CHAPTER VIII.

THE FOUNDATION OF

THE GRECIAN STATES.

SECTION I-Geographical Outline of Hellas.

Its

GREECE was bounded on the north by the Cambúnian mountains, which separated it from Macedónia; on the east by the Ægean, on the south by the Mediterranean, and on the west by the Ionian seas. extent from north to south was about two hundred and twenty geographical miles, from east to west one hundred and sixty miles, and consequently its area was about 34,000 square miles; making a small, indeed too small, a reduction for the irregularity of its outline. No European country was so advantageously situated; on the eastern side, the Ægean sea, studded with islands, brought it into close contact with Asia Minor and the Phoenician frontiers; the voyage to Egypt was neither long nor difficult, though it afforded not so many resting-places to the mariners; and from the west there was a short and easy passage to Italy. The entire line of this extensive coast was indented with bays and harbors, offering every facility for navigation; while the two great gulfs that divided Hel'las, or northern Greece, from the Peloponnésus, or southern Greece, must have, in the very earliest ages, forced naval affairs on the attention of the inhabitants.

Nature herself has formed three great divisions of this very remarkable country. The Saronic and Corinthian gulfs sever the Peloponnésus from Hellas; and this latter is divided into two nearly equal portions, northern and southern, by the chain of Mount E'ta, which traverses it obliquely, severing Thes'saly and Epírus from central

Hellas.

THES'SALY, the largest of all the Grecian provinces, may be generally described as an extensive table-land, enclosed on three sides by the mountains, and by the Ægean sea, close to whose shores rise the lofty peaks of Os ́sa and Olym'pus. Its principal, indeed almost its only river, is the Péneus, which rises in Mount Pin'dus, and flowing in an easterly direction, falls into the Ægean sea. Thes'saly was ruined by its natural wealth; the inhabitants rioted in sensual enjoyments; anarchy and tyranny followed each other in regular succession; and thus Thes'saly prepared for the yoke of a master, was the first to submit to the Persian invaders, and afterward to the Macedonian Philip.

EPIRUS was, next to Thes'saly, the largest of the Grecian provinces ; but it was also the least cultivated. It was divided into two provinces ; Molos'sis, and Thesprótia. The interior of Epírus is traversed by wild

and uncultivated mountains. The wildness of the country, and the rudeness of the inhabitants, have given occasion to the Greeks to represent the rivers Ach'eron and Cocỹtus, which flow into the gulf of Acherúsia, as rivers belonging to the infernal regions. Its oxen and horses were unrivalled; and it was also celebrated for a large breed of dogs, called Molossin, whose ferocity is still remarked by the traveller.

CENTRAL GREECE, OR HEL'LAS, Contained nine countries: 1, At'tica; 2, Meg'aris; 3, Boótia; 4, Phócis; 5, eastern Lócris; 6, western Lócris; 7, Doris; 8, Ætólia; 9, Acarnánia.

Attica is a headland extending in a southeasterly direction about sixty-three miles into the Egean sea. It is about twenty-five miles broad at its base, whence it gradually tapers toward a point, until it ends in the rocky promontory of Súnium (Cape Colonna), on the summit of which stood a celebrated temple of Minerva. It was not a fertile country, never being able to produce sufficient corn for the support of its inhabitants; but it had rich silver mines in Mount Lárium, excellent marble quarries in Mount Pentel'icus, and the ranges of hills, by which it is intersected in every direction, produced abundance of aromatic plants, from which swarms of industrious bees formed the most celebrated honey.

Mega'ris, the smallest of the Grecian territories, lay west of Attica, close to the Corinthian isthmus. It capital was Meg'ara, a town of considerable strength.

Baótia was a large plain, almost wholly surrounded by mountains : it was divided by Citha'ron from Attica, a mountain celebrated by the poets for the mystic orgies of Bac'chus, the metamorphosis of Actæ'on, the death of Pen'theus, and the exposure of E'dipus. On the west were the chains of Parnas'sus and Hel'icon, sacred to the Muses, separating it from Phócis; and on the north it was divided from eastern Lócris by a prolongation of the chain of Mount Cnémis. On the east was Mount Ptous, extending to the Eurípus, a narrow strait that divides the island of Eubœe'a from the mainland. The climate was cloudy, and the soil marshy, as might be conjectured from the position of the country; but it was a fertile and well-watered district, and the most densely populated in Greece.

