A Manual of Ancient History Part 19

406.--The loss of the sovereignty of the sea is accompanied by the defection of the confederates, who are successively subjected by Lysander, 406.--Athens is besieged by Lysander in the same year, 405; the city surrenders in May, 404.--Athens is deprived of her walls; her navy is reduced to twelve sail; and, in obedience to Lysander's commands, the const.i.tution is commuted into an oligarchy, under thirty rulers, (tyrants.)

26. Thus ended a war destructive in its moral, still more than in its political, consequences. Party spirit had usurped the place of patriotic feeling; as national prejudice had that of national energy. Athens being subdued, Sparta stood at the head of confederate Greece; but Greece very soon experienced the yoke of her deliverers to be infinitely more galling than that of the people hitherto called her oppressors. What evils must not have ensued from the revolutions Lysander now found it necessary to effect in most of the Grecian states, in order to place the helm of government in the hands of his own party under the superintendence of a Spartan harmost?--How oppressive must not have been the military rule of the numerous Spartan garrisons?--Nor could any alleviation of tribute be hoped for, now that in Sparta it was acknowledged that the "state must possess an exchequer."--The arrogance and rapacity of the new masters were rendered more grievous by their being more uncivilized and dest.i.tute.

History of the reign of terror at Athens under the thirty tyrants, 403.--What happened here must likewise have happened more or less in the other Grecian cities, which Lysander found it necessary to revolutionize. In all quarters his party consisted of men similar to Critias and his colleagues, who appear to have been long before united in clubs ([Greek: hetaireiai]) intimately connected with each other; from which were now taken the most daring revolutionists, in order to place them everywhere at the head of affairs.

27. Happy revolution in Athens, and expulsion of the thirty tyrants by Thrasybulus, favoured by the party at Sparta opposed to Lysander, and headed by king Pausanias. Restoration and reform of Solon's const.i.tution; general amnesty. It was easy to reestablish forms;--to recall the departed spirit of the nation was impossible!

ED. PH. HINRICHS, _De Theramenis, Critiae et Thrasybuli, virorum tempore belli Peloponnesiaci inter Graecos ill.u.s.trium, rebus et ingenio, Commentatio_, Hamburgi, 1820. An inquiry which exhibits much research and impartiality.

28. The defeat of the younger Cyrus entangles the Spartans in a war with the Persians, the same year that, after the death of king Agis, Agesilaus takes possession of the regal dignity. We willingly forget his usurpation as we follow him in his heroic career. None but a man of genius could have instructed Sparta how to support for so long a time the extravagant character which she had now undertaken to play.

Opening of the war with Persia by Tissaphernes's attack on the aeolian cities of Asia Minor, 400.--Command of Thimbron, who, 398, is succeeded by the more successful and fortunate Dercyllidas.--Availing himself of the jealousy between Tissaphernes and Artabazus, he persuades the latter to a separate truce, 397.--Command of Agesilaus; his expedition into Asia, from the spring of 396 until 394. The conviction which he obtained of the domestic weakness of the Persian empire in the successful invasion of Phrygia, 395, seems to have matured in the mind of Agesilaus the idea of overturning the Persian throne: this design he would have accomplished had not the Persians been politic enough to kindle a war against Sparta in Greece itself.

29. The Corinthian war, waged against Sparta by Corinth, Thebes, and Argos, to which Athens and the Thessalians unite, terminated by the peace of Antalcidas. The tyranny of Sparta, and more particularly the recent devastation of Elis, a sacred territory, were the alleged pretexts; but the bribes of Timocrates, the Persian envoy, were the real causes of this war.

Irruption of the Spartans into Boeotia; they engage and are routed at Haliartus, 394. Lysander falls on the field of battle; and Agesilaus is recalled out of Asia.--His victory at Coronea ensures to the Spartans the preponderance by land; but the discomfiture of their navy near Cnidus at the same time, gives to their enemies the sovereignty of the sea: Conon, who commanded the combined Persian and Athenian fleets, avails himself, with consummate skill, of this success to reestablish the independence of Athens, 393.--Sparta endeavours by apparently great sacrifices to bring over the Persians to her interests: the peace at last concluded by the efforts of the skilful Antalcidas, (see above, book ii, parag.

42), was readily agreed to by the Spartans, as they gave up only what otherwise they could not have retained. The preponderance of Sparta on the continent of Greece was established by the article which invested them with the power of seeing the conditions of the treaty fulfilled: the stipulated freedom of the Grecian cities was but an apparent disadvantage; and now that the Asiatic colonies were given up, the contest for power in Greece itself must be decided by land, and not by sea.

