The History and Antiquities of the Doric Race Volume II Part 9

2. But instead of the pointed and logical reasoning, and the fervid declamation of the Athenians, the Doric race had a peculiar manner of expressing itself, viz. by apophthegms, and sententious and concise sayings. The object appears to have been, to convey as much meaning in as few words as possible, and to allude to, rather than express, the thoughts of the speaker. A habit of mind which might fit its possessor for such a mode of speaking, would best be generated by long and unbroken _silence_; which was enjoined to his scholars by Pythagoras, and by Sparta enforced on all youths during their education:(1758) it being intended that their thoughts should gain force and intensity by compression.(1759) Hence the great brevity of speech,(1760) which was the characteristic of all the genuine Dorians, especially of the Spartans,(1761) Cretans,(1762) and Argives,(1763) forming a remarkable contrast with the copious and headlong torrent of eloquence which distinguished the Athenians. The antiquity of this characteristic of the Spartans is proved by the fact of Homer's attributing it to Menelaus,

When Atreus' son harangued the list'ning train, Just was his sense, and his expression plain, His words succinct, yet full, without a fault; He spoke no more than just the thing he ought.(1764)

In which lines the poet evidently transfers the peculiarity of the Doric Laconians to the earlier inhabitants of that country.(1765) In adopting this mode of expression, the Dorians may be conceived, in the first place, to have wished to avoid all ornament of speech, and to have contented themselves with the simplest manner of conveying their thoughts; as Stesimbrotus the Thasian opposes to the adroit and eloquent Athenian the openness and simplicity of the Peloponnesian, who was plain and unadorned, but of an honest and guileless disposition.(1766) Or, secondly, it was intended to have double force by the contrast of the richness of the thought, with the slight expense of words. Probably, however, both these motives had their weight; though the latter perhaps predominated. In a dialogue of Plato,(1767) Socrates says, half in joke and half in earnest, that "_of all the philosophical systems in Greece, that established in Crete and Lacedaemon was the most ancient and copious, and there the sophists were most numerous; but they concealed their skill, and pretended to be ignorant. And hence, on conversing with the meanest Lacedaemonian, at first indeed he would appear awkward in his language, but when he perceived the drift of the conversation, he would throw in, like a dexterous lancer, some short and nervous remark, so as to make the other look no better than a child. Nor in these cities is such a manner of speaking confined to the men, but it extends also to women._"

That in this concise manner of speaking there was a kind of wit and epigrammatic point, may be easily seen from various examples; but it cannot be traced to the principles which we have just laid down. Sometimes it arises from the simplicity of the Doric manners, as contrasted with the more polished customs of other nations; of which kind is the answer of the Spartan, who, taking a fish to be cooked, and being asked where the cheese, oil, and vinegar were, replied, "If I had all these things, I should not have bought a fish."(1768) Or it is a moral elevation, viewed from which, things appear in a different light; thus the saying of Dieneces, that "if the Persians darkened the air with their arrows, they should fight in the shade." Sometimes it is an ironical expression of bitterness and censure, which gains force by being concealed under a semblance of praise; as in the judgment of the Laconian on Athens, where every kind of trade and industry was tolerated, "Everything is beautiful there."(1769) Or it is the combination of various ridiculous ideas into one expression, as in the witty saying of a husband who found his wife, whom he detested, in the arms of an adulterer; "Unhappy man, who forced you to do this?"(1770)

At Sparta, however, an energetic, striking, and figurative mode of speaking must have been generally in use; which may be perceived in the style of all the Spartans who are mentioned by Herodotus.(1771) And this, I have no doubt, was one of the most ancient customs of the Doric race. In Crete it had been retained, according to the testimony of Sosicrates, a Cretan author, in the town of Phaestus, in which place the boys were early practised in joking; and the apophthegms of Phaestus were celebrated over the whole island.(1772) In Sparta too this peculiar mode of expression was implanted in boys; the youths (?f???) proposing them questions, to which they were to give ready and pointed answers;(1773) and they were taught to impart a peculiar sharpness and also brilliancy to their sayings.(1774) Later in life this tendency was fostered and confirmed by the many occasions on which the public manners prescribed ridicule as a means of improvement:(1775) at the festival of the Gymnopaedia in particular, full vent seems to have been allowed to wit and merriment.(1776) In common life, laughter and ridicule were not unfrequent at the public tables;(1777) to be able to endure ridicule was considered the mark of a Lacedaemonian spirit; yet any person who took it ill might ask his antagonist to desist, who was then forced to comply.(1778) In early times, similar customs existed in other places besides Sparta; thus the suitors of Agariste, in the house of Cleisthenes the tyrant of Sicyon, contended after the meal in musical skill and conversation,(1779) with which we might perhaps compare the pa.s.sage in the Hymn to Mercury, where it is said that _youths at table attack one another in mutual jests_,(1780) and the practice among the ancient Germans, of jesting with freedom at table, alluded to in a verse of the Niebelungen Lied.(1781) But this primitive custom having been retained longer in Sparta than elsewhere, it struck all foreigners as a peculiarity, of which the antique polish was sometimes rather offensive. Still, if we justly estimate the manners of that city, they do not deserve the name of needless austerity and strictness; it was the only Greek state in which a statue was erected to Laughter:(1782) in late times even Agesilaus(1783) and Cleomenes III.(1784) amidst all the changes of their life, cheered their companions with wit and playfulness.

