 Chapter 26 of Hellenic history. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by Ryan Fahey, Fairfield, Connecticut. Hellenic history by George Willis Botsford. Chapter 26, Art and Intelligence in the Fourth Century. Chapter 28, Part 1, Art. Value of Art for an Appreciation of Greek History. For an appreciation of Greek history, the great value of art lies in the fact that it is a genuine expression of Hellenic character, not merely of the great static essentials, but also of the more delicate variations from age to age. Some of the forces at work in reshaping the art of the fourth century were political. Lacking imperial revenues, the Athenian state was poorer than in the Age of Pericles, and could spend proportionally less on decorative works. The social democracy, too, in Athens as elsewhere, required a considerable share of the public income for the direct benefit of the masses. Individualism in art. These facts help account for the construction of great stone theaters and stadia in various Hellenic cities to the detriment of temple building. Many of the wealthy class preferred to spend their income on the erection and maintenance of more commodious and attractive dwellings, on funerary monuments or sculptured portraits of themselves and their kin. The growing individualism of art may be traced partly to these private enterprises, but far more to the general trend of education. With the enlargement of knowledge, the individual became freer from state, society and tradition, and more conscious of his separate existence. This mental growth, in and out of philosophy, was accompanied by introspection, an inquiry into the nature of the individual, a study of the personality and of its character and modes of expression. Theas, it has been said, gave the statue a soul, or more concretely, endowed the marble with thought and feeling. This inner being, however, was not a personal but a communal aspiration. History had to await a praxiteles and a scopus for an expression of the transitory thought and feeling of the individual. Praxiteles. By mechanical criteria, it is usually possible to distinguish praxitelian art from that of earlier times. A standing figure of the preceding century was essentially erect, any curve being a mere deviation from the vertical. A praxitelian statue, however, usually leans against a tree trunk or other support, which is thus made a part of the sculpture. By such means, too, the curve becomes an essential rather than an accidental feature. The need of a prop is due to the use of marble in place of bronze. Equally tangible is the difference in the treatment of drapery. Whereas in the preceding century, the dress fell in sharply outlined parallel folds, in the praxitelian drapery, the greater folds vary in direction and in prominence, and pass into one another through smaller curves. The treatment of the hair undergoes a corresponding change. In the faedian period, the short hair of men lay flat on the head, running in parallel lines and terminating in crisp curls. That of praxiteles is wrought throughout in fluffy locks. The surface of the body, too, is rendered with a natural elasticity equal to no other extant sculpture. All these external features are due to a more careful study of texture, whether of cloth, hair, or human flesh, and to an advancing technique. Hermes of praxiteles. The soul of a praxitelian statue, however, we can recognize but can explain in no mechanical way. The body has a restful attitude. The person seems happy, musing, content with himself, and the world. The only extant original statue is a mutilated hermes found in an excavation at Olympia. On his left arm he holds the infant Dionysus. With his right hand he raises high a bunch of grapes or other object to amuse the child. Hermes is not looking at Dionysus, however, but at some object beyond, momentarily lost in pleasant thought. A youth in splendid athletic training and accustomed to activity, he is for the time being in repose. All the technical qualities above described this statue represents to perfection. It is a noteworthy fact, too, that in viewing this piece of art we forget that we are looking upon a god, for we can regard him as only a perfect human youth. The striving of Hellenic genius for individuality thus displayed in no way tended toward the elevation of man to divinity, but achieved instead the reduction of God to the human plane. Far from stealing the will to endurance or to heroic effort, it encouraged pleasant relations with the deity and a quiet contentment with life. This was in brief the prevailing spirit of Athens in the middle of the fourth century within the lifetime of Praxiteles. Aphrodite of Nidus. His most famous woman statue is the Aphrodite of Nidus, of which we have but a Roman copy. The attitude of musing is Praxitelian, but all the finer qualities of the original were lost in copying. It is extremely unfortunate that we are obliged to depend almost wholly upon poor Roman copies for our acquaintance with the works of the greatest sculptors. Because of the inferior medium of contact, we are in no position to appreciate the extraordinary enthusiasm aroused by the original of this Aphrodite. Scopus. An artist of equal genius was Scopus. Though he flourished during the first half of the fourth century and was therefore older than Praxiteles, it is customary to treat of him later because he seems to us to represent a wider departure from the Faiidian type and a nearer approach to Hellenistic art. Like Praxiteles, he wrought in marble. The only originals that we can in all probability assign to him are two badly mutilated heads from a temple in Tegea, which he is known to have constructed. In contrast with the quiet musing of the Praxitelian statue, that of Scopus is all-feeling, passion expressed primarily by the face and in a less degree by the attitude of the body. The eye is sunken deeply beneath the brow and the surrounding flesh. From this shadow it gazes fixedly on a definite object. The nostrils are dilated and the mouth, partly open, seems to indicate panting. The body is tense. The whole person is wrought up to a high pitch of anger, fear, or other passion. These qualities are all discoverable in his Melieger through the extant Roman copies. Though a Perian, Scopus lived for a time at Athens, and we can discover his spirit in the contemporary youths of Athenian grave reliefs, not only in the shadowy eyes but also in the intensity of the general expression. Lysippus, a further advance was made in the latter half of the same century by Lysippus of Sychion, who is said to have wrought 1,500 statues, all in bronze. He is best represented by an excellent copy of his Apoxiomenus. It is an athlete engaged in scraping the oil and sand from his body after a contest in wrestling, and from this circumstance the statue has derived its name. Although the copy is in marble, it well expresses all the admirable qualities of the original bronze. We notice in the first place its wide departure from the polyclean cannon in the proportions of the body. The work of Lysippus has a smaller head and is taller and slimmer. Another noteworthy fact is that whereas the Doroforus of Polycleatus is to be seen from the front only, and hence is comparatively flat with the sides nearly at right angles, the work of Lysippus is to be seen from every direction and is therefore round. In brief, the artist has made an advance from the surface effect of the earlier masters to the effect of roundness and depth. We discover in the earlier work an impression of monumental repose and of collective massive strength in the latter that of restless abundant vitality, intense energy, and high development of every power. From what has been said, it is clear that the study of Lysippus should proceed from a consideration of Polycleatus. He has points of contact also with Praxiteles and Scopus. For his happy spirit recalls the former, his intensity the latter. In the creation of a buoyant joy, he is distinctly original. Portrait sculpture. In no department of art does the growing individualism display itself so clearly as in portrait sculpture. Before the age of Pericles, images even of the most famous men were wholly lacking in realism. Not Miltiades or Themistocles was so detached from his community as to call for an individual memorial of his achievements. The idea appeared but faintly in the Pericles by the artist Cresseles. Yet this herm represents the typical general and statesman far more than the particular person. During the generation that followed Pericles, however, the interest in eminent men so increased as to bring forth sculptured portraits of notable individuality. The head of Socrates shows his great intellectual power. The face of Euripides reveals deep spirituality. Throughout the fourth century, the tendency continued to grow. Sculptors who worked with success on a contemporary Plato or Aristotle essayed as well to reproduce the features of a man of the near past or of remote persons such as Homer and Sappho. In the latter case, the portraits were necessarily ideal. The statue of Sophocles in the Lateran Museum may be taken as an example of the idealization of a recent character. Shortly after his death, a statue, doubtless realistic, was erected by his son and in this way the features of the great dramatist were perpetuated. The figure now under consideration, however, aimed to express the brilliance, the power, and the serene poise rather than any physical peculiarities of the Tragedian. With the establishment of monarchy dawned a new era in portraiture when Lysippus embodied in bronze the fiery spirit and the superhuman ambition of Alexander. Henceforth the rulers of mankind were to have their features immortalized not only in sculpture but on