62 Before Chrift 502 — 497. 



verted by the aftonifhing fuccefs of Alexander. The torch of war was 

 kindled by the revolt of the lonians, who difpatched Ariftagoras as 

 their ambaflador to folicit the alliftance of the European Greeks. 



502 — The wonderful proficiency of the Babylonians in aflronomy 

 in a very early age has already been noticed. The application of the 

 fame principles to the furface of the earth conflitutes the fcience of 

 geography, which defcribes the figure and extent of the various coun- 

 tries, iflands, rivers, feas, &c. The artifiis of Babylon were probably 

 thofe, whom the Perfian monarchs employed to conftruft the maps en- 

 graved on plates of brafs, which the governors or fatraps appear to have 

 received along with their commiffions, and which contained the Per- 

 fian dominions, or, as Herodotus exprelTes it, [L. v, c. 49] all the lands, 

 feas, and rivers, in the world. Ariftagoras, who before the revolt was 

 vaflal king or governor of Miletus, carried his brafen map with him to 

 Sparta in order to explain the facility with which the Greeks might 

 make themfelves raafi:ers of the Perfian empire. But the Spartans, 

 whofe fingular confi:itution rejected what they efteemed fuperfluous 

 knowlege, as well as fuperfluous wealth and luxury, paid no attention 

 to his geographical demonfl: ration, nor would they lifi:en to a propofal, 

 which was to carry them a three-months journey from home *. Arif- 

 tagoras had better fuccefs with the other ft:ates of Greece, and the Athe- 

 nians in particular determined to afllft the lonians with twenty fhips ; 

 and thofe fliips, Herodotus obferves, proved the fource of the calami- 

 ties, which afterwards fell upon both Greeks and Perfians. 



500 — In a naval engagement on the coafl: of Cyprus, we are told, 

 that the Phoenician fleet was defeated by that of the lonians, among 

 whom the Samians made the mofl diftinguilhed figure. Nor need we 

 wonder, that the Phoenicians, no longer the invincible fovereigns of 

 the fea, but degraded to the condition of vaflids of Perfia, fliould be 

 found inferior, even on their own element, to the Greeks, now fafl: 

 rifing to the character of an enlightened, free, and commercial, people. 



497 — The lonians and their allies of the iflands direded all their ex- 

 ertions to the improvement of their maritime power, on which they 

 placed their principal dependence in their attempt to fliake off the Per- 

 fian yoke. They accordingly coUeded a fleet of 353 warlike vefl^els, 

 whereof 100 were furniflied by the ifland of Chios, 70 by LcAdos, and 

 60 by Samos. Thefe were oppofed by 600 fliips belonging to the ma- 

 ritime vafliils of Perfia, and chiefly under the diredion of the Phoeni- 

 cians. It is probable, that, if the commanders of the Grecian fleet 



• When Herodotus [Z,. viii, c. 132] icpafciits tans, vvliofc king Lcutychides was tlicn commandt;' 



the Greeks a few years alter this time as ignorant of the (Ireciaii fleet. It could not apply to the 



of eveiy eountrv hcyoiid Delos, and believing that rell of the Gieeks, who were in general acqiiaint- 



Samo« was as diflant as the Pillais of Hereules, ed with the fea ; and it is difficult to conceive that 



the rcflctlion mull furely be conhned to the Spar- even the Spaitans could be fo exceflivcly ignorant. 



