Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography Volume II.djvu/720

 704 EHEGIUM, ■where they adjoined the Locrian territory, while the Locrian colonies of Medina and Hipponium prevented their extension on the N. Indeed, from the position of Rhetjium it seems to have always maintained closer relations with Sicily, and taken more part in the pohtics of that island than in those of the other Greek cities in Italy. Between the Rhegians and Locrians, however, there appears to have been a con- stant spirit of enmity, which might be readily expected between two rival cities, such near neigh- bours, and belonging to different races. (Thuc. iv. 1,24.) Rhegium appears to have participated largely in the political changes introduced by the Pythagoreans, and even becaine, for a short time after the death of Pythagonis, the head-quarters of his sect (Iambi. Vit. Pyth. 33, 130, 251); but the changes then introduced do not seem to have been permanent. It was under the reign of Anaxilas that Rhegium first rose to a degree of power far greater than it had previously attained. We have no account of the circumstances attending the elevation of that despot to power, an event which took place, ac- cording to Diodorus, in B.C. 494 (Diod. si. 48); hut we know that he belonged to one of the ancient Messenian families, and to the oligarchy which had previously ruled the state. (Strab. vi. p. 257; Paus. iv. 23. § 6; Arist. Pol. v. 12; Thuc. vi. 4.) Hence, when he made himself master of Zancle on the opposite side of the straits, he gave to that city the naiTie of Messana, by which it was ever afterwards known. [Messan..] Anaxilas continued for some years ruler of both these cities, and thus was undis- puted master of the Sicilian straits: still further to strengthen himself in this sovereignty, he fortified the rocky promontory of Scyllaeum, and established a naval .station there to guard the straits against the Tyrrhenian pirates. (Strab. vi. p. 257.) He meditated also the destruction of the neighbouring city of Locri, the perpetual rival and enemy of Rhegium, but was prevented from carrying out his purpose by the intervention of Hieron of Syracuse, who espoused the cause of the Locrians, and whose enmity Anaxilas did not choose to provoke. (Schol. ad riiicl. Pyili. ii. 34.) One of his daughters was, indeed, married to the Syracusan despot, whose friendship he seems to have sought assiduously to cultivate. Anaxilas enjoyed the reputation of one of the mildest and most equitable of the Sicilian rulers (Justin, iv. 2), and it is probable that Rhegium enjoyed great prosperity under his government. At liis ileath, in b. r. 476, it passed without opposition under the rule of his two sons; but the government was administered during their minority by their guardian Micythus, who reigned over both Rhegium and Messana for nine years with exemplary justice and moderation, and at the end of that time gave up the sovereignty into the hands of the two sons of Anaxilas. (Diod. xi. 48, 66; Herod, vii. 170; Justin. iv. 2; Macrob. 5a<. i. 11.) These, however, did not hold it long: they were expelled in B.C. 461, the revolutions which at that time agitated the cities of Sicily having apparently extended to Rhegium also. (Diod. xi. 76.) The government of Jlicythus was marked by one great disaster : in b. c. 473, the Rhegians, having sent an auxiliary force of 3000 men to assist the Tarentines against the lapygians, shared in the great defeat which they sustained on that occasion £Tarentum]; but the statement of Diodorus that RIIEGimi. the barbarians not only pursued the fugitives to the gates of Rhegium, but actually made themselves masters of the city, may be safely rejected as incre- dible. (Diod. xi. 52; Herod, vii. 170; Grote's Hut. of Greece, vol. v. p. 319.) A story told by Justin, that the Rhegians being agitated by domestic dis- sensions, a body of mercenaries, who were called in by one of the parties, drove out their opponents, and then made themselves masters of the city by a general massacre of the remaining citizens (Justin, iv. 3), must be placed (if at all) shortly after the expulsion of the sons of Anaxilas ; but the whole story has a very apocryphal air; it is not noticed by any other writer, and it is certain that the old Chalcidic citizens continued in possession of Rhegium down to a much later period. We have very little information as to the history of Rhegium during the period which followed the expulsion of the despots ; but it seems to have retained its liberty, in common with the neijhbouring cities of Sicily, till it fell under the yoke of Dionysius. In B. c. 427, when the Athenians sent a fleet under Laches and Charoeades to support the Leontines against Syracuse, the Rhegians espoused the cause of the Chalcidic cities of Sicily, and not only allowed their city to be made the head-quarters of the Athe- nian fleet, but themseh'es furnished a consideralile auxiliary force. They were in consequence engaged in continual hostilities with the Locrians. (Diod. xii. 54; Thuc. iii. 86, iv. 1, 24, 25.) But they pursued a different course on occasion of the great Athenian expedition to Sicily in B.C. 415, when they refused to take any part in the contest; and they appear to have persevered in this neutrality to the end. (Diod. xiii. 3: Thuc. vi. 44, vii. 1, 58.) It was not long after this that the increaMUg power of Dionysius of Syracuse, who had destroyed in succession the chief Chalcidic cities of Sicily, be- came a subject of alarm to the Rhegians ; and in B.C. 399 they fitted out a fleet of 50 triremes, and an army of 6000 foot and 600 horse, to make war upon the despot. But the Messenians, who at first made common cause with them, having quickly abandoned the alliance, they were compelled to desist from the enterprise, and made peace with Dionysius. (Diod. xiv. 40.) The latter, who was meditating a great war with Carthage, was desirous to secure the friend.ship of the Rhegians; but his proposals of a matrimonial alliance were rejected with scorn ; he in consequence concluded such an alliance with the Locrians, and became from this time the implacable enemy of the Rhegians. (76. 44, 107.) It was from hostility to the latter that he a few years later (b.c. 394), after the destruction of Jlessana by the Cartha- ginians, restored and fortified that city, as a post to command the straits, and from which to carry on his enterprises in Southern Italy. The Rhegians in vain sought to forestal him; they made an unsuccessful at- tack upon Messana, and were foiled in their attempt to establish a colony of Naxians at Mylae, as a post of offence against the Blessenians. (76. 87.) The next year Dionysius, in his turn, made a sudden attack on Rhegium itself, but did not succeed in surprising the city; and after ravaging its territory, was com- pelled to draw off his forces. (/Z>. 90.) But in b. c. 390 he resumed the design on a larger scale, and laid regular siege to the city with a force of 20,000 foot, 1000 horse, and a fleet of 120 triremes. The Rhegians, however, opposed a vigorous resistance: tiie fleet of Dionysius suffered severely from a storm, and the approach of winter at length compelled him