming to involve them in any affairs of imminent
criſis; they reſtrict policy to the buſineſs of the day; they buſtle
and hurry in the courfe of men and things as they paſs in view, and
adapt their conduct, and ſhift and vary as the ſcene changes before
them; this deſcription of men pares negotio neque fupra, as Ta-
citus calls them, for the most part, work themfelves into the
high offices of government, and in preference to greater charac-
ters are admitted and even chofen; their abilities are known and
underſtood; their converſation is adapted to the occafion and to
the perfon; they have affiduity, and they have method; and the
general voice for the promotion of theſe politicians in detail,
calls them, men of business. Such, for the most part, were the
opponents [182] of Demofthenes, and having too Philip's gold-
mines of Crenidæ at their difpofal, no doubt they had fuperior
influence in an affembly fo conftituted as was that of Athens:
faid Philocrates, "O Athenians, Demofthenes drinks water,
“and I drink wine; is there any wonder that we are on different
"fides of the queſtion?" general laughter and applauſe enfued,
and Demofthenes could not on that day get a hearing [183]: this
Demoft. Orat.
will waja-
πρεσβειας.
6
egregius
BOOK THE SECON d.
283
XI.
egregius compotor was the great friend of Philip; Demades ano- CHAP、
ther of his friends kept an excellent table; Æfchines, of the fame
party, was a man of buſineſs; and in other refpects too ſeems to
have been ſuited to the ingratiating himſelf with all deſcriptions
of men, for he had not only the populace, but Eubulus too and
Phocion with him, in the great conteft with Demofthenes on
the ſubject of their embaffies.
SUCH were the engines of Philip, fuch were the materials
ſuited to the inftruments; fuch were the orators who undertook
the eaſy taſk, of perfuading the inactive, that activity was uſe-
leſs; the timid, that war was unneceffary; and the ſelfiſh, that
the public intereſts were in no danger, and required no aſſiſtance :
and to Demofthenes they objected, that he was a mere man of words;
that he traduced the people, when he attacked the men of their
choice; that his very difintereſtedneſs was practiſed to deceive;
that he meant to ruin them, by embroiling them with their ge-
nerous and good ally; and that the people ſhould never truſt him
in any caſe, for that on the embaffy to Pella, he would not affo-
ciate with the minifters themſelves confided in, and that he
drank water.
THUS even the follies and vices of the people were a very
plea to them againſt the pretenfions of a wife and virtuous
minifter.
HAVING in a previous chapter lightly touched a compara-
tive ſketch of the Greek and Roman hiftorians, I fhall now briefly
concenter the claims to eloquence in a compariſon of Demofthe-
nes and Cicero, and at the fame time ſhelter myſelf from the
imputation of prefumption under the parallels of Longinus and
Quintilian, and the Elogium of Dionyfius.
002
Compari-
Orat.
fchinis,
weg wagger.
Celas. fub. fin.
ead. Orat,
1
284
THE HISTORY OF ATHENS.
CHAP.
XI.
Longin. wegt
05. C. 12.
Quinctil. Inft.
Orat. I. 10.
C. 3.
Compariſon of Demofthenes and Cicero, by a Greek.
"whofe force cannot be better [184] compared than to
"the ocean rolling before a ſtorm! the eloquence of Demofthenes
"o'erwarmed with paffion, not only is heated, but boils, as it
"were,
66
were, with the flame; nor is the eloquence of the other def-
❝titute of force, whilft affuredly it is fraught with dignity and
fplendor; though, I think, no ways animated with the fame
glow of feelings, or the fame ardour of language: in my
opinion (if, my Terentianus, we Greeks may be permitted
an opinion touching a Latin orator) there is no great diſtinc-
❝tion of eloquence between Cicero and Demofthenes, excepting
"in the point abovementioned: Demofthenes is more poignant,
<<
lofty, and compreffed in ftile; Cicero more diffufe: our
"Greek, with that ftrength, brightneſs, and velocity, enflames
"whatever he touches on, that he ſhould be compared to the
"tempeft, which hurries all before it, or to the lightening,
"which ſtrikes at the moment: Cicero's oratory fhoots not
"forth fo impetuoufly, but as a lambent flame, plays round
"its fubject, and with the copious matter feeds itſelf, as it
"winds over the foil, till its fuel is exhauſted, and its force is
ſpent even to fatiety: yourſelf, Terentianus will better judge,
" but I muft further obferve, that the ſeafon of the Demofthenic
"ftile, foaring, bold, and impaffioned, is when the hearer is.
46
to be carried away, and hurried into the fentiments of the
fpeaker; and that the proper occafion of the diffufive rhetoric,
is, when it is neceffary to calm, or to ſoften the feelings of
"the audience."
46
Compariſon of Cicero and Demofthenes, by a Latin.
"Our orators have raiſed the Latin eloquence to a rival-
Ifhip with that of the Greeks; for I will boldly oppofe Cicero
to
BOOK THE
285
SECON D.
66
XI.
"to the moſt renowned of their nation: nor am I unaware of CHA P.
"the many adverfaries I am exciting, nor to what ſtrictures I
expofe myſelf by the affertion; and more eſpecially, as I feem
"to deviate from the path I had propofed taking, exprefsly to
"feek this trial with Demofthenes; but this matters not, when
"I allow that the works of Demofthenes fhould firſt be read,
"or rather gotten by heart: the excellencies of either, I think,
"are equal as to political knowledge, ftrength of argument,
"method of arrangement, and as to all other points that come
"under the heads of invention and reafoning: in eloquence they
"differ; that of the one, is more compreſſed; that of the other,
"more copious; the one is more pointedly, the other more fully,
"conclufive; the one is ever keen and forcible; the other fome-
"time keen yet always with dignity; from the one, nothing
"could be taken; to the other, nothing could be added; more
"art is in the one, more nature in the other; in the witty and
"in the tender (which most affect the taſte and feelings of men)
66
66
we have the better of the comparifon; perhaps the ufages of
"his commonwealth precluded ſuch ſort of appeals ; and on the
"other hand, much that the Athenians admired, might not
"have been deemed admiffible before a Roman audience: as to
"their epiftles, there is no compariſon; and many of either are
extant, for us to decide on their reſpective merits: we muſt
yield fomething however, under confideration that Demofthe-
"nes was the elder, and that Cicero became great, as he was,
"from the ſtudy of his predeceffor. To me it feems that Marcus
"Tullius Cicero, when he applied himſelf to a ſtudy and emu-
"lation of the Greeks, exhauſted and made his own, all the
"force of Demofthenes, the exuberance of Plato, and the ele-
gance of Ifocrates."
THE Roman gives the preference to the Roman, the Greek to
the Greek; however artfully either, under the femblance of im-
partial
286
THE HISTORY OF ATHENS.
;
CHAP. partial criticiſm, gives no direct opinion, yet fuch is the com-
XI. pariſon, and fo conducted, as to induce the reader to adopt a fa-
vourable idea of preference to the countryman of the writer.
Traités par
Gendre.
I WILL humbly ſtrive to mitigate the contention, and mediate
a truce between the armies of critics, on the grounds, that
Cicero and Demofthenes will feverally moft pleaſe according
to the temper of the reader; whether he is of a perfuafive, or
of a commanding fpirit; whether of an acute mind well in-
formed and well arranged, or of a bold and intuitive genius;
whether, and in what degree, a friend to public liberty; for it
is not enough to be learned, the people must be free, who can reliſh
the eloquence of Demofthenes.
SAYS a French critic, "Il me femble qu'on ne fait pas affez
"valoir un grand motif de decider la fuperiorité de Ciceron fur
"Demofthéne; tout eft ferré, nerveux et vehement dans l'ora-
teur Grecque; mais toujours également auſtére et impétueux,
"il n'eſt pas exempt, avec tout fon feu, de féchereffe et de mo-
"notonie; il ne connoit qu'un genre d'Eloquence."
THIS decifion hath no weight, though abetted by a whole
tribe of academicians, nor will have weight with the reader,
when it is ſhown, that the moſt judicious, intelligent, and
acute of ancient critics, attributes thofe very beauties of diverſity
and novelty to Demofthenes, which the modern (with many aſſo-
ciates of higher reputation) ſo peremptorily denies him. Says
Dionyf. Hali- Dionyfius [185], "Demofthenes having collected his political
knowledge from various fources, and having ever before him
"the works and examples of the moſt eminent in the line he
affumed, did not deign to make any one man, or any one cha-
"racter, the ſcope of his ftudies and emulation; deeming each
"to be imperfect in the whole, or even in the parts
of oratory;
" he
carn. πept
δεινότητος Δημοσ
σθεν, λέξεως.
< "
66
!
ねじま
​BOOK THE SECOND.
287
66
6 c
XI.
" he called from each only what was moſt able and excellent, CHAP.
"and therefrom made himſelf mafter of one fimple and perfect
eloquence; imperious, yet pliant; redundant, yet forcible;
"novel, yet familiar; various, yet accurate; fententious, yet
agreeable; ſtretched to the ſtrongeſt nerve of argument,
yet occafionally relaxing, in relief of the audience; captivat-
ing the very ear in which it thundered reproach; moral, yet
"impaffioned; differing nought from that Proteus, whom an-
"cient poets reprefent, as putting on and off at pleaſure every
"form and femblance; whether he was a god or dæmon faſci-
nating the
eyes of men, or whether wifdom perfonified, he
bewildered with varied eloquence the diverfely affected au-
"dience; but the latter was the probable cafe; and fuch was
"Demofthenes; and the character I would give of his eloquence,
❝is not that it took in parts, but that it embraced the whole.”
66.
66
I AGREE with Dionyfius, and venture to beſtow the palm of
oratory on the Greek, as I did that of hiſtory on the Latins.
СНАР.
1
288
THE HISTORY OF ATHENS.
CHAP.
XII.
CHA P. XII.
CONSEQUENCES OF THE BATTLE OF CHARONEA-FINALLY,
THE SURRENDER OF THE COMMONWEALTH TO ANTIPATER
AND SUBVERSION OF THE REPUBLIC OF ATHENS.
Plut. Vit.
Demofth.
Libanius in
Wolfii argu-
Emilap. Dem.
A
FUNERAL oration in honour of thoſe ſlain at the battle
of Charonea was fpoken by Demofthenes; the authen-
ticity of the declamation extant hath been difputed by the ſcho-
ment. ad oyo liaft, as not being replete with that fublime eloquence which
characteriſes his other fpeeches; but furely on fuch an occafion,
even Demofthenes might be allowed to fail; all his views had
been fruſtrated; every reſource of force and policy exhauſted ;
Philip, it was not fafe to irritate; the Athenians it were cruel
to depreſs; and the two fources of invective and fympathy were
thus diverted from the particular field of genius, they were the
beſt ſuited to enrich every circumftance was delicately to be
conducted between the power on one fide, and the miferies on
the other; and might not the ſpeaker too, be fuppofed embar-
raffed with ſo touching, ſo diſtreſsful a ſubject! to the declama-
Thucyd. L. 3. tion of Pericles every Athenian pulſe beat full and high; to re-
peat the honours of the dead, brought no ſhame on the living,
their loſs, no ruin on the republic; and the orator had victory
for his theme, and the victorious for his audience! Is no allow-
ance to be made for the difference of the times, or for the feel-
ings of a ſpeaker, who was to ftand up and deliver to a hopeleſs
circle, the funeral oration of their fuccefslefs friends, of their
liberties, of their country!
IT
BOOK THE SEC O N D..
289
Ir hath not been unuſual to cloſe the hiftory of Greece at
this period: had I undertaken to trace the general hiſtory of
Greece, I ſhould confider myſelf as now approaching to an in-
tereſting part of my work; I ſhould look with a curious eye into
the tranſactions and conſtitution of the Achæan league; I fhould
buſy myſelf with the Ætolians; I ſhould pry into the various
declenfion of each republic, and build walls to Lacedæmon [186]:
even the ſingle ſtate of Athens I cannot fo readily quit with the
fimple affertion, "that the liberties of Greece perished at the
"field of Chæronea.'
CHAP.
XII.
Tit. Liv. et
Polyb. Hift.
Paufan, et
Strabo.
Plutarch. in
Vit. Arat.
Juftin. L. 24,
& leq. &c.
C. 4•
PHILIP neither meddled with the conftitution of government, Justin. L. 9.
nor impoſed tribute, nor exerciſed other immediate marks of ſo-
; further, he
vereignty over the Athenians;
gave them the
up
bodies of thoſe killed in battle, and difmiffed the priſoners he
had taken from them: they felt, however, that their liberties
exiſted but from fufferance, and that their power was no more;
fhame and refentment were vented in mutual accufation: De-
mofthenes flattered his countrymen by laying the defeat at Chæ- Demofth.
ronea, chiefly to the account of Theban cowardice; and what y. p.
remained, the people shifted from themſelves, and laid to the
account of their own General: the noble addreſs of thanks from Livii Hiſt.
the Roman ſenate to the unfortunate Varro returning from
Cannæ, quòd de republicâ non defperâffet, was a contrast to the
conduct of the affembly, as the affembly was a contraft to that
fenate faid the orator Lycurgus to Lyficles (without any alle-
gation of guilt, or even of the minuteft error in command) " you
was General when five hundred Athenian citizens were flain,`
"and when two thouſand were taken prifoners, when a trophy
"was raiſed to the difgrace of this republic, and when all
"Greece was fubjugated; and yet you dare to live, to behold
"the light of the day; nay, to expofe yourſelf in the affembly,
a living monument of the fhame and ruin of your country."
Pp
Lyficles
66
λογο
L. 22.
Diod. Sic.
L. 16. § 88.
290
THE HISTORY OF ATHENS.
XII.
CHAP. Lyficles however did not long fo remain, but fuffered death for
the weakneſs and follies of his countrymen: he fell a facrifice
to the fullen paffions of popular remorfe and vengeance; which
recoiled and fermented within the city, reſtricted from adverfion
to the juſter objects of crimination,-to the conduct of Philip, to
the traiterous correfpondence of their demagogues, or to their
own general fupineness and corruption, which gave them up
fucceffively to foreign intrigues, and to domeftic treafons, till the
vigour of their government and empire were too enfeebled for a
fair and open trial of force. Whilft Lyficles was condemned,
the creatures of Philip mingled fafely in the affemblies; can a
ftronger proof be adduced of the political dependancy and fer-
vitude which enfued the battle of Chæronea? or of the mifer-
able reſource of factions, thus preying on public misfortune, in
default of ſpirit and power, to urge the charge home to public
delinquency inteftine difputes touched not. on any topic. in
which Philip might be concerned; to him the Athenians
ſhowed hereafter the moft fervile attention; at the feftival of his
Diodor. Sic. daughter's marriage fent him a crown of gold, and their herald
publickly announced, as in vaunt of their obfequiouſneſs,
"no foe to Philip fhould find an afylum in Athens:" enough
of theſe details of fervitude, and which too bear a mark and
character denoting the Athenians to have been ripe for fervi-
tude !
L. 16.
$92.
Ibid.
Ifocrat. Ep.
ad Philip.
:
"' that
PHILIP, to found the temper of the Greeks, and to prepare
them for the Afiatic expedition, which he had long meditated,.
called a meeting of their deputies to Corinth; and Athens, and
every other ſtate (excepting Sparta) obeyed the fummons, and in
general council coincided with the views of Philip, declaring
him commander in chief of the Grecian forces.
PHILIP
BOOK THE SECON D.
291
XII.
Plut. Vit.
PHILIP lived not to make advantage of his conquefts; his CHA P.
death was by fome deemed favourable to a recovery of indepen-
dancy and power; Demofthenes, on the news thereof, appeared Diod. Sic.
in the affembly with a chaplet on his head, and exhorted the L. 17.
people to new ftruggles and oppofition: but the bold and vigi- Alexand.
lant genius of Alexander gave not this fpirit time to blaze; he
quickly raiſed and appeared with a powerful force, and firſt at-
tacking Thebes, as an example to other cities, levelled its walls
with the ground, and fold its people to flavery :—the Athenians Diodoras ut
intimidated thereby, deputed an embaffy to Alexander, with fub- fuprà.
miffive excuſes for their tardineſs in congratulating him on his
acceffion to the throne of Macedon, and to the command of
Greece; and to fuch humiliation was their republic reduced,
that Alexander requiring Demofthenes, Lycurgus, and eight
other orators who had excited the people againſt his own and
his father's ufurpations, to be delivered up to him, even the
good Phocion adviſed acquieſcence, and it was alone from the
interceffion of Demades with Alexander, that their lives were
fpared. Having obviated the tendency to commotion, and ſub-
dued each refractory fpirit within Greece, Alexander convened
another council in Corinth, and there having fettled the pro-
portion of future fubfidy and levies with the Greek delegates
vying in fubmiffion and in adulation, he then went forth [187]
at the head of his veteran army to work out under Providence,
the great revolution of the Eaft.
Alex.
DURING the twelve years that Alexander was purſuing his Arrian. Exp.
victories in Afia, the ſpirit of Athens was for a time fo wholly
fubjugated, that every occafion of giving offence to that con-
queror was cautiously avoided: latterly indeed fome murmurs of
diſcontent, and fome few refractory decrees, reached the ears of
Alexander; but that during his life-time the people dared not
openly to affert their freedom, is evident from the ftory of Har- Diodor. Sic.
L. 17. § 108.
palus :
Pp 2
1
292
XII.
L. 17. §4.
Plut. Vit.
Demofth.
THE HISTORY OF ATHEN S.
CHAP. palus: Harpalus entruſted with the care of the treaſury at Ba-
bylon, had diffipated in luxury and oftentation a confiderable
part, and fearing the refentment thereon of Alexander on his
return from India, fled with the remainder to Greece, eſcorting
his ſpoil with fix thouſand mercenaries: this treaſure, and theſe
troops he proffered to the Athenians, provided they would join
with him in oppofition to his and their maſter; to this effect
he beſtowed largeffes among the orators, and Demofthenes as
having, with others, accepted a prefent, was fentenced to a con-
fiderable fine: during the conteſts with Philip, Æfchines ob-
Diodor. Sic. jected to Demofthenes, "the receipt of money from the treaſury
“of Perfia;” and perhaps he might have received money from
Harpalus; and the motives of his public conduct might thence
in fome degree be vitiated: yet his public conduct was too ear-
neſt, uniform, and in other refpects difintereſted, to lightly admit.
of fuch afperfion. The tale of bribery from Perfia was never re-
garded, and that from Harpalus being thus eagerly taken
up, it
leads us to fuppofe, that the allegation was a mere pretext on
the part of the republic for a profecution, agreeable to Alexan-
der; and the fairest inference to be drawn from the ſtory of
Harpalus is, that Demofthenes retained a confiftent fpirit of op-
pofition to the power of Macedon, and that he was vigilant in
feizing every occaſion of ſtruggle for his country's emancipation;
and a further inference to be deduced from his condemnation is,
"that the Athenians were afraid of the conteft, and unworthy
"of freedom.'
Elian. Var.
Hift. L. 3.
C. 17.
DURING theſe times of fubjection and tranquillity, the
pur-
ſuits of Athens were not yet wholly ignoble: philoſophy, arts,
and ſcience, dignified the abaſement of the republic; and in its
decline of freedom and of empire, it more eſpecially cultivated
the elegance and erudition, fuited to the fuftaining a fhare of
fame and confequence of another fort: the pupil of Ariftotle
courted
}
¡
BOOK THE
THE SECOND.
293
courted this enlightened people, admired their purſuits and ac-
compliſhment, and from taſte or policy encouraged "their love
"of liberal ftudies and Attic eaſe."
СНАР.
C. 8.
XII.
Ir is a curious circumftance, that Xerxes who had yielded Plin. L. 34-
to the ſtrength of the republic, from the pillage of the city, fent
into Aſia the ſtatues of Ariftogeiton and Harmodius; and that
Alexander, who had maſtered the republic, fent from Afia, and
replaced theſe very ftatues of the firft affertors of that liberty,
he had deſtroyed: this remark might feem pregnant with little
more than conceit, did it not lead to an obfervation on the ill-
policy of Alexander, who, furely was little confiderate of the
peace and fecurity of his government, when he fent to Athens
this inflammatory prefent; being ever before their eyes a me-
morial of their paſt honours and prefent ignominy; ever re-
proaching them with their abject acquiefcence in a fervitude
ſhameful, however light, and ever with this paffive temper,
contrafting the ſpirit of their ancient martyrs to freedom.
Deipnof.
THE Conqueror's ill-timed generofity may be prefumed, I
think, to have had fome fuch effect; for in the last book of
Arrian, remarking a general embaffy of the Greeks, addreffing
Alexander as a deity, at the fame time I remember an excep-
tion (mentioned in the twelfth chapter of the fifth book of Ælian)
[188] with respect to the Athenians, who rouſed from their fer- Et Athenæ.
vile complacency, fined the orator Demades for a mere propofal. L. P. 251.
of his apotheofis; and when the heroic king fent his mandate to
Greece, ordering each city to receive back its exiles, we find Diod. Sic.
Athens then too (and almoft fingly) difputing his good-will
and pleaſure; and Alexander, a ſhort time before his death, had
collected a mighty force (fays Juſtin) ad delendas Athenas; but Juftin. Hift.
he was cut off in the career of victory, and the Athenians had. L. 13. C. 5.
time
L. 18. § 8.
294
THE HISTORY OF ATHENS.
CHAP. time to make warlike preparations, wherewith to difpute the fo-
vereignty of his fucceffors.
XII.
Paufan, in
Attic.
Diod. Sic.
L. 170
THE vaft empire of Alexander, hereditary and acquired, being
divided among his captains, Macedon, and Greece as its ap-
pendant, fell to the ſhare of Antipater; who immedately pro-
ceeded to chaſtiſe his refractory fubjects of Ætolia and Athens:
Leofthenes chofen general of the united forces of theſe ſtates,
gained a fignal victory over the new ufurper, and drove him to a
refuge, and cloſely befieged him, within the city of Lamia: this
laft ftruggle of the Athenians was for a time bravely fupported;
though Leofthenes had fallen in a ſkirmiſh before the gates, yet
his army was not difpirited, but ftill cloſely inveſted the place,
and in a fet engagement of the cavalry, again bore the palm of
victory Antipater no longer thinking himſelf ſafe within the
town, fecretly withdrew; but ſoon again was heard of at the head
of the formidable fleets of Macedon: the Athenians vigorously
then prepared to beat him too from the feas, and foon they had
a fleet of an hundred and feventy fail boldly in queſt of their
enemy.
LOOKING back a few years to the inactive and remifs conduct
of the Athenians in regard to Philip, there appears ſubject of
aſtoniſhment in the fudden change from diffention and fupine
weakneſs, to this preſent ſpirit of unanimous and vigorous ex-
ertion to account for the viciffitude, I muft attribute it to the
effect of thoſe times, when Alexander roved from kingdom to
kingdom, through Afia, and left Greece to enjoy (what I ſhould
call) the liberal age: in the various ſchools, politics were reduced to
a ſcience, and morals to a ſyſtem; philoſophy gave ſtrength, and
the polite arts gave eaſe, and the general activity of the mind, gave
to it vigour and ſpirit: the theory of what men ought to do, was
becoming
BOOK THE SECO N D.
295
1
XII.
becoming diffufive, and from its novelties, not yet tedious; and CHAP.
it had attained refinement enough to attach, and had yet fimpli-
city enough not to elude the attention: the Athenians proud of
the diſtinctions which accrued to them from the portico and the
academe, gave readily and generally into the amuſement and ſtu-
dies which ennobled their hour of peace; and from theſe ſtudies,
the citizens may be ſuppoſed to have acquired fomething like,
what in modern language is called, point of honour; a fentiment
which internally forbids the too eafy ceffion of any pretenfion
made, whether to juſtice, to valour, to truth, to patriotiſm, or
(in a word) to any rare and admired quality: the Athenians cu-
riouſly inveſtigating the duties of a man and of a citizen, in ſome
degree, the practice thereof enfued,-talking and writing of the
fpirit of their republican conftitution, they feemed the more
bounden to its fupport; a fortunate fuccefs on the outfet en-
couraged the people to go on, and had they finally been victorious
in the conteft, perhaps Montefquieu had been obliged to wave his
ingenious fyftem, and recognize the existence (however tranfi-
tory) of a free and well conſtituted democracy, the principle of
which was honour..
DIODORUS obferves that certain wealthy citizens oppofed in
the first inftance the taking up arms under Leofthenes, and that
ſome of the beſt and wifeſt confidered the enterprize as more fpi-
rited than prudent, to engage with the wealth and armies under the
command of Alexander's fucceffors, who, whatever their private
diffentions were, might be fuppofed in compact to guarantee
their partition, and enforce the fubjection of each province. Such
political anticipation was warranted by the event: Clitus de-
ſtroyed the Athenian fleet off the Ifles Echinades; and Craterus.
joining Antipater with ten thouſand of Alexander's veteran :
troops defeated too the land forces of the Greeks: —thus finally
Athens was reduced to furrender at difcretion. Antipater re-
2
taining
Diod. Sic.
L. 18.
Plut. Vitz
Phocion.
1
μ
296
THE HISTORY OF ATHENS.
XII.
CHAP. taining the form and fhadow of the old commonwealth, left it
under the controul of a præfect and garriſon, and further to en-
fure a quiet poffeffion, banished from the city twenty-two thou-
ſand inhabitants. Thefe, fays Diodorus, were only thoſe who had
not the cenfus neceffary to the conftituting a citizen, according
to the new regulations; but we may be certain, I think, that
Antipater loft not the oppportunity of fecuring his government,
by baniſhing all whofe great and leading qualities might gain the
afcendant over his innovations: it is probable that the old inti-
macy of virtue and poverty was not broken, that the good and
indigent went together into exile, and that to be abject as well as
to be wealthy, was fome title to favour: we may therefore pro-
nounce it glorious (and it was the laſt glory of the republic) on
fuch an occafion to have loft fo many citizens. The revolution
in each dynaſty of Alexander's captains, is a fubject foreign to this
treatife; nor doth it coincide with its general tenor to nicely in-
veſtigate a mere lift of præfects of Athens; Menyllus, Nicanor,
and others, down to Demetrius Phalereus, who, fet over the Athe-
nians by Caffander, ruled them (as we are told) juſtly and wiſely :
it may be aſked, “Did not Demetrius Poliorcetes expel the Pha-
"larean from his government, and reſtore liberty to Athens ?"
Liberty, I anſwer, it was then incapable of receiving: for the
truth of this remark,-recur to the lives of Plutarch, behold this
refuſe of the citizens, with the fervility that diſclaims the name
of gratitude, enrolling this deliverer with their gods [189]; de-
creeing him the honours of Ceres and Bacchus ; making an ora-
cle of him; facrificing to his ftatue, covered with the holy veil
of their tutelary Minerva; carrying their devotion to ſo fulfome
a pitch, that Demetrius himſelf, at length deeming them un-
worthy of further tenderneſs or management, taxed them at
once two hundred and fifty talents, and in the very prefence of
the officers who brought it, threw it into the lap of his harlot
Lamia.
Elian. L.
3.
C. 17.
Diog. Laert.
Vit. Demet.
Phal.
Plut. Vit.
Demet.
Athenæ. L.6.
P. 253.
Diod. Sic.
L. 20.
1 I
IT
BOOK THE SECON D.
297
XII.
It was mightily the faſhion of Alexander's captains to be very CHA P.
bountiful-of liberty to Greece ;-Telefphorus came with it from
Antigonus, and Polyperchon fent it from the Peloponneſe, and
then the Romans followed the example, and proclaimed it by
Flaminius-" Civitas ea autem in libertate eft pofita, quæ fuis ftat Liv. Hift.
"viribus, non ex alieno arbitrio pendet."
A
L. 35.
APPENDIX:
APPENDIX:
CONTAINING
NOTES IN ILLUSTRATION
OF THE
HISTORY OF ATHENS, &c. &c.
:
APPENDIX.
NOTE S, &c.
C
BOOK THE FIRST.
NOTE [1.] Page 1.
ΣΠΕΡ δε καὶ τα ειδῆ ἐαυτοις αφομοίωσιν οι άνθρωποι, ἔξω καὶ τες CHAP.
Είες των θεων σε As men feign to themfelves perfons and figures
"of their gods fimilar to their own, fo too, do they, lives and actions.
Ariftot. Pol. L. 1. C. 3.
I.
NOTE [2.] Page 4.
