The treasure-chamber of the Acanthians at Delphi has this inscription："The spoils which Brasidas and the Acanthians took from the Athenians."And, accordingly, many take the marble statue, which stands withinthe building by the gates, to be Brasidas's； but, indeed, it is Lysander's,representing him with his hair at full length, after the old fashion,and with an ample beard. Neither is it true, as some give out, thatbecause the Argives, after their great defeat, shaved themselves forsorrow, that the Spartans contrariwise triumphing in their achievements,suffered their hair to grow； neither did the Spartans come to be ambitiousof wearing long hair, because the Bacchiadae, who fled from Corinthto Lacedaemon, looked mean and unsightly, having their heads all closecut. But this, also, is indeed one of the ordinances of Lycurgus,who, as it is reported, was used to say, that long hair made good-lookingmen more beautiful, and ill-looking men more terrible.

    Lysander's father is said to have been Aristoclitus, who was not indeedof the royal family but yet of the stock of the Heraclidae. He wasbrought up in poverty, and showed himself obedient and conformable,as ever any one did, to the customs of his country； of a manly spirit,also, and superior to all pleasures, excepting only that which theirgood actions bring to those who are honoured and successful； and itis accounted no base thing in Sparta for their young men to be overcomewith this kind of pleasure. For they are desirous, from the very first,to have their youth susceptible to good and bad repute, to feel painat disgrace, and exultation at being commended； and any one who isinsensible and unaffected in these respects is thought poor-spiritedand of no capacity for virtue. Ambition and the passion for distinctionwere thus implanted in his character by his Laconian education, nor,if they continued there, must we blame his natural disposition muchfor this. But he was submissive to great men, beyond what seems agreeableto the Spartan temper, and could easily bear the haughtiness of thosewho were in power, when it was any way for his advantage, which someare of opinion is no small part of political discretion. Aristotle,who says all great characters are more or less atrabilious, as Socratesand Plato and Hercules were, writes that Lysander, not indeed earlyin life, but when he was old, became thus affected. What is singularin his character is that he endured poverty very well and that hewas not at all enslaved or corrupted by wealth, and yet he filledhis country with riches and the love of them, and took away from themthe glory of not admiring money； importing amongst them an abundanceof gold and silver after the Athenian war, though keeping not onedrachma for himself. When Dionysius, the tyrant, sent his daughterssome costly gowns of Sicilian manufacture, he would not receive them,saying he was afraid they would make them look more unhandsome. Buta while after, being sent ambassador from the same city to the sametyrant, when he had sent him a couple of robes, and bade him choosewhich of them he would, and carry to his daughter： "She," said he,"will be able to choose best for herself," and taking both of them,went his way.

    The Peloponnesian war having now been carried on a long time, andit being expected, after the disaster of the Athenians in Sicily,that they would at once lose the mastery of the sea, and ere longbe routed everywhere, Alcibiades, returning from banishment, and takingthe command, produced a great change, and made the Athenians againa match for their opponents by sea； and the Lacedaemonians, in greatalarm at this, and calling up fresh courage and zeal for the conflict,feeling the want of an able commander and of a powerful armament,sent out Lysander to be admiral of the seas. Being at Ephesus, andfinding the city well affected towards him, and favourable to theLacedaemonian party, but in ill condition, and in danger to becomebarbarized by adopting the manners of the Persians, who were muchmingled among them, the country of Lydia bordering upon them, andthe king's generals being quartered there for a long time, he pitchedhis camp there, and commanded the merchant ships all about to putin thither, and proceeded to build ships of war there； and thus restoredtheir ports by the traffic he created, and their market by the employmenthe gave, and filled their private houses and their workshops withwealth, so that from that time the city began, first of all, by Lysander'smeans, to have some hopes of growing to that stateliness and grandeurwhich now it is at.

    Understanding that Cyrus, the king's son, was come to Sardis, he wentup to talk with him, and to accuse Tisaphernes, who, receiving a commandto help the Lacedaemonians, and to drive the Athenians from the sea,was thought, on account of Alcibiades, to have become remiss and unwilling,and by paying the seamen slenderly to be ruining the fleet. Now Cyruswas willing that Tisaphernes might be found in blame, and be ill reportedof, as being, indeed, a dishonest man, and privately at feud withhimself. By these means, and by their daily intercourse together,Lysander, especially by the submissiveness of his conversation, wonthe affection of the young prince, and greatly roused him to carryon and when he would depart, Cyrus gave him a banquet, and desiredhim not to refuse his goodwill, but to speak and ask whatever he hada mind to, and that he should not be refused anything whatsoever："Since you are so very kind," replied Lysander, "I earnestly requestyou to add one penny to the seamen's pay, that instead of three pence,they may now receive four pence." Cyrus, delighted with his publicspirit, gave him ten thousand darics, out of which he added the pennyto the seamen's pay, and by the renown of this in a short time emptiedthe ships of the enemies, as many would come over to that side whichgave the most pay, and those who remained, being disheartened andmutinous, daily created trouble to the captains. Yet for all Lysanderhad so distracted and weakened his enemies, he was afraid to engageby sea, Alcibiades being an energetic commander, and having the superiornumber of ships, and having been hitherto, in all battles, unconqueredboth by sea and land.

    But afterwards, when Alcibiades sailed from Samos to Phocaea, leavingAntiochus, the pilot, in command of all his forces, this Antiochus,to insult Lysander, sailed with two galleys into the port of the Ephesians,and with mocking and laughter proudly rowed along before the placewhere the ships lay drawn up. Lysander, in indignation, launched atfirst a few ships only and pursued him, but as soon as he saw theAthenians come to his help, he added some other ships, and, at last,they fell to a set battle together； and Lysander won the victory,and taking fifteen of their ships, erected a trophy. For this, thepeople in the city being angry, put Alcibiades out of command, andfinding himself despised by the soldiers in Samos, and ill spokenof, he sailed from the army into the Chersonese. And this battle,although not important in itself, was made remarkable by its consequencesto Alcibiades.

