From Classical Geography, by H. F. Tozer, from the series of Literature Primers edited by John Richard Green; New York : American Book Company; pp. 82-92.
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CLASSICAL GEOGRAPHY
CHAPTER VIII.
THE PELOPONNESE AND THE ISLANDS.
1. The Peloponnese : Coast and Mountains. — The Peloponnese, from its broad surface and deeply indented outline, may be compared to a leaf of the plane or maple-tree. But in respect of the variety of form in its coast a distinction much be drawn between different parts. The uniform appearance of its northern shore contrasts forcibly with the broken outline of the opposite side of the Corinthian Gulf. So, too, its western districts, like those of Northern Greece (p. 67), are singularly devoid of harbours, the one of any importance being that of Pylos in Messenia. The southern coast, on the other hand, with its triple promontories, and the deep Messenian and Laconian bays, reminds us of the trident of the peninsula of Chalcidice (p. 62); and the territory of Argolis is the most subdivided and most maritime of all. The mountains of the Peloponnese can best be 83 regarded as radiating from Arcadia, which is the highland district of the country. The principal chain runs along the north of that region, separating it from Achaia, and rises to three conspicuous peaks, all over 7,000 feet high — Cyllēne in the east, Aroanius in the centre, and Erymanthus in the west. The other chief mountains run at right angles to this : on the east of Arcadia Artemisium and Parthenium, which are continued by Parnon through Laconia to the promontory of Malĕa; in the centre of the country Mænălus, which afterwards rises as Taygĕtus to the height of nearly 8,000 feet between Laconia and Messenia, and extends to the extremity of Tæĕrum; to the west a more irregular range, the highest point of which is Lycæum in south-western Arcadia, whence it is prolonged by hilly country to the headland of Acrŏtas. The mountains of Argolis form a separate chain, intersecting that district from Cyllene to Cape Scyllæum; towards the north they form the Oneian range, which faces the Isthmus. Thus the Peloponnese more than any other part of Greece forms a distinct unity, the occupants of which could naturally combine for defensive purposes, but at the same time consists of separate provinces, incapable of permanently amalgamating with one another. From its peninsular and maritime character it was also the culminating point of the Greek continent, and (taken as a whole) it contained the most vigorous and most Hellenic nationalities. Finally, it was the keep of the fortress, in which a last stand could be made, when the outworks were taken.
2. Corinthia. — The Isthmus of Corinth was a space of undulating ground, reaching from Geraneia to the Oneian mountains, and from the Corinthian to the Saronic Gulf; it was about three-and-a-half miles wide in its narrowest part. Its surface was sufficiently level for vessels to be dragged across it, and for this purpose a diolcos, or sort of roadway, was constructed. Nero attempted to cut a canal through it, and walls were built across it at various periods. 84 Towards the Saronic Gulf was situated the sanctuary of Poseidon, where the Isthmian games were held. The true line of defence of the approach to the Peloponnese was formed by the Oneian mountains, in front of which stood Corinth, with its towering citadel rock, the Acrocorinth. Hence that city was of the utmost importance for strategic purposes, while its commercial prosperity arose from its commanding the two seas. On these it possessed two ports — that of Lechæum on the Corinthian, and that of Cenchreæ on the Saronic Gulf. About nine miles to the north-west of Corinth, not far from the sea, stood Sicyon, a place of great political importance at an early period.
3. Achaia. — The coast-land from Sicyon to the promontory of Araxus beyond the entrance of the Corinthian Gulf formed the district of Achaia, which consisted, in fact, of the slopes between the Arcadian mountains and the Gulf of Corinth. This was a prosperous and fertile country, but did not become important till a late period in the history of Greece, for the want of harbours prevented it from becoming a maritime power. Its area was broken up by the spurs of the mountains running down to the sea, and thus dividing it into a number of small areas, intersected by numerous torrents. The result of this was, as in the similarly formed country of Phœnicia (p. 34), that its twelve cities were held together by forming a confederation; and this political union was the germ from which sprang the famous combination called the Achæan League. The principal cities of this were — inside the straits, Pellēne, Ægae, Ægium, and Helĭce; and outside, Patræ (Patras), above which rises the lofty Mount Panachaicus. It should be remembered, that when Roman writers speak of Achaia, they mean the province of that name, which included all Greece as far north as Mount Orthrys, corresponding to the modern kingdom of Greece.
