A Smaller History of Greece

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But the chief wonder of the Parthenon was the colossal statue of
the Virgin Goddess executed by Phidias himself, which stood in
the eastern or principal chamber of the cella. It was of the
sort called CHRYSELEPHANTINE, a kind of work said to have been
invented by Phidias in which ivory was substituted for marble in
those parts which were uncovered, while the place of the real
drapery was supplied with robes and other ornaments of solid
gold. Its height, including the base, was nearly 40 feet. It
represented the goddess standing, clothed with a tunic reaching
to the ankles, with a spear in her left hand, and an image of
Victory in her right.

The Acropolis was adorned with another colossal figure of Athena,
in bronze, also the work of Phidias. It stood in the open air,
nearly opposite the Propylaea, and was one of the first objects
seen after passing through the gates of the latter. With its
pedestal it must have stood about 70 feet high, and consequently
towered above the roof of the Parthenon, so that the point of its
spear and the crest of its helmet were visible off the promontory
of Sunium to ships approaching Athens. It was called the "Athena
Promachus," because it represented the goddess armed, and in the
very attitude of battle.

The only other monument on the summit of the Acropolis which it
is necessary to describe is the Erechtheum, or temple of
Erechtheus. The traditions respecting Erechtheus vary, but
according to one set of them he was identical with the god
Poseidon. He was worshipped in his temple under the name of
Poseidon Erechtheus, and from the earliest times was associated
with Athena as one of the two protecting deities of Athens. The
original Erechtheum was burnt by the Persians, but the new temple
was erected on the ancient site. This could not have been
otherwise; for on this spot was the sacred olive-tree which
Athena evoked from the earth in her contest with Poseidon, and
also the well of salt-water which Poseidon produced by a stroke
of his trident, the impression of which was seen upon the rock.
The building was also called the temple of Athena Polias, because
it contained a separate sanctuary of the goddess, as well as her
most ancient statue. The building of the new Erechtheum was not
commenced till the Parthenon and Propylaea were finished, and
probably not before the year preceding the breaking out of the
Peloponnesian war. Its progress was no doubt delayed by that
event, and it was probably not completed before 393 B.C. When
finished it presented one of the finest models of the Ionic
order, as the Parthenon was of the Doric, It stood to the north
of the latter building and close to the northern wall of the
Acropolis. The form of the Erechtheum differed from every known
example of a Grecian temple. Usually a Grecian temple was an
oblong figure with a portico at each extremity. The Erechtheum,
on the contrary, though oblong in shape and having a portico at
the eastern or principal front, had none at its western end,
where, however, a portico projected north and south from either
side, thus forming a kind of transept. This irregularity seems
to have been chiefly owing to the necessity of preserving the
different sanctuaries and religious objects belonging to the
ancient temple. A view of it is given opposite. The roof of the
southern portico, as shown in the view, was supported by six
Caryatides.

Such were the principal objects which adorned the Acropolis at
the time of which we are now speaking. Their general appearance
will be best gathered from the engraving on the Frontispiece.

Before quitting the city of Athens, there are two or three other
objects of interest which must be briefly described. First, the
Dionysiac theatre, which occupied the slope at the south-eastern
extremity of the Acropolis. The middle of it was excavated out
of the rock, and the rows of seats ascended in curves one above
another, the diameter increasing with the height. It was no
doubt sufficiently large to accommodate the whole body of
Athenian citizens, as well as the strangers who flocked to Athens
during the Dionysiac festival, but its dimensions cannot now be
accurately ascertained. It had no roof, but the spectators were
probably protected from the sun by an awning, and from their
elevated seats they had a distinct view of the sea, and of the
peaked hills of Salamis in the horizon. Above them rose the
Parthenon and the other buildings of the Acropolis, so that they
sat under the shadow of the ancestral gods of the country.

The Areopagus, or Hill of Ares (Mars), was a rocky height
opposite the western end of the Acropolis, from which it was
separated only by some hollow ground. It derived its name from
the tradition that Ares (Mars) was brought to trial here before
the assembled gods, by Poseidon (Neptune), for murdering
Halirrhothius the son of the latter. It was here that the
Council of Areopagus met, frequently called the Upper Council, to
distinguish it from the Council of Five Hundred, which assembled
in the valley below. The Areopagites sat as judges in the open
air, and two blocks of stone are still to be seen, probably those
which were occupied respectively by the accuser and the accused.
The Areopagus was the spot where the Apostle Paul preached to the
men of Athens.