    Lysander, meanwhile, invited to Ephesus such persons in the variouscities as he saw to be bolder and haughtier-spirited than the rest,proceeded to lay the foundations of that government by bodies of ten,and those revolutions which afterwards came to pass, stirring up andurging them to unite in clubs and apply themselves to public affairs,since as soon as ever the Athenians should be put down, the populargovernment, he said, should be suppressed and they should become supremein their several countries. And he made them believe these thingsby present deeds, promoting those who were his friends already togreat employments, honours, and offices, and, to gratify their covetousness,making himself a partner in injustice and wickedness. So much so,that all flocked to him, and courted and desired him, hoping, if beremained in power, that the highest wishes they could form would allbe gratified. And therefore, from the very beginning, they could notlook pleasantly upon Callicratidas, when he came to succeed Lysanderas admiral； nor, afterwards, when he had given them experience thathe was a most noble and just person, were they pleased with the mannerof his government, and its straightforward, Dorian, honest character.They did, indeed, admire his virtue, as they might the beauty of somehero's image； but their wishes were for Lysander's zealous and profitablesupport of the interests of his friends and partisans, and they shedtears, and were much disheartened when he sailed from them. He himselfmade them yet more disaffected to Callicratidas； for what remainedof the money which had been given him to pay the navy, he sent backagain to Sardis, bidding them, if they would, apply to Callicratidashimself, and see how he was able to maintain the soldiers. And, atthe last, sailing away, he declared to him that he delivered up thefleet in possession and command of the sea. But Callicratidas, toexpose the emptiness of these high pretensions, said, "In that case,leave Samos on the left hand, and sailing to Miletus, there deliverup the ships to me； for if we are masters of the sea, we need notfear sailing by our enemies in Samos." To which Lysander answering,that not himself but he commanded the ships, sailed to Peloponnesus,leaving Callicratidas in great perplexity. For neither had he broughtany money from home with him, nor could he endure to tax the townsor force them, being in hardship enough. Therefore, the only coursethat was to be taken was to go and beg at the doors of the king'scommanders, as Lysander had done； for which he was most unfit of anyman, being of a generous and great spirit, and one who thought itmore becoming for the Greeks to suffer any damage from one anotherthan to flatter and wait at the gates of barbarians, who, indeed,had gold enough, but nothing else that was commendable. But beingcompelled by necessity, he proceeded to Lydia, and went at once toCyrus's house, and sent in word that Callicratidas, the admiral, wasthere to speak with him； one of those who kept the gates replied,"Cyrus, O stranger, is not now at leisure, for he is drinking." Towhich Callicratidas answered, most innocently, "Very well, I willwait till he has done his draught." This time, therefore, they tookhim for some clownish fellow, and he withdrew, merely laughed at bythe barbarians； but when, afterwards, he came a second time to thegate, and was not admitted, he took it hardly and set off for Ephesus,wishing a great many evils to those who first let themselves be insultedover by these barbarians, and taught them to be insolent because oftheir riches； and added vows to those who were present, that as soonas ever he came back to Sparta, he would do all he could to reconcilethe Greeks, that they might be formidable to barbarians, and thatthey should cease henceforth to need their aid against one another.But Callicratidas, who entertained purposes worthy a Lacedaemonian,and showed himself worthy to compete with the very best of Greece,for his justice, his greatness of mind and courage, not long after,having been beaten in a sea fight at Arginusae, died.

    And now, affairs going backwards, the associates in the war sent anembassy to Sparta, requiring Lysander to be their admiral, professingthemselves ready to undertake the business much more zealously ifhe was commander； and Cyrus also sent to request the same thing. Butbecause they had a law which would not suffer any one to be admiraltwice, and wished, nevertheless, to gratify their allies, they gavethe title of admiral to one Aracus, and sent Lysander nominally asvice-admiral, but, indeed, with full powers. So he came out, longwished for by the greatest part of the chief persons and leaders inthe towns, who hoped to grow to greater power still by his means,when the popular governments should be everywhere destroyed.

    But to those who loved honest and noble behaviour in their commanders,Lysander, compared with Callicratidas, seemed cunning and subtle,managing most things in the war by deceit, extolling what was justwhen it was profitable, and when it was not, using that which wasconvenient, instead of that which, was good； and not judging truthto be in nature better than falsehood, but setting a value upon bothaccording to interest. He would laugh at those who thought Hercules'sposterity ought not to use deceit in war： "For where the lion's skinwill not reach, you must patch it out with the fox's." Such is theconduct recorded of him in the business about Miletus when his friendsand connections, whom he had promised, raised to assist in suppressingpopular government, and expelling their political opponents, had alteredtheir minds, and were reconciled to their enemies, he pretended openlyas if he was pleased with it, and was desirous to further the reconciliation,but privately he railed at and abused them, and provoked them to setupon the multitude. And as soon as ever he perceived a new attemptto be commencing, he at once came up, and entered into the city, andthe first of the conspirators he lit upon, he pretended to rebuke,and spoke roughly, as if he would punish them； but the others, meantime,he bade be courageous, and to fear nothing, now he was with them.And all this acting and dissembling was with the object that the mostconsiderable men of the popular party might not fly away, but mightstay in the city and be killed； which so fell out, for all who believedhim were put to death.

    There is a saying also, recorded by Androclides, which makes him guiltyof great indifference to the obligations of an oath. His recommendation,according to this account, was to "cheat boys with dice, and men withoaths," an imitation of Polycrates of Samos, not very honourable toa lawful commander, to take example, namely, from a tyrant； nor incharacter with Laconian usages, to treat gods as ill as enemies, or,indeed, even more injuriously since he who overreaches by an oathadmits that he fears his enemy, while he despises his God.

    Cyrus now sent for Lysander to Sardis, and gave him some money, andpromised him some more, youthfully protesting in favour to him, thatif his father gave him nothing, he would supply him of his own； andif he himself should be destitute of all, he would cut up, he said,to make money, the very throne upon which he sat to do justice, itbeing made of gold and silver； and, at last on going up into Mediato his father, he ordered that he should receive the tribute of thetowns, and committed his government to him, and so taking his leave,and desiring him not to fight by sea before he returned, for he wouldcome back with a great many ships out of Phoenicia and Cilicia, departedto visit the king.

    Lysander's ships were too few for him to venture to fight, and yettoo many to allow of his remaining idle； he set out, therefore, andreduced some of the islands, and wasted Aegina and Salamis； and fromthence landing in Attica, and saluting Agis, who came from Deceleato meet him, he made a display to the land-forces of the strengthof the fleet as though he could sail where he pleased, and were absolutemaster by sea. But hearing the Athenians pursued him, he fled anotherway through the island into Asia. And finding the Hellespont withoutany defence, he attacked Lampsacus with his ships by sea； while Thorax,acting in concert with him with the land army, made an assault onthe walls； and so having taken the city by storm, he gave it up tohis soldiers to plunder. The fleet of the Athenians, a hundred andeighty ships, had just arrived at Elaeus in the Chersonese； and hearingthe news, that Lampsacus was destroyed, they presently sailed to Sestos；where, taking in victuals, they advanced to Aegos Potami, over againsttheir enemies, who were still stationed about Lampsacus. Amongst otherAthenian captains who were now in command was Philocles, he who persuadedthe people to pass a decree to cut off the right thumb of the captivesin the war, that they should not be able to hold the spear, thoughthey might the oar.

