 Chapter 12 of Famous Men of Greece 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 Graham Redman famous men of Greece by John H Haran and A. B. Poland. Chapter 12 Draco and Solon. 1. One of the first Athenians whose doings belong to history is Draco who lived about 600 years before Christ. At that time the working people of Athens were very unhappy. One reason of this was that the laws were not written and the judges were very unfair. They almost always decided in favor of their rich friends. At last everybody in Athens agreed that the laws ought to be written out and Draco was asked to write them. Some old laws were so severe that often people had been put to death for very slight offenses. Draco changed these severe laws and made new ones a great deal more merciful and this made the people very fond of him. A story is told about his death which shows that other people besides the Athenians thought a great deal of him. He went to a theater on an island not far from Athens and when the audience in the theater saw him they threw to him their cloaks and caps to do him honor. Unfortunately such a pile of cloaks fell on him that he was smothered to death. Even after the laws had been written the people were not happy because Draco had not changed some laws that bore very hard upon the poor. These were the laws about debts. If a man borrowed money and could not pay it back at the right time the man who lent the money might take the borrower's house and farm and might even sell him and his wife and children as slaves. On most of the farms near Athens stone pillars were set up each of which told that the land on which it stood was mortgaged or pledged for a debt. Many of the farmers and their families had been sold as slaves. In time it came to be said that Draco's laws were written in blood too. Happily a very wise and good man called Solon was then living in Athens and the Athenians asked him to make a new set of laws. Rich and poor were surprised when they read Solon's new laws. The poor who had lost their farms and houses were to have everything given back to them. Solon thought they had paid so much interest for so many years that their debts should be forgiven. All who had been sold as slaves were to have their freedom and no one was ever again to be sold for debt. Those debtors who had not lost everything were to be forgiven about a quarter of what they owed. All this Solon called a shaking off of burdens and thousands of people felt that heavy burdens had indeed been taken from their shoulders. Solon did another good thing for the people. He gave every citizen a vote and all could attend the assembly of the people which was like a New England town meeting. There was a Senate of 400 which proposed laws but the people themselves met and passed them so the people of Athens really made their own laws. Besides this the assembly chose every year nine Archons as the rulers of Athens were called. The chief Archon was like the mayor of one of our cities and the others like the alderman. Under Solon's new laws Athens soon came to stand in Greece for government by all the people just as Sparta stood for government by the few. Three. When Solon saw that his laws were making the Athenians contented and prosperous he made them promise not to change them for ten years. He then went on a long journey. One of the countries which he visited was Lydia in Asia Minor. Cresus the king of Lydia was called the richest man in the world. He was so famed for his wealth that even now you often hear people say that a man is as rich as Cresus. Cresus was very proud of being so rich and wished Solon to flatter him. So he asked Solon who is the happiest man you have ever known. He expected the Athenian of course to say yourself your majesty. Solon however replied an Athenian peasant who never suffered want who had a good wife and children and who died on the battlefield for his country. Who is the next happiest? asked Cresus. The two next happiest persons whom I have known said Solon were the sons of a certain priestess of Juno. It was her duty to offer a sacrifice in the temple. When the time came for her to go the oxen to draw the cart could not be found. So her sons yoked themselves to the ox cart and drew her all the way to the temple. She was so much pleased at them that she prayed to Juno to grant her sons the greatest blessing that they could have. The mother's prayer was answered for the sons lay down to sleep in the temple and never waked. They had done their parts well in the world and they left it without pain or sorrow, beloved and admired by all who knew them. But cried Cresus do you not think a rich and powerful king like me is happy? Ah, Cresus said Solon, I call no man happy until he is dead. You are rich, you are king of thousands of people, you live a life of luxury, but none of these things proves you happy. When I hear whether or not your life has ended nobly then I shall know whether or not you were really happy. Years afterward when Cresus had lost his kingdom and his wealth he saw how wise this speech of Solon was. After ten years of travel Solon returned to Athens where he lived in honour until his death. End of chapter 12 Draco and Solon. Recording by Graeum Redmond. Chapter 13 of Famous Men of Greece. 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 Christine. Famous Men of Greece by John H. Harn and A. B. Poland. Chapter 13. Pisistratus the Tyrant. When Solon came back from his travels he found that the young kinsman of his named Pisistratus was trying to make himself master of Athens. Pisistratus was rich and gave away a great deal of money and in every possible way showed himself friendly to the people. His large and beautiful garden was thrown open to them as if it were a park. Men and women of the working classes were allowed to sit under his shade trees and their children played among his flowers. When the poor were ill he had nice things cooked for them in his own kitchen and often in the heat of summer he sent to the sick a present of snow which was a rare luxury. If a poor man died Pisistratus often paid the expense of burying him. Poor people in Athens were very much pleased by this because they believed that if a person were not properly buried his soul would have to wander a hundred years up and down the bank of the river Styx. One day after the kindness of Pisistratus had made him the idol of the Athenians he drove his chariot rapidly into the marketplace. A crowd immediately gathered about him for they saw that something was the matter. In a state of great excitement he showed some wounds which he had really made upon himself but which he pretended to he had received while he was driving along the high road. Men of Athens he cried see what my enemies have done to me because I am a friend of the people. All thought the blood on his face and of course believed what he said. They were very angry and one of them proposed in the public assembly that in future 50 men armed with clubs should be paid by the state to guard Pisistratus. Solon begged the people to vote against this but they had made up their minds and Solon could not dissuade them. The guard was ordered and Pisistratus took good care that there should be in it a great many more than 50 men. Very soon he had a company of soldiers who were ready to do whatever he ordered. So just as Solon had feared he seized the Acropolis, a high rocky hill which was the citadel of Athens and made himself master of the city. After a while the people grew tired of him and he had to leave Athens. However he came back and regained his power by playing a trick on the people. A very tall and beautiful girl in full armor rode into the city standing at his side in a chariot. Minerva herself was said to be bringing Pisistratus back. When the chariot came into view the people shouted with joy and welcomed their old friend. Soon he was banished a second time but again recovered his power and from that day to the time of his death he had full sway over the city. 2. All the states of Greece had in time become republics except Sparta and when anyone took the power of a king in any of these states he was called a tyrant. Thus Pisistratus was called the tyrant of Athens and yet he was by no means so harsh a ruler as the word might lead us to think but he was strict. When he got control of Athens it was full of lazy people who launched all day about the marketplace. Pisistratus put all such people to work upon the roads or public buildings. They were no public schools or libraries in Athens but Pisistratus did his best to give the people a chance to read and to educate themselves. Vuxen his days were not printed but written and they were so expensive that few people could buy them. Pisistratus had a large collection and he invited all persons rich or poor to go to his library and read. He did another thing for which the Greeks were grateful. For more than two hundred years before his time the poems of Homer had been recited all over Greece. Traveling ministers sang them before guests in bunk at halls or before public gatherings. Everyone loved these poems and many people knew parts of them by heart. Pisistratus employed learned men to help him write them and put them in proper order. The verses about the Trojan War were arranged to make up the poem called the Iliad and those about the wanderings of Uluses to make up the poem called the Odyssey. Athens never had a wiser or better ruler than Pisistratus. He died 527 BC. End of chapter 13 Chapter 14 of Famous Men of Greece. This is a LibriVox recording. All the LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by MCY. Famous Men of Greece by John H. Aaron and A. B. Poland. Chapter 14. Miltiades, the Hero of Marathon. Part 1 After Pisistratus died, his two sons Hippias and Hipparchus ruled over Athens. They governed well until Hipparchus was killed by his enemies. Then Hippias became so cruel that Athenians banded together and drove him out of the city. Some time after being driven from Athens, Hippias sailed to Asia and back Darius, King of Persia, to help him regain his power. At that time Persia was the greatest country in the world. Darius, his sovereign, was called the great king, or simply the king, as if there were no other king on the face of the earth. He intended that there should be no other if he could have his way. He made up his mind not only to help Hippias but also to make himself master of Greece. Persians heralds were therefore sent to every state of Greece to demand from each attribute of earth and water. If the Greeks had yielded to this demand, it would have been the same as saying that all the land and water of Greece belonged to Persia. Some of the states submitted, others proudly refused. Athenians threw the heralds into the ditch into which the bodies of criminals were thrown. The Spartans threw them into a well and told them, There you will find both earth and water for your master. As soon as Darius heard of this, he declared war, and a little later his fleet, carrying 150,000 men, set sail for Greece. The Persians landed on the Grecian