The History and Antiquities of the Doric Race Volume I Part 2

The error of supposing that this country was nearly a desert appears from the very large number of its vegetable productions mentioned by Theophrastus and others: Alcman and Theognis also celebrate its wines: vines were planted up to the very summit of mount Taygetus, and laboriously watered from fountains in forests of plane-trees;(261) the country was in this respect able to provide for its own wants. But the most valuable product, in the estimation of the new inhabitants, was doubtless the iron of the mountains.(262) More fortunate still was the situation of the country for purposes of defence, the interior of Laconia being only accessible from Arcadia, Argolis, and Messenia by narrow pa.s.ses and mountain-roads; and the most fertile part is the least exposed to the inroads of enemies from those quarters: the want of harbours(263) likewise contributes to the natural isolation of Laconia from other lands.

Euripides has on the whole very successfully seized the peculiar character of the country in the following lines, and contrasted it with the more favoured territory of Messenia:(264)

Far spreads Laconia's ample bound, With high-heap'd rocks encompa.s.s'd round, The invader's threat despising; But ill its bare and rugged soil Rewards the ploughman's painful toil; Scant harvests there are rising.

While o'er Messenia's beauteous land Wide-watering streams their arms expand, Of nature's gifts profuse; Bright plenty crowns her smiling plain; The fruitful tree, the full-ear'd grain, Their richest stores produce.

Large herds her s.p.a.cious valleys fill, On many a soft-descending hill Her flocks unnumber'd stray; No fierce extreme her climate knows, Nor chilling frost, nor wintry snows, Nor dogstar's scorching ray.

For along the banks of the Pamisus (which, notwithstanding the shortness of its course, is one of the broadest rivers in Peloponnesus), down to the Messenian bay, there runs a large and beautiful valley, justly called _Macaria_, or "The Happy," and well worth the artifice by which Cresphontes is said to have obtained it. To the north, more in the direction of Arcadia, lies the plain of Stenyclarus, surrounded by a hilly barrier. The western part of the country is more mountainous, though without any such heights as mount Taygetus; towards the river Neda, on the frontiers of Arcadia, the country a.s.sumes a character of the wildest and most romantic beauty.

4. ARGOLIS is formed by a ridge of hills which branches from Mount Cyllene and Parthenium in Arcadia, and is connected with it by a mountain-chain, very much broken, and abounding in ravines and caverns (hence called ???t??);(265) through which runs the celebrated _Contoporia_,(266) a road cut out, as it were, between walls of rock, connecting Argos with Corinth.

By similar pa.s.ses Cleonae, Nemea, and Phlius, more to the south, and eastwards Mycenae, Tiryns, and Epidaurus, were connected; and this natural division into many small districts had a considerable effect upon the political state of Argos. The southern part of this chain ends in a plain, at the opening of which, and near the pa.s.s just alluded to, was situated Mycenae, and in a wider part of it the city of Argos. The nature of this anciently cultivated plain is very remarkable; it was, as is evident, gradually formed by the torrents which constantly filled up the bay between the mountains; and hence it was originally little else than fen and mora.s.s.(267) Inachus, "_the stream_," and Melia, the daughter of Ocea.n.u.s, "_the damp valley_" (where ash-trees, e??a?, grow), were called the parents of the ancient Argives; and the epithet "thirsty" (p???d?????

?????), which is applied to Argos in ancient poems, refers only to the scarcity of spring-water in the neighbourhood of the town. Yet, notwithstanding the rugged nature of the rest of Argolis, there are, both in the interior and near the sea, here and there, small plains, which by the fertility of their soil attract and encourage the husbandman; the south-eastern coast slopes regularly down to the sea. To the north of the mountain-ridge which bounded Argolis, extending from the Isthmus as far as a narrow pa.s.s on the boundaries of Achaia, there is a beautiful, and in ancient times highly-celebrated plain, in which Corinth and Sicyon were situated.(268) With respect to the progress of civilization at Argos, it is important to know that the mountains between that town and Corinth contain copper:(269) accordingly, in the former town the forging of metals appears to have been early introduced; and hence arose the ancient celebrity of the Argive shields.(270) But no precious metal has been ever found in any part of Peloponnesus: a circ.u.mstance which greatly tended to direct the attention of its inhabitants to agriculture and war, rather than commerce and manufactures.

5. That region which was in later times called ACHAIA, is only a narrow tract of land along the coast, lying upon the slope of the northern mountain-range of Arcadia. Hence most of the Achaean cities are situated on hills above the sea, and some few in enclosed valleys. The sources of the numerous streams by which the country is watered lie almost without exception in Arcadia, whose frontiers here reach beyond the water-line.

But the lowest slope of Peloponnesus, and the most gradual inclination to the sea, is on the western side; and it is in this quarter that we find the largest extent of champaign country in the peninsula, which, being surrounded by the chain beginning from mounts Scollis and Pholoe, was hence called the HOLLOW ELIS. It was a most happy circ.u.mstance that these wide plains enjoyed an almost uninterrupted state of peace. Towards the coast the soil becomes sandy; a broad line of sand stretches along the sea nearly as far as the Triphylian Pylos, which from this circ.u.mstance is so frequently spoken of by Homer as "_the sandy_."(271) As this tract of country is very little raised above the level of the sea, a number of small lakes or lagoons have been formed, which extend along the greatest part of the coast, and are sometimes connected with one another, sometimes with the sea. Such being the nature of the country, the river Alpheus runs gently between low chains of hills and through small valleys into the sea.

