A Smaller History of Greece

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The Spartan women in their earlier years were subjected to a
course of training almost as rigorous as that of the men, and
contended with each other in running, wrestling and boxing. At
the age of twenty a Spartan woman usually married, and she was no
longer subjected to the public discipline. Although she enjoyed
little of her husband's society, she was treated by him with deep
respect, and was allowed a greater degree of liberty than was
tolerated in other Grecian states. Hence she took a lively
interest in the welfare and glory of her native land, and was
animated by an earnest and lofty spirit of patriotism. The
Spartan mother had reason to be proud of herself and of her
children. When a woman of another country said to Gorgo, the
wife of Leonidas, "The Spartan women alone rule the men," she
replied, "The Spartan women alone bring forth men." Their
husbands and their sons were fired by their sympathy to deeds of
heroism. "Return either with your shield, or upon it," was their
exhortation to their sons when going to battle.

Lycurgus is said to have divided the land belonging to the
Spartans into 9000 equal lots and the remainder of Laconia into
30,000 equal lots, and to have assigned to each Spartan citizen
one of the former of these lots, and to each Perioecus one of the
latter.

Neither gold nor silver money was allowed in Sparta, and nothing
but bars of iron passed in exchange for every commodity. As the
Spartans were not permitted to engage in commerce, and all luxury
and display in dress, furniture, and food was forbidden, they had
very little occasion for a circulating medium, and iron money was
found sufficient for their few wants. But this prohibition of
the precious metals only made the Spartans more anxious to obtain
them; and even in the times of their greatest glory the Spartans
were the most venal of the Greeks, and could rarely resist the
temptation of a bribe.

The legislation of Lycurgus was followed by important results.
It made the Spartans a body of professional soldiers, all trained
and well disciplined, at a time when military training and
discipline were little known, and almost unpractised in the other
states of Greece. The consequence was the rapid growth of the
political power of Sparta, and the subjugation of the
neighbouring states. At the time of Lycurgus the Spartans held
only a small portion of Laconia: they were merely a garrison in
the heart of an enemy's country. Their first object was to make
themselves masters of Laconia, in which they finally succeeded
after a severe struggle. They next turned their arms against the
Messenians, Arcadians, and Argives. Of these wars the two waged
against Messenia were the most celebrated and the most important.
They were both long protracted and obstinately contested. They
both ended in the victory of Sparta, and in the subjugation of
Messenia. These facts are beyond dispute; but of the details we
have no trustworthy narrative.

The FIRST MESSENIAN WAR lasted from B.C. 743 to 724. During the
first four years the Lacedaemonians made little progress; but in
the fifth a great battle was fought, and although its result was
indecisive, the Messenians did not venture to risk another
engagement, and retired to the strongly fortified mountain of
Ithome. In their distress they sent to consult the oracle at
Delphi, and received the appalling answer that the salvation of
Messenia required the sacrifice of a virgin of the royal house to
the gods of the lower world. Aristodemus, who is the Messenian
hero of the first war, slew his own daughter, which so
disheartened the Spartans, that they abstained from attacking the
Messenians for some years. In the thirteenth year of the war the
Spartan king marched against Ithome, and a second great battle
was fought, but the result was again indecisive. The Messenian
king fell in the action; and Aristodemus, who was chosen king in
his place, prosecuted the war with vigour. In the fifth year of
his reign a third great battle was fought. This time the
Messenians gained a decisive victory, and the Lacedaemonians were
driven back into their own territory. They now sent to ask
advice of the Delphian oracle, and were promised success upon
using stratagem. They therefore had recourse to fraud: and at
the same time various prodigies dismayed the bold spirit of
Aristodemus. His daughter too appeared to him in a dream, showed
him her wounds, and beckoned him away. Seeing that his country
was doomed to destruction, Aristodemus slew himself on his
daughter's tomb. Shortly afterwards, in the twentieth year of
the war, the Messenians abandoned Ithome, which the
Lacedaemonians razed to the ground, and the whole country became
subject to Sparta. Many of the inhabitants fled into other
countries; but those who remained were reduced to the condition
of Helots, and were compelled to pay to their masters half of the
produce of their lands.

