THE REVOLT OF LESBOS
I
We have already traced the steps by which the various cities composingthe Confederacy of Delos gradually became subjects and tributaries ofAthens. After this great change was effected, the only members of theoriginal league who retained their independence were the wealthy andpowerful communities of Chios and Lesbos. These two islands wereallowed to retain undisturbed control of their own affairs, with thesole obligation of sending a fixed quota of ships to serve in theAthenian Navy. It does not appear that the performance of this duty wasfelt as a grievance, and no act of oppression had been committed byAthens, such as might have provoked her allies in Lesbos or Chios toturn against her. In both islands the general body of the citizens wereon the whole friendly to the Athenians, who afforded them an effectualmeans of protection against the tyranny of the nobles, by summoninghigh-born offenders to be tried before the Athenian tribunals.[Footnote: The evidence for this statement will be found in Thucydides,viii. 48.] It was therefore not among the people at large, but amongthe privileged few, that any movement of revolt against Athens was tobe expected.
Some years before the outbreak of the Peloponnesian War the Lesbianmalcontents had solicited the Spartans to help them in throwing off theyoke of Athens. This application, which was probably made at the timeof the revolt of Samos, found no favour with Sparta, and nothingfurther was attempted on that occasion. But in the fourth year of thewar alarming rumours were brought to Athens from Tenedos, a smallisland included in the Athenian alliance, whose inhabitants werejealous of the threatened ascendancy of Lesbos in the eastern districtsof the Aegaean. There was a design, it was said, among the leadingcitizens of Mytilene, the principal city of Lesbos, to unite theinhabitants of the island by force under their rule, and renounce theirallegiance to Athens. Help was expected from Sparta, and the Boeotians,who were of the same race as the Lesbians, were also in the plot. Thisstatement was confirmed by envoys from Methymna, the second city ofLesbos, which stood apart from the conspiracy, and by certain citizensof Mytilene, who had turned informers from motives of private revenge.
Among the Athenians at this time there was a general feeling ofdespondency and exhaustion. The full hardship of the war pressedheavily upon them, and their population was thinned by the ravages ofthe plague. In such a mood the thought of undertaking a campaignagainst a great island like Lesbos, then at the height of her power,filled them with dismay. Was it possible that a favoured and privilegedally had taken up arms against them in the hour of their distress? Itwas a slander, they could not, they would not believe it. At any rate,before proceeding to extremities, they would try the effect of afriendly remonstrance. So they sent envoys with a pacific message tothe Mytilenaeans, hoping by fair words to deter them from theirpurpose. In this, however, they were disappointed, and being at lastconvinced that the Lesbians were on the brink of revolt, they sent offforty triremes without delay, in order, if possible, to catch themunawares. For they had been informed that the Mytilenaeans were aboutto celebrate the festival of Apollo, in which the whole population tookpart, outside the city walls; and if the triremes arrived in time,there would be a fine opportunity for a surprise. At the same time theytook possession of ten Mytilenaean triremes, which had been sent toserve in the Athenian fleet, and imprisoned the crews.
But now was seen one of the weaknesses inherent in the nature of theAthenian constitution. These measures could not be taken without publicdebate in the popular assembly, and such a method of procedure renderedsecrecy impossible. The Mytilenaeans received timely warning of theirdanger, and keeping close within their walls, repaired the weak placesin their defences, and set a careful watch. Shortly afterwards theAthenian fleet hove in sight. As the Mytilenaeans refused to obey thesummons delivered to them in the name of the imperial people,--thatthey should raze their walls, and surrender their ships,--hostilitiescommenced. But on neither side was much vigour displayed, for theAthenian officers thought themselves too weak to undertake any decisiveoperations with their present force, and the Mytilenaeans desired toobtain a respite, to enable them to obtain aid from Sparta. Accordinglythey asked for an armistice, pretending that they wished to plead theircause by their own representatives before the Athenian assembly; andtheir request being granted, they sent envoys to Athens, who made ashow of carrying on negotiations. And in the meantime a trireme wasdespatched in all haste to carry their petition to Sparta.
