Page:Thucydides, translated into English Vol 2.djvu/393

 67-69] ANTIPHON- PHRYNICHUS — TIIERAMENES 385 any other public arena. To the multitude, who were sus- picious of his great abilities, he was an object of dislike ; but there was no f !f ''^""•^ "" •" ' of the revolution was man who could do more for any who Antiplwn, idw Imd consulted him, whether their business /'"'/''^'/o hd n idiied 1 • . u i r •, • •. 1 I'fe ; li£ 't'"-S //"' best lay in the courts ot justice or in the, • r ,■ , j •' •' adviser of iltciils, ana assembl}'. And when the government tviun ids own turn of the Four Hundred was overthrown """^ ""'"' "^_ ^^-^ 11 J i. ii df fence of Itintsclf. and became exposed to the vengeance pi,y,„ci ,s „/ 77 of the people, and he being accused of mmenes were also men taking part in the plot had to speak in of great abdiiy, and fd I • u' J r insintinents to accoiii- his own case, his defence was un- ^,-, „ , . , ' pltsli the ardttons task. doubtedly the best ever made by any man tried on a capital charge down to my time. Phryni- chus also showed extraordinary zeal in the interests of the oligarchy. He was afraid of Alcibiades, whom he knew to be cognisant of the intrigue which when at Samos he had carried on with Astyochus^ and he thought that no oligarchy would ever be likely to restore him. Having once set his hand to the work he was deemed by the others to be the man upon whom they could best depend in the hour of danger. Another chief leader of the revolutionary party was Theramenes the son of Hagnon, a good speaker and a sagacious man. No wonder then that, in the hands of all these able men, the attempt, however arduous, suc- ceeded. For an easy thing it certainly was not, about one hundred years after the fall of the tyrants, to destroy the liberties of the Athenians, who not only were a free, but during more than one half of this time had been an imperial people. The assembly passed all these measures without a dis- 69 sentient voice, and was then dissolved. The old council of the And now the Four Hundred were five hundnd is broken introduced into the council-chamber, "f- The u-emiers de- part as they air Inddin^ The manner was as follows: — The taking their pay :ath whole population were always on ser- thmi. » Cp. viii. 50. 51.