Early European History Part 22

BATTLES OF PLATAEA AND MYCALE, 479 B.C.

Mardonius pa.s.sed the winter quietly in Thessaly, preparing for the spring campaign. The Greeks in their turn made a final effort. A strong Spartan army, supported by the Athenians and their allies, met the Persians near the little town of Plataea in Boeotia. Here the heavy-armed Greek soldiers, with their long spears, huge shields, and powerful swords, easily overcame the enormous ma.s.ses of the enemy. The success at Plataea showed how superior to the Persians were the Greeks in equipment, leadership, and fighting power. At the same time as this battle the remainder of the Persian fleet suffered a crushing defeat at Mycale, a promontory off the Ionian coast. These two battles really ended the war.

Never again was Persia to make a serious effort to secure dominion over Continental Greece.

VICTORIUS h.e.l.lAS

The Great Persian War was much more than a conflict between two rival states. It was a struggle between East and West; between Oriental despotism and Occidental individualism. On the one side were all the populous, centralized countries of Asia; on the other side, the small, disunited states of Greece. In the East was the boundless wealth, in men and money, of a world-wide empire. In the West were the feeble resources of a few petty communities. Nevertheless Greece won. The story of her victory forms an imperishable record in the annals of human freedom.

34. ATHENS UNDER THEMISTOCLES, ARISTIDES, AND CIMON

THEMISTOCLES AND THE FORTIFICATIONS OF ATHENS

After the battle of Plataea the Athenians, with their wives and children, returned to Attica and began the restoration of their city, which the Persians had burned. Their first care was to raise a wall so high and strong Athens in future would be impregnable to attack. Upon the suggestion of Themistocles it was decided to include within the fortifications a wide area where all the country people, in case of another invasion, could find a refuge. Themistocles also persuaded the Athenians to build a ma.s.sive wall on the land side of Piraeus, the port of Athens. That harbor town now became the center of Athenian industry and commerce.

ARISTIDES AND THE DELIAN LEAGUE, 477 B.C.

While the Athenians were rebuilding their city, important events were taking place in the Aegean. After the battle of Mycale the Greek states in Asia Minor and on the islands once more rose in revolt against the Persians. Aided by Sparta and Athens, they gained several successes and removed the immediate danger of another Persian attack. It was clearly necessary, however, for the Greek cities in Asia Minor and the Aegean to remain in close alliance with the Continental Greeks, if they were to preserve their independence. Under the guidance of Aristides, the old rival of Themistocles, [9] the allies formed a union known as the Delian League.

[Ill.u.s.tration: "THESEUM"

An Athenian temple formerly supposed to have been constructed by Cimon to receive the bones of the hero Theseus. It is now believed to have been a temple of Hephaestus and Athena erected about 440 B.C. The 'Theseum' owes its almost perfect preservation to the fact that during the Middle Ages it was used as a church.]

CONSt.i.tUTION OF THE LEAGUE

The larger cities in the league agreed to provide ships and crews for a fleet, while the smaller cities were to make their contributions in money.

Athens a.s.sumed the presidency of the league, and Athenian officials collected the revenues, which were placed in a treasury on the island of Delos. As head of this new federation Athens now had a position of supremacy in the Aegean like that which Sparta enjoyed in the Peloponnesus. [10]

CIMON AND THE WAR AGAINST PERSIA

The man who succeeded Themistocles and Aristides in leadership of the Athenians was Cimon, son of Miltiades, the hero of Marathon. While yet a youth his gallantry at the battle of Salamis gained him a great reputation, and when Aristides introduced him to public life the citizens welcomed him gladly. He soon became the head of the aristocratic or conservative party in the Athenian city. To Cimon the Delian League entrusted the continuation of the war with Persia. The choice was fortunate, for Cimon had inherited his father's military genius. No man did more than he to humble the pride of Persia. As the outcome of Cimon's successful campaigns the southern coast of Asia Minor was added to the Delian League, and the Greek cities at the mouth of the Black Sea were freed from the Persian yoke. Thus, with Cimon as its leader, the confederacy completed the liberation of the Asiatic Greeks.

