a minute description of the complicated mountains, would give you no
definite view, but only confound you. According to the general belief
of the Greeks, the Arcadians[37] were the most ancient inhabitants of
Peloponnesus, that is, Pelasgians: in the history of nations, Arcadia
is regarded as the original seat of the Greek Pelasgians. The Arcadian
traditions are the only ones in Greece, that go back to the creation of
man, and their Azan necessarily reminds us of Adam; but whether they
had a similar tradition, or whether the resemblance of the names is
only accidental, is a question which I cannot venture to decide. They
considered themselves, however, as autochthons in the strictest sense of
the term; though this belief referred to the rulers rather than to the
whole nation. While the adjoining countries changed either their rulers
or their inhabitants, the population of Arcadia remained quite intact.
In the most ancient traditions we hear of no important towns, but we
know three races, the _Azanes_ (Ἀζῆνες in Herodotus), the _Maenalii_ and
_Parrhasii_; whether, however, they are to be regarded only as three
tribes, or as three distinct nations, I cannot say. Greek history, at the
time of the Messenian wars, speaks indeed of Arcadia as one entire state,
under a single head, but such is not the case in the Homeric Catalogue;
it is probable that they formed one whole only through the relation of
isopolity. Afterwards, about the 40th Olymp., we find the first traces
of towns, the importance of which, however, cannot be determined. In a
war with Sparta, the inhabitants of Tegea appear as a separate state
of Tegeatans, and they must have had the supremacy among the Arcadians,
for otherwise we cannot explain how they could have claimed at Plataeae
the supreme command of the whole army, on the ground of their being the
most ancient Greeks, in opposition to the Dorians, who had immigrated.
How Arcadia was divided among its three peoples, is unknown. It is
surprising that, previous to the foundation of Megalopolis, the whole
of southern Arcadia, which formed nearly one-half of the whole country,
appears to have contained no towns of importance, owing to which very
circumstance Megalopolis became conspicuous. All the more important towns
were situated on the eastern frontier; near the northern boundary there
also were towns, which afterwards appear as small states, but the towns
themselves, though strong from their natural position, were unimportant.
But this was the fate of all Greek nations, where they were not grouped
round a common centre: the division increased more and more, and single
towns rose by their favourable position, and isolated themselves from the
Κοινόν. The most ancient and most important town of Arcadia was in the
east.
This was TEGEA, situated on the frontier of Laconia. In contemporary
history its territory is small, and the town decayed; but from what is
related about Tegea, we can see, that it was once a great city, which
afterwards lost its power. The Arcadian districts united with Laconia,
had probably been taken for the most part from Tegea, whence the Laconian
frontier passed so near by Tegea. In the Persian wars it was still great
and populous, if we may trust the numbers in Herodotus, which, however,
we are hardly justified in doing, especially in his account of the
campaign of Plataeae. I do not mean to say that he intended to deceive,
but I consider his numbers to be very uncritical; he was probably not
correctly informed. We must make a distinction between his ethnographical
and geographical inquiries, and his historical criticism, for in the
latter he took matters too lightly. His statements about the numbers
of Spartans must be received with particular caution, for in regard to
Sparta he was ill informed.
MANTINEA is much more celebrated; it was a large and respectable city,
which both during and after the Peloponnesian war, acted with energy
and independence, and without any regard to the rest of the Arcadians.
After the peace of Nicias, the Mantineans, together with the Argives
and Eleans, joined the coalition which was brought about with such
skill by Alcibiades among the Peloponnesians with the view of drawing
them away from Sparta. Thirty years later, they were punished for this
by the Spartans: Agis appeared before them demanding that they should
destroy their city and disperse in villages. They refused, and Mantinea
experienced the same fate which Milan, in the middle ages, suffered
at the hands of Frederic Barbarossa, for it was demolished, and its
inhabitants distributed among five villages. After the battle of Leuctra
it was restored; and owing to the fertility of its territory, it remained
a flourishing city for a period of 150 years, that is, down to Olymp.
139, 2, when, during the war of Cleomenes, it was taken by the Achaeans
and Antigonus Doson, because it had thrown itself into the arms of
Cleomenes. I will not excuse its conduct on that occasion any more than
the general morality of the Greeks during that period; but its fate was
fearful. The town was completely destroyed, and afterwards a new one was
built on its site, by Antigonus, under the name Antigonea. Officially the
name Mantinea then ceased, but in common life it still continued, and
Polybius calls it by its ancient name; but on coins struck at the time
of the destruction of Corinth, the inhabitants are called Ἀντιγονεῖς.
