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Published by T .Waidle h Minor S: 1841 eD ® M IR3 br Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2016 with funding from University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Alternates https://archive.org/details/historyofancientOOgill THE HISTORY OF ANCIENT GREECE, ITS Colonies anir Conquests, FROM THE EARLIEST ACCOUNTS TILL THE DIVISION OF THE MACEDONIAN EMPIRE IN TPIE EAST: INCLUDING THE HISTORY OF LITERATURE, PHILOSOPHY, ANlJ THE FINE ARTS. BY JOHN GILLIES, LL.B. F.A.S. PmLiLDEXiPI-IIil S PUBLISHED BY THOMAS WARDLE. 1841 . ' T. K. & P. G. COLLINS, PRINTERS, PHILA. Or *V\ ^ U Fed. 10, 1786. S rO P cf I SIR, PREFACE The following History commences with the infancy of Greece, and describes its gradual advancement towards civilization and power. But the main design of my Work is confined to the space of seven centuries, which elapsed from the settlement of the Ionians in Asia Minor till the establishment of the Macedonian empire in the East; during which memo- rable period, the arts and arms of the Greeks, conspiring to excite the admiration and terror of the ancient world, justly merit the attentive study of the present age, and pos- terity. In the general revolutions of their national confederacy, which, though always loose and imperfect, was never altogether dissolved, I have interwoven the description and principal transactions of each independent republic, however small or inconsiderable; and, by comparing authors seldom read, and not frequently consulted for historical materials, nave endeavoured to trace the intricate series, and to explain the secret connection, of seemingly detached events, in order to reduce the scattered members of Grecian story into one perpetual unbroken narrative ; a design difficult indeed, and new, yet evidently well calculated to promote the great purposes of pleasure and utility. In the view which I have taken of my subject, the fluctuation of public affairs, and the vicissitudes of war and fortune, appears scarcely the most splendid, and surely not the most interesting portion of Grecian history. By genius and fancy, not less than by patriotism and prowess, the Greeks are honourably distinguished among the nations of the earth. l>y the Greeks, and by them alone, Literature, Philosophy, and the Fine Arts, were treated as important concerns of state, and employed as powerful engines of policy. From their literary glory not only their civil, but even their military transactions, derive their chief importance and dignity. To complete, therefore, my present undertaking, it seemed necessary to unite the history of arts with that of empire, and to combine with the external revolutions of war and government, the intellectual improvements of men, and the ever-varying picture of human opinions and manners. In the execution of this extensive plan, might I assume any merit to myself, it would be that of having diligently studied the Greek writers, without adopting their prejudices, or copying their narratives w T ith servility. Many events, highly interesting to the citizens of Athens or of Sparta, now interest no more ; concerning many important transactions, anciently too familiar to be explained, the Modern Reader will reasonably expect informa- tion. On some occasions, therefore, I found it necessary to concentrate and abridge; on others, to dilate and expatiate; but have never sacrificed that due relation of parts to the whole, and to each other, or violated that unity of design which I was ambitious to attain in the present History, by condescending to copy or translate. • In the Work throughout, I have ventured to think for myself; and my opinions, whether well or ill founded, are, at least, my own. vi PREFACE. The present History was undertaken, and a considerable part of it written, many years ago, hy the advice of some persons of taste and learning ; who, having read my historical Introduction to the Orations of Lysias and Isocrates, wished to see the whole series of Grecian story, treated on the same plan. My situation, and my leisure, enabled me to meet their wish ; but before my manuscript was prepared for the Press, my studies were interrupted by the only employment, not enjoined by some positive duty, which I should have allowed (such are the sanguine hopes of authors 1 ) to suspend my literary labours. During that long interval, different portions of Grecian history have been ably treated in English, as well as in * foreign languages. Yet, as most of those works still remain incomplete, and as none of them embrace the whole extent of my subject, or at all pre- occupy my plan, I venture to offer the present History, deeply sensible as I am of its imperfections, to the indulgence of the Public. * Among the foreign works, I distinguish with pleasure those of Mr. Meiners of Gottingen. To the author of this History it would be very flattering to find the opinions which he hazarded in his introduction to Lysias, confirmed in a subsequent work of such an admired scholar as Mr. Meiners (see his Geschichte des Luxus der Athenienser, Lemgo, 1782,) were it not extremely natural that writers, who draw from the same sources, should advance the same facts, and deduce similar conclusions. In the following History, my views of the Pythagorean land , and of the Platonic philosophy , though sufficiently remote from vulgar opinion, nearly coincide with those of Sir. Meiners in his Geschichte des Ursprungs, Fortgangs, und Verfalls der Wissenschaften in Griechenland : that is, lt the History of the Origin, Progress, and Decay of Philosophy in Greece ; ” a work not yet completed, but which, as far as it extends, I will venture to recommend as one of the most valuable and accurate treasuries of Greek lear nin g contained in any modern tongue. CONTENTS. CHAP. I. View of the Progress of Civilization and Power in Greece, preceding the Trojan War — History of that War — Its consequences . . Page 11 CHAP. H. Religion — Government — Arts — Manners, and Cha- racter 22 CHAP. III. Distracted State of Greece — The Heraclidae conduct the Dorians into Peloponnesus— Divide their Con- quests in that Peninsula — The Eolic, Ionic, and Doric Migrations — Establishment of Colonies in • Thrace, Macedon, Africa, and Magna Gracia — In- fluence of the Ionic Colonies in Asia on the Affairs of the Mother Country — The Abolition of Mo- narchy in Greece — New Disorders in that Coun- try — Four Institutions which tended to remove them — The Amphictyonic Council — The Oracle of Delphi — The Olympic Games — The Spartan Laws 32 CHAP. IV. State of Greece after the Abolition of Royalty — De- scription of Laconia and Messenia — Causes of the War between those States — Invasion of Messenia — Distress of the Messenians — The horrid Means by which they endeavour to remedy it — They ob- tain assistance from Argos and Arcadia — Their Capital taken by the Spartans — Issue of the first Messenian War — State of Greece — The Colony of Tarentum founded — The second Messenian War — Character and Exploits of Aristomenes — The Distress of the Spartans — They obtain Assist- ance from Athens — The Poet Tyrtaeus — Subjuga- tion of Messenia — Future Fortunes of its Citizens — Their Establishment in Sicily . . .48 CHAP. V. State of the Peloponnesus after the Conquest of Mes- senia — Of the Northern Republics of Greece — Of the Grecian Colonies — Revolutions in Govern- ment — Military Transactions — The first Sacred War — Destruction of the Crissean Republic — Res- toration of the Pythian Games — Description of the Gymnastic and Equestrian Exercises — History of Grecian Music 61 CHAP. VI. The Grecian Bards — Heroic Poetry — Change of Manners — Iambic or Satire — Elegy — Tyrtceus, Cal- linus, Mimnermus — Life of Archilochus — Terpan- der — Lyric Poetry — The Nine Lyric Poets — Sappho, Alcajus, Anacreon, Myrtis, Corinna, Pin- dar — Effects of the Sacred Games — Strength — Courage — Contempt of Prejudices — Taste — Moral Principle — Intellectual Powers — Genius . 71 CHAP. VII. State of the Grecian Colonies — The Ionians flourish in Arts and Arms — Their Wars with the Lydians — The Asiatic Greeks subdued byCrasus — Splen- dour of the Lydian Court — Foundation of the Per- sian Monarchy — Causes of its rapid Grandeur — Which alarms Croesus — Ilis Alliance with the Lacedajmonians — He invades the Persian Domin- ions — Measures of his Allies — Croesus defeated by Cyrus — End of the Lydian Monarchy . . 81 CHAP. VIII. Cyrus threatens the Asiatic Colonies — Their Mea- sures — The Spartans remonstrate against his De- sign — Conquests of Harpagus — Migrations of the vanquished Greeks — Cyrus takes Babylon — Cam- byses subdues Egypt — Receives Tribute from the African Greeks — Reign of Darius — Final Settle- ment of the Persian Empire — Degeneracy of Man- ners — Revolt of Ionia — State of Greece — The Ioni- an revolt abetted by the Athenians and Eretrians — who burn Sardis — The Asiatic Greeks defeated by Sea and Land — Their Condition under the Persian Government 91 CHAP. IX. Resentment of Darius against Greece — Maritime Ex- pedition of Mardonius — Invasion of Greece by Da- tis and Artaphernes — Battle of Marathon — Trans- actions in the Interval between that Battle and Xerxes’s Invasion — The Invasion of Xerxes — Bat- tle of Thermopylae 104 CHAP. X. Sea Fight off Artemisium — Xerxes ravages Phocis — Enters Attica — Magnanimity of the Athenians — Sea Fight off Salamis — Xerxes leaves Greece — His miserable Retreat — Campaign of Mardonius — Bat- tles of Platasa and Mycale — Issue of the Persian Invasion 120 CHAP. XI. Military Glory of Greece — Enemies to whom that Country was exposed — Foundation and Growth of Carthage — The flourishing Condition of Magna Gracia — Excites the Jealousy of the Carthaginians — Who enter into a League with Xerxes — The Object of this Alliance — Causes of the singular Prosperity of Magna Gracia — History of Pythago- ras, and of his Philosophy — The Carthaginians invade Sicily — Their Disasters — Glory of Gelon — His Treaty with the Carthaginians — Causes of the Decay of Magna Gracia .... 136 CHAP. XII. Glory of Athens — Military Success of the Confede- rates — Athens rebuilt and fortified — Extent of its walls and Harbours — The Confederates take By- zantium — Conspiracy of Pausanias — Banishment of Themistocles — Virtue of Aristides — Cimon as- sumes the Command — His illustrious Merit and Success — Revolt of Egypt — War in Cyprus — Peace with Persia — Domestic Transactions of Greece — The Athenian Greatness — Envy of Spar- ta, Thebes, and Argos — Earthquake in Sparta — Revolt of the Helots — War between the Elians and Pisans — The Temple and Statue of Olympian Jupiter — Dissensions in Argolis — Revolt in Boeotia Truce of Thirty Years — Character of Pericles — Subjection of the Athenian Allies and Colonies — Spirit of the Athenian Government . . 147 CHAP. XIII. Transition to the internal State of Athens — Laws of Draco — Solon — Pisistratus — Clisthenes — Aris- tides — Pericles — Final Settlement of the Athenian Government — View of the Athenian Empire — The combined Effect of external Prosperity and demo- cratic government on manners — Arts — Luxury — CONTENTS. viii History of Grecian Literature and Philosophy — Singular Contrast and Balance of Virtues and Vices — The sublime Philosophy of Anaxagoras and Socrates — The unprincipled Captiousness of the Sophists — The moral Tragedies of Sophocles and Euripides — The licentious Buffoonery of Aris- tophanes — The imitative Arts employed to the noblest Purposes — and abused to the most infa- mous — Magnificence of public Festivals — Simplici- ty in private Life — Modest Reserve of Athenian Women — Voluptuousness, Impudence, and Arti- fices of the School of Aspasia . . . 161 CHAP. XIV. History of the Arts of Design — Superiority of the Greeks in those Arts — Causes of that Superiority — Among the Asiatic Greeks — Who communicated their Inventions to Europe — Bathycles the Magne- sian — Dipenus and Scillis — Imitated in Greece, Italy, and Sicily — The Athenians surpass their Masters — Sublime Style of Art — Works of Phidias, Polygnotus, &c. — Characteristic Excellence of Grecian Art — Different Impressions made by Painters and Poets — Depended on the Nature of their respective Arts 176 CHAP. XV. Causes of the Peloponnesian War — Rupture between Corinth and its Colony Corcyra — Sea Fights — In- solence and Cruelty of the Corcyreans — They pro- voke the Resentment of the Peloponnesians — Ob- tain the Protection of Athens — are defeated by the Corinthians — Who dread the Resentment of Athens — Their Scheme for rendering it impotent — Description of the Macedonian Coast. It revolts from Athens — Siege of Potidaea — General Con- federacy against Athens — Peloponnesian Embassy — Its Demands firmly answered by Pericles — His Speech to the Athenians — The Thebans surprise Platsea — Preparations for War on both Sides — In- vasion of Attica — Operations of the Athenian Fleet — Plague in Athens — Calamitous Situation of that 'Republic — Magnanimity of Pericles — Firmness of his last Advice — His Death and Character . 181 CHAP. XVI. Subsequent Events of the War — Plataea taken — Re- volt of Lesbos — Description and History of that Island — Nature of its political Connection with Athens — Address of Lesbos — Its Capital besieged by the Athenians — Measures of the Peloponnesians for relieving it — Mitylene surrenders — Delibera- tions in Athens concerning the Treatment of the Prisoners — Resettlement of the Affairs of Lesbos — The Corinthians foment Factions in Corcyra — Sedition in that Island — The contending Factions respectively supported by the Athenians and Pelo- ponnesians — Progress, Termination, and Conse- quences of the Sedition .... 194 CHAP. XVII. Physical Calamities conspire with the Evils of War — Athenian Expedition into yEtolia — Victories of Demosthenes — He fortifies Pylus — Blocks up the Spartans in Sphacteria — The Spartans solicit Peace — Artifices and Impudence of Cleon — His unmerited Success — Ridiculed by Aristophanes — Athenian Conquests — Battle of Delium — Commo- tions in Thrace — Expedition of Brasidas — Truce for a Year — The War renewed — Battle of Am- phipolis — Peace of Nicias — Dissatisfaction of the Spartan Allies . ... 203 CHAP. XVIII. Discontents fomented by the Corinthians — The Ar- give Alliance — To which Athens accedes — Birth and Education of Alcibiades — His Friendship with Socrates — His Character — And Views — Which are favoured by the State of Greece — He deceive:, the Spartan Ambassadors — Renewal of the Pelo- ponnesian War — Battle of Mantinaea — Tumults in Argos — Massacre of the Scioneans — Cruel Con- quest of Melos 212 CHAP. XIX. Alcibiades promotes the Sicilian Expedition — Revo* lutions in that Island — Embassy to Athens— Ex- travagant Views of Alcibiades — Opposed by Nicias — The Athenians prepare to invade Sicily — Their Armament beheld with Suspicion by the Italian States — Deliberations concerning the Mode of carrying on the War — Alcibiades takes Catana by Stratagem — His Intrigues in Messene — He is un- seasonably recalled to Athens — Charged with Trea- son and Impiety — Escapes to Sparta — Nicias de- termines to attack Syracuse — Description of that City — The Athenians prevail in a Battle — Return to Catana and Naxos 219 CHAP. XX. Preparations for the ensuing Campaign — The Athe- nians begin the Siege with Vigour — Distress and Sedition in Syracuse — Arrival of Gylippus — Who defeats the Athenians — Transactions in Greece — A second Armament arrives at Syracuse — Its first operations successful — The Athenians defeated — Prepare to raise the Siege — Naval Engagement in the Great Harbour — Despondency of the Atheni- ans — Stratagem of Hermocrates — The Athenians raise their Camp — Melancholy Firmness of Nicias — Demosthenes capitulates — Nicias surrenders — Cruel Treatment of the Athenian Captives — Singu- lar Exception 228 CHAP. XXI. Consequences of the Athenian Misfortunes in Sicily — Formidable Confederacy against Athens — Pecu- liar Resources of free Governments — Naval Opera- tions — Battle of Miletus — Intrigues of Alcibiades — The Athenian Democracy subverted — Tyrannical Government of the Four Hundred — Battle of Eretria — Democracy re-established in Athens — ■ Naval Success of the Athenians — Triumphant Re- turn of Alcibiades — The Eleusinian Mysteries — and Plynteria 239 CHAP. XXII. Character of Lysander — His Conference with Cyrus — He defeats the Athenian Fleet — Disgrace of Al- cibiades — Lysander succeeded by Callicratidas — His Transactions with the Persians — with the Spartaa Allies — Battle of Arginussae — Trial of the Athenian Admirals — Eteonicus checks a Mutiny of the Peloponnesian Troops — Lysander resumes the Command — Battle of Algos Potamos — Spartan Empire in Asia — Siege and Surrender of Athens — Humiliation of the Athenians . . . 251 CHAP. XXIII. Rapacity and Cruelty of the Spartan Government — The Thirty Tyrants in Athens — Persecution of Lysias and his Family — Theramenes opposes the Tyrants — Sanguinary Speech of Critias — Death of Theramenes — Persecution and Death of Alcibia- des — Thrasybulus seizes Phyle — Defeats the Ty- rants — Memorable Speech of Thrasybulus — Oath of Amnesty — not faithfully observed . . 262 CHAP. XXIV. Accusation of Socrates — Artifices of his Accusers — His Defence — Condemnation — Address to the Judges — His Conversation in Prison — and Death — Transient Persecution of his Disciples — Writings of Cebes — Machines — State of Philosophy — Of the Fine Arts — Of Literature — Herodotus — Thu- cydides — Xenophon — Transition to the public Transactions of Greece — The Spartans invade Elis — The Messenians driven from Greece — His- tory of Cyrene — Of Sicily — War with Carthage — Siege of Agrigentum— Reign of Dionysius — Sicily the first Province of Rome .... 269 CHAP. XXV. Death of Darius Nothus — Cyrus disputes the Succes- sion with his elder Brother Artaxerxes— Character of Cyrus — State of Lower Asia under his Adminis- tration— His Strength and Resouroes— His expe- CONTENTS. is dition into Upper Asia — Descries the vast Army of his Brother — Battle of Canaxa — Death of Cyrus — His Grecian Auxiliaries victorious — Their Treaty with Tissaphemes — Perfidious Assassination of the Grecian Generals — Artaxerxes sends to the Greeks to demand their Arms — Conference on that Subject 281 CHAP. XXVI. Consternation of the Greeks — Manly Advice of Xenophon — Their Retreat — Difficulties attending it — Surmounted by their Skill and Perseverance — Their Sufferings among the Carduchian Moun- tains — They traverse Armenia — First behold the Sea from Mount Theches — Defeat the Colchians — Description of the southern Shore of the Euxine — Transactions with the Greek Colonies there — The Greeks arrive at Byzantium — Enter into the-Service of Seuthes — His History — Conjunct Expeditions of the Greeks and Thracians — The Greeks return to the Service of their Country . » . . 289 CHAP. XXVII. Tissaphemes makes War on the Greeks, by Order of Artaxerxes — Attacks the ADolian Cities — Expedi- tion of Thimbron — He is succeeded by Dercylli- das — His Treaty with Tissaphemes— Agesilaus King of Sparta — Cinadon’s Conspiracy — Agesilaus Commander of the Grecian Forces in Asia — His Success — Tissaphemes succeeded by Tithraustes — Great Views of Agesilaus — War rekindled in Greece — League against Sparta — Campaign of Ly- sander in Boeotia — His Death . . . 297 CHAP. XXVIII. Recal of Agesilaus from the East — He invades Boeotia — Views of Evagoras king of Cyprus — His Friend- ship with Conon — The latter entrusted with the Persian Fleet — He defeats the Lacedaemonians — Battle ofCoronaea — The Corinthian War — Conon rebuilds the Walls and Harbours of Athens — Con- quests of Conon and Thrasybulus — Peace of An- talcidas 305 CHAP. XXIX. Reflections upon the Peace of Antalcidas — Ambi- tious Views of Sparta — State of Arcadia — Siege of Mantinaea — Olynthian Confederacy — The Spar- tans make War on Olynthus — Submission of that Republic — Pella becomes the Capital of Macedon — Phaebidas seizes the Theban Citadel— The Mea- sure approved by Agesilaus — Conspiracy of the Theban Exiles — The Theban Democracy re- stored 313 CHAP. XXX. The Boeotian War — Unsuccessful Attempt of Spho- drias against the Piraeus — Doubts concerning Xenophon’s Account of that Transaction — Agesi- laus invades Boeotia — Military Success of the The- bans — Naval Success of the Athenians — Congress for Peace under the Mediation of Artaxerxes — Epaminondas, Deputy from Thebes — Cleombrotus invades Boeotia — Battle of Leuctra — State ofGreece — Jason of Thessaly — His Character and Views — Assassinated in the midst of his Projects . 321 CHAP. XXXI. Tumults in the Peloponnesus — Invasion of Laconia — Epaminondas rebuilds Messene — Foundation of Megalopolis — Archidamus restores the Fortune of Sparta — Affairs of Thessaly and Macedon — Nego- tiations for Peace — The Pretensions of Thebes re- jected — Epaminondas invades the Peloponnesus — Revolutions in Achaia — Speech of Archidamus in the Spartan Council — Designs of Thebes — Dis- concerted by Athens — Pelopidas’s Expedition into Thessaly — The Arcadians seize the Olympic Trea- sure — Battle of Mantinaea — Agesilaus’s Expedition into Egypt 332 CHAP. XXXII. State of Greece after the Battle of Mantinaea — The Amphictyonic Council — Returning Prosperity of B Athens — Vices resulting from its Government- - Abuses of the judiciary Power — Of the Theatre — Degeneracy of Grecian Music — Extreme Profli- gacy of the Athenians — The Vices of Chares ren- der him the Idol of the Multitude — The Social War — Banishment of Timotheus and Iphicrates — Disgraceful Issue of the War — Philosophy — Statu- ary — Praxiteles — The Cnidian Venus — Painting — Pamphilus, Nicias, Zeuxis — Literature— Xenophon — His Military Expeditions — Religious and Liter- ary Retreat — Lysias — Isocrates — Plato — His Tra- vels — Fie settles in the Academy — His great Views — Theology — Cosmogony — Doctrine of Ideas — Of the Human Understanding — The Pas- sions — Virtues — State of Retribution — Genius and Character 351 CHAP. XXXIII. History of Macedon — Reign of Archelaus — Series of Usurpations and Revolutions — Perdiccas defeat- ed by the Illyrians — Distracted State of Macedon — First Transactions of Philip — State of Thrace and Pasonia — Philip defeats Argaeus and the Athe- nians — His Treatment of the Prisoners — His mili- tary Arrangements — He defeats the Illyrians — His Designs against Amphipolis — He prevents an Alli- ance between Athens and Olynthus — Amuses the Athenians — Takes Amphipolis — His Conquests in Thrace — The Mines of Crenidae — Philip marries Olympias — His Letter to Aristotle . . 365 CHAP. XXXIV. Philip’s Prosperity — Imprudent Measures of the Amphictyonic Council- -The Phocian, or Sacred War — Philomelus seizes the Temple of Delphh — Takes the Field against the Thebans and their Allies — Defeat and Death of Philomelus — Affairs of Thrace, Macedon, and Attica — Onemarchus takes the Command of the Phocians — Encounters Philip in Thessaly — He is defeated and slain — Philip’s Designs against Olynthus and Byzantium — Traversed by the Athenians — Phayllus takes the Comjnand of the Phocians — Philip marches to- wards Thermopylae — Anticipated by the Athenians •^Debiosthenes’s first Philippic — Philip’s Occupa- tions at Pella — His Vices and Policy. . . 374 T'^AP. XXXV. Negligence and Licentiousness of the Athenians — Philip’s Intrigues in Eubcea — Phocion defeats the Macedonians ™nd Euboeans — Philip invades the Olynthian Territory — Demosthenes’s Orations in favour of the Olynthians — Expedition of Chares — Philip takes Olynthus — Celebrates the Festival of the Muses at Dium — Commits naval Depredations on Attica — Flis Embassy to Athens — The Atheni- an Embassy to Philip — Character of the Ambassa- dors — Their Conference with the King — Differ- ently reported to the Senate and Assembly — Philip’s Conquests in Thrace — The Phocian War — Negotiations — Philip’s Intrigues — Decree of the Amphictyons against Phocis — Executed by Philip — Macedon acknowledged the principal Member of the Amphictyonic Council . . . 383 CHAP. XXXVI. Foundation of Philippopolis and Cabyla — Philip’s Expedition to Illyria — Alexander receives the Per- sian Ambassadors — Affairs of Greece — Demosthe- nes unmasks the Designs of Philip’s Expedition to the Peloponnesus — to Epirus — to Thrace — Dio- peithes opposes him with Vigour — The Athenians recover Euboea — Siege of Pcrinthus — Philip’s Let- ter to the Athenians — Expedition of Chares — of Phocion — who retrieves the Athenian Affairs in Thrace — Philip’s Scythian Expedition — The In- cendiary Antiphon — Philip’s Intrigues embroil the Affairs of Greece — The third Sacred War — Philip General of the Amphictyons — Confederacy against that Prince — Fie seizes Elataea — Battle of Chaero- naea — Ilis Moderation in Victory — Demosthenes’s Oration in Honour of the Slain . . . 400 CONTENTS. 2 chap, xxxrn Liberal Spirit of the Macedonian Government — Philip appointed General of the Greeks — Rebellion of Illyria — Assassination of Philip — His Character — Accession of Alexander — His Expedition against the Illyrians and Triballi — He passes the Danube — Rebellion in Greece — Destruction of Thebes — Heroism of Timoclea — Alexander crosses the Hellespont — State of the Persian Empire — Battle of the Granicus — Siege of Miletus and Halicarnas- sus — Bold Adventure of two Macedonian Soldiers — Alexander’s judicious Plan of War — ;Arts by which he secured his Conquests — The Battle of I ssus — The Virtues of Alexander expand with his Prosperity 421 CHAP, xxxvm. Siege of Tyre — Desperate Resistance of Gaza — Easy Conquest of Egypt — Foundation of Alexandria — Alexander visits the Temple of Jupiter Ammon — Marches into Assyria — Battle of Gaugamela — Da- rius betrayed and slain — Alexander pursues the Murderers of Darius — Bactrian and Scythian War — Siege of the Sogdian Fortress — Surrender of Chorienes — Commotions in Greece — Checked by Antipater — The Cause of Ctesiphon and Demos- thenes — Machines banished — State of Greece dur- ing Alexander’s Reign .... 436 CHAP. XXXIX. Alexander’s Indian Expedition — Route pursued by the Army — Aornos taken — Nysa and Mount Me* ros — Alexander passes the Indus and Hydaspes — Defeats Porus — Founds Nicaea and Bucephalia — Passes the Acesines and Hydraotes — Sangala taken — Eastern Boundary of Alexander’s Con- quests — He sailfe down the Hydaspes — Takes the Mallian Fortress — His March through the Gedro- sian Desert — Voyage of Nearchus — Alexander im- proves the internal State of his Conquests — Incor- porates the Barbarian Levies with the Greeks and Macedonians — Intermarriages of the Europeans and Asiatics — Artifices to prevent Alexander’s Re- turn to Babylon — His Death and Character — Divi- sion of his Conquests — Subsequent History of Egypt and Syria — The Western Division of Alex- ander’s Empire conquered by the Romans — State of Greece after the age of Alexander . 448 CHAP. XL. State of Literature in the Age of Alexander — Poetry — Music — Arts of Design — Geography — Astrono- my — Natural History — Works of Aristotle — Phi- losophical Sects established at Athens — Decline of Genius — Tenets of the different Sects — Peripa- tetic Philosophy — Estimate of that Philosophy — Its Fate in the World — Coincidence in the Opinions of Zeno and Epicurus — The Stoic Philosophy — Estimate of that Philosophy— The Epicurean Philosophy — Character of Epicurus — Philosophy of Pyrrho — Conclusion .... 463 JW THE HISTORY OF G Cti View of the Progress of Civilisation and Pm ,i Greece, preceding the Trojan War — History of that War — its Consequences. ■N the infancy of society, men ttre ^ with the business of the resent hour, for- upied netful of the past, a ■They possess neithei iqontemplate their pu' partial light of hist/o toj record thei host^e,trif .'s ; or comr. r- s of the future, lor inclination to actions in the im- r less to treasure, and •ecent victories over d in the artless song, 1 rude monument ; but to} prt ever: IT‘ iS ic trar y'ory, far 1 'Their rec ;elebn l by tl regular series of connected n which they enjoy not the scarcely the capacity to eom- KjfTheir s; aiple and obscure adventures, which pass unremembered by themselves, rarely 9&ite iKe inquisitive curiosity of their more ffijltivattcd neighbours. In remote ages of the HHB o.r’id, one people became an object of attention another, only as they became considerable ; r until the full maturity of Grecian refine- ent, the most polished nations of antiquity Attempted not to investigate the nature and powers of man in the untutored efforts of sa- vage life. The daring spirit, and fierce incur- sapns, of the barbarians in the east of Europe, excited terror and consternation among the more fcivilized and more effeminate inhabitants qf Lesser Asia ; 2 but the luxurious pride of the latter never condescended to examine the origin and history of the people who were occasionally the object of their fears. The only circum- stantial information concerningboththe Asiatics and the Europeans, must be derived from the early historians of Greece ; and when we reflect on the innumerable causes which conspire to bury in oblivion the exploits of rising commu- nities, there is reason to wonder that we should know so much concerning the ancient state of that country, rather than to regret that our knowledge is imperfect. It must be allowed, however, that our mate- rials for the first portion of Grecian history, are father copious than consistent. 3 The subject, £ 1 Tacit. Annal. 1. iv. c. 43. f 2 The Lydians, Phrygians, &c. History and fable attest the early civilization, the wealth, and wickedness, of those nations. See particularly Herodotus, 1. i. c. 93. & seq. and Strabo, 1. xi. p. 532. Sc seq. and 1. xii. & xiii. p. 572. 3 It is sufficient to read Thucydides’s introduction to his admired history of the Peloponnesian war, to perceive how Jittle correct information could be obtained by that diligent indeed, is such, as a very cautious writer would choose entirely to avoid, since, whatever au- thorities he follows, his narrative must, in some parts, be liable to objection. 4 Yet it seems es- inquirer into the antiquities of his country. If we admit the common chronology, there is reason to believe that the scattered fragments of Grecian history were preserved du- ring thirteen centuries by oral tradition. The tales or rhapsodies of the o4oiS'o<,or bards, were succeeded by those of the Cyclic poets, of whom an account is given in Casau- bon Athenaeum, 1. vii. c. 4. Salmas, in Solin. et Schwarzius Altdorf in Diss. de Poetis Cyclicis. Composition in prose began with the use of alphabetic writing about six centu- ries before Christ. Plin. Nat. Hist. 1. v. c. 29. The first prose writers, or more properly the first writers , were, Pherecydes of Syros; Acusilaus of Argos; Hellanicus of Lesbos ; Hecataeus and Dionysius, both of Miletus ; the last of whom flourished in the 65th Olymp. 520. B. C. and immediately preceded Herodotus. From the work of He- rodotus, which forms, as it were, the shade between Epic Poetry and History, we may judge of the waitings of his predecessors ; from whom, together with the Cyclic poets, Anaximenes of Lampsacus, who lived in the time of Alex- ander the Great, and Diodorus Siculus, who lived in the time of Julius Caesar, compiled the first books of their very extensive but inaccurate collections. Apollodorus, Hyginus (and many others, whose works are now lost,) combined the more ancient records, whether in prose or verse, with the additions and embellishments of the lyric and tragic poets. When the Greek learning became known to the Romans, this compound of history and fable furnished the subject and the incidents of innumerable tra- gedies to Ennius, Accius, Livius Andronicus, &c. After the downfall of Rome, learning took refuge in the eastern world. The antiquities and early history of Greece again became objects of study among the natives of lhat coun- try; but the heterogeneous mass of truth and fiction was rather amalgamated, than purified, by Malala, Cedrenus, Tzetza, Constantinus Manasses, and other Greeks of the middle ages. See Heine, Not. ad Adneid. II. and Vossius de Historic. Grtecis. With few exceptions, the Greek wri- ters may be pronounced extremely careless in matters of chronology. Herodotus, who has been emphatically styled the father of profane history, commonly reckons by the ages of men. The accurate histories of Thucydides and Xeno- phon, where the time of each event is precisely ascertained, comprehend no more than a period of seventy years. Even in their time, chronology seems not to have been cultivated as a science, since the first specimen ot that kind is said to have been given by Demetrius Phalerius, in his xgxovrui v about the middle of the fourth century before Christ. The labours of Demetrius were corrected and ex- tended by Philochorus in his At9<$. The historian Timueus, who flourished in the time of Ptolemy Philadelphus, first arranged his narrative in the order ot Olympiads, which began 776 B. C. His contemporary Snsibius gave a work, entitled Xfovwv Avxyestcpq) Apollodorjs wrotetheo-vvia?*? xe ovixh ; and on such chronologcrs rests the credit of ail later compilers, as well ns of the Arundelian marbles, which were composed only 284 years before Christ. 4 What Strabo (1. ix.) says of the first historians of Attica, “that they differed widely from each other (otoaa* iLsteuH'ouvTef,)” may be applied to all profane histories of these early limes. * 12 HISTORY OF GREECE. sential to the imegrif y of the present work, to explain from what x ssemblage of nations the Greeks were fc modi •v 4 by what fortunate steps they armed, ft otn feeble beginnings, to that condition o: raa r er< and society in which they are describt d Homer; whose immor- tal poems, like ■ n the gloom of o. •scu antiquities of his night, brighten country. The traditi ons c" ♦he ( *eks agree with the authentic records f e. m. ^ory, u repre- senting the countries u'herwards n bv the names of Thrace, Macedfu, :a C . >ce peopled at an earlier period than anv t( 4: portion of the western world. Th corner of Europe, comprehended bet thirty-sixth and forty-first degrees of latiU. bordering on Epirus and Macedonia to ware. ! tl mem s, the north, and on other sides surrounded by c the sea, was inhabited, above eighteen centuries before the Christian aera, by many small tribes of hunters and shepherds, among whom the Pelasgi and Hellenes were the most numerous and powerful. 1 The barbarous Pelasgi vene- rated Inachus, as their founder; and for a simi- lar reason, the more humane Hellenes respected Deucalion. From his son Hellen, they derived their general appellation, which originally de- noted a small tribe in Thessaly ; 1 2 and from Dorus, Eolus, and Ion, 3 4 5 his more remote de- scendants, they were discriminated by the names of Dorians, Eolians, and Ionians. 4 The Dorians took possession of that mountainous district of Greece, afterwards called Doris; the Ionians, whose name was in some measure lost in the illustrious appellation of Athenians, settled in the less barren parts of Attica; and the Eolians peopled Elis and Arcadia, the western and inland regions of the Pelopon- nesus. 5 Notwithstanding many partial migra- tions, these three original 6 divisions of the Hel- lenes generally entertained an affection for the establishments which had been preferred by the wisdom or caprice of their respective ancestors ; a circumstance which remarkably distinguished the Hellenic from the Pelasgic race. While the former discovered a degree of attachment to their native land, seldom found in barbarians, who live by hunting or pasturage, the latter disdaining fixed habitations, wandered in large bodies over Greece, or transported themselves into the neighbouring islands ; and the most considerable portion of them gradually re- moving to the coasts of Italy and Thrace, the remainder melted away into the Doric and Ionic tribes. At the distance of twelve centu- ries, obscure traces* of the Pelasgi occurred in several Grecian cities ; a district of Thessaly always retained their name ; their colonies con- tinued, in the fifth century before Christ, to in- habit the-southern coast of Italy, and the shores of the Hellespont : and in those widely sepa- rated countries, their ancient affinity was re- cognised in the uniformity of their rude dialect and barbarous manners, extremely dissimilar to the customs and language of their Grecian neighbours. 7 - Greece, when delivered from the turbulence of a rugged race of men, who never attained . much consideration, either in the territories where they originally dwelt, or in those to which they afterwards removed, was not left to \ be slowly civilized by the progressive ingenuity of the Hellenic tribes. The happy position of a country, which, forming as it were the fron tier of Europe with Asia, is divided only by a. narrow extent of sea from Egypt and Syria , * .1 situate within reach of those parts of the which were anciently most flourishing and tlous, naturally invited the visits of travel- 'll, and attracted the establishment of colo- i nic r nese transient visits, or temporary set- 1 Marm. Oxon. epoch. 6. Apollodor. Biblioth. 1. ii. 2 Thucydid. 1. i. c. 28. 3 Strabo, 1. viii. p. 383. 4 Herodot. 1. i. c. 56. and 1. vii. c. 94. 5 Diodor. Siculus, 1. v. 0 Heraclid. Pont, apud Athensum, 1. xiv. :ere marked by many signal benefit^ memory of which was long preserved by T . -ffe or Greece, and their merit ^rS bably exaggerated by her fondness for pane?! gyric. Even those /Grecian communities, which justly c\. ueci the > mour of superior anti^ quity, acknowledged uhemselves indebted tob strangers for the mo.-i important discoveries, not only in religion, but in ugrieulture and the arts; and contented themselvfc s w T ith the gld^B of having diffused a. borrowed light over the melancholy gloom of ignorance - r.'ch over- spread their neighbours.* But n- vanity at length produced a materia: : Lnge i the tradition. When the refined de t«ndants ff the rude Greeks viewed with complacence i.h$8j own superiority in arts and arms to a ll the tions around them, they began to suspect :haB the gods alone were worthy to have re. red 'h® infancy of a people, who eminently exc-eiieS the rest of mankind. To the gods they traj ferred the merit of the many useful inventioiJH communicated by the generous humanity o® their ancient visitants ; an ostentatious fiction' ■ coloured by a faint semblance of truth, sinceK the*worship of several divinities was introduced at the same time, and by the same persons, 9 who made known the arts most subservient to the purposes of human fife. 19 While fable thus disguised the benefits confer-* red by the first transitory voyages into Greece, history preserved the memory of four succes- sive establishments erected there by foreigners. From the middle of the sixteenth, to the mid- dle of the fourteenth century before Christ, an inundation of Egyptians, Phoenicians, and Phrygians, overflowed the Hellenic coasts. The causes assigned for these emigrations are ex- tremely consonant to the manners of remote antiquity, as described by sacred and profane authors : hatred of a rival, impatience of a superior, in one instance the persecution of a brother and an enemy, and, in general, tha! uneasy restlessness of disposition, which uni-1 - versally prevails among men, who have become! sensible of their own powers, without havingp sufficiently learned to direct them to the happy E pursuits of arts and industry. 11 The principal* 7 Herodot. 1. i. Dionys. Halicarn. 1. i. Pausan.L viii. 8 Isocrat. Panegyr. passim. 9 The Tytans, Idsei Dactyli, Triptolemus, &c. Compare Diodor. Sicul. 1. v. and Isocrat. Panegyr. 10 Diodor. Sicul. 1. v. Isocrat. Panegyr. 11 Isocrat. Hellen. sub. initio. Pind. Olymp. 1. HISTORY OF GREECE. 13 C. 56 . 85 . 93 . 50 . I-J lonies were conducted, by Cecrops, 12 and Danaus, Egyptians, who respectively settled in Athens and Argos; Cadmus, 13 a Phoenician, who founded Thebes in Boeotia, and Pelops, a Phrygian, 14 whose descendants, intermarrying with those of Danaus, king of Argos, and Tynda- us, king of Lacedaemon or Sparta, acquired, the person of Agamemnon, so powerful an Cendant in the Peloponnesus. 15 The family f Deucalion still reigned in Thessaly ; but hebes, Athens, Argos, and Sparta, which in 11 ages were regarded as the principal cities of Greece, thus fell under the dominion of four reign lines of princes, whose exploits, and lory, and misfortunes, are immortalised by the st and noblest productions of Grecian genius. 16 The countries, which these adventurers aban- ;ned, had not, according to modern ideas, at- ined a very high degree of maturity in laws d government. Yet it cannot be doubted, at the natives of Egypt and the east were squainted with many improvements unknown the Hellenic tribes. Conjectures are not to , placed in the rank of facts ; yet, in matters ancient and obscure, we may be allowed to .jecture from the only facts on record, that « invaders of Greece introduced into that 'ntry the knowledge of the Phoenician alpha- ; improved the practice of agriculture ; Itiplied the rites of religion ; discovered to Greeks several uses of the metals ; but, on other hand, gradually adopted, in their turn, e Grecian language, and generally conformed the Grecian customs and institutions. 17 The introduction of the Phoenician alphabet as an improvement too delicate and refined to e immediately attended with any important '.onsequences. The gross understandings of he Hellenes could not easily comprehend the tility of such an ingenious invention. The no^yledge of it was acquired and preserved y a few individuals 13 of more enlightened inds : but the far greater part of the nation png contented themselves with the ancient ode of picture-writing, which, however imited in its application, seemed sufficient to xpress the simplicity of their rude ideas. The Phoenicians were well acquainted with die precious metals as the medium of ex- 12 Strabo, I. ix. and Plut. in Theseo. 13 Strabo, Ibid, and Isocrat. Hcllen. 14 Isocral. Panathen. Thucydid. 1. i. Diodor. 1. 4. 15 Thucyd. 1. i. Diodor. 1. 4. Isocrat. Panathen. 16 The workB of Homer and Pindar, and the writings of e Greek tragedians. In these, and scarcely any where se, the stories of Cadmus, Semele, Bacchus, Amphitryon, ercules, CEdipus, & c. may be read with pleasure and ad- vantage ; for, as Strabo, 1. ix says, “ All there is monstrous nd tragic land.” 17 Compare Herodotus, 1. v. c. 59. 1. vii. passim. Mont- aucon, Paleograph. GrsBc. 1. ii. Plin. 1. v. c. 56 and 57. (Hyginus, Fab. 274. and Ephorus apud Diodor. 1. v. 18 Herodotus mentions three inscriptions on thee tripods, consecrated in the temple of Ismcnian Apollo. The first, f Amphitryon ; the second, of the son of Hippocoon ; the bird, of Laodamus the son of Eteocles. The inscriptions n the shields of the heroes who besieged the capital of Eteocles, are noticed by iEschylus, in his tragedy entitled, The Seven against Thebes.” Yet we know from Homer, vi. that when Prsetus sent Bellcronhon to the king of .ye a, he gave him, not a written letter, but v haps, than in any other part of the world, of equal extent. All the shores of the Medite ranean, comprehending the most beautiful, and anciently, the most flourishing part of the earth' are more accessible to Greece than to any, neighbouring country. Yet it appears from the light of history, that the Greeks did not early avail themselves of their fortunate situation, or of the supposed lessons of tljeir Phoenician in- structors. Many circumstances conspired to prolong the infancy of their nation, and to retard, during several centuries, their improvement in com- merce, as well as in agriculture, and the other useful arts. The surface of Greece is more in dented by creeks and rivers, and more rough- ened by mountains and promontories, than that of any other part of Europe. These natural divisions kept the different communities' in a their own language. The eastern tongues are in general extremely deficient in vowels. It is, or rather was, much disputed whether the ancient Orientals used any characters to express them. Their languages, therefore, had an in- flexible thickness of sound, extremely different from th vocal harmony of the Greek, which abounds not only ir vowels but in diphthongs. The circumstauce denotes, i the Greeks, nrsans of perception' more acute, elegant, an discerning. They felt such faint variations of liquid sounds, as escaped the diilness of Asiatic ears, and invented marka to express them. They distinguished, in this manner, not only their articulation, but their quantity, and afterwards thfeir musical intonation, as shall be explained hereafter, in treating of the Grecian music and poetry. 8 The government of the Egyptians, as well as the Asiatics, is uniformly represented in scripture as an abso- lute monarchy. Herodotus and Diodorus mention som laws of the Egyptians, which seem to circumscribe th power of their kings. But these laws, if well examined will confirm the observation in the text. They we* established, not in favour of the nation at large, but of th priests and soldiers. The throne of Egypt was supporte by the altar, and defended by the sword ; and what despc tism can be upheld but bv the same rra®ns? 9 See the principles established by Tacitus de Mor.German HISTORY OF GREECE. 15 I-l state of separation and hostility. The ideas of their ancient consanguinity and common origin were weakened or effaced by the recent confiu- 'nce of foreigners. They could not travel be- yond their own narrow districts without being exposed to the insults of enemies. These in- sults excited resentment; mutual injuries were offered and retorted ; each city was at war with all its neighbours: thus did the smallness of the Grecian states, a circumstance which, during the happy ages that form the subject of the present history, tended to break the force of custom and opinion, and to encourage that noble emulation so favourable to the progress of virtue and science, produce, in less fortunate times, an effect of the most opposite nature, hoke the seeds of order, and repress the feeble hoots of arts and humanity. The metals, originally destined to promote e peaceful labours of man, were converted nto powerful instruments of destruction ; and vhile the land was ravaged by the sword, the ,ea was covered with pirates. The Phoenicians, e Garians, and the inhabitants of the Greek lands in general, considered navigation, not as e means of uniting nations by mutual inter- course and commerce, but as a happy expedient r enabling the poor and the brave to plunder e rich territories of their less warlike neigh- ours. The coasts of Greece, though in early mes their bleak forbidding aspect might have Spelled the avarice of freebooters, yet on ac- count of the proximity of their situation, and the valuable cargoes of hardy slaves in which they abounded, were continually infested by naval depredations. The unfortified places near the shore surrendered without resistance; the fruits of their painful industry were plundered or destroyed, and the most valuable portion of their inhabitants dragged into captivity. The practice of piracy and invasion was not a tem- porary resource of war, prompted by necessity, or a just revenge; it grew into an ordinary pro- fession, which was so far from being deemed dishonourable, that it conferred much glory and renown on those who exercised it with skill and bjravery.'o During this disordered state of society, the arts of peace were almost entirely neglected, and Greece was ready to be plunged into the grossest barbarism, by its domestic dissentions. The irruptions of the Thracians, Amazons, and other northern savages, threatened to acceler- ate this melancholy event, and to complete the I ruin of the unhappy Hellenes. 11 But rt may be observed in the affairs of human life, that any extraordinary measure of good or evil com- monly leads men to dread, or to expect, a sud- den revolution of fortune; a natural sentiment which, though liable to be abused by credulity and superstition, is founded on the firm basis of experience. The rudiments of the most useful designs are suggested always by neces- sity, often by calamity. The inroads of the 10 Thucydid. 1. i. ei; xor/uog TOUT 0 The explanation in the text seems more consonant to Grecian manners, in those ages, than that of the scholiast, which is translated by Mr. ltochford, “Chez qui la piraterie 6toit exerc^e avec une certaine probitc.” M. de PAcad. v. 39. 11 Lysias Orat. Funeb. wild mountaineers of Thrace, and of other bar- barians more remote, whose destructive cruelty may be understood by the unexampled ravages with which even the feebler sex 12 carried on the ravages of war, occasioned the first institution which restored some degree of present tranquil- lity to Greece, and laid the foundation of its future grandeur. The northern districts of Thessaly being pe- culiarly exposed to the dangerous fury of in- vaders, the petty princes of that province enter- ed into a confederacy for their mutual defence. 13 They assembled in spring and autumn at Ther- mopylae, a place afterwards so illustrious, and then governed by Amphictyon, a descendant of Deucalion, whose name is immortalized in the Amphictyonic council. The advantages which the confederates derived from this measure, were soon perceived by their neighbours. The central states gradually acceded to their alli- ance; and, about the middle of the fourteenth century before Christ, Acrisius king of Argos, and other princes of the Peloponnesus, were allowed to share the benefits and security of their useful association. ^ £ After this event, the Amphictyons ap- 1263* P ear to h ave long confined themselves to the original purpose of their institution. The states, whose measures were directed by this assembly, found sufficient occupation in defending their own territories ; and near a cen- tury elapsed, before they undertook, by common consent, any distant expedition. But it was not to be expected that their restless activity could be always exhausted in defensive war. The establishment of the Amphictyons brought to- gether the chiefs most distinguished by birth and bravery. Glory and emulation prompted them to arms, and revenge directed those arms against the barbarians. Jason, Admetus, and other chieftains of Thessaly, 14 having equipped a small fleet in the neighbouring harbour of Iolcus, and particularly the ship Argos, of su- perior size and construction to any before known, were animated with a desire to visit foreign lands, to plant colonies in those parts of them that appeared most delightful, and to retort on their inhabitants the injuries which Greece had suffered from strangers. 1 5 The prin- ces of the north having proclaimed this spirited design over the central and southern provinces, the standard of enterprise and glory was speed- ily surrounded by the flower of the Grecian youth, 16 who eagerly embraced this honourable opportunity to signalize their manly valour. Peleus, Tydeus, Telamon, and, in general, the fathers of those heroic chiefs, who in the suc- ceeding age, shone with distinguished lustre in the plains of Troy, are numbered among the leaders of the Argonauts. They wore accom- panied by the chosen warriors, and by the vene- 12 The Amazons. Sec Lysias Orat. Funeb. and Hero- dotus passim. Yet the existence of these warlike females was doubted as early as the days of tlio emperor Hadrian, as we learn from Arrian : but what is said by that judicious and manly historian, seems sufficient to dispel the doubt. See Arrian Expedit. Alcxand. 1. vii. p. 15G. 13 Marm. Oxon. E. 5. 14 Their names are mentioned by Apollodorus, Diod. Siculus, Pindar, Apollonius, &c. 15 Hcrodot. I. i. Diodor. Sicul. 1 iv 16 Pindar, Pythic. iv. ■ 16 HISTORY OF GREECE. / rable prophets, of their respective tribes ; by an Esculapius, the admired father of the healing art, and by the divine Orpheus , 1 whose sublime genius was worthy to celebrate the amazing series of their adventures. These adventures, however, have been too much adorned by the graces of poetry, to be the proper subjects of historical composition. The designs of the Argonauts are veiled under the allegorical, or at least doubtful, phrase, “of carrying off the golden fleece;” which, though easily explained, if we admit the report that the inhabitants of the eastern banks of the Euxine extended fleeces of wool, in order to collect the golden particles which were carried down by the torrents from Mount Caucasus , 2 is yet de- scribed in such various language by ancient writers, that almost every modern who exam- ines the subject, thinks himself entitled to offer, by way of explanation, some new conjecture of his own. But in opposition to the most ap- proved of these conjectures, we may venture to aflirm, that the voyage to Colchis was not un- dertaken with a view to establish extensive plans of commerce , 3 or to search for mines of gold, far less to learn the imaginary art of con- verting other substances into that precious metal ; 4 all such motives supposing a degree of speculation and refinement unknown in that age to the gallant but uninstructed youth of Thessaly. The real object of the expedition may be discovered by its consequences. The Argonauts fought, conquered, and plundered ; 5 they settled a colony on the shores of the Euxine ; 6 and carried into Greece a daughter of the king of Colchis, the celebrated Medea , 7 a princess of Egyptian extraction, whose crimes and enchantments are condemned to eternal infamy in the immortal lines of Euripides. Notwithstanding many romantic fictions that disfigure the story of the Argonauts, their un- dertaking appears to have been attended with a considerable and a happy effect on the manners and character of the Greeks. From the era of this celebrated expedition, we may discover not only a more daring and more enlarged spirit of enterprise, but a more decisive and rapid pro- gress towards civilization and humanity. The sullen and unsociable chiefs, whose acquaint- ance with each other most commonly arose from acts of mutual hostility, hitherto gave full scope to the sanguinary passions which charac- terize barbarians . 8 Strength and courage were almost the only qualities which they admired : they fought and plundered at the head of their respective tribes, while the inhabitants of the neighbouring districts were regarded as fit ob- jects only to excite their rage, and gratify their 1 The testimony of Plato de Repub. 1. x. of Isocrates in Busirid. sufficiently attest the poetical fame of Orpheus. The Argonautica, and other works ascribed to him, are collected by Eschenbachius, and published at Nuremberg, 1702. That these, however, are the productions of a much later age, appears from innumerable circumstances, some of which are mentioned by Fabricius, Bib. Grrnc. vol. i. p. 120 . 2 Strabo, 1. xi. p. 499. 3 Eustach. in Homer. 4 Suidas, Memoires de l’Academ. v. 9. Exped. Argon. 5 Diodor. ibid. 6 Xenoph. Anabas. 7 Euripid. Med. This was the brazen age described by Hesiod. Oper. et Di. i. i. p 142 — 155. and by Plutarch in the life of Theseus. [Chap. rapacity. But these gloomy warriors, having exerted their joint valour in a remote expedi- tion, learned the necessity of acquiring more amiable virtues, as well as of adopting mor liberal notions of the public interest, if they pretended to deserve the esteem of their equals. Military courage and address might alone pro- cure them the respect of their immediate fol- lowers, since the safety of the little community often depended on the warlike abilities of the' chieffain ; but when several tribes had combined in a common enterprize, there was less depen- dence on the prowess of any single leader. Emulation and interest naturally rendered all these leaders as jealous of each other, as de- sirous of the public applause; and, in order to acquire this applause, it was necessary t brighten the lustre of martial spirit by the mor valuable 9 virtues of justice and humanity. When this glorious field first opened to th ambition of the Greeks, they cultivated it with a degree of industry equally ardent and suc- cessful. Innumerable were the exploits of Her cules, of Theseus, and of the divine sons o Leda , 19 and undertaken with infinite toil an danger, to promote the interest and safety, no; of their particular tribes, but of the gener~ confederacy. The Grecian woods and mounj tains abounded in lions, boars, and other fiere ! animals , 11 that often roamed from their haunt and spread terror and desolation through th adjoining valleys. The valleys themselv^ teemed with men of brutal strength and cour- age, who availed themselves of the weakness of government to perpetrate horrid deeds of violence and cruelty. The first worthies of Greece, animated rather with the daring . and useful, than with the romantic spirit of chival- ry, set themselves with one accord to remedy evils which threatened the existence of society. Their adventures have, doubtless, been em- bellished by the elegant fancy of poets and ora- tors; but they will remain eternal monuments of generous magnanimity, which sacrifices the instinctive love of ease and pleasure to the ac- quired taste for glory and renown . 12 9 Hesiod marks this change of manners. It happened between the expedition of the Argonauts and the siege of Thebes, since the latter was the first exploit in which his new race of men, yiv o; SixxioTtgnv xxi xgnov were en- gaged. See Hesiod Oper. et Di. 1. i. v. 155 — 165. 10 “In order to obtain the immortal fruits of merit,” savs Aristotle, in his beautiful Ode to Virtue, o Si og HfxxM?, AtjSxg re xougo», sroXAe* xvstKxtxv } Egyoig ! 5 . Odvss. L xix. v. 179. which Horace translates, Jovis arcanis Minos admissus. L. i. Ode 28. 2 Strabo, 1. x. p. 450. Plato in Minoe. Diod. 1. v. 3 Thucydid. 1. i. seven youths, and as many virgins, 4 which wa$ cruelly exacted by a nation who subsisted bi^j the laoour of slaves. The tributary captive® were drawn by lot from the body of the peopl® who trembled at the annual return of the Cre-1 tan vessel. Discontents arose against the go- vernment of fflgeus, who seemed to bear the indignity with too much tameness; when his , heroic son, with a patriotism congenial to his character, generously offered his life in the service of his country. 5 The fame of Theseus had already reached the ears of Minos, who \ respected lus virtues; and this respect was con- verted into admiration, on beholding the Athe^ nian prince a voluntary captive. Mmos treatetn him with the affectionate kindn ess of ancient 1 hospitality ; gave him his daughter Ariadne ini marriage ; and declared the Athenians thence-’ forth free from a contribution equally cruel andi ignominious. Theseus reaped great glory froi^t. this transaction. The vessel, in which he sailed, continued to be annually sent, for morel than eight centuries afterwards, to return thanks to Apollo, in his favourite island off Dellos; 6 and the fortunate voyage to Crete wa* celebrated by sacrifices, and other ceremonies^ handed down to the latest times of the Athenian republic. 7 * Many extraordinary circumstances, invented by the poets, disfigure events, which are othe® wise sufficiently authenticated. The unnaturlfP amours of the abominable Pasiphae, and the bloody feasts of the monstrous Minotaur, 6 have been faithfully transcribed, from one age to another, in the tiresome compilations of inju- dicious mythologists ; but it seems not to have occurred to those writers, that the expedition to Crete laid the foundation of the improvements afterwards introduced by Theseus into the Athenian government. The institutions and manners of that island presented a picture of more regular composition, and more harmoni- ous colouring, than could be seen in any part of the Grecian continent. Various societies of freemen, all united under one government, all equal among themselves, and all served by slaves; no private property in land ; the men eating at public tables, and the families sub- sisting from the common stock ; the youth regularly trained to the gymnastic exercises, navigation, and war; a severe morality enforced by law ; honour the reward of age and merit ; and the whole community acknowledging the prerogative of a hereditary king, who derived his authority from Jupiter, but who was no longer entitled to the divine protection than he continued to observe justice, and to maintain the unalienable privileges of his subjects. 