the face of coins where hitherto the gods alone had enjoyed a place. From what has been said it is evident that images of persons deserve treatment in a chapter on art. At the same time a portrait as a source for the study of character connects itself most nearly with the activity of the person whom it represents. Appearance of the Corinthian Capital Meanwhile architecture underwent great changes. The ornate Corinthian capital made its appearance. In a temple at Teghia, Scopus combined the three orders making the peristyle Doric, the columns of the pronouse Corinthian, and those of the interior Ionic. He infused into the whole his own spirit of unrest. Another new feature of temple building was the high foundation approached by many steps and designed to give the structure a commanding altitude. The element of magnificence too was promoted by a double peristyle as well as by greatly increased size. These were expensive innovations in keeping with the wealth of the Anatolian cities which constructed them. Noteworthy was the Ditimaeum, a temple to Apollo at Miletus. It was a hundred years in building and not even then completed. Mausoleum at Helicarnassus With the rise of monarchy reappeared gigantic tombs, unknown to Helas since the Minoan age. Most remarkable was the Mausoleum, Tomb of Mozolus, Satrap and King of Korea. It was situated at Helicarnassus, his capital, and was built and adorned by Greek architects and artists, about 350. The structure was nearly square, 440 feet in perimeter and was 140 feet in height. On a foundation 42 feet high rested a building of the same altitude surrounded by an Ionic peristyle. Above was a pyramidal roof on the apex of which stood the colossal figures of the king and his queen Artemisia beside a chariot and four. Among the sculptures which decorated the tomb is a mutilated freeze representing a battle between Greeks and Amazons. In contrast with the quiet dignity of earlier decorations, this freeze is amazingly bold and spirited in its flying draperies, tense attitudes and furious movements. The desire for effect is no longer subject to the law of moderation and Hellenism has begun to suffer from contact with foreign life. Part 2. Literature. New developments from the city-state. The central idea in Hellenism, the pivot on which everything Hellenic turns, was the city-state with all its traditional associations, religious, social and civic. As the idea declined, there emerged from it two others, the individual and the human race, which were now in conflict, now in sympathy. During the period before us, the city-state continued, though weakening, whereas individualism and humanism were growing. These new developments affected every human activity, including war, politics, art, literature and philosophy. From poetry to prose. In literature, the most obvious change was from poetry to prose. Poetry had devoted itself extensively to the state. The choral songs were chiefly for public occasions and the drama appealed to the entire community. The decline of these forms of literature meant a changing relation between the individual and the state, a shifting of interest to private and social affairs, and from the emotional life perpetuated by tradition to the life of the reason, which is sufficient unto itself and an enemy of all control. Comedy. Of the lyric and tragic poetry composed in this period, almost nothing has survived. Comedy, poetic in form, though prose and spirit, forsook politics for social life. This change of subject marks the transformation from old to middle comedy, 390 to 320, represented by two extant plays of Aristophanes, the Ecclesiastus and the Plutus, whose contents have been noticed elsewhere. Along with the political spirit, comedy lost its fierce assaults upon prominent persons, its caricatures, gross indecencies, and the high flights of lyric genius. Growing tamer and more realistic, it attempted in quiet humor or good-natured satire to set forth the manners and morals of the age to picture scenes and characters from actual life. Prose, its three great departments. In this century, as stated above, we have to do mainly with prose, which comprise three great departments, history, oratory, and philosophy. A noticeable feature is the narrow specialization of the authors, involving a strict separation of the fields. To us, it is surprising, for example, how little the orator or the philosopher knew of his country's past. Before Aristotle, authors were not learned men, but creative artists. The most liberal field was that of the historian, whose search for the truth made him a kin to the scientist, while his rhetoric, soon to gain the mastery over the historical field, brought him into touch with the orator, and at the same time, his study of motive and his analysis of government gave him points of contact with the ethical and political philosopher. The historian of broad vision, as heir to Herodotus, composed the annals of Helus, or of a great part of Helus, for a definite period. By thus combining in treatment a multitude of city-states, he contributed to the mental preparation for a unified, Hellenic nation. At the same time, the growing interest in prominent individuals produced biography. Thus it was that Isocrates, writing to King Nicocles of Cyprus, presented a eulogistic account of the achievements and character of Evigorus, father and predecessor of the person addressed. This is the first Hellenic biography known to us. Xenophon. Undoubtedly this particular work, as well as the general development of individuality, greatly influenced the intellectual attitude of Xenophon, the fourth century historian with whom we have most to do. Xenophon, about 434 to 354, was born in a well-to-do family of pronounced conservative inclinations. From his social environment, he imbibed the sentiments that distinguished his rank, including a punctilious regard for the externals of religion, ethical reflection, refinement of feeling and speech, an interest in military training and in out-of-door sports, courage, a dislike of the multitude and fidelity to his class, in a word, Hellenic chivalry. His attachment to Socrates brought to Frutige the best that was in him, and in fact illuminated his entire life. His memoirs, memorabilia of Socrates, faithfully photographs the exterior of the great master and of his teachings, though it fails to penetrate to the depths. In fact, Xenophon is in everything superficial. This work and the aegisolos illustrate his interest in individuals, though we find the same love of biography in all his historical writings. The anabasis, already mentioned, is chiefly valuable for the insight it affords us into the composition and psychology of a mercenary army, drawn from many parts of Hellas and passing through various phases of success, adversity, peril, and deliverance. The Hellenica, his chief historical work, is a continuation of Thucydides from 411 to 362. The author, banished for treason from his native land, the Lacodemonian patronage. To his inborn shallowness, accordingly he has added a partisanship for Sparta and an undue admiration for a aegisolos. Among the other works used extensively as sources in this volume are the Constitution of the Lacodemonians, the Economist, and the Ways and Means. The Cyropedia, Education of Cyrus, is a historical romance in which the author sets forth a model education of the child and youth and emerges the ideal man and sovereign. The preservation of this author's works is due to the interest of after-ages and Socrates into a wrong standard of judgment as to style and general worth. In mentioning his shortcomings, however, we should not lose sight of his positive merits. His interest in personal traits, which is totally wanting in Thucydides, but which marks Xenophon as a true child of his age, especially appeals to the modern student of life and culture. He had traveled much, had acquired a wide knowledge of the world, and in his breadth of mind, his liberal education, and his ethical and religious principles, he represents the best features of the educated class of his generation. The Athedes, Aristotle, Constitution of the Athenians. Xenophon's literary style, subjecting itself to philosophic discipline, betrays almost no influence of the rhetoric which flourished in his day, akin were the chronicles, whose interest lay in the collection and the systematizing of facts. Such chronicles of Athens were termed Aethides, plural of Aethes. They began with the earliest mythical kings, and for the regal period, they seemed to have grouped events and institutions according to reigns. For the historical period, they arranged the material analytically under the appropriate archons. Far from limiting himself to political and military happenings, the Aethedographer included all kinds of institutional, personal, and cultural matter. The earliest of the class was Xenophon's contemporary, Cleedemus, whose athes evidently was published after 378, but of whose work we have little information. Accepting a few brief fragments, all these Aethides have been lost. To us, the chronicler of greatest interest was Androtion, a prominent statesman of Athens, whose athes appeared in 330. It was the chief source for Aristotle, Constitution of the Athenians, published a few years afterward. The latter work is one of a collection of 158 constitutional histories of states, mostly Hellenic, composed by Aristotle with the collaboration of his pupils. Each history consisted of, one, the narrative of constitutional growth to the philosophers' own time, two, a contemporary survey of the Constitution. The treatise on the Athenian Constitution, the greater part of which was recovered in Egypt in 1890, is the only one we have of the vast collection. Growth and influence of rhetoric, orations