Page:History of Greece Vol I.djvu/355

 HISTORICAL ILIUM. 323 Historical Ilium was founded, according to the questionable statement of Strabo, during the last dynasty of the Lydian kings, 1 that is, at some period later than 720 B. c. Until after the days of Alexander the Great indeed until the period of Roman preponderance it always remained a place of inconsid- erable power and importance, as we learn not only from the as- sertion of the geographer, but also from the fact that Achilleium, Sigeium and Rhceteium were all independent of it. 2 But incon- siderable as it might be, it was the only place which ever bore the venerable name immortalized by Homer. Like the Homeric Ilium, it had its temple of Athene, 3 wherein she was worshipped as the presiding goddess of the town : the inhabitants affirmed that Agamemnon had not altogether destroyed the town, but that it had been reoccupied after his departure, and had never ceased to exist. 4 Their acropolis was called Pergamum, and in it was shown the house of Priam and the altar of Zeus Herkeius where that unhappy old man had been slain : moreover there were exhibited, in the temples, panoplies which had been worn by the Homeric heroes, 5 and doubtless many other relics appreciated by admirers of the Iliad. which was near to Sigeium, from the 'A^aiwv TH/J.IJV, which was more towards the middle of the bay between Sigeium and Ehoeteium ; but we gather from his language that this distinction was not universally recognized. Alexan- der landed at the 'A^atuv At^v (Arrian, i. 11). 1 Strabo, xiii. p. 593. 3 Herodot. v. 95 (his account of the war between the Athenians and Mity- lenrcans about Sigeium and Achilleium) ; Strabo, xiii. p. 593. TJ?V de TUV 'I/Uewf irohiv TT/V vvv revs ftEv Kw/zoTTO/Uv eivdi (jxifft, rd lepbv ex ovaav T W 'A&Tjvaf fiiKpbv Kal EVTE^if. 'AfoZavdpov Je avaflavra UETU. rr/v eirl TpaviKp VIKIJV, uva.'&Tiii.'iai re KOGfirjaai rb lepdv Kal irpoaayopevaat, nofav, etc. Again, Kal TO "I/Uov, o vvv karl, Kufj.6no7t.ig rif ijv ore irpurov 'Puualoi rjjf 3 Besides Athene, the Inscriptions authenticate Zet)f Ho2-tei>s at Ilium (Corp. Inscrip. Bceckh. No. 3599). 4 Strabo, xiii. p. 600. Aeyovai <T ol vvv 'Ifaeif Kal rovro, uf ovde TTJV itokiv Kara TTJV uAwow vnd TUV 'A%aiuv, ovd' The situation of Ilium (or as it is commonly, but erroneously, termed, New Ilium) appears to be pretty well ascertained, about two miles from the sea (Rennell, On the Topography of Troy, r.. 41-71 ; Dr. Clarke's Travels, vol. ii. p 102).
 * Xerxes passing by Adramyttium, and leaving the range of Mount Ida on