Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 09.djvu/242

* GKEECE. 210 GREECE. of which we are speaking was as follows: On one side was Athens, with her empire of subjeel anil mostly discontented allies, comprising all the coast cities of Asia Minor as far south as Lycia, the cities along the Thraeian and Chalcidian shores, and nearly all the islands of the .Egean : and on the other,' Sparta, with her voluntary con- federacy of free and independent States, among which were numhered nearly all the States of the Peloponnesus, some in Xorthern Greece, and those of Italy and Sicily. Athens was a mari- time power, with an ellicient navy of 300 galleys; Sparta was preeminently a. land power. Athens had a fnll treasury and" a large annual revenue; Sparta was financially weak. Athens was demo- cratic and progressive; Sparta was aristocratic and conservative. It was inevitable that the question of supremacy should at some time come to an issue between these two. Tlie struggle was precipitated by the contentions between Corinth and her colony Corcyra, and the revolt of Poti- dffia from the Delian League. The war which now broke out in B.C. 4.31. which is known as the Peloponnesian War, lasted until B.C. 404, and resulted in the complete abasement of Athenian pride and the establishment of Spartan suprem- acy. It may be divided into three periods: (1) from the beginning to the Peace of Xicias (B.C. 421); (2) from the Peace of Xicias to the Sicilian Expedition (B.C. 415) : (3) from the Sicilian E.xpedition to the end (B.C. 404). The most important events of the lirst period were the surprise of Platfea by the Thebans (B.C. 431) , the fall of Mitylene (B.C. 427), the capture of Platoea by the Spartans ( B.C. 427 ), the siege and capture of Sphacteria by the Athenians (B.C. 425), and the defeat of "the Athenians by the Spartans at Aniphipolis (B.C. 422). The Peace of Nicias. which was a peace in name but not in fact, left the two contending parties in prac- tically the same relative position as before the war. In the second period there was more or less fighting between the different States of Greece, but no great battle. The ill-advised Sicilian K.vpedition (B.C. 415-413) portended the ultimate result of the long contest ; it left Athens broken and exhausted. The battle at the Argi- nusae (B.C. 40fi) was an Athenian victory, but the capture of the Athenian ships at .Egospotanii in B.C. 405 put an end to the war. Athens sur- rendered to the Spartan commander, Lysander, her walls were demolished, her ships were given up, she was deprived of her foreign possessions, and an oligarchical government was established in the city. The body which was now set up at Athens con- sisted of thirty members, and was known as the Thirty Tyrants. Similar bodies of ten were everywhere established by Lysander in the demo- cratically ruled cities of Asia Minor and the isl- and^. It soon became apparent, to those who had chafed under Athenian rule, that the rule of Sparta was destined to be much moi'e harsh and oppressive than that of Athens had been. A change of feeling took place in many quarters. The Athenian exiles, joining under the lead of Thrasybulus, seized the fort of Phyle, a few miles north of Athens, entered the Piraeus, defeated in Iiattle the forces of the Thirty, and secured the deposition of the Thirty and the appointment of a Council of Ten in their stead. These were later replaced by another board of ten. and a reconciliation was eflfected. The democracy was restored (B.C. 403) sixteen months after Ly- sander had taken Athens. The period of Spartan supremacy extended from the close of the Peloponnesian War to the battle of Leuctra, in B.C. 371. In B.C. 399 war broke out between Sparta and Persia, and in B.C. 397 Agesilaus, the King of Sparta, was sent to Asia to bring it to an end. He met with success and was about to carry the war into the interior of Asia, when he was called home to oppose a coalition of Greek States which had been formed against Sparta. The struggle that ensued is known as the Corinthian War. In B.C. 395 Ly- sander was defeated and slain by the Thebans at Haliartus. The allies were defeated by Agesilaus at Coronea in B.C. 394, but in the same year the Lacediempnian fleet was defeated by Conon and Pharnabazus at Cnidus. Conon, returaing to Athens, restored the fortifications of the Pi- ra'us and tlie Long Walls. The Corinthian War was continued in a petty way, and with varying fortune, imtil in B.C. 387 Sparta, through the me- diation of Persia, imposed upon the Grecian States the disgraceful Peace of Antalcidas, in which the interests of the Asiatic Greeks weie sacrificed. Five years later, in B.C. 382, Sparta treacherously seized the citadel of Thebes and overcame the Chalcidian city of Olynthus. Tliebes was soon freed again by the Theban pa- triot Pclopidas. and fighting was resumed be- tween Athens, supporting Thebes, and Sparta, which was concluded in B.C. 371 by the Peace of Callias. Thebes refused to sign the treaty, and the Spartans invaded Boeotia. The issue was determined by the battle of Leuctra (B.C. 371), in which the Thebans, led by Epaminondas, thor- oughly defeated the Spartans. The period of Theban supremacy, which now liegan. lasted nearly ten years, to the battle of ilantinea, in B.C. 3G2. and was the supremacy principally of one man, Epaminondas. Democ- racy was once more predominant. The Pelopon- nesus was invaded, Arcadia was formed into one State, with a new city. Megalopolis, as the head, and ilessenia was made independent of Sparta. Athens united with Sparta in resisting Thebes, and in the battle of Mantinea (B.C. 362), though the Thebans were victorious, Epaminondas was killed. Athens now tried to reestablish her em- pire over her former allies, but without success; the Social War (c. 357-355 B.C.) secured the independence of nearly all the States. In the meantime there was coming into promi- nence north of Greece a new power, which was destined to absorb within itself all the Grecian lands. This power was that of the Macedonians, a race akin to the Greeks, but looked upon as barbarian. Philip, the son of Amyntas II.. be- came King of Macedonia in B.C. 359. and. after establishing himself firmly on his throne, at imce proceeded to annex the Greek colonies on the coast of Macedonia and Thrace. One by one they fell into his hands — Aniphipolis, Pydna, Potida-a, Methone, and the others. He next took steps to gain a footing in Greece, and the oppor- tunity was offered him by the Sacred War be- tween Thebes and Phocis. which broke out about B.C. 357. The Amphictyonic Council infiucnced by Thebes, inflicted a heavy fine on the Phocians for having tilled certain waste ground belonging to Apollo, and the latter obtained the support of the tyrants of Pbera" in Thessaly. Thereupon the noble Thessalians invited Philip to enter Greece