A Smaller History of Greece

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Pisistratus however did not retain his power long. The leaders
of the factions of the Shore and the Plain combined and drove the
usurper into exile. But the Shore and the Plain having
quarrelled, Pisistratus was recalled and again became master of
Athens. Another revolution shortly afterwards drove him into
exile a second time, and he remained abroad ten years. At
length, with the assistance of mercenaries from other Grecian
states and with the aid of his partisans in Athens, he became
master of Athens for the third time, and henceforth continued in
possession of the supreme power till the day of his death. As
soon as he was firmly established in the government, his
administration was marked by mildness and equity. He maintained
the institutions of Solon, taking care, however, that the highest
offices should always be held by some members of his own family.
He not only enforced strict obedience to the laws, but himself
set the example of submitting to them. Being accused of murder,
he disdained to take advantage of his authority, and went in
person to plead his cause before the Areopagus, where his accuser
did not venture to appear. He courted popularity by largesses to
the citizens and by throwing open his gardens to the poor. He
adorned Athens with many public buildings. He commenced on a
stupendous scale a temple to the Olympian Zeus, which remained
unfinished for centuries, and was at length completed by the
emperor Hadrian. He was a patron of literature, as well as of
the arts. He is said to have been the first person in Greece who
collected a library, which he threw open to the public; and to
him posterity is indebted for the collection of the Homeric
poems. On the whole it cannot be denied that he made a wise and
noble use of his power.

Pisistratus died at an advanced age in 527 B.C., thirty-three
years after his first usurpation. He transmitted the sovereign
power to his sons, Hippias and Hipparchus, who conducted the
government on the same principles as their father. Hipparchus
inherited his father's literary tastes. He invited several
distinguished poets, such as Anacreon and Simonides, to his
court. The people appear to have been contented with their rule;
and it was only an accidental circumstance which led to their
overthrow and to a change in the government.

Their fall was occasioned by the conspiracy of Harmodius and
Aristogiton, who were attached to each other by a most intimate
friendship. Harmodius having given offence to Hippias, the
despot revenged himself by putting a public affront upon his
sister. This indignity excited the resentment of the two
friends, and they now resolved to slay the despots at the
festival of the Great Panathenaea, when all the citizens were
required to attend in arms. Having communicated their design to
a few associates, the conspirators appeared armed at the
appointed time like the rest of the citizens, but carrying
concealed daggers besides. Harmodius and Aristogiton had planned
to kill Hippias first as he was arranging the order of the
procession outside the city, but, upon approaching the spot where
he was standing, they were thunderstruck at beholding one of the
conspirators in close conversation with the despot. Believing
that they were betrayed, they rushed back into the city with
their daggers hid in the myrtle boughs which they were to have
carried in the procession, and killed Hipparchus. Harmodius was
immediately cut down by the guards. Aristogiton died under the
tortures to which he was subjected in order to compel him to
disclose his accomplices.

Hipparchus was assassinated in B.C. 514, the fourteenth year
after the death of Pisistratus. From this time the character of
the government became entirely changed. His brother's murder
converted Hippias into a cruel and suspicious tyrant. He put to
death numbers of the citizens, and raised large sums of money by
extraordinary taxes.

The Alcmaeonidae, who had lived in exile ever since the third and
final restoration of Pisistratus to Athens, now began to form
schemes to expel the tyrant. Clisthenes, the son of Megacles,
who was the head of the family, secured the Delphian oracle by
pecuniary presents to the Pythia, or priestess, henceforth,
whenever the Spartans came to consult the oracle, the answer of
the priestess was always the same, "Athens must be liberated."
This order was so often repeated, that the Spartans at last
resolved to obey. Cleomenes, king of Sparta, defeated the
Thessalian allies of Hippias; and the tyrant, unable to meet his
enemies in the field, took refuge in the Acropolis. Here he
might have maintained himself in safety, had not his children
been made prisoners as they were being secretly carried out of
the country. To procure their restoration, he consented to quit
Attics in the space of five days. He sailed to Asia, and took up
his residence at Sigeum in the Troad, which his father had
wrested from the Mytilenaeans in war.

Hippias was expelled in B.C. 510, four years after the
assassination of Hipparchus. These four years had been a time of
suffering and oppression for the Athenians, and had effaced from
their minds all recollection of the former mild rule of
Pisistratus and his sons. Hence the expulsion of the family was
hailed with delight. The memory of Harmodius and Aristogiton was
cherished with the fondest reverence; and the Athenians of a
later age, overlooking the four years which had elapsed from
their death to the overthrow of the despotism, represented them
as the liberators of their country and the first martyrs for its
liberty. Their statues were erected in the market-place soon
after the expulsion of Hippias; their descendants enjoyed
immunity from all taxes and public burdens; and their deed of
vengeance formed the favourite subject of drinking songs.