9 Im- pressed with the salutary institutions which he 4 Odyss. L xi. v. 320. et Virgil, iEn. 6. Turn pendere poenas Cecropirfa? jussi, miserum! septena quotannia Corpora natorum. . 5 Ipse suum TJiesens pro caris corpus Athenis Projicere optaviL Catullua. 6 Plato. Phaedo. 7 Plot in Theseo. 8 Hie crudelis amor tauri, suppostaque farto Pasiphae, Ac. The judicious Virgil places these strange stories in the sculptured porch of an ancient temple. 9 Aristot. Polit. 1. ii. c. 9, & c. Strabo, ibid. Plato de leg. HISTORY OF GREECE. 19 I.] beheld in this flourishing island, Theseus, upon his accession to the throne of his father, was ambitious to introduce them into his native I country. The rudeness of the Athenians, in- deed, admitted not the introduction of written laws. But the scattered villages of Attica were persuaded to embrace the regulations of the capital ; 10 to unite in common ceremonies of religion ; to acknowledge the reciprocal obli- gations of subjects; and, while they asserted the right of citizens, to respect, during peace and war, the sacred prerogative of royal majesty. The improvements in domestic policy, thus introduced into Attica by the example of Crete, and the wisdom of Theseus, were gradually adopted by the neighbouring provinces . 11 At the commencement of the Trojan war, all the Grecian states had embraced one uniform sys- tem of government, uniting the independent spirit of European freedom with the respectful veneration of Egyptian and Asiatic supersti- tion . 12 This singular frame of policy, com- posed of materials seemingly incapable of al- liance, was peculiarly well adapted to great and generous undertakings ; and unless the divine, though limited authority of kings, had fortified the other institutions which served to tame the ferocity of the Greeks, there is reason to doubt whether their leaders could have engaged above a hundred thousand stubborn barbarians to un- dertake a distant and difficult enterprise, much less have detained their reluctant impatience during ten years in the siege of Troy. Before we examine the causes and incidents of this celebrated siege, to which the exploits hitherto related ..seem but unworthy preludes, it may be proper to take a short view of the strength and resources of the two nations, who were eager to shock in a conflict, that totally de- stroyed the one, and proved extremely ruinous to the other. Exclusive of the provinces of Epirus and Macedonia, which long remained barbarous and uncultivated, the continental possessions of the Greeks were nearly equal to Scotland in extent, marked .with still bolder features, and blessed with a warmer sun. In its length, the whole country is almost equally divided by two opposite gulfs, compressing between them a mountainous neck of land, to the breadth of only five miles, into the penin- sula of Peloponnesus, and the territory extend- ing northwards, from the extremity of the Co- rinthian isthmus to the southern frontier of Macedonia . 13 The Peloponnesus, a hundred and sixty miles in length, and scarcely one hundred in breadth, is every where intersected by mountains, particularly the towering ridges of Zarex and Taygetus. During the flourish- ing ages of Greece, this small peninsula con- tained seven independent communities, of un- equal power and fame, which ranked in the following order : The comparatively large, and highly diversified territory of Laconia ; the fruitful vale of Argos ; the extensive coast of Achaia; the narrow but commercial isthmus of Corinth ; the central and mountainous re- gion of Arcadia ; together with the more level 10 Thucydid. I. ii. Pint, in Thesco. 11 Dionys. Halac. 1. v. 12 Homer passim. 13 Strabo, 1. vii. countries of Elis and Messinia, which are throughout better adapted to tillage than any other provinces of the Peloponnesus . 14 The Grecian possessions beyond the Corinthian isthmus were more considerable, extending above two hundred miles from east to west, and one hundred and fifty from north to south. They were naturally divided, by the long and intricate ridges of Olympus, Pindus, Oeta, and Ossa, into nine separate provinces ; which, during the celebrated ages of Grecian freedom, were occupied by nine independent republics. They comprehended the extensive and fertile plains of Thessaly and Bceotia, both of which were, in early times, much exposed to inunda- tions ; and the latter, abounding in subterra- nean caverns, was peculiarly subject to earth- quakes ; the less fertile, but more secure terri- tory of Attica; the western provinces of iEtolia and Acarnania, encompassed on one side by dangerous seas, and confined on the other by almost impassable mountains ; and the four small rocky districts of Phocis, Doris, Locris, and Megara . 15 It has been observed, that these names and divisions, which remained to the latest times, are pretty accurately marked by Homer, whose poems continued, through succeeding ages, to be the approved standard and legal code, to which neighbouring communities appealed, in adjusting their disputed boundaries . 16 This observation, however, must be qualified chiefly by two exceptions. During the Trojan war, the extensive province of Thessaly sent forth above a fourth part of the whole Grecian strength, and was divided among many war- like leaders. It might naturally be expected, while agriculture and pasturage were the principal occupations subservient to human life, that a country, abounding in plains and meadows, should excel in population and in power . 17 When commerce, navigation, and the mechanic arts enriched and adorned the middle and southern divisions of Greece, the northern district of Thessaly lost its ancient pre-eminence. The second exception arose from the extensive power of the house of Pe- lops, which, as already mentioned, had, by for- tunate marriages and rich successions, acquired dominion over the northern and eastern parts of the Peloponnesus, formerly containing seve- ral independent principalities, and, after the misfortunes of Agamemnon and his family, again divided into the immortal republics of Sparta, Argos, Corinth, and Achaia. From this general view of the country, it will not appear remarkable, that, in an age when every able-bodied man was a soldier, Greece should have raised an army of a hun- dred and two thousand men. The Acarna- nians alone, for reasons unknown, sent no forces to Troy. But the continent was assisted by the generous efforts of Crete, of Rhodes, and of many smaller islands, which were sub- ject to their respective princes, or governed by the wide-extended dominion of Agamemnon. The vessels collected for transporting these 14 Strabo, ibid, et Pausan. Messen. 15 Strabo, 1. vii. 16 Flut. in Solon. 1? Plato in Mcnon. 20 HISTORl OF GREECE. forces to Asia amounted to twelve hundred sail. They were equipped at little expense, and built with little ingenuity, moved by only one bank of oars, and entirely unprovided with decks or anchors. Their complement varied in different vessels ; some contained a hundred and twenty, others only fifty men, who appear to have been equally acquainted with the mili- tary art, as practised in that remote age, and with the rude simplicity of ancient navigation . 1 The celebrated kingdom of Priam, against which this armanent was directed, occupied the eastern banks of the Hellespont, the south- ern coast of the Propontis, and the northern shores of the iEgean. From the river Esepus to the promontory of Lectum, the Trojan do- minions extended in length two hundred miles ; but their breadth was far less considerable, be- ing irregularly compressed between three seas, and the lofty ridges of mount Ida. This de- lightful and picturesque country, which excelled Greece in fruitfulness of soil and softness of climate , 2 was distinguished by the epithet of Hellespontian, from the large inland province, which bore the common name of Phrygia . 3 The Lesser, or Hellespontian Phrygia, was planted, according to a tradition, by a Grecian colony, about two hundred years before the Trojan war. The similarity of religion, lan- guage, and manners, sufficiently justified that opinion, and seems to have induced the most diligent inquirers of antiquity to regard not only the Trojans, but the Lycians and Pam- phylians, as scattered branches of the Hellenic nation , 4 which distance of place had gradually cut off from all communication with the trunk. The Asiatic Greeks were exposed to none of those unfavourable cirumstances already men- tioned, which long retarded the improvement of their brethren in Europe. The fertile and extensive plains of Asia offered them the ma- terials of more powerful kingdoms than Greece could afford ; and, instead of being harassed and endangered by the continual incursions of northern savages, they enjoyed the vicinity of the Phrygians and Lydians, nations described as flourishing in wealth and peace from the re- motest antiquity . 5 From the prevalence of the Grecian language and customs on the one hand, and the name of the country on the other, it is not unreasonable to suppose, that the Trojans were a mingled race of Greeks and Phrygians, collected by Dardanus, ances- tor fifth in degree to old Priam. This adventurer, whose parentage Homer leaves uncertainly calling him son of Jupiter , 6 founded a city on one of the many western branches *of mount Ida, commanding a beau- tiful and fertile plain, and watered by the immortal rivers Simois and Scamander . 7 The new settlement flourished under his son, the wealthy Erichthonius, who, by the judi- cious management of his mares and stallions, supplied the neighbouring kingdoms with 1 Thucydid. ibid. Homer, passim. 2 Hippocrat. de Loc. 3 Strabo, 1. xiii. 4 Herodot. 1. vii. Strabo, 1. xiv. 5 Herodot. 1. i. Dionys. Halic. 1. i. Suidas in voc. Avrsxo; . 6 Diad, xx v. 215. 7 Ibid. xx. v. 216, &c. Strabo lxiiu [Chap. horses of a superior breed. His successor Tros, communicated his name to the ter ritory, which was often called Troas, and to the celebrated city Ilion, which his son Uus f having removed his residence from the moun- tain, built on the adjoining plain. Laomedon, the successor of Ilus, fortified the town of Ilion, or Troy, with walls of such uncommon strength, that, in the language and belief of the times, they were deemed the work of the gods . 8 Whether he defrauded his supposed auxiliaries of their promised rewards and sacri- fices, or supplied the expense of this under- taking by despoiling their sacred shrines, it is certain that the guilt of Laomedon was believ- ed to entail calamity on his unhappy descend- ants. His son Priam, however, long enjoyed the deceitful gifts of fortune, before he was over- taken by the vengeance of heaven. Having attained old age in the undisturbed possession of a throne, he was surrounded by a numerous and flourishing family, beloved by his subjects, and respected by his neighbours. Yet this amiable, but too indulgent prince, was destined to feel the sharpest pangs of human misery. Hereditary feuds subsisted between the an- cestors of Priam and those of Agamemnon, when the latter quitted their establishments in Asia, to seek new settlements in Greece. The insult offered to Ganymede, a beautiful Trojan youth, by the brutal fury of Tantalus , 9 was re- torted on Menelaus, the fourth in descent from this infamous prince, by the rape and detention of his queen, the celebrated Helen. Paris, the ill-fated son of Priam, was the author of this new injury. But resentment for the wrongs of his house formed not the only motive which engaged the youthful levity of Paris to disho- nour the sister-in-la-w of Agamemnon. Helen was the daughter of Tyndareus, king of Sparta. The illustrious honours of her family were adorned by the generous magnanimity of her brothers, Castor and Poly deuces, whose ex- ploits shone conspicuous in all the military ex- peditions of that gallant age. But the native lustre of Helen needed not the aid of foreign ornament. Even in the tender age of child- hood, her opening charms had inflamed the heart of Theseus , 16 the most admired and the most virtuous of the Grecian chiefs. The fame of her beauty increased with her ripening age, and her person became an object of eager contention among those who, by birth or merit, were entitled to aspire at the invaluable prize. Tyndareus, solicitous to prevent the violence of a second lover (for, agreeably to the man- ners of his age, Theseus had carried her off by force,) bound the various suitors by an oath to defend the honour of his daughter, and to se- cure the possession of her charms to the man who should be honoured with her choice . 11 The princely mien ahd insinuating manners 8 Homer, Iliad, xx. v. 216, &c. Strabo, lxiii. 9 It has been observed, that the story of Tantalus, father of Pelops, was probabl^the invention of a later age. It is certain that, whatever might prevail in Phrygia, the unna- tural passion, which disgraced the later times of Greece, was unknown in that country during the heroic ages Natal. Com. 1. ix. c. 13. 10 Plut in Theseo 11 Thucydid. 1. 1 . c. 9. HISTORY OF GREECE. 21 I] of Menelaus, were preferred to the more solid qualities of his numerous competitors. Hav- ing married the heiress of Tyndareus, he suc- ceeded. in her right, to the Spartan throne . 12 The graceful pair had not long enjoyed the honours of royalty, and the sweets of conjugal union, when their happiness was interrupted by the arrival of the son of Priam, the handsomest man of his age, and singularly adorned with the frivolous accomplishments that often cap- tivate the weakness of a female mind. Though a soldier of no great renown, Paris had strongly imbibed the romantic spirit of gallantry which prevailed 13 in the heroic ages, and was distin- guished by an ardent passion for beauty, which, notwithstanding the general softness of his unwarlike character, prompted him to brave every danger in pursuit of his favourite ob- ject. Animated by the hope of beholding the inimitable model of what he most adored, he seized the opportunity afforded him by a voy- age of Menelaus into Crete, visited the domi- nions of his hereditary enemies, and solicited the rights of hospitality at the Spartan court. His person, his accomplishments, his address, and still more the voluntary hardships which he had endured for her sake, seduced the incon- stant affections of the Grecian queen. Ena- moured of the elegant stranger, she abandoned her country and her husband, and having trans- ported her most valuable treasure within the Trojan walls, defied the resentment of Greece, and the vengeance of heaven. It was now the time for Menelaus to crave the stipulated assistance of his ancient rivals. His demand was enforced bj the authority of Agamemnon . 14 At the summons of the two brothers, the confedm^ites assembled at ACgium, the capital of Achaia; confirmed the obliga- tion of their former promise; settled the pro- portion of troops to be raised by each prince ; determined the time and place of their de- parture ; and named Agamemnon, the most powerful among them, to the chief command, in an expedition which so deeply concerned the honour of his family. Aulis, a sea port of Boeotia, was appointed for the place of rendezvous and embarkation . 15 Before the whole armament sailed from thence, Ulysses king of Ithaca, and, what may seem extraordinary, the injured Menelaus, undertook a solemn embassy to Troy, in order to demand restitution and reparation ; but returned highly disgusted with their reception and treatment. Some members of the Trojan council had the barbarity to propose putting them to death. Their just indignation increased the warlike ardour of their associates. But contrary winds long retarded their departure. The Trojans had time to strengthen their ramparts, to col- lect arms and provisions, and to summon the assistance of their distant allies. The martial 12 Pausan. Lacon. 13 Perseus had carried off the African Medusa; Jason, Medea of Colchis ; Theseus, the Amazon Antiope ; Her- cules, Megara, Iole, Deaneira, & c. The historical poets of the heroic ages might have said, with Ariosto, Le donne, i cavelier, Parme, gli amori, Le cortesie, l’audaci imprese io canto. 14 Thucydid. 1. i. c. 9. 15 Hesiod, Oper. et Dies. spirit of the age, together with a sense of com- mon danger, brought many powerful auxilia- ries to Priam. His cause was defended by the hardy mountaineers who covered the back of his kingdom; by the Carians, Lycians, and other nations of Asia Minor, extending from the mouth of the river Halys to the southern extremity of Cilicia; and by the Pelasgi, Thra- cians, and Pseonians, fierce barbarians who in- habited the European side of the Hellespont and Propontis. Confiding, however, rather in their domestic strength, than in foreign assist- ance, the Trojans determined to defend their native shores against hostile invasion. The de- barkation of the Greeks was purchased by much blood. Having effected a descent, they encamp- ed on the Trojan plains, but lost the only oppor- tunity which they enjoyed during many years, of crushing at once the power of their enemies; who immediately shut themselves up within their impenetrable walls, leaving the city open only on the side of mount Ida, from which they received com, cattle, and other necessary supplies. Agamemnon, as there was reason to expect from the manners of his age, had been more industrious in collecting a great army, than pro- vident in contriving means by which it might keep the field. The provisions, transported from Greece, were speedily consumed, while the operations of the siege promised little hope of success, the Greeks being unacquainted with any military engines fitted to make an impres- sion on the Trojan walls. With such a nume- rous army, they might have converted the siege into a blockade ; but scarcity of supplies com- pelled the greater part of them to quit the camp. The resource of ravaging the adjacent couhtry soon exhausted itself. Many betook themselves to cultivating the rich vales of the Chersonesus, whose industrious inhabitants had recently been expelled, or destroyed, by the fierce incursions of the barbarous Thracians . 16 Others had recourse to piracy, scoured the neighbouring seas, ravaged the unprotected coasts of the Hellespont and Aegean, and plun- dered or demolished such unfortified places as acknowledged the dominion, or assisted the arms of Troy . 17 These ravages excited the rage of the Asiatics, and rendered them more hearty in the cause of their confederates. In this manner nine summers and winters elapsed, without affording the nearer prospect of a de- cision to the contest; but, in the tenth year of the war, the seeming misfort unes of the Greeks precipitated the downfal of the proud city of Priam. A dreadful pestilence invaded the camp of the besiegers, and long continued to rage with unabating fury. This calamity was fol- lowed by the well-known quarrel between Aga- memnon and Achilles, which deprived the Gre- cian army of its principal strength and orna- ment. The Trojans derived new spirits from the misfortunes of their enemies; they ventured to abandon the protection of their walls, boldly assailed the Grecian camp, and risked several engagements, in most of which they were vic- torious. In the last of these, the beloved friend 1G Thucydid. 1. i. 17 Horner, passim. HISTORY OF GREECE. 22 of Achilles was slain by the arm of Hector, the bravest and most generous of the Trojan race. This event, which was infinitely more dreadful than death to the affectionate ardour of the Grecian chief, stifled his hitherto inexorable re- sentment against the proud tyranny of Aga- memnon. His return to the camp restored the declining fortune of the Greeks; and the indig- nant fury of his rage was quenched in the de- tested blood of Hector, whose patriotic valour had long been the firmest bulwark of his father’s kingdom. The destruction of Troy 1 soon fol- lowed the death of her darling hero. The city, whether taken by storm or by surprise, was set on fire daring night; most of the citizens pe- rished by the sword, or were dragged into cap- tivity ; and only a miserable remnant escaped through the confused horror of raging flames and expiring kinsmen. The burning of Troy happened eleven hun- dred and eighty-four years before the Christian era. Neither the city nor territory ever assum- ed in any succeeding age, the dignity of inde- pendent government . 2 The sea-coast was plant- ed, eighty years after the Trojan war, by new colonies from Greece; and the inland parts sub- mitted to the growing power of the Lydians, whose arms overspread and conquered all the finest provinces of lesser Asia . 3 The Greeks had recovered possession of the [Chap. admired beauty of Helen; they had taken com- plete vengeance on the family and 4 nation of her unhappy seducer ; but the misfortunes, which were the natural consequence of the Trojan expedition, left them little reason to ' boast of their victory. Of five Boeotian com- manders, only one remained, and the siege had been proportionably fatal to the leaders of other tribes, as well as to their warlike followers. Those who lived to divide the rich spoils of Troy, were impatient to set sail with their newly-acquired treasure, notwithstanding the threatening appearance of the skies. Many of them perished by shipwreck; the rest were long tossed on unknown seas; and when they ex- pected to find in their native country the end of their calamities, they were exposed to suffer greater calamities there, than any which they had yet endured. The thrones of several of the absent princes had been usurped by violence and ambition; the lands of various communi- ties had been occupied by the invasion of hos- tile tribes: even the least unfortunate of those adventurers found their domains uncultivated, or their territories laid waste; their families torn by discord, or their cities shaken by sedi- tion. And thus the most celebrated enterprise of combined Greece tended to plunge that de- lightful and once happy country into barbarism and misery . 5 CHAPTER II. Religion — Government — Arts — Manners , and Character. nHHE ancient Greeks had strongly imbibed an opinion, that the country in which they lived was peculiarly favourable to the dignity of human nature. The voluptuous climates of Asia produced invention and ingenuity, but softened the tempers of men into a fitness for servitude. The rigorous severity of European skies gave strength and agility to the limbs, and hardy boldness to the mind, but chilled the fancy, and benumbed the finer feelings of the soul. The inhabitants of the east and south were degraded below the condition of huma- 1 We should probably know somethin? more 6f the his- tory of the Trojan war, if the works of Pisander remained. Macrobius, in speaking of the plagiarisms of the Romans from Greek writers, has the following passage: “ Quee Vir- gilius traxit a Grascis, dicturumne me putetis, quae vulgo nota 8001 ? . . . vel quod eversionem Trojie cum Sinone suo et equo ligneo, ceterisque omnibus, qua) librum secun- dum faciunt, a Pisandro pene adverhum transcripserit, qui inter Graecos poetas eminot,” &c. Macrob. 1. v. c. 2. 2 I have carefully examined the evidence given by Bo- ehart, (Epist. num iEneas unquam fuit in Italia,) and by Mr. Wood (Essay on the original Genius of Homer,) to prove that the descendants of .Eneas reigned In Trov. But notwithstanding the learned ingenuity of a profound, and the plausible criticism of an elegant scholar, the matter seems still too doubtful to warrant contradicting the popular opinion. 3 Herod. 1. ii. Tbucyd.l.i. Justin, 1. xviii. Strabo, 1. iii. 4 I dwell not on a subject which has been handled by the great masters of the passions. See Virgil : Forsitan et Priami fuerint qure fata requiras, &c. | nity, by an unfortunate abuse of power, while the turbulent sons of the north and west were incapable, from ignorance and indocility, of submitting to any regular system of govern- ment. The Greeks alone, possessing an inter- mediate situation between the extremes of cold and heat, united courage and capacity ; tem- pered the stern and manly, with the gentler vir- tues ; and enjoyed the double advantage of liberty and laws . 6 This splendid observation is too flattering to the dictates of national vanity to be hastily adopted by a cautious inquirer into truth, who will be apt to ascribe the superior lustre of Grecian manners, rather to the elegant imagi- nation of authors, than to the intrinsic merit of their subject. Yet it must be acknowledged, several circumstances would lead us to believe, that the great poet to whom we owe our prin- cipal information concerning the ancient state of Greece, copied from nature only. The majesty of Virgil, the splendour of Tasso, and the sub- limity of Milton, are not sufficient to conceal an effort in those noble writers to maintain the tone which they have assumed ; a desire to em- bellish the manners which they describe; an 5 Plato de Leg. 1. iii. Thucyd. 1. i. p. 9. 6 Aristot. Politic. 1. vii. c. 7. Isocrat. Govern. Athen I Panegyric, et Panathen HISTORY GREECE. 23 1*1 ambition to elevate and to adorn their poems by the use of a marvellous machinery, which had not its foundation in the experience, and (as to Virgil and Tasso) scarcely in the belief of their own age. In Homer there is neither embellishment, nor effort, nor disguise of any kind; he relates. what he has seen and heard with unaffected simplicity ; his ideas and sen- timents are not only clothed in the graces of poetry, but arrayed in the charms of truth ; and an amazing diversity of characters, preserving amidst innumerable shades of discrimination a general air of resemblance, distinguish the Iliad and Odyssey above other poetical compositions, and prove them to have been copied, not from the limited combinations of human invention, but from the wide variety of impressions in the rich store-house of nature. In some descrip- tive parts of his poem, Homer doubtless yielded to the pleasing dictates of his inimitable fancy; but it seems plain from internal evidence only, that he delineates with minute accuracy the geography, mythology, history, and manners of Greece ; and that his observations concern- ing all these subjects are perfectly agreeable to the opinions and belief which universally pre- vailed among his countrymen. If this matter required the aid of foreign evidence, it miglit be fully confirmed by the testimony of the Greek historians, who support in every in- stance the veracity of the poet; asserting not only the authenticity of the facts which he re- lates, but the influence of the causes to which he ascribes them . 7 It may be observed, however, by those who would repress the ebullitions of Grecian vanity, that admitting the poems of Homer as com- plete evidence concerning the ancient state of his country, all the advantage that could follow from this supposition is, that the Greeks have been accurately described at an earlier period of their society than most other nations; but the silence of those nations cannot reasonably be interpreted as a proof of their inferiority to the Greeks in manners or in policy. The mas- terly description of a philosophic historian has rescued the antiquities of one o,ther people from oblivion; and the generous spirit of their sim- ple but manly institutions, as painted by his ex- pressive pencil, is scarcely disgraced by a com- parison with the boasted customs of the heroic ages. In the preference of military glory to all other advantages, in the freedom of debate in the public assemblies, and in the protection afford- ed to the rights and liberties of the meanest citi- 1 The nature and transactions of the gods, which justly shock the feelings of the modern reader, are perfectly con- formable to the belief of the Greeks. The continual inter- position of these ethereal beings in the affairs of human life, is justified by Herodotus, Thucydides, Xenophon, and all succeeding writers. Herodotus, 1. i. c. 131. explains the reason why the Persians erected neither temples, nor im- ages, nor altars, by saying, ot» ovx xv6gu>7ro oi E\Xi)V£{ sivoei, “because they did not, like as the Greeks, believe the gods to partake of a human nature, or form.” That the gods often appeared in a human shape, is taken for granted by Pausanias in Ar- cad. and Plutarch, de Musica. The same opinion was firmly maintained by Julian, an orthodox pagan, in a later age. See Gibbon, vol. II. Many instances will occur in the following history, to prove the exact conformity of Ho- mer's descriptions to the general belief of his country. zen, the treatise of Tacitus will equally apply to the Germans and to the Greeks. But there is one material circumstance wanting in the German which adds peculiar beauty to the Grecian character. Among the rude inhabit- ants of ancient Germany, the- oflices of priest and king were not united in the same person. The rites of religion were administered by a particular order of men, who might abuse the superstitious fears of the multitude to promote their own selfish designs; and the dread of su- perior powers, though sometimes employed to enforce the dictates of nature, and to promote the operations of government, might also, with equal success, be employed to weaken the im- pressions of the one, and to resist the authority of the other. Besides this unfavourable circum- stance, the superstition of the Germans was of a dark and gloomy kind, little connected w r ith the ordinary duties of society, recommending principal^ the practice of courage, the only virtue which there was not any occasion to re- commend; and promising as the reward of what was deemed the highest excellence in life, the enjoyment of an infamous paradise of im- mortal drunkenness after death . 8 The mythology of the Greeks was of a more agreeable, and of a far more useful nature. The sceptre, which denoted the connection of civil power with sacred protection, was conferred on those who, while they continued the humble ministers of the gods, were appointed to be the chief, but accountable guardians of the people . 9 The same voice that summoned the warriors to arms, or that decided, in time of peace, their do- mestic contentions, conducted the order of their religious worship, and presided in the prayers and hymns addressed to the divinity. These prayers and hymns, together with the import- ant rite of sacrifice (which likewise was per- formed by royal hands,) formed the ceremonial part of the Grecian religion. The moral was far more extensive, including the principal offices of life, and the noblest virtues of the mind. The useful quality of courage was pe- culiarly acceptable to the stern god of war ; bu the virtues of charity and hospitality were s more pleasing to the more amiable divinities. The submission of subjects to their prince, tht duty of a prince to preserve inviolate the right of his subjects , 11 the obedience of children to their parents , 12 the respect of the young for the aged, the sacred laws of truth, justice, honour, and decency, were inculcated and maintained by the awful authority of religion. Even the most Ordinary transactions of private life were consecrated by the piety of the Greeks. They ventured not to undertake a voyage or a jour- ney, without soliciting the propitious aid of their heavenly protectors. Every meal (and there 8 Tacit, dc Morib. German. Mr. Gibbon’s Roman Em pire. 9 noi/Ul vsg 5 TXVIV. 10 7rf>og ytx.( A»o{ urtv X7rxvrtg Seivoi re ti' All strangers and boggars come from Jove. Odyss. xiv. 56. 11 Iliad, xvi. v. 385. 12 It is not humanity, but the fear of the gods, that is mentioned as the reason by Telemachus for not sending away his mother. Odyss. 2. 24 HISTORY OF GREECE. were three 1 in a day) was accompanied with a sacrifice and libation. The common forms of politeness, the customary duties of civility, were not decided by the varying taste of indi- viduals, but defined by the precise voice of the gods . 2 It would have served little purpose to oppose salutary laws to the capricious license of bar- barians, without guarding those laws by very powerful sanctions. Whether these sanctions be founded on opinion or on fact, is, with re- spect to their influence on the mind, a matter of little moment. / The dread vengeance of imaginary powers may be equally effectual with the fear of the axe and halter. The cer- tainty of this vengeance was firmly established in the Grecian creed; and its operation was supposed to be so immediate and palpable, that it was impossible for the inattention of men to overlook, or for their address to elude its force . 3 The daring violations of the sacred law 4 were speedily overtaken by manifest marks of the Divine displeasure. “ The insolence and violence of the corrupted youths,” says Ho- mer , 5 “ cried aloud to heaven, whose decrees wele soon executed by the avenging hands of Ulysses.” The judgments inflicted on guilty communities were so familiar to the minds of men, that the poet introduces them by way of similies ; 6 and it is evident from his writings throughout, that every important event, pros- perous or adverse, which happened either to individuals or to nations, appeared to the pious resignation of the Greeks, the reward of their religion and virtue, or the punishment of their irreligion and vice . 7 The merit of the father was often acknowledged in the protection of the son ; and the crimes of a guilty progenitor were often visited on his descendants to the third and fourth generation . 8 1 Afiirrov Sn—vov Sigyrog. 2 The king of the Phasacians does not detain Ulysses longer than he chooses, lest he should offend the gods, Odvss. viii. See also the behaviour of Ulysses and Tc'e- machus, in the cottage of Eumaeus, Odyss. xiv. and xvi. 3 See the first book of Hesiod’s poem “ Of Works and Days,” throughout: and particularly II ilscrq rv S'xxovs Six jjs f*v,Si vZgiv o$e\Xs, from v. 110 to v. 242: and again, TsvSe yxg xvig * ttokti vo/iov JisrxJi Kgoi nuiv, from v. 274 to v. 291. 4 bsftiy, Telamon prayed that the gods would give valour to his son; when the proud son aspiring above the condition of humanity, said, That any man might be brave and victorious by the assistance of the gods ; for his nart, he expected to obtain glory by his own merit : the gods punished him with madness, and, after exposing him to the ridicule of his enemies, made him fall by his own hands. See the Ajax of Sophocles, from v. 760 to v. 800. 8 Minerva protected Telemachus on account of his father’s merit. Odyss. passim. The misfortunes of the [Chap. These observations are confirmed, not only by the writings of Homer and Hesiod through- out, but by almost every page of Herodotus, of Pindar, as well as of the Greek tragedians and historians ; and yet they seem to have escaped the notice of some of the most ingenious inqui- rers into the opinions of antiquity. The au- thority of Greek writers strongly opposes two systems, which have been supported with great ability, and which have gained considerable credit in the world. The first, that the religion of the ancients had little or no connection with morality: the second, that the governments of Greece could not have been supported with- out the doctrine of a future state . 9 The con- nection between religion and morality is clearly asserted in the various passages to which we have had occasion to allude ; and the belief of a future state of retribution cannot, according to the principles of the learned author of the Divine Legation of Moses, be reckoned neces- sary to the government of men, who are fully persuaded of the actual and immediate inter- position of Divine wisdom and justice, to regu- late, by temporal rewards and punishments, the affairs of the present life . 10 As this persuasion had such general and happy effects on the manners of the Greeks, it may be proper to consider its origin, and to de- scribe more particularly the nature and genius of the superstition to which it gave birth : a superstition which, two thousand years after losing its imaginary authority over the useful occupations of men, still preserves a real power over their most elegant amusements. It belongs not to the design of this work to search for the mythological tenets of Greece in the opinions of other nations : a subject of inquiry upon which much learned conjecture and much laborious ingenuity have already been very laudably, but I fear not very success- fully, employed . 11 By the dim light of etymo- royal families of Thebes and Argos, described in the many tragedies of iEschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides, abun- dantly prove the truth of the last observation. 9 See Hume’s Natural History of Religion, and War- burton’s Divine Legation of Moses. The eleventh book of the Odyssey, which the ancients called the N£Xfo/jx»TEi*, is the obscurest, and, in my opinion, the least agreeable part of Homer. The ghosts are all condemned to a melan-’ choly and dreary state ; even the greatest heroes are very miserable and dejected ; and there is not any mention of the place of reward for the virtuous. Homer speaks of the Elvsian fields but once (Odyssey iv. ver. 563.) Proteus tells Menelaus, that he is not destined to die at Argos, and that the gods would send him £»s H\vt vigixi; ctTroyvvtrif e\>xn Btwv. Schol. in Homer. Turn prascipuus votorum locus est, cum spei nulles est. Plin. 1. viii. c. 16. 17 In most men, true religion itself must, from the nature of human passions, hava the greatest, because an undi- D The great pillar of superstition, raised by the anxious passions of men, was fortified in Greece by a circumstance incidental to all na- tions at a certain stage of their political pro- gress. There is a period when nations emerg- ing from barbarity, but not yet corrupted by the narrow pursuits of avarice, nor yet softened by the mean pleasures of luxury, or contracted by the dangerous refinements of a selfish phi- losophy, enjoy a peculiar sensibility of charac- ter, which exerts itself in the ardour of social affection, and strengthens, by a thousand asso- ciations, their belief of invisible and intelligent powers. To men, thus disposed to wonder and to believe, whatever dazzles the imagina- tion, announces the presence of a deity ; dreams and celestial appearances are deemed sacred and infallible admonitions ; the silence and thick shade of a forest fills the soul with religious awe ; and persons, distinguished by justice and piety, easily persuade themselves and others, that, as the beloved favourites of heaven, they are frequently honoured with holy inspirations, and sometimes indulged with the visible presence and happy intercourse of their Divine protectors . 16 Not only the religion but the ancient language and manners of Greece, sufficiently attest the existence of this exces- sive sensibility, which, in those early times, gave an easy victory to the indulgent powers of fancy, over the severe dictates of reason. The nature, the characters, and the occupa- tions of the gods, were suggested by the lively feelings of an ardent, rather than by the regu- lar invention of a cultivated, mind. These celestial beings were subject to the blind pas- sions which govern unhappy mortals. Their wants, as well as their desires, were similar to to those of men. They required not the gross nourishment of meat and wine, but they had occasion to repair the waste of their ethereal bodies by nectar and ambrosia ; and they de- lighted in the steam of the sacrifices, which equally gratified their senses and flattered their vanity . 19 The refreshment of sleep was ne- cessary to restore their exhausted strength , 29 and with the addition of a superior, but limited degree of power, and wisdom, and goodness, the gods of the heroic ages were nothing more than immortal men. What was wanting in the dignity and per- fection, was supplied by the number of the vided, influence over the mind, in seasons of inextricable calamity. 18 Pausan. (in Arcad.) calls them z-suoi xxt o/xo TfXTre^ot, guests and companions at the same table. Plutarch, in his Treatise on Music, cites as authorities Anticles and Istros, two ancient authors, who wrote concerning the apparitions of the gods. All that has reached the present times re- specting this curious subject, is collected in a dissertation of John Gottlob Nimptsch (Leipsic, 1720,) in which he treats of the number of the divinities who appeared most commonly to men ; of the form under which they appeared ; the usual time, and general causes, of their appearing, and the ordinary circumstances accompanying it. See also Memoires de l’Academie, vol. ix. Mem. sur les Mosurs des Siecles Heroiques. 19 These observations naturally result from Homer; but the doctrine of sacrifices, as expiations for crimes, so universally diffused over the ancient and modern world, would perhaps still merit the examination of an able, di- vine. 20 Mercury says to Calypso, he would not have fatigued himself by travelling over such a length of sea and land, without a very powerful reason. Odyss. 26 HISTORY OF GREECE. gods . 1 Homer only describes the principal and reigning divinities ; but Hesiod, who gives the genealogical history of this fanciful hie- rarchy, makes the whole number amount to thirty thousand. Among these, every virtue had its protector, every quality of extensive power in human life had its patron, and every grove and mountain and river its favourite in- habitants. Twelve divinities 2 of superior rank presided over the active principles of the uni- verse, and the leading virtues of the mind : but even these distinguished beings were sub- ject to the unrelenting power of vengeance 3 and the fates, “ who pursue the crimes of men and gods, and never cease from their wrath till they have inflicted just punishment on the guilty sons of earth and heaven .” 4 The materials which fancy had created, poetry formed into beauty, and policy im- proved into use. The creed of the Greeks, thus adorned and enlarged, became the hap- piest antidote against the furious resentment, the savage cruelty, and the fierce spirit of sul- len independence, which usually characterize the manners of barbarians . 5 Yet these dread- ful passions sometimes forced their way through every mound which wisdom had erected in order to oppose their course. Laws, sacred and profane, were feeble barriers against the impe- tuosity of their rage. The black vengeance of the heart was exerted in deeds of horror. The death of an enemy could not satisfy their inhuman cruelty. They burned with desire to drink his hated blood, to devour his quivering limbs, and to expose his mangled remains to indignities equally odious and abominable in the sight of gods and men . 6 The powerful influence of religion was directed against the wild excesses of this sanguinary temper. The brave Tydeus lost for ever the protection of his adored Minerva by a single act of savage fero- city. Humanity was inculcated by every pre- cept of reason, and enforced by the strongest motives of hope and fear. It was a firm article of belief, that hands stained with blood, even in the exercise of honourable war, were unworthy, till purified by lustration, to be em- ployed in the most ordinary functions of sacred worship . 7 It would require a volume completely to illustrate the salutary effects of this ancient and venerable superstition, which was distin- quished above most other false religions, by the uncommon merit of doing much good, without seemingly occasioning any consider- able harm to society. The Grecian tenets, 1 Fragilis et laboriosa, mortalilas in partes ista digessit, infirmitatus sure memor, ut portionibus quisquis coleret, quo maxime indigeret. Plin. ii. 7. 2 The Roman religion was mere plagiarism, so that En- nius might well translate two lines of an ancient Greek poet, which includes the names of the principal divinities of Greece and Italy : Juno, Vesta, Minerva, Ceres, Diana, Venus, Mars, Mercurius, Jovi, Neptunus, Vulcanus, Apollo. Ennius apud Apuleium. 3 4 Hesiod. Theog. 5 Impiger, iracundus, inexorabilis, acer, Negans jura sibi facta, nihil non arrogans armis — Horat. will be found the general character of all barbarous nations. 6 See Iliad, iv. ver. 35. Ibid. xxii. ver. 347. Ibid. xxiv. vei. 212 7 Homer, passim. [Chap. while they inculcated profound respect to the gods, tended not to break the spirit, or to re- press the courage, of theu warlike votaries. The ancient heroes addressed their heavenly protectors in an erect posture, with the un- feigned sincerity of manly freedom. They expected to avert the calamities threatened by the anger of their divinities, not by inflicting on themselves such tortures as could be accep- table only to the mean resentment of weak a?id wicked beings, but by repairing the wrongs which they had committed against their fellow- citizens, or compensating, by new attentions, for the neglect shown to the ceremonies of their national worship. In their estimation, the doing of injuries to men, and the omitting of prayer to the gods, were the principal causes of the divine displeasure ; the incurring of which, being justly considered as infinitely greater than all other misfortunes, they were so^.citous to avert it, not only by an exact performance of external rites, but by a diligent practice of moral duties. The dangerous power of oracles, the abused privileges of asylums, the wild rap- tures of prophetic enthusiasm, the abominable ceremonies of the Bacchanalia, and the horrid practice of human sacrifice, circumstances which cover with deserved infamy the later periods of paganism, were all unknown to the' good sense and purity of the heroic ages ; nor is there to be discovered the smallest vestige of any of these wild or wicked inventions either in the writings of Homer, or of his con- temporary Hesiod. The amiable simplicity of their religious sys- tem was communicated to the civil and military institutions of the Greeks, to the laws of na- tions as well as to the regulations of internal policy, and to the various duties of domestic as well as of social life. The sentiments of na- tural reason, supported by the supposed sanc- tion of Divine authority, generally directed the conduct of men in the wide variety of these complicated relations ; and from one great and luminous principle, deeply impressed on the mind, there resulted a uniform system of unaf- fected propriety of conduct, the contemplation of which will always be agreeable to every taste that is not perverted by the false delicacy of artificial manners, or the illiberal prejudices of national vanity. In order to give the clearer explanation of the several parts of this beauti- ful system, we shall examine the political, the civil, and the domestic condition of the Greeks; that is, the relation of the governors to the governed, and of the governed to one another, whether considered as subjects of the same state, or as branches of the same family. We shall combine the effect of these relations with that of the ordinary occupations and favourite amusements of this celebrated people, and from the whole endeavour to deduce the gene- ral estimate of their virtues and defects, of their happiness and misery. The common observation, that power fol- lows property, though not altogether correct , 8 8 The same property possessed by one, or by a few, con- fers much greater political consideration and influence, than it would confer if diffused among the multitude. HISTORY OF GREECE. 27 II] affords perhaps the best succedaneum to written laws, for determining the real strength and in- fluence of the different members of society. If we examine by this rule the policies of the heroic ages, we shall find that they deserve the title of republics, rather than that of monar- chies. When a warlike tribe sallied from its woods and mountains, to take possession of a more fertile territory, the soldiers fought and conquered, not for their leaders, but for them- selves. 9 The land acquired by their united valour was considered as a common property. It was cultivated by the joint labour and assi- duity of all the members of the tribe, who as- sembled at a public table, celebrated together their religious rites, and, at the end of harvest, received their due shares of the annual produce of the ground, for the maintenance of their re- spective families. 19 Superior opulence gave not to one a title to despise another, nor was there any distinction known among them, but what was occasioned by the difference of personal merit and abilities. This difference, however, had naturally raised a chief or leader to the head of every society ; the frequent necessity of em- ploying his valour, or his wisdom, rendered his merit more conspicuous and more useful ; and his superior usefulness was rewarded, by the gratitude of his tribe, with a valuable por- tion of ground, * 11 separated from the common property. This was cultivated, not by the hands of his martial followers, who laboured only for the community, but by the captives taken in war, of whom a considerable number were always bestowed on the general. 12 Being accustomed to command in the field, and to direct the measures, as well as to decide the quarrels, of his associates, he naturally became the judge of their civil differences; and as the peculiar favour of the gods always attended on superior virtue, he was also invested with the honourable office of presiding in their religious solemnities. These important functions of priest, judge, and general, which had naturally been conferred on the best and bravest charac- ter of each particular tribe, were upon the union of several tribes into one state or nation, con- ferred on the best and bravest of all the differ- ent leaders. Before the various states of Greece had united in a general confederacy, the re- sources derived from the domains appropriated to the prince (which, unless there was some particular reason to the contrary, were trans- mitted to his descendants,) had enabled the several kings and leaders to extend their influ- ence and authority. Their comparative power and splendour did not entirely arise from the merit of personal abilities, but was determined in part by the extent and value of their posses- sions : and Agamemnon was appointed to the command of combined Greece, as much on ac- 9 The Odyssey furnishes innumerable proofs of the limited power of kings. Ulysses, on most occasions, puts himself on an equal footing with his followers. It is commonly decided by lot, whether he shall be one of those who under- take any adventure attended with fatigue and danger. Odyss. passim. 10 Isocrat. in Archidam. 11 Iliad, 1. xii. ver. 310. 12 In the description of the shield of Achilles, Homer clearly distinguishes the domain of the king from the land of the community. Iliad, xviii. ver. 542. count of his superior opulence, as of his many princely qualities. 13 But whether we examine the pre-eminence that Agamemnon enjoyed over the other princes of the confederacy, which is fully explained in the Illiad, or the authority with which each prince was invested in his own dominions, which is clearly illustrated in the Odyssey, or the influence of a warlike chief over the several members of his tribe, which we have already endeavoured to delineate, we shall every where discover the limited power of kings, and the mild moderation of mixed government. As in the general confederacy, the councils 14 of princes controlled the resolves of the monarch, and the voice of the assembly 15 was superior to that of the council ; so in each particular kingdom, the decisions of the senate prevailed over the will of the prince, and the acknowledged majesty of the people 16 governed the decisions of the senate. 17 If we descend still lower, we shall find the same distribution of power in every particular village, ^ which afforded a picture, in miniature, of a kingdom, while a kingdom itself afforded a similar pic- ture of the whole confederacy. The same simplicity which regulated the political system, maintained the civil rights of the Greeks. As the price of submitting to the restraints of society, a man was secure4 in the enjoyment of his life and property ; 19 his move- ables were equally divided, at his death, among his descendants ; and the unnatural right of primogeniture, which, in order to enrich the eldest son, reduces the rest of the family to want and misery, was altogether unknown to the equal spirit of the Grecian institutions. 29 Causes respecting property were decided by the first magistrate, or by judges of delegated authority. The prosecution of murderers be- longed to the relations of the deceased; they might accept a compensation in money for the loss which the family had sustained ; 21 but if this was not tendered them by the criminal, or if their resentment was too violent to admit of any such composition, they were entitled to the assistance of all the members of their tribe, who either punished the murderer by death, or com- pelled him to leave the society. 22 These usages, doubtless, prove the ideas of the Greeks, con- cerning criminal jurisdiction, to have been very 13 Thucydid. 1. i. 14 In matters of importance, Agamemnon is generally determined by the council of chiefs, many of whom, on various occasions, treat him with little respect. 15 It is referred to the general assembly, whether it would he better to return to Greece, or to prosecute the siege of Troy. Iliad, ii. ver. 110. See also Aristot. Ethic. 1. iii. c. 5. 16 Several of the nobles of Ithaca even aspired to the crown. Odyss. 21. 17 Tn the Odyssey, Telemachus threatens to appeal to the public assembly, of the injustice of the suitors, among whom were the principal nobles of Tthaca. 18 Plutarch in Theseo. Odyss. ibid. 19 Iliad, xii. Pind. Pyth. Ode iv. ^ 20 Odyss. xiv. If there were no children, the nearest re- lations, by the father’s side, divided the moveable property: ciTrocpQtfisvov S's Six y.tv\s cm cxciva;. Iliad, pGSsim. [Chaf. bounty of the gods. The Greeks of the heroic ages, among whom the rights of weakness and beauty were as much respected as they after- wards were despised by their degenerate de- scendants, celebrated the conjugal union with all the pomp of religious festivity. The joyous band, carrying the nuptial torches, marched in pomp through the city, to the sound of the hymeneal song ; 3 the lustral waters were drawn from the sacred fountain Calliroe, and many revered ceremonies rendered the connection of husband and wife equally respectable and binding . 4 Adultery was considered as a crime of the blackest dye, and is always mentioned with the same horror as murder. Persons guilty of these atrocious enormities purchased t impunity , 5 and more frequently escaped death, by voluntary banishment; but in many cases they were punished by the united vengeance of the tribe which had received the injury. Second nuptials were not absolutely forbidden ; but so strong and sacred was the matrimonial tie, that even the death of one of the parties was scarcely thought sufficient to dissolve it ; and the survivor, by entering into a new connection, suffered a diminution of fame, and submitted to a con- siderable degradation of character . 6 Two circumstances chiefly have rendered it difficult to explain the rank and condition of women in the heroic ages. The Greek word denoting a wife, is borrowed from a quality which equally applies to a concubine, and the same term is used indifferently to express both. But the women who in ancient Greece submit- ted to the infamy of prostitution, were gener- ally captives taken in war, who were reduced by the cruel right of arms to the miserable con- dition of servitude. Hence it has been errone- ously inferred, that in ancient Greece, wives as well as concubines were the slaves of their husbands. This mistaken notion, it has been attempted to confirm, not only by insisting on the humiliating condition of the fair sex in the later ages of Greece, but by expressly asserting, that, in ancient times, they were purchased by their husbands . 7 * But this is to support one error by another. Before entering into the state of wedlock, it was customary for a man to make a mutual exchange of presents with his intended father-in-law. The Greeks had par- ticular terms to express the present which he bestowed, as well as that which he received . 6 The former, which has no corresponding term in the modern languages, is translated by the more general word “ price,” which has given rise to the false notion of the purchase and servitude of women ; but the latter which may with propriety be translated “ dower ,” 9 10 was given as a provision for the wife, both during marriage and after its dissolution , 19 and was 3 Iliad, I. xxiii. 4 Thucydides, 1. ii. Meursius Ferine Grnecae, and the au thors there cited. 5 Odyss. viii. 6 Penelope was restrained from marrying a second hus band : afJojusvijv, juvkv it-oo-joj, Stfftoto T£ II. xv. 7 Lord Kaime’s Sketches, Thomas sur la Condition des Femmes, &c. 8E?,.». 9n f oi£. 10 Odyss. ii. Telemachus says, that if Ms mother should be sent from the house, he would be obliged to return hef dower to her father Icarius. HISTORY OF GREECE. 29 II.] sufficient to deliver her from that supposed state of dependence on the husband, which never had any existence but in the imagination of the systematic writers of the present age. In the modern countries of Europe, women are generally excluded from the serious occu- pations of life, but admitted to an equal share in its gayest amusements. During the heroic ages, they were not absolutely debarred from the former, although it was impossible to asso- ciate their natural delicacy and timidity to the warlike labours and pleasures which formed the principal employments of their husbands. The intercourse between the sexes, therefore, was less frequent and general, than would suit the refined softness of modern manners. The attention of women was chiefly confined to domestic cares, or to the practice of such arts as required neither strength, nor courage, nor wisdom, but only the patient exertions of mechanical dexterity . 11 Our natural respect for the honour of the sex is offended at hear- ing them as much extolled for their skill in the labours of the loom, as for their beauty and virtue ; but it deserves to be considered, that weaving and embroidery being, like all other arts, less extensively diffused in Greece than in improved commercial countries, were on this account more highly valued, and therefore bet- ter adapted to confer distinction on those who excelled in them. They were practised by ladies of the highest rank, and even by queens, who also thought it an honour to be entrusted with the education of their children, till they became fit for the society of their fathers . 12 Besides these employments, the women were permitted to join in the celebration of religious rites and ceremonies, and many of them were consecrated to the service of particular divini- ties . 13 In the seasons of public festivity, they mixed more freely than on ordinary occasions in the society of the other sex. This was sometimes attended with such inconveniences as might naturally be expected to arise in con- sequence of the usual restraints imposed on their behaviour. ** The beautiful Polyinela,” says Homer , 14 “dancing in the chorus of Diana, was embraced by Mercury ; but she had no sooner brought forth a son, than one of the principal citizens offered her his hand.” The institutions of the heroic ages promoted, with admirable propriety, the modest reserve of women, while they permitted not one ex- cusable error to cover an amiable character with indelible infamy. The crime of having too tender a heart was not deemed inexpiable; and, as the consequences of female weakness were imputed to the affectionate ardour of some amorous divinity, they were so far from obscuring the charms of beauty, that they adorned it with new graces and more con- spicuous splendour. The simplicity of the ancient Greeks was equally remote from the cruel tyranny of sa- 11 Homer, passim. 12 Thus, Thetis educated Achil'es. Hesiod says poeti- cally, that in the age of silver, the children continued, during an infancy of a hundred years, under the care of their mothers. 13 Theano was priestess of Vulcan, &c. Iliad. 14 Iliad, xvi. vages, which condemns women to servitude, and the interested refinement of luxury and vice, which regards them as mere instruments of pleasure. The natural equality between the sexes suggested by the voice of sentiment, asserted by the dictates of reason, and confirm- ed by the precepts of religion, produced the most delicate affections that can inspire a sus- ceptible heart : hence those moving scenes so admirably delineated by Homer, which retrace the most perfect image of domestic felicity ; hence those pleasing pains, those anxious soli- citudes of tenderness and love, which frequent- ly degenerate into melancholy presages of the loss of a union to which nothing was wanting but that it should prove immortal . 