Classics/History 1M03 Dr. J. Reeves Winter 2018 Essay Assignment #1

The Religious Scandal of 415 In 415 BC, during a lull in the Peloponnesian War, the Athenians decided to mount an enormous campaign against the city of Syracuse in Sicily. The expedition was prepared at tremendous cost and no expense was spared. To the eyes of the other Greeks it looked as though Athens was making a display of its power in an aggressive campaign designed not just to overawe Syracuse nor even the whole of Sicily but to signal to the Greek world the might and dominance of Athens. Just prior to the launching of the Sicilian expedition, the largest and best-equipped armada ever assembled by the Athenians, a religious crime shook the confidence of the city. All throughout Athens (at people’s front doors, at crossroads, at the entrances to the Agora, for example) stood Herms (Hermai in Greek), four-foot stone pillars with the god Hermes’ head carved at the top and genitals at the front. Shortly before the expedition was due to sail, a group of men in the city mutilated a large number of these Herms, defacing and (probably) castrating them. This in itself—an act of sacrilegious vandalism—was deeply offensive to most Athenians. Moreover, Hermes, the messenger god, patron of travelers, was for Greeks the god who oversaw comings and goings. The desecration of these Herms, therefore, was a chilling omen to many. In response the crime, the Athenians hastily organized incentives for witnesses to come forward. In the days of denunciations that followed, the names of several prominent Athenians came to light as suspects in this and other religious offenses; among the individuals named was Alcibiades, one of the generals of the imminent campaign and Athens’ leading political figure. How and why Alcibiades became the chief suspect of crimes that undermined his own expedition are interesting historical questions to which the ancient sources give partial and sometimes conflicting answers. Instructions for assignment:

1) Read through all the ancient accounts (collected below) of the events surrounding the

scandal of 415 and clarify for yourself what you think Alcibiades’ role was. Consider what kind of figure Alcibiades was in Athens. Did others have reason to frame him? If so, who are the likely culprits and why? Was he guilty of any of the charges brought against him? What impact, if any, did the mutilation of the Herms have on the Sicilian expedition? Were there wider consequences?

2) Having read the sources carefully and critically, write a 1200-word essay on the subject (about FIVE double-spaced pages). In your paper, you may choose to address all or some of these questions, or you may choose to pose your own questions of the material. The goal of this (and any other) essay should not be to produce a report that merely describes what you find in your sources, but to produce an argument based on your reading of those sources; hence the word ‘essay’ from the French essayer (‘to try’ as in “to try to convince” your reader of something). Your argument will take the form of a thesis, a central claim supported by the presentation of subordinated claims based on your analysis of primary evidence.

Classics/History 1M03 Dr. J. Reeves Winter 2018 Essay Assignment #1

Guidelines: You may use the skills you learned in the library assignment to do some background research, but the aim of this assignment is for you to extract evidence from the ancient sources in support of your claims. Do not cite secondary sources (or tertiary sources like websites or blogs) as evidence within your paper. It is advisable to consult reliable tertiary material to acquaint yourself with the approximate date and circumstances of the composition of the primary texts (Wikipedia and most sites ending in ‘.edu’ are not bad for this sort of thing, but do not build your argument from material on these sites). Your paper should include plenty of citation to passages in the primary sources only. If you do choose to do extra reading, you must include a bibliography at the end of your paper (this does not count towards the essay’s length). Any quotation (direct quotations should be used very sparingly in such a short essay) or reference to a source (primary or secondary) must be accompanied by a citation. Any factual claim should be supported by citation of a source unless it is general knowledge. Due date: 14 February 2018 (essays must be submitted in hard copy to your TAs at the end of lecture)

Classics/History 1M03 Dr. J. Reeves Winter 2018 Essay Assignment #1

Citation and attribution 1. Why we cite. A very important aspect of academic writing is the citation of sources. We do this for several reasons:

a) to acknowledge the sources of useful information and to avoid suggestions of plagiarism; b) to assure that the content in your paper is credible and can be verified by others; c) to point interested readers towards material that will help them engage more deeply in

some question. 2. Primary, secondary, and tertiary material. Good university essays cite primary and secondary material and avoid tertiary material. (For assignment #1 you should only cite primary material)

a) A primary source is a source that provides direct, or nearly direct, evidence about the situation or phenomenon you are writing about. For modern history, primary sources include official reports, letters, eyewitness accounts, etc. For ancient history, they include classical authors, documents surviving in inscriptions and papyrus, and archaeological artefacts.

b) Your secondary sources are expert interpretations of that material, whether in the form of books, commentaries, or articles in scholarly journals. They offer independent and original interpretations, engage with earlier scholarship, and cite their own sources, primary and secondary. (Τhey rarely cite tertiary material.)

c) Tertiary sources comprise material that is based on secondary material, such as general encyclopedias, most first and second-year textbooks, books written for a popular audience, etc. The coverage in such works is usually not comprehensive, and they typically do not offer and evaluate alternative interpretations. Often tertiary works are useful for confirming correct spellings, locations, or dates, and will often identify relevant primary sources and the best secondary literature.

You should always base university research on primary and secondary material. Tertiary material can be consulted but not relied upon.

3. References. University essays use in-text citations (Thuc. 6.27.3) or footnotes (or sometimes endnotes) to attribute specific facts or interpretations with specific sources.1

a. Ancient sources. Some works exist in many different versions. Think of the Bible, which has been reprinted thousands of times, each of which has its own pagination. Because of this ancient works have their own citation methods. The famous verse “God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son” is never cited as The Bible, p. 354, but by chapter and verse (John 3: 16). Similarly, with Shakespearean drama, which is cited by play, act and scene. So too, with, ancient works, which are cited by author, work, book (where applicable) and section. In this essay, you have only a handful to cite. These should be cited as follows:

Thuc. 6.27.2 Andoc. 1.63 Diod. Sic.13.2.2

Plut. Alc. 19.4 Plut. Nic. 13

You do not need to include the dates of the passage or the name of the translator in the reference. If you need clarification in any of these points, or on any other aspects of referencing, please ask your TA.

1 Plut. Nic. 1.2.

Classics/History 1M03 Dr. J. Reeves Winter 2018 Essay Assignment #1

The Religious Scandal of 415:

The Ancient Sources The following are the key passages concerning the religious scandal of 415. If you would like to get more context and to read more extensive passages from any of these authors, you can find complete versions of their works, freely available, at: http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/collection?collection=Perseus:collection:Greco-Roman 1. Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War (Book 6.15-61) [composed c. 400 BC] 6.15. Most of the Athenians that came forward spoke in favour of the expedition, and of not annulling what had been voted, although some spoke on the other side. [2] By far the warmest advocate of the expedition was, however, Alcibiades, son of Clinias, who wished to thwart Nicias both as his political opponent and also because of the attack he had made upon him in his speech, and who was, besides, exceedingly ambitious of a command by which he hoped to reduce Sicily and Carthage, and personally to gain in wealth and reputation by means of his successes. [3] For the position he held among the citizens led him to indulge his tastes beyond what his real means would bear, both in keeping horses and in the rest of his expenditure; and this later on had not a little to do with the ruin of the Athenian state. [4] Alarmed at the greatness of his license in his own life and habits, and of the ambition which he showed in all things whatsoever that he undertook, the mass of the people set him down as a pretender to the tyranny, and became his enemies; and although publicly his conduct of the war was as good as could be desired individually, his habits gave offence to everyone, and caused them to commit affairs to other hands, and thus before long to ruin the city.

