But  if  any  pressing  need  occurs,  the  lives  of  slaves  will
be  sacrificed  without  scruple,  and  the  habit  of  so  doing
cannot  but  react  upon  the  morals  of  the  masters,  and
make  them  callous  in  other  cases  where  humanity  is
involved.  This  we  see  in  the  best  and  foremost  Greek
society  of  this  period.  How  many  slaves  were  sacrificed
to  the  hurry  of  building  the  Parthenon  we  shall  never
know.      In  the  silver  mines  of   Laurium  it  would  seem


The  Life  of  the  Nation,  479-4.04  B.  C.         151

that  two  years  was  the  average  life  of  a  workman.      But

the  treatment  of  prisoners  is  constantly  stated   to  us.    Frequent  mas-

1  J  sacres  of  male

Very  frequently  the  adult  male  prisoners,  especially  if  prisoners,
they  belonged  to  a  hated  rival  city,  were  massacred  in
cold  blood,  nor  did  the  refinement  manifested  by  the
companions  of  Pericles  and  Phidias  revolt  from  these
butcheries.  The  women  and  children  were  made  slaves,
and  if  not  ransomed,  became  the  chattels  of  the  victors.
The  honor  of  a  woman  who  was  even  a  temporary
prisoner  was  no  more  respected  than  her  purse,  nor  was
such  a  misfortune,  which  often  happened,  considered  as
in  any  way  ruining  her  reputation.  We  have  this
indeed  explicitly  from  Xenophon,  a  generation  later
than  that  now  under  consideration.  But  if  it  was  true
then,  it  must  have  been  true  ten  times  more  in  the
colder,  harsher,  and  more  selfish  society  of  Antiphon,
Thucydides,  Alcibiades,  and  Lysander.  The  milk  of
human  kindness  seems  to  have  run  dry  among  them.
Even  in  the  Attic  comedy  of  the  day,  the  brilliant  and
genial  Aristophanes  seldom  paints  this  feature.