15 The sentiments of parental affection were proportionably strong and ardent with those of conjugal love. The mutual tenderness of the husband and wife was communicated to their offspring ; while the father viewed in his child the charms of its mother, and the mother perceived in it the manly graces of its father. Independently of the delicacy of sentiments, there are, doubtless, in all countries, savage and civilized, innumerable instances of paternal kindness, which, indeed, is the most simple and natural expansion of self-love. But in the heroic ages alone, we find sincere and complete returns of filial duty. In the lowest state of savage life men are, for the most part, little ac- quainted with this respectful affection : they fear and obey, but without any mixture of love, those who are wiser and stronger than them- selves. When they become wise and strong in their turn, they disregard the trembling hand that reared their tender years, or if any faint emotions of gratitude are feebly felt, they dis- cover them in the preposterous kindness of de- livering their aged parents from what appears to their own juvenile impatience the wretched load of life . 17 Among nations, on the other hand, who are sunk in the corruptions incident to excessive luxury and refinement, the ties of nature are perverted or effaced ; the young despise the admonitions, and avoid the com- pany of the aged ; and the duties, as well as the business of society, are degraded into a miserable traffic of interest or pleasure. But as the Greeks had emerged from the melan- choly gloom of the first situation, and had not yet declined into the foul vapours of the second, they displayed the meridian splendour of the domestic virtues . 17 The reverence of children for their parents approached their ve- neration for the gods. The most violent and impetuous heroes submitted, without reluc- tance, to the severest dictates of paternal au- thority. In such delicate concerns as might seem to affect themselves alone, they relin- quished their favourite inclinations, disavow- ed any will of their own, and committed their dearest concerns to the experienced wisdom 15 See the interview with Hector and Andromache, and other examples. Iliad, ix. and Odyss. vi. 16 Voyage du Pere Charlevoix. Lafitan Moeurs des Sauvages. 17 There is, perhaps, no other language that can expfess, without a circumlocution, what the Greeks meant by SfSB-r «, the obligations of children to repay the mainte- nance, the education, and the tender cares of their parents. 30 HISTORY OF GREECE. and known goodness of their fathers. The amiable expressions of filial respect were extend- ed into a more general sentiment of regard for the infirm and aged. Even among brothers who were nearly of the same age, the younger was obliged to yield in every instance to the elder ; and it was an acknowledged principle of reli- gion, that the Furies defended, by their stern authority, the sacred rights of superior years . 1 The occupations of the ancient Greeks, whether of war or peace, were, for the most part, directed by the same sacred influence which governed their behaviour in the various relations of domestic and social life. War was their principal employment ; and in the field they both displayed their noblest qualities, and discovered the greatest defects of their charac- ter. They were unacquainted with those dis- ciplined evolutions which give harmony and concert to numerous bodies of men, and enable whole armies to move with the activity and address of single combatants. What was wanting in skill they supplied by courage. They marched to the field in a deep phalanx, rushed impetuously to the attack, and bravely closed with their enemies. Each warrior was firmly buckled with his antagonist, and com- pelled by necessity to the same exertions of valour, as if the fortune of the day had de- pended upon his single arm. Their principal weapon was the spear, resembling the Roman pilum, which, thrown by the nervous and well- directed vigour of a steady hand, often pene- trated the firmest shields and bucklers. When they missed their aim, or when the stroke proved ineffectual through want of force, they drew their swords, and, summoning their ut- most resolution, darted impetuously on the foe. This mode of war was common to the soldiers and generals, the latter being as much distin- guished in the day of action by their strength and courage, as by their skill and conduct. The Greeks had bows, and slings, and darts, intended for the practice of distant hostility ; but the use of these weapons, which were much employed in the military pastimes of the heroic ages, was confined in the field to war- riors of inferior renown . 2 Their defensive armour was remarkably complete : a bright helmet, adorned with plumes, covered the head and face, a firm corslet defended the breast, greaves of brass descended to the feet, and an ample shield loosely attached to the shoulders turned in all directions, and opposed its firm resistance to every hostile assault. The close compact combats of the Greeks were fitted to excite the most furious passions of the heart, and to embitter national animosity by personal hatred and revenge. A battle consisted of so many duels, which exasperated to the utmost the hostility of the contending parties; each soldier knew the antagonist from whom he had received, or on whom he had in- flicted the severest injuries. They fought with all the keenness of resentment, and often sul- lied the honours of victory by those licentious cruelties which are too natural to men in the 1 Ileso-SuTffOjf igivvvs; anv itovt* i, Homer, passim. 2 Teucer is more than once upbraided in the Iliad as vain archer. [Chap, giddy moment of triumph over a detested ad- versary. It is partly to this unfortunate circumstance, and partly to the ancient mode of appropriating the warlike plunder to those who first acquired, it, that we are to ascribe the shocking enormi- ties which were sometimes committed by the bravest and most generous of the Grecian chiefs. That the severities exercised towards the conquered proceeded not from the barbarism of the age, and an ignorance of the rights of humanity, is plain from the observances deem- ed necessary, in order to obtain the favour of the gods, in carrying on any military expedi- tion, or in enjoying the fruits of victory. These observances, which were confirmed by the laws of nations among the Greeks, were practised before the commencement of hostili- ties, during their continuance, and after their conclusion. Before any war could be lawfully undertaken, it was necessary to despatch am- bassadors, who might explain the injury that had been done, demand immediate and com- plete satisfaction, and if this was refused, de- nounce in form the resolution of their commu- nity, to prosecute its claim by force of arms . 3 After they had begun to execute their fatal purpose, the characters of heralds, those sacred ministers of kings, were equally respected by friends and foes. They travelled in safety through the midst of embattled hosts, pro- claimed to the silent warriors the commissions with which they were intrusted, or demanded a truce for burying the dead, which could not be refused without the most enormous im- piety . 4 The use of poisoned weapons 5 was forbidden, under pain of the divine displea- sure. It was agreeable to the will of the gods that the life should be spared, when a sufficient ransom was promised . 6 And after a treaty of peace was concluded between hostile nations, without any apparent ratification but the ho- nour of the contracting parties, the perfidious wretches who betrayed the sanctity of their engagements, were devoted, amidst solemn sa- crifices and libations, to the fury of the terri- ble goddesses . 7 From the arts of peace, the Greeks had acquired the necessaries, and procured the accommodations, but had not obtained the luxuries of life. Pasturage and agriculture supplied them with the most indispensable articles of food, and with the principal mate- rials of clothing. The implements of hus- bandry were extremely imperfect ; the plough itself, the most useful of them all, being com- posed entirely of wood , 8 which arose rather from the scarcity of iron, than from any defect of mechanical ingenuity . 9 They employed, in the time of Hesiod, the invention of shears, for depriving the sheep of their wool, having formerly waited the season of its annual sepa- ration by nature . 10 Barley was the principal 3 See chap. i. p. 43. 4 Homer, passim. 5 Iilus refused Ulysses poisoned arrows, since he revered the immortal gods, Etsi vtueri^ero Bsev; m tv lovraj. Odyss. 6 Iliad, i. Ibid. vi. 24. 7 Iliad, iii. 8 Hesiod, Oper. et Dies. 9 Homer, passim. 10 Hesiod ibid HISTORY OF GREECE. 31 fl] produce of their fields, and furnished the or- dinary food both of men and of horses. The invention of mills was unknown, and the grain underwent several. tedious operations, in order to facilitate the bruising of it between two large stones with the hand. 11 Although the Greeks cultivated the olive, they were unac- quainted with the benefit derived from the fruit of this plant, so well adapted to cheer the melancholy gloom of night.? 2 The Grecian soil was naturally favourable to the grape; but the long and operose process by which the juice of it was separated and prepared, ren- dered wine scarce and dear. 13 Of the mechanic arts, weaving was the best understood; yet this, as well as all the other professions which are qualified by the appel- lation of sedentary, were practised by the Greeks standing upright 14 which seems to indi- cate an imperfect state of improvement. The* hatchet, wimble, plane, and level, are the tools mentioned by Homer, who appears to have been unacquainted with the saw, the square, and the compass. 15 The art of cutting marble, which afterwards furnished Grecian ingenuity with the materials of those inimitable produc- tions which are still the wonder of the world, was as yet undiscovered ; nor did the polished lustre of this valuable stone adorn the habita- tions of the Greeks. 16 Homer mentions not the orders of architect- ure, which were invented in a later age ; and pillars are the only ornaments assigned to the edifices which he describes. The houses of the great were surrounded by a wall, that consisted of two floors: the lower of which was distri- buted into four apartments, which we have translated by the names of hall , 1 1 portico, anti- chamber, and bedchamber, which express the same relative situation, rather than any other point of resemblance. The roofs were flat, and the doors opened towards the surrounding wall, while the gates of the wall itself opened towards the road or street. 16 The invention of enamelling metals had been cultivated with singular success : and though painting, properly so called, was rude and unformed during the age of Homer, the genius of the divine poet has described the rudiments of his kindred art with such graces as would adorn 16 its most refined 11 Plin. 1. xviii. c. xiv. 12 The Greeks had not discovered any other contrivance for that purpose, than the burning of great fires of wood. The torches mentoned by Homer consisted of branches of any resinous tree, split at the end, and lighted at the fire. Odvss. 1. vi. ver. 307. 1. xviii. ver. 306. et ver. 309. 13 Odvss. 1. vi i. ver. 122. 14 Kustnch. in Iliad, i. ver. 31. lfi Odvss. 1. v. ver. 234, &c. 16 In the palace of Alcinous, which shone with gold, pi ver, brass, and amber, there is no mention of marble. Odvss. I. iy. ver. 72. 17 H r«g «S ouT-oj; tpxo; wepj o vrvKct i, /usrx S's to spxi ov cevXt), fisrx SI», xiSovrx, « x-gofojttos, xxi SxKx/uo;. Pollux Onoma«t. 18 Odvss. 1. i. ver. 441. 19 The nobler kinds of painting are all illustrated in the shield of AchiHes; and each picture discovers a wonderful degree of invention, expression, and composition , Iliad, xviii. Perrault. and Terrasson, who thought it impossible to place so many pictures in the circumference of a shield, were answered bvBoivin, who supposed a great many con- centric circles. This opinion was adopted by Pope, who pretends that all the branches of painting, even aerial per- spective, may be found in Homer’s shield. “ That he was state of perfection. Music was much practised among the early Greeks. It was not of the learned kind, and therefore the better adapted to touch the heart. The effects ascribed to it are wonderful, but not incredible, because the ancient music was not merely an agreeable suc- cession eff melodious, unmeaning sounds, but an imitation and a heightening of the simple, natural, and pathetic tones and cadences of a beautiful and expressive language. 20 In the heroic ages men had neither leisure nor inclination to attend to the speculative sci- ences. All the knowledge that they possessed or esteemed tvas of the practical kind. From arithmetic they learned such simple calcula- tions as suited the narrow sphere of their trans- actions. Astronomy taught them to observe the constellations most necessary to direct the adventurous course of the mariner : but their navigation was still so imperfect that they sel- dom abandoned the coast; and the only stars mentioned by Homer are the Great and Little Bear, the Pleiades, the Hyades, Orion, and the Dog star. The metaphysics, ethics, and politics of the ancient Greeks have been explained under the article of religion, from which they were originally derived, and with which they long continued to be inseparably connected. The main objects proposed in the education of the young warriors, were, that they should learn to excel in the military exercises of the age, especially those of throwing the lance and of driving the chariot, and to command the at- tention of the senate, or assembly, by deliver- ing their opinion in a perspicuous, elegant, and manly style. 21 It was not only in the council and in the field that these superior accomplishments solicited and obtained their well-merited rewards. Each community presented, in time of peace, the picture of a large family. The Greeks lived in continual society with their equals, enjoyed common pleasures and amusements, and had daily opportunities of displaying their useful talents in the sight of their fellow-citizens. The frequent disputes between individuals occa- sioned litigations and trials, which furnished employment for the eloquence and abilities of men, in the necessary defence of their friends. The funeral games, and those celebrated in commemoration of several important events, both of a civil and sacred kind, opened a con- tinual source of entertainment. There the no stranger to aeriel perspective, appears from his expressly marking the distance from object to object,” &c. Rut this observation only proves that Pope, who prnct'sed painting, was little acquainted with the theory of that art; since aerial perspective has nothing to do with the diminution of objects in proportion to their distance, and relates entirely to the changing and weakening of colours, according to the condition of the medium through which they are seen. The obje«tions of Perrault and Terrasson, and the concentric cir- cles of Roivin, are equally frivolous. The shield of Homer contains, in fact, but ten pictures. The enumeration by the particles ntv and £e fixes the number. But the poet not only describes these ten pictures actually represented on the shield, hut also mentions their antecedents and consequents. This is the chief superiority of poetical imitation above painting, that it can describe, in a few pages, what many galleries of pictures could not represent. But of this more hereafter. 20 Odyss. iii. ver. 267, et passim. This subject will be treated fully hereafter. 21 re ftjref* tp, tv«» jr§t(>cT>|g« ri igym. 32 HISTORY OF GREECE. young and vigorous contended in the rapid race; wielded the massy caestus or ponderous quoit; and exerted equal efforts of strength and skill in the other manly exercises which confirm the vigour of the body, and the forti- tude of the mind. Nor were the aged and in- firm allowed to languish for want of proper ob- jects to rouse their emulation, to flatter their pride, and to employ their remaining activity. It belonged to them to offer their wise coun- sels, to interpose their respected authority, and to decide the quarrels, as well as to determine the merit, of the young candidates for fame. The applause and rewards bestowed on him whose counsels and decisions were most gene- rally approved, consoled the weakness of his declining years, while his rivals, though disap- pointed for the present, expected, on some fu- ture occasion, to obtain the same honourable marks of the public esteem . 1 After this general review of the Grecian man- ners and institutions, should we endeavour to estimate their value, they would probably rise in our esteem, by being compared, either with the rude customs of savage life, or with the artificial refinements of polished society. The Greeks had advanced beyond that uniform insi- pidityof deportment, thatsullen ferocity of man- ners, and that hardened insensibility of heart, which universally characterise the savage state. They still possessed, however, that patient in- trepidity, that noble spirit of independence, that ardent attachment to their friends, and that generous contempt of pain and danger and death, which render the description of the wild tribes of America so interesting to a philosophic mind. Of two principal enjoyments of life, study and conversation, they were little ac- quainted, indeed, with the consolations and pleasure of the first, the want of which was compensated by the sincerity, the confidence, the charms of the second. Their social affec- tions were less comprehensive in their objects, [Chap but more powerful in their effects, than those of polished nations. A generous chief rushes to certain death, to revenge the cause of his friend; yet refuses to the prayers of an aged parent the melancholy consolation of interring the remains of his favourite son ; till the cor- responding image of his own father strikes his mind, anl at once melts him to pity . 2 The imaginary wants and artificial passions which are so necessary to urge the hand of industry and to vary the pursuits of men, in improved commercial societies, were supplied to the Greeks by that excessive sensibility, which in- terested them so deeply in the affairs of their community, their tribe, their family, and their friends, and which connected them by the feel- ings of gratitude even with the inanimate ob- jects of nature. As they were not acquainted with the same diversity of employments, so neither were they fatigued with the same giddy round of dissipated pleasures which augment the splendid misery of later times. Though ignorant of innumerable arts which adorn the present age, they had discovered one of in- estimable value, to render the great duties of life its most entertaining amusement. It will not, perhaps, be easy to point out a nation who united a more complete subordination to es- tablished authority with a higher sense of per- sonal independence, and a more respectful re- gard to the dictates of religion with a more ar- dent spirit of martial enterprise. The generous equality of their political establishments, and their imagined intercourse wfith the gods, con- spired to raise them to a certain elevation of character which will be for ever remembered and admired. This character was rendered permanent, in Sparta, by the famous laws com- monly ascribed to the invention of Lycurgus. but which, as will appear in the subsequent chapter, were almost exact copies of the cus- toms and institutions that universally prevailed in Greece during the heroic ages. CHAPTER III. Distracted State of Greece — The Heracleidce conduct the Dorians into Peloponnesus — Divide their conquests in that Peninsula — The Eolic , Ionic , and Doric Migrations — Establishment of Colonies in Thrace , Macedon , Africa, and Magna Grcecia — Influence of the Ionic Colonies in. Asia on the Affairs of the Mother Country — The Abolition of Monarchy in Greece — Mew Disorders in that Country — Four Institutions which tended to remove them — The Amphictyo- nic Council — The Oracle of Delphi — The Olympic Games — The Spartan Laics. REECE triumphed over Troy, but it was ^ a melancholy triumph. The calamities of war were followed by disasters at sea, by dis- cord among the chiefs, by ruin to the confede- racy; yet these evils were less afflicting than the intestine animosities and sedition excited by the license of the people, and fomented by the ambition of the nobles during the long and unfortunate absence of their kings. The vic- 1 Iliad, xviii. Ibid, xxiii torious Agamemnon had scarce set foot on his native land, wfflen he was cut off by an adulte- rous spouse and a perfidious assassin . 3 His son Orestes found protection in Athens against the resentment of an usurper In the eighth year of his exile he returned with his partisans, and took just vengeance on the abominable Egys- theus and Clytemneslra . 4 He reigned in Ar- 2 Iliad, xxiv. 3 Odyss. 1. i. ver. 29. 4 Odyss. 1. iii. ver. 196. and ver. 305, et seq. HISTORY OF GREECE. 33 III.] gos, but with far less glory than his father; nor did that kingdom ever thenceforth assume its ancient pre-eminence. The wanderings and woes of Ulysses are too well known to be described. 5 His patient for- titude regained the kingdom of Ithaca, but not without wading through the blood of his most „ . n nd illustrious subjects. 6 If his- From A. C. 1184. , . , J , , ,, till 777 tory mmutel Y rec01 ’dea the domestic feuds which pre- vailed in other states, it would probably exhibit a disgusting picture of fraud and cruelty, and a continual repetition of similar crimes and cala- mities would equally fatigue the attention, and offend the humanity, of the modern reader. But though it would be neither entertaining nor useful to describe the particular and transi- tory consequences of these disorders, it is of importance to remark their general and lasting tendency to prolong the weakness of Greece ; whose obscure transactions, during the four fol- lowing centuries, ill correspond with the splen- dour of the Trojan, or even of the Argonautic expedition. The history of this long period is very con- fusedly and imperfectly related by ancient au- thors, and the chronology is throughout very inaccurately ascertained; yet such events as are either interesting in themselves, or had any permanent influence on the memorable ages of Greece, which form the subject of the present work, may be clearly explained, and reduced to a narrow compass. In order to preserve an unbroken narrative, we must consider three series of events, which naturally followed each other, and which all tended to the same goal. In this view, we shall first examine the migra- tions of different tribes or communities within the narrow bounds of Greece; secondly, the establishment of new colonies in many distant parts of Europe as well as of Asia and Africa ; and thirdly, the internal changes produced in the several states, by their adopting, almost universally, the republican, instead of the mo- narchical, form of government. 7 In the fluc- tuation of these commotions wc must, then, seek for the seeds of order and stability, and endeavour to trace, amidst extensive migra- tions, general revolutions, and unceasing hos- tilities, the origin and improvement of those singular institutions which tended to unite, to polish, and to adorn the scattered and still spreading branches of the Grecian race through every part of the world. The migrations, which soon followed the Trojan expedition, are mentioned, but not ex- plained, by historians. Their general cause may be discovered in Homer, whose poems, no less instructive than agreeable, can alone enable us to travel«with equal security and pleasure in the dark regions of Grecian antiquity. Do- mestic dissension, and, still more, the unsettled tenure of landed property, as described by that immortal poet, naturally engaged the Grecian tribes, notwithstanding their acquaintance with agriculture, often to change their respective 5 Odyss. passim. 6 Odyss. 1. xxii. ver. 200, ctscq. 7 Velleius Patercul. I. i E habitations. The idea of a separate property in land is the principal tie which binds men to particular districts. The avarice of individuals is unwilling to relinquish the fields, which it has been the great object of their industry to culti- vate and to adorn, and their pride is averse to a separation from their hereditary establishments. These passions, which cover the black heaths and inhospitable mountains of the north with fair and populous cities, while far more inviting regions of the earth still remain destitute of in- habitants, could not have much influence on a people, who regarded land as the property of the public, rather than of individuals. In such £ a nation, men are connected with the j * ^ territory which they inhabit, only as members of a particular community; and when exposed to any slight inconvenience at home, or allured by fairer prospects from abroad, they issue forth whth one accord to acquire by their united valour, more secure or more agreeable settlements. Governed by mo- tives of this kind, a tribe of Boeotians, soon after the Trojan war, seized the rich vale of Thes- salian Arne. The same restless spirit urged a warlike band of Thessalians to quit the seats of their ancestors. The new emigrants poured down with irresistible violence on the unpre- pared Boeotians, who were thus reluctantly compelled, sixty years after the taking of Troy, to rejoin their brethren in the ancient kingdom of Cadmus. 8 * Twenty years after this event, a more ex- tensive migration totally changed the affairs of the Peloponnesus; and in its consequences, gave new inhabitants to the whole western ^ C coast of Asia Minor. The rival families llW ^ erseus anc ^ Pelops anciently con- tended for the dominion of the Grecian peninsula. The fortune of the Pelopidae pre- vailed ; but their superiority led them rather to persecute, than to forgive, their enemies. The descendants and partisans of the great Hercules, the most illustrious hero of the Perseid line, were divested of their possessions, and driven into banishment. The exiles were first received by the Athenians, w r hose more humane, or more enlarged policy, rendered Attica, ever since the reign of Theseus, the ordinary resource of the miserable. 9 Their leader Hyllus was after- wards adopted by Epalius, the aged king of Doris ; and the death of their benefactor soon made the Heracleidae masters of that moun- tainous province. 10 But the wilds of CEta and Parnassus were little fitted to satisfy men, whose ancestors had enjoyed far more valuable possessions. Their natural ambition was long repressed by the, growing greatness of the Pelo- pidae, and the glory of Agamemnon. After the unexpected disasters of that prince, they twice attempted, unsuccessfully, to break through the Corinthian isthmus, and to recover their ancient dominion in Argos and Lacedaemon. 11 Instructed by past miscarriages, Temenus, Cresphontes, ^ind Aristodemus, descendants in 8 Thucydid. 1. i. p. 9. et 10. Diodor. 1. iv. Strabo, 1. ix p. 630. Pausan. 1. ix. c. xl. 9 Lvsins Orat. Funoh. 10 Strabo, 1. ix. p. 427. 11 Ilcrodot. 1. ix. c. xxvi. Apollodor. 1. iii. c. v. ct vi. 34 HISTORY OF GREECE. [Chap. the fifth degree from Hercules, finally aban- doned the hopeless design of entering the Pelo- ponnesus by land. But determining to use every exertion for regaining their hereditary establishments, they set themselves, with great industry, to prepare transports in a convenient harbour, at the northern extremity of the Co- rinthian gulf, which, in consequence of this transaction, received, and thenceforth retained, the name of Naup actus. The warlike and rapacious iEtolians, whose leader Oxylus was nearly related to the family of Hercules, readily assisted their labours, with a view' to share the booty that might accrue from the expedition. The Dorians, who inhabited the neighbour- hood of mount Pindus, cheerfully deserted the gloomy solitude of their woods, in order to seek possessions in a more agreeable and better cultivated country. Animated by these rein- forcements, the Heracleidse redoubled their diligence. All necessary preparations were made for the invasion ; yet their confidence in arms excluded not the use of artifice. By secret intrigues they gained a party in Lace- daemon ; and, before setting sail, they prudently detached a body of light armed troops, whose appearance at the Isthmus drew the strength of the enemy towards that quarter. 1 Mean- while their armament was carried by a favoura- ble gale towards the eastern coast of the Pelo- £ ponnesus. The Heracleidse landed their j 1 * ' followers without opposition, and assail- ed the defenceless territories, to which they had long laid claim, comprehending the whole peninsula, except the central province of Arcadia, and the maritime district of Achaia. The five other provinces were conquered at the same time, though by different means. Laconia was betrayed to the invaders; 2 Argos acknow- ledged their authority ; Corinth, Elis, and Mes- senia submitted to their arms. The revolution was complete, and effected with little blood- shed, but not without great oppression of the ancient inhabitants, many of whom emigrated, and many were reduced to slavery. 3 The Heracleidse, agreeably to the custom of that age, divided their new acquisitions by lot. The kingdom of Argos fell to the share of Te- menus ; Cresphontes obtained Messenia ; and as Aristodemus then happened to die, Laconia was set apart for his infant sons, the twin-bro- thers, Eurysthenes and Procles. Corinth was bestowed on their kinsman Aletes; and Elis given to Oxylus, their brave JEtolian ally. 4 This distribution, however, referred only to the royal dignity, then extremely limited, and to an appropriated domain to the several princes in their respective allotments. The rest of the territory was divided among the warlike Do- 1 rians and jEtolians, who had conquered for themselves, not for their leaders; 5 and who, having over-run, without opposition, the finest provinces of the Peloponnesus, could not wil- lingly return to lead a life of hardship and misery on their native mountains. 1 Pausan. 1. ii. c. xviii. 2 Strabo, L viii. p. 365. 3 Herodot. I. vi. c. Hi. Polyb. 1. ii. p. 178. Strabo, 1. viii. p. 383. Pausan. Argolic. & Isocrat. Panathen. 4 Pauean. ibid. 5 Isocrat, in Archidam. ' Before this important revolution, Argos ard | Lacedaemon *vere subject to Tisamenus, grand- ' son of Agamemnon ; Messenia was governed | by Melanthus, a descendant of the celebrated Nestor. These princes had not so far dege- nerated from the glory of their ancestors, as to f submit to become subjects in the countries where they Had long reigned. On the first : false alarm of invasion occasioned by the ap pearance of light troops at the Isthmus, Tisa menus and Melanthus had taken the field with ! the flower of the Argive and Messenian nations. ! But while they prepared to repel the expected inroads from the north, they received the me- ; lancholy intelligence that their kingdoms had • been attacked on another side, on which they I thought them secure. Instead of returning | southward to dispossess the Heracleidse, an | enterprise too daring to afford any prospect of success, Tisamenus turned his arms against the ! Ionians, who inhabited the southern shore of j the Corinthian gulf. An obstinate battle was | fought, which proved fatal to Tisamenus; but | his followers obtained a decisive victory, and, | having expelled or enslaved the ancient in- habitants, took 6 possession of that valuable j province, so famous in later times under the name of Achaia. Melanthus enjflyed better fortune. Accompanied by his faithful Mes- 1 senians, he resorted to Attica, then engaged in war with the neighbouring kingdom of Bceotia. I The Boeotian prince proposed to decide the contest by single combat. Thymaetes, though descended from the heroic Theseus, declined the challenge. Melanthus accepted it, prevailed in the conflict, and the sceptre of the deposed ThymEetes was his reward. 7 The fermentation occasioned in Greece by so many expulsions and migrations, expanded itself through the islands and coasts of Asia ! Minor. Many Peloponnesian fugitives who beheld with indignation the calamities inflicted on their country, flocked to the standard of Penthilus, 8 a younger brother of Tisamenus, who had taken refuge in Euboea. Others fol- lowed the banners of Clenes and Malaus, 9 also descendants of Agamemnon. The partizans of all these princes having unsuccessfully tra- versed the northern parts of Greece in quest of new settlements, finally yielded to the dic- tates of their enterprising spirit, crossed the Hellespont eighty-eight years after the taking of Trov, and established themselves along the shore of the ancient kingdom of Priam. They gradually diffused their colonies from Cyzi<5us on the Propontis to the mouth of the river Hermus; 10 which delightful country, together with the isle of Lesbos, thenceforth received the names of Eolis, or Eolia, to denote that its inhabitants belonged to the Eolian branch of the Hellenic race. 11 Consequences still more important resulted from the expulsion of the Achteans by the fol- lowers of Tisamenus. The ancient inhabitants 6 Pausan and Strabo, ibid. 7 Strabo, 1. ix. p. 393. Herodot. 1. v. c. lxv. 8 Strabo, 1. ix. p. 402. 9 Idem, 1. xiii. p. 582, et seq. 10 Idem, ibid, et Herodot 1. i. C. cli. 11 Herodot. 1. i. c. cli. HISTORY OF GREECE. 35 HI] of Achaia, being themselves Ionians,took refuge with their kinsmen in Attica. The Messenian fugitives under Melanthus had sought protec- tion in the same country. The Athenians readi- ly accepted these new accessions of strength, being inspired with a well-founded jealousy of the Dorian conquerors of Peloponnesus, whose ambition early produced that memorable rival- ship between the Doric and Ionic race, which ^ £ subsisted to the latest times of the Gre- in'flQ* cian republics. 12 In the reign of Codrus, son of Melanthus, the Dorians had al- ready encroached on the Athenian frontier, and seized the territory of Megara, on the northern coast of the Saronic gulf. 13 Issuing from their strong holds in that .rocky district, from which it was long impossible to dislodge them, they harassed the Athenians in a cruel war, concerning which a superstitious rumour pre- vailed, that they should finally remain con- querors, provided they abstained from injuring the person of the Athenian king. Codrus, hearing the report, was inspired with the spirit of heroism congenial to his family. Disguising himself in the habit of a peasant, he proceeded to the quarters of the enemy; insulted a Do- rian soldier; a combat ensued; -Codrus fell; 14 his body was recognised; and the superstitious Peloponnesians, now despairing of success, sus- pended their hostilities. The inimitable merit of a prince, who had devoted himself to death q for the safety of his country, furnished 1068* t ^ le -^ t ^ ienians a Pretence for abo- lishing the royal authority. None of the human race, they declared, was worthy to suc- ceed Codrus; and none but Jupiter should thenceforth reign in Athens. 15 Medon, the eldest son of that admired prince, was appoint- ed first magistrate of the republic, under the humbler title of archon. His brothers Neleus and Androclus, probably dissatisfied with these transactions, determined to leave their country. Their design was approved by the Achaean £ and Messenian refugees, and by many IQ- r ' Athenian citizens, who complained that Attica was too narrow and barren to maintain the increasing numbers of its inhabit- ants. The restless spirits in Phocis,. Bceotia, and other neighbouring provinces, eagerly join- ed the emigrants. They sailed to Asia Minor, expelled the ancient inhabitants, a mixed race of Lydians, Carians, and Pelasgi, and seized the central and most beautiful portion of the Asiatic coast. 16 Their colonies were gradually diffused from the banks of the Hermus to the promontory of Posideion. They afterwards took possession of Chios and Samos ; and all these countries were united by the common name of. Ionia, to denote that the Ionians composed the most numerous division of the colony. 1 ? During the same turbulent ages, intestine se- dition, foreign invasion, or the restless spirit of adventure and rapine, occasioned other import- 12 Herodot. et Thucydid. passim. 13 Strabo, 1. ix. p. 393. 14 Pausan. 1. vii. c. xxv. Justin. 1. ii. 15 Pausan. 1. vii. c. ii. 16 Herodot. I. i. c. cxlii. 17 Strabo, 1. xiv. p. 632. et seq. Pausan. 1. vii. c. ii. ant extensions of Grecian colonization. The most numerous colonies occupied the isles of the Ionian and JEgean seas, the southern coast of Italy almost intersected by the former, and the winding shores of Asia Minor 13 so beau- tifully diversified by the latter. The larger islands of Sicily, Sardinia, and Cyprus, were very anciently planted by Greeks. While the Hellenic stock pushed forth these vigorous shoots towards the east and west, very consi- derable branches extended towards the north and south. The maritime parts of Epirus, Macedonia, and Thrace, themselves abounding in Greek settlements, poured forth new colo- nies along the European shores of the Pro- pontis and Euxine: 19 and emigrants from Pe- loponnesus having early established themselves on the opposite coast of Africa, were gradually diffused from the confines of Egypt to the Syr- ticgulf. 26 The history of; all these colonies, some of which rivalled in arts, and others in arms, the glory of the mother country, will merit our attention, in proportion as they emerge from obscurity, and take a station in the general system of Grecian politics. The Asiatic Greeks, whose affairs first be- came intimately connected with those g' ‘ of the mother country, received a con- siderable accession of strength in conse- quence of the renewal of hostilities between the Athenians and Dorians. The latter were finally expelled from many of their strong holds in Megara. Disdaining after this misfortune to return into the Peloponnesus, many of them sailed to the islands of Rhodes and Crete, already peopled by Doric tribes; while others transported themselves to the peninsula of Ca- ria, which, in honour of their mother country, received the name of Doris. 21 In consequence of this establishment, which was formed two hundred and forty years after the Trojan war, the western coast of Asia Mi- nor was planted by the Eolians in the north, the Ionians in the middle, and the Dorians in the south. These original divisions of the Hel- lenic race retained in their new settlements the peculiarities of accent and dialect, by which they had been respectively distinguished in Europe ; 22 and which, at the time of their seve- ral emigrations, prevailed in Bceotia, Attica, and Lacedaemon. The Boeotians and Lacedae- monians, who claimed the first honours, the one of the Eolic, and the other of the Dorian name, adhered, with little variation, to their ancient dialects : but the Athenians, more in- genious, or fonder of novelty, made such con- siderable alterations in their writing and pro- nunciation, as remarkably distinguished them from their Ionian brethren ; and thus the same language came to be modified into four subdi- visions, 23 or dialects, which may be still recog- nised in the invaluable remains of Grecian literature. Of all these innumerable colonies, the Ionians 18 Thucydid. 1. i. et. Strabo, passim. 19 Herodot. 1. ii. et 1. 4. 20 Herodot. 1. iv. c. cxlvii. Strabo, 1. x. et I. xvlL 21 Strabo, et Pausan. et Herodot. 1. viii. c. Ixxiu. 22 Heraclid. Pont, apud Athenatum, 1. xiv. 23 Strabo, 1. viii. 36 HISTORY OF GREECE will demand our earliest and most studious at- tention. They settled in a country of great ex- tent and fertility, enjoying the most delicious climate, and peculiarly adapted to a commer- cial intercourse with the most improved nations of antiquity. Favoured by so many advan- tages, they silently flourished in peace and prosperity, till their growing wealth and num- bers excited the avarice or the jealousy of the powers of Asia. They were successively con- quered by the Lydians and Persians, but never thoroughly subdued. Having imbibed the prin- ciples of European liberty, they spurned the yoke of Asiatic bondage. In their glorious struggles to re-assume the character of free- men, they solicited and obtained the assistance of their Athenian ancestors, and occasioned that memorable rivalship between the Greeks and Persians, which, having lasted two centu- ries, ended in the destruction of the Persian empire. In this illustrious contest, the first successor of the Greeks against enemies far more powerful, and incomparably more nu- merous than themselves, inspired them with an enthusiasm of valour. Their exploits merit- ed not only praise, but wonder , 1 and seemed fit subjects for that historical romance, which, in the progress of literature, naturally succeeds to epic poetry. The writers who undertook to record and to adorn the trophies of Marathon and Plataea, had occasion to look back to the transactions of more remote times. But in taking this re- trospect, they discovered, or at least we may discover by their works, that their inquiries began too late to afford much authentic infor- mation on that important subject. Yet, imper- fect as their relations necessarily are, they serve to explain by what concurrence of favourable circumstances and causes the Greeks adopted those singular institutions, acquired that sense of national honour, and attained those virtues of policy and prowess, which enabled them, by the most splendid series of exploits recorded in history, first to resist, then to invade, and finally to subdue the monarchy of Cyrus. During the prevalence of those generous, though romantic opinions, which characterised the heroic ages, the authority of kings was founded on religion, supported by gratitude, and confirmed by utility. While they ap- proved themselves worthy ministers of Heaven, they were entitled to due and hereditary hon- ours ; 2 but in the exercise of the regal office, they were bound to respect the rights, the sen- timents, and even the prejudices of their subjects. The fatal dictates of ambition and avarice led them to transgress the prescribed limits, and to trample on those laws which their predecessors had held sacred . 3 The mi- nute division of landed property, which had already taken place, not only, as above men- tioned, in the Peloponnesus, but in the north- 1 T* e fytn, ytyotK* uxi Qctvyaa-T*. Herodot. p. 1. The exploits which he relates, still more than his manner of re- lating them, render the work of Herodotus the intermediate shade between poetry and history, between Homer and Thucydides. 2 ytfxiri TrxrpixKi Bserc sc * euf * 5 , of plantations and com land. HISTORY OF GREECE. 43 HI.] smaller number, submitted without resistance to the wisdom of Lycurgus, and the authority of Apollo. The equal division of land seemed not alone sufficient to introduce an equality in the man- ner of life, and to banish the seeds of luxury. The accumulation of moveable, or what the Greeks called invisible property , 8 might enable the rich to command the labour of the poor, and, according to the natural progress of wants and inventions, must encourage the dangerous pur- suit of elegance and pleasure. The precious metals had long been the ordinary measures of exchange in Sparta, and, could we credit a very doubtful tradition, had greatly accumu- 'ated in private hands. Lycurgus withdrew from farther circulation all this gold and silver, a considerable part of which probably repaid his gratitude to the Delphic oracle, while the remainder increased the splendour of the Lace- daemonian temples. Instead of these precious metals, the Spartans received pieces of iron, which had been heated red in the fire, and afterwards quenched in vinegar, in order to render them brittle, and useless for every other purpose but that of serving as the current specie. Astonishing, say Xenophon and Plutarch, were the effects of this operation. With the banishment of gold and silver were banished all the pernicious appetites which they excite, and all the frivolous arts which they introduce and nourish. Neither fortune-teller, nor physician, nor sophist, were longer to be seen in Sparta; gaudy trinkets and toys, and all useless finery in dress and furniture, at once disappeared ; and the innocence and dignity of Spartan manners corresponded with the primitive simplicity of the iron money. But to reduce to the standard of truth or probability this very fanciful de- scription, it may be observed, that the useful- ness and scarcity of iron rendered it, in early times, a very ordinary and convenient measure of exchange. As such it was frequently em- ployed in the heroic ages ; 9 as such it long continued at Byzantium , 10 and other Grecian cities . 11 The necessity of cooling it in acid, in order to diminish its worth, indicates its high value even in the time of Lycurgus. The alteration of the specie, therefore, probably ap- peared not so violent a measure as later writers were inclined to represent it; nor could the abolition of gold and silver abolish such ele- gances and refinements as surely had no exist- ence in Greece, during the age of the Spartan legislator. But it may reasonably be believed, that the use of iron money, which continued permanent in Sparta alone, after the vices of wealth and luxury had polluted the rest of Greece, necessarily repelled from the republic of Lycurgus the votaries of pleasure, as well as the slaves of gain, and all the miserable retinue of vanity and folly. That wealth is little to be coveted, even by the most selfish, which neither gratifies vanity, nor flatters the desire of power, nor promises 8 Overt* upxvq See Lysias, passim. 0 Homer, passim. 10 Aristoph. Nubes. 11 Plut. in Lysand. the means of pleasure. Upon the smallest ab- straction, if avarice were at all capable of ab- straction, the most sordid might sympathize with the contempt for superfluous riches, which could never be applied to any purpose, either useful or agreeable. What effort could the generosity of that people require (if the indif- ference of the Spartans deserve the name of generosity,) among whom all valuable objects were equally divided, or enjoyed in com- mon? 12 — among whom it was enjoined by the laws and deemed honourable by the citizens, freely to communicate their arms, horses, in- struments of agriculture and hunting ; to eat together at common and frugal tables, agreea- bly to the institutions of Crete, as well as the practice of the heroic ages ; to disregard every distinction but that of personal merit ; to de- spise every luxury but that of temperance ; and to disdain every acquisition but that of the public esteem ? The general and firm assent to the divine mission of Lycurgus might excite the most generous and manly sentiments ins the minds of his countrymen. The persuasive force of his eloquence, assisted by the lyric genius of Thales, a poet worthy of Apollo and his mis- sionary , 13 might enable the legislator to com- plete his beneficial and extensive plan. But there was reason to apprehend lest the system of Lycurgus, like most schemes of reformation, should evaporate with the enthusiasm which produced it, unless the mortifications which it enjoined were rendered habitual to practice, and familiar to fancy. His laws were few and short ; for the sake of memory they were con- ceived in verse ; they were not consigned to writing, but treasured in the hearts of his dis- ciples as the immediate dictates of heaven. The Lacedaemonians were severely prohibited from the contagious intercourse of strangers, except at the stated returns of religious so- lemnities. Lycurgus, who had assisted Iphitus in restoring the Olympic games, instituted similar, though less splendid, festivals in his native country. When unemployed in the se- rious business of war, the Lacedaemonians were continually engaged in assemblies for conversation and the gymnastic exercises, or in religious and military amusements. Agri- culture and the mechanic arts were left to the servile hands of the Helots, under which ap- pellation were comprehended (as will be ex- plained hereafter) various hostile communities that successively fell under the dominion of Sparta, and whose personal labour was regard- ed as the common property of the public . 14 The sciences of war and government were re- commended by the laws of Lycurgus, as the only pursuits deserving the attention of free- men. In the knowledge and practice of war, the Lacedaemonians (if we believe Xenophon, who had fought with and against them) far excel- led all Greeks and barbarians. Courage, the 12 Xenoph. in Lysand. c. vi. 13 Plut. in Lycurg. 14 K*« t goTrov r iv* Ss/iOij-iouj n%ov SovKovt. 11 And in some measure, they,” the Lacedaemonians, “ had public slaves” Strabo. See likewise Aristot. Repub. 1. ii. c. 5. 44 HISTORY OF GREECE. first quality of a soldier, was enlivened by every motive that can operate most powerfully on the mind, while cowardice was branded as the most odious and destructive of crimes, on the principle that it tended, not like many other vices, merely to the hurt of individuals, but to the servitude and ruin of the community. The Spartans preserved the use of the same wea- pons and defensive armour that had been adopted in the heroic ages; shortening only the length, and thereby improving the form of the sword, which was two-edged, pointed, massy, and fitted either by cutting or thrusting to inflict a dangerous wound . 1 Their troops were divided into regiments, consisting of five hundred and twelve men, subdivided into four companies, and each of these into smaller divisions, commanded by their respective officers ; for it was peculiar to the Lacedaemo- nian armies to contain, comparatively, few men not entrusted with some share of subordinate command . 2 The soldiers were attended by a multitude of artisans and slaves, who furnish- ed them with all necessary supplies, and ac- companied by a long train of priests and poets, who flattered their hopes, and animated their valour. A body of cavalry always preceded their march ; sensible of the weakness of angles, they encamped in a circular form : the order of their guards and watches was highly judi- cious ; they employed, for their security, out- sentries and videttes ; and regularly, every morning and evening, performed their custo- mary exercises. Xenophon has described with what facility they wheeled in all directions ; converted the column of march into an order of battle ; and by skilful and rapid evolutions, presented the strength 3 of the line to an unex- pected assault. When they found it prudent to attack, the king, who usually rose before dawn, to anticipate, by early prayer and sacri- fice , 4 the favour of the gods, communicated his orders to charge in a full line, or in columns, according to the nature of the ground, and the numbers and disposition of the enemy. In the day of battle, the Spartans assumed an unu- sual gayety of aspect ; and displayed, in their dress and ornaments, more than their wonted splendour. Their long hair was arranged with simple elegance ; their scarlet uniforms, and brazen armour, diffused a lustre around them. As they approached the enemy, the 1 Vid. Pollux, voc. £v>ja.oi/. 2 Thucydides, who remarks this peculiarity, 1. v. p. 390. assigns the reason of it, that the care of the execution might pertain to many. The whole Lacedaemonian army, except a few, consisted, he says, in a$%ovT£f ae^ovTaiv, xai to t7rifjLs\sq rou Sg'x'psv ou orox.x.04; 7rgovu%»ov suJsiv (SouAh^ojow avS'gx Ol KXOl £5TiT£T£a$ST«« XCtl TOOTCt fi.Sfl>)Ke. Lycurgus, never losing sight of Homer, converted bis ad vices into laws. [Chap. king sacrificed anew ; the music struck up ; and the soldiers advanced with a slow and steady pace, and with a cheerful but deliberate countenance, to what they were taught to re- gard as the noblest employment of man. Pro- per officers were appointed to receive the pri- soners, to divide the spoil, and to decide the contested prizes of valour. Both before and after, as well as during, the action, every mea- sure was conducted with such order and cele- rity, that a great captain declares, that when he considered the discipline of the Spartans, all other nations appeared but children in the art of war . 5 But that continual exercise in arms, which improved the skill and confirmed the valour, must gradually have exhausted the strength of Sparta, unless the care of population had formed an object of principal concern in the system of Lycurgus. Marriage was directly enjoined by some very singular institutions ; 6 but still more powerfully encouraged by extir- pating its greatest enemies, luxury and vanity. But Lycurgus, not contented with maintaining the populousness of Sparta, endeavoured to supply the past generation with a nobler and more warlike race, and to enlarge and elevate the bodies and minds of men to that full pro- portion of which their nature is susceptible. The credulous love of wonder has always been eager to assert, what the vanity of every age has been unwilling to believe, that the ancient inhabitants of the world possessed a measure of size and strength, as well as of courage and virtue, unattainable and unknown amidst the corruptions and degeneracy of later times. The frequent repetition of the same romantic tale renders giants and heroes familiar and in- sipid personages in the remote history of al- most every people : but from the general mass of fable, a just discernment will separate the genuine ore of Homer and Lycurgus. The laws of the latter brought back the heroic manners which the former had described ; and their effects, being not less permanent than salutary, are, at the distance of many centuries, attested by eye-witnesses, whose unimpeached veracity declares the Spartans superior to other men in the excellences of mind and body . 7 Of this extraordinary circumstance, the evi- dence of contemporary writers could scarcely copvince us, if they had barely mentioned the fact, without explaining its cause. But in de- scribing the system of Lycurgus, they have not omitted his important regulations concern- ing the intercourse between the sexes, women, marriage, and children, whose welfare was, even before their birth, a concern to the repub- lic. The generous and brave, it is said, pro- duce the brave and good ; but the physical qualities of children still more depend on the constitution of their parents. In other coun- 5 Xenoph. de Repub. Spart. fi Bachelors were debarred from assisting at the female dances. They were compelled to walk naked through the streets in the winter solstice, singing a ludicrous song, which confessed the justice of their punishment. 7 As to the mind, the Spartans were, says Xenophon, tvm iSsmg o», aat xiS'tftovioTigoi, xxi uvSti ty'Xgxrer- rsgoi. Ib. c. iii. And as to the body, &ix$ieovrx; xxi xxtk fisyeSos xxi xxtx ir%vv miS{*f tv njtiti - Atjrtr. Ib. HISTORY OF GREECE. 45 IIIJ tries of Greece, the men were liberally formed by war, hunting, and the gymnastic exercises ; but the women were universally condemned to drudge in sedentary and ignoble occupations, which enfeebled the mind and body. Their chief employment was to superintend, more frequently to perform, the meanest offices of domestic economy, and to prepare, by the la- bour of their hands, food and raiment for themselves and families. Their diet was coarse and sparing ; they abstained from the use of wine ; they were deprived of liberal education, and debarred from fashionable amusements. Women, thus degraded by servility, appeared incapable of giving good sons to the republic, which Lycurgus regarded as the principal duty of the Lacedaemonian females. By the insti- tutions of Sparta, therefore, the working of wool, the labours of the loom and needle, and other mean mechanical arts, were generally committed to servile hands. The free-born women enjoyed and practised those liberal ex- ercises and amusements, which w$re elsewhere considered as the peculiar privilege of men ; they assisted at the public solemnities, min- gled in general conversation, and dispensed that applause and reproach, which dispensed by them, are always most effectual . 9 10 Hence they became not only the companions but the judges of the other sex ; and, except that their natural delicacy was not associated to the ho- nours of war, they enjoyed the benefit, with- out feeling the restraint, of the Spartan laws. The restoration of the natural rights of wo- men restored moderation and modesty in the intercourse between the sexes. Marriage, though enjoined as a duty, could only be con- tracted in the full vigour of age ; and these simple institutions had a more salutary influ- ence on the physical improvement of the Spar- tans, than either the doubtful expedient, which prevailed among them to the latest times, of adorning the women’s apartments with the finest statues of gods and heroes, that, by fre- quently contemplating these graceful images, they might produce fairer offspring ; or the unnatural and detestable cruelty of exposing delicate or deformed children, a practice strongly recommended by Lycurgus, and si- lently approved, or faintly blamed, by the greatest philosophers of antiquity. Even in a moral view, the character of Spar- tan mothers must have been highly beneficial to their sons ; since much of the happiness of life depends on the first impressions of our tender years. When boys were emancipated from the jurisdiction of women, they were not entrusted, as in other parts of Greece, to the mercenary tuition of slaves, who might degrade their sentiments, and corrupt their morals. The education of youth, as an office of the highest confidence, was committed to those who had enjoyed, or who were entitled to enjoy, the most splendid dignities of the 8 This, likewise, was the business of women in the heroic ages. AXX.ee jeeeeXee otivwf AiJeo.uai Tfw ccf xa i TguxSas 6X.x«)J>j eivxi. The resentment even of the freedmen proves the intolerable severity of the government. 7 They were called v7rogutovif, inferiors, in opposition to the o/uoiot, or peers. 8 Xenophon Hellen. 1. iii. 9 Some contradictory traditions concerning his death are preserved in Plut. in Lycurg. et Justin. 