. . .

26. Upon hearing the speeches, the Athenians at once voted that the generals should have full powers in the matter of the numbers of the army and of the expedition generally, to do as they judged best for the interests of Athens. [2] After this the preparations began; messages being sent to the allies and the rolls drawn up at home. And as the city had just recovered from the plague and the long war, and a number of young men had grown up and capital had accumulated by reason of the truce, everything was the more easily provided. 27. In the midst of these preparations all the stone Hermae in the city of Athens, that is to say the customary square figures so common in the doorways of private houses and temples, had in one night most of them their faces mutilated. [2] No one knew who had done it, but large public rewards were offered to find the authors; and it was further voted that anyone who knew of any other act of impiety having been committed should come and give information without fear of consequences, whether he were citizen, alien, or slave. [3] The matter was taken up the more seriously, as it was thought to be ominous for the expedition, and part of a conspiracy to bring about a revolution and to upset the democracy.

Classics/History 1M03 Dr. J. Reeves Winter 2018 Essay Assignment #1

28. Information was given accordingly by some resident aliens and body servants, not about the Hermae but about some previous mutilations of other images perpetrated by young men in a drunken frolic, and of mock celebrations of the mysteries, averred to take place in private houses. [2] Alcibiades being implicated in this charge, it was taken hold of by those who could least endure him, because he stood in the way of their obtaining the undisturbed direction of the people, and who thought that if he were once removed the first place would be theirs. These accordingly magnified the manner and loudly proclaimed that the affair of the mysteries and the mutilation of the Hermae were part and parcel of a scheme to overthrow the democracy, and that nothing of all this had been done without Alcibiades; the proofs alleged being the general and undemocratic license of his life and habits. 29. Alcibiades repelled on the spot the charges in question, and also before going on the expedition, the preparations for which were now complete, offered to stand his trial, that it might be seen whether he was guilty of the acts imputed to him; desiring to be punished if found guilty, but, if acquitted, to take the command. [2] Meanwhile he protested against their receiving slanders against him in his absence, and begged them rather to put him to death at once if he were guilty, and pointed out the imprudence of sending him out at the head of so large an army, with so serious a charge still undecided. [3] But his enemies feared that he would have the army for him if he were tried immediately, and that the people might relent in favour of the man whom they already caressed as the cause of the Argives and some of the Mantineans joining in the expedition, and did their utmost to get this proposition rejected, putting forward other orators who said that he ought at present to sail and not delay the departure of the army, and be tried on his return within a fixed number of days; their plan being to have him sent for and brought home for trial upon some graver charge, which they would the more easily get up in his absence. Accordingly, it was decreed that he should sail. 30. After this the departure for Sicily took place, it being now about midsummer. Most of the allies, with the corn transports and the smaller craft and the rest of the expedition, had already received orders to muster at Corcyra, to cross the Ionian Sea from thence in a body to the Iapygian promontory. But the Athenians themselves, and such of their allies as happened to be with them, went down to Piraeus upon a day appointed at daybreak, and began to man the ships for putting out to sea. [2] With them also went down the whole population, one may say, of the city, both citizens and foreigners; the inhabitants of the country each escorting those that belonged to them, their friends, their relatives, or their sons, with hope and lamentation upon their way, as they thought of the conquests which they hoped to make, or of the friends whom they might never see again, considering the long voyage which they were going to make from their country. 31. Indeed, at this moment, when they were now upon the point of parting from one another, the danger came more home to them than when they voted for the expedition; although the strength of the armament, and the profuse provision which they remarked in every department, was a sight that could not but comfort them. As for the foreigners and the rest of the crowd, they simply went to see a sight worth looking at and passing all belief. Indeed, this armament that first sailed out was by far the most costly and splendid Hellenic force that had ever been sent out by a single city up to that time. [2] In mere number of ships and heavy infantry that against Epidaurus under Pericles, and the same when going against Potidaea

Classics/History 1M03 Dr. J. Reeves Winter 2018 Essay Assignment #1

under Hagnon, was not inferior; containing as it did four thousand Athenian heavy infantry, three hundred horse, and one hundred galleys accompanied by fifty Lesbian and Chian vessels and many allies besides. [3] But these were sent upon a short voyage and with a scanty equipment. The present expedition was formed in contemplation of a long term of service by land and sea alike, and was furnished with ships and troops so as to be ready for either as required. The fleet had been elaborately equipped at great cost to the captains and the state; the treasury giving a drachma a day to each seaman, and providing empty ships, sixty men of war and forty transports, and manning these with the best crews obtainable; while the captains gave a bounty in addition to the pay from the treasury to the thranitae (the best rowers) and crews generally, besides spending lavishly upon figure-heads and equipment, and one and all making the utmost exertions to enable their own ships to excel in beauty and fast sailing. Meanwhile the land forces had been picked from the best muster-rolls, and vied with each other in paying great attention to their arms and personal accoutrements. [4] From this resulted not only a rivalry among themselves in their different departments, but an idea among the rest of the Hellenes that it was more a display of power and resources than an armament against an enemy. [5] For if anyone had counted up the public expenditure of the state, and the private outlay of individuals—that is to say, the sums which the state had already spent upon the expedition and was sending out in the hands of the generals, and those which individuals had expended upon their personal outfit, or as captains of galleys had laid out and were still to lay out upon their vessels; and if he had added to this the journey money which each was likely to have provided himself with, independently of the pay from the treasury, for a voyage of such length, and what the soldiers or traders took with them for the purpose of exchange—it would have been found that many talents in all were being taken out of the city. [6] Indeed the expedition became not less famous for its wonderful boldness and for the splendour of its appearance, than for its overwhelming strength as compared with the peoples against whom it was directed, and for the fact that this was the longest passage from home hitherto attempted, and the most ambitious in its objects considering the resources of those who undertook it. 32. The ships being now manned, and everything put on board with which they meant to sail, the trumpet commanded silence, and the prayers customary before putting out to sea were offered, not in each ship by itself, but by all together to the voice of a herald; and bowls of wine were mixed through all the armament, and libations made by the soldiers and their officers in gold and silver goblets. [2] In their prayers joined also the crowds on shore, the citizens and all others that wished them well. The hymn sung and the libations finished, they put out to sea, and first sailing out in column then raced each other as far as Aegina, and so hastened to reach Corcyra where the rest of the allied forces were also assembling.

. . .