Towards the south the country becomes more mountainous, and approaches more to the character of Arcadia.

6. If now we picture to ourselves this singular country before the improvements of art and agriculture, it presents to the mind a very extraordinary appearance. The waters of Arcadia are evidently more calculated to fill up the deep ravines and hollows of that country, or to produce irregular inundations, than to fertilise the soil by quiet and gentle streams. The valleys of Stymphalus, Pheneus, Orchomenus, and Caphyae in Arcadia required ca.n.a.ls, dams, &c., before they could be used for the purposes of husbandry. One part of the plain of Argos was carefully drained, in order to prevent it becoming a part of the marshes of Lerna.

In the lower part of the course of the Eurotas it was necessary to use some artificial means for confining the river: and that this care was at some time bestowed on it, is evident from the remains of quays,(272) which give to the river the appearance of a ca.n.a.l. The ancient Nestorian Pylus was situated on a river (Anigrus), which even now, when it overflows, makes the country a very unhealthy place of residence; and no traveller can pa.s.s a night at Lerna without danger. Thus in many parts of Peloponnesus it was necessary, not merely for the use of the soil, but even for the sake of health and safety, to regulate nature by the exertions of art. At the present time, from the inactivity of the natives, the inevitable consequence of oppression, so bad an atmosphere prevails in some parts of the country, that, instead of producing, as formerly, a vigorous and healthy race, one sickly generation follows another to the grave. And that improvements of this kind were begun in the earliest periods, is evident from the fact, that the traces of primitive cities are discovered in those very valleys which had most need of human labour.(273) This induction is also confirmed by the evidence of many traditions. The scanty accounts respecting the earliest times of Sparta relate, that Myles, the son of the earth-born Lelex, built mills, and ground corn at Alesiae; and that he had a son named Eurotas, who conducted the water stagnating in the level plain into the sea by a ca.n.a.l, which was afterwards called by his name.(274) Indeed the situation of Sparta seems to imply that the standing water was first drained off:(275) nay, even in later times, it was possible, by stopping the course of the river, to lay most of the country between Sparta and the opposite heights under water.(276)

7. The consideration of these natural circ.u.mstances and traditions obliges us to suppose that the races which were looked on as the ancient inhabitants of Peloponnesus (the Pelasgians in the east and north, and the Leleges in the south and west) were the first who brought the land to that state of cultivation in which it afterwards remained in this and other parts of Greece. And perhaps it was these two nations alone to whom the care of husbandry, cattle, and everything connected with the products of the soil, belonged through all times and changes. For, in the first place, the numbers of the invading Achaeans, Ionians, and afterwards of the Dorians, were very inconsiderable, as compared with the whole population of Peloponnesus; and, secondly, these races conquered the _people_ as well as the _country_, and enjoyed an independent and easy life by retaining both in their possession: so that, whatever tribe might obtain the sovereign power, the former nations always const.i.tuted the ma.s.s of the population. By means of these usurpations agriculture was kept in a constant state of dependence and obscurity, so that we seldom hear of the improvement of the country, which is a necessary part of the husbandman's business. Agriculture was, however, always followed with great energy and success. For in the time of the Peloponnesian war, when the population of Peloponnesus must have been very great, it produced more corn than it consumed, and there was a constant export from Laconia and Arcadia downwards to the coast of Corinth.(277)

8. It is not with a view of founding any calculation upon them, but merely of giving a general idea of the numerical force of a Greek tribe (which many would suppose to be a large nation), that I offer the following remarks. At the flourishing period of the Doric power, about the time of the Persian war, Sparta, which had then conquered Messenia, contained 8000 families, Argos above 6000; while in Sicyon, Corinth, Phlius, Epidaurus, and aegina, the Dorians were not so numerous, the const.i.tution being even more oligarchical in those states. Although in the colonies, where they were less confined by want of sufficient s.p.a.ce, and by the severity of the laws, the inhabitants multiplied very rapidly, yet the number of original colonists, as many of them as were Dorians, was very small. Now since in the states of Peloponnesus, even after they had been firmly established, the number of inhabitants, particularly of Dorians, never, from several causes, much increased,(278) it seems probable that at the time of their first irruption the whole number of their males was not above 20,000.(279) Nor were the earlier settlements of Achaeans and Ionians more considerable.

For the Ionians, as is evident from their traditions, appear as a military race in Attica, and probably formed, though perhaps together with many families of a different origin, one, and certainly the least, of four tribes (the ?p??te?(280)). The arrival of the Achaeans is represented in ancient traditions in the following simple manner: "Archander and Architeles, the sons of Achaeus, having been driven from Phthiotis, came to Argos and Lacedaemon."(281) Their names signify "the ruler," and "the chief governor." Certainly the Achaeans did not come to till the ground; as is also evident from the fact that, when dislodged by the Dorians, and driven to the northern coast, they took possession of Patrae, dwelt only in the town, and did not disperse themselves into the smaller villages.(282)

It seems pretty certain that the Dorians migrated together with their wives and children. The Spartans would not have bestowed so much attention as they did on women of a different race; and all the domestic inst.i.tutions of the Dorians would have been formed in a manner very unlike that which really obtained. This circ.u.mstance alone completely distinguishes the migration of the Dorians from that of the Ionians, who having, according to Herodotus, sailed from Attica without any women, took native Carian women for wives, or rather for slaves, who, according to the same writer, did not even dare to address their husbands by their proper names. And this was probably the case with all the early settlements beyond the sea, since the form of the ancient Greek galley hardly admitted of the transport of women.

