fice called Hecatomphonia, reserved for the warrior who had slain a hundred enemies with his own hand. Thrice he was taken prisoner; on two occasions he burst his bonds, but on the third he was carried to Sparta, and thrown with his fifty companions into a deep pit, called Ceadas. His comrades were all killed by the fall; but Aristomenes reached the bottom unhurt. He saw, however, no means of escape, and had resigned himself to death; but on the third day, perceiving a fox creeping among the bodies, he grasped its tail, and, following the animal as it struggled to escape, discovered an opening in the rock. Through the favor of the gods the hero thus escaped, and on the next day was again at Ira, to the surprise alike of friends and foes. But his single prowess was not sufficient to avert the ruin of his country; he had incurred, moreover, the anger of the Dioscuri or the Twin gods; and the favor of Heaven was therefore turned from him. One night the Spartans surprised Ira, while Aristomenes was disabled by a wound; but he collected the bravest of his followers, and forced his way through the enemy. He took refuge in Arcadia, where he was hospitably received; but the plan which he had formed for surprising Sparta was betrayed by Aristocrates, whom his countrymen stoned for his treachery.

Many of the exiled Messenians went to Rhegium, in Italy, under the sons of Aristomenes, but the hero himself finished his days in Rhodes. His memory long lived in the hearts of his countrymen; and later legends related, that in the fatal battle of Leuctra, which destroyed for ever the Lacedæmonian power, the hero was seen scattering destruction among the Spartan troops.

The second Messenian war was terminated by the complete subjugation of the Messenians, who again became the serfs of their conquerors (B. C. 668). In this condition they remained till the restoration of their independence by Epameinondas, in the year 369 B. C. During the whole of the intervening period the Messenians disappear from history. The country called Messenia in the map was in reality a portion of Laconia, which, after the second Messenian war, extended across the South of Peloponnesus from the eastern to the western sea.

§ 4. Of the history of the wars between the Spartans and Arcadians we have fewer details. The Spartans made various attempts to extend their dominion over Arcadia. Hence the Arcadians afforded assistance to the Messenians in their struggle against Sparta, and they evinced their sympathy for this gallant people by putting to death Aristocrates of Orchomenus, as has been already related. The conquest of Messenia was probably followed by the subjugation of the southern part of Arcadia. We know that the northern frontier of Laconia, consisting of the districts called Scirītis, Beleminatis, Maleätis, and Caryatis, originally belonged to Arcadia, and was conquered by the Lacedæmonians at an early period. The Lacedæmonians, however, did not meet with equal success in their

attempts against Tegea. This city was situated in the southeastern corner of Arcadia, on the very frontier of Laconia. It possessed a brave and warlike population, and defied the Spartan power for more than two centuries. As early as the reign of Charilaüs, the nephew of Lycurgus, the Lacedæmonians had invaded the territory of Tegea; but they were not only defeated with great loss, but this king was taken prisoner with all his men who had survived the battle. Long afterwards, in the reign of Leon and Agesicles (about B. C. 580), the Lacedæmonians again marched against Tegea, but were again defeated with great loss, and were compelled to work as slaves in the very chains which they had brought with them for the Tegeatans. For a whole generation their arms continued unsuccessful; but in the reign of Anaxandrides and Ariston, the successors of Leon and Agesicles (about B. c. 560), they were at length able to bring the long-protracted struggle to a close. In their distress, they had applied as usual to the Delphic oracle for advice, and had been promised success if they could obtain the bones of Orestes, the son of Agamemnon. The directions of the god enabled them to find the remains of the hero at Tegea and by a skilful stratagem one of their citizens succeeded in carrying the holy relics to Sparta. The tide of the war now turned. The Tegeatans were constantly defeated, and were at length obliged to acknowledge the supremacy of Sparta. They were not, however, reduced to subjection, like the Messenians. They still continued masters of their own city and territory, and only became dependent allies of Sparta.

§ 5. The history of the early struggle between Argos and Sparta is quite unknown. We have already seen that the whole eastern coast of Peloponnesus had originally belonged to Argos, or the confederacy over which this city presided. The Lacedæmonians, however, succeeded not only in conquering all the eastern coast of Laconia, but also in annexing to their territory the district of Cynuria,* on their northern frontier, which had originally formed part of the dominions of Argos. It is uncertain at what time the Lacedæmonians obtained this important acquisition; but the attempt of the Argives to recover it in 547 B. C. led to one of the most celebrated combats in early Grecian history. It was agreed between the Lacedæmonians and Argives that the possession of the territory should be decided by a combat between three hundred chosen champions on either side. So fierce was the conflict, that only one Spartan and two Argives survived. The latter, supposing that all their opponents had been slain, hastened home with the news of victory; but Othryades, the Spartan warrior, remained on the field, and spoiled the dead bodies of the enemy. Both sides claimed the victory, whereupon a general battle ensued, in which the Argives were defeated. The brave Othryades slew himself on

*The plain called Thyreatis, from the town of Thyrea, was the most important part of Cynuria.