Sed tamen me fuftinui, multa minui, multa fuftuli, complura ne
pofui quidem; fic tot malis cum vinctum, tum fractum ftudium fcri-
bendi, quid dignum auribus aut probabile poteſt afferri ?
Cicer. Ep. fam. Lib. 6. Ep. 7.
NOTE [3] Page 4
Nec defuêre temporibus Augufti dicendis decora ingenia, donec
glifcente adulatione detererentur.
Tacit. Hift. 1.
NOTE
}
302
Book I.
APPENDIX.
Η ΑΡ.
Ι.
NOTE [4] Page 5.
Quippe adulationi fœdum crimen fervitutis, malignitati falfa fpe-
cies libertatis ineft. Tacit. Ann. 4. for a further account of Cremu-
tius Cordus, vid. Senec. Confol. ad Marciam, &c.
NOTE [5] Page 6.
Memoriâ rerum geftarum eam flammam egregiis viris in pectore
crefcere, nec priùs fedari, quam virtus eorum famam atque gloriam
adæquaverit.
Salluft. Bell. Jugurth.
NOTE [6.] Page 9.
The following paffage relative to the fubject I have undertaken to
inveftigate, is remarkable. Ενίοι δε καὶ πέρι των Αθηναίων πολιτείας πέ-
ποίηνται μνήμην, ἐγω δέ ταύτας μεν ἐῶ. των δε ᾿Αθηναίων καὶ Θηβαίων 3 πανὺ τοί
πολλα προσδεῖσθαι λόγε πεπείσμαι, δια τὸ μήτε τας αυξησεις ἐσχηχέναι κατα
λόγον, μήτε τας ακμας ἐπιμόνες, μήτε τας μεταβόλας ἐνηλλαχέναι μετρίως, αλλ'
ὥσπερ ἐκ προσπαίε τίνος τυχης συν χαίρῳ λαμψάνας, τὸ δη λεγομένον, ἔτι δου
κούνας ακμην, καὶ μελλὸνας ἐυ]ύχειν, της ἐναντίας πεῖραν ειληφέναι μεταβόλας.
"Some writers have taken the republic of Athens as their ſubject; I
* fall fcarcely touch upon it; being perfuaded that little ufe can re-
"ſult from a confideration of the hiſtory of Athens, or of that of
« Thebes; inafmuch as their elevation, feverally, was fudden and out
"of the common courſe of events; there was no permanency in their
grandeur, nor was there gradation in their decline; but as from a
"fhort gleam of fortune, they merely brightened in an occafional
« point of view; and (as has been obferved) when moft appearing to
enjoy profperity, both in poffeffion and in view, they ever fuffered
« the moft fatal reverfe.” Polyb. Hift. Lib. 6.
«Γ
«Γ
From
Book I.
303
APPEND
I X.
I.
From the above paffage it appears, that Polybius confidered the Athe- CHAP.
nian hiſtory as affording few grounds of political theory :—the very rea-
fons which he hath advanced, are reafons which another writer might
have adduced to ſupport a contrary tenet: fuch a one might have ſaid,
"Had the courſe of the Athenian republic been flow, regular, and
"progreffive, I ſhould have no particular inducement to felect this from
"other common-place fubjects of hiftory; but the general revolutions
"of the Athenian republic were numerous, its viciffitudes of fortune and
power frequent, its aggrandiſement glorious; its abaſement terrible;
" and the changes fo fudden, that the cauſe and the effect appear at once
<< in view, and give each political leffon its full force and example."
<<
Salluft too carps at the republic of Athens and its hiſtory; fays he,
"Athenienfium res geftæ, ficut ego exiftimo, amplæ magnificæque fuêre,
" verùm aliquanto minores tamen quàm famâ ferantur, fed quia prove-
"nêre ibi fcriptorum magna ingenia, per terrarum orbem Athenienfium
"facta pro maxumis laudantur, ita eorum, qui ea fecêre, virtus, tanta
"habetur, quam verbis ea potuere extollere præclara ingenia.".
Salluft. Bell. Catalin.
Reſpecting this invidious fuggeftion of the Roman, I content myſelf
with the obſervation, that a hiſtory of that republic is highly worthy at-
tention; the inſtitutions of which nurtured and produced thoſe many
"præclara ingenia."
NOTE [7] Page 10.
THIS and the next chapter are in a certain degree applicable to
the firſt population, and to the ruder commencements of every nation,
as well as of Greece: however fucceffively a hiftory may be diverſified
by different laws, different cuſtoms, arts, and produce, or by fortuitous
relations; before thoſe laws were inftituted, thofe cuftoms adopted, arts
invented, produce cultivated, or thofe exterior relations ftudied, and
turned to account, the narrative muſt be fimple and homogeneous; it
muſt be a mere philofophic detail of human nature; and thus with fome
little
3
CHAP.
II.
APPENDIX.
Boox I.
ΙΙ.
CHAP. little variation from local circumſtances, the hiftory of the beginnings
of one people, is the hiftory of the beginnings of all; the progreſs of
fome tardy, of fome accelerated, but the fame the courfe of the Eaft
and of the Weft, of Perfa and of Greece: πολλα ἂν καὶ ἄλλα τις απο-
δεξεὶε το παλαίον ελληνίκον ὁμοῖο]ρόπα τῷ νῦν βαρβαρικῳ διαζωμένον. Thucyd.
L. 1. Sect. 6.
αν
As to what fome vifionary minds have ſuggeſted of a ſolitary ſtate
of nature, I agree with Ariftotle, that to man or a ftate of nature,” is
a ftate of fociety ;” φύσει μὲν ἔσιν άνθρωπος ζώον πολιτίκον, διο καὶ μὴδεν
δεομένοι της παρ' ἄλληλων βοήθειας, ἐκ ἐλα]τον ὀρέγονται τα συζῆν, Man
" is by nature a fociable animal, and even did not a ſentiment of mu-
"tual wants and affiftance require it, yet would mankind herd and
"live together."
Ariftot. Pol. Lib. 3. Cap. 4.
Ariftotle justly obferves moreover," that we are to judge of man in
his ftate of advancement, and not in that of ignorance; a progrefs
"in knowledge being natural to him, and as that progrefs cannot
« have due advantage but in a ftate of fociety,” the philofopher's in-
duction is, that the un/ocial animal, man, (unfocial from nature, and
"not from contingency) cannot exift; fuch an animal muſt be either
« more or lefs than man :”, ἀπόλις δια φύσιν καὶ ἐ δία τύχην ἤτοι φᾶυλος
ἔσιν, ή κρείττων, ή άνθρωπος.
Ariftot. Pol. L., I. Cap. 2.
:'
NOTE [8.] Page 10.
४
εν
Ariftotle's obfervation reſpecting the country of Greece is inge-
nious; and analogous inductions render it intereſting : - τα μὲν
yaç
τοις ψύχροις τόποις ἐθνῆ, καὶ τὰ πέρι τὴν Ευρωπην θύμε μεν ἐςι πληρῆ, διανοιας δε
ἐνδεεςέρα καὶ τεχνης. δίοπερ ἐλευθέρα μὲν διαθέλει μᾶλλον, ἀπολιτεύτα δε, καὶ
πλησίον άρχειν ἐ δυναμένα. τὰ δὲ πέρι τὴν Ασιαν, διανοητικα μέν, καὶ τεχνίκα τὴν
ψύχην, άθυμα δεν διόπερ ἀρχομένα καὶ δελευὸν]α ατελει. Τὸ δέ των ἐλληνων γένος
ὥσπερ μεσεύει κατὰ τες τόπες, έτως ἀμφοῖν μετέχει, καὶ γαρ ἐνθυμον, καὶ διανοή
τικον ἐςι.
"Thoſe nations fituated in cold climates, as thoſe for the
« moft part of Europe, are fraught with courage, but are compara-
tively deficient in intellectual force and ingenuity; wherefore the
46
« fpirit of their political inftitutions is free, but il regulated, and
6
they
Book I.
305
APPENDIX.
they are by no means fuited to the exercising extenfive dominion; CHAP.
"whereas the people of Afia, labour under imbecility of fpirit, whilſt
"their minds are inventive and intelligent; and thus they are generally
<<
fubjected and enſlaved; but Greece fituated in a mean latitude,
"bears a race of men, partaking the virtues of either, -the bold and
free fpirit of the one, and the intellectual powers of the other,
" people."
Arift. Pol. L. 7. Cap. 7.
c
Livy hath a fimilar idea-" frigida hæc omnis, duraque cultu, et
"afpera plaga eft, cultorum quoque ingenia terræ fimilia habet."
Liv. Hift. 45. So too Herodotus in Calliope-piλÈerv yàp Ex TWV μzháxwv,
μαλάκες γίγνεσθαι, ε γὰρ τοι της αυλης γῆς είναι καρπόν τε θωύμαςον φύει και
ανδρας αγαθες ἐς τὰ πολεμία. L. 9. fub. fin.
is
&
NOTE [9] Page 13.
Primæ frugiferos fœtus mortalibus ægris
Dediderunt quondam præclaro nomine Athenæ,
Et recreaverunt vitam, legefque rogârunt.
Lucret. Lib. 1.
Such too was the boaſt of Ifocrates in his Panegyric (Patria fubaud :)
πρώτη γαρ
και νόμος ἐθεῖο, και πολιτείαν κατἐςήσατο, καὶ μὲν δη και των τεχνών,
τὰς δὲ πρὸς τα αναγκαια τα βίε χρήσιμας, και τας πρὸς ἡδονὴν μεμαχανημένας,
τὰς μὲν ἐυρᾶσα, τὰς δὲ δοκίμασασα, χρῆσθαι τοῖς λοιποῖς παρεδώκε. σε Our Coun-
CC try firſt inſtituted laws, and firſt ſtate Policy, firſt too thoſe Arts
"neceffary to the comfort of life, and firſt, thoſe tending to the re-
«fined pleaſures, and having invented the one, and thereon imagined
"the other, bequeathed them for pofterity to enjoy.
NOTE [10] Page 13.
Ifocrat. Paneg.
Ariftotle, in the courfe of his reafoning on the diftinctions of intel
lectual and corporeal force, and the relative pretenfions to command
thereon founded, hath in one fentence, I think, epitomized the entire
fubject
Rr
II.
306
BOOK I.
APPENDIX.
1
CHAP.
II.
fubject τό μέν γαρ δυναμένου τη διανοια προορᾶν ἀρχὸν φύσει και δεσποζόν
φύσει. τὸ δέ δυναμένον τῷ σώματι ταυτα ποιειν, ἀρχόμενον και φύσει δῆλον, δια
δέσποτη και δελῳ ταυτα συμφέρει. "The being endowed with forefight
"and intelligence is by nature formed to direct, and therefore to
"command; the being enabled by corporeal force to execute and
give effect to thefe-(i. e. to what that forefight fhall fuggeft, or
intelligence invent) is by nature framed for miniftry and there-
"fore for fubjection; wherefore the relative fituation is expedient to
"either." Ariftot. Pol. L. 1.
((
Note (11) Page 14.
Macrobius in the feventeenth and following Chapter of his work,
attempts to prove that all the Dii fuperi were in reality the fame,-the
The Theory of Apuleius is different;-
Sun.
Juno, Vesta, Minerva, Ceres, Diana, Venus, Mars,
Mercurius, Jovis, Neptunus, Vulcanus, Apollo.
·
Enn. Poet.
Cæterique id genus quorum nomina quidem noftris auribus jam diù
cognita, poffumus verò animis conjectare per varias utilitates in vitâ
agendâ, animadverfos in iis rebus, quibus eorum finguli curant. Apu-
lei: de Deo Socrat. Without prefuming to controvert the doctrine
of Macrobius, or of more modern writers, as the very learned Bochart,
Bryant, and others, I venture to coincide, in a great meafure, with
the opinion of Apuleius-" that theſe names were deified,—from the
uſeful arts,-from the various benefactions and inventions conferred on
mnkind, which the holders thereof were diftinguifhed by, and re-
membered for: The Sun may have been (and I allow it to be ſo
proved) a moſt general object of worſhip in the remote ages, and in
moft parts of the globe;-But is it impoffible, that the first heroic be-
nefactor who ftarted forth, and became the inventor of arts of eafe and
comfort, or, as it were the Political Luminary of his country, to which
every eye was directed for beneficence and aid,-Is it improbable, that
He
BOOK I.
307
APPENDIX.
!
τα
TO
વ
II.
He had fome honours paid him in (perhaps the only temple) the temple c H a p.
of that celeftial luminary, which his rude yet grateful followers, till
then alone adored?-I fay, is it improbable that there have been other
children of the Sun befides the Inca's of Peru? and that the glories, the
qualities, the epithets, the names, and the additions of the adopted fire,
intermingled in the mythology of theſe mortal benefactors, whoſe bleſ-
fings were diffufive and who animated, cherished, and enlightened a whole
people? Or is it any ways neceffary to deny their exiftence, to fupport
any theory, or to explain any paffage of the ancient writers? The wor-
fhip of the fun, and of deified men have perhaps too been together
blended with that of the pure fpiritual being: the adoration of Neïtha,
or ens fummum of the Ægyptian Saïtæ, is ſuppoſed to have been brought
with them when they migrated into Attica, and thence forward to
have been preſerved in the worſhip to 'An the Minerva of the Athe-
nians, whoſe myſterious words in the comment of Procles on the Ti-
mæus are-τὰ ὀνα, καὶ τὰ ἐσσομένα, καὶ τὰ γεγονότα ἐγὼ ἐιμι, καὶ τον ἕμον
χελωνα ἔδεις απεκάλυψεν. "I am the preſent, and the paſt, and the fu-
ture, and none have raiſed the veil that covers me!" words, which
ſeem to have a holy reference to the true God, fempiternal, and be-
yond the ken of eye, or underſtanding! thus, it feems, from venera-
tion towards mortal, towards celeftial beings, and towards the fupreme
benefactor of all, a confufion hath crept into the facred hiſtory of re-
mote ages; and however accurately and learnedly the analyſis of an-
cient mythology may have been difcuffed by various writers, I yet
humbly conceive, that neceſſary data may have been too often rejected
or omitted, and that the exiſtence of deified men fhould almoft in every
cafe be allowed to co-operate with other objects of religion, for the
clearly and juftly elucidating the myſterious paffages of the ancient
poets and other writers. I repeat that my alluſion is to the Dii fuperi.
I by no means confound with them, thoſe who were deified as heroes,
and had a fubordinate veneration and regard τὰ δε ἵερα μὲν θεοις, τὰ δὲ
Πρωσιν.
Hpwow. Arift. Pol. L. 7. C. 12.
CC
T
Rr 2
NOTE
308
Book I.
APPENDIX.
CHA P.
II.
NOTE [12] Page 14.
Condere cœperunt urbes, arcemque locare,
Præfidium Reges ipfi fibi, perfugiumque
Et pecudes, et agros divifêre, atque dedêre
Pro facie cujufque, et viribus, ingenioque.
Lucret. L. 5.
Even appearance and phyfiognomy were motives of preference in the
election of a chieftain, however little entitled to confideration in a
choice, which other and more effential diftinctions ſhould properly di-
rect; they notwithſtanding, however had great weight in the ruder
ages, and I remember in the hiftory of the Saracens it is faid, "that
"Mahomet was much indebted for fuccefs on his firſt outſet, to a com-
"manding aſpect and piercing eye." Ariftotle too mentions a people
of Æthiopia who choſe their king or chieftain from his bulk and beau-
ty: καὶ γὰρ ἂν ἐν κάτα μέγεθος διενέμοντο τὰς ἀρχας, ὥσπερ ἐν Αιθιοπία φασι τίνες,
й ××τα xàλλos. Ariftot. Pol. L 4. Cap. 4.
κατα κάλλος.
NOTE [13.] Page 15.
σε
Θύμος γὰρ καὶ βελήσις, ἔτι δὲ ἐπιθυμια και γιγνομένοις ευθύς υπαρχει παιδιάς.
ὅ δε λογισμος καὶ ὅ ιᾶς προιεσιν ἐγλίνεσθαι πεφυκε. “ Choice, will, and paffion
"are prompt even in the child, but underſtanding and reaſoning
belong only to the adult." Ariftot. Pol.. L. 7. Cap. 15.
(C
NOTE [14.] Page 15.
ὥσπερ γὰρ τελεῖθεν βελτίσον τῶν ζωὼν άνθρωπος ἐςι, ἔτω και χωρισθεν νόμο και
δίκης, χειρὶσον πάν]ων. χαλεπω αλή γὰρ ἀδικία ἐχουσα όπλα. « As under fuch
"and fuch circumftances, man is the beſt of all created animals; fo,
"not attending to the laws of reaſon and juſtice is he the worft; inaſ-
much
Book I.
309
APPEND
I X.
τα
« much as nought can be more terrible than the fpirit to injure, with
"fo many powers, to effect the injury." Ariftot. Pol. L. 1. Cap. 2.
Polybius purfues the argument yet further τὸ των ανθρωπων γένος δοκεν
πανουργότατον είναι τῶν ζωών, πολυν ἔχει λόγον τῇ φαυλόταῖον ὑπάρχειν. τα μέν
γὰρ άλλα ζώα ταις τὰ σώματος ἐπιθυμίαις αυταις δελεύοντα, δια μόνας ταύτας
σφαλλείαι, τὸ δε των ανθρώπων γένος, και προσδεδοξοποιημένον ἐκ ἦτιον δια τὴν
ἀλογισίαν, ἡ δια τὴν φύσιν ἁμαρτάνει "Man being the moft ingenious, is
"therefore liable to be the moſt depraved of all animals; other ani-
• mals being fubfervient only to paffions, alone err through them, but
"man following his phantafies may err from perverfion of reafon, as
"well as from influence of paffion." Polyb. Hift. 7.
NOTE [15.] Page 16.
ponere leges
Ne quis fur effet, neu latro, neu quis adulter.
NOTE [16.] Page 16.
ήν
४८
Horat. Sat. I,
βασιλειας μέν οὖν ἔιδῆ ταῦτα, . . . . · μία μέν ή πέρι της Ηρῶικες χρόνες, αύτη δ' είνα
ἐκονίων μέν, ἐπί τίσι δ᾽ ὠρισμένοις . ςράτηγος γάρ ἦν και δικαςης ο βασιλευς, και
"Of the various kinds of monarchy, a diſtinct
των προς τις θεος κύριος
"one was that of the
"voluntary, and the
heroic ages; the obedience of the fubject was
power of the king limited and defined, under
"the heads of what was allowed to the offices of general, of judge,
« or of prieft, all of which centered in the perfon of the king.
Ariftot. Pol. L. 3. Cap. II.
NOTE [17] Page 16.
It was a fine obfervation of Antigonus to his fon; ἐκ οισθα ὦ πᾶι τὴν
βασιλείαν ήμων ἔνδοξον είναι δελεύειν. "Knoweft thou not my fon, that to
"be a king is to be a fplendid flave."
12
Elian. Var. Hift. L. 2. Cap. 20..
NOTE
CHAP.
II.
1
310
Book I.
APPENDIX.
CHAP.
III.
NOTE [18.] Page 19.
Ευπατρίδαι, γεωμόροι, καὶ δημιεργοι. Diodor. Sic. L. 1. Sect. 28.
In the 24th fect. of the fame book, Diodorus mentions a fourth claſs,
dividing the countrymen into thofe "who tilled the ground," and
thofe," who tended the flocks."
NOTE [19.] Page 19.
Το Κάρικον ἦν ἔθνος λογιμω]άτον ἀπᾶντων ἐθνέων, καὶ τεῖον ἄμα τὸν χρόνον, καὶ
μanew μarisa. Herodot. L. I.
μακρῳ μαλιςα.
NOTE [20.] Page 21.
The knights errant of Greece did not fatisfy themfelves with mere
feats of love, their depredations extended to wealth, as well as to
beauty. Προσπίπτοντες πόλεσι ατειχίσοις καὶ κατα κώμας οικεμέναις ἤρπάζον,
καὶ τὸν πλείσον τα βὶε ἐντεῦθεν ἐποιανο.
ἐκ ἐχονος πῶ αισχυνην τέτε τὸ
έργε, φερόνος δε καὶ δόξης μᾶλλον. Falling on the unfortified towns,
"and fcattered villages, they paffed their lives in rapine and plun-
« der . . . . the above practices, far from being difcreditable, even
"bearing a character of honour and diftinction."
Thucyd. L. 1.
CHAP.
IV.
NOTE [21.] Page 24.
IT was this long journey, and abfence of Thefeus, that gave rife to
the fable of his going with Pirithoüs to the fhades below; his return
feeming as it were a return from the grave: καὶ Θησεα δε καὶ Πειριθοῦν
μακρας εικος ἐςι σρατεῖας υπομειναντας, καταλίπειν δόξαν πέρι ἐᾶυων ὡς εἰς ᾅδου
nalaßalas. Strabo. L. 1.
5
NOTE
Book. I.
311
APPENDI X.
NOTE [22.] Page 26.
Της Μεδόνλιδας κατ' αρχας αφείλοντο ο δήμος τῆς ἐξεσιας, καὶ μέλεςἦσαν εις
άexý úπÚJUνov. Paufan. Meffen. Ariftotle mentions the being VEUTTEU-
Juvos "unaccountable for any conduct, as the diftinction of defpotifm."
Τοσαῦτην δ' ἀναγκαιον είναι τυραννίδα μοναρχίαν, ἢ τὶς ἀναπευθύνος άρχει Ariftot.
Pol. L. 4. Cap. 10.
NOTE [23.] Page 27.
The word not being familiar in our language, it may be neceffary
to obferve, that "Ploutocracy" fignifies power founded in wealth, or
thofe "powerful from wealth:" the word ouloxgalía is often to be
Πλουτοκρατία
met with in the political treatiſes of Plato, Ariſtotle, and others; no
fubſtitute readily occurring to me I ventured to adopt it.
NOTE [24.] Page 28.
Draco Athenienfis, vir bonus, multâque effe prudentiâ exiftimatus
eſt, juriſque divini et humani peritus fuit; is Draco leges quibus
Athenienfes uterentur primus omnium tulit; in illis legibus furem,
cujus modicumque furti, fupplicio capitis puniendum effe, et alia ni-
mis feveré cenfuit fanxitque. Aul. Gell. L. 11. Cap. 8. From their
unqualified feverity, his laws were faid by Demades to have been
written not in ink but blood. Some few are preſerved by Plutarch
and others; but they are not worth reciting; in my difregard of him
as a lawgiver, I am fully warranted by the opinion of Ariſtotle, in Rhet.
L. 2. Cap. 23.
NOTE
CHAP.
IV..
312
Book I.
APPENDIX.
CHA P.
y.
NOTE [25.] Page 31.
αν
PLATO, in his Politeia, confiders the revolution of an Oligarchy
as neceffarily paffing through a mere Ploutocracy to a Democracy;
and moſt probably he had the hiftory of Athens then in view, as the
particulars, he enumerates, tally clofely with the actual circumſtances
of the republic at this æra :-Ουκοῦν μεταβαλλεὶ μὲν τρόπον τινα τοιἔτον ἐξ
Ολιγαρχίας εις Δημοκρατίαν, δι' ἀπλήσιαν τῇ προκειμένε ἄγαθε, τῇ ὡς πλεσίω]αίου
γινέσθαι. πῶς δή ; ἄτε, οἶμαι, ἀρχοντες ἐν αύτῃ, οι αρχοντες δία τό πολλα κεκλῆσθαι,
ἐκ ἐθελᾶσιν ἔίργειν νόμῳ των νέων όσοι ἂν ἀκολασοι γιγνῶναι, μη ἐξεῖναι αυτοις
ἀναλίσχείν τέ καὶ ἀπολλῦναι τά ἐαύλων, ἵνα ὠνἔμενοι τὰ των τοιείων, καὶ ἐισδανει-
ζέντες, ἔτι πλουσίω]εροι, καὶ ἐντιμοτέροι γιγνῶνται. "An Oligarchy thus after
"a certain manner falls into a Democracy, from the avidity of its
"conftituents in the purfuit of what they deem the chief good, inor-
"dinate wealth in what manner? Why, as I am of opinion, from
"the ruling men, thofe ruling from the dynaſty of wealth, permitting
"the younger citizens, who are prone to diffipation, to indulge in
every excefs without enforcing the laws against them; and this in
"order that their laviſh profufion may reduce them ultimately to ſeek
"refources in thofe ufurious practices, by which themſelves may be-
"come yet more rich, and more powerful." Plat. Polit. L. 8.
*
..
-And then bringing into view, at once the enervate luxury and op-
preffive pride of the few, the broken fortunes of fome, and the defperate
fervitude of the many; Plato facilitates a deduction, intimating fedi-
tion and infurrection, progreffive to the revolution and confequences
above ftated.
NOTE [26.] Page 32..
The first clafs of citizens according to the inftitutions of Solon con-
fifted of thofe, whofe revenues amounted to five hundred medimni, or
bushels of corn or fruit; the fecond, of thoſe who had a rent of three
hundred bufhels, and who kept a horfe; the third, of thofe who had
two hundred, and the fourth and laft clafs, of all thofe whofe reve-
nue
Book I.
313
APPENDIX.
V.
nue was of lefs amount, and who fupported themſelves by menial arts CHAP.
and labour; nor did theſe diſtinctions affect the ſpirit of the republican
conftitution, watchful over the freedom and rights of all its citizens
indifcriminately; there yet was left a virtual equality; fays Mon-
tefquieu, "Il fuffit que l'on établiffe, un cens qui reduife au fixe les
"différences a un certain point, après quoi c'eſt a des loix particu-
"liéres à egalifér, pour ainfi dire, les inegalités, par les charges
qu'elles impofent aux riches, et le foulagément qu'elles accordent
"aux pauvres.
L'Eſprit des Loix. L. 5. Chap. 5. this was precifely
the cafe at Athens, vid. Ifocrat. Orat. Teg avliderews. Xenoph. Pol.
&c. &c.
"
NOTE [27.] Page 34.
v
Πολίτης δ' απλως ἐδένι τῳ ἄλλῳ ορίζεται μᾶλλον, ή τῳ μετέχειν κρίσεως καὶ
άρχης. δίοπερ ὁ λεχθεις ἐν μέν δημοκρατίᾳ μαλίςα ἐςι πολίτης. A citi-
"zen can by nothing be fo much diſtinguiſhed, as by a participation
"of a political and judicial capacity, wherefore a citizen in a demo-
"cratic government, may be faid to be more a citizen than any other."
Ariftot. Pol. L. 3. C. 1. His definition, Lib. 3. Cap. 8. is at once
more full and correct, and comes nearer to a defcription of Solon's
citizen.-Πολίτης δέ κοινῃ μὲν ὁ μετέχων τῇ ἄρχειν καὶ ἀρχέσθαι. ἐςι καθ᾽ ἐκάσην
πολιτεῖαν έτερος, πρὸς δὲ τὴν αρισὴν, ὁ δυναμένος και προαιρέμενος αρχεσθαι καὶ ἄρχειν
πρὸς τὸν βίον τὸν καθ᾿ ἀρετην. Generally ſpeaking, a citizen is one par-
taking equally of fubordination and power; the definition may be
accommodated to different ftates, but in one the beft conftituted,
"the citizen is one competent to, and occafionally candidate for, every
"office in proportion to his eſtimation and good life.”
"
rr
T8
Ariftot. Pol. L. 3. Cap. 8.
NOTE [28.] Page 34.
The paying the citizens a certain ftipend when exercising the func-
xion of juryman, I am well aware has been attributed to Pericles; but
the words of Ariftotle may be otherwife conftrued; -rà de dixzsngiz pis-
Supósx
S s
314
BOOK I.
APPEND I X.
v .
·
· CHAP. Jopóga xalesñoe Пegixans. Ariftot. Pol. L. 2. Cap. 10. The perverfion
of the judicatory fee, is what I fufpect of Pericles; and that he intro-
duced recompence for attendance on public bufinefs and public trials;
and this will explain the paffage of Ariftotle when he further adds,-
· καὶ τᾶτον δή τον τρόπον έκαςος των δημαγωγων προηγαγεν αύξων εις την νῦν Δημο
agaríav.--The demagogues, whilft they ſtudied merely to ingratiate them-
felves with the people, by bringing more buſineſs and more profit to
the affembly, brought on the further confequence of extending the
power of the people, as well as their own; and Ariftotle, Lib. 6.
