Page:History of Art in Phrygia, Lydia, Caria and Lycia.djvu/322

 306 HISTORY OF ART IN ANTIQUITY. Wholly different was the temper of the Carians ; when they appear on the historical scene, set up by Greek genius, they could already boast a long past spent in maritime adventure ; and though details escape us, reminiscences of their former deeds lingered for centuries in the eastern basin of the Mediterranean. They them- selves preserved the traditions of a time when they had overrun the ^gean as their special property on their voyages round their settlements, in and out of the isles speckling her vast bosom, as well as certain points of the Greek mainland, where they founded Hermione, Epidaurus, and others of minor fame. 1 In that remote period they had been accompanied in their daring enterprises by the mysterious Leleges, whose love of adventure or booty was in unison with theirs. It would appear that whilst the Leleges established themselves in Laconia, Bceotia, and Megarides, the Carians, true to their maritime instincts, occupied Argolid, 2 and spread along the coast line which later was called Ionia and yEolia, where they selected the sites and built the first dwellings of those cities which, under the name of Ephesus and Miletus, were to attain so brilliant a destiny. 3 To what stock belonged the Leleges, and what language did they speak, are questions it is impossible to answer ; since when Greek historians first began to write, they were already forgotten, and had disappeared without leaving a trace. Nevertheless, popular tradition persistently allied their name with the antique tombs and fortresses with which Caria was interspersed ; 4 it further stated that in order to people his newly built capital, Mausolus, the famous Carian dynast, had forcibly carried off the inhabitants of six villages of the Hali- carnassian peninsula. 5 If the ancients were unable to solve the problem as to the nature of the link which had formerly bound Carian and Lelege, it is not likely to be settled by modern research. The view of Herodotus, or rather Pherecydes, and many other writers, to the effect that the name of Leleges was one of the many designations by which the Carians were known, 1 Herodotus, i. 171 ; Thucydides, i. 8; Aristotle, cited by Strabo, VIII. vi. 15 ; Strabo, XIV. ii. 2. 2 Aristotle, cited by Strabo, VII. vii. 2 ; Pausanias, III. i. i ; IV. i. 2. 3 Strabo, VII. vii. 2 ; XIII. i. 59; XIV. i. 21. 4 Ibid., VII. vii. 2 ; XIII. i. 29. 5 Ibid., XIII. i. 59. PLINY (Hist. Nat., v. 29) ascribes, doubtless from lack of memory, this same measure to Alexander the Great.