On the return of the Mytilenaean envoys from Athens, where of coursethey had accomplished nothing, the siege of Mytilene began in earnest.The city was situated on a promontory facing the Asiatic coast on thesouth-eastern side of the island, and had two harbours, on its northernand southern side. Both of these harbours were now held in closeblockade by the Athenians, who established two camps, one on eitherside of the town, and patrolled the harbour-mouths with their ships.But on the land side the investment was not yet completed, so thatsupplies could still be brought into the town from the island.Reinforcements, however, came pouring into the Athenian quarters inanswer to a summons sent to the cities of the Athenian alliance, whowere the more willing to lend help, as the Lesbians made no vigorouseffort in their own defence.
While the prospects of Athens were thus brightening, the Mytilenaeanenvoys, after a stormy voyage, arrived at Sparta, and laid theirpetition before the authorities. It happened that the Olympic festivalwas close at hand, where representatives would be present from all thecities of the Peloponnesian league; so the envoys received orders to goto Olympia, and state their case in the presence of the Spartan allies.They went, therefore, to Olympia, and when the festival was over, theMytilenaean orator addressed the confederates as follows:--
"Before we urge our claim for assistance we wish to combat a prejudicewhich we know to be general in Greece against those who desert theirallies in time of war. For we wish not only to obtain your countenanceand support, but also to preserve your respect. To abandon an allywithout just cause in a time of peril is justly regarded as an act oftreason. But then the alliance must be a fair and equal relationvoluntarily assumed on both sides, based on mutual esteem and parity ofpower. Can anyone assert that our connexion with Athens answers to thisdescription? Have we not seen how the confederacy of maritime citiesformed against Persia was gradually converted into an Athenian empire?And though we and the Chians enjoyed nominal independence, we had goodreason to fear that this was only a temporary concession, which wouldbe withdrawn as soon as the Athenians felt themselves strong enough toattack us. We were allowed to retain our liberty, partly because theyfeared our navy, and partly because they wished to make us accomplicesin their own aggressions, and lend an appearance of equity to the actsof violence in which we were compelled to take part. Having swallowedup the smaller states, they were ready to pounce upon us, and were onlyprevented by the outbreak of the present war. Who, then, can blame us,if we seized the opportunity when they were weakened to repudiate thisfalse alliance, and anticipate the blow which they were preparing forus? Athens, we repeat, has no just title to our allegiance; the bondwhich held us together was fear on our side and interest on theirs. Weare natural enemies; and when your foe is disabled, then is the time tostrike.
"Having thus cleared ourselves from the imputation of disloyalty, wewill now make plain to you the advantages which you will gain byespousing our cause. If you wish to inflict irreparable injury onAthens, you must promote every hostile movement against her in thoseregions which contain the sources of her power, that is to say, theislands and coast-lands of the Aegaean. For if our revolt issuccessful, others will follow our example, and the Athenians will bestripped of their revenues, the mainstay of their empire. You can lendus aid most effectually by summoning your allies for a second[Footnote: Attica had already been invaded earlier in the summer.]invasion of Attica, and thus preventing the Athenians from sendingreinforcements to Lesbos. You have a rare opportunity, for their cityis wasted by the plague, and their navies are dispersed on foreignservice. Remember, then, your proud position as champ
ions of Greekliberty, and put away the reproach which you have sometimes incurred byleaving the revolted subjects of Athens to fight their battles alone.[Footnote: As in the case of Samos.] For the cause of Lesbos is thecause of all Greece."
It will be observed that the greater part of this remarkable speechconsists of an elaborate endeavour on the part of the Mytilenaeans tojustify themselves. The arguments employed were entirely sophistical,for the Lesbians had no real grievance--and the statement that theywere in danger of losing their independence was a pure invention. Butthey spoke to a partial audience, and the Spartans had alreadyprejudged the case in their favour. It was therefore decided to receivethem into the Peloponnesian alliance, and orders were issued to theallies to assemble at the Isthmus with two-thirds of their forces foran immediate invasion of Attica. The Spartans, acting with unusualvigour, were the first to appear at the Isthmus, where they madepreparations for hauling ships overland from the northern harbour ofCorinth, intending to attack Athens by sea and land. But the rest ofthe confederates came in but slowly, as they were engaged in getting intheir harvest, and had little inclination for a second campaign.
