Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography Volume I Part 2.djvu/21

 Hi DELPBL fepot down to the latest timeB (Pva. z. S7. § 4); bQt the ttadiiim, which was still in the maritinie plain in the time of Pindar iPjfih. zi 20,23), was sobseqnentl J removed to the city, where the mnsiGal and poetiaid matehes seem to have been alwajs held. From the time of the destraetion of Cinha, Delphi was indisputably an independent state, whatever maj hare been its politiod condition before that time. From this time it appears as the town of Delphi, governed by its own magistntes. The name of Delphi first occnn in one of the most reomt of the Homeric iijmns (zzviL 14.), and in a finsg- ment of Heraclitos. (Plat, de F^ Orac^ c. 21, p. 404.) The population of Delphi came from Ly- coreia (AvK^pcia), a town situated upon one of the heights of Parnassus above the sanctuary. This town is said to have been founded by Deucaliim, and from it the Delphian nobles, at all events, derived their origin. Hence, Plutareh tells us that the five diief-priests of the god, called 'Oo^oi, were chosen by lot from a namb«r of families who derived their descent from Deucalion. (Stmb. iz. pp. 418, 423; Schd. ad ApoU, Rhod, ii. 711; Paua. z. 6. § 2; Pint Qi»ae$t, Graee. 9, p. 380.) The remains of Lyooreia are found at the Tillage of lAdhtra. MUlIer conjectures, with much probability, that tihe inhabitants of Lyooreia were Dorians, who had spread from the Dorian Tetrapolis over the heights of Par- nassus. At all events, we know that a Doric dialect was spoken at Delphi ; and the oracle always showed a leaning towards the Greeks of the Doric race. Moreover, that the Delphians were of a differoit laoe from the Phocians is clear from the antipathy which always existed between the two peoples. The government of Delphi appean at first to have been in the ezclusive possession of a few noble ikmilies. They had the entire management of the onicle, and from them were chosen the five*0^«M, or chief-priests of the god, as is mentioned above. These are the pereons whom Euripides describes as '* sitting near the tripod, the Delphian nobles, chosen by lot" (ot irKtialov Bdxr^ovat vpliroBos .... A§>&9 ipurrriSy oCt iMK^pwrw wcUoi, Ion, 415). They are also called by ihe poet '* the lords and princes of the Delphians," and formed a criminal court, which sentenced by the Pythian decision all offenders against the temple to be hurled from a precipice. (Koiparal Ilvtfiicol, 1219 ; AwKp&p Am- KTffT, 1222; Uveta ^^, 1250; from MUller, DoriatUf vol. L p. 240.) From the noble fiunilies the chief magistrates were chosen, among whom in early times a king (Plut QuaesL Graee. 12. p. 383), and afterwards a prytanis, was supreme (Pans. z. 2. § 2). We also find in inscriptions mention of arehons who gave their names to the year, of a senate (BovAif), and m later times of ao agora. (B6ckh, Inter. No. 1687—1724; Mttller, Ihr. vol. i. p. 192.) The constitution of Delphi and its general condition offered a striking contrast with what we find in other Grecian states. Owing not only its prosperity, but even its very ezistenoe, to its oracle, the government was of a theocratic na- ture. The god possessed large domains, which were cultivated by the slaves of the tonple, who are fre- quently mentioned in inscriptions. (Mflller, toI. i. p. 283.) In addition to this, the Delphian citizens received numerous jM^esoits from the mooarchs and wealthy men who CMisulted the oracle, while at the same time the numerous sacrifices offered by strangen were suflieiettt for their support. (Comp» Atbsn. iv. .DELPHI. p. 173.) Heooe thej becams a luy, ignannty and sensual people; and their eariy degeonsi^ is jbik plied in the trsditiaa of Aesop's deatL « An aceouni of the Delphic onele, cf the mode in which it was oonsttlted, sad of its inflnenrie in Greece^ is given in the DicL ofAnL (art OrmeiAany. It only remains here to tnoe its histoiy. In the eighth centaiy before the Christian ere its, rqpntation w»s established, not only throoghont Hdlaa, but even among the sanoanding natioos, which sometimes sent solemn embassies to ask the advice «f the god. This wide extension of the influence of the ends was owing to the &ct that ahnost all Greek colooies were founded with the sanction, and frequently by the cjip ni ss command, of the Pythian Apollo ; and thus the ookinists earned with them a natnral rsversnce for the pataran god of their enterprise. Gyges, the founder of the l^t Lydian dynasty, whe reified b. c. 716 — 678, presented valuable g^ te the god (Herod. L 13, 14); and Croesus, the last mooardb of this race, was «» of the gieatest bene- factns which the god ever had. His nmnerons and costly pressBtt are specked at length by Herodotas (L 50. seq.). The colonies in Hsgna Gneeia also spread among the inhabitants of Italy a reverence for the Delpluc oiade. TheEtmsean town of ^V^, (Caere) had at Delphi a thesanms bekmgii^ to their state ; and the last king of Rome sent to con- sult the orade. In B. G. 548 the temple was destnyyed by fire (Pans. z. 5. § 13), when many of its votive offer* ings perished or were greatly injured (Herod. L 50). The Amphictyons determined that the temple should be rebuilt on a scsle of magnificence commensurate with the sanctity of the spot. Thej decreed that one-fourth of the ezpense should be home by the Delphians themselves, and that the remainder skonid be odlected from the other parts of the Hellenic world. The sum required for the building was 300 talents, or ll5,000iL sterling; and when it was at length collected, thfr family of the Alcmaeomdae, then ezUes from Athens, took the contract for the execution of the work. They emp]<^ed as architect Spintharus, the Corinthian, and gidned gmt reputa- tion for their liberality in using Paxian maibfe for the front of the temple in place of the eoone stone prescribed in the contract. (Herod. iL 180, v. 62 ; Pans, t c.) In B. c. 480 Xerzes sent a detachment of his ariny to plunder the temple. The Delphians^ in alarm sought safety on the heights of Mt. Parnas- sus, but were forbidden by the god to remove the treasures from his temple. Only sizty Del- phians remained behind, but they were encouraged by divine portents; and when the Persians, who came from Phocis by the rosd Sdkist^ b^an to climb the rugged path leading up to the shrine, and had already reached the temple of Athena Pnmaeay on a sudden thunder was heard to roll, the war* shout sounded from the temple of Athena, and two huge crags rolled down from the mountaine, and crushed many to death. Seiied with a sudden panic the Persians turned and fled, pursued by two warrion of superhuman siie, irbom the Delphians affirmed i^exB the two heroes Phylacns and Aut»- nous, whose sanctuaries were near the spot Hcro- dotns, when he visited Delphi, saw in the sacred enclosure ei Athena Pronaea the identical erags which had crushed the Persians ; and Uhichs Da> ticed near the spot large blocks of stone which haw xoUed-down from the Qunniit (Herod. vxiL 35— Sd;