The History and Antiquities of the Doric Race Volume I Part 3

Chapter VI.

-- 1. Doric colonies of Argos, Epidaurus, and Trzen. -- 2. Doric league of Asia Minor. -- 3. Mythical accounts of the colonization of Halicarna.s.sus, Rhodes, Cos, Nisyrus, Carpathos, and Casos. -- 4.

Rhodian colonies. -- 5 and 6. Legends respecting the foundation of Mallus, Mopsuestia, Mopsucrene, and Phaselis. -- 7 and 8. Colonies of Corinth. -- 9 and 10. Colonies of Megara. -- 11 and 12. Colonies of Sparta.

1. On account of the multiplicity of subjects which it will be now necessary to consider, we shall be compelled to shorten the discussion of several points, and to take for granted many collateral questions, except where we may be encouraged to enter into greater detail by the hope of disclosing fresh fields for the inquiries of others.

It will be the most convenient method to make the mother-states the basis of our arrangement, as these are known with far greater certainty than the dates of the foundation of their respective colonies; by which means we shall also be enabled to take in a regular order those settlements which lie near to, and were connected with, one another.

First, the colonies of ARGOS, EPIDAURUS, and TRZEN. We will treat of these together, as they all lie in the same direction, and as the colonies of the two last states more or less recognised the supremacy of Argos, and not unfrequently followed a common leader. These extend as far as the southern extremity of Asia Minor.

The Dorians on the south-western coast of Asia Minor derived their origin, according to Herodotus,(388) from Peloponnesus. And indeed they were generally considered a colony of Argos(389) (from which state Strabo derives Rhodes, Halicarna.s.sus, Cnidus, and Cos), led by princes of the Heraclidae, from whom the n.o.ble families of Rhodes-for example, the Eratidae or Diagoridae at Ialysus-claimed to be descended.(390) This emigration was considered contemporary, and as having some connexion with the expedition of Althaemenes, the son of Ceisus, from Argos to Crete.(391) Now we know from Herodotus(392) that the Coans, Calydnians, and Nisyrians came from Epidaurus; yet, as is evident from arguments already brought forward, two different expeditions cannot be understood to have taken place. Thus also aegina was called a colony of Argos as well as of Epidaurus. The account of Herodotus is confirmed by the similarity of the worship of aesculapius at Cos and at Epidaurus, which was sufficiently great to prove a colonial connexion.(393) We have also a tradition of some sacred missions between Cos and Epidaurus; a ship of the latter is said to have brought a serpent of aesculapius to the former state.(394) If this is considered as an historical fact, we may, as it appears, deduce more from it than is commonly inferred-viz. that the Doric colonists of Cos, Calydna, &c.

remained in Epidaurus a sufficient time before their pa.s.sage into Asia Minor to adopt the worship of aesculapius. And since we find that the worship of aesculapius also prevailed in Cnidos and Rhodes,(395) it may be fairly inferred, that of the inhabitants of these islands a part at least pa.s.sed through Epidaurus. This is further confirmed by the orator Aristides, who, on the authority of the national tradition, states of the Rhodians, "that from ancient times they had been Dorians, and had had Heraclidae and Asclepiadae for their princes."(396) Thus also there were families of the Asclepiadae and Heraclidae at Cos, to the former of which Hippocrates was related on his father's side, to the latter on his mother's.(397) Contemporaneous with this migration from Argos and Epidaurus was that from Trzen,(398) in which Halicarna.s.sus, _the citadel upon the sea_ (???-???????), was founded; which fact also receives confirmation from the similarity of religious worship.(399) And indeed there is reason for believing that it was only one Doric tribe, the Dymanes, which colonized this city,(400) who strengthened themselves by collecting together the earlier inhabitants, the Leleges and Carians.(401)

2. Those towns, however, only which composed the Doric Tripolis of Rhodes (a number which probably originated from the division of the tribes), together with Cnidos, Cos, and Halicarna.s.sus, formed the regular Doric league (before the separation of Halicarna.s.sus called the Hexapolis, afterwards the Pentapolis). The members of this alliance met on the Triopian promontory to celebrate in public national festivals the rites of Apollo and Demeter, which last were of extreme antiquity;(402) its influence in political affairs was however probably very inconsiderable.(403) But, besides those already mentioned, many towns and islands in this district were peopled by Dorians.(404) The small island of Telos, near Triopium, was probably dependent upon Lindos:(405) Nisyrus and Calydna (or Calymna) have been already mentioned; the inhabitants were Epidaurian Dorians, who belonged to the colony of Cos:(406) Carpathus also received some Argive colonists. It is said to have been taken by Ioclus, the son of Demoleon, an Argive by descent.(407) Syme also was colonised from Cnidos: of this town we shall make further mention when speaking of the Laconian settlements. The inhabitants of Astypalaea were partly derived from Megara;(408) their Doric origin is attested by the dialect of decrees now extant;(409) and by the same circ.u.mstance we are enabled to recognise as a Doric colony Anaphe,(410) which is situated near the Doric islands of Thera, Pholegandros,(411) and Melos; the position of these islands, together forming a chain across the southern part of the aegaean sea, shows that they were colonized in a connected and regular succession. Myndus, however, upon the mainland had received inhabitants from the same town as Halicarna.s.sus;(412) perhaps Mylasa had also had some connexion with the Dorians.(413) Crya.s.sa in Caria was colonised by inhabitants of the Doric island of Melos.(414) Even Synnada and Noric.u.m, further to the interior in Phrygia, had inhabitants of Doric origin;(415) yet the Spartan settlement in Noric.u.m is a fact which it is difficult to understand; and with regard to the former we are wholly unable to state how the Dorians could have penetrated thus far.

I have now, though not without in some measure forestalling the regular course of these investigations, given an account of all the known cities in this territory which were founded by Dorians of Peloponnesus; and if to these we add the colonies from Rhodes upon the opposite coast of Asia, and the cities of Lycia founded from the island of Crete, in which the Doric dialect was doubtless spoken, we shall have before us a very extensive range of colonies belonging to that race. Some of these were probably dependent upon the more considerable; many on the contrary stood entirely alone, some very early disagreements having, as it appears, separated and estranged them from the league of the six towns.(416) Hence the Calymnians (or Calydnians) at a later period, on the occasion of embarra.s.sing lawsuits, had recourse not to the larger states of the same race, but to the Iasians (who, though a colony from Argos, had afterwards learned the habits and character of the Ionic race by a settlement from Miletus),(417) which nation sent them five judges. This circ.u.mstance, however, may be accounted for by a temporary resemblance of their const.i.tutions.(418)

