Mosaics of Grecian History Part 40

North of the Parthenon stood the Erechthe'um, an irregular but beautiful structure of the Ionic order, dedicated to the worship of Neptune and Minerva. Considerable remains of it are still standing. In addition to the great edifices of the Acropolis referred to, which were adorned with the most finished paintings and sculptures, the entire platform of the hill appears to have been covered with a vast composition of architecture and sculpture, consisting of temples, monuments, and statues of G.o.ds and heroes.

The whole Acropolis was at once the fortress, the sacred enclosure, and the treasury of the Athenian people--forming the n.o.blest museum of sculpture, the richest gallery of painting, and the best school of architecture in the world.

2. OTHER ARCHITECTURAL MONUMENTS OF ATHENS.

Beneath the southern wall of the Acropolis was the Theatre of Bacchus, capable of seating thirty thousand persons, and the seats of which, rising one above another, were cut out of the sloping rock. Adjoining this on the east was the Ode'um, a smaller covered theatre, built by Pericles, and so constructed as to imitate the form of Xerxes's tent. On the north-east side was the Prytane'um, where were many statues, and where citizens who had rendered service to the state were maintained at the public expense. A short distance to the north-west of the Acropolis, and separated from it only by some hollow ground, was the small eminence called Areop'agus, or Hill of Mars, at the eastern extremity of which was situated the celebrated court of Areopagus.

About a quarter of a mile south-west stood the Pnyx, the place where the public a.s.semblies of Athens were held in its palmy days, and a spot that will ever be a.s.sociated with the renown of Demosthenes and other famed orators. The steps by which the speaker mounted the rostrum, and a tier of three seats for the audience, hewn in the solid rock, are still visible.

The only other monument of art to which we shall refer in this connection is the celebrated Temple of Theseus, built of marble by Cimon as a resting-place for the bones of the distinguished hero. [Footnote: Cimon conquered the island of Scy'ros, the haunt of pirates, and brought thence to Athens what were supposed to be the bones of Theseus.] It is of the Doric order, one hundred and four feet by forty-five, and surrounded by columns, of which there are six at each front and thirteen at the sides. The roof, friezes, and cornices of this temple have been but little impaired by time, and the whole is one of the most n.o.ble remains of the ancient magnificence of Athens, and the most nearly perfect, if not the most beautiful, existing specimen of Grecian architecture.

The Temple of Theseus.

Here let us pause, e'en at the vestibule Of Theseus' fame. With what stern majesty It rears its ponderous and eternal strength, Still perfect, still unchanged, as on the day When the a.s.sembled throng of mult.i.tudes With shouts proclaimed the accomplished work, and fell Prostrate upon their faces to adore Its marble splendor!

How the golden gleam Of noonday floats upon its graceful form, Tinging each grooved shaft, and storied frieze, And Doric triglyph! How the rays amid The opening columns, glanced from point to point, Stream down the gloom of the long portico!

How the long pediment, Embrowned with shadows, frowns above, and spreads Solemnity and reverential awe!

Proud monument of old magnificence!

Still thou survivest; nor has envious Time Impaired thy beauty, save that it has spread A deeper tint, and dimmed the polished glare Of thy refulgent whiteness.

--HAYGARTH.

So much for some of the architectural wonders of Athens. As BULWER says, "It was the great characteristic of these works that they were entirely the creation of the people. Without the people Pericles could not have built a temple nor engaged a sculptor.

The miracles of that day resulted from the enthusiasm of a population yet young--full of the first ardor for the beautiful-- dedicating to the state, as to a mistress, the trophies honorably won, or the treasures injuriously extorted, and uniting the resources of a nation with the energy of an individual, because the toil, the cost, were borne by those who succeeded to the enjoyment and arrogated the glory." TALFOURD, in his Athenian Captive, calls all that went to make up Athens in the days of her glory

An opening world, Diviner than the soul of man hath yet Been gifted to imagine--truths serene Made visible in beauty, that shall glow In everlasting freshness, unapproached By mortal pa.s.sion, pure amid the blood And dust of conquests, never waxing old, But on the stream of time, from age to age, Casting bright images of heavenly youth To make the world less mournful.

CHAPTER XIII.

