Chapter XII: Part III: , European Nations; of which only 1 volume, Greeks, has (4)

Military organization of the Persian nations, by means of a decimal
division pervading the whole.--Royal troops cantoned in the open
field, according to a certain division of the empire, or stationed
as garrisons in the cities, and distinct from the
encampments.--Manner in which the troops were supported at the cost
and by the taxes of the provinces.--Introduction of mercenaries
and Greeks, more particularly among the Persians, and fatal
consequences of that measure. Military household of the satraps and
grandees.--Institution of a general conscription in national wars.
Formation of the Persian navy, consisting of the Phoenician, and
not unfrequently of the Asiatic Greek fleets.

24. From the time of Darius, the court of the kings of Persia attained its complete form, and the government soon after was wholly concentrated in the seraglio. Yet the mode of life which the kings led, surrounded by a court, taken principally if not wholly from the tribe of the Pasargadae, and changing their residence according to the revolutions of the seasons, still preserved the traces of nomad origin.

Babylon, Susa, and Ecbatana, the usual residences; Persepolis now
used as a royal cemetery. The court supported by the most costly
productions of each province; hence arose the rigid ceremonial
observed at the royal table.--Internal organization of the
seraglio.--Influence of the eunuchs and queen-mothers on the
government.

25. Already had Darius commenced preparations to wreak his vengeance on Athens, when a revolution broke out in Egypt, and hindered him from prosecuting his design. He died after nominating for his successor Xerxes I. grandson of Cyrus, and his eldest son by a second wife, Atossa, whose influence over her husband was boundless.

26. Xerxes I. A prince educated in the seraglio, who knew nothing beyond the art of representing the pomp of royalty. Subjection of Egypt, and severe treatment of that country under the satrap Achaemenes, brother to Xerxes.

27. Xerxes' famous expedition against Greece was again the result of the cabals and intrigues of the Greek exiles, the Pisistratidae, the soothsayer Onomacritus, the Thessalian princes or Aleuadae, who contrived to exert their influence on the king's mind, and to raise a party in their favour among the grandees. But the progress of the campaign showed that no Hippias was at the head of the invading army, although the Persian king did certainly succeed in his avowed object, the capture and destruction of Athens.

Critique on the detailed account given by Herodotus of this
expedition, as a national undertaking in which all the subjugated
nations were obliged to take a share.--Preparations which last for
three years in the Persian empire; league framed with Carthage for
the subjection of the Sicilian Greeks, 483-481. The expedition
itself in 480; over Asia Minor and the Hellespont, through Thrace
and Macedonia.--Muster of the army and division of the troops
according to nations at Doriscus; the detailed description of which
found in Herodotus, was most probably borrowed from some Persian
document.--The pass of Thermopylae taken by treachery; on the same
day a naval engagement off Artemisium.--Athens captured and burnt.
Battle of Salamis, Sept. 23, 480. Retreat of Xerxes; an army of
picked men left behind, under the command of Mardonius.--Fruitless
negotiations with the Athenians.--Second campaign of Mardonius: he
is routed at Plataeae, Sept. 25, 479; and that event puts an end for
ever to the Persian irruptions into Greece: on the same day the
Persian army is defeated, and their fleet burnt at Mycale in Asia
Minor.

28. The consequences of these repeated and unsuccessful expeditions, in which almost the whole population was engaged, must be self-evident. The empire was weakened and depopulated. The defensive war which the Persians for thirty years were obliged to maintain against the Greeks, who aimed at establishing the independence of their Asiatic countrymen, completely destroyed the balance of their power, by compelling them to transfer their forces to Asia Minor, the most distant western province of the empire.

29. Little as the Greeks had to fear from the Persian arms, the danger with which they were now threatened was much more formidable, when the enemy began to adopt the system of bribing the chieftains of Greece; a system which succeeded beyond expectation in the first trial made of it with Pausanias, and perhaps was not wholly unsuccessful with Themistocles himself.--But the Persians soon found in Cimon an adversary who deprived them of the sovereignty of the sea; who in one day destroyed both their fleet and their army on the Eurymedon; and by the conquest of the Thracian Chersonese, wrested from them the key of Europe.

30. What little we know further concerning the reign of Xerxes, consists in the intrigues of the seraglio, which now, through the machinations of queen Amestris, became the theatre of all those horrors which are wont to be exhibited in such places, and to which Xerxes himself at last fell a victim, in consequence of the conspiracy of Artabanes and the eunuch Spamitres.

Was Xerxes the Ahasuerus of the Jews?--On the difference between the
names of the Persian kings in Persian and Chaldee; not to be
wondered at when we consider that they were mere titles or surnames,
assumed by the sovereigns after their accession.

31. Artaxerxes I. surnamed Longimanus. In consequence of the murder of his father and his elder brother, in the conspiracy of Artabanes, this prince ascended the throne, but was unable to keep possession of the sceptre without assassinating, in his turn, Artabanes. His reign, which lasted forty years, exhibits the first symptoms of the decline of the empire, which this king, although possessed of many good qualities, had not the talent or spirit to arrest.

32. At the very commencement of his reign rebellions are excited in the provinces; in the mean while the war with Athens continues. Two battles are required to repress the insurrection of his brother Hystaspes in Bactria.

33. Second revolt of Egypt, excited by the Libyan king, Inarus of Marea, in conjunction with the Egyptian, Amyrtaeus, and supported by an Athenian fleet. Although the confederates did not make themselves masters of Memphis, they defeated the Persian army, commanded by the king's brother, Achaemenes, who lost his life in the battle; they were at last overpowered by Megabyzus, satrap of Syria, and shut up together with Inarus in the town of Byblus. Inarus and his party were admitted to capitulation; but Amyrtaeus, having taken refuge in the morasses, continued to make head against the Persians.

34. The Grecian war takes, once more, an unfavourable turn for the Persians: Cimon defeats the enemy's fleet and army near Cyprus. The fear of losing the whole of the island accordingly compels Artaxerxes I. to sign a treaty of peace with Athens, in which he recognizes the independence of the Asiatic Greeks, and agrees that his fleet shall not navigate the Aegaean sea, nor his troops approach within three days' march of the coast.

