Chapter XIII: Part 13

[30] The restoration of this passage from the notes has been particularly difficult. From the _Lect. on Anc. Hist._, vol. i. p. 234, it seems clear that Niebuhr had somewhere publicly expressed his opinion on the passage of Strabo above referred to; but I do not know where he has done so, and I have not been able to avail myself of anything except the notes taken in the lecture-room, some of which are very good. I am firmly persuaded that Niebuhr uttered the words as they are given in the text, though his opinion differs from that now generally adopted, which is based upon the restoration of the text of Strabo, partially the work of C. O. Müller (_Dor._ vol. i. p. 110). The name Aepys seems to be based upon _Iliad_, ii. 592, and that of Pherae upon the original text of Strabo himself.--ED.

[31] “Whether the list of the Spartan kings is correct or not, I do not know; their number may be historical, but the years of their reigns are very uncertain. Agis has quite the appearance of an historical personage.”

[32] “The derivation of the name Εἵλωτες, from Ἕλος, is extremely uncertain. Helos was certainly destroyed, but I cannot see how Εἵλωτες could have been formed from Ἕλος. I cannot imagine that a neuter name in ος should form its ethnic name in ως, nor do I know any instance in which an initial ε is changed into ει.”

[33] The words _of Sardinia_ have been inserted by conjecture. The MS. containing the clause _as was the case_, &c., has the words _by the Saracens_. But it is well known, that in the eleventh century, that is, about the time of the conquest of Sardinia, Pisa had 150,000 inhabitants, whereas at present it scarcely has the tenth part of that number.—ED.

[34] This should probably be “the Homeric poems.” Cardamyle is mentioned, Iliad ix. 150, among the seven towns which Agamemnon offers to give to Achilles.—ED.

[35] Herod. viii. 73, calls them Dryopians; so also Pausanias and Strabo.—ED.

[36] The 20th of October, 1827.

[37] “Their name, from its termination άς, reminds us of Italian ethnic names, such as _Antias_ and the like; but in the former the α is short.”

[38] See _Hist. of Rome_, vol. i. p. 418, n. 975, vol. ii. p. 317; _Lect. on Rom. Hist._ vol. i. p. 203, n. 4; 3rd edit.

[39] This list is given from Polybius, ii. 41; Niebuhr here forgot that _Aegae_ and _Rhypes_ had been mentioned even by Herodotus, i. 145, who omits Leontion and Cerynea. This requires the statement in the text to be modified, though it does not affect the explanation given by Niebuhr.—ED.

[40] Strab. ix. p. 394, c. Instead of the verse Στῆσε δ’ ἄγων ἵν’ Ἀθηναίων ἵσταντο φάλαγγες, the Megarians read Αἴας δ’ ἐκ Σαλαμῖνος ἄγεν νέας, ἔκ τε Πολίχνης, Ἔκ τ’ Αἰγειρούσσης, Νισαίης τε Τριπόδων τε.—ED.

[41] The statement of Thucydides is confirmed by the document of the official treaty about the fifty years’ peace of Nicias in Thucyd. v. 18: στήλας δὲ στῆσαι—ἐν Ἀθήναις ἐν πόλει.—ED.

[42] Niebuhr here overlooks Thucyd. i. 93: μείζων γὰρ ὁ περίβολος πανταχῆ ἐξήχθη τῆς πόλεως.—ED.

[43] The reader must bear in mind, that all Niebuhr says about the topography of Athens was said before any of the numerous recent investigations of this subject had been commenced.—ED.

[44] “The temple of Theseus was destroyed as early as 1687; the Turks had a powder magazine there, and the Venetians were barbarous enough to bombard it; one front of it is left standing.”

[45] Dion Cassius, lxix. 16, however, says ἐξεποίησε.—ED.

[46] Aeschin. Socr. _Eryx._ c. 7 and 24.—ED.

[47] “This war is a memorable occurrence on account of the misfortunes of men who had deserved a better fate.” (See _Kleine Schrift._ vol. i. p. 451, foll.)

[48] Comp. _Kleine Schrift._ l. c., p. 458, note 10.—ED.

[49] “_Basílius_, not _Basilīus_, for at that time Greek was spoken only according to accent.”

[50] “The seventh among the Platonic letters was no doubt written soon after the time of Plato and before the death of Alexander; it is written in the vivid style of one who knew things from hearsay, but had not witnessed them himself.” (Comp. Ulrich, _Die Eilfmänner in Athen_, p. 258, note 3.)

[51] Cic. _De Nat. Deor._ i. 42.

[52] This statement is not the same in all the MSS., whence the text cannot be regarded as quite certain.—ED.

