T H E 



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THE 



pus in the .depth and duration of its snows, though it i 

 1100 feet less in height. Between Ossa and Olympus lie; 

 the celebrated Vale and Pass of Tempe (or the Cut), thi 

 Turkish name of which is Bogaz (or the Pass). [TEMPE.] 

 The two principal rivers of Thessaly into which t.h( 

 smaller streams fall are the Peneus and the Spercheius. Thi 

 Peneus rises in the north-west of Thessaly under Pindus 

 between the lower ridges of which and the outliers of tin 

 Cambunian range its upper valleys are confined. Nea; 

 Meteora, not far from the rocky Ithome of Homer, its basii 

 opens somewhat towards the south. At Tricca it makes a 

 turn to the east, and its valley expands into a vast plain 

 towards the south-east, on the right of the river, though i 

 is still confined by the hills on the left, till within abow 

 10 miles from Larissa, where there is a considerable flat 

 on the north, the soil of which is said to be alluvial 

 After leaving Tricca the course is generally north-east, anc 

 passing along the Vale of Tempe, the only outlet for the 

 waters of Thessaly, it empties itself into the /Egean Sea, 

 Though fed by the most considerable rivers of Thessaly.. 

 it is a very small stream, and generally sluggish and shai- 

 Ipw, except after the melting of the snows, when it some- 

 times floods the surrounding plains. The Marsh or Lake 

 Ni'sonis, on the road between Larissa and Gonnus, is said 

 to be caused by the floods of the river. The principal 

 tributary of the Peneus on the north is the Titaresius, now 

 the Saranta Poros. It was said to rise in Mount Titarus, 

 a part of the Cambunian range, and it joins the Peneus a 

 little above the Vale of Tempe. The waters of the two 

 rivers did not however mingle ; those of the Titaresius 

 being impregnated with a fat unctuous substance, which 

 floated like oil on the surface. (Strabo, ix., p. 441.) This 

 river was also called the Eurptas, and supposed to be a 

 branch of the Styx, one of the rivers of the Infernal Regions. 

 At the present day the inhabitants of its banks are remark- 

 able for their healthy complexion, while the Peneus is sur- 

 rounded by a sickly population. Its waters also are said to 

 be clear and dark-coloured, while those of the Peneus are 

 muddy and white. (Miiller, Dorians, b. i., c. 1, s. 6.) On 

 the south the affluents of the Peneus were more numerous. 

 The principal of them were, the Pamisus, the Onochonus, 

 the Eniptus, and the Apidanus. The Pamisus joins the 

 Peneus to the east of Tricca, and is probably the modern 

 Fanari. The Enipeus, rising in Mount Othrys, flowed from 

 mth-west of Phthiotis and fell into the Apidanus. It 

 is now called the river of Goura. The Apidanus is now the 

 Vlacho lani. Herodotus describes it as one of the largest 

 rivers of Achaia, but still inadequate to the supply of the 

 Persian army with water. 



The second great river of Thessaly was the Spercheius, 

 now the Hellada. It flows from Tymphrestus, a branch of 

 Pindus, and after winding through a long narrow vale 

 between the ridges of Othrys and CEta, it falls into the 

 Maliac Gulf. It was much celebrated by the antient poets, 

 and Homer mentions it as belonging to the territory of 

 Achilles round the Maliac Gulf. Its bed and mouth have 

 undergone many changes from the deposit of alluvial 

 matter. (Gt-11, Itiner., p. 216.) 



'Ix <>f Thennaly. The principal road was that which 

 led from Larissa to Thermopylae, by Pharsalus, Thaumaku 

 and Lamia. From the same point another road branched 

 off to Crannon, Pherse, Demetrias, and along the shores of 

 the Pagasaean and Maliac bays, terminating likewise at 

 Thermopylae. From Larissa again there was another route 

 by the valley of the Peneus as far as Gomphi, the general 

 direction of which was from east to west. From Gomphi 

 it crossed the chain of Pindus by the Pass of Clinovo to 

 Ambracia and Nicopolis. 



The islands connected with Thessaly are very few. They 

 consist of a group lying off the Magnesian coast, and 

 stivtchini: in a north-easterly direction towards Mount 

 Athos and the isle of Lemnos. 



The plains of Thessaly, with the exception of those of 

 Baeotia, were amongst the most fertile and productive of 

 Greece in wine, oil, and grain, but more especially in 

 grain, of which it exported a considerable quantity. The 

 alians consequently became very rich, and luxurious 

 in their mode of life (At/ten., xii. 624) ; and so notorious 

 were they for it, that they were charged with having en- 

 couraged'^ the Persians to invade Greece, with a view of 

 rivalling them in sensuality and extravagance. Thcssuly 

 was also famous for its cavalry, the best in Greece : its 

 plpins supplied abundance of forage for horses. 