Cap. 2. confiders fuch as one obvious cauſe of the ruin of the repub-
lic; the people, in proportion as they became more idle, lafcivious,
and corrupt, arrogating to themſelves a right of affembly, and judg-
ment, on queſtions beyond their juft province, merely that they might
receive the conventional ftipend.
}
NOTE [29.] Page 35.
The accufation in Æfchines's oration against Ctefiphon, was chiefly
that he had not rendered account to the people of his conduct whilſt
in office.
NOTE [30.] Page 36.
Solon's law relative to confpiracies has been a favourite fubject of
explanation and controverfy: Aulus Gellius quotes the faying of the
philofopher Favorinus;" that the cafe provided for was fimilar to that
"of a quarrel between two brothers, when the third brother interfer-
ing not, ftrangers might come in, and take advantage of the dif
"fention," but the argument of the text is undoubtedly the moſt
weighty in favour of this law; for the ſucceſs of treachery is generally
founded on the indolence or unwarinefs of its object.
NOTE
Book I.
315
APPENDI X.
".
CHAP.
V.
NOTE [31.] Page 37.
Σόλωνα μίξαντα καλῶς τὴν πολιτεῖαν, είναι γὰρ τὴν μέν εν ᾿Αρειοπαγῳ βουλὴν,
ολιγαρχικόν. τὸ τε τας άρχας ἅιρετας, Αριςοκρατικον. τοτε δικατήρια δημότικον
Ariftot. Pol. L. 2. Cap. 1o.
Παρεκβάσεις, τυραννις μεν βασιλειας. ολιγαρχία δε, Αριςοκρατιας.
Δημοκρατία δε πολιτείας. πρὸς δε τῳ κοὶνῳ λυσιτελοῦν ἐδεμία αυτων ibid.
T
ὅταν δὲ τὸ πλῆθος πρὸς το κοινον πολιτευὴται συμφέρον καλεῖται τὸ κοινὸν
όνομα πᾶσων πολιτείων, πολιτεία· Ariftot. Pol. L. 3. Cap. 5.
NOTE [32.] Page 37.
εν
ἡ γὰρ αύτη πολιτεία τότε ἦν, καὶ νῦν ἐςιν ᾿Αριςοκρατία, ἐν ᾗ νῦν πολι-
Τεῦομεθα, και τὸν ἀει χρόνον ὡς τα πολλα, κάλει δε ο μεν αυτὴν Δημοκρατίαν, ο δε
ἄλλο, ᾧ ἂν χαίρη. ἑςι δή 'αληθείᾳ, μετ' ἐνδοξίας πλήθες ᾿Αριςοκρατίας
Platon. Dial. Menexen.
NOTE [33.] Page 38.
ἐδε των νόμων φρόνιζεσι γεγραμμένων, ἢ ἀγράφων, ἵνα δη μηδαμη μηδεις
αυτοις ή δεσπότης Platon. Polit. L. 6.
NOTE [34] Page 39.
Ευρίσκω δὲ ταῦτην ἂν μόνον γενομένην (προσόδον) καὶ τῶν μελλον]ων ἀπορί
πην, καὶ παρόντων κακως ἀπαλλάγην, ἣν ἐθελήσωμεν ἐκεῖνην τὴν Δημοκρατίαν
ἀναλάβειν, ἦν Σόλων μεν ὁ δημικω]ατος γιγνομένος ἐνομοθέτησε. Κλεισθένης δε, ο
αυλος τυράννες ἐκβάλων, καὶ τὸν δημὸν καταγάγων, πάλιν ἐξαρχῆς καλες ήσαν
Ifocrat. Archid. oratio: there was fuch a confufed ufe made of the
word Anµoxpalía by the ancients, that no good inference can be drawn of
the original inftitution of Athenian government from Ifocrates, or
even from Solon's application of it:-in another paffage of his works
Ifocrates
Sf 2
J
316
Βοσκ Ι.
APPENDI X.
ν.
CHAP. Ifocrates fays-Λυκέργε τήν τε Δημοκρατιαν καταςἦσαντος παρ' αυτοις αριςοκρατιᾳ
μεμιμένην, ηνπέρ ἦν παρ ημίν i. e, Lycurgus having inftituted for
them,
(the Lacedænionians) a mixture of democracy and ariſtocracy
"like to ours." Ifoc. Panath.
«Ε
This was a conftitution of government founded on the beſt princi-
ples, thole of virtue and freedom, Αριςοκρατίας μεν γὰρ ὄρος αρετη, δήμε δε
ἐλευθέρια Arif. Pol. L. 4 Cap. 8. Ariftotle, as hath been obferved,
in one place treats the democracy as a mere perverfion or excentricity
of a political conftitution; and in another place he fays-is yag n
πολιτεία, ὡς ἁπλῶς ἐιπειν, μίξις ὀλιγαρχίας καὶ δημοκρατίας, ειώθασι δε καλειν
τας μεν ἀποκλίνανίας, ὡς πρὸς τὴν δημοκρατίαν, πολιτείας· τὰς δὲ πρὸς τὴν ολιγαρ
χίαν, αριςοκρατιας" " a republic properly fpeaking is a mixture of oligarchy
"and democracy; when the principle of the oligarchy predominates,
« the term applied is ariftocracy; when the tendency is to a democracy,
"the name given is republic." From the paffages above cited, it
fhould appear that a democracy in itſelf was ſcarcely acknowledged as
a practical conftitution of government by the ancient political writers:
and thus it ſeems to me,—for Ariſtotle when in his fourth book, he in-
veftigates the fubject of a democracy as a good and genuine conftitution
of ſtate, evidently uſes that term for republic, as the very definitions
explain; and as the purpoſe of this note is to prove that democracy is
ever uſed in that fenfe, when applied to the common-wealth of Athens;
and that a confuſion of language and ideas has arifen from the uſing
the word Δημοκρατία fometimes in a fimple, and fometimes in a qualified
fenfe, I cannot better elucidate the matter in queftion, than by addu-
cing the definitions of Ariftotle alluded to.
T
1. Δημοκρατία μεν οὖν εςι πρώτη μεν ή λεγομένη μάλιςα κατα τὸ ἴσον. ἴσον γὰρ
φησιν ο νομος, ο της τοιαύτης δημοκρατίας τὸ μηδέν μᾶλλον υπαρχειν τὰς ἀπόρους
η τις ευπόρες
2. Αλλο δε τὸ τὰς αρχὰς ἀπὸ τιμημάτων είναι, βραχέων δε τελων όντων·
3. Ετερον είδος δημοκρατίας τὸ μετέχειν ἄπανίας τὰς πολίτας, ὅσοι ανευπευθυνοι,
άρχειν δέ τον νόμον
4. Ἕτερον δε είδος δημοκρατίας, το πᾶσι μελεί και των
πολίτης, αρχειν δὲ τον νόμον·
άρχων, ἐάν μόνον ή
5. Ετερον δε είδος δημοκρατίας, τ' ἄλλα μὲν είναι ταυτά, κύριον δ᾽ ειναι τὸ
πλήθος,
BOOK I.
317
APPENDIX.
πλήθος, καὶ μὴ τον νόμον. τἔτο δε γίνεται ὅταν τα ψηφίσματα κύρια ἢ ἄλλα μὴ ό CH A P.
νόμος.
(C
ท
The firſt ſort of democracy, is that inftituted on the ftricteft prin-
ciples of equality; in fuch a democracy law and policy equalize the
"claims of all, and the poor and the rich equally participate the ad-
"miniſtration of that law and policy."
"The fecond fort of democracy is that, wherein the government is
"limited to the poffeffors of a certain property by cenfus, the offices
"of government being held for a defined and but ſhort period.
"The third fort of democracy is that, wherein every citizen may
"partake of the government, provided that he is not at the time ame-
"nable or accountable; and wherein law governs fupreme."
"The fourth, that democracy wherein every citizen unconditionally
"partakes of the government, and wherein law governs fupreme.
"The fifth, that democracy wherein the people are fupreme and not
<<< the law; wherein, the contingent decrees of the affembly fuperfede,
" or are ſubſtituted for a conftitutional code."
Ariftot. Pol. Lib. 4. Cap. 4.
The third and fourth fpecies are nearly the fame, with a ſmall but
neceffary amendment in the third; and Ariftotle Cap. 4. lib. 6. of the
ſame work, enumerates but four kinds of democracy and prefers the
firſt above cited; the principle of it, is indeed the fimple and genuine
one; but if we connect with it, that part of the fecond which requires
a certain rate of property in the magiftracy; and that part of the third
which renders the executive authority pure, immaculate, and unfuf
pected; and thoſe parts of the third and fourth which make eſtabliſhed
law fupreme both in judicial cafes, and internal polity; and that part
of the fifth which makes the affembly of the people fupreme, as far as
relates to exterior and political contingency;-we fhall then have a
conſtitution of government, nearly fuch as Solon inſtituted, and as
Ifocrates deſcribed by the term Democracy,-Ariftotle by that of Re-
public,-Plato by that of Aristocracy.
V.
NOTE
318
Book I.
APPENDIX.
CHAP.
VI.
NOTE [35] Page 43.
λύτρωσις σωματων καὶ κληματων, . . . αυτος ο νόμος ἐκληθη 'σεισαχθεια
This was a general infolvent act, a general releaſe of perſons and of
obligations.
Diog. Laert. vit. Solon.
NOTE [36.] Page 44.
εισαγγέλιαι δη και κρίσεις καὶ ἀγωνες πέρι ἀλλήλων γίγνονται. ουκούν ενα
τίνα δει ὁ δημος ἐνῶθε διαφέρον]ως προὶσασθαι ἐαῦτε, και τείον τρέφειν τε, καὶ
αυξειν μέγαν. τελὸν μεν ἄρα δηλὸν ὅτι ὅταν πεφύηται τυραννος, ἐκ προσβαλίκης ρίζης
ἐκβλαςάνει
Platon. Polit. L. 4.
NOTE [37.] Page 45.
Quis doctior iifdem illis temporibus, aut cujus eloquentia literis
inſtructior fuiffe traditur, quam Pifiſtrati?-qui primus Homeri libros
confufos anteà fic difpofuiffe dicitur ut nunc habemus. Cicer. de
Oratore. μᾶλλον Σόλων ὄμηρον ἐφωτίσεν ή Πεισισραίος ως φησι Διευχιδας
"Dieuchidas fays that Solon, rather than Pififtratus was the firſt edi-
"tor of Homer." Dieuchidas was an hiftorian of the Magarenfians:
Diog. Laert. v. Solon.-It is probable that Solon, who travelled
through Lydia and moft parts of the Afiatic coaft, did in the courſe of
his journeys collect the Rhapsodies; Pififtratus might afterwards have
arranged the collection, and fo Cicero feems to have underſtood it.
NOTE [38.] Page 45.
Plato's ufurper bears the exact character of Pififtratus, and the pic-
ture was probably lefs a work of fancy, than from the life; "he is mild,
ingratiating,
Book 1.
319
APPENDIX.
VI.
" ingratiating, and juft; he frames good laws, he attends to the duly CHAP.
"enforcing them, he is fond of agrarian reftrictions, and he guards
« equally againft the poverty, and fuperabundance of any, that being
"neceffitated to daily employment and induftry, they may have lefs.
e time to plot againft his government:” ἵνα πένητες γιγνομένοι προς τὸ
καθ' ημέραν ἀναγκαζῶνται είναι, καὶ ἤτζον αυ]ῳ ἐπιβελευῶσι. Platon. Pol. Lib.
8. thus to employ the citizens Pififtratus built the Temple of Jupiter
Olympius. Ariftot. Pol. L. I. Cap. 11. So too #lian, Πεισισραίος,
ὅτι τὴς ἀρχὴς ἐγκράτος ἐγενεῖο, με επεμπεῖο τες εν ταις ἀγόραις ἀποσχολάζοντας,
καὶ ἐπυνθανεῖο, ὅτι δήποτε ξιη το αίτιον το αλύειν αυλον ;—καὶ ἐπέλεγεν, ή μεν στ
τεθνῆκε ζεῦγος, παρ' ἐμε λάβειν, άπιθι καὶ ἐργάζε. . δεδίως μη ή σχόλη τελων
επιβούλην τεκή
"Pififtratus having ufurped the government, was wont
"to chide thoſe loitering in the public places of the city, and aſked,
"Why fo idle? have you loft your team?-I will give you another,-
«Ε go and work,-fearful left idleneſs begat defigns againſt his ſtate."
#lian. Var. Ηift. Lib. 9. Cap. 25.
NOTE [39.] Page 46.
τριβὴ δὲ τυραννις ή των Πεισισραλίδων ᾿Αθηνῃσιν, ἐκ ἐγένετο δε συνεχής,
δίς γὰρ ἐφύγε Πεισισραίος τυραννῶν, ὥςε έτεσι τριακοντα καὶ τρίσιν, ἐπλα
και δέκα εξῇ τέτων ἐτυραννεύσεν· Ariftot. Pol. Lib. 5. Cap. 12. So that
the interval of fixteen years out of thirty three, from the ufurpation to
the deceaſe of Pififtratus, was, at two different times, filled up by an
interregnum, or anarchy, or civil commotion, or ufurpation of Mega-
cles ; no particular account of which remain.
NOTE [40.] Page 48.
VII.
In making Hipparchus the Elder I have followed Plato,Ιππαρχῳ CHAP.
ἐς τῶν Πεισισραζε παιδων ἣν πρεσβύτατος, καὶ σοφω]άτος: Hipparch. Dialog.
Alian fays the fame, var. Hift. Lib. 8. Cap. 2. and yet the authority of
3
Thucydides.
320
Book I.
APPENDI
X.
VII.
υιέων
ων
CHAP. Thucydides was before him. Ιππίας μὲν πρεσβυταίος ῶν ἦρχε των Πεισισραίῳ
Hift. Lib. 1. fect. 10.-Paufanias in Atticis feems to fide with
Thucydides. καὶ Πεισισράτος καὶ ὁ παῖς Ιππίας φιλάνθρωποι μᾶλλον καὶ
σοφωτέροι, ες ο διά την Ιππάρχε θάναίον Ιππίας εχρήσατο θυμῳ It is of lite
tle importance whether the king, or the king's brother was killed; the
political confequences of the fact were the fame.
NOTE [41.] Page 49.
. . . δίο δη τότε (Σόλωνος) νομοθεσια καλοπλισθεντες τας ψυχας, Αρμόδιος καὶ
Αρισογείτων καταλύειν ἐπιχειρῆσαν τήν των Πεισισράτιδων άρχην. Diodor. Sic.
excerpt. πέρι αρέτης
NOTE [42.] Page 49.
Και γὰρ ἂν τὸν ἀρὶσον ἄνδρων πάντων, 'σανία ἐς ταύτην τὴν ἀρχὴν ἐκλος των
ἐωθότων νοηματων 'εησεις Herodot. Thalia.
NOTE [43.] Page 50.
Comunque fe fia io non giudicho, ne giudichero mai effer' difetto, di-
fendere alcuni opinioni con le ragioni ſenza volervi ufare o' l'autoritá,
la forza. Machiav. Diſc. Lib. 1. Cap. 58.
NOTE [44.] Page 50.
"Nec quifquam tibi fidelior militum fuit dum amarì meruifti.'
Tacit. Ann. 15.
-dubitavit (Nero) an cuncta vectigalia omitti juberet idque pulcherri-
rimum donum generi mortalium daret. Ann. 13.
«Ε
"c
«Ε
.cc
privatas inimicitias non vi principis ulcifcar." Ann. 3.
ne verterent fapientèr reperta et femper placita; fatis onerum
principibus, fatis potentia; minui jura, quoties glifcat autoritas;
neque utendum imperio, ubi legibus agi poffet." ibid.
hujus
Book I.
321
APPEND I X.
hujus igitur pueritia blanda, ingeniofa, parentibus affabilis, parentum CHA P.
amicis jucunda, populo accepta, grata fenatui.
Ælian. Spart. vit. Caracall.
VII.
NOTE [45.] Page 52.
ἐλευθέριας δε καὶ φιλιας ἀληθῆς τυραννικη φύσις ἀεὶ ἀγεύςος.
Plat. Pol. 8.
NOTE [46.] Page 52.
The claffic ftudent is fo accuſtomed to read of the libidinous depravity
of the ancients, that in general difguft he may not have payed due
attention to the fubject here treated of, nor have fufficiently difcri-
minated two connections, as widely diftant as the extremes of vice and
virtue.
४
The love of the old man for the young alluded to in the text, had its
pretended fource in divine example, for fuch was the explanation of the
rape of Ganymede; xai
εγωγε δε φημί,
καὶ Γανυμήδην ἐ σώματος, ἄλλα ψύχης
ἕνεκα, υπο Δίος εις Ολύμπον ἄνενεχθῆναι. “ Ganymede, I fay, not from excel-
"lence of corporeal, but of mental and fpiritual beauty, was by the
"God taken to his own habitation." Xenoph. Sympof. Cap. 8.
ö
Plutarch in an elegant paffage of his Differtationes Erotica, thus de-
fcribes the pure tendency of thefe connections, ὅπως ἔρως ο γνήσιος ὁ
παιδικος ἐςιν, ἐ πόθῳ σίλβων, ως ἔφη τὸν παρθένιον ᾿Ανακρέων, έδε μύρων αναπλέως
καὶ γεγανῶμενος, ἀλλὰ λιζόν αυτόν ὀψει ἐν σκὸλαις φιλοσοφίης, ἤ τὰ πέρι γυμνασία,
και παλαισραις περι θέρα νέων ὀξύ μαλά καὶ γεννᾶιον εγκελευομένον πρὸς ἀρετὴν τοὺς
αξιόις ἐπιμελείας. "The pure genuine affection is that for young men,
"not glowing with paffion, as the feminine Cupid of Anacreon, nor
"nouriſhed with delicacies and perfumes, nor embelliſhed by drefs;
"but you will fee it unperturbed and unadorned attending the voice
"of philofophy, or exercifing in the fchools of manly wisdom and
"manly labour; there will you fee this chafte love infpiring deeds of
T t
difficulty,
322
Book F.
APPENDIX.
CH AP.
VII.
difficulty, and fentiments of virtue, into the breaft of every youth
"whom it fhall deem worthy its leffons and fuperintendance."
Plut. Differt. Erot.
In the life too of Lycurgus it is explained, that no jealoufies, ſuch as
attend a leſs worthy paffion, ever mingled in theſe attachments, but
were fuperfeded by a fpirit of virtuous emulation. ἀρχὴν ἐποιἔνο φιλίας πρὸς
άλληλες οι των ερασθέντες, καὶ διατελῶν, κοίνῃ σπουδαζονίες, όπως ἀρὶσον ἀπερ
γασαινο τὸν ἐρωμένον "If two old men attached themfelves to the fame
« youth, it was a cement of mutual friendfhip, and far from ftrife; the
rivalſhip merely begat a contention, which ſhould render the object
« of predilection mort wife and moft virtuous.” Plutarch. vit. Lycurg.
The following paffage of Ælian, places the matter in the cleareſt light.
—άλλον δε τίνα άνδρα κάλου ἐδενος ἐρῶν]α τῶν καλῶς πεφυκότων, και τέτον
ἐζημίωσαν (Σπαρτιᾶτοι) ότι χρὴσος ὧν ἐδένος ἢρᾶ. σε among the Spartans, if a
6.C
ων
기
​« man of worth and virtue, beftowed not his affections on fome well-
"born youth, he was fubject to penalties, inaſmuch as he might be
“ uſeful and was not fo." Var. Hift. Lib. 3. Cap. 10.-in fact they
were mere preceptors, a troublefome office, which the ftate fined thofe
who refuſed or declined.
NOTE [47.] Page 53.
Της δε Ιωνίας καὶ ἀλλοθί πολλαχες αισχρόν νενομίσαι, ὅσοι υπο βάρβαροις
οικοσι,
διὰ τὰς τυραννίδας αισχρον τἔτο γέ και 'ηγέ φιλοσοφία, και φιλο-
γυμνασια, ε γὰρ ὅιμαι συμφέρει τοίς αρχεσιν φρονήματα μεγαλά ἐγγίνεσθαι των
Platon. Sympof.
४
ἀρχομένων, ἐδε φιλίας ισχύρας και κοινωνίας.
NOTE [48.] Page 34.
αν
καίτοι Παυσανιας γε Αγάθωνος το ποίης ἐρασης ἀπολογεμένος υπέρ των
ἀκρασια συνκυλίνδεμένων, ἔἴρηκεν, ὡς καὶ στρατευμα αλκιμωτατον, ὧν γενολο ἐκ
παιδίκων τε καὶ ἐρᾶςων Xenoph. Sympof. Cap. 8.
NOTE
Book 1.
323
APPENDI X.
NOTE [49.1 Page 58.
Befides the paffage alluded to of Herodotus, Ed. Gronov. p. 309,
mentioning the encreaſe of the tribes, there is a fubfequent one, page
211, wherein Clifthenes is faid to have enrolled in thofe tribes certain
new Demi or diftricts of people, and this tallies with the account of
Ariftotle in his Politics, Lib. 3. cap. 1. the paffage, « ἦν τε τὸν δῆμον
ην του
ει προσθεμένος, πόλλῳ καλυπέρθε των αντιςασεωίων.” I have placed to either
account generally, and the conftruction I think, taken in a full and
relative view, warrants not a more confined acceptation.
σε
CHAP.
VIII.
NOTE [50.] Page 61.
-Αακεδαίμονιες δία τέτε καλλὶςα πολιτευόμενος ότι μάλιςα δημόκραζεμενοι
τυγχάνεσιν· Ifocrat. Orat. Areopag.
NOTE [51.] Page 61.
εν
πᾶσα πολιτεία ψύχη τῆς πόλεως ἔσι τοσαύτην ἐχέσα δυναμιν, όσηνπερ ἐν σώματι
a political conftitution may be termed the foul of the
φρόνησις
ftate, having a force therein as mind in body.”
Ifocrat. Panath.
The following fentence of Ariftotle is a proper comment on the
above paffage- η δε πολιτεία, των άρχων τάξις ἐςι.
Politica, Lib. 4. Cap. 4.
Tt2
NOTE
324
Book I.
APPENDIX.
CHAP.
VIII.
NOTE [52] Page 61.
εγω μεν τέτο αει ποτε νομιζω, οποῖοι τίνες οι προσαίοι ὦσι, τοιαύτας καὶ
πολιτείας γίγνεσθαι Xenoph. περι προσοδων.
NOTE [53] Page 62.
vedefi ancora nelle fue elezioni ai magiſtrati fare di lunga mig-
liore elezione che un principe, ne mai fi perfuaderà ad un popolo che
fia bene tirare alla dignità un uomo infame e di corrotti coftumi; il che,
facilmente e per mille vie fi puo perfuader ad un principe.
Machiav. Difcorf. Lib. 1.
Le peuple eft admirable pour choifir ceux a qui il doit confier quel-
que partie de fon autorité; Il n'a à fe determiner que des chofes qu'ìl
ne peut ignorer, et des faits qui tombent fous les fens; il fcait très-bien
qu'un homme a été fouvent à la guerre, qu'il a eu tels ou tels fuccés,
il est donc très-capable d'elire un general;-il fcait qu'un juge eft
affez affidu, que beaucoup des gens fe retirent de fon tribunale contens
de lui, qu'on ne l'a pas convaincu de corruption, en voilà affez pour
qu'il elife un preteur:
toutes ces chofes font des faits dont le
peuple s'inftruit mieux dans la place publique, qu'un monarque dans
fon palais.
fi l'on pouvait douter de la capacité naturelle qu'a
le peuple pour difcerner le merite, il n'aurait qu'á jetter les
yeux fur cette fuite étonnante de choix étonnans, que firent les
Atheniens et les Romains, ce qu'on n'attribuera pas fans doute au
hazard.
L. Efprit des Loix, Lib. 2. Chap. 2.
So too Machiavel,-'il quale (il pop. Rom.) in tante centinaije
d'anni, in tanti elezioni di confoli è dì tribuni non fece quattro elezi-
oni, di chi quello n'aveffe di pentire.
Difcorf. fu'l. Imo dec. di Tit. Liv. L. 1. C. 58.
Ariftotle likewife obferves, that the great legiflators of antiquity, all
fprang from the middling rank of citizens, from the body of the peo-
ple
i
BOOK I.
325
APPENDIX.
VIII.
ple; and adduces the fact in proof of his affertion, that in popular c H a p.
governments- péroi. e. thofe men equally fuited to command and
to obey, to chufe and to be chofen,-thofe above prejudices of the
vulgar little, or vulgar great are alone to be found:-onsior de dei
νόμιζειν και τις βελτίες νομοθετες είναι των μέσων πολίτων. Σόλων δὲ γὰρ ἦν τείων,
δηλοῖ δέ ἐκ της ποιησεως, καὶ λυκεργος, ε γαρ ἦν βασιλευς, καὶ χαρώνδας, και σχεδόν
οι πλείςοι τῶν ἄλλων.
Ariftot. Pol. L. 4. C. 11.
કે
NOTE [54.] Page 63.
Machiavel fpeaking of the fimple forms of government, and of
thoſe approximating or leaning thereto, fays, " Dico adunque che tutti
"i detti modi ſono peftiferi per la brevitá della vita che è nelle tre'
"buoni, è per la malignitá chi è nelle tre' rei. Difcorf. L. 1. C. 2.
NOTE [55.1 Page 64.
e perche io parlo de corpi mifti come fono le republiché, dico
che quelle alterazioni fono a falute, che le riducono verfo i principii
loro e peró quelle fono meglio ordinate, ed hanno piu lunga vita, che
medianti gli ordini fuoi, fi poffono fteffo rinovare, 'ò vero che per
accidente, fuori di detto ordine vengono a detto rinovazione; ed è
cofa piu chiara che la luce, che non fi rinovando quefti corpi, non dura-
no: il modo di rinovargli è come è detto, ridurgli verfo i princi-
pii fuoi, perche tutti i principii delle fette e delle republiche, e de
regni, conviene che abbiano in fe qualche bontá mediante laquale,
repiglino la prima reputazione ed augmento loro; e perché nell' pro-
ceffo del' tempo, quella bontá fi corrumpe fe non interviene cofa, che
la riduca al fegno, ammazza di neceffitá quell' corpo: e queſti dot-
tori di medecina dicono, parlando dei corpi degli uomini-" Quòd
"quotidiè aggregatur aliquid, quod quandoque indiget curatione."
Machiav. Difcorf. Lib. 32°. Cap. 1°.
Such is the fluctuation of manners, and fo dependant thereon po-
litical inftitutions, that the diuturnity cannot be prefumed even of a
ftate
326
BOOK I.
APPENDIX.
CHAP.
VIII.
ftate poffeffing the principle which Machiavel hath ſuggeſted ;—or even
of thoſe, the moſt ſtudied efforts of Utopian fyftematics:-the vifi-
onary Plato himſelf is obliged to confefs it of his own Republic or
Politeia : fays he,—'χαλεπόν μεν χίνηθῆναι πόλιν ουλώ ξυςᾶσαν, αλλ' επέι
γενομένῳ παι]εφθόρα ἐςι, ἔδε ή τοιαύτη ξύσασις τὸν ἀπᾶνα μένει χρόνον άλλα
audãσelα-" It will be difficult to move or fubvert a government fo
λυθήσεται
"conftituted, (as his Politeia) but fince corruption is incident to all,
" and every one, that has been; fuch conſtitution too ſhall in its turn
"be diffolved.
Platon. Pol. Lib. 8.
Ariſtotle and Plato have treated largely of the revolutions incident
to each form of government, and of the circle of polity, through
which it recurs to its original ſtate, and anew takes the fame career of
viciffitude: the hiftorian Polybius too in his fixth book hath treated
copiouſly of theſe fubjects: the changes from Tyranny to Ariftocracy,
from Aristocracy to Oligarchy, from Oligarchy to Democracy, and
from Democracy to Tyranny again, have been ably inveſtigated by
theſe philoſophers and politicians; and not to tire with too numerous,
or prolix quotations, I refer the reader to the originals, or leave it to
his ingenuity to connect theſe links of the Political Chain.
NOTE [56.] Page 65.
