1. GEOGRAPHY AND STATISTICS

Extent of ancient Greece.

The ancient Greeks had a somewhat vague conception of the northern

limits of Hellas. Thessaly was generally included and Epirus excluded;

some writers included some of the southern cantons of Epirus, while

others excluded not only all that country but Aetolia and Acarnania.

Generally speaking, the confines of Hellas in the age of its greatest

distinction were represented by a line drawn from the northern shore of

the Ambracian Gulf on the W. to the mouth of the Peneus on the E.

Macedonia and Thrace were regarded as outside the pale of Hellenic

civilization till 386 B.C., when after his conquest of Thessaly and

Phocis, Philip of Macedon obtained a seat in the Amphictyonic Council.

In another sense, however, the name Hellas expressed an ethnological

rather than a geographical unity; it denoted every country inhabited by

Hellenes. It thus embraced all the Greek settlements on the coasts and

islands of the Mediterranean, on the shores of the Hellespont, the

Bosporus and the Black Sea. Nevertheless, the Greek peninsula within the

limits described above, together with the adjacent islands, was always

regarded as Hellas _par excellence_. The continental area of Hellas

proper was no greater than that of the modern Greek kingdom, which

comprises but a small portion of the territories actually occupied by

the Greek race. The Greeks have always been a maritime people, and the

real centre of the national life is now, as in antiquity, the Aegean Sea

or Archipelago. Thickly studded with islands and bordered by deeply

indented coasts with sheltered creeks and harbours, the Aegean in the

earliest days of navigation invited the enterprise of the mariner; its

shores, both European and Asiatic, became covered with Greek settlements

and its islands, together with Crete and Cyprus, became Greek. True to

their maritime instincts, the Greeks rarely advanced inland to any

distance from the sea; the coasts of Macedonia, Thrace and Asia Minor

are still mainly Greek, but, except for some isolated colonies, the

_hinterland_ in each case lies outside the limits of the race.

Continental Greece is divided by its mountain ranges into a number of

natural cantons; the existence of physical barriers tended in the

earliest times to the growth of isolated political communities, and in

the epoch of its ancient independence the country was occupied by

seventeen separate states, none of them larger than an ordinary English

county. These states, which are noticed separately, were: Thessaly, in

northern Greece; Acarnania, Aetolia, Locris, Doris, Phocis, Megaris,

Boeotia and Attica in central Greece; and Corinthia, Sicyonia, Achaea,

Elis, Messenia, Laconia, Argolis and Arcadia in the Peloponnesus.

Extent of modern Greece.

Modern Greece, which (including the adjacent islands) extends from 35

deg. 50' to 39 deg. 54' N. and from 19 deg. 20' to 26 deg. 15' E.,

comprises all the area formerly occupied by these states. Under the

arrangement concluded at Constantinople on the 21st of July 1832 between

Great Britain, France, Russia and Turkey, the northern boundary of

Greece was drawn from the Gulf of Arta (Sinus Ambracius) to the Gulf of

Volo (S. Pagasaeus), the line keeping to the crest of the Othrys range.

Thessaly and part of Acarnania were thus left to Turkey. The island of

Euboea, the Cyclades and the northern Sporades were added to the new

kingdom. In 1864 the Ionian Islands (q.v.) were ceded by Great Britain

to Greece. In 1880 the Conference of Berlin proposed a new frontier,

which transferred to Greece not only Thessaly but a considerable portion

of southern Epirus, extending to the river Kalamas. This, however, was

rejected by Turkey, and the existing boundary was traced in 1881.

Starting from the Aegean coast at a point near Platamona, between Mount

Olympus and the mouth of the Salambria (Peneus), the line passes over

the heights of Kritiri and Zygos (Pindus) and descends the course of the

river Arta to its mouth. After the war of 1897 Greece restored to Turkey

some strategical points on the frontier possessing no geographical

importance. The greatest length of Greece is about 250 m., the greatest

breadth 180 m. The country is generally divided into five parts, which

are indicated by its natural features:--(i.) Northern Greece, which

extends northwards from Mount Othrys and the gulfs of Zeitun (Lamia) and

Arta to the Cambunian Mountains, and comprises Thessaly and a small

portion of Epirus; (ii.) Central Greece, extending from the southern

limits of Northern Greece to the gulfs of Corinth and Aegina; (iii.) the

peninsula of the Peloponnesus or Morea, attached to the mainland by the

Isthmus of Corinth; (iv.) the Ionian Islands on the west coasts of

Epirus and Greece; (v.) The islands of the Aegean Sea, including Euboea,

the Cyclades and the northern Sporades.

Physical features.

In the complexity of its contour and the variety of its natural

features Greece surpasses every country in Europe, as Europe surpasses

every continent in the world. The broken character of its coast-line

is unique; except a few districts in Thessaly no part of the country

is more than 50 m. from the sea. Although the area of Greece is

considerably smaller than that of Portugal, its coast-line is greater

than that of Spain and Portugal together. The mainland is penetrated

by numerous gulfs and inlets, and the adjoining seas are studded with

islands. Another characteristic is the number and complexity of the

mountain chains, which traverse every part of the country and which,

together with their ramifications, cover four-fifths of its surface.

The mountain-chains interlace, the interstices forming small enclosed

basins, such as the plain of Boeotia and the plateau of Arcadia; the

only plain of any extent is that of Thessaly. The mountains project

into the sea, forming peninsulas, and sometimes reappearing in rows or

groups of islands; they descend abruptly to the coast or are separated

from it by small alluvial plains. The portions of the country suitable

for human colonization were thus isolated one from the other, but as a

rule possessed easy access to the sea. The earliest settlements were

generally situated on or around some rocky elevation, which dominated

the surrounding plain and was suitable for fortification as a citadel

or acropolis; owing to the danger of piratical attacks they were

usually at some little distance from the sea, but in the vicinity of a

natural harbour. The physical features of the country played an

important part in moulding the character of its inhabitants. Protected

against foreign invasion by the mountain barriers and to a great

extent cut off from mutual intercourse except by sea, the ancient

Greek communities developed a marked individuality and a strong

sentiment of local patriotism; their inhabitants were both

mountaineers and mariners; they possessed the love of country, the

vigour and the courage which are always found in highlanders, together

with the spirit of adventure, the versatility and the passion for

freedom characteristic of a seafaring people. The great variety of

natural products as well as the facility of maritime communication

tended to the early growth of commercial enterprise, while the

peculiar beauty of the scenery, though little dwelt upon in ancient

literature, undoubtedly quickened the poetic and artistic instincts of

the race. The effects of physical environment are no less noticeable

among the modern Greeks. The rural populations of Attica and Boeotia,

though descended from Albanian colonists in the middle ages, display

the same contrast in character which marked the inhabitants of those

regions in ancient times.

In its general aspect the country presents a series of striking and

interesting contrasts. Fertile tracts covered with vineyards, olive

groves, corn-fields or forests display themselves in close proximity

with rugged heights and rocky precipices; the landscape is never,

monotonous; its outlines are graceful, and its colouring, owing to the

clearness of the air, is at once brilliant and delicate, while the

sea, in most instances, adds a picturesque feature, enhancing the

charm and variety of the scenery.

Mountains.

The ruling feature in the mountain system of northern Greece is the

great chain of Pindus, which, extending southwards from the lofty Shar

Dagh (Skardos) near Uskub, forms the backbone of the Balkan peninsula.

Reaching the frontier of Greece a little S. of lat. 40 deg., the Pindus

range is intersected by the Cambunian Mountains running E. and W.; the

eastern branch, which forms the northern boundary of Thessaly, extends

to the Gulf of Salonica and culminates in Mount Olympus (9754 ft.) a

little to the N. of the Greek frontier; then bending to the S.E. it

follows the coast-line, forming a rampart between the Thessalian plain

and the sea; the barrier is severed at one point only where the river

Salambria (anc. _Peneus_) finds an exit through the narrow defile of

Tempe. South of Tempe the mountain ridge, known as the Mavro Vouno,

connects the pyramidal Kissovo (anc. _Ossa_, 6400 ft.) with Plessidi

(anc. _Pelion_, 5310 ft.); it is prolonged in the Magnesian peninsula,

which separates the Gulf of Volo from the Aegean, and is continued by

the mountains of Euboea (highest summits, Dirphys, 5725 ft., and Ocha,

4830 ft.) and by the islands of Andros and Tenos. West of Pindus, the

Cambunian Mountains are continued by several ridges which traverse

Epirus from north to south, enclosing the plain and lake of Iannina;

the most westerly of these, projecting into the Adriatic, forms the

Acroceraunian promontory terminating in Cape Glossa. The principal

pass through the Cambunian Mountains is that of Meluna, through which

runs the carriage-road connecting the town of Elassona in Macedonia

with Larissa, the capital of Thessaly; there are horse-paths at Reveni

and elsewhere. The central chain of Pindus at the point where it is

intersected by the Cambunian Mountains forms the mass of Zygos (anc.

