in outward appearance interfered with their interest; and this in spite of the suggestions of a secret jealousy, which never fails to show itself in the most sensible manner on these occasions. By the ascendency and authority which his virtue gave him, he raised them above the grovelling and unjust, though too common, political views, which prompt a people to consider the calamities of their neighbours as an advantage, which the interest of their own country permits and even enjoins them to lay hold of. The counsels of Cimon were perfectly wise and equitable; but it is surprising, how he could prevail so far as to make a whole people approve them, since that is all that could be expected from an assembly of the wisest and gravest senators.

Some time after, the Lacedæmonians again implored the aid of the Athenians against the Messenians and Helots, who had seized upon Ithoma. But on the arrival of those forces under the command of Cimon, the Spartans began to dread their intrepidity, their power, and great fame; and affronted them so far, as to send them back, upon suspicion of their harbouring ill designs, and of intending to turn their arms against them.*

The Athenians returning full of anger and resentment, declared themselves, from that very day, enemies to all who should favour the Lacedæmonian interest; for which reason they banished Cimon by the ostracism, the first opportunity that presented itself for that purpose. This is the first time that the misunderstanding between these two nations, which afterwards augmented through mutual discontent, displayed itself in so strong a manner. It was however suspended for some years, by truces and treaties, which prevented its consequences; but it at last broke out in the most violent manner, in the Peloponnesian war.

Those who had shut themselves up in Ithoma, after defending themselves for ten years, surrendered at last to the Lacedæmonians, who gave them their lives upon condition that they should never return to Peloponnesus. The Athenians, to exasperate the Lacedæmonians, received them with their wives and children, and settled them in Naupactus, of which they had just before possessed themselves. The inhabitants of Megara at the same time went over from the Spartans to the Athenians. In this manner several leagues were concluded on both sides, and many battles were fought, the most famous of which was that of Tanagra in Boeotia, which Diodorus equals with those of Marathon and Platææ, and in which Myronides, the Athenian general, defeated the Spartans, who came to the aid of the Thebans.†

It was on this occasion that Cimon, thinking himself dispensed from his proscription, repaired with some soldiers to his tribe to serve his country, and to fight in the Athenian army against the Lacedæmonians: but his enemies caused him to be ordered to retire. However, before he went away, he exhorted his companions, who were no less suspected than himself of favouring the Lacedæmonians, to exert themselves to the utmost, and fight with the greatest courage, io prove their innocence, and, if possible, to efface from the minds of the citizens, a suspicion so injurious to them all. Accordingly those brave soldiers, to the number of one hundred, fired by his words, demanded his whole armour of him, which they placed in the centre of their little battalion, in order to have him in a manner present, and before their eyes. They fought with so much valour and fury, that they were all cut to pieces, to the great regret of the Athenians, who deeply repented their having accused them so unjustly.‡ I omit several events of little importance.

SECTION IX.-CIMON IS RECALLED, &c. HIS DEATH.

THE Athenians, perceiving the great occasion they had for Cimon, recalled him from banishment, in which he had spent five years.§ It was Pericles him

*Plut. in Cim. Thucyd. 1. i. p. 67, 68.

†A. M. 3548. Ant. J. C. 456. Thucyd. 1, i. p. 69-71. Diod. 1. xi. p. 59-65.
t Plut. in Cim. P.
489,
Plut. in Cim, p. 490.

self who proposed and drew up that decree; "so moderate in those times," says Plutarch"were feuds and animosities, and so easy to be appeased, when the welfare of their country required it; and so happily did ambition, which is one of the strongest and most lively passions, yield to the necessity of the times, and comply with the occasions of the public."

