Goddesses
and ladies wore one broad
and plain, of purple and gold.
and plain, of purple and gold.
Charles - 1867 - Classical Dictionary
C.
415, a space
of fifty-seven years, we have frequent notices of tetral-
ogies. In B. C. 415, Euripides represented a tetralo-
gy, one of the dramas in which was the Troades. Af-
ter this time it does not appear from any ancient testi-
mony whether the custom was continued or not. In-
deed, it is matter of great doubt whether the practice
was at any time regular and indispensable. Some-
times, as in tho Oresteind of /Eschylus, and the Pan-
dionid of Philocles, the three tragedies were on a com-
mon and connected subject; in general we find the
case otherwise. (Aristoph. , Ran. , 1122. -- Id. , Av. ,
280. )--The prize of tragedy was, as has already been
noticed, originally a goat; of comedy, a jar of wine
and a basket of figs: but of these we have no intima-
tion after the first stage in the history of the drama.
In later times the successful poet was simply reward-
ed with a wreath of ivy. (Alhen. , 5, p. 217 ) His
name was also proclaimed before the audience. His
Choragus and performers were adorned in like manner.
The poet used also, with his actors, to sacrifice the
tiriviKia, and provide an entertainment, to which bis
? ? friends were invited. The victorious Choragus in a
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? THEATRUM
1'HEATRUM.
of Berlin, nas drawn up a atalement, in the main satisfac-
tory. (Gcnel(i, Daa Theater zuAthen, Berlin, 1818. )
--The theatre of Bacchus at Athens stood on the south-
eastern side of the eminence crowned by the noble
buildings of the Acropolis. From the level of the plain
a semicircular excavation gradually ascended up the
slope of a hill to a considerable height. Hound the
concavity, seats for an audience of thirty thousand per-
sons arose range above range; and the whole was top-
ped >nd enclosed by a lofty portico, adorned with s'al-
ues ind surmounted by a balustraded terrace. The
tieis of benches were divided into two or three broad
belts, by passages termed ita^ufiara (called in the
Roman theatres praeinctiones), and again transverse-
ly into wedge-like masses, called xepKide; (in Latin
cunei), by several flights of steps, radiating upward
from the level below to the portico above. The lower
seats, as being the better adapted for hearing and see-
ing, were considered the most honourable, and there-
fore appropriated to the high magistrates, the priests,
and the senate. This space was named Bov? . cvrtK<>v.
(Ariitoph. , Av. , 29i. --Eq. , 669 ) The body of the
citizens were probably arranged according to their
tribes. The young men sat apart in a division, en-
titled 'F. QifiLMiv. The sojourners anil strangers had
also their places allotted them. --Twelve feet beneath
the lowest range of seats lay a level space, partly en-
closed by the sweep of the excavation, and partly ex-
tending outward right and left in a long parallelo-
giam. This was the 'Opxyorpa. In the middle of
this open flat stood a small platform, square and slightly
elevated, called Ovin'/J/, which served both as an altar
for the sacrifices, that preceded the exhibition, and as
the central point to which the choral movements were
all referred. That part of the orchestra which lay
without the concavity of the seats, and ran along on
either hand to the boundary wall of the theatre, was
called Apo/iof (the Roman Iter). The wings, as they
might be termed, of this Aoo/jnc, were named Itaoodot,
ana the entrances which led into them through the
boundary wall, were entitled Eiootioi (the Roman
Adttux). -- On the side of the orchestra opposite the
amphitheatre of benches, and exactly on a level with
the lowest range, stood the platform of the 2k//i? *) or
stage, in breadth nearly equal to the diameter of the
semicircular part of the orchestra, and communicating
with tht Afio/jor/ by a double flight of steps. The
stage was cut breadthwise into two divisions. The
one in front, called Aoyciw (the Latin pulpilum), was
a narrow parallelogram projecting into the orchestra.
<<. This was generally the station of the actors when
speaking, and therefore was constructed of wood, the
better to reverberate the voice. The front and sides
of the Aoyelov, twelve feet in height, adorned with
columns and statues between them, were called ra
bzooKr/via. --The part of the platform behind the Ac-
veiov was called the Upooitrjviov, and was built of
stone, in order to support the heavy scenery and dec-
orations, which there were placed. The proscenium
was backed and flanked by lofty buildings of stone-
work, representing externally a palace-like mansion,
and containing within, withdrawing-rooms for the ac-
tors and receptacles for the stage machinery. In the
central edifice were three entrances upon the prosceni-
um, which, by established practice, were made to desig-
nate the rank of the characters as they came on; the
highly ornamented portal in the middle, with the altar
? ? of Apollo on the right, being assigned to royalty, the
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? THEATRUM.
THEATRUM.
eaitb, and rapidly whirl them within the circle of scen-
ic clouds; Aurora was thus made to carry off the
dead body of her son Memnon. --There was, more-
over, the Bfiovreiov, a contrivance in the 'Y-ookj/vwv,
or room beneath the Aoyelov, where bladders full of
pebbles were rolled over sheets of copper, to produce
a noise like the rumbling of thunder. The Kepavvo-
oxoirciov was a place on the top of the stage buildings,
whence the artificial lightning was made to play through
? he clouds, which concealed the operator. --When the
action was simply on earth, there were certain pieces
of framework, the 2/(07r>j, Tetxof, Iltlpj-Of, and $pvn-
rupwv, representing, as their names import, a look-
out, a fortress-wall, a tower, and a beacon. These
were either set apart from the stationary erections of
the proscenium, or connected so as to give them, with
the assistance of the canvass scene, the proper aspect.
Here a sentinel was introduced, or a spectator, sup-
posed to be viewing some distant object. The 'H/u-
KVK/jnv was a semicircular machine, placed, when
wanted, on the country side of the stage, which en-
closed a representation of the sea or a city in the dis-
tance, towards which the eye looked through a pas-
sage between cliffs or an opening among trees. What
the Srpo^cfov and 'HfiiaTpoQeiov were, it is difficult
to make out. It would seem that they were con-
structed something like the 'il/iinvKAiuv, but moved
on a pivot, so that, by a sudden whirl, the object they
presented might be shown or withdrawn in an instant.