[53] These numbers, though not agreeing with what precedes, occur in all the MSS. We must therefore probably suppose, that Niebuhr in his thorough-going view of the symmetry of numerical relations in antiquity, regarded the _eleven_ Boeotarchs as the remnant of the earlier number twelve, and divided this latter into two equal halves; but I cannot at this moment say on what this division is based. The statement that afterwards the Boeotarchs were exclusively Thebans, occurs in a set of notes, which do not seem to be quite trustworthy.—ED.

[54] I have no doubt that Niebuhr here meant Lake Hylice, although I do not know that it is connected with Lake Copais. Respecting its outlet into the Euripus, see Müller, _Orchom._ p. 38, 2nd edit., who doubts its existence. The name of “lake of Haliartus” belongs only to the part of lake Copais near Haliartus.—ED.

[55] “Lépanto, not Lepánto, according to the modern Greek pronunciation, just as Sífanto (the modern name for the island of Siphnos), Táranto, Ótranto. This originally Greek accent differs from that of Italian names.”

[56] The MSS. give nothing but these words, which are evidently defective, and must be supplemented from Thucyd. i. 112, iv. 118, v. 18. Compare Boeckh, _Publ. Econ. of Athens_, p. 161. foll. 2nd. edit.—ED.

[57] This statement can only be regarded as an inaccurate expression of the right possessed by every people to vote at the Amphictyonic council, for it is well known that each nation had two votes. Comp. _Lect. on Anc. Hist._ vol. i. p. 244, fol.—ED.

[58] xxiv. 1.

[59] “The reason for this is, that the olive-tree requires many years to grow and bear fruit.”

[60] i. 56.

[61] i. 5, iii. 94.

[62] “Ampracia is the more ancient orthography, and not Ambracia.”

[63] “_Landrecht_, as it was called in the middle ages; _Burgrecht_ is something different, referring to the individual who has the right of becoming a citizen of a place.”

[64] “It would be an excellent subject for an essay to collect the differences in the names of nations and places among the Greeks and Romans; it would be very important in the critical treatment of ancient authors, as the old Latin forms have often been misunderstood.”

[65] “MSS. and editions of Latin poets frequently have _Haemonia_, but I cannot venture to decide as to whether it is right or wrong. The Greeks have generally Αἰμονία, and rarely Αἱμονία; in like manner Αἶμος is more common than Αἷμος, and it is doubtful whether the former is not a change made by editors.”

[66] Dionys. Hal. _Ant._ i. 28, calls him a great great-grand-son.

[67] In some MSS. the following words are here added: “Such also was the case in the Netherlands, in the official language of the fifteenth century.” It is possible that Niebuhr may have alluded to the _Geuses_.—ED.

[68] “We ought to say _the_ Tempe as a plural, for the Greek is τὰ Τέμπη, and signifies a glen or a pass.”

[69] In one MS., which however is interpolated in some parts, we find the following statement: “Dositheus Magister, the most ancient Latin grammarian, whose works we possess complete (?), imitated Dionysius Thrax.”—ED.

[70] “Whether Dryopians and Dolopians be the same name cannot be proved, although it is possible. I do not like the attempts to prove such things; people easily believe that they arrive at positive results, and accustom themselves to play with names. This is unfortunately the case in Germany so much, that we cannot be sufficiently on our guard against it. It is quite a different thing to examine what was the generic name of a great nation.”

[71] xix. 175.

[72] See above, p. 33.

[73] v. 3, § 6.

[74] In one MS. I find “On the slip of land extending into the sea opposite Chios”; one main part of the town was afterwards in the island.—ED.

[75] Comp. _Lect. on Rom. Hist._, vol. i. p. 70, fol. 3rd edit.

[76] Μάκαρος ἕδος Αἰολίωνος, _Hymn in Apoll._ 37.

[77] “Athens too is written with ε on the drachmae of later times (ΑΘΕ).” The connexion between this remark and the statement in the text is not clear.—ED.

[78] “During the Macedonian period and afterwards this name certainly was never pronounced otherwise than Cassándrea.”

[79] “Xenophon’s _Hellenica_ is one of the most corrupt among ancient works; the text is in a very bad condition, and requires a most thorough critical revision; the history itself, though bad, is indispensable to us. In the fifth book, he states that Olynthus had 800 hoplites and an equal number of peltasts, but this is impossible. It has been proposed to read 8000, but this is too much, and is, moreover, not plausible, as the numbers were written in the characters of the alphabet. Demosthenes speaks of 5000 hoplites; his expression πόλις μυρίανδρος only signifies a large town in general.”