35. But the haughty and powerful Megabyzus, enraged at the execution of Inarus, in violation of the promise made by him to that prince, excites a rebellion in Syria; repeatedly defeats the royal armies, and prescribes himself the conditions upon which he will be reconciled to his sovereign. This was the first great example of a successful insurrection excited by one of the Persian satraps; and chequered as were the subsequent fortunes of Megabyzus, his party continued to subsist after his death in the persons of his sons. He possessed in the centre of the court a support in the dowager queen Amestris, and the reigning queen Amytis; (both notorious for their excesses;) who kept Artaxerxes I. in a constant state of tutelage to the hour of his death.

36. Revolutions in the government now succeed each other with rapidity and violence. Xerxes II. the only legitimate son and successor of Artaxerxes, is slain, after forty-five days' reign, by his bastard brother Sogdianus; the latter, in his turn, after a reign of six months, is deposed by another bastard brother, Ochus, who ascends the throne, and assumes the name of Darius II.

37. Darius II. surnamed the Bastard, or Nothus. He reigns nineteen years under the tutelage of his wife, Parysatis, and of three eunuchs, one of whom, Artoxares, even attempts to open a way to the throne, but is put to death. In this period the decline of the state advances with hurried steps; partly by reason of the extinction of the legitimate royal line, partly by the increased practice of placing more than one province, together with the military command, in the hands of the same satrap. Although the repeated insurrections of the satraps are repressed, the court, by the breach of faith to which it is obliged to have recourse, in order to succeed in its measures, exhibits to the world a convincing proof of its infirmity. The revolt of Arsites, one of the king's brothers, who was supported by a son of Megabyzus, and that of Pisuthnes, satrap of Lydia, are quelled only by obtaining treacherous possession of their persons.

38. In consequence of the weak state of the empire, the fire, which had hitherto been smouldering under the ashes, burst forth in Egypt. Amyrtaeus, who had remained till now in the morasses, issued forth, supported by the Egyptians; and the Persians were again expelled the land. Obscure as the subsequent history may be, we see that the Persians were obliged to acknowledge, not only Amyrtaeus, but his successors. [See page 72].

39. The Persians must have regarded it as a happy event, that the Peloponnesian war, kindled in Greece during the reign of Artaxerxes, and protracted through the whole of that of Darius II. had prevented the Greeks from unitedly falling upon Persia. It now became, and henceforward continued to be, the chief policy of the Persians to foment quarrels and wars between the Grecian republics, by siding at various times with various parties; and the mutual hatred of the Greeks rendered this game so easy, that Greece could hardly have escaped total destruction, had the Persian plans been always as wisely laid as they were by Tissaphernes; and had not the caprice and jealousy of the satraps in Asia Minor generally had more effect than the commands of the court.

Alliance of the Persians with Sparta, framed by Tissaphernes, 441;
but in consequence of the policy of Alcibiades, and the artful
principles of Tissaphernes, followed by no important results, until
the younger Cyrus, satrap of all Asia Minor, was by Lysander, 407,
brought over to the Spartan interest. (See below, the Grecian
history, III. Period, parag. 23.)

40. Artaxerxes II. surnamed Mnemon. Although this prince was the eldest son of Darius, his right to the throne might, according to the Persian ideas of succession, have appeared dubious, since his younger brother, Cyrus, had the advantage over him of being the first born subsequent to the accession of his father. Relying on the support of his mother Parysatis, Cyrus, even without this claim to the throne, would, no doubt, have asserted his pretence to the sovereign power. It would have been, in all probability, a fortunate event for the Persian empire, had the fate of battle, in the ensuing war between the two brothers, assigned the throne to him whom nature seems to have pointed out as the fittest person.

History of this war according to Xenophon. Battle of Cunaxa,
in which Cyrus falls, 401. Retreat of the ten thousand Greek
mercenaries in the service of Cyrus, under the guidance of Xenophon.

41. During the whole of this reign, Artaxerxes, now firmly seated on the throne, remained under the tutelage of his mother, Parysatis, whose inveterate hatred against his wife, Statira, and against all who had any share in the death of her darling son, Cyrus, converted the seraglio into a theatre of bloody deeds, such as can be conceived and committed only in similar places.

42. The insurrection and rout of Cyrus produced a corresponding change in the political relations between the Persian court and Sparta: which, however, were now determined, not so much by the will of the monarch himself, as by the satraps of Asia Minor, Tissaphernes and Pharnabazus, of whose jealousy Sparta knew how to take advantage. The former, by his severity towards the Asiatic Greeks, who had supported the cause of Cyrus, excited a war with Sparta, in which he himself fell a victim. The death of the satrap is not, however, succeeded by tranquillity; for Agesilaus commands in Asia, and threatens to overthrow the Persian throne itself. The policy of the Persians is shown by the war which they foment in Greece against Sparta: Conon is placed at the head of their fleet, and extricates Persia from her difficulties better than could have been done by her own generals; in the peace of Antalcidas she herself dictates the terms, by which the Grecian colonies of Asia Minor, together with Cyprus and Clazomenae, are again delivered into her possession. The rising power of Thebes under Epaminondas and Pelopidas, with whom Persia keeps up a friendly connection, ensures her from any future blow at the hands of the Spartans.--War for the possession of Cyprus with Evagoras, who, however, by the subsequent peace retains the sovereignty of Salamis.

43. The war against the Cadusii in the mountains of Caucasus, proves that Artaxerxes II. was not fitted for military command; and his attempt to recover Egypt from king Nectanebus I. which was defeated by the feud between Iphicrates and Artabazus, evinces that the most numerous Persian host could achieve nothing without the assistance of Grecian troops and Grecian generals.--It could hardly be expected that an empire should endure much longer, when in the court all was ruled by the desire of revenge in the women; when the political organization was already so corrupt, that the satraps waged war against each other; and when those generals who gave any proof of talent received no better reward than that of Datames.

