Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography Volume I Part 1.djvu/207

 AKCADIA. TjttOy sonained Ljcaens, was also very ancient in Arcadk, and was oefebnted with human sacri- fices em down to the Macedoman period, a fiict vhidi proi«8 that the Aicadlana still retained much of their original rude and savage character, notwith- atandii^ the praises of their eocmtiTman Poljbius. (Theopb. apu Porphjr. de Abstm. ii. 27 ; comp. Puaa, riS. 38. § 7.) Despoena, danghter of Po- aeidoo and Dcmeter, was likewise worshipped with gnat solemDity in Arcadia. (Pans. viii. 37.) Of the history of the Arcadians little requires to be «id. Pknaaniaa (riii. 1, seq.) gives a long list «f the earij Arcadian kings, respecting whom the carioBS in soch matters will find a minute account in OiBtoo. (/oal. JffeiL toL i pp. 88—92.) It appesn from the genealogy of thoe kings that the Arcadians were, from an early period, Prided into iennl independent states. The most ancient divi- caoo ^ypears to hare heen into three sepaxate bodies. Tbi« is alluded to in the aoooont of the descendants «f Areas, who had three sons, Azan, Apheidas, and £lttas,fram whom sprang the difierent Arcadian kiDgs (Pans. viiL 4) ; and this triple diviaon is also sea in the geographical distribatioos of the Arca- diiBs into Aunes, Farrhasii, and TrapezuntiL (SeepL B. #. o. 'A^tu'lo.) In the Trojan war, how- ever, there is only one Arcadian king mentioned, A|(apeoor, the son of Ancaens, and descendant of Aphodas, who sailed with the Arcadians against Trof, m 60 ships, which had been supplied to them hf Agamemnon. (Horn. IL ii. 609.) Previous to the Trojan war Tarions Arcadian colonies are Slid fiD hafe been aent to Italy. Of these the most celcbnted was the one led by Evander, who settled on the banks of the Tiber, at the spot where Rome «as afterwsids haUt, and called the town which he baik RdQanttam, after the Arcadian place of this ume, from which be came. [Pallahtium.] That thoe Arcadian colonies are pure fictions, no one wonld think of doobting at the present day ; but it hss been eaggested that an explanation of them may be iband in the supposition that the ancient inhabit- BOti of Latiom were Felasgisns, like the Arcadians, aad Dsay thus have pijuwuwid certain traditions in eomsMn. (Coaxp. Niebuhr, EitL of Some, voL L p. 86.) On the inrasaoa of Felopannesus by the Dorians, die Arcadians, protected by their mountains, maln- tsaaed their independence (Herod. iL 171 ; Strab. f>333); hot the Spartans, when their power be- casK more fbHy developed, made various attempts to «btain dominion over the Arcadian towns. Ae- confiagly, the Arcadians fought on the side of the M*— wi^w^ in their wan against Sparta ; and they showed their sympathy for the Messenians by re- covittf; them into thrir country, and giving them danghtan in marriage at the close of the second irar (b. c 631), and by putting to death Aristocrates, king of Orchomenus, because he trea- cbrriRialy abandoned the Messenians at tlio battle of the Trcneh. (Diod. xv. 66 ; PoL iv. 33 ; Pans. riiL 5. § lO, seq.) Since the Arcadians were not uaited by any political league, and rardy acted in onreri, till the ibandation of Megalopolis bj Epa- aaaondaa, in b.c. 371, their history down to this petiod is the history of their sepsmte towns. It is sDJy neeesBsiy to mention here the more important evcota, Ttierring, for details, to the separate articles Qukr the names of these towns. M jet of the Ar- cadian towns were only villages, each independent «f the other, but on the eastern frontier there were AKCADIA. 191 some oonsidenble towns, as has been mentioned above. Of these by hr the most important were T^ea and Mantineia, on the bordere of Laccmia and Argolis, their territ<»ieB consisting of the pUiin of Tripolitzd. It has already been stated, that the Spartans made various attempts to extend their dominion over Arcadia. The whole of the northern territory of Sparta originally bdonged to Arcadia, and was inhabited by Arcadian inhabitants. The districts of Sdrltis, Beleminfttis, Maleatis, and CaryStis, were at one time part of Arcadia, but had been conquered and annexed to Sparta before b. c. 600. (Grote, BitL of Greece^ vol. ii. p 588.) The Spar- tans, however, met with a formidable resistance from Tegea, and it was not till after a struggle, which lasted for several centuries, and in the course of which the Spartans had been frequently defeated, that Tegea at length acknowledged the supremacy of Sparta, about b. o. 560. [Tegea.] From this time T^ea and the other Arcadian towns a|^pear as the allies of Sparta, and obeyed her ordors as to the disposal of thdr militaiy force; but they con- tinued to maintain their independence, and never became the subjects of Sparta. In the Persian wars, the Arca^ans fought under Sparta, and the Tegeatans appear as the second militaiy power in the Peloponnesus, having the place of honour on the left wing of the allied army. (Herod, ix. 26.) Between the battle of Plataea and the beginning of the third Messenian war (»'. e. between b.c. 479 and 464), the Arcadians were again at war with Sparta. Of this war we have no details, and we only know that the Spartans gained two great victories, one over the Tegeates and Argives at Tegea, and another over all the Arcadians, with the exception of the Man- tineians, at Dipaea (iv AnriuifViv) in the Maenalian territory. (Herod, ix. 35; Pans. iii. 11. §7.) In the Pelqionnesian war, all the Arcadian towns re- mained fiiithful to Sparta, with the exception of Mantineia; but this city, which was at the head of the democratical interest in Arcadia, formed an alliance with Aigos, and Athens, and Elis, in b. c. 421, and declared war against Sparta. The Man- tineians, however, were defeated, and compelled to renew their alliance with Sparta, b.c. 417. (Thnc. V. 29, seq., 66, seq., 81.) Some years afterwards, the Spartans, jealous of the power of Mantineia, razed the walls of the dty, and distributed the in- habitants among the four or five villages, of which they had originally consisted, b. o. 385. (Xen. HelL V. 2. §§ 1—6 ; Diod. xv. 19.) [Mawtinkia.] The defeat c^ the Spartans at the battle of Leuctra, hy Epaminondas and the Thebans (b. c. 371), destroyed the Spartan supremacy in the Pelopon- nesus, and restored the independence of the Arcadian towns. This victory was followed immediately by the restoration of Msntineia, and later in the same year by the fbrmatian of a political confederation in Arcadia. The person who took the most active part m efiecting this union, was a native of Man- tineia, named Lycomedes, and his project was warmly seconded by Epaminondas and the Boeotian chiefs. The plan was opposed by the aristocratical parties at Orchomenus, Tegea, and other Arcadian towns, but it received the cordial approbation of the great body of the Arcadian people. They resolved to found a new city, which was to be the 64?at of the new government, and to be called Megalopolis, or the Great City. The foundations of the city were immediately hud, and its population was drawn