1'hey were employed to exhibit heroes transported to
the company of deities, and men perishing in the waves
of. the sea or the tumult of battle. --In some cases one
or more stories of the front wall in a temporary house
were made to turn upon binges, so that when this
front was drawn back, the interior of a room could be
wheeled out and exposed to view, as in the Acharni-
ans, where Euripides is so brought forward. This
contrivance was called 'EKKVKAn/ia. {Pollux, 4, 19. )
--Such were some of I he devices lor the scenes of
heaven and earth; but as ihe anciert dramatists fetch-
ed their personages not unfrequently from Tartarus,
other provisions were required for their due appear-
ance. --Benealh tho lowest range of seats, under the
stairs, which led up to them from the orchestra, was
fixed a door, which opened into the orchestra from a
vault beneath it by a flight of steps called Xapuviou
HAt/iaxce. Through this passage entered and disap-
peared the shades of the departed. Somewhat in
front of this door and steps was another communica-
tion by a trap-door with the vault below, called 'Ara-
meaua; by means of which, any sudden appearance,
like that of the Furies, was effected. A second 'Ava-
nitoua was contained in the floor of the Aoyelov on
the right or country side, whence particularly marine
or river-gods ascended, whra occasion required. --In
tragedy the scene was rarely changed. In comedy,
however, this was frequently done. To conceal the
stage during this operation, a curtain, called av/. ata,
wound round a roller benealh the floor, was drawn up
through a slit between the Aoyciov and proscenium.
4. Audience.
Originally no admission money was demanded.
(llcytr. h , Suid. et Harpocr. , a v. OeuptKa,--Liban. . ,
Arg. m Olynth. , I. ) The theatre was built at the
public expense, and, therefore, was open to every in-
dividual. The consequent crowding and quarrelling
for places among so vast a multitude was the cause of
? ? a law being passed, which fixed the entrance price at
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? THEATRUM.
TllEATRCM.
cturn as the fourth personage. The poet, however,
might introduce any number of mure*, as guards, at-
tendants, &. c. The actors were called vnokptrai or
ayuiiorai. 'XiroKpiveadai was originally to answer
[Hcrodot. , 1, 78, et passim); hence, when a locutor
was introduced who answered the chorus, he was call-
ad 6 in iKpiTTjc, or the answerer; a came which de-
scended to the more numerous and refined actors in
after days. Subsequently imoKpirrjc, from its being
the name of a perlormcr assuming a feigned character
OB the stage, came to signify a man who assumes a
feigned character in his intercourse with others, a
hypocrite. --The three actors were termed KpwTayuv-
ion/f, devrepayuiurriic, Tptrayuvtarqe, respectively,
according as each performed the principal or one of
the twi inferior characters. They took every pains to
attain perfection in their art: to acquire muscular en-
ergy and pliancy they frequented the palaestra, and to
give strength and clearness to their voice they ob-
served a rigid diet. An eminent performer was ea-
gerly sought after and liberally rewarded. The cele-
brated Polus would sometimes gain a talent (or nearly
81060) in the course of two days. The other sta'es
o( Greece were always anxious to secure the best At-
tic performers for their own festivals. They engaged
them long beforehand, and the agreement was gener-
ally accompanied by a stipulation, that the actor, in
case he failed to fulfil the contract, should pay a cer-
tain sum. The Athenian government, on the other
hand, punished their performers with a heavy fine if
they absented themselves during the city's festivals.
Eminence in the histrionic profession seems to have
been held in considerable estimation in Athena at
least. Players were not unfrequenlly sent, as the
representatives of the republic, on embassies and dep-
utations. Hence they became in old, as not unfre-
quently in modern times, self-conceited and domineer-
ing, utl&v iwavrai, says Aristotle, tuv ltotnruv ol
KKuspiTai. (Rhet. ,3,]. ) They were, however, as a
body, men of loose and dissipated character, and, as
sx. ch, were regarded with an unfavourable eye by the
ncralists and philosophers of that age.
6. Chorus.
The chorus, once the sole matter of exhibition,
though successively diminished by Thespis and JEm-
chyIns, was yet a very essential part of the drama du-
ring tho best days of the Greek theatre. The splen-
doui of the dresses, the music, the dancing, combined
with the loftiest poetry, formed a spectacle peculiarly
gratifying to the eye, ear, and intellect of an Attic au-
dience. The number of tho tragic chorus for the
whole trilogy appears to have been 50; the comic
chorus consisted of 34. The chorus of the tetralogy
was bioken into four sub-choruses, two of 15, one of
12, and a Satyric chorus of 8. When the chorus of
15 entered in ranks three abreast, it was said to be
divided nard Jvyd; when it was distributed into three
files or five, it was said to be Kara aroixovc. The
rituation assigned to the chorus was the orchestra,
whence it always took a part in the action of the dra-
ma, joining in the dialogue through the medium of
its mopvfaloc, or leader. The choristers entered the
orchestra preceded by a player on the flute, who reg-
alatcd their steps, sometimes in single file, more fre-
quently three in front and five in depth (Kara aroi-
jrovc), or vice versa (noro (yyu), in tragedy; and four
in front by sL in depth, or inversely, in comedy. Its
? ? first entrance was called rrapoioe; its occasional de-
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? THEATRUM
THE
(10 vestments; each of which Julius Pollux has sep-
arately and minutely described in a chapter devoted
to the subject. This writer divides the tragic masks
alone into twenty-six classes (4, 133, seqq. ). The
comic maeka were much more numerous. He speci-
fies only four or five kinds of Satyric masks. Most
of the male wigs were collected into a foretop (oyxoc),
which was an angular piopction abcve the forehead,
<<hap>>'J tike a A, and was probably borrowed from the
xpuCvXov of the old Athenians. {Jul. Poll. , 4, 133.
--Thucyd. , 1, 6. ) The female masks, however, wero
often surmounted in a similar manner. The object
of this projection was to give the actor a height pro-
portioned to the size of the theatre, an object for which
the cothurnus was also intended. It appears from
Pollux (4,. 141) that the masks were coloured; and
? he art of enamelling or painting bronze seems to have
been one of great esteem in the time of iEschylus.