3. Having thus put together the most simple historical accounts respecting the foundation of these Doric cities, we have still to examine the mythical narrations with which they are accompanied, and which were invented by representing the same colonies under different names, and attributing a false antiquity to their establishment. That this was in fact the case is evident from the mythical account which is connected with the colony of Trzen, viz. "that Anthes and his son Aetius, ancient princes of the Trzenians, had in early times founded Halicarna.s.sus."(419) This tradition, however, contradicts itself, when compared with the additional account in Callimachus,(420) "that Anthes had taken out Dymanes with him;" which was _exclusively_ a civil division of the Dorians. It is therefore far preferable to follow the statement of Pausanias,(421) that the descendants of Aetius pa.s.sed over to Halicarna.s.sus and Myndus long after his death. It must not, however, from this circ.u.mstance be inferred that these descendants of Aetius were leaders of the colony, since it was necessary that these should be Doric Heraclidae. But they were in all probability a family which cultivated the worship of Poseidon in preference to any other, and carried it over with them to the colony. But that a family of this kind, and with it the tradition and name of Anthes, actually prevailed in Halicarna.s.sus, is seen also from the poetical name of the Halicarna.s.sians (Antheadae.)(422)

There is also a great similarity in the part which Tlepolemus bears in the history of the colonisation of Rhodes. In this case also the mythical hero is represented as coming from Argos,(423) as well as the historical colony, only at an earlier period. But, it may be objected, the colony is related to have come immediately from Epidaurus, and not the hero. We have, however, still an evident trace of mythical genealogies of Rhodes, in which Tlepolemus was represented as immediately connected with the Heraclidae of Epidaurus. For Pindar celebrates the Diagoridae as descended on the father's side from Zeus, from Amyntor on the mother's, because both these were the grandfathers of Tlepolemus.(424) Now Deiphontes of Epidaurus was also descended on his mother's side from Amyntor, and was therefore very nearly related to Tlepolemus. We may also probably suppose that there was in this Argive and Epidaurian colony a family which derived itself from Tlepolemus the son of Hercules, by which means the traditions concerning him were connected with this migration.(425) The same want of consistency which we observed above, may here also be perceived in the statement of Homer, that the colony of Tlepolemus was divided into three parts, according to the different races of the settlers;(426) whence it is evident that he was always considered as a Doric prince.

Thirdly, the colony of Cos, Nisyrus, Carpathus, and Casos also possessed leaders or heroic founders, whose expedition is reported to have taken place at a time different from that at which the colony was founded, and is placed back in a remote period, viz. Phidippus and Antiphus, sons of Thessalus the Heraclide, or of Hercules himself. Their origin is derived by the fable from the irruption of Hercules into Cos, where he made pregnant the daughter of Euryphylus; afterwards they are said to have migrated to Ephyra in Thesprotia, and their descendants to have gone from thence to Thessaly, where the Aleuadae, the most distinguished and the wealthiest family of Larissa, claimed them as ancestors.(427) Again, I do not deny that Heraclide families in exile at Cos derived their origin from both these heroes (it was indeed by this means that the name of Thessalus found its way into the Asclepiad family of Hippocrates); but that these families were born in the island of Cos itself, is evidently a patriotic invention of the Coans. There were, as we have seen, traditions respecting Phidippus and Antiphus in Cos, and also at Ephyra in Thesprotia; which traditions the fables and poems respecting the returns of the heroes from Troy, endeavoured to reconcile, by making Antiphus reach Ephyra, after a series of wanderings, instead of going directly to Cos; a supposition which will not gain many believers. It is also plain from the epigram of Aristotle,(428) that, according to the traditions of Ephyra, that city was considered as the _native country_, and the domicile of the two heroes; and therefore was in direct opposition to the Coan tradition. Now that a Heraclide family should have gone from Cos to Ephyra in Epirus, is contrary to all other examples of the migrations of Greek races and colonies, and all that we know of the dispersion of Heraclide clans or families. On the other hand, a part of the mythology of Hercules, which appears to be of great antiquity,(429) refers to this Ephyra in Epirus; and it was then quite natural, that with the conquest of Ephyra (a fabulous exploit of Hercules) the origin of a branch of the Heraclidae should be connected, who then came with the Dorians into Peloponnesus, and by means of the Epidaurian colony to the island of Cos.

4. The favourable situations of these Doric cities on islands and promontories, possessing roadsteads and harbours convenient for maritime intercourse, attracted in early times a considerable number of colonies.

It is remarkable that the RHODIANS should have founded fewer and less considerable colonies on the coast of Asia Minor than in the countries to the west: for, with the exception of Peraea, which was not till later times dependent on this island, the only Rhodian towns in Asia Minor were Gagae(430) and Corydalla(431) in Lycia, Phaselis,(432) on the confines of Lycia and Pamphylia, and Soli in Cilicia.(433) On the other hand, in Olymp. 16. 4. 713 B.C., according to Thucydides, about the time of their colonising Phaselis, they founded in Sicily the splendid city of Gela, the mother-town of Agrigentum. This colony was sent from Lindus, which furnished its leader Antiphemus (or Deinomenes.)(434) It was accompanied by inhabitants of the small island of Telos;(435) and was at the same time joined by some Cretan emigrants. That however the numbers of those who came from the first-mentioned town predominated, is shown by the original name of the settlement, ???d???, and by the religion there established.

Doric inst.i.tutions were common to all the founders above mentioned, and were consequently established in their settlements.(436) The connexion and intercourse with those islands continued without interruption; hence it was that, in later times, the family of Phalaris, coming from Astypalaea, found a welcome reception at Agrigentum;(437) and the family of the Emmenidae, which overthrew Phalaris, had come from the same region, viz.

from Thera.(438) Moreover, Parthenope, in the country of the Osci, and Elpiae, or Salapiae, in the territory of the Daunians (in the founding of which the inhabitants of Cos had a share), were beyond a doubt settlements of the Rhodians; and indeed this same people penetrated even to Iberia at an early period, and there founded Rhode; and we have also traces of their presence at the mouth of the Rhone.(439) Hence also, perhaps, arose the account of the expedition of Tlepolemus to the Balearic islands; which account, and the statement that Sybaris was founded by him, may be understood merely as mythical expressions for the voyages undertaken by the Rhodians in the western sea.