_Lacmon_, 7113 ft.) through which a horse-path connects the town of

Metzovo with Kalabaka in Thessaly; on the declivity immediately N. of

Kalabaka are a series of rocky pinnacles on which a number of

monasteries are perched. Trending to the S., the Pindus chain

terminates in the conical Mount Velouchi (anc. _Tymphrestus_, 7609

ft.) in the heart of the mountainous region of northern Greece. From

this centre-point a number of mountains radiate in all directions. To

the E. runs the chain of Helloro (anc. _Othrys_; highest summit,

Hagios Elias, 5558 ft.) separating the plain of Thessaly from the

valley of the Spercheios and traversed by the Phourka pass (2789 ft.);

to the S.E. is Mount Katavothra (anc. _Oeta_, 7080 ft.) extending to

the southern shore of the Gulf of Lamia at Thermopylae; to the S.E.,

S. and S.W. are the mountains of Aetolia and Acarnania. The Aetolian

group, which may be regarded as the direct continuation of the Pindus

range, includes Kiona (8240 ft.), the highest mountain in Greece, and

Vardusi (anc. _Korax_, 8190 ft.). The mountains of Acarnania with

[Greek: Hupsele koruphe] (5215 ft.) rise to the W. of the valley of

the Aspropotamo (anc. _Achelous_). The Aetolian Mountains are

prolonged to the S.E. by the double-crested Liakoura (anc.

_Parnassus_; 8064 ft.) in Phocis; by Palaeo Vouno (anc. _Helicon_,

5738 ft.) and Elateas (anc. _Cithaeron_, 4626 ft.) respectively W. and

S. of the Boeotian plain; and by the mountains of Attica,--Ozea (anc.

_Parnes_, 4626 ft.), Mendeli (anc. _Pentelicus_ or _Brilessos_, 3639

ft.), Trellovouno (anc. _Hymettus_, 3369 ft.), and Keratia (2136

ft.)--terminating in the promontory of Sunium, but reappearing in the

islands of Ceos, Cythnos, Seriphos and Siphnos. South of Cithaeron are

Patera in Megaris (3583 ft.) and Makri Plagi (anc. _Geraneia_, 4495

ft.) overlooking the Isthmus of Corinth.

The mountains of the Morea, grouped around the elevated central

plateau of Arcadia, form an independent system with ramifications

extending through the Argolid peninsula on the E. and the three

southern promontories of Malea, Taenaron and Acritas. At the eastern

end of the northern chain, separating Arcadia from the Gulf of

Corinth, is Ziria (anc. _Cyllene_, 7789 ft.); it forms a counterpart

to Parnassus on the opposite side of the gulf. A little to the W. is

Chelmos (anc. _Aroania_, 7725 ft.); farther W., Olonos (anc.

_Erymanthus_, 7297 ft.) and Voidia (anc. _Panachaicon_, 6322 ft.)

overlooking the Gulf of Patras. The highest summit in the Argolid

peninsula is Hagios Elias (anc. _Arachnaeon_, 3930 ft.). The series of

heights forming the eastern rampart of Arcadia, including Artemision

(5814 ft.) and Ktenia (5246 ft.) is continued to the S. by the Malevo

range (anc. _Parnon_, highest summit 6365 ft.) which extends into the

peninsula of Malea and reappears in the island of Cerigo. Separated

from Parnon by the Eurotas valley to the W., the chain of Taygetus

(mod. _Pentedaktylon_; highest summit Hagios Elias, 7874 ft., the

culminating point of the Morea) forms a barrier between the plains of

Laconia and Messenia; it is traversed by the Langada pass leading from

Sparta to Kalamata. The range is prolonged to the S. through the arid

district of Maina and terminates in Cape Matapan (anc. _Taenarum_).

The mountains of western Arcadia are less lofty and of a less marked

type; they include Hagios Petros (4777 ft.) and Palaeocastro (anc.

_Pholoe_, 2257 ft.) N. of the Alpheus valley, Diaphorti (anc.

_Lycaeus_, 4660 ft.), the haunt of Pan, and Nomia (4554 ft.) W. of the

plain of Megalopolis. Farther south, the mountains of western Messenia

form a detached group (Varvara, 4003 ft.; Mathia, 3140 ft.) extending

to Cape Gallo (anc. _Acritas_) and the Oenussae Islands. In central

Arcadia are Apanokrapa (anc. _Maenalus_, also sacred to Pan) and

Roudia (5072 ft.); the Taygetus chain forms the southern continuation

of these mountains.

The more noteworthy fortified heights of ancient Greece were the

Acrocorinthus, the citadel of Corinth (1885 ft.); Ithome (2631 ft.) at

Messene; Larissa (950 ft.) at Argos; the Acropolis of Mycenae (910

ft.); Tiryns (60 ft.) near Nauplia, which also possessed its own

citadel, the Palamidhi or Acro-nauplia (705 ft.); the Acropolis of

Athens (300 ft. above the mean level of the city and 512 ft. above the

sea), and the Cadmea of Thebes (715 ft.).

Rivers.

Greece has few rivers; most of these are small, rapid and turbid, as

might be expected from the mountainous configuration of the country.

They are either perennial rivers or torrents, the white beds of the

latter being dry in summer, and only filled with water after the

autumn rains. The chief rivers (none of which is navigable) are the

Salambria (_Peneus_) in Thessaly, the Mavropotamo (_Cephisus_) in

Phocis, the Hellada (_Spercheios_) in Phthiotis, the Aspropotamo

(_Achelous_) in Aetolia, and the Ruphia (_Alpheus_) and Vasiliko

(_Eurotas_) in the Morea. Of the famous rivers of Athens, the one, the

Ilissus, is only a chain of pools all summer, and the other, the

Cephisus, though never absolutely dry, does not reach the sea, being

drawn off in numerous artificial channels to irrigate the neighbouring

olive groves. A frequent peculiarity of the Greek rivers is their

sudden disappearance in subterranean chasms and reappearance on the

surface again, such as gave rise to the fabled course of the Alpheus

under the sea, and its emergence in the fountain of Arethusa in

Syracuse. Some of these chasms--"Katavothras"--are merely sieves with

herbage and gravel in the bottom, but others are large caverns through

which the course of the river may sometimes be followed. Floods are

frequent, especially in autumn, and natural fountains abound and gush

out even from the tops of the hills. Aganippe rises high up among the

peaks of Helicon, and Peirene flows from the summit of Acrocorinthus.

The only noteworthy cascade, however, is that of the Styx in Arcadia,

which has a fall of 500 ft. During part of the year it is lost in

snow, and it is at all times almost inaccessible. Lakes are numerous,

but few are of considerable size, and many merely marshes in summer.

The largest are Karla (_Boebeis_) in Thessaly, Trichonis in Aetolia,

Copais in Boeotia, Pheneus and Stymphalus in Arcadia.

Plains.

The valleys are generally narrow, and the plains small in extent, deep

basins walled in among the hills or more free at the mouths of the

rivers. The principal plains are those of Thessaly, Boeotia, Messenia,

Argos, Elis and Marathon. The bottom of these plains consists of an

alluvial soil, the most fertile in Greece. In some of the mountainous

regions, especially in the Morea, are extensive table-lands. The plain

of Mantinea is 2000 ft. high, and the upland district of Sciritis,

between Sparta and Tegea, is in some parts 3000 ft.

Coast.

Strabo said that the guiding thing in the geography of Greece was the

sea, which presses in upon it at all parts with a thousand arms. From

the Gulf of Arta on the one side to the Gulf of Volo on the other the

coast is indented with a succession of natural bays and gulfs. The

most important are the Gulfs of Aegina (_Saronicus_) and Lepanto

(_Corinthiacus_), which separate the Morea from the northern mainland

of Greece,--the first an inlet of the Aegean, the second of the Ionian

Sea,--and are now connected by a canal cut through the high land of

the narrow Isthmus of Corinth (3-1/2 m. wide). The outer portion of the

Gulf of Lepanto is called the Gulf of Patras, and the inner part the

Bay of Corinth; a narrow inlet on the north side of the same gulf,

called the Bay of Salona or Itea, penetrates northwards into Phocis so

far that it is within 24 geographical miles of the Gulf of Zeitun on

the north-east coast. The width of the entrance to the gulf of Lepanto

is subject to singular changes, which are ascribed to the formation of

alluvial deposits by certain marine currents, and their removal again

by others. At the time of the Peloponnesian war this channel was 1200

yds. broad; in the time of Strabo it was only 850; and in our own day

it has again increased to 2200. On the coast of the Morea there are

several large gulfs, that of Arcadia (_Cyparissius_) on the west,

Kalamata (_Messeniacus_) and Kolokythia (_Laconicus_) on the south and

Nauplia (_Argolicus_) on the east. Between Euboea and the mainland lie

the channels of Trikeri, Talanti (_Euboicum Mare_) and Egripo; the

latter two are connected by the strait of Egripo (_Euripus_). This

strait, which is spanned by a swing-bridge, is about 180 ft. wide, and

is remarkable for the unexplained eccentricity of its tide, which has

puzzled ancients and moderns alike. The current runs at the average

speed of 5 m. an hour, but continues only for a short time in one

direction, changing its course, it is said, ten or twelve times in a

day; it is sometimes very violent.

Volcanic action.