coast and went into camp on the plain of Marathon, 22 miles from Athens. In the meantime the Athenians had not been idle. They had collected a force of 10,000 men, and the entire army was under 10 generals, each of whom in turn was commander-in-chief for one day. The little city of Plotilla, unasked, had sent a thousand volunteers. The ableist of the Greek generals was Miltiades. He determined to attack the enemy at once, and when his day of command came, on the 12th of August 490 B.C., he drew up the Greek army in line of battle and moved across the plain. Then he charged upon the Persian army, broke their line, and drove them back to their ships in confusion. News of the victory was carried to Athens by a soldier, who though wounded, ran the 22 miles from the field of battle to the city. Reaching the marketplace, he rushed into the crowd of citizens assembled there, and cried, Rejoice! Rejoice! We are victors! fell dead. These news delighted all loyal Athenians, but was very unwelcome to some traitors who had been hoping to hear of a Persian victory. These traitors had gone to a mountain near Athens, and with a polished shield they flashed to the Persian fleet a signal to sail to Athens and capture the city before Miltiades could return from Marathon. Fortunately, the signal was seen in the camp of the Greeks. Miltiades guessed what he meant, and marched back to Athens immediately. So when the Persians approached in their ships, they found that if they landed, they must again meet the army of Miltiades. They had no wish to do this and sailed away across the Egyansi to the great king's own dominions. The battle of Marathon showed that the Greeks were equal to any soldiers in the world. They had routed an army of Persians fifteen times as large as they were, and had lost only 192 men. The Greeks believed that this splendid victory was won through the aid of their gods and of their godlike heroes, Theceos, who was said to have fought in the thick of the battle, and made terrible havoc among the Persians. Part 2 Miltiades won great fame in Athens. Honours were showered upon him, and whatever he asked was granted. Thinking that he could add still more to his own glory in that of Athens, he asked that a fleet of seventy ships be placed at his command, and that he be allowed to do with it, as he pleased. The fleet was granted, and with it he set sail for the islands of Paros. The people of Paros had helped the Persians in the recent war, and Miltiades wished to punish them, but he also hoped to avenge himself upon a personal enemy. The expedition was a complete failure. The town of Paros was not captured, and Miltiades was obliged to give up the siege and return to Athens. Moreover, at Paros, his tie had been badly hurt while he was leaping over a fence, so that he came home injured as well as unsuccessful. Upon his return he was accused of having deceived the people, and wasted the public money. When his trial took place, he was brought before his judges upon a couch, being too weak to stand or sit. The decision of the court was against him, and he was sentenced to pay a heavy fine, which was too poor to pay. Not long afterward he died of the injury that he had received at Paros. After the death of Miltiades, the Athenians were sorry for the harshness toward him. Remembering only his heroism and marathon, they buried him with the highest honors on the plain where his great victory was won. And of CHAPTER XIV CHAPTER XV 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 Philippa Jevons. Famous Men of Greece by John H. Haran and A. B. Poland CHAPTER XV Leonidas at Thermopylae 1. Leonidas was the son of one of the kings of Sparta. As a boy he was trained in the gymnasium and excelled in all manly sports. As a man he fought in the Spartan army. After the death of his father and his half-brother he became king. Eleven years later he led the Greek army against the Persians who a second time were threatening Greece. The second invasion of the Persians came about in this way. The defeat at Marathon had made Darius only the more determined to conquer the Greeks. But four years later in the midst of his preparations he died and Xerxes his son came to the throne. Xerxes after a while decided to carry out his father's plans and spent four years in collecting men and horses and ships. His army and fleet were the largest that the world had ever heard of. The land forces met at Sardis a city in Asia Minor and marched to the shore of the Hellespunt which you have already learned is the narrow strait between Europe and Asia. Xerxes ordered his engineers to make two bridges of boats across the strait for the passage of the army. This was done but the bridges were not strong enough and a storm destroyed them. The loss of his bridges made the king very angry and it is said that he had the strait scourged with three hundred lashes and a set of chains thrown into it to teach the water that he was its master. Two new bridges stronger than the first were built and Xerxes then marched his army over them to the European shore of the Hellespunt. Here his fleet of twelve hundred warships and three thousand smaller vessels had already arrived. On a hill overlooking the strait a throne of marble was built and upon it Xerxes sat and reviewed his land forces drawn up along the shore and his ships sailing in the strait. It took the army seven days and seven nights to cross the bridges. After crossing the land force made its way southward until it reached a high and almost impassable mountain range. Between this range and the sea the roadway at two points was so narrow that there was room only for a single wagon. There were hot sulfur springs nearby and therefore the Greeks called this narrow part of the road Thermopylae which means the gates of the hot springs. We usually speak of it as the pass of Thermopylae. The Persians intended to march through the pass but they were stopped by a Greek force under Leonidas king of Sparta. His band numbered only about four thousand men of whom three hundred was Barton's the rest being from several different states. The Greeks took their stand at the narrowest part of the pass. Against them Xerxes sent one division of his army after another but all were defeated and driven back. For two days the fighting went on with great loss to the Persians while the Greeks lost hardly a man. At last when it seemed impossible to overpower the Greeks a traitor showed a band of Persians a path that led over the mountain. This path was poorly defended by Greeks from one of the northern states. It was easily taken by the Persians who then marched round behind Leonidas. Leonidas learned of their approach in time to escape. Some of his army did retreat but he with three hundred Spartans and seven hundred men of Thespii a little town some distance from Athens refused to do so. Greece had trusted the pass to them to hold and they preferred to die rather than leave their post. When someone said that the arrows of the Persians would come in such showers as to conceal the sun one of the Spartans replied so much the better we shall fight in the shade. Leonidas was now penned in between two divisions of the Persian army one at each end of the pass. Instead of waiting to be attacked he led his men forward against the Persians the Greeks fought desperately but they had no chance against such vast numbers all were slain save one man. A monument was afterward raised to their memory it bore the simple inscription Stranger tell the Spartans that we lie here in obedience to their commands after the battle Xerxes marched to Athens he found it almost deserted all the Athenians had fled save a little band who held the Acropolis they hurled rocks upon the attacking Persians and for a long time resisted them at length however the Persians found a place where no guard had been stationed because the rocky wall was so steep that it seemed impossible to scale it here they climbed up and rushed in upon the brave defenders the struggle was soon over some of the Athenians hurled themselves headlong down the rocky slopes the rest were put to death and the city fell into the hands of the Persians who plundered and burned it even the sacred olive tree which had sprung up at Athene's touch was burned to the ground end of chapter 15 chapter 16 of famous men of Greece 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 Roger Maline famous men of Greece by John H. Haran and A. B. Poland chapter 16 Themistocles at this time the leading man of Athens was a great statesman and soldier named Themistocles some years before when the news had come that Xerxes was collecting an army and intended to invade Greece the Athenians sent messengers to Delphi to ask the oracle what they should do Delphi was upon the side of Mount Parnassus and there stood a temple of Apollo it was built over the cleft in the rock which you remember Ducalian found long ago as he and Pira were coming down the mountain after the flood in the inner chamber of the temple just over the cleft was a three-legged stool called a tripod when a person wished to consult the oracle the priestess who was called the Pythia took her seat on the tripod in a few minutes her eyes would close and she would begin to talk the words which she spoke were noted and the Greeks believed that they were really the words of the god Apollo her answer to the messengers from Athens was when everything else in the land of sea crops shall be taken Jupiter grants to Minerva that the wooden wall alone shall remain undistroyed and it shall defend you and your children stand not to await the attack of horses and foot from Asia but retire you shall live to fight another day and thou oh divine Salamis shall destroy the children of women what do you think this strange answer meant the Athenians were greatly puzzled by it Themistocles said that the wooden wall meant ships of war and that the gods would save the people if they would leave their city and trust to their fleet when the enemy approached he advised the Athenians to build more ships of war the people at last came to believe him rich Athenians gave him money and the people voted that the silver which was dug every year from the silver mines owned by the city should be used to pay for building ships of war and thus by the time Xerxes began his march Athens had a fleet of two hundred ships of war these vessels were gigantic row boats each having as many as a hundred and fifty oars each had also amassed with a single big sail which was hoisted to help the roars the capture of Thermopylae had given the Persians an open road to Athens and so the women and children of the city and the men who were too old to fight had been sent away in merchant ships to places of safety a few men stayed in Athens and defended the citadel as you learned in the last chapter the rest went out in the warships with Themistocles to fight behind the wooden wall Themistocles and the commanders of the fleets of the other Greek states took their vessels into the narrow straits of Salamis which lay between the island of Salamis and the shore of