CHAPTER CIII

DEMOSTHENES IN THE TEMPLE OF POSEIDON

When Alexander set out on his great expedition to Asia, Demosthenes was living in Athens, and for five years nothing happened to disturb the quiet habits of his life.

He loved his city well, and with his own money he had rebuilt the walls of Athens. Many other services he had done for his countrymen, and because of these, one of the Athenians proposed to the people that a hero’s crown of gold should be bestowed upon Demosthenes.

This they were very willing to do. So at one of the great Athenian festivals, when the people were assembled in the theatre, a herald proclaimed that a golden crown had been awarded to the orator because of all that he had done for his city.

But Æschines, another great orator, was angry that this honour should have been given to Demosthenes, whom he happened to dislike. So he brought a lawsuit against him, and attacked his enemy in a speech that became famous.

But Demosthenes defended himself in a still more brilliant speech, and won his case, which so annoyed Æschines that he left Athens and never again returned to the city.

Six years later, Demosthenes was accused of having taken bribes. It was not proved that he had done so, yet he was found guilty and sentenced to pay a heavy fine.

As he had not money enough to pay the fine, he was thrown into prison. Before long he escaped and fled to the sea-coast town of Ægina, not far from Athens. Often he would sit on the shore or pace up and down the sands, looking wistfully toward the city he loved.

When tidings of the death of Alexander reached Athens, the Greeks resolved once more to try to fling off the yoke of Macedon. Demosthenes was recalled to the city, and his voice encouraged the Athenians in their determination to fight for liberty.

But Antipater hastened to Attica with an army, and soon put down the revolt of the Athenians. He then condemned Demosthenes to death, for it was well-known that his Philippics had often roused the Athenians to show their hatred of Philip, and he had, too, continually spoken against his son Alexander.

When Demosthenes heard that he had been condemned, he fled to the temple of Poseidon, in the island of Calauria. Antipater at once sent soldiers, led by a man named Archias, to capture the fugitive. Archias had once been an actor, and was well known to Demosthenes.

Archias reached Calauria, and going to the temple he begged Demosthenes to come out of the sanctuary, saying that if he did so he would be pardoned.

But Demosthenes knew that this was a false promise and he said, ‘O Archias, I am as little affected by your promises now as I used formerly to be by your acting.’

Now Archias had been proud of his acting, so this made him very angry with Demosthenes, and he began to threaten him with all kinds of evil.

‘Now,’ said the orator, ‘you speak like an oracle of Macedon; before, you were acting a part. Therefore wait only a little, while I write a word or two to my family.’

Then he rose and went into the inner temple, and taking a tablet and his own pen in his hand, he sat down as though to write. He had a habit of putting his pen into his mouth and biting it, and he did so now. It seemed as though he was thinking what he would write. But all the while he was sucking poison which he had concealed in his pen.

Then, knowing that the poison would soon do its work, Demosthenes leaned on the altar, his face hidden in his cloak.

Archias had now grown tired of waiting, and he went into the temple again and bade Demosthenes come, without more delay.

The orator rose, uncovering his head, and looking at Archias, he said, ‘I will depart while I am alive out of this sacred place.’ But as he tried to walk toward the door he staggered and fell by the altar. The poison had done its work.

Antipater had no interest in the art or in the culture of Greece, and her glory soon faded under his rule. Athens, Sparta, Corinth, as well as the smaller states, all ceased to be independent.

As the power of Greece grew less, that of Rome was growing greater and greater. In 196 B.C. she conquered Macedon and restored to Greece her liberty.

Fifty years later, Corinth defied the Roman power, and treated her ambassadors with insult. The Roman consuls then sent an army into Greece to conquer the country, and add it to their great dominions.

But although the Romans conquered Greece, and so made her subject to them, they could not escape her influence. The Greek language was spoken by every educated Roman, Greek plays were acted at Rome, Greek literature was read and studied.

Wherever the Romans went they carried with them the habits and the culture of the people whom they had conquered. And the greatest and most precious thing the Greeks had to teach the world was, ‘the just consideration of the truth of things everywhere.’

INDEX

Achæans, the, 73.

Achilles, and Briseis the Fair-cheeked, 32; fatal quarrel with Agamemnon, 34; the horses of, 44; Hector slain by, 48 _et seq._; death of, 52.

Acrisius, king of Argos, 18; killed by Perseus, 29.

Acropolis at Athens, the, 97.

Admetus, king, 186.

Ægis of Athens, the, 23, 30.

Ægospotami, disaster at, 261.

Æolians, the, 73.

Æschines, lawsuit against Demosthenes, 349.

