A Smaller History of Greece

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In the following year (B.C. 447) a revolution in Boeotia deprived
Athens of her ascendency in that country. With an overweening
contempt of their enemies, a small band of 1000 Athenian
hoplites, chiefly composed of youthful volunteers belonging to
the best Athenian families, together with a few auxiliaries,
marched under the command of Tolmides to put down the revolt, in
direct opposition to the advice of Pericles, who adjured them to
wait and collect a more numerous force. The enterprise proved
disastrous in the extreme. Tolmides was defeated and slain near
Chaeronea, a large number of the hoplites also fell in the
engagement, while a still larger number were taken prisoners.
This last circumstance proved fatal to the interests of Athens in
Boeotia. In order to recover these prisoners, she agreed to
evacuate Boeotia, and to permit the re-establishment of the
aristocracies which she had formerly overthrown. But the
Athenian reverses did not end here. The expulsion of the
partisans of Athens from the government of Phocis and Locris, and
the revolt of Euboea and Megara, were announced in quick
succession. The youthful Pleistoanax, king of Sparta, actually
penetrated, with an army of Lacedaemonians and Peloponnesian
allies, as far as the neighbourhood of Eleusis; and the capital
itself, it is said, was saved only by Pericles having bribed the
Spartan monarch. Pericles reconquered Euboea; but this was the
only possession which the Athenians succeeded in recovering.
Their empire on land had vanished more, speedily than it had been
acquired; and they were therefore induced to conclude, at the
beginning of B.C. 445, a THIRTY YEARS' TRUCE with Sparta and her
allies, by which they consented to abandon all the acquisitions
which they had made in Peloponnesus, and to leave Megara to be
included among the Peloponnesian allies of Sparta.

From the Thirty Years' Truce to the commencement of the
Peloponnesian war, few political events of any importance
occurred. During these fourteen years (B.C. 445-431) Pericles
continued to enjoy the sole direction of affairs. His views were
of the most lofty kind. Athens was to become the capital of
Greece, and the centre of art and refinement. In her external
appearance the city was to be rendered worthy of the high
position to which she aspired, by the beauty and splendour of her
public buildings, by her works of art in sculpture, architecture,
and painting, and by the pomp and magnificence of her religious
festivals. All these objects Athens was enabled to attain in an
incredibly short space of time, through the genius and energy of
her citizens and the vast resources at her command. No state has
ever exhibited so much intellectual activity and so great a
progress in art as was displayed by Athens in the period which
elapsed between the Thirty Years' Truce and the breaking out of
the Peloponnesian war. She was the seat and centre of Grecian
literature. The three great tragic poets of Greece were natives
of Attica. AEschylus, the earliest of the three, had recently
died in Sicily; but Sophocles was now at the full height of his
reputation, and Euripides was rapidly rising into notice.
Aristophanes, the greatest of the Grecian comic poets, was also
born in Attica, and exhibited plays soon after the beginning of
the Peloponnesian war. Herodotus, the Father of History, though
a native of Halicarnassus in Asia Minor, resided some time at
Athens, and accompanied a colony which the Athenians sent to
Thurii in Italy. Thucydides, the greatest of Greek historians,
was an Athenian, and was a young man at this period.

Colonization, for which the genius and inclination of the
Athenians had always been suited, was another method adopted by
Pericles for extending the influence and empire of Athens. The
settlements made under his auspices were of two kinds CLERUCHIES,
and regular colonies. The former mode was exclusively Athenian.
It consisted in the allotment of land in conquered or subject
countries to certain bodies of Athenians who continued to retain
all their original rights of citizenship. This circumstance, as
well as the convenience of entering upon land already in a state
of cultivation instead of having to reclaim it from the rude
condition of nature, seems to have rendered such a mode of
settlement much preferred by the Athenians. The earliest
instance which we find of it is in the year B.C. 506, when four
thousand Athenians entered upon the domains of the Chalcidian
knights (see Ch.5). But it was under Pericles that this system
was most extensively adopted. During his administration 1000
Athenian citizens were settled in the Thracian Chersonese, 500 in
Naxos, and 250 in Andros. The islands of Lemnos, Imbros, and
Scyros, as well as a large tract in the north of Euboea, were
also completely occupied by Athenian proprietors.

The most important colonies settled by Pericles were those of
Thurii and Amphipolis. Since the destruction of Sybaris by the
Crotoniates, in B.C. 509, the former inhabitants had lived
dispersed in the adjoining territory along the gulf of Tarentum,
In B.C. 443 Pericles sent out a colony to found Thurii, near the
site of the ancient Sybaris. The colony of Amphipolis was
founded some years later (B.C. 437), under the conduct of Agnon.

