Part 207

Delos, the smallest island of the group called the Cyclades, but the most important in the eyes of the Ionian Greeks, being their sacred isle, the fabled birthplace of Apollo and long the chief seat and center of his worship. "The Homeric Hymn to Apollo presents to us the island of Delos as the centre of a great periodical festival in honour of Apollo, celebrated by all the cities, insular and continental, of the Ionic name. What the date of this hymn is, we have no means of determining: Thucydides quotes it, without hesitation, as the production of Homer, and, doubtless, it was in his time universally accepted as such,—though modern critics concur in regarding both that and the other hymns as much later than the Iliad and Odyssey. It cannot probably be later than 600 B. C. The description of the Ionic visitors presented to us in this hymn is splendid and imposing; the number of their ships, the display of their finery, the beauty of their women, the athletic exhibitions as well as the matches of song and dance,—all these are represented as making an ineffaceable impression on the spectator: 'the assembled Ionians look as if they were beyond the reach of old age or death.' Such was the magnificence of which Delos was the periodical theatre, and which called forth the voices and poetical genius not merely of itinerant bards, but also of the Delian maidens in the temple of Apollo, during the century preceding 560 B. C. At that time it was the great central festival of the Ionians in Asia and Europe."

_G. Grote, History of Greece, part 2, chapter 12._

During the war with Persia, Delos was made the common treasury of the Greeks; but Athens subsequently took the custody and management of the treasury to herself and reduced Delos to a dependency. The island was long the seat of an extensive commerce, and Delian bronze was of note in the arts.

DELOS: B. C. 490. Spared by the Persians.

See GREECE: B. C. 490.

DELOS: B. C. 477. The Delian Confederacy.

See GREECE: B. C. 478-477; and ATHENS: B. C. 466-454, and after.

DELOS: B. C. 461-454 (?). Removal of the Confederate treasury to Athens.

See ATHENS: B. C. 466-454.

DELOS: B. C. 425-422. Purifications.

"In the midst of the losses and turmoil of the [Peloponnesian] war it had been determined [at Athens] to offer a solemn testimony of homage to Apollo on Delos, [B. C. 425]—a homage doubtless connected with the complete cessation of the pestilence, which had lasted as long as the fifth year of the war. The solemnity consisted in the renewed consecration of the entire island to the divine Giver of grace; all the coffins containing human remains being removed from Delos, and Rhenea appointed to be henceforth the sole burial-place. This solemnity supplemented the act formerly performed by the orders of Pisistratus, and it was doubtless in the present instance also intended, by means of a brilliant renewal of the Delian celebration, to strengthen the power of Athens in the island sea, to give a festive centre to the Ionic world. … But the main purpose was clearly one of morality and religion. It was intended to calm and edify the minds of the citizens."

_E. Curtius, History of Greece, book 4, chapter 2._

{658}

Three years later (B. C. 422) the Athenians found some reason for another purification of Delos which was more radical, consisting in the expulsion of all the inhabitants from the island. The unfortunate Delians found an asylum at Adramyttium in Asia, until they were restored to their homes next year, through the influence of the Delphic oracle.

_Thucydides, History, book 5, section 1._

DELOS: B. C. 88. Pontic Massacre.

Early in the first war of Mithridates with the Romans (B. C. 88), Delos, which had been made a free port and had become the emporium of Roman commerce in the east, was seized by a Pontic fleet, and pillaged, 20,000 Italians being massacred on the island. The treasures of Delos were sent to Athens and the island restored to the Athenian control.

_W. Ihne, History of Rome, book 7, chapter 17._

DELOS: B. C. 69. Ravaged by Pirates.

"Almost under the eyes of the fleet of Lucullus, the pirate Athenodorus surprised in 685 [B. C. 69] the island of Delos, destroyed its far-famed shrines and temples, and carried off the whole population into slavery."

_T. Mommsen, History of Rome, book 5, chapter 2._

DELOS: Slave Trade under the Romans.

"Thrace and Sarmatia were the Guinea Coast of the Romans. The entrepôt of this trade was Delos, which had been made a free port by Rome after the conquest of Macedonia. Strabo tells us that in one day 10,000 slaves were sold there in open market. Such were the vile uses to which was put the Sacred Island, once the treasury of Greece."

_H. G. Liddell, History of Rome, book 5, chapter 48._

DELOS: End----------

DELPHI. KRISSA (CRISSA). KIRRHA (CIRRHA).

