he succeeded in carrying, notwithstanding the opposition of Diodotus and others; and in order seemingly that no room might be left for cooler reflection, a trireme was immediately despatched to Mytilené, conveying orders to Paches to put the bloody decree into execution.

§ 6. The barbarous laws of ancient warfare justified atrocities which in modern times would be regarded with horror and detestation; and we have already described the Lacedæmonians as exercising those laws with the most revolting severity in the case of the garrison of Platæa ; — an event, however, which took place a little after the time of which we are now speaking. The conduct of the Lacedæmonians on that occasion admits of no excuse. But this decree of the Athenians was infinitely worse, not only on account of the much greater number of persons whom it devoted to death, but also and principally because it made no discrimination between the innocent and the guilty. One night's reflection convinced the better part of the Athenians of the enormity which they had sanctioned. Ordinary experience shows that bodies of men will perpetrate acts which the individuals composing them would shrink from with horror: and this tendency was one of the worst evils springing from the multitudinous and purely democratical composition of the Athenian assemblies. On the morrow so general a feeling prevailed of the horrible injustice that had been committed, that the Strategi acceded to the prayer of the Mytilenæan envoys, and called a fresh assembly; though by so doing they committed an illegal act and exposed themselves to impeach

ment.

§ 7. Cleon, however, had not changed his opinion. In the second assembly he repeated his arguments against the Mytilenæans, and clamored for what he called "justice" against them. He denounced the folly and mischief of reversing on one day what had been done on the preceding; and, though himself the very type and model of a demagogue, had the impudence to characterize his opponents as guilty and ambitious orators, who sacrified the good of the republic either to their interests or their vanity! His opponent, Diodotus, very wisely abstained from appealing to the humanity of an assembly which had passed the decree of the previous day. He confined himself entirely to the policy of the question, and concluded by recommending that the Mytilenæans already in custody should be put upon their trial, but that the remainder of the population should be spared. This amendment having been carried by a small majority, a second trireme was immediately despatched to Mytilené, 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 Mytilené 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 favorable; 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. With regard to the prisoners at Athens, the motion of Cleon to put them to death was carried, and they were slain to the number of more than a thousand. The fortifications of Mytilené were razed, and her fleet delivered up to the Athenians. The whole island, with the exception of Methymna, which had remained faithful, was divided into three thousand lots, three hundred of which were set apart for the gods, and the remainder assigned to Athenian cleruchs.

The fate of Paches, the Athenian commander at Mytilené, must not be passed over in silence. On his return to Athens, he was arraigned before the dicastery for the dishonor of two Mytilenæan women, whose husbands he had slain; and such was the feeling of indignation excited by this case among the susceptible Athenians, that Paches, without waiting for his sentence, killed himself with his sword in open court.

§ 8. The fate of the Plateans and Mytilenæans affords a fearful illustration of the manners of the age; but these horrors soon found a parallel in Corcyra. It has been already related, that, after the sea-fight off that island, the Corinthians carried home many of the principal Corcyræans as prisoners. These men were treated with the greatest indulgence; and while Mytilené was under blockade, were sent back to Corcyra, nominally under the heavy ransom of eight hundred talents, but in reality with the view of withdrawing the island from the Athenian alliance. Being joined by the rest of the oligarchical citizens on their return, they assassinated the leaders of the democratical party in the senate-house, and then carried a resolution in the assembly of the people, that the Corcyræans should for the future observe a strict neutrality between the contending parties. But they did not stop here. They determined on putting down the democratical party by force, and with this view seized the principal harbor, together with the arsenal and market-place. The people, however, got possession of the higher parts of the town, together with the Acropolis; and having been reinforced by slaves from the interior, whom they promised to emancipate, they renewed the combat on the following day. The oligarchs, driven to extremity, adopted the desperate expedient of setting fire to the town, and thus destroyed a great deal of property near the docks; but an adverse wind fortunately prevented it from extending to the remainder of the city.

The Athenians had been informed of the state of things at Corcyra, and at this juncture an Athenian squadron of twelve triremes, under the command of Nicostratus, arrived from Naupactus. Nicostratus behaved with

great moderation, and did his best to restore peace between the parties. He had apparently succeeded in this object, when the position of affairs was suddenly changed by the arrival of a Peloponnesian fleet of fifty-three galleys under the command of Alcidas. Nicostratus succeeded, by skilful manœuvres, in keeping the enemy at bay with his small fleet, but was obliged at last to retreat, which he did in good order, and without losing any of his vessels. Alcidas, however, with his usual slowness, neglected to make use of the opportunity, and attack the capital at once, though Brasidas strongly advised him to do so. He lost a day in ravaging the country, and in the following night fire-signals upon the island of Leucas telegraphed the approach of an Athenian fleet of sixty triremes under Eurymedon. Alcidas now only thought of making his escape, which he effected before daybreak, leaving the Corcyræan oligarchs to their fate.