Æschylus, 172, 200.

Agamemnon, king, 33, 34.

Agesilaus, king of Sparta, 278, 279.

Alcibiades, 232–236; friendship with Socrates, 236, 238, 240, 243; expedition to conquer Sicily, 244–248; flight to Sparta, 247–248; betrayal of Athenians to the Spartans, 248; return to Athens, 255; Antiochus’ disobedience, 258; death of, 263.

Alexander the Great, at battle of Chæronea, 307; and his horse Bucephalus, 309; conquests in Greece, 312 _et seq._; and Diogenes, 312; conquest of Persia, 314, 315 _et seq._; cutting of the Gordian knot, 318; illness of, 319; defeat of Darius at Issus, 322; treatment of Darius and his wife and family, 323, 327; siege of Tyre by, 325; defeat of Darius at Gaugamela, 328; burning of Persepolis by, 331; pursuit of Darius, 334; treatment of Philotas, 335; slays his foster-brother, 336; conquests in India, 338; victory over King Porus, 338; wounded at siege of the citadel of Malli, 342; east and west united by, 345; death of, 345.

Alexander, king of Thessaly, Pelopidas’ expedition against, 282.

Amphictyonic Council, the, 94.

Amphipolis, surrender of, 228.

Andromache and Hector, 41, 50, 51, 52.

Andromeda and the sea-monster, 26.

Antinous, 67.

Antiochus, 258.

Antipater, 350.

Aphrodite, 4, 40.

Apollo, 4, 11, 35, 46, 76, 79, 95; and Hyacinthus, 16.

Arachne, story of, 13.

Archias, 273, 274, 275; and Demosthenes, 350.

Archidamus, invasion of Attica by, 205; siege of Plataea under, 210–213.

Arginusæ, battle of, 259.

Argos, war with Sparta, 232.

Argus, the hound, 64.

Aristagoras, 122, 123, 124, 126.

Aristides, 138, 140–144, 148, 168, 170, 179, 180, 185, 188.

Aristodemus, 89.

Aristogiton, 113.

Aristomenes and the fox, 91.

Aristophanes, 200, 234.

Aristotle, 311.

Artaphernes, 122, 123, 127, 129, 130.

Artaxerxes, 186, 193; march of Cyrus against, 265; Spartan expedition against, 269.

Artemisium, battle of, 161.

Athene, 4, 11, 12, 13, 22, 23, 30, 36, 41, 62, 65, 97, 196, 198.

Athenian Empire, foundation of, 178.

Athenians, the, taking of Salamis by, 106; alliance with Ionians against Darius, 127; defeat of Persian army at Marathon, 134; victory in bay of Pylos over the Spartans, 220; surrender of Spartans at Sphacteria to, 221; invasion of Bœotia by, 225; defeat at Syracuse, 249, 252–254; defeat by Spartans under Lysander, 259.

Athens, city of, 12, 196–199; war with Dorians, 97; oligarchic government of, 98; three parties of, 100; Persian attack on, 137; sea-power of, 140, 184, 194; war with Sparta, 195; great men of, 201; jealousy of Sparta causing Peloponnesian war, 202 _et seq._; revolt of Mytilene against, 214; second Peloponnesian war, 233; surrender to the Spartans, 261–263.

Atlas, 26.

Attica, Spartan invasion of, 205.

Babylon, taken by Alexander the Great, 331.

Bessus, 334, 335.

Bœotia, invasion of, 225.

Bœotian League, the, 203.

Bow of Odysseus, the, 67.

Brasidas the Spartan, 219, 225, 226–231.

Bridge of Boats, Darius’, 118.

Briseis the Fair-cheeked, 32.

Bucephalus, 309, 329, 340.

Callistratus, 301.

Carthaginians, the, expedition against Syracuse, 286, 288, 289; defeated by Timoleon at Crimisus, 296.

Cassiopeia, 27.

Cecrops, 11.

Chæronea, battle of, 307.

Charilaus, 77, 80.

Charon, 273, 274, 275, 276.

Cimon, 179, 189–193.

Clearchus, 264, 265, 267.

Cleisthenes, 114, 115–116.

Cleombrotus, 279, 280.

Cleomenes and Aristagoras, 126.

Cleon, 208, 215, 216, 221, 222–224, 228–231.

Clitus, 336.

Codrus, the last king of Athens, 97.

Conon, 259, 262.

Conspiracy of the Seven Thebans, 273.

Corinth, the two brothers of, 286.

Crimisus, battle of, 296.

Croesus, king of Lydia, 103, 104, 105.

Cyclopes, the, 56.