6.60. With these events in their minds, and recalling everything they knew by hearsay on the subject, the Athenian people grew difficult of humour and suspicious of the persons charged in the affair of the mysteries, and persuaded that all that had taken place was part of an oligarchical and monarchical conspiracy. [2] In the state of irritation thus produced, many persons of consideration had been already thrown into prison, and far from showing any signs of abating, public feeling grew daily more savage, and more arrests were made; until at last one of those in

Classics/History 1M03 Dr. J. Reeves Winter 2018 Essay Assignment #1

custody, thought to be the most guilty of all, was induced by a fellow-prisoner to make a revelation, whether true or not is a matter on which there are two opinions, no one having been able, either then or since, to say for certain who did the deed. [3] However this may be, the other found arguments to persuade him, that even if he had not done it, he ought to save himself by gaining a promise of impunity, and free the state of its present suspicions; as he would be surer of safety if he confessed after promise of impunity than if he denied and were brought to trial. [4] He accordingly made a revelation, affecting himself and others in the affair of the Hermae; and the Athenian people, glad at last, as they supposed, to get at the truth, and furious until then at not being able to discover those who had conspired against the commons, at once let go the informer and all the rest whom he had not denounced, and bringing the accused to trial executed as many as were apprehended, and condemned to death such as had fled and set a price upon their heads. [5] In this it was, after all, not clear whether the sufferers had been punished unjustly, while in any case the rest of the city received immediate and manifest relief. 61. To return to Alcibiades: public feeling was very hostile to him, being worked on by the same enemies who had attacked him before he went out; and now that the Athenians fancied that they had got at the truth of the matter of the Hermae, they believed more firmly than ever that the affair of the mysteries also, in which he was implicated, had been contrived by him in the same intention and was connected with the plot against the democracy. [2] Meanwhile it so happened that, just at the time of this agitation, a small force of Lacedaemonians had advanced as far as the Isthmus, in pursuance of some scheme with the Boeotians. It was now thought that this had come by appointment, at his instigation, and not on account of the Boeotians, and that if the citizens had not acted on the information received, and forestalled them by arresting the prisoners, the city would have been betrayed. The citizens went so far as to sleep one night armed in the temple of Theseus within the walls. [3] The friends also of Alcibiades at Argos were just at this time suspected of a design to attack the commons; and the Argive hostages deposited in the islands were given up by the Athenians to the Argive people to be put to death upon that account: [4] in short, everywhere something was found to create suspicion against Alcibiades. It was therefore decided to bring him to trial and execute him, and the Salaminia was sent to Sicily for him and the others named in the information, with instructions to order him to come and answer the charges against him, [5] but not to arrest him, because they wished to avoid causing any agitation in the army or among the enemy in Sicily, and above all to retain the services of the Mantineans and Argives, who, it was thought, had been induced to join by his influence. [6] Alcibiades, with his own ship and his fellow-accused, accordingly sailed off with the Salaminia from Sicily, as though to return to Athens, and went with her as far as Thurii, and there they left the ship and disappeared, being afraid to go home for trial with such a prejudice existing against them. [7] The crew of the Salaminia stayed some time looking for Alcibiades and his companions, and at length, as they were nowhere to be found, set sail and departed. Alcibiades, now an outlaw, crossed in a boat not long after from Thurii to Peloponnese; and the Athenians passed sentence of death by default upon him and those in his company.

(Translation by J. M. Dent, 1910)

Classics/History 1M03 Dr. J. Reeves Winter 2018 Essay Assignment #1

2. Andocides, On the Mysteries (Andoc. 1.33-68) [composed c. 399 BC) [33] I have committed no offence, and completely satisfy you of the fact, then I ask you to let the whole nation see that I have been brought to trial wrongfully. Should Cephisius here, who was responsible for the information laid against me, fail to gain one-fifth of your votes and so lose his rights as a citizen, he is forbidden to set foot within the sanctuary of the Two Goddesses under pain of death. And now, if you think my defence satisfactory up to the present, show your approval, so that I may present what remains with increased confidence. [34] Next comes the mutilation of the images and the denunciation of those responsible. I will do as I promised and tell you the whole story from the beginning. On his return from Megara Teucrus was guaranteed his immunity. Hereupon, besides communicating what he knew about the Mysteries, he gave a list of eighteen of those responsible for the mutilation of the images. Of these eighteen, a number fled the country upon being denounced; the remainder were arrested and executed upon the information lodged by Teucrus. Kindly read their names. [35] In the matter of the Hermae Teucrus denounced: “Euctemon, Glaucippus, Eurymachus, Polyeuctus, Plato, Antidorus, Charippus, Theodorus, Alcisthenes, Menestratus, Eryximachus, Euphiletus, Eurydamas, Pherecles, Meletus, Timanthes, Archidamus, Telenicus.” A number of these men have returned to Athens and are present in court, as are several of the relatives of those who have died. Any of them is welcome to step up here, during the time now allotted me, and prove against me that I caused either the exile or the death of a single one. [36] And now for what followed. Peisander and Charicles, who were regarded in those days as the most fervent of democrats, were members of the commission of inquiry. These two maintained that the outrage was not the work of a small group of criminals, but an organized attempt to overthrow the popular government: and that therefore inquiries ought still to be pursued as vigorously as ever. As a result, Athens reached such a state that the lowering of the flag, by the Herald, when summoning a meeting of the Council, was quite as much a signal for the citizens to hurry from the Agora, each in terror of arrest, as it was for the Council to proceed to the Council-chamber. [37] The general distress encouraged Diocleides to bring an impeachment before the Council. He claimed that he knew who had mutilated the Hermae, and gave their number as roughly three hundred. He then went on to explain how he had come to witness the outrage. Now I want you to think carefully here, gentlemen; try to remember whether I am telling the truth, and inform your companions; for it was before you that Diocleides stated his case, and you are my witnesses of what occurred. [38] Diocleides’ tale was that he had had to fetch the earnings of a slave of his at Laurium. He arose at an early hour, mistaking the time, and started off on his walk by the light of a fuIl moon. As he was passing the gateway of the theatre of Dionysus, he noticed a large body of men coming down into the orchestra from the Odeum. In alarm, he withdrew into the shadow and

Classics/History 1M03 Dr. J. Reeves Winter 2018 Essay Assignment #1

crouched down between the column and the pedestal with the bronze statue of the general upon it. He then saw some three hundred men standing about in groups of five and ten and, in some cases, twenty. He recognized the faces of the majority, as he could see them in the moonlight. [39] Now to begin with, gentlemen, Diocleides gave his story this particular form simply to be in a position to say of any citizen, according as he chose, that he was or was not one of the offenders—a monstrous proceeding. However, to continue his tale: after seeing what he had, he went on to Laurium; and when he learned next day of the mutilation of the Hermae, he knew at once that it was the work of the men he had noticed. [40] On his return to Athens he found a commission already appointed to investigate, and a reward of one hundred minae offered for information; so, seeing Euphemus, the brother of Callias, son of Telocles, sitting in his smithy, he took him to the temple of Hephaestus. Then, after describing, as I have described to you, how he had seen us on the night in question, he said that he would rather take our money than the state’s, as he would thereby avoid making enemies of us. Euphemus thanked Diocleides for confiding in him. “And now,” he added, “be good enough to come to Leogoras’ house, so that you and I can see Andocides and the others who must be consulted.” [41] According to his story, Diocleides called next day. My father happened to be coming out just as he was knocking at the door. “Are you the man they are expecting in there?” he asked. “Well, well, we must not turn friends like you away.” And with these words he went off. This was an attempt to bring about my father’s death by showing that he was in the secret. We informed Diocleides, or so he alleged, that we had decided to offer him two talents of silver, as against the hundred minae from the Treasury, and promised that he should become one of ourselves, if we achieved our end. Both sides were to give a guarantee of good faith. Diocleides replied that he would think it over; [42] and we told him to meet us at Callias’ house, so that Callias, son of Telocles, might be present as well. This was a similar attempt to bring about the death of my brother-in-law. Diocleides said that he went to Callias’ house, and after terms had been arranged, pledged his word on the Acropolis. we on our side agreed to give him the money the following month; but we broke our promise and did not do so. He had therefore come to reveal the truth. [43] Such was the impeachment brought by Diocleides, gentlemen. He gave a list of forty-two persons whom he claimed to have recognized, and at the head of the forty-two appeared Mantitheus and Apsephion who were members of the Council and present at that very meeting. Peisander hereupon rose and moved that the decree passed in the archonship of Scamandrius be suspended and all whose names were on the list sent to the wheel, to ensure the discovery of everyone concerned before nightfall. The Council broke into shouts of approval. [44] At that Mantitheus and Apsephion took sanctuary on the hearth, and appealed to be allowed to furnish sureties and stand trial, instead of being racked. They finally managed to gain their request; but no sooner had they provided their sureties than they leapt on horseback and deserted to the enemy, leaving the sureties to their fate, as they were now liable to the same penalties as the prisoners for whom they had gone bail. [45] The Council adjourned for a private consultation and in the course of it gave orders for our arrest and close confinement. Then they summoned the Generals and bade them proclaim that citizens resident in Athens proper were to proceed under arms to the Agora; those between the

