CLASSICAL AND TOPOGRAPHICAL TOUR THROUGH GREECE, DURING THE YEARS 1801, 1805, AND 1806. BY EDWARD DODWELL, ESQ. F. S,A. AND MEMBER OF SEVERAL FOREIGN ACADEMIES. rioAXa u.£v Si) xai a.XXa. iSoi 7ij av EAXij<n, la, Se xai olmvo-cu Sa-vfj-oilos a£ia. Pausan. b. 5. c. 10. IN TWO VOLUMES. VOL. II. LONDON: PRINTED FOR RODWELL AND MARTIN, NEW BOND-STREET. 1819. LONDON; PKiNTtC 1!Y THOMAS DAVISON, WH1TEFIUARS. CONTENTS VOL. II. CHAPTER I. General remarks, and miscellaneous customs — Soil and climate of Attica — Provisions — Music of modern Greece — Dances — Complaints made at Constantinople against the Voivode of Athens — Intrusion of the Disdar into the bath of Turkish women — his discovery and danger — his flight to /Egina, and clandestine return to Athens— his concealment in the author's house — Visit of the author to the Disdar's wife, and their perilous situation — Superstitions of the Athenians — The Evil, or Envious Eye — Games of the modern Greeks — Birds of Attica — Reptiles — Insects — Compendium of the final history of Athens, and its capture hy the Turks - Page 1 CHAPTER II. Journey toThessaly — Kasha — Castle of Phyle — Skourto— To Kakasialasi — Thebes — Lake of Hylika — Villages Sengena and Karditza — Ruins of Akraiphnion — Ruins of a city, probably Kopai — Lake Kopais — Village Kokinos — Katabathra — Village Martini — Pass of Andera — Ruins — Opuntian gulf — Likadi islands — Ruins of a city — Town of Talando — Village Libanatis — Ancient fort near the sea — Ruins of a city — Villages Longaki, Dervitziali, Andera, and Katomolo— Pass of Thermopylae — Thermal springs — Mount Oeta — Khnn - - - - 51 CHAPTER III. To Zetoun, remains of Lamia — Ruins of a city — Village Stilidi — Ruins of Echinos — Villages of Rakes and Karditza — Ruins of a city — Villages of Makala and Pteleo — Ruins of a city — Village of a 2 iv CONTENTS. Surbis — Ruins of a city — Town of Armiro — Village of Staikes — Ruins of a city — Remains of Pagasai and Demetrias — Castle and town of Bolo — Mount Pelion, and the gulf of Pagasai — Ruins of Iolkos — Town of Belestina, and ruins of Plierai — Hyperian fountain — Villages of Tolelere and Mouimos — Larissa — Singular conduct of the archbishop — Insolence of the Turks — River Peneios — Camels — Mount Olympos — Villages of Baba and Ampelachia — Vale of Tempe — Proconsular inscription ...... Page 77 CHAPTER IV. Return to Athens — Villages of Nikali and Enebelere — Plain, town, and acropolis of Pharsalia — Thaumakia — Magnificent view from it — Zetoun — The pass of Thermopylae, and passage over Mount Oeta — Doris — Ruins of two cities — Lilaea, and sources of theCephissos — Town of Dadi, probably Ampikleia — Remains of two other cities — Belitza, (Tithoraia) — Elateia — Chaeroneia — Orchomenos — Haliartos — Onchestos — Thebes — Euripos and Chalcis in Euboea — Situation of Aulis — Plain ofDelion — Village of Boiati — Ruins of Oropos — Village ofMarathona — Plain of Marathon — Great tumulus — Cave of Pan — Monastery of Pentele — Arrival at Athens 1 18 CHAPTER V. Departure from Athens — To Eleusis — Mystic way — Monastery of Daphne — Votive rock — Sacred springs — Bethels — Eleusis — Mount Kerata — Megara — Its territory and ports — Extensive view — Mount Gerania — Derbeni — Magnificent view — Isthmus of Corinth — Remains of the great foss, and Isthmian walls — The Acrocorinthos — Beauty of the view from its vicinity — Doric- temple — Port Kenchreai — Bath of Helena — Ancient sepulchres near the village of Mertesa — Excavations — Terra cotta vase — Mouth of an ancient well at Corinth - - 1 68 CHAPTER VI. Tour of Argolis — To Nemea — Ruins of Kleonai — Cave of the Nemeau lion — Fount Langia — Ruins of Nemea — Village of Kutchukmadi — Milage of Saint George — Phliasian plain — Pass of Tretos — Fine view of the plain of Argos — Ruins of Argos — Theatre — Acropolis — Cyclopian walls — Final history of Argos — The luachos— Source of the Erasinos— Lake of Lerna — The Hydra- Mount Pontinos — Ruins of Mycense — Treasury of Atreus — Gate of the lions — Acropolis — Cyclopian walls — Ruins of Tiryns — Nauplia ..... 205 CONTENTS. CHAPTER VII. Tour of Epidauria — Village of Ligurio, and ruins on the road to it — Sacred forest of iEsculapius— Temples — Theatre — Other remains — Village Epidaura — Ruins of Epidauros — Village of Ka- rangia — Remains of an ancient city — Village of Damala — Ruins of Troezen — Acropolis — Pro- montory of Methana — Town of Poros — Island of Kalauria — Temple of Neptune — To Methana — The isthmus — Promontory — Village — Ruins of the ancient city — Village of Dara — Village of Phanari — Superb view of the gulf — Ruins of an ancient city — Telegraphic beacons — Remains of an ancient city — Village of Epidaura — Village of Piada — Gifts of hospitality — Village of Agios Joannes — Arrival at Corinth -.._... Page 2.i3 CHAPTER VIII. Departure from Corinth — Fertility of the country — Village of Basilika — Ruins of Sicyon — Theatre and other remains — Village of Xylo-Kastro, and ruins of an ancient city, probably JEgira — Khan of Kamares — Khan of Sakratos, ruins on the way, and remains of an ancient city at Mauro-Petra, probably Aigai — River Sakratas, the ancient Krathis — To Bostitza — Grandeur of the scenery — River Bouraikos — River Selinos — Ruins of iEgion — Great platanus and spring — To Patra — The rivers Phoenix and Meganitas — Magnificent view of the gulf — From Patra to the khan of Palaio-Achaia — River Kamenitza, the ancient Peiros — Uncertain situations of Olenos, Pharai, and Dyme — Ruins of an ancient city near the khan — To Mauro Bouna — Ruins of a castle, probably Teichos — Cape Papa, anciently Araxos — From Mauro Bouna to Capelletto — To Palaiopoli, Elis — River Peneios — Ruins of Elis — Acropolis — To Pyrgo — To Phloka — The Alpheios — To the ruins of Olympia — The Kladeos and Alpheios — Plain of Olympia — Beauty of the scenery — Hill of Saturn — Temple of Jupiter Olympios — Ancient armour — Village ofMiraka — Description of a Turkish pyrgos — Earthquake ... 292 CHAPTER IX. To Palaio Phanari, probably Phrixa — Passage of the Alpheios — Ruins of Phrixa — To Brina — Kaiapha — Ruins of Samikon — River Anigros — Caves of the Anagriades and Atlantides — Khan of Agios Isodoros — Uncertainty concerning the situatiou of Pylos — Ruins of an ancient city near Strobitza, probably Lepreos — River Boutzi, the Neda — Town of Arkadia, the ancient Cyparissiai — To Kleisoura — To Constantino — Danger of being taken by thieves — Pass by a castle which was occupied by them — See them besieged in the village of Aletouri — Captain of the thieves — Plain of Messenia — To Mauro Mati, the ancient Messene — Ruins of a triangular bridge over the confluence of two rivers — Deserted monastery, aud magnificent view — Village of Mauro Mati — Mount Ithome — Ruins — Panoramic view from its summit — Ruins of Messene — Walls of the city — Great gates ...... 339 VI CONTENTS. CHAPTER X. From Messene to the khan of Sakona — To Sinano — Ruins of an ancient city — Ruins of Megalopolis — Panoramic view of the plain — Perilous situation of the author, and conflict with the thieves — Unexpected delivery from danger — Pursuit and capture of several thieves — Their punishment — Theatre of Megalopolis — Ruins in the viciuity — Departure from Sinano in search of the ruins of Lykosoura — Village of Delhi Hassan — Town of Karitena — Kachikolo Kastro, probably Gortys — Temple of Apollo Epikourios — Sculpture of the temple — Sources oftheNeda — Mount Tetragi, probably Lycaeon — Mount Dioforti, probably Kerausios — Ruins of a city, probably Lykosoura — Road to Sparta — Village of Agie Basile — Source of the Eurotas — Arrival at Misithra --------- Page 367 CHAPTER XL Ruins of Sparta — Panorama — Mount Taygeton — Remains of Amyklai — From Misithra to Tripolitza — Mount Menalion — Ruins of Tegea — From Tripolitza to Mantineia — Ruins of the city — To Orchomenos — Description of its ruins ------ 403 CHAPTER XII. To Zaraka, on the lake of Stymphalos — Mount Oligyrtos, and difficulty of the passage — Ruins of an ancient city, probably Alea — Lake, town, and city of Stymphalos — Coins of that town — Kata- bathron — To Phonia, the ancient Pheneos — Plain of Pheneos — River Aroanios — Phonia — Ruins upon a high mountain — Ruins of Pheneos — Coins of that town — Lake of Pheneos — Katabathron — Village Likourio — Issue of the lake of Pheneos, and source of the Ladon — Kalybia of Mazi — Ruins of Klitor — Plain and mountains — To the monastery of Megaspelia — Ruins on the way — Town of Kalabryta — River Bouraikos — Monastery of Megaspelia — Its extraordinary and magnificent situation — To Curumistris — Fount Alusson — Ruins of an ancient city — To Patra — Wooded pass of Makellaria, and danger of being robbed — Arrival at Patra — To Messaloggion — Sail for Ithaca — Driven back by unfavourable winds — Island of Basiladi — Promontory of Konopeli, and ruins of a town, and thermal spring in Eleia — Arrival at Ithaca — Accompanied by thieves to Santa Maura — Island of Saint Nicolo — Prebcza — Corfu — Arrival at Messina — Departure for Civita Vecchia — Becalmed off the Lipari islands — Volcano of Stromboli — Turtles, nautili, and pilot-fish — View of the three volcanoes, iEtna, Stromboli, and Vesuvius, from the same spot — View of the coast and bay of Naples — The Roman coast — Mount Circcei — Neighbouring islands— Arrival at Civita Vecchia — Quarantine — Imprisonment — Insulting conduct of the general — Kind and friendly conduct of another Frenchman — Arrival at Rome --------- 429 CONTENTS. vii APPENDIX. Examples of the different ways adopted by modern authors of writing Greek and Turkish words ------ Page 471 Names of places ------- 475 Principal villages in Cephallenia - - - - - -482 Villages in Zakunthos -....-- 483 Villages in the district of Libadea -.---- 484 Villages in the district of Salona ------ 487 Villages in the district of Thebes - - - - - -488 Villages in the district of Zetoun ------ 4y0 Musical instruments at present used in Attica ... - 492 Weights and money in Greece ------ 494 Athenian fruit and vegetables ------ 495 Prices of some articles of consumption at Athens by the ocque - 498 Specimen of a modern Greek letter - 500 Translation - - - - - - 501 INSCRIPTIONS. Five inscriptions from Corfu ---._. ;-,03 From the ruins of Delphi - - - , - - 507 From the ruins of Ambrysos in Phocis - - - - - 512 From Libadea in Boeotia ------ fold. At Leuka, near the ruins of Thespeia, in Boeotia - 513 At Eremo Kastro, near the ruins of Thespeia - thid. From the ruins of Thisbe in Boeotia - - - - - 5 1 4 Alphabet from a lamina of lead found in a sepulchre at the Piraeus - - 515 The same inscription in common characters - - - - -517 From the island of Tenos - - - - - -518 From Mitylene, in the island of Lesbos - - - - - 519 Index ..-_.___. 521 ERRATA OF THE FIRST VOLUME. Page 3, line 21, for Canidole, at the mouth of, read Canklole, and are situated at the mouth of. 4, 12, for Apsyrtides, from Apsyrtos, read Apsyrtides, which were thus denominated from Apsyrtos. 7, 23, for to our left, read on our left ; and for to our right, read on our right. 19, note 2, for Labeatis, read Labealis. 33, line 3, for histories, read historians. 36, 22, for Lanessa, read Lanassa. 37, 7, for pirate and his, read pirate with his. 37, note 1, for Chroniat, read Choniat. 42, 3, for Cheimerian, read Cheimerion. 51, line 7, for Cheimerian, read Cheimerion. 53, 1, for Caphalos, read Cephalos. 66, 7, for Adrian, read Hadrian. 71, 6, for Paciandi, read Paciaudi. 71, 14, for horses, read /;«/•«. 75, 18, for ecAtcA are Me second style, read wAe'eA are /'« Me second style. 79, 26, for Straini, read Strani. 103, 22, for if oi, read (if oi. 116, 31, for ilaAaiwy, read IlaAaiai 1 19, last line, for Meilihos, read Meilichos. 126, line 3, for neglected, read neglect. 127, note 2, for ¥apo, read *a0o. 147, 6, for O Twlripos, read Ton J.ivlr]po{. 148, line last but one of notes, for Catacuzene, read Cantacuzene. 150, line 12, for the water for this spring-, read the water of this spring. 150, 16, for he great Plat anus, read the great PI at anus. 154, 4, for Me towns, read Me ancient towns. 1 72, 7, for Ceada, read Keadas. 190, note 2, for ABPAZAMA, BPA2AE, read ABPAEAM, ABPAEAS. 200, line 3, for descends, read ascends. 251, 24, for tumultus, read tumulus. 261, 13, for 0ij/3aj, read ©i)(3a(. 286, last line, for Reitoi, read Rheitoi. 293, line 3, for comparing them with those same marbles, read comparing them with the cast.-; from those same marbles. 319, 16, for Olympeion, read Olympieion. 329, 6, for posticoum, read posticum. 331, 10, for seslabs, read */«£«. 332, 23, for pronaos, read western end. 358, last line but one, for with ice plant, read wiM the ice plant. 388, line 7, for cceperat, read cmperat. 476, 1 1, for Soteros, read SWer. 483, 1 6, for and, read «.«. 501 , 1.3, for ccepere, read cospere. 529, for Brauna, read Braona. 584, I , for candelabra, read candelabra. VOL. II. 94, 19, for Kszi jusy m5cuf <pofsoi; MstrtnjiJoy ij read Kai jw-gv uJtup pogsoi; MfinnjiJo? vj Tiripil^S- ERRATA OF THE SECOND VOLUME Page 4, line 10, for no, read very few. 12, head of the page, for Athenian ancient families, read ancient Athenian families. 24, line 7, for the new married pair , read her. 71, 30, for Jeres, read Teres. 76, 11, for jEnienses, read JEnianes, 88, 12, for Pagasia, read Pagasai. 94, after 18th line the last word of the first line of the quotation from Homer is omitted : it should be Yiripetys. 1 14, line 21, for rroXu^noy, read iroAi^i'iov. 143, 25, for Deserby, read Deserbey. 144, 18, for tortoises: on its banks they are amphibious ; read tortoises on its banks: they are amphibious, 151, 17, for pacha, read pasha. 160, note 4, for bronz, read bronze. 178, last line, for hy, read by. 220, note 4, for shield, read shields. 256, line 2, for Jero, read Zero. 283, 8, for are informed, read we>-« informed. 288, note 1, after c. add 51. 354, line 13, for those marauders, read the marauders. 424, note 5, for typoy, read tepov. ERRATA UNDER THE PRINTS OF VOL. I. Plate facing page 220, for Chmroneia, read Chceroneia. 356, for Pandrosion, read Pandroseion. 503, for Phyleon, read Phyle on. ERRATA UNDER THE PRINTS OF VOL. II. Plate facing page 1 14, for Opa, read Ossa. 137, for Tithoraia, read Tithoreea. 143, for Choeroneia, read Chceroneia. CLASSICAL AND TOPOGRAPHICAL TOUR THROUGH GREECE. CHAPTER I. General remarks, and miscellaneous customs. Soil and climate of A Itica. Provisions. Music of modern Greece. Dances. Complaints made at Constantinople against the Yoivode of Athens. Intrusion of the Disdar into the bath of Turkish women — his discovery and danger — his flight to /Egina, and clandestine return to Athens — his concealment in the author's house. Visit of the author to the Disdar's wife, and their perilous situation. Superstitions of the Athenians. The Evil, or Envious Eye. Games of the modern Greeks. Birds of Attica. Reptiles — Insects. Compendium of the final history of Athens, and its capture by the Turks. J. here is no country in the world, of the same extent as Greece, where the climate, soil, and aspect, exhibit such discordant varieties. The pages of ancient history do not bring us acquainted with any region where the forms of government were so many, and so diverse, or where the genius of the people displayed such opposite characteristics. This comparatively diminutive1 tract of Europe, was distinguished by 1 The length of Greece from north to south is three hundred and fifty miles ; its breadth two hundred and fifty. — Robertson's Hist, of Greece. ., VOL. II. B 2 CONTRAST OF DIFFERENT STATES OF ANCIENT GREECE. the most vivid contrasts. Here we beheld the tempestuous, fluctu- ating, and anarchic liberty of the Athenians; and there the rigid, in- flexible, and lowering despotism of the Spartans. In one part our admiration and our sympathy are excited, by the steady resistance and unremitting constancy of the oppressed Messenians ; in another a different sentiment is produced, by the submissive apathy and un- warlike temper of the Eleians. We see the Arcadians leading a hardy life of pastoral independence; while Argos and Corinth are subjugated by wealth, and enervated by luxury. The Thebans are distinguished by their want of fidelity and of patriotism, or by mighty, but evanescent enterprise. Epiros, Acarnania, and iEto- lia, are found piratical and uncivilized ; while the voluptuous and hospitable Thessalians are signalized by their turbulence and their treachery. The Athenians encouraged trade and cherished the arts ; the Spar- tans forbad the one, and despised the other. The former, who abounded in orators, were conspicuous for a copious volubility of speech ; while the latter were proverbial for their taciturnity. The Athenians accumulated wealth and indulged in luxury ; the Spar- tans affected poverty and temperance, and forbad theatrical repre- sentations. The Athenian women were mild and domestic, and were seldom seen in public: the Spartan females exhibited more bold and masculine traits, and, associated in the ardent competition for strength and activity that Avas seen in the public games, their characters acquired an extraordinary hardihood, unsuited to the elegant softness of the female mind. This singular contrast of man- ners and feelings between the two principal nations in Greece, is energetically portrayed in the speech of the Corinthians, in the Lacedaemonian Assembly, concerning the Potideans, at the com- mencement of the Peloponnesian war.1 Athens, however, surpassed the other states of Greece, as much as Greece itself surpassed the :Thucjd. b. 1. c. 68. PATRIOTISM OF THE GREEKS. 3 other surrounding nations. Strabo1 rapturously exclaims, that Attica was the work of the gods, and of the ancient heroes : i? ya.% Attom? 6euv so-Tt xTKrpoc. Kxi -srgoyovuv Hguuv. The praise of Cicero2 is not less re- markable: " Unde Humanitas, Doctrina, Religio, Fruges, Jura, Leges ortse atque in omnes Terras distributee putantur." The Athenians were regarded as patterns of excellence, and models for imitation; not merely in the mechanical sciences of architecture, sculpture, and painting, but in the more noble and exalted attain- ments of the mind. Their exertions were marked with a liberal and enthusiastic spirit peculiar to themselves : " they excelled in the temperate dignity of style, the graceful proportions of art, the forms of visible and intellectual beauty, the just delineation of character and passion, the rhetoric of narrative and argument, the regular fabric of epic and dramatic poetry, in moral and political writings."3 But while we admire their noble deeds and transcendant qualities, their history is often deformed, and their moral lustre obscured, by instances of cruelty and ingratitude. But what above all things re- calls our admiration for the Greeks in general, is that strong and in- delible attachment to, their country, which extended, not only to their native soil, but even to the other Grecian states, with which, in the contests for political pre-eminence, they were frequently at variance. As soon, however, as a common cause required the united strength of all parties, an end was put to the jealousies of the neigh- bouring states, and to the rivalry of politicians, and all united to defend their country. This noble principle of patriotic virtue was most conspicuous in their wars with the Persians. The Athe- nians afforded copious assistance to their great rivals and powerful enemies, the Spartans, when their capital was destroyed by an earth- quake; and when the Spartans had taken Athens, and were advised to destroy their natural enemy, they refused to " pluck out the eye 1 B. 9. p. 396. 2 Orat. pro L. Flacco, s. 26. 3 Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. B 2 4 SUPERIORITY OF THE GREEKS IN ARTS AND SCIENCES. of Greece/' When the city of Rhodes had been destroyed by an earthquake, the states of Greece vied with each other in the extent of their liberality, and thought themselves honoured when their presents were accepted by the Rhodians. The relation given by Polybius1 of this general patriotic feeling, is highly curious and in- teresting. The early history of Greece is enveloped in deep obscurity. The Dryopes, Caucones, Aones, Leleges, Thracians, the Pelasgians and Curetes, who at different periods are said to have been masters of this country, have probably left no remains of their arts or sciences to pos- terity. Their history is nearly unknown, but we may conjecture that they were uncultivated savages, or wandering and warlike shepherds, who made a casual and temporary residence, wherever they were at- tracted by the fertility of the soil, the abundance of water, or by con- siderations of local security and protection. There are however rea- sons to conclude, that the Pelasgians and the Curetes distinguished themselves by some scientific proficiency in the arts ; and the former particularly in military architecture and fortifications, as the solid and magnificent remains which are still to be observed in the various countries that were colonized by the Pelasgians, may, with every appearance of probability, be ascribed to that warlike and wandering people. The Romans were not only indebted to the Greeks for their knowledge in the elegant arts of architecture, sculpture, paint- ing, and music, but also for their legislative code, as well as for the majority of their religious rites and ceremonies. Even when Rome had abandoned the affected simplicity of stern republicanism, and had arrived at its highest pitch of imperial splendour and power, Grecian artists were employed in Italy in preference to any others; and the most beautiful monuments that still decorate the ancient ' B. 5. See also in the same book the speech of Agelaos of Naupaktos to Philip the Second, of Macedon. SOIL AND PRODUCE OF ATTICA. 5 capital of Italy, are of Grecian workmanship. The Romans never attempted to emulate their Athenian masters.1 The soil of Attica is of a light, calcarious, and arid quality : and so scantily supplied with water, that in its most flourishing period the Athenians were enabled to maintain only a small2 body of ca- valry, on account of the want of pasture : and in case of necessity they called in the Thessalian horse. Thucydides3 and Diodorus Sicu- lus4 call Attica unfertile ; and we know that it derived a great part even of its necessary articles of subsistence from foreign countries ; particularly from the islands of Eubcea and Cyprus, and the fertile coast about the Euxine. Oil was the only commodity of importance that was permitted to be exported ;5 and even this was supposed not originally to have been a native6 product of the Attic soil. But we must recollect, that formerly no expedient was left untried, by which agriculture might be rendered prosperous ; and that at present no violence is omitted by which it can be discouraged. In iEgypt, where even the symbols and implements of cultivation are seen so frequently represented on their temples and obelisks, agriculture was held in a kind of religious veneration. Bacchus, under the name of Osiris, Ceres, under that of Isis,7 and the ox itself, under that of Apis, received the enthusiastic adoration of the 1 The only part of architecture in which the Romans surpassed the Greeks, was in their aqueducts and cloacas. 2 Thucydides says the Athenians had only 1,200 horsemen, b. 2. c. 2. 3 B. I.e. 2. * B. 4. 5 Plutarch's Life of "Solon. 6 According to Pindar, Hercules brought the olive to Greece, from the source of the Danube, Olymp. 3. v. 24. The kotivoq, or wild olive, grows in most parts of Greece, as was the case in very early times. In the sixth Olympiad, the Delphic oracle ordered that the victors at the Olympic games should be crowned with it. Daikles, the Messenian, in the seventh Olympiad, was the first who was thus crowned ; see Clavier prem. terns de la Greece, vol. 2. p. 205, who cites Phlegon. p. 148. and Dion. Halicarn. Ant. Rom. b. I. See also Theophrast. Hist. Plant, b. 4. c. 14. The Kotinos was early known in Italy, and, according to Strabo, the tomb of Polites, near Temesa, in the country of the Brutii, was sur- rounded by them, b. 6. p. 255. 7 Diodor. Sic. b. I.e. 13. b ANCIENT POPULATION OF ATTICA. grateful Egyptians. Greece, in imitating the principal part of Egyptian worship, followed her example in the encouragement which she gave, and in the respect which she evinced, for agricul- tural pursuits. Throughout the greater part of Turkey necessity is almost the only motive in the cultivation of the soil ; the husband- man is outraged and despised : and as in great part of Italy, Spain, and Portugal, their agricultural practice is so very deficient, that they lose half the profit of their land ; and were it not for the exuberant fertility of the soil, the labour would not be compensated by the crop. There were however in the narrow and sterile country of Attica, a hundred and seventy-four demoi, or towns, besides the capital. Its population is uncertain ; but I should conceive, that, considering the number of the demoi, it could not have contained in its flourishing period, less than a million and a half of inhabi- tants, including strangers and slaves. AVe know that it was so over- stocked that it was obliged to diminish the superabundance of its population, by sending out many colonies to distant countries. According to Plutarch,1 the number of true Athenian citizens in the time of Pericles, was fourteen thousand and forty. In the time of Demetrius the Phalerian, there were, according to Athenaeus,2 20,000 citizens in Attica, besides 10,000 strangers, and 400,000 slaves. Some however seem of opinion, that this number was con- tained within the capital itself. Aristophanes3 asserts, that there were 80,000 inhabitants in Athens, besides the slaves ; and Plato4 says, that amongst the citizens of Attica, there were 20,000 abli to bear arms. Athens indeed might easily have contained half a million of inhabitants within the whole circuit of its Avails, including the ports ; and we know that the houses were crowded, and some- times of large dimensions. According to Demosthenes,5 some habita- tions in Athens surpassed in beauty the edifices of Pericles. This 1 Life of Pericles. » Deipnosoph. b. 6. 3 Eccles. 4 Critias. 5 Olynth. POWER AND WEALTH OF ANCIENT ATHENS. 7 however was a rare case, as the houses were in general small, and accompanied as in the present day Avith over-hanging galleries.1 The streets were dark, narrow, and irregular. The interesting historical and statistical speech of Pericles,2 previ- ous to the Peloponnesian war, exhibits a splendid picture of the power, prosperity, and opulence of this diminutive country. The sea coast of Attica was guarded by 300 ships ; 1,200 cavalry, 1,600 archers, and 13,000 pikemen, were ready to defend the country ; not counting the 16,000 troops who were to guard the walls of Athens, and the forts of Attica, nor those who were stationed in the colonial garrisons. They could call to their assistance a thousand3 tributary towns, and command the fleets of Chios, Lesbos, and Corcyra. And their treasury contained 9>700 talents,4 besides a great quantity of gold in the temples of the gods. In addition to these acquired riches, Attica possessed some local advantages, which to a certain degree compensated for the sterility of its soil. The silver mines of Laurion, added to the wealth of the treasury, as well as to that of individuals, and those sumptuous edifices, which constituted the pride of the Athenians, and the admiration of the present day, owed their origin to the marble quarries of Pentelikon. The Athenian ports were numerous and good ; and even their ungrateful soil, and their narrow territory, were useful in exciting the inhabitants to extend their commerce, and multiply their settlements, by which they gratified at once their taste for luxury, and their love of power. The air of Attica was always esteemed for its purity ; and it is still the best in Greece. Its extreme dryness has greatly contributed to the admirable preservation of the Athenian edifices ; for where they 1 Aristot. Econom. b. 2. « Thucyd. b. 2. c. 13. 3 Aristoph. Vesp. v. 705. A thousand is probably a poetical manner of expressing a great many. * Thucyd. b. 2. c. 13. The Attic talent was worth about two hundred and twenty-five pounds sterling ; by which it appears that the Athenian treasury contained 2,182,500 pounds. 8 CLIMATE OF ATTICA. have escaped the unhallowed violence of Christians, Turks, and Goths, they appear as fresh as if they had been lately finished. The heat of the Athenian summer is mitigated by the regularity of the wind ; which, rising about ten o'clock in the forenoon, blows with refreshing strength during a great part of the day ; generally from some point between west and north. Plutarch1 calls them Etesian winds ; and says that Themistocles2 would not begin the battle of Salamis, until that time of the day when the wind always blows fresh from the sea. We may therefore infer that the battle began about ten in the forenoon. According to Polybius,3 a ship might sail from Cephallenia to Messenia in one day, when favoured by the Etesian gales. It is evi- dent therefore that they blew nearly from the north-west. For a few days, when I was at Athens, in the month of August, 1805, and the wind did not blow, the heat became intolerable. Fahrenheit's thermometer rising to 105° within doors ; whereas on the days when the sea breeze set in as usual, it seldom rose higher than 85°. It would appear from a passage in Aulus Gellius,4 that the Etesian winds blew from different points in different quarters of the globe. " Etesias et Prodromi appellantur, qui certo tempore anni quam canis oritur, ex alia, atque alia parte caeli spirant." In some coun- tries these were attended with constant rain ; and in others with a long continuance of dry weather. The productions of Attica were compared for their excellence with those of Rhodes, by Lynceus of Samos.5 The waters though not abundant are pure and light.6 The olives and the honey are still the best in the world. The wine is indifferent 1 Life of Dion. °- Life of Themistocles. 3 B. 5. p. 354. * Noct. Att. b. 2. c. 22. See also the note of Casaubon on Strabo, b. 3. p. 144. note 4. Aristot. Meteor. 2. 16. Poljb. b. 4. and 5. Diodor. Sic. b. 3. Strabo, b. 2, 3, and 15. Plin. Nat. Hist. b. 2. c. 47. Columel. b.2. c.27. Michael Glyca, Ann. Pars. 1. p. 7. Paris edit. 5 See Athenaeus Deipnosoph. b. 14. c. 13. and 19. 6 Athenaeus Deipnosoph. b. 2. c. 5. PRODUCE OF ATTICA. 9 and impregnated with rosin. The meat is bad, owing to the want of pastures. The common food is goat, kid, and lamb. Game is plentiful and good. Fish is scarce, on account of the few fishing boats employed. The favourite and most plentiful fish on the coast of Attica is the Pelamydes, or rfyXa^u?,1 which is called by its ancient name. It is the scomber-pelamis2 of the Latins. The oysters are of a large size ; and both the fish and the shell are beautifully coloured. They are called gaidarapoda3 by the Greeks, from their resemblance to the form of an ass's foot. The provisions of the Greek islands are far superior to those of the continent. The meat is of a different quality, and the wine is seldom impregnated with rosin. Most of the wines of the Archipelago are excellent; particularly those of Tenedos, Cyprus, Tenos, Ikaria, Samos, Andros, Chios, and Crete. The wines of the Ionian islands are also extremely fine. The only good wines of the Grecian con- tinent are those of the plain of Sparta, Pheneos, and Ligurio, near Epidauros in Argolis. The corn is ripe in Attica about twenty-five days sooner than in the Morea and in Crete. This is probably owing to the nature of the earth, and the abundance of nitre with which the Attic soil is im- pregnated. I have seen corn, cotton, and tobacco, growing amongst the ruins of ancient cities, in places where it would appear impossi- ble for the plough to work, or for vegetation to exist ; and where there is scarcely any soil, and little else than small stones and broken tiles. Their ploughs are drawn by two oxen, and penetrate very little into the ground. The corn, instead of being threshed, is trodden out by horses. The horse, who is held by a long rope, runs round upon an even rocky spot where the corn is scattered. There are I See Strabo, b. 7. p. 320. b. 12. p. 545, 549. He mentions the Qwvt, and the IL)\a^i/f as different fish. 2 Supposed to be the Tunny when young. 3 Belon. Voyage du Levant. See also Valmont, Diet. d'Hist. Nat. torn. 4. VOL. II. C 10 TREADING OF CORN. three principal treading floors at Athens; which are at the temple of Jupiter Olympios, the temple of Theseus, and the Pnyx. The harvest is completely finished, and the corn all trodden, about the 15th of August. In the island of Ceylan,1 and at Adrianople,2 the corn is trodden by oxen : and in some parts of Italy, they use both oxen and horses for that purpose; but more commonly the latter ; and sometimes ten horses are employed at the same time, in one treading-ground. Horses are also made use of for the same purpose in some parts of France. That corn was trodden by oxen in the earliest ages we see by one of the laws of Moses ; where it is written — " Thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox that treadeth out the corn/'3 The same custom is alluded to in the beautiful simile of Homer ;4 who compares the carnage which Achilles made amongst his Trojan foes, to the treading of corn by oxen : iQf $' ore rig lev^y jSo«? upirwxq BvpopnTUTrovg Tpi&eptevc&i Kpt Xsuxov iDTpoyaXu tv aXurj PtpKpOi T£ XiTTT SyeVOVTO QiOUV V7T0 7T0<rCT EpiftVXCtlV. " As with autumnal harvest cover'd o'er, And thick bestrown, lies Ceres' sacred floor ; When round and round, with never-wearied pain The trampling steers beat out th' unnumber'd grain."5 Mr. Hamilton, in his learned work on iEgypt, mentions some catacombs, near Mount Dgibbel Skeikh Said ; upon the sculptured parts of which, asses and oxen are exhibited in the act of treading the corn. Pigs were employed in that country for the same pur- pose, according to Herodotus.6 1 Knox's Voyage to Ceylan. : Lady M. W. Montague's Letters on Turkey. 3 Deuteronomy, c. 25. v. 4. and St. Paul's first Epist. to the Corinthians, c. 9. v. 9. * Iliad. 20. v. 495. 5 Pope. 6 B. 2. c. 14. ANCIENT ATHENIAN FAMILIES. 11 The Athenian corn is mingled with a great quantity of the bane- ful herb lolium,1 which among the Greeks retains the ancient name cti(>oc ; of which a long account is given by Theophrastus2 and Ga- lenus.3 The former4 terms it very properly, a»^« (Sapu xui xeQuXuXyig. If the wheat is not cleaned and picked before it is ground into flour, it is so much vitiated by the darnel, as to occasion when eaten vio- lent pains in the head, and a giddiness, which resembles the effects of intoxication. The Athenian bread is generally gritty, and some- times mixed with bean flour, which makes it heavy and unwhole- some, while it communicates an unpalatable taste. Strabo5 mentions a plant, called Qpvov, which grew among the corn in Triphyllia, and which Avas not less noxious than the aipx. This was probably the car ax of the Latins, or, as some imagine, the solarium insanimi, or night-shade. According to Afhenseus,6 Antiphanes asserts, that Attica produced the best bread in the world. As in the time of Ion,7 the modern Athenians are divided into the four distinct classes of cultivators, craftsmen, military, and priests. The Albanians cultivate the land ; the Greeks engage in commerce and the mechanical arts. The Turks garrison the city, and smoke. The priests do nothing ! Some few Turks indeed direct their atten- tion to commerce and the arts; but not one of them tills the ground. In other parts of Greece, particularly in Eleia, where the Greek population is small, the Turks make a virtue of necessity, and be- come industrious husbandmen. There are few families in Athens, or indeed in any other part of 1 Infelix lolium et steriles nascuntur avenae. Virgil Bucolic. Eclog. 5. v. 37. It is the Darnel, Cockle, or Ray, of the English; the Gioglio of the Italians, and the Ivraie of the French. e Hist. Plant, b. 2. c. 5. 3 De Aliment. Facult. last chapter. * B. 8. c. 5. s B. 8. p. 344. 6 Deipnosoph. b. 3. c. 2. 7 Strabo, b. 8. p. 383. According to Plutarch, the Athenian tribes took their names from their different occupations. The military were the Hoplitae ; the craftsmen, Ergataj; the cultirators, Teleontes ; and the shepherds and graziers, Aigicores ; Life of Solon. c 2 12 ATHENIAN ANCIENT FAMILIES. Greece, which have classical names, or which can trace their genea- logy to a more remote period than the conquest of the eastern empire. A family at Athens, by the name of Palaiologos, boasts its descent from the Grecian emperors of that name; and Zakunthos also possesses another family of the same name. The Palaiologi of Athens are in circumstances too humble for their elevated appellation. They possess a good house, which they are happy to let to strangers upon very moderate terms. This family seems to have been in better circumstances in the time that Guillatiere travelled in Greece r1 he says that a daughter of that illustrious house was at that period married to a bold and vicious Frenchman from Lyons, named Giraud. There was another Athe- nian family, by name Pittaki, which boasted the antiquity of its ancestry. The last of this house was put to death not many years ago, by Haliadji-Agha, surnamed the cruel Voivode, for resisting his arbitrary power. The name of the British agent at Athens, is Komatiano ; but he is always distinguished by the title of Logothetes, which is hereditary in some of the Grecian families. The office of Logothetes,2 consists in attending the synod once a month, and in giving his opinion and advice in ecclesiastical affairs. Another family at Libadea enjoys the same title ; which has indeed superseded the family name, by which they are never called, and which themselves never use. The archbishop of Athens enjoys a good salary ; but his see has lost no small part of its former splendour. Codinus calls it the first in Greece. E|ap%o? Trourys EAXaJo?. The best ecclesiastical preferment 1 In 1669, Athens, ancient and modern. * According to Cinnamus, the Logothetes was the same as Cancellarius, Hist. b. 4. p. 82. Paris edit. Codinus says it was the duty of the Logothetes to act for the Patriarch in instructing the people, Aoyoferi/e toiuiv Xoyove /car/JXJjriicovc irpog tov \aov SiKawg tov ira.rpia.pxov, de Offic. Constantinop. c. 1. p. 5. Paris edit. RELIGIOUS DISSENSIONS. 13 in Attica, after the arch-bishopric, is the abbacy of the monastery of Pentele. The inferior clergy of the Greek church are generally charac- terized by a considerable portion of ignorance and bigotry. They hate and despise all other religious persuasions ; but their theological rancour is principally directed against Roman Catholics, whom they abhor more than the Mohamedans ! It is singular also that the Othmans or Sunnites have a greater prejudice against the Persian Shiites, or followers of Aly, than against the Jews and Christians. In some of the Grecian islands the population is divided between the Greek patriarchal church, and that of Rome; amongst whom the most violent and indecent controversies frequently arise. When their dissensions become very furious, the Turks make both parties pay a fine, and then leave them to settle the difference as well as they can. " Fra due littiganti, il terzo gode." 1 The Greeks hold in abomination the numerous statues and paint- ings resembling life, which are seen in the churches of other countries. I sometimes endeavoured to persuade them that there was no more harm in good paintings, than in the vile daubs which disgrace the churches of Greece, and which are purposely executed without effect of light and shade, in order that they may resemble nothing human or divine. But they affirm that this very circumstance con- stitutes their merit, as they have no appearance of reality ; while, on the contrary, those in Catholic churches are such exact representa- tions of life, that they appear to be breathing realities. " The bolder forms of sculpture in brass or in marble, which peopled the temples of antiquity, are offensive to the fancy or conscience of the Christian Greeks ; and a smooth surface of colour has ever been esteemed a more decent and harmless mode of imitation. Your scandalous figures stand quite out from the canvass, they are as bad as a group of statues !" It was thus, says Gibbon, that the 1 iEsop's Fable of the kite, the frog, and the mouse. 14 STATE OF THE GREEK CLERGY. ignorance and bigotry of a Greek priest applauded the pictures of Titian, which he had ordered but refused to accept! Although the fasts in Greece are remarkably long and severe, yet the fattest and the stoutest people are seen amongst the priests ; and their appearance demonstrates that they are well fed. It is certain that they neither follow the rigid examples of the ancient priests of Samos, nor of the Hierophants of Athens ; in short, their chastity is not proverbial, nor are their morals without a stain ! A Greek priest can only marry once ; his bride must be a virgin ; and he cannot afterwards aspire to a higher dignity in the church than that of proto-papas. A Greek monk, who resided at Prebesa in Epiros, and who took care of the church of Saint George, which is in the vicinity, used to derive considerable emolument from the religious charity of the Greeks of the surrounding country who visited the church, and paid their devoirs to the miraculous picture on the Saint's Day. One year it happened to rain incessantly during the whole of the day, so as to suspend the accustomed visits of the numerous devotees. The disappointed monk, having prayed in vain to the Saint to stop the rain, at last in a rage took his picture from the church, and exposed it to the inclemency of the weather, exclaiming, " I have served you all the year to get a little money on your day ; and in return you permit it to rain, and prevent good Christians from saluting you with their homage, and me with their alms. Take therefore the rain for your pains I" Somewhat similar to this is the story in the fable, of one who prayed to Jupiter to assist him in killing a flea; and broke his statue because he did not comply with the request. Nothing is so inimical to the regeneration of the Greeks, as the overbearing power, and extreme bigotry and ignorance, of their spiritual pastors, who exercise a double tyranny over the minds and bodies of their flocks ; nipping in the bud the force of their native genius, and reducing nature by long and severe mortifications. But, although this is the general failing of the Greek priests, it is INSINCERITY OF ITALIAN COMPLIMENTS. 15 fortunately not without some exceptions; and there are many of their clergy, who, for humanity, wisdom, and devotion, would be an honour to any country. Nor must we ever omit this important consideration, — that almost all the faults of the Greeks are owing to their present cruel oppres- sion ; and that, if under such circumstances, they are not much worse than other nations, there is every reason to suppose, that they would be inferior to no other people in wisdom and in virtue, if they were blessed with a just government, and a tolerant religion. The Greeks, following the example of their ancestors, are fond of hyperbolical expressions, and frequently follow the oriental cus- tom of saying the contrary to what they mean. They make some compensation however for this defect, by their sincere hospitality, and natural and unaffected civility. Very different is the false and complimentary style of phraseology that is used in some parts of Italy, where, on entering a house, the traveller is frequently offered the house itself, and every thing it contains ; and at length, when he has obtained the bare necessaries of life, is obliged to pay four times their value, or to suffer insult and menace ! A ludicrous in- stance of this disgusting and impudent hypocrisy was recounted to me by an English traveller, who visited the Lucrine Lake near Naples, and meeting a man upon its banks, asked him to whom it belonged ? the answer was, — To your Excellency. The fact is, the man was the proprietor of the lake, and made a complimentary gift of it to the traveller ; who, encouraged by such extreme civi- lity, begged that he might have a few oysters taken out of it, for which he would willingly pay ; this little civility was however in- stantly refused ! The Greeks are remarkable for their procrastination.1 I never 1 It seems that this failing is not peculiar to the Greeks. See Miss Edgeworth's Castle Rack-rent. 16 LANGUAGE AT ATHENS. knew one of them make a sudden determination, and put it into immediate execution. Even affairs of the smallest importance, and which require no reflection, are deferred until the morrow ; and if any thing whatever is required, however urgent the necessity, the common answer is, Sev eivoie, or eeupiov ctvptov.1 The procrastination of the Theban2 Polemarch Archias, became proverbial in Greece, but it is still universally practised. The language at Athens is on the same level with the music ; and there is no part of Greece, where the idiom and pronunciation are so vitiated, although the Attic dialect was formerly so much admired !3 " But what shall I say," exclaims Simeon Kabasilas, " of the dialects, which are numerous and different, being above seventy ! Of all these the Athenian is the worst."4 The modern Athenian pronunciation is held in ridicule by the other Greeks. They have, in common with the rest of Greece, adopted many words which belong to the Latin, Italian, Arabic, Sclavonian, and Albanian. Guillatiere asserts, that in his time5 " the language at Athens was the most genuine and incorrupt of all the cities in Greece, and that it was no where spoken or understood in its primitive purity but at Athens." And I cannot imagine what could induce Mons. Guys6 to affirm, that the organic delicacy of the Athenian ears has preserved, from tradition, the sweetness of the pure and ancient pronun- ciation ! As it is impossible to transmit to posterity clear descriptions of sound, it is not likely that we should ever be able to acquire any very just notions on this subject. The powerful effects which the ancient Greeks attributed to music is evident from several curious circumstances in their history, without referring to the mythological 1 There is none, or to-morrow, to-morrow. s Plutarch's Life of Pelopidas. 3 Cicero de perfecto Oratore. 4 From Mearsius, speaking of the language in Greece about the year 1578. 5 Athens, aucieut and modern, 1669. 6 Lettres sur la Graec. GREEK MUSIC. 17 accounts of Orpheus, Linus, Amphion, Arion and the Dolphin, Ulysses, and the Sirens, &c. I shall not attempt to make any other than a few superficial observations on this " periculosae plenum opus aleae," which has been so scientifically treated by persons who are profoundly acquainted with the subject.1 Polybius2 ascribes the extraordinary cruelty and barbarity of the Cynethaeans, principally to their contempt and ignorance of music, which the other Arcadians carefully cultivated, and even obliged their children to learn. The Spartans thought the addition of two strings to the lyre, which was made by Phrynis, a most dangerous innovation ; so that the original number of seven only was tolerated ; and they severely reproved Timotheus for forming the lyre with twelve strings. Such •was the importance of which they considered any alteration in their musical regulations.3 The modern Greek music is probably very different from that of the ancients. It is as harsh and offensive to the ear as their wine is to the palate. The common Greek songs are precisely in the same style as the native and unadorned yells of the Italian peasants ; which are, beyond any thing, displeasing to the foreign ear.4 The wonderful effects Avhich ancient music produced upon the sensibility of the Greeks, is supposed to have been caused by the beauty of its harmony ; but they may perhaps, with greater 1 See Burney's Hist, of Music, and Dr. Gillies' Hist, of Greece, vol. 1 . c. 5. p. 233. et seq. 2 B. 4. p. 289. 