Though

* ®jor nnui>.(>v^t*i>r» Plat. F#xd.



[ *3» ]

Though the dialogue with Crito probably
never patted, yet the offer of Crito was pro-
bably made; though the long detail of

Phasdon to Echecrates is doubtlefsly not au-
thentic with refpect to the argumentative part,
(for nor was Plato prefent, nor could even
Plato (if prefent) have claffed and related
at fecond hand fo prolix and fubtile a courfe
of argument) yet is the effay in many parts
curious from the anecdotes interfperfed, and
through the notoriety of which, Plato probably
thought to give a genuine ftamp to the philofophi-
cal parts of his treatife; — among thefe may be
remarked — ' the obfervation of Socrates with
refpect to pleafure and pain, when his fetters
were knocked off;' — ' his verification of the
fable of iEfop -,' — ' the facrifice to iEfculapius,'
and many other circumftances, among which
ought never to be forgotten, the kind fmile and
blcfling he bellowed on his executioner, whofe
lowering eye could not refrain a tear, when he
held forth the deadly cup to fo good and wife a
man.

" To me (exclaims Xenophon) his death
f 6 itfelf feems a demonftration of how much he
f € was beloved of the Gods ! who cut off the
i c few remaining burthenfome hours of life,

v and



[ 2 3 9 !

■'• and on the eve of decrepitude, granted hira
" the eafieft of deaths !

" Such was the wiidom, and iuch die mag-
** nanimky of this man, that I ever mull re-
" member, and remembering, ever laud it;
" and if, in future times, any who are friends
" to virtue, and to the virtuous mail boaft ac-
" quaintance with a better and with a more
" ufefttl member of fociety, than was Socrates^
*.' — I hefitate not to pronounce him the firft;
ff and moft blefh of mortals.



CHAP.



*"'-*•"' *-



[ ^40 J j



CHAP. IX.



|N the prior times of the republic, in order to
**■ fpeak impartially, I fpoke but little of in-
dividuals;— nay, — I teftificd my difapprobation
of the writer who mould degrade a commu-
nity, by a ftlected inftance, — and drawing the
attention of his reader from the characteriftcs
of a great nation, to the character of a great
man, feem to bid him remark tranfcendant virtue
as an exception, and not a rule : — refpecting thofe
times, I think I was right.-, — the whole people
during the Perfian wars, feemed fo united in their
purfuit of what Was good, and what was great,
that to praife one, Teemed injuftice to all ^ —
but this galaxy ©f bright and excellent quali-
ties, wherein to diftinguilh, and fix on, any
one more bright and more excellent than the
reft, was fo difficult fcr the eye, gradually loft
its indifcriminate luitre, and became a conftel-
lation of lefTer and of greater Mars, which in
proportion to the dimnefs of the whole, have
fhone out confpicuous to the view, and have

attrac ted



[ 241 ]

attracted our attention to their preheminence : — -
thus my regard (I perceive) hath of late unwa-
rily been drawn from a consideration of the
whole, to its more particular and luminous
fpots : looking back on my comment, I find
it from time to time, attending more and more
to individual names and to characters •, — the
further I proceed, the more, 1 foreiee, I fhall
thus deviate from the principle I at firft laid
down; — but this deviation, originates it not in
the progreflive, and inevitably changeable courfe
of my fubject ?

We left Athens to rue its pall crimes and fol-
lies under the tyranny of the Oligarchy ; cruel-
ty and oppreffion had foon profcribed or driven
into exile the bell: of the citizens ; and fcattered
through the neighbouring Hates, they were

idly bewailing their lofs of the country : " In

thefe times, fays Nepos, (and I think he might
have faid it of all times) — good men were
more inclinable to harangue, than to fight for
liberty :" fuch converfation however is not with-
out its confequence ; the mind is thereby moved
from its paffive Hate, and may thence forward
be more cafily directed to a particular action, if
there is any ore to impel or lead it on. ,

