292 SEE— TEMPERATURE, SECULAR COOLING [April 20, 



when the houses by violence of the shake fell down in confused heaps; so 

 that (by the darkness of the night and the suddenness of the ruine) men 

 were in that perplexity that they knew not which way to turn themselves for 

 security; in so much as the greatest part of the inhabitants (buried in the 

 rubbish of the houses) miserably perished. But as soon as it was day some 

 came running out of the houses, and thinking they had escaped the danger, 

 fell into a far greater and unexpected mischief; for the sea raged to that 

 degree, and broke in with that violence that it swallowed up them and their 

 houses together. Two cities of Achaia, one called Helica and the other 

 Bura, chiefly suffered by this sad accident, of which two Helica was of the 

 greatest account of any of the cities of Achaia. 



" There was a very hot dispute concerning the cause of this evil. In- 

 deed the natural philosophers do generally ascribe all such events to Natural 

 Causes, and necessary circumstances, and not to any Divine Hand ; But they 

 who have more reverend thoughts and sentiments of a Deity, give a very 

 probable account of this matter, that this destruction was the effect of the 

 Anger of the Gods, for the impious violation of the rights of Religion, of 

 which we shall give a more particular account. ..." 



After describing the impious conduct of the Heliconians, Dio- 

 dorus continues : 



"Upon this they of Helica siezed upon all the goods of the lonians and 

 committed the Ambassadors to Prison, and so carried it very impiously to- 

 wards the Deity. Therefore they say Neptune being angry, to revenge him- 

 self upon their impiety (by this earthquake and inundation of the sea) 

 brought this grievous calamity upon those cities. And that it was done by 

 him they use this for an argument: That it is generally believed that this 

 God hath the power of iniindatio7is and earthquakes in his own hands; and 

 that Peloponnesus had been ever reputed the Habitation of Neptune, and the 

 country dedicated to him and that all the Peloponnesian cities worshipped this 

 God above all others. Besides this, they give a further reason of said acci- 

 dent. There are (as they say) in Peloponnesus great cavities underground, 

 which by the sea flowing here and there through the earth are turned into 

 great Ponds and Lakes of water. And indeed it is very certain that there 

 are two rivers in that Peninsula, which apparently fall into the caverns of 

 the earth. For the Rivers which ran by Pheneum in former Ages sank in 

 one place into the earth, and became invisible, being swallowed in these 

 caverns underground. Another was lost at a great opening of the earth at 

 Stymphius, and ran unseen underground for the space of two hundred stages, 

 and rose again near the city Argos." (Diodorus Siculus, Lib. XV., Cap. V., 

 translated by G. Booth, London, 1700.) 



2. ^Jianns, De Natitra Animaliitm. — This well known author 

 probably flourished in the time of the Emperor Hadrian. His ac- 

 count of the earthquake at Helike is short but very clear. As given 

 in Teubner's edition of the works of ^lianus, Leipzig, 1864, the 

 account (xl., 19) runs thus:^ 



^ Rev. Theodore F. Burnham very kindly verified the translation now 

 offered. 



