of Athens by a solemn oath to observe his institutions for at least ten years. But as soon as they came into operation he was constantly besieged by a number of applicants, who came to ask his advice respecting the meaning of his enactments, or to suggest improvements and alterations in them. Seeing that if he remained in Athens, he should be obliged to introduce changes into his code, he resolved to leave his native city for the period of ten years, during which the Athenians were bound to maintain his laws inviolate. He first visited Egypt, and then proceeded to Cyprus, where he was received with great distinction by Philocyprus, king of the small town of Æpia. He persuaded this prince to remove his city from the old site, and found a new one on the plain, which Philocyprus called Soli, in honour of his illustrious visitor.

Solon is also related to have remained some time at Sardis, the capital of Lydia. His interview with Croesus, the Lydian king, is one of the most celebrated events in his life. The Lydian monarchy was then at the height of its prosperity and glory. Croesus, after exhibiting to the Grecian sage all his treasures, asked him who was the happiest man he had ever known, nothing doubting of the reply. But Solon, without flattering his royal guest, named two obscure Greeks; and when the king expressed his surprise and mortification that his visitor took no account of his great glory and wealth, Solon replied that he esteemed no man happy till he knew how he ended his life, since the highest prosperity was frequently followed by the darkest adversity. Cræsus at the time treated the admonition of the sage with contempt; but when the Lydian monarchy was afterwards overthrown by Cyrus, and Croesus was condemned by his savage conqueror to be burnt to death, the warnings of the Greek philosopher came to his mind, and he called in a loud voice upon the name of Solon. Cyrus inquired the cause of this strange invocation, and upon hearing it, was struck with the vicissitudes of fortune, set the Lydian monarch free, and made him his confidential friend.

It is impossible not to regret that the stern laws of chronology compel us to reject this beautiful tale. Croesus did not ascend the throne till B.C. 560, and Solon had returned to Athens before that date. The story has been evidently invented to convey an important moral lesson, and to draw a striking contrast between Grecian republican simplicity and Oriental splendour and pomp.

§ 17. During the absence of Solon, the old dissensions between the Plain, the Shore, and the Mountain had broken out afresh with more violence than ever. The first was headed by Lycurgus, the second by Megacles, the Alcmaæonid, and the grandson of the

archon who had suppressed the conspiracy of Cylon, and the third by Pisistratus, the cousin of Solon. Of these leaders, Pisistratus was the ablest and the most dangerous. He had gained renown in war; he possessed remarkable fluency of speech; and he had espoused the cause of the Mountain, which was the poorest of the three classes, in order to gain popularity with the great mass of the people. Of these advantages he resolved to avail himself in order to become master of Athens.

Solon returned to Athens about в.c. 562, when these dissensions were rapidly approaching a crisis. He soon detected the ambitious designs of his kinsman, and attempted to dissuade him from them. Finding his remonstrances fruitless, he next denounced his projects in verses addressed to the people. Few, however, gave any heed to his warnings; and Pisistratus, at length finding his schemes ripe for action, had recourse to a memorable stratagem to secure his object. One day he appeared in the market-place in a chariot, his mules and his own person bleeding with wounds inflicted with his own hands. These he exhibited to the people, telling them that he had been nearly murdered in consequence of defending their rights. The popular indignation was excited; an assembly was forthwith called, and one of his friends proposed that a guard of fifty club-men should be granted him for his future security. It was in vain that Solon used all his authority to oppose so dangerous a request; his resistance was overborne; and the guard was voted.

Pisistratus thus gained the first and most important step. He gradually increased the number of his guard, and soon found himself strong enough to throw off the mask and seize the Acropolis, B.C. 560. Megacles and the Alcmæonidæ left the city. Solon alone had the courage to oppose the usurpation, and upbraided the people with their cowardice and their treachery. "You might," said he, "with ease have crushed the tyrant in the bud; but nothing now remains but to pluck him up by the roots." But no one responded to his appeal. He refused to fly; and when his friends asked him on what he relied for protection, On my old age," was his reply. It is creditable to Pisistratus that he left his aged relative unmolested, and even asked his advice in the administration of the government.

Solon did not long survive the overthrow of the constitution. He died a year or two afterwards at the advanced age of eighty. His ashes are said to have been scattered, by his own direction, round the island of Salamis, which he had won for the Athenian people.

HISTORY OF ATHENS FROM THE USURPATION OF PISISTRATUS TO THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE DEMOCRACY BY CLISTHENES.

