Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume X.djvu/767

 LYSIAS LYSIMACHIA 761 was succeeded in 406 bj Callicratidas, who was killed at the battle of the Arginusse. The allies of Sparta then urged the reappointment of Ly sander; but as the Lacedaemonian law did not allow the office to be held twice by the same person, he was named vice admiral, virtu- ally with the chief command, though nominally subordinate to Aracus. He at once proceeded to Ephesus, gathered a powerful fleet, estab- lished his personal authority in Miletus, took Oedrese in Oaria and sold its inhabitants into slavery, and carried Lampsacus by storm. The Athenian armament soon arrived, and fixed its station at ^Egospotami, on the opposite side of the Hellespont. It consisted of 180 ships, under the command of ten generals, none of whom except Conon was qualified for his posi- tion. Over against the Athenians in the har- bor of Lampsacus lay the Spartan fleet. For four successive days the Athenian command- ers sailed across the intervening sea, with their ships in battle array, and dared their ene- my to come out of his harbor. On the fifth, when the Athenians, grown presumptuous, had beached their triremes, Lysander rowed swift- ly across the Hellespont, and captured the en- tire navy of Athens, with all its seamen, ex- cept eight or nine galleys that escaped with Conon to Cyprus, and the sacred ship Paralus that bore to Athens the intelligence of the dis- aster. This catastrophe decided the fate of Athens, which surrendered to Lysander early in 404, and also brought to a close the Pelo- ponnesian war. He was now by far the most powerful man in Greece, and the pride and arrogance natural to him were manifested in the most unrestrained manner. A residence in Sparta was no longer tolerable to him, nor did he return thither till recalled by the ephori to answer for his misconduct in Asia. After the accession of Agesilaus he was appointed one of the 30 councillors who were to accompany that king in his expedition to the East ; but his ar- rogance soon destroyed whatever influence he may have had with Agesilaus, and at his own request he was sent to superintend affairs in the Hellespontine cities. In 395 he was placed in command of a military force which was des- tined to cooperate with the army of Pausanias in reducing the Boeotians and their allies. He entered Bceotia and laid siege to Haliartus, but was surprised by the Thebans under the walls of that city, and slain. It is said that at the time of his death he was involved in a conspir- acy which had for its object the destruction of the exclusive right of the Heraclidae to the throne of Sparta. LYSIAS, an Athenian orator, born in Athens in 458 B. C., died there in 378. In 443 he- emigrated with an Athenian colony to Thurii in Italy, and there completed his education. After the destruction of the Athenian arma- ment in Sicily (413), he and 300 others were expelled from Thurii by the partisans of Spar- ta. He returned to Athens in 411, where he was imprisoned as an enemy of the oligarchs, and had he not contrived to effect his es- cape would probably have been put to death. When Thrasybulus was organizing at Phyle that band of patriots with which he restored liberty to Athens, Lysias, then sojourning at Megara, sent him money, arms, and merce- naries. On the overthrow of the tyranny of the thirty he returned to Athens (403), and thenceforth chiefly devoted himself to the composition of speeches for parties engaged in litigation, sometimes however pleading in per- son. There formerly existed over 400 ora- tions ascribed to him, but only 230 of these were admitted to be genuine. The number now extant is 35. None delivered by himself, save that against Eratosthenes, have come down to us. The best editions of his remain- ing works are by J. Taylor (London, 1739), Fortsch (Leipsic, 1829), and Franz (Munich, 1831). There is an English translation of some of his principal orations by Dr. Gillies. LYSIMACHIA (Gr. Mat?, release from, and P.&XTJ-, strife, or in honor of King Lysimachus), a genus of plants of the natural order primu- lacece. They are herbaceous, perennial, and have entire leaves and axillary or racemed, most- ly yellow flowers. Species are found in almost all parts of the world, and there are several in the United States. Some are cultivated as garden plants, the most popular of these being the moneywort (L. nummularia), with a pros- trate, creeping stem, opposite, roundish leaves, solitary axillary flowers, and ovate acute sepals. It is a pretty plant for covering rock work, or for cultivating in a wire basket, or some hang- ing ornamental design from which its pendent stems can droop. It is an excellent plant for carpeting the soil beneath shrubs, as it soon forms a dense, closely clinging mat. In some places this has escaped from cultivation and become thoroughly naturalized. Within a few years a variegated form has appeared, an un- healthy-looking plant, with dull yellow leaves. Several others, as L. thyrsiflora, are in culti- vation, but are rarely seen in our gardens. Moneywort (Lysimachia nummularia). Among our native species is one with a tall stem on which the leaves are arranged in