acquired higher authority, it gave rise to different divisions, as at the
period of the Thirty Tyrants, when there were ten men in Piraeeus and
eleven at Athens.[50]
The only important town in Attica, besides Athens, was ELEUSIS, and in
Latin authors sometimes _Eleusina_,[51] as we find _Crotona_ together
with _Croton_. Able men have thought it necessary to correct such
forms; but they are instances which show that the flection of the
modern languages derived from the Latin, in which the oblique cases are
used as the nominative, was even then not uncommon in the language of
ordinary life. Eleusis was remarkable for its temple of Demeter, and
tradition related that in ancient times it had formed a state independent
of Athens. We cannot form an opinion as to its size, but it must have
been well fortified, as it was not laid waste by the Spartans during
their invasions at the time of the Peloponnesian war. Under Cassander,
Demetrius Poliorcetes, and probably also under Antigonus Gonatas, it was
severed from Athens, but afterwards, we do not know when, it was again
added to it.
RHAMNUS, known through its temple of Nemesis, was situated on the coast;
it seems to have had some importance as a small town. All these places
are called δῆμοι, and not πόλεις, because they did not form civic
communities, having no independent political existence, but were only
parts of the Athenian state. It does not follow, however, from this that
some of them may not have been places of considerable extent.
The temple of Athena Sunias, of which ruins are still extant, stood on
Cape SUNION (Cape Colonna).
On the eastern coast we find MARATHON, which is remarkable only on
account of the battle-field in its neighbourhood. Its plain is not as
level nor as fruitful as that of Eleusis; its surface is only not quite
so rocky as in other parts of Attica, and covered with small hills. Among
these hills, which are still visible, many are no doubt artificial, and
are the tumuli under which the Persians and their attendants were buried.
Sometimes arms and slings are still found there, some of which must have
belonged to the barbarians and others to the Greeks.
The interior of Attica contained several large places. The most important
among them was ACHARNAE, whose population in the Peloponnesian war,
as described by Thucydides, is almost incredible. If his statement
is correct, the place must have had a considerable territory. Its
inhabitants were charcoal-burners, and carried on other similar
occupations.
At a distance of seventy stadia from Athens there may still be seen on a
hill the walls of the fort of PHYLE, which are almost uninjured. It was
not a town, but only a hill surrounded with a wall (τεῖχος) within which
in time of war the inhabitants of the surrounding country sought shelter
for themselves and their property. It was taken by Thrasybulus. A second
important frontier fortress was OENOE, and a third PANACTON, all of which
were built especially against the inroads of the Boeotians.
DECELEA, within sight of Athens, and situated on a hill, was an ancient
and fortified place, of which, during the Peloponnesian war, the
Spartans, on the advice of Alcibiades, took possession. They fortified
it, for the purpose of having a safe place, from which they might lay
waste the country around.
The island of SALAMIS, a prize of long struggles with the Megarians,
must be regarded as belonging to Attica, though not to its territory,
in the proper sense of the term. I must here mention the pleasant story
of the law which is said to have forbidden to renew the discussion
about the war, and of the feigned madness of Solon, who re-kindled the
war that had been given up long since. This is so manifest a fable,
that one cannot help wondering how it can ever have passed as history.
According to another tradition, the Athenians and Megarians must have
pleaded their case before judges, for they are said to have appealed to
the Homeric text of the Βοιωτία: the Athenian version made out that Ajax
of Salamis had joined the Athenians, while the Megarians showed that he
had been ruler of Salamis and the country of Megara. This difference
is a remarkable fact for the criticism of the text of Homer, for it
shows how changeable and pliable it still was at that time, the Βοιωτία
being recited in different ways in different places. At the time of the
Persian war, Salamis belonged to Athens; it formed a separate demos, and
constituted part of a phyle. Leon is always called the Salaminian; but
its relation was somewhat different from that of the other demi, for
the chief place of the island, which was likewise called Salamis, is
mentioned as a town, although the island itself is spoken of as only a
single demos: the relation of the Roman municipium consisted there in
the fullest enjoyment of the franchise. Afterwards it was severed from
Attica, probably by Antipater; and there are numerous inscriptions, in
which it is mentioned as a state with its own peculiar organisation, just
as Piraeeus, in the Macedonian period, appears with its own archons, its
council, etc., everything being an imitation on a small scale of the
state of Athens. Subsequently, Salamis was again united with Athens.
