Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume VIII.djvu/201

 GREECE 189 The adoption of his constitution, and the sub- sequent modification of it by Clisthenes, react- ing upon the original tendencies of the Ionian race to a free intellectual and political develop- ment, produced the results in letters, art, philos- ophy, political science, and popular eloquence, which so brilliantly distinguish the history of the Athenian commonwealth. But even in Athens a tyranny arose. Pisistratus was twice expelled, but he and his family ruled Athens with moderation, and administered the govern- ment through the Solonian institutions, until the assassination of Hipparchus converted his surviving brother Hippias into a despotic op- pressor. The tyranny of the Pisistratidse lasted about 50 years. The expulsion of Hippias was followed immediately by the popular changes in the constitution introduced by Clisthenes. The progress of Athens under the impulse of such wise and equal institutions excited the jealousy of Sparta, who made several unsuc- cessful attempts to overthrow the democracy. Besides the colonies in Asia Minor already mentioned, the Greeks extended their colonial system to Italy, Sicily, Gaul, Spain, Africa, and, in the north, to Epirus, Macedonia, Thrace, and the coasts of the Euxine. The Asiatic colonies were the oldest, and among them literature and the arts first developed themselves. The settlements in Italy and Sicily began about 735 B. C. The settlements in Egypt and Cyrene were commenced about a century later. About 700 the island of Corcyra was settled by Co- rinthian colonists, and other settlements were soon afterward made on the neighboring islands and the opposite coast ; so that at the begin- ning of the 6th century the Hellenic race, in extent of territory and resources, was far the most powerful in the European world. "We have now reached the period when the Hellenic and barbaric races were preparing for an or- ganized conflict. The Greeks of Asia Minor had been subjected by Croesus, king of Lydia, and were afterward ruled by Cyrus, the foun- der of the Persian empire. Darius, son of Hystaspes, ascended the Persian throne in 521 B. C. The revolt of the Ionian colonies from the Persian rule commenced effectively about 501, and the mother country was appealed to for aid. The Athenians voted to send a squad- ron of 20 ships, which, Herodotus says, " were the beginners of evil both to Greeks and bar- barians." In the following year Sardis was captured and burned by the Greeks under Aristagoras, and the revolt extended far and wide. Measures were speedily taken to sup- press it. The capture of Miletus and the de- feat of the Ionian fleet at Lade completed the subjection of Ionia (494). This event put an end to the ancient prosperity of Ionia. Darius made preparations to follow up its reduction by the conquest of Greece itself. Placing a large armament under the command of Mar- donius, his son-in-law, he sent him across the Hellespont ; but the destruction of the accom- panying fleet, while attempting to double the promontory of Athos, by a hurricane, and the slaughter of a large portion of the land force by the Brygians, a Tbracian tribe, forced him to return to Persia. This was the first Persian expedition to Greece (492). The Persian mon- arch, stimulated by Hippias, the exiled despot of Athens, made preparations on a large scale, and in 490 assembled a mighty army in Cilicia, and a fleet of 600 galleys, with horse trans- ports. The command was given to Datis and Artaphernes. Embarking with their forces, they sailed directly across the ^Egean, reduced the Cyclades, took Eretria in Euboea after a siege of six days, razed the city, and put the inhabitants in chains. In a few days they crossed to Attica, and landed on the plain of Marathon. The Athenians, warned of their approach, made preparations to receive them, and though opposed by a force more than five times as great as their own, and aided only by 1,000 Platseans, they attacked the Persian army in the open field, Miltiades commanding, and won over it one of the most famous victories in history. (See MARATHON.) The Persians fled to their ships, which were stationed in lines near the shore. They lost 6,400 men, the Athenians 192. The resentment of Da- rius, when he received the news of the de- feat at Marathon, knew no bounds. He re- solved to collect the forces of his empire, and to lead them himself against Athens. Three years were occupied in making preparations on a gigantic scale; but his death postponed the threatened invasion. Xerxes, his son and successor, influenced by Mardonius, who was eager to retrieve his reputation, resolved to prosecute the plan of conquest, and to collect forces on a still more magnificent scale. Four years more were occupied with preparations. Troops from 46 different nations were assem- bled ; a large fleet furnished by the subject maritime nations was collected ; immense stores of provisions were deposited at stations along the intended line of march ; a bridge was con- structed across the Hellespont, and a canal cut through the narrow neck that joins the penin- sula of Athos to the mainland. The bridge having been swept away by a storm, Xerxes caused two to be built in its place, one for the army and one for the baggage and beasts of burden. The preparations were completed in 481, and in the spring of 480 the march began, from Sardis to the Hellespont, where the army crossed the bridge, and approached Greece along the coast of Thrace. According to Herodotus, the military and naval forces amounted to 2,317,610, besides the accessories from the native tribes ; so that when Xerxes reached Thermopylae his army consisted of more than 2,500,000 fighting men, or inclu- ding attendants, if Herodotus is to be believ- ed, of more than 5,000,000. Though these statements are incredible, the extensive prepa- rations made for years give us reason to be- lieve that the army of Xerxes was one of the largest ever assembled. To make arrange-