Attica here the Persians followed them Themistocles now wished the Greeks to give battle to the Persians but the Spartan commander and the other Greek leaders were unwilling to risk a battle in the narrow strait they proposed to retreat Themistocles was determined however that a battle should be fought in the strait so he sent words secretly to Xerxes that the Greek ships were going to try to get away and advised him to head them off Xerxes was delighted to get this message and during the night he sent a part of his fleet up the shore of Attica to the other end of the strait so as to hem the Greek fleet in between two lines of Persian ships next morning the Greek leaders all saw that there was nothing to do but fight and at once their ships were drawn up in line of battle Xerxes's throne had been placed on a high cliff on the shore of Attica so that he might look down upon the battle when the sun rose he took his seat upon the throne he was clothed in his royal robes and surrounded by the princes of his court below him were a thousand Persian war vessels while close to the shore of the island lay 378 Greek vessels it seemed an easy victory for the Persians the Greeks rode forward from the shore of Salamis shouting the cry we fight for all the Persians replied with their war cry and the battle began for a time the Persians had the advantage but their ships were in the way of one another those in the front could not go back those in the rear could not come forward the confusion became terrible ship after ship of the Persians sank some of them rammed by the Greeks others run down by their own allies in all 200 Persian vessels were destroyed and a great number captured while the Greeks lost only 40 when Xerxes saw his thousand vessels sunk or captured or rowing away in flight he determined to go back to Persia he had once returned to northern Greece where he left 300 000 men in command of his brother-in-law Mardonius with the rest of his army he marched on to the helispond here he found that storms had destroyed his bridges so that what was left of his army was carried across to the shore of Asia Minor in ships everybody in Greece now admitted that Themistocles had been right in his explanation of the oracle that the wooden wall would save the people and Salamis as the oracle had said destroyed the sons of women but they were chiefly the sons of Persian not Grecian women the battle of Salamis brought fresh glory to Themistocles after some years however he became unpopular and was banished from Athens he stayed at Argos then the Spartans who were his enemies accused him of treason against Greece fearing that he could not get a fair trial at Athens he fled to Persia the Persian king gave him three cities to support him and in one of these he lived until his death in 453 bc end of chapter 16 recording by Roger Maline chapter 17 of famous men of Greece 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 Graham Redmond famous men of Greece by John H. Haran and A. B. Poland chapter 17 Aristides the Just one Aristides was the rival of Themistocles Themistocles was wise and brave but selfish and fond of money Aristides too was wise and brave but he was also so honorable that the Athenians called him the Just on one occasion he was acting as judge between two men one of them had spoken unfairly of Aristides and the other came secretly to Aristides to tell him of it my friend said Aristides tell me the wrong the man has done to you not what he has done to me it is not my cause that I am to decide but yours Aristides opposed many plans that Themistocles wished to carry out and so at length Themistocles determined to have him banished there was at Athens a curious way of getting rid of a citizen every year this question was put before the people does the safety of the state require that any citizen shall be banished if it was decided that this was necessary the people were called upon to vote no person's name was mentioned but every citizen wrote on a small earthenware tablet the name of any man whom he thought dangerous to the state the tablets were collected and counted and if the name of any one man was written on as many as six thousand tablets he had to leave the city for ten years banishing people in this way was called ostracism we often use the word today it comes from a Greek word meaning an earthenware tablet Themistocles and his friends persuaded many of the Athenians that Aristides was a dangerous citizen so when a public meeting was being held the people were asked if they thought any citizen ought to be banished no one mentioned Aristides name but Themistocles friend said let a vote be taken while the vote was being cast a countryman who could not write his own name came up to Aristides and said friend will you write the name of Aristides for me on this tablet has Aristides ever wronged you asked Aristides gently no said the other I have never even seen him but I am tired of hearing him called the just Aristides said no more but wrote his own name on the tablet there were enough votes against Aristides to banish him as he was leaving Athens he prayed the gods that the time might never come when his fellow citizens should have cause to be sorry for what they had done that time came however three years later when Athens was threatened by the Persians the citizens at the request of Themistocles himself recalled Aristides he sailed from his place of exile to the bay of Salamis and went on board the ship of Themistocles only a few hours before the famous battle Themistocles at once gave him command of one of the Athenian ships and he did good service in the battle two in the spring following the battle of Salamis Mordonius the Persian commander who was in Thessaly tried to bribe the Athenians to become allies of the great king but they refused his offers with scorn he then marched to Athens and the people abandoned the city so that it fell into his hands the Greeks however collected an army of one hundred and ten thousand men Porcenius a nephew of Leonidas the hero of the Mopili was made commander in chief but Aristides commanded the Athenian troops Mordonius now retreated from Athens destroying and burning as he went the Greeks followed and overtook him near the city of Plataea and there they defeated him in one of the decisive battles of the world Mordonius himself was killed it took ten days to divide the spoil and bury the dead a tenth of the spoil was sent to Delphi and dedicated to Apollo because the promise of his oracle that the wooden wall would save the city had led to the great victory of Salamis a temple was erected to Minerva and thank offerings were made to other gods liberty games were established to be held on the battlefield once in four years and every year the tombs of those who had fallen in battle were to be decorated with flowers the land upon which Plataea stood was declared to be sacred and the inhabitants of the city were to be always free from attack by other Greeks on the afternoon of the very day on which the battle of Plataea was won the Greek fleet gained a great victory over the Persians at Mycaly on the coast of Asia Minor after their defeats at Marathon at Plataea and at Mycaly the Persians never again attempted to conquer Greece three as soon as the victory at Plataea had freed Greece from the ravaging Persian army the Athenians flocked back to their ruined city and began to rebuild it Aristides and Themistocles carried on this work hand in hand it was found that the sacred olive tree on the Acropolis though burned to the ground was not killed from its root had sprung a stout young chute this was taken by the citizens as a good omen and rebuilding of the city went on rapidly the great seaport called the Pyreus was fortified and a wall was built round the city these and other public works required a great outlay of money and it was needful to put someone whom all the citizens trusted in charge of the fund raised Aristides was chosen and enormous sums of money were placed in his hands he used his office solely for the good of the people and never became rich when he died about 468 BC the whole nation mourned and he was buried at public expense end of chapter 17 Aristides the Just recording by Graham Redmond Chapter 18 of Famous Men of Greece this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information on the volunteer please visit LibriVox.org recording by MCY Famous Men of Greece by John A. Taren and A. B. Poland Chapter 18 Simon Part 1 You remember that when Zyrxes was preparing to invade Greece the mystic list tried to get the Thenians to build ships and quit their city and trusted the wooden wall of a fleet one day while the people were still in doubt about what they should do a tall handsome young man with a bridal in his hand was seen hurrying through the streets of Athens toward the Acropolis he entered the temple of Minerva hung up his bridal as an offering to the goddess and took down from the wall the shield he prayed to the goddess and then carried the shields through the streets of Athens to the Perias the young man was named Simon he was the son of the famous Miltiades and belonged to the class of Athenians called Knights who fought on horseback for him to hang up his bridal in the temple was as much as to say that Athens now had no need of horsemen but of seamen as the mystic list was urging people were fond of young Simon because of his pleasant ways and when they saw that he thought well of the mystic list's advice a great many who had not liked it changed their minds Simon himself sailed in the Thenian fleet and fought bravely in the battle of Salamis he distinguished himself so much that not long after the Persians had been driven from Greece he was elected admiral of the fleet all that time there were a number of pirates living on the island of Cyrus in the Aegean sea they captured the merchant vessels that carried on the trade of the Mediterranean Simon took possession of their island and made the Aegean sea safer traders the island was the one on which Thetis had tried to hide Achilles when the Trojan war began and somewhere upon it the seers the great hero of Athens had been buried Simon made the search for the burial place and found it he took the bones out of the tomb and carried them to Athens when he arrived at Athens and told that he had brought the bones of the seers the whole city was filled with rejoicing games were held and theatrical exhibitions given the great poets Aeschylus and Sophocles were placed for the occasion Simon took so much booty from pirates that after a while he became very wealthy he was also very generous his fine gardens were open to the public and people were allowed to gather fruit in Zarchad the Athenian said he got riches so that he could use them and then use them so that he got honor his fellow citizens almost worshiped him part two after some years of fighting the allies of Athens grew tired of warfare so Simon agreed to let them furnish ships and money and he hired seaman and marines from among the Athenians so that though the fleet was in name the fleet of Greece