G R iE C I A. 



mardal honours were revived, and brightened by an adocm- 

 tion with tlie renown of tlieir conqueror. Under Alexander, 

 llieir exploits, though diret'led to very different piirpol.s, 

 equalled, perhaps cxcelle<l, the boalled trophies of Mara- 

 thon and Platxi. By a finRularity peculiar to their fortune, 

 the era of their political difp;raee coincides with the moll, 

 fplendld period of their military j^lory. Alexander was hmi- 

 ielf a Greek ; his kiiifrdoin had been founded by a Grecian 

 colony ; and to revenge the uTongs of his nation, he under- 

 took and accomplifhcd the mod rxtraordinary enterpriles re- 

 corded ill the hillory of the world. 



The fourth period of tlie hiftory of Greece, commencing 

 with the death of Alexander, 323 B.C. and terminating 

 146 B.C. when the Aclixan league was dillolved, and 

 Greece became a Roman province, under the name of 

 Ach-uia, comprehends an interval of 1 7 7 years. After various 

 changes and revolutions, for an account of which, fee 

 Acii.T:.\Nsa!id Athens, it became fubjed to the Turks. 



GuylJCH, Magna, a name given to the fouthern part of 

 Jtalv, comprehending Apulia, Lncania, and the country of 

 the ' Brutii, and alfo to Sicily and feveral of the adjacent 

 illands. Tlie name of Grtccia was derived froin the Greek 

 colonies, which mi j;rated hither at different periods, and the 

 epithet magna, or great, was derived from mere ollcntation, as 

 Pliny informs us (I. iii. c. 5.). This migration and fettle- 

 ment took place at a very early period, about 1055 years 

 B.C. The moil numerous colonies, the migration of which 

 was occalioned by intelline fiiftion, foreign invafion, or the 

 veftlefs fpirit of adventure and rapine, occupied the ifles of 

 the Ionian and iEgean feas, the fouthern coall of Italy almolt 

 interfeded by the former, and the winding Ihore.-i of Alia 

 Minor fo beautifully diverl'ilied by the latter. The larger 

 illands of Sicily, Sardinia, and Cyprus were very anciently 

 planted by Greeks. 



Whoever has obferved the defolate barbarity of Calabria, 

 or reflected on the narrow extent and prefent weaknefs of 

 Sicily, will fcarcely believe, that iive centuries B. C. thofe 

 countries contained above 20 warlike communities, faveral 

 of whom could fend into the field ico thonfand fighting 

 men. In order to account for this wonderful population, 

 wc muft look back to the period above mentioned in the 

 heroic ajres ; and confidcr likewife that the greater number 

 of Grce^ colonics in thofe parts were planted during the 

 ci"-lith century before the Cbriftian era, and chic-fly, I. By 

 the Eubceans, whofe principal city Chalcis, nfually furnilh- 

 ing the condudlor of the colony, gave the epithet of Clial- 

 cidian to the new fettlenients ; 2. By the Achceans of Pelo- 

 i)onnefits, who were of the Eolian tongue and lineage ; and 

 J. By the Dorian Hates of that peninfula, efpecially Corinth. 

 Befides their powerful colouies in Corcyra, I.,euca3, Anac- 

 torium, Anibracia, whofe tranfaCtions form luch an im- 

 portant part of the hillory of ancient Greece, the Corin- 

 thians founded Syracufe, which foon became, and long 

 continued, the capital of Sicily ; and in the fixlh century 

 B. C. the Syracufans had extended their fettlcments over 

 -:ill the fouthern coall of tlie ifland. By means of thefe and 

 limilar ellablilhments of a powerful kind, the Dorians ac- 

 quired, and always maintained, an afcendant in Sicily ; but 

 the Achian colonies, who were of the iEolian blood and 

 language, commanded the Italian fliore. Crotona, the moll 

 conliderable city of the Achsans, and of all Italy in ancient 

 times, was built 710 years B. C. Sybaris, its rival, was 

 founded about the fame time. The former fent colonies to 

 Tirina, Cephalonia, and Pandofia ; the latter built Laus, 

 Metapontum, and Pofidonia, or P;eilum, whofe admired 

 ruins attell the ancient wealth and grandeur of the Greek 

 :iti€S of Italy. We may here remark, that the loniaus, 



who came from Euboea, and fettled chiefly near the eatlcrn 

 lliore of Sicily, never rivalli-d the power and fame of their. 

