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82.
For not long afterwards nearly the whole Hellenic world was in commotion; in every city
the1 chiefs of the democracy and of the oligarchy were struggling, the one to bring
in the Athenians, the other the Lacedaemonians.
Now in time of peace, men would have had no excuse for introduring either, and no
desire to do so; but, when they were at war2, the
introduction of a foreign alliance on one side or the other to the hurt of their enemies
and the advantage of themselves was easily effected by the dissatisfied party3 And revolution brought upon the cities of Hellas many terrible
calamities, such as have been and always will be while human nature remains the same,
but which are more or less aggravated and differ in character with every new combination
of circumstances.
[
2]
In peace and prosperity both states and individuals are actuated by higher motives,
because they do not fall under the dominion of imperious necessities; but war, which
takes away the comfortable provision of daily life, is a hard master and tends to
assimilate men's characters to their conditions.
When troubles had once begun in the cities, those who followed carried the
revolutionary4 spirit further and further, and determined to outdo the report of all who had
preceded them by the ingenuity of their enterprises and the atrocity of their revenges.
[
3]
The meaning of words had no longer the same relation to things, but was changed by them
as they thought proper.
Reckless daring was held to be loyal courage; prudent delay was the excuse of a coward;
moderation was the disguise of unmanly weakness;
[
4]
to know everything was to do nothing.
Frantic energy was the true quality of a man.
A conspirator who wanted to be safe was a recreant in disguise.
The lover of violence was always trusted, and his opponent suspected.
He who succeeded in a plot was deemed knowing, but a still greater master in craft was
he who detected one.
[
5]
On the other hand, he who plotted from the first to have nothing to do with plots was a
breaker up of parties and a poltroon who was afraid of the enemy.
In a word, he who could outstrip another in a bad action was applauded,
and so was he who encouraged to evil one who had no idea of it.
The tie of party was stronger than the tie of blood, because a partisan was more ready
to dare without asking why.
[
6]
(For party associations are not based upon any established law, nor do they seek the
public good; they are formed in defiance of the laws and from self-interest.) The seal
of good faith was not divine law, but fellowship in crime.
If an enemy when he was in the ascendant offered fair words, the opposite party
received them not in a generous spirit5, but by a jealous watchfulness of his actions6.
[
7]
Revenge was dearer than self-preservation.
Any agreements sworn to by either party, when they could do nothing else, were binding
as long as both were powerless.
But he who on a favourable opportunity first took courage, and struck at his enemy when
he saw him off his guard, had greater pleasure in a perfidious than he would have had in
an open act of revenge; he congratulated himself that he had taken the safer course, and
also that he had overreached his enemy and gained the prize of superior ability.
In general the dishonest more easily gain credit for cleverness than the simple for
goodness; men take a pride in the one, but are ashamed of the other.
The cause of all these evils was the love of power, originating in avarice and
ambition,7 and the party-spirit which is engendered by them when men are fairly embarked in
a contest.
[
8]
For the leaders on either side used specious names, the one party professing to uphold
the constitutional equality of the many, the other the wisdom of an aristocracy, while
they made the public interests, to which in name they were devoted, in reality their
prize.
Striving in every way to overcome each other, they committed the most monstrous crimes;
yet even these were surpassed by the magnitude of their revenges which they
pursued to the very utmost8, neither party observing any definite limits either of justice or public
expediency, but both alike making the caprice of the moment their law.
Either by the help of an unrighteous sentence, or grasping power with the strong hand,
they were eager to satiate the impatience of party-spirit.
Neither faction cared for religion; but any fair pretence which succeeded in effecting
some odious purpose was greatly lauded.
And the citizens who were of neither party fell a prey to both; either they were
disliked because they held aloof, or men were jealous of their surviving.