30. The quarrels which, after the peace of Antalcidas, Sparta began to have with Mantinea and Phlius, and still more so her partic.i.p.ation in those between the Macedo-Greek cities and the over-powerful Olynthus, prove too plainly the arrogance with which Sparta behaved to the weaker states. But the arbitrary appropriation of the citadel of Thebes by Phoebidas,--an act not indeed commanded, yet approved by Sparta,--was attended with more serious consequences than were at first expected.

Would that all authors of similar breaches of good faith and the law of nations were visited with the same vengeance!

31. Period of the rivalry of Sparta and Thebes, Thebes, from the year 378. The greatness of Thebes was the work of two men, who knew how to inspire their fellow-citizens and confederates with their own heroic spirit: with them Thebes rose, with them she fell. Rarely does history exhibit such a _duumvirate_ as that of Epaminondas and Pelopidas. How high must our estimation of Pythagoras be, even had his philosophy formed but one such man as Epaminondas!

Liberation of Thebes from Spartan rule by the successful attempt of Pelopidas and his fellow-conspirators, 378. Vain attempts against Thebes, by the Spartans under Cleombrotus, 378, and Agesilaus, 377 and 376. The defensive war conducted by Pelopidas, during which he established the Theban supremacy in Boeotia, and brought over the Athenians, (whose fleet, 376, beat that of the Spartans,) deserves our admiration more than the winning of a battle.--The vast plans of Thebes were not unfolded, however, till Epaminondas was at the head of affairs.

SERAN DE LA TOUR, _Histoire d'Epaminondas_. Paris, 1752.

# MEISSNER, _Life of Epaminondas_. Prague, 1801, 2 parts. In which the authorities are duly considered.

# J. G. SCHEIBEL, _Essays towards a better understanding of the Ancient World_, 1809. The second part contains an essay upon the history of Thebes, as the first does on that of Corinth.

32. A general peace is concluded in Greece through the mediation of the Persians, (who wish to obtain auxiliaries against the Egyptians,) under the condition that all the Grecian cities shall be free: it is acceded to by Sparta and Athens, but rejected by Thebes, because she cannot admit the condition without again falling under the Spartan yoke. In fact, the lofty language used by Epaminondas, as envoy to Sparta, shows that it was problematic whether Sparta or Thebes should now be at the head of Greece. Could the idea, therefore, of a perfect equality between the states of Greece be other than chimerical?

33. The long struggle maintained so gloriously by Epaminondas against Sparta is remarkable both in a political and military point of view. The power of Sparta was abased; Epaminondas invented a new system of tactics, (out of which soon after sprang the Macedonian art of war;) and as soon as he found confederates in Peloponnesus itself, he made his way to the very gates of Sparta.

Victory won by the Thebans at Leuctra, July 8, 371, and annihilation of what hitherto had been called the supremacy of Sparta.--First irruption into Peloponnesus preceded by alliances with Arcadia, Elis, and Argos.--The attack upon Sparta itself is unsuccessful; but the freedom of Messene is restored, 369.

34. Sparta in distress forms an alliance with Athens, under the stipulation that the command shall alternately be in the hands of the two confederates; conditions, no doubt, humiliating to Spartan pride! It however affords them the means of frustrating Epaminondas's new attempt on Corinth and the Peloponnesus. Even Dionysius I. of Syracuse, thinks himself bound to a.s.sist the Spartans as being Dorians.

35. Thebes played a no less brilliant part in the north than she did in the south. And had the attempts to liberate Thessaly from the rule of the tyrant, Alexander of Pherae, been attended with success, Thebes would have received a vast increase of power. Even in Macedonia she acted as arbitress.

First and successful expedition of Pelopidas into Thessaly, 368.--After the decision of the disputed succession to the Macedonian throne, young Philip is brought as hostage to Thebes, and educated in the house of Epaminondas.--Pelopidas is sent as amba.s.sador, and taken prisoner by Alexander; hence the second expedition of the Thebans, in which Epaminondas rescues the army and delivers his friend, 367.

36. Alliance of Thebes with Persia successfully brought about by Pelopidas. In the intrigues of the opponents at the Persian court, the object of each was to bring that court over to his own interest. Yet the domineering tone in which the Persians wished to dictate peace, had not the consequences that might have been expected; and although Sparta consented to her confederates remaining neutral, she would not forego her claims on Messene. The establishment of a navy would have been of more important consequences to Thebes than this alliance, had not all these plans, together with the greatness of Thebes, been swept away by the premature death of her two leading men.

