Page:History of Greece Vol XII.djvu/417

 DEMETRIUS AND THE MYSTERIES. 385 and subservience towards Demetrius, are jet more remarkable, as betraying a loss of force, a senility, and a consciousness of defenceless and degraded position, such as we are astonished to find publicly proclaimed at Athens. It is not only against the foreign potentates that the Athenians avow themselves incapable of self-defence, but even against the incursions of the -^tolians. ■ — Greeks like themselves, though warlike, rude, and restless.* When such were the feelings of a people, once the most daring, confident, and organizing — and still the most intelligent — in Greece, we may see that the history of the Greeks as a separate nation or race is reaching its close — and that from henceforward they must become merged in one or other of the stronger cur- rents that surround them. After his past successes, Demetrius passed some months in enjoyment and luxury at Athens. He was lodged in the Par- thenon, being considered as the guest of the goddess Athene. But his dissolute habits provoked the louder comments, from being indulged in such a domicile ; Avhile the violences which he offered to beautiful youths of good family led to various scenes truly tragical. The subservient manifestations of the Athenians towards him, however, continued unabated. It is even affirmed, that, in order to compensate for something which he had taken amiss, they passed a formal decree, on the proposition of Strato- kles, declaring that every thing which Demetrius might command was holy in regard to the gods, and just in regard to men.^ The banishment of Demochares is said to have been brought on by his sarcastic comments upon this decree.^ In the month ^ Compare Pausanias, vii. 7, 4. " Plutarcli, Dcmetr. 24. ' Such is the statement of Plutarch (Demetr. 24); but it seems not in harmony with the recital of the honorary decree, passed in 272 b. c, after the death of Demochares, commemorating his merits by a statue, etc. (Plutarch, Vit. X. Oratt. p. 850). It is there recited that Demochares ren- dered services to Athens (fortifying and arming the city, concluding peace iind alliance with the Boeotians, etc.) M tov TETpaerov^ ttoXe/wv, uvd' uv i^eneaev vttb tuiv KarakvaavTuv tov dJjfiov, 01 naTokvaavTe^ tov 6r]fiov cannot mean either Demetrius Poliorketcs, or Stratokles. Moreover, we cannot determine when the " four years' war," or the alliance with the Roiotians, occurred. Neither the discussion of Mr. Clinton (Fast. H. .302 B. c, and Append, p. 380), nor the different hypothesis of Droysen, are VOL. xii. 33