The Grecian History Author:Oliver Goldsmith Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: administration among those1 in power, and wealth- alone making distinction. .'.' - . . ..ii 000 1 . . -:.i ..;.' -.-. ' .: Chap; vi. From the vic... more »tory at Mycale to the beginning of the Peloponnesian War. A M qffi "M" sooner were the Greeks freed . i . ,) jj from the apprehensions of a i foreign invasion, than they began to entertaim jealousies of each other. Indeed these petty animosities had all along subsisted among them, but they were kept under by the sense of general danger. As this collection of republics was composed of states entirely dissimilar in manners, interest, and inclinations, it was no way surprising to find its parts ever at variance with each other. The first marks of jealousy upon the destruction of the Persian army, exhibited themselves, between the Athenians and Spartans. The one a refined ambitious state, unwilling to admit a superior in the general confederacy, the other an hardy unpolished race, which could never think of admitting a feebler state as an equal. The Athenians, with their families, being returned to their own country, began to think of rebuilding their city, which had been almost destroyed during the Persian war. As every new foundation aims at improving the old, they laid a plan of strengthening and extending their walls, and giving their city at once more magnificence and, security. This was but natural, however the Lacedaemonians conceived a jealousy at this undertaking, and began to think that Athens, from-' being mistress of the seas, would soon attempt usurping all authority upon land. They, there-' fore, sent an embassy to the Athenians to dissuade them from this undertaking, giving as an ostensible reason, the danger such fortifications wonld be of to the general confederacy, if they should- ever fall into the han...« less