"In those early times when the Homeric Hymn to Apollo was composed the town of Krissa [in Phocis, near Delphi] appears to have been great and powerful, possessing all the broad plain between Parnassus, Kirphis, and the gulf, to which latter it gave its name,—and possessing also, what was a property not less valuable, the adjoining sanctuary of Pytho itself, which the Hymn identifies with Krissa, not indicating Delphi as a separate place. The Krissæans, doubtless, derived great profits from the number of visitors who came to visit Delphi, both by land and by sea, and Kirrha was originally only the name for their seaport. Gradually, however, the port appears to have grown in importance at the expense of the town; … while at the same time the sanctuary of Pytho with its administrators expanded into the town of Delphi, and came to claim an independent existence of its own. … In addition to the above facts, already sufficient in themselves as seeds of quarrel, we are told that the Kirrhæans abused their position as masters of the avenue to the temple by sea, and levied exorbitant tolls on the visitors who landed there. … Besides such offence against the general Grecian public, they had also incurred the enmity of their Phocian neighbours by outrages upon women, Phocian as well as Argeian, who were returning from the temple. Thus stood the case, apparently, about 595 B. C., when the Amphiktyonic meeting interfered … to punish the Kirrhæans. After a war of ten years, the first Sacred War in Greece, this object was completely accomplished, by a joint force of Thessalians under Eurylochus, Sikyonians under Kleisthenes, and Athenians under Alkmæon; the Athenian Solon being the person who originated and enforced, in the Amphiktyonic council, the proposition of interference. Kirrha … was destroyed, or left to subsist merely as a landing place; and the whole adjoining plain was consecrated to the Delphian god, whose domains thus touched the sea. … The fate of Kirrha in this war is ascertained: that of Krissa is not so clear, nor do we know whether it was destroyed, or left subsisting in a position of inferiority with regard to Delphi. From this time forward, the Delphian community appears as substantive and autonomous, exercising in their own right the management of the temple; though we shall find, on more than one occasion, that the Phocians contest this right. … The spoils of Kirrha were employed by the victorious allies in founding the Pythian Games. The octennial festival hitherto celebrated at Delphi in honour of the god, including no other competition except in the harp and the pæan, was expanded into comprehensive games on the model of the Olympic, with matches not only of music, but also of gymnastics and chariots,—celebrated, not at Delphi itself, but on the maritime plain near the ruined Kirrha,—and under the direct superintendence of the Amphiktyons themselves. … They were celebrated in the latter half of summer, or first half of every third Olympic year. … Nothing was conferred but wreaths of laurel."

_G. Grote, History of Greece, part 2, chapter 28._

See, also, ATHENS: B. C. 610-586; PYTHO; ORACLES OF THE GREEKS; and AMPHIKTYONIC COUNCIL.

DELPHI: B. C. 357-338. Seizure by the Phocians. The Sacred Wars. Deliverance by Philip of Macedon. War with Amphissa.

See GREECE: B. C. 357-336.

DELPHI: B. C. 279. Discomfiture of the Gauls.

See GAULS: B. C. 280-279.

DELPHI: End----------

DELPHIC ORACLE, The.

See ORACLES OF THE GREEKS.

DELPHIC SIBYL, The.

See SIBYLS.

DEMES. DEMI.

See PHYLÆ; also, ATHENS: B. C. 510-507.

DEMETES, The. One of the tribes of ancient Wales.

See BRITAIN, CELTIC TRIBES.

DEMETRIUS, The Impostor.

See RUSSIA: A. D. 1533-1682.

Demetrius Poliorcetes, and the wars of the Diadochi.

See MACEDONIA: B. C. 315-310, 310-301; also GREECE: B. C. 307-301; and RHODES: B. C. 305-304.

DEMIURGI. COSMOS. TAGOS OR TAGUS.

Of the less common titles applied among the ancient Greeks to their supreme magistrates, are "Cosmos, or Cosmios, and Tagos (signifying Arranger and Commander), the former of which we find in Crete, the latter in the Thessalian cities. With the former we may compare the title of Cosmopolis, which was in use among the Epizephyrian Locrians. A more frequent title is that of Demiurgi, a name which seems to imply a constitution no longer oligarchical, but which bestowed certain rights on the Demos. In the time of the Peloponnesian war magistrates of this kind existed in Elis and in the Arcadian Mantinæa. … The title is declared by Grammarians to have been commonly used among the Dorians. … A similar title is that of Demuchus, which the supreme magistrates of Thespiæ in Bœotia seem to have borne. … The Artyni at Epidaurus and Argos we have already mentioned."

_G. Schömann, Antiquity of Greece: The State, part 2, chapter 5._

{659}

DEMOCRATIC OR DEMOCRATIC REPUBLICAN PARTY OF THE UNITED STATES.

See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1789-1792; 1825-1828; 1845-1846.

DEMOSTHENES, the general at Sphacteria and at Syracuse.

See GREECE: B. C. 425, and SYRACUSE: B. C. 415-413; and ATHENS: B. C. 415-413.

Demosthenes the orator, The Phillipics, and the Death of.

See GREECE: B. C. 357-336, 351-348, and 323-322; and ATHENS: B. C. 359-338, and 336-322.