    Then they all rested themselves, hoping they should have battle thenext morning. But Lysander had other things in his head； he commandedthe mariners and pilots to go on board at dawn, as if there shouldbe a battle as soon as it was day, and to sit there in order, andwithout any noise, excepting what should be commanded, and in likemanner that the land army should remain quietly in their ranks bythe sea. But the sun rising, and the Athenians sailing up with theirwhole fleet in line, and challenging them to battle, though he hadhad his ships all drawn up and manned before daybreak, neverthelessdid not stir. He merely sent some boats to those who lay foremost,and bade them keep still and stay in their order； not to be disturbed,and none of them to sail out and offer battle. So about evening, theAthenians sailing back, he would not let the seamen go out of theships before two or three, which he had sent to espy, were returned,after seeing the enemies disembark. And thus they did the next day,and the third, and so to the fourth. So that the Athenians grew extremelyconfident, and disdained their enemies as if they had been afraidand daunted. At this time, Alcibiades, who was in his castle in theChersonese, came on horseback to the Athenian army, and found faultwith their captains, first of all that they had pitched their campneither well nor safely on an exposed and open beach, a very bad landingfor the ships, and secondly, that where they were they had to fetchall they wanted from Sestos, some considerable way off； whereas ifthey sailed round a little way to the town and harbour of Sestos,they would be at a safer distance from an enemy, who lay watchingtheir movements, at the command of a single general, terror of whommade every order rapidly executed. This advice, however, they wouldnot listen to； and Tydeus answered disdainfully, that not he, butothers, were in office now. So Alcibiades, who even suspected theremust be treachery, departed.

    But on the fifth day, the Athenians having sailed towards them, andgone back again as they were used to do, very proudly and full ofcontempt, Lysander sending some ships, as usual, to look out, commandedthe masters of them that when they saw the Athenians go to land, theyshould row back again with all their speed, and that when they wereabout half-way across, they should lift up a brazen shield from thefore-deck, as the sign of battle. And he himself sailing round, encouragedthe pilots and masters of the ships, and exhorted them to keep alltheir men to their places, seamen and soldiers alike, and as soonas ever the sign should be given, to row boldly to their enemies.Accordingly, when the shield had been lifted up from the ships, andthe trumpet from the admiral's vessel had sounded for the battle,the ships rowed up, and the foot soldiers strove to get along by theshore to the promontory. The distance there between the two continentsis fifteen furlongs, which, by zeal and eagerness of the rowers, wasquickly traversed. Conon, one of the Athenian commanders, was thefirst who saw from the land the fleet advancing, and shouted out toembark, and in the greatest distress bade some and entreated others,and some he forced to man the ships. But all his diligence signifiednothing, because the men were scattered about； for as soon as theycame out of the ships, expecting no such matter, some went to market,others walked about the country, or went to sleep in their tents,or got their dinners ready, being, through their commanders' wantof skill, as far as possible from any thought of what was to happen；and the enemy now coming up with shouts and noise, Conon, with eightships, sailed out, and making his escape, passed from thence to Cyprus,to Evagoras. The Peloponnesians falling upon the rest, some they tookquite empty, and some they destroyed while they were filling； themen, meantime coming unarmed and scattered to help, died at theirships, or, flying by land, were slain, their enemies disembarkingand pursuing them. Lysander took three thousand prisoners, with thegenerals, and the whole fleet, excepting the sacred ship Paralus,and those which fled with Conon. So taking their ships in tow, andhaving plundered their tents, with pipe and songs of victory, he sailedback to Lampsacus, having accomplished a great work with small pains,and having finished in one hour a war which had been protracted inits continuance, and diversified in its incidents and in its fortunes,to a degree exceeding belief, compared with all before it. After alteringits shape and character a thousand times, and after having been thedestruction of more commanders than all the previous wars of Greeceput together, it was now put an end to by the good counsel and readyconduct of one man.

    Some, therefore, looked upon the result as a divine intervention,and there were certain who affirmed that the stars of Castor and Polluxwere seen on each side of Lysander's ship, when he first set sailfrom the haven toward his enemies, shining about the helm； and somesay the stone which fell down was a sign of this slaughter. For astone of a great size did fall, according to the common belief, fromheaven, at Aegos Potami, which is shown to this day, and held in greatesteem by the Chersonites. And it is said that Anaxagoras foretoldthat the occurrence of a slip or shake among the bodies fixed in theheavens, dislodging any one of them, would be followed by the fallof the whole of them. For no one of the stars is now in the same placein which it was at first； for they, being, according to him, likestones and heavy, shine by the refraction of the upper air round aboutthem, and are carried along forcibly by the violence of the circularmotion by which they were originally withheld from falling, when coldand heavy bodies were first separated from the general universe. Butthere is a more probable opinion than this maintained by some, whosay that falling stars are no effluxes, nor discharges of etherealfire, extinguished almost at the instant of its igniting by the lowerair； neither are they the sudden combustion and blazing up of a quantityof the lower air let loose in great abundance into the upper region；but the heavenly bodies, by a relaxation of the force of their circularmovement, are carried by an irregular course, not in general intothe inhabited part of the earth, but for the most part into the widesea； which is the cause of their not being observed. Daimachus, inhis treatise on Religion, supports the view of Anaxagoras. He says,that before this stone fell, for seventy-five days continually, therewas seen in the heavens a vast fiery body, as if it had been a flamingcloud, not resting, but carried about with several intricate and brokenmovements, so that the flaming pieces, which were broken off by thiscommotion and running about, were carried in all directions, shiningas falling stars do. But when it afterwards came down to the groundin this district, and the people of the place recovering from theirfear and astonishment came together, there was no fire to be seen,neither any sign of it； there was only a stone lying, big indeed,but which bore no proportion, to speak of, to that fiery compass.It is manifest that Daimachus needs to have indulgent hearers； butif what he says be true, he altogether proves those to be wrong whosay that a rock broken off from the top of some mountain, by windsand tempests, and caught and whirled about like a top, as soon asthis impetus began to slacken and cease, was precipitated and fellto the ground. Unless, indeed, we choose to say that the phenomenonwhich was observed for so many days was really fire, and that thechange in the atmosphere ensuing on its extinction was attended withviolent winds and agitations, which might be the cause of this stonebeing carried off. The exacter treatment of this subject belongs,however, to a different kind of writing.