3. This national mode of expression had likewise a considerable effect on the progress of literature in Greece. Plato properly calls the Seven Sages, imitators and scholars of the Lacedaemonian system, and points out the resemblance between their sayings and the Laconian method of expression.(1785) Of these, three, or, if we reckon both Myson and Periander, four, were of Doric descent, and Cheilon was a Spartan;(1786) there were also perhaps at the same time others of the same character, as Aristodemus the Argive.(1787) The sayings attributed to these sages were not so much the discoveries of particular individuals, as the indications of the general opinion of their contemporaries. And hence the Pythian Apollo, directed by the national ideas of the Dorians, particularly countenanced their philosophers, to whose sententious mode of expression his own oracles bore a certain resemblance.(1788) It appears also that the Amphictyons caused some of their apophthegms to be inscribed on the temple of Delphi;(1789) and the story of the enumeration of the Seven Sages by the oracle, although fabulously embellished, is founded on a real fact.(1790)

4. Since in this apophthegmatic and concise style of speaking the object was not to express the meaning in a clear and intelligible manner, it was only one step further altogether to conceal it. Hence the _griphus_ or riddle was invented by the Dorians, and, as well as the epigram, was much improved by Cleobulus the Rhodian,(1791) and his daughter Cleobulina.(1792) It was also a favourite amus.e.m.e.nt with the Spartans,(1793) and in the ancient times of Greece was generally a common pastime.(1794)

5. This leads us to speak of the symbolical maxims of the Pythagoreans, which might be called riddles, if they had been proposed as such, and not put in that form merely to make them more striking and impressive. So attached indeed do these philosophers appear to have been to the symbolical method of expression, that not only their language, but even their actions acquired a symbolical character.(1795) The system of Pythagoras has by modern writers been correctly considered as the Doric philosophy: yet it is singular that it should have originated with a native of the Ionic Samos. It should, however, be remembered, that the family of Pythagoras, which seems to have lived with other Samians in the island of Samothrace, among the Tyrrhenians,(1796) originally came from Phlius in Peloponnesus,(1797) and always kept up a certain degree of communication with that city;(1798) and again, that although Pythagoras doubtless brought with him to Croton the form of his philosophy, its subsequent expansion and growth were in great part owing to the character of the Dorians and Doric Achaeans, among whom he lived. Its connexion with the chief branch of the Doric religion, the wors.h.i.+p of Apollo,(1799) and his temple at Delphi,(1800) has been already pointed out; and it has been shown that the political inst.i.tution of his league was founded on Doric principles.(1801) Other points of resemblance are the universal education of the female followers of Pythagoras, such as Theano, Phintys, and Arignote,(1802) the employment of music to appease pa.s.sion, the public tables, the use of silence as a means of education, &c. It appears also, that the philosophers of this school always found a welcome reception at Sparta, as well as those whose character was somewhat similar, as the enthusiastic and religious sages, Abaris,(1803) Epimenides,(1804) and Pherecydes;(1805) Anaximander(1806) likewise and Anaximenes(1807) lived for some time in that city, and lastly, in the lists of the Pythagorean philosophers (which are not _entirely_ devoid of credit), there are, besides Italian Greeks, generally Lacedaemonians, Argives, Sicyonians, Phliasians, and sometimes women of Sparta, Argos, and Phlius.(1808) And this is a fresh confirmation of the position, which we have frequently maintained, that up to the time of the Persian war all mental excellence, so far from being banished from Sparta, flourished there in the utmost perfection.

Chapter IX.

-- 1. Difference between the life of the Dorians and Ionians.

Domestic habits of the Spartans. -- 2. Opinions of the Dorians respecting a future life. -- 3. General character of the Dorians. -- 4. Its varieties. -- 5. Character of the Spartans. -- 6. Character of the Cretans, Argives, Rhodians, Corinthians, Corcyraeans, Syracusans, Sicyonians, Phliasians, Megarians, Byzantians, aeginetans, Cyrenaeans, Crotoniats, Tarentines, Messenians, and Delphians.

