[573] Plutarch, Arist. c. 26, 27; Cornelius Nepos. Arist. c. 3: compare Aristophan. Vesp. 53.
[574] Plutarch, Themist. c. 5-32.
[575] Thucyd. i, 94. ἐξεπολιόρκησαν (Βυζἁντιον) ἐν τῇδε τῇ ἡγεμονίᾳ, i.e. under the Spartan hegemony, before the Athenians were invited to assume the hegemony: compare ἡγησάμενοι, i, 77, and Herodot. viii, 2, 3. Next, we have (i, 95) φοιτῶντές τε (the Ionians, etc.) πρὸς τοὺς Ἀθηναίους ἠξίουν αὐτοὺς ἡγεμόνας σφῶν γενέσθαι κατὰ τὸ ξυγγενές. Again, When the Spartans send out Dorkis in place of Pausanias, the allies οὐκέτι ἐφίεσαν τὴν ἡγεμονίαν. Then, as to the ensuing proceedings of the Athenians (i, 96)—παραλαβόντες δὲ οἱ Ἀθηναῖοι τὴν ἡγεμονίαν τούτῳ τῷ τρόπῳ ἑκόντων τῶν ξυμμάχων διὰ τὸ Παυσανίου μῖσος, etc.: compare i. 75,—ἡμῖν δὲ προσελθόντων τῶν ξυμμάχων καὶ αὐτῶν δεηθέντων ἡγεμόνας καταστῆναι, and vi, 76.
Then the transition from the ἡγεμονία to the ἀρχή (i, 97)—ἡγούμενοι δὲ αὐτονόμων τὸ πρῶτον τῶν ξυμμάχων καὶ ἀπὸ κοινῶν ξυνόδων βουλευόντων, τόσαδε ἐπῆλθον πολέμῳ τε καὶ διαχειρίσει πραγμάτων μεταξὺ τοῦδε τοῦ πολέμου καὶ τοῦ Μηδικοῦ.
Thucydidês then goes on to say, that he shall notice these “many strides in advance” which Athens made, starting from her original hegemony, so as to show in what manner the Athenian empire, or ἀρχὴ, was originally formed,—ἅμα δὲ καὶ τῆς ἀρχῆς ἀπόδειξιν ἔχει τῆς τῶν Ἀθηναίων, ἐν οἵῳ τρόπῳ κατέστη. The same transition from the ἡγεμονία to the ἀρχὴ is described in the oration of the Athenian envoy at Sparta, shortly before the Peloponnesian war (i, 75): but as it was rather the interest of the Athenian orator to confound the difference between ἡγεμονία and ἀρχὴ, so, after he has clearly stated what the relation of Athens to her allies had been at first, and how it afterwards became totally changed, Thucydidês makes him slur over the distinction, and say,—οὕτως οὐδ’ ἡμεῖς θαυμαστὸν οὐδὲν πεποιήκαμεν ... εἰ ἀρχήν τε διδομένην ἐδεξάμεθα καὶ ταύτην μὴ ἀνεῖμεν, etc.; and he then proceeds to defend the title of Athens to command on the ground of superior force and worth: which last plea is advanced a few years afterwards, still more nakedly and offensively, by the Athenian speakers. Read also the language of the Athenian Euphêmus at Kamarina (vi, 82), where a similar confusion appears, as being suitable to the argument.
It is to be recollected that the word hegemony, or headship, is extremely general, denoting any case of following a leader, and of obedience, however temporary, qualified, or indeed little more than honorary. Thus it is used by the Thebans to express their relation towards the Bœotian confederated towns (ἡγεμονεύεσθαι ὑφ’ ἡμῶν, Thuc. iii, 61, where Dr. Arnold draws attention to the distinction between that verb and ἄρχειν, and holds language respecting the Athenian ἀρχὴ, more precise than his language in the note ad Thucyd. i, 94), and by the Corinthians to express their claims as metropolis of Korkyra, which were really little more than honorary,—ἐπὶ τῷ ἡγεμόνες τε εἶναι καὶ τὰ εἰκότα θαυμάζεσθαι (Thucyd. i, 38): compare vii, 55. Indeed, it sometimes means simply a guide (iii, 98; vii, 50).
But the words ἀρχὴ, ἄρχειν, ἄρχεσθαι, voc. pass., are much less extensive in meaning, and imply both superior dignity and coercive authority to a greater or less extent: compare Thucyd. v, 69; ii, 8, etc. The πόλις ἀχὴν ἔχουσα is analogous to ἀνὴρ τύραννος (vi, 85).
Herodotus is less careful in distinguishing the meanings of these words than Thucydidês: see the discussion of the Lacedæmonian and Athenian envoys with Gelo (vii. 155-162). But it is to be observed that he makes Gelo ask for the ἡγεμονία and not for the ἀρχὴ,—putting the claim in the least offensive form: compare also the claim of the Argeians for ἡγεμονία (vii, 148).
[576] Thucyd. i, 97. τοῖς πρὸ ἐμοῦ ἅπασιν ἐκλιπὲς ἦν τοῦτο τὸ χωρίον, καὶ ἢ τὰ πρὸ τῶν Μηδικῶν ξυνετίθεσαν ἢ αὐτὰ τὰ Μηδικά· τούτων δὲ ὅσπερ καὶ ἥψατο ἐν τῇ Ἀττικῇ ξυγγραφῇ Ἑλλάνικος, βραχέως τε καὶ τοῖς χρόνοις οὐκ ἀκριβῶς ἐπεμνήσθη.
Hellanikus, therefore, had done no more than touch upon the events of this period: and he found so little good information within his reach as to fall into chronological blunders.