A source-book of ancient history - The Search For Mecca

256 The Supremacy of Sparta
III.
The Violence of Sparta
The climax
of Sparta's
power, 379
B.C.
Xenophon,
Hellenica,
V. 3.
The guilty
cannot escape
punishment.
76. 4-
A ncient
World, 257;
Greece, 268 f.
On every side the affairs of Lacedemon had signally
prospered: Thebes and the rest of the Boeotian states lay
absolutely at her feet; Corinth had become her most
faithful ally; Argos . . . was humbled to the dust;
Athens was isolated; and lastly, those of her own allies
who displayed a hostile feeling toward her had been
punished; so that, to all outward appearance, the foundations
of her empire were at length absolutely well and
firmly laid.
Abundant examples might be found alike in Hellenic
and in foreign history, to prove that the Divine powers
mark what is done amiss, winking neither at impiety nor
at the commission of unhallowed acts; but at present I
confine myself to the facts before me. The Lacedemonians,
who had pledged themselves by oath to leave the states
independent, had laid violent hands on the acropolis of
Thebes, and were eventually punished by the victims of
that iniquity single-handed,—the Lacedemonians, be it
noted, who had never before been mastered by living man.
STUDIES
I. Where was Phyle and who was Thrasybulus {Ancient World,
253)? Who were the Thirty, and why did they attack the patriots at
Phyle? What may we learn of camp life from this passage? Where
was Peiraeus? How was it connected with Athens? How did Thrasybulus
arrange his forces for battle? What was the advantage of their
position? From his speech what may we learn as to the ruling party
at Athens and the exiles respectively? What part did he think the
gods had taken in the conflict thus far? What motives to bravery
had his men? What part had the soothsayer in the proceedings?
How were the military movements influenced by religion? Who was
the author of this selection, and when did he live relatively to the
events narrated? What is the rehability of the story?