Page:History of Greece Vol IX.djvu/351

 OLIGARCHICAL F JRM OF GOVERNMENT. 329 nothing. 1 Now the oligarchical persons actually in power were vehemently anti-Laconian, consisting of men who had partaken of the Persian funds and contracted alliance with Persia, besides compromising themselves irrevocably (like Timolaus) by the most bitter manifestations of hostile sentiment towards Sparta. These men found themselves menaced by a powerful opposition party, which had no constitutional means for making its sentiments pre- dominant, and for accomplishing peaceably either a change of ad- ministrators or a change of public policy. It was only by an appeal to arms and violence that such a consummation could be brought about ; a fact notorious to both parties, so that the oli- garchical administrators, informed of the meetings and conversa- tions going on, knew well that they had to expect nothing less than the breaking out of a conspiracy. That such anticipations were well-founded, we gather even from the partial recital of Xenophon ; who states that Pasimelus, the philo-Laconian leader, was on his guard and in preparation, 2 and counts it to him as a virtue that shortly afterwards he opened the gates to the Lacedaemonians. Anticipating such conspiracy, the government resolved to pre- vent it by a coup d' etat. They threw themselves upon the as- sistance of their allies, invited in a body of Argeians, and made their blow the more sure by striking it on the last day of the festi- val called Eukleia, when it was least expected. Their proceeding, though dictated by precaution, was executed with the extreme of brutal ferocity aggravated by sacrilege ; in a manner very differ- ent from the deep-laid artifices recently practised by the Spartan ephors when they were in like manner afraid of the conspiracy of Kinadon, and more like the oligarchical conspirators at Korky- ra (in the third year of the Peloponnesian war) when they broke into the assembled Senate, and massacred Peithias, with sixty 1 Plutarch, Dion. c. 53 2 Xen. Hellen. iv, 4, 2. Tvovrsg 6s oi 'Apyeloi Kal BoiuTol Kal 'A&qvaioi Kal Kopiv&iuv oi re ruv Tcapu paaiheuf %pj}[j.aTuv ^eretr^/coref, Kal ot TOV iro^epov alriuraroi yeysvr][j.voi, uf, el fj.rj eKiro6tiv noiqaaivTO Toijf enl TTJV flor]vr)v TETpa/j./j.svov, Kivdvvevaet nuTiiv i] TroTiig TiaKUviaat OVTU 6% KO] 3aya(rfcxeipmw iroie.iadai. iv, 4, 4 OI 6s vsurspoi, luroTTTf vowrof Haaipfaov TO /zt'l/lov eaeadac, fjffv- %iav laxov sv ru Kpaviu- (if 6s r^c Kpavyije jjadovro, Kal fytvyovreq rtvef sk rev Trpd-ypa.~o<; U^IKOVTO Trpbe avroiie, SK TOVTOV uva6pafiovTf Karti, TOV 'A* ooKopiv&ov, TrooaflaX6vTa<; fi^v 'Apyovf Kal Tot; uDMvr, uTreKoovaavra etc.