3 Pliny says, Citharam Amphion, ut alii Orpheus, ut alii Linus, septem chordis additis Terpander. Octavam Simonides addidit. Nonam Timotheus. Cithara sine voce cecinit Thamyras primus, cum cantu Amphion, ut alii Linus. Citharcedica carmina composuit Terpander. Nat. Hist. b. 7. c. 56. — I have seen the Cithara represented on various ancient monuments with from three strings to ten. 4 The lower class of Italians sing beautiful airs, in parts, with a great deal of taste ; but these are composed by regular authors, being very different from the untaught howls above- mentioned. VOL. II. D 18 GREEK MUSIC. probability, be attributed to the natural excitability of the people, rather than to any intrinsic excellence in the music. The whining lyre, and the gingling tamboura, the shrill pipe, and the heavy drum, and even the unharmonious Sclavonian monachord, have the strongest effects upon the quick feelings of the modern Greeks. A Greek can seldom sing without dancing at the same time ; and the rest of the company present can never resist the temptation of joining the party, as if actuated by a natural impulse ; and when they all sing together, the din is really horrible ; it may be ranked among the petty vexations of travelling in Greece, as well as the songs and music, with which the traveller is complimented, to the great offence of his ears and nerves ! For, although at first all this excites laughter, yet when the novelty is over, it be- comes insufferable. The traveller is sometimes tormented in this manner by his attendants, from sun-rise to sun-set! When I quitted Athens to make the tour of the Morea, I was accom- panied by some Athenians, with whom one indispensable con- dition of our agreement was, that they should never sing on the journey. I am confident that they regarded my want of taste with feelings of commiseration and contempt, similar to those which Polybius experienced, when he animadverted upon the unmusical character of the Cynethaeans ; and one of my intended servants actually gave up his place, from a conviction that he should not be able to adhere to the agreement which I required him to make ; and even those who did accompany me, seemed incapable of maintain- ing their promised silence after the first day. Love was the prin- cipal topic of their songs, which were singularly hyperbolical and ridiculous! One of the songs declared, that "if the sky was paper, and the sea wa sink, it were not sufficient to write down the suffer- ings of the lover, who had left his heart at Athens I"1 1 No Tjravt o Ovpavog \aPTV Kal *) OaXatraa ficKaivrj Aia va ypaipeiv rove wovovs fiov atcofxi lev tfOaivt. GREEK MUSIC. 19 Another song began with the following modest request : — " Oh, may the mountains sink down, and Athens be seen, where my love walks about like a goose."1 This singular comparison, so warmly expressed by the fond lover, renders it necessary to explain, that with the Athenian ladies it is deemed elegant and noble to walk slowly and heavily. This com- parison, therefore, which appears so ludicrous to us, is with them one of the serious effusions of amorous panegyric. The following are expressions of fond endearment, which are applied to the Athenian ladies : — xvVOi f*ovi i*em%t& pov, pctria. j^ou, Zuypov, "¥vxfl pov, and KotpSix ftou. " My goose, my duck, my eyes, my life, my soul, and my heart/' Nearly the same expressions are used by Plautus2 in his Asinaria ; the scene of which is at Athens. We find them also in Martial3 and Juvenal.4 The Greeks and Turks neither admire nor understand any music but their own ; and that of other nations is as incomprehensible to them as a foreign language. The only Frank tune which they sing, and which they confess to have almost equal merit with their own 1 Na yafirj\<ovav ra fiovva va /3\eira rr\v ABtjva Na fiXiira ti\v ayairt] fiov irov irtpiraTU aav \r)va. Da meus ocellus ! raearosa! mianitne! mea voluptas ! &c. Die igitur me tuum passerculum, gallinam, coturnicem, &c. Die igitur me anaticulam, columbam, vel catellum, Hirundinem, monedulam, passerculum, putillum. — Act 3. sc. 3 3 Zwtj Kat 'Yvxi lascivum congeris usque, Proh pudor.— B. 10. Epig. 68. v. 5. quoties lascivum intervenit illud. Sat. 6. v» 193. Zwr) KaiYvxr) modo sub lodice relictis Uteris in turba. D2 20 EXTEMPORE MUSIC. music, is " Malbrouk," which has been introduced into Constan- tinople by the Franks, and is sung in many of the large towns of Greece. They attend more to the quantity than to the quality of the sound in music ; and they prefer noisy instruments to harmo- nious ones. Pietro della Valle,1 Lady Mary W. Montague,2 M. Guys, and D'Ohsson,3 speak in raptures of the music of modern Greece. They must have been peculiarly fortunate, as, during a resi- dence of nearly three years in various parts of Turkey, I hardly heard a tune which I could comprehend, except in some of the islands of the Archipelago ; where the motive of their airs is some- times not only intelligible to the mind, but gratifying to the ear.4 The music of the modern Greeks, as well as their poetry, is some- times an extemporaneous effort ; but then it is worse than usual, for they have not that facility which seems more exclusively to be- long to the Italian improvisator!, who, in general, roar so loud, that one would imagine, as Cratinus5 says, " that a river was rushing down their throat !" The first person, according to Philostratus,6 who spoke extempore7 on any given topic, was Gorgias of Leontium, who used to enter the theatre at Athens, desiring the audience to propose a subject,8 on which he immediately began to harangue without any previous pre- paration. The same circumstance is noticed by Cicero,9 who says, " primus ausus est Leontinus Gorgias, in conventu poscere qusestionem ; id est jubere dicere que de re quis vellet audire ; audax negotium !" Strabo10 also mentions a poet named Boethos, who could speak 1 Viaggi in Turchia, 1614. - Letters on Turkey. 3 Empire Othoman. 4 About the musical instruments at present used in Greece, see the Appendix. 5 See the scholiast of Aristophanes, Equites. note 523. H Proem, in Vit. Gorgias. 7 2X£c«h- \oyoj. 8 rfyo/jaXXt-E. See also Plato, Dialog. Gorg. p. 306 and 315. and Dialog. Phileb. p. 400. 9 De Finibus, b. 2. "> B. 14. p. 674. GREEK DANCES. 21 extempore on any subject. Pausanias1 will have that the historian Anaximenes, who lived in the time of Alexander, was the first who spoke extempore.2 The ancient Greeks had a great many different styles of dancing, accommodated to various purposes of a religious, warlike, tragic, comic, lascivious, and satirical kind, and in their numerous modi- fications and degrees. Many of these dances are still retained in Greece, and probably with little variation from the original models. The circular, or Romaika, is the national dance, and the most common of all, as it is employed in their religious festivals of the passover, and the carnival. It consists sometimes of men, at other times of women ; but on great occasions, of both sexes together, holding each other with a handkerchief, as gloves are not known in Turkey. The Romaika is generally composed of a great many performers, who dance round a large circle, jumping first with one foot, and then with the other, without any pretensions to grace, to elegance, or activity. This may possibly have been copied from the dance of the Laby- rinth, which Theseus3 instituted at Athens, after his prosperous return from Crete, and which, according to Callimachus,* was a cir- cular dance. Another, which is commonly practised by the Mohamedan Alba- nians, and is consequently named Arbanitiko, or Arnautiko, perhaps originates from the Spartan Bibasis, mentioned by Julius Pollux. It consists principally in jumping very high, and throwing the body into various warlike attitudes. This performance is confined to men, who dance it either singly, or in any number. It is practised in the mountainous parts of Thessaly and Macedon, the performers being 1 B. 6. c. 18. - Avroa^eSiwc. 3 Plutarch's Life of Theseus. 4 Hymn for Delos, v. 310. Also see Jul. Pollux, Onomast. b. 4. c. 14. seg. 101. 22 GREEK DANCES. armed with their musket and sword ; which may indicate a remnant of the Pyrrhic dance, or the ePoauov, or the Kaptxov, in which they were armed.1 In the islands of the Archipelago, and particularly in Chios, they have a dance performed by women, which is not inele- gant. It consists of two or more females holding each other by a handkerchief at full length. While dancing they take it in turns to sing poetry in rhyme. The first stanza being the strophe, they con- tinue turning round in one direction ; but, as soon as the anti- strophe or second stanza commences, they change their course, and turn the opposite way. iEschylus2 and Lucian3 mention a Spartan dance, which was ac- companied by singing. But the most curious and interesting of them all is the nuptial dance, which I had an opportunity of see- ing at Athens, on the marriage of Albanian Christians. When the bride, who was dressed in the gayest attire, had arrived from the country, and approached the house of the bridegroom, she was encircled by all the principal females of that people, Avho had assembled before the door, and while they danced around her, wel- comed her arrival with a degree of elegance, which not only capti- vated the imagination, but interested the affections. They sung at the same time the vpevaioi, or nuptial songs. Dances of an indecent kind are chiefly practised by sailors, in the idle hours of calm weather, or by depraved mercenaries, for the amusement of the Turks. Their excellence consists in disgusting atti- tudes and ludicrous contortions, which serve to excite the sluggish apathy, and enliven the sombre seriousness of the Musulman specta- tors. They will not however bear a parallel with the more clear and unambiguous dance of the Russian sailors, which combines all the 1 Jul. Pollux, Onomast. b. 4.c. 14. seg. 100. Xenophon, Exped. Cyri. b. 6. mentions an armed dance of the Ainianenses and Magnesians called Kaptraia. Pliny, Nat. Hist. b. 7. c. 56. says, u Saltationem armatam Curetes docuere, Pyrrhicen Pyrrhus, utramque in Creta." See also Ammian. Marcellin. b. 16. c. 5. Plutarch, De sera Numen. Vindic. and others. - Eumenid. v. 303. 3 De Saltat. GREEK DANCES. 23 variations of the lonici Mot its. The sailors' dance is called MoQav, by Julius Pollux c1 and the others of a similar tendency were named by the same author, Bocvjcto-pos, BxKTpicco-ftog, Attokivos, A-7ro<rBt<rig, and K.op$u%. The Turks2 have the greatest contempt for dancing ; which, as they think, degrades the dignity of man, and is fit only for children and madmen. They are nevertheless very much gratified by seeing others dance, and make fools of themselves for the amusement of the wise. Indeed this exhibition of muscular activity will sometimes cause the rigid monotony of their features to soften into a smile, and sometimes even to proceed so far as the climax of a laugh. This appears to be no small victory obtained over the gravity of those who deem it foolish to laugh at any thing ; but very foolish indeed to laugh at nothing ! — " Risu inepto nulla res ineptior."3 I had the satisfaction, while at Athens, of seeing the curious and interesting ceremonies attendant on an Albanian marriage. The Nu^pij, or bride, arrived from the country, riding on horseback ; the Nvptpayuyos, or Tlctpoxog, walked before her, and a female, the Nuppeurp/a, on each side : the bride, covered with the KaAu7nrpa,4 or veil, was ac- companied by a Papas, and a great crowd of Albanians, of both sexes, in gala dresses. The procession entered the gates of Athens with the sound of drums and fifes ; and when it reached the bridegroom's house, the happy fair was welcomed by other Albanian women, 1 Onomast. b. 4. c. 14. seg. 101. About other dances practised by the modern Greeks, the letters of Guys may be consulted with advantage. 1 Except the Derwisches. * Catullus in Egnat. v. 1 6. 4 The common veil which the Greek women wear is composed of two parts, one of which covers the forehead, and the other the lower part of the face, leaving at liberty only the nose and eyes. The nuptial veil is of a different kind, and being long and transparent, the person who wears it can see others through it, her own features being concealed, as it is only per- spicuous when near the eye. This kind of veil is alluded to by Euripides in his Iphig. in Tauris, v. 372. — Eyw & Xcjttwv Ofifia ?(0 KaXvfj^taTuy E^oi/ff'. 24 ATHENIAN FEMALES. dancing the Zvprcg, and singing the vpevcuoi, or marriage songs. The nuptial bed, or Kx<w? yupfH&q; which was brought on horseback from the village,, formed a conspicuous feature in the festivity of the pro- cession. When the bride alighted from her horse, her veil1 was taken off; and she was conducted to the presence of her husband. The Tdfjiog, or nuptial feast, ensued ; when all the elderty ladies were affec- tionately busy in presenting the new-married pair with pomegra- nates and other fruits, hoping that she might imitate the fertility of those trees, and bless her husband with a numerous progeny. The pomegranate was anciently a mystic fruit, representing plenty and the generative power. There is no part of Greece in which the females are so plain as at Athens. We look in vain for the sylph-like forms, for the airy elegance, which enrapture the beholder in their statues, and their cameos. Their features are fine ; but their complexions are pale, and their general appearance is characterized by languor and debility. But their eyes are sparkling, and their teeth are good. Premature corpulence, proceeding from a sedentary and inactive life, the fre- quent use of the warm bath, and the relaxation of a hot climate, is particularly conspicuous in the Athenian ladies. This corpulence, however, is rather an object of desire than of aversion, as the symmetrical contour of a delicate shape is not much in unison with the taste, either of the Greeks or the Turks. But the sentiment of beauty, which was prevalent in ancient times, was of a different kind. The females of Athens did not then attempt to fascinate by the ponderous magnitude of their dimensions, but on the contrary took every method to prevent corpulence.2 The Greek and Turkish ladies have few accomplishments, and have neither the inclination nor capacity for any mental occupation. They pass the time in embroidering and spinning, and other female 1 See Jul. Pollux, Onomast. b. 3. c. 3. seg. 37. s Terence, Eunuch, and Adelph. INACTIVITY OF THE TURKS. 25 employments, in which all eastern nations excel, owing to their secluded and sedentary mode of life : such were the occupations even of queens and princesses in the heroic ages; of which Homer will furnish frequent proofs. The modern Greeks are fond of all kinds of sweet -smelling flowers and perfumes. The ancients were also partial to precious oint- ments,1 but the men were regarded as effeminate, if they indulged much in their use f and it was prohibited both by the Spartans and Athenians.3 The Athenian ladies in summer generally wear a small bag under their axilla, containing aromatic and sweet-scented herbs, in order to counteract the Lemnian smell, or hircinus odor* which in hot climates is sometimes extremely disgusting— " An gravis hirsutis cubet hircus in alis."5 Amongst the Turks the men are as sedentary as the women ; and have no idea of taking exercise for health or for amusement. Their favourite motion is riding ; and they consider walking below the dignity even of the lowest Musulman. When a Turk once met me on foot some miles from Athens, he inquired of some Greeks, who accompanied me, if I was a gentle- man Frank, which he said he much doubted, as no gentleman would walk, if he had paras enough to pay for a horse ! Genius and intrigue appear the hereditary patrimony of the Athe- nians. Their imaginations still flutter Avith the shadows of departed in- dependence; and their bosoms still vibrate, however faintly, with the love of liberty. If their Voivode conducts himself ill, they carry their complaints to Constantinople, and generally succeed in having their grievances redressed. During my residence at Athens complaints 1 Barthelemy, Anachar. citing Theophrast. Charact. c. 5. 2 Pastillos Rufillus olet, Gorgonius hircum. — Horace, Sat. b. 1. sat. 2. v. 27. 3 Athenaeus Deipnosoph. b. 15. c. 10. 4 Lactant. Theb. 5. of Statius. s Horace Epod. 12. v. 5. VOL. II. E 26 COMPLAINTS MADE AGAINST THE VOIVODE OF ATHENS. were made against the Voivode, who was ordered to give an ac- count of his behaviour at Constantinople. He was accused of arbi- trary spoliation ; and some of his officers were charged with outrage, and with insult. Particular stress was laid on the wanton brutality of his Greek secretary, who, for the mere love of mischief, used to ride over the fields of cotton and tobacco. I have frequently seen him galloping through the narrow streets of Athens, and endangering the lives or limbs of the passengers ! He was easily distinguished at a distance, as he was mounted on a white horse, with its tail and mane died of an orange colour,1 and was attended by other horse- men Avho played upon the violin as they rode. The grave and dignified exterior that is uniformly assumed by Turks, would induce a belief that they were exempt from the com- mon weaknesses of humanity, and alike indifferent to the ordinary causes of lively or melancholy emotions. So few opportunities indeed are offered to the traveller, of pene- trating into the mysteries of their domestic privacy, that I may consider myself as particularly fortunate in having been an eye witness of, and in some measure a principal actor in, a scene which has made a deep impression on my memory ; as it enabled me to observe, in an undisguised manner, the secret workings of the heart, agitated by the most powerful emotions, and the bosoms of a whole family responsive to the most interesting sympathies. This adven- ture, which occurred during my stay at Athens, has somewhat the air of romance, but it is simply as follows : Of the few indulgences Avhich the jealousy of Turkish husbands allows to their wives, the recreation of the bath is the most highly prized ; and hither, as to a public coffee-house, the females eagerly 1 This die is made from a plant called Hanna, or Alcanna, and is used by the females of the east to colour their nails. It was used anciently to colour hair, and is the same as the terra capillorum. — See Belon, Voyage au Levant. INTRUSION OF THE DISDAR INTO A BATH OF FEMALES. 27 resort, and pass several hours of the day in gossipping and scan- dal, which constitute their principal amusement, and their highest delight. At these periods, the bath is, of course, accessible only to women ; but, though on this point the Turkish manners are so inflexibly severe, the Disdar, or governor of the fortress, had the temerity to venture into that bath, which it was permitted for none but females to use ; and like another Actaeon, to feast his unhallowed eyes on the forbidden charms of the young females who were un- consciously exposed to his view, in all their native purity and volup- tuous elegance. The rash intruder was soon discovered in this forbidden situation ; a scream of terror resounded through the vaulted chamber of the bath ; the inexpiable insult was soon known to the infuriated husbands, and the trembling Disdar was compelled to take refuge in the Acropolis ! But the Turks threatening to attack him even in that retreat, he soon retired to iEgina, where, not think- ing himself secure from the vengeance of his enemies, he was ulti- mately compelled to conceal himself in the island of Hydrea. Several weeks after this unfortunate discovery, which forced the Disdar into a temporary exile, and while I was residing with the catholic missionaries, the ill-starred fugitive returned to Athens in disguise. The catholic convent was the first place to which he re- sorted for protection in his misfortune. Night had closed the entrance of the monastery, and we had all retired to our apart- ments for repose, when we were suddenly alarmed by a loud rap- ping at the gate. A stranger in the street, in the tone of earnest supplication and of deep distress, implored an immediate admission within the sacred walls. But, as the circumstance was so singular, and the interruption so extraordinary, we thought it right to arm ourselves before Ave ventured to unbar the door. This was no sooner accomplished than a tall figure made his appearance, whose face was muffled up in the folds of his mantle, which he no sooner deve- loped, than the Disdar, pale as a culprit and humble as a mendicant, presented himself to our astonished sight ! He made a forcible E 2 28 HIS DISCOVERY, FLIGHT, AND RETURN TO ATHENS. appeal to our sympathy ; and craved that protection, which, in such circumstances of suffering, is seldom craved in vain. The numerous fears, by which he had been recently persecuted, and the actual ills he had experienced, had lowered his supercilious arrogance, and made a strange alteration in the looks of the haughty Turk. He kissed the beard of the Prior ; and with abject servility implored an asylum in the convent. But the wary capuchin, not daring to risk the consequence of a discovery, repressed the compassion which he felt, and refused the favour which was so vehemently urged. The Disdar then had recourse to me, forgetting the little civility with which he had treated me, when he commanded in the Acropolis. But he now besought my compassion in a manner so humble and affecting, that I interested myself unfeignedly in his behalf; and, after some difficulty, obtained the permission of Father Urban, to conceal him in one of my apartments, where he was suffered to re- main till I left Athens. The Disdar, of a violent and rapacious character, was about forty years of age, of a noble and imposing appearance, with a fine flow- ing black beard, and habited in scarlet and gold. His wife was a Greek, and his family was numerous. The convent is situated at no great distance from the Acropolis ; and one of the rooms which I occupied was opposite to the eastern extremity of that fortress. When the Disdar became a little tranquillized, by the conscious security of his retreat, the domestic affections, of which 1 should not have previously thought him so susceptible, began to operate power- fully upon his breast; and he warmly entreated me to procure him an opportunity of beholding his wife and children from my window. The secret of his return to Athens was confined to the monks, my- self, and our servants ; but it required considerable precautions to prevent the disclosure; and, at the same time, to obtain for the distressed individual the particular gratification which he sought It was agreed that I should pay a visit to his wife, who lived in the Acropolis, and should arrange with her the three stated CONCEALMENT IN THE CONVENT. 29 periods of each day, at which she should shew herself, and her children, at the eastern battlement. The poor woman received me at first with trembling apprehension, and cautious reserve, and the more so from her knowledge of my previous dissensions with her husband. After much persuasion however I succeeded in conduct- ing her to the appointed spot ; where I shewed her the Disdar, who was anxiously watching for his wife with a telescope, which I had lent him for the purpose. This unexpected sight of one whom she appears to have tenderly loved, was too much for her natural un- affected sensibility. She uttered a scream of joy, and fainted in my arms. This incident was alarming ; for if any Turk had been passing at the moment, the retreat of the Disdar would probably have been discovered, or else I should have incurred the suspicion of an impro- per familiarity with the wife of a Musulman, and my situation would have been hardly less perilous than that from which I was labouring to extricate the Disdar. Fortunately however her house was not far off, to which I conducted her with some danger and considerable difficulty. When she reached her home, and recovered from her surprise, she expressed her gratitude in the most affecting manner ; and in her confidence unveiled her face, which exhibited the undissembled linea- ments of care and woe. Her eldest son, a fine youth of about fifteen years of age, was called in, and entrusted with the secret of his father's return, and place of concealment. The same information was also confided to his eldest daughter, who however did not make her appearance. The other children were not of a sufficient age to be the depositories of such an important communication ; but they all accompanied their mother to the eastern battlement, without be- ing at all conscious of the purpose for which they went ; and little suspecting that they were affording to their afflicted father a spec- tacle of unspeakable delight. Every day during my stay at Athens this distant visit of fond curiosity and anxious solicitude was renewed, during which the Disdar and his family exhibited visible proofs of the force which the 30 SUPERSTITIONS, THE EVIL EYE. domestic sympathies had acquired over their affections. Few days elapsed in which I did not also call on his wife to give her tidings of her husband : for when I left Athens he had not yet ventured to quit the convent ; nor would prudential reasons permit him to receive a visit from his wife. When I left the monastery I exacted a solemn promise from the Prior to continue his protection to the Turk ; and was afterwards gratified by the intelligence, that he had happily brought about a reconciliation with his enemies, and Avas subse- quently restored to his command in the Acropolis. The Athenians have various superstitions ; of which magic forms a conspicuous part ; but as I have already noticed this subject, I shall at present mention another which is not less curious, and is of equal antiquity. This is the superstition of the Evil Eye ; of which the origin is un- known, although it is mentioned by several ancient authors. It was imagined that the evil look of an envious person caused great, and almost immediate misfortune to the object thus looked upon. For it was supposed to affect not only the human race, but also the brute creation, and even inanimate things, as gardens and houses. It was thought to be attended by an evil genius, which did as much mischief as it could, and sickened at the sight of prosperity, happi- ness, and beaut}r. To counteract the secret workings of this much- dreaded enemy to felicity and to excellence, the ancients had recourse to various expedients ; many of which have been followed by the moderns of Greece and Italy, and of some other countries, where this singular superstition still prevails in the full vigour of its pristine folly. It was known to the Greeks by the different names of Bc&cncxvos O(p9<x\po<;, O<p6x\pog Tlovrjpoq, Bcztrxuvoi;, Boutkocvicv, Boctrxavioi, and Boancciirvvri ; the same, according to Vossius,1 as <t><x.<rx.a.ivo? ; and, according to the Etymol. Mag. and the Scholiast of Theocritus, '- Etymol. p. 205. v. Fascinum. THE SUPERSTITION OF THE EVIL EYE. 31 derived from Oae<n kxivu, aspectu occido, from which the Latin word fascinum is also probably derived.1 It is the fascinum or fas- cinatio of the Latins ; for the derivation, of which Vossius and Faber2 may be consulted. Those who were supposed to possess the Evil Eye were particularly avoided, and it is written in the Book of Proverbs,3 " Eat not the bread of him that hath an evil eye." The Baa-Kccvo;, or charm, was practised in various manners ; by the look, the voice, and the breath.4 Too much praise5 of any object was supposed to fascinate it ; and some even fascinated themselves, and, by admiring themselves too much, pined away and died, like Narcissus. Children6 were most subject to the fatal effects of fas- cination, as persons of more mature7 years Avere deemed better able to resist it. Plutarch, who gives a long account of it, says, " that according to Phylarchus, a people of Pontus, called Thybii, destroyed grown up persons as well as children by their look, their voice, and their breath." Pliny8 tells us, that in Africa not only children have perished by the fascination of praise, but that even trees have been withered by its effects. " In eadem Africa familias quasdam efFascinantium, Isigo- nus et Nymphodorus tradunt, quarum laudatione intereant probata, arescant arbores, emoriantur infantes. Esse ejusdem generis in Tri- ballis, et Illyriis, adjicit Isigonus, qui visu quoque effascinent interi- mantque quos diutius intueantur, iratis prsecipue oculis ; quod eorum malum facilius sentire puberes." Fortunately this dreaded Evil had many powerful enemies ; amongst which were the goddess 1 See Potter. Antiq. b. 2. c. 18. p. 35fi. 4 Thesaur. p. 901. 3 q 23 V- g_ * Plutarch, Sympos. b. 5. prob. 7- 5 Catull. 7. 12. Virgil, Eclog. 7. v. 27. 6 Alex. Aphrod. b. 2. prob. 50. 7 Plat. loc. cit. 8 Nat. Hist. b. 7. c. 32 THE SUPERSTITION OF THE EVIL EYE. Cunina,1 and the god Fascinus.2 The antidote to the effects of the Envious Eye was termed A/3a<ncai/Tc?,3 Bcuncocvixg Qctpftuxuv,4' and Upc- Qwnummf and the amulets which were used on the occasion were called by the general name of OuXaxr^a, or (bccppaxa, a-urvipioc.. The efficacy of amulets was implicitly believed by the lower classes in Greece, who wore them as preservatives against all kinds of mala- dies, and the whole host of ills ; but this egregious folly did not in general escape derision. When Pericles was at the point of death, some women suspended an amulet to his neck ; which, as Plutarch remarks, was a sign that Pericles was nearly out of his mind, or he would not have sub- mitted to such a superstitious ceremonial. The most common remedy against an invidious look was spitting; it was hence called despuere malum. This is mentioned by many authors ; particularly by Theocritus,6 Tibullus/ Petronius,8 Persius,9 Pliny,10 Seneca,11 and Plautus.12 Theocritus says, " that it is necessary to spit three times into the breast of the person who fears the fascination."13 Petronius, besides saliva, mentions the use of variegated threads,14 and the putting of dust, combined with saliva, upon the forehead. " Ilia de sinu licium protulit varii coloris filis intortum, cervicemque unxit meam. Mox turbatum sputo pulverem medio sustulit digito, frontemque repugnantis signat, &c. hoc peracto carmine ter me jus- sit expuere, terque lapillos conjicere in sinum," &c. 1 Lactant. b. 1. c. 20. * Pliny, Nat. Hist. b. 28. c. 4. ' Dioscorid. b. 3. Plutarch Sympos. b. 5. prob. 7. 4 Aristot. prob. s Heliodor. JEthiopic. b. 3. p. 140. 6 Idyl. G. v. 39. 7 B. 1. Eleg. 2. v. 56. 3 Sat. 131. 9 Sat. 2. v. 32. 10 Nat. Hist. b. 2S. c. 3 and 4. " Consol. ad Marc. c. 9. 12 Captivi. act 3. sc. 4. v. 23. " ftj fxri fiaaKavQiii ct, rpig £iq t/iov ivrvaa koXttov. — Loc Clt. 14 See also Virgil, Eclog. 8. v. 77. THE EVIL EYE. 33 Persius says, that the lustrales salivae must be put upon the fore- head and lips of the child, with the middle finger : — " Frontemque, atque uda labella Infami digito, et lustralibus ante salivis Expiat/' iElian1 pretends, that pigeons cover their young ones with saliva to guard them against fascination. The early use of saliva, as a heal- ing medium as well as a preservative, has been transmitted to us in the Scripture. Christ cured a blind man by rubbing spittle upon his eyes: — " And he took the blind man by the hand, and led him out of the town, and when he had spit on his eyes, and put his hands upon them, he asked him if he saw aught ;"2 and again, " When he had thus spoken he spit, on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and then anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay."3 Every thing that was ridiculous and indecent was also supposed to be inimical to the malignant influence of fascination,4 <3W tijv uTOTriuv T7j4 otyeuc, " by the oddness of the sight/'5 And amongst these, the most potent was a " turpicula res," which, according to Varro,6 was suspended to the necks of children : " Potest vel ab eo quod pueris turpicula res in collo quaedam suspenditur, ne quid obsit bona; scaevae causa ; inde scaevola appellatur ; ea dicta ab scaeva, id est sinistra, quod quae sinistra sunt bona auspicia existimantur." The turpicula res is the same which Horace7 expresses by the word fascinum, which he uses, as it was known to be the great destroyer 1 Var. Hist. b. 1. c. 15. * St. Mark, c. 8. v. 23. s St. John, c. 9- v. 6. 4 Jul. Pollux Onomast. b. 7. c. 24. 5 Potter, Antiq. b. 2. c. 18. p. 358. 6 De Lingua Lat. b. 6. r Epod. 8. v. 18. VOL. II. F 34 THE EVIL EYE. of fascination ; and it was accordingly easily understood to what lie alluded. They are frequently found in Italy of bronze; and the other extremity of the symbol is terminated by a hand which is closed ; the thumb protruding between the fore and middle finger. This is probably the infamis digitus, which was inimical to the Evil Eye. Coral1 was anciently wore by children as antidotal to the Evil Eye, as it is still in many parts of Europe, and particularly England, but unattended with the superstition from which the custom origi- nated, though the coral preserves the form of the most powerful an- tidote, which children used to wear against fascination. Amber was frequently carried about the person from the same. preservative mo- tive,2 and it is sometimes found in ancient sepulchres. The petrified sharks' teeth, which, from their tongue-like form, were denominated Glosso petra, were also used as amulets against fascination.3 Horace4 uses the words obliquus oculus for envy i~ - " Non istic obliquo oculo mea commoda quisquam Limat ; non odio obscuro, morsuque, venenat." Animals were also subject to the effects of the Evil Eye, as we see in Virgil5 — " Nescio quis teneros oculis mihi facinat agnos." Pliny6 informs us that gardens, and other inanimate objects, were defended from it by " satyrica signa ;" and, according to Vossius,7 inauspicious birds were fixed upon doors for a similar purpose. The 1 Jee Orpheus de Lapid. Coral, v. 81. et seq. and De Boot, Gemmar. et Lapid. Hist, b. 2. c. 154. p. 309- and c. 155. p. 315. f Plin. Nat. Hist. b. 37. c. 3. De Boot, b. 2. c. 160. p. 327. Orpheus enumerates many other stones which had antidotal properties. 3 De Boot, b. 2. c. 168. p. 341 . * B. 1. Epist. 14. v.37. s Eclog. 3. v. 103. 6 Nat. Hist. b. 19. c. 4. 7 Etymol. p. 206. THE EVIL EYE. 35 Evil Eye is termed by the modern Greeks xccxo Man,1 which is equi- valent to the Baa-Kuvos, or vovTipo; otyQcthftoq of the ancients.2 Superlative praise was exceedingly dreaded by the ancients, as it is also at the present day, of which Virgil3 furnishes an instance : — " Aut si ultra placitum laudarit, baccare frontem Cingite, ne vati noceat mala lingua futuro." The word prce/iscine* was used in order to counteract the bad effects of this praise, and to shew that it was sincere, and not in- tended in a contrary sense. In the mountainous parts of Italy, where ancient customs are preserved, the person who is the object of praise in general says, on such occasions — " Si mal occhio non ci fosse -," meaning, that the praise would be acceptable if sincere, and unattended with envy. The first place where I discovered this superstition was in the island of Corfu. I was taking a view near a cottage, into which I was kindly invited, and hospitably entertained with fruit and Avine. Two remarkably fine children, the sons of my host, were playing about the cottage ; and as I wished to pay a compliment to the parents, I was lavish in my praises of their children. But when I had repeated my admiration two or three times, an old woman, 1 From 0/.i[ia.Twv. 1 The superstition of the Evil Eye is also mentioned by many other authors, particularly Plautus Asinar. act 2. sc. 4. line 84. Aul. Gellius Noct. Att. b. 16. c. 12. Gratius. Marcellus on Physic. Chrysostom Orat. Tertullian de Virg. Veland. c. 14. and 15. Erasm. Chiliad. 1 . Cent. 35. Cornel. Agrip. b. 1 . Turneb. Adverser, b. 9. c. 28. Faber Thesaur. p. 901. &c. Alsarius de Fascino, Antiq. Roman, a Graevio, torn. 12. p. 885. Potter, Antiq. b. 2. c. 18. And observations on an antique bas-relief, &c. by James Millingen, Esq. F. S. A. London, Jan. 1818, from the Archseologia, vol. 19. 3 Eclog. 7. v. 27. 4 Plautus, loc. cit. — Praefiscine, or Praefiscini, adv. a word used to prevent exception. — Morell. Diet. F 2 36 THE EVIL EYE. whom I suppose to have been the grandmother, became agonized with alarm, and starting up, she dragged the children towards me, and desired me to spit in their faces. This singular request excited so much astonishment, that I concluded the venerable dame to be disordered in her intellects. But her importunities were immedi- ately seconded, and earnestly enforced, by those of the father and mother of the boys. I was fortunately accompanied by a Greek, who explained to me, that in order to destroy the evil effects of my superlative encomiums, the only remedy was, for me to spit in the faces of the children. I could no longer refuse a compliance with their demands, and I accordingly performed the unpleasant office in as moderate a manner as possible. But this did not satisfy the super- stitious cottagers ; and it was curious to see with what perfect tran- quillity the children underwent this nasty operation ; to which their beauty had probably frequently exposed them. The mother then took some dust from the ground, and mixing it with some oil, from a lamp which was burning before a picture of the Virgin, put a small patch of it on their foreheads. We then parted perfectly good friends ; but they begged of me never to praise their children again. The next infallible remedy for the prevention of the spell is sur>- posed to be a sentence from the Scripture ; which is enclosed in a little bag, and tied round the neck of children, where it is constantly worn, both night and day. A similar kind of preservative is used by the Turks, who are also subject to fascination ; and a sentence from the Kourann has the same salutary effect upon their children, as a scrap from the Bible upon the Greeks. The Italians appear to have borrowed this superstition from the Greeks ; they call it mal occhio, and occhiaticcio ; and to prevent the bad effects of superlative praise, they exclaim — " Mal occhio non ci possa!" But in Italy it is supposed to attack the brute crea- tion more frequently than the human race; and every precaution is taken to preserve horses from its effects. In the mountainous parts of that country horses are never seen without a piece of badger's GAME OF MORA. 37 skin, or the tail of a fox, tied round their heads. The countrymen also wear a piece of the skin in the bandage of their hats, from the same supposition of its preservative powers. When the horses are in the stable the access of fascination is pre- vented by nailing owls, hawks, and other inauspicious birds upon the doors. The horns of animals are also used for a similar purpose. Cows are particularly liable to fascination in Scotland ; and the pre- ventive remedies are enumerated by Pennant, in his voyage to the Hebrides.1 The principal sports of Greece have so near an affinity with the games of the ancients, that the classical reader may perhaps deem some account of them not destitute of interest. One of the earliest of these games is that which is at present called mora in Greece and Italy ; and which the Greeks it seems anciently explained by the word Xayxavsiv, from Xocxpog, or Xa%o?, sors ;2 and the Latins, by those of micare digitis, or micatio.9 According to Non- nus4 it was the favourite game of Hymenfp.us and Cupid. Some assert, that it was invented by the beautiful Helena. It was represented on an ancient bas-relief at Rome, and on a spinthra, which was once in the Orleans' collection. It is played by two at a time, both crying out, at the same moment, a number not exceeding ten, and at the same time opening suddenly as many fingers as they imagine that the united number of the two players will make. He who guesses the right number of course wins the game. I have seldom seen it played in the interior of Greece ; but chiefly in the islands and sea ports. It was probably the introduction of the Italian sailors, as it is very common throughout the whole of Italy. It is a singular circum- stance, that this game is known at the newly-discovered island of Loo-Choo.3 1 1772, p. 231,232. * iEschyl. Sophoc. Euripid. and others. 3 Cicero, Varro, Suetouiu9, Calpumius, and others. See Faber's Thesaur. p. 151©. * B. 33. 77. i See Captain Hall's Voyage. 38 GAME OF ASTRAGALS. The next game of high antiquity, which the moderns have retained, is the A<rrpx-ya.Xoi, or astragals ; the modern Greek name of which is kotzia :* it is said to owe its origin to Palamedes, son of Nauplios. Apollonius Rhodius2 describes Cupid and Ganymede playing with golden astragals ; and in an ancient painting which was found at Herculaneum, we behold two females, who are occupied with the same amusement. It is played with the tarsal bones of the hinder legs of goats, or with the representation of these bones in some other material. I have found them of lead, bronze, crystal, amethyst, agate, and glass. The bone has four unequal sides ; on which it is supposed the ancients made a certain number of marks, thereby forming a game nearly similar to dice. On one side was No. 1 ; on the opposite side 6 ; on another 3 ; and on the opposite side 4. They played with four astragals ; so that there were thirty-five different chances. The tali and talorum Indus of the Romans was similar to that of the astragals. The tesserarum Indus was an improvement ; the tessera being complete cubes. The game is at present very simple and easy, as it requires no other dexterity than that of throw- ing the bones a very little way into the air, and catching them upon the back of the hand. In a sepulchre which was opened near Athens3 were found a hundred astragal bones placed under the head of the deceased, and they were probably designed to shew what had been his favourite amusement. The astragal is represented on coins of Himera, in Sicily, and on some of the most ancient Italic and Roman asses; which makes it probable that the game was early known in Italy.4 The modern game of pentegoulos nearly resembles the astragals. Five small stones are placed on the back of the hand ; and these 1 It is called Dibbs by the English, Osselets by the French, and Ossiciuoli by the Italians. 2 See Pliny, Nat. Hist. b. 11. c. 46. 3 By Mr. Burgon. 4 About this game consult Jul. Pollux. Onoinast. b. 9. c. 7. Seg. 99. Suidas, Lexic. yoI. 1. p. S60. . ' VARIOUS GAMES. 39 being thrown up into the air, he who catches the greater number on the back of the hand is the winner. Strephoulida1 is a simple game, known to children of all countries. It consists in spinning a piece of coin on a flat surface. The person who guesses the side, which will remain uppermost when it falls, wins the game. Triodon, or the three ways, is common in Greece and Italy ; three squares, one within another, are marked out upon a fiat surface ; it is played by two persons, each having nine bits of stone, or any other material, which are called men. The men of each player must have a distinctive mark, and the object is to gain three ; that is, to have three men contiguous to each other upon the same line. It is cailedjilo in Italy, and has been introduced into England, and named the mill. It seems to be the irmtiu. of the ancient Greeks,2 the calculorum Indus of the T,atins. One of the most active games, and which is worthy of the gym- nastic exercises, is called mada. A large stone is thrown, under- hand, and whoever throws the furthest is the victor; it has consi- derable resemblance to the discus, which it is evident from Homer, was of stone. This game is played by none but the country people ; and the exercise tends to give great muscular vigour to the arm, which was very useful in the heroic ages, when stones were formida- ble, and not unusual, weapons ; of which the Iliad will furnish numerous examples. All over Italy the discus is a common game ; it is named ruzzola, and is played in the ancient manner, under-handed, with a thong ; it consists in a large circular piece of wood, flat on the sides : they sometimes play with hard cheeses, which is the form of the modern discus ; they hurl them to a great distance, and with a prodigious force, along the roads in the vicinity of Rome, to the great annoyance _ . . . _ __ 1 ^.TpefovXiZa, or TLrpcfovyiprj^i. * See Plutarch, Probl. Rom. Hesych. Lexic. vol. 2. p. 949- Suidas, Lexic. vol. 3. p. 102. 40 BIRDS OF ATTICA. of passengers, who are in danger of receiving no very agreeable con- tusions by the blow. Wrestling and rope-dancing are common in Asia Minor ; but I never saw either one or the other in Greece. The Turkish game, of djirid, has been so often described, that it is unnecessary to repeat it in this place. The birds in Greece, and particularly at Athens, are extremely tame and domestic ; the small hawks and the jack-daws build their nests under the eaves of the houses, and during the summer months wage a furious war with an incessant cackling, which is often not ter- minated till the young ones are thrust from their nests, and precipi- tated upon the ground. While we were eating our dinner in an open gallery of our house, at Athens, a small hawk used to pay us a frequent visit, when it would fearlessly perch upon the table, and pick from the dishes whatever it liked best. But having one day accidentally burnt its bill, it flew away in disgust, and could never afterwards be induced to become our guest. This bird is probably the ^Egyptian hawk, which, according to Strabo,1 was quite domestic in its habits. It was regarded as a mystical bird ; and being portrayed on ^Egyptian obelisks, has been conjectured to personate Osiris, who represented the sun.2 iElian3 affirms, that the hawk was sacred to Apollo, and rather courted than avoided the rays of the sun. Swallows frequently build their nests in the interior of houses ; and although they occasion a great deal of dirt, it is thought inhos- pitable to drive them away ; the same is the case in the Crimea.4 But the most singular, and the most ornamental bird in Turkey, is the stork, which comes to Greece about the beginning of March, unless the winter lingers longer than usual on the confines of spring. « B. 17. p. 823. 2 Herodot. b. 2. c. 59. Diodor. Sic. Hist. b. 1. c. 1 1. Plutarch de Isid. et Osir. Euseb. Praeparat. Evang. b. 1. c. 9. 3 De Animal, b. 10. c. 14. * See Dr. Clarke's Tour through Russia, vol. 2. STORKS. 