He had been elected
their commander-in-chief, and besides this great power enjoyed their
entire confidence; while Alkibiades, though his assistance was found
useful by the Lacedaemonians, was never trusted by them, but remained
without any recognised position, first in Sparta and then in the camp in
Asia Minor, till he finally threw himself into the arms of Tissaphernes,
unless, indeed, he took this step to save Athens, hoping some day to be
restored to her.
III. As to money, Alkibiades has been blamed for receiving it
discreditably in bribes, and for spending it in luxurious extravagance;
while the generals who offered Marcius money as an honourable reward for
his valour could not prevail upon him to accept it. This, however, made
him especially unpopular in the debates about freeing the people from
debt, because it was said that he pressed so hardly on the poor, not
because he wished to make money by them, but purely through arrogance
and pride. Antipater, in a letter to a friend on the death of Aristotle
the philosopher, observes, "Besides his other abilities, the man had the
art of persuasion." Now Marcius had not this art; and its absence made
all his exploits and all his virtues unpleasant even to those who
benefited by them, as they could not endure his pride and haughtiness,
which brooked no compeer. Alkibiades, on the other hand, knew how to
deal on friendly terms with every one, and we need not therefore be
surprised at the pleasure which men took in his successes, while even
some of his failures had a charm of their own for his friends.
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