For thirty-nine years the Messenians endured this degrading yoke.
At the end of this time they took up arms against their
oppressors. The SECOND MESSENIAN WAR lasted from B.C. 685 to
668. Its hero is Aristomenes, whose wonderful exploits form the
great subject of this war. It would appear that most of the
states in Peloponnesus took part in the struggle. The first
battle was fought before the arrival of the allies on either
side, and, though it was indecisive, the valour of Aristomenes
struck fear into the hearts of the Spartans. To frighten the
enemy still more, the hero crossed the frontier, entered Sparta
by night, and affixed a shield to the temple of Athena (Minerva),
with the inscription, "Dedicated by Aristomenes to the goddess
from the Spartan spoils." The Spartans in alarm sent to Delphi
for advice. The god bade them apply to Athens for a leader.
Fearing to disobey the oracle, but with the view of rendering no
real assistance, the Athenians sent Tyrtaeus, a lame man and a
schoolmaster. The Spartans received their new leader with due
honour; and he was not long in justifying the credit of the
oracle. His martial songs roused their fainting courage; and so
efficacious were his poems that to them is mainly ascribed the
final success of the Spartan arms.

Encouraged by the strains of Tyrtaeus, the Spartans again marched
against the Messenians. But they were not at first successful.
A great battle was fought at the Boar's Grave in the plain of
Stenyclerus, in which they were defeated with great loss. In the
third year of the war another great battle was fought, in which
the Messenians suffered a signal defeat. So greet was their
loss, that Aristomenes no longer ventured to meet the Spartans in
the open field. Following the example of the Messenian leaders
in the former war, he retired to the mountain fortress of Ira.
The Spartans encamped at the foot of the mountain; but
Aristomenes frequently sallied from the fortress, and ravaged the
lands of Laconia with fire and sword. It is unnecessary to
relate all the wonderful exploits of this hero in his various
incursions. Thrice was he taken prisoner; on two occasions he
burst his bonds, but on the third he was carried to Sparta, and
thrown with his fifty companions into a deep pit, called Ceadas.
His comrades were all killed by the fall; but Aristomenes reached
the bottom unhurt. He saw, however, no means of escape, and had
resigned himself to death; but on the third day perceiving a fox
creeping among the bodies, he grasped its tail, and, following
the animal as it struggled to escape, discovered an opening in
the rock, and on the next day was at Ira to the surprise alike of
friends and foes. But his single prowess was not sufficient to
avert the ruin of his country. One night the Spartans surprised
Ira, while Aristomenes was disabled by a wound; but he collected
the bravest of his followers, and forced his way through the
enemy. Many of the Messenians went to Rhegium, in Italy, under
the sons of Aristomenes, but the hero himself finished his days
in Rhodes.

The second Messenian war was terminated by the complete
subjugation of the Messenians, who again became the serfs of
their conquerors. In this condition they remained till the
restoration of their independence by Epaminondas in the year 369
B.C. During the whole of the intervening period the Messenians
disappear from history. The country called Messenia in the map
became a portion of Laconia, which thus extended across the south
of Pelponnesus from the eastern to the western sea.

CHAPTER V.

THE EARLY HISTORY OF ATHENS, DOWN TO THE ESTABLISHMENT OF
DEMOCRACY BY CLISTHENES, B.C. 510.

Sparta was the only state in Greece which continued to retain the
kingly form of government during the brilliant period of Grecian
history. In all other parts of Greece royalty had been abolished
at as early age, and various forms of republican government
established in its stead. The abolition of royalty was first
followed by an Oligarchy or the government of the Few.
Democracy, or the government of the Many, was of later growth.
It was not from the people that the oligarchies received their
first and greatest blow. They were generally overthrown by the
usurpers, to whom the Greeks gave the name of TYRANTS. [The
Greek word Tyrant does not correspond in meaning to the same word
in the English language. It signifies simply an irresponsible
ruler, and may, therefore, be more correctly rendered by the term
Despot.]

The rise of the Tyrants seems to have taken place about the same
time in a large number of the Greek cities. In most cases they
belonged to the nobles, and they generally became masters of the
state by espousing the cause of the commonalty, and using the
strength of the people to put down the oligarchy by force. At
first they were popular with the general body of the citizens,
who were glad to see the humiliation of their former masters.
But discontent soon began to arise; the tyrant had recourse to
violence to quell disaffection; and the government became in
reality a tyranny in the modern sense of the word.

Many of the tyrants in Greece were put down by the
Lacedaemonians. The Spartan government was essentially an
oligarchy, and the Spartans were always ready to lend their
powerful aid in favour of the government of the Few. Hence they
took an active part in the overthrow of the despots, with the
intention of establishing the ancient oligarchy in their place.
But this rarely happened; and they found it impossible in most
cases to reinstate the former body of nobles in their ancient
privileges. The latter, it is true, attempted to regain them and
were supported in their attempts by Sparta. Hence arose a new
struggle. The first contest after the abolition of royalty was
between oligarchy and the despot, the next was between oligarchy
and democracy.

