Stories From Thucydides by H. L. Havell

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It will be observed that the greater part of this remarkable speech
consists of an elaborate endeavour on the part of the Mytilenaeans to
justify themselves. The arguments employed were entirely sophistical,
for the Lesbians had no real grievance--and the statement that they
were in danger of losing their independence was a pure invention. But
they spoke to a partial audience, and the Spartans had already
prejudged the case in their favour. It was therefore decided to
receive them into the Peloponnesian alliance, and orders were issued
to the allies to assemble at the Isthmus with two-thirds of their
forces for an immediate invasion of Attica. The Spartans, acting with
unusual vigour, were the first to appear at the Isthmus, where they
made preparations for hauling ships overland from the northern harbour
of Corinth, intending to attack Athens by sea and land. But the rest
of the confederates came in but slowly, as they were engaged in
getting in their harvest, and had little inclination for a second
campaign.

The Spartans soon found out that they were mistaken in supposing the
energies of Athens to be exhausted. Without moving their fleet from
Lesbos, the Athenians manned a hundred triremes, raising the crews
from the whole body of the citizens, with the exception of the knights
and the wealthiest class of the Solonian census, and pressing even
resident foreigners into the service; and with this imposing force
they made an armed demonstration before the eyes of their enemies at
the Isthmus, and then, coasting along Peloponnesus, made descents
wherever they pleased. This spirited conduct produced the desired
effect. For the Spartans, who were still waiting for their allies at
the Isthmus, saw themselves baffled in all their calculations, and
concluded that they had been misinformed by the Lesbians as to the
state of affairs at Athens; and hearing that their own coast-lands
were being ravaged by the Athenian fleet, they hastily decamped, and
the plan of a second invasion came to nothing.

The summer was now drawing to a close, and as yet no progress had been
made with the siege of Mytilene. The town was still blockaded by sea,
but the Mytilenaeans had free egress on the land-side, and marched up
and down the island, confirming the other towns which had joined in
the revolt, and threatening Methymna, which still remained loyal to
the Athenian alliance. When the Athenians were informed of this state
of things, they sent a thousand hoplites under Paches to reinforce the
besieging army; and on their arrival the investment of Mytilene was
completed by a wall drawn from sea to sea, and cutting off the town
from the rest of the island. The Mytilenaeans now began to despair,
for their supplies were failing, and there seemed no hope of relief.
But during the winter a ray of hope reached them from outside, and
encouraged them to persevere in their resistance. There was a weak
point in the Athenian wall, where it closed a ravine; and through this
interval a Spartan named Salaethus, who had sailed to Lesbos in a
trireme, and crossed the island on foot, succeeded in making his way
into the town. Salaethus announced himself as an agent sent from
Sparta, to inform the distressed garrison that, as soon as the season
permitted, forty triremes would be sent to their assistance, and that
Attica would be invaded at the same time, to keep the enemy occupied
at home. At this welcome news the hopes of the Mytilenaeans revived,
and all thoughts of surrender were laid aside.

II

As soon as spring arrived, the Spartans, true to their promise, sent
off forty triremes, commanded by Alcidas, to raise the siege of
Mytilene, and marched in full force into Attica, thinking thus to
divert the attention of the Athenians, and prevent them from
interfering with the voyage of Alcidas. They remained a long time in
Attica, waiting for news from their fleet, and employing the time in a
systematic ravage of the whole territory. But time passed, and no
message arrived from Alcidas, who seemed to have disappeared with all
his ships; so that at last, as their expectations were disappointed,
and their supplies exhausted, they broke up their army and returned
home.

The position of Mytilene was now growing desperate. Nothing more was
heard of the relieving squadron, and the scanty store of provisions
was rapidly failing; for, owing to the betrayal of their design, the
Mytilenaeans had been hurried into revolt before their preparations
were completed, and had had no time to lay up a sufficient stock of
food. Salaethus, therefore, determined to make a sudden sally, and
break out of the town; and the better to effect this purpose, he
furnished the common people, who had hitherto served as light-armed
soldiers, with the full equipment of heavy infantry. But this
proceeding brought on a catastrophe, for the commons no sooner found
themselves in possession of better weapons than they turned upon their
masters, and accused them of secreting supplies of corn for their own
use. "Bring out your corn," they cried, "and divide it equally, or we
will go out and make terms with the Athenians for ourselves." Alarmed
at this threat, which if carried out would leave them exposed as the
sole objects of Athenian vengeance, the nobles sent a message to
Paches, on behalf of the whole city, offering to surrender, on
condition that their case should be tried by the tribunals at Athens,
and stipulating that, while the decision was pending, no violence
should be offered to any of the inhabitants. The proposal was
accepted, and Paches marched his forces into the town. In spite of the
convention, the leaders of the revolt took sanctuary in the temples,
being in dread of summary execution. Paches reassured them, and sent
them in safe custody to Tenedos.