Classics/History 1M03 Dr. J. Reeves Winter 2018 Essay Assignment #1

Long Walls to the Theseum; and those in Peiraeus to the Agora of Hippodamus. The Knights were to be mustered at the Anaceum by trumpet before nightfall, while the Council would take up its quarters on the Acropolis for the night, and the Prytanes in the Tholus. [46] Now first of all I want those of you who witnessed all this to picture it once more and describe it to those who did not. Next I will ask the clerk to call the Prytanes in office at the time, Philocrates and his colleagues. [47] And now I am also going to read you the names of those denounced by Diocleides, so that you may see how many relatives of mine he tried to ruin. First there was my father, and then my brother-in-law; my father he had represented as in the secret, while he had alleged that my brother-in-law’s house was the scene of the meeting. The names of the rest you shall hear. Read them out to the court. “Charmides, son of Aristoteles.” That is a cousin of mine; his mother and my father were brother and sister. “Taureas.” That is, a cousin of my father’s. “Nisaeus.” A son of Taureas. “Callias, son of Alcmaeon.” A cousin of my father’s. “Euphemus.” A brother of Callias, son of Telocles. “Phrynichus, son of Orchesamenus.” A cousin. “Eucrates.” The brother of Nicias. He is Callias’ brother-in-law. “Critias.” Another cousin of my father’s; their mothers were sisters. All of these appeared among the last forty on Diocleides’ list. [48] We were all thrown into one prison. Darkness fell, and the gates were shut. Mothers, sisters, wives, and children had gathered. Nothing was to be heard save the cries and moans of grief-

Classics/History 1M03 Dr. J. Reeves Winter 2018 Essay Assignment #1

stricken wretches bewailing the calamity which had overtaken them. In the midst of it all, Charmides, a cousin of my own age who had been brought up with me in my own home since boyhood, said to me: [49] “You see the utter hopelessness of our position, Andocides. I have never yet wished to say anything which might distress you: but now our plight leaves me no choice. Your friends and associates outside the family have all been subjected to the charges which are now to prove our own undoing: and half of them have been put to death—while the other half have admitted their guilt by going into exile. [50] I beg of you: if you have heard anything concerning this affair, disclose it. Save yourself: save your father, who must be dearer to you than anyone in the world: save your brother-in-law, the husband of your only sister: save all those others who are bound to you by ties of blood and family: and lastly, save me, who have never vexed you in my life and who am ever ready to do anything for you and your good.” [51] At this appeal from Charmides, gentlemen, which was echoed by the rest, who each addressed their entreaties to me in turn, I thought to myself: “Never, oh, never has a man found himself in a more terrible strait than I. Am I to look on while my own kindred perish for a crime which they have not committed: while they themselves are put to death and their goods are confiscated: yet still, while the names of persons entirely innocent of the deed which has been done are inscribed upon stones of record as the names of men accursed in the sight of heaven? Am I to pay no heed to three hundred Athenians who are to be wrongfully put to death, to the desperate plight of Athens, to the suspicions of citizen for citizen? Or am I to reveal to my countrymen the story told me by the true criminal, Euphiletus?” [52] Then a further thought struck me, gentlemen. I reminded myself that a number of the offenders responsible for the mutilation had already been executed upon the information lodged by Teucrus, while yet others had escaped into exile and been sentenced to death in their absence. In fact, there remained only four of the criminals whose names had not been divulged by Teucrus: Panaetius, Chaeredemus, Diacritus, and Lysistratus; [53] and it was only natural to assume that they had been among the first to be denounced by Diocleides, as they were friends of those who had already been put to death. It was thus still doubtful whether they would escape: but it was certain that my own kindred would perish, unless Athens learned the truth. So, I decided that it was better to cut off from their country four men who richly deserved it—men alive today and restored to home and property—than to let those others go to a death which they had done nothing whatever to deserve. [54] If, then, any of you yourselves, gentlemen, or any of the public at large has ever been possessed with the notion that I informed against my associates with the object of purchasing my own life at the price of theirs—a tale invented by my enemies, who wished to present me in the blackest colours—use the facts themselves as evidence; [55] for today not only is it incumbent upon me to give a faithful account of myself—I am in the presence, remember, of the actual offenders who went into exile after committing the crime which we are discussing; they know better than anyone whether I am lying or not, and they have my permission to interrupt me and prove that what I am saying is untrue—but it is no less incumbent upon you to discover what truly happened. [56] I say this, gentlemen, because the chief task confronting me in this trial is to prevent anyone thinking the worse of me on account of my escape: to make first you and then the whole world understand that the explanation of my behaviour from start to finish lay in the desperate plight of Athens and, to a lesser degree, in that of my own family, not in any lack of