The history of Athens affords the most striking illustration of
the different revolutions of which we have been speaking.

Little is known of Athens before the age of Solon. Its legendary
tales are few, its historical facts still fewer. Cecrops, the
first ruler of Attica, is said to have divided the country into
twelve districts, which are represented as independent
communities, each governed by a separate king. They were
afterwards united into a single state, having Athens as its
capital and the seat of government. At what time this important
union was effected cannot be determined; but it is ascribed to
Theseus, as the national hero of the Athenian people.

A few generations after Theseus, the Dorians are said to have
invaded Attica. An oracle declared that they would be victorious
if they spared the life of the Athenian King; whereupon Codrus,
who then reigned at Athens, resolved to sacrifice himself for the
welfare of his country. Accordingly he went into the invaders'
camp in disguise, provoked a quarrel with one of the Dorian
soldiers and was killed by the latter. Upon learning the death
of the Athenian king, the Dorians retired from Attica without
striking a blow: and the Athenians, from respect to the memory
of Codrus, abolished the title of king, and substituted for it
that of Archon or Ruler. The office, however, was held for life,
and was confined to the family of Codrus. His son Medon was the
first archon, and he was followed in the dignity by eleven
members of the family in succession. But soon after the
accession Alcmaeon, the thirteenth in descent from Medon, another
change was introduced, and the duration of the archonship was
limited to ten years (B.C. 752). The dignity was still confined
to the descendants of Medon; but in the time of Hippomenes (B.C.
714) this restriction was removed, and the office was thrown open
to all the nobles in the state. In B.C. 683 a still more
important change took place. The archonship was now made annual,
and its duties were distributed among nine persons, all of whom
bore the title. The last of the decennial archons was Eryxias,
the first of the nine annual archons Creon.

Such is the legendary account of the change of government at
Athens, from royalty to an oligarchy. It appears to have taken
place peaceably and gradually, as in most other Greek states.
The whole political power was vested in the nobles; from them the
nine annual archons were taken, and to them alone these
magistrates were responsible. The people, or general body of
freemen, had no share in the government.

The Athenian nobles were called EUPATRIDAE, the two other classes
in the state being the GEOMORI or husbandmen, and DEMIURGI or
artisans. This arrangement is ascribed to Theseus; but there was
another division of the people of still greater antiquity. As
the Dorians were divided into three tribes, so the Ionians were
usually distributed into four tribes. The latter division also
existed among the Athenians, who were Ionians, and it continued
in full vigour down to the great revolution of Clisthenes (B.C.
509). These tribes were distinguished by the names of GELEONTES
(or TELEONTES) "cultivators," HOPLETES "warriors," AEGICORES
"goat-herds," and ARGADES "artisans." Each tribe contained three
Phratriae, each Phratry thirty Gentes, and each Gens thirty heads
of families.

The first date in Athenian history on which certain reliance can
be placed is the institution of annual archons, in the year 683
B.C. The duties of the government were distributed among the
nine archons in the following manner. The first was called THE
ARCHON by way of pre-eminence, and sometimes the Archon Eponymus,
because the year was distinguished by his name. The second
archon was called THE BASILEUS or THE KING, because he
represented the king in his capacity as high-priest of the
nation. The third archon bore the title of THE POLEMARCH, or
Commander-in-chief and was, down to the time of Clisthenes, the
commander of the troops. The remaining six had the common title
of THESMOTHETAE, or Legislators. Their duties seem to have been
almost exclusively judicial.

The government of the Eupatrids was oppressive; and the
discontent of the people at length became so serious, that Draco
was appointed in 624 B.C. to draw up a written code of laws.
They were marked by extreme severity. He affixed the penalty of
death to all crimes alike; to petty thefts, for instance, as well
as to sacrilege and murder. Hence they were said to have been
written not in ink but in blood; and we are told that he
justified this extreme harshness by saying that small offences
deserved death, and that he knew no severer punishment for great
ones.

