Part 14

In this condition the Acarnanians remained until the time of the Macedonian supremacy; but when the Macedonian empire gained consistency, the Acarnanians thoughtlessly placed themselves under its protection. Philip favored them greatly, and assigned to them Oeniadae, which had previously belonged to the Achaeans, and also Leucas; whether the latter place remained in their possession or not, we do not know. Fresh hostilities now arose with the Aetolians, who were enemies of the Macedonians. The severest blow was inflicted upon the Acarnanians in the reign of Alexander of Epirus, the son of Pyrrhus, for their country was divided between him and the Aetolians. The latter retained the possession of the principal towns which they received; but at the time of the disputes about the succession among the Aeacidae, the Epirot dominion was shaken off, and the Acarnanians again threw themselves into the arms of Macedonia. We must distinguish Acarnania in its earlier and in its later condition: Acarnania in Polybius is considerably reduced on the east near the Achelous, for it there possessed only Oeniadae, but on the coast it was increased through the Corinthian colonies. In this condition it remained, until, in the war between the Romans and Macedonians, its population, having sided with the latter, had to suffer greatly. Leucas was taken and separated from Acarnania. But although the Acarnanians were pardoned by the Romans, they thenceforward completely disappear in history.

The country forms no contrasts, and has no deep valleys with lakes like Aetolia; it has no high mountains, but is a fertile hilly country, with alluvial soil, though not to any great extent, on the coast and the Achelous: the soil is throughout light and good. As regards the political constitution of the Acarnanians, even Polybius speaks of the κοινὸν τῶν Ἀκαρνάνων, so that they must have formed a regularly organised state, no doubt with a common strategus. As far as their manners are concerned, the same historian classes them among the less civilised tribes, for they went about in arms. They did not, like the Aetolians, consist of tribes that were essentially foreign to each other, but of kindred settlers in towns. Nations which, like the Aetolians, are destined by nature to lead a pastoral life, cannot have any important settlements in towns any more than the little cantons of Switzerland; but Acarnania is a thoroughly agricultural country, producing corn and olives, and towns accordingly arose from the nature of circumstances; pastoral life prevailed only in the mountains. These towns had no separate existence independently of the common government of the state; each of them had no doubt its own municipal freedom, but in their relation to foreign countries, they were dependent. This is implied in the term τὸ κοινόν, Latin, _commune_.

In the Peloponnesian war, STRATOS was the capital of the country, but it was taken by the Aetolians, to whom it belonged in the time of Polybius. Its walls are still preserved, and they not only show that, as Thucydides says, it was the largest town of Acarnania, but absolutely a large town of an astonishing circumference. But these countries are so different from those of the intellectual Greeks, that no ruins are found attesting the existence of splendid buildings. Stratos is the only one among the genuine Acarnanian towns, that deserves to be noticed.

OENIADAE, at the mouth of the Achelous, is often mentioned as an Achaean town, and its true character is therefore a real puzzle. Xenophon calls it Achaean, and Scylax of Caryanda applies the name Ἀχαιοί and Ἀχαία to the whole coast from Cape Rhion as far as the Achelous, so that not only Oeniadae, but the other coast-towns, as for example, the little Chalcis, were connected with the Achaeans. Afterwards Oeniadae was taken by the Aetolians; it recovered indeed its independence, but was then conquered by the Acarnanians, and finally taken from them by the Romans. Whether on this last occasion the Achaeans again established their claims, cannot be ascertained. It is not impossible that it may have been an Achaean colony, as we find another in Zacynthos.

The Corinthian colonies, the most remarkable of which were LEUCAS, ANACTORION, ALYZIA, and ACTION, were separated from Acarnania proper at an early period.