44. In fact, it seemed not unlikely that the Persian empire would fall asunder a little before the death of Artaxerxes Mnemon. A quarrel about the succession arose in the court between the three legitimate sons of the king, the eldest of whom, Darius, was put to death: the standard of rebellion was erected in the western half of the empire, and joined by all the governors of Asia Minor and Syria, supported by Tachos, king of Egypt, to whose assistance the Spartans had sent Agesilaus. The insurrection, however, was quelled in consequence of the treachery of the chief leader, Orontes, who was bribed over to the court.

45. In the midst of these commotions died Artaxerxes II.: his youngest son, Ochus, took possession of the throne, and assumed the name of Artaxerxes III. This king conceived that he could not establish his power but by the total destruction of the royal family, numerous as it was. He was contemporary with Philip of Macedon, in whom he soon found a more formidable rival than any he could have met with in his own family.

46. The new insurrection fomented by Artabazus in Asia Minor, was accompanied with success so long as it was backed by the Thebans; but the reception which Artabazus met with at the hands of Philip soon betrayed the secret intentions of the Macedonian king.

47. But the extensive rebellion of the Phoenicians and Cyprians, in conjunction with Egypt, compelled the king to undertake another expedition, which succeeded almost beyond expectation; although in this case the object was again attained principally by treachery and by Grecian auxiliaries.

Treachery of Mentor, the leader of the confederates: the consequent
capture and destruction of Sidon, followed by the subjection of
Phoenicia, 356. Capture of Cyprus by Grecian troops, under the
command of Phocion and the younger Evagoras, 354. Expedition of the
king in person against Egypt: victory of Pelusium, won over king
Nectanebus II. with the help of Grecian mercenaries. Egypt becomes,
once more, a Persian province.

48. This restoration of the empire to its former limits was followed by a period of tranquillity, the result of force, as Mentor and the eunuch Bagoas, holding the king in complete dependence, divided the kingdom, as it were, between themselves; until Bagoas was pleased, by poison, to remove Artaxerxes out of his way.

49. After the assassination of the royal family, Bagoas placed on the throne the king's youngest and only surviving son, Arces. Bagoas was desirous of reigning in the name of that prince; but after the lapse of two years, he found it necessary to depose him, and to substitute in his place a distant relation of the reigning family, Darius Codomannus, who commenced his reign by putting to death the wretch himself.

50. Darius III. Codomannus, not having been educated, like his predecessors, in the seraglio, gave proof of virtues which entitled him to a better fate. Attacked in the second year of his reign by Macedon, against which Persia had hitherto made no preparation for resistance,--unless, perhaps, the dagger which pierced Philip was pointed by Persian hands,--Darius was unable at once to reestablish a kingdom which of itself was mouldering away. And yet, had not death defeated the invasion of Macedonia by his general, Memnon, it might have been matter of doubt, whether Alexander would ever have shone as the conqueror of Asia.--After the loss of two battles, in which he fought in person, Darius III. fell a victim to the treachery of Bessus, and the burning of Persepolis made known to Asia that the realm of Persia was destroyed, and that the east must acknowledge a new lord and master.

For the history of the war, see below: the history of Macedon.

* * * * *

THIRD BOOK.

HISTORY OF THE GRECIAN STATES.

_Geographical Outline._

_Greece_ is bounded on the north by the Cambunian mountains, which separate it from Macedonia; on the south and east by the Aegaean, on the west by the Ionian sea. Greatest length from south to north = 220 geog. miles, greatest breadth from west to east, = 140 geog. miles. Superficial contents, = 29,600 square miles.--Principal rivers: the Peneus, which discharges its waters into the Aegaean, and the Achelous, which flows into the Ionian sea. Advantages in respect to fertility, resulting from the mildness of the climate, between 37-40 deg. N. lat.; from the number of small streams; from the qualities and variety of the soil, in which this country has been so much more blessed by nature than any other of similar extent, that every branch of cultivation may be prosecuted equally and in conjunction.--Advantages in reference to navigation and commerce: situated in the vicinity of the three quarters of the world, on three sides washed by the sea, and by reason of its irregular, indented coast, abounding with commodious ports and havens.

It may be divided into Northern Greece, from the north boundary to the chain of Oeta and Pindus, between the Ambracian gulf west, and the Maliac east. Central Greece, or Hellas, down to the isthmus of Corinth: and the southern peninsula, or Peloponnesus.

Northern Greece comprises two countries; Thessaly east, Epirus west.

1. Thessaly, the largest and one of the most fruitful of the Grecian countries. Length from north to south 60 geog. miles; breadth from west to east 64 geog. miles. Rivers: the Peneus, Apidanus, and several smaller streams. Mountains: Olympus, residence of the fabulous gods, and Ossa in the north; the chain of Oeta, Othrys, and Pindus in the south. Division into five provinces: 1. Estiaeotis; cities: Gomphi, Azorus: 2. Pelasgiotis; cities: Larissa, Gonni, the vale of Tempe: 3. Thessaliotis; cities: Pharsalus, etc. 4. Phthiotis; cities: Pherae, etc. 5. The foreland of Magnesia, with a city of the same name. Other territories, such as Perrhaebia, etc. for instance, derived their names from the non-Greek races who inhabited them.

2. Epirus. Next to Thessaly, the largest, although one of the least cultivated countries of Greece: 48-60 geog. miles long, and the same in breadth. Divisions: Molossis; city, Ambracia: Thesprotia; city, Buthrotum; in the interior, Dodona.

Central Greece, or Hellas, comprises nine countries.

1. Attica, a foreland, extending towards the south-east, and gradually diminishing. Length, 60 geog. miles; greatest breadth, 24 geog. miles. Rivers: Ilissus, Cephissus. Mountains: Hymettus, Pentelicus, and the headland of Sunium. City: Athens, with the harbours Piraeus, Phalereus, and Munychius; in the other parts no towns, but hamlets, [Greek: demoi], such as Marathon, Eleusis, Decelea, etc.