The Spartans soon found out that they were mistaken in supposing theenergies of Athens to be exhausted. Without moving their fleet fromLesbos, the Athenians manned a hundred triremes, raising the crews fromthe whole body of the citizens, with the exception of the knights andthe wealthiest class of the Solonian census, and pressing even residentforeigners into the service; and with this imposing force they made anarmed demonstration before the eyes of their enemies at the Isthmus,and then, coasting along Peloponnesus, made descents wherever theypleased. This spirited conduct produced the desired effect. For theSpartans, who were still waiting for their allies at the Isthmus, sawthemselves baffled in all their calculations, and concluded that theyhad been misinformed by the Lesbians as to the state of affairs atAthens; and hearing that their own coast-lands were being ravaged bythe Athenian fleet, they hastily decamped, and the plan of a secondinvasion came to nothing.
The summer was now drawing to a close, and as yet no progress had beenmade with the siege of Mytilene. The town was still blockaded by sea,but the Mytilenaeans had free egress on the land-side, and marched upand down the island, confirming the other towns which had joined in therevolt, and threatening Methymna, which still remained loyal to theAthenian alliance. When the Athenians were informed of this state ofthings, they sent a thousand hoplites under Paches to reinforce thebesieging army; and on their arrival the investment of Mytilene wascompleted by a wall drawn from sea to sea, and cutting off the townfrom the rest of the island. The Mytilenaeans now began to despair, fortheir supplies were failing, and there seemed no hope of relief. Butduring the winter a ray of hope reached them from outside, andencouraged them to persevere in their resistance. There was a weakpoint in the Athenian wall, where it closed a ravine; and through thisinterval a Spartan named Salaethus, who had sailed to Lesbos in atrireme, and crossed the island on foot, succeeded in making his wayinto the town. Salaethus announced himself as an agent sent fromSparta, to inform the distressed garrison that, as soon as the seasonpermitted, forty triremes would be sent to their assistance, and thatAttica would be invaded at the same time, to keep the enemy occupied athome. At this welcome news the hopes of the Mytilenaeans revived, andall thoughts of surrender were laid aside.
II
As soon as spring arrived, the Spartans, true to their promise, sentoff forty triremes, commanded by Alcidas, to raise the siege ofMytilene, and marched in full force into Attica, thinking thus todivert the attention of the Athenians, and prevent them frominterfering with the voyage of Alcidas. They remained a long time inAttica, waiting for news from their fleet, and employing the time in asystematic ravage of the whole territory. But time passed, and nomessage arrived from Alcidas, who seemed to have disappeared with allhis ships; so that at last, as their expectations were disappointed,and their supplies exhausted, they broke up their army and returnedhome.
The position of Mytilene was now growing desperate. Nothing more washeard of the relieving squadron, and the scanty store of provisions wasrapidly failing; for, owing to the betrayal of their design, theMytilenaeans had been hurried into revolt before their preparationswere completed, and had had no time to lay up a sufficient stock offood. Salaethus, therefore, determined to make a sudden sally, andbreak out of the town; and the better to effect this purpose, hefurnished the common people, who had hitherto served as light-armedsoldiers, with the full equipment of heavy infantry. But thisproceeding brought on a catastrophe, for the commons no sooner foundthemselves in possession of better weapons than they turned upon theirmasters, and accused them of secreting supplies of corn for their ownuse. "Bring out your corn," they cried, "and divide it equally, or wewill go out and make terms with the Athenians for ourselves." Alarmedat this threat, which if carried out would leave them exposed as thesole objects of Athenian vengeance, the nobles sent a message toPaches, on behalf of the whole city, offering to surrender, oncondition that their case should be tried by the tribunals at Athens,and stipulating that, while the decision was pending, no violenceshould be offered to any of the inhabitants. The proposal was accepted,and Paches marched his forces into the town. In spite of theconvention, the leaders of the revolt took sanctuary in the temples,being in dread of summary execution. Paches reassured them, and sentthem in safe custody to Tenedos.
