Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography Volume II.djvu/181

 LESBOS. purposes of a harbour. Its ichthyology is repeatedly mentioned by Aristotle as remarkable. (^Hist. Animal. V. 10. § 2, V. 13. § 10, viii. 20. § 15, ix. 25. The surface of the island is mountainous. The principal mountains wereOrdymnus in the W., Olym- pus in the S., and Lepethymnus in the N. Their ele- vations, as marked in the Enjrlish Admiralty Charts, are respectively, 1780, 3080, and 2750 feet. The excellent climate and fine air of Lesbos are celebrated by Diodorus Siculus (v. 82), and it is still reputed to be the most healthy island in the Archipela;:;o. (^Pnrdy's Sailinff Bu-ectort/, p. 154.) Tacitus {Ann. vi. 3) calls it " insula nobilis et amoena." Agates were found there (Plin. xxxvii. 54), and its quarries produced variegated marble (xxxvi. 5). The whole- some Lesbian wines (" innocentis pocula Lesbii," Hor. Carm. i. 17, 21) were famous in the ancient world ; but of this a more particular account is given under MEXnyji-NA. The trade of the island was active and considerable ; but here again we must refer to what is said concerning its chief city I^Iytilene:. At the present day the figs of Lesbos are celebrated ; but its chief exports are oil and gall-nuts. The population was estimated, in 1816, at 25,000 Greeks and 5000 Turks. Tradition says that the first inhabitants of Lesbos were Pelasgians: and Xanthus was their legendary leader. Next came lonians and others, under Ma- careus, who is said by Diodorus (v. 80) to have introduced written laws two generations before the Trojan war. Last were the Aeolian settlers, under the leadership of Lesbus, who appears in Strabo under the name Graus, and who is said to have married Methymna, the daughter of lilacareus. Mytilene was the elder daughter. This is certain, that the early history of Lesbos is identical with that of the Aeolians. Strabo regards it as their central seat {crx^Sov ixTjTponoAis, xiii. pp. 616, 622). In mercantile enterprise, in resistance to the Persians, and in intellectual emineuce, the insular Aeolians seem to have been favourably conti'asted with their brethren on the continent. That which Horace calls " Aeolium carmen " and " Aeoliae fides" (Carm. ii. 13. 24, iii. 30. 13) was due to the genius of Lesbos : and Kiebuhr's expression regarding this island is, that it was " the pearl of the Aeolian race." (Lectures on Ancient Ethvjlogy and Geography, vol. i. p. 218.) Lesbos was not, like several other islands of the Archipelago, such as Cos, Chios and Samos, the territory of one city. We read of six Aeolian cities in Lesbos, each of which had originally separate possessions and an independent government, and which were situated in the following geographical order. Methymna (now Mollvo) was on the north, almost immediately opposite Assos, from which it was separated by one of the previously mentioned straits. Somewhere in its neighbourhood was Arisba, which, however, was incorporated in the Methymnaean territory before the time of Herodotus (i. 151). Near the western extremity of the island were Antissa and Ekessits. The former was a little to the north of Cape Sigrium, and was situated on a small island, which in Pliny's time (ii. 91) was connected with Lesbos itself. The latter was on the south of the promontory, and is still known under the name of Erissi, a modern village, near which rains have been found. At the bead of Port Caloni was Py'REHA, which in Strabo's time had been swal- lowed up by the sea, with the exception of a suburb. LESBOS. 1G5 (Strab. xiii. p. 618 ; see Plin. v. 31.) The name of Pera is still attached to this district according to Pococke. On the eastern shore, facing the main- land, was SIytilese. Besides these places, we must mention the following : — Hiera, doubtless at the head of Port Olivier, said by Pliny to have been destroyed before his day; Agamede, a village in the neighbourhood of Pyrrha ; Nape, in the plain of Blelhymna ; Aegirus, between Jlethymna ' and Jlytilene ; and Polium, a site mentioned by Ste- phanus B. Most of these places are noticed more particularly under their respective names. All of them decayed, and became unimportant, in compa- rison with Jlethymna and Mytilene, which were si- tuated on good harbours opposite the mainland, and convenient for the coasting-trade. The annals of Lesbos are so entirely made up of events affecting those two cities, especially the latter, that we must refer to them for what does not bear upon the general history of the island. From the manner in which Lesbos is mentioned both in the Iliad and Odyssey (11. xxiv, 544, Od. iv. 342), it is evident that its cities were populous and flourishing at a very early period. They had also very large possessions on the opposite coast. Lesbos was not included in the conquests of Croesus. (Herod, i. 27.) The severe defeat of the Lesbians by the Samians under Polycrates (iii. 39) seems only to have been a temporary disaster. It is said by Herodotus (i. 151) that at first they had nothing to fear, when Cyrus conquered the territories of Croesus on the mainland : but afterwards, with other islanders, they seem to have submitted vohmtarily to Harpagus (i. 169). The situation of this island on the very confines of the great struggle between the Persians and the Greeks was so critical, that its fortunes were seriously afli'ected in every phase of the long conflict, from this period down to the peace of Antalcidas and the campaigns of Alexander. The Lesbians joined the revolt of Aristagoras (Herod, vi. 5, 8), and one of the most memorable incidents in this part of its history is the consequent hunting down of its inhabitants, as well as those of Chios and Tencdos, by the Persians (Herod, vi. 31; Aesch. Pers. 881). After the battles of Salamis and ilycale they boldly identified theni.selves with the Greek cause. . At first they attached themselves to the Lacedaemonian interest: but before long they came under the overpowering influence of the naval supremacy of Athens. In the early part of tlie Peloponnesian War, the position of Lesbos was more fiivourable than that of the other islands : for, like Corcyra and Chios, it was not required to furnish a money -tribute, but only a naval contingent (Tliuc. ii. 9). But in the course of the war, Jlytik-ne was induced to intrigue with the Lacedaemonians, and to take the lead in a great revolt from Athens. The events which fill so large a portion of the third book of Thucydidcs — the speech of Cleon, the change of mind on the part of the Athenians, and the narrow escape of the Lesbians from entire massacre by the sending of a second ship to overtake the first — are perhaps the most memorable circumstances con- nected with the history of this island. The lands of Lesbos were divided among Athenian citizens (/cA7;>- puvxpC), many of whom, however, according to Boeckh, returned to Athens, the rest remaining as a g.arrison. Jlethymna had taken no part in the revolt, and was exempted from the punishment After the Sicilian expedition, the Lesbians again wavered in their allegiance to Athens; but the result was unim- M 3