308 WARANDPEACE XI

war. If, however, Aristophanes thinks that the war-party were
actuated. In so far as their motives were n'ot wholly bad,
merely by ambition and the spirit of adventure,1 and not also
by serious political ideas and patriotic feeling, we must attribute
this verdict to the general character of comedy Even so, we
must remember that the ordinary unimportant citizens were
little influenced by high ideals or by more than personal feelings
in their attitude to war and peace.

Naturally the picture is not to be painted quite so sharply

In black and white as the comic writers would have us believe.

We can see this even from comedy itself. To Trygaios the

peaceful scent of Eirene's companion is no doubt more frag-

rant than 'the soldier's knapsack' 2 It was, to put it mildly,

inconvenient and disagreeable, if 'the sheepskin [worn by the

soldier in cold weather] was victorious over the kneading-

trough made of stone' ; the metaphor is rather bold, but its

meaning cannot be mistaken,3 Especially during the years

when a large part of the population of Attica was crowded

together inside the Long Walls, and the Athenians dwelt *m

casks, nests, and turrets',4 the morale of the people may some-

times have been rather low The plague, too, had a very

serious effect All the passages, however, which express a

desire for peace and depict the happy life of peaceful times,

frequent though they are, speak, in justification of a quick

peace, only of the return of the peasants to the country and

especially of the material advantages and enjoyments of peace.5

When specific aiim are mentioned, they are, for Instance, the re-

opening of market trade and the renewed importation of

foreign goods.8 Later, therefore, when the invasions of Attica

have ceased, It Is the emforoi and naukleroty the sea-traders,

who are chiefly concerned about peace — even more than the

farmers.7 It was possible to speak of 'peace-profiteers', such

as the man who produced agricultural tools and was now able

to sell them at high prices.8 Peaceful * Reconciliation' (Dtattage)

450 -
8 Hermipp 57. 4
& The evidence is well known and ample, cf A 201 f, 97iff» io48ff, 10855",
K i394f,P 324^; 339$ 439!*, 530$ 556$ 566ff, 582$ 1127$ frg 107, 109,
363-4, 400
6 A 6235: — A 916, P.999ff, L.i09f
, 5,3 8 P i2Oof