4. Elis. — The north-western angle of the Peloponnese was occupied by Elis, a country mainly composed 85 of river-valleys, and fringed along the shore by a belt of sand, from which projected the rocky headland of Chelonātas. It was divided into three portions — Hollow Elis, which was the vale of the Peneius, together with the slopes of Mount Erymanthus, from which it flows; Pisātis, the central portion, comprising the environs of the lower valley of the Alpheius, and separated from the former district by Mount Pholoë, an offshoot of Erymanthus; and Triphylia, a narrow strip of land between the mountains and the sea, reaching as far south as the confines of Messenia, from which country it was separated by the river Neda. The people of Elis had a port, called Cyllēne, in a little bight on the northern side of Cape Chelonatas; but by far the most important place in the country was Olympia, the scene of the great festival. This sacred spot lay in a wide and fertile valley, flanked by low hills, and watered by a long reach of the Alpheius; being only a few miles from the sea, it was a place of easy resort for visitors from the Greek colonies, as well as from the mainland; especially from Sicily, many natives of which island were celebrated by Pindar for their victories in the games. The temple of Zeus, together with the stadium and hippodrome, were situated on levels on the north side of the river, near where it is joined by the stream of the Cladeus. The prosperity of Elis greatly depended on the sacred character it enjoyed as the home of this Pan-Hellenic celebration.
5. Messenia. — Messenia, the district which lies south of Elis and west of Laconia, was the most fertile region in Greece, and enjoyed the softest and warmest climate. Hence arose its misfortunes, for the richness of its soil was a temptation to its Laconian neighbours, and its inhabitants did not possess the vigorous constitution necessary for a permanent resistance. It had an upper and a lower plain, bounded by mountains which run southwards from Mount Lycæum, on the one side to Cape Acritus, on the other towards the 86 flanks of Mount Taygetus : between the two plains intervened a narrow valley formed by two projecting spurs, that on the western side being Mount Ithōme. The upper plain, which is deeply sunk in the mountains, is that of Stenyclērus, and near its head stood the rocky eminence of Eira, the scene of the final death-struggle of the nation. Ithome, at the lower end, which was defended for ten years by Aristodemus, rose steeply to a broad summit, 2,600 feet above the sea. When the Messenians were restored to their country by Epaminondas, the city of Messene was built on the western side of this mountain. The lower plain extended from the foot of Ithome to the head of the Messenian Gulf, and was watered by the Pamisus. On the western coast of Messenia was situated the fine harbour of Pylos (Bay of Navarino), which was formed by an indentation of the coast, with the long and narrow island of Sphacteria stretching in front of it. To the north of Sphacteria, and separated from it by a narrow channel, was the rocky headland of Coryphasium or Pylos, lying between the sea and what is now a lagoon, but formerly was in all probability a sandy level. Sphacteria itself is somewhat less than three miles long, and rises very gradually from south to north; at its northern extremity, opposite Pylos, where the final stand of the Spartans took place, it is from 400 to 500 feet high. In the centre of the island is a small level plain and source of water, and here must have been the main station of the Spartans. The distance from the southern end to the mainland is about three-quarters of a mile; but a great change seems to have taken place in the land since ancient times, for Thucydides represents the interval as much less. Southward of Pylos on the coast was a smaller harbour, Methōne (Modon). On the other side of the promontory of Acritas was the town of Asĭne, inhabited by Dryŏpes, who migrated thither from Asine in Argolis.
6. Laconia. — The most important part of Laconia 87 was the valley of Sparta, a deep depression between Taygetus and Parnon, eighteen miles in length by four or five in breadth, and intersected by the Eurotas, which flows down to it from the uplands of Arcadia, and at its southern end passes through a narrow defile to the sea. This was the “hollow Lacedæmon” (κοίλη Λακεδαίμων) of Homer; the epithet “full of hollows” (κητώεσσα ) refers to the numerous rifts and fissures in the undulating ground in its neighbourhood. The city of Sparta stood on several low hills at the edge of the plain, on the western bank of the stream; and the absence of a circuit of walls is sufficiently explained by the rampart of mountains that rose on all sides of it. Only two passes led through these, and both were rugged and easy of defence. One of them led from the Stenyclerian plain and from south-western Arcadia into the upper valley of the Eurotas; the other passed by Sellasia, eastward of Sparta, where the roads from Tegea in south-eastern Arcadia and from Argos through Thyrĕa met. Sellasia was the scene of the great defeat of the Spartans by Antigonus Doson (B.C. 221). The position of this people in this remote valley explains many things in their history and institutions. Such a nation would be naturally exclusive and unaffected by internal ideas. Hence also arose the possibility of maintaining a rigid system, such as that of Lycurgus, and the concentrated vigour of their action. The rest of Laconia, which was cultivated by the Periœci, was a mountainous region; but the Scirītis, on the northern frontier, was the most rugged district of all. The region of Cynuria in the neighbourhood of the Argolic Gulf, with its town of Thyrea, was the borderland between Laconia and Argolis. Of the places on the coast, we may notice Gytheium, the port of Sparta, westward of the mouth of the Eurotas; and on the eastern coast the safe harbour of Epidaurus Limēra. The island of Cythēra, which lay opposite Malea, was on several occasions a source of danger to Laconia, 88 from its liability to be occupied by an enemy’s forces. At an early period it was a great resort of the Phœnicians for the sake of the purple fisheries.