R Thrafybulus,



[ 24 2 ]

Thrafybulus, a captain of fome renown in the
latter period of the Peloponnefian war, was among
thofe who had taken refuge in Thebes ; — (for
Thebes and every other ftate of importance was
willing to receive and cherim the Athenian fu-
gitives) the extirpation of a people who had
ib long balanced the empire of Greece, feemed a
prelude to the uncontroulable dominion of the
oppofue party;, the apprehenfion of any further
encroachments of Sparta gained favor to thofe
"who alone had feemed equal to the oppofing her
pretenfions •, — thus others, betides its baniflied
citizens, wifhed, and fome were ready to abet,
the refloration of the republic, and once again fct
it up in hoflile rivalfhip to the power of the
Peloponnefe.

The temper of men was in that ftate, that
nothing but a firft mover feemed wanting •,—
Thrafybulus had the dexterity to engage, and
courage to lead forth ieventy followers on a-
fudden and defperate expedition -, and the firft
wheel being thus touched, the whole machine
was quickly in motion : this frnall party ifTuing
out in the depth of winter, furprized a fortrefs
in the vicinity of Athens, from the fevcrity ©f
the firafon^ot ilrlsftly guarded or attended to;

~-thc



[ 243 1

-^the fame of fuccefs encreafcd their numbers ;

' — they marched on to the Pirseeus : feized

Munychia j— met, and defeated the mercenary
forces of the Oligarchy ; — flew two of the chiefs,
and clofely laid feige to the remainder, who
diftrufting their venal army fent for fuccour to
Lacedasmon.

The incertitude and vanity of our moft general
and favourite maxims, appears on every refearch
into, and long inveftigation of fucceffive and

dependant events: what opinion appears lb

inconteftable, as that the variance of leading
men, whether of ftate or army, is of the moft
fatal tendency to thofe under their command !
Lyfander fet out with an adequate force to re-
pel the party of Thrafybulus, and replace the
Oligarchy in a firmer, and more defpotic fove-
reignty ; Paufanias the king of Sparta, envied
the renown, and feared the growing authority of
Lyfanier, and going forth, as he pretended, to
reinforce, and aflift the prior detachment, he
took the lead in the expedition, and from de-
fire of counteracting, and vexing his rival*
withheld the fword, treated with the exiles, and
permitted the reinftation of the commonwealth.
—What Spartan at that period did not think
R 2 the



[ *44 J

$& interefts of his country betrayed by the ant-
mofity of the generals ?— but pofterity obferves,
-^-within a few years from the epoch, when:
the ftate of Sparta was borne down, and menaced
with utter deft-ruction by the Theban, that it
owed its fafety to the interpofition of Athens,,
— whofe power to fave, and good will to inter-

pofe, had never been, but for the difientions

of Paufanias and Lyfander !

The republic was now, like a convalefcent,
purged indeed of many grofs and noxious hu-
mours, but as yet of a weak and tremulous
frame; adverfity, that beft preceptor, had be-
llowed no unprofitable leflbn $ penury had
broken the habits of difiipation, and dangers,
and the heavy hand of poverty, had enured the
courage, and humbled the arrogance of the
citizens ; they fat out anew without partialities
for any demagogue to lead them alb-ay, and
without wealth to corrupt them; but then,,
their former empire was mutilated, or rather
gone ; their arms, — their very ihipping was de-
ftroyed, and they had nought to truft to for
their elevation, but the never failing, and ene-
gic fpirit of their government, — the genius of
the democracy! - — -this however could not be

the



( 245 1

die work of a moment : — the firft we hear of the
Athenians, after the expulfion of the Oligar-
chy ; is, that they followed the Spartan, an
humble and dependant ally to the Elean war.