it was really Athenian he drilled his men well in naval warfare and took them on one expedition after another thus they became the finest sea soldiers in Greece and one time Simon learned that there was a Persian fleet of the coast of Asia Minor immediately 200 ships were made ready and he sailed to attack the versions they had about twice as many ships as he had but the Greeks destroyed a great number of the Persian vessels and captured 200 Simon then disembarked his men and fought a Persian army on land he completely defeated it and so gained two victories in one day immediately after this he was told that another Persian fleet was not far off and that once he sailed to the spot and destroyed or captured all the ships and the men upon them the Persian king was now glad to make peace he agreed that no army of his should ever go near to the EGNC than a day's journey on horseback about 50 miles and that none of his warships should ever sail near Greece the spoil taken on Simon's great expedition was immense it sold for so much the Athenians took part of the money to pay for building the foundations of the great walls called the long walls these were to connect Athens with their ports and serve also as fortifications Simon paid for part of this work out of his own share of the spoils it seems strange that the Athenians should ever have turned against Simon after all his victories yet they did the reason was this a terrible earthquake happened in Sparta the whole city was ruined and only five houses stood unharmed after the shock one large building fell upon some of the young men and boys who were drilling and killed them while everything was in confusion and everybody was filled with alarm the helots flocked together from the fields intending to massacre their masters fortunately one of the kings heard in time that the helots were arming themselves here once ordered an alarm to be given by sounding trumpets and the Spartans seized their shields and spears and gathered together when the helots reached the city and saw the citizens ready to resist them they went back into the country where they had a large and powerful army and they persuaded some neighbors of the Spartans to join them then they seized the strong fortress near Sparta the Spartans were now in a dreadful plight their homes were in ruins their slaves in revolt and their neighbors aiding the slaves in their distress they sent to the Athenians for aid the great comic poet Aristophanie says there was a wonderful difference between the scarlet robe and the white cheeks of the Spartan who came to ask us for troops some of the Athenians advised that none should be sent they thought it would be a good thing for Athens if Sparta lost her power for the two cities were rivals but Simon persuaded his countrymen to send a large force he said Athens and Sparta are the two legs of Greece do not suffer Greece to be maimed and Athens to lose her companion so Athenian soldiers went in command of Simon and fought for the Spartans but the helots and their allies were too strong the fortress was not taken the Spartans suspected that the Athenians had not done their best and they said that they wished no more Athenian help this made the people of Athens very angry they were enraged not only with the Spartans but with Simon they declared that any friend of Sparta was an enemy of Athens and so they banished Simon after the Spartans had conquered the slaves they sent an army to attack Athens a battle was fought not far from the city and the Spartans gained the victory then someone was needed in Athens who could either beat the Spartans or make friends of them Simon was therefore recalled from banishment not long after his return he made a truce with the Spartans which lasted for several years Simon thought that the best way to keep peace in Greece was to fight the Persians so he fitted out a fleet and set sail from Athens to attack parts of the great king's dominions he really hoped to overthrow the whole Persian empire in far making any attack he sent friends to the oracle of Jupiter the god refused to answer the question that they put and gave as a reason because Simon's already with me the messengers wondered what this could mean but when they reached the Greek fleet they found that Simon was dead some say he died of sickness others of a wound which he had received while besieging a city before he died he ordered his officers to conceal his death from the soldiers and to carry his body to Athens this they did end of chapter 18 chapter 19 of famous men of Greece this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org famous men of Greece by John H. Herron and A.B. Poland chapter 19 Pericles section one Simon had a rival named Pericles who was the most able leader Athens ever had he had the power of a tyrant but he used it for the welfare of the people he had many excellent laws passed one was that a man accused of any crime should be tried by a certain number of his fellow citizens this was like our trial by jury and he gave an Athenian the same rights in a trial that an american citizen has today another good law proposed by Pericles was that any citizen who fought in the army or navy of Athens should be paid for doing so still another of his laws was that if a poor man wished to go to the theater he might get the money from the city treasurer to pay for his seat you will remember that the mysticleys and aristites begin to rebuild and beautify Athens after had been burned by the persians this work was afterward carried on by Pericles it was said that he found the city of brick and left it of marble under his orders the white marble Parthenon or temple of Minerva was erected on the Acropolis it was one of the most beautiful buildings in the world in front of it stood a bronze statue of Minerva so large that could be seen far out to see within was a splendid statue of the goddess nearly 30 feet high which was of ivory and gold Pericles made Athens strong as well as beautiful he finished the long walls which Simon had begun these walls were built from the city to her ports which were about four miles away between two of the walls was a roadway by which in time of war provisions could be safely carried from the harbor to the city Sparta was not pleased to hear the fortifications of arrival Athens might make herself beautiful if she chose but she must not make herself strong the Spartans watched for an opportunity to quarrel with the Athenians and the opportunity soon came the people of Corsaira an island now called Corfu lying off the west coast of Greece went to war with the people of Corinth Athens helped the Corsairians Sparta the Corinthians this was the beginning of a contest between Sparta and Athens which desolated Greece for 27 years 431 BC to 404 BC it is called the Peloponnesian war because most of the states in the Peloponnesus took part in it and were allies of Sparta Athens also had her allies Athens was well prepared for war she had a large sum of money in her treasury a good fleet and about 30 000 soldiers whom she could put into the field the Spartans brought a force of 60 000 men into Attica to attack Athens Pericles then urged the country people to leave their farms and homes and come into the city they took his advice and every vacant spot in Athens was filled with huts and tents Pericles thought that Athens protected by the long walls could stand any siege in this he was right for the Spartans made no headway but very soon the Athenians were attacked by a foe far more terrible than the Spartans this was the plague so many people were huddled together in the city that it was impossible to keep it clean and healthy people began to sicken and die by the dozens than by hundreds the Spartans fearing that the plague might attack them retreated across the Isthmus of Corinth into Peloponnesus while Athens was in this desperate condition Pericles acted most nobly the plague carried off his eldest son his sister and many of his closest friends yet he went among the people calming and cheering them and attending faithfully to the affairs of the government it was only when he laid the funeral wreath upon the lifeless body of his favorite son that he broke down and sobbed and shed a flood of tears while the Spartan army was threatening Athens and when the plague came many of the Athenians blamed Pericles but when he was in sorrow all the Athens showed him the greatest respect and affection not long after the death of his son he himself was stricken with a fatal illness as he laid dying one of those at his bedside spoke of the good they had done for Athens what you praise in my life he said has been due to fortune I deserve no credit for it that of which I am proudest is that no Athenian ever wore mourning because of anything done by me his death occurred in the third year of the Peloponnesian war it was a sad blow to the Athenians for he was the greatest of all their statesmen section two one of the friends of Pericles was Phidias the sculptor who molded the bronze figure of Minerva that stood in front of the Parthenon he carved also the ivory and gold statue of the goddess that was inside the building his fame spread over all Greece and he was invited to adorn the temple of Jupiter at Olympia for this temple he made his masterpiece it represented Jupiter seated upon his throne the statue was so perfect that was considered one of the wonders of the world when Phidias after several years absence returned to Athens he was persecuted by the enemies of Pericles because he was known to be a friend of the great statesmen he was first accused of having stolen part of the gold which had been supplied by the city to decorate the statue of Minerva fortunately when Phidias was working upon the statue of Pericles had advised him to fasten the gold in such a way that at any time it could be taken off and weighed it was now removed and weighed and the weight was found to be exactly what it should be Phidias was in charge with having insulted the goddess Minerva because he had carved upon her shield a likeness of himself and one of Pericles on this charge he was cast into prison to await trial before the day of trial came however the great sculptor was taken sick and died under Pericles Athens was at the height of her glory and the 28 years during which he was at the head of the Athenian affairs are known in history as the golden age of Pericles at no other time were there in Athens so many great painters sculptors writers and philosophers a celebrated historian who lived during the age of Pericles was Herodotus he is called the father of history another famous historian of those days was Thucydides who wrote a history of the Peloponnesian war end of chapter 19 chapter 20 of famous men of Greece this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information not a volunteer please visit LibriVox.org recording by MCY famous men of Greece by John H. Aaron and A. B. Poland chapter 20 Olsi Biodis part one during the age of Pericles a young man named Olsi Biodis attract a great deal of attention in Athens he was a king's