2. Megaris, close to the isthmus of Corinth. The smallest of the Grecian countries; 16 geog. miles long, and from 4-8 broad. City, Megara.

3. Boeotia, a mountainous and marshy country, 52 geog. miles long, and from 28-32 broad. Rivers: Asopus, Ismenus, and several smaller streams. Mountains: Helicon, Cythaeron, etc. Lake: Copais.--Boeotia was, of all the Grecian countries, that which contained the greatest number of cities, each having its own separate territory. Among these, the first in importance, and frequently mistress of the rest, was Thebes on the Ismenus. The others, Plataeae, Tanagra, Thespiae, Chaeronea, Lebadea, Leuctra, and Orchomenus, are all celebrated in Grecian history.

4. Phocis, smaller than Attica; 48 geog. miles long, from 4-20 broad. River: Cephissus. Mountain: Parnassus. Cities: Delphi, on Parnassus, with the celebrated oracle of Apollo. Crissa, with the harbour of Cirrha, and up the country Elatea. The other cities are insignificant.

5, 6. The two countries called Locris. The eastern on the Euripus, territory of the Locri Opuntii and Epicnemidii is the lesser of the two; being but little larger than Megaris. City: Opus; pass, Thermopylae. The western Locris on the Corinthian gulf, station of the Locri Ozolae, is from 20-24 geog. miles long, and from 16-20 broad. Cities: Naupactus on the sea, Amphissa up the country.

7. The small country of Doris, or the Tetrapolis Dorica, on the south side of mount Oeta, from 8-12 geog. miles long, and the same in breadth.

8. Aetolia, somewhat larger than Boeotia; from 40-52 geog. miles long, and from 28-32 broad; but the least cultivated country of all. Rivers: Achelous, which skirts Acarnania, and the Evenus. Cities: Calydon, Thermus.

9. Acarnania, the most western country of Hellas, 32 geog. miles long, from 16-24 broad. River: Achelous. Cities: Argos Amphilochicum, and Stratus.

The peninsula of Peloponnesus contains eight countries.

1. Arcadia, a mountainous country, abounding in pastures, and situate in the centre of the peninsula; greatest length, 48 geog. miles; greatest breadth, 36 geog. miles. Mountains: Cyllene, Erymanthus, etc. Rivers: Alpheus, Erymanthus, and several smaller streams. Lake: Styx. Cities: Mantinea, Tegea, Orchomenus, Heraea, Psophis; subsequently Megalopolis, as a common capital.

2. Laconia, likewise mountainous. Greatest length, 66 geog. miles; greatest breadth, 36 geog. miles. River: Eurotas. Mountains: Taygetus, and the headlands Malea and Tenarium. Cities: Sparta on the Eurotas; other places: Amyclae, Sellasia, and others of little importance.

3. Messenia, west of Laconia; a more level and extremely fertile country, subject to the Spartans from B. C. 668. Greatest length, 28 geog. miles: greatest breadth, 36 geog. miles. City: Messene. Frontier places, Ithome and Ira: of the other places, Pylus (Navarino) and Methone are the most celebrated.

4. Elis, with the small territory of Triphylia, on the west of the Peloponnesus. Length, 60 geog. miles: greatest breadth, 28 geog. miles. Rivers: Alpheus, Peneus, Sellis, and several smaller streams. Cities: in the north, Elis, Cyllene, and Pylus. On the Alpheus, Pisa and the neighbouring town of Olympia. In Triphylia, a third Pylus.

5. Argolis, on the east side of the peninsula; a foreland opposite to Attica, with which it forms the Sinus Saronicus. Length, 64 geog. miles: breadth, from 8-28 geog. miles. Cities: Argos, Mycenae, Epidaurus. Smaller but remarkable places; Nemea, Cynuria, Troezen.

6. Achaia, originally Ionia, called likewise Aegialus, comprises the north coast. Length, 56 geog. miles: breadth, from 12-24. It contains twelve cities, of which Dyme, Patrae, and Pellene are the most important.

7. The little country of Sicyonia, 16 geog. miles long, 8 broad, with the cities of Sicyon and Phlius.

8. The small territory of Corinth, of the same extent as the foregoing, adjoining the isthmus which connects Peloponnesus with the main land. City: Corinth, originally Ephyra, with the ports of Lechaeum and Cenchreae; the former on the Corinthian, the latter on the Saronic gulf.

The Greek islands may be divided into three classes; those which lie immediately off the coasts, those which are collected in groups, and those which lie separate in the open sea.

1. Islands off the coasts. Off the west coast in the Ionian sea: Corcyra, opposite Epirus, 32 geog. miles long, from 8-16 broad. City: Corcyra. A Corinthian colony. Opposite Acarnania; Leucadia, with the city and headland of Leucas.--Cephalonia or Same, originally Scheria, with the cities of Same and Cephalonia. In the neighbourhood lies the small island of Ithaca.--Opposite Elis: Zacynthus. Off the south coast: Cythera, with a town of the same name. Off the east coast, in the Saronic gulf: Aegina and Salamis. Opposite Boeotia, from which it is separated by the strait named Euripus, Euboea, the most extensive of all; 76 geog. miles long, from 12-16 geog. miles broad. Cities: Oreus, with the headland of Artemisium on the north, in the centre Chalcis, Eretria. Off Thessaly, Scyathus and Halonesus. Farther north, Thasus, Imbrus, Samothrace, and Lemnos.

2. Clusters of islands in the Aegaean sea: the Cyclades and Sporades; the former of which comprise the western, the latter the eastern islands of the Archipelago. The most important among them are, Andros, Delos, Paros, Naxos, Melos, all with cities of the same names.

3. The more extensive separate islands: 1. Crete, 140 geog. miles long, from 24-40 broad. Mountain: Ida. Cities: Cydonia, Gortyna, Cnossus. 2. Cyprus, 120 geog. miles long, from 20-80 broad. Cities: Salamis, Paphos, Citium, and several smaller places.

Concerning the principal Greek islands off the coast of Asia
Minor, see above, p. 18.