THE SPARTAN AND THEBAN SUPREMACIES.

I. THE EXPEDITION OF CYRUS, AND THE RETREAT OF THE TEN THOUSAND.

The aid given by Cyrus the Persian to Sparta in her contest with Athens, as related in a preceding chapter, was bestowed with the understanding that Sparta should give him her a.s.sistance against his elder brother, Artaxerxes Mne'mon, should he ever require it. Accordingly, when the latter succeeded to the Persian throne, on the death of his father, Cyrus, still governor of the maritime region of Asia Minor, prepared to usurp his brother's regal power. For this purpose he raised an army of one hundred thousand Persians, which he strengthened with an auxiliary force of thirteen thousand Greeks, drawn princ.i.p.ally from the cities of Asia under the dominion of Sparta. On the Grecian force, commanded by Cle-ar'chus, a Spartan, Cyrus placed his main reliance for success.

With these forces Cyrus marched from Sardis, in the spring of 401, to within seventy miles of Babylon without the least opposition. Here, however, he was met by Artaxerxes, it the head of nine hundred thousand men. This immense force was at first driven back; but in the conflict that ensued Cyrus rashly charged the guards that surrounded his brother, and was slain. His Persian troops immediately fled, leaving the Greeks almost alone, in the presence of an immense hostile force, and more than a thousand miles from any friendly territory. The victorious enemy proposed to the Grecians terms of accommodation, but, having invited Clearchus and other leaders to a conference, they treacherously put them to death. No alternative now remained to the Greeks but to submit to the Persians or fight their way back to their own land. They bravely chose the latter course--and, selecting Xenophon, a young Athenian, for their leader, after a four months'

march, attended with great suffering and almost constant battling with brave and warlike tribes, ten thousand of their number succeeded in reaching the Grecian settlements on the Black Sea.

Proclaiming their joy by loud shouts of "The sea! the sea!" The Greek heroes gave vent to their exultation in tears and mutual embraces.

Hence, through the continent, ten thousand Greeks Urged a retreat, whose glory not the prime Of victories can reach. Deserts in vain Opposed their course; and hostile lands, unknown; And deep, rapacious floods, dire banked with death; And mountains, in whose jaws destruction grinned; Hunger and toil; Armenian snows and storms; And circling myriads still of barbarous foes.

Greece in their view, and glory yet untouched, Their steady column pierced the scattering herds Which a whole empire poured; and held its way Triumphant, by the sage, exalted chief Fired and sustained.

O light, and force of mind, Almost mighty in severe extremes!

The sea at last from Colchian mountains seen, Kind-hearted transport round their captains threw The soldiers' fond embrace; o'erflowed their eyes With tender floods, and loosed the general voice To cries resounding loud--"The sea! the sea!"

--THOMSON.

Xenophon, who afterward became an historian of his country, has left an admirable narrative of this expedition, and "The Retreat of the Ten Thousand," in his Anab'asis, written with great clearness and singular modesty. Referring to the expedition, and to the historian's account of it, DR. CURTIUS makes the following interesting observations:

"Although this military expedition possesses no immediate significance for political history, yet it is of high importance, not only for our knowledge of the East, but also for that of the Greek character; and the accurate description which we owe to Xenophon is, therefore, one of the most valuable doc.u.ments of antiquity. We see a band of Greeks of the most various origin, torn out of all their ordinary spheres of life, in a strange quarter of the globe, in a long complication of incessant movements, and of situations ever-varying and full of peril, in which the real nature of these men could not but display itself with the most perfect truthfulness. This army is a typical chart, in many colors, of the Greek population--a picture, on a small scale, of the whole people, with all its virtues and faults, its qualities of strength and of weakness--a wandering political community, which, according to home usage, holds its a.s.semblies and pa.s.ses its resolutions, and at the same time a wild and not easily manageable band of free-lances. They are men in full measure agitated by the unquiet spirit of the times, which had destroyed in them their affection for their native land; and yet how closely they cling to its most ancient traditions! Visions in dream and omens, sent by the G.o.ds, decide the most important resolutions, just as in the Homeric camp before Troy: most a.s.siduously the sacrifices are lit, the paeans sung, altars erected, and games celebrated, in honor of the savior G.o.ds, when at last the aspect of the longed-for sea animates afresh their vigor and their courage.