Classics/History 1M03 Dr. J. Reeves Winter 2018 Essay Assignment #1

principles or courage: to make you understand that, in disclosing that Euphiletus had told me, I was actuated solely by my concern for my relatives and friends and by my concern for the state as a whole, motives which I for one consider not a disgrace but a credit. If this proves to be the truth of the matter, I think it only my due that I should be acquitted with my good name unimpaired. [57] Come now, in considering a case, a judge should make allowances for human shortcomings, gentlemen, as he would do, were he in the same plight himself. What would each of you have done? Had the choice lain between dying a noble death and preserving my life at the cost of my honour, my behaviour might well be described as base—though many would have made exactly the same choice; they would rather have remained alive than have died like heroes. [58] But the alternatives before me were precisely the opposite. On the other hand, if I remained silent, I myself died in disgrace for an act of impiety which I had not committed, and I allowed my father, my brother-in-law, and a host of my relatives and cousins to perish in addition. Yes, I, and I alone, was sending them to their death, if I refused to say that others were to blame; for Diocleides had thrown them into prison by his lies, and they could only be rescued if their countrymen were put in full possession of the facts; therefore, I became their murderer if I refused to tell what I had heard. Besides this, I was causing three hundred citizens to perish; while the plight of Athens was growing desperate. [59] That is what silence meant. On the other hand, by revealing the truth I saved my own life, I saved my father, I saved the rest of my family, and I freed Athens from the panic which was working such havoc. True, I was sending four men into exile; but all four were guilty. And for the others, who had already been denounced by Teucrus, I am sure that none of them, whether dead or in exile, was one whit the worse off for any disclosures of mine. [60] Taking all this into consideration, gentlemen, I found that the least objectionable of the courses open to me was to tell the truth as quickly as possible, to prove that Diocleides had lied, and so to punish the scoundrel who was causing us to be put to death wrongfully and imposing upon the public, while in return he was being hailed as a supreme benefactor and rewarded for his services. [61] I therefore informed the Council that I knew the offenders, and showed exactly what had occurred. The idea, I said, had been suggested by Euphiletus at a drinking-party; but I opposed it, and succeeded in preventing its execution for the time being. Later, however, I was thrown from a colt of mine in Cynosarges; I broke my collar-bone and fractured my skull, and had to be taken home on a litter. [62] When Euphiletus saw my condition, he informed the others that I had consented to join them and had promised him to mutilate the Hermes next to the shrine of Phorbas as my share in the escapade. He told them this to hoodwink them; and that is why the Hermes which you can all see standing close to the home of our family, the Hermes dedicated by the Aegeid tribe, was the only one in Athens unmutilated, it being understood that I would attend to it as Euphiletus had promised. [63] When the others learned the truth, they were furious to think that I was in the secret without having taken any active part; and the next day I received a visit from Meletus and Euphiletus. “We have managed it all right, Andocides,” they told me. “Now if you will consent to keep quiet and say nothing, you will find us just as good friends as before. If you do not, you will find that you have been much more successful at making enemies of us than at making fresh friends by turning traitor to us.” [64] I replied that I certainly thought Euphiletus a scoundrel for acting as

Classics/History 1M03 Dr. J. Reeves Winter 2018 Essay Assignment #1

he had; although he and his companions had far less to fear from my being in the secret than from the mere fact that the deed was done. I supported this account by handing over my slave for torture, to prove that I was ill at the time in question and had not even left my bed; and the Prytanes arrested the women-servants in the house which the criminals had used as their base. [65] The Council and the commission of inquiry went into the matter closely, and when at length they found that it was as I said and that the witnesses corroborated me without exception, they summoned Diocleides. He, however, made a long cross-examination unnecessary by admitting at once that he had been lying, and begged that he might be pardoned if he disclosed who had induced him to tell his story; the culprits, he said, were Alcibiades of Phegus and Amiantus of Aegina. [66] Alcibiades and Amiantus fled from the country in terror; and when you heard the facts yourselves, you handed Diocleides over to the court and put him to death. You released the prisoners awaiting execution—my relatives, who owed their escape to me alone—you welcomed back the exiles, and yourselves shouldered arms and dispersed, freed from grave danger and distress. [67] Not only do the circumstances in which I here found myself entitle me to the sympathy of all, gentlemen, but my conduct can leave you in no doubt about my integrity. When Euphiletus suggested that we pledge ourselves to what was the worst possible treachery, I opposed him, I attacked him, I heaped on him the scorn which he deserved. Yet once his companions had committed the crime, I kept their secret; it was Teucrus who lodged the information which led to their death or exile, before we had been thrown into prison by Diocleides or were threatened with death. After our imprisonment, I denounced four persons: Panaetius, Diacritus, Lysistratus, and Chaeredemus. [68] I was responsible for the exile of these four, I admit; but I saved my father, my brother-in-law, three cousins, and seven other relatives, all of whom were about to be put to death wrongfully; they owe it to me that they are still looking on the light of day, and they are the first to acknowledge it. In addition, the scoundrel who had thrown the whole of Athens into chaos and endangered her very existence was exposed; and your own suspense and suspicions of one another were at an end.

(Translation by K. J. Maidment, 1968)

Classics/History 1M03 Dr. J. Reeves Winter 2018 Essay Assignment #1

3. Diodorus Siculus, Historical Library (Book 13.2-5) [composed c. 80s BC] 13.2 [1] When Chabrias was archon in Athens, the Romans elected in place of consuls three military tribunes, Lucius Sergius, Marcus Papirius, and Marcus Servilius. This year the Athenians, pursuant to their vote of the war against the Syracusans, got ready the ships, collected the money, and proceeded with great zeal to make every preparation for the campaign. They elected three generals, Alcibiades, Nicias, and Lamachus, and gave them full powers over all matters pertaining to the war. [2] Of the private citizens those who had the means, wishing to indulge the enthusiasm of the populace, in some instances fitted out triremes at their own expense and in others engaged to donate money for the maintenance of the forces; and many, not only from among the citizens and aliens of Athens who favoured the democracy but also from among the allies, voluntarily went to the generals and urged that they be enrolled among the soldiers. To such a degree were they all buoyed up in their hopes and looking forward forthwith to portioning out Sicily in allotments. [3] And the expedition was already fully prepared when it came to pass that in a single night the statues of Hermes which stood everywhere throughout the city were mutilated. At this the people, believing that the deed had not been done by ordinary persons but by men who stood in high repute and were bent upon the overthrow of the democracy, were incensed at the sacrilege and undertook a search for the perpetrators, offering large rewards to anyone who would furnish information against them. [4] And a certain private citizen, appearing before the Council, stated that he had seen certain men enter the house of a resident alien about the middle of the night on the first day of the new moon and that one of them was Alcibiades. When he was questioned by the Council and asked how he could recognize the faces at night, he replied that he had seen them by the light of the moon. Since, then, the man had convicted himself of lying, no credence was given to his story, and of other investigators not a man was able to discover a single clue to the deed. [5] One hundred and forty triremes were equipped, and of transports and ships to carry horses as well as ships to convey food and all other equipment there was a huge number; and there were also hoplites and slingers as well as cavalry, and in addition more than seven thousand men from the allies, not including the crews.

. . . 13.5 [1] While these events were taking place, those in Athens who hated Alcibiades with a personal enmity, possessing now an excuse in the mutilation of the statues, accused him in speeches before the Assembly of having formed a conspiracy against the democracy. Their charges gained colour from an incident that had taken place among the Argives; for private friends of his in that city had agreed together to destroy the democracy in Argos, but they had all been put to death by the citizens. [2] Accordingly the people, having given credence to the accusations and having had their feelings deeply aroused by their demagogues, dispatched their ship, the Salaminia, to Sicily with orders for Alcibiades to return with all speed to face trial. When the ship arrived at Catane and Alcibiades learned of the decision of the people from the

Classics/History 1M03 Dr. J. Reeves Winter 2018 Essay Assignment #1

ambassadors, he took the others who had been accused together with him aboard his own trireme and sailed away in company with the Salaminia. [3] But when he had put in at Thurii, Alcibiades, either because he was privy to the deed of impiety or because he was alarmed at the seriousness of the danger which threatened him, made his escape together with the other accused men and got away. The ambassadors who had come on the Salaminia at first set up a hunt for Alcibiades, but when they could not find him, they sailed back to Athens and reported to the people what had taken place. [4] Accordingly the Athenians brought the names of Alcibiades and the other fugitives with him before a court of justice and condemned them in default to death. And Alcibiades made his way across from Italy to the Peloponnesus, where he took refuge in Sparta and spurred on the Lacedaemonians to attack the Athenians.

