Chapter IV.
§ 1. Physical Structure of Greece and Peloponnesus. § 2. Physical Structure of Arcadia. § 3. Of Laconia. § 4. Of Argolis. § 5. Of Achaia and Elis. § 6. Improvement of the Soil by artificial means. § 7. Early Cultivation of the Soil by the Pelasgians and Leleges. § 8. Numbers of the Doric Invaders. § 9. Mode by which they conquered Peloponnesus.
1. So wonderful is the physical organization of Greece, that each of its parts has received its peculiar destination and a distinct character; it is like a body whose members are different in form, but between which a mutual connexion and dependence necessarily exists. The northern districts as far as Thessaly are the nutritive organs which from time to time introduced fresh and vigorous supplies: as we approach the south, its structure assumes a more marked and decided form, and is impressed with more peculiar features. Attica and the islands may be considered as extremities, which, as it were, served as the active instruments for the body of Greece, and by which it was kept in constant connexion with others; while Peloponnesus, on the other hand, seems formed for a state of life, occupied more with its own than external concerns, and whose interests and feelings centred in itself. As it was the extremity of Greece, there also appeared to be an end set by nature to all change of place and habitation; and hence the character of the Peloponnesians was firm, steady, and exclusive. With good reason therefore was the region where these principles predominated considered by the Greeks as the centre and acropolis[247] [pg 074] of their countries; and those who possessed it were universally acknowledged to rank as first in Greece.
2. This character of Peloponnesus will become more evident, if we examine the peculiar nature of its mountain-chains. Though the Isthmus of Corinth connected the peninsula with the continent by a narrow neck of land, yet it was not traversed in its whole length by any continuous chain of mountains; the Œnean hills being entirely separated from the mountains of Peloponnesus.[248] The principal elevations in Peloponnesus form very nearly a circle, the circumference of which passes over the mountains of Pholoë, Lampe, Aroanius, Cyllene, Artemisium, Parthenium, and Parnon; then over Boreum, and from thence up to the northern rise of mount Taygetus, and finally over mount Lycaon along the river Alpheus. The highest ridge appears to be that part of Cyllene which looks to Parnon: the height of Cyllene, according to the statement of Dicæarchus,[249] was not quite 15 stadia; according to another measurement, it was nine stadia wanting 80 feet;[250] a considerable height, when it is remembered that the sea is near, and that Peloponnesus is the last link of the great chain, which runs down from the north of Macedonia. But the eastern plains also, for instance that of Tegea, are at a great height [pg 075] above the sea, and are often covered with snow late in the spring.[251] Now from the circle of mountains which has been pointed out, all the rivers of any note take their rise; and from it all the mountainous ranges diverge, which form the many headlands and points of Peloponnesus. The interior part of the country however has only one opening towards the western sea, through which all its waters flow out united in the Alpheus. The peculiar character of this inland tract is also increased by the circumstance of its being intersected by some lower secondary chains of hills, which compel the waters of the valleys nearest to the great chains either to form lakes, or to seek a vent by subterraneous passages.[252] Hence it is that in the mountainous district in the north-east of Peloponnesus many streams disappear, and again emerge from the earth. This region is Arcadia; a country consisting of ridges of hills and elevated plains, and of deep and narrow valleys, with streams flowing through channels formed by precipitous rocks; a country so manifestly separated by nature from the rest of Peloponnesus, that, although not politically united, it was always considered in the light of a single community. Its climate was extremely cold; the atmosphere dense, particularly in the mountains to the north:[253] the effect which this had on the character and dispositions of the inhabitants has been described in a masterly manner by Polybius, himself a native of Arcadia.
3. Laconia is formed by two mountain-chains [pg 076] running immediately from Arcadia, and enclosing the river Eurotas, whose source is separated from that of an Arcadian stream by a very trifling elevation. The Eurotas is, for some way below the city of Sparta, a rapid mountain-stream; then, after forming a cascade, it stagnates into a morass; but lower down it passes over a firm soil in a gentle and direct course.[254] Near the town of Sparta rocks and hills approach the banks on both sides, and almost entirely shut in the river both above and below the town:[255] this enclosed plain is without doubt the “hollow Lacedæmon” of Homer.[256] Here the narrowness of the valley, and the heights of Taygetus, projecting above in a lofty parapet, increase the heat of summer, both by concentrating the sun-beams, as it were, into a focus, and by presenting a barrier to the cool sea-breezes;[257] whilst in winter the cold is doubly violent. The same natural circumstances produce violent storms of rain, and the numerous mountain-torrents frequently cause inundations in the narrow valleys.[258] The mountains, although running in connected chains, are yet very much interrupted; their broken and rugged forms were by the ancients attributed to earthquakes;[259] one of which caused so great consternation at Sparta a short time before the war with the Helots. The country is not however destitute of plains; that indeed along the lower part of the Eurotas is one of the finest in Greece, [pg 077] stretching towards the south, and protected by mountains from the north wind: moreover, the maritime district, surrounded by rocks, from Malea to Epidaurus Limera (Malvasia), is extremely fertile.[260] Nor are the valleys on the frontiers of Messenia less productive; towards the promontory of Tænarum however the soil continually becomes harder, drier, and more ferruginous. The error of supposing that this country was nearly a desert appears from the very large number of its vegetable productions mentioned by Theophrastus and others: Alcman and Theognis also celebrate its wines: vines were planted up to the very summit of mount Taygetus, and laboriously watered from fountains in forests of plane-trees;[261] the country was in this respect able to provide for its own wants. But the most valuable product, in the estimation of the new inhabitants, was doubtless the iron of the mountains.[262] More fortunate still was the situation of the country for purposes of defence, the interior of Laconia being only accessible from Arcadia, Argolis, and Messenia by narrow passes and mountain-roads; and the most fertile part is the least exposed to the inroads of enemies from those quarters: the want of harbours[263] likewise contributes to the natural isolation of Laconia from other lands. Euripides has on the whole very successfully seized the peculiar character of the country in the following lines, and contrasted it with the more favoured territory of Messenia:[264]
Far spreads Laconia's ample bound,
With high-heap'd rocks encompass'd round,
The invader's threat despising;
But ill its bare and rugged soil