Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography Volume II.djvu/655

 PLATA E A. nnd rnnnins^ for some space nearly parallel with onn another, at length unite and flow in a westerly di- rection into the gulf of Corinth. (Herod, ix. 51.) The nature of the ground would thus afford to the Greeks abundance of water, and protection from the enemy's cavalry. The retreat, however, though for SI) short a distance, was effected in disorder and con- fusion. The Greek centre, chiefly composed of Me- garians and Corinthians, probably fearing that the island would not afford them sufficient protection against the enemy's cavalry, did not halt till they reached the temple of Hera, which was in front of the town of Plataea. The Lacedaemonians on the right wing were delayed till the day began to dawn, by the obstinacy of Amompharetus, and then began to march across the hills which separated them from the island. The Athenians on the left wing began their march at the same time, and got round the hills to the plain on the other side on their way to the island. After marching 10 stadia, Pausanias halted on the bank of the Moloeis, at a place called Agriopius, where stood a temple of the Eleusinian Demeter. Here he was joined by Amompharetus, and here he had to sustain the attack of the Persians, who had rushed across the Asopus and up the hill after the retreating foe. As soon as Pausanias was overtaken by the Persians, he sent to the Athenians to entreat them to hasten to his aid ; but the coming up of tlie Boeotians prevented them from doing so. Accordingly the Lacedaemonians and Tegeatans had to encounter the Persians alone without any assist- ance from the other Greeks, and to them alone be- longs the glory of the victoiy. The Persians were defeated with great slaughter, nor did they stop in their flight till they had again crossed the Asopus a)id reached their fortified camp. The Thebans also were repulsed by the Athenians, but they retreated in good order to Thebes, being covered by their cavahy from the pursuit of the Athenians. The Greek centre, which was nearly 10 stadia distant, had no share in the battle ; but hearing that the Lacedaemonians were gaining the victory, they has- tened to the scene of action, and, coming up in con- fusion, as many as 600 were cut to pieces by the Theban force. Meantime the Lacedaemonians pur- sued the Persians to the fortified camp, which, how- ever, they were unable to take until the Athenians, more skilled in that species of warfare, came to their assistance. The barricades were then carried, and a dreadful carnage ensued. With the exception of 40,000 who retreated with Artabazus, only 3000 of the original 300,000 are said to have escaped. (Herod, ix. 50 — 70.) On the topography of this battle, see Leake, Northern Greece, vol. ii. p. 335, seq.; Grote, History of Greece, vol. v. p. 212, seq. As this signal victory had been gained on the soil of Plataea, its citizens received especial honour and rewards from the confederate Greeks. Not only was tiie large sum of 80 talents granted to them, which they employed in erecting a temple to Athena, but they were charged with the duty of rendering everj^ year religious honours to the tombs of the wairiors who had fallen in the battle, and of celebrating every five years the festival of the Eleutheria in com- memoration of the deliverance of the Greeks from the Persian yoke. The festival was sacred to Zeus Kleutherius, to whom a temple was now erected at Plataea. In return for these services Pausanias and the other Greeks swore to guarantee the independence and inviolability of the city and its territory (Thuc. ii. 71; Plut. Arist. c. 19—21; Strab. ix. p. 412; PLATAEA. 639 Pans. ix. 2. § 4; for further details sec Diet, of Ant. art. ELEUTiinr.iA.) I'lataea was of course now rebuilt, and its in- habitants continued unmolested till the commence- ment of the Peloponnesian War. In the sprint of B.C. 431, before any actual declaration of war, a party of 300 Thebans attempted to surprise Plataea. They were admitted within the walls in the night time by an oligarchical party of the citizens; but the Plataeans soon recovered from their surprise, and put to death 180 of the assailants. (Thuc. ii. 1, seq.) In the third year of the war (b. c. 429) the Pelo- ponnesian army under the command of Archidamus laid siege to Plataea. This siege is one of the most memorable in the annals of Grecian warfare, and has been narrated at great length by Thucydides. The Plataeans had previously. deposited at Athens their old men, women, and children; and the garrison of the city consisted of only 400 citizens and 80 Athen- ians, together with 110 women to manage their household affairs. Yet this small force set at de- fiance the wliole army of the Peloponnesians, who, after many fruitless attempts to take the city by assault, converted the siege into a blockade, and raised a circumvallation round the city, consisting of two parallel walls, 16 feet asunder, with a ditch on either side. In the second year of the blockade 212 of the besieged during a tempestuous winter's night succeeded in scaling the walls of circumval- lation and reaching Athens in safety. In the course of the ensuing summer (b. c. 427) the remainder of the garrison were obliged, through ftiilure of pro- vi.'iions, to surrender to the Peloponnesians. They were all put to death ; and all the private buildings rased to the ground by the Thebans, who with the materials erected a sort of vast barrack round the temple cf Hera, both for the accommodation of vi- sitors, and to serve as an abode for those to whom they let out the land. A new temple, of 100 feet in length (ff&jy eKard/xTreSos^ was also built by the Thebans in honour of Hera. (Thuc. ii. 71, seq., iii. 20, seq., 52, seq., 68.) The surviving Plataeans were kindly received by the Athenians. They would appear even before this time to have enjoyed the right of citizenship at Athens ('Adrivaicov ^vfi/xaxoi koI ■iroTai, Thuc. iii. 63). The exact nature of this citizenship is un- certain ; but that it was not the full citizenship, possessed by Athenian citizens, appears from a line of Aristophanes, who speaks of certain slaves, who had been engaged in sea-fights, being made Plataeans {koI TlKaTaias evOits flvat Kavrl SovKwv SeandTas, Ban. 706 ; comp. Schol. ad Arisioph. Run. 33 ; Biickh, Public Econ. of Athens, p. 262, 2nd ed.). Diodorus, in relating their return to Athens at a subsequent time, says (xv. 46) that they received the laoTToXiTila ; but that some of them at any rate enjoyed nearly the full privileges of Athenian citi- zens appears from the decree of the people quoted by Demosthenes (c. Neaer. p. 1380). On the whole subject, see Hermaim, Staatsalterth, § 117. In B.C. 420 the Athenians gave the Plataeans the town of Scione as a residence. (Thuc. v. 32 ; Isocr. Paneg. § 109; Diodor. xii. 76.) At the dose of the Peloponnesian War, they were compelled to evacuate Scione (Plut. Lysand. 14), and again found a hospitable welcome at Athens. Here they were living at the time of the peace of Antalcidas (b. c. 387), which guaranteed the autonomy of the Gre- cian cities ; and the Lacedaemonians, who were now anxious to humble the power of Thebes, took ad-