41 During one of the periods while I was travelling in this country, they had not made their appearance by the 12th of March ; and the Turks, becoming impatient of the delay, and alarmed for the consequences, presaged the most dire results, if they much longer procrastinated their return. On their arrival, however, a day or two afterwards, these ominous forebodings were succeeded by expres- sions of joy. They are called by the Turks the Birds of Mohamed ; are held in great veneration, and are permitted to build their nests Avherever they will, without the smallest molestation. A severe punishment is inflicted upon those by whom they are destroyed. This respect for the stork probably arises from the service which they render to the country, by the destruction1 of serpents and locusts, of which their food principally consists. They were an- ciently so much esteemed in Thessaly for the havoc which they made among the snakes, that the killing of a stork was, according to Aristotle,2 Pliny,3 and Plutarch,4 a capital offence. The ^Egyptians, for the same reason, venerated their ibis, which destroyed the flying serpents,5 that are said to have passed, at certain seasons of the year, from Arabia into iEgypt.6 The stork is a formidable enemy to the tortoise ; and I have 1 Juvenal, Sat. 14. v. 74 : — Serpente ciconia pullos Nutrit et inventa per devia rura lacerta. * De Mirab. Auscul. 107. 3 Nat. Hist. b. 10. c. 23. * De Isid. et Osir. p. 678. and Sympos. Probl. b. 8. 5 Herodot. b. 2. c. 75. 6 The flying serpents are no more fabulous than flying fish, although they have been thought so; Strabo mentions flying snakes and flying scorpions in India, b. 15. iElian notices the latter, De Animal, b. 16. c. 42. Pausanias mentions one which was brought by a Phry- gian into Ionia, b. 9. c. 21. Belon saw them in vEgypt, and his drawing represents them with two wings and two legs. They are noticed by Herbelot. Biblioth. Orient. VOL. II. G 42 STORKS. sometimes seen them flying with a large one in their bill. A young stork was brought to me at Athens, which I kept until it could rly, and I had thus an opportunity of observing its eccentricities. They are of a quiet, solemn character ; and have all the gravity and indo- lence of the Turks. They sometimes sit for several successive hours in the same posture, or stand upon one foot, their other foot being tucked under one wing, and their bill under the other wing. They build their nests upon the mosques and house-tops, and place them- selves in a variety of curious attitudes ; sometimes making a con- tinued clatter with their long bills, not only in the day, but also during a great part of the night : " Crepitante ciconia rostro."1 Their note, as well as their appearance, about the towns of Greece, has something peculiarly wild. Homer2 compares the Trojans, when preparing for war, to the storks preparing to leave a country, at the commencement of the cold : " Hure Trip Khctyyvj Tepocvuv irsXit ovpocvo9t irpo. The stork is perfectly described by Petronius Arbiter,3 in the following lines: — " Ciconia etiam grata peregrina hospita Pietati4 cultrix, gracilipes, crotalistria, Avis exul hyemis, titulus tepidi temporis." In the winter it emigrates to warmer climates — " Trans pontum fugat, et terris immittit apricis."5 They are held nearly in as much esteem in Holland as in Turkey ; and the Romans were probably the only people with whom they formed an article of food ,6 1 Ovid. Metam. b. 6. v. 97. s Iliad. 3. v. 3. ' Sat. c. 55. * See Olaus Magnus Goth, de Avibus, b. 19. Rom. edit. 1554. 5 Virgil, iEneid. 6. v. 312. 6 Horace, b. 2. Sat. c. 2. v. 49. Pliny Nat. Hist. b. 10. c. 2S. CROWS, OWLS. 43 Apollonius1 asserts, that crows were never seen within the Athe- nian Acropolis. Pliny,2 as usual, credits the vulgar error; and Dr. Chandler, with his accustomed respect for ancient authors, assists in propagating the belief. He says3 he has " frequently seen crows fly about the rock, without even entering the citadel, for which reason Lucretius says, that it is impossible for them to fly so high." The elevation, however, of the Acropolis is so very moderate, that I have often seen them fly much above it, and both crows and daws build their nests even amongst the ruins of the temple of Minerva ; but they commonly prefer the rock, as it affords them better shelter, and greater security. There are many varieties of owls at Athens : their numbers an- ciently gave rise to the proverb of VXuvkx e<? AV«f)4 meaning, that it would be useless to take owls to Athens, where they were so abundant. — " Quis5 mel Aristaeo, quis Baccho vina Falerni Triptolemo fruges, poma dat Alcinoo ?" The most common owl at Athens is the strix passerina, which is very small and tame, and the same which is represented on Athenian coins. They have a particular note, of which their Greek name, KovKovZuytu, is perfectly expressive, and to which that circumstance must have given rise ; as the cuckoo has received its appellation from a similar resemblance. Hesiod6 says, the Kokkv% xoitxvfcei; which Salvini, in his Italian translation, renders il cuculio cuculia; and which might be expressed in English by " the cuckoo cuckoos." It is a singular circumstance, that the Athenians are pleased with 1 Hist. Mirab. 8. '- Nat. Hist. b. 10. c. 12. 5 Travels in Greece, c. 1 1 . p. 54. * Lucian's Letter to Nigrinus. 5 Ovid. Epist. ex Ponto, b. 4. Epist. 2. v. 9. 6 Opera et Dies, v. 486. G 2 44 THE LIZARD, THE TREE FROG. seeing the bird of Minerva perch upon their houses, and that they regard it as a favourable omen. In all other countries it is supposed as anciently to portend calamity and death ! — " Ignavus bubo, dirum mortalibus omen."1 Virgil,2 Plin}r,3 Dion Cassius,* Servius, and others, call it an inau- spicious and funereal bird. Amongst the reptiles of Greece, the lacerta agilis, the large green lizard, is the most beautiful. Its colours are of the brightest tint. I have sometimes seen them eighteen inches in length. It is sup- posed, by the Greeks and Italians, to be a friend to man ; and many stories are recounted of peasants, who, while sleeping under a tree during the sultry noon, have been endangered by the approach of snakes, till they were awakened by the vigilant interposition of the lizard, who descended from the tree for that purpose, and by striking the face of the peasant with his tail saved him from ap- proaching danger. This lizard is easily tamed, and was a domestic reptile amongst the ancient Greeks. The rana arborea, or tree frog, or spordaka,5 is of a most beautiful light green colour, and in its form nearly resembles the common frog, but it is of a smaller size ; it has also longer claws, and a glutinous matter at its feet, with which it attaches itself with great facility to any substance that comes in its way. It lives chiefly on trees, and jumps with surprising agility from branch to branch. Its colour is so nearly identified with that of the leaves, that it is very difficult to distinguish the one from the other. Its eyes are of a most beautiful vivacity ; and it is so extremely cold, that when held in the hand, it produces a chilly sensation, like a piece of ice. It is delicate, and though very tame, will not. live in confinement. Its 1 Ovid. Metam. b. .5. v. 550. " /Eneid. 4. v. 462. 3 Nat. Hist. b. 10. c. 12. * Hist. Rom. passim. * The modern Greek Dame. THE TREE FROG, THE TETTIX. 45 song is surprisingly loud and shrill, and in hot days almost as inces- sant and tiresome as that of the tettix : they are more common in the island of Leucadia than in other parts of Greece. Cuvier1 distinguishes this frog from the others, by the generic name of hyla. Roesel, in his splendid work on frogs, represents three different kinds of the rana arborea — the light green, that of a darker hue, and the light brown.2 The common frogs of Greece have a note totally different from that of the frogs of the northern climates, and there cannot be a more perfect imitation of it than the " Brekekekcx koax, hoax,'' of Aristophanes.3 I observed few venomous animals or insects in Greece; and at Athens I never saw a snake, or a scorpion ; which are much more common in Italy. The most classical insect, if I may be allowed the expression, which is seen in Greece, is the tettix. It frequents the plains and olive groves, and is never found in cold or mountainous regions. It is totally different from the uk^s, or locust ; as it is formed like a large fly, with long transparent wings, a dark brown back, and a yellow belly. The tettix is originally a caterpillar, then a chrysalis, and is con- verted into a fly late in the spring. Its song, which it makes with its wings,4 is much louder and shriller than that of the grasshopper. Hesiod5 terms it, the musical tettix : Anacreon,6 Theocritus,7 Dio- genes Laertius,8 and others, praised the sweetness of its song ; and Plutarch9 says, they were sacred to the Muses. According to ./Elian,10 only the male tettix sings; and that in the hottest weather.11 According to Aristophanes,12 they only sing during one or two months in the year. 1 Regne Animal. * Roesel. Hist. Nat. Ranar. pi. 9, 10, 11. * Rana». * JE\im. de Animal, b. 1. c. 20. and b. 11. c. 26. 5 Opera et Dies, v. 582. 6 Od. 43. T Idyl. 1. v. 147. a B. 3. seg. 7. Plato. 9 Sympos. Probl. b. 8. ,0 De Animal, b. I.e. 20. and b. 1 1 . c. 26. » B. 3. c. S6. 15 Aves, v. 39. 46 THE TETTIX, THE MANTIS. Homer1 compares the chattering of the old Trojans to the singing of the tettix. Antoninus Liberalis2 says, the inhabitants of Rhegium believed that Hercules had imposed the penalty of eternal silence upon the tettiges of that particular district, because their ceaseless din had on one occasion disturbed his repose. Its song is loudest in the hottest part of the day, when the rest of animal nature, overpowered by the heat, seeks relief in shelter and repose : — " Sole sub ardenti resonant arbusta cicadis."3 The tettix is extremely common in the south of Italy. Another curious insect, which is not uncommon in warm climates, is the mantis ; it is called la morte, by the Italians ; and baton marchant and prie dieu, by the French. There are various kinds of them. The most common, and the most beautiful, are of a light green colour, with long wings, which they fold up in several plaits. They are in general about three inches in length, with long legs and claws, which they use with great dexterity in seizing their prey. This consists of any kind of insect which they can master. I have seen them catch wasps and bees : if, when they are in possession of their prey, any other insect settles within their reach, they first stick the former on some sharp spikes, with which their legs are provided, and then catch the other. I was enabled to observe the curious and amusing motions of this insect, by placing some of them in my garden, where they remained for several days upon the same tree, until it rained, when they flew away to seek securer shelter. They have frequently taken flies from my hands, and appear the most rational of the insect tribe. 1 Iliad. 3. v. 150. '■ Metam. See also iElian, de Animal, b. 5. c. 9. He says, they were also silent in Mate- don, b. 3. c. 36. 3 Virgil. Eclog. <2. v. 13. See also iElian, de Animal, b. 5. c.9- THE FIRE FLY, HERCULEAN ANT. 47 The fire fly is not so common in Greece as in Italy ; it was known to the ancients by the name of tapnrpfg and to the moderns by that of xoXoQutwv. The gardens at Athens abound with the black Herculean ants, that are found in Italy, and in some parts of England, but which are smaller than those of Athens. They are remarkably strong, and I have seen one of them at Athens carry a large wasp in its mouth, with perfect apparent facility. The Herculean ant is much sought for by gardeners in Italy ; their nests are found in forests, and un- cultivated places, in large pieces of decayed wood, which are brought to Rome, and sold in the market-place. About half a dozen of these logs are placed in gardens where there are orange and lemon trees, whose flowers are infested by a small red ant, which destroys the fruit in the bud. These two different species of ants wage a continual warfare with each other. If the larger one finds itself surrounded by the smaller kind, it is attacked by hundreds, and immediately killed ; but this seldom happens, as the strength and activity of the former are so greatly superior. But if a small ant happens to fall in the way of one of the larger kind, it is nipped in two in an instant. I have watched the larger ant searching the lemon trees for the small red ant, and have seen a dozen of the latter nipped in two in the course of a minute by one of the former ; and in the period of three months, they are supposed to exterminate their antagonists, and to liberate the garden from their pernicious ravages. We may conclude, that the long interval of obscurity and silence, which occurs in the history of Athens, after the gradual decay of its power and greatness, is a sign of its internal weakness and poli- tical tranquillity. We find it taken in the third century by Gothic invaders, in the reign of Gallienus, as Zosimus affirms ; or, accord- ing to Cedrenus, under that of his successor, Claudius. The Goths retained their new acquisition only a short time, as they were ex- pelled by the Athenians, headed by Cleodemos. Syncellus affirms, that the Herules, from the Palus Maeotis, laid waste many places in 48 FINAL HISTORY OF ATHENS. Greece, and burnt Athens, Corinth, Sparta, and Argos, and that they were driven away under Gallienus. Alaric, whose safety was endangered by the approach of Stilicho, the general of the great Theodosius, made peace, and quitted Greece ; after this period the fate of Athens is enveloped in a long lapse of silence. In 1205, it was taken by the Marquis of Montferrat.1 Alberic2 attributes the capture of the city to Otho de la Roche, adding, that he was made Duke of it, which title was conferred upon the lords of this venerable capital by the successors of the Emperor Baudouin. No one except Nicephorus Gregoras asserts, that they had the title of fjLiXug $ov%, " Grand Duke," which title he erroneously affirms was created by Constantine the Great. According to Nicephorus Gregoras,3 the Duke of Athens was also styled Trpippuciipios, and afterwards pe\xs xvptog. In the 13th century Athens belonged to the house of Arragon. When Andronicus Palaiologos the elder, was Emperor of the East, he invited the Catalans into his empire, in order to assist him in driving the Turks from its confines. When the Catalans had performed what they had undertaken, Andronicus refused the remuneration which had been previously stipulated ; they accordingly turned their arms against him, and paid themselves by the seizure of Athens, Thebes, and several other places in Greece.4 The}' expelled the house of Montferrat from Athens in 1312 ; and the Duke Gautier was killed in battle. The dukes of the house of Arragon were William Duke of Caltasin, son of Frederick King of Sicily ; he died in 1338; and was succeeded by his brother, John Marquis of Randace, who died in 1348, and was succeeded by his son Frederick, who died in 1355 : 1 Hist, de Constantinop. sous les Emp. Francois, b. J . p. 23. * Ibid. p. 24. 3 Hist. Byzant. b. 7. c 7. p. 154. 4 Joan. Cantacuzene Hist. b. 3. c. 12. p. 387. Contin. Glycse Annal. ad evers. usque Byzant. J. Leunclav. p. 2f)7. Hist, de Constantinop. sous les Emp. Francois, b. 6. p. 242. Paris edit. FINAL HISTORY OF ATHENS. 49 and leaving no issue, was succeeded by Frederic II. King of Sicily, who left it to his only daughter Mary, who married Martin, Duke de Montblanc, afterwards King of Arragon. Gautier, Count de Brienne, the legitimate heir to the Duchy of Athens, had recourse to the thunder of the Vatican, and to the terror of its excommuni- cations, which were in vain hurled against the Catalans, and he never succeeded in being reinstated. It would appear that Gautier having made over his pretensions to Athens to Queen Johanna of Naples, she sent thither Renaud de Petris, and Nicholas Acciaiolo of Florence, to take possession of the place. The House of Arragon then ceased to command in Athens : Reinier Acciaiolo left it to the Venetians, from whom it was taken by Anthony his natural son. He was succeeded by Nerius, who was expelled by his brother Anthony, the successor of whom, named Francus, surrendered to Mohamed II. in 1456, l and retired to Megara ; where, being accused of plotting against the Turks, he was soon after put to death.2 Athens had before this period suffered by the Turks, who had burnt its suburbs3 in 1333. It was also taken, and plundered in 1378, by Timurtash Pasha, for the Sultan Bajazet. It was taken from the Turks, in 1467, by the Venetian general Victor Capello; but it soon returned under the sway of the Mohamedans. Athens is now subjected to the Kizlar Aghassy, or chief of the black eunuchs, whose principal Arpalik is formed by Attica, and its capital. The origin of this curious event is related by Guillatiere,4, who asserts that this favor was obtained from the Sultan Achmet, by the beautiful Basilia, who was born at Athens in the sixteenth century. Athens is at present supposed to be increasing in population and civilization, and to contain near 12,000 inhabitants; nine-tenths of which are Greeks, the rest Turks. 1 Ducae Michaelis Nepotis Hist. Bvzant. Chronicon breve, p. 199. * Laonic. Chalcocondyla de rebus Turcicis, b. 8. p. 241, 242. 3 Hist, ile Constantinop. sous les Erap. Francois, b. 8. p. 264. * Athens, ancient and modern. VOL. II. H 50 FINAL HISTORY OF ATHENS. Ubbo Emmius, who wrote about the middle of the sixteenth cen- tury, says, that it then contained the same number: Tavernier, ' who travelled in 1663, asserts that it had 22,000 inhabitants. This enumeration however is probably exaggerated; for Guillatiere, who travelled only six years after Tavernier, says, that it contained not more than 16,000 inhabitants. Before I take my final leave of Athens, I cannot avoid recalling to mind the beautiful passage of Cicero, which so feelingty expresses the sentiment of melancholy attachment and regret, which every contem- plative mind must experience amid the ruins of this once illustrious city; in walking over the ashes of demi-gods, and heroes, and in treading the same ground which they have trod before. The force of association contributes to revive their identity in the mind, and to transfer it to the surrounding objects. They live in the imagination ; their presence is breathed over the hills and the rocks ; it haunts the dells and the groves, and animates every part of the panoramic view. The whole locality is consecrated by the memory of statesmen and warriors ; of historians and poets, of critics and philosophers, sages and legislators, of whom not only Athens but the world may be proud. " Movemur nescio quo pacto locis ipsis in quibus eorum quos diligimus, aut admiramur, adsunt vestigia. Me quidem ipsae illae nostras Athenae non tarn operibus magnificis, exquisitisque antiquorum artibus delectant quam recordatione summorum viro- rura, ubi quisque habitari, ubi sedere, ubi disputare sit solitus : stu- clioseque eorum etiam sepulchra contemplor." The letter of Pliny2 to Maximus, who was going to govern Greece, is not less remarkable, and is replete with sublimity of sen- timent, and strong veneration for the Greeks. I may now take my leave of Athens; and say with Strabo,3 vt^ fj.iv tk ArriKTig ravrx. " So much for Attica \" ' Voyage en Perse, liv. 3. * B. 8. Epist. 24. ' B. 9. p. 400. CHAPTER II. Journey to Thessaly— Kasha— Castle of Phyle— Skourto— To Kakasialasi— Thebes— Lake of Hylika — Villages Sengena and Karditza — Ruins of Akraiphnion — Ruins of a City, probably Kopai — Lake Kopais — Village Kokinos — Katabathra— Village Martini — Pass of Andera — Ruins— Opuntian Gulf— Likadi Islands— Ruins of a City — Town of Talando — Village Libanatis — Ancient Fort near the Sea — Ruins of a City — Villages Longaki, Dervit- ziali, Andera, and Katomolo — Pass of Thermopylae — Thermal Springs— Mount Oeta — Khan. TO SKOURTO. I had long meditated a journey through Thessaly, the pastoral beauties of which had been deeply impressed upon my imagination by the writers of antiquity. We chose the month of May for this excursion, in hopes of being able to complete it, and return to Athens before the great heats, and the season of fevers, should commence. We accordingly quitted Athens on the 17th of May, taking the road to Thebes, through the village of Kasha, and over Mount Parnes, by the Castle of Phyle. As soon as we reached the northern side of the mountain, we enjoyed a fine view of Euboea, the Opuntian Gulf, and the magnificent range of the Boeotian and Phocean Mountains, amongst which the most conspicuous were Cithaeron, Helicon, and Parnassos. We descended the rugged steeps of Parnes through a forest of small firs, shrubs, and bushes, and arrived at a green plain ; to the left of which is a village, named Kalasala, and a ruined tower on an eminence above. Towards the close of the day, we arrived at an Albanian village, called Skourto, where we passed the night. The distance from the Castle of Phyle to this place, is two hours and three quarters ; and four hours more from Athens. ii 2 52 FINE VIEW OF THEBES. TO THEBES. On the 18th, we proceeded, and passed a small marsh and four churches, at the foot of some low hills. A little further on, we remarked a natural emissary, or katabathron, formed horizontally in the rock, into which the water of the marsh falls, when it overflows its usual boundaries. We arrived at a village called Kakasialasi, at the northern extremity of the plain. Above the village is a ruined tower on a rock, in a strong position, and evidently erected to guard the pass. It is apparently of Venetian construction ; and there are no traces of antiquity, except at the foot of the hill, where some foundations of walls, composed of large rough blocks, indicate, perhaps, one of the ancient Attic forts. The plain which terminates here is apparently about six miles in length, and two in breadth, bounded by low and uniform hills : part of it is arable; but, the greater part is pasture land. After the pass of Kakasialasi, the view opens upon another plain, most of which is uncultivated, and covered with bushes. As we proceeded, the village of Bagi was seen to the left, at the foot of a hill. We crossed a small stream, and shortly after passed the slow and muddy Asopos over a bridge of two round arches. When we arrived within a mile of Thebes, we stopped to take a general view of the Boeotian capital, with its beautiful plain, and the varied mountains of Bceotia, Phocis, and Eubcea, amongst which Cithaeron, Helicon, Parnassos, Phoinikios, Ptoon, and the Euboean Oche,' were conspicuously magnificent. The ruins of Platrea were distinguished at the foot of Cithaeron, and the lake of Hylika was visible at the northern extremity of the Theban Plain. In the evening, we arrived at Thebes, which is about four hours and forty minutes from Kakasialasi. Before we quitted Thebes, I copied the following inscription, which I had not observed on my former visit : 1 According to Strabo, Oche was the greatest mountain in Euboea, b. 10. p. 445, TO THE RUINS OF AKRAIPHNION. 53 Er*POETNHNH2KOTNNEOZflNxaifAij7spi7£/jm'0f TjyjEKrrMNAZIOrZTNTPOtOSAIaxiJAif eNHSKHAENnOAEMniTIMnPilNAEA^IAIXriPAI Sr)ftov AE [MIETANOPI A AnATPOS AENEHN02— > The next morning, the 19th, we proceeded; and, descending the plain, passed the village of Piri, and observed some buffaloes, which are not common in Greece. We passed by the conjunction of three roads, that to the right leading to the village of Morikios and the lake of Hylika ; that to the left conducting to Eremo Kastro, and the middle one leading to Libadea. A small rapid stream, named Kanabari, which rises among the ruins of Thespeia, is seen in this place running towards the bed of the Ismenos ; and, after rains, they both enter the lake of Hylika in one stream ; but, in summer, they are absorbed before they reach that destination. The plain is extremely fertile, and cultivated with corn ; but it is overgrown with poppies and thistles, diffusing their rich variety of hues. After we quitted Thebes about an hour, we came to two large blocks of stone, between which the road passed. Some other remains appear in the vicinity. We crossed the streamless Ismenos, and reached the foot of the hills at the northern extremity of the plain, which are low, uniform, rocky, and dotted with dark shrubs. The bed of the Ismenos forms a ravine of considerable depth in this place, and ter- minates in the lake of Hylika ; which is one hour and eleven minutes from Thebes. We observed several traces, and some sepulchres, on the bank which rises from the lake : they probably indicate the site of Hyle, mentioned by Homer2 and Strabo;3 but which, as well as the lake, 1 The small letters are the restorations, for which, as for the Latin explanation, I am indebted to Dr. Young. Lsetitiam exercebam juvenis (matrique in deliciis eram vero) e gymnasio sodalis Aeacidis Morior autem in bello, defendens Delphicam regionem e tribu sum Evanorida, patreque Neone. * Iliad, 2. v. 506.— Iliad, 5. v. "70S. 3 B. 9. p. 407, 408. 54 LAKE OF HYLE— RUINS OF AKRAIPHNION. is unnoticed by Pausanias. It was named, indifferently, Tx>?, and Txixoc. The near hills were probably anciently covered with forests ; at least so the name Yx?; would seem to indicate, unless it is derived from Exoc, a marsh. It is sometimes called the Lake of Thebes,1 to distinguish it from Kopais, or the Lake of Libadea : it is also called the Lake of Sengena,2 from a neighbouring village of that name; but its most common appellation is Lukaris. The curving line of the lake is prettily broken by abrupt and rocky promontories, and barren hills. Its length, including its si- nuosities, must be near five miles. We saw the village of Morikios, with a tower in a plain, about a mile and a half to the right of the lake. Having proceeded in a circuitous line, on account of the steepness of the rocks, we descended to a cultivated plain, and came to another branch of the lake, which was to our left. Upon our arrival at the village of Sengena, we dined under the ample shade of a large fig-tree, and were surrounded, during our repast, by the entire village of astonished Albanians, whose curiosity, however, was not attended with the least incivility. We proceeded from this place in a north-west direction, passed by some imperfect traces, and ascending a hill, through thick bushes of lentiscus, rosemary, and myrtle, stopped to quench our thirst at a well, where the water was excellent. After a continual ascent, we entered a pastoral valley in the mountains, and reached the village of Karditza in the evening. Upon an eminence, above the village, are the remains of a city, which there is every reason to suppose to be the ancient Akrai- phnion,3 the foundation of which some attribute to Athamas, and others to Akraipheos, son of Apollo. Strabo4 says, that it was situated on a high spot, before Mount Ptoon, and that it was the Arne of Homer. Pausanias5 calls it a small town,6 and says it was 1 7i)f 0i;j3a:y Xijahj. - h,s levysva; Xifirtj. 3 Axpanpii) — Herotlot. Axpziipioy — Strabo. A-npanpnov — Pausan. Acrwpbia — Livy. 4 B. !'. p. 1 13. i B. 9. c. 23. 6 «Xi<r/xa. RUINS OF AKRAIPHNION. 55 upon Mount Ptoon. The temple of Apollo Ptoosi was fifteen stadia from the town. Near this place, Latona was frightened at meeting a wild boar; hence the name Ptoon, which was given to the temple, and to the hill on which it stood. The woody parts of the neigh- bouring mountains still abound in wild boars. This explanation, however, does not satisfy Pausanias, who attributes its name to Ptoos, son of Athamas and Themiste. According to Strabo, the three-topped2 Ptoon rises from theTeneric plain. Pausanias notices a temple of Bacchus at Akraiphnion ; the site of which is probably now occupied by a church near the village, which is almost entirely composed of ancient blocks and fragments. The walls of the city are in most places level with the soil ; but, in some parts, enough remains to show that they were of the third style of construction : in the walls of the Acropolis are the remains of a small gate,3 diminishing slightly towards the top: it is without its lintel. The view from this spot abounds in beauty and in interest. The plain of Thebes, with its capital, is distinguished towards the south, with the lake of Hylika ; while the distance is closed by Parnes and Cithaeron. Below the eye was the plain and lake Kopais, terminated by the towering heights of Helicon and Parnassos. TO MARTINI. We quitted this singular and retired spot on the 20th, and after a gentle ascent, in a northern direction, came in a quarter of an 1 Pausan loc. cit. See also Herodot. b. 8. c. 135. 2 Tpixopvp*. 3 Three feet five inches wide at the base. 56 RUINS OF KOPAI. hour in view of another branch of Kopais lake, and looked down upon a low insular tongue of land, projecting from the foot of Ptoon, and covered with the ruins of a small ancient city, the walls of which are seen encircling it near the water's edge. This is probably, the ancient Kopai, which is included in Homer's' enumeration of the Boeotian cities which sent forces to Troy. A summer road, or cause- way, leads to this island, through a shallow part of the lake ; but it was covered with water, which prevented us from visiting it. Pau- sanias calls it a small city,2 and says that it contained the temples3 of Ceres, Bacchus, and Serapis. Some silver dioboli of Kopai have lately been found at Thebes; one side has the fore part of a bull, and KOITAiriN : rev. the Boeotian shield. On the opposite branch of the lake, at the foot of Mount Talanda,: the ancient Kyrtonon, we find a place called Topolias, with a few remains of a city, perhaps the ancient Olmones, or Halmons ; which, according to Pausanias, Avas twelve stadia from Kopai. We proceeded through a village called Kokinos, forty minutes beyond which we entered a plain ; probably that which Pausanias* denominates the plain of Athamas. Twenty minutes farther are some traces near the lake which was to our left. At this place is situated one of the katabathra, or emissaries of the lake; of which a description has been given in the former volume,s which it would be unnecessary to repeat. We quitted the lake ; and, proceeding eastward, passed through a glen, where several square shafts are cut in the rock, as air holes for the workmen who cleaned out the katabathra. We crossed a vale of corn; and, ascending through a narrow barren glen, descended to a cultivated plain of a circular form, which it took us a quarter of an hour to pass. The mountains of Euboea are distinguished on the right; but some elevated land intercepts ' Iliad, b. 2. v. 39. It is indifferently written Kuitcm and Ku,:raiai. " B. 9. c. 24. noXiirfici. 'ifca. 4 Loc. cit. 5 Vol. I.e. 8. PASS OF ANDERA. ISLAND OF ATALANTE. 57 the view of the sea. Having passed for a short time over a barren tract, we entered another plain, cultivated Avith corn and vineyards, and in the afternoon arrived at a village called Martini, situated on an eminence, an hour and a half from the Opuntian Gulf, which is seen with the grand and rocky mountains of Euboea. TO LIBANATIS. We quitted Martini on the morning of the 21st; our road passed in a north-west direction, along the side of a hill ; to the north- east was an extensive plain, the gulf, and Euboea. We ascended through a forest of small firs ; and in an hour and forty minutes from Martini, came to some ancient traces of small extent, a few hundred paces beyond which, is the pretty village of Proskyna, green with the foliage of the pomegranate, the olive, and the fig. It is pervaded by a small stream, which takes a direction towards the sea. The village was quite deserted, nothing but the bare walls of the cottages remaining. On an eminence to the right are some ancient traces. We proceeded through a rich and beautiful valley, and came to a small forest of firs. Having crossed a stream, a picturesque acclivity rose to the left, crowned with a monastery, and exhibiting a few scattered cottages at its base. Half an hour beyond this place the plain terminates, and a rapid stream enters the sea. This is probably the Platanios of Pausanias.1 Here is a narrow pass, called Andera, and the remains of a strong wall, running, for about seventy paces, from the 1 B. 9. c. 24. VOL. II. I 58 RUINS OF TWO CITIES. TOWN OF TALANDA. foot of a steep hill to the margin of the sea. The wall is composed of rough blocks, some of which are ten feet in length. This is pro- bably the boundary between Bceotia and Locris Opuntia. At this place a stream issues from the rock and enters the sea. We proceeded through an extensive plain, with the Opuntian Gulf on our right, bounded by the Eubcean mountains ; and in a quarter of an hour from the pass, came to some ancient traces and foundations. Near the Locrian shore is an island, and two small contiguous rocks called Talanda, the ancient Atalante ; which, ac- cording to Diodorus Siculus,1 was originally a peninsula of Eubcea, from which it was detached by an earthquake. This circumstance is also noticed by Strabo2 and Pliny.3 The Athenians4 strengthened it with a fortress, for the purpose of annoying the Locrians, and making descents upon their coast. Subsequent earthquakes, to which the coast is very liable, probably divided the island into three separate rocks. In an hour from the pass of Andera, Ave came to the remains of a city, consisting of confused and scattered blocks and foundations. The soil, which is considerably raised above its ancient level, is fertile, and covered with bushes. This is probably the site of Opous, which, according to Strabo,5 was opposite the island of Atalante, fifteen stadia from the sea, and sixty from the port of Cynos, and was the metropolis of the Locri Opuntii. Livyb asserts that it was one mile from the sea, and that Cynos was its emporium. Between this place and Cynos was a rich plain,7 which at present is traversed by several torrent beds, from the neighbouring hills, and cultivated with corn and a few vineyards ; but a great part of this fertile spot is left in a wild and unpeopled state. The coast of Euboea is seen at the distance of about fifteen miles. The ruins of the city of Aidepsos8 and the warm baths of Hercules were opposite 1 B. 12. c. .59. * B. 1. p. 60. 3 Nat. Hist. b. 2. c. SS. 4 Thucyd. b. 2. c. 4. Diodor. Sic. b. 12. c. 44. — About the island of Atalante, see Georg. Sjncell. Chronograph, p. 257, Paris edit. 5 B. 9. p. 425. 6 B. 28. c. 6. 7 vtSiov EuJaimov — Strabo, b. 9. p. 425. " Ibid. VILLAGE OF LIBANATIS. RUINS OF A CITY. 59 to us, but could not be distinguished. About an hour from this spot we came to the remains of another city, with traces and foundations occupying a considerable extent. Here is a church, which is in a great measure composed of ancient remains, and a few paces from it is an antique thro?ws of grey marble. In a quarter of an hour from these ruins we arrived at the town of Talanda, which is peopled with an equal proportion of Turks and Greeks ; the former having two mosques, and the latter a bishop, suffragan of the metropolitan of Athens ; it is about six miles from the sea, and is situated in a recess of the vale, at the foot of a mountain,1 which has the same name as the town. It is en- livened with gardens and large trees, and its appearance is green and cheerful. Parnassos is seen over the lower part of Mount Talanda, towards the south-west, towering to a great height; its outline is of a serrated form, and its northern glens are covered with snow. Some ancient fragments, and an inscription containing the name of the city of Opous, are observed at Talanda ; but these have, no doubt, been brought from a distance. Talanda itself ex- hibits no vestiges of antiquity, and in no respect corresponds with the situation of the capital of the Locri. In pursuing our journey, we crossed the plain in a north-east direction, passed over a torrent bed, and the great road leading to Libadea. In the evening we arrived at Libanatis, which is one hour and a half from Talanda, and is agreeably situated amongst corn fields, interspersed with olive trees, and commanding a view of Euboea and its gulf. Our lodging was the cottage of a poor Albanian woman, who was lamenting the loss of her husband, who some time before had been killed by thieves while her infant son was taken prisoner, whom she had ransomed for 300 Turkish piastres, the savings of several years ! While our dinner was preparing at the village, we rode to the sea-side, which is about a mile from it, for the purpose of exploring 1 The ancient Kyrtonon. Pausan. b. 9. c. 24. i 2 6'0 REMAINS OF AN ANCIENT CITY. the ruins of a small city and fortress. There are several traces and foundations of walls, and the fort stands on a rocky promontory rising from the sea. It is now called Pyrgos, from a modern tower which is composed of ancient blocks. This spot commands a fine view of the gulf, and the magnificent precipices of Euboea; but finding nothing to detain us here, and distrusting the suspicious ap- pearance of a boat, which landed some men at the foot of the pro- montory, who were evidently endeavouring to elude our observation, we were glad to retrace our steps to the village, and eat our pilau with more appetite than we should have done if we had fallen into t,he hands of the pirates who infest the Euboean coast. The next morning, the 23d, we rode about a mile inland from the village to inspect the remains of a city upon a hill, the summit of which is encompassed by the walls, which are in a state of great dilapidation and of small extent. On a neighbouring eminence is a monastery, called Palaio Chorio, where we found nothing worthy of notice except the view, in which the Opuntian Gulf assumes the soft and beautiful appearance of a fresh water lake. It is seen bounded by the mountains of Euboea, Boeotia, and Locris, enlivened by the rich intermediate plain of Opous, while the smooth expanse of water is broken by the island of Atalante, and some long promontories which shoot out from the Locrian shore. TO LONGAKI. We returned through Libanatis, and, on quitting it, observed an ancient well and a torrent bed. In half an hour we saw some ancient THE LOCRIAN COAST. 61 but imperfect traces not far from a village named Tornitza, which was situated in the plain to our right. At the distance of half an hour more we remarked other similar remains, and a cave on a rocky hill to the left. At this point the country becomes rich and smiling, and the hills display a lively intermixture of rock and verdure. In twenty-five minutes from the last mentioned traces, we came to the remains of a city as imperfect as the others that we had seen along this coast. Their total state of dilapidation renders them of little interest; and no inscriptions are found to give an insight into their ancient names : this circumstance excites the more regret, as the conjectures of the traveller are not here assisted by the guidance of Pausanias, who scarcely mentions the Locrians. And although Strabo is more than usually minute in his description of this country, yet he has made several omissions and apparent errors in distances, and has passed by some towns without recording even their names.1 The appearance of the Locrian coast, and the course of its rivers, which have been considerably altered by the frequent and violent convulsions of nature, is another great cause of the difficulty of ascertaining the names and relative situa- tions of the towns and rivers noticed by the geographer. He first mentions Opous, and the maritime town of Cynos ; next Alope, and Daphnous, of which the latter was in ruins in his time. It had a port ninety stadia from Cynos. Twenty stadia from Daphnous was the town of Knemis, the capital of the Hypoknemidian Locrians, This was opposite the promontory Kenaion, or Cenaeum, in Euboea, and the three islands named Lichades. Twenty stadia from Knemis was a port, from which the town of Thronion was distant twenty stadia inland. He then mentions the mouth of the Boagrios, and the town of Skarphe, ten stadia from the sea, and thirty from Thronion ; after which he places Nicaea and Thermopylae. He also mentions Alos 1 These are, no doubt, amongst those which he thought not worthy of notice, luiv h Xonrwv toAecov Iujy, ptv aXXwy oux. a^iov /j.ijj.vr^M. — B. 9. p. 426. 62 BEAUTY OF THE SCENERY. and Alious, on the Locrian coast ; and says that the fortresses of Nicaea, Tichious, Herakleia, and Rodountia, are within the pass ; that is, on the Locrian side. Homer, under the word Locrians, includes the Opuntian and Hypoknemidian ; and says that forty vessels were equipped against Troy by the united resources of Cynos, Opoeis, Kalliaros, Bessa, Skarphe, Augeiai, Tarphe, and Thronion. Pausanias1 observes, that Herodotus does not mention the number of men which the Locri, who inhabited the foot of Mount Knemis, sent to Thermopylae against the Persians ; but that he only asserts that all the towns of that country supplied some. Herodotus2 does not mention the Hypoknemidii,3 but probably includes both the Locrians under the name of Opuntii, as Pausanias appears to do under that of Hypoknemidii ; for the number of 6000 men, which the latter conjectures to have been their contingent, was too great a force for the narrow slip of land within which the territory of the Hypoknemidii was confined. Herodotus, in another place,4 says, that the Opuntian Locri sent seven fifty-oared vessels against the Persians at the battle of Arte- mision. Diodorus Siculus5 asserts that the Locrians, after wavering with irresolution and acting with duplicit}' towards both the Greeks and Persians, at last furnished a contingent of 1000 men against the latter at Thermopylae. It is singular that Pausanias should differ so widely from Diodorus. When Brennus attacked Greece, the Locrians, who lived near the island of Atalante, despatched 700 infantry to defend the pass of Thermopylae.6 I have made the above digression in order to show how very ' B. 10. c. 20. 2 B. 7. c. 203. 3 Pausanias is the only author who calls them Tttoxc^iJioi. They are named E7nxvij|K,<$(oj by Strabo and others, but I have throughout followed the readings of Pausanias in order to avoid confusion. It is written EiruoojitiiJioi upon their coins. 4 B. 8. c. 1. * B. 11. c. 4. 6 Pausan. b. 10. c. 20. BEAUTY OF THE SCENERY. 63 difficult it is to identify the remains which are seen at present in this country, with the descriptions of them which have been left us by ancient authors. The country as we proceeded received new charms from the increasing height of the mountains, and the varied luxuriance of the plains. The hand of man had not introduced any arti- ficial accessaries ; and nature, wild and uncultivated, showed her- self in all her glowing variety of hues and unrestrained profusion of charms. On our left the long range of Mount Knemis united with the distant Oeta towards Thermopylae ; which celebrated pass we thought, or rather wished to believe, that we now distinguished for the first time. Our constant companion, the Opuntian Gulf, and the mountain- ous Eubcea, were still on our right, and the Thessalian rocks were faintly visible beyond the Cenaean promontory. This impressive scenery, through which we travelled, brought us to some ancient but imperfect traces near the sea. A hill of deep verdure rose upon the left, while a salt spring was seen issuing from its foot. We crossed a rapid stream, and found the beauty of the landscape increasing at every step of the way. The country was adorned with platani, wild olives, and innumerable shrubs of odoriferous powers and elegant forms. We crossed some small rivulets, forming a marsh near the sea, and soon after crossed another stream in a wide maeandering channel of little depth, but which is large and rapid after heavy rains. We met very few inhabitants in this now deserted, but once populous tract of country. Some flocks of goats Avere seen at the foot of the mountains, and some labourers with their oxen ploughing the rich soil, which is almost spontaneously productive of exuberant har- vests, as the climate is so happily tempered, that the crops are never nipped by the frost nor blighted by the drought. The streams, which flow from the Knemidian mountains, quicken the vegetation and enrich the land. 64 VILLAGE OF LONGAKI. About 500 paces from from the last mentioned river we crossed another stream in an extensive channel ; and in thirty-five minutes more we passed another. The traveller through this country during the winter has to encounter numerous impediments, owing to the want of bridges over the streams, which, descending in frequent masses from the precipitous heights of the Knemidian mountains, are soon accumulated into impassable and roaring tor- rents. We passed over a low promontory near the sea, and a quarter of an hour further came to another, upon which are several fine foundations, composed of large and regular masonry. Their extent is not considerable, and they probably indicate the remains of a fort and a small town. The Cenrean promontory, or the north- west point of Euboea, with the Lichades islands, the distant Thes- salian mountains, and some long promontories projecting from the rocks of Oeta, compose the beautiful view which is seen from this spot. On quitting the promontory, we crossed a stream, and passed through the village of Neochorio, where a few small huts are screened by the shade of some large evergreen oaks, and where some grand precipices are piled together on the left of the road. We dined under some wide spreading platani, enjoying the beauty of the view, and the tranquillity of the spot. We proceeded along the sea side, and crossed two streams. At the close of the day, some magnificent precipices rose on our left ; twenty-five minutes beyond which, we crossed four small streams. Half an hour more brought us to the village of Longaki, where we arrived an hour after dark, having been detained on the way by making drawings of the beautiful scenery which so frequently pre- sented itself to our admiration. Longaki is delightfully situated. A captivating interchange of wood and water, of mountains and valleys, is combined with the advantages of a fertile soil and a salubrious climate. Near the village are some of the largest fig-trees that I ever beheld. They VILLAGE OF LONGAKI. 65 are the Jicus sycamorus, which are common in Egypt, and grow in many parts of Greece and Italy. Their fruit is insipid, and so extremely unwholesome, that it is very rarely eaten. The modern Greeks call it <pguy%o<rv%ct, " the Franks' fig." Early the next morning Ave ascended an eminence above the vil- lage, and took a view of the Maliac Gulf, the mountains of Eubcea terminating its north-west point in the Censeum promontory and Lichades islands. The distance was closed by the lofty range and undulating line of the Thessalian mountains, while the rich plain and village of Longaki were the objects more immediately in view. TO THE PASS OF THERMOPYLAE. On the 24th we pursued our journey. The road was near the sea ; and the mountains rose about a quarter of a mile on our left. We crossed a small marsh, and two streams, and had a view of the open iEgean sea, between Euboea and the Thessalian shore, with the islands of Skopelos1 and Skiathos2 towards the north-east. Turning to the south-west, the summits of Parnassos were distin- guished, glittering with snow, over a dip of Mount Knemis. As we proceeded, the road was terminated by the interruption of rocks and bushes, and we rode for ten minutes through a shallow part of the sea. We passed through a village named Dervitziali, 1 This island retains its ancient name, and is about four miles east of Skiathos, and twenty-one from Euboea. 