G R iE C 1 A. 



names of confiderablc aiitliorky in tilfquifitions of this na- 

 ture, fuppofe that tlio dcrcciulauls of Peleg, the fourth in 

 defcent from them, t}ie fon of Noah, whom tliey fuppofe 

 to have been the father of the Scythians, were the firll 

 who peopled Greece ; and that they only foftened the name 

 of Peleg, or Phaleg, their proirenitor, and called them Pe- 

 lafgians. But Bochart (in his" Phaleg") (hews, that both 

 Phaleg and Ragau, and their defcendants, remained in the 

 confines of Media and Armenia ; and that the Scythians 

 were the defcendants of Magog, and not of Phaleg or Ra- 

 gau. Some have alferted that the moll ancient name of all 

 is that of lones, which tlie Greeks themfelves derive from 

 Xuthus, grandlbn to Dcncalion. Jofephus afiirms (Ant. 

 1. i. c. 7.) that their original is of much older date ; and 

 that Javan, the fon of Japhet, and grandfon of Noah, and 

 his defcendants, were the liril who peopled thefe countries ; 

 and in proof of this pofition the learned Bochart has alleged 

 feveral ilrong prefumptive arguments. He firll adduces the 

 authority of .lofephus, juft cited ; he then appeals to the 

 name of the patriarch, '.y, which, without the points, founds 

 more properly Ion than Javan ; he next alleges the autho- 

 rity of Mofc's, who fays (Gen. x. 5.) that "by thefe" 

 (the fons of Japhet) " were the ifles of the Gentiles divi- 

 ded ;'' which, according to the genius of the Hebrew, 

 mean, not iilands properly fo called, but all maritime coun- 

 tries, at any diftance from Paleftine, efpecially thofe which 

 are along the Mediterranean ; and he alfo refers to the pro- 

 phets (If. cap. ult. v. 19. Dan. viii. 21.x. 20) who call 

 Graecia by the name ly. Ion, or Javan, and hence the Jews 

 Lave always called the Greek tongue H'^T) Javanith. To 

 thefe arguments he adds that the clear remains of Elifha, 

 Javan's eldeft fon, are ftill to be found in that of Elis, one 

 of the ancient kingdoms of the Peloponnefus. 



Gk^CIA, or A/ic'wnt Greece, Geography of. Exclufively 

 of the provinces of Epirus and Macedonia, which long re- 

 mained barbarous and uncultivated, the continental pof- 

 feflions of the Greeks (fays Dr. Gillies,) were nearly equal 

 to Scotland in extent. In its length, comprehended between 

 the 36th and 41ft degrees of N. latitude, the whole coun- 

 try IS almoft equally divided by two oppofite gulfs, com- 

 preffing between them a mountainous neck of land, to the 

 breadth of only five miles, into the peninfula of Peloponne- 

 fus, and the territory extending northwards, from the ex- 

 tremity of the Corinthian iflhmus to the fouthcrn frontier of 

 Macedonia. The Peloponnefus, 160 miles in length, and 

 fcarccly 100 in breadth, is every where interfered by moun- 

 tains, particularly the towering ridges of Zarex and Tay- 

 getus. During the flourifhing ages of Greece, this fmall 

 peninfula contained feven independent communities of un- 



equal power and fame, vvliicii ranked in the following order ; 

 the comparatively large, and liighly diverfitied, territory of 

 Laconia ; the fruitful vale of Argos ; the extenfive coaft of 

 Achaia ; the narrow but commercial iflhmus of Corinth ; 

 the central and mountainous region of Arcadia ; together 

 with the more level countries of Elis and Meffenia, which 

 are throughout better adapted to tillage, than any other 

 provinces of the Peloponnefus. The Grecian pofTeflions 

 beyond the iflhmus of Corinth were more confiderable, ex- 

 tending above 200 miles from eafl to weft, and 150 from 

 north to fouth. They were naturally divided by the long and 

 intricate ridges of Olympus, Pindus, Oeta, and Ofla, into 

 nine feparate provinces ; which, during the celebrated ages 

 of Grecian freedom, were occupied by nine independent re- 

 publics. They comprehended the extenfive and fertile plains 

 of Theffaly and Breotia, both of which were, in early 

 times, much expofed to inundations, and the latter, abound- 

 ing in fubterranean caverns, was peculiarly fubjeft to earth- 

 quakes ; the lels fertile, but more fecure territory of Atti- 

 ca ; the wellern provinces of iEtolia and Acarnania, encom- 

 paffed on one fide by dangerous feas, and confined on the 

 other by almoft impaffable mountains ; and the four fmall 

 rocky diflricts of Phocis, Doris, Locris, and Megara. 



Thefe names and divifions (fays the above cited hiftorian) 

 which remained to the lateft times, are pretty accurately 

 marked by Homer, whofe poems continued, through fuc- 

 ceeding afcs, to be the approved llandard and legal code, to 

 which neighbouring communities appealed, in adjufling their 

 dilputed boundaries. Tliis qualification, however, mufl be 

 admitted with two exceptions. During the Trojan war, 

 the extenfive province of Theffaly fent forth above a fourth 

 part of the whole Grecian flrength, and was divided among 

 many warlike leaders. But when commerce, navigation, 

 and the mechanic arts, enriched and adorned the middle and 

 iouthern divifions of Greece, tfie northern diftrift of Thef- 

 faly lofl its ancient pre-eminence. The other exception arofe 

 from the extenfive power of the houfe of Pelops, which 

 hadi by fortunate marriages and rich fucceffions, acquired 

 dominion over the northern and eaftern parts of the Pelopon- 

 nefus, formerly containing feveral independent principalities, 

 and, after the misfortunes of Agamemnon and his family, 

 again divided into the immortal republics of Sparta, Argos, 

 Corinth, and Achaia. The following table will exhibit at 

 one view the principal flates of Greece, with fome of their 

 towns and rivers, referring to each article for a further ac- 

 count, and obferving that we have admitted into it RJace- 

 donia, though it was not properly a province of Greece till 

 after the reign of Philip, or rather that of Alexander, aad. 

 alfo Epirus and lUyria. 



Table 



