Her flocks unnumber'd stray;
No fierce extreme her climate knows,
Nor chilling frost, nor wintry snows,
Nor dogstar's scorching ray.
For along the banks of the Pamisus (which, notwithstanding the shortness of its course, is one of the broadest rivers in Peloponnesus), down to the Messenian bay, there runs a large and beautiful valley, justly called Macaria, or “The Happy,” and well worth the artifice by which Cresphontes is said to have obtained it. To the north, more in the direction of Arcadia, lies the plain of Stenyclarus, surrounded by a hilly barrier. The western part of the country is more mountainous, though without any such heights as mount Taygetus; towards the river Neda, on the frontiers of Arcadia, the country assumes a character of the wildest and most romantic beauty.
4. Argolis is formed by a ridge of hills which branches from Mount Cyllene and Parthenium in Arcadia, and is connected with it by a mountain-chain, very much broken, and abounding in ravines and [pg 079] caverns (hence called Τρητὸν);[265] through which runs the celebrated Contoporia,[266] a road cut out, as it were, between walls of rock, connecting Argos with Corinth. By similar passes Cleonæ, Nemea, and Phlius, more to the south, and eastwards Mycenæ, Tiryns, and Epidaurus, were connected; and this natural division into many small districts had a considerable effect upon the political state of Argos. The southern part of this chain ends in a plain, at the opening of which, and near the pass just alluded to, was situated Mycenæ, and in a wider part of it the city of Argos. The nature of this anciently cultivated plain is very remarkable; it was, as is evident, gradually formed by the torrents which constantly filled up the bay between the mountains; and hence it was originally little else than fen and morass.[267] Inachus, “the stream,” and Melia, the daughter of Oceanus, “the damp valley” (where ash-trees, μελίαι, grow), were called the parents of the ancient Argives; and the epithet “thirsty” (πολυδίψιον Ἄργος), which is applied to Argos in ancient poems, refers only to the scarcity of spring-water in the neighbourhood of the town. Yet, notwithstanding the rugged nature of the rest of Argolis, there are, both in the interior and near the sea, here and there, small plains, which by the fertility of their soil attract and encourage the husbandman; the south-eastern coast slopes regularly down to the sea. To the north of the mountain-ridge which bounded Argolis, extending from the Isthmus [pg 080] as far as a narrow pass on the boundaries of Achaia, there is a beautiful, and in ancient times highly-celebrated plain, in which Corinth and Sicyon were situated.[268] With respect to the progress of civilization at Argos, it is important to know that the mountains between that town and Corinth contain copper:[269] accordingly, in the former town the forging of metals appears to have been early introduced; and hence arose the ancient celebrity of the Argive shields.[270] But no precious metal has been ever found in any part of Peloponnesus: a circumstance which greatly tended to direct the attention of its inhabitants to agriculture and war, rather than commerce and manufactures.
5. That region which was in later times called Achaia, is only a narrow tract of land along the coast, lying upon the slope of the northern mountain-range of Arcadia. Hence most of the Achæan cities are situated on hills above the sea, and some few in enclosed valleys. The sources of the numerous streams by which the country is watered lie almost without exception in Arcadia, whose frontiers here reach beyond the water-line.
But the lowest slope of Peloponnesus, and the most gradual inclination to the sea, is on the western side; and it is in this quarter that we find the largest extent of champaign country in the peninsula, which, being surrounded by the chain beginning from mounts Scollis and Pholoë, was hence called the Hollow Elis. It was a most happy circumstance that these wide [pg 081] plains enjoyed an almost uninterrupted state of peace. Towards the coast the soil becomes sandy; a broad line of sand stretches along the sea nearly as far as the Triphylian Pylos, which from this circumstance is so frequently spoken of by Homer as “the sandy.”[271] As this tract of country is very little raised above the level of the sea, a number of small lakes or lagoons have been formed, which extend along the greatest part of the coast, and are sometimes connected with one another, sometimes with the sea. Such being the nature of the country, the river Alpheus runs gently between low chains of hills and through small valleys into the sea. Towards the south the country becomes more mountainous, and approaches more to the character of Arcadia.
6. If now we picture to ourselves this singular country before the improvements of art and agriculture, it presents to the mind a very extraordinary appearance. The waters of Arcadia are evidently more calculated to fill up the deep ravines and hollows of that country, or to produce irregular inundations, than to fertilise the soil by quiet and gentle streams. The valleys of Stymphalus, Pheneus, Orchomenus, and Caphyæ in Arcadia required canals, dams, &c., before they could be used for the purposes of husbandry. One part of the plain of Argos was carefully drained, in order to prevent it becoming a part of the marshes of Lerna. In the lower part of the course of the Eurotas it was necessary to use some artificial means for confining the river: and that this care was at some time bestowed on it, is evident from the remains of quays,[272] which give to the river the appearance [pg 082] of a canal. The ancient Nestorian Pylus was situated on a river (Anigrus), which even now, when it overflows, makes the country a very unhealthy place of residence; and no traveller can pass a night at Lerna without danger. Thus in many parts of Peloponnesus it was necessary, not merely for the use of the soil, but even for the sake of health and safety, to regulate nature by the exertions of art. At the present time, from the inactivity of the natives, the inevitable consequence of oppression, so bad an atmosphere prevails in some parts of the country, that, instead of producing, as formerly, a vigorous and healthy race, one sickly generation follows another to the grave. And that improvements of this kind were begun in the earliest periods, is evident from the fact, that the traces of primitive cities are discovered in those very valleys which had most need of human labour.[273] This induction is also confirmed by the evidence of many traditions. The scanty accounts respecting the earliest times of Sparta relate, that Myles, the son of the earth-born Lelex, built mills, and ground corn at Alesiæ; and that he had a son named Eurotas, who conducted the water stagnating in the level plain into the sea by a canal, which was afterwards called by his name.[274] Indeed the situation of Sparta seems to imply that the standing water was first drained off:[275] nay, even in later times, it was possible, by stopping the course of the river, to lay most of the country between Sparta and the opposite heights under water.[276]
7. The consideration of these natural circumstances and traditions obliges us to suppose that the races which were looked on as the ancient inhabitants of Peloponnesus (the Pelasgians in the east and north, and the Leleges in the south and west) were the first who brought the land to that state of cultivation in which it afterwards remained in this and other parts of Greece. And perhaps it was these two nations alone to whom the care of husbandry, cattle, and everything connected with the products of the soil, belonged through all times and changes. For, in the first place, the numbers of the invading Achæans, Ionians, and afterwards of the Dorians, were very inconsiderable, as compared with the whole population of Peloponnesus; and, secondly, these races conquered the people as well as the country, and enjoyed an independent and easy life by retaining both in their possession: so that, whatever tribe might obtain the sovereign power, the former nations always constituted the mass of the population. By means of these usurpations agriculture was kept in a constant state of dependence and obscurity, so that we seldom hear of the improvement of the country, which is a necessary part of the husbandman's business. Agriculture was, however, always followed with great energy and success. For in the time of the Peloponnesian war, when the population of Peloponnesus must have been very great, it produced more corn than it consumed, and there was a constant export from Laconia and Arcadia downwards to the coast of Corinth.[277]