5. It is, however, a matter even of still greater difficulty to determine the true history of several cities in Asia Minor, which are reported by tradition to have been colonies of Argos, and generally of the greatest antiquity. But it requires nothing short of absolute superst.i.tion to believe that Tarsus was founded by Io, or Perseus the Argive,(440) who, with his descendant Hercules, was worshipped in this place as a tutelar deity;(441) or that Mallus, Mopsuestia, Mopsucrene, and Phaselis were founded by Argive soothsayers at the time of the Trojan war.(442) To these may be added Aspendus in Pamphylia, Curium in Cyprus, and even Ione, near Antiochia, in Syria,(443) the founding of which place is attributed to the Argives. For, without considering the period at which the ancient Peloponnesians are represented to have undertaken such distant (and at that time impossible) voyages round the Chelidonian islands, it is most singular that Argos, which is at no time mentioned among the maritime nations of Greece, should have planted upon that one line of coast a series of colonies in so connected an order, and so completely useless to herself. We will therefore venture to advance an hypothesis, to which, though perhaps no complete proofs of it can be adduced, we have still sufficient traces to lead us, viz. that all these towns were colonised from Rhodes; but that, by a form frequently in use, they were led out in the name of Argos, the mother-country of Rhodes, and under the auspices of Argive G.o.ds and heroes.(444) In the first place, Argives and Rhodians are mentioned together as founders; as in the instance of Soli, which nevertheless only defended the Rhodians as a sister state before the Roman senate.(445) Of the manner in which heroes were adopted as founders, the city just mentioned furnishes a good instance. For the Argive soothsayer Amphilochus is said to have come hither, who, according to poems that went under the name of Hesiod, had been put to death by Apollo at Soli.(446) The following example gives a still clearer notion of the manner in which these fables were formed. The Rhodians built Phaselis at the same time with Gela (Olymp. 16. 713 B.C.); the founder is called Lacius, whom the Delphian oracle had sent to the east, as it had Antiphemus to the west.(447) Now it is shown in another part of this work(448) that Lacius is a Cretan form for Rhacius; and this was the name of the husband of Manto, and father of Mopsus, the ancient mythical prophet of the temple at Claros. For, leaving no doubt that this person is intended, the tradition also says, that this Mopsus, the son of Rhacius, founded Phaselis:(449) Pamphylia itself is called the daughter of Rhacius and of Manto;(450) and lastly, the same Lacius is represented as a contemporary of Mopsus, and as having been sent out by Manto as a founder at the same time with the latter.(451) The inference that we must draw is, that there was no such individual as Lacius who led the Lindians in person to Phaselis, but that he was merely a mythical being, and represents the Clarian oracle, which seems to have co-operated on this occasion.(452) Those who are versed in the interpretation of mythical narratives will also hence infer, that the same was the case with his contrary, ??t??f???. In order, however, to give the mother-state, Argos, a share in the mythical account of the foundation of the Pamphylian colonies, it was necessary that Amphilochus, who belonged to the family of the Amythaonidae, should, together with Calchas, have some connexion with them all; and, in fact, it is not impossible that soothsayers from Argos, who called themselves descendants of this prophet and hero, were procured by the Rhodians for this service.

6. We may now penetrate somewhat deeper into the obscure traditions of the Cilician cities Mallus, Mopsuestia, and Mopsucrene. In the fables concerning the founding of these towns, Amphilochus and Mopsus are always mentioned together; at the same time that the account of their Argive origin is very much brought into notice. Cicero calls both these prophets on this occasion kings of Argos.(453) Here then we may also a.s.sume that soothsayers were brought from the mother-country, and suppose that the prophets of the Amphilochian oracle of Mallus were actually natives of Argos; and although, as will be shown below, the influence of the Clarian worship was also felt,(454) yet the persons who were the real colonisers could only have been a sea-faring people, such as the Rhodians. In consequence, however, of these settlements having been founded at a very early period, when all colonies were as yet entirely dependent upon the oracles, and therefore were always under the direction of prophets, and as an inventive and imaginative spirit was then in full vigour, their true history has been enveloped in a thick cloud of mythological fiction, which we have at least begun to remove.

7. We next proceed to the CORINTHIAN colonies, the geographical situation of which alone affords a remarkable result with regard to the maritime expeditions undertaken by the mother-country. For although Corinth had two harbours, Lechaeum in the Crisaean, and Cenchreae in the Saronic gulf, it it evident that all its colonies were sent out from the western port. They were founded, almost without exception, on the coasts of the Ionian sea; at the entrance of which the Corinthians had, perhaps at a very early period, founded the city of Molycreium.(455) Notwithstanding this, the very first colony from Corinth, the date of which is known within a few years (Olymp. 5. 760-757 B.C.),(456) ventured to cross the Ionian sea, and to found in the most beautiful part of Sicily the renowned city of Syracuse. The founder was Archias a Heraclide, and probably also of the family of the Bacchiadae;(457) he was followed by Corinthians, chiefly from the borough of Tenea;(458) and on the road was joined by some Dorians from Megara;(459) the expedition was also accompanied by a prophet of the sacred family of Olympia, the Iamidae, whose descendants flourished at Syracuse in the time of Pindar.(460) It appears, however, that Syracuse at that time borrowed many religious inst.i.tutions from Olympia, as is proved by the worship of Arethusa, of Artemis Ortygia, and of the Olympian Zeus.(461) These original founders built a town in the island of Ortygia, the name of which can be explained only from the worship of the G.o.ddess just mentioned. The lands taken from the aboriginal Sicilians they divided into lots, according to the number of the colonists. For the method universally observed in founding these colonies was, that the adventurers received before-hand a promise of a share in the territory-which also was called a lot. On the occasion of this very settlement, aethiops, a Corinthian glutton, is said to have sold a promise of this kind to a companion for one honey-cake.(462) Eumelus the Bacchiad, the celebrated poet of Corinth, seems to have been one of these colonists,(463) as he is mentioned in connexion with Archias. Although the _demus_, or populace of the city, chiefly perhaps consisted of inhabitants of various nations, who put themselves under the protection of this colony, and although the territory around was peopled by Sicilian bondsmen, yet in its dialect, and probably for a considerable period in its customs also, Syracuse remained a purely Doric state: as the women in Theocritus say,(464) "_Our origin is Corinthian, and therefore we speak the language of Peloponnesus. For it is permitted, I suppose, to the Dorians to speak Doric._" Hence the Syracusans were so greatly pleased with an amba.s.sador from Lucania, who had learnt to speak Doric in order to address them in their native tongue.(465) Syracuse increased so rapidly in population and power, that seventy years after its foundation it colonized Acrae, and also Enna, situated in the centre of the island; twenty years after this, the town of Casmenae; and in forty-five more, Camarina. Also some Syracusan(466) fugitives named Myletidae, together with Chalcideans from Zancle, are said to have founded Himera: hence the dialect there in use was a mixture of Chalcidean and Doric; but the inst.i.tutions were entirely Chalcidean.

