Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography Volume I Part 1.djvu/30

  under the name of Peirus, as we learn from Strabo. It is described by Leake as wide and deep in the latter end of February, although no rain had fallen for some weeks. Into the Peirus flowed the Teutheas, which in its turn received the Caucon. The Peirus flowed past Pharae, where it was called Piërus, but the inhabitants of the coast called it by the former name. (Stiab. p. 342; Herod. i. 145; Paus. vii. 18. § I, 22. § 1; Leake, vol. ii. p. 155.) Strabo in another passage calls it Melas, but the reading is probably corrupt. Dionysius Periegetes mentions the Melas along with the Crathis among the rivers flowing from Mt. Erymanthus. (Strab. p. 386; Dionys. 416.) 15. (: Mana), forming the boundary between Achaia and Elis, rising in Mt Scollis, and falling into the sea 30 stadia from Dyme. (Paus. vii. 17. § 5; Strab. p. 387; Liv. xxvii.31). The original inhabitants of Achaia are said to have been Pelasgians, and were called Aegialeis, or "Coast-Men," from Aegialos, the ancient name of the country, though some writers sought a mythical origin for the name, and derived it from Aegialeus, king of Sicyonia. (Herod, vii. 94; Paus, vii. 1.) The Ionians subsequently settled in the country. According to the mythical account, Ion, the son of Xuthus, crossed over from Attica at the head of an army, but concluded an alliance with Selinus, the king of the country, married his daughter Helice,and succeeded him to the throne. From this time the land was called Ionia, and the inhabitants Ionians or Aegialian lonians. The Ionians remained in possession of the country till the invasion of Peloponnesus by the Dorians, when the Achaeans, who had been driven out of Argos and Lacedaemon by the invaders, marched against the Ionians in order to obtain new homes for themselves in the country of the latter under the command of their king Tisamenus, the son of Orestes, they defeated the Ionvias in battle. The latter shut themselves up in Helice, where they sustained a siege for a time, but they finally quitted the oountry and sought refuge in Attica. The Achaeans thus became masters of the country, which was henceforth called after them Achaia. (Herod, i. 145 ; Pol. ii. 41; Paus, vii. 1 ; Strab. p. 383.) This is the common legend, but it should be observed that Homer takes no notice of Ionians on the northern coast of Peloponnesus; but on the contrary, the catalogue in the Iliad distinctly includes this territory under the dominions of Agamenmon. Hence there seems reason for questioning the occupation of northern Peloponnesus by the Ionians and their expulsion from it by Tisamenus; and it is more probable that the historical Achaeans in the north part of Pelopoimesus are a small undisturbed remnant of the Achaean population once distributed through the whole peninsula. (Grote, History of Greece, vol. ii. p. 17.)

The Ionians are said to have dwelt in villages, and the cities in the country to have been first built by the Achaeans. Several of these villages were united to form a town; thus Patrae was formed by an union of seven villages, Dyme of eight, and Aegium also of seven or eight. The Achaeans possessed twelve cities, the territory of each of which was divided into seven or eight demi. (Strab. p. 386.) This number of 12 is said to have been borrowed from the Ionians, who were divided into 12 parts, when they occupied the country, and who accordingly refused to allow of more than twelve cities in their league. Although there are good reasons for believing that there were more than twelve independent cities in Achaia (Grote, Hist. of Greece, voi. ii. p. 614), yet the ancient writers always recognise only 12, and this seems to have been regarded as the established number of the confederation. These cities continued to be governed by the descendants of Tisamenus down to Ogygos, after whose death they abolished the kingly rule and established a democracy. Each of the cities founded a separate republic, but were united together by periodical sacrifices and festivals, where they arranged their disputes and settled their common concerns. In the time of Herodotus (L 145) the twelve cities were Pellene, Aegeira, Aegae, Bura, Helice, Aegium, Rhypes, Patreis (ae), Phareis (ae), Olenns, Dyme, Tritaeeis (Tritaea). This list is copied by Strabo (pp. 385, 386); but it appears from the list in Polybius (ii. 41), that Leontium and Ceryneia were afterwards substituted in the place of Rhypes and Aegae, which had fallen into decay. Pausanias (vii. 6. 1 1) retains both Rhypes and Aegae, and substitutes Ceryneia for Patrae; but his authority is of no value in opposition to Polybius. The bond of union between these cities was very loose, and their connection was of a religions rather than of a political nature. Thus we find them sometimes acting quite independently of one another. Pellene alone joined the Lacedaemonians at the commencement of the Pelqponnesian war, while the rest remained neutral; and at a later period of the war Patrae alone espoused the Athenian cause. (Thuc. ii. 9, v. 52.) Their original place of meeting was at Helice, where they offered a common sacrifice to Poseidon, the tutelary god of the place ; but after this city had been swallowed up by the sea in B. C. 373 [Helice], they transferred their meetings to Aegium, where they sacrificed to Zeus Homagyrius, or Homarius, and to the Panachaean Demeter, (Paus. vii. 24; Pol. V. 94.) The Achaeans are rarely mentioned during the flourishing period of Grecian history. Being equally unconnected with the great Ionian and Doric races, they kept aloof for the most part from the struggles between the Greek states, and appear to have enjoyed a state of almost uninterrupted prosperity down to the time of Philip. They did not assist the other Greeks in repelling the Persians. In B. C. 454 they formed an alliance with the Athenians, but the latter were obliged to surrender Achaia in the truce for thirty years, which they concluded with Sparta and her allies in B. C. 445. (Thuc i. 111, 115.) In the course of the Peloponnesian war they joined the Lacedaemonians, though probably very reluctantly. (Thuc. ii. 9.) They retained, however, a high character among the other Greeks, and were esteemed on account of their sincerity and good faith. So highly were they valued, that at an early age some of the powerful Greek colonies in Italy applied for their mediation and adopted their institutions, and at a later time they were chosen by the Spartans and Thebans as arbiters after the battle of Leuctra. (Pol. ii. 39.) The first great blow which the Achaeans experienced was at the battle of Chaeroneia (B. C. 338), when they fought with the Athenians and Boeotians against Philip and lost some of their bravest citizens. Eight years afterwards (B. C. 330) all the Achaean towns, with the exception of Pellene, joined the Spartans in the cause of Grecian freedom, and shared in the disastrous defeat at Mantineia, in which Agis fell. This severe blow left them so prostrate that they were unable to render 