1. iii. 48 HISTORY OF GREECE. [Chap. CHAPTER IV. State of Greece after the Abolition of Royalty — Description of Laconia and Messenia — Causes of the War between those Stales — Invasion of Messenia — Distress of the Messenians — The horrid means by which they endeavour to remedy it — They obtain assistance from Argos and Arcadia — Their Capital taken by the Spartans — Issue of the first Mtsseniun War — State of Greece — The Colony of Tarentum founded — The second Messenian War — Character and exploits of A ristomenes — The distress of the Spartans — They obtain assistance from Athens — The Poet Tyrtceus — Subjugation of Messenia — Future fortunes of its Citizens — Their Esta- blishment in Sicily. TJT AD the Greeks remained subject to kings, it is probable that they would have con- tinued longer to exert their united valour against the surrounding barbarians. The suc- cessful adventures of the Argonauts, the glo- rious, though fatal expedition against Troy, would have animated the emulation and the hopes of succeeding candidates for fame ; and the whole nation, being frequently employed in distant and general enterprises, would, through the habits of mutual intercourse, and the na- tural tendency of military subordination, have been gradually moulded into one powerful monarchy. This revolution would have given immediate tranquillity to Greece, but destroyed the prospect of its future grandeur. The hon- ourable competitions of rival provinces must have ceased with their political independence ; nor would the Greeks have enjoyed an oppor- tunity of acquiring, by a long and severe ap- prenticeship in arms, that disciplined valour which eminently distinguished them above other nations of antiquity. In most countries it has been observed, that before the introduc- tion of regular troops, the militia of the borders far excel those of the central provinces. Greece, even under its kings, was divided into so many independent states, that it might be regarded as consisting entirely of frontier. Under the re- publican form of government, it was still more subdivided ; and motives of private ambition now co-operating with reasons of national ani- mosity, wars became more frequent, and battles more bloody and more obstinate. It is little to be regretted that scarcely any materials remain for describing the perpetual hostilities between the Thebans and the Athenians; between the latter and the Peloponnesians; between the Phocians and Thessalians ; and, in general, be- tween each community and its neighbours. The long and spirited contest between + he Lacedemonians and Messenians, is the only war of that age which produced permanent effects. The relation of this obstinate struggle has happily come down to us, accompanied with such circumstances as paint the condition of the times, and answer the main ends of history. The territories of Laeonia and Messenia oc- cupied the southern regions of the Pelopon- nesus. The shores of Laconia were washed by the eastern, or the Aegean ; those of Mes- senia , 1 by the Western, or the Ionian, sea. The former country extended forty miles from east to west, and sixty from north to south. The ground, though roughened by mountains, like the rest of the Peloponnesus, abounded in rich and fertile valleys, equally adapted to the pur- poses of cultivation and pasture. The whole country was anciently called Hecatonpolis , 2 from its hundred cities. They were reduced to the number of thirty , 3 as early as the time of Lycurgus. The decay or destruction of Helos, Amyclffi, Pharis, and Gerontlise, and other less considerable towns, gradually increased the populousness of Sparta, the capital, situate near the centre of Laconia, and almost sur- rounded by the Eurotas. The other inland places of most note were Gerenea, Thurium, and Sellasia. The sea-ports were Prasiae, Cyphanta, Z arax ; Limera, famous for its vines ; and Gythium, whose capacious harbour was, in all ages, more than sufficient to contain the naval strength of Sparta . 4 In the time of Ly- curgus, the freemen, of full age, amounted to thirty-nine thousand . 5 Those of full age are generally reckoned the fourth part of the whole ; so that the free inhabitants of Laconia may be computed at one hundred and fifty-six thou- sand ; and the slaves, as will appear hereafter probably exceeded four times that number. Messenia was less extensive, but more fertile, than Laconia ; and the former country, in an- cient times, was proportionably more populous. Both kingdoms were principally supported by agriculture and pasturage, their subjects never having attained any high degree of improve- ment in arts, manufactures, or commerce. Mes- senia was, however, adorned by the seaports of Corone, Pylus, Methone, and Cyparyssus. The most considerable inland towns were An- dania, the ancient capital ; the strong fortress of Eira ; the frontier town of Ampheia; and the celebrated Ithome, near to the ruins of which was erected, by Epaminondas, the compara- tively modern city of Messenc . 6 As the countries of Laconia and Messenia were both governed by kings of the family of Hercules, and both inhabited by subjects of the same Doric race, it might have been imagined that such powerful connections would have disposed them to continue in a state of mutual friendship; or, if the ties of blood could not excite neighbouring states to a reciprocation of good offices, that they w T ould at least have 2 Strabo, 1. viii. p. 362. mentions this only as a hearsay ; but it has been always repeated. 3 Strabo says, “ about thirty,” and calls them sroXixvai, oppidula, little towns. 4 Strabo, I. viii. p. 363, etc. et Pausan in Lacon. 5 Plut. in Lycurg. 6 Pausan. in Messen. et Strabo, 1. viii. p. 360, etc. 1 Isocrat. in Archidam. calls the country Messene ; Pau- eanias, Messenia. HISTORY OF GREECE. 49 IV.] engaged them to maintain an inoffensive tran- quillity. The different branches of the family of Hercules were induced by interest, as well as persuaded by affection, mutually to support each other. When the prerogative was invaded in any particular kingdom, it was natural for the neighbouring princes to defend the cause of royalty ; 7 and we find that, on several occa- sions, they had engaged to assist each other in repressing the factious turbulence of the nobles, and the seditious spirit of the people. But when the influence of the family of Hercules declined with the abolition of monarchy in most countries of Greece, the capital of each little principality, -which always enjoyed a pre- eminence in the national assemblies, began to usurp an unlimited authority over the neigh- bouring cities, and to control, by its municipal jurisdiction, the general resolves of the com- munity. Sparta had, in this manner, extended her power over the smaller towns of Laconia. The walls of Helos, whose inhabitants had pertinaciously resisted this usurpation, were levelled with the ground, the citizens reduced to the most miserable slavery, and a law enacted by the Spartan council, which forbade, under severe penalties, the emancipation of the Helots, or the selling of them into foreign countries, where they might entertain the flattering hopes of regaining their lost liberty. The same ty- rannical spirit -which governed the measures of the Spartans, had taken possession of their neighbours the Messenians, and had urged the inhabitants of the capital to invade, conquer, and enslave several of the smaller cities. While such ambitious principles prevailed with both nations, it was scarcely to be ima- gined that the more powerful should not exert its utmost strength to obtain dominion, and the weaker its utmost courage and activity to pre- serve independence. Besides this general cause of animosity, the rich fields of Messenia offered a tempting prize to the avarice of the Spartans ; a circumstance continually alleged by the Mes- senians, as the principal motive which had in- duced their enemies to commence an unjust and unprovoked war. The Spartans, however, by no means admitted this reproach. It was natural, indeed, that such differences should arise between the subjects of rival states, as might furnish either party with a plausible pretence for taking arms. These differences it will be proper briefly to relate, after premising, that, although the Greek historians mention three Messenian wars, the third had little re- semblance, either in its object, or in its effects, to ihe first and second. These were the gener- ous struggles of a warliae people for preserving their hereditary freedom and renown, while the third, though dignified with the same appella- tion, was only an unsuccessful revolt of slaves from their masters. On the confines of Messenia and Lacedaemon stood an ancient temple of Diana, which, being erected at the common expense, was open to the prayers and sacrifices of the two nations. Hither, according to annual custom, repaired a select band of Spartan virgins to solemnize the 7 Tsocrat. in Archidain G chaste rites of their favourite divinity. A com- pany of Messenian youths arrived at the same time to perform their customary devotion, and to implore the protection of the warlike goddess. Inflamed by the beauty of the Spartan ladies, the Messenians equally disregarded the sanctity of the place and the modest character of Diana, whose worship they came to celebrate. The licentious youths, after vainly attempting, by the most ardent prayers and vows, to move the stern inflexibility of Spartan virtue, had re- course to brutal violence in order to consum- mate their fatal designs ; fatal to themselves, to their country, and to the unhappy victims of their fury, who, unwilling to survive so in- tolerable a disgrace, perished miserably by their own hands.s To this atrocious injury, on the part of the Messenians, succeeded another, of a more pri- vate nature, on that of. the Lacedaemonians. Polychares was a Messenian of noble * birth, of great wealth, conspicuous for the virtues of public and private life, and re- nowned for his victories in the Olympic games. The property of Polychares, like that of the most opulent of his countrymen, chiefly con- sisted in numerous herds of cattle ; part of which he entrusted to a Lacedaemonian, of the name of Euephnus, who undertook, for a stipulated re- ward, to feed them on the rich meadows which he possessed on the Lacedaemonian coast. The avarice of Euephnus was not restrained by the sense of duty, the principles of honour, or the sacred ties of hospitality. Having sold the cat- tle to foreigners, who often came to purchase that article in Laconia, he travelled to the Mes- senian capital, and visiting his friend Poly- chares, lamented the loss of his property by the incursion of pirates. The frequency of such events would, proba- bly, have concealed the fraud; but a slave, whom Euephnus sold along with the cattle, having escaped the vigilance of his new mas- ters, arrived in time to undeceive the generous credulity of Polychares. The perfidious Lace- daemonian, seeing his contrivance thus unex- pectedly disconcerted, endeavoured to depre- cate the just resentment of his friend, by the most humiliating confession of his guilt, and by insisting on the temptation of gain, the frailty of nature , 8 9 the sincerity of his repentance, and his earnest desire of making immediate restitu- tion. Unfortunately, indeed, he had not any considerable sum of money in his possession ; but if Polychares would allow his son to accom- pany him to Lacedaemon, he would put into the hands of the youth the full price which he had received for his father’s property. On this occasion it is easier to pity the misfortune, than excuse the weakness, of the Messenian. The youth had no sooner set foot on the Lacedae- monian territory, than the traitor Euephnus stabbed him to the heart. 8 Pausrfn. in Messen. p. 222. The Messenians denied this whole transaction, and substituted a more improbable story in its stead. Pausan. ibid. {) Ei' yctg tjj cf.v'jgj! 7rivv\ fgirsi, xxi oeXAout/, {$’ off &iot£a- /*l6x ctSixoi yn/iirdxi, tx /*iyt!V xvi\eiv n rrxv rxg *-o;«viiv. “Having sworn not to return home before that they either took Messene, or that they all died.” 2 OpM T*jgiav iwiTjjSiisv. — P ausxn. [Chap. | protection against the Spartan cruelty; and a | miserable remnant escaped to diffuse the me- j lancholy tidings of their unexpected calamity. On this important emergency Euphaes, who had succeeded to the throne of his lather An- , tiochus, summoned a general assembly of his countrymen to the plain of Steny clara ; where, after hearing the opinion of others concerning the critical situation of their affairs, he declared his own sentiments, v T hich were full of honour and magnanimity : u That the final event of the war was not to be conjectured by its unfortu- nate beginning ; the Messenians, though less j inured to arms than their warlike opponents, , would acquire both skill and courage in pur- suing the measures of a just defence ; and the i gods, protectors of innocence, would make the struggles of virtuous liberty prevail over the rude assaults of violence and ambition.” The discourse of Euphaes was received with shouts of applause ; and the Messenians, by advice of : their king, abandoned the open country, and ; settled in such of their towns as were best forti- fied by art or nature, leaving the remainder to the invasion of an enemy, w ith whose bravery and numbers their own weakness was yet una- ble to contend. But while they kept within their walls, they continued to exercise themselves in arms, and to acquire such vigour and discipline, as might enable them to oppose the Spartans in the field. Four years elapsed from the taking of Ampheia before they ventured to embrace this dangerous measure. During all that time, the Spartans made annual incursions into theii country, destroying their harvests, and carry- ing into captivity such straggling parties as they happened to surprise. They took care, however, not to demolish the houses, to cut down the wood, or otherwise to disfigure or desolate a country, which they already regard- ed as their own. ^ The Messenians on the other hand, as ' their courage continued to increase, were ’ * not contented with defending their own walls, but detached in small parties, the boldest of their warriors to ravage the sea-coast of La- conia. Encouraged by the success of these predatory expeditions, Euphaes determined to take the field with the flower of the Messenian nation. The army of freemen was attended by an innumerable crowd of slaves, carrying wood and other materials necessary for encampment. Thus prepared, they put themselves in motion, and, before they reached the frontier, were seen by the Spartan garrison of Ampheia, who im- mediately sounded the alarm of an approach- ing enemy. The Spartans flew to arms with more than their wonted alacrity, delighted with the opportunity, for which they had so long unshed in vain, of deciding, at one blow, the event of a tedious war. The hostile armies approached with a celerity proportioned to the fury of their resentment, and arrived, with high expectations, at the intermediate plain which overspread the confines of the two kingdoms. But there the martial ardour of the troops re- ceived a check, which had not been foreseen by their commanders. The rivulet, intersect- ing the plain, was swelled by the rains into a torrent. This circumstance prevented a general HISTORY OF GREECE. 51 IV.] engagement. The cavalry alone (amounting on either side to about five hundred horse) passed near the head of the ravine, and contended in an indecisive skirmish ; while the fury of the infantry evaporated in empty boasts and una- vailing insults. Night insensibly came on, during which the Messenians fortified their camp with so much skill, that the enemy, rather than venture to storm it, preferred to return home, after an expedition, which, considering their superiority in numbers, appeared no less inglorious than ineffectual. The pusillanimous behaviour of the Spartan army deserved not the approbation of tire senate. The severe fathers of the republic up- braided the degeneracy of the youth, who no longer paid regard to the sanctity of the oath which they had taken, never to lay down their arms until they had completely subdued the Messenians. The spirit of the senate was soon diffused through the community ; and it was determined, in the general assembly of the na- tion, to prepare for carrying on a more fierce W’ar than the enemy had yet experienced. At the approach of autumn, the season always pre- ferred for the predatory expeditions of those early times, all the Spartans of military age, as well as the inhabitants of the subordinate towns of Laconia, known by the general name of Lacedaemonians, were ready to take the field. After leaving a sufficient body of troops for the internal safety of the country, the number that might be spared abroad, probably amounted to about twenty thousand men. This powerful army was still farther increased by the conflu- ence of strangers, particularly the Assinians and Dryopians, who fled from the cruel tyran- ny of Argos, a republic no less blameable than Sparta, for oppressive severity towards her weaker neighbours. Besides this reinforce- ment, the Spartans hired a considerable body of archers from Crete, to oppose the horse and light infantry of the Messenians. The manage- ment of the expedition was entrusted to the Spartan kings Theopompus and Polydorus; the former of whom commanded the right, and the latter the left wing, while the central division was committed to the discretion and valour of Euryleon, who, though born in Sparta, was descended of the royal race of Theban Cadmus. Ancient writers have neglected to mention the scene of this second engagement, which ^ q Pausanias has, with more diffusiveness ’ than accuracy, described in his historical journey through Messenia ; but it is rea- sonable to conjecture, from this omission, that both the first and second battles happened near the same place, on the extensive plain which connects the frontiers of the two kingdoms. The Messenians were inferior, both in num- bers and in discipline, but ardent in the cause of every thing most dear to them. Euphaes headed their left wing, which opposed the division of Theopompus ; Pytharatus led the right; and Cleonnis commanded the centre. Before the signal was given for charge, the commanders addressed their respective troops. Theopompus, with Laconic brevity, “ reminded the Spartans of their oath, and of the glory which their ancestors had acquired by subduing the territories of their neighbours.” Euphaes, at greater length, animated his soldiers to vic- tory, by describing the fatal consequences of a defeat. “ Their lands and fortunes were not the only objects of contention : they had already experienced the Spartan cruelty in the unhappy fate of Ampheia, where all the men of a mili- tary age had been put to the sword ; the wo- men, as well as the children, with their aged parents, subjected to an ignominious servitude ; their temples burnt or plundered ; the city levelled with the ground ; and the country desolated. The calamities, hitherto confined to that little district, would be diffused over the whole of their beautiful territory, unless the active bravery of Messenia should now, by a noble effort of patriotism, overcome the num- bers and discipline of Sparta.” Encouraged by the ardour of their prince, the. Messenians rather ran than marched to the battle. As they approached the enemy, they threatened them with their eyes and gestures, reproaching them with an insatiable avidity for wealth and power, an unnatural disregard to the ties of blood, an impious contempt for their common gods, and particularly for the revered name of Hercules, the acknowledged founder and patron of both kingdoms. From words oF reproach they made an easy transition to deeds of violence. Many quitted their ranks, and assailed the embattled phalanx of the Spartans. The wounded spent the last exertions 3 of their strength in signal acts of vengeance , 1 or employed their last breath in conjuring their companions to imitate the example of their bravery ; and to maintain, by an honourable death, the safety and renown of their country. To the gei ^rous ardour of the Messenians, Sparta opposed the assured intre- pidity of disciplined valour. Her citizens, inured to the use of arms, closed their ranks, and remained firm in their respective posts. Where the enemy in any part gave way, they followed them with an undisturbed progress ; and endeavoured, by the continuance of regular exertion, to overcome the desultory efforts of rage, fury, and despair . 4 Such were the principal differences in the sentiments and conduct of two armies, both of which were alike animated by the love of glory and the desire of vengeance; passions which they carried to such a length, that there was no example, on either side, of a soldier who deigned to seek for quarter, or who at- tempted to sooth, by the promise of a large ran- som, the unrelenting cruelty of the victors. Emulation and avarice conspired in despoiling the bodies of the slain. Amidst this barbarous employment, which custom only rendered hon- ourable, many met with an untimely fate ; for while they stripped the dead with the rashness of blind avidity, they often exposed their own persons to the darts and swords of their ene- 3 Agreeably to the raelancholy firmness of the advice afterwards given by Tyrtoeus to the {Spartans, K*i ti; K7ro3v>f v.J a wooden pipe was discovered, which supplied Crissa with water. The extraordinary means by which this discovery was made, convinced the ignorant credulity of the Greeks, that some important advantage might be derived from it ; and upon mature deliberation it was con- cluded, that Apollo had thus suggested a con- trivance for destroying his own and their ene- mies. Complying therefore with the heavenly intimation, Nebros poisoned the conduit of water ; and the effect of this detestable artifice was soon discernible in the languid efforts and diminished resistance of the besieged. The besiegers, on the other hand, encouraged by the evident partiality of the gods, carried on their operations with redoubled vigour. A reward was proposed for the man who should first mount the walls, an honour obtained by the youthful ardour of Chrysos. The city was thus taken by assault ; the fortifications were demolished, the houses burnt, and the inhabit- ants treated with a severity proportioned to the atrocious enormity of their own crimes, and the exasperated resentment of the victors. The command of Apollo, however, was not completely executed by the destruction of the Crissean capital. Part of that impious com- munity still subsisted in the maritime town of Cirrha, the reduction of which must have pre- sented great difficulties to the Amphictyons, since it was necessary for them a third time to have recourse to the oracle. The answer de- livered on this occasion was involved in two- fold obscurity. The words of the god, at all times dark and doubtful, now seemed abso- lutely unintelligible, since he made the taking of Cirrha, an event which there was every rea- son to expect, depend on a circumstance that appeared at first sight impossible. “You shall not overturn,” said he, “the lofty towers of Cirrha, until the foaming billows of blue-eyed Amphitrite beat against the resounding shores of the Holy Land.” How could the sea be conveyed for several leagues over rocks and mountains, so that its waves might dash against the craggy precipices which surround the sacred groves of Delphi ? This was an enigma which the oldest and most experienced members of the Amphictyonic council acknowledged them- selves unable to explain. The condition on which success was promised them seemed in- capable of being fulfilled ; the inhabitants of Cirrha flattered themselves with hopes of un- alterable security ; and the wisest of the Am- phictyons gave their opinion, that there was good reason to abandon an enterprise which seemed disagreeable to Apollo, by whose ad- vice the war had been originally undertaken. While the? sentiments universally prevailed in both arr ^^Solon, the Athenian, alone ventured ti MJtyose an advice more advan- tageous for tue confederates, as well as more honourable for the holy shrine. His superior wisdom taught him the impiety of supposing that the god should require an impossibility, as the condition of happily terminating a war, the first measures of which he had himself suggest- ed and approved. It exceeded, indeed, human power to extend the sea to the boundary of the Holy Land; but by removing this boundary, 1 it was possible to make the Holy Land com- municate with the sea. This might easily be accomplished, since it sufficed for that purpose to consecrate the intermediate space with the same ceremonies which had been formerly em- ployed in dedicating the Delphian territory . 4 The opinion of Solon, proposed with much solemn gravity, was honoured with the unani- mous approbation of his associates. Every one now wondered that he himself should not have thought of an expedient which seemed so na- tural and so obvious. The preparations were immediately made for carrying it into execu- tion ; and the property of the Cirrhean plain was surrendered to the god with the most pompous formality; the Amphictyons, either not considering that they bestowed on Apollo, what, as it was not their own, they had not a right to give away ; or, if this idea occurred, easily persuaded themselves that the piety of the application would atone for the defect of the title. When the senators had performed the con- secration, the soldiers assailed the walls of Cirrha with the increasing activity of re-ani- mated hope. That place, as well as the de- pendent town of Anticirrha, situate on the opposite side of the creek, soon submitted to their arms. The impious and devoted citizens were either put to the sword, or dragged into captivity. The Crissean community, formerly so rich and so flourishing, was for ever extir- pated . 5 Their, lands were laid waste, their cities demolished, the proud monuments of their victories levelled with the ground ; and the port of Cirrha, which was allowed to re- main as a convenient harbour for Delphi, sub- sisted as the only vestige of their ancient grandeur. The territory, as it had been con- demned by the divine will to perpetual sterility, long continued uncultivated ; for the Delphians were not obliged to labour the ground in order to acquire the necessaries, the accommoda- tions, and even the highest luxuries of life. The superstition of the age, furnished an abundant resource to supply their wants ; the granaries of Apollo filled spontaneously ; and, to use the figurative style of an ancient author, the land, unploughed and unsown by the in- dustry of man, flourished in the richest luxu- riance under the culture of the god . 6 The successful event of a war begun, carried on, and concluded under the respectable sanc- tion of the Amphictyonic council, was cele- brated with all the pomp and festivity congenial Q, to the Grecian character. According to an ancient and sacred institution, ^ £ the several republics were accustom- ed ’ ed, by public shows, to commemorate their respective victories. When dif- ferent communities had employed their joint efforts in the same glorious enterprise, the grateful triumph was exhibited with a propor- tional increase of magnificence ; but the for- tunate exploits of gods and heroes, which had extensively benefited the whole Grecian name, 4 Plutarch, in Solon. Pausan. in Phoc. 5 Sachin, in Ctesiphont. 6 E^vsto t x rrstvTX ujto yem^yto tm Ssio Lucian. Phalar. ii. 66 HISTORY OF GREECE. were distinguished by such peculiar and trans- cendent honours as eclipsed the splendour of all other solemnities. While each republic paid the tribute of provincial festivals to the memory of its particular benefactors, the whole nation were concerned in acknowledging the bounti- ful goodness of Jupiter, the protecting aid of Neptune, the unerring wisdom of Apollo, and the unrivalled labours of Hercules. Hence the Olympian, Isthmian, Pythian, and Nemean games, which, though alike founded on the same principle of pious gratitude, were from their first establishment, distinguished by differ- ent ceremonies, and respectively consecrated to separate divinities. The Amphictyons were principally indebted to the prudent admonitions of Apollo for the fortunate issue of a war undertaken by his au- thority ; it therefore became them, while they rejoiced in the happy success of their arms, to offer respectful thanks to the god. These ob- jects might easily be conjoined in the pleasing texture of ancient superstition, since the cele- bration of the Pythian games, which had been interrupted by a long train of wars and calami- ties, would form an entertainment not less agreeable to the supposed dictates of piety, than adapted to the natural demands of plea- sure. The festival re-established on this memora- ble occasion in honour of Apollo, is mentioned by ancient historians, on account of two re- markable circumstances by which it was dis- tinguished. Instead of the scanty rewards usually distributed among the gymnastic com- batants at other public solemnities, the Am- phictyons bestowed on the victors the most precious spoils of the cities Crissa and Cirrha. The exhibitions of poetry and music had hitherto been united in all the Grecian festi- vals, and the laurel crown had been adjudged to the poet-musician, who enlivened the com- position of his genius by the sound of his lyre. The Amphictyons for the first time separated the kindred arts ; proposed prizes of instru- mental music unaccompanied with poetry, and thus afforded an opportunity to the candidates for fame to display their superior merit in their respective professions. These are the only particulars concerning the re-establishment of the Pythian games which seemed worthy the observation of Gre- cian authors, ^vhose works were addressed to men who knew by experience and observation the nature and tendency of their domestic in- stitutions. But a more copious explanation is required to satisfy the curiosity of the modern reader. The sacred games of Greece cannot be illustrated by a comparison with any thing similar in the present age ; they were intimately connected with the whole system of ancient polity, whether civil or religious ; they were attended with very extraordinary effects, both of a natural and moral kind ; and on all these accounts they merit particular attention in a work which professes to unite the history of arts to that of arms, and to contemplate the varying picture of human manners, as well as the transient revolutions of war and empire. In their most perfect form the sacred games [Chap. consisted in the exhibitions of the Stadium and Hippodrome, accompanied by the more refined entertainments of music and poetry. The Olympic Stadium took its name from the mea- sure of length most commonly employed by the Greeks, consisting of the eighth part of a Grecian mile, or six hundred and thirty English feet. The Stadium, still remaining at Athens, has been accurately measured by our travellers, and is a hundred and tw r enty-five geometrical paces in length, and twenty-seven in breadth : it forms a long and lofty terrace on the banks of the Illyssus, and its sides were anciently built of white marble. That of Olympia was probably of the same dimensions, but far less magnificent, being entirely composed of earth. The one extremity contained an elevated throne, appropriated for the judges of the games, and a marble altar, on which the priest- ess of Ceres, and other privileged virgins, sat to behold a solemnity from which the rest of their sex were rigorously excluded. At the other extremity was the tomb of Endymion, the favourite of chaste Diana. The Stadium was divided by pillars into two courses. The five gymnastic exercises, so much celebrated by all the, writers of antiquity, and so accu- rately described by Homer, Pindar, Sophocles, and Pausanias, began with the foot race, which is supposed to have been the most ancient, and which always retained the prerogative of dis- tinguishing the Olympiads by the name of the victorious racer. The exercise at first consist- ed in running naked from one end of the Sta- dium to the other. The course was afterwards doubled, and at length the competitors were required to pass the goal three, six, and even twelve times, before they could be entitled to the prize. Motives of utility introduced the race of men loaded with heavy armour, which rendered this exercise a contest of strength as well as of swiftness. 2. The second trial ot agility consisted in leaping ; the competitors en- deavouring to surpass each other in the length, without regard to the height of their leap. They carried in their hands weights of lead, through the perforations of which their fingers passed as through the handle of a shield, and by these they poised, and impelled forwards, their bodies. The perfection attained in th's exercise must have far exceeded the experience of modem times, if we can believe that Phau- lus of Crotona* leaped fifty -two feet. 3. The wrestling of the ancients required equal strength and agility. It was chiefly remarkable on ac- count of the oil and sand with which they rub- bed their bodies, in order to supple their joints, to prevent excessive perspiration, and to elude the grasp of their antagonists. /The wrestlers were matched by lot, and tjHBrize was ad- judged to him Who had thric^Jrown his ad- versary on the ground. 4. The two following exercises tried chiefly the strength of the arms. The first consisted in throwing a huge mass of polished iron, brass, or stone, of a circular form, resembling a shield, but without handle or thong. It was called the disk, and thrown under the hand as the quoit is in England 1 Paueanias, p. 624. HISTORY OF GREECE. 67 V-] The object of the competitors was to surpass each other in the length of the cast. Akin to this was the art of darting the javelin, which, as that weapon was directed at a mark, required steadiness of eye as well as dexterity of hand. 5. The last of the gymnastic exercises both in order and in esteem, was that of boxing. It was sometimes performed by the naked fist, and sometimes with the formidable csestus, composed of raw hides lined with metal. Be- fore the victory could be decided, it was neces- sary, from the nature of that exercise, that one of the combatants should acknowledge his de- feat ; a condition which seemed so inconsistent with the obstinacy of Grecian valour, that few ventured to contend in this dangerous amuse- ment. ■ The laws of Sparta absolutely prohi- bited her citizens from ever engaging in it, because a Spartan was taught to disdain saving his life by yielding to an opponent. Another reason, no less remarkable, tended still more to degrade the exercise of boxing. Besides strength and agility, the success of the boxer depended on a certain ponderous fleshiness of arm, which unfitted him to engage in any other contest. The regimen required for keeping up his corpulency, so necessary for the defence of his bones against the weight of blows, was altogether incompatible with the life of a sol- dier ; a life of hardship and inequality, and continually exposed to the want of rest, of pro- visions, and of sleep. These were the five gymnastic exercises in which the Grecian youth were trained with so much care, and to which they applied with so much emulation. But besides these simple sports, there were two others formed of their various combination ; the Panecratium, which consisted of wrestling and boxing ; and the Pentathlon, in which all the five were united ; and to excel in such complicated exercises re- quired an education and way of living not ne- cessary to be observed by those who contended in the simple feats of strength and agility, and which was scarcely compatible with the study of any other than the athletic profession. The Hippodrome, or ground allotted for the horse races, was twice as long as the Stadium, 2 and sufficiently spacious to allow forty chariots to drive abreast. 3 The chariot race was insti- tuted at Olympia about a hundred years after the regular celebration of the games, and that of riding horses twenty years later. These warlike sports followed the same progress with the military art, of which they were the image, and in which the use of chariots long preceded that of cavalry. The cars of the Greeks, as evidently appears from their medals, were low, open behind, furnished with only two wheels, and unprovided with any seat for the driver, who stood, with much, difficulty in the body of his vehicle, while he commanded four horses, which were not paired but formed on one line. Not- withstanding this inconvenient posture they performed six and sometimes twelve rounds of the Hippodrome, amounting to six Grecian miles of eight hundred paces each, of which an English mile contains one thousand five hundred and fifty. The Grecian heroes ex- celled, during the heroic ages, in this danger- ous exercise ; but in later times the owners of the horses were allowed to employ a charioteer, which enlarged the sphere of candidates for the Olympic prize, by admitting many foreign princes, as well as the wealthy ladies of Mace- don and Laconia, who could not appear in per- son at this important solemnity. Though riding- horses were not so early employed as chariots, either at the games, or in war, yet we cannot believe, with a fanciful writer, 4 that this cir- cumstance should have been occasioned by the timidity of the Greeks to mount on horseback ; for we learn from Homer, that, even in the most ancient times, they were acquainted with all the feats of dexterity performed by our most accomplished jockies. 5 But before the Persian war, the poverty of the Greeks prevented them from importing foreign horses, and their do- mestic breed was naturally of an inferior kind to those of Asia and Africa. The Spartans first employed them in battle during their wars with the Messenians. In the Persian expedi- tion, Xerxes tried the mettle of the Persian, against the Thessalian horses, and the former carried off the palm in every contest. For a considerable time after the shameful retreat of that haughty monarch, the Athenians, who then formed the most powerful community of Greece, had a squadron of only three hundred horsemen : and it was not till that ambitious republic had begun to extend her dominion over the inferior states, that she seriously ap- plied to the improvement of her cavalry. While the Greeks thus acquired the accom- plishments of the body, and displayed at Olym- pia their skill in horsemanship, and their vigour in the gymnastic exercises, the more re- fined entertainments of the fancy were not ne- glected ; and the agreeable productions of music and poetry added lustre and elegance to every Grecian solemnity. It is well observed by the only ancient writer to whom we are indebted for a historical account of Grecian music, that the arts of peace, as they are more agreeable and more useful than those of war, demand, in a superior degree, the regard of the historian. If this had been the general opinion of authorsj the study of their works would be equally entertaining and instructive. The writer of history would explain the various dis- coveries which happily tend to improve and to embellish social life ; by introducing scenes of gayety and pleasure, he would diversify the eternal theme of human misery ; and while he expatiated on the crimes and calamities of men, he would not neglect to point out the means best adapted to prevent the perpetration of the one, and to sooth the suffering of the other. But the Greek historians have not attempted to afford us this important information ; they enlarge copiously on such topics as are adapted to the use of their countrymen ; and they pre- serve the most mortifying silence concerning those subjects which deservedly excite the cu- riosity of later ages. Of all the arts cultivated by the ingenuity of their contemporaries, music 2 Hesychius. 3 Pausan. 1. vi. p. 382, et 390. 4 The Chevalier Folard. 5 Tliad xv. ver. 679 68 HISTORY OF GREECE. was the most connected with religion, govern- ment, and manners ; and the effects ascribed to Grecian music are numbered among the most singular as well as the most authentic of all recorded events yet as to the nature, the origin, the progress, the perfection, in one word, the history of this art, we can know little more than what we learn from the musical treatise of Plutarch, to which we have above alluded, which is extremely short and imperfect, ob- scure throughout, and in many parts unintelli- gible . 1 2 Without much historical information, how- ever, we may venture to explain the introduc- tion of musical entertainments at the four pub- lic solemnities. These grand spectacles were destined to exhibit an embellished representa- tion of the ordinary transactions of real life, and while the gymnastic and equestrian exer- cises represented the image of war, the most serious occupation of the Greeks, music re- called the memory of religion and love, their most agreeable amusements. Besides this, as music in those early times was closely connect- ed with poetry , 3 and as the use of prose com- position was not known in Greece till the time of Pherecydes of Syros, and Cadmus of Mile- tus, who flourished only five hundred and forty- four years before Christ , 4 the name of music naturally comprehended all the learning of the age ; and to obtain the prize in the musical contests, was equivalent to the glory of being declared superior to the rest of mankind in mental abilities and endowments. These abilities and endowments were an- ciently regarded in proportion to their utility. Before the practice of writing was introduced, the history of past events could be preserved only by tradition ; and tradition was rendered more sure and permanent, by being committed to the safe protection of harmonious numbers . 5 The customary offices of religion were cele- brated in poetical composition, and the various hymns appropriated to the worship of parti- cular divinities, were retained by the faithful memory of their respective votaries. The tuneful tribe, who were thus employed to extol the bounty of the gods, to exalt the glory of heroes, and to record and perpetuate the accu- mulated wisdom of antiquity, condescended also to regulate the duties, and to improve the pleasures, of private life. The same bards who taught the men to be brave, exhorted the wo- men to be chaste . 6 Poetry, together with the 1 The continual complaints of Plato and Aristotle prove that the music of their age had greatly degenerated from its ancient dignity. It afterwards continued, like all the other arts, gradually to decline ; yet, in the second century before Christ, the grave, judicious, and well-informed Po- lybius ascribes the most extraordinary effects to the Grecian music. Polybius, 1. iv. c. xx. et seq. 2 Mr. Burette, a French physician, has translated this treatise in the tenth volume of the Memoirs of the Acade- my, &c. He finds fewer difficulties in it, than present themselves to men far better acquainted with the theory and practice of this elegant art. See Burney on Music, vol. i. p. 36. 3 The same words signified a song and a poem, a musician anti a poet; <«>£<**, xo-ftxrx ; uSoi ) wSix. ot, xoiSot. Hesych. 4 Strabo, 1. i. 5 Si tlTTHV 0 7Tt£ Of \0y0( XXTXITXSVXTIXSVOg fit/XH/UX tou it onj-rncou trrrr rr^iaria-Tx yxg vi ttoiv\t iv.v\ xxTxny thousand years Plato de Legibus. The austeritv and rsstraints of despot- ism are inconsistent with that flowing freedom of genius necessary to the perfection of poetry. 10 While detraction referred the discovery of music to strangers, vanitv referred it to the gods; and both accounts serve to prove the great antiquity of the art, Plut. de Music. 1 1 We owe the knowledge of this important circumstance to Heraclides of Pontus, the contemporary and scholar of Plato. His words are cited by Athenaeus, 1. xiv. HISTORY OF GREECE. 69 v.) meant to describe or to express. The circum- stances of the Greeks in the earliest periods of their society , 12 rendered them peculiarly atten- tive to all these objects. They lived continually in crowds ; all matters of consequence were decided by the voice of the assembly ; and, next to the force of his arm, every warrior felt him- self indebted to the persuasive accents of his tongue. The perpetual necessity of employing the power of eloquence during the infancy of their political state, made them retain the origi- nal tones and cadences by which men, as yet unpractised in the use of arbitrary signs, had made known their affections and their wants. These tones and cadences, imitating the lan- guage of action (the first and most natural language of solitary savages,) possessed a de- gree of energy and of warmth which can neyer be attained by the mere artifice of articulate sounds . 13 By uniting them to these sounds, the Greeks gave all the force of a natural, to an arbitrary sign. Music and action were in- corporated in the substance of their speech ; and the descriptive power of words was extended to all those objects which can be characterized by sound and motion, or which the various modifications of these qualities can suggest to the mind of man. A language thus founded on the broad basis of nature, contained within itself the fruitful seeds of the imitative arts, and the rich mate- rials of all that is beautiful and grand in literary composition . 14 It is a subject of equal curiosity and importance, to examine how these materials were wrought up, and how these seeds were unfolded. In attempting, with much diffidence, to give some account of this delicate and re- fined operation, we shall observe the division above mentioned, and consider the melody, measure, variety, and expression of the Gre- cian poetry and music ; arts once deemed so intimately connected, that their disjunction at the Pythian games, of which we have already taken notice, was emphatically compared by ancient writers to the separation of the soul and body. The pleasure arising from the agreeable suc- cession of sounds depends either on the combi- nation of letters, or on that of musical tones . 15 The attention which the Greeks paid to the former, is evident from the whole structure of their language. Wherever propriety permits , 16 they always employ full, open, and magnifi- cent^ sounds ; innumerable rules of flexion and derivation are founded merely on the pleasure of the ear ; and the great principle of the fine arts, to move and affect, without fatiguing the senses, cannot be better illustrated than by the inimitable composition 18 of elements which cha- racterizes the general texture of the Grecian tongue. Whether the ancient poet? and orators discovered this composition by investigation, or only preferred it from taste, is a question that may be easily answered, if we reflect, that such a discovery by investigation supposes an acquaintance with the most abstruse principles of philosophy, principles altogether unknown in that early age, during which the composition of elemental sounds attained its highest beauty and perfection. We may therefore without temerity conclude, that sentiment first directed to the practice of those rules which reason afterwards approved ; and that this progress equally obtained in the articulation of voice, and the intonation of sound. The latter , the agreeable composition of which is properly styled melody, was improved to such an extraordinary degree about the time of Homer, as rendered the productions of Olympus, and other ancient poet-musicians, the admiration of all succeeding ages. Unfor- tunately for the history of the arts, we have not any such analysis of the music of Olympus, as Dionysius of Halicarnassus has left us of the poetry of Homer. We are informed, however, that the ancient melody was not only divided, like the modern, by tones and semi-tones, but also distinguished by the diesis, or quarter-tone ; an interval of which modern musicians rarely make use. The genus of music, regulated by this interval, a genus to which the most pow- erful effects are ascribed by ancient writers, was known by the name of the enharmonic; the genus, proceeding by semitones, was called the chromatic; and the diatonic, which denotes a progression by tones and semitones, expressed a musical scale nearly resembling that of the modern nations of Europe . 19 These observations will give the reader an idea of the intervals in the different genera . which is all that we can learn on this subject from the learned collection of Meibomius. In none qf the musical treatises in that collection do we find any specimen of ancient melody ; nor are we enabled, by any circumstance men- tioned in them, to ascertain the qualities which formed its principal merit. The invention of the enharmonic genus is ascribed by Plutarch to Olympus, who, happening to skip certain intervals in the diatonic scale, observed the beauty of the effect, and the peculiar force and character which the regular omission of the same intervals bestowed on the melody. Upon this observation, he is said to have founded a new genus of music remarkable for simplicity, gravity, and grandeur. These qualities might, doubtless, be produced by the happy discovery, 18 As all languages are relative to (he organs of speech, they may all be analvzcd into about twenty-four letters, or elemental sounds, the combination of which forms the wonderful variety of language; a variety resulting from the respective characters and circumstances of different nations. 19 It is sufficient to explain the things signified by the x enharmonic and diatonic. When, or why, these names were bestowed on the two kinds of music which they respectively denote, is disputed by philologists ; and I have not met with any thing on the subject that seemed worthy of being transcribed. 12 See above, chap. ii. 13 See an excellent discourse of the Ahb6 Arnaut, on the Greek accents, in the third volume of the Choix do Memoirs. 14 These words very inadequately express the and the **xo f of Dionysius, de Struct. Orat. The ingenious and philosophical critic ranges under two heads, the quali- ties of style fitted to please the ear and the imagination. These are the sweet, and the fair. Under the first are contained smoothness, beauty, grace, persuasion, fee. Un- der the second, dignity, weight, magnificence, and force. The two kinds of style have a similar relation to each other, which the pleasures of the taste, expressed by the word >i£vc, have to those of the eye, expressed by xxKog. 15 Dionysius comprehends both under the word f*r\ o$, melndv. 16 The to jTfurov, Dionysius observes, may sometimes require harsh, close, and disagreeable sounds. 17 The (ttya\07Tf i*t«j of Dionysius. > seconded by tlie lofty genius of Olympus ; and to them, perhaps, we may refer the enthusiasm and sublimity by which his compositions were distinguished. The employing of the greater intervals supported the dignity and character, while the use of the diesis chiefly contributed to the refinement and delicacy, of Grecian music. The bold separation of notes expressed the firmer feelings, and described the stronger emotions of the soul ; while the more insensible distinctions of sound painted the innumerable shades and faint fluctuations of passion ; as when the voice, gradually ascended through the smallest perceptible divisions, it would admira- bly express the progress of a respectful but ardent affection, unable to hide, yet afraid to reveal its force, and striving by repeated efforts to overcome its natural timidity. But by whatever conjectures we may explain the powers of ancient enharmonic, it appears from the universal consent of Greek writers, that the melody of music and of language differed only in degree, not in kind. The variations of accent , for that is the proper word to express the melody of language, seldom exceeded, in common discourse, the difference of three notes and a half ; which makes Dio- nysius observe, that it never exceeds the com- pass of one interval, the diapente, or fifth. He pretends not, however, that in rhetorical decla- mation, the flexions of the voice were so nar- rowly circumscribed ; and it is probable that in poetry, their range was always more extensive than in the most animated prose. When the poet therefore composed his verse, he was obliged to pay an equal attention to accent and to quantity: the acuteness and gravity of sounds, as well as the length and shortness of syllables, contributed to the effect of his art; and each particular word having not only its determined duration, but its appropriated tones, obtained that place in the verse which was felt to be most agreeable to the ear, and best adapted to the subject. The poet therefore naturally performed the office of the musician, and clothed his own thoughts and sentiments with that combination of sounds, which ren- dered them most beautiful and expressive. As accent regulated the melody, quantity regulated the rhythm of ancient music. The most melodious succession of tones, however flattering to the ear, must soon become tire- some and disagreeable, when continued with- out interruption or pause, and undistinguished by such proportions of duration, as are readily seized and measured by the senses. This truth the Greeks illustrated by a comparison. The most brilliant composition of colours is nothing better, they observed, than a gaudy show, daz- zling the sight for a moment, but passing after- wards disregarded and unobserved. But to this showy colouring let the painter add the solid beauties of design, and he will convert an empty amusement of the eye. into an elegant entertainment to the fancy. What design is to colouring, measure is to melody. It is measure that animates the song, and which, combined with the inimitable charms of Grecian verse, produced those extraordinary effects, which the ignorance and credulity of early ages weakly | [Chap. deemed miraculous. On measure principally depended the different modes of music, by which the most opposite passions were alternately ex- cited in the mind ; and courage, pride, timidity, love, anger, resentment, successively diffused through a numerous assembly, at the will of a skilful composer. The difference of modes, indeed, arose also, in some measure, from the difference of key ; and the same succession of sounds, pronounced with various degrees of acuteness or gravity, may doubtless produce effects more or less powerful; but dissimilar effects it never can produce ; so that the grandeur of the Doric, the polished elegance of the Ionic, the soothing sweetness of the Eolic mode , 1 must have resulted from the rhythm or measure, which governing the movement of the verse, thereby determined its expression. Besides these three modes, formerly men- tioned asfthe original invention of Greece, the natives of that country gradually adopted seve- ral others that had been discovered by the neighbouring nations ; particularly the Phry- gian, consecrated to religious ceremonies, and the Lydian, appropriated to the expression of complaint or sorrow. The variety, indeed, at length became greater than can be easily con- ceived by such as are unacquainted with the mechanism of ancient languages. Every spe- cies of verse (and of verse there were above a hundred different kinds) occasioned a change of musical measure, and introduced what, in musical language, may be called a different time. These measures were only to be em- ployed agreeably to the rules of propriety and decorum, which had been discovered in those great principles of nature, to which all rules of art must ultimately be referred. A slow suc- cession of lengthened tones expressed modera- tion and firmness ; a rapid inequality of verse betrayed disorderly and ignoble passions ; the mind was transported by sudden transitions, and roused by impetuous reiterations of sound ; a gradual ascent of notes accorded with all those affections which warm and expand the heart ; and the contrary movement naturally coincided with such sentiments as depress the spirits, and extinguish the generous ardour of the soul. Having fixed, with the most accurate precision, the wide variety of modes and genera, the Greeks seldom confounded them with the same piece, and never applied them to any subject which they had not been originally des- tined to express. The natural perceptions of taste were gradually strengthened by habit; the principles of music were clearly ascertained, and universally understood ; and possessing the warmth and energy of the language of na- ture, they acquired the perspicuity and extent of the language of convention. This is justly deemed the height of musical perfection , 2 and to this height the Greeks had attained, in the beginning of the sixth century before Christ. 1 Lucian. Harmon, sub initio, et Heraclid. apud Athe- naeum, 1. xiv. 2 The question, whether the Greeks knew music in parts, has boon carefully examined by Mr. Burette (Memoires de l’Academie des Inscriptions;) by Rousseau (Dictionarie de Mnsique ;) and by Dt. Burney (History of Music, vol. i. p I 146, et seq ) These writers who are so well entitled to HISTORY OF GREECE. VI.] HISTORY OF GREECE. 71 CHAPTER VI. The Grecian Bards — Heroic Poetry — Change o Callinus Mimnermus — Life of Archilochus- Poels — Sappho , Alcaeus. Anacreon , Myrlis, C Strength — Courage — Contempt of Prejudices- Genius. T>OETRY has described the wonderful ef- -*■ fects of Grecian music ; and the inimitable excellence of ancient poets can alone render the description credible. Yet the early perfection of these elegant arts, asserted by the gravest writers of antiquity, seems extremely incon- sistent with the received doctrines concerning the progress of civil society. Both in the ancient and modern world, the great system of practi- cal knowledge, subservient to the useful pur- poses of human life, appears to have been slowly raised, and gradually extended, by suc- cessive trials, and reiterated efforts. Among savages, scarcely any distinction of professions takes place ; the activity of each individual supplies his own wants. During the inter- mediate stages of society, men are still con- demned to a wide variety of occupations ; and their attention being distracted by a multipli- city of pursuits, it is impossible that, in any one art, they should reach proficiency, or even as- pire to excellence. But, contrary to this ob- servation, the Grecian music and poetry are represented as most perfect in their united state ; the immortal fathers of verse excelled alike, it is said, in all the various kinds of poeti- cal composition ; * * 3 and their inimitable produc- tions were so far from advancing, by a gradual progress, to perfection, that the most ancient are, by universal consent, entitled to a just preference . 4 The history of these admired authors is, un- fortunately, as uncertain, as their merit was illustrious. The Greeks possessing much tra- ditionary and little recorded information con- cerning the antiquities of their country, the great inventors of arts, and generous benefac- tors of society, have been deprived of their merited fame and well-earned honours. Their names indeed, like firm rocks resisting the as- saults of the ocean, bid defiance to the depre- decirfe on this subject, pronounce the Greeks to have been unacquainted with counterpoint. But that their ignorance in this respect did not detract from the perfection, or di- minish the effects of their music, may be credited on the unsuspicious testimony of an ingenious Italian. u II ccfntra punto, essendo composito di varie parti, l’una acuta, l’altera grave, questa di andamento presto, quella di tardo, que bamio a trovarsi itisieme, et ferir 1’orecchie ad un tempo, come potrebbe egli muovere melPanimo nostro, una tal do- terminata passione, la quale, di sua natura, rechiede un de- terminate moto, et un doterminato tuono"?” Algorotti, Saggio sopra I’Opera in Musica. 3 We are told by Aristotle, in the 4th chapter of his Poetics, that Horner wrote an iambic poem, entitled Mar- gites, bearing the same relation to comedy and satire, that the Wind bears to tragedy and panegyric. Notwithstanding the express testimony of the great critic, two very elegant scholars have said, that the hexameter was the only kind of verse known in the time of Homer ; the Abb6 Arnauf, in his excellent discourse on the Greek accents, and Mr. Bu- rette, in his Commentary on Plut. de Music. 4 Grsecorum antiquissima quaeque scripta vel optima. Horat. Epist. 1. ii. Ep. 1. r Manners — Iambic or Satire — Elegy — Tyrtceus , —Terpander — Lyric Poetry — The Nine Lyric rrinna , Pindar — Effects of the Sacred Games — -Taste — Moral Principle — Intellectual Powers — dations of time ; but of Linus, Orpheus, Mu- saeus, and Melampus, little else than the names remain ; and to determine the time in which they flourished, was a matter of as much diffi- culty two thousand years ago , 5 as it remains in the present age. Since even the chronology of the ancient bards is so extremely uncertain , 6 it cannot be expected that we should be able to give a cir- cumstantial account of their life and writings. Instead of considering minutely, therefore, the private history of individuals, a task which suits neither the design of the present work,, nor the incredulity of the present age, we shall endeavour to explain the general nature and tendency of their profession, as well as the cir- cumstances which conspired to raise it to that rank and dignity which it long held in society. During the heroic ages, the Grecian poets had one uniform character ; and if we may depend on the positive assertions of antiquity, the same individual was alike successful in the various branches of his divine art . 