Page:History of Greece Vol VIII.djvu/253

LYSAXDEK AT ATHENS 231 yards were burnt, and the arsenals themselves ruined. 1 To demolish the Long Walls and the fortifications of Peiraeus, was however, a work of some time ; and a certain number of days were granted to the Athenians, within which it was required to be completed. In the beginning of the work, the Lacedaemonians and their allies all lent a hand, with the full pride and exultation of conquerors ; amidst women playing the flute and dancers crowned with wreaths ; mingled with joyful exclamations from the Peloponnesian allies, that this was the first day of Grecian freedom. 2 How many days were allowed for this humiliating duty imposed upon Athenian hands, of demolishing the elaborate, tute- lary, and commanding works of their forefathers, we are not told. But the business was not completed within the interval named, so that the Athenians did not come up to the letter of the condi- tions, and had therefore, by strict construction, forfeited their title to the peace granted. 3 The interval seems, however, to have been prolonged ; probably considering that for the real labor, as well as the melancholy character of the work to be done, too short a time had been allowed at first. It appears that Lysander, after assisting at the solemn cere- mony of beginning to demolish the walls, and making such a breach as left Athens without any substantial means of resistance, did not remain to complete the work, but withdrew with a portion of his fleet to undertake the siege of Samos which still held out, leaving the remainder to see that the conditions imposed were fulfilled. 4 After so long an endurance of extreme misery, doubt- IBM the general population thought of little except relief from famine and its accompaniments, without any disposition to con- 1 Plutarch, Lysand. c. 15 ; Lysias cont. Agorat. sect. 50. In dt nl reixn (if Ka-caKu(^T], Kal al v?/ef rotf Tro/U/it'otf Kapedodqaav, Kal ri veupta Ka&ypEdi] etc. s Xenoph. Ilellcn. ii, 2, 23. Kal T%i]Tpi6ui> nn^y irpodvfiiy, vofiifrvres kKeivijv TJJV i^epav rj? 'EAAuJt ap%Eiv r^f Plutarch, Lysand. c. 15. 1 Lysias cont. Eratosth. Or. xii, sect. 75, p. 431, K. ; Plutarch, Lysand. c.l 5 ; Dioclor. xiv, 3. 4 Lysander dedicated a golden crown tD Athene in the acropolis, which ii recorded in the inscriptions among the articles belonging to the goddess See Bocckh, Corp. Inscr. A.ttic. Nos. 150-152, p. 235.