7. Arcadia. — Arcadia is the central district of the Peloponnese, and is enclosed by mountains, being itself very elevated, for the average level is 2,000 feet above the sea. A great part of it was covered with forests of oak and pine, whence Pan and Artemis were two of the principal divinities of the country. It was divided into two portions, eastern and western, by Mount Mænalus, and these two areas were different in character. That to the west is an undulating upland plain the southern part of which is drained by the Alpheius, rising near the head-waters of the Eurotas; the northern by its chief tributary, the Ladon. Its most famous town was Megalopolis, which was founded by Epaminondas, to command the pass that enters Laconia by the valley of the Eurotas. The eastern portion, on the other hand, was composed of a number of closed valleys, which from being completely surrounded by mountains have no outlet for their waters, and consequently are partly occupied by lakes or marshy ground, and are drained by subterranean channels, called Catavothras. Three of these lie towards the north — those of Phenĕus, Stymphālus, and Orchomĕnus, while to the south is the great double plain of Mantineia and Tegĕa : the Catavothra of this lay on the confines of the two territories, and was a source of dispute to the two cities. The importance of Tegĕa consisted in its commanding the pass by which eastern Arcadia could be approached from Sparta; and that of Mantineia in like manner in its commanding those towards Argos. The plain of Mantineia was the scene of several important battles. The effect on the Arcadians of their seclusion and the absence of all maritime influences was to render them rude and boorish; and this was increased by the heavy air of the closed valleys, which affected them as it did the Bœotians 89 (p. 75). Being excluded from other careers, they adopted the trade of mercenaries, and became to the other Greeks what the Swiss, who hold a similar position in Europe, have been in modern history.
8. Argolis. — Argolis forms a peninsula to itself, separate from the rest of the Peloponnese, and from its length of coast bore in early times the name of Acte, which was also applied to Attica, a territory of corresponding shape. In consequence of this it was brought more into contact with the outer world than the other states, and rose to importance at an earlier period. The head-quarters of this primitive civilisation was the plain of Argos, which, like that of Athens, is surrounded on three sides by mountains, but on the southern side opens out towards the sea. On a hill at the head of this stood the earliest seat of empire, Mycēnæ; and on the eastern side nearer to the sea, on a crest of rock rising out of the level plain, was Tiryns, famed for its massive Cyclopean walls. Opposite this lay Argos, with its ancient acropolis, called by the Pelasgian name of Larissa; and on the coast, where a rocky tongue of land projects into the bay from its eastern shore, was Nauplia, originally a colony of the Phœnicians, and a point of contact between that people and the Greeks. As at Cythera, so here also, the Phœnicians were attracted by the purple-fisheries, and in return imparted to the inhabitants the arts of the East (p. 35). Between the plain of Argos and the district of Corinth an upland region intervened, which was divided into a number of small plains, forming the territories of Phlius, Nemea, and Cleōnæ. The pass that led into this from the neighbourhood of Mycenæ was the Tretos, a rugged defile, known as the abode of the Nemean lion. The maritime towns of Argolis, several of which were of great importance, may be noticed in following the coast round from the head of the Argolic gulf. A little to the south of Nauplia we meet with Asĭne, the Dryopian inhabitants of which, 90 when expelled by the Argives, settled in Messenia (p. 85); at the broad end of the peninsula, in the recesses of a safe bay, lay Hermiŏne, also a Dryopian town; then passing round Cape Scyllæum, and the little island of Calaureia, where Demosthenes died, we reach Trœzen, somewhat withdrawn from the coast, and finally Epidaurus. In front of Trœzen a strange peninsula of volcanic origin, that of Methāna, projects into the sea; and between this and the coast of Attica, in the middle of the Saronic Gulf, lies the island of Ægina. The position of this opposite Athens rendered it an outpost of the Peloponnesians, and justified the title applied to it by Pericles, “the eyesore of the Piræus.”