9. It would have been less difficult to explain by what superiority the Dorians conquered Peloponnesus, had they gained it in open battle. For, since it appears, that Homer describes the mode of combat in use among the ancient Achaeans, the method of fighting with lines of heavy armed men, drawn up in close and regular order, must have been introduced into Peloponnesus by the Dorians; amongst whom Tyrtaeus describes it as established. And it is evident that the chariots and darts of the Homeric heroes could never have prevailed against the charge of a deep and compact body armed with long lances. But it is more difficult still to comprehend how the Dorians could have entered those inaccessible fortifications, of which Peloponnesus was full; since their nation never was skilful in the art of besieging, and main force was here of no avail. How, I ask, did they storm the citadel of Acro-Corinthus, that Gibraltar of Peloponnesus?(283) how the Argive Larissa, and similar fortresses? On these points, however, some accounts have been preserved with regard to the conquest of Argos and Corinth, which, from their agreement with each other, and with the circ.u.mstances of the places, must pa.s.s as credible historical memorials. From these we learn that the Dorians always endeavoured to fortify some post at a short distance from the ancient stronghold; and from thence ravaged the country by constant incursions, and, kept up this system of vexation and petty attack, until the defenders either hazarded a battle, or surrendered their city. Thus at a late period the places were still shown from whence Temenus and Aletes had carried on contests of this nature with success.(284) And even in historical times this mode of waging war in an enemy's country (called ?p?te???s?? t?

????) was not unfrequently employed against places, which could not be directly attacked.(285)

Chapter V.

-- 1. Reduction of Argos by the Dorians. -- 2. Of Sicyon. -- 3. Of Phlius and Cleonae. -- 4. Of the Acte, Epidaurus, aegina, and Trzen.

-- 5. Independence of Mycenae and Tiryns. -- 6. Ancient homage of the towns of the Acte to Argolis. -- 7. Territory of the Dryopians in Argolis. -- 8. Reduction of Corinth by the Dorians. -- 9. Ancient inhabitants of Corinth. -- 10. Reduction of Megara by the Dorians.

-- 11. Reduction of Laconia by the Dorians under Aristodemus. -- 12.

Resistance of Amyclae. Position of Sparta. -- 13. Resistance of other Laconian towns to the Dorians. -- 14. Traditions respecting Eurysthenes and Procles. -- 15. Reduction of Messenia by the Dorians. -- 16. Political state of Messenia.

1. Before the time of the Dorians, Mycenae, situated in the higher part of the plain at the extremity of the mountain-chain, had doubtless been the most important and distinguished place in Argolis; and Argos, although the seat of the earliest civilization was dependent upon and inferior to it.

At Mycenae were the Cyclopian hall of Eurystheus,(286) and the sumptuous palace of Agamemnon; and though, as Thucydides correctly says, the fortified town was of inconsiderable extent, yet it abounded with stupendous and richly-carved monuments, whose semi-barbarous but artificial splendour formed a striking contrast with the unornamented and simple style introduced after the Doric period.(287) The Doric conquerors, on the other hand, did not commence their operations upon fortresses secured alike by nature and art, but advanced into the interior from the coast. For near the sea between Lerna and Nauplia, on the mouth of the Phrixus,(288) there was a fortified place named Temenium, from which Temenus the son of Aristomachus, together with the Dorians, carried on a war with Tisamenus and the Achaeans, and probably hara.s.sed them by repeated incursions, until they were obliged to hazard an open battle. From thence the Dorians, after severe struggles, made themselves masters of the town of ARGOS.(289) It is related in an isolated tradition, that Ergiaeus, a descendant of Diomed, stole and gave to Temenus the Palladium brought by his ancestor from Troy to Argos, which immediately occasioned the surrender of the city.(290) Argos was therefore supposed to have been taken by Temenus himself.

2. The further extension of the Doric power is, however, attributed not to Temenus, but to his sons; for such the Doric tradition calls Ceisus, Cerynes, Phalces, and Agraeus or Agaeus.(291) Of these, Ceisus is represented to have governed at Argos, and Phalces to have gone to SICYON.

The ancient Mecone or Sicyon had in early times been in the power of the Ionians, and afterwards subject to the Achaeans of Argos. The very copious mythology of this ancient city contains symbolical and historical elements of the most various nature: we will only touch upon a part of the story immediately preceding the Doric invasion. Phaestus, a son of Hercules, is stated to have been king of Argos before that event; and having gone to Crete, where he founded the town of his name,(292) to have been succeeded by his descendants Rhopalus, Hippolytus, and Lacestades, the last of whom lived on terms of friendship with Phalces. Between them, however, Zeuxippus, a son of Apollo and of the nymph Hyllis,(293) is placed. We here perceive the traces of a connexion between Phaestus in Crete, and the introduction of the worship of Apollo and Hercules; this tradition, however, cannot authorise us to draw any chronological inferences.