We must now turn back a little, and follow the movements of Alcidas.The Spartan admiral, it would seem, had small stomach for the boldadventure on which he was bound--no less than to rob the Athenians ofone of their most important possessions, and defy the redoubtablecaptains of Athens on their own element. After loitering for some timeoff the coast of Peloponnesus, he sailed on slowly as far as Delos, andthen, touching at Icarus, he heard that Mytilene was already taken.Wishing, however, to inform himself with certainty, he pushed on as faras Erythrae, on the mainland of Asia, which he reached seven days afterthe fall of Mytilene. Being now assured that the report was true, hecalled a council of war to decide what was to be done. Then a certainGreek of Elis, named Teutiaplus, made a bold suggestion: "Let us," hesaid, "sail straight to Mytilene, and make an attempt to recapture thetown by surprise. Most likely the Athenians, flushed with success, willbe taken unawares, and we shall find the harbour open, and the landforces dispersed, and if we make a sudden onfall, under cover ofdarkness, we shall probably succeed."
The prudent Alcidas found this proposal little to his taste; nor was hebetter pleased by another plan, put forward by the Lesbian envoys whowere returning on board the Peloponnesian fleet, and seconded by aparty of exiles from the cities of Ionia. These men tried to persuadeAlcidas to establish himself in some city of Asia Minor, and raise arevolt among the allies of Athens in these parts. He had, they said,every prospect of success, for his arrival was welcomed on all sides.Let him seize the opportunity of attacking the Athenians in their mostmortal part, first by withdrawing the tribute of Ionia, and secondly byputting them to the expense of a blockade.
This daring scheme might have led to something important, if the fleethad been commanded by Brasidas. But Alcidas was a man of very differenttemper, and having arrived too late to save Mytilene, he had now butone thought,--to return to Peloponnesus as fast as he could, and getout of the reach of the terrible Athenian triremes. So he set his fleetin motion, and sailing along the coast in a southerly direction put inat Ephesus. On the voyage he showed himself to be as cruel as he wascowardly, by capturing and putting to death the crews of the vesselswhich came in his way. These were not a few, for the ships whichcrossed his path approached fearlessly, under the impression that hisfleet was from Athens; for no one dreamed that a Peloponnesian squadronwould dare to enter these waters. For this senseless barbarity he wasseverely rebuked by a deputation of Samian exiles, now living on themainland, who met him at Ephesus. His was a strange method, theyremarked with bitter irony, of helping the Ionians to recover theirliberty--to butcher defenceless men, who had done him no ha
rm, butlooked to him for rescue from their bondage to Athens! If he continuedto behave thus, he would make the name of Sparta detested throughoutIonia. Dull as he was, Alcidas could not but feel the justice of thisreprimand, and he let the rest of his prisoners go.
The presence of a Peloponnesian fleet had caused great alarm among theinhabitants of Ionia, and urgent messages came in daily to Paches atMytilene, summoning him to their aid. For even though Alcidas haddeclined to take up a permanent station on the coast, as the exiles hadsuggested, it was apprehended that he would pillage the sea-side towns,which were unfortified, on his homeward voyage. At last two statetriremes, the _Paralus_ and _Salaminia,_ which had been sent on publicbusiness from Athens, came into Mytilene with the news that they hadsighted the fleet of Alcidas lying at anchor off Clarus. [Footnote: Alittle town, north-west of Ephesus.] Thereupon Paches put to sea atonce, and gave chase. But Alcidas had got wind of his danger, and wasalready on the high seas, making all speed for Peloponnesus. Pachespursued him as far as Patmos, and then turned back. He would gladlyhave caught the Peloponnesians in blue water, where he could have sentall their ships to the bottom; but as it was he thought himselffortunate to have escaped the necessity of forming a blockade, as hemust have done if he had come up with them near land, and driven themashore. As for Alcidas, he fled in wild haste, keeping the open sea,being resolved not to touch land, if he could help it, until he reachedthe shelter of a Peloponnesian harbour.