1. After Anacharsis the Scythian had visited the different states of Greece, and lived among them all, he is reported to have said, that "all wanted leisure and tranquillity for wisdom, except the Lacedaemonians, for that these were the only persons with whom it was possible to hold a rational conversation."(1809) The life of all the other Greeks had doubtless appeared to him as a restless and unquiet existence, as a constant struggle and effort without any object. In addition to the love of ease, which belonged to the original const.i.tution of the Dorians, there was a further cause for this mode of life, viz. the entire exemption from necessary labour which the Spartans enjoyed, their wants being supplied by the dependent and industrious cla.s.ses.(1810) Several writers have dwelt on the tedium and listlessness of such an existence; but the Spartans considered an immunity from labour an immunity from pain, and as const.i.tuting entire liberty.(1811) But, it may be asked, what was there to occupy the Spartan men from morning to night?(1812) In the first place, the gymnastic, military, and musical exercises; then the chase, which with men advanced in life was a subst.i.tute for other exercises;(1813) besides which, there was the management of public affairs, in which they might take an active part, together with the religious ceremonies, sacrifices, and choruses; and much time was also consumed in the places of public resort, or ??s?a?. Every small community had its _lesche_;(1814) and here the old men sat together in winter round the blazing fire, while the respect for old age gave an agreeable turn to the conversation. At Athens, too, these small societies or clubs were once in great vogue; but a democracy likes a large ma.s.s, and hates all divisions; and accordingly in later times the public porticoes and open market were generally attended, where every Athenian appeared once in the day. At Sparta, the youths were forbidden to enter the market-place;(1815) as well as the pylaea,(1816) which was in other Doric towns besides Delphi(1817) a place for buying and selling.(1818)

2. Having now so fully investigated the manners and daily occupations of the Dorians, it would be interesting to know what were their opinions on death, or on the existence of a future state; but on these points there is no information to be gleaned from ancient writers. Nor can much more be said on their funeral ceremonies, if indeed they had any rites peculiar and universally belonging to the whole race. At Tarentum, the dead were, according to an ancient oracle, called the _majority_ (?? p?e???e?);(1819) they were buried within the walls, each family having in their house tombstones, with the names of the deceased, where funeral sacrifices were performed;(1820) at Sparta, it was doubtless the ancient custom to bury the dead in the city, and in the neighbourhood of the temples.(1821) Monuments, with the names of the dead, were only erected to those who had fallen in battle,(1822) and many other honours were also paid them.(1823) The sacrifice to Demeter, on the twelfth day after death, evidently denotes the reception of the soul in the infernal regions; the Argives likewise sacrificed on the 30th day to Hermes, as conductor of the souls of the dead;(1824) in the same manner that the Athenians called the dead ???t??a???, _i.e._ returned to their mother earth. There was however a considerable difference between the Athenian and Doric modes of burying; for the former laid the body with the head to the west, the latter, at least the Megarians, to the east.(1825)

3. It now remains for us to collect into one point of view all that has been said in different parts of this work on the character of the Doric race, so as to furnish a complete and accurate idea of their nature and peculiarities. That this cannot be done in a few words is evident; but that it can be done _at all_, I consider equally clear; and by no means agree with those who deny that a whole nation, like an individual, can have one character; an error which is perhaps best refuted by consideration of the different tribes of Greece. And thus the word _Dorian_ conveyed to the ancient Greeks a clear and definite, though indeed a complex idea.(1826)

The first feature in the character of the Dorians which we shall notice is one that has been pointed out in several places,(1827) viz. their endeavour to produce uniformity and unity in a numerous body. Every individual was to remain within those limits which were prescribed by the regulation of the whole body.(1828) Thus in the Doric form of government no individual was allowed to strive after personal independence, nor any cla.s.s or order to move from its appointed place. The privileges of the aristocracy, and the subjection of the inferior orders, were maintained with greater strictness than in other tribes,(1829) and greater importance was attached to obedience, in whatever form, than to the a.s.sertion of individual freedom. The government, the army, and the public education, were managed on a most complicated, but most regular succession and alternation of commanding and obeying.(1830) Every one was to obey in his own place. All the smaller a.s.sociations were also regulated on the same principle: always we find gradation of power, and never independent equality.(1831) But it was not sufficient that this system should be complete and perfect within; it was to be fortified without. The Dorians had little inclination to admit the customs of others, and a strong desire to disconnect themselves with foreigners.(1832) Hence in later times the blunt and harsh deportment of those Dorians who most scrupulously adhered to their national habits.(1833) This independence and seclusion would however sometimes be turned into hostility; and hence the _military_ turn of the Dorians, which may also be traced in the development of the wors.h.i.+p of Apollo.(1834) A calm and steady courage was the natural quality of the Dorian.(1835) As they were not ready to receive, neither were they to communicate outward impressions; and this, neither as individuals, nor as a body. Hence both in their poetry and prose, the narrative is often concealed by expressions of the feeling, and tinged with the colour of the mind.(1836) They endeavoured always to condense and concentrate their thoughts, which was the cause of the great brevity and obscurity of their language.(1837) Their desire of disconnecting themselves with the things and persons around them, naturally produced a love for past times; and hence their great attachment to the usages and manners of their ancestors, and to ancient inst.i.tutions.(1838) The attention of the Doric race was turned to the past rather than to the future.(1839) And thus it came to pa.s.s that the Dorians preserved most rigidly, and represented most truly, the customs of the ancient Greeks.(1840) Their advances were constant, not sudden; and all their changes imperceptible. With the desire to attain uniformity, their love for _measure_ and _proportion_ was also combined.

