name of a pastoral country. Innumerable brooks, rushing impetuously, or gently murmuring, pour down the mountains. Vegetation is rich and magnificent; everywhere freshness and coolness are found. One flock of sheep succeeds another as far as Taygetus, where there are numerous herds of goats." To enhance the dignity of remote origin, Claims of the the Arcadians gave to their tribe the imposing title " Proseleni," antiquity. (before the moon); their country was originally styled Drymotes, The Woodland. The principal mountains, whence descend the streams that water the Peloponnesus, are Mænalaus, Erymanthus, Cyllene, Lycæus, Olygirtus, and Crathis.

"Arcadians to

To the west of Arcadia lay Elis, the "Holy Land" of Greece. If Elis. Laconia was essentially the abode of war, this was indubitably the land of peace; and it was considered under the direct protection of the patron god of the Olympic games, which were here celebrated. So much was this sacred district respected in early times, that troops A sacred obliged to pass through it, delivered up their arms on entering it, and territory. on leaving the frontier received them again. In addition to the principal rivers-the Peneus and Alpheus, flowing into the Ionian Seanumerous streams water the southern parts of Elis. Its chief districts were Elis proper, on the north; Pisatis permeated by the Alpheus, and Triphylia, its southern division. A spectator posted upon the lofty watch-tower of the Lycæan heights of Arcadia, as he gazes towards the north-west, beholds the fruitful plains of Elis ranging along the plains of Peloponnesus, whilst his delighted vision takes in the wide and luxuriant plain of Olympia, rendered verdant by the waters of the meandering Alpheus.

From Arcadia, the vast natural bulwark of the Peloponnesus, whose mountain walls are carried out to the extreme south, the traveller enters Laconia, the land of warriors. The river Eurotas-its Laconia. waters are unsurpassed in Greece for clearness and purity-flowing southward into the Laconian Gulf, takes a middle course through this province corresponding with the waving lines of Mount Taygetus on the west and Parnon on the east. The extent of Laconia may be stated at about sixty miles in length by thirty-five in breadth. Nothing but the military tendencies of the Spartans prevented their becoming a flourishing commercial people; since their coasts were furnished with many sea-ports, towns and harbours, the chief of which were Gythium, Epidaurus, Trinassus, and Acria. Their shores were likewise celebrated for yielding a shell-fish, whence was obtained a beautiful purple dye. The chief city of Laconia was Sparta, Chief city situated on the Eurotas. Here the long valley which runs southward and river.

Xenoph. Hist. Gr. iii. 2, 20.

The most remarkable products of Laconia were an excellent breed of hounds; wild goats, boars, deer, and vast quantities of game harboured on the wooded heights; wool wrought and dyed by the Lacedæmonian women, and a blackishgreen marble at Tænarus. The coast cities were Leuctrum, Thyridēs, and

Tænarum.

Ridge of Taygetus.

towards the sea, is so contracted by the heights on either side of the river, as to leave space for little more than the channel of the river; this valley, however, suddenly expands into the great plain of Laconia, which would extend uninterruptedly to the sea, were it not for Mount Evoras, a spur of the great mountain ridge of Taygetus. This ridge, separated on the north from Mount Menelaus by the basin of the Alpheus, reaches its greatest elevation about its centre; here, under the name of Pentedactylon, it is conspicuous by its five snow-capped peaks, and is formidable by the rugged steepness of its sides; its extremity is the rocky peninsula of Tænarus.

Vale of
Sparta.

The

A pennine

The vale of Sparta is picturesque, screened by its triple mountain barriers from the piercing gale, but open to the breezes of the southern sea; it is remarkable for the luxuriant fertility of its shrubs and fruit trees. While its lower grounds are clothed with pomegranates, oranges, and myrtles; the mountain slopes are clad with plantations of olives. As the traveller rises to loftier heights, he encounters forests of firs, and deep gullies grooved out by the headlong torrents of Taygetus. The aspect of the mountain now assumes a bleak and savage character. Rugged ledges of precipitous rock and profound ravines are frequent; it then suddenly towers aloft into jagged and snow-capped peaks. It has been said by a celebrated poet, that "mountains interposed make enemies of nations;" and in the case of Sparta this was particularly correct.

The long Apennine of Laconia was the barrier between Messenia of Laconia. and Sparta, whose bitter enmity raged so fiercely and so long, ending only with the national extinction of the former. Had the line of the Taygetus been less formidable, it is probable that the Messenians would have harmoniously blended with their inveterate conquerors, and with them have formed the solid neucleus of an invincible Hellenic confederation. In addition to the Pamisus, the chief river of Messenia, which flows through the plain of Stenyclerus into the Messenian Gulf, there are numerous small streams everywhere fringing the west and south-western Messenian coast, adding greatly to the

"The Blessed Land."

exuberant fertility of this region so celebrated in poetry, a portion of Macaria, or which was styled "the blessed." The plain of Stenyclerus became the terrible arena of battle between the rival bands of Sparta and Messenia, since the passes leading from the north, east, and west severally fall into it. On the western coast is the deep bay of Pylos, Bay of Pylos. renowned in ancient history for the sovereignty of Nestor, and in modern days by the sea-fight of Navarino. The northern boundary of Messenia' was formed by the river Neda, so much connected with the Messenia. independence of the land, which, after rising in Arcadia, and flowing through a deep and savage glen near Mount Eira, falls into that part of the Ionian Sea, known under the name of the Cyparissian Gulf.

and sea.