The Pnyx, or place for holding the public assemblies of the
Athenians, stood on the side of a low rocky hill, at the distance
of about a quarter of a mile from the Areopagus. Projecting from
the hill and hewn out of it, still stands a solid rectangular
block, called the Bema or pulpit, from whence the orators
addressed the multitude in the area before them. The position of
the Bema commanded a view of the Propylaea and the other
magnificent edifices of the Acropolis, while beneath it was the
city itself studded with monuments of Athenian glory. The
Athenian orators frequently roused the national feelings of their
audience by pointing to the Propylaea and to the other splendid
buildings before them. Between the Pnyx on the west, the
Areopagus on the north, and the Acropolis on the east, and
closely adjoining the base of these hills, stood the Agora (or
market-place). In a direction from north-west to south-east a
street called the Ceramicus ran diagonally through the Agora,
entering it through the valley between the Pnyx and the
Areopagus. The street was named after a district of the city,
which was divided into two parts, the Inner and Outer Ceramicus.
The former lay within the city walls, and included the Agora.
The Outer Ceramicus, which formed a handsome suburb on the north-
west of the city, was the burial-place of all persons honoured
with a public funeral. Through it ran the road to the gymnasium
and gardens of the Academy which were situated about a mile from
the walls. The Academy was the place where Plato and his
disciples taught. On each side of this road were monuments to
illustrious Athenians, especially those who had fallen in battle.

East of the city, and outside the walls, was the Lyceum, a
gymnasium dedicated to Apollo Lyceus, and celebrated as the place
in which Aristotle taught.

CHAPTER XI.

THE PELOPONNESIAN WAR.--FIRST PERIOD, FROM THE COMMENCEMENT OF
THE WAR TO THE PEACE OF NICIAS, B.C. 431-421.

War was now fairly kindled. All Greece looked on in suspense as
its two leading cities were about to engage in a strife of which
no man could forsee the end; but the youth, with which both
Athens and Peloponnesus then abounded, having had no experience
of the bitter calamities of war, rushed into it with ardour. It
was a war of principles and races. Athens was a champion of
democracy, Sparta of aristocracy; Athens represented the Ionic
tribes, Sparta the Dorian; the former were fond of novelty, the
latter were conservative and stationary; Athens had the command
of the sea, Sparta was stronger upon land. On the side of Sparta
was ranged the whole of Peloponnesus, except Argos and Achaia,
together with the Megarians, Boeotians, Phocians, Opuntian
Locrians, Ambraciots, Leucadians, and Anactorians. The allies of
Athens, with the exception of the Thessalians, Acarnanians,
Messenians at Naupactus, and Plataeans, were all insular, and
consisted of the Chians, Lesbians, Corcyraeans, and Zacynthians,
and shortly afterwards of the Cephallenians, To these must be
added her tributary towns on the coast of Thrace and Asia Minor,
together with all the islands north of Crete, except Melos and
Thera.

The Peloponnesians commenced the war by an invasion of Attica,
with a large army, under the command of the Spartan King
Archidamus (B.C. 431). Pericles had instructed the inhabitants
of Attica to secure themselves and their property within the
walls of Athens. They obeyed his injunctions with reluctance,
for the Attic population had from the earliest times been
strongly attached to a rural life. But the circumstances
admitted of no alternative. Archidamus advanced as far as
Acharnae, a flourishing Attic borough situated only about seven
miles from Athens. Here he encamped on a rising ground within
sight of the metropolis, and began to lay waste the country
around, expecting probably by that means to provoke the Athenians
to battle. But in this he was disappointed. Notwithstanding the
murmurs and clamours of the citizens Pericles remained firm, and
steadily refused to venture an engagement in the open held. The
Peloponnesians retired from Attica after still further ravaging
the country; and the Athenians retaliated by making descents upon
various parts of the coasts of Peloponnesus, and ravaging the
territory of Megara.

Such were the results of the first campaign. From the method in
which the war was conducted it had become pretty evident that it
would prove of long duration; and the Athenians now proceeded to
provide for this contingency. It was agreed that a reserve fund
of 1000 talents should be set apart, which was not to be touched
in any other case than an attack upon Athens by sea. Any citizen
who proposed to make a different use of the fund incurred thereby
the punishment of death. With the same view it was resolved to
reserve every year 100 of their best triremes, fully manned and
equipped.