The instant Cimon returned, he stifled the sparks of war which were about to break out among the Greeks, reconciled the two cities, and prevailed with them to conclude a truce for five years. And to prevent the Athenians, who were grown haughty on account of the many victories they had gained, from having an opportunity, or harbouring a design of attacking their neighbours and allies, he thought it adviseable to lead them at a great distance from home against the common enemy; thus endeavouring, in an honourable way, to inure the citizens to war, and enrich them at the same time. Accordingly he put to sea with a fleet of two hundred sail. He sent sixty of these into Egypt to the aid of Amyrteus, and himself sailed with the rest against the island of Cyprus.* Artabazus was at that time in those seas with a fleet of three hundred sail; and Megabyzus, the other general of Artaxerxes, with an army of three hundred thousand men, on the coast of Cilicia. As soon as the squadron which Cimon sent into Egypt had joined his fleet, he sailed and attacked Artabazus, and took one nundred of his ships. He sunk many of them, and chased the rest as far as the coast of Phoenicia. But, as if this victory had been only a prelude to a second, he made a descent on Cilicia in his return, attacked Megabyzus, defeated him, and cut to pieces a prodigious number of his troops. He afterwards returned to Cyprus with this double triumph, and laid siege to Citium, a strong city of very great importance. His design, after he had reduced that island, was to sail for Egypt, and again embroil the affairs of the barbarians; for he had very extensive views, and meditated no less a design than that of the entire subversion of the mighty empire of Persia. The ru mours which prevailed, that Themistocles was to command against him, added fresh fire to his courage; and almost assured of success, he was infinitely pleased with the occasion of trying his abilities with those of that general. But we have already seen that Themistocles laid violent hands on himself about this time.

The

Artaxerxes, tired with a war in which he had sustained such great losses, resolved, with the advice of his council, to put an end to it. Accordingly he sent orders to his generals to conclude a peace with the Athenians upon the most advantageous conditions they could. Megabyzus and Artabazus sent ambassadors to Athens to propose an accommodation. Plenipotentiaries were chosen on both sides, and Callias was at the head of those of Athens. conditions of the treaty were as follow: 1. That all the Grecian cities of Asia should enjoy their liberty, with such laws and forms of government as they should think fit to choose. 2. That no Persian ship of war should be allowed to enter the seas between the Cyanean and Chelidonian islands, that is, from the Euxine sea to the coasts of Pamphylia. 3. That no Persian general should lead any troops within three days march of those seas. 4. That the Athenians should not invade any part of the dominions of the king of Persia. These articles being ratified by both parties, peace was proclaimed.t

Thus ended this war, which, from the burning of Sardis by the Athenians, had lasted fifty-one years, and in which infinite numbers of Persians, as well as Greeks, had perished.

While the treaty was negotiating, Cimon died, either of sickness, or of a wound he had received at the siege of Citium. When he was near his end, he commanded his officers to sail with a fleet immediately for Athens, and to conceal his death with the utmost care. Accordingly this was executed with so much secrecy, that neither the enemy nor the allies once suspected it; and

* A. M. 3554. Ant. J. C. 450 Plut. in Cim. p. 490. Diod. 1. xii. p. 73, 74. Died. p. 74, 75

A. M. 3555. Ant. J. C 440

they returned safe to Athens, still under the conduct and auspices of Cimon, though he had been dead more than thirty days.

Cimon was universally regretted, which is no wonder, since he was possessed of all those qualities which dignify the soul; the most tender son; a faithful friend; zealous for the good of his country; a great politician; an accomplished general; modest when raised to the highest employments and most distinguished honours; liberal and beneficent almost to profusion; simple and averse to ostentation of every kind, even in the midst of riches and abundance; in fine, so great a lover of the poor citizens, as to share his whole estate with them, without being ashamed of such companions of his fortune.* History mentions no statues or monuments erected to his memory, nor any magnificent obsequies celebrated after his death: but the greatest honour that could be paid him, were the sighs and tears of the people; these were permanent and lasting statues, which are not subject to the inclemencies of weather or the injuries. of time, and endear the memory of the good and virtuous to the remotest ages. For the most splendid mausoleums, the works of brass and marble that are raised in honour of wicked great men, are despised by posterity, as sepulchres which inclose nothing but vile dust and putrefaction.t

What followed proved more strongly the loss which Greece had sustained by his death: for Cimon was the last of all the Grecian generals who did any thing considerable or glorious against the barbarians. Excited by the orators, who gained the strongest ascendency over the minds of the people, and sowed the seeds of division in their public asssemblies, they turned their animosity against each other, and at last proceeded to open war, the fatal consequences of which no one endeavoured to prevent; a circumstance that was of great advantage to the king of Persia, and the utmost prejudice to the affairs of Greece.

SECTION X.-THUCYDIDES IS OPPOSED TO PERICLES, &c.