§ 1. Despotism of Pisistratus. His first expulsion and restoration. § 2. His second expulsion and restoration. §3. Government of Pisistratus after his final restoration to his death, B.c. 527. §4. Government of Hippias and Hipparchus. Conspiracy of Harmodius and Aristogiton, and assassination of Hipparchus, B.C. 514. § 5. Sole government of Hippias. His expulsion by the Alemæonidæ and the Lacedæmonians, B.C. 510. § 6. Honours paid to Harmodius and Aristogiton. §7. Party struggles at Athens between Clisthenes and Isagoras. Establishment of the Athenian democracy. § 8. Reforms of Clisthenes. Institution of ten new tribes and of the demes. § 9. Increase of the number of the Senate to Five Hundred. § 10. Enlargement of the functions and authority of the Senate and the Ecclesia. § 11. Introduction of the judicial functions of the people. Institution of the Ten Strategi or Generals. § 12. Ostracism. §13. First attempt of the Lacedæmonians to overthrow the Athenian democracy. Invasion of Attica by Cleo

menes, followed by his expulsion with that of Isagoras. § 14. Second attempt of the Lacedæmonians to overthrow the Athenian democracy. The Lacedæmonians, Thebans, and Chalcidians attack Attica. The Lacedæmonians deserted by their allies and compelled to retire. Victories of the Athenians over the Thebans and Chalcidians, followed by the planting of 4000 Athenian colonists on the lands of the Chalcidians. 15. Third attempt of the Lacedæmonians to overthrow the Athenian democracy, again frustrated by the refusal of the allies to take part in the enterprise. § 16. Growth of Athenian patriotism, a consequence of the reforms of Clisthenes.

§ 1. PISISTRATUS became despot of Athens, as already stated, in the year 560 B.C. He did not however retain his power long. The two leaders of the other factions, Megacles of the Shore, and Lycurgus of the Plain, now combined, and Pisistratus was driven into exile. But the two rivals afterwards quarrelled, and Megacles invited Pisistratus to return to Athens, offering him his daughter in marriage, and promising to assist him in regaining the sovereignty. These conditions being accepted, the following stratagem was devised for carrying the plan into effect. A tall stately woman, named Phya, was clothed in the armour and costume of Athena (Minerva), and placed in a chariot with Pisistratus at her side. In this guise the exiled despot approached the city, preceded by heralds, who announced that the goddess was bringing back Pisistratus to her own acropolis. The people believed the announcement, worshipped the woman as their tutelary goddess, and quietly submitted to the sway of their former ruler.

§ 2. Pisistratus married the daughter of Megacles according to the compact; but as he had already grown up children by a former marriage, and did not choose to connect his blood with a family which was considered accursed on account of Cylon's sacrilege, he did not treat her as his wife. Incensed at this affront, Megacles again made common cause with Lycurgus, and Pisistratus was compelled a second time to quit Athens. He retired to Eretria in Euboea, where he remained no fewer than ten years. He did not however spend his time in inactivity. He possessed considerable influence in various parts of Greece, and many cities furnished him with large sums of money. He was thus able to procure mercenaries from Argos; and Lygdamis, a powerful citizen of Naxos, came himself both with money and with troops. With these Pisistratus sailed from Eretria, and landed at Marathon. Here he was speedily joined by his friends and partisans, who flocked to his camp in large numbers. His antagonists allowed him to remain undisturbed at Marathon; and it was not till he began his march towards the city that they hastily collected their forces and went out to meet him. But their conduct was extremely negligent or corrupt; for Pisistratus fell suddenly

upon their forces at noon, when the men were unprepared for battle, and put them to flight almost without resistance. Instead of following up his victory by slaughtering the fugitives, he proclaimed a general pardon on condition of their returning quietly to their homes. His orders were generally obeyed; and the leaders of the opposite factions, finding themselves abandoned by their partisans, quitted the country. In this manner Pisistratus became undisputed master of Athens for the third time.

§ 3. Pisistratus now adopted vigorous measures to secure his power and render it permanent. He took into his pay a body of Thracian mercenaries, and seized as hostages the children of those citizens whom he suspected, placing them in Naxos under the care of Lygdamis. But as soon as he was firmly established in the government, his administration was marked by mildness and equity. An income-tax of five per cent. was all that he levied from the people. He maintained the institutions of Solon, taking care, however, that the highest offices should always be held by some members of his own family. He not only enforced strict obedience to the laws, but himself set the example of submitting to them. Being accused of murder, he disdained to take advantage of his authority, and went in person to plead his cause before the Areopagus, where his accuser did not venture to appear. He courted popularity by largesses to the citizens, and by throwing open his gardens to the poor. He adorned Athens with many public buildings, thus giving employment to the poorer citizens, and at the same time gratifying his own taste. He commenced on a stupendous scale a temple to the Olympian Jove, which remained unfinished for centuries, and was at length completed by the emperor Hadrian. He covered with a building the fountain Callirrhoë, which supplied the greater part of Athens with water, and conducted the water through nine pipes, whence the fountain was called Enneacrūnus.* Moreover, Pisistratus was a patron of literature, as well as of the arts. He is said to have been the first person in Greece who collected a library, which he threw open to the public; and to him posterity is indebted for the collection of the Homeric poems.† On the whole, it cannot be denied that he made a wise and noble use of his power; and it was for this reason that Julius Cæsar was called the Pisistratus of Rome.

§ 4. Pisistratus died at an advanced age in 527 B.C., thirtythree years after his first usurpation. He transmitted the sovereign power to his sons, Hippias and Hipparchus, who conducted the government on the same principles as their father.

* Εννεάκρουνος from ἐννέα nine, and κροῦνος a pipe. † See p. 43.