The Life of Greece

by Will Durant

  IV. THE END OF AN AGE

  When the news of his death reached Greece, revolts against the Macedonian authority broke out everywhere. Theban exiles in Athens organized a force of patriots, and besieged the Macedonian garrison in the Cadmeia. In Athens itself, where many had prayed for an end to Alexander, the antiMacedonian party, feeling that its prayers had been heard, crowned themselves with garlands and feasted over the death of him whom they had courted as a god—singing, says Plutarch, “triumphant songs of victory, as if by their own valor they had vanquished him.”42

  For a moment Demosthenes was in his glory. He had not fared well during Alexander’s campaigns: he had been convicted of accepting a heavy bribe from Harpalus, and had been flung into jail; he had been allowed to escape, and had lived nine months of fretting exile in Troezen. Now he was recalled, and was sent as envoy to the Peloponnesus to raise allies for Athens in a war of liberation. A united force marched north, met Antipater at Crannon, and was destroyed. The old soldier, who lacked Alexander’s sensitivity to Athenian culture, laid the most arduous terms upon the city, requiring it to pay the cost of the war, to receive a Macedonian garrison, to abandon its democratic constitution and courts, to disfranchise and deport to colonial settlements all citizens (12,000 out of 21,000) possessing less than two thousand drachmas’ worth of property, and to surrender Demosthenes, Hypereides, and two other anti-Macedonian orators. Demosthenes fled to Calauria and took refuge in a temple sanctuary. Surrounded by Macedonian pursuers, he drank a phial of poison, and died before he could drag himself out of the sacred court.

  The same tragic year saw the end of Aristotle. He had long been unpopular in Athens: the Academy and the school of Isocrates disliked him as a critic and a rival, while the patriots looked upon him as a leader of the pro-Macedonian party. Advantage was taken of Alexander’s death to bring an accusation of impiety against Aristotle; heretical passages from his books were brought in as evidence; he was charged with having offered divine honors to the dictator Hermeias, who, being a slave, could not have been a god. Aristotle quietly left the city, saying that he would not give Athens a chance to sin a second time against philosophy.43 He withdrew to the home of his mother’s family in Chalcis, leaving the Lyceum in the care of Theophrastus. The Athenians passed sentence of death upon him, but had neither opportunity nor need to execute it. For either through a stomach illness aggravated by his flight, or, as some say,44 by taking poison, Aristotle died a few months after leaving Athens, in the sixty-third year of his age. His will was a model of kindly consideration for his second wife, his family, and his slaves.

  The death of Greek democracy was both a violent and a natural death, in which the fatal agents were the organic disorders of the system; the sword of Macedon merely added the final blow. The city-state had proved incapable of solving the problems of government: it had failed to preserve order within, and defense without; despite the appeals of Gorgias, Isocrates, and Plato for some Dorian discipline to tame Ionian freedom, it had discovered no way of reconciling local autonomy with national stability and power; and its love of liberty had seldom interfered with its passion for empire. The class war had become bitter beyond control, and had turned democracy into a contest in legislative looting. The Assembly, a noble body in its better days, had degenerated into a mob hating all superiority, rejecting all restraint, ruthless before weakness but cringing before power, voting itself every favor, and taxing property to the point of crushing initiative, industry, and thrift. Philip, Alexander, and Antipater did not destroy Greek freedom; it had destroyed itself; and the order that they forged preserved for centuries longer, and disseminated through Egypt and the East, a civilization that might otherwise have died of its own tyrannous anarchy.

  And yet, had oligarchy or monarchy done any better? The Thirty had committed more atrocities against life and property in the few months of their power than the democracy in the preceding hundred years.45 And while democracy was producing chaos in Athens, monarchy was producing chaos in Macedonia—a dozen wars of succession, a hundred assassinations, and a thousand interferences with freedom—with no redeeming glory of literature, science, philosophy, or art. The weakness and smallness of the state in Greece had been a boon to the individual, if not in body, certainly in soul; that freedom, costly though it was, had generated the achievements of the Greek mind. Individualism in the end destroys the group, but in the interim it stimulates personality, mental exploration, and artistic creation. Greek democracy was corrupt and incompetent, and had to die. But when it was dead men realized how beautiful its heyday had been; and all later generations of antiquity looked back to the centuries of Pericles and Plato as the zenith of Greece, and of all history.

  BOOK V

  THE HELLENISTIC DISPERSION

  322-146 B.C.

  CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE FOR BOOK V

  B.C.