THE nobles of Athens, seeing Pericles raised to the highest degree of power, and far above all the rest of the citizens, resolved to oppose him with a man, who, in some measure, might make head against him, and prevent his autho rity from growing up to monarchy. Accordingly they opposed him with Thucydides, Cimon's brother-in-law, a man who had displayed his wisdom on numberless occasions. He, indeed, did not possess military talents in so eminent a degree as Pericles; but then he had as great an influence over the people, shaping their opinions, and directing their assemblies as he pleased: and as he never stirred out of the city, but continually combated Pericles in all his designs, he soon restored things to an equilibrium. On the other side, Pericles was solicitous of pleasing the people on all occasions, and slackened the rein more than ever, entertaining them as often as possible with shows, festivals, games, and other diversions.‡

He found means to maintain, during eight months in the year, a great number of poor citizens, by putting them on board a fleet, consisting of sixty ships, which he fitted out every year; and thereby did his country an important service, by training up a great number of seamen for its defence; he alsc planted several colonies in Chersonesus, in Naxos, in Andros, and among the Bisaltæ in Thrace. There was a very noble one in Italy, of which we shall soon have occasion to speak, and which built Thurium. Pericles had different views in settling those colonies, besides the particular design he might have of gaining the affections of the people by that means. His chief motives were, to clear the city of a great number of idle persons, who were ever ready to disturb the government; to relieve the wants of the lowest class of people, who before were unable to subsist themselves; in fine, to awe the allies, by settling native Athenians among them as so many garrisons, which might prevent their

* Sic se gerendo minime est mirandum, si et vita ejus fuit secura, et mors acerba.-Corn. Nep. in Cim. c. 4 Hæ pulcherrimæ effigies et mansuræ. Nam quæ saxa struuntur, si judicium posterorum in odium ver. tit, pro sepulchris spernuntur.-Tacit. Annal. 1. 4. c. 38. Plut. in Pericl. p. 158-161.

engaging inany measure contrary to the interests of the people. The Romans acted in the same manner; and it may be said, that so wise a policy was one of the most effectual methods used by them to secure the tranquillity of the state.

But the circumstances which did Pericles the greatest honour in the opinion of the people, was his adorning the city with magnificent edifices and other works, which raised the admiration and astonishment of all foreigners, and gave them a high idea of the power of the Athenians. It is surprising that, in so short a space, so many works of architecture, sculpture, engraving, and painting, should have been performed, and at the same time carried to the highest perfection; for it is generally found, that edifices raised in haste boast neither a solid and durable grace, nor the regularity required in works of an exquisitely beautiful kind. Commonly, nothing but length of time, joined to assiduous labour, can give them such a strength as may preserve, and make them triumph over ages; and this raises our wonder still more in regard to the works of Pericles, which were finished with so much rapidity, and yet subsisted through so great a length of time. For each of those works, the very instant it was finished, had the beauty of an antique; and at this time, i. e. "above five hundred years after," says Plutarch, "they retained a freshness and youth as if just finished by the artist; so happily do they preserve the graces and charms of novelty, which will not suffer time to diminish their lustre; as if an ever-blooming spirit, and a soul exempt from age, were diffused into every part of those works.

But that circumstance, which excited the admiration of the whole_world, raised the jealousy of the people against Pericles. His enemies were for ever crying aloud in the assemblies, that it was dishonourable to the Athenians, to appropriate to themselves the bank of all Greece, which he had sent for from Delos where it had been deposited; that the allies must necessarily consider such an attempt as a manifest tyranny, when they found that the sums which had been extorted from them, upon pretence of their being employed in the war, were laid out by the Athenians in gilding and embellishing their city, in making magnificent statues, and raising temples that cost millions. They did not exaggerate on these occasions; for the temple of Minerva, alone, called the Parthenon, had cost three millions of livres.*