8. The other Corinthian colonies, as has been already remarked, were all situated to the east of the Ionian sea. The nearest of these are, besides their colony of Molycreium, Chalcis in aetolia,(467) and Solium in Acarnania;(468) further on, we find that Ambracia was in very early times founded by Corinth,(469) and accordingly was governed by a brother of Periander;(470) by the influence of this settlement Amphilochian Argos changed its language and customs for those of the Greeks.(471) Anactorium was founded by the Corinthians, under the command of Periander, in conjunction with the Corcyraeans. At the same time, and in connexion with the same persons, they occupied the island of Leucadia;(472) to the possession of which, however, the Corcyraeans, as they were at that time subject to Corinth, had no just claim; and Themistocles unquestionably did wrong in attributing any such right to them;(473) the Leucadians also always remained firm to their real parent-state. Next comes Corcyra itself, the founding of which by Chersicrates the Bacchiad(474) is represented as having been a secondary branch of the colony sent to Syracuse;(475) but it had at a very early period set itself up as a rival to the mother-state in the Ionian sea, whose ancient power had been probably broken before the Persian war. On the opposite coast lay Epid.a.m.nus, which city was chiefly founded by Corcyraeans, but under the command of Phalius, the son of Eratocleides, a Corinthian Heraclide, whom the Corcyraeans, according to the ancient colonial law, had sent for, together with some of his countrymen (in Olymp. 38. 2. 629 B.C. according to Eusebius), and were afterwards strengthened by emigrants from Dyspontium in Pisatis.-Lastly, Gylax, a Corinthian, together with 200 of his own countrymen, and a greater number of Corcyraeans, founded Apollonia in the time of Periander. Here ends the list of Corinthian colonies, which formed a strong and continuous chain along the coast; and thus even the barbarians of the interior, especially the Epirots of Thesprotia, were forced to maintain a perpetual connexion with Corinth:(476) hence also the kings of the Lyncestae in Macedonia esteemed it an honour to derive their origin from the Bacchiadae.(477) At a still further distance lay the island of Issa, which was colonized from Syracuse.(478) Corcyra, however, possessed settlements as far as the Flanatian gulf.(479) From these facts it is evident that there was a time when Corinth predominated in these seas; and by means of Corcyra and Ambracia, and other towns, ruled over many nations of barbarians. But the loss of Corcyra, which had been at war with its mother-state in the 28th Olympiad (about 668 B.C.),(480) even before the time of Periander (though it was for a short time again reduced to subjection by the enterprising Cypselidae), was an incurable wound for Corinth. The other colonies, however, showed a remarkable obedience to her.(481) It was not till after the loss of their maritime dominion in these quarters (an event which had nevertheless taken place before the Persian war) that the Corinthians appear to have founded Potidaea on the opposite side of Greece in Chalcidice, which colony they sought to retain in their power by continually interfering in its internal administration, and for this purpose sent thither every year magistrates named Epidemiurgi.(482)

9. MEGARA, on the other hand, was induced by its situation to send even its first colonies to the opposite side of Greece on the Thracian coast.

Thus in Olymp. 17. 3. 710 B.C. it founded Astaeus in Bithynia;(483) afterwards Chalcedon, on the entrance of the Bosporus(484) in Olymp. 26.

2. 675 B.C. (according to Eusebius); and 17 years later (Olymp. 30. 3. 658 B.C.) Byzantium in a more favoured spot, opposite to Chalcedon.(485) The Argives also had a share in the foundation of this town; for which fact we may trust the general a.s.sertion of Hesychius of Miletus, that his circ.u.mstantial and fabulous history of the early times of this city was derived from ancient poets and historians. For the transmission of the worship of Here (whose temple both at Byzantium and Argos was on the citadel),(486) and the traditions concerning Io, the attendant of the Argive Here, confirm in a manner which does not admit of a doubt, the pretensions of Argos to a share in this colony. Io, who was represented with horns on her forehead, is said to have here produced to Zeus a daughter, Ceroessa the "Horned" by name (which is, however, only a different name for Io herself), who being suckled by the nymph Semestra, afterwards brought forth Byzas.(487) Thence the fable of the cow swimming over the sea became peculiar to this place.(488) In other respects the combinations of religious ceremonies as found at Byzantium, almost exactly resembled that which existed in Megara. Nay, so carefully did the Byzantians, though far removed from their mother-state, preserve the remembrance of it, that they carried over almost all the names of their native country and the neighbouring region. We find on the coast a temple of Poseidon, whose son was named Byzas; also of Demeter and Cora; the Scironian rocks, an Isthmian promontory, with the tomb of Hipposthenes a Megarean hero, the temple of Apollo on the high promontory of Metopum; also an altar of Saron, a pretended hero, whose name referred to the Saronic gulf.(489) Thus Byzantium was never estranged from its Peloponnesian ancestors, although it adopted a large number of additional colonists,(490) and ruled over Thracian subjects. Moreover, the prevailing dialect, which occurs in some public decrees still extant, remained for a long time Doric.(491) The Byzantians, together with the Chalcedonians, either at the time of the expedition of Darius against the Scythians, or of the Ionic revolt, founded Mesambria on the Pontus,(492) which some consider as a colony of Megara. The Megareans had also founded Selymbria even before the settlement of Byzantium,(493) and probably carried on from this place a war with the Samians at Perinthus,(494) when that island was still governed by Geomori, before the time of Polycrates. Moreover, the Megareans had a large share in the founding of Heraclea on the Pontus; for although they were strengthened by some Tanagraeans from Botia, their numbers so predominated that this city was in general considered as Doric.(495)

10. Megara, however, at the same time founded some very considerable colonies to the west, viz., in Sicily. It will be sufficient to state in general terms that Hybla in Sicily was a Megarean colony, established in the 13th Olympiad (about 728 B.C.), and was even called Megara.(496) It probably kept up a constant intercourse with the mother-state; since Theognis, who was a Megarean from Sicily, according to Plato, dwelt nevertheless for a long time in the Megara near Athens, to which state many of his poems refer.(497) The founding of the small town of Trogilus, and of the more important city of Thapsos, preceded the building of Megara. A century later, some inhabitants of Megara founded Selinus in the neighbourhood of that part of the island, which town was in early times held by the Phnicians, in later times by the Carthaginians.

11. The colonies of SPARTA, which still remain to be considered, were more numerous than would be expected of a state so averse to maritime affairs.

In the history of the migrations of the Heraclidae, we find introduced the colonies of Thera, Melos, Gortyna, and Cyrene; which, although for the sake of honour they recognised Sparta as their mother-state, had been in fact founded by Achaeans, Minyans, and aegidae, who dwelt at that time in a state of almost entire independence in a district of Laconia.(498) All these states, however, retained the Doric name; and Cyrene, though even the founders married Libyan women,(499) always preserved to the utmost of its power the inst.i.tutions, customs, and language of its mother-country.(500) The founding of Cnidos also took place at an early period, and was generally ascribed to the Lacedaemonians.(501) The leader of the colony was, according to Diodorus, one Hippotes.(502) Syme also was at that time peopled from Cnidos.(503) The princ.i.p.al religion of this city, that of Aphrodite(504) (who was here worshipped in a three-fold capacity), was without doubt the same as that which existed at Cythera, having been carried over by the Lacedaemonian colonists. The splendid city of Cnidos, protected toward the east by an Acropolis, which both its Cyclopian architecture(505) and fabulous history prove to have existed before the time of the Dorians, was situated on a neck of land, with a harbour on each side, one of which was among the largest in Greece. Thus fitted by nature for commerce, Cnidos also founded colonies of its own, among which Lipara, established (in Olymp. 50, about 580 B.C.) upon one of the aeolian islands under the direction of descendants of Hippotes,(506) overcame the Etruscans in several wars, and adorned Delphi with offerings of victory.(507) Another colony from Cnidos, remarkable chiefly for its distance from the mother-country, is Black-Corcyra, on the coast of Illyria. Lacedaemon herself, however, is said to have sent out colonies to Phrygia, Pisidia, and Cyprus. In the former country, Pisistratus, a Spartan, is said to have founded Noric.u.m near Celaenae on the river Marsyas.(508) Selge in Pisidia is generally considered by the ancients to have been a Lacedaemonian colony, and we frequently find on coins of a late date this origin recognised. The representative of the state is Hercules the Doric hero: moreover, the free spirit, the bravery, and the good laws of the Selgaeans (although the reverse is sometimes attributed to them) were derived from their mother-state.(509) The wrestling youths in the act of grasping one another (?????e?????e???) represented on their coins, bespeak a love for gymnastic exercises. It should, however, be remembered, that the founders of this colony were, according to a more exact statement, Amyclaeans,(510) _i.e._ fugitive Perici, who perhaps had pa.s.sed through Cnidos in their way to these districts. It appears that the Selgaeans founded Sagala.s.sus,(511) which city is styled on its coins _The Lacedaemonian_. Perhaps Praxander went at the same time from Therapne in Laconia, with Cephas of Olenus (both Achaeans by birth) to the island of Cyprus, where they founded Lapathus and Ceronia.(512)

