CHAP. IV. style with white marble, and covered the whole EUROPE. western end of the Acropolis. It contained a temple of Ge Curatrophus and Demeter Chloe, which appears to have been the temple alluded to by Herodotus as the one which faced the west. In Attica generally the following localities are Topography mentioned by Herodotus. Eleusis,' where there Eleusis. was a magnificent temple of Demeter which was burnt down by the Persians, and where the grove of the goddesses (Demeter and Cora or Persephone, called mother and daughter) was cut down by Cleomenes.3 Marathon, the best country in all Marathon. Attica for cavalry, and containing a sanctuary of Heracles. Lipsydrium, above Paeonia, which was Lipsydrium fortified by the Alcmaeonidae, after the death of Hipparchus. Alopecae, where was the tomb of the Alopecae. Spartan general Anchemolius, who assisted the Alcmaeonidae against the Pisistratidac. It was not 5 4 9 8 6 Hysiae. far from Cynosarges. Oenoe and Hysiae, the Oenoe. extreme demi of Attica. Brauron, from whence the Brauron. Pelasgians carried off the Athenian virgins at the feast of Artemis,10 [i. e. the young girls who carried the sacred baskets.] Decelea," whose inhabitants had performed so great a service in the mythical period, in showing the Tyndaridae where Theseus had deposited Helen, that at Sparta they enjoyed an exemption from tribute, and a precedency in assemblies; and the Laconians spared the place when they ravaged the rest of Attica during the Pelopon13 Also Thoricus; nesian war. 12 14 Anaphlys Anaphlystus; Thoricus. Oropus; 15 Pallene, the native place of Ameinias tus. the Athenian,16 which contained a temple of the propus. Pallenian Athene, where Pisistratus defeated the 1 v. 74. 2 ix. 65. 3 vi. 75. 4 vi. 102. 5 vi. 116. Bobrik, following Wesseling and Valckenaer, reads IIápvnog instead of Ilawoving. I have followed Gaisford in adopting the older reading. This Paeonia in Attica was apparently a small town or district on the southern slopes of Mount Parnes, and the family seat of the Paeonids, who were kinsmen of the Alcmaeonids. The Paeonids of the Attic tribe of Leontis are mentioned in inscriptions.* 7 v. 62. 8 V. 63. 11 vi. 92; ix. 15. 13 iv. 9. 14 Ibid. 9 v. 75. 10 vi. 137; iv. 145. * Grotefend de Demis Att. p. 40. Pallene. F Anagyrus. Sphendale. EUROPE. Athenians. It lay on one of the roads between CHAP. IV. Athens and Marathon.' Finally, Anagyrus, the native place of Eumenes; Aphidnae, the native place Aphidnae. of Timodemus; and Sphendale, at which Mardonius halted on his route from Decelea to Tanagra.* The Athenians sent 127 ships to Artemisium, and supplied 20 others which were manned by Chalcidians. Subsequently they sent 53 more ships. At Artemisium about one-half of their vessels were destroyed, but still they furnished 180 ships at Salamis, which was more than were supplied by any of the other allies." 5 6 Herodotus also mentions the following physical Thriasian features of Attica. The Thriasian plain, which was Cape Suni- well adapted for a battle-field.s Cape Sunium,' plain. um. rium. Zoster. Paeonia. mettus. 14 where one of the Phoenician vessels was dedicated Mount Lau- after the battle of Salamis.10 Mount Laurium, celebrated for its silver mines, the profits of which the Athenians were about to share at the rate of ten drachmas per man, when Themistocles persuaded Cape Colias. them to equip 200 triremes with the money." Cape Colias, where many of the Persian ships were wrecked after the battle of Salamis.12 Zoster, where some small promontories jutted out from the mainland.13 Mount Paeonia on Mount Parnes (?). Mount Hy- Hymettus, whose underlying lands were given to the Pelasgians in return for the wall which they built round the Acropolis. These Pelasgians were afterwards driven from this settlement, either because they insulted the young Athenian women at the Nine Springs, or because the Athenians desired repossession of the lands after seeing them cultivated.15 Mount Aegaleos, from whence Xerxes viewed the battle of Salamis.16 Mount Cithaeron, Cithaeron. with narrow passes leading into Boeotia, which were called the Three Heads by the Boeotians, and Oak's Heads by the Athenians.17 Lastly, the river Mount Aegaleos. Mount Ilissus, near which the Athenians erected a temple Europe. to Boreas.1 CHAP. IV. River III. BOEO ral tion. III. BOEOTIA may be described as a large hollow basin, enclosed by mountains. On the south Ilissus. were Cithaeron and Parnes; on the west was TIA. GeneMount Helicon; on the north were the slopes of a descripParnassus and the Opuntian range; whilst on the east a continuation of the Opuntian chain extended along the sea-coast as far as the mouth of the river Asopus. This basin, however, is divided into two distinct valleys, by a range of elevations running across the country from Mount Helicon to the Euboean Sea. Each of these two valleys has its lake and river. The northern valley is drained by the river Cephissus, whose waters form the lake Copais. The southern valley is drained by the river Asopus, and includes Lake Helice. 