_Cranaë_, the island of Helena, is insignificant.
The Ἀθηναῖοι Βοιωτοί of ELEUTHERAE and OROPUS, were not united with
Attica in the same manner as Salamis; both were Boeotian towns, which had
renounced the supremacy of the Boeotians, and placed themselves under
that of Athens. Eleutherae had, perhaps, originally been Athenian, and
had subsequently been taken by the Boeotians. In regard to the relation
subsisting between this place and Athens, we may assume that it was the
same as that between the Plataeans and Athenians, that is, that its
inhabitants were citizens, but ineligible to certain offices. Oropus, on
the other hand, was entirely subject to Athens; its importance to the
Athenians can be fully understood only on the supposition that it had
a small harbour, by which the communication with Chalcis and Euboea in
general was kept up. Even before the Peloponnesian war, Oropus, which
seems to have preferred the dominion of the Athenians, belonged to them,
and after the war, too, it was recovered by them; subsequently, it was
taken by a tyrant of Eretria, and then again by the Boeotians after the
battle of Chaeronea. Philip, who did everything to please the Athenians,
if they would but allow him to take his own course, strangely restored
the place to Athens, although the Boeotians claimed it. Afterwards it
was, no doubt, again taken from the Athenians by Antipater, and during
the latter part of the Macedonian period it again belonged to Athens. The
manner in which the Athenians, in the time of their distress, ill-used
the unfortunate town, was one of the causes that led to the outbreak of
the Achaean war. Afterwards it is no longer spoken of; it was destroyed,
and not a trace of it is now to be seen: the modern Oropo does not occupy
the same site.[52]
BOEOTIA.
According to tradition, the Boeotians were a wandering people; they
are said first to have been driven by the Cadmeans into the Thessalian
valley of Arne, which therefore cannot well have been as small as it
is drawn in our maps; and afterwards they returned from Thessaly to
Boeotia. This narrative shows essentially the same paralogism which so
often occurs in the history of ancient nations: wherever two nations
of the same stock appear in different places, they are connected with
each other by means of migrations to and fro. If the Boeotians and
the ancient Thessalians belonged to the same race, one tradition may
have stated that the Boeotians migrated into Thessaly, and another,
that they proceeded from Thessaly to Boeotia; both statements combined
produce the before-mentioned result. I do not mean to say that during
the immigration of the Emathians into Thessaly, the Boeotians did not
go to Boeotia; but if this should be the case, still I cannot imagine
that they should previously have been driven into Thessaly. The early
history of Boeotia is mysterious and confused; ancient tribes are there
mentioned under the strangest and altogether un-Hellenic names, as for
example, the Aones, the Hyes, or Hyantes, who are said to have been
Thracians. The tradition that there existed a Phoenician settlement at
Thebes, is in my opinion more historical: the name Cadmus is Phoenician,
and according to all appearance seems to be the representative of the
Phoenician colony which was established at Thebes. This trace is too
distinct to allow of anything being said against it. In times which
lie beyond the history of Greece, the Phoenicians had settlements in
the Greek islands, as in Cythera, Thasos, the Cyclades, and many other
parts of the country; it is therefore not difficult to believe that they
should also have formed a settlement at Thebes, though some miles distant
from the sea. Besides this ancient Phoenician colony, there existed in
Boeotia the ancient kingdom of the Minyans of Orchomenos, the existence
of which is certain, and is loudly attested even at the present day by
the indestructible ruins of Orchomenos, which are as gigantic as those
of Tiryns and Mycenae. I am quite disposed to ascribe these structures
to the Minyans, concerning whom we still possess mythical traditions, as
well as the enormous works by which lake Copais was drained; those who
built Orchomenos were a mighty people like that which constructed the
tunnel of Alba and the buildings of ancient Rome. But the beginnings of
Boeotian history are hidden in impenetrable darkness; and the fall of
Orchomenos, although in the Homeric Catalogue the city is still distinct
from Boeotia, belongs to so early a period, that fable describes it as
the work of Heracles. In the Heracleia there is the legend that Thebes
paid tribute to Orchomenos, and that Heracles reversed the relation.
