distributing sums of money amongst the several Artax. estates; invincible in arms, and to the sword, but not Muemon. to the gold and presents of the Persians; so remote were they in this respect from the character of the ancient Greeks their forefathers. To comprehend aright how much Sparta and Athens differed from what they had been in former times, we have only to compare the two treaties concluded between the Greeks and Persians; the former by Cimon the Athenian under Artaxerxes Longimanus above sixty years before, and the latter by Antalcides the Lacedæmonian under Artaxerxes Mnemon. In the first, Greece, victorious and triumphant, assures the liberty of the Asiatick Greeks, gives the law to the Persians, imposes what conditions it pleases, and prescribes bounds and limits, by prohibiting them to approach nearer to the sea with their troops than the distance of three days march; or to appear with long vessels in any of the seas between the Cyanæan and Chalidonian islands, that is to say, from the Euxine to the coasts of Pamphilia. In the second, on the contrary, Persia, grown haughty and imperious, takes pleasure in humbling its conquerors, in depriving them, with the single stroke of a pen, of their empire in Asia minor, in compelling them to abandon basely all the Greeks established in those rich provinces, to subscribe to their own subjection, and to confine themselves in their turn within the narrow bounds of Greece. From whence can so strange an alteration arise? Are there not on both sides the same cities, the same people, the same forces, and the same interest? No doubt there are; but they are not the same men, or rather, they have no longer the same principles of policy. Let us recall those happy times of Greece, so glorious for Athens and Sparta, when Persia came pouring like a deluge upon this little country with all the forces of the East. What was it that ren Diod. 1. xii p. 74, 75, Artax. dered the two cities invincible, and superior to such numerous and formidable armies? Their union and good understanding. No 'dissension between the two states, no jealousy of command, no private view of interest; in fine, no other contest between them, but of honour, glory, and the love of their country. To so laudable an union may be added an irreconcileable hatred for the Persians, which became a kind of nature in the Greeks, and was the most distinguishing character of that nation. k It was a capital crime, and punished with death, only to mention peace, or propose any accommodation with them; and an Athenian mother was seen to throw the first stone at her son, who had dared to make such a motion, and to set others the example of stoning him. This strict union of the two states, and declared abhorrence of the common enemy, were a long time the potent barriers of their security, rendered them invincible, and may be said to have been the source and principle of all the glorious successes that raised the reputation of Greece to so high a pitch. But by a misfortune common to the most flourishing states, those very successes became the cause of its ruin, and prepared the way for the disgraces it experienced in the sequel. These two states, which might have carried their victorious arms into the heart of Persia, and have attacked in their turn the great king upon his throne itself; instead of forming in concert such an enter prize, which would at once have crowned them with glory, and laden them with riches, have the folly to leave their common enemy at repose, to embroil themselves with each other upon trivial points of honour, and interests of little importance, and to exhaust the forces ineffectually against themselves, which ought to have been employed solely against the Isoc. in Panegyr. p. 143. 1 Isoc. in Panegyr. p. 132-137. In Panath. p. 524, 525. Barbarians, that could not have resisted them. For Artax. it is remarkable, that the Persians never had any ad- Mnemon, vantage over the Athenians or Lacedæmonians, whilst they were united with each other, and that it was their own divisions only, which supplied them with the means to conquer both alternately, and always the one by the other. These divisions induced them to take such measures, as neither Sparta nor Athens would ever have otherwise been capable of. We see both the one and the other dishonour themselves by their mean and abject flatteries, not only of the king of Persia, but even of his satraps; pay their court to them, earnestly solicit their favour, cringe to them, and even suffer their ill-humour; and all this to obtain some aid of troops or money, forgetting that the Persians, haughty and insolent to such as seemed afraid of them, became timorous and little to those who had the courage to despise them. But in fine, what did they gain by all these mean condescensions? The treaty, which gave occasion for these reflections, and will for ever be the reproach of Sparta and Athens. SECT. VII. War of Artaxerxes against Evagoras king of Salamin. Eulogy and character of that prince. Tiribasus falsely accused. His accuser punished. WHAT I have said upon the facility, with which the Greeks might have rendered themselves formidable to their enemies, will be more evident if we consider, on one side, the diversity of people and extent of country, which composed the vast empire of the Persians, and on the other, the weakness of the government, incapable of animating so great a mass, and of supporting the weight of so much business and application. At the court every thing was determined by the intrigues of women, and the cabals of favourites, whose whole merit often consisted in flattering their prince, and soothing his passions. It Artax. was upon their credit officers were chosen, and the Maemon, first dignities disposed of; by their opinion the services of the generals of armies were judged, and their rewards decided. The sequel will shew, that from the same source arose the insurrection of provinces, the distrust of the greatest part of the gover nors, the discontent and consequential revolt of the best officers, and the ill success of almost all the enterprizes that were formed. Artaxerxes, having got rid of the care and perplexity which the war with the Greeks had occasioned, applied himself to the terminating that of Cyprus, which had lasted several years, but had been carried on with little vigour, and turned the greatest part of his forces that way. m * Evagoras reigned at that time in Salamin, the capital city of the Isle of Cyprus. He was descended from Teucer of Salamin, who at his return from Troy built this city, and gave it the name of his country. His descendants had reigned there from that time; but a stranger of Phoenicia, having dispossessed the lawful king, had taken his place, and to maintain himself in the usurpation, had filled the city with Barbarians, and subjected the whole island to the king of Persia. Under this tyrant Evagoras was born, of whose education great care was taken. He was distinguished amongst the youth by the beauty of his aspect, the vigour of his body, and more by the modesty and innocence of his manners †, which are the greatest ornaments of that age. As he advanced in years, the greatest virtues, valour, wisdom, and justice, were observed to brighten in him. He afterwards carried these virtues to so conspicuous an height, as to give jealousy to those that governed; who perceived justly that so shining a merit could m Isocrat. in Evag. p. 380. *This Teucer was of Salamin, a little island near Athens, ceJebrated for the famous battle under Xerxes. Et qui ornat atatem, pudor. Cic. not continue in the obscurity of a private condition; Artax. but his modesty, probity, and integrity, re-assured Mnemon them, and they reposed an entire confidence in him, to which he always answered by an inviolable fidelity, without ever meditating their expulsion from the throne by violence or treachery. A more justifiable means conducted him to it, divine providence, as Isocrates says, preparing the way for him. One of the principal citizens murdered the person upon the throne, and had contrived to seize Evagoras, and to rid himself of him, in order to sccure the crown to himself; but that prince escaping his pursuit, retired to Solos, a city of Cilicia. His banishment was so far from abating his courage, that it gave him new vigour. Attended only with fifty followers, determined like himself to conquer or die, he returned to Salamin, and expelled the usurper, though supported by the credit and protection of the king of Persia. Having re-established himself in Salamin, he soon rendered his little kingdom most flourishing, by his application to the relief of his subjects, and by protecting them in all things; by governing them with justice and benevolence; by making them active and laborious; by inspiring them with a taste for the cultivation of lands, the breeding of cattle, commerce, and navigation. He formed them also for war, and made them excellent soldiers. A. M. 3599. Ant. J.C. He was already very powerful, and had acquired great reputation, when Conon, the Athenian general, after his defeat at Egospotamos, took refuge with him; "not thinking it possible to find a safer asylum for himself, nor a more powerful support of his country. The resemblance of their manners and sentiments soon made them contract a strict amity with each other, which continued ever after, and proved equally advantageous to both. Co- A. M. non was in great credit at the king of Persia's court, which he employed with that prince, by the means Isocrat. in Evag. p. 393-395. 405. 3605. Ant. J.C. 399. |