We must now turn back a little, and follow the movements of Alcidas.
The Spartan admiral, it would seem, had small stomach for the bold
adventure on which he was bound--no less than to rob the Athenians of
one of their most important possessions, and defy the redoubtable
captains of Athens on their own element. After loitering for some time
off the coast of Peloponnesus, he sailed on slowly as far as Delos,
and then, touching at Icarus, he heard that Mytilene was already
taken. Wishing, however, to inform himself with certainty, he pushed
on as far as Erythrae, on the mainland of Asia, which he reached seven
days after the fall of Mytilene. Being now assured that the report was
true, he called a council of war to decide what was to be done. Then a
certain Greek of Elis, named Teutiaplus, made a bold suggestion: "Let
us," he said, "sail straight to Mytilene, and make an attempt to
recapture the town by surprise. Most likely the Athenians, flushed
with success, will be taken unawares, and we shall find the harbour
open, and the land forces dispersed, and if we make a sudden onfall,
under cover of darkness, we shall probably succeed."

The prudent Alcidas found this proposal little to his taste; nor was
he better pleased by another plan, put forward by the Lesbian envoys
who were returning on board the Peloponnesian fleet, and seconded by a
party of exiles from the cities of Ionia. These men tried to persuade
Alcidas to establish himself in some city of Asia Minor, and raise a
revolt among the allies of Athens in these parts. He had, they said,
every prospect of success, for his arrival was welcomed on all sides.
Let him seize the opportunity of attacking the Athenians in their most
mortal part, first by withdrawing the tribute of Ionia, and secondly
by putting them to the expense of a blockade.

This daring scheme might have led to something important, if the fleet
had been commanded by Brasidas. But Alcidas was a man of very
different temper, and having arrived too late to save Mytilene, he had
now but one thought,--to return to Peloponnesus as fast as he could,
and get out of the reach of the terrible Athenian triremes. So he set
his fleet in motion, and sailing along the coast in a southerly
direction put in at Ephesus. On the voyage he showed himself to be as
cruel as he was cowardly, by capturing and putting to death the crews
of the vessels which came in his way. These were not a few, for the
ships which crossed his path approached fearlessly, under the
impression that his fleet was from Athens; for no one dreamed that a
Peloponnesian squadron would dare to enter these waters. For this
senseless barbarity he was severely rebuked by a deputation of Samian
exiles, now living on the mainland, who met him at Ephesus. His was a
strange method, they remarked with bitter irony, of helping the
Ionians to recover their liberty--to butcher defenceless men, who had
done him no harm, but looked to him for rescue from their bondage to
Athens! If he continued to behave thus, he would make the name of
Sparta detested throughout Ionia. Dull as he was, Alcidas could not
but feel the justice of this reprimand, and he let the rest of his
prisoners go.

The presence of a Peloponnesian fleet had caused great alarm among
the inhabitants of Ionia, and urgent messages came in daily to Paches
at Mytilene, summoning him to their aid. For even though Alcidas
had declined to take up a permanent station on the coast, as the
exiles had suggested, it was apprehended that he would pillage the
sea-side towns, which were unfortified, on his homeward voyage. At
last two state triremes, the _Paralus_ and _Salaminia,_ which had
been sent on public business from Athens, came into Mytilene with the
news that they had sighted the fleet of Alcidas lying at anchor off
Clarus. [Footnote: A little town, north-west of Ephesus.] Thereupon
Paches put to sea at once, and gave chase. But Alcidas had got wind of
his danger, and was already on the high seas, making all speed for
Peloponnesus. Paches pursued him as far as Patmos, and then turned
back. He would gladly have caught the Peloponnesians in blue water,
where he could have sent all their ships to the bottom; but as it was
he thought himself fortunate to have escaped the necessity of forming
a blockade, as he must have done if he had come up with them near
land, and driven them ashore. As for Alcidas, he fled in wild haste,
keeping the open sea, being resolved not to touch land, if he could
help it, until he reached the shelter of a Peloponnesian harbour.