Leoty chides, the fon of the queen Timsea,
was fufpected to be the fruit of her intimacy with
Alcibiades, and with the help of a few oracles
newly vamped up, and well explained, was il-
legitimated in favor of his uncle Agefilaus ; who
confcious of the doubtful right by which he held
the crown, fought by an animated condud, to
draw the attention of men from his title, to his

merits ; and make not, wby t but how he

wielded the fceptre of Sparta, the fcope of ob-
fervation: Lyfander had anticipated the crop
of laurels from . Greece j but Afia feem-
ed a frefh and inexhauflible field of renown ;
and thither he djrecled the war. The Satraps
in the maritime governments of Perfia, defirous
of diverting the Itorm, fent forth emiflaries to
intrigue with every Grecian city of importance,
and to incite them to hoftilities with Sparta :
It was a favorable crifis for (haking off the
dominion of that haughty ftate; — a rupture was
pleaded for with all the force of oratory, and
that oratory backed with more perfuafive gold :

Thebes,



[ H6 ]

Thebes, and many other ftates received the adr
vice and money of Perfia with approbation j
Athens had at this period re-adopted fome no-
tions of the patriot virtues of her anceflry,
and admitted not the arch-briber of Rhodes
within her walls ; but the opportunity of raifing
herfelf, with all Afia, as it were, to help her,
and in her turn to fet her foot on the neck of
tbofe who had treated her fo harfhly in her mo-
ment of diftrefs, flattered too much her ambi-
tious hopes, and ardour for revenge, for her to
refill the invitation : an honorable pretext for
intermeddling was eafily found j — Thebes had
opened her gates to the Athenians in exile, and
the Athenians from gratitude voted an offenfivc
and defenfive alliance with Thebes, who was
connected offenfively and defenfively with the
Perfian.

Various other ftates were bribed or perfuaded
into fimilar meafures, till the focial league be-
came of fo great extent, and importance, that
Sparta, to oppofe its progrefs, was neceflitated
to recall its troops from Afia; Agefilaus with

regret obeyed the fummons ; he had done

enough to irritate the king of Perfia, and had

not done enough to benefit the c;:ufe of his

« country^



[ 2 47 ]

country ; — he had merely made, and left an eae-
Eiy •, — and his expedition had the effect of a mi-
ciitry, to conciliate the Afiatics with Athens j
rather than that of an armament, to humble
them to Sparta.

•Conon profited of the juncture to connect
himfelf with Pharnabazus ; he had not feen his
country fince the reftoration of the democracy,;
Jhis behaviour in the laft fea-fight with Lyfander,
had rendered his integrity or courage fufpecled,
and under thefe circumftances he thought pro-
per to delay his return, till a favorable oppor-
tunity Ihould occur, of recovering the good
favor of the people, and revifiting his natal
fpot with advantage and glory •, he had fo far
ingratiated himfelf with Pharnabazus, that he
entrufted him with the command of the Ionian,
and other provincial detachments of the Perfian
fleet ; off the city Cnidus, a .city of the Cariaa
Doris, nearly oppofite to Rhodes, lay the united
.naval force of the Spartans j Conon came up
with, attacked, defeated, and deftroyed, or dif-

abled the belt of the [hipping j Honor once

naain took poft by the Athenian flag, and Fame
acrain trumpeted from the prow, the ftories of
Mycale and of Salamis.

On



[ 2 4 8 1

On land too the republic was once more taught
to vaunt the prowefs of its foldiery, under the
generalihip of Iphicrates : Seven and twenty
long years of almoft continued civil war, had
lhown that mere Herculean force might be coun-
teracted by dexterity, — (hat, in a word, there
were arts of war \ and this ingenious people
feem to be the firft who turned this, as well as,
every other art, to its proper account. Iphi-
crates had fo difciplined, fo armed, and fo in-
structed every foldier of his army, that the citi-
zen who had feen fervice under his command
was valued thereon, and thereafter received an ad-
vanced pay, under the title of an Iphicratenfis :_.
Chabrias too was another great mafter of evolu-
tion, and every other military fcience, and once
in this war, by a fimple, new, and unexpected
manoeuvre, put a flop to the career of Agefilaus
at the head 'of the whole Spartan army, elated
with vidtory, and in the heat of purfuir.