3

the field of battle, being ashamed to return to Sparta as the one survivor of her three hundred champions. This victory secured the Spartans in the possession of Cynuria, and effectually humbled the power of Argos.

Sparta was now by far the most powerful of the Grecian states. Her own territory, as we have already seen, included the whole southern portion of Peloponnesus; the Arcadians were her subject allies; and Argos had suffered too much from her recent defeat to offer any further resistance to her formidable neighbor. North of the Isthmus of Corinth there was no state whose power could compete with that of Sparta. Athens was still suffering from the civil dissensions which had led to the usurpation of Peisistratus, and no one could have anticipated at this time the rapid and extraordinary growth of this state, which rendered her before long the rival of Sparta.

Leaden Sling-bullets and Arrow-heads, found at Athens, Marathon, and Leontini.

CHAPTER IX.

THE AGE OF THE DESPOTS.

4.1. Abolition of Royalty throughout Greece, except in Sparta. § 2. Establishment of the Oligarchical Governments. § 3. Overthrow of the Oligarchies by the Despots. Character of the Despots, and Causes of their Fall. § 4. Contest between Oligarchy and Democ racy on the Removal of the Despots. § 5. Despots of Sicyon. History of Cleisthenes. § 6. Despots of Corinth. History of Cypselus and Periander. § 7. Conflicts of the Oligarchical and Democratical Parties at Megara. Despotism of Theagenes. The Poet Theognis.

§ 1. SPARTA was the only state in Greece which continued to retain the kingly form of government during the brilliant period of Grecian history. In all other parts of Greece royalty had been abolished at an early age, and various forms of republican government established in its stead. In all of these, though differing widely from each other in many of their institutions, hatred of monarchy was a universal feeling. This change in the popular mind deserves our consideration. In the Heroic Age, as we have already seen, monarchy was the only form of government known. At the head of every state stood a king, who had derived his authority from the gods, and whose commands were reverently obeyed by his people. The only check upon his authority was the council of the chiefs, and even they rarely ventured to interfere with his rule. But soon after the commencement of the first Olympiad this reverential feeling towards the king disappears, and his authority and his functions are transferred to the council of chiefs.

This important revolution was owing mainly to the smallness of the Grecian states. It must be constantly remembered that each political community consisted only of the inhabitants of a single city. Among so small a body the king could not surround himself with any pomp or

mystery. He moved as a man among his fellow-men; his faults and his foibles became known to all; and as the Greek mind developed and enlarged itself, his subjects lost all belief in his divine right to their obedience. They had no extent of territory which rendered it advisable to maintain a king for the purpose of preserving their union; and consequently, when they lost respect for his person, and faith in his divine right, they abolished the dignity altogether. This change appears to have been accomplished without any sudden or violent revolutions. Sometimes, on the death of a king, his son was acknowledged as ruler for life, or for a certain number of years, with the title of Archon;* and sometimes the royal race was set aside altogether, and one of the nobles was elected to supply the place of the king, with the title of Prytanis, or President. In all cases, however, the new magistrates became more or less responsible to the nobles; and in course of time they were elected for a brief period from the whole body of the nobles, and were accountable to the latter for the manner in which they discharged the duties of their office.

§ 2. The abolition of royalty was thus followed by an Oligarchy, or the government of the Few. This was the first form of republicanism in Greece. Democracy, or the government of the Many, was yet unknown; and the condition of the general mass of the freemen appears to have been unaffected by the revolution. But it paved the way to greater changes. It taught the Greeks the important principle that the political power was vested in the citizens of the state. It is true that these were at first only a small portion of the freemen; but their number might be enlarged; and the idea could not fail to occur, that the power which had been transferred from the One to the Few might be still further extended from the Few to the Many.

The nobles possessed the greater part of the land of the state, and were hence frequently distinguished by the name of Geomori or Gamori.‡ Their estates were cultivated by a rural and dependent population; whilst they themselves lived in the city, and appear to have formed an exclusive order, transmitting their privileges to their sons alone. But besides this governing body and their rustic dependents, there existed two other classes, consisting of small landed proprietors, who cultivated their fields with their own hands, and of artisans and traders residing in the town. These two classes were constantly increasing in numbers, wealth, and intelligence, and, consequently, began to demand a share in the government, from which they had hitherto been excluded. The ruling body meantime had remained stationary, or had even declined in numbers and in wealth; and they had excited, moreover, the discontent of the people by the arbitrary and oppressive manner in which they had exercised their authority. But it was not from the people that the oligarchies received their first and † Πρύτανις.

"Αρχων.

* Γεωμόροι (Ionic), Γαμοροι (Doric), land-owners.