# FR. CARL. HERM. KRUSE, _Geographico-Antiquarian delineation
of ancient Greece and its colonies, with reference to modern
discoveries_. Illustrated with maps and plates: first part, 1825.
General Geography: second part, first division, 1826. Second
division, 1827. Special Geography of Central Greece. A most minute
and careful description of Greece, founded on modern discoveries.

FIRST PERIOD.

_The most ancient traditional history, down to the Trojan war, about B. C. 1200._

Sources: On the formation and progress of history among the Greeks.
Preliminary enquiry into the peculiarities of Grecian mythology in
a historical point of view, as comprising the most ancient history
of the national tribes and heroes. A history rich in itself, on
account of the number of tribes and their leaders; but embellished
and altered in various ways by the poets, particularly the great
early epic writers, and afterwards by the tragedians.--First
advance of history from tradition, wrought by the logographi,
especially those of the Ionian cities, Hecataeus, Pherecydes, etc.
until HERODOTUS, so justly called the Father of History, raised it
at once to such a lofty pitch of eminence. (Compare # _The
historical Art of the Greeks considered in its Rise and Progress,
by_ G. F. CREUZER; 1803.) Nevertheless, in Herodotus, and even
later writers, history continued to savour of its origin; and so
far as the realm of tradition extended, even Theopompus and Ephorus
felt no disinclination to borrow their materials from mythologists
or poets. It need scarcely be observed, that in this first period
the history is merely traditional.

Among the moderns, the English have most successfully treated the
subject of Grecian history: the principal works are:

JOHN GILLIES, _The History of Ancient Greece, its colonies and
conquests, from the earliest accounts till the division of the
Macedonian empire in the east, including the history of literature,
philosophy, and the fine arts_. London, 1786, 2 vols. 4to. and

WILLIAM MITFORD, _The History of Greece_. London, 1784, 4 vols.
4to. Several new editions have since appeared. Translated into
German, Jena, 1800, sqq. by _H. L. Eichstaedt_. Mitford is perhaps
superior in learning, copiousness, and solidity, but he certainly
is greatly surpassed by Gillies in genius and taste, and more
especially in a proper conception of the spirit of antiquity. [Few
English critics will here coincide with our author.]

DE PAUW, _Recherches sur les Grecs_, 1701, 2 vols. 8vo. Replete
with partial views and hypotheses.

# HEEREN, _Researches into the politics, intercourse, and trade of
the most celebrated nations of antiquity_: 3 vols. 1st part, 4th
edit. 1826. [Translated into English, Oxford, 1830, 8vo.]

Many important enquiries on various portions of Grecian history and
antiquities will be found in the great collection:

GRONOVII, _Thesaurus Antiquitatum Graecarum_, 12 vols. folio.

Others are contained in the transactions of different learned
societies; particularly in

_Memoires de l'Academie des Inscriptions et des Belles Lettres_,
Paris, 1709, sqq. 49 vols. 4to.

_Commentarii_, (4 vols.) _Commentarii novi_, (8 vols.)
_Commentationes_, (16 vols.) and _Commentationes recentiores
Societatis Scientiarum Gotting._ (5 vols.)

1. Although Greece was originally inhabited by several insignificant races, two principal tribes claim our attention, the _Pelasgi_ and the _Hellenes_. Both probably were of Asiatic origin; but the difference of their language characterized them as different tribes. The Pelasgi were the first that extended their dominion in Greece.

First seat of the Pelasgians in the Peloponnesus, under Inachus,
about B. C. 1800. According to their own traditions, they made
their first appearance in this quarter as uncultivated savages;
they must, however, at an early period, have made some progress
towards civilization, since the most ancient states, Argos and
Sicyon, owed their origin to them; and to them, perhaps, with
great probability, are attributed the remains of those most
ancient monuments generally termed _cyclopian_.--Extension of this
tribe towards the north, particularly over Attica; settlement in
Thessaly under their leaders Achaeus, Phthius, and Pelasgus; here
they learned to apply themselves to agriculture, and remained for
a hundred and fifty successive years; about 1700-1500.

2. The Hellenes,--subsequently so called from Hellen, one of their chieftains,--originally the weaker of the two tribes, make their first appearance in Phocis, near Parnassus, under king Deucalion; from whence they are driven by a flood. They migrate into Thessaly, and drive out the Pelasgi from that territory.--The Hellenes soon after this become the most powerful race; and spreading over Greece, expel the Pelasgi from almost every part. The latter tribe maintain their ground only in Arcadia, and the land of Dodona; some of them migrate to Italy, others to Crete, and various islands.

3. The Hellenic tribe is subdivided into four principal branches, the _Aeolians_, _Ionians_, _Dorians_, and _Achaeans_, which continue afterwards to be distinguished and separated by many peculiarities of speech, customs, and political government. These four tribes, although they must not be considered as comprising all the slender ramifications of the nation, are derived by tradition from Deucalion's immediate posterity; with whose personal history, therefore, the history of the tribes themselves and their migrations is interwoven.

This derivation of the tribes will be better understood by an
inspection of the following genealogical table:

DEUCALION.
|
HELLEN.
|--------------------|--------------------|
DORUS. XUTHUS. AEOLUS.
| |---------|-------------| |
DORIANS. | | AEOLIANS.
ACHAEUS. ION.
| |
ACHAEANS. IONIANS.

4. The gradual spread of the various branches of the Hellenic tribe over Greece was effected by several migrations, between B. C. 1500-1300; after which they preserved the settlements they had already obtained until the later migration of the Dorians and Heraclidae, about 1100.

_Principal data for the history of the separate tribes in this
period._

1. AEOLUS follows his father Hellen into Phthiotis, which
consequently remains the seat of the Aeolians; they spread from
thence over western Greece, Acarnania, Aetolia, Phocis, Locris, Elis
in the Peloponnesus, and likewise over the western islands.