Their works of art are distinguished by this attention to singleness of effect, and everything discordant or useless was pruned off with an unsparing hand.(1841) Their moral system also prescribed the observance of the proper mean; and it was in this that the temperance (s?f??s???) which so distinguished them consisted.(1842) One great object of the wors.h.i.+p of Apollo was to maintain the even balance of the mind, and to remove everything that might disquiet the thoughts, rouse the mind to pa.s.sion, or dim its purity and brightness.(1843) The Doric nature required an equal and regular harmony, and preserving that character in all its parts.(1844) Dissonances, even if they combined into harmony, were not suited to the taste of that nation. The national tunes were doubtless not of a soft or pleasing melody; the general accent of the language had the character of command or dictation, not of question or entreaty. The Dorians were contented with themselves, with the powers to whom they owed their existence and happiness; and therefore they never complained. They looked not to future, but to present existence. To preserve this, and to preserve it in enjoyment, was their highest object. Everything beyond this boundary was mist and darkness, and everything dark they supposed the Deity to hate.(1845) They lived in themselves, and for themselves.(1846) Hence man was the chief and almost only object which attracted their attention. The same feelings may also be perceived in their religion, which was always unconnected with the wors.h.i.+p of any natural object, and originated from their own reflection and conceptions.(1847) And to the same source may perhaps be traced their aversion to mechanical and agricultural labour.(1848) In short, the whole race bears generally the stamp and character of the _male s.e.x_; the desire of a.s.sistance and connexion, of novelty and of curiosity, the characteristics of the female s.e.x, being directly opposed to the nature of the Dorians, which bears the mark of independence and subdued strength.

4. This description of the Doric character, to which many other features might be added, is sufficient for our present purpose; and will serve to prove that the wors.h.i.+p of Apollo, the ancient const.i.tution of Crete and that of Lycurgus, the manners, arts, and literature of the Dorians, were the productions of one and the same national individual. To what extent this character was influenced by external circ.u.mstances cannot be ascertained; but though its features were impressed by nature, they might not in all places have been developed, and would have been lost without the fostering a.s.sistance of an inland and mountainous region. The country is to a nation what the body is to the soul: it may influence it partially, and a.s.sist its growth and increase; but it cannot give strength and impulse, or imprint that original mark of the Deity which is set upon our minds.

But outward circ.u.mstances, such as locality, form of government, geographical position, and foreign intercourse, had in the several states a different effect on the Doric character, unequally developing its various features, by confirming some, repressing others, and some wholly obliterating. We shall thus be enabled to separate the particular character of each state from the ideal character of the whole race, and also to explain their deviations, particularly in a political and practical point of view.

5. The Dorians of SPARTA were influenced by their geographical position, which, with the exception of that of the Arcadians, was more inland than that of any people in Peloponnesus; as well as by their supremacy, which they at first a.s.serted with ease and dignity, and afterwards maintained by the devotion of all their forces to that one object. The independence and seclusion so desired by the Dorians were at Sparta most conspicuous, and thus the original spirit of the Doric race, and its ancient customs, were most rigidly, and sometimes even in trifles,(1849) there preserved; though it was the mummy rather than the living body of the ancient inst.i.tutions.