    Lysander, after the three thousand Athenians whom he had taken prisonerswere condemned by the commissioners to die, called Philocles the general,and asked him what punishment he considered himself to deserve, forhaving advised the citizens, as he had done, against the Greeks； buthe, being nothing cast down at his calamity, bade him not to accusehim of matters of which nobody was a judge, but to do to him, nowhe was a conqueror, as he would have suffered, had he been overcome.Then washing himself, and putting on a fine cloak, he led the citizensthe way to the slaughter, as Theophrastus writes in his history. Afterthis Lysander, sailing about to the various cities, bade all the Athenianshe met go into Athens, declaring that he would spare none, but killevery man whom he found out of the city, intending thus to cause immediatefamine and scarcity there, that they might not make the siege laboriousto him, having provisions sufficient to endure it. And suppressingthe popular governments and all other constitutions, he left one Lacedaemonianchief officer in every city, with ten rulers to act with him, selectedout of the societies which he had previously formed in the differenttowns. And doing thus as well in the cities of his enemies as of hisassociates, he sailed leisurely on, establishing, in a manner, forhimself supremacy over the whole of Greece. Neither did he make choiceof rulers by birth or by wealth, but bestowed the offices on his ownfriends and partisans, doing everything to please them, and puttingabsolute power of reward and punishment into their hands. And thus,personally appearing on many occasions of blood-shed and massacre,and aiding his friends to expel their opponents, he did not give theGreeks a favourable specimen of the Lacedaemonian government； andthe expression of Theopompus, the comic poet, seemed but poor, whenhe compared the Lacedaemonians to tavern women, because when the Greekshad first tasted the sweet wine of liberty, they then poured vinegarinto the cup； for from the very first it had a rough and bitter taste,all government by the people being suppressed by Lysander, and theboldest and least scrupulous of the oligarchical party selected torule the cities.

    Having spent some little time about these things, and sent some beforeto Lacedaemon to tell them he was arriving with two hundred ships,he united his forces in Attica with those of the two kings Agis andPausanias, hoping to take the city without delay. But when the Atheniansdefended themselves, he with his fleet passed again to Asia, and inlike manner destroyed the forms of government in all the other cities,and placed them under the rule of ten chief persons, many in everyone being killed, and many driven into exile； and in Samos he expelledthe whole people, and gave their cities to the exiles whom he broughtback. And the Athenians still possessing Sestos, he took it from them,and suffered not the Sestians themselves to dwell in it, but gavethe city and country to be divided out among the pilots and mastersof the ships under him； which was his first act that was disallowedby the Lacedaemonians, who brought the Sestians, back again into theircountry. All Greece, however, rejoiced to see the Aeginetans, by Lysander'said, now again, after a long time, receiving back their cities, andthe Melians and Scionaeans restored, while the Athenians were drivenout, and delivered up the cities.

    But when he now understood they were in bad case in the city becauseof the famine, he sailed to Piraeus, and reduced the city, which wascompelled to surrender on what conditions he demanded. One hears itsaid by Lacedaemonians that Lysander wrote to the Ephors thus： "Athensis taken；" and that these magistrates wrote back to Lysander, "Takenis enough." But this saying was invented for its neatness' sake； forthe true decree of the magistrates was on this manner： "The governmentof the Lacedaemonians has made these orders； pull down the Piraeusand the long walls； quit all the towns, and keep to your own land；if you do these things, you shall have peace, if you wish it, restoringalso your exiles. As concerning the number of the ships, whatsoeverthere be judged necessary to appoint, that do." This scroll of conditionsthe Athenians accepted, Theramenes, son of Hagnon, supporting it.At which time, too, they say that when Cleomenes, one of the youngorators, asked him how he durst act and speak contrary to Themistocles,delivering up the walls to the Lacedaemonians, which he had builtagainst the will of the Lacedaemonians, he said, "O young man, I donothing contrary to Themistocles； for he raised these walls for thesafety of the citizens, and we pull them down for their safety； andif walls make a city happy, then Sparta must be the most wretchedof all, as it has none."

    Lysander, as soon as he had taken all the ships except twelve, andthe walls of the Athenians, on the sixteenth day of the month Munychion,the same on which they had overcome the barbarians at Salamis, thenproceeded to take measures for altering the government. But the Athenianstaking that very unwillingly, and resisting, he sent to the peopleand informed them that he found that the city had broken the terms,for the walls were standing when the days were past within which theyshould have been pulled down. He should, therefore, consider theircase anew, they having broken their first articles. And some state,in fact, the proposal was made in the congress of the allies, thatthe Athenians should all be sold as slaves； on which occasion, Erianthus,the Theban, gave his vote to pull down the city, and turn the countryinto sheep-pasture； yet afterwards, when there was a meeting of thecaptains together, a man of Phocis, singing the first chorus in Euripides'sElectra, which begins-

    "Electra, Agamemnon's child, I come Unto thy desert home," they were all melted with compassion, and itseemed to be a cruel deed to destroy and pull down a city which hadbeen so famous, and produced such men.

    Accordingly Lysander, the Athenians yielding up everything, sent fora number of flute-women out of the city, and collected together allthat were in the camp, and pulled down the walls, and burnt the shipsto the sound of the flute, the allies being crowned with garlands,and making merry together, as counting that day the beginning of theirliberty. He proceeded also at once to alter the government, placingthirty rulers in the city and ten in the Piraeus： he put, also, agarrison into the Acropolis, and made Callibius, a Spartan, the governorof it； who afterwards taking up his staff to strike Autolycus, theathlete, about whom Xenophon wrote his "Banquet," on his trippingup his heels and throwing him to the ground, Lysander was not vexedat it, but chid Callibius, telling him he did not know how to governfreemen. The thirty rulers, however, to gain Callibius's favour, alittle after killed Autolycus.

    Lysander, after this, sails out to Thrace, and what remained of thepublic money, and the gifts and crowns which he had himself received,numbers of people, as might be expected, being anxious to make presentsto a man of such great power, who was, in a manner, the lord of Greece,he sends to Lacedaemon by Gylippus, who had commanded formerly inSicily. But he, it is reported, unsewed the sacks at the bottom, tooka considerable amount of silver out of every one of them, and sewedthem up again, not knowing there was a writing in every one statinghow much there was. And coming into Sparta, what he had thus stolenaway he hid under the tiles of his house, and delivered up the sacksto the magistrates, and showed the seals were upon them. But afterwards,on their opening the sacks and counting it, the quantity of the silverdiffered from what the writing expressed； and the matter causing someperplexity to the magistrates, Gylippus's servant tells them in ariddle, that under the tiles lay many owls； for, as it seems, thegreatest part of the money then current bore the Athenian stamp ofthe owl. Gylippus having committed so foul and base a deed, aftersuch great and distinguished exploits before, removed himself fromLacedaemon.