THE DELIAN LEAGUE BECOMES SUBJECT TO ATHENS, ABOUT 454 B.C.

While the Greeks were gaining these victories, the character of the Delian League was being transformed. Many of the cities, instead of furnishing ships, had taken the easier course of making all their contributions in money. The change really played into the hands of Athens, for the tribute enabled the Athenians to build the ships themselves and add them to their own navy. They soon had a fleet powerful enough to coerce any city that failed to pay its a.s.sessments or tried to withdraw from the league.

Eventually the common treasure was transferred from Delos to Athens. The date of this event (454 B.C.) may be taken as marking the formal establishment of the Athenian naval empire.

DECLINE OF CIMON'S INFLUENCE

Sparta and her Peloponnesian allies viewed with growing jealousy the rapid rise of Athens. As long, however, as Cimon remained at the head of Athenian affairs, there was little danger of a break with Sparta. He desired his city to keep on good terms with her powerful neighbor: Athens should be mistress of the seas, and Sparta should be mistress on the mainland. A contest between them, Cimon foresaw, would work lasting injury to all Greece. Cimon's pro-Spartan att.i.tude brought him, however, into disfavor at Athens, and he was ostracized. New men and new policies henceforth prevailed in the Athenian state.

35. ATHENS UNDER PERICLES

PERICLES

The ostracism of Cimon deprived the aristocrats of their most prominent representative. It was possible for the democratic or liberal party to a.s.sume complete control of public affairs. Pericles, their leader and champion, was a man of studious habits. He never appeared on the streets except when walking between his house and the popular a.s.sembly or the market place, kept rigidly away from dinners and drinking bouts, and ruled his household with strict economy that he might escape the suspicion of enriching himself at the public expense. He did not speak often before the people, but came forward only on special occasions; and the rarity of his utterances gave them added weight. Pericles was a thorough democrat, but he used none of the arts of the demagogue. He scorned to flatter the populace. His power over the people rested on his majestic eloquence, on his calm dignity of demeanor, and above all on his unselfish devotion to the welfare of Athens.

[Ill.u.s.tration: PERICLES (British Museum, London) The bust is probably a good copy of a portrait statue set up during the lifetime of Pericles on the Athenian Acropolis. The helmet possibly indicates the office of General held by Pericles.]

AGE OF PERICLES, 461-429 B.C.

The period, about thirty years in length, between the ostracism of Cimon and the death of Pericles, forms the most brilliant epoch in Greek history. Under the guidance of Pericles the Athenian naval empire reached its widest extent. Through his direction Athens became a complete democracy. Inspired by him the Athenians came to manifest that love of knowledge, poetry, art, and all beautiful things which, even more than their empire or their democracy, has made them famous in the annals of mankind. The Age of Pericles affords, therefore, a convenient opportunity to set forth the leading features of Athenian civilization in the days of its greatest glory.

ATHENIAN IMPERIALISM

Athens under Pericles ruled more than two hundred towns and cities in Asia Minor and the islands of the Aegean Sea. [11] The subjects of Athens, in return for the protection that she gave them against Persia, owed many obligations. They paid an annual tribute and furnished soldiers in time of war. In all legal cases of importance the citizens had to go to Athens for trial by Athenian courts. The Delian communities, in some instances, were forced to endure the presence of Athenian garrisons and officers. To the Greeks at large all this seemed nothing less than high-handed tyranny.

Athens, men felt, had built up an empire on the ruins of h.e.l.lenic liberty.

