New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1894-12-02

DIoXysIJ-s TO AGATHOCLES.

FROM DIONYsIUs TO AGATHocLEs
THE HISTORY OF SICILY: From the Earliest lies
D. c H.. FL g. Volume H. From ne Tyranny
ponysqs e the De3,e Of AgSsS Saoeme na
and Noes. ny Arthur j. Evans, NJ ~ Keep, o.
the Ashmolcan Museum Win nap u a,n
%'s 20. PATE r' NN'"' ~
Freeman came nearer finishing his Work on
Sicily than was supposed 4, the time OF MS
death. In the present volume 1t was necessary
bv means Of paragraphs borrowed from the
authors short work In the story OF the Na''ohs
series to link together completed parts l"ese
borrowed sentences are displayed oo'rusVeIE'
one may say with doube-'eads ana Puotauo'
marks; but they occupy little space IN the "o'N'
Notes supplied by tn, editor MI up some Oh '"r
gaps and his supplementary essays sho" '"a' ~
his hands the book has lost nothing IN the way
~ artioue lore But II Freeman himself had
COMPLETED The volume after the fashion OF us
predecessors we may b- sure That the one great
fac; which gives unity 20 the story OF Sicily III
the midst Of all vlc!ssitudes would nave pe'H
somewhat more emphaticaly pressed on the
readers attention There are occasional refer
,nces To It. bu, ii Is MOI KEEP, In mind win inc
same persistence as In other volumes FROM
first 10 last Sicily was the main hh''e-s''"hu
OF two opposed c!v!lizations-that o' the Naulns
Asia,ics and that ~ tho less serious Europeans.
The races on each side in this conflict are 50
thoroughly mixed that It Is mere rhetoric -
sneak Of one AS Semitic and the other as AryaA.
Early and late the conflict took two directions.
Of violent warfare on the one hand and ~ peace
rul fusion on the other Tradl,ionally. both these
are recognized in the relations ~ Greeks ana
Phoenicians. even in mythical times. They were
,,I,-ir Nuh
time Of Cadmus down q tina, Of the conquest
~ tho East by Alexander The volume In hand
belongs mainly 70 the period Of preparation Tor
A,eYnnder's achievements II had taken many
wears % war T. decide whether or not Creek
civilization should Weld tn the control - single
immortal city The answer was negative 10 the
claims ~ Athens The disastrous Athenian eN-
pedliion 10 sicily had much 20 do with the re-
sult Had Athens won the night against the
Sparian coalition shc " ,ud have had To bear
tho brunt of Punic hatred. Carthage could not
endure a maritime rival. She must I've hrst or
she must cease to exist There was not enough
commerce to go around. even II her population
could have harmonizcd in other matters with the
people on the north shore ~ the Mediterranean
With the defeat Of Athens. there rose new pos
slbIlity not only I'm Old Greece. but In the colo
MES Of Italy and Sicily Individual rulership on
n scale larger than had ever been known In
Europe began to take form. Dlonysius. the
tyrant OF Syracuse. belongs 10 the generation
lust before that Of Philip of Macedon. HIS po-
ut!cal and military devices are the ones studied
by Philip and later by his sors Alexander. The
success OF Dionysius In subduing almost the
whole Of Sicily and Greek Italy TO his sway
taught Philip the proper method for annexng
Old Greece TO Macedon. From the modern point
~ view the domain Of Dionysius looks trhng
But Il must have seemed vast to men who were
used to limit their patriotism TO a city. or at
mos, to a region. that could be ,raversed In
days walk II was certainly the greatest Greek
realm that had been known since the mythical
period
The tyranny Of Dlonysus was not wholly un-
welcome thing to the people After the bitter
conflict with the Athenans. and the frequent
struggles not only with neghbors Of Hellenic
race. but also with the Carthaglnians. the Syria
cusans were weary OF democracy. They saw In
It only the certainty OF final defeat. The man
bold enough to take the risk Involved in the as
sumption Of sole and supreme power found his
place ready for him. The second Dionysius. al
luding to the contrast between his own fate and
that of his father remarked: my father rose
To mower when democracy was hated. | myself
when tyranny was enved." The apparent ease
with which the elder Donysus gained and kept
his conquests the fewness Of his acts OF cruelty
COMPARED with those which most rulers OF the
time were accused Of led other men to think
that they too. would like to play the part OF
Donysius. That Is what the son meant by say
ing that In his time tyranny was envied He
cared apparently only for the pleasures Of life
and philosophy and learned conversation which
mis- tyranny brought him. When he found that
his fame as private man who had once been the
greatest potentate Of the Hellenic world suiliced
to draw men to him. he easily mustered up phi
losophy enough to sustain the character OF a re-
tired autocrat with becoming dignity. with cheer
fulness tempered by enough Satire wit To make
his conversation interesting. BLESSED are those
who have been brought up to misery. was one
OF his remarks which Mr.. Evans quotes. 1t is
easy to see how look Of reminiscent melancholy
would carry light n bit OF cynicism. But
Donysius ii was not 20 be classed with the
dangerous tyrants Syracuse now had trial OF
these In succession with remarkable interval OF
self-sacrihcing zeal for the public good. The most
troublesome Greek rulers were OF two classes. and
II hard TO tell which OF the two did the more
harm. The one class. represented In Dion, who
turned the second Dionysius adrift, were very.
very good too good In fact. but all enveloped IN
speculative theories to the way the city they
happened to have In hand should be governed.
Dion was full OF Platonism He freed Syracuse
from the tyrant. But the very last thing which
he had in mind was TO hand the authority over
to the people. The indications are that he meant
to create an experimental constitution. But this
sort OF thing not to the taste OF the people at
all. They preferred the old-fsshioned debate and
vote Of the assembly. or even the rough control