[80] In Thucydides i. 94 and 128, we have Βυζάντιον without the article.—ED.

[81] _Ausführl. Griech. Gram._, vol. ii. p. 428, foll. 2nd edit.

[82] “Thus we find mention of a Roman Church _S. Agnolo in Pescivendolo_ in an ancient chronicle [in the _Beschreib. der Stadt Rom_, iii. 3, p. 468, this is referred to the history of Cola di Rienzi, which was formerly ascribed to Fortefiocca], and that church is now called _S. Angelo in Pescaria_; there must have been a fish-market in the neighbourhood. _Piscivendulus_ is unquestionably an ancient Latin word, in which the termination _ulus_ is purely an adjective termination without the meaning of a diminutive, as we sometimes find in Plautus.” [One otherwise very good MS. here has the word _nuculendulus_, for which I am unable to restore the correct word, unless _nucifrangibula_ (Plaut. _Bacch._ iv. 2, 16) be meant].

[83] Niebuhr has discussed this same subject in an advertisement about the progress of the edition of the _Corpus Scriptorum Historiae Byzantinae_, which was published in the 4th vol. of the _Rhein. Museum_, and was directed against Professor Heinrich, who had censured the form _Byzantinae_.—ED.

[84] The inscription of Protogenes; see _Kleine Schrift._, vol. i. p. 382, foll.—ED.

[85] “In consequence of the numerous Milesian colonies on the Euxine, M. Von Köppen has brought forward the strange hypothesis, that the Milesians were a nation on the coast of the Euxine, who founded the colony of Miletus. Being a native of Russia, he perhaps wanted to gratify his Russian patriotism, by assigning a Russian origin to so important a Greek city.”

[86] Reprinted in _Kleine Schriften_, vol. ii. p. 224.

[87] _Hist. of Rome_, vol. i. p. 25, foll.

[88] The name is wanting, and I am unable to supply it.—ED.

[89] _Hist. of Rome_, vol. iii. p. 456.

[90] “Others call him Tharypas or Tharypos. If we examine this name carefully, we find already a trace of the change, seen in the modern Greek, of an oblique case into the nominative, as ὁ πατέρος—it is one of the many traces which shew that, properly speaking, Epirot and Macedonian forms constitute the foundation of modern Greek, and that the latter is not the same as the popular language of the ancient Greeks, as is commonly imagined by the modern Greeks. My dear friend, Count Capo d’Istria, is not free from this prejudice, though he admits that, e.g., at Athens a different dialect was spoken. The Italians in the middle ages, especially Aretinus, entertained a similar opinion; they maintained that Cicero spoke Italian, that Latin was only the language of the learned, an artificial and improved Italian; and that Latin was indeed written, but that the people spoke Italian. But the Greeks confound the circumstances, and pretend to know more than is generally true. Many proofs, for example, may be adduced that a kind of modern Greek was spoken at Alexandria in the time of the first emperors; but that language was derived from the Epirot, Macedonian and Thessalian dialects; it is pure Greek, but at the same time has many peculiarities, many of which have passed into the Latin language. Thus _Areus_, the name of the Spartan king, is written _Areas_ in Livy, which, therefore, should not be altered, but is quite correct; in the same manner we have _Crotona_ for _Croton_, and in German _Mailand_ for Milano.”

[91] One MS. here has “the Ambracians and Chaonians;” the probable reading is, “the Thesprotians and Chaonians,” according to the geographical succession. The apparent contradiction in the statement that Ambracia was dependent on Epirus and at the same time in the power of Philip, must be understood of successive periods, the former being the earlier, and the latter the subsequent condition. Comp. _Hist. of Rome_, vol. iii. p. 165.—ED.

[92] Comp. _Lect. on Ancient Hist._ vol. ii. p. 346.—ED.

[93] Comp. _Hist. of Rome_, vol. iii. p. 457, foll.; _Lect. on Rom. Hist._ vol. i. p. 421 foll. 3rd edit.

[94] “The whole of this part of history is still obscure; I mean the period from the death of Alexander until the time of Polybius. If God spares my life, I contemplate writing this history as a supplement to ancient history.”

[95] “I have here mentioned the Ibis, on account of this historical fact, which is not the only one in that poem. I recommend its study to any scholar who wishes to ascertain whether he is thoroughly conversant with poetical mythology and ancient history. One of the most difficult problems is to explain the allusions; there is not much poetry in it, but a great deal of wit. We admire Jean Paul, on account of his allusions and of his wit, but we speak slightingly of the wit of the Alexandrians, though they, and especially Callimachus, ought not to be despised. We are not sufficiently familiar with them; it is also true that there are few poetical geniuses among them: Callimachus is not without talent (witness, for example, the _Lavacrum Palladis_); Apollonius Rhodius is indeed a feeble mind, but the loss of Philotas is much to be lamented. Although Propertius equals neither Callimachus nor Philetas, still even he is excellent; he, too, may be used as a means of self-examination.”