Hadrian, who was fond of playing in Greek matters, restored the ancient
name. Mantinea is celebrated on account of three great battles, which
had more or less influence in deciding the destiny of Greece: 1. the
one during the peace of Nicias, in which the Spartans gained a victory
over the coalition of the Peloponnesians; 2. the battle of the Boeotians
against the united Athenians and Spartans, in which Epaminondas fell; 3.
the battle of Agis against Antipater, in the unfortunate attempt (Olymp.
112, 2) to restore the liberty of Peloponnesus, while Alexander was
engaged in Asia. To these we may add a fourth, the battle of Philopoemen
against Machanidas, tyrant of Sparta. The cause of so many battles lies
in the importance of the site of the town, in a military point of view,
for it is situated in a fertile plain suited for great manoeuvres, on the
other side of the passes leading from Arcadia into Argolis, and commands
the road which leads by Orchomenos to Corinth.
ORCHOMENOS cannot be compared in importance with the two towns just
mentioned; it, too, had an independent political existence as a city at
an early period, and was distinct from the three Arcadian peoples.
The fourth town on the eastern frontier is STYMPHALUS, a small place in
the extreme corner of the territory of Phlius and Argos. It was situated
in a hollow among mountains, on the border of a lake, with subterraneous
outlets. Tradition ascribed the construction of these passages to the
heroic age, and apparently with great justice. This is one of the many
traces which show that Greece must have had a history which went back
much farther than the current history, and which is so unintelligible
to us, just because we join the poetical traditions of those nations
directly to the historical ages. Such is the case, for example, with
the Minyans, who are so utterly mysterious to us; but it would be mere
infatuation to deny that they once were a great historical people; their
subjugation of Thebes, and the numerous other traditions, have a real
historical foundation, as is still attested by the ruins of the Boeotian
Orchomenos, and by the tunnel carrying off the water of lake Copais. The
lake itself may be of volcanic origin; but the tunnel, at all events, has
at least been completed by the hand of man. The same is the case with
lake Stymphalus, the carrying off of the water from which is ascribed in
tradition to Heracles.
Some of the northern towns, as _Pheneos_, _Psophis_, and _Cynaetha_, are
ancient but insignificant.
MEGALOPOLIS was the most recent among the Arcadian towns, for it was
built after the expedition of Epaminondas. He, like many others, saw
the great defect of separate and isolated peoples, whose strength was
broken, and he was bent upon forming and enlarging several central points
which, in the end, necessarily led to a complete division. Hence he
conceived the idea of uniting all the Arcadians against the Spartans,
for it was not yet clear at the time that Sparta had permanently fallen
in the battle of Leuctra. The new city was built by the Arcadians
themselves, under the direction of Epaminondas. These late occurrences
are enveloped in strange obscurity, for we do not know whether it was
intended also to draw the great Arcadian towns, Mantinea, etc., into
this κοινὸν βουλευτήριον; this intention, however, was pre-supposed,
and hence the undertaking was generally disliked. People looked upon
it with distrust; the form prescribed to them was disapproved of, and
even if it had not been insisted on, the spirit of independence of those
people seemed to suffer in the undertaking. The form, moreover, in which
it was intended to carry out the plan seems to have been extremely
absurd. The undertaking had been announced as something grand, yet it
proved to be ill-devised and useless, and did not by any means succeed
as well as had been anticipated. The circumference of Megalopolis was
only about five English miles, and in this space it was contemplated
to crowd together the inhabitants of more than thirty places, and no
one seems to have perceived that such a scheme could not succeed. The
Arcadians were country people (αὐτουργοί), whose fields were not tilled
by slaves; they would have been obliged to carry on their rustic pursuits
at a great distance, which, as they had to live in the city, with civic
institutions, was a matter of impossibility. Epaminondas was indeed a
great man, but this scheme does him no credit; taking all in all, I do
not think that he was as great a man as he is generally believed to have
been. The population dispersed, and the coercion employed was felt to
be more galling than the Spartan dominion, against which the whole plan
was directed. Hence Megalopolis remained the union of only a portion of
Arcadia. It had to fight against the Spartans at an early time, and,
therefore, threw itself into the arms of Philip, who endeavoured to
protect it by a strong frontier on the side of Sparta. After the time of
Alexander, in the war of Polysperchon, it suffered severely, and had to
sustain a vigorous siege; but the greatest misfortune was its capture
by Cleomenes, from which it never recovered. Cleomenes took the town
by surprise, because the walls were too extensive for the population,
and, therefore, could not be defended; the inhabitants partly fled, and
others were put to the sword. From that time Megalopolis, notwithstanding
its circumference, had no more importance than an ordinary town of
the Achaean confederacy, and was afterwards almost entirely deserted.