*
Ariftotle hath dedicated the ninth chapter of the third book of his
Politics to a confideration of the oftraciſm, and clearly proves that
without this honorary method of getting rid of thoſe eminent from their
wealth, their alliances, their popularity, or their policy, no free Re-
public could long remain fo. τῆς δοκοῦντας υπέρεχειν δύναμει, δία πλᾶτον ἢ
πολυφιλίαν, η τινα ἄλλον πολιτικης ἴσχύν· Diodorus Siculus too obferves
that there entered no idea of punishment, in this fpecies of banishment,
but that it was enacted merely on the levelling principle-voμoñoα d'é
ταῦτα δοκᾶσιν οι Αθηναῖοι ἐκ ἵνα τήν κακίαν κολαζῶσιν, ἀλλ᾽ ἵνα τὰ φρονημάτα
ταπεινότερα γενῆται δια τὴν φύγην· “ the Athenians adopted not this inftitu-
❝tion with a view to puniſhment, fo much as with an idea that ſpirits too
"high and foaring fhould be fent to evaporate in exile. Diod. Sic.Lib. 11.
της
Many
Book I.
327
APPENDIX.
VIII.
Many writers who have treated fuperficially of hiftorical fubjects, CHA P.
have cenfured the oftracifm of Athens, either becauſe their minds
were warped by enthufiaftic admiration of the exiled heroes; or becauſe
they had not duly ſtudied the free conſtitution of Athens, the genuine
principle of the oftraciſtic inſtitution, and its relation to that conſtitu-
tion of government; or laitly becauſe they were partizans of defpotifm
from habit, or enemies to freedom from prejudice: every political
writer of found intellect, adequate learning, and unfettered genius,
hath payed the tribute of praiſe to the oftracifm. I have begun this
note with introducing to the reader the authority of Ariftotle, I will
cloſe it with that of Montefquieu: à Athènes ou le legiflateur avait
fenti l'extenfion et les bornes qu'il devoit donner a fa loi, l'oftraciſme
fut une chofe admirable; on n'y foumettoit jamais qu'un feul perfonne;
il falloit un fi grand nombre de fuffrages, qu'il etoit difficile qu'on exi-
lât quelqu'un dont l'abfence ne fût pas neceffaire.
L. Efprit des Loix, Liv. 29. Chap. 7.
NOTE [57.] Page 66.
Ma l'ingiufte calumnie e tanto ardite
Contrà al buon' Cittadin tal volta fanno,
Tirannico uno ingegno humano e mite
Speffo diventa un Cittadin' Tirranno,
E di viver' civil' trapaffa il fegno,
Per non fentir' d'ingratitudo il danno.
Machiav. Capit. d' ingrat.
NOTE [58.] Page 68.
ὕτω καὶ
της ψυχης ὁρῶμεν δύο μέρη, τό δε αλόγον καὶ τὸ λόγον έχον, κ
τὰς ἐξεις τάς τελων δύο τόν αρίθμον, ὧν τό μεν ἐσιν ὄρεξις, τό δε νόος
3
CHAP.
IX.
the
foul
528
Book I.
APPENDIX.
CHAP.
IX.
"foul we find to be compofed of two parts, the rational and the
"irrational; and the fecondary parts are likewife two, volition and
"intellect."
Ariftot. Pol. L. 7. Cap. 15.
Note [59.] Page 68.
اد
It is a fingular fact that the Spartan people were obliged ultimately
to yield even the palm of gymnaſtic addrefs, and martial proweſs to
the more enlightened Commonwealths: Ariftotle having adopted a courſe
of reafoning analogous to that in the text, mentions the above fact in
fupport of his argument; the authenticity of which he could not be
miftaken in. έτε γὰρ ἐν τοις άλλοις ζώοις ἔτ᾽ ἐπι των ἐθνῶν ὁρῶμεν τὴν ανδρίαν
ἀκολοθᾶσαν τοις αγρίω]α]οις, ἀλλὰ μᾶλλον τοις ἡμέρω]α]οις καὶ λεονώδεσιν ἐθεσι.
αύλες της Λάκωνας ἴσμεν ἐῶς μέν αυτοι προσήδρευον ταὶς φιλοπονίαις, υπερέχοντας
τῶν ἄλλων, νῦν δὲ καὶ τοῖς γυμνασίοις, και τοις πολεμίκοις άγωσι λειπομένες ε]ερων.
—“ neither in other creatures, nor in mankind do we experience that
"force and fortitude are at all times concomitant with favage ferocity,
"but rather with temperate and humanized manners:-thus the Lace-
"demonians, though in full practice of their laborious inftitutions
they were a while fuperiour, yet now even in gymnaftic and martial
"exerciſes they are far behind.
Ibidem.
cc
NOTE [60.] Page 69.
४
ท
9
Αθηναῖοι μὲν νυν ἠΰξαντο. δηλοῖ δέ ἐ κατ᾽ ἐυμόνον ἀλλα πανταχῆ ἡ ἱσογόρνη ως
ἔσι χρήμα σπουδαίον, ἐι γὰρ ἀθηναῖοι τυραννευόμενοι, μὲν ἐδαμων των σφέας
περίοικεοντων ἔσαν τά πολεμία αμεῖνες, ἀπαλλαχθέντες δέ τυραννων μάκρῳ πρώτοι
éyévolo Herodot. Terpfich.- So too Machiavel-'facil' cofa è conof-
ἐγένοντο.
cere onde naſca nei popoli quefta affettione di viver' libero, perché fi
vede per eſperienza le cittadi non aver' mai ampliati, ne di dominio ne
di richezza, ſe non mentre fono ftate in libertá; è veramente mara-
vigliofa cofa è confiderare a quanta grandezza venne Athene per
iſpazio di cento anni, poi che ella fi liberó.
Mach. Difcorf. L. 2. Cap. 2.
ΝΟΤΕ
Book I.
329
APPENDIX.
NOTE [61.] Page 70.
Fifty one years elapfed from the firſt ufurpation to the expulfion of
Hippias, Pifiſtratus's reign, including the interregna, was thirty three
years,—óxlú » déxa di waides -" that of his fons eighteen years.
Ariftot. Pol. L. 5. Cap. 12.
NOTE [62.] Page 70.
.. La vertu dans une republique eft une chofe trés fimple, c'eft
l'amour de la republique, c'eft un fentiment et non une fuite de
connoiffance, le dernier homme de l'etat peut avoir ce fentiment,
comme le premier.
L'Eſprit des Loix, L. 5. Cap 2.
NOTE [63.] Page 73.
CHAP.
IX.
X.
Montefquieu's definition of liberty is as follows:-" Il eft vrai que CHA P.
dans les democraties le peuple paroit faire ce qu'il veut, mais la liberté
politique ne confifte point a faire ce que l'on veut; dans un etat, c'eſt
a dire, dans une focieté ou il y a des loix, la liberté ne peut conſiſter
qu'a pouvoir faire ce que l'on doit vouloir, et a n'etre point contraint a
faire ce que l'on ne doit point vouloir." L'Eſprit des Loix, L. 11. C. 3.
This definition appears to me but vague;—indeed Montefquieu ſeems
never to have fixed, or to have been ſatisfied, with his idea of civil
liberty; after various pofitions he almoſt does away civil liberty in fact,
by leaving it in opinion:-"La liberté philofophique confifte dans
l'exercice de fa volonté, ou du moins (s'il faut parler dans tous les
ſyſtemes) dans l'opinion ou l'on eft, que l'on exerce fa volonté :—la
liberté politique confifte dans fa fureté, ou du moins, dans l'opinion
que l'on a de fa fureté." L. 12. C. 2.-Surely this fentence is trifling
and unworthy of that great author!
U u
NOTE
330
BOOK I.
APPENDIX.
CHAP.
X.
بـ
CHAP.
XI.
NOTE [64.] Page 74.
ἤδε πόλις ἐςι κοινωνία τὶς των ομοίων ἐνέκα δε ζώης της ἐνδεχομένης αρίσης
δηλον ως τελ' αίτιον τε γιγνέσθαι πολεως ειδῆ καὶ διαφόρας, και πολιτείας πλείς.
καὶ
ἄλλον γὰρ τρόπον καὶ δι᾿ ἄλλον ἐκᾶςοι 18 ο θηρευόντες τας 1 βίας έτερες ποιῆναι καὶ πολι
Γείας σε
Telasa ftate is a community of men united for the purpoſe of attaining
"what ſeems happieſt and beſt for them; now this is the true caufe of
"the forms, of the varieties, and of the viciffitudes of conftitutions.
"of government; for men entertaining diverſe ideas of the thing to
"be attained, and of the mode of attaining it, adopt accordingly
"different manners of life, and different forms of political conftitu-
"tion."
Ariftot. Pol. L. 7. C. 8.
:
NOTE [65.] Page 74.
The poſition in the text is true and juſt, yet exceptions to the rule
may be admitted;—it may with reaſon be obſerved, that under parti-
cular circumſtances a partial reftriction of emigrants may be juſtified
by political expediency,—and in certain cafes that a general reſtrictive
rule may be politically juft:-in the firſt inftance alluded to, the "ne
"exeat regno," is applicable to fuch men as are peculiarly neceffary to the
ftate, as fhipwrights, certain artizans and others :-in the fecond cafe
it is applicable to all fuch as from their fituations or by their actions.
are refponfible to the ftate, or amenable to its laws.
NOTE [66.] Page 82.
Ægina was a commercial ſtate of the higheſt antiquity; It was the
firft which coined money, and money was thence called 'Arywvalor-
10
πρώτον
Book. I.
331
APPENDIX.
Y
πρώτον νόμισμα εκοψαντο, καὶ ἐξ ἀνίων εκλήθη νόμισμα Αιγιναῖον Ælian. V. Η.
Lib. 12. Cap. 10. So too Strabo εν ᾿Αιγείνη πρῶτον άργυρον κοπῆναι ὑπο
peidwvos Lib. 8.-the Æginetans corrupted by commercial habits,
ſeem to have filled the place in ancient communities, which the Jews
fill in modern; I need not comment on a fact mentioned by Herodotus,
"that after the battle of Platea, whatever plate and other valuables
were ſtolen at the Perfian camp by the Helots, flaves and others,
"were purchaſed at an under price by the Æginetans.
cc
NOTE [67.] Page 84.
Pythia refpondet, ut manibus ligneis (Athenienfes) fe munirent; id
refponfum quo valeret, quum intelligeret nemo, Themiftocles per-
fuafit confilium effe Apollinis ut in naves fe fuaque conferrent.
Corn. Nep. vit. Themift.
NOTE [68.] Page 86.
Paufanias, in Achaicis, fays" that Thefeus when he firſt congregated
"the people in Athens, inftituted the feſtival of Panathenea :"-the Athe-
nian feſtivals were extremely numerous; Xenophon in his treatife on the
republic of Athens, fays they were twice the number of thoſe in any
other ſtate, and that they much impeded public bufinefs; hence
Athens was termed by the oracle," the common altar piece of
Greece,” την κοίναν έγιαν της ελλαδος #lian. L. 4. C. 6.-the feſtival
of the Panathenea according to the beft accounts was firft inftituted
by Ericthonius, or, as ſome ſay, by Orpheus, and was afterwards more
ſplendidly endowed by Thefeus; and as before that king called the
people together in Athens, neither the celebrity nor ceremonies of the
feſtival were extraordinary, this might give occafion to Paufanias to
call him the inftitutor; the grand feſtival (for there were others fecon-
dary and annual) was held every fifth year, and the victors prize in the
games was a jar of oil, the ftaple produce of Attica, and from the
fruit facred to the tutelary Minerva. Vid. Meurs. de hoc fefto.
U u 2
Speaking
CHAP.
XI.
332
Book I.
APPENDIX.
CHAP.
XI.
Speaking of the very numerous religious ceremonies in Athens, they
may readily be accounted for, in the confideration of the various coun-
tries, from which the original fettlers came, and who had each their fpe-
cial object of worship; and when under Thefeus the people left their
villages and came to Athens, thofe of each family and diftrict introduced
their own particular deity and religious cuſtoms; and thence in tracing
the genealogy of any great man, Herodotus and Diodorus often reſort
to the queſtion of what Divinity he was wont to facrifice to ?"
"of to?"
NOTE [69.] Page 86.
Miltiades requeſted that his name might be infcribed under his
portrait, but was refuſed as being too
great a diftinction.
Æfchin. Orat. cont. Ctefiph.
NOTE [70.] Page 86.
-Debet enim honor non merces facinoris effe, fed fignum.
NOTE [71.] Page 87.
Ne fu già fola Roma ingrata al tutto,
Riguarda Athene dove ingratitudo
Pofe il fuo nido, piu ch' altrove brutto;
Miltiade, Ariftide, e Phocione,
De Themistocle ancor' la dura forte
Son' del' vivcr' fuo buon' teſtimone.
Senec. Ep.
Machiav. Cap. d'ingrat.-
NOTE [72] Page 88.
e non ſenza cagione fi affomiglia la voce del' popolo a quella d'iddio,
perche fi vede una opinione univerfale fare effetti maraviglioſi nei pro-
noftichi
Book I.
333
APPENDIX.
per
il fuo male CHAP.
noſtichi fuoi, tal' che pare che occulta virtú prevegga
Machiav. Difc. L. 1. C. 58.
è il fuo bene.
The like is the fentiment of Ariftotle-τῆς γὰρ πολλες ὦν έκαςος ἐςιν ε
σπουδαίος ἀνὴρ. όμως ἐνδεχεται συνελθοντες ειναι βελτίες ἐκεῖνων, ἐκ ὡς ἐκασον ἀλλ᾽
ως συμπανίας. .... εἶναι γὰρ ἐκαςος μέν χεῖρων κρίτης των ειδότων, ἀπανίες δε
συνέλθοντες ή βελτιᾶς ή & χειρᾶς των ολιγαρχίας μελετηκότων·
CC
"The many
being compoſed of parts, of which each part be feverally incompe-
"tent, yet may the whole be competent to wifdom in its aggregate
"capacity; the affembly fhall be fuperiour, though its conftituents
ſeparately taken be inferiour in policy to any one ftatefman :-each
"and by himſelf fhall judge worſe than a well educated man, but the
"whole and together ſhall decide better, or certainly not worſe than a
«< cabinet of oligarchy.”
Ariftot. Pol. L. 3. Cap. 7.
NOTE [73.] Page 88.
Intervenne bene ad Athene il contrario che a Roma, perche effen-
dole tolta la libertà dal Pifiſtrato nel fuo piu fiorito tempo, e ſotto un
inganno di bontá, come prima ella divenne poi libera, ricordandofi
delle ingiurie ricevute, divenne afpera vendicatrice, non folamente degli
errori, ma dell'ombra degli errori de fuoi cittadini.—(et infrà)—i po-
poli mordono piu fieramento poi che effi hanno recuperata la libertá,
che poi che l'hanno confervata.
Mach. Difc. L. 1. C. 28..
XI.
NOTE [74.] Page 89.
XII.
This ſpeech of Artabanus from Herodotus, as well as the whole CHA P.
debate of the other Perfian chiefs, is well worth referring to,-the
ſpeech in the text is generally an epitome of the fpeech in council, with
a paffage or two inferted from the diſcourſe of Artabanus at Sardis, and
the very ſublime ſentence which clofes the oration is literally tranflated;
τὸν γὰρ ἐᾶ φρονέειν άλλον μέγα ο Θέος ἢ ἐντον
r
NOTE
334
Book I.
APPENDI X.
CHAP.
XII.
NOTE [75.] Page 90.
The number in the text is taken from Juftin, as the medium of the
account given by ancient writers of this vaft army, and taken as the
total of that army allowing for recruits, after having paffed Mount
Athos. The numbers of the army of Xerxes form fo intereſting a ſub-
ject in a philoſophical and chronological, as well as in an hiſtorical
point of view, that fome afcertainment thereof might be deſirable;
yet it is not to be attained: for I think we cannot follow Herodotus ;
and yet, leaving him, we leave out the only detail we have of this
army. Herodotus eſtimates the land forces muſtered at Dorifcus, to
have amounted to one million eight hundred thoufand fighting men;
and by the recruits joining on the march to Thermopylæ, to have en-
creaſed to two million one hundred thoufand: the fleet he computes at
twelve hundred and feven fhips of war, each fhip having a complement
of two hundred and thirty men, failors and marines; and three thou-
fand tranſports and victuallers having each eighty feamen; with thoſe
in the ſhips of war, forming a total of about five hundred and forty
thouſand ſeamen, which added to the land army, make two million fix
hundred and forty thoufand: to theſe the hiftorian adds a grofs com-
putation of fervants, futlers, and other military followers to nearly an
equal amount, and thus calculates the force of Xerxes-at five million
two hundred and eighty-three thousand two hundred and twenty men :-
beſides a multitude of women, eunuchs, and flaves, which (he ſays) no
one could number.
We can scarcely give credit to this account of Herodotus, for the
obvious reaſon, that no one ancient author has adopted it, and that
even his countrymen did not give it credit, however from vain glory
inclined fo to do: Ifocrates, whoſe buſineſs was amplification on ſuch
a fubject, calls the multitude who followed Xerxes five million, and
probably in this computation he enumerated the women and eunuchs,
for he ſpecifies the military force to have confifted of only feven hun-
dred thoufand. Πεντακοσίας μυρίαδας των πάντων, εβδομηκον]α δέ των μάχιμων.
Diodorus Siculus ftates the army at eight hundred thouſand, or rather
more-
Book 1.
335
APPENDIX.
more—µugiades wheies twv öydonnovla. —Ctefias, at eight hundred thouſand,
befides the armed chariots: admitting thefe " corps de referve," I have
followed the epitomiſt of Trogus, who Lib. ii. Cap. 10. ftates the army
of Xerxes at one million.
Herodotus exaggerated his account, probably to flatter the Greeks
before whom he recited his hiftories at the Olympian games: Ctefias,
who, according to Diodorus, Lib. 2. had the keeping of the Perfian
Archives, in which the muſter probably was regiſtered, might be fuf-
pected of falfifying the account, and of diminiſhing the numbers of
the Perfian army, in order to footh the national feelings of its dif
comfiture and loſs, or at leaſt to flatter the pride of his royal mafter,
Artaxerxes yet this feems not to have been the opinion of the Greek
and other ancient writers, who adopted nearly his account and enume-
ration. In regard to the fleet, Herodotus, and the other authors above
cited, tally nearly in the mention of ſomething above twelve hundred
fail Ctefias indeed mentions but one thouſand fhips of war; yet in
this too his credit is preſerved by a paffage in the " Perfai" of Ef-
chylus, in which the poet ſpeaks of the other two hundred fhips as
light armed veffels, probably correfpondent to our frigates, and which
in the Perfian Archives might not therefore have been enumerated
with the line. It may be neceffary to obferve, that Æfchylus was pre-
fent at the engagement of Salamis, and that his tragedy " the Perfai"
was repreſented early as eight years after the battle of Platea; theſe
circumſtances ſtamp the following lines, and indeed every line of that
tragedy referring to facts, with the feal of accuracy and truth. The
warrior could not be miſtaken, the poet dared not falfify,--he had
witneffes to confront him on every feat of the theatre..
Πλήθος μέν αν σαφ᾽ ἴσθ᾽ ἐκάτι βάρβαρες
Ναυσι κρατήσαι. καὶ γὰρ ἔλλησι μέν ἦν
Ο πας αριθμος ἐς τριακάδας δέκα
Νάων. δέκας δ᾽ ἦν των τε χωρίς ἔγκρατος.
Ξερξη δε, και γάρ οίδα, χίλιας μεν ἤν
ἂν ἦγε πλήθος, αι τ' υπέρκομποι τάχει
Εκατὸν δις ἦσαν ἐπ]α θ᾽ ὧδ' έχει λόγος.
Пертаю V. 337.
"Know
CHAP.
XII.
336
Book I.
APPENDI
X.
CHAP.
XII.
"Know then, in numbers, the Barbaric fleet
"Was far fuperior; in ten fquadrons, each
"Of thirty fhips, Greece plough'd the deep, of theſe
"One held a diſtant ſtation: Xerxes led
"A thouſand ſhips; (their number well I know)
"Two hundred and feven more that fwept the feas
"With ſpeedieft fail:-this was their full amount.
NOTE [76.] Page 91.
Potter.
Says Plato, alluding to this crifis-επι δε τοὶς ἐλπίδος ὀχοϋμένοι ταύτης,
ευρίσκον καταφύγην αυτοις, εις αυτες μόνες είναι και τες Θέας.
Plat. de Leg. L. 3.
NOTE [77.] Page 92.
At the fea fight near Artemifium, the Greeks had about two hun-
dred fhips, fixty of which were Athenian. Ifocrat. Paneg.
NOTE [78.] Page 93.
The expreffion of Ifocrates on occafion of the feceffion from Athens
is beautiful and energetic; it is in the oration compoſed for Archida-
mus of Sparta, and the word u refers to the Spartans.-'ExλiTorles,
δε και την πόλιν και την χώραν, καὶ πατριδα μεν τὴν ἐλευθερίαν νομίσαντες κοινωνή
σαντες δέ των κίνδυνων ἤμιν. "Leaving their native foil and city, and re-
garding their country as comprized in their liberty (the Athenians)
" left themſelves nothing to fhare with us in, but the common danger."
Ifocrat. Archid. Orat.
'
NOTE [79.] Page 95.
From the paffage of Æfchylus above cited, it appears that the Gre-
cian fleet confifted of three hundred fail; it does not feem eaſy to af-
certain
Book I.
337
APPENDIX.
XII.
certain the exact proportion of the Athenian fquadron. Diodorus, CH a p.
Lib. 11. makes it an hundred and forty; Ctefias fays an hundred and
ten of the ſhips only were Athenian; Herodotus in Urania, an hun-
dred and twenty; Cornelius Nepos, two hundred: adhering to the
authority of Æfchylus as to the numbers of the whole Grecian fleet,
we ſhould adopt the number of Athenian fhips given us by Nepos :
for that the republic had a greater number of ſhips than all the other
Greek ftates united, is repeatedly and ftrongly afferted by Ifocrates,
and others; and having no mean number ſtated by any hiſtorian, be-
tween that of one hundred and forty given us by Diodorus, and the
two hundred alluded to, we muſt even take the latter, though greater
than is neceffary, to tally with the expreffion of Ifocrates-n works
ἤμων ἀνάσαλος γενομένη πλειες μεν συνεβαλεῖο τριήρεις εις τὸν κινδυνὸν ὑπερ της
ἔλλαδος ή συμπαντες οι ναυμαχήσανίες Ifocrat. paneg. Ctefias fays that at
the ſea fight of Salamis the Perfian fleet confifted but of ſeven hun-
dred ſhips: Diodorus Siculus, Lib. 11. computes the Afiatic Greek
{quadron at about three hundred fail;-ſuppoſing that ſquadron to
have kept aloof, we have another proof of the accuracy of Ctefias. In
this battle the fame author fays the Perfians loft five hundred fhips.
Ctefias in Perficis.
NOTE [80.] Page 96.
Themistocles, victo Xerxe, volentes fuos pontem rumpere prohi-
buit, cum docuiffet potius effe eum expelli Europâ, quam cogi ex
deſperatione pugnare: idem mifit ad eum qui indicaret, in quo peri-
culo effet, nifi fugam maturaret. Frontin. Stratagem. L. 2. C. 10.
NOTE [81.] Page 97.
Il ne faut pas beaucoup de probité pour qu'un gouvernement
monarchique, ou un gouvernement defpotique, fe maintiennent
ou ſe ſoutiennent; la force des loix dans l'un, le bras du prince
toujours levé dans l'autre reglent ou contiennent tout, mais dans
un etat populaire, il faut un reffort di plus, qui eft la vertu.
L'Eſprit
X x
338
BOOK I.
APPEND I X.
CHAP.
XII.
L'Eſprit des Loix, L. 3. C. 3.-Had Montefquieu left the above ſen-
tence preciſely as it ftands, and without further expofition, it is clear,
intelligible and true; there was furely no occafion to qualify, or rather
to explain away, the whole fenſe and force of the expreffion:-the
paffage I allude, and object to, is-" dans l'avertiffement de l'auteur,"-
Il faut obferver que ce que j'apelle la vertu dans la republique, eft
l'amour de la patrie, c'eft a dire l'amour de l'egalité, ce n'eft point
une vertu morale.-How doth this accord with a firſt principle of his
ſyſtem, that private virtue is the baſis of public!-how doth it agree
with the following fentence?-l'amour de la patrie conduit a la bonté
des mœurs, et la bonté des mœurs conduit a l'amour de la patrie.
Chap. 2.- Monteſquieu makes public and private virtue, connected and
reciprocative,-how then is public virtue, not a moral virtue?
τη
-"
τη
Ariftotle is the most correct writer on political fubjects I have ever
read; and his Politica merit the eulogium beſtowed on them, by Dr.
Taylor in his treatiſe of Civil Law," that they form the moſt ſterling
"work bequeathed us by antiquity."-fays Ariſtotle-pavegòv as iv ty
καλλὶςῃ πολιτευόμενη πόλει καὶ τῇ κεκλημένη δικαῖες άνδρας ἄπλως εἶναι It is
"demonftrable that in a commonwealth, well inftituted, adminif
"tered, and eſtabliſhed, that the citizens muſt be juſt and good men."
Ariftot. Pol. Lib. 7. C. 9. meaning no doubt, that otherwife its ad-
miniſtration muſt be incompetent, its eſtabliſhment fubverted, and—
in a word-the premiſes be diffolved.
NOTE [82.] Page 99.
Herodotus expatiates on the refpect fhown to the corpfe of Mardo-
nius : Ctefias fays Mardonius efcaped- κ φευγε τραυμα]ισθεις καὶ Μαρδόνιος.
Paufanias contradicts both, faying that Mardonius was killed, and that
the Greeks refuſed his body for burial.It were well if like variance
of authorities never rendered difputable, facts of greater importance
than the fate of Mardonius, or of Mardonius's carcafe!
NOTE
Book I.
339
APPENDIX.
NOTE [83.] Page 102.
(In Ægypt. Itin.)-Cæterum Germanicus aliis quoque miraculis
intendit animum, quorum præcipua fuêre, Memnonis faxea effigies,
ubi radiis folis icta eft, vocalem fonum reddens. Tacit. Ann. 2.
Pliny Hift. Nat. L. 10. Cap. 26. and Paufanias in Atticis, and Strabo
likewiſe mention this Phenomenon ;-probably of prieſt-craft.
cc
NOTE [84.] Page 103.
The Spartan candidate for a fenatorial feat, who when rejected, ex-
claimed, "happy am I, that there are three hundred citizens in
Sparta more worthy than myſelf!" was a genuine citizen of a free
republic. All idea of ſelf-diſtinction, as well as of ſelf-intereft, in
matters wherein the commonwealth is concerned, ſhould be baniſhed
from the mind of each conſtituent; to whofe patriotifm, as to whoſe
virtue, the internal fentiment of duty, the approbation of conſcience,
and the acknowledgments of his countrymen rather implied by their
private affection, and public confidence, than manifeſted by adulatory
offerings and decrees, fhould be the only motives and only rewards:
external retributions of merit, even if warily beftowed, incite envy
and pride, and beget fuch dangerous diftinctions, as leave the popular
affembly impaffioned or fubfervient; I fhould fay to every citizen in
the words of Tully.-" non debes aut propriam fortunam, aut præ-
cipuam poftulare, aut communem recufare.
Epift. Fam. L. 4. Ep. 15.
CHAP.
XIII.
X x 2
NOTE
340
Book I.
APPENDIX.
CHAP.
XIII.
CHAP.
XIV.
NOTE [85.] Page 105.
Hippodamus was the architect or engineer who planned the ſeparate
fortification of the Piraeus. Arift. Pol. L. 2. C.
Arift. Pol. L. 2. C. 9.-The Piraeus
had three harbours or inlets for fhipping, and in honour of his having
firſt appropriated it to the Athenian navy, inſtead of the port Phaleron
the tomb of Themistocles was raiſed on the beach of the larger har-
bour. Paufan. in Att. fub, init.
NOTE [86.] Page 108.