The legislation of Draco failed to calm the prevailing
discontent. The people gained nothing by the written code,
except a more perfect knowledge of its severity; and civil
dissensions prevailed as extensively as before. The general
dissatisfaction with the government was favourable to
revolutionary projects; and accordingly, twelve years after
Draco's legislation (B.C. 612), Cylon, one of the nobles,
conceived the design of depriving his brother Eupatrids of their
power, and making himself tyrant of Athens. Having collected a
considerable force, he seized the Acropolis; but he did not meet
with support from the great mass of the people, and he soon found
himself closely blockaded by the forces of the Eupatrids. Cylon
and his brother made their escape, but the remainder of his
associates, hard pressed by hunger, abandoned the defence of the
walls, and took refuge at the altar of Athena (Minerva). They
were induced by the archon Megacles, one of the illustrious
family of the Alcmaeonidae, to quit the altar on the promise that
their lives should be spared; but directly they had left the
temple they were put to death, and some of them were murdered
even at the altar of the Eumenides or Furies.

The conspiracy thus failed; but its suppression was attended with
a long train of melancholy consequences. The whole family of the
Alcmaeonidae was believed to have become tainted by the daring
act of sacrilege committed by Megacles; and the friends and
partisans of the murdered conspirators were not slow in demanding
vengeance upon the accursed race. Thus a new element of discord
was introduced into the state, In the midst of these dissensions
there was one man who enjoyed a distinguished reputation at
Athens, and to whom his fellow citizens looked up as the only
person in the state who could deliver them from their political
and social dissensions, and secure them from such misfortunes for
the future. This man was Solon, the son of Execestides, and a
descendant of Codrus. He had travelled through many parts of
Greece and Asia, and had formed acquaintance with many of the
most eminent men of his time. On his return to his native
country he distinguished himself by recovering the island of
Salamis, which had revolted to Megara (B.C. 600). Three years
afterwards he persuaded the Alcmaeonidae to submit their case to
the judgment of three hundred Eupatridae, by whom they were
adjudged guilty of sacrilege, and were expelled from Attica. The
banishment of the guilty race did not, however, deliver the
Athenians from their religious fears. A pestilential disease
with which they were visited was regarded as an unerring sign of
the divine wrath. Upon the advice of the Delphic oracle, they
invited the celebrated Cretan prophet and sage, Epimenides, to
visit Athens, and purify their city from pollution and sacrilege.
By performing certain sacrifices and expiatory acts, Epimenides
succeeded in staying the plague.

The civil dissensions however still continued. The population of
Attica was now divided into three hostile factions, consisting of
the PEDIEIS or wealthy Eupatrid inhabitants of the plains; of the
DIACRII, or poor inhabitants of the hilly districts in the north
and east of Attica; and of the PARALI, or mercantile inhabitants
of the coasts, who held an intermediate position between the
other two. Their disputes were aggravated by the miserable
condition of the poorer population. The latter were in a state
of abject poverty, They had borrowed money from the wealthy at
exorbitant rates of interest upon the security of their property
and their persons. If the principal and interest of the debt
were not paid, the creditor had the power of seizing the person
as well as the land of his debtor, and of using him as a slave.
Many had thus been torn from their homes and sold to barbarian
masters, while others were cultivating as slaves the lands of
their wealthy creditors in Attica. Matters had at length reached
a crisis; the existing laws could no longer be enforced; and the
poor were ready to rise in open insurrection against the rich.

In these alarming circumstances the ruling oligarchy were obliged
to have recourse to Solon; and they therefore chose him Archon in
B.C. 594, investing him under that title with unlimited powers to
effect any changes he might consider beneficial to the state.
His appointment was hailed with satisfaction by the poor; and all
parties were willing to accept his mediation and reforms.

Solon commenced his undertaking by relieving the poorer class of
debtors from their existing distress. He cancelled all contracts
by which the land or person of a debtor had been given as
security; and he forbad for the future all loans in which the
person of the debtor was pledged. He next proceeded to draw up a
new constitution and a new code of laws. As a preliminary step
he repealed all the laws of Draco, except those relating to
murder. He then made a new classification of the citizens,
distributing them into four classes according to the amount of
their property, thus making wealth and not birth the title to the
honours and offices of the state. The first class consisted of
those whose annual income was equal to 500 medimni of corn and
upwards, and were called PENTACOSIOMEDIMNI. [The medimnus was
one bushel and a half.] The second class consisted of those
whose incomes ranged between 300 and 500 medimni and were called
KNIGHTS, from their being able to furnish a war-horse. The third
class consisted of those who received between 200 and 300
medimni, and were called ZEUGITAE from their being able to keep a
yoke of oxen for the plough. The fourth class, called THETES,
included all whose property fell short of 200 medimni. The first
class were alone eligible to the archonship and the higher
offices of the state. The second and third classes filled
inferior posts, and were liable to military service, the former
as horsemen, and the latter as heavy-armed soldiers on foot. The
fourth class were excluded from all public offices, and served in
the army only as light-armed troops. Solon, however, allowed
them to veto in the public assembly, where they must have
constituted by far the largest number. He gave the assembly the
right of electing the archons and the other officers of the
state; and he also made the archons accountable to the assembly
at the expiration of their year of office.