3. Whether PHLIUS (situated in a corner of Arcadia, in a beautiful valley, whence arise the four sources of the Asopus(294)) was founded from Sicyon or Argos, was a matter of contention between these two towns: the latter simply called Phlias the son of Ceisus.(295) This _Phlias_, however, is nothing else than the country personified; the name being derived from f??? or f??d??, and signifying "damp," or "abounding in springs," which appellation was fully merited by the nature of the spot. Hence Phlias was with more reason called the son of Dionysus (F?e??, F?e??), who loved to dwell in such valleys. There is, therefore, greater probability in the account of the Sicyonians, that Phalces and Rhegnidas were the founders of the Doric dominion;(296) it being moreover easier to force a way to Phliasia from Sicyon along the Asopus, than from Argos. It is known, that Pythagoras the Samian derived his origin from a certain Hippasus, who had quitted Phlius on that occasion; and the Ionic town of Clazomenae is said to have been partly founded by some inhabitants of Cleonae and Phliasia, who had been expelled by the Dorians;(297) from which two facts we are justified in inferring the existence of a connexion between the early inhabitants of these places and the Ionians. CLEONae, situated in a narrow valley, where the mountains open towards Corinth, and bordering upon Phlius, appears from this account to have been colonised at the same time with that town, but probably from Argos. For we find that the ruling power was there in the hands of the same Heraclide family, of which a branch went from Argos to Epidaurus.(298)

4. The ACTE (as the northern coast of Argolis, over against Attica, was called)(299) was reduced, according to the account of Ephorus, by Deiphontes and Agaeus.(300) The former of these, who was called a descendant of Ctesippus, and son-in-law of Temenus, and whose fortunes afforded materials for the tragic poets, made himself master of the town of EPIDAURUS, and dislodged the Ionians from thence: these latter, under the command of their king Pityreus, crossed over to Attica, whence the king's son Procles went subsequently, at the general Ionic migration, to Samos.(301) Of the Dorians of Epidaurus, however, a part under the conduct of Triacon withdrew to aeGINA,(302) in which place h.e.l.lenes of Thessaly had formerly ruled, and united the island and mother-state into one commonwealth, with equal rights, and the same magistrates. Now since besides Epidaurus, TRZEN alone belonged to the Acte, and since both Agaeus and Deiphontes are mentioned as the Dorian colonisers of this coast, it was probably this Agaeus who brought Trzen under the rule of the Dorians.(303) In this city, too, he must have encountered some Ionians; since both the mythical genealogies and religious rites of the ancient Trzen attest a close connexion between its earlier inhabitants and the Athenians.(304) For Trzen even shared with the Ionic cities in the peculiar worship of the Apaturian Athene, as the G.o.ddess of _phratriae_ and _gentes_;(305) as also in that of Poseidon and his son Theseus.

5. The accounts already given show that Sicyon, Phlius, Cleonae, Epidaurus, Trzen, and aegina received their share of Doric inhabitants either mediately or immediately from Argos. We can only regret the want of any accurate accounts respecting Mycenae and Tiryns; the conquest of which cities must have been most difficult; but, when accomplished, decisive for the sovereignty of the Dorians. Pindar(306) considers the expulsion of the Achaean Danai from the gulf of Argos, and from Mycenae, as identical with the expedition of the Heraclidae; and Strabo states that the Argives united Mycenae with themselves.(307) Nevertheless we find that in the Persian war Mycenae and Tiryns were still independent states, and it admits of a doubt whether they had previously belonged for any length of time to Argos. That some ancient inhabitants at least still maintained themselves in the mountains above Argos, is shown by the instance of the Orneatae. The inhabitants of Orneae, a town on the mountainous frontier of Mantinea, having long been hostile to the Dorians, and at war with the Sicyonians,(308) were at length overpowered by Argos, and degraded to the state of perici.(309) Now, since it is more probable that such a proceeding took place against the people of a different race, than against a colony of Argos, and also as there is nowhere any mention of a Doric settlement at Orneae, it is evident that the inhabitants of Orneae had up to that time been either Achaeans or Arcadians.

6. Although from the foregoing accounts it appears that Argos almost entirely lost its power over the towns which it had been the means of bringing under the rule of the Dorians, yet in early times there existed certain obligations on the part of these cities towards Argos, which at a later period became mere forms. There was in Argos, upon the Larissa, a temple of Apollo Pythaeus, which had probably been erected soon after the invasion of the Dorians, as a sanctuary of the national deity who had led them into the country. It was a temple common to all the surrounding district, though belonging more particularly to the Argives.(310) The Epidaurians were bound at certain seasons to send sacrifices to it.(311) The Dryopians in early times, and afterwards also, in their character of Craugallidae, or servants of the Delphian G.o.d, had at Asine and Hermione erected temples to Apollo Pythaeus, in acknowledgment of a similar dependence; and this was the only one spared by the Argives at the destruction of the former town.(312)

7. The fragments preserved respecting the ancient history of the DRYOPIANS having been collected in a previous chapter,(313) we shall here only remark that this people possessed a considerable district in the most southern part of Argolis, the boundaries of which, so long as they remained inviolate, were defined by two points, viz. the temple of Demeter Thermesia on the frontier between Hermione and Trzen, eighty stadia from Cape Scyllaeum, and a hill between Asine, Epidaurus, and Trzen,(314) and they may still be pointed out with tolerable certainty. Hercules, who, according to the Doric tradition, brought the Dryopians. .h.i.ther, had accurately marked out these boundaries. It is, however, also related that the Dryopians established themselves beyond these limits at Nemea(315) in Argolis: this, however, as well as Olympia, was not any particular town, but merely the name of a valley, and particularly of a temple of Zeus there situated.