4 It retains its ancient name, and is about fourteen miles north of Euboea. VOL. II. K 66 APPROACH TO THERMOPYLAE. with a mixed population of Turks and Greeks; whereas all the country between Talanda and this place is occupied by Greeks alone. Half an hour from this village, we passed through another, named Andera, the inhabitants of which carry on some commerce in silk ; and the vicinity is thickly planted with mulberry trees. We here observed a great many geese, which are generally very scarce in Greece. In our way we crossed two streams, both of which are rapid and clear; and the wide channel of one shows that it must form a considerable current during the winter months. Half an hour further we crossed several rivulets, whose united waters are rolled into a respectable river, near the sea. This is probably the Boagrios, which according to Homer,1 Strabo,2 Pliny,3 and Pau- sanias,4 flowed near the town of Thronion; it was also known by the name of Mane, and was a mere torrent, being sometimes dry, and at other times full of water;5 it once changed its course dur- ing an earthquake.6 The geographer says that the town of Thro- nion was near this river, at twenty stadia from its mouth ; at the distance of about two miles from the sea, we find a church, composed of ancient fragments, with a few traces about it, and an inscription containing the name of Thronion. "We rested a short time at the village of Katomolo, and made in- quiries if there were any ruins in the vicinity. A town, named Bo- dronitza, was pointed out to us, situated high up the mountain, and about five miles inland, where they said there were several traces of antiquity. Its situation corresponds with none of the cities mentioned by Strabo. Thronion and Skarphe, which were in this part of Locris, were much nearer the sea. At the foot of the hills is the village of Apano Molo, or Upper Molo. We pursued our journey, and soon after crossing two streams observed a tumulus of stones to the right, upon an artificial bank that had been elevated from a marsh. As we approached the pass ' Iliad, 2. v. 533. " B. 9. p. 42G. J Nat. Hist. b. +. c. 7. * B. 5. c. 22. 5 Strabo, loc. cit. 6 Id. b. 1 . p. GO. BEAUTY OF THE SCENERY NEAR THERMOPYLAE. 67 of Thermopylae, the scenery assumed at once an aspect of more beauty and sublimity. To our left were the lofty and shattered precipices of Oeta, co- vered with forests, while silver lines of descending springs sparkled in the shade. The luxuriant plain of Trachis, encircled by distant mountains, was expanded in our front; while, on the right, the eye expatiated over the marshes of Thermopylae, and the Maliac Gulf reaching to the foot of the Thessalian heights. Our way led through a forest-shade of various trees of stately growth, beneath which a dispersion of odoriferous and flowery shrubs scented the air, while the clustering vine hung its fantastic garlands from the wide-branch- ing platanus. The scene was one of voluptuous blandishment. No gratification was wanting which the enraptured lover of landscape could desire. Nature here displayed all her multiform charms. The exuberant soil teemed with a captivating wilderness of plants and flowers. The olive, the laurel, the oleander, and the arbutus,1 the terebinth, rosemary, agnos, yellow jasmine, and lentiscus, the christa- kanthos,z tamarisk,' and gummy cistus, luxuriated on all sides, and seemed to revel in the genial clime. We now approached the spot where the best blood of Greece, and of other nations, had so often been spilt. A few paces to the left of the road is a green hillock, with a house upon its summit, which was once a derbeni, or custom-house. Here the horizontal surface of the rock is cut into channels, for the reception of the water which comes from the neighbouring springs. The marsh begins immediately on the right, extending about a mile to the sea; but the narrowest part of the pass is further on. The battle raged with the greatest fury in the widest part of the pass, where Leoni- das so gloriously fell. After his death,4 the surviving Spartans ' I observed two kinds of arbuti, the Unedo and the Andrachne. * TheZiziphus paliurus; Spina ChristiorRhamnus,being the UaXiavpo; of Theophrastus. • The Mvpixi) of Theophrastus. 4 Herodot. b. 1. c. 223. K 2 68 THE PASS OF THERMOPYLAE. and Thespeians, repassing their fortifications, took post upon a hillock1 at the commencement of the defile, where they made a desperate defence till they were surrounded and destroyed. I con- ceive the derveni hill to be the spot to which Herodotus alludes. It is probable also, that these devoted heroes were buried where they fell, and that this hill served as their common sepulchre.2 As the shades of night were enveloping the interesting scene, we had not time for a more minute investigation. We therefore con- tinued our route; and about twenty-five minutes from the derbeni, crossed two streams, one of which was warm, the other cold : fifty minutes more brought us to the narrowest part of the pass, where we entered Thessaly. But as it was dark, we reserved, till the next day, the attentive contemplation of a spot which is consecrated by historical recollections of the most lofty and animating kind. It is a locality that is peculiarly fitted to kindle the glow of classical en- thusiasm in the breast. We passed the streams which issue from the hot springs ; and crossing a bridge over the river at the northern extremity of the pass, arrived at a khan a little before ten, after a very interesting, though fatiguing day. Before I undertake a description of this place, it may be necessary to observe that if the traveller takes Herodotus and Strabo for un- erring guides in his examination of this celebrated spot, he will be liable to be misled at almost every step of his way. Nor will the du- bious light which they afford enable him to identify scarcely any thing but the pass itself, and the thermal springs, which remain as they were in their time. It must, however, be understood that I am by no means accusing the above-named authors of inaccuracy or negli- gence in their descriptions ; and much less Herodotus, whose ac- count was, no doubt, perfectly suitable to the place at the time he wrote. But the whole country has since experienced great physical as well as moral revolutions. The sea has retired ; rivers have altered Kq\cvvos. Herodot. b. 7. c. 225. 2 IIo\vav8pn>Y . Strabo, b. y. p. 425. THE PASS OF THERMOPYLAE AND THERMAL SPRINGS. 69 their courses ; and towns, castles, and temples, have been swept from the surface of the earth, or ingulfed in the marshes, and over- grown with reeds and bushes. Considering all these various changes and convulsions of nature, it is not surprising that out of six cele- brated rivers,1 which discharged themselves into the sea in the vicinity of Thermopylae, only three can at present be identified with any degree of certainty ; these are the Boagrios, the Asopos, and the Spercheios. Impressed with these difficulties, we returned to the pass the next morning. We crossed a bridge of three pointed arches, over a river now called Ellada, which is probably the Sper- cheios; and, soon after, passed through a smaller stream, which I conceive to be the Asopos ; and in twenty minutes from the khan, reached the thermal springs, from which the pass took the name of Thermopylae, which was its general designation among the Greeks, although the inhabitants called it Pylae.* It is still denominated Therma. The principal spring bubbles out from the ground at the foot of a steep rock, which, perhaps constituted the Lithos Melampygos of the ancients, where Hercules liberated two of his enemies, because they excited his merriment by laughing at the blackness of his skin, while he was carrying them on his back, holding them by the feet with their heads downwards. The water of the springs is hot, sulphurous, and remarkably clear; and Pausanias* says that he never saw any water so blue. It de- posits a calcareous concretion, which attaches itself to reeds and sticks, like the waters of the Anio at Tivoli, and the sulphurous lake between that place and Rome. Dr. Clarke4 found its tem- perature in the month of December to be 111 degrees of Fahren- heit's thermometer. Herodotus5 says that the hot baths, called xu7i0i by the inhabitants, were at the pass, and that the altar of Hercules 1 The Boagrios, Melas, Dyras, Phoenix, Asopos, and Spercheios. 2 Livy, b. 36. c. 1.5. Strabo, b. 9. p. 420. s B. 4. c. 35. 4 See Dr. Clarke's Travels in Greece, vol. 4. c. 8. p. 247. 5 B. 7. c. 176, 70 THE PASS OF THERMOPYLAE AND THERMAL SPRINGS. was in the vicinity. This demigod presided over warm baths, but not over cold ones : vo'j ■fyvyjja. Stjla, TtiuTtoT hit; Hf axXeia, Aoulgx ;' The springs are very copious, and immediately form several rapid streams running into the sea, which is apparently about one mile from the pass. Philostratus* informs us that baths were built here for the infirm by Herodes Atticus. Near the springs are the faint traces of a wall and a circular tower, composed of a thick mass of small stones, and not ap- parently of high antiquity. The foot of the mountain is however covered with trees and impenetrable bushes, that probably hide from our view the earlier fortifications, which were usually com- posed of those large and ponderous masses that seem to defy the ravages of time. Herodotus3 says, that the wall which the Phoceans had built as a protection against the inroads of the Thessalians, was near the spring, and that it was formerly occupied by gates. These were probably rebuilt and fortified at different periods, particularly when any northern invasion was apprehended ; additional works were made by Antiochus the Great. The iEtolians rendered the pass more impregnable by the addition of ditches and ramparts, when they dreaded the approach of Philip, the last of Macedon.4 According to Procopius,5 they were repaired by Justinian, who also made cisterns for the reception of rain water. Several other great events, besides the Persian invasion, add considerable historical interest to this spot. The Greeks, when contending against Brennus,6 and his Gauls, and the Romans7 against Antiochus, fought on the same ground which had been dyed with Spartan blood. 1 Where did you ever see any cold Herakleian baths? — Aristoph. Nubes, v. 1047. " B. 2. c. 5. 3 B. 7. c. 176. 4 Polyb. b. 10. p. ■ De /Edific. b. 4. c. 12. p. 69. Paris edit. 6 Pausan. b. 10. c. 20. &c. ' Livy, b. 36. c. 16. Appian. de bellis Syr. p. 97- THE PASS OF THERMOPYLAE. 71 The Huns, in the time of Justinian, and the Turks under Bajazet, entered Greece by this pass. We know from Strabo1 that all this coast has been greatly changed by the violent efforts of nature ; and it is probable that since the time of the geographer, the features of the country have been undergoing a gradual but unremitting alteration. The marshes have gained considerably on the sea ; while the rivers, which dis- charge themselves into the Maliac Gulf, continually rolling great quantities of earth, have formed long low projections of mud to a considerable distance from their mouths. The intermediate pools are every day more choked by sand and mud ; which, in process of time, will probably be converted into marshy ground, and after- wards into cultivated land. Even the Cenaeum promontory may, in the course of ages, become united with the Thessalian shore. On observing the face of the country at the entrance ofThessaly, it may be easily imagined, that in the earliest ages the Trachinian plain and the low part of Melis were covered by the sea, whose natural boundaries were the mountains. Pausanias8 attributes the muddiness of the gulf to the hot springs of Thermopylae : but a more rational cause for this appearance may be assigned to the agency of the rivers, whose currents in the wintry season impel the sand of the Knemidian and Oetaean ranges, and the mud and slime of the Maliean plain. The gulf was known by the different ap- pellations of M^X<sy? or MuXctiog, Aa.fAia.x.0;, and Atveiuvm xoXtto?. It would appear, from Scylax3 and Diodorus,* that the MuXist? and MyiXtsi? were two different people; but. very probably the word Accpitig ought to be substituted for that of MuXistg, and the error may have arisen from a mistake of the copyists. According to Thucydides,5 the Melieis or Melienses were divided into three parts; the Paralioi, the Jeres or Hierenses, and the Trachinioi. The whole of Melis, with the exception of the tract 1 B. J. p. 60. ' B. 1. c. 4. 3 Peripl. • B. 18. c. II. s B. 3. c. 92. See Stephan. de Urbib. p. 532. 72 RUINS OF A CASTLE ABOVE THE PASS. towards the sea, was enclosed by loity and almost inaccessible mountains, called by the general name of the Trachinian Rocks.1 Apollodorus" mentions a Mount Malea in this territory. Oeta rises abruptly from the hot springs in broken precipices. We rode up a steep part of the mountain, in order to examine the ruins of an ancient town or castle.3 As the way was extremely bad and difficult, we were an hour in reaching the place, though the distance is not apparently more than a mile and a half by the cir- cuitous road ; and, in a straight line, only a few hundred yards from the springs. It is difficult to determine the name of this place. There seem to have been three principal forts on this part of the mountains, namely, Herakleia, Tichious, and Rhodountia; and it appears that the summit, named Kallidromos, was also fortified during the war between the Romans and Antiochus the Great.4 The ruins in question consist of the lower parts of a wall, which encompassed a long, narrow hill, that is difficult of access. These walls are of the fourth style of military architecture, composed of large blocks. Their general thickness is seven feet. In some parts they are constructed with small stones and mortar, where their thick- ness is more considerable. The walls are carried up to the very edge of the precipices, which rise above the pass, to the north of the hot springs. Contiguous to the ridge on which the walls stand, and on the north side, is a small plain, where there are a few imperfect traces, and a spring of excellent water. We enjoyed a view from this spot, where the beauty of the scenery was illuminated by many reflections from the lustre of the classic- page. Below us, towards the south, were the thermal springs and the ever-memorable pass; in the middle of the gulf was the north- west extremity of Euboea.5 The rich and even plain of Melis was ' Tf^ivEai vjsrpau. Herodot. b. 1. c. 198. * B. 2. 3 At present called Muntzmeno. 4 Livy, b. 36. c. 16. s The Cenoeum promontory, which, according to Strabo, was 70 stadia from Thermo- pylae, b. 9. p. 429. The pointed mountain which rises from the promontory is at present called Lithada. It was sacred to Jupiter, and it was anciently decorated with a temple of that divinity. Sophoc. Trachin. v. 241. Seneca Here. Oetaeu9, act. 3. RUINS OF A CASTLE ABOVE THE PASS. 73 dotted with villages, adorned with trees, and improved by cultiva- tion. It is intersected by the Asopos, and the Spercheios, that pursue their devious course, through the Trachinian rocks, which environ the plain. The town of Zetoun, the ancient Lamia, is con- spicuously situated on an eminence at the northern extremity of the plain. I know not what place these ruins represent, unless it be the fortress of Tichious. Herakleia, according to Herodotus, was situated to the north of the Asopos ; which river issues from a narrow glen, in a mountain now called Katabathron, about four miles north of Thermopylae. On its northern bank, just above the glen from which it emerges, is a pointed hill, forming part of the great Trachinian rocks. On this hill are the ruins of an acropolis ; and, lower down, the traces of the city. Thucydides1 says, that Herakleia was surrounded with a wall by the three Lacedaemonians, Leon, Alcidas, and Damagon; and that it was 40 stadia from Thermopylae, and 20 from the sea. Dio- dorus2 asserts, that the Lacedaemonians sent a colony to Trachis, and built a town upon its ruins, changing its name to Herakleia. It contained 10,000 inhabitants, and was colonised in the 6th year of the Peloponnesian war. Jason of Pherai, finding this place too strong to be taken by open force, had recourse to treachery. He afterwards caused it to be demolished, and gave the land to the Oetceans. It was evidently restored after its destruction by Jason, as it is men- tioned long afterwards by Livy,3 and other authors, as a place of strength and importance. Strabo4 asserts, that the ancient Trachis was six stadia from Herakleia. Oetas is one of the most lofty and extensive mountains in Greece, though it appears not so high as the neighbouring Parnassos, and ' B. 3. c. 92. " B. 12. c. 59. 5 Sita est Heraclea in radicibus Oetas montis ; ipsa in campo, areem immmentem loco alto et undique praecipiti habet. B. 36. c. 22. 4 B. 9. p. 428. 5 Oi7ij. VOL. II. L 74 MOUNT OETA. still less so than Pindos,' Olympos, Taygeton, and Cyllene ; but it ranks next to these. It forms a long ridge, branching out towards the north-west, till it joins Pindos; which unites with the Acro- ceraunian mountains, that terminate in the Adriatic.2 On the other side, towards the south-east, it unites with the range of Knemis ; which is subdivided into smaller hills, intersected by glens and valleys. Livy 3 compares Oeta to the Apennines of Italy ; as the former causes a geographical division in Greece, similar to what the latter occasion in Itaty. It appears from Livy* and Strabo,5 that the highest part of Oeta was above Thermopylae, and was named Kallidromos. According to Appian,6 the two summits of Kalli- dromos and Tichious were above the pass. Mount Oeta is broken into massy precipices, crowned with mag- nificent forests of oaks, firs, and platani, and with every other tree and shrub which grow in these latitudes. It is watered by innu- merable springs; and every thing flourishes in the utmost luxuri- ance. The heat of the summer is mitigated by the abundant shade and the exuberant verdure which are objects of so much regret in other parts of Greece. There were formerly two roads which led from Melis into Doris over Mount Oeta. The plain forms a considerable recess, to the north-west of the thermal springs. Here the Asopos issues from a winding glen, up which was one of the roads called Anopaia,7 that passed under the walls of Herakleia;8 but this way was narrow and difficult.9 The easier route passed through the territory of the iEnianes ; and this was taken by the Persians, and afterwards by the Gauls, under Brennus. This road was probably between the Asopos and the Spercheios. Another road leads over Oeta, going close to the ruins which are above the pass ; it is very narrow and difficult : 1 The modern name of Pindos is Melfyfiov la. fiouva. » Strabo, b. Q. p. 428. j Id juguui sicut Apunnini dorso Italia dividitur, ita mediani Gneciani dirimit. 13. 36. c. 15. ♦ Ibid. * B. 9. p. 4CS. « De bellis Syr. p. 97. 7 Herodot. b. 7. c. 216. ' Pausan. b. 10. c. 22. 9 Ibid. MOUNT OETA. 75 I shall give a description of it on my return from Thessaly, when we passed over it into Doris. The great plain of Melis, with its mountainous boundary, which once formed a conspicuous part of the kingdom of Achilles,1 appears to have been afterwards parcelled out into the different territories of the Malienses, iEnianes, Oetaeans, Trachinii, or Herakleotai, and the Lamienses. The names of these districts underwent such changes as have been productive of confu- sion in the demarcation of their reciprocal situations and divisions. The iEnianes, or Ew^jc, as they are denominated by Homer,2 were situated on that division of Oeta from which theSpercheios flows,3 and about Mount Tymphrestos, Avhich, according to Strabo,4 gave birth to that river. Tymphrestos joined Mount Othrys. Both Strabo5 and Heliodorus6 assert, that the iEnianes inhabited Oeta, and it would appear that they had a capital named Ainea : I had the good fortune to find a small copper coin of that town at Thermopylae ; on one side of which is the head of Jupiter, to whom Mount Oeta was sacred,7 and on the reverse the head of a lance, and jaw-bone of a boar, and AINIA EniKPATINON. I have seen a silver coin8 of this people, on which is the head of Jupiter, and on the reverse a naked figure hurling a dart, and AINIANHN. As the country inhabited by the iEnianes bordered on iEtolia,9 the Calydonian emblems are represented on their coins. Other neighbouring towns have the same type : as Oeta and Am- phissa. The Oetaeans probably inhabited that part of the mountain be- tween the Trachinii and the Hypoknemidii. Their capital seems 1 Strabo, b. 9. p. 433. 435. ' Iliad, 2. v. 47. 3 Herodot. b. 7. c. 12. 4 B. 9. p. 433. 5 B. 10. 6 B. 2. ' Sophoc. Trach. v. 203. 443. 1207. In the collection of Colonel Leake. 9 Strabo, b. 1. p. 61. L 2 76 COINS OF OETA, LAMIA, AND MALIA. to have had the same name as the mountain,1 and was founded, according to Antoninus Liberalis,2 by Amphissor son of Apollo and the nymph Dryope. I found a small copper coin3 of this town also ; one side is filled with a lion's head ; on the reverse is a long spear and the jaw-bone of a boar, and OITAftN. I have also seen silver drachmas of the same place with the following types, — lion's head;* reverse, bow and quiver, OITA: — lion's head ;5 reverse, a naked figure holding a sword, OITAON. The Trachinii, or Heracleotai, occupied a part of the Meliensian territory, and the intermediate tract between the Oetaeans and the iEnienses. The territory of the latter was pro- bably contiguous to that of the Lamienses, whose capital was Lamia, situated at the northern extremity of the plain. The Ma- lienses or Melienses" probably occupied the plain as far as the loot of Mount Othrys.7 I found some coins of the Lamienses and Ma- lienses, but they are not common. The types seen on those of Lamia are the caduceus, diota, bunch of grapes, the head of Minerva and of Bacchus, and Hercules with his bow and arrow killing the Styinphalides, with the inscription AAMIEHN: on the latter is the head of Minerva; reverse, a diota and MAAIEHN. One similar to this is published by Eckhel.8 1 Towns which had the same name as the mountains on which they were situated, were termed u>povojj.oi, homonomous, Ezechiel. Spanhem. observat. in Callimach. Hymnuni in Dianatn, v. 99. " Metam. c. 32. 3 See Eckhel Numi veteres Anecdoli. — Pars. 1. tab. 6. p. S9. ♦ In the collection of Mr. Burgou. 5 In the collection of Colonel Leake. 6 Thucyd. b. 3. c. 92. " Antoninus Liberalis Metam. c. 22. 8 The following coins of Oeta of second brass, are published by Mionnet, — head of Apollo; reverse, OITAIilN, a lance, bunch of grapes, and jaw-bone of a boar: — an arrow, quiver, and jaw-bone; reverse, two shields and two lances: — head of a lion, and head of a lance ; reverse, OJTAII2N, Hercules erect with his club. Dr. Clarke found a silver coin of this town at Delphi, — lion's head with an arrow in his mouth ; reverse, figure of Hercules with radiated head, holding his club. The inscription is from right to left NftlATIO. It is in the collection of R. P. Knight, Esq. and there are others of the same type in the British Museum. — See Dr. Clarke's Travels in Greece, vol. 4. c. 6. p. 197. CHAPTER III. To Zetoun, remains of Lamia — Ruins of a city — Village Stilidi — Ruins of Echinos — Villages of Rakes and Karditza — Ruins of a city — Villages of Makala and Pteleo — Ruins of a city — Village of Surbis — Ruins of a city — Town of Armiro — Village of Staikes — Ruins of a city — Remains of Pagasai and Demetrias — Castle and town of Bolo — Mount Pelion, and the Gulf of Pagasai — Ruins of lolkos — Town of Belestina and ruins of Pherai — Hyperian fountain — Villages of Tolelere and Mouimos — Larissa — Singular conduct of the archbishop — Insolence of the Turks — River Peneios — Camels — Mount Olympos — Villages of Baba and Ampelachia — Vale of Tempe — Proconsular inscription. TO ZETOUN, LAMIA. ON the 26th, we quitted the khan, and proceeded on our journey through Thessaly ; we crossed two artificial canals, the currents of which are supplied by the Spercheios, and irrigate the extensive rice grounds, which tend to vitiate the air in the vicinity. The road is paved, which is a necessary precaution, as great part of the plain is a complete marsh. In two hours we arrived at Zetoun,1 the ancient Lamia, which was in the territory of Melis, and, according to Strabo,2 was only thirty stadia from the Spercheios, though the distance appears more considerable. This town contains at present about 3000 inhabitants, the greater part of whom are Greeks. It is the head of a province, and the Voivode commands sixty villages.5 The Greeks have a bishop, suffragan of the metropolitan of Larissa. The ports are Stilidi and Agia Marina, on the Maliac Gulf. The chief ' It is written Zyhvy by Leonicus Chalcocondyla and I. Curopalata; it is a Turkish word signifying olives. It is however sometimes called Izdin by the Turks. " B. 9. p. 433. s See the Appendix. — The distances from Zetoun to the following places are, — to Athens forty hours, to Joannina forty-eight, to Libadea twelve, to Larissa sixteen. 78 TOWN OF ZETOUN.— RUINS OF LAMIA. products of the territory of Zetoun are grain, tobacco, rice, anil cotton; 80,000 ocques of the latter are produced every year. The air is rendered unwholesome by the vicinity of the marshes and the rice grounds. The inhabitants have a yellow and sickly ap- pearance. Zetoun, which is situated on a hill,1 commands a noble view over the memorable places which surround it. The pass of Thermopylae is distinguished at the foot of the rugged Oeta, which, branching out towards Tymphrestos and Othrys, shoots up from the flat and even surface of the Melian plain. Towards the south- east is the Maliac Gulf, and the lofty and picturesque extremity of Eubcea.2 Above the town of Zetoun stands the fortress, the acropolis of the ancient Lamia. The lower part of the walls is ancient and regularly constructed. It was once a place of strength, and in the Lamian war was held by Antipater, who defeated the supe- rior force of the Athenians commanded by Leosthenes, who was killed before the place.3 According to Stephanus,* Lamia took its name from Lamos, a son of Hercules and Omphale, or from Lamia, a queen of the Trachinii. TO ECHINOS. On the 27th we proceeded, and in a quarter of an hour crossed a stream called Stiria, which, in a shallow but spacious channel, winds 1 Livy, b. 36. c. 25. * Mount Lithada, which rises from the promontory of Censeon. ' About 320 veais B. C. 4 V. Lamia, p. 506. RUINS OF AN ANCIENT CITY. 79 through the plain to the Maliac Gulf. Strabo1 mentions a river called Acheloos, near Lamia. The neighbouring inhabitants were denominated Paracheloitai. In a quarter of an hour from this place we came to a rock called Niphi, the base of which is cut into steps. We passed near a village named Megalo Brusi, or the great spring : the water bubbles out of a rock, and finds its way to the sea. In thirty-five minutes more, we crossed a small stream, called Mauro Mandila; which, issuing from a rock, to the left of the road, enters the plain. To our left was the village Akladi, and to the right those of Kaprena and Palaio Pyrgo. We crossed two other streams, when we came to some considerable traces and foundations, and arrived at the village of Stilidi, the ruins still continuing. This place is three hours from Zetoun, and is probably the ancient Phalara. It stands upon a rising ground, at the foot of which is the sea, and a good port. Livy2 says, that it was thickly inhabited, on account of its excellent port. According to Strabo,3 Phalara was twenty stadia by sea from the mouth of the Spercheios. Palmerius4 says, it was the port of Lamia, from which it was distant fifty stadia. Continuing our journey, we traversed some rich corn fields, and in the course of forty-five minutes crossed six streams. This copious supply of water contributes to enrich the soil, and to decorate the surface with that smiling verdure that is seldom seen in Greece. We ascended a hill to take a view of the Maliac Gulf; on the opposite side of which, was seen the coast of the Hypokne- midian Locrians, the pass of Thermopylae, and Mount Oeta, over- topped by the distant Parnassos.5 More to the west was the Melian plain, and the castle of Zetoun.6 Below was a rich valley, adorned with many different kinds of trees, amongst which were some ex- tremely large olives. On the foreground were a few ancient traces. We left this attractive spot with regret, and crossed two streams ; one of which merits the name of a river. We passed by a fountain, 1 B. 9- p. 434. ' B. 27. c. SO. ' B. 9. p. 43.5. 4 Exercit. p. 322. ' Bearing S. 75 W. "Bearing N. 70 W. 80 RUINS OF ECHINOS. shaded by se\eral trees of the ftcus sycamorus, of enormous size. Our way led us through some corn fields; and, after crossing a stream, we arrived in the afternoon at Echinos, and dined in a keoschk, the sides of which were composed of open latticework, through which the eye wandered over the Maliac Gulf, and the mind contem- plated the interesting countries we had lately traversed. The keoschk was built over a clear and rapid stream, which rushed beneath it, and was shaded by the stately platan us, and the tapering poplar. I have seldom beheld a scene, the seclusion of which combined so many charms with so much classical interest. The village of Echinos, which still retains its original name, stands upon the ruins of the. ancient town, on the side of a hill that is crowned by the Acropolis : it appears, as well from its situation as from its works, to have been a place of great strength.1 In some parts it has been fortified by triple walls, which are in the third style of construction. Opposite the Acropolis, at the distance of a few hundred paces, is a hill, where there are some ruins, and foundations of large blocks, probably a temple, with a Greek church, which is composed of ancient fragments, and surrounded by the largest olive-trees I ever beheld. Here the traveller is gratified by a beautiful view of Echinos, and of the classical distances towards Thermopylae. Echinos was in Phthiotis, and the surrounding country was always celebrated for its fertility. 2 TO ARMIRO. We quitted Echinos on the 28th; and, descending to the plain, in the course of ten minutes crossed three streams, and soon after entered an olive-grove. 1 Polyb. b. 9. p. 572. ' Ibid. RUINS OF AN ANCIENT CITY. 81 We ascended an eminence; and in an hour and ten minutes from Echinos arrived at a village called Rakes, where we stopped to take a drawing of the Euboean mountains, the Maliac Gulf, and the distant elevations of Locris Hypoknemis. We then descended to the plain, passed several fountains, crossed some small streams, and arrived at the village of Graditza, which is three hours and ten minutes from Echinos. This is one of the most fertile and beautiful spots I ever saw ; the country, which is fertilized by numerous rivulets, is mantled with a rich verdure, and adorned with large mulberry trees, pome- granates, figs, and other fruit trees. The vine, luxuriating in all the powers of vegetative life, is beheld depending in ample clusters from the majestic platanus. The principal produce of the place is silk, which is of an excellent quality. On quitting this place we lost sight of Parnassos, which we had seen all the way from Zetoun. In three quarters of an hour, we arrived at the remains of an ancient city, at the foot of a steep hill, covered with bushes. The walls are built up the side of the hill, to the summit of which we arrived in twenty minutes : the construction is of the third style, and finely built Avith large masses. There may be some of the other styles of construction in the walls, but it took us so long to make a drawing from the spot, that we had not time to examine the entire circuit of the ruins. The summit of the hill seems to have been occupied bj^ a Doric temple, as we found a tri- glyph, with some fragments of white marble. There is reason to suppose that these are the remains of Larissa Kremaste, ' the capital of the kingdom of Achilles ; and I conceive there is an error in the text of Strabo2 respecting its distance from Echinos, which he makes only twenty stadia. I should propose to substitute one hundred and twenty : which, calculating something less than thirt}' stadia an hour, corresponds with four hours and a half, which it took us to perform the journey, exclusive of our stopping, and also of the twenty minutes we employed in reaching the summit of the hill. Its situation is remarkably strong; and its 1 See Strab. b. 9. p. 440. ' B. 9. p. 435. VOL. II. M 82 EXTRAORDINARY BEAUTY OF THE COUNTRY. lofty and impending aspect merits the name of Kremaste, by which it was distinguished from the numerous diversity of Larissas in Greece, and in other countries : it was also called Pelasgia.1 We made a drawing from this spot of a most comprehensive and beau- tiful nature. In the afternoon we resumed our journey ; descending with dif- ficulty to the foot of the hill, we crossed three small streams, at a short distance from each other, and came to a fountain, the water of which had ceased to flow. But the spot was green and fertile, and adorned with platani, mulberries, fig-trees, and poplars of a large size. In an hour and a half from the last named ruins, we reached the village of Makala or Machallah,1 situated in a country where the soil is as fertile as the scenery is beautiful. Having passed the night under the hospitable roof of an Albanian cottage, we continued our journey on the 29th, and a short way out of the village observed some ancient traces near a fountain. We crossed two streams, adorned with large trees and rocky scenery ; after which we entered some deep glens, which sometimes expanded into valleys teeming with every beauty of nature, and enriched with fine trees ; principally platani, oaks, and elms. If we had travelled with no other object than that of forming a collection of picturesque drawings, we should not have been able to proceed five miles a day through a country which, at almost every step of the way, or turn of the road, presented some characteristic diversity of view, which in multiplicity of picturesque charms, and in copiousness of enchanting landscape, far surpassed any thing in Italy, or perhaps in any other country in the world. The beauty of the lines was equalled by the clear and vivid freshness of the tints ; no Italian mists dimmed the interesting distances, which are sharp, distinct, and definite, yet without any of that intractable harshness which painters dread. As we proceeded, our road led us into a forest of ancient platani, • Strabo, b. 9. p. 440. • Or Mach-Allah, which, in the Turkish language, is a term of admiration, signifying that which is made by God. When a Turk is pleased with the beauty of any object, he exclaims Masch-Allah ! RUINS OF A MODERN CASTLE. 83 the openings of which at intervals exhibited luminous flashes of the Maliac Gulf. Nothing could be more refreshing to the sight than this delightful and exuberant country, after our eyes had been so long weaned by the glare of the barren hills and streamless rivers of Phocis, Boeotia, and Attica. Having crossed a brook, we ascended an eminence to take a view of the gulf, which is so far indented into the Thessalian shore, as to represent the soft and tranquil bosom of a lake. The mountains, which rise from it, are of a fine form ; and several long capes and promontories, projecting into the sea, add much to the picturesque effect of the view. Towards the mouth of the gulf is a lofty pointed promontory, on which are distinguished the ruins of a modern castle ; beyond the promontory is part of the Pagasaean Gulf, bounded by Mount Thi- saion,1 on the side of which the town of Tricheri is conspicuously situated. In the distance, beyond the entrance of the gulf, are seen some islands of the Archipelago, probably Skiathos, and Skopelos ; but the open sea is not visible. In an hour and ten minutes after we quitted this place, we entered an extensive grove of mulberries, and crossed a stream flowing under an embowering shade of ample platani. We then went through a village named Petilio, or Pteleo, but observed no ruins, though the name might lead to a supposition that it was the Pteleon of the ancients, which was in this part of Thessaly. We were here induced to deviate from the road, in order to exa- mine a ruined castle, situated on the summit of a promontory, rising from the sea. After having ascended the hill, which from its steep- ness caused us some trouble, we found ourselves but ill compensated, as the remains were of a modern date. The entrance of the Paga- saean Gulf is advantageously seen from this place. The Thessalian mountains, on which is the town of Tricheri, project far into the sea, and in the distance are observed the islands which 1 take to be Skiathos, and Skopelos. We returned to Pteleo, by a better, but more circuitous road, 1 At present called Bardzoia. M 2 84 KINGDOM OF PROTESILAOS. and passed through some rich fields of corn, flax, beans, and lupines: admired some grand evergreen oaks, crossed a stream, and came to a picturesque fountain, over which some majestic platani threw a broad circumference of shade. We were now in that country which formed part of the ancient kingdom of Protesilaos, which was situated between those of Achilles and Eurypylos.1 Having passed through Pteleo, we ascended a hill, on the summit of which is the division of the districts of Ze- toun and Armiro. From hence we overlooked a fine fertile plain, well cultivated, and encompassed by hills of a round and uniform outline. This may be the Crocian plain ; which, according to Strabo,2 was near Thebes, and was watered by the river Amphryssos. We descended to the plain, and passed a village called Surbis, in the midst of a mulberry forest, which forms the principal source of the riches of the country, from the food that it supplies to the numerous silk-worms which are reared in this place. The silk of Thessaly is superior to that of other parts of Greece. We passed by a well, shaded by venerable Balania oaks, and crossed a sluggish and marshy stream, perhaps the Amphryssos,3 on whose banks Apollo tended the flocks of Admetos.4 Great part of the plain is excellent pasture land. A hill which rises on the left is crowned with the monastery of the Holy Virgin. We passed through some low vineyards, crossed a bridge over a marshy stream, and arrived at the ruins of an ancient city, situated in the plain, at the foot of a hill, the summit of which is characterised by the walls of the acropolis. Probably the remains of Iton, where there was also a temple. The walls are much ruined, and a considerable part is, no doubt, concealed by the marshes : they were of the third style. These ruins are three hours and a quarter from Pteleo. We wished to examine this place with greater care; but, as the evening was approaching, and there was no habitation near it where * Strabo, b. 9. p. 435. • Kpoxiw irsJicv. Ibid. Stephanus calls it Kpoxwhv TfeSiov. De Urbib. p. 20S. in v. Aijinr/lptoti^ 3 ■ k'tiisque Ampluysos — Ovid. Metam. b. 1. v. .580. « Lucan. Pharsal. b. 6. v. 367, and others. RUINS OF AN ANCIENT CITY. 85 we might pass the night, we pursued our journey, passed by the source of a clear spring, and came to two roads, the left leading to Platanios, the other to Armiro. We crossed a spacious, but shallow, stream, with a great expanse of sand about it, which shows that, at times, it is very broad. This may be a continuation of the Am- phryssos ; but, as it had been dark for some time, I could not ascer- tain the course of the stream. In ten minutes from this river, we arrived at Armiro, a large town, the capital of a province, situated in a fertile vale, and varied with many different kinds of trees, par- ticularly cypresses and platani, which grow in the streets, diffusing around an agreeable and refreshing shade. This town, which, some years ago, was nearly depopulated by the plague, has at present the appearance of being half deserted. The Turks, who form the prin- cipal part of the population, have four mosques. There are a few imperfect traces in the town, indicating an ancient city, which some have supposed to be Thebae Phthioticae. After its capture by the last Philip of Macedon, its name was changed to Philippopolis.1 Polybius says, that Skopion and Heliotropion were situated in its vicinity, and that it Avas 300 stadia from Larissa.2 TO BOLO. On the 30th we proceeded ; and, entering an oak forest, observed several upright stones, which we were informed were the sepulchres of those who died of the plague, some years ago, at Armiro. A quarter of an hour further, we remarked some ancient remains. An hour from Armiro we crossed a river, and saw a village named Idris, to the left. We passed a village called Staikesi, with one mosque; and, in two hours from Armiro, arrived at the ruins of a city, now called Aias, which, from the similarity of the name, may 1 Polyb. b. 5. p. 438. Diodor. Sic. b. 26. c. 7. ' Polyb. b. 5. p. 437. Livy calls it Thebse Phthise and Theb* Phtliioticie. 86 RUINS OF AN ANCIENT CITY. be Aia, mentioned by Stephanus.' The Avails which surround the city are in the third and fourth styles ; but those of the acropolis are chiefly of the third style, and some parts of the most ancient, being composed of unhewn rocks, of a larger size. The remains of a gate are left standing in the acropolis, of the usual form, diminishing a little at top. The lintel has fallen. The general thickness of the wall is ten feet. These ruins are within a mile of the Pagaseean Gulf, which is beautifully varied with bays and promontories. Having taken some drawings of this curious place, we continued our journey; and, in eighteen minutes, came to some fine traces and fountains, situated in a forest of small oaks. This was probably a temple : some fragments of the Corinthian and Ionic orders are visible, and perhaps an excavation might discover not only the columns, but some interesting antiquities. Amongst some frag- ments of marble, is one ornamented with a mseander, with a bas relief of a dove supported by two dolphins. Not far from this place, we came to the tomb of one of the late voivodes of Armiro, who was killed on the spot, a few years ago, by thieves : it stands near the sea, and is neatly constructed of white marble, probably taken from the neighbouring ruins. Ascending from this place through a narrow pass, shaded by oaks, we entered an olive grove, and observed some ancient traces. As we emerged from the grove, we were unexpectedly delighted by one of the most captivating scenes in Greece, not only from the natural beauties of the landscape, but from its intimate union with the 1 Dc Urbib. p. 4-7. BEAUTIFUL VIEW OF MOUNT PELION. 87 most curious fables, and with the heroic history of that celebrated country. We saw before us the venerable majesty of Mount Pelion, the ancient habitation of the giants and of centaurs;1 but now beauti- fully variegated with groves and gardens, and glittering with towns and villages. The situation of Iolkos, the country of Jason, is descried upon a ridge of the mountain, which, towards the south-east, branches out into the Pagasaean Gulf. The locality of the ancient Pagasai, where the far-famed ship Argo4 was launched upon the ocean, was one of the proximate objects of attraction in the more immediate field of view. The ruins of Demetrias appeared at our feet in a rich level plain, washed by the Pagasoean Gulf, from which the Argonautic expedition sailed for the Colchian prize. The uncommon beauty of the scenery, associated with so many details of ancient fable, and so many feats of wonder and delight, of heroism and of love, operated upon the imagination with a sort of magic charm. We paused, and paused again, in order to enjoy and to re-enjoy the contemplation of a view, which cannot be surpassed in interesting recollections, or in orandeur and variety of scenery. The vivid impression which this scene made upon my mind will never be effaced. After taking a drawing of this majestic landscape, we descended to the plain, where we saw an inscription cut on a rock near the road ; but the letters were corroded and illegible. We soon after- wards reached the ruins of an ancient city, which is probably De- metrias. It is spread over a considerable portion of the plain; but the only ruins that have in some degree resisted the injuries of time, are a stadium and a hippodrome, which are contiguous to each other, and seem to have been composed of banks of earth. The other remains consist of masses, of which the original destination 1 Callimachus assigns to Mount Pelion the poetical denomination of Xeiguivitiss ax^ai, on account of its having been the habitation of the centaur Chiron. Hymn in Delum. v. 104. a See Apollon. Ilhod. Argon. Strabo, b. 9. p. 436. Miounet has published the following coin of Magnesia ; head of Gordianus Pius. MA AN T0PAIAN0C ; rev. ship Argo. APril MArNHTttN. 88 RUINS OF DEMETRIAS. cannot be known. Amongst these we remarked some fine pieces of white marble. The most ancient name of this town was Mag- nesia.' But, when it was rebuilt by Demetrius Poliorcetes, it took the name of Demetrias, and was peopled by the eight cities of Nelia, Pagasai, Ormenion, Rizous, Sepias, Olizon, Boebe, and Iolkos.1 The remains of its founder were interred within the city.3 It was the arsenal of Pherai, and station of the Macedonian fleet;4 and, from its local strength, and other favourable circumstances, it was regarded as one of the chains of Greece. The others were Chalcis and Corinth. s The importance of Demetrias was considerably diminished in the time of Strabo,6 though it was still the principal city of Magnesia. The geographer7 places it between Pagasia and Nelia. The gulf is named by different writers Pagasicus,8 Pagasi- ticus,9 Pagasaeus,10 Pelasgicus," Iolciacus,11 and Demetriacus," and is at present the gulf of Bolos.14 In the plain of Demetrias we found several beautiful flies, of the ?iemopteryx species, the panorpa coa of Linnaeus ; it is one of the most elegant and delicate of the insect tribe.15 We proceeded, and saw a cave to the left, to which there was an ascent by some steps cut in the rock. At present it contains nothing worthy of observation. The rock is of white marble, from which a salt spring, gushing in a rapid current, soon forms a stream that traverses the plain, and enters the Pagasaean Gulf. Near the source are several ruins, and some sepulchres of the Spelaion kind, cut in the rock; but in lofty situations, and difficult of access. We passed a bridge over a stream, and, in the evening, arrived at the castle of Bolos, a Turkish fort, as usual, out of order, with some dismounted guns, and dismantled battlements. The castle, which stands in a 1 According to Pliny, Demetrias was once called Pagasas ; this is evidently erroneous. Nat. Hist. b. 4. c. 8. 8 Strabo, b. 9. p. 436. ' Plutarch, life of Demetrius. 4 Strabo, b. 9. p. 436. s Polyb. b. 17. p.751. • B. 9. p. 436. 'Ibid. ' Pliny, Nat. Hist. » Strabo. ,0 Pomp. Mela. " Ptolemy. " Ovid. " Livy. 14 Pronounced Volo. 15 See Zoological Miscellany, by Dr. W. E. Leach, vol. 2. p. 74. with plates. BEAUTIFUL SCENERY ON PELION. 