2. DORUS follows his father into Estiaeotis, the most ancient seat
of the Dorians. They are driven from thence after the death of
Dorus by the Perrhaebi; spread over Macedonia and Crete; part of the
tribe return, cross mount Oeta, and settle in the Tetrapolis
Dorica, afterwards called Doris, where they remain until they
migrate into Peloponnesus, under the guidance of the Heraclidae;
about 1100. (See below, p. 127).

3. XUTHUS, expelled by his brothers, migrates to Athens, where he
marries Creusa, daughter of Erectheus, by whom he has sons, Ion and
Achaeus. Ion and his tribe, driven out of Athens, settle in that
part of Peloponnesus called Aegialus, a name which by them was
converted into Ionia, and in later times exchanged for Achaia. The
Achaeans preserve their footing in Laconia and Argos, until the time
of the Dorian migration.

# L. D. HUELLMAN, _Early Grecian History_, 1814. Rich in original
views and conjectures, beyond which the early history of nations
seldom extends.

# D. C. OTFRIED MUELLER, _History of the Hellenic Tribes and
Cities_, 1820, vol. 1. containing, _Orchomenus and the Minyae_;
vols. 2, 3, containing the _Dorians_, 1825.

5. Besides these original inhabitants, colonies at the same early period came into Greece from civilized countries, from Egypt, Phoenicia, and Mysia. The settlements of these strangers occurred probably between B. C. 1600-1400.

Establishment in Attica of the colony of Cecrops, from Sais in Egypt,
about 1550; in Argos, of the colony of Danaus, likewise from Egypt,
about 1500.--The colony of Cadmus, from Phoenicia, settles in Boeotia
about 1550.--The colony of Pelops, from Mysia, settles in Argos about
1400.

6. The mythology of the Hellenes proves beyond a doubt, that they were at first savages, like the Pelasgi since they had to learn even the use of fire from Prometheus; yet it is equally clear that they must, even in the earliest period, particularly from 1300-1200, when they had ceased to migrate, have made the first important steps towards the attainment of a certain degree of civilization. About the time of the Trojan war they appear to have been still barbarians, though no longer savages.

7. The origin and progress of this national organization, and the influence wrought upon it by settlers from foreign countries, are difficult subjects to determine. If we allow that Cecrops was the first who introduced marriage in Attica, and that agriculture and the cultivation of the olive were discovered in that country, it unquestionably follows, that the Hellenes were indebted to strangers for the foundation of domestic civilization. And when we consider that the families which subsequently held sway were descended directly from the most powerful of these strangers, their lasting influence can hardly be a matter of doubt. It must, however, be observed, that what the Greeks borrowed from foreigners they previously stamped with their own peculiar character, so that it became, as it were, the original property of the nation. The question, therefore, is deprived of much of the importance which it assumes at the first glance.

8. The case was the same with regard to all branches of intellectual civilization, particularly religion. That many deities and religious rites were introduced into Greece from Egypt, Asia, and Thrace, and generally through Crete, hardly admits of a doubt; but they did not therefore remain Egyptian, Asiatic, or Thracian; they became Grecian gods. Hence it appears that the investigation of those relations can hardly lead to any important conclusion. It is a fact, however, of the highest importance, that whatever gods the Greeks adopted, no separate order of priesthood was established among them, still less any caste laying claim to the exclusive possession of knowledge. Several traces, nevertheless, make it probable, that many of the most ancient sanctuaries were settlements of Egyptian, Phoenician, or Cretan priests, who imported with them their own peculiar forms of worship. And notwithstanding this worship consisted merely of outward ceremonies, many ideas and institutions which were attached to it, became, in this manner, the common property of the nation.

9. It was principally, therefore, by religion, that the rude mind became in some degree polished. But it was the ancient minstrels, ([Greek: aoidoi],) Orpheus, Linus, etc., who, by disseminating religious principles, contributed so much towards abolishing revenge, and with it the perpetual state of warfare which had hitherto distracted the country. These it was who in their mysteries contrived in some measure to impress the narrow circle of the initiated with the advantages resulting from a civilized life.

SAINTE-CROIX, _Recherches sur les Mysteres du Paganisme_, Paris, 1765.
Translated into German, with valuable observations, by C. G. LENZ;
Gotha, 1790.

10. The influence of religion, through the medium of oracles, especially those of Dodona and Delphi, was not less powerful. The two latter, with that of Olympia, were perhaps, originally ancient settlements of priests, such as have been already alluded to. The necessity of consulting these sanctuaries naturally led men to regard the oracles as the common property of the nation, to which every one should have access; it followed therefore as an inevitable consequence, that the direction of affairs in which all were engaged, depended principally on those oracles.

A. VAN DALEN, _De Oraculis veterum Ethnicorum Dissertationes_ 6.
Amstel. 1700. A very valuable work. A comprehensive dissertation on
the subject, however, is still wanting: a portion of it is treated
of in

J. GRODDEK, _De Oraculorum veterum, quae in Herodoti libris
continentur, natura, commentatio_; Gotting. 1786.

11. It happened with Greece as with other countries; the tender plant of civilization grew up under the shelter of the sanctuary. There the festivals were celebrated, and there the people assembled; and there various tribes, who had hitherto been strangers to one another, met in peace, and conversed on their common interests. Hence arose spontaneously the first idea of a law of nations, and those connections which led to its development. Among these connections, that of the Amphictyons at Delphi was the most important, and continued the longest: it is probable that it did not assume its complete form till a later period; yet it appears in early times to have adopted the principle, that none of the cities belonging to the league should be destroyed by the others.

# FR. WILH. TITTMANN, _Upon the Amphictyonic League_; 1812. A
dissertation which gained the prize of the Academy of Sciences at
Berlin.

12. To religion must likewise be added navigation, and the consequent intercourse which brought the nation into contact with strangers, and prepared it to receive civilization. It cannot be denied that the navigators continued long to be mere pirates; but as Minos of Crete cleared the sea of freebooters, the want of another state of things must have been felt long before.