Another vicissitude thus rendered the popular party in Corcyra again triumphant. 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. Yet the Athenian admiral did not once interpose to put a stop to these atrocities. About five hundred of the oligarchical party, however, effected their escape, and fortified themselves on Mount Istoné, not far from the capital. § 9. Thucydides, in drawing this bloody picture of domestic dissensions, traces the causes of it to the war. In peace and prosperity, when men are not overmastered by an irresistible necessity, the feelings both of states and individuals are mild and humane. But a war under the auspices of Sparta and Athens one the representative of the aristocratic, the other of the democratic principle became a war of opinion, and embittered the feelings of political parties, by offering to each the means and opportunity of enforcing its views through an alliance with one or the other of the two leading cities. The example of Corcyra was soon followed in other Hellenic states. Not only were the dispositions of men altered by these causes, but even the very names of things were changed. Daring rashness was honored with the name of bravery, whilst considerate delay was denounced as the mere pretext of timidity. Wisdom was regarded as equivalent to cowardice, and the weighing of everything as a pretence for attempting nothing. The simplicity which generally characterizes virtue was ridiculed as dulness and stupidity; whilst he was regarded as the cleverest who excelled in cunning and treachery, and especially if he employed his arts to the destruction of his nearest, and therefore unsuspecting, friends and relatives.*

*It will be worth while to give the substance of this remarkable description, in a literal translation of the words of Thucydides. The profound wisdom of the passage is of univer

sal application; but nowhere so directly applicable as to a confederated republic, like the United States of America.

"Afterwards the whole Hellenic world was thrown into commotion. The leaders of the popular party called in the Athenians, the oligarchical party, the Lacedæmonians, feuds existing everywhere. In peace they would have had no pretext or preparation for summoning them; but being at war, and each party forming an alliance for the damage of their antagonists, and their own security, occasions of invoking foreign aid were easily furnished to those who aimed to effect political changes. And many heavy calamities befell the states through these feuds, which happen and always will happen so long as the nature of man remains the same: greater, or milder, and varying in their aspects, as variations of condition in each case arise. For in peace and prosperity both communities and individuals are better disposed, because they are not driven to intolerable necessities. But war, withdrawing the supplies of daily life, is a hard teacher, and subdues the passions of the many to the quality of present circumstances. Discord then reigned throughout the states...... And they changed the customary meaning of words applied to things, according to the caprices of the moment; for reckless audacity was considered manly fidelity to party; prudent delay, fair-seeming cowardice; moderation, the screen for feebleness. Headlong frensy was set down on the side of manhood. The unrelenting was trusted; whoever argued against him was suspected. He who plotted, if successful, was thought sagacious; who counterplotted, still abler. He who forecasted the means, whereby he should not need these resorts, was charged with ruining the party and fearing their opponents. In a word, he was applauded who got the start of another when intending to do an injury, and who induced one to do a wrong, that had no thought of doing it himself. And what was worse, kin became more alien than party, because party was prompter for unscrupulous daring. For such combinations aim not for the benefit of the established institutions, but in their grasping spirit run counter to the lawful authorities. Their pledges to one another were sanctioned, not by divine law, but by their having together violated law. The cause of this state of things was the lust of power, for purposes of rapacity and ambition, and the hot temper of those who were engaged in the conflict. Thus neither party held to sacred honor; but those were more highly spoken of who, under cover of plausible pretences, succeeded in effecting some purpose of hatred. The citizens who stood between the extremes, and belonged to neither, both parties endeavored to destroy. So every species of wickedness became established by these feuds over the Hellenic world. Simplicity of character, wherein nobleness of nature most largely shares, being scoffed at, disappeared; and mutual opposition of feeling, with universal distrust, prevailed. For there was neither binding word nor fearful oath to compose the strife. And for the most part, those who were meaner in understanding were the more successful; for fearing their own deficiency, and the ability of their adversaries, apprehensive that they should be worsted in argument and eloquence, and outwitted by the intellectual adroitness on the other side, they went audaciously on to deeds of violence; but their opponents, contemptuous in the presumption of foreknowledge, and not feeling the need of securing by action what could be compassed by genius, the more easily perished undefended."-ED.

From the Frieze of the Parthenon. Panathenaic Procession.

1. Sixth Year of the War. Return of the Plague. Purification of Delos. 2. Seventh Year. Fortification of Pylos. § 3. Attempts of the Lacedæmonians to recover Pylos. § 4. Arrival and Victory of the Athenian Fleet. Blockade of Sphacteria. § 5. The Lacedæmonians sue for Peace at Athens. Extravagant Demands of Cleon. § 6. Renewal of Hostilities. 7. Debates in the Assembly. Cleon elected General. 8. Capture of Sphacteria. 9. Advantages of the Victory. § 10. Proceedings at Corcyra. Slaughter of the Oligarchs. 11. Eighth Year of the War. Capture of Cythera. § 12. Invasion of the Megarid and Boeotia by the Athenians. Capture of Nisæa, the Port of Megara. Defeat of the Athenians at the Battle of Delium. § 13. Brasidas in Thrace. Takes Amphipolis. Banishment of Thucydides. § 14. Ninth Year of the War. A Truce between Sparta and Athens. The War continued in Thrace. § 15. Tenth Year of the War. Cleon proceeds to Amphipolis. His Defeat and Death. Death of Brasidas. § 16. Eleventh Year of the War. Fifty Years' Peace between Athens and Sparta.

§ 1. THE beginning of the sixth year of the war (B. c. 426) was marked by natural calamities which seemed to present a counterpart to the moral disturbances which were agitating Greece. Floods and earthquakes of unusual violence and frequency occurred in various parts; and the Lacedæmonians, alarmed at these portents, abstained from their intended invasion of Attica. The military operations of the Athenians were unimportant. The plague, which had reappeared at Athens towards the close of the preceding year, was now making fearful ravages. This scourge was attributed to the anger of Apollo; and in order, as it seems, to propitiate that deity, a complete purification of Delos was performed in the autumn. All the bodies interred there were exhumed and reburied in the neighboring island of Rhenea; whilst for the future it was ordered that no deaths or births should be suffered to take place on the sacred