Page:History of Greece Vol XI.djvu/316

 290 HISTORY OF GREECE. the uselessness of voters in the public assembly, even after such votes had been passed if the citizens individually hung back, and shrunk from the fatigue or the pecuniary burthen indispen- sable for execution ! Demus in the Pnyx (to use, in an altered sense, an Aristophanic comparison ) > still remained Pan-hellenic and patriotic, when Demus at home had come to think that the city would march safely by itself without any sacrifice on his part, and that he was at liberty to become absorbed in his property, fa- mily, religion, and recreations. And so Athens might really have proceeded, in her enjoyment of liberty, wealth, refinement, and individual security could the Grecian world have been guaran- teed against the formidable Macedonian enemy from without. It was in the ensuing year, when the alarm rosf-^cting Persia had worn off, that the Athenians were called en to discuss the conflicting applications of Sparta and of Megalopolis. The sue cess of the Phokians appeared to be such as to prevent Thebes, especially while her troops, under Pammenes, were absent in Asia, from interfering in Peloponnesus for the protection of Megalopo- lis. There were even at Athens politicians who confidently pre- dicted the approaching humiliation of Thebes,- together with the emancipation and reconstitution of those Boeotian towns which she now held in dependence Orchomenus, Thespiae, and Plata;a ; predictions cordially welcomed by the Miso-Theban sentiment at Athens. To the Spartans, the moment appeared favorable for breaking up Megalopolis and recovering Messene; in which scheme they hoped to interest not only Athens, but also Elis, Phlius, and some other Peloponnesian states. To Athens they offered aid for the recovery of Oropus, now and for about twelve years past in the hands of the Thebans ; to Elis and Phlius they also tendered assistance for regaining respectively Triphylia and the 1 Aristophanes, Eqnit. 750. 3 Demosthenes, Orat pro Megalopolitanis, p. 203. s. 5. p. 210. s. 36 rap' vfi.lv /loyotf TeKfir/pacrdai, hare Qr)0aiov^ fiev 'Qpxopevov ai ccDf nal nAaraiuv o'lKia&eiuv uffi9emf yevicda.1, etc. "Av pev roiwt iv ol Qrjffaloi, uairsp avrovf fiel, etc. Compare Demosthenes cont. Aristokrat. p. 654. s. 120
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