13. In the mean time the chivalrous spirit of the nation was gradually aroused; and developed the first bloom of its youthful vigour in the heroic ages. An affection for extraordinary undertakings was excited; and conducted the chieftains, not only individually, but also in confederate bodies, beyond the limits of their father-land. These undertakings were not only important in themselves, but their advantages were increased by their being preserved in the songs of their bards by means of a national poesy, such as no other people possessed, and such as contributed to the further development of the national genius.

Expedition of the Argonauts to Colchis, somewhere about B. C. 1250;
war of the seven confederate princes against Thebes about 1225; the
town, however, was not taken until the second attempt made by the sons
of the chiefs (Epigoni) in 1215.

14. Thus every thing was now ripe for some great national undertaking of all the combined Hellenic nations; and that object was attained in the war against Troy. The most important result of that expedition was the kindling of one common national spirit,--a spirit which in spite of dissensions and feuds, was never wholly extinguished, and which must almost necessarily have arisen from an expedition carried on in so distant a field, which lasted ten years, in which all were joined, and which was crowned with such signal success. From the time of the Trojan war downwards the Hellenes always looked upon themselves as but one people.

General view of the political state of Greece about the time of the
Trojan war.--Division into several small states, the most powerful
of which were Argos and Mycenae.--All those states were governed by
hereditary chieftains or princes from a certain _family_ (kings,
[Greek: basileis],) who combined the offices of leaders in war and
judges in peace. Their authority being more or less extended in
proportion to the qualities they possessed, and particularly to
their valour in battle.--Manner of life among the people: a nation
dwelling in cities, but at the same time cultivating the land and
tending cattle; applying also to war, and already somewhat advanced
in the art of navigation.

A. W. SCHLEGEL, _De Geographia Homeri Commentatio_. Hannov. 1788. A
review of the political geography of Greece at this period.--On the
topography of Troy:

LECHEVALIER, _Description de la Plaine de Troie_. Translated and
accompanied with notes by HEYNE, Leipzig, 1794. Compare CLARKE,
_Travels_, vol. i, c. 4-6, who has thrown doubts on the system of
Lechevalier, which has, however, been again confirmed by LEAKE,
_Travels in Asia Minor_.

SECOND PERIOD.

_From the Trojan war to the breaking out of the Persian war, B. C. 1200-500._

Sources. On no portion of the Grecian history is our information
so scanty as upon this long period, in which we can be hardly said
to have more than a general knowledge of many of the most
important events. As in the foregoing period, its commencement is
but a traditional and poetical history. It was not till towards
the end of it that the use of writing became common among the
Greeks; add to which the period itself was not rife in great
national undertakings, such as might afford appropriate materials
for the poet or historian. Besides the scattered information which
may be gathered from Herodotus, Plutarch, Strabo, and above all
from the introduction to Thucydides's history, Pausanias must not
be forgotten; who, in his description of Greece, has preserved an
abundance of most valuable documents relating to the separate
histories of the minor states. The Books of Diodorus belonging to
this period are lost.

# FR. WILHELM TITTMANN, _Delineation of the Grecian Forms of
Government_, 1822. An industrious collection of all the
information we possess respecting this subject.

# W. WACHSMUTH, _Grecian Antiquities with regard to Politics_, 4
vols. An excellent work.

1. _History of the Hellenic states within Greece._

1. The Trojan war was followed by a very stormy period, in consequence of the many disorders prevalent in the ruling families, especially in that of Pelops. But more violent commotions soon arose, caused by the attempts of the rude tribes of the north, particularly of the Dorians combined with the Aetolians, who, under the guidance of the descendants of Hercules, exiled from Argos, strove to obtain possession of Peloponnesus. Those commotions shook Greece during a whole century, and as the seats of most of the Hellenic tribes were then changed, the consequences were lasting and important.

First unsuccessful attempt under Hyllus, son of Hercules, about
1180.--Repeated attempts, until at last the claims of the Heraclidae
are made good by the grandsons of Hyllus, viz. Telephus and
Cresphontes, together with Eurysthenes and Procles, sons of their
brother Aristodemus, 1100.

2. Consequences resulting to the Peloponnesus from this migration. The territories of Argos, Sparta, Messene, and Corinth, wrested from the Achaeans who had hitherto inhabited them, become the property of the Dorians; Elis falls to the share of the Aetolians, who had accompanied the former. The Achaeans expelled, in their turn expel the Ionians and settle in the country since called Achaia; the fugitive Ionians are received by their ancient kinsmen the Athenians.--But among the consequences of this migration of the Hellenic races must be reckoned likewise the establishment of Greek colonies in Asia Minor; an occurrence of the highest importance to the ulterior development of the nation. This colonization was commenced by the Aeolian Hellenes, whose example was soon after followed by the Ionians, and even by the Dorians.

For the history of these colonies, see the following section.

3. Although the effect of these migrations and wars, in which the ruder tribes oppressed the more civilized, must inevitably have been, not only to interrupt the progress of civilization, but even almost entirely to annihilate it, yet in this universal movement the foundation was laid of that constitution of things which afterwards existed in Greece. The tribes which had migrated, as well as those which had been expelled, remained at first under the dominion of their hereditary princes, some for a longer, others for a shorter time. In the two centuries, however, immediately subsequent to the migrations, B. C. 1100-900, republican constitutions took the place of hereditary clanship in all the Grecian countries, the distant Epirus excepted. These republics continued to exist amid the various revolutions which happened; and the love of political freedom, deeply impressed on the minds of the people, constituted from this time the principal feature in the national character.

4. The sequel proves, that the principal cause of this change so important for Greece,--this change, by which her future internal policy was for ever determined, originated in the progress made by the newly come tribes towards civic life, and consequently at the same time towards national civilization. In this newly constituted order of things, each city, with the territory around it, formed a separate state, and framed its own constitution; hence there arose as many free states as cities.