DEMOTIC WRITING.

See HIEROGLYPHICS.

DEMUCHUS.

See DEMIURGI.

DENAIN. Battle of (1712).

See NETHERLANDS: A. D. 1710-1712.

DENARIUS, The.

See AS.

DENDERMONDE. Surrender to the Spaniards (1584).

See NETHERLANDS: A. D. 1584-1585.

DENIS, King of Portugal, A. D. 1279-1323.

DENMARK.

See SCANDINAVIAN STATES.

DENNEWITZ, OR JÜTERBOGK, Battle of.

See GERMANY: A. D. 1813 (SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER).

DENNIKON, Peace of (1531).

See SWITZERLAND: A. D. 1531-1648.

DENVER, The founding of.

See COLORADO: A. D. 1806-1876.

DEORHAM, Battle of.

Fought A. D. 577, near Bath, England, between the invading West Saxons and the Britons. The victory of the former gave them possession of the lower valley of the Severn and practically completed the Saxon conquest of England.

_J. R. Green, The Making of England, pages 125-131._

DERBEND, Pass of.

See JUROIPACH.

DERBY-DISRAELI MINISTRIES The.

See ENGLAND: A. D. 1851-1852; 1858-1859; and 1868-1870.

DERRY.

See LONDONDERRY.

DE RUSSY, Fort, Capture of.

See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1864 (MARCH-MAY: LOUISIANA).

DESERET, The proposed state of.

See UTAH: A. D. 1849-1850.

DESMONDS, The.

See GERALDINES.

DESMOULINS, Camille, and the French Revolution.

See FRANCE: A. D. 1789 (JULY); 1790; 1792 (AUGUST), to 1793-1794 (NOVEMBER-JUNE).

DESPOT OF EPIRUS.

"The title of despot, by which they [the mediæval princes of Epirus] are generally distinguished, was a Byzantine honorary distinction, never borne by the earlier members of the family until it had been conferred on them by the Greek Emperor."

_G. Finlay, History of Greece from its conquest by the Crusaders, chapter 6, section 1._

See EPIRUS: A. D. 1204-1350.

DESPOTS, Greek.

See TYRANTS.

Italian.

See ITALY: A. D. 1250-1520.

DESSAU, Battle of (1626).

See GERMANY: A. D. 1624-1626.

DESTRIERS. PALFREYS.

"A cavaliere or man-at-arms was accompanied by one 'Destriero' or strong war-horse, and one or two, sometimes three, mounted squires who led the animal fully caparisoned; or carried the helmet; lance and shield of their master: these 'Destrieri' ('rich and great horses' as Villani calls them), were so named because they were led on the right hand without any rider, and all ready for mounting: the squire's horses were of an inferior kind called 'Ronzini,' and on the 'Palafreni' or palfreys the knight rode when not in battle."

_H. E. Napier, Florentine History, volume 1, page 633._

DESTROYING ANGELS, OR DANITES.

See MORMONISM: A. D. 1830-1846.

DETROIT: First occupied by the Coureurs de Bois.

See COUREURS DE BOIS.

DETROIT: A. D. 1686-1701. The first French forts. Cadillac's founding of the city.

At the beginning of the war called "Queen Anne's War" (1702) "Detroit had already been established. In June, 1701, la Mothe Cadillac, with a Jesuit father and 100 men, was sent to construct a fort and occupy the country; hence he is spoken of as the founder of the city. In 1686, a fort [called Fort St. Joseph] had been constructed to the south of the present city, where Fort Gratiot now stands, but it soon fell into decay and was abandoned. It was not the site selected by Cadillac."

_W. Kingsford, History of Canada, volume 2, page 408._

"Fort St. Joseph was abandoned in the year 1688. The establishment of Cadillac was destined to a better fate and soon rose to distinguished importance among the western outposts of Canada."

_F. Parkman, The Conspiracy of Pontiac, volume 1, page 218._

DETROIT: A. D. 1701-1755. Importance to the French.

See CANADA: A. D. 1700-1735.

DETROIT: A. D. 1712. Siege by the Foxes and Massacre of that tribe.

See CANADA: A. D. 1711-1713.

DETROIT: A. D. 1760. The French settlement when surrendered to the English.

"The French inhabitants here are settled on both sides of the river for about eight miles. When I took possession of the country soon after the surrender of Canada [see CANADA: A. D. 1760], they were about 2,500 in number, there being near 500 that bore arms (to whom I administered oaths of allegiance) and near 300 dwelling houses. Our fort here is built of stockadoes, is about 25 feet high, and 1,200 yards in circumference. … The inhabitants raise wheat and other grain in abundance, and have plenty of cattle, but they enrich themselves chiefly by their trade with the Indians, which is here very large and lucrative."