8. The history of the establishment of CORINTH, though marvellous and obscure, contains nevertheless some historical traces by no means unworthy of remark. In the first place, it is stated that this town did _not_ receive its inhabitants from Argos. The purport of the tradition is as follows: "When Hippotes at the time of the pa.s.sage of the Dorians from Naupactus slew the soothsayer, he was banished (according to Apollodorus for ten years),(316) during which time he led a roaming and predatory life;"(317) whence his son was called ???t??, or the _Wanderer_.(318) It is also recorded in the fragment of a tradition(319) that Hippotes, when crossing the Melian gulf, imprecated against those who wished to remain behind, "_That their vessels might be leaky, and themselves the slaves of their wives._" In like manner his son Aletes pa.s.sed through the territory at that time called Ephyra, where he received from scorn a clod of earth;(320) which in the ancient oracular language was a symbol of sovereignty.(321) We might almost guess from these traditions that the Dorian warriors had hara.s.sed, and at length subdued the ancient Ephyreans, by ravaging their lands, and by repeated invasions. This is confirmed by the very credible account of Thucydides relating to this point.(322) There was in the mountainous country, about sixty stadia from Corinth, and twelve from the Saronic gulf, a hill called Solygius, of which the Dorians had once taken possession for the purpose of making war against the aeolian inhabitants of Corinth. This hill was, however (at least in the time of Thucydides), entirely unfortified. Here we may recognise the very same method of waging war as in the account of Temenus given above, a method which in the Peloponnesian war was adopted by the Spartans at the fortifying of Decelea. Again, it is related in a tradition connected with the h.e.l.lotian festival, that at the taking of Corinth the Dorians set fire to the town, and even to the temple of Athene, in which the women had taken refuge.(323) In another it is stated that Aletes, being advised by an oracle to attack the city on a "crowned day," took it during a great funeral solemnity by the treachery of the youngest daughter of Creon: these, however, are for the most part mere attempts at an historical interpretation of ancient festival ceremonies. As Aletes (according to his genealogy) lived one generation after the conquerors of Peloponnesus, the capture of Corinth was dated thirty years after the expedition of the Heraclidae;(324) whence probably also arose the error of supposing that there had previously been Dorians at Corinth; as it was supposed that the Dorians had obtained their whole dominion over Peloponnesus at _one_ time, by _one_ expedition. The city appears to have received the name of Corinth at this time, instead of its former one of Ephyra;(325) and it seems that the Dorians called it with a certain preference "_The Corinth of Zeus_;"

although ancient interpreters have in vain laboured to give a satisfactory explanation of this name.

9. The early inhabitants of Corinth were, according to the expression of Thucydides,(326) aeolians; and their traditions and religion show that they were very nearly connected with the Minyans of Iolcus and Orchomenus.(327) Their kings were the Sisyphidae, whose genealogy closes with Hyantidas and Doridas. We find in the last name the same confusion which has been pointed out (amongst others) in the legend of Thessalus the son of Jason,(328) viz., that the arrival of a different nation was expressed by connecting the new comers genealogically with the heroes of the ruling race. Thus Doridas, _i.e._ the Dorians in a patronymic form, is the descendant of Sisyphus. Here begins the sovereignty of the Dorians; who, however, did not, as Pausanias(329) states, altogether expel the ancient inhabitants, but formed the aristocratic cla.s.s of the new state. Pindar and Callimachus, indeed, call the whole Corinthian nation _Aletiadae_(330) but merely by a poetical license; the only lineal descendants of Aletes being the ruling house, the Bacchiadae, from which for a long time were taken the kings and Prytanes of Corinth and all its colonies. There were, however, at Corinth distinguished families of a different origin. The family of Cypselus, which afterwards obtained possession of the tyranny, was, according to Herodotus, of the blood of the Lapithae, and descended from Caeneus.(331) They came, according to Pausanias, from Gonusa, near Sicyon, to a.s.sist the Dorians against Corinth:(332) Aletes, however, at the advice of an oracle, at first refused to receive them, but presently admitted them into the city, where they afterwards overthrew his own descendants. We shall allow this narrative, which contains a _post eventum_ prophecy of the tyranny of the Cypselidae, to rest on its own merits, remarking only that the Caenidae had more reason to a.s.sist the ancient aeolians than the Dorians; and shall merely infer from it the existence of distinguished families in Corinth not of Doric descent.