In noticing the component parts of ancient Greece, besides her colonies, we must not omit the important island of Euboea, separated Greek Islands by the channel of the Eurīpus from Attica and Boeotia; the groups of board towns the Sporades and the Cyclades; the great islands of Lesbos, Chios, of Asia. and Samos off the coast of Asia; with her Hellenic sea-board towns, and the southern isles of Rhodes, Crete, and Cythēra.

2

character.

cultivable.

From this outline of Grecian geography, it will be seen that, with the exception of Thessaly and Attica, Hellas is among the most mountainous countries in Europe, since, after we have done all to classify Independent the various prominent ranges, there are so many scattered peaks and mountain craggy heights of different magnitudes, that the level ground is insignificant to the entire area, and even the valleys are perpetually checked by spurs from the main ridges, or by isolated hills. Even of the present kingdom of Greece, which does not embrace Thes- Extent of saly, nearly two-thirds are taken up by rocks, mountains, forests, land not lakes, and rivers; the remainder being olive and currant grounds, vineyards, and land capable of cultivation. There are two causes, however, which have given increased fertility to Greece; the one Sources of arising from the detritus of the older rock formations washed down fertility. by the mountain streams; the other, the enriching filtration of various lakes, whose waters permeate the limestone structure; while the Cyclades, Euboea, and Attica, consist principally of micaceous schist; Geological western and central Peloponnesus are of a calcareous formation, formation. whose colour and consistency, though frequently varying with locality, usually belong to the chalk. Conglomerates of lime and sand, calcareous breccia, and deposits of pebbles, are not unfrequently found. Though the mountain tracts were well wooded in ancient Deficiency times, they are now generally, with the exception of the Acarnanian of wood and and Ætolian ranges, destitute of timber and useful vegetation, while an additional inconvenience is found in the irregular and insufficient supply of water. In the spring the mountain streams are copious, but

1 The Leleges are said to have been the first inhabitants of Messenia, then the Argivi, Eolians, and Dorians. Cyparissa, Pylos, Stenyclerus, and Messenia, were its principal towns. Eira, the Messenian frontier town, was defended for eleven years, by Aristomenés, against the whole power of Sparta.

2 Vide Strong, Statist. of Gr.

water.

and shafts

constructed.

Effects of physical

Greece.

before the close of the summer they are exhausted. As there are not a few basins completely trenched in by rocky formations,' it is evident that their waters could find no egress but by subterranean rifts, an instance of which has been noticed in Copais in Boeotia, to which (in the same district) may be added Hylice and Harma. To Adits driven, relieve these efforts of nature, the ancients, in some instances, constructed an artificial tunnel with perpendicular shafts, of which a relic may be seen in the now obstructed emissary of the Cephissus. But while the rapid succession of valley and mountain in Greece produced geography. political results unfavourable to federative union, it in some measure balanced these results by producing intercommunication amongst its various tribes, through the medium of migratory shepherds, who, with their flocks and herds, during the heat of summer, repaired to the freshness of the hill pastures. Greece, ranging under the same parallels of latitude with southern Italy and Spain, in favourable Products of positions, abounded in the products of those fertile countries; the grape, the olive, flax, barley, enriched her inhabitants and embellished her landscape; whilst a copious variety of plants, herbs, and trees was rendered available to commercial and domestic economy. The deficiency of a regulated internal trade in Greece, produced extensive importations of corn from the Euxine, Sicily, and the Tauric Chersonese. Like the fare of the mountaineers of Scotland, the barley cake was more usually eaten than the wheaten loaf, which, with vegetables and salt-fish from the Propontis and Gades, formed the staple food of the Attic Greek; the Spartans and Arcadians, however, consumed a good deal of animal food, the former living much upon pork; fresh meat was generally eaten at sacrifices and festivals, and the milk of ewes and goats was esteemed superior to that of Attic imports Cows. While Athens imported salt-fish, peltries, and pulse of and exports. various kinds, her exports were the silver of Laureion, pottery, figs, olives, and oil; and the superior activity and cultivation attendant on these processes, rendered the territory of ancient Hellas much more healthy than at present. Similar deteriorating elements have been at work in various parts of Italy to a most pernicious extent.

Diet of the
Greeks.

2

On this subject Mr. Grote observes,3 "There is reason to conclude that ancient Greece was much more healthy than the same territory is at present, inasmuch as it was more industriously cultivated, and the towns both more carefully administered and better supplied with water. But the differences in respect of healthiness, between one portion of Greece and another, appear always to have been considerable, and this, as well as the diversities of climate, affected the local habits and cha

The physical phenomena of Greece, differing from those of any other country, present a series of beautiful plains, successively surrounded by mountains of limestone, resembling-although upon a larger scale, and rarely accompanied by volcanic products-the craters of the Phlegræan fields.-Vide Clarke's Travels, vol. ii. c. 4.

2 Ar. Hist. An. iii. 15.

8 Hist. Greece, ii. 309.

racter of the particular sections. Not merely were there great differences between the mountaineers and inhabitants of the plains-between the Locrians, Etolians, Phokians, Dorians, Etceans, and Arcadians, on one hand, and the inhabitants of Attica, Boeotia, and Elis, on the otherbut each of the various tribes which went to compose these categories had its peculiarity."

We have then observed that Hellas, from her central maritime position and from her mountains, united in the Greek the character of mountaineer and seaman. On the other hand, we perceive how, from the variety of her provinces and tribes, her independence became fractional, and she was reduced to an aggregate of slavery. The political events connected with the physical geography of this wonderful country will be developed in the sequel of this work.