Last expedition of Pelopidas against Alexander of Pherae, in which he himself falls, 364.--New irruption into Peloponnesus caused by the commotions in Arcadia.--Battle of Mantinea, and death of Epaminondas, June 27, 362.--General peace in Greece mediated by the Persians; Sparta does not a.s.sent to it on account of Messene, but sends Agesilaus to Egypt, there to support the insurrection of Tachos.

37. The result of this b.l.o.o.d.y struggle for the supremacy of Greece was, that neither Sparta nor Thebes obtained it; the former of these states being weakened by the loss of Messene, the latter by the loss of its leaders, and both strained by their violent exertions. The situation of Greece after this war seems to have been thus far changed, that no state had the predominance; an independence proceeding from enervation. Even Athens, who by means of her naval power still preserved her influence over the cities on the coast and in the islands, lost the greater part in the war of the allies, together with three of her most celebrated leaders, Chabrias, Timotheus, and Iphicrates, whose places were ill supplied by Chares.

Confederacy of the islands Cos, Rhodes, and Chios, and the city of Byzantium; their secession from Athens, 358.--Unsuccessful siege of Chios, before which Chabrias falls, 358; of Byzantium, 357.

Athens suffers a still greater injury from the cabals of Chares against his colleagues Timotheus and Iphicrates, and from her imprudent partic.i.p.ation in the insurrection of Artabazus, 356. The threats of Artaxerxes III. force Athens to make a peace, in which she is obliged to acknowledge the freedom of her confederates.

38. At the very time when the growing power of Macedonia under Philip ought to have united all the Grecian states, had such an union been within the range of possibility, Greece plunged into another civil war of ten years' duration, which is known by the name of the sacred or Phocian war. The Amphictyonic a.s.sembly, whose duty it was to maintain peace, and whose influence had been in the present circ.u.mstances reinstated, abused its authority by kindling discord. The hatred of the Thebans, who sought for new opportunities of quarrel with Sparta, and the ambition of the Phocian Philomelus, were the real causes which led to the war, which the policy of Philip knew how to prolong till the precise moment favourable to his own particular views arrived. The treasures of Delphi circulating in Greece, were as injurious to the country as the ravages which it underwent. A war springing out of private pa.s.sions, fostered by bribes and subsidiary troops, and terminated by the interference of foreign powers, was exactly what was requisite for annihilating the scanty remains of morality and patriotism still existing in Greece.

Sentence of the Amphictyons against Sparta on account of the former surprise of the citadel of Thebes by Phoebidas; and against Phocis on account of the tillage of the sacred lands of Delphi, 357.--Philomelus is elected general of the Phocians; the rifling of the treasury of Delphi enables him to take into his pay Athenian and other auxiliaries, and to carry war against the Thebans and their confederates, the Locrians, etc. under pretence of their being the executors of the Amphictyonic decrees.

Philomelus having fallen, 353, is succeeded by his brother Onomarchus, more skilful than himself in intrigue and war: but Onomarchus having fallen, 352, in the battle with Philip in Thessaly, is followed by Phayllus. Philip even thus early endeavours to push through Thermopylae into Greece, but is repelled by the Athenians. He executes this plan after his peace with Athens, 347, and having procured the expulsion of the Phocians from the Amphictyonic council, gets their place and right of vote to be transferred to himself.

39. From the very first advance of Philip, the fate of Greece could scarcely afford matter for doubt; although the eloquence of Demosthenes warded it off until the second invasion, caused by the Amphictyonic sentence pa.s.sed on the Locrians. (See below, book iv. parag. 15.) The battle of Chaeronea laid the foundation of Macedonia's complete ascendancy over the Grecian republics: by the appointment of Philip to be generalissimo of Greece in the Persian war, that ascendancy was, as it were, formally acknowledged; nor did it end with the a.s.sa.s.sination of that prince.

FOURTH BOOK.

HISTORY OF THE MACEDONIAN MONARCHY.

FIRST PERIOD.

_From its origin to the death of Alexander the Great. B. C. 800-323._

Sources. We have no historian who wrote, particularly, on Macedonia, before the time of Alexander. The facts relative to the earlier history previous to Philip are collected from Diodorus, Justin, Thucydides, and Arrian; from Diodorus more especially. In consequence of the loss of the other historians, Diodorus is the chief authority for the history of Philip; the speeches of Demosthenes and aeschines must likewise be consulted, but not made use of without caution and judicious historical criticism. With respect to Alexander the Great, as so many writers on his reign have been destroyed by time, Arrian must now be considered as the chief authority, on account of the care he has shown in the selection of his authorities, conjointly with the seventeenth book of Diodorus. Plutarch's biography contains several valuable additional facts; and even the superficial Curtius might furnish us with abundance of information, did his accounts offer higher claims to our credit.