12. But the most celebrated of all the Lacedaemonian colonies, and which really proceeded from Sparta, was Tarentum. The history of its origin is buried in fable, in the accounts of the first Messenian war; the accompanying circ.u.mstances will be mentioned below. The leader of this colony was Phalanthus, son of Aratus, a Heraclide.(513) Taras, on the other hand, is called the son of Poseidon, because this colony carried over the worship of that deity from Taenarum to Italy. These emigrants also brought with them other religious rites, as for instance the worship of Hyacinthus;(514) likewise many names from their native country, as that of the Eurotas, which they gave to the river Galaesus.(515) But the fruitful and luxuriant territory to which they had moved, its soft and voluptuous climate, and the commerce, for which Tarentum was well situated,(516) and always open (although it never carried it on in an active manner), helped to engender that effeminacy of character, which gave countenance to the fable of the founders having been the sons of unmarried women (pa??e??a?).

Still, amidst all its degeneracy, Tarentum retained a certain degree of dependence on its mother-country: at the foundation of Heraclea the Tarentines allowed Cleandridas a Spartan to be one of the original colonists.(517) The friendship, moreover, of the Cnidians with the Tarentines,(518) as well as that with the Cyreneans, was founded on the recognition of a common origin. The colony of Croton (Olymp. 19. 2. 703 B.C., according to Eusebius) consisted indeed of Achaeans, who came partly from the maritime town of Rhypae,(519) and partly from Laconia:(520) it must, however, have been established under the authority of the Doric state of Sparta, since Apollo and Hercules, the Doric G.o.d and hero, were here worshipped with especial honour;(521) the early const.i.tution was also Doric; and although in general we are not to look for truth in the poetry of Ovid, yet in this instance we may credit his statement that Myscellus the founder was a Heraclide.(522) In like manner the Locrians, who (in Olymp. 24. 2. 683 B.C.) founded Locri, must have procured Spartans as leaders,(523) since (as their coins also show) they paid particular honours to the Dioscuri, in time of distress in war the statues of these G.o.ds having been sent to them from Sparta, as being a people of the same origin;(524) and even in the Peloponnesian war they still adhered to the cause of Sparta.(525) Of a nature wholly different were the rapid and transitory settlements of Dorieus the son of Anaxandrides, king of Sparta, which this n.o.ble adventurer founded in Sicily and Libya; when, scorning to submit to a worthless brother, and confiding in his own strength, he hoped to obtain by conquest a kingdom in a distant country.(526) Finally, the Lyctians of Crete and other inhabitants of this island called themselves colonists of Sparta. In all probability many of the ancient Doric cities of this country received fresh settlers from Lacedaemon; which state, at the beginning of the Olympiads(527) in the time of Alcamenes, and even during the life of Lycurgus,(528) exercised a very considerable influence upon the internal affairs of Crete.

Having taken a view of the Doric settlements without Peloponnesus, we now return to the history of that peninsula, which we will divide into two periods, namely, before and after the 40th Olympiad, or the year 620 B.C.

Chapter VII.

-- 1. Sources of the early history of Peloponnesus. -- 2. Quoit of Iphitus, Registers of Victors at the Olympic and Carnean Games, Registers at Sicyon and Argos. -- 3. Registers of the Spartan Kings. -- 4. Spartan Rhetras, Land-marks. -- 5. Lyric Poets, Oral Tradition, and Political Inst.i.tutions. -- 6. Mythical character of Lycurgus. -- 7. Lycurgus founder of the sacred armistice of Olympia. -- -- 8. and 9. Messenian wars: sources of the history of them. -- 10. First Messenian war. -- 11. Second Messenian war. -- 12.

Influence in Arcadia obtained by the Spartans. -- 13. Limited ascendancy of Argos in Argolis. -- 14. Disputes between Argos and Sparta. -- 15. Pheidon of Argos. -- 16. Further struggles between Argos and Sparta.

1. Before we begin to collect and arrange the accounts extant concerning the early history of Peloponnesus, it will be first necessary to ascertain what are our sources of information respecting the events of this period.

For the epic poets, who carried on an uninterrupted series of traditions on the events of the mythical ages, and have thus thrown over this dark period some faint glimmerings which may in many places be condensed into a distinct and useful light, only touch on a few points of the period whose history we are about to examine. On the other hand, indeed, the art of writing was during this time introduced among the Greeks through their intercourse with Asia; but that a long time elapsed before it came into general use, is evident from the almost surprising imperfection of those written doc.u.ments which have been preserved to us of a date anterior to the 60th Olympiad, in comparison with the great perfection of the works of Grecian art. For this reason, writing was long regarded in Greece as a foreign craft, and letters were considered (for example in the Tean curses) as Phnician symbols. Nevertheless, these few and scanty registers are the first materials for real history and chronology now extant. As such, the following have been made known to us from Peloponnesus.

