Page:History of Greece Vol XI.djvu/57

 EMOTION AT OLYMPIA. 31 Of these two enemies, one (the Persian King) was out of reach. But the second Dionysius though not present in person, stood forth by his envoys and appurtenances conspicuous even to osten- tation, beyond any man on the ground. His Theory or solemn legation outshone every other by the splendor of its tents and dec orations : his chariots to run in the races were magnificent : his horses were of rare excellence, bred from the Venetian stock, im- ported out of the innermost depths of the Adriatic Gulf: 1 his poems, recited by the best artists in Greece, solicited applause by excellent delivery and fine choric equipments, if not by supe- rior intrinsic merit. Now the antipathy against Dionysius was not only aggravated by all this display, contrasted with the wretchedness of impoverished exiles whom he had dispossessed but was also furnished with something to strike at and vent itself upon. Of such opportunity for present action against a visible object, Lysias did not fail to avail himself. While he vehemently preached a crusade to dethrone Dionysius and liberate Sicily, he at the same time pointed to the gold and purple tent before them, rich and proud above all its fellows, which lodged the brother of the despot with his Syracusan legation. He exhorted his hearers to put forth at once an avenging hand, in partial retribution for the sufferings of free Greece, by plundering the tent which in- sulted them by its showy decorations. He adjured them to in- terfere and prevent the envoys of this impious despot from sacri- ficing or entering their chariots in the lists, or taking any part in the holy Pan-hellenic festival. 2 read at the Olympic festival of that year (s. 197). tcruf 6' av Kal -njf ifiijf Evr/tieiae Trokhol Karayehaaeiav, si dvarvxictf uvdpuv 66vpoifj.7jv EV Kaipolf, ev olf 'Ira/U'a /J.BV avaararof yeyove, StKe3./a 6e Karadsdov (compare s. 145), TocavTai 6e TTO^EIS rolf jBappupoie EK&e6ovTai, TU r5e pepj] TUV 'EAA^vuv l:v roZf fj.EjiaroL^ Kivdvvoif sariv. Isokrates had addressed a letter to the elder Dionysius. F.e alludes briefly to it in his Orat. ad Philippum (Orat. v. s. 93), in terms which ap- pear to indicate that it was bold and plain spoken (dpaavrepov TUV uMuv), The first letter, among the ten ascribed to Isokrates, purports to be a letter to Dionysius; but it seems rather (to judge by the last words) to be the preface of a letter about to follow. Nothing distinct can be made out from It as it now stands. 1 Strabo, v. p. 212. 1 Dionys. Hnl p. 519. Jud. de LysiA. 'Ear; $ 2tr ircr