III

On his return to Lesbos, Paches despatched to Athens the prisoners who
had been sent to Tenedos, among whom was the Spartan Salaethus. When
they arrived the Athenians immediately put Salaethus to death, and
then met in full assembly to decide on the fate of the rest. They had
just been delivered from a fearful danger, and in the natural reaction
of vindictive rage which had now set in they came to the horrible
resolution of putting all the adult male population of Mytilene to the
sword, and selling the women and children as slaves. The Mytilenaeans,
they argued, were without excuse: they were not subjects of Athens,
who might wish to escape from their burdens, but free and privileged
allies. They had treacherously plotted against Athens, when she was
sunk deep in calamity, and brought a Peloponnesian fleet within the
sacred circle of her empire. For a long time past they had evidently
been hatching a vile conspiracy against the very existence of Athens.
Having once come to this decision, the Athenians lost no time, but
sent off a trireme on the same day, with orders to Paches to carry the
decree into effect.

But after a night of cool reflection they began to repent of their
haste. It was a cruel and monstrous thing, they now thought, to
butcher the population of a whole city, innocent and guilty alike. The
Mytilenaean envoys, who had been sent to Athens on the surrender of
the city, perceived that there was a change in the public temper, and
acting in concert with influential Athenians who were in their
interest, they induced the magistrates to summon a second assembly,
and re-open the debate.

It is on this occasion that we first catch sight [Footnote: That is,
in the narrative of Thucydides.] of the notorious demagogue Cleon, who
for the next six years will be the most prominent figure in Athenian
public life. This man belongs to a class of politicians who had begun
to exercise great influence on the affairs of Athens after the death
of Pericles. That great statesman had really led the people, checking
their excesses, setting bounds to their ambition, and guiding all the
moods of the stormy democracy. But the demagogues were lowborn
upstarts, who, while seeming to lead the people, really followed it,
and kept their position by pandering to the worst passions of the
multitude. It must, however, be mentioned that the two contemporary
writers from whom we draw our materials for the portrait of Cleon, the
historian Thucydides and the comic poet Aristophanes, were both
violently prejudiced against him. Aristophanes hated him as the
representative of the new democracy, which was an object of abhorrence
to the great comic genius; and Thucydides, a born aristocrat, of
strong oligarchical sympathies, looked with cold scorn and aversion on
the coarse mechanic, [Footnote: Cleon was a tanner by trade.] who
presumed to usurp the place, and ape the style, of a true leader like
Pericles.

In the previous debate Cleon had been the chief promoter of the
murderous sentence passed against Mytilene; and when the question was
brought forward again, he made a vehement harangue, the substance of
which has been preserved by Thucydides. In this speech he appears as a
practised rhetorical bravo, whose one object is to vilify his
opponents, and throw contempt on their arguments, by an unscrupulous
use of the weapons of ridicule, calumny, and invective. He reproaches
the magistrates for convening a second assembly, in a matter which had
already been decided; and this was, in fact, strictly speaking, a
breach of the constitution. He laughs at the Athenians as weak
sentimentalists, always inclined to mercy, even when mercy was
suicidal. Of the subject communities he speaks as if they were mere
slaves and chattels, outside the pale of humanity, to be kept down
with the scourge and the sword. "Let the law prevail," cries this
second Draco. "The law is sacred, and must not be moved. You are so
clever that you will not live, by fixed rule and order, and you deride
the approved principles of political wisdom. Every one of you wants to
be a lawgiver, a statesman, and a reformer, and to manage the public
affairs in his own way. We, who understand your true interests, are
bound to resist this mood of lawless extravagance, and keep you in the
right path, whether you will or no."