These are, no doubt, the fundamental outlines of a true history: and the
stories of the wars for the possession of Thebes are likewise symbolical,
and personified indications of actual wars which devastated Boeotia. I
allude to both the earlier war and that of the Epigoni in which Thebes
was laid waste, but we cannot arrive at any historical detail. The real
history of Thebes does not begin till the time of the Persian wars; in
the case of Athens and Sparta, we know many things before that period,
though they may be doubtful and falsified; but our information about
Thebes does not begin until the time I have just mentioned.
We then find Thebes standing in the same relation to Boeotia in which
Alba stood to the early, and Rome to the later Latium; Thebes and Boeotia
form two connected masses, of which the great city was originally,
both in right and in might, equal to the collective body of Boeotians;
but it then aimed at a supremacy which in all essential points it
actually gained, except over a few places. The Boeotarchs were the
common magistrates for all Boeotia; their number is uncertain; but in
some instances it amounts to eleven. They seem originally to have been
elected in common, six by the Thebans and six by the Boeotians;[53]
but afterwards Thebes assumed to itself the right of appointing them,
and raised only Thebans to the office. This struggle is the nucleus of
Boeotian history from the time of the Persian wars down to the battle
of Leuctra. After that battle, most of the Boeotian towns submitted to
Thebes. Thespiae and Plataeae alone did not stoop; and being powerful
towns, they joined Athens, a step which was unfortunate for both places.
The Plataeans went to Athens and were received there; but they returned
and were expelled a second time, so that in the Macedonian period
Plataeae was quite a desolate place, in which there was only one temple
and a few inns.
So long as Sparta had not overthrown Athens, she supported the claims of
Thebes, but afterwards declared herself in favour of the autonomy of
the Boeotian towns; hence the unexpected seizure of the Cadmea, after
which Thebes rose with its well-known energy. From that moment until
the battle of Leuctra matters were in utter confusion. At first when
the Thebans shook off the Spartan yoke, they were joined by the other
Boeotians; but when the latter did not obtain equal rights, the struggle
began afresh, and in the end the Boeotians were obliged to submit. It
was not till Thebes had been destroyed by Alexander, that a relation of
perfect equality was restored; the city rebuilt by Cassander was without
importance, and the whole country henceforth plays a subordinate and
miserable part in the history of Greece.
Boeotia, in its whole political and geographical extent between the
Crissaean gulf and the Euboean channel, is surrounded on all sides by
mountains. Mount HELICON proceeds from Parnassus in a direction parallel
with the Crissaean gulf; and the mountains coming from Oeta and the
country of the Locrians, extend along the sea as far as the frontier of
Attica. Between these latter mountains, which have different names, and
Helicon, we have mount CITHAERON, so conspicuous in the traditions of the
ancients and in their tragedies, as Boeotia in general is an important
part of the classic soil in legendary poetry. Helicon is considerably
smaller than Parnassus, nor is it as wild; it is rather what the Swiss
call a “tame mountain,” covered with wood and prolific herbs even at
its top; it is a beautiful mountain, and we cannot wonder that it was
dedicated to the Muses. The mountains branching off from those of Locris
are not so high as Helicon, and on the whole capable of cultivation.
Cithaeron was a woody mountain, but it is difficult to say, whether this
was the natural result of its physical constitution, or whether it was
the consequence of its situation between two nations that were hostile to
each other.