10. As in this chapter we have hitherto rather followed a geographical than a chronological arrangement, we will now pa.s.s to the founding of MEGARA.(333) That event is represented by the ancient tradition as connected with the expedition of the Peloponnesians against Athens;(334) which is doubtless a correct statement, since Megara had before that epoch been closely united with Attica, and comprehended in Ionia. This expedition was, according to most authors, undertaken by the whole Peloponnesus; by some, however, the Corinthians are called the real authors of it, and Aletes the leader, Althaemenes of Argos, the son of Ceisus, being nevertheless joined with him. The defeat of the Doric invaders, by the voluntary sacrifice of Codrus, has been a favourite subject both with poets and rhetoricians.(335) It is sufficient for our purpose to oppose to this celebrated legend an obscure tradition that some Athenians, whom Lycophron calls Codri, had a share in the expedition of the Heraclidae.(336) Whether or not the Ionians and Dorians met at the borders on this occasion, thus much is certain, that Megara in consequence of this invasion became a Doric town, and indeed soon afterwards a Corinthian colony.(337) It also remained for some time in complete dependence on Corinth, as aegina upon Epidaurus; in proof of which it is mentioned that the Megarians were bound to mourn for every death that occurred in the family of the Bacchiadae at Corinth.(338) When, however, the internal strength of Megara increased, it ventured to dissolve this connexion, and, in defiance of the Corinth of Zeus, to rout the Corinthians in the field.(339) The border-wars of the Megarians and Corinthians were carried on without intermission.(340) Megara appears not to have raised itself to the situation of a ruling city till after it had obtained its independence; since in earlier times it had been one of the five hamlets (??a?) into which the country was divided, viz. the Heraeans, Piraeans, Megarians, Cynosyrians, and Tripodiscians.(341) These small communities also waged war with each other, but with a singular lenity, of which some almost marvellous accounts have been preserved; the conquerors carried their prisoners home, treated them as guests and companions, who were hence called d????e???, in opposition to d??????t??.

11. We now turn to LACONIA, which, according to the above-mentioned legend concerning the division of Peloponnesus, fell to the share of Aristodemus or his sons.(342) According to the common tradition (which was derived from the epic poets(343)) the twin brothers Eurysthenes and Procles(344) took possession of Sparta after the death of their father; whereas the national tradition of Sparta, as Herodotus informs us, represented Aristodemus himself as having been the first ruler,(345) and the double dominion of his children as not having been settled till after his death; the first-born, however, enjoying a certain degree of precedence.(346) This is, indeed, contradicted by the account of Thucydides,(347) who mentions as a Lacedaemonian tradition, that the kings who first took possession of Lacedaemon (_i.e._ Eurysthenes and Procles) were conducted thither with dances and sacrifices, an honour which at the command of the Delphian oracle was afterwards given to Pleistoanax at his restoration.

This variation, however, is perhaps merely the effect of a pardonable negligence in the author.

12. It is, however, far more difficult to ascertain what was the condition of Laconia immediately after the invasion of the Dorians. For it is plain that the history, as it was arranged by Ephorus, and derived from him to other authors, is in contradiction with many isolated traditions, but which for that very reason are of the greater importance. So far, indeed, from the whole of the Laconian territory immediately falling into the hands of the Dorians,(348) it is certain that a powerful fortress of the ancient Achaeans, at a short distance from Sparta itself, held out for nearly three centuries after the Doric invasion.

There was a saying, well known in antiquity, of the "silent Amyclae;" thus called because its citizens had been so often alarmed by the report of the enemy coming, that they at last made a law that no one should give tidings of the enemy's approach; in consequence of which the town was at length taken.(349) This proverb, and the story on which it was founded, prove the existence of a long and determined contest between the two neighbouring cities. They also confirm the account of Pausanias, that the Dorians in the reign of Teleclus built a temple(350) to Zeus Tropaeus, because they had at length, after a tedious and severe struggle, overcome the Achaeans of Amyclae and taken their city. This city of Amyclae, one of the most ancient and considerable in Peloponnesus, of which there still remains a fort situated upon a rock on the side of mount Taygetus, was therefore so far from being reduced by the Spartans immediately, that it held out until the reign of Teleclus, 278 years after the invasion, a short time before the first Messenian war; and then was only taken after a tedious contest, which, from the proximity of Amyclae and Sparta, must have been very dangerous to the latter city. Now it is not possible that before this victory Amyclae and Sparta, distant only 20 stadia (2-1/2 miles) from each other, should have been engaged in constant war, as it must have soon ended in the destruction of one or the other city: their truces and armistices were, however, doubtless interrupted frequently by sudden incursions. The important territory near mount Taygetus belonged at that time to Amyclae, and all this country was still in the possession of the Achaeans, with whom some Minyans from Lemnos, and Cadmean Greeks, known by the name of aegidae, had united themselves. This is the territory from which the colonies of Thera, Melos, and Gortyna proceeded; so, according to Pindar, Amyclae was the point from which the first colonies to Lesbos and Tenedos set out, and also (as may be inferred from other notices) those Achaeans who took possession of Patrae.(351)

