Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870) - Volume 2.djvu/876

Rh 862 LYSANDER. fleet, an application which was supported also by Cyrus. The Lacedaemonian law, however, did not <dIow the office of admiral to he held twice by the same person ; and, accordingly, in order to comply with the wish of the allies, without con- travening the established custom, Aracus was sent out, in 6.0.405,38 the nominal commander-in- chief, while Lysander, virtually invested with the supreme direction of affairs, had the title of vice- admiral. Having arrived at Ephesuswith 35 ships, he assembled from different quarters all the avail- able navy of Lacedaemon, and proceeded to build fresh gallies besides. For this purpose, as well as for the pay of the men, he was again furnished with money by Cyrus, who, being soon after sum- moned to court by his father Dareius, even in- trusted Lysander with authority over his province, and assigned to him the tribute from its several cities. Thus amply provided with the means of prosecuting the war, Lysander commenced offensive operations. Sailing to Miletus, where he had ex- cited the oligarchical faction to attack their oppo- nents in defiance of a truce between them, he pre- tended to act as mediator, and, by his treacherous professions, induced the majority of the popular party to abandon their intention of fleeing from the city. Having thus placed themselves in the power of their enemies, they were massacred, and Lysander's faction held undisputed ascendancy in Miletus. Thence he proceeded to Cedreae, on the Ceramic gulf, which he took by stonn, and sold the inhabitants for slaves. He then directed his course to the Saronic gulf, over-ran Aegina and Salamis, and even made a descent on the coast of Attica, ■where he was visited by Agis, then in command at Deceleia, and had an opportunity of exhibiting to the Spartan army an appearance of supremacy by sea. But, when he heard that the Athenian fleet from Samos was in chace of him, he sailed away to the Hellespont. Here he took Lampsacus by stoiTO, and soon after the Athenian navy, of 180 ships, arrived, and stationed itself opposite Lampsacus at Aegos-potami. Within a few days from this time the unaccountable rashness and negligence of the Athenian commanders, with the bingle exception of Conon, enabled Lysander to capture all their fleet, saving eight ships, which escaped with Conon to Cyprus, and the Paralus, which conveyed to Athens the tidings of the virtual conclusion of the war aod the utter ruin of her fortunes. Lysander then sailed suc- cessively to Byzantium and Chalcedon, both of which opened their gates to him. The Athenian garrisons he permitted to depart, on condition of their going to Athens ; and the same course he adopted with all the Athenians whom he found elsewhere ; his object being to in- crease the number of mouths in the city, and so to shorten the siege. Sailing from the Hellespont with 200 ships, he proceeded to the south, estab- lishing in the several states on his way oligarchical governments, composed of his own partisans — members of the political clubs he had already taken so. much care to form— and thus everywhere, except for a time at Samos, the friends of Athens and democracy were overborne. He settled also in their ancient homes a remnant of the Aeginetans, Scionaeans, and Melians who had been driven out by the Athenians (comp. Thuc. ii. 27, v. 32, 116), and he then sailed to the mouth of the Peiraeeus, and blockaded it with 150 gallies. He had previously LYSANDER. sent notice of his approach to Agis and to the Spartan government, and the land-forces of the Peloponnesian confederacy had entered Athens under Pausanias, and encamped in the Academy (comp. Schneider, ad Xen. Hell. ii. 2. ^ 8). In the spring of 404 Athens capitulated, and Lysander, sailing into the Peiraeeus, began to destroy the long walls and the fortifications of the harbour to the sound of joyful music, and (according to Plutarcli) on the 16th of Munychion, the very day of the Greek victory over the fleet of Xerxes at Salamis. The several accounts of the events immediately ensuing are not very consistent with each other. From Xenophon, it would appear {Bell. ii. 3. § 3 ; comp. Thirlwall's Greece, vol. iv. p. 174, note 2), that Lysander did not quit Athens for Samos be- fore the establishment of the thirty tyrants; but it seems more probable that, as we gather from Lysias and Diodorus, he sailed forthwith to Samos, to re- duce it, before the complete demolition of the Athenian walls, but soon returned to Athens to support the oligarchical party in the contemplated revolution (Lys. c. Eratosth. p. 126 ; Diod. xiv. 4). Accordingly, we find him sternly quelling the ex- pression of popular discontent at the proposal to subvert democracy, by declaring that the Athenians could no longer appeal to the treaty of capitulation, since they had themselves infringed it by omitting to throw down their walls within the appointed time. All opposition was thus overborne, and tlie creatures of Sparta were put in possession of the government. Plutarch tells us that Lysander, having thus settled matters in Athens, went to Thrace ; but this, perhaps, is only a mis-placed re- ference to his expedition to Byzantium before-men- tioned. It seems nearly certain that he returned immediately to Samos. The island capitulated after a short siege, and the conqueror sailed home in triumph with the spoils and trophies of the war. The introduction of so much wealth into Sparta called forth the censure of many, as tending to foster corruption and cupidity — an opinion which the recent case of Gvlippus might be thought to support, — and it required all the efforts of Lysander and his party to defeat a proposal for dedicating the whole of the spoil to the Delphic god, instead of retaining it in the public treasurj'. As it was, a number of statues were erected at Delphi, and other offerings made there, as well as at Sparta and Amyclae, in commemoration of Lysander's victories and the close of the struggle with Athens. (See Paus. iii. 17, 18,x. 9 ; Athen. vi. p. 233, f.) Lysander was now by far the most powerful man in Greece, and he displayed more than the usual pride and haughtiness which distinguished the Spartan commanders in foreign countries. He was passionately fond of praise, and took care that his exploits should be celebrated by the most illustrious poets of his time. He always kept the poet Choerilus in his retinue ; and his praises were also sung by Antilochus, Antimachus of Colophon, and Niceratus of Heracleia. He was the first of the Greeks to whom Greek cities erected altars as to a god, offered sacrifices, and celebrated festivals. (Plut. Lys. 18 ; Paus. vi. 3. §§ 14, 15 ; Athen. XV. p. 696 ; Hesych. s. v. AvadvSpia.) Possessing such unlimited power, and receiving such extra- ordinary marks of honour from the rest of Greece, a residence at Sparta, where he must have been under restraint, could not be agreeable to him. We accordingly find that he did not remain long at