89 flat, is surrounded by a large village, called the Gardens of Bolo : the country abounds in corn and vineyards. The next morning, May 31st : half an hour brought us to Bolo, a large and populous town. It reclines upon the southern declivity of Pelion, in the midst of a delightful garden, where a varied pro- fusion of trees form cooling arbours and embowering shades, and where innumerable streams, scattering their limpid treasures, spread verdure and fertility around, or murmur in cascades as they are rolled over the intervening rocks. This delightful spot exhibits in all their rich mixtures of foliage, and diversities of form, the luxuriantly spreading platanus, the majestically robust chesnut, the waving poplar, and the aspiring cypress, which are happily in- termingled with the vine, the pomegranate, the almond, and the fig. Here the weary may repose, and those avIio hunger or thirst may be satisfied. Nor is the ear left without its portion of delight. The warbling harmonies of the nightingale, and of other melodious birds, are heard even in the most frequented streets; and plenty, security, and content, seem every where diffused. The houses have an air of neatness and comfort which I have not seen in any other part of Greece : they are generally high, and are roofed with slates found on the mountain. Pelion is adorned with about twenty-four large and wealthy vil- lages, some of Avhich merit rather the appellation of cities; par- ticularly Bolo, Portaria, Makrinitza, and Agios-Giorgios. We rode up the side of the mountain, the pristine haunt of giants and of centaurs,1 and visited some villages Avhich are most pic- turesque, and formed a singular contrast with any thing of the kind that I had ever seen before. In an hour we reached Portaria, situated in a forest of platani and chesnuts, and proceeding higher up we arrived at Makrinitza : 1 Ksttevpuiv ey Open xXmwou ILjXiaJa xa8' u\av. Euripid. Iphig. in Aulid. v. 1047. There was a town in Thessaly called Pelion. It was probably the largest town upon the mountain from which it took its name, as Oeta and other homonomous cities. See Stephan. de Urbih. p. 639. Eustath. in Horn. p. 334. 4. VOL. II. N 90 RUINS OF IOLKOS. both these towns are inhabited by Greeks of strong and athletic forms, who are sufficiently brave and numerous to despise their neighbours, the Turks. The streets are irrigated by incessant rills and the clearest fountains, and shaded by platani, fig-trees, and chesnuts of the largest size, which are thickly entwined by ample ramifications of vines of prodigious dimensions, and clustering with an exuberance of grapes. Other villages, and scattered habitations, are seen higher up the mountain, where the forests are thinner than lower down. Homer ' might well characterise Pelion by the epithet of itvoa-itpvXkov. TO THE RUINS OF IOLKOS. On the 2d of June we visited the ruins of a city now called Boritza, about three miles east of Bolo. We passed through a vale rich with vineyards and olives, and crossed three dry torrent beds, the largest of which is near the foot of the hill on which the ruins stand, and is probably the Anauros, in which Jason * lost one of his sandals on his way to Iolkos. Pelias, the usurper of the throne of Jason, having been warned by an oracle to be aware of a stranger who would present himself at Iolkos with only one sandal, was terrified at the appearance of the lawful king, and accordingly advised him to undertake the Argonautic expedition, stipulating to resign the throne on his return. According to the testimony of Stesichorus, Meleager shot his arrow from Iolkos to the further bank of the Anauros. s Having ascended a short way up the hill, the foundations of a gate, with a tower on each side of it, are visible. Higher up is a cistern excavated in the rock, and further on, a dilapidated church 1 Iliad, 2. v. 757. ' Apollon. Rhod. Argon. 1. v. 9. ' Athensus Peipnosoph. b. 4. c. 21. RUINS OF IOLKOS. 91 and some ancient foundations, apparently the cella of a temple, forty-six feet eight inches in length, and thirty-three feet five inches in breadth. On each side of it is a circular well in the rock, one of which contains water, while the other is filled with earth and stones. Not many paces further are two other wells of a similar form, but without water. The highest point of the acropolis rises from the sea, the other extremity descends to Pelion, of which it is a projection or branch, dividing in two parts an extensive plain. Towards the summit it is very narrow, and the collateral Avails gradually approach, till there is only a space of a few feet between. The narrowest ridge of the rock is only three feet broad, and there are no traces of walls upon it, where they must have been unneces- sary, as the steepness of the precipice forms a natural fortification. The general thickness of the walls is nine feet; they are of the third style of construction, but the blocks are smaller than in most ancient cities. I followed their traces down to the sea, where there is a veglia or custom-house tower, now no longer in use. There can be little doubt that these ruins are the remains of the ancient Iolkos, which is supposed to have been founded by Kretheus, one of the sons of iEolus, several years before the Trojan war. The walls of Iolkos are in the same style as those at the foot of the Pergama,' and were probably constructed nearly at the same period. When Homer * gives to Iolkos the epithet of broad, he no doubt alludes to the extensive plains in its neighbourhood, and not to the city itself, which, from the nature of the situation, Avas particularly narrow ; the same poet has distinguished it by the epithet of Avell built,5 while Seneca4 gives it the appropriate appellation of parva. The vieAv from this place is, as usual on all elevated spots in Greece, beautiful, extensive, and interesting. The eye expatiates over the undulating outline of those hills which encompass the Pagaseean Gulf. The summits of Euboea bound the most distant 1 Discovered in 1811 by Monsieur Mauduih. % * Odyss. I 1. v. 245. eapv/apw la.oXv.tp — 1 Iliad, 2. v. 712. evxliptty lawXxov — * Medea, Act. 3. v. 457. N 2 92 MOUNT PELION. part of the view: the foot of Pelion, the projecting shore of Pagasai, the plain of Demetrias, and the mountains which rise beyond it, are all combined in the spacious area of this magnificent prospect. The islands of Skiathos and Skopelos are before the entrance of the gulf; the former is fertile, and contains two villages, and a few remains of an ancient city. The name of this island is supposed to be derived from 2*/a and A@og, because the shadow of Mount Athos is said to have reached so far at a certain period of the year; but it is difficult to give credit to this account, as Athos is at least fifty miles distant from Skiathos in a direct line. This question might however be ascertained, by finding the exact height and dis- tance of the mountain from the nearest part of that island. Skopelos, which is smaller than Skiathos, is fertile, but contains only one village with a scanty population. About three miles from this island is another named Chilidromia, containing one village. In the same vicinity are other rocks mostly uninhabited, as Peperi,' Kira, and Skantzoura, of which the ancient names are unknown. Within the gulf are several insular rocks, the principal of which are Kikinthos,1 Prassouda, and Alatas. Strabo 3 says that the principal islands situated near the Magnesian shore are Skiathos, Peparethos, Ikos, Halonesos, and Skyros. Mount Pelion unites with Ossa, which terminates at the vale of Tempe, being separated from Olympos by the valley and the Pe- neios. We were dissuaded from ascending to the summit of Pelion, which, from its projecting situation, as well as from its great eleva- tion, must command a most extensive horizon ; but we were assured that the upper regions of the mountain were occupied by a banditti. Whether this was the case or not must remain doubtful. Indeed we sometimes strongly suspected that these stories were invented by our attendants, who preferred travelling on the high road, and loitering in towns, to the climbing of rocks and mountains. 1 was informed by a Greek who had been upon its summit, that the view extended over great part of Thessaly, Macedon, the Archi- ' Probably the ancient Peparethos. ' The ancient name. * B. 9. p. 436. TOWN OF BELESTINA. REMAINS OF PHERAI. 93 pelago and its islands, and that the most celebrated mountains were visible from it, particularly Ossa, Olympos, Athos, Othrys, Pindos, Oeta, Parnassos, and Knemis, besides numerous bays and promon- tories of memorable note. Pelion is now named sometimes Plesnid, and sometimes the Mountain ofiSaint George. TO BELESTINA (PHERAI) AND TOLELERE. We quitted Bolo on the 2d of June, with the intention of visiting the vale of Tempe, and of passing by Pherai and Larissa. On setting out, we proceeded in a north-west direction, with Pe- lion on our right, and the castle of Bolo and plain of Demetrias on our left. In two hours and twenty minutes we came to a large tu- mulus of earth near the road : at its base are some traces, com- posed of small stones. We soon after entered the fertile plain of Pherai, and passed successively three tumuli at equal distances, with an interval of a quarter of a mile between each. Prom hence, we viewed the town of Belestina, the ancient Pherai, and the lake of Bcebeis, with Ossa and Olympos toAvering majestically upon the right. To the left was a lower range of hills, on Avhich the large village of Saint George was conspicuously situated. On quitting the tumuli, we crossed a small stream, with mulberry trees on its banks, and after passing through an extensive Turkish burying-ground, entered Belestina, which is three hours and a half from Bolo. We passed through the town, as we were anxious to examine the Hyperian fountain,1 which is in its suburbs, at the foot > At present called KifaXo Ppviri- 94 HYPERIAN FOUNTAIN. of the ancient acropolis. A small lake, apparently about a hun- dred yards in diameter, and with water of the most crystalline purity, bubbles up out of the ground. It is surrounded by many beautiful trees, principally platani, poplars, cypresses, olives, and a few small palms, the continuity of whose shade is broken by intervening build- ings of a most elegant form; while the surrounding verdure is vividly contrasted with the tall white minarets of several mosques. The lake is not deep; and a line of large blocks runs through the middle of it to serve as stepping-stones; but as they are rather far apart, and are covered with a perpetual moisture, my foot slipped when I was attempting to cross over, and I fell into the water, to the great amusement of the surrounding Turks, who, relaxing the usual fixed solemnity of their muscles, laughed most heartily at my accident. The Hyperian fountain was celebrated in the earliest times ; Ho- mer represents Hector condoling with Andromache on the impend- ing castastrophe of the Trojan contest, and expressing his dread of her being carried prisoner to Greece, exclaims in the tender soli- citude of prophetic apprehension : — Kai ft.iv vSuip pofEOJf Mecrmjifof ij e ij{ Ilo\\' a,exct.£0[i.£v>). ' This fountain was represented on the money of Pherai, and I have seen a scarce silver coin1 of this town, on one side of which is a lion's head spouting water from its mouth. Strabo3 says that the Hyperian fountain was in the middle of the town of Pherai. It is mentioned by Pindar;4 and according to Sophocles,5 was pleasing even to the gods : " fi yq »ui <J>E£>a<a X^S, £" cvyyovov ff vdvg Tneotia ' Iliad, 6. v. 457. — " And you shall unwillingly draw water from the Messeid, or Hype- riau fount." 1 In the collection of Colonel Leake ; also published by Eckhel, Numi Veteres Anecdoti, pars 1. tab. 6. 1 B. 9. p. 439. « Pyth. 4. v. 222. 5 See the Scholiast of Pindar on Pyth. 4. v. 222. TOWN OF BELESTINA. REMAINS OF PHERAI. 95 The origin of this town boasts the highest antiquity; according to the testimony of Apollodorus,1 it was founded before the Argo- nautic expedition, by Pheres, son of Kretheus, who was grandfather of Jason of Iolkos. It was a place of considerable strength and im- portance,1 and the fertility of the adjacent country made no small addition to its wealth. Its acropolis was placed on an eminence of moderate height, which rose from the Hyperian fountain. It has preserved hardly any traces of antiquity ; one single block of stone alone remains of the vast bulwarks by which the tyrant Alexander was defended in all his cruelties and iniquities. It is surprising how completely the remains of this town have been destroyed ; a few scattered blocks of stone, and some Doric frusta, are the only an- tiquities remaining. We enjoyed a view from this spot, which over- looks the town and its luxuriant gardens, with the rich level of the Pelasgic plain,3 and lake Boebeis,* extending to Mount Pelion ; the summit of which, dotted with its aerial villages, peeps over a ridge of hills that enclose the plain on the side of Magnesia, and the coast of Demetrias. Belestina, like the Pherai of old, is situated in the midst of trees and gardens;5 Pagasai was its port;6 from which, according to Strabo,7 it was distant ninety stadia. We stopped near the beautiful margin of the Hyperian fountain, where a wide-spreading platanus,Avith its dense foliage, protected us from the torrid rays of the sun, and enabled us to enjoy some hours of grateful refreshment. The frustum8 of a Doric column served us as a table ; which, with some other remains, indicates the site of a temple. B. 1. c. 14. * See Polyb. and Livy, passim. ' Slrabo, b. 9. p. 436. Homer says that Pherai was near Lake Boibeis : Oi h ispa; svepovfo vagal BoifiijiSst, Xijxvijy. — Iliad, 2. v. 7 1 1. s Polyb. b. 17. p. 756. Livy, b. 33. c. 6. 6 Harpocrat. Lexic. in v. Xla.ya.ira.;, p. 272. ' B. 9. p. 436. 8 Three feet four inches and a half in diameter ; breadth of fluting, six inches. 96 PELASGIC PLAIN. LAKE BOEBEIS. Having made some drawings of this delightful place, we left it with reluctance in the evening ; and a short way out of the town were stopped by the custom-house officers, who insisted upon our paying duty for our luggage. After producing our ferman, and some high words on both sides, we proceeded unmolested, and passed through the plain where a conflict ' took place between the Mace- donians and the Romans, a few days prior to the decisive battle of Cynoscephalae at Pharsalia. As we journeyed on, the country deeply interested us by its native charms, and its classical recollections. We were now in the land ennobled not only by heroes, warriors, giants, and centaurs, but even by the gods themselves ! Pelion was seen receding behind the nearer eminences; Ossa and Olympos reared their lofty heads above the clouds. The latter was covered with snow, as its elevation greatly exceeded that of Ossa. The plain which we traversed was anciently inhabited by the Lapithae : who having expelled the Perrhaebi, were in their turn driven out by the Pelasgi, who then gave their name to the region which comprised Pherai, Larissa, Gyrton, Mopsion, Boibeis, Ossa, Homole, Pelion, and Magnesia. 2 In the time of Jason of Pherai, this country could equip 6000 ca- valry, 3 of which the Athenians hired a portion in their Avars. Lake4 Boebeis was visible on our right; its pastoral plains and picturesque and verdant banks strongly invited our attention ; but our impatience to visit the vale of Tempe admitted of no delay. This lake is deep, J and abounds in fish ; it is mentioned by Hesiod and Homer, and had the appellation of Boibeis, Boibia, Boibias, Boebeis, 1 Polyb. b. 17, p. 756. Livy, b. 33. c. 6. * Strabo, b. <). p. 439- 3 Xenophon, Hist. b. 6. c. 1. 4 It appears from Euripides, that the country about Boibe belonged to Aduietos: Tot yap 7roku^rj\olala.v Eoltzv omets, wept xaWtvaov Boitiai' Xt^vav. Alcest. v. 591. s Scymnos of Chios. Orbis Descriptio. The town of Boibe was said to 'have been founded by Boibos,son of Glaphuros. See Stephan. de Urbib. p. 227. Eustath. in Homer, p. 327. LAKE BOEBEIS. 97 and Boebes.1 Lucan1 terms it Ossoea Boebeis, from its vicinity to Mount Ossa; and the "juncosa littora Boebes" of Ovid' is appli- cable to its marshy banks. The town, which was situated on a pro- montory, projecting into the lake, was named Boibe,4 of which the remains are still visible. The town and the lake were also known by the name of Xynia;5 in its vicinity, there was a town named Armenios,6 the birth-place of Armenos, who went with Jason to the Caspian sea, and gave his name to Armenia. We passed through the Dotian plain, which extended beyond the lake Boebeis to the foot of Ossa.7 Near the road are some remains of an ancient build- ing, which was probably a temple ; a fluted Doric column of small dimensions was lying on the ground. We passed near a tumulus, and crossed a bridge over a stream which is an hour and twent}r minutes from Belestina ; and twenty minutes further, we crossed another bridge, over a dry torrent bed. Seventeen minutes from this place, Ave came to some ancient traces, and several large upright stones. We then crossed a stream near a village, and observed some traces and foundations ; probably the remains of an ancient city. This fertile tract was formerly occupied by several towns, of which but few can be identified in the present confused wreck of their remains : they are replaced by villages, which are scattered about the plain. We arrived at the village of Tolelere in the evening, when we found it difficult to procure the use of a cottage from the inhabitants, who were all Turks. This place is two hours and three quarters from Belestina. Here is a mosque on a small eminence, which commands a view of the surrounding plain. 1 See Stephanus de Urbib. p. 227. ' Pharsal. b. 7. v. 176. 3 Metam. b. 7. v. 231. 4 Stephanus. loc. cit. 5 See Stephanus and the notes on this word and Boi/3ij, p. 227. s Strabo, b. 11. p. 530- ' See Strabo, b. 9. p. 442. VOL. II. 98 TO LARISSA. On the 3d we departed with pleasure from the place where we had experienced such an uncourteous reception, and passed through an extensive Turkish burying ground. An ancient city or fortress, now called Kastik, was distinguishable on the foot of Ossa, at the dis- tance of about four miles and a half from Tolelere ; we were informed that it contained a fine fountain issuing from a rock. Having passed a stream and some ancient traces, a great tumulus Avas visible on our right. We went through a village named Mouimos, which is two hours from Tolelere ; here are some wells, the water of which is drawn up by a long pole, placed horizontally on an upright stake ; at one end of the pole is a leathern vessel, and at the other extre- mity a large stone as a weight. These contrivances are used through- out the plain of Thessaly, and are common in most countries of the north, particularly in England. We crossed a bridge over a small stream, and had the first view of Larissa at the distance of about eight miles. It is merged in the hollow of the plain, and the first objects which are distinguished by the approaching traveller, are the minarets and cypresses which tower above the town. Four tumuli were visible in different parts of the plain. The road led through a mixture of arable land, pasture, and vineyards. We passed near a large tumulus, the summit of which is occupied by a thatched cottage or shed, in which a guard is stationed during the grape season, to keep off thieves. All the way from Belestina the roads are excellent. They are broad, and perfectly practicable for car- riages. The plain is generally flat, but is in some places diver- sified with a few gentle undulations. In four hours and a half from Tolelere, we entered the ancient and modern capital of Thessaly, and were twenty minutes in passing through the town to the archbishop's' house, by whom, as we were without any com- 1 The Archbishop of Larissa has the command over nine suffragans. INSOLENCE OF THE TURKS. 99 mendatory letters, we were received with difficulty and mistrust. Soon after our arrival, the archbishop sent to let us know that the Mollah Effendi, the governor of the town, had ordered us to quit the place in four-and-twenty hours ! Conceiving, however, that this order was nothing more than a cautious deception of his grace, we called upon the mollah to demand an explanation of the rea- sons, which had induced him to treat perfect strangers with such harsh and peremptory incivility. We delivered to him our ferman ; and at the same time informed him that it was our intention to re- main in Larissa as long as we thought proper. We found him sitting in state, surrounded by a great, number of attendants, who appeared inclined to insult us, and to deride our dress and manners ; but the mollah gave us a courteous reception ; and assured us that he had issued no orders for our departure, and that we were perfectly wel- come to remain in the town as long as we liked. We found that the conduct of the archbishop was not occasioned by any deficiency of hospitality, but by a fear of incurring the displeasure of the mollah, if he entertained foreigners of whom he had no knowledge. The Greeks at this place are treated with uncommon harshness and tyranny ; and the Turks are more overbearing, and insolent, than in any other part of Greece. The Greeks have only one church, which is the catholicon or cathedral, and the archbishop owes his protec- tion from insult to two Turks who are appointed by the government to live in his house. I had the opportunity of seeing a striking instance of the wanton brutality which is practised by these dull tyrants, and of the in- sensate insolence by which they are characterised. We were making a drawing of the bridge over the Peneios, and were attended by two Turkish guards in order to keep off the crowd, which would have collected around us if we had been alone. Some Greeks of the upper class happened at that time to pass by, and, attracted by the novelty of our dress and occupation, stopped to gaze at us at a distance. The Turks, without the least warning, assailed them with some large stones, by which one of the Greeks received a bad o 2 100 LARISSA. wound on the head, but walked away without daring to utter a complaint. The numberless instances of this brutal violence with Avhich the Greeks are daily oppressed, may at length rouse their dormant courage, and bring about the much desired day of re- tribution. Larissa, which is still known to the Greeks by its ancient name,1 is, as formerly, the capital of Thessaly. In the earliest times it was the principal city of the country, called by Homer2 Argos Pelasgicon, and was inhabited by the Lapithai, who had expelled the Perrhaebi from Perrheebia, or Pelasgiotis.3 The walls of Larissa were restored by the Emperor Justinian ; 4 but it was unable to resist the forces of the Marquis of Montferrat, who took it about the year 1205, driving before him Leon Sgure, Lord of Nauplia and Corinth, who was unable to maintain even the strong post of Thermopylae.5 The Turks took possession6 of it with the rest of Thessaly in the year 1390. Very few of its ancient remains appear; though there may probably be some within the Turkish houses and gardens, which are concealed from the traveller, but which, with many other interesting relics that are scattered throughout Turkey, will be brought to light when this torpid and half-barbarous race of beings are expelled from the beautiful countries Avhich they now degrade by their superstition and depress by their tyranny. About three hours to the west of Larissa are the remains of an ancient city, at present named Palaia Larissa.7 It is not near the Peneios ; and there is no doubt that the modern Larissa is situated upon the remains of the ancient city. I was unable to obtain any certain information concerning its population ; but calculating by 1 Its Turkish name is Geniskehir. 8 See Strabo, b. 8. p. 369. who cites Homer, Iliad, 2. v. 63 1. See also Pliny, Nat. Hist, b. 4. c. 7. 3 Strabo, b. 9. p. 439. * Procop. de iEdific. b. 4. c. 3. p. 12. Paris edit. * Hist, de Constantinop. sous les Einp. Francois, b. 1. p. 23. Paris edit. 6 Due. Michael. Nepot. Hist. * Ancient Larissa. LARISSA. 101 the number of its mosques, which are twenty-six, it probably must contain at least 20,000 Mohamedans. The greater part of the inhabitants are Turks, some of whom are powerful and opulent. There are no mosques in Greece so grand as those of Larissa, and I wished to visit some of them, which no doubt contain rich marbles, fragments, and inscriptions. But the overbearing manner of the populace would not permit me to gratify my cu- riosity. Those who have not visited Mohamedan countries can have no idea of the admirable cleanliness of Turkish mosques. No per- sons are suffered to walk even in the porticos without taking oft' their shoes, and much less to spit or to commit any other nuisance in their vicinity. It were to be wished that similar regulations were adopted in Christian countries, where the exterior of the churches is generally desecrated by accumulations of filth of every kind, while the interior, particularly in Italy, forms the spitting place of the whole congregation. The abominable custom also of burying within the places of worship is never permitted by the Mohamedans. Larissa has 100 villages under its command, the greater part of which are situated in the surrounding plain. The town is well supplied with provisions, and the bazars and bezestins are richly stocked with merchandize. Its numerous gardens give it the ap- pearance of a large straggling village. The houses are constructed with that picturesque irregularity so peculiar to Turkey ; while the gardens are adorned with fountains, and many different sorts of trees, amongst which the cypress is particularly conspicuous. The Peneios, which flows through the town, has a muddy hue, with a surface as smooth as oil. Near the archiepiscopal palace it is tra- versed by a well built bridge of stone, composed of eight pointed arches ; and the southern bank of the river is decorated with the large and elegant mosque of Hassan Bey. The river is never dry, though in summer it is shallow : after heavy rains, and the sudden melting of the snow on Pindos, it sometimes overflows its banks, 102 THE PENEIOS. when the impetuous torrent of its waters sweeps away houses, and inundates the neighbouring plain.' This celebrated river obtained its name from Peneios, a son of Oceanos and Tethys : Peneios was grandfather of Lapithos and Centauros. It is called Salambria by Tzetzes,2 and Salabria and Salampria by some of the Byzantine historians, which name seems to be derived from 2uXup€ri " an outlet," and was applicable to it more particularly at the vale of Tempe, where it has forced a passage through the rocks of Ossa and Olympos. Larissa was the first place where we saw camels. They are not used in Greece, and our agogiates, who had accompanied us with his horses from Athens, was so surprised on seeing them, for the first time in his life, that he ran to us in great haste, begging vis to come to the river side, where there were some horses of a most ex- traordinary size and shape, and such he as was certain we had never seen in any of our travels. These were camels ; they begin to be common in Macedon and in Thrace. In Asia Minor I have seen great caravans of them in company with horses and asses. The ancients imagined that the horse could not bear the sight or smell of the camel,5 but I did not perceive any marks of this aversion ; and they seem to live together in perfect harmony : a caravan of camels is generally preceded by an ass. At Larissa, and at most of the towns and villages of the great Thes- salian plain, they use carts drawn by two oxen ; they resemble those of the Troade, and are nearly of the ancient form, being upon two solid wheels without spokes, hence denominated tympana by the an- cients.* Representations of these carriages are seen on several an- cient monuments, particularly on the paintings in the baths of Titus at Rome, and are probably similar to those described by Virgil :' ■ Non ullo ex aequore cernes Plura domuin tardis decedere plaustra juvencis. 1 See Strabo, b. 9. p. 44-1. ° Chiliad. 9- 707. 3 Herodot. b. 1. c. 80. Xenophon Cyropaed. b. 7. c. 1. * Virgil, Georg. b. 2. v. 444. s Georg. b. 2. v. 205. LARISSA. 103 The two-wheeled cart is the dtxvxXov of the ancients,1 the plaus- trum of Isidorus,2 who thus describes it, " Plaustrum est vehiculum duarum rotarum, quibus onera inferuntur." Probus^ describes the tympanon wheel, and says, " Plaustra sunt vehicula quorum rotae non sunt radiatae, sed tympana cohrerentia axi, et juncta cantho ferreo." The nr^ccx.vKXov1' or four-wheeled carriage is only used at Constantinople and in its vicinity ; they are drawn by three horses abreast, being the rgiva'ka ugpcda. of the ancient Greeks, the triga of the Latins. Larissa is on the ancient way, called Pythias, which led from Teinpe to Delphi, through Thessaly, Pelasgia, Oeta, the country of the iEnianes, the Melienses,the Dorians, and the Hesperian Locrians. Every ninth year some noble youths, in the service of the Delphic oracle, were sent by this road to gather laurels from Tempe, for the purpose of decorating the shrine and statues of Apollo.5 The coins of Larissa are not uncommon ; they are generally of fine execution, and their usual types are the full face of the nymph Larissa, the daughter of Pelasgos ; the horse in various attitudes, denoting the celebrity of the Thessalian cavalry; and the naked figure of a man taming a bull, allusive to the Centaurs/ On all the coins of Larissa the name of the town is written with one s only. TO AMPELAKIA. We quitted Larissa on the 4th, and passed through a large Turkish cemetery, containing some handsome monuments of a 1 Jul. Pollux Onomast. b. 10. c. 12. seg. 53. s Orig. b. 20. c. 12. s Ad v. 163. Georg. 1. Virgil. 4 Herodot. b. 1. c. 183. b. 2. c. 63. — Jul. Pollux Onomast. b. 10. c. 12. seg. 53. — Athenaeus Deipnosoph. b. 5. c. 7. * iElian Van Hist. b. 3. c. 1. 6 aw> hv xtrleiy Taufouy. 104 RUINS NEAR MOUNT OSSA. curious and fantastic form, adorned with inscriptions from the Cour'ann, and enriched with painted ornaments. Ancient Greek inscriptions are found amongst the sepulchres, with some broken bas-reliefs and fragments of rich marbles, from the examination of which we were deterred by the appearance of several Turks about the place. Near this is the headless statue of a female in white marble, placed at the corner of a street as a post ; it is much cor- roded, but evidently of good style. Some way from Larissa we saw five tumuli, and passed near a village called Tschiftlik, where there is a fountain shaded by large trees. In a few places the countrymen were beginning to reap the corn. When we arrived at the foot of some inferior heights that branch from the towering sublimity of Ossa,1 we kept them on our right hand till we came to a low island surrounded by a marsh, and disturbed a flock of storks which were feeding; on frogs and tor- toises. Some way further a spring is seen issuing from a rock, and soon after we observed a tumulus, a large block of stone, and a sar- cophagus almost covered by the earth at the foot of a hill. Some curious remains might probably be here discovered by excavating, as the soil is evidently much elevated above its ancient level. We soon after came to the extremity of the low range of hills, and turned to the right, proceeding northwards. A tumulus was visible far off to the left. In three hours and ten minutes from Larissa we reached the Turkish village called Eremo, in the immediate vicinity of which are some traces and foundations, indicating the situation of a small town. The city of Atrax was upon this road near the Peneios, and about ten miles from Larissa,2 but its site is generally supposed to be marked by some ruins near the village of Tornabo. The fertile Pelasgic plain was formerly animated by a crowded population, particularly that part of it which lies between Larissa 1 The modern name of Ossa is Kissabos. - Livy, b. 32. c. 15. — Atrax took its name, according to Stephanus, from its founder the son of Peneois and Bura. — See Strabo, b. 9. p. 438. 440. THE PELASGIC PLAIN. 105 and Tempe. Besides Atrax, ancient authors1 mention the three towns of Doleike, Axorion, and Pytheon, which were denomi- nated Tripolis, from their immediate vicinity to one another, with Ilegion, Gonoussa, Phalanna, Kyphos, Dodona, Oloosson,2 Elone, Skotussa, Mopsion, Kranon ; and after the entrance of Tempe, Gonnoi,3 Kondylon, and Elateia. On the same side of the plain were Gyrton, Homolis,4 Sykurion, Argissa, Orthe, and Rhage near the Peneios ; the latter was ten miles from Larissa. Besides these were Lapithos or Charax, Kuresion, Mylai, Libethra, and Velatiai ; and some castles mentioned by Livy. Procopius5 says, that in his time there was, on the mountains near Larissa, a castle called Kefluvg07ro\is, the walls of which, being ruined, were rebuilt by Justinian. Strabo6 and Stephanus7 mention a fortress named Larissa, situated on Mount Ossa. We stopped some time to make a drawing of Mount Olympos, the grandeur and the beauty of which appeared to increase at every step we took from Larissa. Few of the Grecian mountains soar to the height of Olympos. Plutarch,8 citing the philosopher Xenagoras, says it is more than ten stadia in height, and M. Bernouille makes it 1017 toises (6501 English feet). It forms a gigantic mass, and occupies a very extensive space. Its southern side constitutes the boundary of Thessaly, and its northern base encloses the plains of Macedon. To the west it branches out towards Othrys, where its remote swells are blended with those of Pindos, which terminates m the Adriatic, with the abrupt and stormy promontories of the Acroceraunia. Its rugged outline is broken into many summits, from which circumstance Homer9 gives it the epithet of iroXvdeigus. 1 See Livy.b. 32. c. 15. b. 36. c. 10. b. 42. c. 53, 54.— Strabo, b. 9. 3 Probably the modern Alassona. 3 This place was called Gonnos, Gonos, Gonnoi, and Gonokondylos, see Stephan. de Urbib. p. 276. 4 Or Homolos, Homole, Homola or Homolion, Euripid. — Strabo. — Stephanus de Urbib. De jEdific. b. 4. c. 3. p. 72. — Paris edit. 6 B. 9. p. 440. De Urbib. p. 5 1 r. 8 Life of iEmilius Paulus. 9 Iliad, 1. v. 4Q9.— Iliad, 5. v. 754. VOL. II. P 106 MOUNT OLYMPOS. It is never completely free from snow; and Hesiod' characterizes it with the epithet of mcposig. Homer1 in his Iliad calls it ayumpos ; whereas, in his Odyssey,5 he says that it is never agitated by the wind, rain, or snow; but enjoys a clear and luminous air. " There no rude winds presume to shake the skies, " No rains descend, no snowy vapours rise."* Nothing is easier, says an ingenious author, than to reconcile these apparent contradictions. Mons. Boivin,5 indeed, employs for this purpose a climax of singular conjecture. He supposes a heavenly Olympos, which he turns upside down, with its foot in the heavens, where it never snows, and its summit towards the earth ; to which part he conceives Homer gave the epithet of snowy. As the gods and mortals were Anticephali, he maintains that Homer imagined mountains to be in similar situations. But the poet represents the seat of the gods as on the summit6 of Olympos, under the clouds ; and of course he does not imagine it turned upside down.7 Olympos is full of breaks, glens, and forests, whence it had the epithets of voXv/lv^og,2 and -ro'hvhv^soi.9 It retains its ancient name, but is pronounced Olymbos, or Elimbos ; I could not find that it is ever called Lacha, as Castaldus asserts. Mount Ossa, which does not appear so high as Pelion,'0 is much lower than Olympos, and less extensive ; it is not so thickly shadowed with forests, nor so copiously provided with water as Olympos. It rises gradually to a point, which appears about five thousand feet 1 Deor. Generat. v. 118. s Iliad, 1. v. 420. 3 Odyss. 6. v. 45. 4 Pope. 5 Memoires de Litterat., dans PHist. de l\Acad. Royale des Inscrip. et Belles lettres, torn. 7. 6 Iliad, 13. v. 523. 1 No less than fourteen mountains of this name are mentioned by ancient authors, which are in Cilicia, Mysia, Troas, Lycia, Lydia, Lesbos, Crete, two in Cyprus, Arcadia, Eleia, Laconia, Messenia, and Thessaly. See Eustalh. in Horn, passim. B Hesiod. Deor. Generat. v. 113. 9 Euripid. Bacchae, v. 559. 10 Pelion altius Ossa.— Ovid. Fast. b. 3. v. 411. AMPELAKIA. 107 above the level of the plain ; but I speak only from conjecture. Its modern name is Kissabos ; Euripides' calls the country about the Peneios " the sacred region ; the base of Olympos." Tav ITrveiay <n\>.vct.y xwS0LV Kpr/iTiS' OXu/x7T(/u xaAAirav. Having finished our sketches and observations, we proceeded to- wards the vale of Tempe. The country exhibited a luxuriant ver- dure, with a beautiful intermixture of trees, vineyards, and corn. We observed near the road the traces of ancient buildings, and on our right hand, a village named Kagobashi, with one mosque, situated at the foot of a hill ; the plain here begins to lose its depth of soil, and becomes rocky, and covered with large bushes, and many kinds of sweet-scented shrubs. The wild vine refreshed the road with its fantastic bowers of chequered shade. In the afternoon we arrived at the large and beautiful village of Baba, which is about four hours and a half from Larissa, and may be the ancient Elateia; which, according to Livy,1 was near Gonnos, and the mouth of Tempe. This place, which is situated in a fine circular plain, before the narrow entrance of Tempe, is adorned with large platani, cypresses, and spreading pines. Its picturesque beauty is increased by the contrasted elegance of the minarets and the domes, and the irregularity of the houses. The Peneios, which flows near it, may be here crossed in a ferry-boat. We began to ascend a low branch of Ossa; and proceeding by a winding paved way, passed through some hay-fields, neatly fenced with hedgings, and railings. The hay was made up into ricks, as in England. In forty-eight minutes from Baba, we arrived at Ampelakia, an exten. sive town, inhabited entirely by Greeks, who manifest a degree of ease, affluence, and comfort, that are unknown in most parts of Greece. The industrious inhabitants carry on extensive manufac- tories for dying cotton. The cotton, when spun, and dyed of a 1 Troad, v. 214. l B. 42. c. 54. p 2 108 AMPELAKIA. dark blue colour, sells for eight Turkish piastres and a half, the ocque. The red sells for twelve piastres. Several villages along the foot of Ossa and Olympos carry on the same lucrative trade ; particularly Tornabo, and Rapsiana; the great abundance of wood and water being favourable to their manufactures. The cotton is exported to many parts of Christendom, but chiefly to Germany. The Ampelakians, who have travelled, resemble the islanders of the Archipelago in affecting the manners, and even in some degree the unbecoming dress of Franks. Many of them wear hats, cravats, short breeches, and stockings ; a disgusting deviation from the noble and picturesque dress of the country. A great school for the study of Hellenic, or ancient Greek, has been established at Ampelakia by Platamonos Dionysios, the present enlightened Bishop of Saloniki,' who has also founded another in the neighbouring town of Rapsiana. Ampelakia is accordingly increasing in wealth and population, and contains at present between five and six thousand inhabitants, who pay annually to their lord, the Pasha of Joannina, the sum of sixty thousand Turkish piastres. The port of Ampelakia is Karitza, which is six hours from it, on the Macedonian coast. We were hospitably received in the house of a Greek merchant, named Papatheodoro, who had travelled in Germany, France, Hol- land, and Italy, on mercantile speculations, and spoke with ease the languages of those countries. He had lately obtained from the Vizier of Aly Pasha, for a sum of money, a protection from all extraordinary contributions or avanias. This curious document began in the true oriental style, in the following words, " We, the grand Vizier of Aly Pasha, declare that Papatheodoro, of Ampelakia, shall neither be stung by the flies, nor hitten by the serpent." 'The ancient Thessalonika, situated at the extremity of the Thermaic Gulf. THE VALE OF TEMPE. 109 TO THE VALE OF TEMPE. On the morning of the 5th, we mounted our horses, in order to pass the whole day at the vale of Tempe, one of the principal objects of our journey from Athens. We descended to the plain, crossed a small stream, and came to an open forest of platani, of great size and venerable age, upon the eastern bank of the Peneios, whose gentle current glides sequestered under the arching shade. It flows, says iElian, ' as smooth as oil. Ovid1 affirms that it rolls with foam- ing waves ; but he alludes to that part of the stream which is between its source and the Thessalian plain. It rises on Pindos, ' near Gomphi, and before it enters Tempe receives several of the Thessalian rivers ; particularly the Apidanos, Onochonos, Enipeus, and the Parnisos;* it also receives the tributary streams of the Kouralios, and Titaresios. A short way from the forest of platani, we entered the vale of Tempe, that is thrown between the approximating precipices of Ossa and Olympos; the former on the south, the latter on the north. The summits of these mountains are not visible from any part of the valley ; but the traveller beholds on each side a stupendous wall of mighty precipices rising in prodigious grandeur, shattered into defor- mities, and sprinkled with a wild profusion of trees and aromatic shrubs. The road runs at the foot of Ossa, with the Peneios flow- ing to the left, by which it is separated from Olympos. In some places this river displays a broad channel, which in others is so narrow that it has the appearance of being compressed by the opposite rocks, the collision of which is prevented only by an inter- vening glen of a few hundred paces in breadth. 1 Var. Hist. b. 3. c. 1. * • Peneus ab imo, Effusus Pindo spumosis volvitur undis. — Metam. b. I, v. .570. * Strabo, b. 9. p. 438. Eustath. in Horn. 321. et seq. • Herodot. b. 1. c. 129. 110 THE VALE OF TEMPE. Many authors have extolled the diaphanous purity of the Peneios, although it must, in all periods, have exhibited a muddy appearance, at least during its progress through the Thessalian plain : for who can expect a current of lucid crystal in an argil- laceous soil? Strabo,1 Pliny,1 and others, have misunderstood the meaning of Homer,3 when speaking of the confluence of the silvery Peneios, and the beautiful Titaresios, which he says do not mix their streams, the latter flowing, like oil, on the silver waters of the former : " Or where the pleasing Titaresius glides, And into Peneus rolls his easy tides ; Yet, o'er the silver surface pure they flow, The sacred stream unmix'd with streams below."4 Strabo, in complete contradiction to the meaning of Homer, asserts that the Peneios is clear, and the Titaresios muddy : Pliny has com- mitted the same error ; he says the Peneios " accipit amnem Euro ton,5 nee recipit ; sed, olei modo supernatantem (ut dictum est ab Homero), sed brevi spatio portatum, abdicat : Poenales aquas, dirisque genitas, argenteis suis misceri recusans." And, a little before, in enume- rating the Thessalian rivers, he says, " ante cunctos claritate Pe- neus." The mud of the Peneios is of a light colour, for which reason Homer gives it the epithet of silvery ; which, for a similar cause, was applied by the ancients to the Acarnanian Acheloos. The Tita- resios,6 and other smaller streams, which are rolled from Olympos and Ossa, are so extremely clear, that their waters are distinguished 1 B. 9. p. 441. * Nat. Hist. b. 4. c. 8. 3 Oi 7'af/.cJ>' ipiplcv Til&f>Y)<nov spy tvepovh Ocr p ' tv ITojveiov tspoiei xaWippow uJwg OvS oys Tlyviiu) cvpjj.i<rytlou apyvgoSivy AWalc fuy xafiuviepfliv smi^iei iju?" iXaiov. Iliad, 2. v. 754. Pope. 5 Another name for the Titaresios. See Strabo, b. 9- p- 440. 6 The Titaresios had its source at Mount Titaros, which was part of Olympos. Strabo, b. 9. p. 441. See Eustath.in Horn. p. 336. 8. 26. THE VALE OF TEMPE. Ill from those of the Peneios to a considerable distance from the point of their confluence. Barthelemy ' has followed Strabo and Pliny, and given an inter- pretation to the descriptive lines of Homer, which the original was never intended to convey. The same effect is seen when muddy rivers of considerable volume mingle with the sea, or any other clear water. I particularly observed it at the united mouth of the Simois and Scamander, whose muddy course interrupts, for a long way, the clearness of the Hellespont. The same effect happens at the mouth of the Danube, in the Black Sea ; 2 and the red water of the Syrius, in Marocco, discolours the sea for two leagues from its mouth.1 One of the most ancient names of the Peneios, according to Strabo,4 was Araxis, from its having burst its way through Ossa and Olympos. We proceeded along the ancient way, which has been cut with much labour on the steep and rugged side of Ossa. Soon after entering the vale, we came to an aperture in the rock, about three feet in circumference, and close to the right of the road ; it is denominated uKpolgowra " the wind-hole," from a violent and cold wind which issues from it with a roaring noise. The wind probably proceeds from the communication of the cavity with some subterra- nean stream in the bowels of the mountain ; several of which streams J are seen in different parts of the valley issuing from the rocks, and mixing their lucid waters with the opaque surface of the Peneios. Strabo6 mentions these subterraneous winds in Bceotia and Euboea; others of a similar kind exist at Ceci, near Terni, in Italy. A short way further we came to a clear and cold spring, gushing with impe- tuosity from beneath the roots of a large platanus : it immediately enters the Peneios, from whose dusky current its limpid waters may long be discriminated. As far as this spot the vale is of narrow and 1 Voyage d'Anacharsis. ' Dr. Clarke's Tour to Russia, vol. 2. J AH Bey. * B. 11. p. 53 >. * They are noticed by iElian. Var. Hist. b. 3. c. 1. 6 B. 10. p. 447. 112 THE VALE OF TEMPE. contracted dimensions; but here it is enlarged into a greater ex- panse. The trees Avhich are scattered at the foot of Olympos suffer che eye to glance with delight on intervening glades of lively ver- dure, which are vividly contrasted with the sterile rocks and dark precipices that form the prominent features of the vale. The banks of the river are in many places embowered by platani of such ample growth, that while they lave their pendant branches in the stream, they form so dense a screen as almost entirely to exclude the rays of the sun. The wild olive, the laurel,1 the oleander, the agnos, various kinds of arbuti, the yellow jasmine, terebinth, lentiscus, and rose- mary, with the myrtle and laburnum, richly decorate the margin of the river, while masses of aromatic plants and flowers exhale their varied perfumes and breathe their luscious odours through the scented air. A multiplicity of oaks, of firs,1 and of other forest trees, are seen flourishing 3 in a higher region of the mountains. The vale, as if by some giant-pressure, is again reduced to a narrow glen, and, in some parts, no more space is left than is sufficient for the current of the river, above which Ossa and Olympos shoot up in precipices of almost perpendicular ascent. The grandest rock that I ever beheld is nearly in the middle of the valley, where it raises its gigantic form into the air, impressing the beholder with surprise and wonder. Its aspiring summit is crowned by the remains of an an- cient fortress,4 of Roman construction : a marble cornice, which had fallen from the ruins, was lying in the road. Having proceeded some way from this spot, we arrived at the narrowest part of the valley, where Ossa and Olympos are only separated by the 1 Daphne was said to be the daughter of Peneios, because the laurel abounded on its banks. The first temple which was erected to Apollo at Delphi was constructed with the laurel of Tempe. Pausan. b. 10. c. 5. 