man of Pericles and was rich and handsome but besides his money and his good looks there was another thing that made the people of Athens think a great deal of them he had won the crown three times in the chariot races at olympic games these games are said to have been established by Hercules they consisted of boxing wrestling running throwing the juggling and racing with horses and were held once and every four years in the valley of Olympia in the little greek state called Elis which lay northwest of Sparta they were so important that the Greeks reckoned time from the first olympic games of which they had a written account as we reckoned time from the birth of christ these games first took place in 776 BC the four years from one celebration to another were called an olympiad none but Greeks might take part in the olympic games and while the contests were going on tens of thousands of Greeks from every part of Elis watched and applauded to win the prize in any of the contests was the greatest honor for which a Greek could hope the victor's name in the name of his birthplace were called aloud by a herald and before the vast assemblage he was crowned with the wreath of wild olive cut with a golden knife from a sacred grove said to have been planted by Hercules his victories in the olympic games made Elis by it as the idol of the Athenians the young men of Athens admired him so much that some of them dressed as he did and even imitated the list with which he talked he was in fact the leader of Athenian folks unfortunately he had very bad faults he was frivolous and thoughtless and worst of all he was not sincere while talking with Socrates the great philosopher was very fond of him he could talk as if he were good or at least wished to be but the next day he might be leading his companions into all kinds of his chief yet with all his faults he was a brilliant genius even serious people admired him and often took his advice during the Peloponnesian war he persuaded Athenians to undertake an expedition against the island of Sicily he reminded them that Syracuse the most important city of the island was an ally of asparta and an enemy to Athens this was one reason he gave why the expedition should be undertaken another reason was the advantage that would come to Athens if she should add his fertile island to her possessions another senior general named niches opposed the expedition but also biades had his way ships and men were made ready and were put under three commanders niches also biades and a man named Lamaqus one morning shortly before the fleet was to set sail it was discovered that a shocking insult had been offered to one of the gods along the streets of Athens along the country roads and in front of the houses were bursts of mercury who was a protector of travelers ears and nose had been chipped from these busts in the night the Athenians were a very religious people and this insult to the god filled them with terror all fear that mercury would punish them by not protecting people walking on the streets and highways many thought that also biades had chipped the bus for a frolic soon after the fleet reached Sicily orders were received that he should return to Athens at once to answer the charge of course he had to give up his command after he did so one disaster after another befell the expedition the fleet entered the harbor of Syracuse the Syracusians then blocked the entrance so that the Athenian ships could not get out in the battle that followed half of niches his ships were destroyed niches ran the rest ashore and tried to escape by land but all were forced to surrender the old commander was killed and those of his men who did not die in battle or of starvation were sold into slavery not one of the ships of the fleet ever got back to Athens part two also biades was either afraid that he could not clear himself or that he could not get justice in the courts of Athens he therefore pretended that he was going to obey the order for his return but instead of doing so he went for refuge to sparta when the Athenians heard of this they passed a sentence of death upon him and sparta he was warmly welcomed and by his pleasing ways became a general favorite the Spartans however soon grew suspicious of him and ordered him to be put to death as a traitor to them he managed to escape and went to Persia here again as at Athens and as part of he made the people fond of him but after a while the Persian governor who had been his best friend saw that he was treacherous and put him in prison he escaped and went to a place on the alaspond where he joined the Athenian fleet there he gave the commanders such advice that they gained the victory over the fleet of the Spartans and the land forces of the persians the Spartan admiral was killed his successor wrote to sparta our glory is gone the men are without food we know not what to do also by does now thought that he might venture to go back to Athens as they are given to the commanders of the Athenian navy the advice which won through them the victory of the Spartan fleet the Athenians repented of having condemned him to death so when he arrived in the periods with a small fleet of 20 vessels he was allowed to land and go to Athens in a very short time he persuaded the Athenians to give him command of their fleet then he sailed across the Aegean to fight against the Persians and Spartans unfortunately he had to leave the fleet for a short time during his absence his lieutenant foolishly brought on a battle the Athenians were defeated and many of their ships were captured by the Spartans with what was left of his fleet also by a days then did the strangest thing possible he attacked a city that was friendly to the Athenians and tried to make slaves of some of the inhabitants complained to us made of the Athens and the Athenians at once dismissed Osbites from the command of their fleet after this he lived for some years in Asia Minor where he owned a castle one night his castle was surrounded by armed men who set it on fire he ran through the flames and tried to escape but his enemies killed him for 104 BC end of chapter 20 chapter 21 of famous men of Greece this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information not to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org recording by MCY famous men of Greece by John H. Aaron and A. B. Poland Chapter 21 Lysander the admiral of the Spartan fleet in the last years of the Peloponnesian war was a man named Lysander he was brave but he was also cunning and frequently gained the victory by laying a trap for his enemy it is said that he used to tell his officers when the lion's skin is too short you must patch it with that of a fox this was another way of telling them that if they could not succeed by force they must try cunning after Alcibiades had been dismissed from the commander dathinian fleet a commander named Canon was appointed to succeed him Lysander decided to set a trap for him the two fleets came in sight of each other off the shore of the helispond near a place called Aegospatomas which means goat's river one morning at break of day Lysander drew up his ships in line as though he intended to give battle later in the day the Athenians rode toward the Spartans and challenged them to fight but not a Spartan vessel moved the Athenians concluded from this that the Spartans were either not prepared to fight or were afraid the next day the challenge was again given by the Athenians and again the Spartans paid no attention to it the same thing happened the third day and the fourth by this time the Athenians felt sure that Lysander was afraid of them many therefore went on the shore some in search of provisions some to take a stroll some to sleep only small guard was left with the fleet as soon as Lysander saw that Athenians ships were unprotected he rode swiftly to the place where they were lying and captured nearly the whole fleet of 180 ships only about 10 escaped three or four thousand men were taken prisoners and all were put to death one of the vessels that escaped rode directed to the Piraeus to carry the terrible tidings it arrived at night and a Saturday night was never known in Athens the news spread through the city every house became a house of mourning nobody slept all feared that Lysander would sail into the harbor with his victorious fleet this was exactly what he did all the seaports of Athens were blockaded by the Spartan vessels the wheat supply was cut off so that the people of the city were soon half starving the Athenians had now neither army nor fleet after a three-month siege during part of each time there was a severe famine the city surrendered the only hope of the citizens was that their conquerors might be generous but in this they were disappointed the Spartans terms were hard and cruel one mile of each of the long walls was to be put down Athens was to have no larger fleet than 12 ships of war the Spartans were to name her rulers to win the pride of Athens as much as possible Lysander had the long walls put down to the sound of music and a part of the work was done on the anniversary of the battle of Salamis a day always celebrated in Athens in memory of their great victory over the Persians this ended the Peloponnesian war 400 or 4 BC it had been a fierce struggle and all Greece had suffered Thesedides who wrote the history of this war says that never had so many cities been made desolate never had there been such scenes of slaughter Athens was ruined she had lost her ships and her army and she was helpless in the hands of Sparta 30 men were appointed by the Spartans to govern the city they are known in history as the 30 tyrants their rule was very harsh they allowed only 3000 Athenians to live in Athens the rest of the people had to leave the city and Sparta forbade all other grecian cities to give them refuge Thebes and Argos however boldly defy this cruel order and many of the banished Athenians went to live in these cities after eight months the Athenians under a leader named Thrasibulus overthrew the tyrants but in that short time no less than 1400 Athenian citizens had been put to death Lysandus capture of Athens made him so popular in Sparta that for some years he was a real head of the government and he made up his mind to seize the throne before he could carry out his plans however he was put at the head of a Spartan force and sent to the city of Thebes against which the Spartans had declared war his army was routed by the Thebans and Lysander himself was among this lane end of chapter 21 chapter 22 of famous men of Greece 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 Leon Meyer famous men of Greece by John H. Horan and A. B. Poland chapter 22 Socrates one during the Peloponnesian war a very curious man lived in Athens his name was Socrates he must have been the ugliest person in all Greece his nose was flat his lips were thick his eyes were bulging and his face was like a comic mask yet he was one of the best and wisest men that ever lived his father was a sculptor who carved beautiful figures out of marble