Egypt, Assyria, Babylonia, Persia had risen and set; Rome subsequently rose and fell; France, Italy, Spain, England, Germany, and our own infantine experimental Republic of the West are advancing fatefully in the old circle: yet not one of these may boast as many eminent3 men, stars of first magnitude, glorious constellations—as little Greece might boast, that brief bright star-night of the past thick-studded with immortal4 names.
Callimachus, War Ruler.
Of the ten commanders of the ten Athenian tribes who assembled on the heights overlooking the plain of Marathon, five voted against battle with the invading Persians, five in favor of battle. Callimachus the War Ruler, influenced by the enthusiastic eloquence5 of Miltiades, gave the casting vote in favor of battle. On this so seeming slight chance hung Marathon.
Humanly speaking, it was madness for that little handful of Greeks to rush down upon the countless6 Persian hosts. The Persians themselves could not believe their own eyes when they[8] saw the Greeks running to battle; and half-heartedly, perhaps even jestingly, they prepared for a brief skirmish with madmen.
The Medes and Persians were at that time deemed invincible7. Babylonia, Assyria, Asia Minor8, the isles9 of the ?gean, the African Coast, the Euxine, Thrace, Macedonia had successively fallen before the soldiers of the Great King. The ?gean was a Persian Lake; from east, from south, from north approached the awful power of imperial Persia, ready irresistibly10 to absorb little Greece, to punish and obliterate11 Athens. Already the Eretrians, who together with the Athenians had aided in the Ionian revolt, were overtaken by the dread12 vengeance13 of Darius: their city had fallen and more than a thousand Eretrians were left bound on the island Egilia awaiting the return of the victorious14 Persian fleet from Marathon. Then together with the captive Athenians, the Eretrians were to be taken to Susa there to await the pleasure of the Great King, whose wrath15 had been new-kindled day by day with memories of burning Sardis by a court attendant whose sole duty was to repeat to Darius at each meal, “Sire, remember the Athenians.” Sardis would then be fearfully avenged16.
Sardis was, indeed, avenged but not by Marathon. There is a justice exact even to the weight of a hair in all things of life; seen or unseen, known or unknown, acknowledged or unacknowledged, it is ever at work silently, forcefully, fatefully. Athens burns Sardis and desecrates17 the temples of the Persian gods; and some years later the Persians sack and devastate18 Athens, razing19 her temples to the ground leaving her site in smoking ruins.
“Behold20 there are Watchers over you, worthy21 Recorders, knowing what you do: and whosoever shall have wrought22 an ant’s weight of good shall behold it; and whosoever shall have wrought an ant’s weight of evil shall behold it.”—Koran.
History tells us that after the battle of Marathon, six thousand[9] four hundred Persians lay dead upon the battlefield and only one hundred and ninety-two Athenians. This seems incredible, yet it is equally incredible that the Greeks won. Ten thousand Athenians and one thousand Plat?ans had fought against one hundred thousand soldiers of the Great King, and—won. There was something wrong with that motley army of the Great King; some subtly retributive force was at work, some balancing Justice.
Miltiades.
Doubtless to Miltiades more than to any other man Athens and the world owes Marathon. It was his overpowering eloquence that weighed heavily in the balance against the honest fears of those who dreaded23 the encounter with Persia’s hitherto invincible warriors24; the well founded fears of those who were secretly in sympathy with Hippias and hoped that a battle might be averted25: and the prudent26 fears of those who dreaded defeat and the vengeance of the Great King and thought it wiser to wait until the promised help should come from Sparta. One man’s eloquent27 fearlessness outweighed28 all those fearful considerations and precipitated29 the mad descent from the hill, the onslaught, the unequal fight, the wonder-victory.
Yet had Miltiades rested after the momentous30 battle all might have been lost. For the sullen31 Persian fleet hastening from Marathon had turned its course towards undefended Athens. And so that very night, even with the departure of the last Persian ship from the shore, Miltiades led his battle torn veterans a distance of about twenty-two miles to Phalerum, the port nearest to Athens. And early the next morning when, indeed, true to Miltiades’ fears, the Persian fleet appeared off the coast of Phalerum, the men of Marathon stood awaiting their landing. They did not land.
[10]
Hippias, deposed32 tyrant33 of Athens, and guide and leader of the Persians was killed at Marathon. Callimachus, the polemarch, was killed, not in the battle proper, but on the shore as the defeated forces were confusedly seeking safety in escape to their ships, and the Greeks, following them even to the water’s edge, kept up the slaughter34.
Surely Miltiades remained ever after the best beloved hero of Athens, and his years passed on amid ever vernal honors down the easy ways of old age, and the end was in peace!
