Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography Volume II.djvu/1190

 1166 THESSAUA. apyvpoSivrjs {II. ii. 753); though, as Leake lias re- marked, the poet carries his flattery to an extieme in comparing to silver the white hue of its turbid waters, derived entirely from the earth suspended in them. (^Northern Greece, vo. iv. p. 291.) The principal rivers of Thessaly, according to Herodotus (vii. 129), are the Peneius, Apidanus, Onochonus, Enipeus and Pamisus. The four latter rivers all flow from the S. Of these the most im- portant is the Enipeus, now called the Fersaliti, which flows through the plain of Pharsalus, and falls into the Peneius near Piresiae in the lowest part of the plain. The Apidanus, now called Vrysid, into which the Cuarius {Sofadhitiho) falls, is a tributary of the Enipeus. [Enipeus.] The Pamisus, now called the Bliuri or PiUiiri, also joins the Peneius a little to the W. of the Enipeus. The Onochonus, which is probably the same as the Oncheslus, flows into the lake Boebeis and not into the Peneius. [For details, see Vol. II. p. 483, a.] The chief tributarj' of the Peneius on the N. is the Titaresius, now called Elassonitiko or Xeraghi, which rises in Mt. Titarus, a part of the Cambunian range, and joins the main stream between Larissa and the vale of Tempe. Homer relates (//. ii. 7.53, seq.) that the waters of the Titaresius did not mingle with those of the Peneius, but floated upon the surface of the latter like oil upon water, whence it was regarded as a branch of the infernal river Styx. (Comp. Lucan, vi. 375.) Leake calls attention to the f:ict that Strabo (ix. p. 441), probably misled by the epithet (dp^vpoSiVrjs) applied by the poet to the Peneius, has reversed the true interpretation of the poet's comparison of the Peneius and the Titaresius, supposing that the Peneius was the pellucid river, whereas the apparent reluctance of the Titaresius to mingle with the Peneius arises from the former being clear and the latter muddy. (^Northern Greece, iii. p. 396, iv. p. 296.) The Titaresius was also called Eurotas (Strab. vii. p. 329) and Horcus or Orcus (Plin. iv. 8. s. 15). The plain of Thessaly is the most fertile in all Greece. It produced in antiquity a large quan- tity of corn and cattle, which supported a nu- merous population in the towns, and especially a rich and proud aristocracy, who were at frequent feuds with one another and much given to luxury and the pleasures of the table (eVet -yap 5?; TrXei- (TTT) dTo|ia Kal aKoXaaia, Plat. Crit. 15; Athen. xii. p. 564; Theopomp. ap. Athen. vi. p. 260; Dem. Olijnth. p. 16). The Thessalian horses were the finest in Greece, and their cavalry was at ail times efficient ; but we rarely read of their infantry. The nobles, such as the Aleuadae of Larissa and the Scopadae of Crannon, supplied the poorer citizens with horses; but there was no class of free equal citizens, from which the hoplites were drawn in other Grecian states. (See Grote, Hist, of Greece, vol. ii. p. 367.) Hence the political power was generally either in the hands of these nobles or of a single man who established himself as despot. The numerous flocks and herds of the Scopadae at Crannon are alluded to by Theocritus (/d xvi. 36), and the wealth of the Thessalian nobles is fre- quently mentioned by the ancient writers. Thessaly is said to have been originally known by the names of Pyrrha, Aemonia, and Aeolis. (Khian. ap. Sclwl. Rhod. iii. 1089; Steph. B. s. v. Al^ovia; Herod, vii. 176.) The two former appellations be- long to mythology, but the latter refers to the time when the country was inhabited by the Aeolian THESSALIA. Pelasgi, who were afterwards expelled from the country by the Thessalians. This people are said to have been immigrants, who came from Thesprotia in Epeirus, and conquered the plain of the Peneius. (Herod, vii. 176, comp. i. 57 ; Strab. ix. p. 444.) The Boeotians are said to have originally dwelt at Arne, in the country afterwards called Thessaly, and to have been expelled by the Thessalian invaders 60 years after the Trojan War. (Thuc. i. 12.) The expulsion of the Boeotians by the Thessalians seems to have been conceived as an immediate consequence of the immigration of the Thessalian invaders; but, however this may he, the name of Thessaly is un- known in Homer, who only speaks of the several principalities of which the country was composed. In the Homeric catalogue Pheidippus and Antiphus, who led the Greeks from Carpatlms, Cos, and the neighbouring islands, are called the sons of Thessa- lus, the son of Hercules (Horn. 11. ii. 676) ; and, in order to connect this name with the Thessalians of Thesprotia, it was reported that these two chiefs had, upon their return from Troy, been driven by a I storm upon the coast of Epeirus, and that Thessalus, ■" the grandson of Pheidippus, led the Thessalians across Mount Pindus and imposed his name upon the country. (Veil. Pat. i. 2,3; Steph. B. s. v. Aiiptuv; Polyaen. viii. 44.) There are many cir- cumstances in the historical period which make it probable that the Thessalians were a body of immi- grant conquerors; though, if they came from Thes- protia, they must have gradually dropt their original language, and learnt that of the conquered people, as the Thessalian was a variety of the Aeolic dialect. There was in Thessaly a triple division of the popu- lation analogous to that in Laconia. First, there were the Thessalians proper, the rich landed pro- prietors of the plain. Secondly, there were the de- scendants of the original inhabitants of the country, who were not expelled by the Thessalian conquerors, and who were more or less dependent upon them, corresponding to the Lacedaemonian Perioeci, but, unlike the latter, retaining their original names and their seats in the Amphictyonic council. These were the Perrhaebi, who occupied the mountainous district between Mount Olympus and the lower course of the Peneius ; the Magnetes, who dwelt along the eastern coast between Mounts Pelion and Ossa and the sea ; the Aciiaeans, who inha- bited the district called Phthiotis, which extended S. of the Upper Thess.ilian plain, from Mount Pindus on the W. to the gulf of Pagasae on the S. ; the DoLOPES, who occupied the mountainous regions of Pindus, S. of Phthiotis; and the Malians, who dwelt between Phthiotis and Thermopylae. The tliird class of the Thessalian population were the Penestae, serfs or dependent cultivators, correspond- ing to the Helots of Laconia, although their condition seems upon the whole to have been superior. They tilled the estates of the great nobles, paying them a certain proportion of the produce, and followed their masters to war upon horseback. They could not, liowever, be sold out of the country, and they pos- sessed the means of acquiring property, as many of them were said to have been richer than their masters. (Archemach. w/). ^<Af». vi. p. 264 ; Plat. Leg. vi. p. 777 ; Aristot. Pol. ii. 6. § 3, vii. 9. § 9; Dionys. ii. 84.) They were probably the descendants of the original inhabitants of the country, reduced to slavery by the conquering Thesprotians ; but when Theopcmpus states that they were the de- scendants of the conquered Perrhaebians and Mag-