    But the wisest of the Spartans, very much on account of this occurrence,dreading the influence of money, as being what had corrupted the greatestcitizens, exclaimed against Lysander's conduct, and declared to theEphors that all the silver and gold should be sent away, as mere "alienmischiefs." These consulted about it； and Theopompus says it was Sciraphidas,but Ephorus that it was Phlogidas, who declared they ought not toreceive any gold or silver into the city； but to use their own countrycoin, which was iron, and was first of all dipped in vinegar whenit was red-hot, that it might not be worked up anew, but because ofthe dipping might be hard and unpliable. It was also, of course, veryheavy and troublesome to carry, and a great deal of it in quantityand weight was but a little in value. And perhaps all the old moneywas so, coin consisting of iron, or, in some countries, copper skewers,whence it comes that we still find a great number of small piecesof money retain the name of obolus, and the drachma is six of these,because so much may be grasped in one's hand. But Lysander's friendsbeing against it, and endeavouring to keep the money in the city,it was resolved to bring in this sort of money to be used publicly,enacting, at the same time, that if any one was found in possessionof any privately, he should be put to death, as if Lycurgus had fearedthe coin, and not the covetousness resulting from it, which they didnot repress by letting no private man keep any, so much as they encouragedit, by allowing the state to possess it； attaching thereby a sortof dignity to it, over and above its ordinary utility. Neither wasit possible, that what they saw so much esteemed publicly they shouldprivately despise as unprofitable； and that every one should thinkthat thing could be nothing worth for his own personal use, whichwas so extremely valued and desired for the use of the state. Andmoral habits, induced by public practices, are far quicker in makingtheir way into men's private lives, than the failings and faults ofindividuals are in infecting the city at large. For it is probablethat the parts will be rather corrupted by the whole if that growsbad； while the vices which flow from a part into the whole find manycorrectives and remedies from that which remains sound. Terror andthe law were now to keep guard over the citizens' houses, to preventany money entering into them： but their minds could no longer be expectedto remain superior to the desire of it when wealth in general wasthus set up to be striven after, as a high and noble object. On thispoint, however, we have given our censure of the Lacedaemonians inone of our other writings.

    Lysander erected out of the spoils brazen statues at Delphi of himself,and of every one of the masters of the ships, as also figures of thegolden stars of Castor and Pollux, which vanished before the battleat Leuctra. In the treasury of Brasidas and the Acanthians there wasa trireme made of gold and ivory, of two cubits, which Cyrus sentLysander in honour of his victory. But Alexandrides of Delphi write's,in his history, that there was also a deposit of Lysander's, a talentof silver, and fifty-two minas, besides eleven staters； a statementnot consistent with the generally received account of his poverty.And at that time, Lysander, being in fact of greater power than anyGreek before, was yet thought to show a pride, and to affect a superioritygreater even than his power warranted. He was the first, as Durissays in his history, among the Greeks to whom the cities reared altarsas to a god, and sacrificed； to him were songs of triumph first sung,the beginning of one of which still remains recorded：-

    "Great Greece's general from spacious Sparta we Will celebrate with songs of victory." And the Samians decreed thattheir solemnities of Juno should be called the Lysandria； and outof the poets he had Choerilus always with him, to extol his achievementsin verse； and to Antilochus, who had made some verses in his commendation,being pleased with them, he gave a hat full of silver； and when Antimachusof Colophon, and one Niceratus of Heraclea competed with each otherin a poem on the deeds of Lysander, he gave the garland to Niceratus；at which Antimachus, in vexation, suppressed his poem； but Plato,being then a young man and admiring Antimachus for his poetry, consoledhim for his defeat by telling him that it is the ignorant who arethe sufferers by ignorance, as truly as the blind by want of sight.Afterwards, when Aristonus, the musician, who had been a conquerorsix times at the Pythian games, told him as a piece of flattery, thatif he were successful again, he would proclaim himself in the nameof Lysander, "that is," he answered," as his slave？"

    This ambitious temper was indeed only burdensome to the highest personagesand to his equals, but through having so many people devoted to servehim, an extreme haughtiness and contemptuousness grew up, togetherwith ambition, in his character. He observed no sort of moderation,such as befitted a private man, either in rewarding or in punishing；the recompense of his friends and guests was absolute power over cities,and irresponsible authority and the only satisfaction of his wrathwas the destruction of his enemy； banishment would not suffice. Asfor example, at a later period, fearing lest the popular leaders ofthe Milesians should fly, and desiring also to discover those wholay hid, he swore he would do them no harm, and on their believinghim coming forth, he delivered them up to the oligarchical leadersto be slain, being in all no less than eight hundred. And, indeed,the slaughter in general of those of the popular party in the townsexceeded all computation as he did not kill only for offences againsthimself, but granted these favours without sparing, and joined inthe execution of them, to gratify the many hatreds and the much cupidityof his friends everywhere round about him. From whence the sayingof Eteocles, the Lacedaemonian, came to be famous, that "Greece couldnot have borne two Lysanders." Theophrastus says, that Archestratussaid the same thing concerning Alcibiades. But in his case what hadgiven most offence was a certain licentious and wanton self-will；Lysander's power was, feared and hated because of his unmerciful disposition.The Lacedaemonians did not at all concern themselves for any otheraccusers； but afterwards, when Pharnabazus, having been injured byhim, he having pillaged and wasted his country, sent some to Spartato inform against him, the Ephors taking it very ill, put one of hisfriends and fellow-captains, Thorax, to death, taking him with somesilver privately in his possession； and they sent him a scroll, commandinghim to return home. This scroll is made up thus： When the Ephors sendan admiral or general on his way, they take two round pieces of wood,both exactly of a length and thickness, and cut even to one another；they keep one themselves, and the other they give to the person theysend forth； and these pieces of wood they call Scytales. When, therefore,they have occasion to communicate any secret or important matter,making a scroll of parchment long and narrow like a leathern thong,they roll it about their own staff of wood, leaving no space voidbetween, but covering the surface of the staff with the scroll allover. When they have done this, they write what they please on thescroll, as it is wrapped about the staff； and when they have written,they take off the scroll, and send it to the general without the wood.He, when he has received it, can read nothing of the writing, becausethe words and letters are not connected, but all broken up； but takinghis own staff, he winds the slip of the scroll about it, so that thisfolding, restoring all the parts into the same order that they werein before, and putting what comes first into connection with whatfollows, brings the whole consecutive contents to view round the outside.And this scroll is called a staff, after the name of the wood, asa thing measured is by the name of the measure.