of Lysias and Isaias. In order to take into account not simply the content, but also the artistic form of literature, we must now give attention to the growth and influence of rhetoric. Since the origin of this branch of learning oratory inevitably came more and more to be composed by set rule and principle. The extant orations of Lysias, however, belonging mainly to the first two decades of the 4th century, show a freshness, vigor, and independence unfettered by rhetorical bonds. Having taken his lessons of the rhetorician, the author preserves his own mastery of style. His oration is artistic, but he has concealed his art. In appearance, his language is of everyday life. In fact, it is highly idealized. This order is a model of simple narrative, of dramatic skill in adapting speech to the character of the speaker for whom he professionally writes, of ethos, the gentle current of feeling that wins the sympathy of the hearers. These qualities render his speeches most valuable, not only as pictures of common life, but as psychological views both of the individual litigants and of the multitudinous jury. A similar writer of speeches for others was Isaias, perhaps also a medic, whose extant productions range nearly through the first half of the century, 390 to 353. They have to do with family law, with cases of adoption and inheritance. In tone less winsome than Lysias, he is more argumentative and militant. On the whole, he clings to the simple Lysian style, while revealing the beginnings of the mature, powerful oratory of the Demosthenic age. The twelve speeches which we possess have the same value for Athenian life as those of Lysias. Isocrates and his work It was in Isocrates of Athens that rhetoric came to full maturity. His life, 436 to 338, was contemporary with the whole development of prose literature, and with the culmination and incipient decay of the city state. It was his achievement to mold the oration into a formal work of art, comparable to a penderic ode or to a piece of sculpture. With a delicate taste for literary form, he gave the most minute and prolonged attention to the elaboration of a nicely adjusted periodology, and to the exquisite choice and arrangement of words with a view to euphony and rhythm. These qualities are untranslatable. The style is too formal, the periods are too monotonous for the conveyance of anything more than quiet thought and feeling. Although a few of his orations are judicial, the greater number are in fact essays for reading rather than for delivery. In these works he set forth the theory and the content of the culture which he upheld, both in his writings and in the school of statesmanship which he conducted. The young man who went forth from his school was to possess a largeness of view which considered the interest, not of his native city alone, but of the entire Hellenic nation, a moral elevation above all self-seeking and ignoble passion, an efficiency of method acquired by long and careful preparation and an ambition to achieve great and permanent results. As a product of this culture may be mentioned the Panagiricus, his masterpiece on which he is said to have labored ten years. Its advocacy of Hellenic Union was noticed above, while discussing sentiments that might be interpreted as cosmopolitan, his leading political principle of Hellas against Persia shows him at heart a genuine Greek, an exponent of nationalism, rather than of humanism. In home politics he was a conservative, who preferred the constitution of Solonian and Clesthenian times, when the Council of the Areopagus kept parental ward over citizens and magistrates when offices were unpaid and filled by election. These views he set forth in his Areopagus it need hardly be said that reform by such reaction is never wise nor practicable, whereas the writings of this eminent publicist, distributed through Solonian career and touching Hellenic life on many sides, are valuable to us for the facts they convey and for their interpretation of Greek conditions and character. There can hardly be a doubt that he molded public opinion and directed full current of intelligence chiefly through his school. In a three or four year course he trained his pupils in oratory and supplied them with the information essential to public careers. They came from all parts of Hellas from regions as distant as the Black Sea, Cyprus and Sicily highly endowed youths from prominent families. Having completed this education a goodly number became philosophers, rhetoricians and historians, generals, statesmen and even kings. Through these men the culture of Isocrates influenced all the higher walks of life throughout the length and breadth of Hellas. Ephrais. By two of these pupils, Ephrais of Cumae, Aeolus and Theopompus of Chios, both born about 380, the stream of rhetoric was conducted upon the historical field. The principal work of Ephrais was a universal history in 30 books from the return of the Heraclidae, Dorian Invasion to the Siege of Parenthus 340, when the narrative was cut short probably by death. Although it has been lost with the exception of a few fragments the work is of great interest to us as the chief source on that period for diodorus and for the historical parts of Strabo the geographer. The author laid claim to critical discrimination and aimed to gain a personal knowledge of the geography and topography of the narrative, but in fact he has often marred his pages with bias or perility in the treatment of motive, with exaggerations of numbers in military affairs and similar defects. His rhetorical style ran in a smooth but languid current, agreeable to the ear though monotonous. Theopompus. Theopompus, his schoolmate, was like his master a writer of speeches on matters of public interest. In the historical field he composed a panica in 12 books, which continued the work of Thucydides and a Philippica in 58 books, a detailed history of his own time. In contrast with Ephrais, he was forceful and passionate and in style more oratorical. The extant fragments preserved especially in Atheneus show a noteworthy interest in society, culture and character with a disproportionate love of exhibiting the luxuries and the vices of mankind. In spite of the shortcomings of Ephrais and Theopompus, the finding of the works of either author especially of the latter would doubtless greatly enlarge our knowledge of Greek history and civilization. This loss has been brought home to us by the discovery of the fragment of a history known as the oxyrhynchus Hellenica from the place of finding. It gives a detailed account of the events of 396 and includes a surprisingly interesting digression on the Boetian federal constitution. Although we have not the means of determining the author, we cannot doubt that the work was distinctly superior to Xenophon's Hellenica. It is composed in a smooth flowing style that reveals the influence of Isocrates and in this respect it might belong to either Theopompus or Ephrais. Rhetoric dominates the historical field. From the beginnings here described, rhetoric with its attendant ethics soon came to dominate the historical field. It became the function of the historian to contribute through his works to the oratorical and ethical education particularly of those who wished to enter public life. The form became more important than the content. The moral end more valued than the ascertainment of truth. This was one of various ways in which the ancients less inclined than moderns to the study of facts through the lapse of centuries loosened their hold upon reality and slowly degenerated into medievalism. Whereas the professional speech writer multiplied and distributed his works as examples of his art the publicist spread his pamphlets abroad for the propagation of his ideas. Meanwhile a political event acted upon the internal development of literature brought the oratory of Athens to a height of perfection never again attained to the present day and forced the statesman to disseminate his views through published orations. This event was the growth of the Macedonian power which throughout eastern Hellas divided public men into two parties Macedonian and anti-Macedonian who respectively favored and opposed Philip and Alexander. The relative merits of the two policies need not be considered here. In Athens as above indicated the most conspicuous upholder of Philip was Iscanias the most brilliant opponent Demosthenes. The latter gave the special support of Hyperides and Lycurgus speakers of high rank enable in the administration of public affairs the orator of this period combining his predecessors resources employed them with a mastery unknown to earlier time advancing beyond Lysias he boldly revealed his art to the winsome ethos of that orator and to the argumentative skill of Isaias he added on occasions a vehemence that overwhelmed his hearers in brief he had learned not only to appeal to reason but to play upon all the keys of human emotion it is needless here to characterize the styles of individual orators for all excellences were united and brought to perfection in Demosthenes the master not of one but of every style the son of a well-to-do manufacturer he was left fatherless in childhood and cheated of his inheritance by perfidious guardians as he was physically weak his mother keeping him by her side deprived him of the usual gymnastic training thus he grew up in poor health unsocial seemingly lacking fitness for active life and cherishing the one desire for vengeance on those who had wronged him he qualified himself for oratory that he might prosecute his guardians and success in this undertaking gave him a reputation as a speech writer the foundation of a substantial fortune meanwhile when inspiration came to him to serve his country