But Pericles, notwithstanding his influence and power, had still
many bitter and active enemies, who assailed him through his
private connections, and even endeavoured to wound his honour by
a charge of peculation. Pericles, after divorcing a wife with
whom he had lived unhappily, took his mistress Aspasia to his
house, and dwelt with her till his death on terms of the greatest
affection. She was distinguished not only for her beauty, but
also for her learning and accomplishments. Her intimacy with
Anaxagoras, the celebrated Ionic philosopher, was made a handle
for wounding Pericles in his tenderest relations. Paganism,
notwithstanding its licence, was capable of producing bigots:
and even at Athens the man who ventured to dispute the existence
of a hundred gods with morals and passions somewhat worse than
those of ordinary human nature, did so at the risk of his life.
Anaxagoras was indicted for impiety. Aspasia was included in the
same charge, and dragged before the courts of justice.
Anaxagoras prudently fled from Athens, and thus probably avoided
a fate which in consequence of a similar accusation afterwards
overtook Socrates. Pericles himself pleaded the cause of
Aspasia. He was indeed indirectly implicated in the indictment;
but he felt no concern except for his beloved Aspasia, and on
this occasion the cold and somewhat haughty statesman, whom the
most violent storms of the assembly could not deprive of his
self-possession, was for once seen to weep. His appeal to the
jury was successful, but another trial still awaited him. An
indictment was preferred against his friend, the great sculptor
Phidias, for embezzlement of the gold intended to adorn the
celebrated ivory statue of Athena; and according to some,
Pericles himself was included in the charge of peculation.
Whether Pericles was ever actually tried on this accusation is
uncertain; but at all events, if he was, there can be no doubt
that he was honourably acquitted. The gold employed in the
statue had been fixed in such a manner that it could be detached
and weighed, and Pericles challenged his accusers to the proof.
But Phidias did not escape so fortunately. There were other
circumstances which rendered him unpopular, and amongst them the
fact that he had introduced portraits both of himself and
Pericles in the sculptures which adorned the frieze of the
Parthenon. Phidias died in prison before the day of trial.

The Athenian empire, since the conclusion of the Thirty Years'
Truce, had again become exclusively maritime. Yet even among the
subjects and allies united with Athens by the Confederacy of
Delos, her sway was borne with growing discontent. One of the
chief causes of this dissatisfaction was the amount of the
tribute exacted by the Athenians, as well as their misapplication
of the proceeds. In the time of Aristides and Cimon, when an
active war was carrying on against the Persians, the sum annually
collected amounted to 460 talents. In the time of Pericles,
although that war had been brought to a close, the tribute had
nevertheless increased to the annual sum of 600 talents. Another
grievance was the transference to Athens of all lawsuits, at
least of all public suits; for on this subject we are unable to
draw the line distinctly. In criminal cases, at all events, the
allies seem to have been deprived of the power to inflict capital
punishment. Besides all these causes of complaint, the allies
had often to endure the oppressions and exactions of Athenian
officers, both military and naval, as well us of the rich and
powerful Athenian citizens settled among them.

In B.C. 440 Samos, one of the free independent allies already
mentioned, revolted from Athens; but even this island was no
match for the Athenian power. Pericles, who sailed against the
Samians in person, defeated their fleet in several engagements,
and forced the city to capitulate. The Samians were compelled to
raze their fortifications, to surrender their fleet, to give
hostages for their future conduct, and to pay the expenses of the
war.

The triumphs and the power of Athens were regarded with fear and
jealousy by her rivals; and the quarrel between Corinth and
Corcyra lighted the spark which was to produce the conflagration.
On the coast of Illyria near the site of the modern Durazzo, the
Corcyraeans had founded the city of Epidamnus. Corcyra (now
Corfu) was itself a colony of Corinth; and though long at enmity
with its mother country, was forced, according to the time-
hallowed custom of the Greeks in such matters, to select the
founder of Epidamnus from the Corinthians. Accordingly Corinth
became the metropolis of Epidamnus as well as of Corcyra. At the
time of which we speak, the Epidamnians, being hard pressed by
the Illyrians, led by some oligarchical exiles of their own city,
applied to Corcyra for assistance, which the Corcyraeans, being
connected with the Epidamnian oligarchy, refused. The
Epidamnians then sought help from the Corinthians, who undertook
to assist them. The Corcyraeans, highly resenting this
interference, attacked the Corinthian fleet off Cape Actium, and
gained a signal victory (B.C. 435).

