Page:History of Greece Vol III.djvu/52

 36 HISTORY OF GREECK. inth, in Megara, and in each of the Dorian towns of the Argolifl Akte. But besides the Dorian tribes and these rustics, there must probably have existed non-Dorian proprietors and town residents, and upon them we may suppose that the power of the Orthagorida? and of Kleisthenes was founded, perhaps more friendly and indulgent to the rustic serfs than that of the Dorians had been previously. The moderation, which Aristotle ascribes to the Orthagoridaj generally, is belied by the proceedings of Kleis- thenes : but we may probably believe that his predecessors, con- tent with maintaining the real predominance of the non-Dorian over the Dorian population, meddled very little with the separate position and civil habits of the latter, while Kleisthenes, pro- voked or alarmed by some attempt on their part to strengthen alliance with the Argeians, resorted both to repressive measures and to that offensive nomenclature which has been above cited. The preservation of the power of Kleisthenes was due to his mil- itary energy (according to Aristotle) even more than to his mod- eration and popular conduct ; it was aided, probably, by his magnificent displays at the public games, for he was victor in the chariot-race at the Pythian games 582 B. c., as well as at the Olympic games besides. Moreover, he was in fact the last of the race, nor did he transmit his power to any successor. 1 The reigns of the early Orthagoridte, then, may be considered as marking a predominance, newly acquired but quietly exercised j of the non-Dorians over the Dorians in Sikyon : the reign of Kleisthenes, as displaying a strong explosion of antipathy from the former towards the latter ; and though this antipathy ; and the application of those opprobrious tribe-names in which, it was conveyed, stand ascribed to Kleisthenes personally, we may see that the non- Dorians in Sikyon shared it generally, because these same tribe-names continued to be applied not only during the reign of that despot, but also for sixty years longer, after his death. Of course, it is needless to remark that such denominar ap. Athenaeum, vi, p. 271; Welcker, Prolegomen. ad Thcognid. c. 19, p. xxxiv. As an analogy to this name of Konipodes, we may notice the ancient courts of justice called Courts of Pie-powder in England, Fieds PoudrA. 1 Aristot. Polit. v, 9, 21 ; Pausan. x, 7, 3.