as a statesman strength of will surmounted every obstacle a defective articulation he made good by prolonged training he steeped his mind in Thucydides whence chiefly he drew his knowledge of the past and his militant ideal of the state from Iseus and Isocrates and many others he learned useful lessons for delivery he took training under a successful actor behind this external equipment all necessary in itself we discover a literary genius unsurpassed and a burning patriotism combined with the religious zeal of a prophet the practical statesman who in the sweep of his eloquence never fails to point out the concrete way to success the moral idealist who by constant appeals to the nobler feelings of his hearers gradually lifts them to a higher ethical level the champion of local freedom against encroaching despotism of a high culture against the advance of an inferior civilization the universalization of Hellenism was not a conscious issue if Demosthenes opposed the events that contributed to this process at least he enriched Hellenism by his supreme oratory and still more by his defense of human freedom the greatest gift of Hellas to mankind part three philosophy Plato the great creative philosopher of the age was born at Athens in 427 of highly aristocratic parents a kinsman was Critias the violent leader of the 30 on the overthrow of this oligarchy the young man thought of entering public life but the condemnation of Socrates his revered master awakened in him an undying hatred of democracy he could do nothing therefore but remain in private life and satisfy his political longings with the creation of ideal constitutions or appeal to a tyrant for the realization of his vision of the perfect state it was probably in the year 387 that Plato opened in his private house a school called the academy from its nearness to the public garden of that name the school of Plato his literary works are dialogues we know however that he considered these writings a popular presentation of such views as in his opinion the laity could understand in his school he lectured more learnedly on mathematics astronomy, harmonics and ethics in this work he rightly leaned upon the Pythagoreans while giving his pupils a fruitful impetus to further mathematical and physical researches while holding to the end that the earth is the center of the universe he finally accepted the doctrine of the earth's rotation on its axis following his suggestion a Pythagorean friend Eudoxus attempted to explain the seemingly irregular movements of sun, moon and planets by a theory of homocentric hollow spheres revolving around the earth at different velocities the heavenly bodies, he assumes are fastened to these spheres to the sun and moon he assigns three spheres each to the five known planets four spheres each whereas a single sphere suffices for all the fixed stars although these spheres are a pure fiction, mathematically they serve their purpose and are therefore a highly ingenious theory the dialogues of Plato of the lectures of Plato however we have mere hints it is upon the dialogues in addition to the little that can be gathered from his pupil Aristotle that we must chiefly rely for our knowledge of his views the dialogue which had long been a favorite instrument of the philosopher received from Plato an artistic form it shows him not a dry reasoner but a highly imaginative poet though prose and form, his language brilliantly versatile sparkles with poetic gems he is gifted too with rare dramatic power the speakers of the dialogues are living persons who everywhere retain their psychological identity we should not look to his writings for a consistent system of knowledge for through an active life of 81 years his mind continually developed during this time he came into contact or renewed his acquaintance with existing philosophies one after another from each of which he received an enlargement of his mental horizon and a new impetus to creative work at the basis of his thought lies his doctrine of ideas Socrates had taught him that the only objects of knowledge are concepts universal truths established by induction with Plato the concept becomes an idea a word derived from the Pythagoreans and signifying form ideas are not forms in the geometrical sense but are colorless, shapeless intangible realities which the mind alone can perceive in distinction from our ideas which have their being in the mind alone those of Plato are objective realities in fact the only things that exist the objects of sense are real in so far only as they partake of these pure realities Plato's ethics Plato's chief concern was with ethics the greatest of all ideas he taught is God who created the world and gave to it a soul through which reason and order and life came into all things at his command the lesser gods fashioned the body of man and he himself prepared the soul making it of the same substance as the world soul though less pure each human soul is given a star to which it will return after having completed a good life on earth but the soul that has lived badly will at the next birth enter an inferior creature this theory of creation and of human life is presented not as a dogma but as a mere approximation of the truth a metaphor continually varied throughout his writings by means of education man advances toward the highest good which is neither knowledge nor happiness but the utmost likeness to God happiness altogether different from bodily pleasure is the possession of the good in Plato's doctrine taken from the Orphus the body is merely the dungeon or the tomb of the soul the body the soul must purify itself in order to attain to the good and to virtue which is the fitness of the soul for its proper work Plato's Republic an important division of ethics is politics in the view of Plato the state is not the all in all of the citizen as it had been in former time the calm existence of the philosopher the solving of the problems of the essential and the eternal is a nobler being than that of the politician the body only of the philosopher lives in the state while his soul dwells elsewhere untouched by political ambition this is true of a community like Athens he asserts governed by the ignorant majority whose greatest statesman Pericles, Kimon, Miltiades and Themistocles utterly have failed in the function of improving the character of the citizens it would be quite otherwise with a state philosophically organized like that's a fourth in his republic as any state is an individual writ large the ideal state is constituted like a perfect individual with the baser parts subordinate to the nobler in this ideal community there are to be three social classes the laborers, the soldiers and the rulers the last two constituting the guardians these elements are borrowed from the actual Hellenic world evidently, the laborers on the farm and in the trades are Helits and Perioki the soldiers are the Spartan warriors whereas the philosophic rulers look to the Pythagoreans as their prototype the lowest class is intellectually least endowed and fit for nothing but manual labor their virtue, like that of the soul's lowest faculty is obedience to the higher powers the middle class are the warriors whose virtue is courage they ply no manual work but devote their lives to their special function it is upon them and the ruling class that Plato bestows his chief attention these gradations however are not castes but each is formed by a careful selection from the class just below so that men are constantly rising from the lower to the higher grades of society praiseworthy are the assignment of rank according to capacity the division of labor efficiency and the abolition of slavery the education of guardians is to begin at birth all who have infants in charge are to see that every act performed in every word spoken in the child's presence shall be such as will contribute to the right growth of character from 7 to 17 he pursues elementary studies reading, writing the lower mathematics gymnastics and music including literature poets along with Homer are rejected because they suggest immoral or irreligious views nothing but the strengthening and the ennobling is acceptable from 17 to 20 the youth has his preliminary training in arms at this period it is determined who are to be warriors and who are to continue the intellectual education essential to statesman from 20 to 30 the latter class are to devote themselves to the thorough study of the sciences if incapable of advancing farther they enter public life as minor officials whereas the few who are better gifted devote five additional years to the study of ideas from 35 to 50 these intellectuals govern the state after which they retire to a life of higher philosophic thought in planning for an advanced intellectual education carefully regulated Plato made one of his greatest contributions to civilization that the guardians, both warriors and statesmen may devote themselves unselfishly and untrammeled to their functions individual wealth and the family itself are abolished property is held in common and the mating of men and women is managed by the state with an eye single to the birth of strong healthful children eugenics is pushed to extremes women, relieved of the care of children are to have the same training as men and to perform the same military and political services even if such a state were capable of realization it is too unnatural a thing to bring good results from the first Plato saw that no community would voluntarily adopt it and in his old age substituted a more workable political system in one of his latest writings the laws the chief value of the republic lies in its individual suggestions as to educational, social and political reforms the powerful impotence it gives to the