Cylon, 100.

Cynoscephalæ, battle of, 284.

Cyrus, king of Persia, and Croesus, 105.

---- march against king Artaxerxes, 264–268.

Damocles, 314.

Danae, story of, 18.

Darius, king of Persia, war against Greece, 118; Histiaeus rewarded by, 121; Ionian rebellion against, 124; expedition against Athens, 131; defeat at Marathon, 134; death of, 139.

---- king of Persia, wars with Alexander the Great, 315, 319; defeat near the pass of Issus, 321; defeat at battle of Gaugamela, 328; retreat and death, 334.

Delian League, the, 178.

Delium, defeat of Athenians at, 226.

Demeter, story of, 4, 6.

Demosthenes, 218, 219, 222, 223, 250, 251, 252–254, 307, 308, 311, 313, 349.

Diodotus, 216.

Diogenes, 312.

Dionysius of Syracuse, 286, 289.

Dorians, the, 73, 76.

Draco, code of laws of, 101.

Dryads, the, 1.

Elpinice and Pericles, 195.

Epaminondas, 93, 269, 271–272, 277, 280–285, 306.

Ephialtes the treacherous Greek, 157, 159.

Ephialtes the statesman, 190, 191.

Epirus, 72.

Epitades, 219, 221, 223.

Erechtheum, the, 197.

Eros, 4.

Eucles, 228.

Euaeus the swineherd, 64, 66, 67.

Euripides, 200, 201, 235.

Europa, 15.

Eurybiades, 153, 161, 166, 167.

Eurymedon, 218, 219, 220, 221, 250, 251.

Gaugamela, battle of, 328.

Gordian knot, the, 318.

Gorgo, 127, 160.

Gorgons, the, 22.

Grææ, the, 23.

Granicus, battle of, 315.

Greece, 72.

Gylippus, 248, 249, 250, 252, 254.

Harmodius, 113.

Hecate, 8.

Hector, 39, 41, 46, 48, 51, 52.

Hecuba, 41, 50, 51.

Helen of Troy, 33, 53.

Hellespont, the scourging of the, 148.

Helots, the, 85, 190.

Hephæstion, 342, 345, 347.

Hephæstis, 11.

Hera, 3.

Hermes, 4, 23, 245.

Herodotus, 201.

Hipparchus, 113.

Hippias, 113, 132.

Histiaeus, 120, 121, 123, 129.

Homer, 32, 78.

Hyacinthus, story of, 16.

Icetes, 286, 289, 293.

Ictinus, 196, 201.

_Iliad, The_, 32.

Ionians, the, 73, 118.

---- revolt of, 123–130.

Ismenias, 270.

Lacedæmonians, the, 76.

Lamachus, 245, 247, 249.

Leonidas, king of Sparta, 153, 154, 155–158.

Leontiades, 270, 276.

Leuctra, battle of, 277–280.

Lotus-eaters, the, 55.

Lycurgus the lawgiver, 76, 78, 79, 80, 82, 87, 88.

Lysander, 258, 261, 263.

Mago, 294.

Mantinea, battle of, 233.

Marathon, battle of, 132, 134, 136.

Mardonius, 131, 145, 172, 175, 176.

Masistius, 174.

Medusa, 21, 22.

Menelaus, king, 33, 39, 53.

Megabetes, 123, 124.

Messenia, city of, 282.

Messenian war, the first, 89.

---- the second, 90.

Miltiades, 120, 133, 135, 136, 137, 138, 139.

Mindarus, 256, 257.

Mycale, battle of, 177.

Mytilene, revolt against Athens, 214.

Naiads, the, 1.

Nicias, 221, 222, 231, 232, 234, 245, 251, 252, 254.

---- peace of, 231, 232.

Odeon of Athens, the, 197, 198.

Odysseus, story of, 52, 54 _et seq._

_Odyssey, The_, 32.

Olympian Games, the, 94.

Olympus, Mount, 2.

Oracles, the Grecian, 18.

Orchomenus, battle of, 278.

Ostracism, law of, 116.

Paches, 214, 215.

Pan, 4, 5.

Paris, 33, 39, 44, 52.

Parmenio, 320, 327, 328, 330, 335.

Parthenon, the, 196, 197.

Patroclus, 34, 45–47, 48.

Pausanias, 174, 175, 177, 179–181, 185, 210.

Pelopidas, 271, 273, 277, 279, 282, 284, 306.

Peloponnesian war, the first, 202–231.

---- the second, 233–263.

Penelope, story of, 61, 66, 67–71.

Perdiccas, 314.