9 Seneca gives the epithet of Pinifer to Olympos, Agamem. act. 2. v. 338. 1 The plants which are mentioned by Pliny in the vale of Tempe, are the Polypodion, Dolichos, and Serpyllum. Nat. Hist. b. 16. c. 44. * At present named Opajijf h xatfpo. Several ruins in Greece have this name. THE VALE OF TEMPE. 113 Peneios. The ancient road is here judiciously cut in the rock; and as it mounts, resting places for the horses feet have been dexterously contrived in the surface of the stone, which would otherwise be slippery, and expose the traveller to the danger of being precipitated into the river. The rock has also been worn by the ancient marks of wheels ; and there is just room for two carriages to pass with ease, as the breadth occupied by the carriages of the ancients was about five feet, and that of the road thirteen feet. This was for- merly one of the fortified parts of the valley, as is evident by the inscription which is cut in the face of a rock, rising from the right hand side of the way. L. CASSIUS LONGIN PROCOS TEMPE MVNIVIT. Longinus was sent into Thessaly by Julius Caesar. ' It is likely that he repaired the forts of Tempe, which were in a dilapidated state. The other parts of the slab, on which is the proconsular inscription, are almost covered with Greek characters, which are generally in small letters. These appear to be proper names, perhaps those of the officers who accompanied Longinus; they may even have been made by travellers, who have rested at this spot. They can only be discovered by a very close inspection, and, having been originally slightly scratched on the stone, are at present too imperfect to be intelligible. Below this place, a rivulet issues from the rock, and is so extremely clear, that, for a considerable way, it disdains to mingle its blue stream with the silvery and muddy waters of the Peneios ; but seems to glide 1 " L. Cassium Longinum in Tbessaliam misit Casar." Caes. Com. de bellocivili, b. 3. and Dion Cassius Hist. Rom. " Nam quo tempore Dyrrachium obsessum est, eodem L. Cassius Longinus ac Cn. Domitius Calvinus, qui a Caesare in Macedonian] et Thessaliam missi fuerant." VOL. II. Q 114 THE VALE OF TEMPE. over it like oil, until it is gradually induced to assimilate its waters with those of the more potent stream. Proceeding from this place, Ave soon arrived at the Macedonian1 extremity of Tempe ; and, through the glen of Ossa and Olympos, enjoyed a beautiful perspective of the rich Pierian plain, that was formerly thronged with numerous cities, and an animated popula- tion ; but at present it is a solitude of fields and trees. The Peneios is descried, issuing from its contracted bed, and rolling forward in a sinuous, but more expanded stream, to the Macedonic, orThermaic, Gulf; on the northern extremity of which, the hills of the fertile1 Pellenian peninsula, and the Kanastraean promontory, are faintly seen. A bridge' of nine arches, under which the Peneios flows, is distinguished in the plain. According to Livy4 and Pliny,5 the length of Tempe, that is, the angustia, or narrow part, was five miles; JElian6 says forty stadia. According to Suidas,7 the word Te^^nj was applicable to all moun- tains and woody glens ; but particularly so to that between Ossa and Olympos. It is at present called T^atu,rag, an evident derivation from its ancient name. It is denominated Lykostomion by the Byzantine historians ; and Cantacuzene3 mentions a small town of the same name in the vicinity, which he styles Avzoo-roptov toXv^iov. The ancients imagined, and perhaps with reason, that it had been formed by an earthquake;9 and that Neptune10 provided an outlet for the river, by striking the mountains with his trident. 1 Macedonia begins at the very outlet of Tempe. Strabo, b. 9. p. 442. e Livy, b. 45. c. 30. 3 It was destroyed by an inundation of the river some years after I quitted Greece. * B. 44. c. 6. 5 Nat. Hist. b. 4. c. 8. 6 Var. Hist. b. 3. c. I. 7 Lexic. vol. 3. p. 446. v. Te^ra-Ea. See also Hesych. Lexic. vol. 2. p. 1364. 8 Hist. b. 2. c. 28. p. 2S8. and b. 4. c. 19. p. 779, Paris Edit. 9 Herodot. b.7. c. 129. Strabo, b. 9. LucanPharsal.b. 6. Seneca quaest. nat., b. 6. jElian Var. Hist. b. 3. Claudian de Rapta Proserp. This event is conjectured lo have happened about 1S85 years B. C. 10 All earthquakes were attributed to Neptune by the ancients, who, for that reason, gave him the epithets of Evoviyjlujv, Eyoo-iyato;, &c. ■^-1 5 THE VALE OF TEMPE. 115 According to Diodorus1 and Seneca2, it was Hercules, who con- trived an outlet for the Peneios, and drained the Pelasgic plain : the river having been, until that time, the principal supply of the Thes- salian Sea, which is now confined to the narrow compass of the Lakes of Boebeis and Neso. Herodotus3 informs us that Xerxes, when at Thermae, observing the great height of Olympos and Ossa, and hearing that there was a glen between them, through which the Peneios flowed, was desirous of sailing to the mouth of the river, for the purpose of examining the spot. Upon his arrival, he inquired if the course of the river could not be changed ; and, when he was told that it was impracticable, he said, the Thessalians have done well to be my friends ; for, by blocking up the outlet, I might inundate the whole Thessalian plain. The best ancient descriptions of Tempe, are those of Livy5 Pliny, and iElian ; that of the former author is so circumstantial and pre- cise, that I give it at full length, in his own words: — "Sunt enim Tempe, saltus, etiamsi non bello fiat infestus, transitu difficilis. Nam praeter angustias per quinque millia, qua. exiguum jumento onusto iter est, rupes utrinque ita abscissae sunt, ut despici vix sinevertigine quadam simul oculorum animique possit. Terret et sonitus, et alti- tudo, per mediam vallem fluentis Penei amnis. Hie locus, tarn suapte natura infestus per quatuor distantia loca praesidiis regiis in- sessus; unum in primo aditu ad Gonnum erat; alterum Condylon, castello inexpugnabile. Tcrtium circa Lapathunta, quern Characa appellant ; quartum viae ipsi, qua et media et angustissima vallis est, impositum, quam decern armatis tueri facilis est."4 1 B. 4. c. IS. " Here. fur. Act. 2. v. 283. et seq. 3 B. 1. c. 128. * " Tempe forms a defile, -which it is difficult to pass, even when it is not occupied by an enemy. In the narrow part of the gorge, which extends for five miles, the path is only wide enough to admit a loaded horse ; while the rocks on each side descend in such a per- pendicular line that the beholder becomes giddy at the sight. The terror is at the same time increased by the violent roar of the river Peneios, over its confined bed in the depths below. This situation, which is so strong in itself, is at the same time fortified by four military posts, that are placed at intervals. One is at Gonnos, at the commencement of the pass ; another, Q2 116 THE VALE OF TEMPE. Of the four fortified places in Tempe, two only can now be identi- fied with any degree of certainty. Gonnos, which is the first that Livy mentions, as being " in primo aditu," was twenty miles1 from Larissa. The entrance of the valley is exactly that distance from the Thessa- lian capital ; but I observed no ruins in that spot. The next was the impregnable castle of Condylon, which is probably indicated by the ruins called Oreas Kastro, situated upon the perpendicular pre- cipice soon after the entrance into the glen. Lapithos, or Charax, is unknown to me; but it might probably be found by examining the rocks above the vale. The fourth fortification was on the nar- rowest part of the way ; no doubt at the place where the pro- consular inscription is situated, and which, from the strength of its position, might be defended by ten men against an army. The description of the valley of Tempe, which has been given by Pliny, is particularly interesting, as he has feelingly depicted the beauty and grandeur of the scenery, a subject generally neglected by ancient authors. " Et, ante cunctos, claritatePeneus, ortusjuxta Gomphos; interque Ossam et Olympum nemorosa convalle defluens quingentis stadiis, dimidio ejus spatio navigabilis. In eo cursu Tempe vocantur, quinque millibus passuum longitudine. Et ferme sesquiju- geri latitudino, ultra visum hominis attollehtibus se, dextra loevaque, convexis jugis. Intus, sua luce vinridante allabitur Peneus, viridis calculo, amcenus circa ripes gramine, canorus avium concentu."* called Kondylon, forms an impregnable fortress. A third is called Charax. The fourth is thrown over the road at the most contracted point of the vale, which ten soldiers would be sufficient to secure." B. 44. c. 6. 1 B. 36. c. 10. * "The Peneus, which rises near Gomphi, is transparent above all other streams. It flows between Ossa and Olympos, in a woody valley, for 500 stadia, and is navigable during half of that way. Five miles of this extent are called Tempe, where the usual width of the valley- is about half a jugcrum. Abrupt precipices rise on each side, towering aloft into the air. Within these confines, the gliding waters of the Peneus flash with an emerald light. Its margin is covered with turf of a delightful verdure; and numerous birds warble their music upon its banks." Nat. Hist. b. *. c. 8. THE VALE OF TEMPE. 117 The account of iElian1 is still more beautiful, and more in unison with the exquisite beauty of the spot which he describes. But as the original is too diffuse for insertion, the reader will excuse me for presenting it to him in an English version. He says, that " Tempe is between Olympos and Ossa, mountains of prodigious height, separated from each other by divine agency. The interme- diate vale is forty stadia in length, and, in some parts, a plethron in breadth, and in others more. The Peneios flows through the vallej, and is engrossed by the confluence of other rivers. This place is varied with many beautiful recesses ; not the works of art, but of spontaneous nature, whose embellishments appear to have been stu- diously lavished on this favoured spot; for copious and thick ivy,2 like the spreading vine, twines up the highest trees, while the rocks are shaded by abundant verdure,1 refreshing to the eye. Within the vale are many forests and retired spots ; which, in the heat of summer, refresh and alleviate the wearied traveller. Frequent rivu- lets and springs, of the best and coolest water, strengthen those who bathe in them. The birds, on all sides, sing the whole day long, with the sweetest melody, soothing the way-worn stranger as he travels through the vale. On each side of the river are sweet and solitary spots ; the slow and sluggish Peneios flows through the vale as smooth as oil. The thick foliage of the trees, with their wide spreading branches, protect from the fury of the sun those who navigate the river. The neighbouring people here assemble, per- forming sacrifices, and indulging in conviviality; and the traveller is greeted with the grateful odour of frequent victims." 1 Var. Hist. b. 3. c. 1. 2 Ki77o;. J It is IjMkaZ in the original, which is supposed to be the Yew ; but, as this tree does not grew in Thessaly, I have substituted the general term of verdure. CHAPTER IV. Return to Athens — Villages of Nikali and Enebelere — Plain, town, and acropolis of Fharsalia Thaumakia — Magnificent view from it — Zetoun — The pass of Thermopylae, and passage over Mount Oeta — Doris — Ruins of two cities — Lilsea, and sources of the Cephissos — Town of Dadi, probably Ampikleia — Remains of two other cities — Belitza (Tithoraia) — Elateia Chaeroneia — Orchomenos — Haliartos — Onchestos — Thebes — Euripos and Chalcis in Eubcea — Situation of Aulis — Plain of Delion — Village of Boiati — Ruins of Oropos — Village of Ma- rathona — Plain of Marathon — Great tumulus — Cave of Pan — Monastery of Pentele — Arrival at Athens. TO ENEBELERE. W E spent two days at the Vale of Tempe, passing the nights at Ampelakia. We made several drawings, and certainly no part of Greece affords so much grandeur of line, or so many exquisite com- binations of the sublime and picturesque. We were desirous of proceeding through Macedon to see some celebrated places on the Thermaic Gulf, and to visit Mount Athos and its aerial monasteries ; but our much dreaded enemy, the heat, was daily increasing, and we thought it prudent to return towards Athens while the travelling was yet practicable, and to repose during the hotter months. We accordingly quitted Ampelakia on the 6th, and went to the left of our former road, keeping the village of Baba on our right. Having passed over the barren foot of Ossa, we crossed several small streams which issue from it, and observed some verdant spots, where the refreshing waters of the fountain sparkled beneath the cooling shade of the platanus. Larissa appeared upon our right. During the hottest part of the day we reposed at the village of Nikali, from which we took a view of the Thessalian plain and capital, and inspected the costumes of the peasantry, with their im- PLAIN OF PHARSALIA. 119 plements of husbandry. This place is five hours and a quarter from Ampelakia. In the afternoon we proceeded two hours and thirty-eight minutes further to the Turkish village of Enebelere, where we passed the night. TO PHARSALIA. The next morning, the 7th, we continued our journey, crossed a bridge over a small stream, and went by the foot of an insulated hill with a small marsh, and a few mulberry trees near its base. These were the first trees we had seen for several miles ; the greater part of the plain on this side of Larissa offers no objects either pic- turesque or interesting. It is generally rich in corn. The uncul- tivated parts are covered with thistles. We passed by a fountain, and observed to our right a village named Sarliki. An hour and forty minutes beyond which we passed near a large Turkish burying-ground, and a village called Karademelki. About an hour from this place we had the first view of Pharsalia and its memorable plain, which is in a manner se- parated from the great plain of Larissa by some low ridges and un- dulating hills. We passed by some villages and fountains, and crossed a large bridge of several arches over a river which is pro- bably the Onchestos. Forty minutes further we crossed a bridge over another river of smaller size, probably the Enipeus or Api- danos, which unite their streams before they enter the Peneios. " ' Strabo, b. 8. p. 356, and b. 9, p. 432. 120 RUINS OF PHARSALIA. The principal fury of the battle between Julius Caesar and Pompey took place in the intermediate plain which is between the river and the town;1 but, far more interesting than this struggle for the ascendant between two ambitious Romans, was the memorable battle which Pelopidas fought near this spot against the Pheraean tyrant Alexander, for the destruction of tyranny.1 Ten minutes more brought us to Pharsalia, which is fourteen hours from Ampelakia. This town, which is at present called Pharsala by the Greeks, and Salalgik by the Turks, is situated at the northern foot of its acro- polis. It is a populous ' and commercial place. The Turks have here four mosques, and the Greeks a bishop, suffragan of the arch- bishop of Larissa. There is also a clock-tower and a keoschk, beautifully situated in a clear pool of water formed by a copious spring. It bears some resemblance to the Hyperian fountain at Phcrai, and is screened by some large platani from the torrid rays of the meridian sun. We regretted that the busy intrusion and suspicious inquietude of the Turks would not suffer us to make a drawing of a spot which is so singularly picturesque. We ascended the hill, which is crowned with the ruins of the ancient acropolis. It is extremely steep, and must have been a place of great strength. The walls, which in some places are well preserved, are fifteen feet and a half in thickness, which is double that of most of the walls in Greece, the common thickness being seven or eight feet. They are constructed sometimes with a single row of blocks, but more generally with a double row united, without any space in the middle. Those of Pharsalia, and other places where they are of an unusual thickness, are lined on both sides with large blocks, while the interstices are filled up with smaller stones, and earth, or mortar, 1 Plutarch in his life of Pompey says, that Caesar's army was 22,000 strong, and that Pompey had more than double that force. See Lucan's Pharsal. and Appiande bellis Civil. b. 2. p. 247. • See Plutarch's life of Pelopidas. ' It contains about 3500 inhabitants. RUINS OF PHARSALIA. 121 the emplecton of Vitruvius. The acropolis appears to have had two gates, of which that towards the town is quite destroyed ; the other on the opposite side is Avithout its lintel. The walls are in the third and fourth styles. Within the acropolis is a large circular cavity in the ground, apparently the remains of a treasury, resembling those of Mycenae and Orchomenos. The acropolis overlooks towards the north the wide expanse of the Thessalian plain, bounded by its lofty mountains. On the southern side it rises abruptly from a valley of smaller dimensions, which is closed by a branch of Mount Othrys. Strabo mentions two Pharsalia?, the old and the new. ' The former was on the hill which afterwards became the acropolis to the new city, which was in the plain where the present town is situated. Livy * calls the former Palaepharsalus. We were offered some ancient coins of Pharsalia, which are already known and published; their different types are a man on horseback, the head of Minerva, and a horse's head. Some have the full in- scription <£AP2AAinN. TO THAUMAKIA.' We quitted this place on the 6th, and in half an hour came to some ancient foundations near a stream and fountain, and about 50 minutes further crossed two other streams, one of which is furnished with a bridge, a sign that it is copious in winter. Numerous flocks of sheep are seen in most parts of the Thessalian " B. 9. p. 431. . B. 44. c. I. ' e«8p«xq.— Homer. VOL. II. Ii 122 RUINS OF AN ANCIENT CITY. plain. It also pastures large herds of cattle, whose sleek appear- ance bears testimony to the rich luxuriance of the grass. Extensive sheds that are called mandra are scattered over the plain, in order to afford a shelter to the flocks and herds from the powerful rays of the meridian sun ; and in the hottest part of the day they regularly retire to those cooling shades, and take their sieste like the Italians. Having proceeded two hours and ten minutes from Pharsalia, we reached the base of a hill that projects into the plain, which we ascended in order to examine the ruins of a city with which it is crowned. The walls are in the third style of construction, in high preservation, and fortified by square projecting towers. The stones are of large dimensions ; the ruins occupy three knolls of the hill, and the situation is strono- and commanding. There were anciently several cities and castles ' in the vicinity of Pharsalia andThaumakia, particularly Melitaia, Proerna,Eretria, Nar- thakion, and the Thetideion, or Temple of Thetis.2 We proceeded, and passed by two fountains and a well near a small mosque, which is situated on a moderate elevation to the left of the road. We went through a large Turkish burying-ground, crossed a stream, and passed to the left of a rocky insulated hill. In the Pharsalian plain there was a place named Kwog Ks(paXa,i " the dogs heads," which were two steep hills opposite each other. Alexander of Pherai, and Pelo- pidas, both endeavoured to obtain possession of these hills during the battle in which the latter lost his life. It is probable that these are the two hills alluded to, as there are no others in this vicinity which answer their description. The rest of the Pharsalian plain is a per- fect flat. On quitting this place we crossed two streams, and ascended to the town of Thaumakia, at present called Thaumakos. It is about five hours from Pharsalia, with a mixed population of Greeks and Turks, the former of whom have a bishop. The town is situated 1 Polyb. b. 17. p. 156. Strabo, b. 9. p. 434. and b. 10. p. 4*7. Plutarch's Agesilaos. * See Euiipid. Andromache, v. 20 — 43. THAUMAKIA. 123 on the side of a hill, on the summit of which was the ancient acro- polis, of which there are some few remains constructed in the third style : the superstructures appear to owe their origin to the lower ages. The position is strong, and it must at all times have been a place of importance.1 The view from this place is one of the most wonderful and ex- tensive I ever beheld ! The eye roams with delight over the rich verdure of the Thessalian plain, dotted with habitations and villages, or variegated with the beauties of cultivation, and throwing out its luxuriant surface to the sterile rocks of Ossa and Olympos, which are faintly distinguished in the receding distance. The description which Livy has left us of this captivating locality, ought not to be omitted. He says, " Thaumaci, a Pylis sinuque Maliaco, per Lamiam eunti, loco alto siti sunt, ipsis faucibus imminentes quas Coela vocant : Thessaliaeque transeunti confragosa loca, implicatas- que flexibus vallium vias, ubi ventum ad hanc urbem est, repente velut maris vasti sic immensa panditur planities, ut subjectos cam- pos terminare oculis haud facile queas ; ab eo miraculo Thaumaci appellati."2 It would appear from Homer, that at the time of the Trojan war, Thaumakia, Meliboia, Methone, and Olizon, formed one state, and provided seven ships, which were commanded by Philoctetes, son of Poeas, 3 and grandson of Thaumakos. We found three inscriptions at this place which contained the name of the city. Two of them are on the same block. They 1 Livy, b. 32. c. 4. 2 B. 32. c. 4. As you pass through Lamia from Pylae and the bay of Malea, Thau- maci occupies a lofty site, impending over the gorge which is called Coela. After travers- ing the rocky part of Thessaly and the road which runs through a labyrinth of glens, you no sooner arrive at this city than au immense plain is rolled before the eye, and to such an extent that the straining vision can hardly reach the distant boundary. Hence it is called Thau- maci." * Iliad, 2. v. 716. E 2 124 THAUMAKIA. are decrees in favour of three persons who are admitted as guests of the city, and are allowed to enjoy the rights of citizenship. The first is in favour of Makonios, son of Phalion, of Larissa ; the second for Agestos, son of Agrolion, ofEamos; the third for Surromaigros, of Herakleia. Decree for Makonios. ArAeAITTXAinOAIZeATMAKONEAOKEMA KONIOI$AAI0N02AAPI2AmiONTIETEPrET AATTAsnPOHENIANKAinOAITElANEniNOMI ANASrAIANASSAAEIANENKTHZINATEA EIANnANTflNKAinOAEMOTKAIEIPANASEni TONAnANTAXPONONKAIATTOIKAIEKrONOIS KAIOSATOlXAAAOIXriPOHENOISKAIETEPr ETAISAIAnSAnANTAAPXONTHNNEniMENE OSAAIOTANIKOMAXOTENrrOZTASriPOEE NIA2*IAHM0NANTin0N0T Decree for Agestos. ArA0AITTXAinOAI20ArMAKXiN EAr2KEArE2TIiIArP0AEnN02 EAMIEinPOSENIANEniNOMI ANA2TAIANAX#AAEIANENKTH 2INATEAEIANnANTaNKAm0AE MOTKAIEIPANASEnlTONAnANTA XPONONKAIATTniKAIEKrONOISKAI OSATOISAAAOIXnPOSENOISnAN TAAPXONTHNS^OAPIAAEXiSnAA *ANAENrrOXTASrPOSENEIA2 nOATMNIAZTOIS Decree for Surromaigros. ArA0AITTXAinOAI20ATMAKnNEAnKESTPP OMAirPillHPAXAEiaTAIONTIETEPrETAATT AinPOHENIANISOnOAHTEIANEniNOMIANA ZTAIANA2*AAEIANENKTH^INATEAEIAN IIANTriNKAinOAEMOTKAIEIPANASKAIATTfiKAI EKrONOIIEniTONAnANTAXPONONKAlOSA TOIZAAAOISrPOHENOISnANTAAPXONTilN AIEIPAKOTNIKOMAXOTENrTOSTAS nPOSENIAZNEOnTOAEMOSETH0IAOT LAKE NESO, 125 TO ZETOUN. On the 9th we proceeded towards Zetoun. A short way out of the town we saw a plentiful fountain, and the remains of an ancient tower. Further on we passed by two other fountains, one of which forms a small stream running towards- Thaumakia. Having passed a gap between some small eminences, the view opened into another plain in which Lake Neso was visible, encircled by green and wooded hills. It is at present named Daukli, and abounds in fish. Some villages, with the monastery of Saint Athanasius, were seen upon its banks. This lake, and Boebeis, are, according to Strabo, the remains of the Thessalian Sea which inundated all the flat country until the separation of Ossa and Olympos provided it with a vent by the Peneios. Strabo asserts that Thessaly was once called Nesonis, from Neson, son of Thessalos, and grandson of Haimon. It would appear that it changed its name from father to son, and in the course of one century was called Haimonia, Thessalia, and Nesonis. In descending to the plain of Neso we crossed several streams which discharge themselves into the lake. We ascended gently from this place, and after crossing several rivulets, passed by a derbeni or custom-house shaded with platani. Having ascended for some time, we reached the top of a ridge of hills, part of the chain of Othrys, and looked into the plain of Melis, surrounded by the Trachinian rocks. We paused for some time to admire the mag- nificence of the prospect, and then began to descend, and soon after- wards had a view of Zetoun, the Maliac Gulf, and the pass of Thermopylae. After a further descent we passed near a village called Daratza, and arrived at Zetoun, which is about seven hours from Thaumakia. 126 MOUNT OETA. TO MOUNT OETA AND DORIS. The next morning, the 10th, we crossed the plain of Melis, and in two hours reached the khan near the pass of Thermopylae ; in twenty minutes from which we arrived at the foot of Mount Oeta, and began to ascend, and in fifty-three minutes more came to the ruins of the ancient fortress called Muntzmeno : we soon after stopped at a cold spring to quench our thirst, which had been ren- dered intense by the heat of the weather, and the difficulty of the road. We next passed through a village, named Gamastri, the situation of which was highly picturesque. The cottages, which were thatched, were embowered in a forest of platani and oaks, em- bellished with a profusion of flowering shrubs, and where apples and almond-trees, pomegranates and figs, exhibited their luscious stores. The whole formed a garden that was watered by a rapid and pel- lucid stream, and was altogether as beautiful a scene as the imagina- tion can conceive. Continuing our journey for some time through this fairy land, and still ascending, we entered a forest of firs, and arrived at a village called Neuropoli, situated in a small circular vale on one of the summits of the mountain, and resembling the extinct crater of an ancient volcano. The vale was green with corn, which was so backward that the ears were not yet visible : on the sides of the surrounding hills flocks of sheep and goats were browz- ing on abundant pastures. I much regret my having omitted to examine the summits of Mount Oeta, as the origin of the story of Hercules on the burning pile might possibly be discovered. This origin I conceive to have been a volcano at some very remote period, of which the ancient inhabitants having a confused and uncertain tradition, invented the fable of Deianira's tunic. Hercules, while writhing under his torments, hurled Lichas into the Maliac Gulf, MOUNT OETA. 127 where he was metamorphosed into a rock, which from that circum- stance was denominated Lichades. P;w7e< vgog uf/rfizXvffTov ex, irovlov ftelgc&v.1 terque quaterque rotatum 2 Mitlit in Euboicas, tormento fortius, undas : Ille per aerias pendens induruit auras. ******* * Nuuc quoque in Euboico scopulus brevis einicat alte Gurgite, et humanae servat vestigia formas Quem, quasi sensuruin, nautaj calcare verentur, Appellantque Lichan." It would appear that this story was merely a poetical description of an eruption of stones from the crater of a volcano. The Lichades, however, are too large to have been ejected from Oeta, but may very possibly owe their origin to one of those submarine volcanoes which have at all times been common in Greece ; as we know by the testimony of ancient authors,3 as well as by the light of actual observation. It is certain that Greece, at least the insular part of it, was, at one period, not less subject to- volcanos than Italy. The islands of Crete, Hydrea, Calauria, Lemnos, Cythera, Melos, 1 Sophoc. Trachin. v. 793. 2 Ovid. Metam. b. 9. v. 217. He toss'd him o'er his head with airy course, And hurl'd with more than with an engine's force ; Far o'er the Eubcean main aloof he flies, And hardens by degrees amid the skies, &c. transform'd to stone In ancient days the craggy flint was known; Still in the Eubcean waves his front he rears, Still the small rock in human form appears, And still the name of hapless Lichas bears. 3 See Apollon. Rhod. b. 4. v. 1757, about the island of Kalliste or Thera : and about earthquakes and volcanos in Greece, the appearance of new islands, and the disappearance of old ones, see Livy, Strabo, Seneca, Pliny, Justin, Pausanias, Ammianus Marcellinus, Cassiodorus, Nicephorus, Theophanes, and others. 128 MOUNT OETA. Thera, and several others, are volcanic, besides the promontory of Methana in Argolis. Strabo ' gives a detailed and interesting ac- count of the changes which happened at different periods in Greece, where several islands disappeared, and others rose from the sea ; where rivers changed their course, or totally failed. I imagine that if even the Thessalian Olympos were examined, it would be found, in some parts, to be composed of volcanic matter, and that HesiodV account of the war between Jupiter and the Titans, and the burning Olympos, is a symbolical description of the warring elements. Ju- piter's triumph over Typhoeos appears, in all respects, to charac- terise the horrors of a volcano. This volcano is personified by the giant Typhosus, who is represented as having a hundred heads vomiting fire ! A hundred is here put indefinitely for a great many, and not for any particular number. Olympos has many sum- mits, and is hence called <xokvh<x,iga.<z by the poets. These heads were probably thrown up by volcanos ; and his sons Geryon, Cer- berus, and Orthos, were other smaller volcanos, on, or near Olympos.' Seneca4 gives the epithet of ignifer to Olympos. Some authors will have it that Typhoeos was put under iEtna; others say under Ina- rime;s both of which were always celebrated for their volcanic fires. It is also said that the river Dyras first made its appearance in order to assist Hercules, and to extinguish the fire which was burn- ing upon Oeta. Nothing is more common in volcanic countries than the appearance of new rivers, and the disappearance of old ones, which frequently takes place during great eruptions. It would be an object Avorthy the research of future travellers to examine in detail the mountains of Oeta and Olympos, and the island of Lichas in the Maliac Gulf. Volcanos may still exist in the impenetrable bowels of these mountains, which, like those of iEtna and Vesuvius, ' B. 1. * Deor. Generat. v. 673, &c. 1 The smaller volcanos which have issued from the sides of ./Etna, are at this day called the sons of /Etna. * Hippolytus, act. 3. v. 96(>. 5 The island of Ischia, in the Bay of Naples. ANCIENT DIVISIONS OF THESSALY. 129 after many centuries of repose, may, at some future period, burst forth with their original violence. Before I take my final leave of Thessaly, it is necessary to notice the great uncertainty which now exists concerning its ancient divi- sions, subdivisions, and boundaries. Strabo,1 indeed, treats this sub- ject in considerable detail, and endeavours to reconcile the topo- graphy of various places with the passages in which they are men- tioned by Homer. A good deal of confusion is, however, evident in this part of the geographer's work ; and, unfortunately, we have no account of Pausanias to rectify his errors, or to supply his omis- sions. The natural bulwarks which encircle the rich Thessalian plains are the mountains and chains of Oeta, Pindos, Othrys, Olympos, Ossa, and Pelion, all of which are of grand dimensions, and of imposing altitude. They are amply diversified by forests, fountains, and streams ; by deep recesses, wild glens, verdant glades, and luxuriant pastures, with all the attractions of the picturesque. The inhabitants, who live in scattered villages, are chiefly herdsmen, whose wants are almost spontaneously supplied by the fertility of the soil, and the genial temperature of the climate. Many subordi- nate valleys are formed by the numerous ramifications of the great Thessalian mountains. Innumerable rivers descend from these towering heights ; and though some of them, particularly the Pe- neios, have a course of considerable length, most of them are small, slow, and muddy : many of them unite with the Peneios, which, towards Larissa, assumes the appearance of a respectable river. Thessaly was formerly very populous, and was adorned with nu- merous and wealthy cities. J Its mountains and passes were defended by strong castles, and the excellence of its ports was favourable to the acquisition of maritime power, and to the prosecution of an ex- tensive commerce. 1 B. 9. * The coins of nineteen Thessalian cities have been found, besides six of districts, not including the islands on its coast. See Eckhel and Mionnet. VOL. II. S ISO DORIS. DRYOPIS. Strabo' divides Thessaly into four parts, — Phthiotis, Estiaiotisy Thessaliotis, and Pelasgiotis, and observes that Homer divides it into ten parts or dynasties ; but that so many changes had taken place in the course of time, that great confusion and uncertainty had arisen respecting the precise situations of the districts and cities, at which that poet has glanced in his immortal verse. After having ascended three hours from the foot of Oeta, we reached one of its ridges, and had a view into the beautiful plain of Doris, bounded on its southern side by the magnificent Parnassos, which rises majestically with its multiform summits, covered with snow, and its sides deep-trenched by the glens and gullies that have been worn by the winter torrents. This side of Parnassos is much better supplied with forests than that towards the south. It would appear from Herodotus,1 that the Dorians, who originally inhabited near Ossa and Olympos, having been expelled that country by the Kadmaeans, settled at Makednon, near Mount Pindos, whence they migrated to Dryopis ; which, on that occasion, assumed the name of Doris. Pausanias,' however, seems to make a distinction between these people, and says that the Dorians lived on Oeta, and the Dryopes on Parnassos. After the Dorians had established themselves in the Peloponnesos, their territory at the foot of Oeta was probably com- prised in Phocis, which took its name from Phocus, the son of Orny- tion. Strabo4 and Pausaniass place Lilaea in Phocis, which was originally6 in Doris. One of the names of Doris was Tetrapolis/ from its four cities, Pindos, Erinion, Boion, and Kutinion. There were also three other towns in this territory, Liloea, Karphe, and Dryope ; but some imagine the latter to be the same as Pindos, leaving six cities in Doris, for which reason, according to Tzetzes,8 it was sometimes denominated Hexapolis. Livy 9 places, in Doris, the towns 1 B. 9. p. 430. * B. I.e. 56. » B. 5. c. 1. * B. 9. p. 407. ' B. 9. c. 24. 6 Ptolemy, p. 67- T Strabo, b. 9. p. 417. a Ad Lycophrou. » B. 28. c. 7. DORIS. 131 of Tritonon' and Drymae, which he calls " parva, atque ignobilia oppida." Pliny2 says there was a town in Doris named Sperchios; this is probably an error. Parsons1 asserts that the Dorians took their name from their mountainous situation £' Ogos, and not from the son of Deucalion. If this opinion be admitted, we may, by analogy, conjecture that the Dryopes were so named, not from the son of Arkados, but from the forests of oaks4 which at all times abounded upon Oeta. Having, from the ridge of the mountain, contemplated the beauti- ful country of Doris, we proceeded towards its fertile plain, and began to descend the rugged and woody side of Oeta. After tra- velling for an hour through a magnificent mixture of ancient forests and steep precipices, we reached a village, called Palaiochora, at the southern foot of the mountain, where we had proposed resting in order to examine the remains of an ancient city ; but the Turkish Agha, having indulged too freely in the forbidden liquor, was per- fectly brutal, and threatened to have us strangled if we dared to pollute his village by our Christian presence. We therefore unwill- ingly proceeded, and, passing a stream, observed some ancient traces and foundations; and in twenty-five minutes from Palaiochora, ar- rived at the village of Kamara, where we passed the night in an Albanian cottage. This place commands a grand view of Parnassos, and the plain of Doris. TO THE RUINS OF LIIJEA, AND THE TOWN OF DADI. On the 11th, we proceeded with the intention of examining some places in the vicinity, and of discovering the remains of the Dorian 1 Probably the same which Pausanias calls Thhronion. * Nat. Hist. b. 4. c. 7. 3 Remains of Japhet. « Aps. It is probable that most places in Greece took their denominations from local circumstances, rather than from the names of people. Strabo is of the former opinion, and Pausanias of the latter. S 2 132 RUINS OF AN ANCIENT CITY. cities. A short way from the village, we passed by a copious foun- tain, which forms a stream at its very source. Pasture, forest, and cultivated land, were mingled in the plain. The corn, though nearly ripe, was extremely low : we passed a winding stream three times. The surface of the plain is varied by gentle undulations, in- terspersed with villages, and watered by numerous rivulets, which, running to the south-east, ultimately find their way into the Ce- phissos. We proceeded through the plain towards the base of Parnassos, and crossed a river named Aniani, the sides of which are shaded by platani of ample growth, whose branches, meeting from the opposite banks, are twined into a dense and verdant arbour, beneath which the stream glides, secluded from the sun. There was a river in Doris named Pindos, which was also called Alcyphas, Acyphas, or Cyphas, and entered the Cephissos, near Liloea. We observed some traces of ancient edifices," and crossed several streams near a metochi, or farm, belonging to a monastery on Parnassos, and denominated ■xu.va.yia. Ua^ucnrov, " the holy virgin of Parnassos." We continued for near half an hour along the banks of the river, the mountain rising abruptly from the plain close on our right. We stopped at the foot of Parnassos, to draw and to examine the ruins of an ancient city near the village of Mariolatis, situated on a steep precipitous hill projecting from the mountain. It is of small circuit; the walls, which are in the third style, are nine feet and a half in thickness, and fortified with square towers. We dined at the foot of the hill, under the shade of some fine Balania oaks which stand near a ruined church, encrusted with ancient fragments, amongst which is an illegible inscription, a small Doric capital of curious form, and an Ionic base. The church no doubt occupies the site of an ancient temple. It is useless to con- jecture the name of this city. I had conceived it to be Charadra, as its situation upon a high rock answers to the description which Pausanias1 gives of that town. But he places it only twenty stadia 1 B. 10. c.S3. RUINS OF LIL^A, AND SOURCES OF THE CEPHISSOS. 133 from Lilcea, whereas we were an hour and a half in traversing the space between those places. We continued along the wooded foot of Parnassos, which is broken into magnificent glens which are at once picturesque and Avild. We crossed several streams, whose margins were generally occu- pied by large trees; and in an hour and a half from the last men- tioned ruins, came to the remains of another city similarly situated. Its acropolis is upon an abrupt and rocky acclivity projecting from Parnassos. The surrounding scenery has a grand and savage cha- racter. The lower town was in the plain, and several remains of the walls and towers are in a wonderful state of preservation, and in the third style of construction. Some of the square towers have their doors and windows remaining, all of which diminish upwards. Most of the ruins are, however, overgrown with large bushes that are difficult to penetrate. The labour of excavation would here be probably more than compensated by the ancient relics that would be brought to light. The dispersion of marble fragments, amongst which is a thronos of white marble, leads us to infer that the town itself was enriched by various embellishments of the arts. There is reason to conclude that these are the ruins of Lilaea ; and the sources of the Cephissos are seen in some fine springs impetuously gushing from the foot of the mountain, and imme- diately forming a copious and rapid stream. Homer1 mentions the source of the divine Cephissos at Lilaea, Strabo2 and Pausanias5 notice the same thing; the latter4 informs us that the city contained a theatre, an agora, and some baths, with the temples5 of Apollo and Diana; and that it took its name from a Naiad, daughter of the Cephissos. Immediately after quitting this place we crossed the Cephissos, already assuming the appearance of a rapid and beautiful river. 1 Iliad, 2. v 523. * B. 9- p. 407—424. 3 B. 9. c. 24. * B. 10. c. 33. s iffa. 134 RUINS OF AN ANCIENT CITY AT DADI. A village called Bala1 was visible at the foot of the mountain; and some large blocks and foundations were scattered near the road. A marshy stream on the left hand enters the Cephissos, in the same vicinity. Some way further the river is provided with a large single- arched bridge. Parnassos was always on our light hand. We went through a kalybia,2 or winter residence, into which, at that season of the year, the inhabitants of some villages situated high up on Parnassos retire with their flocks, as their summer habitations would be too much exposed to the inclemency of the cold and to deep falls of snow. We found this kalybia totally deserted, the pro- prietors being on the mountain with their flocks and cattle. In the evening we arrived at Dadi, a populous Greek town situated on a gentle elevation at the foot of Parnassos, and oc- cupying the site of an ancient city : most of the remains, however, have been employed in the construction of the modern town. Dadi is probably the ancient Amphikleia, as Pausanias3 places it at sixty stadia from Lilaea, which nearly corresponds to two hours all but seven minutes, which we employed in journeying from the sources of the Cephissos to Dadi. Pausanias observes, that its right name was Amphikaia, as it is called by Herodotus ; and that the Amphictyons afterwards changed it into that of Ophiteia. Herodotus,* in describing the march of the Persians from Doris to Phocis on their way to Elateia, says that they proceeded along the Cephissos, burning in their way the towns of Drymos,5 Cha- radre, Erochos, Tethronion, Amphikaia, Neon, Pedieai, Triteai, and Elateia; but that they left the Dorians unmolested. He says 1 Pronounced Vala. 2 From xaXufitov or xaXu|3i), a cottage. The Icalybia are generally inhabited by shepherds, and are in the vicinity of pasture lands which feed their flocks. Such was also the meaning of the word anciently, as we see in Homer's Batrachom. v. 30. and frequently in Herodotus and Tluicydides. 3 B. 10. c. 33. * B. S. c. 83. * I have written these names as they are in Herodotus. RUINS OF AN ANCIENT CITY. 135 nothing of Lilaea, which was probably at that time considered as a Dorian city. Wishing to visit the ruins of a city which I had seen the day before at a distance, on the opposite or north-east side of the plain, I set out on the 12th, accompanied by a Greek to show me the way. In ten minutes we arrived at a church, about which are several fragments and ancient traces, that formed the continuation of the city on which the town of Dadi is built. This place is called Bernikobitza. 1 In the vicinity are two springs, and amongst the ruins some sepulchral stones containing merely the name of the de- ceased. On a large slab of marble is a psephisma or public decree.2 After quitting this place we went through the kalybia which I had passed the preceding day ; and crossing the Cephissos over the single arched bridge, entered a plain rich with corn. Having crossed the plain in a northern direction, we passed through a small stream, and arrived at the ruins of the c\ty we were in search of in an hour and twenty minutes from Dadi, corresponding with thirty-five stadia. This, according to Pausanias,3 was the distance from Amphikleia to Drymaia : the latter is probably indicated by these ruins, that are situated at the foot of a chain of hills, on an insulated eminence, which is crowned by the acropolis. The walls are eight feet and a half in thickness, and in the third style, which seems usual in most of the ruins of this part of Greece. They are well preserved ; some of the square towers are nearly perfect, and are of a more irregular style of masonry than the other parts of the walls. The lateral walls lead from the base of the hill to the summit of the acropolis, where they almost meet in a point, forming nearly an equilateral triangle, which is the plan of most Grecian cities that have an acropolis. This seems to have been a very small town ; and, if it is Drymaia, it well merited to be classed 1 Pronounced Vernikoviiza. 4 I copied this decree \wtli considerable difficulty, but it has been unfortunately lost. A copy of the same is in the possession of Colonel Leake, which it is hoped he will give to the public. s B. 10. c. 33. 