Towards the winter Pericles delivered, from a lofty platform
erected in the Ceramicus, the funeral oration of those who had
fallen in the war. This speech, or at all events the substance
of it, has been preserved by Thucydides, who may possibly have
heard it pronounced. It is a valuable monument of eloquence and
patriotism, and particularly interesting for the sketch which it
contains of Athenian manners as well as of the Athenian
constitution.

In the following year (B.C. 430) the Peloponnesians, under
Archidamus, renewed their invasion of Attica. At the same time
the Athenians were attacked by a more insidious and a more
formidable enemy. The plague broke out in the crowded city.
This terrible disorder, which was supposed to have originated in
AEthiopia, had already desolated Asia and many of the countries
around the Mediterranean. A great proportion of those who were
seized perished in from seven to nine days. It frequently
attacked the mental faculties, and left even those who recovered
from it so entirely deprived of memory that they could recognise
neither themselves nor others. The disorder being new, the
physicians could find no remedy in the resources of their art.
Despair now began to take possession of the Athenians. Some
suspected that the Peloponnesians had poisoned the wells; others
attributed the pestilence to the anger of Apollo. A dreadful
state of moral dissolution followed. The sick were seized with
unconquerable despondency; whilst a great part of the population
who had hitherto escaped the disorder, expecting soon to be
attacked in turn, abandoned themselves to all manner of excess,
debauchery, and crime. The numbers carried off by the pestilence
can hardly be estimated at less than a fourth of the whole
population,

Oppressed at once by war and pestilence, their lands desolated,
their homes filled with mourning, it is not surprising that the
Athenians were seized with rage and despair, or that they vented
their anger on Pericles, whom they deemed the author of their
misfortunes. But that statesman still adhered to his plans with
unshaken firmness. Though the Lacedaemonians were in Attica,
though the plague had already seized on Athens, he was vigorously
pushing his schemes of offensive operations. A foreign
expedition might not only divert the popular mind but would prove
beneficial by relieving the crowded city of part of its
population; and accordingly a fleet was fitted out, of which
Pericles himself took the command, and which committed
devastations upon various parts of the Peloponnesian coast. But,
upon returning from this expedition, Pericles found the public
feeling more exasperated than before. Envoys had even been
despatched to Sparta to sue for peace, but had been dismissed
without a hearing; a disappointment which had rendered the
populace still more furious. Pericles now found it necessary to
call a public assembly in order to vindicate his conduct, and to
encourage the desponding citizens to persevere. But though he
succeeded in persuading them to prosecute the war with vigour;
they still continued to nourish their feelings of hatred against
the great statesman. His political enemies, of whom Cleon was
the chief, took advantage of this state of the public mind to
bring against him a charge of peculation. The main object of
this accusation was to incapacitate him for the office of
Strategus, or general. [The Strategi, or Generals, were ten in
number, elected annually, and were intrusted not only with the
command on military expeditions, but with the superintendence of
all warlike preparations, and with the regulation of all matters
in any way connected with the war department of the state.] He
was brought before the dicastery on this charge, and sentenced to
pay a considerable fine; but eventually a strong reaction
occurred in his favour. He was re-elected general, and
apparently regained all the influence he had ever possessed.

But he was not destined long to enjoy this return of popularity.
His life was now closing in, and its end was clouded by a long
train of domestic misfortunes. The epidemic deprived him not
only of many personal and political friends, but also of several
near relations, amongst whom were his sister and his two
legitimate sons Xanthippus and Paralus. The death of the latter
was a severe blow to him. During the funeral ceremonies, as he
placed a garland on the body of this his favourite son, he was
completely overpowered by his feelings and wept aloud. His
ancient house was now left without an heir. By Aspasia, however,
he had an illegitimate son who bore his own name, and whom the
Athenians now legitimised and thus alleviated, as far as lay in
their power, the misfortunes of their great leader.

After this period it was with difficulty that Pericles was
persuaded by his friends to take any active part in public
affairs; nor did he survive more than a twelvemonth. An attack
of the prevailing epidemic was succeeded by a low and lingering
fever, which undermined both his strength of body and vigour of
intellect. As Pericles lay apparently unconscious on his death-
bed, the friends who stood around it were engaged in recalling
his exploits. The dying man interrupted them by remarking:
"What you praise in me is partly the result of good fortune, and
at all events common to me with many other commanders. What I
chiefly pride myself upon you have not noticed--no Athenian ever
wore mourning through me."

