I O N 



the feventh century before' Ciirift, the Icuiians furpafled all 

 their neighbours, and even the Phoeniciansj in the arts of 

 deliKn, lince the magnificent prcfents which the far-famed 

 oracle of Delphi received from ti;e oftentaiion or piety of 

 the Lydian kings, were chiefly the productions of Ionian ar- 

 tills. In tlie following century looia gave birth to philo- 

 fophy ; and both fcience and talle wltc difFufed from that 

 country over Greece, Italy, and Sicily. (Gillies, ubi fupra.) 

 Tlie lonians, however, foon degenerated from the valour of 

 their ancellors, and became a ruperllitious, effeminate, and 

 voluptuous people, infomuch that, in the time of Hero- 

 dotus, they were looked upon as quite unfit for any military 

 fervice. They a::d the Greek colonies fettled in Afia, en- 

 joyed their liberties, and hvcd, according to their own 

 laws, from the time of their migration in the reign of Crcc- 

 fus, king of Lydia, to whofe fuporior power they were 

 forced to fubmit, after having baffled all the attempts of his 

 yredecefibrs. Before Cyrus invaded Lower Afia, he ear. 

 iieftly intreatcd the lonians ( B. C. 547) to fliare the glory of 

 Ilia arms ; but having lived at eafe under the mild govern, 

 nient of Croefus, they preferred their allegiance to him be- 

 fore the friendiliip of another unknown mafter. Accord- 

 ingly they oppofed him when he tiift invaded Lydia, and re- 

 jeSed the advantageous propofals of that prince ; but after 

 the defeat of Croefus they fent ambaffadors to the conqueror, 

 offering fubmifiion upon the terms which had been formerly 

 granted them by Croefus. Cyrus having Iieard them with 

 attention, anfwered them by the following apologue : «' A 

 piper feeing numerous flioals of fifhes in the fea, and ima- 

 gining he might entice them afnore by liis mufic, began to 

 play ; but finding his hopes difappointed, he threw a net 

 into the water, and drew a great number to the laiid, When 

 he faw the fifn leaping on the ground, fince you would not 

 dance, faid he, to my pipe before, it is unneceifary for you 

 now to dance, fince I have ceafed to play.'' They now per. 

 ceived that if they would efcape the rigour of fervitude, 

 they mull owe their fafety to the ftrenuous exertions of a 

 brave defence, not to the clemency of Cyrus. The Lace- 

 damonians, to whom they applied, jntcrpofed in their be. 

 }ialf, and remonllrated with Cyrus againlt his defign of 

 fubduing tiie Afiatic Greeks; but without effeft. The 

 lonians nad previoufly formed a powerful confederacy with 

 the other Hates. Cyrus, having ordered Crcefua into cap- 

 tivity, was eager to return towards the Eaft to complete his 

 conquefts in Upper Afia ; and he committed the reduftion 

 of all the countries of Lower Afia to the flcill of his lieu- 

 tenant, Harpagus (B. C. 539 ) This general, in a few 

 months, completely e.secuted his commiflion, and made him- 

 felf mafter of all the countries in Lower Afia, poffeffed by 

 either Greeks or Barbarians, In tlie reign of Darius Hy- 

 ttafpea, they made an attempt to recover their ancient Uberty, 

 and maintained a war againft the whole power of the Per. 

 fian monarchy for fix years ; but tliey were conllvaiiied to 

 fubinit, and punifhed with great feverity for their pre. 

 fumption in endeavouring to regain their rights. The lo. 

 nians aflifled Xerxes in his expedition againll Athens with 

 JO.O fhips ; but they were perfiiadcd by Themillocles to 

 abandon the Perfians, and their flight contributed not a 

 little to the famous vitlory gained by the Athenians at Sa- 

 lamis. A fimilar expedient was recurred to at Mycale, fo 

 that few Perfians efcaped (laughter. The Lacedxmonians 

 were fo pleafed with their behaviour on this occafion, that 

 they propofed to tranfplant them out of Afia into Greece j 

 but they declined accepting the propofal. On the conclu- 

 fipn of the peace between the Greeks and Perfians, which 

 happened in the reign of Artaxerxcs, one of the article! 



