es and in producing splendid works of art, part
for purposes of fortification. The Piraeus, the port of Athens, was
surrounded by strong walls, and a double wall--the famous "Long
Walls"--was constructed from the city to the port, a distance of four
miles. These walls, some two hundred yards apart, left a grand highway
between, the channel of a steady traffic which flowed from the sea to
the city, and which for years enabled Athens to defy the cutting off its
resources by attack from without. Through this broad avenue not only
provisions and merchandise, but men in multitudes, made their way into
Athens, until that city became fuller of bustle, energy, political and
scholarly activity, and incessant industry than any of the other cities
of the ancient world.

In a city like this, free and equal as were its citizens, and democratic
as were its institutions, some men were sure to rise to the surface and
gain controlling influence. In the period in question there were two
such men, Cimon and Pericles, men of such eminence that we cannot pass
them by unconsidered. Cimon was the son of Miltiades, the hero of
Marathon, and became the leader of aristocratic Athens. Pericles was the
great-grandson of Cleisthenes, the democratic law-giver, and, though of
the most aristocratic descent, became the leader of the popular party of
his native city.

The struggle for precedence between these two men resembled that between
Themistocles and Aristides. Cimon was a strong advocate of an alliance
with Sparta, which Pericles opposed. He was brilliant as a soldier,
gained important victories against Persia, but was finally ostracized as
a result of his friendship for Sparta. He came back to Athens
afterwards, but his influence could not be regained.

It is, however, of Pericles that we desire particularly to
speak,--Pericles, who found Athens poor and made her magnificent, found
her weak and made her glorious. This celebrated statesman had not the
dashing qualities of his rival. He was by nature quiet but deep, serene
but profound, the most eloquent orator of his day, and one of the most
learned and able of men. He was dignified and composed in manner,
possessed of a self-possession which no interruption could destroy, and
gifted with a luminous intelligence that gave him a controlling
influence over the thoughtful and critical Athenians of his day.

Pericles was too wise and shrewd to keep himself constantly before the
people, or to haun