This extension of the duties of the public assembly led to the
institution of a new body. Solon created the Senate, or Council
of Four Hundred with the special object of preparing all matters
for the discussion of the public assembly, of presiding at its
meetings, and of carrying its resolutions into effect. No
subject could be introduced before the people, except by a
previous resolution of the Senate. The members of the Senate
were elected by the public assembly, one hundred from each of the
four ancient tribes, which were left untouched by Solon. They
held their office for a year, and were accountable at its
expiration to the public assembly for the manner in which they
had discharged their duties.

The Senate of the Areopagus [It received its name from its place
of meeting, which was a rocky eminence opposite the Acropolis,
called the hill of Ares (Mars Hill)], is said by some writers to
have been instituted by Solon; but it existed long before his
time, and may be regarded as the representative of the Council of
Chiefs in the Heroic age. Solon enlarged its powers, and
intrusted it with the general supervision of the institutions and
laws of the state, and imposed upon it the duty of inspecting the
lives and occupations of the citizens. All archons became
members of it at the expiration of their year of office.

Solon laid only the foundation of the Athenian democracy by
giving the poorer classes a vote in the popular assembly, and by
enlarging the power of the latter; but he left the government
exclusively in the hands of the wealthy. For many years after
his time the government continued to be an oligarchy, but was
exercised with more moderation and justice than formerly.

Solon enacted numerous laws, containing regulations on almost all
subjects connected with the public and private life of the
citizens. He encouraged trade and manufactures, and invited
foreigners to settle in Athens by the promise of protection and
by valuable privileges. To discourage idleness a son was not
obliged to support his father in old age, if the latter had
neglected to teach him some trade or occupation.

Solon punished theft by compelling the guilty party to restore
double the value of the property stolen. He forbade speaking
evil either of the dead or of the living.

Solon is said to have been aware that he had left many
imperfections in his laws. He described them not as the best
laws which he could devise, but as the best which the Athenians
could receive. Having bound the government and people of Athens
by a solemn oath to observe his institutions for at least ten
years, he left Athens and travelled in foreign lands. During his
absence the old dissensions between the Plain, the Shore, and the
Mountain broke out afresh with more violence than ever. The
first was headed by Lycurgus, the second by Megacles, an
Alcmaeonid, and the third by Pisistratus, the cousin of Solon.
Of these leaders, Pisistratus was the ablest and the most
dangerous. He had espoused the cause of the poorest of the three
classes, in order to gain popularity, and to make himself master
of Athens. Solon on his return to Athens detected the ambitious
designs of his kinsman, and attempted to disuade him from them.
Finding his remonstrances fruitless, he next denounced his
projects in verses addressed to the people. Few, however, gave
any heed to his warnings: and Pisistratus, at length finding his
schemes ripe for action, had recourse to a memorable strategem to
secure his object. One day he appeared in the market-place in a
chariot, his mules and his own person bleeding with wounds
inflicted with his own hands. These he exhibited to the people,
telling them that he had been nearly murdered in consequence of
defending their rights. The popular indignation was excited; and
a guard of fifty clubmen was granted him for his future security.
He gradually increased the number of his guard and soon found
himself strong enough to throw off the mask and seize the
Acropolis (B.C. 560). Megacles and the Alcmaeonidae left the
city. Solon alone had the courage to oppose the usurpation, and
upbraided the people with their cowardice and their treachery.
"You might," said he, "with ease have crushed the tyrant in the
bud; but nothing now remains but to pluck him up by the roots."
But no one responded to his appeal. He refused to fly; and when
his friends asked him on what he relied for protection, "On my
old age," was his reply. It is creditable to Pisistratus that he
left his aged relative unmolested, and even asked his advice in
the administration of the government. Solon did not long survive
the overthrow of the constitution. He died a year or two
afterwards at the advanced age of eighty. His ashes are said to
have been scattered by his own direction round the island of
Salamis, which he had won for the Athenian people.

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