"Governments ever fhould be inſtituted with a view to the happi-
"nefs of the conftituents." Ariftot. Pol. L. 7. C. 9.-If this axiom
is juft, the Spartan ftate might be an object of admiration, but
not of approbation; its internal infelicity cannot be more ftrongly
marked than in the words attributed to Alcibiades :-λye d'é under
παραδόξον ποιειν Λακεδαίμονιες ἀδέως ἐν τῷ πόλεμῳ ἀποθνησκονίας, τὴν γὰρ
ἐκ των νόμων ταλαὶποριαν ἀποδίδρασκάνες θάνατον ύπερ των πόνων ἐχοῦσε
έχουσι
πρόθυμαῖς ἀλλὰτεσθαι "He was wont to fay, that there was nothing
"fo extraordinary in the Lacedemonians dying fearleſsly in battle,
"for confidering the mifery they fuffered under their inftitutions at
home, they might well chufe death in exchange for fuch a life."
Ælian. Var. Hift. L. 13. Cap. 28.
εχ
66
NOTE [87.] Page 116.
- δια τετο δεῖ τὸν νομοθε]ην ἐπαίνειν, ότι κρατειν ἤσκησεν ἐπὶ τὸ των τέλας άρχειν.
ταῦτα γὰρ μεγαλήν έχει βλάβην. δηλὸν γὰρ ὅτι καὶ των πολίτων τῷ δυναμένῳ τέτο
πειρατέον
BOOK I.
341
APPENDIX.
«
πειρατέον διώκειν όπως δυνῆται της οικείας πολέως ἄρχειν· "The legislator is
"no ways to be praiſed, for that he fows ſuch feeds as may produce a
fpirit of foreign conqueſt and domination; great may be the evils
"thence enfuing; for it will neceffarily follow, that among many
"citizens accuſtomed to tyrannize abroad, one may be found who will
attempt to tyrannize at home.” Ariftot. Pol. L. 7. C. 14-
<<
CHAP.
XIV.
NOTE [88.] Page 125.
Ifocrates
θαλαττης τὴν ἀρχὴν ἐλάβον δὸν]ων των μέν ἄλλων ἔλληνων. . . . Ifocrates
further explains the nature of this empire of the feas, obferving that
the Athenians had the command and controul of all general concerns.
and meaſures, touching the iſlands and maritime ſtates,---each ſtate
being yet interiourly free and independant,---όλων μέν των πραγματων
ἐπιςαλάντες, ἰδια δέ ἐκάσες ἐλευθέρας ἐῶνες είναι Paneg. under circumftances
of the general fupremacy, fuch fort of independency was however, a
mere fufferance.
ให้
NOTE [89.] Page 126..
πᾶσων δε πόλεων ᾿Αθῆναι μάλιςα πεφύκασιν ἐν ἔιρηνη αυξέσθαι
Xenoph. περι προσοδων. C. 4. S. 2.
NOTE [90.] Page 126..
μεν καλα γὴν ἡγεμονίαν ἐπ᾿ ἐπάξιας καὶ σωφροσύνης καὶ πειθαρχίας, καὶ
των άλλων των τοι των μελετωμένην. τὴν δε κατα θαλατίαν δύναμιν ἐκ ἐκ τούτων
αυξανόμην, ἀλλ' εκ των τεχνων πέρι τας ναῦς, καὶ των ἐλαύνειν αυτες δυναμένων,
καὶ των τα σφέτερα μεν αυίων ἀπολωλέκο]ων, ἐκ δὲ τῶν ἀλλοτρίων ποριζέσθαι τὸν
βίον ἐιθισμενων. ὢν ἐισπέσον]ων εις την πόλιν ἐκ αδήλος ἦν τε κόσμος ο της πρότερον
παρχέσης πολιτείας λυθήσομενος. . . &c.-.. the interefts of a territorial
fovereignty
3
FC.
00
CHAP.
XV.
342
Book I.
APPENDIX.
CHAP.
XV.
fovereignty are guarded and promoted by a ſpirit of good order,
moderation, obedience to the laws, and fuch like virtues; but a
"maritime power becomes not great from fuch fources, but from the
"naval arts of building fhips, and of thoſe who man and work them;
"and of thoſe who having diffipated or loft their all, ſeek repriſals
"from the fortunes of others; and thefe being mingled in the maſs of
"the ftate, it is evident that fuch arrangements as thofe fupporting
"the inland power above alluded to, muſt give way to them, and be
« diffolved. Ifocrat. Orat. περι Ειρηνης
Note [91.] Page 128.
γὰρ ψηφίσμασιν, άλλα τοις ήθεσι κάλως οικεῖσθαι τας πόλεις ibidem.
NOTE [92.] Page 130.
η
εν
ἔτω δέ ἀπεχόνο των της πόλεως ώςε χαλεπωτέρον ἦν ἐν ἐκεῖνοις τοις χρόνοις ἔυρειν
τες βελόμενος ἄρχειν ἢ νῦν τες μὴδεν δεόμενος Ifocrat. Orat. Areopag.
Admitting there to be no hyperbolé in the expreffion of Ifocrates, there
is none in that of Seneca," in quâ civitate erat Areopagus religio-
fiffimum judicium, in quâ Senatus, populufque Senatui fimilis."
Senec. de Tranquill. Anim.
.66
NOTE [93.] Page 131.
ἐκ ἐν ὦ φίλοι ἡμῖν ἐπί των παλαίων νόμων ο δημος τίνων Κύριος ἄλλα τρόπον
τίνα ἔκων ἐδέλεσε τοις νόμοις·
καὶ πρὸς τέλοις δὴ τὸ μέγεθος τε τόλε καλα τε γῆν καὶ καλα θαλάτζαν γινομένον
φόβον ἀπεῖρον ἐμβάλον, δελείαν ἐτί μείζονα ἐποίησεν ἤμας τοις τότε άρχεσι, καὶ τοις
νόμοις δελεῦσαι, καὶ δία' ταῦτα πάνθ' ἡμῖν ξυνεπέσε πρὸς ήμας αυτες σφοδρά φιλία.
Plato de Legibus, Lib. 3.
NOTE
BOOK I.
343
APPENDIX.
NOTE [94] Page 134.
Auffi les bonnes democraties en établiffantes la frugalité domeftique,
ont elles ouvertes la porte aux depenfes publiques, comme on fit à
Athenes et Rome; pour lors la magnificence et la profuſion naiffaient
du fond de la frugalité même. L'Efprit des Loix, L. 5. C. 3.
Montesquieu purfues not the fubject to fuch deduction as inferred
in the text; but in another place he fays,-a mefure que le luxe
s'établit dans une republique, l'Eſprit fe tourne vers l'intêret particu-
lier. L. 7. Chap. 2.-Luxury and the fine arts cherish mutually each
other; the excellencies of the painter, the ftatuary, and the architect,
raiſe and ſupport that vanity of patronage which ſupports them; from
the eye to the ear, to the taſte, reciprocative paffions thus mingle and
multiply, till the meaſure of luxury is filled to the top, and the re-
public is weakened and finally diffolved by its corruptive influence.
CHAP.
XV.
NOTE [95.] Page 138.
Grandis, et ut ita dicam, pudica oratio, eft maculofa nec tur-
gida, fed naturali pulchritudine exfurgit nuper ventofa ifthæc et
enormis loquacitas Athenas ex Afiâ commigravit, animofque juvenum
ad magna furgentes, veluti peftilenti quodam fidere afflavit; fimulque
corruptæ eloquentiæ regula ftetit et obtinuit: quis poftea, ad fummam
Thucydidis, quis Hypéridis ad famam proceffit? ac ne carmen quidem
fani coloris enituit, fed omnia quafi eodem cibo paſta non potuerunt
ufque ad fenectutem canefcere: pictura quoque non alium exitum fe-
cit, poftquàm Ægyptiorum audacia tam magnæ artis compendiariam
fecit. Petron. Satyricon. Cap. 2. Thus too Quinctilian complains of
the hyperbolé and points creeping into the ſtile of the times, through.
the example of Seneca. Multæ in eo claræque fententiæ, multa
"etiam morum gratiâ legenda, fed in eloquendo corrupta pleraque ;
"atque
CHAP.
XVI.
3+4
BOOK I.
APPEND I X.
CHAP.
}
XVI.
atque eo perniciofiffima, quòd abundant dulcibus vitiis." Quinctil.
Inft. Orat. L. 10. Cap. I.
NOTE [96.] Page 138.
Literature and contemplation are the proper "folatia rerum" of each
mind of ferious bent, of refined education, and of virtuous fenfibility,
when agitated in fcenes of civil commotion, or driven from fociety by
diſguſt of anarchy, or terrors of defpotifm.-Quamvis hæc funt mifera,
quæ funt miferrima tempora tamen artes noftræ, nefcio quomodo,
nunc uberiores fructus ferre videantur, quàm olim ferebant; five quia
nulla nunc in re aliâ acquiefcimus, five quòd gravitas morbi facit, ut
medicinæ egeamus, eaque nunc appareat, cujus vim non fentiebamus,
quùm valebamus, Cic. Ep. Fam. L. 9. Ep. 3. . . . .
fed eft unum
perfugium doctrinæ ac literæ quibus femper ufi fumus, quæ fecundis
rebus delectationem, modo habere videbantur, nunc vero etiam falu-
tem. Ejufd. L.6. Ep. 12. The above elegant and meditative fen-
tences ſpoke Cicero's fenſe of the comfort and reſources he derived
from philofophy and the love of letters, during a period of civil com-
motion; the ſame reſources fùited fimilar minds during the ufurpa-
tion and defpotiſm that fucceeded; the philoſophy of the ftoics thrived
under the tyranny of the Cæfars; Thraſea, Helvidius, the hero of that
fect Epictetus, and many others in thoſe times exerciſed the mind by
moral meditation, and invigorated their tenets by the rigid practice of
the virtue they taught: nor on account of his works, ſhould the name
of Seneca be omitted;-nor too on account of his virtues, as well as
of his wifdom; for it is more in nature that the hiftorian Dion Caf-
fius fhould be malevolent, than that a writer and his writings fhould
be ſo at variance; a bad man might write a good book, but a bad
man could not, I think, write fo many books, invariably good, or fo
many familiar epiftles, nor in any one betray a levity of thought, or
even an inconfiftency of expreffion.
NOTE
BOOK I.
345
APPENDIX.
NOTE [97.] Page 139.
Τα μεν γαρ ἀναγκαῖα, τὴν χρεῖαν διδάσκειν εικος αυξην. τὰ δ' εις ευσχή
μοσυνην καὶ περιουσίαν, υπαρχόνων ἤδη τάτων, ἐυλόγον λαμβάνειν αυξησιν· σε what
"is neceffary to life, neceffity will be the teacher of; what belongs to
elegance and fuperfluity, will follow and increaſe on the accompliſh-
ment of the firft. Ariftot. Pol. L. 7. Cap. 10.
CHAP.
XVI.
NOTE [98.] Page 140.
-Pliny calls the Laocoön-" opus omnibus et picturæ et ftatuariæ
"artis præferendum." Var. Hift. L. 36. cap. 5.
Var. Hift. L. 36. cap. 5. The artists were
Agefander, Polydorus, and Athenodorus of Rhodes.
NOTE [99.] Page 141.
C
Anaxagoras was a moral philofopher, and likewiſe a phyſiologiſt :
the moſt famous opinion of Anaxagoras and which has been commented
on by Ariftotle in his Phyfics,' was,-" that all things (or elements)
"were mingled and confuſed, when divine mind or fpirit directed
« their order and arrangement;”πάντα χρήματα ἦν ὁμε, ἔλα νοῦς ἐλθων
TaÙτa diexdoμnce -Other opinions likewife of this fpeculative genius.
remarkably anticipate the knowledge of a more enlightened age; as
for instance,-that "the moon had hills and vales, and might be habitá-
"ble;"-that "comets were planets, emitting flame ;"-that "the caufe
"of winds was the rarefaction of the air by the fun ;"-that "thunder
"and lightning proceeded from the collifion and confriction of
"clouds ;"-that "earthquakes were caufed by confined air within the
body of the earth,” &c. &c.-τὴν Σελήνην δικήσεις έχειν ἄλλα καὶ λόφες
καὶ φαραγίας της δέ κομήτας σύνοδον πλανήτων φλόγας αφίενίων. άνεμους γιγνέστ
και λεπτυνομένε τα αερος υπο 18 ἤλια. βρόντας συγκροῦσιν νέφων.—άςραπας
ἐκτρίψιν νέφων.—σεῖσμον υπονοστήσιν άερος εις γήν &c. Diog. Laert. Vit.
<<
Y y
Anaxag.
>
346
Book I..
APPENDI
X.
CHAP. Anaxag.on thefe fubjects, vid. Traité fur L'Origine des Sciences par
XVI. Mon'. Bailly.
NOTE [100.] Page 142.
— μεχρὶ γὰρ τ δε ἀνεκ]οι οι ἐπαὶνοι εἴσι πέρι ἐτερων λεγομένοι, όσον, ἐν καὶ αύζος
ἐκαςος οἴηται ἴκανος εἶναι δρᾶσαι τί εν ήκεσε
ων
Orat. fun. ap. Thucyd. L. 3
NOTE [101.] Page 143.
—ώσε ἐμφασιν ποιειν, ἐαν ὀρθῶς γενῆται, δ᾽ ἀνὰςας ἀποςέγασειν τον ναον.
Strabo. Lib. 8.
Ἦ καὶ κυανέησιν ἐπ' ὀφρύσι νευσε Κρονίων
Αμβρόσιαι δ' άρα χαίται ἐπερρῶσαν]ο. ἀνακιος,
Κράτος απ' Αθανατοιο. μέγαν δ᾽ ἐλελίξεν Ολύμπον·
Hom. Il. a. v. 528.
NOTE [102.] Page 143.
Winckelman was antiquarian to the Pope Ganganelli, and had all
the remains of antiquity before him; in his opinion he is decifive:
L'art a commencé par le figures les plus fimples, et probablement par
une espece groffiere de fculpture; car un enfant même eft capable de
donner une certaine forme à une matiere fouple, mais il ne peut rien
deffiner fur une fuperficie. Hift. de L'Art. Sect. 1. et Chap. 4. Sect. 2.
Pliny is of the fame opinion as to modelling being antecedent to
graving the figure :-" fimilitudines exprimendi quæ prima fuerit
origo, in eâ quam Plafticen Græci vocant dici convenientius erit,
etenim prior quam ftatuaria fecit.” Plin. Hift. Nat. L. 34. Cap. 7.
When we attentively confider the moſt ancient Etrufcan and Ægyp-
tian figures, preferved in the Italian muſeums, we cannot think
that they were worked from outline, or that the art of ftatuary was in-.
debted for its origin to the limnift. Indeed Diodorus, Sic. L... 40
expressly
BOOK I.
347
APPENDI X.
XVI.
expreſsly tells us, that they were work'd from meaſurement;—and to CHAP.
fuch nicety and known proportions, that half of a ftatue was often
made in one province of Egypt, and half in another, and the moities
exactly fitted when put together.
<<
It is moreover evident from many circumſtances, that Painting was-
an art of no very high antiquity :-Polygnotus who painted the sóx
Toixian, was the firſt who opened the lips, and gave life to the gefture
of his faces: " inftituit os adoperire, dentes oftendere, vultum ab
antiquo rigore variare." Plin. L. 35. Cap. 9. And what is more
remarkable, before the ninety third olympiad (the æra at which Appol-
lodorus flouriſhed) in no picture was the eye attempted to be painted :
neque ante eum tabula ullius oftenditur quæ teneat oculos."-in the
grandior in capitibus articulifque," applied by the elder Pliny to
Zeuxis-I have the ſtile of that mafter before my eyes,-I have before
me the large heads and joints of the faints and martyrs, as reprefented
on the windows of an ancient monaftery, in an illuminated miffal, or
on the old Florentine ware.
<c
cc
NOTE [103.] Page 144.
Diodorus Sic. Lib. 4. fays " that the proportion of the ancient
Ægyptian ſtatues was adopted, and introduced by Dædalus into
"Greece: the fame hiftorian further obferves, that Dædalus was
"the firſt who engraved the eye, feparated the legs, and extended the
"arms: the fculptors before him, formed their rude images with
"the eyes fhut or blinking, and with the arms falling and clofely at-
« tached to the fide.” τὸν 1ε ρυθμον των αρχαίων κατ' Αιγύπίον ανδρίαν]ων τὸν
αυτον ειναι τοις υπο Δαίδαλο κατασκευασθεισι πάρα τοις ἔλλησιν.
πρώτος
δὲ ὀμμάτωσας, καὶ διαβεβηκότα τὰ σκελῆ ποίησας, ἐτι δέ τας χεῖρας διαλελαμμένας
ποίων, οι γὰρ πρό τᾶτε τεχνίται κατασκευάζον τὰ ἀγαλμάτα τοις μέν όμμασι
μεμύκολα, τας δε χεῖρας ἔχοντα καθεῖμενας, και ταις πλευραῖς κεκολλημενας. Lib.
4. Dædalus was the fon of Palamäon of Athens, and eſtabliſhed a
ſchool there; wherein was educated Onatas of Ægina, and many
others who were fathers of fculpture in the different countries and
cities, they migrated to, and fettled in. Paufanias fpeaks highly of this
Y y 2
Onatas:
348
BOOK I.
APPENDI
X.
1
XVI.
του
Onatas : « τὸν δὲ Ομαλᾶν τἔτον ἔτινος της τέχνης ἐσι τὰ ἀγαλμάτα, όντα Αιγι
«Ε
CHAP. Onatas :
νήτην, ἐδένος υςέρον θήσομεν τῶν ἀπὸ Δαίδαλα τε καὶ εργατήρια το Ατικά Paufan.
in Eliac. I. Dædalus worked chiefly in wood: Paufanias fpeaking
of his ftatue of Hercules extant even in his time, fays of that
and other works of Dædalus, that "they were rude to the touch
"and eye, but that yet fomething of the true fublime, enthuſiaſtic
" and great, diftinguimed thefe images :” Δαίδαλος δε ἐπόσα ἐργάσατο ατόπως
Τερα μέν ἔισιν εις τὴν όψιν, ἐπιπρέπει δε όμως τί καὶ ἐνθέον τέτοις· Paufan. in
Corinth.-in the fame book, and in every other of his ten journals,
he enumerates ftatues of the remoter ages, and "all of wood; and
« particularly in the Temple of Apollo,” Απολλωνος τα θεάρια-ad-
judged to be the moft ancient Temple remaining in the time of Pau-
fanias that author indeed as far as his authority goes, (and I know of
no better authority on the fubject) puts the exclufive antiquity of
wooden images out of queftion, when in another place he fuggeſts,
that the wooden or Dedalean images gave the name of Dædalus to
"the artiſt the moſt excellent, inſtead of Dædalus having ſtamped
" that epithet on fuch ftatues :” οι πάλαι ξόανα ἐκαλοῦν Δαιδαλα. ἐκαλουν
δε, ἐμοι δοκειν, πρότερον ἐτί ή Δαίδαλος ο παλαμάονος ἐγένεῖο ᾿Αθήνησι. τελῳ δε
ὔτερον ἀπὸ τῶν Δαίδαλων ἐπεκλησιν γινέσθαι δοκῶ. Paufan. in Bæot. Indeed
the antiquity of wooden images ſeems beyond all record, and to elude
any pretenfions of a diſcovery of their origin and invention. It is
obfervable that the idols formed by the rude nations in the fouth feas,
diſcovered and brought home by Captain Cook, are of wood,-at leaſt
all thoſe which may be confidered as prototypes.
:
Πο
NOTE [104.] Page 144.
χρυσείοι δ' εκατέρθε καὶ ἀργυρέοι κύνες ἦσαν
Ους Ηφαισος ἐτευξέν ἰδυίησι πραπιδεσσι,
Δώμα φυλασσέμεναι μεγαλήτορος Αλκίνοῖο
Αθάνατες όντας καὶ ἀγήρως ήματα πάντα
As to the words αθάνατες, and αγήρως, applied to the above articles of
ſculpture or inanimate beings, I fhall have occafion to obferve, that,
8
not
BOOK I.
349
APPEND 1 X.
not only in thefe, but in other inftances, Homer drew from the life,
or from himself, and not from any examples or properties of art exift-
ing in his time. Painting, Pliny obferves, Lib. 35, was not known at
the time of the Trojan war; and probably was not in any great degree
known in the time of Homer, one hundred and fixty-eight years after-
wards, according to his life attributed to Herodotus; and even ac-
cording to the computation of thofe, who regard that biography as
fpurious, placed at much the fame period. The fhield of Achilles is
indeed repreſented as bearing figures and ſcenery diſtinguiſhed by co-
lours; but Homer's defcription is of nature itſelf, and the poet's eye
hath viewed and defcribed that nature in the mirror of his fhield; the
arts helped not the imagination of the poet, but the imagination of the
poet helped the arts, and, as I think, in a great degree framed thefe
arts. Critics have amufed themſelves with the fuppofition of raiſed
figures moving on the area of this fhield by force of clockwork or ma-
chinery; and Mr. Pope, in his effay on the ſubject, adopting theſe
fuppofitions, hath in fupport thereof adduced certain hyperboles of
Plato, relative to the ftatues of Dædalus-as if walking or ſpeaking !
mere phraſes of admiration! as if a modern fhould fay there is life in
fuch a performance; there is Spirit in fuch another; there is animation
in the Mofes of Michael Angelo! there is divinity in the Jehovah of
Raphael! Other critics have talked of enamel, and in urging the pro-
bability of that art having been employed to perfect the fhield of
Achilles, have alluded to the coloured figures on the walls of Babylon,
which had as little to do with enamel as with ftatuary: fays Diodorus,
ἐν ῶμαις ἔτι τοις πλίνθοις διελελύπωτο θήρια παντοδαπα· &c. &c. Lib. 2.
Sect. 97. I merely deduce from the words of the hiftorian, that a
builder checquered his wall with figures, his bricks being ready pre-
pared of different coloured clays. As to the art of enamel, or " Pic-
"ture Encaustice," Pliny fays it was unknown before the time of
Polygnotus, Lib. 35. Cap. 11. As for the modern writers, who would
reject on this occafion the authority of Pliny, and fubftitute their own,
they muſt give me a better reafon than I have yet read, for accepting
the modern, ere I reject the ancient. There is a circumſtance in the
following lines which feems to have eſcaped the attention of the critics
who have difcuffed the fubject of Achilles's fhield.
'E.
CHA P.
XVI.
350
BOOK I.
APPENDIX.
СНАР.
XVI.
Ἐν δε χόρον ποίκιλλε περικλυτος ἀμφιγύνεις
Τῳ ἔκελον οἷον πολ' ἐνί Κνώσσῳ Ευρείῃ
Tw
Δαίδαλος ήσκησεν καλλιπλόκαμῳ ᾿Αριαδνη.
Iliad 18. v. 590.
And there the ſkilful Vulcan grav'd a dance
Like unto that which Dedalus did work
In Gnoffus for the fair-hair'd Ariadné.
Dædalus would fcarcely have been cited by Homer, had he not been
in the poet's time the firſt artiſt known, or on record: nor had Homer
been acquainted with more exquifite workmanſhip would he have
affimilated the choiceft labours of the god Vulcan to a work of De-
dalus. As for the idea of an old fcholiaft, "that this paffage alludes
"to a labyrinthian dance, inftituted in commemoration of the ef
<< cape of Thefeus; and alludes to Dædalus merely as Maitre du
« Ballet ;"-credat Judæus Apella!-the poet, no doubt, compar-
ing a work of art, his compariſon was with a work of art, and with a
fuppofed if not real work of Dedalus: but the works of Dadalus were
known to Paufanias, and he reprefents them as rude and imperfect.
Had painting afforded a more perfect example of art, the poet would
probably thence have drawn his affimilation; and from his wholly
omitting fuch allufion, not only in this paffage, but throughout his
whole poem, we may fairly deduce that in his time the art of painting
was in little, or in no degree known, or in Greece, or in the countries.
of Aſia through which he travelled. As to the embroidered veils, &c.
mentioned by the father of poetry; limning, or the art of the limner
might have been, for ought I ſee in objection, much more ancient than
that of the painter, and the firft limning might have been with threads
in fantaſtic border: but this fubject would lead me beyond the proper
limits of a note. Admitting the compofition of the ſhield to be beau-
tiful, we muſt allow the execution to be moſt difficult, nor in any de-
gree feaſible in an age which regarded Dædalus (the firft fculptor who
departed from the rigid ftile of the Egyptians) as the greateſt artiſt
known, comparatively, in every branch of art; and it were ingenuous
to
1
BOOK I.
351
APPENDIX.
to allow the ſhield of Achilles to have been the work of the poet Ho-
mer, nor to pretend that fculpture, painting, and even enamel, were
arts in fuch perfection at that æra, as to have been capable of the ac-
compliſhment defcribed. Pope, in his tranflation of the verſes above
cited, ſeems to have been aware of the ftumbling block they con-
tained to his ingenious criticiſm, and explanations of the ſhield, for
he artfully fubftitutes the word Dadalean for Dadalus.
A figured dance fucceeds; fuch once was feen
In lofty Gnoffus, for the Cretan queen.
Form'd by Dedalean art, a comely band.
Of youthful maidens bounding hand in hand.
Pope's II. Book 18. v. 681.
Homer compares the choiceft and most difficult work of art in his
whole ſhield (namely a dance) to an actual work of Dadalus: the
verfion" with art Dedalean" evades this circumftance; for Paufanias,
as has been ſtated in a previous note, mentions that the word Adidaλa,
or “ Dædalean” was antecedent to the age of Dædalus, and might of
courſe be uſed without any reference to that artift. The four lines of
Pope, far from a tranſlation, are ſcarcely a paraphrafe; even Gnofſus
is lofty inſtead of Spacious.
NOTE [105.] Page 145.
The tree is ſuppoſed to have been the first type of architecture, as
undoubtedly it was the firft material: the avenue of the hallowed
grove wherein the firſt rude altar was raifed, fuggefted the forming
fuch avenue of ftone or marble; the trunk of the tree was the type of
the column; the head, of its various capitals and orders, invented
fucceffively by ingenious man, thereafter intermingling his own arts
and phantafies of building. As has been fhown, the tree likewiſe af-
forded the first material of ftatuary: I will again cite Paufanias :
Δάνας καὶ ὁ νάος, και το ξοάνον ἀναθήμα ἦν· ξοάνα γὰρ δη πότε εἶναι πείθομαι
πάντα και μάλισα τα Αιγυπτία: « the temple and the ftatue too of Danaus
>
"were
CHA P.
XVI.
352
Book I.
APPENDIX.
CHAP.
XVI.
"were of wood, and all the works of the higheſt antiquity, and parti-
"cularly thofe of Egypt, I am perfuaded, were of the fame material."
Paufan. in Corinth. As the tree afforded the firft material, may it not
too have been the firft type of ftatuary? May not two branches have
remained for arms, and a root happily divided have given the legs of
the firft repreſentation of the human figure, attempted in a rude kind
of ſculpture? Ovid hath with ingenuity metamorphofed the human
figure into a tree:
Mollia cinguntur tenui præcordia libro,
In frondem Crines, in Ramos brachia crefcunt,
Pes modo tam velox pigris radicibus hæret,
Ora Cacumen obit.
Ov. Metam. Lib. 1. V. 550.
Is the antimetamorphofis difficult to conceive?
Jam caput e capite, et ramis jam brachia crefcunt,
Et videas prodire pedes radicibus imis,
Et Truncus validum corpus fit viribus inftans,
Dum nares nodi, dumque os bene format hiatus
Quo mel decurrit; neque deerunt mella loquenti !
NOTE [106.] Page 145.
The outline is, and ever was, the most difficult for the ftudent to
maſter. The ancients in general, and even Apelles, painted with only
four colours; "ex albis, melino; ex filaceis, Attico; ex rubris, fi-
"nopide pontico; ex nigris, atramento." Yet they found it eaſier
to fill up, than to draw, the figure: Parrhafius confeffione artificum in
lineis extremis palmam adeptus; hæc eft in picturâ fumma fubtilitas,
corpora enim pingere et media rerum, eft quidem magni operis, fed
in quo multi gloriam tulerint: extrema corporum facere rarum in
fucceffu artis invenitur. Plin. Hift. Nat. Lib. 35. Cap. 10.
NOTE
Book 1.
353
APPENDIX.
NOTE [107.] Page 145.
The Seftine chapel in the Vatican is decorated with the Sibyls, and
laft judgment, painted by Michael Angelo Buonaroti,
NOTE [108.] Page 145.