(Translation by C. H. Oldfather, 1989)

Classics/History 1M03 Dr. J. Reeves Winter 2018 Essay Assignment #1

4. Plutarch, The Life of Alcibiades (17-23) [composed c. 100 AD] 17. [1] On Sicily the Athenians had cast longing eyes even while Pericles was living; and after his death they actually tried to lay hands upon it. The lesser expeditions which they sent thither from time to time, ostensibly for the aid and comfort of their allies on the island who were being wronged by the Syracusans, they regarded merely as stepping stones to the greater expedition of conquest. [2] But the man who finally fanned this desire of theirs into flame, and persuaded them not to attempt the island any more in part and little by little, but to sail thither with a great armament and subdue it utterly, was Alcibiades; he persuaded the people to have great hopes, and he himself had greater aspirations still. Such were his hopes that he regarded Sicily as a mere beginning, and not, like the rest, as an end of the expedition. [3] So while Nicias was trying to divert the people from the capture of Syracuse as an undertaking too difficult for them, Alcibiades was dreaming of Carthage and Libya, and, after winning these, of at once encompassing Italy and Peloponnesus. He almost regarded Sicily as the ways and means provided for his greater war. The young men were at once carried away on the wings of such hopes, and their elders kept recounting in their ears many wonderful things about the projected expedition. Many were they who sat in the palaestras and lounging-places mapping out in the sand the shape of Sicily and the position of Libya and Carthage. [4] Socrates the philosopher, however, and Meton the astrologer, are said to have had no hopes that any good would come to the city from this expedition; Socrates, as it is likely, because he got an inkling of the future from the divine guide who was his familiar. Meton—whether his fear of the future arose from mere calculation or from his use of some sort of divination—feigned madness, and seizing a blazing torch, was like to have set fire to his own house. [5] Some say, however, that Meton made no pretense of madness, but actually did burn his house down in the night, and then, in the morning, came before the people begging and praying that, in view of his great calamity, his son might be released from the expedition. At any rate, he succeeded in cheating his fellow citizens, and obtained his desire. 18. [1] Nicias was elected general against his will, and he was anxious to avoid the command most of all because of his fellow commander. For it had seemed to the Athenians that the war would go on better if they did not send out Alcibiades unblended, but rather tempered his rash daring with the prudent forethought of Nicias. As for the third general, Lamachus, though advanced in years, he was thought, age notwithstanding, to be no less fiery than Alcibiades, and quite as fond of taking risks in battle. [2] During the deliberations of the people on the extent and character of the armament, Nicias again tried to oppose their wishes and put a stop to the war. But Alcibiades answered all his arguments and carried the day, and then Demostratus, the orator, formally moved that the generals have full and independent powers in the matter of the armament and of the whole war. After the people had adopted this motion and all things were made ready for the departure of the fleet, there were some unpropitious signs and portents, especially in connection with the festival, namely, the Adonia. [3] This fell at that time, and little images like dead folk carried forth to

Classics/History 1M03 Dr. J. Reeves Winter 2018 Essay Assignment #1

burial were in many places exposed to view by the women, who mimicked burial rites, beat their breasts, and sang dirges. Moreover, the mutilation of the Hermae, most of which, in a single night, had their faces and forms disfigured, confounded the hearts of many, even among those who usually set small store by such things. It was said, it is true, that Corinthians had done the deed, Syracuse being a colony of theirs, in the hope that such portents would check or stop the war. [4] The multitude, however, were not moved by this reasoning, nor by that of those who thought the affair no terrible sign at all, but rather one of the common effects of strong wine, when dissolute youth, in mere sport, are carried away into wanton acts. They looked on the occurrence with wrath and fear, thinking it the sign of a bold and dangerous conspiracy. They therefore scrutinized keenly every suspicious circumstance, the council and the assembly convening for this purpose many times within a few days. 19. [1] During this time Androcles, the popular leader, produced sundry aliens and slaves who accused Alcibiades and his friends of mutilating other sacred images, and of making a parody of the mysteries of Eleusis in a drunken revel. They said that one Theodorus played the part of the Herald, Pulytion that of the Torch-bearer, and Alcibiades that of the High Priest, and that the rest of his companions were there in the role of initiates, and were dubbed Mystae. [2] Such indeed was the purport of the impeachment which Thessalus, the son of Cimon, brought in to the assembly, impeaching Alcibiades for impiety towards the Eleusinian goddesses. The people were exasperated, and felt bitterly towards Alcibiades, and Androcles, who was his mortal enemy, egged them on. At first Alcibiades was confounded. [3] But perceiving that all the seamen and soldiers who were going to sail for Sicily were friendly to him, and hearing that the Argive and Mantinean men-at-arms, a thousand in number, declared plainly that it was all because of Alcibiades that they were making their long expedition across the seas, and that if any wrong should be done him they would at once abandon it, he took courage, and insisted on an immediate opportunity to defend himself before the people. His enemies were now in their turn dejected; they feared lest the people should be too lenient in their judgement of him because they needed him so much. [4] Accordingly, they devised that certain orators who were not looked upon as enemies of Alcibiades, but who really hated him no less than his avowed foes, should rise in the assembly and say that it was absurd, when a general had been appointed, with full powers, over such a vast force, and when his armament and allies were all assembled, to destroy his beckoning opportunity by casting lots for jurors and measuring out time for the case. ‘Nay,’ they said, ‘let him sail now, and Heaven be with him! But when the war is over, then let him come and make his defence. The laws will be the same then as now.’ [5] Of course the malice in this postponement did not escape Alcibiades. He declared in the assembly that it was a terrible misfortune to be sent off at the head of such a vast force with his case still in suspense, leaving behind him vague accusations and slanders; he ought to be put to death if he did not refute them; but if he did refute them and prove his innocence, he ought to proceed against the enemy without any fear of the public informers at home. 20. [1] He could not carry his point, however, but was ordered to set sail. So, he put to sea along with his fellow generals, having not much fewer than one hundred and forty triremes; fifty-one hundred men-at-arms; about thirteen hundred archers, slingers, and light-armed folk; and the rest of his equipment to correspond. [2] On reaching Italy and taking Rhegium, he proposed a plan