Polybius was a native of Megalopolis, and although he did all he could
to save his native city, it seems yet to have suffered greatly from
the Romans after the destruction of Corinth, and then it was justly
said Ἐρημία μεγάλη ’στὶν ἡ Μεγάλη πόλις; in the days of Strabo it was
completely reduced to the rank of a village. As it had been built at
a late period, Megalopolis, like all the towns which arose under the
Macedonian dominion, had no great buildings, whence no ruins of it are
found.
I might mention also _Phigalea_, _Melaeniae_, and other towns, but it is
hardly worth while. Phigalea has become celebrated through the well-known
sculptures, which are excellent in their way, and belong to the period of
archaic art, that is, to the period of the Persian wars and a short time
after; they were found in the ruins of a temple, and are now in England.
ELIS.
The name Elis is of more recent date than the Trojan times; the town
of that name was a recent structure, and the population also is not
ancient. The most northern part of Elis was inhabited during the Trojan
times by the _Epeans_; the middle part, _Pisatis_, extended as far as
the Alpheus, and the country south of that river belonged to the Pylian
kingdom of Nestor. This division continued to exist at a later period.
The Doric name for Elis was Alis, and we should, properly speaking, adopt
this pronunciation, which occurs in Plautus’ Prologue to the “Captivi”
(_vendidit in Alide_), and upon all ancient monuments. On coins we find
ϜΑΛΕΙΩΝ, which by a strange mistake has been referred to the Faliscans,
until at length some English scholar, I think it was Knight, explained it
rightly, the nature of the digamma having become clear. The Pisatans were
probably Arcadians. Respecting Triphylia, between Pisatis and Messenia,
there are strange traditions: in the most ancient of them it is said
to have been inhabited by Caucones, itself a mysterious name, which is
described by some as signifying a race of Carians; according to others,
the country was inhabited by Minyans, who, though they are traced to the
Minyans in Lemnos, are perhaps nothing else but Pelasgians, that is, a
people likewise belonging to the Arcadians. Afterwards Triphylia always
was a part of the ἔθνος Ἀρκαδικόν, although the Arcadians were never
united under one strategus. The Epeans were expelled by the Aetolians;
the Aetolian Oxylus is said to have accompanied the Dorian Heracleids, to
have guided them by way of Naupactus into Achaia, and to have received
Elis as a reward for this service. This tradition must be left to stand
on its own grounds: certain it is at least that Elis was Aetolian, as the
three states were Dorian; but the name of the Aetolians had a different
meaning in the early times from that which we attach to it at a later
period, and of which I shall speak hereafter.
The history of Elis may be well put together from different
documents.[38] The Aetolians ruled in the city as an oligarchy, and even
as late as the Peloponnesian war the city appears as sovereign, and
the perioeci as subjects; in Aristotle’s Politics, the Aetolian γένη
are still described as a body of oligarchs. But this state of things
was probably altered even in the course of the Peloponnesian war: the
oligarchy was reduced in numbers, and was unable to maintain itself; the
commonalty, on the other hand, acquired consistency, and the old citizens
were united with the country population. Thus Elis became a compact
state, acquiring the extent which we see in our maps, and all the free
inhabitants of the country became Eleans. They were divided into twelve
tribes, four of which were afterwards lost, together with a portion of
the country. Further particulars will be mentioned in connection with the
several towns. Elis had coal mines which were worked, but according to
Theophrastus, the smiths preferred the Massilian coal.
The original Elis, then, after the Doric migration, comprised only the
country of the Epeans; its capital, _Elis_, was founded by the Aetolians.
This town, like the Eleans in general, does not act a brilliant part in
history; but it was not insignificant, and was situated in a very fertile
and thickly peopled valley, the κοίλη Ἠλις. There is only one other town
in Elis proper, _Cyllene_, the ἐπίνειον for the small fleet of Elis,
standing to the capital in the relation of perioeci, similar to that
subsisting between Lausanne and Berne.
For a considerable period, Elis was the most peaceable and most
undisturbed country in Greece, and was chiefly inhabited by small landed
proprietors. Polybius too mentions the long peace, but we cannot say
precisely during what period it prevailed, and, at all events, must not
extend it too long. The Eleans were involved in the Peloponnesian war
no less than all the other Greek states; in earlier times they had
even been conquerors. _Pisa_, situated on the Alpheus, enjoyed great
reputation in ancient times, but was destroyed by the Eleans at an early
period (about Olymp. 90), and its territory was incorporated with that of
Elis. This secured to the Eleans the prostasia at the Olympic games.