intellectual life of the reader in brief it is not the knowledge discovered by Plato but his belief in spiritual realities his aspiration to the beautiful the good and the true his conception of the vast heights attainable by man that plays him among the most powerful intellectual and moral forces that operate upon the human race Aristotle the pupil of Plato after the death of its founder he studied under other masters and gradually degenerated meanwhile the creative and organizing activities within the philosophic field were carried on with greater success by others the real heir to Plato was his most brilliant pupil Aristotle 384-322 from Staguerus Chelsides 20 years he studied under Plato 3 years 343-40 he was a teacher of Alexander the young Macedonian prince still later he returned to Athens and established a school of his own named the Lyceum after the famous gymnasium in which he taught his system of thought is also described as peripatetic from the circumstance that he walked peripatine with his pupils while giving instruction Aristotle's dialogues his dialogues which were popular like those of Plato have been lost but most of his technical works corresponding to Plato's lectures are extant among them however are studies either finished or wholly composed by his pupils which we cannot with certainty in every case distinguish from writings exclusively his own Aristotle the scholar in Aristotle we discover a new type of mind that of the scholar as distinguished from the essentially creative intelligence it is true that he was himself a discoverer but his great achievement was to systematize and reduce to writing the knowledge which the Helenes had thus far accumulated accepting in the main the method and system of Plato he made corrections in detail and with his more logical mind and a greater command of facts he was able to render the method more precise and to widen the field of scientific thought in this task he discovered that the most insignificant fact of nature is worthy of attention as the potential source of valuable knowledge in general he was less concerned with abstract reasoning than Plato and more with observation and experience the work of scientific experimentation however was then in its infancy and the observer was hampered by a lack of instruments the remarkable thing is that with his limitations he was able to accomplish so much divisions of knowledge the main divisions of knowledge in his classification are logic physics natural history and ethics under the head of metaphysics he places his first philosophy universal principles on which everything else is based natural history includes physics and astronomy as well as psychology and physiology zoology botany and other studies of nature rhetoric and politics are branches of ethics a fifth department of knowledge may be described as a philosophy of art represented by his poetics mathematics he did not cultivate as an independent study in logic he completed a system of proof begun by Socrates from particulars he rises to universals by induction as the earlier philosopher taught from principles he reasons back to particulars by the process of deduction through the syllogism a formula of reasoning first clearly set forth by himself nature study despite his considerable study of nature the least valuable parts of his system are those which depend upon observation rather than upon abstract thought this fact is illustrated by his astronomy a system of the universe cruder perhaps than that of eudoxus described above the collection of material for his study of plants and animals was probably facilitated by alexander though we are certain that no systematic gathering accompanied the marches of the conqueror that Aristotle made many mistakes in describing animals he had never seen was inevitable and we need not be surprised to find him in error as to the functions of some of the most vital organs flesh he supposed is the medium of sensation chief of all organs is the heart which prepares the blood and aids in motion and sensation the blood purified by the heart flows from thence to the various parts of the body whereas the brain serves to cool the blood and moderate the heat arising from the heart the study of plants begun by him was carried farther and ultimately published by theophrastis his successor most interesting is Aristotle's theory as to progress made by the creative power of nature beginning with the lowest forms of life she gradually passes to the higher having fashioned the plants she proceeds to the invention of animals and thence to men this process is an evolution not of organic nature itself but of the creative power the ethics of Aristotle whereas Plato gives inspiration Aristotle conveys knowledge the one soars above the clouds the other keeps his feet firmly on earth in his ethics as elsewhere Aristotle appeals more strongly to the average man casting aside the dictum of Socrates and Plato that knowledge is virtue he recognizes that a man may know the right but have too weak a will to do it useful are only those thoughts that lead to useful actions and happiness the supreme good is nothing more than good in efficient life regulated by right rules of conduct it is the function of ethics to supply these rules pleasures which involve mere self indulgence are holy bad others arising from the normal exercise of any faculty though not ends in themselves are desirable although well being including health wealth friends and family are helpful to the cultivation of virtue they are not essential in a philosopher may draw strength from illness and poverty the politics of Aristotle no man live unto himself is one of the strongest tenets of this philosopher personal affections within and outside the family and kin constitute friendship true friendship involving a love of the good qualities discoverable in the friend and an unselfish desire to benefit is one of the most powerful moral forces in society a broadening of friendship brings us to the common life of the community man is a political animal and his highest existence is in the state the aim of the state is not simply the protection of the life and property of the citizens but their education to the highest reach of moral and spiritual fitness in the politics the author does not seek the ideal state his aim rather is to determine the nature of the state in all the varieties furnished by the Hellenic world to discover the constitution best adapted to every typical community to ascertain defects of various political systems and remedies for them his task in brief is to create a political science on the basis of induction from actual conditions furnished by a multitude of city states chiefly Hellenic but including a few foreign cities like Carthage as the politics is extensively quoted in another chapter it requires no lengthy treatment here despite incompleteness and an imperfect text it is the greatest contribution to political and social science made by the ancient world end of chapter 26 Chapter 27 of Hellenic History this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org recording by Sim Hellenic History by George Willis Botsford Chapter 27 Alexander's Empire and the Hellenistic Kingdoms 337 to 146 Death of Philip the invasion of Asia Minor followed hard the session of the Hellenic deputies at Corinth in the early months of 336 Philip's best general Parmenion crossed the Hell's Pond with a Macedonian army to guard the strait against the kings coming while the latter lingered to divide his time between state business and carousels throughout his life he had recklessly courted danger in violent debaucheries and hazardous marital ventures a polygamous barbarian he took no wives with him to war but married new brides in the course of every campaign women of various nationalities who enmeshed the conqueror in the web of their acrimonious intrigues it was at least suspected that Olympias mother of Alexander when repudiated in favour of another woman instigated the assassin against her husband at all events he was murdered in the midst of a festival Philip had achieved the task of making his own state the greatest military power in the world and of giving to Eastern Hellas at least the form of institutional unity the conquest of Asia was left to his no less competent son Alexander Alexander was but 20 when he mounted the throne he had had Aristotle as an instructor to whom we naturally credit the young man's interest in the enlargement of science and had won military distinction under his father his inspiration he had drawn from the Iliad his idea was Achilles a young man of tempestuous passions and a brave indomitable warrior in brief Alexander's nature combined the romantic with the practical immediately the weakness of his father's Hellenic arrangements revealed itself in widespread disaffection it was not till Alexander took thebes by assault destroyed the city and sold the inhabitants into slavery that the Greeks could be made to understand that they still had a master he continued Philip's policy in relation to them the Hellenic league and his own captaincy were maintained although his military demand upon the Greeks was appreciably lighter than his father had planned Alexander's conquests in the spring of 334 Alexander crossed the Hellspaunt with about 35,000 men on the Granicus river he met a slightly larger force of the enemy the infantry consistent of Greek mercenaries his victory was speedy and complete after this success he proceeded to liberate the Hellenic cities and to settle their affairs in the manner to be described below how far the intentions of Alexander reached on the day when he crossed the Hellspaunt we do not know probably not to the conquest of the whole Persian empire but the young man of fiery spirit