9. The Islands of the Ægean. — The islands which belong to the eastern and western shores of the Ægean have already been noticed in connection with the neighbouring continents. Of the rest, some form themselves into groups, like the Cyclades, while others are more isolated in their position. All of them are extremely rocky, and rise into lofty peaks of beautiful form; and though on the map they may resemble a handful of pebbles flung down, yet not a few of them are of considerable extent : Naxos, for instance, is nearly twenty miles long. In the northern waters, or Thracian Sea, lie Thasos, famous for its gold-mines; Samothrace, the home of the worship of the Cabeiri; Imbros; and Lemnos, the island on which, according to the story, Hephæstus fell, and which bears evident signs of volcanic action. From the extremity of Pelion there runs off a string of small islands, of which Sciăthos and Scopĕlos are the chief; and further to the south, opposite Eubœa, is Scyros, once the home of Achilles. We have noticed (pp. 65, 66) how two lines of islands form continuations of the mountains of Greece — Andros, Tenos, and Mycŏnos beyond the extremity of Eubœa, and Ceos, Cythnos, Seriphos, and Siphnos beyond that of Attica; and the appearance they present is that of a mountain-chain 91 half submerged in the sea. Between these two lines lay the rock of Gyăros, the Roman place of banishment; and the interval between Myconos and Samos was bridged by the long line of Icaria, to the south of which a space of sea was called the Icarian Sea, and contained the island of Patmos, the place of exile of St. John the Evangelist. These islands, it should be remembered, were a great help to colonization and commerce in the infancy of navigation, because a ship could pass from one to another of them without losing sight of land. Close to Myconos lay the sister islands of Delos and Rheneia, divided by a narrow strait; on the shore of this was the famous temple of Apollo in Delos, and behind it rose the height of Cynthus. Further to the south was the important island of Naxos, and Paros with its quarries of white marble. These islands, together with those that formed the two lines just mentioned, were called the Cyclades, because they were regarded as forming a circle round the sacred isle of Delos. Those that lay immediately to the south of these bore the name of Sporădes, from their more irregular grouping. Two of the most outlying of these were ancient volcanic craters — Melos to the south-west, and Thera (Santorin), the mother island of Cyrēne, due south; the latter has been in a state of eruption both in classical times and in our own days. To the southward of Thera extended the wide expanse of the Cretan Sea, which was much dreaded by sailors on account of its stormy character. Finally, another chain of islands formed a link between Europe and Asia, where Crete is connected on the one side by Cythera with the Peloponnese, and on the other by Casos, Carpăthos, and Rhodes with Caria. Crete itself was intersected in its whole length by a lofty mountain range, the snowy summits of which were visible both from Malea and from Thera; its central peak was Mount Ida. The principal cities were Cydonia and Cnossus on the northern side, and Gortyna on the southern at the 92 foot of Ida. Cnossus was the ancient capital, and the fabled Labyrinth was in its neighbourhood; but in Roman times the chief city was Gortyna. On the southern coast was the harbour called the “Fair Havens,” where St. Paul landed when on his voyage from Judæa to Rome.
10. The Western Islands. — Of the islands on the western side of Greece the northernmost was Corcyra (Corfu), which forms a breakwater before a portion of the coast of Epirus. It was an important station on the passage from Greece to Italy. The city was situated on the eastern side, on a peninsula between the sea and a shallow inlet, called the Hyllaic harbour. In its neighbourhood were two conspicuous peaks close to the sea, which Virgil calls the “aerias Phœacum arces,” and which form the modern citadel. To the north of these lay an islet called Ptychia. The next large island, Leucas or Leucadia (Santa Maura) lying just south of the entrance of the Ambracian gulf, was originally joined to the mainland by an isthmus, but the Corinthian colonists cut this through, and converted a peninsula into an island : the canal, however, was soon filled up by a deposit of sand. At the southern extremity of the island was the cape Leucāte, with its temple of Apollo, from which Sappho was said to have thrown herself into the sea. Beyond this was the rugged Ithaca, with its conspicuous mountain, Nerŏtos; and, separated from it by a narrow strait, the large island of Cephallenia. The last that remains to be mentioned is Zacynthus (Zante), which lay off the coast of Elis.
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CHAPTER IX. Northern and Central Italy.