 Dm-ian and VEolian neighbours, but fell fhort of thofe 

 nations iu Magna Grscia, as much as they furpaffed them 

 on the fliores and idands of Ada. In order to account for 

 tlK dourilhing dtualion of Magna Grxcia about the year 

 500 B. C, many caufes may be affigned, belides thofe of a, 

 phyfical and moral nature, whicli ufually contribute to the 

 rapid growth of uewly-eftablilhed colonies. We might 

 mention' the natural fertility of Magna Grascia, and parti- 

 cularly of Sicily, which in many places produced an hundred 

 fold ; and in tiiis connection oblerve, that the Greeks who- 

 failed thither from Peloponnefus, carried with them the 

 knowledge and praftice of agriculture, which had early 

 attained a high degree of perfeftion in their peninfula ; and 

 that the exuberant foil of Sicily, improved by cultivation, 

 foon exhibited a picture of that rich abundance, wliich, in 

 later times, made that beautiful idand be entitled the gra- 

 nary of Rome. Befides, the peculiar fituation of the 

 Achxaus and Dorians, from whom chiefly the colonies in 

 Magna Grxcia derived their origin, had a confiderable in- 

 fluence in accelerating the population and grandeur of thefe 

 new eftabliflimcnts. Tiie impartial and generous fpirit of 

 the Achrean laws early compenfated the natural defeds of 

 their territory, which was a long, but narrow, ilrip of 

 ground, not more fertile than extendve, along the Corinthian 

 gulf. They, however, were the firll, and long the only 

 republic of Greece, who admitted ftrangers into their com- 

 munity on equal terms with the ancient citi-/ens. The 

 equitable and generous policy, which they tranfportcd with 

 them into Magna Grxcia, could not fail to promote the 

 happinefs and profperity of that delightful country. The 

 condition of the Dorians, at the time when they planted- 

 colonies in Italy and Sicily, is not lefs worthy of conddera- 

 tion. Tlie Dorian Rates of Peloponnefus were then uni- 

 verfally fubjed to the gentle government of limited but- 

 hereditary princes, or to magillrates chofen from the- 

 dcfcendants of their ancient royal fiunilies ; and who, thus 

 adorned by birth, were fometimes itill more ennobled by 

 wifdom and virtue. Moreover, the colonies in Magna- 

 Grxcia, enjoying a wide extent of territory before them, 

 were not retarded in their advancement by interference of 

 interell on the part of neighbouring Hates, but they found 

 fufficient employment in fubduing the original inhabitants 

 of that countrv, without commencing hoililities either 

 again ll their neighbours or again ll each other. The kings 

 or nobility of Magna Grxcia, fecure of their own pre-emi- 

 nence, felt nothing of the republican jealoufies w-hich pre- 

 vailed in the mother country. They received witii pleafure 

 new citizens, or rather fubieds, from whatever quarter they 

 might come. The Hates of Italy and Sicily, thus increadng 

 bv degrees, could foon boaft, the former of Crotona, Ta- 

 rcntum, Sybaris, Rheginm ; the latter of Syracufe, Agri- 

 genit;:n, Meffenc, Hiuiera, and feveral other cities, which 

 rivalled or furpaffed the wealth of Athens or Corinth, and 

 the populoufnefs of Thebes, Argos, or Sparta. Tlie wars, 

 conquells, or oppreffions, and, above all, the civil diffendons, 

 which iu the dxtli century B. C. difturbed and deformed the 

 coall of Ionia, and the other Grecian colonies in the idands 

 and continent of Ada, brouglit frequent acceffions of inha- 

 bitants to the diorcs of Magna Grxcia. Neverthelefs, the 

 lonians, along witli their poetry, mufic, and painting, com- 

 municated alfo their diffolute and artificial appetites to the 

 Greeks of Italy and Sicily. It is a fad, however, that 

 Magna Grxcia, having obtained opulence by iiidullry, 

 diffipated it in idlenefs andlicentioufnefs : infomuch that the 

 Greek cities of Italy, and particolarly Sybaris and Crotona, 



feU 