The lands of Thessaly were not cultivated by the Thes- 

 salians themselves, but by a subject population, the Pe- 

 nestae. The account given of them is, that they were the 

 descendants of the ^Eolian Boeotians, who did not emigrate 

 when their country was conquered by the Thessalians, but 

 surrendered themselves to the conquerors on condition 

 that they should remain in the country and cultivate the 

 land for the new owners of the soil, paying, by way of rent, 

 a portion of its produce. Many of them were richer than 

 their lords. (Athenaeus, vi., p. 264.) They sometimes 

 accompanied their masters to battle, and fought on horse- 

 back as their knights or vassals. They formed a consider- 

 able portion of the population, and frequently attempted 

 to emancipate themselves. 



History of Thessaly. The earliest information about 

 the history of Thessaly is given by Homer (Iliad, ii. 710), 

 who describes the country as divided into several inde- 

 pendent principalities and kingdoms, and enumerates the 

 chiefs to whom they were subject at the time of the Trojan 

 war. This arrangement however was not of long continu- 

 ance, and a new constitution, dating probably from that 

 epoch, was adopted, as it would seem, by the common 

 consent of the different states. They agreed to unite in 

 one confederate body, under a president or Tagus, elected 

 by the members of the confederacy. Strabo (ix. 429) in- 

 forms us that this confederacy was the most considerable 

 as well as the most antient society of the kind established 

 in Greece. Whether it was in any way connected with 

 the Amphictyonic body cannot be determined with cer- 

 tainty, but it is deserving of remark that the majority of 

 the A-mphictyonic states were either Thessalian or in 

 some way connected with Thessaly. It does not however 

 seem that this confederation was productive of any great 

 benefit to the country ; for, except during a very short 

 period, under Jason of Pherse, Thessaly never assumed 

 that rank among the states of Greece to which it was by 

 its position and extent entitled. Many of the cities more- 

 over were from time to time in the power of usurpers, or 

 under the sway of powerful families, so that the nation had 

 no means of acting as a body. One remarkable instance 

 of this occurred at the time of the Persian war, when the 

 Thessalian house of the Aleuadae, the princes of Larissa 

 (Herodotus, vii. 6, calls them kings of Thessaly), either 

 because they thought their power insecure, or with a view 

 to increase it by becoming vassals of the Persian king, in- 

 vited Xerxes to the conquest of Greece. That the Thes- 

 salian nation was in general opposed to their schemes 

 appears from the fact that the Thessalians applied to the 

 other states of Greece for assistance against Xerxes, and 

 wished them, in conjunction with themselves, to oppose 

 tim at the Pass of Tempe. The confederate Greeks did 

 not think it expedient to do this, believing it impossible 

 ;o make any effectual resistance to the north of Thermo- 

 pylae ; and the Thessalians, being left to their own re- 

 sources, submitted to the invaders, to whom they proved 

 active and zealous allies. A few years before this they 

 lad sustained a severe defeat from the Phocians, which 

 aggravated the rancour of an old enmity. The Thessn- 

 ians, who were eager to take vengeance for this defeat, 

 availed themselves of their influence with Xerxes to direct 

 lis march through Phocis, and to stimulate his fury against 

 he inhabitants (B.C. 480). After the Persian invasion, 

 ;he Greek historians take little notice of the affairs of 

 Phessaly, except on the occasion of the expedition under- 

 aken by the Athenians for the purpose of reinstating 

 3restes, son of Echecratidas, a king of Thessaly, as Thu- 

 cydides (i. Ill) calls him, who had been banished from his 

 country. The Athenian general Myronides marched on 

 hat occasion as far as Pharsalus ; but he was checked in 

 lis progress by the Thessalians, who were superior in ca- 

 valry ; and he was forced to retire, without having accom- 

 )lished the objects of his expedition. In the Peloponnesian 

 var the Thessalians did not as a nation take any part, 

 hough several of the towns were in favour of the Athe- 

 nians, between whom and the Thessalians there was an old 

 alliance. It would seem moreover that the bias of the 

 nation was in favour of the Athenians, for Brasidas, the 

 Spartan general, was obliged to march through Thessaly 

 B.C. 424) with secrecy and dispatch when traversing that 

 jountry on his march towards Thrace. (Thucyd., iv. 78.) 

 Vot long afterwards, some troops which were sent out 

 >y the Lacedaemonians to reinforce their army in that 

 [uarter, were so vigorously opposed by the Thessalians, 



