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 192 GREECE there at the time on other business ; but a large majority of the assembly voted for war. Be- fore carrying the vote into execution, the Spar- tans made several demands upon the Athenians : 1, the banishment of the Alcmasonidae, among whom Pericles himself was included; 2, the withdrawal of the Athenian troops from Poti- dwa, the restoration of independence to vEgina, and the repeal of a decree against Megara ; 3, a recognition of the independence of the other Grecian states. Pericles in a powerful speech argued that no concessions could avert the war, and an answer in accordance with his views was returned. Hostilities were commenced the next year by an attack of the Thebans upon Plataa. The war, being thus openly begun, soon drew into its vortex nearly all the states of Greece. On the side of Sparta were ranged the whole Peloponnesus (except Argos and Achaia), the Megarians, Boeotians, Phocians, Opuntian Locrians, Ambraciotes, Leucadians, and Anactorians. The Dorian cities of Italy and Sicily were expected to furnish a fleet, and it was even contemplated to invite the Persian king to send a Phoenician squadron against Athens. The allies of the Athenians were the Chians, Lesbians, Corey raeans, Zacynthians, and afterward the Cephallenians ; the tributary cities on the coasts of Thrace and Asia Minor, and the islands N. of Crete, except Melos and Thera. Archidamus, the Spartan king, leading a force of from 60,000 to 100,000 men, marched from the isthmus, where they had assembled immediately after the attack upon Plataea, crossed the Attic border, and entered the Thri- asian plain early in the summer of 431. Peri- cles collected the inhabitants of Attica within the walls of the city, and abandoned the coun- try to the ravages of the invaders, while he sent a fleet to lay waste the coasts of the Pelopon- nesus. It was not before the end of the summer that Archidamus retired from Attica and dis- banded his army. The second invasion of At- tica by the Lacedaemonians took place the next year. The sufferings of the people were terribly increased by the plague of Athens, of which Thucydides, one of the few of those attacked who survived, gives an accurate and powerful description. The demoralizing effects of the de- spair produced by this mysterious disease were worse than the physical sufferings. It was es- timated that not less than a fourth of the popu- lation was carried off. In this extraordinary and calamitous state of affairs an outcry was raised against Pericles, as the author of the public misfortunes. On his return from a naval expedition against the Peloponnesus, he was accused by Cleon, a rising demagogue, of pecu- lation, brought to trial, and condemned to pay a fine. But the popular feeling veering about, he regained his influence, and was reflected gen- eral. Soon after, however, he was attacked by the disease, which had already carried off his sister and his two sons Xanthippus and Paralus, and died of a lingering fever, which superven- ed upon the plague, and, in the weakened state of his constitution, proved fatal. The death of Pericles struck a deadly blow to the Athe- nian cause. The men who seized the control of the state were greatly his inferiors in moral character and all statesmanlike qualities. In the second year of the war the Lacedaemonians made some attempts and did some harm to the Athenian possessions by sea. In the following winter Potidaea capitulated, having been insti- gated to revolt by the Lacedaemonians, and the territory was occupied by colonists from Athens. Two invasions were made in 429 ; and the mem- orable siege of Plataea, which ended two years later, commenced. After the surrender the Lacedaemonians cruelly put to death every man who fell into their hands, and utterly destroyed the city. In the same year Phormio gained several naval victories for Athens in the Corin- thian gulf. In 428 Attica was again invaded. Mitylene, the capital of Lesbos, revolted, and a fleet was despatched against it. The aid of the Lacedaemonians was invoked, and succors were promised ; but delays occurring in sending them, the party of the Mityleneans favorable to Athenian supremacy opened negotiations with Paches, the Athenian commander, and a capit- ulation was agreed upon. The leaders of the revolt were sent to Athens, where a remark- able debate was held on the question of putting the whole body of the Mityleneans to death. Cleon's savage proposal of a general massacre was at first carried by a small majority, and a trireme was despatched with orders to Paches to put it immediately into execution. But the cooler second thoughts of the people in the assembly of the following day led to a reversal of the decree ; a second trireme, rowed by oarsmen stimulated by the promise of large rewards, being sent with counter orders, hap- pily arrived in season to arrest the execution of the decree. To this period belong the bloody feuds at Corcyra, of which Thucydides has drawn a masterly picture. The year 426 was marked by calamities of another kind by floods, earthquakes, and the reappearance of the plague at Athens. In 425 the Athenians established a garrison at Pylos, the modern Navarino ; an act which recalled the Pelopon- nesian fleet from Corcyra, and the army from Attica, where they had been only 15 days. An assault was made, led by Brasidas, with the intent to expel the Athenians, but it was not successful ; and while the Lacedaemonians were preparing to renew it, the Athenian fleet en- tered the port, and in the battle that ensued gained a decisive victory. The Athenians now blockaded the Lacedaemonians, shut up on the little island of Sphacteria. The besieged were reduced to such straits that an armistice was solicited to enable the Lacedaemonians to send to Athens and sue for peace. The Athenian assembly, under the influence of Cleon, insisting on extravagant terms, the war was resumed. Demosthenes, the Athenian general, not suc- ceeding as quickly as was hoped in reducing the garrison, sent to Athens for further assis-