III
On his return to Lesbos, Paches despatched to Athens the prisoners whohad been sent to Tenedos, among whom was the Spartan Salaethus. Whenthey arrived the Athenians immediately put Salaethus to death, and thenmet in full assembly to decide on the fate of the rest. They had justbeen delivered from a fearful danger, and in the natural reaction ofvindictive rage which had now set in they came to the horribleresolution of putting all the adult male population of Mytilene to thesword, and selling the women and children as slaves. The Mytilenaeans,they argued, were without excuse: they were not subjects of Athens, whomight wish to escape from their burdens, but free and privilegedallies. They had treacherously plotted against Athens, when she wassunk deep in calamity, and brought a Peloponnesian fleet within thesacred circle of her empire. For a long time past they had evidentlybeen hatching a vile conspiracy against the very existence of Athens.Having once come to this decision, the Athenians lost no time, but sentoff a trireme on the same day, with orders to Paches to carry thedecree into effect.
But after a night of cool reflection they began to repent of theirhaste. It was a cruel and monstrous thing, they now thought, to butcherthe population of a whole city, innocent and guilty alike. TheMytilenaean envoys, who had been sent to Athens on the surrender of thecity, perceived that there was a change in the public temper, andacting in concert with influential Athenians who were in theirinterest, they induced the magistrates to summon a second assembly, andre-open the debate.
It is on this occasion that we first catch sight [Footnote: That is, inthe narrative of Thucydides.] of the notorious demagogue Cleon, who forthe next six years will be the most prominent figure in Athenian publiclife. This man belongs to a class of politicians who had begun toexercise great influence on the affairs of Athens after the death ofPericles. That great statesman had really led the people, checkingtheir excesses, setting bounds to their ambition, and guiding all themoods of the stormy democracy. But the demagogues were lowbornupstarts, who, while seeming to lead the people, really followed it,and kept their position by pandering to the worst passions of themultitude. It must, however, be mentioned that the two contemporarywriters from whom we draw our materials for the portrait of Cleon, thehistorian Thucydides and the comic poet Aristophanes, were bothviolently prejudiced against him. Aristophanes hated him as therepresentative of the new democracy, which was an object of abhorrenceto the great comic genius; and Thucydides, a born aristocrat, of strongoligarchical sympathies, looked with cold scorn and aversion on thecoarse mechanic, [Footnote: Cleon was a tanner by trade.] who presumedto usurp the place, and ape the style, of a true leader like Pericles.
In the previous debate Cleon had been the chief promoter of themurderous sentence passed against Mytilene; and when the question wasbrought forward again, he made a vehement harangue, the substance ofwhich has been preserved by Thucydides. In this speech he appears as apractised rhetorical bravo, whose one object is to vilify hisopponents, and throw contempt on their arguments, by an unscrupuloususe of the weapons of ridicule, calumny, and invective. He reproachesthe magistrates for convening a second assembly, in a matter which hadalready been decided; and this was, in fact, strictly speaking, abreach of the constitution. He laughs at the Athenians as weaksentimentalists, always inclined to mercy, even when mercy wassuicidal. Of the subject communities he speaks as if they were mereslaves and chattels, outside the pale of humanity, to be kept down withthe scourge and the sword. "Let the law prevail," cries this secondDraco. "The law is sacred, and must not be moved. You are so cleverthat you will not live, by fixed rule and order, and you deride theapproved principles of political wisdom. Every one of you wants to be alawgiver, a statesman, and a reformer, and to manage the public affairsin his own way. We, who understand your true interests, are bound toresist this mood of lawless extravagance, and keep you in the rightpath, whether you will or no."
Then preserving the same tone, as of one who is exposing an outrageousparadox, Cleon proceeds to deal with the actual subject of debate. Tomassacre a whole population, was, in his view, a commonplace andordinary proceeding; and, in the present instance, the only courseconsistent with prudence and common sense. Those who maintained thecontrary were either flighty enthusiasts, whose opinion was not worthconsidering, or venal orators, who had sold their country for a bribe."Will you suffer yourselves," asked the indignant moralist, "to beblinded by these corrupt advocates, who amuse you with their eloquence,and then pocket the price? But it is your own fault: you have no senseof public responsibility--you are like clever children, playing at agame of politics. While you sit here, listening to your favouritespeakers, and sharpening your wits against theirs, your empire is goingto ruin. Plain fact is too simple a diet for your pampered appetites;you must have it hashed and served up with a fine flavouring of fancyand wit. In short, you have lost all hold upon reality, you live in anintellectual Utopia, and treat grave matters of public interest asthough they were mere themes in a school of declamation."