2. The _Quoit of Iphitus_, upon which was inscribed in a circle the formula for proclaiming the sacred armistice of Elis, and in which Iphitus and Lycurgus were mentioned as the founders of it.(529) There is no reason for doubting its genuineness, which was recognised by Aristotle, and the inst.i.tution which it mentioned was considered by all ancient writers as a real fact.(530) Secondly, the _lists of the conquerors at the Olympic games_ brought down uninterruptedly from the victory of Chorbus,(531) which always recorded the conquerors in the foot-race, and in later times at least those in the other games.(532) It is probable that they were originally engraved on single pillars, and afterwards collected under the inspection of the h.e.l.lanodicae.(533) Similar catalogues of conquerors in other games, besides the four great ones, were also probably not uncommon, but they were generally inscribed on separate pillars, and were therefore of little use to the historian.(534) The names of the _conquerors at the Carnean games_ at Sparta were also registered, so that h.e.l.lanicus was enabled to compose from them a work called ?a??e????a?. The _register at Sicyon_ contained a list of the priestesses of Here at Argos, and the poets and musicians of the games.(535) But this also contained fabulous accounts: for example, the invention of playing and singing on the harp by Amphion. Nor were the _catalogues of the priestesses of Here_, which were probably kept at Argos, altogether free from fable, as may be perceived from the fragments of h.e.l.lanicus's chronological work on these priestesses, which was probably founded on the official catalogues.(536)

3. There were also at Lacedaemon public registers, in which Plutarch found mention of the daughters of Agesilaus;(537) and in those of the earliest times the same author discovered the Pythian oracle concerning Lycurgus,(538) the same that Herodotus refers to in his first book. These doubtless contained the names of all the kings, and probably also the years of their reigns, as far back as Procles, who, according to a statement noticed above, died one year before his brother Eurysthenes.(539) This fact could hardly have been derived from any other source than some national annals, though it is not impossible that it was first transferred to them from oral narrative; in which case, however, it is difficult to understand how tradition, contrary to its general character, preserved dates. It was without doubt from these registers that Charon of Lampsacus, before the time of Herodotus, composed his work ent.i.tled, "_The Prytanes, or Rulers, of Lacedaemon_;"(540) in which he also noticed the sacred offerings and monuments of ancient times.(541) With respect to the chronological labours of Timaeus, Polybius(542) says that "this writer compared the ephors with the kings of Lacedaemon from the beginning, and the archons at Athens and priestesses at Argos with the conquerors at the Olympic games, and noted the errors which the cities had made in the registration, even when they only differed by three months."

Eratosthenes and Apollodorus founded their chronology, especially before the Olympiads, upon the same list of the kings;(543) they both nearly agreed in reckoning 327 or 328 years from the expedition of the Heraclidae to the first Olympiad (776 B.C.),(544) which calculation would have been impossible if the duration of each king's reign had not been known; for if this computation is made by generations, reckoning about three to a century, quite a different number comes out.(545) Lycurgus, however, was placed by Eratosthenes 108 years before the first Olympiad;(546) in which computation he certainly went on the authority of the Quoit of Iphitus; which agrees with the statement of Apollodorus, that Homer, who according to this chronologist flourished 148 years before the first Olympiad, was a contemporary of Lycurgus when the latter was a young man.(547)-It appears, however, that the name of Lycurgus was not preserved in any register of the kings, since in that case it would have been impossible that he should have been called by Herodotus the guardian of his nephew Labotas the Eurysthenid,(548) by Simonides (who lived in great intimacy with king Pausanias)(549) the son of Prytanis and brother of Eunomus the Proclid, and by others the son of Eunomus and guardian of his nephew Charilaus,(550) had there existed any genealogy of him which was sufficiently accredited. Hence we must infer that these catalogues only contained the names of the kings, and not even of the royal guardians or protectors, such as Lycurgus. On the other hand, the variations in the enumeration of the kings are unimportant, being confined to this, that in the pedigree of the Proclidae Herodotus(551) (or his transcribers) leaves out the name of Sous, which occurs in all the rest, and, contrary to Pausanias, changes the order of Eunomus and Polydectes. Since the name of Polydectes is entirely wanting in Simonides and Eusebius, it is probable that Polydectes and Eunomus are only different names of the same king; and that Polydectes was the proper name, and Eunomus a t.i.tle of honour.(552) Upon this hypothesis we obtain the following series of kings of the Proclid line-Prytanis, Polydectes, Charilaus, with tolerable certainty.

There must also have been registers of the names and years of the princes of Corinth, and the family of the Bacchiadae, since no one could have had the boldness to invent them.(553) Indeed there were altogether many pedigrees, particularly of the Heraclidae: as, for example, of families at Cyrene,(554) and the Ptolemies;(555) their authority, however, could not have been very great; in the latter, indeed, we cannot fail to recognise the unscrupulous hand of Alexandrine flatterers. The ancient chronicles of Elis, which Pausanias saw, appear to have contained complete pedigrees from Oxylus down to Iphitus;(556) although the descendants of the former were not kings. The father of Iphitus was there stated to have been also named Iphitus, in contradiction to the common account.(557)

4. None of these registers appear to have contained anything beyond the names of conquerors at the games (which have seldom any reference to history), and princes with the years of their reigns. If anything more was noted down, it was perhaps here and there an oracle, as those belonging to the history of Sparta in Herodotus,(558) which were without doubt brought by the Pythians to Sparta in writing, at a very early period. To these may be perhaps added some ancient _rhetras_;(559) under which term the ancient Dorians included all political doc.u.ments, laws, and treaties. The most ancient instance of the last kind is the treaty between the Eleans and the inhabitants of Heraea, discovered by sir William Gell,(560) the writing of which is so extremely rude as to prove that they were little practised in that art when it was engraved. It is however very doubtful how the Spartan rhetras of Lycurgus were drawn up. By some it has been supposed that they were originally composed in metre, in order to be chanted by the youth of Sparta;(561) but this is contradicted by the certain testimony(562) that Terpander of Antissa, whom the Spartans so highly esteemed, was the first who set these laws to music, and first gave them a metrical and poetical form; and Terpander did not live till after the 26th Olympiad, or 672 B.C.(563) But the rhetra which Plutarch has preserved as the genuine const.i.tutional formula bears a truly archaic character, since it contains a command of the Pythian Apollo to the lawgiver in the infinitive mood, and does not fall into verse. I do not perceive why it might not have been written, as well as the contemporaneous inscription on the Quoit of Iphitus, and the ancient oracles cited by Herodotus; at least we cannot in any other way account for the preservation of the words. The original rhetras, however, were very few, and formed merely the nucleus of a system of laws, more as a help to the memory than as a perfect code; hence the ancients could with propriety say, that Zaleucus was the first who committed laws to writing.(564) The three rhetras, which were preserved besides the former one, were merely certain general formulas, and by no means explicit laws; they had the form of an oracle, as having proceeded from the Pythian G.o.d,(565) but were written entirely in prose.(566)

Next in the list of public monuments come the ????, or landmarks of territory. It is well known that we are in possession of such records of a later period, belonging to the sacred territory of the Pythian Apollo (in which earlier surveys of the Amphictyonic Hieromnemons, and ancient inscriptions on boundary-stones are appealed to), belonging to Cretan towns, and likewise to Samos and Priene, in which the inhabitants of Priene cite ancient records, preserved from the time of Bias in the temple of Athene.(567) Historical works were also composed from these memorials.(568) Now there must also have been records of this kind in Peloponnesus, although the inscriptions, by which the Messenians wished to prove to the Romans their original boundary towards Laconia, were evidently not made till after their re-establishment by Epaminondas.(569)

5. These doc.u.ments, if we were in possession of them, would afford a valuable foundation for an account of the three centuries before regular history begins; but merely an outline, which would require to be filled up from other sources. This might partly be done from the writings of the _Lyric poets_, who flourished at that time, as Eumelus, Thaletas, Tyrtaeus, Alcman, and Terpander;(570) which writers had frequent intercourse with the Spartans, and introduced the events of the time into their poetry to a much greater degree than the epic poets. And in fact we find in the fragments of Tyrtaeus and Alcman a lively representation of the feelings and manners of the period. The next source of information is _oral tradition_, which, though erring continually with regard to names and numbers, yet always relates something essential; and, finally, the _political inst.i.tutions_ continuing to exist in later times, which had their origin in this period.

