roi 



DELPHI. 



DENBIGH. 



702 



Delian god, and joined it to Delos by a chain. Delos fell into th 

 power of the Athenians in the time of Peisistratus, and then a partia 

 purification of the island took place by the removal of the tomb 

 which were within sight of the temple. In the year B.C. 426 a complet 

 purification of Delos was made by the Athenians ; all the tombs ther 

 were removed, and it was proclaimed that no one should thencefortl 

 die or be born in the island, but that all persons likely to die or brin, 

 forth should be sent over to Rheneia. (Thucyd. i. 8 ; iii. 104.) Th 

 Athenians instituted at Delos a festival, which returned at th 

 beginning of every fifth year, called the Delia, and sent thithe 

 annually a sacred vessel, called the Theoris, in commemoration of th 

 delivery of Athens by Theseus from the Cretan tribute. (Plat 

 ' Pha:do.') The Persians regarded Delos with so much veneration 

 that when they were sailing to Euboea, in B.C. 490, they would no 

 land there, but sent to offer a most sumptuous sacrifice to the Delian 

 Apollo. (Herod, vi. 97.) It was probably on account of the respec 

 which all parties paid to this temple that the Athenians selected it a. 

 the depository of the tribute which they collected from their alliei 

 after the Persian war. (Thucyd. i. 90.) In B.C. 422 the Athenian! 

 removed the whole population of Delos to Adramyttium, where the; 

 were allowed to settle by the satrap Pharnaces (Thucyd. v. 1), an! 

 where many of them were afterwards treacherously massacred by the 

 Persians. (Thucyd. viii 108). When Corinth was destroyed by 

 Mummius, Delos succeeded to the commerce of that city, and was foi 

 very flourishing; but the generals of Mithridates having landec 

 there in the war between that monarch and the Romans, the islanc 

 was laid waste by them, and remained in a state of great desolation 

 (Strabo, p. 486.) In the days of their prosperity the Delians carried 

 on a very extensive slave-trade with Cilicia, and 10,000 slaves are 

 said to have been landed and sold in a single day. (Strabo, p. 668.) 

 The island was formerly famous for its palm-trees ; there are none 

 now on the island. Delos is little more than a mass of bare rock 

 about five miles round. The town Delos stood in a plain at the foot 

 of Mount Cynthus, a bare granite rock 400 or 500 feet high, on the 

 sides and summit of which are some architectural fragments of white 

 marble. The building that stood on the summit seems to have been 

 an Ionic temple. The town is now a heap of ruins. Whole ship- 

 loads of columns and other architectural remains were carried off 

 centuries ago to Venice and Constantinople. The chief buildings lay 

 between the circular basin and the harbour. The ruins of the great 

 temple of Apollo may be distinctly traced ; and there are still remains 

 of the colossal statue of Apollo dedicated by the Naxians. The only 

 inhabitants now are a few shepherds and goatherds from Myconus. 



Coin of Delos. 

 Brituh Museum. Actual sie. Copper. Weight, 55 grains. 



The island of Rheneia, half a mile distant, is larger than Delos, being 

 ten miles round. It consists of two parts connected by an isthmus. 

 The southern part was the burial place for Delos, and still contains 

 numerous tombs. On both Delos and Rheneia are ruins of many 

 private houses. Both islands are now called Dhilet. 



(Leake, Northern Greece.) 



DELPHI, now CASTBI, a town of Phocis, celebrated for its oracle 

 of Apollo. Its original name was Pytho, which some derive from 

 TufleVflcu, ' inquire ;' others from the serpent Pytho, which Apollo 

 slew here ; and Homer does not call it by its more modern appellation. 

 There was a legend that two eagles sent by Jupiter from the east and 

 west met at Delphi, and in the temple was a stone adorned with two 

 golden eagles and other devices, which was called the navel-stone, 

 signifying that Delphi was the navel of the earth : representations of 

 this may be seen on many ancient monuments. The oracles were 

 delivered by a priestess, who sat upon a tripod placed over the mouth 

 of the cavern in which the serpent Pytho was buried, and who, having 

 exhaled the vapour, pronounced some prophecy in verse or prose ; if 

 in prose, it was afterwards set to verse by the poets attached to the 

 temple. The great reputation of the Delphian oracle made it the 

 richest shrine in Greece, as every person who was satisfied with the 

 response he obtained made a point of offering some costly donation 

 to the temple. The first stone temple at Delphi was built by Tropho- 

 nius and Agamedes ; this having been destroyed by fire B.C. 548, a 

 new one wag built by the Amphictyons from the proceeds of a 

 voluntary subscription to which Amasis, the king of Egypt, largely 

 contributed. The Alcmreonidse, who contracted to build it, very 

 liberally substituted Parian marble in the front of the building for the 

 common stone of which they had undertaken to construct the edifice. 

 (Herod, ii. 180; v. 62.) The wealth of Delphi naturally attracted 

 plunderer*. The Persians under Xerxes made an unsuccessful attempt 

 to get possession of the treasures accumulated there. (Herod, viii. 37.) 

