Greece -- Biography -- Early works to 1800; Rome -- Biography -- Early works to 1800
XV. Now Lysander, after taking all the fleet of the Athenians except
twelve ships, and having taken possession of their walls, began to
take measures for the subversion of their political constitution, on
the sixteenth day of the month Munychion, the same day on which they
had defeated the Persians in the sea-fight at Salamis. As they were
greatly grieved at this, and were loth to obey him, he sent word to
the people that the city had broken the terms of its capitulation,
because their walls were standing although the time within which they
ought to have been destroyed had elapsed. He therefore would make an
entirely new decision about their fate, because they had broken the
treaty. Some writers say that he actually consulted the allies about
the advisability of selling the whole population for slaves, in which
debate the Theban Erianthus proposed to destroy the city and make the
site of it a sheep walk. Afterwards, however, when the generals were
drinking together a Phokian sang the first song in the Elektra of
Euripides, which begins with the words--
"Elektra, Agamemnon's child,
I reach thy habitation wild."
At this their hearts were touched, and it appeared to them to be a
shameful deed to destroy so famous a city, and one which had produced
such great men. After this, as the Athenians agreed to everything that
Lysander proposed, he sent for a number of flute-players out of the
city, collected all those in his camp, and destroyed the walls and
burned the ships to the sound of music, while the allies crowned
themselves with flowers and danced around, as though on that day their
freedom began. Lysander now at once subverted the constitution,
establishing thirty archons in the city, and ten in Peiræus, placing
also a garrison in the Acropolis under the command of Kallibius, who
acted as harmost, or governor. This man once was about to strike
Autolykus the athlete, in whose house Xenophon has laid the scene of
his "Symposium," with his staff, when Autolykus tripped him and threw
him down. Lysander did not sympathise with his fall, but even
reproached him, saying that he did not know how to govern free men.
However, the Thirty, to please Kallibius, shortly afterwards put
Autolykus to death.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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