This deterioration, however, did not manifest itself till later times; for (as we have more than once remarked) at an early period the mode of life at Sparta was diversified, cheerful, and by no means unattractive. At that time Sparta was the centre and metropolis of Greece. This love of seclusion took a singular turn in the reserve, and in the short and sententious mode of expression, practised by the Laconians. Indeed their silence was carried to a pitch which exceeded the bounds of intentional concealment. Even the artfulness of the Spartans is after the Persian war often mentioned with blame; and it is said to have been impossible to guess their intention.(1850) Sometimes indeed the deception was founded on patriotic principles, as in the answer of the amba.s.sador, who being asked in whose name he came, replied, "In the name of the state, if we succeed; if we fail, in our own." Demostratus the son of Phaeax said with great truth that the Spartans were better as members of a state, the Athenians as members of private society;(1851) the latter indeed were more left to their individual care and exertions, whilst the former were guided by national custom. Hence when they once deserted this guide, they deviated not partially, but wholly and widely from the right path.

Yet the history of the Peloponnesian war and of the period immediately following, being that part of the history of Greece which is clearest to our view, presents several distinguished and genuine Lacedaemonians, who may be divided into two distinct cla.s.ses. Of these the first is marked by a cunning and artful disposition, combined with great vigour of mind, and a patriotism sometimes attended with contempt of other Greeks. Such was Lysander,(1852) a powerful revolutionist; who, concentrating in his own person the efforts of numerous oligarchical clubs and factions, by the strict consistency of his principles, and by his art in carrying them into effect, for some time swayed the destinies of Greece; until Agesilaus, whom he had himself improvidently raised to the throne, restored in place of his usurped power the legitimate authority of the Heraclide dynasty; this doubtless suggested to Lysander the idea of overthrowing the royal authority, and helped to bring on that deep melancholy which preyed upon his strong mind during his latter years.(1853) Similar in character to Lysander was Dercylidas, a man of extraordinary practical talent; who by his artfulness (which, however, was accompanied by uprightness of mind) obtained the nickname of Sisyphus.(1854) But Sparta had at the same time men of a contrary disposition, in whom, as Plutarch says of Callicratidas, the simple and genuine Doric manners of ancient times were alive and in vigour.(1855) This Callicratidas had at the very beginning of his career to contend with his partisans of Lysander, and resolutely resisted his club or a.s.sociation,(1856) being also directly opposed to them in disposition. He deplored the necessity which compelled him to beg for subsidies from the Persians; dealt uprightly and honestly with the allies; disdained all power and authority which did not emanate from the state; refused to do anything by private connexions or influence, and showed himself everywhere humane, magnanimous, and heroic; in short, he was a faultless hero, unless perhaps we should blame him for his too hasty self-immolation at the battle of Arginusae.(1857) We can easily understand how the Greeks of Asia should have admired the virtues and greatness of the youthful hero, like the beauty of an heroic statue,(1858) but were at the same time more pleased with the proceedings of Lysander, as being better suited to the times. In Brasidas we admire chiefly the manner in which the same elevation of mind was combined with a particular skill in controlling and availing itself of the circ.u.mstances of the times; but we must hurry on to Pedaritus the son of Teleutia, who is an instance that all the harmosts of Sparta did not yield to the many temptations of their situation.(1859) But a more singular character was Lichas, the son of Arcesilaus, of whom we will give a slight sketch. He was chiefly distinguished by his liberality: whence by means of great banquets at the Gymnopaedia,(1860) and by his victories in the chariot race at Olympia,(1861) he increased the fame of his city; by his boldness, which was even shown in his conduct at Olympia, at a time when the Spartans were excluded from the contests;(1862) but which was still more conspicuous in his truly Spartan declaration to the satrap Tissaphernes;(1863) and, lastly, by his policy in endeavouring to prevent the premature aggression of the Ionians against the Persians.(1864)

6. The flouris.h.i.+ng age of CRETE, in manners as well as in power, is anterior to the historical period; and the early corruption of her ancient inst.i.tutions was accompanied with universal barbarism and degeneracy. Of her maritime sovereignty of the mythical age nothing but piracy remained; the different states were not combined under the supremacy of a single city; and, even in the reign of Alcamenes, Sparta attempted to settle the mutual dissensions of those very cities(1865) which it had a century before taken for the models of its own const.i.tution. The Cretans did not, however, confine their quarrelsome disposition to domestic feuds; but they began in early times to hire themselves as mercenaries to foreign states, which was certainly one cause of the internal corruption that made this once ill.u.s.trious island act so ign.o.ble a part in the history of Greece. If the verse of Epimenides (cited by St. Paul(1866)) is genuine, that prophet so early as about 600 B.C. accused his countrymen of being habitual liars, evil beasts, and indolent gluttons. Yet some particular cities (among which we may especially mention the Spartan town of Lyctus) retained with their ancient inst.i.tutions the n.o.ble and pure customs of better times.(1867)

We have already more than once had occasion to explain how about the time of the Persian war ARGOS, by the changes in its const.i.tution, and the direction of its policy, succeeded in obliterating almost every trace of the Doric character:(1868) but one revolution only led to another, and none produced a stable and healthy state of affairs. Argos indeed only adopted the worst part of the republican inst.i.tutions of Athens; for their better parts could not be naturalized in a people of a race and nature totally different.(1869)