  348-39:

  Speusippus head of the Academy

  339-14:

  Xenocrates head of the Academy

  323-285:

  Ptolemy I (Soter) founds Ptolemaic dynasty in Egypt

  323:

  Judea made a satrapy of Syria

  322-288:

  Theophrastus head of the Lyceum

  321:

  Partition of Alexander’s empire; Menander’s first play

  320:

  Ptolemy I captures Jerusalem; Pyrrho of Elis and Crates of Thebes, philosophers

  319:

  Philemon and the New Comedy

  318:

  Aristoxenus of Tarentum, theorist of music

  317-07:

  Demetrius of Phalerum in power at Athens

  316:

  Cassander King of Macedonia

  315-01:

  Antigonus I (Cyclops) King of Macedonia

  314:

  Antigonus I proclaims freedom of Greece; Zeno comes to Athens

  314-270:

  Polemo head of the Academy

  312-198:

  Judea under the Ptolemies

  312-280:

  Seleucus I (Nicator) establishes Seleucid Empire

  311:

  Hamilcar invades Sicily

  310:

  Agathocles, dictator of Syracuse, invades Africa

  307:

  Law against the philosophers

  307-287:

  Demetrius Poliorcetes King of Macedonia

  306:

  Epicurus opens his school at Athens

  306-02:

  War between Cassander and Demetrius Poliorcetes for mastery of Greece

  B.C.

  305:

  Timaeus of Tauromenium, historian

  301:

  Zeno opens his school at the Stoa; Seleucus I founds Antioch; Lysimachus defeats Antigonus I at Ipsus

  300:

  Euclid of Alexandria, mathematician; Euhemerus, rationalist

  295-72:

  Pyrrhus King of the Molossians

  290:

  Rhodian school of sculpture

  288-70:

  Strato head of the Lyceum

  285-46:

  Ptolemy II (Philadelphus); Alexandrian Museum and Library

  285:

  Zenodotus head of the Library; Herophilus of Chalcedon, anatomist

  283-39:

  Antigonus II (Gonatas) King of Macedonia

  280:

  Aristarchus of Samos, astronomer; rise of Achaean League; Pyrrhus helps Tarentum against Rome

  280-62:

  Antiochus I (Soter) Seleucid emperor

  280-79:

  Gauls invade Macedonia and Greece

  279:

  Pyrrhus invades Sicily

  278:

  The Colossus of Rhodes

  277:

  Gauls invade Asia Minor

  275:

  Aratus of Soli, poet

  271:

  Timon of Phlius, satirist

  270:

  Callimachus of Alexandria and Theocritus of Cos, poets; Berosus of Babylon, historian
r />   270-69:

  Crates of Athens head of the Academy

  270-16:

  Hieron II Dictator of Syracuse

  B.C

  269-41:

  Arcesilaus head of the Middle Academy

  266-61:

  Chremonidean War

  261:

  Antigonus II takes Athens

  261-47:

  Antiochus II (Theos) Seleucid emperor

  261-32:

  Cleanthes head of the Stoa

  260:

  Herodas of Cos, poet

  258:

  Erasistratus of Ceos, physiologist

  257-180:

  Aristophanes of Byzantium, philologist

  251:

  Aratus of Sicyon frees his city

  250:

  Arsaces founds kingdom of Parthia; the Laocoön; Manetho, Egyptian historian; Lycophron of Chalcis, poet

  247:

  Archimedes of Syracuse, scientist

  247-26:

  Seleucus II (Callinicus)

  246-21:

  Ptolemy II (Euergetes I)

  243:

  Aratus leads Achaean League against Macedonia

  242:

  Agis IV attempts reforms in Sparta

  240:

  Apollonius of Rhodes, poet

  239-29:

  Demetrius II King of Macedonia

  235-197:

  Attalus I establishes kingdom of Pergamum

  235-195:

  Eratosthenes librarian at Alexandria

  232-07:

  Chrysippus head of the Stoa

  229:

  Aratus frees Athens

  229-21:

  Antigonus III (Doson) King of Macedonia

  226-24:

  Reforms of Cleomenes III in Sparta

  226-23:

  Seleucus III (Soter)

  225:

  Earthquake destroys Rhodes

  223-187:

  Antiochus III (the Great) Seleucid emperor

  221:

  Antigonus III defeats Cleomenes III at Sellasia

  221-179:

  Philip V King of Macedonia

  221-03:

  Ptolemy IV (Philopator)

  220:

  Apollonius of Perga, mathematician

  217:

  Ptolemy IV defeats Antiochus III at Raphia

  215:

  Alliance of Philip V and Hannibal

  214-05:

  First Macedonian War with Rome

  212:

  Marcellus takes Syracuse; death of Archimedes

  210:

  Sicily becomes a Roman province

  208:

  Zeno of Tarsus, philosopher

  207:

  Revolution of Nabis in Sparta

  205:

  Egypt a Roman protectorate

  203-181:

  Ptolemy V (Epiphanes)

  200-197:

  Second Macedonian War

  200:

  Diogenes of Seleucia, philosopher

  B.C.