7 The earliest poets, therefore, may be represented in one picture, and delineated by the same strokes, until their profession came to be separated into different departments. We shall then distinguish the heroic, iambic, lyric, elegiac, and other kinds of poetical composition ; offer some account of the improvers of each particular species ; and 5 Herodotus, who reads his history at the Olympic games 444 years B. C. expresses himself as follows: “Ho- mer and Hesiod lived about four hundred years ago; not more ; and these are the poets who composed a Theogony for the Greeks : who assigned to the gods their respective appellations and epithets; distinguished their several forms; and defined the arts in which they excelled, and the honours to which they were entitled. As to the poets who are sup- posed to have preceded them, I am of opinion that they flourished in a later age.” According to Herodotus, there- fore, the age of Homer is fifty years later than it is placed by the marbles of Paros. But on this subject we have surer evidence than any monuments of marble, or even the testi- mony of Herodotus can afford. The circumstantial minute- ness, ahd infinite variety, which characterise the Iliad and Odyssey, prove their inimitable author to have lived near the times which he describes. He conversed in his youth with those who had seen the heroes of the Trojan war, and, in the vigour of his age, beheld the grandchildren of ASneas, Ulysses, Achilles, and Agamemnon. Nuv Ss Aiveixo ysvoj t^m istit* Kxi irxiXsf Traiowv to * jcsv ^to irta-Qi yivuiv ra» Iliad, xx. ver. 306. The learned reader may consult the note on the passage in Clark’s Homer, where Dionysius of Halicarnassus is quote:!, to prove that the poet says nothing inconsistent with iEneas’ voyage into Italy. It is to be observed, that the force of the criticism evaporates in Mr. Pope’s transla- tion. 6 The preceding note proves the ignorance of Herodotus, and his contemporaries, concerning the history of their an- cient bards; since of those venerable fathers of the Grecian religion and policy, two are mentioned by Homer himself; Linus, in the description of the shield of Achilles, II. xviii.- Melampus, in the 11th book of the Odyssey, ver. 15. 7 There are not any two kinds of poetry more difleren than those ascribed to Homer by Aristotle, Poetic, chap, iv 72 HISTORY OF GREECE. ixamine such fragments of their works as de- serve attention, not merely on account of their own intrinsic merit, but as genuine and authen- tic, and indeed the only genuine and authentic transcripts of the manners of that early age in which they were composed. In ancient Greece, the favourites of fortune were often the favourites of the muses. There remain not, indeed, the works of any Grecian king ; but we are told by Homer, that Achilles sung to his lyre the glory of heroes ; Amphion, to whose musical powers such wonderful 1 ef- fects are ascribed, reigned in Thebes ; the poet Melampus obtained royal authority in Argos ; and Chiron, the wise Centaur , 2 though de- scended of the most illustrious ancestors, and entitled to the first rank among the Thessalian princes, preferred to the enjoyment of power, the cultivation of poetry, and retired, with his favourite muses, to a solitary cavern at the foot of mount Pelion, which was soon rendered, by the fame of his abilities, the most celebrated school of antiquity . 3 The musical arts were not only deemed worthy the ambition of princes, but thought capable of elevating ordinary men to the first ranks in society. By excelling in such ac- complishments, Anthes of Boeotia, Olen of Lycia, Olympus of Phrygia , 4 obtained the highest pre-eminence. Nor was it during their life-time only that they enjoyed the happy fruits of their elegant labours. They were regarded as peculiarly deserving of a dopble immortali- ty ; living for ever in the memory of men, and being admitted, according to the belief of an- tiquity, to the most distinguished honours in the celestial regions . 5 It has been already observed, that the tex- ture of the Grecian tongue was singularly well adapted to the improvement of poetry ; and this favourable circumstance was admirably seconded by the political condition of the Greeks in the early periods of their society. Re- ligion then formed the sole principle of govern- ment ; and the belief of religion was chiefly supported by the Theogonies , 6 while its cere- monies were principally adorned by the hymns of the bards. These two kinds of poetry, doubtless the most ancient and the most vene- rable, formed the main pillars of the political edifice ; and the essential parts of this edifice consisting in the praise of the gods, its brightest ornaments were composed of the glory of lie- roes. The hymns maintained the power of religion, the song animated to valour ; and 1 Movet Amphion lapide3 canendo Hor. • 2 Most of the heroes of the Trojan war were his disci- ples. Xenoph. de Venat. sub initio. 3 Xenoph. de Venat. sub initio. 4 Mr. Burette has collected the most interesting particu- lars concerning these bards, in his Commentary on Plut. de Music. 5 Musreum ante omnes. Virg. JE n. vi. It is not easy to discover the reason why Virgil, in his Elysium, has placed Musaeus before all the rest. This venerable bard, by some called the son, by others the disciple of Orpheus, is universally allowed to have been a native of Attica. The admirer of Grecian eloquence (Orabant caussas me- lius) intended, perhaps, to compliment the country of Mu- sajus. 6 A Theogony is a poem explaining, not merely, as the name denotes, the generation, but also the history of the gods. Most of the ancient poets mentioned in the text wrote Theogonies. Piod. I. iii. Plut. de Music. [Chap. both powerfully affected that peculiar sensibi- lity of temper, and that romantic turn of fancy, the prevailing characteristics of Greece duiing the heroic ages. Neither the Rimers of the north, nor the Troubadours of Provence, nor the Bards of Germany, nor even the Druids of Gaul and Britain, possessed more distinguished autho- rity than the Aoidoi, or Rhapsodists, of the Greeks. The first requisite of their profession was, to know many soothing tales ; 7 * and it was the daily object of their art, to delight gods and men.s The piety of the priest, and the inspiration of the prophet, were intimately connected with the enthusiasm of poetry ; and poets, who had celebrated the glory of the past, were naturally employed to rear the hopes of the future generation . 9 It is probable, however, that the ancient bards had frequent avocations from their literary labours. The cu- riosity, natural to men of genius, would fre- quently tempt them to visit distant countries. The admiration paid to their abilities could only be upheld by novelty. Both inclination and interest, therefore, would prompt them to sail to foreign lands, to examine their civil and religious institutions, and to converse with their priests and poets, from whom they might derive such information as would enable them, on their return home, to surprise, entertain, and instruct their fellow-citizens. Of all nations, the Greeks enjoyed most ad- vantages for travelling ; and of all Grecian professions, that of the bard. The general diffusion of their national language and colo- nies, as well as the sacred character with which they were invested, entitled this venerable class of men to expect a secure retreat among the most inhospitable barbarians. Whatever coun- try they visited, the elegant entertainment de- rived from their art procured them a welcome reception at religious festivals, and all public solemnities. Amidst the most dreadful cala- mities which afflict mankind, the bards alone were exempted from the common danger. They could behold, in safety, the tumult of the battle; they could witness, undisturbed, the horror of a city taken by storm ; calm and serene themselves, they might contemplate the furious conflicts, and wild agitations, of the pas- sions. It belonged to them only, and to the sa- cred character of the herald, to observe and examine, without personal danger, the natural expressions of fear, rage, or despair, in the countenances and gestures of the vanquished, as well as the insolent triumph of success, the fury of resentment, the avidity of gain, and the thirst of blood, in the wild aspect and mad demeanour of the victors. Having considered at full leisure the most striking peculiarities of those agitated and distressful scenes, the poet might retire to his cavern, or grotto, and there delineate, in secure tranquillity, such a warm and expressive picture of the manners and mis- 7 noxx* Homer. 8 ©£ 0 in xoii ctv$gu>7rotari xsiSetv. HoMER. 9 In early ages, the education of youth was entrusted only to the first ranks in society. This profession was practised in Greece by Homer, as we learn from his life, falsely ascri- bed to Herodotus, yet certainly very ancient. In Gaul it belonged to the Druids Vid. Caesar de Bello Gallico, 1. vi. HISTORY OF GREECE. 73 vi.] fortunes of men, as should astonish his contem- poraries, and excite the sympathetic terror and pity of the most distant posterity. If the Grecian bards were fortunate in ob- serving such events of their own age as were most susceptible of the ornaments of poetical imitation, they were still more fortunate in living at a period which afforded a wonderful variety of such events. Amidst the unsettled turbulence of rising states, the foundation and destruction of cities, the perpetual wars and negotiations of neighbouring communities, they were daily presented with subjects worthy the grandeur of the heroic muse. The establish- ment of colonies, the origin of new supersti- tions, as well as the imaginary legends which supported the old, furnished copious materials for many a wondrous song. These materials, being eagerly embraced by the choice, were embellished by the fancy of the early bards ; who, continually rehearsing them to their con- temporaries, had an opportunity of remarking, in their approbation or dislike, the circum- stances necessary to be added, taken away, or altered, in order to give their productions the happiest effect, and the highest degree of strength and beauty. As writing was little prac- tised for the purpose of communicating know- ledge, succeeding poets learned to repeat the verses of their predecessors ; and, having trea- sured them in their memory, they adopted them as their own. Frequent repetition, attended with such careful observations as were natural to men whose character depended on the suc- cess of their art, led to new alterations and amendments flo and their performances, thus improving by degrees, acquired that just mea- sure of perfection, to which nothing could with propriety be added, and from which nothing could with propriety be taken away. In this manner, perhaps, the Iliad and Odyssey received the last polish ; the harmonious animation of poetry was admired as the language of the gods ; and poets, originally the ministers of heaven, the instructors of youth, and the re- warders of merit, were finally regarded as the great authors of religion, the principal benefactors of mankind, and, as shall be ex- plained hereafter, the wise legislators of na- tions. As the singular manners and events of the heroic ages naturally produced the lofty strains of the epic muse, so the state of society in Greece, during the immediately succeeding periods, highly favoured the introduction of other kinds of poetry. The abolition of the royal governments gave free scope to the acti- vity and turbulence of democracy ; and the rivalships and enmities of neighbouring states, rankling in the minds of their citizens, prepared the imaginations of men for taking a malignant pleasure in works of invective and reproach. The innumerable causes of alienation, hatred, and disgust, which operated also within the bosom of each little republic, opened an inex- haustible source of satire. The competitions for civil offices, for military command, and for 10 Eyivvijg-xv ry]V m tqrixr,v tx Tuuv «uT9!r%s.i»s6 iv ftt\wv Tsgrrxv Jpo; iujsth i ta - Ti . Plut. de Music. “ Pindar says, that Terpan- der invented the Scholia,” which, according to Pollux and Hesychius, properly denote the drinking songs of the Greeks; but, in a more general sense, signify every kind of lyric poetry not aspiring to the dignity of the ode. [Chap. peculiar to the ode, as well as to excite that vo- luptuous gayety characteristic of the Grecian song. 6 Amidst the romantic scenes of Ionia, was felt with uncommon sensibility the force of that pleasing painful passion, which, uniting grief, joy, and enthusiasm, contains the fruitful seeds of whatever is most perfect in music and poetry. 7 Here the celebrated Sappho breathed the amorous flames by which she was con- sumed ; while her countryman and lover A1 casus declared the warmth of his attachment, excited less perhaps by the beauty of her person, than by the bewitching charms of her voice. But neither Alcaeus, who flourished in the be- ginning of the sixth, nor Anacreon, who flour- ished in the beginning of the fifth century before Christ, allowed the natural vivacity of their tempers to be overcome by the severities of a passion which they considered chiefly as an instrument of pleasure. When unfortunate in love, they had recourse to wine ; and their lively invitations to this enjoyment com- posed the favourite airs of antiquity.® Of Alcaeus it is usual to judge by the scattered re- mains of his works preserved in Plutarch 9 and Athenaeus, 10 and by the high commendations bestowed on him by Horace and Quintilian. The Latin poet, however, seems on many oc- casions to have so exactly imitated, or rather translated the Greek, that the copy will per- haps best enable us to form a complete idea of the original. 11 Alcaeus, though he chiefly indulged in the gay and sportive strains of poetry, was yet qualified to undertake more lofty 12 themes ; but the whole soul of Anacreon was of that ef- feminate texture which fitted him only to sing of love and pleasure. 13 Venus, Bacchus, Cupid, and the Graces were the peculiar divinities whom he adored ; and the presents which he offered at their shrine were the most acceptable that any mortal could bestow. He not only observed the external rites and ceremonies which they commanded, but proved that his heart and mind had imbibed the genuine spirit of their worship. Throughout the whole of his works now remaining, 14 there reign the most inimitable simplicity, purity, and sweet- ness of diction : his verses flow with a smooth volubility ; his images, sentiments, and reason- 6 Hippocrat. de locis, vol. ii. p. 346. Edit. Lugd. Bal. 7 Agreeably to the principles established by Theophras tns in Plutarch’s Symposium. 8 Give us a song of Alcaeus or Anacreon, was a common saying in the age of Socrates. Athenaeus, 1. x. c. viii. 9 Sympos. c. vi. JO Lib. x. 11 M>J $ZV »K\0 ^UTfVO^S JTfOTBfOV XlvZgCV Cf.,U7TC\0V Alc. Nullam, Vare, sacra vite, prius severis arborem. Other translations, equally literal, may be discovered by carefully examining the fragments in Athenauts 1. x. 12 In lilsus et amores descendit, majoribus tamen aptior O.CIN. 1. x.c. i. 13 A SapSiro? $e x»e EgtoTce fxcvvov tizet AnaC. Od. i. 14 The works of Anacreon are said, by Petrus Alcyonius de exilio, to have been burned by the Greek priests of Con- stantinople, from which some learned men, destitute of taste, have absurdly concluded, that the works ascribed to the old poet are spurious. It cannot, surely, be said of those poems, “ Etsi excitant animos nostrorum hominum ad fla- grantiorem religionis cultum, non tamen verborum Attico- rum proprietatem et linguae Grajcae elegantiam docent;” which is the character that Petrus Alcyonius gives of the compositions substituted by the priests in their place. HISTORY OF GREECE. 7 VI.] ings (if what in him seems intuitive conviction can be called reasonings) are copied from the warmest impressions of nature. Yet in these poems, otherwise so beautiful and so perfect, there may be discovered an extreme licentious- ness of manners, and a singular voluptuous- ness of fancy, extending beyond the senses, and tainting the soul itself. The dissolute gayety of Anacreon, the deli- cate sensibility, of Sappho, and the tearful com- plaints of Simonides , 15 were all expressed in that easy equable flow of uninterrupted har- mony, which, in the opinion of the most learn- ed of their countrymen , 16 possesses more grace than strength, and more beauty than grandeur. The majestic muse of Stesichorus soared to a loftier pitch. Disdaining the subjects to which the other lyrists descended, he sung of war and heroes, and supported, by his harp, the whole weight and dignity of epic poetry . 17 Such, at least, are the sentiments of a celebrated critic, who had read his works, of which we are at present entitled to judge only by their resem- blance to those of Pindar, who possessed a similar turn of genius, and treated the same lofty themes. The honours bestowed on Pindar by his con- temporaries, as well as the admiration in which his name was uniformly held by the most im- proved nations of antiquity, render both his person and his works objects of a very natural curiosity. He was born five hundred and twenty years before Christ, and his long life almost completed the full revolution of a cen- tury. His age, therefore, extended beyond the period of history now under our review ; yet the works of his predecessors having perished by the ravages of time and barbarism, it is necessary to examine, in this place, the nature and character of the writings of Pindar, as the only materials remaining that can enable us to form a general notion of the performances re- cited by the lyric poets at the principal Gre- cian solemnities. Pindar, from his earliest years, was carefully trained by his father (him- self a musician) to the studies of music and poetry. His genius, naturally wild and luxu- riant, was corrected by the lessons of his fair countrywomen, Myrtis and Corinna , 18 whose poetical productions had acquired unrivalled fame, not only in Thebes, but among all the neighbouring cities . 10 His first efforts for equalling their renown were displayed at the musical contests celebrated in his native coun- try ; where, after conquering Myrtis, he was five times overcome by Corinna, who, could we believe the voice of scandal, owed her repeated victories more to the charms of her beauty than to the superiority of her genius . 20 But in the four public assemblies of Greece, where females were not admitted to contend, Pindar carried off the prize from every competitor. The glory, in particular, which his poetry both acquired and bestowed at Olympia, made the greatest 15 Mrestiu9 lachrymis Simonidcis. Catull. 16 Dionysius Halicarn. 17 Epici carminis onera lyr& sustinentem. Quint. 18 Pausanias, 1. ix. c. xxii. 19 Lucian. iElian. Var. Hist. SO Pausanias, I. ix. c. xxii. generals and statesmen of the age court the friendship of his muse. To the temples of the gods, and especially to the celebrated temple of Delphi, his hymns and pseans drew an extra- ordinary concourse of Greeks and strangers. The priests, prophets, and other ministers of Apollo, sensible of the benefits which they de- rived from his musical fame, repaid the merit of his services by erecting his statue in the most conspicuous part of the temple, and de- clared by their organ the Pythia, that Pindar should be honoured with one half of the first- fruit offerings annually presented by the devout retainers of the Delphian shrine . 21 Pindar was thus, during his lifetime, associated to the honours of the gods ; and after his death, his memory was adorned by every mark of respect that public admiration can bestow. The beauty of the monument, erected to him by his fellow- citizens in the Hippodrome of Thebes, was ad- mired after the revolution of six centuries . 22 At the Theoxenian festival, a portion of the sacred victim was appropriated, even as late as the time of Plutarch, to the descendants of the poet. The inveterate hostility of the Spartans, when they destroyed the capital of their ancient and cruellest enemies, spared the house of Pin- dar, which was equally respected in a future age by the warlike and impetuous son of Phi- lip, and the giddy triumph of »his Macedonian captains . 23 # Pindar, we are told, acquired unrivalled fame by his hymns to Jupiter, his paeans to Apollo, and his dithyrambics to Bacchus. But as all these works have perished, as well as his love verses, his elegies, and his Parthenia , 24 we are unfortunately obliged to confine our obser- vations to the odes, which were rehearsed at the sacred games, in praise of the conquerors in the gymnastic and equestrian contests. These conquerors being persons of the first distinction in Greece, the poet takes occasion to celebrate the splendour of their past lives, the dignity of their character, the fame of their ancestors, and the glory of their several republics. The tutelary deities, to whom they owed their feli- city, are not forgotten ; and hence, by an easy transition, the poet passes to the worship of the god in whose honour the games were establish- ed ; to the adoration of the heroes who had appointed them ; and to innumerable other epi- sodes, which are often more interesting and more beautiful than the original subject. Such, most commonly, are the materials of the ode ; and its form usually consisted of three stanzas, of which the two first were of an equal length, and either of them longer than the third. This arrangement was introduced as most suitable to the occasion of the poem, as well as to the scene on which it was rehearsed. The occasion was the solemn sacrifice, ac- companied by a public entertainment, given to the spectators by the friends of the successful candidate for Olympic fame. Grateful ac- knowledgments to the gods formed a principal part of the ceremony, which could not, without impiety, be omitted by the victor, who had 21 Pausan. Phocic. 22 Pausan. Bcootic. 23 Polyb. Histor. 24 Pung, as tlie word denotes, by a chorus of virgins 78 HISTORY OF GREECE. obtained so honourable a prize through the as- sistance of his protecting divinity. On the altar of this divinity the sacrifice was performed ; and in his temple was sung the panegyrical poem, containing the united praises of the beneficent god, and of his favoured votary. The chorus waited, as usual, to begin the song, till preparations were made for the feast. They repeated the first stanza, properly called stro- phe, while they gracefully danced, towards the right, round the well-replenished altar; return- ing, in an opposite direction, to the place from which they set out, they recited the second stanza, therefore called antistrophe ; then stand- ing motionless before the altar, and, as it were, in the immediate presence of the divinity, with whose statue it was adorned, they sung the concluding stanza, with a richer exuberance, and more complicated variations, of melody . 1 The ode, therefore, was distinguished from other pieces of poetry, not by being set to mu- sic , 2 (for this was common to them all,) but by being sung by a chorus, who accompanied the various inflections of the voice with suitable attitudes and movements of the body. The lyric poetry of the Greeks thus united the pleasures of the ear, of the eye, and of the understanding. In the various nature of the entertainment consistedits essential merit and perfection ; and he only could be entitled the prince of lyric poets, whose verses happily con- spired with the general tendency of this com- plicated exhibition. By the universal consent of antiquity, this poet is Pindar, whom, ever since the eulogium of Horace, critics have ex- tolled for the brilliancy of his imagination, the figurative boldness of his diction, and the fire, animation, and enthusiasm of his genius. The panegyrics bestowed on him, have generally more of the wildness of the ode, than of the coolness of criticism ; so that the peculiar na- ture of his excellences may still deserve to be explained. It will be allowed by every one who reads his works with attention, that, great as his ideas are, Pindar is less distinguished by the sublimity of his thoughts and sentiments, than by the grandeur of his language and ex- pression ; and that his inimitable 3 excellence consists in the energy, propriety, and magnifi- cence of his style, so singularly fitted to asso- ciate with the lengthened tones of music, and the figured movements of the dance. The uni- form cadence, the smooth volubility, and the light unimportance of ordinary composition, are extremely ill adapted to this association, which, bringing every single word into notice, and subjecting it to observation and remark, must expose its natural meanness, insignifi- cance, and poverty. But as much as the lan- guage of ordinary writers would lose, that' of Pindar would gain, by such an examination. His words and phrases are chosen with an habitual care, and possess a certain weight and dignity, which, the more they are contemplated, 1 Marius Yictorinus de Gram, and the Scholia on He- phmstion. 2 This error runs through the whole of the otherwise very sensible discourse of Mr. Charbanon on lyric poetry, in the Memoirs de I’Academie. 3 Pindarum quisquis studet emvlari , &c [Chap. | must be the more admired. It is this magnifi- cence of diction, those compound epithets, and those glowing expressions (which the coldness of criticism has sometimes condemned as extra- vagant) that form the transcendent merit of the Pindaric style, and distinguish it even more than the general flow of the versification, which is commonly so natural, free, and unre- strained, that it bears less resemblance to poe- try, than to a beautiful and harmonious prose. It is not meant, however, that this great poet paid more attention to the choice, than to the arrangement, of words. The majesty of the composition equalled, and, in the opinion of a great critic, even surpassed the value of the materials. Dionysius, the critic to whom I allude, has explained by what admirable refine- ments of art, Pindar gave to his words a certain firmness and solidity of consistence, separated them at wide intervals, placed them on a broad base, and raised them to a lofty eminence, from which they darted those irradiations of splen- dour, that astonished the most distant be- holders. But the most exalted fame cannot extend with equal facility to distance of time and dis- tance of place. The poems of Pindar are now deprived of their accompaniments of music and dancing, by which they were formerly ennobled and adorned. They are now read in the re- tirement of the closet, without personal interest and without patriotic emotion. They were an- ciently sung to- large assemblies of men, who believed the religion which they described, knew the characters whom they celebrated, and felt the influence of that piety and patriotism which they were admirably calculated to up- hold. Such passages as may appear most exceptionable in the cool moments of solitary study, would obtain the highest applause amidst the joyous animation of social triumph, when men are naturally disposed to admire every happy boldness of expression, and to behold, with unusual rapture, those lofty and danger- ous flights which elevate the daring muse of Pindar. In examining the effect of the games, as in- stitutions for bodily exercise and mental im- provement, it is necessary to reflect, not only on the universality of their establishment, but on the frequency of their repetition. Besides the public solemnities already described, innu- merable provincial festivals were celebrated in each particular republic. The Athenians em- ployed near a third part of the year in such amusements ; and if we may be allowed to conjecture, that those communities which insti- tuted most festivals, would most excel in the arts and exercises displayed in them, we may conclude, from the national designations of the Olympic victors preserved in ancient authors, that the number of the Athenian festivals was rivalled by that of several other states. For these warlike and elegant amusements, the youth were carefully trained by the disci- pline of the gymnasia, in which they learned whatever can give strength and agility to the limbs, ease and grace to the motions, force and beauty to the genius. Bodily strength and agility were accompanied by health and vigour HISTORY OF GREECE. 79 VL] of constitution. Their athletic hardiness bore, without inconvenience, the vicissitudes of cold and heat. Even in the scorching warmth 4 of July (for that was the season of the Olympic games,) they received, bareheaded, the direct rays of the sun. And the firm organization, acquired by perpetual exercise, counteracted that fatal propensity to vicious indulgence, too natural to their voluptuous climate, and pro- duced those inimitable models of strength and beauty, which are so deservedly admired in the precious remains of Grecian statuary. These corporeal advantages were followed by a train of excellences to which they are nearly allied. There is a courage depending on nerves and blood, which was improved to the highest pitch among the Greeks. They delight, says Lucian , 5 to behold the combats of bold and generous animals; and their own contentions are still more animated. In the memorable war with Persia, they showed the superiority of their national courage; and it is worthy of observation, that the most signal exploits were performed in the field of battle by those who had been previously adorned with the Olympic crown. It was a general boast, that one Gre- cian could conquer ten Persians ; 6 and the suggestions of reason tend to confirm the evi- dence of history. In the battles of the Greeks and Persians, victory was not obtained by the mechanical exertions of distant hostility. The contest was decided by the point of the sword and spear. The use of these weapons requires activity of the limbs, steadiness of the eye, and dexterity of the hand. It improves the courage as well as the vigour of the soldier; and both qualities were admirably promoted by the habitual exercises of the gymnasia, which in- spired not only the spirit to undertake, but the ability to execute, the most dangerous and difficult enterprises. The gymnastic arts encouraged other excel- lences still more important than bodily accom- plishments and courage. Chiefly by their in- fluence, the love of pleasure and the love of action, the two most powerful principles in the human breast, were directed to purposes not only innocent but useful. The desire of an Olympic crown restrained alike those weak- nesses which form the disgrace, and those vices which form the guilt and misery of undisci- plined minds ; and an object of earthly and per- ishable ambition led to the same external purity and temperance, that is recommended by the precepts, and enforced by the sanctions, of a divine and immutable religion. The oil, the crown, the robes, and the palms, compose not the only resemblance between the Christian and the Olympic victors. These visible images have been borrowed indeed by the sacred writers, to assist our imperfect conception of divine truths ; 7 but they have been borrowed from an institution which resembles Christianity, not in the honours and rewards which it proposed, but in the efforts and duties which it required. The ambition of honest fame taught men to 4 Lucian, Solon. 5 In Solon. 6 Herodot. 1. viii. 7 1 Corinth. 9th chapter, four last verses. control the appetites of the body by the affec- tions of the soul ; 8 the springs of emulation repressed the allurements of sensuality ; one dangerous passion combated another still more dangerous; and a train of useful prejudices supported the cause, and maintained the ascend- ant of virtue. Many of the peculiarities which distinguish the Greeks from the mass of ancient and mo- dern nations, seem to have derived their origin from the same useful institutions ; particularly the custom of going unarmed, and their per- petual contempt for the capricious notions con- cerning the point of honour. These unpolished republicans were accustomed, in the private gymnasia, as well as at the public entertain- ments, to inflict and to suffer the most pro- voking indignities. A barbarous Scythian, who witnessed a spectacle that seemed to him as shocking and intolerable as it would appear to a punctilious modern gentleman, declared to his Athenian conductor, that if any person should offer the same insults to him, which the Athenian youths were continually offering to each other, he would soon convince the assem- bly, that his sword was not an empty orna- ment of his person, but a useful guardian of his honour . 9 Such were the sentiments of the Scythian; and history proves, that such are the sentiments of all uncultivated minds. An untutored barbarian sets no bounds to his re- sentment. The smallest injury renders his anger implacable ; his indignation against the offender is proportioned, not to the nature of his offence, but to his own pride, which is boundless. The slightest fault requires the severest atonement ; and not only a blow, but a word, or a look, may inflict a stain on the delicacy of his supposed honour, which can only be washed out by the blood of the aggres- sor. The excesses of this sanguinary temper, before they were corrected by the refinements of Grecian philosophy, were repressed by the habitual practice of the gymnastic exercises. In the schools appropriated to the advancement of these manly arts, the Greeks learned the valuable lesson of repelling injuries by others of a similar kind, of proportioning the punish- ment to the offence, and of thus preventing a slight occasion of animosity from degenerating into a solid ground of revenge. If any citizen of those warlike republics had worn armour in time of peace, he must have been regarded either as a madman or as an assassin ; for to the chastised principles of Grecian discipline, it would have appeared altogether absurd that the sword or dagger should be thought neces- sary to retaliate the reproaches of the tongue, or even the more daring insults of the arm. The entertainments of the public festivals thus tended to eradicate the wild excesses Qf resentment, and to improve the mild and gentle virtues ; but considered in another view, the same entertainments were calculated to pro- mote ardour, emulation, friendship, patriotism, and all the animated principles and contentions 8 Qui studet optatam cursu conlingere metanJ Multa tulit fecitquo puer suclavit et alsit / Abstinuit venere ct vino. 9 Lucian Anacharsis. 80 HISTORY OF GREECE. of active life. The rewards bestowed on the conquerors were the most flattering which in that age could be proposed. Odes were sung in their praise ; statues were erected to them on the scene of victory ; the names of their parents and country were jointly celebrated with their own ; they were entitled to the first seats at all public entertainments; maintained at the expense of their respective communities ; and in their native cities, rewarded not only with monuments and inscriptions, but some- times with altars and temples. Of these honours and rewards, the appropriated sym- bols were the olive, the pine, the parsley, and the laurel crowns ; which were respectively dis- tributed at the several solemnities of Olympic, the Isthmus, Nemea, and Delphi. Observing the small value of these badges of distinction, without adverting to the solid benefits which they conferred, the Persian Tigranes would have dissuaded his master from going to war with a people, who, insensible to interest, fought only for glory . 1 But had Tigranes been more completely informed concerning the institutions of Greece, he would have under- stood, that both interest and glory operated most powerfully upon the candidates for Olym- pic fame, and not only their personal interests, but those of their friends, their parents, and their country, who, being associated to their honours, were regarded by them with that love and affection which men naturally feel for the objects of their protection and bounty. In explaining the influence of the Grecian solemnities, v T e must not forget the musical and poetical exhibitions, which, from being employed to reward the victors in the gym- nastic exercises, came to be themselves thought worthy of reward. The martial lessons of Tyrtseus and Callinus admirably conspired with the effects which have already been de- scribed, encouraging the firm and manly virtues both by the enthusiasm with which their pre- cepts were conveyed, and by the lively impres- sions which they gave of those objects for v T hich it is important to contend. The cour- age depending on blood and nerves is uncer- tain and transitory in its existence ; and even while it exists, may be indifferently employed to purposes beneficial or destructive. It be- longed to the martial bards to determine its doubtful nature, to fix and illustrate its genuine motives, and to direct it to the proper objects of its pursuit. The musical entertainments thus strength- ened, refined, and exalted the manly principles inspired by all the customs and institutions of that- warlike age. But as bravery is a hardy plant that grows in every soil, the most bene- ficial consequence of the arts consisted in in- fusing a proper mixture of softness and sensi- bility into the Grecian character. This is well l'TJie word is etgsrn? in the original ; but here means the reward 61 virtue. Vid. Herodot. 1. viii. c. 26. [Chap. knowm to be their effect in every country where they are allowed to flourish . 2 The Greeks, in. a peculiar manner, required their assistance ; nor could it have been possible for that people, without the happy influence of the arts, to con- trol the barbarity naturally occasioned by their constant employment in war, the savage cruelty introduced by the practice of domestic servi- tude, and that unrelenting ferocity of character which seems essentially inherent in the nature of democratical government. Amidst these sources of degeneracy and corruption, the time and application necessary to attain proficiency in the pursuits of genius, habituated the Greeks to gentle amusements and innocent pleasures. The honours and rewards bestowed on the suc- cessful candidates for literary fame, engaged them to seek happiness and glory in the peace- ful shade of retirement, as well as on the con- tentious theatre of active life ; and the observa- tions and discoveries occasionally suggested by the free communication of sentiment, strength- ened and confirmed those happy prejudices which combat on the side of virtue, and en- force the practice of such rules of behaviour as are most useful and agreeable in society. If the musical and literary entertainments acquired such a happy influence over the moral dispositions of the heart, they produced a still more considerable effect on the intellectual fa- culties of the mind. It is almost impossible, in the present age, to conceive the full extent of their efficacy in improving the memory, ani- mating the imagination, and correcting the judgment. As to the memory, indeed, there is a period in the progress of society preceding the introduction of writing, when the energies of this faculty have been exerted among many nations with a wonderful degree of force. Even among the barbarous Celtic inhabitants of our own island, the Druids could repeat an incredible number of verses, containing the knowledge of their history, laws, and religion , and a period of twenty years was required to complete the poetical studies of a candidate for the priesthood . 3 But if the Greeks were equalled by other nations in the exercise of the memory, they have always been unrivalled in the delicacy of their taste, and the inimitable charms of their fancy. These excellences, whether originally produced by natural or moral causes, or more probably by a combination of both, were, doubtless, extended and improved by emula- tion and habitual exercise. To this exercise the public solemnities afforded a proper field ; and, in the contests of music and poetry, were displayed the opening blossoms of Grecian genius, blossoms which afterwards ripened into those fruits of philosophy and eloquence, that will form the admiration and delight of the last ages of the world. 2 Ingenuas didicisse fideliter artcs, Emollit mores, nec sinit esse feroa. 3 Csesar, de bello Gallico, 1. vi. ) VII.] HISTORY OF GREECE. 81 CHAPTER VII. State of the Grecian Colonies — The Ionians flourish in Arts and Arms — Their Wars with the Lydians — The Asiatic Greeks subdued by Croesus — Splendour of the Lydian Court — Founda- tion of the Persian Monarchy — Causes of its rapid Grandeur — Which alarms Croesus — His Alliance with the Lacedaemonians — He invades the Persian Dominions— Measures of his Allies — Croesus defeated by Cyrus — End of the Lydian Monarchy. A BOVE two thousand years have elapsed since it was observed, to the honour of Eu- rope, that a handful of Greeks, ^having esta- blished themselves in Asia and Africa, contin- ually maintained and extended their posses- sions in those quarters of the world. 4 Wherever the spirit of enterprise diffused their settle- Ol d ments, they perceived, it is said, xx j on the slightest comparison, the su- A^C 700 P eriorit y tlleir own religion, lan- guage, institutions, and manners ; and the dignity of their character and senti- ments eminently distinguished them from the general mass of nations whose territories they invaded, and whom they justly denominated Barbarians. 5 Yet these honourable advantages, instead of conciliating good-will, tended only to exasperate hostility. The northern Greeks were perpetually harassed by the fierce inroads of the Thracians : the southern were endan- gered by the united strength of Egypt and Lybia. The colonies in Magna Grcecia, hav- ing easily resisted the rude, though warlike na- tives of that country, were called to contend with the more formidable power of Carthage. But the consequences of all these wars, which shall be described in due time, extended not beyond the countries in which they first arose. The memorable conflict between the Greek colonies in the east, and the great nations of Asia, forms a subject more vast and more in- teresting. Not confined to the extremities, it reached and shook the centre of Greece. It recoiled with more destructive violence on Persia; its duration comprehends the most illustrious period in the history of both coun- tries ; and its extent embraces all the great nations of antiquity, together with the scat- tered communities of Grecian extraction in every part of the world. In the third century after their establish- ment in the east, and above seven hundred years before the Christian era, the Greeks of Asia, and particularly the Ionians, far surpass- ed their European ancestors in splendour and prosperity. 6 While ancient Greece was ha- rassed by intestine dissensions, and its northern frontier exposed to the hostility of neighbour- ing Barbarians, the eastern colonies enjoyed profound peace, and flourished in the vicinity of Phrygia and Lydia, the best cultivated and most wealthy provinces of Lower Asia, 7 and perhaps of the ancient world. History and poetry alike extol the golden treasures of the Phrygian and Lydian kings. 8 Their subjects 4 Hippocrat. vol. i. p. 350. Edit. Lugdun. 1703. 5 Isocrat. Panegyr. passim. 6 Herodot. passim. Plin. 1. v. et Sonec. ad Hclv. 7 Strabo, 1. xii. et 1. xiii. 8 Idem, p. 628 et 621. Edit. Paris. L wrought mines of gold, melted the ore, mould- ed figures in bronze, dyed weol, cultivated music, enjoyed the amusements of leisure, and indulged the demands of luxury, 9 when the neighbouring countries of Cappadocia and Ar- menia remained equally ignorant of laws and arts, and when the Medes and Persians, destined successively to obtain the empire of Asia, lived in scattered villages, subsisted by hunting, pasturage, or robbery, and were clothed with the skins of wild beasts. 19 Yet the Lydians and Phrygians, satisfied with their domestic advantages, seem never to have directed their attention towards foreign commerce. * 11 When the voluptuousness or os- tentation of their kings and nobility made them covet the conveniences and luxuries of distant countries, they were contented to owe these new gratifications, first to the Phoe- nician merchants, and afterwards to the Greek settlements established on their coasts. Through the supine neglect of their neighbours respect- ing maritime affairs, the Asiatic Greeks ac- quired without contest, and enjoyed without molestation, besides several valuable islands, the whole western coast of the continent, ex- tending, in a waving line, above six hundred miles in length, beautifully diversified by hill and dale, intersected by rivers, broken by bays and promontories, and adorned by the noblest prospects and finest climate in the world. The face of that delightful country will be more particularly described, when it becomes the unhappy scene of military operations. It is sufficient at present to observe, that its Ionian inhabitants, possessing the mouths of great rivers, having convenient and capacious har- bours before them, and behind, the wealthy and populous nations of Asia, whose commerce they enjoyed and engrossed, attained such early and rapid proficiency in the arts of navigation and traffic, as raised the cities of Miletus, 12 Colophon, 13 and Phocsea, 14 to an extraordinary pitch of opulence and grandeur. Their popu- lation increasing with their prosperity, they diffused new colonies every where around them. 9 Herodot. 1. i. c. xciv. Plin. 1. vi. c. Ivi. 10 Herod. 1. i. c. lxxi. 11 The Lydians and Phrygians are mentioned, in Castor’s Epochs, among the seventeen nations, who. according to that careless and ignorant compiler, successively became masters of the Mediterranean sea ; but the extravagant dreams of this fabulous writer are at variance with the whole tenor* of ancient history. It is extraordinary that those who ever looked into Herodotus should pay any re- gard to the unwfirranted assertions of Castor ; yet this fabulist has been generally followed by modern chronolo- ger and compilers. See Blair’s Tables, &c. 12 Athenaeus, 1. xii. p. 523. Comparing their ancient and actual state, the Greek proverb said, TtuXxi 7rors » o-«v uKxipoi ; Once, but long ago, the Milesians wore powerful. 13 Athen. 1. xiv. p. 643. 14 Strabo, p. 582 ot p. 617. Herodot. 1. iv. c. clii. 82 HISTORY OF GREECE. Having obtained footing in Egypt, 1 in the eighth century before Christ, they acquired, and thenceforth preserved, the exclusive com- merce of that ancient and powerful kingdom. Their territories, though in their greatest breadth compressed between the sea and the dominions of Lydia to the extent of scarce forty miles, became not only flourishing in peace, but for- midable in war, 2 and bore something of a similar relation to the powerful kingdoms of Egypt, Lydia, and Assyria, which had hither- to swayed the politics of the ancient world, that the small but industrious republics of Italy had to the rest of Europe in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries ; or, to describe their con- dition still more exactly, that the Netherlands, three hundred years ago, had to the extensive countries of France, England, and Germany. Such multiplied advantages could not lan- guish in the hands of men, who, as we shall soon learn from their history, had genius to conceive, and courage to execute, the most ar- duous designs. With the utmost industry and perseverance they improved and ennobled the useful or elegant arts, which they found al- ready practised among the Phrygians and Ly- dians. They incorporated the music of those nations with their own. Their poetry, as above described, far excelled whatever Pagan anti- quity could boast most precious. 3 They rival- led the skill of their neighbours in moulding clay, and casting brass. They appear to have been the first people who made statues of mar- ble. The Doric and Ionic orders of architec- ture perpetuate, in their names, the honour of their inventors. Painting was first reduced to rule, and practised with success among the Greeks ; and we may be assured that, during the seventh century before Christ, the Ionian s surpassed all their neighbours, and even the Phoenicians, in the arts of design, since the magnificent presents which the far-famed ora- cle of Delphi received from the ostentation or piety of the Lydian kings, were chiefly the pro- ductions of Ionian artists. 4 In the following century Ionia gave birth to philosophy; and we shall have occasion to explain hereafter by what means both science and taste were dif- fused from that country over Greece, Italy, and Sicily. But our present subject recals us from the history of arts to that of arms. The first formidable enemies with whom the Asiatic Greeks had to contend, were the bar- barous Cimmerians, 5 who, being driven from the banks of the Euxine, by a Scythian horde still fiercer than themselves, overflowed, with irresistible violence, the finest provinces of Asia Minor. But the invasion of the Cim- merians is described as a predatory incursion, 6 not as a regular plan of enterprise directed to the purposes of conquest and settlement. The 1 Herodot. 1. ii. c. xxxii. 2 Idem, ibid, et Aristot. de Civitat. 1. iv. c. iv. 3 See chap. vi. 4 Herodot. 1. L 5 Strabo, p. 292, says, that the Cimmerians were called Cimbri by the Romans. He speaks frequently of them, particularly p. 108. 193. 292. 494. Their impetuous and destructive incursions are well expressed by the elegiac poet Callinus, cited in Strabo, p. 648. Nov S’tTTl KlflftSglWV (TTgXTCf O/iGlfJtOlg yolV. 6 Oo xa,T&trTgo$ti tytvero ti, &c. Tie was taught wisdom late, and only bv adversity. 4 Herodot. 5 Thucydid. HISTORY OF GREECE. 85 VII.] upon liis curiosity and love of knowledge ; and asked him, as a man who had seen many coun- tries, and reflected with much judgment upon what he had seen, whom of all men he esteem- ed most happy? By the particular occasion, as well as the triumphant air with which the question was proposed, the king made it evi- dent that he expected flattery rather than in- formation. But Solon’s character had not been enervated by the debilitating air of a court, and he replied with a manly freedom, “ Tellus, the Athenian.” Croesus, who had scarcely learned to distinguish, even in imagination, between wealth and happiness, inquired with a tone of surprise, why this preference to Tellus ? “ Tel- lus,” rejoined Solon, “ was not conspicuous for his riches, or his grandeur, being only a simple citizen of Athens ; but he was descended from parents who deserved the first honours of the republic. He was equally fortunate in his children, who obtained universal esteem by their probity, patriotism, and every useful quality of the mind or body ; and as to him- self, he died fighting gallantly in the service of his country, which his valour rendered victo- rious in a doubtful combat ; on which account the Athenians buried him on the spot where he fell, and distinguished him by every honour which public gratitude can confer on illustrious merit.” Croesus had little encouragement, after this answer, to ask Solon, in the second place, whom, next to Tellus, he deemed most happy ? Such, however, is the illusion of vanity, that he still ventured to make this demand, and still, as we are informed by the most circum- stantial of historians, entertained hopes of being favourably answered. But Solon replied with the same freedom as before, “ The brothers Cleobis and Biton; two youths of Argos, whose strength and address were crowned with repeat- ed victory at the Olympic games ; who deserv- ed the affection of their parents, the gratitude of their country, the admiration of Greece ; and who, having ended their lives with pecu- liar felicity , 6 were commemorated by the most signal monuments of immortal fame.” “ And is the happiness of a king, then,” said Croesus, 41 so little regarded, O Grecian stranger ! that you prefer to it the mean condition of an Athe- nian or Argive citizen ?” The reply of Solon sufficiently justified his reputation for wisdom. “ The life of man,” said he, ‘‘consists of seventy years, which make twenty-six thousand two hun- dred and fifty days; an immense number, yet in the longest life, the events of any one day will not be found exactly alike to those of another. The affairs of men are liable to perpetual vicis- situdes ; the Divinity who presides over our fate is envious of too much prosperity ; and all human life, if not condemned to calamity, is at least liable to accident . 7 Whoever has uninter- ruptedly enjoyed a prosperous tide of success may justly be called fortunate : but he cannot be- fore his death be entitled to the epithet of happy.” The events which soon followed this conver- sation, prove how little satisfaction is derived G T£X.eun) too 5iov agurrui t7riytviT0. Herodot. 1. i. c. 31. 7 Outgo Kgoiire jtmj ()\u5sv. “He came his OW'D messenger to Croesus.” 4 Herod. 1. i. c. lxxz. Herodot. 1. i. c. lxxi. HISTORY OF GREECE. 89 VII.] in arms, were thrown into disorder, and turn- ing their heads, endeavoured to escape from the field. Croesus, who perceived the confu- sion, was ready to despair of his fortune ; but the Lydians, abandoning their horses, prepared with uncommon bravery to attack the enemy on foot. Their courage deserved a better fate ; but unaccustomed as they were to this mode of fighting, they were received and repelled by the experienced valour of the Persian infantry, and obliged to take refuge within the fortified strength of Sardis, where they imagined them- selves secure. The walls of that city bid de- fiance to the rude art of attack, as then prac- tised by the most warlike nations. If the Per- sian army should invest it, the Lydians were provided with provisions for several years ; and there was reason to expect, that in a few months, and even weeks, they would receive such assistance from Egypt, Babylonia, and Greece (to which countries they had already sent ambassadors,) as would oblige theTersians to raise the siege . 5 The Lydian ministers dispatched into Greece met with great sympathy from the Spartans. That people were particularly observant of the faith of treaties ; and while they punished their enemies with unexampled severity, they be- haved with generous compassion towards those whom they had once accepted for allies. The benevolent principles of their nature were ac- tually warmed and elevated by the triumph of a successful expedition against the most formi- dable of their domestic foes. They had main- tained a long and bloody war with the Argives, for the small, but valuable district of Thyrea, lying on the frontiers of the rival states. The Spartans at length obtained possession of it ; but the Argives advanced with an army more powerful than any that they had ever led into the field, in order to make good their ancient pretensions. The wars of the Greeks were not merely undertaken from the dictates of interest and ambition, but considered as trials of skill, and contests of honour. When a conference, therefore, was proposed, we know not by which of the parties, it was agreed, in order to prevent a greater effusion of blood, that three hundred combatants on the Spartan, and an equal number on the Argive side, should de- termine, by the success of their arms, the dis- puted title to Thyrea, as well as the warlike pre-eminence of their respective republics. Three hundred champions being selected for this purpose from either army, it seemed ne- cessary that the remainder of both nations should retire ; for the Argive and Spartan citi- zens, who felt with a republican sensibility for the interest of their communities, could not have remained tame spectators of the battle. The combatants fought with an obstinate va- lour, of which there are few examples in history. Each soldier behaved as if the success of the day had been committed to his single spear ; and each was eager to sacrifice his own life to the preservation of his country’s fame. These generous sentiments were fully proved by the issue of the battle. At the approach of night, 5 Herodot. 1. 1. c. lxxx. M only three combatants survived, two Argives, and the Spartan Othryades. The Argives, either through neglect or pity, spared the life of their single opponent, and returned home with the melancholy tidings of their bloody victory. Othryades still kept the field, collect- ing the spoil, and carrying into his own camp the arms of the enemy, which he erected into the usual trophy of military success. Next day the two armies, consisting of a great proportion of the citizens capable of bearing arms, arrived at the scene of action. The surprise of the Ar- gives is not to be expressed, when they saw the appearance of the field. Notwithstanding the Spartan trophy, they still insisted, that as two of their champions, and only one of the ene- my’s, had survived, they were justly entitled to the glory of the day ; but, seemingly with more reason, the Spartans maintained that this hon- our belonged to Othryades. From verbal alter- cation, carried on with that warmth which the importance of the dispute naturally inspired, they made an easy transition to acts of vio- lence . 6 The conflict was long, fierce, and bloody ; but the superior discipline of Sparta finally prevailed. The Argives lamented their defeat, as the greatest calamity that had ever befallen them. The inward feelings of their hearts were expressed by external demonstra- tions of sorrow. Like most of the Grecian na- tions, they had hitherto adorned their long hair, to increase the gracefulness of manly beauty, and to render their appearance more terrible to their enemies. But in remembrance of this disaster, they shaved their heads , 7 deprived the Argive women of their golden ornaments, and bound themselves by a dreadful imprecation never more to assume their wonted appearance, until they had recovered possession of Thyrea. The Spartans, on the other hand, celebrated their victory with the liveliest expressions of national triumph. Othryades alone partook not the general joy. Ashamed of returning to Sparta a solitary monument of three hundred brave men, he, with a generous despair, sacri- ficed his own life to the manes of his warlike companions. Such were the circumstances of the Lacedaemonian republic, when the ambas- sadors of Crmsus came to demand their assist- ance. The prosperity of their own situation naturally heightened, by contrast, the melan- choly condition of their unfortunate ally, be- sieged, as they learned, in his capital, by a vic- torious army. They immediately resolved to send him a speedy and effectual relief ; and for this purpose assembled their troops, made ready their vessels, and prepared every thing necessary for the expedition. 6 Herodot. 1. i. c. Ixxxii. 7 At funerals, the Greeks cut ofi” their hair, to be con- sumed in the funeral pile with the bodies of their friends. Thus at the interment of Patroclus, Achilles Xrosj ocjrstvsuSs 7rvgt j? t-sevfiiji/ cctrexeigxTO %ee«T*)v, TqV £56 ZTTlgX'KD TTOTCCfij) T(S$B TljXs5o!0) i t Itif iS/UlVZ “ These Ionians, to whom Panionium belongs, hnvo built cities in the finest climate, and in the most beautiful situa- tions, of all men whom wo know.” He then proceeds to observe, that the countries on all 9ides lof Ionia were op- pressed by cold and humidity on the one hand, or heat and drought on the other. Herod. 1. i. c. cxlii. 92 HISTORY OF GREECE. It may seem extraordinary that the Dorians, especially those inhabiting the peninsula of Caria, who were likewise destined to feel the Persian power, should not have joined in mea- sures necessary for the common defence. But this circumstance it is still possible to explain. Of the six Doric republics, who annually as- sembled at Triopium to celebrate the festival of Apollo, 1 four were encouraged, by their in- sular situation, to contemn the threats of Cyrus. Cnidus, as will appear hereafter, hoped to de- rive from art the same advantages which its confederates, Cos, Lindus, Jalissus, and Cami- rus, enjoyed by nature. And Halicarnassus, the sixth Dorian state, as we are informed with a laudable impartiality, by a native of that city, had been recently excluded from the Triopian festival. This disgrace was occasioned by the sordid avarice of Agasicles the Halicarnassian, who having conquered in the Triopian games, carried away the tripod, which was the prize of his victory ; whereas, according to an es- tablished rule, he ought to have consecrated it in the temple of Apollo. His sacrilege de- prived his country of the common benefits of the Dorian name. 2 To enliven the dryness of geographical de- scription, essential, however, to the perspicuity of the present narrative, we should in vain turn our thoughts to the actual condition of the Asiatic shore. Few vestiges remain of the Doric and Eolic cities ; and even the Ionic, which far surpassed them in magnificence and splendour, can scarcely be recognized by the learned and curious traveller. Nothing now remains but the indelible impressions of nature ; the wprks of men have perished with them- selves. The physical advantages of Lower Asia continue nearly 3 the same now, as two thousand years ago ; but the moral condition of that country, compared to what it once was, is the silent obscurity of the grave, contrasted with the vivid lustre of active life. The Asiatic Greeks, having examined the state of their affairs, were fully sensible of their own weakness, compared with the strength of the enemy. In forming their establishments in Asia, they had confined themselves to a long and narrow line on the coast, look- "* ing with a wishful eye towards the A C 540 mother - countr yi from which, in every calamity, they expected as- sistance and protection. The result, therefore, of the present deliberation was to send an em- bassy into Greece, in order to explain the dan- ger to which they were exposed, and to show the necessity of powerful and timely aid. It might have been expected that Attica, the na- tive country of the Ionians, should have re- ceived the first visit of the ambassadors ; but Athens was then governed by the tyrant Pisis- tratus, who, it was supposed, would be averse to take arms against a tyrant like himself. Sparta, though a republic of greater power and renown, was little connected, either by com- 1 Three in the isle of Rhodes, one in Cos. 2 Herodot. 