NATURE OF THE ATHENIAN DEMOCRACY

If the Athenians possessed an empire, they themselves were citizens of a state more democratic than any other that has existed, before or since, in the history of the world. They had now learned how unjust was the rule of a tyrant or of a privileged cla.s.s of n.o.bles. They tried, instead, to afford every one an opportunity to make the laws, to hold office, and to administer justice. Hence the Athenian popular a.s.sembly and law courts were open to all respectable citizens. The offices, also, were made very numerous--fourteen hundred in all--so that they might be distributed as widely as possible. Most of them were annual, and some could not be held twice by the same person. Election to office was usually by lot. This arrangement did away with favoritism and helped to give the poor man a chance in politics, as well as the man of wealth or n.o.ble birth.

THE a.s.sEMBLY

The center of Athenian democracy was the a.s.sembly. Its membership included every citizen who had reached twenty years of age. Rarely, however, did the attendance number more than five thousand, since most of the citizens lived outside the walls in the country districts of Attica. Forty regular meetings were held every year. These took place on the slopes of the hill called the Pnyx. A speaker before the a.s.sembly faced a difficult audience.

It was ready to yell its disapproval of his advice, to mock him if he misp.r.o.nounced a word, or to drown his voice with shouts and whistles.

Naturally, the debates became a training school for orators. No one could make his mark in the a.s.sembly who was not a clear and interesting speaker.

Voting was by show of hands, except in cases affecting individuals, such as ostracism, when the ballot was used. Whatever the decision of the a.s.sembly, it was final. This great popular gathering settled questions of war and peace, sent out military and naval expeditions, voted public expenditures, and had general control over the affairs of Athens and the empire.

[Ill.u.s.tration: AN ATHENIAN INSCRIPTION A decree of the a.s.sembly, dating from about 450 B.C.]

THE TEN GENERALS

The a.s.sembly was a.s.sisted in the conduct of public business by many officers and magistrates, among whom the Ten Generals held the leading place. It was their duty to guide the deliberations of the a.s.sembly and to execute the orders of that body.

THE JURY COURTS

There was also a system of popular jury courts composed of citizens selected by lot from the candidates who presented themselves. The number of jurors varied; as many as a thousand might serve at an important trial.

A court was both judge and jury, it decided by majority vote; and from its decision lay no appeal. Before these courts public officers accused of wrong-doing were tried; disputes between different cities of the empire and other important cases were settled; and all ordinary legal business affecting the Athenians themselves was transacted. Thus, even in matters of law, the Athenian government was completely democratic.

STRENGTH AND WEAKNESS OF THE ATHENIAN DEMOCRACY

Democracy then, reached its height in ancient Athens. The people ruled, and they ruled directly. Every citizen had some active part in politics.

Such a system worked well in the management of a small city-state like Athens. But if the Athenians could govern themselves, they proved unable to govern an empire with justice and wisdom. There was no such thing as representation in their const.i.tution. The subject cities had no one to speak for them in the a.s.sembly or before the jury courts. We shall notice the same absence of a representative system in republican Rome. [12]

SYSTEM OF STATE PAY

A large number of Athenians were relieved from the necessity of working for themselves through the system of state pay introduced by Pericles.

Jurors, soldiers, and sailors received money for their services. Later, in the fourth century, citizens accepted fees for attending the a.s.sembly.

These payments, though small, enabled poor citizens to devote much time to public duties.

INDUSTRIAL ATHENS

Athens contained many skilled workmen whose daily tasks gave them scant opportunity to engage in the exciting game of politics. The average rate of wages was very low. In spite of cheap food and modest requirements for clothing and shelter, it must have been difficult for the laborer to keep body and soul together. Outside of Athens, in the country districts of Attica, lived the peasants whose little farms produced the olives, grapes, and figs for which Attica was celebrated.

SLAVERY

There were many thousands of slaves in Athens and Attica at this period.

Their number was so great and their labor so cheap that we may think of them as taking the place of modern machines. It was the slaves who did most of the work on the large estates owned by wealthy men, who toiled in the mines and quarries, and who served as oarsmen on the ships. The system of slavery enabled many an Athenian to live a life of leisure, but it lowered the dignity of labor and tended to prevent the rise of the poorer citizens to positions of responsibility. In Greece, as in the Orient, [13]