Page:History of Greece Vol IX.djvu/220

198 HISTORY OF GREECE. oligarchy came to its end by the unassisted efforts oi Thrasybulua and the Athenian democrats themselves. It is true, indeed, that the arrogance and selfishness of Sparta and of Lysander had alienated the Thebans, Corinthians, Megarians, and other neighbor- ing allies, and induced them to sympathize with the Athenian ex- iles against the atrocities of the Thirty, but they never rendered any positive assistance of moment. The inordinate personal am- bition of Lysander had also offended King Pausanias and the Spartan ephors, so that they too became indifferent to the Thirty, who were his creatures. But this merely deprived the Thirty ol that foreign support which Lysander, had he still continued hi the ascendent, would have extended to them in full measure. It was not the positive cause of their downfall. That crisis was brought about altogether by the energy of Thrasybulus and his com- panions, who manifested such force and determination as could not have been put down without an extraordinary display of Spartaiz. military power ; a display not entirely safe when the sympathies of the chief allies were with the other side, and at any rate ad- verse to the inclinations of Pausanias. As it was with the Thirty at Athens, so it probably was also with the dekarchies in the de- pendent cities. The Spartan ephors took no steps to put them down; but where the resistance of the citizens was strenuous enough to overthrow them, no Spartan intervention came to prop them up, and the harmost perhaps received orders not to consider his authority as indissolubly linked with theirs. The native forces of each dependent city being thus left to find their own level, the decemvirs, once installed, would doubtless maintain themselves in a great number ; while in other cases they would be overthrown, or, perhaps, would contrive to perpetuate their dominion by compromise and alliance with other oligarchical sections. This confused and unsettled state of the dekarchies, some still exist- ing, others half-existing, others again defunct, prevailed in 396 B. c., when Lysander accompanied Agesilaus into Asia, in the full hope that he should have influence enough to reorganize them all. 1 1 Compare the two passages of Xenophon's Hellenica, iii, 4, 7 ; iii, 5,13. "Are avvTETapa-'/fj.Evuv ev ratf itokevi ruv TTO/UTEIUV, nal afire dijfioKpariaf In ovcrtjf, uuKep ' 'A&Tfvaiuv, OVTE denac^iaf, uanep eTi Avadvdpov. But that some of these dekarchies still continued, we know from the