and growing ambition could never content himself with present achievements however great from the acquisition of the Aegean coast he was led to the conquest of Asia Minor it was a keen disappointment that a majority of the Hellens far from regarding him as a deliverer through their sympathy to the Persian side and lacking the support of their warships while those of the enemy commanded the sea he had to make his advance along the coast in order to occupy the port towns and thus secure himself from attack by water at Isis Silesia he met King Darius in command of an army much larger than his own the battle however was fought in a narrow plain hemmed in by forests so that the Persian king could not take advantage of his superior numbers his army was routed and dispersed and he could only save himself by headlong flight from this time it is clear that Alexander with enlarged ambition intended to conquer the Persian Empire having us determined Alexander first took possession of the Syrian coast and of Egypt for while marching into the interior he dared not leave in Israel a single port open to the hostile fleet this campaign involved the capture of Tyra and of Gaza by siege Egypt yielded without resistance and welcome the conqueror who interested himself in the worship of its gods founding of Alexandria the young man's quick intelligence discovered on the coast of Egypt the best site for a colony which he named Alexandria as Tyra lay in ruins his new city was to be the great port of the nearer Orient to provide a commercial bond between his eastern domains and the kingdom of his fathers another object of the settlement composed of Macedonians and Greeks with but subsidiary native elements was to secure the fidelity of Egypt Alexander the son of Zeus for millennia the Egyptians had been accustomed to absolute rule their pharaoh was a god king the incarnation of a deity in accepting Alexander as their pharaoh they could only think of him as a divine incarnation their view however had no effect on Hellenic thought but in the Libyan desert between Egypt and Cyrene laid the Oracle of Ammon whom the Helens identified with Zeus and to whom they had been accustomed to resort for prophecies more weighty even than those of the Celtic Apollo Tither went Alexander and received from the Oracle of the desert acknowledgement that he was the son of Zeus the young king who had fed his mind on Homeric myths and had already achieved the superhuman in battle and conquest probably believed the story certainly the theory of his own divinity grew on him from that time forth battle of Arbella after Alexander had settled the affairs of Egypt and Syria he marched slowly eastward across the Euphrates and Tigris and with 47,000 men met Darius near Arbella in command of an army which the ancients estimate in numbers ranging from 250,000 to 4 million horse and foot we may assume at least that the king's forces materially outnumbered Alexander's on this occasion Darius had chosen an open plane where his superiority in bulk could be made effective he hoped with his elephants and his chariots to break the phalanx after which his cavalry supported by footmen would complete the Macedonian route the Fallen Guides however opened their ranks to let the chariots pass through or dislodge the drivers and turn the teams back upon the enemy Alexander was outflanked but seeing a gap in the enemies line he dashed in at the head of a cavalry brigade and cut the army of Darius in two meanwhile the Macedonian phalanx advancing in touch with the Persians drove them to flight there were many complications which need not be described here it is enough to say that the critical victory of the war was due to the skill of Alexander and his officers and the bravery and discipline of his men Darius fled and was ultimately murdered by his own subjects further conquests the battle of Arbella gave the victor a vital hold upon the empire but left to his remaining campaigns the non too easy task of overcoming widely separated points of resistance Babylon surrendered without delay he entered the city and worshiped its gods as he had worshiped those of Egypt from Babylon he marched with little opposition into Persia and occupied its two capitals Suzer and Persepolis in the treasuries of both places he found great hordes of silver which he confiscated and put into circulation the palace of Persepolis he destroyed with fire and the inhabitants he slaughtered to punish the Persians for having burnt the cities and temples of Helas to ruin their prestige as an imperial people down to this time as this deed indicates he remained a champion of Hellenism policy of solidifying the empire three years were occupied in reducing the north eastern provinces of the empire where the powerful setraps at the head of the war like inhabitants offered him an obstinate resistance during these campaigns Alexander began to adopt the Persian royal dress and habits at first when given audience to natives and afterwards on all occasions it was in line with his policy of assimilating Macedonians and Greeks with a view to solidifying his empire to this end he encouraged the marriage of his soldiers with native women at his command 30,000 youths of the country were chosen to receive instruction in the Greek language and to be trained in the use of Macedonian arms at the same time the king began to show irritability at opposition or lack of deference in his subjects civility was spreading among the Macedonians but the more manly spirits resented his Persian heirs and his increasing aloofness and conspiracy was formed Filotas son of his best general Parmenion though cognizant of the plot neglected to inform Alexander when the truth finally reached the ears of the king he bought Filotas on a charge of treason before an assembly of Macedonians who lost no time in condemning the accused to death under torture Filotas had mentioned his father who too was put to death though doubtless innocent Parmenion was the ablest general of the school of Philip and Alexander's most faithful lieutenant his son was probably guilty of nothing worse than neglect there was murmuring throughout the army at the murder of Parmenion but no one dared remonstrate shortly after during a festival to Dionysus when the company was drinking heavily the courtiers began to flatter Alexander comparing him with Heracles and saying that he surpassed his father in achievements Cleitus, a young Macedonian noble rashly protesting against his flattery extolled Philip and depreciated Alexander boasting that he, Cleitus had saved the king's life in battle in great rage Alexander seized the weapon and killed him but afterward was exceedingly sorry for what he had done Oriental absolutism of Alexander his next step towards Oriental absolutism was a requirement that all who approached should prostrate themselves before him to the natives the act meant nothing more than ceremonial respect whereas the Europeans regarded it as worship it was agreed between him and certain of his companions that at a prospective banquet they should themselves set the example on this occasion, Calisthenes the philosopher and historian by refusing to prostrate himself incurred the king's anger for the time being Calisthenes went unharmed but not long afterward was implicated in a conspiracy of the pages these were the sons of Macedonian nobles bought up in the king's court and acting as his personal guard Alexander's insolence towards one of their number incited among them a plot to kill him while he slept it was discovered and the ringleader and Calisthenes who were suspected of instigating the conspiracy were put to death Alexander's campaigns in the north-eastern satrapies completed the subjugation of the empire along the lines of his marches he had distributed colonies and had given attention to organization obviously insufficient for every successful campaign wetted his appetite for conquests and in him lived the spirit of the explorer India was a land of wonders which no Hellenic traveller had described which Heracles and Dionysus alone had traversed Alexander could not admit an inferiority to these divine beings or neglect the opportunity to add this marvellous region to his empire thus it was that romantic rather than practical considerations led him into India Alexander in India he met with no strong opposition the country was divided among a multitude of independent kings some of whom became his allies but the army experienced unspeakable sufferings from the intense heat and the downpour of rain lasting through many days Alexander wished to go farther thoughts of universal dominion are ascribed to him by Aryan but the military harangue put in his mouth is evidently a fiction and through the myths that envelop him we cannot penetrate to his true desires whatever they may have been they were checked by the refusal of his troops to go farther as the omens proved unfavourable to an advance they proceeded to their wishes and began the homeward journey they passed down the Indus at whose mouth he and his men first became acquainted with the tides having organised the conquered part of India in three satrapies and left colonies of veterans he began his return march through the Ghidrosian desert this way was chosen from love of exploration and the desire to surpass Semiramis and Cyrus who as the king heard had vainly attempted a march through this dangerous waste again his soldiers suffered horribly and many succumbed to heat and thirst and the fatigue of marching through the deep sand in 60 days however the task was achieved by the survivors and Alexander emerging from the desert with the shattered remnant of his army reached Carmania in the autumn of 325 meanwhile his admiral Nyakus of Crete sailing from the mouth of the