Pausanias, the Spartan by Lord Lytton
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Lord Lytton >> Pausanias, the Spartan
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"You have spoken well, Xanthippus. This matter must be sifted."
"With that, motioning the captains to the seats that were ranged round
the walls and before a long table, he cast himself into a large chair
at the head of the table, and waited in silent anxiety the entrance of
the Eretrian. His whole trust now was in the craft and penetration of
his friend. If the courage or the cunning of Gongylus failed him--if
but a word betrayed him--Pausanias was lost. He was girt by men who
hated him; and he read in the dark fierce eyes of the Ionians--whose
pride he had so often galled, whose revenge he had so carelessly
provoked--the certainty of ruin. One hand hidden within the folds of
his robe convulsively clinched the flesh, in the stern agony of his
suspense. His calm and composed face nevertheless exhibited to the
captains no trace of fear.
The draperies were again drawn aside, and Gongylus slowly entered.
Habituated to peril of every kind from his earliest youth, the
Eretrian was quick to detect its presence. The sight of the silent
Greeks, formally seated round the hall, and watching his steps and
countenance with eyes whose jealous and vindictive meaning it required
no Oedipus to read, the grave and half-averted brow of Pausanias, and
the angry excitement that had prevailed amidst the host at the news of
the escape of the Persians--all sufficed to apprise him of the nature
of the council to which he had been summoned.
Supporting himself on his staff, and dragging his limbs tardily along,
he had leisure to examine, though with apparent indifference, the
whole group; and when, with a calm salutation, he arrested his steps
at the foot of the table immediately facing Pausanias, he darted
one glance at the Spartan so fearless, so bright, so cheering, that
Pausanias breathed hard, as if a load were thrown from his breast, and
turning easily towards Cimon, said--
"Behold your witness. Which of us shall be questioner, and which
judge?"
"That matters but little," returned Cimon. "Before this audience
justice must force its way."
"It rests with you, Pausanias," said Xanthippus, "to acquaint the
governor of Byzantium with the suspicions he has excited."
"Gongylus," said Pausanias, "the captive Barbarians, Ariamanes and
Datis, were placed by me especially under thy vigilance and guard.
Thou knowest that, while (for humanity becomes the victor) I ordered
thee to vex them by no undue restraints, I nevertheless commanded thee
to consider thy life itself answerable for their durance. They have
escaped. The captains of Greece demand of thee, as I demanded--by what
means--by what connivance? Speak the truth, and deem that in falsehood
as well as in treachery, detection is easy, and death certain."
The tone of Pausanias, and his severe look, pleased and re-assured all
the Greeks, except the wiser Cimon. who, though his suspicions were a
little shaken, continued to fix his eyes rather on Pausanias than on
the Eretrian.
"Pausanias," replied Gongylus, drawing up his lean frame, as with the
dignity of conscious innocence, "that suspicion could fall upon me, I
find it difficult to suppose. Raised by thy favour to the command
of Byzantium, what have I to gain by treason or neglect? These
Persians--I knew them well. I had known them in Susa--known them
when I served Darius, being then an exile from Eretria. Ye know, my
countrymen, that when Darius invaded Greece I left his court and
armies, and sought my native land, to fall or to conquer in its cause.
Well, then, I knew these Barbarians. I sought them frequently; partly,
it may be, to return to them in their adversity the courtesies shown
me in mine. Ye are Greeks; ye will not condemn me for humanity and
gratitude. Partly with another motive. I knew that Ariamanes had the
greatest influence over Xerxes. I knew that the great king would
at any cost seek to regain the liberty of his friend. I urged upon
Ariamanes the wisdom of a peace with the Greeks even on their
own terms. I told him that when Xerxes sent to offer the ransom,
conditions of peace would avail more than sacks of gold. He listened
and approved. Did I wrong in this, Pausanias? No; for thou, whose deep
sagacity has made thee condescend even to appear half Persian, because
thou art all Greek--thou thyself didst sanction my efforts on behalf
of Greece."
Pausanias looked with a silent triumph round the conclave, and
Xanthippus nodded approval.