136 RUINS OF TWO ANCIENT CITIES. V amongst the " parva, atque ignobilia oppida," by Livy. Pausanias1 says there was an ancient temple and statue at Drymaia, sacred to Ceres, whose festival was annually celebrated in that city. The view from hence extends over the rich Doric plain, the opposite side of which is terminated by Parnassos, rising in all its majesty, with a shattered surface of precipices and ravines, and deriving a sort of animated interest from the ruins of three ancient cities which are still descried upon its rocks. After completing our observations and drawings, we returned to Dadi, but deviated from the direct road, making a turn to the left in order to examine the remains of another city which is in the plain. In fifty minutes we crossed a stream in a deep ravine, which descends from a place called Drenitza, on Mount Oeta, four hours from Dadi. Ten minutes more brought us to some fine foundations, apparently the ruins of a temple. Near this is a sarcophagus. In ten minutes more we reached the ruins of the city, at present called Moulki ; which is situated upon an oblong elevation, rising from the river of Drenitza, that runs clear and rapid at the foot of some low but precipitous rocks. The walls of this place are so much de- stroyed that it is even difficult to comprehend the manner of their construction ; but the few remains above ground indicate that they were of the third style. Here is a fine circular foundation regularly built with large blocks, and near it are some frusta of Doric columns, of small dimensions.2 These ruins are probably the re- mains of Tethronion, which, according to Pausanias, was fifteen stadia from Amphikleia, and their distance from Dadi is about forty minutes. On quitting this place we again crossed the river Drenitza, the course of which is marked by numerous sinuosities, and having crossed the Cephissos, we arrived at Dadi in the evening. The inhabitants who live in the plain of Doris, which lies 1 Loc. cit. ' Two feet three inches in diameter. RUINS OF AN ANCIENT CITY. 137 between Oetaand Parnassos, complain of the intensity and the dura- tion of the winter cold. These lofty summits continually attract and break the clouds, by which they are assailed with long and violent showers of rain and snow. And Pausanias1 observes that their winters were extremely inclement, from the proximity of Par- nassos. TO BELITZA, TITHORAIA. We quitted Dadi on the 13th, passed by a fountain, and crossed a bridge over a rapid stream which issues from a grand precipitous glen of Parnassos. We traversed a rising plain, and having reached an elevated spot, looked down into the Avide extended vale of Elateia, and observed the Cephissos moving slowly through it in a winding course. We descended to the lower part of the plain, and came to a copious fountain, and some extensive traces and foundations which are an hour and a half from Dadi. These are the ruins of Titho- raia, which Ave continued to traverse for tAventy minutes, and arrived at Belitza,2 a toAvn peopled by Greeks, and situated upon the ruins of that ancient city. This beautiful place stands near the entrance of one of the magnificent glens of Parnassos, from which it is sup- plied Avith the coolest and clearest Avater. It abounds in springs and fountains, and is consequently adorned Avith trees and verdure. One of the grandest precipices of Parnassos rises behind the town, 1 Loc. cit. * Pronounced Velitza. VOL. II. T 138 RUINS OF TITHORAIA. and terminates in the point Tithorea, which, according to Hero- dotus,' was near the city of Neon. The walls of the ancient town, which are of the third and fourth styles, are built up the side of a steep hill, till they reach the foot of the precipice. They are for- tified with square towers in good preservation, approaching to the regular construction ; and are no doubt much less ancient than the other parts of the walls. Each tower has two doors, and two rows of windows of the usual form, diminishing towards the top. The interior of these towers is nineteen feet eight inches square; they were originally of two stories ; the holes that received the beams are seen in the walls above the lower range of windows. In the church of the holy Virgin are two inscriptions, one of which is merely sepulchral ; the other is on a slab of marble of a circular form, and is of importance, inasmuch as it mentions the city of Ti- thoraia/ In the church of Pareskebi is a sepulchral inscription, and a marble sarcophagus. APXEBOTAA ET0TMAXOZ ETNIKIAA2 *IAI2 SilSIKPATEIA. It appears from Herodotus* and Pausanias,4 that the most an- cient name of this place was Neon. It was in a state of decay in the time of the topographer, but contained a theatre, an ancient agora, and the grove,5 temple,6 and statue of Minerva. To the east of Tithoraia, a magnificent and wooded glen forms a separation between the rocks of Parnassos, from which a stream is rolled along a shattered and rugged channel with impetuous violence. Its accumulated waters are sometimes productive of damage during i B. 8. c. 32. Titopex. * This inscription was first noticed and published by Dr. Clarke in a Dissertation on his discovery of Tithoraia. • B. S. c. 32. * B. 16. c. 32. * AA<ro* 6 Naoj RUINS OF TITHORAIA. 139 the winter; and is hence called Kaxo-^u^a, or " the bad stream:" it was the Kachales of the ancients. ' No olive trees are found in the immediate vicinity of Tithoraia, though the oil of this place was anciently esteemed the best in Greece. * TO ELATEIA. Having examined the ruins of this place, we proceeded on our journey the same day. After a quick descent, we crossed the Ka- chales, which is formed into several small cascades, before it enters into the plain. The scenery consists of steep precipices, sprinkled with small trees and bushes. A short way out of the town we observed a Turkish sepulchre, situated on the summit of a tumulus. We passed by the villages of Lernbey and Turcochori ; the latter has generally been taken for the ancient Elateia, but it contains no ruins, and in no respect cor- responds with the position of that city. We continued descending gently to the plain ; passed near the kalybia of Turcochori, and soon after crossed the Cephissos, which was extremely muddy. After crossing the plain, we passed through a village called Dragoman, and began to ascend. An ancient se- pulchral stele, elegantly ornamented with sculptured foliage, is ob- served near the road. After crossing a stream, and passing near a fountain, we arrived at the village of Eleuta in two hours and ten minutes from Tithoraia. This place is situated upon the ruins of Elateia, which, according ' Pausan. b. 10. c. 32. The ruins of Elateia are visible from Tithoraia, bearing E.N.E. ' Pausan. b. 10. c. 32. T 2 140 RUINS OF ELATEIA. to Pausanias,1 was one hundred and eighty stadia from Amphikleia; but, if Dadi is Amphikleia, there must be some error in that author, as it is only three hours and forty minutes from that place to the village of Eleuta, which at most cannot count for much more than one hundred stadia. Pausanias, indeed, seems not to have explored this part of Greece with his usual accuracy of research ; and there is considerable confusion in the distances which he gives, between the cities of Doris and this part of Phocis. The ruins of Elateia are situated at the foot of some hills, which unite with the chain of Knemis and Oeta. Its position was well adapted for securing the narrow passes2 that lead from the Hy- poknemidian and Opuntian Locrians into this part of Greece. Other forts and cities were, for the same purpose, placed higher up ' on the ridge of the mountains. It would, at present, be difficult to ascertain their positions, as the country is overgrown with forests, and, in many places, impassable for horses. Strabo4 pretends, that Elateia was unknown to Homer, having been erected after his time ; but Pausanias 5 relates, that it was founded by Elatos, son of Arkas. According to the geographer, it was the largest town in Phocis ; but Pausanias says that it was inferior to Delphi. The acropolis was on an elevation of moderate height; and, from the few remains of the walls, which appear to have been constructed in the rude Tirynthian style, I should be inclined to credit the account of Pausanias rather than that of Strabo. Elateia was a place of considerable strength and importance, and, though burnt by the Persians, it afterwards rose to power, and was enabled successfully to resist the attacks of Cassander, 6 and after- wards of Taxiles,7 general of Mithri dates. In the war between the Romans and the last Philip of Macedon, it adhered to the interests 1 B. 10. c. 34. * Zlsw. Strabo, b. 9- p. 418. ' Ibid. * B. 9. p. 424. 5 B. 10. c. 31. 6 Pausan. b. 10. c.34. ' Ibid. RUINS OF ELATEIA. 141 of the latter; and, according to Pausanias,1 resisted the besieging army of the Romans, commanded by Flaminius; by whom, how- ever, 4Livy2 maintains that it was captured. Strabo' observes, that it was a place of such consequence, that the greatest consternation was excited at Athens, when it was reduced by Philip, father of Alexander. The principal objects of Elateia, worthy of attention in the time of Pausanias, were the Agora, the sepulchral stele of Elatos, a tem- ple4 of iEsculapius, and a theatre, of which some small remains may still be seen. Elateia commands an extensive view over the plain, bounded by Parnassos, at the foot of which the ruins5 of Tithoraia are descried. TO THE TEMPLE OF MINERVA KRANAIA. At the village of Eleuta we endeavoured to obtain some informa- tion concerning the Temple5 of Minerva Kranaia; which, according to Pausanias, was twenty stadia from Elateia. We were told that some ancient walls and columns were seen upon the hills at about three quarters of an hour from the village. We accordingly set out, accompanied by a guide. Pausanias says, the road to it has a gentle ascent. We proceeded in a northern direction ; and, having crossed a stream descending from the neighbouring hills which were close on our right, we ascended gently, and arrived in half an hour at a church with some blocks about it, and a large broken vase of stone, ap- parently the ancient receptacle of a fountain, that here issues from ' Ibid. * B. 32. c. 24. 5 B. 9. p. 424.. See also Demosth. * N«ay. 5 Bearing W. S. \V « Upon. 142 TEMPLE OF MINERVA KRANAIA. the rock. In fourteen minutes more, we reached the ruins of the temple, situated precisely as Pausanias describes it, on a steep rock of inconsiderable height and dimensions. It was surrounded by a peribolos. The south side is supported by a strong fence-wall of great antiquity, at present composed of eleven layers of stones, con- structed with a certain degree of irregularity, nearly approaching the system of polygons. This wall is furnished with several drains, three in a line, one over the other. The peribolos was closed by a gate, the traces of which are seen at the north-west angle, where we entered. Several foundations are discovered round the temple, which pro- bably belonged to the porticos,1 and buildings for the priests and attendants. The temple itself was of small dimensions, less than the Theseion at Athens, and built upon the same plan. The lower parts of four columns are yet standing in their places. They are of stone, and fluted Doric ; they are two feet seven inches diameter, and the in- tercolumniations are four feet six inches. The view from hence com- mands the plain of Elateia, and its mountains. We returned to Eleuta by the same road, and quitted it the next day, the loth, on our way to Bceotia. TO CILERONEIA. We passed through one stream, and came to the junction of two others ; beyond which is a tumulus to the left, and further on, some ancient traces. We afterwards passed another stream, and continued our journey through a rich agricultural plain. We observed a paved way composed of small stones, but apparently ancient. Having 1 Hhm. — Pausan. o K e K h h o PLAIN OF CH^RONEIA. 143 proceeded an hour and a half from Eleuta, we came to the banks of the Cephissos ; on the opposite side of which is a round insulated hill. We forded the river to the right of a village named Koubo, which stands at the foot of some hills. An elevation of the plain here deprived us of the sight of Parnassos, which we had seen all the way from the summit of Oeta. Having passed along the foot of a range of hills, which project from the left, we traversed the narrow part of the plain of Elateia, when our view opened upon the spacious expanse which forms the plain of Chaeroneia, beyond which Daulis, Panopeus, Chaeroneia, the mountains above Libadea, and the south- ern side of Parnassos, with the eastern end of Kirphis, were distinctly recognized. The chain of Mount Edylion, which rises from the river Assos near the ruins of Orchomenos, was upon our left ; and the whole formed a prospect rich in variety of beauty, and in multiplicity of historical recollections. We crossed a bridge over a hasty rivulet, near its junction with the Cephissos. We soon afterwards found ourselves much impeded in the marshes, and with difficulty crossed some fen-ditches. The soil was extremely rich, and the pas- ture land of the finest quality. In three hours and forty minutes from Elateia, we arrived at the village of Kapourna, the ancient Chaeroneia, and were hospitably received in the same house in which I had lodged some months before. TO ORCHOMENOS. On the 16th we proceeded to Orchomenos, taking the summer road, which is the shortest ; in thirty-seven minutes we came near a tumulus, and the villages of Magoula and Deserby. We stopped at the church of St. John, to take a view of this memorable plain, in which the most conspicuous features were the ruins of Chaeroneia, Panopeus, and Daulis, with the noble and 144 PLAIN OF CH.ERONEIA. majestic mass of Parnassos. The church probably stands on the site of a temple, of which some fragments are seen in its walls, with a corroded inscription, and several large blocks of stone. Upon our arrival at the Cephissos, we proceeded along its bank. A village, called Beli, was visible on the opposite side of it: we crossed a stream entering the Cephissos, and passed through a village named Gephura,1 the ancient Greek name for a bridge. It is pro- bable that there was formerly one in this place, as the river runs close to the village. To our right the village of Romaiko was visible, and in the distance we saw Libadea. We passed through some vineyards, crossed a bridge of three arches over the Cephissos, and arrived at the village of Skripou (Orchomenos), Avhich, as I had visited in a former part of my tour, I need not notice any further in this place, but shall proceed in the continuation of my itinerary. TO THEBES. We quitted this village the next morning, the 17th, and passing by the tumulus which is near Skripou, went through the village of Agios Demetrios, and came to the Cephissos. We found a great number of water tortoises:2 on its banks they are amphibious; and on perceiving us they plunged, and soon after rose again, emerging only their heads above water, to watch us ; and if we made the least motion dived again. They are common in the marshy parts of Greece and Italy, and are much more active and lively than the land tortoise. I found them in Italy, and I kept one for a long time : it slept during the winter; it would never eat out of the water; 1 Pronounced Eufere. * The Nefo-^eAwvi) of the modern Greeks. THE LAND AND WATER TORTOISE. 145 when I fed it, I was obliged to put it into the water, and it drew to the bottom the herbs which I threw in for its support. It was always silent. It differs from the land tortoise in form, in colour, and in being much flatter ; the uppermost part of the shell is black, and the lower is yellow; the feet are long and webbed, and speckled with black and bright yellow ; the head is longer than that of the land tortoise, and resembles that of the common snake ; the eyes are extremely large and beautiful. The water tortoise is doomed to continual silence. The nymph Chelone, being thrown into a river by Mercury, was transformed into a tortoise, and condemned to perpetual taciturnity. The poets, no doubt, alluded to the water tortoise ; as the land tortoise is not so immutably silent. The lyre, or %eXvs, was, however, made from the shell of the latter; that of the former being soft and pliable, and unadapted for that instrument, though Symposius poetically, but erroneously, says, " Viva nihil dixi quae sic modo mortua canto/' The land tortoises are common in almost all parts of Greece, and in the mountainous and unculti- vated parts of Italy, though Mons. de Pauw asserts,1 that they were only found in Arcadia. I saw none in iEgina, though it was the common type of the ancient money of that island. The land tor- toise is lively only in hot weather, when making love or fighting with a rival. On the former occasion, the male sings with a curious note, which may be heard at a considerable distance : the female is generally, though not always, silent. It lays three or four eggs, though seldom in the same spot ; but stopping at intervals, deposits them on the ground : having with her two hind feet scraped a hole for their reception, she slightly covers them with earth, and leaves them to their fate; they are hatched by the heat of the sun. Their eggs are about the size of pigeons' eggs, but of a less oblong form. The fe- male tortoise is extremely coy; and it is not till the male has knocked 1 Recherches I'hilosoph. sur les Grecs, vol. 2. VOL. II. U 146 THE LAND TORTOISE. her violently with his shell, and bitten her legs, that any favours can be obtained ; and the observation of Oppian ' is perfectly ac- curate : He amorous pursues, they conscious fly Joyless caresses, and resolv'd deny. Since partial Heav'n has thus restrain'd the bliss, The males they welcome with a closer kiss, Bite angry, and reluctant hate declare ; The tortoise courtship is a state of war. Land tortoises are eaten by the Italians, particularly by the reli- gious orders, by whom they are considered as a meagre dish. The Turks and Greeks class them among the unclean animals, and have a violent prejudice against them as an object of food, and look upon the Italians with great contempt, calling them ^eXmo^ayoi, or tortoise- eaters, as a term of reproach. The Attic tortoises are differently shaped from those of other parts of G reece, being longer, and higher in proportion to their breadth. They have an arbitrary stomach and lungs, and remain at least half the year under ground, in their hy- bernaculum, or winter-quarters, in a state of torpor, without eating or breathing. We were two hours and a quarter in crossing the Kopaic plain, from Orchomenos to the mountains on its southern side, having passed several artificial ditches, and some streams which are fur- nished with bridges. The plain, which was at this time covered with corn and fine pasture, is generally inundated during the winter sea- son, when it forms part of the Lake of Kopais. We rested at a spring which issues from a rock, and which I conceive to be the Tilphoussian fountain.2 Soon after quitting this place, we crossed seven small streams in the course of a few minutes, all issuing from the same source which forms the Lophis. We passed through the Halieuticks, b. 1. v. 513. * See vol. 1. c. 8. of this Tour, HALIARTOS. ONCHESTOS. 147 ruins of Haliartos, leaving the road to Thespeia and Thisbe to the right. We crossed two streams, the largest of which is provided with a bridge of one arch. In twenty minutes from the last-mentioned ruins we reached a cave in a rock to the right of the road, near the village of Megalo Moulki. The summit of the rock displays the ruins of a modern tower, which was probably constructed at the time when the Catalans had possession of Bceotia, and served as a watch-tower, as it overlooks the full extent of the Kopaic plain, and the roads leading to Libadea and Thebes. The cave is the work of nature; the falling in of part of the roof has rendered the sky visible through the aperture. Some ancient traces and foundations at its entrance, and in its immediate vicinity, make it probable that it was formerly sacred to some of the rural deities. A few paces from it a spring of clear water issues from the rock. While we were resting at this place, some Turkish ladies arrived on horseback, on their way from Thebes to Libadea. They veiled their faces, but desired their attendants to present us with coffee, which they pre- pared at a fire made with dry sticks. A quarter of an hour after we had quitted this place we reached a large tumulus composed of small stones : some blocks of stone are scattered about in its vicinity. At a short distance from this spot wre ascended a gentle projection from Mount Phoinikios, which was on our left hand, and passed through the fallen and scattered remains of an ancient city, probably Onchestos, which, according to Strabo,' was situated upon a height, and was also called Phoinikis, from its vicinity to Mount Phoinikios. Pausanias2 places this town at fifteen stadia from the mountain ; but he probably means from its summit. Though it was in ruins in his time, it contained a temple,5 and a statue of Neptune Onches- tios, and the grove which is celebrated by Homer.4 1 B. 9. p. 4.10. 412. - B. 9. c. 26. 3 yaos. * Iliad, 2. v. 506. U 2 148 PLAIN OF THEBES. We descended from this place into a level plain, fertile in corn and cotton, and we soon distinguished the minarets of Thebes. The villages of Bari and Morokambi are visible at the foot of some hills to the right, beyond which Mount Cithaeron terminates the distant view. In the evening we arrived at Thebes, which is five hours and a half from Orchomenos, three hours and twelve minutes from the ruins of Haliartos, and one hour and forty minutes from the ruins near Mount Phoinikios. TO CHALCIS IN EUBCEA. On the 18th we quitted Thebes, with the intention of visiting the Euripos and Chalcis, the ancient and modern capital of Euboea. Proetis was the gate of Thebes, which anciently faced Chalcis. We passed by a stream and fountain, and the village of Saint Theodoro, fifty-nine minutes from Thebes. The road ran between two small tumuli, twenty minutes from which the traces of an ancient wall were perceptible. In six minutes more a tumulus was seen to the right, and a ruined tower about half a mile beyond it. An hour and a half from the last tumulus three large rough blocks of stone are observed near the road. Fifty minutes more brought us to some ancient sepulchres, and the traces and foundations of a small town. Pausanias does not give the distance of Teumessos from Thebes ; but the scholiast of Euripides' says, that it was 100 stadia, and this computation was sufficiently in unison with the three hours and torty-five minutes which we employed in reaching these ruins from ' Phceniss. v. 1107. MYKALESSOS. 149 Thebes. Continuing our route we refreshed ourselves at a fountain, and passed by the ruins of an ancient town, thirty-three minutes from the last-mentioned remains. These ruins are situated on a hill to the left of the road, and are of moderate dimensions. The walls are composed with small stones, which were probably once coated with larger masses. We felt no inclination to ascend the hill, as our strength was exhausted by the intensity of the heat. These may, perhaps, be the remains of Harma. We passed over a gentle emi- nence, which intervenes between the Theban plain and that of Aulis- From hence we commanded a view of the Euripos, and the moun- tainous range of Euboea, with Chalcis, its capital. I have thus far been particular in noting the smallest traces from Thebes, with their reciprocal distances ; as upon this road Pausa- nias ■ notices some monuments of considerable interest. He says, " after quitting the gate of Proetis for Chalcis, the tomb3 of Me- lanippos is passed ; and near it three rough stones, said to be the sepulchre of Tydeus. The tombs 3 of the sons of CEdipus are on the same road, and further on the village* of Teumessos. The mo- nument s of Chalkodon, and the ruins of Harma and Mykalessos, were on the same route, with a temple6 of the Mykalessian Ceres." We must have passed over or near the site of the ancient Myka- lessos. Strabo7 calls it a village,8 and Pausanias9 says it was in ruins in his time. It however once had its mint; and I purchased at Thebes one of its small silver oboli, with the Boeotian shield on one side, and a thunder-bolt on the reverse, with the two first letters of the town M Y. We approached the Euripos by a gentle descent, and to the left saw a hill with a fort and a mosque upon its summit, erected by Mahmoud Pacha, grand vizir of Mohamed the second. It is called Baba-Kastro, or Kara-Baba, and is probably the place which Strabo10 calls Salganeus, from a Boeotian of that name who was buried there. ' B. 9- c. 18. St 19. 2 Ixtpo;. 3 [^vr^ala,. * p^cypioy. 5 fiioj^a. 6 u^av. t B. 9. p. 404. 8xwjxrr 9B. 9. c. 19. 10 B. 9- p. 403. he calls it xwPl0v- 150 THE EURIPOS. According to Diodorus Siculus,' it was a fortified post. Stephanus J says it was a city; Ptolemy' calls it Saganeus, and places it be- tween Aulis and Anthedon, which corresponded with the actual situation of Kara Baba. The ancient way at the foot of this hill is cut in the rock. We crossed the Euripos by a bridge of two arches, one of which joins the continent, and the other the island, having an insulated rock in the middle of the channel, on which is a circular tower, and a gate through which we passed. The bridge has some other smaller arches for the purpose of affording a free passage to the current, which rushes with great impetuosity. We crossed it at seven o'clock in the evening, and it was then running towards the north. On entering the town we observed the Venetian arms, sculptured in stone, still remaining over the gate. The bridge over the Euripos, at least the superstructure, is modern, and is said to have been erected by Mahmoud Pasha in the year 1462. The ancient bridge was fortified with towers, Avails, and gates, in the time of Alexander, when there was one tower on the continent and another on the island.* Livy,5 speaking of Paulus iEmilius, has the following pas- sage : " Chalcidem ad spectaculum Euripi, aevoque ante, insula; ponte continenti junctae descendit," from which it would appear that Euboea was only united to the continent a century before the time of the conqueror of Macedon. Euboea was probably separated from Bceotia by one of those con- vulsions of nature which have been common in this part of Greece. Such was the opinion of Strabo,6 Pliny,7 and Procopius.8 Lucian9 says it was cut from the continent. Chalcis and the whole island is called Euripos by the modern Greeks, who, however, pronounce it Euripo, which by the assistance of the Italians, has been corrupted into Egripo, Negripo, and at last into Negroponte. This pro- B. 19. c. 77. ' De Urbib. p. 657. 3 B. 3. c. 15. p. 86. 4 Strabo, b. 10. p. 447- 5 B. 45. c. 27. 6 B. 9. p. 400. ' Nat. Hist. b. 2. c. 88. De iEilific. b. 4. c. 3. p. 72. Paris edit. 9 Nero, or the digging of the isthmus. ' — © ^ EUB(EA. CHALCIS. FOUNT ARETHOUSA. 151 bably arose from us ton Evgwov, and their ignorance of the language. Leunclavius1 calls it Egripos, but says, that in his time2 it was vulgarly denominated Negroponte. The capital of the island is peopled by about 12,000 Greeks and Turks, both of whom bear a bad character. There is no place in Greece where the Turks are more vicious and tyrannical ; and the Greeks, who frequently em- brace Islamism, become more cruel and oppressive than the Turks themselves. Indeed the genera] bad conduct of these renegados has given rise to a Turkish proverb, that a bad Christian can never become a good Musulman : " Er kim fena Giaour olmichidi eche ei Musulman olur." When Eubcea3 was taken by Mohamed the Second, it contained 24,000 men capable of bearing arms, and was able for some time to resist the attacks of 140,000 Turks, the best soldiers of the age : and it would probably have withstood all the efforts of the sultan had it not been for the treachery of an Albanian. It is now governed by a pacha of three tails. There are 300 villages within the island, and the Turks constitute the greater part of the po- pulation. According to Strabo,* Chalcis was founded by the Athenians before the Trojan war. Scarcely any remains of its ancient splen- dour now exist. Dicaearchus5 mentions its gymnasia, porticos, temples, and theatres, and says that it was seventy stadia in cir- cumference. The only remains that are visible at present are some unintelligible foundations and scattered blocks, some subterraneous chambers, and the fountain Arethousa,6 a spring of clear and copious water, which, according to Dicsearchus, abundantly supplied the whole town, while Athenaeus7 remarks that it contained tame fish. 1 Pandect. Hist. Turcic. p. 451. Paris edit. - In 1590. 3 See Ducas Michaelis Nep. Hist. Byzant. Chronicon breve, p. 200. Paris edit. It was taken in the year 1470. * B. 10. p. 446. 5 Stat. Graec. 6 See Euripid. Iphig. in Aulid. v. 170. la.; kXuvols ApaQovva.;- Strabo, b. 1. p. 58. Plin. Nat. Hist. b. 4. c. 12. 7 Dcipnosopli. b. S. c. 1. 152 EUBCEA. CHALCIS. The whole island. sent forty ships to Troy. > In the time of the Persian invasion, Chalcis alone had twenty vessels at the battle of Salamis, and Eretria had seven.2 Chalcis also sent 400 men to the battle of Platsea.3 In the period of their greatest prosperity the Euboeans had many cities; and, abounding in population, sent colonies to Macedon, Italy, and Sicily. The only coins of this island which have as yet been found are those of Chalcis, Eretria, Kar\rstos, Istiaia, and Kerinthos, all of which are common except the latter, and have been published by Eckhel, Mionnet, and others. According to Strabo,4 Eubcea was originally called Makris and Abantis. He asserts that its entire length, from the Cenaean to the Geraistian promontory, is 1200 stadia; its breadth, which is very unequal, being in the broadest part 150 stadia. According to Pliny, it was 150 miles in length, forty in breadth, and 565 in circuit. The same author says, that its most ancient names were Chalco- dontis, Makris, or Makrae, Chalcis, Abantias, and Asopis. As the heat, which was now become almost insupportable, had put an end to our travelling, we reluctantly abandoned the idea of visiting the places in this interesting island which remained to be explored. The remains of most of its ancient cities may still be seen ; and the ruins of Eretria would merit particular attention from their perfect state of preservation. There is perhaps no country of the same extent where nature is so varied as in the island of Eubcea- It produces quarries of green marble 6 and asbestos 7, mines of copper and iron 8, and hot baths.9 The mountains which stretch through the whole island are extremely lofty, and of fine forms. Near the Euripos, and particularly opposite Locris, precipices of gigantic magnitude are elevated from the sea. The interior of the island is rather un- dulating than precipitous. Rich and fertile plains are interposed 1 Homer. Iliad, 2. v. 545. 2 Herodot. b. 8. c. 46. 3 Id. b. 9. c. 28. 4 B. 10. p. 444. s Nat. Hist. b. 2. c. 12. 6 Called Cipollino by the Italians. Strabo, b. 10. p. 446. « Id. p. 447. 9 Ibid, and Plin. Nat. Hist. b. 4. c. 12. EUBCEA. 15S between the mountains ; and these, in ancient times, furnished grain sufficient not only for its numerous cities, but enabled it to export a large quantity to the capital of Attica, where the thin and arid soil could not be brought to yield enough for the sus- tenance of its inhabitants." If an enemy wished to starve Athens, the first step was the occupation of Eubosa, thereby cutting off the great source of its necessary supplies. The Athenians were then obliged to have recourse to the fertile shores of Pontus and Byzan- tium, which they could do only when they were masters of the sea. It seems that there was formerly not much pasture land in Euboea, and horses were kept only by the wealthier inhabitants, who were accordingly named hippobotoi ;2 an appellation which seems to have been the origin of the Roman eqaites, and the modern title of che- valier or cavallere, many of whom at the present day cannot even keep a dog. One of the loftiest mountains in Euboea is at present called Del- phi, which is situated to the north of Chalcis, and ascends in a majestic form, terminating in a point. Euripides' mentions a moun- tain in Eubosa called Dirphe, which, from the similarity of name, may be the same as Delphi. Strabo4 mentions a mountain in the Histiaiotis of Eubosa, called Telethrion. He says that Oche,5 near Karystos, was the highest of the island. It is seen from almost every part of the archipelago, and I clearly distinguished it from Delos, and from several other islands at a great distance from it. 1 Thucyd. b. 1. c. 2. 2 See Herod, b. 5. c. 77. 5 Hercul. fur. v. 185. * B. 10. p. 446. 3 This mountain is at present called Karystos, and sometimes the mountain of Saint Elias. Pliny mentions Ocha as a city. Nat. Hist. b. 4. c. 19. VOL. II. 154 PORT OF AULIS. TO BOIATI. On the 19th we quitted Euboea, returning over the Euripos into Boeotia, with the intention of proceeding to Athens by Oropos and Marathon. We left the road to Thebes on our right, and keeping alone the gulf in a south-east direction, crossed a stream which enters the sea. In an hour and ten minutes from Chalcis, we stopped to examine a port which must be that of Aulis, where the Grecian fleet assembled before its departure for Troy. Livy ■ says that it is three miles from Chalcis, which agrees with the seventy minutes it took us to reach it. After quitting the port of Aulis, we saw a small island in the sea, and some way from it another, both at no great distance from the shore. On the Euboean coast is distinguished a large plain rich with trees, and a low promontory rising from it surmounted by a tower. That spot is covered with the ruins of Eretria, which comprise some interesting remains of a theatre, and the city walls, with their towers in high preservation. A village to the left, on the Boeotian shore, attracted our atten- tion from its name, Bathu,4 derived from the depth of its port, which is secure and extensive. Strabo, 5 in his description of this coast, in approaching Chalcis from Attica, mentions a port called Btxdvs : his words are st]a, Xi^v (isyug, ov xaXoviri Baflvv Xi^iva, uff n AvXt;, " afterwards there is a great port which they call the deep port ; after this is Aulis." There can be no doubt that in this de- scription he alludes to the port at present called Bathu. Probably the greater part of the Grecian fleet assembled in this port, as that of Aulis was not sufficiently capacious. Its diminutive size seems to be alluded to by Euripides,4 when he says, Taj y AvXiSo; rtvovopois Offt,oi(. B. 15. c. 27. • Signifying deep, and pronounced Vathi. ' B. 9. p. 403. ♦ Ipliig. in Aulid. v. 1496. PLAIN OF DELION. 155 Half an hour further we saw a modern tower on a hill to the right, about one mile from the road, near a village named Arabiki. Here are the imperfect remains of a city of small dimensions. The town of Delion and temple of Apollo must have been in this vicinity : Strabo ' places it thirty stadia from Aulis. We tra- versed the plain in which the Thebans obtained a victory over the Athenians,5 and where Socrates saved Xenophon from falling into the hands of his enemies, by carrying him many stadia on his back.3 According to Plutarch,4 it was Alcibiades who saved So- crates at this battle. It would appear from Livy,5 that Delion was near 6 the sea, five miles from Tanagra, and situated where the gulf was less than four miles broad. We are informed by Strabo,7 that there was a town near Aulis called Hyria. About two hours and twenty minutes from Bathu, a town was visible on a hill to our right. After ascending an elevation, we overlooked a rich vale, in which there was an intermixture of arable and pasture, interspersed with fine oaks, firs, platani, and fruit trees, principally pears and figs. In one hour and twenty minutes we reached the eastern extremity of the plain ; and making an ascent amongst small eminences, arrived in another hour at a village called Boiati, where we experienced an inhospitable re- ception at the cottage of an Albanian Musulman : these fellows are generally vicious, and uncivil to strangers. TO OROPOS AND MARATHON. On the 20th we quitted our surly host, and having ascended a hill covered with small firs and bushes, came in sight8 of the plain 1 B. 9. p. 403. 5 424- years B. C. s Strabo, Ioc. cit. * Life of Alcibiades. * B. 35.C.51. 6 Imminens mari. Ibid. 7 B.9- p. 404. 8 The bearings from this spot are as follows : Parnassos N. 75 W. Mount Delphi, in Eubcea, N. 27. 30". E. X 2 IjG ruins of oropos. and ruins of Oropos, and the gulf and mountains of Euboea. The sea has the appearance of greater breadth than Thucydides' allows it in this part, for he asserts that Eretria, in Euboea, is not sixty stadia from Oropos. Strabo * says that there are only forty stadia between these places, which must be an erroneous computation. Eretria and its plain were clearly distinguished : CEchalia and Ama- rynthos' were in its vicinity. Oropos is now called Ropo, and con- tains only few and imperfect ruins. Some architectural fragments in marble are dispersed about, and the traces of the acropolis wall may be discovered on a neighbouring hill. Oropos appears about a mile from the sea, where it had two small contiguous ports. Near the village is the dry bed of a torrent; but its refreshing!: streams4 and cool fountains have shared the fate of Amphiaraus, and are for ever sunk within the bowels of the earth! We observed no certain traces of the neighbouring Graia, which was on the road to Athens, nor of the temple of Amphiaraus,5 nor of the monument of Narcissos.6 But we did not indeed employ sufficient time in exploring the curiosities of this place, owing to the excessive heat, and the feverish debility which was produced by an ex- posure during so many days to the unmitigated violence of the sun. The doubtful situation of Oropos, whether in the Athenian or Boeotian territory, was the cause of frequent contest between those by whom it was alternately subjected.7 The ruins of Tanagra still remain, under the name of Gremata, about six miles to the west-north-west of Oropos. The walls, towers, and a theatre are seen, beside some fragments of Ionic columns.8 Delphinion and the sacred port9 were twenty stadia from Oropos. 1 B. 8. c. 13. ! B. 9. p. 403. 3 Strabo, b. 10. p. 44b". * Livy, speaking of Oropos, says, " Templumque vetustum est, fontibus rivisque circa amsnum, b. 45. c. 27. This celebrated temple and oracle was only twelve stadia from Oropos. Pausan. b. I. i c. 34 6 ft^tiM. Strabo. » Strabo. b. 1. p. 65. b. 9. p. 399. Pausan. b. I. c. 34. 8 I am indebted for this information to C. R. Cockerell, Esq. who visited the ruins. 9 Strabo, b. 9. p. 403. PLAIN OF MARATHON. 257 We resumed our route, and passed by a church, and through a small forest of firs. In an hour and forty minutes we saw a monastery to the right. The soil of the plain was parched, and of a light colour : Dicsearchus" observes that it is white and argillaceous. We passed through alargevillagenamed Marcopoli, enriched with fine trees, vine- yards, and olive groves. Here are some imperfect vestiges of antiquity, and a little beyond the village is a copious fountain, which forms a stream ; in the vicinity of a church, where there is a bas-relief of two draped figures, in good style, but indifferent preservation, as the heads have been broken. This place is one hour and three quarters from Oro- pos, and cannot be the situation of the temple of Amphiaraus, which was only twelve stadia from that town. We proceeded, and in an hour crossed six rivulets. From an eminence, we had a view of Pen- telikon, Hymettos, and Parnes. In two hours and fifty minutes from Marcopoli, we arrived at the village of Kapandriti, that was enriched with mulberry trees, and surrounded with fine corn fields. In two hours and forty minutes from Kapandriti, we reached the village of Marathona, having, in our way, crossed over nine streams, and passed by several small churches and scattered traces of an- tiquity, the original destination of which cannot be ascertained. This village, which is about three miles from the sea, and at a shorter distance from the foot of Pentelikon, is one of the prettiest spots in Attica, and is enriched with many kinds of fruit trees; par- ticularly walnuts, figs, pomegranates, pears, and cherries. On our arrival, the fine country girls, with attractive looks and smiling faces, brought us baskets of fruit. Some of them appeared un- willing to accept our money in return ; and the spontaneous civility and good humour of the inhabitants soon convinced us that we were in Attica, where they are more courteous to strangers than in other parts of Greece. The Marathonian plain has been so often described, by ancient 1 Stat. Giaec. 158 PLAIN OF MARATHON. as well as by modern authors, that a detailed account of it in this place could be little more than a repetition of what others have said. I shall therefore confine myself to a few necessary observa- tions on this memorable spot. Marathon, though only a small place at the time of the battle, was originally one of the four cities, and founded by an Attic king, or hero, ' who gave it his name ; though, according to Plutarch,2 who cites the authority of Dicaearchus, it OAved its origin to Marathos, an Arcadian, who was in the army of Castor and Pollux, in Attica. Cornelius Nepos ! asserts, that Marathon is only ten miles from Athens, in which he has been generally followed by other authors. But this distance is considerably underrated. Corsini4 and Dr. Chandler5 make it only eighty stadia, and Dr. Gillies6 makes it thirty miles. It is, however, eighteen miles in a direct line from Athens to the village of Marathon ; and, by the shortest road over the southern foot of Pentelikon, it is at least twenty-two miles to the beginning of the plain. Dr. Gillies is accordingly nearer the truth than his predecessors. The plain, which is about five miles in length, and two in breadth, is at present composed of corn and pasture land. Great part of it, however, is in a state of desolate neglect, and overgrown with thistles and bushes. The countrymen were reaping the corn, and a great quan- tity of cattle were feeding in the uncultivated parts. A large tu- mulus of earth rises from the middle of the plain ; and nearer the sea, close to a marsh, are two others, composed of small stones, and much lower than the former. Pausanias7 mentions two sepulchres3 in the plain ; that of the Athenians, and that of the Boeotians and slaves, be- sides the monument9 of Miltiades. The same author conjectures that the Persians wei;e buried in a pit; for he says, that he saw no tumulus," ' Pausan. b. 1. c. 15. ' Life of Theseus. ' Life of Miltiades. 1 Fasli Attici. s Travels in Greece. 6 Hist, of Greece. 7 B. 1. c. 32. " 7«p«i. 9 (tyyi^a. 10 %tt-/xa. a & h r -' & o E> 2 < J ! -' t- rr Z PLAIN OF MARATHON, 159 nor any monument ' whatever erected over their remains. The great tumulus has been opened, but without success; because it was not excavated to a sufficient depth. It is singular that no ancient armour has ever been found in the plain of Marathon, nor scarcely any relics of the many thousands who perished in this memorable field. Time may bring to light some interesting particulars ; and a proper examination of the tumuli would be productive of objects of interest to the antiquarian and the historian. — Scilicet et tempus veniet, cum finibus illis Agricola, incurvo terram molitus aratro, Exesa inveniet scabra robigine pila ; Aut gravibus rastris, galeas pulsabit inanes, Grandiaque effbssis niirabitur ossa sepulcris.* I found in the large tumulus some fragments of coarse pottety, and a great manysmall arrow heads3 of black flint, which probably belonged to the Persian army. Size of the Originals. 1 Athens, lead. 2 Attica, bronze. 3 Marathon, Hint. 1 Xiijueioy. ' Virgil. Georg. 1. v. 493. " The time, at length, shall come when lab'ring swains, As with their ploughs they turn these famous plains, 'Gainst hollow helms their heavy drags shall strike, And clash 'gainst many a sword and rusty pike ; View the vast graves with horror and amaze, And at huge bones of giant heroes gaze." Walton's Virgil. J See No. 3. of the annexed plate. 160 PLAIN OF MARATHON. According to the testimony of Herodotus,' the ^Ethiopians, who formed part of the army of Xerxes in Greece, had darts, the heads of which, instead of iron, were of pointed stone, which they used also in cutting their seals. ^Ethiopians were represented on the cup, which was in the right hand of the statue of Nemesis at Rhamnos, which was made, after the battle, from a block, which the Persians had brought from Paros to erect as a trophy after their vainly an- ticipated victory ! Pausanias2 is at a loss to account for the repre- sentation of the /Ethiopians on the cup; but the reason seems suf- ficiently evident. This is the only part of Greece where 1 found arrow-heads of flint: those of bronze5 are common on the spots where battles have been fought. They are generally not above an inch in length ; and some of them are so much smaller that it is pro- bable their points were poisoned. That this practice was sometimes resorted to, we know from the testimony of Homer.4 ia^ax'jv av$%C($<c>yOY Sity-jpevt;, otya 01 tit) Almonds of lead are also sometimes found in the plain, and in different parts of Attica; and are generally not larger than that fruit with the shell on. They were used by slingers, and are some- times inscribed. That which is here published5 was found at Athens : its inscription may be a proper name, or perhaps a composite epithet, signifying illustrious in victory. Another, which was found at the same place, is double the usual size. On one side is inscribed AESAI, " receive it/' and on the other is a thunderbolt in relief.6 1 B. 7. c. 6y. The battle was fought 490 years B. C, in the month Metageiton, ac- cording to Corsini, on the 28th of September. Fast. Attic, v. 3. p. 150. 2 B. 1. c. 33. * See No. 2. of the annexed plate. * Odyss. 1. v. 261. " To taint with deadly drugs the barbed dart." — Pope. — The bronz arrow-heads commonly found in Attica are perhaps Persian, as they exactly resemble some found in Persia by Mr. Morier. See the 2d Tour in Persia, by J. Morier, Esq., 4to. London, 1813. s See No. 1. of the annexed plate. 6 In the collection of Mr. Burgon. Stuart has published an almond of lead with a thun- derbolt on one side, and on the other AE3AC. Vol. 3. c. 4. PLAIN OF MARATHON. 161 Others of the common size were inscribed Q*>IAinn02, and others ETEPAIKKAS. They have been found at Corfu with the word KAAI2TPATOT, which appears to be, like the KAEONIKOT, above- mentioned, an epithet rather than a name. It is evident, from the story of Philip of Macedon, and Aster of Amphipolis, that it was sometimes customary to inscribe missile weapons ; and we know from Polysenus,1 that Kleonymos, the Lace- daemonian king, at the siege of Trcezen, ordered an inscription to be made on the missile weapons that were thrown into that city. When Athens was besieged by Sylla, the missile weapons, ise<r<roi, were also inscribed, as we know from the testimony of Appian.2 Leaden bullets are alluded to by Appian' in the words @i\«ri poXvQc&imts, and by Statius4 in the word glandes : stridentia funda, Saxa pluunt; volucres imitantur fulgura glandes. The Hernici of Italy, according to Virgil, s used the same weapon : Pars maxima glandes Liventis plumbi spargit. But, to return to the plain of Marathon, the two smaller tumuli are surrounded by a marsh ; and several blocks of stone and sepul- chral stela, of marble are lying near them. The marsh is formed by a small stream, which descends from the hills and enters the sea near this place. This is probably the same marsh, in which, according to Pausanias,6 a great many Persians perished. In an excavation, which was made here some years ago, the marble busts of Socrates, Lucius Verus, and Marcus Aurelius, were found, with another of an unknown person, which, however, has been attributed7 to Herodes Atticus. They are sculptured with great care, and highly 1 Stratag. b. 2. c. 19. * De Bell. Mithrid. 192, 193. 3 De Bell. Mithrid. 192. 4 Theb. b. 8. v. 418. 5 vEneid, 1. v. 686. 6 B. 1. c. 32. 7 See Catalog. d'Antiq. &c. de F. M. Le Cte. De Choiseul Gouffier, par L. I. I. Dubois, p. 21. Paris, 1818. VOL. II. Y 162 CAVE OF PAN. finished.' In the same excavation was discovered an antefix" of terra cotta, ornamented with the usual foliage, and inscribed A0HNAIOT. It is difficult to decide whether this word relates to an Athenian, or to a person named Athenoeus. Gold darics ' have sometimes been found at Marathon, but not in such numbers as might be expected. We visited the cave of Pan, of which Pausanias4 gives so exagge- rated an account, that it appears probable that he was satisfied with the details which he received from the people of the neighbour- hood, and was deterred from exploring its winding recesses by the smallness and inconvenience of the aperture. It is three quarters of an hour from the village, and is situated a short way up a steep and rocky hill. We entered this cave with all the ardour of impatient curiosity, which was followed by the usual disappoint- ment. After creeping for some time on our knees, and descrjing only a few small chambers covered with coarse stalactite, we forced our way with considerable trouble, through some low and narrow passages, where the only gratification for our pains was an opportu- nity of observing the rocks marked with the names of some of our countrymen, who, like ourselves, had probably been deceived by the description of Pausanias. At the foot of the hill of Pan s is the fountain Makaria, which was evidently much ornamented. Part of a well-built circular wall, composed of large regular blocks, still remains ; and several other ruins and traces are confusedly scattered in the vicinity. The water is clear and copious, and after issuing from the rock, forms a rapid stream, which is shaded by the elegant oleander, of surprising height. This stream sometimes overflows in winter, occasioning ' They were bought, in 1818, by the Count de Portalis, at the sale of the late Count de Choiseul Goum'er, at Paris. ■ There is a similar antifix in the British Museum. 