Deeply humbled by this defeat, the Corinthians spent the two
following years in active preparations for retrieving it. The
Corcyraeans, who had not enrolled themselves either in the
Lacedaemonian or Athenian alliance, and therefore stood alone,
were greatly alarmed at these preparations. They now resolved to
remedy this deficiency; and as Corinth belonged to the
Lacedaemonian alliance, the Corcyraeans had no option, and were
obliged to apply to Athens. The majority of the Athenians were
ready to comply with their request; but in order to avoid an open
infringement of the Thirty Years' Truce, it was resolved to
conclude only a defensive alliance with Corcyra: that is, to
defend the Corcyraeans in case their territories were actually
invaded by the Corinthians, but beyond that not to lend them any
active assistance. A small Athenian squadron of only 10 triremes
was despatched to the assistance of the Corcyraeans. Soon after
their arrival a battle ensued off the coast of Epirus, between
the Corinthian and Corcyraean fleets. After a hard-fought day,
victory finally declared in favour of the Corinthians. The
Athenians now abandoned their neutrality, and did all in their
power to save the dying Corcyraeans from their pursuers. This
action took place early in the morning; and the Corinthians
prepared to renew the attack in the afternoon, when they saw in
the distance 20 Athenian vessels, which they believed to be the
advanced guard of a still larger fleet. They accordingly sailed
away to the coast of Epirus; but finding that the Athenians did
not mean to undertake offensive operations against them, they
departed homewards with their whole fleet. These events took
place in the year B.C. 432.

The Corinthians were naturally incensed at the conduct of Athens;
and it is not surprising that they should have watched for an
opportunity of revenge. This was soon afforded them by the
enmity of the Macedonian prince Perdiccas towards the Athenians.
He incited her tributaries upon the coast of Macedonia to revolt,
including Potidaea, a town seated on the isthmus of Pallene.
Potidaea, though now a tributary of Athens, was originally a
colony of the Corinthians, and received from them certain annual
magistrates. Being urged as well by the Corinthians as by
Perdiccas, the Potidaeans openly raised the standard of revolt
(B.C. 432). A powerful Athenian armament was despatched to the
coast of Macedonia and laid siege to Potidaea.

Meanwhile the Lacedaemonians, urged on all sides by the
complaints of their allies against Athens, summoned a general
meeting of the Peloponnesian confederacy at Sparta. The
Corinthians took the most prominent part in the debate; but other
members of the confederacy had also heavy grievances to allege
against Athens. Foremost among these were the Megarians, who
complained that their commerce had been ruined by a recent decree
of the Athenians which excluded them from every port within the
Athenian jurisdiction. It was generally felt that the time had
now arrived for checking the power of Athens. Influenced by
these feelings, the Lacedaemonians decided upon war; and the
congress passed a resolution to the same effect, thus binding the
whole Peloponnesian confederacy to the same policy. This
important resolution was adopted towards the close of B.C. 432,
or early in the following year. Before any actual declaration of
war, hostilities were begun in the spring of B.C. 431 by a
treacherous attack of the Thebans upon Plataea. Though Boeotians
by descent, the Plataeans did not belong to the Boeotian league,
but had long been in close alliance with the Athenians. Hence
they were regarded with hatred and jealousy by the Thebans, which
sentiments were also shared by a small oligarchical faction in
Plataea itself. The Plataean oligarchs secretly admitted a body
of 300 Thebans into the town at night; but the attempt proved a
failure; the citizens flew to arms, and in the morning all the
Thebans were either slain or taken prisoner.

CHAPTER X.

ATHENS IN THE TIME OF PERICLES.

[Note:
The figures referred to in a few places in this chapter have had
to be omitted from the etext.]

At the commencement of the Peloponnesian war Athens was at the
height of its glory under the brilliant administration of
Pericles. We may therefore here pause to take a brief survey of
the city and of its most important buildings. Athens is situated
about three miles from the sea-coast, in the central plain of
Attica. In this plain rise several eminences. Of these the most
prominent is a lofty insulated mountain, with a conical peaked
summit, now called the Hill of St. George, and which bore in
ancient times the name of LYCABETTUS. This mountain, which was
not included within the ancient walls, lies to the north-east of
Athens, and forms the most striking feature in the environs of
the city. It is to Athens what Vesuvius is to Naples, or
Arthur's Seat to Edinburgh. South-west of Lycabettus there are
four hills of moderate height, all of which formed part of the
city. Of these the nearest to Lycabettus and at the distance of
a mile from the latter, was the ACROPOLIS, or citadel of Athens,
a square craggy rock rising abruptly about 150 feet, with a flat
summit of about 1000 feet long from east to west, by 500 feet
broad from north to south. Immediately west of the Acropolis is
a second hill of irregular form, the AREOPAGUS. To the south-
west there rises a third hill, the PNYX, on which the assemblies
of the citizens were held; and to the south of the latter is a
fourth hill, known as the MUSEUM. On the eastern and western
sides of the city there run two small streams, which are nearly
exhausted before they reach the sea, by the heats of summer and
by the channels for artificial irrigation. That on the east is
the Ilissus, which flowed through the southern quarter of the
city: that on the west is the Cephissus. South of the city was
seen the Saronic gulf, with the harbours of Athens.

