3® T R A V E L S i u G R E E C E.
carefled his'murderers. T h ey next joined Antony,-who:gave them
Ægina and Cea, with other iflands., , Augudns was unkind to
them, and they revolted, four years beföre he died. Under
Tiberius, the city was declining, .but free, and regarded as an
ally o f the Romans. T h e high privilege o f having a liétor to
precede.,the magidrates was 'conferred bn it by Germtóc-U^i
b u t he.was cenfured as treating with too much condefcenfion a
mixture,, o f nations, .indead o f genuine Athenians, which race'
was then confidered as'extimd. .
T he emperor Vcfpafian reduced Achaia to a province piaÿing
tribute and governed b y ;^ ,pr9-.c.on^ifl. Kerva, w ^m o g e ûrppi^-
ous to the Athenian^ c and Pliny, upder, Trajan his;fuçbehbr,-
exhorts Maximus f^W ^ rn in d iu l whither Jbe was^Mit, to rule
p-eniiine G r eece, a date compofed o f Tree cities.; “ You will-
“ revere th é gods an.d heroes their founders. You w ill'refpeét
their priftine glory and even their age. You will.hpnb^r tHep
™ for thé famous deeds, which are truly, nay fór thbfé which
.arejahuloufly, recorded o f .them. Remèmher,ftTa,Athéfisyoti
x< approach.” T his city was now entirety dependent on Rome,
and Was reduced to fell Delos and the iilan ds in its pofleffion•
H a d r i a n , who was at once emperor ahd an ârchbn o f
Athens, gavé th e city laws compiled from Draco, Solon, .and
the codes o f other legiflators ; and difplayed hjs addition for it
by unhouiidéd: liberality. Athens rçflourilhed, and i t s . béàuty
wâs 'rënéwed. Antoninus Pius, who fucceeded, and Antoniiptus
the philofopher, were alfó !behëfk<dörs.\
T he Barbarians, in the reign o f Valerian,, befieging Thelfa-
lonica, all Greece .was terrified, and the AthetijanS redored thçir
city-w.all, which had been difmantled by Sylla, and afterwards
negleéted.
U nder th e next emperor, who was the arc-hon Gallienus,
Athens .was’ hefieged, the arfchontic office éeâfed, apd , thé
Strategus or general who had before àéted às bverfeér o f/th e
agora
T R A V E L S « i n - G R E"E'T5R . P
agora or market, .then became the fupreme-'roagrftrate. Under
Claudius, his'iffocieffor, the city was taken- but,.Toon, '--re-
covered.
.• 'T t is related, that Condahti'ne, when emperor,:' gldried irs
the title of. general, o f Athens,' and* rejoiced1,exceedingly on
,obtaining; from the peoples th e honour oT a 'dWta#' 'w ith an
infcription, which he acknowleged)h^b,ybarly' gCataity o£ mdny
bufhels o f grain. He conferred, o n t h e governcy^pf^Attica and
Athens th e title o f grand. duk&‘„', piyas cSst5§i+d T h a t 'crffice^was a t
fird annual, hut afterwards* hereditary. , His fou.oConlfans
bedawed fbveraLjflandsron theucity, to fupply it w ith corn. ,
oJs^N^the .time, o f Theodofius.the fijd; three,hundred and eighty
-years after .Ghrid&.the.Goths- laid wade! Theffaly f n ^ j ^ im s ^ ^ u t
T heodore^ general o f th e Achseans, by his;»prudentYconduct
preferyed th e 'c itie s o f Greece from pillage., arid thednb^bjtants
beingded inm eaptivity. A: ftatue- o f marble- was eref ted
to him pt Ath en s by ordecofr. th e .c ity ;.-andr afterwards- one- of
brafs, by.commafnd o f .the em p e ro r^ |i^ ^ p ,^m ^ fo te an infcrip-
'tion.’-in a,church dedicated to a faint.of, the fa p e name,.; d p t far
from th e French, convent'.' I t is on- a round' pededaR which
fupports .a. flafcfdohe, ferving for. the holy table. |a Eudobia$ th e
wife o f Theodofiu&.the fecund* was an Athenian, !
T h e . fatal period mow approached, and Athens «was about, ta
experience a conqueror, more favage,e.ven. tbam Sylla^^^his-iWas
Alaric, king of; the Goth^d who^under the empBerorp Arcadihs-
and Honorius, ,overran Greece and Italy, fackingi, pillagiagjrand
dedroying. Thenthe Peloponnefiantownawere overt uraed,Arca~
dia and Lacedfemob weredaid' wade, the :twb feaf by the Idhmus -
werd; burnidied with, t-he’flames of Gorinfh, atfdthe-'Atheffibh.
matrons were dragged in chains- by Barbarians- The-invaluable
treafures of antiquity, it is related, were removed} the
dately and magnificent druitures converted into piles of ruin *
and Athens was dripped of. every thing fplendid or remarkably.
Synefins*.