  197:

  Battle of Cynoscephalae

  197-160:

  Zenith of Pergamum under Eumenes II

  196:

  Flamininus proclaims freedom of Greece; foundation of Pergamene Library

  195-80:

  Aristophanes of Byzantium librarian at Alexandria

  190:

  The Farnese Bull

  189:

  Romans defeat Antiochus III at Magnesia

  188:

  Philopoemen abolishes Lycurgean constitution in Sparta

  187-75:

  Seleucus IV (Philopator)

  181-45:

  Ptolemy VI (Philometor)

  180:

  Great altar of Pergamum; Aristarchus of Samothrace librarian at Alexandria

  179-68:

  Perseus King of Macedonia

  175-63:

  Antiochus IV (Epiphanes) Seleucid emperor

  175-38:

  Mithradates I King of Parthia

  174:

  Antiochus IV rebuilds Olympieum

  173:

  Carneades head of New Academy

  171-68:

  Third Macedonian War

  168:

  Aemilius Paullus defeats Perseus at Pydna; Antiochus IV despoils the Temple at Jerusalem

  167:

  Deportation of the Achaeans, including Polybius, historian

  166:

  First rising of the Maccabees; Book of Daniel

  165:

  Judas Maccabee restores the Temple services

  163-62:

  Antiochus V (Eupator) Seleucid emperor

  162-50:

  Demetrius I (Soter) Seleucid emperor

  161:

  Judas Maccabee makes treaty with Rome

  160:

  Defeat and death of Judas Maccabee

  160-39:

  Attalus II King of Pergamum

  157:

  Judea becomes an independent priestly state

  155:

  Carneades in Rome

  150-45:

  Alexander Balas, Seleucid emperor

  150:

  Hipparchus of Nicaea and Seleucus of Seleucia, astronomers; Moschus of Smyrna, poet

  146:

  Mummius sacks Corinth; Greece and Macedonia become a province of Rome

  CHAPTER XXIII

  Greece and Macedon

  I. THE STRUGGLE FOR POWER

  HISTORIANS divide the past into epochs, years, and events, as thought divides the world into groups, individuals, and things; but history, like nature, knows only continuity amid change: historia non facit saltum—history makes no leaps. Hellenistic Greece did not feel Alexander’s death as “the end of an age”; it looked upon him as the beginning of “modern” times, and as a symbol of vigorous youth rather than a factor in decay; it was convinced that it had now entered upon its richest maturity, and that its leaders were as magnificent as any in the past except the incomparable young King himself.1 In many ways it was right. Greek civilization did not die with Greek freedom; on the contrary it conquered new areas and spread in three directions as the formation of vast empires broke down the political barriers to communication, colonization, and trade. Still enterprising and alert, the Greeks moved by hundreds of thousands into Asia and Egypt, Epirus and Macedon; and not only did Ionia flower again, but Hellenic blood, language, and culture made its way into the interior of Asia Minor, into Phoenicia and Palestine, through Syria and Babylonia, across the Euphrates and the Tigris, even to Bactria and India. Never had the Greek spirit shown more zest and courage; never had Greek letters and arts won so wide a victory.

  Perhaps that is why historians are wont to end their histories of Greece with Alexander; after him the extent and complexity of the Greek world baffle any unified view or continuous narrative. There were not only three major monarchies—Macedonia, Seleucia, and Egypt; there were a hundred Greek city-states, of all degrees of independence; there was a maze of alliances and leagues; there were half-Greek states in Epirus, Judea, Pergamum, Byzantium, Bithynia, Cappadocia, Galatia, Bactria; and in the west were Greek Italy and Sicily, torn between aging Carthage and youthful Rome. Alexander’s rootless empire was too loosely bound together by language, communication, customs, and faith to survive him. He had left not one but several strong men behind him, and none could be content with less than sovereignty. The size and diversity of the new realm dismissed all thought of democracy; self-government, as the Greeks understood it, presupposed a city-state whose citizens could come periodically to a common meeting place; and besides, had not the philosophers of democratic Athens denounced democracy as the enthronement of ignorance, envy, and chaos? Alexander’s successors—who were therefore termed Diadochi—had been Macedonian chieftains, long accustomed to rule by the sword; democracy, except as the occasional consultation of their aides, never entered their heads. After some minor trials at arms which disposed of lesser contenders, they divided the empire into five parts (321)
—Antipater taking Macedonia and Greece, Lysimachus Thrace, Antigonus Asia Minor, Seleucus Babylonia, and Ptolemy Egypt. They did not bother to call a confirming synod of the Greek states. From that moment, except for some fitful interludes in Greece, and the aristocratic republic of Rome, monarchy ruled Europe until the French Revolution.