    But Lysander, when the staff came to him to the Hellespont, was troubled,and fearing Pharnabazus's accusations most, made haste to confer withhim, hoping to end the difference by a meeting together. When theymet, he desired him to write another letter to the magistrates, statingthat he had not been wronged, and had no complaint to prefer. Buthe was ignorant that Pharnabazus, as it is in the proverb, playedCretan against Cretan； for pretending to do all that was desired,openly he wrote such a letter as Lysander wanted, but kept by himanother, written privately； and when they came to put on the seals,changed the tablets, which differed not at all to look upon, and gavehim the letter which had been written privately. Lysander, accordingly,coming to Lacedaemon, and going, as the custom is, to the magistrates'office, gave Pharnabazus's letter to the Ephors, being persuaded thatthe greatest accusation against him was now withdrawn； for Pharnabazuswas beloved by the Lacedaemonians, having been the most zealous ontheir side in the war of all the king's captains. But after the magistrateshad read the letter they showed it him, and he understanding now that-

    "Others beside Ulysses deep can be, Not the one wise man of the world is he," in extreme confusion, leftthem at the time. But a few days after, meeting the Ephors, he saidhe must go to the temple of Ammon, and offer the god the sacrificeswhich he had vowed in war. For some state it as a truth, that whenhe was besieging the city of Aphytae in Thrace, Ammon stood by himin his sleep； whereupon raising the siege, supposing the god had commandedit, he bade the Aphytaeans sacrifice to Ammon, and resolved to makea journey into Libya to propitiate the god. But most were of opinionthat the god was but the pretence, and that in reality he was afraidof the Ephors, and that impatience of the yoke at home, and dislikeof living under authority, made him long for some travel and wandering,like a horse just brought in from open feeding and pasture to thestable, and put again to his ordinary work. For that which Ephorusstates to have been the cause of this travelling about, I shall relateby and by.

    And having hardly and with difficulty obtained leave of the magistratesto depart, he set sail. But the kings, while he was on his voyage,considering that keeping, as he did, the cities in possession by hisown friends and partisans, he was in fact their sovereign and thelord of Greece, took measures for restoring the power to the people,and for throwing his friends out. Disturbances commencing again aboutthese things, and, first of all, the Athenians from Phyle settingupon their thirty rulers and overpowering them, Lysander, coming homein haste, persuaded the Lacedaemonians to support the oligarchiesand to put down the popular governments, and to the thirty in Athens,first of all, they sent a hundred talents for the war, and Lysanderhimself, as general, to assist them. But the kings envying him, andfearing lest he should take Athens again, resolved that one of themselvesshould take the command. Accordingly Pausanias went, and in words,indeed, professed as if he had been for the tyrant against the people,but in reality exerted himself for peace, that Lysander might notby the means of his friends become lord of Athens again. This he broughteasily to pass； for, reconciling the Athenians, and quieting the tumults,he defeated the ambitious hope of Lysander, though shortly after,on the Athenians rebelling again, he was censured for having thustaken, as it were, the bit out of the mouth of the people, which,being freed from the oligarchy, would now break out again into affrontsand insolence； and Lysander regained the reputation of a person whoemployed his command not in gratification of others, not for applause,but strictly for the good of Sparta.

    His speech, also, was bold and daunting to such as opposed him. TheArgives, for example, contended about the bounds of their land, andthought they brought juster pleas than the Lacedaemonians； holdingout his sword, "He," said Lysander, "that is master of this, bringsthe best argument about the bounds of territory." A man of Megara,at some conference, taking freedom with him, "This language, my friend,"said he, "should come from a city." To the Boeotians, who were actinga doubtful part, he put the question, whether he should pass throughtheir country with spears upright or levelled. After the revolt ofthe Corinthians, when, on coming to their walls, he perceived theLacedaemonians hesitating to make the assault, and a hare was seento leap through the ditch： "Are you not ashamed," he said, "to fearan enemy, for whose laziness the very hares sleep upon their walls？"

    When King Agis died, leaving a brother Agesilaus, and Leontychides,who was supposed his son, Lysander, being attached to Agesilaus, persuadedhim to lay claim to the kingdom, as being a true descendant of Hercules；Leontychides lying under the suspicion of being the soil of Alcibiades,who lived privately in familiarity with Timaea, the wife of Agis,at the time he was a fugitive in Sparta. Agis, they say, computingthe time, satisfied himself that she could not have conceived by him,and had hitherto always neglected and manifestly disowned Leontychides；but now when he was carried sick to Heraea, being ready to die, whatby importunities of the young man himself, and of his friends, inthe presence of many he declared Leontychides to be his； and desiringthose who were present to bear witness to this to the Lacedaemonians,died. They accordingly did so testify in favour of Leontychides. AndAgesilaus, being otherwise highly reputed of and strong in the supportof Lysander, was, on the other hand, prejudiced by Diopithes, a manfamous for his knowledge of oracles, who adduced this prophecy inreference to Agesilaus's lameness：-

    "Beware, great Sparta, lest there come of thee, Though sound thyself, an halting sovereignty； Troubles, both long and unexpected too, And storms of deadly warfare shall ensue." When many, therefore, yieldedto the oracle, and inclined to Leontychides, Lysander said that Diopithesdid not take the prophecy rightly； for it was not that the god wouldbe offended if any lame person ruled over the Lacedaemonians, butthat the kingdom would be a lame one if bastards and false-born shouldgovern with the posterity of Hercules. By this argument, and by hisgreat influence among them, he prevailed, and Agesilaus was made king.

    Immediately, therefore, Lysander spurred him on to make an expeditioninto Asia, putting him in hopes that he might destroy the Persians,and attain the height of greatness. And he wrote to his friends inAsia, bidding them request to have Agesilaus appointed to commandthem in the war against the barbarians； which they were persuadedto, and sent ambassadors to Lacedaemon to entreat it. And this wouldseem to be a second favour done Agesilaus by Lysander, not inferiorto his first in obtaining him the kingdom. But with ambitious natures,otherwise not ill qualified for command, the feeling of jealousy ofthose near them in reputation continually stands in the way of theperformance of noble actions； they make those their rivals in virtue,whom they ought to use as their helpers to it. Agesilaus took Lysander,among the thirty counsellors that accompanied him, with intentionsof using him as his especial friend； but when they were come intoAsia, the inhabitants there, to whom he was but little known, addressedthemselves to him but little and seldom； whereas Lysander, becauseof their frequent previous intercourse, was visited and attended bylarge numbers, by his friends out of observance, and by others outof fear； and just as in tragedies it not uncommonly is the case withthe actors, the person who represents a messenger or servant is muchtaken notice of, and plays the chief part, while he who wears thecrown and scepter is hardly heard to speak, even so was it about thecounsellor, he had all the real honours of the government, and tothe king was left the empty name of power. This disproportionate ambitionought very likely to have been in some way softened down, and Lysandershould have been reduced to his proper second place, but wholly tocast off and to insult and affront for glory's sake one who was hisbenefactor and friend was not worthy Agesilaus to allow in himself.For, first of all, he gave him no opportunity for any action, andnever set him in any place of command； then, for whomsoever he perceivedhim exerting his interest, these persons he always sent away witha refusal, and with less attention than any ordinary suitors, thussilently undoing and weakening his influence.

