Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 22.djvu/202

 186 SMYRNA & Olympia, but it was probably then a recent event. The Colophonian conquest is mentioned by Mimnermus (before 600 B.C.), who counts himself equally a Colophonian and a Smyrnasan. The ^Eolic form of the name, 'Sp.vpva, was retained even in the Attic dialect, and the epithet " yEolian Smyrna " remained long after the conquest. The favour- able situation of Smyrna on the path of commerce between Lydia and the west raised it during the 7th century to the height of power and splendour. It lay at the eastern end of an arm of the sea, which reached far inland and admitted the Greek trading ships into the heart of Lydia. One of the great trade routes which cross Anatolia from east to west descends the Hermus valley past Sardis, and then diverging from the valley passes south of Mount Sipylus and crosses a low pass into the little valley, about 7 miles long and 2 broad, where Smyrna lies between the mountains and the sea. Miletus, and at a later time Ephesus, situated at the sea end of the other great trade route across Anatolia, competed for a time successfully with Smyrna for the conveyance of traffic from the interior ; but both Ephesus and Miletus have long ago lost their harbours, and Smyrna now remains without a rival. It was of necessity in close relation with the Lydians, and when the Mermnad kings raised the Lydian power and aggressiveness it was one of the first points of attack. Gtyges (687-653) was, however, defeated in a great battle on the banks of the Hermus; the situation of the battle- field shows that the power of Smyrna extended far to the east, and probably included the valley of Nymphseum (Nif). A strong fortress, the ruins of whose ancient and massive walls are still imposing, on a hill in the pass between Smyrna and Nymphajum, was probably built by the Smyrnaean lonians to command the valley of Nymphasum. According to the poet Theognis (about 500 B.C.), "pride de- stroyed Smyrna." Mimnermus laments the degeneracy of the citizens of his day, who could no longer stem the Ly- dian advance. Finally, Alyattes (610- 563) conquered the city, and Smyrna for 300 years lost its place in the list of Greek cities. It did not entirely cease to exist, but the Greek life and political unity were destroyed, and the Smyrnaean state was organized on the village system (WKCITO Kto/^/Sov). It is mentioned in a fragment of Pindar, about 500 B.C., and in an in- scription of 388 B.C. A small fortification of early style, rudely but massively built, on the lowest slope of a hill behind Burnabat, is perhaps a fortified village of this period. Alexander the Great conceived the idea of restoring the Greek city; the two Nemeses who were worshipped at Smyrna are said to have suggested the idea to him in a dream. The scheme was, according to Strabo, carried out by Antigonus (316-301), and Lysi- machus enlarged and fortified the city (301-281). The acropolis of the ancient city had been on a steep peak about 1250 feet high, which overhangs the north-eastern extremity of the gulf ; its ruins still exist, probably in much the same condition as they were left by Alyattes. The later city was founded on the site which it still occupies, partly on the slopes of a rounded hill called Pagus near the south-east end of the gulf, partly on the low ground between the hill and the sea. The beauty of the city when seen from the sea, clustering on the low ground and rising tier over tier on the hillside, is frequently praised by the ancients and is celebrated on its coins ; the same impression still strikes the spectator, and must in ancient times have been much stronger, when magnificent build- ings, an imposing acropolis, and the wide circle of massive walls combined with the natural scenery in one splendid picture. Smyrna is shut in on the west by a hill now called Deirmen Tepe, with the ruins of a temple on the summit. The walls of Lysimachus crossed the summit of this hill, and the acropolis occupied the top of Pagus. Between the two the road from Ephesus entered the city by the "Ephesian gate," near which was a gymnasium. Closer to the acropolis the outline of the stadium is still visible, and the theatre was situated on the northern slopes of Pairus. The line of the walls on the eastern side is zn y > 'aivcnini/TLa jj Plan of Smyrna. unknown ; but they certainly embraced a greater area than is included by the Byzantine wall, which ascends the castle hill (Pagus) from the Basmakhane railway station. Smyrna possessed two harbours, the outer, which was simply the gulf, and the inner, which was a small basin, with a narrow entrance closed by a rope in case of need, about the place now occupied by bazaars. The inner harbour was partially filled up by Timur in 1402, but it had not entirely disappeared till the beginning of the 19th century. The modern quay has encroached considerably on the sea, and the coast-line of the Greek time was about 90 yards farther to the south. The streets were broad, well paved, and regularly laid out at right angles ; many were named after temples : the main street, called the Golden, ran across the city from west to east, beginning probably from the temple on Deirmen Tepe, and continuing towards Tepejik outside the city on the east, where prob- ably the temple of Cybele, the Metroon, stood. Cybele, worshipped under the name of Meter Sipylene, from Mount Sipylus, which bounds the Smyrna valley on the north,