But that RHODES preserved to the latest period of Grecian independence many features of the Doric character we have already remarked.(1870) Still this island had, particularly in the time of Artemisia the Second, adopted many Asiatic customs; which, when mixed with those of a Greek origin, formed a peculiar compound; of which the Rhodian oratory, painting,(1871) and sculpture, should be considered as the products. The latter art had flourished there from ancient times; but later it took a particular turn towards the colossal, the imposing, and the grand style. The Laoc.o.o.n and the Toro Farnese are in the number of its finest productions.(1872) Its manners are described by the saying that Rhodes was the _town of wooers_.

There was also another proverb, that the Rhodians were "white Cyrenaeans;"

their luxury forming the point of resemblance, and their colour the difference.(1873)

The character of CORINTH likewise, in the time of the Peloponnesian war, was made up of rather discordant elements; for while there were still considerable remains of the Doric disposition, and its political conduct was some time guided by the principles of that race, there was also, the consequence of its situation and trade,(1874) a great bias to splendour and magnificence, which showed itself in the Corinthian order; but which, when abandoned by the graces and refinements of luxury, soon degenerated into debauchery and vice.(1875)

The character of CORCYRA we have attempted to delineate above.(1876)

SYRACUSE, though highly distinguished for its loyalty and affection to its mother-state, necessarily deviated widely from the character of Corinth.

For while in the narrow and rocky territory of Corinth the crops were with difficulty extorted from the soil,(1877) in the colony, a large and fertile district, which was either held by the Syracusans, or was tributary to them, furnished to an over-peopled city a plentiful supply of provisions without foreign importation.(1878) In addition to this abundance, the early preponderance of democracy, and still more the levity, cunning, and address which were natural to the people of Sicily, tended to modify, or partly to destroy, the original Doric character. The Syracusans were, according to Thucydides, among all the adversaries of the Athenians in the Peloponnesian war, most like them in their customs and disposition.(1879) It is ever to be lamented that such remarkable talents, as showed themselves among the Syracusans between the 70th and 90th Olympiads, should have been without a regulating and guiding judgment: their most frequent error both in the state and army being a want of order(1880); and their knowledge of this defect was the reason why they so frequently threw themselves blindly into the arms of single individuals.(1881)

The vicinity of Corinth had undoubtedly a great influence on SICYON; yet that city, though it had a navy, was nevertheless without any considerable foreign trade or colonies. The restraints and monotony of life were undoubtedly less than at Sparta,(1882) but there was greater severity of manners than at Corinth. Sicyon was one of the earliest cradles of the arts and literature of the Dorians,(1883) and enjoyed a high distinction among the cities of Peloponnesus.(1884)

PHLIUS, having no communication with the sea, was dest.i.tute of all resources except its fertile valley; but this sufficed to give it considerable importance and power.(1885) The loyalty and bravery of its inhabitants(1886) deserved the partiality with which Xenophon has written the most distinguished period of its history.(1887)

MEGARA was unfortunately hemmed in between powerful neighbours; and on account of the scanty produce of its stony and mountainous, though well cultivated(1888) land, and the consequent deficiency of provisions, it was wholly dependent on the Athenian market, whither the Megarians were accustomed to carry their manufactures(1889) and some few raw materials.

The weakness of this state had early an influence on the manners and morals of the people; the tears and mirth of the Megarians were turned into ridicule by their Athenian neighbours,(1890) who (according to the saying) would "rather be the ram than the son of a Megarian." And at last the oracle itself declared them an insignificant and worthless people.

Nor could the mother-city have derived much a.s.sistance from BYZANTIUM, had there even been a closer connexion between them than was actually the case; as this important colony was, for the most part, in distressed circ.u.mstances, and after the introduction of democracy involved in domestic confusion. We have reasons to consider the account of the mode of life at Byzantium above quoted from Theopompus(1891) as correct; though that historian is accused of too great a fondness for censure. Damon likewise relates, that the Byzantians were so addicted to the pleasures of the table, that the citizens took up their regular abode in the numerous public houses of the city, and let their houses with their wives to strangers. The sound of the flute put them immediately into a merry movement; but they fled from that of a trumpet: and a general had no other means of keeping them on the ramparts during a close siege, than by causing the public houses and cook-shops to be removed thither.(1892) Byzantium was full of foreign and native merchants, seamen, and fishermen,(1893) whom the excellent wine of that city, supplied by Maronea and other regions, seldom permitted to return sober to their s.h.i.+ps.(1894) The state of the government may be judged from the reply of a Byzantine demagogue, who being asked what the law enjoined, replied, "Whatever I please."(1895)

aeGINA, on the other hand, lost its fame only with its political existence.