    Lysander, miscarrying in everything, and perceiving that his diligencefor his friends was but a hindrance to them, forbore to help them,entreating them that they would not address themselves to, nor observehim, but that they would speak to the king, and to those who couldbe of more service to friends than at present he could； most, on hearingthis forbore to trouble him about their concerns, but continued theirobservances to him, waiting upon him in the walks and places of exercise；at which Agesilaus was more annoyed than ever, envying him the honour；and, finally, when he gave many of the officers places of commandand the governments of cities, he appointed Lysander carver at histable, adding, by way of insult to the Ionians, "Let them go now,and pay their court to my carver." Upon this, Lysander thought fitto come and speak with him； and a brief laconic dialogue passed betweenthem as follows： "Truly, you know very well, O Agesilaus, how to depressyour friends；" "Those friends," replied he, "who would be greaterthan myself； but those who increase my power, it is just should sharein it." "Possibly, O Agesilaus," answered Lysander, "in all this theremay be more said on your part than done on mine, but I request you,for the sake of observers from without, to place me in any commandunder you where you may judge I shall be the least offensive, andmost useful."

    Upon this he was sent ambassador to the Hellespont； and though angrywith Agesilaus, yet did not neglect to perform his duty, and havinginduced Spithridates the Persian, being offended with Pharnabazus,a gallant man, and in command of some forces, to revolt, he broughthim to Agesilaus. He was not, however, employed in any other service,but having completed his time returned to Sparta, without honour,angry with Agesilaus, and hating more than ever the whole Spartangovernment, and resolved to delay no longer, but while there was yettime, to put into execution the plans which he appears some time beforeto have concerted for a revolution and change in the constitution.These were as follows. The Heraclidae who joined with the Dorians,and came into Peloponnesus, became a numerous and glorious race inSparta, but not every family belonging to it had the right of successionin the kingdom, but the kings were chosen out of two only, calledthe Eurypontidae and the Agiadae； the rest had no privilege in thegovernment by their nobility of birth, and the honours which followedfrom merit lay open to all who could obtain them. Lysander who wasborn of one of these families, when he had risen into great renownfor his exploits, and had gained great friends and power, was vexedto see the city, which had increased to what it was by him, ruledby others not at all better descended than himself, and formed a designto remove the government from the two families, and to give it incommon to all the Heraclidae； or, as some say, not to the Heraclidaeonly, but to all Spartans； that the reward might not belong to theposterity of Hercules, but to those who were like Hercules, judgingby that personal merit which raised even him to the honour of theGodhead； and he hoped that when the kingdom was thus to be competedfor, no Spartan would be chosen before himself.

    Accordingly he first attempted and prepared to persuade the citizensprivately, and studied an oration composed for this purpose by Cleon,the Halicarnassian. Afterwards perceiving so unexpected and greatan innovation required bolder means of support, he proceeded, as itmight be on the stage, to avail himself of machinery, and to try theeffects of divine agency upon his countrymen. He collected and arrangedfor his purpose answers and oracles from Apollo, not expecting toget any benefit from Cleon's rhetoric, unless he should first alarmand overpower the minds of his fellow-citizens by religious and superstitiousterrors, before bringing them to the consideration of his arguments.Ephorus relates, after he had endeavoured to corrupt the oracle ofApollo, and had again failed to persuade the priestess of Dodona bymeans of Pherecles, that he went to Ammon, and discoursed with theguardians of the oracle there, proffering them a great deal of gold,and that they, taking this ill, sent some to Sparta to accuse Lysander；and on his acquittal the Libyans, going away, said, "You will findus, O Spartans, better judges, when you come to dwell with us in Libya,"there being a certain ancient oracle that the Lacedaemonians shoulddwell in Libya. But as the whole intrigue and the course of the contrivancewas no ordinary one, nor lightly undertaken, but depended as it wenton, like some mathematical proposition, on a variety of importantadmissions, and proceeded through a series of intricate and difficultsteps to its conclusion, we will go into it at length, following theaccount of one who was at once an historian and a philosopher.

    There was a woman in Pontus who professed to be pregnant by Apollo,which many, as was natural, disbelieved, and many also gave creditto, and when she had brought forth a man-child, several, not unimportantpersons, took an interest in its rearing and bringing up. The namegiven the boy was Silenus, for some reason or other. Lysander, takingthis for the groundwork, frames and devises the rest himself, makinguse of not a few, nor these insignificant champions of his story,who brought the report of the child's birth into credit without anysuspicion. Another report, also, was procured from Delphi and circulatedin Sparta, that there were some very old oracles which were kept bythe priests in private writings； and they were not to be meddled with,neither was it lawful to read them, till one in aftertimes shouldcome, descended from Apollo, and, on giving some known token to thekeepers, should take the books in which the oracles were. Things beingthus ordered beforehand, Silenus, it was intended, should come andask for the oracles, as being the child of Apollo, and those priestswho were privy to the design were to profess to search narrowly intoall particulars, and to question him concerning his birth； and finally,were to be convinced, and, as to Apollo's son, to deliver up to himthe writings. Then he, in the presence of many witnesses, should read,amongst other prophecies, that which was the object of the whole contrivance,relating to the office of the kings, that it would be better and moredesirable to the Spartans to choose their kings out of the best citizens.And now, Silenus being grown up to a youth, and being ready for theaction, Lysander miscarried in his drama through the timidity of oneof his actors, or assistants, who just as he came to the point lostheart and drew back. Yet nothing was found out while Lysander lived,but only after his death.