The notion that Greece contained the same number of states as
countries is completely false, although it cannot be denied that
the mode of expression in most writings upon Greek history seems to
authorize the assertion. It is true that some of those countries,
such as Attica, Megaris, Laconia, may be each regarded as a
separate state, because each constituted the territory of one city.
The others, however, such as Arcadia, Boeotia, etc. did not each
form one state, but comprised as many separate states as there were
free and independent cities, each of which, with its territory,
formed one. Still, however, it must be observed, (_a_) that the
natural ties of kindred subsisted; Arcadians, Boeotians, etc. spoke
of one another as countrymen. (_b_) Voluntary connections were
entered into between different cities, and sometimes all the cities
of a country, as, for instance, in Achaia, so that the whole formed
one confederation; each individual city nevertheless still
preserved its own system of laws and government. Again, (_c_) in
consequence of a greater share of power, one city assumed a sort of
dominion over the other; as, for instance, that of Thebes over the
Boeotian cities. This dominion, however, was always precarious, and
depended upon the state of affairs. (_d_) It must likewise be
observed, that the constitution of each separate city underwent
many changes, wrought generally by influential citizens, (tyrants,)
who not only possessed themselves of the supreme power, but also
contrived frequently to make it for some time hereditary in their
families. Every one will easily discern that the above are the
fundamental principles of Greek history, which cannot be too
clearly conceived, or too correctly defined; since it is
self-evident what a wide field was by such a constitution of things
thrown open to practical politics. The more improbable the
attainment of fixed constitutions in the separate cities was, the
more frequent must have been the political attempts; (attempts
facilitated by the narrow extent of the state;) and the more
frequently those attempts failed, the more extensive in this
intellectual people became the mass of political ideas; the results
of which in later times were the legislative codes of Solon and
others.

5. Although Greece was thus parcelled out into a number of small states, united by no common political bond, yet there existed a certain unity of the Hellenic race, a certain national spirit: this was produced in part by national festivals and games, occurring at stated periods, among which those in honour of Jupiter at Olympia were the chief. The nation at these appeared in all its splendour; and all Hellenes, but no others, were allowed to join in them. This union, too, was promoted by the extension of the Amphictyonic council: and the reason why this last institution was not followed by all the consequences which might have been expected from it, may perhaps be found in what naturally takes place in every great confederation whenever any of the component states become too powerful.

The Amphictyonic council was certainly not a states-general, in
which all national affairs were discussed. Its immediate office was
to attend to the temples and the oracles of Delphi. But then it
must be observed, 1st, that from this council originated the
Grecian ideas of the law of nations; over the preservation of which
the Amphictyons watched. 2. In consequence of its political
influence on the oracle, this council, in certain cases, was
enabled to take a share in the affairs of different states. 3. The
Amphictyons always formed a national institution, since none but
Hellenes were admitted.

ST. CROIX, _Des anciens gouvernemens federatifs, et de la
legislation de Crete_, Paris, 1796. One of the most invaluable
inquiries, not only into the institutions of the Amphictyons, but
also into other matters of Grecian history connected with them.

6. Among the different states of Greece, Sparta and Athens, even at this period, became celebrated, not only for their greater power, but also for their superior constitutions and their laws: and though it may not perhaps be strictly true, that the history of the rest of Greece is connected with that of these two cities, yet they certainly possess the highest claim to our attention.

7. History of Sparta. The Achaeans at first were governed by princes of the house of Perseus, but after Menelaus's accession to the throne in virtue of his wife, by princes of the house of Pelops. When the latter had been expelled by the Dorians, Laconia fell by lot to the sons of Aristodemus, Procles and Eurysthenes, between whose families the royal power was divided, so that two kings constantly reigned in common, one from each family.

Families of the Proclidae and Aegidae; the latter so called from Agis,
the son and successor of Eurysthenes.

# J. C. F. MANSO, _An Essay on the History and Constitution of
Sparta_, Leipzig, 1800 sqq. 3 vols. The most important work upon
this subject, and which likewise contains much information upon
various points of Grecian history connected with it.

CRAGIUS, _De Republica Lacedaemoniorum_, 1642.

MEURSIUS, _De regno Laconico_; and _Miscellanea Laconica_. Both
laborious compilations.

8. The Dorians now gradually conquered, and established themselves in many cities of the peninsula; forming, if not the whole population, at least the only part of it that enjoyed any power, as the Achaeans that remained were reduced to slavery. No long time, however, elapsed ere the city of Sparta usurped an authority over the whole country, which it ever afterwards preserved; the other towns, formerly considerable, becoming unfortified, defenceless, and insignificant.

Relation between the Spartan citizens of the capital as a ruling
body, and the Lacedaemonians, or [Greek: perioikoi], inhabitants of
the country, as subjects who paid tribute and military service. Even
in the time of Agis, the successor of Eurysthenes, this subjection
was effected by force; the inhabitants of Helos were made slaves, as
a punishment for their opposition; while the others, by the
sacrifice of their political freedom, preserved their personal
liberty, however confined it might be.

9. The history of the two following centuries, to the time of Lycurgus, exhibits nothing but the repeated wars of the Spartans with their neighbours the Argives; their domestic broils, occasioned by the too unequal division of property, by the feuds, and the diminished power of the kings, and which lasted until Lycurgus, the uncle and guardian of the minor king, Charilaus, about the year 880, gave to Sparta that constitution to which she was principally indebted for her subsequent splendour.

_Illustration of the principal features in the Spartan constitution._
Some preliminary observations are necessary. (_a_) As the legislation
of Lycurgus occurred at so early a period, and as his laws were not
written, but conveyed in apophthegms, ([Greek: rhetrai],) which
were confirmed by the oracle of Delphi, many things of later origin
have been attributed to Lycurgus. (_b_) Much that is rightly
attributed to him was not original, but deduced from ancient Dorian
institutions, which being now upon the decline, were reestablished
by force of law. Hence it follows, that the legislation of Lycurgus
must naturally have had many points of resemblance with that of the
Cretans, likewise of Dorian origin, although much, as we are told,
was directly borrowed from them. (_c_) The principal object of the
laws of Lycurgus was to ensure the existence of Sparta by creating
and supporting a vigorous and uncorrupted race of men. Hence those
laws had a more peculiar reference to private life and physical
education, than to the constitution of the state, in which the
legislator appears to have introduced but few alterations.