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A SMALLER HISTORY OF GREECE
from the earliest times to the Roman conquest.
by
WILLIAM SMITH, D.C.L., LL.D.
Note:
In this Etext, printed text in italics has been written in capital
letters.
Many words in the printed text have accents, etc. which have been
omitted. Dipthongs have been expanded into two letters.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I . . Geography of Greece.
CHAPTER II . . Origin of the Greeks, and the Heroic Age.
CHAPTER III . . General Survey of the Greek People.
National Institutions.
CHAPTER IV . . Early History of Peloponnesus and Sparta to
the end of the Messenian Wars, B.C. 668.
CHAPTER V . . Early History of Athens down to the
Establishment of Democracy by Clisthenes,
B.C. 510.
CHAPTER VI . . The Greek Colonies.
CHAPTER VII . . The Persian Wars.--From the Ionic Revolt to
the Battle of Marathon, B.C. 500-490.
CHAPTER VIII . . The Persian Wars.--The Battles of Thermopylae
Salamis, and Plataea, B.C. 480-479.
CHAPTER IX . . From the end of the Persian Wars to the
beginning of the Peloponnesian War,
B.C. 479-431.
CHAPTER X . . Athens in the time of Pericles.
CHAPTER XI . . The Peloponnesian War.--First Period, from the
commencement of the War to the Peace of Nicias,
B.C. 431-421.
CHAPTER XII . . The Peloponnesian War.--Second Period, from
the Peace of Nicias to the Defeat of the
Athenians in Sicily, B.C. 421-413.
CHAPTER XIII . . The Peloponnesian War.--Third Period, from the
Sicilian Expedition to the end of the War,
B.C. 413-404.
CHAPTER XIV . . The Thiry Tyrants, and the death of Socrates,
B.C. 404-399.
CHAPTER XV . . The Expedition of the Greeks under Cyrus, and
Retreat of the Ten Thousand, B.C. 401-400.
CHAPTER XVI . . The Supremacy of Sparta, B.C. 404-371.
CHAPTER XVII . . The Supremacy of Thebes, B.C. 371-361.
CHAPTER XVIII . . History of the Sicilian Greeks from the
Destruction of the Athenian Armament to the
Death of Timoleon.
CHAPTER XIX . . Phillip of Macedon, B.C. 359-336.
CHAPTER XX . . Alexander the Great, B.C. 336-323.
CHAPTER XXI . . From the Death of Alexander the Great to the
Conquest of Greece by the Romans, B.C. 323-146.
CHAPTER XXII . . Sketch of the History of Greek Literature
from the Earliest Times to the Reign of
Alexander the Great.
CHAPTER I.
GEOGRAPHY OF GREECE.
Greece is the southern portion of a great peninsula of Europe, washed
on three sides by the Mediterranean Sea. It is bounded on the north by
the Cambunian mountains, which separate it from Macedonia. It extends
from the fortieth degree of latitude to the thirty-sixth, its greatest
length being not more than 250 English miles, and its greatest breadth
only 180. Its surface is considerably less than that of Portugal.
This small area was divided among a number of independent states, many
of them containing a territory of only a few square miles, and none of
them larger than an English county. But the heroism and genius of the
Greeks have given an interest to the insignificant spot of earth
bearing their name, which the vastest empires have never equalled.
The name of Greece was not used by the inhabitants of the country.
They called their land HELLAS, and themselves HELLENES. At first the
word HELLAS signified only a small district in Thessaly, from which the
Hellenes gradually spread over the whole country. The names of GREECE
and GREEKS come to us from the Romans, who gave the name of GRAECIA to
the country and of GRAECI to the inhabitants.
The two northerly provinces of Greece are THESSALY and EPIRUS,
separated from each other by Mount Pindus. Thessaly is a fertile plain
enclosed by lofty mountains, and drained by the river Peneus, which
finds its way into the sea through the celebrated Vale of Tempe.
Epirus is covered by rugged ranges of mountains running from north to
south, through which the Achelous the largest river of Greece, flows
towards the Corinthian gulf.