There are no volcanoes on the mainland of Greece, but everywhere

traces of volcanic action and frequently visitations of earthquakes,

for it lies near a centre of volcanic: agency, the island of Santorin,

which has been within recent years in a state of eruption. There is an

extinct crater at Mount Laphystium (_Granitsa_) in Boeotia. The

mountain of Methane, on the coast of Argolis, was produced by a

volcanic eruption in 282 B.C. Earthquakes laid Thebes in ruins in

1853, destroyed every house in Corinth in 1858, filled up the

Castalian spring in 1870, devastated Zante in 1893 and the district of

Atalanta in 1894. There are hot springs at Thermopylae and other

places, which are used for sanitary purposes. Various parts of the

coast exhibit indications of upheaval within historical times. On the

coast of Elis four rocky islets are now joined to the land, which were

separate from it in the days of ancient Greece. There are traces of

earlier sea-beaches at Corinth, and on the coast of the Morea, and at

the mouth of the Hellada. The land has gained so much that the pass of

Thermopylae which was extremely narrow in the time of Leonidas and his

three hundred, is now wide enough for the motions of a whole army.

(J. D. B.)

Geology.

Structurally, Greece may be divided into two regions, an eastern and a

western. The former includes Thessaly, Boeotia, the island of Euboea,

the isthmus of Corinth, and the peninsula of Argolis, and, throughout,

the strike of the beds is nearly from west to east. The western region

includes the Pindus and all the parallel ranges, and the whole of the

Peloponnesus excepting Argolis. Here the folds which affect the

Mesozoic and early Tertiary strata run approximately from N.N.W. to

S.S.E.

Up to the close of the 19th century the greater part of Greece was

believed to be formed of Cretaceous rocks, but later researches have

shown that the supposed Cretaceous beds include a variety of

geological horizons. The geological sequence begins with crystalline

schists and limestones, followed by Palaeozoic, Triassic and Liassic

rocks. The oldest beds which hitherto have yielded fossils belong to

the Carboniferous System (_Fusulina_ limestone of Euboea). Following

upon these older beds are the great limestone masses which cover most

of the eastern region, and which are now known to include Jurassic,

Tithonian, Lower and Upper Cretaceous and Eocene beds. In the Pindus

and the Peloponnesus these beds are overlaid by a series of shales and

platy limestones (Olonos Limestone of the Peloponnesus), which were

formerly supposed to be of Tertiary age. It has now been shown,

however, that the upper series of limestones has been brought upon the

top of the lower by a great overthrust. Triassic fossils have been

found in the Olonos Limestone and it is almost certain that other

Mesozoic horizons are represented.

The earth movements which produced the mountain chains of western

Greece have folded the Eocene beds and must therefore be of

post-Eocene date. The Neogene beds, on the other hand, are not

affected by the folds, although by faulting without folding they have

in some places been raised to a height of nearly 6000 ft. They lie,

however, chiefly along the coast and in the valleys, and consist of

marls, conglomerates and sands, sometimes with seams of lignite. The

Pikermi deposits, of late Miocene age, are famous for their rich

mammalian fauna.

Although the folding which formed the mountain chains appears to have

ceased, Greece is still continually shaken by earthquakes, and these

earthquakes are closely connected with the great lines of fracture to

which the country owes its outline. Around the narrow gulf which

separates the Peloponnesus from the mainland, earthquakes are

particularly frequent, and another region which is often shaken is the

south-western corner of Greece, the peninsula of Messene.[2] (P. La.)

Flora.

The vegetation of Greece in general resembles that of southern Italy

while presenting many types common to that of Asia Minor. Owing to the

geographical configuration of the peninsula and its mountainous

surface the characteristic flora of the Mediterranean regions is often

found in juxtaposition with that of central Europe. In respect to its

vegetation the country may be regarded as divided into four zones. In

the first, extending from the sea-level to the height of 1500 ft.,

oranges, olives, dates, almonds, pomegranates, figs and vines

flourish, and cotton and tobacco are grown. In the neighbourhood of

streams are found the laurel, myrtle, oleander and lentisk, together

with the plane and white poplar; the cypress is often a picturesque

feature in the landscape, and there is a variety of aromatic plants.

The second zone, from 1500 to 3500 ft., is the region of the oak,

chestnut and other British trees. In the third, from 3500 to 5500 ft.,

the beech is the characteristic forest tree; the _Abies cephalonica_

and _Pinus pinea_ now take the place of the _Pinus halepensis_, which

grows everywhere in the lower regions. Above 5500 ft. is the Alpine

region, marked by small plants, lichens and mosses. During the short

period of spring anemones and other wild flowers enrich the hillsides

with magnificent colouring; in June all verdure disappears except in

the watered districts and elevated plateaus. The asphodel grows

abundantly in the dry rocky soil; aloes, planted in rows, form

impenetrable hedges. Medicinal plants are numerous, such as the _Inula

Helenium_, the _Mandragora Officinarum_, the _Colchicum napolitanum_

and the _Helleborus orientalis_, which still grows abundantly near

Aspraspitia, the ancient Anticyra, at the foot of Parnassus.

Fauna.

The fauna is similar to that of the other Mediterranean peninsulas,

and includes some species found in Asia Minor but not elsewhere in

Europe. The lion existed in northern Greece in the time of Aristotle

and at an earlier period in the Morea. The bear is still found in the

Pindus range. Wolves are common in all the mountainous regions and

jackals are numerous in the Morea. Foxes are abundant in all parts of

the country; the polecat is found in the woods of Attica and the

Morea; the lynx is now rare. The wild boar is common in the mountains

of northern Greece, but is almost extinct in the Peloponnesus. The

badger, the marten and the weasel are found on the mainland and in the

islands. The red deer, the fallow deer and the roe exist in northern

Greece, but are becoming scarce. The otter is rare. Hares and rabbits

are abundant in many parts of the country, especially in the Cyclades;

the two species never occupy the same district, and in the Cyclades

some islands (Naxos, Melos, Tenos, &c.) form the exclusive domain of

the hares, others (Seriphos, Kimolos, Mykonos, &c.) of the rabbits. In

Andros alone a demarcation has been arrived at, the hares retaining

the northern and the rabbits the southern portion of the island. The

chamois is found in the higher mountains, such as Pindus, Parnassus

and Tymphrestus. The Cretan _agrimi_, or wild goat (_Capra nubiana_,

_C. aegagrus_), found in Antimelos and said to exist in Taygetus, the

jackal, the stellion, and the chameleon are among the Asiatic species

not found westward of Greece. There is a great variety of birds; of

358 species catalogued two-thirds are migratory. Among the birds of

prey, which are very numerous, are the golden and imperial eagle, the

yellow vulture, the _Gypaetus barbatus_, and several species of

falcons. The celebrated owl of Athena (_Athene noctua_) is becoming

rare at Athens, but still haunts the Acropolis and the royal garden;

it is a small species, found everywhere in Greece. The wild goose and

duck, the bustard, partridge, woodcock, snipe, wood-pigeon and

turtle-dove are numerous. Immense flocks of quails visit the southern

coast of the Morea, where they are captured in great numbers and

exported alive. The stork, which was common in the Turkish epoch, has

now become scarce. There is a great variety of reptiles, of which

sixty-one species have been catalogued. The saurians are all harmless;

among them the stellion (_Stellio vulgaris_), commonly called [Greek:

krokodeilos] in Mykonos and Crete, is believed by Heldreich to have

furnished a name to the crocodile of the Nile (Herod. ii. 69). There

are five species of tortoise and nine of Amphibia. Of the serpents,

which are numerous, there are only two dangerous species, the _Vipera

ammodytes_ and the _Vipera aspis_; the first-named is common. Among

the marine fauna are the dolphins, familiar in the legends and

sculpture of antiquity; in the clear water of the Aegean they often

afford a beautiful spectacle as they play round ships; porpoises and

whales are sometimes seen. Sea-fish, of which 246 species have been

ascertained, are very abundant.

Climate.

The climate of Greece, like that of the other countries of the Balkan

peninsula, is liable to greater extremes of heat and cold than prevail

in Spain and Italy; the difference is due to the general contour of

the peninsula, which assimilates its climatic conditions to those of

the European mainland. Another distinctive feature is the great

variety of local contrasts; the rapid transitions are the natural

effect of diversity in the geographical configuration of the country.

Within a few hours it is possible to pass from winter to spring and

from spring to summer. The spring is short; the sun is already

powerful in March, but the increasing warmth is often checked by cold

northerly winds; in many places the corn harvest is cut in May, when

southerly winds prevail and the temperature rises rapidly. The great

heat of summer is tempered throughout the whole region of the

archipelago by the Etesian winds, which blow regularly from the N.E.

for forty to fifty days in July and August. This current of cool dry

air from the north is due to the vacuum resulting from intense heat in

the region of the Sahara. The healthy Etesian winds are generally

replaced towards the end of summer by the southerly Libas or sirocco,

which, when blowing strongly, resembles the blast from a furnace and

is most injurious to health. The sirocco affects, though in a less

degree, the other countries of the Balkan peninsula and even Rumania.

The mean summer temperature is about 79 deg. Fahr. The autumn is the

least healthy season of the year owing to the great increase of

humidity, especially in October and November. At the end of October

snow reappears on the higher mountains, remaining on the summits till

June. The winter is mild, and even in January there are, as a rule,

many warm clear days; but the recurrence of biting northerly winds and

cold blasts from the mountains, as well as the rapid transitions from

heat to cold and the difference in the temperature of sunshine and

shade, render the climate somewhat treacherous and unsuitable for

invalids. Snow seldom falls in the maritime and lowland districts and

frost is rare. The mean winter temperature is from 48 deg. to 55 deg.

