Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography Volume I Part 2.djvu/131

 872 EUBOEA. EUBOEA. the aooUnrsrd, is the bay of Talemda, ao caOed from the Boeotuui town of this name. ** A remark- able featme in this part of the channd is the amazing depth of water nnder Mt^ TeletbrioSy where, for about 12 or 15 miles, there is no bottom with 220 fathoms within half a mile of the shore; bat firam tbb pobt the water shoals gradnallj towards Egripo (Gbalcis). Towards the north-west eztremitj of this shore there is a very safe and excellent harboor, now called Port GhuUira (formerly Port Kaks).'' At Chalcis the Euboean sea oontrscts into a narrow channel, called the Enripns, only 40 yards across. An acconnt of this channel, and rf the extraordinary tides which here prevail, is given ekewhere. [ChaI/- CT8.] SoQth of the Earipns are several isUuids along theEnbocan shore, which afford good anchorage. Of these the most important are Glaaconnesns, Ae- giliae, and the islands Petaliae. (Plin. iv. 12. s. 21 ; Strab. X. p. 444.) Enboea is deficient in water. There is not a stream in the whole island into which the smallest boat can enter. Those streams of which the names are mentioned, are : — Callas (KoAA^s, Strab. x. p. 445), on the north coast, flowing into the >ea near Orens ; — Gerbus (Krjp€iSs') and Neleus (NiyAc^y), of uncertain position, of which it is recorded that the sheep drinking the water of the Cerens became white, while those drinking the water of the Neleus became black (Stmb. x. p. 449 ; Plin. xxzi. 9. s. 2 ; Antig. Garyst. Hist Mirab, 84); — Lelajitus, flowing through the plain of this name (Plin. iv. 12. 8. 21); — and Budorus (Boi^poy, Ptol. Hi. 12. s. 25), flowing into the sea on the east coast by Ce- rinthus. In the plains of Euboea a ooDsiderable quantity of com was grown in antiquity ; and there is excel- lent pasture for sheep in the summer, on the slopes of the mountains. These mountain-lands appear in ancient times to have belonged to the state, and were let out for pasture to such proprietors 9b had the means of supporting their flocks during the winter. The mountains are said to contain copper and iron, and the marble quarries of Gaiystos in the southern part of the island were among the most celebrated in Greece. At the present day « light red wine is made from the vines grown in tiie northern plains of the island ; while the plains towards the south are generally cultivated witii com and olives. Euboea, like many of tiie other Gredan islands, is said to have borne other names in the most ancient times. Thus, it was called Macris, from its great length in comparison with its breadth. (Strab. x. p. 444.) It was also named Hellopia, properly a dis- trict near Histiaea in the northern part of the island, from Hellops, the son of Ion; — Oche, from the mountain of this name in the south of the island ; — and Abantis, from the most ancient inhabitants of tlie island. (Strab. L c; Plin. iv. 12. s.21.) It is observed by Strabo that Homer (/£. iL 536) calls the inhabitants of the island Afaantes, though he gives to the island itself the name of Euboea. Hesiod related that the name of Abantis was changed into Euboea from the cow lo, who was even said to have given birth to Epaphus in the island. (Hes. op. iStepA. B. $. V. 'Afayris; Strab l.e.) It would be idle to inquire into the origin of these Abantes. According to Aristotle, they were Thracians who passed over to Enboea from the Thracian town of Abae ; while others, in accordance with the common practice, de- rived their name from an eponymous hero. (Strab. L r.) The southern part of the island was inhabited I by Dryopes, wno are expressly said to axn wunded bi^ in the historical period the Abantes had disap- peared from Ed)oea. Herodotus reUtes that the Abantes atarinted in colonising the Ionic cities ef Asia Minor. (Herod. L 146.) In the historical times most of the dties of Enboea were inhabited by Ionic Gredcs; and the Athenians are said to have taken the chief part in their mlnmsatinn, Euboea was dirided Uet we en six or seven independent dties, of which Chaixss and Erbtria, on the western coast in the centre of the island, were the most important In the northern end of the island were situated Histiasa, afterwards called Orens, on the coast opposite Thessaly; Diux, AEDSFStia, Athevae Diades, Orobiae, and Aboab, on the west coast opposite Locris; and Gerdtthus, on the east ooaat. In the southern end of the island were DTsnruSi Styea, and Gartstus. There were also a few smaller places dependent upon these cities, of which a list is givea under the names of the cities to which they respec- tively belonged. All the above-mentioDed dtacs occur in the Iliad, with the exception of Athenae Diades. Scylax mentions only four cities — Caiystna^ Eretria, Ch^ds, and Hestiaea. As Enboea never formed one political state, it is impossible to give a general history of the whole island without repeating what is mentioned under each dty. It is ther^ore only necessary to men- tion here a few leading fruits, referring for the details of the history to other articles. At a very early period Chalcis and Eretria were two of the most important cities in Greece. They possessed an exteikive commerce^ and founded colonies upon the coasts of Macedonia, Italy, and Sicily, and in the islands of the Aegaean. They continned in a flourishing condition down to the expubion of the Peisistratidae from Athens, when the Ghalddians joined the Boeotians in making war upon the Athe- nians. But for this they paid dearly; for the Athenians crossed over to Euboea, defeated the Ghalddians, and divided thdr lands among 4000 Athenian colonists, b. c 506. [GhaijCIS.] Eretria was destroyed by the Persians in b. c. 490, in con- sequence of the aid which the Eretrians had rendered to the lonians, in their revolt from Persia two years previously: and although the city was subsequently rebuilt near its former site, it never recovered its former power. [Eretria.] After the Persian wars the whole of Enboea became subject to the Athenians, who regarded it as the most valuable of all their foreign possessions. It supplied them with a considerable quantity of com, with timber and fire-wood, and with pasture for their horses and flocks. In B.C. 445 the whde island revolted from Athens, but it was speedily reconquered by Pericles. In B. a 411, shortly after the Athenian misfortunes in Sicily, Euboea again revolted from Athens, and its dties continued for a time independent. But when Athens recovered its maritime supremacy the influence of the Athenians again becune pre- dominant in Euboea, in spite of the Thebans, who attempted to bring it imder their sway. The Athenians however were no longer able to exercise^ the same soverdgnty over the Euboean dties, as they had done during the flourishing period of tiieir emphe; and accord^ly they did not interfere ta put down the tyrants who had established them- selves in most of the dties shortly before the tima of Philip of Maoedon. This monarch availed him*.
 * Stym and Carystns (Herod. viiL 46; Thuc viL 57);