"In order to conciliate them, and with too great confidence in their
faith, I relaxed by degrees the rigour of their confinement; that was
a fault, I own it. Their apartments communicated with a court in which
I suffered them to walk at will. But I placed there two sentinels in
whom I deemed I could repose all trust--not my own countrymen--not
Eretrians--not thy Spartans or Laconians, Pausanias. No; I deemed that
if ever the jealousy (a laudable jealousy) of the Greeks should demand
an account of my faith and vigilance, my witnesses should be the
countrymen of those who have ever the most suspected me. Those
sentinels were, the one a Samian, the other a Plataean. These men
have betrayed me and Greece. Last night, on returning hither from the
vessel, I visited the Persians. They were about to retire to rest, and
I quitted them soon, suspecting nothing. This morning they had fled,
and with them their abetters, the sentinels. I hastened first to send
soldiers in search of them; and, secondly, to inform Pausanias in his
galley. If I have erred, I submit me to your punishment. Punish my
error, but acquit my honesty."
"And what," said Cimon, abruptly, "led thee far from thy path, between
the Heracleid's galley and the citadel, to the fields near the temple
of Aphrodite, between the citadel and the bay? Thy colour changes.
Mark him, Greeks. Quick; thine answer."
The countenance of Gongylus had indeed lost its colour and hardihood.
The loud tone of Cimon--the effect his confusion produced on the
Greeks, some of whom, the Ionians less self-possessed and dignified
than the rest, half rose, with fierce gestures and muttered
exclamations--served still more to embarrass and intimidate him. He
cast a hasty look on Pausanias, who averted his eyes. There was a
pause. The Spartan gave himself up for lost; but how much more was
his fear increased when Gongylus, casting an imploring gaze upon the
Greeks, said hesitatingly--
"Question me no farther. I dare not speak;" and as he spoke he pointed
to Pausanias.
"It was the dread of thy resentment, Pausanias," said Cimon coldly,
"that withheld his confession. Vouchsafe to re-assure him."
"Eretrian," said Pausanias, striking his clenched hand on the table,
"I know not what tale trembles on thy lips; but, be it what it may,
give it voice, I command thee." "Thou thyself, thou wert the cause
that led me towards the temple of Aphrodite," said Gongylus, in a low
voice.
At these words there went forth a general deep-breathed murmur. With
one accord every Greek rose to his feet. The Spartan attendants in the
rear of Pausanias drew closer to his person; but there was nothing
in their faces--yet more dark and vindictive than those of the other
Greeks--that promised protection. Pausanias alone remained seated and
unmoved. His imminent danger gave him back all his valour, all his
pride, all his passionate and profound disdain. With unbleached cheek,
with haughty eyes, he met the gaze of the assembly; and then waving
his hand as if that gesture sufficed to restrain and awe them, he
said--
"In the name of all Greece, whose chief I yet am, whose protector I
have once been, I command ye to resume your seats, and listen to the
Eretrian. Spartans, fall back. Governor of Byzantium, pursue your
tale."
"Yes, Pausanias," resumed Gongylus, "you alone were the cause that
drew me from my rest. I would fain be silent, but----"
"Say on," cried Pausanias fiercely, and measuring the space between
himself and Gongylus, in doubt whether the Eretrian's head were within
reach of his scimitar; so at least Gongylus interpreted that freezing
look of despair and vengeance, and he drew back some paces. "I place
myself, O Greeks, under your protection; it is dangerous to reveal the
errors of the great. Know that, as Governor of Byzantium, many things
ye wot not of reach my ears. Hence, I guard against dangers while ye
sleep. Learn, then, that Pausanias is not without the weakness of his
ancestor, Alcides; he loves a maiden--a Byzantine--Cleonice, the
daughter of Diagoras."
This unexpected announcement, made in so grave a tone, provoked a
smile amongst the gay Ionians; but an exclamation of jealous anger
broke from Antagoras, and a blush partly of wounded pride, partly of
warlike shame, crimsoned the swarthy cheek of Pausanias. Cimon, who
was by no means free from the joyous infirmities of youth, relaxed his
severe brow, and said, after a short pause--
"Is it, then, among the grave duties of the Governor of Byzantium to
watch over the fair Cleonice, or to aid the suit of her illustrious
lover?"
"Not so," answered Gongylus; "but the life of the Grecian general is
dear, at least, to the grateful Governor of Byzantium. Greeks, ye know
that amongst you Pausanias has many foes. Returning last night from
his presence, and passing through the thicket, I overheard voices at
hand. I caught the name of Pausanias. 'The Spartan,' said one voice,
'nightly visits the house of Diagoras. He goes usually alone. From the
height near the temple we can watch well, for the night is clear;
if he goes alone, we can intercept his way on his return.' 'To the
height!' cried the other. I thought to distinguish the voices, but the
trees hid the speakers. I followed the footsteps towards the temple,
for it behoved me to learn who thus menaced the chief of Greece. But
ye know that the wood reaches even to the sacred building, and the
steps gained the temple before I could recognize the men. I
concealed myself, as I thought, to watch; but it seems that I was
perceived, for he who saw me, and now accuses, was doubtless one of
the assassins. Happy I, if the sight of a witness scared him from the
crime. Either fearing detection, or aware that their intent that night
was frustrated--for Pausanias, visiting Cleonice earlier than his
wont, had already resought his galley--the men retreated as they
came, unseen, not unheard. I caught their receding steps through the
brushwood. Greeks, I have said. Who is my accuser? in him behold the
would-be murderer of Pausanias!"
