A Manual of Ancient History / Particularly with Regard to the Constitutions, the Commerce, and the Colonies, of the States of Antiquity

by A. H. L. Heeren

f. Acarnania. This country derived its name from Acarnan, son of Alcmæon, both of whom are adduced as its earliest kings. In the Trojan age it appears beyond a doubt, that some part at least of this country was subject to the governors of the island of Ithaca. When and how a republican government was introduced among the Acarnanians, and what were the peculiarities of that government we know not. All that can be distinguished through the veil of time is, that here likewise the different cities, the most important of which was Stratus, had each its own form of government. Those cities upon particular emergencies were wont to combine; and out of that practice in later times, during the Macedonian period, grew up a permanent confederation. The city and district of Argos Amphilochicum constituted a separate state, which endured a long time, and flourished greatly; it derived its name from Amphilochus, the founder. The inhabitants, however, being driven out by the Ambracians, whom they had themselves called in, sought assistance at the hands of the Acarnanians, who with the help of Athens, replaced the exiles in possession of their city, which thenceforward was inhabited in common by Amphilochians and Acarnanians, and was almost constantly engaged in war with Ambracia.

III. Northern Greece.

a. The importance of Thessaly in the earliest history of Greece, may be gathered from the principal data enumerated above for the history of the Pelasgi and the Hellenes. From this country it was that the Hellenes proceeded and spread over Greece; and here likewise they maintained their original seat. In the Trojan age Thessaly contained ten small kingdoms, governed by hereditary princes, several of whom, such as Achilles and Philoctetes, were among the most renowned heroes of the time. In the period subsequent to the Trojan war and the Dorian migration, Thessaly must have experienced political revolutions similar to those of the other Grecian countries; but neither the time nor the manner in which those revolutions occurred can be ascertained. All that can be deduced from the subsequent history is, that if the Thessalian cities ever did recover their political freedom, they were unable to maintain it; for in the two most eminent cities, Pheræ and Larissa, with whose history that of the whole country is closely connected, the supreme power had fallen into the hands of arbitrary individuals, who appear to have kept possession of it almost without interruption. Even before the breaking out of the Persian war, Larissa was under the rule of the Aleuadæ; a family who claimed descent from Hercules, and are specially denominated by Herodotus kings of the Thessalians. They preserved their power until the Macedonian period.—In Pheræ there arose about the year 380, a tyrant, by the name of Jason, who extended his dominion not only over Thessaly, but likewise over several of the neighbouring barbarous tribes. The sceptre of Jason passed rapidly and successively into the hands of his three brothers, Polydorus, Polyphron, and Alexander. The last was first driven out of Larissa by the Aleuadæ, assisted by the Macedonians; was afterwards worsted in war by Pelopidas; and finally, at the instigation of his wife Thebe, was murdered, 356, by her brothers, Lycophron and Tisiphonus. The two murderers then assumed the supreme power, but were, in compliance with the request of the Aleuadæ, deposed by Philip of Macedon.—Some other such tyrants are met with at intervals in the rest of the Thessalian cities, such as Pharsalus, etc.

b. Epirus. This country was occupied by several tribes, partly Greek and partly barbarian. The most powerful of these was that of the Molossi, who were governed by kings of the house of the Æacidæ, descendants of Pyrrhus, the son of Achilles. This Greek family was the only one that held the kingly power for a permanency; it must be observed, however, that previous to the Macedonian period, those sovereigns were by no means lords of the whole of Epirus; for the other non-Hellenic races, such as the Thesprotii, Orestii, etc. had their own separate kings. Moreover the Corinthian colony of Ambracia constituted a distinct state, generally governed as a republic, although sometimes subject to the rule of tyrants. But, in consequence of an alliance framed with the Macedonian kings, the whole of Epirus, and even Ambracia itself, was placed under the sceptre of the Molossian kings; and some of those princes, Pyrrhus II. more especially, rose to be mighty conquerors. See below.

IV. Grecian Islands.

Both the islands off the coast of Greece, and those of the Archipelago, all underwent the same political revolutions as occurred in the states on the main land. But those events did not take place till after the more ancient non-Hellenic inhabitants, such as the Phœnicians, Carians, etc. had been driven out, and the land had been taken possession of by the Hellenes. In the more extensive islands, which contained several cities, there generally arose as many small republics as there were towns, and those little states were wont to enter into mutual alliances. The smaller islands, containing but one city, formed each one small independent state, the territory of which comprised the whole island. The respective independence of these islands ceased to exist at the period of the Trojan war; for after the Athenians had by their success placed themselves at the head of confederate Greece, and possessed themselves of the sovereignty of the sea, these smaller states, although called confederates, were treated little better than subjects, except that their political constitutions were not changed.—Among the islands of the Grecian coast, the most remarkable in history are the following:

a. Corcyra, a colony of Corinth, important for its naval power and trade, in which it rivalled the mother state itself: a rivalry which occasioned many feuds and wars, and was even one of the principal motives that led to the Peloponnesian war. About the time this struggle began Corcyra had attained the height of her power, being able, without foreign aid, to man a fleet of 120 galleys. The constitution appears, as at Corinth, to have been aristocratic, or oligarchical: but after the Persian war a democratic faction arose, which produced the most violent internal commotions, and ended in the total ruin of Corcyra.

b. Ægina. This small island was, after the Dorian migration, occupied by colonists from Epidaurus; it however soon shook off the yoke of the mother city, and rapidly grew by commerce and navigation, to be one of the first Grecian states. Ægina was for a long time the rival of Athens; over whom her naval power enabled her to maintain a superiority until the time of the Persian war. Humbled, however, by Themistocles, 485, she could no longer support herself against the preponderating influence of Athens; and although subsequently she made another stand for independence, 458, the consequences were but an increase of oppression. Neither must it be forgotten, that Ægina suffered much, even before the Persian war, from internal broils, caused by the bitterness of party spirit engendered between the aristocratic and democratic factions.

C. O. Mueller, Ægineticorum liber, 1817. This treatise contains not only the political history, but likewise that of trade and arts.