Page:Thucydides, translated into English Vol 1.djvu/37

 INSCRIPTIONS XXXlll the history. Under this head are included treaties with foreign states, agreements with allies, grants of privileges to states or individuals. III. Dedicatory inscriptions. IV. Sepulchral inscriptions. The lists of quotas realize to us the greatness of the Athenian empire. Though not justifying the poetical boast of Aristophanes in the Wasps, 707, who reckons the number of Athenian tributaries at 1000, they contain the names of 257 states: if we add some other cities indi- cated in the ra^i? ffiopov only, the number will exceed 300. In neither are included numerous Hellenic cities on the Euxine^ and in the interior of Lycia and Caria, which were allies, but, with a few exceptions, not tributaries ; in the language of Thucydides, avfxfxaxoi but not vTrrjKooi or ^opov vTroreXeLs (vii. 57 init.). That they were present to the mind of Aristophanes when he described the Athenian empire as extending airo tov IIovtou ix^xpt SapSovs is evident. The relation of these cities to Athens would be generally of a friendly nature. Living under her protection, but not pa^'ing tribute, they were the outer defences of her empire. The Hellenic cities of Macedonia were similarly situated, and for a similar reason were not included in the tribute lists, with the exception of three (C.I. A. 40 and 257';, Methone, Aeson, and Dicaeopolis, which about 427 B.C. had their tribute remitted, all but the quotas paid to the Goddess. They were in constant danger from the sur- rounding barbarians or from the Macedonian kings, and having to defend themselves could not be expected to pay for others. Since they had it in their power at any time to become a part of the Macedonian kingdom, the imposi- tion of a heavy tax would have been too severe a test of their loyalty. (See the inscription relating to Methone, which complained of ill-treatment from Perdiccas, C. I. A. ' There are traces of a few of these in the rdfis <p6pov, see p. xlviii.