"This mult.i.tude has been brought together by love of lucre and quest of adventure; and yet in the critical moment there manifest themselves a lively sense of honor and duty, a lofty heroic spirit, and a sure tact in perceiving what counsels are the best. Here, too, is visible the mutual jealousy existing among the several tribes of the nation; but the feeling of their belonging together, the consciousness of national unity, prevail over all; and the great ma.s.s is capable of sufficient good-sense and self-denial to subordinate itself to those who, by experience, intelligence, and moral courage, attest themselves as fitted for command. And how very remarkable it is that in this mixed mult.i.tude of Greeks it is an Athenian who by his qualities towers above all the rest, and becomes the real preserver of the entire army! Xenophon had only accompanied the army as a volunteer; yet it was he who, obeying an inner call, re-awakened a higher, a h.e.l.lenic consciousness, courage, and prudence among his comrades, and who brought about the first salutary resolutions. Possessing the Athenian superiority of culture which enabled him to serve these warriors as spokesman, negotiator, and general, to him it was essentially due that, in spite of unspeakable trials, they finally reached the coast." [Footnote: "History of Greece,"

vol. iv., pp. 191, 192.]

II. THE SUPREMACY OF SPARTA.

On the fall of Athens, Sparta became the mistress of Greece.

Her power and his own wealth induced Lysander to appear again in public life. He first attempted to overthrow the two regal families of Sparta, and, by making the crown an elective office, secure his own accession to it. But he failed in this, although, on the death of A'gis, King of Sparta, he succeeded in setting aside Leo-tych'i-des, the son and rightful successor of Agis, and giving the office to Agesila'us, the late king's brother.

The government of Sparta now became far more oppressive than that of Athens had been, and it was not long before some of the Grecian states under her sway united in a league against her.

The part which the Greek cities of Asia took in the expedition of Cyrus involved them in a war with Persia, in which they were aided by the Spartans. Agesila'us entered Asia with a considerable force (396 B.C.), and in the following year he defeated the Persians in a great battle on the plains of Sardis, in Lydia. But in 394 the Spartan king was called home to avert the dangers which threatened his country in a war that had been fomented by the Persian king in order to save his dominions from the ravages of the Spartans. The King of Persia had supplied Athens with a fleet which defeated the Spartan navy at Cni'dus, and Persian gold rebuilt the walls of Athens. A battle soon followed between the Spartans on one side and the Thebans and Athenians on the other, in which the former were defeated and Lysander was slain.

On the other hand, Athens and her allies were defeated, in the same year, in the vicinity of Corinth, and on the plains of Corone'a. Finally, after the war had continued eight years, and Sparta had virtually lost her maritime power, the peace of Antal'cidas, as it is called, was concluded with Persia, at the instance of Sparta, and was ratified by all the states engaged in the contest (387 B.C.).

By the treaty with Persia, Athens regained three of the islands she had been obliged to relinquish to Sparta under Lysander; but the Greek cities in Asia were given up to Persia, and both Athens and Sparta lost their former allies. It was the unworthy jealousy of the Grecians, which the Persian king knew how to stimulate, that prompted them to give up to a barbarian the free cities of Asia; and this is the darkest shade in the picture.

Though Sparta was the most strongly in favor of the terms of the treaty, yet Athens was the greatest gainer, for she once more became an independent and powerful state.

It was not long before ambition, and the resentment of past injuries, involved Sparta in new wars. When her thirty years'

truce with Mantine'a had expired, she compelled that city, which had formerly been an unwilling ally, to throw down her walls, and dismember her territory into the four or five villages out of which it had been formed. Each of these divisions was now left unfortified, and placed under a separate oligarchical government. Sparta did this under the pretext that the Mantine'ans had supplied one of her enemies with provisions during the preceding war, and had evaded their share of service in the Spartan army. The jealousy of Sparta was next aroused against the rising power of Olynthus, a powerful confederacy in the south-eastern part of Macedonia, which had become engaged in hostilities with some rival cities; and the Spartans readily accepted an invitation of one of the latter to send an army to its aid.

The expedition against Olynthus led to an affair of much importance.

