Page:The Ancient City- A Study on the Religion, Laws, and Institutions of Greece and Rome.djvu/482

 476 MUNICirAL REGIME DISAPPEARS. BOOK V. habit of fr(e examination became established in men's homes and in the public squares. Socrates, while reproving the abuse Avliich tlio Sophists made of the right to doubt, was still of their school. Like them he rejected the empire of tradition, and believed that the rules of conduct were graven in the human conscience. He differed from them only in this ; he studied conscience religiously, and with a firm desire to find there an obligation to be just and to do good. lie lanked truth above custom, and justice above the law. He separated morals from religion: before him, men never thought of a duty except as a comm:ind of the ancient gods. He showed that the principle of duty is in the human mini]. In all this, whether he wished it or not, he made war upon the city worship. In vain he took pains to be presei/', at all the festivals and took part in the sacrifices ; his belief and his words contradicted hia conduct. He founded a new religion, which was the opposite of the city religion. He was justly accused of not adoring the gods whom the stale adored. Men put him to death for having attacked the customs and the beliefs of their ancestors, or, as (hey expressed it, for having cor- rupted the present generation. The unpopularity of Socrates and the violent rage of the citizens are explained if we think of the religious habits of th;it Athenian society where there were so many priests, and where they were so powerful. But the revolu- tion which the Sophists had commenced, ami which Socrates had taken up with more moderation, was not stopped by the death of the old man. Greek society was enfranchised more and more, daily, from the empire of old beliefs and old institutions. After him philosophers freely discussed the prin