The Athenians, under thefe generals, were
d&ilily gaining ground : when in company with
their allies, they had, indeed, been beaten by
Dercyllidas ; but in feparate detachment had
under their fkilful leaders, every where met with
fuccefs j they had been victorious in the coun-
tries



[ H9 ]

tries of Arcadia, and of the Phliafii, and they
had furprized and put to the fword a large body
of Spartans at Lychasum.

Conon arriving with the money and fleets of
Perfia at this period rebuilt the walls of Athens ;
from that moment Sparta ceded fomewhat of her
pretenfions, and condefcended to treat on equal
and equitable terms : after much negotiation the
general peace called that of Antalcidas took place;
and Perfia, the Peloponnefe, and its oppofir.es,
univerfally agreed to conditions of amity, never
long, or much attended to.

The weight of the fierce, and almoft continued,
civil broil in Greece had fallen moft heavily on
Sparta and Athens, and on fnch petty cities as
were not of fufficient confequence to be treated
with deference and care by the great mafter-re-
publics : another, an intervening rank of ftates,
whofe alliance was furHciently important to exact
confideration, and whofe ftrength was fnch as to
enfure fafe and honorable capitulations — fuch fat-
tened on the war ; and as the expence of wealth
and men gradually weakened and impoverished
the contending and principal parties, thefe fecond-
ary republics fucceflively ftartcd up, and each a

while



[ 250 J

While figured on the theatre of hiftory in fome
chief and leading part.

Olynthus in Thrace was among thofe which
had grown fo heavy of late in the balance of
fovereignty ; all the cities of the vicinity were
within its jurifdiction ; and Amyntas complained
to Greece, that half his Macedonia and even its
capitol Pella, had yielded to the forces or in-
trigues of this encroaching neighbour : A con-
fiderable army was fent from Sparta under the
conduct of Eudamidas, to equipoize the fcale of
power in thofe parts ; — this he effected j — but
icarcely was this new excrefcence lopt, when from
the very blow another hydra-head (hot forth, and
breathed defiance, and even menaced deftruction
to the afTailant.

Phaebidas in his march to reinforce Eudamidas
in Thrace, flopt on his way to profit of a com-
motion in Thebes and afiift and eftablifh the
oligarchic party, and he left a detatchment to
protect the ufurpation. The enterprize of Pelo-
pidas, who furprized and malTacred the Spartan
guard, recovered the citadel, and reftored the com-
monwealth, — embroiled his country with the
lordly conquerors of Athens •,— -unexpectedly it
proved equal to the conqueft ; and Sparta, in.

her



[ *& 3

he turn was to tremble for her dominion, fop
her country, for her very fafety, and even ex>
iftence.

The Athenians were defirous of fetting quie;
fpectators of the contention, but the foolifh outr
rage of Sphodrias who treacheroufly but vainly
made an attack on the haven of Athens, in-
fringing the treaty with the Lacedaemonian
forced the Athenians into a feparate treaty with
Thebes, and they prepared to join in a vigorous
attack on the common aggreflbr.

Now once sgain, a fleet was equipped from
the Piraseus ; Chabrias and Timotheus its
commanders were every where fuccefsful -, the
one drove the enemy from the feas, the latter
recovered Samos and took Corcyra, and coafting
the peninfula, at various defcents defpoiled its
cities and laid wafte the country.

The Theban however reaping all the advan-
tages of the war, and throwing more than the
proportional weight thereof on the allies, Athens
in difguil feemed inclinable to treat, and giving
up a conteft which fhe had entered into but
from neceflity, to recur to a tranquil purfuit of
population, of arts, and of the recovery of that
commerce which had once rendered her fo rich

and



[ *$* ]

and powerful : Iphicrates was recalled from
Acarnania, where he was dailiJy acquiring credit
and advantage, and a treaty was commenced
and feparate conditions of peace agreed to between
Athens and Sparta.