The Lacedaemonians quitted Athens soon after Hippias had sailed
away, leaving the Athenians to settle their own affairs.
Clisthenes, to whom Athens was mainly indebted for its liberation
from the despotism, aspired to be the political leader of the
state but he was opposed by Isagoras, the leader of the party of
the nobles. By the Solonian constitution, the whole political
power was vested in the hands of the nobles; and Clisthenes soon
found that it was hopeless to contend against his rival under the
existing order of things. For this reason he resolved to
introduce an important change in the constitution, and to give to
the people an equal share in the government.

The reforms of Clisthenes gave birth to the Athenian democracy,
which can hardly be said to have existed before this time. His
first and most important measure was a redistribution of the
whole population of Attica into ten new tribes. He abolished the
four ancient Ionic tribes, and enrolled in the ten new tribes all
the free inhabitants of Attica, including both resident aliens
and even emancipated slaves. He divided the tribes into a
certain number of cantons or townships, called DEMI, which at a
later time were 174 in number. Every Athenian citizen was
obliged to be enrolled in a demus, each of which, like a parish
in England, administered its own affairs. It had its public
meetings it levied rates, and was under the superintendence of an
officer called DEMARCHUS.

The establishment of the ten new tribes led to a change in the
number of the Senate. It had previously consisted of 400
members, but it was now enlarged to 500, fifty being selected
from each of the ten new tribes. The Ecclesia, or formal
assembly of the citizens, was now summoned at certain fixed
periods; and Clisthenes transferred the government of the state,
which had hitherto been in the hands of the archons, to the
senate and the ecclesia. He also increased the judicial as well
as the political power of the people; and enacted that all public
crimes should be tried by the whole body of citizens above thirty
years of age, specially convoked and sworn for the purpose. The
assembly thus convened was called HELIAEA and its members
HELIASTS. Clisthenes also introduced the OSTRACISM, by which an
Athenian citizen might be banished without special accusation,
trial, or defence for ten years, which term was subsequently
reduced to five. It must be recollected that the force which a
Greek government had at its disposal was very small; and that it
was comparatively easy for an ambitious citizen, supported by a
numerous body of partisans, to overthrow the constitution and
make himself despot. The Ostracism was the means devised by
Clisthenes for removing quietly from the state a powerful party
leader before he could carry into execution any violent schemes
for the subversion of the government. Every precaution was taken
to guard this institution from abuse. The senate and the
ecclesia had first to determine by a special vote whether the
safety of the state required such a step to be taken. If they
decided in the affirmative, a day was fixed for the voting, and
each citizen wrote upon a tile or oyster-shell [OSTRACON, whence
the name OSTRACISM] the name of the person whom he wished to
banish. The votes were then collected, And if it was found that
6000 had been recorded against any one person, he was obliged to
withdraw from the city within ten days: if the number of votes
did not amount to 6000, nothing was done.

The aristocratical party, enraged at these reforms called in the
assistance of Cleomenes, king of the Lacedaemonians. Athens was
menaced by foreign enemies and distracted by party struggles.
Clisthenes was at first compelled to retire from Athens; but the
people rose in arms against Cleomenes, expelled the
Lacedaemonians, who had taken possession of the city, and
recalled Clisthenes. Thereupon Cleomenes collected a
Peloponnesian army in order to establish Isagoras as a tyrant
over the Athenians, and at the same time he concerted measures
with the Thebans and the Chalcidians of Euboea for a simultaneous
attack upon Attica. The Peloponnesian army, commanded by the two
kings, Cleomenes and Demaratus, entered Attica, and advanced as
far as Eleusis; but when the allies became aware of the object
for which they had been summoned, they refused to march farther,
and strongly protested against the attempt to establish a tyranny
at Athens. Their remonstrances being seconded by Demaratus,
Cleomenes found it necessary to abandon the expedition and return
home. At a later period (B.C. 491) Cleomenes took revenge upon
Demaratus by persuading the Spartans to depose him upon the
ground of illegitimacy. The exiled king took refuge at the
Persian court.