"Liar," cried an indignant and loud voice amongst the captains, and
Antagoras stood forth from the circle.
"It is I who saw thee. Darest thou accuse Antagoras of Chios?"
"What at that hour brought Antagoras of Chios to the temple of
Aphrodite?" retorted Gongylus.
The eyes of the Greeks turned toward the young captain, and there
was confusion on his face. But recovering himself quickly, the Chian
answered, "Why should I blush to own it? Aphrodite is no dishonourable
deity to the men of the Ionian Isles. I sought the temple at that
hour, as is our wont, to make my offering, and record my prayer."
"Certainly," said Cimon. "We must own that Aphrodite is powerful at
Byzantium. Who can acquit Pausanias and blame Antagoras?"
"Pardon me--one question," said Gongylus. "Is not the female heart
which Antagoras would beseech the goddess to soften towards him that
of the Cleonice of whom we spoke? See, he denies it not. Greeks, the
Chians are warm lovers, and warm lovers are revengeful rivals."
This artful speech had its instantaneous effect amongst the younger
and more unthinking loiterers. Those who at once would have
disbelieved the imputed guilt of Antagoras upon motives merely
political, inclined to a suggestion that ascribed it to the jealousy
of a lover. And his character, ardent and fiery, rendered the
suspicion yet more plausible. Meanwhile the minds of the audience had
been craftily drawn from the grave and main object of the meeting--the
flight of the Persians--and a lighter and livelier curiosity had
supplanted the eager and dark resentment which had hitherto animated
the circle. Pausanias, with the subtle genius that belonged to him,
hastened to seize advantage of this momentary diversion in his favour,
and before the Chian could recover his consternation, both at the
charge and the evident effect it had produced upon a part of the
assembly, the Spartan stretched his hand, and spake.
"Greeks, Pausanias listens to no tale of danger to himself. Willingly
he believes that Gongylus either misinterpreted the intent of some
jealous and heated threats, or that the words he overheard were not
uttered by Antagoras. Possible is it, too, that others may have sought
the temple with less gentle desires than our Chian ally. Let this
pass. Unworthy such matters of the councils of bearded men; too much
reference has been made to those follies which our idleness has
given birth to. Let no fair Briseis renew strife amongst chiefs and
soldiers. Excuse not thyself, Antagoras; we dismiss all charge against
thee. On the other hand, Gongylus will doubtless seem to you to have
accounted for his appearance near the precincts of the temple. And
it is but a coincidence, natural enough, that the Persian prisoners
should have chosen, later in the night, the same spot for the steeds
to await them. The thickness of the wood round the temple, and the
direction of the place towards the east, points out the neighbourhood
as the very one in which the fugitives would appoint the horses. Waste
no further time, but provide at once for the pursuit. To you, Cimon,
be this care confided. Already have I despatched fifty light-armed men
on fleet Thessalian steeds. You, Cimon, increase the number of the
pursuers. The prisoners may be yet recaptured. Doth aught else remain
worthy of our ears? If so, speak; if not, depart."
"Pausanias," said Antagoras, firmly, "let Gongylus retract, or not,
his charge against me, I retain mine against Gongylus. Wholly false
is it that in word or deed I plotted violence against thee, though of
much--not as Cleonice's lover, but as Grecian captain--I have good
reason to complain. Wholly false is it that I had a comrade. I was
alone. And coming out from the temple, where I had hung my chaplet,
I perceived Gongylus clearly under the starlit skies. He stood in
listening attitude close by the sacred myrtle grove. I hastened
towards him, but methinks he saw me not; he turned slowly, penetrated
the wood, and vanished. I gained the spot on the soft sward which the
dropping boughs make ever humid. I saw the print of hoofs. Within the
thicket I found the pearls that Cimon has displayed to you. Clear,
then, is it that this man lies--clear that the Persians must have fled
already--although Gongylus declares that on his return to the citadel
he visited them in their prison. Explain this, Eretrian!"
