Page:Greece from the Coming of the Hellenes to AD. 14.djvu/210

182 the Eumolpidae, or priests of Demeter, only to be expiated by their death. It would certainly unfit them for any public employment.

But just before the sailing of the expedition another outrage in the city roused still more both the religious and political fears of the people. The Hermae—stone pillars surmounted by busts of Hermes—stood in great numbers in the streets and colonnades. These were nearly all found to have been mutilated in one night. In addition to the shock given to the religious ideas of the people by this piece of vandalism, there was the uneasy feeling with which any concerted and secret action was always regarded, as indicating revolutionary plots, almost certain to be for the establishment of a tyranny. The peace party pointed to Alcibiades as the ringleader in the mischief, though not long afterwards Andocides confessed his guilt and named his accomplices. It seems unlikely that as he was starting on an expedition which he ardently desired, and from which he expected such great advantages, he should have so wantonly done what he must have known would thwart his own plans. It is more probable that it was a mere freak of dissipation, or deliberately contrived by his enemies to discredit him. He urged that he should be put on his trial at once, and not sent out in command while labouring under such a suspicion. The people, however, were too eager for the expedition, and too much convinced of his military abilities to grant the request. His enemies supported this vote, for they thought that they could attack him with a better