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GPKtCE, ANCIEXT. 



OnKF-CE, AKCIENT. 



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from the reign of Miooe of Crete, who acquired a naval power and 

 cleared the iEgran See of piratea. Among the moat celebrated 

 karoae of thie period were Bellarophon and Peneoa, wboae adTentura 

 were laid in the Kaat; Theaeni, the lung of Athens; and Herenlee. 

 Tradition also preaerved the account of ex[ieditions undertaken by 

 ■everal cbirfa united together, auch aa that of the Argonauts, of the 

 Seven against Tbebea, and of the siege of Troy, B.c. 1184. 



Steoaa Pmied : — Prom the Sitge of Troy lo the eommeneement of the 

 Ptrtian Wan, aa fiOO.— We learn from Thucydidee (L 12) that the 

 population of Orceea was in a very unsettled state for some time 

 after the Trojan war. Of the Tarions migrations which appear to 

 have taken place, the most important in their consequenoes were 

 those of the Boeotians from Thesaaly into the countir afterwards 

 called Bceotia, and of the Dorians into Peloponnesus, the former in 

 the 60tli and the latter in the 80th year after the Trojan war. 

 About the same period the western coast of Asia Minor was colonised 

 by the Oreeka. The ancient inhabitants of Bosotia, who had been 

 driren out of their homes by the invasion of the Bceotians, together 

 with some <£olians, whence it has acquired the name of the iEolian 

 migration, left Boeotia, B.O. 1124, and settled in Lesbos and the north- 

 western comer of Asia Minor. They were followed by the lonians 

 in B.C. 1040, who, having been driven by the Achnans from their 

 abode on the Corinthian Qulf, had taken refuge in Attica, whence 

 they emigrated to Asia Minor and settled on the Lydian coast. The 

 ■outh-westem part of the coast of Asia Minor was also colonised 

 about the same period by Dorians. The number of Greek colonies, 

 considering the extent of the mother country, was very great ; and 

 the readiness with which the Greeks left their homes to settle in 

 foreign parts forms a characteristic feature in their national character. 

 In the 7th century s.a the Greek colonies took another direction : 

 Cyrene, in Africa, was founded by the inhabitants of There ; and the 

 coasts of Sicily and the southern part of Italy became studded with 

 BO many Greek cities, that it acquii-ed the atuname of the Great, or 

 Greater Greece. 



The two states of Greece which attained the greatest historical 

 celebrity were Sparta and Athens. The power of Athens was of 

 later growth ; but Sparta had from the time of the Dorian conquest 

 taken the lead among the Peloponneaian Rtates, a position which she 

 maintained by the conquest of the fertile countnr of Messenia, B.C. 

 688. _ Her superiority was probably owing to the nature of her 

 political institutions, which are said to have been fixed on a firm 

 basis by her celebrated lawgiver Lycurgus, ac. 884. Athens only 

 roee to importance in the century preceding the Peraian wars ; but 

 even in this period her power was not more than a match for the 

 little states of Megaris and .£gina. 



We have already seen that the kingly form of government was 

 prevalent in the heroic age. But during the period that elapsed 

 between the Trojan war and the Peraian invasion hereditary political 

 power was abolidied in almost all the Greek states, with the exception 

 of Sparta, and a republican form of government established in its 

 ■tead. Ill studying the histoiy of the Greeks we must bear in mind 

 that almost every city formed an independent state, and that, with 

 the exception of Athens and Sparta, which exacted obedience from 

 the other towns of Attica and Laconia respectively, there was hardly 

 any state which poa se e ae d more than a few miles of territory. Fre- 

 qnent wan between each other were the almost unavoidable conse- 

 quence of the existence of so many small states nearly equal in power. 

 The evils which arose from this state of things were partly remedied 

 by the influence of the Amphic^onic council, and by the religious 

 games and festivals which were held at stated periods in different 

 parts of Greece, and during the celebration of which no wan were 

 carried on. 



In the 6th century before the Christian sera Greece rapidly advanced 

 in knowledge and civilisation. Literature and the fine arts were 

 already cultivated in Athens under the auspices of Pisistratus and his 

 sods; and the products of remote countries were introduced into 

 Greece by the merchants of Corinth and iUgina. 