LEUCAS, according to the opinion of the Alexandrian grammarians, who are great authorities in these matters, is mentioned in the Odyssey and the Homeric Catalogue under the name of NERITON, and was at that time still inhabited by Cephallenians. At a later period it was a Doric settlement of Corinth, when this latter city founded colonies on the Ambracian gulf, in Corcyra, and other islands, with a care which shows that it intended to establish its maritime supremacy in those parts. Those settlements belong partly to the period of the Bacchiadae, and partly to that of Cypselus and Periander. Leucas was formerly connected with the mainland by an isthmus, which was cut through by the Corinthians when they established themselves there. Afterwards the isthmus was sometimes restored and sometimes broken through; and these changes frequently occur, even in the middle ages, for the rivers which flow into the Ambracian gulf, carry with them as much mud as the Achelous, and as Leucas was situated close to the shore, and was separated from the mainland only by a very narrow channel, the mud there accumulated by the current which is very strong in that part. This isthmus was very inconvenient to the navigation of the Leucadians to the Ambracian gulf, as they had to sail round the whole promontory; nothing therefore is more natural than that the canal should have been re-opened from time to time. The opinion of those who imagine that the isthmus was an artificially constructed causeway is absurd, though it is quite conceivable that at the time when the isthmus was uninterrupted, a road may have been made upon it; but this has quite a different meaning. The name Leucas has a double nominative, Leucas and Leucata, of which so many instances occur in Latin in the case of Greek proper names,[64] as Croton and Crotona, Ancon and Ancona, the latter of which is the genuine Latin form. It is said that ὁ Λευκάτας was the rock of Leucas; but there is no foundation for this, it is a mere expedient to get over a difficulty. On Cape Leucas stood the temple of Apollo, and from its precipitous cliff Sappho and others are said to have leapt into the sea because their passionate love was not returned.

ANACTORION was a very small and insignificant place, as we see from the notices about it during the Peloponnesian war, for it furnished only one trireme.

ACTION can scarcely be called a town, and is remarkable only for the battle fought there, and the temple of Apollo.

ALYZIA was likewise unimportant, and deserves to be noticed only as a Corinthian colony, and as an example of the manner in which the Corinthians detached the coast from Acarnania.

By the side of Action, on the spot afterwards occupied by Prevesa, there arose NICOPOLIS, which was built by Augustus as a monument of his victory. The Greek population was then so reduced, and the violence of the Roman generals so truly oriental, that Augustus transplanted to Nicopolis the nation of the Aetolians and most of the Acarnanians; for I have no doubt that, to a certain extent, this was really the case. Owing to its situation, the place was during the middle ages regarded as a fortress, and new buildings were erected, whence the ancient ones have for the most part disappeared. The ruins of Nicopolis however are extensive, for Augustus adorned it with splendid buildings. The Byzantine emperors defended it for a long time against the conquests of the Bulgarians, who had subdued a great part of Epirus and the adjoining countries of Greece. We cannot say at what time the name Nicopolis disappears; in the tenth century it still existed, and is mentioned by Constantine Porphyrogenitus.

THE CEPHALLENIAN ISLANDS.

Under this name, following the example of the Alexandrian grammarians, we comprise those islands which in Homer form the empire of Odysseus, namely, Ithaca, Cephallenia or Same, and Zacynthos; I have already intimated that I have nothing to say about Dulichion. This empire of Odysseus entirely disappears in our history. If we had Ephorus or ample extracts from his work, we should be able to proceed more safely. The Greeks had ancient records about many places and subjects connected with their early history, as we see from Thucydides, but they cannot be called history; Ephorus, however, anxiously endeavoured to collect them all, and all that is quoted from them, is excellent. After the time of the Odyssey those islands are scarcely mentioned at all. Cephallenia is noticed in a passing remark at the time of the Peloponnesian war, Zacynthos too is mentioned once, and in the war of the Romans and Aetolians they are brought forward more particularly; Ithaca, on the other hand, does not occur at all in ancient history. Mythology says, that after Odysseus was slain by Telegonus, his own son by Circe, Telemachus and Penelope quitted the island from fear of the vengeance of the relations of the suitors. This statement when translated into history, means, that the empire was completely broken up, and the dynasty of Odysseus disappeared.

As to ITHACA, we do not even know what was the name of its town; near the port distinct traces of a town and Cyclopian walls are still visible; and a modern English traveller, Sir William Gell, I do not know whether in joke or in earnest, states that they are the remains of the palace of Odysseus. It cannot be ascertained whether the island existed by itself, or whether it was connected with Cephallenia.