I O N 



fworn to by both parties was, that all the Greek ftates of 

 Afia fliould be made free, and allowed to live accordip'^ to 

 their own laws. The lonians, thus delivered from the Per- 

 fian yoke, formed an alliance with the Athenians j but were 

 treated by them rather like fubjcas than allies. Their for- 

 tune was various ; at one time fubjed to the Perfians, and~ 

 at another time revolting from them, till they were at lengtli 

 delivered by Alexander, who reftored all the Greeks in Afia 

 to the enjoyment of their ancient rights and privileges. 

 After the death of Alexander, they fell under the power of 

 the kings of Syria, till the Romans obliged Antiochus III. 

 furnanicd the Great, to grant the fame liberty to the Greek 

 colonies in Afia, which they had procured for the Greek 

 itates in Europe. On this occafion, moll of the free cities 

 entered into an alliance with Rome, and enjoyed that kind of 

 liberty which the Romans ufed to grant ; till they were 

 again brouglit under fubje6tion by the famous Mithridates, 

 king of Pontus, whom they joined againlt the Romans By 

 his order they maflacred, without diltindlion, all the Ro. 

 mans and Italians wjiom trade, or the falubriiy of the cli- 

 mate, had drawn into -Afia. Nor would they fuffer even 

 their famous temple of Diana to be an afylum to thole who 

 fled to it for refuge. Upon Sylla's arrival in Afia they 

 abandoned Mithridates, and declared for the Romans. 

 Sylla, having routed all the armies of Mi'hridates, and re- 

 duced all the LeiTer Afia, revenged 011 the Afiatics the 

 death of fo many thoufand Romans, whom they had inhu- 

 manly murdered in -compliance with the favage orders of 

 ^■Iith^idates, by depriving them of their liberty, and laying 

 fuch heavy taxes and fines on their cities, £3 reduced them to 

 beggary. The city of EpheUis was treated with tha 

 greateft feverity ; Sylla liaving fullered his foldiers to liva 

 there at difcretioii, and obliged the inhabitants to pay every 

 officer 50 drachmas, and every foldier 16 d^iiarii ' a-day. 

 The whole fum v/hich the revolted cities of Afia paid Sylla, 

 amounted to 20,000 talerets, that is, three millions eight 

 hundred and feventy-five thoufand pounds^ llerling ; for the 

 raifing of which they were forced to fell not only their 

 moveables, but even a great part of tiieir lands. This was 

 a mod fatal blow to Afia; nor did tiie inhabitants ever 

 after recover their ancient fplendour, notwithllaading the 

 favour fliewn them by many of the emperors, under whofe 

 proteftion they enjoyed fome Ihevv of liberty. Gillies' 5 

 Hill, of Greece. Anc. Un. Hid. vol. vi. 



IONIC OrpeR, an order oi /Jrchite^ure, which owes it^. 

 invention to the people of Ionia, and was firll employed in 

 the temple of Diana, at Ephefus. This order la an im- ■ 

 provement upon the Doric ; tlie column is more flender nrd 

 graceful, and, according to Vitruvius, is intended to defcrib* 

 the delicate proportions of the female figure, as the Doric 

 indicates the ftronger characlerillics of tha male. This 

 idea, he fays, is preferved throughout its de<:Grations : the 

 capital havmg two fpirals, peculiar to this order, on either 

 fide, in imitation of ringlets of hair projc&ing from the 

 head J the cvmaiium indicates the loclcs changing over the 

 forehead; wliile the mouldings of the. bafe reprefent the 

 turn and fnapo of the fiioes worn .by.-.7omen in the age \vhen 

 the order wan invented. It» general appearance is fimple, 

 though graceful and majeltic >. and as forming a medium be. 

 tween the mafcuHne Doric and the virginal ilendernefs of 

 the Corinthian ; it has been, in figurative language, com. 

 pared to a fcdate matron in decent, rather thfin in rich 

 attire. 



This order may be ufed in all places confecratcd to peace 

 and tr.nnqnillity s accordingly we meet with it in churches, 

 colleges,, and libraries ; and the anei»nli ufed it in temples 



dedicated 



