Page:History of Greece Vol VIII.djvu/84

 62 HISTORY OF GREECE. doubtless brought back intimation of the enraged feelings mani- fested by the armament, and of their eagerness, uncontrollable by every one except Alkibiades, to sail home forthwith and rescue Athens from the Four Hundred. Hence arose an increased conviction that the dominion of the latter could not last : and an ambition, on the part of others as well as Theramenes, to stand forward as leaders of a popular opposition against it, in the name of the Five Thousand. 1 Against this popular opposition, Antiphon and Phrynichua 10-15), that during this spring he furnished the armament at Samos with wood proper for the construction of oars, only obtained by the special favor of Archelaus king of Macedonia, and of which the armament then stood in great need. He farther alleges, that he afterwards visited Athens, while the Four Hundred were in full dominion ; and that Peisander, at the head of this oligarchical body, threatened his life for having furnished such valuable aid to the armament, then at enmity with Athens. Though he saved his life by clinging to the altar, yet he had to endure bonds and manifold hard treatment. Of these claims, which Andokides prefers to the favor of the subsequent democracy, I do not know how much is true. 1 Thucyd. viii, 89. aaQearara 6e avTovc tTrfjpe TU iv ry Iiuftu TOV 'A^./a/3t u6ov iax v pb ovTa, Kal on avToic OVK kSoitei fiovifiov TO riyf ohr/apxiaf taetr&ai qyuvi&To ovv elf EKdGTOf irpooTaTrjf TOV tiyfiov iaea-bai. This is a remarkable passage, as indicating what is really meant by vpo~ oTUTijf TOV 6tjuov : " the leader of a popular opposition." Theramenes, and the other persons here spoken of, did not even mention the name of the democracy, they took up simply the name of the Five Thousand, yet they are still called Trpoorarat TOV <%iov, inasmuch as the Five Thousand were a sort of qualified democracy, compared to the Four Hundred. The words denote the leader of a popular party, as opposed to an oligar- chical party (see Thucyd. iii, 70; iv, 66: vi, 35), in a form of government cither entirely democratical, or at least, in which the public assembly is fre- quently convoked and decides on many matters of importance. Thucydides does not apply the words to any Athenian except in the case now before us respecting Theramenes : he does not use the words even with respect to Kleon, though he employs expressions which seem equivalent to it (iii, 36 ; iv, 21) uvTjp 6j)fiayu-ybf /car' tuelvov TOV %povov uv KOI r<p TT^TJ'&EI 7rtdavu~ TUTOf, etc. This is very different from the words which he applies to Perikles uv yap 6 vv OT UTaTOf TUV a$' i av~bv /cat uy uv TT/V ITO^-IT eiai' (i, 127). Even in rospect to Kikias. he puts him in conjunction with Pleisto- anax at Sparta, and talks of both of them as <T7rev<5ovref TU jj j E fio vi a v (v, 16). Compare the note of Dr. Arnold on H, 35.