Page:History of Greece Vol X.djvu/182

 160 HISTORY OF GREECE. between the Athenians and Tli3bans, the Platseans were secretly trying to persuade Athens to accept and occupy their town, annex- ing Plataea to Attica ; ' a project hazardous both to Thebes arid Athens, since it would place them at open war with each other, while neither was yet at peace with Sparta. This intrigue, coming to the knowledge of the Thebaus, de- termined them to strike a decisive blow. Their presidency, over more than one of the minor Boeotian cities, had always been un- gentle, suitable to the roughness of their dispositions. Towards Plataea, especially, they not only bore an ancient antipathy, but regarded the reestablished town as little better than a Lacedae- monian encroachment, abstracting from themselves a portion of territory which had become Theban, by prescriptive enjoyment lasting for forty years from the surrender of Plataea in 427 B. c. As it would have been to them a loss as well as embarrassment, if Athens should resolve to close with the tender of Plataea, they forestalled the contingency by seizing the town for themselves. Since the reconquest of Boeotia by Thebes, the Plataeans had come again, though reluctantly, under the ancient constitution of Boeotia ; they were living at peace with Thebes, acknowledging her rights as president of the federation, and having their own rights as members guaranteed in return by her, probably under positive engagement, that is, their security, their territory, and their qualified autonomy, subject to the *ederal restrictions and obliga- tions. But though thus at peace with Thebes, 2 the Plataeans knew 1 Diodor. xv, 46. I do not know from whom Diodorus copied this state- ment ; but it seems extremely reasonable. 2 This seems to me what is meant by the Plataean speaker in Isokrates, when he complains more than once that Platsea had been taken by the Thebans in time of peace, elprivrjf ovaijf. The speaker, in protesting against the injustice of the Thebans, appeals to two guarantees which they have violated ; for the purpose of his argument, however, the two are not clearly distinguished, but run together into one. The first guarantee was, the peace of Antalkidas, under which Platiea had been restored, and to which Thebes, Sparta, and Athens, -were all parties. The second guaran- tee, was that given by Thebes when she conquered the Boeotian cities in 877-376 B.C., and reconstituted the federation; whereby she ensured to the Plataeans existence as a city, with so much of autonomy as was consistent with the obligations of a member of the Boeotian federation. When the Plataean speaker accuses the Thebans of having vijlated " the oaths and