Athens is said to have derived its name from the prominence given
to the worship of Athena by its king Erechtheus. The inhabitants
were previously called Cranai and Cecropidae, from Cecrops, who
according to tradition, was the original founder of the city.
This at first occupied only the hill or rock which afterwards
became the ACROPOLIS; but gradually the buildings began to spread
over the ground at the southern foot of this hill. It was not
till the time of Pisistratus and his sons (B.C. 560-514) that the
city began to assume any degree of splendour. The most
remarkable building of these despots was the gigantic temple of
the Olympian Zeus, which, however, was not finished till many
centuries later. In B.C. 500 the theatre of Dionysus was
commenced on the south-eastern slope of the Acropolis, but was
not completed till B.C. 34O; though it must have been used for
the representation of plays long before that period.

Xerxes reduced the ancient city almost to a heap of ashes. After
the departure of the Persians, its reconstruction on a much
larger scale was commenced under the superintendence of
Themistocles, whose first care was to provide for its safety by
the erection of walls. The Acropolis now formed the centre of
the city, round which the new walls described an irregular circle
of about 60 stadia or 7 1/2 miles in circumference. The space
thus enclosed formed the ASTY, or city, properly so called. But
the views of Themistocles were not confined to the mere defence
of Athens: he contemplated making her a great naval power, and
for this purpose adequate docks and arsenals were required.
Previously the Athenians had used as their only harbour the open
roadstead of PHALERUM on the eastern side of the Phaleric bay,
where the sea-shore is nearest to Athens. But Themistocles
transferred the naval station of the Athenians to the peninsula
of Piraeus, which is distant about 4 1/2 miles from Athens, and
contains three natural harbours,--a large one on the western
side, called simply Piraeus or The Harbour, and two smaller ones
an the eastern side, called respectively ZEA and MUNYCHIA, the
latter being nearest to the city. It was not till the
administration of Pericles that the walls were built which
connected Athens with her ports. These were at first the outer
or northern Long Wall, which ran from Athens to Piraeus, and the
Phaleric wall connecting the city with Phalerum. These were
commenced in B.C. 457, and finished in the following year. It
was soon found, however, that the space thus enclosed was too
vast to be easily defended; and as the port of Phalerum was small
and insignificant in comparison with the Piraeus, and soon ceased
to be used by the Athenian ships of war, its wall was abandoned
and probably allowed to fall into decay. Its place was supplied
by another Long wall, which was built parallel to the first at a
distance of only 550 feet, thus rendering both capable of being
defended by the same body of men. Their height in all
probability was not less than 60 feet. In process of time the
space between the two Long Walls was occupied on each side by
houses.

It will be seen from the preceding description that Athens, in
its larger acceptation, and including its port, consisted of two
circular cities, the Asty and Piraeus, each of about 7 1/2 miles
in circumference, and joined together by a broad street of
between four and five miles long.

Such was the outward and material form of that city, which during
the period between the Persian and Peloponnesian wars reached the
highest pitch of military, artistic, and literary glory. The
latter portion of this period, or that comprised under the
ascendency of Pericles, exhibits Athenian art in its highest
state of perfection, and is therefore by way of excellence
commonly designated as the age of Pericles. The great sculptor
of this period--perhaps the greatest the world has ever seen--
was Phidias, to whom Pericles intrusted the superintendence of
all the works executed in his administration.

The first public monuments that arose after the Persian wars were
erected under the auspices of Cimon, who was, like Pericles, a
lover and patron of the arts. The principal of these were the
small Ionic temple of Nike Apteros (Wingless Victory), and the
Theseum, or temple of Theseus. The temple of Nike Apteros was
only 27 feet in length by 18 in breadth, and was erected on the
Acropolis in commemoration of Cimon's victory at the Eurymedon.
A view of it is given at the beginning of this chapter, and its
position on the Acropolis, on one side of the Propylaea, is seen
in the drawings on p. 91, as well as on the Frontispiece of the
work.