Its situation near the great commercial road, which had taken this course chiefly in consequence of the danger of doubling the promontory of Malea, the renown of its mythical history, and the peculiar vigour of the inhabitants, had carried their activity to such a height, as to give their island an importance in the history of Greece which will ever be remarkable.

Though at Rhodes the amalgamation of the different nations produced an uniform and consistent whole, this does not seem to have been the case at CYRENE, which was corrupted by aegyptian and Libyan influence. We have only to notice the character of Pheretime, who from a Doric lady became an eastern sultana. It is remarkable that another Doric female, viz.

Artemisia (whose father was of Halicarna.s.sus, her mother of Crete(1896)), obtained a similar situation. In the mother-country, however, there is after the fabulous times hardly any instance of women being at the head either of Doric or other cities.(1897)

We have already spoken as much as our object required of the Doric town of CROTON(1898) in Italy; and several times touched on the decay of the Doric discipline and manners at TARENTUM. Their climate, which was very different from that of Greece,(1899) and the manners of the native tribes, must have had a very considerable share in changing the characters of these two cities; as the Tarentines did not subjugate only and slaughter the inhabitants (like the Carbinates), but received them within the limits of their large city, and gave them the rights of citizens.h.i.+p, by which means those words which we call Roman, but which were probably common to all the Siculians,(1900) were introduced into the Tarentine dialect.

In the MESSENIAN state, as restored by Epaminondas, the ancient national manners were (according to Pausanias(1901)) still retained; and the dialect remained up to the time of that author the purest Doric that was spoken in Peloponnesus. The reason of this either was, that the Helots who remained in the country, and doubtless formed the larger part of the new nation, had obtained the Doric character, or that the exiles had during their long banishment really preserved their ancient language, as we know to have been the case with the Naupactians in more ancient times.(1902) This the Messenians, who dwelt among the Euesperitae of Libya, might have done, as they resided among Dorians; but it was less easy for the Messenians of Sicily,(1903) and wholly impossible for those of Rhegium. In the people of Rhegium in general there appears to have been little of the Doric character;(1904) nor probably in real truth among the later Messenians, however they might have endeavoured to bring back the ancient times.

Since we have frequently considered DELPHI as belonging to the number of the Doric cities, on a supposition that it was the seat of an ancient Doric n.o.bility (although the people was chiefly formed of naturalized slaves of the temple), we have finally to observe on the character of the Delphians, that their early degeneracy (which even aesop is said to have strongly reproved) is a phenomenon which has frequently taken place among the people residing in the immediate neighbourhood of national sanctuaries. The number and variety of strangers flocking together; the continual fumes of the altars, from which the natives were fed without labour or expense;(1905) the crowds of the market, in which jugglers and impostors of all kinds earned their subsistence,(1906) and the large donatives which Crsus, with other monarchs and wealthy men, had distributed among the Delphians, necessarily produced a lazy, ignorant, superst.i.tious, and sensual people; and cast a shade over the few traces of a n.o.bler character, which can be discovered in the events of earlier times.

APPENDICES.

Appendix V. On the Doric Dialect.

1. The ancient grammarians divided the Greek language into four distinct branches-the Doric, Ionic, Attic, and aeolic; the latter including all dialects not comprised under the other three heads, because only one branch of it, the Lesbian, was the written language of one species of poetry: and yet this latter division must unquestionably have contained different species less connected with each other than with some branches of the other three dialects. It is, however, pretty well agreed that the several aeolic dialects together contained more remains of the primitive Grecian or (if we will so call it) Pelasgic language, than either the Doric, Ionic, or Attic; and that at the same time many forms of the latter were preserved with great fidelity in the Latin tongue; partly because the life of the Italian husbandmen bore a nearer resemblance to that of the ancient Greeks than that of the later Greeks themselves, and because neither their literature, nor any fastidious sense of euphony and rhythm, induced them to soften and refine their language. But of the more polished dialects, that of Homer, though differing in many points, yet in others doubtless closely resembled the original language, which must once have been spoken from Thessaly to Peloponnesus, and was variously metamorphosed in the Doric, Ionic, and Attic dialects. Thus, for example, the genitive case of the second declension, in the ancient form, was ???, which was preserved in the Thessalian dialect,(1907) perhaps also in the Botian,(1908) and in Latin I or EI is also perceivable; whilst in the Doric O and the Attic ?? this vowel was entirely lost. The nominative of masculines of the first declension in ? belongs to the Latin, Homeric, Dryopian, Thessalian, Botian, Macedonian, and Elean dialects. In the Doric it was probably of rare occurrence, and more accidental.(1909) The aeolic dialect, which was spoken in Botia, likewise contains remarkable traces of an ancient Pelasgic language, and has striking coincidences with the Latin: thus in the ancient Botian inscriptions the dative of the first declension ends in ??. Gradually, however, it departed from this language, as the diphthongs ?? and ??, which anciently were written ?? and ??, were changed into ? and ?: and thus almost all the vowels and diphthongs received a new form. On the other hand, we must be cautious of supposing the Latin to be the ancient form, in cases where a trans.m.u.tation of letters has already taken place. The following is a remarkable example to this effect. ??O, from whence "the eye," ?ppa in the aeolic dialect,(1910) ?f??? in the Elean,(1911) ?pt???? in the Spartan. In other dialect, ?????, hence ??ta???? in the Botian, in the Latin _oculus_, where ? and ? bear the same relation to each other as in the words p?t??e?

