him to death for this crime.

Now, Anaxagoras had never heard of the true God, the God whom we
worship. He had heard only of Zeus, Athene, and the other gods honored
by his people; but he was so wise and so thoughtful that he believed the
world could never have been created by such divinities as those.

He observed all he saw very attentively, and shocked the people greatly
by saying that the sun was not a god driving in a golden chariot, but a
great glowing rock, which, in spite of its seemingly small size, he
thought must be about as large as the Peloponnesus.

Of course, this seems very strange to you. But Anaxagoras lived more
than two thousand years ago, and since then people have constantly been
finding out new things and writing them in books, so it is no wonder
that in this matter you are already, perhaps, wiser than he. When you
come to study about the sun, you will find that Anaxagoras was partly
right, but that, instead of being only as large as the Peloponnesus, the
sun is more than a million times larger than the whole earth!

Anaxagoras also tried to explain that the moon was probably very much
like the earth, with mountains, plains, and seas. These things, which
they could not understand, made the Athenians so angry that they exiled
the philosopher, in spite of all Pericles could say.

Anaxagoras went away without making any fuss, and withdrew to a distant
city, where he continued his studies as before. Many people regretted
his absence, and missed his wise conversation, but none so much as
Pericles, who never forgot him, and who gave him money enough to keep
him in comfort.

Another great friend of Pericles was a woman called As-pa'sia. She was
so bright that the wisest men of Athens used to go to her house merely
for the pleasure of talking to her. All the best-informed people in town
used to assemble there; and Cimon and Pericles, Phidias, Anaxagoras, and
Soc'ra-tes were among her chosen friends.

LX. BEGINNING OF THE PELOPONNESIAN WAR.

The end of Pericles' long and useful life was troubled by a new war
between Athens and Sparta; for, as soon as the thirty-years' truce was
ended, both cities flew to arms. The war which then began, and which in
history is known as the Peloponnesian War, lasted almost as long as the
truce; that is to say, for nearly thirty years.

Pericles knew very well that the Athenians, not being so well trained,
were no match for the Spartans on land. He therefore