Fahr. The rainfall varies greatly according to localities; it is

greatest in the Ionian Islands (53.34 ins. at Corfu), in Arcadia and

in the other mountainous districts, and least on the Aegean littoral

and in the Cyclades; in Attica, the driest region in Greece, it is

16.1 ins. The wettest months are November, December and January; the

driest July and August, when, except for a few thunder-storms, there

is practically no rainfall. The rain generally accompanies southerly

or south-westerly winds. In all the maritime districts the sea breeze

greatly modifies the temperature; it begins about 9 A.M., attains its

maximum force soon after noon, and ceases about an hour after sunset.

Greece is renowned for the clearness of its climate; fogs and mists

are almost unknown. In most years, however, only four or five days are

recorded in which the sky is perfectly cloudless. The natural

healthiness of the climate is counteracted in the towns, especially in

Athens, by deficient sanitation and by stifling clouds of dust, which

propagate infection and are peculiarly hurtful in cases of ophthalmia

and pulmonary disease. Malarial fever is endemic in the marshy

districts, especially in the autumn.

Area and population.

The area of the country was 18,341 sq. m. before the acquisition of the

Ionian Islands in 1864, 19,381 sq. m. prior to the annexation of

Thessaly and part of Epirus in 1881, and 24,552 sq. m. at the census in

1896. If we deduct 152 sq. m., the extent of territory ceded to Turkey

after the war of 1897, the area of Greece in 1908 would be 24,400 sq. m.

Other authorities give 25,164 and 25,136 sq. m. as the area prior to

the rectification of the frontier in 1898.[3] The population in 1896 was

2,433,806, or 99.1 to the sq. m., the population of the territories

annexed in 1881 being approximately 350,000; and 2,631,952 in 1907, or

107.8 to the sq. m. (according to the official estimate of the area),

showing an increase of 198,146 or 0.81% per annum, as compared with

1.61% during the period between 1896 and 1889; the diminished increase

is mainly due to emigration. The population by sex in 1907 is given as

1,324,942 males and 1,307,010 females (or 50.3% males to 49.6 females).

The preponderance of males, which was 52% to 48% females in 1896, has

also been reduced by emigration; it is most marked in the northern

departments, especially in Larissa. Only in the departments of Arcadia,

Eurytania, Corinth, Cephalonia, Lacedaemon, Laconia, Phocis, Argolis and

in the Cyclades, is the female population in excess of the male.

Neither the census of 1896 nor that of 1889 gave any classification by

professions, religion or language. The following figures, which are

only approximate, were derived from unofficial sources in

1901:--agricultural and pastoral employments 444,000; industries

64,200; traders and their employes 118,000; labourers and servants

31,300; various professions 15,700; officials 12,000; clergy about

6000; lawyers 4000; physicians 2500. In 1879, 1,635,698 of the

population were returned as Orthodox Christians, 14,677 as Catholics

and Protestants, 2652 as Jews, and 740 as of other religions. The

annexation of Thessaly and part of Epirus is stated to have added

24,165 Mahommedan subjects to the Hellenic kingdom. A considerable

portion of these, however, emigrated immediately after the annexation,

and, although a certain number subsequently returned, the total

Mahommedan population in Greece was estimated to be under 5000 in

1908. A number of the Christian inhabitants of these regions,

estimated at about 50,000, retained Turkish nationality with the

object of escaping military service. The Albanian population,

estimated at 200,000 by Finlay in 1851, still probably exceeds

120,000. It is gradually being absorbed in the Hellenic population. In

1870, 37,598 persons (an obviously untrustworthy figure) were returned

as speaking Albanian only. In 1879 the number is given as 58,858. The

Vlach population, which has been increased by the annexation of

Thessaly, numbers about 60,000. The number of foreign residents is

unknown. The Italians are the most numerous, numbering about 11,000.

Some 1500 persons, mostly Maltese, possess British nationality.

By a law of 27 November 1899, Greece, which had hitherto been divided

into sixteen departments ([Greek: nomoi]) was redivided into

twenty-six departments, as follows:--

_Departments._ _Pop._ _Departments._ _Pop._

1 Attica 341,247 14 Corinth 71,229

2 Boeotia 65,816 15 Arcadia 162,324

3 Phthiotis 112,328 16 Achaea 150,918

4 Phocis 62,246 17 Elis 103,810

5 Aetolia and Acarnania 141,405 18 Triphylia 90,523

6 Eurytania 47,192 19 Messenia 127,991

7 Arta 41,280 20 Laconia 61,522

8 Trikkala 90,548 21 Lacedaemon 87,106

9 Karditsa 92,941 22 Corfu 99,571

10 Larissa 95,066 23 Cephalonia 71,235

11 Magnesia 102,742 24 Leucas (with Ithaca) 41,186

12 Euboea 116,903 25 Zante 42,502

13 Argolis 81,943 26 Cyclades 130,378

The population is densest in the Ionian Islands, exceeding 307 per sq.

m. The departments of Acarnania, Phocis and Euboea are the most thinly

inhabited (about 58, 61 and 66 per sq. m. respectively).

Very little information is obtainable with regard to the movement of

the population; no register of births, deaths and marriages is kept in

Greece. The only official statistics are found in the periodical

returns of the mortality in the twelve principal towns, according to

which the yearly average of deaths in these towns for the five years

1903-1907 was approximately 10,253, or 23.8 per 1000; of these more

than a quarter are ascribed to pulmonary consumption, due in the main

to defective sanitation. Both the birth-rate and death-rate are low,

being 27.6 and 20.7 per 1000 respectively. Infant mortality is slight,

and in point of longevity Greece compares favourably with most other

European countries. The number of illegitimate births is 12.25 per

1000; these are almost exclusively in the towns.

Of the total population 28.5% are stated to live in towns. The

population of the principal towns is:--

1896. 1907.

Athens 111,486 167,479

Peiraeus 43,848 73,579

Patras 37,985 37,724

Trikkala 21,149 17,809

Hermopolis (Syra) 18,760 18,132

Corfu 18,581 28,254*

Volo 16,788 23,563

Larissa 15,373 18,001

Zante 14,906 13,580

Kalamata 14,298 15,397

Pyrgos 12,708 13,690

Tripolis 10,465 10,789

Chalcis 8,661 10,958

Laurium 7,926 10,007

* Including suburbs.

No trustworthy information is obtainable with regard to immigration

and emigration, of which no statistics have ever been kept.

Emigration, which was formerly in the main to Egypt and Rumania, is

now almost exclusively to the United States of America. The principal

exodus is from Arcadia, Laconia and Maina; the emigrants from these

districts, estimated at about 14,000 annually, are for the most part

young men approaching the age of military service. According to

American statistics 12,431 Greeks arrived in the United States from

Greece during the period 1869-1898 and 130,154 in 1899-1907; a

considerable number, however, have returned to Greece, and those

remaining in the United States at the end of 1907 were estimated at

between 136,000 and 138,000; this number was considerably reduced in

1908 by remigration. Since 1896 the tendency to emigration has

received a notable and somewhat alarming impulse. There is an

increasing immigration into the towns from the rural districts, which

are gradually becoming depopulated. Both movements are due in part to

the preference of the Greeks for a town life and in part to distaste

for military service, but in the main to the poverty of the peasant

population, whose condition and interests have been neglected by the

government.

Ethnology.

Greece is inhabited by three races--the Greeks, the Albanians and the

Vlachs. The Greeks who are by far the most numerous, have to a large

extent absorbed the other races; the process of assimilation has been

especially rapid since the foundation of the Greek kingdom. Like most

European nations, the modern Greeks are a mixed race. The question of

their origin has been the subject of much learned controversy; their

presumed descent from the Greeks of the classical epoch has proved a

national asset of great value; during the period of their struggle for

independence it won them the devoted zeal of the Philhellenes, it

inspired the enthusiasm of Byron, Victor Hugo, and a host of minor

poets, and it has furnished a pleasing illusion to generations of

scholarly tourists who delight to discover in the present inhabitants of

the country the mental and physical characteristics with which they have

been familiarized by the literature and art of antiquity. This amiable

tendency is encouraged by the modern Greeks, who possess an implicit

faith in their illustrious ancestry. The discussion of the question

entered a very acrimonious stage with the appearance in 1830 of

Fallmerayer's _History of the Morea during the Middle Ages_. Fallmerayer

maintained that after the great Slavonic immigration at the close of the

8th century the original population of northern Greece and the Morea,

which had already been much reduced during the Roman period, was

practically supplanted by the Slavonic element and that the Greeks of

modern times are in fact Byzantinized Slavs. This theory was subjected

to exhaustive criticism by Ross, Hopf, Finlay and other scholars, and

although many of Fallmerayer's conclusions remain unshaken, the view is

now generally held that the base of the population both in the mainland

and the Morea is Hellenic, not Slavonic. During the 5th and 6th

centuries Greece had been subjected to Slavonic incursions which

resulted in no permanent settlements. After the great plague of 746-747,

however, large tracts of depopulated country were colonized by Slavonic

immigrants; the towns remained in the hands of the Greeks, many of whom

emigrated to Constantinople. In the Morea the Slavs established

themselves principally in Arcadia and the region of Taygetus, extending

their settlements into Achaia, Elis, Laconia and the promontory of

Taenaron; on the mainland they occupied portions of Acarnania, Aetolia,

Doris and Phocis. Slavonic place-names occurring in all these districts

confirm the evidence of history with regard to this immigration. The

Slavs, who were not a maritime race, did not colonize the Aegean

Islands, but a few Slavonic place-names in Crete seem to indicate that

some of the invaders reached that island. The Slavonic settlements in

the Morea proved more permanent than those in northern Greece, which

were attacked by the armies of the Byzantine emperors. But even in the

Morea the Greeks, or "Romans" as they called themselves ([Greek:

Rhomaioi]), who had been left undisturbed on the eastern side of the

peninsula, eventually absorbed the alien element, which disappeared

after the 15th century. In addition to the place-names the only

remaining traces of the Slav immigration are the Slavonic type of

features, which occasionally recurs, especially among the Arcadian

peasants, and a few customs and traditions. Even when allowance is made

for the remarkable power of assimilation which the Greeks possessed in

virtue of their superior civilization, it is difficult to resist the

conclusion that the Hellenic element must always have been the most

numerous in order to effect so complete an absorption. This element has

apparently undergone no essential change since the epoch of Roman

domination. The destructive invasions of the Goths in A.D. 267 and 395

introduced no new ethnic feature; the various races which during the

middle ages obtained partial or complete mastery in Greece--the Franks,

the Venetians, the Turks--contributed no appreciable ingredient to the

mass of the population. The modern Greeks may therefore be regarded as

in the main the descendants of the population which inhabited Greece in

the earlier centuries of Byzantine rule. Owing to the operation of

various causes, historical, social and economic, that population was

composed of many heterogeneous elements and represented in a very

limited degree the race which repulsed the Persians and built the

Parthenon. The internecine conflicts of the Greek communities, wars with

foreign powers and the deadly struggles of factions in the various

cities, had to a large extent obliterated the old race of free citizens

by the beginning of the Roman period. The extermination of the Plataeans

by the Spartans and of the Melians by the Athenians during the

Peloponnesian war, the proscription of Athenian citizens after the war,

the massacre of the Corcyraean oligarchs by the democratic party, the

slaughter of the Thebans by Alexander and of the Corinthians by Mummius,

are among the more familiar instances of the catastrophes which overtook

the civic element in the Greek cities; the void can only have been

filled from the ranks of the metics or resident aliens and of the

descendants of the far more numerous slave population. Of the latter a

portion was of Hellenic origin; when a city was taken the males of

military age were frequently put to the sword, but the women and

children were sold as slaves; in Laconia and Thessaly there was a serf

population of indigenous descent. In the classical period four-fifths of

the population of Attica were slaves and of the remainder half were

metics. In the Roman period the number of slaves enormously increased,

the supply being maintained from the regions on the borders of the

empire; the same influences which in Italy extinguished the small landed

proprietors and created the _latifundia_ prevailed also in Greece. The

purely Hellenic population, now greatly diminished, congregated in the

towns; the large estates which replaced the small freeholds were

cultivated by slaves and managed or farmed by slaves or freedmen, and

wide tracts of country were wholly depopulated. How greatly the free

citizen element had diminished by the close of the 1st century A.D. may

be judged from the estimate of Plutarch that all Greece could not

furnish more than 3000 hoplites. The composite population which replaced

the ancient Hellenic stock became completely Hellenized. According to

craniologists the modern Greeks are brachycephalous while the ancient

race is stated to have been dolichocephalous, but it seems doubtful

whether any such generalization with regard to the ancients can be

conclusively established. The Aegean islanders are more brachycephalous

than the inhabitants of the mainland, though apparently of purer Greek

descent. No general conception of the facial type of the ancient race

can be derived from the highly-idealized statues of deities, heroes and

athletes; so far as can be judged from portrait statues it was very

varied. Among the modern Greeks the same variety of features prevails;

the face is usually oval, the nose generally long and somewhat

aquiline, the teeth regular, and the eyes remarkably bright and full of

animation. The country-folk are, as a rule, tall and well-made, though

slightly built and rather meagre; their form is graceful and supple in

movement. The urban population, as elsewhere, is physically very

inferior. The women often display a refined and delicate beauty which

disappears at an early age. The best physical types of the race are

found in Arcadia, in the Aegean Islands and in Crete.

The Albanian population extends over all Attica and Megaris (except the

towns of Athens, Peiraeus and Megara), the greater part of Boeotia, the

eastern districts of Locris, the southern half of Euboea and the

northern side of Andros, the whole of the islands of Salamis, Hydra,

Spetsae and Poros, and part of Aegina, the whole of Corinthia and

Argolis, the northern districts of Arcadia and the eastern portion of

Achaea. There are also small Albanian groups in Laconia and Messenia

(see ALBANIA). The Albanians, who call themselves _Shkyipetar_, and are

called by the Greeks _Arvanitae_ ([Greek: Arbanitai]), belong to the

Tosk or southern branch of the race; their immigration took place in the

latter half of the 14th century. Their first settlements in the Morea

were made in 1347-1355. The Albanian colonization was first checked by

the Turks; in 1454 an Albanian insurrection in the Morea against

Byzantine rule was crushed by the Turkish general Tura Khan, whose aid

had been invoked by the Palaeologi. With a few exceptions, the Albanians

in Greece retained their Christian faith after the Turkish conquest. The

failure of the insurrection of 1770 was followed by a settlement of

Moslem Albanians, who had been employed by the Turks to suppress the

revolt. The Christian Albanians have long lived on good terms with the

Greeks while retaining their own customs and language and rarely

intermarrying with their neighbours. They played a brilliant part during

the War of Independence, and furnished the Greeks with many of their

most distinguished leaders. The process of their Hellenization, which

scarcely began till after the establishment of the kingdom, has been

somewhat slow; most of the men can now speak Greek, but Albanian is

still the language of the household. The Albanians, who are mainly

occupied with agriculture, are less quick-witted, less versatile, and

less addicted to politics than the Greeks, who regard them as

intellectually their inferiors. A vigorous and manly race, they furnish

the best soldiers in the Greek army, and also make excellent sailors.

The Vlachs, who call themselves _Aromani_, i.e. Romans, form another

important foreign element in the population of Greece. They are found

principally in Pindus (the Agrapha district), the mountainous parts of

Thessaly, Othrys, Oeta, the mountains of Boeotia, Aetolia and Acarnania;

they have a few settlements in Euboea. They are for the most part either

nomad shepherds and herdsmen or carriers (_kiradjis_). They apparently

descend from the Latinized provincials of the Roman epoch who took

refuge in the higher mountains from the incursions of the barbarians and

Slavs (see VLACHS and MACEDONIA). In the 13th century the Vlach

principality of "Great Walachia" ([Greek: Megale Blachia]) included

Thessaly and southern Macedonia as far as Castoria; its capital was at

Hypati near Lamia. Acarnania and Aetolia were known as "Lesser

Walachia." The urban element among the Vlachs has been almost completely

Hellenized; it has always displayed great aptitude for commerce, and

Athens owes many of its handsomest buildings to the benefactions of

wealthy Vlach merchants. The nomad population in the mountains has

retained its distinctive nationality and customs together with its Latin

language, though most of the men can speak Greek. Like the Albanians,

the pastoral Vlachs seldom intermarry with the Greeks; they occasionally

take Greek wives, but never give their daughters to Greeks; many of them

are illiterate, and their children rarely attend the schools. Owing to

their deficient intellectual culture they are regarded with disdain by

the Greeks, who employ the term [Greek: blachos] to denote not only a

shepherd but an ignorant rustic.

A considerable Italian element was introduced into the Ionian Islands

during the middle ages owing to their prolonged subjection to Latin

princes and subsequently (till 1797) to the Venetian republic. The

Italians intermarried with the Greeks; Italian became the language of

the upper classes, and Roman Catholicism was declared the state

religion. The peasantry, however, retained the Greek language and

remained faithful to the Eastern Church; during the past century the

Italian element was completely absorbed by the Greek population.

The Turkish population in Greece, which numbered about 70,000 before the

war of liberation, disappeared in the course of the struggle or

emigrated at its conclusion. The Turks in Thessaly are mainly descended

either from colonists established in the country by the Byzantine

emperors or from immigrants from Asia Minor, who arrived at the end of

the 14th century; they derive their name Konariots from Iconium (Konia).

Many of the beys or land-owning class are the lineal representatives of

the Seljuk nobles who obtained fiefs under the feudal system introduced

here and in Macedonia by the Sultan Bayezid I.

National character.