(JSschyl. , Agam. , 623. --Wefcier, Nachtrag. , p. 42. )
--Another peculiarity which distinguished the Greek
manner of acting from our own, was the probable neg-
lect of everything like by-play and making points,
which are so effective on the modern stage. The
distance at which the spectators were, placed would
prevent them from seeing those little movements, and
hearing those low tones, which have made the fortune
of many a modern actor. The mask, too, precluded
all attempts at varied expression; and it is probable
that nothing more was expected from the performer
than good recitation--The buskin, or cothurnus (ko-
Oopvoc), was the ancient Cretic hunting boot. For
tragic use it was soled with several layers of cork, to
the thickness of three inches. It was laced up in front
as high as the calf, which kept the whole tight and
firm, in spite of the enormous sole. --It was not worn
by all tragic characters, nor on all occasions. Aga-
memnon is introduced by . *Eschylus in sandal*. The
sandal raised by a cork sole was called lp6arric. The
ladies and the chorus had also the buskin, but that of
the latter had only an ordinary sole. These buskins
were of various colours. White was commonly the
colour for ladies, red for warriors. Those of Bacchus
wero purple. Slaves wore the low shoe called the
seek, which was also the ordinary covering for the
foot of the comic actor. --As the cork sole of the co-
thurnus gave elevation to the stature, so the KoK-nupa,
or stuffings, swelled out the person to heroic dimen-
sions. Judiciously managed, it added expansion to the
chest and shoulders, muscular fulness to arm and limb.
--The dresses were very various. There was the
Xtruv noiripric for gods, heroes, and old men. That
fbr hunters, travellers, and young nobles and warriors
when unarmed, was shorter, and sat close to the neck.
The girdle for heroes was that called the Persian. It
was very broad, made of scarlet stuff, and fringed at
the lower edge.
Goddesses and ladies wore one broad
and plain, of purple and gold. The cvppa was a long
purple robe for queens and princesses, with a train
which swept the ground. The lower part of the sleeve
was broidered with white. --The Xvarin was a short
train with short sleeves drawn over the ^irwv rtoSn-
frf/c. Slaves wore the Ipartov, a kind of short shirt,
or the l? upi(, a shirt with only one sleeve for the right
arm; the left was bare to the shoulder. Herdsmen
and shepherds were clad in the 6i$d? pa, a kind of goat-
skin tunic without sleeves. Hunters had the Ipartov,
and a short horseman's cloak of a dark colour. If
? ? they were great personages, they were dressed in a
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? THEB. E.
THEB*
Cassander. when the Athenians arc said to have gen-j
annuiy contributed their aid in rebuilding the walls, an
Biaiupic which was followed by other places. (Pau-
ran. , 9, 7. --PUt. , Polit. Pracep. , p. 814, B. ) Sub-
sequently we find that Thebes was twice taken by
Demctrirs Poliorceies. (Ptut. , Vit. Demetr. , c. 39. )
Dicaeaicbus has given a very detailed and interesting
account of this great city about this period. {Slat. ,
Or. , p. 14. ) At a later period Thebes was greatly
reduced and impoverished by the rapacious Sylla.
(Pausaa. , 9, 7 ) Strabo affirms, that in his time it
was little more than a village. (Strait. , 403. ) Thebes,
though nearly deserted towards tho decline of the Ro-
man empire, appears to have been of some note in the
middle ages (Nicct. , Ann. , 2, p. 60. --Lcune. , Ann. ,
p. 267), and it is still one of the most populous towns
of northern Greece. The natives call it Thioa. It
retains, however, according to Dodwcll, scarcely any
traces of its former magnificence. Of the walls of-the
Cadmeia a few fragments remain, which are regularly
constructed. These were probably erected by the
Athenians when Cassander restored the town. (Tout,
vol. 1, p. 264. --Cramer's Anc. Greece, vol. 2, p. 223,
teqq. )--HI. Phthiotica? , a city of Thessaly, in the dis-
trict of Phthiotis. situate, according to Polybius, about
300 stadia from Larissa, and not far from the sea. In
a military point of view its importance was great, as
It commanded the avenues of Magnesia and Thessaly,
from its vicinity to Demetrius, Pherse, and Pharsalus.
Sir W. Gell describes some ruins between Armiro
and Volo, which he suspects to be those of this town
(Ilin. , p. 258-- Cramers Ane. Greece, vol. 1, p. 402. )
--IV. A celebrated city of Upper Egypt, the capital
of Thebais. The name is corrupted from the Tapi of
the Coptic, which,. in the Memphitic dialect of that
language, is pronounced Theba. Pliny in one place
writes the name of Thebes in the singular: "Thebc
portarum centum nobilis fama" (5, 9). The appella-
tion of Diospolis, often applied to it by the Greeks,
s a translation of Amunei, or "the abode of Am-
ain," who represents the Egyptian Jupiter. Another
? ame given to it by the Greeks was Hecatompylos,
which will be considered below. The origin of this
great city is lost amid the obscurity of lable. By
some it was ascribed to Osiris, by others to one of
tho earliest of the Egyptian kings. Tho probability
is, that it was at first a sacerdotal establishment, con-
nected with commercial operations, like so many of
the early cities of Egypt, and that it gradually attained
to its vast dimensions in consequence of the additions
madu by successive monarchs. The Egyptians, how-
over, according to Diodorus (1, 50), believed Thebes
to have been the first city founded upon the earth;
and, in truth, we have no account at the present day
of any of earlier origin. Its most flourishing period
appears to have been prior to the building of Memphis,
when Thebes was the capital of all Egypt, the royal
residence, and abode of the highest sacerdotal college
in the land. It must, from its very situation, have
been the middle point for the caravan trade to the
south, and through it passed, very probably, all the pro-
ductions and wares of Asia. Homer, therefore, who
describes it as a powerful city, containing a hundred
gates, must have derived his information from the Phoe-
nicians engage. ' in the overland trade. It is idle to
suppose that the poet himself had been there in person,
when of the rest of Egypt he knew nothing but the
? ? mere name, and had but a confused idea even of the
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? Ihh
THE
lumps ol asphaltum about two pounds in weight.