All maps have the same mistake, representing _Olympia_ as a town; it was
nothing but a place containing the temple of the Olympian Zeus and the
localities required for the games, a stadium, theatre, and the like.
There never were Olympian citizens, nor a βουλή or a δῆμος; and there
exists no ethnic name formed from Olympia. There may have been some inns
for strangers, but with the exception of the season of the games, the
place was never visited.
TRIPHYLIA, in the corner between Pisatis, Messenia and Arcadia, was the
third part of the country, though it did not always belong to the Elean
territory. Its capital was _Lepreon_, but it contained a number of small
towns besides, one of which was _Scillus_, where the Spartans gave a
house to Xenophon. Triphylia was repeatedly taken by the Arcadians, as
in Olymp. 102, when they attempted by force to assume the management of
the Olympic games. But as early as Olymp. 96, it had been seized by the
Spartans, and for a time remained under their protection. Scylax (Olymp.
106) calls it a part of Arcadia, but afterwards it was again in the
possession of the Eleans, until in Olymp. 140 it fell into the hands of
Philip III. of Macedonia, who, when his policy required it, gave it up to
the Achaeans.
ACHAIA.
Previous to the Doric migration, Achaia was called Ionia, and as
such was divided into twelve towns. All the Ionians, it is said,
emigrated on the invasion of the Achaeans, who had obtained from the
Lacedaemonians a free departure from Laconia—an account which appears
to me very problematical, but which I cannot remove by substituting a
better one. On that occasion the Achaeans are reported to have become
possessed of the twelve towns. The intentional and artificial character
of this division is obvious: when people meet together with a view to
satisfy their natural wants, we never find such exact calculations. The
Waldstädte in Switzerland were originally three in number, but this
number increased more and more, until it amounted to thirteen. The United
States of North America have increased from thirteen to twenty-four,
and they will increase still more. A design similar to that in Achaia
appears in the Doric part of Asia Minor, where we find the number six,
and among the Romans we find three tribes and thirty curiae. The Doric
immigration corresponds with what we find in Laconia and Messene, and it
was probably the same in Argolis. In the same manner arose the twelve
Achaean towns, according to a designed division among the Ionians, and
the same was preserved under the Achaeans. _Helice_, on the coast of the
Corinthian gulf, was the capital of the Ionians, but whether it occupied
the same rank under the Achaeans for any length of time, is unknown.
Helice and _Olenos_ are two of the twelve towns which occur in the list
of the Achaean towns, and besides them the following ten are mentioned:
_Patrae_, _Dyme_, _Pharae_, _Tritaea_, _Leontion_, _Aegira_, _Pellene_,
_Aegion_, _Bura_, and _Cerynea_.[39] We here meet with a difficulty:
how is it, that we have the differing lists in Strabo and Pausanias,
in which, besides these towns, _Aegae_ and _Rhypes_ are mentioned?
The solution of the mystery is this: for the very reason, for which
originally twelve towns had been instituted, attempts were made, when
two towns perished to supplement the number by introducing two others;
hence these last are sometimes mentioned, and sometimes not, the writers
themselves not being clear about the matter.
The whole coast sinks rapidly down towards the Corinthian gulf, which
itself seems to have been formed by a sinking of the whole ground,
which is further indicated by the abrupt descent of the mountains that
come down from Arcadia; the props which once supported the ground must
have given way. That part of the country is still the seat of violent
subterraneous fire, whence Helice was regarded as one of the principal
seats of Ποσειδῶν Ἐνοσίχθων, who however could not save it from
destruction. Whether Olenos, as Polybius states, likewise perished by an
earthquake, or whether he is mistaken on this point, cannot be decided.
It certainly was not swallowed up by the sea, like Helice, which sank
down with the coast and all its buildings, for ruins of it were seen at
a late period. It is very probable, that if the site of Helice could be
ascertained, very important antiquities might be brought to light by
diving. Eratosthenes was informed on the spot, that, according to the
belief of the neighbouring people, the place had not been destroyed by a
shock, but that it had simply sunk; they related that a statue which had
formerly stood in the market place, was still standing upright in the
sea, and that fishermen took care not to entangle their nets in it.