The unexpected retreat of the Peloponnesian army delivered the
Athenians from their most formidable enemy, and they lost no time
in turning their arms against their other foes. Marching into
Boeotia, they defeated the Thebans and then crossed over into
Euboea, where they gained a decisive victory over the
Chalcidians. In order to secure their dominion in Euboea, and at
the same time to provide for their poorer citizens, the Athenians
distributed the estates of the wealthy Chalcidian landowners
among 4000 of their citizens, who settled in the country under
the name of CLERUCI.

The successes of Athens excited the jealousy of the Spartans, and
they now resolved to make a third attempt to overthrow the
Athenian democracy. They had meantime discovered the deception
which had been practised upon them by the Delphic oracle; And
they invited Hippias to come from Sigeum to Sparta, in order to
restore him to Athens. The experience of the last campaign had
taught them that they could not calculate upon the co-operation
of their allies without first obtaining their approval of the
project; and they therefore summoned deputies from all their
allies to meet at Sparta, in order to determine respecting the
restoration of Hippias. But the proposal was received with
universal repugnance; and the Spartans found it necessary to
abandon their project. Hippias returned to Sigeum, and
afterwards proceeded to the court of Darius.

Athens had now entered upon her glorious career. The
institutions of Clisthenes had given her citizens a personal
interest in the welfare and the grandeur of their country. A
spirit of the warmest patriotism rapidly sprang up among them;
and the history of the Persian wars, which followed almost
immediately, exhibits a striking proof of the heroic sacrifices
which they were prepared to make for the liberty and independence
of their state.

CHAPTER VI.

THE GREEK COLONIES.

The vast number of the Greek colonies, their wide-spread
diffusion over all parts of the Mediterranean, which thus became
a kind of Grecian lake, and their rapid growth in wealth, power,
and intelligence, afford the most striking proofs of the
greatness of this wonderful people. Civil dissensions and a
redundant population were the chief causes of the origin of most
of the Greek colonies. They were usually undertaken with the
approbation of the cities from which they issued, and under the
management of leaders appointed by them. But a Greek colony was
always considered politically independent of the mother-city and
emancipated from its control. The only connexion between them
was one of filial affection and of common religious ties. Almost
every colonial Greek city was built upon the sea-coast, and the
site usually selected contained a hill sufficiently lofty to form
an acropolis.

The Grecian colonies may be arranged in four groups: 1. Those
founded in Asia Minor and the adjoining islands; 2. Those in the
western parts of the Mediterranean, in Italy, Sicily, Gaul, and
Spain; 3. Those in Africa; 4. Those in Epirus, Macedonia, and
Thrace.

1. The earliest Greek colonies were those founded on the western
shores of Asia Minor. They were divided into three great masses,
each bearing the name of that section of the Greek race with
which they claimed affinity. The AEolic cities covered the
northern part of this coast, together with the islands of Lesbos
and Tenedos; the Ionians occupied the centre, with the islands of
Chios and Samos; and the Dorians the southern portion, with the
islands of Rhodes and Cos. Most of these colonies were founded
in consequence of the changes in the population of Greece which
attended the conquest of Peloponnesus by the Dorians. The Ionic
cities were early distinguished by a spirit of commercial
enterprise, and soon rose superior in wealth and in power to
their AEolian and Dorian neighbours. Among the Ionic cities
themselves Miletus and Ephesus were the most flourishing, Grecian
literature took its rise in the AEolic and Ionic cities of Asia
Minor. Homer was probably a native of Smyrna. Lyric poetry
flourished in the island of Lesbos, where Sappho and Alcaeus were
born. The Ionic cities were also the seats of the earliest
schools of Grecian philosophy. Thales, who founded the Ionic
school of philosophy, was a native of Miletus. Halicarnassus was
one of the most important of the Doric cities, of which Herodotus
was a native, though he wrote in the Ionic dialect.

2. The earliest Grecian settlement in Italy was Cumae in
Campania, situated near Cape Misenum, on the Tyrrhenian sea. It
is said to have been a joint colony from the AEolic Cyme in Asia
and from Chalcis in Euboea, and to have been founded, according
to the common chronology, in B.C. 1050. Cumae was for a long
time the most flourishing city in Campania; and it was not till
its decline in the fifth century before the Christian era that
Capua rose into importance.

The earliest Grecian settlement in Sicily was founded in B.C.
735. The extraordinary fertility of the land soon attracted
numerous colonists from various parts of Greece, and there arose
on the coasts of Sicily a succession of flourishing cities. Of
these, Syracuse and Agrigentum, both Dorian colonies, became the
most powerful. The former was founded by the Corinthians in B.C.
734, and at the time of its greatest prosperity contained a
population of 500,000 souls, and was surrounded by walls twenty-
two miles in circuit. Its greatness, however, belongs to a later
period of Grecian history.