The case is covered with a cement resembling plas-
ter of Paris, in which various figures are c. ast. The
whole is painted, generally with a yellow ground, on
which are hieroglyphics and figures of green. --But to
return to the ruin of Thebes: on the east side of the
Nile, at Karnac and Luxor, amid a multitude of tem-
ples, there are no tombs; these are confined to the
west bank. An iron sickle was lately found under
nue of the buried statues, nearly of the shape of those
which are now in use, though thicker; it is supposed
to have lain there since the invasion of Cambyses,
when the idols were concealed by the superstitious to
save them from destruction. Belzoni and others un-
covered and carried away many specimens of these
antique remains, such as sphinxes, obelisks, and stat-
ues. On this same side of the river, no palaces or
traces of ancient human habitations are met with;
whereas, on the western side, at Medinet Abou, there
are not only propyiasa and temples highly valued by
'he antiquarian, but dwelling-houses, which seem to
point out that place as having been once a royal resi-
dence. (Manncrt, Geogr. , vol. 10, pt. 1, p. 334,
seqq. -- WUkimon, Topography of Thebe*, London,
1835. 8vo. )
Thebais, I. the southernmost division of Egypt, of
which Thebes was the capital. (Vid. . Egyptus, page
3Y, col. 1, v 4. )--II. The title of a poem by Statius.
<Vid. Statius. )
Thibb. Vid. ThcbsB.
Thebe, the wife of Alexander, tyrant of Phcrae.
r>hc assassinated him. (Vid. Alexander I. ,page 109,
col. 2, $ 6. )
Themis, the goddess of Justice or Law. This
deity appears in the Iliad among the inhabitants of
Olympus (//. , 15, 87. --lb. , 20, 4); and in the Odys-
sey (2, 68) she is named as presiding over the assem-
blies of men, but nothing is said respecting her rank
or origin. By Hesiod (Theog. , 135, 901, seqq. ), she
is said to be a Titancss, one of the daughters of
Heaven and Earth, and to have borne to Jupiter the
Fates, and the Seasons, Peace, Order, Justice, the
natural progeny of Law (Oifuc), and all deities benefi-
cial to mankind. In Pindar and the Homcridan
hymns, Themis sits by Jupiter, on his throne, to give
him counsel. Themis is said to have succeeded her
mother Eaith in the possession of the Delphic oracle,
and to have voluntarily resigned it to her sister Phoebe,
who gave it as a natal-gift unto Phoebus Apollo. --
Wclcker says that Themis is merely an epithet of
Garth. (Tnl. , p. 39. ) Hermann also makes Themis
8 physical being, rendering her name Slatina; while
Bottiger, with apparently more justice, says, " She is
Ihe oldest purely allegorical personification of a vir-
tue. " (Kunst-Mythol. , 2, nO. --KcigUlcy's Mt/tholo-
py, p. 198. )
Themiscyra, a city of Pontus, capital of a district
of the same name. The town of Themiscyra appears
to have been one of very early origin. Scylax men-
tions it as a Grecian state, and Herodotus also speaks
>>f it. (Scylax, p. 33. -- Herod. , 4, 86. ) Both of
these writers, however, place it at the mouth of the
Therunodon; whereas Ptolemy locates it in the centre
<<f the district Themiscyra, that is, more inland. This
place appears to hive t<<en destroyed in the course of
the Mithradatic war. (Appian, B. Mithrad. , c. 78. )
Hence Strabo makes no mention of it; and Mela
? ? merely states, that, in the territory around the Ther-
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? THE
wnom these measnrea were exceedingly displeasing,
iddressed the emperor upon the subject in an elo-
quent speech, in which he represented the diversity of
ipinions among the Christians as inconsiderable com-
pared with that of the pagan philosophers, and plead-
ed that this diversity could not be displeasing to God,
since it did not prevent men from worshipping him
with true piety. By these and other arguments The-
mistius prevailed upon the emperor to treat the Trin-
itarians with greater lenity. --Themistius illustrated
several of the works of Aristotle, particularly the Ana-
lytics, the Physics, and the Book on the Soul. --Of
his discourses Photius enumerates thirty-six: we have
only, at the present day, thirty-three, and one other, the
thirty-third, in a Latin translation. An edition of ihe
entire remains of Themistius appeared from the A i
line press in 1534, fol. Of the orations, the best edi-
tion used to be that of Petavius (Petau), Parit, 1634,
lol. ; but now, for the text of Themistius, the best
edition is that of Dindorf, Cnobloch, 1832, 8vo.
TuEMiSTdci. es, a celebrated Athenian statesman
mil leader. His father Neocles was a man of high
cirili after the Athenian standard, but his mother was
not a citizen, and, according to most accounts, not
even a Greek. His patrimony seems to hav'e been
ample for a man of less aspiring temper. The anec-
dotes related of his youthful wilfulness and wayward-
ness; of his earnest application to the pursuit of use-
ful knowledge ; of his neglect of the elegant arts, which
already formed part of the Athenian education ; of his
profusion and his avarice; of the sleepless nights in
which he meditated on the trophies of Miltiades, all
point, with more or less of particular truth, the same
way; to a soul early bent on great objects, and form-
"<i to pursue them with steady resolution, incapable
af being diverted by trifles, embarrassed by scruples,
r deterred by difficulties. The end he aimed at
was not merely the good of bis country, still less
was it any petty mark of selfish cupidity. The pur-
pose of his life was to make Athens great and pow-
erful, that he himself might move and command in a
large sphere. The genius with which nature had en-
dowed him warranted this noble ambition, and it was
marvellously suited to the critical circumstances in
which he was placed by fortune. The peculiar faculty
of his mind, which Thucydides contemplated with ad-
miration, was the quickness with which it seized every
object that came in its way, perceived the course of
action required by new situations and sudden junc-
tures, and penetrated into remote consequences.
