nesus.

carry back word that he would himself soon lead an army into Arcadia. The Mantineans and their partisans immediately made preparations for war, and sent ambassadors to request the assistance of the Lacedæmonians. § 22. These events occurred in 362 B. c. and in the summer of that year Epameinondas undertook his fourth and last invasion of PeloponThe proceedings in Arcadia, which threatened to undo all that he had done in that country, and ultimately to lead to an alliance between it and Sparta, were the motives for his expedition. His army was nu merous, and included many troops from Northern Greece. He marched without opposition to Tegea, where he was joined by such of the Arcadians and other Peloponnesians as were favorable to the Theban cause. The other party concentrated themselves at Mantinea, whither the aged Agesilaus was marching with a Lacedæmonian force, whilst Athenian succors were also expected. Epameinondas, whose movements were characterized by decision and rapidity, resolved to surprise Sparta in the absence of Agesilaus by a sudden march upon it. Providentially, however, a swift Cretan runner overtook Agesilaus in time to warn him of the danger. He got back to Sparta early enough to anticipate the attempt of Epameinondas; and though that commander actually entered the city, yet he found the streets and houses so well defended, that he was fain to retire. The alarm caused by this diversion had however occasioned the recall of the Lacedæmonian army destined for Mantinea, and Epameinondas took advantage of that circumstance to attempt the surprise of that place. Fortunately for the Mantineans, the Athenian cavalry had reached their city an hour or two before the arrival of Epameinondas, and, though hungry and tired with their march, succeeded in repulsing the Theban and Thessalian horse. Epameinondas now fell back upon Tegea. § 23. Thus both these well-planned manœuvres were accidentally frustrated. As the enemy had now succeeded in concentrating their forces at Mantinea, it was clear that a general action was unavoidable. The plain between Tegea and Mantinea, though two thousand feet above the level of the sea, is shut in on every side by lofty mountains. In length it is about ten miles, whilst its breadth varies from one to eight. About four miles south of Mantinea it contracts to its narrowest dimensions, and here the Lacedæmonians and Mantineans took up their position. Epameinondas, in marching northwards from Tegea, inclined to the left, so as to skirt the base of Mount Manalus, which bounds the plain on the west. On arriving in sight of the hostile lines, Epameinondas ordered his troops to halt and ground arms. Hence the Lacedæmonians inferred that he did not mean to offer battle that day; and so strong was this persuasion, that they left their ranks, whilst some of the horsemen took off their breastplates and unbridled their horses. But meanwhile Epameinondas was making his dispositions for an attack. His plan very much resembled that of the battle of Leuctra. His chief reliance was upon the Boeotian troops, whom he had formed into a column of extraordinary depth.

The enemy at length became aware of his intentions, and hurried into their ranks; but they were in no condition to receive the onset of the Theban hoplites, who bore down all before them. The Mantineans and Lacedæmonians turned and fled, and the rest followed their example. The day was won; but Epameinondas, who fought in the foremost ranks, fell pierced with a mortal wound. His fall occasioned such consternation among his troops, that, although the enemy were in full flight, they did not know how to use their advantage, and remained rooted to the spot. Hence both sides subsequently claimed the victory and erected trophies, though it was the Lacedæmonians who sent a herald to request the bodies of the slain.

Epameinondas was carried off the field with the spear-head still fixed in his breast. Having satisfied himself that his shield was safe, and that the victory was gained, he inquired for Iolaïdas and Daiphantus, whom he intended to succeed him in the command. Being informed that both were slain: "Then," he observed, "you must make peace." After this he ordered the spear-head to be withdrawn; when the gush of blood which followed soon terminated his life. Thus died this truly great man; and never was there one whose title to that epithet has been less disputed. Antiquity is unanimous in his praise, and some of the first men of Greece subsequently took him for their model. With him the commanding influence of Thebes began and ended. His last advice was adopted, and peace was concluded probably before the Theban army quitted Peloponnesus. Its basis was a recognition of the status quo,—to leave everything as it was, to acknowledge the Arcadian constitution and the independence of Messené. Sparta alone refused to join it on account of the last article, but she was not supported by her allies.

