ent, found guilty
of sacrilege, and even sentenced to death.

This ingratitude on the part of his people so angered Alcibiades, that
he told the Spartans all the Athenian plans, and showed how to upset
them. By his advice, the Spartans sent aid to the Greeks in Sicily,
helped them to resist the Athenian attack, and even captured both
generals and seven thousand soldiers, who were put to death.

The Spartans, still under Alcibiades' instructions, now took and
fortified the small town of Dec-e-le'a, only twelve miles from Athens.
Here they kept an armed force, ready to spring out at any minute and
molest the Athenians, who thus found themselves in a continual state of
warfare and insecurity.

The small cities and islands which the Athenians had won by force now
seized this favorable opportunity to revolt; and the Persians, at
Alcibiades' invitation, joined them, and again began to wage war with
the proud city.

[Illustration: Alcibiades.]

The Athenians were almost in despair. They had enemies on all sides, and
were also worried by the quarrels of aristocrats and democrats within
the city. These two political parties were now so opposed to each other,
that nothing could make them friends.

The army, longing for action, and without a leader, finally took matters
into their own hands. They recalled Alcibiades, and asked him to help
them. The young man, who was generous and kind-hearted, immediately
responded to this appeal; and, now that it was too late, he repented of
what he had done, and began to do all in his power to defeat the enemy
he had aroused.

By his eloquence and skill, Alcibiades finally succeeded in winning the
Persians over to side with the Athenians, and to fight against the
Spartans; but all his efforts to make up for the past were vain. His
treachery had ruined Athens; and when he led the troops against the
Spartans, the Athenians were completely defeated.

LXVII. DEATH OF ALCIBIADES.

Afraid to return to his native city, where he knew the people would
blame him for their sufferings, Alcibiades fled. After roaming about for
some time, he took refuge in a castle which he had built on the
Cher-so-ne'sus.

From the height upon which the castle stood, Alcibiades could overlook
the sea on both sides; and he watched the Spartan and Athenian fleets,
which, unknown to each other, had come to anchor very near him. He soon
discovered that the Spartans had become aware of the presence of the
At