These, and no other than these, can have been the means employed by the authors who wrote on the affairs of Laconia, in the century when history was approaching to maturity, such as h.e.l.lanicus, Charon, and Herodotus; and either directly or indirectly must have afforded materials to those who treated of the times of Lycurgus during the later age of Greek learning. But how little do we recognise the ancient simplicity and liveliness which characterise all the genuine remains of that time, in the historical style of Ephorus and Hermippus,(571) and their followers. The object of these writers was to a.s.similate, as much as possible, the notions of antiquity to those of their own time, and to attempt in some way or other to represent every act as proceeding from such motives as would have actuated their own contemporaries. They have with a truly unsparing hand rubbed off the venerable rust of ancient tradition, and, totally mistaking the most powerful springs of action then prevalent, moulded all events of which any records had been preserved, into a connected form more suited to a modern history. It is almost impossible to describe with what unlucky zeal Plutarch, where Lycurgus only embodied in laws the political feelings of his race and nation, ascribes to that legislator plans and views generally unsatisfactory, and often absolutely childish.

6. If now we apply the method above stated to the history of Lycurgus, we shall find that we have absolutely no account of him as an _individual person_. Tradition very properly represents him as intimately connected with the temple of Delphi (by which the Dorians, and especially the state of Sparta, were at that time entirely led), and with Crete, the earliest civilized state of the Doric race. This connexion was generally represented under the form of a journey to both places; his tomb was also shown both at Cirrha and at Pergamia in Crete. It was easy to imagine that the reforms of Lycurgus were violently opposed, and produced tumults and disturbances.(572) But the story of Alcander putting out one of Lycurgus's eyes (probably a popular tale) is founded on a false explanation of the t.i.tle of Pallas Optiletis.(573) It was indeed an ancient tradition that he was guardian of a Spartan king; but the common report of this being Charilaus(574) is not quite certain, as we have seen above; and in order to account for both his travels and regency, he was reported to have abdicated the latter in order to avoid suspicion.(575) If we set aside all fictions of this description, which have almost the spirit of a moral tale, like the Cyropaedia of Xenophon, there remains very little traditional lore. Of his legislation we will treat hereafter.(576)

7. It is very singular that historians should have mentioned so little of the action of Lycurgus, which comes next in importance to that which has been just discussed;(577) I mean the share that he had in founding the sacred armistice and games at Olympia, which event was without doubt the commencement of a more tranquil state of affairs in Peloponnesus.

Lycurgus, as the representative of the Doric race, Iphitus, of the aetolians and Eleans, and Cleosthenes,(578) the son of Cleonicus of Pisa, the city to which the temple of Olympia properly belonged, and which had not then lost the management of it, in conjunction perhaps with several others, drew up the fundamental law of the Peloponnesian armistice. This contained two heads. First, that the whole territory of the Eleans (who acted as masters of the games, after the expulsion of the Pisatans, every year with more exclusive power) should remain for ever free from hostile inroads and ravages, insomuch that even armed troops were only to be allowed a pa.s.sage on condition of first laying down their arms;(579) secondly, that during the time of the festival a cessation of arms should also be proclaimed throughout the rest of Peloponnesus. But, since there was little agreement among the individual states in the computation of time, and as the Eleans alone were acquainted with the exact time at which the quadrennial festival came round, and perhaps also in order to make the injunction of the G.o.d more impressive, the Eleans always sent _feciales_ round to the different states, "_heralds of the season, the Elean truce-bearers of Zeus_;"(580) these persons proclaimed the Olympic armistice, first to their own countrymen, and then to the other Peloponnesians: after which time no army was to invade another's territory.(581) The fine which was to have been paid by the Spartans in the Peloponnesian war for having sent out soldiers after this period was two minas for each hoplite, the very sum which by the agreement of the Peloponnesians was required for the ransom of prisoners of war;(582) whence it is evident that the transgressors of the truce were considered as becoming slaves of the G.o.d, and were to be ransomed again from him. The decree was p.r.o.nounced by the tribunal of the temple at Elis, according to the "Olympian law."(583) The fine was divided between the Eleans and the treasury at the temple of Olympia. To this temple also were paid all penalties incurred by the infraction of treaties;(584) nay, sometimes whole cities were bound to pay a fixed tribute every year to the G.o.d.(585) By these and similar laws was the armistice protected, which doubtless was not intended merely to secure the celebration of the games from disturbance, but also to effect a peaceable meeting of the Peloponnesians, and thus to give occasion for the settling of disputes, and the conclusion of alliances. Even in the Peloponnesian war public business was transacted at this a.s.sembly.(586) But one chief effect of the Olympian festival appears to have been the production of a more friendly connexion between the aetolian and Doric races. This fact appears to be established by the tradition that Iphitus introduced the worship of Hercules at Elis, which therefore had previously been peculiar to the Dorians.(587) Apollo, the Doric G.o.d, was also at this time regarded as the protector of the sacred armistice of Olympia, as we shall see hereafter.(588)

8. We now proceed immediately to the _Messenian wars_, since it is hardly possible to find one independent event between the commencement of them and the time of Iphitus. These however are really historical, since we have in Tyrtaeus a nearly contemporaneous account of the first, and one actually so of the second. The fragments and accounts of his poems are our princ.i.p.al guides for obtaining a correct knowledge of these transactions.