The Grecian colonies in southern Italy began to be planted at
nearly the same time as in Sicily. They eventually lined the
whole southern coast, as far as Cumae on the one sea and Tarentum
on the other. They even surpassed those in Sicily in number and
importance; and so numerous and flourishing did they become, that
the south of Italy received the name of Magna Graecia. Of these,
two of the earliest and most prosperous were Sybaris and Croton,
both situated upon the gulf of Tarentum, and both of Achaean
origin. Sybaris was planted in B.C. 720 and Croton in B.C. 710.
For two centuries they seem to have lived in harmony, and we know
scarcely anything of their history till their fatal contest in
B.C. 510, which ended in the ruin of Sybaris. During the whole
of this period they were two of the most flourishing cities in
all Hellas. Sybaris in particular attained to an extraordinary
degree of wealth, and its inhabitants were so notorious for their
luxury, effeminacy, and debauchery, that their name has become
proverbial for a voluptuary in ancient and modern times. Croton
was the chief seat of the Pythagorean philosophy. Pythagroras
was a native of Samos, but emigrated to Croton, where he met with
the most wonderful success in the propagation of his views. He
established a kind of religious brotherhood, closely united by a
sacred vow. They believed in the transmigration of souls, and
their whole training was designed to make them temperate and
self-denying. The doctrines of Pythagoras spread through many of
the other cities of Magna Graecia.

Of the numerous other Greek settlements in the south of Italy,
those of Locri, Rhegium, and Tarentum were the meet important.
Locri was founded by the Locrians from the mother-country in B.C.
683. The laws of this city were drawn up by one of its citizens,
named Zaleucus, and so averse were the Locrians to any change in
them, that whoever proposed a new law had to appear in the public
assembly with a rope round his neck, which was immediately
tightened if he failed to convince his fellow-citizens of the
necessity of the alteration. Rhegium, situated on the straits of
Messina, opposite Sicily, was colonised by the Chalcidians, but
received a large body of Messenians, who settled here at the
close of the Messenian war. Anaxilas, tyrant of Rhegium about
B.C. 500, was of Messenian descent. He seized the Sicilian
Zancle on the opposite coast, and changed its name into Messana,
which it still bears. Tarentum was a colony from Sparta and was
founded about B.C. 708. After the destruction of Sybaris it was
the most powerful and flourishing city in Magna Graecia, and
continued to enjoy great prosperity till its subjugation by the
Romans. Although of Spartan origin, it did not maintain Spartan
habits, and its citizens were noted at a later time for their
love of luxury and pleasure.

The Grecian settlements in the distant countries of Gaul and
Spain were not numerous. The most celebrated was Massalia, the
modern Marseilles, founded by the Ionic Phocaeans in B.C. 600.

3. The northern coast of Africa, between the territories of
Carthage and Egypt, was also occupied by Greek colonists. The
city of Cyrene was founded about B.C. 630. It was a colony from
the island of Thera in the AEgean, which was itself a colony from
Sparta. The situation of Cyrene was well chosen. It stood on
the edge of a range of hills, at the distance of ten miles from
the Mediterranean, of which it commanded a fine view. These
hills descended by a succession of terraces to the port of the
town, called Apollonia. The climate was most salubrious, and the
soil was distinguished by extraordinary fertility. With these
advantages Cyrene rapidly grew in wealth and power; and its
greatness is attested by the immense remains which still mark its
desolate site. Cyrene planted several colonies in the adjoining
district, of which Barca, founded about B.C. 560, was the most
important.

4. There were several Grecian colonies situated on the eastern
side of the Ionian sea, in Epirus and its immediate
neighbourhood. Of these the island of Corcyra, now called Corfu,
was the most wealthy and powerful. It was founded by the
Corinthians about B.C. 700, and in consequence of its commercial
activity it soon became a formidable rival to the mother-city.
Hence a war broke out between these two states at an early
period; and the most ancient naval battle on record was the one
fought between their fleets in B.C. 664. The dissensions between
the mother-city and her colony are frequently mentioned in
Grecian history, and were one of the immediate causes of the
Peloponnesian war. Notwithstanding their quarrels they joined in
planting four Grecian colonies upon the same line of coast--
Leucas, Anactorium, Apollonia, and Epidamnus.