Indus skirted the coast of the Arabian and Persian Gulfs his careful survey was of great value for the promotion of maritime commerce with the Far East while his observations of nature and man along the voyage contributed to the progress of science along considerable stretches of coast the inhabitants were savages ignorant of iron but making use of stone implements and of their fingernails which grew long and formidable like the claws of animals they dressed scantily in the skins of beasts or of fish they baked bread of meal made from dried fish and it is seriously asserted that their sheep lived on fish death of Alexander on his return from the east Alexander took up his residence at Babylon with him there they could be no thought of rest the empire had to be rescued from the misrule brought into it by his officers during the long campaigns in bacteria and India and a prodigious naval armament had to be fitted out for his next enterprise the conquest of Arabia and the colonization of the region bordering the Persian Gulf urged on by his restless energy these preparations were under rapid way meanwhile Alexander was ruining his constitution by drinking to excess and wasting his strength in all night revels in this condition he was unable to throw off the germs of fever which he had contracted he died accordingly in his 33rd year although his lifetime was brief no other man had ever achieved anything to compare with his labors either in conquest or in organization you must grant that his success was largely due to the excellent army laboriously created by his father to the able generals trained in Philip's school and to the internal weakness of the Persian Empire at the same time great credit must be given to the quickness and accuracy of the young king's observation and thought and to the daring rapidity of his movements for statesmanship he was too romantic and egoistic and although he remains the most dazzling figure in military annals it cannot be soberly stated that the world lost through his premature death during Alexander's careers of conquest the states of the greek homeland continued restive his agents and officers frequently violated the compact made between him and the Hellenic League tyrants had been established in certain greek cities and Macedonians had prayed upon Hellenic commerce Sparta headed a Peloponnesian revolt but it had failed and she was compelled to submit with the evident design of subverting the liberties of the Hellens guaranteed by his father Alexander let it be known that he wished them to consider him a god and shortly afterward ordered all greek states to receive back their political exiles although in itself humane this move in behalf of the banished was a flagrant violation of the federal constitution established by Philip an unmistakable evidence of the king's despotic intentions Demosthenes find materialistic considerations but slightly outweighing patriotism barely suffice to keep the peace on several occasions Demosthenes made cautious by long experience effectually opposed a break with Alexander a special opportunity for war was offered the Athenians when Harpalus chief treasurer of Alexander embezzling the royal funds escaped to Greece on this occasion Demosthenes dissuaded the Athenians from war and was himself prosecuted along with others on a charge of having accepted a bribe from Harpalus condemned to a fine of 50 talents and unable to pay he was cast into prison whence he escaped and went into exile the facts on which to base a judgement as to his guilt or innocence are wanting but at least it is clear that the court which condemned him was influenced more by political considerations than by evidence Revolt of the states of Greece reached Greece it found the states ready for Revolt they were dissatisfied with the Macedonian supremacy in their love of independence was still strong nearly all the states of the peninsula united in a league for Revolt the most prominent being the Athenians and the Aetolians Demosthenes employed his eloquence in the creation of the league and was now returned to Athens Leosthenes an Athenian general of experience and ability held chief command Antipater governor of Macedon and besieged him in the fortress of Lamia from this circumstance the conflict is known as the Lamian war unfortunately Leosthenes was killed the enemy received heavy reinforcements from Asia and the Hellenic cause failed chosen to pronounce the funeral oration over the Athenians who fell early in the war Hyperides while praying a graceful tribute to the dead upheld in evil days with a spirit worthy of his ancestors the Hellenic ideals of patriotism, freedom and human dignity the coalition dissolved and the states made separate terms with Antipater Athens had to receive a Macedonian garrison in Monitia to limit her franchise to the 9000 wealthiest those who possessed property worth at least 2000 drachmas and to give up for punishment the chief instigators of the Revolt among the victims were Hyperides and Demosthenes the former was captured and slain the latter took poison to avoid seizure an epicram of the period summarises well the aspiration and the failure of the last great Hellenic orator orator, mighty in spirit if only thy strength had been equal Ares of Macedon god Nair would have ruled over Greece in this war the highest civilisation succumbed to the lower a people of refined thought speech and emotion yielded to men of blood and iron Padikas, regent of the empire meanwhile at Babylon for the time being the centre of the empire events were occurring contrary to the intentions which Alexander while living had cherished as he died without an heir the Macedonian army in that city determined to recognise as king Alexander's feeble minded half-brother Arihadeus and only reluctantly consented that the great conqueror's son Alexander born of Roxana after the father's death should be associated with Arihadeus on the throne so prejudice were the Macedonians against all connection with asiatics. Padikas a general under Alexander became regent of the empire there were insurrections to put down in addition to that in Helas and still unconquered parts of the empire to subjugate this work was accomplished but meantime the two kings were murdered before either could attain to authority and the machinations of Alexander's great generals their rivalries and coalitions began to threaten the unity of the empire their political manoeuvres and civil wars for the next two decades and more 323-301 in this period, Antigonus perhaps the ableist and most energetic general surviving the conqueror strove to maintain the integrity of the empire under his own monarchy the other generals however combined against him in the battle of ipsis, Phrygia 301, they completely overpowered him and he acknowledged by suicide the failure of his ambition. Division of Alexander's empire abandoning all idea of unity the victors proceeded to carve the empire into kingdoms for themselves, Potemily retained Egypt of which he had long been governor and in addition Coel-Syria Seleikus held most of the empire east of Mount Taurus with greater Phrygia in Asia Minor Cassander, son of Antipater retained Macedon and acclaimed to the headship of Greece the realm of Lyceumacus comprised Thrace and the greater part of Asia Minor ultimately his kingdom was dissolved whereupon the sway of Seleikus extended to the Aegean sea. In this manner the empire of Alexander came to be divided into three great powers Macedon, Egypt and the kingdom of the Seleucedae and thus it remained till the intrusion of Rome in the east. Agathocles the ruling class in these monarchies were European, Greeks and Hellenized Macedonians over the orientals they had little difficulty in maintaining the supremacy of their civilization in other parts of the Hellenic world the problem was more difficult. In the region north of the Black Sea the natives so encroached upon the territory of the Greeks that the Latin no longer had wheat for continual expectation but often had to import it for their own use from the Aegean region. In Sicily and southern Italy the maintenance of Hellenic freedom had become even more critical. After the death of Timoleon 337 Syracuse was again distracted by factional strife and Sicily was again exposed to the genuine aggression. Affairs grew continually more hopeless till Agathocles the son of a potter seized the tyranny 316. Like Dionysius I he was a soldier of fortune who through sheer ability and resolution mounted to the summit of power. His methods and career closely paralleled those of the earlier tyrant. By clever diplomacy sheer luck and a show of force by a combination of harshness and mildness he entrenched himself in a power and gain the hegemony over the Greek cities of the island. A chief military event in his career was a long and desperate war with Carthage. The Sicilians had not yet developed a political consciousness of their nationality but vacillated between him and the Semites as the selfish considerations of the moment dictated. On one occasion when besieged in Syracuse by a greatly superior force with no allies to bring him aid and no means of repelling the enemy he conceived the amazing scheme of running the blockade and of transferring the war to Africa. This bold design laid bare the weakness of Carthage. Her dependent towns were unfortified and disloyal and she was exposed to the invaders attack. This campaign though only a partial success proved the beginning of his good fortune. Not withstanding victories he was finally compelled to make a treaty which divided the island nearly equally between himself and the enemy. After this event he assumed the title of King of the Sicilians in the same way that the successors of Alexander were taking upon themselves