Thebes left alone to profecute the war, was
for a time difpirited, till in the field of Leuc-
tra, that great and (more than great that) good
citizen Epaminondas by a fage and valiant con-
duel: routed and compleatly vanquilhed the
Spartans with an army lefs numerous than their
own ; — elated with fo noble a victory over a

people ufed to defpife all odds, and afk not

how many, but, where their enemy were, — crown-
ed with fo bright a conqueft, the Theban pro-
claimed it with exultation throughout Greece,
and invited each city to partake in the humili-
ation of the haughty difciples of Lycurgus, and
join in the abafement of thofe who had fo long
and fo tyrannically played the lord and mafter.
Athens gave the herald of fuccefs but a cool
reception : it was matter of debate, not whe-
ther Sparta mould be attacked, but whether
Thebes oppofed ; the difmemberment of Sparta
and acceffion of its territories to Thebes, fo
much encreafing its power, might fwell the cur-
rent,



[ 2 53 J

rent, already full to its bank, till it burft in in-
undation over the vicinities, and lay all around
under the flood ; it feemed time to draw off
fome of the ftream, or at leaft to place a dam
to its further encroachment j Athens had already
beheld the power of Sparta fpread over her
countries, and over the face of Greece, and not
even with the deftru&ion of Sparta would me
hazard from another quarter fuch another def-
lation of the liberties, of the arts, of the free in-
tercourfe, and of every other blemng of fociety f
In a full afombly, it was concluded necefTary
to obviate the growing power of Thebes, and
now when no other city was willing to engage in
to diitrefsful an alliance Athens voluntarily pro-
fered friendfliip and fuccour to the Lacedemo-
nians, and Iphicrates accordingly was fent forth
with an army to their aftiftance.

Not long after, in the famous battle of
Mantinea with the heroe Epaminondas fell the
grearnefs of his newly ambitious countrymen :
The Thebans, by the advice of their dying ge-
neral forewent the hopes of empire for a well
timed and honorable peace which generally was
come into, and with a particular readinefs by
Athens, as the equal power and freedom me

fought



[ 254 \

fought for, feemed virtually fecured by rM
very armiftice.

Each great and leading ftate of Greece had,,
in its turn, known the viciffitude from power 1
to humiliation, each had dearly rued a fhort-
lived triumph with the lofs of its treafure, and
of the flower of its citizens -, every fpeech abho-
rent of war, was echoed by the groans of the
widow or the orphan ; the peace might now,
therefore, beprefumed permanent, whilft the pub-
lic ruin and private misfortunes gave every argu-
ment for it, its full weight, and a rrioft favor-
able hearing. Peace, however, like a feail
long untafted, and then gluttoned on to excefs,
brought on grofs corruption, and a whole train
of diforders : Men, becaufe difguffed with war,
feemed to think that their fervice in war was
never again to be required \ they gave themfelves
up to habits that incapacitated them for future
labor •, the fund kt apart to any unforfeen ex-
igencies of the public, was voted for public dif*
fipation, and their late brave and fuccefsful ge-
nerals, difregarded by the people, and carped
at by the demagogues, fled from envy and dii-
grace, and fettled in diftant parts ; — Conon in
Cyprus, Ip hie rates in Thrace, Tirr.otheus at

LefboSy



[ *w ]

Lffbos, and Chares in Sigaeum. Little was it
eonfidered that a warlike mien, and an attentive
and firm policy were the belt fureties for the con-
tinuance of that (late of tranquillity fo much
and (o ill enjoyed ; the reft of Greece feemed too
much enraptured with the fame indolence, or too
much exhaufted to attend and profit of the weak-
nefs which fupinenefs or luxury mould produce
among others; and it was not pre-conceived
that a petty northern prince might, as he did,
break through the obftacles that oppofed him,
and come with a force irrefiftable to the enervate
dedans, and in a fhort time attain that fove-
reignty, which had fo long and fo fharply been
contefted.