Then preserving the same tone, as of one who is exposing an outrageous
paradox, Cleon proceeds to deal with the actual subject of debate. To
massacre a whole population, was, in his view, a commonplace and
ordinary proceeding; and, in the present instance, the only course
consistent with prudence and common sense. Those who maintained the
contrary were either flighty enthusiasts, whose opinion was not worth
considering, or venal orators, who had sold their country for a bribe.
"Will you suffer yourselves," asked the indignant moralist, "to be
blinded by these corrupt advocates, who amuse you with their
eloquence, and then pocket the price? But it is your own fault: you
have no sense of public responsibility--you are like clever children,
playing at a game of politics. While you sit here, listening to your
favourite speakers, and sharpening your wits against theirs, your
empire is going to ruin. Plain fact is too simple a diet for your
pampered appetites; you must have it hashed and served up with a fine
flavouring of fancy and wit. In short, you have lost all hold upon
reality, you live in an intellectual Utopia, and treat grave matters
of public interest as though they were mere themes in a school of
declamation."

In drawing this remarkable picture of Athenian character, which,
though strangely out of place, really contained a large element of
truth, Cleon overreached himself, and was caught in his own snare. It
was he, and not his opponents, who was diverting attention from facts,
and involving a plain issue in a cloud of wordy rhetoric. He has no
arguments, worthy of the name, but tries to carry his case by playing
on the passions of the people, and blowing up the flames of their
anger, which was beginning to cool. But though the more discerning
among his audience must have seen through his sophistries, to a large
proportion of his hearers his speech no doubt seemed a masterpiece of
eloquence. The Athenians, who, like all people of lively talent, were
fond of laughing at themselves, would be especially amused by his
humorous description of their own besetting weakness, their restless
vanity, and inordinate love of change.

The chief advocate for mitigating the sentence against Mytilene was a
certain Diodotus, who had taken a leading part in the previous debate,
and now stood up again to oppose the blood-thirsty counsels of Cleon.
The speech of Diodotus is calm, sober, and business-like. After a
dignified remonstrance against the vile insinuations of Cleon, by whom
all who differed from him were decried as fools or knaves, Diodotus
proceeded to argue the question from the point of view of expediency.
He was not there, he said, to plead the cause of the Mytilenaeans, or
to discuss abstract questions of law and justice. What they had to
consider was what course would be most conducive to the interests of
Athens. According to Cleon, those interests would be best served by a
wholesale massacre of the inhabitants of Mytilene, which would strike
terror into the other subjects of Athens, and prevent them from
yielding to the same temptation. But, reasoned Diodotus, experience
had shown that intending criminals were not deterred from wrongdoing
by the increased severity of penal statutes. For a long time lawgivers
had framed their codes in this belief, thinking to drive mankind into
the path of rectitude by appealing to their terrors. Yet crime had not
diminished, but rather increased. And what was true of individuals,
was still more true of cities, where each man hoped to be concealed
among the crowd of transgressors. Criminals, whether they acted
singly, or in large numbers, were only rendered desperate, if all
degrees of crime were confounded in one common penalty of death.

Such were the enlightened principles of jurisprudence set forth by an
Athenian of the fifth century before Christ--principles which were
first recognised in modern Europe within the memory of men still
living. Then, bringing his theories to a practical test, he pointed
out the gross impolicy of driving a revolted city to desperation, by
excluding all rebels from the hope of pardon. This, he said, would be
the effect on the subjects of Athens, if they passed the same sentence
on the Mytilenaeans, without distinction between the innocent and the
guilty. At present the commons in every city were loyal to Athens; and
though they might be beguiled or coerced into rebellion, they would,
if assured of fair treatment, take the first opportunity of returning
to their allegiance, as the commoners of Mytilene had done. "Do not,
therefore," concluded Diodotus, "destroy this, the strongest guarantee
of your security, but punish the ringleaders of the revolt, after due
deliberation, and leave the rest in peace."

The arguments of Diodotus were unanswerable, and it might have been
supposed that the Athenians, in their relenting mood, would have
carried the amendment by a large majority. But this was not the case.
The debate was keenly contested, and when the president called for a
show of hands, the more merciful decree was only passed by a few
votes. There was no time to be lost, for the first trireme was already
a day and a night on her voyage, and the fate of Mytilene hung by a
hair. A second trireme was launched with all speed, and the
Mytilenaeans present in Athens promised large rewards to the crew if
they arrived in time. With such inducements the rowers toiled day and
night, taking their meals, which consisted of barley-meal kneaded with
wine and oil, at the oar, and sleeping and rowing by turns. Happily
there was no contrary wind to retard their progress, and the crew of
the first vessel, bearing that savage mandate, made no efforts to
shorten their passage. As it was, they were not an hour too soon: for
when they arrived, Paches had already received the decree, and was
preparing to carry it out. Thus Mytilene escaped destruction by a
hair's-breadth, and Athens was saved from committing a great crime.
But even the modified sentence, which was passed directly afterwards
on the motion of Cleon, condemning more than a thousand Mytilenaean
citizens to death, was sufficiently ferocious, and was remembered
against the tyrant city in the days of her humiliation.

