Page:The Ancient City- A Study on the Religion, Laws, and Institutions of Greece and Rome.djvu/459

 OHAI. XII. BICn AND POOE — THE TYRANTS. 453 At Megara, as Plutarch relates, after an insuriection, it was decreed that debts f houkl be abolished, and that the creditors, besides the loss of their capital, should be held to reimburse the interest already paid.' " Ai Megara, as in otiier cities," says Aristotle,* " the popular party, having got the power into their hands, began by confiscating the property of a few rich fami- lies. But, once on this road, it was impossible to stop. A new victim was necessary every day; and, finally, the number of the rich who were despoiled or exiled became so great that they formed an army." In 412, " the people of Samos put to death two hun- dred of their adversaries, exiled four hundred more, and divided up the lands and houses."' At Syracuse, hardly were the people freed from the tyranny of Dionysius, when they decreed the partition of the lands.* In this period of Greek history, whenever we see a civil war, the rich are on one side, and the poor are on the other. The poor are trying to gain possession of the wealth, and tiie rich are ti'ying to retain or to recover it. " In every civil war," says a Greek histo- rian, " the great object is to change fortunes." * Every demagogue acted like that Molpagoras of Cios,^ who delivered to the multitude those who possessed money, massacred some, exiled others, and distributed their property among the poor. At Messene, as soon as the popular party gained the upper hand, they exiled the r;ch, and distributed their lands. The U2')per classes among the ancients never had in* ' Plutarcli, Greel( Quest., 18. • Aristotle, I'olitics, VIII. 4 (V. 4). Tlmcydidos, VII. 21. " Plutarch, Dion., 37, 48. Polybius, XV. 21. « Polybius, VII. 10.