and Socrates when a boy helped him and learn the art when the Spartans sent their armies to burn the farmhouses of Attica and capture cities that were friendly to Athens many of the young men of the city went forth to fight for their country Socrates laid down his hammer and chisel and took up a shield and spear instead he fought in several battles and Athens had no braver soldier once in winter he was ordered to a country called Thrace it was very cold out and camping out was not pleasant however Socrates bore the cold cheerfully although he went barefoot and wore the same clothes that he wore in the warm weather in Athens after serving as a soldier for several years he left the army and went home to Athens here he became a teacher he had no school house his school was wherever he met persons who were willing to listen to him it might be in the marketplace or at the corner of streets on a hot summer day he would go to the harbor of Athens and chat with people who were sitting there in the shade enjoying the cool sea breeze he talked to the young as well as the old and often he might be seen with a crowd of children about him the lessons that he gave were simple talks about the best way of living or what the Greeks called philosophy Socrates was very unlike other teachers in Athens and almost everywhere else for he never made any charge for his teaching this kept him poor his clothes were often threadbare and shabby and so were those of his wife Xanthippe he cared nothing for this but she did and it is said that she often scolded Socrates because he did nothing to make money but idled away his time and talking once when he was going out of the house to escape from a severe scolding she threw a pitcher of water upon him I have often noticed Xanthippe that rain comes after thunder said the philosopher no man ever had better friends than had Socrates but no man ever had worse enemies some people disliked him because he used to ask them questions which they could not answer without admitting that they were very foolish in their way of living others said that he was teaching people not to worship Jupiter and Minerva and the other gods of Athens and that he was misleading the young men of the city one of his enemies was a poet called Aristophanes who wrote the most humorous plays that were ever acted in Athens in one of them a wild young man is one of the characters and Socrates is another Aristophanes made it seem that the teachings of Socrates had caused the young man to become wild the play did Socrates a great deal of harm for many people came to believe that he really was advising young men to lead bad lives yet one of the worst young men of Athens once said you think that I have no shame in me but when I am with Socrates I am ashamed he has only to speak and my tears flow finally the enemies of Socrates brought against him in the courts the charge of ruining young men and insulting the gods he was tried and condemned to drink the deadly juice of a plant called Hemlock in Athens condemned persons were usually put to death by making them drink this poison no man ever behaved more grandly when unjustly condemned to die than did Socrates before he left the court he said my judges you go now to your homes I to prison and to death but which of the two is the better lot God only knows it is very likely that death is our greatest blessing generally a person condemned to death had to drink the poison the very next day after his trial but a sacred ship had just sailed from Athens to Delos this ship carried every year the offerings of the Athenians to Apollo the chief god of the island and it was a law in Athens that no person condemned to die should be put to death while she was on her voyage to and fro so for 30 days Socrates was kept in prison during that time his friends were allowed to go see him in the prison he talked to them just as he had done in the marketplace or on the streets some of his friends told him how sorry they were that he should die innocent what said Socrates would you have me die guilty on the return of the ship from Delos he was told to prepare himself for death he invited his friends to come and be with him at the end he took with them his last meal and was as cheerful during it as if it had been a feast one of his friends asked where he would like them to bury him bury me he said you cannot bury Socrates you can bury my body but you cannot put me into a grave he spoke about death in the future life and said that death was only the end of sorrow in the beginning of a nobler life when the jailer came with a cup of poison Socrates drank it as cheerfully as if it had been a glass of wine he walked about the cell as he was bitten and then beginning to feel sleepy lay down soon after this he ceased to breathe Plato who was one of his pupils says thus died the man who was in death the noblest we have ever known in life the wisest and the best two after the death of Socrates bc 399 his work was carried on by his pupil Plato who became one of the most famous philosophers of Greece his lectures were given in the shade of the trees planted by Simon and the academy years before besides great philosophers Athens had some famous painters two of the most celebrated were Zuchses and Peresius who lived about 400 BC they were rivals once they gave an exhibition of their paintings Zuchses exhibited a bunch of grapes which had such a natural look that birds came and pecked at them the people exclaimed astonishing what can be finer than Zuchses's grapes Zuchses proudly turned to his rival's picture a purple curtain hung before it draw aside your curtain Peresius he said and let us look at your picture the artist smiled but did not move someone else stepped toward the curtain to draw it aside and it was then discovered that the curtain was part of the painting I yield said Zuchses it is easy to see who is the better artist I have deceived birds Peresius has deceived an artist it is said that Zuchses died laughing at a funny picture that he had painted of an old woman in of chapter 22 Xenophon one one day as Socrates was walking through a narrow street in Athens he met a young man who was remarkably handsome Socrates stretched out his staff so that the young man had to stop where can bread be found asked the philosopher the young man's manner was modest and pleasing as he told Socrates where to buy bread and where can wine be found asked the philosopher with the same pleasant manner the young man told Socrates where to get wine and where can the good and the noble be found asked the philosopher the young man was puzzled and unable to answer follow me and learn said the philosopher the young man obeyed and from that time forward was the pupil and friend of Socrates he was called Xenophon and named that afterward became famous among the Greeks the king of Persia at that time was Artaxerxes he had a younger brother named Cyrus who was the governor of some provinces in Asia Minor which belonged to Persia Cyrus thought that he had a better right to the throne than Artaxerxes and he determined to seize it the Persians had helped the Spartans in the Peloponnesian war and Cyrus had found out what splendid fighters the Greeks were he knew also that many of them had become so used to fighting that they did not like a life of peace and were willing to fight for anyone who would pay them he decided therefore to get the Greeks to help him to fight for the throne of Persia and he sent to several Greek states to invite the soldiers to join him promising them great rewards if he succeeded Xenophon had a friend who was going with Cyrus and who advised Xenophon to go to Xenophon talked the matter over with Socrates who told him to ask the Oracle at Delphi what to do so Xenophon went to Delphi but as he had made up his mind to go on the expedition he did not ask the Oracle whether he should go or not he only asked to what gods he should sacrifice before he set out after sacrificing as the Oracle advised he started for Sardis in Asia Minor and reached that city just in time to join the expedition eleven thousand Greeks from different states had entered the service of Cyrus so that with his Persian forces a hundred thousand strong he had an army of a hundred and eleven thousand men Xenophon was not a general or even a soldier in this army he seems to have gone with his friend hoping that some opening would be made for him there was a magnificent road from Sardis to Sousa at Xerxes capital but even upon the best of roads an army of a hundred thousand men most of whom were on foot had to move slowly Cyrus's troops went about 15 miles a day and it took them six months to reach a place called Kunaksa about 70 miles from Babylon here they found Artexerxes at the head of an army of nearly a million men the troops of the Persian king advanced with a great shout thinking that the noise made by thousands of men shouting would terrify the Greeks but the Greeks only raised their war cry victory and steadily advanced overcoming everything that was opposed to them unfortunately Cyrus went into the battle himself at the head of his Persian forces seeing his brother he rushed forward exclaiming I see the man and wounded Artexerxes with the javelin he himself however was quickly killed by the soldiers of Artexerxes as soon as their leader had fallen Cyrus's Persian soldiers lost heart and fled to the Greeks were now in a terrible plight there was six months march from Sardis and opposed by an army a hundred times the size of their own in the battle of Kunaksa they had so thoroughly beaten the Persians that Artexerxes and his men were afraid of them and decided to get rid of them by treachery the Persian commander-in-chief Tissafernes therefore invited the Greek generals to a friendly meeting and promised to furnish them guides and provisions so that they might return safely to Greece the generals never suspecting foul play went to the Persian camp there they were all put to death the Greeks were now greatly alarmed the night following the assassination of the generals was one of terror not a fire was lit even for the cooking of the supper all slept with arms at their sides while the sentries listened to catch the slightest sound Xenophon spent the night in thinking what was best to do it was clear to him that someone must be chosen by the Greeks as their leader and that they all must stand by one another he felt sure that if this were done there would be a good chance of getting home safely in the morning he told his thoughts and hopes to others of the Greeks who were greatly cheered by what he said although he had held no office in the army before he was now made one of its generals the shortest way to get out of the kingdom of Persia was to go to the uke sign now called the black sea which lay many hundred miles to the north beyond rugged mountains at one of the ports on the shore of that sea the Greeks hoped to find ships in which they might sail to Greece the march was at once begun all sorts of hardships were met with there were snowstorms and bitter north winds it was sometimes hard to get