When the family of Pélops became powerful in southern Greece, they appear to have attempted to retaliate the injuries that had driven their ancestors into exile. In one of their plundering expeditions to the Phrygian coast, a young prince named Podar'kes was carried away captive, and detained until a large ransom had been paid for his liberation. From this circumstance, he was afterward named Príam, or "the purchased." At a subsequent period, Príam having become king of Troy, sent his son Páris, or Alexan'der, as an ambassador to the Peloponnesian princes, probably to negotiate a peace. He seduced Hel'en, the beautiful wife of Meneläus, king of Sparta, and conveyed her, with some valuable treasures, to Troy. The injured husband applied to his countrymen for redress. A large army, raised by the confederate kings, was placed under the command of Agamemnon, the brother of Menelaus.

Troy was at this time the capital of a powerful kingdom, possessing numerous allies and subjects. It mustered, according to Homer, an army of fifty thousand men; its walls could defy the imperfect machines then used in sieges, and its citadel was impregnable. Against this powerful kingdom the Greek princes undertook their expedition, with an army of about one hundred thousand men, conveyed in eleven hundred and eighty-six ships. These vessels were of very rude construction, having only halfdecks, and stones instead of anchors; the soldiers acted as rowers, and when they reached their destination the ships were hauled upon land.

The war was protracted ten years, during which several battles were fought under the walls of Troy; and we find that the military weapons used were in every respect similar to those employed by the ancient Egyptians. The city was finally taken by stratagem, and razed to the ground; most of the inhabitants were slain or taken, and the rest were forced to become exiles in distant lands. The victors, however, suffered nearly as much as the vanquished. During the protracted absence of the chiefs, usurpers had seized many of their thrones, aided by faithless wives and the rising ambition of young men. These circumstances necessarily led to fierce wars and intestine commotions, which greatly retarded the progress of Grecian civilization.

SECTION VII.-Grecian History from the Trojan War to the Establishment of the Greek Colonies in Asia.

E

FROM B. C. 1183 To B. c. 994.

We have seen how the posterity of Pélops, by various means, ob tained possession of the entire Peloponnésus, to the exclusion of the more ancient dynasties. Their rivals were the Perseída, who claimed, through their ancestor Per'seus, the honors of a divine descent, and who could boast of having in their family such heroes as Per'seus, Beller'ophon, and Her'cules. From the last-named hero a powerful branch of the Perseid family received the name of the Heracleídæ : they were persecuted by the Pelop'id sovereigns, and driven into exile. After having been hospitably received by the Athenians, they retired to the mountainous district of Dóris, and became masters of that wild and

barren province. The Dorian mountains were ill-calculated to satisfy men whose ancestors had inherited the fertile plains of the Peloponnésus. When the consequences of the Trojan war filled Greece with confusion, the Heracleída were encouraged to make an effort to regain their ancient rights; twice they attempted to break through the Corinthian isthmus, but were each time repulsed with considerable loss. Warned by these misfortunes, they abandoned the design of entering the Peloponnésus by land, and resolved to try their fortune in a naval expedition.

Their rendezvous was Naupac'tus (Lepanto), on the Corinthian gulf, where they were joined by a body of Ætolians, and by several of the Dorian tribes. By secret intrigues, a party was gained in Lacedæ'mon. A favorable gale, in the meantime, wafted their armament to the eastern coast of the Peloponnésus. Lacónia was betrayed to the invaders; Argolis, Messénia, E'lis, and Córinth, submitted to their authority; the mountainous districts of Arcádia, and the coast province, Ægialeía (afterward Achaía), were the only parts of the peninsula that remained unsubdued. The revolution was effected with little bloodshed; but not without great oppression of the ancient inhabitants, many of whom emigrated, while those who remained were reduced to slavery.

The associated victors divided the conquered provinces among themselves by lot. Aristodémus, who obtained Lacónia, happening to die, the kingdom was secured for his twin children, Eurys'thenes and Prócles, and from that time forth Sparta was governed by two kings. The commander of the Pelop'id forces at the isthmus, instead of attempting to recover his kindgom, invaded Ægialeía, expelled the Ionians, and gave that province the name of Achaía, which it ever after retained (B. c. 1104). Many of the fugitives sought refuge in Attica, where they were hospitably entertained by the Athenians, who were alarmed by the success and ambition of the Dorians. A still greater number passed over into Asia Minor, and founded the colonies of Iónia, Æólia, and Cária.

C.

The jealousy of the Athenians was soon proved to be derived from reasonable fears. In the reign of Códrus the Dorians passed the boundaries of Attica, and seized the territory of Meg'ara, on the northern coast of the Saronic gulf. A cruel war ensued; Códrus in vain attempted to drive the intruders from their stronghold: at length, hearing that a superstitious rumor prevailed among them, that they would be successful as long as they refrained from injuring the Athenian king, he entered their camp in disguise, provoked a quarrel with a Dorian soldier, and suffered himself to be slain. On recognising the body, the superstitious Peloponnesians, despairing of success, abandoned their hostilities; and the Athenians, cut of respect for his memory, declared that none of the human race was worthy to succeed Códrus, and therefore abolished royalty altogether (B. c. 1068).

Two of the Pelop'ida, having unsuccessfully traversed the northern part of Greece in search of new settlements, finally crossed the Hellespont eighty-eight years after the taking of Troy, and established themselves along the coast of the ancient kingdom of Priam. Their colonies gradually extended from the peninsula of Cyzicus on the Propontis to the

mouth of the river Her'mus, which delightful country, together with the island of Les'bos, received the name of Æólia. The younger sons of Códrus, dissatisfied with the abolition of royalty, collected a numerous band of Athenians and Ionian exiles, with which they crossed the sea, and established themselves along the coast from the river Her'mus to the promontory of Posideíon, expelling the ancient inhabitants. The islands of Chíos and Sámos were subsequently seized, and all these countries were united by the common name of Iónia, or, as it was sometimes called, the Pan-Ionian confederacy.