αν
Of the fingle figures painted by the ancient maſters, many have been
defcribed by Ælian, Paufanias, Lucian, Pliny, and others: of thefe
more particularly may be noticed, "the figure of Cupid, by Paufias,
"throwing away the bow, and affuming the lyre;" or the other by
the fame mafter, of " ebriety drinking from a chryftal goblet, and the
« face feen through the chryftal;”—ἴδοις δ᾽ ἄν ἐν τῇ γράφῃ φιαλήν τε ύαλο,
xỳ di dulns yuvainos wçóσov Paufan. in Corinth. We ſhould remember
too the picture by Theon, of the foldier rufhing to battle, deſcribed by
Ælian. Lib. 2. Cap. 44. Similar to the picture by Theon, are the
Hoplitides, or two armed foldiers of Parrhafius; "alter in certamine
"ita decurrens, ut fudare videatur; alter arma deponens, ut anhelare
«fentiatur." Plin. Lib. 35. Cap. 10. We fhould likewife advert to
the examples of art mentioned in the " Pinotheca," or picture-gallery
defcribed by Petronius, in which were many works of Apelles, who
delighted much in ſingle figures, and whofe fingle figures were fo many
wonders of the art: " tantâ enim fubtilitate extremitates imaginum
"erant ad fimilitudinem precife, ut crederes etiam animorum effe
picturam." Petron. Sat. Cap. 83. Having fpoken of Apelles, his
famous portrait of Alexander in the character of Jupiter, gives, even
in defcription, a ftriking idea of the powers of that painter: digiti
«eminere videntur, et fulmen extrà tabulam effe, fed legentes me-
"minerint ea omnia quatuor coloribus facta." Plin. Lib. 35. Cap. 10.
If I am right in my fuppofition, that "the ancients were wholly igno-
"rant of a systematic perspective," their crouded compofitions muft
have been moft confufed performances; and how much they were fome-
times crouded, appears from the defcription of the sia màxian. A mere
detail
ΓΕ
Z z
CC
CHAP.
XVI.
354
BOOK I
APPENDIX.
CHA P. detail of the fubject of which, and of the names of the portraits deli-
XVI.
neated therein, taking up three whole pages in the folio edition of
Paufanias: the burning of Troy, with every concomitant anecdote is
fully treated; the departure of the Grecian fleet, and every fhip, and
every chieftain, is particularly remarked; the deſcent of Ulyffes to
the fhades below, and all elyfium, and the infernal regions are opened.
to the view; above one hundred and fifty portraits are ſpecified by
names underwritten, and the figures and machinery befides are innu-
merable: a fuppofition of the extent of the gallery, and of the num-
ber of compartments, will neither relieve the artist or critic; for each
compartment or ſeparate ſubject, required all the arts of aerial and li-
neal perſpective, not to have been incongruous and unnatural. Some
pictures indeed are extant, fuch as the marriage in the Aldobrandini
collection, which confift of feveral figures elegantly arranged and
compofed; but thefe pictures fupport our theory, when it is obſerved,
that the figures are moſtly on one plane, and appear like "
AC
paintings
copied from baſſo relievo." The marriage of Alexander and Roxana,
mentioned by Lucian, in his Eulogy of Herodotus, feems to have been
of the fame kind; and from every relation of the ancient writers, as
well as from the examples of art which remain, I think it may be de-
duced, that the beſt pictures of the ancient maſters were thoſe fimple in
their compofition, and which required not a fcientific perfpective.
No one who has feen merely the reliques of Herculaneum, or feen
only the beautiful compofition of the Cupid-merchant, can doubt but
that their groupes were independantly excellent.-I wish I could add to
the existing example above cited, a prefervation of the charming com-
pofition of Zeuxis defcribed by Lucian; " of a female centaur with
"her young, and the male centaur holding up a lion's whelp in ſpor-
"tive terror to his own offspring."
Lucian. in Zeuxide.
NOTE [109.] Page 146.
(Cinægirus) qui poft prælii innumeras cædes, cum fugientes hoftes
ad naves egiffet, onuftam navem dextrâ manu tenuit; nec prius de-
mifit, quàm manum amitteret, tum quoque amputatâ dextrâ, navem
finiftrâ
12
BOOK II.
355
APPENDIX.
finiftrâ comprehendit; quam et ipfam quum amififfet, ad poftremum CHAP.
morfu navem detinuit. Juftin. Hift. Lib. 2. Cap. 10.
XVI.
NOTE [110.] Page 146.
I am well aware that optics were a branch of mathematical fcience
in the times I allude to: "Pars quædam Geometriæ lxn appellatur,
quæ ad oculos pertinet; olx autem reddit caufas cur vifiones fal-
lant, et quæ in aquâ confpiciuntur, majora ad oculos fiant;-quæ
procul ab oculis funt minora. Aul. Gell. Lib. 16. Cap. 18. I have
cited the above paffage, as the only one I have read, which may be
conftrued to hint at a perspective rule: though in my humble opinion
fuch conſtruction would be very forced.
<c
NOTE [111] Page 146.
Illud in his rebus longè fuge credere, Memmi,
In medium fummæ quod dicunt omnia niti,
Atque ideo mundi naturam ftare, fine ullis
Ictibus externis, neque quoquam poffe refolvi
Summa atque ima, quòd in medium fint omnia nixa.
Ipfum fi quicquam poffe in fe fiftere credis,
Et quæ pondera fub terris funt, omnia furfúm
Nitier, in terrâque retro requiefcere pôfta;
Ut per aquas quæ nunc rerum fimulacra videmus,
Et fimili ratione animalia fubtu' vagari
Contendunt, neque poffe e terris in loca cæli
Recidere inferiora magis, quam corpora noftra
Sponte fuâ poffint in cæli templa volare:
Illi quum videant folem, nos fidera noctis
Cernere, et alterni nobifcum tempora cæli
Dividere, et noctes pariles agitare diefque.
Sed vanus ftolidis hæc omnia finxerit error.
Zz2
Lucret. Lib. I.
Plato
356
Book I.
APPEND
I X.
CHA P.
XVI.
TO
Plato feems to have been one of thofe comprized in the cen-
fures of Lucretius, his idea was, γην δ᾽ οὖσαν ἐπι τε μέσα κινεῖσθαι περι
Mirov. Diog. Laert. in vit. ejus.-In Note 99, there is a reference
to Monfieur Bailly's treatife on the origin of fciences, &c.-to thoſe
who are not acquainted with that ingenious work, it may be neceffary
to mention generally its defign, relative to fuch important truths as
thole ftated by Anaxagoras, and thofe alluded to by Lucretius, and
many others delivered by the ancient fophifts. Mr. Bailly fuppofes,
that the mere ftatement of important truths, the attainment of
" which required a certain proceſs of knowledge and inveſtigation,
"without any ſtatement of that inveſtigation and of the fubordinate
degrees of knowledge by which thofe truths were attained,-implies,
that the philofophers who delivered fuch truths, whether in the ſhape
"of propofition, prediction, or deduction, were mere depofitaries of
"thofe truths or axioms, traditionary from a more ancient and
enlightened people, whofe fteps and gradations in fcience were loft,
" and of whom we have no account.
66
6 C
NOTE [112.] Page 147.
Thus Apelles confeffed himself in the difpofition of objects.
inferiour to Amphion, and in the defignation of diftances inferiour
to Afclepiodorus -"Cedebat Amphioni de difpofitione, Afclepiodoro
«de menfuris, hoc eft quanto quid a quo diftare deberet." Plin. Lib.
35. Cap. 10.-This could fcarcely have happened to fo learned and
accompliſhed an artift as Apelles, had there in his time been rules of
perspective to work by.
APPENDIX.
APPENDIX.
357
NOTE S, &c.
BOOK THE SECOND.
NOTE [113.] Page 153.
αν
CHAP.
I.
ΩΚΠΑΤ. ειπ.)αλλα τόδ', ειπε ἐπί τείῳ ἐι λεγονται Αθηναίοι δια CΗ ΑΡ.
Περίκλεα βελτιᾶς γεγόνεναι, ή πᾶν τεναντιον διαφθαρῆναι ἐπ᾽ ἐκεῖνε. ταυτί
γὰρ ἔγωγε ακέω Περὶκλεα πεποιηκεναι Αθηναίες ἄργες καὶ δειλος καὶ λαλες και φιλάρα
γυρες εις μισθοφόραν πάρα τὸν κατας ήσαν]α.-(Socrates) « tell me then if
"the Athenians were the better for, or on the contrary corrupted by
"the adminiftration of Pericles?-for I have heard that Pericles ren-
“dered the Athenians indolent, enervate, licentious, and mercenary,
by the venal practices which he introduced among them." Platon.
Gorg. Dialog. N. B. I have rendered the word propógan in a gene-
ral fenfe, but perhaps Plato had a ſpecific allufion to the ftipend for
attendance on public queſtions, inftituted during the adminiſtration of
Pericles. vid. Ariftot. Pol. Lib. 2. Cap. 10. et Lib. 6. Cap. 2.
cr
NOTE [114.] Page 153.
The character of Pompey drawn by Lucan in his Pharfalia, tallies
in fo many refpects with that of Pericles, as delineated in the fecond
book
358
Book II.
APPENDIX.
CHAP.
.I
book of Thucydides, that probably the poet borrowed from the hifto-
rian:-fome leading features of the following characters will too, I
doubt not, recall to the reader's mind, the memory of a late Britiſh
fatefman,Ἐκεῖνος μεν δύναῖος ἐν τῷ τέ αξιώματι καὶ τῇ γνώμη.
μαλων δαφανῶς ἀδωρότατος γιγνομένος.
ἤγελο μᾶλλον ὑπ' αυτε, ή αυλος ἦγε
ἔργῳδε ύπο τα πρώτα ἄνδρος αρχη
κατεῖχε τό πλὴθός ἐλευθέρως, καὶ ἐκ
ἐγίγνείο τε λόγῳ μέν δημοκρατία,
Thucyd. Lib. 2. fect. 65.
With views to the latter application I fhall give the beautiful ſpeech
of Cato in the Pharfalia at length.
CC
"Civis obît (inquit) multo majoribus impar
"Noffe modum juris, fed in hoc tamen utilis ævo,
"Cui non ulla fuit jufti reverentia ;-falvâ
CC
Libertate, potens, et folus, plebe paratâ,
Privatus, parere fibi :-Rectorque Senatûs
"Sed regnantis erat; nil belli jura popofcit,
"Quæque dari voluit, voluit fibi poffe negari:
Immodicas poffedit opes, fed plura retentis
"Intulit; invafit ferrum, fed ponere nôrat:
"Prætulit arma toge, fed pacem armatus amavit.
.66
Juvit fumpta ducem, juvit dimiffa poteftas
"Cafta domus, luxuque carens, corruptaque nunquam
"Fortunâ domini;-Clarum et venerabile nomen
Gentibus, et multum noftræ quod proderat urbi!
Lucan, Pharfal. Lib. 9. v. 190.
NOTE [115.] Page 155.
Plutarch relates a converfation between Pericles and Alcibiades, in
which the former obferving "that his thoughts were employed, in
"the confideration of how to make up his public accounts to the
public affembly:"-Alcibiades anfwered,-" rather confider how
«to avoid the being under a neceffity of giving any account at all."
Plutarch thence intimates the motive of Pericles, for embroiling his
country in a war, which might engage the minds of the citizens, and
prevent their adverting to his ſtate of refponfibility. A meaner motive,
and
BOOK II.
359
APPENDIX.
and one lefs fuitable to the character of Pericles, was objected to him
by the comic writers: Among the conditions on which the Spartans
infifted, (and in default of the acceptance of which, they denounced
war,) was the opening the ports of Attica to the people of Megara;
and fays the comic poet, " Pericles rejected wholly theſe terms, merely
"becauſe the Megarenfians had offended Afpafia.
Πορνὴν δὲ Σιμαίθαν ιόντες Μεγαρα δε
Νεάνεαι κλέπτεσι μεθυσοκίταβοι
Καθ' οι Μεγαρῆς ὀδυναις πεφυσὶΓνωμένοι
*Αν εξέκλεψαν Ασπασιας πόρνα δύο.
Καντεῦθεν αρχη τε πόλεμο κατερράγη
Ελλησι πᾶσιν ἐκ τρίων λοικάτριων.
Εντεύθεν ὀργῇ Περικλῆς ὀλύμπιος
Ἠσραπλεν, ἐβρονᾶ, συνεκύκα τήν Ἑλλάδα
Axagons Ariftoph. Comad.
Some youths of Athens in their cups went forth
To Megara, and thence did carry off
By force, the whore Simætha: in return,
The youth of Megara by refentment urged,
Bore off two girls from th' brothel of Aſpaſia.
Hence the dire war which burft upon the Greeks
In every part ;-by three lewd Harlots caus'd!
Hence the Olympian Pericles did rage,
Hence lighten, ftorm, and urge the fates of Greece!
NOTE [116.] Page 157.
Pericles died two years and fix months after the commencement of
the Peloponnefian war. Thucyd. Lib. 2. Sect. 65.
Unleſs Ifocrates exaggerates, Pericles must have been a moft able,
as well as difintereſted financier, on his deceafe leaving in the treaſury
eight thouſand talents, being two thouſand more than were in it, when
the war commenced, και τον Περικλης ο πρὸ τῶν τοι των δημαγωγος καλάςας,
παραλάβω
CHA P.
1.
360
Book II.
APPENDIX.
CH A P.
CHAP.
I.
επι
σε
δε
παραλάβων τὴν πόλιν χειρῶ μεν φρονᾶσαν ή πρίν κατασχειν τὴν ἀρχὴν, ἔτι δὲ
ἀνεκλῶς μεν πολιτευομενην ἐκ ἐπὶ τὸν ἰδιόν χρηματίσμα ὥρμησεν ἀλλὰ τὸν
μεν Οικον
ἐλατ]ῶ τὸν ἐὰντε κατελίπεν, ή παρα τε πατρος παρελαβεν. ἐς δε τήν ἀκρόπολιν
ἀνηνεγκεν οκλαχίσχιλια ταλάντα· « Pericles, antecedent to the power of
"the demagogues I have above-mentioned, taking on him the go-
"vernment, prefided over a republic, the worfe indeed for his uncon-
"ſtitutional influence, but yet adminiſtered with a temperate uſe of
"authority private rights and property were fafe during his miniftry;
"and he left his houſe lefs opulent than he received it from his anceſ
"tors, whilſt for the public treaſury he had collected eight thouſand
« talents.” Ifocrat. Orat. περι Ειρηνης
NOTE [117.] Page 158.
The dominion of Athens was certainly not lefs extenfive at this æra
than in the times of Ariftophanes.
Εισιν γὰρ πόλεις σχιλίαι, αι νῦν τον φόρον ὑμῖν ὑπαγεσι,
Τέτων εικοσιν άνδρας βόσκειν, ἐι τίς προσελαξεν εκάση.
Δύο μυριάδες των δημότων ἐξῶν ἐν πᾶσι λαγώοις·
εν
"We have one thouſand cities tribute paying,
"Each order twenty citizens to feed,
And twenty thousand then ſhall live in lux'ry.
NOTE [118.] Page 158.
Vefpes. Comæd.
In an ancient war with Sparta, a brave band of the inhabitants of
old Meffene, when that city was ftormed by the Lacedæmonians,
forced their way through the affailants, and fettling at Naupactos, ever
after nurtured an hereditary enmity against their ancient foe.
Paufan. in Meffen.
NOTE
Book II.
361
APPENDI X.
CHAP.
I.
NOTE [119.] Page 159.
In confequence of the perfidy of the Platæans in their cruel treat-
ment of their prifoners contrary to an exprefs compact, their town
was afterwards invefted by the confederate forces; and the firſt mili-
tary detail of a fiege is on the occafion given us by Thucydides. The
whole account is very circumftantial, and the complete fcience of
attack and defence in the degrees they were in thofe times underſtood
may be gathered from that very curious and interefting recital.
Thucyd. Lib. 2. &. 3.
NOTE [120.] Page 163.
The account of the plague at Athens, in the fecond book of Thu-
cydides, is a moft accurate detail of the progrefs of that diftemper;
and tallies fo cloſely with the hiſtory of that dreadful malady in its
ſeveral ſtages, as defcribed by Boccacio in his preface to the Decame-
rone,-in the officers journal at Marfeilles,-and in the citizens' account
of the plague at London, that the identity of the diforder cannot be
doubted; and more particularly as the Greek hiftorian, traces the dif
eaſe from upper Ægypt to Afia, and thence to Athens. I have heard
Dr. Samuel Johnfon declare, that the Citizens' account of the plague at
London, quoted by Dr. Mead, in his Treatife on Poifons, as an
authentic work, is a mere romance, written by the ingenious Daniel de
Foe I cannot perfuade myſelf that the work is not authentic; Daniel
de Foe may have been the Editor; but I think that he or ſome other com-
piler was in poffeffion of authentic documents. I read the book under
ſtrong prepoffeffion in favor of Dr. Johnfon's authority; but the refult
of my reading the book was the rejecting that authority.-Some few of
the anecdotes interſperſed in that interefting work may poffibly have
been added, and others heightened by Daniel de Foe's admirable
fancy.
3 A
NOTE
362
Book II.
APPENDIX.
CHAP.
I.
NOTE [121.] Page 165.
This treaty or compact, as far as the allies were concerned, was il-
lufive, or no compact at all; for the fubordinate parties in the war,
whether free or fubfidiary ſtates, were left wholly at the diſcretion of
Athens and Sparta, by a faving claufe which left an opening to any,
and to every new article of arrangement, which thofe imperious re-
publics Athens and Sparta, might at any fubfequent time fuggeft and
agree to.
Τὴν δε τί δοκῇ Λακεδαίμονιοις καὶ Ἀθηναῖοις πρόσθεῖναι καὶ ἀφελεια
πέρι της συμμαχίας, ό, τι ἂν δοκῇ ἐνδρκον αμφότεροις είναι. "Whatever
"hereafter it may feem good to the Lacedæmonians and to the Athe-
"nians, to add to, or to fubtract from, this treaty, be it done with
good faith." Thucyd. Lib. 5.
6C
αν
NOTE [122.] Page 166.
In the chapter of this work, treating of the legislation of Solon, and
in every other paffage touching the inſtitutions of the commonwealth,
I have omitted any pretenfions to aſcertain the age, at which the citi-
zen arrived at his full rights and powers. Thirty years hath been the
age ordinarily agreed on by the critics. Alcibiades was at this time
only fix and twenty. Vid. Not. ad Sect. 41. Lib. 5. Thucyd. ed.
Dukeri Thucydides indeed hath the expreffion, ηλικιᾳ μέν τότε ὦν νέος,
αξιώματι δε πρόγονων τιμώμενος. Another queftion of equal difficulty then
occurs, as to how far, and in what cafes the plea of anceſtry, or of per-
fonal merit, might fuperfede ordinary regulations?
CHAP.
11.
NOTE [123] Page 169.
The circumſtance of commerce and liberty mutually ſuſtaining and
foſtering each other, is ſtrongly exemplified in a fact ſtated by Ariſ◄
totle,
Book II.
363
APPENDIX.
τῶν ἀδύ
totle, who obferves, that the merchants and mariners of the Piraeus,
were of a more democratic turn and ſpirit than thoſe of the upper
town: ᾿Αθήνησιν ουχ᾽ ὁμοιῶς εἰσιν ἄλλα μᾶλλον δημότικοι οι Πειραία οικονες
TV To ású• Polit. Lib. 5. Cap. 3. fo too Book 1. Chap. 6. of this
treatiſe, we find that Pififtratus taking the popular part, and pretend-
ing to affert general liberty and enfranchiſement, the Пapo fupported
him in oppofition to the Πεδιαίοιο
NOTE [124.] Page 170.
εν
εν
εν
Kai TW οντι τὸ ἄγαν τὶ ποιειν, μεγαλήν φίλει εις τ' εναντιον μεταβόλην ανάπο
δίδοναι, ἐν ὥραις τε, καὶ ἐν φύτοις, καὶ ἐν σώμασι, καὶ δη καὶ ἐν πολιτείαις ἐχ' ἠκιςά.
"In fact great exertion is wont moft quickly to recoil, and the moſt
"flouriſhing ſtate of things to fuffer the ſtrongeſt viciffitude; nor does
"this apply merely to inftances of feafons, of plants, and of animal
"bodies, but particularly to political bodies." Platon. Pol. Lib. 8.
NOTE [125.] Page 170.
Ariſtotle in his politics, Lib. 7. Cap. 6. treats of the commercial
or mercantile body in a ſtate; and in his enquiries into what kind of
inhabitants are beſt, by no means admits as fuch the trading part;
looking on their practices as introducing a principle moſt dangerous
to the morals of the people, and to the regular conduct of the com-
monwealth. In every ſtate merely commercial, as riches are the ex-
cluſive object, avarice muſt be the ruling principle; and how far ſuch
principle is calculated to overpower and bear down all other motives
and ſprings of action, when once fully admitted, is too obvious to re-
quire any detail of argument. Plato thereon fays,- ToulEN TOIVUV
τοὐν εῦθεν τοινὺν
προϊοντες ἐἰς τὸ προσθέν χρηματίζεσθαι, όσῳ ἄν τεῖο τιμιωτέρον ᾐχωνται τοσαύτῳ
σε ἀρετὴν ατιμότεραν.
αντι δή φιλονείκων καὶ φιλοτίμων ανδρων, φιλοχρήμα
τιςαι η φιλοχρήματοι τελευτῶντες ἐγενὸν]ο.” "Thenceforward looking
"alone to the acquifition of wealth, in proportion as they appreciate
"that, they depreciate virtue; and from being emulative of danger
<c
<c
3 A 2
<< and
CHAP.
II.
364
Book II.
APPENDIX.
CHAP.
II.
"and glory, become mere competitors in avarice and accumulation."
Plat. Pol. Lib. 8. Wealth not only being fought as the means of
enjoyment, but as a fource too of honours and refpect;-this is the
criterion of extreme degeneracy of public manners, whence may be
prognofticated the worst evils, and viciffitudes, a community is liable
to: for fuch depraved competition for the means of undue influence,
as well as of vice, muft diffolve every tye of public virtue and juſtice,
which holds a ſtate together.
NOTE [126.] Page 172.
Nicias, in a long ſpeech preferved by Thucydides, difapproved of
the expedition he was fent to command; and, fays the hiftorian,
" Al-
"cibiades was an advocate for the enterprize, merely from views of
" oppofition to Nicias,"-Buxoros Ty Te Nínia ivalda fo that a Ge-
neral was fent who liked not his command, and a colleague fent with
him, who would certainly thwart and oppofe it.
cr
NOTE [127.] Page 173.
Alcibiades was charged with having irreverently attacked the images
of Mercury, which throughout the city were all broken and defaced in
one night. Thucyd. Lib. 6. Theſe facred Mercuries had been erected
"in triviis et compitis" by Hipparchus. Platon. Hipparch. Dial.-
They were a fort of Termini, and in form regaywvo, the head and
fhoulders of a Mercury terminating in a ſquare block, and the private
parts alone relieved from the flat fuperficies in front. Paufan. in
Meffen.
NOTE [128.] Page 176.
It is well known that the Athenians were much addicted to theatrical
amuſements, of which we have a remarkable inftance preſerved by
Athenæus; who ſays, " that when the account of the total loſs of the
army
Book II.
365
APPENDI
X,
II.
"army in Sicily arrived, though that fatal event comprized objects of CHAP.
"domeſtic concern, affecting every family in Athens, yet being firſt
"announced in the theatre, the fenfe of public danger and of private
"grief were for a while loft in the attention of the audience to Hege-
""
mon, a favourite actor then on the ftage; and Hegemon went
"through his entire part without interruption; nor did a citizen quit
"the theatre, 'ere the performance was clofed." Athenæ, Lib. 9. P. 407.
Indeed the predilection for dramatic performances feems at this æra
to have pervaded every republic as far as Sicily: for we are told (I
think by the ſame author) that the Syracufans releaſed from the La-
tomies, many of their prifoners, and gave them life and liberty as the
price of their repeating ſome of the moral lines of Euripides.
NOTE [129.] Page 177.
If Pericles had ever any deſign on Sicily, or other object in the Ita-
lian feas, he certainly never meant to enforce, or to carry into execu-
tion fuch ſcheme, whilft engaged in war with the Peloponnefians;
during hoftilities with whom, the maxims of that great ſtateſman were
as follow: "To purfue the war temperately and with perfeverance;"
"to throw all their force of fervice into the naval line;"" to at-
"tempt no encreaſe of dominion from the war;"-and laftly, "never
"to leave open and expoſed to hazard and ſudden enterprize, their
"docks, arfenals, or, in a word, their city:"- purſuing which fyftem,
Pericles doubted not, but that his countrymen would finally gain a fu-
periority in the conteft; but fays the hiftorian" on the demife of Pe-
«ricles, the Athenians acted in every refpect contrary."- μev yag
μεν γάρ
ἀσυχάζοντας τέ, καὶ τὸ ναυτικὸν θεραπεύοντας, καὶ ἀρχὴν μη ἐπὶκλεμένες ἐν τω
πόλεμῳ, μὴδε πόλει κινδυνεύοντας ἐφῆ περιεσέσθαι. . . . οι δε ταύτα τε πάντα
is travliov iπgà§ar. Thucyd. Lib. 2. Sect. 65.
NOTE
366
BOOK II.
APPENDIX.
CHAP.
III.
NOTE [130.] Page 179.
It doth not immediately occur to me where I read the infcription
alluded to in the text, and which ſpecified an enormous quantity of
wine drank.-The epitaph of Darius was to the fame effect, i. e. boaſt-
ing of accompliſhment or feats in drinking.
Ἠδυναμὴν καὶ ὀινὸν πίνειν πολὺν, καὶ τᾶτον φέρειν καλῶς.
"Much I could drink, and, what is more,
"The wine I drank, full well 1 bore."
Athenæ, Lib. 10. P. 434、
NOTE [131.] Page 179.
The character of Alcibiades recalls to mind that given by Livy of
Antiochus," adeoque nulli fortunæ adhærebat animus, per omnia
genera vitæ errans, uti nec fibi nec aliis, quinam homo fit, fatis
"conftaret." T. Liv. Hift. Lib. 41.
NOTE [132.] Page 184.
How far the conftitution of the commonwealth was fubverted or
controuled by Alcibiades, may be gathered from the following anec-
dote: "Hegemon the actor having been formally accuſed of a capital
crime, folicited the intereft and interpofition of Alcibiades; who
"accompanying him to the Metròon or temple of Ceres, where the
charge was exhibited, wetted his finger and paffed it over the in-
"dictment, and thus erafed it to the great umbrage of the Prytanes
cc
" and
Book II.
367
APPENDI
X.
" and fecretary, who were prefent, but who reftrained the refentment
" from dread of Alcibiades: the accuſers of Hegemon then fled the
"city." Athenæ, Lib. 9. P. 407. From the fact above cited, the
reader may be induced to pronounce, " the conquefts of Lyfander not
"fo fatal an interruption to the freedom of the republic :"-Reſiſt-
ance was an effect of the oppreffions of a foreign power; but proba-
bly corruption would have enervated the ſlaves to domeſtic ufurpation.
NOTE [133.] Page 190.
Machiavel hath taken the ſubject alluded to in the text in another
point of view, and hath briefly treated of it, with a force of ſentiment
and language, peculiar to his ftrong and penetrating genius.-" Fa
"bene la fortuna quefta, che ella elegge un uomo, quando ella voglia
"condurre cofe grandi, di tanto fpirito e di tantè virtú, che e' conofca
"quelle occafioni che ella lui porge: con medefima mente, quando
"ella voglia condurre grandi rovine, ella fi propone uomini che aiu-
"tino quella rovina; e fe alcuno fuffe che vi poteffe oftare, ó ella lo
❝ amazza, ó lo priva di tutte le facoltà di poter operare alcuno bene.”
Machiav. Difcorf. Lib. 2. Cap. 29. The character, the conduct, the
life, and the death of Alcibiades, afford ample fubjects of application
to the theory of Machiavel.
NOTE [134] Page 191.
From the time the empire of the feas was conceded to Athens by the
other Grecian ſtates after the defeat of Xerxes, to the capture of Athens
by Lyfander, was fixty-eight years; and fo long was that ſtate termed
re
σε fovereign of the feas.”"Αθηναιοι μέν γὰρ ἄλλες μόνον ήρξαν τής παράλια
Svoir déorla ißdoµnxòla in. Dionyf. Hal. Ant. Rom. Lib. 1.
