Page:History of Greece Vol VIII.djvu/315

 AMNESTY AT A 1 HENS. 293 one of the minority of the Thirty who sided generally with Theramenes, and opposed to a considerable degree the extreme violences of Kritias, although personally concerned in that seizure and execution of the rich metics which Theramenes had resisted, and which was one of the grossest misdeeds even of that dark period. He and Pheidon, being among the Ten named to succeed the Thirty after the death of Kritias, when the remaining members of that deposed Board retired to Eleusis, had endeavored to maintain themselves as a new oligarchy, car- rying on Avar at the same time against Eleusis and against the democratical exiles in Peiraeus. Failing in this, they had retired from the country, at the time when these exiles returned, and when the democracy was first reestablished. But after a certain interval, the intense sentiments of the moment having somewhat subsided, they were encouraged by their friends to return, and came back to stand their trial of accountability. It was on that occasion that Lysias preferred his accusation against Eratosthenes, the result of which we do not know, though we gee plainly, even from the accusatory speech, that the latter had powerful friends to stand by him, and that the dikasts manifested considerable reluctance to condemn. 1 "We learn, moreover, from the same speech, that such was the detestation of the Thirty among several of the states surrounding Attica, as to cause 1 All this may l>c collected from various passages of the Orat. xii, of Lysias. Eratosthenes did not stand alone on his trial, hut in conjunction with other colleagues ; though of course, pursuant to the psephism of Kannonus, the vote of the dikasts would be taken about each separately: u/./.d Trapa 'Eparocr&evovc nal rCiv rovrovl avvapxovTuv diici/v Zappaveiv ., . . urjS 1 u~ovai fiev roif rpictKOvra iTnfiovfai'ETE, Trapovrae ff U(J>J/TE pride rijf ri'XIC' % ToL'Tovf Trapcduice ry irol.ei, KUKIOV i'filv avrolf (3oqdriffj)T (sects. 80, 81) : compare s. 36. The number of friends prepared to back the defence of Eratosthenes, and to obtain his acquittal, chiefly by representing that he had done tho least mischief of all the Thirty : that all that he had done had been under fear of his own life ; that he had been the partisan and supporter of Tlieram- i-iies. whose memory was at that time popular, may be seen in sections 31, 50, 65, 87, 88, 91. There are evidences also of other accusations brought against the Thirty before the senate of Areopagus (Lysias, Or. xi, cont. Thcomnest. A. s. 3) D. s. 12).