Pericles, on the contrary, remonstrated to the Athenians, that they were obliged to give the allies an account of the moneys they had received from them: that it was enough they defended them from the barbarians, whom they had repulsed, while the allies furnished neither soldiers, horses, nor ships; and were excused for some sums of money, which, from the instant they were paid in, were no longer the property of the donors, but of those who received them, provided they performed the conditions agreed upon, and in consideration of which they were received. He added, that as the Athenians were sufficiently provided with all things necessary for war, it was but just that they should employ the rest of their riches in edifices and other works, which, when finished, would give immortal glory to their city; and the whole time they were carrying on, diffused a plenty of all things, and gave bread to an infinite number of citizens: that they had themselves all kinds of materials, as timber, stone, brass, ivory, gold, ebony, and cyprus wood; and all sorts of artificers capable of working them, as carpenters, masons, smiths,stone-cutters, dyers, goldsmiths; artificers in ebony, painters, embroiderers, and turners; men fit to conduct their naval affairs, as merchants, sailors, and experienced pilots; others for land-carriage, as cartwrights, wagoners, carters, rope-makers, pavers, &c. That it was for the advantage of the state to employ these different artificers and workmen, who, as so many separate bodies, formed, when united, a kind of peaceable and domestic army, whose different functions and employments diffused gain and increase among all sexes and ages: lastly, that while men of robust bodies, and of an age fit to bear arms, whether soldiers or mariners, and those who were in

* About $644,444.

the different garrisons, were supported with the public moneys, it was but just, that the rest of the people who lived in the city should also be maintained in their way; and that, as all were members of the same republic, they all should reap the same advantages, by doing it services, which though of a different kind, did however all contribute to its security or ornament.

One day, as the debates were growing warm, Pericles offered to defray the expense of all these things, provided it should be declared in the public inscription, that he only had been at the charge of them. At these words the people, either admiring his magnanimity, or fired with emulation, and determined not to let him engross that glory, cried with one voice, that he might take out of the public treasury all the sums necessary for his purpose.

Phidias, the celebrated sculptor, presided over all these works, as directorgeneral. It was he who particularly cast the gold and ivory statue representing Pallas, which was so highly valued by all the judges of antiquity.* There arose an incredible ardour and emulation among the several artificers, who all strove to excel each other, and immortalize their names by master-pieces of art. The Odeon, or music-theatre, which had a great number of seats and columns within it, and whose roof grew narrower by degrees, and terminated in a point, was built, as history informs us, after the model of Xerxes's tent, according to the direction of Pericles. It was at that time he proposed, with great warmth, a decree, by which it was ordained, that musical games should be celebrated on the festival called Panathenæa; and having been chosen the judge and distributor of the prizes, he regulated the manner in which musicians should play on the flute and lyre, as well as sing. From that time, the musical games were always exhibited in this theatre.

I have already taken notice, that the more the beauty and splendour of these works were admired, the greater envy and clamour were raised against Pericles. The orators of the opposite faction were continually exclaiming against him, and tearing his character to pieces; accusing him of squandering the public moneys, and laying out very unseasonably the revenues of the state in edifices, whose magnificence was of no use. At last, the rupture between him and Thucydides rose to such a height, that one or the other must necessarily be banished by the ostracism. He got the better of Thucydides, prevailed in having him banished, by that means crushed the faction which opposed him, and obtained a despotic authority over the city and government of Athens. He now disposed at pleasure of the public moneys, troops, and ships. The land and sea were subject to him; and he reigned singly and alone in that wide domain, which extended, not only over the Greeks, but the barbarians also, and which was cemented and strengthened by the obedience and fidelity of the conquered nations, by the friendship of kings, and treaties concluded with various princes.

Historians expatiate greatly on the magnificent edifices and other works with which Pericles adorned Athens, and I have related faithfully their testimony; but I cannot say whether the complaints and murmurs raised against him were very ill grounded. And indeed, was it just in him to expend in superfluous buildings and vain decorations, the immense sumst intended for carrying on the war; and would it not have been better to have released the allies from part of the contributions, which, in his administration, were raised to a third part more than before? According to Cicero, such edifices and other works only are worthy of admiration, as are of use to the public, as aqueducts, citywalls, citadels, arsenals, sea-ports; and to these we must add, the works made by Pericles, to join Athens to the port of Piræus. But Cicero observes, at the same time, that Pericles was blamed for squandering away the public treasure, merely to embellish the city with superfluous ornaments. Plato, who

Non Minerva Athenis factæ amplitudine utemur, cum ea sit cubitorum xxvi. Ebore hæc et auro con stat.—Plin. 1. xxxvi. c. 5. This statue was twenty-six cubits in height.

They amounted to upwards of ten millions, French money, or $1,875,000.

Offic. 1. ii. n. 6Q