Notwithstanding their composite origin, their wide geographical

distribution and their cosmopolitan instincts, the modern Greeks are a

remarkably homogeneous people, differing markedly in character from

neighbouring races, united by a common enthusiasm in the pursuit of

their national aims, and profoundly convinced of their superiority to

other nations. Their distinctive character, combined with their

traditional tendency to regard non-Hellenic peoples as barbarous, has,

indeed, to some extent counteracted the results of their great energy

and zeal in the assimilation of other races; the advantageous position

which they attained at an early period under Turkish rule owing to their

superior civilization, their versatility, their wealth, and their

monopoly of the ecclesiastical power would probably have enabled them to

Hellenize permanently the greater part of the Balkan peninsula had their

attitude towards other Christian races been more sympathetic. Always the

most civilized race in the East, they have successively influenced their

Macedonian, Roman and Turkish conquerors, and their remarkable

intellectual endowments bid fair to secure them a brilliant position in

the future. The intense patriotic zeal of the Greeks may be compared

with that of the Hungarians; it is liable to degenerate into arrogance

and intolerance; it sometimes blinds their judgment and involves them in

ill-considered enterprises, but it nevertheless offers the best

guarantee for the ultimate attainment of their national aims. All

Greeks, in whatever country they may reside, work together for the

realization of the Great Idea ([Greek: he Megale Idea])--the supremacy

of Hellenism in the East--and to this object they freely devote their

time, their wealth and their talents; the large fortunes which they

amass abroad are often bequeathed for the foundation of various

institutions in Greece or Turkey, for the increase of the national fleet

and army, or for the spread of Hellenic influence in the Levant. This

patriotic sentiment is unfortunately much exploited by self-seeking

demagogues and publicists, who rival each other in exaggerating the

national pretensions and in pandering to the national vanity. In no

other country is the passion for politics so intense; "keen political

discussions are constantly going on at the cafes; the newspapers, which

are extraordinarily numerous and generally of little value, are

literally devoured, and every measure of the government is violently

criticized and ascribed to interested motives." The influence of the

journals is enormous; even the waiters in the cafes and domestic

servants have their favourite newspaper, and discourse fluently on the

political problems of the day. Much of the national energy is wasted by

this continued political fever; it is diverted from practical aims, and

may be said to evaporate in words. The practice of independent criticism

tends to indiscipline in the organized public services; it has been

remarked that every Greek soldier is a general and every sailor an

admiral. During the war of 1897 a young naval lieutenant telegraphed to

the minister of war condemning the measures taken by his admiral, and

his action was applauded by several journals. There is also little

discipline in the ranks of political parties, which are held together,

not by any definite principle, but by the personal influence of the

leaders; defections are frequent, and as a rule each deputy in the

Chamber makes his terms with his chief. On the other hand, the

independent character of the Greeks is favourably illustrated by the

circumstance that Greece is the only country in the Balkan peninsula in

which the government cannot count on securing a majority by official

pressure at the elections. Few scruples are observed in political

warfare, but attacks on private life are rare. The love of free

discussion is inherent in the strongly-rooted democratic instinct of the

Greeks. They are in spirit the most democratic of European peoples; no

trace of Latin feudalism survives, and aristocratic pretensions are

ridiculed. In social life there is no artificial distinction of classes;

all titles of nobility are forbidden; a few families descended from the

chiefs in the War of Independence enjoy a certain pre-eminence, but

wealth and, still more, political or literary notoriety constitute the

principal claim to social consideration. The Greeks display great

intellectual vivacity; they are clever, inquisitive, quick-witted and

ingenious, but not profound; sustained mental industry and careful

accuracy are distasteful to them, and their aversion to manual labour is

still more marked. Even the agricultural class is but moderately

industrious; abundant opportunities for relaxation are provided by the

numerous church festivals. The desire for instruction is intense even in

the lowest ranks of the community; rhetorical and literary

accomplishments possess a greater attraction for the majority than the

fields of modern science. The number of persons who seek to qualify for

the learned professions is excessive; they form a superfluous element in

the community, an educated proletariat, attaching themselves to the

various political parties in the hope of obtaining state employment and

spending an idle existence in the cafes and the streets when their party

is out of power. In disposition the Greeks are lively, cheerful,

plausible, tactful, sympathetic; very affable with strangers,

hospitable, kind to their servants and dependants, remarkably temperate

and frugal in their habits, amiable and united in family life.

Drunkenness is almost unknown, thrift is universally practised; the

standard of sexual morality is high, especially in the rural districts,

where illegitimacy is extremely rare. The faults of the Greeks must in a

large degree be attributed to their prolonged subjection to alien races;

their cleverness often degenerates into cunning, their ready invention

into mendacity, their thrift into avarice, their fertility of resource

into trickery and fraud. Dishonesty is not a national vice, but many who

would scorn to steal will not hesitate to compass illicit gains by

duplicity and misrepresentation; deceit, indeed, is often practised

gratuitously for the mere intellectual satisfaction which it affords. In

the astuteness of their monetary dealings the Greeks proverbially

surpass the Jews, but fall short of the Armenians; their remarkable

aptitude for business is sometimes marred by a certain short-sightedness

which pursues immediate profits at the cost of ulterior advantages.

Their vanity and egoism, which are admitted by even the most favourable

observers, render them jealous, exacting, and peculiarly susceptible to

flattery. In common with other southern European peoples the Greeks are

extremely excitable; their passionate disposition is prone to take

offence at slight provocation, and trivial quarrels not infrequently

result in homicide. They are religious, but by no means fanatical,

except in regard to politico-religious questions affecting their

national aims. In general the Greeks may be described as a clever,

ambitious and versatile people, capable of great effort and sacrifice,

but deficient in some of the more solid qualities which make for

national greatness.

Customs.

The customs and habits of the Greek peasantry, in which the observances

of the classical age may often be traced, together with their legends

and traditions, have furnished an interesting subject of investigation

to many writers (see _Bibliography_ below). In the towns the more

cosmopolitan population has largely adopted the "European" mode of life,

and the upper classes show a marked preference for French manners and

usages. In both town and country, however, the influence of oriental

ideas is still apparent, due in part to the long period of Turkish

domination, in part to the contact of the Greeks with Asiatic races at

all epochs of their history. In the rural districts, especially, the

women lead a somewhat secluded life and occupy a subject position; they

wait at table, and only partake of the meal when the men of the family

have been served. In most parts of continental Greece the women work in

the fields, but in the Aegean Islands and Crete they rarely leave the

house. Like the Turks, the Greeks have a great partiality for coffee,

which can always be procured even in the remotest hamlets; the Turkish

practice of carrying a string of beads or rosary (_comboloio_), which

provides an occupation for the hands, is very common. Many of the

observances in connexion with births, christenings, weddings and

funerals are very interesting and in some cases are evidently derived

from remote antiquity. Nuptial ceremonies are elaborate and protracted;

in some of the islands of the archipelago they continue for three weeks.

In the preliminary negotiations for a marriage the question of the

bride's dowry plays a very important part; a girl without a dowry often

remains unmarried, notwithstanding the considerable excess of the male

over the female population. Immediately after the christening of a

female child her parents begin to lay up her portion, and young men

often refrain from marrying until their sisters have been settled in

life. The dead are carried to the tomb in an open coffin; in the country

districts professional mourners are engaged to chant dirges; the body is

washed with wine and crowned with a wreath of flowers. A valedictory

oration is pronounced at the grave. Many superstitions still prevail

among the peasantry; the belief in the vampire and the evil eye is

almost universal. At Athens and in the larger towns many handsome

dwelling-houses may be seen, but the upper classes have no predilection

for rural life, and their country houses are usually mere farmsteads,

which they rarely visit. In the more fertile districts two-storeyed

houses of the modern type are common, but in the mountainous regions the

habitations of the country-folk are extremely primitive; the small

stone-built hut, almost destitute of furniture, shelters not only the

family but its cattle and domestic animals. In Attica the peasants'

houses are usually built of cob. In Maina the villagers live in

fortified towers of three or more storeys; the animals occupy the ground

floor, the family the topmost storey; the intermediate space serves as a

granary or hay-loft. The walls are loop-holed for purposes of defence in

view of the traditional vendetta and feuds, which in some instances have

been handed down from remote generations and are maintained by

occasional sharp-shooting from these primitive fortresses. In general

cleanliness and sanitation are much neglected; the traveller in the

country districts is doomed to sleepless nights unless he has provided

himself with bedding and a hammock. Even Athens, though enriched by many

munificent benefactions, is still without a drainage system or an

adequate water supply; the sewers of many houses open into the streets,

in which rubbish is allowed to accumulate. The effects of insanitary

conditions are, however, counteracted in some degree by the excellent

climate. The Aegean islanders contrast favourably with the continentals

in point of personal cleanliness and the neatness of their dwellings;

their houses are generally covered with the flat roof, familiar in Asia,

on which the family sleep in summer. The habits and customs of the

islanders afford an interesting study. Propitiatory rites are still

practised by the mariners and fishermen, and thank-offerings for

preservation at sea are hung up in the churches. Among the popular

amusements of the Greeks dancing holds a prominent place; the dance is

of various kinds; the most usual is the somewhat inanimate round dance

([Greek: syrto] or [Greek: trata]), in which a number of persons,

usually of the same sex, take part holding hands; it seems indentical

with the Slavonic _kolo_ ("circle"). The more lively Albanian fling is

generally danced by three or four persons, one of whom executes a series

of leaps and pirouettes. The national music is primitive and monotonous.

All classes are passionately addicted to card-playing, which is

forbidden by law in places of public resort. The picturesque national

costume, which is derived from the Albanian Tosks, has unfortunately

been abandoned by the upper classes and the urban population since the

abdication of King Otho, who always wore it; it is maintained as the

uniform of the _euzones_ (highland regiments). It consists of a red cap

with dark blue tassel, a white shirt with wide sleeves, a vest and

jacket, sometimes of velvet, handsomely adorned with gold or black

braid, a belt in which various weapons are carried, a white kilt or

_fustanella_ of many folds, white hose tied with garters, and red

leather shoes with pointed ends, from which a tassel depends. Over all

is worn the shaggy white _capote_. The islanders wear a dark blue

costume with a crimson waistband, loose trousers descending to the knee,

stockings and pumps or long boots. The women's costume is very varied;

the loose red fez is sometimes worn and a short velvet jacket with rich

gold embroidery. The more elderly women are generally attired in black.

