Page:History of Greece Vol X.djvu/189

PEACE CONCLUDED. 167 had been at the peace of Antalkidas ; next, the distribution of such preeminence or headship, as was consistent with this universal au- tonomy, between Sparta and Athens ; the former on land, the latter at sea, as the means of ensuring tranquillity in Greece. That " autonomy perverted to Lacedaemonian purposes," which Perikles had denounced before the Peloponnesian war as the con- dition of Peloponnesus, and which had been made the political canon of Greece by the peace of Antalkidas, was now at an end. On the other hand, Athens and Sparta were to become mu- tual partners and guarantees ; dividing the headship of Greece by an ascertained line of demarcation, yet neither of them interfering with the principle of universal autonomy. Thebes, and her claim to the presidency of Breotia, were thus to be set aside by mutual consent. It was upon this basis that the peace was concluded. The armaments on both sides were to be disbanded ; the harmosts and garrisons everywhere withdrawn, in order that each city might enjoy full autonomy. If any city should fail in observance of these conditions, and continue in a career of force against any other, all were at liberty to take arms for the support of the in- jured party ; but no one who did not feel disposed, was bound so to take arms. This last stipulation exonerated the Lacedaemonian allies from one of their most vexatious chains. To the conditions here mentioned, all parties agreed ; and on the ensuing day the oaths were exchanged. Sparta took the oath for herself and her allies ; Athens took the oath for herself only ; her allies afterwards took it severally, each city for itself. Why such ditference was made, we are not told ; for it would seem that the principle of severance applied to both confederacies alike. Next came the turn of the Thebans to swear ; and here the fatal hitch was disclosed. Epaminondas, the Theban envoy, in- sisted on taking the oath, not for Thebes separately, but for Thebes as president of the Bceotian federation, including all the Boeotian cities. The Spartan authorities on the other hand, and Agesilaus as the foremost of all, strenuously opposed him. They required that he should swear for Thebes alone, leaving the Boeo tian cities to take the oath each for itself. Already in the course of the preliminary debates. Epaminon das had spoken out boldly against the ascendency of Sparta