CEPHALLENIA had four towns which are mentioned at the time of the Peloponnesian war under the names of Pale, Cranii, Same, and Proni; they were quite independent of one another and allied with Athens. In later times we find them in the relation of sympolity with the Aetolians. The name Cephallenia is of more recent origin, the island being, in early times, called Same. During the Aetolian war, the Romans completely subdued it on account of its situation, which was favourable to navigation. Its inhabitants were notorious as pirates even in very early times.

ZACYNTHOS (the Z must be pronounced as softly as possible), the southernmost of these islands, is entirely of a volcanic nature, and remarkable for its springs of naphtha; it has suffered much from earthquakes, which have continued even in modern times. Otherwise it is a real paradise, and must have been the same in antiquity: its fertility, beauty, and climate are almost fabulous. During the Peloponnesian war, it was taken by the Athenians; it is mentioned at that time as an Achaean colony, so that the Achaeans must have established themselves there as they did at Oeniadae, and thus extended the boundaries of their own country. Afterwards it fell into the hands of the Macedonians, and ultimately into those of the Romans. The Achaeans wanted to unite it again with Peloponnesus, but Flamininus resisted them; but whether they, nevertheless, carried their plan, is unknown, for all information is wanting.

THESSALY.

The name Thessaly is used in two senses: in its proper sense, for example in Scylax, it comprises the country of the ruling tribes of the Thessalians dwelling within their natural boundaries, a circumstance of which no notice at all is taken in our maps and geographical manuals. In this sense Thessaly touches upon the sea only by a line of coast thirty stadia in length, and the remaining coast which we are in the habit of calling Thessalian, does not belong to it. In the ordinary or wider sense, in which the name can be proved to have been used even by Herodotus, Thessaly extended as far as the Aenianians and Malians, perhaps even as far as the Dolopians, in the south. The tribes inhabiting it, the Phthiotans, the Magnetes, Peraebi, and others, were subjects of the Thessalians, and in so far the use of the name which comprises them also is well founded, for they belonged to the state of the Thessalians.

In its narrower sense, Thessaly is the valley of the Peneus, which is said, in Herodotus, to have once been one continuous lake, but afterwards discharged its waters into the sea by breaking through the heights between Ossa and Olympus. This clearly shews that the tradition applies to the valley of the Peneus alone, for the valley south of mount Othrys, for example, could not have been inundated, whereas the fertile plains of Pherae about lake Boebeis as far as the Pagasaean gulf, from which it is separated only by a few hills, may very easily have been inundated. The statement, therefore, is evidently correct; its truth may even now be seen, and the ancients judged correctly. However, to refer the draining, which cannot have been the work of human hands, but must have been effected by revolutions of the earth, to the historical ages is a mistake, because we are accustomed to compress the events of many centuries within the small space of our historical knowledge. The opposite mistake consists in assuming, within the sphere of history, longer intervals than really exist. The duration of a century seems to be very short, but if we examine it more minutely, it is a long period for historical changes. If, for example, we look at Germany and our ancestors 150 or 160 years ago, how different do we find them from ourselves in their mode of living, in their ideas, their occupations, and maxims, and that too in the highest as well as in the lowest classes of society! People have imagined that Rome, from the time of Servius Tullius to that of Cicero, remained in its forms essentially the same; but this is quite impossible, and the difference must have been enormous. Even when we look at nations which seem to admit of no change, for example, the Hindoos, great differences are still manifest at different times: life is ever changeable. I do not believe that this remark is superfluous; it is very important to the historian to have it always present before his mind; it is impossible successfully to treat of ancient history without a thorough knowledge of modern history.

