403.

B. C. safety in Greece, he fled to the Persian governor in Asia Minor. The Persians happened to be on the point of sending a fleet to the assistance of the Spartans, and, after many protestations and flattering promises, Alcibiades was entrusted with the command. Being thus at the head of a fleet, he soon felt in his heart much more of the Athenian than of the Spartan spirit, and, instead of assisting the Spartans, he attacked them; and, being himself among the number of some prisoners taken by the Persians, he effected his escape and fled to the Athenians, who were now, for four consecutive years (from 411 to 408 B.C.), enabled to add victory to victory, clearing the seas of the Spartan fleet, and conquering cities and islands without number. But, unhappily for the Athenians, in the year 407 B.C., they hazarded a battle in the absence of Alcibiades, and were defeated; whereupon this inconstant and changeable people transferred the command into the hands of leaders wholly incompetent; and, not long after, the Athenian fleet and all the crews fell into the hands of the enemy, and the city of Athens was sacked under circumstances of insulting barbarity: the walls were levelled with the ground, the surrounding country devastated, and the inhabitants put to the sword. This conduct on the part of the Spartans excited universal indignation, and all Greece became anxious for the deliverance of Athens. Early in the year 403 B.C., the Spartans were expelled from the city, and

403.

Athens once more was free; but her spirit was B. C. broken, nor could she ever recover her ancient renown. Alcibiades, pursued by the Spartans, defended himself at first in the Hellespont; but afterwards, retreating to the Persian governor in Asia Minor, at the demand of the Spartans, he was shot by the arrows of hired assassins.

CHAP. XXIV.

SOCRATES - - HIS LIFE AND DEATH.

AMIDST the general corruption of manners at Athens, one man preserved an irreproachable character, namely, the illustrious Socrates, who is accounted one of the wisest men in the pages of history. His father was a sculptor, and he was himself brought up in the same occupation. But this did not prevent him from being practised in all military discipline, and defending his country in several engagements. The favourite pursuit, however, of Socrates was to join the society of young men of talent, and to instruct them, awakening their reflection by his questions, and convincing them that true wisdom is inseparable from a life of virtue. He was also fond of remarking how frequently men appear to have far more knowledge than they really possess. The number

415.

B. C. of his pupils was small, and it often happened that when he added one to his number, the immorality and loose principles that prevailed soon caused them to separate. Still, the limited number that remained clung to him with unalterable affection. One young man, for example, in his thirst for knowledge, is known to have travelled twenty miles, and at the risk of his life, to enjoy the society of Socrates for a single day. Socrates was a man of most simple habits; he fed on the plainest fare, and went bare-footed both summer and winter; and an old mantle satisfied him for clothes. He exercised and invigorated his body by running and wrestling, and could undergo severe labour without fatigue. "For," he used to say, "true happiness does not consist in luxury and superfluities: on the contrary, to be in want of nothing is divine, and the man of the fewest requirements most nearly resembles the Deity." His manner evinced perfect composure and an easy dignity, wholly unruffled by the emotions of any angry feeling. In a city so demoralised as Athens, such a character as Socrates could not be long without enemies. At first an attempt was made to render him an object of contempt and derision; but eventually a formal accusation was brought against him in court, of despising the gods, and corrupting the youth of Athens. Socrates in defence appealed to the whole course of his past life; but all in vain ; for the judges, being chosen from the lower orders of the people, understood neither him nor his phi

400.

losophy, and condemned him, as "a despiser of the B. c. gods," to die by poison. Socrates did not want friends who would have ensured his escape from prison; but he not only refused to avail himself of the opportunity, but censured them for thinking of disobeying the laws; and after a long conversation on life, death, and the hopes of immortality, he took the cup without changing a feature and drank the hemlock. His friends stood by and wept; while he consoled them by saying, "Behold, a victim to the gods! I yet shall live again.' After this he wrapped himself in his mantle : his friends spoke to him, but he answered no more. He died in the year 400 before the Christian era,

CHAP. XXV.

ALEXANDER THE GREAT, AND THE MACEDONIAN

EMPIRE.

THESE dissensions among the Grecian states gave B.C. Philip, king of Macedon, an opportunity of reduc- 356. ing them nearly all under his power. His son was the famous Alexander the Great, who, having command of the Greeks, considered himself called upon to be master of the world. Alexander, from his earliest years, gave proofs of possessing daring courage, pride, and ambition. On one occasion

333.

B. C. he was heard to say, "Alas! my father will leave me nothing to conquer." On another occasion he mounted a horse on which the most experienced riders had tried their skill in vain, and brought the animal under complete control; which caused his father to exclaim, "My son, seek for thyself another kingdom. Macedon is too small for thee.” In his twentieth year, 336 B.C., Alexander became king of Macedon, and immediately formed the design of putting himself at the head of the Greeks, and, after punishing the Persians for their insolent invasions of the Grecian territory, to march eastwards to the confines of the earth. Alexander first reduced to subjection the small states bordering on his own, and then, in the year 334 B.C., crossed the Hellespont from Europe to Asia; and there, on the banks of a small river, he defeated an army of the Persians from Asia Minor, and added that rich country to his empire. It was here that his life was in imminent danger, and was saved by Clitus, one of his generals. This victory placed the whole of Asia Minor at the mercy of the conqueror. In the year 333 B.C. Alexander came to Tarsus, where, from imprudently taking a bath when he was very hot, he was seized with so dangerous an illness, that at first no physician would undertake the responsibility of his case. At that critical moment the Persian king drew near with a powerful army. The illness of Alexander was now at its greatest height, when his faithful physician, Philip, though