[96] See Niebuhr’s _Gesch. des Zeitalters der Revolution_, vol. ii. p. 281.

[97] “I ought to have spoken of ATHAMANIA before, but not having any maps before me as guides, I forgot it. It was situated between Molottis and Thessaly, and was a small Epirot principality. In the earliest times it was not important, but subsequently it became remarkable, because it maintained its independence of Epirus as well as of Aetolia. Their king, Amynander, was early allied with the Romans, but then went over to the Aetolians. This brought great distress upon the country, though it was afterwards pardoned by the Romans and was restored to its former condition.”

[98] “In like manner the Romans abolished the _concilia populorum_ in Italy.”

[99] “This name, though formed according to good analogy, is not used by the ancients; but I do not see why we should not employ it upon the analogy of others.”

[100] This is the name in all the MSS., though there can be no doubt that Callias is meant.—ED.

[101] “It deserves to be noted that in several of the later Latin poets the genuine usage in the application of rare names disappears. The beginning of Lucan is no doubt known even to those who are unable to work their way through the whole; in explaining it we may assume two possibilities: he either intended to compose a poem on the whole Civil war down to the battle of Philippi, or he unwittingly confounded Macedonia and Thessaly. If he wanted to use such a poetical name, he ought to have said _Bella per_ AEMONIOS _plus quam civilia campos_.”

[102] “Not _Aegae_, as you find in most maps and in modern editions of ancient authors. In the older editions the name is correctly given, Αἰγαῖαι, pronounced according to the modern Greek Αἰγέαι, and the inhabitants are called Αἰγεεῖς. Moderns have unfortunately taken it into their heads that this is a mistake, and have unceremoniously altered it without saying anything about it: as the altered form was found in the maps of D’Anville and Barbié du Bocage, it was thought to be the correct one.”

[103] “I take this opportunity of saying a few words about this not sufficiently valued author. There are writers whose works are read, without their containing any substance, and without their being at all comparable to others, merely because they have once got a name. Others deserving of respect are now neglected, while formerly they were studied. Dion Chrysostomus is one of these latter. He is indeed sophistical, but there is among his works a whole series of thoroughly beautiful orations, showing great intellect, which is, after all, the main thing. Sidonius Apollinaris’ Latinity is very rustic; but he is a man of talent; so also Libanius, although he is already too sophistical. Others, as Aelius Aristides, who are so devoid of talent and so absurd, that we feel inclined at once to throw their works among the rubbish, are placed on an equality with the former. To the same class belong Themistius and Fronto, the latter of whom does nothing but pile up words. In regard to talented writers, we must not allow ourselves to be prejudiced by the fact that they belong to a late period. The language of Dion Chrysostomus is very good; it is a fine imitation of Attic Greek, and this is not only my opinion, but the judgment of Valckenaer, Hemsterhuys, Ruhnkenius, and others; his style is like that of Xenophon, who, after all, is read and studied in schools only on account of his language.”

[104] Namely in their division of the country according to what are called the natural boundaries. See above, p. 282.—ED.

[105] xlv. 29.

[106] xlv. 30.

[107] “The _lembi_ were privateers of the Illyrians with one very large lateen sail; they were probably very quick boats, able to sail very sharply with the wind, and requiring a strong crew and bold sailors. They were the same ships as those called by the Romans _Liburnicae_, which more and more supplanted the place of triremes, quadriremes, and quinqueremes.”

[108] This name is not quite certain; I have supplied it from Pliny; the MS. notes having some such name as _Voelnii_.—ED.

[109] Niebuhr probably meant to say—“in the Slavonian tongue but according to the Roman rites.”—ED.

[110] More correctly: under Innocent IV., A.D. 1248. See Dobrowsky, _Glagolitica_, p. 16.

[111] According to a letter of his father, dated Dec. 1807, Niebuhr understood Russian, Slavonic, Polish, Bohemian, and also Illyrian. See _Life and Letters of B. G. Niebuhr_, vol. i. p. 27.—ED.

[112] It is published in _Kleine Histor. u. Philol. Schriften_, vol. i. p. 352, foll.—ED.

[113] “If a man is not a thorough philologer, he cannot enter upon the study of ancient history at all; to do so without an intimate familiarity with philology would be the same as if a man were to write about Germany from French authorities.”

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