Pericles, 190, 194–195, 198, 202, 205, 207, 215, 233.

Persephone, story of, 6.

Persepolis, burning of, 331.

Perseus, story of, 19.

Persia, wars with Greece, 118–139, 145–177; conquest by Alexander the Great, 314, 315.

Pheidias, 3, 95, 196, 198, 199, 201, 208.

Philip, king of Macedonia, 305, 306–308, 310, 311.

Philip, the physician of Alexander, 319, 320.

Philippus, 273.

Philomelus, 306, 307.

Phocians, the, 306.

Phocion, 308, 314.

Phœbidas, 270.

Phyllidas, 273, 274.

Pirates, the Grecian, 189.

Pisistratus, 99, 107, 109–112.

Polydectes, king, 20, 21, 26, 30.

Polyphemus, the giant, 54.

Porus and his elephant, 338.

Poseidon, 3, 12, 15.

Potidæa, siege of, 207, 208.

Plague in Athens, 207, 209.

Plataea, battle of, 172; siege of, 210–213.

Plato, 240.

Plutarch, 209, 235, 257, 263, 346.

Pluto, 4, 6.

Priam, king of Troy, 33, 39, 50, 51.

Propylæa, the, 197.

Protagoras, 201.

Pylos, sea-fight of, 216.

Rome, rise of, 351.

Sacred Band of Thebans, 277, 278, 307, 308.

Sacred war, the, 306.

Salamis, siege of, 106.

---- battle of, 169–172.

Samos, revolt against Athens, 194.

Sardis, destruction of, 126.

Satyrus and Demosthenes, 304.

Scythians, Darius’ war against, 118, 120.

Sicily, Alcibiades’ expedition against, 244; war with Carthaginians and Dionysius of Syracuse, 286; freed by Timoleon, 299.

Socrates, 201, 260; friendship with Alcibiades, 236, 240–243.

Solon the lawgiver, 99, 102, 106, 110, 111.

Sophists, the, 201.

Sophocles, 200.

Sparta, 33, 76; war with Messenians, 89; war against Persia, 154, 156–160; wars with Athens, 195 _et seq._, 232, 333; destruction of Athenian army at Syracuse, 249–254; victory over Antiochus under Lysander, 259; surrender of Athens to, 261–263; expedition against Thebes, 270, 273 _et seq._

Spartans, the, training of, 82.

Sphacteria, blockade of, 219, 221.

Syracuse, siege of, 249; Corinthian expedition under Timoleon to, 286, 289 _et seq._

Telemachus, 61, 62, 65, 66, 67, 69, 70.

Ten Thousand, the march of, 264–267.

Thebes, war with Plataea, 202, 211, 213; conspiracy to obtain freedom from Sparta, 273; rise of, 277; Sacred War against Phocians, 306.

Themistocles, rivalry with Aristides, 137, 140–144; war against Xerxes, 148; at pass of Thermopylae, 153; at battle of Artemisium, 161; tactics to defeat Persian fleet at Salamis, 163–167; Spartans deceived by, 182; ostracised, 185; death of, 187, 188.

Thermopylae, battle of, 153, 156–160.

Theseus, king, 189.

Thetis, 34, 39, 48, 49, 51, 52.

Thrace, city of, 121, 122.

Thucydides, 192, 198, 201, 206, 228, 229, 252, 254.

Timoleon, 286, 288, 293, 296, 298.

Timophanes, 286.

Tissaphernes, 254, 258, 264, 266.

Trojan War, the, 32.

Troy, city of, 32, 52.

Tyrants, Grecian, 98.

Tyre, siege by Alexander, 325.

Tyrtaeus, 91, 93.

Xenophon, 264, 266, 267, 268.

Xerxes, king of Persia, 139; his dream, 145; invasion of Greece by, 148; scourging of Hellespont by, 148; Athens plundered by, 164; defeat of his fleet at Salamis, 169.

Zephyrus, 17.

Zeus, 3, 8, 9, 11, 23, 38, 39, 47, 51, 95, 197.

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Transcriber’s Notes

Punctuation, hyphenation, and spelling, including ligatures, were made consistent when a predominant preference was found in the original book; otherwise they were not changed.

Simple typographical errors were corrected; unbalanced quotation marks were remedied when the change was obvious, and otherwise left unbalanced.

Illustrations in this eBook have been positioned between paragraphs and outside quotations. In versions of this eBook that support hyperlinks, the page references in the List of Illustrations lead to the corresponding illustrations.

The index was not checked for proper alphabetization or correct page references.

“Potidæa” and “Potidaea” occur with equal frequency in the text; both spellings have been retained.