_Major R. Rogers, Concise Account of North America, page 168._

DETROIT: A. D. 1763. Pontiac's Siege.

See PONTIAC'S WAR.

DETROIT: A. D. 1775-1783. Held by the British throughout the War of Independence.

See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1778-1779, CLARK'S CONQUEST.

DETROIT: A. D. 1805. Made the seat of government of the Territory of Michigan.

See INDIANA: A. D. 1800-1818.

DETROIT: A. D. 1812. The surrender of General Hull.

See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1812 (JUNE-OCTOBER).

DETROIT: A. D 1813. American recovery.

See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1812-1813.

{660}

DETTINGEN, Battle of (1743).

See AUSTRIA: A. D. 1743.

DEUSDEDIT, Pope, A. D. 615-618.

DEUTSCH. Origin of the name.

See GERMANY: THE NATIONAL NAME.

DEUTSCHBROD, Battle of (1422).

See BOHEMIA: A. D. 1419-1434.

DEVA.

One of the Roman garrison towns in Britain, on the site of which is modern Chester, taking its name from the castra or fortified station of the legions. It was the station of the 20th legion.

T. Mommsen, History of Rome, book 8, chapter 5.

DEVE-BOYUN, Battle of (1878).

See TURKS: A. D. 1877-1878.

DEVIL'S CAUSEWAY, The. The popular name of an old Roman road in England which runs from Silchester to London.

DEVIL'S HOLE, The ambuscade and massacre at.

On the 13th of September, 1763, during the progress of Pontiac's War, a train of wagons and packhorses, traversing the Niagara portage between Lewiston and Fort Schlosser, guarded by an escort of 24 soldiers, was ambuscaded by a party of Seneca warriors at the place called the Devil's Hole, three miles below the Niagara cataract. Seventy of the whites were slain, and only three escaped.

_F. Parkman, The Conspiracy of Pontiac, chapter 21 (volume 2)._

DEVON COMMISSION, The.

See IRELAND: A. D. 1843-1848.

DEVONSHIRE, in the British age.

See DUMNONII.

DE WITT, John, The administration and the murder of.

See NETHERLANDS: A. D. 1651-1660, to 1672-1674.

DHIHAD.

See DAR-UL-ISLAM.

DIACRII, The.

See ATHENS: B. C. 594.

DIADOCHI, The.

The immediate successors of Alexander the Great, who divided his empire, are sometimes so-called. "The word diadochi means 'successors,' and is used to include Antigonus, Ptolemy, Seleucus, Lysimachus, etc.—the actual companions of Alexander."

_J. P. Mahaffy, Story of Alexander's Empire, chapter 5._

See MACEDONIA: B. C. 323-316.

DIAMOND, Battle of the (1795).

See IRELAND: A. D. 1795-1796.

DIAMOND DISCOVERY IN SOUTH AFRICA (1867).

See GRIQUAS.

DIAMOND NECKLACE, The affair of the.

See FRANCE: A. D. 1784-1785.

DIASPORA, The.

A name applied to the Jews scattered throughout the Roman world.

DIAZ, Porfirio, The Mexican presidency of.

See MEXICO: A. D. 1867-1888.

DICASTERIA.

The great popular court, or jury, in ancient Athens, called the Heliæa, or Heliastæ consisting at one time of six thousand chosen citizens, was divided into ten sections, called Dicasteria. Their places of meeting also bore the same name.

_G. F. Schömann, Antiquity of Greece: The State, part 3, chapter 3._

See ATHENS: B. C.445-431.

DICKINSON, John, in the American Revolution.

See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1767-1768; 1774 (SEPTEMBER); 1776 (JULY).

DICTATOR, Roman.

See CONSULS, ROMAN.

DIDIAN LAW, The.

See ORCHIAN, FANNIAN, DIDIAN LAWS.

DIDIER, OR DESIDERIUS, King of the Lombards, A. D. 759-774.

DIDYMÆUM, The oracle of.

See ORACLES OF THE GREEKS.

DIEDENHOFEN, Battle of (1639).

See GERMANY: A. D. 1634-1639.

DIEPPE. Bombardment and destruction by an English fleet.

See FRANCE: A. D. 1694.

DIES ATRI.

The days on which the Romans thought it unlucky to undertake business of importance—for example, the day after the Calends, Nones and Ides of each month—were called Dies Atri.

_W. Ramsay, Manual of Roman Antiquity, chapter 11._

DIES FASTI. Dies Nefasti. Dies Festi.

See FASTI, and LUDI.

DIET.

"An assembly, council, … Parliament. … The peculiar sense of the word undoubtedly arose from a popular etymology that connected it with the Latin 'dies,' a day, especially a set day, a day appointed for public business; whence, by extension, a meeting for business, an assembly."

_W. W. Skeat, Etymological Dictionary_

DIET: The Germanic.