Such were the abilities which, at the period when he
came forward, were most needed for the service of
Athens. At the time when Themistocles was be-
ginning to rise into credit with his fellow-citizens, an-
other man of very different character already possessed
their respect and confidence. This was Aristides, son
of Lysitnachus. (fid. Aristides. ) Like Themisto-
cles, he loo had the welfare of Athens at heart, but
limply and singly, not as an instrument, but as an
? . ml. On this he kept his eye, without looking to any
mark beyond it, or stooping to any private advantage
that lay on his road. It is not surprising that a man
of such a mould should have come into frequent con-
flict with a statesman like Themistocles, though their
immediate object was the same, and though there was
no great discordance between their general views of
the public interest When Aristides, without having
incurred accusation or reproach, without teing sus-
? ? pected of any ambitious designs, was serf hy the os-
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of fifty-seven years, we have frequent notices of tetral-
ogies. In B. C. 415, Euripides represented a tetralo-
gy, one of the dramas in which was the Troades. Af-
ter this time it does not appear from any ancient testi-
mony whether the custom was continued or not. In-
deed, it is matter of great doubt whether the practice
was at any time regular and indispensable. Some-
times, as in tho Oresteind of /Eschylus, and the Pan-
dionid of Philocles, the three tragedies were on a com-
mon and connected subject; in general we find the
case otherwise. (Aristoph. , Ran. , 1122. -- Id. , Av. ,
280. )--The prize of tragedy was, as has already been
noticed, originally a goat; of comedy, a jar of wine
and a basket of figs: but of these we have no intima-
tion after the first stage in the history of the drama.
In later times the successful poet was simply reward-
ed with a wreath of ivy. (Alhen. , 5, p. 217 ) His
name was also proclaimed before the audience. His
Choragus and performers were adorned in like manner.
The poet used also, with his actors, to sacrifice the
tiriviKia, and provide an entertainment, to which bis
? ? friends were invited. The victorious Choragus in a
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? THEATRUM
1'HEATRUM.
of Berlin, nas drawn up a atalement, in the main satisfac-
tory. (Gcnel(i, Daa Theater zuAthen, Berlin, 1818. )
--The theatre of Bacchus at Athens stood on the south-
eastern side of the eminence crowned by the noble
buildings of the Acropolis. From the level of the plain
a semicircular excavation gradually ascended up the
slope of a hill to a considerable height. Hound the
concavity, seats for an audience of thirty thousand per-
sons arose range above range; and the whole was top-
ped >nd enclosed by a lofty portico, adorned with s'al-
ues ind surmounted by a balustraded terrace. The
tieis of benches were divided into two or three broad
belts, by passages termed ita^ufiara (called in the
Roman theatres praeinctiones), and again transverse-
ly into wedge-like masses, called xepKide; (in Latin
cunei), by several flights of steps, radiating upward
from the level below to the portico above. The lower
seats, as being the better adapted for hearing and see-
ing, were considered the most honourable, and there-
fore appropriated to the high magistrates, the priests,
and the senate. This space was named Bov? . cvrtK<>v.
(Ariitoph. , Av. , 29i. --Eq. , 669 ) The body of the
citizens were probably arranged according to their
tribes. The young men sat apart in a division, en-
titled 'F. QifiLMiv. The sojourners anil strangers had
also their places allotted them. --Twelve feet beneath
the lowest range of seats lay a level space, partly en-
closed by the sweep of the excavation, and partly ex-
tending outward right and left in a long parallelo-
giam. This was the 'Opxyorpa. In the middle of
this open flat stood a small platform, square and slightly
elevated, called Ovin'/J/, which served both as an altar
for the sacrifices, that preceded the exhibition, and as
the central point to which the choral movements were
all referred. That part of the orchestra which lay
without the concavity of the seats, and ran along on
either hand to the boundary wall of the theatre, was
called Apo/iof (the Roman Iter). The wings, as they
might be termed, of this Aoo/jnc, were named Itaoodot,
ana the entrances which led into them through the
boundary wall, were entitled Eiootioi (the Roman
Adttux). -- On the side of the orchestra opposite the
amphitheatre of benches, and exactly on a level with
the lowest range, stood the platform of the 2k//i? *) or
stage, in breadth nearly equal to the diameter of the
semicircular part of the orchestra, and communicating
with tht Afio/jor/ by a double flight of steps. The
stage was cut breadthwise into two divisions. The
one in front, called Aoyciw (the Latin pulpilum), was
a narrow parallelogram projecting into the orchestra.
<<. This was generally the station of the actors when
speaking, and therefore was constructed of wood, the
better to reverberate the voice. The front and sides
of the Aoyelov, twelve feet in height, adorned with
columns and statues between them, were called ra
bzooKr/via. --The part of the platform behind the Ac-
veiov was called the Upooitrjviov, and was built of
stone, in order to support the heavy scenery and dec-
orations, which there were placed. The proscenium
was backed and flanked by lofty buildings of stone-
work, representing externally a palace-like mansion,
and containing within, withdrawing-rooms for the ac-
tors and receptacles for the stage machinery. In the
central edifice were three entrances upon the prosceni-
um, which, by established practice, were made to desig-
nate the rank of the characters as they came on; the
highly ornamented portal in the middle, with the altar
? ? of Apollo on the right, being assigned to royalty, the
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? THEATRUM.
THEATRUM.
eaitb, and rapidly whirl them within the circle of scen-
ic clouds; Aurora was thus made to carry off the
dead body of her son Memnon. --There was, more-
over, the Bfiovreiov, a contrivance in the 'Y-ookj/vwv,
or room beneath the Aoyelov, where bladders full of
pebbles were rolled over sheets of copper, to produce
a noise like the rumbling of thunder. The Kepavvo-
oxoirciov was a place on the top of the stage buildings,
whence the artificial lightning was made to play through
? he clouds, which concealed the operator. --When the
action was simply on earth, there were certain pieces
of framework, the 2/(07r>j, Tetxof, Iltlpj-Of, and $pvn-
rupwv, representing, as their names import, a look-
out, a fortress-wall, a tower, and a beacon. These
were either set apart from the stationary erections of
the proscenium, or connected so as to give them, with
the assistance of the canvass scene, the proper aspect.
Here a sentinel was introduced, or a spectator, sup-
posed to be viewing some distant object. The 'H/u-
KVK/jnv was a semicircular machine, placed, when
wanted, on the country side of the stage, which en-
closed a representation of the sea or a city in the dis-
tance, towards which the eye looked through a pas-
sage between cliffs or an opening among trees. What
the Srpo^cfov and 'HfiiaTpoQeiov were, it is difficult
to make out. It would seem that they were con-
structed something like the 'il/iinvKAiuv, but moved
on a pivot, so that, by a sudden whirl, the object they
presented might be shown or withdrawn in an instant.