1. An h.e.l.lenic colony from Argos, headed by the Temenidae, a branch of the Heraclidae, settled in Emathia, and laid the feeble foundation of the Macedonian empire, which was in time to rise to such power. Not only did the settlers keep their footing in the country, in spite of the aboriginal inhabitants; but their princes gradually extended their territory, by subjecting or expelling several of the neighbouring tribes. Their earlier history, not excepting even the names of their kings, is buried in obscurity till the time of the Persian invasions.

The three first Macedonian kings, Cara.n.u.s said to have ruled twenty-eight years, Coenus twenty-three, Tyrmas forty-five, were unknown to Herodotus, who names as founder of the Macedonian monarchy, Perdiccas, 729-678. Of this prince and his successors Argaeus, _d._ 640, Philip I. _d._ 602, aeropus, _d._ 576, and Alcetas, _d._ 547, nothing more is known than that they waged war, with various success against the neighbouring Pierians and Illyrians, who had their own kings.

2. When the Persians commenced their incursions into Europe, Macedonia, by its situation, must have been one of the first countries they ravaged. Accordingly, as early as the reign of Darius Hystaspis, the Macedonian kings were tributary to the Persians; and were indebted for their deliverance from that yoke, not to their own valour, but to the victories of the Greeks. The battle of Plataeae restored independence to the Macedonian kingdom, although that independence was not formally acknowledged by the Persians.

Immediately after the Scythian campaign, 513, Amyntas (_d._ 498,) became tributary to the Persians; his son and successor, Alexander, (_d._ 454,) was in the same state of subjection, and was even compelled to join the expedition of Xerxes.

3. But the expulsion of the Persians still left Macedonia exposed to the attacks of other formidable neighbours; on one side there was the Thracians, among whom, under Sitalces, and his successor, Seuthes, arose the powerful kingdom of the Odrysae; on the other, the Athenians, who, availing themselves of their extensive navy, reduced to subjection the Grecian settlements on the Macedonian sh.o.r.es. Hara.s.sing as these neighbours were to the Macedonian kings, they proved to be the very instruments by which Macedonia became so early and so deeply involved in the affairs of Greece.

Commencement of the differences with Athens, under the reign of Perdiccas II, 454-413; Athens having supported his brother Philip against him.--Defection of Potidaea, and fortification of Olynthus, into which the Greeks from Chalcis and other cities are transplanted, 432. Potidaea being forced to surrender to Athens, 431, Perdiccas contrives to play so skilful a part in the Peloponnesian war just now commencing, that he outwits the Athenians, parrying the attack of Sitalces by a marriage of his sister with Seuthes, the heir to that prince, 429. His alliance with Sparta, 424, is very detrimental to the Athenians, Brasidas wresting Amphipolis from their hands; nevertheless Perdiccas chooses rather to conclude a peace with Athens, 423, than to throw himself entirely into the arms of his new allies.

4. Archelaus, the successor of Perdiccas, introduced agriculture and civilization among the Macedonians, who were never, however, recognized by the h.e.l.lenes as their legitimate brethren: highways and military roads were constructed; forts were erected; and the court became the seat of literature. In these days the Macedonian kingdom seems to have comprised Emathia, Mygdonia, and Pelagonia, to which may be added some of the neighbouring tribes, who, although governed by their own kings, were tributary. The power of the kings was insignificant when unaided by the n.o.bles, among whom, as was the case with all the hereditary princes of Greece, they merely held the right of precedence. How difficult was it, even in Alexander's time, to erase from the minds of the Macedonian n.o.bility the recollection of their former importance!

5. The murder of Archelaus was followed by a stormy period, wrapped in obscurity: the unsettled state of the succession raised up many pretenders to the throne, each of whom easily found the means of supporting his claims, either in some of the neighbouring tribes, or in one of the Grecian republics.

aeropus, as guardian to the young king Orestes, usurps the supreme power, B. C. 400-394. After his death, and the murder of his son Pausanias, 393, the throne was seized by Amyntas II. son of Philip, and brother to Perdiccas II. who was nevertheless unable to maintain his power until he had gained a victory over Argaeus, the brother of Pausanias, who was backed by the Illyrians, 390-369. The war with Olynthus, 383-380, could not be brought to a successful conclusion until he had formed an alliance with Sparta.

6. The three sons of Amyntas II, Alexander, Perdiccas, and Philip, successively ascended the throne after the death of their father; but so violent were the commotions during the reigns of the two former, that the future existence of Macedonia as a kingdom might have been regarded as problematical: it is certain that they were obliged to submit to the payment of tribute to the Illyrians.