The Athenian Constitution   

their own friends; others say that he told no falsehood, but was
betraying the actual accomplices. At last, when for all his
efforts he
could not obtain release by death, he promised to give further
information against a number of other persons; and, having induced
Hippias to give him his hand to confirm his word, as soon as he had
hold of it he reviled him for giving his hand to the murderer of his
brother, till Hippias, in a frenzy of rage, lost control of himself
and snatched out his dagger and dispatched him.

Part 19

After this event the tyranny became much harsher. In consequence
of his vengeance for his brother, and of the execution and
banishment of a large number of persons, Hippias became a distrusted
and an embittered man. About three years after the death of
Hipparchus, finding his position in the city insecure, he set about
fortifying Munichia, with the intention of establishing
himself there.
While he was still engaged on this work, however, he was expelled by
Cleomenes, king of Lacedaemon, in consequence of the Spartans being
continually incited by oracles to overthrow the tyranny.
These oracles
were obtained in the following way. The Athenian exiles,
headed by the
Alcmeonidae, could not by their own power effect their return, but
failed continually in their attempts. Among their other
failures, they
fortified a post in Attica, Lipsydrium, above Mt. Parnes, and were
there joined by some partisans from the city; but they were besieged
by the tyrants and reduced to surrender. After this disaster the
following became a popular drinking song:

Ah! Lipsydrium, faithless friend!
Lo, what heroes to death didst send,
Nobly born and great in deed!
Well did they prove themselves at need
Of noble sires a noble seed.

Having failed, then, in very other method, they took the contract
for rebuilding the temple at Delphi, thereby obtaining ample funds,
which they employed to secure the help of the
Lacedaemonians. All this
time the Pythia kept continually enjoining on the Lacedaemonians who
came to consult the oracle, that they must free Athens; till finally
she succeeded in impelling the Spartans to that step, although the
house of Pisistratus was connected with them by ties of hospitality.
The resolution of the Lacedaemonians was, however, at least equally
due to the friendship which had been formed between the house of
Pisistratus and Argos. Accordingly they first sent Anchimolus by sea
at the head of an army; but he was defeated and killed, through the
arrival of Cineas of Thessaly to support the sons of Pisistratus
with a force of a thousand horsemen. Then, being roused to anger by
this disaster, they sent their king, Cleomenes, by land at
the head of
a larger force; and he, after defeating the Thessalian cavalry when
they attempted to intercept his march into Attica, shut up Hippias
within what was known as the Pelargic wall and blockaded him there
with the assistance of the Athenians. While he was sitting
down before
the place, it so happened that the sons of the Pisistratidae were
captured in an attempt to slip out; upon which the tyrants
capitulated
on condition of the safety of their children, and surrendered the