Sparta, on the other hand, must have been of very slight importance before the Doric migration; by which event alone it was enabled to become the ruler of all the surrounding states. For, in the first place, Sparta was not built in the same manner as Mycenae, Tiryns, and other ruling cities founded before the Doric invasion; the Acropolis is a hill of inconsiderable height, and easy of ascent, without any trace of ancient fortifications or walls. Secondly, it is remarkably deficient in monuments and local memorials of the times of the Pelopidae and other mythical princes; much as the Spartans in other instances clung to traditions and records of this kind: while Amyclae and Therapne had these in great abundance. Amyclae, in a beautiful and well-wooded country,(352) was the abode of Tyndareus and his family; here were the tombs of Ca.s.sandra and Agamemnon, who, according to a native tradition (preserved by Stesichorus and Simonides),(353) ruled in this city. At no great distance was situated the town of Therapne. Alcman calls it the "well-fortified Therapne;"(354) Pindar mentions its high situation;(355) by which they clearly imply a position and fortification similar to that of Tiryns. The latter also calls it the ancient metropolis of the Achaeans, amongst whom the Dioscuri lived; here were the subterraneous cemeteries of Castor and Pollux,(356) vaulted, perhaps, in the ancient manner; here also the temples of the Brothers and of Helen in the Phbaeum, and many remains of the ancient symbolical religion.(357) It is also very remarkable, that on the banks of the Eurotas, in the district between Therapne and Amyclae, there should have been discovered a building(358) which resembles the well-known treasury at Mycenae, and which affords a certain proof that the dominion of the Pelopidae extended to this district.

But although the local traditions make it probable that the ante-Doric rulers of the country dwelt in Amyclae and Therapne, yet Homer describes Sparta as the residence of the Pelopidae, transferring, apparently, the circ.u.mstances of his own time to an earlier period. Homer sometimes calls Lacedaemon the abode of Menelaus; by Lacedaemon meaning the entire country, and especially the valley round Sparta, which agrees far better with the epithet of "_hollow_ Lacedaemon," than the district of Amyclae, which opens down to the sea.(359) Sometimes he expressly mentions Sparta as the city in which Menelaus has fixed his abode.(360)

13. Amyclae, however, is not the only Achaean city which was not reduced by the Dorians till a late period. aegys, on the frontiers of Arcadia, is said to have been taken from the Achaeans by Archelaus and Charilaus a short time before Lycurgus; Pharis, together with Geronthrae, by Teleclus;(361) and Helos in the plains, near the mouth of the Eurotas, by Alcamenes, the son of Teleclus.(362) So long as these places belonged to the Achaeans, the Spartans were shut out from the sea, and surrounded on all sides by the possessions of a different race. It appears, however, that other places besides Sparta were held by the Dorians themselves previously to their obtaining possession of the whole of Laconia; such were, for instance, Bae near Malea,(363) and perhaps also Abia on the confines of Messenia.(364) But of the numerous contests which doubtless took place at this period, little information has come down to us, as they just lie between the provinces of mythology and history.

Thus much, however, we may with safety say, that Ephorus is clearly in error when he mentions a division of Laconia made by the Dorians, immediately after their conquest, for the sake of an undisturbed dominion over the country.(365) The same historian further states that "Sparta was reserved by the Dorians as the seat of their own empire; that Amyclae(366) was granted to Philonomus, who had delivered the country to them by treachery, and that governors were sent into the other four divisions."

Also, that "the princ.i.p.al towns of these four provinces were Las, Epidaurus Limera (or Gytheium), aegys, and Pharis; of which the first served as the citadel of Laconia,(367) the second as an excellent harbour, the third as a convenient a.r.s.enal for the wars with Arcadia, and the fourth as an internal point of union. That the perici dwelt in these towns, and were dependent upon the Spartans, though without losing their freedom." This account doubtless suited the historical style of Ephorus; but it does not agree with the isolated but genuine traditions already mentioned.

The division into six provinces is nevertheless, in my opinion, to be considered as an historical fact; only the arrangement could not have been made till a much later period. Of these provinces, the first comprehended the district of the city; the second, the mountain-chain of Taygetus, with the western coast; the third, the Laconian gulf; the fourth, perhaps the modern Zaconia, on the eastern side of the Eurotas; the fifth, the northern frontier; and the sixth, the lower valley of the Eurotas. The reality of such a division is also confirmed by the existence of a similar one in Messenia; which is spoken of by other writers besides Ephorus.(368) For this country is also said to have been divided by Cresphontes, so that Stenyclarus was the habitation of the Dorians and their king, under whose authority were placed the Messenian districts of Pylos, Rhium, Mesola, and Hyamia; of these, Pylos apparently comprehended the whole western coast; Rhium is the promontory of Methone and the neighbouring southern coast; Hyamia may perhaps be the sh.o.r.e of the Messenian bay nearest to the frontiers of Laconia; Mesola signifies the midland district(369) near the Pamisus; and Stenyclarus is the northern plain of Messenia.

14. We have now another instance of the arbitrary manner in which Ephorus composed his history by probable arguments. He proceeds upon the fact that Eurysthenes and Procles, although the founders of Sparta, were not honoured as such (as ??????ta?), that they did not enjoy any divine honour, did not give their name to any tribe, &c. (Now the very first of these statements is false; for Eurysthenes and Procles, according to the native tradition, were _not_ the founders of Sparta, as was shown above.) Hence Ephorus infers that they must have offended the Dorians; and he finds the cause of this offence in the adoption of foreign citizens, through whose a.s.sistance they had extended their power. This instance is a sufficient justification for our rejecting the historical system of Ephorus, and neglecting the results which he obtained by it.

