yet disposed to entertain any amicable relations with Sparta. Tiribazus, however, covertly supplied the Lacedæmonians with money for the purposes of their fleet, and, by a gross breach of public faith, caused Conon to be seized and detained, under the pretence that he was acting contrary to the interests of the Great King. This event proved the end of Conon's public life. According to one account the Persians caused him to be put to death in prison; but it seems more probable that he escaped and again took refuge with Evagoras in Cyprus. Be this, however, as it may, the public labors of one of the most useful, if not one of the greatest, of Athenian citizens, were now brought to a close: a man from whose hands his country reaped nothing but benefit, and to whose reputation history seems to have done but scanty justice.

Struthas, who held the command in Ionia during the absence of Tiribazus at Susa, carried on hostilities with vigor against the Lacedæmonians. In spite of his proved incapacity, Thimbron had been again intrusted with the command of an army of eight thousand men; but while on his march from Ephesus he was surprised by Struthas, and suffered a complete defeat. Thimbron himself was among the slain, and those of his soldiers who escaped were compelled to take refuge in the neighboring cities.

rents.

§ 13. The island of Rhodes now demanded the attention of the belligeThe democratical party in this island, having obtained the upper hand, had revolted from Persia; and the Spartans, fearing that they would form an alliance with Athens, sent Teleutias, the brother of Agesilaus, with a fleet to reduce the island, although they were themselves at war with Persia, so much greater was their fear of the Athenians than of the Persians. On his way from Cnidos, Teleutias fell in with and captured an Athenian squadron of ten triremes under Philocrates, which was proceeding to assist Evagoras in a struggle that was impending between him and the Persians. The news of this reverse, as well as the great increase of the Lacedæmonian fleet, induced the Athenians to despatch, in B. c. 389, a fleet of forty triremes, under Thrasybulus, to the coasts of Asia Minor,a feat which betokens a considerable renovation of their naval power. Thrasybulus first proceeded to the Hellespont, where he extended the Athenian alliance among the people on both sides of the straits, persuaded or compelled Byzantium and other cities to establish democratical governments, and reimposed the toll of a tenth on all vessels passing from the Euxine. After this, Thrasybulus sailed to Lesbos, where he defeated the Lacedæmonian harmost, and next visited several places on the mainland, with the view of raising funds for his meditated expedition to Rhodes. But the inhabitants of Aspendus in Pamphylia, where he had obtained some contributions, surprised his naval camp in the night, and slew him. Thus perished the man who had delivered his country from the Thirty Tyrants. He was succeeded in his command by Agyrrhius.

The success of Thrasybulus in the Hellespont created such anxiety at Sparta, that the Ephors were induced to supersede Dercyllidas, and appoint Anaxibius to the government of Abydos. Anaxibius took with him a force that rendered him master of the straits, and enabled him to intercept the merchantmen bound to Athens and other ports belonging to the allies. The Athenians now despatched Iphicrates with eight triremes and twelve hundred peltasts to make head against Anaxibius; and by a welllaid stratagem the Athenian commander succeeded in surprising Anaxibius among the mountain ranges of Ida, whilst on his homeward march from Antandros to Abydos. The troops of Anaxibius were completely routed and himself and twelve other harmosts slain.

§ 14. This exploit rendered the Athenians again masters of the Hellespont. But whilst thus successful in that quarter, their attention was attracted nearer home by the affairs of Egina. After the battle of Ægospotami, Lysander had restored to the island as many of the ancient population as he could find; and they were now induced by the Lacedæmonian harmost to infest the Athenian trade with their privateers; so that, in the language of Pericles, Ægina again became "the eyesore of Peiræus.” The most memorable event in this period of the war was the surprise of Peiræus by Teleutias with a squadron of only twelve sail. Teleutias was the most popular commander in the Lacedæmonian fleet, and was sent by the Ephors to appease the discontent among the Lacedæmonian seamen at Ægina, in consequence of not receiving their pay. Teleutias plainly told them that they had nothing to depend upon but their swords, and he bade them prepare for an enterprise, the object of which he did not then disclose. This was nothing less than an attack upon Peiræus; an enterprise which it seemed almost insane to attempt with a force of only twelve triremes. But Teleutias reckoned on taking the Athenians by surprise. Quitting the harbor of Ægina at nightfall, and rowing along leisurely and in silence, Teleutias found himself at daybreak within half a mile of Peiræus, and when it was fully light he steered his vessels straight into the harbor, which was beginning to assume again some of its former commercial importance. Here, as he expected, he found no preparations for repelling an attack, and though the alarm was immediately raised, he had time to inflict considerable damage before any troops could be got together to oppose him. His men disembarked on the quays, and carried off, not only the portable merchandise, but also the shipmasters, tradesmen, and others whom they found there. The larger merchant-ships were boarded and plundered; several of the smaller were towed off with their whole cargoes; and even three or four triremes met the same fate. All this booty Teleutias succeeded in carrying safely into Egina, together with several corn-ships, and other merchantmen which he fell in with off Sunium. The prizes were then sold, and yielded so large a sum that Teleutias was able to pay the seamen a month's wages.

