Read more
Excerpt from Euripides
But before the poet was come to years of discretion, Pericles had inaugurated a new internal policy, in opposition to Kimon. He was no less an aristocrat; nay, he was the lineal descendant of the Old tyrants, who had educated Athens in letters, while they retarded her political development. But, like the Old Whig nobility Of England, he led the Liberal party against the Tories under Kimon. Hence came constitutional con¿icts of great bitterness, terminating in the victory of the popular party and the administration Of Pericles. The old aristocratic party, however, remained still a considerable power - an opposition not always consti tutional, and always a danger to the Athenian demos, until the Revolution Of 411 and the Tyranny of the Thirty forced all its leaders into plain treason towards the State. Then the restored democracy so secured itself that we hear of its opponents as a party no more. But In Pericles' earlier days, we must conceive the Athenians as well versed in constitutional dis eussions, as perpetually debating the limits and value of an aristocracy, the sovereign rights of the people, the responsibility of magistrates, while no less im portant questions of foreign policy, of the rights of subjects, of the administration of finance, were brought before the mind of every citizen.
About the Publisher
Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com
This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