In the Megara district and elsewhere peasant girls wear on festive

occasions a headdress composed of strings of coins which formerly

represented the dowry.

Government.

Greece is a constitutional monarchy; hereditary in the male line, or, in

case of its extinction, in the female. The sovereign, by decision of the

conference of London (August 1863), is styled "king of the Hellenes";

the title "king of Greece" was borne by King Otho. The heir apparent is

styled [Greek: ho diadochos], "the successor"; the title "duke of

Sparta," which has been accorded to the crown prince, is not generally

employed in Greece. The king and the heir apparent must belong to the

Orthodox Greek Church; a special exception has been made for King

George, who is a Lutheran. The king attains his majority on completing

his eighteenth year; before ascending the throne he must take the oath

to the constitution in presence of the principal ecclesiastical and lay

dignitaries of the kingdom, and must convoke the Chamber within two

months after his accession. The civil list amounts to 1,125,000 dr., in

addition to which it was provided that King George should receive L4000

annually as a personal allowance from each of the three protecting

powers, Great Britain, France and Russia. The heir apparent receives

from the state an annuity of 200,000 dr. The king has a palace at Athens

and other residences at Corfu, Tatoi (on the slopes of Mt Parnes) and

Larissa. The present constitution dates from the 29th of October 1864.

The legislative power is shared by the king with a single chamber

([Greek: boule]) elected by manhood suffrage for a period of four years.

The election is by ballot; candidates must have completed their

thirtieth year and electors their twenty-first. The deputies ([Greek:

bouleutai]), according to the constitution, receive only their

travelling expenses, but they vote themselves a payment of 1800 dr. each

for the session and a further allowance in case of an extraordinary

session. The Chamber sits for a term of not less than three or more than

six months. No law can be passed except by an absolute majority of the

house, and one-half of the members must be present to form a quorum;

these arrangements have greatly facilitated the practice of obstruction,

and often enable individual deputies to impose terms on the government

for their attendance. In 1898 the number of deputies was 234. Some years

previously a law diminishing the national representation and enlarging

the constituencies was passed by Trikoupis with the object of checking

the local influence of electors upon deputies, but the measure was

subsequently repealed. The number of deputies, however, who had hitherto

been elected in the proportion of one to twelve thousand of the

population, was reduced in 1905, when the proportion of one to sixteen

thousand was substituted; the Chamber of 1906, elected under the new

system, consisted of 177 deputies. In 1906 the electoral districts were

diminished in number and enlarged so as to coincide with the twenty-six

administrative departments ([Greek: nomoi]); the reduction of these

departments to their former number of sixteen, which is in

contemplation, will bring about some further diminution in parliamentary

representation. It is hoped that recent legislation will tend to check

the pernicious practice of bartering personal favours, known as [Greek:

synallage], which still prevails to the great detriment of public

morality, paralysing all branches of the administration and wasting the

resources of the state. Political parties are formed not for the

furtherance of any principle or cause, but with the object of obtaining

the spoils of office, and the various groups, possessing no party

watchword or programme, frankly designate themselves by the names of

their leaders. Even the strongest government is compelled to bargain

with its supporters in regard to the distribution of patronage and other

favours. The consequent instability of successive ministries has

retarded useful legislation and seriously checked the national progress.

In 1906 a law was passed disqualifying junior officers of the army and

navy for membership of the Chamber; great numbers of these had hitherto

been candidates at every election. This much-needed measure had

previously been passed by Trikoupis, but had been repealed by his rival

Delyannes. The executive is vested in the king, who is personally

irresponsible, and governs through ministers chosen by himself and

responsible to the Chamber, of which they are _ex-officio_ members. He

appoints all public officials, sanctions and proclaims laws, convokes,

prorogues and dissolves the Chamber, grants pardon or amnesty, coins

money and confers decorations. There are seven ministries which

respectively control the departments of foreign affairs, the interior,

justice, finance, education and worship, the army and the navy.

Local Administration.

The 26 departments or [Greek: nomoi], into which the country is divided

for administrative purposes, are each under a prefect or nomarch

([Greek: nomarchos]); they are subdivided into 69 districts or

eparchies, and into 445 communes or demes ([Greek: demoi]) under mayors

or demarchs ([Greek: demarchoi]). The prefects and sub-prefects are

nominated by the government; the mayors are elected by the communes for

a period of four years. The prefects are assisted by a departmental

council, elected by the population, which manages local business and

assesses rates; there are also communal councils under the presidency of

the mayors. There are altogether some 12,000 state-paid officials in the

country, most of them inadequately remunerated and liable to removal or

transferral upon a change of government. A host of office-seekers has

thus been created, and large numbers of educated persons spend many

years in idleness or in political agitation. A law passed in 1905

secures tenure of office to civil servants of fifteen years' standing,

and some restrictions have been placed on the dismissal and transferral

of schoolmasters.

Justice.

Under the Turks the Greeks retained, together with their ecclesiastical

institutions, a certain measure of local self-government and judicial

independence. The Byzantine code, based on the Roman, as embodied in the

[Greek: Hexabiblos] of Armenopoulos (1345), was sanctioned by royal

decree in 1835 with some modifications as the civil law of Greece.

Further modifications and new enactments were subsequently introduced,

derived from the old French and Bavarian systems. The penal code is

Bavarian, the commercial French. Liberty of person and domicile is

inviolate; no arrest can be made, no house entered, and no letter opened

without a judicial warrant. Trial by jury is established for criminal,

political and press offences. A new civil code, based on Saxon and

Italian law, has been drawn up by a commission of jurists, but it has

not yet been considered by the Chamber. A separate civil code, partly

French, partly Italian, is in force in the Ionian Islands. The law is

administered by 1 court of cassation (styled the "Areopagus"), 5 courts

of appeal, 26 courts of first instance, 233 justices of the peace and 19

correctional tribunals.

The judges, who are appointed by the Crown, are liable to removal by the

minister of justice, whose exercise of this right is often invoked by

political partisans. The administration of justice suffers in

consequence, more especially in the country districts, where the judges

must reckon with the influential politicians and their adherents. The

pardon or release of a convicted criminal is not infrequently due to

pressure on the part of some powerful patron. The lamentable effects of

this system have long been recognized, and in 1906 a law was introduced

securing tenure of office for two or four years to judges of the courts

of first instance and of the inferior tribunals. In the circumstances

crime is less rife than might be expected; the temperate habits of the

Greeks have conduced to this result. A serious feature is the great

prevalence of homicide, due in part to the passionate character of the

people, but still more to the almost universal practice of carrying

weapons. The traditions of the vendetta are almost extinct in the Ionian

Islands, but still linger in Maina, where family feuds are transmitted

from generation to generation. The brigand of the old-fashioned type

([Greek: lestes, klephtes]) has almost disappeared, except in the

remoter country districts, and piracy, once so prevalent in the Aegean,

has been practically suppressed, but numbers of outlaws or absconding

criminals ([Greek: phygodikoi]) still haunt the mountains, and the

efforts of the police to bring them to justice are far from successful.

Their ranks were considerably increased after the war of 1897, when many

deserters from the army and adventurers who came to Greece as volunteers

betook themselves to a predatory life. On the other hand, there is no

habitually criminal class in Greece, such as exists in the large centres

of civilization, and professional mendicancy is still rare.

Police duties, for which officers and, in some cases, soldiers of the

regular army were formerly employed, are since 1906 carried out by a

reorganized gendarmerie force of 194 officers and 6344 non-commissioned

officers and men, distributed in the twenty-six departments and

commanded by an inspector-general resident at Athens, who is aided by a

consultative commission. There are male and female prisons at all the

departmental centres; the number of prisoners in 1906 was 5705. Except

in the Ionian Islands, the general condition of the prisons is

deplorable; discipline and sanitation are very deficient, and conflicts

among the prisoners are sometimes reported in which knives and even

revolvers are employed. A good prison has been built near Athens by

Andreas Syngros, and a reformatory for juvenile offenders ([Greek:

ephebeion]) has been founded by George Averoff, another national

benefactor. Capital sentences are usually commuted to penal servitude

for life; executions, for which the guillotine is employed, are for the

most part carried out on the island of Bourzi near Nauplia; they are

often postponed for months or even for years. There is no enactment

resembling the Habeas Corpus Act, and accused persons may be detained

indefinitely before trial. The Greeks, like the other nations liberated

from Turkish rule, are somewhat litigious, and numbers of lawyers find

occupation even in the smaller country towns.

Education.