§ 15. Whilst these things were passing in Greece, Antalcidas, conducted by Tiribazus, had repaired to the Persian court a second time, for the purpose of renewing his negotiations for a general peace, on the same basis as he had proposed before. This time he succeeded in winning the favor of the Persian monarch, in spite of his dislike of the Spartans generally, and prevailed on him both to adopt the peace, and to declare war against those who should reject it. Antalcidas and Tiribazus again arrived on the coasts of Asia Minor in the spring of B. c. 387, not only armed with these powers, but provided with an ample force to carry them into execution. In addition to the entire fleet of Persia, Dionysius of Syracuse had placed twenty triremes at the service of the Lacedæmonians; and Antalcidas now sailed with a large fleet to the Hellespont, where Iphicrates and the Athenians were still predominant. But the overwhelming force of Antalcidas, the largest that had been seen in the Hellespont since the battle of Ægospotami, rendered all resistance hopeless. The supplies of corn from the Euxine no longer found their way to Athens; the Æginetan privateers resumed their depredations; and the Athenians, depressed at once both by what they felt and by what they anticipated, began to long for peace. The Argives participated in the same desire; and as without the assistance of Athens it seemed hopeless for the other allies to struggle against Sparta, all Greece seemed inclined to listen to an accommodation.

Under these circumstances deputies from the Grecian states were summoned to meet Tiribazus; who, after exhibiting to them the royal seal of Persia, read to them the following terms of a peace: "King Artaxerxes thinks it just that the cities in Asia and the islands of Clazomenæ and Cyprus should belong to him. He also thinks it just to leave all the other Grecian cities, both small and great, independent, except Lemnos, Imbros, and Scyros, which are to belong to Athens, as of old. Should any parties refuse to accept this peace, I will make war upon them, along with those who are of the same mind, both by land and sea, with ships and with money."

The deputies reported these terms to their respective governments, all of which at once accepted the peace with the exception of the Thebans, who claimed to take the oath not in their own behalf alone, but for the Baotian confederacy in general. But when Agesilaus threatened the Thebans with war if they did not comply, they consented to take the oath for their own city alone, thus virtually renouncing their federal headship. § 16. This disgraceful peace, called the peace of Antalcidas, was concluded in the year B. C. 387. By it Hellas seemed prostrated at the feet of the barbarians; for its very terms, engraven on stone and set up in the sanctuaries of Greece, recognized the Persian king as the arbiter of her destinies. Although Athens cannot be entirely exonerated from the blame of this transaction, the chief guilt rests upon Sparta, whose designs were far deeper and more hypocritical than they appeared. Under the specious

pretext of securing the independence of the Grecian cities, her only object was to break up the confederacies under Athens and Thebes, and, with the assistance of Persia, to pave the way for her own absolute dominion in Greece. Her real aim is pithily characterized in an anecdote recorded of Agesilaus. When somebody remarked, "Alas for Hellas, that our Spartans should be Medizing!"-"Say rather," replied Agesilaus, "that the Medes are Laconizing."

Adventures of Dionysus, from the Choragic Monument of Lysicrates.

Adventures of Dionysus, from the Choragic Monument of Lysicrates.

CHAPTER XXXIX.

FROM THE PEACE OF ANTALCIDAS TO THE PEACE OF CALLIAS.

1. Aggressions of Sparta in Boeotia. Rebuilding of Platea. § 2. Reduction of Mantinea. § 3. Olynthian Confederation. Sparta interferes. § 4. Seizure of the Cadmea at Thebes by the Lacedæmonians. § 5. Reduction of Olynthus. § 6. Unpopularity of Sparta. § 7. Revolution at Thebes. § 8. The Lacedæmonians expelled from the Cadmea. § 9. Their Expeditions against Thebes. Alarm of the Athenians, who ally themselves with Thebes. § 10. Reorganization of the Athenian Confederation. § 11. Preparations for War. The Theban "Sacred Band." § 12. Character of Epameinondas. § 13. Spartan Invasions of Boeotia. 14. Maritime Affairs. Battle of Naxos. Success of Timotheus. § 15. Prog ress of the Theban Arms. § 16. The Athenians form a Peace with Sparta, which is immediately broken. Proceedings at Corcyra. 17. The Lacedæmonians solicit Persian Aid. 18. Congress at Sparta to treat of Peace. The Thebans are excluded from it.

§ 1. No sooner was the peace of Antalcidas concluded, than Sparta, directed by Agesilaus, the ever-active enemy of Thebes, exerted all her power to weaken that city. She began by proclaiming the independence of the various Boeotian cities, and by organizing in each a local oligarchy, adverse to Thebes and favorable to herself. The popular feeling in these cities was in general opposed to the Spartan dominion; two alone, Orchomenus and Thespiæ, preferred it to that of Thebes; and in these the Lacedæmonians placed garrisons, and made them their main stations in Boeotia. Even such a step as this seemed to exceed the spirit of the treaty, which required merely the independence of each city; but the restoration of Platæa, now effected by the Lacedæmonians, was an evident work of supererogation, undertaken only to annoy and weaken Thebes, and to form a place for another Lacedæmonian garrison. Since the destruction of Platæa, most of her remaining citizens had become domiciled at Athens, had married Athenian women, and had thus almost forgotten their native country. These were now restored, and their city rebuilt; but merely that it might become a Spartan outpost. Thebes was at present too weak to resist these encroachments on her dignity and power, which even at Sparta