    He died before Agesilaus came back from Asia, being involved, or perhapsmore truly having himself involved Greece, in the Boeotian war. Forit is stated both ways； and the cause of it some make to be himself,others the Thebans, and some both together； the Thebans, on the onehand, being charged with casting away the sacrifices at Aulis, andthat being bribed with the king's money brought by Androclides andAmphitheus, they had, with the object of entangling the Lacedaemoniansin a Grecian war, set upon the Phocians, and wasted their country；it being said, on the other hand, that Lysander was angry that theThebans had preferred a claim to the tenth part of the spoils of thewar, while the rest of the confederates submitted without complaint；and because they expressed indignation about the money which Lysandersent to Sparta, but more especially, because from them the Athenianshad obtained the first opportunity of freeing themselves from thethirty tyrants, whom Lysander had made, and to support whom the Lacedaemoniansissued a decree that political refugees from Athens might be arrestedin whatever country they were found, and that those who impeded theirarrest should be excluded from the confederacy. In reply to this theThebans issued counter decrees of their own, truly in the spirit andtemper of the actions of Hercules and Bacchus, that every house andcity in Boeotia should be opened to the Athenians who required it,and that he who did not help a fugitive who was seized should be fineda talent for damages, and if any one should bear arms through Boeotiato Attica against the tyrants, that none of the Thebans should eithersee or hear of it. Nor did they pass these humane and truly Greekdecrees without at the same time making their acts conformable totheir words. For Thrasybulus, and those who with him occupied Phyle,set out upon that enterprise from Thebes, with arms and money, andsecrecy and a point to start from, provided for them by the Thebans.Such were the causes of complaint Lysander had against Thebes. Andbeing now grown violent in his temper through the atrabilious tendencywhich increased upon him in his old age, he urged the Ephors and persuadedthem to place a garrison in Thebes, and taking the commander's place,he marched forth with a body of troops. Pausanias, also, the king,was sent shortly after with an army. Now Pausanias, going round byCithaeron, was to invade Boeotia； Lysander, meantime, advanced throughPhocis to meet him, with a numerous body of soldiers. He took thecity of the Orchomenians, who came over to him of their own accord,and plundered Lebadea. He despatched also letters to Pausanias, orderinghim to move from Plataea to meet him at Haliartus, and that himselfwould be at the walls of Haliartus by break of day. These letterswere brought to the Thebans, the carrier of them falling into thehands of some Theban scouts. They, having received aid from Athens,committed their city to the charge of the Athenian troops, and sallyingout about the first sleep, succeeded in reaching Haliartus a littlebefore Lysander, and part of them entered into the city. He upon thisfirst of all resolved, posting his army upon a hill, to stay for Pausanias；then as the day advanced, not being able to rest, he bade his mentake up their arms, and encouraging the allies, led them in a columnalong the road to the walls. But those Thebans who had remained outside,taking the city on the left hand, advanced against the rear of theirenemies, by the fountain which is called Cissusa； here they tell thestory that the nurses washed the infant Bacchus after birth； the waterof it is of a bright wine-colour, clear, and most pleasant to drink；and not far off the Cretan storax grows all about which the Haliartiansadduce in token of Rhadamanthus having dwelt there, and they showhis sepulchre, calling it Alea. And the monument also of Alcmena ishard by； for there, as they say, she was buried, having married Rhadamanthusafter Amphitryon's death. But the Thebans inside the city, formingin order of battle with the Haliartians, stood still for some time,but on seeing Lysander with a party of those who were foremost approaching,on a sudden opening the gates and falling on, they killed him withthe soothsayer at his side, and a few others； for the greater partimmediately fled back to the main force. But the Thebans not slackening,but closely pursuing them, the whole body turned to fly towards thehills. There were one thousand of them slain； there died, also, ofthe Thebans three hundred, who were killed with their enemies, whilechasing them into craggy and difficult places. These had been undersuspicion of favouring the Lacedaemonians, and in their eagernessto clear themselves in the eyes of their fellow-citizens, exposedthemselves in the pursuit, and so met their death. News of the disasterreached Pausanias as he was on the way from Plataea to Thespiae, andhaving set his army in order he came to Haliartus； Thrasybulus, also,came from Thebes, leading the Athenians.

    Pausanias proposing to request the bodies of the dead under truce,the elders of the Spartans took it ill, and were angry among themselves,and coming to the king, declared that Lysander should not be takenaway upon any conditions； if they fought it out by arms about hisbody, and conquered, then they might bury him； if they were overcome,it was glorious to die upon the spot with their commander. When theelders had spoken these things, Pausanias saw it would be a difficultbusiness to vanquish the Thebans, who had but just been conquerors；that Lysander's body also lay near the walls, so that it would behard for them, though they overcame, to take it away without a truce；he therefore sent a herald, obtained a truce, and withdrew his forces,and carrying away the body of Lysander, they buried it in the firstfriendly soil they reached on crossing the Boeotian frontier, in thecountry the Panopaeans； where the monument still stands as you goon the road from Delphi to Chaeronea. Now the army quartering there,it is said that a person of Phocis, relating the battle to one whowas not in it, said, the enemies fell upon them just after Lysanderhad passed over the Hoplites； surprised at which a Spartan, a friendof Lysander, asked what Hoplites he meant, for he did not know thename. "It was there," answered the Phocian, "that the enemy killedthe first of us； the rivulet by the city is called Hoplites." On hearingwhich the Spartan shed tears and observed how impossible it is forany man to avoid his appointed lot； Lysander, it appears, having receivedan oracle as follows：-

    "Sounding Hoplites see thou bear in mind, And the earthborn dragon following behind." Some, however, say thatHoplites does not run by Haliartus, but is a watercourse near Coronea,falling into the river Philarus, not far from the town in former timescalled Hoplias, and now Isomantus.

    The man of Haliartus who killed Lysander, by name Neochorus, boreon his shield the device of a dragon； and this, it was supposed, theoracle signified. It is said also that at the time of the Peloponnesianwar, the Thebans received an oracle from the sanctuary of Ismenus,referring at once to the battle at Delium, and to this which thirtyyears after took solace at Haliartus. It ran thus：-

    "Hunting the wolf, observe the utmost bound, And the hill Orchalides where foxes most are found." By the words,"the utmost bound," Delium being intended, where Boeotia touches Attica,and by Orchalides, the hill now called Alopecus, which lies in theparts of Haliartus towards Helicon.

    But such a death befalling Lysander, the Spartans took it so grievouslyat the time, that they put the king to a trial for his life, whichhe not daring to await, fled to Tegea, and there lived out his lifein the sanctuary of Minerva. The poverty also of Lysander being discoveredby his death made his merit more manifest, since from so much wealthand power, from all the homage of the cities, and of the Persian kingdom,he had not in the least degree, so far as money goes, sought any privateaggrandizement, as Theopompus in his history relates, whom any onemay rather give credit to when he commends than when he finds fault,as it is more agreeable to him to blame than to praise. But subsequently,Ephorus says, some controversy arising among the allies at Sparta,which made it necessary to consult the writings which Lysander hadkept by him, Agesilaus came to his house, and finding the book inwhich the oration on the Spartan constitution was written at length,to the effect that the kingdom ought to be taken from the Eurypontidaeand Agiadae, and to be offered in common, and a choice made out ofthe best citizens, at first he was eager to make it public, and toshow his countrymen the real character of Lysander. But Lacratidas,a wise man, and at that time chief of the Ephors, hindered Agesilaus,and said they ought not to dig up Lysander again, but rather to burywith him a discourse, composed so plausibly and subtilely. Other honours,also, were paid him, after his death； and amongst these they imposeda fine upon those who had engaged themselves to marry his daughters,and then when Lysander was found to be poor, after his decease, refusedthem； because when they thought him rich they had been observant ofhim, but now his poverty had proved him just and good, they forsookhim. For there was, it seems, in Sparta, a punishment for not marrying,for a late, and for a bad marriage； and to the last penalty thosewere most especially liable who sought alliances with the rich insteadof with the good and with their friends. Such is the account we havefound given of Lysander.

    THE END