But, alas35! history tells us that Miltiades fell into disgrace, was banished36 from Athens, and a few years after Marathon, died of his wounds in prison.
Too bad that every crest37-wave of human achievement hastily tumbles to a depression correspondingly low as the swell38 was high. Scipio, conqueror39 at Zama, triumph-crowned, and honored with the appellation40 Africanus, was, on that same day one year later on trial for his life. What a tumult41 of conflicting feelings must have raged in his heart when, disdaining42 to reply to the accusations43 made against him, Scipio said, turning to the fickle44 populace, “I would remind the men of Rome that this day one year ago I won the battle of Zama.” And then the tide turned in his favor and the young-world children wept because of their ingratitude45, and clamorously acquitted46 Scipio. But depressive doubt succeeded crest confidence and Scipio went into exile. Ingrata Patria! (Ungrateful Native Land!) Scipio exclaimed, as death drew near and his tired eyes turned longingly47 towards Rome.
Coriolanus, Roman exile, torn to pieces by the Volscians; Hannibal, lone48 boast of Carthage, hater of Rome; Themistocles, hero of Salamis; Aristides the Just; Socrates; Miltiades are among the tragic49 figures on the historic stage whose dying heart-throbs may have reproachfully re-echoed Ingrata Patria.
[11]
All the Glory That Was Greece.
From Marathon (490 B. C.) clarion50 of the birth of Athens, to ?gospotami (405 B. C.) her knell51 of death, momentous history was made.
?gospotami knelled52 the fall of Athens; Leuctra, of Sparta; Mantinea, of Epaminondas-Thebes; and Ch?ronea, of all Hellas; but not all of Athens died at ?gospotami. Pericles, Aspasia, Phidias, Ictinus, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, ?schylus, Sophocles, Euripides, Aristophanes, Herodotus, Thucydides, Xenophon—have not died; they are effective forces in the world today.
Spartan53 military excellence54, Spartan hardihood and endurance is a bubble that burst; it is no more: but Attic excellence of intellect endures imperishably—with Platonic55 wonder as freshly fair in college halls today as in the Academia and Lyceum of the old Athenian day. Mind is the only Conqueror.
Blue sky of Athens, white cliff Acropolis,—so unchanging amid change, so laughing fair among the ruins of the glory that was Greece!
Nature’s ever young irreverence56 towards the wreck57 of time is invigorating. It calls to the heart of man in language the heart understands, What’s Time!
“Men said, ‘But time escapes
Live now or never.’
“He said, ‘What’s time! Leave Now for dogs and apes—
Man has Forever.’”
—Browning.
Sparta.
The manner in which the news of the defeat of the Athenians at ?gospotami affected58 Athens is in striking contrast with the manner in which Sparta received word of the disastrous[12] Spartan defeat at Leuctra. When report of the naval59 disaster reached the Pir?us, it was quickly communicated to the thronging60 crowds within the Long Walls, and thence to the heart of the city. Consternation61 prevailed and all Athens mourned. “That night,” says Xenophon, “no one in Athens slept.”
The news of the defeat at Leuctra reached Sparta in the midst of a festive62 celebration. The magistrates63 heard of the defeat, and the death of their king, with countenances64 unmoved; they gave orders that the festival be uninterrupted; and they urged all who had lost relatives and friends in the battle of Leuctra to appear at the festivities in particularly gay attire65 and with smiling faces, while those whose relatives were among the survivors66 were ordered to put on mourning.
The spirit of Lycurgus, of Draco, and of Leonidas seems to have fused and chilled into the Laws of Sparta. No surrender; conquer or die; return with your shield or upon it; wounds all in front and faces grimly fierce even in death—such was the spirit of Sparta.
Whatever may be our admiration67 for the Spartan qualities in general, there can be but lament68 that they found expression in the Peloponnesian War. This fratricidal strife69 brought ruin to Hellas. Marathon, Thermopyl?, Salamis, Plat?a, Mycale were all undone70 by Syracuse and ?gospotami. Ch?ronea was made possible and the passing of the scepter of empire from Greece to Macedonia, from leaderless Hellas to Alexander the Great.
