Page:The City-State of the Greeks and Romans.djvu/151

V of the Decemvirate at Rome, which we shall notice in a later chapter. Whether the customary law was substantially changed or simply committed to writing, it is plain that it is to be no longer the private possession of a class. The secrets of aristocratic rule are being revealed to the whole community; questioning has begun — questioning as to the rules which the oligarchic executive administers. And the first signs of distrust in the executive and its administration are perhaps to be seen in the fact that the task of writing down the law is entrusted to a single individual, and not to that executive as a whole.

The next event is a deliberate attempt at tyranny on the part of an Athenian who had married the daughter of Theagenes, tyrant of Megara. This is none the less significant because it was a failure. Like Theagenes in the neighbouring State, Cylon probably represented a popular feeling; but the State was not yet ripe for tyranny. The oligarchic executive was too strong for him, and according to the story, he made the mistake of using Megarian troops to seize on the Acropolis. This brought the oligarchy and the people for the moment into sympathy, and the Cylonians were besieged in the stronghold. Cylon himself escaped, but Megacles the archon, of the great family of the Alcmæonidæ, put the rest to death after promising to spare their lives; some were even slain at the altar where they had taken refuge. The story is most striking, as pointing to an unwholesome and surprising disregard of honour and sanctuary in the oligarchic