In entering central Greece from Thessaly the road runs along the coast
through the narrow pass of Thermopylae, between the sea and a lofty
range of mountains. The district along the coast was inhabited by the
EASTERN LOCRIANS, while to their west were DORIS and PHOCIS, the
greater part of the latter being occupied by Mount Parnassus, the abode
of the Muses, upon the slopes of which lay the town of Delphi with its
celebrated oracle of Apollo. South of Phocis is Boeotia, which is a
large hollow basin, enclosed on every side by mountains, which prevent
the waters from flowing into the sea. Hence the atmosphere was damp
and thick, to which circumstance the witty Athenians attributed the
dullness of the inhabitants. Thebes was the chief city of Boeotia.
South of Boeotia lies ATTICA, which is in the form of a triangle,
having two of its sides washed by the sea and its base united to the
land. Its soil is light and dry and is better adapted for the growth
of fruit than of corn. It was particularly celebrated for its olives,
which were regarded as the gift of Athena (Minerva), and were always
under the care of that goddess. Athens was on the western coast,
between four and five miles from its port, Piraeus. West of Attica,
towards the isthmus, is the small district of MEGARIS.
The western half of central Greece consists of WESTERN LOCRIS, AETOLIA
and ACARNANIA. These districts were less civilised than the other
countries of Greece, and were the haunts of rude robber tribes even as
late as the Peloponnesian war.
Central Greece is connected with the southern peninsula by a narrow
isthmus, on which stood the city of Corinth. So narrow is this isthmus
that the ancients regarded the peninsula as an island, and gave to it
the name of PELOPONNESUS, or the island of Pelops, from the mythical
hero of this name. Its modern name, the MOREA, was bestowed upon it
from its resemblance to the leaf of the mulberry.
The mountains of Peloponnesus have their roots in the centre of the
country, from which they branch out towards the sea. This central
region, called ARCADIA, is the Switzerland of the peninsula. It is
surrounded by a ring of mountains, forming a kind of natural wall,
which separates it from the remaining Peloponnesian states. The other
chief divisions of Peloponnesus were Achaia, Argolis, Laconia,
Messenia, and Elis. ACHAIA is a narrow slip of country lying between
the northern barrier of Arcadia and the Corinthian gulf. ARGOLIS, on
the east, contained several independent states, of which the most
important was Argos. LACONIA and MESSENIA occupied the whole of the
south of the peninsula from sea to sea: these two countries were
separated by the lofty range of Taygetus, running from north to south,
and terminating in the promontory of Taenarum (now Cape Matapan), the
southernmost point of Greece and Europe. Sparta, the chief town of
Laconia, stood in the valley of the Eurotas, which opens out into a
plain of considerable extent towards the Laconian gulf. Messenia, in
like manner, was drained by the Pamisus, whose plain is still more
extensive and fertile than that of the Eurotas. ELIS, on the west of
Arcadia, contains the memorable plain of Olympia, through which the
Alpheus flows, and in which the city of Pisa stood.
Of the numerous islands which line the Grecian shores, the most
important was Euboea, stretching along the coasts of Boeotia and
Attica. South of Euboea was the group of islands called the CYCLADES,
lying around Delos as a centre; and east of these were the SPORADES,
near the Asiatic coast. South of these groups are the large islands of
CRETE and RHODES.
The physical features of the country exercised an important influence
upon the political destinies of the people. Greece is one of the most
mountainous countries of Europe. Its surface is occupied by a number
of small plains, either entirely surrounded by limestone mountains or
open only to the sea. Each of the principal Grecian cities was founded
in one of these small plains; and, as the mountains which separated it
from its neighbours were lofty and rugged, each city grew up in
solitary independence. But at the same time it had ready and easy
access to the sea, and Arcadia was almost the only political division
that did not possess some territory upon the coast. Thus shut out from
their neighbours by mountains, the Greeks were naturally attracted to
the sea, and became a maritime people. Hence they possessed the love
of freedom and the spirit of adventure, which have always
characterised, more or less the inhabitants of maritime districts.