"He who would speak false witness," answered Gongylus, with a firmness
equal to the Chian's, "can find pearls at whatsoever hour he pleases.
Greeks, this man presses me to renew the charge which Pausanias
generously sought to stifle. I have said. And I, Governor of
Byzantium, call on the Council of the Grecian Leaders to maintain my
authority, and protect their own Chief."
Then arose a vexed and perturbed murmur, most of the Ionians siding
with Antagoras, such of the allies as yet clung to the Dorian
ascendancy grouping round Gongylus. The persistence of Antagoras had
made the dilemma of no slight embarrassment to Pausanias. Something
lofty in his original nature urged him to shrink from supporting
Gongylus in an accusation which he believed untrue. On the other hand,
he could not abandon his accomplice in an effort, as dangerous as it
was crafty, to conceal their common guilt.
"Son of Miltiades," he said after a brief pause, in which his
dexterous resolution was formed, "I invoke your aid to appease a
contest in which I foresee no result but that of schism amongst
ourselves. Antagoras has no witness to support his tale, Gongylus none
to support his own. Who shall decide between conflicting testimonies
which rest but on the lips of accuser and accused? Hereafter, if the
matter be deemed sufficiently grave, let us refer the decision to the
oracle that never errs. Time and chance meanwhile may favour us in
clearing up the darkness we cannot now penetrate.
For you, Governor of Byzantium, it behoves me to say that the escape
of prisoners entrusted to your charge justifies vigilance if not
suspicion. We shall consult at our leisure whether or not that course
suffices to remove you from the government of Byzantium. Heralds,
advance; our council is dissolved."
With these words Pausanias rose, and the majesty of his bearing, with
the unwonted temper and conciliation of his language, so came in aid
of his high office, that no man ventured a dissentient murmur.
The conclave broke up, and not till its members had gained the outer
air did any signs of suspicion or dissatisfaction evince themselves;
but then, gathering in groups, the Ionians with especial jealousy
discussed what had passed, and with their native shrewdness ascribed
the moderation of Pausanias to his desire to screen Gongylus and avoid
further inquisition into the flight of the prisoners. The discontented
looked round for Cimon, but the young Athenian had hastily retired
from the throng, and, after issuing orders to pursue the fugitives,
sought Aristides in the house near the quay in which he lodged.
Cimon related to his friend what had passed at the meeting, and
terminating his recital, said:
"Thou shouldst have been with us. With thee we might have ventured
more." "And if so," returned the wise Athenian with a smile, "ye would
have prospered less Precisely because I would not commit our country
to the suspicion of fomenting intrigues and mutiny to her own
advantage, did I abstain from the assembly, well aware that Pausanias
would bring his minion harmless from the unsupported accusation of
Antagoras. Thou hast acted with cool judgment, Cimon. The Spartan is
weaving the webs of the Parcae for his own feet. Leave him to weave
on, undisturbed. The hour in which Athens shall assume the sovereignty
of the seas is drawing near. Let it come, like Jove's thunder, in a
calm sky."
CHAPTER III.
Pausanias did not that night quit the city. After the meeting, he held
a private conference with the Spartan Equals, whom custom and the
government assigned, in appearance as his attendants, in reality as
witnesses if not spies of his conduct. Though every pure Spartan, as
compared with the subject Laconian population, was noble, the republic
acknowledged two main distinctions in class, the higher, entitled
Equals, a word which we might not inaptly and more intelligibly render
Peers; the lower, Inferiors. These distinctions, though hereditary,
were not immutable. The peer could be degraded, the inferior could
become a peer. To the royal person in war three peers were allotted.
Those assigned to Pausanias, of the tribe called the Hylleans, were
naturally of a rank and influence that constrained him to treat them
with a certain deference, which perpetually chafed his pride and
confirmed his discontent; for these three men were precisely of
the mould which at heart he most despised. Polydorus, the first in
rank--for, like Pausanias, he boasted his descent from Hercules--was
the personification of the rudeness and bigotry of a Spartan who had
never before stirred from his rocky home, and who disdained all that
he could not comprehend. Gelon, the second, passed for a very wise
man, for he seldom spoke but in monosyllables; yet, probably, his
words were as numerous as his ideas. Cleomenes, the third, was as
distasteful to the Regent from his merits as the others from their
deficiencies. He had risen from the grade of the Inferiors by his
valour; blunt, homely, frank, sincere, he never disguised his
displeasure at the manner of Pausanias, though, a true Spartan
in discipline, he never transgressed the respect which his chief
commanded in time of war.
