Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography Volume I Part 1.djvu/49

 AEGVSUL itoBf, audi coltiTated iritli oom, btit the Temainder oftfetalud ii moontaiiKMis and improdnctiTe. A nngnficent oonical hill noir called ML St, EUas^ or Orm (4p*f, L c the moantam), oocapies the whole df the iwUKm part of the idand, and is the most ranuUUe amang the natural features of Aegina. There is another monntain, xnnch inferior in size, on tke Bortb-easteni ade. It is snTroonded bj nunie- raos rocks and ahallows, which render it difficult and kuvdooB of approach, as Paosanias (ii. 29. § 6) his oorrectlj obaored. Kotvithstanding its small extent Aegina was one «f the most odehrated islands in Greece, both in the BTthieal and historical period. It is said to have boEtt origiBallj called Oenone or Oenopia, and to have reeeifsd the name of Aegina from A^ina, the dHJf^hla of the river-god Ast^ms, who was carried to the ishnd tj Zeos, and there bore him a son Aeacns. It was inrtfaer rdated that at this time A^na was wirnhshited, and that Zees changed the ants (jdp- nws) of the islaDd into men, the Mynnidones, over «homAeaiCQsni]ed(Pans.ii.29.§2.; ApoUod.iiLl2. f 6; Or. MeL viL 472, seq.) Some modem writers sappQse that this legend contains a mythical accoont cf the eoknixatioD of the island, and that the latter reedved wJnnisfa fitm Phlins on the Asopos and fran Pfathia in Tliessalj, the seat of the Mjnnidons. Aeans was legarded as the tutelary deity of Aegina, hot his SOBS abandoned the island, Telamon going ta Sshmis, and Peleos to Phthia. AH that we can Bsfidy infer from these legends is tiiat the ori^nal inhabilBntB of A^;ina were Achaeans. It was i^er- wards taken possesmon of by Dorians from Epidaums, who intzodoced into the island the Doric cnstoms and dialect (Herod. viiL 46 ; Pans. iL 29. § 5.) Together with Epidanms and other cities on the nwfnltiid it became subject to Pbeidon, tyrant of Argos, about b. c 748. It is nsnaUy stated on the aB&ority of Ephoms (Strab. p. 376), that silver ■uney was fint coined in A^ina by Pheidon, and we know that the name of Aeginetan was given to one cf the two acaks of weights and measm'es current dMnghont Greece, the other being the Enboic Ihere seems, however, good reason iinr believing with Xr. Grote that what Pbeidon did was done in Argos nd lia w hne else ; and that the name of Aeginetan was given to his coinage and scale, not from the place where tfaej first originated, but from the people whose commercial activity tended to make them Dost geDexaDy known. (Grote, iJiff. of Oeece, v«L iL p^ 432.) At an early period Aegina became a place of great commercial importance, and gradually a nqj ir e d a powerful navy. As early as b. a 563, in the reign of Amasis, the Aeginetans established a feoting lor its merchants at Nancratis in Egypt, and thereencteda temple of Zeus. (Herod. iL 178.) With the moease of power came the desire of political adepndenoe ; and they renounced the authority of the Epdaarians, to whom they had hitherto been sabjecL (Herod, v. 83.) So powerful did they be- eme that about the year 500 they held the empire «f the sea. According to the testimony of Aristotle (AthoL p. 272), the island contained 470,000 sJavea ; but this number is quite incredible, although vc may admit that A^ina contained a great popu- litMn. At tlie time of their prosperity Uie Aegine- taas ibonded various colonies, such as Gydonia in Crete, aad another m Umbria. (Strab. p. 376.) The was in the hands of an aristocracy. Its beesme wealthy by commerce, and gave great to the arts. In fe«q^, for the half AEGINA 38 century before the Persian wars and fin* a few years afterwards, Aegina was the chief seat of Greek art, and gave its name to a school, the most eminent artists of which were Gallon, Anazagoras, Glaudas, Simon, and Onatas, of whom an account is given in the Diet. ofBiogr, The Aeginetans were at the height of their power when the Thebans applied to them fer aid in their war against the Athmians about b. c. 505. Their request was readily granted, since there had been an an- cient feud between the A^;inetans and Athenians. The Aeginetans sent their powerful fleet to ravage the coast of Attica, and did great damage to the latter coontiy, since the Athenians had not yet any fleet to resist them. This war was continued with some inteiTuptians down to the invasion of Greece by Xerxes. (Herod. v.81, seq., vi. 86, seq.; Thuc i. 41.) The Aeginetans fought with 30 ships at the battle of iSftlamis (b. c. 480), and were admitted to have distmguished themselves above all the other Greeks by their bravery. (Herod, viii. 46, 93.) From this time their power declined. In 460 the Athenians defeated them in a great naval battle, and laid siege to their principal town, which after a long de- fence suzrendered in 456. The Aeginetaqs now became a part of the Athenian empire, and were compelled to destroy their walls, deliver up their ships of war, and pay an annual tribute. (Thuc. L 105, 108.) This humiliation of their ancient enemies did not, however, satisfy the Athenians, who feared the proximity of such discontented subjects. Pericles was accustomed to call Aegina the eye-sore of the Peiraeus (Ji Xiifiri rod Ilfipcu^MS, Arist. Hhet. iii. 10.; oomp. Cic. de Off, iii. 11); and accordingly on the breaking out of Uie Peloponnesian war in 431, the Athenians expelled the whole population from the island, and filled their place with Athenian settlers. The expelled inhabitants were settled by the Lacedaemonians at Thyrea. They were subsequently collected by Lysander after the battle of Aegos- potami (404), and restored to their own country, but they never recovered their former state of prosperity. (Thuc ii. 27 ; Plut. Per. 34 ; Xen. ffelL il 2. § 9 ; Strab. p. 375.) Sulpicius, in his celebrated letter to Cicero, enumerates Aegina among the examples of fallen greatness {ad Fam. iv. 5). The chief town in the island was also called Aegina, and was sitoated on the north-western side. A description of the public buildings of the city is given by Pansanias (ii. 29, 30). Of these the most important was the Aeaceium (AlcCiccioi'), or shrine of Aeacns, a quadrangular indosure built of white marble, in the most conspicuous part of the city. There was a theatre near the shore as large as that of Epidaurus, behind it a stadium, and likewise nu- merous temples. The dty contained two harbours: the prindpal one was near the temple of Aphrodite; the other, called the secret harbour, was near the theatre. The site of the andent dty is marked by numerous remuns, though consisting for the most part only of foundations of walls and scattered blocks of stone. Near the shore are two Doric columns of the most el^ant form. To the S. of these columns is an oval port, sheltered by two andent moles, which leave only a narrow passage in the middle, between the remains of towers, which stood on dther side of the entrance. In the same direction we find another oval port, twice as large as the former, the entrance of which is protected in the same manner by andent walls or moles, 15 ot 20 feet thick. The latter of these ports seems to have been the large harbour, D