 The Phocian leaders in the sacred war did not hesitate to appropriate 

 them as a fund for the payment of their mercenaries (Strabo, p. 421); 

 and Brennus, or Bran, the Gallic king, subsequently carried off the 



greater part of the offerings which remained. (Strabo, p. 188.) There 

 were however still some objects for the rapacity of Nero, who carried 

 off 500 bronze statues at once. (Pausan., 'Phoc.' 5.) The city of 

 Delphi, which was the largest in Phocis (Pausau., ' Phoc.' 34), was 

 situated in the narrow vale of the Pleistus, on an elevation, sixteen 

 stadia in circumference, at the foot of the south side of Parnassus 

 (Strabo, p. 418) ; and as the focus of the Dorian religion, and the seat 

 of the most celebrated oracle in Greece, it naturally became populous 

 and wealthy. The population consisted of Dorians, who formed the 



families made an oligarchy, from which the priests, the Pythian court 

 of justice, and a limited senate, were chosen. (Muller, iii. 9, 17.) 

 Delphi was from very early times the rendezvous of an important 

 federal union, or amphictyony, the organisation of which is attributed 

 by Strabo to Acrisius. (Thii-lwall, ' Hist. Greece.') 



Coin of Delphi. 

 British Museum. Actual size. Silver. Weight, 22J grains. 



The topography of Delphi, and the remains still existing there, are 

 accurately described by Leake, ' Northern Greece,' vol. ii. ; and by 

 Ulrich, ' Keisen und Forschungen in Griechenland.' 



DELTA, the name of the fourth letter of the Greek alphabet. It 

 was originally given by the Greeks to that part of Lower Egypt 

 which, being comprised between the two main branches of the Nile 

 and the sea, had a triangular form, somewhat resembling the Greek 

 letter A. The same name has since been extended to all those 

 alluvial tracts, whether of triangular form or not, at the mouths of 

 rivers which empty themselves into other rivers, into lakes, or iuto 

 the sea by two or more diverging branches. Of the different circum- 

 stances which contribute to the formation of deltas two are essential : 

 first, the river, in the lower part of its course, must open out or 

 spread sufficiently to have the motion of its waters considerably 

 retarded ; and secondly, it must either be habitually or periodically 

 charged with fine detrital matter, which it deposits when its motion 

 is diminished or its progress checked. 



The principal deltas of Europe are those of the RhCue, the Danube, 

 and the Po. Many other rivers however form deltas, such as the 

 Ebro, the Vistula, the Neva, the Dwina, the Don, &c. The delta of 

 the Rhine has been, as it were, obliterated by the irruption of the 

 Zuydersee, though the whole of Holland is a formation of deltoid 

 islands, created by the anastomosing branches of the Rhine, the 

 Meuse, and the Schelde. The deltoid form of the mouths of the 

 Petchora is no longer recognisable in the group of islands at its 

 embouchure. 



In Asia, the principal deltas are those of the Ganges, the Indus, 

 ;he Irrawaddi, the Cavery, the Euphrates, the Oural, the Lena, and 



In 1 Kolima. 



The Volga, before entering the Caspian, is split into a great number 

 of branches; but the space which they inclose, in strictness, bears 

 ittle resemblance to a delta. 



In Africa, the Nile and the Niger ; and 



In America, the Mississippi and the Orinoco form the principal 

 deltas. 



DELVI'NO, a town, or rather large village in the interior of Albania 

 Turkey in Europe), in a rich plain at the foot of the south-western 

 ilope of the mountain range of Khima'ra. It is 45 miles N,W. from 

 'aniua, and about 15 miles N.E. from Butrinto. It was formerly 

 he residence of a pasha, and had a population of SOOO, but the 

 population is now said to be greatly reduced. There is a castle at 

 )elvino, and a Greek bishop still resides in the town. 



DEMBEA. [ABYSSINIA.] 



DEMERARA. [GUYANA, BRITISH.] 



DEMETRIO, SAN. [ABRDZZO.] 



DEMONA, VAL DI. [NAPLES; SICILY.] 



DENBIGH, Denbighshire, the county town, a municipal and 

 jarliamentary borough, and market-town in the parish of Denbigh, 

 s situated hi the vale of Clwyd in 53 10' N. lat., 3 23' W. long.; 

 distant 213 miles N.W. from London. The population of the borough 

 n 1851 was 5498. It is governed by four aldermen and twelve 

 ouncillors, one of whom is mayor ; and with Ruthin, Holt, and 

 tVrexham returns one member to the Imperial Parliament. The 

 Epiphany and Trinity quarter-sessions are held here ; the other 

 essions and assizes are held at Ruthin. The living is a rectory in 

 lie diocese and archdeaconry of St. Asaph. 



The town of Denbigh is built on the rugged sides of a steep 

 nsulated hill, the summit of which is erowned by the picturesque 

 uins of the castle ; the principal street contains several good private 

 esidences. The original town was situated on the summit of the 

 ock, but about the middle of the Ib'th century most of the streets 

 ero demolished, and tho town was almost deserted; a new and 