The only river within this country that finds its way to the sea, is the
ASOPUS, which flowing between Thebes and Plataeae empties itself into the
Euboean sea. A larger river, the Phocian CEPHISUS, discharges itself
into lake Copais. Boeotia has two large lakes, which communicated with
each other, the lake COPAIS and the lake of HALIARTUS. The former was,
in ancient times, a lake of very large extent; as it had no outlet to
prevent the excessive accumulation of water, a tunnel was constructed
to carry off the surplus; and this tunnel was probably built by the
Minyans for the purpose of reclaiming the land for cultivation. In the
time of Alexander, the tunnel was partly destroyed by an earthquake;
but the attempt to clear it was found to be beyond the strength of all
the Boeotians. As the lake had now no longer any outlet, we naturally
expect that it should have again acquired its former extent; but it is
surprising to find, that although nothing was ever done to drain it, it
forms only a large marsh filled with reeds, and a few stagnant pools here
and there. This must be the result of some revolution in the bowels of
the earth, of which we know nothing; either other subterraneous outlets
were opened, or the supplies of water to the lake were diminished. The
lake of Haliartus[54] is connected with lake Copais, but has an outlet
towards the sea.
Lake Copais is surrounded by a magnificent plain, which, however, like
other soils that are too rich, is unhealthy, and now forms the valley
of Livadia: the ancients regarded it as belonging partly to Haliartus.
Another plain is that of Thebes, which, though not as level as the other,
is yet a very fertile and beautiful district. Boeotia is altogether
a rich country; its waters abound in fish, its plains yield abundant
corn, its hills are covered with olives, and in the neighbourhood of
Anthedon excellent wine is produced. The Boeotians themselves, on the
other hand, had the reputation of being dull and rude (_pingue sub
aëre nati_). Nevertheless, however, the country produced Pindar; before
him, Corinna; and, in later times, Plutarch, of whom we may justly say
μωμήσεταί τις μᾶλλον ἢ μιμήσεται. He now no longer enjoys the same
reputation as in former times, but notwithstanding all the charges
that may be brought against him, he is an extremely amiable man and a
pleasing author, and his writings are rich outpourings of plain wisdom;
they contain no profound speculations, but are the lively productions
of an extremely ingenious and well-read man. In his moral treatises he
shows himself to be possessed of great depth of feeling. Pindar is one
of those authors of whom we may say, that it is a man’s own fault if he
takes no pleasure in him. What Quinctilian says of Cicero, may be applied
also to Pindar: the more he pleases us, the farther we are advanced.
Among the active statesmen of Boeotia, Epaminondas and Pelopidas are
preeminent, especially the former, whose personal character is entitled
to high esteem; considering the wretchedness of the time in which they
lived, they were truly extraordinary men; but their misfortune was, that
they belonged to a state, the rise of which necessarily involved the
downfall of Greece. Subsequently, during the Macedonian period, which is
described by Polybius, the Boeotians are the most senseless, the most
powerless, and characterless of all the Greeks, and share the misfortune
of the Achaeans: when their policy had become quite miserable, they threw
themselves into relations in which they could not but perish.
THEBES consisted of the upper town (Καδμεία) and the lower town. The acra
had a considerable circumference, though not as it appears in the plan
of Barbié du Bocage in St. Croix’ work on the historians of Alexander
the Great; that plan is thoroughly misleading, for its author imagines
that the acra was situated in the centre of the city, and that the lower
town was built concentrically around it. According to the description
of the siege by the Macedonians, given by Diodorus and Arrian, this is
impossible: one side of the acra unquestionably faced the open fields,
and only about two-thirds or three-fourths of it were surrounded by the
lower town. The acropolis was called Καδμεία, but the ancients gave
it the name of Thebes, so that in the Homeric Catalogue, the city of
Thebes below the then destroyed Cadmea was called Ὑποθῆβαι. The seven
gates which have become so renowned from the tragedy of Aeschylus, and
the Phoenissae of Euripides, existed in the Cadmea: the gates of the
lower town may not have corresponded with them, or may have been made to
correspond in later times.
Thebes continued to increase until Olymp. 111, 2, when it was destroyed
by Alexander. The city is said to have had a circumference of 80 stadia,
that is, ten English miles; but this is incredible: all we know about the
fate of the city shows that it is impossible, or else we are not allowed
to draw any conclusion from the circumference of a Greek city as to its
population; for Diodorus expressly states, that the number of all the
prisoners, after the capture of Thebes, was 30,000, including every age
and sex, and probably also every rank, free men, metoeci, and slaves.