In its wider sense, Thessaly presents the immense contrasts of the excellent plain (τὸ Θεσσαλικὸν πεδίον) and the mountains. On its western side, we have mount PINDUS (now Mezzowo, probably a Wallachian name), the highest of all the Greek mountains, which has only very few passes; that of Gomphi, leading from Epirus into Thessaly, is the most convenient, and very easy to defend, on account of the nature of the country. On the south of the Peneus we have mount OTHRYS, a tame mountain, to use a Swiss expression, which is, indeed, covered with wood, but is, nevertheless, capable of being cultivated, and is used in some parts as pasture to a very great height; it is a smiling and beautiful mountain, with excellent underwood, whereas the higher parts of Pindus produce only firs. Pindus, consisting only of rocks and forests, is a lofty mountain, and a continuation of the great Illyrian SCARDUS, which extends from the Julian Alps in Carniola, through Bosnia and Dalmatia, as far as Constantinople, rising higher and higher, until, on the coast near Scutari, it reaches its highest point, and forms its real central knot. Although Scardus is not covered with snow all the year round, it is, at any rate, very close to the region of perpetual snow; its ravines and summits are covered with it during the greater part of the year. The mountain then suddenly sinks down, and geographically, though not ethnographically, separates Illyricum from Macedonia, and runs out into Pindus and Othrys. At this point Pindus begins, which is joined in the east by mount Othrys. The Dolopian and Aetolian mountains, for which no general names are mentioned by the ancients, run parallel with mount Othrys, and mount Parnassus is an off-shoot of them. On the southern frontier of Thessaly, in its widest sense, we meet with mount OETA, which is not so much a mountain as a series of separate hills; the name Oeta is not applicable to it in the interior of the country; the pass of Thermopylae runs between its foot and the Euboean sea. Oeta is a sublime mountain, and renowned in Greek mythology on account of the death of Heracles.

In the north of the valley of the Peneus, a range of very high mountains, some of which are not distinguished by particular names, extends towards Olympus; a part of them is called by Livy _montes Cambunii_, but we have no distinct information as to the extent to which this name is applicable, though from our maps it would seem as if we had. These mountains issue from the high ranges which, on the extreme borders of Thessaly, in its widest sense, proceed from Macedonia, and form another ramification of the Illyrian Scardus, terminating in mount OLYMPUS, which towers far above the clouds, and is always covered with snow. Every one knows that Olympus is the abode of the Homeric gods; but it is not so generally known, that the Roman poets, Ennius, Virgil, and others, when applying the name Olympus to the vault of heaven, confound Greek mythology and Roman theology. The Greeks conceived the gods as dwelling on the top of the mountain, while the Romans imagined that they lived beyond the heavenly vault, whence Ennius has the expression _maxima porta Olympi_, a conception quite foreign to the Greeks. I shall hereafter explain why the Greeks called this mountain the centre of the earth, and that, too, before Delphi was described in these terms; for it is strange indeed, Olympus being properly beyond the boundaries of Greece.

Mount OSSA, opposite to Olympus, is not quite so high; the river Peneus flows between these two mountains through the valley of Tempe into the sea. This valley, τὰ Θεσσαλικὰ Τέμπη, was celebrated in antiquity for its beauty. The ancients, on the whole, do not often speak of the beauties of nature, for they are not sentimental; and if they do so, it is always in reference to pleasing and smiling scenery. The description of Tempe in Aelian, taken from Theopompus, is perhaps the most accurate we have in any ancient writer. Dodwell also describes it as equally wonderful; it is from four to five miles in length, and forms not a smooth and splendid district with a luxuriant vegetation, but majestic scenery, resembling, for example, that on the Eisak between Botzen and Brixen in the Tyrol, or that grand scenery in the valley of the Inn: its beauty is manly and sublime.

Mount PELION extends to the south-east of Ossa, and is one of the most beautiful mountains in the world: it is lovely and fertile up to its top; it is covered with chesnut-trees, and is probably the place from which they have spread over the world, for their nuts are called _nuces Castaneae_, from the town of Castanea on the Pagasaean gulf. Among the Greek botanists, Pelion is celebrated for its richness in medicinal plants, and for the variety of its trees. Previously to the present wretched state of the country, many large villages existed about mount Pelion; it was the happiest district; its inhabitants enjoyed great privileges, and as they were very industrious and under the special protection of the sultans to whom the district belonged as a fief, they were enabled to pay a large tribute, but lived in the interior quite undisturbed and without suffering any ill usage. Their excellent warehouses, which were known also to German merchants, are now entirely destroyed, although the inhabitants have not risen against the Porte.