These twelve towns formed a league or confederacy under a common
strategus, and of all the Greek confederacies this lasted the longest;
but the union was so loose that in the Peloponnesian war Pellene alone
joined Sparta, while all the other towns remained neutral, and for a time
were even allied with Athens. Afterwards, however, all the Achaeans were
in alliance with the Lacedaemonians, though then again Pellene acted
independently and by itself. Even at a later period, under Philip and
Alexander—the time referred to in the speech περὶ τῶν πρὸς Ἀλέξανδρον
ξυνθηκῶν, which is printed among those of Demosthenes, but is undoubtedly
the work of Hyperides—Pellene still stood aloof. The dissolution of the
Achaean state was then very manifest, and lasted, according to Polybius,
until Olymp. 126, when the three westernmost towns again formed an
alliance among themselves. As early as the reign of Antigonus Gonatas,
Achaia, though then a poor and weak country, had formed itself into one
state, and that even before Aratus had delivered Sicyon. At the time
when this Achaean confederation rose from its tomb, the real seat of
government was at Aegion, and Pellene lost its former importance, which
may have been partly the consequence of the ravages made during the war
of Demetrius Poliorcetes. Aegion became the new rallying point, probably
on account of its situation on the Corinthian gulf; hence it acquired an
importance which it had never had before. _Pellene_ was situated on a
hill of considerable height, the termination of the northern range of the
Arcadian mountains, and was accordingly a strong place.
In later times, _Patrae_ was of greater importance as a commercial town;
in the earliest ages it is not mentioned as a place of any consequence,
though its harbour is beautiful. It acquired its importance, which it
retained until its destruction in our own days, at the time when Pompey
established a colony there, which was increased by Augustus. Pompey
restored it as a maritime town, for it had been destroyed in the Achaean
war. He compelled some of the Asiatic pirates to settle there, and
Augustus made it a Roman colony, whence, like Corinth, it issued coins
with Latin inscriptions. Throughout the middle ages, under Constantine
Porphyrogenitus, as well as under the Frankish and Venetian dominion,
Patrae was the most flourishing city in all Peloponnesus. The other
places are too unimportant to engage our attention.
The coast of Achaia bore the peculiar name of Aegialos. What is said of
it in the Homeric Catalogue, remained essentially the same after the
destructive immigrations; hence its case was quite different from that
of other countries of Peloponnesus, especially the coast of Messenia,
where nothing remained except Cyparissia. Its topography also underwent
scarcely any change on account of the uniformity of its history: thus the
course of events is often marked in the geography of a country.
GREECE BEYOND PELOPONNESUS.
ATTICA AND MEGARIS.
ATTICA and MEGARIS, if we look at their physical features, form but one
country, and in this light they were viewed in the earliest times of
which we still have the traditions. The tradition that all this country,
from the Isthmus as far as the coast opposite to Euboea, was formerly
called Ionia, and inhabited by Ionians, cannot be reconciled with the
other, that the Ionians, when expelled from Achaia, went to Attica, and
that through them Attica was changed into Ionia. If we wish to form any
clear notion at all about the matter, it will probably be most correct
to suppose, that originally both coasts, Aegialos and Attica, as well
as the whole of the intervening country, Sicyon, Corinth, etc., were
inhabited by one and the same Pelasgian branch, that is, by Ionians. This
hypothesis gives consistency to the geography of those countries, and we
obtain a definite idea of them, which has at least great probability in
its favour. The column said to have been erected in the time of Theseus,
with the strange inscriptions—
Τάδ’ ἐστὶ Πελοπόννησος οὐκ Ἰωνιά,
and
Τάδ’ οὐχὶ Πελοπόννησος ἀλλ’ Ἰωνία,
is an invention of a comparatively very late period. When Attica and
Megaris are taken as one country, it is designated by the name of Ἀκτή.
This, however, is not a proper name, but, as we have seen before, an
appellative designating a country running out into the sea, without
being united with the main land by means of an isthmus. I consider this
name to be very ancient, because there can be no doubt that Ἀττικὴ was
formed from Ἀκτικὴ on the same principle on which the Italian language
substitutes _tt_ for the Latin _ct_. In the earliest traditions, however,
the country has several names, the exact meaning and age of which we are
unable to ascertain, but which, though they are preserved only in late
writers, mostly Alexandrian poets, we ought not to disregard, for these
authors fondly adopted those very things which were rare, and which were
preserved only in ancient poems. The country, to mention one example, was
also called _Mopsopia_, a name of which we can say absolutely nothing,
though the country certainly bore it at one time. However, even though
the Acte formed one whole, it does not follow by any means that it also
formed one state.