The enormous influence which Pericles exercised for so long a
period over an ingenious but fickle people like the Athenians, is
an unquestionable proof of his intellectual superiority. This
hold on the public affection is to be attributed to a great
extent to his extraordinary eloquence. Cicero regards him as the
first example of an almost perfect orator, at once delighting the
Athenians with his copiousness and grace, and overawing them by
the force and cogency of his diction and arguments. He seems,
indeed, to have singularly combined the power of persuasion with
that more rapid and abrupt style of oratory which takes an
audience by storm and defies all resistance. As the accomplished
man of genius and the liberal patron of literature and art,
Pericles is worthy of the highest admiration. By these qualities
he has justly given name to the most brilliant intellectual epoch
that the world has ever seen. But on this point we have already
touched, and shall have occasion to refer hereafter in the sketch
of Grecian literature.

In the third year of the war (B.C. 429) Archidamus directed his
whole force against the ill-fated town of Plataea. The siege
that ensued is one of the most memorable in the annals of Grecian
warfare. Plataea was but a small city, and its garrison
consisted of only 400 citizens and 80 Athenians, together with
110 women to manage their household affairs. Yet this small
force set at defiance the whole army of the Peloponnesians. The
latter, being repulsed in all their attempts to take the place by
storm, resolved to turn the siege into a blockade, and reduce the
city by famine. The Plataeans endured a blockade of two years,
during which the Athenians attempted nothing for their relief.
In the second year, however, about half the garrison effected
their escape; but the rest were obliged to surrender shortly
afterwards (B.C. 427). The whole garrison, consisting of 200
Plataeans and 25 Athenians, were now arraigned before five judges
sent from Sparta. Their indictment was framed in a way which
precluded the possibility of escape. They were simply asked
"Whether, during the present war, they had rendered any
assistance to the Lacedaemonians and their allies?" Each man was
called up separately before the judgment-seat, and the same
question having been put to him and of course answered in the
negative, he was immediately led away to execution. The town of
Plataea was transferred to the Thebans, who a few months
afterwards levelled all the private buildings to the ground.
Thus was Plataea blotted out from the map of Greece (B.C. 427).
In recording the fall of Plataea we have anticipated the order of
chronology.

The most important event in the fourth year of the war (B.C. 428)
was the revolt of Mytilene; the capital of Lesbos, and of the
greater part of that island. The Athenians sent out a fleet
which blockaded Mytilene both by sea and land, The Peloponnesians
promised their assistance; but from various causes their fleet
was unable to reach the place. Meanwhile the provisions of the
town were exhausted, and it was therefore resolved, as a last
desperate expedient, to make a sally, and endeavour to raise the
blockade. With this view even the men of the lower classes were
armed with the full armour of the hoplites. But this step
produced a very different result from what had been expected or
intended. The great mass of the Mytileneans regarded their own
oligarchical government with suspicion and now threatened that,
unless their demands were complied with, they would surrender the
city to the Athenians. In this desperate emergency the
Mytilenean government perceived that their only chance of safety
lay in anticipating the people in this step. They accordingly
opened a negotiation with Paches, the Athenian commander, and a
capitulation was agreed upon by which the city was to be
surrendered and the fate of its inhabitants to be decided by the
Athenian Assembly.

At Athens the disposal of the prisoners caused great debate. It
was on this occasion that the leather-seller Cleon first comes
prominently forward in Athenian affairs. If we may trust the
picture drawn by the comic poet Aristophanes, Cleon was a perfect
model of a low-born demagogue; a noisy brawler, insolent in his
gestures, corrupt and venal in his principles. Much allowance
must no doubt be made for comic licence and exaggeration in this
portrait, but even a caricature must have some grounds of truth
for its basis. It was this man who took the lead in the debate
respecting the disposal of the Mytileneans, and made the savage
and horrible proposal to put to death the whole male population
of Mytilene of military age, and to sell the women and children
into slavery. This motion he succeeded in carrying and a trireme
was immediately despatched to Mytilene, conveying orders to
Paches to carry the bloody decree into execution. This barbarous
decree made no discrimination between the innocent and the
guilty; and on the morrow so general a feeling prevailed of the
horrible injustice that had been committed, that the magistrates
acceded to the prayer of the Mytilenean envoys and called a fresh
assembly. Notwithstanding the violent opposition of Creon, the
majority of the assembly reversed their former decree and
resolved that the Mytileneans already in custody should be put
upon their trial, but that the remainder of the population should
be spared. A second trireme was immediately despatched to
Mytilene, with orders to Paches to arrest the execution. The
utmost diligence was needful. The former trireme had a start of
four-and-twenty hours, and nothing but exertions almost
superhuman would enable the second to reach Mytilene early enough
to avert the tragical catastrophe, The oarsmen were allowed by
turns only short intervals of rest, and took their food,
consisting of barley-meal steeped in wine and oil, as they sat at
the oar. Happily the weather proved favourable; and the crew,
who had been promised large rewards in case they arrived in time,
exerted themselves to deliver the reprieve, whilst the crew of
the preceding vessel had conveyed the order for execution with
slowness and reluctance. Yet even so the countermand came only
just in time. The mandate was already in the hands of Paches,
who was taking measures for its execution. The fortifications of
Mytilene were razed, and her fleet delivered up to the Athenians.