Classics/History 1M03 Dr. J. Reeves Winter 2018 Essay Assignment #1

for the conduct of the war. Nicias opposed it, but Lamachus approved it, and so he sailed to Sicily. He secured the allegiance of Catana, but accomplished nothing further, since he was presently summoned home by the Athenians to stand his trial. At first, as I have said, sundry vague suspicions and calumnies against Alcibiades were advanced by aliens and slaves. [3] Afterwards, during his absence, his enemies went to work more vigorously. They brought the outrage upon the Hermae and upon the Eleusinian mysteries under one and the same design; both, they said, were fruits of a conspiracy to subvert the government, and so all who were accused of any complicity whatsoever therein were cast into prison without trial. The people were provoked with themselves for not bringing Alcibiades to trial and judgment at the time on such grave charges, [4] and any kinsman or friend or comrade of his who fell afoul of their wrath against him, found them exceedingly severe. Thucydides neglected to mention the informers by name, but others give their names as Diocleides and Teucer. For instance, Phrynichus the comic poet referred to them thus:— Look out too, dearest Hermes, not to get a fall, And mar your looks, and so equip with calumny Another Diocleides bent on wreaking harm. And the Hermes replies:— I’m on the watch; there’s Teucer, too; I would not give A prize for tattling to an alien of his guilt. [5] And yet there was nothing sure or steadfast in the statements of the informers. One of them, indeed, was asked how he recognized the faces of the Hermae-defacers, and replied, ‘By the light of the moon.’ This vitiated his whole story, since there was no moon at all when the deed was done. Sensible men were troubled thereat, but even this did not soften the people’s feeling towards the slanderous stories. As they had set out to do in the beginning, so they continued, haling and casting into prison anyone who was denounced. 21. [1] Among those thus held in bonds and imprisonment for trial was Andocides the orator, whom Hellanicus the historian included among the descendants of Odysseus. He was held to be a foe to popular government, and an oligarch, but what most made him suspected of the mutilation of the Hermae, was the tall Hermes which stood near his house, a dedication of the Aegeid tribe. [2] This was almost the only one among the very few statues of like prominence to remain unharmed. For this reason, it is called to this day the Hermes of Andocides. Everybody gives it that name, in spite of the adverse testimony of its inscription. Now it happened that, of all those lying in prison with him under the same charge, Andocides became most intimate and friendly with a man named Timaeus, of less repute than himself, it is true, but of great sagacity and daring. [3] This man persuaded Andocides to turn state’s evidence against himself and a few others. If he confessed,—so the man argued,—he would have immunity from punishment by decree of the people; whereas the result of the trial, while uncertain in all cases, was most to be dreaded in that of influential men like himself. It was better to save his life by a false confession of crime, than to die a shameful death under a false charge of that crime. One who had an eye to the general welfare of the community might well abandon

Classics/History 1M03 Dr. J. Reeves Winter 2018 Essay Assignment #1

to their fate a few dubious characters, if he could thereby save a multitude of good men from the wrath of the people. [4] By such arguments of Timaeus, Andocides was at last persuaded to bear witness against himself and others. He himself received the immunity from punishment which had been decreed; but all those whom he named, excepting such as took to flight, were put to death, and Andocides added to their number some of his own household servants, that he might the better be believed. [5] Still, the people did not lay aside all their wrath at this point, but rather, now that they were done with the Hermae-defacers, as if their passion had all the more opportunity to vent itself, they dashed like a torrent against Alcibiades, and finally dispatched the Salaminian state-galley to fetch him home. They shrewdly gave its officers explicit command not to use violence, nor to seize his person, but with all moderation of speech to bid him accompany them home to stand his trial and satisfy the people. [6] For they were afraid that their army, in an enemy’s land, would be full of tumult and mutiny at the summons. And Alcibiades might easily have effected this had he wished. For the men were cast down at his departure, and expected that the war, under the conduct of Nicias, would be drawn out to a great length by delays and inactivity, now that their goad to action had been taken away. Lamachus, it is true, was a good soldier and a brave man; but he lacked authority and prestige because he was poor. 22. [1] Alcibiades had no sooner sailed away than he robbed the Athenians of Messana. There was a party there who were on the point of surrendering the city to the Athenians, but Alcibiades knew them, and gave the clearest information of their design to the friends of Syracuse in the city, and so brought the thing to naught. Arrived at Thurii, he left his trireme and hid himself so as to escape all quest. [2] When someone recognized him and asked, ‘Can you not trust your country, Alcibiades?’ ‘In all else,’ he said, ‘but in the matter of life I wouldn’t trust even my own mother not to mistake a black for a white ballot when she cast her vote.’ And when he afterwards heard that the city had condemned him to death, ‘I’ll show them,’ he said, ‘that I’m alive.’ [3] His impeachment is on record, and runs as follows: ‘Thessalus, son of Cimon, of the deme Laciadae, impeaches Alcibiades, son of Cleinias, of the deme Scambonidae, for committing crime against the goddesses of Eleusis, Demeter and Cora, by mimicking the mysteries and showing them forth to his companions in his own house, wearing a robe such as the High Priest wears when he shows forth the sacred secrets to the initiates, and calling himself High Priest, Pulytion Torch-bearer, and Theodorus, of the deme Phegaea, Herald, and hailing the rest of his companions as Mystae and Epoptae, contrary to the laws and institutions of the Eumolpidae, Heralds, and Priests of Eleusis.’ [4] His case went by default, his property was confiscated, and besides that, it was also decreed that his name should be publicly cursed by all priests and priestesses. Theano, the daughter of Menon, of the deme Agraule, they say, was the only one who refused to obey this decree. She declared that she was a praying, not a cursing priestess. 23. [1] When these great judgments and condemnations were passed upon Alcibiades, he was tarrying in Argos, for as soon as he had made his escape from Thurii, he passed over into Peloponnesus. But fearing his foes there, and renouncing his country altogether, he sent to the Spartans, demanding immunity and confidence, and promising to render them aid and service greater than all the harm he had previously done them as an enemy. [2] The Spartans granted this request and received him among them. No sooner was he come than he zealously brought one thing to pass: they had been delaying and postponing assistance to Syracuse; he roused and

Classics/History 1M03 Dr. J. Reeves Winter 2018 Essay Assignment #1

incited them to send Gylippus thither for a commander, and to crush the force which Athens had there. A second thing he did was to get them to stir up the war against Athens at home; and the third, and most important of all, to induce them to fortify Deceleia. This more than anything else wrought ruin and destruction to his native city. [3] At Sparta, he was held in high repute publicly, and privately was no less admired. The multitude was brought under his influence, and was actually bewitched, by his assumption of the Spartan mode of life. When they saw him with his hair untrimmed, taking cold baths, on terms of intimacy with their coarse bread, and supping black porridge, they could scarcely trust their eyes, and doubted whether such a man as he now was had ever had a cook in his own house, had even so much as looked upon a perfumer, or endured the touch of Milesian wool. [4] He had, as they say, one power which transcended all others, and proved an implement of his chase for men: that of assimilating and adapting himself to the pursuits and lives of others, thereby assuming more violent changes than the chameleon. That animal, however, as it is said, is utterly unable to assume one color, namely, white; but Alcibiades could associate with good and bad alike, and found naught that he could not imitate and practice. [5] In Sparta, he was all for bodily training, simplicity of life, and severity of countenance; in Ionia, for luxurious ease and pleasure; in Thrace for drinking deep; in Thessaly, for riding hard; and when he was thrown with Tissaphernes the satrap, he outdid even Persian magnificence in his pomp and lavishness. It was not that he could so easily pass entirely from one manner of man to another, nor that he actually underwent in every case a change in his real character; but when he saw that his natural manners were likely to be annoying to his associates, he was quick to assume any counterfeit exterior which might in each case be suitable for them. [6] At all events, in Sparta, so far as the outside was concerned, it was possible to say of him, ‘‘No child of Achilles he, but Achilles himself,’ such a man as Lycurgus trained’; but judging by what he actually felt and did, one might have cried with the poet, ‘’Tis the selfsame woman still!’ [7] For while Agis the king was away on his campaigns, Alcibiades corrupted Timaea his wife, so that she was with child by him and made no denial of it. When she had given birth to a male child, it was called Leotychides in public, but in private the name which the boy’s mother whispered to her friends and attendants was Alcibiades. Such was the passion that possessed the woman. But he, in his mocking way, said he had not done this thing for a wanton insult, nor at the behest of mere pleasure, but in order that descendants of his might be kings of the Lacedaemonians. [8] Such being the state of things, there were many to tell the tale to Agis, and he believed it, more especially owing to the lapse of time. There had been an earthquake, and he had run in terror out of his chamber and the arms of his wife, and then for ten months had had no further intercourse with her. And since Leotychides had been born at the end of this period, Agis declared that he was no child of his. For this reason, Leotychides was afterwards refused the royal succession.

