Athens. He is compelled to behave as a suppliant[49] in the courts of justice, and when some juryman comes into court, to grasp his hand. For this reason, therefore, the allies find themselves more and more in the position of slaves to the people of Athens.
[40] Grote, 'H. G.' vi. 61.
[41] See Isocr. 'Panath.' 245 D.
[42] See Arist. 'Clouds,' 1196; Demosth. 'c. Timoc.' 730.
[43] For the 'Prytaneia,' see Aristot. 'Pol.' ii. 12, 4. 'Ephialtes
and Pericles curtailed the privileges of the Areopagus, Pericles
converted the Courts of Law into salaried bodies, and so each
succeeding demagogue outdid his predecessor in the privileges he
conferred upon the commons, until the present democracy was the
result' (Welldon). 'The writer of this passage clearly intended to
class Pericles among the demagogues. He judges him in the same
deprecatory spirit as Plato in the 'Gorgias,' pp. 515, 516.'-
Jowett, 'Pol. of Aristot.' vol. ii. p. 101. But see Aristot.
'Constitution of Athens,' ch. xxv., a portion of the newly-
discovered treatise, which throws light on an obscure period in
the history of Athens; and Mr. Kenyon's note ad loc.; and Mr.
Macan's criticism, 'Journal of Hellenic Studies,' vol. xii. No. 1.
[44] For the {ekatoste}, see Thuc. vii. 28, in reference to the year
B.C. 416; Arist. 'Wasps,' 658; 'Frogs,' 363.
[45] See Boeckh, 'P. E. A.' I. xii. p. 65 (Eng. trans.); I. xxiv. p.
141.
[46] See 'Revenues,' iv. 20, p. 338; Jebb, 'Theophr. Char.' xxvi. 16.
[47] For these functionaries, see Jebb, op. cit. xvi. 10.
[48] Lit. 'pay or get justice.'
[49] Se Arist. 'Wasps,' 548 foll.; Grote, 'H. G.' v. 520 note; Newman,
op. cit. i. 383.
Furthermore, owing to the possession of property beyond the limits of Attica,[50] and the exercise of magistracies which take them into regions beyond the frontier, they and their attendants have insensibly acquired the art of navigation.[51] A man who is perpetually voyaging is forced to handle the oar, he and his domestics alike, and to learn the terms familiar in seamanship. Hence a stock of skilful mariners is produced, bred upon a wide experience of voyaging and practice. They have learnt their business, some in piloting a small craft, others a merchant vessel, whilst others have been drafted off from these for service on a ship-of-war. So that the majority of them are able to row the moment they set foot on board a vessel, having been in a state of preliminary practice all their lives.
[50] See 'Mem.' II. viii. 1.
[51] See 'Hell.' VII. i. 4.
II
As to the heavy infantry, an arm the deficiency of which at Athens is well recognised, this is how the matter stands. They recognise the fact that, in reference to the hostile power, they are themselves inferior, and must be, even if their heavy infantry were more numerous.[1] But relatively to the allies, who bring in the tribute, their strength even on land is enormous. And they are persuaded that their heavy infantry is sufficient for all purposes, provided they retain this superiority.[2] Apart from all else, to a certain extent fortune must be held responsible for the actual condition. The subjects of a power which is dominant by land have it open to them to form contingents from several small states and to muster in force for battle. But with the subjects of a naval power it is different. As far as they are groups of islanders it is impossible for their states to meet together for united action, for the sea lies between them, and the dominant power is master of the sea. And even if it were possible for them to assemble in some single island unobserved, they would only do so to perish by famine. And as to the states subject to Athens which are not islanders, but situated on the continent, the larger are held in check by need[3] and the small ones absolutely by fear, since there is no state in existence which does not depend upon imports and exports, and these she will forfeit if she does not lend a willing ear to those who are masters by sea. In the next place, a power dominant by sea can do certain things which a land power is debarred from doing; as for instance, ravage the territory of a superior, since it is always possible to coast along to some point, where either there is no hostile force to deal with or merely a small body; and in case of an advance in force on the part of the enemy they can take to their ships and sail away. Such a performance is attended with less difficulty than that experienced by the relieving force on land.[4] Again, it is open to a power so dominating by sea to leave its own territory and sail off on as long a voyage as you please. Whereas the land power cannot place more than a few days' journey between itself and its own territory, for marches are slow affairs; and it is not possible for an army on the march to have food supplies to last for any great length of time. Such an army must either march through friendly territory or it must force a way by victory in battle. The voyager meanwhile has it in his power to disembark at any point where he finds himself in superior force, or, at the worst, to coast by until he reaches either a friendly district or an enemy too weak to resist. Again, those diseases to which the fruits of the earth are liable as visitations from heaven fall severely on a land power, but are scarcely felt by the navel power, for such sicknesses do not visit the whole earth everywhere at once. So that the ruler of the sea can get in supplies from a thriving district. And if one may descend to more trifling particulars, it is to this same lordship of the sea that the Athenians owe the discovery, in the first place, of many of the luxuries of life through intercourse with other countries. So that the choice things of Sicily and Italy, of Cyprus and Egypt and Lydia, of Pontus or Peloponnese, or wheresoever else it be, are all swept, as it were, into one centre, and all owing, as I say, to their maritime empire. And again, in process of listening to every form of speech,[5] they have selected this from one place and that from another-for themselves. So much so that while the rest of the Hellenes employ[6] each pretty much their own peculiar mode of speech, habit of life, and style of dress, the Athenians have adopted a composite type,[7] to which all sections of Hellas, and the foreigner alike, have contributed.
[1] Reading after Kirchhoff, {ettous ge . . . kan ei meizon en, ton
dia k.t.l.} See Thuc. i. 143; Isocr. 'de Pace,' 169 A; Plut.
'Them.' 4 (Clough, i. 235).
[2] Lit. 'they are superior to their allies.'
[3] Reading with Kirchhoff, {dia khreian . . . dia deos}.
[4] Or, 'the army marching along the seaboard to the rescue.'
[5] Or, 'a variety of dialects.'
[6] Or, 'maintain somewhat more.'
[7] Or, 'have contracted a mixed style, bearing traces of Hellenic and
foreign influence alike.' See Mahaffy, 'Hist. of Greek Lit.' vol.
ii. ch. x. p. 257 (1st ed.); cf. Walt Whitman, 'Preface to'
original edition of 'Leaves of Grass,' p. 29-'The English
language befriends the grand American expression: it is brawny
enough and limber and full enough, on the tough stock of a race,
who through all change of circumstances was never without the idea
of a political liberty, which is the animus of all liberty; it has
attracted the terms of daintier and gayer and subtler and more
elegant tongues.'
As regards sacrifices and temples and festivals and sacred enclosures, the People sees that it is not possible for every poor citizen to do sacrifice and hold festival, or to set up[8] temples and to inhabit a large and beautiful city. But it has hit upon a means of meeting the difficulty. They sacrifice-that is, the whole state sacrifices-at the public cost a large number of victims; but it is the People that keeps holiday and distributes the victims by lot amongst its members. Rich men have in some cases private gymnasia and baths with dressing- rooms,[9] but the People takes care to have built at the public cost[10] a number of palaestras, dressing-rooms, and bathing