enough food the mountain tribes through whose land the army had to march were often unfriendly and rolled rocks down the mountain slopes upon the soldiers at last however the shores of the uke sign were reached the Greeks since the murder of their generals had marched for five months in an enemy's territory they had drawn supplies from the country and had lost but few of their men the retreat was in fact a victory Xenophon returned to Greece but he did not go back to Athens during some of the time that he had followed a soldier's fortune he had fought with the Spartans against Athens and the Athenians had passed a sentence of exile against him he went to Sparta and soon afterwards settled on an estate in Elis Xenophon's farm is still pointed out to visitors to Greece he passed about 20 years quietly in hunting writing and entertaining his friends with stories of his life as a soldier on far away battlefields from notes which he made he wrote a history called the anabasis or march up which is an account of Cyrus's march up to Babylon and of the retreat of the Greeks owing to political troubles Xenophon finally had to leave his pleasant home in Elis he went to Corinth where it is supposed that he died end of chapter 23 chapter 24 of famous men of Greece this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information out of volunteer please visit LibriVox.org recording by MCY famous men of Greece by John H. Aaron and A. B. Poland chapter 24 Epaminondas and Pilopidas part one in the city of Thebes no long after the Peloponnesian war lived two young men whose names were Pilopidas and Epaminondas Pilopidas is rich Epaminondas is poor both are fond of athletics and mainly sports but Epaminondas found his chief pleasure in books both are brave men and true and they love each other like brothers once when their city was an ally of Sparta they were sent by Thebes as soldiers to help the Spartans in a war with their neighbors the Akkadians the young men were fighting side by side when their comrades gave way and fled closing their shields together they bravely held their ground and tried to drive back the Akkadians Pilopidas was wounded and fell Epaminondas would not desert his friend although badly wounded he held the Akkadians in check until help came and he and Pilopidas were rescued and time Sparta became jealous of Thebes and tried to take away the liberty of their people a few rich Thebans were willing to help Sparta do this in order that they might be made the rulers one day they led a band of Spartan soldiers who happened to be passing into Cadmia this was the rocky city there of Thebes which rose above the city as did the Acropolis at Athens the Cadmium had never been captured but on that day the garrison was taking a holiday for the citadel had been given up to the women who were celebrating a festival series in it so the Spartans easily took possession of it and having once got it they held it for four years during that time the men who had betrayed the citadel into the hands of the Spartans ruled Thebes as tyrants they put some of the Thebans to death and banished others over 300 were sent away among them was Pilopidas Parmenandas was so poor that the tyrants do not think him of any consequence if he was allowed to stay in Thebes he used his influence to get the young Thebans to drill in order to make themselves superior to the Spartans in skill and strength part two the exiles went to Athens after living there for a few years Pilopidas determined to free his country and he easily persuaded the other exiles and some Athenians to join in carrying out his plans when everything was ready the exiles left Athens travel them volunteered to get into Thebes and kill the tyrants they disguised themselves as hunters divided into four parties and taking hounds with them hunting through the fields around Thebes as dust came on they made their way into the city it was a cold winter day his nose was beginning to fall and very few people were in the streets so the exiles reached the house were over to meet without being noticed 26 citizens joined them and all remained in the one house until near midnight a patriot who was in the plot had invited the tyrants to supper at his house at the supper wine was served and the tyrants drank freely after the supper some of the patriots dressed as women were admitted to the banquet hall as soon as they entered the room the guests greeted them warmly but the supposed women at once through off their veils drew their swords and killed the tyrants Pilopidas with another party went to the houses of two of the tyrants who had refused the invitation to supper and after a fight killed to them the patriots then went from house to house calling on all the people to defend their homes the Spartan soldiers in the cadmium heard the noise and saw the lights but were afraid to come out in the morning the other exiles with their friends from Athens came into the city and all the citizens rose up in arms the Spartan garrison gave up the cadmium and Thebes was free part three Sparta waited eight years before a chance came to punish the Thebans then war was declared and an army of 10 000 Spartans marched against Thebes the Thebans also raised an army and through the influence of Pilopidas Parmenandes was elected one of the chief captains Pilopidas himself was captain of a famous sacred ban of 300 young men who had taken an oath to give their lives in defense of liberty the two armies met near town called Lutra their Parmenandes gained a great victory although his army was less than half as large as that of the Spartans if Parmenandes and Pilopidas drilled the man of Thebes so that they were the best soldiers in all Greece and Thebes helped other Greek cities become independent Pilopidas went to Thessaly to weigh the people of that state against a tyrant who was trying to rule all Thessaly the army of Pilopidas was not nearly so large as that of the tyrant but Pilopidas was victorious unfortunately however he was killed in the battle with the salians begged the Thebans to allow them to bury the hero and their request was granted part four the death of Pilopidas was a sad blow to Parmenandes however he did not let his grief stand in the way of duty Athens at this time had grown jealous of Thebes and had united with Sparta so the armies of the two cities met the Thebans under the Parmenandes in the year 362 BC near the town of Montenier where a long and fierce battle was fought at length the Thebans were victorious and the Spartans were driven from the field the victory however was dearly bought just when the tide of battle was turning and the Spartan ranks were breaking Parmenandes received a wound in the breast from his spear the shaft broke and the head remained fixed in the wound Parmenandes was told by his physician that he would die as soon as his spearhead was removed those about him wept and one lamented that he was dying without a child to keep his name alive Luke try and Montenier replied the hero our daughters will keep my name alive when he was told that the victor was secure he cried I have lived long enough and with his own hand to the spearhead from his breast this passed away a man who stands out in Grecian history as a spotless hero a soldier who never fought except for freedom a man who lived only to do good and a chapter 24 chapter 25 of famous men of Greece 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 Christine famous men of Greece by John H. Harn and A. B. Poland chapter 25 Philip of Macedonia one after the death of a Parmenandes Thebes soon lost the high place she had gained among the states of Greece for a while no state held that place Sparta was never powerful after her defeats at Leuchter and Montenier and although Athens had rebuilt her long walls she was not the strong power that she had once been a state partly Greek and partly barbarian lying far to the north suddenly took the lead in the affairs of Greece it was Macedonia the king of Macedonia had a brother named Philip who had spent a part of his youth in Thebes he had seen Thebes become the greatest of Grecian states through the bravery and military skill of a Parmenandes and he determined to make his own state great the chance came to carry out his determination the king of Macedonia was assassinated and the brother who succeeded him was slain in battle Philip's infant nephew was here to the throne and Philip became the guardian of the little king in a short time the claims of his nephew had been set aside and Philip was on the throne of Macedonia not long after he became king Philip was married to Olympus a proud and beautiful woman daughter of the king of Epirus Philip had seen her for the first time at a feast of the god of wine she and her maidens were dancing among garlands of wines and flowers on the head of Olympus was an ivy crown and in her hand a staff twined with a wine branch as she danced her wild beauty won the heart of Philip he asked her hand in marriage and she became his wife Philip soon showed that he was a wise ruler he treated his people with fairness and they became very fond of him one day after he had been drinking he was acting as a judge and gave a decision against the woman his sentence seemed so unfair to her that she thought he was under the influence of liquor I appeal she cried I am the king to whom you do you appeal asked Philip I appeal from Philip drunk to Philip sober she replied the next day Philip considered her case again and decided in her favor two it was however his skill as a soldier that most endeared Philip to his people he knew that the Spartans had became the masters of Greece because every Spartan was a trained soldier and he knew that Epaminondas had won his great battles because of the way in which he had arranged his men Philip therefore had his army carefully drilled and in battle he arranged his soldiers in his famous pollangs these pollangs consisted of a mass of men 16 deep if there were 16 000 men the front rank had 1000 standing side by side three feet behind these stood a second rank of thousand behind the second rank stood a third line of thousand equally close and so on until there was a solid body of men 16 deep and a thousand wide every man bore a round shield about two feet in diameter and a spike or spear 21 feet long the shields were buckled to the left arm and were held to close together before them bristled the spear points like a hedge against these spear points neither men nor horses could advance on the charge of the pollangs broke down everything before it Athens and Thebes were finally arose to action against Philip by the elements of Demosthenes the great orator who was constantly sounding a warning an army was sent to oppose the Macedonian Philip met this army at Chironia not far from Thebes and they are gained a great victory this put an end to the power of Athens and Thebes and made Philip master of all the states of Greece except Sparta but Philip was wise and fair enough not to become a tyrant he knew the history of Sparta the military training of the Spartans had made them