1. i. c. cxliv. 3 The changes in the face of the country, produced chiefly by the receding of the sea, may be seen in the splen- did work of Mons. Choiseuil Gouflicr, Lo Voyage pittores- que do la Greece, &c. [Ch^p. merce or affinity, with the Greeks of Asia. The proposals of the Asiatic ambassadors, there- fore, were very coolly received by the Spartan senate. On such occasions, however, it was customary to take the opinions also of the people. In the assembly convened for this purpose, Pythermus, a Phocaean, clothed with purple, as a mark of his consideration in his native country, spoke for himself and his col- leagues. But the beauties of his Ionic dialect were unable to move the resolution of the La- ceda3monians, who, mindful of the ancient en mity between the Ionic and the Doric race, declined sending any forces into Asia, to resist the arms of Cyrus. Though their generosity furnished no public assistance, their caution privately dispatched several Spartan citizens to observe the operations of the war. When these men arrived in Ionia, they were easily per suaded to exceed the bounds of their commis sion. They appointed Lacrines, the most con siderable of their number, to travel to the Lydian capital, in order to acquaint Cyrus, that if he committed hostilities against any of the Grecian cities, the Lacedaemonian republic would know how to punish his injustice. Cyrus, astonished at such an insolent message from a people altogether unknown to him, asked the Greeks present (for there was al- ways a great number of Grecian fugitives in the armies of their neighbours,) who the La cedaemonians were ? 4 and what number of men they could bring into the field ? When in formed of these particulars, he replied to the Spartan ambassador, “ That he never should fear men who had a square in the midst of their city, in which they met together to prac- tise mutual falsehood and deception; 5 and that if he continued to enjoy the blessings of health, he hoped to afford the Spartans more domestic reasons of complaint, than his military prepa- rations against the Greeks of Asia.” q. The interview with Lacrines l x ^ happened among the last public A* C cqq transactions during Cyrus’s resi- * dence at Sardis. Having reduced Croesus into captivity, the only enemy in those parts who seemed worthy of his arms, he was eager to return towards the East, in order to complete his conquests in Upper Asia. The Grecians he knew to be a warlike people ; but as their numbers were inconsiderable, their cities small, and ill fortified, he thought proper to attempt in person enterprises of greater re- nown, and to commit the Grecian war to the skill of his lieutenant, Harpagus. 6 In the course of a few months, this general made himself master of all the countries of Lower Asia, possessed by either Greeks or Barbarians. Having the command of men and labour, he caused mounds of earth to be thrown up, adjacent to the Grecian walls. In 4 Herodotus leaves it uncertain whether this ignorance was not affected, the better to mark his contempt. 5 Cyrus alludes to the market-places, or public squares, common in all Grecian cities, with the use of which the Asiatics were totally unacquainted, “ being destitute,” as Herodotus says, “of all places of public resort.” G His predecessor, Mazares, died almost immediately after he had taken Prien6 and Magnesia, and sold the in- habitants for slaves. Herodot. 1. i. c. lxi. HISTORY OF GREECE. 93 VIII.] this service, immense numbers must have perished by the darts of the enemy ; but the work was no sooner completed, than the Per- sians, running up the mounds, got possession of the walls, drove the Greeks from their bat- tlements, overpowered them from their own fortifications, entered, and sacked their towns. 7 When we consider the fury with y™P- which the wars of the ancients lx. 2. A. C. 539. were carried on, and reflect, that the immediate consequences of a defeat were servitude or death, we have reason to believe that the Greeks would make a reso- lute and bloody defence. This indeed suf- ficiently appears, by the evidence of a few scattered facts preserved in history. The first place which Harpagus attacked was the cele- brated capital of the Phocseans, the most northern city of Ionia. The inhabitants, as already mentioned, were famous for their long and successful navigations, in the course of which they had often visited the coasts of Spain, the Mexico and Peru of the ancient world. The money derived from that country had enabled them to build the best fortification that was to be seen in all those parts ; yet they entertained not any hopes of resisting the Per- sian invaders. Such, however, was their love of liberty, and their dread of seeing in their streets the army of a conqueror, that they re- solved on a measure which has been often pro- posed, but seldom executed. When Harpagus sent them his commands, they begged the fa- vour of a day’s pause for deliberation. In all probability they had already taken many ne- cessary measures for effecting their escape ; for during that short interval, their ships were pre- pared, their money and goods put on board, their wives and families embarked, and the whole community was floating on the waves, when the Persians arrived to take possession of desolated dwellings and empty walls. The advantageous situation of Phocaea, and the pains which had been taken to improve and to embellish it, make this resolution appear the more extraordinary ; if any thing, at least, can add to the wonder, that a whole people should unanimously abandon their temples, their altars, and what in ancient times seemed not less sa- cred, the tombs of their ancestors ; should to- tally divest themselves of every right to a coun- try which they had been accustomed to call their own ; and set sail with their wives and children, ignorant whither to direct their course, or in what friendly port they might expect pro- tection or repose. 8 The Phocaean fleet, consisting of more than two hundred sail, made for the isle of Chios, which, of all the Ionic settlements, seemed most secure against the Persian arms. Having arrived there, they endeavoured to purchase from the Chians the small Oenussian islands: but the Chians, jealous of their commerce, and knowing the adventurous spirit of the fugitives, denied their request. The Phocaeans, thus cruelly rejected by men of the same race and language with themselves, set sail on a much longer voyage, for the isle of Cynus, or Corsica, 7 Herodot. lib. i cap. clxii, clxiii, et geq. 8 Herodot. 1. i. c. clxiv. where, about twenty years before, they had formed a small establishment. As they coasted, in the night, along the solitary shore of then ancient city, a few ships, manned with enter- prising crews, landed in the harbour, surprised the Persian garrison, and put every man to the sword. After applauding this memorable act of revenge, the whole fleet, transported with fury against the Persians, bound themselves by mutual oaths never to return to Phocaea, until a burning ball of iron, which they threw into the sea, should again emerge unextinguished. 9 Yet such is the powerful attachment of men to their ancient habitations, that in a few hours, more than one half the fleet, unable to resist the alluring prospect of their native shore, dis- regarded their oaths, and sailed for the well- known harbour. The destruction of the Per- sian garrison removed the only obstacle in the way of immediate possession ; and the blame of this massacre might be thrown on their coun- trymen who fled, while those who returned to Phocaea might prove their innocence, by speed- ily submitting to every burden imposed on them. Mean while, the best and bravest portion of the Phocaean republic arrived with safety at the island of Corsica; where, their subsequent adventures not being immediately connected with our present subject, will merit attention in another part of this history. 10 The Phocaeans were not the only people of Asiatic Greece who deserted their country, rather than abandon their liberty. The Teians who inhabited the southern shore of the Ionic peninsula, had not yet been softened into cow- ardice by the effeminate muse of Anacreon. They followed the generous example which the inhabitants of Phocaea had set ; forsook a city in which they could no longer j x ^2 *** remain free, and sought refuge in A ' C Abdera, an ancient colony of Cla- zomene, on the coast of Thrace, and near the mouth of the river Nessus. * 11 The city of Clazomene, now mentioned, was built on the continent ; but on the present occasion, the inhabitants, to avoid slavery, settled in eight small islands, at a little distance from the shore, on which they founded a new city, the model of that of Venice. The advantage which the Clazorftenians enjoyed by nature, the Cni- dians endeavoured to procure by art. They occupied the extremity of the Carian penin- sula; and their city being joined to the conti- nent by an isthmus of only half a mile broad, they attempted, by means of a ditch, to detach themselves entirely from the main land. If this could be effected, they might despise the power of their enemies, who not having as yet subdued the Phoenicians, possessed not any naval force sufficient to conquer the Grecian isles. But the approach of the Persians, and still more their own superstitious fears, inter- rupted this useful undertaking; and the city of Cnidas, as well as all others on the Asiatic coast, Miletus alone excepted, were reduced to unconditional submission under the Persian yoke. 9 Idem, 1. i. c. clxv. 10 Herodot. 1. i. c. clxv. 11 Herodot. 1. i. c. lxviii. et c. clxviii. 94 HISTORY OF GREECE. Ql While the arms of Harpagus were ** thus successful on the western A." C 539 s ^ ore i those of Cyrus acquired still greater glory in the central parts of Asia. 1 With amazing rapidity his victori- ous troops over-ran the rich countries between the Mediterranean and the Tigris. Every thing gave way before their valour and their fortune. The city of Babylon alone, the ancient and proud capital of the Assyrian empire, opposed its lofty and impenetrable walls to the ambi- tion of the conqueror. When all the countries round were reduced into obedience, it might seem absurd in the inhabitants of one place to think of resisting the Persian arms. But when we consider the singular resources of this place, we shall perceive, that a design which would have been obstinate folly in any other citizens, was no more than proper firmness in the Baby- lonians. Their capital, which was celebrated for its magnificence, wealth, and magnitude, when nothing deserving the name of capital existed elsewhere in the world, was situated in a spacious plain, surrounded on all sides by broad and rapid rivers. The outward wall was of a firm quadrangular form, three hundred feet high, seventy-five broad, extending sixty miles in circumference, and surrounded by a deep ditch, continually supplied with water. Behind this extraordinary bulwark, of whose existence the wall of China and the pyramids of Egypt can alone serve to convince modern incredulity, was another of almost equal di- mensions ; and besides both these .general for- tifications, each division of the city had its appropriated mounds and defences. It is un- necessary to describe the towers, temples, and gardens, which by their singular greatness evi- dently announced the seat of a mighty empire. These magnificent monuments tended, indeed, to adorn, but others, less splendid, served to defend Babylon. 2 These were magazines of corn and provisions, capable of maintaining the inhabitants for twenty years ; and arsenals, which supplied with arms such a number of fighting men as seemed equal to the conquest or defence of a powerful monarchy. It was to be expected that Babylon would exert its ut- most strength, being then governed by Laby- netus, or Belthazar, whose despotism, injustice, and impiety, exceeded even the crimes of his father Nebuchadnezzar, and left him no room to expect forgiveness from the clemency of Cyrus. Olvmn During two years Cyrus blocked j x 2 up the city, without attaining any A C 538 nearer P ros P ect of success than when he first approached its walls. The events of this memorable siege are not related by ancient writers. We only know, that the efforts of the Persians proved fruitless, until strength was directed by stratagem. The river Euphrates entered, by a deep channel, the northern walls of Babylon, and issuing forth from the opposite side, almost equally bisected 1 Xenophon’s Cyropacdia, and Herodotus, contain the materials for the reign of Cvrus, as far as it is connected with the history of Greece. It is foreign to the subject of the present work, to examine the differences between these authors. 2 Herodot. 1. i. c. clxxix. et seq. [Chap. the city. Of this circumstance Cyrus availed himself to become master of the place. He employed his numerous army in digging a pro- found cavern adjacent to the lofty mound which confined the course of the river. This work being completed, he patiently waited an oppor- tunity for cutting the mound, and thus turning the waters of the Euphrates into the prepared cavern; since, if this could be done without being perceived by the enemy, his troops, sta- tioned at the two passages of the Euphrates, in and out of the city, might enter Babylon by the channel which the river had abandoned. This design was happily executed, when the Baby- lonians, who had long despised the impotent efforts of the besiegers, were employed in cele- brating a festival with every circumstance of the most licentious security. The mound of the Euphrates being divided, the highest waters deserted their channel, the river became forda- ble, and the troops of Cyrus, who, had not the Babylonians been sunk in riot and debauchery might have been confined uuthin the walls, and overwhelmed by darts from the battlements, made their entrance unperceived into the place ; cut to pieces the unarmed inhabitants; and having punished an impious king and his voluptuous courtiers, took possession of the greatest and richest city of thd ancient world. 3 This memorable event rendered lxii 4^* Cyrus sole master of those valuable A r* coun tries around the Tigris and * ' ~ * Euphrates, which, from time im- memorial, had been the seat of despotism and luxury, wealth and wickedness. The active ambition of this great prince was adopted by the emulation of his immediate successors, p.. His son Cambyses received the sub- lxiv 1 mission of Tyre and Cyprus, and \ C 524 e ^" ecte( ^ t ^ ie im P° rt ant conquest of Egypt, in the consequences of which the Greek colonies in that country, and on the adjoining coast of Africa, were involved. In the eighth century before the Christian era, the adventurous colonies in Ionia and Caria had, amidst other commercial, or rather piratical expeditions, undertaken a voyage to Egypt. Their brazen armour, 4 their courage, and their activity, were beheld with amazement and terror by the Egyptians, then divided by faction, and torn by sedition. Psammetichus, one of the many pretenders to the throne, en- gaged the Greeks in his service. Through their valour and discipline he became master of Egypt. His rewards and promises prevailed on them to settle in that country. They up- held the throne of his successors, until Apries, the fourth in descent from Psammetichus, hav- ing undertaken an unfortunate expedition against the Greek colony of Cyrene, was de- throned by Amasis, the contemporary and ally of Croesus. 5 Amasis rivalled the Lydian prince, in his partiality for the language and manners of the Greeks. He raised a Cyrenian woman to the honours of his bed. The Greeks who had served his predecessors, and who, in conse- 3 Herodot. 1. i. c. clxxviii. — c. cxcii. 4 Herodot. 1. ii. c. clii. et seq. 5 Herodot. ibid, et Diodor. Sicul. 1. i. c. xlvi HISTORY OF GREECE. 95 VIIL] quence of the Egyptian law, obliging the son to follow the profession of his father, now amounted to near thirty thousand, he re- moved to Memphis, his capital, and employed them as his body guard. He encouraged the correspondence of this colony with the mother country ; invited new inhabitants from Greece into Egypt; promoted the commercial inter- course between the two nations; and assigned to the Greek merchants for their residence the town and district of Naucratis, on the Nile, where they enjoyed the free exercise of their religious processions and solemnities, and where the industry of the little island of iEgina in Europe, and the opulence of several Greek cities in Asia, erected temples after the fashion of their respective countries. 6 This able prince was succeeded lxiii 4 ky his son Psammenitus, soon after . p ' _ Cambyses mounted the throne of ' Persia. While Cambyses made preparations for invading Egypt, Psammenitus imprudently excited the resentment of Phanes, 7 a Halicarnassean by birth, and an officer of much authority in the Grecian guards. Phanes having dexterously effected his escape from Egypt, offered his services to Cambyses, who by this time had collected the Grecian and Phoenician fleets. This armament, however, seemed unequal to the conquest of Egypt; and to conduct an army thither by land, was an undertaking of extreme difficulty. The main obstacle was overcome by the experience of Phanes. He advised Cambyses to purchase the friendship of an Arabian chief, who agreed to transport on camels a sufficient quantity of water for the use of the Persians in their pas- sage through the desert. With the punctuality peculiar 8 to his nation, the Arabian fulfilled his engagement. The Persian army joined the fleet before Pelusium ; that place, regarded as the key of Egypt, surrendered after a short siege ; Psammenitus was defeated in a great battle ; and the whole kingdom submitted to a haughty conqueror, 9 whom prosperity rendered incapable of pity or remorse. His cruel, outrageous, and almost frantic behaviour in Egypt, alarmed the neighbouring Africans, who sought to avert the tempest from themselves by speedy offers of submission and tribute. This prudent measure was adopted even by the Greek inhabitants of Cyrenaica, who had braved the united power of Egypt and Lybia. The African Greeks were a colony of Thera, the most southern island of the iEgean, and itself a colony of the Lacedaemonians. 19 During the heroic ages, but it is uncertain at what precise era, the adventurous islanders set- tled in that part of the Synus Syrticus, which derived its name from the principal city, Cy- rene, and which is now lost in the desert of Barca. Descended from Lacedaemon, the Cy- renians naturally preserved the regal form of government. Under Battus, the third prince of that name, their territory was well cultivat- ed, and their cities populous and flourishing. 6 Herodot. 1. ii. c. clii. el seq. 7 Herodot. 1. iii. c. iv. See. 8 Herodot. 1. iii. c. iv. JO Herodot. 1. iv. c. clix. et seq. 9 Idem. ibid. Six centuries before the Christian era, they re- ceived a considerable accession of inhabitants from the mother country. Emboldened by this reinforcement, they attacked the neigh- bouring Libyans, 11 and seized on their posses- sions. The injured craved assistance from Apries king of Egypt. 12 A confederacy was thus formed, in order to repress the incursions, and to chastise the audacity of the European invaders. But the valour and discipline of Greece, though they yet feared to encounter the power of Cambyses, and the renown of Persia, always triumphed over the numbers and the ferocity of Africa : 13 nor did Cyrene become tributary to Egypt, till Egypt itself had been subdued by a Grecian king, and the sceptre of the Pharaohs, and of Sesostris had passed into the hands of the Ptolemies. 14 ^ Cambyses is said to have died lxiv 4 * by an accidental wound from his A C 521 own sword. Darius Hystaspes, the third in succession to the empire (for the short reign of the priest Smerdis, de- serves only to be mentioned in the history of of the palace,) possessed the political abilities, but reached not the magnanimity, of Cyrus. His ambition was unbounded, and his avarice still greater than his ambition. To discriminate the characters of the three first and most illus- trious of their monarchs, the Persians, in the expressive language of the East, styled Cyrus the father, Cambyses the master, or tyrant, and Darius the broker, of the empire. The last mentioned prince added the wealthy, but un warlike, nations of India to his dominions. This important acquisition, which closed the long series of Persian conquests in Asia, was formed into the twentieth satrapy, or great di- vision, of the empire. The other military en- terprises of this prince (as we shall soon have occasion to relate) were less successful. But his reign is chiefly remarkable, as the supposed era at which the religious and civil polity of the Persians received that form which they afterwards invariably retained. Yet it must be acknowledged, that the great- est learning and ingenuity have failed in the arduous task of ascertaining the age, and still more of explaining the doctrines, of Zoro- aster. At whatever period he lived, he cer- tainly did for the Persians, what Homer and Hesiod are said to have done for the Greeks. 15 His theogony, 16 as the Greeks would have called it, consisted in the extravagant doctrine of the two principles, in some moral precepts, and innumerable absurd ceremonies. The magi, or priests, who probably derived some share of their influence from practising those occult sciences afterwards distinguished by their name, were strongly protected by the au- thority of the prophet. “ Though your good works,” says the Sadder, “exceed the sands on the sea shore, or the stars of heaven, they will all be unprofitable, unless accepted by the priest; to whom you must pay tithes of all 11 Herodot. 1. iv. c. clix. 12 Herodot. ibid. Diodor. Sicul. 1. i. c. xlvi. 13 Herodot. ibid, et 1. iii. c. clxi. 14 Strabo, I. ii. ct 1. xvii. p. 836. Pau»an. 1. i. 15 See p. 71. 16 Herodot. 1. i. c. cxxxii. 96 HISTORY OF GREECE. [Chap. you possess, of your goods, of your lands, and of your money. The priests are the teachers of religion, they know all things, and deliver all men.” Next to the priests, the royal family, and particularly the reigning prince, was the peculiar care of Zoroaster. In their prayers and sacrifices, the Persians were not allowed to solicit individually for themselves the protec- tion of heaven, but only for the great king, and for the nation at large. In celebrating their religious worship, they employed neither altars, nor images, nor temples ; they even derided the folly of such practices in others, probably (says Herodotus) not believing, like the Greeks, the nature of the gods to resemble that of men. On the summits of the highest mountains they sacrificed to the divinity ; and the whole circle of the heavens they called God. They sacri- ficed, besides, to the elements, particularly fire, which they considered as the purest symbol, and most powerful agent, of the divine nature. They borrowed, however, the worship of some other divinities from the Assyrians and Ara- bians ; for of all ancient nations, the Persians, according to Herodotus, were the most disposed to adopt the customs of their neighbours. They soon preferred the dress, and as an es- sential part of dress, the arms of the Medes to their own. When they became acquainted with the Greeks, they learned the wJrst and most unnatural of their vices. There was scarcely any absurdity, or any wickedness, which they might not imbibe, from the licentious ca- price, the universal corruption, and the exces- sive depravity of Babylon. The hardy and intrepid warriors, who had conquered Asia, were themselves subdued by the vices of that luxurious city. In the space of fifty-two years, which intervened between the taking of Baby- lon, and the disgraceful defeat at Marathon, the sentiments, as well as the manners of the Per- sians, underwent a total change ; and, notwith- standing the boasted simplicity of their reli- gious worship, we shall find them thenceforth oppressed by the double yoke of despotism and superstition, whose eombined influence extin- guished every generous feeling, and checked every manly impulse of the soul. 1 The tendency towards this internal decay was not perceived during the reign of Cyrus, whose extraordinary abilities enabled him to soften the rigours of despotism, without en- dangering his authority. He committed not the whole weight of government to the inso- lence of satraps, those proud substitutes of des- potism, who were ever ready to betray their trust, and abuse their power. The inferior governors of towns and districts were appoint- ed and removed by himself, to whom only they were accountable. By an institution, some- what resembling the modern post, he provided for exact and ready information concerning the public occurrences in every part of his domi- nions. The vigilant shepherd of his people, he was always ready to hear their petitions, to redress their grievances, and to reward their merit. Nor did the love of ease or pleasure ever interfere with the discharge of his duty, in whiclj he placed the greatest glory and hap- piness of his reign. 2 q. His successors were universally lxv 4 * distinguished by an exorbitant am- A *C *517 kition, nouris hed by the immense resources of their empire, which under Darius amounted to fourteen thousand five hundred and sixty Eubceic talents, a sum equal to three millions six hundred and seven- ty-five thousand pounds sterling. Of this vast revenue, which, considering the value of money in ancient times, exceeded thirty millions at present, the Greek cities on the coast, together with the Carians, Lycians, and several other nations of Asia Minor, paid only the thirty- sixth part, a little more than a hundred thou- sand pounds. Besides this stated income, Da- rius might on every necessary occasion demand the money and services of his subjects. His predecessors were contented with voluntary contributions, and a militia. ^This prince es- tablished taxes, and a standing army. The number of his troops equalled the resources of his treasury ; and both corresponded to the extent of his dominions, which comprehended the greatest and most populous nations of the earth. The barbarity of the northern Scy- thians, and the pertinacious spirit of the Eu ropean Greeks, the only enemies whom it remained for him to conquer, seemed feeble barriers against the progress of universal mo- narchy. In the extensive regions of Asia, every head bowed to the tiara of the great king, who in an annual progress , through the central parts of his empire, spent the winter in the warm plains of Babylon ; enjoyed the happy temperature of spring in the city of Susa, which adorned the flowery banks of the Eulaeus ; and avoided the summer heats in his spacious palace at Ecbatan, fanned by the re- feshing breezes of the Median mountains. 3 q. But Darius could not enjoy the lxvi 4 splendour of his present greatness, A C 513 a sin ?l e nation had merited his resentment, without feeling the weight of his revenge. The wandering hordes of Scythia have been, in all ages, formidable to the civilized kingdoms of the East. Thrice before the reign of Darius, the inhabitants of that frozen region had overrun the finest pro- vinces of Asia. Fighting against these barba- rians, the founder of the Persian empire had lost his army and his life. It belonged to his warlike successor to punish the ferocity of that rude and uncultivated, but bold and high-mind- ed people. With an army, it is said, of seven hundred thousand men, Darius traversed Asia Minor, crossed the Thracian Bosphorus, ra- vaged Thrace, and arrived on the banks of the Danube. Meanwhile a fleet of six hun- dred sail left the Asiatic coast, and passing the narrow seas which join the Aegean to the Euxine, coasted in a northern direction the shores of the latter, entered the mouth of the Danube, and sailed along that river until they joined the army. The Danube was passed by the usual expedient of a bridge of boats, which 1 Xenoph. de Inst. Cyrii, 1. iii. p. 238—213. 2 Xenoph. ibid. p. 230. 3 Xenoph. ibid, ct Herodot. I. iii. c. lxxix. et seq. HISTORY OF GREECE. 97 VIII.] was built by the assistance of the fleet com- posed chiefly of Grecians, who were left to guard the work of their hands against the dan- gers of the elements, and the destructive rage of the barbarians. 4 This formidable army, collected from so many distant provinces, boldly entered the vast uncultivated wilds of Scythia, in which they continued for five months, continually ex- posed to hunger and thirst, and the darts of the flying enemy. When they prepared to re- turn from an expedition in which they had already lost the best part of their strength, their good fortune, rather than their prudence, saved them from immediate destruction. It had been agitated among the Greeks, whether they ought not to demolish the bridge ; a mea- sure strongly recommended to them by the Scythian tribes, who having ravaged all the adjacent country, expected to revenge the in- vasion of the Persians, by the confining them, without resource, in an inhospitable desert. Miltiades, an Athenian, descended from the heroic Ajax, eagerly embraced this proposal. He was king, or tyrant of the city 6f Cardia, situate near the neck of the Thracian Cherso- nesus. There his uncle, of the same name, planted a Grecian colony, which uniting with the barbarous natives, formed a small commu- nity, the government of which descended to the son of his brother Cimon, who increased the population of the rising state by new in- habitants from Athens. The generous son of Cimon, though, like all the princes of those parts, he held his authority under the protection of Darius, preferred the recovery of national independence to the preservation of personal dignity. The other chiefs of the Grecian cities listened with apparent pleasure to his argu- ments for destroying the bridge, and thus de- livering themselves for ever from the yoke of Persia. Histiseus, tyrant of Miletus, was alone averse to this bold resolution. He observed to the little tyrants of the Asiatic Greeks, “That their own interest was intimately connected with the safety of Darius and his Persians. Under the auspicious influence of that powerful people, they each of them enjoyed royalty in their respective commonwealths: but should the empire of the Persians fall (and what less could be expected from the destruction of Da- rius and his army,) the Greeks would imme- diately discover their partiality for republican government, banish their kings, and reassume liberty.” The opinion of Histiseus prevailed; OlvmD P ers ’ ans repassed the Danube : lxvi 4 but Miltiades, dreading their resent- A C 513 men ^ ^ a cl previously retired to Athens, where, twenty-three years after the Scythian expedition, he enjoyed a more favourable opportunity of displaying his attachment to the cause of liberty, in the ever memorable battle of Marathon. 5 If the public-spirited Athenians excited the hatred and revenge, the selfish tyrant of Mile- tus deserved the gratitude and the rewards of Darius. To continue the sovereign of his na- 4 Herodot. 1. iv. c. i. et seq. 5 Ibid. tive city seemed a station below his merit ; he was taken into the confidence of Darius, and accompanying him to Sardis, and afterwards to Susa, became the friend, counsellor, and fa- vourite of the great king. While Histiaeus acted such a distinguished part at the Persian court, his nephew Aristagoras, to whom he had committed the government of Miletus, incurred the displeasure of Artaphernes-, 6 the brother of Darius, and the governor of Sardis. The re- presentations of that minister, he well knew, would be sufficient to ruin him, both with his uncle and with Darius, by whom he might be deprived not only of his authority, but of his life. Governed by these considerations, Aris- tagoras meditated a revolt, 7 when a messenger unexpectedly arrived from Histiteus, exhorting him to that measure. The crafty Milesian, who disliked the restraint of a court, and the uncouth manner of the Persians, languished for an honourable pretence to return to his na- tive country ; and he saw not any means more proper for affording such an opportunity, than the tumults of the Greeks, which as lieutenant of Darius, he would probably be sent to quell. ■ His message confirmed the resolu- lxix 3 ^ on Aristagoras, who, as the A C 5CP ^ rst aC ^ 2 ’ e ^ e ^^ on a g a i ns t the ' 4 " Persians, formally renounced all power over his fellow-citizens. 8 After giving this seemingly disinterested proof of his regard for the public, he erected the standard of free- dom, which was soon surrounded by the flower of the Ionian youth ; by whose assistance, tra- versing the whole coast, he abolished in every city the authority of kings, and proclaimed to all worthy to acquire it, the double blessing of civil liberty and national independence. 9 The revolt thus happily effected, could not however be maintained without more powerful resources than the strength, the bravery, and the enthusiasm of the Asiatic Greeks. In order to resist the force of the Persian empire, which, it was easy to foresee, would soon be exerted in crushing their rebellion, it was necessary for the Ionians to obtain the protection and co- operation of their brethren in Europe. This important object was committed to the pru- dence and activity of Aristagoras, who having settled the affairs of the East, undertook, for the public service, an embassy into Greece. Lacedaemon still continued, rather in name, however, than in reality, the most powerful state in that country. Though their govern- ment was, in strict language, of the republican kind, yet the Spartans sometimes bestowed an extraordinary authority on their kings. This degree of pre-eminence, more honourable than any that birth or fortune can bestow, the pub- lic esteem had conferred on Cleomenes. To him therefore Aristagoras, after arriving at Sparta, found it necessary to apply ; 19 and in order to effect the object of his commission, he 6 Aristagoras had quarrelled with Megabates the kins- man of Artaphernes (since both were of the blood royal,) during a fruitless expedition, in which they seem to have enjoyed a joint command, against the island of Naxos, one of the Cyclades. Herodot. 1. ii. c. xxviii. et seq. 7 Herodot. 1. v. c. xxxvi. xxxvii. 8 Ibid. 9 Ibid. c. xxxviii. 10 Herodot. I. v. c. xlix. et seq. 98 HISTORY OF GREECE. described to the Spartan king the immense wealth of the Persians, which they had neither virtue to enjoy, nor valour to defend. He painted in the warmest colours, the love of liberty which animated the Ionians, and their firm expectation that the Spartans would ena- ble them to maintain that political indepen- dence, which their own laws taught them to consider as the most valuable of all human possessions. Their interest and their glory, he observed, were on this occasion most fortu- nately united : for how much greater glory might be acquired by conquering Asia, than by ravaging Greece ? and how much easier would it be to defeat the Persian archers, than to sub- due the Arcadians or Argives, who knew, as well as the Spartans themselves, the use of the spear and buckler? Their journey to Susa, the rich capital of the Persian dominions, would be not only safe but delightful. To prove this, he showed the Spartan a brazen tablet, on which, it is said, were engraved all the coun- tries, seas, and rivers, of the ancient world. Pointing to the coast of Asia Minor, and the cities of the Ionians, with which Cleomenes was already acquainted, he showed him adjoin- ing to these, the beautiful and rich country of Lydia. Next to the celebrated kingdom of Croesus (he observed) extend the fertile fields of Phrygia, equally adapted to agriculture and pasturage. Beyond Phrygia lie the territories of the Cappadocians, whom the Greeks call Syrians. Farther towards the east dwell the wealthy Cilicians, who pay an annual tribute of five hundred talents to the king; next to them live the Armenians, abounding in cattle ; and last of all the Matienians, bordering on the province of Cissa, and the flowery banks of the Choaspes, 1 containing the superb city of Susa, and the invaluable treasury of Darius. This immense space is filled by well-inhabited countries, intersected by excellent roads, and supplied at proper distances with convenient places of refreshment and accommodation, even for a great army. Cleomenes having patiently listened to the verbose description of the Mile- sian, answered him with Laconic brevity, “ In three days I will decide concerning the pro- priety of your demand.” 2 At the expiration of that time, Aristagoras failed not to repair to the place appointed, where he was soon met by the Spartan king, who asked him, In how many days they might march to Susa ? Here the usual prudence of Aristagoras forsook him ; for he ought not to have told the true distance, says Herodotus, if he had wished to engage the Spartans to accompany him. But he re- plied unguardedly, That travelling at the rate of about eighteen miles a day, they might reach Susa in three months. Upon this Cleomenes exclaimed with indignation, “ Milesian stran- ger, you must be gone from Sparta before the setting of the sun ; for you have made a very inauspicious and a very dangerous proposal, in advising the Spartans to undertake a journey of three months from the Grecian sea.” With this severe reprimand he left Aristagoras, and 1 Otherwise called the Eulaeus, as above, p. 96. 2 Herodot. 1. v. c. xlix. et seq. [Chap. immediately returned home. The artful Mile- sian, however, was not to be disconcerted by a first refusal. According to the custom of an- cient times, when men endeavoured to paint to the eye the feelings of the heart, he clothed himself in the garment of a supplicant, and sought protection in the house of Cleomenes. Having obtained the favour of a third audi- ence, he attempted to effect by money what he could not accomplish by argument. But he found it as difficult to bribe, as it had been to persuade the Spartan ; and although he tempt- ed him with the offer of above five thousand pounds (an immense sum in Greece in those days,) it was impossible to render Cleomenes propitious to his design. 3 Aristagoras, thus ungenerously dismissed from Sparta, had recourse to the Athenians, from whom he had reason to expect a more favourable reception. Athens was the mother country of the Ionians, who formed the great- est and most distinguished portion of the Asia- tic Greeks. The Athenians, as a maritime state, had always maintained a closer connec- tion than the Spartans with their distant colo- nies ; and as they possessed, for that early age, a very considerable naval strength, they were not averse to a distant expedition. Besides Olvmn these reasons, which at all times xlvi 3 must have had no small influence \ C 594 on t ^ ieir counc h s i the present situa- tion of their republic was peculiarly favourable to the cause of Aristagoras. The free form of government, gradually introduced by the progressive spirit of liberty, had been defined by the laws of Solon, and confirmed by the unanimous approbation of the whole peo- ple. The public assembly, consisting of all citi- zens who had attained the age of manhood, was invested with the executive, as well as the legislative powers of government. The nine archons were rather the minister., than, as their name denotes, the governors of the repub- lic. The senate, consisting first of four, and afterwards of five hundred members, was con- stituted by lot, the most popular mode of ap- pointment. The court of the Areopagus, ori- ginally entrusted with the criminal jurisdiction, assumed an extensive power in regulating the behaviour and manners of the citizens. It con- sisted only of such magistrates as had dis- charged with approbation the duties of their re- spective offices. The members were named for life ; and as, from the nature of the institution, they were persons of a mature age, of an ex- tensive experience, and who having already at- tained the aim, had seen the vanity of ambition, their characters admirably fitted them for re- straining the impetuous passions of the multi- tude, and for stemming the torrent of popular frenzy. Such was the government 4 enjoyed 3 Herodot. 1. v. c. li. 4 I forbear treating fully of the Athenian government and laws, until the establishment of what was called the Athe- nian empire. During more than sixty years that republic maintained dominion over many hundred cities and colo- nies. The fate of all these, as well as the measures of in- dependent and hostile states, depended on the proceedings of the Athenians. Then, and not till then, a thorough ac- quaintance with the internal constitution and state of Athens wifi become necessary for explaining the historical transactions which we shall have occasion to record. HISTORY OF GREECE. VIII.] by the Athenians, which they fondly regarded as the most perfect of all human institutions, and which was peculiarly endeared to them at pre- sent, by the recent discovery of freedom, after a long, though, in general, not a cruel tyranny. The danger of tyranny is an evil 1 3 necessarily attending every demo- A *C 578 cra ^ ca ^ re P u bli c i i * 1 which, as there ' ' ’ is not a proper separation between the legislative and executive powers, the assem- bly must often intrust to one man those func- tions of government, which the collective body of the people are sometimes unable, and always ill qualified to exercise ; and in which, there- fore, the splendour of wealth may dazzle, the charms of eloquence may seduce, and the combined power of policy and prowess may in- timidate and subdue the unsteady minds of the ignorant vulgar. The fame of his Olympic victories could not procure for Cylon 5 the sove- reignty of Athens; and it is probable that many other unsuccessful candidates had aspired at this high object of ambition, before the arts and eloquence of Pisistratus, who, though born an Athenian citizen, was descended of the blood of ancient kings, obtained possession of the dangerous prize, which proved fatal to his family. What his enterprising ability had acquired, his firmness, his wisdom, and his moderation 6 q, enabled him long to maintain. So lx^ni 3 completely was his authority esta- A C 510 ^lished, that on his death the go- vernment descended, as a private inheritance, to his son. Resentment of' a per- sonal injury 7 8 delivered the Athenians from the mild tyranny 6 of Hipparchus ; though his mur- derers, Hermodius and Aristogeiton, were afterwards celebrated by the Athenians, not as the avengers of a private quarrel, but as the re- storers of public freedom . 9 10 His brother Hip- pias succeeding to the throne, treated his coun- trymen with a degree of severity which they had not hitherto experienced : his person and his government became alike odious ; he was q expelled, by the assistance of the 578 510 Lacedaemonians, and the general indignation of an injured people, after his family had, with various interruptions, governed Athens sixty-eight years. The power of Athens was great in ancient times; but it became incomparably greater after the re-establishment of democracy .' 9 So 5 Thucyd. l.i. c. cxxvi. Plat in. Solon. 6 Pinto in Hipparch. Herodot. Thucydid. i. 20. Aristot. Polit. 1. v. c. xii. 7 In this circumstance Plato agrees with Thucydides, whose account of the transaction differs widely from that of most other ancient writers. Thucydid. 1. vi. 8 Plato, p. 234. The orators Andocides and Isocrates agree with the philosopher. Meursius had made a careful collection of all the passages relating to the Pisistratidaj, in his Pisistratus. 9 Al fl (T $ OIV XKlOf £T(T£T".I jcjit’ seiocv l\T«TJ Ag/UCitS XXI AglTXdytlT'MV On TOV TMgXVVOV XTXVtTOV Irovo/iOvs t’ ASsjvosj ejroitirxTOv. Alc/KUS. “Your glory shall last for ever, most beloved ITarmodius and Aristogeiton, because you slew the tyrant, and pro- cured equal laws for Athens.” 10 This observation, which is literally translated, has weight from such an old and honest historian as Herodotus. His words are still stronger in another passage: it •u xxtx tv ftovov xKKx sr«vT*%t] a i rviyogix u>( ca-n xgv,f*x advantageous to the powers of the human mind \ q is the enjoyment of liberty, even in * * - . its least perfect form, that in a few ^ 5 * years after the expulsion of Hip- pias, the Athenians acquired an ascendant in Greece, which was fatal to their enemies, pain- ful to their rivals, and even dangerous to them- selves. They chastised the insolence of the islanders of Euboea and iEgina, who contended with them in naval power;, and humbled the pride of Thebes, which rivalled them in mili- tary glory. Favoured, as they fondly believed, by the protection of their tutelary Minerva, and animated as they strongly felt, by the pos- session of an equal freedom, they adorned their capital with the richest spoils of their van- quished enemies. Their influence soon ex- tended over the northern parts of Greece; and the fame of their power, still greater than their power itself, alarmed the fears and jealousy of the Peloponnesians. The Spartans, in par- ticular, who had assisted them in restoring the democracy, now perceived the error of which they had been guilty, in promoting the great- ness of an ambitious rival. In order to pre- vent" the dangerous consequences of their folly, they summoned to a congress all their allies in Peloponnesus, that their united wisdom might concert proper measures for resisting, ere it was too late, the encroachments of the A P cru Athenians, which threatened the liberties of all Greece. Their allies readily obeyed the welcome summons, and the deputies of the several states having assembled in the Spartan forum, eagerly listened to the speakers appointed to explain the intentions of that republic. The Lacedaemonian orators acknowledged the mistaken policy of their country, in expelling from Athens the family of Pisistratus, and delivering the government of that city into the hands of a most ungrateful populace, who had since treated them with much indignity. “ But why (they proceeded) (rjrovJoeJOv, si xxi A5>ji/o«) Si Tf OfXOITiCtl; t[iXX,0VT0 Ex TUKottowho-ov %i\*xS'«s 7rno^i(. Isocrates likewise (p. 164.) says, that some Peloponnesians remained to tight. them, before they were surrounded by the Per sians. The ardour of Leonidas happily con- spired with the ready zeal of the soldiers. He therefore commanded them to prepare the last meal of their lives, and to sup like men who should to-morrow dine in Elysium. His own example confirmed the propriety of the com- mand, for he took an abundant repast, in order to furnish strength and spirits for a long con- tinuance of toil and danger. It was now the dead of night, when the Spartans, headed by Leonidas, marched in a close battalion towards the Persian camp, with resentment heightened by despair . 4 Their fury was terrible ; and rendered still more destruc- tive through the defect of Barbarian discipline ; for the Persians having neither advanced guards, nor a watch-word, nor confidence in each other, were incapable of adopting such measures for defence as the sudden emergency required. Many fell by the Grecian spear, but much greater multitudes by the mistaken rage of their own troops, by whom, in the midst of this blind confusion, they could not be distinguished from enemies. The Greeks, wearied with slaughter, penetrated to the royal pavilion ; but there the first alarm of noise had been readily perceived, amidst the profound silence and tranquillity which usually reigned in the tent of Xerxes ; the great king had im- mediately escaped, with his favourite attend- ants, to the farther extremity of the encamp- ment. Even there, all was tumult, and horror, and despair ; the obscurity of night increasing the terror of the Persians, who no longer doubt- ed that the detachment conducted by Epialtes had been betrayed by that perfidious Greek ; and that the enemy, reinforced by new num- bers, now co-operated with the traitor, and seized the opportunity of assailing their camp, after it had been deprived of the division of Hydarnes, its principal ornament and defence. The approach of day discovered to the Per- sians a dreadful scene of carnage ; but it also discovered to them that their fears had multi- plied the number of the enemy, who now re- treated in close order to the straits of Ther- mopylae. Xerxes, stimulated by the fury of revenge, gave orders to pursue them ; and his terrified troops were rather driven than led to the attack, by the officers who marched behind the several divisions, and compelled them to advance by menaces, stripes, and blows. The Grecians, animated by their late success, and persuaded that they could not possibly escape death on the arrival of those who approached by way of the mountain, bravely halted in the widest part of the pass, to receive the charge of the enemy. The shock was dreadful, and the battle was maintained on the side of the Greeks with persevering intrepidity and despe- rate valour. After their spears were blunted or broken, they attacked sword in hand, and 4 Diodor. 1. xi. p. 247. The nocturnal assault, omitted by Herodotus, is mentioned not only by Diodorus, but by Plutarch, Justin, and most, other writers. The general panegyric of Plato (in Mencx.) of Lysias (Orat. Funeb.) and of Isocrates (Panegyr.) required not their descending into such particulars. Yet, notwithstanding these circum- stances, I should have omitted this incident, if it had ap- peared inconsistent with the honest narrative of Herodotus 120 HISTORY OF GREECE. their short, but massy and well-tempered wea- pons, made an incredible havoc. Their pro- gress was marked by a line of blood, when a Barbarian dart pierced the heart of Leonidas. The contest was no longer for victory and glory, but for the sacred remains of their king. Four times they dispelled the thickest globes of Persians ; but as their unexampled valour was carrying off the inestimable prize, the hostile battalions were seen descending the hill, under the conduct of Epialtes. It was now time to prepare for the last effort of generous despair. With close order and resolute minds, the Greeks, all collected in themselves, re- tired to the narrowest part of the strait, and took post behind the Phocian wall, on a rising ground, where a lion of stone was afterwards erected in honour of Leonidas. As they per- formed this movement, fortune, willing to afford every occasion to display their illustrious merit, obliged them to contend at once against open force and secret treachery. The The- bans, whom fear had hitherto restrained from defection, seized the present opportunity to revolt; and approaching the Persians with out- stretched arms, declared that they had always been their friends ; that their republic had sent earth and water, as an acknowledgment of their submission to Xerxes ; and that it was with the utmost reluctance they had been com- pelled by necessity to resist the progress of his arms. As they approached to surrender them- selves, many perished by the darts of the Bar- barians ; the remainder saved a perishing life, by submitting to eternal infamy. Meanwhile [Chap. the Lacedaemonians and Thespians were as- saulted on all sides. The nearest of the enemy beat down the wall, and entered by the breach- es. Their temerity was punished by instant death. In this last struggle every Grecian showed the most heroic courage ; yet if we believe the unanimous report of some Thes- salians, and others who survived the engage- ment, the Spartan Dioneces deserved the prize of valour. When it. was observed to him, that the Persian arrows were so numerous, that they intercepted the light of the sun, he said it was a favourable circumstance, because the Greeks now fought in the shade. The brothers Al- pheus and Maron are likewise particularized for their generous contempt of death, and for their- distinguished valour and activity in the service of their country. What these, and other virtues, could accomplish, the Greeks, both as individuals, and in a body, had already performed ; but it became impossible for them longer to resist the impetuosity and weight of the darts, and arrows, and other missile wea- pons, which were continually poured upon them ; and they were finally not destroyed or conquered, but buried under a trophy of Per- sian arms. Two monuments were afterwards erected near the spot where they fell ; the in- scription of the first announced the valour of a handful of Greeks , 1 who had resisted three millions of Barbarians ; the second was pecu- liar to the Spartans, and contained these me- morable words : “ Go, stranger, and declare to the Lacedaemonians, that we died here in obe- dience to their divine laws .” 2 CHAPTER X. Sea Fight off Artemisium — Xerxes ravages Phocis— Enters Attica — Magnanimity of the Athe- nians — Sea Fight off Salamis — Xerxes leaves Greece — His miserable Retreat — Campaign of Mardonius — Battles of Plcetcea and Mycale — Issue of the Persian Invasion. TOURING the military operations at Ther- mopylae, the Grecian fleet was stationed in the harbour of Artemisium, the northern promontory of Euboea. That of the Persians, too numerous for any harbour to contain, had anchored in the road that extends between the city of Castanaea and the promontory of Se- pias, on the coast of Thessaly. Here this for- midable armada suffered the calamities foretold by the wisdom of Artabanus. In a conversa- tion with Xerxes, that prudent old man had warned him against two enemies, the sea and 1 Isocrates, p. 164. makes the Spartans who fought at Thermopylae amount to one thousand. Diodorus, 1. xi. p. 410. agrees with Herodotus, whose narrative is followed in the text. According to the most probable accounts, the Thespians were twice as numerous as the Spartans; al- though the latter have carried away all the glory of this singular exploit. 2 £! £r»v£ ayyaXov Axxtfut/ucvit>i$ on rtfSe Ki i/utSct toi{ xsivuiv gq/uxtri frstSo/uivOi, Herodot. c. cxxviii. the land, from whom his own rash inexpe- rience seemed not to apprehend any danger. Yet both these enemies occasioned dreadful misfortunes to the Persians, whose numbers first exposed them to be destroyed at sea by a tempest, and afterwards to perish on land by a famine. The first line of their fleet was shel- tered by the coast of Thessaly ; but the other lines, to the number of seven, rode at anchor, at small intervals, with the prows of the ves- sels turned to the sea. When they adopted this arrangement, the waters were smooth, the sky clear, the weather calm and serene ; but on the morning of the second day after their arrival on the coast, the sky began to lower, and the appearance of the heavens grew threatening and terrible. A dreadful storm of rain and thunder succeeded ; and, what was more alarm- ing, the billows began to rise to an amazing height, occasioned by a violent Helespontin, or northeast wind, which, when it once begins to HISTORY OF GREECE. 121 X.] blow in those seas with any considerable force, seldom eeases for several days. The nearest vessels were saved by hauling under the shore : of the more remote many were driven from their anchors ; some foundered at sea, others split on the promontory, of Sepias, and several bulged on the shallows of Melibaea. Three days the tempest raged with unabating fury. Four hundred galleys were destroyed by its violence, besides such a number of storeships and transports, that the Persian commanders, suspecting this disaster might occasion the re- volt of the Thessalians, fortified themselves with a rampart of considerable height, entirely composed of the shattered fragments of the wreck . 3 This bulwark was sufficient to protect them against the irruptions of the Greeks ; but it could not defend them against the more dan- gerous fury of the waves. In a short time, therefore, they quitted their insecure station at Sepias, and with eight hundred ships of war, besides innumerable vessels of burden, sailed into the Pegasian bay, and anchored in the road of Aphete, which, at the distance of a few miles, lies directly opposite to the harbour of Artemisium. The Grecians had posted sentinels on the heights of Euboea to observe the consequences of* the storm, and to watch the motions of the enemy. When informed of the dreadful disas- ter which had befallen them, they poured out a joyous libation, and sacrificed, with pious gratitude, to u Neptune the deliverer but the near approach of such a superior force soon damped their transports of religious festivity. Neptune had favoured them in the storm, yet he might assist their enemies in the engage- ment. In the council of war, called to deli- berate on this important subject, it was the general opinion of the commanders, that they ought immediately to retire southward. The Euboeans, whose coasts must have thus been abandoned to the fury of invaders, were pecu- liarly interested in opposing this pusillanimous resolution. The passage into the continent of Greece, they observed, was still guarded by the magnanimity of Leonidas, and the bravery of the Spartans. Following this generous ex- ample, the Grecian fleet, however inferior in strength, ought to resist the Persians, and to protect the estates and families of a rich and populous island . 4 This remonstranee had not any effect on the determined purpose of Euri- Diades the Spartan, who, on account of the ancient pre-eminence of his republic, was en- trusted with the command of the fleet; an honour rather due to the personal merit of Themistocles, and the naval superiority of Athens. To the Athenian commander the Euboeans secretly applied, and, by a present of thirty talents, engaged him to use his influence to re- tain the Grecian armament for the defence of their coasts. Themistocles was well pleased at being bribed into a measure which his good sense and discernment approved. By a proper 3 Herodot. 1. vii. c. clxxxviii. ct seq. Diodor. Sicul. ]. xi. c. xii. 4 Herodot. 