§ 24. Agesilaus had lived to see the empire of Sparta extinguished by her hated rival. Thus curiously had the prophecy been fulfilled, which warned Sparta of the evils awaiting her under a "lame sovereignty." But Agesilaus had not yet abandoned all hope; and he and his son Archidamus now directed their views towards the east, as a quarter from which Spartan power might still be resuscitated. At the age of eighty the indomitable old man proceeded with a force of one thousand hoplites to assist Tachos, king of Egypt, in his revolt against Persia. The age and. insignificant appearance of the veteran warrior made him, however, a butt for Egyptian ridicule, and he was not intrusted with the supreme command. But in spite of this affront he accompanied the Egyptian army on an expedition into Phoenicia. During the absence of Tachos, Nectanebis rose against him, and, being supported by Agesilaus, obtained the throne of Egypt. Nectanebis rewarded this service with a present of two hundred and thirty talents. But Agesilaus did not live to carry this money home to Sparta. He died on his road to Cyrēné, where he had intended to embark for Greece. His body was embalmed in wax, and splendidly buried in Sparta. He was succeeded by his son Archidamus III.

ΠΛΑΤΩΝ

Bust of Plato.

CHAPTER XLI.

HISTORY OF THE SICILIAN GREEKS FROM THE DESTRUCTION OF THE ATHENIAN ARMAMENT TO THE DEATH OF TIMOLEON.

§ 1. Revolutions at Syracuse. Dionysius the Elder seizes the Despotism. § 2. His Successes. 3. His Poetical Compositions. Plato visits Syracuse. § 4. Death of Dionysius. His Character. Story of Damocles. § 5. Accession of the Younger Dionysius. Second Visit of Plato. Banishment of Dion. Third Visit of Plato. § 6. Dion expels Dionysius, and becomes Master of Syracuse. § 7. Assassination of Dion. § 8. Revolutions at Syracuse. The Syracusans invoke the Aid of Corinth. § 9. Character of Timoleon. § 10. His Successes. Surrender of Dionysius and Conquest of Syracuse. § 11. Moderation of Timoleon. He remodels the Constitution. § 12. Defeats the Carthaginians at the Crimesus. 13. Deposes the Sicilian Despots. § 14. Retires into a Private Station. His great Popularity and Death.

§ 1. The affairs of the Sicilian Greeks, an important branch of the Hellenic race, deserve a passing notice. After the destruction of the Athenian armament in B. C. 413, the constitution of Syracuse was rendered still more democratical by a new code of laws, which Diocles, one of the principal citizens, took the chief part in drawing up. Shortly afterwards, in B. c. 410, Hermocrates, the leader of the aristocratical party, who had greatly distinguished himself during the Athenian invasion, was banished; and Diocles thus obtained for a time the undisputed direction of the Syracusan government. But two years afterwards Diocles was in his turn banished in consequence of his want of success in the war against the Carthaginians. Meantime Hermocrates had returned to Sicily and collected a considerable force at Selinus, from whence he carried on hostilities against the Carthaginians and their allies with considerable success, and thus secured a strong party at Syracuse in his favor. Relying upon this circumstance, he endeavored to effect his restoration by force, but was slain in an attempt to enter Syracuse by night, B. c. 407. This state of things opened the way for a still more daring and successful aspirant.

This was the celebrated Dionysius, the son of a person also named Hermocrates. Dionysius was of humble origin, but of good education, and began life as a clerk in a public office. He had taken an active part in the enterprise of Hermocrates just mentioned, in which he had been wounded and given out for dead, a circumstance by which he escaped a sentence of banishment. After the death of Hermocrates, the domestic discontents of the Syracusans were still further fomented by another invasion of the Carthaginians in 406 B. C., during which they took and plundered Agrigentum. Dionysius, who now headed the party of Hermocrates, taking advantage of the prevailing discontent, in an artful address to the assembly attributed the fall of Agrigentum to the incompetence of the Syracusan generals, and succeeded in procuring their deposition, and the appointment of others in their stead, of whom he himself was one. His advent to power was immediately followed by the restoration of all the exiles of his party. His next step was to get rid of his colleagues by accusing them of treachery and corruption, and to procure his own sole appointment with unlimited and irresponsible authority. The remaining steps towards a despotism were easy. Under pretence that his life had been attempted, he obtained a body-guard of one thousand men for his protection; by whose means he made himself master of Syracuse, and openly seized upon the supreme power, B. c. 405.