Phócis, a district of moderate size and unequal shape, extended from the mountain chains of ŒŒ'ta and Cnémis, southward to the Corinthian gulf. It contained several important mountain-passes between northern and southern Greece, the chief of which, near the capital city Elateía, was early occupied by Philip in his second invasion of Hellas. Mounts Helicon and Parnas'sus, and the fountains of Aganippé and Hippocrené, are names familiar to every reader of poetry; and these, with the temple and oracle of Del'phi, render the soil of Phócis sacred. Delphi (Castri) was situated on the south side of Mount Parnas'sus, overshadowed by its double peak; and above the city was the magnificent temple of Apollo. Here, under the patronage of the god, were collected all the masterpieces of Grecian art in countless abundance, together with costly offerings from nations, cities, and kings. Here the Amphictyonic council promulgated the first maxims of the law of nations; here the Pythian games, scarcely inferior to those of Olympia,

exercised the Grecian youth in athletic contests; while the poets, assembled round the Castalian fountain, chanted their rival odes in noble emulation.

East Locris extends along the Eurípus: it was inhabited by two tribes, the Opun'tii and Epicnemid'ii, deriving their names from Mounts O'pus and Cnémis. The most remarkable place in the province is the pass of Thermop'ylæ, so memorable for the gallant stand made there by Leon'idas against the Persian myriads.

Western Locris, separated by Phócis from the eastern province, joined the bay of Corinth; its inhabitants were called Ozólae.

The mountainous district of Dòris, though a small territory, was the parent of many powerful states. The province was enclosed between the southern ridge of E'ta and the northern extremity of Mount Parnas'sus.

Etólia extended from Mount E'ta to the Ionian sea, having the Locrian territory on the east, and the river Achelóüs on the west.

Acarnánia, the most western country of Hellas, lay west of the river Achelóüs, from which it extended to the Ambracian gulf. It was very thickly covered with wood; and the inhabitants remained barbarians after other branches of the Hellenic race had become the instructers of the world.

SECTION II.-Geographical Outline of the Peloponnésus.

SOUTHERN GREECE, anciently called the A'pian land, was named the Peloponnésus in honor of Pélops, who is said to have introduced the arts of peace into that peninsula from Asia Minor. It consists of a mountainous range in the centre, whence hills branch out in various directions, several of which extend to the sea. Its modern name, the Moréa, is derived from its resemblance to a mulberry leaf, which that word signifies. It was divided into eight countries, 1, Arcádia ; 2, Lacónia; 3, Messénia; 4, E'lis; 5, Ar'golis; 6, Achaia; 7, Sicyónia; and 8, the Corinthian territory.

Arcádia, so renowned in poetical traditions, occupied the central mountainous district of the Peloponnésus, nowhere bordering on the sea. It resembles Switzerland in appearance; and this similarity may be extended to the character of the inhabitants, both being remarkable for their love of freedom and their love of money. Arcádia is supposed by many writers to have been the cradle of the Pelasgic race; but though this is doubtful, it certainly was retained by that people long after the Hellenes had occupied every other part of Greece.

Lacónia occupied the southeastern division of the Peloponnésus: it was rugged and mountainous, but was nevertheless so densely inhabited, that it is said to have contained nearly a hundred towns and villages. The chief city, Spar'ta, on the river Eurótas, remained for many ages without walls or gates, its defence being intrusted to the valor of its citizens; but fortifications were erected when it fell under the sway of despotic rulers.

Messénia lay to the west of Lacónia, and was more level and fruitful than that province. Mes'sene (Mauromati), the capital, was a strongly-fortified town; and when the country was subjugated by Spar

ta, its citizens escaping to Sicily gave the name of their old metropolis to the principal town of the colony they formed, which it still retains with very slight alteration.

Argolis was a foreland on the south side of the Saronic gulf, opposite Attica, and not unlike it in shape, extending southward from Arcádia fifty-four miles into the Ægean sea, and terminating in the Scyllæan promontory. The chief chief city was Argos, on the river In'achus, a stream that had disappeared even in ancient times. During the reign of Perseus the seat of government was transferred to Mycénæ, the celebrated city of Agamemnon; but soon after the Trojan war it was besieged by the Argives, and levelled to the ground.

E'lis, in the west of the Peloponnésus, was the holy land of Greece. It was safe from the din of arms; and when bands of warriors traversed the sacred soil, they laid aside their weapons. It was subdivided into three districts: the northern, named E'lis Proper, from the chief city of the province. The central district, Pisátis, was named from the city of Pisa, in the neighborhood of which the Olympic games were celebrated every five years.