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1
attic
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| n.顶楼，屋顶室 | |
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supremacy
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| n.至上；至高权力 | |
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eminent
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| adj.显赫的，杰出的，有名的，优良的 | |
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immortal
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| adj.不朽的；永生的，不死的；神的 | |
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eloquence
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| n.雄辩；口才，修辞 | |
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countless
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| adj.无数的，多得不计其数的 | |
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invincible
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| adj.不可征服的，难以制服的 | |
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minor
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| adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修 | |
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isles
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| 岛( isle的名词复数 ) | |
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irresistibly
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| adv.无法抵抗地，不能自持地；极为诱惑人地 | |
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obliterate
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| v.擦去，涂抹，去掉...痕迹，消失，除去 | |
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dread
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| vt.担忧，忧虑；惧怕，不敢；n.担忧，畏惧 | |
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vengeance
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| n.报复，报仇，复仇 | |
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victorious
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| adj.胜利的，得胜的 | |
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wrath
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| n.愤怒，愤慨，暴怒 | |
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avenged
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| v.为…复仇，报…之仇( avenge的过去式和过去分词 )；为…报复 | |
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desecrates
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| 毁坏或亵渎( desecrate的第三人称单数 ) | |
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devastate
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| v.使荒芜，破坏，压倒 | |
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razing
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| v.彻底摧毁，将…夷为平地( raze的现在分词 ) | |
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behold
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| v.看，注视，看到 | |
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worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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wrought
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| v.引起；以…原料制作；运转；adj.制造的 | |
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dreaded
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| adj.令人畏惧的；害怕的v.害怕，恐惧，担心( dread的过去式和过去分词) | |
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warriors
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| 武士，勇士，战士( warrior的名词复数 ) | |
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averted
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| 防止，避免( avert的过去式和过去分词 )； 转移 | |
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prudent
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| adj.谨慎的，有远见的，精打细算的 | |
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eloquent
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| adj.雄辩的，口才流利的；明白显示出的 | |
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outweighed
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| v.在重量上超过( outweigh的过去式和过去分词 )；在重要性或价值方面超过 | |
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precipitated
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| v.（突如其来地）使发生( precipitate的过去式和过去分词 )；促成；猛然摔下；使沉淀 | |
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momentous
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| adj.重要的，重大的 | |
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sullen
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| adj.愠怒的，闷闷不乐的，(天气等)阴沉的 | |
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deposed
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| v.罢免( depose的过去式和过去分词 )；（在法庭上）宣誓作证 | |
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tyrant
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| n.暴君，专制的君主，残暴的人 | |
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slaughter
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| n.屠杀，屠宰；vt.屠杀，宰杀 | |
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alas
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| int.唉(表示悲伤、忧愁、恐惧等) | |
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banished
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| v.放逐，驱逐( banish的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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crest
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| n.顶点；饰章；羽冠；vt.达到顶点；vi.形成浪尖 | |
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swell
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| vi.膨胀，肿胀；增长，增强 | |
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conqueror
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| n.征服者，胜利者 | |
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appellation
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| n.名称，称呼 | |
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tumult
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| n.喧哗；激动，混乱；吵闹 | |
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disdaining
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| 鄙视( disdain的现在分词 )； 不屑于做，不愿意做 | |
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accusations
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| n.指责( accusation的名词复数 )；指控；控告；（被告发、控告的）罪名 | |
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fickle
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| adj.(爱情或友谊上)易变的，不坚定的 | |
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ingratitude
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| n.忘恩负义 | |
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acquitted
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| 宣判…无罪( acquit的过去式和过去分词 )； 使（自己）作出某种表现 | |
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longingly
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| adv. 渴望地 热望地 | |
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lone
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| adj.孤寂的，单独的；唯一的 | |
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tragic
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| adj.悲剧的，悲剧性的，悲惨的 | |
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clarion
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| n.尖音小号声；尖音小号 | |
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51
knell
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| n.丧钟声；v.敲丧钟 | |
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52
knelled
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| v.丧钟声( knell的过去式和过去分词 )；某事物结束的象征 | |
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53
spartan
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| adj.简朴的，刻苦的；n.斯巴达；斯巴达式的人 | |
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excellence
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| n.优秀，杰出，(pl.)优点，美德 | |
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platonic
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| adj.精神的；柏拉图（哲学）的 | |
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irreverence
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| n.不尊敬 | |
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wreck
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| n.失事，遇难；沉船；vt.(船等)失事，遇难 | |
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affected
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| adj.不自然的，假装的 | |
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naval
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| adj.海军的，军舰的，船的 | |
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thronging
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| v.成群，挤满( throng的现在分词 ) | |
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consternation
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| n.大为吃惊，惊骇 | |
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festive
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| adj.欢宴的，节日的 | |
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magistrates
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| 地方法官，治安官( magistrate的名词复数 ) | |
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countenances
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| n.面容( countenance的名词复数 )；表情；镇静；道义支持 | |
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attire
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| v.穿衣，装扮[同]array；n.衣着；盛装 | |
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survivors
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| 幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 ) | |
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admiration
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| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
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lament
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| n.悲叹，悔恨，恸哭；v.哀悼，悔恨，悲叹 | |
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strife
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| n.争吵，冲突，倾轧，竞争 | |
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undone
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| a.未做完的，未完成的 | |
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