2 In ancient times these two valleys were under the History. separate dominion of two celebrated towns; Orchomenus in the north, and Thebes in the south. Orchomenus was inhabited by the Minyans; Thebes, by the Cadmeans. Sixty years after the taking of Troy the Aeolian Boeotians, driven from Phthiotis in Thessaly by the Thessalians, invaded this territory, and expelled the Minyans from Orchomenus and the Cadmeans from Thebes. The Minyans fled to Laconica. The Cadmeans went first to Athens, and then to Lemnos, Samothrace, and the coasts of Aeolis; but the Gephyraeans and Aegids, who were priest families of the Cadmeans, permanently settled at Athens and Sparta. Twenty years after this Aeolian conquest of Boeotia, the Dorians invaded the Peloponnesus; and some of the old Peloponnesian inhabitants, instead of subsiding into an inferior caste, proceeded through Boeotia towards Asia. On their way they were joined by so many of the Aeolian Boeotians, that the movement was called the Aeolian migration. At the commencement of the historical period, we find the principal cities of Boeotia formed into a confederacy, of which 2 Comp. page 45, 46. Comp. page 53, 61. 1 vii. 189. 3 EUROPE. Thebes was the head, and Orchomenus the second CHAP. IV. in importance. Plataea withdrew from this confederacy, and placed herself under the protection of Athens as early as B. c. 519. Herodotus's account. Scarcely any information respecting the Boeotians is furnished by our author. We can only learn that their sandals, or clogs, must have been different from those worn by the other Hellenes, for Herodotus compares them with those of the Babylonians.' Cadmeans. The followers of the Phoenician Cadmus, called Cadmeans, settled in Boeotia, and introduced the knowledge of letters. Many of them, together with many Minyans of Orchomenus, joined the Ionian migration. Topography Thebes, with the temple of Amphia raus. The oracle. 3 2 Herodotus mentions the following places in Boeotia. Thebes, the capital, and a fortified town, containing a temple and oracle of the Ismenian Apollo, and a sanctuary of Amphiaraus. The oracle of Apollo was consulted by victims, the same as at Olympia. In his temple Herodotus saw several tripods bearing inscriptions in Cadmean letters, which nearly resembled the Ionian. The first was about the age of Laius the son of Labdacus, who was grandson of Cadmus. It bore the following inscription: "Amphitryon dedicated me on his return from the Teleboans." The inscriptions on two other tripods were in hexameters. One was in the time of Oedipus the son of Laius, and ran thus: "Scaeus, the victor boxer, placed me here, A beauteous gift to darting-far Apollo." The other was given by King Laodamas, son of Eteocles, and had these words: "Laodamas, the monarch, placed me here, A beauteous gift to glancing-far Apollo." 5 The oracles of Amphiaraus were given to persons in their dreams, for they had to sleep one night in the temple, [after fasting one day and abstaining 1 j. 195. 2 v. 57, 58. 3 i. 146. ix. 86. 5 V. 59-61. from wine for three days.'] This oracle could only EUROPE. be consulted by strangers, as no Theban might CHAP. IV. sleep in the temple; for Amphiaraus had sent to ask whether Thebes would have him for a prophet or an ally, upon which the Thebans chose the latter.2 Croesus. Croesus, king of Lydia, having learnt the virtues Gifts of and sufferings of Amphiaraus, presented to him a shield made entirely of gold and a massive golden spear, which were still to be seen in the time of Herodotus in the temple of the Ismenian Apollo.3 The Thebans sent 400 men to Thermopylae.* 8 9 5 Tanagra. Beside Thebes, notice is taken of the following cities. Delium, which was situated in the Theban Delium. territory on the coast opposite Chalcis. A Phoenician vessel carried away from this place a gilt image of Apollo, but Datis the Persian general deposited it at Delos, where it remained until the Thebans fetched it back twenty years afterwards. Thespia, Thespia. which was burnt by Xerxes, and sent 700 men to Thermopylae.' Eleon. Tanagra, and its district, Eleon. which on the arrival of Cadmus was given up to the Gephyraeans. The latter were afterwards expelled from thence by the Argives, and proceeded to Athens, where they were enrolled as citizens under certain restrictions. Between Tanagra and Glissas flowed the river Thermodon." Coronaea, near Thebes.12 River TherLebadeia, which contained the cave and oracle of Coronaca. Trophonius. Scolus, which was included in the Lebadeia. Theban territory. Acraephia, close by the precinct Acraephia. of the Ptoan Apollo, which belonged to the Thebans, and stood above Lake Copais, at the foot of a mountain. The oracle was consulted by the messenger from Mardonius, and replied in the Carian language. Orchomenus, the native place of Thersander. Ery- Orchomethrae." Lastly, Plataca, which was burnt by Xerxes.18 Erythrae. Its territory was separated from that of Thebes by the river Asopus, and by a line drawn by Hysiae, from the Asopus to Mount Cithaeron.19 The Pla 13 14 16 3 i. 52. 15 8 v. 43. 17 ix. 15. 18 vii. 50. modon. Scolus. nus. |