This is the physical outline of the mountains. Phthiotis is an entirely mountainous country between Othrys, the Euboean sea and the gulf of Iolcus; but the mountains are not high. The remaining part of Thessaly is not absolutely a plain, for the mountains rise gradually, and the country is intersected by ranges of hills. Thessaly has two gulfs, that near Thermopylae called Μαλιακός or Πυλαϊκός, and the Παγασητικός or Ἰωλκίτης.

I shall now proceed to consider the population. According to the most ancient traditions, Thessaly was inhabited by all kinds of people of quite different names. The poets are fond of applying to the country, in the ancient mythical period, the name AEMONIA, which in those times is not an inappropriate name for Thessaly.[65] Among its earliest inhabitants, we have mention of the LAPITHAE, who dwelt on mount Pelion, I do not exactly know where, and are said to have expelled the CENTAURI. It is quite clear that the Greeks, in their mythology, conceived the Centaurs only as mythical beings; the explanation of a race of men living on horseback, is of late origin, and altogether uncertain; such a race, moreover, belongs to a plain and not to the mountains.

The only river, besides the Peneus, which is of any historical importance, is the SPERCHIUS or SPERCHEUS in the south, which falls into the Euboean sea about four miles north of Thermopylae. Of poetical interest are the APIDANUS and the ANAURUS near Iolcus, on the banks of which Jason is said to have lost his shoe. In the west, in the territory of Pherae, we may notice lake Boebeis.

The Thessalians are regarded as an Epirot people, that is, as Thesprotians, who, under their chief Thessalus, conquered Aemonia. Along with the Lapithae, it is said, Aeolian tribes occupied the country, Boeotians living in the valley of Arne, and others elsewhere. Thessaly is sometimes also regarded as the real Αἰολίς. It is impossible to ascertain the true history of the Thesprotians, for our accounts of them directly contradict each other. Thessalians are said to have migrated from Dodona into Thessaly, and Peraebi again are reported to have penetrated from Thessaly into the mountains of Epirus, whence it is probable that here too the identity of the nations gave rise to the traditions about immigration. I do not mean to deny the immigration, but our accounts of it are completely devoid of authenticity. I lay, however, great stress upon the fact, that Thessalians and Pelasgians are synonymous in the ancient poems and genealogies, which are known to us, at least substantially, from the scholiasts on Apollonius Rhodius and the Iliad. This is a grand discovery, and one from which new treasures are still to be gathered: the Alexandrian school always deserves to be spoken of with the greatest respect; the statements contained in these scholia make up for the loss of the poetical lays. At Cyzicus Thessalians and Pelasgians are mentioned; in Lemnos we find Thessalian Minyans, and the Pelasgians of Ravenna and Agylla are likewise called Thessalians. Somewhat later genealogists, as Hellanicus in his Phoronis, account for the Pelasgians dwelling in the most distant countries by emigration from Thessaly under Pelasgus and his son[66] Nanas, which is to us only a hint. But the statement that the Thessalians in the valley of Thessaly were foreign immigrants, is credible on account of their internal constitution and their system of servitude, which suggests the subjugation of the ancient population. A system of servitude so fully developed as in the Wendish parts of Germany, occurs nowhere in Greece except in Thessaly; I do not mean to say, that it did not exist in many other parts also, for traces of it are found in the notes of Ruhnkenius on Timaeus. In Greece proper helotism is well known; at Athens it never existed, though we find it in Ionia, Chios, Argos, Crete, Syracuse, and Magna Graecia; but it was nowhere so permanent as in Thessaly, where it continued down to the time of the Romans. Its name is πενεστεία, which expresses both the body of the serfs and the relation in which they lived; it does not seem to have originally been the name of a nation, but must probably be derived, as was done by the ancients, from πένομαι, and πένης, a poor man.[67]