As one of the divisions of the Spartan army was marching through the Theban territories it turned aside, and the Spartan general treacherously seized upon the Cadme'a, or Theban citadel, although a state of peace existed between Thebes and Sparta (382 B.C.).

The political morality of Sparta is clearly exhibited in the arguments by which the Spartan king justified this palpable and treacherous breach of the treaty of Antal'cidas. He declared that the only question for the Spartan people to consider was, whether they were gainers or losers by the transaction. The a.s.sertion made by the Athenians on a prior occasion was confirmed --that, "of all states, Sparta had most glaringly shown by her conduct that in her political transactions she measured honor by inclination, and justice by expediency."

On the seizure of the Theban citadel the most patriotic of the citizens fled to Athens, while a faction upheld by a Spartan garrison ruled the place. Thebes now became a member of the Spartan alliance, and furnished a force for the war against Olynthus. After a struggle of four years Olynthus capitulated, the Olynthian Confederacy was thereby dissolved, and the cities belonging to it were compelled to join the Spartan alliance.

As a modern historian observes, "Sparta thus inflicted a great blow upon h.e.l.las; for the Olynthian Confederacy might have served as a counterpoise to the growing power of Macedon, destined soon to overwhelm the rest of Greece." The power of Sparta had now attained its greatest height, but, as she was leagued on all sides with the enemies of Grecian freedom, her unpopularity was great, and her supremacy was doomed to a rapid decline.

III. THE RISE AND FALL OF THEBES.

Thebes had been nearly four years in the hands of the Spartans when a few determined residents of the city rose against their tyrants, and, aided by the exiles who had taken refuge at Athens, and by some Athenian volunteers, they compelled the Spartan garrison to capitulate (379 B.C.). At the head of the revolution were two Theban citizens, Pelop'idas and Epaminon'das, young men of n.o.ble birth and fortune, already distinguished for their patriotism and private virtues. They are characterized by the poet THOMSON, as

Equal to the best; the Theban Pair Whose virtues, in heroic concord joined, Their country raised to freedom, empire, fame.

By their abilities they raised Thebes, hitherto of but little political importance, to the first rank in power among the Grecian states. They have been thus described by the historian CURTIUS: "Pelopidas was the heroic champion and pioneer who, like Miltiades and Cimon, with full energy accomplished the tasks immediately at hand; while Epaminondas was a statesman whose glance took a wider range, who organized the state at home, and established its foreign relations upon a thoroughly thought-out plan. He created the bases of the power of Thebes, as Themistocles and Aristides had those of the power of Athens; and he maintained them, so long as he lived, by the vigor of his mind, like another Pericles. And, indeed, it would be difficult to find in the entire course of Greek history any other two great statesmen who, in spite of differences of character and of outward conditions of life, resembled each other so greatly, and were, as men, so truly the peers of each other, as Pericles and Epaminondas."

The successes of Thebes revived the jealousy and distrust of Athens, which concluded a peace with Sparta, and subsequently formed an alliance with her. But the Thebans continued to be successful, and at Teg'yra Pelopidas defeated a greatly superior force and killed the two Spartan generals; while at Leuc'tra Epaminondas, with a force of six thousand Thebans, defeated the Lacedaemonian army of more than double that number (371 B.C.). Leuctra has been called "the Marathon of the Thebans," as their defensive war was turned by it into a war of conquest. Aided now by the Arca'dians, Ar'gives, and E'leans, Epaminondas invaded Laconia, appearing before the gates of Sparta, where a hostile force had not been seen in five hundred years; but he made no attempt upon the city, and, after laying waste with fire and sword the valley of the Euro'tas, he retraced his steps to the frontiers of Arcadia.

Another expedition was undertaken against the Peloponnesus in 367 B.C., and the cities of Achaia immediately submitted, becoming the allies of Thebes. In 362 the Peloponnesus was invaded for the last time, and at Mantinea Epaminondas defeated the Spartans in the most sanguinary contest ever fought among Grecians; but he fell in the moment of victory, and the glory of Thebes departed with him. Before his death, having been told that those whom he intended to be his successors in command had been slain, he directed the Thebans to make peace. His advice was followed, and a general peace was soon after established, on the condition that each state should retain its respective possessions.