There must have been many stories concerning Eurysthenes and Procles current in ancient times which have not come down to us. There was a general tradition of their continual discord; and we know that the military fame of Procles was as great as that of Eurysthenes was insignificant.(370) There is, however, something peculiarly worthy of notice in an incidental remark of Cicero,(371) that Procles died a year before Eurysthenes. Could there have been chronicles of so early a period, or is it possible that tradition should preserve such precise dates? It is also a remarkable statement that the wives of both kings were likewise twin sisters, Lathria and Anaxandra by name, daughters of Thersander king of the Cleonaeans, whose descent we mentioned above.(372) Some great heroic actions of Sous(373) (the "violent"), the son of Procles, were also celebrated in Sparta.(374) It was even said that he had carried on war against the Cleitorians; and it was related, that in the narrow valley of Cleitor, when surrounded by enemies, and oppressed by intolerable thirst, he promised to give up all his conquests, on the condition of himself and his army being allowed to drink from the fountain: that upon this he offered the crown to any one who would abstain from drinking, but, no one being willing to gain it at this price, he moistened himself with water from the fountain, and departed without drinking.(375) But a Spartan king would hardly have ventured, even some centuries afterwards, to lead an army through the hostile territory of Arcadia, to a place at so considerable a distance as Cleitor, leaving behind so many hollow defiles, ravines, and mountains.

15. In the country which from this time forth obtained the name of MESSENIA,(376) Pylos was before the Doric migration the most important town, whither the family of the Nelidae had retired from the Triphylian territory.(377) The Dorians under Cresphontes(378) at first seated themselves in the opposite part of the country, at Stenyclarus, in the midland region; they must however have soon pressed so closely upon Pylos, that part of the inhabitants was forced to emigrate. For that many of the n.o.ble families, both at Athens and in Asia Minor, came originally from Pylos, is placed out of doubt by the agreement of many national and family traditions; and it is equally certain that they did not leave Peloponnesus long before the Ionic migration. Mimnermus, the most ancient witness to this fact, says that the founders of his native city Colophon came from the Nelean Pylos;(379) _i.e._, he calls Andraemon, the founder of Colophon, a Pylian; where it almost seems that the poet meant a direct migration from that place. Pylos however (though it is generally considered to have been in the possession of the Dorians from this epoch) probably remained for some time an independent town, with a limited territory; even in the second Messenian war some Nestoridae went as allies to the Messenians;(380) and, after the defeat of the Messenians, the Pylians and the Methonaeans were able to harbour them for a considerable time.(381)

16. Of the internal condition of Messenia we cannot even know so much as of that of Laconia, since, at the cessation of its political existence, its monuments, and even its inhabitants, perished; and thus all means of perpetuating a knowledge of its former state were entirely lost. Yet, setting aside the accounts of Ephorus, there remain some very simple circ.u.mstances from which we may form an idea of the condition of the country. It is related, that when Cresphontes was treacherously a.s.sa.s.sinated, the Arcadians, in conjunction with the kings of Sparta and Ceisus king of Argos, re-established in his place his son aepytus,(382) who had been brought up with Cypselus the Arcadian, the father of his mother Merope,(383) and who rendered himself so celebrated, that all his descendants were called aepytidae. The name of aepytus is evidently connected with aepytis, a district on the frontiers of Arcadia and Messenia, near the ancient Andania, the earliest seat of civilization and religious worship in the country. The names of his descendants, Glaucus, Isthmius, Dotades, Sybotas (swine-herd), Phintas (or F???t??), are in remarkable contrast with those of the Lacedaemonian kings, as Eurysthenes (widely-ruling), Procles (the renowned), Agis (the general), Sous (the violent), Echestratus (the general), Eurypon (the widely-reigning), Labotas (shepherd of the people), and so forth; for, whilst the latter signify powerful warrior princes, there sounds in the former something peaceable and pastoral. What Pausanias relates of these Messenian princes refers almost exclusively to a peaceful office-viz., the establishment of festivals; the G.o.ds also to whom they were consecrated agree with the same general character. Glaucus and Isthmius, we are told, established or promoted the worship of aesculapius at Gerenia and Pharae: Sybotas joined to the ancient worship of the great G.o.ds at Andania the funeral sacrifices of the hero Eurytus, brought over from the Thessalian to the Messenian chalia; and others in the same manner. In fact this Cabirian worship of Demeter at Andania, allied to that prevalent in Attica at Eleusis and Phyla, was one of the most ancient in Peloponnesus, and at that time flourished in Messenia;(384) whereas, according to Herodotus, the Dorians everywhere exterminated the ancient rites of Demeter.(385) Hence also the mystical consecration of Andania was discontinued as long as Messenia was governed by the Spartans, and it fell into oblivion, until many centuries afterwards Epaminondas solemnly re-established it, either from the mere recollection of the inhabitants, or, if the account be true, upon the authority of an inscription on a tin plate found in a brazen urn, containing some obscure words referring to ancient mystic ceremonies.(386)

The re-establishment of aepytus may, however, have been effected by the threefold alliance of both the princes and nations of Argos, Sparta, and Messenia, by which they guaranteed their respective rights, an alliance of which Plato has preserved a faint, though undoubted trace, marked out in the spirit of his political philosophy.(387)

From the settlements of the Dorians _within_ Peloponnesus, we now turn to those _without_ that peninsula.