I have already expressed my opinion concerning the foolish supposition
about the enormous number of slaves. I admit the possibility, that at
Athens, especially in the city, the number of slaves was greater than
that of free men; I admit this with special reference to the anecdote,
that the proposal made at Athens, that slaves should wear a particular
kind of dress, was rejected for the purpose of preventing their seeing
how great their numbers were. But the same reason would have been valid
if the number of slaves had been less. The Attic peasant was αὐτουργός,
he certainly had no slaves, and the majority of the Athenians were
altogether too poor to be able to keep such numbers of slaves. If their
numbers had been as excessive as is stated, the institutions at Athens
would have been quite different.
The Cadmea is said to have been built by Cadmus, to have been destroyed
by the Epigoni, and to have remained in ruins until the Boeotians
returning from Arne restored it. In the Homeric Catalogue, Boeotia is
inhabited by Boeotians, but according to other accounts, the Boeotians
were then still dwelling in Arne, and the country was lying waste—again
a sign that the Catalogue does not agree with the other traditions.
Thebes then was a great city till Olymp. 111, 2; afterwards it lay in
ruins for a period of sixteen years, until it was restored by Cassander
from hatred of Alexander and his family. The territory of the city had
been given by Alexander to the Boeotians. Cassander carried out the
restoration notwithstanding the opposition of the other towns; but it
was only an insignificant place, and never gained the ascendancy though
it was the seat of the government and the capital of the country. At a
later period, however, it was visited by misfortune after misfortune. In
the Achaean war, U.C. 608, it was taken by the Romans, and though it was
not destroyed, it received a deadly shock. During the Mithridatic war, of
which Boeotia was the scene, it was entirely ruined, so that Pausanias
saw only a village within the precincts of the ancient Cadmea; the old
city contained only a few remains of temples amid heaps of rubbish.
It is difficult to enumerate the other towns of Boeotia in any definite
order; we shall be guided by the locality and proceed from Plataeae to
the left towards Tanagra. Mythology knows many places in ancient Boeotia
which are not mentioned in the historical ages; some of them must have
perished, and others were united with the territories of larger towns, as
for example, Erythrae, Scolos, Hyle, etc.
PLATAEAE will ever be memorable on account of the battle in which the
destruction of the Persian army and the liberation of Greece were
completed; the account of this battle in Herodotus, however, is more
poetical than historical; its whole course was different, and the forces
were not by any means as formidable; but we know nothing better, and his
narrative is so beautiful that we gladly accept it as a poem. Certain
it is, however, that the Greeks under Pausanias destroyed the army of
the Persians. During that war, Thebes, owing to the influence of its
aristocracy, acted a disgraceful part. Plataeae and Thespiae maintained
themselves against the arrogance of Thebes, and found sympathy among
the other Greeks; and in this manner Plataeae in particular formed a
small independent democratic state under the protection of Athens until
the time of the Peloponnesian war, which the Thebans commenced with
the treacherous attack during the night, which led to the destruction
of Plataeae. The account of this occurrence shows us the smallness of
Greek towns; the population of Greece is generally estimated too high,
a mistake into which we may easily be led by the statements of the
ancients. Subsequently Plataeae was restored; but after the battle of
Leuctra it was again destroyed by the Thebans. The inhabitants then
withdrew to Athens, and when the restoration of their town was sanctioned
by Alexander, a small number only returned, and formed a village with a
few temples which preserved the remembrance of better days, especially
the temple of Zeus Eleutherios. Dicaearchus gives us a most vivid picture
of what Plataeae was in later times.
THESPIAE, near mount Helicon, was on the whole an insignificant place,
and became still more so when, after the battle of Leuctra, it was
destroyed by the Thebans. At the time of the Macedonian supremacy it
was restored, and acquired great reputation on account of the Eros of
Praxiteles, which secured to the place its existence, for it was visited
by strangers from all parts, who came to see that work of art. In like
manner some small places in Italy were celebrated for a single picture.
Otherwise Thespiae was a deserted and decayed place.
LEUCTRA was situated in the territory of Thespiae; there the numerical
superiority of the Spartans was overpowered by the military skill of the
Thebans.