Page:History of Greece Vol III.djvu/107

SALAMIS ACQUIRED BY ATHENS. 91 Peisistratus, though the latter must have been at this time (000- 594 B. c.) a very young man, or rather a boy. 1 The stories in Plutarch, as to the way in which Salarnis was recovered, are contradictory as well as apocryphal, ascribing fc Solon various stratagems to deceive the Megarian occupiers ; un- fortunately, no authority is given for any of them. According to that which seems the most plausible, he was directed by the Delphian god, first to propitiate the local heroes of the island ; and he accordingly crossed over to it by night, for the purpose of sacrificing to the heroes Periphemus and Kychreus, on the Salaminian shore. Five hundred Athenian volunteers were then levied for the attack of the island, under the stipulation that if they were victorious they should hold it in property and citi- zenship.' 3 They were safely landed on an outlying promontory, while Solon, having been fortunate enough to seize a ship which the Megarians had sent to watch the proceedings, manned it with Athenians, and sailed straight towards the city of Salamis, to which the five hundred Athenians who had landed also directed their march. The Megarians marched out from the city to repel the latter, and during the heat of the engagement, Solon, with his Megarian ship, and Athenian crew, sailed directly to the city : the Megarians, interpreting this as the return of their own crew, permitted the ship to approach without resistance, and the city was thus taken by surprise. Permission having been given to the 1 Plutarch, /. c.; Diogen. Lacrt. i, 47. Both Herodotus (i, 59) and some authors read by Plutarch ascribed to Pcisistratus an active part in the war against the Mcgarians, and even the capture of Niscea, the port of Megara. Now the first usurpation of Peisistratus was in 560 B. c., and we can hardly believe that he can have been prominent and renowned in a war no less than forty years before. It will be seen hereafter see the note on the interview between Solon and Krcesus, towards the end of this chapter that Herodotus, and perhaps other authors also, conceived the Solonian legislation to date at a period later than it really does ; instead of 594 B. c., they placed it nearer to the usurpation of Peisistratus. 2 Plutarch, Solon, icvpiovc elvai rot) Tro/Urtfyiaroc. The strict meaning of these words refers only to the government of the island ; but it seems almost cer- tainly implied that they would be established in it as kleruchs, or proprietors of land, not moaning necessarily that all the preexisting proprietors would toe expelled.