1. viii. c. ii. et seq. Q distribution of only eight talents, he brought over the other captains to his opinion, and thus effectually promoted the interest, and secured the good will, of the Euboeans, while he retain- ed for himself an immense sum of money, which might be usefully employed, on many future occasions, in fixing, by largesses and expensive exhibitions, the fluctuating favour of his fellow citizens. Meanwhile the Persians, having recovered from the terrors of the storm, prepared for the engagement. As they entertained not the smallest doubt of victory, they determined not to begin the attack, until they had sent two hundred of their best sailing vessels around the isle of Euboea, to intercept the expected flight of the enemy through the narrow Euripus. In order to conceal this design, they ordered the detached ships to stand out to sea until they lost sight of the eastern coast of Euboea, sailing behind the little island of Sciathus, and after- wards shaping their course by the promonto- ries of Caphaneus and Gerestus. The strata- gem, concerted with more than usual prudence, was, however, discovered to the Greeks by Scyllias, a native of Scione, now serving in the Persian fleet, but who had long languished for an opportunity of deserting to his countrymen. While the attention of the Barbarians was em- ployed in the preparations necessary for their new arrangement, Scyllias availed himself of his dexterity in diving, to swim, unperceived, to a boat which had been prepared at a suffi- cient distance, in which he fortunately escaped to Artemisium. He immediately gained ad- mittance to the Grecian council, where the boldness of his enterprise gave persuasion to his words. In consequence of his seasonable and important information, the Greeks deter- mined to continue till midnight in the harbour, and then weighing anchor, to sail in quest of the fleet which had been sent out to prevent their escape. But this stratagem, by which they would have met the art of the enemy with similar address, was not carried into exe- cution. The advice boats, which had been im- mediately despatched to observe the progress of the Persians, returned before evening, with- out having seen any ships approaching in that direction. This intelligence was welcome to the Greeks, who were unwilling, without evident necessity, to abandon their present situation. The enemy, who had lately suffered so severely in the storm, were now further weakened by a consi- derable diminution of their fleet. The strength of the adverse parties being thus reduced nearer to an equality, the weaker seized the opportu- nity to display their courage in fight, and their superior skill in naval action. About sunset they approached in a line, and offered battle to the Persians. The latter did not decline the engagement, as their ships were still sufficiently numerous to surround those of their opponents. At the first signal the Greeks formed into a circle, at the second they began the fight. Though crowded into a narrow compass, and having the enemy on every side, they soon took thirty of their ships, and sunk many more. Night came on, accompanied with an impetu- 122 HISTORY OF GREECE. ous storm of rain and thunder; the Greeks retired into the harbour of Artemisium ; the enemy were driven to the coast of Thessaly. As the wind blew from the south, the dead bodies and wrecks dashed with violence against the sides of their ships, and disturbed the mo- tion of their oars. The Barbarians were seized with consternation and despair ; for scarcely had they time to breathe, after the former storm and shipwreck near Mount Pelion, when they were compelled to a dangerous sea-fight ; after darkness put an end to the' battle, they were again involved in the gloom and horrors of a nocturnal tempest. By good fortune, rather than by design, the greatest part of the fleet escaped immediate destruction, and gain- ed the Pegasean bay. Their calamities were great and unexpected ; but the ships ordered to sail round Euboea met with a still more dread- ful disaster. They were overtaken by the storm, after they had adventured further from the shore than was usual with the wary mari- ners of antiquity. Clouds soon intercepted the stars, by which alone they directed their course. They were driven they knew not whither by the force of the winds, or impelled by the im- petuosity of currents. In addition to these misfortunes, they were terrified by the thunder, and overwhelmed by the deluge ; and after continuing during the greatest part of the night, the sport of the elements, they all perished 1 miserably amidst the shoals and rocks of an unknown coast. The morning arose with different prospects and hopes to the Persians and Greeks. To the former it discovered the extent of their misfor- tunes ; to the latter it brought a reinforcement of fifty-three Athenian ships. Encouraged by this favourable circumstance, they determined again to attack the enemy, at the same hour as on the preceding day, because their knowledge of the coast, and their skill in fighting their ships, rendered the dusk peculiarly propitious to their designs. At the appointed time, they sailed towards the road of Aphete, and having cut off the Cilician squadron from the rest, totally destroyed it; and returned at night to Artemisium. The Persian commanders being deeply affect- ed with their repeated disasters, but still more alarmed at the much dreaded resentment of their king, they determined to make one vigor- ous effort, for restoring the glory of their arms. By art and stratagem, and under favour of the night, the Greeks had hitherto gained many important advantages. It now belonged to the Persians to choose the time for action. On the third day at noon, they sailed forth in the form of a crescent, which was still sufficiently exten- sive to infold the Grecian line. The Greeks, animated by former success, were averse to decline any offer of battle ; yet it is probable that their admirals, and particularly Themis- tocles, would much rather have delayed it to a more favourable opportunity. Rage, resent- ment, and indignation, supplied the defect of the Barbarians in skill and courage. The bat- tle was longer, and more doubtful, than on any [Chap. former occasion; many Grecian vessels were destroyed, five were taken by the Egyptians, who particularly signalized themselves on the side of the Barbarians, as the Athenians did on that of the Greeks. The persevering valour of the latter at length prevailed, the enemy re- tiring, and acknowledging their superiority, by leaving them in possession of the dead and the wreck. But the victory cost them dear ; since their vessels, particularly those of the Athe- nians, were reduced to a very shattered condi- tion ; and their great inferiority in the number and size of their ships, made them feel more sensibly every diminution of strength. This circumstance was sufficient to make them think of retiring (while they might yet retire in safety) to the shores of the Corinthian Isthmus. The inclination to this measure re- ceived additional force from considering, that the Persians, however unfortunate by sea, had still an immense army ; whereas the principal hope of Greece centered in its fleet. While the commanders were occupied with these reflec- tions, Abronycus, an Athenian, who had been entrusted with a galley of thirty oars, to cruise in the Malian bay, and to watch the event of the battle of Thermopylae, arrived with an ac- count of the glorious death of Leonidas. The engagements by sea and land had been fought on the same day. In both the Greeks defended a narrow pass, against a superior power ; and in both the Persians had, with very different success, attempted, by surrounding, to conquer them. The intelligence brought by Abronycus confirmed their resolution of sailing southward; for it seemed of very little importance to de- fend the shores, after the enemy had obtained possession of the centre of the northern territo- ries. Having passed the narrow Euripus, they coasted along the shore of Attica, and anchored in the strait of the Saronic Gulf, which sepa- rates the island of Salamis from the harbours of Athens . 2 Before they left Artemisium, Themistocles, ever watchful to promote the interest of his country, endeavoured to alienate 3 from the great king the affections of his bravest auxilia- ries. Contrary to the advice of the prudent Artabanus, Xerxes had conducted the Asiatic Greeks to an unnatural expedition against their mother-country. His wise kinsman in vain persuaded him to send them back, because it appeared equally dishonourable and dangerous to depend on the service of men, which could only be employed in his favour at the expense of every principle of duty, and of every senti- ment of virtue,, By hope and fear, by threats and promises, and chiefly by honouring them with marks of distinguished preference, Xerxes had hitherto preserved their reluctant fidelity. In order at once to destroy a connection, which of its own accord seemed ready to dissolve. Themistocles engraved on the rocks, near the watering-place of Artemisium, the following words : “ Men of Ionia, your conduct is most unjust in fighting against your ancestors, and in attempting to enslave Greece; resolve, there- fore, while it is yet in your power, to repair the 1 Herodot. 1. viii. c. xiii. Diodor. 1. xi. c. xiii. 2 Herodot. 1. viii. c. xxi. 3 Ibid. c. xxii. HISTORY OF GREECE. 123 X.] injury. — If you cannot immediately desert from the Persian fleet, yet it will be easy for you to accomplish this design when we come to an engagement. You ought to remember, that yourselves gave occasion to the quarrel be- tween us and the Barbarians ; and further, that the same duties which children owe to their parents, colonies owe to their mother-country.” 4 When news arrived that the Grecian fleet had abandoned Artemisium, Xerxes regarded this retreat of the enemy as equal to a victory. He therefore issued orders, that his naval force, after ravaging the coasts of Euboea, should pro- ceed to take possession of the harbours of Athens; while, at the head of his irresistible army, he intended to make a victorious pro- cession, rather than a march, into the Attic ter- ritory. The road thither from Thermopylae passed through the countries of Phocis and Boeotia, the latter of which had already ac- knowledged his authority. The Phocians ad- hered to the cause of Greece ; and were still further confirmed in their allegiance, after the Thessalians, their inveterate enemies, had em- braced the party of Xerxes Such were the violent animosities which divided these hostile states, that, in the opinion of Herodotus, which- ever side the Thessalians had taken, the Pho- cians would still have opposed them. He might perhaps have extended the observation to the other principal republics. The enthu- siasm of Athens and Sparta in defending the cause of Greece, rendered the rival states of Thebes and Argos zealous in the service of Persia ; and it is to be remembered, to the im- mortal glory of the friends of liberty and their country, that they had to struggle with domes- tic sedition, while they opposed and defeated a foreign invasion. Having entered the territory of Phocis, the Persian army separated into two divisions, with a view to obtain more plentiful supplies of the necessaries of life, and to destroy more com- pletely the possessions of their enemies. The most numerous division followed the course of the river Cephissus, which flows from the Thes- salian mountains, to the lake Copais in Boeotia. The fertile banks of the Cephissus were adorn- ed by Charadra, Neon, Elatsea, and other populous cities, all of which were burned or demolished by the fury of Xerxes, and the re- sentment of the Thessalians. Historians par- ticularly regret the destruction of the sacred walls of Ab6, a city held in peculiar respect on account of the temple of Apollo, famed for its unerring oracles, and enriched from the earliest times by the pious donations of superstition. The inhabitants had in general abandoned their towns, and taken refuge in the most inaccessible retreats of mount Parnassus. But the natives of Ab£, vainly confiding for safety in the sanc- tity of the place, became a prey to an undis- tinguishing rage, which equally disregarded things sacred and profane. The men perished by the sword, the women by the brutal lust of the Barbarians. 4 This 8enlimentiB the dictate of nature, and occurs often in the Roman as well as the Greek writers. “ Quae liberi parentibus ea coloni antiqu® patriro debent.” T. Livius. After committing these dreadful ravages, the principal division of the army marched into Boeotia, by the way of Orchomenus. The smaller part (if either portion of such an immense host may be distinguished by that epithet) stretched to the right, along the western skirts of mount Parnassus, and traced a line of devastation from the banks of the Cephissus to the temple of Delphi. Such was the fame of the immense riches collected in this sacred edifice, that Xerxes is said to have been as well acquainted with their amount as with that of his own treasury ; and, to believe- the adulation of his followers, he alone was worthy to possess that invaluable depository. The Delphians having learned, by the unhappy fate of Abe, that their religious employment could not afford protec- tion, either to their property or to their persons, consulted the oracle, “ Whether they should hide their treasures under ground, or transport them to some neighbouring country?” The Pythia replied, “ That the arms of Apollo were sufficient for the defence of his shrine.” The Delphians, therefore, confined their attention to the means necessary for their personal safety. The women and children were transported by sea to Achia ; the men climbed to the craggy tops of mount Cirphis, or descended to the deep caverns of Parnassus. Only sixty persons, the immediate ministers of Apollo, kept pos- session of the sacred city. But, could we credit the testimony of ancient historians, it soon ap peared that the gods had not abandoned Delphi: scarcely had the Persians reached the temple of Minerva the Provident, situated at a little distance from town, when the air thickened into an unusual darkness. A violent storm arose ; the thunder and lightning were terrible. At length the tempest burst on mount Parnassus, and separated from its sides two im- mense rocks, which rolling down with increased violence, overwhelmed the nearest ranks of the Persians. The shattered fragments of the mountain, which long remained in the grove of Minerva, were regarded by the credulity of the Greeks as a standing proof of the miracle. But without supposing any supernatural interven- tion, we may believe, that an extraordinary event, happening on an extraordinary occasion, would produce great terror and consternation in the Barbarian army, since many of the nations which composed it acknowledged the divinity of Apollo, and must therefore have been sensi- ble of their intended impiety, in despoiling his temple. The awful solemnity of the place con- spired with the horrors of the tempest, and the guilty feelings of their own consciences. These united terrors were sufficient to disturb all the rational principles of their minds, and even to confound the clearest perceptions of their senses. They imagined, that they heard many sounds, which they did not hear; and that they saw many phantoms, which they did not see. A universal panic seized them ; at first they re- mained motionless, in silent amazement; they afterwards fled with disordered steps and wild despair. The Delphians, who, perceived their confusion, and who believed that the gods, by the most manifest signs, defended their favour- ite abode, rushed impetuously from their fast- 124 HISTORY OF GREECE. nesses, and destroyed great numbers of the terrified and unresisting enemy . 1 The remain- der took the road of Bceotia, in or^er to join the main body under Xerxes, which having already destroyed the hostile cities of Thespiss and Platsea, was marching with full expectation to inflict complete vengeance on the Athenians. The united army arrived in the Attic terri- tory three months after their passage over the Hellespont. They laid waste the country, burned the cities, and levelled the temples with the ground. At length they took possession of the capital ; but the inhabitants, by a retreat no less prudent than magnanimous, had withdrawn from the fury of their resentment. It was impossible for the Athenians at once to oppose the Persian army, which marched from Bceotia, and to defend the western coasts of Greece against the ravages of a numerous fleet. The inhabitants of Peloponnesus, des- pairing of being able to resist the enemy in the open field, had begun to build a wall across the isthmus of Corinth, as their only security on the side of the land against the Barbaric in- vasion. In these circumstances, the Athenians, by the advice of Themistocles, embraced a re- solution which eclipsed the glory of all their former exploits. They abandoned to the Per- sian rage their villages, their territory, their walls, their city itself, with the revered tombs of their ancestors ; their wives and children, and aged parents, were transported to the isles of Salamis and iEgina, and to the generous city of Trsezone, on the Argolic coast, which, notwithstanding the defection of Argos, the capital of that province, steadfastly adhered to the maxims of patriotism, and the duties of friendship. The embarkation was made with such haste, that the inhabitants were obliged to leave behind them their household furniture, their statues and pictures, and in general the most valuable part of their property. But they were willing to relinquish all for the sake of their country, which they well knew consisted not in their houses, lands, and effects , 2 but in that equal constitution of government, which they had received from their ancestors, and which it was their dutv to transmit unimpaired to posterity. This constitution it was impos- sible for them to defend, unless they deter- mined, at the risk of their lives, and of every thing dear to them, to maintain the general in- dependence of the Grecian confederacy ; the interest of which became doubly precious, by being thus inseparably connected with their own. The Athenians capable of bearing arms or of handling an oar, embarked on board the fleet stationed at Salamis. The ships equipped and manned by them alone, exceeded in num- ber those of all their allies together, although the combined force was considerably augmented by the naval strength of Epirus and Arcanania, 1 Herodot. 1. viii. c. xxxvii. et seq. et. Diodor. 1. xi. p.250. 2 Ou \i5oi, oujs £u\cc o v$e Tf%vif tsxtoviuv oti 7roKcig ei Evr *v§* rax't *** sroA-iif. Alc*ub, apud Aristid. [Chap. which, formerly doubtful and irresolute, had been determined to the side of Greece by the fortunate issue of the engagements at Arte- misium. The whole Grecian armament, thus increased, amounted to three hundred and eighty vessels. That of the Persians, which now took possession of the Athenian harbours, lying to the south of the strait occupied by the Greeks, had also received a powerful reinforce- ment. The Locrians, Boeotians, and in general every people who had submitted to their arms, readily supplying them with ships ; and several of the Egean islands having at length prepared the quota which they had formerly been com- manded to furnish. We are not exactly in- formed of the number or strength of the addi- tional squadron; but it was supposed fully to compensate the loss occasioned by storms and sea-fights, and to restore the Persian fleet to its original complement of twelve hundred sail . 3 Trusting to the immense superiority of his armament, Xerxes was still desirous to make trial of his fortune at sea, notwithstanding his former disasters on that element. But before he came to a final resolution, he summoned a council of war, in order to hear the opinion of his maritime subjects or allies. The tributary kings of Tyre and Sidon, the leaders of the Egyptians, Cyprians, and Cilicians, ever ready to flatter the passions of their sovereign, offered many frivolous reasons in favour of the alter- native to which they perceived him inclined. But in the fleet of Xerxes there w r as a Grecian queen named Artemisia, vfridow of the prince of Halicarnassus, and who had assumed the government of that city and territory for the benefit of her infant son. Compelled by the order of Xerxes, or perhaps irritated against the Athenians for some reasons which history does not record, she not only fitted out five ships to attend the Persian expedition, but took upon herself the command of her little squad- ron, and on every occasion conducted it with equal skill and bravery. Such vigour of mind, united with so delicate a form, deserved to excite admiration in every part of the world ; but the manly spirit of Artemisia becomes still more admirable, when we consider the severe restraints which have been in all ages imposed on the female sex, by the manners and climate of Asia. Her superior genius recommended her to the peculiar favour of Xerxes, who was obliged to esteem in a woman the virtues which he himself wanted spirit to practise. Trusting to his advantageous opinion of her courage and fidelity, Artemisia dissented from the general voice of the allies, and even opposed the incli- nation of the prince. u Her former exploits on the coast of Eubcea afforded sufficient proof that her present advice was not the child of timidity. She had been ever forward to ex- pose her person and her fame in the service of the great king; but it was impossible to dis- semble the manifest superiority of the Greeks in naval affairs. Yet, were the two armaments as much on a foot of equality in point of brave- ry and experience, as they were unequal in numbers, what motive could induce Xerxes to 3 Herodot. Diodor, ubi supra; et Plut. in Th^miatocle. HISTORY OF GREECE. 125 X.] venture another engagement at sea? Was he not already in possession of Athens, the great object of the war? The Spartans, who had op- posed his progress at Thermopylee, had reaped the just fruits of their temerity : those assem- bled at the isthmus of Corinth might easily be involved in a similar fate. The Peloponnesus might then be laid waste by fire and sword, which w r ould complete the destruction of Greece. Instead of proceeding immediately to that peninsula, should Xerxes choose to con- tinue only a few weeks in the Attic territory, four hundred Grecian ships could not long be supplied with provisions from the barren rocks of Salamis. Necessity must compel them to surrender, or drive them to their respective cities, where they would become an easy prey to the Persian arms.” These judicious obser- vations were heard without approbation ; the worst opinion prevailed, being the best adapted to flatter the vanity of Xerxes. When the Grecian commanders observed that the enemy prepared to venture another engagement at sea, they likewise assembled to deliberate whether they should continue in the strait between Salamis and Attica, or proceed further up the gulf, towards the Corinthian isthmus. The latter proposal was generally approved by the confederates of Peloponnesus, who anxiously desired, in the present emer- gency, to approach as near as possible to their respective cities. Some hastened to their ships, and hoisted sail, in order to depart; and it seemed likely that their example would be soon followed by the whole fleet. On board the ship of Themistocles was Mnesiphilus, for- merly mentioned as the instructor of his youth, and who now accompanied him as his counsel- lor and friend. The experienced wisdom of Mnesiphilus readily discerned, that should the Greeks sail from Salamis, it would be impossi- ble to prevent the general dispersion of their armament. He therefore exhorted Themisto- cles, to endeavour, by all means possible, to prevent this fatal measure ; and particularly to persuade the Spartan admiral, Euribiades, to alter his present intention. Themistocles readily embraced the opinion of his friend. Having waited on Euribiades, he obtained his consent to summon a second assembly of the confederates. After they were fully convened, the Athenian began to call their attention to the state of their affairs ; but his discourse was insolently interrupted by Adi- mantus, the commander of the Corinthians, who had constantly discovered a particular solicitude for returning to the isthmus. The- mistocles, no less prudent than brave, answered his reproaches with calmness, and then ad- dressing himself to Euribiades, “The fate of Greece,” said he, “depends on the decision of the present moment, and that decision on you ; if you resolve to sail to the isthmus, we must abandon Salamis, Megara, and iEgina; we shall be compelled to fight in an open sea, where the enemy may fully avail themselves of their superior numbers ; and as the Persian army will certainly attend the motions of their fleet, we shall draw their combined strength to- wards the Grecian peninsula, our last and only | retreat. But if you determine to retain the ships in their present station, the Persians will find it impossible, in a narrow channel, to attack us at once with their whole force : we shall preserve Megara and Salamis, and we shall effectually defend Peloponnesus; for the Barbarians being, as I firmly trust, defeated in a naval engagement, will not penetrate further than Attica, but return home with disgrace.” He had scarcely ended his words, when Adi- mantus broke forth into new invectives, affect- ing surprise that Euribiades should listen to a man who, since the taking of Athens, had not any city to defend : that the Athenians ought then to have a voice in the council when they could say they had a home. Themistocles re- plied, “that the Athenians had indeed under- valued their private estates and possessions, in comparison of their political independence, and the general safety of Greece, and gloriously abandoned their city in defence of their country. But notwithstanding this sacrifice for the public good, they had still a home far more valuable than Corinth, two hundred ships of war well armed and manned, which no nation of Greece could resist. That should the confederates per- sist in their present dangerous resolution, the Athenians would in these ships embark their wives and families; desert a country, which had first forsaken itself ; and repair to the coast of Italy, where it was foretold by ancient ora- cles, that Atheris should, in some future time, form a great and flourishing settlement. That the Greeks would then remember and regret the advice of Themistocles, when, abandoned by the most considerable part of their allies, they became an easy prey to the Barbarian invader.” The firmness of this discourse shook the reso- lution of the confederates; and it was deter- mined by the majority to continue at Salamis Between this important resolve and the en- gagement, there intervened a moment of the most anxious solicitude. The minds of men, impressed with the awful idea of the events about to be transacted, were thrown off their ordinary bias; and as the operations of nature, and the agency of invisible beings, are always fondly connected in the imagination with the momentous concerns of human life, the Greeks felt, or believed they felt, extraordinary con- vulsions of the elements ; they saw, or fancied they saw, hideous spectres in the air ; and heard, or imagined they heard, the most terri- ble and threatening voices . 4 But all these strange and supernatural appearances, which would otherwise have been doubtful or alarm- ing, were proved, by a clear and explicit oracle, to foretel the destruction of the Barbarians. Notwithstanding this favourable intimation of the divine will, which was carefully improved by the wisdom and eloquence of Themistocles, the Peloponnesians were ready to return to their first determination. A vessel arriving from the Isthmus, brought advice that the for- tifications there were almost completed ; if the fleet retired to the neighbouring shore, the sailors might, even after a defeat at sea, take refuge behind their walls; but if conquered 4 Lysias Fun. Orat. FTerodot. ibid. 126 HISTORY OF GREECE. near the coasts of Salamis, they would be for ever separated from their families and friends, and confined, without hope or resource, within the narrow limits of a barren island. In im- portant alternatives, when the arguments on each side are almost equally persuasive, the party which we have embraced often appears the worst, merely because we have embraced it. Any new circumstance or consideration is always capable of changing the balance, and we hastily approve what we rejected after much deliberation. Lest this propensity should, as there was much reason to fear, again discon- cert his measures, Themistocles determined to prevent the Greeks from the possibility of grati- fying it. There commonly lived in his family a man named Sicinus, who at present accom- panied him. He was originally a slave, and employed in the education of his children ; but by the generosity of his patron, had acquired the rank of citizen, with considerable riches. The firmness and fidelity of this man rendered him a proper instrument for executing a strata- gem, which concealed, under the mask of trea- chery, the enthusiasm of public virtue. Hav- ing received his instructions from Themistocles, he privately sailed to the Persian fleet, and ob- taining admission into the presence of Xerxes, declared, “ That he had been sent by the cap- tain of the Athenians, who could no longer endure the insolence of his countrymen, to acquaint the great king, that the Greeks, seized with consternation at the near approach of danger, had determined to make their escape under cover of the night : that now was the time for the Persians to achieve the most glori- ous of all their exploits, and, by intercepting the flight of their enemies, accomplish their destruction at once . 1 The deceit was believed ; the whole day, and the greatest part of the succeeding night, the Persians employed in se- curing the several passages between the islands and the adjacent coast; and that nothing might be neglected that could contribute to their suc- cess, they filled the little isle, or rather rock, of Psyttalea, lying between Salamis and the continent, witli the flower of the Persian in- fantry, in order to intercept the miserable rem- nant of the Greeks, who, after the expected defeat, would fly thither for refuge. The first intelligence of these operations was brought to the Grecian fleet by Aristides the Athenian, who seems not to have availed him- self of the general act of indemnity to return from banishment, but who readily embraced every opportunity to serve his country. Hav- ing with difficulty escaped in a small vessel from the isle of iEgina, the generous patriot immediately communicated an account of what he had seen there to his rival and enemy, The- mistocles, who, meeting his generosity with equal frankness, made him the confidant of his secret. Their interview was as memorable as the occasion; and, after a continued life of op- position and hatred, they now first agreed to suspend their private animosities, in order to promote the common interest of their country. As the Peloponnesian commanders were either [Chap, wavering and irresolute, or had determined to set sail, Aristides was desired to inform them of the arrangement which he had seen ; the consideration of his country however rendered his evidence suspected, and it was imagined that he meant to sacrifice the general interest of the confederates to the safety of the Athe- nian families in Salamis. But the arrival of a vessel belonging to the isle of Tenos confirmed the veracity of his report, and the Pelopon- nesians resolved to fight, because it was impos- sible to fly . 2 Before the dawn of the day the Grecian ships were drawn up in order of battle ; and the Per- sians, who had been surprised at not finding them attempt to escape during night, were stil more surprised when morning discovered thei close and regular arrangement. The Greeks began with the light their sacred hymns and posans, which preceded their triumphant songs of war, accompanied by the animating sound of the trumpet. The shores of Attica re-echoed to the rocks of Salamis and Psyttalea. The Grecian acclamations filled the sky. Neither their appearance nor their words betokened flight or fear, but rather determined intrepidity, and invincible courage. Yet was their valour tempered with wisdom. Themistocles delay- ed ,the attack until the ordinary breeze should spring up, which was no less favourable to the experience of the Grecian mariners, than dan- gerous to the lofty unwieldiness of the Persian ships . 3 The signal was then given for the Athenian line to bear down against that of the Phoenicians, which rode on the west, off the coast of Eleusis; while the Peloponnesians ad- vanced against the enemy’s left wing stationed on the east, near the harbour of the Pirams. The Persians, confiding in their number, and secure of victory, did not decline the fight. A Phoenician galley, of uncommon size and strength, was distinguished in the front of their line by every circumstance of naval pomp. In the eagerness to engage, she far outstripped her companions; but her career was checked midway between the two fleets by an Athenian galley which had sailed forth to meet her. The first shock shattered her sculptured prow, the second buried her in the waves. The Athenians, encouraged by this auspicious pre- lude, proceeded with their whole force, animat- ing each other to the combat by a martial song : “ Advance, ye sons of Athens, save your coun- try, defend your wives and children, deliver the temples of your gods, regain the sacred tombs of your renowned forefathers ; this day, the common cause of Greece demands your va- lour.” The battle was bloody and destructive, and disputed on the side of the Persians with more obstinate resistance than on any former occasion ; for, from the Attic coast, seated on a lofty throne on the top of mount ^Egialos, Xerxes observe.d the scene of action, and atten- tively remarked, with a view to reward and punish, the various behaviour of his subjects. The presence of their prince operated on their hopes, and still more powerfully on their fears. 1 Herodot. 1. viii. c. Ixxv. 2 Herodot. 1. viii. c. lxxix. et seq. 3 Ibid. 1. viii. c. lxxix. et seq. HISTORY OF GREECE. 127 X.] Bat neither the hope of acquiring the favour, nor the fear of incurring the displeasure of a despot, could furnish principles of action wor- thy of being compared with the patriotism and love of liberty which actuated the Greeks. To the dignity of their motives, as much as to the superiority of their skill, the latter owed their unexampled success in this memorable engage- ment. The foremost ships of the Phoenicians were dispersed or sunk. Amidst the terror and confusion occasioned by their repulse, they ran foul of those which had been drawn up in two lines behind them. The Athenians skil- fully encircled them around, compressed them into a narrower space, and increased their dis- order ; they were at length entangled in each other, deprived of all power of action, and, to use the humble, but expressive figure of an eye-witness, “ caught and destroyed like fish in a net .” 4 Such was the fate of the right wing; while the Ionians, who, on the left, opposed the fleets of Peloponnesus and iEgina, furnished them with an opportunity to complete the vic- tory. Many of the Asiatic Greeks, mindful of the advice given by Themistocles, abandon- ed the interest of the great king, and openly declared for their countrymen ; others declined the engagement ; the remainder were sunk and put to flight. Among those whieh escaped was the ship of queen Artemisia, who in the battle of Salamis, displayed superior courage and con- duct : she was closely- pursued by an Athenian galley, commanded by Amenias, brother of the poet iEschylus. In this extremity she employ- ed a successful, but very unwarrantable strata- gem. The nearest Persian vessel was com- manded by Damasithymus, a tributary prince of Calynda in Lycia, a man with whom Arte- mesia was at variance. With great dexterity she darted the beak of her galley against the Lycian vessel. Damasithymus was buried in the waves ; and Amenias, deceived by this measure, equally artful and audacious, believed the vessel of Artemisia one of those which had deserted the Persian interest. The Phoenician and Ionian squadrons (for that of the Egyp- tians had been exceedingly weakened by the action on the coast of Euboea) formed the main strength of the Persian armament ; after these were defeated, the ships at a distance ventured not to advance, but hastily changing sail, measured back their course to the Athe- nian and other neighbouring harbours. The victors, disdaining to pursue them, dragged the most valuable part of the wreck to the coasts of Psyttalea and Salamis. The narrow seas were covered with floating carcasses of the dead, among whom were few Greeks ; as even those who lost their ships in the engagement, saved their lives by swimming, an art which they universally learned as a necessary branch of education, and with which the Barbarians were totally unacquainted . 5 Xerxes had scarcely time to consider and deplore the destruction and disgrace of his 4 /Eschylus Persne. 5 Before this period it was a law at Athens and other Btates, rouf jroiiSxi 8i$xTx.e(r6xt rrg iotov viiv t> x»« ygxft- ; that boys first learn reading and swimming. Sam. Pfctit. de Leg. Att. p. 11. fleet, when a new spectacle, not less mournful, offered itself to his sight. The flower of the Persian infantry had taken post, as we have already observed, on the rocky isle of Psyt- talea, in order to receive the shattered remains of the Grecian armament, which, after its ex- pected defeat, would naturally take refuge on that barren coast. But equally fallacious and fatal was their conjecture concerning the event of the battle. The Greeks, disembarking from their ships, attacked, in the enthusiasm of vic- tory, those astonished troops, who, unable to resist, and finding it impossible to fly, were cut down to a man. As Xerxes beheld this dread- ful havoc, he started in wild agitation from his silver throne, rent his royal robes, and, in the first moment of his returning tranquillity, commanded the main body of his forces, posted along the Athenian coast, to return to their respective camps. From that moment he resolved to return with all possible expedition into Asia. Yet did his fears and his policy conceal, for a few days, the design, not only from the Grecian but from the Persian generals. Mardomus alone was too well acquainted with the genius of his mas- ter, to believe that his concern for the safety of his illustrious person would allow him to remain longer than necessary, in a country which had been the scene of so many calami- ties. The artful courtier availed himself of the important secret, to divert the storm of royal resentment which threatened the principal author of this inglorious undertaking. In his first interview with Xerxes, he exhorted him, “ not to be too deeply affected by the defeat of his fleet : that he had come to fight against the Greeks, not with rafts of wood, but with sol- diers and horses : that the valour of the Per- sians had opposed all resistance, and their in- vincible sovereign was now master of Athens, the main object of his ambition : that having accomplished the principal end of the enter- prise, it was time for the great king to return from the fatigues of war to the cares of govern- ment, for with three hundred thousand chosen men he would undertake to prosecute his de- signs, and to complete his victory.” Such is the language of adulation, too often held to princes. The other courtiers confirmed, by their approbation, the advice of Mardonius ; and the Persian monarch, while he obeyed the dictates of his own pusillanimity, seemed to leave Greece in reluctant compliance with the anxious solicitude of his subjects. The remains of the Persian fleet, frightened from the coast of Greece, returned to the har- bours of Asia Minor, and afterwards assembled and rendezvoused, during the ensuing winter, in the port of Cyme. The transports were or- dered to the Hellespont, on the banks of which Xerxes arrived with his troops in forty-five days, after intolerable hardships and fatigue. Famine and pestilence filled up the measure of their calamities ; and, excepting the three hun- dred thousand chosen men committed to Mar donius, a detachment of whom guarded the royal person to the coast, scarcely a remnant was left of so many millions . 6 The bridgo 6 OuLv cuj says Herodotus emphatically. 128 HISTORY OF GREECE. ostentatiously erected on the Hellespont would have presented, had it remained entire, a mor- tifying monument of past greatness. But this magnificent fabric had been destroyed by a tempest : and such is the obscurity with which Xerxes returned from Greece, compared with the blaze of grandeur in which he arrived there, that it is uncertain whether he crossed the channel in a Phoenician ship of war, or only in a fishing-boat . 1 Having returned to Sardis, he endeavoured to compensate for the disappointment of ambition by the gratification of sensuality, and buried himself in pleasures more infamous and degrading, and not less frightfully criminal, than all the disgrace which his pride had incurred, and all the calamities which his subjects had either inflicted or suf- fered . 2 When the Greeks had leisure to examine the extent and completeness of their success, they determined in the first emotions of triumph and resentment, to pursue the shattered re- mains of the enemy. That no Barbarian might escape, they purposed immediately to sail northward, to destroy the Persian bridge over the Hellespont, and thus to intercept their return. This design was recommended, and chiefly supported by the Athenians, who having experienced the greatest share of the danger, felt most sensibly the joys of deliverance. But upon more mature deliberation, it occurred that the Persians were still sufficiently numerous to afford just grounds of terror. To their cow- ardice and inexperience, not to their want of strength, the Greeks owed all their advantages over them ; but should the impossibility of re- treat be added to their other calamities, they might derive courage from despair, and, by efforts hitherto unexerted, repair the conse- quences of their past errors and misfortunes. These considerations, first suggested, it is said, by Euribiades the Spartan, were adopted by Themistocles, who convinced his countrymen that the jealousy of the Grecian gods, unwilling that one man should be lord of Europe and Asia, rather than their own prowess, had given them the victory over Xerxes ; a prince of such folly and madness, that he had treated with equal irreverence things human and divine, destroyed the sacred temples, overthrown the venerable altars and images, and impiously in- sulted the gods of the Hellespont with stripes and fetters. That it was the duty of the Athe- nians, after having gloriously repelled the com- mon enemy, to provide for the subsistence of their wives and families, to sow their lands, rebuild their houses, and thus to repair, by the most industrious activity, the dreadful ravages committed in their territories . 3 Themistocles had no sooner persuaded the Athenians to embrace his opinion, than he secretly despatched his confidant Sicinus to acquaint the great king with the danger which he had so nearly escaped, and to advise him to pursue his journey with all possible expedi- tion. Xerxes readily believed a piece of infor- mation, which agreed with the suggestions of [Chap. his own timidity. The rapidity of his march conspired with other circumstances above mentioned, in proving fatal to the lives of his followers ; and the crafty Athenian, who knowing the unstable affections of the multi- tude, wished to deserve the gratitude of a king, gained the double advantage of dispel- ling sooner than could otherwise have happen- ed, that destructive cloud of Barbarians which hovered over his country, and of convincing their leader, that he was in part indebted for his safety to that very man whose counsels, rather than the arms of Greece, had occasioned his affliction and disgrace. The victory at Salamis terminated the se- cond act of the Persian expedition, which has, with much propriety, been compared to a tra- gedy. The Greeks soon understood that, not- withstanding the return of Xerxes, three hun- dred thousand men, commanded by Mardonius, were cantoned for the winter in Thrace, Mace- don, and Thessaly, with a design to take the field early in the spring, and again to try the fortune of war. This intelligence deterred the Athenians from bringing home their wives and children, as they originally intended, from Trae- zene, Salamis, and iEgina, because they had reason to dread that their country would ex perience new effects of Barbarian resentment It appears, however, that a few citizens, more sanguine in their hopes than the rest, returned to their ancient habitations ; while the greater part continued on board the fleet, or went to re- side with their friends in the Peloponnesus. According to modern ideas, it would be na- tural to expect, that under the apprehension of another formidable invasion, the Greeks should have employed the winter in raising contribu- tions, levying and disciplining troops, and con- certing proper measures for the public defence. But such preparations w r ere in some degree unnecessary, because in the Grecian republics almost every citizen was a soldier; and the different states were at all times too weakly united, to agree in any uniform plan of opera- tions. Besides, the customs and prejudices of that early age obliged them to observe many forms and ceremonies, which interfered with employments seemingly more useful, on such an ifnportant emergency. We find, accord- ingly, that instead of increasing or improving their military establishment, the Greeks spent the winter 4 in dividing the spoil ; assigning to the different commanders the prizes of conduct and valour ; performing the last offices to the dead ; celebrating their games and festivals ; and displaying, both in the multitude of their prayers, and in the magnificence of their offer- ings, the warmest gratitude to their protecting divinities. The dedications to the gods were intrinsically valuable. The rewards bestowed on their generals were simple tokens of public esteem. The first consisted in vases, statues, and other ornaments of gold and silver ; the second in a wreath of pine, laurel, or olive : a circumstance which made Tigranes the Persian, exclaim, “ Heavens ! against what men have we come to contend? insensible to interest, they fight only for glory !” 1 Confer. Herod. Justin. Corn. Nepos. 2 Herodot. et Diodor. ibid. 3 Herodot 1. viii. c. cviii. et seq. 4 Herodot. 1. viii. c. exxi. et seq. HISTORY OF GREECE. 129 X.J It is not surprising, that the institutions of Greece should have deceived an untutored Barbarian, when we consider that even the modern philosopher and historian have been too often dazzled by their splendour. Yet notwith- standing what Tigranes believed, and what, from the fond admiration of antiquity, many modern writers have asserted, the indiscrimi- nate praise of disinterestedness by no means Belonged to the Grecians. When the com- manders of their several ships and squadrons assembled to regulate the distribution of naval and military rewards, each captain, with a sel- fishness equally indelicate and unjust, arro- gated to himself the first prize of merit; though most of them acknowledged the desert of Themistocles as second to their own . 5 This general assignment of the second, while all alike assumed the .first place, was equivalent to a public declaration in favour of the Athenian: and the honours which were conferred on him, both in his own country and in Sparta, suffi- ciently confirmed the decision. The usual marks of the public esteem were not indeed attended with any immediate profit ; but their consequences were extremely beneficial. Sup- ported by the favourable opinion of his coun- trymen, a commander by sea or land frequently attained an authority, the exercise of which was equally adapted to flatter pride and to gratify avarice. The behaviour of Themisto- cles, after he had acquired sufficient merit with the public to justify his rapacity, affords one memorable example of this kind ; and we shall meet with many more, in examining the sub- sequent events of the Grecian history. Instead of remaining at home, in order to concert a plan for repelling the danger which threatened his country, the Athenian commander sailed with a little squadron to the Cyclades, laid these unfortunate islands under a heavy con- tribution, and without the participation, or even knowledge of his colleagues in command, en- riched himself and his favourites . 6 On the approach of spring, Mardonius pre- pared to take the field. His army consisted of the Medes, Persians, Scythians, and Indians ; and though reduced from the millions which followed Xerxes to about three hundred thou- sand men, it was thereby rather delivered from an useless encumbrance, than deprived of any real strength. Before marching from Thes- saly, his superstition engaged him to consult the Grecian oracles, and moved probably by an erroneous explanation of their ambiguous •esponses, he determined to try the effect of legociation, before he had recourse to arms. He might treat either with individuals, or with communities. By the former method, the The- bans assured him, that he might become master of Greece, without hazarding a battle. “You have only,” said they, “ to send money to the leading men in the several republics. In this manner you will divide each state into fac- tions ; engage them in a civil war ; and, when exhausted by mutual hostilities, they will rea- dily submit to your demands.” Mardonius, instead of pursuing this judicious system, which 5 Herodot. I. viii. c. xxiii. 6 Herodot. ibid. c. lxxv. R would probably have been successful, sent Alexander, king of Macedon, to treat with such Athenians as had returned to their city. This illustrious ambassador, who boasted an Argive extraction, was the tributary prince of a barba- rous country ; but of a country destined, in a future age, to attain empire and renown, by the arts of Philip and the arms of his immortal son. The first Alexander was peculiarly well qualified for executing the office with which Mardonius had entrusted him, because his family had long been connected with the re- public of Athens, by the sacred ties of hospi- tality. But his commission was as unwelcome as his visit was acceptable. The Athenians, therefore, delayed calling an assembly to hear and answer his discourse, until the Spartans (who were apprised of the intention of Mardo- nius) should send ambassadors to assist at the deliberation. When all parties were convened, Alexander declared, “ That he was sent on the part of Mardonius, who had received a message from the great king, intimating his will to for- give their past injuries, to reinstate them in their possessions, to rebuild their houses and temples, and to receive them into the number of his friends and confederates.” Mardonius then spoke for himself : “ What madness, O Athenians, can impel you to maintain war against a monarch whom you cannot expect ever to conquer, nor hope always to resist ? You are* acquainted with the number and prowess of the troops under my command, which, for- midable as they are, make but a small part of the unbounded resources of Xerxes. Every year he can invade you with an increasing superiority of strength ; submit, therefore, to a power which it is impossible to oppose ; profit ere it be too late, of the disposition of the great king, and accept the offer of an alliance which folly alone, not fortitude and firmness, can en- gage you to decline.” Alexander endeavoured to add weight to these considerations, by ob- serving, “ That his past conduct had uniformly proved the sincerity of his attachment to the Athenians ; and that he was firmly convinced of the expediency, and even necessity of the measures now in agitation, otherwise he should not have undertaken to propose them. He therefore exhorted them to reflect on the ad- vantages which would accrue to them from being alone, of all the Greeks, admitted into the alliance of Xerxes ; to reflect also on the dreadful consequences which would attend their refusal, since their country, placed as a prize between the contending parties, would thereby be exposed to inevitable destruction.”^ As soon as Alexander had ended his dis- course, the Lacedaemonian ambassadors repre- sented to the assembly, “ That they had been sent on the part of their republic, to thwart the measures of the Barbarians, with whom, in order to resent the quarrel of her Athenian allies, Sparta had engaged in a bloody and de- structive war. Could the Athenians then, for whose sake alone the war which now extended over all Greece was originally undertaken, abandon their frionds and confederates, whose 7 Herodot. 1. viii. c. oxl 130 HISTORY OF GREECE. services they had every reason to approve ? Could they associate with Barbarians, whose hostilities they had every reason to resent ? Sparta affectionately sympathized with their sufferings, in the loss of their houses and their harvests ; yet the confederates in general had endeavoured to prevent or repair the unhappy consequences of their loss : they had maintain- ed their wives and families, supported and educated their helpless children, cherished and sustained the declining years of their parents. Their generosity was not yet ex- hausted ; if the Athenians should be compelled again to abandon their country, they would again find the same hospitable reception in Peloponnesus ; and their families, if it became necessary, would be maintained at the common expense, during the continuance of the war. Let them not, therefore, be deceived by the specious words of the tyrant Alexander, who, at the expense of truth, endeavoured to pro- mote the interest of a tyrant like himself. The Athenians ought to remember, that neither justice, nor honour, nor fidelity, can be expect- ed from tyrants and Barbarians .” 1 Having thus spoken, the Lacedaemonians, as well as Alexander, withdrew ; and the Athenians, after a short deliberation, answered both parties by the voice of Aristides, who, as archon, or chief magistrate, presided in the assembly : first, to the Macedonian they replied, “ That as they were sufficiently acquainted with the strength of Xerxes, he might have spared them the in- sult of describing its vast superiority to their own. Yet, in defence of liberty, there was no power too great to oppose. Return then, and tell Mardonius, that the Athenians will never make peace with Xerxes, while the sun per- forms his annual course in the heavens ; but that, trusting to the assistance of the gods and heroes, whose temples and images the tyrant has impiously destroyed, we will resist him to the last extremity. To conclude : come not a second time to Athens with such messages, the insolence of which may make us forget that you are our friend, and connected with us by the sacred ties of reciprocal hospitality.” The answer given to the Lacedaemonian ambassa- sadors was delivered in a still higher strain of patriotism : “ That the Barbarians, or even the peasants of Laconia, should suppose us capable of coming to an accommodation with the Per- sians, does not surprise us ; but it is indeed surprising, that you, citizens of Sparta, should entertain the same groundless fears ; you, who have so often heard by report, and who, on so many occasions, have yourselves witnessed the disinterested magnanimity of our republic. Know then, that the richest possessions on earth, that all the treasures of the great king, are not sufficient to seduce our unalterable at- tachment to Greece. The laws of God and man equally forbid our ingratitude ; or if all ties of duty were dissolved, our resentment against the Persians would restrain us. We must avenge our plundered altars, our pros- trate images, our desolated temples. We must avenge the cause of our allies, and our own ; [Chap. for all the Greeks have the same religion, lan- guage, lineage, and manners ; and, while an Athenian survives, will never, with his consent, make peace with the Barbarians. We acknow- ledge with gratitude your proffered kindness to our families ; but henceforth we hope to provide for them, without giving the confede- rates any trouble on their account. What we request of you is, that your army march with all possible expedition towards Boeotia, that our united resistance may stop the progress of the Barbarian, who, as soon as he is apprised of our determined hostility, will not fail to pro- ceed southward, to invade Attica a second time .” 2 This conjecture was justified by the event. The Persians within a few weeks marched into Bceotia, but the Athenians looked in vain for the expected arrival of their Spartan auxilia- ries. To have witnessed the proceedings just described in the Athenian assembly, we should have imagined that there was a generous con- test of patriotism between the two republics ; and that the happiness and glory of Greece, not the interest of their particular communities, was the great object of their ambition. But the Greeks had often much patriotism in their speeches, when there was little in their hearts ; and the Spartans, who had lately employed such powerful arguments to engage Athens in defence of the common cause, totally abandon- ed their principles whenever it suited their con- venience . 3 Instead of issuing forth in order to support their allies in Bceotia, they remained within the isthmus, and endeavoured to fortify that inlet into their territory with such addi- tional walls and bulwarks as might render it impenetrable. The work was now complete ; and the Peloponnesians, secure, as they ima- gined, behind this solid rampart, equally disre- garded the safety, and' despised the resentment, of their northern allies. The Athenians, a second time forsaken by their confederates, were obliged again to desert their country. They had scarcely sailed to their families in Salamis, when Attica was in- vaded by the Persians. While the fugitives continued in that island, they received another embassy from Mardonius, offering them the same terms which they had formerly rejected. They still persisted in rejecting them ; in con- sequence of which, they beheld, without appa- rent uneasiness, from the shores of Salamis, their territories 4 again laid waste ; their cities, and villas, and temples, devoured by the flames ; and every thing that had escaped the fury of the first invasion, destroyed or consumed by the second. After committing these ravages, which as he had already obtained complete possession of the country, deserve to be con- sidered only as the effect of a childish resent- ment, Mardonius returned into Bceotia, that his troops might be supplied with provisions ; and that, should the enemy offer them battle, they might engage in a country better adapted than Attica to the operations of cavalry. Herodot. 1. viii. c. cxlii. 2 Herodot. 1. viii. c. cxl. et seq. 3 Lysias, Orat. Funeb. 4 Herodot. 1. Lx. c. i. ctseq. HISTORY OF GREECE. 131 The Athenians, who had been sent from Sa- lamis to remonstrate with the Spartan council against the delays or desertion of the Pelo- ponnesians, were accompanied by the ambassa- dors of Plataea and Megara, who confirmed their arguments and complaints. With the indignation of disappointed confidence, they upbraided the indifference and lukewarmness of the Spartans in the common cause ; senti- ments which ill corresponded with their own generous ardour. They contrasted the base treachery of Sparta, formerly the honour, now the disgrace of Greece, with the patriotic mag- nanimity of Athens. The latter, they observed, compelled by necessity, or urged by resentment of the shameful dereliction on the part of her allies, would doubtless accept the terms offered by Mardonius, and then the Peloponnesians must become sensible, when it was too late, that the wall across the isthmus formed but a partial and feeble defence ; and however it might secure them from inroads on the side of the land, would ill protect their coasts against the descents of the Persian, reinforced by the Athenian fleet. 5 Whether the eloquence of the ambassadors, or the returning sense of public utility, over- came the pusillanimous resolutions formerly embraced by the Spartans, it is certain that they now first determined to take the field. Five thousand Spartan pike-men were accompanied by thirty-five thousand Helots. Their Pelo- ponnesian allies sent their respective contin- gents; so that the heavy-armed men raised in the peninsula exceeded twenty thousand, com- manded by Pausanias, the guardian and kins- man of Plistarchus, son of Leonidas. Having marched beyond the isthmus, they were joined by Aristides, at the head of eight thousand Athenians, and by a superior number of their allies of Megara, Thespiae, Platasa, Salamis, Euboea, and JEgina. The whole heavy-armed troops amounted to nearly forty thousand ; the light-armed were the thirty-five thousand He- lots, attendants on the Spartans, and about as many more, one to each soldier, attended the other divisions of the army. 6 Mardonius having marched into Boeolia, en- camped on the banks of the iEsopus. His army of three hundred thousand men, while they waited the enemy’s approach, of which they were secretly informed by the Argives, were employed in building a square fortification, about five quarters of a mile in front ; a work of little utility, since it could only defend a small portion of a camp which extended many miles, from the Theban town of Erythraea, to the territory of the PIata3ans. The Greeks having arrived in those parts, took post at the foot of mount Citheron, directly opposite to the enemy. The hostile armies remained eleven days in their encampments, during which several inci- dents happened, which tend to display the man- ners and character of those great bodies of men, who were soon to attempt the destruction of each 5 Lysias, Orat. Funob. 