The Greeks, an intelligent people, have always shown a remarkable zeal

for learning, and popular education has made great strides. So eager is

the desire for instruction that schools are often founded in the rural

districts on the initiative of the villagers, and the sons of peasants,

artisans and small shopkeepers come in numbers to Athens, where they

support themselves by domestic service or other humble occupations in

order to study at the university during their spare hours. Almost

immediately after the accession of King Otho steps were taken to

establish elementary schools in all the communes, and education was made

obligatory. The law is not very rigorously applied in the remoter

districts, but its enforcement is scarcely necessary. In 1898 there were

2914 "demotic" or primary schools, with 3465 teachers, attended by

129,210 boys (5.38% of the population) and 29,119 girls (1.19% of the

population). By a law passed in 1905 the primary schools, which had

reached the number of 3359 in that year, were reduced to 2604. The

expenditure on primary schools is nominally sustained by the communes,

but in reality by the government in the form of advances to the

communes, which are not repaid; it was reduced in 1905 from upwards of

7,000,000 dr. to under 6,000,000 dr. In 1905 there were 306 "Hellenic"

or secondary schools, with 819 teachers and 21,575 pupils (boys only)

maintained by the state at a cost of 1,720,096 dr.; and 39 higher

schools, or gymnasia, with 261 masters and 6485 pupils, partly

maintained by the state (expenditure 615,600 dr.) and partly by

benefactions and other means. Besides these public schools there are

several private educational institutions, of which there are eight at

Athens with 650 pupils. The Polytechnic Institute of Athens affords

technical instruction in the departments of art and science to 221

students. Scientific agricultural instruction has been much neglected;

there is an agricultural school at Aidinion in Thessaly with 40 pupils;

there are eight agricultural stations ([Greek: stathmoi]) in various

parts of the country. There are two theological seminaries--the Rizari

School at Athens (120 pupils) and a preparatory school at Arta; three

other seminaries have been suppressed. The Commercial and Industrial

Academy at Athens (about 225 pupils), a private institution, has proved

highly useful to the country; there are four commercial schools, each in

one of the country towns. A large school for females at Athens, the

Arsakion, is attended by 1500 girls. There are several military and

naval schools, including the military college of the Euelpides at Athens

and the school of naval cadets ([Greek: ton dokimon]). The university of

Athens in 1905 numbered 57 professors and 2598 students, of whom 557

were from abroad. Of the six faculties, theology numbered 79 students,

law 1467, medicine 567, arts 206, physics and mathematics 192, and

pharmacy 87. The university receives a subvention from the state, which

in 1905 amounted to 563,960 dr.; it possesses a library of over 150,000

volumes and geological, zoological and botanical museums. A small tax on

university education was imposed in 1903; the total cost to the student

for the four years' course at the university is about L25. Higher

education is practically gratuitous in Greece, and there is a somewhat

ominous increase in the number of educated persons who disdain

agricultural pursuits and manual labour. The intellectual culture

acquired is too often of a superficial character owing to the tendency

to sacrifice scientific thoroughness and accuracy, to neglect the more

useful branches of knowledge, and to aim at a showy dialectic and

literary proficiency. (For the native and foreign archaeological

institutions see ATHENS.)

Religion.

The Greek branch of the Orthodox Eastern Church is practically

independent, like those of Servia, Montenegro and Rumania, though

nominally subject to the patriarchate of Constantinople. The

jurisdiction of the patriarch was in fact repudiated in 1833, when the

king was declared the supreme head of the church, and the severance was

completed in 1850. Ecclesiastical affairs are under the control of the

Ministry of Education. Church government is vested in the Holy Synod, a

council of five ecclesiastics under the presidency of the metropolitan

of Athens; its sittings are attended by a royal commissioner. The church

can invoke the aid of the civil authorities for the punishment of heresy

and the suppression of unorthodox literature, pictures, &c. There were

formerly 21 archbishoprics and 29 bishoprics in Greece, but a law passed

in 1899 suppressed the archbishoprics (except the metropolitan see of

Athens) on the death of the existing prelates, and fixed the total

number of sees at 32. The prelates derive their incomes partly from the

state and partly from the church lands. There are about 5500 priests,

who belong for the most part to the poorest classes. The parochial

clergy have no fixed stipends, and often resort to agriculture or small

trading in order to supplement the scanty fees earned by their

ministrations. Owing to their lack of education their personal influence

over their parishioners is seldom considerable. In addition to the

parochial clergy there are 19 preachers ([Greek: hierokerukes]) salaried

by the state. There are 170 monasteries and 4 nunneries in Greece, with

about 1600 monks and 250 nuns. In regard to their constitution the

monasteries are either "idiorrhythmic" or "coenobian" (see ATHOS); the

monks ([Greek: kalogeroi]) are in some cases assisted by lay brothers

([Greek: kosmikoi]). More than 300 of the smaller monasteries were

suppressed in 1829 and their revenues secularized. Among the more

important and interesting monasteries are those of Megaspelaeon and

Lavra (where the standard of insurrection, unfurled in 1821, is

preserved) near Kalavryta, St Luke of Stiris near Arachova, Daphne and

Penteli near Athens, and the Meteora group in northern Thessaly. The

bishops, who must be unmarried, are as a rule selected from the monastic

order and are nominated by the king; the parish priests are allowed to

marry, but the remarriage of widowers is forbidden. The bulk of the

population, about 2,000,000, belongs to the Orthodox Church; other

Christian confessions number about 15,000, the great majority being

Roman Catholics. The Roman Catholics (principally in Naxos and the

Cyclades) have three archbisboprics (Athens, Naxos and Corfu), five

bishoprics and about 60 churches. The Jews, who are regarded with much

hostility, have almost disappeared from the Greek mainland; they now

number about 5000, and are found principally at Corfu. The Mahommedans

are confined to Thessaly except a few at Chalcis. National sentiment is

a more powerful factor than personal religious conviction in the

attachment of the Greeks to the Orthodox Church; a Greek without the

pale of the church is more or less an alien. The Catholic Greeks of

Syros sided with the Turks at the time of the revolution; the

Mahommedans of Crete, though of pure Greek descent, have always been

hostile to their Christian fellow-countrymen and are commonly called

Turks. On the other hand, that portion of the Macedonian population

which acknowledges the patriarch of Constantinople is regarded as Greek,

while that which adheres to the Bulgarian exarchate, though differing in

no point of doctrine, has been declared schismatic. The constitution of

1864 guarantees toleration to all creeds in Greece and imposes no civil

disabilities on account of religion.

Agriculture.

Greece is essentially an agricultural country; its prosperity depends on

its agricultural products, and more than half the population is occupied

in the cultivation of the soil and kindred pursuits. The land in the

plains and valleys is exceedingly rich, and, wherever there is a

sufficiency of water, produces magnificent crops. Cereals nevertheless

furnish the principal figure in the list of imports, the annual value

being about 30,000,000 fr. The country, especially since the acquisition

of the fertile province of Thessaly, might under a well-developed

agricultural system provide a food-supply for all its inhabitants and an

abundant surplus for exportation. Thessaly alone, indeed, could furnish

cereals for the whole of Greece. Unfortunately, however, agriculture is

still in a primitive state, and the condition of the rural population

has received very inadequate attention from successive governments. The

wooden plough of the Hesiodic type is still in use, especially in

Thessaly; modern implements, however, are being gradually introduced.

The employment of manure and the rotation of crops are almost unknown;

the fields are generally allowed to lie fallow in alternate years. As a

rule, countries dependent on agriculture are liable to sudden

fluctuations in prosperity, but in Greece the diversity of products is

so great that a failure in one class of crops is usually compensated by

exceptional abundance in another. Among the causes which have hitherto

retarded agricultural progress are the ignorance and conservatism of the

peasantry, antiquated methods of cultivation, want of capital, absentee

proprietorship, sparsity of population, bad roads, the prevalence of

usury, the uncertainty of boundaries and the land tax, which, in the

absence of a survey, is levied on ploughing oxen; to these may be added

the insecurity hitherto prevailing in many of the country districts and

the growing distaste for rural life which has accompanied the spread of

education. Large estates are managed under the metayer system; the

cultivator paying the proprietor from one-third to half of the gross

produce; the landlords, who prefer to live in the larger towns, see

little of their tenants, and rarely interest themselves in their

welfare. A great proportion of the best arable land in Thessaly is owned

by persons who reside permanently out of the country. The great estates

in this province extend over some 1,500,000 acres, of which about

500,000 are cultivated. In the Peloponnesus peasant proprietorship is

almost universal; elsewhere it is gradually supplanting the metayer

system; the small properties vary from 2 or 3 to 50 acres. The extensive

state lands, about one-third of the area of Greece, were formerly the

property of Mahommedan religious communities (_vakoufs_); they are for

the most part farmed out annually by auction. They have been much

encroached upon by neighbouring owners; a considerable portion has also

been sold to the peasants. The rich plain of Thessaly suffers from

alternate droughts and inundations, and from the ravages of field mice;

with improved cultivation, drainage and irrigation it might be rendered

enormously productive. A commission has been occupied for some years in

preparing a scheme of hydraulic works. Usury is, perhaps, a greater

scourge to the rural population than any visitation of nature; the

institution of agricultural banks, lending money at a fair rate of

interest on the security of their land, would do much to rescue the

peasants from the clutches of local Shylocks. There is a difficulty,

however, in establishing any system of land credit owing to the lack of

a survey. Since 1897 a law passed in 1882 limiting the rate of interest

to 8% (to 9% in the case of commercial debts) has to some extent been

enforced by the tribunals. In the Ionian Islands the rate of 10% still

prevails.

The following figures give approximately the acreage in 1906 and the

average annual yield of agricultural produce, no official statistics

being available:--

Acres.

Fields sown or lying fallow 3,000,000

Vineyards 337,500

Currant plantations 175,000

Olives (10,000,000 trees) 250,000

Fruit trees (fig, mulberry, &c.) 125,000

Meadows and pastures 7,500,000

Forests 2,000,000

Waste lands 2,875,000

----------

16,262,500