In drawing this remarkable picture of Athenian character, which, thoughstrangely out of place, really contained a large element of truth,Cleon overreached himself, and was caught in his own snare. It was he,and not his opponents, who was diverting attention from facts, andinvolving a plain issue in a cloud of wordy rhetoric. He has noarguments, worthy of the name, but tries to carry his case by playingon the passions of the people, and blowing up the flames of theiranger, which was beginning to cool. But though the more discerningamong his audience must have seen through his sophistries, to a largeproportion of his hearers his speech no doubt seemed a masterpiece ofeloquence. The Athenians, who, like all people of lively talent, werefond of laughing at themselves, would be especially amused by hishumorous description of their own besetting weakness, their restlessvanity, and inordinate love of change.
The chief advocate for mitigating the sentence against Mytilene was acertain Diodotus, who had taken a leading part in the previous debate,and now stood up again to oppose the blood-thirsty counsels of Cleon.The speech of Diodotus is calm, sober, and business-like. After adignified remonstrance against the vile insinuations of Cleon, by whomall who differed from him were decried as fools or knaves, Diodotusproceeded to argue the question from the point of view of expediency.He was not there, he said, to plead the cause of the Mytilenaeans, orto discuss abstract questions of law and justice. What they had toconsider was what course would be most conducive to the interests ofAthens. According to Cleon, those interests would be best served by awholesale massacre of the inhabitants of Mytilene, which would striketerror int
o the other subjects of Athens, and prevent them fromyielding to the same temptation. But, reasoned Diodotus, experience hadshown that intending criminals were not deterred from wrongdoing by theincreased severity of penal statutes. For a long time lawgivers hadframed their codes in this belief, thinking to drive mankind into thepath of rectitude by appealing to their terrors. Yet crime had notdiminished, but rather increased. And what was true of individuals, wasstill more true of cities, where each man hoped to be concealed amongthe crowd of transgressors. Criminals, whether they acted singly, or inlarge numbers, were only rendered desperate, if all degrees of crimewere confounded in one common penalty of death.
Such were the enlightened principles of jurisprudence set forth by anAthenian of the fifth century before Christ--principles which werefirst recognised in modern Europe within the memory of men stillliving. Then, bringing his theories to a practical test, he pointed outthe gross impolicy of driving a revolted city to desperation, byexcluding all rebels from the hope of pardon. This, he said, would bethe effect on the subjects of Athens, if they passed the same sentenceon the Mytilenaeans, without distinction between the innocent and theguilty. At present the commons in every city were loyal to Athens; andthough they might be beguiled or coerced into rebellion, they would, ifassured of fair treatment, take the first opportunity of returning totheir allegiance, as the commoners of Mytilene had done. "Do not,therefore," concluded Diodotus, "destroy this, the strongest guaranteeof your security, but punish the ringleaders of the revolt, after duedeliberation, and leave the rest in peace."
The arguments of Diodotus were unanswerable, and it might have beensupposed that the Athenians, in their relenting mood, would havecarried the amendment by a large majority. But this was not the case.The debate was keenly contested, and when the president called for ashow of hands, the more merciful decree was only passed by a few votes.There was no time to be lost, for the first trireme was already a dayand a night on her voyage, and the fate of Mytilene hung by a hair. Asecond trireme was launched with all speed, and the Mytilenaeanspresent in Athens promised large rewards to the crew if they arrived intime. With such inducements the rowers toiled day and night, takingtheir meals, which consisted of barley-meal kneaded with wine and oil,at the oar, and sleeping and rowing by turns. Happily there was nocontrary wind to retard their progress, and the crew of the firstvessel, bearing that savage mandate, made no efforts to shorten theirpassage. As it was, they were not an hour too soon: for when theyarrived, Paches had already received the decree, and was preparing tocarry it out. Thus Mytilene escaped destruction by a hair's-breadth,and Athens was saved from committing a great crime. But even themodified sentence, which was passed directly afterwards on the motionof Cleon, condemning more than a thousand Mytilenaean citizens todeath, was sufficiently ferocious, and was remembered against thetyrant city in the days of her humiliation.