Our Athens was in particular lulled into the
mod fupine fecurity ; attack was fo little thought
of, that every provifion for even defence was
diverted to fome other channel ; their generals,
as we obferved, lived in a fort of voluntary ex-
ile j their army and Ihipping were left to wreck
and ruin, and the funds applicable to their fup-
pcrt, wafted on fcenery and a&ors.

Nor were other great cities lefs votaries of cor-
ruptive eafe •,— nor was even Sparta without infec-
tion i~ Lyfandcr had brought home the gold of

Perfia,



[ a S 6 ]

Pern" a, and fpoils of Athens ;— .Antalcidas their
ambaffador to Perfia, on the late peace, to di-
vert the great king, danced a faraband, — and
buffooned the heroifm of Leonidas. — Can we
•wonder at the fuecefles of Philip !



CHAP.



t m 1



CHAP. Xj



r I ^ H E people of Athens, from the inacli-
**■ vity of the neighbouring ftates, drew a
falfe conclufion favorable at once to their love
of eafe, and to their ambition of power : as the
the moment of ebriety gives a tranfttory force,
and even to the worn-out rake affords a fenfa-
tion of vigour not much diflimilar to that of a
robuft and healthful conftitution, or if difcri-
minate, yet differing only in a mow of fupericr
heat and impetuofity ; fo, the Athenians inflated
with luxurious and unmolefted enjoyment, af-
fumed the haughty deportment of high and in-
vincible authority* and treated their dependants
with fuch indignity and opprefTion, as drove
them to a defiance, and to a trial of that force
which had fo wantonly been cxercifed upon them,
whilft in pafTive fubmiflion.

The city of Byzantium, and ifles of Chios, Cos,
Rhodes, and various other place?, confpired to
humble the arrogance, and prefcribe fome li-

S in its



[ *5» ]

mits to the jurifdiction, of the fover'eign repub-
lic : this, commonly called the focial war,
was but of fhort duration ; Chares fent to chaf-
tife the iilaads, tranigrefied the authority of his
commifiion, by making a defcent on the coafts
of Ionia, and affifting the rebel Satrap Artaba-
zus, againft the king of Perfia ; who irritated
by the unprovoked attack, menaced Attica,
with an invafion, the more formidable, as it was
at this period at variance with the better, namely
with the naval, part of its common tributaries :
the threats of the Perfian king brought on an
immediate treaty between Athens and its depen-
dencies, and the peace foon after concluded,
gave them unprecedented rights and privileges,
eftablifhed on the neceffities and fears of the
mafter-ftate.

Other circumftances too influenced the Athe-
nians to put an end to this war at any rate »
Chabrias, their moft experienced commander,,
had fallen at the attack of Chios ; and the de-
figns of Philip hitherto conducted with the moft
wary policy, and covered with every art of in-
trigue and negotiation, were now fufficiently
opening to view, for even the blinded to have
foroe glimmering of the fcor^c to which they di-
rected,



C 2 59 ]

reeled, and fome apprehenfion of the ruin that
muft enfue : Athens more particularly had rea-
fon to take alarm j fome of the few relitts of
her once powerful empire were fcattercd on the
confines of Macedon, and its kings firft objecl:
was the feizure of thefe feveral frontiers of his
dominion, to fecure, as well as to enlarge his
own territories, previous to an avowal of his
more ambitious purpofes ; unfortunately it
might have turned out for him, that many of
thefe barrier towns were appendant to the fove-

reignty of Athens ; unfortunately I fay, •

for had that degenerate (late, inftead of feeking
arguments for its lafcivious indolence, been ma-
turely watchful over the motions of Philip;
awakened by his attack on its own particular
rights had it interpofed, and given a timely fup-
port to its cities j or at firft) had it accepted
the proffered alliance of Olynthus, this plotting