The colonies in Macedonia and Thrace were very numerous, and
extended all along the coast of the AEgean, of the Hellespont, of
the Propontis, and of the Euxine, from the borders of Thessaly to
the mouth of the Danube. Of these we can only glance at the most
important. The colonies on the coast of Macedonia were chiefly
founded by Chalcis and Eretria in Euboea; and the peninsula of
Chalcidice, with its three projecting headlands, was covered with
their settlements, and derived its name from the former city.
The Corinthians likewise planted a few colonies on this coast, of
which Potidaea, on the narrow isthmus of Pallene, most deserves
mention.

Of the colonies in Thrace, the most flourishing were Selymbria
and Byzantium, both founded by the Megarians, who appear as an
enterprising maritime people at an early period.

CHAPTER VII.

THE PERSIAN WARS.--FROM THE IONIC REVOLT TO THE BATTLE OF
MARATHON, B.C. 500-490.

The Grecian cities on the coast of Asia Minor were the neighbours
of an Asiatic power which finally reduced them to subjection.
This was the kingdom of Lydia, of which Sardis was the capital.
Croesus, the last and most powerful of the Lydian kings, who
ascended the throne B.C. 560, conquered in succession all the
Grecian cities on the coast. His rule, however, was not
oppressive, and he permitted the cities to regulate their own
affairs. He spoke the Greek language, welcomed Greek guests, and
reverenced the Greek oracles, which he enriched with the most
munificent offerings. He extended his dominions in Asia Minor as
far as the river Halys, and he formed a close alliance with
Astyages, king of the Medes, who were then the ruling race in
Asia. Everything seemed to betoken uninterrupted prosperity,
when a people hitherto almost unknown suddenly became masters of
the whole of western Asia.

The Persians were of the same race as the Medes and spoke a
dialect of the same language. They inhabited the mountainous
region south of Media, which slopes gradually down to the low
grounds on the coast of the Persian gulf. While the Medes became
enervated by the corrupting influences to which they were
exposed, the Persians preserved in their native mountains their
simple and warlike habits. They were a brave and hardy nation,
clothed in skins, drinking only water, and ignorant of the
commonest luxuries of life. Cyrus led these fierce warriors from
their mountain fastnesses, defeated the Medes in battle, took
Astyages prisoner, and deprived him of his throne. The other
nations included in the Median empire submitted to the conqueror,
and the sovereignty of Upper Asia thus passed from the Medes to
the Persians. The accession of Cyrus to the empire is placed in
B.C. 559. A few years afterwards Cyrus turned his arms against
the Lydians, took Sardis, and deprived Croesus of his throne
(B.C. 546). The fall of Croesus was followed by the subjection
of the Greek cities in Asia to the Persian yoke. They offered a
brave but ineffectual resistance, and were taken one after the
other by Harpagus the Persian general. Even the islands of
Lesbos and Chios sent in their submission to Harpagus, although
the Persians then possessed no fleet to force them to obedience.
Samos, on the other hand, maintained its independence, and
appears soon afterwards one of the most powerful of the Grecian
states.

During the reign of Cambyses (B.C. 529-521), the son and
successor of Cyrus, the Greek cities of Asia remained obedient to
their Persian governors. It was during this reign that
Polycrates, tyrant of Samos, became the master of the Grecian
seas. The ambition and good fortune of this enterprising tyrant
were alike remarkable. He possessed a hundred ships of war, with
which he conquered several of the islands; and he aspired to
nothing less than the dominion of Ionia, as well as of the
islands in the AEgean. The Lacedaemonians, who had invaded the
island at the invitation of the Samian exiles, for the purpose of
overthrowing his government, were obliged to retire, after
besieging his city in vain for forty days. Everything which he
undertook seemed to prosper; but his uninterrupted good fortune
at length excited the alarm of his ally Amasis, the king of
Egypt. According to the tale related by Herodotus, the Egyptian
king, convinced that such amazing good fortune would sooner or
later incur the envy of the gods, wrote to Polycrates, advising
him to throw away one of his most valuable possessions and thus
inflict some injury upon himself. Thinking the advice to be
good, Polycrates threw into the sea a favourite ring of matchless
price and beauty; but unfortunately it was found a few days
afterwards in the belly of a fine fish which a fisherman had sent
him as a present. Amasis now foresaw that the ruin of Polycrates
was inevitable, and sent a herald to Samos to renounce his
alliance. The gloomy anticipations of the Egyptian monarch
proved well founded. In the midst of all his prosperity
Polycrates fell by a most ignominious fate. Oroetes, the satrap
of Sardis, had for some unknown cause conceived a deadly hatred
against the Samian despot. By a cunning stratagem the satrap
allured him to the mainland, where he was immediately arrested
and hanged upon a cross (B.C. 522).

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