CHAP.
III.
NOTE
368
Book II.
APPENDIX.
CHAP.
IV.
CC
NOTE [135] Page 194.
Socrates had, if any heathen ever had,-" that clear mental vifion
"which reached the nature of that being, always the fame, and ſem-
piternal, and not moving with others in the circle of fucceffive gene-
coration and extinction:” όρωσιν μαθήματος οσα αν αυξῳδηλοι (τὴν φύσιν) ἐκεῖνης
τής έσιας, της δει ὅσης καὶ μή πλανωμένης υπο γενέσεως καὶ φθόρας Plat. Pol.
Lib. 6. Look too in the Effay of Apuleius de deo Socratis, wherein the
abſtract idea of pure ſpirit leads to the god of Socrates. To fuch he
prayed, to ſuch he truſted, and among various and genuine attributes
of the Holy Spirit, refted on a divine providence, the immediate and
tutelary care of an ever-prefent and guardian Deity in the Phædon of
Plato, the ordinary epithet given by Socrates to the Supreme Being, is
τι
cc
Superintendant or Guardian,”—éos itiμedeμevos. Refignation too was
among his tenets as a duty of religion;—this is obfervable in the
Phædon and Crito of Plato, and in the Memorabilia of Xenophon,
and in various other paffages; but no where more ſtrikingly expreffed,
than in the following one of Epiâtetus.—καὶ τὶ λέγει ἐκεῖνος ; ἐμε δ' Ανύτος
καὶ Μελίτος αποκλεῖναι μέν δυνανται, βλάψαι δ' ε· καὶ πάλιν. ἐι ταυλὴ τῷ Θεῷ
φίλειν, ταυλὴ γένεσθῶAnd what does Socrates fay? Anytus and
"Melitus may put me to death, but they cannot hurt me:" and
again,-" if ſuch be the will of God, may his will be done!" Epictet.
Aalgıß. Lib. 1. Cap. 39. The character of Socrates is defcribed
by the younger Pliny, when he fays: "Ego optimum et emendatiffi-
"mum exiſtimo, qui cæteris ita ignofcit, tanquam ipfe quotidiè pec-
"cet; ita peccatis abftinet, tanquam nemini ignofcat." Lib. 8. Ep. 2.
hence fome even of the Fathers of the Church, have gone ſo far in
expreffing their admiration of the character of Socrates, as to term
him a Chriſtian.
NOTE
Book II.
369
APPENDIX.
NOTE [136.] Page 198.
Τι γὰρ μάθονθ᾽ ὑβριζέτον γ' εις τας θέες
Καὶ τῆς Σεληνῆς ἐσκόπεισθε τὴν ἔδραν ;
Δίωκε, βάλλε, παιε, πολλον ἐνέκα
CHAP.
IV.
Μάλισα δ' ειδως, τῆς θεῖς ὡς δικαν
Ariftoph. Negλ. Comoed.
NOTE [137.] Page 198.
Macrobius proves that Plato had not even refpect to Chronology in
the choice of Perfons for his Dialogues; as for inftance, of Parmeni-
des, Timæus, Pagalus, and Xantippus. Satyricon. Lib. 1. Cap. 1.
NOTE [138.] Page 200.
The hiſtorical part of this chapter, is a mere epitome of the Ana-
byfis of Xenophon.
NOTE [139.] Page 207.
... at (Gens Romana) Hiftoriâ non cefferit Græcis; nec oppo-
nere Thucydidi Salluftium verear; nec indignetur fibi Herodotus
æquari Titum Livium: nam mihi egregiè dixiffe videtur Servilius
Nonianus, pares eos magis quam fimiles:-Qui et ipfe a nobis auditus.
eft, clari vir ingenii et fententiis creber, fed minus preffus, quam
hiftoriæ auctoritas poftulat: Quinctil. Inft. Orat. Lib. 15. Cap. 1.
Tacitus feems to have filled up that part of the character of a perfect
hiftorian, which Quinctilian thought wanting in Nonianus.
СНАР.
V.
3 B
NOTE
370
BOOK II.
APPENDIX.
CHAP.
VI.
NOTE [140.] Page 212.
On whatever grounds or principles of equality the inſtitutions of a
commonwealth may have been originally founded, a Nobility muſt
and will eftablifh itfelf in procefs of time, ή γὰρ ἐυγένεια ἐσιν αρχαίος
πλυτος καὶ ἀρετή. "for nobility is merely ancient wealth and virtue."
Ariftot. Pol.Lib. 8. Cap. 4. Befides, as Plato obferves," manners
"are ever ſubject to fluctuation and change, and in their rapid courſe,
draw into the current, ftate-conftitution and policy."-woxielas
γιγνέσθαι ἐκ τῶν ἠθῶν τῶν ἐν πόλεσι, οι ἄν ώσπερ ρευσανία 1᾽ ἄλλα ἐφελκυσῆται·
Platon. Pol. L. 8.
εκ
αν
NOTE [141.] Page 212.
Tacitus makes a fimilar obfervation, on the language and conduct
of the Romans, when the death of Auguftus was hourly expected:
"Pauci bona libertatis incaffùm differere, pars bellum paveſcere, alij
"cupere:" Ann. 1. but the Romans were at that time in fo diffolute
a ftate, as incapacitated them from the receiving, and much more from
the afferting their ancient liberties. The Athenians had not yet.
reached that climax of corruption, to the mouldering point on which
freedom lofes all hold. It hath been repeatedly urged, that for a
people to continue free, they muſt in a certain degree be virtuous:
independency of fpirit under circumftances of fubjection to every
mean, and to every diffolute paffion is a paradox in politics; whilſt
thoſe paffions muſt ever impel a corrupt and diffipated nation to barter
that independancy, for the means of habitual and fenfual gratification;
and the more fo, as vitiated minds cannot duly eftimate or enjoy the
bleffings which a pure fpirit feels, in the importance and exerciſe of
ſelf-controul; without which liberty is licentiouſneſs, and a republic
anarchy. I fhall quote an example from Machiavel's Diſcourſes, as
confirming
BOOK II.
371
APPENDIX.
re
confirming the theory :-" Non fi vede il più forte eſempio che quello
" di Roma, la quale, cacciati i Tarquini, poté fubito prendere è
"mantenere quella libertá: ma morto Cefare, morto C. Caligula,
"morto Nerone, fpenta tutta la ftirpe Cefarea, non poté mai, non fola-
"mente mantenere, ma pure dare principio alla libertá; ne tanta diver-
"fitá di avvenimento in una medefima città nacque del' altro, fe non
"effer' nei tempi dei Tarquini il popolo Romano ancora corrotto, e
" in quefti ultimi Tempi effere corrottiffimo."
Machiav. Difcorf. Lib. 1. Cap. 17.
NOTE [142.] Page 212.
:
Thrafybulus had feventy followers, fays Xenophon, Hift. 2. Sect. 4.
Sixty, fays Paufanias in Atticis. Thirty, fays Cornelius Nepos in
Vit. ejus. I have taken the larger number, as ftamping the greater
probability on the fact it was heroic, and true heroifm needs not
amplification. The Munychia was a peninfulated mound covering
the harbour of the Piraeus; it merely required the entrenching the
neck of land joining it with the continent, to render it a poſt almoſt
impregnable. Of this fituation Thrafybulus availed himſelf.-Acces
δε ἐσιν Μενῦχια χερρόνησιζων. Strabo. Lib 9.
NOTE [143] Page 213.
The author of that name recording the ftory, gives the conduct of
Paufanias an honourable pretext; he fays it was founded on the fenti-
ment, that it was neither juft or expedient for the arms of Sparta, to
abett the tyranny of ſuch atrocious defpots, as then lorded it over
the lives and properties of the Athenians. Paufan. in Lacon. Theſe
were the oftenfible reaſons which the King pleaded before his
judges. Xenoph. Hift. 2.
CHAP.
VI.
3 B2
NOTE
جمع
372
CHAP.
VI.
APPENDIX.
Book II.
NOTE [144] Page 214.
... δία τὴν ἐπι των τριακοντα μανίαν, πάντες δημικώτεροι γεγόναμεν, τῶν Φύλην
καταλάβοντων. Ιfocrat. Orat. πέρι Ειρηνης.
NOTE [145] Page 215.
The Spartans, refenting the behaviour of the Eleans towards their
champions at the public games, and likewife the flight put on their
king Agis, by refufing him the liberty of facrificing to Jupiter in
their Temple, denounced war againſt that people. An expreffion of
Xenophon, ſtrongly marks the fupremacy of, and general reſpect
fhewn to, Sparta, at this time. “ πᾶσαι γὰρ τότε οι πόλεις επύθοντο ότι
Aanedaiμovios ávne Emilarlo" Xenoph. Hift. Lib. 3.
Λακεδαίμονιος άνηρ επ
επιτάτοι
NOTE [146.] Page 216.
Polybius fays, ten thouſand heavy armed troops, but I know not what
better authority himſelf could have had than that of Xenophon.
NOTE [147.] Page 216.
πο
· βίος τοις πλεῖσοις ὑμῶν ἀπὸ τῆς θάλατζης, ὥστε των ἴδιων ἐπιμελόμενος, ἅμα
ή των κατα θαλάτΊαν αγώνων ἐμπεῖροι γένεσθε Xenoph. Hift. Lib. 7.
NOTE [148.] Page 217.
The fucceffes of Agefilaus in Afia do not feem fo extraordinary,
when it is obſerved, that he enlifted the remainder of the Greeks
who made the famous retreat from the battle of Cyrus," Aynorαos
Αγησιλαος
« dé rw sgałówedw Kúgs Xgwμevos.” Ifocrat. Paneg, but the confequences
of
Book II.
373
APPEND
I. X.
of the expedition of Agefilaus, were ruinous to thoſe it was undertaken
in favour of; for the Ionians and others, who, induced by the im-
mediate fucceffes of this enterprifing king, engaged heartily with him
in the cauſe, were ultimately left defenceless victims to the rage of " the
great king." Ibid.
<<
NOTE [149.] Page 217.
There is much good fenfe in the obfervation of Ifocrates alluding
to the evils the Spartans incurred when attempting to become a naval
power, for which their inftitutions and themſelves were fo ill calcu-
lated. Λακεδαίμονιες δέ αυτες τότε δοξάνας ευτύχειν, εις τὰς νὰν ἀτυχίας δι
Αλκιβιαδήν καθεςάναι. πειθέντες γὰρ ὑπ᾽ αυτε τής καλα θαλάσσαν δυνάμεως ἐπιθυ-
μῆσαι, καὶ τὴν κατὰ γῆν ἠγεμονίαν ἀπωλέσαν. ὡσε ἐι τὶς φαὶῃ τότε τὴν ἀρχὴν αυτοις
γίγνεσθαι των παρον]ων κάκων, ότε τὴν ἄρχην της θαλάτης ἐλαμβάνον, ἐχ᾽ ἀν
ἐξελέγθεση ψευδομένος" "The Lacedæmonians may be made appear, to
<< owe their reverfe of fortune to Alcibiades; for at his inftigation,
"when at their height of profperity, attempting to become a naval
power, they lost their military fuperiority: ſo that ſhould any one
"date their decline from the æra when they coveted the empire of
« the feas, he would not be wide of the truth”
<<
Ifocrat. Orat. ad Philipp.
NOTE [150.] Page 219.
καὶ τὴν μὲν ἡμετέραν (πολιτείαν) ἐυροῖ τὶς ἄν, ἀπανίων αύτῃ» των Ελληνων κ
των βάρβαρων ἐπιθεμένων, ἐτι δέκα (εξῆ) τέτοις ἀνίσχειν δυνηθεῖσαν. καὶ πρὸς
τέτοις χρόνοις) τὴν μὲν ἡμέτεραν πόλιν ἐλατζόσιν έτεσι ἀναβαλᾶσιν αυτήν ή
κατεπολεμηθη Ifocrat. Panath.
NOTE [151.] Page 219.
ἐκ δε τότε οι μέν Αθηναῖοι ὥσπερ ἐν Ειρηνῃ ἐπλέον τῆς θαλατίαν
CHAP
VI.
!
Xenoph. Hift. 7.
NOTE
374
Book II.
APPENDI X.
CHAP.
VI.
NOTE [152.] Page 220.
ΑΡΤΑΞΕΡΞΗΣ ΒΑΣΙΛΕΥΣ νόμιζει δικᾶιον τὰς μεν ἐν Ασια πόλεις ἐαυτε
είναι. καὶ των νησῶν Κλαζομένας καὶ Κύπρον. τὰς δὲ ἀλλας Ελληνίδας πόλεις καὶ
μικρας καὶ μέγαλας αυξανόμες ἀφεῖναι. πλήν Λήμνε καὶ Ἰμβρα καὶ Σκίρα. Ταῦ-
τας, ὥσπερ τὸ ἀρχαῖον ἔιναι ᾿Αθηνᾶιων. Οποτέροι δέ ταυτὴν ΕΙΡΗΝΗΝ μὴ δεχον
ται, τέλοις ΕΓΩ πολεμήσω μέσα τὲ ταῦτα βελομένων καὶ πέζῃ καὶ κατα θάλατ
ταν, καὶ ναῦσι καὶ χρήμασιν.
Xenoph. Hift Lib. 5. Sect. 2.
NOTE [153.1 Page 221.
εν
Pella was but a finall town before the reign of Philip : ότι την Πέλλαν
μικραν οῦσαν πρότερον Φίλιππος εις μῆκος ηΰξησε τράφεις ἐν αὐτῇ. Strabo. Lib.
7.
yet we have in Xenophon's hiftories, καὶ Πελλαν ἤπερ μέγιση τῶν ἐν Μακε-
δονίᾳ πόλεων. Hift. 5. Probably Macedonia was at that time for the
moſt part inhabited vicatim, as was ancient Greece.
NOTE [154] Page 222.
There is fomething unaccountable in the difproportion of the The-
ban and Spartan armies, and in the refult of victory, when adverting
to the nature of the arms in ufe at that time, and the ſpirit of the par-
ties engaged. I take it however from the authority of a military writer :
Epaminondas dux Thebanorum quatuor millibus hominum ex quibus
quadringenti tantum equites erant, Lacedæmoniorum exercitum vi-
ginti quatuor millium peditum, equitum mille et fexcentorum vicit.
Frontin. Stratag. Lib. 4. Cap. 2. and what was moff extraordinary,
the Thebans are faid to have had only forty-feven killed, and the
Spartans above a thoufand. Paufan, in Boeot.
NOTE
BOOK II.
375
APPENDI X.
NOTE [155.] Page 223.
Epaminondas was killed by a dart thrown by Gryllus, the fon of
Xenophon. Paufan. in Boot. Gryllus fell afterwards in the battle.
Ælian. Lib. 3. Cap. 3. Philopamen was in aftertimes ambitious of
being put in parallel with Epaminondas, but he failed in the compa-
rifon from the very fuperior virtues and accompliſhments, in philofo-
phy as well as arms of the Theban hero. Pauſan. in Arcad. The
battle of Mantinea was a drawn battle- νενικηκέναι δε φασκόνες ἐκάτεροι
ἔτε χώρα, είτε πόλει, ἐτ' αρχῃ ἔδέτεροι ἔδεν πλέον ἔχοντες ἐφανὴσαν, ἡ πρίν τὴν
ǹ
Máxnu jizvɛodai.” Xenoph. Hift. Lib. 7.
&T
cc
NOTE [156.] Page 223.
A fentence of Livy is particularly happy, and applicable in general,
as well as to the inftance he adduces,-" ex copiâ deinde lafcivire rur-
fus animi, et priftina mala poftquam foris deerant, domi quærere."
Liv. Hift. Tom. 1. P. 179. Ed. Gronov.
NOTE [157.] Page 224.
Xenophon, who was an intimate friend of Agefilaus, whofe pane-
gyric he wrote, and who was generally too a moft partial admirer of the
Spartans, allows that about this time, they were much fallen from the
purity of their ancient manners and original inſtitution; and mentions
thereon a fact, which may lead us to fuppofe even a greater degree of
degeneracy, than he is willing explicitly to remark: xai wgoodév per õida
αυτες φοβόμενες χρυσιον ἐχοντας φαίνεσθαι, νῦν δ᾽ ἐσιν ους καὶ καλλωπίζομενες ἐπι
τὸ κεκλήσθαι. "I have formerly known thofe (Spartans) who had
gold, at leaſt fearful or aſhamed to make it known, but now the
poffeffion is become matter of boaſt and oftentation.'
CC
C
>>
μεν
Xenoph. Pol. Lacon. Cap. 14.
7
NOTE
CHAP.
VI.
376
Book II.
APPENDI X.
CHAP.
VII.
NOTE [158.] Page 228.
ην
θάνατο της ζήμιας ἐπικειμένης ἤν τὶς ἀλῶ δεκάζων, τας τέτο φανέρω[α]α
ποιόντας τράτηγος χειροτονεμεν. Ifocrat. Orat. περι Ειρηνης.
νὸν δ᾽ ἀπανθ᾽ ὠσπέρ ἐξ ἀγόρας εκπεπρᾶται ταυ]ά. ἀν]ισῆκ]αι δε αντί τέτων
ὑφ' ὧν ἀπόλωλε καὶ νενόσηκεν η Ελλας. ταύτα δ' εσι τί; ζῆλος ἐν τὶς ἐἴληφε τί
γέλως, ἂν ὁμολογῇ. συγνώμη τοις ἐλεγχομένοις. μῖσος αν τέλοις τις επιλιμά.
Demofthen. Φιλιππ. 3·
NOTE [159.] Page 228.
ΜΝΗΣΙΛΟΧΟΣ. Ω πρύτανι, πρὸς της δεξίας ήνπερ φίλεις
Κοιλὴν προτείνειν, ἀργύρεον ἢ τις διδῶ
ή
Χάρισαι βραχυ τί μοι.
μol. V. 936.
Thefmoph. Comoed. Ariftophanis.
NOTE [160.] Page 232.
I tranſcribe not the original paffages from Demofthenes, having in
the following chapters fo frequently cited that orator, that to enter in
theſe notes on each occafion the original paffage, would fwell them to
a too great bulk; having in almoſt every inftance fpecified the fec-
tion, the learned reader may readily recur to the paffage in the edition
of Paris.
NOTE [161.] Page 233.
Diogenes Laertius fays, that Demetrius the Magnefian afferted, the
effays on the republics of Athens and Sparta not to have been written
by Xenophon : Laertius, however, accepts them as Xenophon's, and
fo
BOOK II.
377
APPENDIX.
fo generally do the learned. The refentment of Xenophon towards
his countrymen, arofe from thofe contingencies of life, which often
form and give a colour to the opinions of men. Cyrus had affifted the
Spartans towards the cloſe of the Peloponnefian war, and Agefilaus was
a Spartan king: a military fpirit, the difguft of defpotifm exerciſed by
the thirty tyrants at Athens, and the folicitation of a private friend
brought Xenophon to the army of Cyrus; and that army afterwards
enlifted with Agefilaus in his Afiatic expedition: thus Xenophon be-
came by chance a follower, from habits an admirer, and from his own
virtues an inmate and friend of a Perfian prince, and Spartan king,
both powerful and enterprizing enemies of his country: theſe circum-
ſtances and connections gave umbrage to the Athenian affembly, and
Xenophon was banished. The plebifcitum Xenophon feems never to
have forgiven; and adapted his political ftile and writings accord-
ingly, when retired to his villa Scillunté, given him by his Spartan
friend.
NOTE [162.] Page 234.
The decorations of the Athenian theatres were ſuperb, and probably
in no inſtance tranfcended by inventions of modern magnificence.
The ſcene painted early as the times of Æfchylus has been alluded to
in a previous note. Their dances were hiftorical as thofe of our mo-
dern operas Teleftes (in the time of Sophocles) was "Maitre du
"Ballet," and compofed the dance of the feven chiefs before Thebes,
fo as to repreſent all their actions. Athenæ, Lib. 1. Thefe fort of
dances were indeed moft frequent among the Greeks, and their exhi-
bition at the theatre was prepared for, by that at their military fports
and public games: thofe on mount Theches confifted chiefly of fuch
repreſentative or mimic dances. Xenoph. Anabyf. 6. As to the Athe-
nian actors, they were undoubtedly the finest of declaimers; and many
of them thence pufhed forward into the affembly, and became public
men, as (befides others mentioned in the text) Satyrus and the great
opponent of Demofthenes, Æfchines himfelf. Demofth. Orat. pro
coron. In theatres ſo ſpacious and open as thoſe of the Greeks, a loud
and audible voice too was a very neceffary requifite, as appears from
3 C
the
CHAP.
VII.
378
BOOK II.
APPENDIX.
CHAP.
VII.
the praiſe beſtowed on the fonorous lungs of the actor, who recited the
verfes prophetic of the death of Philip, at the feſtival given by that
king on his daughter's marriage. Diodor. Sic. Lib. 16. and this ac-
compliſhment was equally fuited to the affembly of the people.
NOTE [163.] Page 235-
Ήμων γὰρ άνδρες.
ἴθ᾽, ἔχι τὴν πόλιν λέγω·
μεμνησθε τοῦθ',
ότι ἔχι τὴν πόλιν λέγω.
Axags Comoed. Ariftoph.
NOTE [164.] Page 236.
όλως μὲν αισχρόλογιαν ἐκ της πόλεως, ωσπέρ άλλο τι, δεῖ τὸν νομοθετήν ἐξα
ρίζειν. ἐκ τε γὰρ ευχερώς λέγειν, ότιᾶν των αισχρων, γίνεται καὶ τὸ ποιειν συνεγγυς,
μαλιςα μέν ἐκ των νέων, ὥσπερ μήτε λεγῶσι μηδ' ακεῶσι μὴδεν τοιέτον. Ariftot.
Pol. Lib. 7. Cap. 17.
C
Whether Ariſtotle alluded or not to the comedies of Ariſtophanes, at
this diftance of time is difficult to determine. Undoubtedly the lan-
guage of that great comic writer, would fcarcely in the moft licentious
capitol of this licentious age, be admitted in tranflation; with excep-
tion to the Plutus,' and perhaps another Comedy. The dirtinefs and
obscenity of his allufions are grofs to the laſt degree; at the fame time
that the wittieſt and moſt laughable of his comedies are the moſt dirty
and obfcene; witnefs, the Ecclefiazufa and Lyfiftrata, the very plots and
argument of which are highly humourous and comic: of low and dirty
language, the ſcene between Bacchus and Xanthias in the " Rana," is
fufficient example. The value of the writings of Ariftophanes at this
æra, is not however to be eſtimated merely by his wit and poetry ;-
they are further to be regarded as depofitaries of many political allu-
fions and circumſtances, and of many miſcellaneous cuſtoms which we
are acquainted with on no other authority: the ancient fcholia too,
explanatory of certain paffages of the comedies of Ariftophanes, have
thrown much new light on the manners, cuſtoms, political conduct,
and
BOOK II.
379
APPENDIX.
*
and inſtitutions of the Athenians. In a word, we owe more of our ac-
quaintance with the city and citizens of Athens to Ariftophanes, than
to any other writer.
CHA P.
VII.
NOTE [165.] Page 236.
προς
Ariſtotle, in his eighth book of politics, hath particularly invefti-
gated the fubject of education; and the Grecian gentleman of thoſe
times may be fairly prefumed to have been moft carefully attended to
in his youth, from the many elegant and literary accompliſhments,
which that philofopher deems requiſite to a finiſhed character: iis dix-
γωγην των
TWV EXEUTERWν to a knowledge of the "Belles Lettres, of mathe-
"matics, and of fpeculative ethics, is added a proficiency in the bo-
"dily exerciſes, in mufic, and even in painting, fo far at leaſt as to be
"qualified to judge of the works of art;" wgos rò xgivesv TÕTWV TexviTWV
τότων τεχνίτων
igya xanλíor every, the moſt trivial, branch of art and ſcience, Ariſto-
tle would have his pupil at leaſt acquainted with; and inftills his doc-
trine by the apothegm founded in a ftory-that "Minerva found the
"pipe of Pan, took it up, and then threw it away." par yap in Tür
᾿Αθῆναν ευρᾶσαν ἀποβάλειν τες αυλοὺς• implying that wijdom takes up thefe
minuter fubjects of accompliſhment, but holds them not precious or of
confequence to her. But not confidering arts, exerciſes, or even lite-
rary knowledge, as forming the fole objects of liberal education, let
us advert to that branch of it, on which are founded the moral prin-
ciples, and ſocial demeanour of the pupil through life, according to the
practice and tenets, which he ſhall in his youth have been habituated
to, or imbibed. This part of education was by no means neglected by
the ancient preceptors; in modern ſchools it is almoſt wholly omitted:
and if the rules of good-breeding and refined manners as delivered in
the writings of a late Engliſh nobleman, are dogmas of a favourite fyf-
tem, and of a ſyſtem likely ever to be adopted by faſhionable parents,
and by faſhionable pedagogues; I rejoice at the prefent omiſſion,—
and that my children are to take their career of education, ere
the blank is filled up. Irkfome to the fight of God (according
to the melancholy dreamer of the Night Thoughts) as may be the
3 C 2
naked
380
Book II.
APPENDIX.
VII.
CHAP. naked human heart;-when cloathed with hypocrify and reſervation.
fmothering its fimple and fympathetic feelings, it muſt be a loathſome
object of fpeculation, to the lefs abhorrent, as lefs perfect virtue, of
every good and wife man! Ifocrates hath delineated what ſhould be the
character of a fine gentleman in his time: the leffons of the Athenian
rhetorician and English peer, form a contraft no ways to the advan-
tage of the latter: the character of the Greek feems the more perfect,
for being diveſted of each tinfel accompliſhment which glares without
adorning, or adorns only in the eye of a frivolous courtier ;—and for
being divefted of that refined immorality which embelliſhes only in
the confideration of a vicious and unprincipled man priding himſelf
in low cunning, in default of ſenſe;-but never can embelliſh in the
view of the truly fine gentleman, who connects fhrewd wit and capti-
vating manners, with folid diſcretion and correct morals. The paffage of
Ifocrates alluded to, is as follows, "Whom fhall I term a well edu-
"cated man, when I deny that the arts, the ſciences, and the exerciſes
"can alone conftitute that character? why above theſe, and every thing
"elfe, the man who becomingly attends to each incident of the day ;-
"whoſe opinion liberally and without prejudice directs his judgment
" on each buſineſs and event; and who in every relative fituation acts.
"moſt juſtly as well as expediently;-who in his daily intercourfe with
"mankind gives his behaviour the grace of decency, and good-
"breeding, and his conduct the force and fimplicity of morality and
juſtice;-who bears with the rudeness and impertinence of others,
" and reprobates them only by a contraſt of more engaging manners;
"who commands his pleaſures, and not his pleafures him, and is
"therein abftinent, or not fo wholly taken up with them, as to lapſe
(c
If
unwarily beneath the level of manly conduct, and of that mode-
"ration in the uſe of them, which is fuitable to the dignity of human
"nature:-and (which is moſt of all) who is never depreſſed immo-
derately by misfortune, and who never infults fociety by too ex-
"ulting gaiety in fuccefs; but feems as little elate with the gifts of
"fortune as with the endowments of mind he poffeffes."
66
In the above tranflation the " fingular," is uſed for the " plural,"
and fome fentences are rather a paraphrafe than literal verfion ;—
a freedom in tranflating often neceffary to render a detached paragraph
explicit
Book II.
381
APPEND I X.