1'hey were employed to exhibit heroes transported to
the company of deities, and men perishing in the waves
of. the sea or the tumult of battle. --In some cases one
or more stories of the front wall in a temporary house
were made to turn upon binges, so that when this
front was drawn back, the interior of a room could be
wheeled out and exposed to view, as in the Acharni-
ans, where Euripides is so brought forward. This
contrivance was called 'EKKVKAn/ia. {Pollux, 4, 19. )
--Such were some of I he devices lor the scenes of
heaven and earth; but as ihe anciert dramatists fetch-
ed their personages not unfrequently from Tartarus,
other provisions were required for their due appear-
ance. --Benealh tho lowest range of seats, under the
stairs, which led up to them from the orchestra, was
fixed a door, which opened into the orchestra from a
vault beneath it by a flight of steps called Xapuviou
HAt/iaxce. Through this passage entered and disap-
peared the shades of the departed. Somewhat in
front of this door and steps was another communica-
tion by a trap-door with the vault below, called 'Ara-
meaua; by means of which, any sudden appearance,
like that of the Furies, was effected. A second 'Ava-
nitoua was contained in the floor of the Aoyelov on
the right or country side, whence particularly marine
or river-gods ascended, whra occasion required. --In
tragedy the scene was rarely changed. In comedy,
however, this was frequently done. To conceal the
stage during this operation, a curtain, called av/. ata,
wound round a roller benealh the floor, was drawn up
through a slit between the Aoyciov and proscenium.
4. Audience.
Originally no admission money was demanded.
(llcytr. h , Suid. et Harpocr. , a v. OeuptKa,--Liban. . ,
Arg. m Olynth. , I. ) The theatre was built at the
public expense, and, therefore, was open to every in-
dividual. The consequent crowding and quarrelling
for places among so vast a multitude was the cause of
? ? a law being passed, which fixed the entrance price at
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? THEATRUM.
TllEATRCM.
cturn as the fourth personage. The poet, however,
might introduce any number of mure*, as guards, at-
tendants, &. c. The actors were called vnokptrai or
ayuiiorai. 'XiroKpiveadai was originally to answer
[Hcrodot. , 1, 78, et passim); hence, when a locutor
was introduced who answered the chorus, he was call-
ad 6 in iKpiTTjc, or the answerer; a came which de-
scended to the more numerous and refined actors in
after days. Subsequently imoKpirrjc, from its being
the name of a perlormcr assuming a feigned character
OB the stage, came to signify a man who assumes a
feigned character in his intercourse with others, a
hypocrite. --The three actors were termed KpwTayuv-
ion/f, devrepayuiurriic, Tptrayuvtarqe, respectively,
according as each performed the principal or one of
the twi inferior characters. They took every pains to
attain perfection in their art: to acquire muscular en-
ergy and pliancy they frequented the palaestra, and to
give strength and clearness to their voice they ob-
served a rigid diet. An eminent performer was ea-
gerly sought after and liberally rewarded. The cele-
brated Polus would sometimes gain a talent (or nearly
81060) in the course of two days. The other sta'es
o( Greece were always anxious to secure the best At-
tic performers for their own festivals. They engaged
them long beforehand, and the agreement was gener-
ally accompanied by a stipulation, that the actor, in
case he failed to fulfil the contract, should pay a cer-
tain sum. The Athenian government, on the other
hand, punished their performers with a heavy fine if
they absented themselves during the city's festivals.
Eminence in the histrionic profession seems to have
been held in considerable estimation in Athena at
least. Players were not unfrequenlly sent, as the
representatives of the republic, on embassies and dep-
utations. Hence they became in old, as not unfre-
quently in modern times, self-conceited and domineer-
ing, utl&v iwavrai, says Aristotle, tuv ltotnruv ol
KKuspiTai. (Rhet. ,3,]. ) They were, however, as a
body, men of loose and dissipated character, and, as
sx. ch, were regarded with an unfavourable eye by the
ncralists and philosophers of that age.
6. Chorus.
The chorus, once the sole matter of exhibition,
though successively diminished by Thespis and JEm-
chyIns, was yet a very essential part of the drama du-
ring tho best days of the Greek theatre. The splen-
doui of the dresses, the music, the dancing, combined
with the loftiest poetry, formed a spectacle peculiarly
gratifying to the eye, ear, and intellect of an Attic au-
dience. The number of tho tragic chorus for the
whole trilogy appears to have been 50; the comic
chorus consisted of 34. The chorus of the tetralogy
was bioken into four sub-choruses, two of 15, one of
12, and a Satyric chorus of 8. When the chorus of
15 entered in ranks three abreast, it was said to be
divided nard Jvyd; when it was distributed into three
files or five, it was said to be Kara aroixovc. The
rituation assigned to the chorus was the orchestra,
whence it always took a part in the action of the dra-
ma, joining in the dialogue through the medium of
its mopvfaloc, or leader. The choristers entered the
orchestra preceded by a player on the flute, who reg-
alatcd their steps, sometimes in single file, more fre-
quently three in front and five in depth (Kara aroi-
jrovc), or vice versa (noro (yyu), in tragedy; and four
in front by sL in depth, or inversely, in comedy. Its
? ? first entrance was called rrapoioe; its occasional de-
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? THEATRUM
THE
(10 vestments; each of which Julius Pollux has sep-
arately and minutely described in a chapter devoted
to the subject. This writer divides the tragic masks
alone into twenty-six classes (4, 133, seqq. ). The
comic maeka were much more numerous. He speci-
fies only four or five kinds of Satyric masks. Most
of the male wigs were collected into a foretop (oyxoc),
which was an angular piopction abcve the forehead,
<<hap>>'J tike a A, and was probably borrowed from the
xpuCvXov of the old Athenians. {Jul. Poll. , 4, 133.
--Thucyd. , 1, 6. ) The female masks, however, wero
often surmounted in a similar manner. The object
of this projection was to give the actor a height pro-
portioned to the size of the theatre, an object for which
the cothurnus was also intended. It appears from
Pollux (4,. 141) that the masks were coloured; and
? he art of enamelling or painting bronze seems to have
been one of great esteem in the time of iEschylus.