The Theseum is situated on a height to the north of the
Areopagus, and was built to receive the bones of Theseus, which
Cimon brought from Scyros in B.C. 469. It was probably finished
about 465, and is the best preserved of all the monuments of
ancient Athens. It was at once a tomb and temple, and possessed
the privileges of an asylum. It is of the Doric order, 164 feet
in length by 45 feet broad, and surrounded with columns.

But it was the Acropolis which was the chief centre of the
architectural splendour of Athens. After the Persian wars the
Acropolis had ceased to be inhabited, and was appropriated to the
worship of Athena and to the other guardian deities of the city.
It was covered with the temples of gods and heroes; and thus its
platform presented not only a sanctuary, but a museum, containing
the finest productions of the architect and the sculptor, in
which the whiteness of the marble was relieved by brilliant
colours, and rendered still more dazzling by the transparent
clearness of the Athenian atmosphere. It was surrounded with
walls, and the surface seems to have been divided into terraces
communicating with one another by steps. The only approach to it
was from the Agora on its western side at the top of a
magnificent flight of marble steps, 70 feet broad, stood the
Propylaea, constructed under the auspices of Pericles, and which
served as a suitable entrance to the exquisite works within. The
Propylaea were themselves one of the masterpieces of Athenian
art. They were entirely of Pentelic marble, and covered the
whole of the western end of the Acropolis, having a breadth of
168 feet. The central portion of them consisted of two
porticoes, of which the western one faced the city, and the
eastern one the interior of the Acropolis, each consisting of a
front of six fluted Doric columns. This central part of the
building was 58 feet in breadth, but the remaining breadth of the
rock at this point was covered by two wings, which projected 26
feet in front of the western portico. Each of these wings was in
the form of a Doric temple. The northern one, or that on the
left of a person ascending the Acropolis, was called the
PINACOTHECA, from its walls being covered with paintings. The
southern wing consisted only of a porch or open gallery.
Immediately before its western front stood the little temple of
Nike Apteros already mentioned.

On passing through the Propylaea all the glories of the Acropolis
became visible. The chief building was the Parthenon (I.E. House
of the Virgin), the most perfect production of Grecian
architecture. It derived its name from its being the temple of
Athena Parthenos, or Athena the Virgin, the invincible goddess of
war. It was also called HECATOMPEDON, from its breadth of 100
feet. It was built under the administration of Pericles, and was
completed in B.C. 438. The Parthenon stood on the highest part
of the Acropolis near its centre, and probably occupied the site
of an earlier temple destroyed by the Persians. It was entirely
of Pentelic marble, on a rustic basement of ordinary limestone,
and its architecture, which was of the Doric order, was of the
purest kind. Its dimensions were about 228 feet in length, 101
feet in breadth, and 66 feet in height to the top of the
pediment. It consisted of a cella, surrounded by a peristyle.
The cella was divided into two chambers of unequal size, the
eastern one of which was about 98 feet long, and the western one
about 43 feet. The ceiling of both these chambers was supported
by rows of columns. The whole building was adorned with the most
exquisite sculptures, executed by various artists under the
direction of Phidias. These consisted of, 1. The sculptures in
the tympana of the pediments (I.E. the inner portion of the
triangular gable ends of the roof above the two porticoes), each
of which was filled with about 24 colossal figures. The group in
the eastern or principal front represented the birth of Athena
from the head of Zeus, and the western the contest between Athena
and Poseidon (Neptune) for the land of Attica. 2. The metopes
between the triglyphs in the frieze of the entablature (I.E. the
upper of the two portions into which the space between the
columns and the roof is divided) were filled with sculptures in
high relief, representing a variety of subjects relating to
Athena herself, or to the indigenous heroes of Attica. Each
tablet was 4 feet 3 inches square. Those on the south side
related to the battle of the Athenians with the Centaurs. One of
the metopes is figured below. 3. The frieze which ran along
outside the wall of the cella, and within the external columns
which surround the building, at the same height and parallel with
the metopes, was sculptured with a representation of the
Panathenaic festival in very low relief. This frieze was 3 feet
4 inches in height, and 520 feet in length. A small portion of
the frieze is also figured below. A large number of the slabs
of the frieze, together with sixteen metopes from the south side,
and several of the statues of the pediments, were brought to
England by Lord Elgin, of whom they were purchased by the nation
and deposited in the British Museum.

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