arose from
the ranks of the Peloponnesians that freedom had at length begun to
dawn upon Greece.

CHAPTER XIV

THE THIRTY TYRANTS, AND THE DEATH OF SOCRATES, B.C. 404-399.

The fall of Athens brought back a host of exiles, all of them the
enemies of her democratical constitution. Of these these most
distinguished was Critias, a man of wealth and family, the uncle of
Plato, and once the intimate friend of Socrates, distinguished both for
his literary and political talents, but of unmeasured ambition and
unscrupulous conscience. Critias and his companions soon found a party
with which they could co-operate; and supported by Lysander they
proposed in the assembly that a committee of thirty should be named to
draw up laws for the future government of the city, and to undertake
its temporary administration. Among the most prominent of the thirty
names were those of Critias and Theramenes. The proposal was of course
carried. Lysander himself addressed the Assembly, and contemptuously
told them that they had better take thought for their personal safety,
which now lay at his mercy, than for their political constitution. The
committee thus appointed soon obtained the title of the Thirty Tyrants,
the name by which they have become known in all subsequent time. After
naming an entirely new Senate, and appointing fresh magistrates, they
proceeded to exterminate their most obnoxious opponents. But Critias,
and the more violent party among them, still called for more blood; and
with the view of obtaining it, procured a Spartan garrison, under the
harmost Callibius, to be installed in the Acropolis. Besides this
force, they had an organized band of assassins at their disposal.
Blood now flowed on all sides. Many of the leading men of Athens fell,
others took to flight.

Thus the reign of terror was completely established. In the bosom of
the Thirty, however, there was a party, headed by Theramenes, who
disapproved of these proceedings. But his moderation cost him his
life. One day as he entered the Senate-house, Critias rose and
denounced him as a public enemy, and ordered him to be carried off to
instant death. Upon hearing these words Theramenes sprang for refuge
to the altar in the Senate-house; but he was dragged away by Satyrus,
the cruel and unscrupulous head of the "Eleven," a body of officers who
carried into execution the penal sentence of the law. Being conveyed
to prison, he was compelled to drink t