The fate of the Plataeans and Mytileneans affords a fearful
illustration of the manners of the age; but these horrors soon
found a parallel in Corcyra. A fearful struggle took place in
this island between the aristocratical and democratical parties.
The people at length obtained the mastery, and the vengeance
which they took on their opponents was fearful. The most sacred
sanctuaries afforded no protection; the nearest ties of blood and
kindred were sacrificed to civil hatred. In one case a father
slew even his own son. These scenes of horror lasted for seven
days, during which death in every conceivable form was busily at
work.

The seventh year of the war (B.C. 425) was marked by an important
event. An Athenian fleet was detained by bad weather at Pylus in
Messenia, on the modern bay of Navarino. Demosthenes, an active
Athenian officer, who was on board the fleet, thought it an
eligible spot on which to establish some of the Messenians from
Naupactus, since it was a strong position, from which they might
annoy the Lacedaemonians, and excite revolt among their Helot
kinsmen. As the bad weather continued for some time, the
soldiers on board amused themselves, under the directions of
Demosthenes, in constructing a sort of rude fortification. The
nature of the ground was favourable for the work, and in five or
six days a wall was throws up sufficient for the purposes of
defence. Demosthenes undertook to garrison the place; and five
ships and 200 hoplites were left behind with him.

This insult to the Lacedaemonian territory caused great alarm and
indignation at Sparta. The Peloponnesian fleet was ordered to
Pylus; and the Lacedaemonian commander, on arriving with the
fleet, immediately occupied the small uninhabited and densely
wooded island of Sphacteria, which, with the exception of two
narrow channels on the north and south, almost blocked up the
entrance of the bay. Between the island and the mainland was a
spacious basin, in which the fleet took up its station. The
Lacedaemonians lost no time in attacking the fortress; but
notwithstanding their repeated attempts they were unable to
effect a landing.

Whilst they were preparing for another assault, they were
surprised by the appearance of the Athenian fleet. They had
strangely neglected to secure the entrances into the bay: and,
when the Athenian ships came sailing through both the undefended
channels, many of their triremes were still moored, and part of
their crews ashore. The battle which ensued was desperate. Both
sides fought with extraordinary valour; but victory at length
declared for the Athenians. Five Peloponnesian ships were
captured; the rest were saved only by running them ashore, where
they were protected by the Lacedaemonian army.

The Athenians, thus masters of the sea, were enabled to blockade
the island of Sphacteria, in which the flower of the
Lacedaemonian army was shut up, many of them native Spartans of
the highest families. In so grave an emergency messengers were
sent to Sparta for advice. The Ephors themselves immediately
repaired to the spot; and so desponding was their view of the
matter, that they saw no issue from it but a peace. They
therefore proposed and obtained an armistice for the purpose of
opening negotiations at Athens. But the Athenians, at the
instigation of Cleon, insisted upon the most extravagant demands,
and hostilities were accordingly resumed. They were not however
attended with any decisive result. The blockade of Sphacteria
began to grow tedious and harassing. The force upon it
continually received supplies of provisions either from swimmers,
who towed skins filled with linseed and poppy-seed mixed with
honey, or from Helots, who, induced by the promise of large
rewards, eluded the blockading squadron during dark and stormy
nights, and landed cargoes on the back of the island. The
summer, moreover, was fast wearing away, and the storms of winter
might probably necessitate the raising of the blockade
altogether. Under these circumstances, Demosthenes began to
contemplate a descent upon the island; with which view he sent a
message to Athens to explain the unfavourable state of the
blockade, and to request further assistance.

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