Third Period: — From the commencanaU of the Periian van to the 

 death of Philip of Maeedon, B.c. 886. — This was the most splendid 

 period of Grecian history. The assistance which the Athenians gave 

 to the Asiatic Greeks in their resistance to the Persians, and the part 

 which they took in the burning of Sardis, ac. 499, drew upon them 

 the vengeance of Darius. After the reduction of the Asiatic Greeks, 

 a Penian army was sent into Attica, but was entirely defeated at 

 Marathon, aa 490, by the Athenians under Miltiadea. Ten yean 

 afterwards the whole power of the Persian empire was directed 

 against Greece ; an immense army, led in person by Xerxes, advanced 

 aa far aa Attica, and received the submission of almost all the Grecian 

 ■tatas, with the exception of Athens and Sparta. But this expedition 

 abo biled ; the Persian fleet was destroyed by the batUes of Artemi- 

 siom and Salamis ; and the land forces were entirely defeated fai the 

 foUowfaig year, ac. 479, at PUtaia in Bceotia. Sparte had, previous 

 to the Penian invasion, bean regarded by the other Greeks as the 

 first power in Greece, and accordingly she obtained the supreme com- 

 mand of the army and fleet in the Penian war. But during the 

 conne of this war the Athenians had made greater sacrifices, and had 

 shown a greater degree of patriotism and courage. After the battle 

 of FlatMt a confederacy was formed by the Grecian sUtes for the 



purpose of carrying on the war against the Persians. Sparta was at 

 first placed at the head of it ; but the allies, disgtisted with the 

 tyranny of Pausanias, the Spartan commander, gave the supremacy to 

 Athena. The allies, who consisted of the inhabitants of the islands 

 and coasts of the .£gean Sea, war* to (binish contributions in money 

 and ships, and the delicate task of assessing the amount which twai 

 state was to pay was assigned to Aristidea. The yearly contribution 

 was settled at 460 talents, about 116,0002., and Deloa was chosen aa 

 the common treasury. The Athenians, under the command of 

 Cimon, carried on the war vigorously, defeated the Persian fleets, and 

 plundered the maritime provinces of the Persian empire. During 

 this period the power of Athens rapidly increased; she possessed a 

 succession of distinguished statesmen, Tbemistocles, Aristides, Cimon, 

 and Pericles, who all contributed to tb* advancement of her power, 

 though differing in their political views. Her maritime greatness was 

 founded by Tbemistocles, her revenues were increased by Pericles, 

 and her general prosperity, in connection with other causes, tended to 

 produce a greater degree of refinement than existed in any other part of 

 Greece. Literature was cultivated, and the arts of architecture and 

 sculpture, which were employed to ornament the city, were carried 

 to a degree of excellence that has never since been sorpsssed. While 

 Athens was advancing in power, Sparta had to maintujn a war against 

 the Messenians, who again revolted, and were joined by a great 

 number of the Spartan slaves (B.c. 464-455). The Athenians ^Rer 

 awhile began to treat the allied states with great tyranny, and to 

 regard them aa subjects, and not as independent states in alliance. 

 The dependent states, anxious to throw off the Athenian dominion, 

 entreated the assistance of Sparta, and thus, in conjunction with other 

 causes, arose the war between Sparta and Athens, which lasted for 

 twenty-seven yean (b.c. 431-404), and is usually known by the name 

 of the Peloponnesian War. It terminated by again placing Sparta at 

 the head of the Grecian states. Soon after the conclusion of this 

 war Sparta engaged in a contest with the Persian empire, which 

 lasted from B.o. 400 to 894. The splendid successes which Agesilaus, 

 the Spartan king, obtained over the Peraian troops in Asia Mmor, and 

 the manifest weakness of the Peraian empire, which had been already 

 shown by the retreat of the 10,000 Greeks from the heart of the 

 Persian empire, appear to have induced Agesilaus to entertain the 

 design of overthrowing the Peraian monarchy ; but ho was obliged to 

 return to his native country to defend it against a powerful con- 

 federacy which had been formed by the Corinthians, Thebans, Argives, 

 Athenians, and Thessalians, for the purpose of throwing off the S]iartan 

 dominion. The confederates were not however successful in their 

 attempt ; and the Spartan supremacy was again seciued for a brief 

 period by a general peace made ac. 387, usually known by the name 

 of the Peace of Antolcidasi Ten yean afterwards the rupture 

 between Thebes and Sparta b^an, whidi led to a general war in 

 Greece, and for a short time placed Thebes at the head of the Grecian 

 states ; but after the death of Epaminondas at the battle of Hantinea, 

 ac. 862, Thebes again sunk to its former obscurity. The Spartan 

 supremacy was however destroyed by this war, and her power still 

 more humbled by the restoration of Messenia to independence, B.c. 

 369. From the conclusion of this war to the reign of Philip of 

 Maoedon Greece remained without any ruling power. It is only 

 necessary here to mention the part which Philip took in the iSacred 

 War, which lasted ten yeara (ac. 356-346), in which he appeared as 

 the defender of the Amphictyonic council, and which terminated by 

 the conquest of the Phooians. The Athenians, urged on by Demos- 

 thenes, made an alliance with the Thebans for the purpose of resisting 

 Philip; but their defeat at Chsoronea, ac. 338 secured for the Macedonian 

 king the supremacy of Greece. In the same year a congress of Grecian 

 states was held at Corinth, in which Philip was chosen generalissimo 

 of the Greeks in a projected war against the Peraian empire ; but his 

 assassination in ac. 836 caused this enterprise to devolve upon his 

 son Alexander. 



Pourlh Period: — From the aceeition of Alexander the Oreat to the 

 Roman Conqueit, B.c. 146.— The conquests of Alexander extended 

 Greek influence over the greater part of Asia west of the Indus. 

 After his death the dominion of the East was contested by his generals, 

 and two powerful empires were permanently established ; that of the 

 Ptolemies in Egypt, and the Seleucidaa in Syria. The domiuious of 

 the early Syrian kings embraced the greater part of Western Asia ; 

 but their empire was soon divided into various independent kingdoms, 

 such as that of Bactria, Pergamos, Ac, in all of which the Greek 

 language was spoken, not merely at court, but to a considerable extent 

 in the towns. From the death of Alexander to the Roman conquest 

 Maeedon remained the ruling power in Greece. The .^tolian and 

 Aciuean leagues were formed, the former B.c. 324, the latter ac. 281, 

 for the purpose of resisting the Macedonian kings. Macedonia was 

 conquered by the Romans, B.c. 197, and the Greek states declared 

 independent. This however was merely nominal : they only exchanged 

 the rule of the Macedonian kings for that of the Roman people ; and 

 in ac. 146 Greece was reduced to the form of a Roman province, 

 called Achoia, though certain cities, such as Athens, Deljihi, sc., were 

 allowed to have the rank of free towns. The history of Greece from 

 this period forms part of that of the Roman empire. It was overrun 

 by the Goths in a.d. 267, and again in a.d. 398, under Alaric ; and 

 after being occupied by the crusaden and Venetians, at last fell into 