1 There is one m Mr. Burgou's collection, which was found at this place. IS. 1. c. 33. 5 Uavos Opos. Pausan. Ioc. cit. ATTIC TETRAPOLIS. 163 great damage to the neighbouring fields. The year after we had been at Marathon it inundated a considerable space, sweeping away a mill that was upon its banks, and depriving several individuals of their lives. It is the ancient Charadros. When Eurystheus1 was killed at Marathon by Iolaos and the sons of Hercules, his head was buried at Trikoruthos, near to the carriage road, and to the fountain Makaria, which took its name from a daughter of Her- cules.1 These children of Hercules resided in the Attic Tetrapolis, which consisted of Marathon, Trikoruthos, Probalinthos, and Oenoe,5 which were said to have been founded by Xuthos,4 son of Helenos, and grandson of Deucalion. Time has not destroyed all the re- mains of these four cities, which were situated on the eastern side of Pentelikon. Marathon and Oenoe still retain their names ; the traces of the latter are to be seen near the cave of Pan. We rested under the shade of some Balania oaks, near the foot of Pentelikon, and took a general view of the plain, with Euboea, An- dros, Tenos, and some of the distant Cyclades. TO THE MONASTERY OF PENTELE. On the 21st we quitted the hospitable village of Marathona, and proceeding towards Pentelikon, observed two villages, named Ochere and Braona, situated on its foot to our right. To our left was a round insulated hill, resembling an artificial tumulus ; but it is too large to be the work of art. We began to ascend the south-east foot of Pentelikon, and passed through a scat- tered olive grove, after which we stopped a short time at a deserted 1 Strabo, b. 8. p. 377. * Pausan. b. 1. c. 32. 3 Stiabo, b. 8. p. 383. * Ibid. y2 164 THE TETTIX. monastery named Dau, all the monks of which were many years ago murdered by some thieves, confederated with an inferior monk, who was a servant of the convent. The mountain here becomes feathered with firs, olives, poplars, and fruit-trees, and refreshed with small, rapid, and clear streams, running towards the Athenian plain, where some of them disappear in the thirsty soil, while others enter the Cephissos. We passed eight of these rivulets between the monastery of Dau and that of Pentele, where we reposed during the night. We then visited the ancient marble quarries, which I have described in a former part of my tour. ' TO ATHENS. On the 22d of June we proceeded to Athens, and, descending by circuitous ways, arrived in thirty minutes at the foot of the moun- tains. We soon after observed a tumulus, a church, and a dry water- course to the right, with Parnes closing in the plain in that direc- tion. To the left was Hymettos, and in front Anchesmos, Athens, with the Saronic gulf, its islands, and the mountains of Pelopon- nesos. We must have passed over, or near, the site of the ancient Pallene, which was in the tribe Antiochis, and on the way from Athens to Marathon. It was celebrated for a temple of Minerva, and for a battle gained over the Athenians by the Pisistratidas. As soon as we entered the olive grove, our ears were greeted with the shrill song of innumerable tettiges. The sun was overpower- ing; but Avhile the different orders of vegetable and animal life drooped with languor under the intensity of the heat, it appeared to 1 Vol. 1. c. 14. THE TETTIX. 16'5 animate these insects with exhilarating joy. Nothing is so piercing as their note ; nothing so tiresome and inharmonious as the musical tettix, Avhose song appears to have been so pleasing to the ancients : 1 HJuettij; TiWifyy i<royga,<po; o» 9' ExaJij/wu Atvtigui sfyegoptvoi oita, XEipiosircrav i£(cri. 3 Et cantu querulse rumpent arbusta cicadas. The following passage, which is taken from White's History of Selborne,' may in some degree account for the partiality which the Greek poets seem to have had for the inharmonious music of the tettix : " Swifts are no songsters, and have only one harsh scream- ing note ; yet there are ears to which it is not displeasing, from an agreeable association of ideas, since that note never occurs but in most lovely summer weather." The following observation4 of the same author is still more to the present purpose : " Sounds do not always give us pleasure according to their sweetness and melody, nor do harsh sounds always displease. We are more apt to be cap- tivated or disgusted with the associations which they promote than with the notes themselves. Thus, the shrilling of the field cricket, though sharp and stridulous, yet marvellously delights some hearers, filling their minds with a train of summer ideas of every thing that is rural, verdurous, and joyful." At the village of Ampelo Kepous we noticed a fountain, the re- ceptacle of which was made by the father of the present disdar of Athens : the svater falls into a trough of marble, part of the archi- trave of the Athenian Erechtheion, which has been hollowed out, for the purpose of affording water to horses and cattle. The beautiful ornaments which are on the exterior of the fountain will, in a few years, be obliterated by the friction of the animals. On my arrival at Athens I offered the disdar a considerable sum for this precious 1 Diogen. Laert. b. 3. scg. 7. Plato — "from whose mouth flowed melody, as the tettiges with their pleasant voice sing on the trees of Academe." % Virgil. Georg. 3. v. 328. 3 P. 185. * P. 252. 166 ARRIVAL AT ATHENS. relick ; but, though he was notorious for his love of money, he re- fused to sell it, observing that it would be impious in him to take down what his father had erected. We passed near the monastery of Asomatos, at the south-east foot of Anchesmos, and, to our great satisfaction, entered Athens in the evening, after a fatiguing journey of thirty-six days, in which time we had traversed the most beautiful and interesting countries of ancient history. We passed the remainder of the summer at Athens, making occasional excursions about the surrounding country, which I have already described. Having at length finished all our observations at Athens, and taken almost every possible view of its ancient monuments and interesting spots, we finally quitted it with much regret. I felt as if I were parting from a friend whom I should never see again, but of whom I possessed numerous portraits in a great diversity of circum- stances, by which the hours of our former intercourse might be distinctly recalled, and our ancient intimacy renewed by the force of the most animated recollections. Great indeed is the delight which I have experienced in reviving the impressions which these captivating scenes have made upon my mind, and which the in- spection of my various drawings never fails to reproduce. When I quitted Athens, in order to prosecute my journey through the Peloponnesos, I was accompanied by a Turkish servant, named Ibrahim, of Philiatra, a village in Messenia, who was characterized by fidelity, probity, and courage. He was besides no mean pro- ficient in the culinary art, which constitutes a qualification of no trifling utility in this country. Amongst his valuable negative accomplishments was that of taciturnity during the journey; for, to my great satisfaction, he had neither the taste nor the talent for singing. He was a rigid Musulman, never drank wine, and fasted most scrupulously during the month of Ramazan. This fast is one of the divine precepts of Islamism ; and during that time a good Musulman neither eats, drinks, nor smokes, but observes a rigid FINAL DEPARTURE FROM ATHENS. 107 abstinence from sunrise to sunset. Travellers, and sick persons, are excepted from the performance of this austere duty ; but some, like Ibrahim, are too scrupulous to avail themselves of this indulgence. Wealthy Musulmans turn night into day during Ramazan, as they eat several times from sunset to sunrise, and pass the night in re- velling and feasting, as a compensation for the mortifications of the day. But, though Ibrahim was sometimes on horseback during the entire clay, his regard for the rules of the Mohamedan ceremonial was so undeviating, that no consideration could ever induce him to take any refreshment till the sun had gone down, though I have seen him parched with thirst, and faint with hunger and fatigue. He took a second moderate meal before break of day, and when I joked him upon the subject, his answer was, " Let every man follow the precepts of his religion : If I did not fast in Ramazan I should be a bad Musulman, and you know I am not a Jew, nor a Christian ; you would therefore have with you a man without religion, and con- sequently without that fear of Allah which prevents us from com- mitting dishonest and wicked actions." Such sentiments in a com- mon peasant are not often met with. His arms consisted in a topaike, or long gun, two long silver-hilted pistols, and a knife, or khandgear. I was also attended by Georgio Stathi, a Greek servant, and the agogiates to whom the horses belonged. CHAPTER V. Departure from Athens — To Eleusis — Mystic way — Monastery of Daphne — Votive rock — Sacred springs — Bethels — Eleusis — Mount Kerata — Megara — Its territory and ports — Extensive view — Mount Gerania — Derbeni — Magnificent view — Isthmus of Corinth — Remains of the great foss, and Isthmian walls — The Acrocorinthos — Beauty of the view from its vicinity — Doric temple — Port Kenchreai — Bath of Helena — Ancient sepulchres near the village of Mertesa — Excavations — Terra cotta vase — Mouth of an ancient well at Corinth. TO ELEUSIS. A HE day of our departure from Athens was so fine as to appear like summer, although the 28th of November. In the early part of the month, however, the weather had been severe: the snow remained two days on the plain, and the Attic mountains were covered for near a week, during which time we suffered extremely from the cold, owing to the thin and ill-built walls of the Athenian houses, and to the imperfect fabrication of the doors and windows, which admitted the cold at every crack. As we quitted Athens, those who met us wished us a happy return to our own country ; cuds xaXa sis rov romv <rcts, which brings to mind the expression of Chryses, who, while he implores the Greeks to restore his daughter, wishes them, in case of their compliance, among other blessings, that of returning safe to their own homes. »u 8' otti.a.8' iKtriai. ' We went along the sacred way ; and at the entrance of the olive- grove passed by the house of Hali Adgi Agha, and by the church of 1 Homer, Iliad, 1. v. 19. MONASTERY OF DAPHNE. 169 Agia Sabas, with some blocks of marble near it. We then crossed a branch of the Cephissos, by a small bridge, which is composed of two large blocks of marble ; and hence called ho pagpogu.. This is probably the spot where the Eleusinian procession rested for a short time ; and where the Athenian ladies used to joke with one another from their carriages, which gave rise to the word yz<pvgifyiv, to joke at the bridge.1 Near this bridge is a marble lion, less than life, and of inferior sculpture. A few minutes more brought us to the church of St. Nicholas, with blocks and traces about it. We were twentj'-three minutes in traversing the olive-grove. No uniform rule is at present observed with respect to the interval between the trees. Sometimes I found it twenty-six feet, and at other times thirty-seven. A short wa}7 out of the grove, a tumulus is seen on the right side of the way : it has been opened, and several blocks of stone are lying near it. Not far from this we passed by other traces ; of which the majority are probably the remains of sepulchres. In thirty-two minutes from the olive-grove we reached the foot of a pointed hill, near the mystic entrance. On the summit of the hill is the small church of Saint Elias, but without any traces of an- tiquity. We passed by the monastery of Daphne, which stands on the ruins of a temple, probably that of Apollo.2 When I was first in Greece, some small Ionic columns, with their capitals, were still re- maining. A convenient earthquake is said to have demolished the modern wall in which they were partly immured. The Earl of Elgin, with a praise-worthy solicitude to prevent any future dila- pidations, and animated by his well-known ardor for the acqui- sition of Grecian antiquities, had them sent to England, and they are at present in the British Museum. In two hours and ten minutes from Athens we arrived at a votive ' See Dr. Bentlev's Dissertat. on Phalaris, p. 289. 2 Pausan. b. 1. c. 37. VOL. II. z 170 VOTIVE ROCK. rock, near the entrance of the Thriasian' plain. In this rock are several niches of various dimensions, which once contained votive offerings, that might probably be found by excavating to a sufficient depth. Under some of these niches are inscriptions in small letters, nearly defaced : they are as follows: *IAHA$POAEITEI^ ETNIA2© $iAA nreoNiKHZA a*poaiteieteam 0PEIT2 ENHANE0HKE Sufficient is legible to show that the dedications were offered to Pythonice and Phila, two women of great beaut}', to whom the title of Venus was given. The former was a courtesan, beloved by Har- palus, who, after her death, caused a temple to be erected to her me- mory, under the name of Venus Pythonice. A magnificent monument5 was also prepared for her remains on the Eleusinian way.3 Phila, who was the wife of Demetrius Phalereus, was honoured with the dedication of a temple not far from Thria, under the appellation of Venus Phila. It was built by Adamantos of Lampsacus, and called Philaion. The last word in the inscription of Pythonice seems to relate to the demos of Thria, although the diphthong is used contrary to the authority of Herodotus, Strabo, Stephanus, and others. This must be the temple which, according to Pausanias,4 was near the hill named Poikilon. Before the temple5 he notices a wall that was composed ugyw ~kt6m9 and worthy of being seen. Without actual inspection on the spot it would be difficult to determine the sense which Pausanias attached to the word agyos. It has indeed several significations, two of which are applicable to a wall, namely, white and rough ; and it has been a point of contention with the translators and commentators of Pausanias, whether he meant that The demos of Thria was probably situated near the outlet of the mystic way. — Strabo, b. 9. p. 395. ' ij.vrju.a-— Pausau. b. I.e. 37. 3 See Diodor. Sic. b. 17. c. 108.— Pausau. loc. cit. — Athenasus Deipnosoph, b. 13. c. 7. 4 Loc. cit. 5 vouS' REMAINS OF A TEMPLE. 171 the wall was constructed with white or with rough stones. Before I have recourse to the remains in question, it may be necessary to observe, that Pausanias, when speaking of white marble, never uses the words ugyo; XtHoc, but that of Xivnog Xrfog, or simply "kido?. But the wall itself settles this point beyond a doubt. The lower part of it, which remains for the length of several yards, and which is probably the peribolos, is composed of large stones of the irregular polygonal form, and of the second style of early architecture. The date of this structure appears to be long anterior to the time of Pythonice or Phila. The same author1 also, in describing the Cyclopian Avails of Tiryns, says they were built with rough stones, ctgym Xidm. Temples were very rarely composed of irregular stones. The cella of a temple at Rhamnos is constructed with polygons well joined and smoothed.2 The temple of Venus, which was Doric, seems to have been extremely small, and the metopas were proportionably much wider than those of larger temples, in order that the intercolumniation might be sufficiently large to admit people to pass between them. It is at present a mass of ruins. Some marble doves of the natural size have been found at the foot of the votive rock. A short way beyond this place the ancient road is cut in the rock, the surface of which retains the visible impression of the ancient wheels. The road winds round the foot of the hill for about a quarter of a mile, from the votive rock to the commencement of the Thriasian plain; it then passes the two salt springs that are mentioned by Thucydides,3 Pausanias," Hesychius,5 and others, which rising in a small lake or marsh enter the sea near this place. They were called Pefloi, and served as holy water for the multitude in the Eleusinian procession ; one of them being sacred to Ceres, the other to Proserpine. Pausanias6 says that some imagined that they found their way underground from the Euripos. The stream 1 B. 2. c. 25. 2 See Uned. Antiq. of Attica. 3 B. 2. c. 19. 4 B. 1. c. 38. and b. 2. c. 24. s Lexic. vol. 2. p. 1107. 6 Loc. cit. and Hesycli. Lexic. loc. cit. z 2 172 BETHELS. which they formed was named Skiros,1 and was the ancient boundary between the Athenian and Eleusinian territories. A tew paces from the springs the paved way begins, and leads in a straight line across the Thriasian plain to Eleusis. It is composed of round stones of moderate dimensions, like the streets of modern cities, but has every appearance of antiquity, particularly as the traces of wheels may in many places be discriminated upon its surface. On our left hand near the sea are several upright blocks of stone, which are irregularly placed, without the appearance of ever having formed part of an edifice. Similar remains are observed in various parts of Greece, and I have been at a loss to account for their designation. Several stones are sometimes seen together, and at other times only one or two, and frequently without any other traces whatever in the vicinity. They probably constitute the most early kind of statue,8 that was known to the ancients by the name of BuUvy.oc, or Bethel. Some authors have imagined that the name and worship of the baitulos was derived from the stone (Barfr,),, which was anointed by the patriarch Jacob. Others are of opinion that it represented the stone which was enclosed in a skin {(oatlri) and given to Saturn by Rhea, that it might be devoured instead of Jupiter. It was sometimes considered the same as Abdir, Abadir, and Terminus. The adoration of stones instead of statues, is men- tioned by Herodotus, Herodian, Maximus of Tyre, Prudentius, and many other authors. But the account which is given by Pausanias' of a similar worship, is particularly applicable to our present pur- pose. Speaking of Pharai in Achaia, he says, " near the statue of the god are thirty stones of a quadrangular form, each of which is worshipped under the name of some divinity; for the Greeks ' Pausan. b. 1. c. 36. ■ See Genesis, 28. 18, 19. Lactam. Instit. b. 1. c. 20. Eiiseb. de pra-parat. Evang. b. I.e. 10. Priscian. b. 5. p. 647. Hesych. Lexic. Photius, p. 1062. Varin. Favorin. Lexic. Jul. Cacs. Scaliger exercit. 271. Faber thesau. Joseph Scaliger. Casaubon ad Theopli. Gerard J. Vossius, Etymol. p. 60. Heialdus ad Aruob. b. 1. and others. 3 B. 7. c. 22. THE SACRED WAY. 173 anciently paid the same veneration to rough stones . as they after- wards did to statues." The same author mentions many other examples of these shapeless divinities in Greece. They were some- times blocks of wood, and sometimes columns of stone, called Ktoveg or a-rrfKa,i. Callimachus2 informs us that Danaus raised a column at Lindos instead of a statue of Minerva — x<xt yap AQrjyyjs Ev Aiv$ui Aavccos xiov eOijkec sSo;. and Pausanias3 mentions a statue of Jupiter and another of Diana at Sicyon, the former of which was shaped like a pyramid, and the latter like a column. The hermes, or statues of Mercury, were originally only square stones, to which the head, then the feet, and sometimes the sexual parts, were subsequent additions. We crossed the shallow and almost imperceptible bed of the Eleusinian Cephissos ; and a little further on to the right of the road, observed a heap of marble blocks, belonging evidently to a monument of some magnificence. Near this are the remains of a smaller sepulchre, but too much ruined to afford any means of con- jecturing its original plan. Nearer to Eleusis, on the left side of the way, are the remains of a square edifice, apparently a sepulchre. We were four hours and five minutes in reaching Eleusis from Athens. The sacred way must anciently have been one continued line of sumptuous and highly embellished edifices. Harpocration* informs us that Polemon wrote an entire book5 upon its curiosities ; and Pau- sanias,6 who notices only the principal objects, mentions two towns,7 four temples, an heroic monument, and thirteen sepulchres, besides statues and altars. The Monument of Pythonice must have been one of the most conspicuous. According to Plutarch8 it was at a place^ called Hermos, and cost thirty talents, although it is the opinion of apyot A<0oi. * Fragment. 105. Rich. Bentleii. ' B. 2. c. 9. ' Lexic. p. 194. s j3i/3Aiov oMv. 6 B. 1. c. 36, 37, 38. 7 Zmpw ywpiw and AaxiJa; iJijfiOf . 8 Life of Phocion. 1 74 ELEUSIS. the biographer, that Harpalus was greatly overcharged by Charikles, the son in law of Phocion, who undertook to erect it; as it did not appear to be an object on which so large a sum could have been fairly expended. Pausanias, however, speaks of it as one of the finest monuments in Greece. The following inscription was found amongst the ruins of the temple of Ceres, and relates to something which was dedicated to Ceres and her daughter by Fabius the Dadouchos.1 AHMHTPIKAIKOPH $ABIOS AAA0TX02. The other, which is in the wall of a cottage, is relative to a member of the Areiopagos, who, at the same time, was Agonothetes, who erected a statue or a monument to his wife. . . . IANPOT-JEINAN HESAPEIOXnArOTBOTAH .... ArnNO0ETH2OATMn 2A0HNHSIN$AIATNTI THNAPlSTHNrTN IOTIEPOKHPTK TO MEGARA. As I had inspected the ruins of Eleusis in a former part of my tour, we continued our journey on the following morning, the 29th : 1 la the collection of the Count de Choiseul Gouffier. S.PbmanJi del ■ ' ly 3t>£**eO Sc 3L 1FS©M T1HIE TEBOTLE ©IF <EIE30=3 AT iSILIET MOUNT KERATA. 175 keeping the Eleusinian acropolis on our left hand, we passed over some of the ancient paved Avay, and a short distance from the vil- lage went near an ancient well and spring, where the villagers were washing. A few paces farther on are the foundations of a Avail, ap- parently the remains of a gate : twenty minutes beyond this we came to another ancient well; either this, or that last mentioned, is probably the (pgtag ccvQwov,1 or " flowery well," where Ceres reposed, and which, according to Pausanias, was on the road to Megara. Having passed round the northern side of the acropolis of Eleusis, we approached the sea, and in forty minutes from Eleusis observed some ancient founda- tions. To our right rose the mountain, which, terminating in two pointed summits, was formerly called Kerata, and at present is deno- minated Kerata-Pyrgos, from a ruined tower on one of its points. It projects towards the sea, dividing the plain into two parts. We passed over its base, which is covered with small figs and cypresses, wild olives, carobas, lentiscus, and juniper. From the top of the rising ground, a straight line of foundations is visible, running in a direction from the mountain to the sea. This was the8 boundary of the ter- ritories of Attica and Megaris, from the period in which the latter was wrested from Codros by the Dorians. It is fifty-four minutes from Eleusis. This road, as far as Epidauros, seems formerly to have been sin- gularly infested with robbers and wild beasts. It is now free from both, and we may say, with Ovid, " Quodque suis securus arat Cromyona colonus Munus, opusque tuum est ; tellus Epidauria per te Clavigeram vidit Vulcani occumbere prolem; Vidit et immitem Cephissias ora Pi ocrusten Geryouis letum vidit cerealis Eleusis. Occidit ille Sinis, magnis male viribus usus, 1 Pausan. b. I.e. 39. * Strabo, b. 9. p. 395. 176' PLAIN OF MEGARA. Qui poterat curvare trabes, et agebat ab alto Ad terram late sparsurus corpora pinus. Tutus ad Alcathoen Lelegeia moenia limes Composite Scirone patet.1 Having ascended the low ridge which , projects from Mount Ke- rata, we had a view of Megara, its plain, and Mount Gerania : de- scending by a bad road, we penetrated some olive groves, and observed the Albanians gathering the fruit and pruning the trees. We passed by some ancient traces, and blocks of marble, near which a church appears upon a small insulated hill. Some other imperfect remains may be descried in entering the Megarean plain. The greater part of the country, from Eleusis, is uncultivated and overgrown with bushes. Some arable land is seen in the proximity of Megara. The soil is of a light colour, with a mixture of rock, and apparently unpropitious to cultivation. On arriving at Megara, we were hospitably received by a Greek, who gave us the use of his house. 1 Metam. b. 7. v. 435, ct seq. That now Cromyon's swains in safety sow And reap their fertile field, to thee they owe, By thee th' infested Epidaurian coast Was clear'd, and now can a free commerce boast ; The traveller his journey can pursue, With pleasure the late dreadful valley view, And cry, Here Theseus the grand robber slew ! Cephyssus' flood cries to his rescued shore, The merciless Procrustes is no more. Jn peace, Eleusis, Ceres' rites renew, Since Theseus' sword the fierce Cercyon slew ; Bv him the tort'rer Sinis was destroyed, Of strength (but strength to barb'rous use employ'd), That tops of tallest pines to earth could bend, And thus in pieces wretched captives rend. Inhuman Scyron now has brcath'd his last, And now Alcathos' roads securely past. MEGARA. 177 Dion Chrysostom ' says that Megara is one day's journey from Athens, and Procopius2 makes it 210 stadia; which seems to prove that travelling in Greece in their time was not more expeditious than it is at present. According to the present mode of travelling, it takes eight hours to reach it from Athens. Megara is a miserable town. The inhabitants are all Greeks, except the Voivode. The houses are small, with flat roofs, similar to those in the islands of the Archipelago. The soil is generally steril, and the climate insalubrious. This city boasts the highest antiquity. Its origin is of course doubtful ; but, according to Pausanias,' after it had been destroyed by the Cretans, its walls were rebuilt by Alkathoos, assisted by Apollo. It was situated on two hills, called Karia and Alkathoos ;4 from which, as from Athens, Argos, Patrae, Eleusis, and Corinth, there were two long Avails, uniting it with its harbours and arsenal, called Nisaia, from Nisos,s King of Megara, and son of Pandion. Only one of these hills is occupied by the modern town ; on the other, which is towards the east, are some remains of the ancient walls, which are of the third style, with some mixture of the second. The great strength of this construction, the perfect, unity and harmony of the whole mass, are wortlvy of the divine architect; and it is surprising that there are so few remains of its ancient circuit. Scarcely any vestiges can be found of the edifices that Pausanias has described. The magnificent aqueduct, built by Theogenes, has disappeared. Some imperfect foundations, and a large fountain on the northern side of the town, are the only remains of the celebrated source of the Sithnide nymphs. Of the nineteen temples, the traces of not even one can at present be iden- tified with any degree of certainty. One of them is marked by some fluted frusta of Ionic columns, of good style. The numerous and stately monuments and sepulchres are also level with the ground ; and there are few places in Greece where the ancient ' Orat. 6. ■ De bello Vandal, b. I.e. 1. p. 177. Paris edit. 5 B. 1. c. 41. * Id. c. 40. * Pindar calls Megara poetically Nio-ou Aopo;. Pyth. 9. v. 161. VOL. II. A A 178 MEGARA. remains are so totally obliterated. This may well excite the more surprise ; as, in their mode of construction, the Megarians were proverbial for solidity and permanence. Tertullian,' citing the authority of Diogenes, says that " they ate as if they were to die the next day, and built as if they were to live for ever." The sur- prising disappearance of these edifices may, however, be attributed to two causes. First, to the nature of the stone, which is a soft and porous compound of petrified shells " and marine substances, that are easily decomposed, and crumbled into dust. The second cause of the destruction of its edifices may be supposed to have originated in its locality, on the great road leading to and from the Peninsula, as well as its intermediate situation between two powerful enemies, or dictatorial friends, the Athenians and Corinthians, with whom the Megarians had frequent contests concerning the boundaries of their respective territories. Megara was taken and destroyed by Deme- trius, and by the Romans under Quintus Metellus ; and must have suffered greatly under Alaric, by whom it was pillaged. The few remains which had withstood the ravages of time, and escaped the fury of the enemy, were destroyed bjT the overbearing tyranny of the most serene Venetian republic in 1687- Venice has, however, experienced the day of retribution, and suffered in her turn, for all the incalculable damage which her malignant domination inflicted upon the Greeks, and upon the ancient monuments of that country. The ancient Megarians excelled in nothing; but naval affairs. Theocritus1 calls them aonrrsvo^lss zgilfAoig. They sent twenty vessels4 to the battle of Salamis, and 5000 soldiers against the Persians at Plataea;5 and their colonies were numerous and powerful. They were nevertheless reckoned the worst people in Greece, and were generally detested, as fraudulent and perfidious. Their military acts were few, and not brilliant. They were banded6 about hy the ' Apollog. c. 39. • Which Pausanias calls Conchites (Koyx'hO- ^ 13 composed chiefly of cockle-shells, resembling the stnne of the temple of Jupiter at Olympia, except that it is more compact. 5Id)l. 12. v.27. " Herodot. b. 8. c. 45. 5 Id. b.9. c. 28. a SeeThucyd. b. 1. b. 2. b. 4. MEGARA. 179 Athenians and Corinthians; and had all the bad qualities of insolent slaves, or servile and dependent friends. The territory of Megaris, though small and unfertile,1 had, at one period, five towns, besides the capital. These were, according to Scylax,2 Aigosthenai, Pegai, Teichos, Geraneia, and Aris. Strabo mentions Tripodiskion, Aigeirouse, and Polichne; and Pausanias Aigisthaina, Pegai, Tripodiskos, and Ereneia. The latter ought, most probably, to be read Geraneia. Diodorus3 mentions a place in Megaris called Kimolia; but he leaves it uncertain whether it was a town. The remains of Pegai are seen on the sea4 of Halcyon; and Tripodiskos5 is supposed to have been situated near the entrance of the Skironian way, at the S. E. foot of Mount Gerania, where some ancient vestiges are found. Geraneia was probably above the Skiro- nian way. Isocrates 6 says that Megara had neither land nor ports ; but its plain might have been rendered sufficiently productive for the support of a large town ; and its harbours, of Nisaia, and Pegai, are capacious and secure. The long walls, or legs, of Megara, can be traced in many places : they were levelled with the ground 7 in the eighth year of the Peloponnesian war, but were restored by Phocion8 about 140 years afterwards. They united the capital with its port and arsenal Nisaia, from which it was separated by an in- terval of eight stadia.9 The port was formed by the fortified10 island of Minoa, which was united to the shore by a bridge. Nisaia is at present called Auhxcc ExxXwicu " the twelve churches," and contains some vestiges of antiquity, and several of a more modern date, com- prising the ruins of the castle, which are situated on a pointed hill, with some churches at its base, the largest of which is dedicated to Saint George. There are several inscriptions at Megara, most of which have already been published. 1 Strabo calls it teapaXintpos, b. 9. p. 393. * Peripl. Some have imagined that Tei^o; and Yepa-vsia, is one and the same place. * B. 11. c. 79. 4 Now the gulf' of Libadostro. 6 See Thucyd. b. 4. c. 70. 6 De pace. 7 Thucyd. b. 4. c. 109. 8 Plutaich's Life of Phocion. 9 Thucyd. b. 4. c. 66. 10 Thucyd. b. 3. c. 51. B. 4. c. 118. Pausan. b. 1. c. 44. A A 2 180 MEGARA. Ceramic vases, and small figures of the same material, are fre- quently found near the town ; but those which have been as yet discovered are of a coarse fabric, and by no means merit the praises that have been bestowed on them by the ancients. Several statues have also been discovered at different periods : two of about ten feet in height, and of white marble, representing females, were found some years ago, and again buried by the inhabitants. I was assured by some travellers, who saw them at the time when they were discovered, that they are not of good style. Another was found a short time before my arrival; and the senseless proprietor broke it to pieces, and formed it into mortars for pounding coffee. Megara commands a very extensive view over a most interesting and beautiful part of Greece. The coast of Attica, Avith the moun- tains of Korydallos, Aigaleos, Pentelikon, and Hymettos, are clearly distinguished ; but the lower part of the coast, towards Athens, is intercepted by the island of Salamis. Next appears the island of iEgina, the promontory of Methana, and the varied outline of the Argolic mountains. The view towards the west is closed by Mount Gerania. The hill and castle of Nisaia are seen rising from the shore of the Megaric gulf.' The brass coins of Megara are common, and the most usual types which they exhibit are the head of Apollo, the lyre, the ship, and dolphins. The silver coins of this city are scarce. Three crescents are sometimes represented on them, allusive to the worship of Diana. The imperial coins of Megara are also common. TO CORINTH. We quitted Megara on the 30th, and passed by the source of the Sithnide Nymphs. Several large blocks of stone are dispersed in Plin. Nat. Hist. b. 4. c. 12. Megaricus Sinus. MOUNT GERANIA. 181 the vicinity. A small modern aqueduct, that is even with the sur- face of the ground, conveys the water from some hills called Asias, where its source originates. After we had passed a few imperfect vestiges, and some small olive plantations, we reached the foot of Mount Gerania in two hours and thirty-four minutes from Megara. To our left was the bed of a large torrent, at present dry. This is probably the channel of that stream which used formerly to inun- date the plain, and even to damage the city. We ascended the mountain by a steep and winding way ; and in ten minutes had a view of the Halcyonian gulf, now called Liba- dostro, which was on our right hand. It forms a deep bay, which enters considerably inland. A few minutes more brought us to the derbeni, or custom-house, which is the most rigorous in Greece, as it is situated on the only pass which leads to the Morea. Some lookers out, who are constantly stationed at different elevated parts of the mountain, announced our approach with a loud shout, the echo of which reverberated amongst the hills. We found a Turk, and a dozen squalid and insolent Albanian soldiers armed, and standing in the narrowest part of the pass. The derben-agha, or custom-house officer, demanded derbeni parades, or custom-house money, and refused to let us pass until it was paid. But, on my producing the ferman of the sultan, he changed his tone, and relin- quished his demand. I gave him, however, a piaster, as a voluntary bacshish, or buona mano, and some paras to his men. From hence we had a view into the Halcyonian gulf, a part of the Corinthian sea, bounded by the rocky mountains called Ger- mano and Makriplai, at the foot of which are the villages and ports of Elapochori, Psatho, and Libadostro, the latter of which gives its name to this part of the gulf. The rough and craggy elevations, which run in concatenated ridges from Gerania and the Skironian rocks into the Corinthian gulf, are the Oneian' mountains, at present named Makriplai, which Ovtioy ofOf. Thucyd, b. 4. c. 44. Oveta. ofij. Plutarch's Cleoinenes. 182 MOUNT GERANIA. SKIRONIAN ROCKS. form the sea of Halcyon, one chain advancing towards Cithreron and Bceotia, the other terminating opposite Sicyon in the Olmian or Akraian promontory, which Plutarch1 calls the promontory of Heraia, from the Temple of Juno upon its summit. The modern name of Mount Gerania is Derbeni-Bouno, or Kake- Skala, which latter it takes from the dangerous road by the Ski- ronian way, which George Phranza2 terms ■xXa.ytov zuxov. The road by the custom-house is modern. The Skironian way, which is on the southern side of the mountain, is difficult and dangerous, and only used by foot travellers. I understand that it is picturesque and grand, particularly the impending rock Moluris, from which Ino precipitated herself into the sea with her son Melicertes to escape the fury of her husband Athamas, king of Thebes. They became marine deities. The former was worshipped under the name of Leucothoe by the Greeks, and under that of Matuta by the Romans. Melicertes was known by the name of Palaunon to the Greeks, and by that of Portumnus to the Romans. Sailors who navigate near the Skironian rocks dread the sudden gusts of the wind Skiron, which frequently bursts upon them from the mountains with unexpected violence. The neighbouring sea is rendered still more dangerous by some pointed rocks near the foot of the moun- tain, which Ovid' calls the bones of Skiron. sparsisque lalronis Terra negat sedem, stdem negat ossibus unda Quaejactata din fertur durasse vetustas In scopulos, scopulis nomen Scironis adhaeret. The Skironian precipices are two hours from Megara, and six from 1 Ibid. ' B. I.e. 38. p. 39. Paris edit. 3 Metam. b. 7. 444. et seq. " But earth nor sea his scattered bones would keep, Which, after floating long, a rock became, Still infamous with Sciron's hated name." MAGNIFICENT VIEW FROM MOUNT GERANIA. 183 Corinth, and finish at the beginning of the isthmus near a village named Kineta, supposed to be situated near the ancient Cromyon. The road ascended from the derbeni, and passed through a forest of pines, with a great profusion of beautiful shrubs : in forty mi- nutes we reached an elevated part of the mountain, which com- mands a most extensive and animating view. The whole circum- ference of the spacious horizon seemed occupied with classical regions of high renown and of deep interest. Below us appeared the Isthmus, the Acrocorinthos, the Saronic and Crissaean gulfs. The more remote prospect unveiled the soft and undulating lines of the Attic coast and mountains, fading into the receding distance of the Sunium promontory, which was distinguished as a speck upon the blue aether of the terminating sky. The beautifully varied coast of Argolis, the abrupt and pointed promontory of Methana, with the islands of Kalauria, iEgina, and Salamis, and other insular rocks, embellish the surface of the Saronic gulf. Beyond the Corinthian sea are distinguished the hills of Achaia, surmounted by the loftier summits of Arcadia glit- tering with snow. Our road continued along the steep and rocky side of Gemma* through forests of pines, and shrubberies of myrtles and lentiscus. We traversed some cotton grounds, and crossed a rivulet which finds its way down the eastern side of the mountain into the plain of Megara. Its source is at a fountain called Migues, which is adorned with platani, and commands a fine view of Corinth and its acropolis. The summit of Gerania, according to Pausanias," was ornamented with the Temple of the Aphesian Jupiter. In two hours from this fountain we reached the western foot of Gerania, and entered upon the Isthmus, with the Corinthian gulf on our right, and the Saronic on our left. We soon after crossed a large foss near the sea of Corinth. Our agogiates informed us that it was excavated by the Hellenes, in order > B. I.e. 4*. yaoi- 184 ISTHMUS OF CORINTH. to unite the two seas, but that the undertaking was abandoned when blood was perceived to issue from the earth where they dug. A quarter of an hour more brought us to a place called Kastro- Teichos, where three thick parallel walls, which commence at the sea, extend towards the Saronic gulf. They are composed of small stones, bricks, and rubbish, and were constructed to guard the entrance into the Peloponnesos. A little further on are some other remains of a similar kind. They are not built in a straight line across the Isthmus, but follow the sinuosities of the ground. The remains of the square towers with which they were fortified are also visible. In our way over the Isthmus we crossed two bridges over small streams that enter the Corinthian gulf. In an hour and three- quarters from the foot of Gerania we arrived at Corinth, and lodged at the khan, which was full of rats and mice, and all kind of filth. Great part of the Isthmus is uncultivated, and in a perfect state of nature, composed of undulating elevations covered with short stunted shrubs, and a few small firs. Near the town, however, some fine arable land is seen, and the soil is black and rich, although Strabo ' asserts that it was not fertile. It appears somewhat surprising that the successive attempts of Periander, Alexander, Demetrius, Julius Caesar, Caligula, Nero, and Herodes Atticus, to unite the two seas, should have failed, or have been relinquished. The art of perforating rocks was well under- stood and dexterously practised both in Greece and Italy at a very early period, and therefore no difficulty of this kind could have oc- casioned the abandonment of such a useful project, though Pau- sanias' is of a different opinion. It was always begun with the greatest energy, and abandoned without any plausible motive, a3 no doubt the quantity of rock or earth to be removed, and all the associated impediments, must have been the subject of previous ' B. S. p. 382. • B. 2. c. 1. ISTHMUS OF CORINTH. 185 calculation. And if Demetrius' Avas really convinced that the level of the Corinthian gulf was higher than that of the Saronic, and that the adjacent shore, with the neighbouring islands, would be in- undated by the union of the two seas, those Avho came after him would not have persevered in so destructive an undertaking. Sesostris, and afterwards Darius, were in the same manner de- terred from finishing a canal from the Red Sea to the Nile, by an apprehension that Egypt would be inundated.2 Dion Cassius tells nearly the same story about digging the Isthmus, as that which is related to travellers at this day. He says that blood issued from the ground, that groans and lamentations were heard, and terrible apparitions seen. In order to stimulate the perseverance of the people, Nero took a spade and dug himself.1 It is not unlikely that the priests of Delphi had some influence in checking the enterprise. We know from the testimony of Herodotus4 and Pausanias, 5 that the Pythia forbad the Gnidians to make a channel through their Isthmus, alleging, that if Jupiter had intended the peninsula to have been an island, he would have made it so originally. We know also that an oracle prevented Nechos, king of Egypt, from cutting a canal from the Nile to the Arabic gulf.6 The ancients appear to have been divided in their opinions con- cerning the exact breadth of the Isthmus. Diodorus7 and Strabo8 say, it was forty stadia, and Mela' five miles. Hermolaus Barbarus ,0 calls it Quinquemillium, instead of its usual appellation, Hexamilium. Ships were drawn, by means of machinery, from one sea to the other, near the town of Schoenos, over the narrowest part of the Isthmus, i Strabo, b. 1. p. 54. * Strabo, b. 1. p. 38. b. 17. p. 80*. * Strabo, loc. cit. Sueton. Nero. Lucian's Nero and the digging of the Isthmus. Dion Cassius, b. 63. c. 16. * B. 1. c. 174. 4 B.2. c. 1. 6 Herodot. b. 2. c. 158. ' B. 11. c. 16. 8 B. 8. p. 335. 9 De situ orbis, b. 2. c. 3. >» Edit, of Pomp. Mela. VOL. II. B B 186 ISTHMUS OF CORINTH. which was called Diolkos.1 Pindar2 compares the Isthmus to a bridge, over the sea, irovlov n yitpvgu. ; and Pliny3 calls it the neck of the Peloponnesos. It is denominated Hexamilium by the Byzan- tine historians ; and there is a village, not far from Corinth, which is still called Hexamilia. It is uncertain at what period the Corinthian Isthmus was first fortified with walls which were drawn across it from sea to sea. We know, from Herodotus,4 that, after the death of Leonidas, the Peloponnesians, dreading the Persian invasion, broke up the Skiro- nian way, and built a Avail, in haste, across the Isthmus, composed of all kinds of materials which were at hand, as stones, wood, and sand. It was afterwards fortified by the Spartans and Athenians, in the time of Epaminondas. Polybius5 says, that Cleomenes secured the space between the Acrocorinth and the Oneian mountains, with banks and ditches ; and Plutarch6 asserts, that he fortified the passes on the Oneian mountains. This bulwark was afterwards frequently destroyed, and as often rebuilt. It was restored by the emperor Valerian, to resist a Scythian invasion,7 and was again rebuilt by Justinian,8 and fortified with one hundred and fifty-three towers. It was probably afterwards left in a ruinous state for some ages ; as we hear nothing of its subsequent restoration until the year 1415, when it was rebuilt by the emperor Manuel Paloeologus.9 It was repaired,10 twenty-nine years afterwards, by Constantine Palaeologus, and by the Venetians" in 1463, and fortified with one hundred and thirty-six towers and double trenches; the whole of 1 Strabo, b.8. p. 335. Pomp. Mela, de situ orbis, b. 2. c. 3. * Nem. 6. v. 67. 5 Nat. Hist. b. 4. c. 3. * B. S. c. 1 1 . " B. 2. p. I 38. xalMi **' loLfpto. 8 Life of Cleomenes. ' Georg. Syncell. Chronograph, p. 381. Joan. Zonaras Anna], b. 12. Sec. 22. p. 625. Paris edit. 8 Georg. Phranza. Protovest. b. 1. c. 34 and 38. 9 Ibid, and Ducae Mich. Nep. Hist. Byzant. Cliron. Breve, p. 196. 10 Id. p. 199. » Coronelli. THE ACROCORINTHOS. 187 which work was completed in fifteen days, by more than 30,000 workmen. It was again restored by the Venetians in l6Q6. In the fifteenth century it was three times captured by the Turks ; and in 1465, the Venetians seized it, but made an unsuccessful attempt upon Corinth. In 1458, Mohamed II. took Hexamilium and Co- rinth from Demetrius, despot of the Morea.1 Before this period, Corinth had been wrested from the emperor Manuel, by Roger, king of Sicily, though the Byzantine historians describe it as a place of great strength at that period.2 The Acrocorinthos, or Acropolis of Corinth, is one of the finest ob- jects in Greece; and, if properly garrisoned, would be a place of great strength and importance. It abounds in excellent water; is in most parts precipitous ; and there is only one spot from which it can be annoyed with artillery. This is a pointed rock, at a few hundred yards to the south-west of it; from which it was battered by Mohamed II. Before the introduction of artillery, it Avas deemed almost impregnable,