ESCAPE OF TWO HUNDRED PLATAEANS FALL OF PLATAEA

I

The siege of Plataea had now lasted for more than a year, and the
brave garrison began to be in sore straits, for their supplies were
giving out, and they had no hope of rescue from outside. In this
desperate situation they resolved to make an attempt to break through
the besieging lines, and make their escape to Athens. All were to take
part in the adventure, leaving the Peloponnesians in possession of an
empty town. But when the time came for carrying out this bold design,
half of the garrison drew back, thinking the risk too great. The other
half, numbering about two hundred and twenty, persisted in their
purpose, and forthwith fell to work on their preparations. They began
by making ladders for scaling the enemy's wall; and in order to
ascertain the proper length of the ladders, they counted the courses
of bricks in a part of the wall facing the town, which happened to
have been left unplastered. Many counted the courses together, and by
repeating the process over and over again, and comparing the result,
they at last hit upon the right number. When once this was known, they
could easily calculate the length of their ladders, for the bricks
were all of the same dimensions, and they knew the thickness of a
single brick.

The Peloponnesians had built a double line of wall round Plataea, the
two lines being separated by a distance of sixteen feet. The whole of
the space within this double wall was covered by a flat roof, so as to
present the appearance of a single thick wall, with battlements on
either side; and this covered space, which was divided into rooms by
partition-walls, served as barracks for the besiegers. Along the top
were high towers, with intervals of ten battlements between them, and
built flush with the wall on both sides, so as to leave no passage,
except through the middle of the tower. These served as guard-rooms,
where the soldiers on duty took shelter on wet and stormy nights. For
the distance between the towers was very small, and they could rush
out and man the walls at a moment's notice.

The Plataeans omitted no precaution which might secure success for
their hazardous enterprise. Every man understood exactly the part
which he had to play, and knew that his own life, and the lives of his
comrades, depended on his courage and coolness. They had chosen their
time well, for it was now mid-winter. So they waited for a night of
storm and rain, when there was no moon, and sallying forth from the
town crossed the inner ditch, and came up to the inner wall,
unperceived by the enemy; for the noise of their footsteps was drowned
by the roaring of the wind, and they were careful to advance in open
order, so as not to be discovered by the clashing of their arms. The
whole troop was lightly equipped, and they walked with their right
foot unsandalled, to give them a firmer hold on the muddy ground.
Choosing one of the spaces between two towers, they adjusted their
ladders, and began to ascend the wall. The first to mount were twelve
picked men, armed with breastplates and daggers, who as soon as they
reached the top, rushed to the towers, six men to each, and having
overpowered the guard, stood ready to defend the passage. These were
followed by others, armed with javelins, whose shields were handed up
to them from below as they ascended, to enable them to climb the more
easily. Several of this party had got up in safety, when one of those
who were following dislodged a tile as he grasped the battlements. The
sound of the falling tile alarmed the guards in the towers, and soon
the whole besieging force was in a commotion. But being bewildered by
the darkness, and deafened by the tempest which was blowing, they knew
not which way to turn, and remained at their quarters, waiting for
orders. And at the same time the Plataeans left in the town made a
feigned attack on the Peloponnesian wall at the opposite side to
divert the attention of the enemy. In the general confusion thus
created the besiegers were at a loss what to do, and three hundred of
their men, who were kept together for prompt service on any pressing
occasion, took up their station before the outer wall, thinking that
the Athenians had come to relieve the town. Fire-signals were now
kindled by the Peloponnesians, to summon help from Thebes; but the
Plataeans were prepared for this also, and they kindled other beacons
which had been raised for the purpose on their wall, so as to obscure
the meaning of the enemy's signals, and delay the march of the
Thebans, until their own comrades had had time to escape.

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