The renewal of hostilities between the Athenians and Dorians led to the establishment of a third series of Greek colonies in Asia (B. c. 994). The Dorians having been driven from their stronghold in Meg'ara, were ashamed to return to the Peloponnésus; part of them sailed to the islands of Creté and Rhodes, already peopled by Doric tribes; the rest settled in the peninsula of Cária, to which, in honor of their mother-country, they gave the name of Doris.

At a later period, the tide of emigration turned toward the west, and colonies were established in Sicily, and on the coasts of southern Italy. The Greeks seldom made settlements in the interior of the country; for most of their colonies were designed to extend commerce rather than conquests. Most of these colonies were independent states, and their institutions were generally improvements on those of the parent-country. Owing to their freedom and their superiority to their neighbors in the arts of civilized life, many of the colonies not only equalled but greatly surpassed their parent states in wealth and power.

CHAPTER IX.

THE HISTORY OF

THE GRECIAN STATES AND COLONIES,

BEFORE THE PERSIAN WAR.

SECTION I-Topography of Sparta.

THE city of Spar'ta, called also Lacedæ'mon, a name properly belonging to the suburbs, was built on a series of hills, whose outlines are varied and romantic, along the right bank of the Eurótas, within sight of the chain of Mount Taygétum. We have already mentioned, that it was not originally surrounded by walls; but the highest of its eminences served as a citadel, and round this hill were ranged five towns, separated by considerable intervals, occupied by the five Spartan tribes. The great square or forum, in which the principal streets of these towns terminated, was embellished with temples and statues : it contained also the edifices in which the senate, the ephori, and other bodies of Spartan magistrates, were accustomed to assemble: there was besides a splendid portico, erected by the Spartans from their share of the spoils taken at the battle of Plate'a, where the Persians were finally overthrown. Instead of being supported by pillars, the roof rested on gigantic statues, representing Persians habited in flowing robes.

On the highest of the eminences stood a temple of Miner'va, which, as well as the grove that surrounded it, had the privileges of an asylum. It was built of brass, as that at Delphi had formerly been.

The greater part of these edifices had no pretensions to architectural beauty; they were of rude workmanship, and destitute of ornament. Private houses were small and unadorned; for the Spartans spent the greater part of their time in porticoes and public halls. On the south side of the city was the Hippodromos, or course for horse and foot races; and at a little distance from that, the Platanis'tæ, or place of exercise for youth, shaded by beautiful palm-trees.

SECTION II.-Legislation of Lycurgus, and Messenian Wars.

FROM B. C. 880 TO B. c. 500.

THE DORIAN Conquerors of Lacónia formed themselves into a permanent ruling caste, and reduced the greater part of the inhabitants of the country to a state of vassalage, or rather perfect slavery. During two centuries the Spartans were engaged in tedious wars with the Argives,

and their state was agitated by domestic broils, resulting from the un-equal division of property, the ambition of rival nobles, and the diminished power of the kings. At length, Lycur'gus having obtained the supreme authority, as a guardian of his nephew Chariláus, directed his attention to establishing a system of law, which might prevent the recurrence of such disorders. The legislation of Lycurgus was not a written code; and many things of later origin, have been erroneously attributed to this lawgiver. His great object, was to insure the continuance of the Spartans as a dominant military caste, by perpetuating a race of athletic and warlike men; and hence his laws referred rather to domestic life and physical education than to the constitution of the state, or the form of its government.

He continued the relation of caste between the Spartans and Laconians, and the double line of kings as leaders in war and first magistrates in peace. He is said to have instituted the gerúsia, or senate, of which no one could be a member who had not passed the age of sixty; but it is uncertain whether he founded the college of the five eph'ori, or inspectors, chosen annually, with powers somewhat similar to those of the Roman tribunes; he certainly did not invest them with the power they assumed in later ages. There were also popular assemblies; but they could originate no law, nor make any alteration in the resolutions submitted to them by the kings and the senate, their power being confined to a simple approbation or rejection.

The chief regulations in private life were, the equal distribution of lands, the removal of every species of luxury, the arrangement of domestic relations so as to insure a race of hardy citizens, and the complete establishment of slavery. Thus a military commonwealth was established in Greece, which for ever banished a chance of tranquillity; since the Spartan citizens must have been impelled to war by the restlessness common to man, when all the occupations of household life and of agriculture were intrusted to the care of the Hélots, as their slaves were usually called. The strength of the Spartan army lay in its heavy-armed infantry; they usually fought in a phalanx or close column, and were remarkable for the skill and rapidity of their evolutions. They marched to the charge with a measured regular step, and never broke their ranks either to plunder or pursue a flying enemy. After battle, every soldier was obliged to produce his shield, as a proof that he had behaved bravely and steadily.

The first great war in which the Spartans engaged was with their neighbors the Messenians (B. c. 743). After a long series of sanguinary engagements, whose horrors were aggravated by cruel superstitions, the Messenians were totally subdued, and forced to give up half the revenue of their lands to the Spartans (B. c. 722). During this war, the Spartan army, consisting of the greater part of the citizens who had attained the military age, bound themselves by a voluntary oath not to return home until they had subdued their enemies. The war being protracted beyond expectation, the senate, fearing that the Spartan race would become extinct, invited the young men, who had not taken the obligation, to return home, and permitted them to have promiscuous intercourse with the women. The offspring of these irregular connexions were called Parthen'iæ; they had no certain father, nor were they.