(JSschyl. , Agam. , 623. --Wefcier, Nachtrag. , p. 42. )
--Another peculiarity which distinguished the Greek
manner of acting from our own, was the probable neg-
lect of everything like by-play and making points,
which are so effective on the modern stage. The
distance at which the spectators were, placed would
prevent them from seeing those little movements, and
hearing those low tones, which have made the fortune
of many a modern actor. The mask, too, precluded
all attempts at varied expression; and it is probable
that nothing more was expected from the performer
than good recitation--The buskin, or cothurnus (ko-
Oopvoc), was the ancient Cretic hunting boot. For
tragic use it was soled with several layers of cork, to
the thickness of three inches. It was laced up in front
as high as the calf, which kept the whole tight and
firm, in spite of the enormous sole. --It was not worn
by all tragic characters, nor on all occasions. Aga-
memnon is introduced by . *Eschylus in sandal*. The
sandal raised by a cork sole was called lp6arric. The
ladies and the chorus had also the buskin, but that of
the latter had only an ordinary sole. These buskins
were of various colours. White was commonly the
colour for ladies, red for warriors. Those of Bacchus
wero purple. Slaves wore the low shoe called the
seek, which was also the ordinary covering for the
foot of the comic actor. --As the cork sole of the co-
thurnus gave elevation to the stature, so the KoK-nupa,
or stuffings, swelled out the person to heroic dimen-
sions. Judiciously managed, it added expansion to the
chest and shoulders, muscular fulness to arm and limb.
--The dresses were very various. There was the
Xtruv noiripric for gods, heroes, and old men. That
fbr hunters, travellers, and young nobles and warriors
when unarmed, was shorter, and sat close to the neck.
The girdle for heroes was that called the Persian. It
was very broad, made of scarlet stuff, and fringed at
the lower edge.
Goddesses and ladies wore one broad
and plain, of purple and gold. The cvppa was a long
purple robe for queens and princesses, with a train
which swept the ground. The lower part of the sleeve
was broidered with white. --The Xvarin was a short
train with short sleeves drawn over the ^irwv rtoSn-
frf/c. Slaves wore the Ipartov, a kind of short shirt,
or the l? upi(, a shirt with only one sleeve for the right
arm; the left was bare to the shoulder. Herdsmen
and shepherds were clad in the 6i$d? pa, a kind of goat-
skin tunic without sleeves. Hunters had the Ipartov,
and a short horseman's cloak of a dark colour. If
? ? they were great personages, they were dressed in a
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? THEB. E.
THEB*
Cassander. when the Athenians arc said to have gen-j
annuiy contributed their aid in rebuilding the walls, an
Biaiupic which was followed by other places. (Pau-
ran. , 9, 7. --PUt. , Polit. Pracep. , p. 814, B. ) Sub-
sequently we find that Thebes was twice taken by
Demctrirs Poliorceies. (Ptut. , Vit. Demetr. , c. 39. )
Dicaeaicbus has given a very detailed and interesting
account of this great city about this period. {Slat. ,
Or. , p. 14. ) At a later period Thebes was greatly
reduced and impoverished by the rapacious Sylla.
(Pausaa. , 9, 7 ) Strabo affirms, that in his time it
was little more than a village. (Strait. , 403. ) Thebes,
though nearly deserted towards tho decline of the Ro-
man empire, appears to have been of some note in the
middle ages (Nicct. , Ann. , 2, p. 60. --Lcune. , Ann. ,
p. 267), and it is still one of the most populous towns
of northern Greece. The natives call it Thioa. It
retains, however, according to Dodwcll, scarcely any
traces of its former magnificence. Of the walls of-the
Cadmeia a few fragments remain, which are regularly
constructed. These were probably erected by the
Athenians when Cassander restored the town. (Tout,
vol. 1, p. 264. --Cramer's Anc. Greece, vol. 2, p. 223,
teqq. )--HI. Phthiotica? , a city of Thessaly, in the dis-
trict of Phthiotis. situate, according to Polybius, about
300 stadia from Larissa, and not far from the sea. In
a military point of view its importance was great, as
It commanded the avenues of Magnesia and Thessaly,
from its vicinity to Demetrius, Pherse, and Pharsalus.
Sir W. Gell describes some ruins between Armiro
and Volo, which he suspects to be those of this town
(Ilin. , p. 258-- Cramers Ane. Greece, vol. 1, p. 402. )
--IV. A celebrated city of Upper Egypt, the capital
of Thebais. The name is corrupted from the Tapi of
the Coptic, which,. in the Memphitic dialect of that
language, is pronounced Theba. Pliny in one place
writes the name of Thebes in the singular: "Thebc
portarum centum nobilis fama" (5, 9). The appella-
tion of Diospolis, often applied to it by the Greeks,
s a translation of Amunei, or "the abode of Am-
ain," who represents the Egyptian Jupiter. Another
? ame given to it by the Greeks was Hecatompylos,
which will be considered below. The origin of this
great city is lost amid the obscurity of lable. By
some it was ascribed to Osiris, by others to one of
tho earliest of the Egyptian kings. Tho probability
is, that it was at first a sacerdotal establishment, con-
nected with commercial operations, like so many of
the early cities of Egypt, and that it gradually attained
to its vast dimensions in consequence of the additions
madu by successive monarchs. The Egyptians, how-
over, according to Diodorus (1, 50), believed Thebes
to have been the first city founded upon the earth;
and, in truth, we have no account at the present day
of any of earlier origin. Its most flourishing period
appears to have been prior to the building of Memphis,
when Thebes was the capital of all Egypt, the royal
residence, and abode of the highest sacerdotal college
in the land. It must, from its very situation, have
been the middle point for the caravan trade to the
south, and through it passed, very probably, all the pro-
ductions and wares of Asia. Homer, therefore, who
describes it as a powerful city, containing a hundred
gates, must have derived his information from the Phoe-
nicians engage. ' in the overland trade. It is idle to
suppose that the poet himself had been there in person,
when of the rest of Egypt he knew nothing but the
? ? mere name, and had but a confused idea even of the
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? Ihh
THE
lumps ol asphaltum about two pounds in weight.
