Story of the Greek and the Roman People

(IN THE VATICAN GALLERY AT ROME)

Pisistratus banished the Alcmæonidæ, but in a little while he himself was driven away. He succeeded in returning, and a wonderful return it was. It took place on a festival day, when the streets were full of people watching the processions in honor of the gods. One procession after another had passed, when suddenly the loud voices of heralds were heard crying, "Ye men of Athens, receive and welcome Pisistratus! Athene honors him above all other men, and now brings him back into her own Acropolis!" A brilliant escort followed, and then a splendid chariot rolled along, wherein sat a tall, handsome woman dressed in a full suit of armor with shield and spear, and looking much as the Greeks fancied Athene to look. Beside the chariot rode the tyrant. The people gazed and gazed. "It is the goddess herself!" some of them whispered in awe; others saw that it was only a trick; but the gates of the Acropolis were thrown open, and Pisistratus was again tyrant of Athens. Once more he was driven from the city, and this time he returned by force of arms. At last he was secure in his position, and he held it until his death eighteen years later.

GREEK CHARIOTS.

Of course the rule did not rightfully belong to Pisistratus, but no one could deny that he made good use of it. It is true that he kept the highest offices for members of his own clan, but he was kind to the poor farmers and gave them cattle and seeds and farming tools. He beautified the city with magnificent temples; he built a massive aqueduct to bring down water from the mountains; and he laid out a delightful garden on the bank of a river near the city. Here were stately buildings and fountains and pleasant walks in shady groves. Here it was that the young men of Athens used to come for military exercises. He built roads to different parts of the country. They all started from an altar in Athens, and there tablets were kept on which the distances to the various places were written. The roads themselves were made much more agreeable for travelers, for milestones were put up, not plain stones, but wooden posts whose tops were carve into heads of Hermes, the god to whom men who were about to go on a journey prayed for protection. Often some amusing saying was cut on the post.

Of course Pisistratus did not forget Athene. There is an old story that she and Poseidon once vied with each other to see which could bestow the more valuable gift upon the city. Poseidon gave a spring of salt water, and Athene gave an olive tree. It was decided that her gift was the more valuable. Her name was given to the city, and she was always held in the highest reverence. Pisistratus built a temple for her worship, and every year he held a brilliant festival in her honor. The early Greeks believed that the image of a goddess was in some degree the goddess herself, and they felt sure that Athene was delighted when at this festival they formed an imposing procession and carried to the temple a dazzling new robe to put upon her statue. All those things vanished long ago, and however much they may have pleased the Athenians, they make little difference to us. Pisistratus is said to have done one deed however, for which we may feel grateful, even after twenty-four hundred years have passed; he is said to have asked all the people who knew the works of Homer and of Hesiod to meet together in Athens and compare the poems as they had been used to recite them. The version that was decided to be best was carefully put into writing; and this is how it came about that we can read the thoughts of those two great writers in almost the same words in which the early Greeks read them. Pisistratus was not satisfied with doing honor to dead poets; he invited the best of the poets then living to make their homes in Athens, and he saw to it that they should live in comfort.

HORSEMEN HASTENING TO JOIN THE PROCESSION TO THE TEMPLE OF ATHENE.