6 Herodot. 1. ix. c. i. et seq. Diodor. Sicul. 1. xi. et Pluf. in Aristid. other. Of the Grecians inhabiting the countries north of Attica, the Phocians, as we have al- ready had occasion to observe, were the least disposed to embrace the cause of Mardonius. Yet as all their neighbours had submitted to his arms, they reluctantly sent to his camp a thousand soldiers, well armed, and commanded by Harmocydes, a citizen of great influence and authority. They had not continued many days in the Persian army, when an order came from Mardonius (the reason was unknown,) for the Phocians to be detached from the rest, and en- camped in a separate body on the plain. They had no sooner obeyed his command, than the whole Persian cavalry appeared in sight, and soon formed themselves in hostile array. It immediately occurred to the Phocians, and particularly to their prudent commander, that Mardonius, suspecting their fidelity, or yielding to the solicitations of their inveterate enemies the Thessalians, had determined their destruc- tion. Harmocydes therefore, pointing to the cavalry, called to his companions, “ You see those men, who come with an evident intention to destroy us : but let us die like Grecians, and exert ourselves with all the fury of a desperate defence, rather than tamely submit to a dis- honourable fate.” While he yet spoke, the Phocians seized their arms, arranged them- selves in order of battle, and supporting each other in redoubled ranks, presented on every side a firm circle of protended lances. Their warlike appearance struck terror into the sur- rounding cloud of Barbarians, who advanced brandishing, and a few of the nearest throwing, their javelins: but farther they ventured not to proceed; the determined countenance of the Greeks sufficed to repel them ; they retired in haste to the Persian camp. A herald was then sent by Mardonius, “ desiring the Phocians to take courage, nor to dread farther hostilities ; that they had shown themselves to be brave men, contrary to the account which he had re- ceived of them ; and, if they displayed their valour in the Persian cause, they should find it impossible to conquer either Xerxes or himself in good offices.” 7 The above relation tends to prove, that none of the Greeks, not even those who joined the enemy, were deficient in courage. Another in- cident related by the same historian proves, that notwithstanding the extreme folly of their commanders, the Persians were not universally deficient in wisdom. While they were en- camped on the iEsopus, a wealthy Theban, named Attaginus, invited Mardonius, with fifty of his most distinguished officers, to a magnifi- cent entertainment. The feast was given at Thebes, and an equal number of Boeotians were called to it. Among these was Thersander, a native of Orchomenus, and a person of the highest distinction in that city. Two of the guests were placed on each couch; and, as Thersander himself related to Herodotus, his Persian companion, after supper, entering into conversation in the Greek tongue, testified, under the seal of secrecy, his gloomy apprehen- sions concerning the event of the present war, Horodot. 1. ix. c. i. ct «eq. 132 HISTORY OF GREECE. He did not even hesitate to declare his firm persuasion, that few Persians would survive an engagement. When asked by the Theban, Why he did not communicate his opinion to his general? he said, that men of plain sense and honesty had seldom much influence with the great. It appeared from the whole tenor of his discourse, that there were many people in the Persian army, who, like himself, la- mented the mad ambition of Xerxes, and the fatal rashness of Mardonius; and who, while they respected their stations and dreaded their power, despised their characters, and condemned their conduct. 1 This observation it is proper to make for the honour of human nature. In absolute governments, it is said that men obey, like a flock of sheep, the voice of a despot ; yet it may be said with equal truth, that amidst the obedience extorted by fear, they often see and regret the folly of their shepherd. In this situation, it was scarcely to be ex- pected that the hostile camps should remain without frequent skirmishes. These preludes to the general engagement ended favourably for the Grecians. Three thousand soldiers, furnished by the rocky district of Megara, were posted on the side most exposed to the enemy’s cavalry, by whose incursions they had been so much harassed, that they determined to aban- don that difficult station. Before executing their design, they sent a herald to the Grecian generals, intimating the resolution they had taken from necessity, and at the same time hinting the injustice of detaining them, from the time of the first encampment, in a post of peculiar danger, which though they had hither- to indeed maintained with singular constancy and fortitude, they now found themselves una- ble longer to defend. Pausanias addressed him- self successively to the whole army, to know whether any division was willing to change posts with the Megarians. All were silent, or declined the proposal on frivolous pretences. The Athenians alone, actuated by that love of pre-eminence which they did not more ar- dently desire than they justly deserved, volun- tarily offered their services on this trying occasion. They had not long occupied the im- portant post, when the enemy’s cavalry began to assault them. The assault they repelled with vigour, and Masistius the Persian gene- ral fell in the action. A terrible conflict en- sued, according to ancient custom, around the body of the dead. The Athenians at length gained possession of it ; though they began to give way before the general attack of the horse, yet upon being supported by a reinforcement from the main body, they again recovered their ground, and compelled the Persians to retire. When the first unwelcome messengers arrived in the camp with an account of their own de- feat, and the death of the general, Mardonius and his attendants burst into tears ; their la- mentations were soon communicated to the troops, and diffused over the army, whose plaintive cries filled the whole land of Bceotia. Tbe Persians tore their hair, disfigured their «, and displayed every symptom of intole- [Chap. rable wo ; for they had lost Masistius, who in comeliness and stature was the first of their generals, and in military courage and address only second to Mardonius. 2 The Grecians having thus bravely delivered themselves from the incursions of the Persian cavalry, were now exposed to a still greater in- convenience, the scarcity of fresh water, which soon obliged them to decamp. Their fate suc- cess afforded a favourable moment forexecuting this dangerous measure. They proceeded in arms along the foot of mount Citheron, pre- pared to repel the attack of the enemy, by con- verting the column of march into an order of battle. They arrived without opposition at the place appointed. This was a plain near the village of Hysia, in the territory of Platsea, interspersed with many gentle emi- nences, adorned with a grove and temple sacred to the genius of the place, and enriched by the copious fountain Gargaphia ; a neces- sary resource to the Greeks, as the enemy, by means of their cavalry and archers, commanded both sides of the iEsopus. It might be expected, that men prepared to defend every thing most dear to them, should have preserved in the field perfect agreement and unanimity ; especially as the Greeks, on some occasions at least, seemed sensible that mutual union was necessary for the general safety. When the allies on both sides the isthmus had assembled in Attica, they vowed with common consent to the gods, and bound themselves by the most tremendous oaths, to maintain with steadfast adherence an unshaken fidelity to Greece, to prefer liberty to life, to obey the command of their leaders, and to bury their companions slain in battle. Should for- tune render them victorious (which to their present ardour seemed scarcely a matter of doubt,) they swore never to demolish any city whose inhabitants had concurred with the general voice on this important occasion, and never to rebuild the temples defaced by the Barbarians, but to leave them to the most distant posterity, as a monument of sacrilegious rage, and an incitement to honourable revenge. They swore also to institute an annual festival de- nominated the Common Liberty, 3 and to con- secrate public games and sacrifices to the goddess, the great author of their union, and the venerable object of their worship. But these public-spirited sentiments continued not long to actuate them. We have already had occasion to remark several symptoms of ap- proaching animosity. Their dissensions soon broke out into an open rupture, and prevailed, even on the eve of a battle, not only between rival republics, but in the bosom of almost every community. The first contest arose between the Athe- nians and Tegeans, about the command of the left wing. Both parties yielded the right, as the place of greatest honour to the Spartans. But the citizens of Tegea, in number three thousand, had been long deemed the best sol- diers in Arcadia; and in all the conjunct ex- 1 Herodot. 1. ix. c. xv. 2 Herodot. c. ccxxiv. 3 Ibid. 1. ix. c. viii. et seq. HISTORY OF GREECE. 133 X peditions of the Peloponnesians, they had always obtained, unrivalled, the second hon- ours of the field. These they professed them- selves unwilling to relinquish, alleging the heroic exploits of their ancient kings ; and asserting, “that the actions of the Athenians, performed either during their royal or demo- cratical government, could not bear a compari- son with their own: they appealed on this subject to the Lacedaemonians, in conjunction with whom they had often fought and con- quered, and whose decision in their favour they rather claimed than requested.” This bold pretension the Athenians easily repelled, by the lustre of their usual eloquence. “ We know,” said they, “that the Greeks are here assembled, not to dispute about precedency, but to fight the Barbarian. Yet, as the Tegeans have mentioned their ancestors, it becomes us to maintain the immortal renown of our own. Need we mention their ancient victories over the impious Thebans ; their chastisement of the insolent Eurystheus ; their generous protection of the unfortunate sons of Hercules? When Greece was invaded by the warlike Amazons, and afterwards by the fiercer savages of Scythia and Thrace, the Athenians resisted and over- came the common enemy. What people fought with more bravery than they in the war of Troy? But perhaps we, who now address you, have degenerated from the glory of our ances- tors. Let the battle of Marathon efface the foul suspicion. There, unaided and alone, we defended the general safety, maintained the glory of Greece, and raised, by the prowess of our single republic, a trophy over forty nations. This exploit, had we no other to allege, en- titles us to the rank claimed by the Tegeans, and to far higher honours. But the present is not a time for such contests ; place us there- fore, O Spartans ! in whatever station you think fit; there, we will behave like brave min.” Their words were scarcely ended, when the whole army of the Lacedaemonians cried out with one consent, “ That the Athenians were far more worthy than the Tegeans, or any nation of Arcadia, to stand at the head of the left wing ;” accordingly they assumed that im- portant post . 4 Mean time the Barbarian army approached. The Medes and Persians encamped on the plain, fronting the Spartans: the Grecian auxi- liaries were placed in direct opposition to the Athenians. It is easy to perceive, even at this distance of time, the reason of such an arrange- ment. The Persians avoided to encounter the Athenian bravery, which they had already fatally experienced in the field of Marathon ; and as the Thebans were the most powerful and the warmest of their foreign allies, as well as the inveterate enemies of Athens, it was thought proper to oppose them to that side on which the Athenians were posted. Ambiguous oracles, attended by unfavourable omens and prophecies, had hitherto deterred Mardonius from venturing a general engagement; and he was at length determined to this measure, not from any auspicious change in the admoni- tions of heaven , 5 but from the apparent timi- dity occasioned by the real dissensions of the Greeks. The same reasons which made Mardonius desire to preserve, made Pausanias wish to alter, the relative disposition of their respective camps. Excepting in the glorious contest at Thermopylae, in which they devoted themselves to death for the safety of their country, the Spartans had never contended with the Medes ; but they had often fought and conquered the Boeotians. Pausanias therefore desired (for, though dignified with the title of general, he could not command) the Athenians to change places with his countrymen. This request was cheerfully complied with; but other circum- stances sowed dissension in the Athenian camp . 6 The quiet likewise of the Lacedaemo- nians was disturbed by the quarrels between Pausanias and Anompharetus, the Spartan next in command ; and conspiring with these internal animosities, the Persian horse beat up their quarters, intercepted their convoys, and, by an unexpected incursion, destroyed their watering-place. It thus became necessary again to decamp. The obscurity of midnight was chosen as the most convenient time for effect- ing this purpose ; and the destined place of re- treat was a narrow slip of ground lying towards the source of the iEsopus, and confined between that river and mount Citheron. This post was at least preferred by the majority; for the Greeks were by no means unanimous : so that when the march was ordered, many of the allies abandoned their leaders; others took refuge in the neighbouring temples, to elude the pursuit of the horse; while Anompharetus the Spartan declared, “ That neither he, nor the division under his command, should ever fly from the enemy :” and in consequence of its dispersion in so many different directions, the Grecian army presented next morning the ap- pearance, not of a regular march, but of a flight or rout. Mardonius was apprised that the Greeks had changed their order of battle. He was now informed, that they had abandoned their camp. Not doubting that fear had precipitated their retreat, he ordered his soldiers to pursue the fugitives, and to complete the victory. The Lacedsemonians and Athenians were still within his reach ; the former near the foot of the moun- tain, the latter in the middle of the plain. Hav- ing sent his Grecian auxiliaries, amounting to fifty thousand, against the Athenians, he ad- vanced with the bravest of the Persian troops against that portion of the enemy which had shown an anxious solicitude to avoid his arms. Never did the contrast appear greater, than in the opposite appearance and behaviour of the hostile armies on this occasion. The Barbari- ans, ill armed, and totally ignorant of discipline, 5 The prophets consulted were Greeks, who pethaps secretly served the cause of their country. Mardonius re- solved to engage the enemy, as we learn from Herodotus, without regarding their predictions. Alexander of Macedon came in the night to the Grecian camp, to give intimation of that resolution : vet Mardonius seems to have been im mediately determined to attack, by the circumstances men tinned in the text. G Plutarch in Aristid. 4 Horodot. 1. ix. c. xxvi. ct seq. Plut. in Aristid. 134 HISTORY OF GREECE. advanced without order, and with a loud in- sulting noise. The Lacedaemonians, carefully covered with their shields, observed in silence the result of their sacrifices. While the heavenly admonitions were unfavourable, they patiently received the darts and javelins which the ene- my threw upon them. But as soon as Pausa- nias, casting his eyes towards a neighbouring temple of June, >.nd devoutly entreating the protection of the goddess, had obtained, in the changing aspect of the victims, a propitious answer to his prayer, they proceeded with in- trepidity to close with their opponents . 1 The Persians, reinforced with the Sacae, a Scythian tribe, sustained the attack with great bravery. Immense numbers were slain ; but new num- bers succeeded, crowding together in tumultu- ous disorder, and making a hideous outcry, as if they had intended to tear in pieces and to devour the enemy. Mardonius, mounted on a white steed of uncommon strength and swift- ness, was distinguished in every part of the battle by the splendour of his appearance, but still more by deeds of signal valour. He was attended by a thousand horsemen, consisting of the flower of the Persian nobility, all alike ambitious to imitate the example, and to emu- late the fame, of their leader. Had their skill been equal to their courage, or had they previ- ously bestowed as much pains in disciplining their troops, as in improving their own agility and address, either the Greeks must have been conquered, or the battle must have remained doubtful. But the Barbarians acted without union or concert ; and as they fought singly, were successively defeated. It is the nature, and the greatest disadvantage of cavalry, not to increase in force in proportion to the redu- plication of their ranks. The Grecian phalanx, on the other hand, received an accession of strength from every addition to its depth ; the ranks behind supported those before ; no power was misspent or unexerted ; and the effect might be continually augmented, till it became irre- sistible. Availing themselves of this circum- stance, the Lacedaemonians thickened their ranks, extended their spears, sustained the shock, and penetrated the depth, of the brave Persian squadron. Mardonius fell by the for- tunate arm of the Spartan Aieimnestus . 2 The death of the general was immediately followed by the defeat of the Persians, and the defeat of the Persians by the flight of the Barbarian army. Artabazus, the Parthian chief, had from the beginning condemned the rash measures of Mardonius. He commanded forty thousand men, who were prepared on every occasion to follow the example of their leader. As soon as he perceived the confusion of the Persians, he made the signal for his troops to quit the field. He conducted them through the territory of the Phocians, and arriving by hasty marches at the Hellespont, before the news of the defeat 1 Herodot. 1. ix. c. lxii. et seq. 2 Composed of two Greek words, which maybe translated “ of immortal memory an instance, among many, that the Greeks frequently gave names characteristic of persons ; a custom which likewise prevailed much among the Jews. See Michaelis’s Translation and Annotations on Genesis, p. 37. et passim. [Chap. and death of Mardonius, returned in safety to the Asiatic coast, with the forces entrusted to his care . 3 The remainder of the discomfited Barbarians sought refuge in their camp, which, as we have already mentioned, had been strengthened by a considerable fortification. The Spartans pur- sued them with great ardour, but were unable to force their encampment. The Tegeans and other troops seconded the attack, but no im- pression could be made on the wall, till the arrival of the Athenians. These generous de- fenders of the cause of liberty had repulsed the Grecian auxiliaries, who impiously assisted the enemies of their country. The behaviour of the greater part of the traitors furnished the occasion of an easy victory ; for, unable to meet the just reproaches and indignant looks of their countrymen, they soon betook themselves to flight, which, in the present case, seemed more honourable than resistance. The Thebans alone opposed with great perseverance the Athenian valour; they did not desist from hostility, fill several hundreds were slain; and when compelled to quit the field, they fled to- wards Bceotia, and shut themselves up within the strong walls of their city. Instead of pur- suing these fugitives, though their domestic and inveterate foes, the Athenians, with a laudable moderation and prudence, probably inspired by Aristides, then one of their generals, directed their march towards the Lacedaemonian forces, which had already engaged and put to flight the main strength of the enemy. The Athe- nians, however, came in time to complete the glory of that memorable day. They attacked with redoubled vigour the fortification, which had been in vain assailed by their allies; and having effected a breach in the wall, entered the Persian camp. They were followed by the brave soldiers of Tegea, and afterwards by the Spartans. The Barbarians were seized with consternation at seeing so many myriads con- fined within a narrow space. The means of their expected safety became the principal cause of their destruction. Fear hindered them to fight; the wall hindered them to fly; the great number of the enemy made it dangerous for the victors to give quarter ; resentment of past injuries prompted them to revenge ; of near two hundred thousand Barbarians, not two thousand escaped the fury of the Grecian spear . 4 The event of this bloody engagement not only delivered the Greeks from the danger of servitude, but gave them possession of greater wealth than they could ever have expected to possess. In his precipitate retreat from Greece, Xerxes left behind him all his riches and mag- nificence. His most valuable effects were be- stowed on Mardonius, the flatterer of his incli- nations, and the unfortunate minister of his revenge. The rest was divided among his infe- rior favourites; and independent of the bounty of the prince, the tents of the Persian nobles furnished a wide profusion of elegance and splendour. Couches magnificently embroider- ed ; tables of gold and silver ; bowls and goblets 4 Ibid. 1. ix. cap. c. 3 Ilcrodot. 1. ix. c. Ixv. HISTORY OF GREECE. 135 X.] of gold ; stalls and mangers of brass, curiously wrought and ornamented; chains, bracelets, scimetars, some of solid gold, others adorned with precious stones ; and, to crown all, many chests of Persian money, which began at that time, and continued long afterwards, to be current in Greece. Among the common mass of spoil, Herodotus reckons a great many Per- sian women, besides innumerable horses and camels. The whole being collected into one place, the tenth was consecrated to the gods. A tenth of the remainder was bestowed on the general. Peculiar presents were offered to the temples of Olympian Jove, Isthmian Neptune, and Delphian Apollo, the favourite divinities of the whole Grecian name ; nor did the Athe- nians forget to show particular gratitude to their adored Minerva. Prizes were afterwards distributed among the bravest of the surviving warriors ; for though the victory had been ob- tained with little blood, yet several hundreds had fallen, especially of the most generous and daring ; among whom, were ninety-one Spar- tans, fifty-two Athenians and sixteen men of Tegea. Callicrattides, a Spartan, the bravest and most beautiful of the Greeks, was slain by an arrow, before Pausanias, who had not yet finished the sacrifice, had given the signal of engagement. As he fell, he said to those around him, that he was contented to die for Greece, but regretted dying ingloriously, having per- formed nothing worthy of himself or the com- mon cause. But in the battle itself none of the warriors behaved with such distinguished bravery as Aristodemus, who alone of three hundred Spartans survived the action at Ther- mopylae. This circumstance had rendered him contemptible in the eyes of his countrymen. He was continually upbraided with the base desertion of his companions. The most heroic deeds could not restore him to the good opinion of the public; and it was asserted by the Spar- tans, that even on the present occasion, as he had determined to seek a voluntary death in order to efface the stain of his former infamy, he was not entitled to any of those honours which are deservedly bestowed on the genuine efforts of spontaneous valour . 5 The Greeks buried their dead with every cir- cumstance of funeral pomp, erected in the field of battle conspicuous trophies of their renown, and appropriated about twenty thousand pounds for dedicating temples and statues to the tutelary deities of Platsea, the illustrious scene of victory. A few days were spent in these transactions ; after which it was deter- mined, by universal consent, to march into Bceotia, in order to chastise the perfidy of the Thebans. On the eleventh day after the battle they arrived in the neighbourhood of Thebes, ravaged the territory, and made ap- proaches to the walls. The citizens, who were not all equally guilty or equally obnoxious, escaped general destruction by surrendering the leaders of the faction which abetted the in- terest of the Medes. The traitors were carried to Corinth, condemned without trial, and sacri- ficed to the manes of their countrymen who had fallen at Marathon, Salamis, and Platsea, in defence of political liberty and national in- dependence . 6 The battle of Platsea was fought the twenty- second of September ; and on the same day another battle, not less glorious or less decisive, was fought between the same nations at the promontory of Mycale in Ionia, opposite to the isle of Samos. The shattered remnant of the Persian fleet, which had escaped destruction on the fatal twentieth of October of the preceding year, took refuge in the friendly ports of Asia Minor. The victorious armament had suffered too much in repeated shocks with a superior force, to engage at that late season in the pur- suit of an enemy, whose strength, amounting to above four hundred vessels, was still nearly the double of their own. The little squadron of Themistocles, averse to inactivity, found occupation, as we already had occasion to no- tice, in laying the islands of the iEgean under contribution. The great body of the fleet ren- dezvoused in the harbours of iEgina. There the Grecians continued during the winter, and before the season for action approached, the command ,vas bestowed on Xantippus the Athenian, and on Leoty chides the Spartan king. To these commanders, whose abilities and in- fluence in their respective republics we for- merly had an opportunity to mention, there arrived early in the spring a secret deputation from several cities of Ionia, intreating that the valour of the European Greeks, which had been so successfully employed in their own de- fence, might be still further exerted in deliver- ing from bondage their brethren in Asia. In consequence of this invitation the fleet sailed eastward, and had scarcely reached the coast of Delos, when a second embassy came from the Samians, proposing the same measures as the first, and further adding, that the Persian fleet, now lying in the harbour of Samos, might be attacked and defeated without danger or difficulty. The Grecians seized with eager- ness the favourable opportunity of terminating the war ; but before they arrived at Samos, the enemy suspecting their motions, and unwilling to hazard another engagement at sea, had re- tired to the Ionic coast, and according to the custom of that age, not only drawn their ships on shore, but surrounded them with a ditch and palisade, and even a stone wall of consi- derable strength. The vessels thus secured, the sailors amounting to forty thousand, com- manded by Artayndes, formed a camp along the shore. They were reinforced by the Persian army under Tigranes, computed at sixty thou- sand. It appears not whether this powerful body of men made any attempt to disturb the landing of the Greeks, who at the highest computation could not amount to a fourth part of their num- ber. It soems most probable that they disdain- ed this measure, and though they acknow- ledged their inferiority at sea, determined to hazard at land a general engagement, in which the isles and Hellespont, as well as the flourish- ing cities of the Asiatic coast should form the important prize of victory. 5 Herodot. i. ix. c. Ixx. 6 Herodot. 1. ix. c. lxxxv. 136 HISTORY OF GREECE. The Greeks did not decline the battle. Xan- tippus is said to have made use of a similar contrivance with that employed by Themisto- cles at Artemisium, for depriving the enemy of their Grecian auxiliaries . 1 A more probable stratagem is ascribed to Leotychides, who, in order to encourage his troops, is said to have industriously spread a report that their coun- trymen had obtained a signal victory at Platsea. This report, by whatever means 2 it was raised and circulated, had doubtless a considerable effect in deciding the fortune of the day. Other circumstances, not less powerful, were, the general revolt of the Asiatic Greeks, and the silent contest of honour between the Spartans and Athenians. Among the Barbarian troops the Persians behaved with uncommon bravery ; and on the side of the Grecians, the battle of Mycale was more bloody than any other fought in the course of the war. It deserves attention, that, in all these memorable actions, the Greeks had no resource but in victory. But the Bar- barians had provided probable means of safety, even in case of a defeat. On the present occa- sion they had endeavoured not only to secure a retreat within a strongly fortified camp, but to acquire an undisturbed passage through the [Chap. narrow defiles of Mycale. Yet all these pre- cautions were ineffectual against the valour and fortune of the Greeks. The Milesians, posted by the enemy to guard the passes of the mountain, prevented, instead of promoting, their escape.' The Spartans pursued them with great slaughter in that direction ; while the Athenians, assisted by the allies of Corinth, Sicyon, and Traezene, advanced with undaunt- ed bravery to attack their camp. The Asiatic Greeks, who at all times acknowledged the warlike pre-eminence of their European bre- thren, emulated, in the present engagement alone, in which they fought for every thing dear to them, the admired valour of their an- cestors. Above forty thousand Persians perish- ed in the field ; many fell in the pursuit, or in defending their entrenchments; the re- mainder fled in disorder, nor thought them- selves secure till they had reached the walls of Sardis. Their ships, their camp, the freedom of Ionia, and the undisturbed possession of the Asiatic coast, formed the inestimable prize of the victors; and thus the expedition of Xerxes, undertaken with a view to enslave Europe, restored liberty to the fairest portion of Asia . 3 CHAPTER XI. Military Glory of Greece — Enemies to whom that Country was exposed — Foundation and Growth of Carthage — The flourishing Condition of Magna Gracia— Excites the Jealousy of the Car- thaginians — Who enter into a League with Xerxes — The object of this Alliance — Causes of the singular Prosperity of Magna Grcecia — History of Pythagoras , and of his Philosophy — The Carthaginians invade Sicily — Their Disasters — Glory of Gelon — His Treaty with the Carthaginians — Causes of the Decay of Magna Gracia. rpHE beginning of the fifth century before Christ forms the most glorious era in the history of Greece. While the republics of . Athens and Sparta humbled the Gly m P* p r id e of Asia, the flourishing set- A X p 4f>n tlements on the Hellespont and A. L. 4»U. ^ jj a( jriatic overawed the fierce Barbarians of Europe ; 4 and the southern colony of Cyrene restrained, within their native limits, the savage ferocity of the Libyans . 5 The north, south, and east thus acknowledging the ascendant of the Grecian valour and genius, Rome still contended in the west, with the obstinacy of the Volsci , 6 for the rude vil- lages of Latium : yet on this side, from which the stream of conquest was destined, in a fu- ture age, to flow over the world, the Greeks 1 The story is improbable, because the Asiatic Greeks had already declared their intention to revolt. It was not the interest of Xantippus, therefore, to make the Persians suspect their fidelity, since treacherous friends are always more dangerous than open enemies. 2 Herodotus, (1. ix. c. c.) and Diodorus (1. xi. c. xxxv.) differ in their accounts. 3 Herodot. 1. ix. c. xe.—c. cxiv. Diodorus Siculus, 1. xi. xxxiv. — c. xxxviii. 4 Herodot. 1. vi. Thucydid. 1. i. 5 Strabo, 1. xvii. 6 Diodor. 1. xi. had already most danger to apprehend, and most laurels to acquire ; not, however, from Rome, but from the implacable 7 enemy of the Roman name. The foundation and growth of Carthage, which have been so successfully adorned by poetical fiction, are very imperfectly explained in history. It is known, that at least eight hun- dred and ninety years 8 before the Christian era, a Phoenician colony settled on that fertile projecture of the African coast, which boldly advances into the Mediterranean, to meet, as it were, and to defy the shores of Sicily and Italy, planted in the following century by Greeks, 7 With what energy does Virgil express the eternal en- mity between Rome and Carthage ? Littora littoribus contraria, fluctibus undas, Imprecor, arma armis ; pugnent ipsique nepotes. iEneid. 1. iv. 8 B. C.801. Petav. de Doctr. Tcmporum. Yet, as there is a gap in the Carthaginian history of several centuries, every man of taste will be desirous of extending the duration of this dark and unknown period, to have the pleasure of believing that ./Eneas and Dido were contemporaries : an opinion more probable than that of Sir Isaac Newton, who would bring down the time of ./Eneas and the era of the Trojan war to the age of Dido and the foundation of Car thage. HISTORY OF GREECE. 137 XI.] with whom the republic of Carthage, long be- fore the age of her great Hannibal, waged many cruel and bloody wars. F or three centuries after their establishment, the Carthaginians seem to have silently but successfully availed them- selves of the natural fertility of their soil, the conveniency of their harbours, the skill and dexterity of their artisans, the adventurous spirit of their mariners ; above all, of the pro- found wisdom of their government, which had been established on such admirable principles, that, from the foundation of their city till the age of the philosopher Aristotle, 9 no tyrant had oppressed the freedom, no sedition had dis- turbed the tranquillity of Carthage. 10 From this peaceful and happy obscurity, the Carthaginians first emerged into notice in con- sequence of their opposition to the naval en- terprises of the Asiatic Greeks, who, about the middle of the sixth century before Christ, fly- ing the oppressive domination of Persia, threw themselves on the western shores and islands of the Mediterranean. As a maritime and en- terprising nation the Greeks were naturally the rivals of the Carthaginians ; and the Pho- cseans, who had left the coast of Ionia to avoid the cruel tyranny of the satrap Harpagus, had landed at, or perhaps founded, Aleria in the isle of Corsica, before they finally settled at Velia 11 in Italy, and Marseilles in Gaul. 12 The Carthaginians, who had already formed esta- blishments in Corsica, regarded the whole island as a dependency of their republic, and set themselves to oppose with vigour the Gre- cian invaders. From a similar motive the Tus- cans embraced the same design ; and the most ancient naval engagement, distinctly recorded in history, was fought in the Sardinian sea, between the Phocseans with sixty sail on the one side, against the Tuscans and Carthagi- nians with double that number on the other. 13 The Greeks had the whole glory of the battle ; they destroyed forty of the enemy’s ships, and compelled the rest to fly. But the smallness of their numbers, greatly diminished by their desperate efforts in defence of the honour of their nation against a superior force, obliged them to abandon the protect of settling in Corsica. Though the issue of this memorable sea- fight tends to dispel the cloud of fiction con- Oivmp cerning the remote voyages and j xx I ancient naval power of the Car- A C *500 thaginians, yet it cannot be doubt- ed, that in the beginning of the fol- lowing century, and before the invasion of Xerxes, they were the most powerful commer- cial nation in the world. The proud centre of their empire was surrounded by a cluster of colonies and tributary cities, which extended 9 Aristot. de Ropub. l.ii. c. xi. 10 If Dido laid the foundation of so much prosperity and happiness, she might boast, with becoming dignity, of having secured immortal fame : Vixi, et quern dederat cursum fortuna peregi, Urbem prffidaram statui, mea mcenia vidi: Et nunc magna mei sub terris ibit imago. Viroil, ibid. 11 Diodor. 1. v. and Cluverius Sicil. Ant. p. 507. 12 Thucydid. 1. i. 13 Thucydid. 1. i. et Hcrodot 1 vi. s above a thousand miles 14 along the coast of Africa. Tliey were masters of Sardinia and the northern coast of Sicily’. 15 They had established colonies not only in Corsica, but in Malta and the Balerian isles. They often visited the Casseterides. They probably first discovered the Canaries, whose equable and happy temperature entitled them to the epithet of Fortunate. They had appropriated the gold mines of Spain, the Peru and Mexico of the ancient world ; 16 and all these advantages be- ing directed by the prudent enterprise of the magistrates, consisting chiefly of merchants, 17 and improved by the patient industry of the people, who knew that by gaining wealth they must attain respect, rendered Carthage the centre of general commerce. From Egypt they imported linen and the papyrus ; the coasts of the Red Sea furnished them with spices, perfumes, gold, pearls, and precious stones. 13 The rich carpets of Persia adorned the palaces of the Carthaginian magistrates. From Spain they drew the precious metals necessary to facilitate their commerce ; and from Britain and other provinces of the north, they derived iron, lead, tin, and copper, equally necessary to second all the efforts of their in- dustry. The Carthaginian exports consisted partly in the produce of their fertile soil, but chiefly in the ingenious labours of their arti- ficers ; grains, fruits, honey, leather, and flax of a superior kind ; 19 naval stores, particu- larly ropes made of a species of broom called spartum ; household furniture, toys, and the materials of the highly valued Punicean co- lour. Their mechanic arts had attained a de- gree of perfection which was acknowledged and admired by their enemies ; 2 ° but the libe- ral arts, and particularly poetry and eloquence, 21 14 From the western boundary of Cyrenaica to the Straits of Gibraltar, Shaw reckons 1420 geographical miles ; but this was the extent of the Carthaginian dominion in the greatest splendour of the republic. Shaw’s Travels, p. 150. 15 Polyb. 1. iii. c. xxii. 16 Auctor. apud Hcndreich Respub. Carthag. 1. i. 17 In this respect the government of Carthage was very different from that of Crete, and particularly of Sparta, with both which Aristotle compares it. Isocrates (ad Ni- coclem) says, that in civil affairs the Carthaginian govern- ment was aristocratical ; in military, royal : this probably was the case in the earliest times. The chief magistrates were called Suffetes, which, in the Hebrew language, sig- nifies judges (Bochart, Canaan,) and might therefore be naturally translated by the word /3 s6o- 6 an( I plated the flou- xlix 3 rishingcolony of Agrigentum, which A C 582 S00n sur P asse( I splendour of its metropolis, and became the second city in the island. By means of these powerful establishments, the Dorians acquired, and always maintained an ascendant in Sicily ; but the Achsean colo- nies, who were of the Eolian blood and lan- guage, 7 commanded the Italian shore. Crotona, the most considerable city of the Achseans, and of all Italy in ancient times, was built seven hundred and ten years before Christ.® Sybaris, its rival, was founded about the same time, and by the same nation. The former sent colonies to Tirina, Caulonia, and Padosia ; the latter built Laus, Metapontum, and Posidonia, or Paestum, 0 whose admired ruins attest the an- cient wealth and grandeur of the Greek cities of Italy. In this deduction, had we followed the order of time, we ought to have mentioned, first of all, the Ionian colonies, who came from the isle of Euboea. The inhabitants of that island built Naxus in Sicily, a year before the foun- dation- of Syracuse; 10 but neither that, nor their settlements at Catana, Egesta, Leontium, ever attained considerable populousness or splen- dour. And it deserves to be particularly re- marked, that, for reasons which will appear in the sequel of this work, the Ionians, who set- tled chiefly near the eastern shore of Siqily, never rivalled the power\and fame of their Dorian and Eolian neighbours, but fell short of those nations in Magna Graecia, as much as they surpassed them in the shores and islands of Asia. Instead of fatiguing the memory of our read- ers with the names of less considerable states or cities, which had little influence on the general affairs of the whole country, 11 it is of more im- 5 Scymnus, v. 293. Thucyd. 1. vi. et Herodot. 1. vii. fi Thucyd. 1. vi. 7 Strabo, I. viii. p. 513. assures us of tho latter circum- stance, which is of more importance than tho uncertain genealogy of tho ancient Grecian tribes. 8 Dionys. Halicarn. l.-ii. 9 Scymnus, v. 245. 10 Thucyd. 11 The Magna Graecia, which I always use in the sense of Strabo, cited above, to denote the Greek settlements in Sicily as well as Italy, being the most accessible part of the Grecian dominions, has been more fully described by the porta nee to examine the circumstances to which the inhabitants of Magna Graecia owed their flourishing situation at the period of time of ni which we write, when (it may be lx/7* boldly affirmed) these colonies A C *500 e( l ua ^ e< I* anc * excee ded, the wealth and power of the mother country. We shall not insist on the well-known physical and moral causes which usually contribute to the rapid growth of newly-established colonies. It is evident, that amidst the equality of for- tune, and simplicity of manners, which com- monly prevail in such communities, men who have a wide country before them must natu- rally multiply far beyond the proportion of na- tions corrupted and weakened by the vices of wealth, luxury, and above all, of vanity, which perhaps is the greatest enemy to the increase of the human species. It is sufficient barely to mention the natural fertility of Magna Grsecia, and particularly of Sicily, which in many places produced a hundred fold. 12 The Greeks who sailed thither from Peloponnesus, carried with them the knowledge and practice of agricul- ture, which had early attained a high degree of perfection in their peninsula; and the exuberant soil of Sicily, improved by cultivation, soon ex- hibited a picture of that rich abundance, which, in later times, made that beautiful island be entitled the granary of Rome. 13 The peculiar situation of the Achseans and Dorians, from whom, chiefly, the colonies in Magna Grsecia derived their origin, had a con- siderable influence in accelerating the popula- tion and grandeur of these new establishments. The Achaeans, whose republic became so fa- mous in later times, and that in consequence of circumstances which it is necessary at pre- sent to describe, originally inhabited a long, but narrow strip of ground, not more fertile than extensive, along the Corinthian gulf, whose ocky shores were destitute of good harbours. 14 But the impartial and generous spirit of the Achsean laws early compensated the natural defects of their territory. They were the first, and long the only republic of Greece, who ad- mitted strangers into their community on equal terms with the ancient citizens. 15 In their truly free country, no powerful capital, like Thebes in Bceotia, or Athens in Attica, domineered over the inferior towns and villages. Twelve cities, which had common laws and institutions, and afterwards common weights and measures, 1 c sent deputies to Helic6, which is distinguished by Homer 17 as the most considerable town of Achaia. That place being destroyed by an earthquake 1 ® three hundred and seventy three. moderns than any other. The immense collection of the Thesaurus Siculus, and particularly vols. i. iv. vii. viii. and xiii. aflbrd useful materials, as well as Cluveri; Sicil. An- tiqua, and Fazellus do Rebus Siculis, and the excellent work of Gio. Balt. Caruso, Memorie isloriche di quanto e accaduto in Sicilia clal tempo d]l/Ci)i; XXTXgQwfiXTX Bxg&XgOlg 7TQ0 — a-x7TTovTig. “They are mistaken, when they refer the Grecian discoveries to the Barbarians.” It was natural for the eastern nations, when they had adopted the language and learning of the Greeks, to avail themselves of Grecian authorities, to prove how much that celebrated nation owed to people whom they proudly denominated Barba- rians. Hence the fables of Berosus the Chaldaean, of Ma- netho the Egyptian, of Sanchoniathon the Phoenician. We except from this class of fabulists the Jew, Josephus, the antiquity of whose nation rests on evidence which it would be irreverent to name in such company. Had Pythagoras or Thales been acquainted with the Jewish religion, they would have learned far nobler notions of the Deity, than those which it appears they entertained. Anaxagoras, sur- named o vovg, the preceptor of the great Pericles, was the first Grecian philosopher who saw, by the light of reason, the natural and moral attributes of God, so sublimely described in the Psalms of David. Yet it never was said, that Anaxagoras had seen the Psalms, the Books of Moses, or any part of the sacred writings ; and it may be remarked, that Josephus himself, in his first book (cont. Ap.,) how- ever zealous to prove, that the Greeks derived their know- ledge from the East, can cite no author in favour of this opinion, who lived before the age of Alexander. 17 There is a famous passage in Isocrates’s panegyric of Busiris, which might seem to contradict what is said in the preceding note, if we did not reflect, that the rules of panegyric require not always a strict adherence to historical truth. In speaking of the ancient wisdom and piety of the Egyptians, and particularly of the sacerdotal order, he says, that he himself is not the first who perceived and acknow- ledged their merit ; that many philosophers had done this before him, and particularly Pythagoras the Samian. Of xQtxof/.svog etg AiyviTTOv, jc xi /uxSqrqg sxstvcov ysvoftsvogj rv[V ts xWyv v 6siuv, X\KX TTXgX ys TOlg XvdgUlTTOlg SX TOVTltiV [XX'kKTTX XV SvSo- xnjuyjirstv. OTrsg xvtw xxt irvvsGtt. Toctovtov yxg svSofcix tou; oeWou; xrrxvTxg vrrsgiG x\sv, wtrrs xxt tou; vsui T sgovg xrrxvTxg sttiSv/xsiv xvtov [*x&v\Txg siveee, xxi to ug TrgetrSv- Tigovg qSiov ogxv tou; rrxtSxg tou; xvtwv sxsivcu trvyyi- yvoftsvovg v\ tmv oixsiuv s7rifJts\ov/xsvovg. “ Who coming to Egypt, and being instructed by the priests of that country, first introduced other kinds of learning into Greece, arid particularly a more accurate knowledge of religious rites and ceremonies,” (I have generalized the expression Sva-txg xxi xyicrTBixg sv roig isgoig,) “of which he was a careful observer, thinking that although he were entitled to no pe- culiar favour on that account from the gods, he would thereby, at least, procure esteem among men, which also happened to him ; for he so far eclipsed the glory of all other philosophers, that all the young desired to become his disciples, and the old were better pleased to see their sons in tho company of Pythagoras, than engaged in the most lucrative or honourable pursuits.” If what is said in my account of the life and writings of Isocrates be considered with attention, this passage will only serve to confirm the observations in the text. 142 HISTORY OF GREECE. been long familiarly known to the Grecian mariners, and where the son of Mnesarchus might probably enjoy the protection of many hereditary friends. In that country he proba- bly made some additions to his knowledge in arithmetic and geometry ; he certainly learned many traditions concerning the gods, and the human soul : but what particularly deserved his attention was, the secret symbolic wri- ting of the priests, and the singular institu- tions and policy of the sacerdotal order, by which that body of men had long been enabled to govern prince and people . 1 At his return ^ from Egypt and the East, Pytha- goras found his native country go- A r cfin verne d, or rather insulted, by the artful and long fortunate Poly- crates ; a tyrant whose power seemed so firmly established, that there remained no hopes to subvert it, and under whose jealous eye the son of Mnesarchus could neither display his ta- lents, nor enjoy personal security : he therefore returned to European Greece, and again assisted at the Olympic games ; where being saluted by the then honoured name of Sophist, he mo- destly declined that distinction for the humbler title of Philosopher ; and when asked what he precisely meant by this new appellation, he is said to have replied, “ That, in the same man- ner as at the Olympic assembly, some men came to contend for crowns and honours, others to sell their merchandize, and a third class merely to see and examine every thing which passed in that celebrated convention ; so, on the greater theatre of the world, while many struggled for the glory of a name, and many for the advantages of fortune, a few, and but a few, neither covetous of money, nor ambitious of fame, were contented with beholding the wonders of so magnificent a spectacle .” 2 This definition has been often cited, because it well agrees with the contemplative notions generally entertained of the Pythagorean school ; but it will appear in the sequel, that the philosophy of Pythagoras was of a more practical kind. From Olympia and the republic of Elis, he travelled to the neighbouring territory of Spar- ta , 3 and spent a considerable time in that capi- tal, diligently studying the laws and institutions of Lycurgus, and observing the manners and genius of the best governed, most virtuous, and most prosperous of all the Grecian states. Here he beheld a constitution of government (the wisdom of which had been long approved by experience) founded on a system of education; and combining, in his clear capacious mind, the Spartan laws and discipline with a mixture of the Egyptian craft and policy, he framed that sublime plan of legislation, which was to be far more extensive than the laws of Lycurgus ; and which, at first fixing its root in a small sect at Crotona, was destined, in twenty or thirty years, to diffuse its flourishing branches over Italy and Sicily. 1 Harodotus and Diodorus Siculus, passim; and Strabo, 1. x. p. 482. 2 Cicero (Tusc. Q.ua>st. v. 3.) lias translated a passage to this purpose from Heraclides Ponticus, the scholar of Plato ; and the original passage of Heraclitus is still pre- served in Jamblichus. 3 Porphyr. Jambl. et Justin. 1. xx. [Chap Pythagoras arrived at the capital of Italian Greece in his fortieth year, in the full vigour of mind and body . 4 His fame, doubtless, pre- ceded him ; since, whoever had honourably dis- tinguished himself in the general convention at Olympia, was speedily known and celebrated in the remotest provinces of Greece. His per- sonal acquaintances among the Italian Greeks, whose esteem, or rather respect, he had ac- quired in that august assembly, would natu- rally be loud in his praises; and the manners of the age, in which men lived together in crowds, and enjoyed their pastimes, or trans- acted their serious business with undisguised freedom, in temples and gymnasia, contributed to the rapid increase of his friends and ad- mirers. Upon his arrival at Crotona, he ap- peared in the public places displaying his dex- terity in those exercises and accomplishments, which were the fashionable objects of pursuit, and the principal sources of honour. His skill in music and medicine, sciences which were far better understood in his native country than in Magna Graecia, procured him particular re- gard ; nor can we hesitate to believe, that his mathematical and natural knowledge would be highly admired by the Greeks of Italy, who, having recently received the first tincture of arts and sciences from the Asiatics, cultivated them with that ardour which novelty inspires ; and who seem hitherto to have gained in point of knowledge and civility, in proportion as they had lost in purity of fife and manners, by an acquaintance with their Eastern brethren. Neither the voluptuousness nor the refine- ment of the inhabitants of Magna Grcecia, were incompatible with the hopes and fears of the most puerile superstition; and Pythagoras, who had seen and examined the rites and ceremo- nies employed by remote nations, celebrated for their antiquity and their wisdom, to avert the displeasure, or to gain the good-will of their invisible protectors, called forth the whole force of this powerful, yet dangerous instrument of policy, to excite respect for his person, and reverence for his instructions. He carefully frequented, at an early hour, the temples of the gods ; his regular purifications and sacrifices announced superior sanctity of character; his food was of the purest hind, that no corporeal stain might interrupt his fancied communica- tion with his celestial friends; and he was clothed in the linen of Egypt, which was the dress 5 of the sacerdotal order in that native land of superstition, as well as of the Athenian magistrates and nobles, in the early and pious times of their republic . 6 The respect excited by such artifices (if we may degrade by that name the means used to deceive men into their duty and happiness) was enhanced by the high renown, the long travels, the venerable aspect, the harmonious voice, the animated and affect- ing eloquence, of the Samian philosopher. His hearers sometimes amounted to two thousand of the principal citizens of Crotona; and the magistrates of that republic erected, soon after his arrival among them, an elegant and spa- cious edifice, which was appropriated to the 4 Aristoxen. apud Jambl. 5 Diodoru9. 6 Thucyd. 1. i. HISTORY OF GREECE. 143 XL] Virtuous lessolis of this admired stranger, who pleased their taste, and gratified their fancy, while he condemned their manners, and re- proached their vices. Equally rapid and as- tonishing, and not more astonishing than ad- vantageous, if we may credit the general voice of antiquity, was the reformation produced at Crotona in persons of every age, and of either sex, by this singular man. The women laid aside their ornaments, and resumed their mo- desty ; the youth preferred their duty to their pleasures; the old improved their understand- ing, and almost neglected to improve their for- tunes. Yet this revolution of manners was not surely so instantaneous, as the concurring ex- aggerations of wonder and credulity were na- turally inclined to represent it. The same writers, who would thus magnify the fame of Pythagoras, acknowledge, that soon after coming to Crotona, he chose a select number of his most assiduous disciples, and those chiefly persons of weight in the republic, whose tem- per, character, and views, best suited his own. These were formed into an association, or separate order of men, into which none were admitted who possessed not qualities and en- dowments worthy of that honour. In order to confirm this association, as well as to obtain the purposes for which it had been instituted, Pythagoras employed the cypher, or symbolic writing, and other secrets, which he had learned from the wisdom, or rather cunning, of the Egyptian priests: his scholars were taught certain signs or words, by which they might know each other ; they could correspond, when separated by place, in an unknown character; and strangers of all countries, Greeks and Bar- barians, were promiscuously admitted into the society, after undergoing a due probation as to their dispositions and understanding. In a few years, three hundred men, all Pythagoreans, held the sovereignty of Crotona ; the influence of the new sect extended with rapidity over Locri, Rhegium, Catana, and other cities of q, Italy and Sicily ; the disciples of lvii 3^" Pythagoras were diffused over an- A C 550 c * en ^ Greece, and the isles of the ° ' iEgean sea ; and it seemed as if the sage of Samos, whose nobler ambition declined and disdained any particular office of power and dignity, had conceived the sublime idea of forming a school, or rather an association of men, who might govern the world, while they were themselves governed by wisdom and virtue. Pythagoras was deeply persuaded, that the happiness of nations depends chiefly on the government under which they live; and the experience of his own times, and of his own island in particular, might teach him the dan- gerous tendency of democratic turbulence on the one hand, and jealous tyranny on the other. 7 He preferred, therefore, to all govern- 7 A striking example of this appeared at that time in Si- cily, if we credit Jamblicus, who places the reign of Pha- iaris, at Agrigentum, in the age of Pythagoras. The doubt- ful, or rather incredible, history of this tyrant, may be com- prised in few words. Ilis reign, of about sixteen years, was distinguished by intolerable atrocities. lie burned his enemies in a brazen bull ; and, as lust or cruelty happened ments, a moderate aristocracy; which seems, without exception, to have been the well- founded opinion of the greatest men of anti- quity, since, under the administration of a senate, the republics of Greece, of Rome, and of Carthage, attained their highest prosperity and splendour. Yet he was extremely averse to arbitrary power, whatever shape it might assume : and the main aim of his institution was, to prevent oppression in the magistrates and licentiousness in the people. The dead letter of the law could never, he thought, effect that salutary purpose, until men were so trained by education and discipline, as to regard the great duties of life as its most agreeable amuse- ment, and to consider the esteem of their fel- low-citizens, and their own, as the chief source of their enjoyment. Magistrates, thus formed, would command a willing obedience, and the inhabitants of Magna Gracia must soon attain the most perfect state of which political society is susceptible. To explain at large the system of Pythago- ras, would be to write a treatise of sublime, yet practical morality, since his conclusions are strictly founded on the nature of man. Be- sides the propensities common to us with infe- rior natures, and besides the selfish and arti- ficial passions of avarice and ambition, he found in the human breast the seeds of nobler faculties, fitted to yield an incomparably more durable, more perfect, and more certain grati- fication. The chief happiness of the mind to direct, sometimes abused, and sometimes eat, boys. Pha- laris, together with his mother and friends, (could such a monster have friends 7) were burned, by the long-injured Agrigentines, in his own bull. This is the abominable ty- rant, whose spurious letters furnished an opportunity to Dr. Bentley to display his profound erudition (see his Dissert, upon Phalaris.) But that very learned man seems not to suspect, that the history of Phalaris is as spurious as his epistles. It was a common artifice among Greek poets and orators (see p. 100. speech of Sosicles the Corinthian,) to exaggerate the vices of bad princes. Of this we shall find many examples in the following parts of this work. This practice began early ; for Pindar says, Tot/ £g TMUfCO %X\Xt(a XXVTVIfIX VV\XtX voov QxXxgiv xxrt%ti 7rcevTct CpxTig. PYTH. i. Eira/J. Xa>\. It. Aristotle mentions, To jrsgi QxXxgtv xiyopsvov, the hearsay about Phalaris, which Aspasius explains, ‘O Ss <5>xXx e i ? Xeysrxi tpxytiv rov saurou 7rxiSu. Phalaris is said to have eat his own son. In the same chapter (c. v. 1. vi. Ethic. Nicom.) speaking of brutal passions, Aristotle in- stances Phalaris sometimes devouring boys, sometimes using them as instruments of an absurd venereal pleasure: “IIpos x