(Translation by B. Perrin, 1916)

Classics/History 1M03 Dr. J. Reeves Winter 2018 Essay Assignment #1

5. Plutarch, The Life of Nicias (12-14.4) [composed c. 100 AD] Before the assembly had met at all, Alcibiades had already corrupted the multitude and got them into his power by means of his sanguine promises, so that the youth in their training-schools and the old men in their work-shops and lounging-places would sit in cluster drawing maps of Sicily, charts of the sea about it, and plans of the harbors and districts of the island which look towards Libya. [2] For they did not regard Sicily itself as the prize of the war, but rather as a mere base of operations, purposing therefrom to wage a contest with the Carthaginians and get possession of both Libya and of all the sea this side the Pillars of Heracles. Since, therefore, their hearts were fixed on this, Nicias, in his opposition to them, had few men, and these of no influence, to contend on his side. For the well-to-do citizens feared accusations of trying to escape their contributions for the support of the navy, and so, despite their better judgement, held their peace. [3] But Nicias did not faint nor grow weary. Even after the Athenians had actually voted for the war and elected him general first, and after him Alcibiades and Lamachus, in a second session of the assembly he rose and tried to divert them from their purpose by the most solemn adjurations, and at last accused Alcibiades of satisfying his own private greed and ambition in thus forcing the city into grievous perils beyond the seas. [4] Still, he made no headway, nay, he was held all the more essential to the enterprise because of the experience from which he spoke. There would be great security, his hearers thought, against the daring of Alcibiades and the roughness of Lamachus, if his well-known caution were blended with their qualities. And so, he succeeded only in confirming the previous vote. For Demostratus, the popular leader who was most active in spurring the Athenians on to the war, rose and declared that he would stop the mouth of Nicias from uttering vain excuses; so, he introduced a decree to the effect that the generals have full and independent powers in counsel and in action, both at home and at the seat of war, and persuaded the people to vote it. 13. [1] And yet the priesthood also is said to have offered much opposition to the expedition. But Alcibiades had other diviners in his private service, and from sundry oracles reputed ancient he cited one saying that great fame would be won by the Athenians in Sicily. To his delight also certain envoys who had been sent to the shrine of Ammon came back with an oracle declaring that the Athenians would capture all the Syracusans; but utterances of opposite import the envoys concealed, for fear of using words of ill omen. [2] For no signs could deter the people from the expedition, were they never so obvious and clear such as, for instance, the mutilation of the ‘Hermae.’ These statues were all disfigured in a single night except one, called the Hermes of Andocides, a dedication of the Aegeid tribe, standing in front of what was at that time the house of Andocides. Then there was the affair of the altar of the Twelve Gods. An unknown man leaped upon it all of a sudden, bestrode it, and then mutilated himself with a stone. [3] At Delphi, moreover, there stood a Palladium, made of gold and set upon a bronze palm tree, a dedication of the city of Athens from the spoils of her valor in the Persian wars. Ravens alighted on this image and pecked it for many days together; they also bit off the fruit of the palm-tree, which was of gold, and cast it to the ground. [4] The Athenians, it is true, said that this whole

Classics/History 1M03 Dr. J. Reeves Winter 2018 Essay Assignment #1

story was an invention of the Delphians, at the instigation of the Syracusans; but at any rate when a certain oracle bade them bring the priestess of Athena from Clazomenae, they sent and fetched the woman, and lo! her name was Peace. And this, as it seemed, was the advice which the divinity would give the city at that time, namely, to keep the peace. [5] It was either because he feared such signs as these, or because, from mere human calculation, he was alarmed about the expedition, that the astrologer Meton, who had been given a certain station of command, pretended to be mad and set his house on fire. Some, however, tell the story in this way: Meton made no pretense of madness, but burned his house down in the night, and then came forward publicly in great dejection and begged his fellow citizens, in view of the great calamity which had befallen him, to release from the expedition his son, who was about to sail for Sicily in command of a trireme. [6] To Socrates the wise man also, his divine guide, making use of the customary tokens for his enlightenment, indicated plainly that the expedition would make for the ruin of the city. Socrates let this be known to his intimate friends, and the story had a wide circulation. [7] Not a few also were somewhat disconcerted by the character of the days in the midst of which they dispatched their armament. The women were celebrating at that time the festival of Adonis, and in many places throughout the city little images of the god were laid out for burial, and funeral rites were held about them, with wailing cries of women, so that those who cared anything for such matters were distressed, and feared lest that powerful armament, with all the splendor and vigor which were so manifest in it, should speedily wither away and come to naught. 14. [1] Now, that Nicias should oppose the voting of the expedition, and should not be so buoyed up by vain hopes nor so crazed by the magnitude of his command as to change his real opinion,—this marked him as a man of honesty and discretion. But when he availed naught either in his efforts to divert the people from the war or in his desire to be relieved of his command,—the people as it were picking him up bodily and setting him over their forces as general,— [2] then it was no longer a time for the exceeding caution and hesitation which he displayed, gazing back homewards from his ship like a child, and many times resuming and dwelling on the thought that the people had not yielded to his reasonings, till he took the edge from the zeal of his colleagues in command and lost the fittest time for action. He ought rather at once to have engaged the enemy at close quarters and put fortune to the test in struggles for the mastery. [3] Instead of this, while Lamachus urged that they sail direct to Syracuse and give battle close to the city, and Alcibiades that they rob the Syracusans of their allied cities first and then proceed against them, Nicias proposed and urged in opposition that they make their way quietly by sea along the coasts of Sicily, circumnavigate the island, make a display of their troops and triremes, and then sail back to Athens, after having first culled out a small part of their force to give the Egestaeans a taste of succor. In this way, he soon relaxed the resolution and depressed the spirits of his men. [4] After a little while the Athenians summoned Alcibiades home to stand his trial, and then Nicias, who nominally had still a colleague in the command, but really wielded sole power, made no end of sitting idle, or cruising aimlessly about, or taking deliberate counsel, until the vigorous

Classics/History 1M03 Dr. J. Reeves Winter 2018 Essay Assignment #1

hopes of his men grew old and feeble, and the consternation and fear with which the first sight of his forces had filled his enemies slowly subsided.

(Translation by B. Perrin, 1916)