Pausanias knew that these officers were in correspondence with Sparta,
and he now exerted all his powers to remove from their minds any
suspicion which the disappearance of the prisoners might have left in
them.
In this interview he displayed all those great natural powers which,
rightly trained and guided, might have made him not less great in
council than in war. With masterly precision he enlarged on the
growing ambition of Athens, on the disposition in her favour evinced
by all the Ionian confederates. "Hitherto," he said truly, "Sparta has
uniformly held rank as the first state of Greece; the leadership of
the Greeks belongs to us by birth and renown. But see you not that the
war is now shifting from land to sea? Sea is not our element; it is
that of Athens, of all the Ionian race. If this continue we lose our
ascendancy, and Athens becomes the sovereign of Hellas. Beneath the
calm of Aristides I detect his deep design. In vain Cimon affects the
manner of the Spartan; at heart he is Athenian. This charge against
Gongylus is aimed at me. Grant that the plot which it conceals
succeed; grant that Sparta share the affected suspicions of the
Ionians, and recall me from Byzantium; deem you that there lives one
Spartan who could delay for a day the supremacy of Athens? Nought
save the respect the Dorian Greeks at least attach to the General
at Plataea could restrain the secret ambition of the city of the
demagogues. Deem not that I have been as rash and vain as some hold me
for the stern visage I have shown to the Ionians. Trust me that it was
necessary to awe them, with a view to maintain our majesty. For Sparta
to preserve her ascendancy, two things are needful: first, to continue
the war by land; secondly, to disgust the Ionians with their sojourn
here, send them with their ships to their own havens, and so leave
Hellas under the sole guardianship of ourselves and our Peloponnesian
allies. Therefore I say, bear with me in this double design; chide me
not if my haughty manner disperse these subtle Ionians. If I bore with
them to-day it was less from respect than, shall I say it, my fear
lest you should misinterpret me. Beware how you detail to Sparta
whatever might rouse the jealousy of her government. Trust to me,
and I will extend the dominion of Sparta till it grasp the whole
of Greece. We will depose everywhere the revolutionary Demos, and
establish our own oligarchies in every Grecian state. We will Laconize
all Hellas."
Much of what Pausanias said was wise and profound. Such statesmanship,
narrow and congenial, but vigorous and crafty, Sparta taught in later
years to her alert politicians. And we have already seen that, despite
the dazzling prospects of Oriental dominion, he as yet had separated
himself rather from the laws than the interests of Sparta, and still
incorporated his own ambition with the extension of the sovereignty of
his country over the rest of Greece.
But the peers heard him in dull and gloomy silence; and, not till he
had paused and thrice asked for a reply, did Polydorus speak.
"You would increase the dominion of Sparta, Pausanias. Increase of
dominion is waste of life and treasure. We have few men, little gold;
Sparta is content to hold her own." "Good," said Gelon, with impassive
countenance. "What care we who leads the Greeks into blows? the fewer
blows the better. Brave men fight if they must, wise men never fight
if they can help it."
"And such is your counsel, Cleomenes?" asked Pausanias, with a
quivering lip.
"Not from the same reasons," answered the nobler and more generous
Spartan. "I presume not to question your motives, Pausanias. I leave
you to explain them to the Ephors and the Gerusia. But since you press
me, this I say. First, all the Greeks, Ionian as well as Dorian,
fought equally against the Mede, and from the commander of the Greeks
all should receive fellowship and courtesy. Secondly, I say if Athens
is better fitted than Sparta for the maritime ascendancy, let Athens
rule, so that Hellas be saved from the Mede. Thirdly, O Pausanias, I
pray that Sparta may rest satisfied with her own institutions, and
not disturb the peace of Greece by forcing them upon other States and
thereby enslaving Hellas. What more could the Persian do? Finally,
my advice is to suspend Gongylus from his office; to conciliate the
Ionians; to remain as a Grecian armament firm and united, and so
procure, on better terms, peace with Persia. And then let each State
retire within itself, and none aspire to rule the other. A thousand
free cities are better guard against the Barbarian than a single State
made up of republics overthrown and resting its strength upon hearts
enslaved."
"Do you too," said Pausanias, gnawing his nether lip, "Do you too,
Polydorus; you too, Gelon, agree with Cleomenes, that, if Athens is
better fitted than Sparta for the sovereignty of the seas, we should
yield to that restless rival so perilous a power?"
"Ships cost gold," said Polydorus. "Spartans have none to spare.
Mariners require skilful captains; Spartans know nothing of the sea."
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