the royal title. With these sovereigns Agothocles through diplomatic marriages entered into close relations. Meanwhile he gave aid to the Hellenic cities of Italy against the native Lucanians and gained for his realm a strip of Italian host. The chief aim of his life however was the expulsion of the Phoenicians from Sicily and in his old age he resumed preparations for a gigantic struggle with the national enemy. To this end he negotiated a treaty of alliance with Macedon. At least there donned the hope that the Hellenes were so organized in east and west as to maintain themselves and gain new ground. The realisation of the dream of Agothocles would have given the western Mediterranean to Hellenism and have changed the course of the world's history. In the midst of his preparations however he died, 289. In his last moments he restored the Republic to the Syracusans necessarily with its fatal weaknesses with his death managed the dream of a great champion of Hellenism of a statesman and warrior scarcely excelled in administrative ability and in bonus combined with prudence. The growing power of Rome. The western Greeks were confronted by enemies so powerful and aggressive that the only opportunity for national independence lay in centralisation under a military monarch. The truth they were unable to appreciate and accordingly the death of Agothocles made their situation desperate. Although in Italy the Sybellians had spent their energy what they failed to conquer became the prey of Rome. This city situated on the lower Tiber became appreciably to extend her power about 400 BC with the conquest of Vy and a Truscan city in the neighbourhood. Conquered territory Rome either annexed settling it with her own people and incorporating the acquired population as citizens are subjected to her military command by treaties of alliance. Her just treatment of dependence and friends no less that the severity with which she punished revolting allies contributed to the growth and the solidity of her power. In a series of Latin and Samnite wars 343-290 involving conflicts also with the Truscans Umbrians and Gauls she extended her supremacy over the peninsula from the Rubicon River to the Greek settlements in the extreme south. In 326 Naples entered into the Roman alliance. Like most allies of Rome she retained self-government in local affairs but gave military aid in war. As a maritime state her chief military obligation lay in furnishing ships of war together with their crews. Meanwhile the still free Hellenic cities of Italy were making little concerted effort to preserve their liberty. There was a union among them but it counted for little. Tarentum the most populous and wealthy saw an obtained aid of her city Sparta and afterward of a Paris. Unwilling to submit to discipline or military authority and fearing for their precious liberties the luxurious inhabitants nullified all such assistance by the reluctance of their cooperation. After Rome had extended her supremacy into southern Italy, Therai, Regium and Locri entered her alliance on substantially the same terms as Naples. Tarentum alone with a few unimportant allies remained independent. Pyrus in Italy when Roman aggressions forced Tarentum into war she appealed to Pyrus king of Epirus who came with an army of 25,000 men organized in the Macedonian system. Six years he waged war against the Romans in Italy and the Carthaginians in Sicily had he been well supported by the Greeks he might have secured their national freedom and have organized them in a kingdom for himself but though a brilliant general, Pyrus wanted statesmen like tact and the Helens were too fond of the licenses of peace to sustain his absolute command and to fill the gaps in his ranks. Finally he returned to Epirus 275 and three years afterwards Tarentum surrendered to the Romans who in this way completed their supremacy over Italy. It was inevitable that Roman Carthage, the two great powers of the west should clash in a long severe war Rome achieved the task that had proved too great for Dionysius Agathocles and Pyrus the expulsion of the Carthaginians from Sicily. Instead of the emergence of a Greek nation however there resulted ultimately a deadening bondage, loss of political freedom, economic retrogression, depopulation and a rapid decline of culture. Despite obvious advantages the Roman conquest proved in the end an irredeemable calamity. Hellenistic kingdoms of the east The Hellenistic kingdoms of the east were longer lived. Egypt strongly centralised monarchy protected by the deserts that bordered the Nile valley feared no assailant so long as she could maintain a powerful navy. The Seleucid realm covered a vast territory but lacked the central strength necessary to the control of distant satrapies one by one India, Bactria, Parthia and other far away dependencies successfully revolted. In Asia Minor a horde of invading Celts founded the kingdom of Galatia while further to the west Pergamum became an independent monarchy Pontus, Cappadocia and other old kingdoms reasserted themselves. These uprisings soon reduced the Seleucid sovereignty over Asia Minor to an empty name. In contrast with the Seleucid realm Macedon was compact and her inhabitants were virile and warlike. The ambition of her kings to rule over Greece met its chief obstacle in the Etolian and Achaean leagues which in the third century absorbing a great part of the peninsula developed a respectable military power. The degree of Macedonian control varied with the ability of the kings and although for considerable stretches of time the Greek states enjoyed independence. In the end the Macedonian king Antigonus gained their headship of nearly the whole peninsula 221. Recognizing the federal principle he joined existing combinations in a general union a league of leagues represented by a federal diet. This measure while securing the essentials of republicanism bought Macedon to pre-eminence as a military power. First Macedonian war 215-205 Philip, successor Antigonus saw in Hannibal's invasion of Italy an opportunity to strike a deadly blow at this power of Rome which recently had encroached upon the Macedonian sphere of influence by wars with the Illyrian pirates. But he gave Hannibal no substantial aid and only roused against himself a new and powerful foe. In Roman history this period of hostilities with Philip is known as the first Macedonian war 215-205 From this time the political interest centers in the extension of the Roman power over the eastern half of the Mediterranean world. The Italian nation was mainly agricultural. The masses were free peasants who as a rule owned the lands they tilled. They were laborious, hardy and belligerent and the government at Rome was a centralized aristocracy that rested its principal claim to leadership on the successful conduct of war and diplomacy. In the Carthaginian Seleucid and Egyptian domains the masses were nearly serfs wholly unfit for war and most of the fighting men were mercenaries. Among all the states were antipathies frequently breaking out in war and rendering them weak in the face of a powerful enemy. Certain Greek states invited Rome to engage on their behalf in a war against Philip. 200-196 With the aid of the Aetolians, Flaminius the consul in command inflicted a decisive defeat on the Macedonians at Sainos Sefalei. 197 Declaring the Greek states free from Macedon and under the protection of Rome the victor withdrew his forces. Roman conquests no long time afterward the Romans waged war against Antiochus the Seleucid with his own great ability in restoring the empire. They defeated him at Magnesia 189 and compelled him to yield to them all territory west of Mount Taurus. A third Macedonian war culminating in the Battle of Pidna 168 put an end to the kingdom of Macedon for the time being Rome organised no provinces in this part of the world but extended her protectorate from the Adriatic to Mount Taurus although her governing class included Menia Phil Helen inevitably the more brutal side of her nature revealed itself in Greek affairs Fatal was the inability of the Helens to combine. In every state existed a Romanising party which constantly invited interference. It required but a slight pretext to bring an army into Greece. In 146 the province of Macedonia was established the military power of the Achaean League broken. Corinth destroyed and the Greek states were subjected to the governor of Macedonia this was the year in which Rome destroyed Carthage and converted her immediate domain into the province of Africa 20 years afterward the kingdom of Pogamon was converted into the province of Asia 126 meanwhile the Seleucid realm rapidly shrank and the dynasty came to an end 83 in 63 Syria became a province and the Roman Empire was thus extended to the Euphrates river. While these events were taking place in Asia Egypt had greatly declined and the Patelomilies were now subservient to Rome. In the year 30 their lines ceased with the suicide of Cleopatra where upon Egypt was formally subjected under a prefect appointed by the Roman princeps. The effect of Roman conquest on civilisation of peace and the Orient was substantially the same as in southern Italy and Sicily the conquerors robbed their subjects of material resources and art treasures of their freedom of thought and speech of everything in brief that might have conduced to the further up building or even perpetuation of culture. Despite the good intentions of the principles and the obvious benefits of peace the imperial administration added to the pernicious Roman speculators grew continually more oppressive and grinding. Viewed in this light the Roman conquest operated as the first and most fundamental cause of the decline of ancient civilisation. End of chapter 27