The maritime district occupying the northwestern portion of the Peloponnésus was originally called Egílus, or Ægialeía, either from some hero, or from its situation on the coast. Its inhabitants were afterward blended with a colony of Ionians from Africa, when it took the name of Iónia; but these being subsequently expelled by the Achæans, it received and retained the denomination of Achaia, by which it is best known in history. It was a narrow strip of country, watered by a multitude of mountain-streams, which descended from the lofty Arcadian ridges; but it was not eminent either for fertility or population. The inhabitants were a peaceful, industrious people, aspiring to neither eminence in war nor literature, but attached to liberty, and governed by wise laws.

The territory of Sicyónia, frequently regarded as a part of Achaia, was remarkable only for the city of Sic'yon, the most ancient in Greece, having been founded more than two thousand years before the Christian era.

The Peloponnésus was connected with Hel'las by the Corinthian isthmus, having the Saronic gulf on the eastern side, and the Corinthian on the western. Several attempts were made to join these seas by a canal; but the nature of the ground to be cut through presented insuperable difficulties; and hence "to cut the Corinthian isthmus" was a proverbial expression for aiming at impossibilities. On this narrow pass the Isthmian games were celebrated in honor of Neptune, near the national temple of that deity, which stood in the midst of a grove of fir-trees. Here also a stand has frequently been made in defence of the liberties of Greece; the narrowness of the isthmus easily admitting of fortification. At the south of the isthmus stood the wealthy city of Corinth, anciently called Ephy're, more than four miles in extent: it was erected at the foot of a lofty hill, called the Ac'ro-Corin'thus, on which the citadel was built. This was the strongest fortress in Greece, and perhaps no other spot in the world afforded so brilliant a prospect. The Corinthian territory was one of the smallest in Greece; but commerce, not dominion, secured the strength of Corinth, and trade render

ed it rich and powerful; like Venice, whose prosperity was never greater than when the republic possessed not a single square mile on the continent.

SECTION III.-The Grecian Islands in the Ægean and Mediterranean Seas.

THE Thracian islands occupy the north of the Ægean sea: the principal were, Thásos, Sam'othrace, and Im'brus.

Opposite to Im'brus, on the Asiatic coast, at the entrance of Hellespont, was the island of Ten'edos, remarkable for a temple dedicated to Apollo, under the name of Smin'theus.

Southwest of Ten'edos was Lem'nos (Stalimene), dedicated to Hephæs'tus or Vulcan, because the poets asserted that Vulcan, when flung from heaven by Jupiter, had fallen in this island. South of these were Scíathus (Sciatica). Scop'elos (Scopelo), and Scỳros (Skiro), where Achilles was concealed by Thetis.

South of Ten'edos, and opposite the city of Eph'esus, on the Asiatic coast, was Lesbos (Metelin). Further to the south was Chíos (Scio), whose wines were deemed the best in the ancient world. It also contained quaries of beautiful marble.

The largest island in the Ægean was Eubœe'a (Egripo), separated from the Baotian coast by a narrow strait called the Eurípus, which is now choked up.

In the Saronic gulf were the islands of Sal'amis and Ægína.

Southeast of Eubœ'a were the Cyclades, a cluster of islands deriving their name from their nearly forming a circle round the island of Délos. Orty'gia, or Délos, is celebrated in mythology as the birthplace of Apollo and Dian'a.

The other remarkable islands in this group were An'dros; Céos ; Páros, celebrated for its white marble; Mélos; Nax'os, sacred to Bac'chus; and l'os, said to have been the burial-place of Homer.

East of the Cyclades, and close along the Asiatic coast, was another cluster of islands called the Sporades, from their being irregularly scattered over the sea. The chief of these were, Sámos, sacred to Juno, and the birthplace of the philosopher Pythag'oras; Pat' mos, where St. John wrote the Revelations; Cos, the native country of the celebrated physician Hippocrates; Car'pathus (Scarpanto), which gave name to the Carpathian sea; and Rhodes.

Creté (Candia), the largest of the Grecian islands except Euboea, lies at the entrance of the Egean. In ancient times it was celebrated for its hundred cities. Northeast of Creté is Cy'prus, the favorite island of Venus, whose Paphian bower is not yet forgotten in song, and whose loveliness has been celebrated by poets of every age and nation.

SECTION IV.-The Ionian Islands.

CORCY'RA, formerly called Drepanè (Corfu), is celebrated by Homer, under the name of Phæacia, for its amazing riches and fertility. It was opposite that part of Epirus named Thesprotia, from which it was separated by a narrow strait called the Corcyrean.