strong their tyranny had made them weak for no state of Greece was ever content to remain under Spartan rule Philip therefore acted generously towards conquered states he let each manage its own affairs while a general council like our congress managed matters in which all were concerned the first thing that Philip proposed to the council of the states was that all Greece should make war against Persia the members of the council were delighted and Philip was invited to be the commander-in-chief of the expedition preparations for the invasion of Persia had already begun when Philip's career was suddenly ended by an assassin who at a wedding feast launched a sword into the body of the king and killed him end of the chapter 25 chapter 26 of famous men of the Greece 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 Christine famous men of Greece by John H. Harn and A. B. Poland chapter 26 Alexander the Great one Alexander the son of Philip of Macedonia and Olympus was born on the same night that the great temple of Diana at Ephesus in Asia Minor was burned it is said that while the temple was burning soothsayers run up and down the streets of Ephesus crying out that the night had brought forth that disaster to Asia this was true of the birth of Alexander as well as of the burning of the temple Alexander was educated chiefly by the famous Greek philosopher Aristotle the young prince was an earnest pupil it is said that he could recite the Iliad of Homer from beginning to end he excelled also in athletic sports the horses of tessaly a state of Greece adjoining Macedonia were famed for their speed and spirit while Alexander was still a boy a fine tessalinean horse was offered to his father at a very high price Philip wished to have the animal tried but the horse was so wild that everyone was afraid of him Philip was about to send him away when Alexander offered to ride him the king gave his permission Alexander had noticed that the animal was afraid of his own shadow he therefore sees the plunging horse and turned his head towards the sun so that his shadow fell behind him then petting his neck and speaking gently to him he leaped upon his back and soon completely tamed him the head of the horse was supposed to have some likeness of that of an ox so he was called Busefavus or ox head he became alexander's favorite horse and carried his master through many a march and many a battle alexander's ambition was shown at an early age while he was yet a mere boy he made up his mind to conquer the world and when he learned from Aristotle that there were many other worlds in the universe he was greatly saddened by the thought that he had not yet conquered one as Philip went on making one conquest after another alexander became alarmed why he cried one day my father will leave nothing for me to do however when he became king he found enough to do first of all there were other claimants to the throne besides himself some of them alexander put to death others fled the country he learned that thebes and other greek states were thinking of throwing off the macadonian yoke he therefore gathered a large army and marched to thebes at the head of it the thebans were over-aved and submitted to him without resistance the Athenians in spite of Demostine's advice sent a messenger to him while he was at thebes offering their submission a little later the Greeks met in general council at Corinth and gave him as they had given Philip the command of the expedition that was to be undertaken against Persia sparta alone refused to agree in the boat alexander returned to macadonia and marched against some treacherous tribes in the northern part of his dominions while he was subduing them a report of his death reached Greece and thebes again took up arms suddenly alexander appeared in Greece with his victorious army he took thebes by assault and pulled to the ground every building in the city except the house once occupied by the famous poet pinda 6000 of the inhabitants were put to death a few escaped by flight and the rest were sold as slaves two alexander now began to prepare for the great expedition against persia which had so long been planned soon his army was ready to march it consisted of less than 35 000 men but with these he boldly crossed the helispond he landed on the asiatic coast not far from the site of ancient Troy from the plain of Troy he marched to the river Granicus on the bank of which he fought his first battle with the persians the persian army was completely routed and its commander killed himself rather than face the disgrace of his defeat the great city of Sardis the stronghold of the persians in western asia minor now opened its gates to the country the following spring alexander advanced into the province of bridgian in a temple of the city of gordium was kept the chariot of gordius once a famous bridgian king the yoke of the chariot was fastened to the pole by a knot of tough fiber the knot was said to have been tied by gordius himself it was very puzzling an oracle had declared that whoever should untie it would became the master of asia instead of trying to untie it alexander cut it with one stroke of his sword the people of asia minor took this as an omen that he was to be their master and offered him but little resistance beyond the mountains in southeastern asia minor the great king darius was waiting for the greeks with an enormous army he became impatient and crossed the mountains into sea letia a battle was fought at isus but the persians were no match for the greeks the battle ended with overfilming defeat to the army of darius and he fled from the battlefield he left not only his baggage and treasure but his wife and mother and children all of whom fell into alexander's hands these captives were treated with much respect and kindness by the conqueror soon after the battle at isus damaskus was captured alexander then moved against tire a famous port of syria whose trade was with every land and whose merchants were princes so great were the resources of the city that it stood a siege of seven months but at the end of that time it fell into alexander's hand and 30 000 of its citizens were captured made slaves from tire alexander marched toward egypt on the way he passed through the holy land when he reached jerusalem he was met by a friendly procession of priests and livites who came out from the gates of the city was the high priest at their head to bid the conqueror welcome egypt like the holy land was won without a battle the people are weary of persian rule in egypt alexander did one of his wisest acts he founded a city near the mouth of the nile to be a great trading port it is still called alexandria after its founder another wise act on alexander's part was to invite the jews to settle in his new city he thought that they were wonderful traders and as he expected they made alexandria a greater commercial city than tire in the spring of the year 331 bc alexander again set out in pursuit of darios who had now collected another large army in october not far from a place called arbella in persia the forces of darios and alexander met in their last great battle darios had done everything he could to ensure the defeat of the greeks his army was said to number a million men one division of it had 200 chariots to the wheels of which skis were attached the skis went round with the wheels and were expected to mow down the greeks like dross in another division of the army were 15 trained elephants that were intended to rush wildly among the greeks and trample them down but the skis armed chariots the elephants and the million men were alike unsuccessful the vast host was completely rooted and darios turned his chariot and fled from arbella alexander pushed on to babelon whose brazen gates were thrown open to him susa another great city of the empire surrendered without resistance then to make his conquest complete he marched on to persipolis the magnificent capital of persia proper this city with its immense treasure of silver and gold fell into his hands 5000 camels and 10 000 mule carts carried away the spoils the value of which is said to have been 150 million dollars alexander pursued darios but before he overtook him the great king was murdered by one of his own set reps alexander had the body buried with royal owners and punished the set up with death the empire of persia no lay at alexander's feet and the work for which the expedition had set out was finished the young king however had no desire to return to mcdonald he had conquered the east but the east had also conquered him he had become a slave to its ways of living his old simple mcdonian tastes had been laid aside and his life was given up to pleasure three soon however he undertook another conquest and at the head of his veteran soldiers advanced eastward into bactria and added this province to his dominions amongst the bactrian captives was a beautiful princess named roxana who became his bride southeast of persia lay india a vast empire rich in gold and diamonds alexander desired to add it to his conquests great mountain ranges enclose india on the north and northwest crossing these are passes through which travelers from central asia must go to reach india alexander went by the way of kyber pass and marched steadily onward till he reached the river here an indian king named porous engaged him in battle porous proved to be the most desperate fighter alexander had met with in all ayesha when the indian was at length overpowered and captured and brought before the conqueror alexander asked him how he expected to be treated like a king replied porous that you certainly shall be said alexander and so he was for it was the habit of alexander to treat honorably all whom he conquered on the bank of the river hidaspis alexander had the misfortune to lose his horse busifalus at the place where the animal died the conqueror founded a city which he named busifala in honor of his favorite the conqueror was not able to go on with his indian campaign his soldiers were worn out with marching and fighting and insisted that they would go no farther and so much against his will alexander was obliged to lead them back to persia the return march was one of great hardship at the mouth of the indus alexander sent the fleet to sail along the coast and up the person gulf while he led the land forces towards susa and babelon the army had to march through a country which was hot dry and barren the men suffered dreadfully and alexander shared their sufferings shortly after reaching babelon he was attacked by a fever which he had not the strength to resist around his deathbed were gathered his generals they asked him whom he wished to succeed him he drew his signatory ring from his finger and handed it to perdicas with the words to the strongest a little later he had ceased to breathe thus passed away one of the greatest soldiers the world has ever known at the time of his death 323 bc he was only 32 years old his victories had been won and his conquests had been made in the short space of 12 years end of the chapter 26