The case is covered with a cement resembling plas-
ter of Paris, in which various figures are c. ast. The
whole is painted, generally with a yellow ground, on
which are hieroglyphics and figures of green. --But to
return to the ruin of Thebes: on the east side of the
Nile, at Karnac and Luxor, amid a multitude of tem-
ples, there are no tombs; these are confined to the
west bank. An iron sickle was lately found under
nue of the buried statues, nearly of the shape of those
which are now in use, though thicker; it is supposed
to have lain there since the invasion of Cambyses,
when the idols were concealed by the superstitious to
save them from destruction. Belzoni and others un-
covered and carried away many specimens of these
antique remains, such as sphinxes, obelisks, and stat-
ues. On this same side of the river, no palaces or
traces of ancient human habitations are met with;
whereas, on the western side, at Medinet Abou, there
are not only propyiasa and temples highly valued by
'he antiquarian, but dwelling-houses, which seem to
point out that place as having been once a royal resi-
dence. (Manncrt, Geogr. , vol. 10, pt. 1, p. 334,
seqq. -- WUkimon, Topography of Thebe*, London,
1835. 8vo. )
Thebais, I. the southernmost division of Egypt, of
which Thebes was the capital. (Vid. . Egyptus, page
3Y, col. 1, v 4. )--II. The title of a poem by Statius.
<Vid. Statius. )
Thibb. Vid. ThcbsB.
Thebe, the wife of Alexander, tyrant of Phcrae.
r>hc assassinated him. (Vid. Alexander I. ,page 109,
col. 2, $ 6. )
Themis, the goddess of Justice or Law. This
deity appears in the Iliad among the inhabitants of
Olympus (//. , 15, 87. --lb. , 20, 4); and in the Odys-
sey (2, 68) she is named as presiding over the assem-
blies of men, but nothing is said respecting her rank
or origin. By Hesiod (Theog. , 135, 901, seqq. ), she
is said to be a Titancss, one of the daughters of
Heaven and Earth, and to have borne to Jupiter the
Fates, and the Seasons, Peace, Order, Justice, the
natural progeny of Law (Oifuc), and all deities benefi-
cial to mankind. In Pindar and the Homcridan
hymns, Themis sits by Jupiter, on his throne, to give
him counsel. Themis is said to have succeeded her
mother Eaith in the possession of the Delphic oracle,
and to have voluntarily resigned it to her sister Phoebe,
who gave it as a natal-gift unto Phoebus Apollo. --
Wclcker says that Themis is merely an epithet of
Garth. (Tnl. , p. 39. ) Hermann also makes Themis
8 physical being, rendering her name Slatina; while
Bottiger, with apparently more justice, says, " She is
Ihe oldest purely allegorical personification of a vir-
tue. " (Kunst-Mythol. , 2, nO. --KcigUlcy's Mt/tholo-
py, p. 198. )
Themiscyra, a city of Pontus, capital of a district
of the same name. The town of Themiscyra appears
to have been one of very early origin. Scylax men-
tions it as a Grecian state, and Herodotus also speaks
>>f it. (Scylax, p. 33. -- Herod. , 4, 86. ) Both of
these writers, however, place it at the mouth of the
Therunodon; whereas Ptolemy locates it in the centre
<<f the district Themiscyra, that is, more inland. This
place appears to hive t<<en destroyed in the course of
the Mithradatic war. (Appian, B. Mithrad. , c. 78. )
Hence Strabo makes no mention of it; and Mela
? ? merely states, that, in the territory around the Ther-
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? THE
wnom these measnrea were exceedingly displeasing,
iddressed the emperor upon the subject in an elo-
quent speech, in which he represented the diversity of
ipinions among the Christians as inconsiderable com-
pared with that of the pagan philosophers, and plead-
ed that this diversity could not be displeasing to God,
since it did not prevent men from worshipping him
with true piety. By these and other arguments The-
mistius prevailed upon the emperor to treat the Trin-
itarians with greater lenity. --Themistius illustrated
several of the works of Aristotle, particularly the Ana-
lytics, the Physics, and the Book on the Soul. --Of
his discourses Photius enumerates thirty-six: we have
only, at the present day, thirty-three, and one other, the
thirty-third, in a Latin translation. An edition of ihe
entire remains of Themistius appeared from the A i
line press in 1534, fol. Of the orations, the best edi-
tion used to be that of Petavius (Petau), Parit, 1634,
lol. ; but now, for the text of Themistius, the best
edition is that of Dindorf, Cnobloch, 1832, 8vo.
TuEMiSTdci. es, a celebrated Athenian statesman
mil leader. His father Neocles was a man of high
cirili after the Athenian standard, but his mother was
not a citizen, and, according to most accounts, not
even a Greek. His patrimony seems to hav'e been
ample for a man of less aspiring temper. The anec-
dotes related of his youthful wilfulness and wayward-
ness; of his earnest application to the pursuit of use-
ful knowledge ; of his neglect of the elegant arts, which
already formed part of the Athenian education ; of his
profusion and his avarice; of the sleepless nights in
which he meditated on the trophies of Miltiades, all
point, with more or less of particular truth, the same
way; to a soul early bent on great objects, and form-
"<i to pursue them with steady resolution, incapable
af being diverted by trifles, embarrassed by scruples,
r deterred by difficulties. The end he aimed at
was not merely the good of bis country, still less
was it any petty mark of selfish cupidity. The pur-
pose of his life was to make Athens great and pow-
erful, that he himself might move and command in a
large sphere. The genius with which nature had en-
dowed him warranted this noble ambition, and it was
marvellously suited to the critical circumstances in
which he was placed by fortune. The peculiar faculty
of his mind, which Thucydides contemplated with ad-
miration, was the quickness with which it seized every
object that came in its way, perceived the course of
action required by new situations and sudden junc-
tures, and penetrated into remote consequences.
Such were the abilities which, at the period when he
came forward, were most needed for the service of
Athens. At the time when Themistocles was be-
ginning to rise into credit with his fellow-citizens, an-
other man of very different character already possessed
their respect and confidence. This was Aristides, son
of Lysitnachus. (fid. Aristides. ) Like Themisto-
cles, he loo had the welfare of Athens at heart, but
limply and singly, not as an instrument, but as an
? . ml. On this he kept his eye, without looking to any
mark beyond it, or stooping to any private advantage
that lay on his road. It is not surprising that a man
of such a mould should have come into frequent con-
flict with a statesman like Themistocles, though their
immediate object was the same, and though there was
no great discordance between their general views of
the public interest When Aristides, without having
incurred accusation or reproach, without teing sus-
? ? pected of any ambitious designs, was serf hy the os-
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