VII.
explicit and intelligible: but in no inftance doth the verfion deviate CHAP.
from the ſenſe of the author, as will appear by comparing it with
the following extract:
Τίνας οὖν ἐγω πεπαιδευμένες, ἐπειδη τας τέχνας, και τας ἐπιςήμας, και τας
δυναμεῖς ἀποδοκιμάζω; πρῶτον μέν αυτες καλῶς χρωμένες τοις πράγμασι τοις
κατα τὴν ἠμεραν εκάςην προσπίπτεσι, καὶ τὴν δόξαν ἐπι τυχῃ των χαιρων έχοντας,
καὶ δυναμένην ὡς ἐπι τὸ πολύ ςοχαζεσθαι το συμφέροντος. ἐπεία αυτες πρεπόντως
καὶ δικαίως ὁμιλῶνας τοις άει πλησίαζεσι, και τας μέν των άλλων ἀηδίας καὶ βαρύτητας
ευκολῶς καὶ ραδιῶς φερόνας, σφας δ' αυτες, ὡς δυνατὸν ἐλαφρότερες και μετριωβαζες
τοις συνέσι παρεχοντας. ἔτι δε αυλους των μεν ἠδόνων άει κρατοῦντας, των δε
συμφόρων μη λίαν ἠτ]ῶμενες ἀλλ᾽ ἀνδρώδως ἐν αυτοις διακείμενες, και της φύσεως
αξιως ής μετεχοντες τυγχάνομεν. τεταρτον, όπερ μεγίσον, αυτες μη διαφθείρεμενες
ύπο των ευπράγίων, μὴδ᾽ ἐξανιςάμενες αυτων, μὴδ᾽ ὑπερηφάνες γιγνομένες, αλλ'
εμμένοντας τη τάξει ευφρονένίων, και μη μᾶλλον χαίροντας τοις δια τύχην υπαρξάσιν
άγαθοις, ή τοις δια τὴν αυτων φύσιν καὶ φρόνησιν ἐξαρχῆς γιγνομενοις.
n
Ifocrat. Orat. Panath.
Ifocrates in his advice to the fon of prince Evagoras, comprizes
the elegant manners of the polifhed nobleman in two words. ἀςιος
είναι πειρῶ καὶ σέμνος· "diſplay affability and dignity." Thofe who
would adhere to the Greek idiom may read urbanity for affability.
Ifocrat. Orat. 2da ad Nicoclem.
NOTE [166.] Page 239.
Ουκείος ταίρας ἴερον ἐςι πανταχε
ἀλλ' ἔχι γαμεῖος ἔδενον της Ελλαδος
Philetar. ap. Athenæ. Lib. 13.
NOTE [167.] Page 239.
... καὶ ἄλλαι δε ἐταῖραι μέγα εφρονῶν ἐπ᾽ ἐαύταις παῖδείαις, τα μαθημασία
χρόνον ἀπμερίζεσαι δίοπερ καὶ ἐυθίκιοι πρὸς ἀπαντήσεις ἦσαν Athenæ. L. 13.
i. e. s'accomoderent aux entretiens des beaux efprits.-By the word
σε μαθήμασι” is to be underftood learning in general: the word " μεσική
100,
382
Book II.
APPENDIX.
VII.
CHAP. too, fo often occurring in the Phædon and other Dialogues of Plato,
is not reſtricted to philoſophy, but is uſed in the fame general ſenſe, as
may be deduced from the following paffage of Ariftophanes, fays the
Αλλαντοπώλης
σε δε Μεσικήν ἐπιςάμαι, πλὴν γραμμάτων.
Ariftophan. Ιππεις Comed
CHA P.
VIII.
NOTE [168.] Page 242.
α
Ifocrates fpeaks of their alternate empire of the feas, as the alter-
nate fource of ruin to both Athens and Sparta: τες γὰρ ἐν πλείσαις
εξεσίαις γεγενημένες ἴδοι τις ἂν ταις μεγίςαις συμφόραις περιπιπ]ωκοΐας. ἀρξαμένος ἀφ᾽
ήμων καὶ Λακεδαίμονιων, αυται γαρ αι πόλεις καὶ πολιτευόμεναι πρότερον σωφρο-
νὲςαῖα, καὶ δόξην ἐχοῦσαι κάλλισην, επείδη ταύτης ἐτύχον καὶ τὴν ἀρχὴν ἐλαβον
δεν ἄλληλων διηνεγκαν. ἀλλ᾽ ὠσπὲρ προσήκει τοις ύπο των αυλων ἐπιθυμιων, καὶ
της αύξης νόσε διεφθαρμενοις και τοις πράξεσι τοις αύτοις επεχείρησαν, και τοις
αυτοις αμαρτημάσι παραπλήσιως ἐχρῆσαντο, καὶ το τελευταῖον ὁμοίαις ταις
συμφόραις περιέπεσον « One may obferve ftates from the very height of
« fuccefs and power, fuddenly plunged in as extreme calamity: to
begin with our own ftate, and that of Lacedæmon ;-theſe ſtates
"were moſt wifely adminiſtered, and had a moſt glorious eſtimation,
"till feverally they grafped at this fovereignty, the fovereignty of
"the feas: from that æra their fortunes and decline were fimilar;-
"the fame avidity, the fame paffions, the fame diforders corrupted
"each;-each took the fame career of action, and committed fimilar
"faults and errors, and finally both experienced a fimilar cataf-
trophe." Ifocrat. Orat. περί Ειρήνης
Κ
65
NOTE [169.] Page 244.
πρῶτον μέν οι συμμάχοι μὴ φρέραις, ἀλλὰ τῷ τὰ αυ]α συμφέρειν ἡμῖν κακει
νοις, ὦσιν οικειοι. ἐπειθ' οι σράτηγοι μη ξένες ἐχονίες, τες μεν συμμάχες ἀγῶσι καὶ
φερῶσι, τες δε πολεμιες μηδε ὁρῶσιν. ἀφ' ων αι μέν ὠφελείαι τέτων ἔισιν. τὰ δὲ
μισῆ καὶ ἐγκληματα ἐφ' ολην ἐρχεται πόλιν. Demofthen. Orat. περι συντάξεως
NOTE
Book II.
383
APPENDI X.
CHAP.
VIII.
NOTE [170.] Page 245.
To the fame effet Ifocrates δευτέρον ἢ ἐθελησῶμεν χρῆσθαι τοις συμμά
χοις ομοίως ὥσπερ τοις φίλοις, καὶ μη λόγῳ μεν αύτες αυτονόμος αφίωμεν, ἔργῳ δέ
τοις σραλήγοις αυτες, ὅ τι ἂν βελῶνται ποιειν, ἐπιδιδωμενο μὴδε δεσποτικως άλλα
συμμαχικως αυτων ἐπισατῶμεν. . . . . τὸ δὲ μεγίςον συμμάχες έξομεν ἀπάνας
άνθρωπος ἐ βεβιασμένες άλλα πεπεισμένες.
४
Ifocrat. Orat. περι Ειρηνες.
Εις μέν ἐν τοιαῦτας αυξήσεις των πρόσοδων ἐδε πῶς δαπανῆσαι δεῖ ἐδεν, άλλος
ψηφίσματα φιλανθρώπα καὶ ἐπιμελείας.
Xenoph, Πολ. Αθ. Cap. 1.
Ο
४
τα
NOTE [171.] Page 248.
σε
Ifocrates draws a ſtrong picture of the influence of the Perfian in the
times alluded to (i. e. his own times) contrafted with the æra of Darius
and Xerxes. Τότε γὰρ μεν ημεις φανησόμεθα τὴν ἀρχὴν τὴν βασιλέως ορίζοντες,
ή των φόρων ἐνιές τατζόνες, καὶ κωλύοντες αυ]ον τη θαλάσση χρῆσθαι. νῦν δὲ ἐκεῖνος
ἐσι ὁ διοίκων τὰ των Ελλήνων, καὶ προςτάτίων & χρῆ ποιειν ἐκάσας, καὶ μόνον ἐκ
ἐπιςαθμος ἐν ταις πόλεσι καθεσας· πλὴν γαρ τότε, τί των άλλων υπολοιπον ἐςι; ἐ
γὰρ τε πόλεμο κυριος ἐγένετο, καὶ τὴν ἐιρήνην ἐπρυτανεῦσε, καὶ των παρονίων πραγματων
ἐπιςάτης 'καθεσῆκε ; ἐκ, ὡς ἐκεῖνον πλεομεν ώσπέρ προς δεσπότην, ἀλλήλων κατη
γόρησονίες; ἐ βασιλέα τὸν μέγαν, αυλον προσαγορεύομεν, ώσπέρ αιχμαλώτοι γεγό-
νόλες; ἐκ εν τοις πόλεμοις τοις πρὸς ἀλλήλες ἐν εκείνῳ τας Ελπίδας ἐχόμεν τῆς
σωτήριας; ὅς ἀμφοτέρες ήμας ἤδεως ἂν ἀπολέσειεν Formerly we ſtood
"forth prefcribing boundaries to the empire of the Perfian; from fome
"of his Satraps exacting tribute, to others prohibiting the navigation
"of our feas; but now the Perfian is permitted to intermeddle with,
"and fettle the affairs of Greece, giving directions for our relative.
" conduct, and ufurping every right but that of delegating governors to
" each city. What elfe is wanting to our fubjection? does not the
"Perfian lead each war? does not he guarantee each peace? in our
private negociations doth he not mediate, doth he not direct? do we
"not go to him as to our mafter to accufe one another? do we not like
** vaffals
""
384
BOOK II.
APPENDIX.
CHA P.
VIII.
" vaffals call him Great King?' in our inteftine wars do we not mu-
cr
tually rely on him? on him, who would rejoice in our mutual de-
"truction?" Ifocrat. Orat. Paneg.
CHAP.
IX.
CC
NOTE [172.] Page 252.
I have taken the focial war as a fubject diftinct from the tranfactions.
of Philip, in order to place it in a clearer and more forcible point of
view. In fact, Philip came to the throne three years previous to the
focial war," and Amphipolis became almoft immediately a bone of
contention between him and the Athenians; and in confequence thereof
they ſet up Argæus as competitor for the throne of Macedon in oppo-
fition to Philip; who having defeated his confederate enemies, and
Argæus being killed, made peace with Athens, and for a while left
Amphipolis an independant city; that is, free in its own pretenfions,
but open to the claims of Athens; and at ſuch crifis may be placed
the "focial war."
NOTE [173.] Page 256.
It was a law at Athens, "that if any one, whofe name was drawn for
" Trierarch (on whom the expence of equipping the veſſel fell) would
"plead poverty, and point out any other citizen whofe wealth and cir-
"cumſtances were more competent to the undertaking, he was then
"exonerated from the office :" thus one Lyfimachus pointed out the
famous rhetorician Ifocrates as rich and able, himſelf not being fo;
which gave rife to the oration in defence yet extant. περὶ ἀντιδόσεως, five
de permutatione, notwithſtanding which, Ifocrates was caft :-Obſerve
a paffage in another declamation of the fame orator-'Huess ''πÉg
τής ἡμέτερας αυλων πλεονέξιας κινδυνεύειν ἀξιῶμεν ἀλλ' ἀρχειν μέν ἀπάνες ζητᾶμεν,
τρατεύεσθαι δ᾽ ἐκ ἔθελόμεν. Such in the oration περί Ειρηνης was Ifocrates's
5
fenfe
Book II.
385
APPENDIX.
ſenſe of the infamy of ſkulking from the duties and fervices which the
neceffities of ſtate impofed :-and how applicable to himſelf the cen-
fure!-fo much eafier is it to talk well, than to act well!
NOTE [174] Page 258.
ἐ
<c
Ifocrates too gives us a ftriking picture of the fluctuating politics,
and unſettled ſtate of the Athenian affembly at this period. 'Eμmigo-
Εμπειρο
ταῖοι δέ λόγων καὶ πραγματων ὀνες, ἔτως ἀλογιςῶς ἐχόμεν, ὥσπερ πέρι των αυλων τὴς
αυτής ήμερας ἐ ταῦτα γιγνωσκόμεν, ἀλλ' ων μεν πρὶν εἰς τὴν ἐκκλησίαν ἀναβῆναι,
κατηγορεμεν, ταῦτα συνελθόντες χειροτονεμεν, ε πολὺν δε χρόνον διαλείποντες ταῦτ᾽
ἐκλαυθα ψηφισθεῖσιν, ἐπεὶδ᾽ ἂν ἀπίωμεν, ἐπιτιμῶμεν· Experienced in public
"buſineſs and debate as we are, we act fo irrationally as not to be
"confiftent within the fame day: the meaſures we reprobate before
"we come into the affembly, we vote for when there; and fcarcely
"have we left it, ere we diflike and cavil at the very ſyſtem of admi-
"niftration, which we have fanctioned by our decree."
Ifocrat. Orat. #egi 'Eignung.
περι
CHA P.
IX.
NOTE [175] Page 268.
X.
Philip was ſo pleaſed on hearing of the eſtabliſhment of this club, CHA P.
or joyous fociety, that he ſent them a ſum of money, and required in
return their " Decamerone," or collection of jefts and tales, produced
in the hours of conviviality; the collection might not have been very
valuable; but fuch inftitution was worth the money to Philip, and its
encouragement and continuance cheaply purchaſed at the price of a
talent, which was the fum prefented. Athenæus, Lib. 14.
Generally ſpeaking of the Athenians at this æra, the following fen-
tence of Montefquieu is applicable and juſt: On peut voir dans De-
mofthéne quelle peine il fallut pour reveiller le peuple d'Athénes;
3 D
on
386
BOOK II.
PPENDIX.
CHAP. on y-craignoit Philippe non pas comme l'ennemi de la liberté, mais des plai-
firs. L'Efprit des Loix. Liv. 3. Chap. 3.
X.
NOTE [176.] Page 269.
-nam quæ volumus, et credimus libentèr; et quæ fentimus ipfi,
reliquos fentire fperamus. Cæfar. B. C. Lib. 2.
NOTE [177.] Page 271.
Many cities of Greece wiſhed to remain mere fpectators of the con
teft; but Philip, after his victory at Cheronea, fhewed the inactive or
neutrals no preference, nor even favoured thofe joining him with
greater indulgence than the most violent of his foes. His Grecian al-
lies and enemies were reduced to equal fubjection. Says Paufanias,
σε τό γὰρ ατύχημα τὸ ἐν Χαιρωνειᾳ ἀπάσι τοις Έλλησι ἦρξε κακε, καὶ ἐχ' ήκιςα
σε δέλους ἐποίησε τᾶς ὑπερὶδονίας, καὶ ὅσοι μέτα Μακεδόνων ἐταχθῆσαν…” Paufan.
in Att. Polybius. in Hift. Lib. 5. fpeaks much of the moderation and
humanity of Philip after the battle of Charonea. So too Ælian.
Lib. 8. Cap. 15. and every other ancient author; but fuch behaviour
was foothing only to the indolent and vicious; for good citizens could
receive no compenfation for the lofs of liberty and ancient glory of
their country to fuch it was fufficient matter of grief that Philip was
become their defpot.-" Káresy Tns Exλádos nugios." Strab. Lib. 9.
CHAP.
XI.
NOTE [178.] Page 272.
Imperium facile iis artibus retinetur quibus initio partum eft; ve-
rum ubi pro labore defidia, pro continentiâ et equitate, libido atque
ſuperbia invaſêre, fortuna fimul cum moribus immutatur. Salluft.
Bell.
BOOK II.
387
APPENDIX.
Bell. Catalin.-So too the modern ftatefman," mais fi nous voulons
"nous attacher a des caufes plus naturelles et plus fenfibles de la deca-
dence de l'Empire Romain, fi vafte et fi formidable, nous les aurons
"bientot trouvés dans le changement des loix et des mœurs, auxquels
« il devoit fon aggrandifement, dans le luxe, l'avarice, et l' ambition.”
Memoires de Sully, Liv. 3otme
NOTE [179.] Page 273.
σχέδον γὰρ οι πλείσοι των αρχαίων τυράννων ἐκ δημάγωγων γεγονασιν. ἄλιον
δέ τις τότε μεν γίγνεσθαι, νῦν δε μή, ότι τότε μεν οι δημαγωγοι ἦσαν ἐκ των
σρατηγούντων, ε γὰρ πῶ δεῖνοι ἦσαν λέγειν. νῦν δὲ τῆς ρητορικῆς ἠυξημένης, οι
δυναμενοι λέγειν δημαγωγεσι μέν, δ' απειρίαν δε των πολεμικὼν ἐκ ἐπιτιθενται
Ariftot. Pol. Lib. 5. Cap. 5.
४
πω
NOTE [180.] Page 275.
ἐπιδεῖξαζω τοίνυν Δημοσθένης ἐν τῷ ούτε λόγῳ, ἐι το γεγραπται
τίνα τελων τῶν ἄνδρων (Miltiadis, Themiftoclis, &cum) στεφανώσαι.
ἀχάριςος ἄρα ο δήμος; ἐκ. ἀλλά μεγαλόφρων
#fchin. Orat. contra Ctefiph.
CHAP.
XI.
NOTE [181.] Page 281.
καὶ
. . . ἐν ἐδ' ὁ χρύσος τὸ τεῖχος ὑπερβῆναι δύνατος ἐςι ; . . . et infra . .
τας δεχομένες τὸ χρυσίον ξένες καὶ φίλες ὀνομάζων, ταῖς πονηραῖς ὁμιλιαῖς
διεφθείρε τα ήθη των ανθρώπων Diodor. Sic. Lib. 16. Sed. 54.
NOTE [182.] Page 282.
It appears from the oration of Demofthenes περι Παραπρεσβείας that
Æfchines firſt attracted public notice by oppofing Philip and the de-
3 D 2
magogues,
388
Book II.
APPENDIX.
XI.
CHAP. magogues, or miniſters of the day.-Oppofition is undoubtedly the
beft introducer of political abilities, and particularly of unprincipled
→ men in a depraved commonwealth: they have greater ſcope for their
arts and for their eloquence in invective, refutation, and the perplex-
ing public meaſures, than the fupport of any public meaſures can
afford. The fupport too requires knowledge; the attack requires
merely ingenuity: it would demand a more than common proficiency
in fcience, to defend a mathematical truth laid down by Newton;
but to raiſe objections to the axiom, which only a man of ſcience
could remove, might be a fucceſsful effort of many a lively imagina-
tion. Oppofition and accufation in their courſe often recoil on their
firſt abettors: the ftory of the demagogues at Argos, is a ftriking
epitome of their ordinary fate." The demagogues at Argos, having
"accuſed fome of the Eupatridai, they grew rich on the confifcations,
"and encouraged by the populace, went on accufing one noble and
"another, until the number of unjuft executions and the enormity of
"their procedure occafioned fome remorfe, and they ſtopped fhort:-
"when immediately new demagogues ſtarted up, and accufing the old
"demagogues, they in their turn were fucceffively fined, impriſoned
"and put to death;"-a facrifice to the popular ſpirit they had ex-
cited, but could not command, and much leſs fupprefs.
Diodor. Sic. Lib. 15. Sect. 58.
NOTE [183.] Page 282.
The reader muſt not from the circumftance mentioned in the text,
ſuppoſe that the affembly of Athens was not conducted under certain
regulations ;—the rules too were probably to the full as well enforced,
as thoſe of any political body of modern times; the Prytanes, or
Speaker, having a power of impoſing a fine of fifty drachms, on the
diſorderly and contumacious. The oration of Æfchines againſt Ti-
marchus fupplies us with many of theſe rules :-in the firſt place "a
"man of immoral character was not permitted to fpeak on any ac-
"count;"—then the orders were, that "no one ſhould ſpeak but
"to
to the queſtion;"-that " no one ſhould ſpeak twice to the fame
" queſtion;"
J
BOOK II.
389
APPENDIX.
XI.
"queſtion;"-that
queftion ;” that " when one fpeaker was up, no one fhould inter- CHAP
"rupt him ;"-that " no one fhould uſe diſreſpectful language; or
"affront the dignity of the Prytanes ;"-or "whilft the queſtion was
"pending ſhould introduce any fubject foreign to it :"-I pretend not
to affert, that there regulations were duly fuftained; though, if not,
-it must have been imputable to the Prytanes, who was vefted with fuffi-
cient powers to enforce obedience to them.
Vid. etiam #fchin. Orat. cont. Ctefiph.
NOTE [184.] Page 284.
ΤΟ
πλεσίω]αία καθάπερ τι πέλαγος εις ἀναπεπταμένον κέχυται πολλαχῇ
μέγεθος. όθεν οἶμαι, κατὰ λόγον ὁ μὲν ρήτωρ ἄτε παθητικώτερος, πολὺ τὸ διάπυρον
ἔχει, και θυμικῶς ἐκφλεγόμενον. ὁ δέ καθεσὼς ἐν ὄΓκῳ καὶ μεγαλοπρεπεῖ σεμνότητι,
ἐκ ἔψυκται μέν, ἀλλ' ἐχ᾽ ἔτως επέςραπται. ἐ κατ' ἄλλα δέ τινα ἥ ταῦτα, ἐμὸι
δοκει φίλτατε Γερεηιανέ, λέγω, δ' ει καὶ ἡμῖν ὡς Ελλησιν, ἐφειαι τι γιγνώσκειν, κ
* Κικέρων τε Δημοσθένες εν τοῖς μεγέθεσι παραλλάττει. ο μέν γαρ εν ὔψει τὸ πλέον
ἀπολόμῳ, ο δε Κικέρων ἐν χύσει. καὶ ὁ μὲν ἠμέτερος δία τὸ μέγα βίας ἔκαςα, ὅτι δε
τάχες, ρώμης, δεινότητος, οἷον καΐων τε ἄμα καὶ διαρπάζων σκηπλῷ τινι περιεικὰς
ζοιτ' ἄν, ἤ κεραυνῷ. ὁ δὲ Κικέρων ὡς ἀμφιλαφής τις ἐμπρησμός, διμαι, πάνῃ νέμεται
καὶ ανειλεῖται, πολὺ ἔχων καὶ επίμονον αεί το κᾶιον διακληρονομέμενον ἄλλο᾽
ἄλλως ἐν ἀν]ῳ, καὶ κατα διαδοχὰς ἀνατρεφόμενον. ἀλλὰ ταυτα μεν ὑμεῖς ἂν ἄμεινον
ἐπικρίνοις. Καιρός δε το Δημοσθενικά μεν ύψες και υπερτεταμένα εν δε ταῖς δεινών
σεσι, καὶ τοῖς σφοδροῖς πάθεσι, καὶ ἔνθα δει τον ακροατήν τὸ σύνολον ἐκπλῆξαι.
της δέ χύσεως, ἔπε χρῆ καταν]λῆσαι.
αν η
Longinus πέρι ύψος, Cap. 12.
Oratores vero vel præcipue Latinam eloquentiam parem facere Græcæ
poffunt; nam Ciceronem cuicumque eorum fortiter oppofuerim: nec
ignoro quantam mihi concitem pugnam, cum præfertim id non fit pro-
pofiti, ut cum Demoftheni comparem hoc tempore; neque enim at-
tinet, cum Demofthenem in primis legendum, vel potius edifcendum
putem: quorum ego virtutes plerafque arbitror fimiles, confilium, ore
dinem dividendi, præparandi, probandi rationem, omnia denique quæ
funt inventionis. In eloquendo eft aliqua diverfitas: denfior ille, hic
copiofior; ille concludit adſtrictiús, hic latiús; pugnat ille acumine
femper,
4
390
Book II.
APPENDI
X.
XI.
CHAP. femper, hic frequenter, et pondere; illi nihil detrahi poteft, huic nihil
adjici; curæ plus in illo, in hoc naturæ; falibus certé et commifera-
tione (qui duo plurimum affectus valent) vincimus : et fortaffe epilo-
gos illi mos civitatis abftulerit; fed et nobis illa quibus Attici miran-
tur, diverſa Latini fermonis ratio minus permiferit; in epiftolis qui-
dem quanquam funt utriufque, nulla contentio eft; cedendum veró in
hoc quidem, quòd ille et prior fuit, et ex magnâ parte Ciceronem,
quantus eft, facit: nam mihi videtur Μ. Τ. Cicero, cum fe totum ad
imitationem Græcorum contuliffet, effinxiffe vim Demofthenis, copiam
Platonis, jucunditatem Ifocratis.
기
​M. F. Quinctil. Inſtit. Orat. Lib. 10. Cap. 1.
NOTE [185] Page 286.
τοιαύτην δὴ καταλαβων τὴν πολιτικὴν λέξιν ο Δημοσθένης
ἔτω κεκινημένην ποικίλως και τηλικέτοις ἐπεισελθὼν ἀνδράσιν, ἐνος ἔθενός ἠξίωσε
γενέσθαι ζηλωτὴς, ἔτε χαρακτῆρος ἔτε ἀνδρός. ἤμιεργος τινὰς ἄπανίας δεόμενος
εἶναι καὶ ἀτελεῖς. ἐξ ἀπάντων δ' αύλων ὅσα κράτισα κ χρησιμώτατα ἦν, ἐκλεγόμενος
συνύφαινε καὶ μίαν ἐκ πολλῶν διαλεκῖον ἀπέλλει,μεγαλοπρεπῆ, λιὴν· περι τὴν,
περιτὴν,
ἀπέριτον. ἐξηλλαγμένην, συνήθης πανυγηρικήν, αληθινήν. αυσηρὰν, ἱλαράνο
σύντονον, ἀνειμένην. ἠδεῖαν, πικράν. ἠθικὴν, παθητικήν. ἐδεν διαλλατίεσαν το
μεμυθευμένα παρά τοῖς ἀρχαίοις ποιηταῖς Πρωτέως, ὅς ἅπασαν ἰδέαν μορφῆς
αμογητι μεταλάμβανεν. ἔπε θεὸς ἤ δαιμων τὶς ἐκεῖνος ἀρα ἦν παρακρεόμενος ἅψεις
τὰς ἀνθρωπίνας ἔλε διαλέκτε ποίκιλον δὴ χρῆμα ἐν ἀνδρὶ σοφῷ πάσης ἀπατηλόν
ἀκοῆς. ὅ μᾶλλον αν τις εικάσειεν
Εγω μέν τοιαύτην τινά δόξαν υπέρ
της Δημοσθένης λέξεως ἔχω, και τον χαρακτῆρα τ τον αποδίδωμι αυτῳ, τὸν ἐκ
το
ἀπάσης μικ]ὸν ἱδέας. Dionyf. Halicarn. περι δεινότητος Δημοσθεν. λέξεως.
દ
기
​ท
εν
CHAP...
XII.
NOTE [186.] Page 289.
Lycurgus meant that the Spartans fhould have no refource but in
their own fortitude and virtue; and forbad the building any bulwark
or walls to their city, as ferving to weaken a fpirit of vigilance and
felf-confidence;
BOOK II.
391
APPENDIX.
felf-confidence: thus the naked circumference of their town originated
in inſtitution: but when the virtue and valour of the Spartans relaxed,
walls fupplied their place.-Thefe walls were first built when Caf-
fander made a hoftile incurfion into the Peloponnefe.
Juftin. Lib. 14. Cap. 5-
NOTE [187.] Page 291.
The good old rhetorician Ifocrates, anxious to relieve his country
from the encroaching power of Philip, wrote and fent him an oration,
in which he exhorted the Macedonian to leave Greece at liberty, and
turn his force towards Perfia; and this difcourfe falling afterwards.
into the hands of Alexander is fuppofed to have ſuggeſted, or at
leaſt to have accelerated, his Afiatic expedition.
Vid. Argument. ad Ifocrat. Orat. ad Philipp.
NOTE [183.] Page 293.
Yet were the Athenians aware of their danger in refufing divine
honours to Alexander, as may be gathered from an apothegm of
Demades on the occafion, "videte ne dum cælum cuftodatis,
"terram amittatis." Valer. Max. de Opt. Dict. et Fact.
NOTE [189.] Page 296.
When Demetrius returned from his expedition to Corcyra, the
Athenians not only received him with divine honours, but in their
hymns and choruffes declared him the only true god, for that all
"other gods were afleep, or gone abroad, or no more,"-s ein μóvos.
Θεός αληθινος, οι δε ἄλλοι καθεύδεσιν ἢ ἀποδὴμεσιν ἡ ἐκ ἔισιν· Demochares
ap. Athenæ. Lib. 6. In the hundred and tenth olympiad Demetrius
Phalereus numbered the people of Athens :-the citizens were then-
"twenty one thouſand, aliens ten thouſand, flaves four hundred
"thoufand.”
CHA P.
XII.
392
Book II.
APPENDIX.
CHAP.
XII.
"thouſand."
(c
"
Athenæ Lib. 6. And proving the juftnefs of an
expreffion in a former chapter, that diſparity of force is diftin&t
"from that of numbers,"-" the cenfus of Pericles at the fplendid
opening of the Peloponnefian war, enumerated but fourteen thouſand
"and forty citizens." Plut. Vit. Pericl.-but the fmaller number
had the ſentiments of freemen; the larger number the fenfations of
flaves!
FINI S.
Page
Line
ERRATA.
For
51
13
Paufanius
119
29
attack
121
7
274
7
Read
Paufanias.
attach.
Oenophyra - Oenophyta,
elected
electors,
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