(aeolic) _quatuor_, p?pt??, _quintus_, p??, _quo_, p???, _alicubi_.

Moreover the Latin has a very large number of words derived from the Campanian and Doric Greeks, which must be distinguished from the primitive Greek dialect.

2. These remarks are merely premised in order to point out the authorities upon which all investigations into the form of the most ancient language of the Greeks should be founded. We have already intimated our dissent from those who, in opposition to Pausanias,(1912) suppose the Doric to have been the native dialect of Peloponnesus, not only disallowing the claim of the Dorians to its introduction, but even denying that they were the first to adopt it. This supposition would leave us without any means of explaining how the dialect of the Dorians of Peloponnesus agreed in so many peculiar idioms with that of their fellow-countrymen in Crete, the close and general connexion between the two being of an earlier date than the Doric invasion of Peloponnesus. The ancient Peloponnesian dialect was certainly that language which may be recognized in the Latin and in Homer, many of the peculiarities of which occur indeed, but many of the most essential are not found, in the Doric dialect. This latter dialect was, however, very widely diffused over that peninsula by the preponderance of the Dorians, being not merely adopted by the Helots (who even at Naupactus spoke Doric), the Orneatae,(1913) the Laconian Perici, and the Attic inhabitants of Colonides;(1914) but even by the independent Arcadians, who, according to Strabo, used indeed the aeolic dialect, but were generally supposed to adopt the Doric (d????e??), as also did Philopmen.(1915) Unfortunately we have little information respecting the dialect of the Arcadians, our chief guide being the names of their towns, in which several Dorisms occur; as, for instance, ?af?a? (from ??fe??), ??s??, ??e?sa (??e?essa), and some anomalous forms, such as ?ad???a for ?a?d???a, Te?p??sa for ???f??ssa, Dor. ???f?ssa, ??a?e?t??, a tribe of Tegea, for ??a?e?t??.(1916) The Eleans, on the other hand, spoke nearly pure Doric; which is shown indeed by their use of the digamma,(1917) by their broad accent, and the O in the genitive case; but chiefly by the frequent use of ?, which, besides the ????, ??? in the well-known treaty of the Eleans,(1918) is also proved by the Elean forms d??a? (for d??a? or d??ast??), ??t??, ?pp?? and similar forms, whence the Eleans were called a?a??f????.(1919) Moreover, the Apollo T????? of the Eleans was the same as Apollo T?s???, in Attic Greek.(1920) Eretria was founded by Eleans in conjunction with other Greeks, whence the frequent use of the ?

in that town;(1921) and from this city the neighbouring Chalcideans also adopted it;(1922) whilst among the Carystians another peculiarity of the Spartan Elean dialect prevailed, in the change of T into S.(1923) The Eretrians, however, received from the Eleans another peculiarity of the pure Doric, viz. the use of the aspirate in the place of S; and imparted it to the Oropians, their neighbours, and sometimes their subjects, on the other side of the strait.(1924) Thus it is evident that the dialect of the Eleans was very similar, nay, almost akin, to the Spartan. Now it is very improbable that this strict observance of the Doric dialect should have been learnt by mere intercourse, since on no side were they in immediate contact with Dorians. It is much more probable that the aetolians, who conquered Elis, used, from their vicinity to the Dorians, the same dialect: that they spoke Doric in later times, is proved by the testimony of ancient authors and monuments extant;(1925) and the same was also the language of the inhabitants of the ancient Epirus Proper.(1926) It seems, therefore, that this dialect was formed in the northern and mountainous districts of Greece, particularly in the vicinity of mount Pindus, from whence the Dorians brought it in their migration to the more southern parts of the country, where they were in consequence commonly regarded as the race with whom it first originated.