And in these alone many circ.u.mstances appear in quite a different light from that in which they are represented in the romance of Pausanias. In the latter, the Spartans only are the aggressors, the Messenians only the subjects of attack; but, if we listen to Tyrtaeus, the former also had to fight for their own country. But, since even the ancients possessed few remains of Tyrtaeus, and as nearly all the historical part of his poems appears to have come down to us, whence did Pausanias derive his copious narrative, and the details with which he has adorned it? Was it from ancient epic poets? Yet of these there is nowhere any mention: and in general an historical event, if it could not be put into an entirely fabulous shape, like the stories of the origin and foundation of many colonies, lay altogether without the province of the early poetry. It is indeed possible that in the Naupactia, which are referred to for the mythical history of Messenia,(589) some historical notices may have occasionally occurred, perhaps too in the works of Cinaethon and Eumelus: but the ancients, who disliked the labour of compiling a history from scattered fragments, probably gave themselves very little trouble to discover them. On the other hand, there existed a series of traditional legends, whose character announces their high antiquity; thus, that of the Messenians, that Aristomenes had _thrice_ offered a _hecatomphonion_, or sacrifice for a hundred enemies slain in battle;(590) whether or no of human victims is doubtful.(591) A share in this sacrifice was also performed by Theoclus, who is called an Elean, because he belonged to a family of the Iamidae, which, as it appears, was settled in Messenia; but this clan, though scattered about in different places, yet always retained their rights at Olympia.(592) The same character may also be perceived in the legend of Aristomenes thrice incurring the danger of death. On the first of these occasions, when thrown into the Ceadas, he was preserved by a fox, the symbol of Messenia; on the second, whilst his guards were asleep, he turned to the fire and burnt in two the cords that bound his limbs,(593) a story more certainly derived from tradition than the love-adventure which supplies its place in Pausanias: the third time however that he fell into the hands of his enemies, they cut open his breast, and found a hairy heart.(594)

9. Traditions of this kind were probably circulating in different forms among the victorious Lacedaemonians,(595) amongst the refugee Messenians in Italy and Naupactus, the subject Messenians who remained in the country, and the other Peloponnesians, when they were recalled into existence by the re-establishment of the Messenian state by Epaminondas. Even before the battle of Leuctra, the Botians, on the advice of an oracle, hung up as a trophy the shield of Aristomenes,(596) the device of which was a spread eagle:(597) and when Epaminondas recalled the Messenian fugitives from Italy, Sicily, and even from Libya, and had erected them, with numerous Helots and people collected from various quarters, into a new state,(598) Aristomenes was especially invoked before the foundation of the city.(599) In this manner the ancient traditions were enabled to gain a new footing, and to be developed in a connected form. Several writers now seized upon a subject which had begun to excite so great interest, of whom Rhia.n.u.s the poet and Myron the prose-writer are known to us.(600) Myron gave an account of the first Messenian war down to the death of Aristodemus; but, in the opinion of Pausanias, utterly regardless whether or no he related falsehood and incredibilities; thus, in the teeth of all tradition, he introduced Aristomenes, the hero of the second war, into the first; and he wrote with an evident bias _against_ Sparta.(601) Rhia.n.u.s, however, a native of Bena in Crete, celebrated the actions of Aristomenes, in the second war, from the battle near the Great Trench (?e???? ??f???), until the end of the war, as Homer had done those of Achilles; and although Pausanias has disproved some of his statements of particular facts from Tyrtaeus,(602) yet he has frequently followed him, and especially in the poetical embellishments of his narrative.(603) He never mentions any historians, such as Ephorus, Theopompus, Antiochus, or Callisthenes.(604) Rhia.n.u.s, however, though he might not have exclusively adopted the Messenian account,(605) yet, as far as we can judge from Pausanias, gave the reins to his fancy, and mixed up many circ.u.mstances and usages of later times with the ancient tradition.(606) It is not therefore our intention either to divert the reader with a continued narration of these fictions, at the expense of truth, or fatigue him by a detailed criticism of them, but merely to lay before him the chief circ.u.mstances, as they are known with historical certainty.

10. The first war is distinctly stated by Tyrtaeus to have lasted nineteen years, and in the twentieth the enemy left their country, and fled from the mountain Ithome.(607) The same authority also gives the time which elapsed between the first and second wars, viz., that the grandfathers were engaged in the first, the grandchildren in the second.(608) The date of the first war is fixed by Polychares, who is stated to have been the author of it,(609) having been conqueror in the race at the 4th Olympiad(610) (764 B.C.); and it agrees well with this date that Eumelus, who was contemporary with Archias the founder of Syracuse (in the 5th Olympiad), composed a poem for _free_ Messenia. Pausanias places the commencement (we know not on what grounds) at Olymp. 9. 2, (743 B.C.) the termination nineteen years later, Olymp. 14. 1. (724 B.C.) The interval between the two wars he states (though on what authority we know not, and contrary to Tyrtaeus) to have been thirty-nine years;(611) so that the second would have lasted from Olymp. 23. 4. to Olymp. 28. 1. (or from 685 to 668 B.C.)(612) We shall, however, find hereafter that the date of this war was probably later by several years, though not so late as Diodorus fixed it, according to whom the war began in Olymp. 35. 3.(613) We also know from Tyrtaeus that the Spartan king who completed the subjugation of Messenia was Theopompus.(614) Now, with respect to the origin of this war, it may be first traced in the increase of power, which Sparta, before the beginning of the Olympiads, owed to the exertions of its king Teleclus; this prince having succeeded in subduing the neighbouring city of Amyclae, and in reducing several other Achaean towns to a state of dependence on Sparta.(615) Indeed, if we correctly understand an insulated notice,(616) Teleclus razed the town of Nedon, on the frontiers of Messenia and Laconia,(617) and transplanted its inhabitants to the towns of Pessa, Echeiae, and Tragis. Hence arose border wars between the Dorians at Sparta and those at Stenyclarus. The temple of Artemis Limnatis,(618) the possession of which was disputed between the two nations (though its festival was common to both), afforded, as may be discovered from the romance of Pausanias,(619) the immediate ground for the war. For even in the reign of Tiberius the Lacedaemonians supported their claim to this temple by ancient annals and oracles;(620) while the Messenians, on the other hand, brought forward the doc.u.ment already quoted, according to which this temple, together with the whole territory of Dentheleatis, in which it was situated, belonged to them. Dissensions in Messenia must have hastened the breaking out of the war, since it is certain that Hyamia, one of the five provinces of Messenia, was given by the Spartans to the Androclidae, a branch of the family of the aepytidae.(621) The history of the first war contains traces of a lofty and sublime poetical tradition: for example, that Aristodemus, though ready to appease the wrath of the G.o.ds by the blood of his own daughter,(622) yet was unable to effect his purpose; that the damsel was put to death in vain; and upon this, recognising the will of the G.o.ds that Messenia should fall, and being terrified by portentous omens, he slaughtered himself upon the tomb of his murdered child.(623) The war seems to have been confined chiefly to the vicinity of Ithome, which stronghold, situated in the midst of the country, commanded both the plain of Stenyclarus and that of the Pamisus.

The reduction of this fortress necessarily entailed the subjugation of the whole country, and many of the Messenians began to emigrate. With this event the Doric colony of Rhegium is connected. Heraclides of Pontus(624) merely relates, that some Messenians (who happened to be at this time at Macistus in Triphylia, in consequence of the violation of some Spartan virgins) united themselves to the Chalcidian founders of this town (who had been sent out from Delphi). He probably means those Messenians who wished to make a reparation for the violation of the Spartan virgins in the temple of Artemis Limnatis, and were in consequence expelled by their own countrymen.(625) But, according to Pausanias,(626) even this body of Messenians received the district of Hyamia;