§ 2. Dionysius first directed his arms against Naxos, Catana, and Leontini, which successively fell into his power, either by force or treachery; but it was not till B. C. 397 that he considered himself sufficiently strong to declare war against Carthage. This war was conducted with varying success. In 395-4 Syracuse itself seemed on the point of falling into the hands of the Carthaginians. The Carthaginian fleet, after obtaining a great naval victory at Catana, sailed into the harbor of Syracuse upwards of two hundred strong. At the same time their army established itself in the neighborhood of the city, and Imilcon, the Carthaginian general, took up his head-quarters in the temple of Olympian Zeus, within about a mile and a half of the walls, and even occupied and plundered the suburb of Achradina. The situation of Dionysius now seemed desperate. It is even said that he was on the point of giving up all for lost and making his escape; from which he was deterred by one of his friends observing, "that sovereign power was an honorable winding-sheet." A pestilence which shortly afterwards broke out in the Carthaginian camp proved the salvation of Syracuse. The Carthaginians fell by thousands, whilst the Syracusans themselves remained unharmed. Dionysius made a successful attack both by sea and land on their weakened forces; and Imilcon was glad to secure a disgraceful retreat by purchasing the connivance of Dionysius for the sum of three hundred talents.

After this period the career of Dionysius was marked by great, though not altogether unvarying success. In 393 the Carthaginians under Magon

once more threatened Syracuse, but were again defeated, and compelled to sue for peace. Dionysius willingly concluded a treaty with them, since he was anxious to pursue his schemes of conquest in the interior of Sicily, and in Magna Græcia. By the year 384 he had reduced the greater part of the former, and a considerable portion of the latter country. He had now arrived at his highest pitch of power, and had raised Syracuse to be one of the chief Grecian states, second in influence, if indeed second, to Sparta alone. Under his sway Syracuse was strengthened and embellished with new fortifications, docks, arsenals, and other public buildings, and became superior even to Athens in extent and population. Dionysius took every opportunity of extending his relations with foreign powers, and strengthening himself by alliances. He cultivated the friendship of the Lacedæmonians; and among the last acts of his reign was the sending of an auxiliary force in two successive years to support them against the increasing power of the Thebans.

§ 3. Dionysius was a warm patron of literature, and was anxious to gain distinction by his literary compositions. In the midst of his political and military cares he devoted himself assiduously to poetry, and not only caused his poems to be publicly recited at the Olympic games, but repeatedly contended for the prize of tragedy at Athens. Here he several times obtained the second and third prizes; and finally, just before his death, bore away the first prize at the Lenæan festival, with a play called "The Ransom of Hector."

In accordance with the same spirit we find him seeking the society of men distinguished in literature and philosophy. Plato, who visited Sicily about the year 389 from a curiosity to see Mount Etna, was introduced to Dionysius by Dion. The high moral tone of Plato's conversation did not however prove so attractive to Dionysius as it had done to Dion; and the philosopher was not only dismissed with aversion and dislike, but even, it seems, through the machinations of Dionysius, seized, bound, and sold for a slave in the island of Egina. He was, however, repurchased by Anniceris of Cyréné, and sent back to Athens.

§ 4. Dionysius died in B. c. 387, after a reign of thirty-eight years. Love of power was his ruling passion: the desire of literary fame his second. In his manner of life he was moderate and temperate; but he was a stranger to pity, and never suffered it to check him in the pursuit of his ends. Although by no means deficient in personal courage, the suspicious temper of Dionysius rendered him the miserable prey of uneasiness in the midst of all his greatness, and drove him to take precautions for the security of his life even against his nearest friends and relatives. The miseries of absolute, but unlegalized and unpopular power, cannot be more strongly illustrated, than by the celebrated story of the despot of Syracuse and his flatterer Damocles. The latter having extolled the power and majesty, the abundant possessions and magnificent